Chapter sixteen: Professor Doreen

Professor Alicia Doreen had a long and difficult day ahead. After a restless night in her new surroundings – although the restlessness had nothing to do with those surroundings; it was the most comfortable bed she had ever slept in – she went down for breakfast. Seeing that she had created a designated spot for herself next to Dolores, she prepared to be pleasant to the witch.

'Morning professor,' Alicia said cheerfully. Dolores was dressed in a different dress, but the colour was almost the same. Maybe it was a shade darker pink. Her puffy eyes narrowed slightly as she smiled.

'Good morning. Ready for your first day?' she asked, hitting the source of her anxiety straight away.

Alicia decided to be busy rearranging her plate just so she didn't have to look at her. 'I'm sure it will be great. I start with the seventh-years though. I don't know who thought of that but I guess they are throwing me in at the deep end.'

Dolores huffed. 'Bad planning already. I have only been here a short time but I already see many things that need to be improved.'

'I agree.'

It was clear that she hadn't expected that. Her eyebrows rose up. 'You do?'

Alicia nodded and talked around her bite. 'I have seen the quality of education decline in my years as a student. Hiring underqualified professors, me included I'm afraid, letting inappropriate behaviour slide and a general lack of control. How else do you explain the fourth champion in the Triwizard Tournament last year? Years ago when I got here, it was all better.'

'Well I didn't think you would see it the same way I do. But I am glad to find someone in this castle with common sense,' Dolores replied pleased.

Alicia shrugged and continued eating. It was hard to stomach the food, as sick as she felt by her own words.

She refused to blush. She had practiced her stony expression in the mirror before the first class would start. Alicia was getting better at pretending, but for Godric's sake it was not easy. Not when the very first class was for a group of students that she had studied and partied with. And of

course the twins were sitting in the front.

'Good morning class,' she said once the last student was sitting down.

'Good morning professor,' said all of them, but she could hear George draw out the word professor.

'My name is Professor Alicia Doreen. I will be your teacher of Care of Magical Creatures for this year, or until Professor Hagrid returns. I can start this class by telling you something about myself, but most of it you already know me.'

There were some soft chuckles going around. Alicia paced slowly in front of the classroom. 'I'm not going to pretend I don't know most of you. I understand it might be strange for you to see me back as a professor instead of a student,' she looked around, seeing some of them starting to talk. 'However that will not mean you can treat me any different than your other teachers. We are here to learn and make sure you can all pass your N.E.W.T.S. I can be pleasant, but I can also deduce house points and give detention if I don't feel respected by you.'

Some of them looked startled at this. No one dared to say something.

'Right then, so far the introductions. Please get out your copies of Fantastic Beasts and where to find them. We will start lightly this year.'

The sound of shuffling was heard through the class as they got their books out. One girl in the back raised her hand. 'Miss Hornby?' Alicia said, trying very hard to remember to use surnames now.

'Professor, usually this class takes place outside. May I ask why we are in a classroom?' she asked bravely. Alicia was happy to hear her formal addressing.

Now that she had asked it, more students were wondering about this.

'Is that the creature we are going to learn about?' another student said as he had spotted Charles curled up in the corner.

'This year,' Alicia said loudly to shut them up, 'Classes will be different. There will be more theory and less involvement with creatures.' Everyone seemed astonished by this. 'We got a request from the ministry to focus more on the exams and less on the - as they phrased it - playtime.'

'Surely you won't listen to that crap!' Fred exclaimed before he could help himself. Alicia gave him a dark look and he shrunk in his seat. 'Sorry…professor.'

'I'll let that slide for now, but not a second time. Now if you all stop worrying about the lesson plan and more about what you need to learn, I'm sure we can make these classes fun and educative at the same time. Now, turn to page 14 of your books.'

Alicia took out her own copy of the book. It was old and very worn. Notes were scribbled everywhere to add to Mister Scamander his findings, the corners were mostly torn or missing and the pages had faded to a yellow colour. She had gotten this book when she was eleven years old and went to Diagon Alley with her parents, and she used it well. She had taken it with her when she went into the forest, to see if everything was true. There were many more texts about magical beasts, but none of them held that fascination and admiration in the words like the one by Mister Newt Scamander. In another life, she would have written a book very similar.

'Mister Weasley,' she said while looking at Fred, 'Why don't you start reading?'

Angelina Johnson giggled when Fred was put on the spot. 'Certainly professor. Ahem. The Crup. The crup originated in the southeast of England. It closely resembles a Jack Russel terrier, except for the forked tail.'

Fred read through the entire text as Alicia regarded her students. All of them were reading along, no one was distracted. While he was reading the text that Alicia almost knew by heart, she opened the curtain to a little storage corner at the front of the classroom. She picked up a large basket with a blanket over it and placed it on her desk.

When Fred finished, Alicia spoke again. 'Thank you Mr Weasley. Does any of you have a crup at home by any chance?'

Two people raised their hands. 'Wonderful. Have either of you performed the Severing Charm to take off the second tail?'

One of the two, a Hufflepuff girl, gasped. 'No! We brought him to a specialist for that.'

'It is a simple and harmless spell. The crup won't feel a thing…if you perform it right,' Alicia said with emphasis. Then she pulled the blanket off and revealed a litter of crup puppies.

'Puppies!' a couple of girls exclaimed. There was a general excitement going around the room.

'Yes, crup puppies,' Alicia said as she took one in her hand and set it down in front of two Gryffindor boys. At first they seemed uninterested, but then Alicia could see they were acting tough. No one could resist a puppy, definitely not when it was trying to bark but all that came out was a squeak.

'Form pairs. We first practice the Severing Charm on a piece of parchment before you get a puppy. Make sure you cut exactly on the line. Show me your results and then you can try. No one tries without me present, understood?'

'Yes professor!' everyone exclaimed. Rolls of parchment were drawn from bags, everyone eager to get a puppy. Alicia smiled in relief. This was going quite alright.

For the next twenty minutes, Alicia looked as everyone performed the charm. It was a charm they had learned in their fourth year, so Alicia was not too worried about appliance. Soon everyone could show a smooth cut.

'Wonderful everyone. Who would like to go first?' Some of them seemed hesitant, afraid to hurt the puppies. In the end is was Angelina and a friend who went first. Everyone looked nervously as the one held the puppy and the other severed the second tail. It fell off smoothly, no blood was drawn. The puppy squeaked happily.

'Excellent! Ten points to Gryffindor. Who is next?'

And so the class went on. Before she knew it, she had a basket full of unharmed normal looking puppies. She assigned them to read up on crups, but didn't assign any homework to be made. They all left with happy smiles on their faces.

Fred and George stayed behind. 'Wonderful first class professor,' George said with a big grin. 'Puppies are always a winner.'

Alicia couldn't help but chuckle. She checked the door and saw that everyone was gone. 'I was pretty nervous. How do you think I did?'

'Splendid,' Fred agreed with his brother. 'But we are really not going to see too many creatures then?'

Alicia rolled her eyes. 'Hello? You just had crups here. I'm going to do what the ministry wants, but according to my rules. Most lessons will be inside, to satisfy them. At the end of every month I'm thinking of showing something…bigger.'

'Like him?' George said, pointing to Charles. 'I really wanna see what your dog looks like.'

Alicia smiled. 'I hardly think the rest of the faculty can appreciate me bringing a dragon into the castle. It will have to remain a secret. I can count on you two, right?'

'Yes professor,' they both said.

Alicia smiled, finally feeling some of her stress subside. 'Thanks guys. Now, get the hell out of my classroom.'

After starting with the seventh-years, Alicia felt more sure about the rest. That first day she had three classes, all of them a big success. In the fourth-years class a Hufflepuff boy had dared to ask her about her scar, and all she had done was smile enigmatically.

The second day she taught Harry's class. She did the same intro, explained a little about herself and then they started. The subject for the coming week was fire crabs. She had not yet found one to show in class, but started with theory. She gave them time to work on the homework for next week, and they all worked in silence. That silence was disturbed by a snickering laugh.

Alicia, together with a couple of others, looked up. The laughing didn't stop.

'What is so funny, Mr Malfoy?' Alicia asked, one eyebrow drawn.

'Nothing,' he said, dropped a big pause before continuing with, 'professor.'

Alicia closed her book and walked over to him and one of his friends sitting next to him. Was this Crabbe or Goyle? Malfoy gave her a challenging look, but Alicia refused to be agitated by it.

'Is there anything about the work you don't understand?' she asked kindly.

This caused some more whispers around her. Malfoy's smile disappeared. 'No. I'm not stupid.'

'I didn't say you were,' Alicia continued in a soft tone. 'But you are all here to learn. You can ask questions, if you want.'

'I don't need your help,' he spat back.

This caused her to change her attitude a bit. 'I don't appreciate that tone, Mr Malfoy. I should give you detention for that.' He looked angrily back at her. 'But I believe in second changes. Continue your work in silence, or come to me for questions. No more giggling or I'll have to punish you.'

At this point, a fair amount of Gryffindors were stifling laughs. Malfoy didn't seem happy about the situation at all. Alicia turned her back to him.

'You aren't even fit to be a teacher! Why should I listen to a freak like you?'

She didn't have to turn back around. She walked up to the front, got out her wand and waved at a piece of chalk. It wrote on the schoolboard: I NEED TO LEARN RESPECT. Alicia sat down in her chair and gave Malfoy a look.

'I'm waiting,' she announced when no one moved.

'I'm not doing lines!' he exclaimed. 'My father-'

'I bet he will,' said Alicia, having heard that sentence many times already. And she had never even been in class with him before. A lot of other students seemed more than pleased that he was interrupted. 'Now get over here and give me a hundred lines. Now, Mr Malfoy.'

He dragged his feet to the front and picked up the chalk. He seemed to consider chucking it at her head, and Alicia almost wanted him to. Then he reconsidered and started writing. Students were laughing now.

'Quiet,' Alicia warned. 'Everyone that does not wish to join Mr Malfoy will study in silence until the end of the hour.'

When class ended, Malfoy seemed ready to walk back to his seat to get his stuff.

'No no,' Alicia said quickly. 'You aren't done yet.'

'Why not?' he spat.

Alicia looked in his angry face. 'Because clearly the message hasn't reached you yet. Continue.'

Everyone left the classroom. Harry gave her the happiest smile she had seen on him in a long time. When the students left, it turned very quiet, apart from the sound of chalk rasping over the board. Alicia read over her lesson plan for the third-years that was next. Only when she had read it all over twice did she look up again. He was still writing. The angry look seemed gone, but he was still deeply unhappy.

'Mr Malfoy?' she said softly.

He looked up with his hand mid-air. He didn't have the energy anymore to glare at her, so he just looked with his lips pressed in a firm line.

'I want you to understand something. Something that will not be easy for you to hear. You will probably yell at me again and I will let that slide, because I'm going to say something personal,' Alicia said with her hands clasped together.

'What is it, professor?' he asked, the venom partly gone. At least the punishment seemed to have changed something.

She looked him deep in the eye before she said it. 'You would be better off in life if you stop being a copy of your father, and more your own person.'

He laughed sarcastically. It was not as bad as she had predicted. 'What do you know about me, or my family?'

'Not much,' she agreed, 'But I know your father. We have been on opposite sides once. And the way you talked to me sounded so much like him. I understand that you have been taught to mimic everything he does. That he is what you should aspire to be. I'm telling you, you can be so much more. Just…use your own words and deeds. Not his.'

He strode over to collect his stuff without saying a word. Then he stood in front of her desk. 'Am I dismissed?'

'Yes.'

'Thank you, professor.'

Alicia watched him leave and felt herself release a breath she didn't know she was holding.

'Charles, I'm going to take a bath for the coming two hours,' she told her pet as they climbed the steps to her room. 'I'm so tired.'

Her latest class had been a mess. As the third-years were introduced to flobberworms, one of the boys had decided to throw the mucus on a girl. She had screamed louder than a fire alarm, and then everyone was throwing mucus. She had almost forgotten how childish teenagers could be.

There was still mucus in her hair and under her nails. She had ordered the class to clean up their own mess, without magic. They had complied without much contradiction. However, Alicia was reminded that not every class was going to be quiet and easy.

She nearly had a heart attack when she slammed the door to her office open and looked into the room.

'AAAH!' she screamed. Charles barked as he shot around her, ready to attack.

'Relax Alicia! It's only us!'

The room was lit only by a couple of candles, and therefore she had not recognized the two figures standing in her office. Now that she had heard his voice, it was obvious. It were her own two troublemakers.

'Merlin's beard! Don't do that again!' Alicia exclaimed as she checked the hall below, making sure no one had heard her scream.

'Bad conscience?' Sirius snickered from his spot next to the fireplace. He was leaning against the mantelpiece like a model in a photoshoot. He was holding one of her dragon figurines in his hand. She loved collecting muggle art of magical creatures. She usually got a good laugh out of how wrong they were.

She locked the door. 'Did you really just casually lounge in my room with an unlocked door, Mr Azkaban?' she asked with raised eyebrows.

Remus, at least, had the decency to look guilty. 'We should have checked the door. We thought you would already be here.'

Alicia walked over to them and Remus was about to hug her, but stopped halfway into the action. 'Uhmm…'

'Yes I stink,' she said irritably. 'I was late because students think it's hilarious to throw mucus around.'

Sirius bellowed a laugh. 'Hey Moony, didn't we do that too? I'm pretty sure James hit Lily in the face that day.'

Remus tried very hard not to laugh. 'I…I think so.'

Alicia waved it off. 'I know you guys were the biggest problem of the school. Tell me, did any teacher ever resign in your years, stress related?'

They shared a look. Then Remus tried to soothe her. 'Maybe you should take a quick shower. I'll put the kettle on. Wonderful office you have here by the way.'

'Better than Moony's, right?' Sirius chimed in.

'Yeah it's much better,' Alicia said happily.

'Knew it. You own me ten sickles.'

'Shut up Pads.'

Alicia left them to bicker as she stepped into the bathroom. The great bathtub was calling her, but she didn't have the time for it. If Remus had come alone she would have jumped in and ordered him to share the bath with her. But Sirius had to spoil their romantic evening, obviously.

When she walked back in, she was dressed in a bathrobe and comfortable pyjamas. Her hair was still leaking water, even after towelling it for five minutes. They had taken their places in front of the fireplace. Remus had indeed prepared tea and chocolate. The day she would see Remus without chocolate she would sound all the alarm bells in the world.

She jumped on the sofa next to Remus, draping her feet over his lap. 'Thanks for the tea, darling.'

He smiled and kissed her hand. 'So, how were your first two days? Apart from the mucus throwing.'

'Pretty good actually. I mean, my classes were. I had to start by teaching Fred and George, who are pretty much the equivalent of the Marauders. But they were listening quite well. Then I had Harry's class, in which I gave detention to the Malfoy kid. Tried to give him some life lessons, not sure it worked.'

They both seemed comfortable and happy to see her talk so lightly about teaching. Sirius was in a general good mood, since he was no longer in Grimmauld Place.

'And how is the witch from the ministry?' Remus asked after a polite pause.

For a second, Alicia thought this was the only reason they were here. To gain information for the Order. She shook her head, knowing that they cared more about her than that.

'Dolores Umbridge,' Alicia said with a deep sigh. 'She is everything you would fear. Stick-up-her-ass and a smile that churns your insides. Already has ideas about changing Hogwarts.' She took a long sip from her tea, trying to reassure herself that she wasn't currently in the presence of that woman.

'Hmm. And what does she think of you? First impressions?' Remus continued.

Alicia shrugged. 'I am playing her game. Pretending to be pleasant. I think she is falling for it. She doesn't know who I am.'

'Even with your scars? And your age?' Remus asked with a raised eyebrow. 'I thought it would be hard.'

'I made up for it with prejudges,' she said unhappily. 'But this is only the second day. It's hard to say.'

'And how is dear old Snape?' Sirius asked with a grin.

'Pretty much ignoring me,' Alicia told him honestly. 'And I prefer it that way. Every time I see him I'm afraid his memory came back.'

Sirius looked confused. 'What are you talking about?'

'Alicia did something she regretted later,' Remus said quickly. Sirius looked from him to Alicia. He raised an eyebrow, challenging her to tell the story.

'Well,' she said while she cleared her throat, 'I sort of punched him in the face once.'

Now his mouth fell open and he leaned forward. 'No way. And you made him forget?'

'Yep,' she said with a plopping P.

'When and why did you do that? I mean, I would generally like to punch him in the face, but what triggered you?'

'Sirius,' Remus warned. 'Maybe we shouldn't encourage that.'

'Hey, I'm the teacher now!' Alicia exclaimed, poking him with her foot. 'Encourage me my ass. I punched him right after he told the entire school that Remus is a werewolf. That answers both questions, I assume.'

Sirius got to his feet, his eyes like thunder. 'Are you telling me that slimy git is the reason you had to leave this school?' he went for the door. 'I'm going to-'

'You're not going to do anything!' Remus yelled as he stood up. Sirius grabbed the door handle, but stopped there. 'You know perfectly well this office is already a treat. You can't go anywhere else.'

'Padfoot,' Alicia said softly. 'There is no point. You know that right?'

'I could still punch him in the face and obliviate him,' he said as he turned away from the door. He gave Alicia a look before sitting down. This time he refused to use the chair the right way. He sat down on the floor with his back to the chair, draping his slender legs out in front of him.

Remus gave him a look. 'Didn't we just discuss how important it is that we don't endanger Alicia's cover here? This is our first time visiting and you are almost storming off through the castle. Please Padfoot, I need you to be a bit more adult.'

Sirius stared ahead of him with a defiant look at first, but then his look softened. 'I know Moony.'

'What did you discuss?' Alicia asked, feeling like she picked up on something.

Remus sat back down. 'Well, when I first heard that you were working here I was…emotional,' Remus said with a dropped gaze. 'But after Sirius and I talked about it, we realised that this mission of yours is very important. Now at least there is someone in the castle that protects Harry out of love, not out of devotion to a cause.'

Alicia swallowed thickly. 'So what you are saying is, you really want me to work this mission the best I can? I thought a part of you still wanted me back at your side, at Grimmauld Place.'

The two Marauders shared a look. 'We would love to have you close Nessie. But Harry is in constant danger, and I obviously trust you more than Snape,' Sirius sneered.

Remus nodded. Alicia realised at this point that there was more at stake than just the mission Dumbledore had given her. Her presence in the castle made her two best friends feel better about their godson. And she had to admit, she agreed with their feeling. Now at least someone could jump in front of Harry when he was in danger, someone who would die for him.

She shivered as she remembered the nightmare she had before. Harry lying dead on the stairs… 'You could have prevented this. You could have taken his place,' the dream-Sirius had said.

'Yes. It is better to be here, to protect Harry,' Alicia agreed at last. 'I will protect him no matter the costs.'

'Let's not think of that now. Everything will be fine,' Remus told her as he drew her closer in his arms.

'Are you going to be all snuggly now?' Sirius said with a scowl.

Alicia pressed her cheek to Remus'. 'You have a problem with that?'

'No. Not if you let me join.'

'Padfoot!'