Summary: (Harry Potter / Hetalia Axis Powers Crossover) England decides to teach at Hogwarts to keep an eye on the Boy Who Lived. But the famous Trio (Harry, Ron, Hermione) are becoming suspicious of their new professor... Can England keep his status as a country a secret? And what does Voldemort want with him?
Disclaimer: Harry Potter was created by J.K. Rowling. Hetalia Axis Powers was created by Hidekaz Himaruya. Harry Potter and Hetalia belong to their rightful owners. I do not own either.
/
Harry
Harry never thought that he'd hate any teacher as much as Snape... but Professor Umbridge was putting up a fair fight for his number one "least favourite teacher" spot. Not only did she deny Voldemort's return, dismiss Cedric's death as an accident, and insist on making him write lines with his own blood for detention (Harry was pretty sure that that classified as "child abuse"...), but she also refused to allow the use of magic in her classroom.
Professor Kirkland, however, was quickly proving to be both competent and generally likeable. Although Harry wished that Hagrid was teaching Care for Magical Creatures instead, he did enjoy Kirkland's lessons. For their first few weeks of classes, Kirkland brought in a beautiful, blue-manned female Unicorn that he referred to as "Uni". She had been a slender and graceful animal, nervously prancing and whinnying. However, to the surprise of Hermione, Kirkland had been able to easily calm the animal with only a simple touch to the nose. He had also been able to let the boys approach the Unicorn, despite Unicorns' usual and characteristic uneasiness around men. Hermione had been awed at the Professor's obvious connection with the animal. For a man to befriend a Unicorn was both bizarre and often an impossibility.
"How long have you known each other?" she had asked Kirkland in wonder one class, while he patted "Uni" gently on the neck.
"A long time," Kirkland had replied vaguely. Uni nickered in agreement. The bond between the Professor and the creatures he showed in class was all too evident. In this way, he reminded Harry of Hagrid.
Kirkland had given every member of the class an opportunity to pet the Unicorn, even the boys, which had been a cool experience since the boys hadn't had much of a chance to interact with the unicorns last year. When it had been Harry's turn, "Uni" had at first pranced nervously, and Harry could not help but admire the animal's beauty and grace. Her gleaming coat shone through the tiny bit of fog that clung to the grass and her legs, and her wild eyes still had a sort of gentleness about them. Kirkland quickly comforted the unicorn with a mere touch to her withers, and had beckoned for Harry to approach. Harry had tentatively stretched forth his hand and laid his fingers on the unicorn's forehead, directly underneath her golden horn that was almost blinding to look at directly. Kirkland grabbed Harry's other hand and placed his palm in front of "Uni's" nose. Uni's nostrils had flared slightly as she took in Harry's scent. Then, she did something that shocked Harry. As if sensing that he was more scared of her than she was of him, she had stretched forth her horn and placed it directly over Harry's heart. Despite the chilly and humid atmosphere, warmth had gradually spread from the point of the horn through his veins, slowly encompassing his body in warmth. Harry could only compare the experience to eating chocolate after an encounter with a Dementor.
Meanwhile, History of Magic continued to be interesting, at least when Professor Kirkland taught it. But even when Binns took over, Harry and his fellow students had begun to see history in a new light. They could now listen to Binns drone on without immediately falling asleep, and some subjects were even intriguing when they made connections and related what they had learned from Kirkland to what Binns was talking about.
In Kirkland's classes, they started off by going over the assassinations of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Duchess Sophie, of Austria, and then learning about Austria's declaration of war against Serbia and the alliance between Germany and Austria. However, the class seemed to have no inkling of muggle weapons, except for a few muggle-borns (and Harry, of course, who had been raised by the Dursleys), and even they only knew what they had gathered from the occasional action-movie. This hindered most of the students ability to comprehend and understand what Kirkland was teaching them and put them at a bit of a disadvantage. "What did it mean when he said that the Archduke and his wife were 'shot'?" some students had wondered together. Upon hearing this, Kirkland resolved to give them all a demonstration on some muggle weapons.
One day, Kirkland led them from their classroom and down onto the Quidditch pitch. It had been transformed into a miniature shooting range. On the far end of the field stood three round targets. In front of Kirkland was a large black case and a machine that Harry didn't recognise. From the case he withdrew what Harry recognized as a pistol.
"For those who do not know what a "gun" is..." Kirkland swiftly turned his back and fired three times in quick succession. Each bullet hit the target dead-on. The resulting ear-splitting bangs from the pistol caused most students to cover their ears, and some to even cower on the ground in fear.
"B-bloody hell..." whispered Ron in shock.
Kirkland turned around to gaze at the shell-shocked students with amusement. "Behold, the mighty and brave Gryffindors..." he mused aloud thoughtfully. "That was just a little pistol. The sound is nothing compared to the more devastating weapons they used in World War One. During that time the Machine Gun had just been invented, and it changed the way that wars were run forever. No longer could you afford to stand out in the open on a battlefield, and horses were rendered ineffective during battle. This was no musket... you had to have cover or you'd be hewn down before you could scream."
Next Kirkland once again reached into the case and retrieved an old rifle of some sort. Harry couldn't tell what kind it was, as he was no expert on guns. Kirkland tapped the machine that Harry had noticed earlier with his foot. "This is a dry fire clay shooting simulation." he explained. Everyone tilted their heads with confusion. "You may want to cover your ears..." he continued. After fiddling with the machine for a second, a bright orange clay disc flew from the machine with a loud whoosh before promptly shattering into a million pieces from the even more deafening sound of Kirkland's rifle. If the pistol had been loud, then the rifle was loud enough to wake the dead. The explosion had been quite spectacular, as Kirkland had hit the disc in just the right spot. Fragments of coloured clay flew in every direction and rained onto the grass. Kirkland must've fired a gun many a time before, because his aim was nigh-perfect.
This has to be the most interesting History of Magic class ever taught at Hogwarts, Harry concluded mentally to himself.
Kirkland turned again to address the wide-eyed class. "These are just two examples of the great variety of "guns" that muggles have invented and used in wars and other affairs. Deadly when used correctly and accurately, they are rather popular weapons... These two that I have with me aren't quite what they used back in World War One, but you get the idea, right?" The class nodded numbly. They had had no idea that the muggles had such powerful tools. The guns almost made the Killing Curse look like a joke.
Almost, thought Harry, and before his eyes flashed a brief vision of Cedric Diggory, bathed in green light, his eyes lifeless...
/
Things got worse as time went on. Hogwarts was changing too quickly for Harry's liking, and not for the better.
Dolores Umbridge was soon made "High Inquisitor" of Hogwarts. And thus, she began to inspect some of the classes and their respective teachers. As if it wasn't enough dealing with her in detention and Defense Against the Dark Arts, now Harry had to deal with the "Pink Hag from Hell" (as Ron almost affectionately dubbed her) lurking in the corners of some of his other classes, like some kind of deranged, pink vulture.
First she made an appearance in Divinition, and it was brutal and almost painful to see Trelawney struggle through the lesson. It was plain to see that she was not at all accustomed to someone observing her lessons. Umbridge even had the nerve to demand a prediction from the flustered seer, and although Harry was no fan of Trelawney, he couldn't help but feel some sympathy for the poor woman.
Umbridge nearly threw a fit when she discovered that Kirkland had used Muggle guns in a class demonstration for History of Magic. One of the students in Ravenclaw had accidently let this information slip in a conversation with their friends during breakfast, and Umbridge had overheard it. Apparently, such "dangerous and primitive muggle objects" were "unsuitable for a magical institution". Harry had a feeling that Kirkland was not one of Umbridge's favourite people, but that just made him all the better in Harry's books. He was really starting to like the thick-browed, scowling teacher who seemed to fancy muggle clothing. Kirkland had also been growing on Ron and Hermione as well. It was easy to assume that the Assistant Professor was some kind of an advocate for Muggles, and although his past was still a mystery to the majority of the school, Kirkland's popularity with the students was on the rise, even amongst the Slytherins, surprisingly. This peculiar phenomenon flabbergasted Harry and Ron to no end. Why some of the Slytherins would take a liking to a "blood traitor" of sorts was beyond them, but Harry supposed that even they couldn't resist the certain charm that the kind teacher seemed to possess.
/
It was Tuesday, which meant Care for Magical Creatures again.
Despite a dreadful detention with Umbridge the night before, Harry walked with a slight bounce in his step down to the grounds and Hagrid's cabin. The grass was covered in a glittering layer of dew that was currently forming, and thus the ground on the slope leading down to the forest was a bit slippery. This caused Ron to slip on his bottom at one point, and Hermione and Harry couldn't help but let out a few giggles at his expense. Harry leaned over and offered a hand to the bright and blushing face of his friend.
"Bloody grass..." Ron had muttered in annoyance, accepting Harry's hand. "Don't blame the grass, blame the moisture," said Hermione. Harry had let out another chiming laugh at Ron's humorous words as he pulled him up to a standing position.
Hermione tilted her head slightly at Harry's ringing laughter and his obvious happiness. "What's got you so happy Harry?" she inquired curiously. "Not that I'm not pleased, of course," she quickly explained.
Harry just shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I'm just glad to be away from Umbridge for once." Harry hadn't seen the pink-garbed witch for the majority of the day, and this had greatly lifted his spirits. He had also started to get used to the whispers of his fellow schoolmates, and had been able to ignore their scathing and mocking remarks with more ease.
Hermione smiled. "Well, I'm happy that you're happy."
"Yeah mate," agreed Ron with a grin. "No offence, but it's a bit of a pain in the arse when you're all gloomy."
Harry waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, hopefully my good mood lasts."
Unfortunately, the sight of Dolores Umbridge standing behind Kirkland with her clipboard ready was enough to dampen Harry's "good mood".
Ron cursed under his breath, mirroring Harry's current thoughts. "'Can't escape from that Hag for very long, can we?" he groaned.
No, Harry was determined to ignore her and have a good time.
"Good afternoon you lot," greeted Kirkland. "Is everyone here? Good. Today we'll be learning about fairies, and we'll be having a guest with us. Please welcome Dolores Umbridge, I trust you already know her from your Defence classes. Please, pretend that she isn't here. She will simply be observing today's class, so behave as you normally would."
Umbridge raised an eyebrow but didn't add anything.
Kirkland raised his voice and called out: "Hello pretties, mind coming out and letting the class see you?" At first, nothing seemed to happen. But then, all the sudden some members of the class gasped as dainty little fairies appeared in mind air, hovering and excitedly circling over Kirkland's head like satellites on an overdose of caffeine. With their reflective, transparent, insect-like wings, they were pretty little things. They made little high-pitched and fast chittering and twittering noises that were a little annoying. Kirkland raised his hand, and gestured to each fairy in turn. "This is Flo, Tina, Pep, Rala, Nib, and Bel." They fairies seemed to be constantly grooming themselves, but as each of their names were called, the fairies seemed to pull back their hair and bat their eyelids with extra fervour. "Now remember, fairies are not the most intelligent of creatures, but these six will respond to their given names. ...Usually." said Kirkland. "I want you all to break into six equal groups. You will each be given a fairy, and I want you all to take notes on their behaviour and sketch the patterns on their wings for this class. Well, hop to it them!" The class set out to follow Kirkland's instructions.
For the most part, the class went rather smoothly. Umbridge didn't do much, and usually refrained from interrupting the class's activities. However, she did ask Kirkland and some of the students a number of questions. Although Harry had promised himself that he would keep his cool in Umbridge's presence, he felt himself snap as he heard Draco's degrading responses to questions asked by Umbridge about Hagrid. He couldn't help but defend his friend.
"If you had just listened to Hagrid's instructions, Buckbeak would have never attacked you!" said Harry loyally after getting an earful of Draco complain to Umbridge about the incident during the first Care for Magical Creatures class back in their third year. "It's not Hagrid's fault!"
This led to another night's detention from Umbridge.
Next Umbridge moved on to Kirkland. Once again, many of her questions seemed centered around Hagrid.
"You wouldn't happen to know where Professor Hagrid is on leave, would you?" she asked Kirkland, who currently had Pep the fairy perched on his finger, nibbling on his finger nail.
"No ma'am, I'm just filling in."
"Oh, pity," she muttered. "No one seems to know where he is. I do hope he's alright and that he returns soon." Something told Harry that Umbridge could care less about Hagrid's safety. She simply wanted to know what mission Dumbledore had sent Hagrid on, and for what purpose.
"So far, your performance has been satisfactory," informed Umbridge, writing something on the clipboard. "I am extremely interested in where you received your education. Certainly you went to Hogwarts for your primary education, correct? What other school would prepare you for such a promising career? Besides, perhaps, Durmstrang."
Was it just Harry, or did Kirkland shift uncomfortably from this question?
"Yes, I attended Hogwarts for my first seven years," said Kirkland cautiously.
"You did? Splendid," Umbridge smiled her gruesome, too-sweet smile. "What house were you in?"
"Slytherin," stated Arthur without hesitation.
Harry was taken aback, including everyone else in the class who had overheard this interesting bit of information. Harry would have never imagined Kirkland as a Slytherin of all things. A Ravenclaw, maybe, but a Slytherin? Draco Malfoy and many of the other Slytherins looked equally surprised. ...But, Arthur Kirkland defended muggles, and didn't allow the word "mudblood" to be said in his classes. There was no way he could have been a Slytherin. Hermione's face became unreadable as she stored away this information for future reference.
"Wonderful." said Umbridge. "Slytherin was my old house as well, you know."
Somehow, this revelation surprised Harry less...
By the end of class, most of the students had left for the castle, except for Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Hermione had dropped her books, and Ron and Harry had felt obligated to help her gather them up again in her bag. It was a bit of a shame that Hermione carried an entire library-full of literature around with her. Harry found it impressive that she was even able to lug all those books around with her for the day. Meanwhile, Umbridge scribbled some final notes on her clipboard before looking up at an expectant Kirkland.
"Well, Arthur, you at least seem to know what you're doing," confirmed Umbridge, though her body language betrayed that this was a grudgingly-made admittance. "You'll be receiving the results of the inspection in a week's time."
"Joy." murmured Kirkland, and even from a distance, Harry could detect the hint of sarcasm in that single uttered word. Umbridge leaned forward with a toad-like smile and bored her equally toady eyes into Kirkland's own green ones.
"I thought it fair to warn you that I'll be keeping an eye on you, Professor," she hissed in an openly hostile voice.
Harry froze at the tone of Umbridge's voice. He stole a glance at his friends and saw similar expressions of shock conveyed on their faces. An unspoken communication passed between the three close friends, and they all fell silent, straining to hear the conversation (or rather confrontation, if Umbridge's behaviour was anything to go by.) between the two Professors that were now inches from each other's faces.
"Oh, for whatever reason?" asked Kirkland disinterestedly, though Harry thought he could see a hint of fear in his eyes.
"Oh please. Some random wizard requesting the job of Assistant Professor, shows up out of nowhere, with no known records in the ministry, at this crucial point in time... Hardly a coincidence. I don't know what you're up to, Professor Kirkland, but believe me, I will find out..."
Umbridge turned on her heel and stalked ominously back to the castle. The trio quickly followed, shaken to the bone.
/
"Well that was interesting," said Ron, flopping down on seat in the Griffyndor common room. For the rest of the day, the trio had been unable to discuss the newfound information they had unearthed in Care for Magical Creatures. After dinner and astronomy, the common room had gradually emptied and they had finally found an opportunity to talk about it.
"That's an understatement," muttered Harry, sitting down as well. Hermione followed Ron and Harry's example, seating herself near the blazing fireplace that emitted waves of warmth.
"Can you believe it?" said Ron thoughtfully. "Kirkland, a Slytherin? Blimey, and I thought he was an OK bloke. 'Reckon he was telling the truth?"
"Yes," said Hermione. "I think he was telling the truth."
"How can you tell?" asked Ron, his face doubtful.
"Just from his face, his voice... I think he'd have to be a really convincing liar to pull that off. Besides, Slytherins aren't all that bad, really. It's entirely plausible that Kirkland is a Slytherin." Hermione answered.
Ron snorted. "They're all the same."
Rolling her eyes, Hermione opened her mouth to scold Ron, but before she could, Harry quickly interjected.
"What was with Umbridge threatening Kirkland like that earlier? And what did she mean when she said the Ministry had no records on him? That's not possible is it?" asked Harry curiously, scratching his head.
Hermione threw her hands into the air with frustration. "Who knows?" she proclaimed. Harry started: for once, Hermione didn't have an answer. "I do know one thing, though," she added. "We need to do more research on the subject."
Hermione made a vow to go to the library the first thing in the morning. For the rest of the night before going to bed, the trio had discussed various possibilities to explain what Umbridge had said to Kirkland earlier.
For the past four years, the school years at Hogwarts had always held a mystery for the trio. Year one, it had been the Philosopher's Stone. Then followed the Chamber of Secret's and its mysterious heir, then Sirius Black and his connection to Harry, and finally the Triwizard Tournament and Harry's unwilling enrolment in the dangerous event. This year... it was Arthur Kirkland. He was the next mystery to unravel.
The conversation moved from Kirkland, Umbridge, and the Ministry to Umbridge's terrible teaching methods.
"We're not learning anything!" said Hermione, and Harry thought he noticed frustrated tears brimming in her eyes. "It's a crime to education. How are we supposed to pass our OWLs? And more importantly, how will we ever protect ourselves should we find ourselves in a bad spot?"
"I know," agreed Harry, though with considerably less fervour. "But what can we do?"
"If only we had a teacher of sorts, someone who really knew what it was like to face the dark arts and survive." said Hermione, her bushy-haired head resting against the back of the chair. "Someone who could tutor us..."
"But where would we find someone like that?" said Ron, his eyes drooping slightly from exhaustion.
Suddenly, both Ron and Hermione looked directly at Harry in unison, their faces mirroring each other. They stared at him like he was the answer to all their prayers, like he was the cure to cancer and the solution to end world hunger.
"What?" asked Harry, his face confused.
Hermione and Ron just grinned broadly.
/
England
England walked slowly back to his rooms, his eyes downcast and refusing to meet the gazes of students making their way back to their dorms. When he reached the door, he unlocked it and stepped into his office, leaning back against the door and closing it. With a huff he slid down the door until he was sitting on the ground.
His inspection with Umbridge had been... nerve-racking, to say the least.
It had taken all of his willpower to not throw a mini panic attack at Umbridge's declaration. England sighed. He had feigned perplexity at her words, but Umbridge was just as suspicious as she had been before, if not more. And it was only the first few weeks of the year! With his luck, the Ministry of Magic would know his secret within a few months. He was foolish to have come here... and yet, England couldn't leave now. Not after he'd met with and grown to care for the students in this school. He couldn't just leave them all... not with Umbridge here, anyways. Besides, it would be suspicious for him to suddenly bail out now, seemingly out of the blue.
In retrospect, maybe it hadn't been the best idea to break off all ties with the Ministry all those years ago. England had noticed the growing corruption in the organisation, and had begun to distance himself from the magical government. Now they had no idea who or what he was. Meanwhile, throughout the years England had maintained a flourishing relationship with his muggle government, despite the troubles he'd had with it. Now it seemed that it had been a mistake to let the magical ministry function without his assistance and influence.
With another sigh England heaved himself up off the floor and made his way to his bedroom. A good night's sleep would do him some good...
/
A couple sat together in a love-seat, enjoying each other's company and taking comfort from the other's presence. They were non-magical, if their clothes and the non-moving photos of themselves that were scattered throughout the room were anything to go by. The woman had a slight bulge to her stomach, indicating an early pregnancy. The man's tired eyes were alight with happiness as he cuddled his wife.
The happy scene was suddenly blown away as the front door slammed open. The couple jumped, entangling themselves from one another and looking at each other in confusion and fear.
A creature stepped through the door, its red eyes burning with malice and murder. The thing could only be described as a creature, for there was no possible way that something so monstrous had once been a man. Its skin was pale white, its fingers long, thin, and skeleton-like, almost like claws. Humanity was non-existent in its smile as it turned to the horrified muggles. The woman screamed. The man yelled at the thing, pushing his wife behind him to protect her with his body.
"Who the hell are you?! Get out!" The man tried to sound threatening, but his voice trembled in fear. His wife glanced at a phone lying nearby... if she could just make a dart for it, maybe-
Two flashes of green light, and the helpless couple was dispatched. The woman never finished her thought.
England woke up with a jolt, shuddering and convulsing. With a wail he ran to the loo, heaving over the sink and clutching the slick counter-top like it was a life-line.
/
Almost at that exact same moment in the Griffyndor common-room tower, Harry Potter woke up, trembling, sweating and shaken.
Author's Note:
Yes, Harry saw the same event as England. But while England saw it all happen more-or-less from the point of view of the victims (his people), Harry more-or-less observed it through the eyes of Voldemort. Plus, Harry didn't see the entire thing, just brief images and flashes of Voldemort's thoughts and emotions.
I am SOOO sorry it took me so long to finish this chapter! I lost the original chapter four, and had to start from SCRATCH. :/ As you can imagine, this really dampened my mood and it took me forever to get me motivation back and to rewrite the entire thing. The only reason I was able to continue was because of your continued reviews and support guiiisee. ;)
This was mostly a filler/foreshadowing chapter, sorry. ^^; More to come soon!
Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes. I was in a hurry, so don't bother yourselves about it ^^.
Review please! It makes me write faster!