MIB

24

Monday, June 30, 1986

Hogwarts

Amanda had arrived at the gates of Hogwarts few minutes prior to her appointed time. She initially had hoped that Westley would be able to accompany her, but he had things he had to do in follow up to the recent attack against the children. Besides, she told herself, this was her interview.

Minerva McGonagall and Filius Flitwick met her at the gates to the school.

"Welcome, Miss Lester," said Minerva in greeting.

"It is good to see you again, Miss Lester," added Filius.

"Thank you, professors," replied Amanda. "My new friends have told me much about the school."

Minerva raised an eyebrow slightly, "And would those friends be?"

Amanda smiled as she replied, "Sirius Black, Narcissa Black, and Andromeda Tonks. I have gotten to know them through my friend, Westley Black. Westley and I met through the duelling circuit."

Filius turned slightly to Minerva, "Miss Lester, here, is the one dueller who at least gave Westley Black some decent competition in the duels I observed and judged. She is quite skilled with a wand, I must say."

Minerva smiled slightly. "Well, that right there is quite the recommendation, Miss Lester. Now, come right this way and we will take you to meet with the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore."

A few minutes later they arrived at the office of the headmaster. Albus Dumbledore stayed in his seat,"Ahh, greetings Miss Lester! Would you like a lemon drop?" he asked as he pointed to the dish on his desk.

"No thank you, headmaster," she replied.

"Oh, well, then, why don't you go ahead and just have a seat there," he said as he pointed to the chair opposite his desk. He then turned to the two professors. "I think we should be done with our little chat in about 30 to 45 minutes, so why don't you two come back then and she can have tour of our little school."

With that comment both McGonagall and Flitwick made their goodbyes and left the office.

Amanda looked around the office at the many portraits of former headmasters, in addition to a collection of various trinkets on one shelf that were just sitting still. She shook her head slightly as she considered what they had previously been used for, something which Westley had explained to her prior to her coming to the interview.

"So, Miss Lester, or is it Lestrange? How did you end up coming here to England?"

"My family name is Lester," she stated quite tersely. "My father left England and the previous family name behind. I am determined to continue to distance myself from those relatives who soiled the old family name. Or perhaps they just lived up to the name."

Albus simply smiled and nodded at her response.

Amanda continued, "My father moved to Australia, which is where I was born. I learned to duel, I can handle a wand quite well, I should say, and I got involved in the duelling circuit back home. Through the duelling circuit I met a young man, a certain Westley Farmer. He was quite good and he soon became the Australian Duelling champion. His grandfather learned of him and came down to Australia and Westley learned about his true heritage. Westley then came to England and Europe to continue his duelling competition. After he left, I realised that I wanted more competition than what we had in Australia, so I came to Europe. I ran into Westley on the duelling circuit again and my father wanted to return home, as it were. And, so, we are here, in magical Britain."

"Ah, well then, welcome to Britain and Hogwarts," said Albus. "And I have heard of your skill with a wand from Professor Flitwick who was present at least one fo the competitions you were involved in, and I must say, praise from Filius is something I cannot ignore."

Amanda smiled to herself, but was disturbed by the slight twinkling in his eyes.

"I have already obtained a copy of your transcript from the Oceania Academy of Magic, located outside of Melbourne," stated Albus. "Your results are quite impressive, even in potions making, which is not commonly a story suit for someone who seems to be so skilled with a wand," he added.

"Well, thank you, headmaster," was Amanda's simple reply.

Albus smiled at her broadly for a minute and she carefully avoided looking him in the eyes. After another awkward minute he folded his hands together on his desk and then stated, "Well, as you grades are exemplary, ad your ability to duel with a wand is possibly only surpassed by someone your age who you apparently know quite well, then I have no reason not to offer you the position as Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, for this upcoming school year."

"Well, that is the position I came here to interview for," Amanda replied.

"So, why don't we have Minerva and Filius give you a tour of our illustrious castle to help familiarise yourself with what we have here," said Albus.

He gave a nod to his phoenix and Fawkes disappeared in a flash from his roost in the centre of the room. The sudden bust of flame startled Amanda slightly. Albus chuckled softly at her reaction.

"Now, while we await the professors to return and join us here, as it is a little quicker than I had anticipated, why don't I review some of Hogwarts' traditions. I am not well versed in the intricacies of the OAM in Australia, so some of what makes Hogwarts unique may be odd to you. Our students attend as first years when they have already turned eleven years of age by the time our school year starts on the 1 of September. So, providing a book list for your classes prior to the start of July would help students prepare for the upcoming school year. The students all take a train from London up here to the village of Hogsmeade. The first year students are brought in separately and then they are sorted into one of four houses, named after the four founders of Hogwarts, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. As you may have heard of the fairly recent wizard war that occurred here a few years back, many of the followers of the Dark Wizard, Lord Voldemort, who was also known as He Who Must Not Be Named, came from the house of Slytherin. As such, there are those who think that the house of Salazar Slytherin is comprised of dark wizards and witches. However, I must reassure you, that is not the case. There are many hard working students in that and all of the other houses."

Amanda nodded slowly as she listened to the headmaster's brief history of Hogwarts, much of which she had already heard from having discussions with Andy, Narcissa, and Sirius.

"And what is the basis of the sorting, then?" asked Amanda.

Albus smiled, "Yes, well, the magical sorting hat reviews what the young person's main traits are and tries to line them up with the appropriate house. Gryffindors are known for bravery and chivalry, Hufflepuffs are known for loyalty and hard work, Ravenclaws are known for wit and learning, and Slytherins are known for cunning and ambition."

"That sounds like you are starting off with creating a devisive atmosphere," observed Amanda. "That could make things difficult for some students, could it not?"

"Oh, it could, at times," acknowledged Dumbledore, "but we do try to have them work with students from each of the different houses, so it should not really be a problem overall."

Amanda internally rolled her eyes at his evasive response but did not want to let him know what she really thought of his answer.

Just then Minerva McGonagall and Filius Flitwick arrived at the office.

The headmaster wished them well on the tour of the office. The heads of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw houses took the young witch on a tour of Hogwarts classes, letting her see the various classrooms for the required subjects as well as for some of the electives in addition to the location of the common rooms for the four Hogwarts houses.

As they were winding up the tour with Amanda at the Great Hall, they asked her if she had any questions.

"Not at this time, thank you," said Amanda.

"I understand Albus has offered you the position to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Minerva.

"Well, yes, he did make the offer," said Amanda. "I am definitely inclined to take the position. I may have some questions about curriculum and expectations for the classes, particularly for all seven years of students."

"We can provide you with information about what has been covered by the most recent professors teaching Defense," stated Filius. "There does seem to be a lot of turn over in that particular position."

Amanda nodded and raised an eyebrow. She then rubbed her chin slightly before asking a question. "I do have one question, or request, now that I think about it."

"And what would that be?" asked McGonagall.

"Well, as Professor Flitwick is aware," said Amanda, who was then interrupted by the diminutive charms professor.

"Please, call me Filius, as we are, or at least will be colleagues now," he said with a broad smile.

Amanda smiled at him and started again, "As Filius is aware, I am good friends with Westley Black, the current European duelling champion, and I was thinking, he might just enjoy a tour of the castle. I know he met with the headmaster at one point, but I don't think he actually got to see much of the castle."

"Of, of course, that should be fine," said McGonagall. "Just send us an owl to let us know when you will be bringing him by, and then we can also arrange for you to meet the rest of the staff here."

"That sounds wonderful," said Amanda, trying to sound as enthusiastic as possible.

"I would like to see the young man again," added Filius. "Maybe young Westley would be willing to let this former duelling champion to have a chance at our own little duel, just for fun and excitement of course."

"Of course," agreed Amanda. "I think he might enjoy having such an opportunity, actually make him work hard in a duel for a change."

MiB

Later that evening Amanda was at the Black Estate and she was speaking to Westley. "I have been offered the position as professor for Defense."

Westley smiled, "I had no doubt that the old man would offer you the position, and it is well deserved. You are more than adequately skilled. And compared to the majority of professors I had when I was at Hogwarts, you would easily be the top one or two professors those students will ever have."

Amanda smiled at his words. "And I did not forget to ask to be able to bring you to the castle to give you a personal tour, something you did not officially get when you had your interview, Regulus."

The two of them laughed about the identity that the headmaster thought he had.

Westley then frowned a little, "I know the information about who I am is protected by the Fidelius charm that Arcturus used, however, maybe we should spend some time working on your occlumency shields, just to help protect you from any unwanted probes or attacks from Dumbledore, or anyone else who may be on staff, for that matter. Considering Severus Snape is already the potions professor. I do not trust that man."

Amanda tilted her head slightly from side to side as she considered his words. "I suppose that could be a useful thing. However, do not underestimate the occlumency shields which my family have developed, particularly considering my father's attempt to distance ourselves from the notorious branch of the family which stayed here in England."

"It couldn't hurt to practice to be sure," added Westley.

Amanda cast a quick tempus charm, and then looked back at Westley. "Oh, my, the time seems to be getting away from me. I do need to head home and make check on my father. So, we can plan to meet up tomorrow afternoon and I can take you to the school. And we can plan on obtaining the one missing item you need."

Before Westley could respond, Amanda made her way to the floo and called out "Lester Manor," and stepped through.

As she disappeared into the green flames, Westley whispered "as you wish."

MiB

The Black family was finishing their evening meal and Sirius mentioned that Draco and Harry should go get cleaned up before the activity he had planned for them.

"What exactly are you planning?" asked Narcissa.

Sirius smiled broadly, "Oh, just thinking of taking them outside to play a muggle children's game, flashlight tag."

Westley raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that game usually played when it is dark outside?"

Sirius nodded, still grinning.

Narcissa glared at her cousin. "And the sun does not set until around 9:30 tonight."

Sirius nodded, "Yeah, that's about right."

Narcissa did not die her displeasure. "You are NOT keeping those boys up that late just to play a stupid muggle game."

Sirius dropped his jaw for a moment, and then shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, well, then, I'll just take them flying around out back on their brooms for a little while before it gets too dark and that way they won't miss their bedtime."

With those words Sirius ducked out of the dining room.

Narcissa took a deep breath and Westley let out a laugh.

Narcissa looked at Westley, "And what is so funny about that?"

Westley calmed his reaction before he replied. "It's just Sirius being himself. I don't think he had any intention of playing this flashlight tag thing. He just used that as a means to make it seem like taking those two flying on brooms now would be okay, or at least better than some ridiculous alternative."

Westley then turned to Arcturus. "I will need to bring one of the crystal boxes with me tomorrow as Amanda will be giving me a tour of Hogwarts."

Arcturus actually smiled at the comment. "Good, good, its about time you completed that."

Arcturus then excused himself which left Narcissa and Westley in the dining room alone.

Narcissa looked closely at Westley. "And what was that you were discussing with grandfather? And why do you need a tour of Hogwarts, if you already went to school there?"

"There is an item which I need to obtain from the school," Westley answered simply. "And as Dumbledore doesn't know who I am, I need to keep up appearances. And if I acted like I knew my way around the castle, the headmaster would take that as proof that I am actually your dead cousin, Regulus."

"What item do you need to get from the school?" asked Narcissa, not letting the topic drop.

Westley took in a deep breath. "Something similar to what we had to retrieve from your home a couple of months ago."

Narcissa's reaction was unreadable to Westley at that point.

After a moment of awkward silence, Westley spoke up again. "Just to be clear, I am not that Harry, the young boy becoming friends with your son Draco. The Harry you know, that young boy, playing with your son Draco, he is not me. He is having a very different life than I had. Different experiences than I had. Bloody hell, that young Draco is not and will not become the Draco I want to school with."

Westley stopped himself from adding an editorial comment about the Draco he went to school with. "I am not a 5 or 6 year old boy. I have lived for over 25 years already, hell, 27 or so now. You can hate me, you can like me, but don't just dismiss me because there was a time I was many years younger than you. This is just me, Westley, and this man standing in front of you is not that child about to head outside and go riding around on a broom with Draco and Sirius.

Narcissa's face was still unreadable to Westley. "But you're going to be getting together with that Amanda, from Australia. You're heading to Hogwarts with her tomorrow. She likes you, I can see that, we all can see that. And you like her. Maybe even more than you liked Cassandra."

Westley shifted from one foot to the other. He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know, maybe, I'm not sure."

Narcissa raised an eyebrow at his indecisive response. "When you become sure, one way or another, let me know. You have many options."

Westley furrowed his brow at her comment. "What do you mean?"

Narcissa sighed before she answered him. "How many lines do you control? How many families?"

Westley had a puzzled look on his face. "One, I am the heir to the Black family."

Narcissa shook her head. "And you're a Potter."

Westley shifted again, "But that's little Harry's role. To be the head of House Potter."

"So you said," acknowledged Narcissa. "And it probably will remain that way, after you have dealt with Riddle for good."

Westley nodded, "Yes, after I have dealt with that creature."

Narcissa shook her head slightly, and then continued. "But aren't there other families you can control? You mentioned the hallows. That proves the Peverell family was real. And you have all three hallows. You must be their heir. You can reinstate the Peverell family."

Westley nodded slightly in understanding, before adding, "But I have chosen not to do so."

Narcissa narrowed her eyes at the young man in front of her, understanding he was not the nearly six year old boy becoming friends with her son. "And why not? Based on what information, on whose advice? You have already admitted that you really don't know much about magical society. You were raised by magic hating muggles who should be punished, severely at that, for what they did to both you and the younger version of yourself. You were not raised to understand magical culture. And that clearly is Dumbledore's fault. So, clearly you do not understand the importance of magical families. You've seen the Yaxley line eliminated. That line is dead. You might be able to rescue the Lestrange line under the Lester name with Amanda. You can resurrect the Peverell line. You could probably eventually claim the Slytherin line, and who knows how many others? You want to change magical Britain for the better? You do it through controlling houses, more than one house. You want to change things, that is why you came back. Then why do a half assed job at it?"

Westley stop there, his mouth partially opened as he listened to the rant that Narcissa gave him.

She took a couple of steps closer to him. "I understand how magical families are supposed to work. And my offer still stands, without limiting your possible relationships, even with Amanda."

She stepped closer, gave him a quick kiss on his cheek, and then strode purposefully out of the room, leaving Westley by himself to consider everything she had just told him.

AN: another short chapter, but making progress again.