*Lily's POV*
A short answer? She was one of the wisest, kindest, and best professors we had ever had. Long answer? When she first arrived we hadn't had a clue on her sad tale of getting here. She first started teaching about three or four weeks after term started. Before her we had Professor Dumbledore coming in and telling us how things were to go down. We hadn't started learning until she arrived. To put it simply, she was beautiful. She was the same age as us maybe even younger than some, but she seemed to be hundreds of years older. Not by her appearance, but by her knowledge. She seemed crazy when we had first met her. But as the year progressed, we had gotten to know her more than we knew each other. She was so open with us; she was even open with the Slytherins. We learned more from her in one year at Hogwarts, then the first six with the other Professors. She didn't have favorites. She said that each and every one is the same. Even the Slytherins, who had treated her worse than the first year Gryffindors, were treated the same as everybody else. She never once gave out a detention. On the first lesson she had said to the class that whoever was not going to pay attention and take the time to do the homework better get their ass out of the class room. She gained respect from the whole school of how well she could teach and how well she could keep the students under her control. She had asked for them to call her by her first name. And we did. She never called us by our last names or "Miss" or "Mr." She was so passionate about everything. And she had a thing about quotes. Most of the Professors had decorated the classroom with things that resembled their subject they were teaching. She had quotes written on every square inch of her class room. On the ceiling and the floor. She said they reminded her of what was important. She talked quite a lot of her years, even though she hadn't had that many. She told us about her battles. Both with her enemy and herself. She told us that she used to be suicidal and used to cut herself. She told us about her abusive parents and her one friend that had gotten murdered because of her. She said that cutting and being suicidal is stupid. She said that many, many people dream to have your live, while you hate it. She said to not take things for granted. To enjoy the little things. She cut deep into our hearts in just that one year. We were changed for the better. While teaching us about being a better person she taught us to defend ourselves and our friends with magic. She taught us most of what we would experience in the near future, the futures out sides of Hogwarts. She didn't teach everything she was supposed to. She said that there are just some things that you need to experience on your own. As an example she said sex. And being the 17 year olds we are, we laughed. She didn't though. She said that she didn't agree with talking with you mom or dad about it. She said that there are just things you need to find out for yourself. Having her for our seventh, and final, year at Hogwarts, defiantly prepared us for the world outside of Hogwarts, but not for her death. All of us, every single student had a special relationship with her. But being that close to her didn't help us get over her death. It was like losing a relative, or in my case a best friend. I was about two months older than her. We had instantly clicked. She helped me though my whole year at Hogwarts. I own everything to the one person that helped me the most, Anika Quinn.