It was 12 years after the fall of Lord Voldemort and the new school year at Hogwarts was about to begin. Headmistress Minerva McGonagall was journeying into the outskirts of Muggle London searching for a Muggleborn the magic traces had discovered. The girl was unusual, for she was in her late teens and so it was too late to enroll her in Hogwarts like a normal student. In fact, the said girl, Belinda Golden had just graduated from a Muggle secondary school and was preparing to enter a college when Minerva showed up on her doorstep with an interesting proposal. As she lived alone she cautiously agreed to the Headmistress' terms and returned with her to Hogwarts.

Draco and Starletta Malfoy waved goodbye to their quadruplets as the Hogwarts Express pulled away from the station. The four children cheerily dominated a compartment with their "adopted cousins" Quentin Weasley and Florine Potter. Quentin was a Weasley redhead with green eyes and a lanky build. Florine was tall and graceful with wide blue eyes and short curly dark hair that fell about her ears. Excitedly they chattered about the coming year, their first at Hogwarts.

Upon arrival they were greeted by the huge form of Hagrid, gray beginning to speckle his beard and shaggy mane of dark hair. As they crossed the lake in the tiny boats Tallulah and Darian glanced into the water longingly hoping to get a chance to swim later on. And so began the sorting.

"Burnett, Stella,"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Levine, Fritz,"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Malfoy, Darian,"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Malfoy, Eleanor"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Malfoy, Oakley,"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Malfoy, Tallulah,"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Potter, Florine"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Weasley, QUEntin"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Several others were sorted into their respective houses before Minerva took the chance to address her batch of fresh faces.

"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! For those of you who are returning, I will keep this short. For those of you who are new allow me to inform you that the forest is off limits, as are the greenhouses without Professor Sprout. Forbidden items can be found on the massive list on Filch's office door. And now, allow me to introduce to you your professors. Professors Sprout, Vector, and Firenze return this year; Professor Snape will teach Advanced Potions and Advanced DADA. Lupin will teach lower DADA, and Mrs. Weasley will teach lower Potions. Professor Brown will take over Transfiguration, Flitwick Charms, Hagrid will continue CMC and Professor Golden will teach Muggle Studies. Zabini will teach flying and fencing for the older students. Dig in!"

Earlier that evening at the staff meeting Belinda had fought long and hard with McGonagall about the Sorting. McGonagall believed that because she was to be educated in her spare time by the other Professors she should be Sorted as it was her first year.

"And what, Minerva is the purpose of Sorting that it is so vital that it occur for me?"

"It shows you where you will find your true friends, it shows your personality."

"Ah, well you see Minerva it just so happens that neither of these is particularly appealing to me. I came here to learn and to teach, not to make friends. And I would find it a terrible intrusion of my privacy for it to be so clear to everyone what my personality could be classified as before they had the displeasure of meeting me. Perhaps I can be Sorted at the end of the year and you all can make bets on where I will be placed. I'm sure the students would be thrilled by the prospect. Or perhaps they could vote on where in your silly house system I will be placed?"

"It is quite clear to me that were you a pureblood, your poor disposition would land you in Slytherin."

"Hmm…" she replied noncommittally. "Now that that's settled onto the next order of business…"

Now that she sat before the Great Hall and the eyes of curious students she half wished she had been sorted with them and was to become a regular student. Surely the appointing of a Muggle to a teaching position would cause trouble enough without the oddity of being houseless. She eyed a group of giggling teenaged girls and the thought was erased from her mind, if being a student meant having to put up with hormonal teenagers it would not have been pleasant. It was much better to be in a position of power over them than to have to be their peer. She shuddered involuntarily, she had been discovered as a witch for this very detesting of hormones, and she found them to be a nuisance and to undermine her control of mind and body. Finally losing her patience with them she had forced them back into their glands so that only those necessary to maintain normal bodily function were in her blood stream, the massive amount of magic used had alerted the Ministry to her existence and so she had been surprised to find Minerva at her door. Her purple eyes flashed in anger at the memory, Minerva had clearly been shocked at the way her magic had shown itself and made no effort to hide it. Of course the woman had been disapproving of someone who had done what she never thought possible, disposing herself of unnecessary influences allowing her clarity of thought. Minerva herself clearly embraced her meddlesome hormones without a qualm. Belinda nibbled at her food daintily attempting to disguise her fear of the upcoming experience of teaching.

She was not to be spared however, Minerva made it a point to include her in every discussion even when she was forced to admit ignorance and was submitted to the undignified response from her peers of jumping in to explain various eccentricities of wizarding life to her.