***A.N. Keep the reviews coming! I don't know how some of you feel about
the story-I'll take any suggestions you have! I know the storie's a little
slow right now, but no worries, Rori's off to her first teaching job! With
no prior experience! This should be good.***
"Well WHAT am I supposed to do now?!" Rori whined, standing in the middle of the cobblestone side street. It was pretty dark, and creepy, but from where she was standing, she could see the main streets.
"Thank God," she sighed, and began to shuffle as fast as she could toward the inviting glow of the main streets.
She felt absolutely ridiculous, scuffling around the streets of London with a huge box in her arms dressed in a Halloween costume. Come to think of it, Rori hadn't changed clothes in the past 2 days.
"I look disgusting. I need a shower!" Rori was not used to going a day without one, bad hygiene was an issue in her book.
She finally made it to the train station and walked up to Platform 9 ¾. "I hope this is it." She casually leaned against the wall between platforms 9 and 10, and fell through with a yelp.
"Ugh! Well, at least he didn't lie to me!" Rori groaned as she struggled to overcome the incredible amount of pressure the box was giving her, and slowly inched up from the ground. She turned around to see a train, whistling and-pulling out?!
Rori shuffled as fast as she could the back of the train, placed the box on the ledge, and hoisted herself up just before it really started to pick up speed.
"I really have to cut back on the smoking," Rori said to herself through panting breaths.
She entered the train and was knocked over by a flash of blue light.
"That's it! I'm fed up with-what is going on?!" Rori screamed, as she saw two boys beating the hell out of each other on the floor, being cheered and yelled at by some students behind them. "Stop it!" Rori dropped the box and rushed at the boys and pulled them apart. "Stop it! What's this all about?!"
"What do you care?" said one of the boys from the fight. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, one of which began to turn an ugly shade of purple.
"Well, for ONE thing, one of you almost knocked me out as I entered! I'm tired, hungry, and I haven't showered in two days. And from what I have just seen- I'm POSITIVE that teaching at this school is going to be less than enjoyable!" Rori finished in one breath and brushed her hair out of her face.
The students in the car all gaped at her.
"You're going to teach here? But you're.young!" said the other boy from the fight, whose glasses were cracked and hanging off his nose.
"Yes, I am your new potions teacher, Professor.." Rori shuddered at the term Professor; she made her position official, no going back. "...Fitzgerald." That didn't sound right, this was too bizarre.
A red-headed boy in the back broke the momentary silence, "If you're the new potions professor, then that means Snape ." the boy trailed off with a smile. Half of the students were smiling, the others didn't look happy.
"That Professor Snape will be teaching.ehhh, some other class, I'm assuming."
"The Dark Arts!" said the now smiling blonde boy. The expressions the students were wearing did a 180. Those who were smiling, were now frowning, the frowning ones were now glowing.
"Now, what, may I ask are your names? I have a feeling someone like the Headmaster would like to hear about this." "WOW, having authority is great!" she thought.
"Harry," said the boy with the glasses.
"Ron," said the blonde boy.
"That is not your name Draco Malfoy!" squealed one of the on looking girls.
"Draco Malfoy? As in, Lucius Malfoy's son?"
"Yeah, that's me."
Rori's mouth curled into a devilish smile, "Well, I'll be sure to report this to the Headmaster upon arrival. Now break it up and be civil until we arrive at school."
"But don't you want to hear what happened?"
"I could not care less as to why you were fighting, or WHY no one decided to try and stop you two. Everyone here is at fault. You two clean yourselves up and go back to your compartments and behave yourselves."
They all turned away, shot harsh looks at each other and walked off. She took a seat in the compartment next to her and went limp. "Ugh! What a day! I'm not too bad at this teacher thing!" she thought, and began to drift off to the soothing sounds of the train.
Rori had the best, non- assisted, sleep she'd had in a long time. She finally woke up and looked out the window at the NOT MOVING scenery! How long had she slept?! She noticed her box was gone, and panicked. She flew out of the compartment and out of the train. Raced up the hill towards the school all the way up to the front doors and didn't stop, she ran through the doors and straight towards a pair of huge doors and burst through.
"Sorry I'm late!" She said, in between breaths. She stopped dead when she realized everyone in the hall was staring at her. Boy, did she feel stupid, way to be punctual the first day, what an impression.
"Students and teachers, I would like to introduce you to your new potions teacher, Professor Fitzgerald!" came the booming voice of the Headmaster at the other end of the hall.
"Heh, hello," Rori said uncomfortably.
"Please, Professor, come join us," said the smiling white-bearded Headmaster, as he motioned to an empty seat "gulp" next to Snape.
Rori hurried across the room as all eyes followed with her, and took her seat.
"Now let the feast begin!"
"They waited for me?" Rori thought, thoroughly embarrassed by now, and she could see Snape nodding his head.
"Excellent work, really, Bravo. Dumbledore was right, you will shape out to be a spectacular teacher here," he sarcastically snapped at her.
"Thanks, I try hard," Rori snapped back.
"Don't--" Snape began, but she wouldn't have it.
"Don't what? Take that tone with you? We are equals here, I'm not someone you can order around."
And with that, Snape returned to his dinner. Rori hadn't eaten a decent meal in days-she was starving-so she dug into the sumptuous feast before her.
After dinner, Snape told Rori that he would direct her to her living quarters. But that's not where they ended up. Snape led her to Dumbledore's office.
"Shut the door please, Severus," said Dumbledore. "Now," he smiled "Why do you think I hired you to take up the difficult task of teaching the students at this school Potions?"
"Because, somehow you knew I was good at it?" Rori replied.
"Wrong. I hired you because Voldomort hired you."
"Wait, are you working for him or something?"
"No, no Professor. When Severus here, told me that Voldomort was going to take you in as a spy and have you teach here, I figured that you could assist us in his defeat," he finished with a smile and a twinkle in his eye. He sort of reminded Rori of a skinny Santa Clause.
"Well, let me ask you what I asked Voldomort in hopes that you won't scream at me and attempt to burn my arm off: Why should I?"
Snape gave a groan of annoyance behind Rori and she spun around. "What? What is it this time? I'm a bit new to all of this! You could be a little more considerate! I have been thrown into it all, without the chance to even think about my options, it was either 'Join us Rori' or 'We'll kill you Rori.' And I'd like to live, if you don't mind! And where do you get off throwing a box in my face and leaving me to figure the rest out on my own? I'm not saying I'm not capable enough of figuring things out, but you could have stuck around to answer one of the million questions I had before you vanished!"
"Miss Fitzgerald," Dumbledore began; Rori wasn't finished.
"By the way, do you know that I almost missed the train, and I lost that stupid box? Yes?" she said, turning back to Dumbledore. "Oh, sorry. Heh. I'm a little on edge right now."
"That's perfectly understandable. Why don't you take a seat , you too, Severus. I will explain all that I can ," he said, as he put up a hand to stop Snape from lashing back at Rori, who, Rori could see, was just as irate as she was, if not more.
"To put it simply, we are the good guys, so to speak. I'm sure you have realized this because of how both Voldomort and Lucius have treated you."
"How does he know this?" Rori thought.
"Because I told him, you idiot," came another voice.
"Who IS that?!" she thought again to herself.
"The owner of that voice COULD be sitting right next to you," came the voice.
"You? Wait, I thought that voice sounded familiar," she thought back. Then Rori came to the realization that when Snape spoke to her the first time like this, he was actually being-- kind, not the annoying git she had thought him to be. (AN: I put "realization" because she didn't think this, she felt it, so Snape didn't know she thought that he was kind-or a git).
"I didn't know you could do this t-wait you know what? I asked this man a question," pretending to pay attention to Dumbledore, smiling and nodding, "and I'd like to hear his answer."
"I'll tell you what he says later, I've heard the speech before."
Dumbledore's voice came back into focus: "So, I suppose I could give you until tomorrow morning to make your final decision. Now Severus, if you would be so kind as to show Aurora here to her living quarters."
Snape led Rori out of the office and down the corridor to her room, but it was more like a miniature house.
"Make yourself at home because it will all you will have for the next year. Your classroom is around the corner to the right. What Dumbledore was saying is, essentially, if you do not join us here at Hogwarts in the fight to defeat Voldomort, we will have to report you to the ministry and they will cart you off to prison where you will wallow in your sorrow for the rest of your life. Of course," he continued, in a matter-of-fact tone, "you don't have to do what we tell you, it's just something to sleep on."
He turned at left Rori in her awe of the room.
She walked in to find a fire-lit living room attached to the kitchen and a door that led to the bedroom, sort of like a fancy hotel room. She made her way into the bedroom where she found her box. It wasn't stolen!
She opened the box to find an even smaller box with a letter attached to it. The boxed contained a wand, and the letter read:
I realize that you do not contain the skills necessary to use this wand properly, but I have a feeling that after practicing a few simple spells, you'll get the hang of it. If you don't, then it is no big loss, you will skill have your potions knowledge. Inside you'll find a class schedule, attendance sheets,books, and a class-by-class teaching guide that I have used for some time.
It was unsigned, but Rori knew it was from Snape. Rori roamed around the room and found the kitched stocked with food. The armoire in the bedroom contained clothes that seemed to be just her size, and her favorite colors, deep violets and plums laced with black.
"New clothes, new home, what could be missing?" Rori thought. "A SHOWER!" So, fulfilled the missing item and went to bed. She already felt like home, there was no way she would leave this one too, besides, the third time was always usually the charm.
"Well WHAT am I supposed to do now?!" Rori whined, standing in the middle of the cobblestone side street. It was pretty dark, and creepy, but from where she was standing, she could see the main streets.
"Thank God," she sighed, and began to shuffle as fast as she could toward the inviting glow of the main streets.
She felt absolutely ridiculous, scuffling around the streets of London with a huge box in her arms dressed in a Halloween costume. Come to think of it, Rori hadn't changed clothes in the past 2 days.
"I look disgusting. I need a shower!" Rori was not used to going a day without one, bad hygiene was an issue in her book.
She finally made it to the train station and walked up to Platform 9 ¾. "I hope this is it." She casually leaned against the wall between platforms 9 and 10, and fell through with a yelp.
"Ugh! Well, at least he didn't lie to me!" Rori groaned as she struggled to overcome the incredible amount of pressure the box was giving her, and slowly inched up from the ground. She turned around to see a train, whistling and-pulling out?!
Rori shuffled as fast as she could the back of the train, placed the box on the ledge, and hoisted herself up just before it really started to pick up speed.
"I really have to cut back on the smoking," Rori said to herself through panting breaths.
She entered the train and was knocked over by a flash of blue light.
"That's it! I'm fed up with-what is going on?!" Rori screamed, as she saw two boys beating the hell out of each other on the floor, being cheered and yelled at by some students behind them. "Stop it!" Rori dropped the box and rushed at the boys and pulled them apart. "Stop it! What's this all about?!"
"What do you care?" said one of the boys from the fight. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, one of which began to turn an ugly shade of purple.
"Well, for ONE thing, one of you almost knocked me out as I entered! I'm tired, hungry, and I haven't showered in two days. And from what I have just seen- I'm POSITIVE that teaching at this school is going to be less than enjoyable!" Rori finished in one breath and brushed her hair out of her face.
The students in the car all gaped at her.
"You're going to teach here? But you're.young!" said the other boy from the fight, whose glasses were cracked and hanging off his nose.
"Yes, I am your new potions teacher, Professor.." Rori shuddered at the term Professor; she made her position official, no going back. "...Fitzgerald." That didn't sound right, this was too bizarre.
A red-headed boy in the back broke the momentary silence, "If you're the new potions professor, then that means Snape ." the boy trailed off with a smile. Half of the students were smiling, the others didn't look happy.
"That Professor Snape will be teaching.ehhh, some other class, I'm assuming."
"The Dark Arts!" said the now smiling blonde boy. The expressions the students were wearing did a 180. Those who were smiling, were now frowning, the frowning ones were now glowing.
"Now, what, may I ask are your names? I have a feeling someone like the Headmaster would like to hear about this." "WOW, having authority is great!" she thought.
"Harry," said the boy with the glasses.
"Ron," said the blonde boy.
"That is not your name Draco Malfoy!" squealed one of the on looking girls.
"Draco Malfoy? As in, Lucius Malfoy's son?"
"Yeah, that's me."
Rori's mouth curled into a devilish smile, "Well, I'll be sure to report this to the Headmaster upon arrival. Now break it up and be civil until we arrive at school."
"But don't you want to hear what happened?"
"I could not care less as to why you were fighting, or WHY no one decided to try and stop you two. Everyone here is at fault. You two clean yourselves up and go back to your compartments and behave yourselves."
They all turned away, shot harsh looks at each other and walked off. She took a seat in the compartment next to her and went limp. "Ugh! What a day! I'm not too bad at this teacher thing!" she thought, and began to drift off to the soothing sounds of the train.
Rori had the best, non- assisted, sleep she'd had in a long time. She finally woke up and looked out the window at the NOT MOVING scenery! How long had she slept?! She noticed her box was gone, and panicked. She flew out of the compartment and out of the train. Raced up the hill towards the school all the way up to the front doors and didn't stop, she ran through the doors and straight towards a pair of huge doors and burst through.
"Sorry I'm late!" She said, in between breaths. She stopped dead when she realized everyone in the hall was staring at her. Boy, did she feel stupid, way to be punctual the first day, what an impression.
"Students and teachers, I would like to introduce you to your new potions teacher, Professor Fitzgerald!" came the booming voice of the Headmaster at the other end of the hall.
"Heh, hello," Rori said uncomfortably.
"Please, Professor, come join us," said the smiling white-bearded Headmaster, as he motioned to an empty seat "gulp" next to Snape.
Rori hurried across the room as all eyes followed with her, and took her seat.
"Now let the feast begin!"
"They waited for me?" Rori thought, thoroughly embarrassed by now, and she could see Snape nodding his head.
"Excellent work, really, Bravo. Dumbledore was right, you will shape out to be a spectacular teacher here," he sarcastically snapped at her.
"Thanks, I try hard," Rori snapped back.
"Don't--" Snape began, but she wouldn't have it.
"Don't what? Take that tone with you? We are equals here, I'm not someone you can order around."
And with that, Snape returned to his dinner. Rori hadn't eaten a decent meal in days-she was starving-so she dug into the sumptuous feast before her.
After dinner, Snape told Rori that he would direct her to her living quarters. But that's not where they ended up. Snape led her to Dumbledore's office.
"Shut the door please, Severus," said Dumbledore. "Now," he smiled "Why do you think I hired you to take up the difficult task of teaching the students at this school Potions?"
"Because, somehow you knew I was good at it?" Rori replied.
"Wrong. I hired you because Voldomort hired you."
"Wait, are you working for him or something?"
"No, no Professor. When Severus here, told me that Voldomort was going to take you in as a spy and have you teach here, I figured that you could assist us in his defeat," he finished with a smile and a twinkle in his eye. He sort of reminded Rori of a skinny Santa Clause.
"Well, let me ask you what I asked Voldomort in hopes that you won't scream at me and attempt to burn my arm off: Why should I?"
Snape gave a groan of annoyance behind Rori and she spun around. "What? What is it this time? I'm a bit new to all of this! You could be a little more considerate! I have been thrown into it all, without the chance to even think about my options, it was either 'Join us Rori' or 'We'll kill you Rori.' And I'd like to live, if you don't mind! And where do you get off throwing a box in my face and leaving me to figure the rest out on my own? I'm not saying I'm not capable enough of figuring things out, but you could have stuck around to answer one of the million questions I had before you vanished!"
"Miss Fitzgerald," Dumbledore began; Rori wasn't finished.
"By the way, do you know that I almost missed the train, and I lost that stupid box? Yes?" she said, turning back to Dumbledore. "Oh, sorry. Heh. I'm a little on edge right now."
"That's perfectly understandable. Why don't you take a seat , you too, Severus. I will explain all that I can ," he said, as he put up a hand to stop Snape from lashing back at Rori, who, Rori could see, was just as irate as she was, if not more.
"To put it simply, we are the good guys, so to speak. I'm sure you have realized this because of how both Voldomort and Lucius have treated you."
"How does he know this?" Rori thought.
"Because I told him, you idiot," came another voice.
"Who IS that?!" she thought again to herself.
"The owner of that voice COULD be sitting right next to you," came the voice.
"You? Wait, I thought that voice sounded familiar," she thought back. Then Rori came to the realization that when Snape spoke to her the first time like this, he was actually being-- kind, not the annoying git she had thought him to be. (AN: I put "realization" because she didn't think this, she felt it, so Snape didn't know she thought that he was kind-or a git).
"I didn't know you could do this t-wait you know what? I asked this man a question," pretending to pay attention to Dumbledore, smiling and nodding, "and I'd like to hear his answer."
"I'll tell you what he says later, I've heard the speech before."
Dumbledore's voice came back into focus: "So, I suppose I could give you until tomorrow morning to make your final decision. Now Severus, if you would be so kind as to show Aurora here to her living quarters."
Snape led Rori out of the office and down the corridor to her room, but it was more like a miniature house.
"Make yourself at home because it will all you will have for the next year. Your classroom is around the corner to the right. What Dumbledore was saying is, essentially, if you do not join us here at Hogwarts in the fight to defeat Voldomort, we will have to report you to the ministry and they will cart you off to prison where you will wallow in your sorrow for the rest of your life. Of course," he continued, in a matter-of-fact tone, "you don't have to do what we tell you, it's just something to sleep on."
He turned at left Rori in her awe of the room.
She walked in to find a fire-lit living room attached to the kitchen and a door that led to the bedroom, sort of like a fancy hotel room. She made her way into the bedroom where she found her box. It wasn't stolen!
She opened the box to find an even smaller box with a letter attached to it. The boxed contained a wand, and the letter read:
I realize that you do not contain the skills necessary to use this wand properly, but I have a feeling that after practicing a few simple spells, you'll get the hang of it. If you don't, then it is no big loss, you will skill have your potions knowledge. Inside you'll find a class schedule, attendance sheets,books, and a class-by-class teaching guide that I have used for some time.
It was unsigned, but Rori knew it was from Snape. Rori roamed around the room and found the kitched stocked with food. The armoire in the bedroom contained clothes that seemed to be just her size, and her favorite colors, deep violets and plums laced with black.
"New clothes, new home, what could be missing?" Rori thought. "A SHOWER!" So, fulfilled the missing item and went to bed. She already felt like home, there was no way she would leave this one too, besides, the third time was always usually the charm.