"You might want to rethink the weapons," the gentleman told Xylia as soon as she walked into the room. He looked incredibly tired, probably more so after hearing that he would be hosting the strange elf woman.

"Professor Lupin, was it?" she asked.

Lupin sighed. "Yes, that's me. Now, please, the weapons."

"You want me to take these weapons off," she said with a raised eyebrow.

The man was obviously in for a rough time. "Yes. I want you to take the weapons off."

Xylia bit her lip. "I don't feel comfortable without them on my person..."

Lupin looked at her. The sword, he had to admit, made him the most frightened. Its hilt, just before the blade, housed a strange light. The bow didn't make him happy by any means, but it was less threatening. "I don't want to endanger the students."

"I don't want to endanger them, either. These aren't just weapons, they're artifacts, once wielded by daedric beings…"

Lupin threw his hands up. "Fine, fine. Keep them. Just…don't let the students near them? Please?"

Xylia nodded. "I will honor your request."

"So, I'll have you sit at the front of the room while I conduct the class. I'm assuming that you won't disturb the class, although I'm sure that the class will have plenty of questions for you."

"What is this class, exactly? I myself am Archmage of a magic college. I'd be very interested to hear how classes are taught here."

The man once more shot her a look. "You're an Archmage?" he asked incredulously, then shook his head. "Nevermind. I teach Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"So, protection magic? Restoration?"

"More or less. Dueling magic, too, and such."

Xylia raised her eyebrows. "So basically the most useful magic?"

Lupin smirked. "Well, I don't know if I'd say that. Potions, certainly, is very useful. Transfiguration and charms are also just as handy."

Xylia slowly nodded. "I myself specialize in conjuration."

"What sort of thing do you conjure?"

"I would demonstrate, but conjuration is a kind of battle magic, and isn't quite suited for just showing off. Most of the things I conjure are creatures from Oblivion. Atronachs and familiars are fairly common and easy."

The professor nodded his head just as the door opened and students started pouring in. Immediately, they noticed her in the room and cautiously looked at her. Whispers started floating around the room. None of them had seen the woman up close before, so they were only now seeing how strange her face looked. They had heard that she was an elf, based on her ears, but now that they could see her, they could see the strange angle of her eyes and the boniness of her facial structure. At first glance, she looked like a human, but any closer inspection would cause a slight discomfort. It was an uncanny valley situation.

"Class, please take your seats," Lupin told the class, since they seemed to be goggling.

"They let anything into Hogwarts, don't they?" a platinum blond boy said quite loudly to a group of boys. They wore the same black robes as everyone else, but they had a few green accents to them. Xylia made no move to even make eye contact with the boy. She'd faced discrimination before in Skyrim, although not as much as the Dark Elves or the Khajiit. Nonetheless, because High Elves like herself were known magic users, many Nords had an obvious distrust of her.

"Draco, that's five points from Slytherin for obvious disrespect towards our guest. And, since you have so kindly pointed her out, I have the pleasure of introducing you to Xylia. She will be observing for the time being," Lupin first scolded the boy, then spoke to the class. Xylia gave the young students a tight smile and curt nod of her head.

"I hope to observe the way that magic is taught at this institution in comparison to my own college. I would be glad if this could be a learning experience for us both."

Xylia then sat back for the rest of the day. She noticed one of the students, a black haired boy with bright green eyes, staring at her with a fearful expression, but she didn't pay any mind to it. Instead, she focused on the admittedly mundane magic that these wizards, as they liked to be called, practiced. She did, however, notice that any spell that they practiced seemed to use wands as a conduit. It was much different than the magic staffs she was familiar with, for these wands weren't limited to one spell.

"Why must you use wands?" she asked Lupin once he had a break between classes. He sat in a different chair in the room, a little exhausted, before nonchalantly turning his head towards her.

"Do you mean to say that you yourself aren't in possession of a wand?"

Xylia scrunched up her face in thought. "I have a few staffs, but they are only limited to one effect, and must be charged with soul gems. Anybody can use those, however. You don't need to know magic to use them."

Lupin sat a little straighter in his seat. "So you use most magic…without a wand? Oh, I must see this."

Xylia pursed her lips. "Perhaps I can show you one of my personal conjuration spells."

"I thought you said that they were combat only?"

"Well…they're supposed to be. But this one is a little different."

Xylia stood from her seat and found an open space in the room. She didn't need the entire room, but at least a substantial slot so the creature wouldn't feel contained. First, she imagined the spell in her mind while she held out her hand. In her palm, a purple, glowing orb appeared. The slight flames were strangely cold against her flesh. Confident, she aimed her hand at the floor. Seemingly out of nowhere, in a flash of flame and light, a horse appeared. This horse, however, had no flesh. Its bones were a tasteful black, and where its mane would have once been was purple fire.

Lupin threw himself out of his seat, just to be sure that he wasn't sleeping. Not only had Xylia managed to conjure a flaming dead horse, but she had done it both without a wand and without even uttering a word. "Impossible…" he muttered to himself.

Xylia, however, lovingly patted the horse on the face. "His name is Arvak. He's not really my horse, but his owner has allowed me to conjure him after finding him for him. Both Arvak and his owner's souls are stuck in the Soul Cairn, you see."

The professor did not even want to ask her what that meant. He didn't even know about her race, and yet she seemed to be so nonchalant about it. The place where she must have come from, he could only imagine. And her way of speaking of magic was much different that their world. She seemed to think that spells that had a means to harm others was the only kind of magic that there was.

The woman once more raised her hand, but did so to disperse of the summoned horse. Arvak, as he was named, reared himself onto his hind legs and whinnied before disappearing once more.

Both magic users startled as they heard a knock on the door. "Oh, Harry," Lupin said once he recognized the boy. Xylia recognized him, too. He was the boy that seemed strangely frightened of her during his class. "I forgot you were coming. Do you mind if Xylia watches? We were just having the most fascinating conversation."

"Uh…" the boy seemed torn. Even now, he continued to glance her way nervously. "That'll be alright, Professor."

"Right," Lupin answered. He turned around, then dragged a large trunk out into the room. Xylia sat herself down once more to watch in comfort.

"You remember the spell, yes?" Lupin asked Harry. Although Xylia had few observations of the man, she did notice that he seemed to dote, even the smallest bit, on this boy. The shine in his eyes was something that he just didn't have when speaking to any other person.

"Yes, Professor. Expecto Petronum."

Lupin smiled before grasping Harry on the shoulder. "Good, good. Now, let us begin. One, two…"

Lupin did not finish his count before throwing open the chest. Immediately, a black cloaked figure emerged. The creature seemed very familiar to Xylia, although she knew she had not seen one exactly like this.

She watched as Harry fruitlessly attempted the spell that he had just recited. Of all his attempts, he was at least able to call forth a small, blueish light from the wand. None of it, however, was enough to scare off the creature. Harry then passed out, falling limp to the floor. Lupin forced the creature back into the box.

He did not seem all that bothered by this development. Instead, he turned to Xylia. "Would you like to try?"

Xylia's eyebrows shot up. "Try? Is this some sort of game?"

Lupin laughed. "This creature is a boggart; it can transform into whatever a person is most afraid of."

Xylia looked around the room. "I'm afraid that my biggest fear is a particular dragon, and I think he would only just fit into this room."

"Mind telling me about this dragon?"

"He is Alduin, the world eater. He intended to end my world so that the next could be created. I seemed to have successfully slain him, however, I did fail to absorb his soul. There is a chance that Alduin could return."

Lupin shook his head. "It is strange to hear you have slain dragons. They are closely watched now by wizards, never killed."

Xylia laughed. "I could imagine the rage that those dragons might feel. I once trapped a dragon to learn information. He was incredibly shamed to have been in such a vulnerable position."

"Dragons here also do not have the same intelligence that your dragons seem to. You say you have spoken to them?"

"They speak to me sometimes because I am Dovahkiin. They normally prefer to skip a good chat."

"Nonetheless, we have never recorded so much as a word coming from a dragon. And yet in your world, they have an entire language. It is utterly fascinating."

Before they could continue their conversation on dragons, the boy on the floor stirred. Lupin steadied the boy as he got up. "Are you alright, Harry? You did well, I believe you're getting somewhere."

The boy, Harry, seemed upset. "It doesn't feel like I am," he complained. Xylia would have also been frustrated; she'd never had a hard time learning a new spell.

Xylia put her elbow onto the desk and leaned her head into her hand. Mentally, she dozed off for the rest of the day.

Xylia had been invited to the dinner in the Great Hall, the very location in which the student body got their first glimpse of her. Now, however, she was sitting amongst the professors. She found herself between Snape, the man she had met prior, and Hagrid, a half giant who she did not know much about.

"Yer Xylia, then, aye?" Hagrid asked her in a thick accent between mouthfuls of food.

"A pleasure," she said in return. Serana sometimes told her that her mannerisms were very formal, but that was just how she was raised.

"I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the Keys and the Care of Magical Creatures Professor."

"What sort of creatures are considered magical?" she asked. On her other side, she could hear Snape scoff at her question. It must have been obvious to him.

"Oh, all sorts. They're creatures that Muggles shouldn't know about."

"What is a Muggle?"

The professors around her went silent. They were still not used to the idea of her being from another world, although she was very clear about that upon her arrival. "You don't know what a Muggle is? Why, they're people that can't use magic. They don't know that they're Muggles, of course. They don't even know magic exists."

Xylia blinked. "Never in my life have I met someone incapable of learning magic. Hell, people can even learn dragon shouts if they're brave enough."

Hagrid took another bite of food. "A very strange world you come from, Miss."

"Strange is a subjective word. This world is much stranger to me. I can't imagine having to hide magic…"

"Luckily, you're at Hogwarts. Here, you don't have to hide any magic."

Xylia did not think that that would be entirely true, but she smiled anyway.