This is my first attempt at a Harry Potter fanfic and I hope you find it enjoyable! The rating is for later chapters. (It might get a bit bloody! Hee hee! ^_^) Please leave positive feedback or constructive criticism! I am always ready to learn more about writing to improve! The characters that are JK Rowling's (Harry, Snape, Dumbledore, etc…) are just that: hers. I am not making money off this. Just having a bit o' fun! ^^ The characters that are mine (Aeowyn, Farus, Sanguis, etc…) are just that: mine! Do not use them without my permission, please! Oh! And if anybody wants me to translate the Latin spells, say so. I will. ^^ Thanks go to CyberDracomon (Alex) and SeverusSnape (Becky) for their inspiration! Now… on with the show! ^.^
Chapter One: A Stutter and a Bat
Aeowyn stared blankly at the brick wall before her, bags in hand. She looked down at the trashcan, positioned in front of her, then back up at the wall. After a few more minutes of pondering, she looked behind her, as if calling for help. When no one passed by, she glanced back at that mocking wall. "'Count three up… two across'?" she questioned aloud. "What horrible directions!" she declared in an outrage. "Maybe I should have just used floo powder, though I have no idea where to find a chimney," she muttered, defeated. She placed her bags down and began counting the bricks on the wall, up from the trashcan. "Besides… I must pick up a few books from Diagon Alley. Aha!" she announced. She tapped on the wall three times with her index finger and waiting silently.
When exactly two minutes passed, she clenched her fists and yelled out loud, "What a joke! I'll get him for this!"
"'S'cuse, me?" a voice came from behind her. "Yeh need some 'elp?"
Aeowyn turned around in haste, coming face to face with a pair enormous thighs. Aeowyn slowly looked up at the monstrosity before her. The man wore a huge, dark coat and carried a ragged umbrella in his right hand. A long, shaggy beard complete with matching dark hair nearly covered the giant's face. His eyes glinted out of his face like burnt charcoal. Aeowyn began stuttering in fright.
"Come on now, lass. What's wrong?" he asked with a thick accent and smile.
Aeowyn pointed with shock to the wall. "D-D-Diagon Alley… I can't…" She looked at the bricks, then back at the man. "It-It w-w-won't…"
"Ah!" he said. "No problem! Lemme!" He motioned for Aeowyn to move out of the way and she gladly obliged for fear of being thrown out of the way. The giant began counting bricks, just as Aeowyn had, and then tapped on the wall three times with his umbrella. Within seconds, the wall began to shake and quiver and a hole formed in the wall that gradually grew bigger until a cobblestone road lay before Aeowyn and the terrifying man beside her.
Aeowyn looked at the man in amazement. "Th-Thank you… W-W-hat's your n-n-name?" she asked, her courage beginning to return to her.
"Rubeus Hagrid: Keeper of Keys and grounds at Hogwarts," the man answered. "An' yeh mus' be Professor Aeowyn."
She nodded with a slight smile, relieved that Hagrid worked at Hogwarts. "P-Pleased to meet you," she retorted shakily.
Hagrid chortled and shook as he did so. "Yeh would've liked Professor Quirrel. 'E had a stutterin' problem, too." Continuing to laugh, Hagrid strolled his way down Diagon Alley and shortly after ducked into a store, out of sight.
Aeowyn called after him: "I don't have a speech problem! You're just terribly frightening!" She picked up her bags, cursing how horrible this day had already began.
With ire in her step, she quickly made her way down Diagon Alley, searching hopelessly for the bookshop. Upon reaching her destination, she sighed with relief and stepped inside. Mountains of books were stacked all the way to the ceiling and it looked as if they almost went beyond that. She stared, amazed, at the amount of books they kept here.
"Wicked," she said under her breath. "They don't have this many books in all America," she joked.
The shopkeeper, a frail and delicate old man, hobbled to Aeowyn. "Good day, Miss. Might I inquire what you are looking for?"
Aeowyn smiled. At least this guy isn't scary. "Yes," she confirmed as she placed her bags on the ground. She pulled a list out of her back pocket and handed it to him. "I need these books for my students."
The man glanced over the list, then back up at Aeowyn. "You are a teacher of Hogwarts?"
"Yes, sir," she confirmed. "I'm new this year. I've come from America to take over Professor Flitwick's job. Charms class."
"Ah!" he said as a caring, old smile rose to his lips. "You realize that the students are required to buy their own books."
"Of course," Aeowyn repeated. "Professor Dumbledore informed me of that, but I'd like my students to have these books, too, and I wouldn't dream of making them buy the books. The first years have got enough expenses already."
He chuckled, "All right then," and went about the business of finding the books. He had no problems finding enough books of Basic Latin Spells and Charms For Survival, but it didn't seem like they carried Elemental Charms. "I can order it for you and have it here a week before school," he offered.
Aeowyn hastily paid for the books she had bought and said: "If you would please. And could you have them shipped to the school when they arrive?"
"I surely will do that, Miss," he stated. "Would you like help carrying those books to Hogwarts?" he asked, noticing that, with the amount of books she had purchased and her bags added in, there was no way she was making it to the Hogwarts Express, let alone Hogwarts itself.
With determination in her voice, she loaded the books and her bags on a cart. "No, thank you. I believe I can handle it. But do you know where I could find a chimney?"
"Floo, powder, eh?" he asked. "Clever. You can use mine. It's in the back," he offered, coming out from behind the counter to stand before her. "But I would prefer it if you didn't haul the books in the chimney with you. I can ship them to Hogwarts, no problem."
After a moment of contemplating, she leapt forward and hugged the shopkeeper. "Thank you very much!" she shouted with a huge grin. "You've been most helpful!"
Surprised, he just murmured "My pleasure" and showed her to the chimney in the back. "You're welcome to come and go as you please," he said with a genuine smile.
"Thank you, Mr…?" she asked.
"Mr. Camboly, Professor Aeowyn. Always at your service," he said with a slight bow.
"Mr. Camboly, thanks again. Rest assured, I will always use your shop to purchase my books," she replied with her head up high. He laughed quietly as she stepped into the chimney. She produced a pouch out of one of her pants pockets and emptied what looked like sand into the palm of her hand. She pulled the drawstring on the bag and closed it up, placing it back into her pocket. "Thanks again," Aeowyn told the shopkeeper as she gathered both bags in the opposite hand. "Hogwarts!" she yelled as she threw the sand at her feet. In a flash of smoke, she was engulfed in green flames and disappeared from sight.
Professor Minerva McGonagall sat at her desk in one of her private rooms, addressing letters to go out to the students for the upcoming school year. She had to at least give them several weeks in advance so they had time to buy all of their supplies and get a head start reading before classes. She stacked all of the first years' letters in one pile and began writing the second years'.
McGonagall was shaken from her work as a young woman came flying out of her chimney and slammed into the Professor's desk. McGonagall leapt quickly to her feet and was standing above the woman. "Who are you and what do you think you are flying out of my fireplace like that?"
Aeowyn stood up, brushing herself off and rubbing her head. "I'm sorry, really. I didn't expect the floo powder to fling me at your desk, ma'am." Aeowyn gathered her bags and stood looking at the woman before her. She was obviously very old and had a frown that could kill. But Aeowyn could also see a deep maternal look in her eyes. She wore forest green robes and covered her head with an equally matched witch's hat. Aeowyn realized she hadn't introduced herself. "Oh! Sorry! I'm Professor Aeowyn Sevor. I'm here to replace Professor Flitwick?" she asked.
The frown on McGonagall's face vanished and was replaced with a smile. "Miss Aeowyn! My name is Professor Minerva McGonagall, teacher of Transfiguration and Head of Gryffindor House. Do forgive me; I hadn't expected you to travel by floo powder."
"It seemed the quickest way to get here," Aeowyn replied. "I'm not disturbing you, I hope?"
"No, not at all. I was just sending the letters out to the students, but I believe I can take a small break to show you around and let you meet the other professors. They're all here already," she pointed out, as though lecturing.
"Sorry," Aeowyn replied, knowing she was a few days late. "My flight out of Raleigh was delayed. Damn American weather," she laughed nervously. "And then I had to stop by Diagon Alley and pick up a few books for the students…" she rambled on.
"You're quite lucky you managed to arrive here by floo powder," the older witch stated disapprovingly.
Aeowyn looked at her questioningly. "Why?"
"Because there is a spell on Hogwarts that does not allow a traveler to arrive with the use of floo powder. You are quite fortunate that I convinced Dumbledore to bewitch my chimney to work with the powder or otherwise you would have found yourself lost in someone else's hearth!"
Aeowyn had forgotten that Hogwarts was indeed protected by that spell. She remembered that her school didn't have anything like that. "I'm really sorry… I guess it's just because my school-"
"Miss Aeowyn, do come with me," Professor McGonagall interrupted. "We have much preparing to do," she had to shout as she was already out of he door.
Aeowyn shook her head and, with her bags in hand, followed the hasty professor out of her chambers. Aeowyn had a hard time keeping up with McGonagall, as she was in an obvious rush to return to her work. She led Aeowyn to a wall and painted on that wall was a large portrait of a Musketeer. He shifted slightly and looked at Aeowyn. "Please give me a password."
Aeowyn looked at Minerva in confusion. "What password?"
Professor McGonagall stared back, almost awed. "I take it you didn't have private chambers which required passwords at Hoxford?" McGonagall queried, speaking of the American wizard school Aeowyn had attended in Virginia. Aeowyn shook her head. "Just tell the picture what you want as your password and no one else can enter your rooms unless you want them to. Your other luggage and things should be in the room already. I'll leave you the rest of the evening to get settled in. I'm afraid you've missed supper, but I hope you will attend us at breakfast, where I will introduce you to the rest of the staff."
Aeowyn nodded. "Thank you, Professor McGonagall."
"Please, Miss Aeowyn. Call me Minerva," she ordered nicely. "You're not a student here, after all."
"Sorry, Minerva," Aeowyn said awkwardly. "I will attend tomorrow's breakfast," she guaranteed.
"Very well," the Scottish professor said before she was gone in a flash.
Aeowyn turned back to the picture. "A password, huh?" Aeowyn took a few moments to ponder and then said aloud, "I did take four years of Latin. I suppose I could choose a Latin phrase." She stood before the picture and said, "I've decided my password." The Musketeer looked at her and waited. "Volatilis vespertilio." She smiled proudly to herself. "No one will ever find out that password!" The wall the picture was painted on opened to the left, allowing Aeowyn to step inside. It closed softly behind her.
"Wicked," she breathed out, staring at the room she had been given. It was enormous! There was a living room in which there were two velvet red chairs and a long sofa in front of the fireplace. On the farthest wall, under a beautiful French window, was a mahogany desk. She looked to her right, her eyes following a set of stairs and where they led. The stairs stopped at her bedroom, which could easily be seen from down stairs. "No problem about that. Just as long as the shower isn't that way," she joked to herself.
A screech brought her back from her musings as she looked at a golden cage on her desk. "Sanguis!" she yelled, dropping her bags. She hustled over to the desk and opened the cage door. A black bat immediately climbed out of the cage and onto her arm. She hugged him close, spinning around, shouting, "Oh, Sanguis! I missed you so much!" Aeowyn held Sanguis away from her and started speaking to the bat as though she were talking to a baby. "Did you miss me, huh? Did you miss your mommy? Yes, I know you did! I know you did!" After Aeowyn had told Sanguis everything she had done that afternoon, she put her pet on her shoulder and began unpacking. "I'm going straight to bed as soon as I get done settling in." Sanguis let out a shrill noise. "And after I feed you, of course. I know you're going to love it here! There's a lot more open room in England and I can let you fly around the castle, as long as you promise to come back."
She paused and looked at all of her clothes, which she had strewn out on the floor. "Hmm," she pondered. Aeowyn immediately began searching for her wand, but discovered that she could not find it. She huffed and looked at Sanguis, who returned her gaze. "Do you know where it is?" Sanguis screeched at her and launched off her shoulder, flying across the room and up to her bedroom. After a minute of rummaging, Sanguis flew back down to Aeowyn and landed on her shoulder with a wand in his mouth. She took the wand from him and patted him on the head, giving him a kiss on the nose. "You hid it for me! Thank you, Sanguis!"
Aeowyn returned to her business and held her wand up. "Let's clean this mess up a little easier, huh?" She pointed her black wand at the clothes. "Detegere!" Her clothes immediately levitated off the ground and flew around the room, folding themselves and hanging themselves up in their appropriate places. She stood with her hands on her hips. "And who said being a wizard wasn't the greatest thing in the world?"