Harry Potter and the Man of Unknown

< >It was the castle in the sky. If you looked at it, though, you would most likely think it was a castle in the mountains, but it was the castle in the sky, atop of the white, never-moving clouds. Alas, though, yes, if you had to be logical, it was on a mountaintop, far and high from the normal people and normal castles.

< >That morning was the day of opening of the seven hundred, twenty-fourth year for Sharadine School of Witchcraft For Girls - the only magic school to begin in November and end in early August, but only because of a long-forgotten tradition - owned and operated by the renowned headmistress, Madam Juane Tatooli, respected.

< >All the teachers and staff bustled about, making sure everything was perfect, the enchanted brooms sweeping the dusted floors. Some of the brooms became comical and tried to sweep the dirt and dust under rugs, but the school caretaker, Arana Filch, put them in order by threatening to break them in half with her bare hands.

< >Feather dusters dusted the coats of armour - they had been covered in dust for the two and half summer months - who swiped at the dusters with their squeaky metal arms, attempting to rip out their feathers. Needless to say, once she saw this, Professor Samantha Gooding, of the astronomy and astrological science department, kicked the enchanted knight garments angrily as she swooped by like a bat in her normal dress of violet and ebony robes, making the coats stop abruptly - and rather morosely - stop their noisy entertainment.

< >"Professor Erwin!" a voice called, magically echoing throughout the whole castle.

< >The somewhat young professor - with dark brown hair blue eyes, and high cheek bones (making him handsome when he smiled, but ugly when he frowned) - sighed hollowly and picked himself up from his desk in his empty classroom for Transfiguration. He hated being disrupted, especially during lesson plans. Hadn't his five years of his teaching there and complaining (no matter how good-naturedly) accounted for anything? Oh, well, Professor Erwin thought, shaking his head. No matter. I need a stretch. His black robes swooped across the floor and he hurried through the corridors to the front hall, where he knew he was being called to.

< >When Professor Erwin emerged in the front hall, he stopped dead.

< >A black-haired woman, with wisps of gray in her tied-back hair, dressed in long, emerald robes, and looking very grave and somber, stood at the front door to the castle. Madam Tatooli, one of the professor's better friends, stood next to the woman, the same look on her face. Professor Erwin's polite - but somewhat touchy - smile disappeared from his face almost instantly.

< >"Professor?" he asked with a touch of shrillness to his voice. He touched his throat nervously, a habit of his whenever he thought there was something wrong, and at that moment, he knew something was wrong. "Madam?"

< >Professor Minerva McGonagall was silent for a moment in hesitation - something that Professor Erwin took as a bad omen and did not like at all. "Thomas, dear, I . . . I have terrible news . . ." Professor McGonagall was suddenly at a loss for words and looked down, straining to hold back tears.

< >"W - what is it, M - Minerva?" Professor Erwin stammered, knowing immediately that something was very wrong. He touched his throat again and stroked it. He was beginning to feel very sick.

< >Professor McGonagall wouldn't look up, seeming both distressed and abashed.

< >Madam Tatooli took a step forward and gulped. "James and Lily Potter are . . ."

< >"Lily and James are what?" Professor Erwin croaked, his throat suddenly hoarse.

< >". . . are dead, Thomas . . ." In that moment, an eerie silence crept over the front hall of the school. Not a soul blinked, not an thing moved, not an animal breathed. "Thomas, d - did you hear me? I - I said that - that the Potters passed away - " Madam Tatooli took a step forward, a distressed hand outstretched to her young friend until she touched his arm.

< >"What?" Erwin cried, snapping back into the cold reality. He ripped away from the headmistress, stumbling nearly to the floor, and had to steady himself against the old wooden wall. His knees shook violently. "Is - is this a joke?" he demanded of McGonagall and Tatooli sharply, his voice very high. "A cruel joke?"

< >McGonagall looked at him and shook her head. "No, Thomas," she replied softly.

< >"W - who? H - h - how?" Professor Erwin stammered, forcing back tears.

< >McGonagall hesitated again. "V - Voldemort, Thomas. It was Voldemort."

< >There was a pregnant pause before Professor Erwin spoke again.

< >"W - what happened to H - harry?" Professor Erwin wasn't very sure he wanted to know, but he knew that he must know, no matter what. They're all dead! Voldemort! He killed them! he shrieked in his head with malice and grief. All of them! Even poor Harry! He thought, that is, until McGonagall told him otherwise.

< >"T - that's just it, Thomas. Harry - Harry . . . Harry survived."

< >Professor Erwin stared at McGonagall, shaking harder than ever. "H - he survived?" He sank into a chair against the wall and buried his face in his hands. "How could a child survive Lord Voldemort, Minerva? How - how is that even possible . . .?" The young man's voice was quavering, soft, and meek as he whispered hoarsely, hardly able to stand his grief.

< >"We . . . we don't know, Thomas. But when he tried to kill Harry, his powers . . . they . . . they just vanished!" said McGonagall, her voice shrill with fear of the unknown. "And he disappeared. No one knows why. . . ."

< >"When did this happen?" Professor Erwin demanded, lowering his hands away from his face, and looking up.

< >"Two nights past, Thomas."

< >"Why wasn't I told this sooner?" screeched Professor Erwin, looking up with a face contorted in alarm.

< >"Ev . . . everyone assumed you knew, except . . . except for Dumbledore."

< >Professor Erwin's eyes flashed with anger. "Of course not Dumbledore!" he shouted with a sneer, jumping to his feet angrily. "Why wouldn't Dumbledore know that I didn't know? He knows positively everything!"

< >McGonagall looked down again, not daring to protest Albus Dumbledore's worth in front of Thomas Erwin, a man known for his dislike and animosity toward one of the greatest wizard's in the world. Minerva McGonagall knew it wasn't worth the breath.

< >"Where has Harry been taken?" McGonagall didn't answer, still lost in thoughts. "Where has he been taken, Minerva?" Professor Erwin demanded through gritted teeth, his hands curled in fists clenched at his sides.

< >"To his only living relatives," McGonagall replied delicately, watching the professor's reactions to this carefully. "Dumbledore left him on their front step himself. I saw him do it - the boy is safe - and so did our games keeper."

< >"Them?" Professor Erwin nearly shrieked at McGonagall. "Petunia and what-is-his-putrid-face? Damn Dumbledore and damn you, Minerva! Damn you both!" he shouted bitterly, shaking a finger in her direction. The professor then gathered his cloaks in an abrupt motion and hurried down the corridor angrily, deliberately slamming his fist into the castle phantom, who doubled up in surprise as he stormed by.

~

< >Professor Erwin disappeared into his chambers and wasn't seen until later that evening, when the first students began to arrive by charmed clouds, lifting them up from the foothills far below the mountain peak.

< >He looked very withdrawn and white that night. He did not even look Madam Tatooli in the face, nor any student or other teacher who wanted to greet him after a long summer. The young professor merely watched the ceremony of the first years, who were sorted into the three groups of the school by the school fortune teller, who sat in the middle of the stage of the Great Hall, reading the first years' minds and deciding which group they belonged in, then would get up and leave.

< >After the ceremony was over, though, Professor Erwin stared down at his plate, not eating. He collected stares from the school prefects, and from the teachers and staff who didn't know what the news of Voldemort's disappearance was doing to him. The other students, though, were all too busy talking to take notice - that night, anyway. They would in the morning . . .

< >Professor Erwin didn't look up, but he could sense the people who knew this was abnormal of him, not speaking, not moving, not doing anything - he could feel their stares. Most of all, though, looking past these curious, prying eyes, he felt Madam Tatooli's hawk-like, yellow eyes burning into his back like the fires of Hell.

~

< >The next day, the whole school was talking about already famous Harry Potter, whispering that he was the one who stopped You-Know-Who. It was an uproar, since everything had finally been confirmed by the Daily Prophet , Witch Weekly, and other various newspapers and magazines that morning.

< >Harry Potter - just a small, little boy - had ridden the world of the cruel, infamous You- Know-Who! Amazing, impossible, outstanding! Absolutely wonderful!

< >There was one person, though, at Sharadine, and in most of the rest of the world, that did not look happy at the news:

< >Professor Erwin.

< >He slammed through the door to his class, startling a group of fifth years who were excitedly talking about the incredible news. The last words squeaked, before everyone hushed, was "Harry Potter!"

< >"Shut up, all of you," Erwin snapped angrily as his class of fifteen frightened girls ran to their seats. "This is a classroom for Transfiguration, and you know it. Not for gossiping about Lord Voldemort - " the class gasped at the rarely-spoken word, but said not a word themselves - "nor his hiatus from society. And if I hear the name Harry Potter in this classroom ever again, the person who said it will be expelled - I will see to it myself - do all of you understand?"

< >The class stared at their professor in horror. Professor Erwin was usually a nice, caring - though strict, of course, as every professor was - person. A teacher also never threatened students, which the students in the room - and soon to come later - thought with terror.

< >What happened to him over the summer? they all wondered; however, they didn't say a word, for they were too sacred to ask. They knew that he was extremely serious in what he said - the vein pulsing near his temple was a dead giveaway - and they were all afraid to utter a single word.

< >Professor Erwin glared at his students until they all nodded dumbly, still taken aback at his harsh threats. "Get out your books!" he yelled angrily. "Page one. You're back in the real world now, ladies. Deal with it and get on with your lives."

~

Ten years later . . .

< >After five more years of being an all girls' school, Shardine School of Witchcraft for Girls became Sharadine School of Witchcraft Merged, a school for all students, as most schools were coed at that time and still would be, even years and years later.

< >Every year, students filtered, charged, tiptoed, and sauntered through the school on their merry to bitter ways. Yet, no matter the mood, there would always be many happily spoken words about the elusive boy called Harry Potter. Students would whisper about who had reportedly met or seen him on the street, the next book published with his name in it, who'd had the best celebration for him that year, and more.

< >But never, ever, in a million years, were these words spoken in Professor Erwin's distance of hearing, which had seemed to grow sharper and farther every year, for everyone was fearful of what might happen if someone did. . . .

< >As a precaution, each first year student was immediately told by the older students to never speak about the subject of Harry Potter in Professor Erwin's presence. It was an unwritten law that no one did not know about, unless they were complete fools, and no one had reportedly been a complete fool . . .

< >Older brothers and sisters would tell their younger siblings tales that Professor Erwin had tried to expel quite a few students in the first few years after You-Know-Who had disappeared when they said, "Harry Potter," but Madam Tatooli had forbidden it just in time to catch Erwin trying to literally boot the students out the front door of the school.

< >And, of course, no one liked Professor Erwin anymore; he was too hard, too snide, and too seemingly evil to like. Even his favorite and best students hated him. The teachers all tried to figure out what was wrong, but Professor Erwin would never say a word, nor would Madam Tatooli, had anyone suspected she also knew what had changed Professor Thomas Erwin.

< >Rumours flew through the corridors for years saying that Professor Erwin had been on You-Know-Who's side and was upset and angry that he had lost You-Know-Who and any time now, if he got too upset, he'd fly to where Harry Potter was and kill him off on the spot - for revenge.

< >Yet there were many who had to say - even despite their dislike of Professor Erwin - that he couldn't have any real contempt for Harry Potter and what he did to You-Know-Who. He was a Gryffindor from Hogwarts - Hogwarts, no less, home of Albus Dumbledore! - and no Gryffindor anyone knew of had ever crossed over to the Dark Side.

< >About ten years after Harry had made You-Know-Who disappear, there was another uproar in Professor Erwin and everyone else's life: Harry Potter was at Hogwarts! A Gryffindor, at that! Letters from home had swarmed in on September first of that year, two days into the Sharadine year (which had been presently changed to the second-to-last day of August after the co-ed change). Everyone was in high spirits and celebrating that Harry Potter was such a special young boy - for at least the millionth time in their lives.

< >However, Professor Erwin, as usual, was a different story.

< >If anyone had been around him when everyone found out about Harry and watched him very carefully, they would have seen him go white and his hands would begin to shake. Only few did and, of course, they brought up the rumor of Professor Erwin being on the Dark side again, but it was pushed away by all the excitement over Harry Potter.

< >"Shush your mouths," Thomas Erwin had snapped at his students after he had calmed himself later that day. "What have I haven't had to tell you? Never ever speak that name in my classroom - ever! Do you hear me, damn it! It is none of our business! Back to work! Mr. Dennison, turn Ms. Fletcher back to normal this once or I'll drag you Madam Tatooli's office and have her turn you into a pig and we'll all eat you for dinner!"

~

< >Suddenly, a few weeks after this incident, there was word of Harry being the youngest and best Quidditch player and Seeker at Hogwarts in over a century, which had caught everyone off guard - most notably when they heard that he had nearly fallen off his broom. (Gasp! He could have injured himself very badly!)

< >The professor had gone extremely pale once more when it caught wind of him and snapped at his students to shut up again, and again, and again. But even Professor Erwin couldn't stop the uproar when it happened again near the end of the year.

< >Harry Potter had defeated You-Know-Who (at least, "one of his corrupt followers daft enough to join him," at the Daily Prophet put it) once more in his short life!

< >Professor Erwin had locked himself in his chambers after that. He couldn't have shut his students up if he'd body bound them. The teachers wouldn't shut up, either. Their faces glowed with pride in the wizard who had once again defeated You-Know-Who, which disgusted Professor Erwin to the very extent of his limits.

< >When he finally came out of his chambers, he had yelled at his classes: "I will expel all of you if you speak that name and you all know I will, by what rumors fly around here! So what if he has defeated Voldemort once more! I have told you it is none of our business, so be quiet, all of you! And I don't really care if he is your role model, MacFly, I forbid that name spoken in this classroom!"

< >Everyone knew then - at that very moment, when they finally shut up - that there was something really wrong with Harry Potter to Professor Erwin, yet they had no true idea of what. The older students could do nothing but stare at their professor and whisper as the school year drew to a close. The first years were dreadfully scared of Professor Erwin, except for one girl, who surprised everyone, especially Professor Erwin, in that same year.

~

< >Professor Erwin was busy writing a nasty letter in reply to a letter he had just received, when there was a light knock on his office door and a soft voice called, "Professor Erwin?"

< >"What is it?" Professor Erwin snarled, not looking up.

< >"It's Anna Winterbourne, Professor Erwin. One of your first year students . . .?" came the soft reply. The door pushed open.

< >"Ms. Winterbourne," said Professor Erwin testily, not looking up from his letter, "I didn't say you could come in, did I? Leave before I look up and you won't be punished." He thought she would leave and didn't bother to look up.

< >"Professor Erwin . . ."

< >He didn't reply, his lips curling in anger, but he refused to look up.

< >"Professor Erwin!" Anna Winterbourne nearly shouted.

< >Professor Erwin jumped, blotting the word, "you" on his letter. He stared at Anna in surprise.

< >Anna Winterbourne took a deep breath and stepped up to her professor. "Professor Erwin, I am a half blood and I have had a few brothers and sisters come through here, and they have told me stories . . . stories about you."

< >Professor Erwin narrowed his eyes to where they were slits, a normal habit of his when he was angry or annoyed. "Aye, I have heard them all. Delight me with one, Ms. Winterbourne. Go ahead, but realize, you'll be punished now, even though it's the last day."

< >Anna glared back at him, shocking him. "And the stories I heard were horrible. You suddenly turning cruel, right after Voldemort - to most people's surprise, sir, I can say the name - disappeared, and you shouted at your students to hush up about it all, and never say a word about him. I heard from my brother, James - " she didn't notice Erwin flinch at the name - "that you actually tried to literally throw students out the front door when they said - "

< >"Indeed I did and what is your point, Ms. Winterbourne?" Professor Erwin interrupted sharply.

< >"You must know everyone hates you, Professor Erwin," she continued quickly, beginning to slightly doubt her courage as Professor Erwin looked at her with hardly any emotion, save for the evil glint in his eyes. "You are not that dumb, I can tell. And you must hate everyone else, but I have to ask . . ." Anna let her words trail off.

< >"Ask what?" Professor Erwin demanded angrily.

< >Anna leaned in so she could whisper in his ear. "Why do you hate Harry Potter?"

< >Professor Erwin turned white and stared at the wall in front of him.

< >Anna Winterbourne turned and left, not looking back at him.

~

< >Rumours ran rampant through the school, everyone whispering about what Anna Winterbourne - a first year! - had done to Professor Erwin. He wouldn't leave his chambers and it was a good thing that classes were over, too, to say the least.

< >Anna would not say a word to anyone about what she had said and left school with everyone else, still refusing to say a word. She wouldn't even tell her parents who had heard tell of it through owls from parents of other students, nor would she even tell her older sister, the person she was closest to in the world. Her lips were shut; the only reason people knew about her encounter was people had seen her walk in and out, with the result of Professor Erwin locking himself away.

< >All she would say was this: "It is between the professor and myself. None of you have any right in knowing." Though, that is to say, she had no real idea herself of why Professor Erwin had been so shaken by her words. She had expected him to snap he didn't hate Harry Potter, but he had gone into a sort of shock, and that scared Anna more than anyone knew.

< >That was why Anna had left the office - she would have stuck around, if she had felt Professor Erwin was going to answer, but in less than a second of looking at him, she knew he would never speak to her on the subject again, as long as she lived. She feared, also, that she had stopped him from ever speaking about it . . . whatever it was.

~

Fourteen years after the first victory . . .

< >Professor Erwin cursed softly to himself as he read the letter. "Dumbledore," he mumbled, "again! I should just go down to that cursed place and put Dumbledore in his place on this matter!" But his psyche put him in his place. Thomas, the boy is at Hogwarts . . . has been for years now . . . "It goes on and on and on. Blast it." Dumbledore will do something, you know it . . . Professor Erwin cursed himself. Of course he would, he snapped to himself, why wouldn't he, the -

< >"Er - professor?"

< >Professor Erwin looked up, startled. "Y - yes, Anna?" He dark temperament flipped to a cautious one when he looked Anna in the eye.

< >The class stared at Anna Winterbourne. It was still shocking to them - even after four years - that Professor Erwin actually talked kindly - if you will - to a student. They didn't know why he was doing it, either. They thought, though, it probably had something to do with what Anna had said to him a few years before, and being right as they were, if they had known what even Anna didn't know . . .

~

< >Looking to Professor Erwin, he had been shaken so terribly by what Anna had said to him, that he was fearful if she pried around enough, she would find something out, so he had decided to be less sharp with her, so she might not investigate. She was quite bright, though, he had figured out quickly, top of all her classes; he'd never noticed before, not that he paid much attention to anything like that before.

< >"I think most of us our done with our test, sir," Anna replied, eyeing him closely.

< >Professor Erwin jolted into a straight sitting position. "Ah," he cleared his throat and stroked it nervously, "yes, you are right. Pass in your papers class to Mr. Timothy. When the bell rings, you may leave."

< >A short boy - Carnaby Timothy (a horrible name for anyone) , Professor Erwin thought to himself, blinking blankly - timidly approached the desk and nearly threw the test papers onto the desk and did nothing but run back to his desk in fright.

< >Professor Erwin didn't even look at him; he was rereading the letter that had actually come in the middle of class, carried by a large barn owl, who dropped the letter on Professor Erwin's head, surprising everyone. Rereading, that is, for the fourth time.

< >When Professor Erwin suddenly realized everyone was watching him, he jumped up, rolled the parchments of the long letter, and hurried out of the classroom. Just as he strode out of the door, the class exploded into whispers and he caught someone say, "What has he got there? D' you think it's from You-Know-Who?"

< >After hearing this serious accusation, Professor Erwin ran to his chambers, slamming the door behind him with such force it made the castle echo with its sound. The castle grew hastily quiet, as if wincing, preparing for more slamming from him. This was what they were very used to, but nothing more happened, to everyone's surprise.

< >Suddenly, this made the professor very weary. A headache roared in his head like a hammer bashing against metal in a steel mill and he fell on to his bed, shaking from head to toe, white as a sheet.

~

< >The professor woke many hours later to the sound of loud, continuous rapping on his door.

< >"Professor?" The rapping that had stopped momentarily started up again. "Professor Erwin?"

< >"What?" Professor Erwin croaked in a low, raspy voice that was not his own.

< >There was a pause, then a sharp crack, and the recently unlocked door swung open.

< >"Professor Erwin!" a voice shrieked. It was Madam Geoffrey, head of the infirmary, looking very shocked and worried at the sight of the professor, who knew he looked as worse as he felt.

< >"Madam Tatooli!" Madam Geoffrey nearly screamed, making Professor Erwin's head pound even louder. "Madam Tatooli! I need your help, now! To Professor Erwin's chambers and hurry!"

< >The bustling castle stopped dead. Professor Erwin? Hurry? What was happening?

< >"What is it, Lorraine?" Madam Tatooli asked in a forced sort of normal voice a few minutes later. Professor Erwin could not see her, as his eyes only saw blurred objects, and realizing this, he let his eyes roll back into his head to stare vacantly at the bleary ceiling.

< >"It's Thomas, Juane. I swear, he looks as if he has been stricken with yellow fever of the Muggle world! Look!"

< >There was an audible gasp from Madam Tatooli and shuffling of feet. Thomas Erwin groaned at the inauspicious noise. "What happened?" she whispered.

< >"I don't know," Madam Geoffrey admitted in a soft voice. "He wasn't sick yesterday."

< >Yesterday? Professor Erwin wondered groggily. Have I been asleep long?

< >"Let's get him to the infirmary right now, Lorraine - "

< >"NO!" Professor Erwin shouted suddenly, sitting up. The two women jumped back a foot in surprise as he raised an accusing, shaking finger. "If you do - even try - to put me in the infirmary, I will put a hex on all of you!" Any strength he had left disappeared from his body and he slumped back down on the bed.

< >"Do you think he's serious?" Madam Geoffrey whispered, looking in shock at the gasping man, sweating on his bed sheets horribly.

< >Madam Tatooli didn't answer, just stared at the sick professor. After a moment she said, "I don't know, Lorraine . . . I just don't know . . ."

< >Rumors flew through the castle like a hurricane about Professor Erwin:

< >"Did the letter have a curse in it?"

< >"Did You-Know-Who visit him?"

< >"Have you heard what he looks like? He's grown scales!"

< >"No, he's grown fangs and tethers!"

< >"I heard he threatened to turn Madam Tatooli into a frog with whiskers!"

< >"No! A dog with feathers!"

< >Indeed, Professor was ill, but he hadn't grown anything but more weary. He refused to eat and threatened to hex anyone who came near him, but never to turn anyone into anything, and although he certainly could, that was not an issue. People did stay away, but staff members always watched him around the clock through the small window in his chamber-room door, just in case . . .

< >Transfiguration was taken over by Madam Tatooli, who would answer no questions concerning Professor Erwin, except that he was sick, and no, he could not have visitors, nor did he want visitors, to answer Anna Winterbourne's question.

< >One day, late at night, Madam Tatooli was sitting in a chair across the room from the sleeping Professor Erwin, watching him. He even shakes in his sleep, she marveled sadly. Professor Erwin was on his side, facing the wall, curled a bit into himself, and shook as if he was living in the Arctic with no blanket or fire to warm him.

< >Professor Erwin had always been complained about during the last fifteen or sixteen years. Many teachers had demanded her why she hadn't fired him and she would always reply he was a good teacher, just bad with people. She also loved him as a sister loves a brother and knew in her heart she could never fire him, even if her life depended on it.

< >And he was a good teacher, the other teachers couldn't argue that, for everyone he ever taught had, at least, good Transfiguration skills, but . . . bad with people? That was the understatement the century.

< >He hated people. From Harry Potter to Madam Tatooli to Dumbledore himself, the most renowned wizard of the world, to You-Know-Who - who was not renowned, obviously, for goodness sakes - yet all the same, he hated them, and everyone knew it; they just didn't know why.

< >"Professor Erwin," Madam Tatooli murmured softly, trying to blink away her tear-stricken eyes, "Thomas, my dear, I know you will not like this, but I will have to contact Dumbledore . . ."

< >Professor Erwin squeezed his eyes closed and did not reply. He slept so much during the day it was nearly impossible for him to sleep at night. Madam Tatooli didn't know he was awake, anyway, so what did it matter to speak and make it known he never slept at night?

< >After Madam Tatooli left to get Professor Amande Yuri of the Muggle Department for the next watch patrol, Professor Erwin let himself go and began to quietly cry. When he started, he felt he never want to quit.

~

< >The professor cried himself into a restless sleep, only brought on by sheer exhaustion, and woke up the next morning to find his chambers bright with light. He blinked and closed his eyes slightly to see.

< >An old man, with a long white beard and half-moon spectacles, stood over him. His sparkling blue eyes considered the aging professor before him carefully with concern and worry, yet a twinkle of amusement was clearly there in the azure irises.

< >"You are up now, I see," the man said softly, stroking his long beard.

< >Professor Erwin looked away from the man. "You see very well then, don't you?" He took a long, shaky breath. "I knew you would come. Madam Tatooli said it last night . . . but I did not know when, though I should have known . . . Immediately, I daresay . . ."

< >"You are sick, Thomas, you should not speak."

< >"NOT - SPEAKING - BROUGHT - YOU - HERE - ALBUS!" Professor Erwin shouted angrily, suddenly sitting up, and pointing an accusing finger at the man. He realized he had done enough finger pointing then, so he dropped his arm, but not his emotions.

< >Professor Dumbledore sighed, but let Erwin continue.

< >"Also, your constant letters for fourteen, damn long years, students whispering his name, rumors about me being on the Dark Side - ha! - then the boy's arrival at Hogwarts, his being sickly, and his defeating Voldemort again and again - yes, I got your letter. So what do you think this did to me, Albus?" Professor Erwin yelled bitterly, clenching his hand into a threatening fist.

< >Dumbledore sighed again, but it was quite obvious he didn't have an answer.

< >"Stop bloody sighing all the time!" Professor Erwin shouted. "I know what you are thinking and I am not pathetic! No matter what you or Minerva or Juane or anyone thinks!" He slumped back onto his bed suddenly, exhausted.

< >"Of course you are not pathetic!" exclaimed Dumbledore with surprise, raising his eyebrows. "I was not thinking that . . ."

< >"What were you thinking, then?" Professor Erwin snarled with absolute malice, glaring at Dumbledore angrily. He didn't wait for an answer. "Get out. I thought maybe your coming here would be good, but this conversation has turned that around. Get out!"

< >"No!" Dumbledore yelled, surprising Professor Erwin. "No, Thomas," he repeated in a softer, more calm voice, "I will not leave. You can't ruin your life like you are doing now, Thomas."

< >"And why not?" Professor Erwin sneered. "And I am not ruining my life, thank you very much! My life is fine. It would be great, however, if you and everyone else would just shut up about - !"

< >"About Voldemort, Thomas?" asked Dumbledore patiently. "About Harry Potter?" The professor flinched, but Dumbledore ignored it. "Not likely, Thomas. Not likely at all and you know it."

< >"And so what if I do? I've managed at least a little serenity in my life!"

< >"Doing what, exactly, Thomas?" Dumbledore demanded fiercely. "Terrorizing your students to the point where they are afraid to speak in your presence? Afraid, that if they speak the name you have dared not utter in fifteen and a half years that names their greatest hero, they will be expelled? Am I missing something here, Thomas? Tell me, what have you managed? Serenity? That's not serenity! That is neglect and fear!"

< >Professor Erwin glared at Dumbledore, his eyes turning to slits. "Leave me alone, Albus," he growled, his voice deadly quiet and cold. "Just leave me alone. You cannot tell me what I can and cannot do."

< >"True as magic, Thomas, but I can certainly try."

< >"Get out, Albus."

< >Dumbledore lifted his spectacles to eye Professor Erwin, then left the room, closing the door behind him.

< >Out in the hall, waited Madam Tatooli. "I will bet the whole school felt that argument, Albus," she said with an edge to her voice.

< >"Juane, you know he must do it."

< >Madam Tatooli glared at Dumbledore and nodded coldly. "Do you somehow not think I know that, Dumbledore?" she demanded. "But I will not blackmail him to do that, do you understand? I cannot without a guilty, nor torn heart, tell him I will fire him because of what he must do. Neither will I force him, though both my brain and my heart say I should, but I shall not and will not."

< >Dumbledore sighed and looked down. "Of course not, but Juane, believe me, he will become more withdrawn and hateful if this is not done, and then . . ." He let it sink into Madam Tatooli's psyche. "Then, you will have to fire him, because he could become an endangerment to the students and staff."

< >Madam Tatooli shut her eyes for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, I know, Albus. What if . . .?"

< >Dumbledore sighed and shook his head. "I do not know. He has had so much happening to him, both of them, that I am not even sure any of this will work out. But to here? Thomas would lock himself away and never come out. He needs to be in a place where he can't lock himself away."

< >"Give him some time, Albus. For the sake of both of them."

< >"All right, but if too much time passes . . ."

< >"Yes," said Madam Tatooli sharply, glaring at him again. "Fine."

< >Professor Dumbledore left her in the hall and went out the front door, smiling half-heartedly at the students and staff who stared at him as he walked by. He retired quickly back to Hogwarts, yet not telling even Professor McGonagall, his most trusted friend and advisor, of the circumstances.

< >Madam Tatooli looked through the grate that was in the door to Professor Erwin's chambers after Dumbledore had left. The weary man was sitting up, his face buried in his hands.

~

< >The next day, Professor Erwin gathered himself and walked to class, though rather carefully, as his knees still shook. It was the middle of the first class, so the halls were empty, with only the ghosts about, along with Arana Filch, but unlike everyone else, the professor knew how to stay away from her, and even her two mangy dogs, Cornelia and Darius, who sniffed the halls, catching students in the act. (It should be noted, in light of Erwin's anger of these three "vile" roamers of the castle, they was nearly identical to Arana's brother, Argus, and his dreadful cat, except for the fact all five of them hated each other, but that is just a note.)

< >Professor Erwin entered his classroom silently and the class hushed the instant they saw him, frightful. Madam Tatooli dropped her book, letting it land with a thud on the floor. "P - professor Erwin?" she asked, blinking in surprise.

< >"Madam," said the professor, giving her a slight nod, and a look that meant that he wanted her out. She understood immediately, and, with giving him a look that he knew meant see me later, she strode out of the room.

< >The students' eyes went from her to Professor Erwin who walked to the front and picked up the book the madam had dropped. He glanced at the page on the nearest student's desk and flicked his wand, making the book suspend in air, the pages turning until it was on the right page.

< >"Really," he sneered, glancing at the page number again, "I'd have thought the madam would have gotten you a bit farther along." He sighed irritably, not even looking at his students. "Mark my words, you'll forget whatever she taught you. When you are taught by me, you never forget."

< >The class stared at him in amazement and confusion as he sat down at his desk with another, irritable sigh.

< >Professor Erwin glanced at them when he finally felt their eyes. "What is it? Am I growing werewolf fur? One of the many rumors I have heard, I have heard a lot more. Smith!" he snapped. "Delight me with a new one."

< >The boy, Jackson Smith, trembled as he spoke. "Sir, I - I - "

< >"You have not heard any? Well, my absence must have been boring for you all, then?" Professor Erwin sneered, narrowing his eyes. "So, since this is nearly just the beginning of the year, is there anything I should know that everyone else knows and I don't?"

< >The class exchanged looks, then a small boy in the middle row raised a trembling hand. The class stared at him, as if knowing exactly what he was going to say.

< >Professor Erwin raised an eyebrow at this. "McCullin, isn't it?"

< >"Y - yes, sir."

< >"What news do you have?" the professor asked in a menacing voice.

< >"Er, sir, I am not sure - "

< >"Whatever is it, tell me," Professor Erwin snapped, making the suspended book snap close and fall to the floor.

< >"Harry Potter is now entered in the first Triwizard Tournament in half a century at Hogwarts," the boy said quickly and shrilly, burying his head in his arms, as if preparing to ward off the professor from biting his head off and expelling him.

< >"W - what?" the professor sputtered, nearly falling out of his chair and turning white as a sheet - for at least the tenth time in the last few days. His hands began to shake and he grasped the edge of the desk to steady them.

< >"He - uh - in the fourth of three schools entered, sir, and is the youngest," someone murmured softly, keeping their eyes on the ground. "There are suspicious that he may have cheated to get in, since no one below sixteen years old was supposed to get in and there's only supposed to be one person per school and there's already a Hogwarts student entered . . ."

< >The class hushed and Professor Erwin jumped to his feet. "I, uh, had not heard that. T - thank you, McCullin and you, Ms. Jorgenson, but as I have always said, it is none of our business and we should get on with our lives." He cleared his throat nervously, stroking it twice.

< >"Now that we have covered the daily news," the professor coughed, continuing after a short, considering pause, "on with your work." He looked around with beady, hungry eyes. "Whippet! Tell me exactly what Madam Tatooli has been teaching you. I hope it has not been blasphemy, or I will have to teach you the lesson over . . ."

< >After the day was out, Professor Erwin hurried to his chambers, slammed the door behind him, locking behind him. He sat down on his bed and put his hands on his head. The Tri-wizard Tournament? The fourth contestant of the three schools? How - ? Did he really cheat? Is the boy insane?

< >There was a sharp tap on his door and he looked up. An owl was at the grate, flapping hard, as it pushed in a large envelope. In green lettering it read:

Professor Thomas Patrick Erwin
Sharadine School of Witchcraft
Mountaintop Cloud Castle
Dungeon Chambers
Alone

< >Professor Erwin stared at the envelope in hatred. "Damn you, Dumbledore!" he shouted angrily, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth. "Damn you!" He didn't move from his bed and narrowed his eyes at the letter.

< >The letter stayed in it's place on the floor that entire night. Professor Erwin did not bother to see Madam Tatooli - choosing to not have to walk over the envelope that undoubtedly carried the news he already knew - she would have probably lectured him and he didn't want nor need a lecture, in his opinion.

< >At breakfast, Professor Erwin scrawled a note to Dumbledore, saying:

< >It is asinine of you to continue writing me letters, Professor Dumbledore. It would be a wise and prudent decision on your part not to do this ever again. Thank you for your abundance of compliance.
<Signed,
< Professor Thomas P. Erwin

< >He folded the letter and gave it to his owl, who flew away, with the whole school watching it until it disappeared from sight. Then, with quick looks at Professor Erwin, they returned to a partially normal talk.

~

< >After a few days, everything was returning back to normal. The students lost whatever pity they might have had for Professor Erwin during his sick days and were back to hating him.

< >Professor Erwin, indeed, was acting normally, or it seemed that way to everyone else. He was snapping at everyone, yelling and bellowing, glaring at his students, and threatening them, of course, with the usual stance.

< >When he was alone, however, the professor would stare at a wall for hours, ignoring the letter that he had since picked up and put on his chamber desk.

< >About five days after he returned on the job, he was eating a small, quiet breakfast at the head table, when the morning mail arrived.

< >There seemed to be a lot more owls than usual, but that often happened, especially on the day of someone's birthday or something like that. Professor Erwin rarely cared for such formalities, so he paid no attention.

< >All of a sudden, though, the professor realized the half of the owls were headed toward him.

< >"NO!" he shouted angrily at the birds, jumping to his feet, and shaking a fist at the owls. "LEAVE - ME - ALONE!" Professor Erwin pushed back his chair and it slammed into the wall behind the curtains of the stage the high table was positioned on. He ran from the room, nearly tripping down the stairs of the stage, covering his head, as letters were being dropped on his head by the wretched creatures and sliding all over the Great Hall.

< >The students stared after him in bewilderment. The teachers and staff shared the same looks, except for Madam Tatooli who cursed under her breath and stood up to speak to the school.

< >"None of you move. Do not touch the letters. Do not speak. Samantha, dear, if you would - ?" Professor Gooding raced out of her chair and began to gather up the letters, snatching some out of the hands of confused students who held one or two blankly in their hands.

< >"Everyone," Madam Tatooli continued gravely, "you will not speak of this matter to Professor Erwin, nor any other matter but Transfiguration. You will also not spread rumors of the professor, either. He is under a lot of pressure and he does not need any more of it. Understand, young ones, if you do any of this, I will suspend you, which will seem like the royal jewels to you when I'm done."

< >The students nodded dimly, sharing looks of fear and shock.

~

< >After breakfast was over, Anna Winterbourne was the center of attention, though she tried desperately to run from her accusers who thought she had done something again, or just wanting to know - again - of what she had said to him many years before:

< >"What did you say to him?"

< >"What did you do to him, Anna?"

< >"You know what's going on. Tell us or we're going to Tatooli!"

< >"Tell us, Anna!"

< >Someone had actually pointed a finger at her at one point and called her one of You-Know-Who's supporters which made Anna blow up, scaring people half to death:

< >"If you ever dare call me Voldemort's ally again, I will see to it that you burn in - "

< >"All of you!" snapped Professor O. Arthur McWilliams, head of the Charms section of the school, looking very angry and grave, as he appeared in front of them. "You will leave this corridor this instant. Go to class. And you will shush your mouths. What I heard just now can get you suspended. Go on, before I tell Madam Tatooli!"

< >The students ran to their classrooms, but the fourth years moved more slowly, staring at each other and at Anna, who walked far behind everyone, her head bowed in conflicted thought.

< >Professor Erwin was already in his classroom, the letters strewn all over the desk. The class stared as they seated themselves, but dared not utter a noise. Their professor suddenly jumped to his feet, scooped up all the letters, threw them into the wastepaper basket, and with a flick of his wand, lit them on fire with a boom, to the shock of the class.

< >"Transfiguration does not use fire, but I felt this was a time for a change of . . . atmosphere," Professor Erwin told his class coldly, glaring at them with malice gleaming in his dark eyes. "Take out your books and begin reading chapter thirteen. I am particularly disgusted with your lack of effort." He spit in the wastepaper basket, making the fire rise in the air at least six feet with a sharp crack.