Fandom Hogwarts: A New Era

[MrSynnical]

Johnny Ryder felt sick. He’d been feeling this way for a good couple of days, but at this present moment in time, he felt as if his insides were about to clench and spew his breakfast all across the stone floor.

While his first morning in the Library had been nerve wracking, at least he could hide behind shelves, behind books, behind stacks of books, and even behind his desk where he pretended to look as if he knew what he was doing whilst checking over various forms and paperwork.

Johnny had studied the curriculum for each year group and scribbled down notes of additional reading material for both students and professors alike if asked to advise someone. He’d also had to work out how the library system worked in regards to late books being returned.

So far he had seven students and one staff member he needed to catch up to regarding that. He doubted any of them would be very happy to see him in the slightest, so had that dread in the very near future. He’d also spent time reading through a scroll left to him by his predecessor Madam Pince, which listed quite literally hundreds of things to not do as Hogwarts Librarian.

At first glance, you may be of the impression that Madam Pince leaving him such a scroll was done out of good will - a good luck gesture in regards to his new job. But no. No it wasn’t. Madam Pince had ensured his eyes were pelted with a manic list of do’s, don’ts, and under any and all circumstances do not evers.

There hadn’t been a hint of wishing him well, luck or anything remotely positive about his new role at all. It had been as if she had been told who her replacement would be, panicked, grabbed the nearest quill and scrawled down every single worry or concern she could possibly have about him being in her library, even double underlining certain things that he should pay even closer attention to not doing.

Which leaves the question of why?

Why would Madam Pince, a woman who had stalked between the towering shelves of the library when he was young, and met most students with a very special kind of hostility be especially hostile towards him? What could make her so suspicious of a tall, broad shouldered yet harmless looking man with glasses, a tweed three piece suit and neat short grey hair, who had spent most of his morning essentially hiding from any and every student who had entered his library?

In his youth, which was the version of himself Pince remembered, he had been very different. He’d been an arrogant long haired, leather jacket wearing, tattooed school heart throb, who used to spend his time figuring out how to break into the Restricted Section (and on occasion, Pince’s office) in order to get his hands on complex reading material that was deeply forbidden and even dangerous.

He’d also spent his time figuring out ways how to smuggle Firewhisky into the castle from Hogsmeade for the odd party in a disused classroom, having fist fights, duels, and otherwise being a bolshy troublemaking thug, with enough charm to not be too unpopular. Especially with girls. Well, the ones who liked a burly bad boy type of guy anyway.

Some of his memories in his late years of his times at Hogwarts, involved long snogging sessions in quiet corners of the library which Madam Pince hadn’t approved of at all. In fact she’d been truly disgusted and chased them out with her pink feather duster.

Reading that scroll had been an incredibly uncomfortable experience for Johnny. It was a reminder of a past he no longer felt belonged to him, and showcased how some still saw him.

It seemed that catching and throwing Dark Wizards and Witches in Azkaban for a living was apparently much easier than changing people's perceptions of him nowadays. Of course, he hadn’t expected any less as his younger self had certainly been wild and out of control. But still, it was very awkward for him to reminisce about for too long.

Today, another thing Johnny was finding awkward, is where he was and what he was doing along with that sick feeling growing in his stomach, and a thin layer of sweat that made his brow glisten ever so slightly with stress.

His mouth was remarkably dry and his arms were starting to hurt as he tightly cradled a large pile of Alchemy books to his chest. He also occasionally used his chin to prevent the ones nearest the top from toppling off and clattering on the floor.

The journey down the Grand Staircase had been a nightmare. Mainly because he could barely see over the heavy leather bound tomes in his arms. His greatest fear had been getting his foot stuck in between the stairs over actually falling down. You see Hogwarts was trickier than expected to navigate, as the entire castle seemed to constantly move around a lot.

Doors weren’t always doors, and walls weren’t always as they seemed; many secrets lay in wait around every single corner, along with steps that you had to remember to jump over on certain days of the week, otherwise you’d end up knee deep in an incredibly uncomfortable magical hole, with a multitude of amused eyes on you until you broke free. The humiliation of that was too much for this stiff and stressed Ex-Auror to contemplate this afternoon.

Thankfully he’d made his way down into the long, dark and gloomy Potions Corridor without dropping anything or walking into anyone. That was technically the silver lining of this whole task so far, he’d decided.

Johnny grit his teeth and resisted a shiver as he met the cold, damp Dungeon air, and stood rooted to the spot in the middle of the corridor and, strained his ears and eyes.

He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been down here, but it had been an incredibly long time ago. That, combined with the fact he’d never taken an Alchemy class which was apparently still an elective subject for sixth and seventh years during his time, didn’t help him now.

Johnny had zero idea where he should go, and the Dungeons were a sprawling mass of halls, corridors and general grimness that likely went on for miles beneath the castle. Basically, he was in a maze.

As a student, he’d been confident in knowing his way around and of the many secrets the castle contained. But the Dungeons just didn’t have the same appeal to learn his way around so much. Mainly as he hadn’t thought as a hormonal, image conscious teenager, that many girls would have wanted to come down here with him into the creepiest place in the whole of Hogwarts, to have a snog in a dust and cobweb covered alcove.

Then again, as an adult, it wasn’t too appealing for him either. It wasn’t because of the occasional scurrying of a rat, or the odd chance you feel a bat flutter past your head even further into the Dungeons depths. But how narrow some of the passages were at some points.

Some walls were way too close and too dark for someone with claustrophobia to feel at all comfortable in. Especially someone who had a naturally large, yet trim frame. His elbows would probably hit the rough walls and wear his suits away in no time. Plus he doubted he would remain clean for long, and he really didn’t want to risk getting himself dirty on his first day.

Johnny sighed as he stood in the middle of the corridor. He pivoted occasionally on the spot to take in his surroundings as if trying to trigger a memory he knew he didn’t have as to where to go. Basically, this was a massive waste of time.

“Bloody hell,” He muttered to himself irritably.

His voice was very articulate, even in his stressed state. Something which as a student hadn’t been the case. Back then, he’d put on a cockney-ish accent to be seen as more rough around the edges than he actually had been. Neither of his parents spoke like that- they were incredibly well spoken, and so was his brother. That, he supposed, had been the point. He wanted to rebel against it all.

“…of all the classrooms I have to find, it has to be the most awkward one of all to bloody well-“

He stopped muttering to himself as he heard a bang which made him turn on his heel towards the loud sound.

Unfortunately reacting to unexpected loud noises was an Auror instinct that he’d yet to train away. Either that, or it was something else that was worse - a reminder of the horrors he’d somehow scraped through with his life; a behavioural scar if you will, that likely wouldn’t heal any time soon.

Fantastic.

It wasn’t as if he was short of physical scars he kept mostly hidden beneath his clothes.

The only scar visible in his body currently, was the one on the back of his tired right hand which was still gripping tightly the books in his arms. The scar had a horrible pale-glimmer to it, even after all these years. ‘No pain, no gain’ is what it said in his own, slightly slanted handwriting, once carved deeply into his flesh. How he hoped he wasn’t going to get asked about it any time soon.

Johnny’s ears heard the sound of footsteps echoing off the stone walls getting progressively louder. They sounded small, and rather like someone running his way at considerable speed on the old stone floors.

Sure enough, a student, probably no older than a third year, zoomed towards him in a blur of robes and Ravenclaw colours.

Johnny felt like a deer caught in wandlight, and resembled one too as the boy merely glanced at him sped past.

Johnny simply blinked very uncomfortably back at him, not having enough time to prepare for such an interaction.. After all, he’d been avoiding students all morning, as he’d wanted to avoid as many uncomfortable questions, stares and situations as possible.

When he’d been introduced as the new Librarian at the feast last night, he saw many students whispering to each other about him. He’d lip read both ‘Auror’ as well as his old band ‘Death Beater’ alongside a few students miming playing guitar to each other as they looked totally bewildered at the choice of replacement for Madam Pince. Johnny had just smiled very uncomfortably, and avoided everyone’s eye contact whilst his whole face paled.

He’d hated it.

He won’t forget that in a hurry. It had been truly awful.

“Ooh… ummm… I umm…” Is what came out of his mouth in barely more than a very painful murmur multiple seconds too late.

The boy was gone. He’d charged right out of sight before even a single nervous syllable left his mouth.

So, he was alone once again, listening to the sound of the Ravenclaw’s footsteps getting further and further away each second.

Instantly, Johnny muttered another curse to himself. He knew he should probably have done two things just now: tell the boy to stop running in the castle, and ask him for directions. He’d looked like he knew the dungeons pretty well after all.

Johnny realized his awkwardness with the students had just cost him greatly. He was once again back in the same situation as he was a few moments ago, but now felt twice as pathetic as before and in more pain.

Yes, he could have cast a charm on the books before he’d left the library to make them either lighter or levitate along in front of him whilst he undertook this great quest of finding where to go. But he’d been so anxious about the prospect of being seen by students walking around, hoping against hope no one was going to approach him and ask him something he found very difficult to talk about, he’d forgotten to. And to think he was once one of the top Aurors at the Ministry of Magic.

Johnny tried his best to not think about that still very sore topic. It made him feel totally ridiculous.

So after he shook himself mentally, Johnny set off in the direction the boy had come from. If the boy was running like that, maybe he was running from someone who’d be able to help him?

Honestly, Johnny would even take bumping into the creepy Bloody Baron at this point if he could get pointed in the right direction. As long as it wasn’t another student, or even Peeves, he should be good… hopefully. Honestly, after the day he was having, who knew?

“Merlin, I really hope this is the right way,” He grumbled in his still incredibly well spoken, immaculately eloquent accent whilst he did his best to ignore how uncomfortable and heavy his arms were getting.

“Have they still not realized that signs have been invented for a considerably long time yet? No wonder why no one did this class - absolutely impossible to find.” He continued muttering to himself as the corridor expanded slightly. Currently, that was the only thing he was thankful for as he was truly, utterly, and completely lost.

He had absolutely no clue where to go, or what to do about it. His ears weren’t picking up on the sound of anyone nearby at all. He felt totally hopeless, which Johnny hated every single second of.

Feeling hopeless is something anyone like himself with the surname Ryder wasn’t known for. So him having very little choice but to wallow in that very feeling, the deeper he went into the dark, damp Dungeons was very far from pleasant. It was almost as bad as the strange smell of must that seemed to just linger down there. That unlike him, hadn’t changed.

 

[hollowdark]

Aleida considered the first week of classes a time of grave and deadly importance, and it was often when she found herself being most harsh with her students. It had been a lesson she'd learned early on in her professorship. With children, reigns could always be loosened, but beginning with a lackadaisical approach and then attempting to backpedal and reprimand them only led to chaos. In her twelve year tenure, she'd seen many professors come and go. She largely attributed this to poor fit and skill, though sometimes it was due to being mauled by a magical creature.

The year had started as any other, with Aleida perched at her usual seat overseeing the student body, near the end of the table, towards her Slytherins. She nodded with her grave, flat expression to each child who was sorted into her house. The fresh bunch of children seemed excited for their new school adventure, and it warmed her heart, even if it didn't show on her face.

That morning had begun bright and early with a class of first years. In potioneering, they were easily the most difficult to deal with. Teaching young children the importance of safety and decorum always proved a challenge. But, after years of practice, Aleida knew how to navigate. Be strict, be clear, be concise. These were the methods that she used to guide her instruction.

She began every new class with first years with the exact same statement: "My name is Professor Aleida Staghart, you may call me Professor Staghart and nothing else. In my classroom you will show utmost respect to myself and your peers. Any childish activity such as note passing, gossip, and bullying will not be tolerated. This is a place to learn, and a place to learn only. Leave everything else outside of my classroom, come with an open mind, and take care towards your safety. If you are unable to meet any of the requirements I have just stated, I am more than willing to throw you out, dock points from your house, or concoct a punishment well tailored to your specific infraction. Have I made myself clear?"

Always, the class of frightened 11 year olds would chirp back, "Yes professor!" and that was that. With her intense personality and reputation, it really didn't take much to frighten her students into academic success, especially if she laid it on thick.

The first class passed by with only minor burns and spills, which she solved easily without her students ever having to leave her classroom. Thanks to her extensive medical training, she rarely had to burden the Matron with her student's ailments. Really, the only time she did was due to a lack of time to treat it herself, not ability.

Next came a class of fifth years, then third years, who had enough sense and experience to not create too many issues for her. That was, until the end of the last class block. A young Ravenclaw who had been sitting near the front of the room, excitedly answering every question and leaving no learning opportunities for the others, had hung back after class. The young meek thing approached her desk, and Aleida set down the tome she had been paging through, raising one eyebrow at her student in silent acknowledgement.

"Professor," the boy greeted shyly. "I just wanted to say what a big fan I am of you and your work. I've been reading all of these articles and books on potions and it's just so amazing- you know- you aren't just a teacher but they hired, like, a real potioneer to teach us! Like, all of this stuff you made is so cool- I heard you created all kinds of cool potions at St. Mungo's to help people. Like, this article I read about lung infection and how to treat it. Wow, just wow, like how do you even think of stuff like that you know?"

Aleida listened silently, and her student stepped from foot to foot anxiously. He prattled on for another two minutes. Aleida knew because she was counting.

"Not that I didn't think you were a real potioneer before I read about your work but I just-" he continued, "Um, you know..."

"Do you need anything, Mr. Larch?" Aleida interrupted, in her steady and calm voice. "Or have you just come to praise my accolades?"

The student tugged at the sleeves of his robes, which he had dipped into his brew by accident earlier, before Aleida had cleaned them up. The very simple first rule of potioneering was to wear the proper attire. She felt irritated by receiving complimentary fodder from a student who couldn't seem to find it in himself to listen to what she said.

It seemed to be the wrong approach, or that her irritation seeped through her careful mask, because her student's face fell.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry," he murmured, backing away.

"It's alright, Mr. Larch," Aleida began, meaning to discuss and encourage his interest in potions, but before she could, he was bolting out of the room.

She felt very startled, getting to her feet and meaning to follow after him, but feeling frozen in place. Some children were so sensitive, and to her, the rejection had not seemed so severe.

She sighed, wandlessly and wordlessly walking between the desks to turn off flames and clear dangerous objects before exiting her classroom. She searched after the pupil she had upset, but she didn't break into a run. She walked quietly and purposefully through the halls of the dungeon. Her light hair was pulled back into twin french braids, which she then pinned behind her head in an elegant style. It was what she always wore for teaching. Her black robes, well tailored with sleeves fit to her wrist, flowed behind her. Though she never would have recognized it in herself, her Half-Veela beauty seemed to extend even to her clothing. Anything she wore gained its own beauty as well.

Sweeping through the halls, Aleida walked light as air, her black leather boots clacking quietly against the stone at a measured pace. She was as familiar with the layout of the Dungeons as the back of her hand.

She stopped in her tracks as she caught sight of another person. She slowly peeked around the corner to see who was there. A man, an adult, largely obscured by a large pile of books. Some of which she recognized. She chastized herself for hiding behind a corner like a frightened child and straightened her posture.

She approached the unexpected interloper with chin held high.

"May I help you?" she asked, her voice like music, even when stern.

 

[MrSynnical]

The more Johnny proceeded through the long corridor whilst he hoped a sign would just suddenly appear and show him the way, the more his stressed mind started to wander. The issue is he really wished it didn’t.

The Slytherin Common Room was down here somewhere, right? He knew from Edgar it was, but hadn’t ever found whereabouts in the Dungeons it was located. Which was exactly the problem.

For all he knew, he was about to run headfirst into a couple of people he really wasn’t wanting to run into today. It was inevitable it would happen at some stage, but how he prayed it wasn’t about to be now.

There was no doubt that his nephew wouldn’t be pleased to see him. Theo was far from his biggest fan at all. But there was even less doubt his niece would be the one to instigate some sort of trouble. April Ryder just wouldn’t be able to help herself. How she’d revel in watching him struggle along with these books, and how she’d love to ruin his day. One well aimed Trip Jinx and Johnny and the books would go flying.

Despite his talents with defensive and offensive spells which had thankfully been one of the things to not change about him after all these rough years, in his current situation, if April was hiding around any corner of any narrow creepy passage, or even behind any of the various heavy wooden doors that dotted the corridor, he’d be hit and probably wouldn’t see it coming. The pile of books was conically large, and honestly made him vulnerable.

The glee on April’s face, as he’d soar through the air, along with the books was simply too terrible to think about. The only difference is he’d hit the floor a lot more painfully than the books would. April would also thoroughly enjoy that. No, not out of pranking good fun, but out of spite she for some reason seemed to aim at him frequently.

With how his day had so far gone, Johnny decided to be relatively more alert in his current situation.Yes, he was currently paranoid about running into a small fourteen year old girl, but she wasn’t just any fourteen year old girl. She was a monster his brother insisted on praising and congratulating on her horrible behavior. Or at least that’s what he thought. April just seemed to know exactly how to cover her tracks, just like her father. No Edgar hadn’t ever had a cruel streak like she did, but he was intelligent when it came to people. Unfortunately his ‘wonderful’ lite girl was exactly the same.

Unfortunately Johnny’s alertness didn’t last for too long.

No, Ex-Aurors very rarely ever switched themselves off fully, but even they when their arms felt as if they were being stretched to twice their ordinary length while hanging onto a slightly teetering pile of seriously thick and heavy old books while their glasses had started slipping down their nose, even they had their moments of weakness.

With a slightly irritable click of his tongue, Johnny stopped. If he continued any further, his glasses would slip from his face and fall on the floor. But there was seemingly nowhere to put the books down. Not in the middle of a corridor anyway. If there had been a table or even a bench nearby to settle the stack of Alchemy tomes down on gently, he would have jumped at the chance - metaphorically speaking of course. But as things were, he was totally and utterly fu-

“Ugh.” He irritably sighed once more.

He was rather pleased he was seemingly alone as he proceeded to rub his face on one of the top books to give his glasses a little boost up his nose.

It was a lot harder than you would think. He needed to catch the corner of the book just right, but each time he thought he got close, Johnny found that the book was pushed even further away from where he needed it to be.

“Oh, c’mon.” He grunted through his teeth as both the strain of the weight alongside the troublesome book was starting to get on his nerves.

Maybe next time whoever had ordered these books should come up to the library and get their books themselves? Either that, or draw him a map of the route through the terrible gloomy maze down here he should take? Preferably one which wouldn’t involve him bumping into the tyrant which was his niece.

Johnny huffed as a single bead of sweat dripped down his stupid nose and dripped almost mockingly onto the top book, An Experts Guide to Magical Fungi. That book, which certainly wasn’t putting the ‘fun’ in fungi, was frankly being an absolute bastard. It still kept slipping away the more he tried sorting out his glasses, which thanks to that bead of sweat had started to slip down his nose even further.

“Umm… uhhh… oh no… errr…” Is the worried and stressed sound he breathed out. He was in trouble and started to think he’d made a mistake.

Usually he was good at planning ahead for things. His old and dangerous job had required him to be prepared for anything all times of the day and night. It had been exhausting in every possible way at times, but that was just the job.

This situation though… he really should have thought this through better. Either by using very straight forward charms a second year could probably work out how to do, or do this in multiple trips instead of all at once. But no, he’d messed up and let his stress and deep desire to not have to interact with anyone get the better of him. He’d just grabbed all the books he’d made a note of for the sixth year curriculum in Alchemy, and bolted in the most uncomfortable way out of the Library with them, uncharacteristically not so much as giving anything as a second thought.

With a strange and very sudden flick of his head back to try and force his spectacles to behave, he started to move forward down the corridor again, only, that didn’t go according to plan either.

Johnny wasn’t sure if it was the unexpected stern voice, or being suddenly approached which startled him the most when he’d thought he’d been alone. Yet it wasn’t the small yelp of surprise he let out, nor the slight jump in shock that caused a catastrophe: it was a small, slightly mossy and damp patch on the wet stone floor which caused his foot to slip.

He almost did the splits as he did everything within his power to not fall over. His stomach flipped and unfortunately, so did the majority of the books in his arms. The tremendous struggle of getting down here without an accident was all in vain.

With an ear splitting bang, multiple incredibly thick, leather bound books fell to the floor. The echo that ricocheted off the walls was so loud, there was a chance it would be heard up in the Astronomy Tower.

With a grimace, Johnny stood up to his full height. Whilst some of his leg muscles were now as sore as his arms were from the very unnatural stretched stance he’d taken instead of falling flat on his behind, he was still balancing on his feet.

The books however, aside from two that were still nestled in his arms, had been flung all over the floor in an untidy heap. Some had fallen shut, others had opened face up, and worse, face down on the ancient floor which probably had two thousand years plus worth of dirt and dust.

However, Johnny was pleased about one thing, even though he was still breathing hard and had his heart pounding in his chest. Thank goodness, Madam Pince hadn’t decided to enchant these books to beat people around the head after being manhandled. Having ripped his fair share of pages out of school library books as a student, he knew all too well that Pince was quite brutal in her attempts to control the students in her library.

Johnny though didn’t react and try to pick up the multiple books which had now covered the floor around him in every direction. Instead, he turned his incredibly sheepish gaze to where the voice had come from, and out of instinct, still after all these years he said a very guilty sounding: “Oh, I’m… Umm… Uhh…I’m not doing anything.”

Aside from his incredibly well spoken accent, that was probably the most he’d sounded like his younger self in years. He had always been up to something. Even when he swore blind much more convincingly that he wasn’t.

For the third time in a few moments, he had to mentally pull himself together a bit.

He wasn’t a student any more, and he wasn’t up to anything. He was just trying to do his job, which already seemed so much harder than he could have imagined.

“I’m… umm… I’m-“

As his eyes settled on the beautiful face in front of him, a strange feeling took over him he couldn’t quite describe. It certainly felt familiar.

He was a little out of practice these days with remembering faces from his past as he often just had yet to exactly run into any.

But yes, it might have taken him a few awkward seconds. His brain was very much still with the books that had just been sent flying everywhere. But that face was familiar.

“Umm… I… Uhh…” Johnny stammered. While he’d not expected to run into a familiar face (down in the dungeons of all places), he hadn’t expected to run into someone so beautiful. Naturally so.

Then it dawned on him immediately who this was. Unlike him, the woman before him hadn’t aged that much. While he did still carry with him an element of attractiveness despite his increasing age, grey hair and the odd line on his face which had likely been put the there by some stressful situation, there was no doubt that he’d aged more. And the glasses… his younger self would never have been seen dead wearing them.

Realising he was stuttering and stumbling all over himself, Johnny yet again shook himself mentally and at least try and act like a normal person.

“Hello,” The smile he flashed wasn’t insincere, just incredibly strained, “Umm…uhhh… I’m the new Librarian.”

Johnny did his best to make that part sound as normal as possible, even though the idea that he was in fact the new Hogwarts Librarian was beyond alien to his ears and remarkably strange.

“I umm… uhhh… well…” He took a glance at the mess of books on the floor. That was easier than looking into the black eyes before him. That and… wait… now he was getting hints of a name to add to that beautiful face, which for some reason was almost luring him in to look back at it.

He swung the remaining books in his grasp beneath his right arm, but then quickly realised if he wanted to initiate a proper handshake, the right hand has to be the one he used, so quickly swapped the books over.

“Johnny Ryder.” He said with an extended, scarred right hand. The smile on his face was the most awkward yet. How could it not be? Memory after memory of this woman as a young Witch flashed before his mind's eye. With such a unique face and how… inappropriately his younger and much more arrogant self had behaved around her- no to her on occasion… Well, it made it all even more uncomfortable. Especially as he now was getting a name reaching out to him in his broken mind.

Al…

Alia…

Aleida?

Yes. That seemed right.

Aleida what though?

He racked his brains as he did his best to not appear as though he were suffering an internal crisis of sorts.

He had really been a terrible young man. Toying with girls and making advances towards them which he knew wouldn’t be well received simply for his own selfish and entertainment was frankly embarrassing.

“I umm… I do believe we may have met.”

There was an unmistakable uncomfortableness and even more sheepishness to this admission which was even higher up the scale than anything else he’d said or done before.

Johnny broke eye contact momentarily as it was simply getting too much to bear. Yes, his strained smile was still there, but he couldn’t keep looking at her for prolonged periods of time at all.

He’d been dreading something like this would happen. Bumping into someone from his past who likely had even worse memories of him than Madam Pince who found him totally detestable as a youth.

Even after all these years since ‘The Incident’ which had changed the course of his life, this was the first time he’d actually interacted with someone he’d gone to school with. Oh, and it was way worse than he’d imagined. At least the thought about being forced to interact with a certain Hufflepuff who has been an overly proud Prefect and over eager and meddling Head Boy from their year at school, who was apparently knocking around the castle in some capacity these days, wasn’t as bad. He wouldn’t be faced with such beauty to contend with as well.

The tips of Johnny’s ears went slightly pink as his eyes flicked back to her face, knowing it was the polite thing to do as memories were becoming clearer and clearer of how he’d been towards her.

The main one being Duelling Club. Wow… yes, that had been well… terrible. The thought of the amount of passes he’d made at her was making him feel even more sick and anxious than he was before. That simply hadn’t been right of him at all back then.

Now Johnny thought about it, perhaps bringing up that they’d previously met wasn’t a good idea? He didn’t exactly wish to be slapped, punched, jinxed or kneed somewhere quite sensitive as payback for how he’d been as a teenager. Even if he did slightly think it was deserved to a small degree.

 

[hollowdark]

As the books slammed into the ground and Johnny tipped clumsily, Aleida startled and jumped back. Not only was there an interloper, but he was being quite disruptive.

Then, before she could chastise him, he began to speak. Aleida stared quietly at the intruder, at his extended hand, and at his nervous demeanor.

She took in his face, his posture, his clothing, his glasses. With a memory sharp as a whip, it wasn't difficult for her to recognize him. Despite his obvious aging, he still had the same smile, same similar voice. She felt anger bubbling up in her chest. Johnny Ryder, her old classmate.

Not just any classmate, but a loud and pompous Gryffindor. A Gryffindor who saw the world as a gift laid before him on a golden place mat, with golden cutlery to match. A world to be consumed for his own pleasure, with no regard for anyone else.

If there was one thing Aleida Staghart couldn't stand, it was those who possessed an inflated sense of ego.

The gall of him, to take a position at Hogwarts, here, in her safe place. This man who had once been a part of her group of tormentors in school. One among the self absorbed boys who couldn't seem to accept her rejection.

"I know who you are," Aleida murmured, suddenly unlike herself in tone. She stared at his hand, not reaching out to shake it.

She waited, awkward and stoic, for him to retract his offer of a handshake.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. Her dark black eyes bore into Johnny with intensity. Aleida had never quite learned how to make casual eye contact with people. Always, it seemed more as if she was staring through them, or into their soul.

He believed they had met. A bitter barb sunk its way into Aleida's heart. After all he had put her through, apparently he couldn't even bother to truly remember her. It wasn't something she experienced often. As a very rare person, she was usually remembered, even if she didn't want to be. If not by virtue of her personality, then instead by virtue of her Veela traits.

She waited expectantly, wondering if this new Johnny Ryder in front of her was as pompous as the other she had known.

 

[MrSynnical]

He didn’t exactly like the way the beautiful woman before him said that she knew who he was. Most men would probably jump at the chance, but how she’d said it hadn’t been too comforting. Especially considering how he’d behaved with his best friend at the time, known now as Grim Ricky.

What Grim Ricky would do if he was here now, Johnny couldn’t help but wonder. Unlike him, Ricky still seemed to be doing what he always did but just as an older man: drinking, playing guitar, making edgy lyrics and blasting out loud music for a living all over the world… along with flirting with lots women, despite him apparently being married. No, Johnny didn’t like that at all. Not that Grim Ricky would care. They hadn’t spoken in many many years.

No, if Ricky had been standing at his side right now, he would likely make a smart mouthed quip about something immature and inappropriate. Johnny probably would have too back in the day. But now… now the very thought of doing that just seemed incredibly impolite, improper and remarkably vulgar. While Johnny did have the tendency to be remarkably sarcastic when he put his mind to it, right now didn’t seem like the time to let that side of his highly guarded personality loose.

Johnny couldn’t help but feel a sense of painful unease sweeping across him even more so now. Being left hanging with his hand still outstretched for a handshake did that to a person.

After seeing Aleida stare at it and a bitterly awkward silence followed which felt like it went on for a century, Johnny very uncomfortably retracted it in two very stiff jerks of arm and let his hand dangle at his side.

“Hmm?”

His eyes grew wider slightly at her question behind his glasses as his mind raced.

The intensity of her dark gaze, funnily enough did very little to ease him at all. Actually, it was more than obvious he was squirming very intensely already as his lips flickered with supreme unease.

Should he stop smiling? It didn’t appear as if it was being appreciated too much. Then again, what did Johnny really expect? He’d been an incredibly wild teenager who thought it was cool to act like a total shit around people - to people. He’d been a pathetic little boy, thinking he was being something big, impressive and original whilst telling the world (and his father) to stick it.

As a middle aged man, he was far from proud of his antics at all.

Well Johnny boy, it appeared as if the actions of your past were catching up with you. And so soon! He really was not prepared to deal with this right now at all. He’d barely been prepared to find his way through the dungeons to the Alchemy classroom, let alone this.

“Oh… umm… well yes.” He nodded remarkably stiffly. His mind was working overtime to remember the surname which had so far evaded him.

Johnny didn’t think using her first name was currently appropriate, so didn’t dare go there. Not when she by far didn’t seem to have any desire to accommodate him. Not that he could blame her. Still, he’d clumsily blundered into this situation by being too friendly too soon (Sort of. At least in a highly un-confident and socially awkward manner) .

Honestly, Johnny could kick himself for going for a handshake. Why had he feel the need to do that? As a person who was no longer touchy-feely in any sense, this was certainly an even odder predicament to find himself in.

His gray-blue eyes flicked anxiously to Aleida’s face as he resisted a gulp. There wasn’t a hint of the arrogance or confidence that his younger self had been unpleasant drenched with. Also the smell of cheap cologne and cigarettes was no longer preset either. All that stood before her was a man who was seriously on edge, and didn’t seem to know if he was going to push his glasses up his nose, or keep his hand in his pocket. He kept fidgeting between the two in a fashion his younger self would have found highly amusing. What the hell was that?!

He tried to kick the negative internal dialogue out of his head as best he could. It would only be a matter of time before it returned - that horrible little voice always did and usually at the worst moments.

“You umm… well, you were in my year at Hogwarts. You were absolutely remarkable at potions if I remember correctly,” He tried smiling again which was absolutely excruciating, which was written all over his face, “Which… which I know I do because… well, I was there… in your Potions classes, I mean… N-Now I think about it, I’m not actually sure what else I’d mean. But yes, I was definitely there… mostly days. Potions wasn’t my strongest subject…”

The sheen of sweat on his brow was still there, glistening in the ghostly gloom the torches on the walls were unable to fight away. Actually, the sheen of sweat had increased since starting this incredibly abhorrent attempt conversation. What was he even saying? He had no clue. He just nervously blurted his way through this interaction and wished he knew how best to tackle this situation. Somehow, Johnny doubted it was like this.

As Johnny stood there, it felt more and more as if his very soul wanted to cringe. This really was pathetic. He had been an Auror for Merlin’s sake! He’d been through way worse than this in his lifetime. But somehow that way of thinking didn’t help him at all. Actually, it almost made it worse.

Johnny just wanted jam his fist into his mouth to stop himself from saying anything else, and frankly just run back up to his library, and barricade himself in his office for the rest of the day.

“… I uhh… I didn’t always get to class in time you see… I-I much preferred spell casting - not that there’s anything wrong with potions - M-Merlin no… umm…” He actually allowed himself to gulp this time. How he wanted the floor to just swallow him up.

All Johnny could think of to make this easier, was something to distract himself with, and fast. Somehow he didn’t think cleaning his glasses would do the trick like it often did in times of social crisis these days. This had just become a giant hole he couldn’t see out of; it was consuming him and it wouldn’t be long before his uncomfortableness closed in so much he wouldn’t be able to breathe.

How did he alleviate the strain?

After a few short seconds of his eyes flicking to Aleida’s face and back to the floor, he had it. Or thought he had as he unfortunately opened his mouth to introduce himself… again.

“’m Johnn-“

He caught himself just in time, although expected the damage had been done. He felt utterly ridiculous and swallowed very hard.

He had just attempted to introduce himself twice. Who the hell did that?

He was a mess.

“Oh… yes, you said you remember me.” His face went pale knowing he’d just made yet another awkward ‘oopsie’ for himself to get out of.

Following that ‘beauty’, he doubted that opening his mouth would be wise. At least not for a few seconds. No, he needed a proper distraction to act as a temporary buffer to give himself time to figure out what he should say next.

That should help… right?

Johnny shifted the books still clutched in his left arm to his right hand, and pulled his wand from an inner pocket of his jacket.

He flicked it at the books on the floor, casting a very basic nonverbal tidying spell.

Some of the books shuddered, and others rustled their pages against the floor seconds before they gently stacked themselves on top of each other in size order from the thickest at the bottom, to the thinnest at the top.

Johnny flicked his wand again at the new pile after he carefully placed the two books he was carrying on top. Instantly, the book pile rose into the air as if being lifted by a series of invisible hands, and hovered at shoulder height beside him.

“Our fathers worked with each other in the Auror Office… umm… yes, I’d recognize you anywhere.”

Johnny’s eyes grew wide, knowing how that could potentially sound. The comments he’d made to her as a teenager could make that seem a certain way which totally mortified him. He was no longer like that at all.

“I… I just mean you’ve barely changed… You uhh… you look very similar to how you used to… umm… I just mean you haven’t aged much - not that there’s anything wrong with aging… there’s nothing wrong with not aging either but uhh…”

Johnny just drifted off, clueless on what to say to ease how uncomfortable this was.

He actually looked how he felt - like he wanted to be sick.

This interacting with people from his past-thing, was actually way harder than he’d expected. Maybe that’s why his father had been so against him taking up this position? He’d known he’d struggle beyond belief with this part of his job, which coincidentally had been why Johnny wanted to take it; to face his past once and for all and see if there was any part of his old self still in there.

From how this interaction had played out, it didn’t seem like it to him at all.

“Staghart.” He said in a quieter, flatter tone after a few moments of silence he’d just resigned himself to.

Finally, he had the surname that had eluded his anxious mind! Thank Merlin for that at least.

With a very embarrassed small smile, and a gawky nod of his head he’d intended to appear to some degree ‘respectful’, Johnny decided it would probably be best to just leave it at that at this point, and shut the hell up. He knew that he’d nervously rambled enough and made himself look like a total moron as it was. His churning, nervous stomach couldn’t take any more - he really didn’t feel well at all.

 

[hollowdark]

Aleida watched in stunned silence as Johnny fell all over himself to attempt to explain himself to her. Near the end of his awkward tirade, she had found herself feeling nearly amused. Her flat affect betrayed none of her mirth, but it was definitely there. How funny to see such a brash, boastful person turned into something so meek, anxious.

Never one to interrupt a train of thought, and a woman of few words, she waited. Finally, he came up with her name. She righted her head, no longer tilting it to the side in questioning interest.

"Mm," she hummed, nodding in agreeance.

"Yes, my name is Aleida Staghart. I am in fact well skilled in potions. I am the potions professor here, and have been for many years." She paused, watching his awkward handling of the books in his arms. "And yes, our fathers were coworkers."

Though her memory was excellent, Aleida found it hard to conjure what her relationship had been to Johnny before Hogwarts. Her idea of it during their time at school was, however, very clear. She wondered if he remembered that part too. Wondered, with an anxiety that only a few topics created in her, if he was to become a tormentor for her again.

Not that she couldn't handle it, now that she was a more confident and more skilled grown woman, but she really hoped that she wouldn't have to.

"Due to my nature, aging is different for me, as I am sure you are aware. Hinging, of course, on my trust that you have become a well-learned man." She tilted her head again, almost owlish. This seemed to be the one conversational tic she possessed. It was much smoother and measured than any of Johnny's fidgeting.

Aleida gestured to the books in Johnny's arms. "I take it you are the new librarian then? I must admit, Mr. Ryder, this is a development that surprises me. Though, I suppose your improper care for the books in your arms does align with my mental concept of you." She paused, wondering if she should venture into the topic she was anxious about.

Softly, internally, she reminded herself that she was an adult. An adult who didn't need to fear schoolyard nonsense.

"If we are to be coworkers, Mr. Ryder, I hope that you are able to be amicable and respectful, as I plan to be towards you." Her eyes bore into Johnny with unwavering eye contact. "Will we be having any issues in that regard?"

 

[MrSynnical]

No matter what Staghart said to him, Johnny’s nerves didn’t seem to ease. Whilst now he’d stopped stumbling his way through attempting to speak and didn’t fidget as much now the books were magically levitating in the air, he struggled to hold eye contact for too long. They flicked back to Aleida’s face every so often as he honestly wanted to appear attentive and polite in spite of the verbal mess he’d just left behind him.

Johnny was all too aware he was still caught in her intense gaze. It was remarkably unnerving. He wasn’t sure if it was just because he was so on edge, or if it was just that intense. A part of him deeply wished she would stop, but somehow doubted it.

He vaguely nodded as she spoke about her unique nature. Johnny hoped by mentioning her aging process as she was certainly a little different to others, that he hadn’t just stepped on some sort of social taboo. At first glances it didn’t appear he had, but made a mental note not to mention it again, just in case.

His eyebrows however raised slightly at the ‘well-learned man’ comment. He very much wasn’t a fan of the implication behind it.

While he’d been a thuggish hell raiser as a kid, he’d never been an idiot. Yes, he’d been insolent. Yes, he’d certainly been arrogant. He’d also been a huge prat - especially to girls. But there was one thing he hadn’t been, and that was stupid, or not book smart. He’d known enough to have a more varied magical knowledge than some of his peers at a young age because he was a hell raising thug who used to break into the Restricted Section after curfew just to read about the much more interesting ‘bad side’ of magic those in charge at Hogwarts didn’t want him to know about.

Still, Johnny currently let it go. He really didn’t feel as if it would be wise to make a sarcastic or cutting comment about it just to assert himself over this. He had bigger things to worry about - like his job. It was his first day, and really didn’t want to make a bad impression by having word getting around the staff room that he was already causing trouble and ruffling feathers amongst the Professors. Also he doubted many well-learned men would get so easily irked - They wouldn’t feel as if they had anything to prove.

Eventually he smiled (still remarkably awkwardly) as Staghart stared into him, somehow more intensely than before.

“W-Well yes of course, Professor.” He said with another nod. This nod had been much stiffer than t the previous one.

He had thought he’d been pretty respectful by offering a hand as a gesture (even if he’d doubted doing so afterwards), but again said nothing remotely negative about it. As an adult who now strives to rise above nit-picky fussiness as much as possible, he just couldn’t bring himself to entertain an argument at all. Plus he was still feeling remarkably awkward and yes, it was still his very first day.

“B-But uhh… ‘Mr Ryder’ is my father, Professor Staghart. I’d find it most amicable and respectful if you endeavored to refer to me just as ‘Ryder’.”

His rather posh inflection was quite pronounced and a little more precise than before. Although he did still slightly stumble over his words as he first started speaking.

“Also… umm… as far as the students are concerned, it’s a tad more approachable I think.”

Ordinarily for a man when not so anxious, and who was quite standoffish in his own reserved sort of way, it was quite odd that he still preferred not going by such formal formalities when it came to himself as now it very much appeared as if he was the sort of person who was wrapped so tightly, he couldn’t ever let go and let his hair down even slightly.

The name ‘Mr Ryder’ just conjured up images of a stoic old man who only stepped down from his high hippogriff to judge and criticize before climbing back up again, just to judge again but quietly from afar. No, whilst socially awkward and at times quite black and white and matter of fact believe it or not, stoic was still something he strived not to be every day. His father who had little positive to say about him trying to get his life back together in his late forties, despite him being far from the anti-everything teenager he once was, could still go and get fu-

“But no. No issues as far as I’m aware. I can assure you I didn’t start working here looking for them either. Quite the opposite actually.”

The laugh that escaped his lips was far from comfortable as he at least tried to make conversation, which honestly he thought was quite brave of him as his stomach was still churning precariously - as Aleida had indeed said, they were coworkers. Whilst the vibes she threw his way were considerably icy, he decided to at least attempt to push past it slightly. While it might be in vain, he just wanted to at least appear that he intended to be professional.

He just hoped he wouldn’t introduce himself for a third time!

While he’d envisioned when coming face to face with a woman he’d wronged as a teenager, that he’d straight up apologize for his wrong doings. In reality it didn’t seem as simple.

Fair enough, he supposed. Although after his previously hectic life, the detailed goings on and emotional intricacies of his teenage years seemed like several lifetimes ago. In a sense to him, it sort of was like that. But he knew he really needed to understand that others probably didn’t have multiple near death experiences and mind melting run ins with very unpleasant people in the West Country to fall back on in order to have such a level of disconnect from their younger self. It just wasn’t normal. Not even for a Witch or Wizard.

Johnny was thoroughly embarrassed about back then. But he by far didn’t recognize the little cretin he once was in himself nowadays. He of course hoped he could eventually show people that was the case- that the stupid kid who once was, was no more. It would just take time… hopefully.

There was a slightly awkward silence and he once again pushed his glasses up his nose with a finger, trying to gauge if carrying on trying to communicate with the Professor would appear more respectful than if he just shut up again, or even asked for directions to the Alchemy classroom and simply left her to it.

“But uhh… unlike me in the Library I suppose, I-I honestly can’t say I’m surprised you’re teaching Potions. That’s umm… that’s really quite good - well done,” He tried to smile once again. It still appeared highly excruciating for him to do so.

“How umm… h-how long have you been teaching for?”

Johnny soon had second thoughts about asking that question. It suddenly dawned on him that it could be perceived as him being nosy. He really didn’t want to seem nosy. That seriously was not him at all. But small talk was one thing he wasn’t good at, at the best of times. So now he was involved in a very nerve wracking exchange that filled him with huge amounts of self doubt and a crippling reminder that he had truly lost himself along the way, it was no wonder he could be clumsy and start second guessing everything he said.

Somehow even the simplest questions had pretty much become hell to navigate through for him these days. It was simply awful when he found himself in these sorts of situations. Which thankfully had been relatively rare up until now.

 

[hollowdark]

Aleida found Ryder, as he requested to be called, to be far too much. His anxious fretting almost found a way to bleed over into her emotions. She suppressed her empathy, irritated that she had to put effort into it.

She nodded once, sternly, to acknowledge what he said. If Ryder claimed there would be no issues, Aleida was fine with trusting him. With their age and the in depth vetting process for anyone hired on at Hogwarts, she doubted that someone who was menace would have made it as far as to be standing in a hallway in the Dungeons with her. Either way, the Johnny Ryder in front of her seemed too meek to even try to make an advance on her.

With a private and amused cruelty, Aleida allowed herself to daydream about how easy it would be to talk circles around him, to crush him under the thumb of her words. It was going to be stimulating, she thought, to have a new piece of food on her plate to toy with. She smiled, eyes firmly fixed on Ryder's. Her smile was small, with no teeth, but softened her face in a way that made her look sweet. Sweet, but still a Slytherin in all black, with the intensity of a predator locking a prey animal in its sights.

Just as quickly as it arrived, her barely-there smile was gone.

Aleida ignored Ryder's praise in regards to her position, but answered his question easily. "This will be my 13th year teaching Potions here."

She paused, looking over the state of him and his armful of books. "Do you have a reason for entering my domain with an arm full of books?"

 

[MrSynnical]

While Johnny appeared to be currently anxious and relatively jumpy, he was still very in tune with things around him… mostly. Despite his troubles and how different he now was in comparison to the past, that side of him hadn’t changed from his Auror days.

Unfortunately his father Ivan was right when he used to say that you never stopped being an Auror. It was really true. Whether it was just in certain people, taught or trained into them, Johnny didn’t know. But it was a constant companion.

While back in the day he didn’t appear book smart at first glance, nowadays it was easy to assume he was a harmless, socially inept push over. Underneath what the world saw, was another side which he kept firmly locked up. But perhaps the underlying strength he kept truly buried was the only thing that kept him out of more serious troubles. He certainly was a man of hidden depth and in a sense had always been. Perhaps it was a hint of the Slytherin blood he possessed even as a Gryffindor which slyly quite enjoyed it to be so. It certainly had its uses against a lot of people.

Needless to say, Johnny trusted very few. Especially those of proven intelligence who perceived they had some sort of advantage over someone. That was truly something to be wary of. So hearing that Professor Staghart had been here for nearly thirteen years, as well as her calling the Dungeons her ‘domain’ accompanied by her momentarily softened gaze having had her staring intensely at him moments ago was something that made him wary. Yes, he’d gone through the motions of being a huge open well of anxiety, but being wary was in his book something quite different. Of course, there was still an intensity to this whole conversation, but the slight change from Staghart had been noticed.

“Oh,” He said, perhaps sounding a tad more confident than before.

It was his first day and didn’t wish to cause problems, but even he couldn’t stop something sarcastic from falling out of his mouth occasionally. Especially at that question and the way it was put to him. Now he was finding his feet slightly, he felt he was able to chill a little now he knew where he stood a little more. At least more the moment anyway.

“I’m setting up a little bookshop. Lovely spot for it.”

He allowed himself to smile a slightly slanted smile. More out of his own amusement at the cold, dark surroundings than anything else, reveling in the irony of calling this sort of place ‘lovely’.

He was amazed the pages of his books hadn’t already curled from the dampness in the air.

“No, Professor Staghart. I highly doubt it will be a stretch for a Witch as intelligent as you to work out why a librarian would be transporting a large stack of Alchemy books in the general vicinity of the Alchemy Classroom.”

 

[hollowdark]

Aleida's countenance hardened. She hated to be patronized. And, not only had she been patronized, but her "domain", as she called it, had been insulted. Aleida was under no foolish belief that the Dungeons were a pleasant place. But, they had become home to her. Her eyes flashed murderous for only a second, before her careful mask slipped back over her face.

"Well," she said, voice void of tone. "I wish you luck with finding it then."

She turned, making her way back to her classroom, with no regard for politely ending the conversation. Though her original quest had been to find the young student she had upset, she was sure that her long meeting with Ryder in the hallway had decimated all opportunities of locating him. She would write a note to the student and have it prepared before her next class with him. Verbal communication had seemed to upset him, so she hoped that she would be able to be more earnestly supportive with her written words.

Either way, her next class would be starting soon enough, and her time was much better spent preparing than making conversation with someone so strange. So nervous, so clumsy, so snarky.

 

[MrSynnical]

Johnny Ryder and sarcasm went hand in hand. Usually he intended for it to be used humorously, but at times his wit could be weaponised against a person if need be. Johnny often preferred leaving it up to people's interpretation as to what he was intending with it. In his opinion, their response showed him their character a lot more than suffering through mundane conversations with them did. How he despised small talk and mundane conversations about nothing that so many today seemed to revel in.

As for what he’d intended in regards to what he just said, well, being a black and white individual who at times could be very intellectually impatient with people, anything he deemed as a stupid question could be met with such a comment. Actually what he’d said had been the watered down version. His sarcasm could be even snappier if he’d intended it to be. Currently, he didn’t feel the need to push it that far.

The response Professor Staghart gave him was interesting to say the least. He wasn’t surprised judging by how the rest of the interaction had gone that his sarcasm had landed the way it had, nor did he really show much of a response on his face. He kept his expression friendly, even in light of the very evident yet brief murderous look he received.

Peculiarly, having observed what he considered to be a petty jab her ego couldn’t quite take, he felt a little more confident in future conversations as an evident boundary had been awkwardly touched upon. Not because he was pleased he’d stepped on a nerve. But because he knew more about where he stood. The not knowing is what he truly despised and put him on edge.

Admittedly however, it would likely take him quite a while to feel fully confident in socializing with people (especially those from his past) as well as in his new role.

Unlike the Professor, even if he was slightly cursing internally he’d have to try and find his way through the dungeons himself, he was determined to end the conversation politely. He also would not plead with her to help him, even if she was still stunning to look at. Johnny, despite being a bundle of nerves today, still had more pride than that. Besides, now the pile of books were magically levitating off the floor, it shouldn’t be as bad as before on his arms. Additionally considering he’d just suffered through this situation, he felt a bit better. He still was nervous. Still felt sick to his stomach, and the idea of being approached by students was still anxiety inducing, but as he’d come out of an awkward conversation with Professor Aleida Staghart relatively unscathed, his mind was a tad clearer than before.

“Oh… Well, thank you very much for your time, Professor,” He smiled, even as she walked away from him, “Very good to see you again. I hope the rest of your classes go spectacularly today. If I can be of any help, you know where to find me.”

Johnny hung around in the corridor for a few moments in silence. He didn’t wish to tread the path she was taking deeper into the Dungeons while she was on it. Johnny wanted to make sure she was fully out of the way. Giving women their space was respectful, especially if they didn’t appear to be your biggest fan.

While he had hoped that could have gone better, Johnny didn’t let it bother him. Yes, making a good first impression was important, he wasn’t here to be popular or to make friends. He was here because he wished to grow as a person and find his place in the world once again after many years away and recovering from the worst thing he’d ever been through.

So, as he kept his wand in his hand whilst gently hovering the books off the floor, he eventually set off in search of the cursed Alchemy Classroom.

Johnny still hoped April wasn’t going to just pop out of nowhere and torment him in her typically malicious manner. That would make things so much worse. But at least now, he could see in front of him a little easier than before when the books had been in his arms. Johnny supposed that was the current silver lining to his whole situation. Small victories at times were the most important.

 

[hollowdark]

Aleida didn't respond as Ryder spoke after her. She just kept walking, chin poised and strides measured. Once she had decided she was done speaking with someone, she rarely went back on that decision. Sure, she knew where the library was, but she did not plan on ever asking Ryder for help. To do such a thing would wound her pride grievously.

If she needed a book, she could find or procure it herself.

She entered the potions classroom and prepared the tables for her next class. Her hands swept through the air with practiced grace as she tidied and floated ingredients out of the supply closet and onto the large table at the front. This table bore her own cauldron, where she brewed alongside her students. Or, sometimes where they gathered in a circle to watch and learn by example.

She sat at her desk, penning the note she would give to Mr. Larch, the young Ravenclaw third year that she had discouraged so terribly. She hated to be a source of shame, especially for a student so interested in the field of potions. She would right it, she knew she would.

She thought onto her conversation with Ryder. She would mention it in the next letter to her father surely. Johnny Ryder, the Gryffindor troublemaker in her year, had become a bespectacled, gray haired librarian. It was almost humorous. So much could change across a lifetime, across a year, and in even a few moments. An unimaginable amount of moments had passed since the last time she had seen her classmate, now coworker. In some ways, coming face to face with him felt almost like dreaming.

Johnny Ryder had clearly changed to an exceptional degree. Morbidly, it interested her. She decided she would look into it, either by way of her father, or by way of research if such a method failed. If there was one thing a Slytherin like herself appreciated it was preparedness, information, the ability to always be one step ahead.

She would learn about Ryder before they met again.

Aleida found that gaining the upper hand was always easiest when you positioned your pieces before your opponent even knew a game had begun.

 

[MrSynnical]

It had taken Johnny a grand total of an hour to find the Alchemy Classroom in the dungeons. There was definitely a part of his mind that grew quite frustrated with Staghart for not having the decency to point him in the right direction. Then again, upon reflection of his frustration, he thought about what he’d said so sarcastically to her, and why in context of their history that probably wasn’t the best approach he could have taken. So in the end, he knew he only had himself to blame. Wonderful.

He ended up bumping into an older Slytherin boy who appeared to know the layout of the Dungeons a lot better than he did. The sixth year had even asked him if he’d needed any assistance which forced Johnny to actually interact with a student, having spent most of his morning hiding from them.

Considering the boy didn’t laugh, mock, or say anything unpleasant to him in the slightest as he showed him the way through many long hallways, down some uneven stone stairs which were way too tiny for his feet, and along several more winding pathways to the correct place, Johnny came away from that interaction feeling a tad more confident as well.

The only thing which ruined it for him, is the boy who waited for him to drop the books off to the Alchemy Professor who didn’t appear too happy to be receiving the books a little later than expected, was when the Slytherin showed him back out of the Dungeons. Johnny thanked him, and made sure to award him a couple of House Points for his time, even if he felt very uncomfortable in doing so. It seemed condescending and double standard, as he wouldn’t have given a damn about such things as a kid, but now, it was evidently expected of him. Ugh.

So yes, he’d been feeling relatively okay, until the boy grinned, and said ‘Any time Mr Deadly’, with a grin and a wink and swaggered off before Johnny could comprehend what had just been said to him.

While clearly done out of affection for the band he used to be in by playing around with his old stage name in that manner, Johnny felt rather troubled all the way back up towards the Library. He didn’t know why. It just ate at him in an indescribable way for the next couple of hours despite the kid not having meant any harm at all.

Thankfully the more he worked that afternoon and into the evening, the less time he had to dwell on it at all. The next few days went pretty much the same way. He was busy from the moment he woke up, to the time he went to bed.

He instantly regretted thinking that Madam Pince had an easy job as a teenager. It wasn’t. It was at times quite stressful as more and more Professors and students wanted his help with different things all at the same time, whilst he had his own things to do like keep on top of the gigantic stock of books the library had, alongside coordinating deliveries of more recent and up to date textbooks, filling out numerous forms, and ensuring the library was safe and clean.

His weekend wasn’t much easier. Johnny had barely stopped, but he wasn’t complaining, he much preferred to be busy than to sit around and think himself into a deep haze of anxiety which would likely lead him towards a bottle of Firewhisky to numb it all away.

While just socially awkward in general, Johnny hadn’t felt anxious like he had on his first day. The more he faced the things that had made him anxious, the less of a grip on him it seemed to have.

He could now at least have a conversation with students instead of almost running past them in corridors if it even appeared as if they even thought of striking up a conversation with him. While he doubted he’d ever be truly comfortable w, it was better than a few days ago at least.

In fact, he’d just had a conversation with a student about some obscure Tychomantic Manipulation theories that were complex and were a still relatively unknown field of study. But, Johnny had of course recommended an equally obscure book to the curious Seventh Year on the subject matter as he indeed found it quite fascinating himself and had read up on it a couple of times. He doubted Madam Pince would have entertained such a thing, but in his opinion, it was now his job to encourage his students' interest in whatever magical field they showed curiosity in. Well, within reason, obviously. Some of the dark books he’d read as a teenager were several steps too far, even for him. Whilst he agreed with encouraging students to research things themselves outside of lessons, knowledge was a power to be respected and some subjects really were too dark for him to entertain.

Merlin, what the hell was wrong with him? He really was very different. He even scared himself at times with how much. He actually sounded responsible.

To look at him, you likely wouldn’t think it was the weekend. He still was dressed formally in a dark cardigan worn over the top of a dark blue tweed waistcoat and tie. Yes, the top button of his crisp white shirt adorned with fine black stripes was undone for a little less restriction, but mainly so his collar mostly covered up the long scar which disappeared down his neck towards his collarbone. It was slightly visible when turned his head, but otherwise, like the others, he did his best to keep very much hidden. This one however wasn’t so easy to hide.

Trotting along at Johnny’s side was someone he considered his best friend in the whole world: Lupo the black and white border collie who was looking forward to a nice nap in his cozy bed in front of the fire following a nice walk through the grounds.

Today, Lupo was looking remarkably dapper with a silky blue scarf neatly tied around his neck. He’d already become popular with a lot of the students in the library. Johnny could see why he took a specific liking to a third year, as Lupo always smelled faintly of bacon after this specific student came to the library, usually after breakfast every other day.

Lupo had already worked out the path back to the library from outside, so decided to trot on ahead of Johnny, occasionally looking back at him over his soft furry shoulder to make sure he was still there.

They were both making their way along the fourth floor corridor when a giant metallic crash startled the two of them.

Something heavy and likely irreplaceable had just hit the floor above him with a tremendous force. Another metallic sounding smack, almost like a giant hollow chest had just been slammed with force into the ground came seconds later, made only louder by a slight echo and insane amounts of natural reverb along the corridor which made both crashed sound like thunder.

“What on earth was that, Lupo?” Johnny, whose heart was pounding against his rib cage after unfortunately jumping out of his skin, asked his furry friend in shock, as if Lupo would answer him.

“Sounds like we’re going to have a fun afternoon.” He sarcastically said as he gave Lupo who was whining a little at the ceiling a pat, as well a treat for being a good boy.

Johnny used a small passage behind an old heavy tapestry to reach the next floor up. He unfortunately had to ram a back of a bookcase guarding the exit with his shoulder a few times at the top of a narrow set of stone steps, which had been a lot heavier than it looked.

He emerged on to the fifth floor corridor rubbing his shoulder which was a little sore, and knew he was about to be in for absolute hell based on what he was seeing.

There was usually two suits of armor which were incredibly tall being at least seven feet tall which silently stood guard either side of a giant wooden doorway which led towards the Music Classroom which in his day, barely got much use aside from extra curricular activities, which hadn’t been his cup of tea.

But now, there was one empty space where the giant, silver suit of armor had been. Yet there was now a tremendous mess all across the floor.

Various bits of shiny paldron, chest plate, and gorget were randomly strewn around, and the giant helm had been tossed just as carelessly onto the floor, with enough force to somehow dislodge the visor.

But there was something specific that caught Johnny’s eye as there was one thing unaccounted for on the floor. Sadly, it was hovering on its own accord near the ceiling. He was just grateful no student appeared to be in the vicinity.

While old and blunted, there was no doubt that a giant claymore style sword could do a tremendous amount of damage to someone. And the annoying little creature levitating it would certainly be aware of this.

Similar instances of destruction happened during his time at Hogwarts, and very rarely had it even been the doing of a student. No. Just one little being.

“You… you have moved up in the world Peeves. Instead of causing mayhem, you’ve now progressed to murder.”

He made sure to pull Lupo back who was unblinkingly staring at the hovering sword. Johnny could get hurt, but not his dog.

Due to a high pitched little cackle which sounded quite spiteful from somewhere close by, Johnny had it all but confirmed that he was right, and was right to be worried. Peeves was a total pest.

“So make it easier on yourself, Peeves, just come out and talk to me. You’ve got the attention you’re craving, so come and enjoy it,” He called out firmly. Yes, the characteristic stumbling over the beginning of his sentences didn’t appear to be going away soon, but he didn’t sound too nervy. Yet.

“But I uhh, must admit however, I had hoped you’d have found a more original way to get on people's nerves by now. Still smashing up armor? Surely you can do better?”

“Surely you can do better!” A mocking little voice cackled from somewhere above.

“You really should look in the mirror! Used to like doing that, didn't you Rudey-Ryder?”

Peeves from wherever he was above the corridor, fully invisible, blew a giant raspberry before continuing in an annoying little sing-song voice, which Johnny had forgotten just how annoying it was to listen to.

“Now look at you in your cardi,
Books delivered really tardy,
Beyond recognition,
In a dull new position,
Totally alone - you’re a sad-y!”

Johnny frowned slightly. He wasn’t hurt. This was Peeves being Peeves, nothing more. Or at least that was his opinion for now.

“You do realize ‘sad-y’ isn’t a word?”

With yet another giant raspberry blown at him from above, Johnny made sure Lupo was well and truly behind him. Whilst he didn’t care for Peeve’s verbal barbs, he didn’t wish for his dog to get hurt at all. If that happened, he and the resident Poltergeist would have a humongous problem.

 

[hollowdark]

The first week of school passed in a blur. In her element, Aleida ran class after class without a hitch. On the weekends, she usually caught up on personal brewing, or completed requests for the Matron or other professors. Though, a Staghart potion didn't come without a cost (to those besides the matron). In trade for her services, Aleida had slowly gathered favors, magical items, and secrets from nearly all of her coworkers. This is where she shone best, using her skills to gain the upper hand.

It was something she always did, a slightly ridiculous and very Slytherin expression of her distrust of other people. She liked to have leverage against as many people as possible, even if that person had never once given her a reason to distrust them. It was automatic. To Aleida, all people were untrustworthy just by virtue of their own existence. These favors, secrets, and trinkets were her safe guard.

That Saturday she had been working on a cosmetic potion for the Muggle Studies professor, a tonic that would regrow hair. She brewed, stoppered, and carried it up from the Dungeons. In return, she would be receiving a Muggle artifact, and the prospect of it excited her greatly.

Though, as she climbed the stairs, up and up to further floors, she heard loud dangerous noises. Loud dangerous noises followed by shouting, and the grating laugh of one of Hogwarts' most infamous ghosts.

Sighing heavily and pushing past students, Aleida raced up another stairway, skidding to a halt at the top of it. Her intricately carved wand, the wood of which had been stained black, was held in front of her in a defensive position as she approached.

As she got closer, her eyes scanned over the commotion in front of her. A giant suit of armor toppled to the floor, a giant sword swaying dangerously through the air and-

"You have a dog?" Aleida asked, in her even melodious voice.

 

[MrSynnical]

Johnny wrinkled his nose at the Poltergeist’s childish response. He hadn’t exactly expected any less, but still, it was indeed irksome for someone of Johnny’s current mindset. Yet the levitating sword was certainly more troubling.

Peeves wouldn’t actually try and kill someone… would he? Whilst he’s he was a nuisance and the biggest tattle tale in the castle (perhaps even more so than that annoying pillock, Justin Plumley), Johnny didn’t exactly think murder was Peeve’s style. At least in his day, Peeves had respected McGonagall enough to not impale someone on a claymore in a corridor.

“If you remember me as well as you think you do, Peeves, you’ll know I’ve never been shy in-“

He’d just pulled his pale, bone-coloured yew wand with a decorative burnt-ash-like silver stain on the its sharp, angular handle from his jacket when a movement out of the corner of his eye garnered his attention.

Out of yet another of his Auror trained instincts that refused to go away, he raised his wand in the movement’s direction, more than prepared to cast if need be. However upon seeing Aleida he relaxed slightly. Well, sort of. She still put him on edge. Especially as he eyed the wand in her hand suspiciously. Yes, there was Peeves still hovering invisibly somewhere above them, but the sight of Staghart armed with a wand in his presence did not make him particularly comfortable considering how their last meeting had gone.

Having thrown her a look that simply read ‘don’t do that’ as he lowered his wand from her direction and kept it firmly clutched in his hand by his side, he blinked a few times and actually allowed shock to momentarily fall across his face at what Aleida’s priorities seemed to be in this situation.

While he adored Lupo and endeavored to keep his furry friend safe in this situation, Johnny hadn’t expected to be talking about him right now, even though his dog behind him tilted his head at Aleida, as if curious to know more about what was being said him.

“Umm… yes.” He awkwardly nodded with a just as awkward smile which scrunched the laugh lines around his eyes.

While he kept his tone friendly, there was no doubt he was distracted, “He’s a very good boy and uh… umm…” Johnny’s eyes flicked up to the sword in the air again.

He couldn’t help it. He had to say something.

“I’d be careful, Professor… umm… I wouldn’t fancy being hit with-“

From somewhere above them, Johnny was cut short by a giant, ear splitting wolf whistle which made Lupo jump with a small yelp. For the first time the Border Collie looked worried and took a few little steps backwards, which prompted Johnny to give him a few reassuring pets on the head and neck plus some hushed comforting words of encouragement.

Peeves however had other ideas as his attention had switched to Aleida. His annoying, high pitched voice never seemed to have the ability to aggravate people quietly.

“Oooh! Look at this! Professor Slagfart!” Peeves cackled at his awful little nickname, which left Johnny to wonder how that horrible little man had the ability to remember so many nasty nicknames for people. Poltergeists really were awful things in his book.

As he continued to give Lupo some more comforting pets behind him, Johnny scowled up at the ceiling in the general direction of where he thought that annoying little voice was coming from. That sort of comment was not okay in his opinion. Not even from pesky Peeves.

The irritating little Poltergeist took a deep breath, which could only mean one thing: another miserable little rhyme was about to be sung.

Great.

Johnny braced himself as he kept his eyes and ears trained above. How he really despised listening to that little man. He was rude, crass and loud. Weirdly just like how he’d been at times as a youth. Perhaps this was some form of karma slapping him in the face? It certainly felt like it.

With a little cough to clear his throat as if about to make a truly grand announcement, Peeves started to sing:

“Professor Slagfarty
Thinks she’s she’s so smarty,
Bubbling potions and brews,
Not one to look tarty,
Nor appears too arty,
But somehow still makes all the boys swoon!”

Johnny wrinkled his nose again in clear disgust. But thankfully the more Peeves talked, the more Johnny’s ears homed in on him above them. Once Peeves was in sight, the easier he’d be to deal with.

As the Poltergeist cackled from his spot in mid air in a spiteful glee with himself, Johnny discreetly pointed his wand towards in his opinion the most likely area Peeves was lurking in and muttered, “Revelio.”

Peeves in his blue haired, pale skinned and curly toe shoe-d glory, materialised into view. Unlike ordinary ghosts, Peeves was in full color in his long garish red coat, orange knickerbockers and long blue socks.

The poltergeist was so busy laughing in his truly obnoxious manner, he hadn’t noticed that Johnny and now Lupo were staring at him and he was in full view of everyone holding his belly as he cackled.

For the second time, Lupo titled his head, although this time at Peeves. Lupo did so multiple times at the little man in hysterics in mid air. He was unsure what to make of Peeves, but was clearly interested having not seen anything like him before.

While Johnny would very much like to say something to Peeves about what he’d just said to Aleida, he wasn’t sure if she’d appreciate him of all people speaking up on her behalf at all. So he just glared up at the little man still laughing away, and decided he’d follow her lead. While he didn’t think much would get him in Staghart’s good books, he didn’t want to fall even deeper into her bad books either.

 

[hollowdark]

At the sound of the wolf whistle, Aleida's rage began to bubble. At the word "Slagfarty" she decided was going to murder Peeves. It didn't matter that he was already dead. Of all who lived in the castle, he was the only person who would dare to say such things to her.

"Drop it, Peeves," Aleida answered sternly. "Or I'll vanish that sword and nobody will be able to play with it any longer."

Peeves crowed, cackling again. "Oh how she threatens, but how can I fear a face like that!"

Under her breath, Aleida cast a shield charm around herself, in case Peeves got any ideas with the sword. She approached him, her mouth set in a line, wand extended as threat. "Drop it, now. Pranks and insults are one thing, but you're going to behead some poor child swinging that Claymore around."

Peeves cackled again, making a dangerous maneuver with the sword.

"Arresto momentum!" she called, and before it could even get close to her, the sword began moving very slowly through the air, hardly swinging any longer.

Peeves hissed in distaste, seeing his toy lose it's fun.

 

[MrSynnical]

It was safe to say Johnny felt quite relieved he’d stayed quiet and not spoken up a few moments before seeing how Aleida reacted to the Poltergeists rude comments.

Johnny simply watched from afar with his wand firmly in his hand as the situation unfolded in front of him. It was certainly something to see Staghart so riled. Johnny couldn’t exactly say he could blame her. What he’d said had been far from pleasant.

He watched silently as she blasted at Peeves, which had little effect on the horrid little man still cackling in his garish and highly ridiculous clothes. What a strange little creature he was. Whilst he’d heard rumors that this little man had even been relatively friendly with a select few mayhem loving students in the past, Johnny didn’t believe it. Who in their right minds would be friends with such an untrustworthy, aggravating little cretin? He had no idea.

“Rudey Ryder talking about murder, and Professor Slagfarty talking about beheadings! My goodness! All Peevsie wants is to have fun!” He whined in his horrible little voice. His facial expression however remained mischievous if not malicious.

“Seems you two have very dark thoughts. Should Peevsie be worried? Are you up to something naughty Peevsie should know about? Because if you are, you know what I’m going to have to do-“

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Johnny butted in. He knew exactly what he meant by that. Peeves had told on him many times as a youth.So as an adult who this time wasn’t up to anything at all, he couldn’t help but feel dread wash over him. Surely no one would be supid enough to actually listen to Peeves would they?

“The uhh… only one causing trouble here is you. Honestly, what do you think you are doing? Must be quite a miserable existence if this is what you do for fun. Throwing bits of old armor about and saying some very impolite things to women? Tell me Peeves, has the Bloody Baron got you running scared? Seems more like thuggery than an actual attempt at causing chaos.”

Yet again, Peeves blew another raspberry at him. Johnny chose to ignore it. He merely raised his eyebrows ever so slightly in a vaguely unimpressed wordless response, but gave very little back emotionally in a highly controlled manner, even if that voice was getting on his nerves.

“Rudey Rowdy Ryder. Not so rudey nor so rowdy nowadays are ya? Now that’s funny! Did something scare that out of you? Boo hoo hoo! Did ya cry? You can tell Old Peeves. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Didn’t know you cared, Peeves.” Johnny sarcastically remarked.

The Poltergeist roared with laughter. Why Johnny didn’t know. He hadn’t intended for his sarcasm to incite such laughter.

Peeves giggled and cackled as he rolled through the air towards Aleida. Even though his large claymore had been taken away from him, he still appeared in good spirits. He didn’t even seem annoyed that it was so obvious he was now in plain sight. His laughter and annoying things he was saying to them both appeared to distract him to a degree.

“Professor Slagfarty!” He grinned at her once he calmed down and revealed a set of pointed teeth. He took his hat off and bowed deeply to her in an exaggerated fashion, “Forgive old Peevsie! But you know when you’re angry you’re even more pre-“

“I really wouldn’t Peeves.” Johnny warned. Not because he cared about Peeves. He despised the little Flobberworm almost as much as he despised Plumley. But he didn’t exactly wish to be caught in the middle of a spell slinging match within days of starting a new job. Even if not directed at him, being caught in the midst of trouble, even against Peeves wasn’t exactly how he’d prefer this to go down.

“OoooOOOooo!” Peeves sang out with an immature and highly mocking manner as he stopped encircling Aleida in the air with pure malice in his spiteful little eyes, “I’m so scared! Just like you I reckon! Not a patch on Ivy-Rydey, Rudey-Ryder. Not a patch at all!”

Johnny didn’t have anyone in his family called Ivy which left him feeling momentarily confused about what was even being talked about. Then it hit him that Peeves, that annoying little man much deserving of a smack in the mouth, was talking about Ivan, his father.

“Ivy-what?” Did Johnny really want to know if there was a reason Peeves called him Ivy? While it could just be a stupid little nickname, Johnny wondered if there was more to it.

He shook himself mentally and forced his brain to stop picturing his stoic father walking around the halls in a dress, and focus back on Peeves. That was actually less disturbing as he couldn’t even picture Ivan wearing ordinary clothes, let alone that.

“I don’t think it’s me you have to worry about.” His eyes flicked pointedly to Staghart and back even though he was now a tad more rattled than he was letting on. Even as a grown man, he still hated being compared to his father in any way.

“Not that the Professor needs help as I’d imagine she’s more than capable of fighting her own battles. But I’d be very happy to oblige if Professor Staghart thinks that a forceful hand is the best approach. If I were you, I wouldn’t be too confident of those odds.”

There was a slight edge to his tone as he so politely and eloquently threatened Peeves. He secretly hoped it wouldn’t get to that stage and Peeves would just piss off quite frankly. He was an insufferable creature to be around, and Johnny’s distaste for him was all too clear with his eyes conveying nothing but sharpness towards the little man.

 

[hollowdark]

Aleida had just been about to stick up for herself when Ryder did. He was right, Peeves' flirtations weren't going to get him anywhere good. She simmered with rage.

She glanced at Ryder before taking a step towards Peeves.

"As I am sure you are well aware, I have many connections within Slytherin house. Tell me Peeves, how would the Baron feel if he knew you were saying such horrible, salacious things to a woman under his charge?" She took a step closer. "He's an angry old asshole, as I'm sure you're aware, but noble too."

Aleida held her wand at Peeves, a clear threat. "Do you care to say anymore degrading things to Slytherin's darling, or would you like me to call for the Baron so he can come defend me himself?"

Peeves skittered back through the air, as if shoved, but he was still almost jovial.

"Get out of my sight," Aleida said firmly, her eyes burning black, her thrall seeping into her voice. It must have been strange to witness, the way her voice grew more resonant, almost as if being amplified by glass. From her own perspective, she had never heard a difference. Her smooth, convincing words spread out through the hall, reverberating somehow despite only hitting stone.

 

[MrSynnical]

Johnny wordlessly watched as Staghart interacted with Peeves. He was still trying to not let the stupid little poltergeist’s comparison between himself and his father get to him too much. It seriously shouldn’t get to him at all. It was just Peeves spewing his usual malicious venom and that was that. Or at least that’s what he kept on trying to remind himself as he kept a firm grip of his emotions. At least externally.

It was a shame he couldn’t have done this on his first day on the job. If he could have gotten a hold of his anxiety to the same level he could get a grip on his deep rooted anger, his life would be so much less complicated. Then again, perhaps not being as impulsive and angry as he’d been as a younger man was a good thing? He’d probably have lost his job already if it had been the other way around and aggressively flew off the handle at the most minor of provocations. Perhaps being quite anxious and at times slightly irritable was better? Strange how it didn’t feel better despite making the most logical sense.

Johnny made sure to keep both a firm grip of his wand and still kept giving Lupo behind him a reassuring pat, which only seemed to half work as the dog made the occasional whine of concern just at the very sight of Peeves. Lupo didn’t appear to be a fan of the horrid little man in his strange little outfit at all. Johnny couldn’t blame him. Everything about Peeves was absolutely awful. Even how he still kept his stupid little maniacal grin on his face, even at the mention of the Bloody Baron was just irritating.

However Johnny sensed Peeves had taken the threat a little more seriously than he was trying to let on. His face grew a little more silvery around his cheeks, which appeared to be the Poltergeist equivalent to draining of colour due to a flicker of fear or stress.

However, Peeves being Peeves just wouldn’t let it be without saying something horrid. Even as Staghart’s voice appeared to change alongside having a wand pointed very clearly in his direction, Peeves just had to say something more.

“OoooOooh Slagfarty, the darling of Slytherin! That’s a good one! Peevsie couldn’t have come up with a better joksies than that if he tried!” He cackled, although his skin still looked more silvery than before. The threat of the Baron was certainly still on his mind even though he endeavored to plod on like everything was fine.

“Before I go, I have a teeny tiny question for you Professor,” Peeves snorted down at Staghart as if he found that an amusing concept, “But if you find it a struggle, at least you have the new librarian Rudey-Ryder to give you a hand.”

Peeves turned his head towards Johnny and smiled at him nastily.

Johnny simply kept his face as straight as possible. He was still doing his utmost to seem as un-wounded and cool headed as he could be. But underneath, he was feeling a tad more anxious than before. He wasn’t sure if it was due to how Aleida had told Peeves to get out of her sight, or if it was the Poltergeist appearing to want to get the last word in.

“Do ya really think Slimy-Sally Slytherin would think of you as his cutesy-wutsey wittle darling?”

“Peeves-“ Johnny tried to interject. But the Poltergeist just shushed him.

“Slimy-Sally didn’t like many people, y’know. Peeves remembers him very well indeedies. So when Slimy-Sally silly-ly wanted to rid Hogwarts of Muggleborns-“

“That really is enough Peeves.” Johnny butt in again a little more firmly. He had a horrible feeling where this was going, “You are growing quite tiresome now.”

“Don’t interrupt Rudey-Ryder!” Peeves snapped over his shoulder at him, “I’m just getting to the good bit!”

“No Peeves. You-“

“What do you think Professor Slagfarty,” Peeves gave Johnny a menacing glare as he carried on in his awful little voice even louder than before, “About what Silly Slimy-Sally Slytherin woulda done with ickle beastie like y-“

Although Johnny really didn’t want to start slinging spells, a little silencing charm wouldn’t do any harm he supposed. It was better than the alternative of listening to Peeves’s terrible voice and the vileness he spewed. He also hoped shutting the nasty little man up could stop the potential for hexes to start flying too.

As Johnny flicked his wand at Peeves with an accompanying “Silencio”, he hoped he wasn’t too late. The terrible little creature had said enough to warrant being blasted to oblivion and back in his opinion. He just really didn’t wish to be caught up in it. Odd considering in the past he would have revelled at the chance to have cursed him into dust and would have done so with very little regard for his surroundings.

Peeves mouthed a few other words being in mid sentence, but upon discovering his voice had literally disappeared, his expression soured. He angrily started gesticulating with his fists in the air towards Johnny as he silently shouted some rather unpleasant words. Peeves even flipped him along with Staghart a few rude hand gestures while he was at it as well. But that wasn’t all.

Oh no.

Johnny had hoped this would all end quietly, but naturally Peeves had other ideas. The Poltergeist angrily reached with a hand towards the armour strewn across the floor and waved it at both Johnny and Professor Staghart’s direction. Within seconds the armour followed in the direction his little hand had traced through the air, and flew at speed directly towards the two of them.

Why couldn’t things just go smoothly, just for once?
Life really was unfair.

 

[hollowdark]

When Peeves called her a beast, Aleida felt her composure crumble. Her fair skin grew pink as her eyes widened. She took one step backwards. Of course, she was well aware of the way traditional Slytherins, and Slytherin himself, felt about blood traitors. She had spent her whole life paying for an action she had no part in, for her very nature. Over and over, being criticized, ostracized, and tormented.

It had been a foolish tactic to use with him. Aleida realized, solemnly, that she had let herself grow too comfortable. At the end of the day, she did not belong in a place like Hogwarts. Or, anywhere really. Being a singular person could grate on someone, make them lonely. But her solitude was not something that could be relieved. Only hidden, covered.

She had hidden it so well, been treated kindly for so long, that she had allowed herself to forget she was nothing more than an outcast. In that moment, standing in the hallway and being berated for being a Half-Blood, a Half-Veela, insufficient and hated even within her own House, the only emotions she could conjure were embarrassment and shame.

No matter how many times she was accoladed as a successful witch, praised by her peers or the headmaster, beloved by her students, she would never truly belong.

Always an outsider, looking in, wondering if other people could accept her as something as truly human as them.

What was worse, Ryder knew what the effect of Peeves's words would be, and had silenced him for her.

Mortified, Aleida forced herself to train her expression, to not seem so bothered as to need help.

Her heart hardened again, after her momentary lapse in stoicism, as she took her shame and loneliness and trapped it in a back recess of her mind.

As she was fighting her own mental battle, Peeves acted out again, sending the armor flying towards herself, Ryder, and his dog.

Aleida cursed, throwing up a shield charm. In her haste and upset, it was much smaller than she would usually be capable of. A pauldron broke through her shield and rammed into her hip. She sucked in a breath as she stumbled a few steps backwards, but kept her footing. That was going to leave a nasty bruise.

"You- imbecile!" she shouted at Peeves. "You have no right to attack employees of his school, no matter their blood status or attempts to control you!"

 

[MrSynnical]

Being an Ex-Auror and everything, you would think Johnny would be prepared for everything. Johnny usually liked to think he was, even amidst his new battles with anxiety that plagued him on and off for several hours a day. But admittedly he was a little out of practice in dealing with Poltergeists or more specifically Peeves.

While he’d always been a pest and a terrorizing force within the castle walls, Johnny hadn’t actually expected Peeves to start flinging armour at them. He’d thought perhaps Peeves would rile up Staghart so much that she would start sending spells his way first, so when armor was launched at the two of them, Johnny was incredibly surprised. Why, he really had no idea. Peeves was simply awful in every way, so him doing something even more awful shouldn’t be that shocking.

“Oh bloody hell…” He muttered, knowing deep down he’d just made this somehow worse by silencing the horrid little creature. Perhaps if he’d cast a proper spell at him in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened?

Great.

He had tried to be cautious and responsible, and now it had got him and Staghart here.

Just fantastic.

After his irritable grumble, Johnny’s first instinct wasn’t to cast, but to grab hold of Lupo behind him, wrap his arms around the dog, and used as much strength as he could muster to fling his furry friend out of harm's way.

It worked for sure. Lupo landed on all fours several feet out of Peeves’ range, but Johnny’s back took the full impact of having an entire chest plate smack into him with so much force (and with being a little off balance due to his footing after lobbing a now barking Lupo), Johnny found himself smacking into the floor, chest first.

While it was lucky the armor hadn’t hit his head, he felt a little stunned to say the least. And in pain.

Ow.

Johnny really didn’t want to go through that again. It felt as if he’d just been hit with a whole box of incredibly heavy Quidditch Supplies. Was that oddly specific? Perhaps. Why? He’d been there at least twice, and yes, it had also hurt considerably both times.

Lupo’s barks soon turned into growls whilst Johnny forced himself up as both his back and chest throbbed with pain. He’d turned around just in time to see Lupo zoom towards Peeves and try to jump to his height and bite his ankle. Although an intelligent dog, Lupo hadn’t worked out that Peeves, while not technically a ghost, was just as able to slip through walls and people just as easily as ghosts did. Lupo hadn’t ever seen someone quite like Peeves before. So Johnny forgave him for being a tad clueless this time around.

Still Johnny was incredibly concerned. He really didn’t want Lupo close to Peeves at all. Merlin, even he wouldn't want to be close to Peeves.

Although while Peeves was in the middle of his silent tantrum and mouthed lots of rather rude words, he hadn’t noticed the dog jumping up in the air and snapping at his ankles with his teeth at all.

Shame. Peeves deserved everything he got… but it really was a shame it had escalated to this. Johnny could kick himself, but didn’t exactly think he’d needed to after being embarrassingly flattened like that.

He grit his teeth actually looking pissed off now himself as his eyes flicked to Staghart who was yelling at Peeves.

In spite of everything, Johnny found himself actually nodding along to what she was saying. Peeves was certainly an imbecile, and had no right to attack staff or anyone based upon their bloodstatus, heritage or anything else. Peeves had crossed a line.

Only upon realizing how stupid he must look by nodding like that, he soon stopped.

Johnny watched as the poltergeist stuck his tongue out at Professor Staghart. This apparently was all he could do and still be relatively understood along with putting his thumbs to either side of his temple, and wiggled his fingers at her in a severely childish manner that Johnny really didn’t care for.

“Ugh,” He said out of disgust, “You are just proving how imbecilic you are Peeves. If you think the Baron won’t hear about this now, you’re mistaken.”

Johnny didn’t need to hear Peeves’s voice to know he’d emitted a cackle at his expense. It was written all over his face as he smiled nastily and his shoulders shook.

With another wave of his arm, more parts of the suit of armor flew both Johnny’s and Professor Staghart’s way again. This time, Johnny had gotten into a more stable position. How he hoped he wasn’t about to be flung over, again. What remained of his ego that was kept several layers beneath the surface, wasn’t sure if it could take another severe bruising like that. While he arguably never looked cool anymore these days, crashing onto the floor like that was probably as uncool as things could probably get. Whilst he didn’t usually care about things like that, being in the presence of a beautiful woman he knew wouldn’t even look at him let alone anything else for a multitude of reasons, Johnny couldn’t help it. Looking like a fool really wasn’t on his list of things to do in this situation. He thought he’d more than accomplished that in the Dungeons the other day.

 

[hollowdark]

Aleida watched with dread as Lupo approached Peeves, frightened about his safety. With the dog being a burden of protection and Ryder flat on his face, Aleida knew she was going to have to handle it.

Peeves taunting her only made her anger grow.

Now on the top of her game, after momentary emotional turmoil, she cast a perfect shield charm. It expanded from her wand, then in front of Ryder and herself. The armor pinged off stupidly, slamming into the ground instead. Aleida turned her wand on Peeves.

"Petrificus totalus!" she called, with a flick of the instrument in her hands. If taking away his speech wasn't enough to make the Poltergeist stop casting dangerous magic, maybe immobilizing him would. As she cast it, Peeves's arms slammed into his sides, his body bound together.

Aleida breathed hard.

"Alright then?" she asked, looking to Ryder from his position a few feet away.

 

[MrSynnical]

Having prepared himself to start casting, it took him by surprise when Staghart got everything under control so quickly. While his chest and back still hurt and felt remarkably sore and would do for a while, he was relatively unharmed. But that wasn’t the important thing. The important thing is that Lupo was okay.

The dog, even though Peeves was currently immobilized, was still trying to snap at his ankles. Lupo even huffed a few times, getting frustrated that the more he snapped, he made very little progress in getting his teeth into him.

Johnny whistled and called Lupo across to him, which now considering Peeves wasn’t causing anymore trouble meant it was safer to do so.

Lupo bounded across to Johnny’s side and jumped at him a couple of times with a wagging tail as he checked him over. He hadn’t seen Lupo get hurt, and he seemed relatively happy enough now the threat had passed, but Johnny couldn’t be too careful. For all he knew shards of metal had got stuck in his thick fluffy fur coat, but Johnny felt nothing.

“Umm… yes…”

He spoke rather tentatively to Staghart as he dug around in his pockets. Lupo watched him closely, almost unblinkingly as he could sense what was coming. The lick of his lips confirmed it as Johnny’s fingers closed around a pumpkin and banana dog treat. Yes, Johnny made them himself. No he didn’t think he was soppy for doing so.

Lupo sat eagerly at Johnny’s feet without even being told to, already knowing that’s what he needed to do in order to get his treat.

Johnny flashed Lupo a small smile as he held the little bone shaped treat out for his dog, who daintily took it from his fingers. How Lupo chose to eat the treat however was far from dainty. The crunching and the lip smacking was deafening. But at least he didn’t swallow it whole like he used to.

“Well done umm…”

Again, Johnny was back to being his anxious self now the threat was over.

He stretched his painful back and rubbed his chest with hand as he approached Peeves with his wand.

The Poltergeists' eyes flicked angrily towards him as he remained motionless in midair. Not that Johnny paid it much mind. He pointed his wand at Peeves and blew air at him, which caused the Poltergeist to be blown wherever he directed him, which currently was through the door of a broom closet which thankfully hadn’t been targeted by the mischievous and mean spirited Poltergeist. He supposed disrupting a broom closet wasn’t as fun when you had suits of armor and giant swords just lying around.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably and nonverbally waved his wand at the mess Peeves had left behind.

Bits of armour started flying through the air, this time much more gently and more orderly and rearranged each other by stacking themselves back on top of one another beside the doorway they’d come from.

In less than a minute the suit of armour was back in position with its sword, and stood majestically in place, hulking over the corridor. Johnny could have sworn he heard a muffled ‘much better’ from inside the helmet… but that’d be silly, right?

Now that everything was tidy, and Peeves was likely out of action for the next few hours at least in the broom closet, Johnny flashed Professor Staghart an uncomfortable smile although his eyes barely kept on her face for long.

“I’m uhh… sorry about Peeves… he umm… said somethings that were remarkably out of line. I hope you’re alright, Professor?”

 

[hollowdark]

Aleida watched with curious delight as Lupo recieved his treat, tucking her wand into a pocket. She had always loved and favored animals, and she couldn't help the overwhelming urge to check on Lupo as well, to pet him or say hello.

She took a half step closer, curious in spite of herself.

As Ryder put Peeves away and righted the armor, she drifted even closer to Lupo. She lowered herself onto her knees, despite the expensive quality of her robes. Gingerly, she held out a held towards him so that he could give her a sniff.

"Hello," she murmured quietly. Her long white blond hair untucked itself from behind her ears, falling down in a shiny, mesmerizing sheet.

As Ryder addressed her again, she looked up from where she was trying to gain favor with Lupo. Still crouched on her knees, she glanced at the floor for a moment, then back to Ryder. She pulled her hand closer to herself, resting it in her lap.

"Oh, yes, I'm alright," Aleida nodded, tucking her hair back behind her ears. Even if she wasn't, it wasn't exactly appropriate to discuss her deeply personal feelings with a coworker. Let alone one she wasn't sure could ever understand. She paused for a long moment, feeling sadness creep into the forefront of her mind again. "I have heard much worse much more often."

She looked to Lupo again, holding out her hand towards him.

"I suppose it was a foolish tactic to use on my part. Sometimes I forget that other people-" she paused, finding her words, "see me differently."

 

[MrSynnical]

Lupo watched closely as Johnny blew Peeves into the broom cupboard with his wand. From the lick of his lips, it was likely due wanting another treat more than anything else. He was a giant fan of food. It was a good job Hogwarts had such sprawling grounds which helped to give him a place to exercise and burn off the many treats and scraps he was fed throughout the day.

But another thing Lupo was another big fan of, was getting lots and lots of pets. He never turned down a head scratch or a belly rub. So upon spotting Staghart nearing him while Johnny was preoccupied, he didn’t show any hesitation in letting her approach him. After some sniffs of her hand he gave her fingers a couple of licks with his soft tongue likely getting the scent of his freshly devoured treat on them.

Johnny though definitely didn’t exude the confidence his dog did. No, he wasn’t quite as bad the other day. But now he was actually having to have a social interaction with someone who had seen him in such a mess and had ended that interaction in a way he hadn’t been happy about at the time, then yes, he was still more than a tad apprehensive. Especially as there was definitely baggage of the distant past still attached to this, and of course he was still very new at his job, wished to make a good impression and also-

Honestly, over-thinking much?

He really needed to slow his brain down a bit.

Honestly, having a conversation with Peeves was less nerve wracking, even if it was drastically more unpleasant.

Johnny made sure to keep a good distance between him and Staghart as he put his wand away and put his hands in his pockets from habit. It also saved him from looking too ridiculous if he decided halfway through an interaction he didn’t quite know what to do with them.

Johnny couldn’t help but wonder if Staghart really was alright following what Peeves had said. She hadn’t seemed it when Peeves had been in full swing saying the things he had. Still, he knew better than to question her about it further. It really wasn’t any of his business. Also he knew he wouldn’t like it if someone pressed him on something that potentially rattled him or was difficult for him to talk about. So, Johnny stayed quiet and simply nodded as Lupo put his head beneath Staghart’s palm on his forever ongoing quest of wanting pets.

However, when the time came for Johnny to actually speak as it always became inevitably unavoidable, what started out as a typical awkward stumble, ended up being something else entirely.

“Umm…I umm… well, with Peeves at least, I doubt it’s really got anything to do with how he sees anyone. A non-being like that, at least some people argue, was born out of the chaos and unruly behaviour within a building. So as annoying and deeply unpleasant as he is, he’s little more than a manifestation of a century’s worth of predominantly adolescent tomfoolery and injudicious stupidity. Rather like how a Boggart shifts itself into whatever it thinks will terrify a person the most, Peeves seems to know what may get a person's wand in a knot just as easily. Coincidentally, both Boggarts and Poltergeists, amortal non-beings are typically formless. Peeves is just a remarkably strong Poltergeist and uhh… umm…” Johnny found himself trailing off. He became suddenly very certain that Staghart hadn’t needed him to go off into a rather nerdy and matter of fact rant about Peeves, manifestations or Boggarts at all, even if he’d meant well by it.

“Umm… what I meant to say, is it’s not worth taking personally what Peeves says at all. Not that you seemed to. I mean I could understand it if you did - not that you should. But I uhh… well, it’s just not worth the hassle.”

He decided he should shut up before he dug himself another hole. That is, if he hadn’t already.

Johnny very awkwardly flashed the Professor another smile. He desperately needed a distraction of some kind. His eyes almost instantly fell on his dog who was still beside Staghart. Thank Merlin for that!

“His uhh… his name’s Lupo,” He said still with a smile as he still kept his hands firmly in his pockets. This would probably have been the time he wouldn’t have known what to do with them if he hadn’t put them in there, “He’s very friendly.”