Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hello readers.  This is more of a self-challenge fic that I have made, and I am willing to take suggestions under the following rules and guidelines.

First this fic will be a series of one-shots focusing on a crossover Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts.  Anybody from any source is eligible to become the professor during any year that Harry is at Hogwarts.

The rules are simple

1. When I get a name that I think would be fun to write and I’m able to do a good job with I will take my personal sorting hat and draw out the year that they will be teaching.
   1. If year 1, Quirelmort is still teaching muggel studies.
   2. If year 5, Umbridge will still be at the school and will probably still be causing trouble unless something about the new professor is able to drive her out early.
   3. If year 6, Snape is still teaching potions.
   4. Year 7 will be an option.
2. Each story will most likely be a single chapter one-shot that will either jump through the year or be a highlighted event from that year.
3. Names can be submitted in the comment section or through PMs. Additional information or desires can be expressed but I reserve the right to pick and choose.  The random year is not up for debate.

Chapter Text

Taylor Hebert 4^th year (Worm Parahumans series)

The opening feast had been going well despite the heavy downpour going on outside.  There had still been no sign of the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.  Dumbledore had simply said that they were running late.  George had suggested that they had run off before even starting.  A loud bang echoed through the hall as the doors were thrown open.  A wet figure wearing a black cloak walked down the hall towards the head table.

Dumbledore rose from his seat as the figure approached.  His voice heard in the now silence.  “It seems that our professor has finally arrived.  May I introduce you to Professor Hebert, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.”  With the name reveled the new professor opened up the cloak revealing more about them.  The first thing Harry noticed was that the professor was female.  That was followed by the stump were her arm was missing.  The new professor didn’t say anything and simply took a seat at the table.

Professor Hebert’s room had a lot of terrariums.  Ron was concerned by the number of spiders seen in the room.  There even seemed to be an active wasp nest in the ceiling corner.  The professor was sitting at her desk while a hand-sized spider was just moving around on it.  Ron’s first thought was that the teacher was insane and that he was not going to like Defense this year.  Even Malfoy was looking unnerved by the collection of bugs surrounding the students.  Finally, when the last student had taken a seat the professor stood up.

“As you should be aware my name is Professor Hebert.  I don’t’ talk a lot but I expect you all to have your required equipment and to be paying attention.”  The professor was looking over the room with the tarantula sitting on top of her head!  Her voice itself was a little slow but the look in her eyes were piercing in their judgment of the students.  None of the students knew much about the professor but common rumor said she was an auror who got hit by a curse that prevented her arm being regrown.

“Now I understand that your education to this point has been very random due to the number of different professors you’ve had so far.  My goal for this class is to get you prepared to defend yourself against other wizards.  With that said what are the most dangerous spells that can be used against you?”  With that question the professor looked over the class as Hermione raised her hand.  The professor simply pointed at her to indicate her to speak.

“The most dangerous spells would be the unforgivables.”  Hermione replied.  The other students nodded and then started to suggest a number of other spells that they had heard of that were especially dangerous.  The professor was simply writing the names of the spells on the black board.  Somehow even hearing Neville’s comment when it was given.  Soon the board was full of spell names, and the professor lowered her hand to have them stop.

“This is a good start.  I see most of you choose damaging spells for this list.  While the most obvious I want to point out that most of the unforgivables don’t do direct harm to the body.  Spells that twist the mind, make you see things that aren’t, or forget, those are also very dangerous spells.  Homework will be an essay on how each branch of magic can be made dangerous.  Also read the first chapter your book by the end of next week.  Know this, the best way to defend your self is to know that you are in danger.”  With that she dismissed the class.

Harry had been enjoying the Halloween feast.  Fred and George had been healed and were now in attendance.  The professors were having a good time although it was hard to tell with Professor Hebert given how she was wearing her cloak again.  The only time she was not wearing it was inside her classroom.

Then the Goblet had to spit out his name.  So here he was with the other contestants getting told about what was going on.  He did not want to be here at all.  The only good thing that came out of it was that none of the Hogwarts professors were blaming him for this.  Well Snape had yet to show up, but the ones here were at least taking his side.  Professor Hebert had asked him to join her in her office at some point latter though.

Harry went up to the professor’s office a bit nervous about what was to happen.  He didn’t know what to expect from this conversation.  He could hope that this would be more like with Lupin then Lockhart.  He had so far liked the way that Professor Hebert taught.  Usually through having instructions prepared beforehand.  A lot of her teaching was through a stated scenario and having the students come to a solution to the problem. 

Going up to the door he found it partially open.  Opening it wider he saw that Professor Hebert’s office was a lot like her classroom.  Glass tanks sitting on shelves lined the room, the difference being that the insects were not staying in them.  Yet the main floor was clear of insects.  Harry decided to simply accept magic.  Sitting at the desk was Professor Hebert who had looked up from some papers at his entering. “You wanted to speak to me professor?”  Harry asked.

The Professor nodded and gestured towards a seat in front of the desk.  While Harry went and sat down she cleared up the papers she had been looking over.  “Thank you for coming, I have some questions for you.  First you should know that Dumbledore put me in charge of finding out who put your name in the goblet.”  Harry was relieved to her that and nodded his head.

“First I need you to tell me about any enemies you think that you have made.  Both here at Hogwarts or elsewhere.”  Harry just blinked at that.  He had assumed that Professor Hebert would already know most of that since everybody else seemed to.

After Harry finished talking about Malfoy and Voldemort in particular.  The Professor simply nodded her head.  Harry didn’t mention the Dursleys because they would have no way to set this up even if they would have liked to see him dead.  “Thank you, Mr. Potter.  I’ll keep in mind this while I work.”  With that the Professor seemed to focus on him, and he noticed the room quite down.

“As you should be aware you will be participating in the tournament, there is nothing anybody can do about that.  You will be at a disadvantage because you are younger than is expected for this.  However, that does not mean you will fail.  Work with your strengths, I hear you are good on a broom. Movers can get out of a lot of problems.  I’ve seen it plenty of times.”  With that she dismissed Harry from the office.

Harry was in thought as he tried to figure out what the Professor had meant.  How could being good on a broom be an advantage in anything other than quidditch?  And what was that about with Movers?

Rita buzzed as she flew away from the champions tent.  The information she had gotten would be excellent for her next article.  Flying away she found a good place to land and transform so she could head towards where the rest of the reporters were positioned for the actual first task.  However as soon as she was human she found herself frozen in place.  Coming up from behind her was some of the security personnel for the event. 

“Looks like we have an issue here.  I don’t think Rita Skeeter is a registered Animagus, don’t you Frank.”  The one speaking along with Frank grabbed the frozen witch and began to drag her off.  Rita saw a figure watching from the trees before she was brought into a tent with aurors waiting.

Malfoy smirked as he began to tell the other students about how to get back at Potter this time.  Getting back at the boy like this was going to be great.  He suddenly noticed that all the others around him had gone very quiet.  Looking behind him, he saw the new Professor practically stalking down the hall towards them.

He was affronted when upon reaching him, she suddenly pulled out the newly made badge from his hand.  Looking it over she activated the spell to change it to show ‘Potter Stinks’.  “That will be detention for you Mr. Malfoy, and 20 points from Slytherin.  An additional 5 points removed, each, for the rest of you.”  With that said she began to walk away.

The very nerve of this woman!  Malfoy could not stop himself from yelling out “My father will hear about this!”  He knew that this kind of treatment would not stand.  Especially since it seemed that the professor had prevented any of his earlier plans from coming through, always showing up to catch any student making trouble.  The rumors of how she was doing so all over the castle, he certainly didn’t know.

Professor Hebert turned back stared at Malfoy.  In the dark of her cloak he thought he saw unnatural movement and was suddenly far more nerves.  “The question is not that your father will hear of this.  I will be reporting to him about your excessive attacks on other students personally after all, along with the rest of the school board.”  Some of the other Slytherins would later claim her voice had an unnatural echo to it.  None stopped her as she continued on her way.

Hermione breathed a little easier as she escaped into the maze.  Victor had been very clingy for some reason.  Moving deeper into the maze she saw some fireflies flying around an open area.  It was strange to see the insects this late into winter.  She figured it was Professor Hebert’s contribution, since her collection of insects and such had only seemed to grow since the start of the year.

She froze when the insects suddenly all began to fly towards her.  She watched as they circled her and then went to hover at on the paths.  Pulling her wand out at the unusual magic she decided to investigate.   The fireflies started to guide her through the maze.  Hermione had never heard of any spell that did something like this.  Other than possibly the imperius curse.  This thought made her stop before entering into another open grotto. 

Looking in carefully she saw Professor Hebert sitting at a bench with the fireflies now flying in patterns around her.  She noticed the wand sitting idly in the Professor’s hand.  “Hello Miss. Granger, I hope I did not startle you too much, but I figured you would not like to be caught by your date.”  Hermione looked back up professor to find her staring at her.  It seemed to be almost with nostalgia for some reason.

“OH, forgive me Professor.  It’s just I’ve never heard of a spell that could control insects like that and wondering where you learned it.”  The Professor simple smiled and waved her wand simple through the air.

“It’s a delicate spell I learned in America and asked not to share.  You should continue to the right.”  The Professor responded while motioning in that direction.  Hermione nodded and moved on, determining to find that spell and see how hard it could be.  The ability to not have to worry about insect bites during the summer would be very useful if nothing else.  Perhaps it was the secret behind the Professor’s ability to seemingly know everything that happened at the castle.

Taylor approached Professor Burbage as she kept an eye on the remaining contestants.  She was certain that the current unusual events were directly because of her.  She had seen the Professor moving oddly about the castle a few times over the year and was suspicious of her actives during this event.  The fact she had cast a spell exactly when Cedric had started acting differently were a strong point towards that assumption.  She just needed to get closer before attacking.

It was just as she was getting into position that she saw Harry, Cedric, and the cup vanish.  The victorious grin on Burbage’s face pointed her to being responsible.  Some movement must have alerted the other witch to her presence because they instantly turned and cast a spell at her.  Moving before the attack was finished Taylor dodged the blast and responded with one of her own while having the group of spiders she had already got into position bite down on the arm holding the wand.

With a scream of pain, the other woman dropped their wand and was struck with the stunning curse.  However, before she could take advantage, Burbage had thrown down a bottle that shattered upon the ground.  The insects throughout her range began to die rapidly.  The pain of this gave Burbage time to make a move towards her wand.  Taylor snapped out of it and dove down upon the other witch, dropping her own wand in the process.

Taylor called out the insects still alive at the edge of her range where what ever had been done had not reached them.  As she punched the other witch she watched as her face began to change.  Within moments she was no longer fighting her fellow professor but a stranger.  With a silent curse about bullshit powers, she continued to fight the other cape.  That was when the rest of her finally arrived.

Looking at the person who dared messed with her she attacked the threat.  She was suddenly pulled out of the state when Dumbledore placed his hand upon her shoulder.  Looking back towards her opponent she saw that the person, was now dead.  All Taylor could do was give a long sigh of frustration.  She’d been doing so well until now.

Harry came up to Professor Hebert’s office.  She had sent a message to him asking to speak to him before she was to leave the castle.  Her killing of the now named Barty Crouch Jr, coupled with all the noise Malfoy’s father had made was enough to get her fired from her position.  Harry thought the whole thing was bollocks.  Walking in he saw that the office was now empty with only a few pieces of luggage remaining.  The Professor was waiting for him with the usual tarantula sitting on top of her.

“Professor, you wanted to speak to me.”  Harry asked.  The Professor simply nodded and waved him towards a seat.

“Yes, thank you for joining me.”  She responded.  Harry noticed that her speech was slower then was normal.  It seemed almost like she was having to remember how to speak.  “As you are aware I will be not coming back next year.  The school board figured I was unfit to be around children.  I’ll be leaving for America shortly.  I know that this Voldemort has some how returned though.  I’ll remain in contact and try to get support while I’m gone.”

She had apparently said her part and returned to her packing.  Harry was left there awkwardly staring for a moment before rising.  “I guess I’ll leave then professor.”  It was only when Harry had reached the doorway that Professor Hebert spoke again.

“I have only one piece of advice to give you Harry.  Don’t lose yourself.  Not to grief and not to hate.  I learned the hard way the price of not trusting others.  You have good friends, even if they act out at times.”  With that she gestured him out the door

Chapter Text

Fredy Jones
2nd year

Darkness had fallen by the time Ron and Harry made their way down to Jones’s office. There seemed to be a lot of activity going on inside. They could hear scrapings, thumps, and footsteps.
Harry knocked on the door and was answered by the professor shouting through the door. “It’s open, come inside!”

The two opened the door to see that the office had been almost completely stripped. Two large trunks stood open on the floor, various piles of ropes, nets, and trap supplies stuffed into one of them. The other contained clothes and books. The various diagrams and photographs that had covered the walls were now crammed into boxes on the desk.

“Are you going somewhere?” Asked Ron.

“Sadly, yes,” said Jones as he took down a diagram of a trap design that featured a staggering number of pullies. “The school board has given me a resignation after what has happened to your sister. Without a clue, there is nothing that I can do.”

Harry pushed forward a little “But professor, that is why we're here. We think we know where it is. And what’s inside it.”

With that Professor Jones seemed to pull himself together and fully turned to look at the two of them for the first time since the conversation started. “Tell me everything!”

The two boys went over what they had found. About Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom and the page they had found with Hermione. They left out the spiders, but Professor Jones did not seem to notice the gap with how he had started rapidly moving around the room, pulling things out of the first trunk and gathering up his supplies.
“So, the monster is a basilisk,” he said while pulling out a book and flipping over to a page. “Yes, large snake, deadly eyes, but the reflections have protected the students so far, yes, I do believe that the two of you have given us the clue we need to solve this mystery.”

With that, the professor hauled up his supplies and started rushing out of the room. “Come on you two, I need help with setting up this trap. We have a girl to save.” Harry and Ron shared a look and rushed after their professor.
It was during the run toward the second-floor bathroom that Ron started to feel concerned. Yes, the professor was going to try and save his sister, but it was Professor Jones. The man had become something of a laughingstock among the students due to his attempts at catching the monster over the year. More often than not his traps had just left various students hanging in the air. George and Fred thought he was the best teacher they ever had since he freely taught his techniques, and they had taken to using them for their pranks.
Could he stop the monster?

Jones was the first one to push through the door into the bathroom. Moaning Myrtle was sitting on the tank of the end toilet by the time the two boys joined him.
“Oh, it’s you,” she said when she saw Harry. “What do you want this time?”
“To ask you how you died,” replied Harry.
As Myrtle started to talk Ron watched as Jones put down the supplies he had been carrying and was looking over the room feeling the various parts and pushing at stones, trying to find a switch probably.

Ron turned back to see Myrtle, pointing vaguely towards the sink in front of her toilet.
The three of them hurried over to it with Jones again started to feel out the sink looking for something hidden.
It looked like an ordinary sink. They examined every inch of it, inside and out, Jones even taking a wrench to the pipes below to examine them. Then Harry saw it, scratched on the side of one of the taps was a tiny snake.

“That tap’s never worked,” said Myrtle brightly as he tried to turn it.
“Harry,” said Ron. “Say something. Something in Parseltongue.”
Harry looked concerned but he turned back to the tap and focused on it. “Open up,” he said
He looked at Ron, who shook his head. “English” he replied.
Harry turned back to the snake with a look of concentration etched into his face. Professor Jones watched on as finally Harry spoke. Not in English but in a strange hissing sound.
At once the tap glowed with a brilliant light and began to spin. Next second, the sink began to move; the sink, in fact, sank, right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into.
Ron gasped as he looked down the pipe. He had made up his mind on what he had to do. “I’m going down there.” He spoke.
“Well, I would appreciate the help.” Interjected Jones, who was once again lifted his bundle of supplies. “Because I have a plan.”

<*>

Tom Riddle looked down at the boy kneeling at the girl’s body. This was the great Harry Potter, his enemy. A child with no skill. With a dramatic flourish, he turned towards the giant statue.
“Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four”
He watched as the boy backed away in fear and then turned and ran away as the great serpent came out and began to chase him down. That is when things stopped making sense.
An explosion echoed throughout the chamber as the great serpent began to flail its head. Tom saw that its head was now covered in a white substance that clung to its entire head, the jaws opening visible only by the stretching of the glue.

A net suddenly passed through the specter, and he turned to see that bumbling fool of a defense professor rushing towards him. Suddenly the stolen wand was wrenched out of his hand and went flying towards the man.
An unpleasant feeling rushed over him as he turned back towards the girl and saw the girl’s brother trying to drown his book. He rushed over only to be struck by a spell from behind.
Surprised by the spell having any spell affected him he turned again to the fool who was continuing to cast spells towards him. Most passed harmlessly through him, but others had a pushing effect on his form.

It was then that, once more, rushing footsteps sounded out through the cavern as Potter ran back with the basilisk chasing after him.
It had gotten its mouth free of the glue, though it was still blinded by the substance.
Then a scream came from the other boy and Tom could only watch as his diary flew through the air and entered into the creature’s mouth. Before he could say anything to stop the monster another spell impacted him in the face.

The basilisk’s jaw came down upon the diary. With a scream and flash of brilliant light, Tom was gone.
“Stop!” screamed Harry and the snake, no longer with a master, obeyed.

Chapter Text

Demyx DADA
5th year

Harry looked around the classroom as he took his seat. It had been transfigured somehow to have white stone walls and flooring. Scattered around were various musical instruments alongside waterfalls and fountains.
The instruments were enchanted to play slowly in sync with the flowing water giving the classroom an unexpected energetic feeling considering the components.

Coming in through the door to the office was Professor Todira. He was wearing a black coat with a lot of zippers. The young professor was also carrying a strange-looking guitar. He goes up to the desk and pulls up a sheet of parchment from the top.
“Welcome to defense against the dark arts, you all must be the 5th, according to the schedule, my job is to teach you how to survive out in the world.” Professor Todira said, looking put upon by his own statement.

The door to the classroom opened up behind them. Harry then turned to see Madam Umbridge come in. The pink toad looked as upset as the professor. She took a seat in a corner of the room and pulled out a pen and parchment.
Professor Todira began to speak again, “Now the headmaster was kind enough to let me decide what you needed to learn, since I’m in charge of keeping you kiddies safe in the future you should learn...”

“Hem, Hem” Umbridge interrupted. “There should be no need for such, since they will not be in danger anyways” she simmered.
Todira nodded his head at this “Yeah, that is how it’s supposed to work, but the world is weird, creatures of Darkness, cult leaders, dogs, kids with keys, sometimes they come after you. That is why I am going to focus on teaching you all how to avoid and get away from all of them!”

He then strummed his guitar with a flourish.
Harry looked around the classroom and saw the same confusion on his face as the others. “Kids with keys?” whispered Hermione. Umbridge at least looked befuddled as well.
“Now the first part of escape is the ability to run away, so put away your books, and let’s see how fast everyone can run. Outside to the lake!” Again, a guitar sounded out.
Harry just knew this was going to be an odd class. Umbridge looked conflicted.

♫♪♪♪♪♪♫

The trio sat around the Gryffindor common room looking over their homework for Defense. Todira had them still doing runs occasionally around the lake even with winter arriving. He had reviewed warming charms and ways to move the snow away from them.
They weren’t sure if he did this to actually help them or if he was too lazy to have a lesson plan some days.

The current class work was useful though, Harry thought. The professor was teaching them ways to incapacitate an opponent quickly. They were currently looking for additional spells that could be used that would prevent an opponent from attacking without harming the opponent.
“I need to get going, don’t want to be late for detention from Umbridge.” Harry said, getting up from the couch. The other two shared a concerned look as he went past.

♫♪♪♪♪♪♫

Harry was walking down the hall after his detention with Umbridge. His hand still stung from the quill. Maybe Hermine was right, and he should talk to somebody about it. McGonigle could maybe do something.
As he turned the corridor, he heard the sound of Todira’s instrument being played. Passing by the Defense classroom he saw the professor jamming out. It was what else that was going on that shocked him.

Running around the room cleaning up the floor were people, made of water. Harry noticed that they looked kind of like the professor, each also having a guitar with them. Them moving around was mopping the floor.
Suddenly the music stopped, and Harry’s focus returned to the professor who was now staring at him.
“Come in.” Todira said, it was not a request.

Harry went in and closed the door while the water that made the clones returned to the various water features around the room.
Todira was focused on Harry. “I don’t want you to go talking about what you saw here, it’s a bit of magic that I would like to keep secret. If people knew I was capable of water control like this, they would have so many questions.”
Todira said this like it would be the end of the world. Harry could relate, he also hated attention.

Todira then snapped his fingers together. “How about this, if you promise to keep my secret, I’ll teach you some extra magic. You’re going up against that dark lord fella, I might have some experience with those.”
“Alright, I promise not to talk about your magic professor.” Harry agreed.
Todira nodded and looked Harry over. “First, how about I teach you something that would help with that hand of yours.”

♫♪♪♪♪♪♫

School continued for Hogwarts, Harry’s extra lessons went well, learning magic for healing and to control water. Umbridge was growing more paranoid as the weeks went by.
It was after classes come December that the trio saw Umbridge having a conversation with Professor Todira.
“It is simply irresponsible how you are teaching the children. Having them run around like you do, I learned that was Aurora training!” Umbridge screeched at the man.

“Not only that, but some of the creatures you claim to teach about our pure nonsense. Shadow creatures, and empty husks, such things just do not exist. You have been teaching them skills like their criminals. Putting it as how to escape a dangerous creature while really how to avoid the ministery.” She continued.“I will be talking to the school board and the minister about you. I’m certain someone with such experience in avoiding searchers must have quite the record.” With that, Umbridge walked away in a huff.
What she did not see was the look the professor shot after her. It was not the normal lazy or bored expression. This was focused, and almost cruel. Harry and his friends quietly left, wondering what could happen next.

♫♪♪♪♪♪♫

It was during dinner a few days after that meeting that they learned the answer. Dumbledore stood before the student body with an announcement.
“I regret to inform you that Madam Umbridge from the ministry, has gone missing. If any student has an idea of where to find her, please report it to one of the teachers.” Dumbledore looked over the great hall as he continued to speak.

Harry turned to Ron. Then they looked at Hermione and then as one turned towards the teacher's table where Professor Todira was sitting. Hermione looked conflicted but the boys were able to glare her into silence.
After dinner, Hermione pulled them aside into an empty classroom. She turned to look at the two boys.

“We have to tell somebody about what we saw.” Hermione said, although she did look conflicted.
Harry could understand the emotions she was feeling. On the one hand, it was obvious that Professor Todira had done something to Umbridge, but it was Umbridge. The woman had been a terror to the school.

Ron was the one to sum it up. “Look, that pink toad had it coming, those detentions had to be illegal. Also, if we tell on Todira, we will lose one of our good professors, he’s been teaching Harry really useful magic. Plus, we don’t know he actually did anything.”
“Well, alright then, but I don’t have to like this.” Hermione agreed.

♫♪♪♪♪♪♫

Emyd looked over the battle that was currently raging in the Ministry of Magic. The order had responded when a large break-in had happened in the department of mysteries. They had found a large force of death eaters being led by Voldemort himself. It had quickly become a battleground.
“Get a good job, avoid trouble, maybe make up for some of my nonsense, now it’s another war.” Emyd said to himself. “Might as well put on a show.”

Strumming his Sitar, he caused water to flow around and engulf a number of the death eaters. They didn’t last long. He continued to jam out with pillars of water rushing up to strike at foes and soak friends.
The song was interrupted by a death eater whose mask had been knocked off charging towards him. The guy looked a bit like that Malfoy student actually. With another strum water clones of himself appeared and grabbed hold of the man. With a flourish and sway the construct threw the death eater out of the room through one of the windows above.
He quickly had to form a wall of water to block a series of spells from Bellatrix and then launched a wave at her. This pattern held with the order picking off death eaters slowly. Emyd had to cast heal on himself after a lucky hit.

Tuning his instrument, he moved on through the room towards where the fighting was heaviest. He saw Molly throwing hands with one unfortunate opponent. While another Order member went down before his opponent. Casting another heal he moved forward and took care of the death eater with Waterga.

Looking forward he saw that the fighting had formed a ring around the center fountain. There in a bubble of their own was Voldemort and Dumbledore dueling.
Emyd forced himself in and tried trapping Voldemort in a globe of water, Dumbledore assisting him. With a flash of light and heat the water was gone and the dark lord was free.
Feeling his water clones starting to get destroyed and standing before the most dangerous opponent in this world Emyd fell back on his trump card.

“DANCE WATER, DANCE!”

Chapter Text

     The first thing that the students of Hogwarts noticed upon entering the great hall was the large wolf sitting at the head table. The wolf was regal-looking both in posture and grooming. The other professors weren’t giving it too much attention though, so they went over to their tables and began the welcoming feast.

     The first years had a much more amazed look on their faces as they walked in through the doors. You could almost pick out the muggle-borns by how they were less interested in the wolf than the other students. After the sorting ceremony, headmaster Dumbledore moved forward to start the feast.

     Partway through Harry Potter came in with a bloody face and moved quickly to sit down at the Gryffindor table. Some noticed that the wolf tracked the boy’s movement. It was not long after that Dumbledore began his welcoming speech.

     “The very best of evenings to you!” He said, smiling broadly, his arms opened wide as though to embrace the whole room. The room was swept in whispers as students noticed that one of the headmaster’s hands looked blackened and dead-looking. Dumbledore just kept a smile to the whispers and responded, “Nothing to worry about,” he said airily. “Now, to our new students, welcome, to our old students, welcome back! Another year full of magical education awaits you within these halls.”

     “I would like to remind all students that the Forbidden Forest is off-limits, and not to be entered. Also Mr. Filch, our caretaker has asked me to say that there is a blanket ban on any joke items bought at the shop called Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. Those wishing to play for their House Quidditch teams should give their names to their Heads of House as usual. We are also looking for new Quidditch commentators, who should do likewise.”

     “We are pleased to welcome a new member of staff this year Professor Blind Seer.” With this, the wolf stood up and walked under the table to stand in plain view of the students. The wolf was huge, being more the size of a lion than a normal wolf. The closer students could see the stark blue of its eyes watching with what was clearly intelligence. “He has agreed to teach at the school, and we would all like to welcome him.”

     Dumbledore then turned and gestured towards the large wolf, who gave a kind of bow towards the student body to a smattering of applause. Many of the older students were looking around waiting, for something else to be said. When Professor Seer turned to Dumbledore and barked.

     “Ah, yes of course. Professor Seer does have a slight language gap that is being worked on, in the meantime I ask that all the students put as much effort in being considerate and be on their best behavior during classes.” The wolf returned to his seat behind the table making a good show of neatly jumping onto the seat.

     Dumbledore continued to warn the students about the current danger of Voldemort and asked the students to be wary but the whole was still fascinated by the new professor and what was going on with them.

     The Gryffindor common room was full of gossiping students after the feast. While Harry told Hermione and Ron about what had happened on the train the rest of the house were throwing out ideas about what Professor Seer was. A few of the girls thought that he might be some kind of werewolf, but that was argued by the older students who remembered Lupin.

     Others argued that he must be an animagus that for some reason chose to be in his animal form full-time. By the time that the prefects got everyone to bed the general thought that he must be some ex auror that had been trapped in his animal form and unable to change back. That or his human form was so injured that it was easier to stay a wolf.

     The students slowly moved into the classroom for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Harry looked around; the room looked fairly normal as a classroom, with the personal touches being a series of portraits of woodlands dotting the walls with moving figures of wildlife. The classroom was also twice as large as normal, with it looking like the wall to the neighboring classroom being removed and the connecting room being left empty.

     At the front desk sitting on a stool was Professor Seer. In front of him was an open book. With a loud bark the professor waved a paw towards the desks and the students sat down at the seats. The wolf then carefully turned the book on the desk up so that the class could see it was a copy of ‘Practical Defense Year 6’.

     Parvati Patil raised her hand. “Are we to get our books out professor?” she asked. Seer responded with a firm nod of his head and a bark. The students then got out the book and the professor turned his attention towards Nevele and gestured down to the book. Nevile nodded and began to read the section.

     As the students read through the book the professor would stop the students and gesture towards someone to demonstrate the spell that was being discussed. Professor Seer then moved to the other side of the classroom and sat down. The class joined him, and he began to direct the students in casting the spell in pairs. Used to this over the past years the students begin to pair up to practice.

     Professor Seer moved around the student gently nudging students into better posture and footwork and barking at wrong wand movements. After watching the class, he singled out Hermione and Harry and started pushing them towards students who were having problems. By the time the class ended, most of the students had gotten the spell down.

     Rumors continued to spread among the students about the new professor and his teaching style. Most agreed that it was at least better than Umbridge. He also apparently took a very dim view of students who attacked other students with spells. Having chased a number of them through the halls while madly barking.

     Hermione, along with other students complained about the fact that communication was such an issue. Hermione pointed out that as far as the castle knew, the Professor could not even cast magic! Not once had the wolf shown any ability to cast a spell, despite his obvious intelligence.

     It wasn’t until midway through December that things changed for that argument. It was during a class of 2nd years that the professor started to show the ability of wandless magic. Causing chalk to move across the blackboard listing out the instructions for the class. After having a better way of instructing the students the agreement among the school was that the lessons were much better now and many of the students who had been complaining started to remain quiet. Others just pushed forward that he was a wolf harder.

     The rumor mill was awash still with theories about the origins of the professor. Along with the original theories two others had started to make the rounds. A few of the muggle-borns talked about something called furries. More commonly, as a counter to the animagus theory, was that he truly was a wolf, just with a parent that was a wolf animagus, giving him both magic and human-like intelligence. Some of the Slytherins put forward it was actually a werewolf that had fathered the professor pointing to his large size.

     Regardless, many of the students agreed that he was turning out to be one of the better Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers they had had and was definitely the most unique.

     Hermione had very mixed feelings about Professor Seer. On the one hand, he had proven himself to be better than Umbridge had ever been but on the other hand, she was not sure what to think about a Professor that was a wolf. Her research suggested that staying in animagus form for long periods had problematic effects for wizards and witches. Oftentimes, it reflects the issues that came with forceful transfiguration, with the wizard losing their minds and having only the mind of the animal. It was possible that he transformed into a human when there were no students around but even when students went into his office for help, it was always a wolf doing things that greeted them.

     Recently he had started asking her and other top students for advice on books to read. While she could appreciate somebody hoping to better themselves, the Professor was often looking into spells that were far below what a professor should be learning. Ron had thought he had seen a book on the animagus transformation in the professor’s study though, so again a mystery. She was beginning to dislike mysteries.

     Hermione was just concerned that something would happen to cause the professor to go feral. The track record of defense professors was not good when it came to the chances of them attacking her and her friends. Professor Seer was a very large wolf. Even her attempts at discovering what breed he was supposed to be had failed. He had the appearance of a North American Wolf but was easily twice as large as would be expected. And it was not fat, the fight the professor had with a red cap during a lesson with third years showed that plainly enough.

     She resolved to keep looking and to keep an eye on the professor for signs of his intelligence decreasing. She would get to the bottom of this and keep everyone safe for once.

     Harry was exhausted. He and Dumbledore had gone and had another visit with Mr. Slughorn. The meeting had resulted in a fight with the wizard when they started pushing for him to share memories that he had about Tom Riddle.  Dumbledore eventually scared Mr. Slughorn enough to share the memories with them. What the memories showed led to the realization that Voldemort might have made 6 Horcruxes.

     He returned to the common room to see Hermione and Ron doing homework. He sat down with them and after making sure nobody was nearby told them about what he had been up to and had learned.

     “That’s not good Harry, we only know what a few of them might be, and have no idea about where he could have hidden them,” Hermione said.

     Harry noticed that she was again looking over another magical beasts book with a page turned to magical wolves. “Give it a rest Hermione, everyone has already looked through all the books in the library and so far, no one knows what the professor is.”

     Turning to Ron he said, “Mate, did you follow Malfoy today like I asked you to?”

     “Yeah, he went into the room of requirement and just stayed there until near curfew. Still don’t know what he’s doing though. Weird thing though is that as I was leaving, I passed Professor Seer. It was too early to be doing patrols and there's nothing else on that floor really.’ Ron replied.

     “Maybe he’s using the room as well” suggested Hermione. “Maybe that is connected to the truth about his origin.” Hermione had a look in her eyes that the boys did not like.

     True to their predictions, they did not like it. A few minutes later the trio were huddling under the invisibility cloak in front of the seventh-floor corridor. The door to the room of requirement formed and out stepped Professor Seer. He paused and turned towards the trio and barked.

     As the teenagers just stood still the professor just sat down and stared at them through the cloak. Finally, they sheepishly took off the cloak. “How did you know we were there?” asked Ron. The response was that the professor pawed at his nose.

     “We were just wondering what you were doing in the room of requirement,” Harry said. The professor considered that for a moment and then turned around and headed back towards the door. Looking forward he barked at them to follow him.

     Harry looked at what the room had shown. It was a massive room that was full of junk. Narrow paths wove through the piles of items. Moving forward the professor gestured towards a cracked chalkboard. The trio walked forward as the professor started to write on the board.

     “First, I am going to have to report that you were out after curfew, but I do like your attitudes, and you are all good kids. I spend some time here just looking around and seeing what has been thrown away here. I have found some very interesting things here. I’m not the only one, I have found Malfoy and Lovegood also in here. Now let’s get you back to your beds. Also, detention all three of you for next week.”

     All Harry could think was that this might be the most beneficial way to get a detention he had ever had.

     The school year was over. Harry sat on the train heading away from Hogwarts thinking over what had happened. He had caught Malfoy in the Room of Hidden Things and destroyed the cabinet the boy had been working on. It had led to a fight between the two that had revealed the Mark on Draco’s arm.

     When Harry dragged Malfoy up to the Headmaster’s office to give Malfoy to Dumbledore, he found Professor Snape already talking with the headmaster. It turned out that Snape did not want Malfoy to be given to the ministry for trial.  Harry had argued with the professor until In order for the unbreakable vow that Snape had made not to kill him, he would personally contain Draco for his safety.

     Harry did not like it but that was what was done. Dumbledore had taken him then to a cave for a possible horcrux. He had died from the poison that he had been forced to drink, watched over by Snape. Harry felt the locket still in his pocket, the weight of the fake heavy to him.

     He looked over at his friends who he was sharing the compartment with. They would continue to move forward. Harry, did not think that he would be attending Hogwarts next year, instead continuing the mission given to them to kill Voldemort. The mystery of Professor Seer was also still unknown, he had just vanished one day near the end of term with no explanation.  All of his personal effects were gone and the only word was that he had returned to his home. He realized this was the first year that the defense professor had not attacked him.

     Far away from Hogwarts, a wolf ran on two feet, followed by another who was running on two feet for the first time.