Prompt 2: Neon Carrot

"Bippity-boppity-boop!" Aria flinched as Dumbledore's voice boomed across the great hall. The words were all nonsense, and the smile stretching across his face said he knew it, despite the horrified looks on the faces of some of the first years. His little prank was begrudgingly amusing. Aria rolled her eyes as he continued. "Now that I have your attention, I have a few announcements to make. Let us give a warm welcome to our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Black."

Aria was greeted with a few half-hearted claps scattered across the hall, but she wouldn't necessarily call it warm. The professor seated next to her, a man with a hooked nose and dark shoulder length hair, was glaring daggers at her as though she had personally offended him simply by sitting next to him.

"Secondly, the Forbidden Forest is still strictly forbidden. Thirdly," Dumbledore waved his hand towards the table and a feast magically appeared before them. "let the feast begin."

Thunder rumbled from the enchanted ceiling, making Aria tense up. Dumbledore sat down in his seat and leaned across Professor McGonagall to whisper, "Are you, by any chance, related to the House of Black from London?"

Aria forced a small smile, "I'm afraid not, Headmaster. My family has always lived in France. I myself attended Beauxbatons: Academy of Magic."

Dumbledore frowned, as though he didn't quite believe her. With a nod, he turned back to his plate and began piling up an excessive amount of food for himself, making Aria cringe. He ate this way, with more food than he could possibly consume, while she and her mother had always been forced to portion theirs out to make it last until the next delivery.

"You studied Defense Against the Dark Arts at Beauxbatons?" The dark-haired professor asked doubtfully.

"I also apprenticed with the Scamander family." Aria answered confidently, "I have both educational experience and field experience."

"You'll find field experience will do you little good in a classroom full of first years, Professor Black." He quipped, turning back to his own plate.

Aria ate in silence, carefully observing her surroundings and listening in to the conversations between the other Professors. It was clear that they were all familiar with each other. Aria could only assume they had all worked with each other for several years. She was the odd one out. She was accustomed to it, but it might make her objective more difficult to achieve.

Once everyone was finished eating, Dumbledore leaned towards her again, this time eyeing the dark-haired professor. "Severus will show you to your rooms. Your classes begin at nine in the morning."

"Wonderful," Aria smiled at him, as Severus stood up from his seat.

"Shall we? I don't have all night." Severus snipped. His tone was politer than his words, but they were edged with impatience. Aria didn't hesitate to stand up and follow him out of the great hall. She followed him in silence, taking advantage of the opportunity to see more of the castle on her way. She didn't doubt that people easily got lost in here, and she was determined not to be one of them. Directions had never been one of her strengths, but she worked hard at making sure it wasn't one of her weaknesses either.

"These are your chambers. I trust you can find your own way to your classroom tomorrow?" Severus asked, studying her. Aria got the feeling that he didn't trust her. That was wise of him.

"I will be fine, but thank you for your concern." She answered simply.

Severus narrowed his eyes at her, but slipped past her and strode off down the corridor without another word. Aria sighed. It was wise of him not to trust her, but it would be easier for her if he did. Aria slipped into her rooms and began warding them.

By the time her first class began, Aria had decided to take a practical approach to teaching. She wasn't certain if it was because she wanted to prove Severus wrong regarding her field work being useless for teaching first years, or if she was simply curious as to what the students could do with it. Perhaps, if she could find favor with the students, she could use them to further her own goals as well. However, it wasn't long before she began to regret her choice. The students were attempting to learn to cast a simple defensive spell, Tarantallegra. It was meant to test them and to amuse her, more than anything else, but none of them seemed to be capable of casting it correctly.

Her gaze travelled calmly across the room. The students had partnered up for this lesson and were attempting to make each other dance. Some of the spells were causing the partners to stumble, but that was as close as any of them had gotten. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of one student, a whiney boy with hair the color of dirt, getting frustrated. He began shaking his wand as though the wand itself was at fault for his inaptitude. He was going to hurt someone.

"Mr. Neon!" She called out, stepping out into the crowd of students to stop him. Before she could get his attention, his wand exploded into a cloud of dust the color of a neon carrot. Children began coughing and stumbling back away from him in an attempt to avoid the dust. Aria waved her wand to clear it, and it slowly began to fade. Mr. Neon's face, on the other hand, did not. His entire body was stained bright orange.