Sariyah could just feel her face contorting into a look of discomfort as Snape drew nearer to her. He was a towering figure, and his black robes billowed as he ambled closer to where she was sitting.
"Sariyah Khan. It's quite nice to see you back at Hogwarts, and as a teacher too," he said in a low, sugary voice. He ran his long fingers through his mop of greasy black hair and flashed a wide grin at the woman.
Sariyah forced her facial muscles out of the position they were currently in to somehow salvage a meek smile in Snape's direction. "Well, Severus, even I didn't know that I was going to be the teacher until a week ago. This was all quite sudden for me."
"Yes, I know. The current professors here didn't find out who the new professor was going to be until about four days ago. I would like to talk more with you, Sariyah, catch up on things, perhaps? Being in the same class and all, I would love to hear how you're getting on-"
"That may have to wait, Severus, as I have lots of preparation to do for my new classes. But perhaps a little later, when the students have settled a little and gotten used to me?" she cut him off, not wanting to hear what else he wanted to discuss with her.
"Of course, it makes perfect sense," he answered. "Anytime, perhaps even over some tea, or-"
"I have read your tea leaves, Professor Snape," Professor Trelawny entered the conversation with a very foggy manner, "and I would advise you never to drink tea ever again, as death is written in the leaves, written as clearly as a placid lake in the spring."
"I really wish you would not read tea leaves for me," snarled Snape. He angrily grabbed a teapot that was sitting nearby, snatched a cup off the table, and hastily poured some tea into it. He shoved the cup against his mouth and swallowed it in two large, scalding gulps. His snappy actions had attracted the attention of most of the left half of the head table, and all the professors looking at him had bewildered looks on their faces except for Sariyah, who was wearing a look of mild shock. Snape slammed the teapot down, splattering some tea a good two feet down the table.
"There! You see, I'm not dead, am I?" yelled Snape.
"Professor Snape!" boomed a voice at the end of the table. "Ye'd better be calmin' down a little, taint nothin' to get all worked up about. And anyhow, yer scarin' the new Professor." Hagrid's black eyes twinkled as he smiled at Sariyah. Sariyah chuckled and shook her head.
Snape took off angrily back towards his seat. Sariyah heaved a sigh and finally began to eat her food which had been going cold on her plate, as it had been sitting there for over fifteen minutes. The rest of dinner was quite uneventful; she finished off her pumpkin juice and made her way through throngs of teachers and students out of the great hall, nearly running over a young man with a camera. He looked at her, then quickly snapped a picture.
"Thanks!" he smiled and sprinted off in the other direction.
"Don't mind him, he does that to everyone," said a deep voice behind her. She turned around to meet a pair of green eyes that rivaled her own. "He followed me around the whole second year with that camera, Colin did."
She smiled at the Boy Who Lived. "Hello, Harry."
He didn't need to ask how she knew who he was. "Hello," he replied back. He was about to carry on a conversation with her when Dean interrupted.
"So are you a vampire?" asked Dean. Harry shook his head at Dean's impudence.
"Me? No, no, not at all." Sariyah laughed. "I must look like one though; I haven't slept in days."
"No, actually you don't look like one at all," Ron, a brilliant red color, chimed in. "We've had so many...er...unique professors for Defense, it just seemed as though you should have been a vampire or something, but you don't look like one at all. Vampires just don't look like you, you know?" he began rambling out of nervousness.
"Ron is...uh...he's a bit slow sometimes," said Harry, saving the redhead from more embarrassment. Sariyah flashed Ron a reassuring smile and ran her long fingers through her dark reddish-brown hair.
"Well, I suppose I'll be seeing you in class on Tuesday, boys," said Sariyah. "I'm afraid I've forgotten to take my blood capsules for today." She bared her teeth and made a comical hissing noise. Harry, Ron and Dean laughed and waved goodbye to Sariyah as she headed towards her office.
The woman yawned and stretched her arms. She was already exhausted, but it was well past midnight by the time she had organized her thoughts and materials for her classes the next day. She was about to climb into bed when there was a sharp rapping on the office door. She opened it, but no one was there. She looked up and down the hallway to no avail. Then she noticed the note tacked to the door. She took it off and read the curvy script.
A reminder that there will be a brief meeting concerning the safety of the students tomorrow, promptly at 7:30. Thank you.
Sariyah nodded to herself. Indeed the magical community had been thrown into an uproar during the last year with Voldemort returning. She yawned again, slid under the warm bedcovers, and slipped into a dreamless sleep.
Monday was probably one of the longest days of Sariyah's life. She had three classes that day, the first years, the second years, and the third years, all in a row. She had only minor problems with students being in the wrong classes, and one first year girl had begun sobbing her eyes out because she had left her book in the dormitories. Sariyah absolutely loved children, perhaps because she never found the time to have any of her own, and children loved her too.
The roughest ride was with the first-year class. They were scared stiff when she brought out a large book she had borrowed from the library's restricted section, Unusual Dark Beasts. The book let out a low roar as she opened it and sprang from her hands and began slithering towards the door as quickly as a snake. She launched herself deftly over her desk and sprinted after it, and after wrestling with the book on the ground, she successfully made it stop struggling by letting it nibble on her finger.
"Sorry about that!" she grinned at the terror-struck first-years, while cradling the now-contented book in her arms. "Wasn't expecting it to put up that much of a fight, but it's quite an interesting read."
The second-years enjoyed her short lecture on the history of certain spells, and how a spell can turn evil. The third-years equally enjoyed her prodding on a fight (in a safe cage, of course) between a kappa and a menacing hinkypunk. She was slightly frazzled after the kappa nearly bit off her hand towards the end of the class. The boys who were slow to leave the room helped her carry the cages with the monsters in them back to the animal storage room.
She re-entered Defense Against the Dark Arts room and slid onto the chair behind her desk and breathed a sigh of relief...first day, done. What she could really have used at that point was tea spiked with something strong and alcoholic...but regular tea would have to do. With a wave of her wand and a murmur of "Accio teapot," a teapot zoomed out of her cupboard across the room. She poured the tea into the cup she had summoned and sipped it in long, slow draughts, closing her eyes. Her brain began to drift back to the same room she was in, 15 years earlier. Voices and memories of the past quickly filled her mind as they always did when she relaxed for a moment...
"I think I'm going a little mad, Sar," laughed a deep male voice.
Sariyah smiled in agreement. "No need to tell me that, I had it figured from the start. Why did you two pull me in here? We're missing James's last match, and you know how Lily gets when I'm not there cheering with her."
"I know, I know, but I think...we think that this is more important than Lily's match," answered a second male voice, this one more soft-spoken than the first.
"James's, you mean." Sariyah corrected the second young man. He was handsome, tall and thin with sandy hair and gray eyes.
"Yes, whoever's," replied the man. He was now staring into her eyes, and he knew that now he couldn't get out of what was going to be said. He saw so much in those olive-hued eyes...trust and innocence, but also unsurpassed wisdom...and he longed to see so much more. "Sariyah, we want to know more about your…lineage."
Sariyah looked puzzled.
"Well Sariyah," said the first young man. "It does seem a little strange to us that you can…do some things with a little more power than normal wizards."
Sariyah's eyes narrowed. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Sariyah, we looked up your family tree, and we think we know why." The first young man's dark eyes pierced her own.
"What are you talking about, Sirius?" she asked.
"You know how you mentioned that you were ¼ Egyptian? Your lineage goes back to the great Egyptian witch Nefertiti," Sirius said.
"She was the most powerful witch of her age and time, Sariyah, and we think that maybe…you inherited some of her powers," Remus added. "The ancient Egyptians knew things that we don't know today, Sariyah. They had powers, extra powers, and your mom probably—"
"Don't bring her into this," Sariyah snapped suddenly. "I don't care about her. I don't care what powers or whatever I got from her. I have to leave now."
Sariyah was jerked awake from her daze in the Defense Against the Dark Arts room, and the present came flying back. She looked at her watch and realized that she had been in the dream state for a good two hours, as it was now 7:20 in the evening.
"Curses..." she muttered to herself. "I'm going to be late for that meeting." She squinted at the fireplace. Grabbing a handful of glittering powder that was sitting on the mantel above the fireplace, she thrust it into the fire. The orange flame disappeared and a green wall of fire grew out of the hearth. She stepped into the fire and was transported immediately to the teachers' lounge.
Live and learn… and then review. –Sophia and Carlyn
