I SPY || 𝕝𝕦𝕔𝕚𝕦𝕤 𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕗𝕠𝕪

Chapter 3. Prohibited Magic

Astrid was escorted to her chambers by an overly grouchy Mr Filch, the man was accompanied by a peculiar house cat named Mrs Norris. Astrid, a natural cat person, tried to place a little stroke upon the cats back but was warned away with hisses and the threat of scratches. "Don't touch," Filch scolded the girl as if she was a student and not a fellow faculty member.

Filch stopped by an arched oak door and mumbled at the girl.
"This is you," Filch said simply pushing the door open unceremoniously. Astrid thanked the man and stepped into her chambers, the furniture was simple, nothing like that of Beauxbatons, a wooden desk sat in a large bay window surrounded by stained glass panels, a king-sized bed lay against the stone walls of the castle, a tapestry hanging above it. A door jeered off to the side revealing a slightly grander bathroom with a large bath sunk in the floor, adorned with gold taps with roses as knobs. Astrid placed her suitcase inside a large armoire in the corner of the room and sighed sitting down upon her bed. Brushing and smoothing down the dress that blanketed her knees.

"I guess this is home for now then," she said to herself aloud, a small smile playing on her full pink lips.

Astrid spent the rest of the afternoon locating her classroom and organizing it the way she liked, moving the desks and chairs she played with the layout until it felt half homely. Her classroom was located in a far corner of the school, it was cold, quiet and had little foot traffic outside its doors, but the great big windows that lined the room flooded it with light that made the seclusion peaceful. Spying the time, Astrid hurried off to the Great Hall, the feast would begin soon, pupils had already spilled off the train and into the castle ready for their grand welcoming back to school.

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Astrid was welcomed warmly by the other Hogwarts Professors; she took her seat at the grand table at the end of the hall. Severus Snape only offered a slight nod and grunt as an acknowledgement to Astrid's arrival as he skulked past her to his own seat. The staff chatted amicably among themselves, Professor Sprout and Professor McGonagall were particularly interested in Astrid and her education at the French wizarding school. Astrid smiled warmly as she watched the pupils chatting away at their house tables, catching up with friends they hadn't seen in months. The house sorting of the newest students was particularly interesting to Astrid as it was so different to her own schooling. Astrid understood there was four houses, her father had briefly told her about each one, and particularly warned her of house Slytherin, it was no surprise to Astrid after hearing about the characteristics of the house that Severus was head of house and a former Slytherin himself. She wondered what house her father was in, he had never told her, then her mind shot the Malfoy man she had met earlier, she would bet good money on him being a Slytherin.

"Good evening, children!" Albus rose from his central seat and moved around the table, coming to a grand podium at the front of the Great Hall. The noise dyed down quickly as the students stopped their conversations to listen to the great wizard. "Now we have two changes in staffing this year, I'd like to welcome Professor Moody, as you may observe she is not the famed Auror we had teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts last year, but is in fact his daughter. Professor Moody will be taking History of Magic. We also wish to welcome our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Doloros Umbridge. I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing the professor good luck." Albus spoke with great poise, commanding the room subtly.

"Now, as usual, our caretaker Mr Filch has asked me to remind you-" Albus carried on his speech but was rudely interrupted by someone at the opposite end of the table.

"Ahem," A squeaky voice chirped up. A short stout woman dressed head to toe in fuchsia pink stood haughtily from her seat, her heels clacked on the wooden floor as she rounded the table. "Thank you, headmaster, for those kind words of welcome, and how lovely to see all your bright happy faces smiling up at me," Astrid read the room before her, sullen confused faces stared up at the pink woman as she spoke, an uneasy awkward feeling grew in Astrids gut as she took a large swig of her red wine. "I'm sure we're all going to be very good friends," The pink lady said so sweetly it could make your teeth rot.