Liyya pointed her wand at Cynthia and magically dried her clothes first, repeating the process on herself as Cynthia looked up the stairs. Hogwarts was huge and very intimidating.
"You'll be fine" Liyya said, a hand at Cynthia's shoulder. "We'll get you some casual robes tomorrow; looking the part is at least half of it, right?"
"Only if things here are as shallow as in the normal world..."
"Trust me, that's one thing that'll never change about society, even with magic."
Cynthia smiled weakly, still nervous. She was a terrible actress so it was a frightening idea that her life at the moment depended upon her acting skills.
"If it makes you feel any better," Liyya said "classes are still out for winter break and you have almost a week to get better aquainted before having to interact with the students and other professors. Come on, Albus is waiting and I think you'll feel better after meeting him. Safer, at least."
Other than the fear of being somewhere new, Cynthia didn't have as much to worry about. There was little chance anybody would search for her here, even if they could make it further than the castle grounds.
Liyya knew it would be hard to pull off, but if the legendary idiot Gilderoy Lockhart could do it, anything was possible.
---
They quietly walked through a twisty maze of halls as Liyya described Albus Dumbledore, the head of Hogwarts.
"His insomnia works to our favor; we want to do this quietly and I can't think of a better time to get it over with. And there's nothing to worry about; Albus is extremely kind and always willing to help a friend of a friend. Just let me do the talking."
Cynthia nodded, desperate to get some rest.
They approached his office and the door opened before Liyya could even speak the password.
The old wizard that greeted them stood tall and impressive, wearing a beautiful hand embroidered cloak and half moon glasses. There was concern on his face.
"With the weather getting worse, I was worried you'd run into trouble. Come in and introduce your friend. Would you like something to drink?"
"No, we're fine. Just a little tired and cold, but given the circumstances, we're in good shape."
Cynthia stepped in the office after Liyya, careful not to touch anything or stare too long at any of the foreign wizarding items lying around.
The old wizard introduced himself. "I'm Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. Liyya has told me about your situation."
She glanced at Liyya, who nodded and suppressed the guilt she felt over lying so shamelessly to Albus. "The problems began when Cynthia decided to return to the muggle world after finishing her wizarding education. We lost touch, but she contacted me recently because some strange things were happening."
"My friends started disappearing," Cynthia added when Albus glanced at her.
"Muggle friends, in particular" Liyya continued, no longer lying but wishing she was. "Then the first body turned up. I'll pass on the graphic details, but it was not in good shape or the product of a normal murder. I can't imagine why a witch or wizard would go after muggles, but that's what appears to be happening."
Dumbledore turned away, visibly disturbed and reluctant to show it. This was a new low for Voldemort or, he shuddered to think, whom/what ever else was behind it.
Liyya continued, effortlessly telling a blend of lies and truth. "Cynthia attempted to investigate when her best friend went missing but it was a bad idea, one that led to a situation where she was lucky just to lose her wand and not her life as well."
"You would most certainly be safe inside Hogwarts," Dumbledore said after thinking for a minute. "But I would be worried about the welfare of the students."
Liyya broke in "Seeing as we haven't managed to find someone to fill the Defense Against the Dark Arts position after Professor Ingstrom quit without notice..."
Dumbledore interrupted, "Severus is more than willing to accept the position; he's currently waiting for me to make the offer."
Liyya shook her head and pressed on. "He's better qualified where he already is. Everyone knows it, including Severus, even if he won't admit it. As far as defnding themselves goes, it's equally important for the students to learn potions. We can kill two birds with one stone here: keeping Cynthia safe until this outside situation is resolved, and filling a position without compromising our own staff."
Dumbledore looked over Cynthia for what seemed like forever; she was almost certain he knew they were lying. Maybe it was because he was just as tired as they were, but he reluctantly instructed Liyya to help her friend get situated.
"Based on your recent history, I will trust you have a fair amount of experience with the dark arts. We'll see how this works out on a temporary basis."
Liyya and Cynthia looked at each other and both breathed relief.
On the way out, he added, "You'll need a replacement wand."
---
Liyya walked fast as Cynthia trailed behind, looking around at the empty castle.
"It's a lot nicer in daylight," Liyya added. "The defense classroom and office are located in the lower castle. You might want to avoid Severus for a while. He's been after this job forever and would do almost anything to get it. With less than a week to find a replacement and the position practically in the palm of his hand, he won't take it well to hear that someone else walked in right in the middle of the night and stole it."
"What am I going to do about a wand?"
"Shit, I haven't even thought about it. I was making everything up on the spot if you didn't notice."
"You did a good job."
"Thanks. Anyway, we'll figure it out. You're in good with Dumbledore, so everything else is a minor annoyance as far as I'm concerned. Tomorrow, I'll show you the castle and you can get acquainted with everything. I'll help you with the lesson plans as well in my free time."
"Thanks; do you really think we can do it?"
"Considering past instructors" Liyya answered, "Most definitely. We haven't had the best luck with Defense Against the Dark Arts and I'm sure you can at least hold out for a couple months without making a worse impression."
"Hey, Liyya" Cynthia asked as they descended a staircase. "Why exactly did the last professor leave?"
Liyya froze in the process of opening a door at the bottom and Cynthia saw the reluctance in her face. Liyya almost looked relieved for the distraction when the door pulled itself open from the inside and a dark haired figure with crossed arms stood on the other side. Cynthia could tell that he was visibly upset even in the dim lighting, and intuitively got a bad feeling about him.
"Severus, is everything okay?" Liyya asked, hoping he hadn't heard much of their conversation.
"I could ask you the exact same thing, although I'm sure you have a very good excuse for wandering around the halls at 3 in the morning, waking people up."
He stared at Cynthia for an uncomfortably long time, with an expression frighteningly void of emotion.
Liyya took a deep breath, realizing he would find out soon enough anyway. "This is Cynthia Gray; she's taken the Defense Against the Dark Arts position for now."
"It's only temporary" Cynthia added, feeling more like this was a mistake than ever.
Snape extended a hand and introduced himself, unable to hide the jealousy and anger that raged under the surface before turning back to Liyya.
"Keep the noise down" he spat out before turning and disappearing for the night.
Liyya waited until he was long gone before commenting. "Snape may need an attitude adjustment and the broomstick removed from his ass, but he's all talk. Don't worry about your job or place here."
They took the door on the right and walked through an abandoned office to the adjoining bedroom. It was depressingly plain and cold, but Cynthia was so tired she didn't care.
"You've gone out of your way to help me" she told Liyya. "I'm really sorry about all of this."
"No, this is nothing. I've always wished we could have better relations with more open minded muggles, and this might be a stepping stone to something positive once it's all over."
Liyya was at the door before she turned around and added with a grave expression "Besides, I wasn't lying when I told Albus there may be magic involvement. As unlikely as it seems now, your help might be appreciated here sometime in the near future."
It was 3:30 by the time Cynthia was alone and she found herself wide awake in the uncomfortable new setting. Out of desperation, she swallowed a Xanax and soon fell into a dreamless sleep that probably wouldn't feel sufficient the next day. There was a lot to worry about, but it would have to be put off until later.