Harry Potter: Persona non Grata - Chapter 2
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Disclaimer: I do not own any franchises mentioned in this story. This is fan-based work of fiction.
Beta: Gerald_of_Revea
-Yu Narukami-
“Did your first day bode well?”
“It went better than I expected,” I admitted truthfully. “Most of the students were well-behaved. At the very least, they were willing to listen,” I said, making McGonagall smile softly.
“It was the same for me as well,” Professor Garlick chimed in. “In my year, I remember my classmates not paying attention in Herbology. But they all asked questions, and I always seemed to have their rapt attention.”
“I wonder why that is,” Snape drawled, making me choke.
The woman was entirely too pretty. Bright eyes, red hair, and cute freckles. And her outfit looked too good on her. Instead of being dressed in any old robes, she wore a green dress and hat, which was decorated with flowers. It was clear to see why she was quickly becoming a favorite.
“I must say, my lions took a shine to your lessons,” McGonagall interjected smoothly. “However, I have some reservations about your teaching style. You should not be teaching them to attack the staff.”

“I agree. For that lesson in particular, they are taught to attack me,” I emphasized. “If any of them do attack any other members of staff, they should be punished. Detention, Suspension, Expulsion, whichever suits best.”
“Expulsion is the last thing we need to have happen this year,” McGonagall commented, glaring at Umbridge from the corner of her eye.
Dolores wasn’t sitting at the staff table for breakfast. Nor was she sitting at any of the students' tables. Off to the side, she had an entire round table to herself, with a frilly pink sheet thrown over it. The table was filled with scones and other pastries, along with her own pot of tea.

“Has our new liaison been causing you trouble?” I asked, making McGonagall shake her head.
"She has seen fit to attempt to shadow my Transfiguration classes," McGonagall said, her lips pressed into a thin line. "Attempting to offer corrections on my curriculum. I assure you, it will take more than a Ministry bureaucrat to disrupt my lessons." 
“I’m surprised she hasn’t made her way to my end of the castle yet,” I mused. “But perhaps I shouldn’t tempt her. But that reminds me, Dumbledore, mind if I speak with you after breakfast? There’s something we need to discuss.”
"Of course," Dumbledore replied softly, his tone warm. "My office is open to all, be it student or teacher."

-Line Break-
“This is shit,” I scowled, slamming the book in front of me. “Magical Defensive Theory is actually the worst book I could use to teach my classes. I can’t use it.”
“I wouldn’t have described it as such…But I understand your concerns. However, I don’t think that has affected your teaching in any case.”
“You’re not wrong,” I sighed. “But there’s what I can teach, and what the kids need to study for. Fifth and Seventh years, especially, I can’t help them with exams with what’s taught here.”
“So you’re looking to use old textbooks then?” he asked, and I nodded.
“Preferably for all the years. They already paid for this shit, but if we can hand out second-hand copies, it’ll teach them more than what’s in here.” I said, holding the book up. 
“I could not agree with you more,” he smiled, before his expression dropped slightly. “However, I’m not sure this is something I can help you with. The Ministry has approved this book for all years. If you start using non-Ministry-approved books, and word reaches the minister, I fear the consequences may fall squarely on your shoulders.”
I blinked at that. “But I would still be using Ministry-approved books.”
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, looking at me in curiosity, so I continued. “I didn’t come to you without doing a little digging. Defensive Magical Theory, sadly, is a Ministry-approved textbook for teaching DADA. It was a mandatory purchase for everyone this year. But it’s not the only Ministry-approved DADA book,” I clarified, making Dumbledore pause. 
“Whenever the Ministry approves of new books for teaching, they have never ‘unapproved’ any of the previous ones. Books like The Dark Forces: A Guide To Self-Protection, Essential Defense to Dark Arts, Confronting the Faceless; all of these are still on the approved list of books for Defense Against the Dark Arts.”
After I finished my explanation, Dumbledore looked lost in thought, thinking through the option, before a calm smile came onto his face.
“Thank you, Professor Narukami,” he smiled, making me sigh in relief.
Incompetence. It is something I hate with a passion. There are only so many spells, tricks, and philosophy lessons I can teach the students before I run out of good material. That, and I’d rather them learn something useful rather than what’s in the shitty book.
“It seems I have a book order to make,” he mused. “After all, we must ensure our students have only the most thoroughly vetted Ministry material at their disposal.”
“Perhaps I can do that for you,” I offered, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. “I need to take a trip to Diagon Alley. Unless you have enough spares lying around here, I can take the Floo to Flourish and Blotts and pick up the remainder.”
“That would be a little over five hundred books,” he mused. “I will take a look. See what books we have the most spares of before we start to indulge ourselves. But please let me know when you do go. I wouldn’t want you leaving empty-handed.”
“Whenever you finish the count, give me a shout. We’ll sort out the best options for each year first and figure out the rest as we go.”
“It is a true shame you were never a student at Hogwarts, Professor Narukami. You would have been a delight to have.”
“Just doing my job,” I waved him off, my eyes falling to the Sorting Hat, “Though now that you mention it, I can’t help but wonder…”
“Intrigued as to which house you would have belonged to?” he asked, walking beside me as I stared at the hat in question. A small smile came onto his face once again.
“Care to put it on?”

-Line Break-
‘I should have never put the bloody thing on,’ I scowled, hurriedly leaving Dumbledore’s office so I wouldn’t be late for my first class of the day.
The hat must be playing tricks on me. For years, I thought I was a Slytherin. I didn’t like the colors all that much, but the traits were all there.
According to the hat, my other traits won out.
‘Hufflepuff!’
I didn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it. The hat was barely on me for a few seconds before calling the name of the house out. Hard work? Yeah, sure, I can work hard sometimes, but loyalty? I plan on getting out of here before the end of the year. I’m not even loyal to my own world, considering I’m all the way over here.
“That son of a gun,” I huffed, my scowl slowly turning into a smile.
Maybe being a Hufflepuff isn’t all that bad.

-Line Break-
“What is the most important weapon in a wizard’s arsenal?”
“It’s a wand, innit?”
“Correct, Mr. Weasley.” I nodded, unsure whether I was looking at Fred or George. “For any wizard born in the Great Isles, the wand is the most important weapon in a wizard’s arsenal. It is a focus. It helps you channel your magic into spells. If you can’t do spells?”
“You’re fucked, aren’t ya?”
“5 points from Gryffindor,” I sighed, the other Weasley starting to snigger. “But you understand the point I’m making. All of you have been taught to use a wand. Not only is it a focus, but it’s a multiplier. Every spell from a wand is more powerful compared to using magic without a focus. Learning magic with a wand is much easier to do than doing magic without one. However!” I snapped my fingers, making people gasp as a sudden burst of lightning coursed through the air.
“It doesn’t look nearly as cool.”
“Wicked,” the twins grinned. 
“If any of you are so inclined to want to learn wandless magic, there are two spells in particular that you should learn. Can anyone guess what they are?”
“Protego?”
“5 points to Slytherin,” I nodded. “Protego is the most important spell to be able to cast wandlessly. Can anyone guess the other?”
“Expelliarmus!”
“Stupefy!”
“It’s Orchideous!” one of the twins shouted, A bunch of flowers spraying out from the tip of the wand. “Because you should always have a bouquet ready for the prettiest girl in the room!” he said, snatching the flowers and presenting them to one embarrassed Angelina Johnson.
‘That must be Fred then,’ I noted, smiling minutely as Angelina palmed her face. “The answer I was looking for is Accio. Does anyone know why that is?”
“It’s so you can summon your wand.” 
“Correct, Mr. Montague, and why is it important to have your wand?”
“Because without magic, you’re just a muggle.”
“Without a wand, most of you are defenseless,” I corrected. “But you got the right idea. Take five points. Most of you aren’t trained in wandless magic, in any sort. If you know how to apparate, well done.”
“Protego offers you an almost perfect defense. It can protect you from nearly every spell. Does anyone know what spells Protego does not protect you from?”
“The Unforgivables.”
“Correct, another five to Slytherin. The Three Unforgivable Curses cannot be blocked by Protego. Luckily, these spells are known to be incredibly hard to cast, needing more raw magic than most spells ever do. If you ever do come across someone using an Unforgivable curse on you, they can be blocked with physical objects. That, or more importantly, dodge. Dodging saves much more energy than summoning a pillar to block the curse.”
“There is another.”
The same student as before spoke up again, piquing my interest.
“There is another spell Protego can’t block.”
“Ah, that,” I said softly. “That spell… I don’t like it either.”
“What’re ya on about, professor?”
“What’s the spell?”
“I’d rather I didn’t speak about this. In truth, I would rather no one knew about this one,” eyeing the girl who brought it up. She looked familiar, but I didn’t know her name. I couldn’t help but notice the tiredness she spoke with and the bags under her eyes.
“There is a spell. The most destructive spell I know. It’s made up of fire; however, this isn’t the same type of fire that can be cast with an incendio.”
“The fire of this spell cannot be tamed,” I whispered. “Once summoned, the spell cannot be put out by the caster. The fire will spread quickly; it will take on the forms of beasts, Dragons, serpents, chimeras; it will hunt anything that breathes. If you ever come across it, follow the first lesson I taught you. Run.”
“Can it be stopped?” Alicia Spinnet asked quietly, making me pause.
“Depends what you mean by stopped,” I said slowly. “You cannot use magic to fight it. However, it still relies on the three fundamental principles of fire. Fire needs fuel, oxygen, and heat to survive. If you can take away one of these factors, the fire will die.”
Fiendfyre was only stopped in the Room of Requirement because the room was an enclosed space. But even then, the Room of Requirement was damaged beyond all repair after the attack. If anyone learnt how to use it and thought they were strong enough to control it, the results would be disastrous.
Before I knew it, I had gone off topic. Today’s lesson was supposed to be about teaching them to use Accio wandlessly. Instead, it turned into a warning about Fiendfyre.
‘Hopefully they’ll never have to worry about that,’ I sighed, looking at the somewhat downcast students.
“I want everyone here to practice their wandless magic. For every one of you who learns how to cast Accio wandlessly by the next lesson, I’ll give you 20 points. 25 for Protego. There are a few books on Wandless Magic in the library, for those of you inclined to check it out. Class dismissed.”

-Line Break-
‘The sooner I get those books, the better,’ I thought idly, wandering through the halls of Hogwarts.
I wasn’t used to Hogwarts yet. I could get to and from my classroom without much issue, but that was about it. I even got a little lost after leaving Dumbledore’s office.
I was tempted to spam ‘Revelio’ everywhere I walked. The castle has more secrets than I could imagine. From secret passageways to rooms, to ancient, enchanted items like Godric Gryfindor’s sword.
What I was currently looking for wasn’t something nearly as enticing. However, it is crucial to prevent Death Eaters from invading Hogwarts from the inside.
I walked through the corridors on the first floor, glad there were no students around so I could work in peace. The trick is to act like you're supposed to be there. That there is nothing suspicious about what you are doing.
‘Wait a minute, I’m a teacher.’ I blinked. ‘I don’t have to pretend.’
Eventually, I found exactly what I was looking for. It almost looked like an old grandfather clock, though without any of its internal mechanics. It looked run down, with small holes in the wood. The doors were sunken, and it had a fractured frame as well.
The Vanishing Cabinet.
In truth, it was a shame that no one had repaired it. It definitely was once a beautiful thing to look at.
It was only after recognizing Montague’s name that I thought of it.
During this year, Fred and George threw Montague into the Vanishing Cabinet because he tried to dock both of them House Points.
The twins had no idea it was a Vanishing Cabinet at the time. Just saw a broken piece of furniture and knew Montague would be stuck inside for a bit.
If the Weasley twins hadn't put him in the cabinet, and Montague hadn’t told Malfoy about his experience, the Death Eaters couldn’t have invaded from the inside.
‘That won’t be a problem now,’ I mused, taking the cabinet back to my office. Once I had arrived there, I just stopped and stared at the thing.
‘Should I even bother fixing it?’ I wondered, a frown on my face. While it’s up here, the chance someone figures out its true purpose diminishes considerably. The twins won’t shove Montague in the cabinet, and Malfoy will never find out about it.
‘Unless Umbridge raids my office at one point,’ I frowned; the option was more likely to happen than I’d like to admit. When it’s in the hallway, it’s just a broken cabinet. When it’s in my office, it’s suddenly Narukami’s cabinet that needs to be searched and seized.
‘Something to worry about for later,’ I decided, hearing my next batch of students arrive.
-Rosetta Potter-
She was not in a good mood, but something would be wrong with her if she weren’t angry at Professor Snape after each potions class.
One day, she was going to kill the man. It wasn’t a matter of if, but when.
“Hey, cheer up,” Hermione said. “We have a double Defense Against the Dark Arts later. Isn’t that something to look forward to?”
“I’m still not sure about Professor Narukami,” she admitted. “I mean, he seems strong and all, but what he did on Monday…”
“He’s a bit of a dodgy wanker, isn’t he?” Ron chimed in. “I mean, yeah, we get to hurl spells at teachers, and that’s wicked. But how did he just teleport, and not get hurt from my spell? He didn’t even use his wand in the last lesson.”
“Ronald!” Hermione snapped, hitting him with her book. “You can’t be saying that about any of the teachers!”
“I’d say the same about Snape, but he’s worse,” he snorted. “Slimey, slithering, greasy dirty weasel. Naruwammy is just dodgy.”
“You say that like you aren’t excited to do it again,” she countered, making him pause.
“Yeah, fair enough,” he shrugged, making Hermione sigh.
After Ron told his brothers about their first lesson, the twins were apparently waiting all day for the same lesson, only for them to be left hanging.
Professor Narukami even brought it up to them as well. The lesson is about instinct and reaction time. It’s a lesson they’ll get when they aren’t prepared for it, and only then.
Apparently, that first lesson was the quietest the two had ever been for a class, just waiting with their wands at the ready. They returned to their usual antics after the class a day later.
As they all headed into class, she could see Ron’s eyes light up as soon as he saw the chess set laid out on a small table in front of the professor’s lounge chair.
“Mr. Weasley,” Professor Narukami called. “Could you take a seat, please? I heard you have a knack for chess.”
“Forget what I said; this guy is the best DADA professor we’ve had,” Ron grinned, sinking into the professor’s chair.
She still wasn’t good at chess herself. Despite the many games she played against Ron, she never won any of them. Hermione was a different story entirely, being the worst at the game among her close friends.
Ron made the first move, moving his pawn to E4. She couldn’t help but feel nostalgic as the professor made his first move, moving his pawn to D5 before starting the lecture.
“When you can’t use magic, what is the best weapon at any person’s disposal?”
“Brick!”
“Dynamite!”
“Serious answers only, please,” Professor Narukami denied, looking towards the other students. “Ms. Greengrass, what do you think it is?”
“The mind.”
“Excellent, five points to Slytherin. The mind is the most important thing each witch and wizard has,” he continued to play the game of chess with Ron, barely looking at the positions as he played. “Does anyone of you know any spells that affect the mind?”
“The Cheering Charm.”
“The Jelly-Brain Jinx!”
“The Imperius Curse.”
“Correct to all. Each of you takes five points each,” I nodded. “In some way or form. They affect how you think. The cheering charm makes you happy, the Jelly-Brain jinx makes you not think clearly, and the Imperius curse… is not fun for anyone involved. I hear you all are experienced with the last one on a more personal level?”
“Yes,” she said through gritted teeth, making Professor Narukami nod.
“You all shouldn’t have gone through with that. It draws you into a blissful trance. Much stronger than the cheering charm is. It isn’t happiness you feel, but pleasure. Do not let anyone use the spell on you ever again.”
‘Easier said than done,’ she thought bitterly. ‘Might as well say don’t let yourself get hit by spells.’
Idly, the professor made another move on the chessboard before flipping over his chalkboard, with one word written on it in big capital letters.
‘OCCLUMENCY.’
“Does anyone here know about Occlumency?” he asked, and no hands went up. “Occlumency is the art of protecting the mind from intruders. The very few that can read your mind,” he answered, and her eyes shot up to the professor.
“People can read minds?!”
“In several ways, Ms. Potter. It can be people and objects alike. When you first arrived at Hogwarts, and the Sorting Hat was put on your head, what do you think it was looking at?”
‘My memories,’ she realized, a pit forming in her stomach.
She knew it was the case. She knew it while it was happening. The Sorting Hat did something, but it wasn’t until now that she realized how invasive it was. Her mind was her own, and she liked to keep it that way.
It was not that she thought the Sorting Hat was evil, but she wouldn’t allow anyone to put it on her again.
“Not only can objects read your mind, but Veritaserum can force someone to reveal your secrets. Veritaserum is a strong truth serum. The recipe is classified. It’s not quite mind-control, but it would fit under the umbrella term. But people with a powerful enough mind can resist it. Which brings us back to Occlumency.”
As the professor made another move on the chessboard, she realized that she had never seen Ron look so deeply in thought. He was scratching his chin, his entire focus on the chess match, all the while the professor continued to give them his lesson. 
“The method of mind reading you all should be most wary of at the moment is called Legilimency. Does anyone here know how to use it?”
There was a silence in the room, her classmates looking at each other in confusion, most of them shrugging.
Professor Narukami nodded, “10 points to Slytherin.”
“What?!” Seamus shouted, and she felt equally as incredulous. “What for? They did nothing!”
“Because the one person who does know Legilimency is keeping it to themselves.” He smiled. “A secret like that isn’t one you should make a habit of sharing.”
Immediately, her house started to look at the Slytherin house with distrust. Which wasn’t much different than usual. Funnily enough, the Slytherins were looking at themselves in the same way.
“The best way of reading someone's mind is through eye contact. The eyes are the window to the soul. However, something I do want to point out is that whether or not you can resist Imperio has nothing to do with resisting mind readers. Mind over matter. Imperio takes control of the body; Legilimency takes a peek at the mind.”
“Most of you have nothing to worry about. People who know Legilimency are rare. Probably fewer than a few hundred alive know it. However, some people know it naturally, being born with the ability like Metamorphmagi and Parselmouths. Those who do know how to use it usually need their wand, point it at their target, and cast the spell. And some people have stronger natural defenses to it as well. Such as Mr. Weasley,” he said, making Ron jump.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” Ron asked with a lost look on his face, which made the professor chuckle.
“I’m complimenting you,” he answered, Ron blinking again. “You have the strongest natural Occlumency shields in the room.”
“I do?” he asked, his face brightening, before becoming confused. “Wait, what is Occlumency?”
“Seems you were a little too engrossed in our game,” the professor raised an eyebrow while a few of her classmates laughed at him. “Occlumency. It’s the ability to protect your mind from mind readers. If I may ask, how are you enjoying our game so far?”
“It’s your move,” he gestured, and the professor quickly followed suit, the best move he could make, judging by the reluctantly impressed face he was giving the professor.
“You know you’re very good at this game, Mr. Weasley.”
“I know,” Ron easily agreed. “You’re not bad, Professor. How often do you play?”
“This is my first game.”
Ron snorted, not believing a word of it, but the professor’s expression didn’t change.
‘Hold on…’ she started to connect the dots, her head snapping to Professor Narukami, her wand sliding into her hand.
“Occlumency works on the standard rules you expect to see in all meditation guides. Clear your mind, empty yourself of all emotion. And Ronald Weasley has the clearest mind out of everyone in his room.”
“Because nothing is going on up there,” Malfoy snickered, making her glare at her.
“It is more correct to say Ron thinks the least,” he corrected, Ron looking at him in disbelief. A shout of “Oi” escaping from him. “But! That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As I said before, not thinking means his mind is clear. That means he has a resistance to mind-reading,” the professor paused, a smirk coming onto his lips.
“Which is why I put him into a position where he would start to think. I believe that’s checkmate, Mr. Weasley.”
Slowly, the pieces started to fall in place for Ron, his eyes widening as he abruptly stood up from the chair.
“You cheated!” he blurted, a smile tugging on the professor’s lips. “You don’t know chess; you read my mind to know the best moves!”
“Guilty as charged,” the professor nodded. “Twenty points to Gryffindor for being a good sport about it.”
Ron wasn’t being a good sport about it. Ron looked indignant, outraged even. But he also looked like he didn’t want to lose any of the points he got.
Glaring at the professor, he took a seat with the rest of his classmates, most of which were looking nervous, refusing to meet the professor's eyes.
“Good, it seems you got the point of this lesson. Don’t let someone who can read your mind meet your eyes. Not without learning Occlumency. So that brings us to the first thing to learn in today's lesson,” he said, brushing a stray lock of grey hair from his eyes.
“How do you clear your mind?”
Her wand didn’t leave her hand for the remainder of the class.