"Iris," Lockhart called, his voice wasn't as confident as it normally was.
Dahlia rolled her eyes, he never got her name right, at least he still called her flower names, "Yes, Professor?" she asked not bothering to correct him for the thousandth time.
The blonde turned and with it the worry slipped from his face as he moved away from a cage covered by a blue cloth, "Bring that out to the classroom, lesson today is going to be a dodgy one," he cracked an almost charming half grin before bounding out of his office.
"What do we have here," the girl asked out loud as she got closer to the cage. She lifted the cloth and nearly fell on the floor laughing, "Dodgy indeed, Cornish pixies," she picked up the cage and brought it out to the classroom setting it on his desk. She looked around the room; it was a far cry from what the classroom had been when she was studying. Huge portraits of Gilderoy all around the room, all of them waving and smiling at her, also calling her by the wrong name; her least favorite was the ever going painting of Lockhart painting himself painting himself going on and on. That picture was extravagantly large and the biggest of all the Lockhart's was always grinning, to Dahlia, this awkward smile and winked at her. It was definitely not a place she liked to be on her own in for long periods of time.
"Professor," a young voice said making Dahlia turn.
"Harry," she smiled, "you can just call me Dahlia, no need for formalities as I'm not a professor just yet," she gave a friendly smile to him.
All the second years shuffled in before she had time to actually talk to Potter. Draco caught her eye as he sneered in her direction, no doubt due to all the information his father gave him. The TA just smiled back at the sliver blonde boy and straightened her glasses, "Settle in, settle in," she called as all the children took their seats and pulled out one of many Lockhart books they'd been given. She gave a sigh moving a stray lock of light purple hair behind her ear for Gilderoy's introduction, "Second year Defense Against the Dark Arts students, I give you the winner of the Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honourary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and," she sighed slightly, "five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile, your Professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts, Gilderoy Lockhart."
There was a flash and smoke and he appeared on the second floor railing, gleaming smile from ear to ear, "Thank you for that brilliant introduction Lilac," he paused for a moment slightly cocking his head to the side looking at her dreamily, "Lilac is my favorite color," his voice wasn't full of that cockiness she was so used to, it was softer and more natural. He gazed at her for a moment which felt like forever in the quiet classroom, which was starting to be filled with soft giggles from the students. Dahlia cleared her throat which brought the blonde professor back to the present.
"You're welcome Professor," she slightly bowed and took a seat behind the cage on the desk.
"Yes, a wonderful introduction, my dear," he winked at her before continuing, "But I don't talk about those achievements. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at him." Lockhart paused flashing his award winning smile as most of the girls, including Hermione Granger which puzzled Dahlia, sighed leaning forward slightly. "Now, be warned. It is my job to arm you against the foulest of creatures known to wizard-kind," he looked at the cage oddly before continuing, "You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here," he spoke those words directly at the lilac haired girl sitting behind the desk. He put a hand on the cloth covering the cage, "I must ask you not to scream. It might provoke them!" his voice raised as he threw off the cloth with a flourish.
"Cornish pixies," Seamus Finnegan asked incredulously which made Dahlia smile slightly.
"Freshly caught Cornish pixies! Laugh if you will, Mr. Finnegan, but pixies can be devilishly tricky little blighters. Let's see what you make of them now!" his turned and with his right hand he opened the cage and all the pixies, about 20 or so, came screaming out of the cage.
The electric blue pixies were picking up anything and everything they cold get a hold of, including Neville Longbottom and hung him from the old iron chandelier. It was chaos as pixies darted everywhere destroying books and turning over desks, pulling the hair of anyone who wore it long enough. Dahlia sighed as Lockhart unsheathed his wand, he was actually going to try a spell to stop them. She thought a moment if it would hurt, hinder, or help him if she said the correct spell when he did as to not have the students think of him as completely inept.
"Come on now, round them up! They're only pixies!" He picked up his wand and gave an odd swish and flick as he said, "Peskipiksi Pesternomi!" which only aggravated the pixies and a few grabbed his wand and took off with it. Lockhart dashed up the stairs to his office as the class had cleared leaving only Ron, Harry, Hermione, and poor Neville. "I'll ask you three to just nip the rest of the back into their cage." Even the portrait images of Gilderoy had made a hasty exit.
Dahlia pulled her wand from its case but before she could the pixies with Lockhart's wand let the giant skeleton of a dragon come crashing down on the class and then she heard, "IMMOBULUS!"
The pixies stopped their hectic flying and slowly floated in the air. Neville being precariously hung from his robes on the light fixture shrugged, "Why is it always me?"
"I'll help you down Neville if the three of you can maneuverer these pesky things into their cage?" The trio of Gryffindors moved all the pixies into the birdcage as Dahlia helped Neville down, "Wingardium Leviosa," and the second year gently floated down to the floor. "You hurt?"
"No Miss," he said somewhat shyly.
"Good," she gave a slight squeeze to his shoulder, "Go on to your next class, I'll clean this up." She watched the four kids break into a slight run to their next class then turned to face the mess those bloody pixies had caused. Not just the dragon skeleton in pieces everywhere but paper torn from books, overturned desks, Lockhart's wand, and lesson plans everywhere. The girl sighed as she picked up her wand again, "Tergeo," giving a sharp wave.
The spell righted the upturned desks putting the books back on the shelves, minus the pages torn out, the lesson plans back on the desk, and then finally the skeleton was put back together and restored to its hanging place about the classroom.
"Violet," Gilderoy called from his office, his voice was shaky, "Are they gone?"
Dahlia held back a laugh, "Yes Professor, it's safe again."
Gilderoy sort of crawled out of his office then stood once he saw pixies in the cages again and the classroom cleaned. He gave a swift walk down the stairs to Dumbledore's niece grabbing her arms, "Are you all right my dear, you're not hurt?" his voice thick with concern and guilt.
"I am perfect Professor, interesting lesson," she smiled and tired to move from his grasp but he held her still, "Is there something you need," she looked him in the eyes and he was genuinely frightened that something had happened to her.
"I apologize Blossom, I don't know what I was thinking leaving you alone with those wretched winged beasts." He looked into her light blue eyes pleading with her for forgiveness.
"All is well Professor," she told him softly and he pulled her in for an overdramatic hug. Dahlia smiled and returned his embrace.
"I never want anything to happen to you, not even the slightest scratch," he pushed her out to look at her again, gently touching her cheek with the outside of his hand letting it linger for a moment before clearing his throat, "your Uncle might sack me," he grinned and gave a charming wink before retiring to his office, "When Mr. Potter gets here for detention send him on up to see me. You are off fan mail duty tonight," he gave another wink making Dahlia smile in spite of herself.
Lockhart lingered on her for a moment before closing his door with a flourish. The pixies, witness to this whole thing, started to make kissing noises and "oohs and aahs" at the purple haired teaching assistant, "Clear off!" She walked over to the cage picked up the pixies still making noise at her while she took them outside. As she reached the end of the hallway she came across Mrs. Norris, the care-taker's cat, she paused holding out the cage of pixies to the cat now licking her chops at the buffet of electric blue rodents, "Now if you're not quiet I will spoil Mrs. Norris' afternoon tea," she grinned baring her teeth. The pests realized she was serious and became quite scared all trying to get into the furthest part of the cage away from the cat and the beautiful girl holding their lives in her delicate hands. There was silence for several seconds, "Thank you," she said sweetly as she walked to the courtyard at the north end of the school, opened the cage and let them go.