Harry could not get them to leave him alone.
When he traveled back in time he thought he'd off Riddle, not join his murder club.
First it was breakfast when they had surrounded him on all sides, then Ramon and Black insisted they show him around after they got their class schedules and now he was sitting in the back of defense against the dark arts classroom with one of them to either side.
Riddle, Malfoy and Lestrange sat in the front row, while Müller sat all the way across the room in second row.
It also didn't help that everyone kept staring at him with either distaste, curiousity or envy.
Harry supposed he couldn't blame them, he'd also be suspicious in their place.
His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and a severe looking woman with voluminous red hair and sharp intelligent eyes walked in.
She was quite tall and wore form fitting leather clothes, similar to hitwizards and witches, instead of the usual robes magical folk tended to wear.
She looked young, maybe 29 or 30, but was clearly their teacher.
Much to his surprise a boy trailed in after her, closing the door behind him.
He had light colored hair and wore muggle clothes instead of a uniform even though he seemed to be their age.
The woman stood up straight in front of the classroom while the boy stood at her side, a step or two further back.
She opened her voice and spoke: "I'm Professor Rose and I'll be your defense against the dark arts teacher this year. Professor Dumbledore is otherwise preoccupied with important matters and is unable to resume his usual teaching position for now. This", she gestured towards the boy, "Is Benjamin Rose who will be apprenticing under me. You may know him since he only graduated last year but be sure to treat him with respect. Now, you are 7th years and I will hold you to a certain standard. Anyone who thinks they can get by in class by slacking is sorely mistaken. Now put your books away and take out your wands."
There was a whirlwind of chatter all around him as everyone was excited and confused by this sudden change and Harry remembered that they probably weren't used to getting a new DADA teacher every year.
Lucky little shits.
Many students tried to ask Professor Rose some questions but they were all promptly shut down and eventually followed her instructions.
She snapped her fingers and Benjamin opened the small bag he was carrying to take out a few small orbs that had a bronze sheen to them.
Something inside them whirled around like mist but Harry couldn't make out what exactly it was.
"Does anyone know what these are?"
Riddle immediately raised his hand and got called on: "They are called Repono and are used to hold complicated or extensive spell work so that one is able to use them later without having to replicate the spell once more. You simply say 'Repono' while touching the orbs with the wand they were charged with and then the spell unfurls."
"Excellent answer Mr.."
"Riddle, ma'am."
"Mr Riddle. 10 points to Slytherin."
Harry closed his eyes briefly to roll them without being too obvious but he couldn't help but be interested.
So far this class seemed pretty similar to the ones professor Lupin held, though granted she doesn't seem quite as nice as him.
Professor Rose took one of the orbs from Benjamin and held it up to the light for a second and then crouched down to place it on the ground in front of her.
She took our her wand which was pale and decorated with engraved ivy and clearly announciated the "Repono" spell.
Then everything happened quickly.
The mist Harry could see before seeped out of the orb and formed a sort of thin wall.
It took a bit but shortly after it was formed the swirls of color formed a clear picture Harry recognized all too well.
The Forbidden Forest.
A few of the other students seemed to recognize it as well but most started at it with confusion.
"I don't know what exactly your education has been like up to this point which is why I want too see your skills for myself. All you have to do is step through the mist. Any volunteers?"
A Ravenclaw boy with light brown hair and glasses from the back coutiously raised his hand and was called forward.
He hesitated for just a second but then stepped through.
The mist suddenly spread out a bit further and now it looked like the boy was in the forest itself instead of coming out on the other side.
Harry could see the boy looking around in confusion and bewilderment as he realized the situation he was in.
He didn't hesitate to take out his wand but nothing seemed to happen for a while.
And then, quietly, very quietly a rustling was heard from behind him.
The boy didn't seem to notice, not even when a thick and hairy spider leg stepped out from the bushes.
A Ravenclaw girl in the classroom squealed in revulsion and fear as they all observed what happened.
Finally the boy seemed to realize something was behind him when the Acromantula was already slowly rearing up for an attack and Harry's eyes widened in concern.
He saw the boy's face go completely pale and he stared in shock for a mili second before he did something unbelievable and just swung his arm back to punch the Acromantula hard in the face, with a crack ringing out loudly for everyone to hear.
Harry's jaw dropped and he could hear that he wasn't the only one who couldn't believe what he just saw.
When the Ravenclaw boy stepped back a bit he suddenly stumbled through the mist and landed on his ass in the classroom.
Professor Rose came up to him and looked just as perplexed as everyone else but also pissed off which looked downright terrifying on her.
"Mr Miller, what in Merlins name inspired you to just PUNCH an ACROMANTULA!? DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH? How the hell did the hat put you in Ravenclaw out of all places?"
The boy looked at her, obviously still in shock but then raised his hand
"Uh Professor I'd love to discuss my strategy and everything but I'm pretty sure my hand is broken."
Indeed it looked pretty mangled and Harry winced in sympathy.
Been there, done that.
Professor Rose pinched her nose hard and exhaled once, twice, then calmed down and said: "We'll discuss this later. Someone, anyone, take him to the hospital wing."
Ramon immediately got up and walked over to him to help him up.
The Ravenclaw however did not seem to want Ramons help and only agreed to go with him when the professor shot him a glare.
"I'll bring you your stuff later", said Black when Ramon and his kidnappée(?) walked past their row to which he grinned in thanks.
Then they were gone and classroom was silent for a moment.
"Right", said Professor Rose after a bit, "I don't think we need to discuss why this was incredibly stupid. Who's next?"
Of course Riddle volunteered to go, no doubt wanting to show off and get in the professors good graces.
Everything happened in the same way until the Acromantula made itself known.
Riddle, unlike the poor Ravenclaw chap, was prepared and stunned his foe quickly without much effort.
The next enemies such as more Acromantulas, extremely hostile plants and a pair of vampires were also taken down, though the latter seemed to take some energy out of Riddle.
Nonetheless the professor decided enough was enough and when Riddle took his next step he landed in the classroom, on his feet this time.
The professor praised him of course and Riddle did his best impression of a humble student while he was no doubt gloating on the inside.
Reassured by his success, many more student volunteered after him with all but one succeeding, with varying degrees of effort.
The enemies, while some were reoccurring, changed each time so that students couldn't plan ahead or copy the spells to use.
Of course when the class was almost over and only one more student could enter for that day, the professor picked Harry at random since sll the students who didn't go get didn't raise their hands and seemed to be a bit uncertain or scared.
Harry sighed softly but nodded, took his Phoenix core wand and stepped into the familar forest, immediately getting various flashbacks.
His first enemy were once again Acromantulas, followed by devils snare reaching out from the darkness and encasing his body.
He was able to move his hand but one of the vains slid over his mouth, making him unable to speak.
He concentrated hard on the desired spell and while not anything too amazing, he managed to fire off a few sparks.
The dry plant easily caught fire and retracted, making Harry stumble forward as he was released.
He looked around but nothing seemed to happen.
He held his wand close incase anything tried to sneak up on him
Suddenly he found himself shivering, a freezing cold overtaking his body.
A familiar dread built up within him and he really hoped the cause wasn't what he thought it was.
But his prayers didn't matter because a shortly after Harry started to feel its presents a dementor floated towards him from the thicket off the trees.
Harry closed his eyes briefly and thought of his dearest memories.
Befriending Ron on the train, his adventures with him and Hermione, his first broom ride, becoming part of the quidditch team, teaching the DA.
He felt warmth run through his vains, opened his green eyes and loudly said "Expecto Patronum!"
Prongs burst out from his wand, shining and regal as ever as he fought the dementor back, eventually vanguishing it.
Harry was exhausted and exhaled in relief when his next step landed on a stone floor instead of the dirt in the forest.
When he caught his breath and looked around, no one was talking.
Even Professor Rose looked shocked.
"Mr Evans that was.. Quite extraordinary. This simulation is a quite common training method for aspiring aurors and hit wizards and I must say you would've easily beaten any of their scores. How did you do it? A corporeal Patronus at the age of just 17, unbelievable.. "
"Well", Harry said a little akwardly, "I had a lot of help. We had to have some Dementors around our school for security reasons in my third year and I was, well, more sensitive to them than others so my defense teacher at the time taught me the spell."
"In third year you said?", asked professor Rose sounding a bit faint.
"Well yeah it definitely took a few months until I could do it properly though", explained Harry and looked at the clock which told him they were already 5 minutes over the regular class time.
Professor Rose followed his gaze and shook her head a bit: "Right, seems like I kept you all for long enough, you're free to leave. And Mr. Evans it would be a great honor if we could discuss your strategy in some more detail another time."
The students reluctantly packed up and filed out, probably wanting to hear more about his Patronus.
Harry also walked over to his table where he snatched up his own bag.
As walked out the door he threw a quick glance back to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything and found his eyes meeting those of Tom Riddle burning with an intensity Harry had never seen before.
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Author's Note:
The Repono spell is my invention and means storage in Latin.
-Author Icicle❄️