CHAPTER 21
BACK ON A FIELD TRIP
It is extremely fortunate that Ella didn't attend Hogwarts as a child.
Even as a woman in her thirties who has scratched her skin on all kinds of surfaces on the earth, the temptation boiling in her blood while she leisurely walks along the edge of the Forbidden Forest is almost irresistible.
The holiday has passed in a blink. Professors and students have already trooped back to refill the castle and the school grounds.
She still can't believe the only socialisation she had during the entire holiday was with the Snape-and-Potter family. At the end of the previous term, she intended to pay visits to Sybill and Argus at some point within those two weeks and listen to the tales of their lives in this school, those that apparently differ from her own despite their similar backgrounds… no, their similar magical status.
However, the plan failed. She was simply too tired for that. To be honest, being with either of those two staff members is not the most relaxing scenario in the world ever. Her need for restfulness defeated her curiosity and concerns for them.
Speaking of relaxing socialisation, Snape is supposed to be the last option in the list, if he does exist on that list at all. Ironically, she did find that unexpected relaxation over the simple holiday meals with him and his little one.
The relaxation came into being at some point unnoticed. After all, he has seen her in her worst moments. He has seen her in a complete mess, embarrassing, pathetic. And what he did was to save her, pick up her mess, sort it out, invent a preventive measure for next time, then disappear and never speak of it again. One would easily see him grating on her nerves about the life debt she now owes him, but no, it doesn't happen. Even Harry doesn't seem to have a clue.
The rather quiet holiday gave Ella some time to contemplate on the first term of her teaching career and come up with a new plan for the second one. If she is honest with herself, this plan has much more to do with rescuing her own life from boredom than adding colours to the students' learning experiences, although the later does happen as a side effect. The entire population of teenage witches and wizards of Hogwarts, even the Slytherins, are inflated with excitement when the field trips for Muggle Studies class are announced.
The idea encountered a considerable amount of hesitation when it first hit the staff meeting table. It is understandable – an impaired professor taking bunches after bunches of magical teens out of the school's protected zone would require a whole lot of preparation, security measures and Merlin knows what else. That is not to mention Muggle Studies is not even an "important" subject. The only one apart from Professor Virtanen who displayed interest in the idea was the headmaster.
And yes, everybody's opinion is equally valid but some are more equally valid than others. A simple smile from Albus Dumbledore set the plan to action: Those field trips would happen in the manner Professor Virtanen wishes them to and each of them would be assisted by an assigned Head of House plus Professor Burbage when she is available.
Unfortunately, Ella's own confidence chips away and stress increases once she gets down to more detailed planning for each trip. She forgot to take into account the fact that Charity Burbage has no experience whatsoever with field trips. She is a pure theorist. And a pureblood witch who grew up in a pure magical community no less.
Stress also increases when Minerva, who will be with her on the first trip, doesn't bother to cover her unsupportive attitude towards the program, approved as it is. On one or two occasions, Ella is pushed far enough to almost yell at the messy teens in her classroom that field trips will no longer exist if they don't know how to behave themselves for once. While that does solve the immediate chaos, it also throws at her face the hard truth: the very weak discipline in her classes, a systematic, consistent problem. She gets more and more anxious when the trip approaches with the vision of Minerva bringing its failure back to the staff meeting table and having the whole thing simply shut down.
In the midst of all those worries, she feels an incomprehensible relief when a note from Albus arrives at her. Personnel for the first trip has changed: Minerva has some unexpected issues coming up and Snape will take over.
"We should reserve at least half an hour in the morning to check and fix the problems that will occur regarding their muggle camouflage and plots of mischief," he says matter-of-factly when they sit down in her classroom one week before the trip for the last revision of the plan, an activity he himself has suggested.
Ella spins the pen in her fingers before jotting down the new idea:
"Yes. Although I trust they will manage with the camouflage. We have gone through that last term."
"If students would always manage with what they have gone through in class, I could very well go and remove all the security charms from my classroom now."
Ella chuckles. Ridiculous as she feels when she admits it, it is a blessing to have him in this first adventure. He is a perfect symbol of control. Control over the students, control over the situations. That basically solves any conceivable problems. She has seen him in action. It is certainly not true but it feels very true that nothing can go wrong under his watch.
She has never been this "obedient" to anyone else before. No teachers or bosses have ever succeeded in making her adjust her initial plans to this extent, leave alone colleagues. But well, she was trained to be an ethnographer, not a teacher.
Snape does deserve being listened to because he doesn't approach it as her job, which he is assisting out of duty. He approaches it as his own job. The morning of that important day, he shows up in her classroom while the rest of the school are in the Great Hall having breakfast. He too has ordered an early breakfast to his quarters and got it out of the way well before everyone else wakes up.
Ella is about to say "You could have joined me for breakfast" but it slips out of her mind too fast. She is intensely focused on the task at hand. Half of her mind is full of regret – perhaps she shouldn't have started all of this and be content with teaching from books and artefacts.
"It will be fine," Snape says blankly as he studies her.
She replies with a glance, slightly embarrassed by the fact that her stress and worries are spilling out all over the place. So much for an experienced field ethnographer.
The usual noise the kids always bring with them on the way to her class is abruptly blown out like a candle meeting a brutal wind when they realise who else, apart from the lenient Muggle Studies professor, is on the trip.
Order is established quicker than it has ever been in this classroom. Snape does not need to say a word: His presence alone puts the whole class into discipline at once, like a little army. Ella has no idea how she should feel about it – she doesn't want this kind of atmosphere in her classroom, but on the other hand, this makes the job so much easier.
"Very good, everyone," she addresses the unusually quiet bunch of third-year Gryffindors and Slytherins. "Now before we depart, let's have a look at the camouflage you have put on. It's a perfect cut, Mr Malfoy."
The blond boy conjures an expression that looks like enormous effort to refrain from a proud smile. Ella gives him the approving smile he deserves nevertheless and moves on to checking other kids' outfits.
"Mr Kellogg, you might want to revise your colour combination. If you go over there," she directs him to the station she has set up at the back of the classroom, "you will see the posters of this season's muggle fashion. I have put there also some items you can pick to change, or you can use magic you adjust your outfit if you so wish. Then please come back here."
Snape was totally right to reserve time for this checking. She clearly overestimated how well they have grasped the camouflage method, not to mention how much they actually care about it. The intended half an hour runs out in no time. Another half an hour later, they are still in the same classroom, now filled with impatient kids.
"Let's try again, Mr Longbottom," Ella keeps her voice as gentle as possible and looks the boy in the eyes, trying to comfort him. He is once again messing up himself on the receiving end of muttered complaints from his peers. "This time it's about style. Formal or informal. Try again. No stress, we will wait for you."
"Could you please help me, Professor?" he pleads with his entire being. "I can't…"
"You certainly can. Just try again," she puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Perhaps we should get Mr Longbottom a quick fix so that we can depart before he spends all day trying to figure it out, Professor Virtanen."
The venom in Snape's voice stabs her in the stomach like a real knife.
"Every student in Muggle Studies class is entitled to trials and errors, Professor Snape," she fights with every bit of her composure to remain calm, although her voice hardens nonetheless. "And we will wait for everyone to get it right before we depart."
The crowd falls silent. Ella swallows a sigh. Why? Why this? Why him? Why now? Just WHY?
"Go, Mr Longbottom," she slightly pushes the terrified boy towards the changing station. "Only a small change in terms of formality and your appearance will be perfect."
Neville obeys. Ella takes a deep inhale and tries to ease the constraint pending above their heads with a casual question:
"Anyone would like to share how you managed to obtain your muggle outfit? Of course those you brought with you from your muggle home don't count."
It works. The kids forget about Snape and turn to competing for a chance to tell their stories. That gives Neville enough time to remove the bow tie from his collar and untuck his shirt.
"Excellent, Mr Longbottom," she delivers a bright smile when the boy comes back and presents himself with all the fear in the world written all over his face. "Now we are all ready. Let's go through the rules again before we set off."
She sends Snape a look. She half expected to see a pissed off Snape, yet his expression remains blank. Blanker than it was before the kids arrived that is.
"We will stay within one area of the shopping centre, which will be specifically shown to you once we are there. The use of wands is strictly forbidden, the only exception being for self-defence in life-threatening situations. Immediate. Expulsions. From. Hogwarts. Applies. To. All. Other. Cases. Including. Unnecessary. Display. Of. Them. In. Muggle. Public."
Blood starts to dry out from the young faces as each word nails in.
"We will spend at most three hours in said area. Time to return to the gathering point is signalled by three whistles in a row from Professor Virtanen. Failing to present yourself within three minutes from the signal will result in a report and consequent disciplinary measures from your Head of House. Any question?"
Dead silence. Ella adds:
"While we are there if you are unsure whether you are allowed to or should do something or not, please don't hesitate to come and ask me."
She only lets out a sigh of relief when they have finally reached the destination by a portkey trip and a short walk. The kids' excitement and hyper curiosity soften her nerves. Keeping her fingers crossed for no trouble to happen as she is, she places great trust on them.
As soon as the last kid decides on which direction to go to explore the place, she immediately opens her notebook to jot down her thoughts before they disappear. Longer preparation time, a training session for safe and neat landing from a portkey trip… On another page, she starts sketching the area in further details.
"You take notes like a self-spelling quill."
Suddenly disrupted, she exclaims:
"You made me forget what I was about to write!"
"Sorry."
She looks up from the notebook to meet her colleague's smirk, which in turn brings a smile to her face. She thought he would continue to ignore her at least for a few days after their disagreement in front of the students, including his own son, this morning. She straightens herself on the bench:
"You didn't tell Harry you are going with us today?"
"He didn't need to know."
"I would feel betrayed a little bit in his position."
"He is accustomed to being treated like a normal student rather than a special case merely due to his father's job."
"I see. Good for him."
Ella starts to scan every corner in her sight for the kids. Things seem to be well in place. They are behaving as they are supposed to. At least in her sight.
"Did I really tear you away from all what you were about to write down?"
"Pretty much," she answers absentmindedly. "But it's fine. Just some notes to improve the later trips."
At the end of the day, this seems to be a nice idea. At least for herself. She is feeling like a long encaged bird returned to the sky. A leave from the castle, with some meaning, with people to observe, with a notebook.
And she even has a company, this time. Not that it's of any importance barring the student management issue.
"I'm getting some soft drinks. What would you like?" she stands up and slightly stretches.
"Anything."
A few minutes later, she secretly chuckles at the scene of Severus Snape holding a can of coke. No idea why every simple thing everybody does everyday looks so special on him.
After a short contemplation, she decides to bring it up. They are not having anything to do for these three hours anyway, apart from bracing themselves for potential trouble.
"I'm sorry about this morning. It was just that… the biggest problem with the Longbottom boy, in my class at least, is his lack of self-confidence. It's my first priority whenever it comes to him."
"Never mind."
The reply comes very quick, and very cold.
"I heard from the kids that he is not doing very well in your class either."
This time, no reply comes. That is if the scowl he throws into the air in front of him doesn't count.
Malfoy has just left a toy shop and is making his way to the bookstore next door.
"Thank you very much for all your help," she delivers gently. "I had been under great pressure until you offered to work with me on the plan."
"You were stressed out by the fact that no one except for Albus liked your idea."
Ella rounds her eyes. A flick of fear crosses her mind as the theme "magic of the mind" on his bookshelf comes back to her memory.
"It was obvious," he adds simply.
That is certainly not a comforting statement, but she is comforted nevertheless. This is not the first time she feels unsafe around him. And just like all of the previous times, the fear doesn't last until the third second.
"I'm like a troublemaker, aren't I?" she asks ironically. "Devising a plan that I can't manage by myself, forcing other professors to help. While everyone already has their own busy life."
"It's not your own work. It's the school's work."
Pausing for a moment, he continues:
"My laboratory takes up the largest proportion of the teaching aid fund, as you know. It is because the subject requires that resource. In your case, it is not money, but rather human resource. Same thing in different forms."
"It's a pretty unique way to look at it."
He shrugs. Since when has Snape shrugged?
"I hope the other professors will eventually see the benefits of these field trips. I'll try to refine the plans so that it will take less effort on their part."
Snape doesn't reply, either because he doesn't have a reply or because Ella has slid back into her notebook.
Three hours come to an end without any unexpected events, at least not that they know of yet. They find themselves back in the castle one hour before dinner, with the kids carrying several bunches of muggle things they obtained from the shopping centre. She is so proud of them. They even managed to spend muggle money. Hopefully without puzzling the shop assistants to the extent that the Ministry of Magic will send Albus an owl tomorrow.
"Miss Garland, can you tell us all again your assignment for today's trip?"
"Yes, Professor. An essay on our experiences today and our thoughts on them."
"Correct. And extra credits if you cite at least two sources apart from your textbook for relevant theoretical knowledge. Class dismissed."
When the trip's success story hits the next staff meeting, an unexpected move happens. With a mysterious twinkle in his eyes, Albus suggests:
"Do you think it will be a good idea if you permanently assist Professor Virtanen in future field trips also, Severus?"
Before Ella manages to digest what is going on, Severus gives a determined nod:
"Yes, headmaster."