Harry Potter, Teaching Assistant Extraordinaire
"You two have GOT to stop obsessing over that book." Draco snapped, snatching it from them. The group were all in the room of requirement, studying. Harry and Hermione had been poring over the annotated text for a week, talking in hushed tones. Hermione had been diligently copying some of the notes into her own textbook, something she had never done before in her life.
"Leave them alone, Draco, it's basically their love-child." Ginny snarked as Hermione grabbed the book back and smacked Draco on the arm for his trouble. Astoria snorted.
"Who wrote it, anyway?" Luna asked, despite obviously already knowing. Because Luna knew everything, everyone knew that.
"The half-blood prince." Harry and Hermione chorused. Daphne froze.
"Give me that book. Now." She demanded, holding out a hand.
"What? Why?" Harry asked, quickly closing the book and pulling it close to his chest. Hermione glared at him, her hand and quill still poised over her notes.
"Have you two lost your minds? Who do we know that's a half blood who thrives on power and likes possessing people through books?" Daphne asked, her eyes glittering dangerously.
"Er-"
"VOLDEMORT!" She yelled at them. "THE LITERAL DARK LORD!"
Harry laughed so hard he couldn't breathe.
"Daphne, dear, sweet Daphne, Voldy didn't write this." He assured her, handing the book to Hermione, who opened it and continued to copy. Daphne snatched it up this time and Hermione almost growled at her.
"How would you know?"
"We've been over this." Harry reminded her. "I have the eighth sense."
Ron groaned. "Please stop calling your crazy ability to know when something is related to Voldemort somehow an eighth sense!"
"No, because it is an eighth sense. Anyway, this definitely wasn't Voldy's. I think it might've been Snape's."
"Snape's? You're mad." Ginny said, taking the book from Daphne and flipping through it. "He'd kill you if he knew you had his book. He also wouldn't just leave it lying around."
Harry scratched the back of his head. "It wasn't really lying around..." He admitted.
Hermione frowned. "You said you got it from the spare equipment cabinet!"
"I did, sort of! It's not my fault I cast revelio to see if there was anything cool hiding in there and found a little hidden muggle safe!"
Hermione snatched the book back from Ginny and resumed note taking.
"You know what? Just this once I don't care that you broke at least ten school rules, I should be used to it by now anyway. This book is the work of a genius and I am going to make the most of it." She said, quill scratching loudly as she wrote.
"It's my book!" Harry protested, but he was grinning.
"He's even invented spells!" Hermione exclaimed, running her finger down the glossary. "Muffliato, Sectumsempra-"
"That's definitely my Uncle Severus'." Draco said. "He's used muffliato before to stop me listening to his conversations with my father and he taught it to me last summer. He's never mentioned the other one, though."
"The word had Latin origins, I think it's some sort of cutting curse." Hermione frowned. "It's probably best we don't use that one."
"I forgot you were a Latin geek." Ginny said, ducking when Hermione threw Luna's charms textbook at her.
"So, do we tell Snape?" Daphne asked, sitting back down.
Harry shook his head. "We won't keep it forever, but we might as well make the most of it for now."
Daphne shook her head when Hermione nodded vehemently. "Unbelievable. I expect from Harry, but you, Hermione?"
Neville snorted. "Wait until you hear what she did in second year when they thought Draco was-"
"Anyway!" Harry said hastily, cutting Neville off when Draco's eyes narrowed. "Now Umbridge is gone, want to see if Dumbledore will let us restart the HA?"
"Now that is a good idea." Susan met Harry's grin with one of her own. "Hey Hermione, d'you still have any of those Galleons left?"
~
The first week flew by. Sixth year was just as full on as fifth year, minus the pressure of OWLS, but the workload for NEWTS was far higher. Harry, now back on the quidditch team, was delighted when Ginny replaced one of the twins as a beater and a fourth year, Demelza Robbins, replaced Angelina.
They were a strong team. Not as strong as when Oliver, Angelina and the twins were there, but still strong.
Severus Snape was dreading the second week back. Whilst mollified he had finally received the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Dumbledore had once again found a way to ruin his life.
How? Potter.
"Morning Professor Snape!"
Severus ignored him and finished setting up his classroom.
"So, firsties. What do we teach firsties again?"
"First Years, Potter. And WE teach them nothing. Today you will teach alone, and I will assess whether you are good enough to continue with your extra qualification."
Potter looked mildly indignant.
"Considering I basically taught all the fourth and fifth years last year and everyone in my classes got above an E in their OWLS, haven't I technically proved myself already?" He asked, offended. Severus sighed.
"Teaching requires flexibility, Potter, you adapt for the age. And Diggory was helping you last year."
Potter opened his mouth to argue, but snapped it shut when the first year Slytherins and Gryffindors filed in and took their seats, looking between Severus and Potter curiously.
"Potter will be teaching you today." Severus said simply. He moved to stand to the side of the room, watching Potter expectantly.
To the boy's credit, he didn't look phased. He moved over the the desk and hoisted himself onto it, sitting cross legged and smiling at the students. Severus raised a brow, but didn't comment on the lack of professionalism. Yet.
"So!" Potter said brightly. "Since you've only been here a week, I doubt you've actually used magic in this particular class yet, am I right?"
The Gryffindors nodded, looking hopeful. Potter narrowed his eyes slightly at the apprehensive looks the Slytherins were giving him. Had he forgotten house unity was still incredibly poor outside of his own year group?
"Okay, let's do this differently today. Still no magic, obviously. I'm going to give you some real-life scenarios from my own first year at Hogwarts. You're going to tell me what you think you would do, and we'll go from there."
A Slytherin girl raised her hand.
"Yes?"
"Rosalind Nott. Wasn't your first year in the Daily Prophet a few years ago?"
Potter nodded.
"So surely we can just cheat, and tell you what you did."
Potter grinned. "Well, first of all, not everything that happened was in the paper." Severus' eyebrows shot up. What other trouble did the child get himself into? "Secondly, what if what I did was a poor decision in which I got lucky?"
Potter had noticed a few other students nodding along, and smiled.
"Okay so!" Harry said, clapping his hands. "It's the Halloween feast and your friend is in the toilets, crying. A professor comes in, screaming about a troll, and everyone panics. You're sent back to your common rooms, and you remember your friend in the toilets. What do you do?"
One of the Gryffindors raised his hand. "Jaden Farmer, right?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, Farmer, fire away."
"I'd go find my friend, of course." Severus sighed. It was a poor idea, and exactly what Potter had done. Despite knowing how close Potter was to students in other houses, he did wonder whether there was still some favouritism in the boy.
Potter grinned, and Severus was slightly disappointed in him. Potter had grown on him somewhat, even if Severus liked to spend as much time as possible away from him. Potter's incessant chatter and blatant disregard for rules was still incredibly irritating.
"The troll was in the bathroom, you're dead." Potter said simply. Severus smirked, and pretended he wasn't relieved or pleased that Potter was being reasonable. "That's what I did when it happened to me, and by a stroke of luck and having a really smart friend, we survived." Severus stifled a snort.
"So it is possible." Jaden argued.
"But that doesn't mean it was the right decision. What would have been better? Nott?" Rosalind Nott was one of Severus' smartest Slytherin first years and she was already clearly one of the top of her class, even if it was only the second week.
"You could have found a teacher. Or a prefect." She said, and Severus was pleased at least one person in the class had common sense.
Potter nodded. "Better. Any other ideas?" No one spoked. "Okay. What would we do if there were no teachers or prefects around? You?"
"Er, Liam Fawley. Find another older student?" Another Slytherin answered.
"Good, Fawley. Okay, when me and my friend Ron went to find Hermione, the troll found us. How do you fight a troll?"
"Well trolls have really thick skin, so hitting them directly with magic will be difficult." One of the Gryffindor girls said slowly.
"So what's an alternative, Foxglove?" Potter asked her. Lily Foxglove frowned and Potter smiled at her encouragingly.
"Well, you could create a distraction and run?"
"Are you asking me or telling me? In situations like this, there's no time for second guessing yourself." Severus tried his hardest not to look impressed. As loathe as he was to admit it, Potter was an... adequate teacher.
"Telling you. Make a distraction and run."
"Better. The trolls is chasing you, now what? Yes?" Potter pointed at a Slytherin boy.
"Run in zigzags, trolls aren't very good at changing directions. If you know the right spells, you can try and stop the troll."
"How?"
"Well, you can use the levitation charm to put objects in its path, but that's hard to do whilst running."
Potter smiled. "And that is where both you and Foxglove went wrong. Whilst you are correct and running in zigzags is as effective on trolls as it is crocodiles, turning your back on danger is one of the easiest ways to get yourself killed if you don't know how to cast a shield charm at your back. The best thing to do is to hide if you can. In hindsight, me, Ron and Hermione should have just left the bathroom, shut the door and hidden somewhere."
Nott raised her hand again. "Yes?"
"What if there is nowhere to hide?" She asked.
"Professor, am I allowed to give and take house points?" Potter looked at Severus, who nodded slowly.
"Yes, Potter, but only inside these classes." He answered reluctantly. "If you abuse this power, it will be taken from you."
"Don't worry, I know." Potter said smugly. Severus suddenly realised something, and scowled.
"Anyway, Five points to Slytherin." The Gryffindors all looked offended, and the Slytherins shocked a Gryffindor was awarding them points. "Nott has an excellent point. If you can give me a reasonable alternative to hiding, I'll give you another five."
"Well that depends, surely? Where are we, what is around us, how much magic do we know?"
"And that, Nott, is precisely my point! Take another five points." Potter grinned, hopping of the desk and begining to pace slowly. "Look, you can't always predict danger. Unexpected things happen, and you have to be prepared to adapt."
Severus made a split-second decision, and cast serpensortia. The first years watched the snake in horror, hissing angrily at Potter, who quickly cast an immobulus spell.
"So, there are three main factors in defending yourself. But before all these, a phrase I learnt from a very good Auror has always served me well. Constant Vigilance. Always be prepared, especially if you know what you'll be facing in advance. Now, onto the three main factors. First, assess. What is it I am defending myself from? Where am I? What can I use to hide, protect myself, or fight back? Who is around me that can help me, or who might I need to help? Iris Sparrow, assess for me."
The Slytherin girl looked surprised Potter knew her name, but answered anyway. "Erm, we are in a classroom with a potentially dangerous snake. Assuming we-"
"Make no assumptions." Harry interrupted her gently. "Imagine it is you in the situation, and go with what you know."
"Okay. I don't know what type of snake the snake is, and because it could be really dangerous I don't have time to find out what type it is and what I might need to defend myself."
"Good." Harry said. "Knowledge is definitely power, but we don't have time to inform ourselves sometimes. Continue."
"There are lots of desks and chairs I can use to make a barrier between me and the snake, or hide behind. I'm sat near the door, so I could also just leave and shut the door."
"That's a good plan, but what are you not accounting for?" Farmer raised his hand.
"The other people in the room." He said when Harry nodded at him. "You and Professor Snape are probably better equipped to deal with the snake, so we should all hide whilst you deal with it."
"Five points to Gryffindor. Now we've assessed, we move on to the next step. Action." Severus watched as Harry unfroze the snake, and resolutely ignored that his inner monologue had started referring to the boy at Harry instead of Potter. The students all held their breath. The snake lunged for Harry, and he froze it again. "Sometimes, you don't have time to assess. If you can hide, hide first and then assess. The more experienced you become, the more you will assess automatically as soon as you arrive anywhere. The next factor - Action. Carry out whatever plan you had, and if you don't have one, trust your instincts."
Severus tried his hardest not to be impressed again. He failed.
"Now." Harry grinned. "The third and most important thing you must always do when in any situation. Play to your strengths."
He unfroze the snake, and the first years all got to their feet and backed away when it slithered towards them.
Harry hissed. The snake stopped, and turned to face him, tilting its head. The students watched in shock and slight fear as Harry and the snake had a conversation. After a few seconds of intense hissing the snake seemed to relax. It curled up on the floor, looking at Severus, who stared back.
"He'd like to return home please, Professor." Harry said. Severus vanished the snake, and the students all looked at Harry with shock and admiration.
"Homework." Severus said, looking at Harry. "Set them something, Potter."
"Really? Alright then." Harry looked at the students thoughtfully.
"In my first year." He said slowly. "There was a very powerful object hidden within the school. Me and two of my friends discovered someone was going to try and steal it. I explain in more detail what happens in the Daily Prophet. If you need a copy, Hermione and Draco in my year both have one. They are prefects, so you should know them. They can duplicate a copy for you to use. I would like you to write What Would I Do? at the top of a piece of parchment, and tell me if you were in this situation with the knowledge you have now, what would you do? Other than reading the article, do no more research. For extra marks, you can give multiple examples. I'd also like you to explain why as best you can."
Once all the first years had left, Harry looked at Severus. "Well?" He asked, looking slightly nervous.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Potter. Read through the first to third year curriculum by the end of the week." Severus handed him three books.
Harry was grinning the whole way back to his common room. From Snape, that had been high praise.
~
Later that evening, Severus let himself into Minerva's office.
"Yes?" She asked him, not looking up from her marking.
"Do you remember two years ago, when we were almost positive none of the house points we were awarding or taking away were registering?" He asked her. She nodded, writing a large P at the top of the essay she was marking and pulled another one from her unmarked pile towards her.
"Yes, and Albus thought we'd both gone mad. Why, what do you know?" She asked suspiciously.
"Potter made an interesting comment today." Severus said slowly. He smirked when she put down her quill, now giving him her full attention.
"You don't think he-"
"I'm almost positive. The next question is, how to make him admit it?"
Minerva smirked. "Maybe we should just take the child's advice, and ask him."