Title: Merrythought as a Teacher
Rating: T
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Galatea Merrythought
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em - not making any money off 'em. Dern it.
Word Count: 803
Summary: The year Galatea Merrythought was at Hogwarts.
Notes:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: DADA - Bonus Assignment - Galatea Merrythought: Five drabbles about their thoughts/feelings/actions during their time as a teacher at Hogwarts, but not necessarily during their time in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.
LIFE Game Challenge: Prompt Used - Secrecy, Bruise
356 Days of Drabbles Challenge: Prompt Used – Shallow
Galatea loved her time as a Hogwarts' student. She was a proud Ravenclaw and dreaded leaving after seven years. When a position to be the Defense of the Dark Arts professor became available a year after she graduated, she didn't hesitate to apply.
She couldn't imagine anything better than being able to stay at Hogwarts for a while longer. She didn't know how long she'd be a professor there, but at least she wouldn't be leaving her home anytime soon. And unlike many Ravenclaws, she did as good in the practical of Defense as well as the theoretical. Headmaster Black gave her the position after very little deliberation.
She looked around her new classroom, Classroom 3C, and thought of all of the things she wanted to do with it. And when she got to her office on the sixth floor, and then looked at the connecting rooms for her private quarters, she knew she had finally come home.
Galatea met many students throughout her stint at Hogwarts, both as a student and as a professor. Some students were shallow and some had grand plans to make the world a better place.
One of her most unique students was a young Gryffindor named Albus Dumbledore. She didn't know what set him apart from the other students, but she knew he was special. She knew he'd do great things during his lifetime.
She wanted to help him become the wizard she knew he was capable of being. That's why she offered him private tutoring in dueling. His thirst for knowledge surrounding dueling surprised her. If that thirst carried over into other subjects, he would have made a wonderful Ravenclaw.
He picked the intricacies of dueling up quickly, and when he understood a new notion, Galatea felt her heart swell with pride. That was why she became a teacher, even more so than wanting to come back home.
When Phineas retired and Armando took up the Headmaster position, Galatea hoped it wouldn't change how the school was run too much.
It did change things a bit, but she thought it made everything better. Phineas had been stringent in how he ran Hogwarts. He didn't believe in change, making everything static. It was easy to remember the rules, but things can't last without some change, and she hadn't realized how suffocating everything felt.
In contrast, Armando believed in going with the flow. If something needed to change for whatever reason, he knew how to adapt. He took input from all of the professors in how Hogwarts ran, and she believed it ran smoother because of it.
Armando becoming Headmaster couldn't have happened at a better time, not with Tom Riddle sent to arrive as a student in a few years.
Like how Albus Dumbledore struck her as special so many years before, the same thing could be said about Tom Riddle, although his specialness struck her in a different way. With Albus, she knew he would do great things. With Tom, there was something eerie about his future and what he would do. Sometimes she felt like she might be a seer, but there was no evidence of a gift within her, excluding so-called feelings.
Tom was smart and cunning, the ideal Slytherin. There was something mysterious about him, though. He put up a good front, but secrecy surrounded him.
When he came to school after the summer, he had bruises on his face, but every time she asked him about them, he made up excuses. She knew he lived in an orphanage, but if something bad was happening there, Galatea liked to think he would tell someone.
Even so, she knew Tom was one to watch out for.
It was in Tom's fifth year that the Chamber of Secrets was opened. Many students were petrified and one was killed.
Galatea found herself watching Tom, looking for signs of guilt. She noticed that Albus did the same thing. Did he suspect something wasn't right with Tom as well?
She watched with horror as many students were hurt, and then when a third-year named Rubeus was accused, she knew she could no longer stay at her home. She hadn't known Rubeus long, but she knew the kind-hearted boy didn't have it in him to control such a beast to the point where students were injured. Something wasn't right with the accusation, but even as she tried to speak up, she was ignored.
She saw Tom smirk, looking as if he got away with something. The fifth-year scared her, and she knew he would be trouble in the future.
She no longer could stay at Hogwarts, scared about what else might happen. It might have been cowardly, but she wasn't a Gryffindor.
Silent tears fell when she left the school the following year. She knew she wouldn't be back.