Chapter Text
Walking up to Hogwarts was different this time.
Before, it had always been with a huge group of fellow students, all trudging to the carriages to be transported to the castle or following Hagrid to the lake. But now, it was just Estella, alone.
It was August 30th, 1998, 120 days after the Battle of Hogwarts. 120 days after her 18th birthday, and here she was, no longer a student, but a professor, going to the castle early to prepare for the new term.
It was terrifying and exhilarating and so so new. And Estella couldn’t be more excited.
There was a single carriage waiting for her near the train, and Estella boarded it quietly. She had never noticed the creatures pulling the carriage before. Actually, she was quite certain they hadn’t been there before.
They were dark, sinewy pegasi, from what she could tell in the dark. She wondered what they were, and why she could suddenly see them. Maybe she was actually going crazy. Was this it? Had she finally gone mad?
Shaking her head, Estella tried to clear the thoughts from her head. She couldn’t afford to doubt her sanity now, not after everything that had happened in the last seven years.
Instead, she decided to think about her future at Hogwarts.
Estella would be both the professor of Muggle Music, and a new class McGonagall had agreed to create, called Studies of Life, which was now required for all sixth and seventh years.
It was such a beautiful thought, really, at least in her mind. When applying to be the new Muggle Music professor, Stella had pitched Studies of life, and McGonagall agreed surprisingly quickly.
Studies of Life would be all about learning about how the world works, as well as viewing life from other perspectives. Overall, it was about understanding and preparation for life after school, and Estella couldn’t be happier that the class would be a thing now.
Arriving at the castle, she was greeted by the mostly repaired stone. Sure, there was a lot of work to be done, but it was insane how much could be done with so many people working to fix it.
As she walked inside, Estella had a moment of realisation. This was truly her life now. This was her job.
Stella met McGonagall at the main entrance to the castle.
“Good evening, Stella,” She said, giving the smallest of smiles.
“Good evening, Professor,” Estella replied and smiled back. McGonagall opened the doors to the Great Hall and they were greeted by the quiet talking and clanking of utensils.
“Minerva.”
“I’m sorry?” She asked, confused as they walked toward the other end of the Hall. All of the other teachers were seated at the Hufflepuff table.
“Call me Minerva,” McGonagall - no, Minerva - said, and before Stella had a chance to reply, they reached the others.
There were a few people Estella didn’t recognize, but she did know a fair few of the faces looking toward her.
There was Professor Slughorn, Madam Hooch, Neville Longbottom, Professor Sinistra, Professor Flitwick, Hagrid, of course, Professor Trelawney, and, sending a shock through her, Harry Potter.
She had never really spoken to any of them, at least not a real conversation. She was sure that some of them didn’t even remember her.
And from the looks on their faces, some of them were surprised to see her. Others just smiled at her politely.
She smiled slightly back at them and waved, taking a seat next to Neville Longbottom.
He turned toward her a little, and asked, “Have we met before? You seem familiar.”
Ouch.
“I actually was in your year,” She replied gently, trying not to be rude about it. She didn’t want him to feel bad. She wasn’t very noticeable anyway.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I suppose I never talked to you,” He said, frowning and looking down at his plate.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m Estella,” She said, smiling and reaching out her hand to shake his.
He grinned, looking back up at her. He shook her hand, and said, “I’m Neville.”
And that was the start of their friendship. Over the course of the meal, she made small talk with some of the other professors. It was about nonsense, nothing really important, and soon everyone was gone except for her and Neville.
She also noticed that Harry Potter didn’t talk very much at all. It was strange, but also understandable. Estella was a slow eater, much slower than everyone else, and Neville had kindly waited for her, to show her where to go to get to her room.
The pair didn’t talk much at first, just walked quietly, until she couldn’t bear it anymore and asked him what his favourite colour was. He laughed, and answered with green.
After that, they ended up talking about the symbolism of different colours, especially colours of roses, for whatever reason, and eventually arrived in the Professors’ corridor.
It was deep inside the castle, on the fourth floor and hidden behind a tapestry that was actually just an illusion, like the entrance to Platform 9 and ¾’s. It was really just a hall with doors spaced out, and each of the doors was labelled with the professor’s name.
Neville’s door came up first, and they said goodnight. Soon enough, Estella reached the door with her name on it. Estella Holmes.
Slowly, she reached for the doorknob, which turned easily under her hand, and walked into her quarters.
The main room had a window facing the Black Lake, under which was a table with three chairs. The walls were painted a bright yellow, with no other decoration. There was a dark green couch to the left of the window, as well as a couple of matching armchairs and a coffee table.
On the opposite side of the room were two doors, both open. The right door led to a bedroom, and the left door led to a bathroom.
The bedroom was decorated similarly to the living room, with the yellow walls, and the furniture was stained ash grey, like the table and chairs in the living room. There was a full bed with white sheets, and a nightstand on either side of the bed, along with a dresser next to the door.
And that was about it for her living quarters.
At the foot of her bed was where Estella found her trunk, which she immediately started unpacking. She had brought tons of colourful clothes, all which she put in the dresser.
Estella had also brought several muggle notebooks, all different colours, which she was going to distribute to her students in Studies of Life, as well as pens. She put those on the table in the living space.
After unpacking all of her toiletries into the bathroom and the rest of her school supplies on the table, she checked the time. It was 10:47.
And, damn, Estella was exhausted. It hadn’t even been that tiring of a day, but, oh, well. It was time to sleep.