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Chapter five: The great hall
Rain poured and lightning crashed on the skies over Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The enchanted ceiling of the great hall reflected the weather outside. Not only that, it was also reflecting the gloom that covered the hearts of the student and faculty that now stood attention, waiting for the signal from the headmaster to begin the feast.
One boy's heart was feeling particularly heavy, bearing the burden of death. Harry Potter knew that there was nothing he could do to change the past, but that did not stop him from thinking about the different what ifs.
What if he hadn't shared the portkey? What if he hadn't stopped Sirius and Lupin from killing Peter Pettigrew? What if he had never discovered his heritage and continued living with the Dursleys?
No, he did not want to think about that prospect. As hard as things were in the wizarding world, he would never give up the past four years to go back to that closet.
The pain, the anguish, the burden and the loss was worth all of the times when he realized what love and friendship was all about. Looking towards the bushy haired young lady and to the red headed young man beside her, his gloom was lifted momentarily and he actually managed a smile. For this was Harry Potter, the boy who lived. He resolved to himself that he would carry the title proudly, always keeping in mind that there was something to live for.
What saddened him more was the fact that, despite the events of last year, people still tried to hush up the business about Voldemort. The minister of magic was so caught up in his own delusions of grandeur that he would rather ignore the problem.
Many people thought that he was seeking glory. People thought that the death of Cedric Diggory was just another casualty of the Triwizard Tournament. But that was an insult to his memory. They should have been there when the green light lit up his chest, and his eyes lost their spark.
The point was currently being discussed by Professor Dumbledore. He knew many students were shocked at this news and he even saw Malfoy snickering to his cronies. Of course, he couldn't really say if that was because he thought Dumbledore was mad or because he was planning some evil plot.
The events in number 12, Grimmauld place reminded him that there was a war going on. The order was preparing forces, but so were the death eaters.
"Harry..." Harry turned to the one who called his name. He met the concerned eyes of Hermione Granger
"What is it?"
"There's a new teacher... The ministry assigned her... I thought they weren't supposed to interfere with Hogwarts?"
Taking a look, Harry noticed that the woman was Dolores Umbridge, one of the interrogators in the Wizengamot. He was tried for summoning a patronus against a dementor in order to protect Dudley.
Taking a closer look at the faculty, he also realized that the faculty was complete, yet a seat next to Professor Mcgonagall was empty.
Indicating this to Ron and Hermione, He was surprised to hear the next words out of Dumbledore's mouth: In view of the recent events, I have taken the liberty of employing another teacher, who will be educating select students in Advanced Muggle studies. These students will be notified as soon as selections are made.
"Aaahhh!" Ron practically screamed and pointed at the empty chair which was now occupied by... something.
Hermione shushed him and said. "Take a closer look, will you?" She recognized him as the Batman, a member of the Justice league, albeit a very mysterious one. Looking at Harry, she realized that he too, recognized him.
"Yeah, no one really knows what his powers are, but he is a member of the Justice league, and him being here must mean that he is actually a wizard."
Ron then stammered out, "But I thought Hermione said that you can't just apparate inside Hogwarts."
As if taking cue from Ron, Professor Mcgonagall suddenly gasped as she noticed the one seating next to her. Wands were immediately drawn, then dropped as they noticed that the headmaster was smiling.
"This is the new Advanced Muggle Studies teacher, known to the muggle world as the Batman."
Murmurs followed this announcement. "he's a wizard?" came from the hufflepuffs. "I thought the Batman was a myth" said one voice from the ravenclaw. "of course not, stupid. He can sometimes be seen on the edges of the pictures of the Justice League. You should really learn to observe more and stop looking at Superman too much."
Of course, most of the murmurs were of confusion as those students with no contact with the muggle world were bewildered as to who the "Batman" is, and why the hell he had pointy ears.
"Ah, Professor B, I'm so glad you could make it." Dumbledore felt strange at calling the new teacher using an initial, but he would have felt even more ridiculuous saying "professor batman."
Batman acknowledged this with a curt nod. Snape, on the other hand, rose up and questioned Dumbledore hotly. "Who is this?"
"Keep calm Professor. Since the ministry saw fit to install their own here, I took the liberty of hiring a specialist to teach the children all about the advanced muggle world."
Snape looked intently at the Bat. The Batman met Snape's stare with what the Flash jokingly referred to as the "Bat-glare". Of course, flash never really joked when he was at the receiving end of the glare.
The tension was felt in the air until...
"Arrgghh" Snape cried out with a pain of anguish, holding his head.
"I knew someone would try to do that" Bruce spoke casually, "That's why I spent a few days a week training with J'onn. The most powerful telepath on the planet."
Ron and Hermione were bewildered, having no clue what that was all about. Harry, however, knew that Snape was one of the most accomplished Legilimens in the wizarding world. He could easily read the mind of anyone. He looked at the new teacher with awe.
"Professor B is a muggle, the first muggle ever to teach at Hogwarts. However, I would advise anyone not to underestimate him." Professor Dumbledore spoke with a voice full of authority.
"Would you like to say anything, professor?" Dumbledore turned to the black clad figure.
"You need to upgrade your security." Was all that batman contributed.
Harry looked at the figure of Snape and remembered their first meeting. He remembered thinking that Snape, in his long black robes, looked like an overgrown bat.
Turning to the new teacher, he thought to himself, "Snape does not look like a bat at all..."
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Take that! snape! I hate the bloody crud.. ahahaha.. anyway, tell me what you think about this chapter okay? point out any continuity errors, and ill try to fix themm.. keep reviewing guyz!
Next chapter: the first lesson