Journey To Hogwarts, old - thread closed Options

[bakbam]

The two boys made their way to Professor Longbottom's office with their heads hung low. James whispered to Philip, "My father is going to kill me and I didn't even do anything."

Philip tried to keep from laughing when he said, "I thought it would help you, knowing everyone and all."

With a chuckle James replied, "Me too."

The office was fairly small, but only because of the many plants that filled up the room. James and Philip looked around very curiously at the strange plants that bubbled and spewed at them.

Professor Longbottom entered the room. He noticed the boys standing in front of a large plant which looked similar to a cactus. "That is a Mimbulus Mimbletonia" Professor Longbottom stated.

James curled his nose. "That is a disgusting-looking plant".

The Professor laughed, "Yes, I agree Mr. Potter. He's not as beautiful as he was years ago. I got this plant for my fifteenth birthday. It started out the size of this one here." He pointed to a small plant which was not as ugly.

"Wow! What is this boiling stuff?" Philip asked as he started to poke at the plant.

The professor quickly stopped Philip "I don't reccomend you touch those. They have a tendency to explode. Your father and I learned that the hard way, James.
Back to buisness now. Please have a seat".

James was not ready to hear any sort of lecture from the Professor so he quickly began telling him about the argument after class.

The Professor listened quietly as James told his side of the story. "I don't expect I will be seeing you two boys in my office again. Get on to your next class."

"I can't believe he didn't punish us." Said Philip excitedly as they were running to Charms class.

"I'm surprised myself, but I bet he will tell my parents about it anyway." James stated.

Class had already started when the two burst in the room. Everyone had heard what had happened after Herbology class. They all were whispering to each other about the fight. James apologized for being late before he took a seat in the front next to Serena. She lowered her head in shame when James looked at her. The teacher hushed the class and began the lesson.


**the next person can deside who our Charms teacher will be.**

This post has been edited by evlpez: Jan 8 2004, 03:26 PM

[pinkpanther]

Seeing Serena's guilt, James decided she had learned her lesson and turned his attention to the front of the room. Upon entering, he and Philip hadn't given much notice to the professor, except to stammer a quick apology. Now, though, James wondered how he could have missed the gaudily dressed old man. He was silently staring at the ceiling, a confused look on his face. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and broke into a huge grin. "That's it!" He yelled triumphantly, "Yes, as I was saying, I am Professor Lockhart and I will be your new Charms professor. You'll have to forgive my memory, it tends to stop working every now and then . . . I don't really remember why."

Serena turned to James and whispered, "It's him, isn't it? He's the old bat that tried to teach DADA when our parents were here! I wonder if they just couldn't find anyone else for the job."

James stifled a laugh. "Do you really think they'd have hired him otherwise? I mean, he's not exactly the pick of the litter. I wonder if he even knows what he's doing." James soon discovered the answer to his own question. Lockhart was looking around the room confusedly.

"What are you all doing here?" he asked.

A girl on the other side of the room raised her hand, then answered without bothering to wait for Lockhart to notice her. "This is Charms class, Professor. We're here for our lesson." Lockhart's brow furrowed and the girl spoke again. "Er . . . will you be teaching us then?"

Once again, Lockhart grinned. "Ah, yes, Charms. This class will be most charming." He turned back to the girl. "What is your name, again?"

"Betsy," she replied.

"Ah, well, thankyou very much Brumhilda. I was just testing you and you have passed marvelously. Now, Charms is a very improtant area of your education here at Hoggseldorf . . ."

Nobody even bothered to correct him and most of the class, including James, tuned out his rambling lecture. James amused himself by imagining the jokes Freddy and Lily would play on this poor teacher. He looked at Serena, whose head had drooped onto the desk as she snored quietly. On the other side of him, Philip was still regarding Lockhart with utter disbelief. "Well," James thought, "this should be interesting."


*I decided to make Lockhart the Charms professor because he was one of my favoites and wouldn't be too old. He is apparently out of St. Mungo's, though I still don't know when, how, or who decided that Hogarts was that desperate. With an incompetent teacher, though, Philip could "help out" or something in order to show his talent.*

[evlpez]

Other students were beginning to chat amongst themselves, oblivious to their professor, who seemed to be having a quiet conversation with the yellow flowers on the sleeve of his fuschia robes. James opened his Charms textbook to the first chapter and nudged Philip.

"Hey, have you read any of this yet?" he whispered, breaking Philip out of his open-mouthed stare.

"Wha-? Oh, yeah - the first chapter is all history and stuff. The only charms it covers really are Lumos and Nox and a few others. Even I understood it… what's wrong with our professor? Is he for real?"

James chuckled. "Yeah, pretty bad, isn't he? He lost his mind when my dad was in his second year. He was already an inept teacher, but then he hit himself with a memory charm." James looked keenly at Philip. "So, you know this chapter really well, then? How far into the book have you read?"

Philip shrugged. "I don't know, the first four chapters or so. I pretty much memorized it the day I got my school supplies." He smiled. "I knew I'd have a lot to catch up on, being a muggle."

James smiled. "You're not a muggle Philip, you're a wizard. Your parents are muggles, but if you can do magic and got a Hogwarts letter, you're magical folk, just as much as any of us here." James' voice dropped even quieter. "I suspect you're going to be a very powerful wizard some day."

Philip blushed a bit. "Well none of us will be if we have to rely on this oaf."

"We'd do better if you taught the lesson," James hinted, grinning.
"Me?" Philip chuckled loudly, causing many of the students to look over. Serena awoke, sending her Charms textbook flying forward, narrowly missing Professor Lockhart. He paused from his thoughts to regard the book laying on the floor.

"Hmm." He stooped to pick it up, reading the cover. "A Charms textbook? You know," he flashed a dazzling smile at Serena, "I teach Charms at Hogsworth. I'm just brilliant at it too, I'd wager."

Philip spoke up, "Really, Professor? Why don't you give us all a demonstration of your teaching skills? I'm sure we'd all love it."

"Really?" Lockhart probed the class for encouragement. The rest of the Gryffindors, getting the idea, chimed in with choruses of 'lovely!', 'such a treat', 'ever so grateful' and the like. The other side of the classroom sat silent, the Slytherins rolling their eyes at one another.

"Very well, young man. Of course I will oblige for such a devoted fan! Would you be so kind as to stand up with me and demonstrate the first spell in Chapter One of your textbook?" Lockhart handed Philip Serena's book and then began clapping, indicating to the class that this was something worthy of applause. A few students applauded politely; James and Serena both clapped loudly and enthusiastically. Philip handed the book to Serena with a smirk and nudged James.

"I'll get you for this, Potter." Philip warned, chuckling as he got up from his seat and joined Lockhart in front of the class.


AN: We should learn that Philip can be a bit of a class clown when he wants to be. He may 'lead' Lockhart in the lesson and become very popular in Gryffindor house for his showmanship.

[McGonagall's Cat]

Duke jabbed his nearest cronie in the ribs.

“This otta be good. That annoying git will finally get his.” he hissed to the other two. He still sounded slightly thick and nasal from the after effects of Serena's curse.

With a dull confused look, like someone trying to do Calculus without the benefit of parchment and quill, the smaller of the two behemoths, Athol McMagnus, said, “What do you mean finally, Duke? This is the first day of classes.”

Duke rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, dumbfounded.

"I just wanna use my wand on him after class..." Claude Jugson sneered leaning over close to Duke's ear. "Nobody does to me or my friends what they did after that stupid greenhouse class."

[bakbam]

Philip glanced over the first spell in the book. He thought to himself Lumos. That is easy enough. Philip raised his wand. "Lumos!" The tip of his wand lit up brightly.

"This is a fairly easy spell. You simply hold your wand out and say the spell. While you are saying the words of the spell you have to think of what you want to happen". Philip looked around the room. "Do you get it?"

The class was focused on Philip. He was beginning to feel a bit unnerved. He gave a quirky smile then pointed his wand at the Professor. "Lumos! Lumos! Lumos! Why won't the lights come on?"

Everyone in the room burst out laughing. Professor Lockhart looked around, confused. "Why are you all laughing? The spell worked marvolously. Very good, Justin."

The Professor walked over to his desk. He peered at his self portrait for a good five minutes then walked back in front of the class. "So you have all come for my autograph. How wonderful." He signed a picture of himself then shoved it into Philips hands. "Who's next? You! You look very eager for an autograph." He signed another and passed it over to Duke.

The class started laughing at Duke, who got very defensive "What the bloody hell am I going to do with this? I don't need this half-witted fool of a teacher to learn how to light a wand. Magic runs deep in my blood." Duke got up and stormed out of the room. His friends followed him.

"What was he fussing about?" asked the Professor as if he was lost again.

The bell rang. Professor Lockhart ducked behind his desk. "Who's there? What do you want with me?"

A Slytherin girl stood up staring at him. "What is his deal anyway?" She asked Serena.

"It's a long story that I would be more than happy to tell you if you want me to." Serena answered happily.

"Sounds great. I'm Penelope by the way." She outstretched her hand to Serena.

"I'm Serena. Serena Weasely. Nice to meet you." The two girls walked out of the class together, talking away.



*next comes lunch then double potions*

This post has been edited by evlpez: Jan 8 2004, 03:30 PM

[agrippa]

After a quick lunch, James, Philip, and Serena headed to the dungeons for double potions with the Ravenclaws. The stone corridors were filled with chatter, but the dark atmosphere of the classroom dropped everyone's voices to a whisper. The three found their seats and took their cauldrons out of their bags.

"Wow!" said Philip. "Look at that big cauldron on the desk."

Indeed, at the front of the room, a gigantic iron cauldron bubbled, steamed, and sparked. Its turqoise smoke filled the air, and every student seemed to be breathing deeply. James felt calmer than he had in a long time.

"You know," he said to Philip, "Dad was never much for potions. But I think this might be pretty cool."

The door of the professor's office opened and a tall, thin, duck-footed man slouched towards the front of the room.

"Velcome to your first potions lesson," said the professor. "I am Professor Krum. It is very good to see you all here, and I think that I will be seeing many of you on the quidditch pitch, as vell."

He smiled at the class.

"So, I imagine you are all feeling very relaxed?"

"Yes, professor," sang the students.

"You've been breathing the fumes of a Stupor Daught. You." He pointed at Serena. "What is your name?"

"Sally Wilson," she said in a dreamy tone.

"Is that right?" he smiled. "And you?" He looked at a curly-headed boy in Ravenclaw robes.

"Walter Wilcox," the boy droned.

"I'd be willing to bet," Krum continued, "that neither of you gave me your correct name. Let's find out."

He pointed his wand at the cauldron. "Gelidus!" The cauldron stopped steaming. He waved his wand in the air, drawing a small circle, and the air in the dungeon classroom cleared. Suddenly, the room was alive with chatter.

"Calm down, everyone, calm down," shouted Krum. "Miss Wilson, I believe you said? Is that really your name?"

Serena went bright red. "No. I'm Serena Weasley."

"And you, Mr. - ah - Wilcox?"

The curly-headed boy stared at the floor. "I'm William Walters."

"Lesson one, then," said Krum as the words appeared magically on the blackboard behind him. "When you see a potion you aren't familiar with, don't breath it, don't touch it, don't taste it."

The students scribbled furiously on their parchment as Prof. Krum began to explain how to identify different types of potions and how to know which ones might be harmful. He lectured so long that James' hand was hurting, but he didn't mind. He was finding all of this facinating.

Finally the end of the double lesson drew near. "Any questions?" asked the professor.

James' hand went up.

"Ah, yes. Mr. Potter, isn't it?"

For once, James didn't even think to be embarrased that the professor knew his dad. "What should we have done, professor, when we first came into the room? I mean, we couldn't leave the lesson, and the cauldron was smoking."

"An excellent question. But rather than me telling you, I have another idea. Fifty points to the house of the first student to find a way that you could have remained in the room and not suffered the effects of this potion. Just write your answer on a slip of parchment and send it to me. That's all for today. Please have read chapter two in Primary Potions for next lesson."

[evlpez]

James and Philip packed up their books and stood up to leave. James' head was teeming with all the information from the lecture. He felt giddy and looked forward to reading Primary Potions later.

"That class was great, wasn't it?" James asked Philip on their way through the portrait hole.

Philip yawned. "It was all right. I hope someone from Gryffindor knows the answer to his question."

The boys stepped into the common room and were greeted immediately by Lily and Freddy.

"We heard about Charms, Philip!" started Freddy.

"Well done!" Lily chimed in, "I can't wait to play with Lockhart's head when we have him tomorrow."

Freddy agreed. "It'll be the only good thing about Charms, this year."

"He was brilliant," James beamed, "Philip should teach this class. He's the only reason we learned anything!"

Philip blushed and changed the subject. "Do either of you two know how to protect yourself from potions vapors? I mean, other than not breathing?"

Lily and Freddy looked at one another and shook their heads.

A very tall red head looked up from the table beside them. "A Bubble Head Charm would work. There are plenty of others too, but I'm surprised you didn't think of that, James. Remember Cedric Diggory in the Triwizard tournament with your dad?"

James blushed. Of course. He should have thought of that - he'd only heard the story a thousand times.

Philip was no longer surprised at meeting another red head in Gryffindor Tower. He held his hand out, "Thanks! Hi. I’m Philip. Philip McKenzie.”

"Charlie Weasley. Good to meet you, Philip." The boy shook Philip's hand and went back to his work at the table.

Lily and Freddy excused themselves and went out the portrait hole as James and Philip turned to put their bags in their room.

"Wow. Charlie doesn't usually say that much in one go, Philip. He's really quiet, outside of the Quidditch pitch. Charlie's the captain for Gryffindor House and this is his last year at Hogwarts. Dad told me he's been scouted for professional quidditch!"

Philip was impressed. "That's something I can't wait to see. I've never even flown a broom, much less seen anyone play quidditch."

James tore a piece of parchment off a roll in his bag and scribbled on it, saying "We should go see if Professor Krum is in his office. I want to get the answer to him before Ravenclaw does."

***
AN: I'd like to see the boys run into (or overhear something about) the mysterious new professor that conducted the sorting on their way to see Krum. It's time for something exciting or mysterious to happen.

[McGonagall's Cat]

The aroma of cooking onions wafted through the hallways as they headed back toward the Potions classroom. It made their stomachs grumble.

"How long has it been since lunch?!" James asked. "I wonder if I'm so hungry as a side effect of that potion."

"Nah, its been too long since we ate is all," Phillip answered a little sleepily. "So, what other ways are there to protect against those vapors? If we come up with more than one maybe we can get even more points."

"But, I don't know any more ways. The other contestants in that contest that didn't use the Bubblehead Charm resorted to gills, including Dad. I can't think of any time I've even seen any breathing protections charms. No sheilding for that ones either. Not even at Uncle George's parties. He still pulls tricks on all of us." James chattered away again feeling as though he was somehow responsible to know since he was the son off the great Harry Potter. "We better just make sure we get at least this one answer to Profes...." James voice trailed off as Phillip suddenly stood still. He turned to Phillip with a puzzled expression. "What?"

Phillip grabbed James' cloak and dragged him through the closest doorway. He carefully almost closed the door, leaving just enough of a crack to be able to hear through.

One of the voices rapidly coming toward them had a very hard edge to it. "We have to do it this way." It was a man's voice, but didn't sound like any of the Professors the boys had met so far. It definitely wasn't anyone who'd ever been to dinner at the Potter house. "We have no choice."

The other voice, that of a woman also not familar to either of the boys, responded with concern as they passed the slightly ajar door that students might discover the two of them were behind "this".

"That's what Memory Charms are for," the man groused. The two figures swiftly strode away, their voices receeding down the stairway as they went.

"But, I really don't want to be linked..." the woman's voice faded out.

"What made you pull me into that classroom? With what we just heard, I'm glad you did, but why?" James said suddenly pulled out of his concentric feelings.

"I don't know." Phillip stated flatly.

[bakbam]

"Who could that have been?" Philip asked James as if he should have known by their voices.

"I am not sure who the man was, but I think the women may have been the new Astronomy teacher," James said flatly.

"You mean the teacher who did the sorting? I got a bad feeling when she was putting the hat on my head. I just thought it was nerves, but maybe it was her," Phillip confided reluctantly.

"What do you mean bad feeling? Do seers run in you family? They say that is the first sign of a true seer." James stared questioningly at Phillip.

"Vhat tar you two doing down here in de dungeonz?" The boys jumped as Professor Krum came into the classroom.

"We were just, just," James could not seem to find the words to finish the sentence.

"We were on our way to your office, Sir, but we saw a Ravenclaw and we didn't want them to know we had the awnser to your question," Philip spit out in one long breath.

Krum looked from one to the other a bit skeptical of their story, "Verry vell then, Vat is de answer you hav com up vith?"

James was still a bit nervous, "It is the Bubblehead Charm Professor Krum, Sir."

"Dat is Korrect, Miztor Potter, but I hav already re-seef'd de answer. I must say I vas su-prized you didn't haf de answer in class," Krum said with obvious disappointment in his voice.

Yes sir, I should have remembered that charm. Who did get it right?" James asked.

"At least somvun in your family has heard de stories of yer father. It vas yor kussin Miz Veeslee. Vou two better get back to yor Kommon Room befor curfew." With a stern look Krum left the classroom.

"At least Gryffindor got the fifty points," Philip muttered when he saw the glum look on James' face.


***With lots of help from McGonagalls Cat

[McGonagall's Cat]

Heading back toward the Great Hall Phillip was unusually quiet. James kept mulling over in his mind what they'd overheard. Deep in thought, the two walked automatically, entirely unaware of their surroundings.

"What were YOU doing down near our OUR Common Room?" Duke's voice startled both boys. Ringed by his three huge companions the group made a formidable obstacle to get past.

"Is there some sort of regulation that only Slytherins are allowed in that part of the castle now?" James retorted without thinking of possible consiquences. He planted his feet and glared at McMagnus.

"In your case, there most definitely is," Athol replied. Claude and Pollux each flexed their fists down near their sides, making crackly noises in the process.

Phillip stepped up beside James, but before either could say anything in response to the challenge, a loud bang came from the hall behind them. Several Sixth-Years ran past toward the noise, along with a Professor and Filch. The hallway started to swarm with concerned students and staff, separating Duke and his buddies. They sullenly mixed in with the crowd, glaring at James and Phillip as they were drawn away in the crush.

"What is it with them?" Phillip asked James as soon as they had put a bit of distance between themselves and the confusion.

"Got me. I barely know the guy." James shrugged.

Just then Freddy raced into step beside the two of them, trying to look nonchalant and control his too-fast breathing.

[agrippa]

"So, James," Lily said as she scooped a lump of fluffy mashed potatoes out of the serving dish and on to her plate. "You named your little owl yet?"

"He's not little," snapped James.

"No need to get snippy," she said.

James scowled at her.

"Well," Lily continued, "you've got to name your huge owl sooner or later. Mum and Dad will be expecting a letter from you. My first year, I forgot to write them the first week. Don't think I've ever gotten a worse howler."

She paused. "You really haven't given the thing a name yet?"

"No."

"What about Frieda?" said Serena.

"Or Tulip?" suggested Lily.

"He's a boy!" gowled James.

"What about Jack?" suggested Philip. "I had a terrier named Jack."

"I'm going to the owlry," said James, standing up suddenly. He grabbed his bad and stormed out of the hall.

***

Dear mum and dad,

Everything's fine here. We had our first classes today. Herbology, Charms, and Double Potions. Herbology and Potions are both good, but I think our charms teacher - well, it's Lockhart, so you know.

I've made at least one good friend. His name's Philip McKenzie, and he's from London.

James thought about telling his parents about Philip's unusual abilities, but he decided it was better if he didn't.

Philip, Serena, and I are all in Gryffindor together. So I share my dormitory with Philip and three others: Allen Smith, Sean Wiles, and Carson Bones.

You probably heard from Lily that Duke Dursley's here. Did you have any idea he was a wizard? He's in Slytherin, of course, and always giving me a hard time. Any advice on dealing with him? Not that it's been terrible. He's not much of a wizard, from what I can tell.

Anyway, send a reply back with

His quill hesitated over the parchment. You've got to choose, he thought to himself.

... Prometheus. See, mum? I finally named him.

Love always,
James

He found his tawney owl and tied the note to his leg. "To mum and dad, all right, Prometheus?"

Prometheus nipped his finger affectionately and took off into the night.

[evlpez]

James entered the Gryffindor common room and found Philip reading in front of the fire. The common room was full of students studying and doing their first homework assignments of the year. Philip looked up at James and closed his Charms textbook.

"I found something out," Philip said. James sat down on the couch beside him and Philip continued in a whisper, "You were right. That woman is the new Astronomy teacher. Get this though - she's related to Albus Dumbledore somehow."

James felt a little panic. "What, like his granddaughter or something? I didn't think he had a family."

"No, she's a niece of some kind." Philip said. "At least, that's what Charlie told me. He saw her come in at the end of last year to see McGonagall about a job."

"Okay," James' thoughts skipped a bit. "We should find out who that wizard she was talking to is. He seemed to be the one making the decisions. Remember, she said she didn't want to be linked to… something."

James didn't want to believe that a relation of his father's mentor had any dark intentions. He wondered if he should ask his dad about Dumbledore's family, but decided he wanted to solve this mystery on his own. Besides, he thought, there's no sense involving dad and getting him worried or upset about Dumbledore. He's already a bit tender on the subject - dad hasn't heard from him since his retirement party.

"Right," Philip agreed, "We'll meet her Wednesday night anyway, we have Astronomy class at sundown. Do you think that man was a teacher?"

"What else would he be? I mean - what other adults would be wandering around Hogwarts than the staff?" James asked. Could this man be from outside - someone wanting to hurt a student or a teacher?

"Well," Philip whispered, "Could he have been a student?"

James looked at Philip and nodded slowly, pondering this question. They should be prepared for any possibility.

The other first year boys sat down at a table behind the couch and started playing chess and Exploding Snap, distracting James and Philip from their mystery. Grateful for a chance to learn wizard games, Philip jumped up and joined them. James spent little time thinking about what they'd heard, and instead the five boys played games all evening. Philip learned about Bertie Botts beans the hard way and James finally found someone other than Uncle Ron who could beat him at wizards' chess.

AN: Let's explore their dorm-mates and see who Carson's related to. Could he or the others know some seemingly irrelevant information that helps James & Philip?
When I first wrote about the new professor, I described her with some attributes linking her to Dumbledore. Even with the mystery conversation, I think we can still use that idea and see what happens.

This post has been edited by evlpez: Feb 13 2004, 03:28 PM

[agrippa]

“Check and mate,” said Philip. James’ black king bowed low, and the red bishop decapitated him with his crosier.

“Too bad,” said Carson. “Well played, though, both of you.”

“Thanks.” James smiled and then frowned. “I can’t believe I didn’t see that coming.”

The fire in the hearth was getting low, and James was feeling drowsy. The common room was so cozy, and he was having so much fun with his new mates. Suddenly, an empty feeling in his stomach reminded him of something he needed to do.

“Carson,” he said, “I’m sorry about going off on you last night, about my dad an all. I didn’t mean…”

“Not at all,” Carson replied. “I mean, my family’s not quite as famous as yours, but we’ve had our share.”

James remembered what he must mean. “So Susan Bones was your….” He let the question hang in the air.

“My aunt.” Carson looked at the table.

Philip looked up from the box where he had been putting away the chessmen. “Susan Bones?”

James gave Philip a look that meant, “I’ll tell you later.”

“It’s all right,” said Carson. “My aunt Susan was killed in the last battle against the Death Eaters. She fought very bravely, they say. And my great-uncle Edgar and his family were killed in the first Dark Days.”

He drew a deep breath and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Can I tell you – I’m absolutely petrified that I won’t be any good at Defense Against the Dark Arts. We have it tomorrow first thing, don’t we? My whole family’s been involved in fighting the dark arts for generations.”

The boys were silent until Allen spoke up. “Come on, Carson. You’ll be great.”

“Yeah,” said James. “Professor Lovegood’s supposed to be fantastic.”

“I know,” said Carson glumly. “She was a friend of my aunt’s. I hope she doesn’t expect me…”

“And what if she does?” asked Philip. “We’re in this together, aren’t we? Gryffindors all?”

Sean, James, and Allen nodded in agreement.

“Thanks, mates.” Carson looked at the clock on the mantle. “Merlin’s beard! Look how late it is. We’d better get to bed.”

As James’ pulled his curtains around his four-poster, he smiled. He was beginning to understand why his dad was always going on about this place. This was going to be a great year.

[McGonagall's Cat]

The first year Gryffindors ate breakfast not at all sure what to expect from their first class of the day. Defense Agaist The Dark Arts had a reputation at Hogwarts.

Taking a deep breath, Phillip pushed open the door to the classroom.

Though James and two other students had been in the room before, it’s imposing array of tanks and cages of strange creatures captured everyone’s attention when they entered. They walked along the shelves of cages, studying the odd assortment of inhabitants. Several near accidents were narrowly averted, as when James jerked Allen’s arm away from a cage front just before a Doxy slashed at his hand with its sharp teeth.

“It’s not a good idea to get too close; you never can tell which of these things might do some real damage.” James said as he looked into the next cage.

Duke shouldered some students out of the way of his entourage to get nearer to James, Phillip, Carson and Sean. “Well, well. My illustrious cousin seems to be afraid of a little black furry thing.”

“Actually, Duke, I’ll let you touch it first,” James challenged, glancing at the four bullies. “What’s the matter? Are you afraid of a little tiny Doxy?”

Duke was looking back at him hard, obviously doing some fast thinking as to how to save face, when a teacher’s voice interrupted the situation.

“We’ll just move the tables out of the way” she said pointing her wand starting the process. Several students we knocked off balance as the tables bumped past them, but she didn’t seem to notice.

“How many of you have had experience with magical creatures?” she continued. “A show of hands…” The somewhat taken aback students mumbled and milled around, a few tentatively raising hands.

“And were any of those Yetis?” she earnestly asked the closest student with raised hand, her direct eye contact making the hapless boy very uncomfortable. Her face was only about a half meter from the student’s as she leaned forward expectantly awaiting an answer. After a prolonged silence, during which she continued to stare intently at the boy, she shook her head disappointedly, “Ahhh, more’s the pity.”

A funny-shaped chunk of gold dangling from one earlobe banged back and forth against her cheek and neck when she shook her head. James knew this was a tiny piece of the statue that had gotten blown apart during the Battle at the Department of Mysteries before he was born. The family talked about it several times when she’d come over for dinner. He also knew she’d gotten badly hurt there, and wondered if she was this goofy from the injury or if this is how she had always been.

Stashing her wand behind her other ear she turned her back on the class and bent over, providing their first less-than-dignified view of their Professor. “We are going to start today with an easy creature. Many wizard children keep these as pets,” she said pulling a crate from behind her desk. Inside was a pile of creamy-yellowish furballs. Flipping the top open she lifted one of them out and shoved it into the arms of the first available person, who happened to also be holding an armload of books which went every which way and almost dropped. The little critter purred and before long each of the class had come forward for one.

“Not many creatures are as nice as these puffskeins,” she said walking over to a large enclosed tank with an orange-ish snake curled in the corner. As she tapped the side of the tank the snake uncoiled, lifting its three heads as if to strike at the glass. Had they not been holding the calming puffskeins most of the class would have jumped due to the snake’s intimidating appearance.

“Which is exactly why these were favourite choices for pets by some Dark Wizards.” She carried on without missing a beat, walking around the room as she spoke. “A potion made of its eggs will enhance mental abilities. … But, you won’t learn that potion until 5th year, so you still must take notes in class to pass exams at the end of the year. Maybe this is a good place to start taking notes.”

Duke had already put his puffskein back into the crate and was approaching the snake tank. “What are these called?” he tossed over his shoulder without bothering to look at the teacher, expecting an answer. Duke’s buddies were all near the tank now, too. The rest of the class had found desks and were pulling out parchments and quills.

“These are called Runespoors. They’re from Burkina Faso.” As an afterthought she added, “I’m Professor Lovegood, by the way. We will be exploring Defense Against The Dark Arts this year, and I will do my best to enlighten you. Please feel free to come to me with any questions, my door is always open.”

“Now this, “ she drew her wand again (several of the students exchanged nervous glances) and transported a different tank to the middle of the area where they were all sitting, “...is a nest of Occamy eggs. Come up and look at them closely.”

The class was soon comfortably discussing the various serpents Luna brought before them, taking notes as to their Wizarding uses, things to be cautious of around each, where they originated, and so on.

Time flew so quickly that all of them were startled to hear the bell ring.

[bakbam]

"That was a great class," Philip said as he left the room.

"She is kind of strange though." Allen looked back in the room at the Professor, "Just look at her."

"Dad says she has always been strange, but very helpful in the many battles against Voldemort," James pulled Allen away from the doorway.

Carson's eyes bugged out of his head, "You say his name, even after all these years people don't say his name. "

James shrugged his shoulders, and the boys continued down the hall.

"Stop you guys," Serena was yelling as she and Penelope were running toward them.

James held out his arm to stop everyone, "What do you need Serena?"

"I thought you might ought to know that Duke and his friends are going to try and get you guys in trouble, Penelope overheard them talking in the common room last night, they are not to happy about you not getting in trouble yesterday, "Serena looked over at Penelope and shook her head at her , "Right Penelope that is what you heard wasn't it?"

"Slow down Serena. What are earth are you talking about? I missed everything after Duke. Do you think you can tell us a little slower this time, " Philip seemed a bit annoyed .

"What is he planning on doing to us?" James asked having been able to understand everything Serena just muttered.

"I didn't hear the plans , but I would watch your back if I were you. I don't know Duke, but Claude is my cousin. He is very mean. He has even wrote his mother to tell her I befriended a Gryffindor." Penelope dropped her head. " I just know I will get a howler for this one."

Serena and Penelope walked away leaving the boys standing there almost as dumbfounded as Professor Lovegood.

"I can't get in trouble. My folks will kill me." Allen was now worried.

"Let's get to our next class we can figure this out later." James looked behind him at Duke and his friends who were all whispering and laughing.

"I hope the History of Magic class is as good as that one," Carson said trying to change the subject.