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Disclaimer: I own none of the Harry Potter characters!

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CHAPTER 6: The James Look-Alike and Confrontations

Albus Dumbledore was currently sitting in the Great Hall for dinner, sipping his soup as he listened to the content chatter of his students and fellow Professors.

It had been a rather uneventful day of preparing for the return of the students, and sorting out the curriculum aims set by the new Defense Agenced the Dark Arts Professor. Sirius Black, bless his soul, had agreed to fill the yet again vacant Defense post after having his name cleared this past summer.

Unfortunately, Sirius would have far to much to do in setting up his classes, so the idea that Albus had entertained of a dueling club this year was sadly impossible.

Suddenly a loud BANG! Interrupted his thoughts. Dumbledore's eyes snapped to the Great Hall's main doors which had been fling open to admit a tall figure dressed in an emerald green cloak with the hood pulled down to obscure it's face. What had Dumbledore concerned, however, was the powerful magical aura radiating from the figure that by far exceeded his own. The person's stride was full of grace and confidence, as well as swift and alert.

"Who are you?" Albus demanded, swirling his own aura around him in an attempt to intimidate the powerful stranger. The Professors drew their wands and leveled them at the figure.

"Relax old man. I'm not here to hurt you." A man's voice drawled from inside the folds of the cloak.

"Show yourself!" Albus insisted, recognizing that this man was in no way, shape, or form buying his act.

The stranger sighed. "If I must."

The second the hood fell off the man's face, there were numerous reactions that varied far and wide around the room. Many of the staff members gasped, thinking that James Potter had somehow come back from the dead and was now standing in front of them. The female students gave longing sighs and starry-eyed looks to the handsome black haired, emerald eyed man as he proceeded down the hall toward the staff table. Sirius Black was the closest to the truth, however, though not quit on.

'Is that James with Lily's eyes?' Sirius though dazedly.

"I think this discussion would be best continued elsewhere, Headmaster." The James look-alike pointed out.

Albus shook himself slightly, the twinkle in his eyes on full blast, and responded, "Yes. Professors Black, Snape, McGonagall and Sprout; please come with me."

And so, a few minutes later, they all found themselves seated in the Headmaster's office; being offered a lemon drop no less.

"So, that was quite an entrance, Mr. Potter-!" the Headmaster began, but was interrupted before he could finish.

"Yeah, Ares! You should stop being such an attention hog!" smirked Jake. In reality he knew fully that his friend hated having people stare at him, and getting attention in general; except if it was attention from Skyler or Ashleigh. Jake loved to jokingly call him a mama's boy whenever he could get away with it.

"You are far to conceded!" Fire agreed, tugging on a lock of Ares' windswept hair.

"Hey! I resent that!"

"Good because it was suppose to be an insult."

"It wasn't even my fault that I came in during their breakfast, anyway! It was you lot who pushed me threw the door-!" Ares protested.

The Potions Master sneered. "Just like a /Potter/, you are. Always blaming others for your own mistakes-"

"Just like a Snape you are," Coal fired back on her friend's behalf. "Always accusing people of random things when you don't even know what that person is capable of."

"I have a pretty good idea. Strutting into the Great Hall like he owns the place, and dragging us all away from our meals to hear him-" Snape was suddenly cut off by an unpleasant shriek-like laugh from Shadow.

"/Puh/-lease! You stalked out of that Hall cloak billowing like there was no tomorrow!"

That comment was all it took to ignite a very loud debate... actually, debate wasn't the right word. More like a free-for-all. It was brought to a halt a moment or so later by someone making a very loud and shrill whistle. Everyone blinked dazedly, and looked around.

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall." said Albus softly. "Now, what I wish to know is where you have been these past few years, Mr. Potter. Our attendance roster still had you down for Hogwarts, but couldn't send a letter because the auto-quill with the locating charm always malfunctioned when asked to give your coordinates."

"Well, Professor," Ares sneered. "First off, my name is not Mr. Potter. My title is officially Prince Ares, but my name is simply Ares. As to where I have been, I assure you that it is hardly any of your business. All you need to know is that I have been raised in capable hands after being removed from those demons you call the Durselys."

There was a rather tense silence until it was mercifully broken by Professor Sprout, who asked, "And who are your charming friends, Ares?"

The Headmaster, grateful for a change of atmosphere and an answer to one of his many questions, listened closely as Harry (he refused to call Lily and James' son anything else)introduced his four companions.

"Well, this is Jake..." Harry said.

On queue, the young Elf stepped forward and nodded, eyeing Albus thoughtfully.

"Sapphire..."

The blonde Elvin girl stepped forward, giving Dumbledore a politely curious look.

"Kcoalia..."

A dark haired girl didn't bother to step up, but gave him a swift and calculating look from where she stood.

"And finally, Shadayo." Harry finished.

Like the girl before her, Shadayo didn't move. Her disgusted glare, however, was far more hostile then any of her companions with the exception of Harry's.

"A pleasure." Albus said weakly. That last girl was rather frightening. He would be keeping an eye on her.

"Headmaster, Potter is still avoiding the question. What were you these past few years?" Snape demanded forcefully, taking a step towards the green-eyed boy with a furious expression.

Ares' eyes narrowed, and suddenly the Potions Master was blasted off his feet and landed 4 yards away.

"I will not tolerate your attitude, Snape. And once again, it's Ares. I will not continue to remind you." he said coolly.

Albus quickly jumped in. "So, if you five wish to stay here at the castle, then it can be arranged. In fact, I was just saying to Professor Black this morning that a Dueling Club would be beneficiary to the students. What say you?"

Jake nodded slowly. "I think that could be done. But five teaching one class?"

"We can split the students into groups," Sapphire suggested. "That way, we can each teach them something different."

"Excellent. Well, I shall escort you to your quarters. And Sirius? Please wait to speak to Mr. Potte- err, Ares, that is, in the morning at breakfast. I dare say that he and his friends have much to do this afternoon." Sirius nodded reluctantly, and the Professors departed to their quarters with the exception of Albus, who led the five Warriors up to the fourth floor.

He stopped in front of a large portrait of what appeared to be a Veela standing in a forest clearing, its hair fluttering in a non-existent breeze.

"Password?" she asked in a melodic voice, eyeing Ares lustfully.

"Gummy Bears," said Albus cheerfully. Coal made a face behind his back, and Jay sniggered.

The Veela nodded, and swung forward, but not before throwing Ares a seductive wink. Inside was a common room with neutral colored couches, chairs, and rugs. Portraits lined the walls, and Ares immediately recognized four painting's occupants unparticular. In a cheerful yellow frame was Helga Hufflepuff, watching them enter and giving them a small wave in greeting. To her left was a deep blue framed Rowena Ravenclaw, who wore a friendly smile on her face. To her right was a bright red frame containing a portrait of Godric Gryffindor, who smirked mischievously at the group. To Gryffindor left was a jewel green frame with a painting of Salazar Slytherine, who scowled heavily at them all.

"This will be your Common Room, where you may meet, talk and what not. Those staircases-" he motioned to two staircases on opposite side of the room "-lead to the boy's dorms on the left and the girl's on the right. You may change the password at any time. Your classroom is on the third floor, next to the statue of a large dragon. I shall leave how you teach the lessons up to you. Your times tables will be given to you tomorrow morning at breakfast. So, questions? No? Good. I shall see you at lunch; or dinner if you are to busy. You can get lunch delivered here by snapping you fingers twice, and a house-elf will appear." Dumbledore bowed himself out of the room, and a silence fell in his wake.

Finally Sapphire burst out, "what does he mean house-/elf/? Are elves enslaved here-?"

Coal scowled. "Sapphire, get over it. House-elves are not real elves. No self-respecting elf would serve a human."

"And what's wrong with being a human? I'm human!" exclaimed Ares.

"You don't count." Jake declared.

"Why?"

"Give it a rest, people!" hollered Salazar Slytherine from his frame.

"Yeah, you're giving me a headache." Godric Gryffindor agreed.

The five friends all gasped in amazement, and rushed over to get a closer look at the paintings.

"Oh my gosh!" Sapphire squealed, poking Helga Hugglepuff's canvas in wonderment. "They move!"

"No kidding." Slytherine quipped.

Jake rolled his eyes, and said, "Now you have some competition for the title of Single Most Arrogant Bitch in the World award, Coal."

Everyone snickered as Coal and Slytherine gave Jake identical glares.

"Scary." Gryffindor muttered from his portrait, shaking his head at the two.

"So what brings you here, younglings?" asked Ravenclaw.

And so the nine chatted about random things for awhile with the occasional glaring contest between Coal and Slytherine.

"Well," Hufflepuff said, glancing at the clock adorning the opposite wall. "You lot have some lesson planning to do. Off you go!" And just like that, all four portraits became inanimate once more.

After a moment of staring in surprise, the visitors shook themselves slightly, and elected to go see their classroom.

"Let's go!" Sapphire exclaimed, dragging Jay out the portrait hole, much to the other's amusement.

As they walked down the halls at leisure, they noticed that it was oddly quiet. Not what you'd expect from a school full of children. Finding the correct door, they opened it to see their new classroom.

It was... dull for want of a better word. It was a medium-sized room with a very fine coat of dust had settled on the desks and chairs. The air was musty like an old library, and the walls were bare.

"Looks like we have work to do," commented Ares dryly.

"Nah," said Jake with a smirk, waving the comment away. "We'll use a quick Visualizing Spell."

Ares nodded, wondering why he hadn't thought of that. Visualizing Spells transformed rooms into a certain way that you picture in your mind. The details of the room depended on how vivid the caster's imagination was. And how much magical strength one held, of course.

"I'm thinking... Red," Jake stated.

At the exact same time, the room's other occupants said "Blue!" "Green!" "Yellow!" "Purple!" "Pink!"

"You can't vote /twice/," Shadow protested.

"Says who?" Sapphire wined.

"Me!" everyone in the room chorused.

Fire pouted. "Fine."

"Rock-Paper-Scissors!" Jay suggested.

In the end, and after several tantrums made by various people, the room was clean, fresh-smelling, and alight beige color

"Not bad," commented Jay, admiring their work.

Coal snorted. "If you ask me, we should be more concerned about what our mission was then how to paint a classroom."

"Good thing I didn't ask you then," responded Jay cheekily.

"Anyway," Fire interrupted. "This is our mission, too. As stupid as some of the wizarding population is, that give us no excuse to want these children to die at Voldemort's hands."

"Well said!" Jake said in a mock pompous tone.

"Anyways, what are we going to teach them tomorrow?" Fire wondered.

"Well isn't it /obvious/?" Shadow remarked. At the blank looks she received, the girl smirked.

"We're going to wing it."

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