Hey, everyone! Next chapter up!

Disclaimer: I still don't own any characters in this story apart from the plot and the vampire.

Sectum Acromantus:

The watery sun was bright against the slightly grey sky. Harry Got up and pushed his glasses onto his nose. He looked around and noticed Ron was awake too.

"Good Morning, Ron," whispered Harry. All the other boys were fast asleep. Ron also answered quietly, and they both got up and quickly got dressed then headed to the Great Hall. Hermione was already at the Gryffindor table, her nose buried in a book that, as Harry could see, was about seven thousand pages at least.

"Good morning, Hermione," said Harry, not expecting an answer. He sat down and grabbed a piece of toast. Buttering it and adding marmalade. The Great Hall was slowly filling up, and by the time Harry, Ron and Hermione had finished their breakfast the Gryffindor table was full. Professor McGonagall got up from the Teachers' table, a stack of papers in one hand. She slowly walked around their table, stopping by each student to hand them out their timetable. As she stood next to Hermione, she tapped her softly on the shoulders. Hermione jumped and looked up with red eyes.

''My goodness, Miss Granger," Said Professor McGonagall. "You should get more sleep. It's not good for you to start your year looking that tired. Here's your timetable," she said, handing each one their schedule. "Good luck." With that, she headed toward Neville a few feet away. As soon as Harry got his, he started looking for his Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons. He looked during the whole day, and only found them starting at seven o'clock in the evening in the dungeons. When he looked up, he saw a funny expression on Ron's face.

"Why's our lesson after dinner?" He asked. Harry shrugged. He knew there was something odd about their new teacher, but he never thought it had to do with lessons being taught at night. She looked so young, but her eyes showed experience far more than any girl he knew her age. He looked around at the staff table, and noticed she wasn't there, either.

He waited for Ron to finish his bowl of porridge and then the trio left the Great Hall, heading to transfiguration. Today, they were supposed to turn rats into eagles. As Always, Hermione was the only one who was able to make a perfectly beautiful golden eagle out of her skinny brown rat. Professor McGonagall was impressed, seeing Hermione's terrible state, and awarded her thirty points.

The rest of the day went fast, to Harry and Ron's pleasure. Before they knew it, they were at the Great Hall, having dinner. Harry looked up at the staff table, hoping to see their new teacher, and spotted her. She was sitting next to Snape, eating nothing but what seemed to be raw meat and drinking a glass of oddly scarlet wine.

"I didn't know teachers drank wine at dinner," said Harry. Ron had an answer to that. "Maybe she only drinks wine, like how Moody only drinks from his bottle. Maybe they're being hospitable. She isn't from England, so they probably want to make her feel at home."

Honestly Ron," said Hermione, speaking to them for the first time today. "Neither Karkaroff nor Madam Maxime drank wine here at Hogwarts. I don't think it's wine." She glanced at the staff table and went a little pale. "I think it's blood."

Harry looked at Hermione, not believing what she had just said. No human would drink blood like that. "I think you read too many books, Hermione. You should get more sleep," he said, smiling. Hermione rolled her bloodshot eyes and got back to her book, covering her face. Harry got up and stretched, feeling a bit sleepy from the dinner he just ate. He had to stay awake, though. The next lesson was the one he'd been waiting for all day.

They headed down to the dungeons, and noticed a door opposite their Potions classroom door. They also noticed Malfoy and a bunch of Slitherins standing there.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Potty, the know-it-all Mudblood and the poor little weasel. Turns out this year is going to be too difficult for your little heads, even for her," Malfoy jerked his head toward Hermione, a smirk on his pale pointed face, the others snickering behind him. Harry pushed his hand in his pocket, grasping his wand when the door behind Malfoy creaked open. Malfoy jumped and turned around. The room was empty. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other, then entered the classroom. It was dark and cold, made of hard stones just like their potions classroom. It was circular, with just enough individual desks for each of them, with a candle lighting each one, the only source of light. A big black desk made of hard wood was placed in front of them at the end of the room. Behind that desk was a black chair and endless darkness. They entered and took a seat, Hermione at the front, with a determined look on her face.

"Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts." A clear, enchanting, cold voice filled the room like a soft Romanian melody. Everyone shivered as it passed over them like a frozen breeze, soft as roses, cold as death. Agnieska walked into the light appearing behind Neville. He jumped violently as she put a cold white hand on his shoulder, passing next to him. She moved between the small wooden tables elegantly, he beauty paralyzing everyone in the room. She stopped at the front of the room and turned, her desk behind her, looking at everyone with great ride. A ghost of a smile passed over her face as she looked at Harry, and then she began to speak.

"As you might already know, this year is the most difficult year in your history of magical education to date." Her Soft voice enchanted everyone, grasping their attention like a deep hypnosis. "However, I will not help you to prepare for your NEWTs. What you will learn in this room, only few wizards know. I wish to share this experience with you, to help you defend ourselves in difficult times. At her last words, her eyes shined in an odd way. Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Tonight, we will fight a most dangerous beast. Acromantulas are of extreme difficulty to fight off. The only part of its body that is vulnerable enough is its legs. However, they are very rapid and are almost impossible to aim at. Nevertheless, there is a spell you may use to cut its legs, and that need on precise aiming. You will thus stop it from moving, making it easier to kill without any harm." Ron gulped. He looked as though he'd rather be fighting the Devil's Snare than to be in the same room with an Acromantula. Agnieska didn't seem to be bothered, though. He just smiled reassuringly at him.

"We Will not be fighting Acromantulas just yet. We'll start with tarantulas first." Ron didn't seem any better, and he whimpered as she headed to her desk. She bent down behind it and straightened, a big box in her hands. She placed it on her desk and opened it, putting a hand inside. As she took it out, a huge tarantula was perched on her forearm. She then walked to Ron's table and placed it before him. Ron pushed his chair back until it bumped against Parvati's desk behind him. Noticing his fear, The teacher bent down toward him, her face close to his, their noses almost touching. She smiled to Ron, and whispered something only he could hear. He seemed to calm down for a second, before a flash of white light appeared on the table and the tarantula fell down, its legs thrown all over Ron's books and their blood splattering him. Agnieska didn't move, even though Ron seemed even more scared now that he had tarantula blood all over him. Her eyes were shining oddly again, and her nose flared. She was staring at a small drop of blood on Ron's right cheek. Her eyes blackened completely and her tongue crept out of her mouth heading towards Ron's blood stained cheeks. She blinked and suddenly got up, a disturbed look on her face. With a flick of her wand the blood was gone. She walked quickly and swiftly to her desk, breathing fast, and extracted a vial with a deep purple liquid inside. She took a sip, closed the vial and placed it on her desk. She walked to the front of the class, her face dark and cold.

"I'm sorry about that, Mr. Weasly. If you could please tell the rest of the class what I told you." Ron looked at her for a moment, then muttered what he had heard. "Se-Sectum Acromantus." Agnieska smiled again. "Sectum Acromantus. This is a powerful incantation to cut off an Acromantula's legs. For Your homework, practice the spell on any spider you meet. I'll get you an Acromantula for next week, so you'd better learn the spell well."

Just then, the bell rang. "Be off, class dismissed," she said, a small smile on her face. Everyone got up to leave. Harry was still staring at the teacher as she took the spider off Ron's desk and placed it in the box on her desk. His book slipped out of his hand, and as he took it and got up, she was gone. He went to the door and left the classroom. Ron still looked a little shaken, but Hermione had a triumphant look on her face.

"What?" Asked Harry. "I know why he's scared, but what's up with you?"

"Isn't it obvious, Harry?" Exclaimed Hermione, smiling widely. "The whole lessons being at night thing, liking blood, and uncommon beauty? Harry, she's a vampire. Didn't you see her teeth?"

"Well, no. What about you?" He turned to Ron, but he just said, "She was amazing!" Hermione rolled her eyes and kept walking. Harry didn't want a fight to start, so he quickly started talking about Quidditch. He was scared to tell Hermione how he felt about the teacher. Something was very odd about her, how her eyes shined as she talked of Voldemort's rise to power. Images of her filled his head and his heart seemed to freeze as her eyes swept over him.

Harry was keen on getting to his dormitory and he was getting tired already. He wondered just how hard this year would be as he climbed the staircase to Gryffindor tower. He sighed. He hoped he'd make it through the exams, or at least through his favorite subject.

That's all, everyone! Please post your opinions.