New Teachers
The morning after the flying car incident during the sorting feast, Harry and Ron did their absolute best to act as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened the night before. As he spread jam across his toast, Harry noticed two unfamiliar faces at the staff table– and one unfortunately familiar one in the form of Gildeory Lockhart.
One of them was a beautiful blonde woman. Her hair was down, cascading around her shoulders in loose princess curls. She had a tan and an athletic build, which made Harry think she must work out outside often. She was having an easy conversation with the stern McGonagall. The conversation seemed to be be flowing easily, but her face was nearly as stern as McGonagall. Harry made a mental note not to get on her bad side.
Next to her– separating her from Lockhart whom appeared to be attempting to garner her attention– was a rather intimidating man. His skin was much darker than hers– though not as dark as Blaise Zabini or the Patil twins– and his inky black hair was tousled in a windswept look. He had a dark, brooding expression on his face– likely from the conversation Lockhart was attempting to draw him into. Harry also made a note not to test him, either.
Harry opened his mouth to ask Hermione who they were, but recalled her stiff greeting a few moments prior and thought better of it. Instead, he turned to Neville.
“Neville,” his roommate startled at the address, peering up at him over his eggs. “Who are those two at the staff table?”
He gestured vaguely at the two new people. Neville glanced up as well.
“Oh, yes, I guess you wouldn’t have known. Well, I didn’t see them last night– apparently they came in late– but if I had to guess they’re our new professors. Professor Dumbledore announced last night that Binns was finally exorcized so they’d hired a new history professor– Professor Chase. And also, after lots of complaints about poor DADA teachers, he’d hired an assistant teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts, to hopefully fill in any blanks, you know? That’s Professor Jackson. But, I don't know which one is which.”
Harry nodded, thanking his classmate as he studied the two new teachers curiously.
As he looked at them, he noticed that they both had matching gray streaks in their hair– a thick stripe and right on their bangs. Odd.
He was then distracted by his studies as Errol landed in front of Ron and he had his first experience of a Howler.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron made their way to the greenhouses for double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. They ended up waiting for a bit for Professor Sprout to arrive. When she did, it was with a disgruntled face, and armload of bandages, and an unwelcome tagalong– Gilderoy Lockhart. While the head of Hufflepuff had patches of dirt across her– likely from both many plantings and doctoring the Whomping Willow– Lockhart was immaculate in his sweeping turquoise robes. A perfectly poised turquoise hat lined with gold placed atop his head.
“Hello there!” He beamed at the students. “Don’t mind me, I was just showing Professor Sprout the proper way to doctor a Whomping Willow! Now, I don't want you running away with the idea that I’m better at Herbology than she is! It is simply that I have happened across many of these exotic plants in my travels-”
“Greenhouse Three today, then!” Professor Sprout announced loudly, cutting off Lockhart’s speech. She looked significantly disgruntled and annoyed, far from her usual cheerful self. Her new found annoyance notwithstanding, there was a murmur of interest. They had only ever worked in greenhouse one before, but they all knew greenhouse three housed the more dangerous and interesting plants.
The greenhouse smelled of fresh soil, fertilizer, and a perfume from some umbrella-like plants hanging from the ceiling. The familiar scent of plants soothed some of Harry’s first-day nerves. He did love gardening. However, before he could follow Hermione and Ron, Lockhart’s hand shot out and grabbed his shoulder, causing him to freeze.
“Harry!” He said, as though they were familiar. “I’ve been wanting a word with you– you don’t mind, do you Professor Sprout?”
“Gilderoy-” Professor Sprout said in the meanest voice any of them had heard from her and a deep scowl.
“Wonderful!”
The door to the greenhouse was shut in her face and Harry was pulled a few paces away.
“Harry,” Lockhart began, whitened teeth practically reflecting the sunlight as he shook his head with a wide grin. “Harry, Harry, Harry.”
Utterly uninterested, Harry remained quiet.
“When I heard– well, it was all my fault, of course. I’ve been kicking myself over it all night.”
Harry raised a brow. He had no clue what Lockhart could be prattling on about, but he certainly didn’t seem all that unhappy about it. Lockhart– unfortunately– went on.
“I can’t recall if I’ve ever been so shocked! A flying car– crashing into Hogwarts! Or course, I knew right away why you’d done it. Your entrance stood out by a mile. Harry, Harry, Harry.”
Oh. That’s what this was about.
Lovely.
“Gave you a taste of publicity, didn’t I?” Lockhart chuckled. “Got you on the front page with me and you couldn’t wait do do it again.”
“No, actually Professor, see-”
“Harry, Harry, Harry,” Lockhart cut him off as he reached out and grasped the boy’s shoulder. Harry immediately tensed. Lockhart opened his mouth to continue when a hand wrenched his off of Harry’s shoulder. Both Harry and Lockhart jumped at the sudden addition.
The brooding man from the night before stood there with a thunderous expression as he towered over them both. His striking sea green eyes looked like a storm at sea. He was well muscled, built like a strong swimmer. That brooding expression was even more intimidating up close. And currently, it was pinned on Lockhart.
“I’ve been looking all over for you,” The man growled. His voice wasn’t too deep, but was certainly not high either. “You have a class in three minutes. Be. On. Time.”
“Ah! Y-yes!” Lockhart stammered as his hand was released. He backed up a few paces and adjusted his hat, clearing his throat. “I was just giving young Harry here some pointers-”
“Gilderoy.”
“Right-o! I’ll see you in class then, Perseus-”
“It’s Professor Jackson to you,” Apparently-Professor Jackson said in a hard voice. Lockhart swallowed audibly, topping his hat before he dashed down the hall in a whirl of expensive cloths. Professor Jackson then turned to Harry. He stiffened in preparation for a similar glare, but instead he was met with a soft, kind look. The man’s eyes cleared to a stunning, almost unnaturally beautiful green. He smiled easily, like that’s all he’d ever done in his life.
“Sorry about that,” Professor Jackson said kindly, voice light and easy-going. “Not the best first impression, huh?”
The first thing Harry noticed after he’d recovered from his shock of the entire situation, was that the man’s accent was heavily American.
“So then, what class is it that you need to get to? I’ll let your teacher know what happened.”
Harry shook his head, recovering his voice. “O-oh, uh, he just pulled me out of Herbology here.”
Professor Jackson nodded, the calm smile still on his face as he walked over to the greenhouse door.
“Right then, off to class you go,” he said. Harry was frozen for only a moment, before he scrambled into action, scurrying into the classroom, where everyone had clearly paused the lecture at the teacher’s shout outside. Professor Jackson gave a sheepish, crooked smile at Professor Sprout.
“Sorry about that. I’ll try to keep Gilderoy from stealing any more of your students. Happy learning!”
And with that, he closed the greenhouse door and left.