A/N: Hope you like the direction I'm going in! Enjoy. :)
The train came to a screeching halt at Hogsmeade Station and the students, now changed into their school robes, filed out onto the torch lit platform. They had already divvied themselves amongst their houses and years and the second through seventh years made their way to the Thestral drawn carriages, while the first years were stopped by Rubeus Hagrid to be taken to the boats to cross the lake. Alice and Draco also made their ways to the carriages ahead of the students so to make it to the Great Hall promptly.
"Are those supposed to be horses?" Alice asked of the strange, black winged beasts pulling the carriages.
Draco was at first surprised that Alice could see them, but then remembered she had witnessed her mother's death as a child. "They're Thestrals, but not everyone can see them."
"What do you mean not everyone? You see them right?" Alice asked slightly concerned.
"Yes, but I've also witnessed death," Draco replied casually. Alice looked at him curiously, somewhat unsure what he meant. "They're invisible to everyone who hasn't."
"Any reasons why that's so?" Alice thought she'd ask, wishing the magical world had more rational explanations for their oddities.
Draco shook his head, "It's uncertain. They're often thought of as bad omens, but they're really harmless creatures."
"They look like something out of the Nightmare Before Christmas," Alice said slightly amused to herself while examining the horse's skeletal structure. Before jumping on the carriage she stopped and looked at Draco with a slight smile, "Well, Hogwarts 101 has really started for me."
While students entered the castle through the main entrance hall, Draco led Alice the back way to the staffroom, where the teachers were congregating prior to the student's arrival. The entrance to the room was guarded by two stone gargoyles who upon their approach asked for a password. Draco told Alice to remember the current password and then explained that she would be notified as it changed via post from Headmistress McGonagall. In her head she wondered whether having a key would be easier.
They entered the long paneled room where several of the faculty were lounging in mismatched dark wooden chairs; others were talking to each other in small groups of two or three. Many were dressed in a variety of long robes, some reminding Alice of what she wore to university graduation. Most of the female witches had stylish though stereotypical witch hats on their heads. Alice, dressed in a pencil skirt, tights and a fitted blazer suddenly felt very muggle-like in their company.
"So good to see you two," Neville immediately noted their arrival and went to greet them with a handshake. Internally he was quite happy Hogwarts hired two professors who were around his age, despite one being an old enemy. "How was your first journey to Hogwarts Alice?"
"Magical I guess," Alice said cheerfully while shaking his hand, she couldn't help but feed off his positive energy.
Immediately after this small exchange, Headmistress McGonagall addressed the staff, "Now that everyone has arrived, I'll make a brief announcement before gathering the first years. As you might know we have two new faculty members joining us. Draco Malfoy will be replacing Professor Slughorn's position as Potions Teachers, and Alice McNally will be teaching the new Muggle Studies curriculum to all sixth year students. Please join me in welcoming them to Hogwarts." There was polite applause before McGonagall continued, "On a more technical note, since several course curriculums have changed, there may be some confusion amongst students when they receive their new schedules tomorrow morning. Please be diligent in reminding them that there's no mistake and that they do need to attend those courses."
McGonagall then went to leave the room but first mentioned to Alice on her way out, "The Muggle Studies classroom is equipped with electricity now, as is your office. If you encounter any difficulties please let Professor Chorice know and she'll adjust the spells for you."
Alice expressed her gratitude before the Headmistress quickly raced towards the exit. For an older witch, she had quite a lot of energy in her step, Alice thought. The rest of the staff had risen from their chairs and were preparing to enter the Great Hall to take their seats at the large table at the front. At this time, Rubeus Hagrid, Hogwarts's longtime gamekeeper, bumbled into the staff room looking quite gruff but overly content.
"Did I miss anything?" his voice slightly echoed through the room as he asked some faculty near the entrance.
Alice whispered to Draco, who had ignored Hagrid's entrance completely, "Why is he so…large?"
Noting who she was talking about, Draco whispered back, "He's a half-giant." Draco's relationship with the games keeper had not improved over the years and he still conceived of him as incompetent.
Alice turned again to look curiously at the half-giant, wondering how large full-giants were if she were to ever to see one. However, her brief glance drew the attention of Hagrid who had not yet met the granddaughter of the wizard he heavily admired for most of his life. Hagrid immediately made his way towards her and Alice hesitantly turned to meet him, worrying that perhaps she offended him in some.
"Well you must be Alice McNally," he said jovially to her, "Was rather pleased to hear you'd be teaching here. Yer grandfather would of liked that."
"Nice to meet you…uh," Alice looked at him quizzically for a name.
"Hagrid, Rubeus Hagrid, Hogwarts Gamekeeper and former professor of the Care for Magical Creatures," he said proudly. "Would of trusted yer grandfather with me life I would, so if you need anything, anything at all, don't hesitate to ask."
"That's very kind of you, thank you," Alice was impressed with his generosity, then she remembered this was her grandfather's turf and it was an advantageous connection for her.
Draco turned to greet Hagrid as civil as he could though he would have preferred ignoring him. "Hagrid," he nodded.
"Malfoy, see you managed the potions position," his voice didn't sound like it did when speaking to Alice and she picked up on some mild contempt between the two and wondered the background story. "Sad to see ol' Slughorn go," Hagrid added to Alice, "He was a jolly fella, could make yer laugh even on a gloomy day."
Alice agreed, "I've met him, he has a good nature. But I gather he's rather content to be retired."
"I suppose," Hagrid thought, "Will miss 'im though."
"He actually couldn't wait to start traveling again," a middle aged witch dressed in burgundy robes with long black hair interrupted, "Hi, I'm Septima Vector, I teach Arithmancy," she offered her hand in greeting.
"Nice to meet you…Arithmancy, that's prophecy through numbers?" Alice inquired, thinking of its Greek roots, but still a bit confused as to what it was.
"That's correct, divination through numerals. Have you tried?" Septima asked.
"No, I haven't," Alice quickly said, never hearing of the subject until today.
"If you're ever interested, my office is on the seventh floor," she said quite serious about the invitation.
"Thanks, I'll think about it," Alice said somewhat curious, but a little skeptical. She again realized Hogwarts did not have ordinary curriculum.
The teachers all left the staff room and filed through the front doors of the Great Hall, which was already brimming with seated students dressed in their black school robes, noisily chatting about their year ahead. Candles were lit and suspended from the enchanted ceiling that looked like it opened to the night's sky. As the teachers entered and walked down the center of the four long tables, the students respectfully hushed themselves. Alice walked behind Draco watching his black robe sway to and fro. The clicking of her heels was probably heard by the students as she passed. She noticed the Sorting Hat was perched on a stool at the front, waiting for the first years. Its creased eyes followed Alice as she stared curiously at it, and it shuffled slightly in its spot when she passed by mumbling, "Yes, a Dumbledore, hmmm interesting." Alice wondered why the hat was still interested in her, even at the interview in McGonagall's office it questioned which house she would have been sorted into. As she sat on a high backed chair at the long front table with the other teachers, overlooking the rows of students, she began to ponder her alternative history. What table would she have sat at? What would her favorite subject be? In what way would that life have ended in tragedy as her grandfather said? These questions seemed more vivid to her now than before. Draco put his hand on her thigh under the table and then gave her a reassuring smile which instantly calmed her. He could tell by her expression that her mind was racing.
It was not long before McGonagall entered with the youthful first years in their plain black robes scurrying behind her, soon to be called one by one to be sorted into their appropriate houses. She could sense the nerves amongst the young ones, though some were brave enough to try and convince the hat to place them in a specific house against its first suggestion. After each declaration, the house's established students cheered their new member to their table, openly accepting them into their family. She wondered whether students had the option to change houses later on, though she assumed such freedoms were less likely when the placement was uniquely divined by a magical object. It was a long process, but for Alice who had never witnessed it before, she was intrigued with each call. After the final student was placed, McGonagall approached the podium to greet everyone, warn all students, especially the first years, to stay out of the Forbidden Forest, alert them to the upcoming Triwizard Tournament, which had been slated to start the following month, as well as introduce the two new teachers.
"…Professor Slughorn has retired his post as Potions Instructor and will be replaced by the very capable and also one of our former substitute instructors, Professor Draco Malfoy…"
Draco stood up and there was a strong eruption of applause from the table on the far right, and Alice noted it was the Slytherin table, making her smile slightly as such loyalty.
McGonagall continued, "And you may well be aware of several changes in curriculum this year. One in particular affects all sixth year students. Teaching this new Muggle Studies course, which is required, no exceptions, will be Professor Alice McNally, who is a descendent of Albus Dumbledore and muggle-trained scholar…"
Alice stood up and looked out on the students before her. They provided a polite applause, though none was coming from the table on the far right. It shouldn't have surprised Alice, though it did suggest her work was to be decidedly more trying with that lot.
"Let the feast begin!" As soon as McGonagall finished, food appeared out of nowhere on the tables before them making Alice slightly jump back in her seat. She hated how magic had the tendency to do that to her. Luckily no one seemed to notice for they were too interested in the food in front of them, except for Draco, of course, who expected this reaction from Alice.
After filling their stomachs, the students were off to bed and the teachers to their offices. Alice was led by Professor Chorice to the fifth floor where both the Muggle Studies classroom and her office were located. Her large suitcase had already been brought up and was sitting beside an intricately carved wooden desk with a stone fireplace behind it. The room was circular, thus Alice assumed she was in a side tower though at this time it was too dark to see what the view was from the windows. She told Professor Chorice that she planned to spend some time setting up her technology since she had a fairly early class the next morning and wanted to be more prepared beforehand. After pointing out the electrical outlets that McGonagall had installed, Alice was left alone in the overly large classroom. She surveyed the dusty musical instruments and outdated mechanical devices lining the side shelves, already feeling overwhelmed by the year's task at hand. "One thing at a time," she thought as she powered on her laptop and unpacked the speakers from her luggage.
She first tested the outlets in the room and was somewhat relieved they powered electricity through them. She then plugged in her wireless PC projector at the back of the classroom next to an old, heavily used manual photo slide projector. She pulled down the projection screen that was rolled up in the front of the class and her face was unfortunately greeted by a far amount of dust. She wondered if that was just from the summer or if it's been out of use for longer.
She flawlessly projected her laptop screen onto the dingy fabric board giving her another sigh of relief. Now her task would be to set up the speakers, which she plugged in at the front of the room. Double checking that her laptop could wirelessly connect with the speakers, she opened up her iTunes and shuffled through songs. Being alone, she left the up-tempo electronic trip hop beats on as she found the hammer and hooks she brought with the intent of hanging the speakers in the front of the classroom. After she pushed a desk against the wall, she removed her heels and stepped up onto it, hammering the hook in and hanging the speaker on it. She would do the same on the other side. With her heels still off she walked to the back of the classroom and tested the sound, using a remote control for the volume. She hoped the sound could project far enough so students in the back could hear.
Little did she know as she was maximizing the volume of her music to ridiculously high levels, that Headmistress McGonagall had stepped into the room, followed by Professor Chorice. There she stood with her back to them, heels off, playing with the volume controls as McGonagall looked disapprovingly at Professor Chorice, unsure of what to say.
"Professor McNally," McGonagall said crisp and clear, trying her best to project her voice over the music without shouting, "Professor McNally," she called again.
Alice's eyes went wide as she realized she wasn't alone anymore, and she turned to face two unexpected visitors. She pushed the stop button on the remote and said a quick and embarrassing, "Sorry, just testing."
McGonagall looked quite stern at that moment, but forewent any condemnation of her rowdiness. "We wanted to know how you were adjusting and I'll assume the electricity installed is adequate."
After having tested the speakers, Alice realized everything was set, "Yes, it's perfect. Thank you for having it set up for me."
McGonagall's beady eyes suspiciously looked at the speakers hung in front of the classroom as well as what was projected on the screen from Alice's laptop. "Here are your class rosters," she handed Alice several pieces of parchment with student's names listed on it. "Absent students should be accounted for, but you should receive a memo prior if it's consented. If it's due to illness it will come from Madame Pomfrey, otherwise the memo can only be sent from their house leader. You can also subtract points from houses as well as add. An individual's achievement or failure is one for the house and points are tallied by our hourglasses. It's perhaps your best bet at discipline before assigning detention. Do you have any questions?"
Alice wanted to ask how the hourglasses recorded the points if she just spoke the words but decided not to. "Not right now, as time progresses perhaps."
"Please let me know," she replied looking again at the projected laptop screen.
Before exiting the door Professor Chorice added, "Feel free to arrange the desks as you please. They're easy enough to put back in line." In the hallway Professor Chorice then whispered to McGonagall, "Well, we never expected her methods to be conventional…"
That evening Alice finished setting up her technology, organized what she brought for her office and was visited by Draco who had been busy doing similar tasks. She admitted to being overwhelmed by everything that day and knew her nerves were palpable. Before heading back home, Draco prepared her a tonic to calm her nerves and provide her better sleep that night. She hesitantly drank it, hating that teaching this class was providing such worry, especially when she had no worries about lecturing at a major university to a class of hundred or so students.
After flooing to the Malfoy's drawing room, then apparating home, Alice immediately felt the need to go to bed, giving little thought to the next morning.
Dream 1:
"Give it time Alice, you'll fit in just fine," Thomas McNally said lovingly to his daughter on the platform, pushing her hair out of her face.
"I'd still rather go to regular school," she said adamantly, as she clung tightly to her mother's old tattered copy of Darwin's The Origin of Species; a treasured memento that also represented her burgeoning love of science.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for you and with your homeschooling books, you won't miss out on a thing," he said reassuringly, having come to a deal with Dumbledore to have her continue her muggle studies alongside her magical education. "Now off you go," he noticed the time was approaching 11 am and most students had already gotten on the train. He gave his daughter a hug and off she went without another word.
The corridor was lined with first year students making their way to various compartments. Being anti-social and angry about her predicament, Alice looked for any box that was empty; her search would lead her to the next car. As she opened the car door, she blocked the entrance of a blonde haired boy who was followed by two of his friends. One was rather portly.
"Watch where you're going," he said arrogantly, as he sized up the new student's worth. Even if only a second year, he felt utterly superior.
Alice pointed beyond him, saying politely despite his arrogance, "I'm going that way, if you don't mind," and she waited for him to move.
He didn't move and instead laughed amongst his friends, "Where do they find these students?" he said to them.
"Nevermind then," Alice said annoyed, turning the other way, again searching for a place to sit. She found a seat at the other end and buried her nose in her cherished book, hoping not be bothered for the rest of the trip.
Flash forward to the Great Hall, Alice entered amongst the other first years, following a woman dressed in witch attire, which reminded her of Halloween. Up ahead of her was a conical black hat perched on a stool, but it had eyes and it stared curiously at them. Behind it was a long table of her soon-to-be teachers, also dressed in comical robes. Seated in the middle with his long white beard was Albus Dumbledore, her, though only recently known, grandfather. He nodded and smiled at her. She was still skeptical of their relation.
The witch lady called the students one by one to be sorted into their houses and when Alice's name was called she hesitantly climbed onto the stool, still clinging to the book on her lap.
"I see, hmm, interesting, great ancestry, yes, but not interested in it, so not a Gryffindor as those before you. Smart, too smart for your own good perhaps, highly critical. Better be, Ravenclaw!" The hat cried, and Alice had little care where she was sent, despite the cheers of acceptance from her new house's table. She sat on the uncomfortable wooden bench and looked again at her grandfather, who smiled back at her, but her eyes met him with confusion. Was she supposed to be here?
The alarm sounded, shocking Alice back awake, her eyes fluttering back to reality - a white ceiling, the annoying beep of her clock, and a cool breeze flowing through her open window. She shouldn't have been surprised to have dreamed about Hogwarts, but yet it seemed odd to have such a realistic rendering of the start of her first year. Getting out of bed, she immediately went to her bookshelf to pull out her mother's old book; even its touch brought back good memories. There would be no doubt that if she did leave for Hogwarts at age eleven, she would have carried that book with her. She didn't keep it out of her bag until she started high school, even then it didn't linger far from her desk. Trying her best to leave the strange dream behind and focus on her class introduction, she placed the book back in its place and got ready for her first day.
"Most of you will be probably be aware of my background," Alice said standing in front of a class of around thirty students. "And while it may seem unusual for students to know more about their teacher than the other way around, I actually find it preferable. You'll know exactly where I'm coming from, my history, my biases, and that is precisely what I want everyone to question this term. Not only me, as your teacher, but your own background and understanding of your world, to question where you get your information from and how you formulate that into opinions. And that's really the point of this class, but of course the topic is one that most of you may have very set opinions on."
Alice decided to start the class with a small experiment, "Now, how many of you claim pure-blood ancestry? C'mon, raise your hands." The majority of the Slytherin students raised their hands with a few from the other houses. "Alright, how many of you are half-blood?" Many more students raised their hands. "And how many of you are muggle-born?" A hesitant few raised their hands, somewhat worried about revealing it to everyone.
"Now, what did I just do?" Alice asked, curious if anyone would answer.
The student she met on the train yesterday, Sara, raised her hand and waited to be called on, then saying, "You divided us into categories."
"Yes, I did; categories which have created too much strife in this realm. You are all old enough to remember the Second Wizarding War, and I do not need to teach you wizarding history to know that these 'categories,' if we want to call them that, have led to numerous prosecutions and deaths because of ideology that puts one above the other. The common thread and the source of this hierarchical notion all stems from a misunderstanding of the source of this difference – muggles, and thus, the topic of this course."
Alice began passing out the syllabus, which she had printed for them at her own expense. There were several pages and the course was broken down by weeks with associated topics and readings they were responsible for. While passing it out, she explained, "Now about a third of you will have taken Muggle Studies prior. For you, the first few weeks should be review as we'll be briefly going on some history. But the brunt of the course will focus on contemporary muggle society." She turned on the screen projector that projected from her laptop the word document of the syllabus. Some students looked at each other, not having seen this technology before. "You'll also notice that the course is broken into lectures as well as discussion points. I don't plan on being the only person talking so everyone will need to contribute and you'll be given a grade for participation. The grading is broken down as follows…" She proceeded to explain the grading structure before going onto course topics.
Looking over everyone's desk, most students had their readers, which had the course articles printed and bound together, taking the place of an ordinary book. McGonagall allotted Alice some extra funding to have them printed beforehand; otherwise she was unsure how they'd gain access to the diverse lot of readings. "Now I see everyone has their readers," Alice made sure students could pick them up in a bookstore in Diagon Alley, "And you've already probably noted that this is not a normal textbook. It's compilation of articles by muggle scholars. You will learn about the source from the source."
"You should also have a copy of Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies," a book by Jared Diamond which she also purchased in bulk prior and had available for students at the Diagon Alley bookstore. She looked around to see whether everyone had it. She noticed a large portion of Slytherin students only had readers on their desk and asked, "Who doesn't have a copy?" Several Slytherins hesitantly raised their hands, looking at each other. "Is there a reason why you don't have this book?"
A Slytherin boy had his arms crossed and spoke out for the group, "We didn't want to buy that book."
Alice noted his arrogant tone and asked, "And why did you not want to buy that book?"
The boy looked at his peers, but didn't speak.
Alice added, "There should have been enough copies and I see everyone has bought the reader."
"Our parents wouldn't buy that book," the boy replied, not uncrossing his arms.
"And the reason?" Alice prodded.
Again looking around at his peers before answering, he said, "Because it's a muggle written book."
"Interesting," Alice knew this was the reason, but wanted to hear it from the student. "Funny how they were willing to buy the reader which is a compilation of several muggle authors, but not this one stand alone book. Luckily I have the copies that weren't purchased and you can buy them from me for two galleons. You are expected to finish this book by next week and have written a short essay expressing your opinion on one of the topics discussed."
There was a slight groan from the class which surprised Alice, who wasn't used to such open negative emotions from students. She didn't think it was too harsh of an assignment; two weeks for light reading and a short essay of opinion. In any case, she didn't like the disinterest and decided to continue with a more interactive game making everyone introduce themselves and express one interest along with a reason for that interest and "just because" could not be an answer. Then the person next to them would have to ask them one related question. Wanting to explain the reason she loved science studies, Alice started this session with the anecdote of the same book which appeared in her dream. Then she explained how it belonged to her mother and became more than just a memento, but an introduction into her academic interest. A student then asked, "Why that book?" She briefly explained her mother's profession and how important Darwin's groundbreaking explanation of evolution by natural selection was, and how that book changed everything, especially for the biological sciences.
When going around the room, she realized it was difficult for many of the students to feel comfortable speaking in front of their peers so she knew she would need to do more of these exercises in order to make the discussions livelier. Most students had mundane interests or hobbies, or at least commonplace for the wizarding world with quidditch being near the top. One student mentioned their interest in nature due to growing up in the country, another in drawing when given a brush set as a child. Questions got better with time. Once finished, Alice explained that there are always reasons behind the way we view things. "I may dislike something because of a bad experience in the past. Or I may feel a certain way about something due to certain opinions expressed by a group of friends." It was subtle lesson, but more so it was to get students comfortable with talking and asking questions.
Once the class finished, several Slytherin students bought the book they neglected to purchase prior. A few apologized for not having it. Two students asked about her laptop with one admitting to missing video games and wished he could bring his PC from home despite Hogwarts' policy. Alice wondered how some students straddled the two realms so well, since she was still adjusting to it.
After the lesson she had an hour break and decided to try and catch Draco before his next class. It was her first time venturing the halls of Hogwarts alone. She knew the potions class was taught in the dungeons level so she figured she just had to keep going down the stairs until they stopped. She was partially right, but she had no idea that the Slytherin common dormitories were also located there until she ran into several students sporting green accouterments. Some looked at her suspiciously as she passed and then she recognized a girl and a boy that she met before boarding the Hogwarts Express.
"Aston and Juniper, right?" she asked as she approached them.
"Professor McNally," Juniper acknowledged her, she was Slytherin's head girl and Aston was the head boy.
"I'm looking for the potions classroom," Alice asked for directions without directly asking.
"You're going in the right direction, continue down that hall which will take you to the left viaduct tower, that's where it is," she said while pointing.
"Thank you," she said grateful for her help.
Aston looked at Juniper condescendingly for helping Alice, making her express a curious, "What? I couldn't just mislead a professor?"
Alice found the door and walked into the dank space, the walls were lined with jars of strange tubers, liquids and vestiges, making her think of Chinese medicine vendors. Draco was at a work table and had his back turned to the door, but noting the entrance he spoke stoically, "Questions will have to wait until my office hours."
"When are your office hours then?" Alice asked amused that he thought she was a student.
Glad to hear the familiar voice, he turned his head towards her and they both smiled at each other. As Alice walked through the classroom, she looked at the cylindrical glass jars along the walls before going over to the table where Draco was standing, giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek.
"How did your class go?" He asked her while carefully dropping liquid from a vile into a cauldron.
"Better than expected, I think with time students will be more talkative. What are you up to?" she asked, peering curiously into the mixture he was concocting.
"Preparing some example brews for the sixth years," he said, stirring the mixture several time with a glass rod, "I was thinking about you all night, it's going to be difficult spending more time apart."
"I know," Alice agreed solemnly, their schedules weren't exactly accommodating for their relationship, with Alice also teaching and living in London and Draco working full-time at Hogwarts. She planned on moving out of her flat after they were married and relocating to the manor where Draco would spend some of his evenings and weekends. While staying with Draco at Hogwarts was an option, both of them did not want to broach the subject with Headmistress McGonagall until after the wedding, thinking it inappropriate and forward.
That evening, Alice left Hogwarts after her final class and returned home to an empty flat. The three classes she taught went smoothly and now she needed to focus on her lecture for her university course, which started the next day. Trying to forego the yawns, she powered on her laptop and went through her PowerPoint presentation.
Dream 2:
Alice sat alone at a lab table in Hogwarts potions classroom, cylindrical glass jars lining the walls around her. Looking up she saw a tall man with long black hair, pointed nose and swaying black robes strut into the room, it was Professor Snape.
"McNally, as soon you finish one detention, you start another," he said in a monotone drawl. "Care to tell me why you were reading a book on," he looked in disgust at the muggle book he held in his hand, having previously taken the cover off, "organic chemistry in my class?"
"It's somewhat related," Alice said with hopeful cockiness, having been caught not paying attention during his lecture again.
"Don't jest," he said angrily, "The only reason you've been spared harsher punishment is because you somehow manage to consistently receive high marks. You'll be polishing the first year's cauldrons and after that..."
Before Snape could add to her punishment, the classroom door swung open and in walked Headmaster Dumbledore in elaborate blue grey robes, "That shouldn't be necessary Professor," he said to Snape, "Alice will be serving detention in my office, since this is not her first error this week. Now Alice, if you could kindly wait for me in the hallway, I'd like to talk to Professor Snape alone."
Getting up from her chair, Alice left the room not too hurriedly, glancing back at her book still in Professor Snape's hand. Once outside she kept her ear to the door and listened as closely as she could.
"You continue to overlook these errors," Snape said slightly annoyed to Dumbledore.
"She's obviously bored with her studies. To occupy the mind with alternative information should not be discouraged," he said positively.
"But not during my class," he replied adamantly. "Besides, this arrangement that allows her to study two curriculums isn't sanctioned by the Ministry. Your guilt…"
"It isn't guilt that prods me," Dumbledore interrupted. Snape knew Dumbledore's relation to Alice and the death of her mother which he wished he could have prevented. "It is her desire to learn and while I initially believed it too heavy a load for a child, she has managed perfectly."
"Not perfectly enough," Snape handed him the chemistry book.
In the hallway, Alice soon gave up trying to hear the rest of the conversation, she felt like she heard it before. Instead she walked slightly down the hall and pulled out a spiral notebook to read over the notes she took earlier.
"Detention again McNally?" An arrogant voice said from the other end of the hall. "You'd think they would have you suspended by now."
Alice rolled her eyes and quickly closed her notebook, not being at liberty to let the other students know of her arrangement. "Suspension would be preferable to being stuck here," Alice said annoyed, not looking at the blonde boy who tended to taunt students if given the chance.
"Hogwarts is too first-rate for mudbloods," he was overconfident in his use of the term; many assumed Alice was muggle-born, her relation to Dumbledore was hidden from all but a few.
"First-rate in what? Ignoramuses?" she replied back equally smug.
His eyes narrowed, but before he could croak a reply, Dumbledore left the potions classroom door and asked her to follow.
Alice quickly left to join the wizened wizard's side, glancing back briefly at the slightly older Slytherin student whose face hadn't lightened from his look of contempt. Dumbledore handed Alice her chemistry book as they were walking, saying, "You'll need to be more discrete with these."
"It had a false cover," she replied, happy to get her book back.
"You know what I mean," he said firmly. "Your gift of photographic memory is also your curse Alice. You grow restless with your studies, and while this is understandable you mustn't forget to respect your teachers. By listening and attending classes," she had skipped several this week, "you just may learn something even more valuable than what is in a book."
Alice knew the old man was right, "I apologize for my behavior," she said feeling slightly defeated.
"It isn't me who you should be apologizing to," he replied, giving her a stern look.
Alice awoke with her face down on her desk, her laptop fan humming nearby, and feeling utterly confused as to why again she had such a vivid dream of being a student at Hogwarts. She tried to rationalize it by thinking, "Well, I did see the potions classroom for the first time today and I remember seeing Professor Snape's portrait several weeks ago in the Headmistress's office." However, there was a feeling of reality to the dreams that worried her, reminding her of when her grandfather would visit her as a child. Luckily, with her busy schedule she had little time to overanalyze and threw herself into her work instead.