Here's the next chapter as promised. Oh and thanks for pointing out that mistake. I've corrected it now for those who just hate those grammatical details. Hope you enjoy this one as well.
Chapter 1: I Heard the Owl Call My Name
Perhaps?
Chapter 1: My Auditory Receptors Recalled a Strigiforme Mentioning My Nomenclature
"HURRY UP OR WE'LL BE LATE!!!" Screamed James Potter at his best friend Sirius Black.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," he grumbled as he lifted his trunk onto the train.
They managed to get on the train right before it left. "Great, now we'll have to find an empty compartment. Let's get going."
Everywhere was full except for that last compartment. They looked in to see Peter Pettigrew looking very uncomfortable in there. "Hey Pete! What's happening?" They followed his eyes to see a figure asleep on the opposite side of Peter. "Who's this guy?" Sirius wondered.
"Professor Harry J. Potter," a voice came from behind them.
Sirius and James jumped and spun around to see Remus Lupin smiling at them. "Nice to see you two as well."
After some handshakes and 'manly' hugs, Sirius asked Remus, "How do you know?"
"His name is written on his suitcase."
"Oh."
"Besides, I think he looks kinda like you James."
"He does not!" James said indignantly. "No one can compare to my good looks."
Sirius looked back and forth from James to their new guest. "Gee, I don't know. If he cuts his hair a bit, or you grow yours out a little, you guys can be twins."
"Ah shaddup."
The rest of the trip was quiet with the boys taking guesses on how Harry was going to teach and so forth. Then the door opened to reveal a new person to join in the compartment, Lily Evans.
"LILY!!!" James screamed with happiness.
All of them looked at Harry expectantly. The only reaction to that was a rather loud snort as he rolled over and continued sleeping.
Lily pushed James off of her. "So what are you guys doing?"
"Nothing," they all chorused together innocently.
"As if I believe that."
Lily joined in on their conversations and everyone was happy through the entire trip. Except when they were getting close to Hogwarts and the sky grew darker than usual. The train slowed down and stopped.
"We can't be there just yet," said Lily wonderingly.
A cold dread filled them. "Don't worry," Remus reassured them. It's probably just something on the tracks." Nods from everyone made each other feel better. It wasn't until this occurred that they heard a rustling.
The lights suddenly went out and everyone went into a panic. "EVERYONE FREEZE!!!" a voice called above the cacophony of screams. They looked in the general direction to see Harry, fully awake and alert, holding a ball of blue fire. Its light cast shadows on his face that made him look like a lurking demon. His eyes, though they couldn't see the irises, burned with a fury of determination that shone through the darkness. For what, they didn't know.
Harry made towards the door, but before he could open it, someone else did. A slimy looking, decrepit hand pulled the door open. At once, everyone felt the temperature drop several degrees and saw flashbacks of their worst memories: Grimmauld Place, Voldemort, Deaths, nights of the full moon. Dementors.
Immediately Harry brought the fire in front of the Dementor. His eyes narrowed, "Go back and inform him that this plan failed." The Dementor stood there as if to contemplate, then, amazingly, it nodded and fled, its robes flowed into the shadows until nothing was left.
Turning back to the students, Harry fished out a large slab of chocolate and broke it to pieces to be shared by them. "Here eat this; it'll make you feel better. I've got to have a word with the conductor."
After Harry left the room, they looked at each other and spoke in whispers. "What just happened?" James asked.
"I don't know. I just suddenly felt really cold and that I would never be happy again," said Lily. She leaned slightly closer to James though no one noticed.
"I'm sure we read about them from somewhere, but I don't remember," whispered Peter.
"It was a Dementor," answered Sirius.
"A former guard of Azkaban," a continued answer came from the doorway. They all jumped and looked up to see Harry standing there. He calmly walked over and sat down. Noticing that they haven't eaten the chocolate yet, he grabbed a piece. "Go on and have a piece. It'll help. I haven't poisoned it you know." With a weak chuckle from all of them, they ate the chocolate.
"What happened?" asked Remus.
"A Dementor got on the train. I got rid of it. And now we're moving towards Hogwarts. The only bad thing would be a slightly late dinner," he said calmly as if the Dementor didn't affect him at all.
"But how did the lights get turned off?"
Harry scratched his cheek nervously. "That was my fault. I think I rolled on something in my sleep."
They looked at him as if he was crazy. Harry waved them off and looked out the window for the rest of the ride, choosing not to speak or respond to them. He looked as if there was something heavy weighing down his mind, so they decided to leave him alone.
They arrived at the castle and rode the carriages to the door. They entered and went to the Great Hall. After sitting down, they watched the sorting. It was strange that Harry wasn't sitting with the rest of the staff.
"Welcome to another year. Before we befuddle our minds with a wonderful feast, I would like to make some announcements. It should be noted that our caretaker, Mr. Filch, has added on to his ever expanding list of items not to be carried around in the halls. Students should also know that the Forbidden Forest is forbidden with reasons. And finally, it seems that our Defense Against Dart Arts professor is not here-"
Suddenly, the doors were burst opened as Harry was tossed into the room. He got up and brushed off his clothes before screaming out to the hall outside while shaking his fist, "You're just like all the other Easter Bunnies. Can't take a good punch to the crotch!" Then he noticed that everyone had their eyes on him. "Oh…err…hi everyone?" He quickly hurried to the Heads Table and sat down in his chair.
Dumbledore just looked amused. "Well, I stand corrected. Here is our defense professor. Do you have anything you wish to say?"
Harry nodded and stood up. "Be prepared," he said grimly. And with that he sat down again. Everyone stared at him expectantly to see if he would say something else. The girls were especially expectant because in their eyes, he was a sex god.
He looked at Dumbledore and they stared at each other for a second before Dumbledore nodded and got the twinkle back in his eyes. The teachers sitting next to him heard him mutter, "Fine, I'll do it this time."
Harry stood back up and said in a clear voice, "Nitment! Blubber! Oddwit! Tweak!" He clapped his hands and the food appeared on every table. Harry sat down and enjoyed his dinner.
"Okay, so the guy's kind of crazy. He's seen nothing until he gets a taste of our welcoming pranks for all new professors," Sirius said with a maniacal grin.
"I don't think he's to be taken lightly," Remus said with a small frown.
"Why?"
"See his left wrist?"
"Yeah?"
"What do you see?"
"A watch?"
"Yes. There's only one reason someone would wear such a heavy watch here."
"And that reason is…?"
Remus sighed. "Don't you get it?" He sighed again when they shook their heads. "In a fight, that watch would protect the blood vessels in his wrists."
"But the only way to get them cut is if someone gets really lucky with a cutting curse."
"Not quite James. If he was fighting someone who was using a knife or other type of weapon, then he would have more than enough reasons to wear the watch."
"So this guy is some sort of hard core killer?"
"I didn't say that. I just think that he's been in a lot of fights and knows how to handle himself."
Peter spoke up with insight. "He also covers up everything except his face. Maybe he has scars he doesn't want people to see?"
Everyone was talking about the new professor and his strangeness. The teachers looked half way between wanting to talk to him and to leave him to his own devices because they feared if they got any closer and he would have bit off their hand in his haste to devour his food.
It was half way through dessert before they got a reaction out of him. There was a BANG and several students dove under the table for cover. Harry flipped out of his chair and took a defensive stance.
Not seeing anything, he looked up to see ribbons of various colors writing out a message.
Good evening Hogwarts, we've hoped you enjoyed your dinner. This year is going to be very fun. Be cautious. This goes for everyone, students and teachers alike.
Sincerely
THE MARAUDERS
Some of the teachers looked horrified at this display, but Dumbledore and Harry were mostly amused, to the bemusement of the Marauders. The hall was quieting down when there was another BANG and a jet black ribbon floated up to spell out its own message.
Interesting trick Messrs. Marauders. Mr. Prongslet wishes to conduct his own pranks and see how the legendary Marauders deem him, with the consent of Messrs. Prongs, Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail of course.
The whole Hall was silent at this new display. Everyone's heard of the Marauders, but there was nothing about Mr. Prongslet. The teachers were silently praying for salvation, while the Marauders were confused and somewhat irritated.
HEY! Who are you to bust in our act anyway?! Padfoot.
No one. I would like to request to change my name though. Prongslet.
Where did you get your name anyway? Moony.
Apparently from Prongs, duh. Prongslet.
And how? Moony.
Apparently, and I quote from Mr. Padfoot, who quoted from Mr. Prongs that 'Pigs give birth to piglets, fish to fishlets, and frogs to froglets, therefore, Prongs give birth to Prongslet.' Prongslet
Yes, I also know that frogs lay eggs that hatch into tadpoles. Not froglets. Prongslet.
Snickers. This guy's got you hands down Prongs. Padfoot.
DO NOT! Prongs.
Do too! Moony.
DO NOT! Prongs.
Are you going to say that all night? Padfoot.
How about we put it to simple votes? Who here believes that Prongs would say that? Moony.
Aye! Padfoot.
Aye! Prongslet.
Aye! Wormtail.
Aye! Moony.
All oppose? Moony.
Nay! Prongs.
Majority spoken! Now how many believes that Padfoot would repeat it? Moony.
Aye! Prongslet-Wormtail-Prongs-Moony.
All oppose? Moony.
Nay! Padfoot.
Again majority spoken. Moony.
Well, while it's been fun, we have to take off for the night. I'll be seeing you again. MAY CHAOS REIGN.
With the black ribbon disappearing, all of the other ribbons disappeared as well. The entire hall, which was silent during the presentation, broke out in wild chats. The prefects eventually escorted the students to their dormitories and Lily and James, being Head Boy and Head Girl, stayed behind to talk with Dumbledore.
That night, those who were awake, which weren't many, talked about what just transpired and the mysterious defense professor.
-
Another Side Another Story: Confused Marauders
"How does he know about us?" Asked Sirius in a loud voice in their dormitories.
"Quiet down," Remus admonished him mildly. "But yes, I do admit that I am rather curious about how much he knows about us. He even stuck to the Marauder rules when addressing us and he seems to know about Prongs. He made the comment about the animals."
"You haven't told anyone have you Prongs?" Peter asked.
"Of course not!" James shouted out indignantly.
"Then how?" Sirius wondered out loud. "Moony, you're the smart one. How does he know?"
"Let's go back to what we know," Remus suggested. "Do we even know that this person is a he? He could be a she."
"Maybe. Anyway, he seems to know a lot about the Marauders' Code, even though none of us have told anyone anything yet."
"I have my money on the new professor," Sirius said confidently. They all stared at him. "What? He seems like the only reasonable choice. He just showed up."
"All the more reason that he wouldn't know anything about us," Remus sighed. "You shouldn't go around pointing fingers without being sure. Let's get to sleep. We don't want to be late for classes tomorrow."
"Boo," the rest of the Marauders chided him. The night ended with a mild pillow fight. By which mild means they required new pillows.
-
The next day, Harry was also missing from the Head Table and rumors were starting to see how he was going to top yesterday's entrance.
It was midway through breakfast when the door burst open and Harry rushed in, wet and wearing nothing more than swimming trunks. He was screaming until he reached the Head table and jumped behind it. Many of the students saw his body as he rushed past. Several girls fainted but there were several factors that could have caused this. All of them were impressed with his well toned muscles. He was taunt but not overly buff. While the nice muscles added to his charm, what captured the eyes of most of the student body, and student bodies, were the many scars that lined his muscles. They weren't ugly and somehow didn't look out of place on him. They seem to add to his image that he was a nice guy that can kill you and you know it.
At the moment though, Harry looked nothing like a warrior. He was wearing minimal clothing, dripping wet, and had a look of utmost terror on his face. The entire school turned to the doors to see what in Hell caused Harry to look terrified.
The doors swung open to reveal a young girl, probably not older than Harry himself. She had pale skin and silver to white hair. Her hair was a lot shorter than Harry's; only going down to her shoulders. On her face were two dark streaks on each cheek, enhancing her piercing golden eyes. Her clothing was simple. It looked like a toga for females in the Greek eras, a chiton, that ended more like a miniskirt. It was slightly stretched over her midsection. It was double girded with golden cords ending in gold tassels.
While she was very stunning, what captured their attention wasn't her very short dress. It was the murderous glare that she was giving Harry. Well, that and that her right arm was slightly longer than her left by at least three feet, yellow, scaly, and ending and black talons.
"WHAT WE'RE YOU DOING OUT THERE WITH ABSOLUTELY NO PROTECTION?!?!?!" She literally screeched.
Now the entire hall was looking at Harry expectantly. What was he going to comeback with next, and more importantly, what was he doing out there?
"Who's the lucky girl, Harry?" asked a Hufflepuff.
Harry only looked straight at the girl, at the door, not the Hufflepuff. Then he fell to his knees, clasped his hands together, and begged for his life. "I'm sooooo sorry, Hedwig! Please spare my poor, unfortunate soul!"
Hedwig ignored that comment. Instead, she lifted her left hand and a glowing silver bow appeared. "Since I understand what happened," she lifted her talons and a golden arrow appeared. "I'll give you one to ten to get out of range."
"Can't we talk this out?!" Harry began scurrying for the door.
"ONE, TWO, TEN!!!" Hedwig let loose the arrow.
Harry suddenly froze. Dumbledore was the only person, but he noticed that Harry's eyes glinted slightly. Harry swiftly turned around and snatched the arrow out of the air. His eyes were burning with humor and he had a smirk that scared half the first years.
"Fancy parlor trick, Hedwig. But it won't work," said Harry was he crushed the arrow back to magical energies.
"Maybe, but you shouldn't be so arrogant," came Hedwig's voice from behind him.
"Wha-!" Harry couldn't finish because the Hedwig at the door faded away to reveal a Hedwig behind him. She grabbed his wrist and calmly placed him in an arm lock. Dumbledore noticed that the glint was gone again and returned to his plate though he looked out of the corner of his eye.
"Now then, what have we learned today?"
"Never piss you off ever again, your royal Majesty."
"Ahem!" Hedwig pressed down harder.
"Ah... Never piss you off ever again, your royal, elegant, and oh-so beautiful Majesty and that only one other person can even compare to your beauty."
"Good. How many times have we been over this?"
"Eight hundred sixty seven thousand, three hundred two times ma'am."
"Ahem!" Hedwig pressed down harder.
"Ah... Too many to count ma'am."
"And so why do you continually do such things?"
At this, Harry grinned cheekily from his submissive position. "Because, I know that you always show up, beat up whoever was picking on me, and then yell at me, threaten bodily harm, and then inflict said harm on me before letting me go and quartering me."
Hedwig started to smile. "Good boy." She released his arm. "Go and enjoy your breakfast. Don't skimp. Growing boys need their nutrition."
"Okay, Hed!" Harry said happily. He sat down and loaded his plate with breakfast. "You want some?"
Hedwig nodded. White wings sprouted from her back and covered her completely. They open and shrunk to show a beautiful snowy white owl who hopped onto the table and helped herself to Harry's bacon.
Throughout this entire exchange everyone was watching in silence. Harry noticing this spared them a glare. Everyone quickly returned to their food and talked animatedly with each other. The only other person who didn't do so was Dumbledore. He was already eating ever since before Hedwig transformed. Of course, he still kept his eye on his newly appointed defense professor.
-
Another Side Another Story: M.E.C.H III
"So who are you?" The boy with red hair asked.
"I am Mech," came Harry's monotonous reply.
"Is that really your name?" The girl with bushy hair asked suspiciously.
"Come on guys, he's new here. Besides, we haven't even given him our names yet," The girl with red hair told them.
The girl with bushy hair blushed from embarrassment. "Oh I'm sorry. I'm Hermione Granger; this is Ron and Ginny Weasley," she said pointing to the boy and girl respectively.
"My birth name I suppose would be Harry Potter," Harry replied, still monotonous.
The reactions were expected. Ron looked halfway between awe worshipping and unbelieving. Hermione looked at him as if she wanted to dissect him, or at least so he thought. Ginny though, he couldn't place that look.
The rest of the train ride consisted of him giving them non-classified information to them.
-
"Class today! What's first?" Asked Sirius.
"Defense with the Slytherins, then we head to Transfiguration," answered Remus who already memorized his schedule.
James clicked his tongue. "When will they learn that no matter how much they put us with the Slytherins, we just won't get along?"
"Too right James. Anyway cool, do we have the prank for the welcome?"
"Yep Peter, and he'll never expect it."
They headed to Harry's classroom to find it closed. A group was already in front of it.
"What's going on?"
"It seems like Professor Potter isn't here yet."
The Marauders looked humored. "Really," they cackled slyly. They went forth and opened the door. This would give more than enough time to make sure that the prank would go according to plan. As they walked in, the rest of the class filed in as well.
The interior of the classroom was strange. There was a head table one the far side of the room in the center and long tables for the students in two columns with several rows. Several large cabinets were located here and there against the wall. Various objects were placed neatly on the cabinets but none were activated. A strange door with a knob was located to the right of the head table that most of the students were sure wasn't there the previous year.
The students all sat down, and the Marauders chose front seat to see the action. As soon as the students sat down though, no less than five stunners came out and knocked out five students. The rest of the class went into a panic after that.
"AGAIN EVERYBODY FREEZE!!!" Harry's voice boomed. Everyone ceased whatever action they were in as Harry came out from one of the shadows and stormed over to them muttering under his breath. He revived the fallen and shouted, "EVERYONE TO THEIR SEATS!!!"
He walked to his desk and turned around so that his robes billowed out menacingly. His face of fury was suddenly changed to one of friendliness and peace. "Welcome of Defense Against Dark Arts for Seventh Years," he said calmly. "Let's begin by taking role."
He took the roll sheet and didn't even look at it before throwing it into his folder. "You probably have a lot of questions about this class and me. So let's introduce ourselves first and then proceed with the lesson next class."
Lily raised her hand and stood up. "Lily Evans. What are we going to be covering this year?"
Harry looked at her surprised. "That's a very good question you know. Questions about what lies ahead. The world only proceeds with good questions like that. Now then, as for your question, I'll let you know as soon as I get a good answer."
"Huh?"
"I'll let you know tomorrow. Mainly because I don't have a clue either."
"Oh."
"Any more questions?"
A random girl stood up. "How old are you?"
"I'm afraid that if I say, you won't like me anymore," and he gave her one of his most charming smile.
She, and several other girls, blushed and sat down. Harry chuckled. "Seriously though, I've seen death, suffered death, and caused death. How old do you think I am?" The class was silent and just looked at him; the same thoughts running through their minds. And he says this with a relaxed smile.
Sirius stood up. "Okay then wise guy, where are your credentials?"
"You wouldn't find any."
"Why?"
"Because they were erased."
"Do tell," he said sarcastically.
"If you insist. Let's see, I'm the son of James Potter and Lily Evans. I've come to the past to mess around with everyone's minds including yours. And so that's why you won't find any information on me."
The class took as second to process this. "As if!" Alice, future mother of Neville, burst out laughing. "I don't know if you know Lily prior to this, but she's really protective of what's hers. Lily would never let her son do something so dangerous."
Lily was stuttering, "M-me?! With Potter?!"
"You know you're just dying to go out with me," James said, flashing her a smile.
"Ah perhaps, but I digress," Harry continued before another battle escalated.
"You said something about it being erased, sir," said Remus pondering on his words.
"Clever. It's true. My existence, along with several others, was wiped from the minds of everyone else. All evidence were terminated and made sure so that it was never found. All of this, by order of the Ministry."
"Wha- why?"
"Because, I held the key to the defeat of old Cheesy and his Death Crunchers."
"You mean You-Know-Who?" A Gryffindor asked nervously.
"I'm sorry," Harry said with a slight frown. "I'm afraid that I don't know who. There are oh so many people that I know and many more that I don't know." Not letting anyone getting a word in, Harry continued, "However, if you were talking about Voldemort, Moldy-shorts, or Oldy-warts then I believe I know who you're talking about."
This new teacher was just one thing after another. A Slytherin girl stood up fearfully. "Don't say his name, otherwise he'll come and get you."
"Really, I don't see him here. Besides, he's already come after me."
"Oh yeah?" scoffed a different Slytherin skeptically.
Harry looked at him. "I've been in more battles than most of you ever will in your life. This was the reason that I was wiped from the records. The ministry got rid of all material records of the ones they were about to hide, then they wiped the memories of everyone that knew that person, down to the smallest scrap. Then the ones who could use memory charms, obliviated the ones who obliviated the citizens. Everyone's gone, except for me now though."
"Uh-huh…Memory charms can be broken, how do we know you're telling the truth?" He asked still skeptical.
Harry just smirked at him. "When all stimuli are removed, it will provide no provocation to trigger the memory. Also, everyone forgot, so there was no reason to remember at all. For every blank space, you naturally try to fill it, even subconsciously, so if you try too hard, your memory may falsely lead you. Plus, all we really had to do was ensure that everyone filled in the blanks with relatively corresponding memories. Luckily we had a skilled Legilimens," Harry recited.
The class just stared at him in shock. If what he said was true, then why would he divulge the information?
"Simple really. Because there's no longer a need to keep the information a secret. No one else survived so it's pointless for me to try and keep anyone else hidden safe. I can handle my own and there's really no reason to keep silent because I've achieved my goal. Now then, class is about to be over so I'm going to have to ask everyone to write a paper about what they learn, want to learn, etc. Due next class."
Most of the class gave a collective moan; all except Lily who looked ecstatic. She raised her hand, "How long does it have to be?"
"As long as you want. Just be sure to include all of what you know and want to know. If you can somehow miraculously fit it on one sentence, then by all means. Probably won't be able to though."
The bell rang and everyone rushed out the room, eager to spread the news about the messed up professor.
-
Another Side Another Story: What happened to the prank?
Harry sighed as he dragged his chair down to the Charms classroom. It would be so much easier if he did this himself, but he didn't want to draw any attention to himself.
'You keep thinking that Harry. Why then did you have to be so showy?'
The Marauders were tricky, he'll give them that much. They took a muggle prank and took it one step further with magic. They put glue on his chair so that his seat will be glued to it. Not only that, the glue would refuse to be removed by any kind of magic… well legal magic anyway.
The boys needed a lot more work if they want to catch him off guard. Hmm, catch off guard… that'll come in handy to teach them.
-
The next morning, breakfast a normal affair. Harry was there on time and was happily eating his breakfast. He wasn't inhaling his food like usual so he was talking with the fellow staff. He was currently engaged in a conversation with Professor McGonagall.
"So you see, professor-" he was cut off by a screech.
He looked up to see the owls flying in disarray. A black raven was flying straight towards him. It landed carefully on the table in front of him and stuck out its leg. Harry quickly grabbed the letter and read it. The raven stood stock still, waiting for him. The rest of the hall was looking at him as well.
The letter was on regular paper, but had red ink. It read:
Dear Mr. Harry J. Potter,
I understand that you have recently accepted the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts. What's more was that I learned from one of my Dementors, the one that you drove off the train if I'm not mistaken, that you radiated with a strange power. Normally I'm not one to accept just the words of another, but if you truly are this great, I would like to meet with you in person and discuss in greater detail about our current situations. Please send a message back with my raven noting your earliest convenience. I give you my word, and an Unbreakable Oath, that you will not be harmed if you come for the meeting.
Sincerely Yours,
Lord Voldemort
P.S. Please give a description of yourself so I will know who to find.
Harry looked at the letter mesmerized. He shook his head to snap himself out of it. "Must write back…need writing…stuff," he looked around the breakfast table. "Aha!" He exclaimed as he grabbed his fork and dipped it in the maple syrup. He hastily scribbled a message back and cast a freezing charm on it. He handed it back to the raven who took off quickly. As it flew away, Harry asked out loud, mostly to himself, "Why didn't I just conjure ink and a quill?"
"Who was it from?" Asked Professor McGonagall.
"Hmm? Oh, no one unimportant," he replied with a bright smile.
While many people were worried, they went back to eating. Dumbledore knew that the Sorting Hat wasn't wrong when it read his mind.
"You are certain that he is not of the dark, or planning to?"
"I'm sure Albus."
"You said he can help us against Voldemort. How?"
"He is definitely stronger than Voldemort, and possibly you." Dumbledore raised his bushy eyebrows quickly and hopefully. "Combined." Dumbledore changed to worry.
"What if he should become the next Dark Lord?"
"He won't, believe me old friend. In fact, he's not against the Dark or the Light." Dumbledore looked at the hat strangely. "He's much more than that. He understands."
The conversation left Dumbledore confused. What does it mean 'He understands'? The whole matter of his peculiar professor would require him to think about it for the year to come.
Nearing the end of breakfast, Lily and two of her friends approached Harry. He looked up at them expectantly. All three girls had red blushes on their faces.
"Professor Potter, what chapters are we going to be covering this semester?" Asked Lily very fast.
Harry looked at her and took a moment to process what she just said. Then he smiled. This scene reminded him of a very dear friend who did just that. "Don't worry about bringing your book this semester. I've spares aplenty so we'll use those instead. Oh, and don't worry about the lessons. Most of it's going to be practical." He smiled at her crestfallen face, just like his old friend. "You'll do fine at the practical. You're Muggleborn so if you have any inclination at all to muggle science, you'll do fine." And with that, he went off to his classroom, leaving behind two star struck girls and a disheartened yet comforted Lily.
When Harry walked into his class, most of the students looked at him in shock. Instead of wearing a normal cloak like many other sane wizards, Harry came in decked out in a black long sleeve shirt with black pants. Pretty much everything on him was black, down to the socks and belt. He even had gloves and boots, though they looked like they were for battle and stealth. They saw a slight bulge on his left arm that they recognized as his watch. The most distinctive article he wore was a long black trench coat that reached his ankles. His hair was still in its cool ponytail.
He calmly walked to the front of the class and ignored all of the stares he was receiving. When he turned around, his trench coat billowed out impressively behind him and they all saw what was attached at his waist. It was a long sword.
"Welcome to class today. Thanks to the suggestion of Lily, I was able to take into account what books to use for today's lesson since I haven't really thought about it up until now." Everyone, except Remus and the more studious ones and James, gave Lily glares. "Now then, I want everyone to repeat after me, Avis Flammarum."
"Avis Flammarum," the class echoed.
"Good, you've got the name down. Now you should be able to perform the spell."
Lily raised her hand. "What's the wand motion Professor Potter?"
Harry looked at her confusedly. "Err… to be honest, I don't really know."
The class looked at him in shock. Harry noticed their looks and became defensive. "Hey! I was designing this spell to be wandless, I didn't really take into account what wand motions were used."
The class got over their shock and gave him an incredulous look. "Really," said the same Slytherin that was disbelieving him yesterday. "You should take lessons on lying. Wandless magic is extremely hard to do. Only the best like Dumbledore and You-Know-Who can do it."
Harry looked at him for a moment. "I'm sorry but I really don't know who. I though I went over this yesterday. Oh well, but if you require a demonstration," Harry said as he flicked his hand and snapped his fingers in mid flick. Fire seemed to sprout from his very fingertips and wove around until it formed a bird. It flapped its flaming wings to keep itself airborne and sent sparks with every beat. To say the entire class was entranced would be wrong, they were mesmerized.
After a while, it settled on Harry's desk, looking intensely at his class.
"Most of it is intent. I suppose if you want to break this down to the basics, you cast a fire charm or you could conjure fire if you want, then twist it into a shape, in this case a bird. An animation charm would keep it alive…somewhat."
The class looked at him as if he was some horrible alien that was asking for a teddy bear, which was to say impossible. Harry continued, "If using a wand, I suppose it would be like a flick upwards follow by a sharp and short downward flick," demonstrating it with an invisible wand.
"Is this a registered spell Professor?" asked Remus nervously.
"Not that I'm aware of, but it doesn't really matter because the situation changes every time. Like you're not supposed to use spells in front of muggles unless it's a life and death situation. This spell is really the same."
Severus Snape raised his hand, "Sir, I thought that you were supposed to teach us what was supposed to be on our N.E.W.T.s"
"Well…yeah…but I was hoping to teach you something fun for a first lesson. Besides, unless you go up against someone who's been taught this spell by me, they'll be totally unprepared."
This statement alone got most of the class scrambling to practice the spell. Harry chuckled and walked around, helping the students here and there.
By the end of class, everyone was able to produce a fire bird, but was unable to animate it. Their birds were also a lot smaller than Harry's.
"Good try today everyone. Next lesson will be the curriculum, but practice this spell if you want when you have the free time."
Everyone nodded. It was easier when you have the basics of the spell down. Like Harry said, it was mostly intent. You start your intent with wanting a lasting fire (though they still had to pour energy into it to keep it burning), then change it to wanting the fire to take shape, and the final part, which no one got, was to want the fire to start moving.
"Professor, why aren't you as tired as everyone else?" asked a sweating Remus.
Indeed, everyone, excluding Harry was sweating. Harry chuckled at this. "I was wondering when someone would point this out." The class gave him looks again and he sighed. "The fact is that I'm using less energy to produce the fire in the first place."
"But-but your bird! It's still there!"
And so it was. The bird Harry conjured at the beginning of class hadn't moved from its perch on Harry's desk.
"Yes, and I'll tell you why. First though, does anyone know what fire needs to burn?"
"Sure," said James looking at Harry like was an idiot. "You need wood and a spark."
That got a laugh out of everyone. "True, but that's not all. Anyone in here Muggleborn?"
Several people raised their hands though they were all from Gryffindor. Harry was sure that there were some from Slytherin, but he didn't push it. "Good, then does anyone know the way fire burns chemically?"
No one spoke up so Harry continued. "Fire indeed burns on wood or any combustible objects and does require a spark to be initiated. However, what many of you, and many other wizards and witches, don't know is that fire needs oxygen to burn.
"I didn't do much except created a spark and told it to take the shape of a bird. However, I increased the oxygen concentration around the bird so that it burns bigger, more brightly, and longer."
"And you didn't tell us this why?" Asked Sirius, a little angry that Harry kept that useful bit of advice to himself.
"You looked like you were having enough trouble with the spells I told you as it is. Anyway, we've got about five minutes left so any questions?"
"Is there any extra credit?" asked Lily hopefully.
While the rest of the class groaned, Harry chuckled. "Yes there is, for starters, master the spells that aren't on the curriculum and you can receive extra credit not only from me but from the examiners if you can use a spell they think is really hard. Plus, I plan to put into effect another extra credit that would be well merited to grades and house points."
With that the bell rang and everyone exited. Everyone was talking excitedly about what they were going to practice and such to impress Harry. It was after a while that everyone noticed something. Harry hasn't given or taken any points yet.
-
Another Side Another Story: Avis Flammarum
"Okay guys, I think I have something," Harry's voice called above the din. All heads turned towards him. "I think that this would be a good lesson for the DA. It's a spell that isn't registered because I made it up. It creates a fire bird that could be of some help to a battle."
"Demonstrate it," Hermione commanded Harry.
Harry smiled. "Okay. Avis Flammarum!" he shouted. A fire bird sprouted from his fingertips and flew in three rings before disappearing."
"That's amazing Harry!" Ron exclaimed.
"Yeah, but it takes too much energy to produce and it doesn't live long enough."
Hermione thought for several minutes. "Hmm… I wonder… yes, I believe that might work…"
"Any chance of letting us know any time soon?" Ron asked.
Hermione whacked him upside the head before turning to Harry. "Fire needs oxygen to burn. In a simple experiment, it was proven that fire will burn with more efficiency in an oxygen rich environment. We merely have to increase the oxygen concentration around the flames and-," Hermione was cut off by Ron.
"English please Hermione. I can't believe that we've been friends for this long and I still don't understand what you say half of the time."
Harry understood though. "I'll start working on it right away. It should work then and be efficient enough for combat." With that Harry exited.
He smiled as he heard Hermione whacking Ron with a book while screaming at him. At their age, they still act so immature sometimes, but are the best of friends.
-
Later that afternoon, Harry went to the staff room. McGonagall was the first to notice him and asked him, "Harry do you know why many of my students were asking me to teach them the animation charm early this year?"
Harry looked at her and blinked. "I think that it may have something to do with what I'm teaching them."
"Which is?" asked McGonagall intrigued. If it's something that's gripping nearly every student's mind, then it must be something spectacular.
"I taught them how to conjure a fire bird to serve as some utility or other during a battle. Most of it was their knowledge from you actually."
"Oh? How so?"
"You're the one teaching them to conjure and you were planning to teach them animation either this or in their later years anyway."
"This is quite fascinating," squeaked Flitwick.
"Oh this is nothing compared to what I plan on teaching them this year. I plan to show them that nearly all of the classes that we have here will help them in a fight, even if they don't know it."
"And are you going to tell us?" Asked Sprout.
"No, you're going to have to let time tell."
"In other words, you don't know it yet," said Slughorn jokingly.
"Yeah, in so many words." The rest of the staff now looked at him curiously.
Harry looked up as Dumbledore walked in. "Greetings Albus, I've got some news I need to tell everyone. It's about old Voldy."
Everyone looked at him. They weren't that shocked to hear him disrespect Voldemort. It was widely know throughout the school that Harry didn't fear him. "What is it Harry?"
"He's planning to send some of his goons here for an attack tomorrow," Harry said as he took another sip of his tea. "Mmm… This is great tea! Where did you get it?"
"Now's not the time Harry," Dumbledore said quickly. "We must ensure that the students are safely in their dormitories tomorrow and-"
"Don't bother," Harry interjected. The faculty looked at him with looks of outrage. "The goons tomorrow I can handle. In fact, I know exactly what they are going to do. They're going to burst into the Great Hall sometime tomorrow, I'll be ready, there's going to be a real showy battle, they get defeated, everyone is awe, we go to sleep, tomorrow becomes another day."
"Harry, I understand that you think very highly of your skills, and I do as well, but I don't think that that's enough to risk the students on," McGonagall said in a deadly whisper. None of them thought that Harry would place pride above the safety of others. "Besides, these are You-Know-Who's Death Eaters. They can kill without remorse."
Harry got up. "I've got some planning to do. But still, send the students to their dormitories if you wish. There are always those who try to sneak out because they think they know better. Also, if Voldy gets wind that they're separated, then he's just going to have his Death Munchers go around and kill on sight instead of entering the Great Hall where we can round them all up at once."
"How's he going to get wind of it?! It's outrageous!" exclaimed Slughorn.
"There are spies everywhere," Harry replied, in a scarily calm voice.
"And how do you know that Voldemort's forces are going to breach the defenses of the castle? Furthermore, how do you know that he's going to attack in the first place?" Asked Dumbledore wonderingly.
"Simple," Harry said still calm. "That letter that I wrote back to him will no doubt have him send his troops here. Yes, I do correspond with old Voldy if that's why you're gaping."
Immediately, all the wands in the room were pointed at Harry who didn't even move. "I thought you said that whoever wrote that letter wasn't important," McGonagall said furiously.
"Before you stun, maim, kill, or whatever me, please bring down the hat Albus. And I said that he was not unimportant Minny."
Dumbledore stood staring at Harry for a minute and nodded. "Keep your wands on him, I'll be back soon." With that Dumbledore went and retrieved the hat.
In the meantime, Harry was entertaining the rest of the staff in various ways. He impressed them with knowledge to questions in their area of expertise and his form of wandless magic. He created sticks and plates and proceeded to spin them. He showed them several interesting tricks including yo-yos and cards.
When Dumbledore got back he saw everyone applauding Harry for his latest trick which was to correctly pull out a chosen card by a random person on top of the deck after having the deck shuffled.
"What did I miss?" Asked Dumbledore cheerfully.
"We'll give you the memory of this later Dumbledore," Sprout said quickly.
They all became serious again. Once the Hat was on his head, everyone tensed.
"Why, Albus, did you place me on him again?" Asked the hat in a bored manner.
"He's still not Dark?" Asked Dumbledore hopefully.
"Careful Albus," said Harry from under the hat. "One might think that you want me to become dark." Everyone was taken back by that comment. When everyone regained their composure, they were sure that his eyes were twinkling as bad as, if not more than, Dumbledore's.
"No Albus, he's not Dark. He has no intention nor will he ever be, though his actions will borderline both edges. If he does ever become Dark, I'll start chucking Muggleborns out of Hogwarts." Pledged the hat. Everyone else had to concede that Harry was not Dark.
"What should we do about the attack though?" Asked McGonagall, still not convinced that the students' safety were on the top of Harry's list.
"Just trust him," the Hat said tiredly. "Now let me get back to sleep. Albus, if you would?"
Dumbledore nodded and took the hat back to its place. Harry nodded as well. "I need to go and prepare for tomorrow. No doubt she'll want to be there." Harry walked off to the exit. Before he left he turned his head back slightly, "Oh one more thing. I can, and have, killed just as ruthlessly and without remorse." With that he walked to his room, leaving behind some very stunned and worried teachers.
-
Another Side Another Story: You're trusting a hat?!
"I still don't trust him," Slughorn humped unhappily.
The rest of the staff also showed their displeasure at Harry's recklessness.
"I understand your fears," Dumbledore said, trying to keep the peace. "However, I suppose that we should leave him to his own devices and step in when things get too out of hand."
"What reasons have he given you to trust him?" McGonagall asked.
Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak, but he quickly closed it. "Looking back, he hasn't really given me any reasons. All of my reasons so far have been on what the Sorting Hat had said."
"You're trusting a hat?!" came the shouts of many teachers.
Dumbledore looked at them. "The hat has never given us reasons to doubt it before. Besides, anyone who willingly places the hat upon his or her head automatically surrenders anything and everything inside his or her mind. It doesn't matter how well your mind is defended."
The teachers didn't like it, but Dumbledore did know what he was doing. Hopefully.
-
The next day at breakfast was just like the last. The same black raven swooped down towards Harry and gave him a letter. The staff was glaring at the raven but they didn't do anything. Harry took the letter and read it. He chuckled and set it on fire. His face was of utter peace and serenity while he watched the small ball of pyrotechnics. He nodded to the raven and it took off again.
Harry's class with the seventh years Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were the same as his class with the Gryffindors and Slytherins.
It was at dinnertime when the events started to happen. When they walked into the Great Hall, a sense of power was just radiating off of Harry. Not only that, Hedwig, in her owl form, was perched on his shoulders. They were staring intently at the main doors, as if to burn a hole through it.
They didn't eat at all, and much of the talking was subdued to see what Harry was staring at. Finally, half way through dinner, Harry stood up. As soon as he stood up, the doors burst open and Harry sprang into action.
He sprinted down the row with Hedwig flying close to him. One of the students near the end of the tables saw the white mask and shouted "DEATH EATERS!" The entire hall was in a panic and everyone ran to the opposite side of the hall. A semi-invisible barrier was erected pushing all of the students towards the Staff Table.
Harry looked up to see the Death Eaters he was going to fight.
"Harry Potter, we presume," the leading Death Eater asked. His voice was clearly disguised. "Our lord wants to speak with you. He instructed us that you will only come if you are knocked out cold or dragged kicking and screaming."
"Yep, so if you think you're lucky, go ahead."
"You think you can take all of us on by yourself?! You must be crazy!"
"Maybe," Harry said. He licked his lips and raised his right hand in he air. With a loud screech that got everyone's attention, Hedwig dove straight at Harry. What happened next was nothing that anyone expected.
Hedwig folded her legs up and landed on Harry's wrist. Then her spine extended and ripped out of her back until it almost reached his shoulder. The ribs snapped down with cracks and locked Hedwig to Harry's arm. Her wings and head grew bigger and her beak became sharper. Her eyes were no longer yellow irises, but pools of green that cackled with excitement.
"Now you have to ask yourself 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya'?" Asked Harry with a maniacal smirk.
"We still outnumber you FOOL!" Screamed the Death Eater and all of them rushed Harry.
Harry looked at them and jumped back several feet. "Foolish," he muttered. He pointed his arm-Hedwig at his attackers. He yelled, "VERMOUTH!!!" and a giant ball of green light was shot towards his rushing opponents. They didn't move away in time and the first three were sent to the ground hard.
The rest of the Death Eaters, and pretty much everyone else present, stared at Harry in shock. No one took out three qualified Death Eaters, one of them being a leader, in one shot before.
Still, after getting out of their stupor, they rushed at Harry again and he was forced to shoot more of the energy blasts. By the time he stopped the first wave of Death Eaters, Hedwig's beak was smoking.
The rest of the Death Eaters were piling in now and forcing Harry to either back up or risk getting in range of their spells. Harry didn't back up and were in range for more than twenty attacks at once.
Just as they fired their attacks, Harry screamed "DETACH!" Hedwig glowed and was instantly off his arm. She rose up until he was above him.
Harry flipped up and his back connected with the glowing ball of light that was Hedwig. Harry glowed for a second and the Death Eaters sent more attacks to stop him from whatever he was doing.
Their attacks never touched him. Instantly, beautiful white wings blossomed from Harry's shoulder blades and enveloped him, each primary feather covering the gaps in the opposite wing. It was just like Hedwig turning back into an owl.
The attacks hit the wings, but they disappeared. Nothing was left of them except of the memory that they were cast. The Death Eaters were unperturbed. They constantly cast spells because they knew that if you cast enough magic into a barrier, eventually it either fades away, collapse, or explodes.
Harry was in quite a conundrum inside.
Harry, I don't know how much longer I can hold on. There's too many spells.
I know. Just a little longer Hedwig. I didn't think that he would send this many.
It doesn't look like we have a choice.
True. Let's go.
Suddenly, and without any warning whatsoever, Hedwig's-Harry's wings opened and the gust pushed every Death Eater back.
Harry landed on the ground safely. His glare was just simply menacing. On his right arm now was a coiled black snake. It wrapped his arm up to the shoulders. Thin tentacle like appendages came out of its body wrapped tightly around Harry's arm. Its head was a lot bigger than its body proportionally. Its eyes were yellow pools drowning all who looked directly in it. Its fangs were large, close to fifteen cm, and unlike other snakes, smaller teeth, approximately seven cm, were visible on both jaws.
Harry continued to glare at his opponents for a minute. Then he rushed right into the thick of it.
-
Another Side Another Story: Wait…Peter was late?!
"So Pete, why were you late to class this morning?" Sirius asked him.
"Oh that," Peter began. "I had a weird dream."
"What was it? Is it your Inner Eye?" James asked jokingly.
"Maybe," Peter said quietly.
"Tell us about it," Remus suggested. "It might make you feel better."
Peter smiled and told them about his dream.
Flashback
Peter looked around as he found himself in a dark wood. The trees were all dead and the moon was hidden behind a cloud. He heard a snap and spun around.
"The rat and the owl…" A deep voice called out to him.
Peter did not like the sound of that. He wasn't in his rat form, but he still wasn't particularly fond of owls. He looked behind him to see a figure cloaked in a black trench coat. It wasn't like Harry's though. It was zippered mostly until it reached near the end. It also had a hood that the figure was wearing.
"Which path will you take? … The path to Light? … Or perhaps the path to the Dark? … What happens is up to you … Choose carefully … For everything you gain … you must lose …"
The figure looked around. Peter was nowhere in sight. Peter thought that the speech was getting kind of old and he didn't really get it anyway. He'll stay with his friends and that was that. So he ignored the guy and walked off. He was too chatty anyway.
Peter was running through the woods now. He didn't know where he was or where he was going, but anywhere was better than just standing still.
"Peter…" He heard his name being called.
"Peter…" He heard it again though it was a different voice.
"Peter…Peter…Peter…" Several voices were calling out and overlapped with each other.
Peter kept running. He looked up to gaze into vibrant golden eyes.
"Peter," Hedwig simply stated.
End Flashback
"That was it?" Sirius asked incredulously.
"Yeah," Peter said slowly.
"Come off it Pete," James said dismissively. "I'm sure it was nothing. You probably have a crush on her."
"WHAT?!" Peter cried out.
"Don't worry, Sirius admitted that he did think that she was hot."
"Oh yeah? Well, I know that Remus thinks so."
"Why would I? Besides, I think that she has her eyes on Harry."
"Too bad for you two," James said, mocking sadness.
"Let's just go to class," Sirius said grumpily.
Creepy isn't it? Oh well, unexpectation is the key to living life to its fullest. After all, why live if you already know what will happen. Insight on Harry perhaps? I'm being awfully generous today it seems. Tell me if you see anything wrong... outside normality... which is nearly everything... ... If you see grammatical errors or loop holes, just tell me please. Constructive responses please, as I can't learn anything from hate messages.