Silas stood in front a couple of fireplaces lined up next to a wall waiting for someone important to come. The floor-powder station was only connected to a few places in Scandinavia and was only to be used for travel during special or desperate occasions with the Headmaster's consent.
The Danish wizard hoped the man he was waiting for would arrive soon because he was already behind schedule and they needed to travel soon if they were to arrive at Beauxbatons in time.
His wait ended when a green flame ignited in front of him and a very familiar blond pony-tailed haired wizard dressed in a black turtleneck covered by equally black robes stepped carefully out of the fireplace dragging a travel suitcase behind him.
"Draco, my friend. It is great to see you again after all these years," Silas greeted him with a hug that the Englishman awkwardly returned.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Lange. I'm grateful that I'm allowed to teach here. Times are desperate and my family needs any support we can get," Draco Malfoy explained hastily.
"Oh please, call me Silas. Excuse me but I'm not actually aware of the circumstances. I only got a two-way mirror call from Jacqueline, yesterday telling me that you had been given a teaching position here at Durmstrang. Usually, I and the school board discuss together hiring new teacher but this time was different, no that I mind having you here. We are always in need of new teachers." The Headmaster said calmly trying to hide his stress and confusion over the situation. "Let's go to the staff's room so you can meet your new colleagues. This way"
"Sounds great!" The Englishman replied.
They walked out of the floo powder station and towards the staff's room.
"I've been corresponding with certain membrers of of the school board since July actually. It pains me to tell you about this but my wife Astoria has been diagnosed with a blood course of unusual nature. The St. Mungos healers said it could be fatal and she has to be put under constant healthcare, " the younger wizard explained.
"What you're saying really saddens me indeed. I can only imagine what you've been going through lately, but isn't the healthcare in Britain for free? And why would a Malfoy need to work for a living?" Silas asked recklessly despite already knowing the answer to his question.
"Yes it is true S.t Mungo doesn't take any payment from their patients but that is not the main reason for why I need money. You see since the Second Wizarding War of the British Isles ended, people began to sue us Malfoy's, left to right for the crimes of my father. Although I can't blame them. My father had no excuses for escaping Azkaban, neither this time or before. We ended up at the brink of economic desperation and I've tried everything possible to make up for our loss of money, which was far easier said than done since the name 'Malfoy' has been cursed and no one wants to associate with us any longer. Durmstrang seemed like the only place that would accept me and where I can get a stable income for my knowledge and here I am. Excuse me for my late arrival. I wanted to say goodbye to my son before he boarded the Hogwarts Express for his first school year," Draco cleared up for Silas.
"I see. You've come along way since Lucius tried to transfer you to Durmstrang when you were a child. I've never had a family of my own, so I can only imagine the burden you carries on your shoulders," the Headmaster responded trying to sound as understanding as possible.
Draco, feeling uncomfortable about the subject shifted subject and said; "The journey to here was a hustle. I had to first apply for a portkey to Stockholm at the British Ministry of Magic, which they took forever to create and it was not cheap, to say the least. Then I took the floo to where ever we are now."
"I thought you would be far more secretive about the school's location but I can already tell that we are in very north of Sweden," Draco Malfoy said while they moved downwards.
"What gave it away?"
"I had to travel by floo from the Swedish Ministry and floo powder is rarely used internationally," he answered.
"It doesn't really matter if anyone figures out the region we're in. The protective charms that surround area prevent anyone from entering it without our consent anyway," Silas said.
"That's good to hear. That assures me that I won't get to be a part of some kind of school battle like at Hogwarts," Draco joked sarcastically.
"Don't get yourself too comfortable. Durmstrang has its own eccentricities that will keep you up at night. Trust me," the Dane assured him as the passed through a duo of ghost knights in the hallway.
"Oh, well that won't be a problem. I'm used to a life of danger. I had to do a lot of dirty business to sustain my family's economy all these. It is great too have a real job for once. By the way what kind of teaching position am I supposed to have? The Vulchanovas were very unclear on that point," the Englishman stated frustrated.
"Draco, you need to understand that here staff members don't have fixed teaching positions. Instead, they just show up and teach were their knowledge and skills are best suited and needed. What do you think that you could bring to the table? There's a lack of people who are available for the English teaching position, which is probably one of the most important subjects since we need to break the ice between an enormous student body consisting of multiple nationalities."
"ME as an ENGLISH teacher! For Merlin's sake no! My talents belong elsewhere! How about any of the dark arts-related subjects?"
"The subjects that relate to dark arts such as Necromancy, Duelling, Blood magic, Shamanism and 'Wizarding Economy' tend to always be occupied. But keep your eyes open and try to make friends with all your newfound colleagues and maybe they leave a position open for you. "
Draco didn't seem satisfied with his boss's answer, to say the least.
"What would be the problem with being an English teacher, anyway? It is an important position that will earn you great respect from your pupils. You're an Englishman, who else could be more fitting for the position?"
Draco just looked down on the floor and continued without wanting to answer the question.
"Please don't tell me that you weren't taught grammar at Hogwarts!" Silas said loudly and slightly annoyed at this revelation.
"I'm sad to say that was the case. I've read a lot of books and instructive papers on dark arts and potions but I have very little knowledge of how English grammar works. For me and most other wizards, it just is." the middle-aged wizard stated. "Have you ever tried to solve the 'language issue' in another way other than your intricate division system?"
"Yes we have tried many different solutions but none of them have proven effective. For example, when Igor Karkaroff still ruled the school we tried to invent a 'translation spell' that would make all students understand each other without having to study any other language at all. However, the catch was that the spell involved mind magic..."
"I see, messing with the mind under a long time can result in permanent brain damage so that may not have been a preferable option," Draco interrupted him.
"You're reading my mind," Silas said with a twinkle in his eye.
"We've tried other ways as well. Historically we used to only speak German and Bulgarian but when us Nordic folks were accepted into the curriculum the school board had to, of course, incorporate Swedish and Norwegian. What would a Scandinavian school be if Scandinavian languages were not spoken? " he asked rhetorically.
"You've got a point there," Draco agreed.
"But then children from all over Europe were given the option to attend the school if they lived up to our standards so we began to educate the new students Latin and to a lesser extent Italian seeing how those were the most widely spoken languages in the wizarding world at the time before English took over causing Latin to become outdated, " The Danish wizard continued to explain.
"'Britannia rules the wave' as the Muggles use to say'," the Brit said with a dash of sarcasm.
"Not that I agree with that though."
"I heard from one my teachers when I was a student at Durmstrang that during the 1920s, the current Headmaster secretly hired a Muggle WWl veteran to invent an 'Esperanto' that everyone could learn and converse in. The Muggle exceeded all expectations when he had invented one such language only a week after he'd been given the task. Everything would have been fine and good if it wasn't for that the current school board discovered that this Esperanto was invented by a Muggle. As the backward dinosaurs they were and still are they fired both the headmaster and the Muggle author and no one ever heard of that made-up language again, " the older wizard said recklessly.
Oh shit! I've given away to much. I can't appear all Muggle-friendly openly like this, hence I risk getting fired, Silas worryingly thought from himself.
"I see. I myself despite what the rumors say, have given up such anti-Muggle sentiment that has characterized my family for centuries," Draco said proudly and uptight although Silas could sense that he wasn't exactly honest with his statement.
They reached the Teacher's Lounge at the height of the tower. Once Silas Lange opened the door, Draco was met with a sense of awe.
The lounge was like a restaurant with a bar in the middle of it where a reanimated skeleton served drinks to a man that dressed like he was the grim reaper. The lounge was surrounded by window walls that made it possible to view the astonishing Nordic landscape outside.
What was more astonishing to Draco was the sheer diversity of people that sat in the lounge. Almost no one looked like they had gone through some teaching program that would qualify them for their professions. There were wizards playing cards and who dressed like Muggle bankers and 17th-century aristocrats.
A young black guy in green robes who seemed like he had graduated straight out of Uagadou was showing off his skills in wandless magic in front a healer wearing a hijab. A Christian nun was breaking arms with a priest. Some Scandinavian ladies stood next to a wall photographing each other as they tried on horned Viking helmets for fun. There was an elderly witch smoking in the corner surrounded by kneazles.
Some barely teachers even looked like humans. One remembered him of Tom from the Leaky Cauldron back in London, one was an elf with pointy ears, another one like a female version of Frankenstein's Monster.
What was less astonishing was that a few seconds after Draco Malfoy stepped in everyone in the room stopped with what they were doing and looked awkwardly at him and Silas.
Silas had expected a similar reaction from them in beforehand despite the fact that many of them had committed crimes far worse than what the ex-Slytherin had done in his days. The Headmaster remained unfaced and even smiled at everyone's reactions.
"GAAAHHH, DET ÄR DRACO MALFOY!" The Awkward silence was broken by an enthusiastic scream coming from one of the young witches who wore a Viking helmet.
"Cecilia kom tilbake forstår at du ikke vet hva dette er for en mann?" A violet haired witch in glasses warned her.
Ignoring her friend's warning she she ran towards him, shaking his hand ecstatically. The blond Englishman didn't seem to know what to think of this.
"ÅÅHH! Jag kan inte tro det. Den store Draco Malfoy mitt framför mina ögon," the Swedish witch said in her own language. Then she shifted into English which she spoke with a flawless British accent. "Oh, Odin's Beard, Draco, I've read so many stories about you."
This was hardly the first time Draco had been approached like this but it never the less annoying every time it happened.
"God I wish I'd never given out my life's story to anyone" he said inconsiderate and shamelessly but Cecilia just seemed to ignore it.
The violet-haired, Norwegian witch grabbed his admirer by her uncle and said; "You'd better stay away from her you creep."
"Han har inte gjort något, Beatrice. Än!" the Swedish girl said resisting. The Slytherin could not understand her but he assumed she was defending him.
"I think you should listen to your friend, Beatrice," The Englishman said to the Norwegian lady.
Suddenly the door to the toilets opened and there stood a scarred man with an undercut and dressed in Auror uniform with an intense look in his eyes.
Quickly the man drew his wands and fired a nonverbal spell towards the Britton but Draco was quick to conjure a shield charm that caused the spell bounce of and hit an alp costume dressed man at a nearby table.
"SCHEISSE!" was the man's last words before he was transfigured into an arctic ferret and ran away leaving only his green clothes behind empty on the chair.
That caused Franziska, Ivana, and Piotr to raise their wands at the Englishman. Abdi the Somali wizard made sapphire green flames ignite from his hands looking reading to strike. David the Skeleton stood ready behind the bar ready throw a bottle of fire whiskey.
"You really was trying to turn me into a ferret, Scarface? I had a teacher who tried the same many years ago. You seriously remind of him. Do you also happen to be a Death Eater in disguise?" Draco Malfoy calmly mocked Lundgren.
That line suddenly made Silas even anxious and paranoid.
"What the hell are you doing here Malfoy? Are you trying to pull off another Headmaster assassination as you tried at Hogwarts?" The Swedish ex-Auror asked.
The Headmaster interfered in the conversation and said hastily; "No need for hostility here. Draco Malfoy has actually been hired as a teacher by our school board. "
"I don't know what they've been smoking this time. Our school board doesn't consist of the most honorable of people." Lundgren stated.
A cloaked man in black robes and a féz approached Draco and said with a Romanian accent; "Don't worry about Erik Lundgren he's so grumpy and judgemental all the time. Been like that since his school days. We have all ended up on the wrong path anyway. "
"I have not, Vladavodka," the Norwegian witch objected.
"Okay you're the exception, Beatrice," the cloaked man said. "But our past sins don't matter any longer. We have all been given the opportunity to redeem ourselves here at Durmstrang. "
"From what I heard... Mr. Vladavodka, Drumstrang sounds like my dream school. My father tried to send me here when I was a kid when Igor Karkaroff still was in charge, but mother didn't like the idea of sending me to a school far away so Hogwarts it was," The Englishman said.
"You didn't really miss out on anything. Igor Karkaroff was just the worst. Gave the Institue an even worse reputation than what we've had before," The Romanian wizard stated. "Regardless of what people may tell you Durmstrang is not a school where turn out future criminals. Instead, our teacher's uses our past knowledge and experiences to teach the future generations of wizards and witches to become best selves. It is our duty to prepare our students for whatever they might face outside these walls. Like it or not the Dark Arts are an essential part of it. The more you understand the better can you defend yourself from them or even better, take advantage of them."
"I think I will like it here," Draco Malfoy said with the most genuine smile he had in years.