"Well, that could have been a lot worse," Sam said fairly. The Sorting Ceremony banquet had concluded and the students had been ushered back to their dormitories by their respective prefects. "Nothing tried to kill us so far."

"If that's the basis for what you consider success, it's no wonder that you have so many losses," Crowley said. "Be that as it may, it appears that you may have something. If tonight was anything at all to base our lives here off of, they will be terribly boring."

"Well, Crowley, boring isn't always a bad thing," Dean reminded him, lounging on the couch. They had been instructed as to where their rooms and offices were and had all made their way to Crowley's room to discuss the events of the evening. "Besides, maybe a break won't be a bad thing."

"I am inclined to agree with Dean," Castiel offered. "At the very least, it gives us time to recuperate ourselves and if the Guide is to be believed, we will be losing no time in our absence. Lucifer's child will not grow any older."

"Which is all well and good but sitting on my thumbs has never been a strong suit of mine," the Demon said. He reached inside his pocket for his flash and took a draught. He coughed once and frowned at the liquid inside the metal container. "The bloody hell happened to my scotch?"

"What, not perfect enough for you?" Dean smirked, reaching for the flash and taking a swig. He blinked several times in surprise and shook his head. "Wow. Yeah, that's weird."

The liquor made its way around the room with each of the occupants taking a draught and responding like Crowley had. "Yeah, that's strong." Sam said. "Must be firewhisky."

"Must be what now?" Dean asked, taking another swig from the flask.

"It's magic booze," Sam explained.

"Magical alcohol?" Dean chuckled once and handed the flask to Crowley who took a swig as well. "Well, maybe this place isn't so bad after all."

Crowley opened his mouth to say something when a knock at the door cut him off. Remus's head poked in and he smiled at the small group. "My apologies, am I interrupting something?"

"Nah, just enjoying a drink with friends," Dean said. "Care for a swig?"

Lupin looked at the flask for a moment and then gave a rueful smile. "Perhaps another time, I would prefer to be ready for tomorrow. Speaking of which, Sam, would it be possible to speak with you? I'd like to have an idea of where we each stand as far as lesson plans to avoid any potential overlaps."

"Uh, yeah. Sure," Sam said, rising to his feet. The two departed a few moments later and Dean chuckled mildly, stealing Crowley's liquor again.

"I don't know what you are laughing about," Crowley said loftily. "If memory serves you have to teach the little buggers yourself."

"I wouldn't worry about me Crowley," Dean said easily. "I'm Magical Creatures Care or something like that. I'll just, I don't know, find a unicorn or something. What are you gonna do? You've gotta kiss all the boo boos of the kids."

"I will be fine," Crowley looked at his fingernails in a supremely unconcerned fashion. "Mate, I've been torturing and tormenting souls in Hell before top hats were fashionable. Do you think I just tortured them until they died and that was the end? Of course not. Torture them until they are almost gone and then heal them up so I can start all over again."

"Crowley is not wrong," Castiel agreed. "Torture and healing are two sides of the same coin. During the plagues-."

"Yeah, I get it," Dean sighed. "What about you Cas? According to Sam all you have to do is teach them about normal humans and what they do."

"Yes, I have been thinking on that extensively," Castiel nodded. "I thought that I would first go over what makes a normal human, normal. Survival, hedonism-."

"Whoa, back up there," Dean said. "Hedonism? Dude they're kids."

"Personally I think it's a lovely idea," Crowley said, smiling slightly in amusement. "Really an eye opener for them, I'm sure."

"Cas, just teach them about cars or something like that I don't know." Dean said. There was another knock at the door, this one rattling the hinges. The door opened and the massive figure of Hagrid was in the opening, stooped down so he could look through. "Hey there Hagrid. Care for a drink?"

"Migh' take you up on tha' later," the giant man said. "But I thought you migh' like to see some of the creatures I've got set up for this year. And yours are waitin' for ye. Thought you would come get them after dinner, but I'm not complaining."

"Mine?" Dean asked, curiously. "Yeah, let's see what you got."

Dean and Hagrid left the former angel and demon to their devices. Dean followed him out of the castle and to a little hut that bordered what appeared to be a forest full of huge trees. "Nice place you got here," Dean said as he ascended the steps. "Next to the woods too, should make your job easier right?"

"Oh, yeah." Hagrid nodded. "Bit annoyin' at times too. Unicorns and such come and eat my garden and you can't run them off or they hold a grudge which makes findin' them later a bit tricky."

"Yeah, totally," Dean agreed as he stepped inside. A massive bloodhound lay curled by the fire, lifting his head up when Dean stepped through the door before laying back down. "Nice dog."

"Name's Fang," Hagrid told him. "Ruddy coward that one, can' even stand to be around pixie without whinin'."

"Yeah, well, pixies can be pretty mean." Dean said darkly, thinking back to when he had been abducted by fairies.

"Now, where did she go…" Hagrid said, lifting up his massive bed with one hand and looking under it. "Sorry 'bout this, she was just here before I came to get you."

"She?" Dean asked. He was answered a moment later when something long and scaly fell onto his shoulders and wrapped around his neck. Acting completely on instinct he pushed off whatever had landed on him and backed up several feet, reaching for his nonexistent gun. "The hell?"

"You alrigh' professor?" Hagrid asked, reaching down and picking up the thing that Dean had thought was attacking him. Now, slightly calmed, Dean saw that Hagrid was holding a large snake about twelve feet long. "Gotta be careful with a basilisk you know, their scales are righ' delicate."

"Yeah, sorry," Dean said. The snake slipped out of Hagrid's hands and slithered across the floor to where Dean stood and began to wrap up his leg. "Uh, the hell?"

"Oh, look at tha'," Hagrid said, slight envy in his voice. "She misses her daddy! It's been fun havin' her here professor. I've always wanted a basilisk, but Professor Dumbledore put his foot down. Said I could have a dragon, but a basilisk was too dangerous."

The serpent had made its way up Dean's leg and was now looping its large body around Dean's neck like a scaly scarf. Uncertain of how to react to this, Dean allowed the snake to do as such lest he do something that would make Hagrid question his credentials. "Yeah, they are a bit temperamental," Dean said. "Gotta show em whose boss."

"I know jus' what you mean," Hagrid nodded. "Though' I would show you an old friend o' mine named Aragog."

"Yeah, sure, sounds like fun," Dean said, wondering who this Aragog was. He had met most of the professors at the feast, most of them were easy enough to remember. He definitely did not meet an Aragog. "Where's he at?"

"He lives in the Forbidden Forest with his family," Hagrid said, grabbing a crossbow from where it had been lying next to the door. Dean looked wistfully at the weapon and then beamed when Hagrid produced a slightly smaller one from under his bed. "You migh' wanna leave the basilisk here, they give em a bit of a fright."

"Yeah, no problem," Dean said, uncoiling the serpent from around his neck and laying it on the bed. The basilisk hissed at him in annoyance before it slinked across the floor and curled up next to Fang. "Thought you said your dog was a scaredy cat?"

"He is, probably too afraid to move righ' now," Hagrid said, unconcerned. He stepped outside and held the door open for Dean to follow.