"Well, he is a Weasley after all. You might get pregnant without even doing 'it'. Hey, you could end up with your own version of the twins!" Daphne flushed with the thought of having Ron's children and then started to pink almost as bad as Ron. Harry suddenly had a horrible vision of the Weasley twins with Daphne's wicked sense of humour. The school would quickly get a R18 (X) rating.
Shaking the horrible vision away, Harry asked, "Anything new in the prefects' meeting?"
Hermione grasped onto the change of topics saying, "Not much changed in general. Professor Moody was recalled to the Aurors so he is gone. No word on his replacement. No, it is not Snape. Oh, and the Ministry is putting security measures in place. The prefects are going to be expected to support whatever they implement."
"I heard they increased the number of new recruits to the Aurors for their next class," Padma said. "Sue Bones said they want to increase the new recruits by fifty percent and they are actively recruiting experienced Aurors from other countries."
"At least the DMLE is doing something," Harry grumped. "The Wizengamot is still messing about on Voldemort's return. Some of those inbred mental midgets even tried to say the attack last week was a prank gone wrong and wanted me brought up on charges."
"Did they really?" Hermione asked.
"They did indeed," Ernie assured his girlfriend. The topic then was diverted and Harry leaned back into his seat and closed his eyes for a moment. Not long after he was sound asleep.
....
The Great Hall was filled to capacity as the new and returning students filled the tables as had not been seen before in recent memory. The staff had two stools set up for the sorting so that while the Hat sorted one student, the next was being called and seated. The poor Sorting Hat actually looked tired when 'Wilkerson, Melinda' was sorted into Hufflepuff. Once the newest Hufflepuff was seated and the Sorting Hat cleared away, Professor Dumbleodore stood up and made his normal opening announcements. Harry wasn't really paying attention until something caught his attention.
"Professor Moody has returned to the Auror Corp with the current crisis. While we shall miss his knowledge, please join with me to welcome Professor Morgan Crowling. Professor Crowling holds Masteries in Defence against the Dark Arts and Runes. Her specialty is in countering Dark rituals and curses. I am sure we will all do our best to make her feel welcome at Hogwarts."
"Look at Snape," Ron whispered. "He always looks shirty when he doesn't get the Defence job. Now he looks blank."
Harry glanced at his least favourite professor and saw the greasy haired wizard did indeed have a completely blank expression up but he could also see tension around the man's eyes. Odd. Harry looked at the newly introduced Defence instructor. Crowling was a stunningly pretty woman with long black hair held back with some kind of clip. The new professor's face had that look of indeterminate age some woman had. It was somewhat otherworldy and it made Harry wonder if she had Veela or some other creature blood in her. That face was completely impassive as she surveyed the students. Then her eyes briefly made contact with Harry's and he felt a chill run down his spine. The Beast's instincts screamed this was not a witch to be taken lightly.
Harry wanted to groan. Couldn't he have just a normal year?
"… with the return of the man known as Lord Voldemort, certain precautions will be taken this year," Dumbledore was saying pulling Harry back. "Two Auror squads will be present at Hogwarts at all times. Be warned, if they see an illegal activity, they shall respond according to their sworn duties. Normal rule breaking will be reported to Professor McGonagall but I suggest not looking at pushing just where that boundary might be." He glanced at Harry and the Weasley twins for that last part. The twins pretended to look innocent, but Harry caught the warning. He was sure elements of the Ministry would love to get him up on charges again.
Harry glanced over and caught sight of Draco. The Slytherin was scowling at the announcement. That perversely made Harry feel better. If it was one of the elder Malfoy's plans (who no one had seen since the graveyard) then his son/sycophant would have been gloating. It could still be an effort to get Harry in trouble but Malfoy would be at least as unhappy with the situation as Harry.
....
A month after the new school year started, Harry was sitting in the Defence classroom waiting for his classmates to finish the surprise test sprung on them by Professor Crowling. The woman was coldly polite to all of the students but no one now doubted the professor was incredibly knowledgeable. Harry easily put her on par with Remus and Moody. Harry couldn't say he looked forward to the classes like he'd done with Remus or Moody but he knew she had a lot of information to share. At the very least she wasn't worthless like his first two Defence professors. Where Remus focused on Dark Creatures and Moody focused on fighting other wizards, Professor Crowling focused on Dark Curses on people and places. She was touching a lot on ritual magics too. Some of those discussions had given Harry a bad time after flashbacks to Voldemort's ritual in the graveyard. Harry was just happy he'd been taking Runes because she pulled on both Runes and Arithmancy in her assignments and the people like Ron and Neville who'd taken neither were at a disadvantage.
.....
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