2 September 1991

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was widely considered to be the greatest school of magic in the world. For a thousand years, the castle had stood as the pinnacle of magical education. Founded by four of the greatest witches and wizards of an age long past, students themselves of all of the greatest masters they could find the world over in their long lives before they settled together to teach. Godric Gryffindor from England. Helga Hufflepuff from Wales. Salazar Slytherin from Ireland. Rowena Ravenclaw from Scotland. Working together, they set the standard for teaching magic for generations to come.

What people did not realize was that one of the greatest assets of the school was its teaching staff, among whom were several of the greatest witches and wizards of the modern age.

Albus Dumbledore was known throughout the world for his accomplishments, although he would insist that his true greatest achievement was actually in the minds of those he had taught. Albus had been gifted, talented and skillful from a young age. A prodigy in magic, especially transfiguration, which had always been a family specialty.

He had been on the radar of the movers and shakers of the wizarding world since before he finished his own schooling, exchanging letters with many of the greatest minds of the time. His ambitions suffered a setback with the collapse of his family, although he would go on to complete ground breaking research with Nicolas Flamel in the field of alchemy, and eventually, defeat Gellert Grindlewald in what was considered the greatest wizarding duel in history.

After that, he returned to his teaching post, eventually being pulled into administration of the school and finally made headmaster when Armando Dippet retired.

If asked, which he often was, he would say that he very much missed teaching. It was well known among the staff that he would readily grant time off to any of his teachers if only for the opportunity to serve as their substitute. Transfiguration was still his favorite, but he was more than happy to teach Charms, Potions, Defence, or History, although it had been a very long time since Binns had taken a day off.

Today was the first day of the school year, and it was Albus' favorite day. The flock of students taking their first steps on the academic path to adulthood. Wide eyed and entranced by the magic around them. Albus was certain, these first steps were some of the most important that the students would ever take. Defining and critical to their entire future path.

And while the first day of the new year was his favorite, it was the most despised by another within the castle.

Argus Filch was a man that lingered in the memories of every student who had ever called the castle home. Usually, they were not happy memories.

Many people wondered why a man who so obviously hated children was employed at a school. Why, even more so, a man with no appreciable magic abilities was employed in the world's premier school of magic.

Only Albus Dumbledore and Argus Filch could answer that. Although Albus would refuse on the grounds that the information was not his to share, and who would ever ask Argus Filch anything willingly?

Argus Filch had never been admitted to Hogwarts as a student, due entirely to the fact that he was born with only the faintest trace of magic and no ability to channel it to useful ends. A squib.

Worse still, he had been born Argo Black to the Nobel and Most Ancient House of Black. When he reached seven years old and had never displayed even a hint of accidental magic, his parents had subjected him to tests designed to draw magic out of him.

He was immediately cast out, burned from the family tree, and disowned. Even his name was taken from him.

He had struggled, homeless, powerless, cut off from his world, unable even to enter Diagon Alley except at the end of summer when the barrier was lowered for the muggle parents of new students.

Albus Dumbledore, always ready to offer compassion, took him in, gave him a home, and allowed him to work.

And so, despite his resentment towards the magical world, especially the Black family, Argus Filtch would continue to call Hogwarts his one and only home. And he wasn't alone.

Sybil Trelawny had been in desperate straights when she had landed an interview with Albus Dumbledore for the position of Divination Professor. She had been evicted recently from her flat, and was staying on borrowed money at the Leaky Cauldren, and her loan was rapidly expiring.

So... she had embellished. She KNEW what real divination magic was like. Despite how many people treated the discipline as a joke, the magic was real and powerful. She had the inner eye. The second sight. The ability to see beyond. Well, technically, she had the ability to hear a certain interpretation of the future. But she also couldn't conjure the gift at will, and knew she had to impress.

She didn't remember half of her interview, but at the end, she had a job and a home. She believed that her posturing and embellishment had recieved the greatest wizard in the world, and so she continued the act for years to come.

Today was the first day of school, and as the third years filtered into the great hall, she tried to sort out who would be her marks. Those who were gullible, those who had a history, those who were an open book. Anyone she could make targeted guesses about and either hit the mark, or at least distract from until everyone forgot.

And if she caused a mild case of hypochondria, what of it, if she got to keep her job and home?

Poppy Pomfrey would disagree, having spent years reassuring students that they were in fact not dying. She was the confidant of more students than anyone knew. She was the sympathetic ear that everyone could trust. She answered to no one, and no one had the authority to ask her to divulge even the most trivial information about her patients.

Poppy had been through a lot in her time. She was one of the few at Hogwarts who had been involved in the war with Grindlewald, having served as a mediwitch on the front line the year she had graduated.

She had seen some terrible things, and she had been even more determined to help her patients. She had followed Albus Dumbledore out of the war and into the halls of Hogwarts where she had served ever since. Possibly the most skillful healer in Britain, she was frequently consulted by St. Mungos, and even worked there during the summers in exchange for access to certain medical supplies.

She also got to enjoy the company of her best friend.

Minerva McGonagall was considered by most to be a witch of impeccable professionalism. She treated all of the students of Hogwarts with the same stern and expectant hand, and while no one would deny that she had a soft spot for her house, she did her best to never favor them.

She was a professional. She was a teacher. She was a master of her craft. She was a hopeless Quidditch fan. She had been an elite player in her own days, and she had never been able to quite suspend her bias when it came to the magical sport. She wondered, sometimes, if she might have been happier with a starting career as a pro.

Rolanda Hooch was one of the youngest witches on staff, a retired Quidditch player who had never quite made the professional league. Rolanda was a Ravenclaw alumni who had been very successful in the sport during her school years, but had never been able to shine quite as brightly as she needed to be recruited. She wasn't bitter, not really. But losing to the Gryffindor team every year, just for their star player to become an Auror instead of pursuing a professional career, had definitely rubbed her the wrong way for a few years.

Since she had returned to Hogwarts, she had gained some perspective, and had been successful and generally well respected as an impartial and professional coach and referee.

An unexpected and unadvertised benefit of her job was the time between classes and matches where she got to just fly and enjoy the outdoors, or when the mood to be whimsical struck her, roll in the freshly trimmed grass of the field and enjoy the smell of grass and dirt.

She owed her thanks for the grass to one person.

Pomona Sprout, well known as the head of house for Hufflepuff and the teacher for Herbology, was also responsible for advising the groundskeeper on what plants to use in what areas. She had chosen the grass that carpeted the Quidditch pitch, as well as much of what made up the idyllic landscape of Hogwarts.

Pomona was a kind woman, knowledgeable in her field, and loyal to her school and her students. She was a shoulder to cry on and a guide to rely on her many of her students for years to come.

She worked along side the groundskeeper to ensure the health and beauty of the Higwarts grounds.

Rubeus Hagrid was another who called Higwarts his home. Graduated nearly fifty years before, although just barely, he had been unable to find work due to his heritage. Instead, he was offered a job by Albus Dumbledore to manage the many large and potentially dangerous magical animals that inhabited the Black Lake and Forbidden Forest.

Truly it was his dream job.

For years, he cared for the animals of the grounds single handedly, until they hired a new Care of Magical Creatures Professor, and student Rubeus had always been fond of and had great respect and empathy for.

Remus Lupin had also struggled to find a job after graduation, but unlike Rubeus, Remus had graduated top of his class. His only disadvantage was a curse that had been inflicted upon him as a child.

He had been bitten by a werewolf because his father had saved another child from the exact same fate. A child for a child. Fenrir Greyback was a demented beast who truly believed that to be a monster was the best thing for anyone. He wanted to spread the lycanthropy curse as far as possible, and used it as a tool of fearmongering and manipulation.

But Remus was not easily deterred, and had been determined to overcome his curse through hard work and discipline. Through the intervention of one of his teachers he had even become friends with an unlikely man.

Severus Snape, next to Argus Filtch, was the most unexpected man to occupy a school. Possessing not patience for the ignorant or the dispassionate, he found teaching to be a miserable experience. But when Hirace Slughorn had retired, and he had been asked not only by the former potions master but also by his two best friends, the two greatest wizards of the age, and even Madame Pomfrey with whom he had worked on a few occasions, he had relented. Temporarily, he swore, but while he was there, he would fulfill the roll to perfection.

The one spark of light in his otherwise dreary existence was his childhood friend.

Lily Potter, an expert in Potions, and a Master in Charms, had taken the position of Muggle Studies Professor, insisting that a muggleborn needed to be teaching the course.

Liked and respected even by her most stubborn students, Lily Potter had done a large amount in bridging the gap of ignorance between the magical population and their mundane neighbors.

She was considered to be the preferred candidate for Potions Professor, but insisted that Severus was a more knowledgeable and skillful master of the art, and that she was doing the most good where she was.

Where she really wanted to be was teaching Charms, but she had no idea when the current Professor might retire.

Filius Flitwick has, unbeknownst to most, the oldest member of the staff, older even than Dumbledore. Being of mixed descent with Goblin blood, he had retained youth and health far longer than any normal wizard. He had spent decades as a champion of the International dueling circuit, and had become a bit of a celebrity before he had settled down to teaching. The only student of partial Goblin parentage to ever attend Hogwarts, an elite duelist, and a master in Charms. He was one of the top assets of the school.

But even he paled in comparison to their most mysterious professor.

He walked through the halls on the first day of class, cloak around his shoulders, approaching the open door of his classroom. He had the morning free and had gone for a walk around the lake, preparing himself for his new class of first years. He believed that the first class of the first years was often the most important lesson of a student's school career, and was the first chance he had to identify potential candidates to become his own apprentice.

He entered the classroom, watching the whispers and fidgeting stop instantly, many turning to stare as he passed. He knew they could feel his presence. He reached the front of the classroom and turned to face his students.

"Good morning, class. I am Professor Tom Marvolo Riddle, welcome to Defence Against the Dark Arts."