"I heard you had some trouble last night" Luna said to Anna as she took her seat at breakfast the next morning.
"Ugh" replied Anna, "I don't even want to think about it. It was pretty gross."
"Neville told me, it sounds awful. I'd be happy to check your chambers for any clues that a magical creature was involved" Luna offered.
"Minerva has protected my chambers against spells, but I don't know about protection from magical creatures. Can we meet in my chambers after classes today?" Anna said. They agreed on a time and set off for their classrooms.
Anna's day was rather usual, with the exception of the occasional snicker and whispers behind hands. Apparently news of the green slime incident last night had spread. Anna decided that the best way to deal with it was to follow Malfoy's advice and ignore it. If the students realized that the prank bothered her, it would never end. After she dismissed her last class, she hurried to her chambers to await Luna's visit.
"Please sit over there and be as quiet as possible" Luna instructed. Anna sat on her couch and watched Luna begin her search. From her bag she pulled a pair of heavy looking glasses with large rhinestones glued to the frames. She moved slowly through the room, tapping tables and gently rocking chairs and couches. Anna saw nothing happening as Luna searched. Finally Luna sighed, removed her glasses and sat next to Anna on the sofa.
"Well, apart from a few Nargles, I can't find any traces of magical creatures. Maybe you should get a cat." Luna told Anna.
"Nargles?" Anna asked.
"A little annoying and mischevious, but not dangerous. Has anything gone missing? They like to hide things sometimes."
"No, nothing missing" replied Anna. "Will a cat keep these, um, Nargles, away?"
"Not really, but they are good company" Luna advised.
The two sat companionably and got to know each other. They talked about their students; Luna told Anna some of the stories about the Wizarding War that weren't in the books Anna had read; mostly about the happenings at Hogwarts while Harry, Hermione and Ron were hunting the Horcruxes.
"It must have been an awful time" Anna said.
"I wouldn't know too much about it. I was being held at Malfoy Manor for most of the time." Luna reminded Anna.
"That's right," Anna said. "How can you stand to look at Malfoy now, let alone work with him after everything he did?"
"Oh, it wasn't Draco's fault." Luna explained.
"Not his fault!" Anna was incredulous. "He was there for everything that happened! He could have done something, but he just stood by and let people be tortured, he tried to kill Dumbledore!"
Luna smiled at Anna and tried to explain. "Oh Anna, there is so much more to the history of the war than what you read in those books. Yes, they are well written, but Madame Rowling was only following Harry's story. If she had tried to tell everyone's story, the books would have been too long, and would probably still be being written! The Ministry insisted that she focus on that one aspect in order to get the story out quickly.
Let me tell you about the Draco I know.
You have to remember, Voldemort was living in his home. He was constantly terrified of seeing his parents killed or being killed himself if they displeased Voldemort in any way, real or imagined.
While I was being held in Malfoy Manor, he used to visit me when he could. I saw how the war was affecting him. His soul was being tortured every day. But yet he still tried his best to be my friend during that time. He would sneak me extra food as often as possible. One night, while the rest of the Death Eaters were gone, he sat outside the bars of the door and held my hand while he cried for hours over the things he had done and the things he knew were going to happen.
Can you imagine trying to choose between right and wrong when everything you love hangs in the balance and one small wrong move could destroy all of it? Draco stood trial after the war, he was judged and found not guilty because of the circumstances, but every time he meets someone new, someone who only knows the Draco Malfoy in those books, he is being judged, and found to be a terrible person all over again.
He has worked very hard to rebuild his life, to help those hurt in the war. That's why he's teaching here. He wants to help guide all the young witches and wizards now to not follow his path, to renounce the ideas of blood supremacy, to understand that we must all live together or another Voldemort will rise from the ashes of the last war."
Anna listened to all of this, fascinated. She had never thought of it in this way. She always imagined that she would stand up, fight as hard as she could against someone like Voldemort. But the picture Luna painted forced her to reconsider. What if everyone she loved and everything she knew stood in the balance? It was easy enough to be willing to give your life for the cause you believe in, but would she be willing to sacrifice those she loved? To watch them be tortured and die?
"Oh, Luna," Anna said with tears in her eyes. "I never thought about it that way. Everyone must have suffered so much."
Luna took Anna's hand. "Anna, don't be sad. We have survived and moved on. We have built new lives. Yes, it was terrible, but it would be even worse to dwell on the past and not move on.
Now, I have been wondering something. I keep hearing in the Muggle press about this thing called a 'smartphone'. What is a phone, and how does it get smart?"
Anna laughed and tried to explain the concept to her new friend.
The Quidditch final was that weekend and the school was empty as everyone was at the match, cheering for their favorite team. This year's final was Ravenclaw against Hufflepuff. Anna sat with Luna, head of Ravenclaw house, and Neville. Anna had attended a few matches and read about the game, but it was still fun to have someone that could explain some of the nuances of the game, so she was pleased when Draco, a former player, joined them. Although he was closely watching the match, he didn't seem to mind her questions. Ravenclaw won and everyone cheered the victors and congratulated the Hufflepuff team for an excellent season and a hard fought final match. Luna and Neville headed off to Ravenclaw tower to oversee the inevitable huge party that would be happening and Anna found herself walking back to her rooms with Draco. Now that the match was over, she was finding it difficult to make small talk with the still-imposing Potions professor.
"So, did you ever find anything out about the slime in my room?" she asked him.
"It was just a harmless compound, not too difficult to make. It had Blast Ended Skrewt urine mixed in. That's what gave it the smell." Draco told her.
"Urine?" Anna asked and shuddered. "Really gross!"
"Yes, 'gross' but harmless," smiled Draco as they reached her chambers.
"Thanks for explaining Quidditch to me," Anna said. "I hope I didn't distract you too much from the match."
"Not at all," Draco answered. "I'm just an old man trying to relive some of my glory days on the pitch."
"Not so old!" Anna smiled and turned to give the portrait her password. "Britney Spears" she said, but the portrait didn't open.
"What did you just say?" Draco asked.
"It's my password. Minerva advised me to change it after the slime incident so I did. She's a Muggle pop star," Anna explained and repeated the password. The portrait still didn't open. "Athanasia, what's going on?" Anna asked.
"Anna, the password has been changed," the toga lady replied. "Didn't you ask to change it?"
"No, I didn't," said Anna. "Who did?"
"I don't know," the portrait replied. "I stepped out to visit Gryllus in his portrait. Lelia here told me about the new password." She patted the unicorn.
"Can you ask Lelia who changed the password?" Draco asked.
"Lelia's eyesight isn't what it used to be. She tells me that the person that changed the password knew the old one and was a man. That's all she knows," Athanasia said as she continued to lovingly pet the unicorn.
"So can I change the password?" Anna asked.
"I'm sorry Anna; I cannot change the password unless you know the current password."
"I'll go get Minerva," Draco said. "As headmistress, she can reset your password." He set off to find the headmistress and Anna waited outside her rooms. Who could have done this? she wondered to herself. No one (as far as she knew) knew her password. More annoyance for the first year teacher, she guessed. As she waited, a tall man with black hair approached her in the corridor.
"Are you the new Muggle Studies teacher I have heard about?" he asked.
"Yes, I am," she said, putting on what she thought of as her 'parent face'; thinking he was probably a parent come to watch his child play in the Quidditch final. She extended her hand, "Anna Jacobs."
The man grasped her hand and introduced himself. "Harry Potter. It's a pleasure to meet you, Professor Jacobs."