A/N: Thanks to all the reviewers! I swear to all and sundry that this fic will have a reasonably happy ending. In this chapter, the new school year starts... and we have two classes.
Disclaimer: I don't plagiarise, thank you so very much.
~*~
They all wondered at the new Defense Professor's ability to teach... or to keep a class in order, on the first day of school. Su Li was a young woman, the youngest of the staff, looking petite and delicate in comparison to the tall and athletic Angelina Johnson, whom she sat next to during dinner the night before. She'd been quiet when Dumbledore introduced her, even when the Ravenclaw table burst into tumultous applause. But it was Cho Chang who gave her hand a slight squeeze, and oddly, the reserved Montague who gave her a sympathetic glance.
She looked no less small and young as she stood in front of the class of 6th year Slytherins the next morning, matching the slight sneers that a few of them gave her with a blank expression, though her eyes were hard. "Well then," she addressed the class in an even voice of almost forced cool, "I believe that your last instructor left off on the topic of facing Dementors and the Patronus Charm, yes?"
Cecilia Pyre, a Slytherin girl who fancied herself the beauty of her house, gave the young Oriental woman an insolent look from third row. "Yes," she sneered slightly, flipping her blonde hair behind her shoulder. "Not that you'd know anything about it, PROFESSOR."
Su raised a haughty eyebrow in a manner so uncannily Slytherin-like that Cecilia blinked in surprise. "It would perhaps be best, Ms. Pyre... not to test what I know, and rather, to learn what I teach you."
"And what DO you know?" The reckless Cecilia continued, unsatisfied, "You're barely grown up. And with you coming from... where you did... I doubt that you'd know any---mmph!"
Her words were abruptly cut off as Su Li, reflexes quick as a whip, cast an abrupt and precise Muffling Charm upon her lips. The small Asian woman's face was cold. "That shall be enough on the subject of my qualifications, whereabouts, or heritage. If you are QUITE finished, Ms. Pyre, and if the rest of you have no more questions, kindly turn to chapter seven of the textbook?"
The class silently did so, a few of the Slytherins giving her very cautious looks. Li ignored all the stares, and proceeded to lecture. And even after the Muffling Charm on Cecilia Pyre's mouth wore off, the girl remained silent, pouting as she wrote her notes down.
Emma Dobbs, sitting next to her roommate, had shaken her head in a warning that Cecilia didn't heed when the latter had sassed at their blank-faced teacher. Unlike the deplorably ignorant Cecilia, she DID know who Su Li was. The latter had even tutored her and a few others, once or twice in her Prefect days, in the very class that she now taught.
And then there was the fact, which Emma kept carefully hidden from the quiet, no-nonsense young woman with her dark, hard eyes, that her own parents had been the ones to suggest the use of a certain man's company as a base for Death Eater operations.
Warrington had been from her House. A sharp-witted and snarky but usually good-humoured Head Boy and Quidditch player. She had been his replacement on the Quidditch team when he had left the school.
Apparently, her parents, Desmond Jugson, Rodolphus Lestrange and Draco Malfoy had not been the only ones to visit Warrington that fateful day, though how exactly Su Li had escaped the clutches of the Death Eaters was something that her parents refused to discuss even when they didn't know that she was listening. Although calling the Chinese woman a "shameless Mudblood whore" gave some sort of insight, biased though it certainly was, on what sort of relationship the new Defense teacher had had with Warrington before he'd been hit by that deadly curse.
It also explained why Su's expression became cold whenever Death Eaters were mentioned in her hearing.
Lowering the eyes that were the same colour as her mother's and hoping that Su had not gotten a clear view of her parents' faces, Emma went through Defense lessons quiet and obedient. Despite her youth, Professor Li soon established the reputation as one of the most strict instructors in the school, and even the disgruntled students who muttered about the "little ice bitch" certainly never did it anywhere where she might possibly hear and thus incur her formidable wrath.
~*~
If Su Li's manner was cold and curt, all competence and no nonsense, the new Herbology teacher, who was replacing a muchly-grateful Professor Grubbly-Plank (who insisted that though she certainly knew her wizarding fauna, she was utterly mystified by flora), was warm, almost diffident, and greeted HIS first class with a shy smile when they came into Greenhouse Three.
Ginny's face broke into a smile when she saw him. "Neville!" Recollecting herself a moment after, she blushed somewhat. "I mean... Professor Longbottom. How have you been?"
Neville gave her a light smile and answered that he had been all right. "We'll have to talk a bit after class, if you have time. Congratulations on making Head Girl, too. Your parents must be very proud..." All the pleasantries. There would have to be no suspicions.
An hour of pruning Caraway, and Ginny made her excuses to her roommates before setting down her bookbag and walking up to her old friend. "What's the matter?"
"Oh, just... this," Neville reached into his pocket and withdrew a tightly rolled sheet of parchment. "Pansy asked me to give this to you."
Ginny was mystified. What could Pansy want with her?
But five minutes later found her sitting down on one of the benches, her eyes teary and a half-smile on her face. Neville awkwardly patted her shoulder. "Y-you can write back to him, Gin. I will make sure that he gets it."
"Would you?" Ginny murmured, almost to herself, "But you've no reason to..."
"You love him, he loves you, and anything to help a friend," Neville said laconically, "But... I'm keeping you from Charms, aren't I?"
Disclaimer: I don't plagiarise, thank you so very much.
~*~
They all wondered at the new Defense Professor's ability to teach... or to keep a class in order, on the first day of school. Su Li was a young woman, the youngest of the staff, looking petite and delicate in comparison to the tall and athletic Angelina Johnson, whom she sat next to during dinner the night before. She'd been quiet when Dumbledore introduced her, even when the Ravenclaw table burst into tumultous applause. But it was Cho Chang who gave her hand a slight squeeze, and oddly, the reserved Montague who gave her a sympathetic glance.
She looked no less small and young as she stood in front of the class of 6th year Slytherins the next morning, matching the slight sneers that a few of them gave her with a blank expression, though her eyes were hard. "Well then," she addressed the class in an even voice of almost forced cool, "I believe that your last instructor left off on the topic of facing Dementors and the Patronus Charm, yes?"
Cecilia Pyre, a Slytherin girl who fancied herself the beauty of her house, gave the young Oriental woman an insolent look from third row. "Yes," she sneered slightly, flipping her blonde hair behind her shoulder. "Not that you'd know anything about it, PROFESSOR."
Su raised a haughty eyebrow in a manner so uncannily Slytherin-like that Cecilia blinked in surprise. "It would perhaps be best, Ms. Pyre... not to test what I know, and rather, to learn what I teach you."
"And what DO you know?" The reckless Cecilia continued, unsatisfied, "You're barely grown up. And with you coming from... where you did... I doubt that you'd know any---mmph!"
Her words were abruptly cut off as Su Li, reflexes quick as a whip, cast an abrupt and precise Muffling Charm upon her lips. The small Asian woman's face was cold. "That shall be enough on the subject of my qualifications, whereabouts, or heritage. If you are QUITE finished, Ms. Pyre, and if the rest of you have no more questions, kindly turn to chapter seven of the textbook?"
The class silently did so, a few of the Slytherins giving her very cautious looks. Li ignored all the stares, and proceeded to lecture. And even after the Muffling Charm on Cecilia Pyre's mouth wore off, the girl remained silent, pouting as she wrote her notes down.
Emma Dobbs, sitting next to her roommate, had shaken her head in a warning that Cecilia didn't heed when the latter had sassed at their blank-faced teacher. Unlike the deplorably ignorant Cecilia, she DID know who Su Li was. The latter had even tutored her and a few others, once or twice in her Prefect days, in the very class that she now taught.
And then there was the fact, which Emma kept carefully hidden from the quiet, no-nonsense young woman with her dark, hard eyes, that her own parents had been the ones to suggest the use of a certain man's company as a base for Death Eater operations.
Warrington had been from her House. A sharp-witted and snarky but usually good-humoured Head Boy and Quidditch player. She had been his replacement on the Quidditch team when he had left the school.
Apparently, her parents, Desmond Jugson, Rodolphus Lestrange and Draco Malfoy had not been the only ones to visit Warrington that fateful day, though how exactly Su Li had escaped the clutches of the Death Eaters was something that her parents refused to discuss even when they didn't know that she was listening. Although calling the Chinese woman a "shameless Mudblood whore" gave some sort of insight, biased though it certainly was, on what sort of relationship the new Defense teacher had had with Warrington before he'd been hit by that deadly curse.
It also explained why Su's expression became cold whenever Death Eaters were mentioned in her hearing.
Lowering the eyes that were the same colour as her mother's and hoping that Su had not gotten a clear view of her parents' faces, Emma went through Defense lessons quiet and obedient. Despite her youth, Professor Li soon established the reputation as one of the most strict instructors in the school, and even the disgruntled students who muttered about the "little ice bitch" certainly never did it anywhere where she might possibly hear and thus incur her formidable wrath.
~*~
If Su Li's manner was cold and curt, all competence and no nonsense, the new Herbology teacher, who was replacing a muchly-grateful Professor Grubbly-Plank (who insisted that though she certainly knew her wizarding fauna, she was utterly mystified by flora), was warm, almost diffident, and greeted HIS first class with a shy smile when they came into Greenhouse Three.
Ginny's face broke into a smile when she saw him. "Neville!" Recollecting herself a moment after, she blushed somewhat. "I mean... Professor Longbottom. How have you been?"
Neville gave her a light smile and answered that he had been all right. "We'll have to talk a bit after class, if you have time. Congratulations on making Head Girl, too. Your parents must be very proud..." All the pleasantries. There would have to be no suspicions.
An hour of pruning Caraway, and Ginny made her excuses to her roommates before setting down her bookbag and walking up to her old friend. "What's the matter?"
"Oh, just... this," Neville reached into his pocket and withdrew a tightly rolled sheet of parchment. "Pansy asked me to give this to you."
Ginny was mystified. What could Pansy want with her?
But five minutes later found her sitting down on one of the benches, her eyes teary and a half-smile on her face. Neville awkwardly patted her shoulder. "Y-you can write back to him, Gin. I will make sure that he gets it."
"Would you?" Ginny murmured, almost to herself, "But you've no reason to..."
"You love him, he loves you, and anything to help a friend," Neville said laconically, "But... I'm keeping you from Charms, aren't I?"