Rating:
PG
House:
The Dark Arts
Ships:
Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Characters:
Remus Lupin Sirius Black Harry and Hermione and Ron
Genres:
Drama Romance
Era:
The Harry Potter at Hogwarts Years
Spoilers:
Prizoner of Azkaban
Stats:
Published: 12/03/2004
Updated: 06/24/2013
Words: 120,615
Chapters: 65
Hits: 86,935

Another Prisoner, Another Professor

Marauder

Story Summary:
AU. In Harry's third year he must learn the various truths about the new DADA teacher, Professor Black, and an escaped convict, Remus Lupin. SB/RL.

Chapter 14 - Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Summary:
While Black becomes the subject of numerous rumors among the students, Harry has another mysterious episode.
Posted:
04/29/2006
Hits:
2,321
Author's Note:
I certainly am enjoying all the theories people have on Astrophil and "the four". I must have heard about fifteen variations between those two, both from you guys and reviewers on other sites. I sat down a while ago intending to work on my Brokeback Mountain fic, but I think the Ennis muse has gone to sleep, so you can thank a snoring fictional gay cowboy for updates. ;)


Black was indeed still at Hogwarts the next morning, and it didn't take most people long to decide that he was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts professor they had ever had - except for Percy, who insisted that the best teacher of the subject in recent memory had been an old witch called Professor Somna, who had retired after one year because of problems with narcolepsy, "but had a brilliant mind, very brilliant".

"For once, I almost agree with him," said George. "Somna was great. We invented an Eye-Oozing Ointment during one of her classes. Terrific stuff."

Dueling seemed to be the main focus of Black's lessons; in a little over two weeks, they had learned how to send opponents turning somersaults in midair, how to deflect a number of jinxes, and how to send torrents of water at other people. Contrary to what Hermione had thought, however, the lessons in dueling didn't lead to more fights and conflicts outside of classes. A long list of rumors about Black had started in the last several days, and though everyone liked him as a professor, his life before coming to Hogwarts to teach became a subject of gossip outside of classes.

"I heard he spent the last few years in East Africa, traveling around by himself and killing nundus," said Seamus, cutting up his fried eggs.

"He couldn't have," Hermione said at once. "Nundus have to be killed or captured by at least a hundred wizards working together."

"That's what I heard, anyway."

"I heard he was some sort of private Hit Wizard," said Lee Jordan. "Not one of the ones with the Ministry, one that individual people hired to track down and kill people. That's why he knows so much about dueling."

"I'm sure Dumbledore wouldn't let a - "

"I heard he was engaged to a beautiful Italian witch named Apollonia," said Katie Bell. "Then she caught fwooper pox and died, so he locked himself inside his house and swore never to love again."

"He did not!" exclaimed Lavender, and immediately turned red.

Lavender and Parvati were still very fascinated by Professor Black. According to Hermione, they got up at six o'clock in the morning on the days when the Gryffindor third-years had Defense Against the Dark Arts, and spent all the time from then until breakfast fixing their hair and putting on makeup. "It's awful," she'd told Harry. "I can never sleep in because they're up at dawn giggling and sharing hair pins and spraying perfume everywhere. It's ridiculous. They could drink a gallon of beauty potion every morning and he would still be a professor."

"I heard he was almost eaten once by a dragon," said Colin Creevey, bouncing slightly in his seat. "Imagine almost being eaten by a dragon! Do you think it's true, Harry?"

"No, Colin," said Harry, trying his best not to sound annoyed, "I don't."

"I bet Malfoy would love it if it was," muttered Ron. "Or, better yet, if the dragon had actually got him."

After gloating about his relation to Black, Malfoy, much to Harry's amusement, now utterly despised him and tried to distance himself from him in any way he could. "I'm not even entirely sure he's my mother's cousin," Harry had heard him tell Pansy Parkinson once before Potions class began. "He might be her cousin's cousin. On the other side of the family, you know. Not even really a relation."

Potions lessons had become worse than they had ever been. Since the incident with Neville's potion, Harry and Neville were no longer allowed to share a table or, indeed, to speak to each other at all during class. Neville managed to get a table with Hermione once, but the rest of the time he ended up alone or having to share with one of the Slytherins, including, during one disastrous lesson, Goyle.

"I'm going to fail this class," said Neville miserably as they walked out of the dungeons; Goyle had dropped something heavily into his cauldron and splashed Shrinking Solution all over Neville's notes and quill. "And if I fail it, I'll have to do third year over again. My gran will murder me."

"You're good at Herbology," Harry said, trying desperately to think of some way to help. "What is it about Herbology that makes you good at it?"

"There's no Snape," said Neville.

"Feel awful for him," said Ron as they watched Neville walk down the corridor. "I'd try to help him out if I could, but it's not like I'm great at Potions. Hey, Hermione, d'you think you - "

He turned around and blinked. Hermione was gone.

"She was just here a minute ago!" Ron said. "Weird."

"Maybe she went to go look at that book some more," Harry suggested.

Hermione had spent a great deal of time in the common room in the evenings reading The Magic of the Body, Volume One, her eyes fixed on the pages as the other Gryffindors talked and laughed all around her. After three days, Oliver Wood had felt sorry enough for her to loan her his pair of large furry earmuffs. "Why don't you read it in the library?" Harry had asked her.

"I can't risk Pince seeing what book it is," she said, and clamped the furry earmuffs on her head once more.

"She's going to go mental," Ron said. "All those classes, and this thing with blood magic - not to mention the fact that she has to keep her deranged cat controlled - maybe she should just quit with the blood magic thing. I mean, nothing's happened to you, has it?"

"No, nothing," said Harry, but the memory of something that had occurred a couple of days ago came to his mind.

He had been walking down the Charms corridor when a notebook had slid across the floor right in front of his feet; he had bent over and picked it up, standing up to see a very pretty girl with long black hair next to him.

"Thanks, that's mine," she said, reaching out to take the notebook from him. "Someone bumped into me by accident and it got jolted out of my bag." As she took the notebook, someone had bumped into her again, shoving her forward, crushing her hand against Harry's chest and causing her head to collide with his neck.

A scene appeared in Harry's head like a vision: he saw Professor McGonagall in her classroom, gazing sternly. "You're late again, Miss Chang," she said, and then suddenly the scene vanished and Harry was in the Charms corridor again.

"Stop it, Roger, it isn't funny," said the black-haired girl to a boy who was grinning at her over his shoulder as he walked away. She turned back to Harry. "I'm sorry."

"It isn't your fault," he muttered. He could still feel where her hand had been on his chest.

"You're going to be late for class, Cho!" called someone from the other end of the corridor.

"Thanks," she said again, and ran off.

If something odd like that happened one more time, he told himself now as he and Ron reached the staircase, he'd tell Ron and Hermione. Perhaps it was some sort of magical ailment that Hermione would know about, and there was an easy way to cure it - whatever it was. An uneasy feeling nagged at him. Nothing that had ever happened to him, it seemed, could be fixed easily.


Next chapter: Everyone else goes to Hogsmeade, and Harry talks with Black.