Only Time

Chapter Three

Harry sighed and rubbed at his eyes wearily. It was the third day of term, and while he liked teaching Defense, and had been teaching the D.A. at Hogwarts for just over two years now, it was hard being a full-time teacher. He was pretty much just improvising for the first and second years, since those teachers for his own first and second year didn't really teach him anything. So he started teaching them about the milder jinxes and hexes, and of course, the incredibly useful Disarming Spell. When I think of the number of times that spell has saved my life...ah well.

But today, in about ten minutes, would be the class that he most dreaded and most looked forward to teaching--the seventh year Gryffindors and Slytherins. Harry was a bit surprised that he'd get them together, since his Defense class had always been Gryffindor only, but it didn't matter. He wasn't especially looking forward to teaching Snape, but he was rather nervous about teaching the Marauders.

He didn't know what he would do when faced with his father, his godfather, the man he had regarded as an honorary uncle, and the one who betrayed them. James, Remus, and Sirius were dead, and Peter was...gone. He'd disappeared, though privately Harry suspected that Voldemort finally grew tired of him and disposed of him. So he didn't know what he'd do when faced with all four of them alive, well, and happy, though as he caught the sound of footsteps outside his classroom, he'd have to figure out a way to deal with it, and soon.

The door opened and someone with bright red hair walked in and set her bags down on a desk right in front of his own. Harry felt his heart constrict at the sight of the young woman who would become his mother, especially as she looked up and met his eyes, vibrant emerald to nondescript brown. But as the door opened again, young Lily Evans looked away, watching Snape and several other Slytherins Harry didn't know walk into the room and seat themselves at desks in the back. Right on their heels came four more girls, two who immediately sat on either side of Lily, the other two choosing a desk right behind her.

The class waited in silence for the other members to arrive, but when the bell rang and they still hadn't appeared, Harry stood up and prepared to speak. Just then the door flew open and in ran the missing four boys, out of breath and panting.

"Sorry...Professor!" James gasped, leaning against a desk and taking a deep breath. "We had to talk to Professor McGonagall."

"That's all right, boys," Harry replied, a bit caught by surprise when James called him 'Professor'. Must get used to that...Harry thought absently. "Just take your seats and I'll call role. I still need to learn everybody's names."

The boys all sat down at one desk, Remus and Sirius next to each other in the middle, James next to Sirius and Peter next to Remus. Harry looked back down at his desk, at the attendance sheet, and began to call roll, matching names to faces. Once he was done, he walked around to the front of his desk and surveyed the seventeen students sitting before him.

"This lesson will just be me seeing how far you are," Harry said quietly, "so you won't need any parchment. I'll just be asking you questions and having some of you demonstrate things. Some of these questions will appear to be easy, but I ask you to bear with me."

Harry waited while everyone put their parchment and quills away, leaving their wands on their desks, before barking out, "Mr. Pettigrew! What is the incantation for the Disarming Spell?"

"Expelliarmus," Peter replied calmly, and Harry gave a small nod of approval. Much as he disliked the little rat, he couldn't let that show to the class. And besides, this Peter had not yet betrayed his best friends.

"Miss Weathers, what is a Patronus?" Harry asked of a Slytherin girl, who looked confused.

"We haven't learned about the Patronus yet, Professor," she replied. Harry got out a bit of parchment and jotted down must teach Patronus...find a way without revealing Patronus.

"Then you'll be learning about that this year. Mr. Snape, where would you look for a kappa?" Harry continued.

"Mongolia," Snape replied primly.

"Actually, kappas are more commonly found in Japan," Remus corrected, and Harry permitted himself a small smile as he remembered his third year when Snape corrected their essays on kappas, saying they were more commonly found in Mongolia, whereas they were really Japanese water demons.

"Good job, Mr. Lupin," Harry said, and Snape glared at Remus. "Miss Evans, come up here and produce a shield for me."

Lily picked up her wand, walked up to the front of the room, and said clearly, "Protego."

"Good, good. Now, Mr. Potter, please come up and attempt to Stun Miss Evans," Harry ordered with a slight smile. James smirked a bit as he came to the front of the room.

"Stupefy!" James cried, and out of his wand came a red jet of light, which hit Lily's shield and dissipated. Lily smiled, and James looked a bit disappointed.

"Good job, you two. You may return to your seats," Harry said, and Lily and James sat down again. Harry leaned against his desk. He continued on in that fashion for a while; calling students up to demonstrate spells, or asking them questions related to Defense.

"Now, have your past Defense teachers taught you anything about the Unforgivables?" Harry asked, looking around the classroom.

"No," said one of Lily's friends, Anne Edgecoombe, rolling her eyes. "We were supposed to learn about them last year, but Professor Dreyer thought we were too young to learn about such nasty curses."

"Well, they are rather nasty," Harry agreed, "but I learned about them in my fourth year. My teacher, an incredibly paranoid former Auror" Who was actually a Death Eater in disguise, but let's not go into that "said that it didn't matter how old we were. We had to see what Dark wizards were capable of. We had to know, first hand, what we could very possibly face once we graduated. He showed us all three curses, demonstrated them on spiders...and then cast the Imperius curse on each of us in turn." Harry ignored the gasps of all his students and smiled thinly. "I will be doing the same to you all, because...having the experience has helped me, and it might help you too someday."

"So just because it's helped you and you think it might help us, you're going to cast a highly illegal curse on us?" Snape asked incredulously, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms. All the rest of the students seemed to have a similar problem with Harry's pronouncement, but Harry was watching Snape. Snape fixed his eyes on Harry, who met his gaze with a raised eyebrow. Snape dropped his eyes first.

"There's a reason it's illegal, you know, Mr. Snape. Care to tell us why that is?" Harry said, smirking bit. Damn, it feels good to show the greasy git that sometimes he's wrong, and without fear of getting detentions or points taken away! Being a teacher's good...

"Because it completely takes away the victim's will, leaving the victim completely in the caster's power," Snape replied promptly. Peter Pettigrew looked terrified at the prospect.

"Correct, Mr. Snape...but that's just the beginning. There's so much more to the Unforgivables than meets the eye--all three of them, and learning how to fight them could save your life, your sanity, your dignity and ideals. Next lesson will be about the Unforgivables. Now for homework...I want all of you to write out a list of every single spell you know, and write how each of them can be used in a defense situation. Considering you are seventh years and your knowledge of spells is extensive, you will be given two weeks to complete this assignment. Have a nice day."

The class filed out of the classroom, many of the students muttering darkly to their friends, but Sirius Black signaled his friends that he would catch up with them later, and hung back around the door. Harry, who had sat down behind his desk and put his head in his hands as soon as the class left, looked up again to see the young Marauder waiting patiently for his attention.

"Yes, Mr. Black?" Harry asked wearily. He really did not want to have to cast the Imperius curse, but if casting the curse helped save someone from doing its bidding by getting them used to throwing it off, Harry would cast it.

"I just wanted to say, Professor..." Sirius started, fidgeting nervously.

"Yes?" Harry prompted, leaning forward.

"I just wanted to say...I think you casting the Imperius on us is a good idea!" Sirius blurted out, and Harry blinked, surprised. "If we can build blocks on it by having the experience in fighting it, then that's all to the good, to my thinking. I don't want to ever have to listen to Dark wizards!" Sirius exclaimed passionately, but then his eyes widened, as if thinking he had said too much, and he practically fled out the door.

Harry sat back in his chair, thinking. It was very nice to have such a vote of confidence from Sirius, who he still respected a great deal despite his being seventeen and likely very different from the Sirius Harry had known, but what brought that on? Harry remembered the summer before fifth year, when he first learned about Sirius's family, and how they were Dark wizards...but then wouldn't Sirius want absolutely nothing to do with any Dark spells, especially an Unforgivable?

Harry sighed and stood up, stretching. It was his free period, and he decided he'd better tell the Headmaster about his lesson plans for the next class. He didn't think Dumbledore would appreciate it if Harry was casting Unforgivables on his students without permission, even for a good reason, so he walked out of his classroom and made his way to the stone gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office. He spoke the password and watched as the gargoyle sprang aside, then walked in and let the moving staircase carry him upwards. He knocked on the door, and at Dumbledore's invitation to come in, entered.

"Ah, Harry. How was your last class? You had seventh year Gryffindors and Slytherins, I believe," Dumbledore said jovially. He gestured to a chair on the other side of his desk, and Harry sat down.

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about," Harry said, watching Dumbledore carefully for any sign of surprise. Dumbledore, however, just smiled enigmatically and offered him a lemon drop. Harry hid a smile--Some things never change--and declined politely.

"Oh?" Dumbledore said, leaning back in his chair and popping a lemon drop in his mouth. "And what is there about this class that you need to bring to my attention?"

"You are aware that their previous teacher did not teach them anything about the Unforgivables?" Harry asked, and at Dumbledore's nod, continued. "I find the sentiment of trying to protect someone from something bad by not telling of it a useless gesture, which can only lead to pain" I should know--how can someone know what to avoid if no one warns them about it? "so my next class, I'm going to teach about the Unforgivables. I've decided to show their effects on something, most likely a bug of some sort, and then," Harry took a deep breath, "cast the Imperius on the students themselves. And the sixth years too, since I think they should also see these curses."

"Oh?" Dumbledore repeated, looking completely relaxed, as if teachers told him they were going to cast Unforgivables on his students every day. "Any particular reason for this?"

Harry ground his teeth. I'm sure you can guess the reason...you aren't stupid, after all...you just like to play with people, Harry thought, but kept it to himself. "The students need to know what they'll be up against," Harry explained instead. "Voldemort and his Death Eaters use the Imperius--and the other Unforgivables--very often, and I feel the students should see what could possibly be used against them. And by casting the Imperius, I could give them valuable experience in fighting the curse. However, I figured I shouldn't go casting illegal curses without your permission."

"I see," Dumbledore said. "In that case, you have my permission. Is there anything else you would like to discuss?"

Harry thought a bit. There was something he had been meaning to ask about, so he figured this would be as good a time as any to ask. "Professor, what's going on with Voldemort right now?"

Dumbledore blinked, obviously not expecting the question, but that was his only sign of surprise. "What do you mean, Harry?"

"Well," Harry said, almost wishing he hadn't asked, though then of course he'd have to deal with being ignorant, "I heard from some people that it was a pretty rough time, in his first rise to power--"

"First rise to power?" Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "You didn't mention he had more than one rise to power."

Harry rubbed his forehead, running his fingers lightly over his scar. "In 1981, Voldemort was temporarily defeated, but I'm not going to tell you what happened, it could change the future. It's bad enough that you know it'll be 1981 now. But anyway, he lost his body, and his spirit hid out in Albania possessing animals and stuff for thirteen years, before coming back in 1995 after he found a way to get his body back. Then I defeated him for good in early 1998. But the years from 1970 to 1981 are termed his first rise to power, and from 1995 to 1998 his second."

"I see," Dumbledore said, looking thoughtful. "Continue on with your question then."

"Okay, well, in his second rise to power, he kept quiet for about a year before he reappeared. Pretty much no one believed us when we said he was back, but anyway...I heard his first rise to power was pretty hard, with lots of disappearances and stuff. So I was just wondering, is it still only disappearances, or is there a real war going on?" Harry asked, looking Dumbledore straight in the eye.

Dumbledore sighed, looking tired for the first time since the meeting started. "There's a real war going on, Harry. There were only disappearances for a couple years, but two years ago, Voldemort began killing in earnest, Muggles and wizards alike, though only wizards he termed "Muggle-lovers". Almost from the start, people were calling him You-Know-Who rather than Voldemort, and considering all the attacks, everyone did know who. I tried to get people to call him by his true name, but many feared that by saying his name, they would somehow draw his attention to themselves, and no one wanted to draw his attention. Does that answer your question, Harry?"

Harry sighed, still rubbing his scar. "Only too well, Professor. At least he shouldn't be coming to Hogwarts, and I can actually get some rest in." He gave Dumbledore a quick smile, then stood up. Dumbledore smiled back. "I should go prepare for my next class. I'll see you at dinner, Headmaster."

"Feel free to call me Albus, Harry. My staff and I are on first-name terms," Dumbledore said.

"Then I'll see you at dinner, Albus," Harry replied, grinning, and left. Dumbledore sat back in his chair, smiling and pondering the mystery that was Harry Patterson.