Not only was the office a mess, but the bedroom next door was trashed. It looked like some students had found the room. Hopefully the mess wouldn't take too long. She lifted the curtains around the bed and groaned. The sheets were ripped. Teenagers. Gross.
She stepped back and considered just burning the bedding where it sat, but thought better of it. Minnie would murder me.
There was a short flash and something like small fireworks popping around her as her glamour fell. Her short black hair flashed into a long, bright white curls that wrapped around her ankles as it fell. She blinked her black eyes at the bedding and grinned as it disappeared. I hope they didn't move the laundry. That would be awful. She relaxed as the stress of the glamour melted away into the floorboards.
Next, the curtains. The deep purple color was beautiful, but if she was going to be in this room a lot, she needed something lighter. Then there were the curtains on the windows, which she should probably wait until her glamour was back up, just in case. Also the floors would need washed. The bookshelves needed clearing and dusting, and the walls could use some paint. Then the desk needed replaced, it was barely holding on as it was.
The more she thought about what needed done, the harder it was to focus on what to do first. She could feel the walls begin to close in, and the voices of the students outside and in her memory amplified and crammed together. She collapsed to the ground, holding her ears in her hands, rubbing the pointed tips between her fingers as she counted down from and then back up to ten. She kept going until the spaces between the boards got smaller as they moved away from her face. Okay, one thing at a time. First, the bed. She magicked the crumpled blankets and pillows away, pulled down the curtains and asked a house elf for lighter ones. "If you can't find anything, don't worry. I can make something. I'd prefer to use something we already have, if possible." When the elf returned with soft pink lace, she smiled and thanked her. She couldn't help but hear her aunt Morticia joking about her choice in colors. She asked her to stay and keep her company, "If you're not busy, of course. It's just a bit crowded in these empty rooms."
Maybe it would be nice, being back here. This year couldn't be too bad, right?