Chapter 2:
Piper waited until she heard the gargoyle swoosh letting her know her sisters were gone. Dumbledore took a seat behind his cluttered desk. He caught Piper looking at the mess.
"This is quite organized." He said looking at Piper closely with a small smile across his aging face. Piper just gave a small nod. "Would you like to sit?" He asked.
Piper said no thank you. "Professor Dumbledore, you can probably guess why I'm still here." She looked down at Dumbledore, he wasn't looking at her. He seemed to be thinking about something.
"I have a slight idea. Is it the house you were sorted into?"
"Yes sir. I was given a small description of each house from Professor McGonagall. She told me that Slytherin was made up of 'troublesome' students." Piper answered.
Dumbledore chuckled. "She is still quite young Piper. Her views are still fresh and she isn't as...wizened on everything. Slytherin isn't troublesome. They are people who are quite ambitious and powerful witches and wizards. Slytherin consists of people that have a very determined mindset. So you see, you're a determined person Piper and the hat saw that."
Piper still didn't want to be in Slytherin because of their reputation. "So this means I'm not evil, right?"
Dumbledore chuckled again. Piper found something to be wrong if he found the situation funny. "No you are not evil. If you were Piper, you wouldn't be here." Piper nodded. Then she turned to leave. Dumbledore called her back. "Piper if my Defense Against the Darks Arts teacher doesn't arrive, do you mind being head teacher of Slytherin House?" Piper thought her face didn't show anything, but she must've thought wrong since Dumbledore put his hand up waving it. "I shouldn't have asked. You are new here." Piper didn't want to watch what she perceived as 'bad kids'. But Dumbledore and been nice and gracious and she felt she couldn't say no.
"It's ok Professor. I can do it." Piper hoped that the teacher would show up! Professor Dumbledore studied Piper, and then he turned his attention to some papers on his desk. Piper turned and left. She thought that Paige and Phoebe would be waiting by the door, but she was wrong. They had left somewhere.
Piper began to walk toward the grand stairs but a tall round man approached her. His long bushy hair and beard crowded his face only showing beady eyes, a round nose, and cheeks. His clothes were shabby and dirty looking. His boots clunked against the marble flooring. He was very tall and Piper considered him a giant, but she didn't say anything.
"I don't know yeh do I?" He said to her. It sounded like he was drunk, but Piper didn't smell any alcohol around him, but then again, she didn't really want to smell him. Piper wanted to leave; she didn't want to be with him.
"Well I don't know you either." She answered.
He gave a hearty laugh. "I'm Rubeus Hagrid. Just call me Hagrid though. I am Keeper of Keys and Grounds here at the school." Piper didn't say anything. She wondered what did he do as keeper of keys and grounds for the school, but she didn't ask. "And you are?" He asked.
Piper jumped, being lost in her thoughts. "Oh, I'm Piper Halliwell. I teach potions class." Piper didn't put her hand out to shake his because she didn't want to touch his big dirty hands. He didn't put his out either, which Piper was thankful for that.
"Well nice meet'n yeh Ms. Hall-a-well."
Piper didn't like the way he spoke, but she didn't correct him. "Just Piper is fine." She tried to smile, but it didn't reach her eyes.
Hagrid didn't mind or he didn't notice. "I gotta get goin'. I gotta get the kids here after I talk ter Dumbledore. Piper moved out of the way so that Hagrid could go see Dumbledore. He stood there for a second in front of the large stone gargoyle, then he turned around to Piper. "I seem to have forgot the password."
Piper sighed. "Pumpkin Pasty." Hagrid gave a wide smile, thanking her then he repeated the password to the gargoyle and he made his large self up the stairs. The gargoyle moved back into place.
Piper turned back toward the stairs. She went to the side of them and entered a door entering the dim lit dungeons of Hogwarts. It faintly smelt of mold, but Piper felt she had to approach Filch about the smell soon, especially if she'd be living and teaching down there. She made her way along the corridor, past the quiet burning flamed torches. A picture here or there welcomed her to the school. Piper finally reached her destination which was the windowless classroom. She walked to the front where her wood sturdy desk stood after going over the smooth stones steps that overlooked the classroom. She had her chalkboard next to the desk, but she forgot to get chalk and an eraser from Hogsmeade. She'd just have to teach from their text book, which was "Potions, Charms, and Spells for the Young, Old, and the Restless by Carlin Verbate". Piper sighed after she looked at the pendulum clock against the wall. She had three hours to waste before the children arrived and the grand feast began.
Piper began to make sure her ingredients were organized for her class tomorrow when Paige and Phoebe came into the room. They were both smiling. Piper looked up noticing that they each had a black handbag with the Hogwarts castle emblem in gold and red on the front of it. Piper sighed when they reached her.
Phoebe spoke first, holding up the handbag. "We found these on our beds. We just brought yours so you can see what's inside of it!" I'll have put a locking charm on my door so that only I can get inside of it before the day ends, Piper thought to herself. Phoebe handed Piper the bag and she took it.
"Have you guys already looked in yours?" Piper asked as she found that bag was light-weighted.
"Yeah. We both got different stuff except we both got a grading quill and grading ink." Paige answered. Paige leaned against one of the student's desk, her arms crossed.
Piper put her hand inside the bag and pulled out a mahogany wooded box. It was about the size of a small jewelry box. Piper sat her bag down on her desk as she still held the box. She opened the case and found long thin circular pieces of chalk laid in neat rows on top of each other. She gave a small smile, glad that she didn't have to worry about chalk anymore. "Wow, chalk!" Piper sarcastically said. Phoebe gave a soft laugh. Piper turned and sat the chalk down on the small chalk tray next to the board. She turned back and pulled out a quill that was contained in a thin glass veil. The feather used for it was white decorated with small black dots. Piper turned it in her fingers until she found the words, "Grading Quill" in cursive on the veil. "This will come in handy, I guess." Piper said. Paige gasped and Phoebe's eyes became wider. Piper raised her eyebrow in question to their expression. Paige pointed past Piper's shoulder. Piper turned around and found "This will come in handy," neatly written on the chalk board. "Okay, that's freaky." Piper said quietly.
"That chalk can write what you say Piper. Isn't that cool?" Phoebe said with a wide grin on her face. Piper did find that rather relieving though about the chalk. She didn't have to worry about tiring her hand out through the day. "Come on! What's next?" Phoebe asked. Her hands clapped together.
Piper reached into the bag. She pulled out an ink bottle with red and black ink swirled together within each other. The bottle read, "Grading Ink. Choose red and or black to grade with." Piper carefully sat the bottle down on her desk. Then she reached in pulling out a chalk board eraser that read, "Wave-O-Eraso!. Just wave your hand and the eraser will erase everything for you!" Piper did something between a snort and a laugh. "Their advertisement is just as corny as our world's." She said. Paige nodded in agreement. Phoebe took the eraser from Piper and pointed to the bottom of it. It had tiny holes at the bottom and a small cap at the top. She found a small piece of paper stuck to the side of the eraser.
Phoebe read what the paper said out loud, "The chalk dust will be pulled through the holes and contained inside the eraser. When it becomes full, just untwist the nozzle and pour it outside or in the trashcan. The eraser will stay clean this way."
"Well they have better quality stuff than we do Piper other than the advertisement." Paige said as she smiled. Piper liked the chalk and eraser already. Phoebe sat the eraser down, next to the chalk on the tray. Piper pulled the rest of the stuff out of the bags, which there were a few glass vials and some extra and rare ingredients that she had a hard time finding in Hogsmeade.
Paige moved from the desk that she leaned against and she began to walk toward the door. Phoebe turned and began to go with Paige. Piper looked up from her ingredients. "Where are you two going?"
Paige pointed toward the clock. "There is an hour before the feast. We wanted to take a quick tour of the school grounds then we were going to go by the lake. Hagrid wanted us to help chaperon the children on the boats and lead them to the Main Entrance." Piper waved them both goodbyes. Piper went to her room and locked the ingredients into her cabinet. She set a charm on the cabinet and on her door so no one could get into either of them. She left her room and began to head to the Great Hall, but a ghost stopped her at the dungeon door before she opened it. He was in front of her, so she couldn't pass.
"New teacher?" The ghost said in a cackle.
Piper sighed. She didn't want to stop for a chat. "Yes, I'm the potions teacher. Now if you will excuse me, I need to go to the Great Hall."
The ghost let out another cackle. He turned in the air and made it look like he was lying down on his stomach. "What is your name?"
"Piper Halliwell." She answered in a rush. She could hear the students gathering at the stairs, but she couldn't see them through the door.
"I'm Peeves." The ghost said voluntarily. Piper rolled her eyes and sighed. McGonagall told her about Peeves. McGonagall had also introduced Piper to the gruesome Bloody Baron so that he could get Peeves if she needed the help.
"Peeves, I don't have time for this. I'm going to warn you to get out of my way." Piper's hands went up, but she didn't do anything with them.
"Or you'll what?" He said in a trying voice.
"Or I'll do this." She flanged her hands out setting her eyes and mind on a burning torch next to Peeves. It exploded and Peeves gave a shrill cry. Small flames floated to the floor and they burned out as they touched the cool stoned floor.
"You can't do that to me. I'm a ghost." He said.
"You wanna bet?" She said. She tossed her head to the side, slowly bringing her hands up again.
"Not right now. I have kiddies to torture." Peeves went through the door, leaving Piper. She dropped her hands and released a sigh. She hoped that she wouldn't have to blow Peeves up, but there a part of her that really wanted to do it. She pulled on the door handle and it opened with a small creek.
She quickly walked to the side of the stairs, noticing the great mass of kids. The entrance was loud with children giggling, laughing, and talking in their conversations. She saw three tall students in front of her. Two of them were using the banister as their support to stand. There was one short pudgy kid talking with them. They looked older than most of the kids gathered in the room. One of them turned around as if noticing her stare. His short cut hair was dark, but a noticeable brown. He gave her a small smile and flicked her a little wave as she walked past them. She got a good look at the rest of the small crew. The short kid was pushing glasses up his nose. His short unruly light brown hair kept getting in his eyes. One of the tall ones had jet black unruly hair; his glasses were finely settled on his nose. He was looking into the crowd, but Piper could easily spot what he was looking at. He was looking at a girl that had natural flaming red hair. A few freckles were spread about her face. She was turned, so her eye color was undetermined to Piper. She smiled seeing that the girl was beautiful and had a badge with a P on it. A lion was curled at the bottom of the P showing the teachers and students that the student was from Gryffindor. Piper turned back to the boy that aimlessly stared at the girl. She noticed that he too, had a badge with a P on it. Piper knew the badge stood for Prefect.
The boy next to the boy that waved to Piper, smiled at her. He shook his head moving his dirty blonde hair away from his face. His brown eyes watched her. His robe was slightly tattered, but it wasn't really noticeable. The boy with dirty blonde hair pushed the boy that had waved to her toward her. She moved around the kids faster. The boy turned around and playfully pushed the boy back. The boy with black hair turned around after noticing a boy that was slightly taller than him walking his way. The taller boy had long white blonde hair that was pulled back in a pony tail. His hands behind his back, but Piper noticed that his wand was in his hands. She stopped, looking at his slow approach. She did notice that the taller boy's robe had a P badge pinned to it. The greenish gray snake curled around the tail of the P. She knew immediately that he was a Slytherin. Now that she knew this, she knew that she needed to watch him.
The taller boy said something to the boy that had waved to her. His hand was fiddling with something in his robe pocket. Piper guessed that it was his wand. She took a few steps closer, trying to catch the conversation.
"Sirius, nice to see you again." The taller boy said.
"Too bad I can't say the same Lucious." Sirius responded. His eyes were filled with hate.
"You have an eye for teachers I see." Lucious said. His voice was smooth as the words left his mouth. His pale blue eyes matching his smirk.
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.
Lucious turned around, tossed a wink at Piper and he turned back to Sirius. "Do you really want me to say? She is just over there you know. I may be able to set you two up. She looks quite young." Piper was taken aback at the fact that Lucious had winked, she didn't like that he or Sirius were slightly flirting with her. Lucious must not have known that Piper was in hearing distance or he found it amusing to say this in front of her.
"Lucious just leave." The short pudgy kid said.
"Pudgy Peter Pettigrew, you look the same as last year. I see you didn't take my advice to loose a few pounds." Lucious said with a small smile on his face. Peter looked like he was going to jump on Lucious, but the kid with black hair placed his hand on Peter's shoulder.
"Save that for another time. Perhaps when a teacher isn't around."
"You're right James." Peter said quietly. Piper thought that James had stopped Peter because he was a Prefect. She may need to keep an eye out for James as well.
"Pity that your friend controls your body better than you do. Maybe you'd listen to him if he told you to loose a few pounds." Lucious said. Piper took a few more steps forward. She didn't like the way Lucious was treating Peter or any of them for that matter.
"Lucious, leave us alone. Go to your slut or pick on a first year." The kid with dirty blonde hair said. Piper's mouth slightly dropped when she heard the word, 'slut'.
"Remus, I didn't even notice you there. You were always the quiet one if Peter wasn't." Remus released a small growl that didn't sound too human to her, but his friends didn't say anything. Lucious grimaced.
"Just go." Remus said.
"I'll be back for you four later. I just spotted Severus. We need to catch up on things." Lucious walked off, heading into the crowd after he placed his wand in his robe pocket. All of the boys turned back to their conversation. Sirius continued to glare at Lucious. His attention turned when Phoebe went in front of the boys. She had a few kids that were talking to her.
Sirius whispered, "Damn, she's hot!" as she moved in front of them. He was smiling, his eyes trailing her.
"Maybe Lucious was right Sirius. You do have an eye for teachers." James said, slightly chuckling.
Sirius jokingly told James to shut up. "I hope she'll be my teacher this year. Maybe that other one too." Piper walked into the Great Hall, she was smiling, reflecting on Sirius. He was funny to her, but she knew he was trouble like Lucious. Phoebe and Paige waved and told all the children to enter the Great Hall. Lucious eyed Paige as he walked to his table, but his attention was turned when a pretty girl put her arm around his waist. Her long blonde hair behind her ears, showing her intense blue eyes.
Piper, Paige, and Phoebe sat in their chairs as everyone sat down except for the first years.
A/N: I'm glad you all liked the first chapter. I'm sorry this chapter came out late. I've been busy with school and the testing lately! Plus I've been grounded from the computer. (which of course sucks...but who says I can't sneak on when they aren't here? Just as long as you don't tell anyone then the story can continue!)