Remus wasn't having the best day from the dementors on the train, yet it all went downhill from there. During the Opening Feast, a lightning bolt struck and set the place on fire, and disposed of two bodies. They seemed to have black hair yet, unfortunately, they landed nowhere close enough to the staff table to recognize details, Merlin knows how Dumbledore seemed to make it feel like just a foot or two. Speaking of which, the Headmaster was seemingly very unnaturally calm about this situation.
Yet, at the time, Remus John Lupin knew that, at the moment, two random students were the least of his worries. Sirius Black had escaped, and the full moon was soon. It was probably just a failed Opening Ceremony prank, after all, wouldn't he, a Marauder, know best when it had been himself who'd been doing the pranking only 16 or so years prior? Yet, Remus knew that the injuries shown, were not one of a prank. Perhaps all those years ago, he would've been pulled along by his friends to find out more about these, dare he say, newcomers , yet here he was just sitting at the staff table.
Ah, how James would have laughed if he'd known that Moony would make such an anticlimactic entrance to Hogwarts again. S̸i̸r̸i̸u̸s̸ He would've mocked him with a mock salute and a Pureblood-like accent, not an impression after all this was how he grew up, and make some remark of never seeing this day, then would be horrified he sounded like his family. And look how he turned out, Remus thought bitterly, just like them..
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Minerva McGonagall was named after Athena, Goddess of Warfare and Wisdom, and she rocked that name. Her harsh glares could kill, silence someone with a single look, and her intelligence was through the ceiling, afterall, she hadn't been a hat stall for no reason. McGonagall showed no mercy and made sure everyone knew, everyone. Former students would know, on either side, that her mercy stayed within her loyalty and they were at risk if not.
With all that intelligence, she knew something was afoot, and however hard Dumbledore might try to hide this, Minerva McGonagall knew better to try to stop the unstoppable. She wasn't the most trusting person after teaching both death eaters and prankers alike. Minerva was like a metal bar, hard on the outside, hard on the inside.
Saying that, she had, per se, a sweet spot. A place in her heart where only some would be able to penetrate to. A certain group of boys, were some examples. Though putting on a mask of indifference and an air of being annoyed, she cracked a smile at some jokes spoken from across her classroom, or felt the urge to laugh when trying to be complimented out of detention. Minerva could always see they were destined to be more outside of the realm of pranking and knew they were going to achieve so, yet here they were, 16 years since she last taught them, and 2 were dead, one a mass murderer, and another..teaching. At Hogwarts. Sitting a few seats away. Brilliant. Bloody brilliant. Teaching alongside a Marauder. Who would've thought?
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Severus Snape was known to be ill-tempered. Favourited towards his own house, he snorted, as if he would like the bloody Gryffindors. In your dreams Potter. Had he not known his father, Severus would've been baffled upon how a young boy managed to be so..irritating. He bugged Snape to the ends of the Earth, he wanted to drop the boy off a cliff only to see his face at the bottom on a cushioning charm just to laugh at him. So, whenever the chance, Severus made sure to cash out a bit of anger, afterall, Dumbledore sure wouldn't appreciate it if Severus snuck a bit of the Drought of Living Death in the boy's food, perhaps a bit of Manegro Potion and then a Hair-Raising one.
The arrival of the two bodies set him on edge. Even without the details, Severus knew this would change everything. He had good instincts, at least he usually did. And he knew these people weren't good news or prankers like some would think. There was something and even an old coot like Dumbledore would know.
