Harry Potter and the Final Curse

Chapter 7 - Introduction at Halloween

Hermione led Harry to the west wing on the second floor, passing the odd teacher and student on the way, as they discussed the changes in the school since both of them had attended. Harry had half expected that most of the teachers that he knew would be still around, but it had been over eighteen years. The only teachers that were still here (that he could remember anyway), aside from McGonagall, Hagrid, and Snape, were Professor Vector the Arithmancy teacher, and Professor Binns the only ghost teacher.

Hermione seemed to loosen up a little from the seriousness he observed in McGonagall's office, and she was now laughing and joking with him like the friends they always were. Beneath all the light-heartedness however, Harry could tell she was still deeply concerned about recent events, despite the fact that she avoided conversation about them. Harry decided not to talk about them either, for now at least, as they approached their destination.

Harry hadn't been down here very often, as there wasn't anything of any real interest in this part of the castle. Hermione opened a door revealing a broom cupboard, and she went inside. Harry stood outside in the corridor looking deeply confused.

"Hermione, just what are you doing in that broom cupboard?" asked Harry staring strangely at his friend.

"Just come in and shut the door," said Hermione in her bossy voice that he knew only too well.

Harry, although perplexed, did as she asked. "What this in aid of?" he asked, staring the various brooms, mops, and buckets scattered about the cupboard. "Hoping for a bit of private fun?"

Hermione smiled sweetly at him, which Harry returned.

"Now what would Ron think if he heard that?" said Hermione. "No, this is the entrance to the staff quarters."

"What, in here?"

"Yes, it's the last place anyone would look. The password is 'Discipline is the key to learning'."

With that the bricks in the back wall of the broom cupboard began to move aside, revealing an ornate door.

"'Discipline is the key to learning'?" laughed Harry. "Who thought that one up? It was you wasn't it?"

"Well, yes," she said proudly. "I thought up that particular one, but the passwords are always little phrases like that."

Hermione opened the door and Harry followed her through a short corridor which led to a large room that was almost square. At the far end of room, opposite the door they just came through, was a series of windows that gave a quite impressive view of the school grounds. There was a fire place in the middle of the walls to the right and left, which gave off a nice welcoming glow. Not far from either side of the fireplaces was a corridor that led to individual sleeping quarters. The whole place was exquisitely furnished with numerous comfortable couches and several writing desks. The walls were lined with either tapestries, bookcases, or various portraits.

"This is the common room where the most of the staff come to relax," explained Hermione.

"I thought that was what the staff room was for," said Harry.

"The staff room is really only used during the day during lesson time," said Hermione. "Here is where everyone goes the rest of the time."

There were a couple of teachers in the room, a wizard who was probably about forty five, and a witch who could have only been a few years older than Harry.

The wizard, after putting down today's issue of the Daily Prophet, got up from the couch nearest to the fire and introduced himself. "I'm Professor Cortes, or you can just call me Prospero if you want, but whatever you do don't call me Prospo like my mother did. Anyway to cut a long story short, I teach Astronomy."

"Nice to meet you, Prospero," said Harry, shaking his hand. "I suppose you already know who I am."

"Of course I do," said Prospero. "I've known it ever since it was a kid attending Beauxbatons."

"You not French though are you?" asked Harry, curiously.

"No, Spanish, but I attended Beauxbatons. There was a school in Spain I could have gone to but it's not exactly known for its brilliance."

"Well, Prospero," said Harry, "your English is excellent, regardless of where you came from."

"Oh, thank you very much, Harry," said Prospero charmingly. "I'm glad to see that Hermione was not wrong when she told me of your kindness. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some things to sort out in the Astronomy tower."

With that he took his copy of the Daily Prophet and left through the door Harry and Hermione had came through a moment ago.

"He seems like a nice guy," commented Harry.

"Oh, he is," said Hermione. "Minerva wasn't too sure at first when she hired him, but it's now eight years on and there have been no regrets so far. He's a real asset to the school."

The other teacher in the room, a rather plain looking witch, didn't say a word to either Harry
or Hermione, but smiled very impishly at Harry and winked at him before leaving the common room.

"What's up with her?" asked Harry bemused.

"That was Professor Emily Asgard, the Muggle studies teacher," said Hermione with an odd grin on her face. "You better watch out for her."

"Why?" asked Harry.

"You'll find out soon enough," said Hermione with a smirk.

Hermione led Harry down a corridor to their left and came to a door with a small brass sign saying:

Professor Harry J. Potter, Defence Against the Dark Arts

"It's going to take some getting used to, being called 'Professor'," remarked Harry.

Inside was a double four poster bed, a fireplace which was out at the moment, a small sofa, a writing desk, and a wardrobe. It looked very comfortable and had a window from which you could see the school Quidditch pitch. On the floor by the bed were his trunks with his possessions in.

"This is where you'll be sleeping," said Hermione. "It hasn't been used in quite a while and needed a bit of cleaning, which included removing a boggart from the wardrobe, although we have no idea how it managed to get in there."

"Ahh, the mysteries of the boggart. Was it hard to get out?" asked Harry.

"Oh, it was Riddikulus," said Hermione.

Harry gave a small laugh. That joke was always a favourite in Defence Against the Dark Arts classes. "Where are your quarters anyway?" he asked.

"If you remember, I'm head of Gryffindor house, so my quarters are up by the tower," she stated in a matter-of-fact way.

Harry cursed himself for not remembering that detail about his friend.

"Ok, I'll have to leave you now Harry," said Hermione unhappily. "I've got my Transfiguration lesson to prepare. They're going to turn hats into rabbits; corny, I know."

"Oh, do you have to go? I was hoping we could catch up on old times," said Harry. "It's been ages since we last had a proper chat."

"I'd like to stay too, but I have too much work to do. Perhaps we could meet up at third period? I'm free then."

"Ok, it's a date. See you later, Hermione."

"See you later."

Hermione left Harry's room, leaving him alone to settle in. After unpacking his various possessions into the furniture provided, Harry decided to explore the staff wing. Since all the other members of staff were off teaching or whatever, Harry could explore without hindrance, although he drew the line at going into people's private bedrooms.

Each bedroom apparently had its own en suite bathroom complete with a shower, and, as Harry continued to explore the rest of the staff wing, he found there were at least four larger bathrooms, similar in design to the Prefect's bathroom on the fifth floor, although much smaller. These apparently were for anyone's use, although he couldn't really see a time in the near future when he would need to use them.

Harry also found a small kitchen, which also served as the accommodation for Tolby, a house elf, who immediately offered to make Harry as snack as soon as he saw him. Tolby, Harry found out, was handpicked by the Headmistress to serve in the staff quarters, and he was the only one of the house elves to attend here. Although he was rarely called upon to cook, he was kept largely busy cleaning.

Thanks largely down to Hermione's continued campaigning, house elves now had many more rights that they did since Harry's first encounter with them. All of them now got paid for their work, and it was now a criminal offence not to pay them. They could also dictate their own wages, although the vast majority of them asked for pay far below what a human would expect for the same amount of work.

After continually refusing Tolby's requests to make him something, Harry finally relented and allowed him to make him some tea, which he did with a huge smile on his face. After the tea, and doing another quick check to see if he had missed anything, Harry eventually decided to take a tour of the castle and visit as many of fellow teachers as possible.

* * *

He was just having a look round the dungeons, just as dark and un-comforting as always, when he noticed that the door to the Potions classroom was open. He took a quick peek inside and found Professor Severus Snape examining a dozen or so small vials of potions. Since Snape poured a small drop of each onto an apple and then recorded the results, Harry assumed that he was testing some student's work.

Snape was looking just as menacing and unfriendly, with his seemingly permanently angry expression and pitch black robes. His hair had become considerably greyer and was significantly longer than he remembered; and it still looked like he never washed it.

Harry wasn't sure whether he actually wanted to talk to Snape, but thought he had better at least try and get on with him if they were going to be working together. In the end, Harry didn't have to make up his mind as Snape seemed to notice him lurking by the door.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, do come in," said Snape coldly. "I was wondering when you'd turn up."

Harry reluctantly entered the classroom. "I was just passing this way and thought I'd have a look at the old Potions classroom," he said. "I like what you've done with place."

It was a blatant lie. The classroom had changed little over the years and Harry didn't like it back then either. Potions had always been his least favourite lesson, not down to the work itself but rather down to the teacher. If it hadn't been due to the fact that Potions was a core subject that needed to be taken in order to be accepted into Auror training, Harry probably would have quit after his OWLs.

"Thank you," said Snape derisively, sounding like he picked up on the lie.

Harry looked around the Potions classroom in silence. He was examining a unlabeled bright green coloured potion sitting on one of the shelves (which he suspected had malicious properties) before Snape broke the silence.

"I suppose you're pleased that you got the job rather than me?" he said.

Harry thought for a moment deciding the best way to continue the conversation, but it wasn't easy.

"Not really," said Harry. "I'm here because I am needed to be here, not because I want to be here."

"Still, there must be a small part of you that is relishing your new position?" said Snape. "Don't lie to me, Potter, I know."

There was no arguing it. Snape was excellent at routing out the truth thanks in part to his skills at Legilimency, although he didn't need to use them in this particular occasion.

"Alright I admit it," said Harry. "It is nice to be back."

"I thought so," snarled Snape. "I'd imagine you'd like to bring Weasley back too, so then your little gang will be complete again, ready to cause trouble once again."

Having Ron back here too would be a nice idea, but Harry wasn't going to admit that to Snape, so there was another moment of silence.

"There is a plus side to this whole thing. At least they won't be trying to kill me," said Snape. His voice softened imperceptibly. "You can take care of yourself can't you? It would be a terrible inconvenience locating another Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

Harry didn't quite believe it but it sounded like Snape had concern for his welfare, or was he imagining it? Yes, he was imagining it.

"Yeah, I can take care of myself thank you," said Harry shortly.

"Good."

Another uncomfortable moment of silence. This one seemed to last the longest. There was no way you could do small talk with Snape, so Harry decided to just blurt out what was on his mind.

"So who do you think is behind it all?" he asked hopefully.

"I have my suspicions," said Snape.

"Would you mind sharing them with me?" asked Harry.

Harry seemed to know the answer to that question before Snape actually answered. "Not at the moment, Potter, I am busy."

"Fine," said Harry, trying to be courteous. "I guess I'll see you at the feast tonight."

"I look forward to it," said Snape, disdainfully.

Harry left Snape's classroom, not a moment too soon. Nothing had changed; they still didn't care very much for each other. Their relationship was an odd one, although this was not the time or the place to muse upon it.

For the rest of the day, after his little soirée with Professor Snape, Harry saw as much of the castle as he could. Since he had free unrestricted access to the entire school, Harry could go wherever he wanted without anyone getting in his way. This however took some getting used to, and couple of times his heart beat quicker as he half expected Mr. Filch to come round the corner and report him for being out of bounds.

The exploring itself was a never-ending quest and he suspected that there were hidden parts to the castle that not even Fred, George, or the Marauders knew about. After exploring much of the castle, Harry found little had changed, although he could have sworn that one particular room (a portrait gallery) had moved from the fourth floor to the fifth.

Along the way he passed students from various houses and years, and from their comments most of them didn't know who he was, but he thought he heard a couple of people say "Harry Potter".

During the day he thought he had better introduce himself to the heads of all the houses and, since Hermione and Snape already knew him, all he had to do was find the heads of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw house.

Professor Flora Greenvale, the head of Ravenclaw, who taught Herbology, was unsurprisingly found in one of the greenhouses. Harry's initial impression of her was that of a young shy woman who didn't want to upset anyone. She was very likeable and easy to get along with, although probably useless in a conflict situation. Harry asked if he could sit in on one of her lesson in order to observe her teaching methods, she didn't object at all; either she didn't mind, or didn't have the will to tell him to go away. She also spoke very highly of Hermione, which sounded like they were quite good friends.

After his meeting with the Professor Greenvale, Harry found Professor Lal, the head of Hufflepuff, who taught Charms, in the staff room. He was very tall, and had a very forceful personality, both of which were a little intimidating. However from the sound of things he was a well liked teacher, and known for his strict but fair attitude.

He of course paid another visit to Hagrid and kept his date with Hermione that day, and found also time to send an owl home to tell Ginny that he was ok. He did consider saying hello to both Lily, his nephews, and John, but decided to leave it as a surprise for tonight's feast, where he will almost certainly get an introduction to the entire school.

* * *

When the night came, The Great Hall was decked out in various decorations including several pumpkins, which were enchanted to float in the air above the students and teachers. Several dozen live bats fluttered around the hall adding to the decoration, and causing one or two of the more squeamish students to shriek every time one of them came near.

Harry was sat at the head table with the rest of the teachers. In the centre of the table was seated Professor McGonagall, who as Headmistress had the most prominent position, along with best chair. Seated to McGonagall's right was Professor Snape, the Deputy Head, who by the look of distaste on his face was uncomfortable in these social situations. To the left of McGonagall sat Hermione, and to the left of her was where Harry sat. As normal the four long house tables stretched before the head table.

When all the students and teachers had made their way to the hall, Professor McGonagall stood up ready to make a speech. There was a rapt silence throughout the hall as everyone paid attention to her.

"Good Evening to you all," said McGonagall loudly and clearly. Her voice was just as commanding as Dumbledore's was in these situations.

Most of the students replied, "Good Evening, Headmistress."

"Now before we start on the delicious meal that has no doubt been prepared for us, I have an announcement to make," said McGonagall. "I'm sure all of you are aware of the unfortunate accidents that have befallen our Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers," Harry looked around at the students to see if anyone gave any clues away, and from the looks of things Snape was doing the same, "but I am pleased to announce that we have found someone to take on the role. Please welcome, Professor Harry Potter."

A lot of the students were stunned in silence, apparently in awe, before getting to their feet and applauding loudly. A large number of the students, probably those with muggle parentage, clapped politely, although, by the looks on the their faces, they didn't seem to know what the fuss was about.

One girl at the far end of the Gryffindor table who obviously didn't have a very good view of the teachers table shouted, "Hey that's my dad!"

"It's my uncle Harry!" shouted a boy somewhere in the middle of the Gryffindor table. Harry recognised it as belonging to his nephew, Jacques Weasley who was in his sixth year. Jacques was the son of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour.

"And mine too!" shouted another boy sitting at Gryffindor table. This must have been Philip Weasley, who was in his third year. Philip was the son of Percy, from his second marriage.

"And mine!" said a boy from Ravenclaw. This had to have been Arthur Weasley, who was in his seventh and final year. Arthur was the son of Percy, from his first marriage. Arthur, who was named after his grandfather, followed in his father's footsteps by becoming head boy. However he followed his mother when it came to what house he was in.

These four were not the only ones to be an offspring of the Weasley family. Bill Weasley had another kid called Danielle, although she had graduated from Hogwarts the previous year. Charlie Weasley had three kids - twins Mary and David, who would be attending Hogwarts next year; and Michael, who was a couple of years younger. Ron had never had kids, although there had been many discussions over the year whether he and Hermione should start a family. Fred and George, the twins who never really grew up, never seemed to get round to settling down, and never married or had any offspring.

Harry was pretty sure he saw John Sanders lurking somewhere in the middle of the Hufflepuff table, but John kept quiet, probably down to a combination of shyness and thinking it wouldn't really be appropriate to speak out.

"Yes Lily, that is indeed your father, and yes to the others that is your uncle, but any reunions will have to wait till later I'm afraid," said McGonagall. "Anyway for the benefit of those among you who do not know who he is I suppose I better give you a little bit of history, although my account of it will not be very thorough so I recommend that you look it up in a book when you have time. Many years ago, before you were even born, there was an incredibly powerful dark wizard who went by the name of Voldemort."

There were one or two students who flinched at the name but on whole it didn't seem to faze most people. The story of Voldemort was well known to the wizarding world, but this generation of students, much like Harry's generation when it came to World War 2, didn't seem to be affected very strongly by the tales, and few of them knew about it in any great detail.

"Voldemort was considered to be the most evil wizard to ever grace the earth, and left a trail of destruction and horror wherever he went. He was responsible for the deaths of countless people, both muggle and wizard alike, and many of the faces I see before me today will have lost a relative by his hands. His reign of terror continued for many years until one day, in the year 1981, he tried to kill a baby boy by the name of Harry Potter. But the killing curse didn't work and was rebounded back on to Voldemort himself. Many thought it was the end of Voldemort but he managed to return thirteen years later, beginning a new wave of terror, and the war against him was re-fought."

Professor McGonagall took a short breather from the speech, where all the students waited on baited breath to hear the rest of the story; even those already knew the tale back to front.

"In the year 1998," re-began McGonagall, "a group of the finest witches and wizards of the age confronted Voldemort. These included Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore, and myself. The confrontation cost many lives, included my predecessor, but in the end it was Harry himself that dealt the final blow that ended the war."

A sixth year from the Hufflepuff table stuck his hand up in the air.

"Yes, Mr. Macmillan?" asked McGonagall.

"So could Voldemort ever come back again?" he asked curiously.

"I won't lie to you and say no. It is certainly not impossible for him to do so," said McGonagall. "But he has remained silent for over eighteen years now, and many people believe that he's is gone for good."

"But do you believe he is gone, Professor?" asked a Ravenclaw fifth year, putting up her hand.

"No, I do not believe he has truly gone. An evil such as that is not easily destroyed. But that does not mean I do not have any hope concerning the matter. If he does return I hope it is after your time on this earth," said McGonagall.

The rest of the students remained quiet after this. Harry saw a few faces of fear among them. The speech had apparently worried some of them but Harry thought it was better for them to know rather than stay ignorant. If Voldemort did return in his life time, Harry would be ready to face him again and again for as long as he still held breath.

"Now, I am sure you're all getting hungry about now, I know I am, so without further delay, dinner is served," said McGonagall.

With a wave of her hand all the tables were full with delicious looking food. At home Harry shared the cooking with Ginny so it was a nice change not to have to do anything at all. He helped himself to some chicken, potatoes, and vegetables, and began eating. He eyed a plate of lamb chops nearby and thought about having a couple if he was still hungry after he finished his plateful. Harry enjoyed his dinner chatting to Hermione and Professor Lal, who was sat on his other side of him. Dinner was soon replaced by dessert and Harry decided just to have a small piece of chocolate cake. For a split second, he felt like he was a student again.

After he had finished his cake, which was long before everyone else would be finished with their desserts, Harry decided to go and pay a visit to Lily down the far end of the Gryffindor table. Harry tapped her on the back just as she was eating a rather large mouthful of a cream pie, causing her to spray some of it over the fair haired girl directly in front of her.

Lily turned her head around and quickly swallowed what she had in her mouth. "Dad!" she cried out, perhaps a little too loudly.

Harry though she'd probably get too embarrassed if he kissed her (especially now they had half the school on them), so he decided against it and just sat down in the vacant seat beside her and give her a small hug.

"So, Lily," said Harry. "How are things?"

"It's great," said Lily excitedly. "I love it here. But how come you never told me you were coming here?"

"I only just found out myself, yesterday," said Harry. "It was a shock to me too."

"Oh cool," said Lily. "I guess than mean that you finally get to teach me all that dangerous magic you know then?"

"I'll teach you nothing more than what is appropriate for a first year student," said Harry. "I've got to take this job very seriously."

"Oh, never mind then," said Lily disappointedly. "Still you've got to be better than Professor Tyler was, for the short time we had him anyway. He was really boring."

The girl sat opposite Lily, who got sprayed with cream pie a moment ago, began to look restlessly at her, and kept flicking her eyes over to Harry.

"I guess I better introduce you to Tina," said Lily, drawing her father's attention to the girl opposite. "She's been dying to meet you ever since I first told her about you."

"Hi," said Tina, blushing slightly.

Harry had gotten used to much of the fame he had attracted over the years, with countless interviews, guest appearances, and the like, but was one aspect that he didn't quite understand - that of him being a pin-up for girls throughout much of the wizarding world. Harry personally couldn't see what the fuss was about as he never really considered himself to be anything more than ordinary in the looks department.

"So this is the famous Tina," said Harry. "Lily has told me so much about you through her letters."

"Nothing too bad, I hope?" asked Tina, helping herself to one of the toffee apples.

"Let's just say that her mother didn't exactly approve of one or two of your little activities."

* * *

Meanwhile in an old and dusty house, a raging fire was burning in the sitting room, although it did little to lighten the foreboding mood of the place. The house had not been cleaned for what looked like years and, especially considering the house was quite large, that amounted to a lot of dust, grime, and cobwebs.

In the sitting room sat by a large ornate wooden table, which probably served as a dining table at one point, was a lone figure deep in thought, who wore robes as black as night. He seemed to have a lot on his mind and only interrupted his thought process by looking at the numerous pieces of parchment scattered all over the table.

The fire flickered, and the head of a rough looking man appeared in the flames. "Master," he said, attracting the attention of the lone figure.

"What?" he said abruptly. "Why do you disturb me?"

"I have news, Master," said the man in the flames. "News regarding Mr. Flint."

"Flint?" asked the Master, his interest intensifying. "Then you have found him? Has he promised his allegiance to me?"

"No, Master," said the man sombrely. "I regret to inform you that he has been captured."

"Captured?!!" said the Master angrily, slamming his fist onto the table. "What of his Dementors?"

"They have been rounded up and eradicated."

"How the hell did he let himself be captured?!"

"Flint was careless. He and his Dementors decided to have a little fun with the residents, which of course attracted the attention of the Ministry."

"I thought he would have had more brains than that. Who captured him?"

"It was Potter, Master. Harry Potter."

"Potter...," the Master muttered under his breath. "I look forward to the day when I hold his bloody corpse under my boot. Very well, you may go. Report back to me when you have further news of our allies. And I hope for your sake it is good news."

"Yes, Master."

The figure in the fire disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, leaving the Master alone again with his thoughts. But it was not long before his peace was disturbed once more as two men (one much taller than the other) in black robes entered the room.

"Master," said the taller of the two men as way of a greeting.

"What is it?" said the Master, fervently. "Did you find the tome?"

"I am sorry master but we have been unable to locate it," said the shorter man.

"You know the price of failure don't you?" asked the Master.

"Yes, Master," trembled the two men as the bowed as low as they could.

The Master stood up and, after reaching inside his cloak, took out his wand and pointed it straight at the two men.

"Crucio!"

A burst of energy escaped from the wand and hit both of the men. They rolled around the floor in agony for a moment, their Master with a sadistic look on his face. After a minute or two of what must have been unimaginable pain, the master finally relented and stopped it.

"Now if you didn't come here to tell me of the tome, what did you disturb my thoughts for?" asked the Master impatiently.

"Our spy reports that Harry Potter is at Hogwarts, my Master," said the taller man, out of breath and still recovering from the pain.

"Then he has finally taken the role of Defence Against the Dark arts Teacher? I thought he might be too noble to pass it up. What of the assassin?"

"The assassin has so far been unable to actually kill anyone, Master, but it is only a matter of time," said the taller man.

"Very well," said the Master. "Keep me posted."

The two men graciously bowed and left the room. "Yes, Master."