Hey there people, guess who's back! Yeah, I know I'm an asshole for taking so long, but I have had serious Writer's Block lately. You can thank a four-day weekend for this, and possibly the next chapter.
But, you haven't come here for me to ramble at you in the Author's note. No, you all have come here for a very, very special person. So, without further ado, I give you the one, the only, The manliest of men… Professor Port!
…
What, nobody? Fine, I see how it is. I guess you can just have some Padfoot instead, you bloody inconsiderate bastards.
XXX
"So… your semblance is healing." it wasn't quite a question, Harry knew, but as he looked across the table at Draco where he was eating his breakfast, the lion-faunus still found himself waiting for an answer. His partner, for his part, merely raised an eyebrow and gulped, swallowing the food he had been chewing. It seemed even sixteen years of living in the wilderness hadn't managed to kill the ex-pureblood's sense of refinement.
"It is. Why, does that surprise you?" Draco's tone, surprisingly, was devoid of the usual derision he held when speaking to Harry, but still the taller boy snorted, drawing the attention of several other students in the cafeteria, but Harry ignored them. The thought did surprise him that a Malfoy, who were well known for their selfishness and willingness to wield the dark arts, would manifest his soul by healing others.
"I just find it surprising that an ex-Death Muncher would have such a gentle semblance." He said, with a fair amount of sarcasm. Still, Harry smiled to let the other boy know he wasn't serious. Surprisingly, it wasn't needed, as Draco simply smirked back with a slight glint to his eyes.
"You should be grateful, Potter. I saved you two weeks in the hospital wing, and we both know how much you enjoy that place." Harry grimaced at the thought. He had spent plenty of time lying uselessly in vaguely medicinal facilities for two lifetimes and then some. Still, he was more than reluctant to show any amount of thanks to his old rival.
"Malfoy, the day I'm grateful to a Slytherin is the day I prance around the school in a pink tutu singing love songs to Voldemort." He said, and Draco's smirk widened.
"I'll be sure to remember it." The snake-faunus gave a short nod, before returning to his plate. A few seconds later, however, they were interrupted by the rest of their team arriving at the table. Hermione and Luna, neither being used to traveling light as Harry and Draco had become through their nomadic lifestyles, had stayed behind in to unpack their things while the boys went for food. Now Harry perked up as both of them appeared with trays in their hands. Luna, eyes once again covered by her visor smiled brilliantly at Harry and Draco as she took her seat beside the latter. Hermione, however, only offered him a sharp nod even as she placed herself as far away as possible without falling off the bench.
"Malfoy." She said in a cool voice, and Harry watched as the boy's face went cold.
"Granger." He replied equally tersely, and after a split-second of tension, both students turned to their food. Frowning, Harry looked between them.
"Alright, no. This isn't happening." He said, startling two of the table's three other occupants. Luna, at least, looked like she had expected this reaction, turning her head to look at him easily, but both Draco and Hermione stared at him as if he just declared he was actually a girl.
"What?" It was Hermione who responded, blinking at him in shock, but Harry could see the exact same question written across his partner;s face. He gestured at the table between them in answer, continuing.
"We're a team now, whatever we've been before, and each of us has to know that they can trust the others to have their back, no matter what. Sixteen years is a long time, and whatever happened back then is in the past. So any problems you have, any bad blood, we sort them out here and now, or this team doesn't move from this table." He looked each of his friends-and yes somehow that included Draco-in the eye, or visor for Luna. There was a long moment as each of them stared at him, the tension growing thicker with every second of silence that passed, until, slowly, Hermione turned to Draco. WIth a rough, scraping motion, she pulled up the sleeve of her blouse, laying the smooth, pale skin of her forearm bare.
"My arm is blank." She said in a perfectly level voice, but Harry could hear the edge of anger hiding underneath. Draco too, from the way his eyes darkened, and he bowed his head slightly in deference. "But before we went through the veil, it was scarred, marked by the most vile word our people possessed where it was carved into my very flesh. And you, Draco Malfoy, watched, watched as that monster of a woman tortured me. You watched, and did nothing." With every word, her voice didn't grow louder. Instead, it grew quieter, sharper, until it was little more than a ghost of a sound, but still Harry could see as every one cut deeply into the ex-Death Eater. He bowed his head further, pale blond hair falling to cover his silver eyes, as he spoke.
"You are right. I was a coward. What I did, or didn't do, can never be forgiven, and there are no excuses that could ever ease the pain you suffered." He looked up then, sliver eyes full of sorrow, and met Hermione's own accusing brown. "I have regretted that choice every day since. And though I know it is little comfort, the last sixteen years of my life have been dedicated to the protection of those who can't protect themselves. I do not plan to make the same mistake twice." For a long moment, there was silence as the Huntsmen and Huntress in training stared at each other, brown eyes harsh as they scoured sliver for any sign of a lie. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, Hermione sighed, shaking her head.
"You're right, it is little comfort. But…" She paused then, as if measuring her words. "But I can hear the truth in your voice. I suppose I can try to forgive you." She offered a small, slightly broken smile, which widened when Draco did the same.
"All I ask is a chance to earn it." He said with utter seriousness. Then, the faunus turned to Luna, who had been watching from the side-lines silently, with a slight smile. "And you as well, I left you in that dungeon for so long…" He was stopped as Luna suddenly placed a long, pale finger on his lips, silencing the words.
"You were terrified, both for yourself and your family. Even if you hadn't been, helping me escape would have done little besides get you killed." Her voice was gentle as she said it, and Harry watched as the anger at being hushed faded from Draco's face, only to be replaced by a steely determination.
"That doesn't make it right." he said insistently, but again Luna cut him off as she let out a light laugh.
"No, it doesn't. But we are not measured on a scale of right and wrong, only that which is in our hearts." She smiled again, more fully this time, and placed her palm against the boy's chest. "You have a lot of guilt in yours, Draco, and evil men don't regret their actions." Again, there was a long silence as the entire group stared in awe at the girl, before she finally withdrew her hand and Draco snapped out of it. Determination once again etched into his features, he turned to Harry, but the other boy spoke up before he could.
"Hey, don't look at me. I put you in the Hospital Wing and your mother saved my life. Not much to forgive there." Draco, surprisingly didn't deny this, instead smirking ruefully.
"Maybe you should be apologizing to me, then."He said with dark humor, and Harry's face froze, before he pointed his fork at the other faunus.
"Pink fucking tutu Draco. You'll know it when you see it." This time, the silence was short before it shattered as both both burst out laughing raucously. Luna and Hermione, not understanding the comment, could only look on in confusion as they slumped against the table, pounding it in their mirth. The entire cafeteria joined them, staring at the two boys as they continued laughing.
It was several minutes before Draco and Harry regained their senses long enough to eat, and even more before they finished, as all of HLHD descended into a surprisingly amiable silence. Harry's plan had worked, it seemed. It was only in the halls outside, calmly making their way to the first class of the day, that sanity once again lost its grip and HLHD was forced to throw themselves against the walls as all of teams RWBY and JNPR came stampeding past. Draco, Hermione, and Luna stared in the wake of the eight students who had fought with them during initiation, but soon enough turned to their leader as they realized he showed no surprise at the sight, instead wearing a wide grin.
"Harry…" Luna asked, an oddly dangerous voice to her voice. "What did you do?" Harry shrugged his massive shoulders, not concerned in the slightest.
"Just a little prank. I am a marauder's child, after all." Even as he said it, Harry felt a slight chill from go down his back, and deciding prudence was the better part of valor, sidestepped to put Hermione between himself and the blonde girl, who was looking at him with an odd mixture of amusement and anger on her face. He was still unused to this new, slightly more sane Luna, and had no idea what he might have done to anger her, except the whole Ruby thing which, while totally not being what it looked like, probably wouldn't be well-received by someone who thought of the red-head as a little sister. Then he had pranked both her sisters…. Oh.
"Yeah, but what did you actually do?" Draco asked, noticing the growing tension between Luna and Harry. He had noticed, too, the way Ruby Rose clung to younger leader clung to his, and vaguely picked up on the relationship between Luna and the other girl. Much as it might be hilarious, however, he couldn't let the blonde castrate the other boy before class even started. It would look bad for their team cohesion at the very least.
"Switched team RWBY's clocks back half an hour or so to make them think they're about to be late for class." He answered with a shrug, and was glad to see Luna's anger diminish slightly. As protective as she was of her sisters, the worst his actions could have done was cause a mild panic. He didn't even switch it so that they would be late, just think it. Honestly, it was harmless.
"So why are Team JNPR panicking too?" Hermione piped up, frowning, and Harry shrugged again.
"All three of our team dorms are like, right beside each other. I'd bet they saw RWBY panicking and followed suit without checking their own clocks." None of the other three could say anything to that, so they nodded, and continued on their way.
XXX
Ruby fought for breath as she ran into the classroom, desperation and adrenaline the only thing keeping her legs moving. This, however, turned out to be a bad thing as she skidded to a stop, sudden surprise bringing her up short. The sudden halt quickly became disastrous as Weiss, then the rest of her team, and then all of JNPR came following closely behind, and subsequently crashed into her back. All eight of the students-and it was strange she noted, that there were only eight, and not twelve. Shouldn't Team HLHD be with them as well?- collapsed to the floor in a great heap of tangled limbs and body parts. Her only consolation, despite being the cause for the entire situation in the first place, was that they were in a near-empty classroom, and their only witness wouldn't be talking to anyone.
For several minutes, both teams struggled to extricate themselves, to no avail. Only When a quiet chuckle, instantly familiar after the last two days, sounded, did the entire group freeze. "My, it looks like you're all in quite the predicament." In an instant, Ruby's cheeks caught fire. Oh dear chocolate chips, that was the last voice she wanted to hear right now.
"Oh, hush Harry. This is all your fault and you know it." Ruby perked up slightly at the sound of Luna berating her newest friend, though she couldn't see the girl with Pyrrha's skirt wrapped around her face as it was. She wriggled slightly, trying to catch her sister's attention. At least Luna wouldn't laugh too much, and if Harry did, she would hit him.
Sadly for Ruby, it wasn't Luna who saw her. A moment later, she felt strong arms wrap under her armpits, before lifting the redhead with a gentle strength that was utterly unmistakable. Once again Ruby felt her face ignite as Harry pulled her from the pile and into what amounted to a bear hug.
"There you go, little one." The lion-faunus breathed into her hair, sending a strange warmth down Ruby's spine, before setting her down. She watched, frozen, as he let go, before moving onto the next person in the pile. He wasn't the only one, and in just a minute or two, team HLHD had sorted out the mess of eight teens and were standing before them with amused grins on their faces.
"Not one word." Yang, perhaps the only member of either RWBY or JNPR not speechless with embarrassment-excepting Nora, but Ruby got the feeling the ginger didn't even know what that emotion was-glared directly at Harry. RWBY shivered slightly as she saw the red eyes of her sister. Wisely, Harry shrugged.
"I have no idea what you mean. The classroom was empty when we got here." There was a collective sigh of relief, and Ruby felt herself starting to smile. She knew there was a reason she liked the guy so much. He always knew just what to say.
Before long, the twelve students had taken their seats, free to pick across the empty classroom. This was, of course, what had caused the young Huntress to freeze when she first entered the classroom, and even now she looked around curiously. They had been five minutes away from being late, hadn't they? She was sure of it, but Harry's team seemed utterly nonchalant as they settled in, so she doubted they were in the wrong class.
"Uh, Harry?" She asked, leaning over to whisper to the boy. Ruby had, though she wasn't quite sure why, taken the seat immediately to his right. On his other side stretched out the rest of team HLHD, while JNPR and her own had scattered across the semicircular stands.
"Yes Ruby?" Harry asked, turning eyes that still shone with mirth to her.
"Where is everyone?" Ruby didn't think her question was uncalled for. Did the whole school wake up late or something? It was the first day… whatever the case, however, she still felt blood rush to her face as Harry let out a short bark of laughter.
"We're almost ten minutes early, Ruby. Most of the other students are probably eating breakfast still." Ruby blinked at the words, then blinked again. Wait, what?
"But we only had five minutes when we left!" She exclaimed, and all ten of the other students perked up from where they sitting. Harry's team, whose names she only vaguely remembered excepting Luna, looked at her with amusement, while both JNPR and her own team watched the conversation with sudden interest. It was understandable, really. There was no way she had been wrong. A sliver of doubt crawled into her mind, however, when Harry winced.
"That's actually sort of my fault." he muttered the words, but Ruby still heard them, and felt her brow furrow.
"What do you mean, Harry? What's your fault?" The boy smiled ruefully, running a hand between his leonine ears and ruffling the sinfully dark hair around them.
"I may have changed your clocks for a little prank." it took a second for Ruby to comprehend what exactly the faunus was saying, until suddenly anger was shaking her small frame, and heat once again rushed to her cheeks entirely different reason.
"You- you- you jerk!" She yelled, punching him in the shoulder as hard as she could. The blow bounced off Harry's aura, and Ruby felt her rage flare even higher. Her next blow, however, was caught in a large, warm hand, engulfing hers completely.
"Er, Ruby? It was just a joke." Ruby froze, looking at the boy in shock. Did she just punch Harry? Why had she done that? Ruby didn't usually get angry like that.
"OhmyOum I'm so sorry!" She cried, throwing her hands out to flail uselessly in the air. Ruby didn't exactly know what she was doing, and judging by Harry's amused smile, he didn't either, but as embarrassed as she was, she didn't exactly care. The sounds of snickering coming from around them didn't help either.
"It's cool, Ruby. I probably deserved that." Harry said, waving off her apology. Ruby, surprised that he wasn't angry and having no clue what was happening anymore, dropped her hands into her lap, looking at them morosely as she took a deep breath to calm herself. She was so grateful that the rest of the students and the teacher hadn't made it to the classroom yet. She didn't know why she had gotten so angry. Normally, Ruby enjoyed pranks-how could she not, with her family?- even ones that targeted her. But when she thought of Harry, pointing and laughing as she embarrassed herself so utterly… It hurt. It hurt a lot. Was that because he was her first friend? Luna and Yang didn't count, and what few people she did hang out with at Signal had mostly just been social outcasts like her. They didn't really have much else in common. But Harry… Harry was different. He had seemed so genuinely kind and warm, and he didn't even seem to mind that she was so terrible at people skills. Harry was her first real friend.
"Ruby? you alright?" The huntress-in-training jumped as a hand was waved in front of her face, pulling Ruby out of her thoughts. Harry looked down at her with concern etched into his features, and for what felt like the tenth time that day found herself blushing.
"Sorry Harry, I kinda zoned out there. Were you asking me something?" Harry, thankfully, didn't seem to hold her inattentiveness against her, but instead smiled softly.
"Just if you wanted some cookies, since you didn't get to go to breakfast." At the word 'cookies', Ruby's eyes widened and she stared at Harry.
"Really?" She asked, trying to keep from sounding too excited. Even now, she could feel her stomach growling. If Harry had cookies, and was offering them to her… she might have to declare him her new god.
"Sure." The young Huntsman said, shrugging as he offered dug into his pocket before offering it contents to her. Ruby's eyes instantly narrowed on the small circles of delicious, sugary goodness that rested within, and in a red blur the beautiful bounty was clutched tightly in her hands as she bit deeply into the first one. A small, blissful moan escaped her, before she jerked and snapped a hand over her mouth. It was too late, however, as Harry was giving her a highly amused grin that told her he knew exactly what had happened. Thankfully, none of the other students, who had started trickling in while she wasn't paying attention, noticed.
"I'll take that as a thank you." Harry leaned over and whispered, his eyes dancing with mirth. Ruby didn't answer, looking down as she flushed brightly and hid the cookies in her hood. Suddenly, she didn't feel like eating them right then.
"Where do you think the teacher is?" Ruby looked up as she heard one of Harry's teammates, the brown-haired girl, speak up. Her name was... Herma-something, Ruby thought. Something really long, and hard to remember.
"I don't know, Hermione. But..." Harry said, his vibrant green eyes finally turning away from Ruby to scan the classroom. Ruby, curious both about Harry's teammate and what the boy himself had to say, watched as his gaze paused on the small desk at the front of the room. Obviously, there was no teacher sitting behind it, despite the beginning of class ticking ever closer every minute, but strangely, there was a big, shaggy black dog lying beside it drowsily. Or at least, it looked tired, but Ruby liked to think she was an expert on dogs after spending so many years with Zwei. the dogs eyes were in fact watching the classroom sharply, tracking each and every student to enter before returning to a central point; one which, if Ruby didn't know any better, she would swear was right at Harry. The boy in question cocked his head as he noticed it, dark brows furrowing. "That dog looks familiar. Why does it look familiar?" The last part was muttered to himself, but Ruby, being right beside him, still heard. Before she could say anything, however, a sharp, buzzing sound echoed through the room, making every student jump.
There was a long moment, after the bell rang, where every single student looked around frantically. Was the teacher late to his own class? Ruby didn't think that was very professional. But she didn't have much time to wonder. Every eye was drawn to the front of the room as the dog, shaking off its feigned lethargy, stood with a quiet snort. Ruby watched as the canine swept a wary gaze over the class, before standing and crossing behind the desk; and then Ruby gasped. Because, instead of a dog, what emerged on the other side was a man, young and devastatingly handsome as he stood and stretched.
He couldn't be much older than the students themselves, twenty at the most. That would put him at just out of Beacon, if he was lucky. Ruby quickly forgot about his age, however, as did the rest of the girls-and probably a few boys- in the class, as they stared at the beautiful man. He was tall, just under six foot, with messy dark hair that fell in the most seductively charming way possible, and dark grey eyes glittering with a roguish light. This man lived and breathed the bad-boy aura, like he was born to show young, impressionable women the meaning of sin and seduction. The only person Ruby had ever seen who could compete was Harry, and while they had a similar sort of aura, Harry's personality held a sort of warmth and kindness that wasn't present with this man. At least, not in the same quantities.
"Hello class. Welcome to Auric Studies. I am Professor Sirius Black, and I shall be your instructor for this course." Upon hearing the professor's voice, Ruby's eyes snapped to Harry. It was a smooth, velveteen baritone that would have utterly melted her, except for one thing. His accent, a tilted, high-class thing that made her think of those stories about kings, knights, and noble ladies who always rode off into the sunset, was almost exactly like Harry's. Not quite, of course, the Huntsman-in-training hid it well enough, but it was always there, a cool crisp edge to his words that every once in awhile took over entirely. But… but she had never heard someone talk like that from any of the four kingdoms. And Harry's reaction told her more than enough to answer the question that whoever this was, Harry knew him.
The young lion-faunus was standing ramrod straight, staring at the professor as if he had seen a ghost. His team, as well, were all in various states of shock and attention that were far more pronounced than the situation warranted. Sure, a dog turning into a man was strange, but Ruby knew for a fact that such semblances existed. Her own uncle Qrow had one, even. But Ruby could see shock, awe, hope, and even-was that fear?-on the four students faces. Before she could ask however, all of HLHD snapped out of whatever it was at practically the same time, settling into more normal poses. She could see the emotions still glittering in the four sets of eyes, however, even as the teacher continued.
"Many of you, I imagine, are confused, so before I begin, I shall say this: Yes, I am the dog." There was a moment of silence, before laughter erupted across the classroom. Professor Black leaned back against his desk as it continued, apparently content to wait out the results of his words. When the noise finally died, however, he continued as if he had never stopped. "Now, to begin with, I shall start with what this class is about. What is Auric studies?" Silence reigned for several long seconds before the students finally realised that he was actually asking them a question. Several hands raised amongst the students, and Black grinned as he picked one. "Ms. Schnee! Please."
"Well… Auric studies is the study of our aura." Weiss stated, with only mild confusion. Ruby could practically it in her voice as the professor nodded along.
"Yes, exactly! But we all know aura is the power of our soul. So, why would we need to study it? NIkos." The red-headed, green-eyed girl looked slightly shocked, as her hand hadn't been up, but after a second of centering herself, answered.
"To use it better in battle?" Her tone was more of a question than an answer, but Black seemed pleased as he continued smiling and nodded.
"That is one use, yes. The better you understand a weapon, no matter how mundane or mystical, the better you can use it. There is, however, another subject of the aura, beyond what you would normally associate with it, which we will be focusing heavily on in this class. This, students, is known-for lack of a better term-as magic." For a long moment, the entire room was silent as they processed his words. Then, just as Ruby began to wonder if perhaps the professor might be insane, there came a loud burst of laughter from one of the back rows.
"Magic? I thought this was supposed to be a school, not a circus!" The boy, a tall, broad-shouldered guy with wavy brown hair and a face that could objectively be considered handsome, smiled down at the professor, malicious glee shining in his eyes. Black, to his credit, didn't seem offended, simply regarding his student cooly as a hint of a smile tugged at his lips.
"That, mister Winchester, is a very astute comment." Even Ruby, bad as she was at social cues, winced from the sheer cutting sarcasm in those words. "However, I was not speaking of the magic you might see performed onstage; those such as card tricks and the like, though with certain applications of semblances, even they could become a threat. I was instead referring simply to a particular phenomenon that occurs with certain people's auras, which as of yet has no better name. In fact, we have the perfect candidate for a demonstration right here in this class." The student, Winchester, sneered at being passed over so easily, but Black ignored him, instead turning, to Ruby's surprise, to face Harry.
"Mr. Potter." He started, and even then, Ruby could tell there was something different as the professor looked at her friend. Something, an ancient, almost forgotten emotion, glimmered in his eyes as he met Harry's eyes, and it lay under the cultured edge of his words. "I hear you put on quite the show during Initiation. Would you mind giving a repeat performance? Without destroying the classroom, preferably." There were a few smattering laughs across the room, and even Harry himself smirked at the half-joking comment, but Ruby, who had caught the hidden meaning in his words, paled. Professor Black was asking Harry to do what he had done in the Emerald forest against that giant Arachne; but she had thought that was his semblance!
Almost as if to disprove her thoughts, Harry casually held out a hand and summoned one of his arrows to his hand, the energy crackling loudly in the silent room. Near every person in the room had held their breath as they watched, waiting for either the teacher to be proven either crazy or correct. Even as the lion-faunus dispelled the weapon, no one released a sigh. It could still have been his semblance, and it seemed Black knew that as he turned to Harry's partner.
"Mr. Malfoy, would you kindly demonstrate as well?" And again, there was an edge to his words, like he knew both of the students in some other way, but this time it was sharper, more direct. Ruby, inexperienced at reading people as she was, might have said the Professor was angry.
"Gladly, Professor." The blonde's response held a venomously sarcastic tone, and Ruby could have sworn she saw him flinch as if someone had just kicked him under the table. At the same time, both Luna and Hermione smiled in a sickly sweet manner that sent a shiver down Ruby's spine. Regardless, Malfoy summoned a similar arrow to Harry's, though his was much more unstable as energy danced up and down its length like tiny sparks of electricity. Finally, there was a great rush of air as the class breathed in unison. It seemed the professor actually knew what he was talking about.
"Alright, now that that's over with…" Black started, sending the Winchester guy a smile that could generously be called predatory. Ruby winced at the sight, before snapping back to attention. There was something about this teacher, even more so than his looks or his voice, that held the entire class in rapture as he scanned the rows. "Who would like to tell me what we just witnessed? And no smart-asses please, I know how I was at your age." Ruby felt her lips twisting into a small smile at his words. The man had a sense of humor, at least. Despite several other people laughing, however, no one raised their hands, and the professor sighed lustily after several seconds.
"Really? Have none of you learned advanced Auric theory? Malfoy and Potter, you two, at least, should be able to tell me something." Again, there was that underlying emotion as Black addressed the two boys, this time of disappointment. Neither seemed bothered, however, as Malfoy remained silent and Harry shrugged.
"I was born with it, Professor. Just because I know how it works doesn't mean I know how it works, if that makes sense." It didn't to Ruby, but the professor didn't seem as confused, simply sighing again.
"Very well, I suppose we shall have to start from the beginning. Can anyone tell me what defines your semblance? Not just your personality, but how that translates through the aura and into the specific abilities each person has that are unique to them." Again, there were a few seconds of silence, before two hands tentatively went up. Ruby wasn't surprised to see Weiss's as one of them, she got the sense that the girl was very smart, but unexpectedly the other was Hermione from Harry's team. "Ms. Granger, perhaps you can enlighten us?"
"Er.. I think it has something to do with… vibrations?" Like Pyrrha's answer, it was almost as if she were questioning herself even as she said it. Again, Professor Black sighed, though it wasn't nearly as heavy as the rest.
"Close enough, I suppose. The answer, class, is that each of our auras, or soul if you want to be more formal about it, resonate at certain frequencies, almost like radio waves have different channels." He looked out at the students, his disappointment warring with the excitement Ruby had seen in his eyes previously. It was obvious this man enjoyed teaching. The joy he felt was written into every word and action as he lectured the class in a manner Ruby had never seen before. He didn't simply give them answers and information while expecting them to copy it all down and cram the knowledge in their heads without effort. Professor Black, instead, seemed almost to be encouraging his students to think, to find the answer he knew was hidden inside their brains. He didn't seem to think it was working, but already Ruby could see the gears turning in practically every student's mind as they watched him closely. By forcing them to answer, or even consider answering, they were starting to think in a way Ruby knew she never had before during class, and doubted many others had either.
"Now, as you can imagine, each frequency will have different effects, most notably in our semblances. There is, supposedly, a way to define and categorize your semblance through the frequency, essentially telling you what that semblance is, but those kind of things are far above your pay grade, and even mine, most days." Black gave the class a serious look at this, and somehow, Ruby didn't think he was making a joke, this time. Whatever this method was, it must be… well, not dangerous, but certainly something unpleasant. "More important to note is that there are certain… sweet spots, if you will, that resonate with something in the greater universe, allowing the use of magic. We will hopefully cover that and other similar topics later in your education, but for now that should suffice. Two very good examples of these 'sweet spots' are misters Potter and Malfoy." He gestured at the two boys, the dark-haired of which waved cheekily at the class even as his partner simply raised his eyebrows in a bored manner. When attention returned back to him, Professor Black leaned back on his desk, until he was practically sitting on its edge.
"Now, I'm sure you are all eager to begin learning the myriad ways to kill Grimm with magic, or avoid being killed by criminals wielding it, as the case may be, but before we do so there is something that must be done first. Perhaps you can tell me, Mr. Arc?" Jaune, the blonde haired kid Ruby recognized from JNPR jumped at the sound of his name, looking utterly caught off guard at having been called out. He eyed the professor warily before answering in a slow voice.
"Uh, we need to… know if we have magic, I guess? I mean, not everyone can use it, right?" The look on the guy's face was priceless when the Professor nodded, a kind smile on his face.
"That is precisely correct Mr. Arc. Good job." Then, perhaps for the first time since changing from his dog form, the professor took his eyes off the arrayed students, turning to retrieve something from behind his desk. An instant later he straightened and turned back, holding a wicked looking poker with two tines. "Well?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, glancing around the room. "Who should I stick first?" Almost unsurprisingly, Ruby was one of the very few girls whose hand didn't shoot up.
XXX
Okay… so that's a thing. You know, I was actually expecting this chapter to include several other scenes, but this was already getting ridiculously long, so I decided to save them for next time.
So, before I let you all go, I really want to apologize for any OOCness that may have occured. For some reason, I had a really hard time pinning down Ruby's character as I wrote this. Sirius, as well, may have seemed a bit different, but that is mainly for the same reasons as Luna, stated in previous AN's. Also, a bit of a fun fact, I based his teaching style after how I myself would teach, given the chance. That may seem a bit iffy, but I can also imagine Sirius doing something very similar, so sue me. (Actually, don't, I'm poor enough as it is)
BEFORE ANYONE GOES CALLING PERVERT!
Sirius, in this story, is twenty. Maybe twenty one, at a stretch. This is primarily because by my rough timeline, he was thrown into the veil about four years before Harry and crew, who are sixteen, the canon age for beginning Beacon. (I keep seeing people write it as seventeen, and have no idea why. I'm pretty sure they say it at least twice in the show.) As such, he is not a fourty year old man, so it is not immoral for schoolgirls to lust after him, or the other way around.(Though that isn't quite what he does. At least, not blatantly.) Ruby, yes, is kinda creepy, but as stated in previous chapters, she is still a teenage girl with teenage hormones, and twenty doesn't look that different from sixteen or seventeen. Plus, she only had the initial shock of seeing what is essentially a very pretty boy.(Once again, I reiterate that I am a perfectly straight male) If you noticed, she barely thought about his looks after that. HOWEVER! Sirius will be paired with someone in this fic. I won't tell you who, but suffice to say I went to great trouble ensuring that he wouldn't be too old, hence the whole young!Sirius. I mean, there is the whole teacher/student thing, but I'm fairly certain both can keep that separate from their love life, not to mention I personally don't believe in such prohibitions except to prevent cheating and similar things, and by the time it happens they might be past the battle of Beacon. Also, Sirius isn't a faunus, though I was sort of planning him to be.
Now, I should probably let you all go, so don't forget to Review, and have a wonderful Halloween!(If I don't get the next one up soon, at least)