Aching and bruised, Katie, Fred, George, Alicia and Angelina all stiffly slid into their seats in the large chamber that was being used for their International Wizarding Relations class. Angelina had worked the team so hard; George and Fred reckoned that a swift head beating was in order, if they hadn't felt so tired. Their schedule had said that their instructor was Professor Avia Tantella, a new teacher this year. Their schedule also revealed that they were sharing the class with the Hufflepuffs. Katie scanned the room. Stacks of books stood higher than the professor, and they were everywhere. The desks were each covered with a different coloured tablecloth. Shelves that ran across the walls held many peculiar objects. Katie recognized a tooth of a baby Hungarian Horntail, a Sneak-O-Scope, and a big box of Bertie Bot's every flavoured beans. She noticed the different coloured sunbeams, and followed them up to the window. The professor had charmed the windows to be different colours. Overall, the place looked very fascinating to Katie, among the other students as well. Tantella walked around the room, smiling at all her new students. She didn't have a desk. (She didn't believe in desks. They were much too formal for her.) Avia's long, blond hair cascaded down her back, just slightly curled at the bottom. Her mossy-green eyes looked wide with excitement. She wore a long, flowing deep purple dress, made out of a very thin material, for the summer, but thick enough to be appropriate. Her black cloak was carelessly tossed over a rather large red armchair. Her right ring finger had a ring with an enormous green stone set in it. Katie gasped when she felt something brush pass her legs. Looking down, she saw a rather large tabby cat; it's grey and white fur reminding her of her own cat, Ditto. After the class was all settled, Professor Tantella pointed her wand at a large mirror that took the place of the absent desk. Muttering something that sounded strangely like "rubber chicken foot", she flicked her wand. The curtains all closed, shunning the sunlight. A face began to appear in the mirror. It wasn't exactly human, Katie thought. "More like an offspring that resulted between a pixie and a seahorse…" she mused.
"Whooo….do you wish….to get informaaattiioon onnn?" the face spoke, its words dragged out.
"Professor Minerva McGonagall." Professor Tantella pronounced, in a steady voice.
"Accessinggg Professor Minerva Mcgonagall'ssss miinnddd. Pleeaasee hoollld."
"Well," Professor Tantella turned to the class. "While I am on hold, which may be awhile, seeing as my Netwhilst is extremely old, I will explain to you who I am, what this class is, and what I expect of you." She turned to the board. Moving her finger, words spelled out. "Avia Tantella" filled the entire space with loopy letters. "My name," she pointed to the board. "Is Avia Tantella, obviously, but I would like it if you just stuck to the normal 'Professor Tantella'. Sometimes that old bat…you didn't hear me say that…McGonagall gets on my case when she hears students calling me 'Avia'. So please, don't. Unless you are positive she isn't flying- err- walking- by. I am thirty years old. I am new, as you may have noticed. I transferred from a small school in Romania. Yes, there were dragons very close by, and yes, I was petrified by them, and yes, I actually did get the nerve to touch one. With gloves on. And with a five-meter stick." She smiled, then continued. "I will respect you all if you respect me. You don't have to like me, just show respect. But don't worry. I'm not that hard to get along with." She paused, getting a far-away look on her face. "You are probably all wondering what International Wizarding Relations are. Well, to tell you the truth, I have no idea." After the students finished chuckling, she went on. "Why they named them that, anyway. It doesn't quite fit the subject. Well, I suppose it could if you thought about it, but who has time to think around here? Netwhilsts, the key in IWR's are like spirits in a way. You each will be learning how to summon your own, unique Netwhilst. They are used to gather the dirt on people you dislike. It's not illegal, if you aren't caught…. ok, I lied. You can't get the deepest secrets out of the people. See, the Netwhilsts have 'brains', too. They stop when they see a thought, idea, or memory in your 'victim' that they think is too personal or private for you to see. It's bad, I know, but there have to be some rules for this. Well, I'm done talking; let's see if my Netwhilts's done. Oh! If you see my cat slinking by, his name is Felvasosofel, but you can just call him Felvie. He's named after my home town."
"Romania?" Fred and George looked at each other. "Charlie! Dragons!"
Katie studied her new professor. She seemed interesting, and very excited about whatever it was she was talking about. Avia- Professor Tantella- was animatedly talking, walking all over the room, and using her hands the entire time she was talking. When Avia said "Romania", only did then Katie realize the slight accent in Avia's voice. Her thoughts were broken when the dragged-out voice spoke again.
"Professor Minerva McGonagall. Aaaaggeee: Siiixxxtyy. Loooccc-"
Avia cut the voice off. "Oh, will you cut the voice out already?" she asked.
"Ahh, sorry. Ok. Professor Minerva McGonagall. Age: Sixty. Location: In her office, writing a letter. Teaches: Transfiguration. Head of Gryffindor House. What memory or thought do you wish to observe?"
"What she thinks of me." Avia looked directly at the face.
"Professor Minerva McGonagall thinks that you are a very stubborn woman, with ideas on teaching that are a bit eccentric. She also thinks that you need to put a desk in your classroom. At the moment, she is thinking of coming to your classroom. She is thinking that she wants to make sure you are 'teaching the right way'. The face winked at the last part.
"Oh! Well, thank you for your help today. Goodbye!" Avia hurriedly said. Muttering a phrase that sounded like "Akimbo Cotton Elephants", she pointed her wand at the mirror, then the shades. Instantly, the face disappeared, and the sun streaked through the windows. The students squinted at the light. Avia looked triumphant. "And that is International Wizarding Relations. The international part is stuck in there because you can choose anyone, anywhere in the world. Well, not Muggles, I suppose. Not saying that you shouldn't try… So, do any of you have a question? Yes, you in the back, with the blond ponytail?"
Katie lowered her hand. "I was just wondering if the 'victim' can feel or hear anything while you are doing this?"
Avia grinned. "Nope, not a thing. That's why it's so hard to get to the good stuff…the Netwhilsts know all to well that the victim's can't do anything about it. Well, they can prepare a shield, but it hardly works unless you've had years of practice with it. But even if Professor McGonagall doesn't feel it, I think she's on to me, so I shouldn't show it to all my classes today. You're lucky. Yes, in the front?" she pointed to an auburn-haired girl right in front of her. Katie recognized her to be Arven Lewis, the Hufflepuff Keeper. Arven was probably one of the best Keepers she had seen since, well, Oliver Wood.
"How often can you do this?"
"Well, you can do it as much as you like, though I advise against it. You might, possibly, become obsessed with it, and obsession can lead to anger towards your 'victim'. Anger can often turn into hate."
The next student was Angelina. "When do we start to learn?"
Avia picked up her wand. "Right now, if you want…"
A/N- Ahh. Done with my third one. Now I just have to send it to be beta-ed, and I'll upload it. So how do you guys like it? I realize that my characters are starting to sound the same, I'll work on that. You shall see my plan….cue Twilight Zone theme"….umm…review! And stuff…I just wish it didn't take 24 hours to upload…and I think I might change the genre to be just "general"…I thought I was going to add a lot more humor in this, but it just didn't work out. Oh, I do realize that some things in my story don't follow the book. At all. So I'm sorry if you were expecting it too. It just works out with what I want to write. So sue me... Just kidding!