Chapter 3 – New Teachers

Harry stepped out onto Hogsmeade station only to be greeted by a series of jeers and catcalls.

"Get lost, Plotter!"

"Help me, help me; I've got Voldy after me!"

"You just wanted all the publicity, Potter!"

"You and Dumbledore are nuts, how long before they pack you both off to St. Mungos?"

"Just ignore them, Harry," Hermione said firmly, pushing Harry into the nearest coach. When she, Harry, Ron and Ginny were all in, she made to close the door, but was stopped by a sneering Malfoy.

"What's the hurry, Granger? Want to have some time with your nutcase friend?" he snickered.

Hermione ignored him, but Ron took the bait.

"Shut up, Malfoy," he said, ears turning red.

"Why should I, Weasel? Thank goodness the whole world's finally realised that the idiot who runs this place should belong in a mental asylum. Oh, and I'd keep away from scarhead over there, who knows, he might be dangerous!"

Fuming, Ron pulled the door shut, and the carriage began to move, leaving the laughing Slytherin behind.

"Don't listen to him, Harry," Hermione said comfortingly. "He's just being himself."

"Yeah, but now everyone's like him," Harry answered miserably. "They all think I'm insane."

"I don't," came a dreamy voice from a corner of the coach. A shaft of light illuminated a girl with long blonde hair looking up from a magazine, which she appeared to be holding upside down. "I think you're just as sane as I am."

Not altogether reassured, Harry stared at the floor for the duration of the ride up to Hogwarts.

The shouts and mutterings continued as they disembarked from the coaches, much to Harry's annoyance.

"Bloody gits," Ron said angrily after Ginny chased off a sniggering third year. "If they knew what you'd been through..."

He continued muttering obscenities right up until they all sat down at the Gryffindor table; Luna drifted over the Ravenclaws'. Harry plonked himself down next to Ron, looking determinedly at his empty gold plate. Hermione, meanwhile, was scanning the staff table.

"Hagrid's not here!" she exclaimed, turning back to them, eyes wide with shock and worry.

"He can't have left," said Ron, sounding slightly anxious.

"Of course he hasn't," said Harry firmly.

"You don't think he's ... hurt, or anything, do you?" said Hermione uneasily.

"No," answered Harry at once.

"But where is he, then?"

There was a pause, then Harry said very quietly so that he couldn't be overhead, "Maybe he's not back yet. You know – from his mission – the thing he was doing over the summer for Dumbledore."

"Yeah...yeah, that'll be it," said Ron, sounding reassured, but Hermione bit her lip, looking up and down the staff table as though hoping for some conclusive explanation of Hagrid's absence.

"Who's that?" she asked sharply, pointing to the middle of the staff table.

Harry's eyes finally left his plate and followed Hermione's eyes. They lit first upon Professor Dumbledore, sitting in his high-backed golden chair at the centre of the long staff table, wearing deep-purple robes scattered with silver stars and a matching hat. Dumbledore's head was inclined towards the woman sitting next to him, who was talking into his ear. She looked, Harry thought, like someone's maiden aunt: squat, with a short, curly, mouse-brown hair in which she had placed a horrible pink Alice band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan she wore over her robes. Then she turned her face slightly to take a sip from her goblet, and he saw, with a shock of recognition, a pallid, toadlike face and a pair of prominent, pouchy eyes.

He gasped. "It's that Umbridge woman!"

"Who?" asked Hermione.

"She was at the hearing, she works for Fudge!"

"Nice cardigan," smirked Ron.

"She works for Fudge!" Hermione repeated, frowning. "What on Earth's she doing here, then?"

"Dunno..."

Hermione frowned and narrowed her eyes, but Ron interrupted her.

"Wonder who he is," he said vaguely, eyes once more glued to the staff table.

"Who who is?" Hermione asked crossly, looking in the same direction as Ron's gaze. She saw a youngish man chatting very animatedly to Professor Flitwick. Unlike the rest of the staff, who were wearing robes, the new teacher was wearing a bow tie with a tweed jacket.

"That's a very muggle look," she noted, "Looks like he teaches at Oxford."

"Do you reckon he's a muggle?" asked Ron curiously.

"No, they wouldn't let them in," replied Hermione, "I wonder what he teaches?"

"Care of Magical Creatures?" suggested Harry.

"Nah, they've got that Grubbly-Plank woman for that," answered Ron.

That was the end of the conversation, as Professor McGonagall arrived with the first years. The sorting passed quite uneventfully, and soon everyone was tucking into the delicious feast. The topic of conversation amongst the Gryffindors was, of course, the new teachers.

"What do you reckon the new bloke teaches?" Neville asked the table in general.

"Bet he's the new muggle studies guy, I mean, look at the way he dresses!" said Seamus.

"Ah, well, yes," said Nearly Headless Nick, drifting over to join the conversation. "That one is very interesting indeed."

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione, intrigued.

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, he simply appeared in the castle about a week ago. I've asked the other ghosts, and none of them even saw him arrive."

"And Dumbledore hired him, just like that?" Dean said, incredulous.

"So it would seem," confirmed Nick. "But the other ghosts and I can't imagine what he'll be teaching; none of the other teachers have left."

"Hmm," Hermione frowned, eyes even narrower than before.

When all the students had finished eating and the noise level in the Hall was starting to creep upwards again, Dumbledore got to his feet.

"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," said Dumbledore. "First years ought to know that the Forest in the school grounds is out of bounds to all students – and a few of our older students ought to know by now, too. Mr Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr Filch's office door. We have three changes is staffing this year. First of all, we are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

After a smattering of unenthusiastic applause, Dumbledore continued. "Finally, Professor Smith, who will be teaching the new, optional subject of Science."

The man wearing the tweed jacket smiled exuberantly and waved at the silent student body. Only the first years and the teachers clapped, the former having no idea of the impact of the statement, but they quickly stopped when they realised that no one else was following their lead.

Dumbledore coughed awkwardly. "For those of you who don't know, science is the study of the universe, in other words, why the world around us behaves in a certain way. For those of us who come from muggle families, science is not new to you, as I believe it is taught in muggle schools..."

At this, the majority of the students shouted out in protest, those from the Slytherin table crying out the loudest. It took several loud firecrackers exploding from the end of Dumbledore's wand to quieten the din.

"However," Dumbledore continued loudly, "after learning of this subject, I decided that is one of the most important things we can study apart from magic at this school, and all teachers support my decision to include it in Hogwarts' curriculum."

Once glance at the staff table told Harry this was not true; Professors Snape, and Umbridge displayed expressions of fury at these words.

"That's all for the moment, for now your beds await you. Off you chop!"

Harry rose with the other students and slowly made his way up to the common room, not sure if he should be looking forward to the year ahead.

Author Note: Just a fairly short introductory-type chapter. Don't worry, things will start getting interesting soon! Also, take note that some of the chapter was taken from Order of the Phoenix.

Good news, for the sequel is almost finished, I'm definitely in the trail end of it now! It's about 20k words now, and might just reach 30k if I'm lucky. Angst, lots of angst!

For those who haven't heard, Peter Capaldi will be playing the 12th Doctor! I think this is great news, it's about time we had an 'older' Doctor. I'm not saying that Matt was bad (he's my favourite new series Doctor), I just think that we've gone as young as we can go, and it's time to bump up the age again. I have every confidence that Peter will be amazing!

Replies to reviews:

Insanityisgood25: Yes, adding more realism is something I'm aiming for in the rewrite, and I think I've achieved it. Yeah, I like the table tennis bit too (probably because I play it myself!). It's actually a reference to the Classic Series, where the Fourth Doctor pulls out a membership card for the club in 'Robot', his first serial.

shtoops: Really? I don't remember anything like that being in the Classic Series, and I like to think of myself as an expert. I'm certain the Classic Series never explored the early Time Lords much; they stop at Rassilon and Omega. (As far as I'm concerned, the Other is non-existent.) What you described sounds a lot more like the novels. Still, I could be wrong.

BlooperLover: Thanks, I love that line too, I just had to write it! Hope you like this chapter!

twinpowersactivate & Guest: Thanks!

TheBleachDoctor: We got a bit of an idea in this chapter, but we'll get even more of an idea in the next one.