The Leaky Cauldron (That's In London)

Chapter 3

Diagon Alley

"This is where you three will be staying, The Leaky Cauldron. I managed to get two joint rooms, a hard feat seeing as the school year starts tomorrow." The building in front of them was old and rundown, with vines growing through the broken windows while rodents nibbled on the wooden door. They stood on Charing Cross Road, an old street populated with broken glass and a thick coat of grime.

Sam and Dean looked to the shabby building, then to each other. Variations of the same thought were floating around their minds when Castiel spoke up.

"It looks very nice, Professor." The trenchcoat-clad angel approached the inn and opened up the door. Sam and Dean gasped at the dim light that leaked out into the street, for they were sure that the building had been abandoned for years. Cas and the Professor walked straight in while Sam and Dean exchanged wide-eyed glances. When it became obvious that neither wanted to walk into the inn, they started fumbling to shove the other into the door first. Dean won and forced his younger brother inside.

Sam stopped and tried to take in the impossible sights that fell before him. Dean noticed his hesitation and stuck his head through the door, only to stop as well. The "Leaky Cauldron" was full of people ranging from height to weight, from color to gender, rich and poor. In the corner, a woman sat with another and you could hear they were fighting about the rising amount of hippogriffs in Bulgaria. What a "hippogriff" was, Dean didn't know, but the two looked quite heated. When he looked to a table to his left, an older man sat alone reading a paper titled as "The Daily Prophet". The odd thing about the newspaper was that the pictures moved, surrounded by swirling font. The headlines didn't make sense, as they read "Vampires Demand More Rights" and "How To Properly Dispose Of Dangerous Potions". They knew enough about vampires, but potions? And since when were vampires in any position to demand rights? This all felt like some weird dream after being knocked out by a couple bottles of whiskey.

Sam and Dean were so busy taking in all the sights and sounds of the little pub, they didn't notice Castiel and the Professor walking through the crowd to a blonde woman who looked to be a bit younger than Sam.

Several minutes later, Professor McGonagall had the three men sitting in a booth with a butterbeer for each of them.

"The school you are going to be teaching at, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is a very special place," She began. "The witches you hunt are nothing like the ones at this school." Dean took a large swallow gulp of the cool, smooth drink as he processed this information, unable to believe that there were that many "good" witches and wizards in the world, let alone one place.

"How could they not be like the ones we hunt? We hunt witches, plain and simple, and you want us to teach them?" Dean asked. McGonagall's face kept its composure as she thought up a response.

"These witches and wizards are from the ages of 11 to 18, which means that you three have the chance to help them use their powers for good. We want you two," She nods to Sam and Dean, "To teach Defense Against The Dark Arts. This position will show the students how to protect themselves against dark magic as well as anything dangerous they might encounter." She then turned to Castiel, who sat quietly, watching the exchange with interest. "And the school is offering the position of Muggle Religions and Their Theology to you, Mr. Castiel, due to your obvious experience."

"What makes you think we are qualified? There must be someone more...equipped to do this? Someone from your world?" Sam asked gently.

"Yeah and how'd you even find out about us?" Dean added.

"Is "Muggle" a term I should be familiar with?" Castiel asked Dean as his puzzled face tilted to one side.

Professor McGonagall sat calmly. She had anticipated these questions and had already formed answers for them. "I will be honest with you, because you all deserve to know what you could be getting into. For years, the position of the Defense Against Dark Arts had a curse on it, bringing anyone who taught it terrible fate. Most died from this, all at the hand of a malevolent wizard. The curse is broken, but no one will take it." She revealed to Sam. "Our previous headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, had your information incase something like this were to happen. You three were approved by the Ministry of Magic to be allowed to teach and become fully aware of our society." Dean wasn't content with this, but a large yawn cut off the other questions he was going to ask. The flight had taken a lot out of him, not to mention the time change. He noticed the patrons in the pub had either left or gone to their rooms, for there was only a few left out. Dean tried to ignore the the dirty dishes that started soaring through the air to the bar counter where they jumped into the soapy water. He shook this head before returning his attention to the conversation.

"And lastly-a "Muggle" is someone who is not aware of magic," The older woman clarified for Castiel. "A "Muggle-born" witch or wizard is someone whose parents have no magic blood in them, yet the child does. Now I'm aware that you have a lot more questions for me," She smiled softly, like a mother to her children. "But you should all be heading to bed. I will be here 10 AM tomorrow to take you to King's Cross, the train station. Now here are your room keys," She reached into her robe pockets and pulled out two keys, handing one to Sam, and the other to Dean. "The rooms are 394 A and B. I look forward to seeing you in the morning." She nodded her head to them, then she disappeared with a loud crack. The three men looked at each other, then to the empty chair. Dean glanced at the room key in his hand with "394 B" printed on it in small lettering on the brassy edge.

"I guess we go find our rooms then." Sam sighed. He was so curious about everything this world had to offer and he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep till he had learned more.

Dean got directions to their room from the kind landlady, also discovering that the building was a lot larger than it seemed on the outside. Their rooms were on the third floor, must to Dean's displeasure. Soon though, all three were settled into bed. Even Castiel who, as an angel, didn't need sleep but just enjoyed the calm reassuring sound of Dean's heartbeat. The eldest hunter quickly slid into a deep sleep, but Sam laid awake in the other room for a while longer, wondering how this "Dumbledore" got their numbers in the first place. But even he would succumb to sleep deeply in less than an hour.