CHAPTER TWO

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A storm is brewing

Andy was late for breakfast as usual – she was no morning person and the whole bottle of wine the night before hadn't helped – and was the last to enter the Great Hall. Dumbledore was sitting in the middle of the High Table surrounded by his staff and when Andy sat down at the only remaining seat at the very end, he stood up and asked for silence:

"I'd like to introduce the newest member of our staff, Professor Andrea Parker. She will fill the Defence vacancy and I hope that you will all make her feel at home."

"You are very welcome, dear," the grey haired woman next to Andy said, introducing herself as nurse Poppy Pomfrey.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Poppy, dear. So, where did you go to school then?"

As they began to eat their breakfast, Andy told Poppy about Granfjället school of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Sweden, where she had also done her first year as a DADA apprentice. She had spent her second year in Seattle and her third year in Tanzania.

"And I've done some travelling in between, mostly in Europe but also East Africa," Andy said and finished her muesli.

"Really," Poppy said, and sounded genuinely interested.

"Yes. I believe that travelling broadens one's mind, something that is very important in teaching; especially in Defence."

Poppy chuckled:

"Try telling that to Professor Snape! He is our Potions Master and believes that a stern hand is more appropriate when it comes to teaching." The older witch nodded towards a sullen-looking man on Dumbledore's left side. He was all black, from his clothes to his lank hair, except for his pale complexion.

"A word to the wise: he's been after the DADA position for years and is most likely to treat you with disdain at the best. Don't let him bully you!"

Andy rolled her eyes:

"He doesn't scare me! I've been studying the Dark Arts for three years, each instructor more imposing than the first!"

Poppy patted her arm:

"Good for you, love, but you have never met anyone like Severus Snape, believe me."

As Andy was leaving the breakfast table, Dumbledore asked to speak to her for a moment:

"The students will arrive tonight, so all staff is required to be here at a quarter to eight."

He gave Andy's clothes – black plastic pants and a purple skin-tight blouse – a swift look.

"Don't worry, Headmaster; I will change until then."

He gave her a relieved smile.

"Oh, yes, here is your schedule for the year." Dumbledore took out a parchment from one of his robe pockets.

"And my curriculum?"

"I have nothing to add; it seems to be in order."

"Thank you sir. Now, I have some things to tend to, so if you'll excuse me..."

Andy took her leave and went up to the DADA classroom. Through the tall windows she could see dark clouds approaching between the mountains and deducted that there would be rain before lunchtime. She wondered how cold it would get inside the castle during winter; in Granfjället the fireplaces had been blazing six months a year just to keep the building liveable. She looked out the windows again. She'd better hurry if she was to make it to Hogsmeade and back before the rain came.

Andy had never been to the small village of Hogsmeade before, but she immediately felt like home on the narrow, steep streets between the quaint houses. Inside her goal, the sweetshop Honeydukes, the owner and her husband were preparing for the arrival of the students and the place oozed with the smell of sweet-making. She bought a stack of their finest chocolate and then went on her way again. Just before leaving the village she passed a pub and decided to go inside for a drink since the rain didn't seem to arrive any time soon anyway.

There weren't many people inside the pub, so the proprietor, Madam Rosmerta, gave Andy her full attention. As she was pouring Andy a pint, she asked her what she was doing in Hogsmeade.

"I'm the new Defence professor at Hogwarts," Andy said and took the beer glass.

"Ah, welcome," Rosmerta said and rested her elbows on the counter. "Well, I hope you've got better luck than the previous ones."

"Yeah, I've heard that the position is jinxed," Andy said and winked.

"But you don't believe it," Rosmerta said and smiled. "Good! Can I get you anything else?"

"This'll be fine, thanks." Andy took her beer and sat down by one of the small windows facing the street. She had finished half the beer when the door was opened and professors McGonagall and Sprout entered. McGonagall went up to the counter and Sprout asked Andy if they could join her.

"Certainly, Professor Sprout!"

The plump witch sat down and asked Andy to call her Pomona, and when McGonagall arrived with two glasses of sherry she told Andy that it was Minerva and nothing else.

"So," Andy said, "What else are there to do around here except for drinking in The Three Broomsticks?"

"Not much," Pomona admitted. "Saturdays there are live music both here and at the Hog's Head, but I wouldn't recommend that place: they tend to be a bit... rowdy there."

Interesting, Andy thought but didn't say anything. Instead she asked the two women to tell her more about the staff, which they were happy to do. She learnt more about the snarky Potions Master Snape; the Divination professors Firenze and Sibyll Trelawney; Binns, the ghost professor of History; and all the others.

Finally Sprout looked out the window, and said:

"It looks as if it'll rain any minute now."

"I'd better get back then," Andy said and finished her beer, "I don't want the chocolates to get wet."

"Oh, chocolate!" Sprout's eyes lit up.

"It's for the Defence class, sorry," Andy said and grinned.

Both Sprout and McGonagall stayed behind at the pub, so Andy walked the gravel road up to the school on her own and had just reached the stairs up to the large double-doors when the sky opened and it began to rain. By the time she reached her rooms a full storm was raging and the heavy rain thundered against the windows. As she was putting the chocolate away, she suddenly heard something else over the noise from the storm. Outside one of the sitting room windows a black thing was ferociously tapping the pane and Andy opened it. A very wet raven flopped inside and landed on the floor with a heavy thud.

"Nevermore, finally!" Andy scooped up the bird and brought it to the bathroom where she towelled it off. Nevermore gave her a disgruntled look and flew out to the sitting room, where he perched himself on the mantelpiece.

"I told you that you could travel with me, so don't even think about it! You wanted to fly so it's you own fault," Andy said as she followed the raven to the sitting room.

The black bird didn't even meet her gaze.

"Suit yourself," Andy said and ruffled its feathers. "I'm glad you made it anyway."

After a hefty lunch to keep her until the Welcoming Feast, Andy sat down in her office and began to prepare for her first classes the next day. She knew that she could do it, but was still nervous. She wanted her students both to like and respect her, a difficult thing to achieve: you could end up either being taken advantage off or feared.

The storm was still raging when Andy walked down the stairs to the main hall, dressed in a black dress with a high collar and double silver buttons all the way down the chest and waist. Her hair was still spiky and she had not removed neither her nose- or tongue stud, nor her many earrings.

McGonagall and Hagrid were having a heated discussion in the main hall and Andy happened to walk right in to it.

"I'm tellin' yeh Minerva," Hagrid shouted and threw out his large arms, "It's too stormy! I can' take them kiddies in boats across the lake in such weathe'!"

"Tradition states –"

"They'll drown! No, we'd bette' prepare more carriages so we can take 'em the land way."

Finally Dumbledore interrupted them.

"Minerva, Rubeus, you are both right, but this time I will have to go with Minerva: the children need to come by sea. I promise you, Rubeus, that no one will be hurt."

Hagrid muttered and stomped off, closely followed by Dumbledore. Minerva sighed and shook her head.

"Poor Hagrid. I know that he worries about the students, but some traditions need to be followed." The older witch put her arm under Andy's and they walked inside the Great Hall together. Flitwick was lightening candles and sending them floating above the four House tables, but the clouds above were still sending menacing shadows over the hall.

"It is a rather bleak evening," Andy said and her words were almost drowned by a thunder that shook the tall windows.

"Yes," McGonagall said, "But you are looking very natty!"

"Thank you," Andy said, and hoped that 'natty' meant something positive.

They walked up onto the stage where the High Table stood, and McGonagall placed Andy in an empty seat two chairs away from where Dumbledore would sit.

"As the Defence professor, you have your place here, next to Snape unfortunately. Don't let him..."

"...bully me, I know," Andy said. She hadn't seen anything of Snape except for during breakfast and lunch, and he had never uttered a word to her or even acknowledged her presence.

McGonagall left, as she had to welcome the students that would arrive any minute. Professor Sinistra, the Astronomy teacher, sat down on Andy's left and while they were chatting, Professor Snape turned up, scowling as usual, and sat down on her right. Andy said a cheerful "Good evening!" but he didn't answer, just looked at her with ill-disguised contempt.

Promptly at eight o'clock the double-doors to the Great Hall flung open and all the students except for the first-years entered. They sat down at their respective House tables and soon after the doors were opened again and McGonagall walked inside, followed by the yet un-Sorted new students.

Andy followed the Sorting with interest. They had something similar at Granfjället, which was modelled after Hogwarts in many ways, and she had always wondered how the school crest – or in Hogwarts' case, the Hat – always managed to divide the new students in equal quarters, five boys and five girls, into each House.

When the last scared little Ravenclaw had been seated, Dumbledore invited all to eat. As the plates filled with food, Andy scanned the Gryffindor table and finally found someone she thought had to be Harry Potter, sitting between a red-haired boy and a blond podgy boy. She couldn't see the scar from this distance, but she recognized his spectacles and unruly black hair from newspaper photos.

When everyone had finished the sumptuous dinner, Dumbledore stood up and began to talk:

"As we begin a new year at Hogwarts, I regret to inform you all that times are dire. Lord Voldemort –" there was a collective gasp "– has returned and together with the demise of the Dementors this makes things even more dangerous. The Forbidden Forest is as always forbidden for all students, but now more than ever before. Hogsmeade weekends will be allowed to those of age as usual, but not in groups of less than five. You will be safe here at Hogwarts so there is really no reason to despair." Dumbledore smiled towards his students as if to comfort them. "Now I would like to end this evening with more uplifting news: we have a new Defence Against The Dark Arts' teacher, Professor Parker, whom I am confident will be an asset to Hogwarts." Andy almost blushed at the praise, but nodded a greeting towards the students all the same.

While the first-years were lead to their dorms, the older ones stayed behind chatting and Andy could tell that among the many happy reunions there were also hushed voices filled with worry. Lord Voldemort and Dementors prowling about; she'd be scared too if she was a kid. Well, to tell the truth she was a bit scared. She knew very well what Death Eaters were capable of.

"Another whiskey, Andy?"

"No thanks, I've got class first thing in the morning."

"Me too," McGonagall said and poured herself another.

They were sitting in the dark staff room where the only light came from the fireplace, both with a glass of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey in their hands. The rain was still pounding against the windows.

"Did he tell the truth? Are we safe here?"

McGonagall took a sip before answering.

"Yes. Nothing can enter Hogwarts or its grounds without permission."

"But?"

McGonagall gave Andy a crocked smile.

"Hogsmeade is a whole other issue, as is the Forbidden Forest. I'd prefer that we cancelled all Hogsmeade weekends, but Albus is determined not to let his students suffer more. He thinks that they need something to keep their minds off what's really going on."

"I agree with him," Andy said. "Life should be as normal as possible. I just wish..."

"What?"
"That there was something more to be done. Not all of them are as skilled in practical defence as Harry Potter, and if they were attacked..."

McGonagall nodded as she looked into the fire.

"I think you're right. Well, we'd better go to bed now. Long day tomorrow."

Andy was tossing and turning in bed. She was dreaming about the cold dark room again and the pleading voices, the whimpering voices, the crying voices, the blood, oh gods, so much blood, and finally she woke up screaming, as on so many nights before.