The Stand

The Dream

Dumbledore had a dilemma. He was unsure of whether he was angry or disappointed with Harry.

Even though Fudge wanted Umbridge as the DADA teacher, it was still up to him on whether to hire her. At the time, he believed that she would lead Harry right back to him. Instead, he got her and Fudge fired from their jobs. Now, he had to fill a position which was very hard to fill.

The Board of Governors gave him a deadline. Since winter break was starting soon, they gave him until its end to find a teacher. Or else, they would choose the teacher themselves and Dumbledore knew that he had no chance of influencing the teacher, if that happened.

Sighing, he looked down at his list, trying to figure it out. He needed a candidate which didn't hate Harry but didn't support him. That eliminated people like Tonks, and Lupin along with Snape.

That left with some retired aurors that Amelia suggested and an American, Amanda Whittlestone. Dumbledore had never met Amanda personally and she was probably the best candidate. The only issue was her fit. He had certain ideals and didn't know whether she had those same ideals.

Dumbledore put his face in his hands. He was running out of time. He had to make a choice. Sighing, he went to the Floo. He had to congratulate Ms Whittlestone on her new position.

"Good night guys" Harry waved as he and Rishi headed into their dormitory. Both were tired out from some dueling training Sirius assigned them. AS Sirius put it, "if you can't duel, you're screwed."

Both were also finalizing the details for the animagus training. Since Harry had mastered his dragon (the animal Draco said he'd get due to his name), they were somewhat qualified to teach as they mastered all their forms. They planned to invite everyone over and have them work on their transformations. From there, it was practice in the Room of Requirement.

Both quickly changed and crashed into their respective beds. Hary dozed off but in the middle of his sleep, he felt a probe into his mind. He pushed it away but it came back. Knowing that most people were asleep, the Ravenclaw in Harry emerged and let the probe in. It wasn't a normal probe, that Harry knew for sure.

Suddenly, Harry felt different. He felt... smooth and strangely powerful. But, not the magical power he already possessed. This power was different. It was wilder to Harry, like a crazed beast inside of him.

Then it hit Harry. He was a snake, or at least inside a snake's body. He was slithering to a man, who was sitting. Harry looked closely and saw a head of red hair on the man. It was Mr Weasley.

Most likely, based on his position, Mr Weasley was guarding something but he didn't know what. He tried to look up but he couldn't.

Harry felt himself rear up, poised to strike. Harry panicked. He may not like the Weasleys but Mr Weasley was fine. He didn't deserve to die. No one deserved to die.

If he was the snake, he must have some control, was Harry's mindset. He willed himself to get back to the ground, to not strike. And it worked. He came back to the ground, but not for long. The snake got ready to attack and Harry again, stopped it.

At this point, Mr Weasley was probably quite confused on what was happening but he wouldn't be for long. Harry put up a good fight, but the snake finally managed to exert control. Harry sprung from his spot and burried his fangs into Mr Weasley's flesh.

Harry woke up, startled and found Hedwig in his face. Not even a moment later, Rishi ran in, accompanied by Flitwick.

"Harry" Flitwick began "Are you alright? Rishi said you were screaming and moving unnormally."

Harry panted "I need to go to Grimmauld Place. Right now."

Harry ran from his bed, not caring that he was wearing pajamas. He was followed closely by Flitwick and Rishi. He ran to the fireplace before realizing that all fireplaces were password protected from the outside. Flitwick had to open it for him.