Chapter Ten
First Class
It was nice to see more than a handful of staff waiting for breakfast the next morning, even at the early hour that Jennifer arrived. A few of the students sniffed at the basket in Jennifer's hands as they greeted her with a simple 'hi' before asking each other what their first classes were. Once the doors were opened, Jennifer went straight to the corner table to claim it, putting the basket on the table before going over to get her coffee.
"Hey, Jennifer!" Jennifer looked up with her cup in hand to see Lavender walking over with another teacher in school overalls; a witch whose brown hair was tied up in a pony-tail with a gold satin bow. "I want you to meet someone," Lavender explained. "This is Kay Sinclair. She's the Magical Creatures instructor, plus she's teaching a couple of the veterinary medicine classes as well to help cover for Arcadia."
"Yep! Busy term for me!" Kay said cheerfully.
"Mind one more at the table?" Lavender asked.
"Of course not, please join us," Jennifer said. "I brought a basket of scones today, too."
"Even better," Lavender said. Gretchen had managed to beat them to the table while they were talking and was already trying to peek in the basket. Across the room, Asher watched them get settled before getting up to get another cup of coffee.
"Lavender was telling me your familiar is a Huang. Can I meet her?" Kay asked hopefully.
"Yes, of course, and I'm sure she wouldn't mind at all if you showed her to your classes. She rather likes the attention, actually," Jennifer said. Kay blinked and then blushed.
"How did you know I was hoping you'd let me show her to my classes?" Kay asked.
"She's a Truth Seeker," Gretchen explained.
"Oh! I guess I need to watch myself around you, then," Kay decided.
"It's all right," Jennifer said with a chuckle. "Typically I don't comment on it, I noticed that you really wanted to ask me but you weren't sure if it'd be polite to."
"True," Kay agreed.
"Help yourselves to some scones. My husband sent them over because he knew it was our first day today," Jennifer offered, and Gretchen immediately pulled out the clotted cream and jam out of the basket.
"So you're married then?" Kay asked curiously.
"Yes, to Severus Snape," Jennifer replied. Kay's jaw dropped.
"Severus Snape? As in Severus saved the whole damn universe from Ciardoth Snape?" Kay gawked.
"Yes, that's him," Jennifer said with a smile.
"Wow, how cool is that?" Kay said in awe, taking one of the scones.
"Do you want to show him off to your class as well?" Gretchen teased.
"Why are you teaching here, then?" Kay asked curiously, taking a bite.
"Honestly?" Jennifer said with a sigh, the other three witches looking at her intently. "Because Severus and Wind both thought that I needed an educational sabbatical. They thought I needed some time away so I could contribute based on my own merits."
"You don't sound too convinced," Lavender noted.
"I'm not, really," Jennifer admitted. "To be honest, if it wasn't for the fact that I knew that Wind really did need me here, I probably would have already said to hell with it and gone home. I'm just not happy on my own; I miss my family too much."
"Oh? Why does Wind need you here?" Kay asked curiously. Jennifer glanced around the busy room, aware that her snoop chain had been warm for a while.
Asher glanced down at his keyboard as she began looking around, wondering why she had suddenly looked so heartbreakingly sad just a moment ago.
"I'd rather not talk about it here, although I'll be the first to admit, I could use some help," Jennifer said in a low voice. "Somewhere private, maybe."
"I got an idea. How about having a Coven Night? We'd only need one more," Lav suggested.
"Your girlfriend perhaps?" Gretchen suggested.
"No, I don't ever go to Coven Night with a girlfriend. We can't vent about each other's pet peeves if we're in the same Coven!" Lav protested, the others chuckling at that.
"It's alright," Jennifer said. "I do have a friend I might be able to talk into it... but if we do invite her, you have to keep who it is a secret."
"Sure, that's what Coven Nights are for," Kay said with a shrug. Jennifer smiled.
"I'll send her a note to see if she's interested then," Jennifer said, helping herself to one of the scones.
Jennifer took a quick walk in the garden after breakfast, breathing in the fragrance of the late summer flowers, gazing at the green apples, pears, and the bumpy green outer skins of black walnuts that were ripening as autumn approached. She paused beneath the tulip tree, waiting for Radiance to drop down onto her shoulder from where she had been roosting.
"Are you enjoying the garden? It is very pretty here, isn't it?" Jennifer asked her, Radiance warbling in agreement. "I do miss the mist over the lake in the morning, though, don't you?" Radiance rubbed her head against Jennifer's cheek comfortingly. Jennifer walked back to her classroom, opening the door and kicking the doorstop into place. She glanced up at the wall to see that the Rogue was watching her, and he gestured.
"Good morning, Severus. Big day today," Jennifer said, putting Radiance on her stand. Then she frowned at her candy tin. "Oh, drat, my candy tin is almost empty. I wonder if I put the empty tin in my Chest Cloak if he'd get the hint?" Jennifer asked herself, emptying what was left into a glass dish before closing the tin and sticking it into her pocket.
"Good morning," said a voice from the doorway, and Jennifer looked up to see Frank Byrd standing there.
"Good morning, Frank," Jennifer replied.
"Brenda asked me if I would give the students their preliminary tests for Items along with my own tests in the Wizardnet Lab. I just wanted to let you know I'm taking care of it for your," Frank explained. "I will send you the results when they're done."
"Thank you, but I'm really not interested in them," Jennifer admitted, pulling out a crate of woodworking materials and setting it on the workbench.
"Don't you want to know how much knowledge they have on the subject going in?" Frank asked in confusion.
"I doubt there's anything in that test that I can't learn from watching them work with the materials. This is a hands-on course, not a book course. In fact, the only book off the school's recommendation list that I'm using this year is the one for Advanced Items and Design, and that's only as a reference," she explained, pulling a stack of pamphlets out of her cloak and putting them on her desk.
"Are you serious?" Frank said, staring at her in complete shock.
"I didn't come to Whitebridge to fill the school district's statistics sheet. I came to teach," Jennifer explained.
"Well, we are going to need to coordinate our courses at times. Luke Miller and I need to talk to you about your advanced courses and what you're planning for them, and we also need to start planning for the Items and Industry Fair in February. We should get together next week if possible," Frank said.
"Fine, we'll get together for lunch on one of those days," Jennifer agreed.
"Monday then," Frank said with a smile, then went to have a quick word with Brenda before class.
Jennifer heard the violin play a couple of notes, indicating caution.
"I know, Professor. My friends already warned me about him, and right now he was simply concerned about my not playing the testing game," Jennifer said, glancing up at the painting. "Besides, I think it's only fair if I give Frank and the rest of the staff the benefit of the doubt, at least until I get to know them a little better, don't you?" she asked him. Rogue stared at her dubiously, then shook his head firmly. Jennifer laughed softly. "I think you're just being overprotective again, Professor," she told him. She turned away to sort through the pamphlets and missed the stern look he was giving her.
Radiance let out a trilling noise to let Jennifer know the first of the students were beginning to arrive. This first section of students in Items I-a was made up of mostly ninth graders, with a few eighth graders in the mix getting a jump start on their high school requirements. The one she taught after lunch had a smattering of older grades as well. She also had two sections of Items Detection and Application, one before lunch and one after lunch. Items II-a was after that, Items Design, and then her last course of her day was an elective called Product Development, which tied with High School students majoring in Magical Industry or Items Research. At the start of the second semester, some of the students would change to other subjects, while the rest would continue on to the Items I-b, II-b, Advanced Design, and Advanced Product Design.
Each subject at Whitebridge was taught every day of the week, but classes had less dedicated time each day, and there were no double classes to worry about. Jennifer decided that seeing them every day would make it easier to get to know her students faster, although she was definitely going to have to work out a rhythm to figure out when the best time to tell them to clean up was, since she certainly didn't want them to get stuck with the bell going off in the middle of some delicate work on their projects.
Jennifer looked up with a warm smile as a pair of girls came in. Other students simply started appearing at the work tables. She had been expecting that; most of the students who had commuted were coming in from the garden instead of the Commissary, and she knew from experience that the garden's enchantments had a lingering effect on them until they sat down in their classes.
Most of the girls who came in were staring with interest at Radiance, who chirped curiously when she noticed the attention. Most of the boys were staring with interest at Jennifer, and there were several whispers being tossed back and forth by all of them; apparently they had been hearing all sorts of rumors of their mysterious new teacher already. Finally, a stringent Wizomatic Schoolbell rang.
"Good morning! I hope you all received Dean Elk's note that you didn't need to buy books for my courses this year," Jennifer said, then noticed a couple of them grimaced. "If you did buy the book, consider it a reference for when you get stuck," she suggested with a smile, noting that the whole class seemed to be in their seats now. "You may sit where you like, but please remember that whoever you are sitting with will be your partner for the semester. Also, I'd appreciate it if you kept all of the net devices in your bags and put your bags under the table; I'll let you know if and when you need to get out a notebook for a lecture. Does anyone want to change where you are sitting?" she asked, but when no one did, she passed them a piece of paper and a Never-dry Quill. "Please put your names on that list and pass it left to right; at the end of the row, pass it to the leftmost person so that I have the names in correct order, thank you... and while you're working on that, I'll introduce myself," she explained. Some of the students looked rather baffled by the Quill, having to take an extra moment to figure out how to hold it before writing their names down.
"My name is Jennifer Craw Snape, and I'd prefer it if you'd refer to me by my professional name, Ms. Craw, although I'll answer to Mrs. Snape readily enough. And if you haven't guessed by that, I'm married to Headmaster Severus Snape of Hogwarts... yes that Severus Snape," she added with amusement when there was a murmur from the class. "That's him, there, painted about a year before the Ciardoth fight," she added for good measure, pointing to the Rogue painting, who nodded at her. "As for myself, I have been teaching Potions and Items at Hogwarts for many years now, and if you've heard of me at all, it's probably because of my work on Lycanthropy, Pellet Potions, or in relation to a certain incident involving Harry Potter," she added with amusement.
"What you may not have heard is that I'm considered one of the leading experts of cursed items in Europe, and my interest in the topic was mostly driven by my family history and studying Heirlooms linked to my family. So, you'll find I am nothing if not overqualified in this subject. Another thing most people don't know is that I am an alumnus of Whitebridge. My family moved to Connecticut when I was seven, and I lived in the United States until I was twenty-one. Once I finished high school, I stayed on at Whitebridge as a substitute teacher while I was working on my license to teach Potions and Items. After that, I taught at Beauxbatons for two years at a junior level before getting hired as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. Anyway, since I grew up here, I tend to revert as far as my speech patterns go, so if you notice my accent changing back and forth between slightly American to slightly English depending on who I'm talking to... sorry, I can't help it," Jennifer admitted with a chuckle. "Just ask me if I use a word that you don't understand in context, and ignore things like aluminium if you hear me using it.
"Now, if you're wondering about any other details, like what's that thing in the corner..." Jennifer said, pointing at Radiance, who tilted her head curiously. "That can wait. Right now, I want to assess your knowledge in magical items... no, I don't mean the written test, Mr. Byrd will give you that part of it. I'm more interested in what you really know. So, this is what I'm going to do. First, I'm going to get you all set up for a basic wood project to get your hands busy, and then I'll come around the room with some basic items for you to identify so I can see how much you retained from those skills," she said, and began handing out the beginner's pamphlets on woods. "Yes? Randy?" Jennifer said, glancing at the sheet than at the boy with his hand up.
"How are we getting graded in this class, exactly?" he asked.
"Your grade will be almost entirely made up of how well you do on your projects. You'll be graded on your ability to follow instructions, your effort, meeting deadlines, and not skipping classes. If you continue next semester, the grades will also include how well you plan out a project of your own choosing, the materials that you use, and research for those projects. Grades for finished projects are the only grades you'll have in either semester of Items this year," Jennifer said, unsurprised when she got a highly positive response from the students at that. They looked at their pamphlets and the materials list for their first project with enthusiasm.
Her next class was made entirely of sixth grade students, and it was easy to tell from their expressions of wonder which ones were newer to magic than others. Some of them stopped to get a closer look at Radiance, and others stared at the painting, before the bell rang and they all scrambled to find a random seat.
In their scramble, Jennifer couldn't help but notice something quite strange; sitting at one of the tables in front row was a lone boy that the others seemed to be going out of their way to avoid. Typically, when there was an odd number of students, it ended up effecting the back row or second to last row; seeing it happen up front was quite unusual. Not only that, but the dark-haired boy was going completely out of his way not to look at anyone, including her. It gave her a strange, shivering feeling, and even a sensation of deja vu, especially with what she was reading from the other students, who were thinking that the boy was shy, stuck-up, or downright weird, and none of them wanted anything to do with him.
Jennifer gave her introductions as she had before, but as she started the list at his desk, she paused long enough to read his name, Truman Ford, then went back up to the front of the class.
"Now, since I know that most of you haven't had lessons on using your wands yet, this first week is going to be all about two things. First, we'll be learning the basic rules involved in handling magical items, as well as exposing you to different kinds of magic items that you've never seen before. In fact, no matter how knowledgeable you think you are about items already, I guarantee you that I'll be showing you a few items today by the likes of which that none of you have ever seen. Yes, including you, Angela Powers," she said for good measure, seeing the skepticism coming from the back row. "Your father may own an items manufacturing company, but I assure you that several of the items I'll be showing you are either unique or can't be duplicated," Jennifer said.
"Surely anything can be duplicated, Ms. Craw," Angela replied. "With enough time, effort, and research, one should be able to make a copy of any magic item that exists. If it was made once, it can be made again... and then you can profit off of it."
"It's an interesting hypothesis," Jennifer replied. "But not only do I believe that certain items can't be duplicated, but in my experience, there are times when it's better not to even try to duplicate them. Sometimes, when an item is created, there are thousands, even millions of things that can go wrong in its creation; but then, lightning strikes, the stars align, and everything falls together perfectly. The chances of it happening a second time becomes astronomical at that point, and the odds against consecutive tries would just keep going up from there," she explained. "And considering that some of the items I would put into this category have or once had the potential of destroying the human race, I think it's probably just as well that they can't be duplicated. But we'll have all semester to talk about that," Jennifer decided. "For now, I would like to bring out some very special magic items for you to study. First, I am going to discern which of you have grown up around magic and who hasn't, because which item I hand to you will depend on your level of exposure," Jennifer explained. "If your table has one person who's a first generation magicborn and one who isn't first generation, I'll try to give you something a tad more challenging. Please do not touch any of the items I'm putting on your table unless I give you permission to."
Jennifer turned with her back to the class, signing to the Rogue Painting carefully. Nodding to her, he walked out of the painting. Jennifer put her cloak over her shoulders. Then she went to the back row, studying at them thoughtfully, passing them up until she got to the last table in the row and took out an Indian Rope and put it in front of them. Then she went to the second row and sat down a beautiful barrette that made the two girls she put it in front of make a sound of appreciation. A fist-sized crystal came out and was placed on the next table, and then a charmed journal. Then she went to the front row, skipping Truman and going to the next table one over, setting the Time-turner down.
"No touching, please," Jennifer reminded them when students sitting at the third table recognized what it was. At the fourth table, she dropped off a watch. Jennifer then reached in her cloak and got a grey pocket-sized mirror similar to her own. She opened it, setting it down in front of Truman. "It's safe to touch yours, Truman," she told him. "Those with the crystal sphere and journal, it's also safe to touch those," she informed them.
"Knock knock," said someone at the door, and the students looked around curiously as a pair of Aurors entered wearing guest-buttons on their cloaks.
"Come on in, Harry! Thanks for coming," Jennifer said. "Could you get the door, Aurelius?" she asked. Aurelius closed the door firmly and locked it. "Class, this is Auror Aurelius Snape and Auror Harry Potter," she said, a few more sounds of surprise coming up from the back row. "They are here as escorts for some of the items I am showing you today, and to act as backup in case someone decides to touch something they aren't supposed to and need to be rescued," she explained, her eyes darting over the two thinking of touching the Time-turner. They quickly pulled their hands back.
"So who gets the You-know-what?" Rel asked.
"Back row," Jennifer said, then drew out a letter opener. "Here, put this on the table next to it so you can watch both of them. Harry, you can put yours on the table in the second row that doesn't have an item yet."
"Sure," Harry said. There were more exclamations of surprise as Harry took out a sword and placed it on one of the desks. It had the entire class' attention until Aurelius took out a heavy pendant with a Medusa head on it.
"What is that?" Angela asked as it was lowered onto her desk.
"Something that you don't want to touch," Aurelius explained. Jennifer then carefully worked a rectangular painting out of her Cloak, putting the Sentinels painting on the second to last desk before finally taking off the cloak itself and put it on the last table that didn't have an item on it yet.
"Now, before we start talking about some of these items, can anyone guess what all of them have in common?" Jennifer inquired. "Because believe it or not, there is a very specific reason I picked the items presented today. In fact, I had to get a lot of special permissions and sign a lot of paperwork to make certain that I could bring them here," she admitted dryly. The students had begun to look around at the other items, inspecting what each other had, but their eyes rested most often on the Sword and the Aegis. "Truman?" she asked. He was so startled that she had called on him that he met her gaze before looking away again.
"They all played a part in saving your life at some point," Truman said quietly.
"Yes, that's exactly right," Jennifer agreed. "Either they aided me or someone I was with in protecting me from serious harm, or they helped save my life. And a great many of them can't be duplicated, which is why I have the escort here today... such as the Sword of Nuatha, or the Aegis, or the Craw family Dagger... that's the letter opener back there, by the way. This painting certainly can't be duplicated; you could make a copy, I suppose, but it wouldn't work the same because the time, place, and circumstances behind that painting being made are long gone; a copy would never have the same power as the original. And on my finger is a Dragonheart Diamond, worth as much as anything else in this room, and it didn't even come from this world. So I can assure you that these 'unique' items aren't just collector pieces, because to be perfectly honest, neither Auror Snape nor Auror Potter would be alive today if it wasn't for some of these items either."
"Most definitely," Harry agreed, Aurelius nodding as well.
"So let's discuss some of them, starting with the rarer ones so we can safely put them away until the next class," Jennifer said. She went over to the Sentinel's Painting first, being the most dangerous, and then the Time-turner, Sword, Aegis, and the family Dagger. Then, near the end of class after discussing the Chest Cloak, Jennifer pulled out a miniature Cauldron which quickly grew in size. She spoke about Dagda's Cauldron last, offering each a paper bowl of the porridge to take with them to lunch. As she dropped off the bowl for Truman, Jennifer leaned over.
"I'd like to see you a moment after class," Jennifer said.
"Did you want your mirror back?" Truman asked, realizing she hadn't spoken about it or attempted to retrieve it.
"We'll talk about it in a moment," Jennifer assured him. Then she turned her attention to Harry and Aurelius as they finished passing out the bowls. The students began picking up their things at the end of class, chatting excitedly as they left. "Did you two want to come to lunch with me?"
"No thanks, but we'll be back in a couple of hours to help with your other Items demonstration. I think Wind said he's hoping to make it to that one too," Harry said.
"Oh, he's more than welcome," Jennifer said with a smile. "Thanks for agreeing to do this. I really wanted to drive home that items were more than a mass-produced trinket that they ordered out of a catalog." she explained.
"I think you got your point across, Mum," Aurelius agreed. "Although I wonder about the rumors that's going to come out of these classes, especially after showing off two of the Sentinel items."
"Fine by me. I'll make no pretenses and no excuses as to who I am. The sooner they know who they're dealing with, the better," Jennifer decided. Then she glanced at Truman, still waiting at his seat. "Anyway, I need to deal with that. See you both later."
"Let me know if you need any help with that too," Aurelius said, glancing at Truman and back.
"I will, but we'll talk about it later," Jennifer agreed, and the two of them left.
"Now, let's have a chat, Truman, unless you'd rather do it in the Commissary, that is," Jennifer suggested, pulling one of the chairs in front of his table so that she could sit across from him.
"Why did you want to talk to me? Did I do something wrong?" Truman asked defensively.
"No, but I do have a confession to make," Jennifer explained, pointing to the pocket mirror. "That mirror doesn't have any charms on it except for one that will keep you from losing it and one protecting it from being cursed. I just thought you would like to have it. Maybe it'd help you focus on your own thoughts instead of being so distracted trying to avoid everyone's gaze like that." Truman frowned at that.
"Did you talk to my parents or something?" he asked irritably.
"No, I didn't need to," Jennifer admitted, taking off her spectacles. "Because when you sat down today, I saw myself sitting there. And even if I had the benefit of having a mother to train me, it doesn't mean school wasn't hard. I can't imagine what it's like for you when you've not had any training at all. But I'm just like you, Truman. I see past people's expressions just like you do. Just look at me if you don't believe me." Truman looked up reluctantly, deciding that she probably wouldn't let him leave without looking at her. Then again, apparently she didn't want him to leave. She wanted him to come to lunch with her so they could talk about it. After all, he wasn't the only Truth Seeker out there... it was rare, and rarer still for a first generation wizard, but not completely unheard of. Truman began wondering what a Truth Seeker was, and if there was a way to stop the endless thoughts of others from plaguing him. But he was fairly certain that somehow she could help him with that too.
"Let's go to lunch," Jennifer suggested out loud. "We can grab a couple of sacks from the Commissary and go out to one of the garden picnic tables. We won't be bothered there." Deciding that sounded like a good idea, Truman got up, and the two of them left, grabbing their bags before Jennifer led him to a quiet spot.
Wind was walking through the gardens, taking the long way around to the Commissary so that he could get a feel for the students and how their first day was going; and for the most part, the excitement of starting a new year and getting back with their friends made it feel like things were going very well. But as he concentrated on students who weren't having as good of a start to their year, he happened to notice Jennifer and a sixth grade student sitting at a table in the middle of the rose garden; one where he had often counseled Jennifer at when she was young. They were eating sack lunches and not saying much of anything; but despite that, their expressions kept changing as if they were deep in conversation. As he watched in fascination for a moment, there was a brief glint of sun as the boy moved something on the table; it was a folding mirror, almost identical to the yellow folding mirror that Jennifer always carried around at that age.
"Extraordinary," Wind said as he realized what was going on, and a smile crept across his face. That boy must have a great spirit guide indeed to lead him to such a place and at such a time to meet her. And for Jennifer, it seemed that things had come full circle. Wind nodded to himself, seeing the event as just another affirmation from the spirits that Jennifer was where she was supposed to be.