Chapter Text
Ben was so fucking tired. And that was definitely a problem, considering they were about to start another school year at Hogwarts. He had the whole summer to recharge, as did every other professor, but somehow he didn't manage to rest at all. Between preparing classes for the year (Ben liked to always be prepared beforehand) and helping the Ministry of Magic with its "latest problem", he found himself dried out before the school year even began.
Damned be those assholes-death-eaters who decided to escape Azkaban during the only month he had to rest. And damned be Ben for helping the Ministry once again, especially since it was pretty clear for both parties that he had nothing to do with it anymore. His auror days were gone, and being a professor (as tiring as it was) made him happy.
Okay, maybe happy wasn't the word. More like… satisfied.
It really was pretty satisfying to see dumb kids graduate to become well trained wizards and witches, who (hopefully) would ensure the peace and justice in the wizarding world one day. He knew damn well how evil and dangerous life could be outside the walls of Hogwarts. To know that he was helping, even if just a little, to make those teenagers ready for what's to come… Well, then it felt like an accomplished duty.
But in all honesty, what Ben really wanted at that moment was to go to his chambers and sleep until his brain rebooted over and over again.
That wasn't an option, of course.
Not when the Great Hall was already filled with an enormous amount of students, all waiting for the Sorting Hat ceremony to end so they could finally devour the exaggerated amount of food the elves had made for dinner.
Ben sighed quietly, hoping no one around him would notice. Everything was happening as usual. First years getting sorted, house members cheering, Kenobi (as the Headmaster) congratulating each one in a very discreet but heartfelt way.
Everything was normal. Alright. Boring.
Until her.
Apparently there was a transfer student from Ilvermorny. She was a senior, which was odd considering the Sorting Ceremony was usually for 11 years old. But more than that, she was… beautiful. Brown hair styled in three segmented buns, hazel eyes that shined like freaking stars and a delicate face that displayed a constellation of freckles whenever the candles of the Great Hall reflected themselves on her. Ben felt like he knew her, but couldn't remember from where, which made sense since she was only 17 and they probably never saw each other before. Still, there was something about her.
Ben waited for her turn and when the hat was put on her head, the students weren't really giving the proper attention Ben thought she deserved.
But that was at first.
With each passing minute, the whole room grew quieter and quieter, every pair of eyes turning her way. It was unusual for the hat to take more than a few seconds to assign the students to their houses. People were starting to get curious and so was Ben. He could tell that the girl was getting anxious, her body language was giving her out.
One minute went by. Then two. Then three. Four. Five whole minutes passed and no answer from the Hat. If people weren't giving her attention before, they definitely did now.
A hatstall.
That's what they called the students who took more than five minutes to get sorted by the hat. It was rare, the last one Ben heard about was a former Hogwarts professor named Minerva McGonagall.
Kenobi watched the whole thing with interest, scrunching his eyebrows as if that would give him a better view. The students were equally interested. Some confused, some excited, most simply shocked.
The Hat was speaking to her but no one could decipher what it was saying, and after what felt like an eternity the words finally resonated through the room: Ravenclaw!
The Ravenclaw table cheered loudly, accepting her with open arms as if they'd just won the House Cup. The girl barely arrived and was already in the spotlight. Not that she seemed to like it, if anything she looked uncomfortable with all the unrequested attention.
As if by feeling his eyes on her, she looked his way. Her eyes were big, round and brown. And in them he found… recognition? The same one he felt when he saw her. But it was gone in less than a second. Ben was certain that the whole thing was probably just a trick of light, after all there's no way they knew each other. Right?
Still, as much magnetizing as it felt to exchange glances with her throughout dinner, he knew that it was wrong, not to say unprofessional. He was her teacher, for God's sake.
So, pretending to be unfazed by her presence, he went on with the rest of the evening, eating and praying for all of that to be over as soon as possible. When he went to his chambers later that night, he made sure everything was ready for the next morning classes. He laid down on bed and fell into a deep slumber, not once thinking about the brown-eyed girl who seemed so familiar. But if he happened to dream about her freckles, well… that wasn't really his fault. After all, controlling a dream was an impossible feat, even for a wizard.
Ben couldn't deny that being a Potions teacher was nice. A good way to put his brewing skills to practice. But nothing made him more alive than being in action, and the only way to do that was by taking the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position. So when the opportunity showed up last year, he wasted no time in requesting the job to Kenobi, who obviously accepted.
He was excited with all the things he could teach and practice in this new semester, especially with the seniors. Given the latest "problem" that the Ministry was facing with the death eaters' escapade, Hogwarts was given authorization to teach some high level magic to the older students. Of course no one knew how worrisome the situation really was, but he doubted the students would complain. If anything they would be as excited as him.
The first class was with Griffindors and Hufflepuffs, both houses finding common ground during the activities and working just fine together. Which was completely different from his second class: Ravenclaws and Slytherins.
As much as Griffindor and Slytherin had their disagreements that apparently went way back, whenever Slytherins and Ravenclaws had classes together the lesson turned into a fight ring. Full blown competition.
The Slytherins were too ambitious and determined to let another house beat them, especially on DADA, but Ravenclaws were too smart and witty to let them win without a fight. They came up with the most creative ways to solve a challenge, while the others were all about intensity.
Either way, Ben knew he had his hands full with this period. What he didn't account for was the presence of a specific brunette in the back of the class. He should've known she would be there. He should've prepared himself for the way she looked at him. She had no second intentions at all, he could tell. But it was almost as if she knew him.
Ben ignored all that. In fact, he realized that ignoring her was the way to go if he wanted to keep his focus during classes.
Everything went smoothly, just like he planned. He noticed she already made some friends, or at least she seemed acquainted with a short asian girl (Rose, if he remembers well) and a strong (but rather sleepy) guy, Finn. Some Slytherins were messing with them, not loud enough for him to sort out what they were saying, but offensive enough for Finn to look more awake than he had a few minutes before.
Ben knew exactly what they needed. A dueling practice. It would help them lose up, get ready for the semester and remember some jinxes they've learned last year. Besides, maybe if they were safely attacking each other in the classroom they wouldn't do anything worse outside of it.
"All right, everyone! I want you to split up in pairs, one from each house. Ravenclaws begin attacking and Slytherins defend."
Everyone got in position and not a minute later they began throwing spells. Each house took turns between attacking and defending. Nothing too serious came out of it. He recognized the spells they've learned last year, some of them much improved which could only mean they trained during vacation. Everything was going well, until Finn targeted one of the Slytherin boys and ended up hitting another one in the process.
It escalated quickly, the Slytherins were angry now and defending was not an option anymore. It was attack after attack. Ben was ready to intervene, raising his wand in their direction when Rose was caught in the crossfire.
It all happened so fast that most students didn't even understand what had transpired. One second Rose was flying backwards, the next one she was seated comfortably in a fluffy giant pillow (that obviously wasn't there a second ago) while the attacker in question was tied to a chair, his mouth shut (clearly not by choice).
Everyone turned to him, whose wand was still raised. They obviously thought he was the one responsible for the fast response. But he knew better because he was the only one who saw who actually did it.
The girl.
Her wand was carefully hidden, as if she hadn't used it with pure mastery a second ago. He was awestruck. He's never seen a senior with such a fast wand reaction while in the middle of a disaster. Neither had he seen a student conjure two spells (a protective and a defensive one) at the same time with such expertise.
How did she do that? And why was she pretending that it hadn't been her? She might have just saved her friend from a very painful experience. Why would she want to hide that?
"Everyone involved in this unpleasant scene please head to the infirmary at once. I want to be sure no one got hurt by your terrible display of discipline. Or rather your lack of it" He said with a cold voice and harsh eyes. "10 points will be deducted from each house. Dismissed!"
He wanted to talk to her, to let her know that he knew. He knew what she had done. He wanted to ask how she did it and when or where she learned how to do it. He wanted to… god, he didn't even know.
But she was gone before he could say anything. In fact the whole class disappeared almost instantly after his last words. "Good", he thought. They will learn the lesson and never repeat that again.
He would have time to talk to the girl later. In fact it would be a good idea to keep an eye on her, maybe check her Ilvermorny grades. It all had an explanation, he was sure. Rey Niima (as he found out by the roll call) was probably a prodigy. Or maybe it was just a one time adrenaline boost.
Either way, one thing he knew for sure: he couldn't ignore Rey.
No matter how much he wanted to.