Author's Note: Hi everyone! Sorry for the slow updates, but a mix of holidays, job-searching and Olympics put a dent in my flow :) Hopefully by September I'll get back in the groove - thank you so much for your support, whether you've left a comment, kudos, subscribed, or simply read so far, and hope you are enjoying the story so far!

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Albus Dumbledore had assured Remus Lupin that Igor Karkaroff had no inclinations towards returning to the graces of a lord he considered disappeared and for all intents and purposes, dead. Rather, Karkaroff apparently wanted to prove himself as one of the few Headmasters of Durmstrang who would 'open' it more to the outside world, to have it recognised not only for its secret, but also for its strength and the illuminated heads leaving it.

"Among those who have joined Lord Voldemort, many of them joined for the power and glory that could be bestowed upon them. Igor Karkaroff is a man chasing glory. This for him is another way to chase that glory, but this time, through trying to do something good and positive. Who am I to deny that?" Dumbledore asked Remus with a playful glint in his eye beneath his glasses. "And to ensure his intentions continue to remain good, good to Hogwarts, that is, I have entrusted a watchful eye inside Durmstrang in the eyes and ears of a previous student that passed through Hogwarts."

"Is that the only reason you recommended Rada Pann to teach at Durmstrang, Headmaster?" Remus asked, interested.

"Miss Pann has always had an interest in history, and the post I recommended her for was one of the most coveted in its time, under Headmistress Varda. I believe she could follow in Bathilda Bagshot's footsteps, that is, when she will put quill to parchment. And with her interest, what better way to write history than being at the forefront of where it is happening?"

"I see."

He nodded, and decided not to pursue the matter any further, not until he had an actual plan. After all, what more could he say? His doubts regarding the animal nature of Felix could have been unfounded - after all, if he thought about it, no one - not James, not Sirius, not Peter, not one of them paid attention to the students in earlier years, and if he didn't recognise Rada, Sirius certainly couldn't have, not after so many years in Azkaban, isolated from the wizarding world. And after all, why would Sirius hang out for months in Durmstrang disguised as a professor's dog? He could have just followed her out to Hogwarts one time, or any of them, really, and hidden himself on Hogwarts grounds in his Animagus form. In the Forbidden Forest, in the Shrieking Shack - after all, with the seemingly endless Durmstrang grounds, it wouldn't have been unheard of for an animal, especially a previous stray, to get lost.

Remus Lupin left the Headmaster's office, assured at least that Dumbledore trusted that Karkaroff's self-serving intentions had nothing to do with Sirius, and that Rada was Dumbledore's plant, and not Durmstrang's.

Harry Potter, on the other hand, had still no idea that Rada Pann was on their side, and still thought her to be Karkaroff's right hand. The shadow of Igor Karkaroff, a convicted follower of Voldemort, as they soon found out when looking through old editions of the Daily Prophet. Well, Hermione found out, as he found himself busy with the black dog from Durmstrang.

"Now you believe me?" he asked Ron in a whisper, whose eyes widened as he followed Harry down the corridor, only to stumble upon the enormous black dog that Harry kept mentioning. "This is Pann's dog apparently, and it's- hey!"

Ron barely had time to acknowledge the dog was not only real, but moving towards him uncannily fast, nails clattering against the floor like heavy rain. Trying to avoid the massive beast, he tried to step back slowly, stumbling backwards as his feet tripped against his own pyjamas. He muffled a yelp in order not to arouse suspicion, quietly hissing 'Get it off me! Get it off me!' to Harry as the dog's snout seemed to inspect all of his pockets.

Harry, on the other hand, having seen the Durmstrang student that helped him earlier get up and heavily pet its head without as much as a single complaint from the animal, and having had the dog's eyes transfixed on him the entire time as she coddled it, caught a wind of bravado, and grabbed at its collar.

"He's probably hungry, with his size." he said, trying to keep as quiet as possible as he tried to pull the heavy animal off Ron. "Felix, stop, heel- Heel!" He'd heard Aunt Marge use that, and to his surprise, it worked, however the dog's eyes seemed to be darting all over Ron.

"Pann said he gets like that, sometimes. Said he's not a regular dog, and that's what that Durmstrang girl said too." Harry remembered how the student, 'Lex', as she liked to be called, introduced him to Felix, and he decided it might be worth doing the same. "That's my friend, Ron Weasley." he said, ignoring Ron's muffled laugh.

Harry however, ignored him. He wondered if the dog followed him when he left Durmstrang, and how it didn't get spotted in all of those hours he spent in the Great Hall, in the Gryffindor common Room. He didn't get to spend much time thinking about this, as a set of footsteps was approaching them, and Harry only had enough time to cover himself and Ron in the Invisibility Cloak - yet he swore he heard the dog's footsteps going in the opposite direction of the footsteps, as if it were aware itself that it was not supposed to be found on Hogwarts corridors.

"What kind of dog do you think Felix is, then?" Ron asked the next morning, during breakfast. "They're dumber than owls, dogs, aren't they?" He looked towards Hermione briefly, narrowing his eyes as he stuck his fork in a slice of black pudding. "Can't be dumber than a cat. That thing's only good at freaking Scabbers out, poor guy has been running in circles since Harry came back yesterday."

Hermione ignored him, waving him off with her own fork before clearing her throat.

"As I was saying, if Dumbledore is willing to trust a Death Eater and his entire entourage, so close to the school, maybe there's a reason for it."

"Maybe Dumbledore's using Karkaroff as bait for Black, or the other way around." Ron proposed. "You alright, Harry mate?"

"Do you think Snape was a Death Eater?" Harry asked in a low whisper, colour draining from his face as he pondered on the idea. No, not just an idea - Harry looked towards the Potions professor, and thought about how chummy Karkaroff was with him, compared to all the other Hogwarts professors. It wasn't an idea at this point, it was more of a reality. That would mean that there were several followers of Voldemort roaming Hogwarts freely.

Ron and Hermione did not answer him, but they were in agreement.

"Birds of a feather, Harry, birds of a feather, Karkaroff, Snape, Pann, Black." Ron finally said, pondering on Durmstrang for a moment before continuing. "So, wait, that girl wasn't like a Slytherin, then? I imagined most of them to be like mini and maxi Malfoys. I know Percy says they're not, but you know him by now-..."

"I don't know. She said she doesn't like Karkaroff." Well, Harry didn't really want to repeat what she said at the breakfast table, which could be plainly summed up from a plethora of insults to a more simple 'Karkaroff can suck my–' "Malfoy would never talk about Snape the way she talked about him. Look."

Harry straightened his back, and looked towards the professor's table. He briefly exchanged looks with Snape, and while Harry made it look like it was an accident, he managed to catch enough of the confusion in Snape's sneer to figure he had no idea he had sneaked into Durmstrang. He looked towards several professors, and none seemed the wiser to Harry's little trips of information gathering.

"She would've told on me by now."

Harry was right.

Whilst he was planning another information-gathering heist at Durmstrang with Ron and Hermione, for next time the occasion arose for them to sneak in, he was being himself the subject of conversation between Alexandra Szabo, who had helped him the day before, and the other students that had seen him.

They were gathered around their own breakfast table - however, this one was a makeshift one set behind the northernmost outside wall of Durmstrang, as several of them used the occasion to start their day with a cigarette accompanying their coffee. Viktor Krum and Krista Bauer, the Quidditch and Duelling superstars respectively, were the only ones not smoking - one found cigarettes revolting regardless of the myriad of flavours offered, and the other was too busy applying her make-up.

"What's your angle, then? If Karkaroff finds out-" Poliakoff did not finish his sentence and instead took a swig of his cigarette and shrugged, because in all honesty, he had no idea how Karkaroff would react. He was unpredictable in his punishments, ranging from verbal insults to physical punishments, most of which involved the use of curses.

"He can suck me, and he's not going to find out. And even if he did, if my mum, and your mum Alexei, and your mum, and yours, and yours-" Alexandra pointed to each of them, snapping her fingers towards them to emphasise her point. "-find out just how easy it was for a kid to enter Durmstrang's holy and sacred grounds, mister professor's the one who's got problems, not me. Come on, do you not realise the gold mine we have? We can find out all the dirt he's done in England, straight from the kid who killed his boss."

A pregnant pause fell as they all sipped on their coffees, Poliakoff turning his head at times to check for any professors eavesdropping on their impromptu meeting.

"So we'll all pretend we haven't seen Harry Potter, one of the most famous British wizards, falling out of an Invisibility Cloak, 'cause of Alexei's fat ass?" Tamara finally asked, rapping her fingers against the wall.

"Works for me." Viktor groaned, standing up. "Consider me having forgotten, because I don't have the time. And you haven't either, Lex, what with those Magizoology practicals. Anyone else?"

"I'm coming with." Krista Bauer raised her hand, taking out a small mirror and using her wand to change the bottom compartment into one from which she could apply blush. "I have Ethics, so I can tell Pann all about your plans to sabotage mister professor." she laughed, rushing after Krum through a door that led to the inner hallway.

Szabo was not worried about Krista's claims, because not only did she know that she was joking, but Pann did not like Bauer- or rather, did not appreciate her outlandish claims during this semester's Year Ten Ethics project, the trial of Sirius Black. She had asked other professors about Bauer, the same as she did for all of her students. Duelling prodigy, but she seemed unable to transfer any of her skills to other subjects, and she did not appear to be interested in doing so either. When it came to the speed of her casting, the clear motions and immediate response to her opponent's hexes, jinxes or curses, there was no one like her either in the school or outside of it, but when it came to anything that was not a duelling match, nothing else was exceptional about her.

Mikhailov, the Dark Arts tutor, spoke of her highly, but he was just a friend of Igor's. Hayk was ready to fail her in Runic Studies, and so were Samovich and Eftimiou in Zoology and Alchemy, if it weren't for Igor's final say in it.

What annoyed her, however, were her outlandish claims as the defence of the accused in their mock trial. No, it was not even her outlandish claims - she welcomed a certain extent of controversy. It was her shit-eating grin as she leaned on a desk, as if to start a stand-up routine, before declaring that her client was 'coerced' into confessing his guilt in the murder of twelve Muggles and a wizard.

"Thread carefully here, Bauer." Rada stated coldly when she first heard her claim. She very rarely interrupted, but this time, she found herself not able to let the class mock Pettigrew's death, especially not when she had finally agreed to let Remus be present in one of her classes that dealt with the trial. "A good wizard died thirteen years ago, not only Muggles."

"Well, miss, but did he really die?"

"I don't know, Bauer, did he?" she asked sarcastically, not bothering to look up towards her as she looked through Kirsta Bauer's case. It had no evidence, nothing to back her claims. She had literally stumbled onto the stand, made these allegations, and seemed to be winging it. There was not even a written note about the articles she advised them to research before their presentation.

"Well, that's the thing, I don't know, miss-"

"Then I advise you to document yourself before coming to the stand next time if you wish to pass my class. All dismissed." She stood up and slightly bowed her head, and the students followed her gesture, bowing their heads lightly before leaving.

She had related the incident to Remus Lupin as she walked with him on Durmstrang corridors, still in awe over the gall of the student.

"She seemed intent on proving the entire British Ministry wrong. Well, and the entirety of Britain." Remus couldn't help but chuckle bitterly, part of him wishing in fact, that the entirety of wizarding Britain, himself included, could have been proven wrong. However, the facts were that he had suspected Sirius of having been the spy himself weeks before the murder of James and Lily. He had become withdrawn. He had started losing weight, and appeared to disappear more often than usual.

He proposed to attend her next class with this specific cohort of Year Tens out of curiosity, and indeed, a day after his last meeting with Dumbledore, he found himself entering the Ethics class for the first time. Funnily enough, he found that the students had fashioned themselves Wizengamot suits and arranged their desks in a manner reminiscent of what a trial would look like. As he approached Rada's desk they all stood up to face him, and only sat down when he bowed his head lightly to acknowledge them.

He had slowly gotten used to this method of welcoming and dismissing Durmstrang students. At first, he was surprised by their gesture, and the students were even more surprised at his surprise - well, and also the fact that the Hogwarts professor gave them no sign of acknowledgment, and thus no way for them to break eye contact and return to their positions of 'rest'. That first Durmstrang class he observed found the entirety of the Year Seven class stood like wax figures for a good few seconds, fixated on him, until Professor Toma walked in and finally realised the ridiculousness of the tableau in front of her, and advised the students they could be 'at ease'.

Remus learnt afterwards that this gesture would ensure the students could return to their rest positions and stop looking at him with such intensity, and that they were trained from their very first class to acknowledge the professors in front of them, as well as be dismissed from a class.

"Is your professor not here yet?" he asked.

"Uh, not yet sir, no." A student he recognised from a previous class, with dark, oiled curls stood up, and bowed his head slightly before talking. "Will you be taking over the class?"

"Oh, no, no, nothing like that. I teach at Hogwarts. Only." he added, and to his surprise, found a few of the students at the back pouting, as if they wished he taught them. He found many of the older students, such as these, to resemble Fred and George Weasley in their mannerisms. Or even James and Sirius.

"What do you teach, mister professor?" another student spoke up, raising his head, and a couple of murmurs expressed approval at the question. Remus found it amusing, how when left alone with the class, they seemed to be so much more animated than when in the presence of their own professors, and he wished he could have asked them why.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Have you met-" Yet the question remained unfinished, as the door to the classroom opened. Instead of Rada Pann, however, a short, grey-haired yet youthful looking professor walked in. The students got up again, most of the boys a head taller than the professor, and sat down at a motion of the hand.

"Professor. I'll be with you in a moment." The grey-haired professor pulled a hand through his hair as he noticed Remus, raising one finger before turning to face the class. In spite of his stern tone, his voice was naturally soft and quiet, and several students at the back had to lean in to be able to hear him. "Right. Two announcements, and I will throw you an exam you will all fail if I hear a single noise until I leave. Your Ethics class today is cancelled."

Remus watched as the professor waited for a moment for them to take in the news, and saw several motions and gestures which showed excitement, yet not a single noise.

"Second announcement. Classes for Halloween next week will all be cancelled as you have all been invited to attend a feast at Hogwarts. Professor, if you want to follow me…"

Remus found himself exiting together with who he found out was the Healing Studies professor, a Georgian by the name of Irakli Akin - he hoped that was his name and that was his nationality, as the classroom burst into roars and whistles the moment they left through the door and he could barely hear the professor introduce himself, and hoped that he understood his name as well.

"I'm afraid you came for nothing, professor Lupin, my apologies. I wasn't informed that the class would be observed."

"No, no, my apologies, I did not inform anyone in advance. I was invited a short while ago, and did not have enough time to notify the Headmaster."

"I see." Professor Akin seemed to weigh what Remus was saying, looking up at the Hogwarts professor. "A bit unlike her, but I suppose with everything…"

"I hope she's not too unwell."

"I hope so as well." he stated with a sigh, which to Remus felt like the first genuine humane reaction of a Durmstrang professor so far. "I hope so as well…" he repeated, before furrowing his brows as he turned to the side. "Bauer, can I help you?"

"MIster professor, sir, can you please give Miss Pann my research? She'd asked for it, and I wouldn't want to disappoint her…"

Remus looked at the girl, her shoulders slumped as she handed it a stack of parchment papers and clippings. Akin took it from her without another word, and said he'd try. Remus, however, found an opportunity there, realising she was the student that had made the outlandish claims that annoyed Rada.

"Can I have a look at that? I'm curious how students research at this level in their studies."

"Knock yourself out." Akin stated, handing him the documents. "Bauer, be a dear and just bring your folder back to the staff room when you're done."