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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)
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Padma was standing beside Hermione and couldn't help but whisper to her, "Told you Robin was a good name for Neville."
Neville though wasn't quite finished yet. "If the defence teacher Harry's father provides is half as good as Master Pitslay, then I'll be first in line for that class too. Goblin or not, it's whether they can teach that counts - and even a house elf would have to be better at teaching defence than Quirrell."
Neville had effectively cut the legs from under Malfoy and the blond Slytherin was let to storm away as the Ravenclaws, Gryfindors, - minus a missing Ron Weasley - and the Hufflepuffs all quickly confirmed to Harry they would be delighted if he could arrange for them to join his defence lessons.
Malfoy's posse, and the rest of the snakes, accompanied him as he stormed off. The other Slytherins had been deliberately non-committal though, preferring to take the Slytherin approach and see who could be teaching them first. Tracy, Daphne and Millicent had barely poked their collective heads into the great hall when they were doing an about-turn and heading back to ask Harry if they could join the lessons too.
Harry was pleasantly surprised and said he intended to include them when he asked the new tutor. When the group of friend reached the great hall, the mystery of the girls' sudden change of heart was there for all to see. The wizard standing beside McGonagall was clearly on good terms with the professor as they stood and chatted, while every witch in the castle suddenly wished they were in the Deputy Headmistress' shoes and talking to the handsome wizard.
He was rugged, tanned and appeared to be in his early twenties. With dark red hair that was shoulder length and held in a ponytail, the wizard was at least six feet tall and his dragon hide jacket really emphasised those broad shoulders. As McGonagall led him over toward Harry, they caught a glimpse of a dragon tooth earring too. Hermione suddenly had a warm and fuzzy feeling deep in her bones. Apart from the colour of his hair, this was probably a close approximation of what Harry would mature into at the same age. This had the young witch smiling to herself and holding her best friend's arm even tighter.
"Mr Crow, I would like to introduce you to the last Gryffindor who held the position of Hogwarts Head Boy - William Weasley."
"Hi Harry, hope you don't mind if I call you that? I'm a curse-breaker for Gringotts and Ragnot himself pulled me back from Egypt to tutor you in defence. Once he made me aware of the actual situation here, well I couldn't really refuse." What Bill wasn't saying was he'd fought this assignment tooth and nail, until told the prophecy. Any complaints about teaching some snot-nosed kid went right out the window after that. His entire argument that raiding tombs was a better use of his hard-won skills just didn't hold water when compared to training the boy prophesied to fight Voldemort.
Harry though got the message that this person had been trusted with the prophecy. "Pleased to meet you sir, Harry's fine and thanks for doing this. I don't know what Hogwarts has arranged as cover for Professor Quirrell but I said to my classmates I would ask if they could join the class too?"
Bill's smile had most of the witches in the great hall swooning. "Harry, for what I'm being paid for this, you call the shots. If you want me to take all the first years, that's fine with me."
Harry was just about to ask Professor McGonagall if this would be okay when they were rudely interrupted by the youngest Weasley currently attending Hogwarts rushing into the great hall.
"BILL! This is fantastic, I just wrote to mum this morning and now you're here. I don't know what the curse on me is but I'm sure you'll break it - I'm starving to death in Hogwarts."
The elder Weasley was embarrassed at this loud and rude interruption during what was effectively his work. "Sorry Ron, I've no idea what you're talking about. I'm at Hogwarts to teach Harry here defence."
Ron's expression of betrayal was soon replaced by one of utter rage. "That's just not fair, He gets everything. Not this time Crow, eat slugs!"
His actions had been so unexpected that there was no time for anyone to react, and Harry so close that Ron knew he couldn't miss this time. Unfortunately, his spellotaped wand had other ideas. The spell backfired from his damaged wand, blowing Ron onto his arse.
McGonagall was outraged, and didn't care who knew it. "Mr Weasley, never in all my years at Hogwarts have I encountered someone as single-mindedly stupid as you. It would seem you didn't learn your lesson the last time you used that curse so something different will have to be tried..."
The first slug escaping Ron's mouth halted his head of house's tirade, for the moment. "Percy, take your brother to the infirmary. Inform Madam Pomfery that under no condition is he to leave there before I have another word with him."
As Ron was led away, McGonagall had a moment to get her temper back under control. Gryffindors attacking anyone unprovoked was always going to get her ire up. Doing it twice, with the second time being right in front of her, was going to see Minerva heading for the Burrow later. First though, she had a situation to deal with.
"Mr Crow, I really appreciate your suggestion about allowing the rest of first year to attend. It has my blessing since the alternative at the moment is a study period in the library. I can also assure you that the youngest Weasley brother will learn to keep his wand in his pocket - or he will not be in Hogwarts much longer. William, can I suggest you have lunch with the twins and discover what's really going on here?"
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Welcome to the world of our fanfic! Your support is the heartbeat of this story, allowing us to craft new adventures and explore deeper character arcs. With over 55 chapters ahead, becoming a patron gives you exclusive access to bonus content and the chance to influence the narrative's direction.
Join us on this thrilling ride—together, we can make every chapter unforgettable!
http//patreon.com/Kun_kanshi
(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)
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