The Snake and the Eagle

Chapter 3 - The Staff Room Affair

There were no Charms classes on the first day, so Professor Flitwick showed the new teacher how Hogwarts had changed after her graduation and he informed her about her duties as Head of Ravenclaw House. He showed her the staff room on the ground floor, the kitchens where an army of overly excited house-elves tried to charge them with every sweets they could carry, ending with a tour of the dungeons. They were passing by the hidden entrance to the Slytherin common room when she came to an alt in front of an heavy, ebony door halfway down the cold passageway.

"What's in here?" she inquired pointing at it.

"Oh, that's Professor Snape's office, the Potion Master. I would never disturb him if I were you, unless in case of real necessity. He's not particularly ... ehm ... friendly, and he's in a bad mood most of the times," he lowly whispered fearing to be heard.

"He must be that tall man dressed in black I saw the day I arrived. I just wonder why he kept staring at me in that way. Those pearcing, black eyes have no human warmth inside. They are so cold and empty ... They remind me of two dark tunnels," she thought while she followed Flitwick upstairs.

He took her to see his private quarters which were now going to become hers. His stuff was already packed by the door waiting to be taken away. With a wave of his wand, he summoned the few things still left around the room and put them into a bag. There were only two large rooms: a bedroom, a comfortable sitting-room with a big stone fireplace connected to the floo-network, and a private loo with shower.

"I'm afraid two rooms are not enough for you, but we could see if it's possible to change it with a bigger lodging, if you like," Flitwick kindly proposed.

"Oh, no! I love it, this place it's just perfect. I'll comfortably settle down in here," she enthusiastically said and approched the window to have a look outside. She really loved that place, it felt like a comfortable burrow to her. She especially enjoyed the sight on the lake and the protruding bay window, with its internal window-sill, large enough for one to comfortably crouch on to read or watch outside.

She spent the rest of the day furnishing her new rooms with few essential things. In her bedroom, she put a small wardrobe, a long mirror in a corner, a chest of drawers, a bedside table with her parents' picture on it and one of her wood trunks at the feet of her big four-poster, which had night blue velvet hangings and matching satin sheets. In the sitting room, she put a small desk in a corner near the window, a long bookshelf along a side wall, and a large sofa in front of the fireplace with a red carpet at its feet. Her office was exactly next door, on the seventh floor too, right at the feet of the West Tower. It was a square room, with a slim ogive window, bookshelves all along the side walls, a desk with a tall, leather arm-chair behind it and two King Louis arm-chairs in front of it. She had also placed a perch for her falcon, Silver Arrow, to rest on days of bad weather.

***

She woke up early in the morning to have a ride on Nabil, her horse, then she went back to her bedroom to put away her riding dress and change in her black teaching robes, a crimson hooded cloak with a matching pointed hat, and a pair of black leather boots. She put on some make-up on her cheeks and lips, just a delicate shade of colour to avoid looking ghostly pale. She had decided to wear her beautiful, long hair in a plait and losen it only before going to bed or whenever she was not on duty. She found that hair style gave her a nice image of decorum, as Professor McGonagall always said it was absolutely expected from a teacher. That was probably the reason why she had always seen the old witch's hair in that tight bun, but Alexandra thought she was still too young to wear hers like that.

Her lessons were a success since the beginning. Students liked her way of teaching. She always had a kind smile on her face, but they were soon to learn that her kindness meant no weakness. She was able of an iron fist when needed. They had a first taste of her discipline when, during a joint Gryffindor/Slytherin sixth year lesson, an audacious Slytherin boy tried to curse her while she had her back to the class to write on the blackboard. As soon as the spell left the student's lips she performed a Shielding Spell which made the curse bounce back to its owner.

"I suggest you to pay a visit to Madam Pomfrey, Mr Zabini," she said facing the boy with a satisfied and amused smirk.

From that day on, her reputation of being not-one-to-cross spread throughout the school, earning her everyone's respect, even Slytherin's. Dumbledore laughed heartily when the news of the little incident reached him.

"She really knows how to handle exuberant students. I really made a good choice!" he commented smiling to himself.

However, the worst incident with a student happened the morning she cought Draco Malfoy calling Hermione Granger 'A filthy Mudblood'.

"Fifty points from Slytherin!" roared her angry voice in the crowded corridor, "We don't tollerate this kind of language here at Hogwarts," she said approaching the flabbergasted, blond boy.

That same evening, she was having a cup of tea with her fellow teachers in the staff room when an infuriated Professor Snape stormed in, his black robes billowing behind him.

"How dare you take fifty points from my house for such a stupid reason?" he hissed bending down, a hand on each arm of her arm-chair, so that their faces were a foot apart.

Points were usually appointed and taken away without farther explanations, but we could easily consider that aggressive behaviour as Snape's personal idea of establishing a hierarchy between senior and junior faculty. A still silence fell on the room as the other teachers were keeping their breath in shock. Nobody dared speak. Moody instinctively moved his hand to the handle of his wand, just in case! They were all really worried about the young witch. To face Snape in that mood was like being in front of a starving werewolf. After a minute of astonishment, she calmly put down her cup on the nearby tea-table.

"I think that respect for other people is very important!" she slowly said, defiantly staring back at the man without even blinking.

They all thought he was going to blast her into pieces any moment, when it happened the unpredictable. To anybody's great astonishment, Snape was the first to lower his eyes, and he left the room without utteringing a single word.

"I thought he was going to kill you," said Moody taking his breath again.

"For such a proof of self-control you'd deserve to be made honorary Gryffindor!" McGonagall sighed relieved.

Alexandra started to laugh merrily, soon followed by the others. It was now clear that Snape's behaviour hid his very personal attempt to try her worth. As weird as it could seem, that was going to be the beginning of their friendship.