Hogwarts: A New Beginning

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Arno had almost forgotten that she was coming over to his office. Krestel woke from his slumber before she knocked on the door. "Shut up Krestel," Arno growled; the cat had an obnoxious habit of yowling for no reason. But the knock came and Krestel almost seemed to smirk at him. Arno reached down and gave the cat a pet before opening the door. "No, you're fine. Come on in," he stood aside for her to walk in, closing the door behind her. He pulled out one of the chairs in front of his desk, but Krestel seemed to think it was for him and leaped onto it. "Get out Krestel," he shooed the cat away. The grey and tan cat hissed at Arno as he hopped down, sulking in the corner of the room where a cat bed laid on the floor.

Looking back up at Dahlia, he sat down in his chair and leaned back, looking at her. "Welcome to my office. Sorry about Krestel, he's never really been that friendly towards strangers. Or he's showing off, which is quite possible the better answer for his behaviour. In any case, I am sure he's happy to have you here," he gave the old cat a glance. Krestel was asleep already; Arno began to wonder how much longer he had with Krestel. He was starting to really slow down. Bringing his attention back to Dahlia, he rested his chin in his hand, elbow propping his head up.

"So, how did the first years take to their dorms?" He was genuinely curious; he heard that every house had a different tradition. Ravenclaws always went over riddles. Arno remembered how often Neville Longbottom was said to lose passwords; he imagined it would have been easier to have him just be put in Ravenclaw. You didn't need a password, all you needed to do was solve a riddle. Come to think of it, it was very foolish to have a riddle come in as the password. Arno knew what they had to talk about; elaborate more on the issues. But at least they'd broken the ice between one another. "Would you like some coffee? Or tea?"
 
Dahlia looked at the cat, giving a smile before looking back at Arno. "Did you have him during school? I can recall a grey and tan cat becoming friends with Binx, even if they fought once in awhile. Binx is a black cat with green eyes," she commented, sitting on the chair and gently placed her parchment in front of her. She hoped that he did not mind. The both of them had to prepare for their first day of classes, and her lesson plans were extensive for the different years. Seventh years had it tough this time around, considering that she would test them on mostly all of the potions they learned throughout their seven years. Hard, but it would come in handy.

"The first years were quite excited, and somewhat intimidated by the location of their dorms," she told him. The Slytherin common room was located in the dungeons, which was quite fitting. In all her years of going to Hogwarts, the password was always changing into something degrading. It always made Draco, and the rest of his gang, to cackle at the unfortunate passwords they had. Now the passwords were leveled, having no horrible meaning behind them. "I was asked questions, personal question, but I chose not to answer them." For good reason.

"Tea would be lovely, thank you," she said. She was never a coffee drinks, especially that it wasn't good for the body. Looking at her parchment, she wrote something down on it as she came up with different potions to be teaching this year. "Are you looking forward to the year?"
 
He chuckled as he remembered that black cat. Krestel was older than him he imagined, or just bigger. "Yes, actually I can recall a black cat hanging around him. Other Ravenclaws swore up and down that the black cat didn't belong to them, but I honestly thought the cat belonged to Slade Rodges. He had a fascination with transfiguration; he was the only person I knew that was ever able to try to become an animegus," Arno replied, looking down at his paper again. He was still listening to her as she talked, just he had to get this done. Once she approved of the tea, he made a wave of his wand and brought a cup to her. The cup was blue and bronze, the Ravenclaw colours. He got to his feet and walked over to a kettle. Flicking his wand, he uttered a spell that made the water heat up real quick. Pulling two teabags out of the cupboard, he poured the water into two cups and set the teabags in them.

Taking a seat again, he let the leaves steep in the water. He would add creamer once it was finished. "Me? Nothing that comes to mind. I'm not much of a futuristic person as much as for the moment. But if I had to choose I would say that I am looking forward to seeing my students grow. Hard to see the students that I saw as first years while I myself was just beginning as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher become third years. How time flies," he replied, glancing up at her. He leaned back for a brief moment and looked at her, chewing on his bottom lip for a moment before reaching into his desk. He pulled out a notebook with all the houses on it. In it was written the names of those lost in the battle. He wondered whether or not she had friends that fought in the battle; on either side. Setting it down, he would save that for later when the subject of the battle came up.

"What about you, you looking forward to anything?" He was curious to know what she was looking forward to rather than what she was dreading. This he imagined was hard for her; trying to show the world that she was good and not evil. He hoped that he was doing the right thing; his mother had always told him to give people a chance. Don't hold grudges, don't lower oneself to hatred. He wished that he'd made her proud, but he'd done exactly what she'd asked him not to. He began writing down his lesson plans for the first years; he decided that instead of teaching about gnomes, pixies and other small creatures. Try to figure out which was their strong suits and which was not. As for spells, he'd start them on lighter ones such as lumos and periculum.
 
Once the tea settled into the hot water, Dahlia lifted her tea cup in an elegant fashion. It was somewhat of a good thing that she was raised in a prestigious family, she learned etiquette. She sat proper, spoke proper, and dressed proper. Then again, it made her seem like a snob during her years in Hogwarts. Well, she was a snob and rude to those she thought were lesser than her. Oh how she has grown since then. The past was the past and she was going to keep it there. This was about starting new, starting with making mends with Arno.

She listened to his words, taking a sip of her tea and allowed herself to warm up with the liquid. It made her smile, knowing that he was a succesful Desfense Against Dark Arts teacher and did not repeat that curse that seemed to happen every year when they were in school. The worse one would have to be Umbridge. That lady never had it out against her, but she knew of the horrors that she unleashed to other students. It made Dahlia feel bad for Harry Potter, she even saw the dreaded words that were etched in his skin for awhile.

"I am looking forward to a new start of my life. Honestly, I was thinking of changing my name just so the students did not think less of me, but that meant running away. My future begins with my present, and that means working on myself," she answered, feeling confident with her answer. She set her cup back on the desk, giving him her full attention even if he was working on his lesson plan. Her own could wait. "I am haunted by the past for what I have done. I was so cruel all because I wanted to fit in with a certain Malfoy, which was not true to me. It just consumed me, I suppose. Then I ran like a coward during the battle to protect myself. I couldn't stand to see my parents kill, using that one unforgivable curse. It haunts me because I have seen it used to take a life." When she talked, her hands clenched into slight fists on top of her lap. She never spoke about this to anyone, and she just hoped that he would understand her a little more for her actions.
 
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Arno listened to every word she said, trying not to be riled by the fact that she ran. She ran instead of fighting against the death eaters she claimed to hate, but he said absolutely nothing about it. He kept his eyes on his paper, occasionally glancing up at her as she spoke to let her know that he was listening. But how could he honestly judge her? Could he go up against his own parents, no matter what kind of beasts they were? He knew that he couldn't. He'd have to admit; he was impressed that she had the courage to come back with the name. He was even more impressed however that she was making such an effort to change.

He finished up his scheduling, having had an earlier start than most of his coworkers. He adjusted in his seat so he could see her easier and leaned back, taking a sip of his tea. He scrunched up his face and pulled his wand out. "Accio creamer," he said plainly, a small silver cup floating close to the desk. It landed on the wood next to him, but he picked it up and put a coaster down. He'd gotten this from a muggle market; he found them to be wonderful ideas. The ones he had had cats on them. It was really easy to see what his favourite animal was. Pouring some of the creamer into his tea and some sugar (which oddly enough he had some in his desk). Stirring it, he took another sip and was satisfied with the taste this time.

Turning his attention back to Dahlia, he sighed. "Look, I can't say that I trust you completely just yet. It'd be unfair to lie and say that I do, so I won't. But I can say that I understand why you ran. I can't imagine what it's like to be afraid of your own family, much less face them in battle. I know what it's like to have to watch them die; I wouldn't want to see it again. I can understand why you didn't stay and fight," he looked at her in the eyes this time, "for Hogwarts. I know that you would have fought against them, but fighting against your family is hard. I don't know from experience but I can try to understand where you are coming from. I'm glad that you are here, Dahlia Redhart. Though Fin when he heard that you were a professor here almost lost his marbles; think he'd wonder if I'd gone looney if he saw me drinking tea with you." He gave her a smile; they may have been enemies before but that was changing. He wanted it to; she deserved that much. Both of them were orphans to this world now, even if her parents were still alive they might as well be dead.
 
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Dahlia glanced up at him when he started to speak, allowing his words to sink in as he said them. Of course she knew that Arno wouldn't trust him, but she was glad that he accepted the fact that she was there to change people's views on her. It was hard during the war when she watched people die, people that had lives ahead of them. When she heard news of one of the Weasley twins passing, she felt a huge amount of sorrow. She recalled seeing Ronald Weasley after the war in Diagon Alley at the joke shop his brothers established, and boy did he give her a dirty look. That was a moment that she could not forget, especially with the words he said to her. "Get out of here, Redhart. Filthy death eater." A huge jump in conclusion which made her want to keep low.

"Thank you for listening to me, Arno, a lot of others wouldn't take the time to actually listen to me because of who I am," she spoke, a sigh coming from her lips. There was attempts made to reach out to Harry Potter, but he declined with meeting her after the battle, which she understood why. The one family she wished to truly reach out to was the Malfoys, but they did a good job at disappearing and never showing their faces. People had resentment towards them and all for good reason.

A familar yowl from a cat came to her ears, and she knew that it was Binx. There was a scratch at the door, accompanied by loud cries. "Sorry," she told Arno, giving him a sheepish smile before standing. Once she opene door, the cat came in and there seemed to be a note in his mouth. With a raised brow, soon grabbing the letter and Binx looked around the room curiously until he saw the older feline. Dahlia examined the note, seeing that it had her name on it. She opened it, pulling out the small parchment that came with it. Opening that, she looked at the letter and soon she clenched it tightly in her fist. How did Binx even receive this letter? She placed it in front of Arno, quietly showing him what it said:

"It isn't over yet."​
 
Arno looked at her as she looked over at the door. He chuckled a little; he really liked her Binx. He'd seen him plenty of times as a child, but again he never knew who owned him. He had no idea that Redhart did until now; funny how things played out. Suddenly Dahlia turned around with this worrying expression on her face. She held a letter in her hands as she walked back. He got to his feet, walking around the desk and in front of Dahlia. He took the letter gently and inspected it. "It isn't over yet." Those words sent a chill up his spine as he imagined what kind of hatred must have written it. He looked up at Redhart with a serious look sprawled across his face.

"Listen, whoever wrote this knows that Headmaster McGonagall won't stand for any kind of violence towards any student or professor here. Not even the animals. If this is a threat, you know that you are safe while you are on Hogwarts grounds. That being said, if anybody approaches you with ill intent, let me know. It's kinda my job to handle things like this," he told her, his voice reassuring. Looking at the note, he didn't recognize the hand writing. Putting it on the desk, he looked it over and over again but nothing stuck out. Perhaps an incantation might help reveal something. Muttering a spell he thought might work, nothing happened. He reached back and pulled his dreadlocks back into a ponytail.

Looking back at her, he leaned against his desk. "Do you recognize the handwriting?" he asked simply. Krestel had woken from his nap once Binx walked passed him. He let out a raspy yowl but didn't try to follow him. The old cat was getting really old if he wasn't willing to follow his friend around like a lost puppy. But he did give his food bowl a look over after he lumbered himself up out of his bed and came up to the desk, leaping onto it from his chair. He gave a very long drawn out raspy yowl and clawed Arno's robes. Arno shooed the old cat away, trying to pay mind to Dahlia.
 
Dahlia felt like that she was being singled out by those words. Did she make the right choice of coming back to Hogwarts? Karma was starting to come back to her for all the bad deeds she did as a child. She had no one else to blame, and she only blamed herself. Then again, Malfoy had something to do with it when he condoned her behavior. No, she could not blame him. The boy had his own issues when he was growing up. Issues that he openly discussed with her because she was part of a death eater family as well. Only she understood. It was too bad that he had been dragged into it.

"No, I do not," she answered. She felt as if the note was a plague, not wanting to go near it. It was not possible that Voldemort was coming back, Harry killed him that day. However, death eaters were still out there. Most of them fleed when they had the chance and they were never heard from. The ones on Azkaban were on super high security, so nothing would get them out of there. Then who? "What worries me is how Binx even got ahold of the letter? Someone must have gotten into my office for Binx to find. He is keen on giving me letters when someone tells him to give it to me."

Glancing at the black cat, she watched as he paced the room like if he was remembering things about it. The last time he was in here was when Remus Lupin was teaching, when Professor Lupin asked her to come into his office to talk and see if she was feeling well. Most of that year she was constantly in and out of the hospital wing for an unknown reason. Unusual for a former Gryffindor to care for a Slytherin, but he spoke about being close to her mother, which she never believed until her mother confirmed it during that winter break. It was unusual.

"The school year just started and I feel like how Harry felt when he had to suffer all these mishaps," she commented, looking at Arno again. "Trouble seemed to follow him everywhere, and it seems to be my turn."
 
Arno shook his head and looked up at her again after staring at the note. "Just keep calm, nothing good ever comes out of a panic," he told her, drawing his attention back to the note again. It wasn't as if he would find out who wrote it by staring at it but he couldn't help himself. "Krestal, come here please," he barked out to the cat. the old cat yowled and Arno suddenly felt embarrassed; he'd been sitting on his desk for quite some time now and he'd just forgotten. There was more to this cat than Arno let on; if one looked close to the cat's coat one would see almost magical markings on it. The darker brown line down his back seemed to curl off onto his sides in a blueish circle. Krestal looked up at Arno, purring. He ran his tail under Arno's nose, making Arno sneeze. "Stop horsing around Krestal, I have a job for you," Arno pushed the letter to the older cat. "Find who wrote this, pick up their scent and come back to me when you have the information that I need." Krestal glared up at Arno, his tail lashing. Arno heaved a sigh and added a 'please'. Seeming to satisfy Krestal, he leaned forward and gave the note a heavy sniff before leaping off the desk and heading out of the office.

Arno turned back to Dahlia and smiled. "If anyone can find who wrote that, Krestal can. Don't worry; you are safe while you are in the castle. As stated before, nobody would dare make a move to hurt you inside the school, it would be too dangerous for them. You are a Redhart, you are not your parents but you will have a rocky slope to travel up while you are here until you show that you are loyal to Hogwarts," Arno told her. Things like this note didn't surprise Arno; this might happen more often than she would have liked. Something hit him like a brick; this was why McGonagall had made them sit together. The woman certainly knew what she was doing.

"If you remember, Harry Potter was always in safe hands until the last part and that was purely Voldemort's fault. I'll do what I can to make sure that you are safe in this place. In the meantime, I suggest we both go get some rest before we have to get up for our first class." He knew that Krestal would try his best to find those who had sent the threat; if they were students then they would have quite the short stay in Hogwarts. Nobody sent threats to professors or other students and were permitted to stay.
 
At least things were going to be okay. Dahlia was safe on the grounds, she was going to remain safe. If she were to be alone at home she would have been more of a bigger target, and that thought alone made her nervous. Hogwarts would always be safe. Well, she knew that it was going to be after the battle. There was no more Dark Lord. However, she knew that someone could take his place, but she did not want to think about that right now.

"Yes, we need our rest," she spoke, standing to her feet and giving him a kind smile. "Thank you, Arno, for everything. It makes me feel better that you understand me a little more." She placed her hand on his shoulder gently, giving a gentle squeeze before picking up her notebook and quill. "Have a good night, Professor." She then went to the door, soon heading out of the office.

Binx was still in the office, sitting by the door and gazed up at Arno with his big green eyes. It was like the cat was studying him, even if they have met before. The cat was getting old, but he did remember faces, as well as scents. His tail flicked, and his ears perked up as he heard Dahlia's heels stop. He let out a meow, glancing out the door as he heard her call for him.

"Binx, venez ici," Dahlia spoke, whistling for him as well. The cat let out a yowl before looking at Anos again, then soon ran out the door to meet up with his owner. They both left, soon making their way to their room to get rest before classes the next morning.
 
He watched her go, almost unable to believe that he'd allowed her to even talk to him. But it was the only way that he was going to move on with his life; she ran away from the battle so that she wouldn't have to harm her family. That was understandable, right? And as for all the bullying and cruelty, she'd been just a child. She did that to impress people, who didn't fall to some kind of peer pressure while young? He had to give her credit for trying to make things better. He knew that she was going to have enemies here, and it would be hard for her to fully redeem herself. But maybe with a budding friendship between them, a man who lost his family to her parents, they could get her name cleared and people would accept her.

Arno knew that the road ahead of them was not an easy one, especially with this new threat to her popping up. He would find who made this note, and they would be apprehended for it. Threats were taken very seriously here, and he wanted her to be safe more than anything. Eventually, he had to go to bed himself. But he took the note with him, leaving Krestral to guard the office. He entered his home away from home, his mind buzzing with thoughts and ideas. Maybe keeping his patronus with her to keep an eye out might not be a bad idea. A meerkat could go unnoticed, small and quick. He would run the idea by her in the morning, but for now sleep was the best thing for the both of them.

It was a rough wake up the next morning; he found himself not wanting to get up but alas, he had to teach his first class. He cast his patronus spell, ordering it to go to Dahlia's classroom and stay guard. He was taking no chances of her being assaulted or harmed; he was going to make it very obvious that she wasn't alone. He would combine their classes if need be just to make sure that she was safe. His students often times were roudy and unforgiving, especially Gryffondors. He never liked that house; always found the most pompous arrogant self centered people to come out of it. He walked to breakfast, ready to start his first class. His nerves were on end, he wouldn't openly admit that he was nervous about his first class. He sat down in his normal seat as students came pouring into the Great hall for breakfast.
 
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Sleeping through the night was quite the difficult task. Even Binx could not sleep, watching over her curiously at the foot of her bed. At some point he strolled over to sit upon her chest, looking down at her and gently patted her face with his paw. It brought comfort to know that the cat was there, but he did not make the unwanted nightmares go away. The message in that note was absolutely terrifying and she wanted to know who it was who sent it. A threat was what she did not want to begin the school year went, but that is what she gotten. She just hoped it was a cruel joke.

As the morning came, she felt exhausted as she got herself ready for the morning class. At least the students in her first class were seventh years, it made things a lot easier because they were all above advanced potions. First years were who she worried about, considering they had no skill with making potions. That will come later. The woman got herself dressed and ready, making herself look a little bit decent. Her hair was done neatly up in a bun, hair out her face. Normal makeup with a bold red lip, her signature look. Clothes consisted of a black pencil styled dress with an emerald green shawl over her shoulders, and black heels on her feet. Always dressed to impress. If she did not have to wear her school uniform when she was attending Hogwarts, this would have been her day to day fashion.

Binx trailed behind her as she went into the Great Hall for some breakfast, and students glanced at her when she came in. The girls in the Slytherin house welcomed her with smiles, complimenting her outfit. Some of the boys in the house gawked at her when they saw her well dressed, but knew it was wrong to stare because she was older and she was their professer and head of the house. Dahlia took a seat, sitting beside Anos and gave a slight smile.

"Good morning," she greeted. "Are you excited for the first day of classes?"
 
He watched her enter the Great Hall and felt his heart rate pick up nervously. He could see how many eyes glared at her from other tables, though the large majority of Hufflepuffs weren't glaring. That's what he loved most about that house- (and often times wondered why he wasn't put in Hufflepuff, but his eagerness to judge Dahlia and his love for books more or less gave the Sorting Hat good reasoning to put him in Ravenclaw)-, Hufflepuffs never really judged others. they gave them chances and realized that everyone changed. People change, Arno was always jealous of that trait. He wished that he could get himself to believing that people had the ability to move passed their past, and change who they were.

That was why he was so eager he guessed to warm up to Dahlia, the daughter of the people who killed his parents. As she sat down, he smiled back at her but didn't look at her. No, he kept his eyes on the students. This wasn't going to take overnight, healing took time. "I'm not looking forward to it I admit, the years starting has been rocky since the great battle. Tension has been rather high among houses, even more than normal. I don't know when McGonagall is going to join houses back into the classrooms. She's been talking about doing it in midyear this year, I think that'll be good for the school. Become whole again. I think it was a mistake to separate them; they are children. What about you? Are you looking forward to your first classes?" he knew that it'd be very touchy for her. Everyone knew who she was; some people hated the idea of her being back while others...others weren't sure.

A few owls flew into the great Hall, dropping letters off and packages. A grey-brown owl came swooping for the teacher's table and dropped a letter in front of Arno. He picked it up and stuffed it into his robes; he'd read it later. Now wasn't a good time, he was talking with Dahlia and didn't want to be rude. Besides, the chances of this letter being a social call was very slim. In fact he was part of a faction of witches and wizards that hunted down Death Eaters, this was probably some word about one being located in his area.
 
"I am quite excited actually, I have a set lesson plan for the students, and I wish to teach how Snape did in the past. Of course, not with his same mannerisms, but with the same intention. The man was always so knowledgeable with what he taught, even if he wanted to teach what you are teaching now," Dahlia spoke, admiration was in her tone. Everyone knew that she was a slight teacher's pet, but she just wanted to know more about potions. Potions and charms, two things that she enjoyed most. The one thing she never really got into was defense charms. The most she got was a patronus, and minor defensive spells that helped her.

Binx sat at her feet, looking up at the two curiously and listened to them as they spoke. As the owls flew into the Great Hall, he stared up at them and watched as they flew overhead. At least he has been around this most of his life, so he turned off his instincts to hunt whenever he saw an owl. All he did was let out a meow, rubbing his head against her palm as she leaned down to pet him.

An owl dropped a small package in front of her, which she gazed at curiously before taking it in her hand. "Who would be sending me packages all of the sudden?" Not like she had anyone to send her things. She took the moment to open it, treating like it was some delicate item as she unwrapped it in a neat fashion instead of tearing into the box. Once it was open, she looked inside of it and pulled out a card before taking out a brooch of the Slytherin crest. "How curious," she spoke before reading the card that came with it. It was a simple white card with one line of words that were scribbled in the middle of it.

"Good luck, Dahlia. He would want you to have this."
​
"I do not know if I should fear this, or simply take it is a welcoming present?" Dahlia wondered, showing the brooch to Anos, as well as the card that came with it. There was no name signed, and everything about the package was quite anonymous. Strange things have been happening.​
 
He had never really gotten along with Snape, nor was he an enemy. In truth, he hardly knew the man. He was more of a Defense Against the Dark Arts buff. Potions weren't his strong suit, he was a little below average on the subject. He should have paid enough attention in that class as much as he did in DADA. But you live and you learn. He was glad to hear that she looked forward to her first class, he didn't think that she would because of the issues she had with some of the students. But the world was full of surprises, that was for sure.

He looked over the letters he got again; he could only assume that it had been Drayvis that had sent the letters. they smelled like pipe tobacco and smoke. Drayvis was never a subtle hunter, didn't know to keep some information to himself. But it was all good, at the end of the day he would be seeing his fine feathery friend in his quarters. Unbeknownst to the Ministry of Magick, all of the death eater hunters in his group (called The Green Lotus) were animagi. That grey-brown owl wasn't an owl at all. At least, not natural born. Drayvis insisted on delivering the letters himself when it came to more important death eaters. The school knew about the Green Lotus, all of the members checked out to be free of any violent crimes or anything that would harm a student.

Pushing the letters back into his robes again he watched Drayvis fly off out of the Great Hall. Crazy old bird, he was really going to land himself into trouble someday. Looking over to Dahlia, he smiled and looked around as food began to appear on the tables. Children were chatting, making personal thought almost impossible. Food began to appear on the teacher's tables, however Arno didn't touch it yet. He still found his stomach to be churning a bit as the nerves got to him. Looking at the broach, he grinned. "Do you want me to take it to my office and check for curses?" It would be a wise choice since they had no idea who it was from. And with that threat, it was better to be safe than sorry.
 
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