Chapter 7. An Unexpected Professor
The first month of the summer vacations passed rather fast for Harry. After that little talk with his brother Harvey had forgotten that insane idea of his, of running away. Neither their parents nor their 'uncles' knew what their 'dear boy' had thought about doing, and Harry thought it may be better that way.
After the twins birthday Lily informed Harry that once again they would be taking Harvey to a different and 'secure' location; which meant he would be off to pass the rest of his summer with Paige and the others in SF. Harry didn't complain or even comment about that, he was already used to it all. He also thought it could help, that way Hermione wouldn't tire that much projecting across the ocean to talk to him.
Harry was quite surprised, to say the least, when he arrived to the Halliwell Manor and saw how much Draco had changed in just a month.
Dressed in simple muggle clothing, he had become a quiet and polite young man. He would train in the mornings with Wyatt and Chris, who were teaching him basic defense, just like they had been teaching Harry for a little over eleven years already.
It was really incredible when Harry thought about it. How he had first arrived to the Halliwell Manor when being six, his godmother had gotten him out of his own home with the excuse that he would be studying in a very important school there in SF, and his parents hadn't seen any problem whatsoever in Harry being away most of the year from then on. Five years later he'd been accepted in to Hogwarts, along with Hermy, from then on he had passed the school year in London, half of his summer with his parents, and the other half with his godmother and 'unofficial family'. He never left Hogwarts for Easter and in the Winter Break it very much depended on what was going on.
But going back to Draco. Harry heard Billie had somehow pulled him to P3 one of the first nights he was in town, from then on he helped her regularly in the club, he seemed to like the place, even if it was just 'muggle'. Also he had shown a great admiration to Piper, being she the best at Potions, and had insisted on having her teach him as much as possible.
Phoebe had agreed with the others that Melinda had done a good job in getting the young man out of evil's clutches. He had a great talent and could do a great good, he just needed to have the right influences.
The 'Fates' hadn't said a thing about Malfoy, which no one knew if it was a good or a bad thing. Henry's sisters weren't really into magic so it depended on him and Piper's kids.
Mel had no problem demonstrating that she actually was friends with Draco, and with some time he opened up to the rest of them. Befriending them all (after having apologized for all the things he had previously done wrong).
There was also the fact that Draco had no worries, at least for the moment being. He received letters from his mother every week, which reassured him she was ok. And as the letters arrived with some help of the Charmed Ones they could know no one would be able to trace them, either to Mrs. Narcissa or her son.
When seeing all that, Harry couldn't help but wonder exactly what had made Draco Malfoy be the way he had been all those years. Wonder what would have happened if Melinda had never befriended him, never got to see what was beyond the façade the Slytherin always used, never helped him come out.
Was Draco's past attitude only because of Voldemort? If so, how much evil was that 'man' actually spreading out that they didn't yet know of? And how could they stop it?
.---.
The second month of summer brought an event Harry would have never believed possible: Draco became another of his best friends.
Both teenagers in fact passed a lot of time training their martial arts against each other when Wyatt and Chris weren't around to help them. And it was that Wyatt had moved out to his own apartment, as he was now studying college, and still fighting demons in his free times. Chris, even when he still slept in the Halliwell manor, passed a lot of his free time with his girlfriend: Bianca.
Draco was taking Wyatt's bed in the manor, and Harry found it quite interesting to be his roommate. Once they had both left their differences behind they would pass hours talking about one thing or another. They had many things to say, belonging to important wizard families, yet being very different from one another.
There was also the fact that when Henry and Hermy joined them they would help each other do the homework, sometimes they all took turns to help Mel as well; though the one who passed the most time with her was still Draco, just like Harry with Hermy.
As Henry had just being taken as apprentice by Paige to become an official white-lighter, he didn't seem to notice how well the others got along.
.---.
The summer break finished sooner that some would have liked. Harry, Hermy, Henry, Mel and Draco all orbed back to London and rented two rooms in the Leaky Cauldron, just for the night. This time they had arrived there to buy what was needed just the day before taking the Hogwarts Express, everyone in the Halliwell manor, seemed to believe it was safer that way. That way they just had to be on their own for one day.
However, they hadn't expected their one day in Diagon Alley to be so eventful.
They had already bought everything they would need and stopped to buy ice-cream cones for all of them.
Some of them had wondered how would Draco take not being the wealthy boy he had used to being, he had always been. Yet it hadn't been that bad. Billie and Piper had paid Draco for helping in the club, and that along with some money he had had in his power before leaving everything behind had been enough so he could get his things; he had defiantly refused to let any of the other teens pay for his things. Even if he was no longer as rude as he used to be, he still kept his pride.
They were sitting there when something suddenly caught Harry's attention.
"What is it?" Hermy asked him.
"I can sense a dark presence…several in fact." Harry answered.
"Death Eaters." Henry added.
"We should get out a' here…" Mel began.
"No." Draco held her by the arm before she could leave the table. "We can't leave this people defenseless. If DE are here it's likely they'll attack, I don't think there are any aurors around, which mean yo…we are the only ones who have any chance of fighting them back."
"You're conscious that if at least one of those DE discover that you're on our side you'll be in terrible danger?" Henry asked the blonde. "Until now he may believe you dead, prisoner or in the run; if he were to find out the truth…"
"I know…and I accept it." Draco replied seriously. "If there's something I've learnt in the last months is that Lord Voldemort is a bastard that must be stopped, no matter what may need to be done. I will fight. If that means having my name added on his 'to be killed' list, then so be it. So far the one everyone says must be at the top of his list remains unscathed so maybe I will be just as lucky…" He grinned and winked as he said the last part.
Technically one could say he meant the 'boy-who-lived', Harvey Potter; though the others had already told Draco who was the one who had actually fought Voldemort all those times and survived: Harry.
They decided to split in two different groups, each would try to cover a half of Diagon Alley. The first team was formed by Harry and Hermy, the other by Henry, Mel and Draco. They had all decided to depend on the boys orbing to get to one place or another, though if things were too difficult others had already learnt how to apparate (Mel was the only one who didn't know but she had memorized a teleportation-spell, just in case).
The attack began with just second to spare for the quintet to get in their places. Hermy would deflect as many spells as possible from their targets and send them to empty spaces so no one would be hurt; Harry concentrated in creating shields for as many people as possible; Henry would summon some spells and then send them away; Mel and Draco were the ones working more together, as she would 'freeze' the energy of the spell and give time for Draco to use his own wand to get rid of them. Also Mel and Harry tried to heal most of those who were injured by the DE, while Henry used his own part of the power to undo the damage caused to the place in itself (not much but some of it).
The battle was difficult, but the teens managed to hold their ground, using their own powers as discreetly as possible.
The climax point came when one of the DE caught Mel with a low-guard, used a disarming spell on her that sent her flying against a wall and made her so dizzy she couldn't concentrate on her powers. However, before the DE had time to torture her or even kill her Draco left his own hiding place and, throwing caution to the wind, engaged himself in a one-on-one duel with the dark-cloaked man.
"You're…a Malfoy…" The DE seemed quite surprised when discovering his identity.
"So what?" Draco asked, not paying attention to him and only the duel.
"You are a traitor!" The man yelled. "Sectusempra!"
Draco moved to dodge the spell, but he still got a superficial cut in his forearm. The problem was that it was his right arm, with which he used his wand; he wasn't as fast when handling his wand with the other hand.
"You'll die traitor." The man declared enraged. "Ava…"
"No!" Mel yelled recovering right then.
She was too fast for the man, with a wave of her hands his wand exploded in his fingers, and then with a swift kick to the chest he crashed against the closest wall, falling unconscious to the ground.
"Are you alright?" Mel asked Draco worriedly.
"Just fine." Draco replied, though when he got on his feet his injured shoulder made him wince slightly.
Mel reacted immediately, bringing her hand to his wound, she healed him immediately.
"Thank you." Draco smiled at her.
How she loved to see him smile, but to really smile; it was such a rare occurrence, even with everything that had changed already.
"Come on." She told Draco. "We must get to Henry so he can get us out 'a here before the aurors or someone of the Ministry arrive and begin asking questions we can't answer."
"What about Harry and Hermione?" Draco asked, he still didn't feel comfortable calling the witch 'Hermy', like everyone else.
"They'll be fine." Mel assured him. "Harry can orb them out of this place." She turned in a certain direction. "Come on, I can sense Henry this way."
Draco just nodded and followed her.
They immediately caught up with the other white-lighter and he easily got them to a cafeteria in muggle-London; where they stayed for the remainder of the day, while aurors and other wizards from the Ministry investigated the attack in Diagon Alley.
.---.
The next day they all boarded the Hogwarts Express. The ride was calm and even a bit boring. They arrived to the castle like they always did and then got on the carriages carried by the thestrals. The 'Charmed-Children' had never liked those creatures, being able to see them ever since their first year, due to everything they had been through. After being explained exactly how they looked like, Draco decided he was happy not to be able to see them.
They arrived to Hogwarts to see that it wasn't as full as usual, which was something most had been expecting. After what had happened in the previous two years it was normal that some families didn't believe their children to be safe there.
As expected Slughorn was once again the Potions Professor, however, there's no way they could have been expected the one who became their new DADA Professor.
"I would very much like to introduce you to your new teacher." Dumbledore declared. "After much convincing she has agreed to come teach this class, though probably it will only be for this year. She's never before taught this subject, yet don't underestimate her for her ability against the Dark Arts in unquestionable. Please Welcome Professor Billie Jenkins."
Four certain teens were about to cry out right then.
Billie directed small smiles to her 'honorary nieces and nephews'. She had certainly given them a surprise.
The quartet would have approached her for some explanations but they really couldn't do it. Harry and Hermione were Head Boy and Head Girl respectively; while the other three were prefects in their own houses, along with other students like Harvey Potter, his girlfriend Ginny Weasley in Gryffindor, Luna Lovegood and another boy in Ravenclaw, and Pansy Parkinson from Slytherin.
They had to guide the first-years in their respective houses and make sure everyone respected the rules and new security measures.
.---.
The next time they saw Billie was the following day, she gave the last class.
Due to the fact that there were less students in Hogwarts, and that not all of them had signed up for all the classes, most of the classes for the sixth and seventh years now took place with all of the houses together.
Billie was smiling widely as the students walked into her class, she remained quiet until all of them had gotten seats; the quintet taking the very firsts along with the golden trio.
Billie couldn't hide her joy at seeing the five teens she had gotten to know so well, even if she had just known Draco for a couple of months.
"Good evening everyone." Billie greeted the students. "As Professor Dumbledore said in last night's feast my name is Billie Jenkins. It's true I've never taught this subject, yet this isn't the first time I stand before I class. I used to be a teacher of magic as well, back in San Francisco, in the United States."
"What subject did you teach Prof. Jenkins?" Lavender asked.
"Psychic gifts…" Billie began.
"Psychic gifts?!" Several students cried out in shock.
Only certain five remained impassive.
"Yes." Billie nodded. "I'm a psychic, a telekinetic to be precise."
And just to prove it Billie waved her hands, and immediately the books in the nearby shelves began floating, as well as some of the materials the students had already laid out in their desks. That called everyone's attention right away.
"Why would Professor Dumbledore hire a psychic to teach us DADA?" Ron asked raising a brow, apparently not at all convinced by Billie.
"Because as he said I've had experience in fighting evil-creatures." Billie explained.
"What kind of evil creatures?" Padma Patil voiced everyone's question.
"Well warlocks, harpies, zombies, demons, you name it." Billie answered as if it were nothing.
"Demons?" Seamus Finnigan asked with doubt. "You mean as in from hell?"
"Yes Mr….Finnigan, I meant demons as in those that come from hell." Billie answered. "I'm what some call a demon-huntress."
"But those are just legends?!" Pansy Parkinson called.
"I can assure you Miss Parkinson, we are no legend." Billie replied. "It's just that we're not as forthcoming as aurors, just like the demons we fight aren't as well-known as the Death Eaters and that Dark Lord of theirs."
Several of them noticed that she had mentioned the Dark Lord as if he were nothing at all, and that's how Billie thought (after fighting against the Source, the Tryad and so many others it's understandable).
"Now." Billie continued. "Professor Dumbledore called me because he, somehow, found out the experience I had, both in fighting evil and teaching new mages and demon-hunters. Which is why he thought I was the perfect candidate to help you be ready for the upcoming war."
"War?" Parvati asked, fear obvious in her eyes.
"Yes Miss Patil, war." Billie was being serious, something unusual in her. "Despite what some of you would like to believe, we must all accept the fact that we're in a time of war. You've got to be prepared to fight or risk death. My responsibility is to make sure you're ready to fight any possible enemy the moment you step out of this castle; but I'm not a nanny. I'll give you the means to learn, but you'll be the ones to decide if you want to learn or not. You're all in seventh year, and for what I'm told you're already considered as off-age in this society, meaning you'll decide what to do with your lives."
No one replied, they all knew she was right.
"Now." Billie continued. "In this class we'll be concentrating in making sure you know how to fight, both magically and physically. I know some of you may consider that things such as martial arts won't be useful for you, but they will, you need to be ready to defend yourselves with, and especially without, a wand. Understood?"
They all nodded in silence.
"Very well." Billie continued. "I have a feeling that you'll be lacking in muggle defense more than in magical. So I'll give you several warm-up exercises that you must do every day, and I mean every day. As we have our class three days 'a week one day will be for physical training, that'll be Tuesday, Thursday will be for magical training, you will be practicing dueling in this classroom, and finally Friday will be for alternative-magic."
"Alternative-magic?" Neville asked, curious.
"Yes, Mr. Longbottom." Billie nodded. "That means I'll run some tests so we'll know if you have any special 'gift'; if you do me or some of my assistants will train you, if not you'll use that day to continue your other training."
"Does anyone get a feeling that they're training us almost as if we were aurors?" A young man commented in a low tone.
"I doubt even aurors have to go through this kind of training." Another replied.
"I honestly don't know how your aurors are trained, I've never known any." Billie stepped in their conversation. "However, this is how we, demon-hunters train, this is how they want me to train you, so this is the way things will be done."
"You mentioned you would be having assistants." Another Ravenclaw reminded her. "When will we meet them?"
"Well, in fact they were supposed to be here some minutes ago…" Billie began.
Right then they heard the door banging open as two young men entered the classroom. One was twenty-one years old, and the other twenty; both easily recognized by five certain teens.
"You finally arrive." Billie scolded the two. "The class began almost ten minutes ago."
"Hey, not our fault." The youngest replied. "We didn't ask to be held back by some crazy werewolf and two cloaked men that accompanied him."
Several students gasped.
"I trust you didn't kill them." Billie said raising a brow.
"Of course not." The eldest declared. "The two men are just unconscious, while the werewolf is bound And unconscious. One of the aurors at the castle entrance went to get them."
Billie nodded. She personally would have killed the werewolf, or perhaps not. She had heard that not all werewolves were evil, and one of them was even helping the good side; it would have been terrible for them to commit a mistake.
"Well class." Billie said facing them all. "These are the assistants I told you about. Let me introduce to you Wyatt Matthew Halliwell and Christopher Perry Halliwell."
"Halliwell?" Hannah Abbott asked. "Melinda is your sister?"
"Yes." Wyatt nodded and smiled at his baby-sister.
Melinda couldn't help but groan, having her elder brothers there was certainly going to be a nightmare, they tended to be too overprotective.
"Are they psychics just like you, Professor Jenkins?" Another student asked.
"Not like me, but they do have gifts." Billie told them.
"What kind of gifts?" Padma asked.
For all answer Billie used her telekinesis to move a knife that was in a nearby shelf, across the room and right to Wyatt, who was standing in a corner.
Several gals shrieked in shock, while the men just stared wide-eyed.
Yet the knife never touched the young man, because in the last moment a sky-blue spherical shield enveloped him, making the knife bounce-off.
"Are you nuts?!" Wyatt cried out at Billie. "You just tried to kill me!"
"Not really." Billie told him. "I knew you were perfectly capable of protecting yourself. Ok, class, what you just saw is Wyatt's ability. It's quite different from mine, but just as useful." She sighed. "I want you to understand, I won't be leaving any kind of homework whatsoever in this class, your grade will depend entirely in what you achieve in class. Of course that to do better in class you'll have to study and train in your free time so…I think you understand the point. So, lets begin with the exercises."
They all nodded.
Billie, with help from Wyatt and Chris, began showing the others the needed exercises so it wouldn't be as hard when they actually began training in martial arts and other styles of fight. The quintet had no problem to follow her, as they did those exercises for warm-up every day; though for the rest of the students it was a bit hard at first.
And that, was just the beginning of the year…
Hello everybody! I'm back! I know some of you wanted Tonks as the new DADA professor but you see, I need to have Billie here, because in the following part of the story she'll become a very important character, even if she's not the main heroine, her help will be very much needed. On the other hand, I already have plans that involve our dear metamorphmagus and a certain handsome werewolf of hers. (Don't ask, you'll know what I mean in the future).
So, I hope you liked the chapter, and I hope you'll like the way things will turn out from now on. Many things will change now with Billie, Wyatt and Chris around, and especially once they explain why exactly they went to Hogwarts (believe me, it was no coincidence).
In the next chapter we'll learn more about the differences the magical society of Europe have with the one from America; this thanks to a conversation between Billie and Dumbledore. And we'll also get to see who, besides the 'Charmed-Children' have 'special powers' (believe me, you'll get some surprises there).
So, that's all for now. Please don't forget to leave a review!
