Lupin pushed open the door to the pub and wandered into the cool gloom. A now incredibly nervous Bethany followed behind him.

"Ah, our Defence professors have joined us!" came a familiar voice through the darkness. As their eyes adjusted from the brightness of the summer sun outside, Bethany and Lupin began to be able to make out the professors who were already assembled around an assortment of tables.

"Albus, good to see you again." Lupin leant forward to shake the headmaster's hand, while Bethany gave him an affectionate hug. While Albus Dumbledore had always been something of a father figure to Harry, he had only taken on that role with Bethany when she'd become ill all those years ago. She was convinced that if it hadn't been for Albus then she probably wouldn't have survived.

"Sit down, sit down. Madame Rosmerta, two more butterbeers, if you would be so kind."

The new arrivals sat at the nearest table and were presented with a pair of drinks by the barmaid. As Bethany looked around the room she spotted the familiar faces from when she had been a student herself. The almost universally despised Professor Snape was sat next to the headmaster, and Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration professor, sat on the other side of Albus. The part-giant Hagrid needed a table to himself, while Professors Vector, Sinistra, Sprout and Flitwick were grouped around another table, but that was were Bethany stopped recognising people. The other ten faces in the pub were unknown to Bethany. Obviously not all of them were new that year, however a couple of them looked as uncertain as Bethany felt, so she felt reasonably secure in the knowledge that she wasn't the only first-timer.

"Well," Professor Dumbledore stood up and surveyed his surrounding staff, "I think this is going to be an interesting year for all of us. As some of you already know, this is to be my last year as headmaster of Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall will finally be taking over from me in a permanent role. I have every confidence that she will run the school flawlessly, and will possibly be less of a sentimental old fool about the whole affair!

The reason I have organised for us all to meet up a week early is mainly because of the number of new professors we have this year. Obviously, we have the obligatory new Defence Against the Dark Arts professors, except this year we have two. Hopefully at least one of them will last longer than a year without being poisoned, trampled or suffering severe amnesia." A small ripple of laughter went through the pub as Dumbledore's words were no exaggeration of the previous assortment of Defence professors.

"Also this year, we have new professors for Divination and History of Magic, and finally, our last new addition - a second Herbology professor.

Now, because we have four totally new professors as well as one returning, I felt that it would be advisable to give everyone more time to get settled in and accustomed to each other before we added several hundred rampaging teenagers to the equation. It wouldn't do for a professor to be getting lost in between lessons, or failing to get places faster than the students. So this week is, well, it's orientation. But that can all wait until later, as now it's time to eat."

The next hour and a half was spent eating large quantities of pub food, with small amounts of gossip being exchanged at each table. Bethany and Lupin shared their table with Madam Quirke, who had taken over from Madam Pince as librarian three years earlier. She pointed out the professors who had been there last year, most of whom Bethany half remembered from her own school days as distant faces in the past. But one of the new professors was giving Bethany trouble. "I recognise her, I know I do" had almost become a mantra during the meal, and Lupin was beginning to get bored of it.

"If you're so sure you've seen her before why don't you go talk to her? Either that, or stop going on about it Bethy. I'm not sure how long my sanity's going to hold out if you keep muttering that all day."

Bethany turned a slight shade of crimson and murmured an apology at her lunch companions, but the mantra was still rolling around in her brain. Where had she seen that woman before? It wasn't school, even though Bethany had been a loner for the seven years she'd spent here before she had been an observant child and would have remembered such striking features. Part of her brain echoed Lupin's sentiment about sanity, so Bethany pushed this self-inflicted torture out of her thought process and rejoined the conversation at the table.

"Madam Pince finally had enough of children touching the books. It's slightly disturbing that someone can take the job to such a level that it almost creates a nervous breakdown. If she were running the school it would almost have been understandable, but as a librarian.? Albus has warned me that it comes with time, and one day I'll be just as worried about the welfare of the books. But so long as there's a job waiting for me at the Grand Library in New Zealand I think I'll cope!" Orla Quirke was happily talking to Lupin about what had altered in the years since she'd been working there. She had been three years below Bethany and had just missed on being taught by Lupin when he first taught Defence, something Bethany thought might have been a good thing given how Orla was looking at him. Was she feeling. jealousy? After all these years? Bethany quickly shook that thought out of her head, that could be dangerous territory for her to venture into on her first day. If she had to think about it, she was going to wait until she could at least remember all of her students' names.

Orla was still gossiping with Lupin when Bethany had managed to shake that train of thought, although the tales of the last couple of years had given way to speculation about what was to come.

"How's Albus going to work having two professors for Defence and Herbology? I'm actually curious about Professor Sprout, it has to be said. Bringing in two new professors together makes some sense, but bringing in a new professor to teach alongside an existing one seems a bit strange to me."

"Maybe it's getting too much for Professor Sprout?" Bethany suggested. "And they've got in someone to help out with the work load. Or maybe she's planning on leaving but doesn't want to leave without knowing that her successor knows how it's been done up until know?"

"Or maybe Dumbledore has his own reasons for getting a second person who knows their plants in the school. Whatever it is he'll tell us soon enough." Lupin managed to put his usual wet blanket over the gossiping, earning him a gentle clip around the ear from Bethany while she scolded him for spoiling their fun. This time it was Orla's turn to look at the pair in front of her and be unsure as to her feelings. Had Dumbledore brought in a couple to teach the same subject? Or were they merely close friends? It wasn't as much that she knew him well enough to know that she wanted to get closer to him, but she was certain that she didn't want that option taken away from her.

When lunch had been finished and all members of the faculty were feeling nicely full, Dumbledore stood up again. "I think the plans for the rest of today should be settling in. As this is to be everyone's home for the next nine months I always feel it's important to be well settled before attempting anything else. But the only thing that needs settling right now is lunch. Perhaps a few games of exploding snap would aid our digestion?" And with a small wave of his hand several decks of cards appeared, ready for the over-full staff to while away the next hour.