Albert yawned, rubbing his eyes tiredly. It was Saturday morning when it should be his day off. Unfortunately, he was stuck at his desk, having to check the learning plan, family business report, student's homework, and a lot more paperwork. Even though it had only been a week since the school started, he underestimated his student's enthusiasm as their homework had already been stacked on one side of his desk.
"Are you alright, Professor?" A dreamy voice caught his attention. "You seem to be surrounded by Wrackspurt. Be careful, they could make your head fuzzy."
Albert turned around and smiled when he saw a blonde girl sitting on the couch there relaxedly with two house elves accompanying her. "Yeah, I am okay. Thanks for the concern, Miss Lovegood. Just having a headache with this delayed paperwork that needs to be done before I get the weekend I deserve."
"Hmmm…" The girl, Luna, pondered for a second before saying, "Well, don't let the wrackspurt hang out around you for too long. They could attract nargles here too, and they would be nastier."
Albert winced, thinking that it was a warning from the girl. Talking to Luna was like having a conversation with the eagle guarding the Ravenclaw's common room, always full of riddles.
"By the way, have you ever thought of drawing those creatures? You know, so that people could visualize their appearance?" He asked, curious.
"That's interesting." The girl said, her eyes wandering far. Then, she turned around to the two house-elves and asked, "What do you think about it, Mister Inky? Miss Fanny?"
"F-Fanny is thinking that is a-a good idea, Miss Luna!" Unlike Inky who was already familiar with Albert and Luna, this was the first time she met those two. So, being asked for her opinion was a bit too much for the poor house elf. Fortunately, even though a bit stuttered, she could still communicate coherently, making the others understand her point.
"Yeah, Miss Luna! Inky is also wanting to know about them!" Inky bobbed his head enthusiastically, his long ears bobbed up and down funnily.
"Well, since you all think it is a good idea, let me try it later." She smiled when the two house-elves cheered. "I will ask Daddy to send me a drawing book and more painting inks tomorrow."
"Oh, Miss Luna doesn't have to! Inky knows where Miss Luna can-"
"No, Inky. You will not bring Luna to that place yet." Albert suddenly interrupted Inky rudely, staring at him sternly. "You know the first time I went there with you, right? Do you think if something like that happened again, she could handle it?"
Inky who was caught off guard then realized the problem. What Inky and Albert talked about was the requirement room on the seventh floor, the artifact left by Rowena Ravenclaw that could provide anyone anything except for money and gold.
The first time Albert went there with Inky, it was because Inky was tired of his shenanigan. The house elf pushed him to the room after asking for something dangerous, hoping to temper down Albert's wild and adventurous spirit. As a result, they were locked inside the room for a full day and a half without any food and water to survive, having to fight against all the weird, dark creatures that somehow lived there. Fortunately, it was on the weekend, so no professors knew about their escapade.
That gave them a lesson, though, to never ask something they couldn't control to the requirement room. And after pondering for a while, Inky shuddered at the thought that if Luna asked to see wrackspurt or nargles, what kind of creatures would come out of that room?
Thinking about that, the house elf could only apologize to Luna. "Inky is sorry, Miss Luna. Inky cannot bring you to the come-and-go room. But Inky promises Inky will bring Miss Luna there when Miss Luna can defend herself better!"
"Don't worry, Miss Inky." Luna Kneeled so she had an eye contact with the elf, hugging him softly. "I don't know what the come-and-go room is, but I trust your and Professor Shafiq's decision. Let's go there if you think I am ready."
"Um." Inky bobbed his head, his eyes watery.
Albert smiled, then chuckled amusedly when he noticed something funny. "Well, since this matter is over, how about bringing Fanny back to the kitchen first, Inky? Poor her, this situation seems to be a bit too much."
When those two turned around, they giggled immediately when they saw Fanny had her jaw dropped, her eyes bulged wide as if it was about to pop out. Actually, this reaction was normal. For a proper house elf, being scolded by the owner and rejecting the request of the owner would always result in punishment. So, seeing Albert and Luna were pretty chill to Inky after what just happened broke her common sense.
"Inky will bring Fanny to the kitchen first. We will prepare to bring the lunch to the great hall, don't forget to eat. Bye, Professor Shafiq! Bye, Miss Luna!"
With a loud pop, Inky grabbed Fanny's arm and apparated from Albert's office, leaving him alone with Luna. Since his office was in the dungeon, Albert couldn't see the sun from there, so he could only cast tempus charm to know what time it was. When he saw it wasn't noon yet, he glanced at Luna and smiled kindly, saying, "It's pretty rare that Hogwarts has a sunny day in September like this. Don't you want to hang out with your friend?"
"Can I just stay here?" Luna asked shyly, hiding her blushing face under a book she just picked out of her little bag.
"Well, sure." Albert shrugged. "But to be on the safe side and not to create any unnecessary gossip, I will invite some people too." The last thing he needed right now was a certain rumor of him being a pedophile.
Albert took out his wand, murmuring something while waving the wand on his hand, making a series of complex movements. A few seconds later, the wand shot out a shimmering light, taking the shape of a majestic bear that shone like moonlight. Luna gasped as she felt the air seemed to vibrate with a comforting power, as if saying that nothing could hurt her here. She stared longingly at the bear until it disappeared from her sight until she released the breath she unconsciously held, feeling a little bit lost.
"What charm is that?" She asked softly.
"It is a Patronus, one of the most difficult charms I have ever mastered. Amazing, right?" Luna nodded at his question. "Before the war against you-know-who, this was only used to protect the caster from dementor or some creatures that would affect emotion negatively. But Professor Flitwick and his student did a good job in 1975, modifying this charm so it could be used as a long-distance communication tool too. Pretty neat, right?"
"Yeah.." Luna nodded once again, still a bit absent-minded. "Do you mind teaching me that charm too, Professor?"
"Well, just like I said, it was a pretty difficult charm, even for me. But I don't mind teaching you that only if you can be the undisputed number one student of your generation at the end of this year, fair?"
Having been expecting to be rejected, Luna widened her eyes, didn't expect the requirement set would be too easy. For a Ravenclaw student like her, this wasn't a hard task to do. "Are you sure about that?"
"Yeah. Don't worry about it. Oh, wait a second. Our guest has already arrived." Albert stood up from his seat, cleaning up the mess on his desk with another charm while transfigurating another couch and table to relax. Before Luna could ask who would come, she heard a loud pop from outside, a sign of someone just apparating there.
"Good to see you, Headmaster." Albert greeted the old man with a smile.
"Good to see you too, Albert." An old man wearing a strange bright purple polka dot pattern robe with half-moon glasses smiled, radiating the kind of 'grandfatherly' aura from inside him. "I have been waiting for your invitation since the term began."
Luna was surprised to see that it was the headmaster who Albert invited to accompany her. However, she didn't dwell on it for too long and suddenly said in her usual dreamy tone, "Nice robe, Professor Dumbledore."
"Why, thank you!" Dumbledore had his eyes lightened up when he heard the compliment. "And why do you think so, Miss Lovegood?"
Albert was not surprised that Dumbledore would remember the name of a random Ravenclaw's new student like this since he found out in the past that with the headmaster's superb memories. The old man would always read and remember all the names of his students.
"Well, for once, the color was suitable for you, bringing the sense of mysterious, royal, inspiring, yet still approachable to the others." This time, Albert was surprised, since as long as he could remember, this was the first time Luna showed her opinion toward fashion, and as far as he knew, it was spot-on. "As for the polka dot pattern that people would find it strange, I think it is good too. At least it would drive away nargles from your office."
"Good reason." Dumbledore chuckled richly. Albert had to give a hat off toward the headmaster who didn't even bat a single eye toward the strange creatures that came out of Luna's mouth. However, he had to admit that in terms of weirdness and eccentricity, the old headmaster was miles ahead of the others. "Besides me, who did you invite, Albert?"
"Well, at first, I want to invite just Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, and Severus. But it would make Professor McGonagall feel left out, and it was unfair to her, so I decided to extend the invitation. And since the four of the head of house were in, if you were excluded, you would think we planned for a rebellion, so I got you too. Who would have thought that you would come first."
Dumbledore chuckled once again, taking a seat next to Luna. "Do you mind if I sit here, Miss Lovegood?"
"Please, make yourself home," Luna answered politely.
Meanwhile, Albert opened up his cabinet to see what did he have, and a few seconds later, he brought a big plate full of eclairs that seemed to be preserved under the warming charm to the table for his guest.
"I have already asked Inky to bring us tea, so be patient."
"Sure, sure," Dumbledore said nonchalantly while grabbing the cake with his bare hand without caring about the etiquette, completely ignoring his image as a headmaster in front of Luna. "No butterbeer or pumpkin juice?"
"It is still too early for butterbeer, and you can just order the best pumpkin juice in Madam Rosmeta's place, you know?"
A few seconds later, someone knocked on the door once again. When Albert asked the person outside to come in, a man with full dark attires came inside, stared at the room sharply, bringing the tense and gloomy atmosphere alongside him. Behind him, an older woman who everyone in the castle feared was there too. The presence of those two in the same room would definitely make any students tremble in fear if they knew about it.
"Hey, Saverus! Good to see you! Come in! You too, Professor McGonagall!" Albert greeted.
"You know you can just call me Minerva, right?" McGonagall sighed helplessly. "We are colleagues, after all."
"No, no! I cannot do that!" Albert shook his head quickly, still with a playful smile on his face. "No matter how old I am, you will always be Professor McGonagall for me."
"Yeah, yeah.. Just do what you want." McGonagall just gave up convincing him to call her on a first-name basis. "Anyway, who is this young lady?" McGonagall finally noticed Luna's presence as she took a seat next to Dumbledore.
"Oh, that's Luna Lovegood, a first-year Ravenclaw student," Albert replied easily, taking one of the eclairs on the plate and shoving it to his mouth. "She wanted to spend her time here, so to avoid any unnecessary rumor, I invite you all to have some snacks."
"So, you mean you invite me just for her?" Snape asked slowly, yet the corner of his mouth twitched in annoyance.
"Yeah, of course. Why else do you think I would invite you? To talk about something serious? Please." Albert snorted, eliciting a chuckle from Dumbledore and a helpless sigh from McGonagall. "By the way, don't you want éclair? I thought this was your favorite."
After a while, Snape sighed, finally gave up thinking of what was inside Albert's head and decided to take a seat too, taking another eclair on the plate.
"No tea?"
"Here is the tea, Professor Shafiq!" Inky suddenly popped up once again with a kettle full of tea and several cups for all of them to enjoy it. "Darjeeling tea for Professor Shafiq's tea party!"
"Anyone said tea party?" The door suddenly opened rudely and Sprout and Flitwick came in without even greeting Albert as if it was their own office. "I love a tea party! Oh, hello, Miss Lovegood!"
"Hello, Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick." Luna greeted back the two professors. "I love your outfit today. Good enough for mobility to work in the greenhouse, yet still look elegant and fancy for you."
"Why, thanks." Sprout chuckled, happy for the praise.
"Why are you here, Miss Lovegood? Wait!" Flitwick frowned, then suddenly glared fiercely at Albert. "Don't tell me Professor Shafiq is being irresponsible and bringing you to the forbidden forest again?"
Albert coughed the tea he just drank violently, not expecting Flitwick to mention this again. McGonagall and Snape who didn't know the inside story just raised their eyebrows questioningly toward him while Dumbledore and Sprout shook their head disapprovingly.
"No, Professor Flitwick, don't worry about it." Luna smiled brightly while drinking her tea. "Professor Shafiq said he would not invite me until I can at least defend myself first."
"Good." The goblin descendant professor nodded grudgingly. "It was called forbidden for a reason, don't test it for a play. And if Professor Shafiq invited you to another one of his shenanigans, please talk to me first or call Inky. At least, the house elf would be more responsible."
Dumbledore chuckled while Albert huffed exaggeratedly, not happy with Flitwick's words. Seeing this, McGonagall couldn't help but ask, "When did you invite Miss Lovegood to the forbidden forest, Professor Shafiq? And why did I just hear it now?"
The dangerous aura radiating from the old woman made Albert gulped nervously as he denied the accusation quickly, "It was just an accident! I didn't mean to invite her, I swear! You can ask Miss Lovegood too!"
Luna blinked a few times when she received the pleading look from her professor before she finally said, "Yes, Professor McGonagall, it was an accident. I was lost my first morning here and met Professor Shafiq along the way to the forbidden forest, so he had to take me too."
"You don't have to defend him, Miss Lovegood." Sprout snorted unladylike. "If not for him, you will not have to meet that asshole centaur ever."
Snape and McGonagall stared at the herbology professor in surprise, didn't expect the polite, sweet, professor to curse someone like that. But after pondering about it for a few seconds, dots seemed to be connected inside McGonagall's head as her face turned red, furious.
"You mean that bastard's descendant is an adult now? And he met Miss Lovegood already?!" Her voice was thunderous, and Snape who didn't know what or who were they talking about couldn't help but be curious. However, he didn't dare to interrupt the transfiguration mistress who wanted to vent out her rage. "What the hell, Albus?! I told you just let Pomona kill all of his family! Now his son is an adult and has the same nasty tendency as his father and living close to the castle, do you think I will let my students go there even for the care?"
"And I have already told you that the headmaster of Hogwarts in the early 16th century made a pact to always protect the centaurs from humans in the condition they didn't do any criminal, Minerva. To kill all of his family members when their mistake was just being his relative would violate the agreement and the magic would punish all of us." Dumbledore said calmly, still enjoying his tea as if he had expected this kind of discussion for a long time.
Seeing the furious McGonagall with Flitwick and Sprout agreeing to kill a centaur family seemed a bit too much for Snape's self-control to not ask. Even though Slytherin's principle was not to meddle with the other business, since this was related to the student's safety, he decided to ask, "Is there anything I should know about certain centaur family?"
Dumbledore sighed, answering, "It was a tragedy related to the Hufflepuff students a year before you entered the school, so you shouldn't know about it, Severus. But you are right, you should know about it too. I will tell you after this, but not now."
Dumbledore glanced secretly at Luna, hinting to the others silently that it was not the conversation the student could hear. McGonagall and Snape caught it immediately, yet the older woman was still reluctant to leave this topic, so she glared at the headmaster while giving a signal that they would talk about it later.
The next few minutes were spent in silence as all of them tried to relax, enjoying the tea in front of them. It was definitely a strange scene here, where four head of houses and the headmaster met in the new professor's office to indulge his request for a tea party with the first-year student from Ravenclaw. No one was questioning about it, though, as it was Saturday, time for everyone to have some rest.
"So, Miss Lovegood, what do you think of the school this far?" Dumbledore asked kindly, starting a conversation.
"It is good!" The blonde girl smiled brightly. "The professors are very nice, and even though the lessons were still pretty easy, I enjoyed it a lot!"
"Typical Claws." Snape muttered sarcastically.
"Don't be such a grumpy old man, Severus." Albert chided.
"What about your friend, Miss Lovegood?" Sprout asked the girl. This was her biggest concern as she thought it was strange for a new student to choose her weekend to be with the professor rather than her peers. "Are they nice to you? Do you have a problem to adapt? Homesick? Any problem with food? Is there anyone bullying you?"
Luna blinked, not expecting her herbology professor to give her a motherly nag like that. She smiled though, liking that feeling. "Don't worry, Professor Sprout. I am alright. The housemates are nice and no one is bullying me. I just don't want to spend my weekend reading the book all the time."
"A fair sentiment which I share too, Miss Lovegood." The charm professor chuckled. "And what about the potion professor? Do you have a problem with him?"
Albert rolled his eyes when his old master pointed his finger at him.
"Professor Shafiq is nice too," Luna answered after pondering for a few seconds. "He paired me with a Hufflepuff student, Ivy Willson. A sweet girl, even if she is a bit shy."
"Oh, good, you are with her." Sprout was happy when she knew who Luna was paired with. "She had a hard time adapting to the new environment and had a homesick several times just this week, so having you might cheer her up."
"I will try, Professor."
"So, you form the pairing by yourself? Not letting your students do it like they want?" McGonagall asked Albert. "Oh, is that why you ask a lot about our students' personality and performance before the terms?"
"Yeah." Albert nodded. "The best way to learn is to have the right partner, so I took the liberty to pair them with the best student that matches their personality, and I think I did okay with that."
"A fair argument." Dumbledore nodded. "Don't you have a problem with pairing the Gryffindor students with the Slytherin students?"
Snape and McGonagall huffed at the same time as Sprout and Flitwick chuckled, knowing pretty well the rivalry between the two houses.
"Fortunately, not. Even though they were not happy, the Slytherin students accepted it pretty quickly." Albert smiled. "I think it is because Severus spread a nasty rumor about me, though?"
"It is not rumor if it is true."
Even though Luna was curious about what rumor spread about Professor Shafiq, she didn't ask, didn't want to interrupt their conversation. It was good to be a part of this conversation, but she didn't want to be the focus of it. Even though she was a bit eccentric, Luna was still a Ravenclaw student, so she was determined to use this opportunity to listen and learn more from the professor.
"So, what kind of pairing did you form?"
"A lot, actually." Albert shrugged. "For one, I paired Mister Longbottom with Miss Parkinson, thinking that they would complement each other."
"Oh?" Snape and McGonagall raised their eyebrows at the same time, intrigued. "Why?"
"Well, based on what Severus said about the girl, she is a girl with a strong memory, yet always having a hard time in a practical session. It was basically the opposite of Mister Longbottom who based on Professor McGonagall's story was very weak in memorizing, but based on what Professor Sprout said was excellent in handling ingredients related to plants. They could and I hope would learn from each other pretty well."
"Good reasoning." McGonagall nodded. "But don't you consider if their personality match or not?"
"Of course, it is already within my consideration." Albert nodded. "But don't worry, though. Even though there would be some difficulties in the beginning, I am confident that it would work."
"Good." McGonagall sighed, leaning her body against the couch as she felt reassured. Then, she suddenly remembered another one of her lions that made her worry a lot. "What about Mister Potter?"
"Mister Potter?" Albert raised his eyebrows slightly when he saw all of them showed interest. Well, it was understandable, considering his celebrity status. "Well, since you said to me that he lacks initiative and had a hard time socializing with the students other than his two best friends and the quidditch team, I decided to pair him with Miss Tracey Davis."
"Oh, her." Snape snorted.
McGonagall who didn't know a lot about the Slytherin students Harry was paired to seemed concerned. "Is it okay to pair him with a Slytherin girl?"
"Don't worry. Even though Tracey Davis is a Slytherin, she is the typical Slughorn Slytherin, a social butterfly." Albert smiled, filling up his cup with tea in the kettle once again. "She will bring him out of his shell, and since both were mediocre with the best student as their best friend, this will also help them get out of their comfortable zone and started to learn on how to do better by themselves."
"Best student as her best friend?" McGonagall tilted her head, questioning Snape.
"Daphne Greengrass, the elder daughter of Cyrus Greengrass." That was the answer she got. However, it was enough to fill Albert's explanation, as the brilliancy of the father was well known for the professor.
"Oh, and I paired Miss Greengrass with Miss Granger, by the way."
McGonagall widened his eyes in surprise before she let out a small chuckle. "You never cease to amaze me with your cleverness, Albert. It really reminds me of all the complaints from Horace that you should be a member of his house."
"Well, too bad he is one of my badgers." Sprout snorted.
What they were talking about was the nasty combination between two of the most brilliant girls in their generation, Daphne Greengrass and Hermione Granger. Even though they both were excellent in their study, those two girls had their own shortcomings. For Hermione, she would always take everything from the book and from the teacher like a gospel, never thought it could be wrong. As for Daphne, while she was more flexible, she had the tendency to always look down on her peers except for her best friend, thinking that she was beneath everyone.
To have them as partners with each other, it was either the recipe for disaster or the miracle medicine that could fix their problem. But since Albert was confident, they all knew it was going to work.
They spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and laughing, calming down their nerves after a long week full of work. It wasn't like they weren't used to this rhythm, but the first week of the term was always the most chaotic period of time. Now that it had already passed, the rest of the year would be easier.
To Albert's delight, the conversation didn't just resolve around the professors. They -even Snape to everyone's surprise- were willing to include Luna too into the topic, and let's just say they were surprised to hear the unique insight from the girl regarding a lot of academic topics. Flitwick even said that Luna was the most special Ravenclaw student he had ever seen for a long time, which was a high compliment from the Ravenclaw head of house.
Without anyone noticing, the sky outside had already turned red, and the warmth of the sun was leaving slowly, replaced by the cold air that any people who lived in Scotland were very familiar with. The head of houses also started to leave Albert's place one by one, starting from Snape, Sprout, Flitwick, and finally McGonagall who rose from her seat with a relaxed expression.
"Thank you for the tea, Albert. It is good." The transfiguration mistress praised. "Unfortunately, I will have to go first. Oh, and Miss Lovegood, I cannot wait to see your brilliance in my class, so don't disappoint me. Farewell, Albert, Albus."
Then, after flicking her robe dramatically, she turned her body into a small cat with her flawless animagus magic and walked away, leaving Albert, Dumbledore, and Luna alone in Albert's office.
"What a show-off," Albert muttered.
"Well, although it had been a long time since she was a student, you have to remember Minerva was a Gryffindor too, and it was already in her blood." Dumbledore chuckled. "Oh, and I hope you will not feel pressured by the professors' expectations toward you, Miss Lovegood. You showed a lot of promises just in a single conversation, after all."
Luna just hummed softly, then shrugged. "It is not a problem. I just didn't expect they would be so nice and so relaxed even with me around them."
"Although they held the title professor and the best in their field, they are still human. There will be a time when they are burned out and need to have a relaxing time like today, so I am grateful you can treat them as normal humans too." Dumbledore smiled kindly. After checking the time with tempus charm, he also rose from his couch, preparing to leave.
"My apologies, Albert. I have to leave first before Fawkes mess with my office."
"Fawkes still doing that?" Albert chuckled.
"Yeah. The bird becomes more arrogant as he gets older, and I am the one who suffered the most." Dumbledore smiled wryly. "Oh, and before I go, do you need me to solve the intruder together?"
"Of course, you will notice them." Albert snorted. "Don't worry, though. I can do the rest."
"Well, good. I will take my leave first. Farewell, Miss Lovegood."
With a quick pop, the headmaster disapparated from outside of his office, showing off his status as the headmaster who was the only one who could apparate inside the castle.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot he is a Gryffindor too." Luna chuckled when she heard the mumble from Albert's mouth. Then, she also jumped from her seat, patting the dust on her robe as she also prepared to leave. "Well, thank you for the hospitality and for allowing me to stay here with the other professors, Professor Shafiq. I will visit you again next time. Bye!"
The once noisy office a few minutes ago suddenly turned dead silent as it was only Albert who was there, his eyes stared at the girl until she was out of his sight. After letting out a sigh, his gaze hardened as with a speed no normal eyes could see, he drew his wand from his pocket and cast a stunning spell onto the one side of the wall.
"OUCH!"
Then, out of nowhere, two ginger-haired boys suddenly appeared, with one of them passed out due to Albert's unexpected stun while the other one was trembling in fear, yet still trying to smile innocently.
"Well, what do we have here?"
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Author note
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