The sorting ceremony at Hogwarts school was much the same as it would be a century later; students were called one at a time to the front of the great hall where the sorting hat sorted them into one of the four houses.
The Professor smirked to himself; getting into the school had been easier the second time around. A simple enough trick of the psychic paper had gotten the entire group into the ceremony and seated at the head of the Slytherin table. The Time Lord smiled as Albus Dumbledore was called to the front; Billie and Athena leaned to see the auburn haired boy step up to the stool at the front of the room where the hat was placed on his head. The sorting hat took only an instant to proclaim "Gryffindor!"
Athena sighed audibly as Dumbledore took his place at the Gryffindor table.
The headmaster of Hogwarts was a small, round man with silvery hair and eyes. As he approached the Professor, Rosie had the thought that the man looked as if he were in need. The Time Lord glanced back at the group as he spoke with the Headmaster, nodding occasionally. After several minutes of quiet speaking, the Professor laughed, nodding vigorously as he shook the headmaster's hand.
"Well," asked Rosie as the Professor stepped over to the group of travellers.
"Well," answered the Time Lord. "We're staying until their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher returns from Egypt. Apparently, he went into one of the pyramids back in June and vanished. So I'll be teaching with you guys acting as my assistants."
Athena's jaw dropped. "You can't be serious," she said aghast. "You don't have even the slightest idea about magical defense. You can hardly keep from being killed by the TARDIS, let alone by magic. You're not even a wizard!" The Professor smirked.
"Do I have to be," he asked, striding out the doors of the Great Hall.
"Yes," protested the Slytherin. "It's a requirement to even be in Hogwarts that you be a witch or wizard. Billie and I are on the register in our time and even Rosie and Drake can do a little magic. But you and Stern shouldn't even be able to see the school, let alone teach at it."
Behind her, Stern huffed; he'd stripped of his armor and was wearing a tunic and trousers made of the skin of some animal with a large, black eye patch which functioned to cover his glowing red mechanical eye.
"Perhaps," said the giant. "The young lady is correct. We can't hope to fool these wizards forever. And neither of us have the knowledge required of such a post."
"We'll be fine," said the Professor, smiling. "Trust me. Have I ever led you astray?"
"It seems like you do every other day," muttered Athena under her breath as she continued along the path back to the TARDIS.
"But this time will be different," said the Professor, smirking.
The Professor stood at the front of his first class, the first year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. The Time Lord had abandoned his usual outfit for a dark red velvet suit with a cravat tied around his neck. "Alright class," he said, smiling. "I'm Professor Colin Baker and I'll be covering your Defense Against the Dark Arts class until Professor Sullivan returns from Egypt. Unfortunately, that may take a little while." He paused, still smiling.
"But, I believe that we will learn quite a bit from each other while we are together. Now, can anyone tell me the purpose of this class," asked the Time Lord. Several hands went up immediately.
"Right," said the Professor, looking over the half dozen hands in the air. "Young Mr.…Dumbledore, right?" He asked the auburn haired boy.
"Yes, sir," said Albus, nodding slightly. "The purpose of this class is to teach us how to defend ourselves against dark magic"
The Professor smiled. "Yes and no," he replied. "Yes you are here to learn how to properly defend yourself against the Dark Arts but no, that's not the entire purpose of the class. Just knowing how to defend yourself is good, but unless you understand why and when, then the power to do so is useless." The class watched and listened silently as the Time Lord paced back and forth across the room.
"For instance," he said. "If you saw a wizard about to cast a curse that would kill several dozen people at once, it would be better to save those people before attacking your enemy. That is what you will be learning whilst in my class; not only how to defend yourself but how to defend others as well."
Rosie stood at the back of the class room, watching the Professor speak about defending the helpless masses from evil. The girl smiled to herself, musing for a few seconds on how simple the universe would be if protecting everyone were as easy as he made it sound. Still though, she did find it assuring that the Time Lord was back to his normal self.
As she stood there, the thought occurred to Rosie that teaching seemed to be such a natural thing for the Professor; he stood and spoke as if he knew exactly how to get the class' attention and keep it on him and his every word. She wondered why it had never occurred to ask him what he had done on his home planet though it could easily have been anything. Of course, he had never asked her about her home world either.
It seemed to be an unspoken agreement that Rosie wasn't even aware she'd made with him; she didn't ask about his home and he didn't ask about hers. It felt strange, knowing that she hadn't spoken to the Time lord about Cybra.
While it was true that when they had first began travelling together, the loss of her world had been a fresh and gaping wound, one that still hurt to think about, over time it had become manageable. She still missed her old life, but now it seemed that she had a new one to fill the void.