บท 63: First Day on the job

McGonagall took the podium after the sorting ceremony as she smiled "Welcome everyone. I appreciate you all coming and can confirm with absolute certainty that Hogwarts will keep all of you safe." the students clapped and McGonagall smiled as she said "I would like to welcome our new Defense Against the Dart Arts Professor, Mr. Cross Greengrass."

The entire student body all said "EHHHHH??!!"

Cross lowered the book and revealed his face as his ears twitched and he appeared next to McGonagall as he said "May I speak?" McGonagall rolled her eyes and whispered "I assume you would do so anyway?" Cross just gave her a cheeky smile and McGonagall stepped back.

Cross stood at the podium and grinned at the students before starting "You may call me Professor Greengrass in the future, or if you like, Lord." McGonagall choked and Cross chuckled as he said "Just a joke... Only if you want to. Anyway, the past DADA Professors have been varying in quality. I will teach you how to protect yourselves against whatever comes you way, common spells, defensive spells, Unforgivable Curses, the whole shebang."

Cross twitched his ears and chuckled as he added "Hopefully, I don't disappear by the end of the year as all my predecessors seem to have done. Thank you." before returning to his seat. The students erupted into cheering and laughter along with applause.

McGonagall coughed, silencing the students as she said "Yes, well, we can only hope..." she then went on with the same speech about the forbidden forest for the first years, before finishing with "Ah yes, Professor Greengrass is also the Head of Slytherin house. That will be all, off to bed."

The Slytherin students shouted "EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!?!?!"

Cross chuckled and continued reading his book as Slughorn nudged him saying "From the shelf to a professor, eh?" Cross smiled happily and said "I was put on the shelf, Professor?!" Slughorn grinned and said "Of course, lad. My brightest student!"

Cross laughed happily and Hagrid patted his shoulder saying "Congratulations, Cross!" Cross was all smiles as he accepted the congratulations, before asking Slughorn "Professor, may I borrow a few vials? I feel like Felix Felicis will be a good motivation for the students."

Slughorn chuckled and said "Taking a page out of my book, eh Greengrass?" Cross scratched his stubble sheepishly, not denying it. Slughorn shook his head and gave him a bunch, Cross thanked him and turned to Hagrid as he said "How is it going?"

Hagrid's eyes lit up as he said excitedly "Great! I think it'll hatch at any moment now!" Cross was excited and said "Don't forget to tell me know, I want to see what they look like too! The other eggs aren't close yet."

Hagrid smiled and said "Not a problem, Cross!" Cross smiled happily, McGonagall looked over and said "Quite the speech, Mr. Greengrass." Cross snickered and asked "Should I have not spoken, Headmistress?" touching his nose as he spoke, McGonagall shook her head and sighed with a smile as she said "That's your style I suppose."

Cross had an excited grin on his face as he thought of a teaching plan.

Cross went to sleep in his Professor's room, sneakily bringing Luna in after asking the House-Elves if popping affected their own fetuses. They all said no but Cross didn't want to take a risk, if that baby died, he would probably kill himself right after.

The next morning

Cross was sitting in the DADA classroom, sleeping on a chair as first year students filed in. One of the students shouted "PROFESSOR!" Cross was startled and jumped up as he said "I'm awake!" the first years giggled and looked at Cross happily, finding this teacher funny.

Truthfully, Luna was a bit excited last night after seeing him in a suit and he didn't get the sleep very much. He was taking a well needed nap just now.

Cross yawned and said "Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts! I am Professor Greengrass, I prefer Professor Cross, or just Best Professor in the World. Any questions?" all the students hands went up at once and Cross felt his eyes twitch as he said "Yes, you with the freckles and missing teeth."

The student said "Professor Cross, what is with your ears." Cross' ears twitched and the rest of the hands went down in disappointment, Cross felt his mouth twitch this time as he said "I'm an Elf." another kid said "A house-elf?" Cross threw chalk at him and hit him in the forehead as he said "Which eye of yours sees a house-elf?!"

The class giggled and the kid rubbed his forehead with a small smile.

Cross smiled and said "Anyway, I'm an Elf. Not a house-elf, a real elf. Anyway, who can tell me what spell is used to protect yourselves from most spells?" there was a chest next to him and it started rumbling loudly, drawing the attention of the class.

Cross slapped the chest and a loud shout was heard "He's a fake! Don't listen to him!" it was Cross' voice, the students were stunned and looked at Cross in doubt.

Cross pretended like he didn't hear anything as he asked the question again, one student whispered "Alohomora" and unlocked the chest, another Cross jumped out and pointed his wand at Cross saying "Stupefy!"

Cross waved his hand and said "Protego." a barrier formed and Cross added "That was also the answer. Which one of you opened the chest?" everybody looked at a single student, a girl who looked anxious and scared.

Cross smiled as he fended off himself and said "In a situation where you are constantly being pushed back, what are your options?" the girl stuttered "Expelliarmus? Stupefy?" Cross smiled and said "Let's try it then shall we?"

Cross waved his hand and slapped the Stupefy away as he said "Expelliarmus!" the other Cross waved the wand and blocked it as Cross shouted again "Stupefy!" but it was blocked again and the clone continued.

The girl was stumped and Cross waved, a barrier blocked his half of the room as he said "I'll show you another route, take out your quills and listen carefully." the students took out their quills and Cross started speaking "In a battle, any advantage you can acquire could lean the battle in your favor. You must use your wits and instincts. Never focus only on your opponent, in real life battles, anything can happen, even the location matters. Watch closely."

Cross dodged a spell and pointed forward as he said "Cheer!" the other Cross started laughing uncontrollably and Cross smiled as he threw a bunch of Galleons and waved "Ducklifors!" the Galleons turned into Ducks and quacked while pecking at the other Cross, flooding him, before Cross pointed and said "Expelliarmus!"

The other Cross' wand flew out of his hands and into Cross'. He turned to the class and waved, everything went back to normal and the other Cross turned into a bunch of string, going back into the chest.

The students were amazed, they had never seen such a way of fighting before. Cross smiled and said "Can anyone tell me what just happened?" the students were stumped but the little girl said, a bit unsure, "You made Professor Cross unable to fight back?"

Cross nodded and said "That's right. Your Professor has been trapped by me and I'm actually an evil intruder!" he flicked the girl's forehead and said "Silly girl, I am Professor Cross. Anyway, the main point was that not only can offensive spells can be used for battles, but with a quick mind, all spells could be used in various ways to trick and disorient your opponent."

The room changed as Cross walked on the wall to the ceiling as he said "Sometimes strange occurrences can startle an enemy, giving you the chance to finish a fight quickly..." He looked up and clicked his tongue as he said "What are you all doing on the ceiling?"

The girl was stunned and said "But Professor, you're the one on the ceiling." Cross smiled slightly and said "Is that so? Then why are you all upside down?" the students gasped and said "Mate, your hair!" they all looked at each other and sure enough, they were in fact the ones on the ceiling.

They looked at Cross in awe, Cross smiled and said "As I was saying, the key to winning battles in using your brain to disorient the opponent." as he walked back down, returning the room to normal.

Cross looked at the time and smiled as he said "Next class, we will be learning about dangerous creatures. After all, I have a curriculum to follow... You girl, what's your name?" the little girl stuttered "C-Claire! P-Professor." Cross nodded and said "5 points to Ravenclaw." the bell rang and all the little kids left the class, talking about the class excitedly.

Cross grinned as he watched them go before saying to himself "I think I have the best class. Best teacher by far for sure..." he sat down in his chair and called out his beasts, well whoever wanted to come out.

Carl, Blue, and Buckbeak came out. Cross smiled and said "Turn to cute forms, I can't have the kids getting scared you know." They all poofed and turned into plush babies, Blue looked like a blue puff ball, Carl looked like a puppy with a horn, and Buckbeak looked the same but was just the size of a puppy.

They ran around the room, playing with each other, all being relatively young, unlike Selena and Grey. Cross completely ignored Red, only feeding him and never speaking to him. Red was lonely, sitting on his parasol tree. He really didn't care about Dumbledore anymore, he started to hate him because of this.

Red sat on his tree and never left, just staring out into the distance as his hatred for Dumbledore rose by the day.

Cross fell asleep at his chair once again.

A while later

Cross was woken up with a loud shout, he jumped up from his chair in shock while the students laughed. Cross blinked and saw Astoria, Luna, Ginny, and the other 6th years. Cross coughed and said "Yes, well anyway, I am your new Professor. You may call me Professor Greengrass, or Professor Cross, or King. Whatever you want."

The students rolled their eyes.

Cross got serious and said "Seeing as you're all 6th years, I assume you know how things go now. I don't have to explain myself?" One student said "Can you explain what we'll be learning?" Cross nodded and said "You will be learning to fight, fuck the dangerous creatures. I couldn't care less about them."

The students chuckled and Cross said seriously "Enough!" the class was silenced and looked at Cross bewildered. Cross walked to the front of the class and kicked open the chest, the Cross clone popped out with an equally serious expression.

Cross looked at the class and said "Your N.E.W.Ts can wait, first you need to focus on surviving this year." the students turned grim, Cross said "That moron will attack the school eventually, you think you're shitty magic can stand a chance against a Death Eater?"

Cross sneered and said "Some of you may have seen my kill a few very easily, well that's why I'm teaching and you're learning. Death Eaters are still very powerful wizards and witches and won't even hesitate to kill you in cold blood."

Cross waved a bigger chest appeared, he opened the top and took out a tied up man before closing the chest.

Cross threw the man on the ground and said to the class "This is a Death Eater, who decided to graciously volunteer to be my partner today." the class gulped and Cross kicked the man, sending him flying into a wall, he waved his hand and the man flew back.

Cross opened the man's mouth and poured Veritas Serum in his mouth before throwing him on the ground and saying "Tell them what you've done." the man snarled "I've killed, raped, tortured, robbed, you name it." Cross pulled him up by the hair in front of the class as he said "Tell them what Voldemort expects of a new Death Eater."

The man replied "Loyalty, smarts, bloodthirst, and willingness to kill. To be able to cast all three Unforgivable Curses without hesitation and a muggle family sacrifice." Cross looked at the class and said "This is what's coming for you. Tell them the average wizard rank in the Death Eaters."

The man said "4th rank at least." the students trembled in fear, Cross shouted "Do not be afraid! Take a good look at this man, how many people have you killed." the man said "Hundreds, I don't keep count."

Cross shook the man by his hair and said "The only thing standing between a Death Eater and their next victim, is you. Ms. Weasley, what are the three Unforgivable Curses." Ginny winced and answered "Killing Curse, Imperious Curse, and Cruciatus Curse."

Cross nodded and floated the man in the air as he said "Perform the Cruciatus Curse on him." Ginny was startled and said "Bu-" Cross appeared in front of her and said coldly "That man is about to torture Harry, what are you going to do? Watch from the sidelines and become more of a burden than you already are?!"

Ginny trembled and Cross teleported back as he shouted "Do it!" Ginny flicked her wand and said "Crucio!" the man started screaming in pain and writhing in his bindings, Cross waved his hand and all the students were forced to watch, unable to look away.

Cross said coldly "You cannot run away from this. You must toughen up, or you will die. Normally I wouldn't care but seeing as I'm now staff of Hogwarts, if even one of you dies this is a big loss. Enough, Ms. Weasley."

Ginny stopped and was breathing heavy.

Cross floated the man to him and said "For the Killing Curse, I will demonstrate. I will explain why as well." he walked to the front of the room and continued "You have been told that Killing Curses will harm you, this is not the case. You have also been told that to perform the Killing Curse one must have hatred and negative emotions, this is also false."

He looked at the students and added "The Killing Curse is a curse just like any other, while it does require the intent to kill, that does not mean it has to be hateful. A Killing Curse could also be cast to protect. The surge of powerful emotions like hatred and love, will activate the Killing Curse all the same."

Cross smiled and said "Here's the tricky part. Killing in itself will take a mental toll on the killer, for the weak minded it could be crippling. This is why, if are to use the Killing Curse, you must sufficiently prepare yourselves."

He looked at the clone and said "Do it." as he waved and a golden barrier blocked him from the students, the clone pointed the wand and said "Avada Kadavra!" the students screamed in fear, while Cross pointed and said "Avada Ultima." two different green beams collided in the middle.

Cross turned to the class and said "When faced with the Killing Curse, you have two options. One is to dodge and run as fast as you can, or produce a spell with as much power as the curse to block it. What you see me using right now is a self created Killing Curse, an upgraded version of the original Killing Curse if you will."

He pushed his finger forward and the dark green beam destroyed the green beam and blew up the string clone, reducing it to dust. Cross waved and strings came out forming a new string clone before he sent it back into the chest with his wand as he turned to the students and continued "The Ministry forbids the use of this spell for varying reasons. I say that these Curses are essential to a Wizard's arsenal."

Cross waved and the golden barrier disappeared as he added "I will say it once more, do not use the Killing Curse until you feel that you are ready. You will most likely develop mental trauma that will haunt you afterwards, obliviating such a trauma is very tedious and tricky."

Cross turned to the man and said "If you vomit, you are not qualified to even think about performing the Killing Curse." as he pointed to the man and said without emotion "Avada Kadavra." the man lost the light in his eyes and slumped to the ground, dead.

Most of the students threw up directly on the floor and became pale.

Cross turned around, waving his hand and cleaning the entire classroom as if nothing happened before saying "Next class we will be learning about normal everyday spells and their history. As well as how to turn a simple Lumos charm into..."

Cross pointed his finger at a wall as he finished "A deadly Lumin Spear." the Lumos shined brighter and condensed before firing an extremely hot laser, piercing a hole in the wall, right through to the hallway, stunning the students completely.

The bell rang and Cross smiled as he said "Good job. I was expecting most of you to faint today." the students chuckled nervously before running out of the classroom in terror. Cross said "Gi- Ms. Weasley, please stay for a moment."

Ginny stopped and Luna kissed Cross before smiling "Great lesson, 'Professor'~" Cross smiled wryly and said "It wasn't too intense?" Luna giggled and said "Not for me~ I'll see you later." Cross smiled and she left, Astoria and Ginny we're the only one's left.

Cross looked at Astoria worriedly, but there was no need as Astoria jumped up and shouted "HOLY FUCK THAT WAS SO AWESOME! YOU WERE LIKE 'WAAAAH' AND THEN 'PFFFT' AND THEN 'BOOOM!' AND THEN YOU KILLED THAT WORTHLESS PIECE OF TRASH LIKE 'ZAP!' WOAAAAAH!"

Cross felt his mouth twitch and he patted her head saying "Right... Run along now, Ms. Greengrass." Astoria happily skipped away humming a song, as if she didn't just witness a public execution.

Cross sighed and waved over to Ginny as he said "Come here." Ginny walked over and sat down in a chair, Cross sat on the desk and crossed his arms as he said "You okay? You seem a little out of it." Ginny nodded and Cross added "I hope you're not shaken up about the Cruciatus Curse. I'm sorry if I pushed you."

Ginny smiled slightly and shook her head saying "It's not that.. It's just.. Well, you're right. If I can't help him then what use am I other than a burden." she looked really sad, Cross patted her head and said "Hey, cheer up. The good thing is, you're still here and you have time to improve."

He smiled slightly as he said "If you need, you can always use the Room of Requirement, I assume you remember where it is?" Ginny nodded and said "Can you train me?" Cross looked awkward and said "Ahh, extra work? I don't know..." Ginny giggled and said "Please?"

Cross looked to be struggling internally before finally sighing and saying "Fine. But if you can't kill at least a dozen Death Eaters don't even think about telling anyone you're MY student. I'll be ridiculed!"

Ginny laughed and smiled as she said "Then I'll see you later, 'Professor'." before skipping away just like Astoria, Cross watched her go and sighed muttering "Maybe, I'm getting soft..." a voice was heard over the intercom "Professor Greengrass to the Headmistress' office! Immediately!" Cross let out a tired sigh and muttered again "Betrayed by my own students... Hais" before cleaning up the room and walking out, going towards the Headmistress' office.