Hogwarts Express, 4:45 pm

Overall, Harry had been having a pretty crappy time so far. Why first, he didn't have any contact with friends the entire summer which was real bummer (not a game breaker but, still ). Then his aunt came over and started insulting his parents (calling them drunks and other such nonsense), which pissed him off to no end. Then he accidentally inflates her (though he'd never admit he was sorry, he kinda liked it honestly), which lead to him vacating the premises and heading to the Leaky Cauldron. There he met with Minister Fudge, who had acted suspiciously lenient when he thought he was going to get into legal trouble for that whole "Giant Balloon Aunty" thing just earlier that day. That along with the Minister's almost fake feeling overly cheerful attitude had put him on edge for a while.

He would've been totally fine had that been it. Yet fate had never been that kind to him, so why should it start now? No, it had apparently decided that a murderous criminal should escape the inescapable (least that's everyone said) Azkaban with the intent of hunting him down and killing him. 'Just perfect' he said to himself, the thought drowning in sarcasm.

To top All that off, he didn't even get his permission slip signed. Other than that, things were going great! Super, actually.

Just as he was reflecting on his misadventures while his friends went back and forth on the situation (Honestly, did they feel the need to recap the entire situation?), the door to their cabin slid open. It was a woman, 20's if Harry had to guess. She was dressed in all black, the clothing resembling something of a military uniform. Her eyes where cold and lifeless, something he wanted to forget as soon as possible. The hair was about shoulder length and pretty well kept, against expectations. Her ethnicity was entirely impossible to place it was almost like she was from everywhere on earth. She held the occupants in a scrutinizing gaze, as if checking for something. After what seemed like forever she simply closed the door and left.

"Bloody hell, she was scary. Wonder what that was about." said Ron, breaking the silence that had fallen over the three. Harry had to agree with that statement, the lady was pretty damn scary.

"She was probably looking for Sirious Black. I mean it'd only make sense they'd put extra security at the school after his escape," came the nearly infinite insight of Hermione. Seriously, one had to wonder how much she was actually learning from school vs. how much she already knew.

After that, Harry decided he needed a nap, "Wake me up when we get there." With that he was asleep, not even waiting for the reply.

Great Hall 7:26 pm

As he looked over the first year sorting looking at their highly optimistic faces (well, most of them anyways), Harry couldn't help thinking, 'Don't get your hopes up, kids.' Sound advice if he's ever heard any, not that the bar had been set very high. He also noted the man dressed out of place (well, out of place for here…other than location, he dressed rather normally) sitting at the Professors long table. The spiky mess he called hair, however, would fit right in (Seriously, what was it with wizards and their crazy hairstyles? Did they have something against hair? what had it ever done to them?) He had an all business demeanor and looked kinda scary. 'Par for the course.'

After the choir did…whatever that was, Professor Dumbledore stood to give his yearly speech.

"Welcome students, to what is sure to be another excellent year at Hogwarts. There are a few things I'd like to say before we begin our feast. First, I'd like to introduce the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor…"

'wonder who he suckered into it this time'

"…Mr. Kritsugu Emiya." Then the scary man he noted earlier stood, bowed, and sat back down. Now that he noticed, the man was dressed in a black tench coat and two piece suit. Very out of place here in land where time stands still. The man, Professor Emiya as was he now named, also had that same soulless gaze as the woman on the train, weird. Didn't stop a piece of paper from going around with bets on how long he was going to last.

"Mr. Emiya comes to us with a wealth of experience in the field. As a freelancer he has had encounters with things you, and even I, may never get the chance to see outside of books and stories. Treat him with the respect he deserves."

'Freelancer? You mean Mercenary, don't you?'

"Our Care of Magical Creatures professor of many years has retired. I am excited to announce that one taking his place will be our very own, Rubis Hagrid!"

Harry had to admit that was pretty awesome.

"On a more descriptive note, at the request of the Ministry of Magic…"

'Wait for it…'

"…Hogwarts, until further notice, will play host to the dementors of Azkaban, until such a time as Sirious Black is captured."

'There it is!'

With that out of the way Harry just tuned out the rest. Seeing as something like this was pretty much an everyday occurrence for him. Hermione, however, had a slight look of caution on her face. Concerned about the new professor, no doubt. He'd have to ask about that later. As for now, he'd just eat and enjoy the fact he wasn't at the Dursleys while it lasted. Which, knowing his own luck, wouldn't be much longer.

In the Gryffindor common room the discussion mainly centered around their newest DADA professor. Everyone unanimously agreed he was (quote) "A very intimidating fellow." It was just a fact of life that couldn't be denied.

"Well, I think it's a good thing he's scary. Mean's he knows what he's doing, plus he probably has loads of experience with thing we've never heard of." said Seamus, taking Harry out of his introspection.

"Didn't stop you from putting a lot on 'Gone before the holidays.'" Dean rebuked.

"Hey, I said I liked his demeanor, not that I was naive. Don't matter how good he is, seat's not going to keep him."

"True, better take in what we can before he's out the door... Hey, anyone know what Dumbledore meant when he said the guy's freelancer? I mean, how is that relevant to teaching about the Dark Arts?"

At this Harry decided to jump in, "Means he works for whoever pays the most. I'm guessing the jobs he does aren't all too nice for him to be teaching that subject. Maybe that's why they gave him the seat in the first place, who knows?"

"You're probably right about that one. One can't be that scary without having a dark-side. This certain to make the year more interesting. Though I do wonder if it has anything to do with Sirious Black's escape."

Hm, he hadn't thought about that one. Certainly was a possibility. Maybe it was just Dumbledore's way of adding an extra layer of security, he wasn't really sure anyone knew how the old man thought. If anyone did they never cared to share anything on it.

From there the conversation went to how their summer break was. Harry thought that was a good a time as any to hit the hay. 'Besides, classes start tomorrow'

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AN: Sup guys? How's life? Cool... Anyways, the magical school year has started! Yay! Also, Harry (as you no doubt have noticed) is going to have a heavily internalized sarcastic personality... Psychologically makes sense and it's just fun to write (you know I'm right...hehe).

Also, I concede, my grammar sucks dick. Willing to accept help on that, though I'll still go on with or without it. Feel free to volunteer, or not.

Warning!: May be a while before I have a chance to write again. You know, with job hunting and all...Especially when it HAS TO BE a night job due to reasons...Just, yeah...thought you should you...

UNTIL NEXT TIME!