Disclaimer: Yes, I know you know, but any character in the Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling and I made up the ones you've never heard of. And, believe it or not, the Harry Potter characters do show up at some point, but that comes a little later than the first chapter, so don't worry, all your favorites will make their cameo appearances.
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Professor Pedagaro, Dean of Studies and Administration at the Salem Institute for Higher Learning in the Magical Arts, was having a fantastic day. The best day of her life, as she was tempted to call it. Graduation Day. She was free, free for the summer, free to get as far away as possible from that university and the students inside. Three glorious months away from foolish undergraduate girls who wanted to major in "Magical Beauty: Enhance Your Looks (and Other's) with a Wave of a Wand" (the professor didn't know why she allowed that course to be even offered). Three months away from graduate degree recipients who felt that spending six years at a university for witchcraft and wizardry was a big mistake and who didn't know what to do with their lives now ("Ugh...transfiguration. Why would I want to turn myself into a lower life form like a cat? I should have been an accountant."). She had three whole months to spend in Barbados away from...her.
Professor Pedagaro shuddered and quickly reminded herself that she would never have to see...her again come this afternoon. The quicker I hand out those graduate diplomas, thought the professor, the better. Today would be the last day she would have to deal with that woman. Excitement coursed through the dean's veins, similar to the rush one experiences when he is finally released from detention or is allowed to walk around after an incredibly long trip. Today would be the last day she would have to catch a glimpse of a tangled head of brown hair and hear a loud voice announce sarcastically, "I bet the professors here are using reverse psychology when they teach so as to show us what teaching techniques never to use. Otherwise, I would have assumed that none of them were capable of teaching anything. Oh. Wait a minute... that's right, I remember, they can't teach." She would never again have to see a curved eyebrow raised at her in an incredulous manner and have the owner say, "A 'B plus'? Come on Professor, I know I did much better than that. You know the first letter of the alphabet, so why don't you use it?" The thought of the absence of that flippant little nose of hers, the body part that was the physical epitome of her endless stubbornness and brazen outspokenness, was too much to handle. Professor Pedagaro let out a squeal of glee.
"The time has come! My days with her are over! Patrizia Pedagaro, thank your lucky stars. For you will never have to associate with the name of Thera Lenox again....
* * * * * *
"....And that messy, mousy brown hair of hers. Does she ever comb it, or does she just pull it back in a ponytail?" giggled a slim girl who was fixing her own waist-length golden mane with her wand. "All she needs to do is forget to wash it a couple times and she could pass as a Muggle hobo. But...but what kills me," gasped the girl through eruptions of laughter, "What kills me is her nose! It couldn't be more turned up unless she sprouted a tail and started saying 'Oink!' Come to think about it, I have my doubts about whether she hasn't already!"
This remark was met with tittering giggles from several other girls who had accompanied the first to the bathroom for a quick touch up before the graduation ceremony began. The little troupe in the tiled room was composed of about seven girls, all similar looking and difficult to tell apart, especially since their mannerisms were almost identical.
After the giggling had died down, the slightest girl from the bunch said timidly, "Well, she does take the time to listen to everybody and she's very friendly...can't that make up for her, uh, lack in the looks department?"
Silence followed her inquiry. Then the first blonde girl smiled at the one who had spoken and said, "Are you stupid or something, Bernice? Of course that can't compensate for looks! I don't care whether she can brew the most difficult potion ever or even if she becomes the greatest witch to come out of S.I.! She may be friendly, but no one likes her at all," she pointed out as she turned to the mirror and carefully put on her pointed graduation hat so as not to mess up her hair. "Maybe if she ever wore makeup or did her hair nicely she would have some friends..." The girl screwed her face up as if she were in deep thought and pronounced, "No, I don't think even that could help her!"
The room was again echoing with laughter as the pack made its way towards the door. As they stepped out into the hall, the girl with the golden hair said, "Maybe if Thera Lenox stopped being so stubborn..."
"And outspoken..." said another girl.
"And crude..." said a third.
"And everything that she is," finished the first, "Then maybe, just maybe, she could even catch a boyfriend!"
The girls all looked at each other and simultaneously burst out laughing. They were far too busy wiping tears of laughter out of their eyes as they continued down the hallway to notice a young woman leaning against the wall with her ankles crossed, twirling a wand between her long fingers. The ends of her shoulder-length brown hair were tangled and beneath the tip of her turned up nose a crooked and amused smile began to form. She straightened up and grabbed her graduation hat from off the ground. As she placed it jauntily on her head, with her golden-brown eyes flashing, she murmured under her breath, "Come, come. I'm not all that bad, am I?" and proceeded after the girls heading towards the ceremony with a slight lilt in her step.
* * * * * *
The unforgiving afternoon sun beat down on the restless group awaiting for the endless ceremony to finish. Professor Pedagaro was certain that the platform that the teacher, including her, were sitting on was getting the most sun out of anyone. She could feel the perspiration trickle down her back underneath her thick, yellow robes. Her forced smile on her lips was beginning to droop as she heard Mr. Maecenas drone on and on. Mr. Maecenas was the most persistent and generous benefactor to the university, so when he asked Professor Pedagaro whether he could deliver a speech at graduation, she allowed him to put his own two Knuts in. More like two million Knuts. Mr. Maecenas always did things in large quantities. The professor allowed her eyes to wander a bit while Mr. Moneybags...Maecenas continued in his endless oration. She could see the parents of the graduates quickly beginning to get restless and she noticed the change in the students also. At the beginning of the ceremony (which was about a year ago, thought Professor Pedagaro), the soon-to-be graduates were excited and chatty and very energetic. Now, the dean noticed, all of their pointed hats were drooping because their owners were falling into a deep sleep.
Except one.
Professor Pedagaro looked pointedly at that erect hat and dreaded what face she might find beneath it. The owner turned her golden eyes towards the dean and Professor Pedagaro recognized the raised eyebrow, the perky nose and impertinent little smile at once.
"Lenox," she muttered, grimacing at the name.
Thera gave the professor a little smirk and returned her attention to the speaker.
"And on a final note," the professor her Mr. Maecenas say, "I am very pleased to announce the winner of my, er, little scholarship." The old man gave the audience a timid smile.
"For those who don't know, the recipient is guaranteed a job here at the Salem Institute for the summer. This year, since the winner is interested in the educational field, a job teaching summer school is open. The winner will be teaching adolescents who want to further their education in the magical arts during the summer. The recipient will be later observed by the dean of S.I., Professor Pedagaro, for a week in July, and she will write him or her a recommendation for a teaching position elsewhere," Mr. Maecenas said, turning towards the professor. She gave the audience a small half-smile while she was mentally beating herself up for forgetting that she would need to return to the school in mid-July. Oh well, thought the professor. At least the winner will probably be a student who won't give me any trouble.
"The recipient will also receive a monetary scholarship from yours truly so that he or she can travel to their new job in style," Mr. Maecenas continued. The audience gave a rather small, but polite, laugh.
Mr. Maecenas turned towards the nearest professor to him and whispered, "The envelope?" A small blue envelope with a stamp in the school colors on the back (yellow and white) was produced with a wave of the professor's wand. Mr. Maecenas turned back to the podium and with a pompous flourish of his own wand, complete with a lot of sparks, opened the envelope.
"The winner is," the old wizard pronounced finally. There was a slight pause.
"Thera Lenox."
There was complete silence after this announcement. Soon enough, the only noise was the rustle of Thera's white robes as she stood up to receive her award. Her smile was a full-fledged smirk by now as she walked up the rows of yellow and white towards the podium. A little unnerved, Mr. Maecenas began clapping a bit timidly, and was soon joined by quiet clapping from only the most polite people in the audience. The feeble attempt at applause died out before Thera reached the platform.
Professor Pedagaro stood up very reluctantly as Thera approached. She could feel the veins in her temples begin to protrude from protest and anger. No! she screamed inside her head. I was supposed to be done with her today!
Thera climbed the steps to the platform and shook hands with Mr. Maecenas as he gave her the certificate. She turned to the dean as her golden-brown eyes sparkled with triumph. As she shook the professor's hand, Thera leaned forward and whispered with a raised eyebrow, "I can't wait to see you in July!"
Professor Pedagaro forced a smile and quickly sat down. She barely heard Mr. Maecenas say, "Well, I guess that's it! You are all free!" The blur of yellow and white hats in the air was not visible to the professor because her head was in her hands. She tried to calm herself down for her mind was shrieking: A week! Not a week! She took deep breaths and tried to force the image of a smirking face out of her mind. Think rationally, she told herself. Lenox will only be teaching on week days, so that's only five days you have to spend with her. Professor Pedagaro's spirits rose. Only five days! Why, she thought, that's only 120 hours! 7200 minutes! 432,000 seconds! Professor Pedagaro almost stopped breathing. What? 432,000 seconds? The professor's stomach dropped and she burst into tears. Five whole days!
Author's note: Thank you so much for reading this far! Even if you hated it and you never want to hear the names of Professor Pedagaro and especially Thera Lenox again, that's quite all right. If you keep going, a more familiar character is in the next chapter, so things may begin to make more sense! Reviews, comments, questions, suggestions, random thoughts and even flames are welcome...They all will help me to make this story better. I'm not going to threaten not to write anymore if you don't r this story will continue, even if I don't have any support, but any feedback will improve the possibility that this story will be halfway decent! Thanks again!
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Professor Pedagaro, Dean of Studies and Administration at the Salem Institute for Higher Learning in the Magical Arts, was having a fantastic day. The best day of her life, as she was tempted to call it. Graduation Day. She was free, free for the summer, free to get as far away as possible from that university and the students inside. Three glorious months away from foolish undergraduate girls who wanted to major in "Magical Beauty: Enhance Your Looks (and Other's) with a Wave of a Wand" (the professor didn't know why she allowed that course to be even offered). Three months away from graduate degree recipients who felt that spending six years at a university for witchcraft and wizardry was a big mistake and who didn't know what to do with their lives now ("Ugh...transfiguration. Why would I want to turn myself into a lower life form like a cat? I should have been an accountant."). She had three whole months to spend in Barbados away from...her.
Professor Pedagaro shuddered and quickly reminded herself that she would never have to see...her again come this afternoon. The quicker I hand out those graduate diplomas, thought the professor, the better. Today would be the last day she would have to deal with that woman. Excitement coursed through the dean's veins, similar to the rush one experiences when he is finally released from detention or is allowed to walk around after an incredibly long trip. Today would be the last day she would have to catch a glimpse of a tangled head of brown hair and hear a loud voice announce sarcastically, "I bet the professors here are using reverse psychology when they teach so as to show us what teaching techniques never to use. Otherwise, I would have assumed that none of them were capable of teaching anything. Oh. Wait a minute... that's right, I remember, they can't teach." She would never again have to see a curved eyebrow raised at her in an incredulous manner and have the owner say, "A 'B plus'? Come on Professor, I know I did much better than that. You know the first letter of the alphabet, so why don't you use it?" The thought of the absence of that flippant little nose of hers, the body part that was the physical epitome of her endless stubbornness and brazen outspokenness, was too much to handle. Professor Pedagaro let out a squeal of glee.
"The time has come! My days with her are over! Patrizia Pedagaro, thank your lucky stars. For you will never have to associate with the name of Thera Lenox again....
* * * * * *
"....And that messy, mousy brown hair of hers. Does she ever comb it, or does she just pull it back in a ponytail?" giggled a slim girl who was fixing her own waist-length golden mane with her wand. "All she needs to do is forget to wash it a couple times and she could pass as a Muggle hobo. But...but what kills me," gasped the girl through eruptions of laughter, "What kills me is her nose! It couldn't be more turned up unless she sprouted a tail and started saying 'Oink!' Come to think about it, I have my doubts about whether she hasn't already!"
This remark was met with tittering giggles from several other girls who had accompanied the first to the bathroom for a quick touch up before the graduation ceremony began. The little troupe in the tiled room was composed of about seven girls, all similar looking and difficult to tell apart, especially since their mannerisms were almost identical.
After the giggling had died down, the slightest girl from the bunch said timidly, "Well, she does take the time to listen to everybody and she's very friendly...can't that make up for her, uh, lack in the looks department?"
Silence followed her inquiry. Then the first blonde girl smiled at the one who had spoken and said, "Are you stupid or something, Bernice? Of course that can't compensate for looks! I don't care whether she can brew the most difficult potion ever or even if she becomes the greatest witch to come out of S.I.! She may be friendly, but no one likes her at all," she pointed out as she turned to the mirror and carefully put on her pointed graduation hat so as not to mess up her hair. "Maybe if she ever wore makeup or did her hair nicely she would have some friends..." The girl screwed her face up as if she were in deep thought and pronounced, "No, I don't think even that could help her!"
The room was again echoing with laughter as the pack made its way towards the door. As they stepped out into the hall, the girl with the golden hair said, "Maybe if Thera Lenox stopped being so stubborn..."
"And outspoken..." said another girl.
"And crude..." said a third.
"And everything that she is," finished the first, "Then maybe, just maybe, she could even catch a boyfriend!"
The girls all looked at each other and simultaneously burst out laughing. They were far too busy wiping tears of laughter out of their eyes as they continued down the hallway to notice a young woman leaning against the wall with her ankles crossed, twirling a wand between her long fingers. The ends of her shoulder-length brown hair were tangled and beneath the tip of her turned up nose a crooked and amused smile began to form. She straightened up and grabbed her graduation hat from off the ground. As she placed it jauntily on her head, with her golden-brown eyes flashing, she murmured under her breath, "Come, come. I'm not all that bad, am I?" and proceeded after the girls heading towards the ceremony with a slight lilt in her step.
* * * * * *
The unforgiving afternoon sun beat down on the restless group awaiting for the endless ceremony to finish. Professor Pedagaro was certain that the platform that the teacher, including her, were sitting on was getting the most sun out of anyone. She could feel the perspiration trickle down her back underneath her thick, yellow robes. Her forced smile on her lips was beginning to droop as she heard Mr. Maecenas drone on and on. Mr. Maecenas was the most persistent and generous benefactor to the university, so when he asked Professor Pedagaro whether he could deliver a speech at graduation, she allowed him to put his own two Knuts in. More like two million Knuts. Mr. Maecenas always did things in large quantities. The professor allowed her eyes to wander a bit while Mr. Moneybags...Maecenas continued in his endless oration. She could see the parents of the graduates quickly beginning to get restless and she noticed the change in the students also. At the beginning of the ceremony (which was about a year ago, thought Professor Pedagaro), the soon-to-be graduates were excited and chatty and very energetic. Now, the dean noticed, all of their pointed hats were drooping because their owners were falling into a deep sleep.
Except one.
Professor Pedagaro looked pointedly at that erect hat and dreaded what face she might find beneath it. The owner turned her golden eyes towards the dean and Professor Pedagaro recognized the raised eyebrow, the perky nose and impertinent little smile at once.
"Lenox," she muttered, grimacing at the name.
Thera gave the professor a little smirk and returned her attention to the speaker.
"And on a final note," the professor her Mr. Maecenas say, "I am very pleased to announce the winner of my, er, little scholarship." The old man gave the audience a timid smile.
"For those who don't know, the recipient is guaranteed a job here at the Salem Institute for the summer. This year, since the winner is interested in the educational field, a job teaching summer school is open. The winner will be teaching adolescents who want to further their education in the magical arts during the summer. The recipient will be later observed by the dean of S.I., Professor Pedagaro, for a week in July, and she will write him or her a recommendation for a teaching position elsewhere," Mr. Maecenas said, turning towards the professor. She gave the audience a small half-smile while she was mentally beating herself up for forgetting that she would need to return to the school in mid-July. Oh well, thought the professor. At least the winner will probably be a student who won't give me any trouble.
"The recipient will also receive a monetary scholarship from yours truly so that he or she can travel to their new job in style," Mr. Maecenas continued. The audience gave a rather small, but polite, laugh.
Mr. Maecenas turned towards the nearest professor to him and whispered, "The envelope?" A small blue envelope with a stamp in the school colors on the back (yellow and white) was produced with a wave of the professor's wand. Mr. Maecenas turned back to the podium and with a pompous flourish of his own wand, complete with a lot of sparks, opened the envelope.
"The winner is," the old wizard pronounced finally. There was a slight pause.
"Thera Lenox."
There was complete silence after this announcement. Soon enough, the only noise was the rustle of Thera's white robes as she stood up to receive her award. Her smile was a full-fledged smirk by now as she walked up the rows of yellow and white towards the podium. A little unnerved, Mr. Maecenas began clapping a bit timidly, and was soon joined by quiet clapping from only the most polite people in the audience. The feeble attempt at applause died out before Thera reached the platform.
Professor Pedagaro stood up very reluctantly as Thera approached. She could feel the veins in her temples begin to protrude from protest and anger. No! she screamed inside her head. I was supposed to be done with her today!
Thera climbed the steps to the platform and shook hands with Mr. Maecenas as he gave her the certificate. She turned to the dean as her golden-brown eyes sparkled with triumph. As she shook the professor's hand, Thera leaned forward and whispered with a raised eyebrow, "I can't wait to see you in July!"
Professor Pedagaro forced a smile and quickly sat down. She barely heard Mr. Maecenas say, "Well, I guess that's it! You are all free!" The blur of yellow and white hats in the air was not visible to the professor because her head was in her hands. She tried to calm herself down for her mind was shrieking: A week! Not a week! She took deep breaths and tried to force the image of a smirking face out of her mind. Think rationally, she told herself. Lenox will only be teaching on week days, so that's only five days you have to spend with her. Professor Pedagaro's spirits rose. Only five days! Why, she thought, that's only 120 hours! 7200 minutes! 432,000 seconds! Professor Pedagaro almost stopped breathing. What? 432,000 seconds? The professor's stomach dropped and she burst into tears. Five whole days!
Author's note: Thank you so much for reading this far! Even if you hated it and you never want to hear the names of Professor Pedagaro and especially Thera Lenox again, that's quite all right. If you keep going, a more familiar character is in the next chapter, so things may begin to make more sense! Reviews, comments, questions, suggestions, random thoughts and even flames are welcome...They all will help me to make this story better. I'm not going to threaten not to write anymore if you don't r this story will continue, even if I don't have any support, but any feedback will improve the possibility that this story will be halfway decent! Thanks again!
