As per usual, it was early in the morning when Claire woke up. Years working for the Ministry of Magic had somehow conditioned her to wake up on her own at a very specific hour, which was helpful with her current position as Charms' Professor at Hogwarts. Two years prior, Professor Flitwick left Hogwarts and Claire was asked personally by McGonagall to replace him despite her young age and her lack of experience as a teacher. Of course, Claire did her best to get ready before the new school year started, spending her entire summer with the Headmistress and giving various free classes around the county to gain some experience (although, it seemed to a lot of people like it wouldn't be enough and a lot of her former colleagues from the Ministry had laughed at her).
But here she was, two years after and getting ready for her third year as Professor. She was glad it wasn't her role this year to greet the new students. She had done that last year (McGonagall sparing her during her first year) and it had been one of the most draining days of her life. She loved her job as a teacher, loved the school and loved the kids, but managing that many young and excited children had been tough. She'd almost laugh at the way she had sometimes complained when she worked in the International Magic Cooperation department of the Ministry.
Once she was ready, she made her way out of her quarters and into her office on the first floor of the west wing. Her office was as tidy as ever, not a speck of dust, every book and parchment where it should be. Her white cat skittered past her on her way out, almost running to reach the outdoor grounds like it did every single morning. Claire had nothing against her cat roaming around the school during the day, she knew her pet to be fairly intelligent, she chose her specifically for that after all, but she insisted to have her in her quarters during the night.
She smiled as the bushy tail of her cat disappeared around the corner and locked her quarters and her office with a few simple spells. Seeing as she wasn't welcoming the first years that year, she made her way to the Great Hall to grab some light breakfast with the rest of the staff like every single morning. She enjoyed the presence of the other teachers and after those two years, they became a small family. Especially since some of them where friends from when she was herself a student at Hogwarts, all of those years ago.
The new students weren't arriving before late afternoon, so Claire had more than enough time to check everything she needed to check, like her schedule, the content of her classes, how the castle looked like after the summer (though she did avoid the grounds) and all sorts of other things before setting off for the Great Hall.
She was glad the castle had been repaired though after the fight against Voldemort. Seeing as she was already working for the Ministry at that time, she hadn't been at Hogwarts during the battle itself, but she had tried to help in any way she could, dealing with one crisis after the other in the International Magic Cooperation department. Seeing as she had graduated seven years before the famous Harry Potter did, Voldemort was finished only some four years ago and there was a lot to be done after all of that. She had been pretty busy at the Ministry during her last three years there and one of the reasons she took Minerva's offer was because she wanted to help shape the new generations of wizards and witches, wanted to make a safer world for them.
The first years, eyes all bright and full of excitement, were gathered in front of the doors leading to the Great Hall, leaving a small space for older students and teachers to go through. Claire easily spotted Zara, who was the one in charge of the school tour that year, and waved at her, to which her friend waved back.
Her friendship with Zara had started very early in their first year at Hogwarts. Despite the fact that Zara was in House Slytherin and Claire in House Ravenclaw, they quickly became friends and Claire didn't hesitate to sit next to her in class, which surprised most people, seeing that Ravenclaw students often stayed in groups and rarely mingled with the other houses. Claire never told the others that the Sorting Hat almost put her in Slytherin, which could explain why she had such a great connection with Zara.
Claire could have walked a little longer to avoid crossing the Great Hall (there was a door behind the teacher's table for the staff's use only after all) but she wanted to take the fastest route and take a look at the new students. She was about to squeeze herself between the group of first years and the door, when she heard a loud "Aunt Claire!" and someone slammed into her so fast, she didn't have the time to take her wand out of her pocket and cast a spell of protection. The person holding her tightly as if their life depended on it was none other than Gray Mitchell, her younger nephew.
One of the difficulties she had encountered during her first year as a teacher was to teach her older nephew Zach, who back then was in fourth year. She had tried to remain impartial and treat him like everybody else, but every single student knew they were related and made fun of Zach because of that, "teacher's pet" being one of the nicest things they said, even if Zach was only average in Charms. Fortunately, as most things like that in school did, the other students stopped making fun of him because of that three months later. It took Claire some time, but she was now proud to say that she was completely not biased when it came to Zach now. For instance, last year, she had taken his house twenty points for a commentary he did, being the sulking teenager he had become. And it had nothing to do with the fact that Claire was from Ravenclaw and Zach was in Gryffindor.
She knew Zach didn't have it easy at Hogwarts because he was related to a teacher, but especially because he was a half-blood. As far as Claire knew, the Dearings had always been wizards and witches. Her parents had died during her second year at Howgarts (and Karen's seventh year) and the sisters had become even closer after that, spending the summers together at their uncles' and aunts' places, changing every year, sometimes even in the middle of the summer. But Scott, Zach and Gray's father, was a Muggle who knew about the wizarding world but didn't really care.
Claire patted Gray on the head, hugged him back and tried to pry him off of her because every single person around them was looking at them and she did not want her nephew to be laughed at the first day. "Hi Gray, I'm glad to see you as well, but you really have to go back to your group."
It's only then that Gray seemed to realize was he was doing and blushed, stepping back into the group and almost tripping on his robes. Claire smiled and promised him she would see him in the evening, and entered the Great Hall.
Most of the older students were already there, since they had to put their luggage in their rooms, all of them coming back from their summer vacations. She spotted Zach at the Gryffindor table, flirting with a girl named Molly from the same group of sixth years as him. She didn't wait for him to notice her presence, didn't even bother waving and instead, walked right through the middle of the room, all eyes turning on her.
It wasn't unusual for students to look at teachers the first day, since trying to figure out where their teacher had been on holidays really was a thing and Claire was no exception. She also was the only redheaded teacher in the school, which made her easily recognizable and one of the most strict ones at that (so a lot of students hid whenever she entered a room, she had stopped counting the points she had taken in her two years of teaching or the detentions she gave). Claire also always made a point of wearing the latest wizarding fashion she could get her hands on, but it always involved some kind of robes and high heels, something that could pass as "teacher's clothing" but that still was more stylish than what McGonagall wore (and Claire did give the older women the address of her tailor, many times already).
Zach had also told her once that the other students found her "hot" but she refused to acknowledge such commentaries.
All the chairs at the teacher's table were already taken besides two: her own and the one where the Care of Magical Creatures' teacher usually sat, thankfully, rarely next to her. The Sorting Hat was already in place in front of their table and she knew that as soon as Zara brought the first years to stand in front of the Hat, McGonagall would give them her Headmistress speech.
She was about to greet Lowery and Vivan, when someone walked past her and said rather loudly "Well, hello Claire! You look nice!"
And here Claire thought she could avoid Owen Grady until classes started.