Ch. 110 – A new professor and new books
It's been a few months since I met with Cornelius.
It's Halloween at Hogwarts and everyone is eating dinner in the Great Hall.
Dumbledore stands up from his chair to adress the students.
"Good evening, children! As you all know, Professor Quirrell vacated his position as teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts shortly after the sorting ceremony two months ago.
But now I am happy to announce that a replacement has been found.
Let us give a warm welcome to the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Fenrir." Dumbledore says, introducing me as I am met with light applause.
"Now, before the Halloween celebration starts, we must also welcome some new students." As Dumbledore says this, the doors open and a group of seven 11 year old girls walk in, followed by three 11 year old boys.
Professor McGonagall walks up to the children, carrying a stool with the sorting hat placed on top.
"When I call out your name, you will come forth, I will place the sorting hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses.
Anakitty Cullen."
As McGonagall calls out her name, Anakitty comes forward and has the sorting hat placed on her head.
"Ravenclaw!"
Everyone applauds, some more than others.
"Yeah! Whoo! That's my daughter! Haha!" I celebrate enthousiastically as Anakitty walks over to the Ravenclaw table with a red face from embarrassment.
"Lagertha Cullen."
"Ravenclaw!"
"Yeah! Whoo! That's also my daughter!" I celebrate again, causing her embarrassment as well.
"Alice Cullen."
"Ravenclaw!"
"Yeah! Whoo! That's my... uh, well that's harder to explain, but well done honey!"
"Falgar Cullen." McGonagall says, before she quickly reads through the whole list and looks at me weirdly. "Are they all your children?"
"Pretty much. Except for Alice and Luna." I explain, before McGonagall places the sorting hat on Falgar's head.
"Gryffindor!"
"Yeah! Whoo! That's my boy!"
"Dad! Shut up, you're embarrassing us." Falgar says as he sits down at the Gryffindor table.
"Two points from Gryffindor, for being rude to your old man."
"What?! You can't just.."
"Yes I can. I'm a professor." I say smugly before turning to McGonagall. "Please continue."
"Iris Cullen."
"Hufflepuff!"
"Yeah! Whoo! That's my little girl!"
"Yay! Thanks daddy! Mwah!" Iris says before she blows me a kiss and skips over to the Hufflepuff table.
"Kwenthrith Cullen."
"Slytherin!"
"Yeah! Whoo! That's my girl!" I yell, as Kwenthrith walks to the Slytherin table with a smile on her face, whispering. "Thanks dad."
"You're welcome sweetheart!" I yell, turning her face red from realising I heard her.
"Luna Cullen."
"Slytherin!"
"Yeah! Whoo! Way to go Luna!"
After that, Luna's children, Duke and Beowulf were both placed in Gryffindor, while Athena and Twilight were placed in Hufflepuff.
When the sorting is done, the feast begins. I enjoy watching the first years take a shot of jump scare water. It's a beverage I invented. It's a non-alcoholic version of gigglewater that causes a jump scare instead of laughter.
"Aah! Phew, that scared me, hahaha!" Dumbledore laughs after he takes a sip himself.
----------
The next day, Alice, Lagertha and Anakitty are on their way to classroom 3-C, to get their first lesson in Defence Against the Dark Arts.
They're early as no one else is even done with breakfast yet.
"Mom?" Anakitty asks.
"Yes Ana?"
"I understand why he made us eleven year olds, but why you?" Anakitty asks.
"Because he's an ass." Alice says, making Ana and Lagertha giggle. "He wants us all to study this world's magic, because apparently it makes for a good, well-rounded foundation to build your magic on." Alice explains.
"He could've just made a grimoire for us, right?" Lagertha asks.
"Yeah, that's another reason why he's an ass."
"Ouch, that seems a bit harsh." I say, walking out of the classroom.
"Hmph! I stand by my words. You turned your wife into an eleven year old child, you sick.."
"Whoa, whoa! Wait a minute! It's not like that. Grimoires are great for filling in gaps in your knowledge, but not so much for building a foundation of knowledge.
This world's magic is relatively easy to learn and yet, it is quite powerful and versatile. So, let's get inside the classroom and start learning." I say before we walk into the classroom.
They sit down in the front row and take out their book, The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble.
I walk in front of their desks and take the books. "These books are hot, stinking cat dookie." I say before I burn them to cinders in a second.
I wave my hand through the air, summoning new books on every desk. A Comprehensive Guide to Defence Against Dark Magic by Fenrir.
"Take you a few hours to read, but half a decade to master. Only has seven chapters, one for every year at Hogwarts." I then summon two more books for every desk. A Comprehensive Guide to Defence Against Dark Creatures by Fenrir. And A Comprehensive Guide to Defence Against Dark Objects, obviously also written by me.
Together, they'll provide any Witch or Wizard the knowledge and skills necessary to become an Auror, let alone pass their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s for the subject of DADA.
At this point more students start to arrive in class, since there are only ten minutes left before class begins.
Today I'm teaching all first years and second years students.
First two hours for Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff first years, and then two hours for second years, followed by the same for the Gryffindor and Slytherin first and second years.
"Good morning children. On your desk in front of you, you see three books. These are the books you'll be primarily using in this class. I want you all to pass your copies of Quentin Trimble's book to the front of the class."
The children all do as I say and when I've got all the books in front of me, I burn them to cinders.
"Hey! Those cost us all a Galleon each!" A Ravenclaw student says angrily.
"Yes, but the three books in front of you are free of charge, and they'll be used from years one through seven. So you'll never have to buy another book for this class." I explain.
"Let me explain how these books work. At certain points, you'll notice a reference made to a certain chapter in another book. All these books can be found in the Hogwarts Library. I do NOT want you to read the whole book, just the chapters I refer to in my book.
There aren't enough copies of these books for everyone in the library, so I made this." I say as I walk over to a bookcase next to my desk.
"It is magic. To summon a book, you must hold out your hand to the bookcase and say the title of the book you want, followed by the author's name." I say before I demonstrate.
I hold out my hand and say the title. "Spellman's Syllabary by Rosana Amorim." As soon as I've said the name of the author, the book comes flying out of the bookcase, into my hand.
"This is a book about Ancient Runes, a subject you may choose to take in your third year. The last two chapters are about defensive uses for runes. You'll have to know them before Christmas break. Like I said before, I do NOT want you to study the entire book, ONLY the last two chapters. Get a copy of the book from the bookcase at the end of this class.
Since it is now literally my job to teach you all how to defend yourselves in dangerous situations, I've convinced Dumbledore to set up a dueling class.
Every day, after classes are over, there will be a compulsory dueling lesson. It's only one hour. On Monday, the first years. On Tuesday, year two. On Wednesday year three and so on.
These lessons will be taught by myself, Professor Flitwick and Professor Snape.
Any questions?" I ask before almost everyone raises a hand.
"Oh, boy. Yes, Mister Corner?" I say pointing to a boy sitting right in front of me.
"Are you really a God like the Daily Prophet said?" He asks, looking excited.
"Yes. Are there any questions about this class, or is everyone just curious about me?" I ask as everyone puts their hand down.
"Good, I want you all to open the book A Comprehensive Guide to Defence Against Dark Magic and start reading until page twelve." I say as everyone opens their book and starts reading.
It doesn't take long before some students notice something odd. "Whoa, it's like I'm not reading at all. I just look at the page and images and a voice appear in my mind, explaining everything."
I smile as I see them excited about reading. I used David Attenborough's voice. It's like they're listening to an audio book, while looking at a movie. Pretty much like a documentary.
"Show off." Alice says.
"That's two points from Ravenclaw." I say, smiling at her.
"What the hell?!"
-----
Later that day, after I've taught the Gryffindor and Slytherin first years, Harry, Ron and Hermione stay behind after class.
"Can I help you three with something?" I ask.
"We were wondering Professor, what did you do to Harry during the sorting ceremony?" Hermione asks.
"I've been feeling loads better and I can actually sleep without nightmares now." Harry says, clearly happy about it.
"That's good to hear, Harry. I will tell you what I did, but I think your guardian should be there when I do. I'll write to Sirius so he can come visit and we can talk about it. Sound good?" I say, before Harry nods happily.
"Thank you Professor." Harry says, and the three go on their way.