The chamber door into the dungeon classroom swung open.  Harry glanced nervously at his watch.  They were five minutes behind schedule.  He had no idea who the professor of the Dark Arts was.  He could only imagine it being someone like Malfoy's father, a cold, pale, rotten man with evil eyes and a twisted smile.

            But the man who stepped into the classroom looked nothing at all like Harry expected.  He was very tall and muscular, with broad shoulders and a chiseled face.  His hair was brown and curly.  In fact, he would have looked rather virtuous if his empty gray eyes hadn't given him away.  They were unfeeling and cloudy.

            "Now that we're all here," he announced, "and everyone has said what they have to say…"  He glanced at Pansy, who sunk low into her seat in front of Harry and blushed.  "Allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Jared Cambridge, and I will be your professor in your study of the Dark Arts."  He spoke clearly, with a slight hint of an accent that reminded Harry of Viktor Krum.

            "Not all of you may be aware of the danger of the Dark Arts that surrounds you.  I was educated in a school where every student was required to learn dark magic.  Both defense and offense were taught.  I know that Hogwarts has taken a step backward with its decision to begin teaching the Dark Arts again, but I believe that by educating each of you about the Dark Arts, I will be preparing you for the final battle that lies ahead."

            Harry felt a tightening in his chest.  How was it that everyone new about this war between good and evil but couldn't do a damn thing to prevent it?

            "I only use my knowledge of the Dark Arts for education purposes.  However, there are very few of us who are masters of the dark magic who do not use it to harm others.  There are many wizards who will be using it for evil."

            Harry heard Kana gulp in the silence.  Could she comprehend what was going on?  Did she even know what Dark Magic was capable of?  How did she get involved in this mess?  Harry would do anything to be back in Hawaii with her when he didn't have a care in the world.

            "…Take the forest, for example," Professor Cambridge continued.  Harry had missed part of the lecture in his day dreaming.  "Hogwarts itself is a very good place, but in the forest lies evil.  There is a little evil everywhere, and a little evil in everybody."  He paused, his eyes searching the class.  Harry felt Cambridge's eyes on his scar, and watched them move to a shaky Neville beside him.  "This class is created by those of us who believe the only way to fight fire is with fire.  You can only fight dark magic with dark magic.  I am here to empower you with the knowledge and tools to not only protect yourself, but also strike back against the dark wizards who threaten you."

            He was staring directly at Harry now, his eyes dark.  "And they will threaten you."

            Cambridge made his way to his desk and sat down.   The dungeon was so quiet that Harry could hear water dripping out in the corridor.  He sighed heavily, then casually lifted his feet up onto his desk, and crossed them at the ankles.  His entire being seemed to change – his body language, his facial expressions.  "I'm very sorry if I scared anyone, but this is the standard lecture one begins with when teaching the Dark Arts.  This is a very serious subject, however I don't intend on being serious all the time."

            Everyone seemed to relax in their seats.  Even Harry felt more at ease.  After all, knowledge was power.  He didn't know if he could even perform dark magic on someone, let alone if he could live with the consequences, but at least he would truly know what he was up against.

For once, he would see what it was like to be the predator and not the prey.

            "At first, it was sort of intimidating.  He gave us this big lecture on how we need to watch our backs because evil is everywhere," Harry explained, slipping on his t-shirt over his boxers.  "But then he was really relaxed."

            "So what are you going to be doing in there?" Ron questioned, pulling straightening his pillows on his bed.

            "I'm not exactly sure.  He said we're going to study the curses first."

            "Do you think you'll actually get to perform them?"

            Harry shrugged.  "I'm still surprised that Professor Dumbledore is allowing us to study the Dark Arts."

            "It was all Lucius Malfoy's idea," Ron explained, plopping down on his bed.  "He lodged a complaint with the governors about how Hogwarts is missing a well-rounded education.  It was only a matter of time before he found some way to bring evil into the school."

            Harry frowned.  Did Ron think it was a bad idea to be teaching the Dark Arts?  Harry felt that, being who he was, this was really the best education for him.  He needed to learn as much about the other side as possible if was truly going to defeat Voldemort someday.  "He kept talking about a war.  A battle that's going to take place."

            Ron nodded.  "Yeah, mum and dad are worried about it.  Especially after everything that happened after our fourth year…" His voice trailed off.  "So few people really believe that You-Know-Who has a physical body.  There are more death eaters lurking around than believers.  Hey, what's that?"  Ron pointed at the floor, beneath Harry's bed.

            Harry got on his hands and knees and picked up the envelope.  "It's from Sirius.  It came with the motorcycle.  I forgot to open it last night."  Harry plopped down on his bed and opened the manila envelope.  It was heavier than her realized.

            "So when can Hermione and I see her?"

            "Who?"

            "The motorcycle."

            Harry grinned.  "Well, I think it'd be best to go at night.  I'm not really sure if Hagrid even has it outside during the day.  But we can't go tomorrow – we've got astronomy at midnight."  He yawned.  "How about some night this weekend, when the astronomy tower is closed?"

            "Sounds good to me."

            Harry's excitement grew at the prospect of showing off his new motorcycle. Ever since he'd ridden it last night, he'd been dying to try it again.  He even dreamed about it.  And if he took it for a spin on the weekend, none of the classes would be gazing at the stars so he wouldn't get caught.

            He pulled the piece of parchment from the envelope, and some photographs fell out.  Harry picked them off his bed.  "Hey!  It's some photos from Hawaii."

            "Oh cool, let me see."

He handed them to Ron, then unfolded the letter.  Some more pictures fell out, but these were different.  Harry couldn't believe his eyes.  They were pictures of Kana.  Pictures of both him and Kana, together on the surfboard.  Together on the beach.  There was even a picture of her inside the surfing shack that her mom owned.  Harry quickly put the photos back into the envelope, not sure if he should show them to Ron or not.  He eagerly read the enclosed letter to himself.

Dear Harry,