Disclaimer:I am in no way, shape or form J.K Rowling. The universe that the story is in belongs to her.
Sorry for not updating in a long time. It was midterm period and I had a bunch of other family things to do. Anyway, it won't happen again. Thanks for the support as always.
Chapter 11:
Over the first few weeks of our time at Hogwarts I had set into a good rhythm with my classes and time spent with the other teachers. I tried to keep an eye on Harry but I was glad that he seemed to be quite happy in Hufflepuff. We wrote to each other on our notebooks, which at least gave me more contact with him than most parents did with their kids at Hogwarts. He talked about his train ride there and how he sat in his compartment with Susan and Hannah, which was expected. Draco Malfoy did enter Harry's compartment and was much kinder to him than in the books, presumably because Susan was in the same compartment and the little Malfoy knew he needed to be careful around Bones. So, Harry did shake Draco's hand, but didn't leave his compartment. Ronald Weasley also came to see Harry, however he was immediately kicked out when he insulted the houses that were not Gryffindor. Finally, Hermione and Neville came in looking for Neville's toad, so there was very little that changed from the books. Harry had also told me that from his dorm he was close to Susan, Hannah and another girl called Megan. I didn't remember her from the books but she seemed to be the one closes to Harry, as Susan and Hannah often went off to do their own thing. He was also friends with Wayne Hopkins who was a half-blood who also grew up around the muggle world and was definitely as interested in football as Harry was. In fact, around the second weekend Harry had rushed into my classroom asking for a football to use with Wayne, which of course I did provide them.
As at least a month had passed at Hogwarts and I had gotten used to the classes and the paperwork required as part of the job, I now had some more free time to evaluate what changes I could start to orchestrate. My priority as a teacher was to help the students who did need the help, and from the books I knew that the ones from Gryffindor that most needed help was Hermione and Neville, and that seemed to be the way even without Harry in their house. After discussing with Minerva, I was given permission to meet up with her first year Gryffindors as she was extremely busy with her administrative duties. So, I waited outside the door of the transfiguration classroom where the first year Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students were almost done with the class. As the kids started to walk out I saw Harry with Megan and Susan with Hannah and I gave them both a wave which they returned. And soon I saw the two sad looking Gryffindors who weren't in conversation with anyone and I called out to them, "Mr. Longbottom and Ms. Granger please could I have a word with you two. I know you are headed to lunch but perhaps a quick detour to my classroom first." I could see both of them getting frightened about them possible being in trouble so I said, "Oh you are definitely not in trouble, nothing like that at all, it's just that I like to talk to students once in a while to see how things are going for them, so follow me!" This appeased them and they followed me up to my room, which for both of them was the first time in my classroom as they were only first year students. I asked for Neville to wait outside as I talked to Hermione in private, and I would call him in afterwards.
Hermione was seated in front of me as I sat behind my desk, she seemed relaxed probably from how close to a muggle classroom it looked. I said, "Ms. Granger, as the muggle studies teacher I have spent most of the last ten years of my life in the muggle world, and as I was once a muggleborn student myself, I take it upon myself to reach out to kids who are similar to myself as a kid and give them a helping hand. Don't worry, I give you my word that nothing that is said here will be shared unless you ask for it to be shared. So, to get to the point, you seem to be struggling to fit in at this school, what seems to be the problem?"
She looks a bit surprised that I could tell she was struggling so she starts talking, "Well Mr. Stark, I just don't feel like I belong with the kids here, it feels like I did back home. There too, none of the kids would talk to me, and I always got horrible looks whenever I did well. But, I was always able to talk to the teachers and they were always nice to me, but here I don't even have that so I'm a bit unsure what to do. My mother always told me to be myself, and at least back home the teachers understood my but I don't think that they do here. Sorry Mr. Stark for rambling on." She finished off almost in tears.
I conjured up a small box of tissue papers and gave it to her. "No problem at all, I asked you in here to talk about these problems. Ms. Granger I can kind of see why it is difficult for you to fit in here. Teachers here and teachers in the muggle world are very different, which I have definitely noticed. See, I have a teaching degree in the muggle world, so I do things quite different from these magical teachers, and that is mostly because they don't have to learn how to be a teacher here before being given the position. Most of magical teachers do not have a teaching qualification so they all do things very differently. That is why in the muggle world teachers spend much more time with particular students making sure they do alright or just talking to them, but that isn't the case here. So, I am here to help you out, but first you have to be ready for the advice and try and take in on board alright? I can't do much about the teachers but I can help you with the other students and making friends, if that's okay with you."
She gave me a quick nod, so I continued, "Now I can tell you are someone who does her absolute best in class and raises her hand for almost all the questions right? Well, this might be causing problems with the kids here and I will tell you why. See most of the kids here have known magic throughout their whole lives, so they come to Hogwarts feeling like they should know more than a muggleborns about magic, and so when completely overshadow them with your intelligence, they might get upset. Some students won't care about this but other do. So, my recommendation is that in class, even if you know the answer give the class a chance to answer before raising your hand. That will probably help. And secondly, try sitting amongst other houses in class, I'm sure the Ravenclaws have a lot in common with you, and maybe some of the Hufflepuffs will be more than happy to be friends with you. Try branch out a bit, and as much as Gryffindor is sometimes considered the most popular house, the others are just as good. Even Slytherins can be fun to hang around with because not all of them dislike muggleborns. So, give the other houses a chance too. Does that seem fair?"
Hermione appeared to have listened to me quite closely and she looked a fair bit happier now that she had some advice on what to do. She nodded back at me and I told her before she left, "Remember, I am always there to help so please do come by whenever you want to." She smiled at me before picking up her bag and leaving the room. I felt that I had made a significant and happy impact on the little Hermione, hopefully her time at Hogwarts will be better this time around.
I then called Neville into the classroom and he came in the same way I had seen him in the movies. He stumbled a bit and he was looking at his shoes constantly, a typical case of a kid who had next to no confidence in his own ability. Which makes sense given what I knew from how his family treated him as well. Rowling made it clear that his family generally thought that Neville was a squib which was why his grandmother was always harsh on him.
"Hello there Mr. Longbottom, how are you doing today? Please take a seat." I said whilst pointing at the chair. He looked up at me in surprise, which I thought was odd, before he took a seat. He didn't respond though, which once again proved how bereft of confidence the kid was.
"Mr. Longbottom, how has your day been?" I said in the same calm tone I was taught to use with kids.
He now looks up at me and starts to say, "Hello pro-professor. I am d-doing well t-thank you." I realized that the stereotypical stutter that he has in most fanfictions is actually what Neville had. And it was quite clear that this was a complete confidence issue and unlike Hermione, who liked teachers and was comfortable around them, Neville wasn't comfortable at all. So, I decided I needed to get more personal with him.
"Hey Neville, my name is Jack Stark and I'm the muggle studies professor, I'm not sure if you remember me. I like to help kids out once in a while, but I can't really do that if you won't talk to me"
He looked up at me and I could see him start to open up, perhaps he didn't really have any good experiences with teachers, or maybe Snape really just scared him that much, "Hello Mr. Stark, umm we can talk."
I nodded, I could tell that all he needed was a couple of pushes and he would be fine. "Alright then Neville, let's start off, I think that you don't think you are any good at magic, is that true?"
He nodded, "I see everyone doing really good around me and I still can't do the first charm we learnt, I'm basically a squib."
"Hold up there Neville. It's not possible for squibs to be invited to Hogwarts you know that, right? And I'm sure we can work on your magic together. Now, what did Ollivander say when you got your wand?" I said trying to get him to talk about his Father's wand.
"Umm, this is my dad's wand, so you would have to ask my grandmother." He said as he paled slightly when talking about his grandmother.
"Ah, well that is all there is to it. Whilst most wands that people use are compatible with their children, that is not always the case. Maybe your magic is more in tune with your mother rather than your father. However, this can all be easily fixed by getting your own wand. Now, I know you have another hour before your next class, perhaps we can go to Diagon Alley now?"
He seemed quite shocked at that revelation, "My grandmother won't let me, she said it would be an honour to use my dad's wand. Does this mean I am not worthy to use it?"
I quickly made sure he thought otherwise, "Not at all Neville, it is just that some wands fit certain people better. There aren't really any better or worse wands, there are just ones that are in tune with you and ones that aren't in tune with you. You are definitely worthy of your parents Neville, they would be proud of you." He smiled and then nodded. We spent the next half an hour getting him a wand and by the time we got back he was significantly happier. When I asked about what he would do with his father's wand, he said he would keep it with him as a way to remember his father.