Karla walked down the well beaten road, moving slower than she normally would have been. She took a deep breath as she stood in front of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry's gates. She gazed up at the gates with her golden eyes, smiling at an old memory of these exact gates, and looked beyond them to the castle in the distance. She could see it with perfect clarity, mesmerized by the old beauty and majesty of the stone structure. She stood there, the wind playing with her long, black hair, for a few minutes before she realized that she was still holding her breath from when she stopped walking up the long path from Hogsmeade Village. She slowly let it out and placed a hand on the gate, letting it recognize her, and gently pushed it open. She took a hesitant step forward onto Hogwarts grounds, her nerves rising up within her and she started across the vast land to the entrance. She reached up a pale hand and, again, pushed gently on the doors and they yielded to her touch and granted her access. The Entrance Hall was void of anyone, seeing as it was mid day, though cloudy, and very cold. The cold didn't bother her, she barely felt it, and she was grateful for the overcast that seemed to appear out of no where. She chuckled to herself, one person coming to mind that would cause this previously predicted crisp sunny day to aid her in her coming.

Well, here goes nothing… she thought to herself as she walked from memory to the seventh floor and approached the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to the Headmaster's office. Once in front of it, it leapt aside and revealed a set of spiraling stairs and she made her way up them, knocking on the door at the top.

"Come in!" she heard and muffled male's response, though it didn't really seemed muffled to her…

The door opened and she stepped into a familiar room, decorated with odd gadgets and twirling instruments, some omitting small puffs of smoke while others make tinkering noises.

"Karla! It's so wonderful to see you again! Please, have a seat," the man standing behind a antique desk said, gesturing to a cushioned chair placed in front of his desk.

"Thank you, Professor Potter," she said as she lowered herself into the chair to humor him, though it was unnecessary for her to do so.

"Please, call me Harry, you know better," Harry Potter said with a smile as he sat back down in his own, winged chair. She smiled back. "So, how has everything been going? I really appreciate you coming back to your Potion master position. I don't know if I could stand Archie Mote any longer," he said, laughing softly.

"I'm sorry that I was gone for so long. And I thank you for giving me the time off. It helped immensely," she said, her eyes darkening ever so slightly at the reminder of why she had to leave. Harry, being the great Headmaster that he was, sensed that Karla was troubled about something and he cleared his throat.

"So, um… I'm sure that you want to get settled, so I'll let you get to setting up the classroom. Oh, and one more thing," Harry said as Karla stood from her chair and paused to hear what he had to say. "We have some… guests staying with us for a while. There has also been a small change with some positions," he said. Karla nodded, although she wasn't sure of what to make of what he said just yet, but she figured that she would find out soon enough.

Later that night, after unpacking her belongings that were brought to her quarters by the house elves, Karla left the icy dungeons to make her late night rounds as she did over a year ago. It brought back memories of her past she didn't really want to enter her mind at the moment…

But, it was as she was sending a couple of Hufflepuff forth years back to their dormitories that a scent hit her nose. A scent that had her growling under her breath and made her body stiffen to stone. She took a deep breath, sifting through the different scents that filled the old castle until she found the one she was looking for and followed it quickly, her being seemed to blur to anyone else, at least those who had a very keen eye. To others, she would have seemed to have disappeared. Within moments, she was in the Entrance Hall, standing defensively one hundred feet from the being that omitted the scent that she had followed. The person turned around suddenly, catching Karla's scent. The person was female, very beautiful, will long, blond hair. She could have easily been the most gorgeous creature that Karla have ever seen, but that didn't deter her position.

"Explain why I shouldn't kill you where you stand," Karla hissed quietly, knowing the creature could hear her loud and clear. The woman narrowed her eyes, nothing else changed in her defensive stance.

"I should be asking you the same thing, fiend!" the woman growled back. The two women continued to glare at each other until another woman bounced into the Hall and stood next to the blond. She had black, spiky hair and was almost a foot shorter than the blond woman. Her scent hit Karla's nose and a low growl rumbled deep in her chest, although the spiky haired one didn't seem fazed by Karla's presence.

"I'm glad that I got here in time. Rose, you can stop it, she won't harm anyone here," the pixie looking one said, her voice like wind chimes. Blondie, a.k.a. Rose, straightened reluctantly but still glared at Karla.

"Are you sure, Alice?" she asked. The pixie, or Alice, nodded her head and began her dance towards Karla until Karla's hiss stopped her ten feet away. Alice cocked her head to the side.

"Why are you here? This is no place for vampires," Karla demanded, crouching down, ready to strike.

"Speak for yourself," Rose muttered, crossing her arms across her chest and continued to glare at her. Alice seemed to freeze, her eyes glazed over, seeing nothing. It lasted a few moments.

"Oh! I see… Harry is trying to be funny by not explaining properly again," Alice said, her eyes focusing on Karla. "Headmaster Potter knows of our presence here in the castle. We are the guests he had spoken of," she explained. Karla regarded her for a second or two and then slowly straightened up, keeping an eye on Alice, who just kept smiling. Finally, she sighed and held out her hand.

"I apologies for my rudeness. I am Karla Phury, Potions Master here at Hogwarts," she said. Alice ignored her hand and engulfed her in a hug.

"I'm Alice Cullen, Divination teacher, and that is my sister Rosalie Cullen, one of the groundskeepers here," she said, pulling away. Karla looked over at Rose and nodded. "There are others of us around here, you'll meet them over time… although… I can't really see when… your future is kind of fuzzy…" Alice said, her eyes going blank again.

Great… a Seer, Karla thought to herself, mentally rolling her eyes.

"Well, I'd love to stay here and chat, but I have rounds to finish, so if you'll excuse me…" Karla said as she turned around and headed to the revolving staircases, sniffing the air for the scent of students out of bed. Once she was gone, Rosalie was at Alice's side, prodding her in her side to get her attention while she still stared at Karla.

"What can we expect from her?" she asked. Alice shook her head, a small pout on her lips.

"I can't really see. But I know that she won't cause trouble for us," Alice responded confidently, and then she danced down another hallway. Rosalie shook her head and followed suit.