Revenge of a Slytherin

Chapter 1

Lucius paced around his study. He was furious at the Ministry of Magic, 'how dare those idiots take the word of a damn muggle against mine? I am a pure born son of Slytherin!' he raged bringing his cane down with an ear splitting crash onto his desk.

Still pacing his study he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and smirked, she would pay, and he would make damn sure of that. Turning on his heel he stalked over to the window, he could feel a familiar ache in his groin, 'oh that bitch is going to regret fucking with me!' he said 'but I am going to enjoy fucking with her!'

Professor Reynard loved her new job. She had just graduated from Oxbridge when she had been approached with an offer that would change her career and life forever…

Nichol Reynard had never been a 'straight A' student, and left with High School with just enough qualifications to get her a job with a temp agency and that was it seemed where her career would be staying. The death of an otherwise unknown relative had gained her a large inheritance, which she had used to buy a house and give up her job, deciding to go back into education and change the direction of her life.

Unsure what to study, she finally decided on psychology, parapsychology and history. Nichol had always believed in the unusual, she believed in ghosts, magic and other realms. She believed strongly that these things were actually preternatural and that one-day they would become 'normal' whatever that meant.

Nichol had enjoyed her student life even though at 28 she was older than her follow students. She'd had quite a number of admirers at University, this was hardly surprising with her looks, at 5'8" she was taller than most of the other women in her classes, she had waist length black hair and deep green eyes. She had been very lucky with her genes, her dark hair was from her father's side and yet she had her mothers pale complexion and curvaceous figure, all of her curves were perfectly proportioned.

On that fateful day Nichol had been in the University Library, she had graduated now and really had no reason to be here, but she loved the old place, most universities were getting rid of old libraries like this one in favour of purpose built sterile glass towers. This library was different, oh they had the annex, for all the new shiny books, but Nichol preferred it in here, the books were old and dusty, there was the aged musty scent in the air. Many of the books were for reference only they were so old they could never leave the building, and the lighting in here was low to protect the already faded pages.

It was here amongst the stacks she had been sat when he arrived, he looked at least 100years old, he wore strange old robes and wore a beard so long he made Santa look like he had a mere 5oclock shadow. 'Do you mind if I sit?' he asked, his voice sounded aged but deep and rich. 'Not at all' she gestured to the seats opposite 'please feel free'. He sat opposite her and remained silent as though deep in thought. He never spoke again until a woman arrived next to him 'Professor' she greeted him, 'ah Minerva, you are right on time as usual' he gestured towards one of the other chairs for her to take a seat. 'Minerva' he said 'can I introduce you to Miss Reynard.' Nichol was stunned how had he known who she was? The woman spoke again 'pleased to make your acquaintance Miss Reynard' her voice had a very distinctive Scottish brogue, she too sat down.

'Hhhow do you know my name?' Nichol started to stand, she was not afraid of these two strangers, she was however puzzled. 'Who are you?' The old man turned to the woman with him 'is the library secure Minerva?' 'Yes Professor, we are quite alone.'

The old man turned to Nichol 'let me introduce myself, I am Professor Albus Dumbledore and this is Professor Minerva McGonagall. We are both teachers at what you would term a private school, and we are here to offer you a job.'

Nichol was stunned, she had no idea who these people were, and how did they know enough about her to offer her a job?

Dumbledore opened his hands towards Nichol, 'I know this is difficult for you to take in, we have been looking for someone to fill this post for many many years, we have received good reports from your professors and we' he gestured towards Professor McGonagall 'agreed that finally we have found the right person, and that my dear, is you'. He paused and looked thoughtful 'what I am about to tell you is in the strictest of confidence'. 'Of course' replied Nichol.

Twenty-four hours later Nichol was sitting in her new rooms at Hogwarts. She could barely believe she was here; she had spoken with the two Professors for what seemed like a couple of hours, she had then taken a very strange trip with them. Now she was here ready to take up her new role as a Hogwarts Professor. She was to teach the students from all of the years about how things work in the muggle world, how things are done without magic, what most muggles know about magic or what they think they know about magic, and most of all she was to assist them live within a muggle world without standing out too much or drawing attention to themselves. Alongside this she was to use her psychology and counselling skills to be available to all the students when they felt the need to seek 'advice' on the issues that most young adults would find themselves faced with as they grow up.

Professor Dumbledore assured her that the classroom she had been assigned along with the room she would use for counselling would be declared a 'magic free' zone, he would put a protection on the rooms the ensure that none of the students could play a magical prank on her. He also gave her two amulets, one bore a deep burgundy stone, this one he had told her was to protect her from magic being used against her when she was outside of her own rooms. The other bore a black stone, this one could be used in an emergency, such as during a detention, this would render the wearer magically impotent, and once it was put on only she could remove it.

Hogwarts soon felt like home, she loved it here, the building was stunning and she loved all its magical quirks. At first when she walked by pictures and they moved and spoke to her she had been spooked, but now it just seemed like they should all be this way, when school finished for the summer pictures in the 'normal' world would seem strange by their stillness and silence. She was even used to the ghosts now. One thing she would not easily get used to was the great hall, she loved this room most of all, with the enchanted ceiling, the house banners above each table, the way the food just arrived 'as if by magic' … ha how different that phrase sounded now.

The other Professors were slightly wary of her for the first couple of days, but they soon warmed to her bubbly personality. One of the Professors though she took to right away, he was cold and distant, almost rude. He would stare at her when he thought she was not looking. She could tell he was attracted to her and determined not to show this to her or anyone else. He was not attractive in the conventional sense, his black hair and black robes only made his skin seem even paler, and he looked like he never saw daylight. With his deep dark eyes that could look right through you he looked almost vampyric. 'Professor Snape', she thought, 'is a very intriguing man.'

The students loved her sense of humour, at first they seemed afraid to say muggle, they thought it might be offensive, but she explained this was not the case, as it was not said as an insult. That is apart from certain students, who spat the word muggle as though it was something dirty, she soon realised that the students who did this were all in the same house, they were all Slytherin. One in particular seemed the rudest and he had a small group or friends who would hang on to his every word, his name was Draco Malfoy.

She raised this subject with Professor Dumbledore when he was asking her how she was finding life at Hogwarts. He explained to her the form of racism that sadly affected the magic world, in that certain magical families believed that they were better than others because they had 'true' blood going back for generations, and that the Malfoys were one such family. He explained about this being partly the reason for her being brought to Hogwarts, and that the Ministry of Magic wished to bring the magic and muggle worlds closer together, and that the future lay in better integration and understanding from both sides, they felt that this would be easier to carry out if they started with the magical community.