All of the characters contained herein are the property of Ms. Rowling.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom smiling in anticipation. Looking around the room, Harry noted the changes which Tonks had wrought. Gone were the lacy doilies and big eyed kittens from Umbridge's reign. They were replaced instead with dark arts detectors, several rather deadly looking weapons, and large poster of the Wierd Sisters. The words "Get Wierd" were blazoned across it in a bright bubblegum pink which reminded Harry of Tonks' favorite choice of hair color.
"Bit dangerous to have that in the room with Tonks on the loose isn't it?" Ron murmured to Harry pointing at a particularly nasty loking sword. Harry shrugged, grinning inwardly to himself. He knew, or at least suspected, that a large portion of Tonks' trademark clumsiness was an act that she put on to get people to lower their guard. He'd figured it out quite painfully in his summer lessons with her and Moody. He remembered his shock when she had gracefully vaulted over a chair he had aimed her way and stunned him. It was, in fact, Tonks who had taught Harry the majority of the martial arts which he had been learning.
"Where is she?" Hermione whispered. "You know, it is very bad form for a teacer to be late for her first lesson."
Harry looked around again, puzzling, like Hermione, at Tonks' absence. He was starting to get worried when his eyes lit upon a girl in the back of the room. Harry frowned. He didn't recognize her. He supposed this was possible, as they were having the class with Ravenclaws and he certainly couldn't claim to know everyone in every house. There was something about her though, something that didn't feel right. The girl must've sensed Harry's stare, for she looked up and winked. Harry grinned and gave the barest of nods, before answering Hermione who was arguing wih Ron over Tonks' apparent tardiness.
"I'm sure she'll be here soon," he said innocently. The students were starting to get restless. They had begun to move around the room and conversation was getting louder. Ron, who was not a very patient person to begin with and had had a particularly trying morning, decided to distract himself by initiating a spitball fight with Seamus. Harry, who would normally have joined them, glanced back to where the unknown girl had been. She had disappeared. He knew that Ron and Seamus were in for it now.
"Mr. Weasley and Mr...?"
"Finnegan," Seamus replied in a choked voice.
"While I have participated in my fair share of spitball fights in school, I would really rather that you didn't do it in my class," Tonks said from directly behind them. Both boys had jumped guiltily, and Ron turned his usual bright red. "Two points from each of you."
People quickly rushed to their seats and quieted down somewhat, although there was still a low murmur of people discussing what had just happened. No one, aside from Harry, had any clue where Tonks had come from.
"Welcome to NEWT level Defense Against the Dark Arts. My name is Nymphadora Tonks and I will be your professor this year," Tonks looked gravely around the class. She wore her hair long and dark today and her eyes were the same silvery grey that Sirius' had been. Harry wondered if this was what Tonks' true appearance was. She was after all Sirius' cousin. It would only make sense that they resemble each other to some degree.
"As Professor Dumbledore told you at the feast, I am an auror. The Ministry has agreed to allow me to teach because they know that you need to be prepared. Make no mistake, our world is at war. The harsh reality of the situation is that people you know will die. Some of you may have already lost someone," she said looking at Harry.
"If you want to survive, you must be prepared. I know that you've heard this before but, Constant Vigilence! A show of hands please, aside from Harry, how many of you noticed that there was an unfamiliar person in the room?" No one raised their hands. Several people, Ron and Hermione in particular, looked rather shamefaced. Tonks nodded.
"Allright then. How many of you expect that you could tell if someone is a dark witch or wizard by how they look?" she asked. Several people raised their hands. Tonks nodded again.
"Sorry, but the world does not work that way. A dark witch or wizard can be anyone, can look like anyone. They could look like your grandmother," Tonks morphed into the guise of an old woman which Harry had seen her use before. Many students gasped in suprise.
"They can look like your Mum," she said changing her appearance to look remarkably like Molly Weasley.
"Your best mate," She morphed into an uncanny resemblance of Parvati Patil.
"Your girlfriend," Tonks now could've passed for Ginny's twin.
"Or just a girl sitting in the back of the class," she said returning to the rather plain, unassuming looking girl. The class now sat in stunned silence, riveted to Tonks' spech.
"You cannot go by appearances. You have to be aware of your surroundings. You must look for the subtle signs that something is not as it should be. Watch for behaviors, little things which are out of place. Trust your instincts. If something seems to be too easy or just not right, chances are it probably is. Your greastest asset, your best defense will not be your spellwork or fighting skills, it will be your heart and mind."
"This year we will still be doing all the necessary spellwork to help you prepare for your NEWTs next year, but we will also be working on raising your awareness and honing your instincts. Now then, any questions?" Seamus raised his hand.
"Yes Mr. Finnegan?" she said pointing at him.
"Are we going to learn to do that? Change our appearance like that? It was bloody brilliant miss," he said somewhat awed. Tonks grinned at him.
"We will learn some techniques for disguise, however, very few people can do what I can. Does anyone know why?"
Hermione, Ron, and Harry immediately raised their hands.
"Besides you three," Tonk said, winking at them. Neville tentatively raised his hand.
"Yes, Mr. Longbottom i believe?"
"Are you a metamorphmagus?" he asked.
"Very good. Five points to Gryffindor," she said. "Any other questions?" When no one else raised their hands, she nodded and began to take roll.
"All right, now that we have that out of the way. I have reports from both Professor Lupin and Professor Umbridge on what you have acheived in your previous years of defense," Tonks waved two sheets of parchment. One was a very girly pink.
"Professor Lupin assures me that you are all quite gifted and have had a thorough background in dark creatures. I also understand, from Professor Dumbledore, that your year scored more defense OWLs than any in the last 20 years. Congratulations," Tonks said. She then scanned the pink parchment.
"Professor Umbridge informs me that you are all, for the most part, hopelessly incompetent. She also says that you are a thoroughy unruly crew and that I should pay close attention to Misters Potter and Weasley and Ms. Granger, as you three are the ringleaders. Hrmmm... She also seems to think that Ms. Granger is entirely too intelligent for her own good... whatever that means. Right incompetent old toad wasn't she?" Tonks laughed before setting fire to the pink parchment and tossing it in the waste bin, much to the delight of her students.
"Now then, we're going to start today by working on some simple shield spells to see where we are with them. Pair up please," she said. The rest of the class was spent practicing the shield spell which Harry had long ago mastered. As a result, he was able to observe the others in the room.
Harry was delighted to see that the D.A. members present were not having any more difficulty then Harry himself was with the spell. He had been hoping that everyone would have continued to practice over the summer as he would really rather not have to backtrack in meetings. It appeared, based on what he was seeing, that they had indeed kept up with their training. Tonks whistled loudly to get the class' attention.
"That's it for today everyone. You all did an excellent job. Next time we will be learn a more complex version of this spell. Please read the chapter on shield charms in your book. I would also like one roll of parchment on the three most commonly used shield charms and their strengths and weaknesses. You're dismissed."
The class groaned at the assignment, but nevertheless, left talking excitedly about the class and their new professor. Ron, Hermione, and Harry hung back to talk to Tonks.
"Brilliant class Professor," Harry said, smiling at her. Tonks blushed.
"I wasn't too heavy handed with the gloom and doom then? I've been driving Remus mad rehearsing that. To be honest, I felt a bit like Moody," she said sheepishy.
"No. They need to know Professor," Hermione said seriously.
"And I'm sure Moony didn't mind helping you," Harry grinned, causing her to blush again.
"Have you heard anything about Malfoy?" Ron asked. Tonks started guiltily and headed back towards her desk, tripping along the way.
"No, nothing much," said Tonks. "You three had better run along now. You'll miss lunch."
"Nice try Professor. What aren't you telling us?" Harry demanded.
"I don't know what you're talking about Harry," she said innocently. Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Tonks, I have spent the entire summer working on occlumency and legilimency. I know when I'm being lied to. Now what's going on?" Harry said firmly.
"Remind me to smack Remus for teaching you how to do that will you?" she muttered grumpily. Harry and the others just looked at her, waiting. She threw her hands up in defeat.
"Allright, allright! This goes no further though. It would be disasterous if The Prophet got a hold of it. Kingsley owled me this morning. Apparently, someone managed to sneak past the guards last night and slip into Malfoy's cell. They roughed him up quite a bit. The odd part is, they left absolutely no clues, and Malfoy either doesn't remember who did it or is just not willing to tell us," Tonks whispered.
"How much is a bit?" Ron asked eagerly.
"Broken nose, broken ribs, various bumps and bruises. He was unconscious when they found him," she replied. Ron was practically dancing with glee. Harry was wishing he had been the one to do it. Hermione, however, was frowning as if she had realized something that the others had missed.
"This won't affect the charges against him will it? The Ministry is not going to go easier on him now are they?" Hermione asked. Tonk snorted.
"I doubt it, not with the biggest stickler for rules the Ministry has seen since Barty Couch handling the trial, especially since he has a personal stake in it," she said with a furitive glance at Ron. Harry frowned. Hermione, though, had a look of dawning comprehension on her face.
"Who did they put in charge?" Ron asked. Harry felt a growing suspicion that he knew the answer. It was confirmed when Tonks answered.
"Your brother Percy."
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this one. As always, thanks go out to Danielle for moderating, my son Will for being my beta, and all of you for reading and reviewing.