Harry Potter: Persona non Grata - Chapter 3
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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-
“That is why I want all of you to pick a spell. In our next lesson, we are going to see which of you is the best shot. I will be testing you on a number of factors. Reaction time, power, and the time it takes for your spell to hit the target. House points will be awarded to the top three students.”
My words made the class break into excited whispers, quickly bringing up the students' competitive spirit.
The House Points System already breeds a competitive atmosphere. I was just fanning the flames a little. And in this case, it would work out for the best.
“That’s all for today. Ms. Lovegood, can you please stay behind for a moment?” I request, earning a gentle smile from the girl.
I had to stop myself from taking any points away from Ravenclaw as her housemates started to snigger. I knew if I did so, it would only make the situation worse for her. It would be better to deal with them later.
“Is something the matter, Professor?” Luna asked, and I had to stop myself from sighing.
“You’re not wearing any shoes, Luna,” I pointed out, the girl looking to the ceiling curiously.
“They seem to have wandered off. Not just my shoes, but socks and my other belongings as well. But they will turn up. I just have to search the castle."
“Do you have any idea why they seem to disappear? Any person perhaps?” I probed, but Luna just gave me a sad smile.
“You’re not the first to try to help the professor; they’ll stop for a while, but they’ll come back. It’s best to ignore them. They should lose interest over time.”
“There’s not a chance in hell I’m allowing that to happen,” I scowled, pulling out a pair of trainers. “Use these for now. They’ll resize to fit you.”
“Oh, there’s no need, Professor. I don’t want your things to run off as well. Mine is enough,” and I couldn’t disagree more.
“Which means it's a good thing that these have a tracking spell on them,” I lied, holding the shoes up. “Luna, I’m not going to allow you to leave without them. It wouldn’t feel right,” and she smiled a dreamy smile at me.
“You’re kind, Professor. I will give them back at the end of the day.”
“You will give them back when your shoes stop disappearing,” I corrected. “But please, you need to let me know when these go missing. I will find them for you.”
I was starting to hate kids.
Actually, that’s a lie. There are just certain kids that really piss me off. It’s not even people from a particular house. The Slytherins, Ravenclaws, and Gryffindors annoy me equally. There are just some particular individuals who annoy me more than most.
With Luna’s stuff already going missing, I had to fast-track my plans a little.
Which meant going to the Seventh Floor of the castle.

-Line Break-
‘I need a room to think. I need a room to think. I need a room to think.’
I walked back and forth three times against another painting, and like the several times I’ve tried it before, nothing happened.
The Room of Requirement. It’s on the Seventh Floor Corridor. I remember some of the steps to find it. You need to have a need. It could be anything. ‘A place to hide’, ‘A place to duel’, whatever it is, you need to keep it in mind. Then you need to walk back and forth in front of one of the paintings three times. Eventually, a door will appear on the opposite wall, the door leading to the Room of Requirement.
That last part drastically narrowed down my options. I was glad the students couldn’t roam the corridors at night. If anyone saw me, I would look like an idiot.
I did a double-take when I saw a certain painting, or more accurately, a tapestry. It depicted a couple of trolls dressed in tutus, and I felt a grin come to my face.
‘The Tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy’, I read, looking again at the opposite wall. The sight of the tapestry made my memory click into place, recalling the final piece of the puzzle to find the room. The location.
‘I need a room with all the lost books from the castle. I need a room with all the lost books from the castle.I need a room with all the lost books from the castle.’
After repeating the steps, the door slowly started to appear, my grin widening once more.
Hurrying inside, I couldn’t help but stop and stare. I was expecting to find a few hundred of them, possibly even a thousand. 
This was much closer to a library. There were tens of thousands of books that had been messily made into a pile in the middle of the room.
‘I need the books to be sorted alphabetically.’
As the thoughts rattled through my head, the room followed my command. Bookshelves started to appear from all sides of the room, the room becoming bigger while the books floated into the air, quickly being sorted into their correct place.
‘Hermione would love this room,’ I couldn’t help but think, tracing my finger across the closest bookshelf. All the books were still covered in dust, with most probably having seen the light of day for centuries.
Later, I would use it to find Luna’s lost goods. I’ll return them to her after our next class.
But for now, I made my way to the ‘E’ section, one thought blaring in my mind.
‘I fucking love magic.’

-Line Break-
“You look tired. Did you not sleep well last night?” Professor Garlick asked, concern in her tone as I took my seat.
“Good morning to you, too,” I nodded. “But it wasn’t because I had problems sleeping. I just had a busy night and like to wake up early.”
I found more than I bargained for. I expected to find 50, maybe 60 copies of each of the DADA books. Correction: the useful DADA books. There was more than I bargained for, with most being in Ye Olde English, but I found roughly a hundred each of the useful ones.
It was a good start, but not enough. I was two hundred or so short of a full set for all the students. I’ll still have to take that trip to Diagon Alley and pick up the remaining sets. 
But I can use what I have in class now; just some years will have to wait a bit longer.
“Do you plan on turning in early?” she inquired gently, but I just waved her off.
“A couple of cups of coffee will get me through the day; I’ll be fine in an hour.”
“Then perhaps I should spoil the surprise,” she said, making me look at her curiously.
“What do you mean?”
“Hufflepuff wishes to celebrate their newest member,” Dumbledore beamed, making me raise my eyebrows.
“You told people about that?” Dumbledore shook his head lightly.
“The House Register updates automatically when a student is assigned to it. Or in this case, a professor. After the hat sorted you into Hufflepuff, Ms. Garlick was immediately notified.”
“You’re always welcome with the badgers,” she smiled. “You can never have too many friends. And Hufflepuff welcomes everyone, no matter what age you are when you joined.”
It was actually a smart thing to have. If it updated automatically, it also tracked people trying to sneak into the school under the guise of being a new student.
“I’ll think about it,” I answered non-committally, Ms. Garlick’s eyes lighting up in delight, and I had to hide my wince. It looked like I didn’t have any choice in the matter, did I?
My eyes slid to Umbridge, still sitting on her own with her table filled with pastries and other treats. 
‘Did her table get bigger?’ I wondered, before dismissing the thought. It didn’t matter anyway.
“She shadowed my class yesterday,” Professor Flitwick chimed in, noticing my line of sight. “Of course, she had no authority to be there, but I thought she was just feeling nostalgic. Ah, poor Dolores, I remember her being…different when she was younger. She was hardworking, always wanted to be a Prefect or even Head Girl. Sadly, she was passed for both.”
“What does she even do at the moment?” I asked, curiosity in my tone. “I mean, I understand she is the liaison between the Ministry and Hogwarts, but does that mean she’s just a glorified gopher?”
Professor McGonagall let out a sound that was half-cough, half-snort, hastily covering her mouth with a handkerchief. Beside her, Professor Snape didn't laugh, but the corner of his mouth twitched into a rare smirk. 
“A ‘gopher’ is a remarkably generous term,” Snape murmured, his voice cutting smoothly into the conversation. “A gopher typically fetches things of value. Madam Umbridge prefers to fetch headaches instead.”
“She hasn’t gotten to you yet?” Professor Babbling asked, making me shake my head. “Then you must be the last one on the list. She spent my fourth-year class asking questions throughout, most of which weren’t even related to the lesson itself! If I have to hear her say ‘Hem, hem,’ one more time, I’m going to go mad. Mad!”
“Not looking forward to that lesson,” I mutter, closing that topic of discussion for now. She isn’t a pain in my ass at the moment, but she will be. “So she inspects them, is that it?”
“She can inspect them, but she has no authority. The results are meaningless. Only the Headmaster can fire members of staff.”
“By the way, Professor Dumbledore, I need to talk to chat with you again after breakfast. Are you free?” I queried, making the man nod.
“As I said before, my office is open to all.”
-Albus Dumbledore-
“How did you find all these?”
“I have a knack for finding lost things,” Mr. Narukami waved off, dodging the question. “I just found all the lost DADA books in the castle.”
He didn’t think there were this many of them. If Mr. Narukami told him he went to Diagon Alley’s second-hand bookshop and bought out the collection, he would believe him.
“I found something interesting in the pile,” Mr. Narukami grinned, handing him one of the copies, a rather battered-looking version of the Essential Defense Against the Dark Arts. “Check the front page.”
Curiously, he opened the book up, memories of a better time coming back to him as he saw what was written there.
‘Property of Albus Dumbledore’
“That’s not the only one there owned by a Dumbledore,” Mr. Narukami commented, making him still. “Here’s one owned by an ‘Ariana Dumbledore.’ Someone you knew?”
Slowly, he walked to the professor, carefully taking the book from his hand, his eyes fixing on the faded ink of his sister’s name.
‘Property of Ariana Dumbledore’
He didn’t speak for a moment, slowly, gently tracing a finger across the name.
“Yes, “ he said softly, “Yes, she was my sister. It has been many years since I last saw her name written in her own hand.” Her handwriting was as beautiful as ever.
He closed the book, putting his own back in the pile. The newer generation needed it more than he did. “Thank you for finding this,” he smiled softly, stroking his beard. “What a very useful skill you have.”
“It’s still not enough,” the professor countered, making him frown. “I got about three hundred of the books. There are still a decent few more to get for every student.”
“What is here is much better than what we currently have,” he answered, thinking for a moment. “In the meantime, assign one book to every three students. Keep the remainder in your class and distribute them during lessons. That’ll be the best for now.”
“Better idea than what I had,” Professor Narukami admitted freely. “I’m curious, did you ever teach Defense Against the Dark Arts?”
He looked around the room, a feeling of nostalgia welling in his stomach. The students he met, the lessons he learnt- it had been a long while since he was at this corner of the castle.
“It was a long time ago. Long before you were born.”
The new professor paused, scratching his chin.
“Then you’d know much more on the subject than I do. Any tips for the new guy?” he asked, and he simply smiled.
He was always happy to help a professor in need.
-Yu Narukami-
I didn’t know much about Hufflepuff’s common room. I knew it was near the kitchen, but that was about it.
I knew how both the Gryffindors and Slytherins looked from the movies. Sadly, the scene where Harry goes to the Ravenclaw common room was cut from the final one. Hufflepuff’s common room, on the other hand, isn’t explored at all in the books.
“Come on, it’s just down here!” Mirabel waved to me as we both arrived at Hogwarts basement.
“I really do need to just explore the castle,” I commented idly. “One of these days, I’m going to need to go to the Hospital Wing, and I won’t even know the right way.”
“Let me know if you need any help! I’d love to give you the Hogwarts Grand Tour,” she smiled brightly, which I returned.
Professor Garlick is a dangerous woman. It was clear why all the students were eating out of her hand.
“And here it is! Hufflepuff’s common room! Now there’s a trick to opening the door: just tap the middle barrel at the end of this wall here to the rhythm of “Hel-ga Hu-ffle-puff!” she demonstrated, and a door started to open up, leading to an open corridor.
“Come on, don’t be shy now!” she pushed me on. “Remember, act surprised,” she whispered as I was hurried into the Hufflepuff’s common room.
‘It’s beautiful,’ was the first thought that came to mind when I saw the room. Sunlight streamed down from the domed windows above; plants, greenery, and other foliage filled the room, but not in a way that would get in anyone’s way. The wooden architecture also stood out to me, with intricate carvings along the pillars and barriers that led to the second floor.
“Surprise!” the students shouted, having unskillfully hidden themselves around the furniture in the room.
“We come bearing gifts!” Another shouted, rolling in a yellow and black cake. On it were the words ‘Hufflepuff No #1.’ 
I looked at all the eager faces of the students, the cake, and worst of all, the pleading look of Professor Garlick, and made my decision right then and there.
“50 points to Hufflepuff!”
It was the only right thing to do.

-Line Break-
Licking my fingers clean, my plate now empty, I looked down at the students from the second-floor balcony, a small smile on my face.
It was nice to be welcomed with open arms. It helped that they were the best-behaved bunch of the group.
My eyes slid to a small shrine, a sigh escaping me when I saw it.
It was well decorated with candles and flowers encompassing a framed photo. In the picture, there was a student, happily celebrating what looked like a victory in a game of Quidditch, the student happily cheering with a snitch in hand.
‘In loving memory of Cedric Diggory’
‘1977 - 1995’
‘Taken from us too soon.’
“Do you think she’s telling the truth?” someone asked softly, making me turn, seeing Mirabel Garlick. “I want Rosetta to be lying. It’s an awful thing to say, but if she is…” she said quietly, but I could finish the thought.
It was easier to pretend everything was okay and alright than to worry about a mass murderer on the loose.
The problem with this one is that he had power. That, and he’s much harder to kill than your average wizard. Protected not only by Horcruxes, but prophecy as well.
“She definitely believes it,” I gave a non-answer. “I’m new around here; I don’t know all her history, but I’m going to treat it like it's true. What that means is I’m going to give her the best training I can. Instead of focusing on Dark Creatures, my goal with her is to teach her how to fight wizards.”
“I wasn’t good at Defense Against the Dark Arts. I’m good at Herbology and not much else. I’ve always felt a bit more at home among the flora than among the…well, folks! My other classes seemed to just slip to the wayside.”
“Is that your way of asking for something?” I teased, and she looked at me resolutely.
“I want help. If You-Know-Who really is back, he could attack Hogwarts. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to them because I was too weak to help. I want your help to train me!”
“Okay.”
“Wait, seriously?!” she asked, her eyes brightening. “That easily?”
“Of course. How do you think I would feel if any of my fellow Puffs died? It wouldn’t feel good, I’ll tell you that.”
It didn’t stop with the Hufflepuffs, though. If any of the students died, I’m going to be pissed.
The way I see it, the Battle of Hogwarts took too many lives. The fact that anyone died is an issue. And in that timeline, they didn’t have Dumbledore alive to help them.
The Fallen Fifty is fifty too many.
Things are going to be much different this time around.
Because unlike then, they didn’t have me.
-Rosetta Potter-
She didn’t know whether she was looking forward to another lesson or a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson or not.
The first one was fine. Nothing bad came from it other than a scare that didn’t last longer than five seconds. The second one made him an immediate threat.
The idea that he could just casually look inside her head and know what she was thinking put her more on edge than she would like to admit. Already, she planned to have her wand trained at him throughout the lesson. If he so much as takes a peek into her mind, he is going to lose a lot more than his wand.
“Keep your head down, don’t look him in the eyes,” she said, but Ron just shrugged.
“Nah, I think I’ll be fine,” making her look at him in confusion. “Remember? I’m immune to that stuff if I’m not playing chess!”
“Ronald, that’s not how it works,” Hermione sighed, but didn’t bother going into further detail, already knowing it wouldn’t lead to anything.
As soon as she entered the classroom, her first instinct was to leave, her eyes looking at a certain toad, Umbitch waiting in the corner of the room with that annoying fucking smile on her face.
The sight of her alone was draining. It was like this with every class. But especially after Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. The only time she had seen her Head of House be so mad was after she got herself thrown into the Triwizard Tournament, and wasn’t that a fucking disaster.
If there was any consolation to be found in this, it’s that Umbridge disliked Narukami as much as she did, though the professor seemed oblivious to this.
“You don’t think that’s our new homework?” Ron whispered, nodding to the pile of books on the professor's desk, making her shrug. They will find out soon enough.
“Right, class, I think we’ll be turning it down a notch this lesson,” he started, and she didn’t know whether or not that was a good thing. The books behind him started to float, each one landing on the desk for each student. “Please turn to chapter three. We are going to be learning about how to use Flipendo.”
Idly, she reached for the roughed-up book in front of her, freezing as soon as she turned the first page; ‘Property of Albus Dumbledore’ being written in big bold letters made her turn to her professor in shock.
But any questions died in her tongue when she heard a familiar, grating “Hem, hem.”
Which the professor seemed to ignore. “Bless you, Ms. Umbridge. Now, something I want to say is that-”
However, she didn’t stop there, letting out another “Hem, hem,” which made him raise an eyebrow at her.
“Ms. Umbridge, are you doing alright? Is the cough season getting to you?”
“That is not the book the Ministry approved for Defense Against the Dark Arts,” she smiled a smile which made her skin crawl. Entirely too sweet for a person so rotten.
“Ah, you’re wrong. It is,” he smiled before turning back to the class. “Now, Flippendo doesn’t get nearly the amount of attention it deserves. It’s one of the most-”
“Hem, hem!”
“Ms. Umbridge, if you are going to interrupt my class, please put your hand up. That or just ask the question directly.”
“The approved book is Defensive Magical Theory. It is the same book for all your classes this year,” she smiled once more, before a look of mock-confusion crossed her face. “Are you saying you don’t know what book you are supposed to teach?”
“Oh, this is also an approved book. I’ll be using the other one when I need to. Anyway, as I was saying-”
“Hem, hem,” 
Umbridge interrupted once more, the professor slowly closing his eyes in annoyance.
It was weird. For a moment, she didn’t know which side she was on before realizing it was much more entertaining to enjoy them both being miserable. The only thing that would have made it better is if it were Snape instead of Narukami.
“You were a Slytherin, right, Ms. Umbridge?” and she went to reply, but was interrupted. “Right, from now on, every time you clear your throat, that’ll be ten points from Slytherin.”
“What?!” Malfoy shouted, and she had to hide her grin. “How is that fair?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Ms. Malfoy, but it isn’t. The blame lies squarely on Ms. Umbridge’s shoulders. But don’t worry, no points have been taken away yet.”
“Hem, hem,” Umbridge glared at the professor, while she felt her grin widening. Ron wasn’t doing much better, laughing into his robe’s sleeve.
“Nevermind Ms. Malfoy. That’s ten points gone now. I will…consider giving them back if Ms. Umbridge can speak up like a normal person. She can either ask questions normally or raise her hand if she wishes to be more polite.”
While she was laughing on the inside, her mind started to work wonders, connecting dots she didn’t know were there.
‘He’s turning the Slytherins against her.’ It was one thing to lose points because of your friends; it was another to lose them because of an annoying bint who couldn’t keep her mouth shut.
For a moment, Ms. Umbridge looked baffled, her face tightening as her smile faltered.
“The Ministry of Magic has prescribed Defensive Magical Theory for this class. The Minister is quite determined that students learn in a safe, risk-free environment. This? This is not risk-free.”
“I miss the part where that’s my problem,” Professor Narukami said while Umbridge looked like she just short-circuited. “What I am teaching is approved by the Ministry. Essential Defense Against the Dark Arts is approved by the Ministry. If you disagree with that ruling, I suggest you take it up with…” he prompted, but Umbridge remained silent.
“The Ministry, Dolores. Take it up with the Ministry if you don’t approve of the material.”
“It’s not the book the students were told to buy!” she snapped back, which made Narukami nod.
“That’s true. Which is why I have it here. When it is time to use Defensive Magical Theory, we will use it. It is time for the students to learn how to use Flipendo; therefore, we will not use it. Does. That. Make. Sense?”
“This goes against the curriculum!” she continued, her expression turning flustered. “You are supposed to teach them theory only!”
“You didn’t create the syllabus,” he said softly, glaring down at Umbridge.
“I did.”
With one last glare, Umbridge huffed, slamming the door behind herself. And for a brief moment, she enjoyed the silence.
Her opinion on Professor Narukami was flip-flopping like a seesaw. One moment, he was the second-worst teacher she had; the next, he was the best.
“10 points to Slytherin,” he said into the silence, and for once, she thought the points were deserved.
Any house that had to deal with Umbridge for seven years deserved better.