Hydra at Hogwarts

Hydra at Hogwarts

Lily arrives at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. She is taking time out from her job as an Auror, returning from Russia where she has been doing reconnaissance and research, as well as helping the local Ministry with the ever-present problems of hags, vampires, werewolves and other eastern creatures. James Potter, her teenage boyfriend, went on to study curses and to increase the Ministry's knowledge of the Dark Arts through teaching at Durmstrang after helping to defeat Voldemort at the great Battle, in which all wizards and witches were involved.

Lily finds that in essence, little has changed at Hogwarts - Dumbledore is still Headmaster, teaching and inter-staff relations carry on, and she is permitted to teach almost as she wants with little reference to the curriculum of Susan Bones, Minister for Magic. Professor Snape is still the Potions Master, but has the Order of Merlin for his work in bringing about the destruction of Lord Voldemort. His involvement with the Dark Arts is still questioned by some, however. But there are one or two new arrivals who conspire with the old crew to make Lily's stay at Hogwarts very interesting indeed...

Chapter One: Lily Arrives at Hogwarts

'Now that all the first years have been sorted into their houses, a few words before we start the feast. Firstly, congratulations to Madam Pomfrey on her Exemplary Magic award for her work with Fingerwort poultices over the summer. Some of you may have seen her work written up in the Sunday Prophet. Additionally, I am pleased to welcome a new member of staff, Professor Lily Evans, who will be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Professor Evans has agreed to take on the post for this year whilst she takes a much-needed break from her work as an Auror in Europe. And now - fall to!'

The pupils talked excitedly amongst themselves and attacked the heaped dishes as the new arrival shed her cloak, folding it into her trunk with a practised flick of her wand. She turned to face the table and dropped into a spare chair next to a smiling witch with bright orange hair, shaking hands with the assorted professors around the table as they introduced themselves.

A small teacher leaned across to hold out his hand. 'Professor Flitwick - I hope you remember me from school days!'

'Nymphadora Tonks,' said the orange haired witch with a rueful grin, 'but I'd prefer it if you just call me Tonks like everyone else. Muggle studies.'

'Hello, Severus.' Lily raised her eyebrows at the sallow man and he responded with a curt nod and a level look from under his curtain of hair. The next professor, however, responded with enough quiet warmth for both of them - a pale, slim man with shaggy brown hair and a slow smile.

'Hello, Lily.'

She clasped his hand for a long moment as a smile lit up her face. 'Remus! What on earth are you doing here?'

'History of magic, actually.'

'I haven't heard anything of you for years. I suppose that's my fault, for being holed up in mountain caves all the time - you don't get many owls up there...'

'So what have you been up to all this time?'

'Freezing to death, I imagine!' said Tonks, turning icy blue from her hair to the tips of her fingers.

'That's quite a...metamorphmagus?' asked Lily, slightly nonplussed.

'Yeah - born not bred. Came as quite a shock to my mother, unfortunately...'

There was a snort from the older wizard next to her. He swallowed his amusement and introduced himself.

'Vector. Arithmancy. So where have you been?'

'Russia, mostly - occasional work in Switzerland, France, the Ukraine...caught the Ukraine-Germany Quidditch match, that was quite something...'

'Really? The one where Wronski did that feint?'

'Absolutely. Totally amazing. Of course we were all trying it on our brooms the day after - that's where I got this cut on my elbow,' she frowned slightly and showed a long straight scratch, 'couldn't be bothered to heal it, anyway I'm no good at healing spells - I'm showing off really.' Lily smiled, and loaded her plate with buttered potatoes. 'The food here is a vast improvement as well, I might add.'

'Oh, the house-elves don't stint us.' Vector agreed, his reddish grey head bent over his plate.

The rest of the meal passed almost in companionable silence as the staff scrambled to catch up with the students' rate of consumption. Lily looked around the great hall, taking in the air of richness and faded grandeur that Hogwarts held in her memory and refreshing it with the lively picture before her - the four long tables for each house, the ghosts presiding over the feast, the sorting hat still sat humming on its stool, Dumbledore gazing genially over the scene. He caught her eye and winked. She grinned in a very un-professor-like way and turned back to the table. Tonks was now a slightly nauseous shade of puce, to the evident distress of little Professor Flitwick. Snape was watching Lily critically, ignoring his sparse plate of food, his hooked nose resting on his fist. She gazed back with a tilt of her head and he immediately shifted his gaze to someone else. Lupin caught the movement of her head and looked up, looking happy; she found herself smiling reflexively again, and returned her attention to her meal. It was shaping up to be a very good year.

-

The Hogwarts staffroom was warm from the heat of the fire and companionably busy. Tonks was making Lily and Lupin laugh by recounting an event from her holiday in Greece, involving an instantly acquired suntan and an extremely attentive Muggle local.

'So I don't think I'll be going back in a hurry - I was just lucky the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad weren't called out...' Minerva McGonagall, returning from the Gryffindor common room, got Tonks' attention at this point and took her off for a chat about a new pupil who was showing signs of pubescent -onset morphing. Lupin turned to Lily, looking not at all bothered by Tonks' sudden departure. Lily took advantage of the chatter to ask him, in an undertone, 'How's the Moony thing?' She had known Lupin very well at school, through James, her then boyfriend. She had never run with the marauders at full moon, nor seen Lupin transform, but was aware of the painful transition and of the way it set Lupin apart.

'It's still the same,' he sighed, 'but Snape's making me that potion they invented a few years back. I need to take it every day but it keeps me docile.' He smiled wryly. 'It could be worse. I wish it wasn't Snape I had to thank for it, though.'

'He is still the same old Severus, then? He hasn't mellowed with time?'

'I thought you knew him, Lily! No, he'll never mellow. He was grimly pleased with the Order of Merlin for his work with Voldemort, but since then he hasn't cheered up in the slightest. I don't know what he does with all his spare time now, but it certainly isn't making friends.'

She noticed Snape loitering moodily by the fire, ladling a drink out of the cauldron on a slowly rotating stand in the hearth. 'A drink, Remus?' He looked over to the cauldron and nodded to her, reluctantly.

Lily made her way to the fire, picking up two of the stoneware cups. 'Hello, Severus.' He nodded his head. 'Would you fill these, too?' He passed him the cups one by one. She spoke in an undertone. 'Congratulations on your Order. I understand you're making headway on some work for Remus, too?'

'Yes. I'm busy.'

'I have a favour to ask you. I wondered, if you had time, whether I might learn some more about advanced Potions with you? One evening?'

'I'm busy, Miss Evans.' She nodded, as though this rebuttal was no more than she expected - which in truth it was.

'I thought so.' She took a mouthful of the hot, honey-tasting liquid, letting it warm her from the inside. 'I did do some work with someone called Len Sorblav when I was in Russia-'

'Sorblav?'

'Yes.' she let him think for a second, watching him from under her eyelashes whilst she took another sip. 'He did mention that I should speak to you about advanced genetics control serums, and that you had been working on something similar.'

Snape glanced at her then stirred the cauldron. 'Come by Wednesday evening, then.' He stalked off.

Lily returned to her place by Lupin's side. 'You're right.'

-

Later that evening, Lily made her way to her quarters. The Dada office was almost as she remembered it from her schooldays, but fairly empty. 'Must speak to Dumbledore about that tomorrow.' She frowned and made a mental note. 'At least I've got the weekend to sort it out.' Her new rooms were nearby, accessed via a small office with bare walls and half-empty bookshelves. The room was cold and slightly musty - she recalled Dumbledore saying that the previous occupant has left mid-year, in suspicious circumstances - and not very inviting at all. She opened the desk drawers, expecting something unpleasant, but the place was thoroughly empty. A cupboard in the corner turned out to be full of useful items for work, though - foe glasses, traps, parchment and supplies. She sighed and opened the door to her living rooms. At least here the house-elves had made the room pleasant - the fire crackled happily and the bed was turned down, although the room was still heartlessly plain. Her trunks were also waiting for her. She took out her wand and with a short 'Unpack!' her various things arranged themselves in the open cupboards and drawers. She unfolded embroidered Russian throws from a second case, fixing them to the walls with sticking charms, and threw a woolly blanket over the bed. She opened the door to her new office, blanching at the wave of cold air, and dropped another knitted blanket and an Eastern rug on the arm of the leather chair. Time enough to sort the rest tomorrow. She would have to bring back her things from her Gringotts vault - maybe she could Floo there and pack her books and charts as well.

She drew herself a luxuriously hot bath, swathed herself in a fluffy robe and jumped into bed, wriggling her toes against the warm stone jar. She turned down the lamp and lay on her back, looking out of the mullioned window. So Lupin was here? It would be lovely to have a friend. Of course, she knew Snape, but he hardly counted. Tonks seemed nice too - a bit keen on being centre stage, but maybe it came with being a metamorphmagus. Surprising that Dumbledore hadn't mentioned her interest in advanced potions to Snape - it was after all one of the main reasons she had accepted the post. Hopefully Snape wasn't going to be too difficult about the whole thing. Damn his capricious moods.

-

The next day, Lily made her way to Dumbledore's office to plan her courses for the year.

'Now, Lily, here are the plans for the Defence Against the Dark Arts course for each school year. These are the up to date versions, owled over by Susan Bones this morning. Now,' and he steepled his fingers together and leant on his desk, facing her. 'I would like you to treat these as a guideline, nothing more. I believe that the experience you have to offer will be more valuable for the students, especially your first-hand accounts. If there is any equipment you need or if you need any books, please put them on the Hogwarts Gringotts account. Today will be fairly quiet as the students will be spending their time around the grounds, so if you have any purchases you would like to make, I suggest you go today. Now, I am due to speak to Professor Snape about his classes-'

'Professor, I meant to speak to you about that.' Dumbledore was quiet for a moment, but when he looked up his eyes were twinkling.

'You mean why I didn't ask Severus to teach you.'

She nodded. 'He seemed surprised when I asked.' Dumbledore stood up, and walked around the room with his back to Lily.

'Severus Snape thrives on his interactions with people, although it may not seem so at first. He likes to be persuaded into things, to appear unwilling to do favours. If he can appear to co-operate reluctantly, he would prefer it. I am sure that he will benefit from your studies at least as much as you will.'

-

That lunchtime, Lily seized the opportunity to pick up the items she needed in Diagon Alley before going out for lunch with Tonks in the Leaky Cauldron.

'So how long have you been at Hogwarts?'

'Oh, I only arrived 2 years ago. Professor Zulu, who was doing the job before, got taken in for questioning by the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office and he didn't reapply for the job. I was working in the Ministry before with Arthur Weasley - you know him? - really nice guy, and he suggested me for the job. It's a dream come true - Dumbledore is a great person to work for, the pay is good, and the lessons are never boring.'

'How do you plan your lessons?'

'Well, I do try to use the Ministry structure, but the classes usually depend on what the students ask. It's more fun for everyone that way. As long as I remember to cover the subjects I want to put in the exam, we get along fine.'

Lily looked down into her butterbeer. 'I'm a bit nervous - well, a lot - about teaching. I've never done anything like it before. What do you do if someone makes trouble?'

'Well, everyone deals with it differently. I tend to just kick them out of the room or shut them in a cupboard for a bit, till they're bored and ready to come back. I know Flitwick charms their chairs to tie them down. Minerva and Snape never have any problems with discipline but I'm not scary enough to do it their way...and Remus just tends to ignore anyone being obnoxious...' Tonks sighed and thoughtfully inflated her hair into big tubes like spaghetti.

Lily grinned, but the smile faded as she leant an elbow on the table and put her chin in her hand. 'How is Remus?'

'You knew him in school, didn't you?'

'He was one of my boyfriend's best friends. He looks unwell though, much paler and quieter than I remember.'

'He...isn't very well, he has a long-term illness that...makes him...'

Lily nodded. 'I know about his problems.'

Tonks looks relieved, and carried on in her usual quick style. 'Well, I think it preys on his mind, and he seems to feel a bit responsible for it all sometimes. But he's nice, and he's good company. Plays a mean game of chess too, although he always beats me because I forget what I had planned.' She laughed.

Lily asked, with studied nonchalance, 'Are you two, er, going out, then?'

'No, no - just friends. I used to have a boyfriend in the Ministry but he's away in India at the moment. I don't think Lupin sees me that way anyway.'

There was quiet for a moment as Tonks drained her glass. 'What about you?'

'Oh, nobody - I've been too busy freezing to death in a cave, like you said.' She grinned, her eyes sparkling. 'So you think Hogwarts is OK as a job then?'

'You'll fit in fine. Just don't let Dumbledore rope you into house duty - you're Gryffindor, aren't you? - don't let Snape's moods get to you, and if it gets overwhelming, give me a shout. OK?'

'OK.' Lily felt warm inside for the first time since her return from Russia.