An American Professor

She stepped into King's Cross feeling very overwhelmed not to mention extraordinarily nervous. Her eyes scanned the station looking for something to indicate where her platform would be and what her train's status was. Platform 9 ¾ was not listed on any of the monitors. In fact none of the other platforms contained fractions at all. She had thought it was an English thing, but now it seemed to be a Wizarding thing. Don't these people ever make anything easy? Answering her own bemused thought she chuckled, no, of course not, what would be magical about that?

Her carryon bag bumped a businessman about the same age as herself as she was walking looking up at the platform numbers. She stumbled a little as she was knocked off balance.

"Oh, excuse me," she murmured. She blushed from her embarrassment.

The man looked surprised, and she assumed it was because of her American accent. He appeared to be giving her the once over before smiling and politely asking, "Can I assist you in what you are looking for?"

Erin sized him up quickly; expensive suit, designer tie, Italian shoes, he was probably a Muggle. She sighed and murmured, "Actually, no, you really can't, but thanks anyway." She walked forward hurriedly. Erin glanced over her shoulder to make sure that the man was not following her and saw that he was staring after her rooted to the spot where she'd bumped into him. Very odd, she thought, I wonder why he's still looking at me.

She shifted her carry on to her other shoulder, it was beginning to feel rather heavy. Erin continued to gaze at the platform numbers, but tried to watch where she was going to avoid knocking into another person.

Well, logically, she mused, it'd have to be between platforms nine and ten, so I guess I should start there. Hurrying forward she observed a rather large family standing between the two platforms. Each of the children had a large trunk similar to the one that she'd had shipped to Hogwarts earlier that week. They had their trunks on carts and we milling around talking to one another, and seemed to be looking around themselves as if expecting something. Maybe, just maybe, she thought, these people can help me.

She reluctantly took her eyes off of the family for a moment to observe a ruckus occurring a few platforms over. Turning back, she observed that now three of the children were missing. Scanning the station quickly she was unable to locate the missing three. As Erin turned back to the family two more were gone. Fearing that she was about to lose her opportunity to figure out where her platform was, she rushed forward to speak to the woman who appeared to be the mother.

"Excuse me, ma'am, I was hoping that you could please help me out. See, I am looking for platform 9 ¾, and I haven't a clue as to how to find it." The woman stared at Erin with an open mouth. Erin began to wonder if she had asked the wrong person. There must be a logical explanation as to where the woman's children had disappeared to, and this woman probably thought Erin was a few bricks shy of a load.

Erin quickly muttered, "Never mind, and forget I asked. I was just kidding."

As she began to move away, the woman said, "Wait…"

Erin turned to see back nervously; she was afraid the woman was going to have her arrested or something. The woman continued to stare at Erin and she began to feel extremely self-conscious. She started to fidget and nervously asked in a voice barely above a whisper, "What's wrong, do I have something hanging out of my nose?" Erin began to wipe at her nose with the back of her hand in an attempt to remedy the imagined situation.

The woman seemed to be pulled from her reverie, and she chuckled nervously, "No, its nothing like that, but aren't you," she lowered her voice a bit, "a Muggle?"

Erin looked down at her clothing and realized that she probably blended in too well with the Muggles that were in the station. She had just arrived by plane from New York and was thus dressed comfortably in complete Muggle fashion. Her sun-streaked blond hair was pulled into a high ponytail. She was wearing baggy black cotton running pants, a black tank top with 'USA' written in red, white, and blue rhinestones, and running shoes. Her black sunglasses were perched upon her head, and she had a Muggle carry on instead of a trunk. She also realized that she was quite a bit more tan than most of the people that she saw, but she hadn't thought that her tan would make her appear more Muggle, yet now she wondered about it briefly.

Erin chuckled nervously, "Heavens no, I'm not a Muggle. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Erin, Erin Worhli. I've just been hired as Hogwarts new professor of Muggle Studies." The woman continued to gape at Erin, and Erin began to wonder once again if she just might have something hanging out of her nose. She began to fidget again, but suddenly she noticed the woman's sons were unable to take their eyes from her as well. What's with these people? she wondered, I've never felt so entirely out of place in my whole life. Erin decided to make the best of the situation and so she pressed on nervously. "So, um, what did you say your name was, ma'am?"

The woman appeared to be again startled out of her reverie and blushed deeply, "Oh! Please excuse my manners, you must think…well, how would I know what you must think?" she rambled. Erin was pleased to see that their meeting was not uncomfortable for just her. The woman straightened her yellow cotton dress and stuck out her hand, "I'm Molly Weasley, and these," motioning to the men on either side of her, "are two of my sons, Charlie," she gestured to the man standing to her right, "and Bill."

The men both nodded to Erin before Charlie stepped forward and smiling shook Erin's hand, "Nice to meet you." Erin noticed that he was almost as tan as she, was about his mother's height and had the same flaming red hair. Erin smiled at him realizing how ruggedly handsome he was. Charlie was still staring at Erin transfixed when Bill coughed loudly. Dropping her hand suddenly, he stepped back next to his mother.

Bill used the opportunity to step forward. He then extended his hand and smiling politely asked, "is this your first time to Hogwarts?" He was taller than the other two, his hair was slightly long, which Erin normally didn't care for, but somehow it suited him. He was rather handsome, but in a different sort of way than his brother. She halfheartedly wondered if he was as much of a heart breaker as he appeared to be.

Feeling relieved to see that they accepted her as a non-Muggle, Erin flashed an easy grin, and pushed aside her thoughts of Bill and Charlie, "Actually, it is, but I'm very excited to be here."

Mrs. Weasley broke in, "Did I hear you correctly, dear? Did you say that they hired you as a professor? But you're so…" she broke off. She seemed to be at a loss for words. Erin decided to help her finish her sentence.

"American?" Erin suggested helpfully.

"No, young. You look like you aren't much older than the 7th year students," Mrs. Weasley started but Bill broke in with a hiss, "Mum…"

"Oh!" Mrs. Weasley started apologetically "I mean you seem youthful, not young, I mean, uh…"

Young hadn't even crossed her mind as being problematic. "Well, I am young," Erin smiled, "but I'd bet no younger than your sons, and believe me ma'am, I wouldn't be here if I didn't think I could handle it." Erin hoped that this little display of confidence would help quell her own nerves, but it hadn't helped at all. "Now, I'm going to be late, so can you help me get onto the platform?" she asked again with a smile.

Mrs. Weasley looked quite embarrassed and a bit flustered, but she quickly told Erin that the only way to get to Platform 9 ¾ was to walk straight into the wall between Platforms 9 and 10. Erin felt pretty skeptical and had a flitting image of walking into a wall and receiving a bloody nose for her troubles, while the other three laughed at her expense. She pushed the ridiculous thought aside and took a deep breath.

Erin must have stood in front of the wall staring at it intently for an amount of time longer than Mrs. Weasley deemed appropriate. Or perhaps Molly was feeling guilty about not believing the woman was a witch because she quickly closed the gap between them and took Erin's hand comfortingly, saying softly, "It's ok. We'll do it together." Erin tried to nod and smile in appreciation, but her face looked more like a grimace. She heard the two men snickering quietly behind them as they strolled purposely towards the wall. Erin was also vaguely aware of Molly whipping around to shoot them both a very nasty glare before the wall was suddenly upon them, but then it wasn't.

Erin looked around incredulously at the huge scarlet steam engine gently billowing plumes of white smoke. She shifted her gaze to take in the vast amount of wizards, witches, and their children. Erin had never seen so many magical people in one place. She realized with a start that, up until a few months ago, she'd never knowingly seen another magical person. Most of them were dressed in Muggle clothing, although not very well. It seemed that the majority of these magic folks did not understand how Muggles dressed. Erin covered her mouth to stifle a giggle as a man wearing Bermuda shorts and a top hat pushed past her.

She turned to watch the many students pushing carts carrying huge trunks, some with owls in cages hooting softly, others with cats in cages mewing pitifully. It all seemed surreal. Erin briefly pondered pinching herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

Erin looked back at the wall she's just come through and realized that the two Weasley men had followed after herself and their mother. She saw that they were staring intently at her, watching her look at the people surrounding her. Giving them one final smile and a little wave, she turned to try to thank Mrs. Weasley one last time, but the plump little woman was streaking down the platform in a blur of yellow and red shrieking. It sounded to Erin like she was scolding someone, "FRED! GEORGE! Honestly, what were you…" The sound of her voice was drowned out by the train's fierce whistle blast.

Erin shifted her carry on bag again, relieved that she would soon be able to put it down, and walked toward the train. She wondered briefly how long the ride would be and if she'd feel like napping. Erin looked again for Mrs. Weasley and saw her at the other end of the train hugging and then re-hugging two redhaired children, a boy with wild black hair, and a girl with a lot of honey brown hair. Realizing that her opportunity to thank the woman had passed, she stood behind a few giggling girls who appeared to be about twelve to wait her turn to get on the train. Erin sighed and thought that is definitely one very odd family.

Erin was quickly brought back to reality when the conductor asked her, "Ain't yeh the new 'Ogwarts teach?"

Startled, Erin stammered, "Uh… huh? Oh! Yes, um, that's me."

The conductor frowned and Erin wondered what his particular problem would be with her. Her accent, her clothes, her age? "Don't look like any teach I 'ad in school." Ah all of the above, she thought.

"Did you have a particular message for me, or were you just planning on taking up my valuable time with insults?" Erin demanded, although a bit more icily than she intended. She was getting just a little flustered by these people and their preoccupation with her appearance and demeanor.

The conductor immediately looked apologetic, "I weren't tryin' ta insult yeh, I meant fer it ta be a compliment."

"Oh." Erin felt about two inches tall. "Sorry for snapping, I've just been getting that a lot today. So, was there some type of message you had for me?"

The conductor scratched his head and said simply, "When yeh get ta 'Ogwarts go with the crowd of returnin' students, that's all I was told ta tell yeh. Enjoy yer trip."

"Thanks, I'm sure I will." Erin reached up and took his hand as he helped her onto the train. She turned around and gave him one final smile before turning into the hallway to search for a seat.

Erin found a compartment with only one other person sitting in it. She opened the door and asked the young man, "Excuse me, but would you mind if I joined you?"

The plump young man looked up at her and quickly turned a brilliant shade of red. "S-s-sure, if you w-w-want to," he stammered nervously.

Erin took the seat across from him next to the window and held out her hand, "My name's Erin, Erin Worhli, and yours?"

"N-N-Neville L-Longbottom," the boy managed to sit out before dropping his eyes and turning red again.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Neville, how many years have you attended Hogwarts?"

He looked up, apparently startled that she wanted to continue this awkward conversation, and gave her a half smile and blushed even more deeply, "Um, this is my fifth year."

"And do you like it?" Erin asked trying to get some information about Hogwarts out of this young man. She felt the train lurch forward suddenly and knew that they were on their way to the school. She assumed that Neville had felt the jolt as well as his face had suddenly drained of color.

Before she could ask if he was OK, he gasped, "I need to go to the loo!" And with that he bolted out of the door and began running down the hall. Erin sighed as she heard other students shrieking, "Get out of Neville's way! He's going to blow!" Erin wondered if it would be the teacher-ly thing to do to follow Neville to make sure he was all right. She pondered this for a moment before deciding that Neville was probably better off without her as she was rarely much help in delicate stomach matters.

"I sure can clear a room," Erin muttered to herself. She sighed and leaned against the cushions of her seat. I suppose I should try to make the most out this trip and sleep as I haven't been doing much of that for awhile now, but no, I don't think I can. I'm too anxious, and excited, she thought. She fidgeted in her seat, wondering if Neville would return to their compartment after his trip to the, what was it that he'd called the bathroom, the loo? Erin giggled to herself and began strumming her fingers on her knee, now she was bored. Picking up her carry on she pulled out a copy of Cosmo and began listlessly flipping pages of the magazine she'd read four times on the flight from New York to London.

Erin looked up suddenly when the door to her compartment slid open and a trio of faces looked in at her. "Can we join you? Everywhere else is full," the redhaired boy spoke first.

"Oh," Erin said quickly, "make yourselves comfortable."

They each flashed Erin a toothy gin and the red-haired boy spoke again, "My sister Ginny should be joining us soon. She stopped to see if Neville was alright."

Erin gasped, "Oh, yes, I know Neville. He and I were sharing this compartment before he began turning variety of colors, mostly green to white." The others snickered lightly.

"Yes, poor Neville," the girl with bushy brown hair sighed, "it's always something with him."

Erin nodded and recognized the three of them as the children Mrs. Weasley had been embracing repeatedly on the platform. "Oh, I knew I'd seen you three before," the trio looked at each other knowingly, "I saw you with your mom on the platform before." The trio looked surprised that the first thing Erin had thought of was their good-bye with Molly Weasley.

"Actually," Ron spoke up, "she's my biological mum, and she's just taken a mothering role for the other two as well. I'm Ron, Ron Weasley, and this is Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."

He looked at Erin expectantly, so she smiled and extended her hand saying, "It's wonderful to meet you, my name is Erin Worhli." None of them took her hand, so Erin leaned back in anticipation of the ensuing questions about her accent, age, and appearance, but it was Ron and Hermione who just gaped at her while Harry seemed to be smiling the first true smile of the day.

It was Hermione who spoke next, "You haven't ever heard of Harry before?" she asked incredulously.

Erin looked at Harry who shot Hermione a glare feeling rather embarrassed and said, "No, sorry, should I have? Did you invent the magic wand or something?" Ron and Hermione continued to gape at her while Harry chuckled softly. "OK, so does anyone want to tell me what the deal is?"

Harry spoke up first, "No, it's really not important. We'll get around to discussing it later, I'm sure."

Hermione and Ron stared at Harry incredulously and Ron stammered, "B-but, Harry, I mean, you're famous, and she doesn't even know it."

Erin could see that Harry looked embarrassed so she quickly came to his rescue. "Look, Harry doesn't want to talk about it, so why don't we just drop it? In fact, why don't we start over from the time that you all came into my compartment?" Ron and Hermione nodded dumbfounded and Harry continued to smile.

Erin looked around and decided she'd speak first. "OK, I'll start. My name is Erin Worhli; I'm new to the magical world, that fact is obvious to you now. I've lived as a Muggle up until eight months ago when I received a letter from Dumbledore telling me what I was, and asking if I'd like a job. Of course I threw out the letter, but Dumbledore was rather persistent, so I wrote back. He explained things to me and here we are. I accepted the job as the new Muggle studies professor. I only agreed to this, as I'll be taking classes from the other professors to hone my skills, as this magic stuff is entirely new to me. Um, hmm, what else haven't I mentioned? Oh, yes, as if you couldn't tell, I'm an American, from Florida as a matter of fact, home of Walt Disney World, surely you've heard of that?" she paused glancing at their stunned faces. "Anyway, I know I've left something out….oh yes, I am old enough to teach, I went to Muggle University and graduated about 3 years ago and my favorite color is purple," she took a deep breath and smiled. "I feel like I got all that out in one breath. So, now tell me a little about yourselves. Tell me about Hogwarts and about your classes. Will any of you be in my class?" Still staring at her dumbfoundedly, Ron raised his hand.

Hermione looked at him and poked him in the ribs, "You are not taking that class," she hissed.

He scowled, and rubbed the afflicted spot. "McGonagall told me I should think about picking up another class, so I have to let her know," he mumbled while proceeding to turn a brilliant shade of red.

Harry, obviously feeling embarrassed for his friend, smiled at Erin and said, "We're all fifth year Gryffindors, Professor. Do you know much about Hogwarts?"

Erin shook her head and said, "Dumbledore sent me some excerpts from a book called Hogwarts: A History, but I haven't had a lot of time to really look at them, yet. And, please, we aren't at school yet, and we aren't in the presence of any other professors, so call me Erin."

Hermione looked as if she'd swallowed a bug. Erin glanced at her with concern and Harry and Ron began to laugh, "You'll have to excuse Hermione, Prof-, I mean, Erin. She'd read that book five times before coming to Hogwarts, so she has a hard time understanding how others don't find it as important," Ron smirked.

Hermione, in turn, glared at the boys and said in a lofty air, "It's quite an informative book and it would behoove you to read it as soon as possible."

Harry interjected quickly to save Erin, himself, and Ron from a lecture about the significance of Hogwarts: A History and then the recitation of applicable passages. "So, what did you ask about Erin?" he smiled.

"Well," she began, "What's a Gryffindor? Do you enjoy your classes? What classes do you take? Do you generally like your professors? Tell me everything."

The next three hours passed in a blur as Harry, Ron and Hermione gave information about their classes, the other professors, their antics at school (at least some of them), the different houses and anything else that they thought might interest Erin, pausing only long enough to introduce Ginny and welcome back Neville, who was looking a little worse for wear.

Erin noticed that Neville cringed visibly when the others began to talk about Potions class and how much they detested their professor. When they got to the topic of Quidditch, Erin noticed that Hermione got uncharacteristically silent. Realizing that the girl must not like the game that much, Erin sought to change the subject, so she asked, "Do you all know which houses your professors were in? Do you think that they'll sort me?"

The five of them looked puzzled at first and then began to argue with each other. Erin gathered that each new teacher that they had had up until this point was at one point a Hogwarts student, and thus had been sorted. Hermione felt that since Erin would be taking classes with them that she would have to be sorted. Ron felt that it was ridiculous to sort a teacher. Only Harry remained quiet until there was a lull in the discussion and said quietly, "If you were sorted were would you want to be put?"