Insane was a word that usually came up when discussing Phoenix Malfoy. Whether they were talking about her talents, accomplishments, hopes and dreams, or just Phoenix in general the word always seemed to come up. If you talked to any of her friends, they would say things like adventurous, ambitious, curious and compassionate. But as anyone that really k new Phoenix, including Phoenix herself, were away hiking some mountain somewhere Charlie got answers such as 'insane' or 'hot'.

This made Charlie very uncomfortable, as Phoenix was to be his teaching assistant and he was hoping to get some sound of mind, innocent and cooperative student as his assistant. There were some upsides, though. Phoenix was said to exceed the teachers in anything to do with Writing and Care of Magical Creatures, and match them in Healing and Potions. The headmistress seemed to have some sort of grudge against her, and Charlie didn't necessarily like the woman either so at least him and Phoenix may have that in common.

He had had many doubts when he first saw she was a Malfoy. His father complained about Lucius Malfoy, and his younger siblings all complained about her twin brother, Draco Malfoy. He remembered when he was very young hearing all about the Malfoy twins constantly, but since the summer they had turned eleven it had been all about Draco. Phoenix was only seen with her family one week over the summer, she was a mystery. But there she was, on the sheet telling him who his teaching assistant was to be.

The school he was teaching at was not only home to wizarding prodigies such as Phoenix, but also true fairies, true elves, naiads, dryads, elementals, demons and animalis(people with animal features or appendages) all of which made Charlie wish he had taken the job at Hogwarts when it was offered to him. Some of his students were made of flames, plants, water or were hardly there as they were made of air and clouds. Others were coloured as if they had been brushed by colourful makeup and had wings that kind of resembled a dragonfly's. Some had tails, bird wings, animal ears or slit pupils. Some, wherever they stepped the ground sprouted wildflowers. There were all sorts at this school.

Right now Charlie was wandering slowly down to the menagerie and the woods, where most of his work would be done. He took in the view as he went, marveling at how truly beautiful this place was. It was in British Columbia, Canada, it was lush green and rich, the trees were mostly evergreen with some aspen and maple here or there, the weather was mild and the area was perfect for someone like Charlie who really enjoyed adventure as there were many hiking trails and bodies of water. He thought he loved Romania, but even after just a week of being here he felt a sense of belonging so strong it could not be ignored.

He soon reached the menagerie and went inside. There had obviously been a powerful never-ending space charm placed upon the building. It was exactly the kind of magical menagerie he felt Hogwarts needed; it showed the animals in their natural habitats, coexisting as they may. There were sections for arctic, tundra, temperate rainforest, tropical rainforest, desert, alpine, pacific, arctic, indian and atlantic ocean, and sky climates. It really was a mind blowing building.

As soon as he went to watch by the mini- ocean to see the belugas and serpents surfacing every few moments he heard a door slam and spotted a girl going up to the sky climate, obviously in a hurry. She had dropped a photograph. It was taken looking over the edge of a snow-covered mountain to the valley and a lake. The view was beautiful, Charlie reminded himself to ask the girl where the photo was taken.

Phoenix was having a shitty day, possibly the shittiest day of the entire year. She and her friends had just got back from a very fun but exhausting trip. At that point, she had thought she would be able to crash right away, this was not the case. Not long after returning she had been called down to the headmistress' office and yelled at. Apparently, she got the date of the new professor's arrival wrong. He was not arriving a week before school, but two weeks before school started. So her first job of showing him around had been neglected. She apologized, but it did no good. It never did with Headmistress Mildred. Phoenix liked to say that she was just about as dreadful as her name. Not only did she have to deal with her, but then her writing and journalism teachers both needed to see her. So in short, she still hadn't gotten that much needed sleep.

She was hoping visiting her very best friend would make things better. Odin was the resident griffin at the school. He had been her best friend since he first called out to her in first year. As a shapeshifter, Phoenix could communicate with animals as well as turn into them, which was why Odin called to her in the first place. She had confided in Odin for almost six years now, he gave his wisdom and in return she talked to him. Not many people did, as the other griffin had died a very long time ago and not many people were gifted in a way that gave them an ability to talk to animals, let alone turn into them. Phoenix was very rare indeed.

She descended the winding staircase swiftly, she was very familiar with it. She dragged her hand against the white wall as the void on the other side of the staircase became lighter. She soon sat on a landing overlooking enchanted clouds. They were enchanted so they could support weight, but you had to know your way around the enclosure to know which ones were. Phoenix made her way daintily over certain clouds until she stood a good distance in.

"Odin!" she called. She could hear him singing in his perfect baritone voice off in the distance.

"Odin!" she called again, this time louder. She was greeted by the flapping of his vast wings over head as he lighted down next to her.

"Phoenix, you're back from your trip." Odin said.

"Of course I am, I'm here aren't I?" she retorted, making him laugh.

Phoenix had had enough talking for now, she would tell him about her adventures later. Right now, she wanted to fly. She shifted into her griffin form and stretched, her joints cracking from the shift. They flew for hours, singing in harmony before they tired and curled up on a cloud for a much needed nap.