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Bonded - chapter 28
🕑 Added 2022-09-14 22:14:26 +0000 UTCChapter 28 - New teacher
A low growl escaped Harry's lips as he sat alone at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. Ron was eating breakfast in the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey said she would not allow visitors until later. Hermione had finished her breakfast rather quickly and had all but run out of the hall, giving him some reason about forgetting something in her room.
The most significant cause of Harry's irritation was that he did not know about what was happening with the whole Sirius Black situation. Hopefully, the man was currently being trialled and would soon be released, but then again Sirius shouldn't have even been in Azkaban in the first place, if the Ministry could mess things up that bad once then they could mess things up that bad again.
"Mr Potter," A voice said, breaking Harry out of his thoughts. Harry looked up and saw Professor McGonagall holding a note in her hand. "Are you okay?" She asked.
"Just thinking, Professor," Harry answered truthfully after swallowing a mouthful of cereal. "How may I help you?" He asked curiously. Professor McGonagall stared at him for a moment before handing him the note.
"This note," She began. "Contains the time and place for your potions classes, starting today, I would like you to attend and then inform me if you find your new tutor agreeable. If you do then I can change your timetable for you."
"Oh, thank you," Harry gave her a slight nod.
"Are you well, Mr Potter?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm fine, Professor," He assured her. "I'm just feeling a bit tired, it's been a trying couple of days." He added with a small shrug.
"I see," She frowned. "If you do end up feeling unwell then please do not hesitate to go to Madam Pomfrey, I am well aware of your desire to not stay in the hospital wing longer than necessary but your health is far more important, is that understood?"
'His health is perfectly monitored, thank you very much,' Venom snarked.
"Yes, Professor," Harry nodded, expertly ignoring Venom's comment.
"Good, I shall leave you be, remember that you have my class later today and I do hope that you have completed your homework."
"For you," Harry began just before she started walking away. "Always." He grinned at her. Her lips twitched slightly with amusement before she turned and walked away.
'She loves us!' Venom said proudly.
'Yep,' Harry mentally agreed.
(.)
'So, it's supposed to be here.' Harry frowned as he entered an empty classroom on the seventh floor, he double-checked his note and confirmed that he was supposed to be there.
He looked around the classroom and found all the desks were pushed to the sides of the room with the exception of one which was in the middle, there was a teacher's desk at the end of the classroom with a blackboard next to it. The fact that they were high up where light and air could come through the windows was already an improvement as far as Harry was concerned.
"One moment," A feminine voice called from behind a door that lead to a room that was likely a storage cupboard. A couple of moments later the door opened and Harry's new tutor walked out.
She was a very attractive woman who wore a decently expensive set of green wizarding robes, she was roughly in her thirties judging by her face. Long and silky brown hair gently flowed down to slightly past her shoulders, matching her brown eyes.
"Hello," She greeted him with a small smile. "It's nice to meet you," She added before gesturing for him to sit in his seat.
"Hello, have we met before?" He asked curiously as he moved to his seat. "You look familiar." He added as he sat down.
"Well, I've met your parents once or twice, but I don't think we've ever met personally." She explained patiently. "Though, I do owe you a lot of thanks."
"You do?" Harry blinked.
"Yes, after all, you helped get my cousin a trial," She could help but grin.
"Your cousin? Wait, Sirius?" He blinked.
"Yes, my name is Andromeda, formerly of the house of Black," She began explaining. "Though I don't really belong to that house anymore."
"How come?" Harry couldn't help but ask.
"I was kicked out for marrying a muggle-born," She said with a small sigh.
"Oh right," Harry frowned. "I'm sorry."
"Thank you, but it's alright, I've found a new family, I have a loving husband and a lovely daughter. I think you might know her, her name is Nymphadora."
"I do?" Harry took a moment to think. "I don't know any Nymphadoras."
"You don't?" She frowned. "But she's mentioned that you've talked a few times already this year."
"Doesn't ring any bells, sorry," Harry said apologetically.
"I really must have a word with that girl," She muttered before shaking her head. "Anyway, let's talk about this session before we continue. During this session, you will address me as Mrs or Professor Tonks and I think that it will be best if..."
"Wait a sec," Harry cut her off. "Did you just say that your last name is Tonks?"
"Yes, why?" She asked.
"Is your daughter by any chance a pink-haired auror?"
"Yes, why?"
'The creator?!' Venom gasped inside Harry's head.
"Her first name is Nymphadora?" Harry uttered, more to himself and Venom. "You learn something new every day, I suppose."
"She didn't tell you her first name?" She asked in an exasperated voice.
"She didn't," Harry shook his head before pausing. "Though, in one of our talks, she did mention that she was related to Sirius Black so that's my bad for forgetting that. Sorry."
"I really need to talk with that girl," Andromeda huffed. "I have told her over and over again that there is nothing wrong with a name like Nymphadora, it's a perfectly good name." She ranted.
"It's better than Harry," Harry grunted in agreement.
"Exactly!" Andromeda quickly agreed, happy to have somebody join her side. "No offence," She added quickly.
"None taken."
"Anyway, let's get started with the lesson, now, obviously I don't think I need to teach you the safety basics, do I?" She asked rhetorically.
"I...um...actually think it would be helpful if you did," Harry suggested, causing Andromeda to look at him like he had just proclaimed that Voldemort himself was taking a whizz in a nearby bathroom on his way here.
"Has your previous teacher not taught you basic safety procedures?" She asked in a horrified voice.
"Um...no, not really," Harry confessed.
"He hasn't taught you basic safety in a lesson where you're working with stuff that can blow up?!" Andromeda all but shrieked with disbelief.
"That would be an accurate summary of events, yes," Harry simply nodded.
"And your teacher was Severus Snape?" She asked with narrowed eyes.
"Yep." Harry confirmed, popping the 'p'.
"What a colossal..." Andromeda stopped and trailed off when she realised Harry was still in the room. She took a deep breath before she went behind the desk and started writing something.
"If I may, what are you doing?" Harry asked.
"Writing some notes to send to the school board," Andromeda answered quietly. After a few moments, she left her writing and walked around her desk before stopping in front of Harry. "Okay, for this lesson, I'm going to simply start with going over some basic things that will stop you from getting injured, burnt, etcetera."
'Burn prevention?' Venom perked up.
(.)
"Excellent job, Harry!" Mrs Tonks praised him an hour later.
After having Harry go through how to stay safe in the classroom, she started him to work on a simple first-year potion known as the 'Wiggenweld Potion', a powerful healing potion that can be used to heal injuries or reverse the effects of a sleeping draught. During the lesson, Harry had not had Venom help him out as he had wanted to try it himself and get a feel for how Andromeda would act if he had made a mistake. At one point Harry did make a mistake that, while fairly minor, would have resulted in Snape vanishing his potion and failing him for the class. Mrs Tonks decided not to do that and actually explained to him what he had done wrong along with how to prevent it in the future and even an explanation on how to correct it if he had done it again.
"Now," Mrs Tonks hummed as she examined the vial that she had poured his potion in. "I'll admit that it's not the best potion I've ever seen but it is fairly impressive, especially given what you've told me about your previous teacher."
"Oh, thank you," Harry smiled, blushing slightly due to her praise.
"Now, that's it for this lesson," Andromeda said, giving him a warm smile. "I hope you enjoyed it."
"I did," Harry confirmed as he stood up. "And I look forward to having more lessons with you. It's surprisingly nice to learn potions when you don't have a big, greasy bat looming over you." He added with a grin.
"I imagine so," Andromeda chuckled for a moment before she took on a serious expression. "And I will be complaining to Professor Dumbledore about him, if half the things you have told me about him are true then he has no business teaching a potions class, nor should he be allowed anywhere near someone your age."
"I wouldn't bother," Harry said, shaking his head slightly.
"And why not?" She asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly.
"I told Tonks about some of the stuff that Snape had done to me," Harry began.
"You mean Nymphadora?" Andromeda asked, giving him a flat look.
"Yep, Nymphadora," Harry repeated obediently. "She warned me it wouldn't do much good, but I still wanted to go through with it so she took it to her boss and got Snape arrested, for a little while at least. Dumbledore managed to get him out." Harry scowled. "I doubt any complaint that you could make would work well enough to make him get rid of Snape."
"Well, even if it won't accomplish anything, I will still tell Professor Dumbledore exactly how I feel." Andromeda huffed.
"Good luck," Harry snorted.
(.)
"Your mother was a few years younger than me," Andromeda told Harry as he escorted her out of the classroom and towards the Hogwarts entrance. "Our old potions teacher, Professor Slughorn, immediately took a liking to her. She was undoubtedly his favourite pupil, something that rubbed quite a lot of people the wrong way."
"How come?" Harry asked. "Because she was a muggleborn?" He guessed.
"Mostly," Andromeda nodded. "There were plenty of purebloods that thought they deserved recognition because of their names and family history, especially in Slytherin house, but even in the other houses. Yet Professor Slughorn, who was quite a popular and influential man, seemed to favour a first-year, muggleborn, Gryffindor of all people."
"Hmm," Harry couldn't help but smile. "He sounds smart."
"He's a Slytherin," Andromeda grinned. "Just because a few loud people give it a bad reputation doesn't change the fact that it's the house of the ambitious and cunning, obviously a little intelligence is expected."
"I should introduce you to Malfoy's goons." Harry chuckled.
"Lucius's spawn?" Andromeda sniffed. "Let me guess, he hangs around with Crabbe and Goyle's children?"
"That is correct," Harry smirked. "You've met their parents?"
"I've met Lucius more times than I would like," Andromeda sighed. "He always had Crabbe and Goyle following after him like lost puppies."
"Hey, did Lucius ever threaten anyone with his father?" Harry asked suddenly.
"How did you know?" Andromeda blinked.
"Because it's Draco's signature line," Harry explained. "Look at him the wrong way and he'll tell you all about how his father will hear about this. It got old before the end of my first year." Harry finished with a shrug. "Apparently the apple falls right under the tree when it comes to those three idiots, they're human versions of headaches," Harry added just as they turned a corner and nearly bumped into someone. "Oh sorry, I...hey Tonks." Harry blinked upon seeing the pink-haired auror.
"Harry, Mum?" Tonks blinked.
'And me!' Venom added.
"What are you doing here together?" She couldn't help but ask.
"I'm Harry's new tutor for potions," Andromeda explained.
"Really?" Tonks asked.
"Yep," Harry nodded. "She's way better than Snape, not that was hard. She has him beat on everything from personality to teaching ability. Also helps that she's far better looking." Harry added while giving Andromeda an exaggerated wink.
"Calm yourself, heart-breaker," Andromeda said in an amused voice. "Unfortunately, for you, I am still married."
"Drats, foiled." Harry mock-pouted.
"As for you," Andromeda turned to Tonks. "Why was young Harry unaware of what your first name was?"
"Oh, Merlin," Tonks groaned. "Tell me that you didn't tell him, please."
"Hi Nymphadora," Harry said in a dry voice as he gave her a single wave.
"Don't call me that," Tonks glared at him.
"What's wrong with it?" Andromeda rolled her eyes. "It's a perfectly nice name,"
"Mother," Tonks now turned her glare to Andromeda. "You named your daughter, a young girl with the ability to shapeshift, 'Nymphadora'. Nymph-a-Dora. And then you sent me into a school full of jealous girls and stupid boys that were supposed to prepare me for a world full of jealous women and stupid men with a lot more power and influence. You can't see what's wrong with the name because you're too bloody stubborn about it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do." Tonks sniffed before she walked past the two of them and stormed away.
"Um...well, this was lovely," Harry told Andromeda, breaking the awkward silence. "I'm going to go and try and talk with Tonks, I'll see you at our next lesson." He added before he turned and walked after Tonks, only slowing long enough to give Andromeda a small wave.
A couple of seconds later Harry was able to find Tonks who was walking down a hallway with red hair and a frustrated look on her face, Harry easily managed to catch up to her and started walking alongside Tonks. Tonks blinked upon seeing Harry and stared at him for several seconds.
"What?" She asked in an irritated voice.
"I'm sorry I called you...the forbidden name," Harry said simply. "Your mother had told me about it and I didn't know that it was that big of a deal for you, so once again, I'm sorry." He was pleased to see that his words at least had some effect on Tonks as her look softened and her hair slowly began changing back to her usual pink.
"I'm not angry with you, Harry," Tonks sighed. "Just annoyed with my Mum. I've told her time and time again that I hate my name, but she insists on calling me it."
"For what it's worth, I like your name," Harry told her honestly. "It's pretty and unique," He added with a shrug.
"Thanks, I suppose, but that doesn't mean I like it."
"What about a compromise?" Harry suggested. "Why don't you call yourself a shortened version of your name, like 'Nym' or 'Dora'?"
"My dad already called me 'Dora'," Tonks told him.
"So, should I call you 'Nym' then?" Harry asked.
"I'll think about it," She gave him a soft smile. "But 'Tonks' for now, if you don't mind."
"Not at all," Harry smiled. "Anyway, I think that..."
"Auror Tonks!" The two stopped and turned around to find one of the castle's patrolling aurors running up towards them. "Come with me, quickly," He ordered. "There's a mess with Black at the Ministry that needs to be dealt with, boss wants all aurors back there, now."
"What happened?" Tonks frowned.
"Somehow Black got killed," He answered, shocking both Harry and Tonks to their cores. "We have to go, now."
"Harry," Tonks turned to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I don't have time now but I promise I'll be back, okay?" She gave him a small squeeze before she turned and followed after the auror.
"S...Sirius is dead?" Harry whispered words echoed across the silent hallway. 'I just...Sirius is dead.'
'He was our way out of the Dursleys, and our godfather!' Venom growled.
'He loved me,' Harry thought to himself as he fought against the tears that threatened to spill out his eyes. 'He was family. He loved Mum, he loved Dad, he loved us. He shouldn't have been in Azkaban and now he's dead. I barely knew him.'
'Someone needs to pay!' Venom roared. 'We'll find them and I'll eat their heads!'
'Wait!' Harry said suddenly, wiping his tears. 'I have an idea!'
(.)
Hermione let out a small groan as she stretched out her body after standing up, she realised that she was still in the hospital wing and had likely fallen asleep while looking after Ronald who was still asleep. Not that that surprised Hermione, she knew that the boy was well capable of sleeping through the castle collapsing if he wasn't shaken awake. Hermione stood up and stretched her back a little since the chair she had fallen asleep in wasn't that comfortable.
Whilst stretching she quickly realised something, her hands quickly snapped up to reach around her neck, she quickly paled with horror, her eyes widened so much that they looked like they were about to pop out of her skull. She let out a short and sharp breath before she fell backwards into her chair as if she had been punched in the gut. Her whole body shook with panic, she checked once more and gulped when she had confirmed to herself that her time turner was missing.
Comments
Hannibal St.Michael
Snape or Lucius, those are my top two guesses for who killed Sirius. Great chapter, not a fan of the cliffhanger
Christian Jeffress
Good point
Robert
That would be dope if Venom could just store some Felix Felicis lol I don’t think Harry would need the healing potions or bezoar based on what venom has been able to already do from a healing standpoint / the Basilisk venom should render him immune to most poisons I think
Robert
That cliffy tho… My fun guess is that Snape is behind this and that Harry will finally let Venom eat someone’s brain when he uses the Time Turner to go back and save Sirius. Only other thoughts would be Fudge/Umbridge but I don’t think Fudge would want to piss off the Boy-Who-Lived who just gave him the evidence that Pettigrew is alive… Can’t wait for the next chapter!
Christian Jeffress
Just had my heart drop through my chest when I heard about Sirius, and then you went and reminded me about the time turner lol. Now you have me very excited for the next chapter, and to see what kind of wrathful vengeance he will wrought. I am a little curious, would it be possible for venom to store the effects of certain potions for emergencies? Such as healing potions, a bezor, or some other potion that might catch your fancy. Anyway, once again, thanks for another great chapter.
ExodiaTheForbiddenOne
Kinda surprised Harry didnt rage when he heard the news but that’s a interesting solution you’ve got there with the time turner
Revanshan2077
Well that’s an interesting move
Kasikan
Time to polyjuice Umbridge or someone else he doesn't like into Sirius and kill them. It's the solution to multiple problems at once.
Erinnyes
The way to do it without fucking the timeline is to fake Sirius' death briefly. As long as nothing he *knows* changes, no problem, and at the moment he knows very little.
Josh Robbins
Hope Harry saves him and fucks the timeline. But otherwise everyone will end up having to deal with venom
Erinnyes
Oh shit... No matter what this isn't going to go well. Really hoping you didn't kill Sirius, but everyone in the blast zone should hope so more.
