12.23.2021

We were back in our classroom watching the students pour in when Dolores decided to bring up Trelawny's class evaluation. 

"I hope you know that only by actively searching for a reason to fire them I can cover all my bases," she said causing me to bit my tongue. Hard. Looking over at me she finally decided to ask what was on her mind, "Why did you stand up for her?" She asked and I shrugged

"Oracles can rarely, if ever remember what they saw, and they certainly never see on command, if that were the case, I'd command them all to never see again. Looking into the future, is never a good idea, and a cryptic poem with a bunch of possible meanings is worse than not knowing anything at all." Dolores looked at me for a minute before nodding and turning to the class,

"Take out your books and read chapter two," she told them, the kids looked at me and I nodded so they groaned, but did as they were told.

This was the compromise Dolores came up with, the kids would sit with her for a few first lessons to cover the basics, then we would switch class times, me doing the interactive practice and Dolores doing the boring bookwork. But until they covered the basics I was stuck splitting class 50/50 with her. 

Hermione raised her hand, I smiled, "Yes Hermione?" I asked

"I've read chapter two," she said. I chucked nodding,

"Alright, just review it or do something else silent-ish, you can be the class timer, wake me up when it's exactly halfway through the class,"

"What happens half-way through class?" Harry asked

"Hand Potter!" Dolores said scandalized, I just winked at him before closing my eyes,

"You'll see," I said, before slipping into a soft sleep. I learned to do this after talking to the Egyptians, they had a special pillow for it, but it was a similar enough technique. It wouldn't provide any decent deep sleep, but it was nice to sleep without interruptions however light.

"Professor Jackson- it's time," Hermione said softly shaking me,

"Huh?" I asked whipping some drool from my mouth,

"It's half-way through class," she said again and I jumped up, looking at Dolores who had grudgingly taken a seat. I beamed and clapped my hand,

"Alright. Who can tell me in like a sentence or less what you just read?" I looked around. Only Hermione had her hand raised. I paused,

"Ooookay, Hermione," I said and she smiled,

"It was about general defensive theories and their derivation," she said, I nodded along,

"And for the class what does der- derivation? Derivation means?" I asked, a slight smile coming onto the students' faces,

"It's looking at the origin of something," she explained and I nodded,

"Gods that's boring, alright someone take it out of the theory and do it for me," just then more hands shot up and I smiled. That woke them up. 

I sighed as I settled into a seat in Minerva's class. It was another one of these, frankly I was tired of going to these instead of spending my free time in the forest.

"That will do. Mr. Finnigan, kindly come here and hand back the homework – Miss. Brown, please take this box of mice-," I watched in fascination as Minerva organized her class.

That was at least until someone had a coughing fit.

"Yes?" Minerva asked turning to us,

"I was just wondering, Professor whether you received my not telling you of the date and time of your inspec-," Minerva cut in

"Obviously I received it or I would have asked what you and Professor Jackson were doing in my classroom,"

I smirked, getting comfortable in my seat and closing my eyes, yeah Minerva had my approval, no need to be conscious for this class.

"I wonder," Minerva said her words cutting through the blackness, "how you expect to gain an idea of my usual teaching methods if you continue to interrupt me? You see, I do not generally permit people to talk when I am talking." I snickered quietly, opening my eyes as I did, nearly catching Minerva's twitching lips before she schooled her expression.

Finally, Dolores grudgingly agreed to ask questions after class and I fell back into my light sleep

"How long have you been teaching at Hogwarts?"

"Thirty-nine years this December," the sound of scribbling woke me up and I rubbed at my eyes

'Very well, you will receive the results of your inspection in ten days' time,"

"I can hardly wait,"

"I'll see you later Percy- hurry up you three." Minerva swept out of the classroom with the trio in front of her.

I smiled as we made the track towards the forest, I didn't even care that it was for a class. I looked over to Dolores

"I'm going to explore a bit, just holler if you need me," I said smiling to students as I wandered into the forest. Draco squeaked a bit, grabbing onto my sleeve,

"I wouldn't go in there, it's got all sorts of creatures- most aren't tamed, the groundskeeper likes to keep dangers things and they all go in there." I looked at him for a second before facing him fully,

"What's this class again?" I asked confused,

"Care of Magical Creatures," he said and I nodded,

"Alright, so you know that the true pan of nature is in the wild?"

"True pan?" Draco asked and I nodded,

"The Greek god pan- in Greek mythology he was the god of wild places, but in modern times all the truly wild places are gone so pan faded away," I said, out of the corner of my eye I saw Dolores leave, before smiling at Grubbly-Plank, I turned back to Draco, "Well this forest is one of the few places you can experience the magic of Pan, so enjoy it," I said nudging him closer to the class. He looked nervous and confused but let me push him into the crowd 

"Have a good class," I acknowledged Grubby-Plank, seriously what was up with British names? And quickly ducked into the forest, instantly feeling as if I was back at camp. I smiled and let myself just wonder.

Oof I'm late by exactly two hours- I should've put up a warning for lat posts on winter break days. The next two updates will most likely not be edited, because I'll be going on a vacation next week, however, I will try to get them out on time, unlike this week where I put quality first. The Book That Never Happened will also be updated tonight with a snippet of Minerva's class that I took out because I didn't like the flow so go check that out. 

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