Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to do his best from getting yet another migraine. He'd been up for the whole night trying to find a simple way to get all of his classes caught up with what they should have been learning under Professor Binns, and while nations luckily didn't need as much sleep as other creatures, he still wished he could get at least an hour. Luckily, he was almost done.
He wasn't sure what made the ghost of a teacher decide to mainly teach the history of Goblin Rebellions and Giant Wars when there were other topics and events too, but it would be a pain trying to get the students caught up, especially the sixth and seventh years. He'd have to do his best with what time he had.
By the time he finished, to his dismay, it was already time for the day to begin. He would have to take power naps during the day if he didn't want to be irritable.
He supposed his first day of classes was as successful as it could be. The students seemed to be more attentive while he taught, especially after they realized the information he was explaining had to do with the Roman Empire and how wands came into fashion to refine magic. Of course, he knew that outside of the first and second years, he couldn't linger on any time period or event; not until each class was caught up in what they should be learning, anyway.
He noticed Ginny Weasley was in one of his classes that day and she still looked just as jumpy and pale as she had been on the train after the Dementor incident. Arthur had guesses as to what she might've seen or heard while they were in such close proximity. Even if a Dementor doesn't focus on you, even being a few steps away could chill your bones and make you see flashes of the most horrible day of your life.
"You said you wanted to see me, Professor?" the second year asked, walking up as her classmates filed out.
"Yes, Miss Weasley, I just wanted to check in and see how you were doing after yesterday."
Ginny seemed to shrink in on herself, "'m alright…" she muttered. It reminded him of how America and Canada had acted when they were little, whenever they'd be ashamed of something they did and thought they'd be scolded.
"Don't worry, you wouldn't be in trouble if you weren't okay. I just wanted to be sure considering everything that happened last year."
"I… I kept seeing the Chamber. It was only for a little bit, but…" Her voice trailed off.
"I won't pry. Just know you can come to myself, or Professor McGonagall should you need anything, even if it's just to talk. Your parents and brothers too." He tried to reassure her. She gave a nod before leaving.
As the door closed, Arthur leaned back in his chair. He hated feeling this powerless. It's not like the Dementors being on school grounds helped either. Though he didn't know who outside of Ginny and probably Harry and his friends, he was sure there were many students with their own traumas that were probably being thrusted into the forefronts of their minds by the Dementors being near. Arthur gave a long, tired sigh before standing up. The second year Gryffindors had been his final class of the day, and if he was lucky he could finish that letter to Fudge about what had happened on the train.
As he exited the classroom, he nearly bumped into another student who was dashing through the corridor in a frenzy.
"Careful, there, Miss Granger!" he exclaimed.
"Sorry Professor, I'm almost late to Care for Magical Creatures!" The bushy haired girl shouted over her shoulder as she turned a corner.
Brushing the wrinkles out of his cloak, Arthur turned in the opposite direction and made his way toward his chambers, stopping when he noticed a peculiar sight.
Remus Lupin was moving as if he were stalking something that was under a cot in a spare room, one normally kept for visitors to the castle.
"Remus?"
The skinny man jumped, "Professor Kirkland. Sorry, you startled me."
"You can call me Arthur- do you mind if I ask what you're doing?"
"The Caretaker told me there's a boggart under the bed. I'm trying to get it into this dresser so I can use it in my classes. I think, with all of the Dementors lurking about, a little fear conquering could help."
"Would you like some help?"
"Only if it's no trouble."
"It's no trouble at all. Get it out from under there and I'll steer it toward the dresser."
Remus nodded as Arthur positioned himself, and a spark flew from Remus's wand under the cot.
Arthur steeled himself as a hand emerged from under the furniture, then a head of dirty blond hair, only for the figure to stand up wearing an old outfit he hadn't seen since the eighteenth century.
"Ame- Alfred?" Arthur's brow furrowed as he looked at his former colony's face. He was missing Texas and he was younger, physically no older than 15, but the cut on his face and the mud clinging to his hair and clothes was the same as that day- No. He had to get a grip.
"I hate you. First you treat me like I'm some cash cow to get out of dept from your stupid fight, then you won't let me see my brother all because some ship was set on fire?" America spat. "I refuse to go home with you! You're not my brother! I hate you! I HATE YOU!"
"Ridikulus." Arthur stated, his voice cracking as he did so, and at once the image of a teenaged America immediately shifted into an acrobat with a clown's face and he did backwards summersaults into the dresser. Remus closed the doors as Arthur sat down, composing himself.
"…The, uh… The boggart turned into a teenager from the 1700s?"
"It's a metaphor." Arthur said, quickly. "He's my younger brother and I took care of him. He grew up in America before I found him and my subconscious tends to rely on history to process some things. We had a falling out due to money issues where I relied on him for a time to help me with some debt I got myself into. We only reconciled recently."
Not the truth but not a total lie.
Remus processed this information, "So your fear is of him leaving?"
Oh well, so long as he didn't say anything incriminating about him being a representation of a land mass and its culture, Arthur supposed he could explain. "My fear is that, yes, but also of other members of my family leaving. My family has a lot of… issues, some which have lasted for years. I admit, I have not always made the best decisions, and neither have they. We say or do things, some which we don't have a say sometimes, and there's fallout."
Remus was silent for a moment. "I had a friend whose family regarded him as dead, all because of who he decided to associate with. They weren't nice people and even though he acted like the fact they disowned him didn't bother him, sometimes he'd get a faraway look in his eye when he saw his younger brother; almost like he was trying to come up with a scenario in his head on how they'd reconcile. So, with that said, I can understand where you're coming from. But you did what he never got the chance or courage to set aside your pride and do: you and your younger brother made up."
"That's a nice sentiment, I guess. Anyway, enough about me, let's get the boggart to where you'll be performing your lesson."
"I can handle it from here." Remus gave a small smile. "I believe dinner will be soon and you probably have things you need to do."
"Well, you aren't wrong." Arthur chuckled.
A/N: Hey everyone! Time for this chapter's notes. It's a shorter one but mainly because nothing much happens in the first day beyond everything to do with Trelawney's seeing the Grim and Buckbeak scratching Malfoy's arm, but I did want to sprinkle in a few moments before the bogart stuff such as focusing on how the Dementors being present around the characters might affect them. Yes, Harry and England are most likely to be affected due to, well, them being themselves, but I did think it was a bit of a missed opportunity in the book and the movie to not have even a little focus on how they made Ginny feel, especially after everything in the previous instalment. You can't tell me this twelve-year-old wasn't traumatized from being used by the spirit of an evil wizard to hurt and possibly kill others. England, who was there for the entirety of Harry saving her, would definitely reach out in some way to let her know she can talk about it and anything else with her family and teachers. He's learned long ago that no one really gets over things like this by bottling it up. I also decided to snipe in Hermione rushing between classes using the time turner.
Now, as for everything with the boggart… I'm gonna be honest, I didn't really know what I wanted to put in, just that I knew no matter what, Remus would have questions and its sort of his first instance of his new coworker being more than he seems. In the end, I decided his greatest fear is being alone. He's had so many of his colonies leave him, all starting with America declaring independence. I'd imagine this would probably take place around the time of Lexington and Concord, the first major battle in the American Revolution. And if anyone wants to know which event America is referring to when he says a ship caught fire, it's the burning of the Gaspee, an event that took place in Newport, RI and was one of the first instances of the colonists fighting against British occupation, even before the Boston Tea Party.
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