44Disclaimer: Don't own Destiny or Harry Potter. Those are owned by Bungie and J.K. Rowling respectively.
Summary: Albus Dumbledore is at his wit's end. He has less than two days to find a new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor or else the Ministry will find one for him. Wanting to avoid this outcome, Dumbledore makes a gamble and quietly enlists one man crazy enough to take up the position.
Albus Dumbledore rolled one of his favored lemon drops in his mouth as he reviewed the lone DADA Professor Application currently sitting on his desk. He had tried to find a teacher that didn't answer to the Ministry in order to find someone who could teach the students how to prepare themselves for the coming war. All his efforts had met roadblock after roadblock however and he now found himself staring at the application, which had arrived in a Ministry sealed envelope. The name of the applicant made his stomach roll uneasily as he recalled the details of Harry's sham trial that Cornelius had attempted to slip under his nose.
Dolores Umbridge, a woman whose name Dumbledore recalled from when he had just started his role as Headmaster.
An unimpressive Slytherin that had a quiet reputation as a bully towards the Muggle-Borns in her years. She had become a member of the Ministry and had risen through the ranks by discrediting her coworkers and taking credit for their work up until she had become Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. She was barely qualified to even be considered for a teaching role, which made the possibility of bribery all the more obvious.
Dumbledore wondered if the ones behind the bribery were also responsible for the lack of other applicants.
He sighed and rubbed his nose as he stood and began to pace. Fawkes watched from his perch, his black eyes tracking his oldest friend and crooning softly.
Umbridge taking the post of DADA professor was unacceptable. While he needed to keep himself distant from Harry this year in order to prevent Voldemort from learning anything of the Order's plans, he needed Harry prepared for his Horcrux hunt. He needed to be able to move through the dark in order to serve the light.
Dumbledore paused as he remembered something.
"Light and Dark. Two sides of the same coin." Dumbledore considered the words for several moments before he sighed. He flicked his wand at Umbridge's application and it burst into flame. The flames guttered out as Dumbledore approached his fireplace and grabbed a pinch of Floo Powder. He paused for another moment before tossing it in. "End of the World." He said before plunging his head into the emerald flames.
Harry Potter stared at the cover of Luna Lovegood's Quibbler copy when the door to their train compartment swung open. He looked up and scowled at the sight of a smirking Draco Malfoy, who had a gleaming Prefect on his chest.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry growled.
"Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention," Draco said, his smirk barely moving. "You see, I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means that I have the power to hand out punishments."
Before Harry could respond, a harsh laugh drew everyone's attention to the corridor, where a man dressed in what looked like a mix of a kimono and green robes stood. "It's also the duty of the teachers to review all punishments." The man stepped forward and gave a smile that was all teeth as he loomed over Draco and even Crabbe and Goyle, both of whom looked much less confident than they were before the man had appeared.
Draco attempted to regain his image by puffing himself up and trying to stare down the newcomer. "And just who are you?"
The man laughed hard at that, his teeth looking more and more like those of a vampire before they disappeared behind his lips. "Folks call me Drifter. I'm you're new Defense teacher."
Drifter's teeth shone brightly as he grinned at them. Draco, realizing the battle he had lost, quickly ran off with Crabbe and Goyle following, their metaphorical tails tucked between their legs. Drifter looked at Harry. "All good, brother?" Harry numbly nodded and Drifter grinned again. "Good. You let old Drifter know if that wannabe peacock starts pecking at you, okay? I'll look after ya. Trust." A shadow fell over his face as he said that. "Be seeing you brother." He glanced at Luna with a nod. "Sister." Drifter closed the door and walked off.
Harry looked over at Luna and did a double take. The petite Ravenclaw was paler than she had been a few minutes ago. Her Quibbler lay forgotten on the ground between them as she shook slightly, staring at the closed door. "Luna?"
She jumped slightly and looked at him. "Harry Potter. You would do best to stay away from that man. He has been touched by The Deep. Not even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was touched like that."
Harry turned back in the direction Drifter had disappeared in. Questions began running through his mind as he wondered on the mysterious wanderer's origins.
Drifter laughed quietly as he stood in an empty compartment, his green coin flying into the air and landing in his palm. The coin disappeared in his hand.
"Just might pull this scam off." He smiled as he turned his hand and a triangular shape appeared in his hand. The tetrahedron in his hand glowed with a sinister dark light before it disappeared like the coin. "Ol' Drifters gonna eat well by end of this year, trust."
Author's Note: These are one-shots that will jump to different HP years depending on how I think the scenarios might work out. I'm planning on splitting up some of said scenarios and their respective characters into two or three chapters max if I think they need it. Drifter is one. An Ahamkara might be another. Don't even get me started on a potential Calus or Savathun chapter. I'm getting a headache already trying to think from their respective points of view.