Gemma clamored her way through the back door to the Leaky Caldron and sat herself down at the bar in front of Hannah, who was cleaning some glasses. She set her packages on the chairs next to her and placed Marty's cage on the bar top.
Hannah smiled at her and said, "Successful outing?"
"You could say that." Gemma replied a smile now growing across her face as well.
"Did you find everything you needed?"
"And then some."
"Tell me."
Gemma started pulling out all her stuff and showed Hannah everything, she pulled out her new wand and let Hannah examine it, then she showed her the books she had picked up to help her learn about the wand and to help her get a grasp on wizard's views of muggles. Then she got to Marty. "This little guy is just adorable; and the shop owner was something kind of special too." She looked dreamily across the room for second, then Hannah cleared her throat. "Sorry." Gemma said coming back, "he walked me back."
"You talking about George Weasley?"
"George, yeah."
"I know George. He's a really good guy, though lately he's been so down. Not that I blame him, but I'm glad he made a good impression."
"Well, it did start rough, but things turned around. He even asked if he could see me again."
"Must have been a great walk."
Gemma giggled and Hannah poured her a butterbeer, then her face turning slightly more serious as she sat and drank she asked, "Hannah, what was it like, the battle?"
"It was really scary; and it was really chaotic. There was a lot of loss, but also a huge victory. In a lot of ways I think a lot of us who were there are still processing it. I know it was all for the greater good of our world, but it also felt like a long time coming; especially being the same year as Harry Potter and witnessing all the madness first hand, being part of the DA and being part of the entire revolution, it almost feels surreal."
"Did you lose anyone?"
"My mother was killed, not at the battle of Hogwarts, but the summer before our sixth year of school. I almost didn't come back to school after that. It was death eaters."
"I'm so sorry. I lost my parents five years ago, so I get it, but it's never easy."
"Yeah, it seems almost common place in the magical world."
"Yeah, like we're all the protagonists in some dark fairy tale."
"Truly."
"It must have been hard to be in an actual battle, I can't imagine."
"Something I'll never forget that's for sure."
"Did you know the brother George lost? The girl who worked in the shop mentioned it."
"Fred, yes of course, there was never one without the other while we were in school; then they opened the shop together. Those two were just electric together, George really changed after his death, but underneath that hurt, I know that happy guy is still there. Maybe you can help bring him back." Hannah smiled and placed a hand on Gemma's.
"Well, we've had one conversation, so let's not get ahead of ourselves, but I'd love to get to know him. He seems sweet."
"He is; and so smart."
"I'm glad you know him, it's comforting in a way, I'm so glad to be here with you Hannah, thanks for letting me stay."
"Of course! I love the company, and it's nice having someone here closer to my own age, most of the time it's either really old people or students. Do you know how long until you move over to Hogwarts?"
"I'm not sure, but I'm kind of thinking about maybe staying here? Would that be ok with you, I'll continue to pay, or I could work for you when I'm not at school?"
"If Professor McGonagall allows you too, that would be great, but even if you just want to come here on breaks I'll keep your room for you. I like that idea."
"Me too. I'll talk to her about it; oh and would you mind if I borrow Archie? I wanted to send a letter to a friend back home who's been staying in my house."
"Of course, he's out bringing a letter to Neville right now, but I'm sure he'll be back shortly."
"Thanks, well, I should get all this stuff upstairs. I might take a nap too."
"No worries, I'll bring you some dinner later."
"Thanks, later." Gemma went upstairs to her room and dropped all her new items down. Then placed Marty's cage on her desk and opened the door. The little puff rolled out and onto the desk and began to purr; she gave him a few pats and went over to the large four poster bed, flopped down and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow she fell into a deep sleep.
That following Monday Gemma was set to begin her new life as a professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As her friend Hannah has suspected, Headmistress McGonagall did want Gemma to stay at the school during the semesters but she was lucky to have planned with Hannah to come back to the inn during each break, and that in exchange for her room she would work in the pub while there. Gemma gathered all her belongings, packed up Marty in his cage and headed back out the front door onto the muggle street to catch the train from platform 9 ¾ at 11am at Kings Cross Station. The headmistress told her that not a lot of teachers arrived at the school via the train, but as she was not well versed in apparition it would be the safest and most efficient way for her to arrive.
Gemma walked through Kings Cross and arrived at the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 at 10:30am. Professor McGonagall had explained the process to her, but she still had a hard time believing that she could just casually walk right through a brick wall. She waited a few minutes in the hopes that she might catch a student going through first, just to see how it was done, but after a little while she decided she better just go for it. So she pushed her trolley forward and as she got closer she picked up the pace, closed her eyes and before she opened them again she heard the bustle of an busy and active platform.
There were people everywhere, owls swooping in and out of the windows the train, children running, parents fussing. It was all very chaotic, but Gemma kind of loved it. She smiled widely as she moved up the platform toward the front of the train; a grand scarlet colored steam engine with the words Hogwarts Express in gold lettering across the side. It was spectacular.
Once to the front she met the conductor and a delightful lady who said she was in charge of the lunch trolley. They knew who she was right away, "You must be Professor Kirkland?" The conductor said putting a hand out, "the 'eadmistress told us you'd be joinin' us for the ride today."
"Gemma, please, and yes thank you, I don't apparate and she thought this would be easier for me."
"Indeed. Well, you can ride up front wif us if you like. It can be a wee crazed back in the compartments with the kids."
"I can imagine, that would be great." The conductor helped her board the train and she settled herself down at the window, so she could continue watching all the activity on the platform. Then at precisely 11 o'clock, the whistle blew, and the train began moving. The ride turned out to be surprisingly relaxing. The witch with the trolley left the compartment around noon and came back an hour later with the remainder of her treats. She then offered Gemma whatever she liked so she tried several things including pumpkin pasties, caldron cakes and a chocolate frog. Everything was delicious but knowing there was a welcome feast coming later and she didn't want to overindulge. "Thank you so much, can I pay for these?" Gemma asked the woman.
"Oh sweetie, don't you worry about it, it's not every trip I get to sit up here with an adult, so it's on me this time." She smiled at her kindly, and it reminded Gemma of her own grandmother.
"Thank you."
"So, what are you teaching?"
"Muggle studies." Gemma answered her with more confidence than she had in her actually ability to teach the class.
"Facinatin'." The conductor interrupted from up at the front, "I don't know squat about muggle culture, never took it. Right interesting they are though, right."
Gemma laughed, "I suppose from certain perspectives." The three of them chatted the entire ride. It was a great distraction from her nerves about starting this new position and being faced with all of these amazingly talented professors and children. When the sun was set and the train began to slow down, Gemma's stomach did a funny lurch. She took a moment, put on her new robes and by the time she was ready and had tucked her street clothes into her luggage the train was coming to a complete stop.
The conductor turned around and said to her, "You have two choices lass."
"Ok."
"You can walk up the path with the older kids and grab a seat on one of the carriages or follow Hagrid; he'll be calling for the first years and I'm sure he'll let you ride a boat with him across the lake." Gemma thought quickly, then decided she'd rather not risk falling out of some type of magical boat, so when she exited the train she followed the kids not responding the booming cry of First years this way and settled herself into a carriage with a couple of students.
The sorting ceremony and start of term feast were incredible. Gemma ate until she was well passed stuffed and then still somehow managed to try three different deserts on top of it. After the students were released to go to bed Gemma hung back. She looked around the great hall and for the first time realized just how impressive this castle really was. Gemma had the urge to just wander around exploring the entire place; but there would be time for that later. Hogwarts was truly as impressive as everyone told her it was, but for now she needed to get some sleep so instead of wandering the corridors she made her way to her classroom/office/quarters on the 2nd floor. When she entered the room her luggage was there and Marty was on her bed sleeping. It was small but extremely cozy, with a nice fireplace (with a fire somehow already going) and suddenly upon seeing the comfortable looking bed she began to feel very sleepy.
Gemma walked into her room after her bath and felt an immediate chill in the air; she scanned the room and noticed almost at once that the small window in front of the desk was now open. Pulling the window shut and latching it she gazed around the room again and jumped when she saw Archie sitting on her bed, a large package beneath him. The owl was ignoring her and looking hungrily at Marty who was rolling around on the bed, purring. Sitting down, Gemma knocked Archie back and he settled down again on her pillow, his eyes still on the curious puff.
There were two parcels for her, one (the one Archie had been sitting on) was about the size of two normal shoe boxes stuck together; the second was a letter. She decided to open the box first, hoping it was what she thought it would be. Gemma sighed with relief at the site of her Book of Shadows. Packed along with it were several candles and some herbs from her green house. Under all of that was a note:
Gemma,
I totally get when you didn't want to pack all this weird crap
To take on a plane with you; you would have been strip searched
For sure. Also, your attic is super scary and old and getting that crap
Was torture, but I love you for letting me stay in your house so you
Know I'll do anything for you.
Love you,
Bridget 3
Gemma laughed and rolled her eyes at the note from her cousin Bridget. She still wasn't sure If leaving her in charge of her family estate was smart; but at least she had gotten her what she needed, and listened to her instructions about Archie to boot. She decided it was a good sign and put the book down on her bedside table (she'd get to that a little later). Then she turned to the letter; the envelope was made of orange parchment and the green wax seal on the back was adorned with three Ws.
The letter was short; it read:
Hi Gemma,
It's George Weasly; I figured you'd be up at the Castle
Since it's September 1st I Hope I was right! Anyway, thought
You might want to meet up again; I heard the school's first
Hogsmeade weekend is right at the start of October; how
About we have a butterbeer; my treat?
Hope to hear from you soon.
George
She wanted to answer him right away with an enthusiastic YES even though she didn't even know what Hogsmeade was, but she knew she did want to spend some more time with this guy. Unfortunately, she hadn't been keeping great track of the time and when she turned around Archie was perched on the top bed post, his head tucked under his wing. The alarm clock next to her bed said it was just after one am so she decided her reply could wait until morning; it was getting late and tomorrow she had to be up to teach her first class as a professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
