I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters in that universe with the exception of Angela Jade Frost. Not that I have the money if someone decided to sue me, being a poor college student.

Note, this takes place after Order of the Phoenix but it ignores The Half Blood Prince, in other words, this is Harry's 6th year.

"He's a vampire…"

Harry couldn't believe his ears but as he looked back at the head table he could see what she was talking about. His features seemed too surreal to be human and he only had a single goblet in front of him without a plate of food to go with it. He quickly turned back to Hermione.

"Why would he be there instead of Pr. Lupin? We already have a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for the year." But before he could get an answer from her the headmaster stood and raised his hands for silence.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I have an announcement to make. Due to an illness in the family, Pr. Lupin has had to leave us for a short while. We are fortunate enough to have someone ready to step into his shoes for the time being. I introduce you all to Pr. Damien Frostcastle who will be taking over for Pr. Lupin."

Harry glanced around as people gave quiet applause to the news and Pr. Frostcastle gave a slight bow of his head in response. Glancing down the table he spotted Angela looking up at the head table with a look of trepidation and horror. She quickly put a lollypop in her mouth and got up from the table, leaving the hall in a rush, passing several slower students.

Hermione looked startled as Angela passed but then looked back up to the head table.

"Everyone 6th year or 7th year is going to be able to spot him for what he is. I mean, how are we going to have regular classes with his conditions?" Harry shrugged.

"Don't you think that Pr. Dumbledore would have made allowances for that Hermione?" Ron stated as he looked around the room at other peoples reactions. Most of the students looked confused but, as Hermione predicted, most of the upper classmen looked horrified, terrified, or intrigued at their new teacher.

"Well, we'll find out tomorrow what he's like and how this'll work since we have Defense class in the morning. Maybe he'll keep to Lupin's ideas and have the test results for us?" Harry glanced at the others as he said this, not totally convinced that this new teacher was a good idea, but again, he trusted Dumbledore's judgment just like when he appointed Lupin the first time.

Ron yawned loudly, "well, it's bed time so lets worry about it in the morning," agreeing with him the others got up and heading off towards the dormitory. Reaching the portrait of the fat lady and giving her the password they climbed through the hole into the common room and headed off to bed. Harry went up and changed but instead of heading off to sleep like Ron he grabbed up his Defense book and headed back down stairs.

Taking up a seat by the fire he turned the chair so that no one would see him unless they came around to look. He turned to the chapter on vampires and started reading to prepare himself for tomorrow's class. A short time later his reading was interrupted by arguing voices. Glancing just around the chair he froze, seeing Angela standing there with Red in her hands.

"Why did he have to come here, things would be alright without him having to come see for himself."

"You know the master is worried about what happened and is making sure all is going smoothly."

"I know that but it just makes everything more obvious to the school and I don't need that right now. This is going to be hard enough as it is without him swooping around like Uncle."

"They have your best interests in mind. Besides, if we don't hurry we'll be late to meet with them both."

"Yes, your right as always, let's get going," and she turned quickly to head out the portrait hole as Red slipped beneath her robes again. Harry waited till the portrait swung shut before racing up to his room to get his invisibility cloak and rushed out after them, pulling it over his head. It didn't take him long to catch up with them since Angela was just going down the grand stairs towards the great hall. Just before reaching it she turned into the side room that first-years waited in before being sorted. He ducked in quickly before the door fully shut and took up a spot in a dark corner. Shortly thereafter Dumbledore walked into the room with Snape and Pr. Frostcastle at his heels.

"You called me here Sir," she said quietly, looking down at her feet as Red climbed up to sit on her shoulder like a large bird.

"That I did young lady," Dumbledore said quietly, the kindness easily coming through his voice like a comforting blanket. Snape stood like a solemn statue beside him while Frostcastle looked at her with stern red eyes.

"Pr. Snape had made me aware of the accident that happened and we have a few things to tell you in order to make your stay at Hogwarts easier for you and safer for the other students." She just nodded as he went on. "Pr. Snape has spoken with the house elves on my behalf and they will be making your meals stronger to help you suppress your urges. Also, Pr. Frostcastle has brought a supply of lollypops which are also stronger to help between meals. In addition to this the teachers have been briefed about your condition though only the heads of houses have been told of the accident. This will allow you to leave class and head to the hospital wing if something should cause your to have a," his eyes twinkled, "craving that you can't suppress. Just go to Madam Pompfry and she will see to your needs. Your health will be seen to by her and Pr. Frostcastle if something arises."

Angela looked up a little startled. "So, I'm not being expelled?" she asked hopefully and a little confused.

"No, young lady, everyone has a right to learn and if measures can be taken to allow that then by all means. Now, why don't you return to your dormitory so you can rest for tomorrow's classes?" She nodded and headed off quickly, tears of relief in her eyes that Harry noticed were tinged with red. Dumbledore turned to the others.

"Pr. Snape, if you would leave me and Pr. Frostcastle for a few moments to speak. I'm sure Pr. Sprout would be glad to see you as her night watch relief." Snape nodded and left through the same door, just missing Harry's corner by a foot. Pr. Dumbledore sighed and looked around the room before turning to Pr. Frostcastle but was cut off by the man's intense look.

"We are not alone Headmaster, I hear the beating of another heart I didn't notice before when we were all assembled." His eyes scanned the room looking in Harry's direction but not able to fasten onto him due to the cloak. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he looked the same way.

"Alright Harry," was all he said before Harry sheepishly removed the cloak, shocking Pr. Frostcastle into silence. Harry hung his head a little before looking up at them, Dumbledore looking politely interested in his forthcoming explanation.

"Sir, I heard Angela arguing with her little dragon and I had been noticing weird things since the start of term when she arrived. Her lack of eating, her reactions to the Centaurs that Hagrid had us meet, her tarot reading with Pr. Trelawney, and lastly her reaction to Pr. Lupin. The all seemed really weird and …" he looked up at them with a hard to read expression. Pr. Dumbledore just smiled.

"And you wanted to see if your assumptions were correct?" Harry nodded. Dumbledore's eyes just twinkled with laughter while Pr. Frostcastle looked slightly alarmed at the headmaster's reaction.

"Sir is this truly a laughing matter since the boy now knows of her condition?" he asked delicately though insistently.

"Harry is a young man who can be trusted to look out for those he cares about and can be relied upon to keep this secret. He has two confidants who will most likely hear about this by the end of the night but they will also be a great asset to her through the school year."

"Very well, then I will take my leave headmaster," as he turned and walked out leaving Harry and Dumbledore alone.

"Sir, I didn't mean to intrude but…" Dumbledore held up his hand.

"I figured that Miss Granger would have figured it out sooner or later if given the proper direction and thus passed the information along to you and Mr. Weasly. In this case your knack for observation alerted you first. In either case you all would have found out. I think it is better that you know now and upon learning of this myself, would have loved to tell all the students in the school so that they might learn from her. That is why Pr. Frostcastle is here so they can have that experience without trying to harm Miss Frost."

"Sir, how am I supposed to help her if something happens? The only things our texts tell us are how to fight them off or harm them, even kill them?"

"Ah, that is a good question Harry. The first step would be to look at your texts and think about the opposite of what they say, so if sunlight hurts a vampire then darkness will heal one. Also, ask Miss Granger to take a look in the library for books and she will find something to help. If all else fails then send me an owl and I will make sure you have the information. Now, why don't you head to bed before Pr. Snape passes the Gryffindor tower?"

With a quick smile Harry pulled the cloak over his head and raced back to the tower, surprising the fat lady with a disembodied voice and dropped down into the chair he'd been in earlier that evening. Tucking the cloak under his pajamas he curled up in the chair with his text book and started reading, eventually falling asleep by the fire.

*

"I still can't believe you didn't wake us to go with you Harry," cried Ron for the millionth time that morning.

"C'mon Ron, I told you I didn't have time to get anything other than the cloak. I mean, I barely got in the door before they started their chat. If I'd gone to get you then we would've missed it."

"Oh leave it alone Ron, besides, we'll be having class with Pr. Frostcastle soon enough. I'm sure he's going to be honest about what he is if someone asks, after all, it's not that hard to see," Hermione exclaimed as she sat down to breakfast. All of them ate with great speed and rushed off towards the class to be the first to see Pr. Frostcastle but soon found that everything had moved. The room was empty with a note attached to the door.

"'Class will now be held down in Dungeon Classroom 5', that's the room across from Potions. I guess he's just going to teach in a class without windows."

"Well that makes sense since he can't handle the sunlight Ron"

"C'mon you two or we'll be late," said Harry as he turned towards the stairs. Sure enough, they made it to class just before the bell and managed to get the last three seats…at the front of the class right in front of the teacher's desk.

"Uh, has anyone seen the Professor yet?" asked Ron and everyone shook their heads 'no'. Just as they did that a chill seemed to fill the already cold classroom as he stepped out of the teacher's office behind the desk.

"Good morning," Pr. Frostcastle stated in a sophisticated tenor voice. Shaky and nervous replies were heard scattered throughout the class as he stepped up to the black board. Tapping it once wiped it clean of years of dust till it shone dully and waited for his instructions.

"Now, I realize that my appointment has come as a surprise to many people, including the staff and I will a lot the first half of our class to ask questions. The second half will have to do with the tests Pr. Lupin gave you and the assignment he had planned before his unexpected departure. Now, if you have any questions for me raise your hands and tell me your name before you ask so that I might learn them."

Hands immediately shot into the air from around the class with Ron and Harry being some of the few that didn't. He looked around the class before calling on people one by one.

"Yes young man, your name and your question."

"Seamus Finnegan, Sir, and, uh… where are you from?"

"I am from Ireland, Mr. Finnegan, though I live in America now." He turned to another student. "Yes young man?"

"Neville Longbottom sir, and, well, uh…" his voice almost lost in fear, "are you…a…uh, Vampire?" The whole class held its collective breath while Pr. Frostcastle looked at Neville with a small smile on his face.

"Yes…that I am young man. Do you have a problem with that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow slightly with an amused look. Neville shook his head and looked around at the others in the class. They just looked shocked that the Professor came right out and admitted it to them.

"I don't see why me being a vampire has anything to do with my ability to teach you all about dark arts. In fact, it makes me uniquely qualified to teach the class. And as for my kind, well, I didn't think you'd mind since Pr. Lupin is a werewolf." At this proclamation most of the class started to relax as he chuckled softly. Just as he turned to speak Hermione raised her hand into the air.

"Yes young lady, you have a last minute question for me?"

"Yes sir, I…"

"Name, young lady?"

"Hermione Granger… Sir, how is it that you have a wand? Only normal human mages are permitted by the ministry to own and use wands."

"Ah, that is a good observation Miss Granger. It comes from the fact, like Pr. Lupin, I was once human. As such, I was able to hold onto my wand though if I needed another one I would need to go through miles of paperwork to obtain it." He smiled slightly as he glanced at his wand still speaking softly. "A long time ago I was also a student of this very school…"

A collective intake of breath seemed to take hold of the entire class at this statement and Neville dared to raise his hand a second time. Realizing this bold move Neville quickly put his hand down but not fast enough that the professor missed seeing it.

"Yes Mr. Longbottom?"

"Uh, sir, if you were at Hogwarts and you're a vampire, then, well, how long ago did you go to this school?"

A thoughtful and sad look crossed his face as he considered Neville's question. After a few minutes he sighed at turned towards the class once more.

"I graduated Hogwarts over five hundred years ago…" Quickly shrugging it off he turned to his desk. "Now, are their any other questions for me before we start? No, alright, then I will explain the assignment that Pr. Lupin left for you all." Waving his wand the stack of papers on his desk flew out and landed in front of each student with their names already on the papers. Another flick and instructions appeared on the black board.

"Each of these papers has a creature or spell that you knew the least about on Pr. Lupin's test. Now, you will research the topic on the paper and write two rolls of parchment on the subject. Make sure you do a good job since you will each teach the rest of the class about your subject. After all, you know your subject best if you need to teach others. Class dismissed."