That evening, House sat in a corner of the Leaky Cauldron alone with his meal, reading through articles on the wizard war and trials for war criminals. Nothing meant much to him but he read it thoroughly, wanting to understand more about the world he would be living in now. Suddenly he saw a name he recognized. Severus Snape, the boy who'd told him he was a least a little magic when he was thirteen, was featured in the article, having been pardoned of all crimes by the Ministry on the testimony of Harry Potter. He read about him being a spy for 17 years now and the horrific injury he'd received as the war drew to its conclusion at the Battle of Hogwarts. The article mentioned that the school was due to reopen on schedule this fall and speculated on whether Snape would return as headmaster or at least as a teacher.
House remembered Snape very well from the summer his family had spent in England. Both boys were outcasts, both abused by their fathers, both with a cynical outlook on life already. They had gotten along famously and spent all their waking hours together, sometimes joined by Snape's only other friend, Lily Evans. He wondered what had become of her and her mean spirited sister, Petunia.
There were a few job notices in the paper but most he could tell needed a trained wizard to fill, although there were a few for squibs but they were mostly non-challenging, menial labor. He'd never last long at one of them. The only one that caught his eye was at Hogwarts School, a professor for muggle studies. Well, he certainly knew about muggles and he'd had some teaching experience at the hospital. Maybe he could learn to use his wand if he could get a job there. He decided to send an inquiry tomorrow with the post owls. He settled down with his books and read for hours before taking the last dose of potions and dropping deeply into sleep.
The next day he sent his inquiry off to Deputy Headmistress McGonagall then ensconced himself in a library to catch up on what had been going on in the wizard world for the last thirty years. He'd been completely shocked by all that he'd read. The first wizard war, Voldemort and the Death Eaters, even that Snape had been one of them and turned before the war had begun. It was dark outside before he returned to the inn for dinner with more books in hand. Tom called to him and handed him a letter which he took to his room to read. It was from McGonagall.
Dear Mr. House,
Thank you for your inquiry about the muggle studies professorship. Since teachers are expected to hold authority over young wizards, we have not hired anyone to the position who is not well learned in wielding magic. However, your background is unique and your medical training is of interest to our school infirmarian. If you are willing to split your duties between teaching muggle studies and the school infirmary, I am prepared to offer you the position. Please come to Hogsmeade on Thursday at 11. I and Madam Pomfrey will meet you at the Three Broomsticks for a lunch interview. Provided that goes well, I will give you all the particulars you will need to know to begin the position. You will be paid a salary as well as provided room and board when school is in session.
Sincerely,
M. McGonagall
House folded the letter back up thoughtfully. He was surprised to be honest; he hadn't expected to be given a real chance. He didn't know what good he'd be in the infirmary of a wizard school, but he was willing to give it a go. He wrote an agreement to meet and set it aside to be sent in the morning.
Wednesday afternoon he picked up the train and rode to Hogsmeade. He'd have to leave straight after the interview to get back for his healer appointment but he was alright with that. The potions were working and the train was comfortable. He spent the night at the inn and wandered the town in the morning before making his way to the Three Broomsticks at ten minutes to eleven.
Soon enough he was seated with the two women and could see how they were qualified to teach. He felt like a schoolboy again in front of them.
"Mr. House, my name is Minerva McGonagall and this is Poppy Pomfrey. Thank you for your promptness. It is a trait I admire as a headmistress and teacher," she said with a smile.
"Well, I'm not great at promptness anymore, though my father tried his best to drill it into me. In this case, I came here yesterday and spent the night, since I had to take the train from London," House answered. "Greg House," he added, remembering he should reciprocate and introduce himself.
'Why did you not floo here from the Leaky Cauldron?" Minerva asked, a bit confused.
"That would require me knowing what you mean by that and how to do it," he answered.
"Gracious, I didn't realize you didn't know. I do apologize, Mr. House. I must remember that you have no more information than our muggleborn students do when they arrive at school," Minerva exclaimed. "I will show you how to use the public floo network after our interview. But first, let's order lunch and then we'll talk."
A few minutes later, their lunch orders were brought and their drinks refreshed. After a couple of bites, Minerva began the interview.
"As a muggle born, you are clearly qualified to teach wizards about muggles but I fear you may have difficulty relating this information to the students, given your lack of knowledge about the wizarding community. You won't have the other half of the analogy for comparison, you see."
"True, but I intend to spend my time between now and the start of term learning as much as I can about the wizarding community," House responded. "I'm a quick learner and an apt observer. It may be difficult for the first month or two, but I'll get the hang of it quick enough."
"Why do you want to come live in the wizarding community at such a late age, Mr. House?" Poppy asked. "It's most unusual, you must understand. Adults don't adapt to such drastic changes as well as eleven year old children."
"When I was 13 years old living in England, I met a wizard who told me that I had a little magic myself. I only knew him for the summer, then my family moved again and life interceded. I've worn out my welcome in the muggle world. My family is dead, the only friend I had left passed away last year. I gave up my career to spend his last six months of life with him. But I had been under parole and in order to be with him, I… faked my death. I can't go back to my old career, even if I wanted to, which I don't. Too many bad memories and dark shadows there. So, one night, I remembered that boy from when I was 13 and decided to come back to England and try to make contact. I think maybe I could, I don't know… start over? Maybe be a different person than I was last time."
"I can't think a person who would give up his career and risk his freedom to spend the last six months of a friend's life with him is all that bad that you need to be a different person," Poppy observed.
"No, that part wasn't bad. It just came way too late," he said morosely, staring into his tea for a long moment.
"Well, you said you worked as a muggle doctor," she began again. "What did you treat?"
"I had specialties in kidneys and infectious diseases, but the last 10 years I spent diagnosing rare and exceedingly uncommon presentations of disease. I like the challenge of solving a difficult puzzle. It's through doing that job that I have some teaching experience, with young adults though. I did some lectures for medical students and taught several young doctors to diagnose rare diseases as well. I'm not sure how that experience would transfer to a wizard school infirmary."
"That part doesn't directly, I suppose, but if you could apply the same methods to knowing what potion ingredient went awry in class, or what hex was used in the hallways to treat the students quicker, that would be of great use. And you can always administer potions and monitor care. However, I have been asked by St. Mungo's, the wizard hospital," she added, not wanting to presume that he knew that, "to offer classes to students from fifth year onward who might be interested in becoming healers. If you would be willing to help me put that curriculum together and split teaching duties, that would be a great benefit to me. After all, they still need to understand anatomy, how the body systems work and all that before they learn different treatment methods."
House nodded slowly as he thought this through. "Yeah, I could do that with you. I've never started from scratch before, even the med students had already had a few years teaching before they got to me. Sure, I'd like that."
"Well, then you, sir, need at least three crash courses in wizarding life over the next six weeks or so," Minerva said with a chuckle at the startled look on his face.
"Three?" he asked.
"Indeed. One, you need to learn enough about the wizarding world to live permanently amongst us; our culture, systems, history and such. Two, you need to learn how to use what magic you have. I'll not throw you to the proverbial wolves by putting you out there with pranksters at every turn. Three, you need to learn about wizarding medicine, even if you cannot master enough magic to practice it, you'll need to know the theory in order to teach, will you not?" Minerva asked sharply.
House nodded, letting out the breath he'd been holding in one puff. "Well, when you put it that way, I'm going to be pretty busy."
"Do you have a place to reside?"
"Not yet. I've only been here for a few days."
"There are a couple of flats for rent here in Hogsmeade. If you find one suitable, you can come up to the school for lessons before the term starts. That will allow you to get acquainted with the castle and the staff, both are quite eccentric," she added with a smile.
"That sounds as good as any plan I had. I do have an appointment tomorrow at St. Mungo's, to deal with a bum leg if possible, so if I'm to take the train back tonight, I can't stay longer than 3:30 this afternoon."
"Oh, no bother there, I'll have you floo back to the Leaky Cauldron. It will be good practice for you," Minerva said airily.
"What is wrong with your leg?" Poppy asked.
"Muscle death caused by a blood clot. They removed a chunk of muscle and there's a lot of pain and difficult movement because of that. Healer Davis seemed to think that Healer Collingsworth might have an idea or two that might help."
"Well, if anyone does, it would be him. Though you should know, Hogwarts is a castle. There are no elevators and it's a great deal of walking."
"I found that out already," he said with a sigh. "I figure I'm going to have to suck it up and wear a leg brace."
"I'll see what I can do to get your quarters and classroom centrally located as close to the hospital wing as possible," Minerva interjected. "We're still finishing repairs so now is the perfect time to add in a few changes."
They finished their meal and he filled out and signed his teaching contract, feeling good about his prospects in the wizarding world. Minerva decided on a floo lesson right then and there, taking them to the Hogwarts Infirmary on his very first trip. He came out stumbling and sooty but grinning madly at the ride. After a quick tour of the main floor of the castle and meeting Slughorn, Flitwick and Professor Sprout, he sat down with Minerva in the great hall to look at the castle floorplans, laying out where he would teach and reside. Finally, Minerva accompanied him back through the floo to the Three Broomsticks.
"Here is a letter of employment for you, a landlord will be assured to know you are employed after all," she said handing him an envelope. "You might consider buying your own owl; it would make setting up lessons and meetings easier. Good luck at St. Mungo's tomorrow, Professor House," she said with a smile as she gave him his title. "Do let me know how it goes and when you've returned to Hogsmeade." With that, she stepped back into the floo and was gone.
