Of Monsters, Of Men

Chapter 20

First Term

During the first week, Harry came to like Professor Lupin. If Harry had any doubts about the new professor, they were wiped out after sitting through his first DADA class. Professor Lupin was kind and gentle, and most importantly, fair. His teaching method was engaging and intuitive, featuring many hands-on demonstrations and student-led activities.

As Tom and Harry walked to Defense together in the halls, Harry asked Tom, "Do you prefer Lupin or Merrythought?"

Tom glanced back at him before turning to shoot an irritated glare at someone that cut him off. He said, "Merrythought."

Harry clutched his bag tighter in the throngs of people. "But she's so boring."

Tom sneered. "All you think about is fun and games."

Harry frowned, but didn't have time to respond as they walked into the classroom and found their seats.

To their surprise, Professor Snape walked in, not Professor Lupin. "I will be teaching your class today. Professor Lupin is too... ill to teach."

A couple Gryffindors groaned in the back corner. Harry internally rolled his eyes. It's like they never learn.

Sure enough, Professor Snape curled his lip and said, "Five points from Gryffindor for disrespect."

This time, the Gryffindors were wise enough to keep their mouths shut.

"Open your textbooks to page seventeen. We will cover the basics of nocturnal beasts."

And so, the rest of class passed just as silently as it had begun. Despite the lack of conversation, Harry didn't find it stifling; rather, he found it quite relaxing. One of his, admittedly very few, pet peeves about Lupin was that he tolerated stupid answers, unlike Snape.

"Quite strange for a new teacher to miss a day in the first week," Harry mused as they left the classroom.

Tom grimaced as they passed a smooching couple in the hallway that was seemingly ready to get it on in public. "Not particularly. That man has looked sickly since he arrived."

September and October passed with Harry and Tom reacclimating to the Slytherin lifestyle. They tried their hardest to find a place where they could practice dark magic, but alas, there was no suitable location in the castle. At least they were now in the second caste, smack dab in the middle of the PDWs that used to laugh at them. There was no laughter now, instead grudging respect. Unfortunately, they were still unable to recruit anyone new into their clique due to the lingering stigma surrounding them. So their clique remained as three people: Harry, Tom, and Alphard, four if Harry counted the reluctant Marcus Avery.

Through the months, the papers had screamed about the impending defeat of the Soviet Union and Magical Russia. Muggle analysts believed that Germany would win within the next few weeks. Meanwhile, magical analysts thought the same of Grindelwald, putting Lord Avery in the very optimistic minority that believed Grindelwald would lose. If either leader won, Britain would become the last foothold of civilization in Europe. Hitler would establish the Nazi New Order, and Grindelwald would force his political party, the UGMNP, onto the citizens of Magical Europe.

And the situation became grimmer by the day. The Battle of Kiev ended with an unparalleled victory: the Wehrmacht claimed to have captured 600,000 Red Army soldiers. Not only was this a devastating disaster for Muggle Russia, it also decimated Magical Russia's troops. Grindelwald's troops had been fighting alongside Hitler's troops, using widespread confundus spells to keep suspicions from rising. Minister Vorobev depended upon magically-enforced muggle fortifications in order to stave off Grindelwald's Acolytes, and with those defenses gone, the entire Southwestern Front was destroyed.