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 and Hetalia belong to their rightful owners. I do not own either.
Harry
Another night, another weird dream. Except this time, Harry's dream had been different. His usual dream about the black door had been replaced by a dream in which he only saw foggy figures and the occasional snatch of a sentence.
This dream had been fuzzy and unclear... the only thing that Harry had been able to decipher from it a were few scattered words here and there... things like "immortality"and "I want him" and something about... a prophesy? Nothing from this dream had made any sense, but it was a welcome change from his normal dream of the dark hallway and door. It was getting a little dull trying to reach that door every time Harry dropped to sleep.
Presently, Harry was with his two friends in the library again. Hermione just wouldn't quit in her quest to find answers about Kirkland.
"Erm, what are we supposed to be looking for again, Hermione?" questioned Harry with boredom, resting his head of messy raven-coloured hair on his hand.
Hermione huffed in agitation. "Just... anything. Anything that could possibly involved with Kirkland. Anything that could make it all make sense..."
"...I guess that narrows it down...?" said Harry, shrugging and continuing to read the book that Hermione had ordered he check. Hermione wasn't really making any sense at the moment, so it was best to leave her alone to her thoughts.
"Hermione," sighed Ron, putting down the book he was grudgingly skimming over. "Has it ever occurred to you that books can't solve every dilemma? That the library may not hold all the answers for once?"
Hermione gave Ron an appalled and scathing look. "Of course the library has all the answers," she answered, her tone reminding Harry of an adult talking to an ignorant child. She let out the tiniest of scoffs at Ron's suggestion and went back to what she was doing.
Ron let out a groan of exasperation and slammed his hands on the table. "I can't take much more of this! I need some fresh air right now or I'll die! Get me out of this library!"
Immediately Madam Pince stuck her head from around a crowded book shelf and hissed for them to be quiet. Ron gave her a sheepish and mumbled apology, and then with a parting glare Pince stalked off ominously.
"Hermione... I think Ron is right," said Harry. "Its beautiful out today, and we all need a break. Especially you. You've been obsessed with Kirkland's missing records for days. Its Saturday. No one should be spending their entire day off cooped up in a library..."
Hermione exhaled in annoyance, but relented. "Fine, but I need to come back later..."
Thus the trio of friends found themselves outside five minutes later, leaning against the base of a large tree near the banks of the lake. The sun had peeked out of the clouds today to rain its warmth over the entire castle, making for the nicest day Hogwarts had seen since the start of term. It felt good to just relax for a bit and enjoy each others' company, without Ron and Hermione trying to bite each others' heads off.
In the distance, Harry could see Kirkland out near Hagrid's garden, setting down planks of wood with his sleeves rolled up and sweat on his forehead. Although Kirkland hadn't seemed to have the most "out-doorsy" reputation at the school when he first arrived, and had come off as more of an indoor type of bloke, it had become apparent to the students at Hogwarts as time went on that Kirkland wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty.
Harry wondered to himself what Kirkland could possibly be doing, but ultimately decided to ignore it.
It only took fifteen minutes for Hermione to get restless and twitchy, and Harry could tell that she was itching to get back to the library. Reluctantly, Harry and Ron agreed to come back inside with her, with fear that she would blow her top being their primary motivation.
As the three Gryffindors trekked back to the castle, they paused for only a brief window of time to look curiously at Kirkland hauling his wooden boards. Kirkland put down on of the planks and stood up, brushing his hands together and eyeing Harry and his friends cynically.
"Did you three come down to help me, or what?" he called. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all started, embarrassed at having been caught hovering and watching Kirkland work.
"Um... sure?" answered Harry, him and his friends not having the courage to decline. Plus, Harry would take any excuse to delay Hermione's inevitable return to the indoors.
"Well then go grab those timbers over there for me," returned England, rubbing his arm across his brow before going back to work.
And so Harry, Ron, and Hermione found themselves assisting Kirkland with whatever task he was trying to accomplish. Harry had an inkling that the wooden planks were for some sort of structure that Kirkland was planning to build, but he wasn't quite sure what. After a minute, Harry decided that he'd ask.
"What are these for?" he said to Kirkland.
"An enclosure for Care for Magical Creatures," Kirkland said, lifting his wood with hardly any visible effort besides the faint sheen of sweat on his forehead from the heat. "I thought today would be a good day to get it started."
"Why don't you just use magic to set up the enclosure? It would cut the time into only a few minutes at the most." asked Ron confusedly.
"Because it keeps my hands busy and lets my mind think," said Kirkland, not even looking up as he bent over to collect some more wood.
Hermione was down at the other end, gathering wooden boards in her arms to carry back over to Ron, Harry, and Kirkland.
"So," grunted Harry, heaving up a plank. "Why do you need this pasture, anyway?"
"We're getting a couple of yearling Pegasi in a week, one male, one female. I got them off a man who was advertising them in the Daily Prophet. He couldn't afford to keep them, so I took them off his hands for quite the bargain. They belong to the school now, and when they get sent over they'll need an enclosed pasture of sorts." answered Kirkland distractedly. "I don't want them interacting with Hogwart's Threstral herd too much, so that's why we'll be keeping them out of the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid has his Threstrals pretty well trained, but Pegasi are far less intelligent and usually more hostile and easily-frightened. I also don't want to risk the possibility that they might spook and bolt into the Forest. It would take me ages to get them back if that happened. It's best not to take any chances..."
"What..." said Ron in a voice so low Harry barely heard it. Harry had a similar expression of confusion, but he shook off his bemusement and got back to work. At the moment, Harry wasn't too keen to find out what Threstrals were. Maybe later he'd ask Hermione about it...
"So, um, what are the Pegasi for?" Harry asked interestedly.
"For class, of course, Potter. The curriculum for OWLs has recently changed a bit, and now you lot of fifth-years will need to be studied up and familiar with Pegasi."
Hermione, Ron, and Harry continued to labour in the boiling sun for a little while longer before Kirkland gratefully dismissed them with a: "Thanks for your help. I can take care of the rest on my own now, so I won't take up any more of your time."
Overall, Arthur Kirkland seemed like a genuinely nice man; a little rough around the edges maybe, but past his outer scowling and gruff façade there seemed to be a decent, nice, and kind person. But then, Harry had thought in his fourth year that "Mad-eye" had been one of the good guys, when in reality he had just been another fraud. The DADA teacher had been a Death Eater in disguise, an insane man by the name of Barty Crouch Jr. who was simply taking polyjuice potion and playing the entire school into thinking he was some former Auror...
Harry wasn't in the mood to be betrayed again, so he mentally promised himself that he wouldn't invest a lot of trust in Kirkland, should he prove to be just another good actor.
/One Week Later/
The Hog's Head Pub and Inn had a reputation for being dodgy, and Harry had to admit to himself that so far it was living up to its reputation.
Harry examined the sketchy-looking Inn with uncertainty. It was small, with windows so encrusted in filth and grime that they were nearly opaque. Over the front door hung a beaten sign made of wood that depicted a gruesome faded image of a boar's head oozing glossy red blood onto a white table-cloth. The bracket that held the sign was covered in rust, and made bone-chilling creaking noises as the sign it supported was moved by a faint breeze.
This was the location Hermione had chosen for their first meeting with Harry's defence "study-group". Although Harry usually trusted Hermione's judgement, he was far from impressed by this out-of-the-way, avoid-at-all-costs pub.
"I don't know 'Mione..." he said slowly. "Are you sure?"
"Just think about it, Harry," Hermione insisted. "No one would think of us coming here. In fact, students NEVER come in here-"
"I wonder why," murmured Ron sarcastically under his breath.
"-So there's less of a chance of Umbridge knowing what we're up to!" finished Hermione brightly, ignoring Ron's interruption. "Come on you two," she called and walked up to the filthy entrance-way. Though Hermione was putting on a brave face, Harry could detect the nervousness in her actions and words.
"She has got a point..." said Harry to Ron. "We may have a better chance of not being overheard." The two boys looked at each other, shrugged, and followed.
The interior of the pub was just as bad if not worse than the exterior. The main room was small, dark, and dingy. Every inch of every surface was covered in a layer of grime. Flies buzzed lazily around the tables, and the floor looked no different than the outside soil. In the air Harry could detect a faint odour that could only be some kind of barn animal.
"Man... this place could use some work," Ron muttered.
"What did you expect? A five-star hotel?" joked Harry lightly.
The three of them ordered butterbeers in stained glasses from the gruff barman and found a rickety old table close to the entrance way. They weren't the only occupants of the bar at the moment. There were a few suspicious-looking characters silently enjoying their drinks in the other corners of the room, and one of them was a woman wearing a veil who bore an uncanny physical resemblance to Umbridge. Harry turned his face away uncomfortably. There was no turning back now...
It didn't take long for the people interested in the idea of a DADA study group to begin to stream in. When the door opened, Harry looked up to see who was entering. The mass of people that quickly crammed themselves through the door and crowded around Harry's table was overwhelming. There was Neville and Luna, Dean Thomas, Lavender and Parvati. Katie, Angelina, and Alicia from the Gryffindor Quidditch team were also in the group. Of course Fred and George were present, as well as their sister Ginny and their best friend Lee Jordan. In came the Creevey brothers, Ernie Macmillan, Hannah Abbot, Justin Finch-Fletchley, three Ravenclaws and a Hufflepuff girl and boy (whom Harry was pretty sure was a part of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team). But what shocked Harry the most was when he saw Cho Chang step into the bar with one of her girl friends. Immediately he felt a rush of heat filter into his burning face.
"I thought you said it would be a few people," Harry fiercely said to Hermione in a voice that was a strange combination of a panicked yell and a whisper.
"Well... I may have... under-exaggerated," Hermione admitted apologetically.
Harry internally groaned. It wouldn't have killed Hermione to have given him some sort of warning, just so that he would be a little more mentally prepared...
/nowtoIggy:)
England (Later that Day)
Miss "High and Mighty Inquisitor of Hogwarts" had called a staff meeting today, something that England was severely dreading. Could he really tolerate half an hour with that toad? Even with the support and company of his fellow faculty members?
The time was swiftly approaching when he would have to walk down to the staff room. England resisted the urge to pull out his hair. Umbridge was becoming increasingly intolerable as time went on...
Grudgingly, England left his office and made his way to the staff room for the meeting. On the way out, he made sure to keep Brandee on the other side of the door, though her disappointed mewlings tugged at his heart strings.
"I'm sorry, girl, but I have to go alone. You're going to have to stay in there for now. Don't worry, I'll be back," he reassured, gently closing his office door on the heart-broken kitten staring up at him with depressed pale green eyes.
As usual, when he got to the staff room doors the stone gargoyles guarding the entrance let him in immediately without any problems.
Inside the staff room all the other Professors were already gathered, as well as the Caretaker Filch, the nurse Madam Pomfrey, and the Librarian Madam Pince. They all looked up when he strode into the room, and Dolores smiled her false smirk at him. A circle of the mismatched chairs characteristic to the staff room had been arranged near the center of the room, and the only seat that was currently free was the chair next to Umbridge.
"It's good to see you again, Arthur. Please, take a seat." said Umbridge in her sappy voice, gesturing to the empty chair.
England suppressed a groan and took his seat, forcing his face to appear completely neutral. He made sure to look away from Dolores, determined to have the absolute minimum eye-contact with her as possible.
"Hem hem, Good day, everyone," Umbridge greeted the assembled staff. "I bet you're all wondering why I called you down here today!"
Stone faces and silence were the only reaction to her words.
"I thought it would be polite to let you all know slightly ahead of time that tomorrow I'll be passing one of the first of many educational decrees and reforms to come," she continued sweetly. "Things at Hogwarts are... far worse than I originally thought, and this particular decree will prohibit all student organisations that fail to receive my written consent."
"What could have prompted this sudden decision, Dolores?" asked Arthur, still not directly looking at her ugly toad face.
Umbridge shrugged innocently. "Oh, I'm just making sure that the students here aren't doing anything... out of line."
"This won't interfere with the Quidditch tournament, will it?" asked Minerva, her weathered and wise face hard and set.
Dolores giggled in a muffled high-pitched voice. "Oh, of course not Minerva. So long as I find the teams to be up to Ministry standard, they should have my permission for reform in no time at all..."
Somehow Kirkland could tell that this bit of information didn't quite comfort McGonagall.
After answering Professor McGonagall's question, Umbridge turned to address Snape, who had wordlessly been watching the entire proceedings without any expressions of interest.
"Severus, it has also come to my attention that I've neglected to inspect your Potions class, silly me," she let out a little girly giggle that made Arthur want to throw up. "I'll have to get right on that, won't I?"
Severus did not look pleased about that...
/
Harry
/
It was nearly time for the nine o'clock curfew, and Harry was taking a new shortcut path through a different hallway to the Gryffindor tower in his hurry to get back before Filch would have an excuse to report him for wandering the halls at time. While he speed-walked briskly through the unfamiliar corridor, Harry's thoughts began to wander back to the previous happenings of the day.
Harry's first Hogsmeade trip of the year and his first meeting with his DADA "students" had gone better than he had expected. Sure, some of the people who had agreed to join had been... nosey, to say the least. Especially that boy from the Hufflepuff Quidditch team whom Harry had eventually identified as Zacharias Smith. Most of the people who had come to the Hog's Head had seemed mostly interested in what had happened to Cedric and Harry that one night at the end of the Triwizard Tournament... in the graveyard... which was absolutely none of their business. But on a better note, everyone had joined the newly formed group and swore an oath to absolute secrecy by signing their names on an a piece of parchment that Hermione had cleverly enchanted. Ginny Weasley had made the group official by giving it the name Dumbledore's Army, dubbing it the "DA" for secrecy's sake and to make their activities more inconspicuous.
By far, the best part of the entire event had been when Cho Chang had complimented his bravery during the tasks from the Triwizard tournament last year.
Despite himself, Harry was fuelled by his dislike for Umbridge and had become inspired and inflamed to go against the Ministry's wishes. He was no longer quite as nervous he had originally been when Hermione had asked him the question of whether he'd be willing to teach some students DADA. Harry felt a sudden urge to rebel against Umbridge's theory-based teaching methods. He wanted to make a statement, to show the Ministry that the student body had a mind of their own, and that they were willing to go against Umbridge in order to prepare themselves for Voldemort's inevitable strike.
Now that the official first meeting was done and over with, all Harry needed to do was find some place for them to meet... It had to be spacious, so that everyone could easily fit and have room to practise some hexes and jinxes without the danger of hitting the others in the room. Maybe he could ask Professor McGonagall if there were any empty and abandoned classrooms they could use...
Harry's thoughts were interrupted by a strange sound. He stopped in surprise next to a slightly ajar door. Green light was filtering through the thin crack of the open door, and Harry discreetly peered through the sliver between the door and the wall to see what was causing the strange noises and the green glow. What Harry saw was far from what he would have expected.
Kirkland was in the middle of the room, standing as straight and as still as a tree. This must be his office... Harry thought to himself. What made the scene strange, though, was the fact that Kirkland was mumbling some alien-sounding chant in a low voice, a book in his hands and his green eyes tightly closed. Around his figure long tendrils of green light blazed and waved back and forth, flickering and whipping around the Assistant Professor like a fire made of individual green snakes. The strange noise that Harry had heard in the hallway had been a hissing noise, and this noise seemed to be produced by the halo of wavering light surrounding Kirkland. On the ground shone and spun a strange array of light green symbols, which Kirkland stood on. Through the midst of all of this, Kirkland seemed to be giving off an aura of power and foreboding.
With a gasp of shock Harry withdrew from the door, his eyes wide and wild.
From inside, Kirkland ceased his eerie chanting. The hissing noise and green light stopped.
Fearful of discovery, Harry ran as quietly but as quickly as he could away from Kirkland's office door and turned a corner, hiding himself against the wall.
"Damn it, I forgot to close the door all the way... good thing I noticed that right away..." Harry heard Kirkland mumble to himself, accompanied by the sound of a door clicking shut.
After waiting another few seconds filled with an inability to accept what he had just witnessed, Harry dashed back to the Gryffindor tower. He had to tell Hermione about this... maybe she would know something...
/
Hermione had a hard time believing Harry in the beginning, but after a while she was forced to acknowledge the truth and honesty in Harry's eyes.
"Are you sure that there were symbols on the ground, and that he was glowing?" she prodded, leaning in close to stare intensely at Harry.
"YES!" answered Harry tiredly, sick of Hermione's persistent and repetitive questioning. "It's just like I told you a million times!"
"Merlin... if you're right Harry, then you've just described a dark ritual ceremony." Hermione whispered in a astonished voice. "They haven't been used in ages... even Voldemort doesn't exactly know how to utilise them correctly!"
"Wait! Wait wait wait one moment," interrupted Ron, his face incredulous. "Are you telling us that Kirkland was using black magic in Hogwarts? But... why?"
"I haven't the slightest idea," returned Hermione. "Those types of ceremonies had a great number of uses. Kirkland could have been trying to do anything. But I do know this: only a Dark Wizard of great power would know of their existence and how to use them..."
"Wait WAIT, so now you're trying to convince us that Kirkland is a Dark Wizard?"
"...Yes..." said Hermione. "I think... if Harry is right... maybe he is."
Ron's eyes were as round and large as a pair of galleons at this point. "Blimey..."
Hermione grabbed Harry by the shoulder. "Harry, you have to tell Dumbledore-"
"No."
"This is serious Harry-" Hermione continued frantically.
"I'm telling you, Hermione, he won't listen. Dumbledore has never listened to me about Snape in the past, and lately he has completely ignored me. Hell, he hasn't even spared me a second glance all year..." Harry said resentfully.
"We have to tell someone, you can't just keep something this important a secret!" Hermione insisted in a desperate tone of voice.
"I doubt anyone will believe us, Hermione. I'm just some attention seeker who claimed he saw Voldemort return, remember?" Harry said gloomily.
Hermione was at a loss for words now. Harry could see that she knew he was right.
"Well, maybe McGonagall..." she added hesitantly.
"I don't know if even SHE will believe me. Just look at her and Kirkland, they're nearly best buds now. And anyways, what will Kirkland do if he gets exposed? If he's really as dangerous as you claim, then innocent people could get hurt. I saywe just lay low and watch him closely to see what he's planning," Harry advised, gears turning in his head.
Hermione looked unsure at this plan. "I don't know Harry, it seems too risky..."
"I say we go for it," said Ron eagerly, siding with his friend. "Let's see what Kirkland's game is first, and maybe at the same time we can get proof that he's actually dark so that people will have a better chance of believing us."
"It's settled then," said Harry, nodding his head with determination. He focused his attention on Hermione, his green eyes boring into her conflicted face. "Hermione, don't breathe a word of this to anyone, promise?"
She hesitated, but then with a deep sigh of submission and resignation Hermione bowed her head. "I promise..."
Author's Note:
UMBRIDGE BASHING FTW :D
I'm sorry I took slightly longer to update guise :(. There were a lot of views, and less reviews, and I kinda felt like I didn't need to hurry as much this time. ^^;
(PLEASE EXCUSE TYPOS, I TRY AND FIX THOSE LATER SOMETIMES ^-^)
oOOooh, a dark ceremony of sorts... how mysterious... 0:
Review please! The more reviews the faster I try and update!