Death Is Our Gift

IX

"Harry Potter Has Come to Hogwarts... again"

Liam awoke the next morning earlier than he had on any other first day of school in his life. This was due only in part to the fact he was going to a school for wizards. The bulk of responsibility fell to the sound of Ash singing. It wasn't that his voice was bad, it was just that it was loud. Liam's moan of disbelief that it was morning got Ash's attention.

"Morning!" he seemed to yell at full blast. "How did you sleep?"

"Not enough," said Liam, sitting up in bed. He looked around to the other boys in the dorm. Each was still in bed, or trying to get out of bed. "Why are you so cheery?"

"I'm used to getting up at dawn anyway, so I actually had a little bit of a lie in," said Ash. "Hurry up, we need to get down to see the new DADA-"

Ash's speech was cut short by a pillow hitting him in the face. "Shut your trap," said Freddie. Ash looked to Freddie, who was rolling out of bed and rubbing his face. Ash looked back at Liam, then walked out of the room.

"What's up with him?" asked Robbie, pulling on his socks.

Liam shrugged, but knew what was going on. Ash wanted friends. Liam threw on his robes and ran out of the room. "Ash," he called as he came into the Common Room, to see the portrait beginning to close. Liam blinked and caught the door before it closed, pushing it open and almost hitting Ash.

"Where did you come from?" Ash asked, startled to see Liam.

"You ran out," he said, trying to breathe hard. "Call me nosey, but I wanted to wonder if you have an issue with the pillow or the tone."

Ash looked down at his feet. "Sorry, I was attacked by a flock of rabid geese when I was a small child and get scared by flying down pillows." Liam laughed at that, causing Ash to look up and grin.

"Why are you trying so hard?" asked Liam.

"Because I was raised bouncing around from one place to the next. I had no friends outside the few children and as a baby I didn't fit in with them either. I was 'accidentally' making things happen. They thought I was possessed or something. So, I learned to become really bitter and have a really sharp tongue.

"You guys are like me, and it feels really good." His eyes filled with sadness that Liam knew very well. It was a loneliness that came from a lifetime of feeling like an outsider.

"Look, Ash, you're a great guy, the least British Brit I've met, and probably the only person who would enjoy the delicacy that is a taco, but you have to relax. Be funny. Every one likes a comedian."

"I'll try, but you should know that I have a tendency to make people mad. It's the Irish in me."

Liam placed his hand on Ash's shoulder. "Me too, bubba. And I'm just a blonde kid from California."

They walked down to the Great Hall, having to take a detour, as they wanted to avoid Peeves, who they had heard all about from the older students. As they entered the Hall, they saw the other students beginning breakfast. Liam & Ash took a seat at the Gryffindor table, discussing the contents of their books when Lex & Sarah arrived sitting next to them.

"Mornin'," said Ash to the girls. "Smoked kipper?"

"How can you English eat fish for breakfast?" asked Liam.

"Like this," said Joshua, coming from behind them, stabbing one of the tiny fish with a fork and putting it into his mouth. He sat next Ash.

Liam made a disgusted face as one of the Gryffindor prefects came down the table, passing out schedules. The first years, like all the other students at all the tables, began to read through their schedules. Liam looked over his. Today they had Potions in the morning with the Hufflepuffs and in the afternoon they had Defense Against The Dark Arts with the Slytherins.

"Why do we get stuck with the Slytherins?" asked Freddie. "Slytherins and Gryffindors hate each other."

"Maybe if you're going to study Dark Arts, it's best to do it with someone you dislike," commented Ash.

"Yeah," said Lex, "that would make sense. Why curse someone you like?"

"Because if the enemy learns that your friends are your weakness," said Liam with a tone of foreboding, "they have you. It's much more difficult to attack a friend. And when your friend becomes your enemy, you're at an automatic disadvantage."

"Remind me not to upset you," said Ash, taking a few sausages onto his plate.

"Sorry," said Liam, looking down at his plate. Lex looked at him, with concern on her face. "Way Too Serious Summers is going back to his happy place." He grinned and said, "So, do you think we'll get a break from McGonagall because of being Gryffs?"

"Fat chance," said a third year sitting next to them, his mouth full of sausages. "Ol' McGonnagall is 'arder on us than any o' the other 'ouses."

A few older boys came toward them, the leader being Malcolm Weasley.

"Oy, Sarah," he said as he reached her. "Let me see your schedule."

"Do you not have any manners?" replied Sarah, standing on the bench & staring down at her cousin & his friends.

"Manners?" questioned Malcolm. "Manners only apply when Grandmum is around." Sarah took a moment to consider this, and unable to find a flaw with the logic, passed Malcolm the schedule, which he compared to his and the other boys.

"Why do the ickle firsties get off light?" said one of Malcolm's group.

"What do you mean?" asked Liam.

"The first years only have the normal DADA class," said Malcolm, handing the schedule back to Sarah. "Everyone else has Double Defense Against the Dark Arts - as if we haven't got enough to deal with already."

"Maybe the new instructor feels the older classes could do with some extra work," said Lex, almost smugly. Malcolm and his friends just glared at her, turned and walked back to their seats. "What did I say?"

"You insulted an older classmate," said Joshua, eating a slice of toast. "Granted, it is Malcolm who is a bit serious normally."

"Probably a bit more with his dad teaching," said Ash. "Don't know if I could handle-"

But from high overhead, the sound of hundreds of owls came rushing into the Great Hall. The first years looked up and saw the owls begin to sweep down, delivering their packages.

"That many owls, you'd figure that one of them would make a mess," commented Ash looking upward.

"Eww," said Sarah. "Owls never do that while delivering." She looked down at her porridge, apparently put off eating the rest of it. "A properly trained owl will not relieve itself until after the delivery is made."

At the staff table, Dumbledore stood & cleared his throat, though not loud enough to be heard echoing through the hall, it magically seemed to reach each students ears, attracting everyone's attention. "As I promised you last night," he began, "I would like to introduce-"

As if on cue, a cloaked man entered the Great Hall. He made his way between the Hufflepuff & Ravenclaw tables. Every student watched the cloaked man make his way to the staff table, turning as he passed them - following every step. He stopped in front of Dumbledore and bowed, not removing his hood.

"Ah, perfect timing," said Dumbledore. "And as I was saying, I would like to introduce the new Defense Against The Dark Arts professor, Harry Potter." At mention of his name, Harry brought his "hands" from removed the hood covering his face - his left one which was a normal flesh & blood hand. The other looked like an ancient gauntlet, dull grey that had talons instead of fingers. Liam was not the only one that noticed this grim sight. His hood removed, the school got a good look at him.

In "A Muggle's Guide to the Wizarding World", Mrs. Granger-Weasley included three photos of Harry Potter. The first showed a one-year old Harry, his mother, and his father outside of Hogwarts. The second was of Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger-Weasley outside of Hogwarts during their first year. The third was after graduation, Harry flying on his broomstick playing Quidditch. With that as evidence, Liam doubted very much that his person standing before them was really Harry Potter.

His dark hair was rather messy, be it naturally or from wearing the hood. His face looked hard, like a weathered old man, rather than the thirty something wizard he was supposed to be. Along one cheek was a pink scar that ran dangerously close to right eye. His green eyes seemed to look at everyone, memorizing their faces. There was no emotion in his face. Liam had seen people look like that before - when someone had seen so much pain & so much death that they just stopped responding to anything.

The teachers seemed to find this display humourous, all but Professor Snape, who simply rolled his eyes, pushed his way back from his breakfast and walked out of the Great Hall with a look of disgust on his face.

"Professor Potter, would you like to address the students?" asked Dumbledore.

"Thank you, Headmaster," said Harry as he stood up next to the staff table.

"My name is Harry Potter," he said, his voice echoing through the hall. "Let's get this out of the way. Yes, I am the 'Boy Who Lived'." He took his talon hand and pulled the hair off his forehead, revealing a lightning bolt shaped scar. This seemed to draw murmurs from the crowd.

"I am here to teach you how to defend yourselves against the Dark Arts," he said, letting his hair fall back down. "I am not here to sign autographs, give interviews, receive hero worship, or even to talk about my past. I am your professor. Treat me as such. Anyone failing to do this will be sentenced to the nastiest detention that I can think of, and I have been personally tortured by Voldemort, so I have a lot of knowledge to draw upon."

The students began to look at each other with anxious looks. Harry's eyes continued to scan the hall. "Now," he continued, "if you are a fifth year Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, I would recommend that you arrive at your next class early, as class will start when I arrive. He turned and left the hall. Several of the Ravenclaws & Hufflepuffs quickly got up from their tables and scurried from the Hall as well.

The remainder of the tables were stunned, probably no more so than the Gryffindor tables. A few heartbeats later, everyone was talking amongst themselves again.

"Is he always that intense?" asked Ash.

Sarah shook her head. "I remember when I was little, he was always joking and having fun. Then he'd go away for long periods and come back colder. Since Uncle Ron died, he's been colder still. He's scary now."

"Didn't look like Professor Snape appreciated his entrance either," said Lex, looking to Snape's empty seat.

"Yeah, they both hate each other," added Joshua. "Been that way since Snape & Uncle Harry's dad when to school together."

"Speaking of which," said Liam, "we should start making our way down to the dungeons. We have potions and after that..."Liam trailed off as he looked to the staff table.

"What's wrong?" asked Ash.

"Nothing," said Liam, shaking his head. "Willow missed the big show. We'll have to go to the library afterwards & tell her all about it."

*************

Willow stood before the library door, large brass key in hand. She was having a moment of panic.

"Get a grip, girlie", she said under her breath. "It's just a library, like lots of other libraries you been into-" She put the key in the lock & turned it. The door, at its counterparts around the library, flew open. Willow took a look at the massive size of the library, all the magical books just staring at her.

"...and sucked dry of every word on the pages." She gulped, turned on her heels and was about to leave when a small blonde boy bumped into her. He looked up at her and Willow felt she was staring into the eyes of an old friend.

"Sorry Madam Rosenberg," said the little boy, a bit of an Irish accent poking through. "Dinna see you there."

"It's okay," said Willow, smiling uncomfortably. "But no Madam Rosenberg's around here. I'm just Willow. 'Madam' makes me sound like an old lady or someone who runs-" She looked at the boy again, remembering his age, "something that you shouldn't be learning about from a librarian. Sorry, I'm rambling. Just call me Willow."

The boy walked past her & said over his shoulder, "Cheers Miss Willow!" Willow smiled at that. She liked the sound of "Miss Willow".

***********************

The door into the dungeon flew open & in walked Professor Snape. He walked quickly to the front of the classroom, turned to face the students, and leered at them.

"Let me dispel the misconceptions that you may have about this class. There are no nice wrist movements except the stirring of your cauldron, no fancy words except the names of the ingredients you will be using, and the only 'Dark Arts' you should defend yourself against is my quill grading your poorly written essays.

"Potion making is an exact form. There is no room for error. An extra drop of dragon's blood can turn your Restorative Draught into a deadly poison. It requires devotion that seventh years, let alone first years, rarely have. But as the Headmaster wishes me to continue teaching this to you, I expect your full attention and devotion."

He began to read off names from the register, acknowledging each person with a glare as if to determine his or hers potential for failure. When he called Joshua's name, his snarled lip turned up a bit as if acknowledging a glimmer of hope, only to have it removed upon calling of Liam's name, and regressing further into him with the mention of a Weasley.

"I would also like to point out that I will show no favourtism to anyone based on their relation to certain members of the staff. Merit will be only be given to those who earn it-"

"Or have Slytherin blood in them," said Sarah under her breath.

"What was that Miss Weasley?" asked Professor Snape.

Sarah looked around the room. "Sorry Professor must have been the wind."

"Five points for your lack of control over the wind," said Snape.

Liam almost opened his mouth, but Lex kicked him. Liam turned to look at him, only to be greeted by a silent glare

"You were going to speak, Mister Summers, or do all Americans keep their mouths open, hoping something useful will come out?"

"Typically we put things in our mouths," said Liam.

"Five points from Gryffindor," said Snape, "for failure to abide by basic grammar." He glared at Liam, and then turned his attentions to the black board.

The rest of the class continued with the same level of contempt between Snape and the rest of the class - particularly directed at Liam & Sarah. Any answer given was either wrong (resulting in deduction of points for "an obvious lack of seriousness") or was spectacularly wrong. The later was fodder for Snape to make snarky remarks.

"Pity, Mister Summers, that your rapier like wit does not match your knowledge of basic potion components."

"I'm sorry that the American education system focuses less on the components of sleeping potions and more on the triumphs over antiquated English mannerisms."

"Five points for your cheek, Mister Summers." Snape leaned over him and whispered so faintly that no one else but him could have heard it, even if they were sitting right next to him, "You would do best to keep your noise clean and mouth shut, half-breed."

Liam bristled, trying to not be offended. Snape walked towards the Hufflepuffs & deducted points from one of the girls for failure to adhere to simple instructions.

As they left the class, Sarah hit Joshua in the arm. "Why didn't you say something in there? You might have given us a chance to get some points back."

Joshua, rubbing his shoulder, said rather sharply, "Despite what you think, not all Malfoys are good at Potions. In fact, I rather don't like the subject. I can think of other subjects that find more appealing." He walked ahead a little faster. "Must be the Weasley in me."