Harry Potter and the Potter Grimoire

Chapter 9: Alternate Aftermath

In a little village on the southern tip of England, it was raining. It wasn't just raining, the storm was raging hard enough that the tv signals were being interrupted. However, for a small 2 room cottage at the edge of the village, the reception wasn't an issue. The Wizarding Wireless operated regardless of conditions of the weather, and currently was rebroadcasting the First Task audio. The wireless in question was sitting at a polished wooden counter, that over looked a wonderfully wooden table, where a man sat in a simple but elegant chair.

The man chuckled as he heard the hosts make jokes as the stadium filled. As the audio played in the background, the man cut and ate three eggs, a platter of sausages and a half loaf of bread. By the time the broadcast signed off again, with Ludo Bagman proclaiming the scores, table was cleared of food, and every plate was being picked up by a smiling house elf.

"Thank you Darthy." The man spoke to his house elf warmly. While simple creatures, the man knew exactly how powerful they could be. A muggle from China would state that all resources are good resources or something of the kind. The man certainly felt that way recently. He looked at his stump of a left arm, and refused to acknowledge his lack of legs.

Darthy popped back into the room, with a small platter containing three potions. "Master's Potions!" The little elf held the platter steady as the man drank each potion swiftly. The elf didn't leave until the potion bottles were back on the platter, and the man was comfortably in a chair by the fire with a new book from the shelves beside him.

The man smiled as he read about the wizards of Moscow, and their tendencies for "winter snow madness". While the material was not the best, the bone that was slowly constructing itself and pushing through the skin of the left arm's stump explained the man's happiness. Soon, he would be whole once more.

Flitwick poured over a stack of parchment. Unlike his other stacks of parchment, which consisted of essays, homework assignments and the occasional list of groceries, this stack was all written by a singular student, and were over two decades old.

As he reread the swirling handwriting of a past student, he was still utterly amazed by the intellect that went into each response. It was this student's work that he assigned Outstandings, as the amount of work that went into the responses was obvious. So intelligent were the essays that Filius even used the theory to explain certain spells to his first, second and third year students.

One day, soon, he would have to part with these manuscripts, as by rights they belonged to someone else. But until that day, Filius would do what every goblin did in mourning; he would honor the work the person did before they passed. That is the Goblin way, and one of the few the professor of Charms agreed with.

Alastor Moody set behind three locked doors, 13 sets of alerting charms, many of which were tied to animation charms on various furniture for protection, and was surrounded by various Dark Detectors. Even then, he did not allow himself to let down his guard. Even as he sat at his desk grading the "essays" of his students, he had his magical eye trained on the hall way.

As a professor, Moody was universally neutral in the eyes of the students. Every class was lecture and practical, often intertwined, and essays and homework were purely theory and applicational pieces designed to make the students think. With a teaching style that was similar in many respects to the previous occupier of the position, the students found the transition fairly easy. Moody, unlike Lupin however, was a much harsher grader. He rarely handed back an essay without "feedback" which were likely scenarios in which the students' solutions did not apply or would actually hinder. While these scenarios were never impossible, they were never truly probable either. Examples such as being attacked by a werewolf that had been spelled against silver, or combat in a clothing shoppe. An O in the class meant that you were constantly vigilant and capable enough to survive in a world out to get you. At least that was how Moody stated it in his opening lecture. The grades would follow that mindset. If you could probably live in such a world, you received an Exceeds Expectations. If you had Luck and never ran into Moody on a bad day, you received an Acceptable.