Disclaimer: I own only the characters you don't recognize though most of them are relatives of characters JK Rowling created. The only truly original character is Winifred. The rest belong to JK Rowling. I hope you enjoy it.

Cuthbert Binns rearranged the large stack of parchment on his desk for the fifteenth time in an hour. His eyes once again flitted to the door. It seemed like an inordinate amount of time between breakfast and the first class. He took out his shiny, gold pocket watch, a gift from Winifred, his girlfriend. "Ten minutes fourteen seconds," he muttered, running a hand through his graying brown locks. Premature graying ran in his family, making all the Binns men look quite a bit older than they actually were.

Five minutes later, when the door finally did open, Cuthbert nearly jumped out of his skin. "Good Morning sir," a handsome seventh year greeted, stepping into the room, books under his arm. He extended a strong, freckled hand.

"Yes, yes, good morning." Cuthbert returned the handshake somewhat less firmly than usual. "And your name?" he inquired, picking up the NEWT level History of Magic Attendance sheet.

"Dumbledore, Albus," the boy stated, peering at the sheet as Cuthbert placed a decisive check beside his name. He set down the sheet gently, straightening it absent-mindedly before looking back up at his first pupil.

"You're Head Boy aren't you?"

"Yes sir," the boy took a seat in the second row, meeting Cuthbert's gray eyes with startling probing blue ones.

"I was Prefect myself."

"Really? Did you go to Hogwarts?" Albus asked politely, intertwining his long, elegant fingers.

"No, no. I went to school in Egypt, Alexandria more specifically."

"Yes, I've heard my father talk about that school."

"Did he attend," Cuthbert asked in surprise, unconsciously leaning foreword.

"No, he encountered it when he assisted in a dig in Egypt five years ago. He used the Library there. Incidentally, he thought of sending my brother Aberforth."

"Yes, the Library is quite famous. It took some of the old muggle boo-"Cuthbert was stopped mid-sentece by the entrance of a group of students. One, a stunning blond, shot Albus an icy stare, flipping her braid angrily. "May I get your names ladies?"

The blond was the first to answer. "Elisabeth Bones, sir," she said, pointedly not looking in Albus' direction. The rest of the girls, Catherine Vance, Tabitha McGonagall, Janey Prewitt, and Vivienne Jones, gave their names and took their seats. Elisabeth sat on the front row, taking out a clean piece of parchment and a perfectly manicured quill. The next few minutes brought in the rest of the class and, before he knew it, Cuthbert was standing at the front, poised to start his very first class.

"As you can see," he started nervously, gesturing at the piece of chalk behind him, writing his name in large, loopy letters. "I am Professor Cuthbert Binns and this, ladies and gentlemen is History of Magic, the noblest of all the subjects." He ignored the sniggers. He was used to the mockery; so many discounted History of Magic. True, it was not flashy and did not require a wand. You couldn't pull a piece of trivia on the Troll Rebellion of 1398 out of your hat and expect to win a duel. But History of Magic was far from useless.

"Can anyone name a famous Cuthbert from history? He can be magic or muggle, past, present, it doesn't really matter." He looked around the room keenly, studying their uncomfortable faces. Only two hands rose, both at almost exactly the same time. Albus and Elisabeth stared at him expectantly. "Mr. Dumbledore, I believe you were first." Elisabeth scowled.

"There was a St. Cuthbert in the seventh century CE I believe sir, a great intellectual." Cuthbert glowed inside.

"Ms. Bones, have you anything to add?" he asked politely, hoping she had another in mind. She didn't and simply shook her head, lips pursuing tightly. "Very good, five points to Gryffindor Mr. Dumbledore. Now, I hope by the end of this term, you will have learned something of interest. However, if you don't, I still expect you to listen and take proper notes. You are seventh years and are in a NEWT level class. Remember that." He turned to the board and ignored the eruption of talk that swept over the room.

Clearing his mind of nervousness, he wrote "Mapungubwe" on the board. He cleared his throat and turned around to face the class. Elisabeth was searching frantically through her textbook. "Don't worry Ms. Bones; you shouldn't know this and you won't find it in the text but five points to Ravenclaw for your eagerness," he said, smiling.

"But sir, I'm in Hufflepuff," she corrected, closing her text slowly.

"Oh, well then five points to Hufflepuff." Cuthbert blushed and the Ravenclaws in the room sighed. "Imagine, it's early in the thirteenth c., a flourishing Southern African Kingdom suddenly disappears, all record of it mysteriously vanishes from history. There's no sign of struggle, nor a record of a natural disaster. What happened to the kingdom surrounding Mapungubwe?" he paused, chancing a glance at the class. "That was the muggle side of the story; would you like to hear what the wizard records say?" It seemed that only Elisabeth and Albus were giving him their full attention. Elisabeth was feverishly jotting down notes and Albus looked, if anything, skeptical. The rest of the class seemed to be dozing or absorbed in their own conversations. Elisabeth looked up, her quill poised above the parchment, ready to record verbatim what he said next. "It was taken over," he answered simply, turning on his heal back to the board. The enchanted chalk had, in theory, been good. He had, of course, originally envisioned that his pupils would be hanging on his every word, drinking in the immense knowledge he offered and he simply wouldn't be able to waste time with the chalk. In reality, however, he needed those moments away from the class to gather himself together.

With his hands sweaty and tingling, he wrote "Osiefa". "You might want to be jotting these terms down; they will be on the exam." A few students drew parchment from their bags half-heartedly. "Osiefa was a prominent wizard of that area. He was also the head of a very powerful wizard community in Africa, the most powerful community anywhere on the continent other than in Egypt. With a combination of mind modification, early muggle-repellant charms, and invisibility charms he made the kingdom disappear. Do you know of any other all-wizard communities? No one? Come on, you know this," Cuthbert coaxed. "I'll give you a hint; it starts with an H and ends with an E." A boy in the back raised his hand. "Yes sir, what is your name, you on the back row?"

"Albert Longbottom sir."

"Ah, yes, what is the place to which I am referring?"

"Is it Hogsmeade sir?"

"Always answer with certainty Mr. Longbottom. Yes, you're right. Hogsmeade was originally a mixed muggle and wizard community like the kingdom in Southern Africa. Five points to Hufflepuff."

"I'm a Gryffindor Professor Binns."

"Right, well, five points to Gryffindor then. Anyway, on with Hogsmeade. Hogsmeade's takeover, however, happened a lot more recently than did the takeover of the African Kingdom. What I am trying to stress here is that History of Magic should be viewed from the muggle perspective as well. In order to understand History, it should be studied from all sides. That will be the structure of this class. We will sometimes come at an issue from the muggle side first and then the magical or vice verse. Is this clear?" The students who were not dozing nodded. "Good. Now let me give you another example. Does anyone know whose face "launched a thousand ships"?" Elisabeth's hand shot up and he pointed to her. "Yes. Ms. Bones."

"Helen of Troy, sir."

"Correct, another five points to Hufflepuff. The muggle story goes that Helen of Troy was kidnapped and that sparked the beginning of the Trojan War. Helen, according to legend was that her beauty was so powerful, it started a war. What the muggle texts will not and cannot tell you is that Helen of Troy was half veela and a nasty one at that." At the very least, a couple of the students looked up, impressed. The end of the class came very slowly and by the end of it, Cuthbert had a blazing headache. "Right, you're assignment is to find any historical event and do a compare/contrast essay coming from both the muggle and magical perspectives. It should be at least three roles and is due next class. If you have any trouble finding the information, you can come and see me. Thank you." The seventh years left grumbling and Cuthbert had one hour to relax before the first years came in.

That night, Cuthbert flooed Winifred. The day had passed so slowly that he felt he hadn't seen her in a week instead of a mere day. She was just settling down to read a book when his face appeared in her hearth. "Hello darling, how was your first day?" she asked, closing the book softly.

"In a word, horrible," he complained, rubbing his temples.

"Oh now, it can't have been that bad. What happened?"

"No one seems to be at all interested. I tried to impress them; I tried to intimidate them. Half the time, I don't think anyone was even listening." He was annoyed at the small smile on Winifred's lips.

"If you'd asked, I could have told you that no one would be interested in History of Magic dear. I know you love it but most students want something more practical from their education. You'll just have to win them over slowly, one by one."

"I don't think I'm quite cut out for this Winnie. Maybe I should just go back to Egypt and assist Ed the way he wanted me to. I'm sure I'd be needed and the Headmaster could start looking for a replacement now and I'd be out by Spring Term." Winifred rolled her eyes.

"Well that's a defeatist attitude! You'll certainly not succeed with that frame of mind."

"Well it's true. If no one is interested, why should I even waste my time?"

"Because you have a passion and almost encyclopedic knowledge of Magical History and because you have it in you to be a very powerful teacher Bertie. That's why. Now what would have happened if your beloved Professor Ives had quit on his first day?"

"I just don't know if I can do this everyday Winnie."

"You may not know, but I do!" she exclaimed. Immediately afterwards, however, she began coughing and it wouldn't stop.

"Winnie, are you alright?" She nodded though it was obviously untrue. She grabbed at a handkerchief on the coffee table and drew it up to her mouth. It immediately became saturated with blood. "I'm going to come through alright?" She nodded again, unable to even lift her eyes to his. Once at her side, he drew her against his chest, hoping she would stop soon. These episodes had increased exponentially over the past few months and though she said they were nothing to worry about, he knew she was keeping something from him.

After her coughing had subsided, she fell against him, exhausted. With a flick of his wand, the bloody handkerchief was robin's egg blue again and folded neatly on the table. "I wish you would tell me what's going on here Win."

"I'm dieing. It was a complication from that curse I got hit with last December. The healers say there's nothing they can do," she answered matter-o-factly. "Oh Bertie, don't cry. It will be alright. We each have our time and mine is soon."

"But-"

"Shh, just hold me."

"Whatever you want my darling," Cuthbert murmured as gently has he could though he felt a tidal wave of emotion about to overtake him. They stayed like that for a while, listening to the sound of each other's breathing and the steady crackling of the fire.

"Will you promise me something?" she asked finally

"Anything."

"Promise me you'll stay at Hogwarts till you've deeply impacted at least one student. I know it's tedious, but I just have this hunch that there's a young mind you've got it in your cards to discover and mold. I just know it, I just know. . ." she drifted off to sleep, calmed by the rhythmic beating of his heart that, unbeknownced to her, was breaking. Winifred didn't die that night, or even that year, but on the Christmas Eve of the following. She passed gently, with him by her side and he never forgot his promise.

A/N: I know I've got two uncompleted stories. I haven't forgotten them (at least, not Heir of Moons). The next chapter is currently at my beta's, though no one seemed to like it enough to review it last time. . . Anyway, this is just and idea I've had in my head for a while. If you all like it, I'll try making a whole series on Hogwarts teachers' first days. Binns is loosely based on my Secondary School Government teacher. I'm also a History major so this is near and dear to my heart. Tell me what you think! REVIEW!!!!!!

Cheers,

Elle