First Week
The next morning after the famous witch's first class, Ivan Summers found himself very excited to have secured a date with the famous Harriet Potter. The two had worked together for a couple of years and had the fortune of getting to know each other.
He had worked under Shacklebot's authority detaining lowly criminals and thieves. On one of his days working in the Department of Mysteries Ivan had met the woman and found her very attractive. Without planning for it, the man had made efforts to engage in conversations with Harry and helped each other with their work. In the end, the man considered that they had at least become friends.
But he wanted more. Approaching the woman to ask her for a date had required of him all the bravery the man could muster. Ivan had used the opportunity when she was about to leave the Ministry to confront Harry about it. The blond auror knew at that moment when the news of the woman's departure arrived that he would not get another opportunity like it in the near future.
Now, he found himself filling paperwork for the day in his own office. Their date had not yet been decided for any specific day, but he hoped she would have time during that summer. The long wait was going to feel eternal.
On the other hand, the man used the time to plan where the two would go and what activities they would do. Maybe even steal a kiss or do something more.
Ivan just hoped that Harry would enjoy herself, and maybe let him take her to more dates in the future. That way the two would deepen their relationship and even become a couple.
Fantasies of the two in very adults' situations had found themselves enter his brain in more than one occasion and was very embarrassed to admit that looking at Harriet's attractive body had made his have extraordinarily strong reactions.
He had been in a relationship and shared bed with a couple of women during his life, but none had made him want to do the things Ivan wanted to try with Harry.
The man regained his bearings and gripped the quill in his hands more strongly. He admonished himself for thinking that way about Harriet.
XXX
Harry's first week as a teacher in Hogwarts started with breakfast in the Great Hall among the students and professors at the school. Her co-workers greeted Harriet with few words and a glance of acknowledgement. Satisfied that they had decided to hear her plea and respected her privacy, the woman sat beside the half-giant groundskeeper.
Hagrid hugged Harry and smiled, making the woman's morning already better.
"Heya 'Arry! How's fir's nigh' back at Hogwarts?".
"As good as I remember. I missed this place, you know?" The emerald-eyed woman said.
The enormous man nodded happily and went back to his meal. In his plate there was toasts where he had put butter and marmalade and a pair of fried eggs with bacon. She grinned seeing that the man's habit for large breakfasts hadn't changed.
Madam Sprout turned her head to the pair and addressed Harriet with a cordial tone.
"With whom are you having first class, Dear?".
"Ravenclaws" She answered, "After that I have a couple of hours before teaching the Slytherins".
Pomona hummed and brought a piece of bread to her mouth. After swallowing it, the Herbology professor continued talking.
"I have second hour free. If you want we can meet, and you can tell me all the things that you've done after graduating".
Harry's eyes sparkled at the woman's proposal. The woman decided she could use the opportunity to ask Madam Sprout embarrassing stories about and tease her friend Neville Longbottom when all of them reunited during Christmas.
"Good for me".
The Herbology teacher smiled in appreciation.
Harry's stomach growled and she decided to start with her own meal. The woman mentally imagined what she wanted to eat and watched as her previously empty plate and vase filled with food and drink.
Her breakfast consisted of couple of toast coated in a thin layer of peach marmalade, a glass of pumpkin juice and a piece of treacle tart. Satisfied with it, Harry grabbed her cutlery and dug in.
After eating, Harry exited the Great Hall and spent the rest of her morning routine taking a shower and changing clothes getting ready for first class.
XXX
That same day, Harry and Pomona made good of their promise and chatted during their free time about their lives and what interesting things had happened in them.
The next few days flew by so quickly that the woman was unsure it was real. Tuesday and Thursday were her most busy, with at least four or five groups of students given lessons per day.
She was surprised at the good attitude they had, not causing her any trouble. But not all was roses and rainbows. Some of the teenagers being taught talked in class and she noticed more than one giving her indecent looks, but Harry tried to not let them get under her skin.
Now it was Friday, and she had finished the last lesson for today. She watched the alumni from Hufflepuff exit the classroom in groups and noticed that the two girls that had shared compartment in the train with her were approaching.
"Miss Burton, Miss King. What can I do for you?".
They stopped in front of Harry and Astrid began talking.
"Thank you for coming to Hogwarts, Professor. Can't believe we have you here!" The redhead said cheerfully.
"Yeah! You are so good at this! I understood everything about the Difindo so easily!" Her friend complimented Harry.
"We'll love to have you here forever Professor!".
Harry fought need to blush due to the embarrassment at their praise. Hermione and the famous witch's other friends had always said she had a knack for explaining things to others and helping them understand things easily, but until now she always thought that they were exaggerating due to their bias as Harriet's friends.
"Thank you. I'm happy to be here too. Don't know about forever" Harry jested.
The witch looked at the door of the class and addressed the two girls.
"Now go to your next class. Don't want to hear that my two favourite students are slacking off" Harry said with a wink.
The two witches grinned from ear to ear and waved goodbye at Harry.
"See you Professor Potter!" Said Astrid.
"Bye!" Replied the other.
The adult witch followed their lead and exited the room.
She closed the door and began walking back to her room.
XXX
Once inside, she sat on a chair behind the chair where she had organized all the paperwork and essays the alumni wrote during the week.
Taking a quill and a piece of parchment, Harriet began to write letters for her friends and the man that had asked her for a date.
The first one was going to be sent to her best friend and her boyfriend and said this:
Dear Hermione.
I have finished teaching for my first week here at Hogwarts.
You'll be happy to know that the library is as dusty as you went there last. It's like we never left the school and the battle against Voldemort didn't happen.
There's new teachers beside me, but Mistress McGonagall, Hagrid and Madam Sprout are keeping me company so they're not all strangers.
Ivan Summers has asked me for a date just before leaving the Department of Mysteries the other day. I have decided to accept it, but we don't have concrete plans yet . Your friend has decided to enjoy her life before you begin rambling that I'm a worse workaholic than you. :).
Hope you and Ron come visit Grimmauld Place this Winter.
Love, Harriet.
Satisfied with it, the woman folded the letter, put it in an envelope and wrote the direction of her two friend's house.
Harry grabbed another piece of parchment; she began writing to the woman that was currently in charge of her godson named Teddy Lupin. His grandmother Andromeda Tonks.
The boy's parents had died during the war, but not before naming her the at the time just born Teddy. Harry had confronted Andromeda and asked for the woman's forgiveness. Her daughter had died because of her and she had burst into tears the moment the two women met.
But Andromeda had never hold it against her. The Tonks matriarch had hugged Harriet and thanked her for choosing to be Teddy's godmother. The two had bonded quickly and the famous witch had spent the years helping Andromeda raise the boy.
Every summer and winter she visited them, and the three of them had spent the time enjoying their lives together as a family.
Dear Andromeda.
How are you? And Teddy? Before you ask, I am very well and eating healthy.
I don't know if you've read the newspapers, but I have entered Hogwarts as the professor for Defence Against the Dark Arts.
McGonagall has given me a beautiful room. You should see how big it is!
The students here are very enthusiastic during my lessons. If they have O in my class I will consider myself happy, knowing that I thought them correctly.
I will visit you during Winter and we can celebrate Christmas. You must tell me what Teddy wants. Don't even pay attention to the price, I WILL buy it.
A thousand kisses and hugs to the two of you.
Love you both, Harry.
The woman squirmed the letter a couple of times before being satisfied.
Putting it aside, Harry started her next letter, this time to Ivan.
Hello, Ivan.
Harry here. I decided to write you now that I have a spare moment so we can chose were to go on our date.
I must admit that have never been in one with anybody due to extreme circumstances (Fleeing from a nose-less bastard that seemed to not get the message to leave me alone and is finally gone from my life) and wanted to know if you had anything in mind.
Hope that you'll be patient with somebody as inexperienced as me in the matters of love with.
I'm not sure what made you ask me, but I'm sure I'll enjoy anything we do together.
So, no pressure. ;).
Best of luck, Harriet Lily Potter.
Harry smiled and casted a spell to cheek the hour. Seeing as there was still plenty of time before dinner, the witch decided to begin grading the few assignments she had received from her students.
That night after taking another shower, Harriet went to sleep in the comfortable embrace of her warm bed.
XXX
That same evening, the boy that had asked for Harriet's autograph discovered the most strangest thing he had seen in his entire time at the school.
Theodore had been walking through one of the hallways of Hogwarts admonishing himself for the blunder and embarrassment of his impulsive act the first day in class, when he saw from the corner of his eye a sight the boy hadn't expected.
He approached the corner of the walls, where the position of the bricks made a ninety-degree angle that indicated a branch in the corridor and crouched.
From between the various cracks in the stone, a member of the Agaricaceae family poked its cap out of the dirt.
It was a mushroom of a colour not seen on Earth, with an everchanging hue that made it seem almost ethereal. It was decorated with small dots of a purple colour and possessed a very tall stalk stained with a crimson tone. The combination of all its features was hypnotic.
The boy scratched his head in confusion at the sight. The impossibility of the situation boggled the mind and Theodore didn't think it was possible for the fungus to grow in such a well-maintained place as the castle where he currently studied.
The Gryffindor boy smiled and nodded to himself. This discovery could be a way for him to gain some points for the House. The thing that Stephenson needed to do was bring it to the Madam Sprout and ask the Herbology professor to see if the woman could identify such a particular fungus.
Casting away all precaution, he grabbed the stalk of the multicoloured mushroom and pulled, trying to unroot it from its place. Theodore found easy to do such a thing, but it came at a cost most dire.
Poouuufffh!
The mushroom's cap exploded and showered his face full of its spores. He jerked back on instinct, but not before the particles released by the strange fungi were inhaled.
"*Akjh!* *Cjoujh!* W-wha-?! *Rjk!* *Jouhj* Cjkh!*" The cloud of entered his lungs, making the boy cough uncontrollably. A sour taste filled his mouth and his tongue tingled due to the irritating effect of the spores" *Kjouhj* This is nasty! *Coujh!* *Kjh!*".
Dropping the mushroom on instinct, Theodore rose and pulled out his tongue with an expression of disgust. The sensation of throwing up reached his throat, but the boy found himself unable to act on it.
He walked towards a window and opened it. Theodore spit outside a couple of times to get rid of the taste. Once calmed down, the boy took a deep breath and let the fresh air fill up his lungs.
The boy turned around and frowned. The mushroom's last act as a living organism had left it a dried-up husk. The strange coloration of the cap had been drained from it and bleached a pale grey. Cursing his bad luck, he grabbed the fungus and throwed it outside as a means to relieve some of his frustration.
Well, that sucks, Theodore thought.
Huffing and rambling in his mind, the Gryffindor boy decided to return to the House's Common Room and vent his grievances to his friends.
Unknown to him, his curiosity would be punished severely. But the boy's rash decision to discard it was truly unwise, for a shadow of misfortune had been casted over Hogwarts and all its inhabitants. And the mushroom's sudden presence was the first signs of the terrible things to come.