What Lies Beneath – Chapter 6
Author: Kitty Savella and Araea Swiftwind
Rating: M
Pairing: Harry Potter/ Severus Snape with possible Harry/Draco (onesided) and Neville/Luna
Warning: School talk, insults, mature content, foul language, slash
It was early Monday morning, about six o'clock, and Headmistress McGonagall had gathered all of the teachers together for the first staff meeting of the new school term.
"Now, our first order of business is to welcome our new teachers, Mr. Harry James Potter and Mr. Draco Lucius Malfoy. Mr. Potter will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts in the morning, and Muggle Studies in the afternoon. Mr. Malfoy has graciously agreed to teach our two new classes, Ministry Politics in the morning for our sixth and seventh years, and Theory of the Dark Arts in the afternoon, again for sixth and seventh years.
"Secondly, I want to welcome back all of our old teachers to the school, I know some of you have had a hard time since the war. And thank you to all of you who have stayed and assisted me and the students with cleaning up the castle. Without you, we would not be having a term this year.
"All of you know your individual curriculum for this year, but not all of you know who shall be teaching the other subjects. Professor Snape shall be teaching Potions in the morning and Herbology in the afternoon. I shall be teaching Transfiguaration in the morning and Ancient Runes in the afternoon. Professor Flitwick shall continue to teach Charms throughout the day, as Professor Binns shall continue to teach History of Magic throughout the day. Professor Sinistra shall teach Arithmancy in the afternoon and Astronomy in the evening. And we welcome back Firenze to teach Care of Magical Creatures in the morning and Divination in the afternoon.
"Each student will meet with his/her head of house this morning to receive their timetables. Professor Snape will continue on as Head of Slytherin, Professor Sinistra will continue on as Head of Ravenclaw, I will no longer be able to be head of hous, as I am headmistress, so Professor Potter will come on as Head of Gryffindor and Professor Flitwick will be the Head of Hufflepuff.
"Are there any questions?"
The faculty each shook his/her head "No" as McGonagall looked in his/her direction. I knew all of this already, as I asked when the Headmistress asked me to come on as a professor. In an hour, all of the students would start filing down for breakfast, then classes would begin at eight o'clock sharp. Most of us would be teaching non-stop until noon, when we all broke for lunch, then continued on again until six when we stopped for dinner and free time. It was only Professor Sinistra who would continue to teach after dinner, as her Astronomy class began at eight and went until ten, each year only spending a short amound of time studying the stars before heading off to bed.
McGonagall dismissed us and I made my way down to the great hall for breakfast. I was hungry, as I didn't eat dinner the night before, so I wanted to get a head start. On my way down there, Severus tried to get my attention, but I was staunchly ignoring him. I was still angry that he thought I was stupid and melodramatic, overreacting to every little thing. Draco, too, tried to get my attention, but I ignored him as well. Instead, I took up with Professor Sinistra and spoke to her briefly about her lesson plans.
By the end of breakfast I was very nervous. My first class of the day was teaching third and fourth years how to defend themselves against boggarts and other nasty pests. I hadn't had to do much of this at all since I was a third year myself, so the thought of getting up and teaching made me want to retch all over the head table.
As I excused myself, so did Draco. I tried to make it out of the hall and to the stairs before he could catch up with me, but it didn't do any good. He was simply too determined.
"Potter, a word if I may?" Damn him, he was being formal and polite. There was no easy way to throw him off without looking like an arse myself.
"Of course, Professor Malfoy." I made sure to emphasise his title to remind him that there were students about, students that need not know our private business.
Draco drew me aside into an alcove and started, "About last night..." I stopped him.
"Professor Malfoy, I do not believe now is the time or place to be speaking about private matters." So apparently he didn't get my hint. Berk. "If you would like to speak to me this evening after dinner, I should have some free time; we can speak in my office. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to set up my classroom for my first lesson of the day. You may be teaching seventh years about Ministry Politics, but I have an interactive lesson with a boggart that must be carefully maintained for it to go well."
Draco's back stiffened and he took a single step backwards, maintaining an extrememly professional distance between the two of us. "Of course, Professor Potter. Shall I make an appointment now, or can I stop in at my convenience."
I could tell he was mocking me, but I still answered the question as if it were meant to be real. "You may stop in at your convenience. Any detentions I hand out today will be with Mr. Filch, so I should be free for a few hours after classes end at six."
"Thank you for your generosity, Professor." Draco gave me an only slightly mocking bow before crisply walking away, his faintly heeled dragonhide boots making a distinct click with each step.
"Hello, Harry," a dreamy voice spoke. I turned and saw Luna standing near my left elbow.
"Oh, Luna, hello. I had actually been meaning to see you out and speak with you."
"I know. The nargles had been getting restless, so I knew it was time to come find you. What can I do for you, Harry?"
The clock in the tower began to chime, notifying all that it was time for the first class to begin.
"I'm sorry, Luna. I'll have to ask you later. I believe you'll be in my class at ten this morning? I'll speak to you then."
"Ok, Harry. I've got to get to Ministry Politics with Professor Malfoy. Dad always said, 'You must get to know your enemy if you ever hope to win.' Granted, Dad's gone now, but I still think it's good advice."
"You're right, Luna, it is good advice. I'll talk with you later."
"Bye." Luna left, fiddling with her radish earrings and humming a soft tune. I smiled. Somehow, Luna always made me feel better, no matter what she said.
I made my way to my classroom, intent on teaching the third and fourth years like Remus had taught my class. I figured a little fun with the subject matter should make it that much easier to retain the knowledge. Remembering what the boggart turned into for me made my skin crawl, but knowing the counter curse to it helped a ton to ease my mind.
My classroom was on the fourth floor. It was full of windows that brightened up the space with lots of natural light. I pointed my wand at a curio cabinet that was lying on it's side in the corner and said clearly, " Erecto ." The cabinet at once righted itself and moved into the center of the room where I wanted it. Once the boggart inside felt the cabinet move, it began to get restless and shake the cabinet door. "Colloportus ," I said softly, making sure the door to the curio cabinet stayed closed until I wanted to open it.
Just as I was finishing with the boggart, my students began trickling into the classroom. I turned to them and said, "Please, third years in the front, fourth years in the back. We'll begin as soon as everyone arrives."
It took about fifteen minutes for the class to assemble and be seated and quiet so that I could begin. Even though Headmistress McGonagall had introduced all of the teachers and told the students which subjects each teacher was going to teach, it seemed as though most of them were still surprised to see me standing at the head of the class as though I belonged there.
Straightening my back, I began. "Good morning, class. Today, we are going to see just how far you've gotten with past learning. If you are where I think you are in your studies, we're going to be working on how to defeat an ever-changing enemy. Can anyone tell me which magical creature I might be talking about?"
A sallow-looking boy in the back of the class, reminding me a bit of Severus, raised his hand tentatively. I looked at my roster and read his name out loud. "Paganus Prince. Do you know the answer?"
The young boy sheepishly stood and replied softly, "Are you referring to a boggart, Sir?"
I gave the child a beaming smile and nodded. "Yes, I was referring to a boggart. You may be seated, Mr. Prince. Now, class, can anyone tell me the standard spell used to protect oneself from an oncoming spell?" A lovely girl with gleaming red/brown locks raised her hand.
"Yes, Ms. Quipple?"
"That would be Protego."
"Very good." She sat without having to be told.
"And can anyone tell me the standard disarming spell?"
Again, the only two hands in the air were Paganus and Raineta's. "Mr. Prince?"
"Is it Expelliarmus?" the boy asked instead of stated.
"Once again a correct answer. Twenty points to Slytherin for correct answers and ten points to Ravenclaw. It seems to me that we may need to spend the first few days of this class relearning some of the spells that were supposed to be taught in the last two years." The whole class gave a groan and Harry smiled.
"However, it may just be simpler to give a pop quiz and see where each of you rank. I suppose some of you may not be answering for reasons other than not knowing the answer. Take out your quills and parchment, put away your wands and answer the questions on the board. You will have until the end of the period to complete the quiz." Harry pointed his wand at the board and words appeared. "You may begin."
A/N: Sorry that this chapter took me so long. I had a little senior moment when I couldn't figure out what I was doing or where I was going. The seventh chapter might take me a while to complete, we'll just have to see. I've recently discovered that playing Warcraft 3 is a ton of fun, so it's kept me from writing as much as I should. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It would be great if someone reviewed, though...even if it's to tell me I spelled Expelliarmus wrong or something...