Chapter Three: Back To Hogwarts
Ron and Hermione had trouble. Big trouble. They were supposed to take the Muggle bus from the Leaky Cauldron to King's Cross, but due to traffic, they had just figured they would never, ever make it. What a start for their seventh year, as Head Boy and Girl… Hermione was, to put it in polite terms, fuming, and even though it wasn't Ron's fault, he was the one who paid for it.
"I can't believe it! Of all my years at Hogwarts, my last one has to be the one I miss the train!" Hermione almost screamed, as they still weren't any closer to King's Cross, and the train would leave in 15 minutes. She kept on ranting about it, much to Ron's desperation, for about five minutes, before she decided they had to send an owl to Professor Dumbledore, however embarrassing it might be. But just as Ron managed to get a frantic Pig out of his cage, a blue Mercedes stopped right beside them. A young man, 18 years old or so, was driving. He removed his sunglasses and looked at them with his pale blue eyes.
"Problems?" he asked, as Ron quickly stepped in front of Pig's cage so he shouldn't see him.
"Err… No." He answered.
"I think you have. Heading for King's Cross, Platform 9 and ¾?" Ron's mouth dropped open, and so did Hermione's. "As I thought," he said, smiling slightly. "Well, jump in, you ain't going to get there if you don't hurry, and certainly not by foot." Hermione looked at Ron. They knew they shouldn't trust strangers these days, but they really had to catch that train. And besides, they were two, while he was just one. Ron shrugged, and quickly got their trunks and Pig's cage into the car.
"I'm Christian Atos by the way," the driver said as he started off. He was a damn good driver, and the car slid in and out between cars so easily that it could have been magic, which it probably was.
"Hermione Granger."
"Ron Weasley."
"Nice to meet you." He said.
"Likewise," they answered in unison, before they lapsed into silence.
"Excuse me," Hermione said curiously breaking the awkward silence. "Are you going to Hogwarts? I don't think I've seen you there before." Christian smiled.
"No, you probably haven't. I graduated from Beauxbatons a year ago."
"Oh." Pause. "Why are you going to Hogwarts then?"
"I'm the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. I had some stuff to get in Diagon Alley. If I hadn't then you two would have missed the train."
"But aren't you a bit young? I don't mean to be rude, but you do look like a school boy." Hermione said, a bit shocked. Then she mentally slapped herself. He was driving a car. To drive a car you had to be eighteen. If you were eighteen, you had graduated.
"Well, you could maybe say I am. I graduated from Beauxbatons at fifteen, a year ago or so. Based on a normal schedule I should start at my seventh year today," he said as he drove into King's Cross, five minutes to eleven. He parked the car and ignored Ron's and Hermione's shocked silence.
"You should hurry," he said amused, "or you'll miss the train anyway." He helped Ron and Hermione with their trunks, when something suddenly occurred to Hermione.
"But if you graduated two years ago, why didn't you just apparate? I mean, you do have an apparation license?"
"Why, yes, but do you know how many apparation wards I have to get past before I reach Hogwarts? I would have to apparate to sixteen different spots before I would be able to get to Hogsmeade. It's almost faster to go Muggle ways, and much simpler. So therefore I borrowed this car from a friend." What he didn't say, was that he wanted to take the train with the students, mainly because he wanted to see the two of them before school started.
"Oh." Hermione scolded herself, couldn't she come up with something more intelligent than an 'Oh'? They passed through the barrier and he disappeared in the crowd, to Hermione's dismay. There was something about this guy that attracted her, and it was not only the fact that he was very handsome. She'd only met one guy she'd thought more handsome than him, and he wasn't someone she liked to think about.
~*~
Christian sat at the Head Table, clad in dark blue robes, when the students entered. He saw Ron and Hermione glance quickly at him, and sent them a small smile, and noted, not very surprised that they were Head Boy and Girl. He paid little attention to the sorting, but looked around in the crowd at all the familiar faces, ignoring the small sting of pain he felt. Before he knew it, the sorting was finished, and Professor Dumbledore welcomed the students and the food appeared. It was now that most of the students first noticed him, and he saw them whisper and point. He ignored them and turned to his neighbour, Professor Snape. He had had a brief 'first' introduction, but wasn't supposed to know that normal, sane people avoided him at all costs, especially at the start of term.
"Good evening, you are Professor Severus Snape, if I recall correctly?" A 'humph' was all he got as an answer. Christian didn't let this stop him.
"Potions teacher?" Another 'humph'.
"You know, potions was my favourite subject at school," finally he got something more than a 'humph'. Professor Snape raised an eyebrow.
"Indeed? I thought Defence Against the Dark Arts was your subject."
"I said favourite subject, not best subject." Christian replied with a small twitch of his lips. From then on, their conversation turned to potions, and to Snape's surprise and delight the boy was really good. The teachers who sat near them and could hear what they said, listened in surprise for a while, but then shrugged and went back to their meals. Before the meal was over, Snape had managed to get through a conversation without snapping or growling at the other part.
However, at last the meal was over, and Dumbledore rose. All chatter subsided as the students turned their attention to their Headmaster.
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. I hope you have spent your summer well, and have now returned with a nice and empty head, ready to be refilled. This year we have a new teacher with us, Mr. Christian Atos, who will teach Defence Against The Dark Arts." People applauded, and curiously enough, the female part of the student body clapped the most. "I must remind you all that the Forbidden Forest is as forbidden as ever, and curfew is at eight, right after dinner. It is forbidden to leave the castle without a teacher, Prefect or Head Girl or Boy, and Quidditch has to be supervised by a teacher. Before you can go to bed, I will just say a few words: Courage. Friendship. Loyalty. Good night." The students started to file out of the hall, though many of the older girls kept throwing glances at Christian, who had to fight to keep a straight face. The whole thing was starting to get amusing.
~*~
"You saw him?"
"Of course I did! Who didn't?"
"He's very young."
"And really handsome…"
Giggling. The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was the main conversation subject that night, and it annoyed Hermione to no end. Okay, he was handsome, she couldn't deny that, but did they have to drool over every good-looking guy they met? Sighing, Hermione lit her wand and found the book she'd been reading over the holidays. She had borrowed it from the Hogwarts Library, Restricted Section before school ended last year, because she needed it for her homework. The title read: Magical History: Great Wizards And Witches and their power. It was quite a large volume, ten thousand pages. She'd had to shrink it and then use an enlargement charm on the letters so she could read. The way it worked was, when she read, one sentence would be enlarged so she could read, and when she was finished the next sentence would be enlarged, while the last one shrunk again. A nice little charm she'd picked up. However she hadn't finished it yet, she'd just read what she needed for her history essay, so now she decided to start on what she called 'light' reading. She started to read at Chapter 342, which was about 'The Citatio'. (Chi-tasio)
'A Citatio is an extremely powerful wizard. They can do almost everything with magic, and also without magic. The full extent of a Citatio's Power is not known, because they occur so rarely. The last known Citatio was Godric Gryffindor, one of the Founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is also said that Merlin was one, though this is not proven. It is said that a Citatio is born when the world is in great need, as when Godric Gryffindor was born. At that time the wizarding community was shattered and they fought against each other, they were in fact on the verge of extinction. However, Gryffindor solved this problem by building schools. Hogwarts was one of them, and now it's the only one left of those he started. However, many other wizards and witches followed his example, and schools were founded in every country. Gryffindor was a true Seer, which is rare, even among Citatios, 'Rare as a Blue Moon', as it is said. However, a close friend of his, Rowena Ravenclaw, (later his wife), was a Pectal, (Read more about Pectals in chapter 343) and Trance Predictor. A Trance Predictor is a person who once in a while goes into a trance and makes a prediction. These predictions are often speaking of the distant future, and strangely accurate. She made a prediction about the next Citatio who would come, and said that it would be one of Gryffindor's descendants. He would come when the world was in great need.
How to recognise a Citatio:
-It's always a male; their female counterpart is the Pectal.
-Their eyes; all Citatios have green eyes, not the green-greyish which is pretty common, but intense, emerald green. These eyes are always inherited from the Citatio's mother, who is always a powerful witch. She is never anything more than a witch though. However, not all green-eyed witches give birth to a Citatio, and not all emerald-eyed boys are Citatios.
-The Citatio is more intelligent than average wizards.
-The Citatio is very understanding and forgiving; however, if you get on their wrong side, they're terrible enemies.
-When using their power, their eyes turn gold.
-A Citatio never willingly hurts another living being, unless it's an evil creature.
Other facts: The Citatio often tries to hide his abilities, as it is an instinct. It is also almost impossible for a Citatio to marry, unless a Pectal is born in his lifetime, as Citatios can't mate a normal human.'
Hermione was reading wide-eyed. Who did she know who had emerald green eyes? Could it really be possible? Was Harry a Citatio? Harry the murderer? But he couldn't be! Then he couldn't have murdered Colin. A Citatio never willingly hurts another living being, unless it's an evil creature, that was what the book said. But Harry had. And he wasn't above average in either power or intelligence. Or was he?
Hermione quickly skipped the part about possible Citatio abilities, and quickly turned to the next chapter. She had to read about Pectals. But, the other girls had finally stopped giggling over the new teacher it seemed, and a pillow hit the duvets that covered her bed.
"Hey, turn of the light! We want to sleep!" Hermione sighed and 'turned' off her wand with a soft 'Nox'. She would have to read about Pectals later.
~*~
Christian sat at the Head Table when the students entered the next morning. Many of the girls shot glances in his direction, before giggling madly together with their friends. He sighed inwardly, but kept the small smile in place, ignoring it. He greeted McGonagall and Snape with a 'good morning', and got a grunt from Snape and a small smile from McGonagall in reply. Note to self; Snape is not a start-of-term person. Not a morning person either. But I knew that. He went back to his breakfast, but looked up as Ron and Hermione entered. Snape saw them too.
"Thank God I don't have 7th year Slytherin and Gryffindor first lessons first day this year," he muttered and glared at McGonagall.
"Oh?" Harry/Christian inquired, pretending not to know. "I have them first this year. Is that bad? Anyone I should watch out for?" Snape's head snapped up and he shot a glance at McGonagall, who pretended not to notice.
"No, not at all," he said, his lips twitching suspiciously, before returning to his breakfast. The other teachers looked at him sympathetically, and Christian pretended to be confused. A bit later he stood and left, claiming he had to make ready for his first lesson. When he'd left Snape turned to McGonagall.
"I know he's young, and that you don't trust he's capable of the job, but seventh year Slytherin and Gryffindor first thing? If he manages that and still is in one piece… Let's just say then I'll trust him with my life."
"I didn't do that on propose!" McGonagall said indignantly.
"You're a terrible liar, Minerva."
~*~
The students started to fill in, the Slytherins settled in one half, the Gryffindors in another half. Christian sat at the desk and watched them arrive.
"Well," he started off. "I'm your new Professor, Christian Atos. I thought we could start with you asking a few questions and get to know me a little, before we start on school stuff."
Lavender Brown had her hand up.
"Miss Brown?" he asked. Lavender gaped, wondering how he knew her name.
"Um… Professor, how old are you?"
"Seventeen." Gasps. "I graduated from Beauxbatons at fifteen, and have since then been doing different stuff before I decided to apply for this position." Parvati Patil was next.
"Professor, where do you come from, since you don't have a French accent?"
"France, Miss Patil, though my parents were English. They taught me at home before I entered Beauxbatons at fifteen, where I graduated after a year." Now Pansy Parkinson raised her hand.
"Yes, Miss Parkinson?" The girl smirked slyly.
"Professor, do you have a girlfriend?" This was a pretty cunning question, because he, young as he was, not even a year older than themselves, he would probably flush and be embarrassed, and it would be Slytherin: one, Professor: zip. Professor Atos however, smirked slightly at the girl.
"And why, may I ask, should that concern you, Miss Parkinson?" he asked. Pansy had nothing to say to that. Professor: one, Slytherin: zip. And he didn't even deduct points.
"Okay, enough chit-chat. This is your last year at Hogwarts, and you are going to take your NEWTs this year. This year in Defence Against the Dark Arts, first term at least, you are going to learn about the unforgivables, and forbidden potions and charms. I thought I should start with pain curses, such as the Cruciatus curse and the Mundo curse, and pleasure curses, such as the Servo curse and the Comfort curse." Hermione raised a hand. "Yes, Miss Granger?"
"Is there such a thing as pleasure curses, Professor?" she asked.
"Ah, yes. In reality, they are charms, but used for a Dark purpose, they are named curses. These curses, or charms, are not forbidden, because they in themselves aren't dangerous. Anyone who can tell me what a pleasure curse or charm is, and what it does?" Hesitantly a few boys got their hands up. Christian smirked inwardly, no surprise there, even though they should, supposedly, not know about those charms.
"Mr. Malfoy?"
"They give the person it is used on a feeling of pleasure," he said, unwilling to go any further.
"Correct, two points to Slytherin. They can give a person pleasure, but there are different types of pleasure. One type gives the pleasure of comfort, like a hug from one of your parents can comfort you. Another type has the opposite effect of Dementors. While Dementors make you depressed, and make you remember all your bad memories, this type of pleasure charm makes you remember all good events of your life. And then there's the last type. This gives you the same feeling of pleasure as… ah…shall we say intimate relations with the opposite sex?" He said delicately, forcing back a laugh as all of his students turned slightly red.
"Now you can ask how these charms/curses can be used for Dark proposes. Let's say a strong pleasure curse was used together with the Cruciatus. What would happen then?" He looked around in the classroom. "Yes, Mr. Longbottom?"
"Er… I guess they would go mad much faster than if only the Cruciatus were used?" he said, uncertainly.
"Correct! Five points to Gryffindor. The difference between pain curses and pleasure curses is so big; going from one to another very fast and repeatedly would cause the human mind to snap. You'll get the same outcome if you use them both at the same time, only faster."
"But Professor, why aren't they forbidden then?"
"Good question, Mr. Weasley. The answer however, is a bit stupid. The minister won't forbid them, because he would loose supporters. Especially among the male part of the population. The young male part." Ron's ears turned bright red. It was true, Christian didn't think too many in this classroom had used them, at least not those he knew, but they were widely used, and mostly among young, hormone-ridden males, and of course among the females too. Well, it wasn't his job to preach to his students about this, even though he found it not a little pathetic.
"However, you are going to learn the counter curse. These pleasure curses are possible to counter wandlessly, because they aren't very strong, though the effect is. I'm going to cast a pleasure charm at you, and then you shall fight it. And no, I'm not going to use the most extreme. But first, you have to learn how to block it. It's a matter of mindfocus. Pleasure curses are not real, you just think you feel what you feel. All you have to do is to concentrate and try to sense the magic that manipulates your brain, and then you must push it away. Before we start to push away this curse, we'll do some exercises to teach you to sense the magic. Pair up two and two, one of you cast the blinding spell on your eyes, while the other casts a colouring charm on your blind partner, before taking it off again. Repeat this a few times. The one who is blindfolded, try to tell if you are coloured or not."
The students scrambled around to find their partners, however there were an odd number, so Hermione was left alone, as Ron paired with Dean.
"Miss Granger,"
"Yes Professor?"
"You'll pair with me. Blindfold yourself." Christian said. She did as she was told. He cast the charm, it was excellent for this use, as you didn't have to say anything, if you did it would be fairly easy to know if you were coloured or not. Hermione immediately turned dark blue.
"Erm… Am I painted now, Professor?" she asked.
"You think so?" he asked.
"Yes, I have this weird feeling, like I have something on my skin, like… it's difficult to explain."
"As if you are wrapped in plastic, like an extra layer of skin?" he said, and quickly removed the colour.
"Yes!" she said excitedly. "Precisely. Hey! There it disappeared!"
"Very good, Miss Granger. Ten points to Gryffindor. You can remove the blinding charm now." She did, and looked excitedly at him, like he'd seen her so many times. He turned to the other students, who obviously didn't have any luck yet.
"Class," he said, raising his voice slightly to get their attention. They immediately fell into silence. "Have any of you had any luck?" Shaking of heads. "Well then, it's as I suspected. It will probably take some time before you will feel anything, as you aren't used to this. You have the rest of the class to practice." Sighing, they turned back to their colourings. Christian turned back to Hermione.
"Miss Granger, you showed an extraordinary good sense for magic just now. I'd like to try a pleasure charm on you. Do you permit me to do so?"
"Of course, Professor," she answered, excited to learn something new, as always.
"Okay, when I hit you with the curse, you will probably feel something which doesn't belong, which isn't a part of you, plus a warming and comforting sensation. Try to push it away with you mind. If you manage that, the warming and comforting sensation will disappear as well. I'd like you to sit down first. Ready?" She sat down.
"Ready."
"Comfortio," he muttered under his breath. Hermione's eyes unfocused and her brow furrowed, however a small smile rested on her lips. After two minutes the smile left her lips, and the frown deepened. She swallowed slightly.
"I think I made it," she said uncertainly looking up at him. He smiled.
"You did. I felt the charm fade away. Another ten points to Gryffindor." He made her practise to counter it the rest of the lesson, and by the end of it she managed to counter his charm within ten seconds. To Hermione the lesson passed all too quickly. She left in high spirits and didn't notice her teacher looking at her, brow furrowed and seemingly deep in thought.
Had her eyes gleamed silver the first time she countered the charm?
~*~
Ron was pissed. Just as Harry leaves, probably never to return, another guy steps into his life, screwing it up. Though Harry had been splendidly oblivious to the fact that half the girls at school were drooling over him, Ron had noticed, and it had annoyed him to no end. Harry always got the best, he always was the lucky person. And now, when he was gone, and Ron was Head Boy and many of the girls had started to look his way, this 'Professor Christian Atos' turns up, and next second every female is drooling over him. A bloody know-it-all too it seemed, or maybe he'd sucked his way through school, who could know? Even Hermione thought he was cute, though she'd never admit it. Ron clenched his fists angrily. Curse this new professor! What kind of name was Atos by the way? Stupid name, really.
Everything he'd ever thought about Harry being innocent and all a month ago was forgotten. Ron reminded himself of why he'd befriended Harry at all, something he'd almost forgotten more than once. The last two weeks he'd spent remembering. He remembered his thought on the train before his first year at Hogwarts.
'So this is Harry Potter. Could be useful. Naïve little boy, he knows nothing of our world. Won't be a problem to trash when I'm finished with him…'
He couldn't forget that.
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Disclaimer: Duh…
Again, go me. Beta-read by the dreamer, edited numerous times by myself. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I simply love you all. I tend to go and re-read my reviews, as it gives me this warm, pleasant feeling inside. *giggles*