Professor Tonks
Maia rolled out of bed the next morning, feeling as though her head were filled with cotton candy. The other girls were already up and getting dressed. Maia pulled on her robes and went down to breakfast with Kristiana. As they walked through the winding dungeon corridors she was certain they passed several doors and staircases that had not been there the night before.
She was thoroughly surprised when the Great Hall filled up with owls. They dropped letters and parcels at the students. Some sat down at the tables and stole some food from their owners’ plates before taking off again. Maia thought that it could hardly be sanitary, but Kristiana assured her that it was entirely safe.
Professor Slughorn, the Potions Master and Head of Slytherin House, went around the Slytherin table and handed out timetables. He was an old, rather fat man with a moustache like that of a walrus. He had a friendly, smiling face, and Maia instantly liked him. She was looking forward to having her first Potions lesson, but was disappointed to find that it wasn’t until Monday. Today, however, she had Charms and Transfiguration before lunch, and afterwards she had double Defence Against the Dark Arts.
The Charms lesson was with the Ravenclaws, and their very first lesson was about Drought charms. Maia and Kristiana paired up together with a cup filled with water and tried to dry it out. When Maia tried it there was not even a ripple in the water surface, but Kristiana managed to make it bubble a bit. Wiktoria, two tables away, was in deep concentration and managed to dry out the cup on her third try, much to the pleasure of Professor Flitwick, who got to give points to his own house. Wiktoria told them afterwards, as they were leaving the class, that it was all in the pronunciation of the spell, and that once you got that right it was rather simple, really. Maia took note of this and was glad she had Wiktoria to tip her off about these things.
Transfiguration was also with the Ravenclaws, which was rather fortunate, since Maia got to sit close to Wiktoria again, who was easily the most diligent student of the lot. Their Transfiguration teacher was a very young man in his early twenties who was called Professor Beatle. He had a friendly, smiling face behind rectangular glasses, and was good with children. He began by teaching them how to turn a match into a needle. Wiktoria once again succeeded after a few tries, but Maia felt that she was lousy at these subjects. Professor Beatle, noticing her struggle, told her kindly that not everyone could always manage on the first try, that these things took practice and that she would get it eventually.
Maia felt cheered by this, and even more so when she noticed that the red end of the match had turned silver in colour. She left the class feeling rather accomplished and in a much better mood than earlier that morning.
Defence Against the Dark Arts they had with the Gryffindors. Maia felt the hostility between the two houses the moment she entered the classroom; the Gryffindors glared at the Slytherins, who scowled back. Maia appeared to be the only Slytherin to not understand what this was about, though there were several Gryffindors, probably Muggleborns, who looked as clueless as she felt. As they found seats at the very back of the class and sat down, Kristiana hurriedly explained to her that the rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin had been going on for some hundreds of years.
“Whatever for?” asked Maia.
“Well, many Slytherins went dark, you know? All those relatives of mine that were Death Eaters, they were all in Slytherin. Not all Slytherins go dark, of course; my mother was one, and she never did. But the ancient pure-blood families are often the ones that are interested in the Dark Arts, and they teach their kids about it, so… In any case, the Gryffindors are rather the opposite of that. They’re a bit stupid, really, they see the world in all black and white. And a lot of professors favour the Gryffindors, even if they don’t realise it.”
They got out their books, and then the door at the other end of the room opened. Every pupil stared.
Surely this could not be the same teacher as the one who had bowed to them the night before? No, that woman’s hair had been brown and her appearance had been rather mousy and tired looking. How could this be the same woman? This witch had bright purple hair spiked into something akin to a mohawk. Her robes were of a dark fabric that seemed to shimmer in many different colours.
“Wotcher, first-years!” she said brightly. She stumbled ever so slightly on her way over to the teacher’s desk. “Welcome to Defence Against the Dark Arts, I am your teacher this year, and hopefully I’ll continue to be just that. I thought we’d start today with getting properly introduced! My name is Nymphadora Tonks, but if you ever dare use my first name I’ll fail you. Nymphadora, I ask you!” She seemed to shudder at having to pronounce it a second time. “I used to be an Auror, but now that I’m starting a family and everything, I wanted a less hazardous job. Not that teaching is any less hazardous, of course.” A few people laughed nervously at this.
“You’re married, Professor?” asked a Gryffindor girl in the front.
“Yes, yes I am,” said Tonks, grinning broadly. “To Remus Lupin. He taught here a few years back, actually… Anyway, some of you are probably wondering why I look different now from last night.” Her hair suddenly turned bubblegum pink, and several students gasped. “This is because I am a Metamorphmagus. This is not something you can learn; I was born with it. I can change my appearance at will.” Her nose grew considerably, and her eyes went bright orange.
“If you’re married, why don’t you have the same last name as your husband?” asked the Slytherin boy named Dominic Allan, who had been the first to be sorted the evening before, Maia remembered.
“Because I couldn’t be bothered to change it,” said Tonks. “Alright, who wants to introduce themselves next? How about you?” she said to the girl who had asked her a question.
“I’m Nora Isakson,” said the girl, blushing. “I come from Winchester. My mum’s a Muggle and my dad was a Wizard… I dunno what else to say.”
“No worries, Nora, that’s alright!” said Tonks pleasantly. “Moving on!”
She continued on the first row, which mostly consisted of Gryffindors, and went one student at the time through the classroom.
Venus Macnair was particularly rude and pompous, Maia thought, because when it was her turn she said, “Macnair, Venus. Pure-blood and far better than you.”
“Well, Miss Macnair,” said Tonks, her smile gone, “that’s ten points from Slytherin. We are all equal in my classroom. Macnair… I suppose that was your uncle I put in Azkaban, was it?” Her eyes had grown cool. But then she turned to Maia, who was sitting next to Venus. “And you?” she said in a friendly tone, smile in place.
“I’m Maia Herod,” she said. “I live in London. I like reading… And music…” she trailed off, not wanting to say anything that could expose her to the other Slytherins as a Muggleborn.
“Good, good!” said Tonks. “And you?” she said to Kristiana. “Last one!”
“Kristiana Black,” said Kristiana. “My dad has a broom shop in Knockturn Alley. I like broomsticks and animals. We have a crup at home.”
“Black, did you say? Then we must be related!” said Tonks. “But who… Ah, you must be Alphard’s grandchild! He’s my great uncle.”
Kristiana looked puzzled, but then her eyes widened and she smiled. “I knew your name was familiar! Your mother was Andromeda, who got disowned!”
“Quite right, quite right! Five points to Slytherin!”
There came a murmur from the Gryffindors. Tonks turned around, her eyes gleaming. “Aha!” she said. “I see! You are all under the impression that all Slytherins are bad, aren’t you?”
The Gryffindors all fell silent. Some had the decency to look embarrassed. A couple of Slytherins (among them Venus Macnair) sniggered.
“And you,” said Tonks, turning to those who did. “You probably have similar prejudices against Gryffindors. Think they’re all little do-gooders. I can tell you all right now that you are wrong.”
She went to the front of the class again. “Let’s make this an extra-ordinary class on prejudice, then!” she said. “After all, prejudice is the base of all evil. First, an example of a very nice Slytherin “ Professor Slughorn. Sure, he’s mostly friendly for personal gain, but I call that human, not evil. And a naughty Gryffindor, Peter Pettigrew.” Someone gasped; Kristiana made some kind of sound, but most stared blankly. “Yes, some of you know that name. He was also known as Wormtail, and he was the one who betrayed the Potters to Voldemort.” Nearly everyone gasped this time, for they were obviously not used to hearing that name pronounced. “He was a Gryffindor, but he turned dark. He died two years ago.”
A little Gryffindor boy on the second row named Jonathan Imago raised his hand. “I thought it was Sirius Black who betrayed the Potters, Professor,” he said in a quivery voice.
“Ah, you’re rather behind the times, there,” said Tonks. “Common mistake to make though. No, Sirius was innocent “ sometimes things aren’t what they appear to be. Which of course is my whole point. Just because you’re sorted into a particular house, that doesn’t mean there are no other options. You don’t have to be always brave and good just because you’re a Gryffindor, or have your head stuck in a book if you’re a Ravenclaw, be selfish if you’re a Slytherin, and Hufflepuffs are certainly NOT useless.
“Extreme bravery can sometimes become recklessness, and too much ambition can destroy a person. The greatest enemy of them all, however, is prejudice.” Tonks sat down on her chair and promptly slipped off it. “Bugger!” came a muffled mumble from under the desk, and she stood up again. “There’s another reason I’m no longer an Auror,” she said dryly, sitting down properly this time. She leaned back and looked at her watch. “Ah, not even half the lesson has passed… Well, class dismissed anyway. I expect I’ll see you lot next on Tuesday, and we’ll begin with proper lessons then. Play nice!”
After dinner that day, Maia went to the Owlery and borrowed a school owl. She had written a letter for her mother.
Dear Mum,
Everything’s fine here. I’m learning lots of new things already and the teachers are nice. I’ve made two friends. They’re called Kristiana and Wiktoria. Kristiana is in my house, Slytherin, but Wiktoria is in Ravenclaw. They are school houses.
I learned today that Slytherin has an ongoing rivalry with another school house called Gryffindor. The last house is called Hufflepuff, but I don’t know anyone from there yet, as we haven’t had any classes together so far.
You don’t need to worry about me. Everyone here is really nice to me, and I’ll get used to all the strange things, and the ghosts, eventually.
Send your reply with this owl; just tell it to wait. Hogwarts doesn’t have an address that I know of, so I don’t think you can send regular mail.
Maia
She addressed it and tied it to the owl’s foot. Then she watched the bird fly off, before returning to the Slytherin common room. There was a book she wanted to read.