Valkyrie got up extra early the next morning. She didn't fancy having everyone stare at her while she ate her breakfast, so decided that now was as good a time as any to get up and got get food. She knocked on Skulduggery's door, and he opened it almost immediately.
"I'm going to get breakfast." She said "Should we go see the classroom first?" Skulduggery cocked his head, he was thinking. After a moment or two, he nodded.
"We'd better get going then." He said, and Valkyrie grinned, almost running to her door, Skulduggery following behind her at a walking pace.
"Aren't we a little excited this morning?" He mocked her, and she turned around, sticking her tongue out at him. Then she laughed.
"This place it amazing. It's huge! I've never been a teacher before? What's it like?"
"How would I know?"
"You taught me."
"Yes but you are an amazingly fast learner."
"Really?"
"Quite so, yes." Skulduggery tilted his head – he was smiling again. Valkyrie grinned and waited for him to catch up before she put her hat on her head, and opened the door. The two of them strode out into the corridor and looked at each other for a moment as the door disappeared into the wall behind them. Valkyrie giggled a little, before they carried on walking. The corridors were pretty much empty save for one or two small groups of students that would occasionally pass by. They were nearly always the same gender per group, and nearly always wearing the same coloured ties. Valkyrie decided she preferred her combat clothes, the ones Ghastly had made for her. She preferred them very much. She was wearing them as they walked through the corridor to the Great Hall, and she felt as comfortable as she ever did. Walking into the Great Hall, changed it a little, as some people began to whisper, but Valkyrie assumed it was over the living skeleton walking behind her rather than her. Valkyrie turned her head to Skulduggery.
"Where do we eat?" She asked. Skulduggery shrugged.
"Big help." Valkyrie muttered before she saw two tall ginger twins approach them. They were grinning. The first one held out his hand to Valkyrie, and the second one held out his hand to Skulduggery.
"Pleasure to meet you." They said at the same time, shaking both Valkyrie's and Skulduggery's hands in turn "We're the Weasleys."
"I'm Fred, that's George." The first one grinned, and then he frowned "Or is it the other way around?" The other one hit him over the back of the head playfully.
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance." Skulduggery said politely, tipping his hat. Valkyrie did the same.
"Irish, eh? Cool." Fred – or was it George? – said, still grinning.
"Do you know where the teachers eat? We're kind of new to this thing." Valkyrie smiled, taking off her hat. One of them pointed to the big table
"They usually eat up there or in their rooms, but you can eat wherever you want."
"You could sit with us if you like." The second one grinned. Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery and raised an eyebrow. Skulduggery nodded and Valkyrie grinned, turning back to the twins who dramatically held out their arms towards the Gryffindor table.
"Oh God, they're at it already." A voice came from behind. Valkyrie turned to see another ginger boy with a brown haired girl and a dark haired boy (who looked very stressed) walked into the Great Hall. One of the twins approached the ginger one and ruffled his hair.
"Don't mind him, he's our brother, Ron." He said as Ron pushed him away, trying to put his hair back into place. That reminded Valkyrie of Fletcher, constantly fussing over his hair.
"Get off, you git." Ron muttered, which made Valkyrie bite her lip in an attempt not to smile.
"Nice to meet you Ron." Valkyrie smiled and Skulduggery tipped his hat from behind her. The other twin gestured again.
"Shall we?" He grinned. Valkyrie decided that she liked these two bubbly twins. They seemed fun. She could use a little fun.
"I'll go and find the classroom." Skulduggery said to Valkyrie "I'll see you there when you've finished."
"Ok. I think I know where it is." Valkyrie smiled. Skulduggery nodded and put his hands in his pockets, strolling out past a group of first year girls who squealed and screamed a little, which made Valkyrie grin. She sat down in between the twins, and the three others sat down opposite them. Tucking into the variety of breakfasts on the table, Valkyrie tried to eat as politely as possible. The same couldn't be said for Ron, who was stuffing his face, which Valkyrie found both amusing and fascinating.
"How can one guy put so much in his mouth? I mean, I've seen a yeti trying to eat someone, and even they didn't have as much in their mouth as you do." She grinned.
"It takes years of practice." He mumbled. Valkyrie grinned.
"I'm sorry, did you just say you've seen a yeti trying to eat someone?"
"Yeah. Unfortunately I kind of had a first person view. Hey did you know that yeti breath smells of fish and old socks? It's really weird." The girl looked at her, and then looked back at her cereal.
"So, are you looking forward to the training?" Valkyrie asked when she had finished an apple, folding her arms on the table. The dark haired boy looked at her.
"I guess so." He mumbled.
"You needn't be concerned about Skulduggery, if that's what's worrying you. He can be a little rough around the edges, but he's very polite, and he'll only punch you if you punch him first." She smiled as one of the twins almost choked on juice he was drinking, which made Valkyrie laugh slightly, after she'd made sure he was ok of course.
"You guys are funny." She said eventually. The twins high-fived over her head, which only made her grin more.
"You don't seem to get around a lot." The girl said, after she finished her cereal.
"I get around a lot, just not with people my age. Usually people around 50, 60. Bad guys, good guys. They're pretty similarly aged. I mean Skulduggery's over 100, and I spend practically all day every day with him." She smiled. The girl raised her eyebrows slightly, as if she highly doubted what Valkyrie just said.
"I'm sorry, I don't know your name." Valkyrie smiled again.
"Hermione Granger." The girl said. Her tone of voice seemed blunt, as if Valkyrie should have known already.
"Hermione. That's an interesting name. Why did you pick that?"
"I didn't. My parents picked it."
"Really? Well, what's your taken name?"
"Taken name?"
"You don't have a taken name? Seriously?" Valkyrie's eyes widened. Didn't this girl know how much danger she was putting herself in, wandering around with her given name?
"Are you crazy?!" Valkyrie asked her, voice barely above a whisper. The she remembered what Skulduggery had told her 'witchcraft is very different from sorcery, the rules aren't the same.' "Wait, never mind. Doesn't matter." Valkyrie looked around, blushing slightly that the small group was now looking at her strangely.
"I've got to go. But I'll see you later." She smiled slightly and picked up another apple, standing.
"Bye Valkyrie." The twins said unanimously, their voices mingling. She didn't smile as she left, pulling out her timetable as soon as she was around the corner, and checking the map as she put on her hat again, pulling it over her face. The room she would be teaching in was circled in red, and she began walking towards the room, passing groups of students as she did so.
When she eventually found it, she knocked on the door and strode in.
"I have arrived." She said dramatically.
"Yes I noticed that." Skulduggery said, pushing some desks to the beck. He had his jacket off, and his sleeves up as he was pushing desks around. His hat was still on though.
"What are you doing?" Valkyrie asked.
"Making space." He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Valkyrie rolled her eyes.
"I brought you an apple." She smiled.
"Very kind, but you know I have no digestive system."
"It's the thought that counts." Valkyrie pretended to be offended as she took off her hat, closing the door. She put it on the widow sill and took off her own jacket, pushing some tables to meet the others.
"How was breakfast?" Skulduggery asked.
"It was…ok. I forgot about the name thing, but I didn't tell them too much, so it's ok. They just think I'm weird."
"You are weird."
"Yes, but I'm weird in an amazingly brilliant way." Valkyrie grinned as Skulduggery chuckled. Some tables were stacked down the sides, and the back of the room was covered in long full body mirrors. Valkyrie sighed – she almost missed just looking in the mirror and seeing a reflection. Then again, the reflection was doing all the school work, and making sure her family stayed safe. That was the important thing.
Turning away from the mirror, Valkyrie spotted a piece of the same kind of rough paper on one of the tables, and she walked over to it, picking it up.
"What's this?" Valkyrie asked.
"A lesson plan."
"It says 'block and punch'."
"Yeah."
"That's your lesson plan?"
"Pretty much."
"Skulduggery. We're teaching for the whole year, we have to save something or everyone will get bored. How about we start with blocking and then when they're good at that we can move onto punching."
"That's no fun." Skulduggery said, using a childish tone. Valkyrie stuck out her tongue at him.
"When did I become the adult?" She grinned.
"Honestly, Val, I have no idea." He stood up and pulled his sleeves down, putting his jacket back on.
"We don't have a lesson until whenever second lesson is."
"10 am. A professor walked in while you were having breakfast and told me. Dropped off those things as well. Said they might be useful." He pointed to a big black bag that was propped up in the corner.
"What's inside it?"
"Dummies."
"Dummies?"
"Like scarecrows, to practise on so they're not actually punching each other."
"Oh, I guess that makes sense." Valkyrie walked over to the bag and pulled out one of the dummies.
"It feels more like sponge." Valkyrie said, poking one in the arm.
"Probably so you don't hurt yourself when you're punching it."
"Well duh" Valkyrie rolled her eyes "but how do you fight it? Is it mechanical or something?"
"Nope, magic."
"Ah. I presume you know what to do."
"You presume correctly." Skulduggery nodded. Valkyrie took the dummy and laid it out on the table. It was made of a cotton-like black and blue fabric, with a target in red and white on the chest and head. It didn't have a face. There were 5 in total, not much to work with, but that could be dealt with.
"Do we have to do a register or something?" She asked, looking at them all.
"I hardly think the dummies are going to get up and walk away Val."
"No I mean for the students." Valkyrie said. Skulduggery cocked his head to the side.
"Oh. I'm not sure. We'll ask. I do have a list of the names we're supposed to have though."
"Cool. Can I see?"
"It's on the desk over there." Skulduggery pointed behind him as he picked up one of the dummies and looked it up and down, deciding where in the room he would put it. Valkyrie walked over to the list and picked it up. There were several different classes, each with two house names and a year at the start of a new column. Running her finger down the list, she stopped at the name 'H, Granger'. That must have been Hermione, from the breakfast table. Looking at that name, Valkyrie also noticed the name above it. She tilted her head to the side. That name was vaguely familiar to her.
"Hey Skulduggery?"
"Yeah?"
"Do we know any Finnigans?"
"The Finnigan family live two doors down from you."
"Oh yeah! That's where I know them from. I think I used to baby-sit for them too. Hey, how do you know that? Are you stalking my neighbours?!"
"Of course not. When Melancholia tried to kill you we posted mages and cleavers down the whole of that street. The Finnigan family was on the protection list. Why?"
"There's an S. Finnigan on the list."
"How'd you know it's the same one?"
"I don't. The name just rang a bell." Valkyrie shrugged. She hadn't seen the Finnigan's in years, not since Uncle Gordon had died anyway. Has she been baby-sitting for long before that? She couldn't remember, but she knew she'd done it at least twice, got paid well too.
"Do you want a hand with the dummies?" Valkyrie asked, putting the list down and turning to Skulduggery, who was still deciding where to put them.
"Why don't you put them over there?" Valkyrie pointed to the line of stacked desks on the side of the room she was standing "Then you can call 'em when we need 'em." She said. After a moment, Skulduggery nodded, as if he should have thought of it first. Valkyrie grinned, and picked up two of the dummies at once, standing them up against the desks in a little row. Skulduggery moved the other three as Valkyrie turned to a movable blackboard that was supported by what looked like pine legs on wheels. There was a blackboard rubber and a piece if chalk, which Valkyrie picked up and twiddled in her fingers before she finally wrote 'Blocking' on it in big letters. That was going to be their first lesson wasn't it, Blocking? She turned the board so it was titled towards the door.
The classroom was very big, and Valkyrie finally understood why. There was so much stuff that had to be moved around and out of the way, and the class was yet to come in too. Valkyrie couldn't image there being much space once everyone was inside and practising, the class list seemed a decent size.
"Hey Skulduggery?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you actually know what we're doing? Do we have a plan or anything?"
"Do our plans ever work?"
"No, but it's always good to have one."
"Right you are." Skulduggery leant against the wall. It was silent for a little while until Valkyrie leaned forwards, raising her eyebrows.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Do we have a plan?"
"A plan? Well, no."
"Ok. Do we know what we're doing?"
"Absolutely, positively, a hundred percent sure, I have no idea what I'm doing."
"Great."
