Harry Potter: Another Chance

Chapter 21: The Profesor of Defense

Disclaimer: 
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
 
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
$Parseltongue$
 
Chapter 21: The Profesor of Defense

He stepped onto the circular platform and as soon as he did, the crystal ceased its rotation and remained still while floating in the air.
Harry observed the surface of the arkstone. There were ancient runes carved over its surface, the same type of runes used in the rest of the chamber. He could only guess what the purpose of those runes was, in all his years of studying runes, he had never seen this ancient language.

He moved to the other side of the crystal, where a more familiar set of modern runes were carved as well as some words written in Latin. He was very familiar with this part, as here is where Hogwarts wards were created, and later on, modified.
Near the bottom part of the crystal, he found a set of names. The last one is " Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore".

Every Headmaster must come to this chamber at least once in their lifetime to carve their name on the arkstone, tying themselves to the wards in order to control them and use their functions.
Harry placed his wand below Dumbledore's spot and started to write with it on the crystal.

"Harry James Potter"

His name shone brightly and he felt an immediate connection to the castle.
Harry knew that doing this while Hogwarts already had someone in command of the wards came with some risks.
But he was sure that as long as he didn't abuse his authority over the wards, Dumbledore would not notice anything was amiss.

That was not a problem. As long as the castle didn't fall under heavy attack, the only privilege he had planned on using was his freedom of apparating inside and outside the castle.
'It cannot hurt to be ready…just in case.'

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The next day was double Defense class before lunch so he was able to meet their new teacher.

He entered the class, along with some of the Slytherins, and sat down in one of the middle seats next to a blonde girl from the House of snakes.
They exchanged a polite nod before she turned her attention back to her book.

This was Daphne Greengrass. He vaguely remembers her from his previous life despite going to the same year and having many classes together. That could only be a good thing, considering what house she was from. 

But the only reason he was paying the girl any attention was because he recalls hearing their family name being mentioned a few times back at home.
'Could Daphne be friends with my sister? or maybe her little sister. I believe her name was Astoria.'

"Attention, class!" the voice of their professor was grave and authoritative enough to make even the Slytherins shut up and pay attention.

Harry could give the professor a closer look now.
His hair was long and black, the same color as his eyes. His skin was dark with a redish tint to it and he was built like a soldier. Tall and muscular.

Most of his body was covered with a dark tunic but Harry was able to spot several scars on the few uncovered places.
His gaze was cold and hard as he looked at his students. Most of the kids sitting in the first row were trembling in fear now.
'This guy looks like someone who just came out of a battlefield. Why is someone like that teaching at a school?.' Harry thought.

"Now, brats!, let's see… where do we start? " He walked to the board, his wand appeared out of nowhere into his hand and he pointed it forward.

A name was carved on the wooden surface with a series of deep cuts.

'Does he not know how to use a chalkboard?' Harry wondered.

The words "Professor Nayar" could be made out.
"My name is Keshav Nayar but you may call me Professor Nayar."

Hermione raised a hand with some hesitation.
"Yes?" The professor asked.

Hermione pointed at the board.
"Professor, y-you need to use the c-chalk to write on those."
Despite her fear, she could not stand to see a chalkboard being abused in that manner, not even by a professor.

"Oh…right, it's been a while since I used those things, hahaha. What's your name, lass?... I mean Miss?" 

"Hermione Granger, Professor." 

"Well then, have five points for Gryffindor, Miss Granger," he said with a scary smile.
"Does anyone else have a question before we begin?" 

One of the Slytherin boys raised his hand.

"Yes?, mister…" 

"Theodore Nott, Professor. We were wondering…are you perhaps a former auror or something?" He asked while trying his best to look unfazed by the intimidating looks of the professor.

"An auror?, hell no!. I am a hit wizard." He said with pride.
"Does anyone know what a hit wizard is?" 

' A hit wizard?...yes, that would explain a lot.' thought Harry.

The professor saw a few hands being raised and chose the blonde girl next to Harry.

"Go ahead, Miss…"

"Daphne Greengrass, Professor. A hit wizard is a mercenary who hunts down dark wizards for money."

"Good, but incomplete. We hunt down anything with a bounty approved by that country's government. Sometimes is a dark wizard, sometimes is a magical creature causing trouble, and sometimes is a poor fool who made enemies with the wrong person." Professor Nayar chuckled, giving the students goosebumps.
"But you got some part right, so have two points for Slytherin."

After that, the class continued in a more normal manner. 
Professor Nayar explained the 'flipendo' jinx, made demonstrations, and then, allowed them to do some practice.

Harry had to admit that Nayar was one of the most competent defense professors he had seen in this school. Maybe on par with that Death Eater disguised as a crazy auror who taught defense during his fourth year.
'But this makes me wonder…what is the catch?, there is always a catch…' Harry pondered.