Mr. Collins
Spanish and French rivalry has been known for centuries, for some people it is just a joke, a sane rivalry; for others it is real hate, an obsession from the heart. It doesn't matter exactly what it was for me, I was obliged to go to France to study, at least to the French part of the Pirineos. It wasn't what I would describe as a horrible country, definitely Mediterranean and that was passable, but not a place to call home, not for me at least.
It turns out that Spain doesn't have any witchcraft and wizardry school, so I didn't have any other option but to go to Beauxbatons. I wasn't entirely complaining though, it was closer to home than any other schools anyway. I made great friends, some of them will be in a special place in my heart forever, like Pauline and Corentin, we were always together at class, dorms, quidditch matches… They were essential for me at that time, practically family, my French family. But we had to part ways once we graduated. We sometimes still talk, write to each other, but it's not the same anymore… I would call it the disease of adulthood.
It was mid august and I was at home, peacefully getting everything ready for what was coming in a couple of weeks: school. It wasn't easy to become a DODM professor at Beauxbatons, Defense Of Dark Magic was my specialty since I was a mere student, always a really special interest for me, it was even an obsession for a long period of time. But even if I had a great source of knowledge in the area, my dueling wasn't half as great as my theoretical knowledge. I have always been too cautious, and since there weren't many dark wizards nowadays, at least in Spain or France, I didn't have the chance to practice in a real duel. Although friendly duels with colleagues and aurors from time to time made me a capable professor.
The case was already heavy as it only had half of my books, clothes and so on. I would have loved to do an extension enchantment on my cases so my back would not hurt as much, but it was an illegal jinx to do in Spain. I always had to do 3 or 4 apparitions inside and outside of the school to transport all of my things. I was going to be there for 9 months straight, it was what it was. I tried to carry it from my bedroom to my living room when suddenly I heard a knock on my door, and I can definitely say that it was a shock to see the United Kingdom´s Minister of Magic, Mr. Collins, standing there.
- Miss López, it's a great pleasure to meet you, could we please have a small talk? - And who was I to say no, right?
- Yes, sure. Please, come in. - I let him pass through the door. - Excuse me for the mess, classes start soon enough and I'm preparing everything beforehand.
We sat together on my couch, a few but necessary feet apart. It felt hostile for a reason I couldn't put into words. He was there like he owned everything, legs open taking too much space, leaning slightly towards me, not quite close but it felt intimidating anyways. He was surprisingly young, maybe a couple of years older than me, and that made me feel even more uneasy. I was really jealous of my own space and privacy, for someone to appear in my house all of a sudden and to take that much space, it made me feel definitely uncomfortable, I didn't like this man an ounce.
- You see Miss López, there's a big concern going on in London right now. It has to do with that big War two decades ago. - Okay that didn't make sense, an issue nowadays with Voldemort? Maybe their loyalists? Were there really still people going mad about pure blood?
- It seems that some of my aurors have been noticing that there is an increase in crimes related to blood status. We don't have confirmation yet of it being explicitly linked to what took place back then, but it seems that something is definitely off. - He then let out a big sigh, like he was about to say some crucial information that was disturbing his mind. - We are obviously working on this issue. The thing is that Mr. Riddle is one of our informants. He is Voldemort's son, and says that he wants to end all of this to mend what his father did, but should we really trust him?... That's really a hassle.
I must admit that I didn't expect all of that information coming from his mouth. He was saying too much to someone that wasnt even British, nor working there, and obviously not living there, not someone he personally knew either. That was a lot to digest, if what he was saying was true, if their thoughts were remotely true… that could be the start of another war, and I didn't want another war. To be honest I wasn't born when the last one happened, but I didn't need to experience it either. No, thank you.
I was still processing the information when he came closer to me on the couch, his eyes were captivating and his face was nice to look at, but he felt odd. He was the type of person that always had a weird vibe around him, too much arrogance. It wasn't a great favor to his modesty that he was able to become Ministry of Magic a year ago when he was only 27. I couldn't understand yet what his intentions were, but I wanted him to hurry up so he could leave as soon as possible. I have never been good at the whole “reading the room” situation, but I could tell that it wasn't a position I wanted to be in.
- Well Sir, it seems that you have a lot going on in London, but what does all of this have to do with me?
He smiled at me, and that was utterly upsetting. Honestly he seemed like the biggest moron ever. He was in my home for something serious, I guessed. Why was he behaving like that?
- It 's easy, really. You are a great professor, Hogwarts is in need of a DADA professor this year after the tragic death of Mr. Benling. - He sat more comfortably on my couch, taking even more space. - Madame Maxime commented that you have always been the best when it comes to understanding dark magic and wizards, and that's something we need now before this issue goes out of hand. And well there is this thing… You are from Spain, you know… exotic.
What in the actual fuck? Since when Spaniards are exotic? How could someone in his position behave like that? The conversation was getting to a place nobody wanted it to go: me being angry. I mean, becoming a professor at Hogwarts didn't sound bad, maybe I could accept the offer, but everything else felt bad, really out of place.
- By that look on your face I'm assuming maybe I didn't explain myself like I intended to. What I was trying to say is that you are different… beautiful. - His eyes seemed sadistic when he said that, to the point that I was starting to feel afraid in his presence. - Mr. Riddle obviously will take an interest in you, he has been the Potions professor for a couple of years now, that being said, I want you to befriend him, even become his girlfriend if it is necessary, a fake one obviously, so you can discover if he is being loyal to us or if he is plotting all of this, following his father's steps.
- Okay maybe I could understand the urgency of all of this, the threat was scary and dangerous, but there is no way in hell I was going to do all of that. I couldn't even make friends on my own. I was too introverted, definitely too focused on my own stuff to even befriend people without feeling weird about it. All the friends I had were my friends because they decided to know more about me, not because I took the first step. And besides, it felt wrong to lie to someone so I could know their intentions, purely a spy for the Ministry of Magic. I didn't like that a bit.
- And… Do I have the opportunity to say no? - To be honest, it sounded like he wasn't asking, that he was merely informing. He wouldn't risk giving that much information away if he wasn't sure that I was going to agree.
- Not really. - Yeah, I knew. - Pack your things and be ready, you are expected to apparate in Scotland in two days, think of it as your responsibility as a civilian. Things can't and mustn't get as they were two decades ago. I will be there to receive you and head you to the inn you'll be staying for a couple of days until it's time for you to go to your new workplace. I count on you. - That last sentence was said with the most horrific flirtation tone, I wanted to commit suicide at that moment. Either suicide or murder, I was comfortable with both.
He was gone shortly after. Everything felt like it was too much, I felt like I was going to go mad with anxiety. I was just a professor that knew about dark arts then, why me? Why did they need me? There were hundreds of aurors that were probably better at the dueling camp than me, and that knew the situation in the United Kingdom way better, given I had never been there. Why couldn't I just return to Beauxbatons again? To my boring but definitely safe and less anxious life. I decided then that I needed to pack a lot more things for this year´s course, and I had to catch up with the teaching methods that were used at Hogwarts. Too much work to do in such a little amount of time. Not to mention the language, I had a general understanding and speaking of English but not as good as Spanish or French, that was going to be quite the challenge.
Okay, definitely too many thoughts were enquiring in my mind in that short period of time so I had to relax in one way or another. A candle was lit, a cup of hot coffee was heated, one of my stuffed penguins was elected, and finally one of my comfort movies was on. “Me time before the storm!” I thought.
I knew I was obliged to go to Hogwarts to teach, which I definitely would be using as an amazing opportunity to learn a lot more about my subject. Meet amazing and professional people, new students to teach and help. And I would try to seek a bit of information about all of the blood status related crimes, but I wouldn't try to spy on Riddle just for the convenience of Mr. Collins. I had values, and lying like that wasn't in them.
I rummaged through my books and tried to find anything about the war, people battling in it, and history about Hogwarts in general, so I could have more information about the place I was going to teach. But I couldn't find anything, so it was a good excuse to finally go to my favorite magic library in search of a couple of needed books.
“Magikoa” was a library in the north of Spain that sold the most amazing, interesting and useful magic books I have ever seen. It was cozy and you could even take a cup of coffee while you read a book. They even let you borrow a book for a couple of Sickles instead of buying it. The owner of the library was a close friend of mine, Isabel was an amazing witch that I had the pleasure to meet while being a student in Beauxbatons.
- Mía, it is good to see you again! Looking for a particular book today? - I couldn't visit her for a week and I missed her dearly.
- Yes, in fact. I can't explain the reason to you right now, but I need something that explains Hogwarts´ history, the Second Magic War and so on.
- Oh wow, seems serious. I will search but I think I have the perfect book for you. Meanwhile go take a cup of coffee. And maybe start thinking about how you are going to explain to me what is going on.