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Chapter One – Imaginations -

It had been uneventful at the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry since the final fall of Voldemort. The nightmare was finally over, and the boy who lived became the man who saved us. It had been a few years and everything seemed to slowly be getting back to normal. The school had reopened and was flourishing. Minerva McGonagall was pacing her office one evening just before the start of term. Even though it had been a quite a few years since Dumbledore died it still felt weird calling it her office. She hoped that she could live up to the standards that Dumbledore set while he was Headmaster. Being Headmistress and Transfiguration professor was a lot to take on after all that had happened, but she felt she was doing a good job.

Still pacing back and forth, she was thinking hard about the situation at hand. Would hiring a new teacher upset the balance they now had there at Hogwarts? All the usual teachers had come back for another year of teaching. Even Professor Snape was back. After the truth about that faithful night came out he was welcomed back with open arms. He thought about not going back to Hogwarts, but where else was he going to go? No one would accept him in the wizarding world but Minerva knew the truth, and he would take what he could get.

But they really did need a Muggles studies teacher, and she was quite nice. Who better to teach about muggles than someone who was a muggle herself? It was kind of an accident that she found out about the magical world anyway. She didn't know much but she seemed more excited about it than afraid. Minerva promised that she would be in touch with her to tell her more. Really it was either to offer a job or to obliviate her. But how exactly should she tell her about a whole world she knows nothing about? Maybe a new face would bring some light to the castle. She would relate well to the muggle born students also…….

"Would you quit pacing woman, you are making me anxious!" Spat a portrait. The former Headmasters and Headmistresses murmured among themselves.

"If you please Finneaus, I am trying to think here."

She weighed all the pros and cons. Then after what seemed like forever, she sat at the desk pulled out a piece of parchment and began to draft a letter. She glanced at Dumbledore's portrait and he gave her a small wink.

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She arrived to the Hogsmeade station with all the students for the year. It was a quite ride; no one came to her compartment or bothered to acknowledge her. There were so many students on the train. She could tell which ones were new and which ones had been on the train before. She knew exactly how those students coming here for the first time felt. Not only did she recently discover that magic was real and that there were schools all over the world for it, but she was in a totally new country. England was much different than the United States. Explaining to her parents that she had a job offer in England was hard enough, but trying to explain what it was for was a totally different story.

Scarlet Starling was ok with leaving America. She loved her parents but there was nothing really keeping her connected to her old life. That's what she decided to call it, her old life. She was going to leave it behind and start a new one. Be a new person. She had been very happy once. She was almost done with college and planning a wedding when something bad happened. It was one of those life changing moments when you know that you would never be the same again. It was more than heartbreaking; it just about tore her very soul from her body. She had come home one winter break to find her fiancé in bed with another woman. In their house, in their bed, making their love, but it wasn't her in that bed. It was her best friend. He tried to apologize, blame it on the distance because of college. He begged her to take him back. She wasn't going to be made a fool of, so she walked out of that house and never looked back. It was hard to feel like a whole person after that. Her heart was not something she took lightly and found out the hard way what happened when you gave it to the wrong person. She decided the day that she received the letter from Hogwarts that she would begin again, one day she would be happy again.

A large, large man was at the station to greet all the new students. She was very intimidated by him at first, but the way he talked to the students she could tell that he was very gentile and nice. He bound up to her obviously knowing exactly who she was.

"'Ello Professor Starling. I'm Rubeus Hagrid. I ave a carriage waitin for yer over 'ere." His accent was very thick almost hard to understand. He led her over to a bunch of carriages that had the most horrid creatures waiting to whisk the students away.

"Eee gaads, what are those things?"

"Oh, those are thestrals. If you don't mind me asking who did you see die?"

"Excuse me?" She said kind of surprised.

"You can only see them if you've seen death. Sorry 'bout that. Sometimes me mouth runs away." He told her a little red-faced, realizing the frankness of his question.

"Well that is a little depressing, but it was my Grandmother, I was in her hospital room when she passed."

"I'm sorry to 'ear it.' He said sounding very sincere. 'Go 'head an get in, it ill take yer straight to the castle to meet with the Headmistress. Good woman she is."

"Thanks Hagrid, oh wait, what about my bags and stuff.?"

"They'll be in yer room when ye get there." With that she was off toward the castle with Hagrid waiving after her. She waived back and with a big grin leaned back in to the carriage. "This is going to be fun." She thought.

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In an odd sort of way he always liked the beginning of term. The thought of new students, new beginnings, and hopefully some new talent brought something to him. It couldn't be happiness that he felt; it had been a long time since he had felt true happiness with in him. But it made him feel something and that was good enough for now. Knowing that he wasn't completely dead inside made the days pass by a little easier. The Potions Master was watching as the new set of first years walked into the great hall. Their young faces were torn with wonder and fright as they were lined up for the sorting.

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As the sorting came to a close and everyone was seated, Headmistress McGonagall stood before the podium to make the beginning of term announcements. He had been so busy watching the first years come in that he failed to notice the new person sitting at the head table with all the teachers. So he was greatly surprised when he heard:

"And finally I would like to introduce Professor Starling. She will be our new Muggles Studies professor."

There was a small applause and she gave a little nod. He looked down the table and realized that she sat only two chairs from him. She was a raven haired woman, it was long and straight with side swept bangs. She was wearing it in a pony tail, making her look much younger. She had the most beautiful skin. It was like porcelain, it looked soft and smooth. It was a sharp contrast to her hair making her look almost stern, but her full red lips and soft features made her uncharacteristically beautiful. If he had to guess he would say she was about 26, but it was hard to say. She glanced his way and he realized that he had been staring. He though he saw a faint smile before she looked away.

When the food suddenly appeared in front of them she gave a small gasp. "What have I gotten myself into?" She said under her breath. There were foods that she had never seen before and wasn't sure if it was because she was in a foreign country or in a magical castle. She giggled to herself, "Magical castle….if those people from high school could see me now." She missed America a little at that moment, but she would not want to be anywhere else in the world. When that owl arrived on her window sill in the not to distant past she was a bit surprised, but when it began to tap on her window and shake it's leg with that letter attached to it at her she was a little past shocked at that point.

She glanced back down the table at her fellow professors. She secretly hoped to catch the eye of the man in all black again. She wasn't quite sure why but he interested her in some odd way. Like he was the bad boy of the group. She had a weakness for bad boys, but who didn't. "Oh well" she thought "I am here to teach, not be a tart with some teacher, though it would be fun. That would defiantly be a new beginning." And a sly smile slipped across her mouth.

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Dinner slipped by quite quickly, which surprised Scarlet a bit. Before she knew it the students where being ushered out of the great hall and to their dorms. Headmistress McGonagall came to her as the last few students were leaving the hall.

"I am so very sorry for the short notice on all of this Professor Starling. I know the flight and then the train ride here must have been tiring. If you are not too tired let me introduce you to everyone and show you to your quarters."

"Oh no, I would love to meet everyone! I am really quite excited about all of this. Being a, oh what did you call it? Yea, a muggle. It's like every child's dream come true, to find out that magic is real. And you can call me Scarlet."

Professor McGonagall introduced her all the teachers and to Mister Filch the care taker. He gave her the creeps just a bit, he kept staring at her. She smiled politely to everyone and shook everyone's hand. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not, but she could swear that she felt his hand linger during her hand shake with the Potions Master.

"Well, good night everyone, it was a pleasure meeting all of you. I can't wait to get to know all of you better."

And she was off. He watched her as she walked away with the Headmistress. He couldn't help but notice that she smell vaguely of peppermint. "How odd." He thought. "Must be some sort of a muggle thing. Stupid muggles." That isn't what he really felt about this one, but that's what he was going to keep thinking. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not but he was sure she was looking right at him when she said 'know all of you better.'