'Bloody great way to start the year,' Snape thought to himself.
"PEEVES!" the Bloody Baron roared, as soon as the poltergeist entered the hall of feasting students. Suddenly, the chatter buzzing about the Great Hall halted, and Peeves grinned maliciously, cackling in his oily voice. The woman named Charna narrowed her eyes at the poltergeist - she remembered Peeves with particular annoyance from her days at Hogwarts. On one occasion, Charna could recall when the nasty excuse for a ghost had entered her dormitory at an early hour, and had unleashed wriggling Jelly Snakes into her bed. Ever since that moment in her fourth year, she had developed a rather cold-shouldered attitude toward him.
Beside her, Snape bristled. Dumbledore merely looked on with keen interest, to see what Peeves would do. Silently, Charna slid a long, pale hand into the depths of her dress robes pocket. Surrounded by crushed velvet, Charna's hand clasped around her polished wand. 'He's doing a better job than I could have thought,' Charna thought to herself, still watching the scene as Peeves began throwing plates of food every which way. Some students ran from the hall (Peeves pelted them with Exploding Dungbombs), but most had taken refuge underneath their tables, still assaulted by bits of mashed potatoes and gravy now and again. Sometimes, an occasional pea rolled underneath the table. Harry, Ron, and Hermione (accompanied by a rather cramped Neville Longbottom) had a quick conference underneath the Gryffindor table.
"So, what do you all make of this …" Harry began, holding a plate in front of his face, just in time to avoid becoming a strawberry pie. "…Wellington woman? She reminds me of Lucius Malfoy. You know, it's odd, Snape doesn't seem to …" some mint ice cream came flying at Harry, "like her all that much. Did you see the way he was staring at her during dinner? Maybe they know each other or something." Beside him, Neville nodded. Ron only dismissed this with a wave, but Neville spoke before Ron could get a chance.
"Well, this Wellington woman, whoever she is - I certainly hope she's as good as McGonagall was, wherever she is … let's hope for a bit nicer as well," Neville muttered. Behind him, still shielding himself from the incoming food thrown by Peeves (still not under control from the Baron's threats), Harry made a noise of disbelief. With the looks of this woman, she looked closer to a 'no tolerance' type. Just by the few minutes the students had gotten of their new Transfiguration teacher, she did not look friendly. And how right they were.
At the staff table, the teachers were preparing their assault. Most had their wands drawn, but in the end, it was decided to have the new Transfiguration teacher, Charna Wellington, aid the Baron in his fruitless efforts to extract Peeves from the Great Hall. Immediately, the woman sprang into action. It was all part of her plan to get her colleagues to trust her. Moving quickly across the food-strewn Great Hall, Charna directed her wand at Peeves. "Geluhaltus!" she shouted, a beam of purple light erupting from her wand tip. The poltergeist, in the middle of throwing a plate, was frozen solid. Where the conference beneath the Gryffindor table was taking place, all were in awe.
"I've heard about the Haltus Spell before - that's supposed to be borderline Dark Magic or something …" Hermione muttered, the patterns of purple light still fading from her sight.
"Hiya, Harry!" a squeaky voice by Harry's ear exclaimed. Harry almost cringed, for he knew the voice well enough. It was Colin Creevey. Hermione, however, was not focused on the camera toting leech. Rather, she was watching this Wellington woman, who Levitated the frozen Peeves (still with a look of laughter and in the middle of tossing a plate of food) from the Great Hall. Snape followed her closely, as if he were not too keen on letting her out of his sight, though he wore a look of deepest loathing.
The students were well on their way to their separate euphoric Neverlands, when house elves were still mopping up the mess in the Great Hall. Enveloped in shadows, Charna entered her lifeless office. With a wave of her wand, she restored the fire to its usual blazing state, making the room appear just a little more humanized. Laying the still frozen Peeves on her desk, Charna glanced around the room.
It was still empty, though Charna was rather mistrusting. She made a mental note to decorate the office before she went to bed, or at least with a few of the many personal items that she had carried with her. Twelve total trunks were piled against one wall, separated by color. Once she had assured herself that she was entirely alone, Charna muttered the incantation to restore Peeves to his normal state. He exhaled a low groan, and regained control of his motions. Charna vanished the plate in his hands, wearing a smile.
"Nice work, Peeves," she complimented the resident troublemaker. Even for not liking the poltergeist, he had done more than what she had expected of him. Peeves grinned, and took a mock stage bow.
"Why thank you, m'lady - at your service anytime," he replied smoothly, before gliding out of the room. Charna sighed. It's going to be a long night, she thought to herself.