*SWISH*
The paper dagger sliced through the air as it spun above his hand for a brief moment before Harry caught it.
He stared at it in awe.
This piece of paper, which he had casually shaped into a rough dagger-like shape, was sharper than any knife he had ever used before. His gaze inadvertently went towards the nearby wall, where a few of these paper daggers were buried almost halfway into the stone that made up Hogwarts.
Sequence 8: Clown.
That's what he was now.
A deep sigh escaped his lips as he ran a hand through his tousled hair.
After the events that happened in the come and go room yesterday – events that he now understood as him going through loss of control and corruption – he'd quickly snuck into the Gryffindor Common room and headed up to the boys' dorm to change out of the hospital gown.
His newfound powers as a clown were a big help in that, allowing him to skip entire staircases in a single jump or two.
Getting dressed properly, he had gone back to the come-and-go room to try and find something about what had happened to him.
All he knew was that he was something called a Beyonder and that he was also a Sequence 8: Clown.
And he had no idea what any of that meant.
He'd spent the entirety of that Sunday stewing on it, going to the library several times to find out what a Beyonder was, but to no avail. He'd thought about going to Hermione or even Professor Dumbledore to ask for help – but something in his gut told him that it was a bad idea and that he should absolutely not do that.
And so, despite everything, he had actually been excited when the day finally passed, and Monday arrived. Because at least with the classes and all, he would have something to do other than stew in his thoughts.
But Monday didn't come peacefully.
He had to endure all of Malfoy's sneering and taunting. The blonde boy had removed the plaster off this hand – after Harry had exposed his scheme in front of the entire Great Hall - and had done mock impressions of Harry falling off his broom.
Harry had been pissed and on the verge of cursing the Blonde bastard, but Hermione had grabbed his hand and pulled him away before he could raise his wand.
But it hadn't been just in the Great Hall during breakfast. Even in Potions, Malfoy had spent most of his time doing dementor impressions across the classroom. And Snape, being the great dungeon bat that he was, hadn't batted an eye at that, allowing Malfoy to do as he wanted.
But when Ron had cracked and thrown a large crocodile heart at him, smacking Malfoy in the face.
This, Snape noticed.
And took 50 points from Gryffindor.
"If Snape's teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts again, I'm skiving off," Ron had said as they had headed toward Lupin's classroom after lunch. "Check who's in there, Hermione."
Hermione peered around the classroom door and visibly relaxed when she saw who was in there. "It's okay!"
Professor Lupin was back at work. Harry looked him over, and the man certainly looked like he had been violently ill. His old robes were hanging off more loosely on him and there were dark shadows beneath his eyes. Nevertheless, he smiled at the students as they took their seats in the classroom – and burst into loud complaints about Snape.
"It's not fair, he was only filling in, why should he give us homework?"
"We don't know anything about werewolves —"
"— two rolls of parchment!"
"Did you tell Professor Snape we haven't covered them yet?" Lupin asked, frowning slightly.
The babble broke out again.
"Yes, but he said we were really behind —"
"— he wouldn't listen —"
"— two rolls of parchment!" Seamus wailed.
Professor Lupin smiled at the look of indignation on every face facing him. "Don't worry. I'll speak to Professor Snape. You don't have to do the essay."
"Oh no," Hermione said, looking very disappointed. "I've already finished it!"
They had a very enjoyable lesson.
Professor Lupin had brought along a glass box containing a Hinkypunk, a little one-legged creature who looked as though he were made of wisps of smoke, rather frail and harmless-looking. "Lures travellers into bogs," He had said as they took notes. "You notice the lantern dangling from his hand? Hops ahead — people follow the light — then —"
The Hinkypunk made a horrible squelching noise against the glass.
When the bell rang, everyone gathered up their things and headed for the door, Harry among them, but "Wait a moment, Harry," Lupin suddenly called. "I'd like a word."
Harry doubled back and watched Professor Lupin covering the Hinkypunk's box with a cloth.
"I heard about the match," the professor started, turning back to his desk and starting to pile books into his briefcase, "and I'm sorry about your broomstick. Is there any chance of fixing it?"
"I wish," Harry huffed. He was still annoyed that the whomping willow had destroyed his broom. "The tree smashed it to bits."
He had half a mind to go down to that damned tree and burn it to ashes.
It might not bring his broom back, but at least he'd feel better.
Professor Lupin sighed. "They planted the Whomping Willow the same year that I arrived at Hogwarts. People used to play a game, trying to get near enough to touch the trunk. In the end, a boy called Davey Gudgeon nearly lost an eye, and we were forbidden to go near it. No broomstick would have a chance."
"And what about the dementors?" Harry demanded.
Why were they even there at the Quidditch pitch?
"Dementors…" Lupin glanced at Harry before turning away. "They have been growing restless for some time, and are furious at Professor Dumbledore's refusal to let them inside the grounds. I take it they were the reason you fell?"
"Yeah," Harry said before turning his head away to look at one of the walls. "Why were they even there?"
"They're getting hungry," Lupin said. "Dumbledore won't let them into the school, so their supply of human prey has dried up… I don't think they could resist the large crowd around the Quidditch field. All that excitement… emotions running high… it was their idea of a feast."
"But you needn't worry." The professor continued. "Professor Dumbledore's rage will keep them at bay, at least for the next while. I don't think any of us have seen him that angry before." He said the last part almost in wonder.
"The dementors, they…" Harry trailed off before running his hand through his hair in frustration. "Why do they affect me like that? Why? Am I just - ?"
Weak?
That was what Harry was about to ask, before Lupin cut him off.
"This has nothing to do with weakness." He said sharply. Then, his tone softened, becoming gentler. "Harry, you and your sister – you have suffered. Far more than others your age. The Dementor's affect you worse than the others because there are horrors in you that the others don't have."
A ray of wintry sunlight fell across the classroom, illuminating Lupin's gray hairs and the lines on his young face.
"A dementor is a wretched being, Harry. One of the foulest creatures to walk this earth."
"Azkaban must be terrible," Harry muttered.
Lupin nodded grimly. "The fortress is set on a tiny island, way out to sea, but they don't need walls and water to keep the prisoners in, not when they're all trapped inside their own heads, incapable of a single cheery thought. Most of them go mad within weeks."
"But Sirius Black escaped from them," Harry said slowly. "He got away…"
Lupin's briefcase slipped from the desk; he had to stoop quickly to catch it.
"Yes," he said, straightening up, "Black must have found a way to fight them. I wouldn't have believed it possible… Dementors are supposed to drain a wizard of his powers if he is left with them too long…"
"You made that Dementor on the train back off," Harry said suddenly.
He had to learn that silvery white spell, no matter what!
"There are — certain defences one can use," the professor said. "But there was only one Dementor on the train. The more there are, the more difficult it becomes to resist."
"Can you teach me?" Harry asked, using his new Clown powers to keep his excitement from showing.
"I don't pretend to be an expert at fighting Dementors, Harry — quite the contrary…
Harry frowned at that. If dementors came to another Quidditch match, he needed to be able to fight them.
He bit his lip as he thought of ways to convince Lupin to teach him, but something must have appeared on his face – regardless of his Clown Powers – that must have convinced him. "Well, all right. I'll try and help. But it'll have to wait until next term, I'm afraid. I chose a very inconvenient time to fall ill." He let out a raspy chuckle. "I'll let you and your sister know by owl when the lessons will start."
"Thank you, Professor." Harry showed a grateful smile on his face, ignoring the pang in his heart at the mention of having lessons with his sister.
He still didn't know what to think of her after all the revelations of yesterday - and he was in no mental condition to resolve those thoughts right now.
So he did what he did best.
Shove it into the deepest recesses of his mind for later.
OO OO OO
Harry stepped out of the classroom and was almost run over. "Whoa!" He ducked to the side as a wave of students ran past him, almost running him over. "What the hell?"
He turned to look at the wave of retreating students in confusion.
"What is going on?"
But before he could do anything, he heard a familiar voice from behind.
"Hey, Potter!"
Harry turned around to see Alicia walking towards him from behind. She had gotten rid of her uniform robes and was dressed only in the sweater and the pleated skirt that was part of the girls' uniform – but the sheer black tights that covered the visible part of her legs were certainly not. She had one of her hands in the skirt's pockets and the other in a loose, casual wave as she made her way towards him.
She came near him and stopped. "You aren't going with them?"
Harry glanced towards where the wave had disappeared into before turning back to his mentor. "You know what's going on?"
Alicia cocked an eyebrow, and then blinked when she realized that he was serious. "Are you serious?" She blurted before she caught herself. "You really don't know what's going on?"
"Nope."
"Well, that ruins the fun." Alicia sighed, running a hand through her hair.
And she had such a good plan too. She had wanted to surprise Harry to cheer him up after the Quidditch match and had managed to snag two of the tickets. She'd imagined the awed and impressed look in his eyes as she held the tickets and all the begging she'd make him do to get those tickets.
But the idiot just didn't know what was going on.
She resisted the urge to smack the younger boy in the back of his head.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on, or do I have to guess?" Harry asked with a cocked eyebrow, looking at her, entirely unimpressed.
"It's Madam M," Alicia started. "She's a very famous monster and bounty hunter. She's visiting Hogwarts right now and has agreed to give a lecture." She raised the two gold-edged red tickets upwards to show them to Harry, the gold glinting under the light. "There's something more going on too. I don't know the exact details, but going by the rumours, this whole thing has something to do with that fop Lockhart from last year."
Harry snorted; that sounded entirely believable. That fop had been the worst teacher Harry had had since he'd started Hogwarts three years ago – and he was including Snape in that.
So yes, he could easily believe that something could result from one of Lockhart's many fuckups.
"But what's with the tickets?" Harry asked.
Alicia shrugged. "There are only so many people can fit in a single room in the castle, even the Great Hall can't fit all of Hogwarts without overcrowding. And nearly everyone wants to attend Madam M's lecture. So the professors decided to do a ticket system to distribute the limited seats."
"And you managed to get your hands on two?"
"Damn right," Alicia grinned. "I owe the twins something major, but I managed to get two of them. Cool, right?!"
Harry grinned back, "Awesome!"
OO OO OO
Albus Dumbledore sucked on a sweet as he contemplated his thoughts.
Being outmanoeuvred by Cornelius Fudge was rather insulting, to be entirely honest.
Lucius Malfoy's rather blatant attempt to install his creature, Belinda Grimalkin, as the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor this year had been overturned, if only barely, by filling the position himself.
He couldn't help but frown as he thought of Belinda and how he had put her into Azkaban himself. He shook his head; she had so much potential, the same as her husband, yet they both squandered it just to be needlessly cruel and feed their own egos.
But Lucius had not been as easily deterred and acted through Cornelius. It was rather strange for the minister to go on an offensive like this, and Albus might even have been proud of the normally pliant man had he not aimed towards infiltrating Hogwarts out of some misplaced paranoia that Lucius was no doubt fanning the flames of.
He'd tried to create a new vacancy in Hogwarts, citing the sheer incompetence in the teachings of Gilderoy Lockhart last year. His intentions couldn't have been clearer: insert one of his people into the ancient stronghold of Hogwarts by using the excuse of an additional catch-up class to cover the less-than-stellar education the students received the previous year.
He could not remove Remus from his position as Professor, but it didn't matter. Another professor position was now open, and it was filled before Dumbledore could do anything to prevent it.
What was surprising about it was the choice.
In truth, he'd expected Cornelius to foolishly attempt to shove Umbridge into the position despite the fact that she never even took the elective, or even one of Malfoy's men – Cornelius had truly managed to catch him by surprise.
He had reached out to a famous monster hunter and former hit wizard, a Madame M, and managed to arrange for the hunter to conduct a lesson at Hogwarts. As of right now, Albus was trying to -
*KNOCK*
*KNOCK*
Albus looked up from his desk, brought out of his thoughts as someone knocked on his door. He smiled, "Please do enter, Minerva, Madame M."
The doors swung open, and Minerva McGonagall stepped inside. She was carrying in her hands a small stack of papers, which were promptly deposited on Albus's desk.
Following behind the deputy Headmistress was a woman Albus immediately recognized as Madame M. She was a witch who looked to be in her late twenties, though Albus knew that she was older than that. She had thick and bright blonde hair that cascaded down in waves and reached the small of her back, tied up in a single large braid. Her eyes were a striking pair of an intense ocean-blue.
She was currently dressed in a semi-formal pair of red wizarding robes, but Albus could make out the duelling leather beneath.
She looked around the office for a brief moment before the intense blue orbs landed on the Headmaster.
"Good Afternoon Madame, please have a seat. Thank you Minerva, you may go."
The woman replied, "Actually, if the Deputy Headmistress wishes to stay, I have no objection. I imagine that if today's talks go well, she will get to know far more about me than she does currently. And further on that point, please call me Neria." Madame M said, before turning to Minerva, "You as well, deputy headmistress, feel free to call me by my name, Neria Mocklinne."
As she smiled, certain thoughts began to form in both Albus and Minerva's heads, but a sudden sound of a quill writing on paper echoed in their ears, leading them to lose their current train of thought. Albus looked around, confused for a brief moment, wondering where the sound came from.
But he thought nothing more of it and turned his attention to Madame M.
"Or am I presuming?" Neria finished.
Dumbledore looked at the woman briefly and then nodded to Professor McGonagall. "You are welcome to stay as well, of course."
Minerva peered at the blonde woman and then shook her head. "As much as I would like to, I have things that need to be completed for the semester-end reports. I am certain we will become acquainted should she be hired at full capacity."
The blonde woman smiled at her and nodded respectfully, "Thank you for your assistance then."
Minerva nodded back before leaving the office, leaving only the headmaster and the Blonde Witch in the room.
Albus started, "I heard the preparations for the lecture are going well?"
"They are. The podium in the amphitheatre is almost ready, and Professors Flitwick, Vector, and Babbling are almost done layering the enchantments in the room. I'll be able to give the lecture in a few days," Neria said, nodding. "And what about the tickets? How is the distribution?"
Albus nodded, knowing that the other woman had been a tad hesitant about the whole ticketing system when it had been first proposed.
But to be honest, so had he.
Neria Mocklinne had offered to simply conduct the lecture in the Great Hall and do so in such a way that it would be mostly theoretical, but Cornelius had vetoed that entire idea.
Cornelius had initially wanted each head of house to nominate a select number of students to attend the lecture, to allow merit and such to determine who would study under the illustrious Madame M. But Albus had seen Malfoy's hidden words in this proposal quite clearly – that he wanted his son and other Hogwarts children of his supporters to get the chance to attend this lecture – and thus, the proposal had been rejected.
It had been Professor Charity Burbage who had suggested the ticketing system, and after a lot of back and forth, a proper methodology had been devised. Professors would hold a certain number of tickets and would have leave to grant them to whichever student they wish to, either on their own, or through merits – such as earning points and such.
It was in no way a perfect method, but it was better than anything that had been suggested, considering how high-profile the lecture was.
Albus nodded back at her, "Well, if all is going well, then we can hold the lecture at the end of this month. Does that work for you, Madame Neria?"
"It does, Headmaster Dumbledore, thank you."
"Very well, now for other matters." He folded his hands on the desk and regarded the blonde witch sitting opposite him. "Tell me, Neria, how long have you been working as a monster hunter?"
"Professionally? A little over eleven years now."
"Eleven years!" Albus raised his eyebrows in astonishment. "That is quite a long time. You must have started rather young."
"I did." Neria smiled. "I was barely old enough to leave school when I first started accompanying my mentor on his assignments. He was a rather well-known hunter himself, though I doubt many people remember his name in these circles."
"And you decided to follow in his footsteps?"
"Not exactly. I had my own reasons for taking up the profession." She shrugged. "Though I suppose having someone to show me the ropes certainly helped."
Albus nodded thoughtfully. It was not an uncommon story. Many witches and wizards entered dangerous professions through family connections or mentorships, though very few managed to make a name for themselves as Neria had.
"I imagine you have encountered quite a few unusual creatures over the years."
"More than I'd care to remember." Neria chuckled. "Some are rather fascinating, once you get past the fact that they might be trying to eat you."
Albus laughed. "I've always found that a rather good way to describe certain creatures."
"Have you ever had the pleasure of meeting a forest hunter, Headmaster?"
The headmaster frowned. "I don't believe I have ever encountered one, but I do know that a few reside in the forest, alongside some thousand-faced Hunters. I believe Rubeus finds them quite a pleasant company."
Neria gave him a look. "Pleasant? I suppose that depends on how satiated the creatures are." They were a nightmare to deal with when hungry and rampaging.
Albus laughed again, his eyes twinkling. "Quite right."
The woman leaned back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other. Her demeanour was relaxed, but Albus couldn't help noticing how her eyes occasionally wandered around the office. They lingered on the portraits, the various instruments and finally Fawkes, who had been quietly observing their conversation from his perch.
"Is that a phoenix?" she asked.
"Indeed. His name is Fawkes."
"Beautiful creature." Neria looked at the bird for another moment. "I've never had the opportunity to work with one."
"Fawkes is a rather particular creature. I doubt he would appreciate being treated as a work assignment."
"Don't worry, Headmaster. I'm not in the habit of hunting creatures that haven't tried to kill me first."
"An admirable standard to have." Albus smiled.
Neria smiled at that before turning her attention back to him. "I must say, this is a rather interesting place you've got here. I've heard plenty about Hogwarts, but I've never actually had the opportunity to visit."
Albus could certainly hear some odd inflections in her voice as she said that, but he paid them no mind. "Then I hope your stay proves enjoyable. It is a rather special place, after all. Though I imagine you will find it a little different from the places you are accustomed to visiting."
"I've noticed." Her gaze briefly shifted towards the door through which Minerva had departed. "Your staff seem rather protective of the place."
"They have good reason to be. Hogwarts has been home to generations of young witches and wizards. We take their safety rather seriously."
"As you should."
For a brief moment, neither spoke. Dumbledore reached for the bowl of sweets on his desk and offered it to his guest.
Neria politely declined, prompting him to pop one into his own mouth instead.
"Well, Neria, I believe there is still quite a bit for us to discuss."
And so, the two of them continued their talk and discussion until well into late evening.