Fighting Darkness

2.3

Nymphadora Tonks just wanted to be an Auror damnit. She'd passed everything with flying colours.

Except the stealth area.

She was great at dueling, hiding in plain sight (being able to change your appearance at will helped with that) and she wasn't scared of blood or killing of she had to. But trying to tail someone had her in a tizzy. She tripped over everything in sight and her language was more colourful than her bubblegum pink hair. They'd given her a year to fix her clumsiness and if not she'd work at a desk for the rest of her life.

So, for another year, she was out of a job and back to living with her parents. She was so done with her parents at the moment. They were always bringing boring goody-two-shoes boys around trying to get her into a 'stable' relationship. Could they not see she was still twenty years old? She didn't need some boring office working man to hold her down. She wanted excitement. Not routine.

Sighing she pushed off her black and blue blankets slipping on her oversized Hufflepuff sweater before tromping down the stairs into the kitchen of her childhood home. And current home. Because she couldn't be an Auror.

"Dora! There's a letter from Dumbledore for you! Are you going back to school then?"

The pink haired woman growled at her mother's words. She was NOT going back to school no matter what her mother wanted. But her anger was quickly overrun by curiosity. Why was Albus Dumbledore writing her?

Making her way the rest of the way down the stairs she grabbed the letter with her name on it from the table riping it open. She dropped down into her chair and began to read.

.... Resigned...... Abrupt...... You..... Teaching...... Potions...... Hogwarts...... Senior pay..... Housing.... One year........

"Mum! Dad! I'm moving out! I got a job!"
*
As quickly as the winter holidays had come, they finished. Everyone returned from their respective homes and classes started up again. It had been a pleasant shock when the rest of the school has learned that Snape had resigned and that a young, bubbly 20 year old named Tonks was taking over for the rest of the year.

Since she had been a Hufflepuff while at school, she could not take over the position of head of Slytherin house so the title had been given to Professor Sinistra, the astronomy professor.

"It's brilliant!" Ron exclaimed. "With Snape gone Gryffindor may stand a chance at the house cup!" Ron had been exploding at random times about the pros of Snape being gone.

Hermione on the other hand was less thrilled. "Sure Ronald. But you saw the new teacher. She looks- she looks. Oh bugger! She looks too young to properly teach us anything. She'll probably be ranting about the pros of smoking gillyweed the entire time. We're going to fail our potion exams with her as a teacher I just know it!" The girl ranted earning strange looks from passers by. The trio plus Neville were currently on their way to the potions classroom for their first potions lesson with professor Tonks.

"Oh Hermione loosen up. You haven't even properly met her yet. For all you know she could be a potions genius. Then again Snape was too andnhe was absolute shit at teaching." Ron said, rolling his eyes at Neville and Harry as they both nodded in agreement.

"Language Ron! And I just have a feeling about her...."

She was forced to stop her second rant as they'd arrived at the potions classroom. When the to the door to the dungeons opened the change was in atmosphere was immediately obvious. Instead of the gross smell of burnt leather that usually greeted them, the warm smell of rain and cinnamon hit them full force. The usually dreary, lightless classroom was now full of sunlight* from large windows that showed rolling hills and large trees.

How that was even possible confused Harry more than anything. They were underground and that was obviously not the Hogwarts grounds.

"Come in come in! Take a seat anywhere!" Harry looked to the front of the room at the punk looking pink haired lady he'd been expecting wasn't there. Instead a thirty something year old with short brown hair and dull blue eyes stood that the at the front of the class.

"My name is Ms. Tonks but feel free to call me Tonks. I'm twenty years old and I've just finished Auror training. Also-" To Harry's shock the womans face began to change back to the one he'd seen earlier. "I'm a Metamorphmagus meaning I can change my looks at will. If I wanted to I could resemble a duck. Pretty cool eh?"

"CAN YOU LOOK LIKE DUMBLEDORE?" A Slytherin yelled, causing the whole class minus Alice, Harry and Hermione to laugh.

"Oi! No revealing my secrets. How do you think I got this job? I never got detentions. Why? I always looked like Dumbledore in really weird clothes!"

More laughter erupted through the class. It seemed like the class was going nowhere until Tonks yelled. "Alright class! When I call your name tell me one thing about yourself and what you want to learn to brew in potions class."

As she went through the list most people said love potions or a lucky potions which Tonks just laughed at. When Hermione said the polyjoice potion it was obvious Tonks was impressed.

Harry just shrugged and said the draft of living death and Alice copied him speaking so quietly she had to repeat herself three times.

Finally it was time for class to start.

"Well for our first class we'll do something easy. We'll brew the basic form of the calmness draught. Turn to page nine and follow the instructions as said. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to ask."

Within seconds Hermione's hand was up.

"Yes Miss. Granger?" Tonks pink eyebrow was raised in an act of defiance to seemed.

"Not to be rude or anything Ms. Tonks, but do you actually have the credentials to be a teacher? I mean you said that you're just out Auror training, a three year program, which means it left no room for you to be able to get some sort of mastery in potions." Hermione said in her normal class voice.

"You're forgetting about the years before. In my second year I was caught brewing a polyjuice potion for an experiment and they offered me an apprenticeship with Morgana Penn. In my fifth year I gained my mastery and that allows me to be qualified as a potions teacher. Any other problems Miss. Granger?"

Hermione shook her head her face red as she returned to attending the flames beneath her cauldron.