Professor Potter

[riddikulus09]

This is my sequel to "The Final Confrontation" and it goes into Harry's adult life, because I couldn't stop it where my story ended. I hope everyone enjoys this.

Professor Potter

Chapter One

Beep! Beep! Harry's alarm sounded loud and clear through his bedroom. He sat up groggily and shut the alarm off. Then he put his glasses on. Today was the day he went to the Ministry of Magic to take a short course on teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. Harry went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. His jet-black hair was extremely scruffy this morning; he hurriedly ran a comb through it. His bright green eyes were behind his round glasses, and above his right eye, there was a lightning shaped scar.

This scar was the most peculiar thing about Harry. It was a symbol of Harry's great fame. He had gotten it sixteen years ago, when Lord Voldemort had showed up at his parent's house and attempted to kill him because of a Prophecy made about the two of them. It had stated that Harry was the only person with a hope of defeating Voldemort, but Voldemort's spy had not heard the whole thing, and so he had unwisely attacked Harry. Voldemort had returned to power and had attempted to kill Harry almost every year, but he had failed, and just a month ago, Harry had suceeded in defeating Voldemort. It was hard to say whether or not he had killed Voldemort, but Harry was sure that he could never come back.

Harry was now almost eighteen, and he had just graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Until a month ago, Harry had been considering a career as an Auror, but then Dumbledore offered him the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and he had accepted.

After eating a hurried breakfast, Harry put on some of his best robes, and Apparated to the visitors entrance to the Ministry of Magic. He stepped into the telephone box.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business," said the female voice from the phone once Harry had dialed the right number.

"Harry Potter, Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher course," said Harry.

"Thank you. Visitor, please attatch the badge to your robes. You are required to present your wand to the watchwizard at the far side of the Atrium," said the voice. Then the telephone box began to sink into the ground. Harry took the badge from the coin chute and pinned it to his robes.

"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day."

The telephone box had reached the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic. Harry stepped out of it and walked across to the security desk. The watchwizard took Harry's wand without even looking at his face. He checked it all over and handed it back to Harry. Then he looked up at Harry's face.

"Are you -?" he said in a shocked voice.

"Pardon?" said Harry.

"You're Harry Potter!" he said.

"Oh, yes," said Harry, sighing.

"Congratulations on defeating You-Know-Who," said the wizard excitedly.

"Thank you. I really must be going. Could you tell me which floor the course for the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is on?" said Harry politely, ignoring the excited squeaks the man was now emitting.

"Sure thing. It's on the first floor I believe," said the wizard. He shook Harry's hand. Harry smiled back and proceeded to the lifts. He pocketed his wand and then got into a lift. He pressed the number one button.

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Chapter Two

When the lifts had reached the first floor, Harry found he was in a hallway and he had no idea where to go. Straight across the hall from Harry there was a door with a large golden plaque. The words on the plaque read: CORNELIUS FUDGE MINISTER FOR MAGIC OFFICE. There was talking coming from inside it, and a moment later, the door opened. Fudge walked out with another man who looked very serious. The man departed with a shrewd look at Fudge and then a wondering look at Harry. Then Fudge spotted Harry.

"Harry!" he said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello sir, I was just coming up to take the course on teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Harry, shaking Fudge's outstretched hand.

"Oh I see. Well, the room is down that hallway and the third door to your right," said Fudge pointing down a hallway to his left.

"Thank you sir," said Harry, turning to leave.

"Oh and Harry," said Fudge quickly, "congratulations."

"On what?" said Harry.

"Defeating He Who Must Not Be Named of course!" said Fudge jovially.

"Oh, that," said Harry, trying to hide a sigh. He was awfully sick of getting so much extra attention.

"Well, off you go. Have a good day!" said Fudge, turning towards the lifts. Harry waved him goodbye and then headed for the door that the course he was taking was supposed to be in. He walked in the classroom. There were no other people there except for one man who was wearing black robes. His hair was a dark brown and it was rather short.

"You are the new teacher at Hogwarts, I presume?" he said stiffly, not looking at Harry's face. His voice was low.

"Yes, I'm here to take the course on teaching?" said Harry nervously.

"This is the right place. Now. This course is only running for a week, you have to be here in this classroom every day from today (Monday) to Friday at eight o'clock in the morning," the man said, still not looking at his face.

"All right," said Harry. The man looked up somewhat.

"I am Professor Lisboa," said Professor Lisboa. He looked up at Harry, saying, "And you are?"

"Harry Potter, sir," said Harry.

"Harry Potter yes...HARRY POTTER?" spluttered Professor Lisboa suddenly.

"Um, yes," said Harry, hiding the amusement he felt at Professor Lisboa's reaction.

"You're teaching at Hogwarts?" he said.

"Yes."

"Why are you taking this course? From what I've heard, you're an expert with Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Professor Lisboa.

"Be that as it may," said Harry, astounded at how professor-like he sounded, "I haven't the slightest clue on how to organize a class properly. I have to know what to teach for each level."

"Of course," said Professor Lisboa, but now he sounded much less stiff. He sounded excited and was dropping his notes everywhere. Harry sighed, but then thought that it was kind of funny to watch.

"You know sir," said Harry after Professor Lisboa dropped his notes for the twelfth time in the middle of explaining what subjects should be taught for first years. "You don't need to act so excited. I'm just an ordinary person."

"But you're famous."

"Famous though I might be, I really do hate being treated so much more specially than others, or having people go nuts when they see me," said Harry simply.

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Chapter Three

The rest of the week passed fairly quickly, and Professor Lisboa became more and more normal as the week progressed. Harry knew that he was passing the course with flying colours, and was almost sorry to leave on Friday. Professor Lisboa waved him off with a cheery goodbye and a good luck.

Harry was passing Fudge's office to get to the lifts when he saw the man he had seen on Monday leaving Fudge's office again. He was once again looking shrewdly at Fudge, and even more so when he spotted Harry. Harry had a bad feeling about this man, and planned to ask Fudge about him.

Fudge walked out, his face shining slightly and an anxious expression etched upon his face.

"Good afternoon, sir," said Harry. Fudge jumped.

"Oh Harry, it's just you," Fudge said, looking around nervously.

"Are you all right?"

"Fine, never better," said Fudge. His voice was higher than usual.

"Um, sir, I wanted to ask you about that man who just left your office..." said Harry.

Fudge's eyes widened. "Well, erm, he's a man who, well, doesn't want me in position as Minister for Magic let's say. He's trying to boot me out of my office. I don't even know who he is. He just keeps coming every day to speak with me."

"I got a bad feeling from him. Not just that he's trying to kick you out, either," said Harry. "Well, see you later sir. I hope that the man doesn't come back."

"Have a good day Harry," said Fudge distractedly. He returned to his office.

Harry descended in the lifts to the Atrium and left the Ministry of Magic via the telephone box. Once he reached the deserted street outside, he Apparated back to the front door of his appartment and unlocked the door. He went to the kitchen to fix himself a late lunch, and took out the list of new books he needed to buy for his teaching year. He also sent a letter to Dumbledore, telling him about the books he wanted all the students to have.

The next day, Harry passed Lupin on his way out to see the landlord about something. After a hurried hello, Harry Apparated to Diagon Alley to purchase new robes, books, and equipment. He had just gotten his money out of his vault when he heard someone call his name.

"Harry!" It was the Weasley twins, Fred and George, calling from their joke shop.

"Hey, Fred, George," said Harry, walking towards them.

"Heard about your new job," said Fred.

"Care to take some of our products with us for use on annoying students?" said George.

"Who told you?"

"Ron sent us an owl straight away. I believe they're coming here to do Ginny's shopping today."

"That's good. Well, I've got to get some stuff, I'll see you two later. I might buy some merchandise, I'm not sure," said Harry, walking away towards Flourish and Blotts. He searched through the store and found the books he was looking for and purchased them quickly, as people in the store were starting to stare.

Then Harry walked to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and bought some more robes, including neat dress robes for the Welcoming Feast at Hogwarts.
He was just heading to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch when he remembered that he was going to buy some joke shop things from Fred and George. He headed back to their shop to find the Weasley family inside, Mrs. and Mr. Weasley talking to their sons, and Ron and Ginny browsing around.

"Harry!" said Ron when he saw him. "Good to see you. How's your summer been?"

"All right thanks, and yours? Got a job yet?" asked Harry.

"My summer's been fine, but I haven't got a job yet," said Ron, hanging his head.

"Hello Professor," said Ginny, sounding as though she was hiding a snort behind her voice.

"Hello Miss Weasley, are you ready for Defense Against the Dark Arts this year?" said Harry, feeling the urge to laugh as well.

"Oh yes sir, very sir," said Ginny, finally bursting into laughter. The whole shop was laughing, as it was only the Weasleys inside.

"So Harry, come back for some merchandise, eh?" said Fred.

"Yes Fred. I'll have a look around to see what I'll buy," said Harry. He and Ron headed over to a corner. "So, how are things going with you and Hermione?"

"Good," said Ron, blushing. "She's here today too, but I don't know where she's got to. She didn't want to come in here."

"I'll have to keep an eye out for her then," said Harry, picking out various trick sweets and jokes to buy. Once he had paid for them, he also asked Fred and George for instructions as to how to remove the jinxes that had been placed on them. Fred nodded his head and handed Harry an exstensive list.

"Have fun with them Professor Potter," said George, in a very funny voice. Harry laughed just as a new voice broke in.

"Harry! How are you?" It was Hermione. "I came in here to look for Ron and who do I find? You aren't buying anything are you?" she added shrewdly. Harry hid the tricks behind his back.

"He hasn't bought a thing Hermione," said George sanctimoniously.

"I'm fine Hermione, and you?" said Harry.

"Fine I suppose. How are things going for preparing for your job?"

"Professor Potter is as ready as ever," said Ginny. They all laughed again.

"Well, have a good rest of your summer," said Hermione. She dragged Ron off and Harry left the shop for The Leaky Cauldron so he could have lunch.

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Chapter Four

Harry had just reached The Leaky Cauldron when he heard a drawling voice from inside.

"I can't believe it. Now the Dark Lord's gone and it's all due to Potter."

Harry recognized that voice in an instant. Draco Malfoy. He was one of Harry's enemies at Hogwarts. Malfoy was in the same year as him, and was in Slytherin. Harry was glad that they were done school; he wouldn't have to talk to Malfoy anymore. Harry walked into the pub and ordered his lunch from Tom.

He had just gotten to eating his lunch when Draco Malfoy walked by his table and spotted him.

"Well, well, well," he sneered. "Potter's here, would you look at this. Famous Potter, Heir of Gryffindor, the one who defeated the Dark Lord!" There was definetley resentment in his voice.

"You got a problem with it? Then go away," said Harry, continuing to eat. "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you'd be in Azkaban by now."

"What's that supposed to mean, Potter?" said Malfoy, his eyes narrowing.

"You were a Death Eater, remember?"

"Oh that little detail. Well, actually, only a select number of people can see me today, as I'm in hiding ever since you defeated my master," said Malfoy.

"Why can only some people see you?" said Harry, starting to feel nervous. He noticed other tall figures standing in out of the way places.

"I'm in hiding, Potter, but you seem to be able to see through the spell that we used to conceal ourselves," said Malfoy, waving his hands around at all the figures. "And we're very angry with you, did you know that? You killed our master, and we want him back." Malfoy pulled out his wand.

Harry stood up, his hand on his wand in his pocket. "So sorry to disappoint you, Draco, but I really must be going," and with that, Harry Dissapparated as quickly as he could back to his home. He unlocked the door and sat down on his couch, breathing heavily.

So the Death Eaters who weren't already in Azkaban were hiding and were looking for him. He'd have to be way more careful. Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Harry called, trying to mask the nervousness in his voice.

"Harry, it's me, Remus. Is something wrong?" Harry must have failed in keeping the nervousness out of his voice, because Lupin sounded concerned.

"Hang on Remus, I'm coming," said Harry, getting up. He opened the door.

"What is wrong Harry? You look awful," said Remus, stepping in and closing the door behind him.

"I'll make tea, then I'll tell you," said Harry, going into the kitchen. He whipped out his wand and waved it. In a few minutes, the tea was ready. Harry got out two mugs and the kettle poured the tea itself. Then Harry carried the mugs into the sitting room, where Lupin was waiting.

"Well?" said Lupin. "What's wrong?"

"I was at Diagon Alley today, buying equipment for the upcoming year. I went to The Leaky Cauldron at lunchtime and ran into someone I did not expect to meet. I ran into Draco Malfoy, who is currently enchanted because he and other Death Eaters, (which I also saw) are hiding from the Ministry. Apparently, I can see through the charm, and so Draco came to talk to me. He told me that he was angry that Voldemort was gone. Not like it's that big of a surprise. Then he nearly pulled out his wand. I stood up and Dissapparated back here," said Harry, his voice shaking. "Death Eaters are after me, Remus. I have to be careful now, way more careful."

"Don't worry. You defeated Voldemort. I'm sure you can handle those Death Eaters. And besides, you'll be at Hogwarts, which is very protected," said Lupin, though he sounded worried too. "Send a letter to Dumbledore, he'd want to know."

"Yeah, I think I'll do that. Thanks Remus. Would you like to stay for dinner?" asked Harry, while writing a quick letter to Dumbledore, telling him the events of the day and asking when he could come to Hogwarts. The parchment and ink had zoomed towards him the moment he had mentioned the letter, Harry having summoned them there without his wand.

"Sure, and erm, did you just summon those writing things? Without your wand?" said Lupin.

"Yeah, I can do magic without a wand, didn't you know? I'm the Heir of Gryffindor," said Harry distractedly, sealing the letter and giving it to Hedwig.

"Dumbledore never told me that," said Lupin. He watched Hedwig soar out of the window and out of sight.

"It seems to draw even more attention to me than I already need. Some kid at school sent the whole story of the defeat of Voldemort to the Daily Prophet, so everyone knows about that. Think how people would react if they heard about me being the Heir of Gryffindor," said Harry bitterly.

"You don't seem to like the attention that fame brings," Lupin said wryly.

"No."

Harry headed towards the kitchen once more to think up what he would make for dinner.

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Chapter Five

All in all, it was a rather pleasant dinner. Harry cooked a small chicken in the oven and he and Lupin talked over ways to teach students. Lupin was happy to offer any advice, though as he said, "There's nothing to worry about. They'll all listen to you. You're the famous Harry Potter, remember?"

Harry laughed a little. Lupin left later, and Harry returned to his bedroom. He packed all sorts of books and robes into his trunk, wanting to be ready to go to Hogwarts when he recieved the letter from Dumbledore. Harry had finished putting all his Defense Against the Dark Arts books in his trunk when he noticed the Animagus book. He put that in his trunk too, thinking about reading it to pass time during the rest of the summer he might be spending at Hogwarts. Harry put his broom in his trunk too, thinking that he'd have half the summer to still see if he had the moves.

Dumbledore's reply came in a few days, just as Harry was leaving to go for a walk. Hedwig soared in with a loud hoot. Harry untied the response from her leg and read hastily.

Dear Harry,
I do hope that you are all right. As to your run in with those Death Eaters, I assure you that you will be safe at Hogwarts. You may come as soon as you recieve this letter. I think it would be wise if you arrived early, so as to give the staff time to get used to you being a teacher, particularly Severus. They are only used to you being a student. I'm guessing that you already have your things packed, judging by the messiness of your printing in your letter. I look forward you seeing you soon.
Albus Dumbledore

Harry heaved a sigh of relief. It was a good thing he had already packed; he could leave for Hogwarts at once. Harry put his last minute equipment in his trunk and went to say goodbye to Lupin, and to thank him for all his help.

He knocked on the door.

"Yes?"

"Remus, it's me, Harry. I'm leaving for Hogwarts today, I thought I'd come and say goodbye."

"Oh." There was a groaning noise, and then the door opened. Lupin was smiling, but he looked awful. Harry remembered that the full moon was approaching.

"Goodbye, Remus. Thank you for all your help," said Harry.

"Don't mention it, Harry. Good luck. Have fun at Hogwarts," Lupin said. He smiled weakly. Harry waved goodbye and returned to his flat for his things. Once he had a hold on all of his luggage, he Apparated with a pop! to Hogsmeade.

Harry was fully ready for a walk up the drive to the school, but he found one of the school carriages waiting for him, and Dumbledore was inside it.

"Good Afternoon, Harry," he said.

"Hello Professor Dumbledore. I wasn't expecting to see you here," said Harry, climbing into the carriage. The carriage began to move up the drive, and soon, Hogwarts came into view.

"Ready for you first year as a teacher?" said Dumbledore.

"I hope so," said Harry, looking at Hogwarts. His heart leapt...he was still at Hogwarts, even if he wasn't a student any more. There was Hagrid's cabin and the Quidditch Pitch...

After a few more minutes, the carriages shuddered to a halt outside the front doors of the castle. Harry heaved his trunk out of the carriage and followed Dumbledore up to the third floor, where his office was. Harry put all his things in his office and turned to leave, thinking that he'd arrange everything around later.

"Well, you have the rest of the summer to prepare for the upcoming year," said Dumbledore. "I shall see you at dinner, I presume?"

"Yes sir," said Harry. He was about to say that he was going to Hagrid's but then he remembered that Hagrid was gone. The Death Eaters had killed him. Dumbledore hadn't told Harry, but Harry had guessed as much.

"Harry?" said Dumbledore suddenly. "Is something wrong?"

"You never did tell me sir. What happened to Hagrid?" Dumbledore smiled.

"You think he isn't around anymore? The Death Eaters grieviously injured him, and he was hovering between life and death at the moment when you first woke after your defeat of Voldemort. But the healers at St. Mungos managed to pull him through. He's in his cabin right now," Dumbledore said. So that was why Dumbledore hadn't wanted to tell Harry; because Harry would have worried about Hagrid so much. Harry smiled broadly. Dumbledore left, chuckling to himself, and Harry sped down the marble staircase and out into the grounds. He reached Hagrid's cabin and pounded loudly on the door.

"Comin!" came Hagrid's voice. The door opened, and there was Hagrid, standing at the door, beaming. "Harry! Yeh're all right! Bu' ... what're yeh doin here?"

"Didn't Dumbledore tell you?" said Harry. "Say hello to Professor Potter, Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!"

"Teacher eh? So yeh're a member of staff now? Congratulations Harry, can't wait ter work with yeh. Though I imagine Snape isn't too happy about this," said Hagrid, chuckling.

"Haven't faced him yet, but I'll have to at dinner," said Harry, grinning. "I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees me..."

Harry spent an enjoyable afternoon talking with Hagrid, just like he had done as a student. Hagrid told Harry about how the Death Eaters had attacked him at his cabin, demanding to know where Harry was. Hagrid had refused to tell them, and they had almost killed him.

"Bu' I pulled through. Good thing too," said Hagrid grimly. Harry told Hagrid all about what happened at the Riddle House and how he ran into Draco Malfoy at the Leaky Cauldron.

"No good piece of slime," said Hagrid. "If they're after yeh, they'll have ter get through me first." He balled his hands into fists.

"Don't worry Hagrid, I'm perfectly cabaple of handling them myself," said Harry, though inwardly, it was nice to hear Hagrid say that.

They walked up to the castle shortly before dinner. They entered the Great Hall. Not all of the teachers were there yet, but some of them had already arrived, including Professors McGongagall, Snape, and Flitwick. Snape's jaw dropped when he saw Harry.

"Albus," he said as Harry took his seat at the staff table. "Albus, what's he doing here?"

"Ah, Severus, didn't I tell you?" said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "Harry is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" Harry snorted with Hagrid, and McGonagall lauged too. Snape's face went white with shock for a moment, and then his face contorted with rage. He stared at Harry with pure loathing in his eyes. Harry waved back.

"Hello Severus," said Harry. Snape looked even more angry at being called 'Severus' by one of his former students. Dinner appeared and Snape immediately began to talk angrily with Dumbledore. McGongagall and Flitwick, however, turned to Harry.

"Dumbledore never told us," said McGonagall.

"He asked me right before I was about to leave last year. I've already studied some more at the Ministry, and I have a home of my own now," said Harry. It was very nice to be back at Hogwarts, and now he could go sneaking around at night without having to worry about losing house points.

"I never thought we'd have Harry Potter teaching here," squeaked Flitwick. He was smiling very broadly at Harry. "I hear your Defense work is absolutely marvelous."

"Well," said Harry, blushing.

Dinner was very pleasant, Harry became used to calling his fellow teachers by their first names. Minerva, Severus, Filius, and Albus, though Harry still felt the need to call Dumbledore "Professor."

Snape stormed out of the Great Hall as soon as dinner was over, muttering about something vehemently under his breath. Dumbledore smiled again.

"Severus is taking your position very hard," said Dumbledore, walking with Harry up to his office. "He really did want your position, and when I refused him again, he wanted to know why, but I never told him who the new teacher was. I imagine he's rather angry with me."

Harry laughed and said goodbye to Dumbledore when they reached his office. Harry entered and began to empty his trunk. He put things where he thought they ought to go, and then entered the bedroom. He put his more personal things there, and got ready for bed. He went to bed that night as a teacher for the first time.

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Chapter Six

Harry spent much of the next day organising outlines for each year. He also imagined what some students would look like when they saw him at the staff table. He supposed that many of the Slytherins would react similar to Snape. Harry had put a great effort into avoiding direct contact with the greasy-haired Potions master; he was in a very bad mood.

Teachers began to arrive every day, many of them surprised when they saw Harry. Within a week, the whole staff was at Hogwarts, though Harry only saw them at mealtimes. He spent a lot of time with Hagrid, and when he wasn't visiting Hagrid or organizing classes, Harry was on the Quidditch pitch, chasing the Snitch. He missed not being able to play on a team.

Finally, the first day of term came. Harry put some last minute outlines together and dressed in his best robes. Most unfortunately, Harry's seat happened to be in between Dumbledore (this he was fine with), and Snape. Harry sat down rather nervously, but Snape was ignoring him, though his fists were balled tightly. Harry turned to speak with Dumbledore.

"Still nervous Harry?" said Dumbledore. Harry nodded.

"It's just that I know some of the people I'm teaching very well. I'm afraid it will be rather awkward," Harry said, just as the doors to the Great Hall opened. Students spilled in, taking their seats at their respective house tables. Many of them were looking at the staff table, their eyes searching for (no doubt) their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. They saw Harry and many jumped excitedly. Harry sat back and looked up at the ceiling, exceptionally glad that he was back at Hogwarts. Once all the students had sat down, Professor McGonagall brought in the three-legged stool with the Sorting Hat on it. Then she left, returning shortly afterwards with a long line of shivering first years.

The first years stared around nervously. But then the Sorting Hat began to sing and all attention was focused on the hat.

Most people know not what I'm for,
Until they hear me sing,
I am the Sorting Hat,
To your house I shall bring you.
Put me on your head,
And I shall look inside,
to see which qualities you have,
to choose the house where you will reside.

For Gryffindor you must be brave,
For Slytherin, cunning,
In Ravenclaw, they posess great minds,
Huffelpuffs are loyal and true.

~~~
there is more to the sorting hat song but i'm being kicked off..i'll have toupdate later...sorry everyone...

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this is the rest of the sorting hat song
~~~

These are the four houses,
that I will sort you to,
each one is unique and special,
only one is right for you.
Let the Sorting begin.

The hall burst into applause for the hat, and soon, the trembling first years were being called forth. They were sorted into their houses and when the stool was cleared away, Dumbledore stood up.

"Welcome to another year!" he said brightly. "Now it is time for our excellent feast."

The plates filled themselves with food, and everyone began to eat. Dumbledore was soon deep in conversation with Professor McGonagall. Harry was tucking into his roast potatoes when Snape leant towards him. Feeling apprehensive, Harry lowered his fork.

"Ready for the year, Potter?" he whispered, showing every sign that he was still very angry. His eyes were narrowed and sparkling dangerously; his yellow teeth were bared; and he was sneering horribly.

"What do you mean Severus? Of course I'm ready," Harry replied, picking up his knife and fork once more.

"You had better behave properly. If you don't, I shall make sure you are expe-er-fired," Snape hissed vehemently.

"But Severus, isn't that Professor Dumbledore's descision?" said Harry calmly, spearing a potato and putting it in his mouth. Snape's greasy hair flopped as he moved his head backwards in anger.

"Staff member or not Potter," he began, whispering furiously, "I don't want you to call me by my first name."

"Why ever not Severus?" asked Harry innocently. Snape flushed and he ground his teeth angrily, but only Harry noticed.

"Just stay out of my way Potter," hissed Snape. He then returned, to Harry's relief, to his food. Harry also began to eat again, feeling quite satisfied with the conversation. Though Snape was by no means any less angry with him, Harry was on the same level as him; Snape couldn't suspend or expell Harry, and he couldn't take away any house points either. Dumbledore looked Harry's way when he noticed Snape moving away from Harry ever so slightly. He winked. Harry smiled.

Once dinner was over, Dumbledore stood up once more.

"Now that dinner is over, I have a few announcements to make. Firstly, as you all will have noticed by now, we do have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher. I ask you all to give Harry Potter a warm welcome," he said. The Great Hall clapped loudly and wildly; much whooping and cheering was heard. Harry overheard one girl near the staff table whisper, "I heard he only just got out of school too!"

"Quidditch tryouts will be held next week, the precise days will be announced by the team captains. Now, you all want to get to bed, as you want to be awake for tomorrow's classes!" said Dumbledore, waving the students off. They clambered out of their seats, and Harry made his steady way out of the hall, taking many concealed shortcuts so that he reached his office as soon as possible. He got into bed and fell into a very fitful slumber.

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Chapter Seven

Harry awoke early the next day, feeling rather nervous. His first class, (as luck would have it) was a group of Slytherin and Gryffindor fourth years. This had to be one of the worst house combinations; traditionally there was a lot of rivalry between the two houses. Harry was sure that since he was the Heir of Gryffindor, and that everyone knew it, he would be even more unpopular with the Slytherins than usual. Harry put on his robes and went down through the quiet hallways to breakfast. There weren't many students there. Harry checked his watch. It was still very early. Most of the teachers, however, were there, with the exception of Snape, Hagrid, and Professor Trelawney. Harry knew that Professor Trelawney never came down to eat, that Hagrid was still probably sleeping, and that Snape was just trying to avoid Harry.

Slowly, as Harry ate, the Great Hall was filled with students. They were all checking their timetables, many of them looking excitedly up at the staff table at Harry. Ginny and Christina walked up to the staff table to talk to Harry, earning themselves a wink from Dumbledore and a reproachful glare from Professor McGonagall.

"Morning sir," said Ginny.

"Yes, good morning Professor," said Christina, smiling. "I've noticed that I won't get my new teacher until the end of the week."

"Oh, how dreadful," said Harry, chuckling. "Good morning to you two. I hope you all are good, that way I can award Gryffindor some points before Snape takes them all away."

"Yes sir," said Ginny enthusiastically. "We saw him sulking around the door to the dungeons. He's trying to stay away from you." She and Christina burst into laughter. Harry laughed too.

"I could guess that. Well, it's not surprising really, he talked rather angrily to me last night." Harry told them of his conversation with Snape the previous night.

"You called him Severus?" choked Christina, her eyes streaming with tears of laughter.

"He didn't seem to happy about that," said Harry, pulling a face to make it look as though he had no idea why.

"All right you two, get to your seats now," said a voice, breaking in. It was Professor McGonagall. Ginny and Christina left to go eat. "Harry, you shouldn't be talking to your friends so much, it will look like you're going to favour them."

"I won't Minerva, it's just that they're some of my better friends and it's easier to talk to them than it is to -certain members- of the staff," said Harry, thinking of Snape.

"Bear in mind that it will look unfair though, won't you?" said McGonagall before returning to her seat.

When Harry finished with his food, he walked up to his classroom to prepare for his first class.

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Harry took out the outline for the year and got out the book he had asked for the fourth years to have. It was similar to the one he had owned in fourth year, with imposter Moody.

After about five more minutes, the eager Gryffindor fourth-years spilled into his classroom and all took seats at the front. Nearly all of the Slytherins arrived just on time, scowling as they took the back seats. Many of them were throwing very dirty looks towards Harry.

"Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Harry, his mouth rather dry. The Slytherins' scowls became more pronounced. The Gryffindors, however, were all moving restlessly in their seats. Harry took out the register and began to read out all the names. This was the group of first years he had watched being sorted during his fifth year, possibly his worst year at the school. Many of them now seemed to think he was wonderful instead of crazy like they had during Harry's fifth year. Harry got out the book and showed it to them all.

"Today we are going to go through some of the first chapter, and I have an outline for you all, so you can see what you shall be learning this year," said Harry. He raised his hand to waist height and summoned the parchment containing the outlines without his wand silently. The parchment zoomed into his hand. The class gasped. Harry walked around the classroom, handing out the outlines to every student.

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All the Gryffindors looked at Harry with deep respect, even some of the Slytherins had shown looks of interest. One of the girls was whispering as he walked past, and he happened to hear a snatch of the conversation. "He just summoned it without his wand! Wow, that's powerful!"

Harry smiled slightly. "As you can no doubtedly see, we will be going over many curses thouroughly. Though my own fourth year teacher was not what you would call the best, I did learn something."

"Sir," said one boy raising his hand. "Sir, who was your teacher?"

"Well, I've had many different teachers, but my fourth year teacher was Mad-Eye Moody, except that it wasn't really him, rather, an imposter by the name of Bartemius Crouch Jr. He tried to kill me after Voldemort returned," said Harry shortly. The room squeaked, squawked and winced when Harry had said Voldemort's name.

"Sir," said the boy, trembling, "you said - you said his name!"

"Of course, Mr. Abercombie. He is gone, and after all, as Professor Dumbledore says, "Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself."," said Harry simply, opening his book.

Harry put the class to work looking up minor jinxes, defining what they do, and then looking up the counter curses. "Next class will be a practical lesson on the curses you looked up today. Homework: Study the counter curses!"

The Slytherins all left together, grumbling. The Gryffindors left excitedly and none of them seemed to care that Harry had given them homework.

Harry's next class came in, a group of Hufflepuff fifth-years. They were chattering excitedly and Harry began to teach them the more difficult of the easier jinxes, many of which he taught in the DA in his fifth year.

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Chapter Eight

As Harry was walking to dinner later on that night, be bumped into someone whose head was bent and his eyes were averted. Harry stopped to say sorry, then he realized that it was Snape.

"Erm," said Harry, but Snape kept walking, apparently oblivious to the fact that Harry was standing there.

Harry shrugged his shoulders and went into the Great Hall.

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The Hall was silent. Nobody was speaking, and it was apparent that something had happened there that was very wrong. It was then that Harry noticed a loud banging was coming from outside the windows. Dumbledore came striding towards him.

"Harry there you are. We've been wondering where you were. There's something going on outside. I shall accompany you, but being the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, we thought you should see what is going on," he said grimly. Harry nodded.

"Sure thing Professor," he said, pulling out his wand.

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Harry exited the Hall at once and strode through the front doors and onto the grounds. There was a large group of Death Eaters attacking the school; Harry recognized the blonde one at the front as Malfoy.

"Death Eaters," he whispered to Dumbledore, who nodded. He stepped lightly towards them. When Harry was near enough to call to them, he stopped and called out loudly. "What are you doing?"

"Bloody hell! How'd he get out here? I thought we locked the doors from the outside?" said one of the Death Eaters in shock.

"Never mind that now," snapped Malfoy malevolently. His eyes narrowed as he stared hungrily at Harry. "It is the perfect opportunity to avenge our master's demise."

"I don't think that shall be possible really," said Harry calmly. "In case you haven't noticed, Voldemort -" the Death Eaters shuddered, "- was way stronger than any of you, and I got rid of him."

Malfoy's face contorted. "You have no right to talk about that in front of us," he snarled. Harry placed his wand in his pocket and acted so fast that the Death Eaters had no time to realise the spell he uttered. Almost all of them, except Malfoy, were lying unconscious on the ground, and Malfoy looked stunned.

"I can do magic without a wand, see, so I'm always prepared if you guys decide to attack me," said Harry menacingly, advancing slowly on Malfoy. Malfoy backed away, then turned tail and ran. Harry let him go, and then sent a fast owl to the Ministry of Magic, who came right away to retrieve the Death Eaters and lock them up in Azkaban.

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nothing will be posted in this thread for a while. i recieved some really negative feedback and until i'm sure people want to keep reading it i'm going to have to concentrate on my other story. please send feedback or pm me if you want more. i will also need to think up fantastic material for this story so that it is satisfactory.

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ok i'm writing more now...

Once the Ministry of Magic representatives arrived, Harry turned to examine the front door, which had somehow been locked from the outside.

"You know Professor, I hardly felt a thing when I opened the door. Was that involuntary wandless magic?" Harry asked, examining the door closely.

"Yes, probably another of the things that comes with being the Heir of Gryffindor. What I'm most curious about is why Malfoy did not get knocked out with that spell of yours," said Dumbledore, staring around at all the Death Eaters lying on the ground.

"I've been wondering that too...he must have had a shield of some sort. Oh well, I'll get him next time," said Harry, shrugging. "Is there anything else we need to see to out here?" he added.

"No, I think that's all. We should probably get inside so we can adress the school," said Dumbledore. He and Harry walked back inside the school and reentered the Great Hall, which was deathly silent. Dumbledore smiled at the students, and it was as though all of them heaved a sigh of relief at the exact same time. Snape looked in a very foul mood; he had no doubt been watching the scene outside through a window and was probably extremely angry that Harry had pulled off another act that would give him even more popularity.

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Chapter Nine

Harry recieved increased respect from everyone in the next few days, everyone except Snape, and the Slytherins. However, he enjoyed his teaching job so much that he hardly payed attention to the ill will of the Slytherins. Indeed, when October rolled around, Harry at once signed up to refferee the first few Quidditch matches. He visited the Gryffindor team and gave them hints on better flying. He himself took out his Firebolt and had a fly around the Quidditch pitch, chasing the Snitch and showing the new Seeker some of the swerves and tactics he had to use.

The first match, as always, was Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Harry was anxious for Gryffindor to win, but was dissappointed that he could no longer play himself. He strode out to the middle of the field.

"Captains shake hands," he said. The Gryffindor captain, (which happened to be Christina) walked forwards to shake hands with the Slytherin captain, who merely sneered. He opened the crate containing the Bludgers and Snitch.

"Mount your brooms!" said Harry, raising the whistle to his lips. As one, the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams rose into the air and the game began.

Harry flew inbetween Gryffindors and Slytherins, watching the game's progress closely. After five minutes of pretty much back and forth action, Christina broke through the Slytherin line of defense and scored a goal. The reaction of the crowd was to scream and whoop as loud as they could. Harry himself was flashing a smile at his girlfriend when the Slytherin Beater came flying by and whacked her in the back with his club. Harry blew his whistle and called a foul. The Gryffindor specators were furious, as was Harry.

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Harry zoomed over to the Beater on his broom, and the Beater was smiling terribly. Harry handed the Quaffle to Christina, but even though she was smiling and trying to look as though she was okay, she looked winded.

"Are you sure you'll be okay to take the penalty?" asked Harry in a low voice.

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me," said Christina, smiling at him.

Christina centered herself infront of the Slytherin goal hoops and flew towards the goal. The Keeper was swirling nervously around, but he was no match for Christina. She threw the Quaffle and scored again for Gryffindor. The crowd broke into applause, while the Slytherins were all looking angrily at their Beater, who was now looking ashamed of himself.

The game went on for hours, though the Slytherins stopped fouling the Gryffindors so much, realising that Harry would call it within seconds of the foul, making them lose even more points.

Finally, after two more hours, the Gryffindor Seeker caught the Snitch and the game was over.

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Harry flew to the ground and packed the Quidditch balls back into the trunk. Then he headed back up to the school, longing for some thinking time in his office. He walked back up to the school alone, but halfway there some students caught up with him.

"Professor, we were wondering if you could help us with our Quidditch playing."

It was two of the Beaters from the Gryffindor team. Harry hated to tell them no, but he didn't feel like being on his broom anymore. He was feeling oddly sick.

"I'm sorry, but I've got a ton of marking to do," he lied. The students walked away dejectedly and Harry felt a stab of annoyance with himself. He proceeded straight to his office, but when he had got there, he felt too sick to do anything save sit down in his chair. There was a knock on the door.

"Yes?" said Harry.

"May I come in?" It was Dumbledore.

"Oh, yes of course Headmaster," Harry said, standing up hastily to open the door. Dumbledore walked in and looked at Harry.

"Harry, what's the matter? You look sick."

"I don't know sir, I just started feeling sick after the match," said Harry slowly, returning to his chair. His face was paling fast.

"I wanted to talk with you about the match actually," said Dumbledore. "There was some sort of disturbance in the Slytherin end halfway through when you were busy with a penalty. There were some raised wands and I was wondering if you felt strange after that one penalty with the Slytherin Beater and the Gryffindor Chaser," Dumbledore said.

"I didn't really, but I started to feel sick once I had touched the ground. Very odd," Harry replied quietly. He tried to take a deep breath, so as to relax himself; he felt very tense.

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Dumbledore looked at him.

"There are some strange things going on, and I think most of it can be credited as aftermath of your defeat of Voldemort. There are still some children of Death Eaters here, and no doubt they are not very happy, given that their fathers are all exposed. I urge you to be careful," Dumbledore said.

"Sure thing sir," said Harry. He sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. He sank at once into a dream.

There was a dark room with two blonde men standing inside it. There was also a woman there, not blonde, but with sleek black hair.

"Well, what are we going to do? We can't just sit around in hiding anymore, I want revenge. Lucius, can't we do something now?" said the woman impatiently.

"Keep calm, Bella. We have to be much more careful with Potter now, he's much more powerful than we assumed him to be and he'll no doubt still be protected by Dumbledore," said Lucius Malfoy softly.

"Father, why can't we just trap him, the way the Dark Lord used to all the time? If we just have the right bait..." said the other blonde man, who Harry assumed to be Draco Malfoy.

"Draco, don't you see? He won't fall into traps that easily, and even if he does, he'll get out anyways. Remember all those times he slipped out of the Dark Lord's grasp? We'd have no hope of any revenge. We have to use the element of surprise and secrecy to its full advantage!" said Mr. Malfoy angrily.

"But Lucius," broke in Bellatrix Lestrange suddenly. "We know at least some of his weaknesses. He will go and save someone who is in danger regardless of the situation. Your son has a point."

"But we'd have to actually capture someone, we can't create dreams like the Dark Lord! That would take careful planning and it would be too difficult, Potter will be on his guard and will be watching for something like this, mark my words, Bella!" shouted Mr. Malfoy.

"Well, I think it's worth a try. Anything to avenge our master."

"The Dark Lord is gone, there's no way to bring him back! That was the last chance he had! Potter defeated him utterly! We have no way to restore him!" shouted Mr. Malfoy, sounding quite beside himself. "We must be sensible! Do you want to land yourselves in Azkaban again?!"

"No, but at least we'd have gotten rid of the slime that killed the Dark Lord," said Bellatrix eagerly, a nasty excitement in her voice.

"We can't just kill whenever we feel like it anymore. The whole wizarding community is on the lookout for any signs of Death Eaters. Look at how many they've caught! We're practically the only ones that are still free, thanks to that brat Potter!" Mr. Malfoy was waving his arms in exasperation.

"Can't we atleast try something father?" asked Draco.

"Yes Lucius, think of it. If we plan well and act secretly, how can we not fail?" said Bellatrix.

"Well, we'll try, but you had better be prepared for a surprise. Potter wriggles out of the tightest holes, and he's no school child anymore. He's a teacher at Hogwarts," Lucius said, but he agreed to go along with whatever Bellatrix and Draco wanted to do.

At that moment, Harry woke with a start and cried out. Dumbledore stared at him, clearly surprised by his sudden waking.

"What happened?" he asked sternly.

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Chapter Ten

Harry sat up, breathing hard. "I had a dream," he said. "I didn't think I'd get dreams like that anymore."

"What was the dream about?" asked Dumbledore at once.

"Well, there was a room, with Bellatrix Lestrange, Draco and Lucius Malfoy. They were talking about avenging Voldemort, they were talking about - about capturing - " Harry hesitated.

"Yes?" Dumbledore prompted.

"- capturing me. They were arguing. Mr. Malfoy said that he, Bellatrix, and Draco were the only Death Eaters still free from Azkaban."

"Well, I'm sure they'll have given thought to the fact that you will be on your guard, that you are well protected, and that you are a very strong wizard."

"Yes, they were talking about that, but - they're going to capture someone close to me, they were talking about that too, we have to make sure all of my friends are safe, especially Ron and Hermione because they are not in school anymore and not easy to watch," Harry said, still breathing deeply.

"I will make sure that all necessary actions are taken care of, don't worry Harry. Now I suggest that you get some more rest; after that dream and the match, you are going to need it. Have a good day, Harry," Dumbledore said, getting up from his seat and walking to the door. He left and the door shut softly behind him. Harry got up as well and began to pace his study. He was worried sick about his friends, and he hoped that nothing bad would happen. What was disturbing him most, however, was not that a plan to capture and kill him was being made, he was used to that, after all, Voldemort had done it many times. It was the fact that he had had a dream about Death Eater movements. He didn't have those dreams unless Voldemort was there. But Voldemort was dead, and so the wierd connection between them was gone. Then why was he still having wierd dreams? It made no sense.

Harry decided to skip dinner and get some extra sleep. Then he planned on asking Dumbledore about the dreams the next day, as it was Sunday. He moved into his room and got into bed. He rather fancied he saw a strange looking owl fly by his window before he fell asleep. It was strange because it was flying in a gimped sort of way, and it was not the ordinary brown, grey, or white, rather it was pure black, not a single other colour. But Harry figured it was a trick of the imagination and settled down to sleep, and the strange owl was driven from his mind.

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When Harry woke up, it was very dark around, and he figured it must be near midnight. What was more, the black owl he had seen earlier was waiting for him patiently on his desk. Harry stared at it. It was holding a black envelope in its beak, and the adress was written in poisonous-looking green ink.

Mr. Harry Potter, Defense Against the Dark Arts Office, Hogwarts

Harry took the letter from the owl, which took flight immediately and flew off through the open window.

Funny, thought Harry, I thought I had locked that window shut?

He slit open the letter with his wand. There was nothing inside. How odd. Suddenly there was a blinding flash of white light, and Harry lay back on the ground, and a strange scene was playing before his eyes. He saw Dumbledore fighting a faceless figure, his friends all lying dead on the ground. It was a horrifying vision.

Just as suddenly as it had started, the vision ended, and Harry sat back up. He picked up the envelope of the letter and examined it closely, trying to find the name of the sender. There was no letter inside, and nothing except the adress on the outside. Harry got up at once. He didn't care if it was midnight or not, he had to see Dumbledore at once. Harry believed it to be in someway connected with the dream he had had earlier that day, and was worried that this vision of his was going to come true.

He trudged up to Dumbledore's office, spoke the password, (Licorice Wand) and climbed up the spiral staircase. Judging by the voices he heard inside, Dumbledore was awake and talking to the portraits in his office. He knocked on the office door.

"Come in," came Dumbledore's voice softly. "Oh it's you Harry. What on earth are you doing up so late?" he added when he had seen Harry.

"I went to sleep shortly after you left, I felt very tired. Then I woke up about half an hour ago to find a strange, black owl waiting for me. It had a black envelope and - " Harry proceeded to explain to Dumbledore what had just happened to him.

"I see," was all that Dumbledore said at the end of Harry's story.

"Do you have any idea what that was about?" Harry asked anxiously.

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"Well," Dumbledore said finally, "it probably was a vision created by your enemies, I don't think it was real. You don't have to worry about that. But the dream you had earlier today...that I'm worried about, and you should be too."

"I am, believe me," Harry said earnestly. "I didn't think I would get dreams like that; I thought they would stop because I killed - or whatever you want to call it - Voldemort. I thought I only got them because he was still alive."

"So did I, but it appears that that is not the case. Certainly while Voldemort was living it seemed to have been more focused on him, seeing as there was that connection between you two, but now, I think it is just concentrated on any that were in league with Voldemort," Dumbledore said wisely. Harry sighed, but deep inside there was still worry. Had he really defeated Voldemort? He had thought so, because normally his scar would have hurt along with a vision like that.

"You needn't worry about Voldemort if your scar is not hurting," Dumbledore said, as though he knew exactly what Harry was thinking.

"Thank you, sir," Harry said. He turned to leave. Dumbledore did not make a move to stop Harry, but as he walked past the door, Fawkes the Phoenix came towards him, and landed on his shoulder. He sang softly, and Harry's heart swelled with an immense feeling of hope. Harry sighed, and walked out, his heart relieved of the worry of Voldemort.

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Chapter Eleven

Harry spent a lot of the next day planning ways to protect his friends. Christina and Ginny he spent less time on, because they were still protected in side the school. It was Ron and Hermione that he worried about. He sent them both owls and then set to work thinking up different defensive spells. Dumbledore looked in on him half way through the day.

"You should be getting something to eat," Dumbledore said. "It's lunchtime."

"I'm not hungry."

"Leave the defensive spell for now. Come back to it later. I would like to talk, and it is time you made up with Severus," Dumbledore said, beckoning Harry towards him.

"Make up with Severus? No way, I'm sorry sir, but he hates my guts. He won't make up with me. He hates me more than he hated Sirius," Harry said nervously. Snape would never go back to being on speaking terms with Harry.

"It's worth a try Harry."

"Well..."

"Come, the lunch is supposed to be delicious today."

"How do you know?"

"Dobby came to visit. Asked if he could see you at some point. I told him you'd be in your office this evening. Is that alright?" Dumbledore said, smiling broadly.

"Yes. It would be nice to see him again. Well, let's get this over with. If I've got to try and make up with Severus, better sooner than later," Harry said.

"That's the spirit."

Harry and Dumbledore made their way towards the Great Hall. Snape was sitting at the staff table, looking particularly sour. Harry's stomach jumped nervously.

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Harry and Dumbledore sat down next to Snape. Snape was glowering and muttering something under his breath.

"Hello Severus," Dumbledore said. Harry put some food on his plate and began to eat it, trying to ignore the way Snape's hand was twitching ever closer to his pocket.

"Dumbledore," Snape said, nodding. He made no indication that he had noticed Harry had sat down next to him. Harry coughed loudly. Snape turned around to face him.

"Why hello, Potter, I did not notice you," Snape said through clenched teeth.

"Good afternoon Severus," Harry said politely, avoiding Snape's eyes.

Dumbledore looked sternly at the both of them.

"Come now Severus, Harry, why can't you two be civil to each other?" he said.

Harry and Snape stared at each other, and it was clear that Snape had more than half a mind to leave. "If you hadn't noticed Headmaster," Snape began, "Potter and I have never been on good terms. I would prefer it if it stayed that way. It is frankly annoying to have a former student call you by your first name, especially when they were not one of your favourite students."

"Oh no, only Slytherins were your favourites, like Malfoy, who is a Death Eater, just like his father," Harry said quietly, as though he wasn't saying anything insulting. Snape flushed.

"At least I never rush to the help of people without thinking. I don't fall into traps as easily as you, Potter. You are too proud." Harry flushed as well.

"At least I actually care about them. You -"

"That's enough," Dumbledore intervened. "I can see it is impossible for you two to be civil to each other, but please try in front of students."

Snape nodded and swept himself out of the Great Hall quicker than Harry could snap his fingers. Harry got up as well, left his half-eaten lunch, and returned to his office to work some more on his defensive spell.

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update later

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sorry, i'll update later, no time.

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Harry avoided Snape with special care on Monday; he was in no mood for another fight with him. He was preoccupied with his friends during his classes that day and had to ask his class several times where he had left off. Many of them were regarding him with concern. After one class, Dennis Creevey came up to Harry.

"Professor, is something wrong? You don't seem yourself today."

"No, no Mr. Creevey, everything's fine, don't worry. I'm just - just tired, that's all," Harry lied. It was now lunchtime, but he was not hungry. He sat back at his desk, trying to think up a way of casting his defensive spell on Ron and Hermione, when he got a letter in the mail. It was Errol, the Weasley's battered, old owl. Harry felt sorry for the poor thing, it looked exhausted. Harry conjured up a bowl of water for it, and after Errol drank, he flew off to the owlery for a rest. Harry opened the letter, expecting Ron's untidy print, but instead seeing Hermione's neat handwriting.

Dear Harry,
I cannot believe you are having those wierd dreams again. I do hope you have gone to Dumbledore, and that you are all right. Did your scar hurt? Because if it did we have something to worry about. If Mr. Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, and Bellatrix Lestrange are planning something evil, me and Ron will protect ourselves right away. We wish we could come to Hogwarts, but we don't know if that's allowed. By the way, Ron and I are thinking of getting married once he and I get good jobs! Can you believe it! Talk to you soon, Harry.
Hermione

Harry's heart swelled with hope as he began a reply.

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i'm really busy studying for exams, i'll update as soon as I can

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Chapter Twelve

Dear Hermione,
That's great about you and Ron; I always knew you two would end up together. My scar wasn't hurting, so there isn't anything too bad to worry about. Right now I'm working on a defensive spell that I hope will protect you guys. Send a letter to Dumbledore to ask him if you can visit. He'll probably know why. I did talk to him, and he says that as long as my scar isn't hurting, we don't have to worry about Voldemort. Give my best to Ron and the Weasleys.
Harry

Harry folded the letter into an envelope and trudged up to the empty owlery to deliver it. He gave the letter to Hedwig, who was perching near poor Errol. Errol flew off with Hedwig, but Harry could tell that the letter would take a while to get to Ron and Hermione because Errol was still exhausted.

Harry then made his steady way towards the Great Hall, where dinner was commencing. He slipped into his chair silently and ate without speaking to any members of the staff. The night was inky and cloudy, and heavy rain was beginning to fall, pitter-patting on the windows with the sound of a drum. Lightning flashed across the sky. Harry was strongly reminded of the night on Halloween, many years ago, when he, Ron, and Hermione had beaten the mountain troll in the girl's bathroom. How far they had come since then.

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there will be a post once my exams are over

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Harry wouldn't have been surprised to see a man running in, announcing that a troll was loose in the dungeon, so alike was this night to that night so many years ago. But now he, Ron, and Hermione were graduates, all with their own jobs, and grown up. Harry looked at Dumbledore. He seemed to be oblivious to the storm. He was chatting politely with Professor McGonagall about some matter, and it wasn't until Professor Flitwick began to converse with Harry that he remembered he was a staff member too.

"My goodness, Harry, you do seem to be avoiding everyone lately. How come we haven't seen you wandering the halls and exploring like you did when you were a student?" Flitwick asked, sitting up a little on his cusion.

"Hmm? Oh, well, busy, you know. Lot's of - er - things going on..." Harry trailed off stupidly. Flitwick seemed to guess something was bothering him.

"Something's bothering you, eh? Well, we don't have to talk about it. How are classes going?"

"Fine I guess. I'm respected, and kids listen to me, but I can't say it's not odd to be teaching students only a year younger than me," Harry replied, spearing a square of beef on his plate.

"Yes, I imagine teaching your friends like Miss Sikos and Miss Weasley would be awkward," Flitwick said genially, glancing at Christina and Ginny. Harry's stomach flopped nervously, thinking about what could happen to them if any defenses were left unchecked.

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Flitwick said nothing more, and Harry was left to his own thoughts. He stared up at the ceiling, the delicious feast in front of him no longer appetizing. He felt as though Voldemort was still present, even if he really wasn't. A feeling had been growing in his stomach that something was going to happen, something that he didn't want to happen. It was making him extremely nervous.

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Harry shoved his knife and fork back onto his plate and exited the hall, making himself the first to leave, and attracting many stares. He stomped his way up to his office, and sat there, wishing now more than ever that he had Sirius to talk to. He missed him so much, and it was all thanks to Bellatrix Lestrange...Sometimes Harry really hated that woman, but he knew it was important to restrain his anger. He picked up a piece of parchment with nothing on it and crunched it up in his fist. Then he threw it in the rubbish bin.

The thunder grew louder and louder, finally becoming so loud that Harry couldn't hear himself think, and the defensive spell he was working on was getting nowhere. He decided to take a break, and walked to the window, staring outside at the storm raging on. The clouds were a dark purple and lightning flashed across the sky frequently. The lightning grew more powerful and edged ever closer to the school, finally striking one of the trees in the Forbidden Forest. It started a fire, and the fire crept towards Hagrid's hut. Harry, with no time to yank out his wand, called out an incantation for something to freeze the fire. The fire was stopped in it's tracks, and Harry bolted down to the grounds to take care of it properly. Soon, he had eliminated the fire, and was walking up to the castle when a bolt of lightning nearly struck him. He jumped out of the way, but as he reached a new spot on the lawn, the lightning attepmted to hit him again. Everywhere he moved, the lightning struck. He was usually only just getting out of the way.

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I'll post later, I'm exremely busy

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Harry ran back up the steps and into the castle, believing himself to be safe at last. Once he had reached his office, he sat down at his desk once more, but another bolt of lightning flashed through his window, aiming straight for him, and this time it struck. But it wasn't the electrifying experience Harry had expected it to be. Instead, he was knocked into sleep, and left staring at evil images and suddenly, to his great worry, his scar began to burn.

It was burning terribly, and Harry felt a great bubble of anxiety rise within him. Why was his scar burning? This was not supposed to happen. But was it his scar, or his imagination? Was that perhaps where the lightning had struck?

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Chapter Thirteen

Harry rapidly got up from where he was lying on the floor. There was no mistaking it, his scar was burning. Harry could have thrown up with worry. His stomach churning, he bolted from his office and ran through the hallways. There was no one in the Great Hall or any of the corridors. How long had Harry been knocked out for?

Finally, Harry decided just to go to Dumbledore's office, seeing as how he wasn't in the hallways. When he entered the office, Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, reading a long scroll of parchment.

Harry ran in, panting, and looking as though death were behind him. Dumbledore stood up at once, a look of great concern all over his old face.

"Harry, what's the matter?" he asked at once.

"My scar! Sir, my scar is burning! What's going on?!" Harry panicked. His scar was still stinging fiercely, and he clapped his hand to it. A chair appeared behind him and he collapsed onto it.

"What?" Dumbledore moved towards Harry. "Your scar is burning?"

"Yes! I had gone to my office to work on - on the defensive spell for Ron and Hermione - and then the lightning outside struck a tree and started a fire that was creeping towards Hagrid's house. So I went out to stop the fire and then the lightning kept striking where I stood all the time. I could only just move in time. Then when I got back to my office I got - I got struck finally. But I didn't get electrocuted. My scar started to burn. What if he's still out there? What if I didn't get rid of him?!" Harry said, referring to Voldemort.

Dumbledore looked extremely grave.

"This is something to worry about," he said finally. "I don't know why your scar would be burning if he was gone. I was sure that you had gotten rid of him."

"So was I. But why would my scar be hurting now?" Harry questioned, getting off of the chair and pacing agitatedly around the circular office. His scar throbbed hard and he stopped, clutching at the wall for support. Harry's knees began to wobble uncontrollably. This was a pain he hadn't felt since he was in Voldemort's presence physically. Dumbledore walked over to Harry and grabbed his arm, and led him back to the chair.

"Sit down Harry, or you will collapse from exhaustion. I'm sure that Voldemort has not returned, however, we cannot rule it out. The most likely explanation for your scar is that the Death Eaters still abroad have found a way to make it burn using some sort of a curse. My guess is that they themselves created the thunderstorm for the sole purpose of administering the pain into your scar," Dumbledore said somberly. Harry shook his head, trying to get rid of the pain.

"But, how - why -?" Harry began bemusedly.

"They're trying to frighten you. Remember, they want revenge on you for the destruction of their master. They're trying to make you lose your focus, so that you will be off guard for anything they have planned. Now more than ever, you must be on your guard Harry. I cannot stress this enough."

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Harry stared at Dumbledore. So the Death Eaters had come up with some new spell, trying to frighten him into believing Voldemort was back. Well, he wouldn't play their game. He knew that Voldemort was gone, and so he would fight with all his might, and always be on his guard.

"I'll be careful. But I wish I didn't have to deal with the Death Eaters anymore," Harry said.

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He left the office feeling exhausted. When he reached his own, he cleaned up the mess with magic and hopped into bed without removing his glasses. He fell into a fitful slumber.

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When Harry woke the next morning, his head was aching terribly. He got up and swayed on his feet, the information of the night before still spinning through his head. So the Death Eaters had devised a way to make his scar hurt. Big deal. He could take them all on any time. He was more powerful than they were...wasn't he? Harry shook his head and made his way down to the Great Hall for breakfast after cleaning himself up a bit. It was still quite early, but Dumbledore was there, almost, it seemed, waiting for him.

"Good Morning. Did you have any strange dreams last night?" Dumbledore asked straight away.

"No, but I have a massive headache," Harry replied.

"Probably side-effects of the spell that the Death Eaters had used," Dumbledore said seriously.

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Harry wondered darkly whether there would be anymore side effects to come. He picked half-heartedly at his food, not really wanting to teach any of his classes today.

When Harry had finished his breakfast, he got into his classroom and readied himself for the day. His first class was a bunch of chattering fourth years, who all came in cheerfully, though at the look of anxiety on Harry's face, they stopped smiling at once.

"Sir? Professor Potter?" piped up one boy.

"Yes?" said Harry.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, no not at all," Harry said airily. "Unless you want to count my aching scar, head and being chased by Death Eaters," he added in an undertone that nobody else heard.

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He continued to teach the class in a normal fashion, though now and then, he felt queasy. He supposed these were more side-effects of the spell that the Death Eaters had put on him. This succeeded in only making his mood a lot worse. He taught his class in a snappy mood and didn't award any points. The students did not do anything to make his temper worse, for the obviously sensed that something was wrong.

Later at lunchtime, Harry met Christina in a deserted hallway.

"Harry, I haven't seen you in ages," she said, pretending to be angry.

"That's Professor Potter to you," Harry said, smiling slightly. Chrisitna giggled. "I've been really busy, I've got Death Eaters all over my back and trying to get at you. I wish I could have seen you more outside of classes though," he added, kissing her softly.

"Death Eaters?" Christina's expression changed. Harry hadn't told her yet about any of that.

"Yeah. I didn't tell you. They're trying to wreak vengeance on me for destroying Voldemort. Well, at least Draco and Lucius Malfoy, and Bellatrix Lestrange are anyways. They're the only ones that are still out of Azkaban."

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"Those thugs are trying to seek out their revenge on the Great Harry Potter, Heir of Gryffindor and defeator of Voldemort? You've got to be kidding me," said Christina in a voice that suggested she was laughing.

"Unfortunately, that's the truth. Don't you worry about me, because I'll be fine. Worry about yourself, there's no telling what those three will do when they're angry enough, and at the moment, they are really quite angry," Harry warned her, pulling her close. "If they caused me to lose you, Ron, Hermione, or any of my other friends, I don't know what I'd do."

"Don't worry, Mr. Worry Wart," teased Christina. "I'll keep out of their way and pay attention in your classes."

"What, you don't pay attention?" said Harry, grinning.

"'Fraid not, dear Harry, you're a tad boring," Christina laughed.

"Oh really?" Harry asked sarcastically. "I would have figured that you'd be interested, giving all that I've done outside of school." Christina yawned fakely, and Harry broke out into the largest fit of laughter he'd had for a while.

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"I was kidding Harry," Christina said finally when she had stopped laughing.

"I know."

Harry and Christina walked back to Harry's office, which was a mess from all the times Harry had tried to invent a defensive spell but had not succeeded. Christina looked around the place and clucked her tongue.

"Harry, you're so messy. Scourgify!" The pieces of parchment littering the floor vanished and all of Harry's important notes stacked themselves neatly on his desk.

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"Thanks. Now I don't have to do it for myself," Harry said, looking into Christina's blue eyes. She smiled before punching him on the shoulder.

"You - "

"Yes I know, I made you do it for me, so what? I would have cleaned it up anyways, but I want to thank you for the fantastic job," Harry said, closing his office door behind him.

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Christina giggled again, and sat down on a chair Harry had just conjured for her.

"So...you've been working your butt of on inventing some all powerful defensvie spell to protect Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and me? That's why you've been in such a bad mood," she said, staring up at him. Harry was momentarily lost in her beautiful blue eyes before he replied.

"Yeah. I'm worrying about you like you wouldn't believe. So far, no luck though. Inventing a spell is harder than I thought," he said, indicating to all the notes he had on his desk.

"You've been working too hard lately," Christina said.

"No I haven't."

"Yes you have. You look exhausted and aren't teaching classes with enthusiasm like you were at the beginning of the year. Come on Harry, give it a rest."

"Well..."

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Harry spent the rest of the day with Christina. Ginny popped in occasionally to see what they were doing, but other than that everything was just the two of them.

Then, around dinner time, there was a knock at the office door and two people entered. One of them had exceptionally red hair, a long nose, large feet, and large hands. The other had very bushy brown hair, and a look of intelligence about her.

"Ron! Hermione!" Harry said happily.

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Harry smiled at the sight of his two best friends.

"Hello there, Professor," Ron said teasingly. Hermione smiled and gave him a hug, to which Ron pretended to look jealous.

"We were so worried about you," Hermione said, her facial expression changing at once. "You're okay, aren't you? You're scar hasn't been hurting, has it?" She sounded very much like Mrs. Weasley.

"Don't worry, I've been keeping him in line," said Christina cheerfully.

"Erm," Harry started, looking at Hermione, "my scar has been hurting - " Hermione looked stricken - "but Dumbledore reckons it's only because the Death Eaters are trying to scare me and put me off my guard." Hermione breathed out and relaxed. Ron chuckled.

"Everything seems to be fine here," he said. "C'mon Hermione, we need to see Professor Dumbledore. Then we can sit at the staff table for dinner with Professor Potter." He winked, and he and Hermione walked out hand in hand. Harry smiled at the sight of them. Then he turned to Christina, who gave him a hug.

"You shouldn't let Hermione fuss over you like that. I'm supposed to be doing that," she said, in a tone of mock jealousy.

"Now, Christina, I can't help it if the ladies love me!"

"Harry!" She punched him playfully on the arm.

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Harry laughed and walked out. Dinner would start soon, and he wanted to save seats for Ron and Hermione. He decided to make sure they were near to Snape. That would be fun.

When he and Christina reached the Great Hall, they parted at the Gryffindor table and Harry made his way to his seat, next to Snape, and then reserved two more seats next to him.

"Hi, Severus," he said cheerfully. Snape ignored him, then saw the two seats he was saving.

"What are you doing that for?" he snapped waspishly.

"Oh, didn't you know? Ron and Hermione are here. I thought they'd want to - erm - say hi," Harry replied gleefully. Snape glowered. He scowled at his plate and did not speak to anyone.

In a few minutes, Ron and Hermione had shown up, and once they had sat down, each waved obviously at Snape, saying, "Hello Severus!" which succeeded in making Snape's face go red. Harry chuckled. Snape whipped around, but decided it was better not to say anything to Harry.

The meal commenced, and Ron and Hermione's presence at the staff table drew many curious looks from the students. Once the desserts had shown up, some students came up to the table. Ginny stopped to say hi to her brother, and some of the younger students came up too.

"Professor," asked a short Hufflepuff, "what are they doing here?"

"Ah, these are my friends, Ron and Hermione. Ron, Hermione, this is Mr. David Keskinov," Harry said graciously, introducing his friends to the Hufflepuff.

"Oh!" said little David. "Hello." He walked off and some of the Gryffindors came by. Colin Creevey and his brother Dennis said hi to Ron and Hermione, and many of the first years said hi too, obviously having heard about them from their older classmates.

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Chapter Fourteen

It turned out to be a most enjoyable evening. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Christina, and Ginny all retired to Harry's office after dinner to play wizard chess like old times, and not think about the spell Harry was attempting to invent to save his friends.

Dumbledore stopped by after a while to inform Ron and Hermione that extra rooms were being added to Harry's office for them. Harry nodded in agreement and Christina and Ginny left to go to bed.

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That evening, Harry, Ron, and Hermione recounted what the others had missed over the past few months. Harry was happy for Hermione and Ron, they seemed so much in love.

Once a lapse in silence crept up, Harry sat at his desk, thinking about a defensive spell. A really powerful one. Something that no one had ever invented. A new spell. One that was invincible. But how could he do it? He'd need an incantation, a theory, powerful magic. Wait, he thought, I have powerful magic.

But the whole thing required tons of research, taking up time that Harry didn't have. Teaching was a busy job for him. Without touching his wand, Harry conjured up a soothing pot of tea for himself and offered some to Ron and Hermione. Ron declined politely, but Hermione accepted and drank her tea quietly.

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Harry suddenly got an idea.

"Ron? Hermione?"

"Yeah?" they replied together.

"I thought that, well, since you two have a lot of extra time on your hands here, would you mind helping me research stuff for a defensive spell? I mean, I don't have the time and Hermione you're brilliant and -" Harry babbled on and on really fast. He didn't know why. He wondered if they would help him.

Ron looked sceptical about spending his time in the Library but Hermione looked delighted.

"Of course!" she said at once, before Ron could reply. "Oh it'll be brilliant! Just like when we were at school.!"

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Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent all of their free time with Christina and Ginny in the Library. Most of the students were curious as to why they spent so much time studying, but to the few that knew what was going on, they never disturbed the five friends working dilligently to discover the spell.

Months flew by. Harry reffed less and less Quidditch games, though he still came out to watch. He flew occasionally and caught the snitch whenever he felt like doing so, but most of the time, he was marking papers, teaching classes, or trapped in the Library. He was having absolutely no success whatsoever discovering the way to a new, invincible defensive spell.

"I don't think it can be done," groaned Ron, two days before Christmas. "Can't we have a break Harry? Christmas is in two days after all..."

"I was thinking that myself. I need a break. All of us do. And I have a lot of holiday papers to mark. I'll go to my office for a while. I'll see you later, okay?" said Harry, getting up from their table and walking out. Christina followed him and came with him into his office.

"Harry, are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure? You're getting more and more serious and silent. Don't let the spell get you down. I'm sure you'll figure it out soon," she said consolingly, hugging him tightly.

Harry smiled weakly. "I have to mark your papers. You have to leave now, you can't watch me marking them."

Christina frowned, then smiled and left Harry alone.

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quick bump

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Harry proceeded to mark the assignments he'd given the seventh years until dinnertime. He slowly emerged from his office, rubbing his eyes. He was more tired than he'd ever been for months. He was worried about his friends, his classes, and, most urgently, the Death Eaters.

Ron and Hermione sat with Harry at dinner again, next to Snape, again, who seemed resigned to the fact that his old students were here to torment him for all those years of torture he had subjected them to. Ron and Hermione had tried to engage him in a conversation about washing hair and shampoo. They were subtly attempting to advise Snape that he really should wash his hair out.

Harry was sure that Snape got the reason for their conversation, but Snape wasn't letting on, until Ron spoke the final straw during dessert.

"You know, Severus, some people just don't wash their hair at all. They just let it become so greasy that everyone avoids them," Ron said conversationally.

"Oh really?" Snape said in his famous voice of determined calm.

"Yes."

"Well, I'll have you know, Weasley, that I do know what you and Granger are hinting at. However you might think, I do wash my hair. If you would please stop talking to me, I would be much happier. It is too bad that I cannot award detentions and take away house points anymore, seeing as you do not belong to a house," Snape snapped at Ron. Ron leant back slightly.

"Gee, Severus. You'd think that you could take a little lip from us, seeing as how we had to put up with so much from you," Ron said, watching Snape for a reaction. Snape had had enough. He leapt from his seat and stormed from the Great Hall, causing a great scene by throwing open the great doors so hard that they banged off the walls with a huge BOOM.

"I think you overdid it Ron," giggled Hermione.