From the Ashes

WHO: Adam and Z
WHERE: the grounds.
WHAT: Clumsiness. Snow.
WHEN: Early evening, Tuesday (2/2)

All Adam really wanted out of life was the chance to have a cigarette before tutoring with Z. However, he worked in a school, and schools tended to be crawling with students, on principle. Which meant that he had to sneak through corridors and doors and out onto the grounds and find somewhere secluded enough that he could suck down a cigarette (or two, if he was fast enough, and often was) in peace and quiet.

Whether it was by some magical force or by the clumsiness brought on by having to walk everywhere in snow boots, Adam ended up on his back in a snow drift. He was pretty sure that one leg was going the other direction than he was laying. A bit of wiggling reassured him that it wasn't broken, just twisted and burning with the fire of a thousand suns.

That was just. Fucking. Delightful.

Adam let out a long-suffering sigh and fumbled his wand out of his pocket, pulling his hood up behind his head and casting imperviate to keep the snow from seeping through any more than it already was. It even kind of worked on the cold, which was nice. He then found his pack of cigarettes, lit up, and blew smoke rings into the blue sky above him.

It was just that kind of day.

Who: Z and OPEN
When: Friday, January 29
Where:  The corridors and staircases leading towards the Arithmancy classroom
What: An attack of Z's usual clumsiness or something more sinister?

Fridays were generally Z's favorite weekday. She had the fewest classes, and even after filling in for more Ancient Runes classes, she still had several free blocks. She'd taken advantage of her free second period to take a nap which was an excellent decision at the time and in the long run. But right now? it was a terrible decision.

She overslept and was literally running late. And of course, the Arithmancy classroom was in the opposite direction most of the student body seemed to heading, so she was running into the treacherous sea of teenagers. Z didn't bother with apologies as she and her bookbag hit people. She was going to be so late and Nolan probably wouldn't be terribly pleased if she came in ten minutes late without a decent excuse. Z ducked between a pair of fourth years and finally made it to what she hoped would be the right staircase-it'd be her luck that today was one of the days the damn castles decided it needed a change and sent the left staircase that actually made it to the fifth floor somewhere else entirely. As the staircase moved, she forced herself to take the stairs as quickly as possible. It was a bit nauseating to seriously try and move up or down the staircases when they were moving, but it was necessary this time. Z refused to look down and was three-quarters of the way up the stairs (and gasping for breath-she was never going to smoke ever again. she was serious about it this time) when the staircase locked on the fifth floor.

"Oh thank god," she gasped as she ran up the next few steps. She was going to make it to class on time if she outright ran down the corridor. Focusing on breathing and gearing up for one last sprint, Z didn't realize her footing wasn't secure on the uneven stair (and was it more uneven and slanted than unusual?) and she fell backwards down most of the flight of stairs with a scream.

Who: Adam and Z
When: Tuesday, January 26, last period
Where: Adam's office
What: Officially a DADA tutoring session. Really it's a chance for Z to deal with her emotions and get some perspective

Z knocked on Adam's office door twice to let him know she was there, then entered without permission. She took a seat in front of Adam's desk and probably looked exactly like the frazzled and stressed out twenty-one year old she usually hid behind smart remarks, short skirts and keeping her distance.

"How do you teach them? They're all horrible little monsters who don't do their work or care about the subject or respect me. God, I could just kill the 6th years-they're all right little smug bastards who think they know shit about Runes when really, most of them are somewhere between 4th and 5th year level because they haven't had proper classes until they got to Hogwarts."

Z paused for breath and settled into her chair a bit more comfortably.

"Hello Adam. Today I got to teach three Runes classes, including what was my own 7th year class right up through yesterday. I want to slap the headmaster for having Healer Bryar take over the class when he doesn't know the subject. I'd also like to eviscerate most of the Ancient Runes students. I would also like to garrote Beckett with his hair and I would give someone's heart to have the Concerned Wizards of Britain stop mucking about with my House. Also, you and I need to chat about wards and why Victoria Asher knows all about this project. I want her in on it, obviously. But I certainly did not expect to have a conversation with her about this last week."

Who: Bob, Z, and William.
When: Monday, January 25th, lunchtime
Where: Library
What: Bob is not a teacher. He knows nothing about Ancient Runes. Who thought this was a good idea again? (Also, William is a Christmas tree.)

It was really time to face the fact that students couldn't be expected to read from their textbooks for the entirety of the school year. If such practices were acceptable teaching methods, no one would bother with school and teachers and it would all just be book work. To that end, Bob had dragged himself into the library to learn a little about Ancient Runes and try to cobble together some sort of lesson plan. Hopefully Beckett wouldn't discover him and toss him out on his ass for eating among the books. Or if Bob was discovered, the librarian would be so offended by Bob's teaching methods that he might volunteer to create lesson plans for Bob? That was a really nice thought, but somehow Bob sincerely doubted it would play out that way.

Who: Gabe and Z
When: Monday, January 25
Where: Gabe's classroom/office
What: Z wants to make sure Gabe's still up for helping her earn an "E" on her potions NEWT

After Z's last class of the day (Herbology and why had she thought taking that was such a great idea to begin with?) Z swung by Gabe's office, hoping to catch him. She knocked and without waiting for a response, she entered.

Gabe was doing something. Z cleared her throat, in case he hadn't noticed her presence already.

"In class you said we got to ask you three questions unrelated to Potions. I have three for you now. Do you know Matthew St. Johns and if you do, can you write me a letter of introduction? I think he has a book I rather desperately need. Second, does my essay really have to be fifteen inches? You know I can get to the point and make a good argument in less space and I have to do stuff to get ready for tomorrow's Sixth Year Runes class and some notes to go over on the wards project I'm working on. Finally-"

Here Z paused for a second, and then in a much less business-like tone (but not one too overly familiar) she asked "How are you doing with everything?"

Who: Staff and TAs
When: Monday morning, January 25
Where: The staff lounge
What: Staff meeting about upcoming bad press

Enough people were present for Brian to start the staff meeting.

“Right, so I know things have been a little hectic-” Brian ignored the snorts and someone’s laughter and continued. “Yes, I know, it’s been fucking insane. You all knew that by the end of your first week and didn’t resign then, so suck it up. Hazards of the job and all.”

He waved his wand and a proof copy of this morning’s Daily Prophet shot out. It zoomed around the room for a few seconds before docilely floating next to Brian. He ignored the paper and its antics.

“I imagine that most of you have been ignoring the letters to the editor and op-ed pieces in recent issues of the Prophet, since no one actually cares about typographical errors and mis-attributed photographs or what barmy wizards think about Ministry polices. Time to start paying attention now.

“Some disgruntled parents and Hogwarts alums have been writing in, mostly to bitch about what we’ve been doing with the school. I’ve got a stack of letters about that on my desk, I’m sure most of you have gotten a few since you started. Someone’s been organizing them in a group, Concerned Wizards of Britain. They’re starting to make more noise and get some attention. They petitioned to meet with me and the Board of Governors this weekend about some of the decisions I’ve made-staff I’ve hired. Obviously, I’m not just going to give in to their whims and Rita Skeeter’s protégé got wind of the story. It’s front page of this morning’s Daily Prophet.”

Brian duplicated his paper and sent the copies whizzing around, one for each person present. One of the headlines screamed

“DO WE TRUST OUR CHILDREN TO FOREIGN WIZARDS?”

Below that, other headlines read:

“Is "Change" a good thing? Does Hogwarts need a new perspective?”

“Must we reinvent our school?”

“Where are all the British professors?”

Brian let everyone take a moment or two to read the headlines and think about them.

“So, the school’s under attack in the paper. Mostly it’s focused around my decision to hire foreign-born staff and keep Professor Saporta as the Head of Slytherin in light of hiring Professor Asher. It’s bullshit, we’re figuring it’ll blow over soon, but I wanted to tell you all before copies start getting distributed in the Great Hall.”

Brian collected his copy of the paper and rearranged his robes slightly. “So, I’ll be in my office dealing with Howlers and letters if anyone needs me. Owl or fire-call me if something comes up you can’t handle.” With that, Brian left the staff lounge.

Who: Mikey and Z
What: An unexpected meeting
When: Evening, Thursday, January 21
Where: A mostly-forgotten study, various corridors

After speaking with Victoria, Z had grabbed a quick dinner and headed back to her Common Room. She needed to work through the conversation so she rather happily abandoned the Ancient Runes assignments she'd started marking hours ago in favor of other pastimes. Z grabbed her current sewing project (a pretty red dress with a fraying hem and half a dozen missing buttons) and her guitar case and headed towards the medium-sized study on the fourth floor she'd discovered her fourth year. It had several bookcases, a portrait of a misanthropic middle-aged woman, several sheet-covered pieces of furniture and, most importantly, not too much traffic.

Z occasionally liked to do homework at one of the tables in the room but much more frequently, she came to read for fun or work on a sewing project. Slytherin's common room was occasionally too crowded or loud for some of Z's hobbies.

She settled in on a couch and spent an hour or two fixing her dress. The third time her thread broke, Z took it as a message from a higher power that tonight simply was not the night she was supposed to finish this project. She stretched and decided that it was the perfect time to mess around with the songs she was trying to teach herself.

Who: Victoria and Z
Where: Staff lounge
When: Thursday, January 21

Victoria had meant to speak with Z earlier in the week, but between Quidditch over the weekend and some Ministry-related paperwork on Monday, what little free time she had between teaching and prep work had been completely eaten up. After she'd finished with that, Victoria had realised she'd never got round to owling ahead. She hoped that Adam had taken care of that detail.

With her last lot of parchments graded, Victoria headed down to the staff lounge in the hopes of catching up with her colleagues, particularly those she meant to consult on the wards question. She pushed open the lounge door and came in, resisting the impulse to fold her elbows and rub her upper arms for warmth. She was never going to get used to the cold Scottish winters again, Warming Charms or no.

There was, in fact, one other person in the lounge. "Just the woman I wanted to see. Good evening, Miss Berg."

Who: John and Z
Where: Arithmancy Classroom
When: Wednesday, January 20

John, having awoken late and in a rush to prepare for his fifth year Hufflepuffs and Slytherins, had forgotten breakfast.  Teaching over the rumble of his stomach proved to be a difficult task, and he found himself agitated when one of the students asked him a question about something he knew he'd covered at least two times.  As soon as third period ended, he made a mad dash to the Great Hall to nip some food, but didn't stay amongst the students for fear of cursing each and every one of them.

He didn't really feel like hanging out in the staff lounge either, so he headed back to his classroom and sat at the desk, digging into his spaghetti enthusiastically and not even caring that the sauce was dripping into his beard as the slimy noodles smacked his chin.  He had plenty of time to prepare for his NEWT students.  Hearing a shuffle outside the classroom door, he realized he probably should have locked it if he'd wanted any sort of privacy.

WHO: Adam & Z
WHERE: Adam's classroom
WHAT: Tutoring sesh.
WHEN: Tuesday, January 19, 7th Period


Today, Adam's goal was to try and teach Z to make a patronus. After New Years, that had been something he'd been determined to do, and today was the day they got started on that. Might as well, since he was determined to hide out in his office as much as humanly possible since discovering that John Nolan was now also teaching at Hogwarts.

And despite what he'd told Z previously about Voodoo dolls being for total assholes, but he would have loved nothing better than to make one of John just then. But that was uncouth and he wouldn't do that. But first, tutoring. With Berg.

Who: Audrey and Z
What: A chance encounter in the library
When: Monday, January 18, early evening
Where: The library, near the Divination stacks

Z was only partly aware of her surroundings, focused on book titles. She was after a particular book on that explored the relationship between numerology and natal charts for her latest Arithmancy assignment. Z wasn't a huge fan of the divinatory side of Arithmancy, but it was interesting enough Z turned a corner and continued scanning titles. More and more of them had to do with numerology and predicting things-she had to be close.

Somewhere in there the books shifted from Arithmancy to Divination without Z noticing until she bumped into someone, knocking several books off the shelf-one of which was titled Play the Cards With Spades To Start: A Guide to Cartomancy.

Who: Z and Adam
What: The start of weekly DADA tutoring and a conversation about Dark magic and wards
When: BACKDATED Tuesday, January 5
Where: The DADA classroom and surrounding environs

Z liked to think that she was watching the clock tick like a sleek predator waiting out its prey but really, she was watching it like something helpless that was praying for divine intervention. Today was the worst day ever. Z had woken up around 5 am from near-nightmares about time travel. The sheer amount of magic she'd been exposed to the past weekend was still sending her senses reeling and the vicious fighting and deaths she'd seen in the past were still affecting her. The loss of William's friendship stung and Z was still trying to sort out how she felt about Gerard being a werewolf and having to fight him off to protect Professor Lazzara.

Z had also woken up covered in sparkles and when she'd flailed and fallen out of bed due to the potent combination of almost-nightmare and glitter, she'd realized she was trailing them. This wasn't the worst reaction she'd ever had to her cat allergy potion (Z was pretty sure this had happened a couple times, though the colors might have been different-once when she was eight and delighted by it, once when she was thirteen and she'd be appalled, and again during her last year of high school, which had "forced" her to skip so not to freak out the muggles) but it was still annoying. No one wanted to be trailing multicolored sparkles, especially to the second-ever class they had to TA. Worse, it was Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. And Ryan Ross. First thing in the morning.

Z's life sucked.

Charms had been all right, though she couldn't quite meet Nate Novarro's eyes (she'd spent large parts of the holidays avoiding him like the plague) and Herbology continued to confuse her. Also, there was dirt. Somehow Z'd managed to sparkle through the dirt. Potions had actually been really good, but Runes ruined her day. The sixth years were all bastards who needs to die and Ryan Ross seriously needed to get his shit together and actually figure out how to teach. It was so close to 3:50 pm and Z was so close to freedom.

Finally! Freedom from Runes. Z was the first one out of the room and intended to back to her dorm and have a wonderful, glorious and otherwise amazing nap until dinner. Then her planner started shrieking at her about being late. Z checked it and swore. Defense Against the Dark Arts tutoring with Professor Lazzara, 4pm.

Fuck her life.

Z turned abruptly and started trudging towards the DADA classroom.

Who: Z and William
What: The most tragic temporal mishap
When: Saturday, January 2 2010 and The Not-So-Mysterious Past
Where: The library, various corridors

Z marked her place in the battered copy of 'Keystone Spells in Ancient Wards." It was fairly dull reading, but it gave a thorough overview of pre-Christian wards and protection spells. Her stomach rumbled and Z checked the time; well no wonder she was hungry and having a hard time focusing. Dinner was served twenty minutes ago. She collected her notes and gathered the books she wanted to check out.

Z took the leisurely way to the front of the library. She could use the walk and she might run into William more quickly that way. She found him in the reference section doing something vaguely mysterious with a few books.

"William," Z said brightly. "I have books to check out and we both have dinner to get to. I won't take no for an answer-I am a lady and I must be escorted."

WHO: Adam & Z
WHERE: the DADA classroom & surrounding areas
WHAT: The World's Most Awkward Tutoring Session. Ever.
WHEN: (BACKDATED) Monday, December 28 - afternoon

Even though this session had been scheduled for weeks - much like the session the day all of them had ended up beneath the mistletoe in the first place - Adam wasn't looking forward to trying to teach Z Berg anything. Or even looking her in the eye. If he could do that. He wasn't really sure he could look her in the face after having had to kiss her - and after all the dreams that he'd had thanks to Hogwarts's lovely, monstrous hybrid of dreamvine and mistletoe.

Adam kind of hated everything about Hogwarts sometimes.

That was precisely why he was sitting at his desk in his office, feet up on the corner, radio on and eyes closed. And okay, if anyone knocked and wanted to know what he was doing, he was reading. Hey, look, there was even a book open on his lap, okay, no one needed to know that he was really watching the insides of his eyelids. He was just trying to find his zen, was all. And brace himself for an hour or so of trying to get Elizabeth Berg to apply practical Dark Arts Defense with skill and finesse.

He needed the rest.

Who: Z, Adam, Bob (and Betsy)
When: Very late on December 31
Where: Hospital Wing
What: Z introduces Bob to The Patient

After successfully levitating Adam after Gerard's attack, Z made her way to the Hospital Wing as quickly as possible. She decided to eschew the not-so-secret-passages that would make the trip shorter, but would also increase the odds of Adam getting some kind of unintentional damage from his head bouncing off a wall or something.

"-so I'm sitting with Greenwald and Alexa and it's sort of confusing because she also goes by Alex sometimes? So we've instituted a last names policy thing when it comes to Alexes and Mikes and Nicks, only we're all rather sloshed at this party and it's really hard to pronounce Runion's last name after a certain point and that point is also when "Mark" and "Mike" start sounding alike? So I'm sitting with Alexa and Greenwald, trying to talk to Murray and Runion about...something, and someone was distracting me and somehow this becomes a game of truth or dare? These things happen, and then someone dares Greenwald to snog Mike, but it comes out like Mark or maybe Runion ended up sounding like Ronson? Either way, the only Mark in the room right then is Ronson and that was hilarious because they had a thing neither of them admits to-and you're not listening at all, are you?"

Z'd had to take a flight of stairs that was notorious for shifting direction and she'd ended up one floor above and most of a corridor away from the Hospital Wing. Adam was sliding in and out of consciousness and Z was certain he shouldn't be allowed to pass out entirely so she needed something he could focus on. Stupid stories about her friends obviously weren't doing the trick-singing might?

"What are your thoughts on Queen, Professor? No objections? Excellent. Feel free to sing along then." Z started singing Bohemian Rhapsody (figuring that with Adam in tow and The Events of Which No One Should Ever Speak, it was a better idea than Somebody To Love, which was the only other Queen song she knew most of the lyrics to). She got most of the way through the song when she came the Hospital Wing doors. Z stopped midlyric to rush forward, bang on the door and yell

"Healer Bryar! Professor Lazzara's been hurt!"

WHO: Adam & Gerard & Z
WHERE: the DADA classroom & surrounding areas
WHAT: SHENANIGANS
WHEN: New Year's Eve (Thursday, Dec. 31)

Adam, being prone to getting into trouble when the mere thought of boredom set in, had spent the day locked up in his office, scribbling away at a myriad of notes and research. He was trying to compile them into something that made sense (he had been for years - he was an extremely unproductive researcher). So if time got away from him, that was totally understandable.

That was why he was running late for a hot date with a hot lady as he tried to stack all the mess scattered around his office and get everything locked up whilst paying attention to personal hygiene (not awful, even though there was a big smear of ink on his cheek) and the state of his clothes (dismal).

He got his jacket caught on the doorknob of his classroom on the way out, and had to stop to untangle, swearing all the while.

Dear Scrabble Team 'Skipped A Few Classes in Primary School',

There is no such thing as a netbook in the English or Latin languages. To give you the benefit of the doubt, perhaps you meant notebook, and one of your intended letters inconveniently fell off the board and the word rearranged itself into incomprehensibility. Possibly you were thinking of a neti pot, but while those are currently in existence (albeit not as a solitary compound word), neti books almost certainly, to my knowledge, are not. No one in their right mind, flexible Indian yoga practitioner or not, would attempt to use any sort of book in such a manner.

Your score has been penalized accordingly.

P.S. If this has anything to do with the Worldwide Spiderweb, please remember that Muggle slang has no place in civilized Scrabble games. Do try to spell with some decorum.

Who: All staff and teaching assistants are invited
When: The night of Thursday the 24th, after the great caroling expedition
Where The ballroom
What: Staff Christmas Party

The swimming pool has been frozen for skating and other icy ventures. There is a small ski ramp that the headmaster had installed for the occasion after seeing a Muggle moving photograph depicting the joys of sliding down a mountain on enormous wooden shoes. He's dubious, but the Muggles seemed to be having a good time, and he thought it might lead to further bonding.

There is light, fluffy snow falling over the newly-made ice rink, and over the holiday tree from the Forbidden Forest also enjoying the party in one corner of the room. The decor is red-and-white striped peppermint, with Chilly Icicles and other delicious candy treats scattered throughout the ballroom. Among the refreshments provided are egg nog, hot cocoa, cookies baked with love and inexperience by the younger students, and enthusiastically flaming plum puddings. Beware the fruit cake; the trasgu cooks mixed up a few of the ingredients when collecting the necessary assortment of candied fruits.

There is a green shadow on the ceiling in the far corner that looks suspiciously like mistletoe. Schechter has given up on trying to control the stuff. It's a harmless tradition, after all, and everyone here is an adult.

Stockings are on the wall and the kids are in bed. Have an awesome time.

Who: Audrey, Adam, Z, and Nate
Where: random icy corridor
When: Tuesday 22 December
What: evil mutant mistletoe! (and ice skating)

Tuesdays without Gryffindor/Slytherin 5th years were fast becoming Audrey's favourite kind of Tuesday. She was headed up to the owlery after breakfast, blissfully enjoying the freedom of not hearing William and Ellsworth bickering, and so was completely taken by surprise when she rounded a corner and her feet shot out from underneath her.

Laughter rang out as soon as she hit the ground, from a group of students who appeared to be using the hallway for ice skating. Just because the gods frowned upon Slytherins, Ellsworth was there and laughing the hardest. Audrey rolled her eyes and used a low-hanging portrait to pull herself back upright.

"All right, professor?" One of the Hufflepuffs, Susannah something, called out. Audrey flapped a hand at her.

"Yes, fine. How long has this ice been here?" She asked the group at large. Several shrugs went around. "Okay, easier question, how long have you lot been sliding around on it?"

"We just found it this morning." A Gryffindor prefect said. He looked a bit sheepish to be caught skating around in the corridor like a firstie in socks. "Prim did a spell for detecting dark magic, she said we should be safe."

Prim nodded firmly when Audrey glanced her way. She had to admit, it was more likely this was the same malfunctioning charm still causing snowdrifts in the staff room than some sort of evil plot. And it did look like an awful amount of fun.

"Yes, all right, don't let me ruin it." Audrey said. "Still, least you could do was put up a sign or something." She edged carefully back around the corner to whisk up some kind of warning.