Pandore's Box

(11/08/10) – (11/10/10)

Part 6:

Eric had planned to keep his morning fairly simple; train, meditate, read a bit, but those hopes were doused as soon as he rolled out of bed. The first thing he noticed was the house elf glaring at him; didn't know they could do that- he thought to himself. It took less than a second for Eric to realize who this particular elf was and as soon as he did he groaned. He really didn't want to deal with Dobby first thing in the morning… The elf had been royally pissed when he told him that he would not be accompanying him on his trip but Eric couldn't risk bringing him.

"Master Eric Blake has beens gone fors a long while."

Eric sighed and ran a hand through his hair; trying to thinking about the best course of action to take with a grudge holding elf. With a nod Eric responded.

"Yes I have. But you knew I would be before I left. Did you follow the orders I gave you while I was gone?"

The elf nodded though it was not his normal hyper active nod. It was more of a passive aggressive gesture.

"Masters breakfasts in the study room. Theres a note from professor Dumblydore too." And with that said Eric watched as the little elf poofed out of his rooms. Deciding that he would eat the breakfast Dobby brought for him Eric made his way into the study.

…..

Eric contemplated opening the missive Dumbledore sent as he ate his toast with jam. The man hadn't shown his presence at dinner last night so it might just be a note asking about how he was settling in. He hoped it was. That would be the easiest to answer but something told him there was going to more to it than that. And if he had learned anything from Ambrus it was to trust his gut.

The first read through he did made him sigh heavily. Apparently there was to be a staff meeting this morning so that meant he was going to have to push back his morning routine even more. On his second read through he noticed that Dumbledore's writing seemed stressed. The man had been tense about something when he wrote this and Eric wondered what made him so uptight that his writing had been affected. But it was on the third read through that he started thinking about answers to the questions the man had asked him.

How was he settling in? Fine. Was he nervous about his first day? No. Did he have everything he needs in his rooms? Yes. Did he mind coaching the Slytherine Quidditch team? That one had thrown him for a loop. Why would Dumbledore need him to coach the Slytherines? The house teams were coached by their captain. Not by a teacher and if they were coached by a teacher wouldn't Severus be their coach? Though questions aside he decided to do it; it would put more trust upon him in Dumbledore's perspective instead of saying no. And buttering Dumbledore would make his plan flow all that more smoothly towards the end.

Eric was one of the first ones in the teachers' lounge for the staff meeting. He had finished his breakfast, made himself presentable, and got a bit of reading in before he made his way down which was more than he thought he had time for.

Currently only McGonagall and Trelawney were in the lounge and Eric nodded to them both as he stalked over to the teachers post up board. Unfortunately he drew the short stick and got stuck with the late shift every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in regards to snog patrol. Without second thought he decided it was most likely because he was the newest teacher.

He noted that McGonagall only had patrol once a week and Severus twice. Trelawney had it twice as well and was oddly enough paired up with Severus. Storing this information he began to search for another name, Remus' in particular, but his attention was adverted as Dumbledore came strolling into the room. His gaudy robes were swayed behind him and he looked as tense as his writing had.

The rest of the teachers flocked in one by one after Dumbledore and, as he took his seat at the staff table, he noticed that Dumbledore pulled Minerva aside and began heatedly whispering to her. Eric couldn't tell what they were talking about, for they had erected a silencing bubble, but he could tell by her reaction that it must be whatever had made Dumbledore so tense. A tap on his shoulder pulled him out of his spying and he looked over to see Remus standing next to him.

"Mind if I sit here?" He asked and Eric noticed he was motioning to the seat next to him. And decided that he must have resolved whatever issue was bugging him last night.

"Go ahead."

"Thanks." Was all he got as a reply due to Dumbledore coming over to the table and, in Eric's mind at least, rudely starting the staff meeting.

….

"As you all know; we start off the term tonight with the opening feast. It looks like we will have fifty of so first years joining us this year." At this the other teachers seemed startled and Eric could not guess as to why. However, Professor Sinistra spoke up before he could ask why they looked surprised.

"Are you sure Albus? We have not had a first year incoming class of that size since I have taught here."

At this Eric was shocked. Fifty did not seem that large of a number, at least not after his muggle schooling and the training at different magical schools during his escape, but it shocked the majority of the teachers here. Only Severus and Remus seemed, like him, unconcerned. He guessed it was because they had both started off in muggle schooling like he had but he couldn't know for sure. Albus spoke up, preventing others from commenting.

"I know it is a large class but we will be able to handle them without issues. Now, I would like to move on." At this the teachers immediately quieted down and to Eric it made them seem like a flock of complacent sheep. "I have posted the night watch schedule as well as the detention list for this week but I do not expect many detentions the first week back. Mr. Filch would also like me to take note that any students caught with any Weasely products are to have them taken away and to be scheduled for detention; even though this is not new he would like me re-iterate it."

Here Dumbledore paused and Eric looked around the table. All the teachers were paying their full attention to the man except Severus, who was either writing or sketching on a pad of paper, and Remus who was looking anywhere and everywhere except at Eric.

"Also, classes will start at eight thirty instead of eight due to a new system of scheduling as well as the start of morning detention." Eric felt rather than heard most of the groans and had to stifle a laugh. Here Dumbledore paused again but this time it was to pass out sheets of parchment which turned out to be his weekly class schedule which made him sigh in defeat. He had first years every day first period- now all he wanted to do was shoot something. Tuning back in he decided he better listen to what the old coot had to say instead of whine over his shitty schedule.

"There is one more issue that I wish to bring up to the staff for it will surely cause issues among the student body." At this announcement the room went dead silent. Issues among students meant issues in class and that meant issues for the teachers as well as more detentions than normal which made even Eric pay close attention; though he suspected this was what made the old cooty tense he did not want to speculate.

"It seems that our most popular student, Harold Potter, has gone missing."

Eric waited on borrowed breath for what he knew was coming and his fellow professor's reactions did not let him down. If he had to sum up their reactions in only a few words they would be complete and utter panic.

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AN: I know that this was another short chapter and I am sorry for that although I gladly welcome you to blame my Calc Exam… The next chapter will definitely be a longer one. Thanks for reading!

~Deam

I would like to give virtual cookies and thanks to Vellouette, Ronin101, Yami no Kaze, blackwolfgirl88, Halo666, bowfin, cozmic, mairedel26, moondancer7825, Officer Dibble, Gika Black, aeryn59, Morli84, carola-x and TimeAndRythmDoesIndeedSleep for adding Pandore's Box to their story alert list as well as to NightFairy79, koepfchen, and Mafia-Maori-Spartan, Officer Dibble, rae Horton, ceraphim, Rayien, and mpire for favorite-ing Pandore's Box. Cookies of any flavor and thanks abound!