"I dunno…" Harry said. "I don't really know what she and Sirius are up to, it sounded really boring, to be honest. And that would probably be at night since he has to be a dog around the students. And the stuff I'm learning would be too advanced. But I'll let her know you're interested. That is a very good point. You'll probably have to learn from the books for a while though."
"Can't you show us stuff?" Ron groaned, as Ron hated books. He remembered Harry's army of undead rats, and while it had been a very dumb idea at the time, now it was incredibly intriguing. Why stop at three rats when you could have hundreds? The undead ones barely needed to be taken care of, and they were so cute and soft. Ron wanted to lie down and be swarmed by his undead babies. And he wanted to knit little sweaters for each and every one of them. That's how much Ronald loved rats.
"Mama is pretty strict about doing anything exciting at Hogwarts. I could show you some blood magic, but we couldn't raise any dead or anything cool. Which is lame as hell."
"Blood magic is plenty exciting - oh don't give me that face, Ronald. We really should avoid any suspicion and lay low this year. The books will have to do. I can't believe I'm saying this, but why don't you two focus on Quidditch instead." Hermione huffed.
The boys launched into what was probably the sixth or seventh discussion they'd had about how cool Harry's Firebolt was. The girls had clocked out by the third time they'd done this. Hermione sighed. "I didn't mean right this second!" She was ignored.
"Can you tell me more about France?" Luna suggested. "Daddy thinks the French are lazy and smell like onions - because they're vampirephobic and so we've never been. Apparently, most of their government is made up of werewolves, who have a natural hatred for vampires, of course. There was a famous vampire king and werewolf clan leader who both fell in love with the same woman and it started a blood feud between them. Anyway, daddy says France is very prejudiced about that, and I have a third cousin who is a vampire."
That was usually the point where Hermione got a look on her face that signaled she was holding back a comment, which Luna always appreciated and pretended not to notice. But she'd been doing that less and less lately, and instead, her friend burst into fond laughter and pulled Luna into a side hug.
"You're really nice to talk to, Luna," she said. "Thanks for cheering me up. That was really funny. I didn't notice any werewolves while I was there but we did go to this wonderful museum -"
Luna forced her jealousy down and pretended that the hug had not been greatly needed. She was back on the train, surrounded by her friends and heading to her favorite place. She felt pretty cheered up too.
...
If his luck held, then perhaps he actually would have a calm year. The host of new professors and electives could actually be enough to hold his attention. Hagrid as the Care of Magical Creatures professor had been a welcome surprise, and the new DADA teacher had the energy of some dark creature, likely a werewolf which was interesting (of course, that could make him the next thing at the school that tries to kill him, but he didn't want to assume anything) and best of all, mama as their new Potions professor. Harry was literally bouncing his seat, having arrived twenty minutes early to his first lecture, books and parchment neatly arranged at his workstation.
The class had been relocated to the first floor, near the greenhouses. It was amazing what a bit of natural light and fresh air could accomplish. The lack of any mold and violent odors was the best news Harry's nose had ever received. Otherwise the room was rather plain, with a few potted herbs hanging in jars by the window and a precarious pile of books at the edge of mama's desk, alongside several mugs of what Harry knew was terribly bitter black coffee. Mama came out of the storage room carrying a box of ribbiting frogs. She was dressed a bit more professionally than usual in pleated trousers, a button-down underneath a sweater with little birds stitched in amongst the argyle and a traditional pointed hat.
"Seriously?" She asked. Harry was the first student there, and the door had been locked. "You'll help me sort through what we need for Pepper-Up, then."
Sirius, in the form of Padfoot, barreled over to greet Harry vigorously.
"Wow, look at my taxpayer dollars at work." Harry laughed while collapsing under the weight of the dog trying his hardest to hug him with all four limbs. "You guys sure did a good job keeping me safe from a violent mass murderer."
"The wards are wards, so basically useless. As long as he stays as the dog, nobody will know." Mama said. Sirius nudged him in a way that said ugh, how annoying but at least I'm a cute dog. "Sirius, let him up. Go grab me the graphorn guts."
The bell rang and the Gryffindor and Slytherin students filed in. Interested murmurs filled the air as they took in the new classroom and professor. Mama's sleeves were rolled to her elbows and showed off her favorite tattoo of a man being burned at the stake. The flames moved around on her forearm and the man's body slowly dissolved into a skeleton as his mouth parted in a silent scream before his flesh reformed in blistering chunks and the cycle repeated. Harry thought it looked cool, but it did seem to curtail her friendly academic look. Standing there with her arms crossed and unnatural eyes peering into the student's souls, she made an intimidating figure.
"Right, shut up," Alabansandria said, and silence fell immediately. Dozens of wide eyes followed her every move. "Set up your cauldrons quietly while I talk. None of this working in pairs nonsense either, each of you will brew your own potion. While I'm talking, do not ask me any questions, you may ask me once we start brewing but not before. I will not take attendance, if you don't want to show up, that's your problem. I won't assign readings, If you are not prepared for class, that's your problem. If you show up and give an honest effort, you will be fine. Now, don't light any fires yet. Today we will be brewing Pepper-Up Potion to see how you perform with something new. Of the ingredients on the board, we can acquire these seven fresh in the greenhouses, which we will do now. I understand Snape did not bother to teach you how to harvest fresh ingredients, which is a travesty and will be rectified. Potions will always be stronger with fresher ingredients. Follow me." She swept out of the room with a trail of flustered ducklings hurrying after her. Harry ran to catch up alongside her.
"Do you like Hogwarts so far, mama? Have you gotten lost yet?"
"Our dog has been helpful in making sure I don't get lost," she said. Sirius bounded up and down the halls in front of them. He was clearly overjoyed to be back at Hogwarts, even if he was trapped as a dog for the whole year. "And Hogwarts is quite spectacular. Lots of deliciously old magic. You should come by for tea after dinner."
"Can my minions come too?"
"It will be a boring conversation, I'm afraid. But they may join us if you'd like."
They entered the greenhouses and Alabasandria turned to face the crowd of students. "First, we will need some Phosphorus Pickle and mint, three sprigs each. Go gather some."
.....
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