Harry found himself standing in front of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, facing a classroom filled with wide-eyed first years. He had only found out at dinner the previous night that he was going to become a teacher, and he had stayed up ridiculously late in order to satisfy Ginny's desire for an adventure. He was so tired that he couldn't stop yawning, and he was totally unprepared. But he had something he didn't have the day of his first DA meeting – confidence. Harry was pretty confident. At the first DA meeting, he had no idea what he was supposed to do. But now he knew he was actually a good teacher. He knew he had trained his fellow students well, and that they had applied all the skills he had taught them successfully in the Battle of Hogwarts. So this time he wasn't nervous.

"I don't know your names yet," said Harry. "So when I call on you, please state your name.

"Let me begin by saying, 'welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts'. I know it is already March, and you have been in this class all year. But let me be very clear with you about something. You have not been learning Defense Against the Dark Arts. Can someone tell me what you have been learning?"

A bunch of hands shot up. Harry pointed to a small girl with brown hair in the second row.

"We have…"

"Name please," said Harry. He realized he was acting and sounding very much like a teacher. Just a few years ago he had been an 11-year-old sitting in the classroom awed by the teachers in the front of the room. Now he was the teacher, and he realized that the kids who were looking at him didn't see him as a kid. They saw him as a teacher. That made him feel pretty cool.

"Myrna Eldridge."

"Please continue, Miss Eldridge."

"We have been studying the Dark Arts."

"Correct, Miss Eldridge. And can you tell us what the Dark Arts are?"

"The Dark Arts, also known as Dark Magic, refers to any type of magic that is mainly used to cause harm. The Dark Arts encompass many spells and actions ranging from using the Unforgivable Curses to brewing harmful or poisonous potions to breeding Dark creatures such as Basilisks, and its practice is generally illegal. Practitioners are referred to as Dark wizards or witches."

Harry couldn't help breaking into a smile. Myrna reminded him so much of another eleven-year-old girl he once knew who could recite facts as if she were a textbook. "What house are you in, Miss Eldridge?" asked Harry.

"Gryffindor." Harry smiled more.

"Well, take ten points for Gryffindor."

Myrna beamed. Harry continued.

"Who can tell me what the Unforgivable Curses are?"

Myrna's hand shot up the quickest. She held it so high it looked like it was pulling her out of her chair. Harry smiled again, and looked around the room waiting for other hands to go up. He pointed to a boy in the back row.

"There are…"

"Name please, and your house," said Harry.

"I'm Fred Weaston, from Ravenclaw." Harry winced a bit as he heard the beginning of Fred's name. It sounded for an instant as if the boy was going to say a different name, one that brought up deep emotions in Harry. Harry tried not to show his reaction.

"Go on Fred."

"There are three Unforgivable Curses, the killing curse, the imperius curse, and the cruciatus curse."

"Very good, Mr. Weaston. And why are they called the Unforgivable Curses?"

"Because they are unforgivable and…"

As Fred spoke, Harry's mind was drawn back to the class in which the teacher who he thought was Mad-Eye had discussed the unforgivable curses. Even though he knew it wasn't Mad-Eye, all year Harry had thought it was. And the fake Mad-Eye had really been kind to him. Remarkably, Harry still had affectionate feelings when he remembered the year he had spent thinking he was getting to know Mad-Eye even though it wasn't really him. Harry interrupted Fred and finished the sentence for him:

"Earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban," said Harry. "Correct. Take ten points for Ravenclaw." Harry realized immediately that he needed to stop giving out points every time a kid answered a question correctly. It was fun, it made him feel like a real teacher, it made him feel a different kind of power than he had ever felt before. Not magical power. Just the power of having a bunch of kids looking up to him as if they thought he could do anything. They were counting on him, and he wanted to do a really good job.

"Okay," said Harry, "we're going to start by working on what I consider to be one of the most useful spells in fighting against the Dark Arts. The disarming spell. Who can tell me what the incantation is? Yes, Miss Eldridge."

"It's Expelliarmus. It's pronounced like this – expelliARmus - with the accent on the "ar". Some people say it like this – exPELLiarmus – but that's not right."

Harry smiled again. It wasn't her. She didn't look like her. But she sounded so much like her. "Okay, we're going to practice it. I want everyone to stand up, choose a partner, and find a place to work where you have room and don't accidentally zap the wrong person."

No one got up. Harry noticed that the kids had gotten fidgety in their chairs and there was some whispering going on.

"What's going on?" asked Harry.

No one answered. Finally, Myrna said: "Professor Potter." That sounded so weird to Harry. "Last night, Professor McGonagall said you used 'Expelliarmus' to kill Voldemort. I think we're a little scared."

"I see," said Harry. "Is that right?" he asked, looking around the class.

The first years nodded nervously.

"Okay, let me ask you something. Did Professor McGonagall actually say that I used Expelliarmus to kill Voldemort? Think hard. What did she actually say last night?"

There was quiet for what seemed like a long time even though it was only a moment. Then Fred raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Weaston."

"She said that Voldemort cast the death curse at the same time you cast Expelliarmus and that his spell bounced back and killed him."

"That is correct," said Harry. "Expelliarmus did not kill Voldemort. I did not kill Voldemort. Voldemort's own spell killed him. Expelliarmus is not an attacking spell. It is a defensive spell. You use it to protect yourself, not to hurt people. Now everyone get up."

Pretty soon spells were flying around the room and things were flying off shelves. Occasionally, someone would cast the spell something close to correctly, and when they did, Harry would say, "nice work" or "good job." But mostly, he spent the rest of the class gently correcting students' wand work, body positioning and pronunciation, and ducking to avoid the stuff that kept flying off the walls, shelves and tables.

After about 45 minutes, he said, "Okay, nice work class. See you back here tomorrow." He really didn't think they had been so good. But he wanted to be encouraging. Had he and his class been this bad at it when they were eleven? He couldn't remember. Had he ever been as young and small as the kids he was working with? He knew he must have been, but couldn't remember it all that well. All in all, he thought he had done a decent job on his first day. After lunch, he would meet his second year class. He headed to the Great Hall.

"How did it go, mate?" asked Ron with his mouth full, as he wolfed down a roast beef sandwich, grabbing a second one while still chewing the first.

Hermione looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"I think it was pretty good," said Harry. "It felt a little weird. There's a boy in Ravenclaw named Fred Weaston." Ron froze for a second when he heard the name. "And there's a girl in Gryffindor who…." Harry looked at Hermione.

"Who what?" asked Hermione.

"Oh, nothing," said Harry.

"So how did they do?" asked Ginny.

"Well, actually, they're pretty bad. I can't believe we were ever this bad."

"We were pretty bad at first," said Ron. "Well most of us," he added, looking at Hermione.

She beamed.

"Ron, you'll say pretty much anything to keep that flow of snogging coming nicely, won't you?" said Harry.

Hermione picked up a carrot and reached back to throw it at Harry across the table. But Harry was faster. "Expelliarmus," he whispered, flicking his wand toward Hermione. The carrot flew out of her hand, into the air, made a graceful arc, and as Harry leaned back and opened his mouth, it landed in his mouth. He took a crunchy bite and said, "Now that's more like it. If I can teach these kids to do an Expelliarmus like that, I'll know I did my job well."

"Remember," said Hermione. "It may be late in the year, but these kids haven't been learning Defense Against the Dark Arts all year. For them, it's really like it's September and they're just starting at Hogwarts. You've got a lot to teach them. Just be patient."

"Harry," asked Ginny, "with all the classes you're going be teaching, how are you going to have time to go to your own classes and prepare for the N.E.W.T.s?

"I was thinking that myself," said Harry, "so I asked McGonagall after breakfast this morning. She said I didn't need to worry about going to my own classes, and that I had a friend who was a very good teacher who would teach me in her spare time." Harry looked at Hermione and grinned.

"Spare time!? Do you know how many classes McGonagall expects me to teach?"

Harry looked at Hermione, and made puppy dog eyes.

"Yes, Harry," she said, "Of course I'll teach you. But you'd better pay attention during my lessons and not be a wise guy."

"Yes, Professor Granger."

"And do your homework."

"Yes, Professor Granger."

"And show up for class on time."

"Yes, Professor Granger."

Everyone laughed.

"I've got to go," said Hermione, taking her last bite of chicken salad sandwich. "It's almost time for my first Muggle Studies class."

Hermione found herself standing in front of the Muggle Studies classroom facing a group of third years from Hufflepuff and Slytherin.

"Good afternoon, class."

Simultaneously, the whole class said, "Good afternoon, Professor Granger."

Professor Granger? That sounded good. Hermione had enjoyed the DA, she had learned a lot from Harry, but secretly she had always been a little jealous. She had always wondered if maybe, just maybe, she could have taught the group a little bit better. Described how the spells worked a little more precisely. Pronounced the incantations a little more exactly. Now she had her own chance to be in charge, to have a group of kids looking up to her, expecting so much from her, and she felt ready.

"Class. I want to find out a little bit about what you have learned so far in Muggle Studies this year from…." Hermione couldn't bring herself to say "Professor Carrow" since Alecto Carrow was no professor, so she just said "…from your previous instructor."

"Would someone share with me something they learned?"

Nobody moved.

"Anyone?" said Hermione.

There was silence.

"Do all of you know that my parents are both Muggles?" asked Hermione.

The class nodded.

"Are you afraid to tell me what your previous teacher told you about Muggles?"

The class nodded.

"You don't need to be afraid," said Hermione. "I will not be offended by anything you tell me. I just want to get some idea of where to start."

There was silence.

"Okay," said Hermione. "Let's try this differently. How about if I try to guess?"

No response.

"Fine. Did Alecto Carrow by any chance tell you that Muggles are dirty?

At first nothing happened. Then, a few of the students nodded tentatively.

"Okay, we made some progress," said Hermione. "Let's try something else. Did Alecto Carrow tell you that Muggles are like animals?"

A few more students nodded, less tentatively.

"Did she say that Muggles are inferior to wizards?"

This time the whole class nodded.

"Great," said Hermione with a smile. "Now we're making real progress. Did Alecto Carrow tell you wizards should rule the world and Muggles should be our slaves?"

The class got more relaxed and people were nodding and started to actually speak out loud and say "yes".

"Did she tell you that Muggles drove wizards into hiding by being vicious towards us?"

Now, pretty much the whole class answered her, "yes."

"Excellent," said Hermione. "Thank you for answering me. Now, let me ask you a question. Did you believe everything she told you about Muggles?"

Again there was silence.

"Don't be afraid to speak, students," said Hermione.

One girl raised her hand. "It's not that we believed everything she said," said the girl. "Professor Carrow seemed very angry. She seemed to hate Muggles. It didn't seem like she was giving us very accurate information about them. But, you see, we don't really know anything about Muggles. So we don't really have any way of knowing what to believe. Like, maybe some of the stuff she told us was true. We're just not sure."

"Excellent answer," said Hermione. "What's your name and house?"

"I'm Karen James from Hufflepuff."

"Five points for Hufflepuff," said Hermione. "Class, Ms. James is right. You don't know what you should believe. You have no way of knowing. Just because Alecto Carrow is a Death Eater, doesn't necessarily mean that everything she said is false. And just because I'm not a Death Eater, doesn't necessarily mean everything I'm going to teach you is true. I'm going to try to give you the most accurate information I can, but you should never accept something as truth just because someone tells you it is."

"Professor Granger," said a student, "then how are we supposed to know what's true?"

"That's a great question," said Hermione. "Does anyone in the class have any ideas?"

A boy in the back raised his hand. "Read lots of books?"

Hermione smiled. "Yes, books are a great way to get information. And the more books you read the more sources of information you have. Anything other ideas?"

A girl in the front row raised her hand. "Talk to different people?"

"Sure," said Hermione. "Especially people you trust, people who seem to be interested in getting their facts right. Other people are great sources of information. Anything else?"

Another boy raised his hand. "How about spending time around Muggles? Seeing for ourselves what they're really like."

"Excellent idea," said Hermione. "There's no substitute for observing things with your own eyes and ears if you want to learn about something. In the meantime, you're stuck with me, so let's start talking about Muggles.

"The first thing I want to tell you is that everything Alecto Carrow told you was not wrong."

The class gasped.

"Almost everything," said Hermione, "but not everything. For example, it is not true that Muggles are dirty. They bathe just the way wizards do. Some bathe more often and some bathe less often, just like us. Personally, when I was a little kid, my parents gave me a bath every day. Frankly, I think they bathed me too much. I was an exceptionally clean kid, but I think I had pretty dry skin because of all the soap they rubbed on it."

The class laughed. After a tense beginning of the class, the students were starting to relax. They had heard that Hermione was very serious. She seemed serious to them. But she also seemed nice. And kind of funny. Hermione continued.

"But there is something Alecto Carrow told you that is true. In the past, some Muggles have been pretty vicious toward witches and wizards. And it's true that this did lead the wizarding world to live in secret. Does anyone have any idea why Muggles would have treated us this way?"

"They don't understand our powers?" said one girl.

"They're afraid of us?" said a boy.

"Both good answers," said Hermione. "That doesn't make it right. Muggles have done some pretty nasty things to witches in the past. It was wrong. But it helps to at least understand why they did it.

"Enough about Alecto Carrow. Now let's start learning about Muggles. Can anyone tell me what electricity is?"

"How did Defense Against the Dark Arts go this afternoon?" asked Hermione, sitting across from Harry at the dinner table in the Great Hall.

"It was better than this morning," said Harry. "It was a second year class. At least they had Snape last year, so they actually learned some stuff before the Death Eaters took over. One kid almost did a proper Expelliarmus."

"Almost?" said Ron.

"Yeah. It came close to knocking my wand right out of my hand. I felt it whiz really close to my wrist."

"Where did it end up?" asked Ron.

"Well, it kind of knocked the wand out of the hand of this kid who was standing behind me and sent it flying into the forehead of the girl he was working with. She got scratched pretty badly, so I sent her to the hospital wing."

"That doesn't sound so bad," said Ron.

"Well, that's not all," said Harry. "You see, he had just said 'Expelliarmus' as the wand got knocked out of his hand so his spell went off in the wrong direction as it flew out of his hand and knocked the chandelier off the ceiling. The chandelier shattered and four kids got stuck with glass, so I had to send them to the hospital wing also."

"Oh," said Ron.

"Is that all?" asked Hermione.

"Not quite," said Harry. "When the chandelier crashed, all the kids who got hit by the glass were in the middle of casting their spells, and the spells went all over the room. A painting fell off a wall and landed on one kid's head, giving him a concussion."

"Hospital wing?" asked Ginny.

"Yup," said Harry. "Another kid got hit in the face by a spear that shot out of a knight statue that was hanging on another wall. Gave him a big gash."

"Hospital wing?" asked Hermione.

"Yup," said Harry. "Another kid got whacked in the belly pretty badly by a stone that came flying out of the wall."

"We get the picture," said Ron. "Exactly how many kids ended up in the hospital wing?"

"Well…er…" Harry smiled sheepishly.

Just then, Madam Pomfrey came storming into the Great Hall heading right for Harry with fire in her eyes.

"I had a feeling this was coming," muttered Harry under his breath.

"HARRY POTTER," she yelled at him sounding more like a howler than a person. "DO YOU REALIZE THAT YOU MANAGED TO SEND EVERY SINGLE STUDENT IN YOUR CLASS TO THE HOSPITAL WING? 70 STUDENTS?! HALF OF THE SECOND YEAR CLASS?! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER, MR. POTTER! YOU SENT MORE STUDENTS TO THE HOSPITAL WING IN ONE HOUR THAN I USUALLY SEE IN AN ENTIRE YEAR! BE MORE CAREFUL!"

"Yes, ma'am," said Harry.

Madam Pomfrey turned on her heels and stormed out of the Great Hall.

"You sent the entire class to the hospital wing? Nice work, mate," said Ron.

"Harry, you said it went BETTER than this morning," said Hermione.

"Yeah, well, they were doing better than the first years before that one particular Expelliarmus whizzed by me and…You know, I've never seen one spell do that much damage by accident. It was pretty cool. It almost felt like your brothers were in the room," he said, smiling at Ron and Ginny. They smiled back. It was good to be able to talk about Fred with some humor and not just with sad faces.

"How about you, Hermione?" asked Ron. "How did Muggles Studies go?"

"Not bad," said Hermione. "At the beginning it was kind of tense. I realized when the class started that they had spent most of the year learning the most horrible things about Muggles, about my parents. It felt weird standing there in front of a classroom of students who had been hearing such horrible things about my own family. And they felt uncomfortable with me. But once we broke the ice, it was fun. Can you believe that almost none of them knew what electricity is?"

"So," asked Ginny, "are we going back to the Chamber of Secrets tonight?"

"I can't tonight," said Hermione. "I'm starting to teach transfiguration tomorrow and I haven't had any time to prepare my lessons. I need to work on that after dinner. Plus, I'm supposed to be teaching your boyfriend. Harry, do you want to meet in the common room at 9:00 tonight to start?"

"I guess," said Harry, who wasn't looking particularly forward to studying.

"You two should do some studying yourselves, shouldn't you?" said Hermione, looking at Ron and Ginny. They both shrugged, as if to say, "I suppose, but I'd really rather go down to the Chamber of Secrets tonight."

"We'll go back really soon, I promise," said Hermione. "Gotta go." And she popped a cookie into her mouth and walked out.