New Poll: In regards to my making Hermione an irritant in this story, I realize it came with no real warning to anyone. It's not like Dumbledore or the Potters, where I made it obvious from the first story that they wouldn't be good guys. With this in mind, I've decided it wasn't fair to you to just throw it in without getting a general opinion first. Therefore, I have started a poll on my profile page where you can vote as to whether or not she will continue to have a negative impact on Hera's life. I'll give everyone at least seven days from the posting of this chapter to choose and there won't be any more bashing of her character until then.

Author Notes: I know I've always responded to all of my wonderful reviewers in the past, but have lately found myself overwhelmed when trying to answer everyone. I'm kind of smug about that because it means my inbox stays full. Anyway, because I know you'd rather I spent my time writing, I've decided to only answer reviews that ask questions. Please don't take this to mean I want you guys to review less because I use your feedback to guide the story and keep me motivated.

Chapter 6 – A Schedule Change

Edward was sitting on the couch in his room turning the pages of his photo album, smiling fondly down at his most precious memories. He brushed the surface of one where a three-year-old Hera was sound asleep on top of Jasper as he lay on the couch and flipped through the television channels. The blonde seemed not to care that one of the baby's wings was partially blocking his view of the screen. Another one was of Emmett holding the toddler after a bout of accidental magic had caused the large vampire to sprout a unicorn-like horn from his forehead. Always the most easygoing of them all, he had unashamedly grinned widely for the camera.

He chuckled as he caught sight of the three-year-old mooning the camera as she ran across the yard with Rosalie right behind her, carrying assorted pieces of the baby's clothing. Hera hadn't been a big fan of wearing clothes at that age and had the propensity to take them off at odd times during the day. He'll never forget the day the little girl had stripped down in the middle of the hospital when he had stopped by to see Carlisle for a few minutes.

Oh how the nurses and Carlisle had laughed at him when Hera had made Edward chase her into the crowded waiting room.

Next was of a surly little phoenix, aged seven, laying in a nest on the couch with bright red spots marring her delicate skin. The large patches of pink calamine lotion didn't do much to calm Hera's need to constantly scratch at the chicken pox. She would never know how much consideration her father gave to restraining her during that ordeal.

Turning the page, Edward started laughing at the sight of eight-year-old Hera standing on top of her messy bed with a hairbrush clutched in her hand as if it were a microphone. He had snuck up on her to forever capture the sight of her belting out "A Whole New World" from her then favorite Disney movie, "Aladdin" as it played on her stereo. After capturing the photo, Edward had put down the camera, grabbed his own pretend microphone, and began singing Aladdin's part of the song. Never one to stay mad for long, his mate had jumped back into the song almost immediately and the two had collapsed onto her bed in laughter afterwards.

There were three snapshots lined up a few pages later showing Hera after getting her three Krav Maga belts. His favorite was the last one, taken by Esme, of his ten-year-old mate proudly wearing her newly received green belt. She was flexing her muscles while he, Carlisle, and the others lay on the ground at her feet, posing as her unconscious victims. The last photo he revisited before shelving the album was one Alice had taken of the two of them at Cedar Point last summer right after Edward had talked her into riding with him on Millennium Force roller coaster. The poor phoenix was visibly terrified in the picture, clinging tightly to her mate's hand. You could just make out Jasper and Rosalie at the edge, the latter wearing a furious expression.

Rosalie was even more protective of Hera than he was.

Flashback

"I don't think I'm tall enough yet, Edward," Hera said as she stared up at the blue steel track of the giant roller coaster.

Edward knew from her thoughts she didn't really believe that. Hera was terrified of going on the ride and was simply grasping at straws. It wasn't the height of the coaster or even the speed that made her wary. The phoenix loved soaring into the sky using her own wings, and she's been zipped around by vampires most of her life. It was the lack of control that frightened her. Hera didn't want to be strapped down and forced to be at the mercy of someone else. The vampire knew in his heart that once Hera got on the ride she would love it, and that's what made him push her to try.

He crouched down to be at her level. "You are tall enough, Sunshine. Jasper checked to see what you'd be allowed to ride before we even boarded the plane." Edward smiled when Hera started trying to think up other reasons to skip the ride. "Hera, I'm going to be right beside you the entire way. Do you honestly think there's anything that could happen that I wouldn't be able to get us out of?"

Hera stared as the next group of passengers screamed as gravity sent them hurtling down the first steep drop. She turned back to her mate and glared. "You promise you won't let anything bad happen?"

The vampire decided not to point out that Hera could simply flash out of danger should the cars jump the track in some freak accident. Instead, he nodded solemnly. "I swear on my honor. At the first sign of trouble I'd have you out of there in a second."

End Flashback

Edward stared out of his window without really noticing the view. Protecting Hera had become second nature to him over the years. It had been so easy to look that little girl in the eye and promise to keep her safe because he knew without a doubt that he'd do anything to honor that vow. But how in the world was he supposed to protect his mate when she was so far away from him for days at a time? Sure Jasper was with her, but he could only do so much before his other obligations got in the way. The vampire sighed despondently.

Four nights without laying eyes on his mate was four nights too many.

After Defense Against the Dark Arts let out, the Ardaigh students all but ran back to the safety of their building. Luna and Hera held on to each other's hands so tightly that it was amazing that neither lost circulation. Robert, who was a dhampir, had been trembling ever since Umbridge mentioned the curse to kill vampires. Hera latched onto his hand as well in order to give him some measure of comfort. Keera followed the phoenix's example and grabbed his other hand. The sandy-haired boy smiled gratefully at the two girls.

"What do we do," asked Luna worriedly.

Keera kept nervously glancing at the doors as if expecting Umbridge to burst in at any moment and shoot spells at them. "We should tell someone!" Her Spanish accent was a little stronger due to the fright they had all experienced. "That woman is teaching how to kill us! I worry we will be victims of the humans as they practice those awful spells on us!"

"Keera's right," Hera said. She pulled Luna and Robert toward Deputy Headmaster Fredrickson's office. He had told all of his students to come to him immediately with any problems. The others followed close behind.

Robert frowned. "Shouldn't we wait until after school lets out first? We're going to be late to our next class."

Luna shook her head. "No, Robert. I think Professor Fredrickson needs to know as soon as possible. That horrible woman could have another class full of Ardaigh students right now."

Thankfully the leprechaun was seated behind his desk as the group was allowed entry. He looked up with a genial smile, which quickly turned to a frown of concern when he caught sight of the terror painted on all of their faces. "What's happened," he asked bluntly.

Hera, who had become the unofficial spokeswoman of the group, outlined the basics of Professor Umbridge's macabre introductory speech. She relayed everything she could remember and other students added various other things that they had caught.

Fredrickson's face soon turned red in anger, though none of it was expressed in his voice. "I see." He conjured enough chairs for all of his students before moving back to his desk. "Have a seat, children, while I send a message out."

The kids all followed their beloved professor's instruction, feeling so much safer in his presence. A few minutes passed before they felt their identification badges buzz against their chests. Each of them reached in to pull out the lanyard which had their picture, name, age, and creature on the front of the attached badge. The back was blank and could be used by their professors to send messages either to an individual or group.

The missive that the leprechaun had just sent out read, "All students scheduled to meet with Professor Umbridge report to Deputy Fredrickson's office during the allotted time. Thank you."

Giving the children his undivided attention once more, he asked them what class they were supposed to be attending at that moment. Thankfully they were all scheduled to be in Runic Magics with Professor Brenner. She was a very bubbly dryad and wasn't likely to get snippy about them being late like some of the other teachers.

"Alright. You lot get along to class, then. I'll send word ahead o' you letting your professor know you've been with me. Oh!" He turned toward them again before they reached the door. "I'm very proud o' you all for coming to me about this matter. Now get!" He smiled fondly as he waved them away once again.

"This is completely unacceptable!" Ardaigh's headmaster had made a special trip to Scotland when his deputy had apprised him of what had been said by one Deloris Umbridge during class. He had worried about this ever since giving Minister Longbottom the go ahead. Once all the students had been told not to attend the horrid class he had demanded an emergency faculty meeting.

All of the teachers from both schools were now seated around a large round table inside the Hogwarts castle.

"Headmaster Durham," Dumbledore implored, "I'm afraid this has all been a misunderstanding!" He gestured to a squat woman dressed head to toe in pink. "Deloris never once threatened any of your students in that class… she was merely referencing spells the students could utilize to protect them against those who would attack them."

Delmar Hopkins, the dhampir hired to teach Advanced Runic Magics, scoffed. "So tell me, Headmaster, will the children be learning curses to slit the throats of human attackers as well? Will your professor be teaching them how to boil the blood or rip apart those who don't happen to be creatures?" He settle a glare on the Defense professor. "The vast majority of wizards have a need to vocalize their spells, so one could argue that severing vocal chords would be just as handy in a fight against a wizard as a banshee."

"This is preposterous," Umbridge said. "I was hired to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, and this is the way it has been taught ever since my parents were in school!"

Jasper Whitlock, who Vance knew to be the big brother of Hera Cullen, spoke up for the first time that night. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the point of all of this to get away from the archaic stance that all magical creatures are evil?" He shifted in his seat, an intentional move to help put the humans more at ease. "Barring the first years, for obvious reasons, all my human students know about history is goblin rebellions. They're probably all terrified that they're going to be decapitated every time they set foot in Gringotts to handle their finances."

"Excellent point, Professor Whitlock," Fredrickson chimed in from his elevated seat. "Let's put aside the horrid subject matter for the moment. I want to know if you are even qualified to teach Ardaigh students this subject, Professor Umbridge."

The woman in question gasped in outrage. "I assure you that I am more than qualified to teach this class!"

"That's not what I asked!" The leprechaun smacked his hand on the table. "The terrified group of eleven-year-olds that came into my office visibly trembling, explained in detail what happened in your classroom. They outlined the spells you referenced. I want to know, should we ever become crazy enough to want our students to learn them, are you qualified to teach these spells to magical creatures who are proficient in both wandless and wordless magic? Would you know how to compensate for each race's strengths and weaknesses well enough so that they can all learn the same spells? For instance, Professor Umbridge, would you know how to instruct a pixie how to battle an infestation of bundimun without putting himself at risk of death?"

Umbridge glanced at an uncharacteristically quiet Headmaster Dumbledore and began to flounder. "Well… I was never… that is, I was never told that I would need to know such things."

Headmaster Durham turned to Fredrickson. "Why are our students even in this class? And what other useless subjects are they taking?"

The leprechaun shrugged. "When the course was outlined to me I was under the impression it was more of a physical defense class like the one Cooper was wanting to put together. I take full responsibility for the oversight, Headmaster." He took a sip of his now cold tea before reheating it with an absent wave of his hand. "The only other courses we have the two schools sharing at this time are Potions, History of Magic, and Herbology. We're looking into merging the Arithmancy and Runic Magic classes in the future, but all of our students are currently at a much higher level than their human peers."

Vance hummed in thought before turning back to the other teachers. "What of Potions? I trust that the curriculum for that class will not bring my children nightmares for years to come?"

A dour-looking wizard cleared his throat, bringing everyone's attention to him. "No, Headmaster Durham. As I've informed Deputy Headmaster Fredrickson, once Minister Longbottom informed us of the motion to bring our two schools together I rearranged my lesson plans in order to cover a wider variety of potions that have proven to be beneficial to the majority of magical beings." The professor passed the satyr headmaster a sheaf of parchment. "These are the potions my students will be learning this year, broken down by years. While I am aware that a portion of these elixirs may affect some races adversely, the students are made well aware of the dangers of consuming a potion without first researching whether or not it is toxic to their species."

Umbridge scoffed. "Why aren't you harassing him? He's teaching the children to brew potions that most of them can't even use!"

With barely concealed contempt, the potions professor answered the odious woman. "I assure you, Madam, that anyone who applies themselves in my class will leave school with the fundamental skills needed to enter into a wide variety of careers showcasing potions. That is what we are working towards, is it not?"

"So it's okay for you to guide future healers and Potions Masters, but it's a crime for me to do the same for the children who may want to become aurors upon graduation?" She rolled her eyes. "I fail to see the difference between our classes."

With a sneer, the dark-haired wizard snapped out, "The difference is I'm not teaching my students how to kill! What's next on your agenda, Professor Umbridge… the unforgivables? Horrid curses such as the ones you proposed to eleven-year-olds, no less, should be taught strictly in the Auror Academy, where the students have fully-developed minds and can better understand the consequences of using them improperly!"

Vance nodded. "Thank you, Professor…?"

"Snape, sir. Severus Snape."

"Thank you Professor Snape. I'll look over your syllabus later, but it sounds like you have your classes well thought out." His pointed ear twitched in annoyance as he focused on Headmaster Dumbledore. "My children will no longer be taking Defense Against the Dark Arts, Headmaster, for obvious reasons. I'm satisfied that the other classes shared between our schools are acceptable, but I will be asking Minister Longbottom to take a closer look at what exactly Hogwarts is teaching its students."

He cast a glance at Umbridge, whose face was rapidly turning red in indignation. "I think he will be most interested to know that some professors might be undermining his efforts to bring peace to us all, unintentionally or not."

With that said, the meeting was deemed closed and the teachers soon went on their way. Umbridge stomped out of the room like a surly teenager, causing Vance to shake his head. Hiring that woman to instruct during Minister Longbottom's regime could only bite Albus Dumbledore on his backside.

"Headmaster Durham," a voice called out before he left the room. The satyr turned to see Professor Whitlock rapidly approaching and smiled genially at the vampire.

"Professor Whitlock! What can I do for you?"

The blonde ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't know if it's allowed, but I was wondering if I could have a word with one of your students… Hera Cullen? She skipped dinner and I'd like to make sure she's okay after taking that woman's class."

Vance chuckled and placed an arm around the History of Magic professor, leading him out of the room and toward Ardaigh's building. "Since it's well before curfew and you're her brother, I see no reason to disallow it. Though it is typically frowned upon for a professor to meet with students for non-academic purposes, we do make exceptions for immediate family."

"Thank you, sir."

Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing!