Can It Be?

[Deamon]

"Thanks for coming out, Harry," Romulus said, glancing at the man sitting behind his desk.

"No problem," Harry replied. "I've been looking for an excuse to come out." He smiled, looking at the Grindylow that Romulus had just placed on the desk. The thing was spitting at him in rage, swimming back and forth in his case. Romulus checked a small trunk that he had placed in front of the desk; the rattling from inside grew louder as he approached.

"Teddy's in this class," Romulus said over his shoulder. He was tempting a Knarl to eat some food; however, the critter was tearing everything apart in his cage.

"He obviously likes the class," Harry said. Romulus didn't reply; at that moment, an enchanted statue of a Hungarian Horntail was trying to rip the wings off of a Chinese Fireball. Romulus cried out and ran over to them, Harry smirking behind his back.

The class suddenly began to file in, casting glances between Romulus and Harry. Teddy eyed the arrangement of different creatures, his hand securely in Victorie's. They took a desk at the front of the room. Once the class was settled, Romulus turned back to them, his fingers burned from the Horntail.

"Welcome back," he said. "As a refresher, we're going to take a small quiz on different Dark animals, and how to defend yourself against them." The class groaned and began to take out parchment and quills.

"This is a verbal quiz," Romulus continued over the noise. "Each person will be shown an animal and asked what it is, what it does, and how to best defeat it."

"What's he doing here?" Someone in the back of the classroom asked loudly. Romulus ignored him, shaking his head at the look on Teddy's face.

"Let's start with you," Romulus said cheerfully. He tapped the cage of the Knarl. "What's this?"

"Knarl," the student replied thickly.

"How do you distinguish the Knarl from the Hedgehog?" Harry asked suddenly, not looking up from where he was studying his wand.

"I dunno," the student muttered, almost inaudibily. Romulus looked around the room at large, but no one put up their hands.

"Seriously?" He asked with a sigh. Teddy rolled his eyes and raised his hand.

"The Knarl will cause damage if food was left out for them; they'll often destroy the garden beds. Muggle children are often accused for this damage. A Hedgehog will eat the food," Teddy said in a bored voice. Romulus nodded and Harry glanced at him. He had nothing to say about the Knarls, so Romulus started on the dragons.

"What is this, Ms. Weasley?" Romulus lifted the Hungarian Horntail from the cage and placed it on her desk. The dragon flexed it's wings and swished it's tail, pacing back and forth.

[Inky]

Victoire Looked up from her desk, straight into the Dragons beady eyes. She knew what it was obviously - Her uncle was staring straight at her, he was the one who had famously defeated one of them years ago. But of course, everything Harry did was famous. How could it not be? She could remember clearly Charlie, one of her many other uncles, a true dragon lover, excitedly recalling the tale to her a while back.

She smiled, and spoke confidently to her teacher, "It is a 'ungarian 'orntail", her French accent skipping the H's. She squeezed Teddy's hand - she knew they'd be thinking of the same thing right now.

[Deamon]

Romulus half smiled, nodding. He reached down and picked up the enchanted model, the same one, in fact, Harry had received many years ago. He placed the dragon on the desk, in front of him, and turned to look at the class in large.

"Who knows how to defeat a dragon?" Romulus asked.

"You ride a Firebolt, in circles, until it gets all dizzy and collapses," Teddy blurted. Harry fought back a laugh. From what he knew about Remus, Sirius, and James at school, Teddy was more or less like all of them. A few kids snickered; Romulus couldn't keep a straight face.

"Right, Harry, how did that work again? Obviously someone in here thinks he knows how to fly," Romulus said. Teddy grinned; everyone knew he was just as good of a seeker as Harry had been. It had been him, in fact, who had taught him.

"When I was fourteen, they held the Triwizard Tournament here, at Hogwarts. I was the fourth champion, and the winner of the Tournament," Harry began, pausing as he remembered that year. "Anyways, the first task I had to get the Golden Egg from the Horntail. I flew."

"Charlie says the Horntail got you," Teddy said eagerly. Harry's eyes flickered over his godkid.

"If Charlie told you to jump off the cliff, would you?" He asked. Teddy frowned, crossed his arms, and sank into his desk. A few kids in the classroom laughed. Romulus scooped up another dragon; a jet black dragon that could've been a Hungarian Horntail.

"Who knows what kind of dragon this is?" Romulus asked, holding it up so the class could see.

[Inky]

Victoire laughed at Teddy's response to his uncle - a deep throaty laugh, one that almost didn't suit her femininity. She glanced across at her boyfriend - his features were lit up by his handsome smile, his playful nature shining through.

As Romulus held up another tiny dragon, Victoire knew it also "Norwedgian Ridgeback" she said, and then bit her lip - was that one meant for the rest of the class?...

[Deamon]

Teddy leaned forward, looking past the dragon at Harry. He bit back another smile, as he was sure he knew what Teddy was thinking. Teddy's hand shot in the air anyways.

"Sir, my question is for Harry Potter," Teddy said. Romulus rolled his eyes but nodded. "Is it true that... you knew a dragon like that?" Teddy asked eagerly. Harry laughed.

"You could say that," he said. "They learn to breath fire faster than any other dragon, did you know that?" There was a low murmur of sound as the trunk gave an evil shake.

A round faced boy wearing the Ravenclaw crest stared at it. "Is there a boggart in there?" He exclaimed.

"Most certainly," Romulus answered, without a trace of fear or humor. The Ravenclaw boy trembled, staring at the shaking trunk. Harry got up easily from his chair, flicked his wand, and out of the trunk rose...

A filthy dementor, gasping the air around it, rose slowly from the trunk. A few kids screamed, and Harry's face seemed to go a shade lighter. He sucked in a breath and bellowed, "Riddikulus", and the dementor suddenly stopped, apparently trying to breath and grabbing at it's throat. The class broke into laughter as Romulus stepped forward.

In a second, the dementor changed into a dead body. Harry moaned softly, looking at Teddy. He had frozen, staring down at the dead body and looking back up at Romulus. The classroom had gone very quiet all of a sudden.

"Riddikulus," Romulus said, his voice weak. Teddy jumped to his feet, turned, and ran from the classroom. The boggart slipped back into the trunk, unnoticed. Romulus lowered his wand. He cleared his throat. "Enough for today, I should think. Hurry up to your next classes."

[Inky]

Victoire was ashen, her wide eyes watched involentarily asthe image of Teddy's dead father lay on the floor. Her eyes shot to his face; he was the colour of a mil bottle. He bolted suddenly, out of the class and into the corridor, following her instinct, she flee'd also... she had to find him, comfort him. How could Romulus do that? He knew how Ted would feel.
"Teddy?!..." she called out, after reaching the corridor. She saw the edge of his robes disappear around the corner, and ran after him, light steps echoing amoung the high ceilings. "Ted.. wait..."

[Deamon]

//continued to "Can It Be" in Gryffindor common room//