A/N: The Flitwick I see in my head from reading the books doesn't resemble the one in the movie too much. He is much slighter (truly 'tiny', not just 'short') and has the 'shock of white hair' described in the book – I picture him with an Einstein-esque mop of hair, and a longish, white, goatee-style beard. Many thanks to lalaluu for beta-ing this chapter for me!


The next evening, Hannah made her way to Ravenclaw Tower. She still wasn't too sure of her way around the castle, and even though one of the portraits she had asked for help had sent her the wrong way - never ask directions from the painting of a court jester again, she made a mental note - she managed to get there only ten minutes late.

Filius's rooms were located near the base of the tower, close to his office. The door opened as soon as she knocked. "Come on in, come on in," the Charms master beckoned her, a delighted smile on his face. With a flick of his wand he charmed the couch to enlarge to normal proportions, making it look oddly out of place among the pint-sized furnishing. "Do have a seat."

Another swish, and a tea tray appeared on the low table. Filius poured the steaming, golden liquid into thin bone china cups. "Biscuits?" he said, offering her the plate.

"No, thank you. The tea will do nicely."

For the next fifteen minutes conversation jumped from topic to topic – the health and well-being of Flitwick's sister and her four children, the merits of Darjeeling tea over Assam, Hannah's first few days at Hogwarts. Finally she brought the conversation back to what was foremost in her mind.

"So, did you have time to think of something?"

Flitwick beamed up at her. "Indeed I did. No extra assignments, and the students will probably take to your lessons much easier this way. Let me tell you…"

He outlined his idea for her. It was brilliant, really. But…

"..they'll never go for it. At least not Severus and Professor McGonagall. They are…"

"Severus?" Flitwick interrupted, lifting his eyebrows with a quizzical look. "I didn't know you were on a first name basis with our Potions master already?"

She blushed slightly, and developed a sudden interest in her feet. "I met him while I was on holiday. He stayed in the same town. Our paths crossed a few times."

Flitwick looked confused. "He doesn't seem very friendly to you, does he? Well, not that he ever… well, you know what I mean."

Hannah sighed.

Time to fess up.

"It was like this..." After making Filius promise to keep it a secret, she quickly told him about meeting Severus in St. Comgan and their time together, leaving out some of the more emotional moments on her part. She ended with an account of the disheartening reunion in Dumbledore's office.

"…so you see, he is not going to appreciate my meddling in his affairs. And I'm sure that is exactly how he would think of it. As far as the other teachers – Lupin and Sprout seem friendly enough, but Sinistra and Hooch have been every bit as stand-offish as McGonagall. I'm not really worried about Trewlawney and Binns, they seem to live in little worlds of their own, but as for the rest…"

Flitwick smiled a mischievous grin. "You just wait and see. I bet you a one-pound box of chocoballs that I can get them to see the light."

"Deal," she said, grinning back at him. It would be worth the pound of chocoballs and more if he succeeded.

He leaned forward conspiratorially. "Now, at the staff meeting tomorrow, this is what I want you to do…"

-o-

Severus was not overly fond of the mandatory meetings. Usually there was little of real importance discussed. He entered the room just as the meeting was called to order, and took his customary seat.

After the usual school business had been taken care of – Severus barely managed to suppress a yawn – the Headmaster cleared his throat and stood up.

"I am sure most of you have met her already, but I would like to formally introduce Hannah Hannigan, our Composition mistress. She will teach basic writing and research skills to the first three years and also offer tutoring classes for the upper years. Miss Hannigan, please stand up."

Hannah rose awkwardly. The smattering of applause that greeted her introduction was decidedly thin. Severus smiled grimly at that. He had not bothered at all, keeping his arms firmly crossed over his chest.

"Um…well, thank you very much for the warm welcome." Her voice shook a little. "I am very grateful for the opportunity to teach here, and I hope you'll soon see improvement in…"

Just then, Filius Flitwick climbed up on his chair and stood up, so he could be seen by everyone. His baby blue wizard's hat sat on his head at a rakish angle, and there was a determined look on his face. He raised his hand. "If I may ask a question?"

"Yes?" Hannah looked puzzled.

"First of all, welcome to Hogwarts. We are all pleased to have you, I'm sure. I've been thinking though, and, well - are you planning on giving the students written assignments?"

"Well yes, naturally, how else are they going to learn?"

"I have to admit, I am a bit worried. The students already have written assignments in almost all their other subjects. I'm quite concerned that it will just be too much for the poor little dears."

Severus snorted loudly. Flitwick eagerly turned to him.

"Severus, let me ask you something. Do you think a student will generally take more care with a potion that will be bottled and taken to the hospital wing, or one that will just be Vanished or poured down the drain when completed?"

The Potions master eyed him with drawn eyebrows.

"Well?" Filius asked mildly.

"The first one, of course," Severus answered reluctantly.

"And why is that?"

Severus shrugged. "Because it will actually be used."

Flitwick turned to McGonagall. "How about you, Minerva? Wouldn't you agree that students are much more motivated to learn a spell well that they can actually use? Something practical? Rather than turning teapots into tortoises?"

"Well, yes, I suppose - " she peered at him through her square glasses with narrowed eyes. "But I object to…"

Filius ignored her and continued brightly. "So you both agree that students are more likely to learn if the application is practical? Part of real life?"

Severus looked at the Charms master with a scowl. He would have given a lot right now to know where exactly the tiny wizard was going with this. "I suppose so," he said grudgingly.

"I'm so glad that you're in agreement." Flitwick clapped his hands together. "Because I have an idea. Miss Hannigan could teach the necessary skills in class - practice paragraphs, spelling, grammar and such. But then, instead of assigning extra essays - why not let the students use the skills on the papers already assigned for other classes? Let them apply the skills to an essay on the properties of Wormwood instead of making them write about what they did last summer. I'm sure students would be more likely to learn if they are working on practical assignments with practical applications, as my esteemed colleague here has just said." He gave a nod to the Potions master.

Severus opened his mouth, and then closed it again. Well, yes, he more or less had just said that, hadn't he? He sat up.

There was a murmur of voices as several of the other teachers nodded in agreement.

"What a marvelous idea," Hannah said, a sparkle in her eyes. "It would be easy to do, really. Once the essay is marked for content, I can simply take the same paper and mark for language. Not much extra work for the students, and immediate practical application. A wonderful plan."

Severus now was thoroughly alarmed. The last thing he needed was this woman interfering with the assignments he gave his students, meddling in his affairs. He cast around for a valid objection. And found one. He rose from his chair.

"As much as I admire the dedication to the students' welfare my colleague is showing," he said silkily, nodding back at Flitwick, "I'm afraid I am in the habit of promptly returning the parchments after marking. My classes are run efficiently and on a tight schedule. The delay in getting the essays to Miss Hannigan," he bowed in her direction with a smirk, "and, more importantly, getting them back, would throw off my schedule of assignments considerably. I simply will not put up with the inconvenience. This plan is absolutely not expedient for me. I'm sure my colleagues will agree?" After looking around darkly as if daring anyone to disagree, he sat back down.

"Hear, hear," he heard Minerva muttering next to him.

Flitwick looked flustered. "Oh dear. Yes, Severus, that is certainly a valid concern… too much time. It sounded like such a good idea, didn't it? But yes, you are right…"

Severus smiled grimly. It looked like he had sunk that boat.

The tiny wizard looked positively heartbroken. "Oh, I just didn't think about that... I am so sorry… it seemed just such a good idea…? But if it weren't for the time issue, you would agree? I mean, you said practical application was good -" he looked pleadingly at the Potions master. His lower lip seemed to be quivering a bit, and he was wringing his hands.

The Charms master was universally liked. Several of his colleagues were now casting dark glances in Severus' direction at Flitwick's distress. He sighed inwardly. The little man really was too emotional and excitable. Very well, he could be magnanimous in victory.

"I suppose the idea was not entirely without merit. So if we are quite finished now?" With raised eyebrows, he looked around the room. "Some of us have work to do."

All of a sudden, Flitwick's face brightened considerably. He looked at Hannah triumphantly. "I have the solution. We just do our marking at the same time. Tandem marking, if you will. Would you be willing to come to my office? I mark the essay for content, hand it to you, and you mark for your class while I start on the next one?"

She nodded. "Sure. That would be quite doable."

"The marking should be done at around the same time, and I will have my essays back right away. And since there are quite a few classes to go around, we can all take turns, and everyone would only need to be inconvenienced one afternoon per month or so." Flitwick rubbed his hands together gleefully as he turned to the Potions master. "Severus, I'm so glad we found a solution, it would have been such a shame not to be able to do this, would it not? I volunteer to go first. Is it settled then?" There was a general murmur of consent as he looked at the Headmaster.

Dumbledore nodded his assent with an amused smile.

"Well, all right then, that's all, carry on." Flitwick climbed off the chair and sat down, looking pleased as punch.

With a black scowl, Severus cast a sideways glance at the Charms master, who was smiling at him innocently. What had just happened? Somehow, it seemed that he had… He looked in consternation at Minerva. She just shrugged.

"Guess we'll be spending some time with the new Composition mistress," she hissed sardonically. "And all thanks to you, Severus. Good going."

"Don't blame it on me," he hissed back. "You were all in favor of 'practical application', were you not?"

She looked at him contemptuously. "Yes, but I wasn't the one bringing up that…"

They were interrupted as Hannah loudly cleared her throat. "Thank you so much for the wonderful ideas." She nodded at Flitwick, and then let her eyes wander to the other faces in the room. "And thank you all so much for being so willing to accommodate this new class. I look very much forward to working with all of you."

As Hannah sat down, Filius turned to her and gave her an almost imperceptible wink.

Hannah fought hard to suppress a giggle as she looked at his smiling face.

Nicely done, she thought. And I owe you a pound of chocoballs.