| SERENITY |

Chapter 7- [Hogwarts]

3rd September 1997- Wednesday

Tom had, in fact, held him to his promise of reviewing his textbooks at a later time, and made him read through the Creature Studies textbook and the rest of the DADA textbook before his first lesson Wednesday afternoon.

He was glad that his first lesson of the year was Creature Studies, as it meant that all of his mates could join him and he'd be able to spend more time with them, at least for this one day.

Walking into the Creature Studies classroom on the sixth floor, Harry was surprised to see so many Creatures within the room. Daphne Greengrass was sitting alone at a table, strange antlers sprouting from her head and green streaks running through her golden hair. Sat on the opposite side of the room, Terry Boot had the scales marking him as a Dragonborn surrounding his eyes, red and bright. Ernie Macmillan had the same but in a lighter shade, sitting at the same table as him. Zacharias Smith, now with pointed ears, looked moody as the woman by his side surrounded him with her Dragonborn wings, and Lavender Brown sat near the back, furry ears poking out of her hair, a beautiful man next to her with his arms wrapped around her waist. With them included, there were twelve of them taking this class.

The eyes of all those in the room turned to them when they made their entrance, causing Harry's hackles to rise at the sudden attention. Brushing in front of him and hiding him from view, Tom lead them to the table in the left-back corner, making sure that he was settled at the end of the table, nearest to the back. The room was silent apart from their rustling as they placed their textbooks and equipment on the table, their stares still heavy.

"They're acting as if they've never seen a Creature before," Draco muttered from his space at Harry's left, leaning back against the wall.

"A mateship this large is pretty rare- I think there are only around ten others in the world that are still ongoing. The average Submissive has one or two mates. At least there's not six of us, that would cause a stir."

Harry groaned, hiding his face in his arms. "I hate attention."

"You've mated the Prince of the Fae and who is essentially the Prince of Slytherin, as well as me, the youngest Boread and Malfoy heir, and Blaise, whose Vampire and Dragonborn ancestors are Noble families."

That had been a shock when Blaise had told them that tidbit of information. Harry was starting to see a pattern with his mates.

"And don't forget that Harry also descends from Noble Fae lines, he isn't slacking in the ancestral department either."

Before Harry could retort, a door at the far side of the classroom opened, and in stepped a man with none of his Creature attributes visible. He looked around the classroom, eyes stopping for a moment on their group, before frowning at Zacharias' mate.

"Please refrain from displaying your Creature attributes so boldly within such a public space. In this classroom- only the minimum amount is permitted. That goes for the rest of you, as well." He pointedly stared at Greengrass, whose antlers seemed to melt away, the green streaks in her hair lightening until they were only slightly discoloured.

By his other side, Tom had a frown on his face, and Elian looked displeased too, both staring at the man intently.

The Professor walked to the front of the classroom and leaned on his desk with a scowl. "My name is Professor Marke, although you should already know that. You will refer to me as that or as Professor only. There are strict rules you all must follow within my classroom, and yes, that goes for you who are here as mates and not students as well. As I said earlier but will reiterate: only the barest of Creature attributes are allowed to be on show, such as the scales around your eyes as a Dragonborn. Under no circumstances should you release your wings- we are in a school, and there is no danger here that would warrant such a thing. I also expect you to take notes and read the textbook outside and inside the lesson- to succeed, you must be willing to put the effort in. There are to be no overly expressive displays of affection between mates in my classroom, you are Beings, not Beasts. And finally, as a Professor, my word is the law within this space. Now, any questions?" He ignored the raised hands that shot up. "No? good. Now, leave your questionnaires I set as summer work on the table and I will be coming around to collect them when I hand you out the quiz on the first chapter of the textbook."