23 Chapter 23: A new professor

Harry was laughing uproaringly and so was Sirius. They were sitting back comfortably on a plush cushion watching the entertaining events unfolding in the Dursley household in an enlarged mirror.

When he had pitched the idea of turning the Dursley's Christmas holidays into hell, Sirius was the one to suggest the use of a modified two-way mirror to bear witness to the events unfolding. Sirius somehow tampered with the enchantments to allow the mirror to store everything that was happening in the Dursleys. And now they were watching the debacle unfold.

"I've got to admit, this is a wonderful piece of magic Sirius." Harry said admiring the piece of magic that allowed a magical TV of sorts to exist.

"It's nothing big. I just tweaked the charms commonly used in magic mirrors." said Sirius, shrugging as if it was no big deal. "Besides, It was fun to do something interesting for once. I think I'm going to go mad by translating all those dusty old books and scrolls."

"You won't have to worry about that. Your trial date has been declared. You would have to present yourself before the Wizengamote on January 25."

"Oh, they declared it?" Sirius asked looking doubtful.

"Not yet. But Andromeda wrote to me that the trial date is set for January 25. The Ministry will announce it tomorrow."

"Huh!"

Harry frowned as he watched Sirius looking unseemly into the distance. He gathered Sirius was reliving darker memories from his Azkaban ordeal or perhaps Sirius was surprised by the fact that the trial was even going to happen. So, Harry reached out and touched Sirius's shoulder startling his godfather.

"You are going to get your day in court and you are going to walk out of the Ministry a free man."

"I hope so Harry. I hope so, cause I can't go back to that hellhole." said Sirius, shivering at the very thought of being in close proximity of Dementors.

"You won't." Harry promised.

"Well, I hope so." Sirius shook his head. "Anyway, I've got to admit those Weasley twins are one hell of pranksters. They've got a wicked sense of humour."

"They'd appreciate that coming from a Marauder and all. They are your greatest of fans. In fact, they recovered the Map from Filch. They even managed to work out the password as well."

"They did? How'd it end up in your hands then?" asked Sirius.

"They gave it to me to sneak into Hogsmeade."

"Ha! That's a better use for the map as any I suppose." said Sirius, laughing like a hyena.

"Enough dallying. Let's continue practising deflecting spells." said Harry, standing up on his feet.

Instead of focusing on spells, Harry has been focusing on honing up his defences. He didn't make this decision on a whim. He had duelled with Sirius for days and found his defence lacking. With the Second Task set to happen in the Black Lake, he was already set for all the necessary spells that could aid him underwater. So, his focus had shifted to training for the Third Task and of course to face Pettigrew and Voldemort at the very end.

Spells could only go so far when he was shoddy at defending himself from a wizard's attack. While Voldemort remained weak and he held the advantage, it'd be the height of arrogance to think less of Voldemort and Pettigrew.

Pettigrew was no slouch, he cautioned himself.

The man had become an animagus before graduating from Hogwarts. That was no easy feat. He would not underestimate that snivelling rat.

Harry shook those thoughts away as Sirius stepped into teaching mode.

"Okay, Harry. Here is the deal about deflecting spells. There is no specific incantation to this piece of magic. This is simply a handy trick with your wand and magic. Channel magic to your wand and let it form a cocoon." Sirius explained.

Harry tried to do what was asked of him but the only way to know whether he could perform was through practice. To that effect, Sirius suggested they start with simple spells. They started with the most basic of spells like tickling charm. Harry git hit eight times before he managed to deflect the spell partially. It was only a partial success because he could not deflect the spell straight back to Sirius. The spell went wayward and hit Winky who proceeded to giggle to her mortification.

Just simply deflecting the spell is not good enough. The deflected spell have to follow a prescribed path else there was no point in deflecting spells. Half the struggle was catching the spell with the tip of his wand. Since spells are usually just a small ball of light it took a skill of its own to catch the spell with the tip of a wand. But, it was no impossible task. As they say, practice makes everything perfect.

Sirius was a good teacher as well. So, by the time they wrapped up the session Harry was able to catch a spell three times with the tip of his wand. Out of which he managed to reflect one back straight towards Sirius.

Harry considered that progress.

"You know, I'm a bit worried about the tournament." said Sirius, after they concluded the practice session.

"Don't you worry Padfoot. I've got a grip on what to do in the Second Task." said Harry.

"I'm not talking about the Second Task Harry. I'm just troubled by Dumbledore's and Moody's incapability to catch the one who put your name in the Goblet." said Sirius, twirling the old wand in his hand with a frown on his face.

"If they had found something they have so far not shared anything with me. The Ministry has also deigned to keep everything under the rug." said Harry, shrugging his shoulders.

"Hogwarts is crawling with Death Eaters. Karkaroff, Snape and I'm sure dear old Lucius is crawling around somewhere in the background like the slippery snake he is." Sirius muttered darkly.

Sirius shook his head and took a deep breath. "You know what you are doing in the Second Task?"

Harry waved away Sirius' concern. "I've got it handled. I learned the Bubble-head charm to breathe underwater. All that is left is to perfect a transfiguration spell that can change my shoes to a pair of flippers."

"Well, if you've got the task handled then there is only one important matter that I need to discuss with you." said Sirius, turning uncharacteristically serious on a dime.

"What's that?" Harry asked somewhat warily.

"You are a growing boy and Lily would have wanted me to have this conversation a bit early. But I suppose there is no good time as any."

Harry stared confusedly at Sirius with a raised eyebrow.

Sirius leaned forward and placed his hands on Harry's shoulders. "I'm of course talking about Birds and Bees, now that you have a girlfriend."

Sirius smirked while Harry's eyes widened at where this conversation was going.

"Oh, come on!"

XXXXXXXXX

"I'm fascinated by how those Heliosophene matrices work. Whoever managed to invent that math is a genius." said Hermione, excitedly chatting away with Tracey, who he'd got to admit was a nerd when it comes to Arithmancy and Ancient Runes.

"Almost all Arthmancy was invented by Egyptians to enhance Runic Magics in the time of Pharaohs. Most likely it's origins came from Herpo." said Tracey, just as enthusiastic as Hermione in discussing this topic.

"You mean Herpo the Foul?" asked Hermione with a barely audible whisper.

"Someone took a stroll through the Forbidden Section of the library." Tracey teased, making Hermione blush.

"She's not as innocent as she looks, Tracey. I learned that first hand when we had a conversation about blood rituals." Daphne chipped in making Hermione groan in protest.

"I was just curious why the Ministry outlawed it and yet according to Professor Binns the Goblins still practice this branch of magic." Hermione defended herself eyeing Harry warily as if he was going to label her a Dark Witch.

"The only thing I find offensive is that you managed to listen while Binns was delivering his droll lecture." said Harry, noting Hermione looked a bit relieved that he was not judging her harshly.

"Professor Binns has an unusual style of teaching but he is very knowledgeable." defended Hermione.

"Only you Hermione." Harry shook his head.

They were on the way to Care of Magical Creatures class after their Arithmancy class. Harry had sat the special exam Professor Vector had held for him and to his luck, he managed to pass the exam. This earned him the right to sit in the Arithmancy class permanently. Of course, no one was more excited than Hermione who had been the lone Gryffindor in Professor Vector's class till now.

"You reckon Hagrid's alright?" Hermione whispered as they split away from Tracey and Daphne on their way to Care of Magical Creatures.

"I don't know. He was nowhere to be seen in the castle. I think he spent all the holidays in his cabin." said Harry, feeling some sympathy for the friendly giant.

"I hope Hagrid's okay. It's just wrong what people are saying about him." Hermione said hotly.

While December had long gone and the term had started once more there was no lack of snow around Hogwarts. The air remained frigid and sleet covered the grounds of Hogwarts. Hardly anyone was looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures or Astronomy classes these days. But, the good thing about magic is that elements tend to become not much of a problem if one has a good handle on magic. Some careful application of warming charms and repelling charms tend to deal with the sleet problem.

When they neared Hagrid's cabin most of the Gryffindors were already assembled near the paddock where the Skrewts were kept. Tracey and Daphne joined the rest of Slytherins, most of whom, greeted the two with displeased looks on their faces. Even if Harry had threatened Malfoy and his cronies the fourth year Slytherins were not afraid to show their displeasure at the new order of things.

Daphne had hinted a subtle shift from within Slytherin House. Before the Yule Ball incident, Harry was regarded with some caution among Slytherin upperclassmen. His stunt with pranking the living daylights out of all those badge bearers had made him a notorious figure. Now, with his threatening of Malfoy in the open and that too with Parseltongue had made many senior Slytherins grudgingly respect him.

Of course, all of this was possible because the resident bat of dungeons was on probation. If Snape had a modicum of freedom in flexing his authority Harry would have been in a lot of trouble. As it stands, Snape was forced to remain in his best behaviour to guard his post in Hogwarts. Dumbledore's influence among the board members is the only thing that has stayed Snape's dismissal from Hogwarts.

"Hagrid's not here Harry. You reckon something happened to him?" asked Hermione worriedly.

"Hey, Neville. Have you seen Hagrid?" Harry asked, once they joined their Gryffindor peers. He could see Ron taking sneak peeks at Hermione but his bushy-haired friend was either ignorant or outright avoiding the red-head.

"No, Harry. We've been waiting for him." said Neville.

Just then Hagrid's cabin door swung open garnering all of their attention. It was not Hagrid who stepped out of the front door but a tall grey-haired witch wearing pale yellow robes.

"Who's that?" Ron asked.

No one answered the red-head as no one knew the answer to that query.

"I'm Professor Grubbly Plank. I'll be your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher." she said briskly, struggling through the knee-deep snow gathering around the grounds.

"Where's Hagrid?" Hermione asked.

"He's currently indisposed." said Professor Grubbly Plank shortly, looking to end the line of conversation.

"But, what's wrong with Hagrid?"

If Professor Plank heard Ron's indignant query she paid it no mind. Instead, the Professor led all of them past the paddock towards the edge of the forest where a large Unicorn was tethered.

Many of the girls in the class squealed promptly.

"Oh, look Lav. She is so cute!" squealed Parvati.

Compared to the Unicorn the snow looked grey. The Unicorn was of bright white colour and its movements were so graceful. It had golden hooves and a golden horn protruding from its temple.

"Girls upfront and boys stand back. They prefer a woman's touch. Now, approach slowly."

Harry stayed back with other boys among his year and watched from the sidelines as Professor Plank introduced the girls to the shy Unicorn. Harry's eyes strayed towards Hagrid's cabin. It'd seem Hagrid was going through a rough time.

Hagrid was making this all not too easy for him as well. He could only offer his support if Hagrid deigned to show himself in the open. Whatever the case, Harry couldn't get distracted with Hagrid. There was a Hogsmeade weakened coming up and he has a meeting scheduled with Damien Greengrass. Considering the meeting would entail cooperation for their mutual benefit he was hoping to enlist the man to ensure Sirius would get his freedom. After all, if facts alone were important for the Ministry Sirius would never have suffered imprisonment in Azkaban in the first place. He was also sure Lucius Malfoy would try his best to convict Sirius and he could not allow Sirius' freedom to depend on the integrity of the Wizengamot.

It was time he stepped into wizarding politics.