Dark Horse
One day in the middle of October, a different man stood at the front of their Defense classroom. He was seated behind the desk, an act that the students had only seen a few times from Luke (as some students had taken to calling him), and was watching them all with a blank face. Several students fidgeted in their seats as they waited for either an explanation or the class to begin.
Harry suspected this was the man Lucifer had told them to expect, and felt his dread grow. It didn't help matters that there was... something about this man that his magic was reacting to.
Harry tried not to panic. He wasn't sure how successful he was.
"Good afternoon," the man said, voice uncomfortably loud in the silence of the room. "Your usual teacher should have mentioned the possibility of his absence, so having a substitute shouldn't come as that large of a surprise." The man smirked then, leaning back in his chair. Several students shifted uneasily. "I requested that he keep my identity a secret; since none of you have fled in terror, I imagine he did so."
Harry swallowed heavily. Flee in terror?
"I have many names," the man continued blithely, ignoring the growing tension in the room. "But please, call me Death; that's my favorite."
Someone whimpered. Death just smirked.
A/N: part two to the first chapter. Anything else I write for this AU is going to be part of a set I call "Death and the Devil".