The moment that Amanda reached her apparition destination; she regretted wearing a long-sleeved blouse. The temperature in Hogsmeade was even hotter than it was back in London. Fanning herself, she made sure that none of her bags had been lost in transport, and began to walk towards the magnificently large castle in front of her known as Hogwarts.

Amanda reached the gates of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry exactly five minutes before she was due for her meeting with her new employer. She performed the necessary charms for disabling the wards, which she had learned years previously from watching Dumbledore disable and enable them for various reasons on her nightly walks on the grounds. After putting the charms back on, she half walked, half ran up to the heavy wooden doors of the school. The doors seemed to recognize her presence, as they opened right as she raised her hand to knock. She smiled as she entered the castle, all of the accustomed sights and smells reminding her of her past seven years here. Her reverie was interrupted by a familiar voice. "Miss Harris, it's nice to see you back here." Headmistress Minerva McGonagall said with a welcoming smile on her face. Amanda grinned and embraced the elder witch warmly.
"Minerva, it's lovely to see you. How have you been? Summer been treating you well?" She inquired, as the older woman began to lead her towards the lower levels of the school: The Slytherin Dungeon.
"Oh, I've been doing alright, despite the extremely warm weather we've been getting up here. It's usually fairly temperate in the castle, anyway. What have you been up to since graduation? I'm sorry we had to cut your summer short, but it is required to always have our staff here before the twenty-fifth of August." Minerva gave her an apologetic look, and Amanda chuckled.
"It's quite alright. Luna and I had just been doing some renovations around our home, painting and decorating the more prominent rooms. We'd just finished the main bathroom before I got my acceptance letter from Severus." Amanda explained, traipsing down the stairs and turning in the direction of the Potions classroom, where she was set to meet with Severus and Minerva to discuss the terms and conditions of her job, as well as the benefits. The two women chitchatted about their lives until they reached the end of the corridor, and Minerva knocked upon the Potions classroom door.
"Enter." A soft, deep whisper called out from behind the thick door, the sound of his rich baritone voice making Amanda shiver slightly. Excitedly, she pushed open the door and headed inside, ready to begin the meeting that would surely change her life.

"Good afternoon, Minerva, Miss Harris." Severus Snape greeted them casually, nodding at each woman as he said their name. He sat behind his teaching desk, feet propped up on top of it. The middle-aged man was dressed in a plain, white button-up shirt that was tucked in to black dress pants and his hair was pulled back off of his face in a loose ponytail. For Amanda, it was almost strange seeing him without his customary greasy hair and black cloak.
"Good afternoon, Severus. Are you quite ready for us, or should we return later?" Minerva asked, glancing towards what looked to be his lesson plans for the upcoming year. He smirked and tucked the papers away into a desk drawer.
"No, now is fine. Would either of you like a cup of tea?" he offered, surprising Amanda to no end. Severus Snape was actually kind? She couldn't wait to write to Luna tonight to tell her about this.
"No, thank you. I believe some tea would be in order for Miss Harris, though. She has been travelling." Minerva replied, shooting Amanda a sideways glance. Severus nodded, and moments later, Amanda had a steaming cup of tea floating in front of her. She grasped the cup and smiled.
"Thank you, sir." She said in a quiet voice, before sipping the hot beverage. Minerva began to explain the foundations and terms of being on the staff at Hogwarts, and then Severus took over from her, informing her of her duties as Potion Master's assistant. The young witch nodded along, drinking her tea and mentally taking notes about some of the more important rules that applied specifically to her.
"Now, teaching and assisting aside, I assume that you would like to see where you'll be living whilst you are here?" Severus inquired. Amanda smiled slightly, and nodded.
"Yes, please. That's probably an important thing to know." She replied, and Minerva chortled lightly.
"Well, Severus, I figure that you can wrap up the meeting on your own. Miss Harris is already familiar with most of the school, having found most of the secret rooms and such on her nightly rendezvouses during her time as a student here." Amanda blushed; she hadn't known that Minerva had been aware of her insomnia and midnight walks. "Besides, I heard that Pomona is looking for me. Apparently, she is having trouble with her husband and needs my advice." Minerva rolled her eyes and wandered away, leaving Severus looking almost dumbstruck and Amanda in silent giggles.

"While you are here, this will be your living quarters." Professor Snape gestured towards a painting of giant raven, perched on a tree branch. "Hello, Brenner. This young woman will be residing in the rooms behind you from now on." The bird looked at her, and nodded.
"Good afternoon, young one. What is your name?" the raven asked, it's voice a higher, unexpected tone.
"Amanda Harris. Your name is Brenner, meaning little raven?" she replied, and he nodded. "Alright. Do I set my own password, or do you?" she asked Brenner.
"You choose your entrance password, as these rooms now belong to you. You are also capable of choosing who you would like me to grant entrance to, whether they know the password or not." Brenner informed her. Severus laid a hand on Amanda's shoulder, and she turned to look at him, having almost forgotten that he was still there.
"I can see that you two will get along nicely. Feel free to go explore and set up your room. You've been assigned a house elf, who will serve you your meals that you choose to eat in your rooms, and who will also clean for you. If you need anything else, my room is behind the portrait of Salazar. The password is Albus." He added, his voice dropping from cheery to solemn in seconds. Amanda noticed the hurt etched across his facial features, and knew that he still blamed himself for the death of the man known as the greatest wizard ever to have lived. Amanda touched his cheek lightly, startling Severus into looking directly into her piercing blue eyes.
"Thank you, Severus. I'm eternally grateful to you for accepting me for this position." She gave him a gentle hug, before turning around to Brenner. She heard his footsteps receding down the hallway moments later, and she smiled at the raven. "I think that I would like to set my password as Antirrhinum majus, which is the scientific name for snapdragons, and the only person I would like to be restricted from my rooms until further notice is Draco Malfoy." She instructed the raven.
"Of course, madam. Please, come in and have a look around." Brenner told her warmly, before swinging open to accept her into her new living quarters.

Amanda's jaw dropped as soon as she entered the room. Her living room was painted in a cheery silver-grey, and had a brick fireplace, which would come in handy in the winter. The room was furnished with two black leather couches, and matching reclining chairs, along with a chestnut coloured wooden coffee table, bookcases with the same finish and a fluffy-looking white rug that covered the entire floor of the area. She fell in love with the room right then and there, but continued onwards to the small kitchen, which she was thrilled to find had a refrigerator, an oven, a microwave and a toaster. It was painted in a sunny-looking yellow, whilst her cabinets were the same silver-grey colour as her living room and her counters were solid granite. So far, Amanda was almost convinced that she would never want to leave her living quarters. She trailed down the hallway, quickly inspecting the bathroom, decorated in mint green, with a jacuzzi tub and mirrored cabinet on her way, she finally reached her new bedroom. Opening the dark wooden door, she gasped as she took in her new room. Painted in a romantic midnight blue, her bedroom window had an eyelevel view of the Black Lake, seeing as her quarters were in the dungeon. The lighting fixtures were modern, and exactly matched the ones in her room in London. Like her living room, her bedroom had the dark wooden bookcase and white fluffy carpet. She opened her closet, and cheered inwardly. She had a walk-in closet! Finally, she looked towards the bed, which like all of the other wooden furniture, was finished in a dark, chestnut brown. Her bedspread was silver and black, and her pillows looked softer than anything else she had ever seen. Amanda positively beamed, and began unpacking.