Harry Potter and the Final Curse

Chapter 6 - Old Friends

Harry had mixed feelings about his next assignment. All those accidents did seem a little suspicious, and he would have to be very careful. He made a mental note to make sure that he kept a close eye on his wand so that no one could tamper with it. On the plus side it would mean he would be back at Hogwarts, and would have a chance to see his daughter again, and not to mention a few friends that were still there. After packing several trunks full of clothing and equipment, Harry said his goodbyes to Ginny, who was a little jealous to say the least.

His first decision as a teacher involved working out how to actually get to Hogwarts. The Hogwarts express was out of the question as it wouldn't run until just before Christmas. Using the Floo network and Apparating was extremely difficult if you had a load of luggage. He did consider flying all the way there on his broomstick, but after what happened with Professor Quail, and with annoying congestion charges over the whole Hogsmeade area, he decided against it. So he was left with two alternatives: walk or the use the Knightbus, neither of which he was looking forward to.

On the morning of October 31^st, Harry stood outside on the pavement in front of his house, luggage at his side. Sticking his wand out into the road, Harry only had to wait a few seconds before the purple triple-decker bus appeared in front of him, almost crushing his toes.

A middle aged Stan Shunpike (who either loved being a conductor, or just couldn't get a job elsewhere) stuck his head out of the bus. "Well cor blimey, if it ain't Harry Potter!"

"Hello, Stan," said Harry rather unenthusiastically.

Stan helped Harry with putting his luggage on the bus.

"Where you wanna go to, Harry?" asked Stan.

"Hogwarts, if that's possible," said Harry. "Just want a basic bed, no thrills, and if you can put my destination to the top of your list all the better."

"Hogwarts? You mad?" said Stan. "Can't go there. No sir."

Harry couldn't be bothered to ask why they couldn't actually go to Hogwarts, and so just assumed that there must be some sort of barrier preventing it. "Alright then," he said, thinking of the next best thing, "how about Hogsmeade?"

"Hogsmeade? Sure no problem," said Stan. "That'll be two Galleons for the express service."

After digging around in his pockets, Harry gave Stan two Galleons. Quite a steep price, but it would be worth every knut if he got there quickly.

"Cheers, Harry," said Stan, pocketing the money in the bag he carried around his shoulder. "Right, take it away, Bert."

"Righto, Stan," said Bert, the driver.

Harry didn't have time to sit down on a bed before the Knightbus pulled away incredibly sharply with a bang, causing him to loose his footing and hit his head on one of the metal bedsteads. "Ouch!"

The rest of the journey was like hell, the whole miserable ten seconds of it, with Harry adding another two bruises to his collection. When the bus pulled up in the village square of Hogsmeade, he couldn't get off it fast enough, and as soon as he did (with his luggage with him), the bus took off once more with a bang. Harry felt sorry for the people that had to endure yet more of it.

It had been almost five years since Harry had been to Hogsmeade, and that was only for a brief visit, but from what he could see nothing had changed. Following the road towards the school with his luggage magically trailing behind him, he passed the Three Broomsticks, where he stopped outside for a moment, thinking about whether he could use something to calm his nerves. Although severely tempted, Harry plodded on.

After passing over the railway crossing, and glancing over at Hogsmeade Station, Harry continued onwards up the winding road towards Hogwarts Castle. Rounding a bend, the welcome sight of the castle finally came into view. It looked just as inviting as ever and Harry picked up the pace, eager to get there as quickly as possible.

Upon entering the school gates (flanked by statues of flying boars, something which he had never bothered to find the reason for), Harry looked around and saw Hagrid to his left, attending to the large school vegetable patch. As he walked a little closer he noticed that Hagrid was outside tending to some pumpkins, which must be due for harvesting. Hagrid had his back towards him and didn't notice Harry approach.

"Hello, Hagrid," said Harry. "Nice pumpkins this year."

Hagrid turned around to see who the voice belonged to. Hagrid hadn't changed much since Harry was at school and, aside from going a little grey, he looked great.

"Harry!" exclaimed Hagrid. "What yeh doin' ere?"

"I'm the replacement, replacement, replacement, Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," said Harry, making sure he had said the right amount of replacements.

"That's yeh is it?" said Hagrid, scratching his head. "I would have thought that at least Hermione would have told me that yeh we're commin'"

"Maybe she wanted to keep it a surprise?" suggested Harry.

"Aye could be," said Hagrid. "How are yeh, Harry?"

Hagrid gave Harry a friendly slap on the back. Normally this wouldn't be much of a problem, but Hagrid happened to have hands the size of dustbin lids, with considerable force behind them. Harry had to spread his legs wide in order to stop himself from toppling over.

"I'm doing great thanks," said Harry. "Have you seen Lily around yet?"

"Yeah I see her about' every now an' then, and she always says 'ello t'me. She even came to my hut a couple o' times, with that friend of hers, Tina, err ... Tina, well Tina somethin' or other, just for a cup o' tea an' a chat. Say's she can't wait to start Care o' Magical Creatures in her third year."

"Speaking of magical creatures, Hagrid," said Harry. "What beasts have you got this year?"

"Jus' the usual," said Hagrid. "Flobberworms, nifflers, bowtruckles, ye know."

"Hagrid?" said Harry, very questionably. "Is there anything you want to add to that list?"

Hagrid, looking very nervous, averted his eyes from Harry's. "Well, there is the err...."

"The what?"

"I'm not sayin'," said Hagrid. "It's goin' te be a surprise for me seventh year group, and I don't wanna tell no one yet."

Harry dreaded to thing what sort of creature Hagrid had somehow managed to procure this year from a bloke down the pub. He just hoped it would be a regular breed and not one of those experimental ones. Harry had enough unpleasant memories of the blast-end Skrewts to last him a lifetime.

At that moment, the loud screech of an owl sounded from above. It took Harry and Hagrid a moment to locate the owl in the sky since the morning sun was shining in their eyes. The owl swooped down and landed on the wooden fence than surrounded the pumpkin patch. It was a Tawny owl, and one that Harry knew very well indeed.

"You always have to make a grand entrance don't you?" Harry asked the owl.

The owl hooted, jumped off the fence, and turned almost instantly into the body of a woman with shoulder length brown bushy hair. She was wearing a dark red and blue robe which had the symbol of a golden lion embroidered on each of the sleeves, and a simple black witch's hat on her head.

"Well it never gets boring, that's for sure," said Hermione. "Good to see you, Harry."

"Likewise," said Harry.

Harry and Hermione hugged and gave each other a peck on the cheek. Any casual observer would think that they were involved with each other, but their relationship was purely platonic. The only time they had ever come close to a relationship was at the end of their sixth year, during an end of year party in the Gryffindor common room. Several bottles of Firewhisky had appeared from somewhere (it's still a mystery to this day where exactly they came from, although the fact one of Seamus' uncles owned a distillery is cause for suspicion) and nearly everybody, including Harry, Ron, and Hermione, had gotten really drunk. Ron was passed out on the floor when Harry somehow ended up kissing Hermione, and it would have gone further if Harry hadn't thrown up over her, which brought them both back to their senses. They never mentioned that incident again, especially not to Ron.

"Hagrid was just telling me about Lily," said Harry. "About how well she's fitting in here," said Harry.

"Oh that she is, Harry," said Hermione. "I know it sounds like favouritism, considering she's my goddaughter and all, but she's one of the best students I've had the privilege to teach."

"Oh I think there's a little favouritism in there somewhere, 'ermione," said Hagrid.

Harry and Hermione laughed. They both knew that Hagrid was right.

"What about John? How's he doing?" asked Harry.

"Not bad," said Hermione. "A little shy maybe, and a bit behind most of the other students, but he's got potential, I'll tell you that."

"I bet it was a real shock when you found out that you two are related, however distantly," said Harry.

"It sure was. My mother had completely lost track of her cousin and thought she would never find her again," said Hermione.

"And all the time they were living around the corner from me," said Harry. "It's strange the way these things happen."

"Anyway you better come inside the castle," said Hermione. "The Headmistress wants a word."

"Ok. See you later Hagrid."

"Righ' bye, Harry," said Hagrid, as he resumed digging in the pumpkin patch.

Hermione lead Harry up the path towards the main doors into the school. It was quite early in the morning and Harry guessed that most students were still in bed at this time. He most certainly would have been. They entered into the huge entrance hall and Harry dropped his luggage by the doors. He looked up and stared for a moment. Hermione kept walking and was by the steps until she realised that Harry wasn't keeping up with her. She stopped and turned around to face him.

"What's the matter, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"Nothing really," said Harry. "It's just I forgot how magnificent this place really is."

Hermione looked at the entrance hall. She'd been through here just about every day and didn't really take much notice of it anymore.

"Yeah, I guess it is now that you mention it," said Hermione. "Come on, Minerva - I mean the Headmistress, is waiting for you."

Harry followed her but he didn't need her to show him the way. He could still remember the layout of the school and the way was second nature, so he walked on instinct and put the rest of his brain to work noticing any changes that had been made to the décor. Harry arrived at the entrance to Dumbledore's office, except that it wasn't his office anymore; it belonged to McGonagall now.

Harry's opinion of Dumbledore yo-yoed up and down over the time he knew him. During his first few years, Harry trusted Dumbledore implicitly. He was a voice of wisdom. The next few years changed though, as Dumbledore deliberately kept things from him; important things that Harry had a right to know. Towards the end however, Dumbledore did something that wiped the slate clean - he saved Harry's life.

The final encounter with Voldemort cost Harry his life, but Dumbledore selflessly (using an ancient and powerful branch of magic) gave up his own life force and gave it to Harry. It was the ultimate sacrifice that anyone could make, and he now held the greatest respect for Dumbledore.

"I know it's hard. Dumbledore was a great man. A little eccentric maybe, but a great man, and a powerful wizard," said Hermione, reading his mind and trying to comfort him.

"He was the best Headmaster this school ever had," said Harry.

"Yes he was, but now we've got McGonagall and she's the best Headmistress I've ever known," said Hermione. "She's done Dumbledore proud."

Hermione turned towards the entrance and spoke the password,

"Chocolate Frog," she said clearly. Harry was somehow pleased that McGonagall had kept Dumbledore's tradition of using the names of sweets as passwords.

The entrance opened and Harry and Hermione stepped onto the escalating stairs which brought them to a door leading to the office itself. Hermione entered the office while Harry hung back for a moment. McGonagall looked up from a parchment she was writing on and looked at Hermione.

"Is Harry here?" asked McGonagall.

"Yes, Minerva," said Hermione. "He's right on time."

"Send him in please," she said.

Hermione went back through the door and ushered Harry into the office. It was almost identical to how he had remembered it, with paintings of old headmasters, countless books lining shelves, and various magical instruments of which Harry could now identify nearly every one, including the Sorting Hat, which sat on a shelf to the left.

He approached McGonagall when a voice from behind him said, "Hello, Harry."

There was no-one else in the room so Harry assumed it must have come from one of the many paintings. The voice also sounded very familiar. He quickly turned around and after a few seconds realised that there was a new painting on the wall, one that definitely wasn't there last time.

"Professor Dumbledore?" asked Harry in disbelief.

"Yes Harry it is I. Well at least what is left of me anyway," said Dumbledore softly. "I somehow knew that I would not return from the final encounter with Voldemort so I had this picture commissioned before I did so, although it did cost a fair few Galleons."

"Well it's worth every one of them," said Harry. "It's great to see you again, Sir, even though it's not really you."

Dumbledore gave a small laugh and smiled at Harry.

"Yes, it's not quite the same as being truly alive but I'm glad I can still be here in some form to impart my wisdom on others."

"And your wisdom is most useful, when you are actually here," said McGonagall with a little annoyance.

"Yes, I do like to go for a wander every now and then," said Dumbledore. "There's a picture of a lovely young woman on the fifth floor that I..."

McGonagall cut him off. "Yes we all know about that," she said.

"Actually I must be going right now," said Dumbledore. "I promised the picture of Merlin in the Great Hall I would play a game of chess with him this morning, but he's such an excellent player that I do not have much chance of victory."

"Good luck," said Hermione.

"Thank you, Professor Granger," said Dumbledore and with that he vanished from the picture.

Harry turned back towards McGonagall.

"Now that Dumbledore has gone on his little adventure we can get down to business," said McGonagall. "Sit down please, Harry."

Harry thought that this would be a more social occasion and wasn't really expecting McGonagall to be so formal. He assumed, however, that there must be a reason for it and so became much more serious himself.

Harry quickly glanced back at the empty picture frame where Dumbledore was a moment ago before he sat down on one of the comfy chairs that were in front of the headmistress's desk. Hermione remained standing, hands clasped behind her back. She had a look of dread upon her face, but Harry assumed she was probably just worrying about some homework she hadn't marked yet.

"Now I assume Arthur informed you of the circumstances of why we need a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?" asked McGonagall.

"Yes, the Minister told me all about the three accidents of my predecessors," said Harry.

"Well I'm afraid that was only half the truth," said McGonagall. "That was the story we gave the students and press, as we didn't want to cause any alarm. Arthur is one of the few people that know the real truth, and if you had known it is doubtful you would have come at all."

"So what is the real truth then?" asked Harry, getting angry. If there was one thing he really hated, it was dishonesty, especially when in came from those closest to you. Harry thought that the real truth must be pretty important to go through this charade, but nevertheless it did not warrant their asking him here under false pretences.

Professor McGonagall and Hermione looked at each other in silence before finally answering.

"There were all attempted murders," said McGonagall unhappily.

"They were what?" asked Harry, quite shocked by this revelation at first, but as he sat there and thought about it, things began to make sense.

"Professor Tyler was attacked using the Avada Kedavra curse but it did not work correctly for some reason. Instead of instant death, he now lies in a coma."

This was begging to get very serious, Harry thought. The Avada Kedavra, otherwise known as the Killing Curse was one very serious piece of magic. Its very use was illegal, regardless of whether you actually used it on someone.

"There is a similar story with the replacement teacher," said Hermione. "The Avada Kedavra curse was also used, but did not work as it should either."

"What happened with the teacher who came in on a broomstick?" asked Harry.

"It was discovered that her broom was being jinxed, in much the same way as Quirell did with your broom all those years ago," said McGonagall. "She would have probably been attacked the same way as the others but it is likely that the assailant couldn't pass up an opportune moment."

Harry sat there thinking for a moment. Somebody was trying to kill those people? Would someone try with him next? Did someone lure him here to do just that? All he knew was that his anger was growing.

"Look I know you're probably angry at us getting you here under false pretences...."

Harry cut in. "Angry is not the word for it," he said, gritting his teeth.

"We're sorry we had to do it, Harry, but we had little other choice," said Hermione.

"Oh I can think of several choices you could have made," said Harry. "Why make this one?"

McGonagall stayed silent for a moment, apparently thinking of the best way to tackle the situation.

"Think back twenty years, Harry, when you were a student here, and taking your OWLs," said McGonagall. "What would you have thought if you found out you weren't going to get proper tuition in Defence Against the Dark Arts?"

"That did happen," said Harry. "That damn Umbridge woman."

"Right, and if it wasn't for you forming the DA, who knows what sort of grade we would have all got," said Hermione. "The point is that the students are all in this situation again."

"Last time there was the threat of Voldemort hanging over us," said Harry. "But there hasn't been a threat like him since."

"There is another thing we've been holding back," said McGonagall apprehensively, obviously fearing the reaction she would get from Harry. "For some time now we have been getting threats against us."

"Threats?" asked Harry. "Threats from who?"

"We don't know exactly," said McGonagall. "Someone has been sending us hate mail containing some really nasty curses, saying that if we don't close down the school, something bad will happen. This has all been kept very quiet in order not to raise any alarm."

"We think they're planning to take the school," said Hermione. "With the teachers and students gone, it will become an easy target. I'm sure you realise that the school is a veritable fortress, full of powerful magic. In the wrong hands..."

"So the attempted murders are part of their plan to get the school closed?" asked Harry.

"Yes, that's what we think," said McGonagall. "We are caught in a terrible predicament - If we close the school, then it will undoubtedly be captured, and if we keep it open, then we leave ourselves open to attack."

"And you know the last thing we want to do is close the school," said Hermione, "For the student's sake more than anything else."

"So basically with me here you stand a much better chance of holding things together?" asked Harry.

"Yes," said McGonagall. "With a Defence against the Dark Arts teacher who can keep himself alive, and can train the students to defend themselves, we should have no trouble if an attack does come."

If he were in any other place, and with any other people, he would have probably stormed out of here never to return. Harry looked directly in the eyes of both Professor McGonagall and Hermione, which told him a lot about how they felt about the situation. They were relying on him, and he had to do the best he could.

"I understand," said Harry with a resigned sigh.

"Thank you, Harry," said McGonagall.

"Are there any suspects at the moment as to who has been doing these attempted murders?" asked Harry.

"Not really no," said McGonagall, "but it's strongly believed that it is one of the students."

"Why not a teacher?" he asked.

"Professor Snape, using his powers of Legilimency and with the help of Veritaserum, has ruled out every one of the teachers including myself and Professor Granger," she said.

"What if it's Snape himself?" asked Harry.

"After his history it is unlikely that he is the culprit, but just to be sure he voluntarily took some Veritaserum and was questioned by myself," said McGonagall.

"I take it the students have been questioned?" asked Harry.

"A few of the known trouble makers have been discreetly questioned, as well as those who have a certain 'family history'," said McGonagall.

Harry knew what she meant by 'family history'. There were undoubtedly relatives of people with known or suspected connections to Death Eaters and Voldemort himself.

"Professor Snape is handling any questioning that there may be, but it might be a good idea to keep your eyes and ears open for anything suspicious," said McGonagall.

"Naturally," said Harry.

"Now, as teaching is concerned, your lessons will commence tomorrow morning at nine o'clock with a Gryffindor fourth year class," said McGonagall. "I assume you remember where the Defence against the Dark Arts classroom is?"

"How can I forget?" said Harry. Harry knew the school like the back of his hand.

"You will also find teaching notes and other useful information in Professor Tyler's office, which is now your office for the time being," said McGonagall. "It's the same office that has always been used for the Defence against the Dark Arts teachers."

"I know it only too well," said Harry. He had known that office under the occupation of half a dozen teachers, including, his favourite by far, Remus Lupin.

"Good. Accommodation has been provided for you in the west wing of the second floor with the rest of the teaching staff. I don't think you've been there before Harry so Hermione will show you the way. Your luggage should have already been taken up there by the house elves. Now you are dismissed for now, but I expect to see you later for the Halloween feast in the great hall," said McGonagall.

McGonagall resumed working on the parchment as Harry stood up from his chair and followed Hermione out of the office, taking one last look around as he did. Harry had the feeling that the next few months here were going to be very interesting.