Naivety

We appeared before a castle, reality snapping out loudly behind us. Apparition, I remembered. My eyes had allowed me to peer deeply into the sorcery woven by Dumbledore.

Apparition was different from the way devils usually teleported. When it could be said that devils created portals, exploiting gaps already existing in space and time, wizards by apparating tore through the space-time continuum.

It didn't look pretty at all. It was a gap left in the space-time continuum and it made me wonder how this reality hadn't already collapsed.

This was why the apparition was loud. It was a hammer. Subtlety was the last thing it would be able to do.

"I welcome you to Hogwarts Rias," Dumbledore spoke.

I turned toward the wizard. He spoke with cheer, one I could easily see as a lie, as an act. Dumbledore was cautious, anxious and fearful that I would blow up at any moment like a deity of old.

He feared me going back on our deal. He wished he could have made it binding but he wasn't stupid enough to propose such a thing to a being he clearly believed was divine.

Maybe if it had been someone or something else, he would have been right to think such. Fortunately for him, I didn't care.

I looked at the castle. Hogwarts was a huge, rambling, quite scary-looking castle, with a jumble of towers and battlements.

It was someone that seemed to be coming straight out of Tim Burton's mind. The castle felt alive.

It felt alive like the castle of my bro…of Sirzechs. It felt way less dark, expected I think for a construction not existing in hell and housing the prince of sins.

It reminded me of Koneko in a way. Hogwarts smelled and felt like the Earth, like what may have once been a blood-soaked battleground, one where despair fell and hope thrived.

I took a step and felt the castle's attention shift to me. Of course, it would. Hogwarts was made to protect, nurture, to teach children, to allow them to thrive.

I was inherently everything Hogwarts was built to stand against. I was a devil, a spawn from the blood of Helel and Lilith whose biological purpose was to corrupt the creation of the Presence.

The castle would try to do everything in its power to make sure I didn't doom anyone in its halls even though it knew nothing, nothing it could do had a chance of working.

At my side, Albus walked talking about things we both didn't care about. "What do you think of the castle?" he said after a moment.

"It is beautiful," I admitted. Beautiful because of its naivety and stupidity. An ant Looking at the sun and vowing to extinguish it was nonsensical yet the act in itself, the courage to try to do the impossible, to go against the odds was beautiful.

A part of me wished I could have been like that. Maybe…maybe…no, it didn't matter anymore.

The doors opened before us revealing a giant hall. It was empty. The memories of Albus showed me that we were at the end of August, near the beginning of the next school year.

Cedric had died months ago due to Voldemort and Harry was or would be accused of lying. Didn't care to remember which.

"Severus, Minerva, Filius, Pomona, so glad to see you!" the voice of Dumbledore boomed through the hall.

Well not totally empty. Four other people were present and coming closer to us. One brief look at their appearances and their souls allowed me to distinguish them immediately.

One of them was a man who looked as if for the last forty years of his life, a cat had shit on his bed. He looked as if he was restraining himself from snarling. One look at me and he froze.

He looked at me as if he had seen a ghost. "Lily," he whispered under his breath. Had I not been a devil, I wouldn't have heard him.

Green eyes, red hair. I would have understood his shock if I didn't look completely different from her. Lily's hair had been a different shade from mine. She also hadn't looked in any form like me.

No shade to her. Lily Potter had been gorgeous. I could see it so clearly through his mind. It's just that she had been human and humans rarely looked as good as the ugliest devil. Humans looked defective. Comparing me to Lily Potter would be akin to comparing the flame of a candle and a star.

Severus snape. A broken and disgusting man who yearned and wished for something that had never been his, that could never be his. A man so full of spite that was only fuelled by the love he had for Lily.

Like a resolved riddle, his mind unfolded before my gaze. A love that was cruel and twisted. A jealous one.

This is why he hated Harry yet he would be giving his life for him without hesitating. Harry Potter was everything he hated and paradoxically everything he wished he could have.

Harry was the son of the man who bullied him, who was so much better, popular than him, who 'took' his true love.

Harry was the proof that Lily had chosen someone else. Harry Potter was the reminder of the mistake he made the day he called Lily a slur.

He hated Harry Potter because each time he saw him, he saw the face of the one who made him feel as if he was nothing but with the eyes of the one he loved.

He loved Harry Potter because he was his only reminder of Lily. He cared because each time he looked into the boy's eyes, it made him feel as if she was still alive.

He loved Harry Potter because in another world, if things had been different, Harry would have been his child, not the child of the one who bullied him.

The man was delusional. Everything he lost was because of his shortsightness. He lost Lily because impressing those who would put him at the stake was more important than the hurt his childhood friend who always supported him would feel. He lost Lily because he chose to say the prophecy to Voldemort.

He had asked Voldemort to spare Lily. He had wanted to make her his. He had thought she would have been grateful as if Voldemort wouldn't have killed her husband and her son because of him. Even if there wasn't this emptiness inside of me, I don't think I would have been to not feel disgusted.

Looking at him felt like watching a bad movie, one you couldn't stop looking at after discovering it but that you wished you never did.

A part of him hoped that I was Lily back from the dead. Stupid and naive he mentally acknowledged yet he still believed it. Faith, so much hope and faith that If I wished, I knew I could take it and make it mine. Kagutsuchi was a god and I hadn't only inherited his flames.

The others were more easy to recognize. Filius, the charms professor with his short size due to his nature as a part goblin, Minerva McGonagall with her soul that reminded me too much of a little girl with golden eyes and white hair. The last one was clearly by deduction Pomona sprout.

They all were looking at me warily. They weren't like Snape lost in his head hoping for something deep down he knew was false. They knew that I wasn't human. They knew I was different. They knew if I wished to, nothing could stop me from creating untold destruction.

"This is Lady Rias and she thankfully accepted my proposal of being the next defence against the dark arts professor."

The heads of the different houses, well Filius and Minerva looked at each other bewildered as if wondering if Dumbledore was serious. Severus's attention was back-focused on me as if trying to dissect me.

Pomona Sprout was looking at me weirdly. I couldn't place it exactly without digging deeper and I didn't want to. I could feel anger, sadness and hatred boil in her like a volcano waiting to explode.

A part of me, the demonic one yearned to manipulate it, grow it just to see the chaos that would be unleashed.

Words came to the front of my mind. Words I knew that when spoken would break and twist. Just a few words short of turning today into a bad one for everyone here, not only me.

I imagined it. I wanted them to feel the same despair I held inside, the one where everything stopped mattering, where even doing anything felt like a chore, the one you had when things went wrong and you knew without a doubt it was your fault.

Just a few words.

"Can you show me my quarters?" I said to Dumbledore. I didn't want to talk to them. I don't think doing so even while trying would not result in something going wrong. I already fucked up enough. Didn't need more added to the pile.

"Of course," Dumbledore said with a smile on his face as if moments ago, he hadn't been trying to make the other teachers communicate and begin to trust me.

He turned toward the other teachers "It seems Lady Rias is more exhausted than I thought. Proper Discussions and introductions will have to happen next time."

"Allow me to show you your quarters," he told me before we began moving.

Stairs, stairs, ghosts turns and turns. Stairs again. I knew I should be paying attention to the ever-shifting nature of Hogwarts but I couldn't.

We finally arrived before a door that Dumbledore opened "This is your quarters Lady Rias," he told me as the room unveiled before my eyes.

Adequate was the only adjective that appeared in my mind. The room was gigantic as if had been magically enlarged from the inside.

It looked as if a whole condo had been built on the other side. Dark Candeliers were stuck to the roof illuminating softly the room.

A table made of what seemed white wood stood at the corner of the room, four chairs of the same colour more hybrid between chairs and thrones were around it.

I could see a closet opened with what seemed to be hundreds of hundreds of clothes inside I knew with one look were of high quality.

A King-size bed was in the middle of the chamber covered with red blankets.

"This is just a part of your accommodation. I know it's probably not enough bu-"

"It's enough," I said softly.

It was enough. It was adequate for a devil princess having only known the best comfort in her entire life.

It was a room that would be seen as more than extraordinary even by all-powerful human kings.

"It is enough," I repeated and I wondered if I was truly telling it to him of someone else. "I already told you. Just Rias."

"Understood. I won't repeat my mistake."

"Good."

I sat on the bed. 'Soft' I thought. Almost as soft as the ones I shared with her. I closed my eyes and let myself fall on it. Maybe, maybe by closing my eyes, I could lie to myself that I hadn't said yes.

"The great hall is the place where all teachers eat together but it would also be possible for a house elf to bring you directly your meals here."

"There's no need to," I told him. "Don't forget what I am." what you think I am I added mentally.

"Don't worry. You'll have what you want."

I opened my eyes, my gaze locking with his "The start of the school year is next week isn't it?!"

His expression didn't change even though inside, his mind erupted wondering how I knew. "I'll make them strong. I'll make them more than you could ever dream of Albus Dumbledore. I'll make the weapons you wish for. This was my promise and I won't break it so go, go and do whatever you wish to but until then, leave me alone."

With a surge of my demonic energy, he disappeared I knew to reappear before the door.

I closed back my eyes and tried to dream. Unfortunately, what awaited me were nightmares filled with eyes of purple and hair the colour of crimson.

*scene*

Pomona Sprout was exhausted. More than that, she was confused. The last months had been hard, more than she ever wished they would be. Pomona had lost one of her students, one of her children. Cedric Diggory who was so kind, who was loved by so many, who had such a bright future before him, Cedric who was murdered at a moment he should have only felt glory.

Harry Potter had spoken of He-who-must-not-be-named. The boy had said he had come back. The boy had said one of the greatest monsters born from their society had come back to life and as if to celebrate the fact had taken the life of one of her children.

She didn't know what to think. She didn't know what to believe. The only thing she knew was that she had lost one of her Puff and the only thing she wanted was to make the one responsible pay.

She wanted to bury them alive amongst ants, maggots and the monstrous things that crawled underneath the Earth. She wanted them to be scared, to be powerless as their skin was torn off, their flesh consumed and their bones crushed.

She had asked the Headmaster if what the boy who lived had said was true. She had asked him and he hadn't answered at all! He had looked at her with pity! Pity and sadness as if he knew what it was to lose a child under his personal care as if he had been once weak enough to not save what was his!

Albus Dumbledore, the defeater of Grindelwald! Albus Dumbledore, the only man alive the dark lord had feared! Albus Dumbledore who never lost! Albus Dumbledore with enough power to do what he wished to do! Albus blasted Dumbledore who knew how Cedric had died and who was cruel enough to not say anything to her!

She needed to know! She needed to know because each moment she didn't was one where the one who murdered Cedric was able to walk unscathed.

It didn't matter to her that the murderer could indeed be the dark lord like Potter had said. It didn't matter to her that it could be an important pure-blood. Everyone could fall no matter how unlikely it may be. Only an instant and things could change.

Pomona Sprout wasn't as strong as Albus Dumbledore. She wasn't as skilled as Minerva or Filius. She wasn't as knowledgeable in the dark arts as Severus.

It didn't mean she was weak! It didn't mean she couldn't stand tall alongside the heads of the other Hogwarts houses. She wouldn't have been chosen if that had been the case. She knew how must saw her. They called her kind as if it was synonymous with weakness when one needed strength to truly be able to be kind.

Pomona Sprout knew the secrets of the Earth, its wonders and its horrors. One instant, only one instant was sometimes all that was needed to make even a god fall. She just needed to know!

Unfortunately, no matter how she pestered, no matter how she begged Dumbledore, the man's lips stayed close. It wasn't fair. It didn't make any sense.

As if the world wanted to prove her right, that nothing made sense anymore, A comet had fallen from the sky with so much magic that she was sure that even the most oblivious muggle worldwide had been able to feel it.

The headmaster had come back not alone. He had brought back someone, a girl that seemed to come out of a fantasy, of a painting trying to represent beauty that had instead created something more.

The girl was clearly something other, something more. Just being near felt like being at the edge of an endless pit. The girl breathed power more than any creature Pomona had ever met.

The dark lord, the headmaster, Nundus and dragons. She had been in all their presence and they had been nothing before the girl.

Dumbledore had told them that she was to be the next defence against the dark arts professor.

Dumbledore had told them that the girl with too much magic would be the bearer of the curse title.

Dumbledore wanted to sacrifice her. Dumbledore wanted to sacrifice a child because she was a child.

Otherworldy and divine she may look, powerful she may seem, but it didn't change the fact that Pomona was a teacher before all, one whose task was to nurture and protect children.

Dumbledore wanted to sacrifice a child before her and she would be damned before she let him do so.

She had failed Cedric. She hadn't been able to protect him but the girl, Rias who breathed power and with broken empty eyes. Pomona could, no, she would save her.

Pomona held pride in being a teacher. What teacher would she be if she left another child to die?

*scene*

"What's wrong with you Albus?!" Minerva shouted at him. The cup of tea on his desk almost fell because of how loud she was. If he hadn't reacted he thought while taking a sip, It would have truly been a shame.

"Could you be more clear Minerva?" he told her after putting the cup back on the desk, in a place that hopefully would not allow it to fall. "According to my brother and many, there's a lot."

"I'm talking about the child you brought if it's even one and not a creature capable of looking younger in this castle! You want to make her the defence against the dark arts teacher?! When the ministry is breathing on our neck! When what was supposed to happen was that one of their agents would be chosen to be one of our teachers?!"

He had come back into his office after leading the Daemon to her room. He had wanted to relax well as much as he possibly could with her in his castle.

He had been scared that at any moment, she would break her promise, that she would have shown she had tricked him.

He wasn't used to such helplessness anymore. What he was taking was a gamble, one that if he lost would be disastrous and probably mark the end of the magical world but if he won? A smile bloomed on his face.

It was foolish but sometimes foolishness was what turned a gamble into assured victory.

He had been relaxing and adjusting his plans when Minerva barged followed by the other teachers in his office with what he knew would be headaches-inducing words.

He listened half-heartedly as Minerva continued to rant. When the threat Voldemort posed would be dealt with, Albus would take a really long vacation because he really wasn't paid enough.

"I guess most of you think the same thing if I'm not wrong," Albus cut Minerva turning his gaze toward the other heads of the Hogwarts houses.

"Albus," Filius spoke softly as if fearing to be heard by anyone else other than the ones present in Albus' office. "I rarely doubt your decisions. I always backed you up but this time I fear you have brought death here. My body, my soul, they screamed at me to kneel the moment I saw her. I knew without a doubt the moment I saw her that I only was living because she was allowing me to. I had never felt this in all my duelling years. I think you shouldn't have brought her here."

"What about you Pomona?" Albus asked the head of the Hufflepuff house. He knew she wasn't happy with him, as close as hateful as someone as kind as she could be.

She wished to know the murderer of Cedric, the one who took his life. He couldn't tell her because then, he would have to bury her.

It's not that Pomona was weak or non-resourceful but the title of dark lord was one cruelly earned and Tom truly deserved his.

Had Tom been as smart as Gellert had been, Albus didn't think he would still be alive, that the wizarding world wouldn't have fallen under Voldemort's control.

No, he couldn't tell her because telling her would mean losing her because he knew her and due to this knew she would try to avenge her dead student and fail in the process.

He needed her alive, at Hogwarts teaching, nurturing and protecting the next generation so Albus wouldn't tell her anything until an appropriate time came.

"My concern is different from the one of Filius. I won't say I don't completely agree with his concerns. I felt her magic, Albus. How could I disagree with the fact that she's dangerous? No, my problem is that she's a child. No matter how powerful she may be, I am a teacher, a caretaker first and I recognize what you brought before us, a broken child. She shouldn't be teaching Albus."

Dumbledore sighed "So the three of you think I've taken a bad decision."

The headmaster turned his gaze toward the potion master "What about you Severus?"

The man looked as frazzled as the other teachers but differently as if he had seen a ghost. Surprisingly, his answer was different from the ones given by the others "I wouldn't be averse to her presence amongst us. I think it could be beneficial for someone like her to teach our students."

He noticed the looks of surprise and betrayal the other teachers gave to the Slytherin. Interesting. It seemed he wasn't the only one who found it unexpected. "I'm glad you think so Severus."

He turned his gaze toward the disagreeing teachers "I know the danger she could pose very well but," he continued before Minerva could say something else "I did it for a reason. I may be old but I'm no fool."

"Things are changing. Darkness is rising in all its form," he spoke softly his gaze wandering in each of the teachers. "I am getting old and find myself more and more exhausted," he admitted. He watched shock, alarm and concern bloom on their faces.

He knew why. He was Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, one of the pillars of the wizarding world, the man who prevailed against two dark lords and he was admitting to being tired.

Normally, he wouldn't have dared say it, especially with Voldemort back. Albus knew he would learn it whether Severus wished for it to be known or not.

Saying it was admitting to Voldemort that he was weakened and Voldemort was never one to not exploit a weakness.

"I am tired," he told them. "And I think the older I become, the worse I become at maintaining what we have."

"You can't truly believe that?! You're Dumbledore! You only showed us again and again we could count on you," Minerva told him.

"Minerva is right Albus. You were the bastion of light in every dark crisis the wizarding world had since the last century. You never failed us," Filius added.

"I fear you're wrong old friend," he chuckled mirthlessly. "I made so many errors, so many things that were wrong in trying to do the best. I failed a lot."

What was Albus Dumbledore if not a man full of failures? Gellert, Tom, Lily and James, Sirius, Hagrid, Aberforth, Gellert, Ariana.

They were a dime in the sea of errors he had made. They all saw him as perfect when he was just an old fool trying to not repeat mistakes after mistakes.

"Just with Hogwarts. Look at those last years my friends. A troll almost killed Miss Granger. In the year after, it was a basilisk! In the year after that, Dementors, soul-sucking creatures around a children's school and we weren't able to do anything! The year after that, two students kidnapped."

He turned his gaze toward the Hupplepuff teacher "One dead," he said. "One student dead!"

He rose from his chair "Tell me!" he shouted. "Tell me I was perfect! Tell me it wasn't failure!" he hissed.

"Tell me! Look at me in the eyes and tell me that I didn't fail! Tell me that things couldn't have been better!"

He looked at them but none dared to look him in the eyes because no matter how much some of them wanted to refute the words of the headmaster, they couldn't lie to themselves about the fact that a school was supposed to be safe and theirs was the contrary of it.

Minerva remembered the troll in the girl's bathroom. She and the other teachers had run over there only to find a troll knocked out by first years. First years who almost died. First years who should have never had to fear for their lives in the sanctity of the walls of Hogwarts.

Filius Flitwick's eyes stayed down because what the headmaster was judging himself for was something whether he had wanted to acknowledge it or not that was also his responsibility.

The heads of the four houses of Hogwarts were there to protect the students, allow them to thrive.

Did Filius do so? He had been aware of the way some of his ravens treated others they deemed different yet had done nothing.

He knew what it was to be judged, discriminated against just for being who you were yet when the same thing happened under his watch, what did he do? Nothing, Filius Flitwick did nothing.

Pomona Sprout didn't look into the eyes of the headmaster because even though she hated him for hiding the murderer of one of her children, she couldn't deny the fact that maybe if things had been better organized, maybe if the headmaster wasn't as old as he was now, maybe if she had been more observant, the portkey that led Cedric Diggory to his death wouldn't have done so.

"I may be old but I'm not stupid," Dumbledore repeated feeling exhaustion deep into his bones.

"The school year starts next week. Another year where if nothing is actively done, tragedy will strike again. I know it without a doubt. I'm old and not strong enough. I'm just a relic clinging to the world but they aren't."

Filius rose his head in surprise. The others did the same. "The role of a school is I think to give the necessary tools to its students to go into the world and more than that thrive. The role of a school is to nurture and turn rocks into diamonds! Turn its students into the best version of themselves! The role of a school is to make its students strong enough to withstand any storm!"

"This is why I brought her here!" dumbledore told them, his eyes shining as if a fire had been lit up inside of them.

"She's more dangerous than any of you could think she is. We all are the frogs in the well. She's the infinity of the sky outside of it. I was able to make her promise to be the defence against the dark arts teacher. She promised me that she'll make all of them stronger, stronger than I could ever imagine and I believe her."

"I understand Albus," Minerva spoke feeling as if her teeth were being ripped out. "I understand even if don't like it."

"That's all I can from you Minerva. That's all I can ask from any of you," he answered with a sad smile.

"I have one question, Headmaster," Severus spoke for the first time since entering the office of Dumbledore.

"What is she?" the potion master asked.

The attention of all of the houses heads turned toward the old Headmaster. Dumbledore knew that what he would be saying would arrive to Tom yet he wasn't afraid this time.

Albus had all the cards on his side. No matter how much Voldemort knew, nothing he would do would be able to change anything. He could finally see the end of the line "What do you know of the divine?" he asked them.

*scene*

This year was different. It just had begun yet it already felt wrong as if a dark cloud was surrounding them. The lights seemed deemer, the hall quieter and the gazes more fearful.

'Hogwarts wasn't supposed to be like that,' Lee Jordan thought as he bit into a chicken leg. Hogwarts was supposed to be full of life and fun. No one should be looking scared except the Slytherins because fuck the Slytherins. In Lee Jordan's Opinion, you couldn't trust any of them, even more now that Voldemort was back.

Oh, the minister and the news were calling Harry a liar, an attention seeker but Lee knew Harry and had seen him grow and prove himself again and again year after year.

Harry Said that Voldemort was back so Lee believed him. It meant that sooner or later, another war would begin and even though people insulted Harry, Lee knew that deep down, they believed him.

They were scared and didn't want to believe that the worst nightmare of the wizard world was back. The prophet, those shameless acks fed them the lies they wanted all to hear, reassuring them when the only result would be a killing curse in the back because they had been too fearful of the truth.

Cedric died and nothing, no justice would prevail if Voldemort wasn't stopped once and for all but for that, people needed to see the truth. Unfortunately, there was the prophet and the government against it.

This was why he yearned to finish this year as quickly as possible. Here, in Hogwarts, he couldn't realize his dream.

Lee Jordan wanted to create a radio show, one that would be heard and listened to by everyone in the wizarding world, a radio that would allow him to be listened to, a radio focusing on real things instead of the hogwash made by the prophet.

His father had promised to finance him, to help make his dream come true. All he had asked in return was for Lee to do his best his last year and do his best Lee would.

"Lee, what's with the scowling face? You already are hard to look at but if you continue like that, you won't be able to talk to any girl," a voice spoke bringing him out of his head.

"Fuck you, Fred," he said to the owner of the voice. Fred Weasley, a redhead, one of the Weasley twins looked in Lee Jordan's opinion as if a red fox had taken human form, as if he knew something and the others not doing so was hilarious

"I'm not Fred," the Weasley said with a mocking smile. "I'm George."

"Bullshit, I know it's you, Fred."

"You called me?" the other twin turned toward Lee, a mischievous smile etched on his lips.

"You see Lee, I wasn't lying. I am George," the first Weasley said.

"Bullshit. I kept track since we were on the train. None of you two is going to trick me today."

The smiles on their faces widened the same way they usually did when they were ready to prank someone hard. Lee Jordan felt dread "Is that I challenge I hear my most handsome-looking twin?"

"It seemed so my most fabulous twin. Refusing a challenge is something very rude and not brave at all."

"Not brave at all," one of the twins repeated.

"Knock it off you two. Leave Lee alone!" a feminine voice said.

Lee turned toward its owner. Alicia Spinnet was one of his friends. What he liked about the Gryffindor chaser was that she didn't hesitate to say what she thought.

Alicia Spinnet was honest, some would say too much but what she showed was what she was.

"Poor us! An ogre is coming at us my most awesome twin," one of the Weasley twins said in false horror swaying ridiculously as if he was on the verge of losing consciousness before falling into the arms of his brother.

"Don't worry my most unbelievably perfect twin," the other said. "I'll be at your side protecting you from this chasing predator"

"There's no need Alicia. You know how they are," Lee spoke to the girl before taking another bite of his chicken. Damn, his food was becoming cold.

"Yeah, I do. I thought that with the fact that we were now seventh year, they would be acting more mature," she sighed.

"Mature?!" one of the twins began. "We are the height of maturity," they finished together fox-like smiles displayed on their faces.

With a last bite, Lee finished his meal. One thing at Hogwarts that never disappointed him was how good the food was. It almost excused the weird defence teacher and the nonsense that always followed each year, almost.

The Headmaster rose and the Talking ceased immediately as all turned to face him. Lee was sure that the only thing most students here wished for was to sleep now that they had finished eating.

"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," said Dumbledore. Lee loved and respected Dumbledore like most but he truly hoped the announcements wouldn't last long. He was beginning to feel drowsy.

He began talking about how the forest was forbidden like he did each year. Lee didn't understand why it needed to be said. Who would be stupid and dumb enough to voluntarily go there? There was a reason why making a student go into it even accompanied was one of the worst punishments that someone could get. Even the twins after going there after a prank had looked horrified at their return.

He talked after about Flich and its stupid rules. Seriously, it was a magic school. What was the point if they couldn't use magic in the corridors?

"We have had three changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons. we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, a new teacher who will be teaching a new class, the class of Civil Rights, duties and Wizards Customs."

That was new. Umbridge, Lee knew he had heard this name before. Where though and in which context was the question. Also civil rights, duties and wizards customs? It already sounded like a lot of bullshit to him.

Dumbledore continued, "Tryouts for the house Quidditch teams will take place on the—". Unfortunately, Dumbledore stopped speaking. He was finally talking about something interesting before stopping to look enquiringly at Professor Umbridge. Lee didn't understood at first why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge cleared her throat, "Hem, hem," and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech. Yeah, Lee already hated her.

Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, then he sat down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk.

Other members of staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise. Professor Sprout's eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair and Professor McGonagall's mouth was as thin as Lee had ever seen it. No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before. At Lee's side, he saw the gaze of the twins focus on her, one that everyone in Hogwarts knew to fear. This woman obviously did not know how things were done at Hogwarts. Soon, she would.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome."

Her voice was high-pitched, breathy and a little girlish and, it made him want to tear his ears off. She sounded as if she wanted to sound nice but she was doing too much and the result was something disastrous.

"Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. "And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!"

'She was also delusional as if it couldn't get worse,' Lee thought with a frown.

No one looked happy to see her. On the contrary, most people seemed for Lee disgusted by her presence and taken aback at being addressed as though they were five years old.

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"

The twins exchanged looks at this. Lee could see they were trying to conceal their mischievous grins and they were failing. "Yes," he heard one of them whisper. "We'll be very good friends," they finished in unison.

Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again but when she continued, some of the breathiness had vanished from her voice. She sounded much more businesslike and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching."

Yeah, fuck her. Lee wished she had been the defence against the dark arts teacher. It would have made sure that she wouldn't come back ever to curse Hogwarts in the future with her presence.

Professor Umbridge paused here and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back to her. Professor McGonagall's dark eyebrows had contracted so that she looked positively hawklike, and Lee distinctly saw her exchange a significant glance with Professor Sprout as Umbridge gave another little 'hem, hem' and went on with her speech.

Lee turned toward the twins "I'll pay you to make her disappear. I'll do whatever you need but please get rid of her."

"We would have normally accepted your money but this time, it is not needed. We would have done It even without you saying anything," one of the twins answered.

"If you succeed, I'll buy the two of you drinks at Hogsmeade."

"Lee, she's a teacher," Angelina spoke disapproval etched on her face.

"I'm ready to bet that she is a pure-blood supremacist" Alicia spoke.

"Sucker's bet. Of course, she is," Lee spoke.

"Maybe she's not. Maybe she seemed this way but isn't," Angelina spoke but even in her tone, there was some incertitude.

Lee looked back at the still-talking dressed-in-pink woman who was still talking "She likes the sound of her voice doesn't she?"

"When she proves herself to be what we think she is or worse, I'll tell that I told you Angelina," Alicia said to the other member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the woman in pink sat down. Dumbledore clapped. The staff followed his lead, with less enthusiasm. A few students joined in, but most had been taken unawares by the end of the speech, not having listened to more than a few words of it, and before they could start applauding properly, Dumbledore had stood up again.

"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," he said, bowing to her. "Now, as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held next week. I advise all of you to talk to the heads of your houses and your Quidditch team for more information."

Lee watched Dumbledore take a deep breath before he continued "Last but not least, like I'm sure most of you expected, we have a new defence against the dark arts teacher."

Snickers rose at the words of the headmaster. Dumbledore was right to say it wasn't unexpected at all.

Lee searched for a new teacher at the teacher's table but found no one. "I don't see anyone. Do you think they'll do the same kind of entrance that Professor Moody did last year?" Alicia asked him.

Moody had been a scary teacher, a good one but a scary one. What kind of teacher teaches and uses Unforgivables on his students?

"It is with delight that I present to you The defence against the dark arts teacher, Lady Rias!"

At first, nothing happened and Lee thought that maybe the teacher was late, the headmaster was becoming senile or the curse had worked early.

Around him, he heard whispers sharing the same thought he had.

Lee Jordan was a seven-year Pure-Blood at Hogwarts. He knew magic. He wasn't the best with it but he knew it intimately yet he found himself dumbstruck when magic, so plentiful, so raw that he could feel it, almost taste it appeared.

In the air, before the headmaster a crimson circle of what Lee knew was magic, rotated slowly, ominously bathing the great hall with its scarlet colour.

Around him, he heard gasps of shock and fear. From the circle, she rose. She had red hair, truly red not like a Weasley with their more orange carnation as if her hair had been bathed in blood.

Her skin even far away from her was a perfect alabaster white, without any blemishes. She wore what He recognized as muggle clothes. A pair of jeans and a t-shirt he think they were called and damn, maybe he was in love. Witches in magazines didn't even come close to her.

She was barefoot and maybe Lee Jordan was more like Oliver Wood than he wished he was. She stepped to the side of Dumbledore, her feet not touching the ground at all and gave him a nod before turning toward them and Lee Jordan fell in love.

He heard gasps and even the sound of some people falling and truthfully, he couldn't blame them. How could someone like that exist? How could someone like her not be known? She had to not be real right?

"Guys, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Lee Jordan spoke softly.

"If you mean an angel straight from heaven, Yes Lee."

"Shut up!" Alicia hissed. Her face was so red that it made her look like a tomato "You're distracting me from looking at her."

"Normally, I would tease you remorselessly but I understand Alicia, I understand," one of the twins said.

The silence created by her presence was broken by Dumbledore who seemed to be the only one able to speak even though Lee could also see some surprise written on his face "Professor Rias fortunately accepted my proposal to teach defence against the dark arts. Even though she may be young, I'm sure her arrival made sure to quell all doubts about her competence as a teacher. Is there anything you want to say to the students Professor Rias?"

The professor looked at them, her blue-green eyes seemingly travelling and piercing through each of them "The headmaster asked me one thing. To make all of you strong," she said softly yet her voice travelled, crossed the distance, reaching them as if she was whispering sweet nothing in their ears. Her voice felt intoxicating like a drug, like a promise of a reward.

"All of you here have dreams, aspirations. Some of you want to make your families proud," she said her gaze moving over Malfoy who reacted as if he had been struck.

"Some of you want to be left alone. Others want to be able to do what they wish to do without being stopped."

She opened her right palm and Lee watched as wandlessly, she summoned a blue fireball "But the truth is that nothing can be reached without strength." Another act of wandless magic. It was said only the greatest wizards could do so yet she did so easily as if it was nothing.

"Nothing can be preserved without strength," she spoke the flame over her palm growing hotter until it felt to Lee as if he was near a volcano in eruption.

With one move, of her fingers, the fire disappeared with The unbearable heat it had brought as if it hadn't existed moments ago."So I ask you, will you allow me to guide you to the strength needed to reach your dreams?" she asked them.

 For the first time since the creation of Hogwarts, all of its students chose to answer the same thing.