Professor Binns floated through the blackboard and surveyed the students that had arrived. He didn't bother with registers he just launched straight into it...
"Ok, turn to page 110 in your text books. With a new term we will be starting the second rebellion and Goblin wars.
Right after the end of the..." He launched into his well practised lesson without so much as giving the students time to open their books.
The hour passed slowly. Professor Binns ignored the late arrivals He ignored all questions preferring to lecture without break. A number of students lay down and napped for the session. The bell sounds for lunch the Professor wandered back through the black board.
Elia pays close attention to the class (unlike almost everyone else, who sleep) and takes copious notes. When Professor Binns leaves, she packs up her things, but stays in
Yawning, the students begin to leave HoM, and go to lunch.
**************
After Nimue bid Niki goodbye she headed for one of the girls bathrooms until class had begun and she could move more freely around the halls. She'd noted Professor Snape standing impatiently near the front entrance and no matter how cordial relations might be between them, he wasn't likely to allow that or a feigned headache to deter his displeasure at her taking the liberty of cutting class.
She also didn't want to run into Arcadia and Achel who'd probably be walking together to HoM after being held back by McGonagall.
So, once the bell for next session had rung and a good 10 minutes had passed, Nimue headed out one of the side entrances into the grounds where she could just be alone. She could sense that Marcus was about, as the charm she now always wore would have alerted him that she was outside. She looked up and high on the battlements she could see him. Not yet in hawk form but watching her carefully.
*Life isn't fair. * She thought. Marcus was devoted to her but she didn't know how much was because it was his assignment from Lord Emrys Hawkwood, who as 'the Merlin' commanded a great deal of loyalty from those wizards who worked with him and how much it was because of her - Nimue. Was it just because she was to be the next *Merlin* when the day came for her Father to die or did he have any feelings for her? Was he even allowed to? No, he was the most perfect of gentleman and while she might love him for that, she knew he lived and breathed his knightly code of honour.
Then there was Marvo. She liked Marvo a great deal, even loved him as a brother and friend but they were both too young for such weighty matters as arranged marriages.
Then there was Achel. Now she knew she must dismiss from her thoughts. She had been a distraction and Miss Fudge was without doubt prettier and more vivacious than Nimue whose dark hair and eyes made her beauty much more solemn and understated.
*So Marcus is out, Marvo and I are friends but nothing else but our parents are already planning the wedding and grandchildren, and Achel has gone to greener pastures! I am fated to be the loneliest girl at school because my best friend is in love with the boy who I am suppose to marry in a few years time. Can my life get any more complex? *
She quickly made a gesture that banished that thought because she knew if you tempted the Fates they'd respond with some new torment!
The hour passed quickly with these thoughts in her head.
The Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher
The Knight Bus rattled on its way, and Anders buried his head under the pillow in an effort to drown out the constant chatter of its many occupants. He still wasn't used to being In Company. Eight long months of horror whilst he had been held in Azkaban had worked their effects on the young wizard.
Quite why he had accepted Dumbledore's job offer, he didn't know. He'd often considered teaching as an alternative to his chosen career of professional Quidditch - after all, Quidditch players burned out young. But teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts? It had never exactly been one of his better subjects while he'd been at Hogwarts...but then again, what had? Dreamy and introvert, Anders Grimalkin had not been a particularly popular student, even amongst the members of his own house.
Noticing that the chatter had died down a little, he peeked his head out from under the pillow. He'd managed to avoid having to talk to anybody by claiming he felt unwell. It wasn't an entire lie: Anders was recovering from a recent illness that had left his handsome face pale and gaunt, and his once slender, but muscular frame was now covered by robes that hung loosely from his thin shoulders. Azkaban would do that to a guy.
His striking, cornflower-blue eyes contrasted in true Celtic fashion with his raven-black hair, which whilst a little unkempt and untidy, was sleek and thick. He was a handsome young man - or would have been, were it not for the constant look of a mouse cornered by a particularly hungry cat. His eyes roamed constantly, as if looking for threats from all angles, and he was nervy and jumpy.
The witch who had given him a medical check-up following his conditional release from Azkaban had smiled at him and assured him that with a return to the Outside World, decent food and with the new job he had managed to obtain, he would soon fill out again.
He sighed. In the whole of his twenty-three years on this planet, nothing had ever been easy. He had a sneaking suspicion that his new job was not going to escape the yoke of that complexity.
He closed his eyes and tried to doze, but the nightmare was there, in the corners of his mind, ready to pull him into the pit of misery that it delighted in keeping him. His eyes snapped open again and he stared forlornly out of the window.
[Time Passed. It has a worrying habit of doing that]
"Hogsmeade!" shouted the conductor, cheerfully. "Everyone off who's for Hogsmeade!"
Picking up the red holdall that held everything he owned - virtually nothing, Anders counted carefully through the meagre number of Sickles in his robe pocket and paid his fare before dismounting. He had made the decision to go to Hogsmeade first rather than Hogwarts, hoping he could buy himself a few bits and pieces. His vault at Gringotts was now totally empty, and his Muggle parents, both now dead, had not been rich. All of their estate had been swallowed up with the payment of outstanding debts. All Anders owned of value was his motorbike, which he already missed terribly.
An hour later, with a small supply of the herbs that he needed for the potion that eased his cough, his unkempt hair pulled back into a neat - well, neatISH - ponytail, Anders trudged up the road towards Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, with an impending feeling of disaster that he couldn't shake.
***********
Waiting at the main door to Hogwarts, Professor Snape is NOT in a good mood. He had plans today. I particularly difficult unannounced test for his next Potion class, and he had a lot of preparing to do, as well as informing Madam Pomfrey to expect some students to be visiting her after class.
He waits impatiently as Anders makes his way to the door.
'There you are! You're Late!'
This was Snape's best effort at a 'warm welcome' Why Dumbledore had insisted he meet this new teacher he did not know, Dumbledore probably thought it a nice joke, seeing as how Snape had wanted the Defence against the Dark Darks position himself
Shape leads Anders into the great hall, without another word or even acknowledging any greeting Anders may offer. He glares at any students who dare to come too near or even look in their direction.
They walk through the hall and up a flight of spiralling stairs.
'Here' says Shape, vaguely waving his hand up the corridor. 'Your Office is there. Now I have more important things to do'
With that he starts to walk back down the stairs, but stop and turns. 'And Grimalkin - don't think I don't know! I'll be keeping a VERY close eye on your every move.... Enjoy your stay.' Then he is gone.
Anders winced at Snape's final words. He remembered the Professor all too well - and it was no surprise that Snape would be aware of his trial. After all, the Welsh National Seeker appearing before a court of witches and wizards on trial for suspected murder wasn't exactly...low key.
Sighing heavily as the Potions master flounced out of his way, he walked, very slowly and uncertainly in the direction Snape had vaguely gestured, his holdall slung over one shoulder.
He cut a miserable figure indeed, in his well-worn, slightly fraying at the edges robes of dark blue.
~Maybe this *wasn't* such a good move,~ he thought miserably to himself as he entered what was going to be his office for the duration of his stay. He knew that DAtDA teachers never lasted long at Hogwarts. For one brief moment when Dumbledore had suggested the job, his hopes had sparked. Maybe he could break the mould. Maybe he could be the one to stay longer than the others. But defiance quickly gave way to despondency.
Dropping off his bag, he treated the office to a cursory glance and then headed back out towards the main door. He had to have a cigarette before his nerves got so bad he couldn't even light the thing.
Smoking was a vice that Anders had only taken up since his release from Azkaban. He'd found very quickly that it eased the shakes and the nerves that had been left in the one-time confident young wizard - and he'd just as quickly become hooked on them.
Hoping no one would notice, he slid outside the main entrance and lit up a cigarette, closing his eyes in relief as he felt the butterflies in his stomach begin to settle.