The Keep

19. Professor Gillivray

Morning came, and Hazel felt even worse than before she slept the night before.

Hazel forced herself to have a breakfast at Great Hall, even though she had no appetite whatsoever. She ended up having a cup of tea as her whole breakfast. Well, that and her Lung-Grazer Potion, which scent only made Hazel feel nauseated even more.

The first class Hazel had, was a double third years, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.

As Arithmancy has always been one of the unpopular choices for elective subjects, the class was consisted only of eight students. Five Gryffindors and three Hufflepuffs, who seemed to be a group of kind and warm-hearted children, Hazel thought

Hazel started the class by introducing herself. But even before the board finished scribing her name, someone has pointed out her finger.

"Miss..." Hazel ran the student names on her book.

"Creevey, Professor, Cecilia Creevey," said the curly-haired girl.

"Yes, Miss Creevey?"

"Are you really living in Ekrizdis Keep, Professor?"

"No, Miss Creevey, I'm living here in Hogwarts now, but I've lived there until very recently."

And two other hands were lifted up.

Hazel let out a sigh. She never liked being hushed-aside when she had so many questions as a child, and she certainly didn't want to be the adult who does the hushing-aside.

"Very well," Hazel said as she leaned back to the edge of her desk. "Please mention your name before asking your questions. Mister Hufflepuff on the right," Hazel chose.

"Aarnav Powell, did you live with Ekrizdis' ghost, Professor?"

"No. Ekrizdis Keep doesn't house Ekrizdis' ghost, Mister Powell, only his painting, which is more than enough. Mister Gryffindor on the back."

"Fred Weasley. How many ghosts live in the Keep, Professor?"

"I honestly don't know, Mister Weasley. They are rather solitude beings. Well, most of them. Probably there are more than fifty ghosts."

"Whose ghost is the most vile, Professor?" he asked again.

"We will go back to that question after other student's questions have been answered. Miss Gryffindor on the back."

"Farrah Weasley. Whose ghost is the most vile, Professor?" Hazel couldn't help but to smile to the twin's duet.

"Very well, Miss Weasley. For me, it would have to be Abe Gillivray's ghost. Miss Hufflepuff."

And so on, Hazel spent some time to answer the students' questions about the Keep. However, due to the overwhelming amount of the questions, Hazel had to limit the question session to ten minutes, with a promise to answer more questions about the Keep on their next class, shall they still have any left. 

Hazel was sure that none of the students had their head on Basic Integrals, when she preached on the subject after the question session. But at least the class went on fairly undisturbed by their curiosities.

"Assignment," Hazel said at the end of the class, followed closely by the harmonious grunts from the students.

Hazel has prepared the assignments with Professor McNully's help through their correspondence. Professor McNully has allowed for Hazel to 'add and improve' the class. And Hazel's answer to that was: to let the students to predict the future.