Last time...

"I believe we have an accord then, Mr. Longbottom. Now get out of my office. Potter is going to wear a groove in the floor, and I have no desire to trip upon leaving this room. Since she is so clearly waiting by the door to check on you, send her in when you leave."

Chapter 65

He was right, of course, and Potter was rapidly checking Longbottom over for any obvious signs of distress before the boy could even utter the words he'd been sent to deliver. The girl blushed upon realizing Severus was waiting to speak with her, having obviously not expected to be caught out in her blatant checking over to make sure her friend was well.

"Close the door." Severus instructed quietly. She did, and waited. "What the hell was that?"

"Dinner?" She inquired for clarification, to which he responded with a curt nod. "You didn't really think this was going to be a nice quiet year, did you?"

"One can dream." He replied sardonically. In a more serious tone, he continued. "While I was there for the interview, and understand that Amelia has asked you to distract Umbridge for as long as possible, I must ask you myself if you feel this course of action is what is best for you. You have already done more than what should be expected of you, what with that stunt you and your friends pulled that you won't talk about. Don't think Lucius didn't tell me how his son had visited a realm he hadn't thought truly existed till you mentioned it."

"I did agree to do this, Professor." Potter nodded, speaking with conviction, pinking a little at being called out about what she and her friends had done.

"You didn't take a Vow, and you weren't placed under a contract." Severus reminded her. "You could back out, and no one would think less of you for it."

"You're worried for me." She seemed to realize.

"You are essentially agreeing to be both spy and decoy for the DMLE." Severus explained, thankful to see that she at least wasn't making light of this. "Of course, I'm worried for you. Being a spy is a thankless job, one where no one trusts you, and being a decoy is a senselessly reckless endeavour. After the events of last year, I had not thought you desiring of such things."

"It was going to happen regardless, Professor. At least this way, I can help them nail her to the wall, even if I don't get thanked for it." She replied softly. "It's worth it, if it helps protect the others."

He gave a sharp nod, which she took as her signal to leave.

She turned around quickly at the last moment. "Why wasn't Bill at the Head Table? He's a shoe in for the History of Magic position!"

"You underestimated Dumbledore's desire not to have to pay another teacher's salary." Severus pointed out.

"Considering all the core classes he's taken away, and the fact that our standards are a laughing stock to the rest of the Wizarding World, you'd think he'd cave in to some of the demands made by the Board." Potter huffed. "I talked Bill out of joining the Order so he could look at the curse on the Defense position."

"Oh, he's still looking into that, though the Board is making it all discrete. He'll be coming in with the proctors at the end of the year." Severus revealed. "In the meantime, the goblins are having him do all manner of things for them, especially where he was hired by you. Being who you are to them has upped his status quite significantly in their eyes, where you have recommended him as one to be trusted. Now, go get some rest. Tomorrow is a busy day for us all."

She nodded, turning to leave once more.

"Potter, one more thing." He stated, causing her to pause and look over her shoulder at him. "Remember that you can ask me things."

A small smile appeared on her face as she replied. "I'll try, Professor."

…

"Would someone mind telling me what this is about?" Severus demanded with an air of annoyance, after he'd entered the teachers lounge. "I'd like to get some sleep before we have to deal with the little cretins tomorrow, and I'm not half convinced that one of them won't try to pull some kind of power move because I gave Granger one of the Prefect spots."

All of the teachers were there, some more frazzled than others, and all but one was looking like they'd rather be anywhere else.

"I see. Since no one else will speak up, I will." Dolores Umbridge began, glaring at him and Albus. "I want to know why a dangerous creature is learning magic within these hallowed halls, and I want to know why you're allowing it."

"Dangerous creature?" Severus asked, frowning in confusion.

The woman promptly handed him a copy of The Daily Prophet, dated just after everything happened at the Dursley household. Potter could be seen cutting through dementors with some kind of halberd he'd never seen the like of, a rather large wolf fighting at her side. Her blue skin, red eyes, and small circlet of horns were also clearly on display, as well as the occasional flash of teeth…the fangs he'd encountered when she'd freed him of the Dark Mark. He'd been there, and still chills went down his spine at the sight; an instinct that acknowledged the power she wielded was far greater than his. It wasn't something he showed to this woman, however, as it would have been seen as confirmation of fear where there was none; choosing only to arch his eyebrow at her.

"That Potter can shift in this way is not unknown to us, or even the Ministry." He feels the need to point out. "Why bother kicking up a fuss about it now?"

"Potter being some kind of…of beast was not known to us! We thought she'd drank something for the task! Not…Not this!" Dolores sniffed. "If that wasn't bad enough, she brought a basilisk into the Ministry!"

"I know. I was there." Severus remarked dryly. This was the woman Amelia Bones wanted Hera to antagonize and/or spy on? "The basilisk belonged to Salazar Slytherin, and before you interrupt me; yes, I know this. He's slithering about the school, as it is his charge while here. I suppose the wolf will be ambling about somewhere as well."

"This cannot be allowed!" Dolores objected, blinking and looking around her rapidly. "Surely, you all see?"

"What I see, Dolores, is the beginning of an inter-realm incident if you keep this up." Filius spoke up, unusually stern as he glared up at the woman. "Hera Potter is well on her way to becoming High Fae, if she wasn't already."

"What do you mean, Filius?" Minerva inquired, a bit puzzled. She looked over to Severus in silent inquiry.

"Potter has never used iron in any of our Potions classes, before or after her apprenticeship began." He offered, but said nothing else.

"She has all the markers of a High Fae; Wild hair, jewel like eyes, strength beyond the norm, and an ability to call those of lesser fae to her without even trying; and that's just to start." Filius explained sternly. "Something happened over the summer. I don't know what, but it caused a stir in the Underground the likes of which hasn't been felt in ages. The next thing I know, my king is coming to call, and I'm informed the Underground has a Princess. I just didn't know who it was till I saw Lady Potter this evening."

"Filius?"

"I saw the ring, Albus." Filius confirmed, before turning his attention back to Dolores. "Starting an inter-realm incident will be the least of your concerns should you press this, Dolores. More than likely, you'll start another Goblin War, and I wouldn't make light of that if I were you. Wizards barely won the last one. They're not likely to win the next."

The next day had Care of Magical Creatures, which was met with trepidation, as no one had had Grubby-Plank as a Professor before. Many of the students wondered where Hagrid was, but none were given an answer. Bowtruckles were rather interesting, if not to Hagrid's standards of the word. One look at Hera, and the Bowtruckles all left their assigned groups. Just like the Pixie incident, Hera ended up covered in the things as they cooed at her hair, many clinging to her as if she were their newly adopted tree. After a few tries, Professor Grubby-Plank gave up trying to coax them away from her, and everyone ended up trying to draw their own from the mountain of them that covered Hera; who just looked rather bemused at it all as she made small talk with the little creatures.

It took considerable effort to pry the little buggers away at the end of the lesson, but Hera eventually managed it. She ended up having to promise to visit as often as she good. Grubby-Plank watched on in fond bemusement, commenting on how she'd never seen anyone other than Hagrid with that level of animal camaraderie. The two spoke quietly about the various creatures that were their favorites, and Hera made mention to the woman to watch over Luna. The girl also had near the same level of if not better camaraderie with animals that Hera did.

While the others had no problem getting into the classroom when it came time for Defense against the Dark Arts, Hera found that she could not enter. Something bared her way; a barrier of some kind. It had surprised her, but it was pretty obvious to everyone that something was going on by this point. The professor had certainly noticed. Hera looked on in confusion, testing the barrier every so often, uncertain yet what to make of it.

"Is there a problem?" Professor Umbridge asked sweetly.

"There is a barrier, Professor."

"I see no problem." Professor Umbridge insisted with a girlish giggle. "It is a simple barrier meant to keep out unwanted pests and dark creatures. If you can not pass my barrier, then perhaps you have no right to be in my classroom."

So that's how she wanted to play it? Very well. Umbridge went back to ignoring her, though sure to keep her within line of sight. Good. Hera didn't want her to miss a single bit of this. Putting her hand to the barrier, Hera began pressing on it, slowly sending greater and greater amounts of magic into it. The barrier began to crackle, finally shattering as Hera stepped into the room.

"Now, were you all paying attention, or would you like an explanation on how I did that?" Hera asked, looking about the room. "I imagine it will be on whatever test she gives us. While the term pests is pretty universal, what is defined as a 'dark creature' can be someone with an affinity for dark magic or as having a dark aligned core. It's why barriers such as these are either ineffective, or a little too enthusiastic. If these are the types of lessons you have planned for us, Professor, I look forward to our next one."

It was quite clear to Hera that Umbridge had tried to keep her specifically out of the classroom, but what she couldn't figure out was why. It could be because of the Apprentice card she'd pulled the night before. It could be that she'd stalled the dementor attack long enough for the Head of the DMLE to see it. The comment about inconsiderate half-breeds came to mind, and Hera had to wonder if Umbridge thought it applied to her as well, what with her ability to shift into her Jötunn form. The woman looked fit to be tied now that Hera had made it through the barrier, and she couldn't even retaliate because Hera had made it look like a lesson Professor Umbridge was trying to introduce to the class.

It happened later that day…

"You can not possibly think we are all just going to stand for this!" Pansy declared for all in the Common Room to hear. Ron froze, looking up like he'd been caught out, before relaxing back into his seat.

"This isn't the first time I've been in here, you know." He points out after a moment.

"I wasn't talking to you!"

The only other person in her directed glare of sight was…Oh, dear.

"What did I do?" Hera asked, feeling a bit cornered.

"Do? Do? You didn't do anything! That's the problem!" Pansy scoffed in indignation. "Do you really think we're going to stand by and allow our brains to turn to mush by the teachings of that…that…utterly horrid pink cow?! She's not going to teach us anything, and we're all going to end up zombies for the Ministry!"

It was no use though. Both Hera and Ron had started snickering at 'utter'.

"I may have an idea about that." Ron admitted, when he came down from the snickering. "Hera could teach us instead."

"You know,…that's not a bad idea." Hermione agreed, sounding off somehow.

Hera froze, sensing a trap.

"Wait a minute! Have you two been conspiring against me?" Hera asked, delightfully scandalized. The rest of Slytherin House didn't seem to know what to do, no doubt having heard stories of Dark Lords and prices of betrayals growing up, and so breathed a collective sigh of relief when Hera happily threw her arms around her two closest friends. "I'm so proud!"

"Actually…We sort of thought…" Draco trailed off, and Hera's eyes widened as she realized the trap was a lot bigger than she'd first thought. That later problem she'd sensed before the start of term had suddenly become very much a now problem. "…I mean, it's not like Umbridge is going to be teaching the rest of the school anything either…You could…"

"What?…Oh…Oh no…Not…" Hera paled. "You can't possibly think I could…"

"Well…" Neville chimed in. The traitor. "…I mean, you taught me."

"I taught you to keep a hold of your damned wand so you wouldn't blow yourself up in class like Seamus! I didn't…" Hera began hyperventilating, feeling cornered as she was. No one was budging. "I can't…Really?"

"Potter, no one else here knows Defense the way you do." Draco pointed out.

"Professor Snape does!" Hera countered. "What about him?"

"Busy teaching already."

"Yeah? Well I'm busy being a student!" Hera shot back.

"I don't think you've ever really been just a student here, Hera." Ron countered. "You started teaching us almost from the moment we became friends. Who did you really think was in charge of those study groups? Mione liked to structure what we did, but you're the one that made everything all cohesive for us. Why else did you think I was able to pick up a fourth year spell as a first year?"

Hera squeaked, trying to protest, but unable to find the words.

"You taught me to love flying." Hermione added.

"You taught me charms." Draco admitted.

"Shields."

"Control."

"Strength of Will."

"Transfiguration."

Hera sighed, as she tried to think about this logically. "What if…What if they aren't interested?"

"What do you mean, what if they aren't interested?" Montague (one of the older Slytherin she'd not really had a chance to speak with much) asked, having been leaning against the wall by the entrance. "Did you think we'd kept quiet about what you told us? What you showed us?"

"Hera, the story of you dismantling the barrier she'd put up specifically to keep you out has already made the rounds." Ron pointed out, and Hera cringed. He hadn't been even been in that class, and she hadn't spoken of it in front of him; nor had anyone else in her presence. "If anything, they're going to want to know how you did that so they can do it too."

"Can we just…Can we just see first?" Hera hedged. "Maybe they won't…Maybe they won't want me teaching them…"

"If she's as awful to them as she was to us, they will." Pansy warned, and Hera quailed a little at the thought.

She looked at the paper and back at the woman it mentioned. High Inquisitor. The woman certainly looked smug for someone who hadn't done anything other than try and keep Hera physically out of her classroom. Hera'd barely managed to keep her calm around the woman in class. Hermione had made a valiant effort to try and ask about why there were no spells being performed in class, but Pansy had already hit the nail on the head, and this article confirmed it. Dolores Umbridge wasn't there to actually teach them anything, and the Ministry wasn't going to try to stop her; not when they needed her distracted while they dug into her past activities.

Each time she had class with the woman, it only instilled Pansy's words, and it was getting worse. Others were starting to come to her with questions. At first, it had seemed innocent…At least, most of them had tried to make it seem innocent. It took the form of study groups invitations from the Ravenclaws, the occasional inquiry on an essay from the Hufflepuffs, offers to hang out with the Gryffindors with suspicious stacks of homework nearby, and outright bribes from Slytherin; things were getting out of hand. One more class, she kept telling herself, just one more class; but she didn't think she could make it through being inspected in a class by the woman as well.

"She'll see they've singled me out." Hera stated quietly, while she got back to cutting into her breakfast, knowing Snape would hear her. "She'll see that I've been given advanced studies, and she'll want to know why."

"What are you thinking?"

"…Can I use this? Keep the attention on me while they do what they need?" She responded.

"No. Such tactics do not work long term. Many buckle without warning under the pressure of that kind of attention." Snape replied, effectively shooting that plan down. "Better to operate unseen if you can."

"That's not going to be a viable option for me." Hera reposed. "You saw how that worked out these past four years. What did you think I'd been trying to do?"

"That was what you flying under the radar looked like?" Snape snorted derisively. "Merlin help us all if you decided not to give a buggering fuck and flaunt it."

Hera froze. That was an option? Holy shite, that was an option! What would that even look like? Loki would have stabbed the woman by now, but Hera couldn't afford to act so callously. Hera had to be more careful, but if she was right about this…Before she could think better of it, she made to stand…only to find her progress hampered by a sticking charm.

"This is what Sirius felt like at the Yule Ball last year, isn't it?" Hera groused, annoyed at having her sudden inspiration hampered, and went back to looking at the article. "Why's she evaluating the teachers? I don't understand. Unless…I need a bit of parchment."

She was digging through her bag before Snape could ask her why. What she needed was the schedule Umbridge planned to follow, and a way to know when and if it was being updated. A Protean Charm couldn't be cast on something one couldn't see…could it? What she needed was a way back. If only she hadn't given back that time turner in Third Year!

She froze once more upon finding a familiar glint of gold and glass in her bag, and an even more chaotic idea began to take shape within her mind. Had she conjured it? Had she summoned it like she had so many other things? With it, her idea felt a little more plausible, but still something was missing. She needed a way to know it had worked before stumbling into this, and she couldn't do that if she didn't at least see some sign of herself having already acted. A snap caught her attention; a letter emanating cooling magic floated down, bearing a single inscription.

Get cracking

Would she really be so bold as brass as to stand in front of herself, even invisibly, just to give this note? Who was she kidding? Of course she would! Hera quickly packed up her bag once more, before bolting out of the side entrance, not noticing how flummoxed Snape had become considering she'd just tore through his sticking charm without a thought; having forgotten it was there at all in her haste. If only she had stayed to watch the door close a second time.