The following Monday I was still very excited. Today was my first time going to work alone and I would be teaching for the first time.
I went through Black's office into the great hall. As a welcome, Aunt Matilda handed me the Gryffindor schedules right away. Luckily I still knew most of the names.
"Thank you very much, Professor." Lucan said and grinned at me. Lucan Brattleby and I got along well. He was now in seventh grade and I would say also the only one of his Gryffindor year who wasn't a complete idiot.
Jennie cried out loud when I gave her her schedule and she saw that right after breakfast we had class together. I could see how hard she was trying not to hug me or call me Gary. I walked on, grinning.
One of Lucan's classmates looked at me very disparagingly when I gave him his schedule. "Do you have a question, Mr. Williams?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "No, Weasley, I don't," he said gruffly.
"It's Professor Weasley, if I please. In future, you'd better remember that," I said with a smile and continued walking. Well done, very confident response, Garreth, I cheered myself on as I handed out the remaining schedules.
I went to my seat at the teacher's table and ate breakfast, but I could hardly eat anything. After breakfast, I rushed to the balcony in the teacher's tower for a quick cigarette and then went to my office. I took a deep breath and looked again at the pictures I had hung up.
I thought about Grandpa, Caelie and Sebastian one more time before I left my office. I leaned my butt against my desk in the classroom and reviewed my notes again.
I put a cauldron and a piece of candy at each seat. Jennie burst into the room first and hugged me. She had really grown up. "Gary, you're doing amazing. You can do it," she said quietly before sitting down.
She took the seat right in front of me and I was sure she hadn't sat there last year. At least she shooed away one student who was probably sitting there last year. Gradually everyone came into the classroom and sat down.
They looked at me partly skeptically and partly enthusiastically. I could feel the eyes of a Ravenclaw student sitting next to Jennie sticking to me more than they should have. I looked down at my hand and smiled, rubbing my thumb across my wedding ring. Sebastian and I had decided that we would all three take exactly the same ring.
Once all the seats were taken, the fun began.
"Hi, I'm Professor Weasley and, as you know, I'm your new Potions teacher.
I would say to start off together, let's start with something easy so I can see how you guys work." I said looking around. They all looked at me curiously.
"You see the cauldrons on your table. And I want you to brew a Wiggenweld potion. According to Professor Sharp's notes, you learned that last year, so I think that's a good start. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask them. I'll also go through the class and see how it goes, so yeah. Then I would say go for it." I said and smiled at everyone.
Everyone got up and took what they needed. There were no loud grumbles or skeptical looks. I was already pretty proud of myself.
I finished my tea and watched the students scurrying busily about. It wasn't long before the student who was staring at me so uncomfortably spoke up. "Professor Weasley, how do I cut those Chizpurfle teeth? They keep slipping out," she asked, looking at me with puppy eyes.
By Merlin's beard, how uncomfortable. I'd bet gold she knew exactly how to do it. I didn't let on of course, and I hoped that she wouldn't openly flirt with me. She almost undressed me with her gaze, and it really wasn't pleasant. I'm here to teach, not to be stared at by pubescent girls.
It might have occurred to you beforehand, Weasley you idiot, I thought to myself, but well, even if I had thought of it, it wouldn't have affected my decision.
Even when I was at school I didn't mince my words. For me there was simply no other woman than Caelie. There never was, and I was already certain that there never would be another.
I smiled and walked over to her seat. "Fine, Ms. uhhmm." "Dell." "Fine, Ms. Dell, flatten it a bit with the heated blade first. Then you can cut it nicely," I said, stopping a little distance from her.
"Huh, Mary, you know how to do that!" Jennie said confused, causing Ms. Dell to glare at her. I had to grin a little. I knew she wanted me to show her because while I wasn't always the sharpest tack in the cork-board, I wasn't completely stupid either. And so, I kept an appropriate distance.
The students asked me some questions. Some professional, some personal. I didn't mind chatting with them a bit.
I went through the rows and looked into the cauldrons and gave as many tips as I could.
It quickly became apparent which students had real difficulties, and I helped them in particular, which they accepted with gratitude. The first handed in their potions. Of course, the results could be improved, but they weren't bad.
At the end of the lesson, all the potions were brewed and one student who was having a particularly difficult time thanked me for my help, as Prof. Sharp had never helped him that much. Smiling, he left the room.
After the third grade group, seventh graders came. It was clear to me that these were much more difficult to impress.
The arrogant Gryffindor boys also sat down and gave me an annoyed look. Except Lucan, who was grinning broadly.
I brushed my hair back from my face and looked up at the ceiling as the students entered one by one.
I basically repeated my lines from the preliminary round, and instructed the students to brew a potion of the living dead. Sharp taught us this in sixth grade, and since this was only for the students who got good grades in the fifth grade exams, I found the assignment challenging enough.
A few students rolled their eyes in annoyance, but everyone got up, albeit reluctantly, and got everything they needed.
"And so you're going to be a father," Lucan said, coming up to the teacher's table. I nodded proudly. I heard whispers. "As if that Weasley moron can take care of children. He's far too retarded for that," said one of the Gryffindor boys to his mate.
"Five points from Gryffindor," I said clearly. The boy, Theodore Martin, glared at me. "Are you fucking serious, Weasley? You're only a few months older than me, what are you bragging about?" he asked angrily.
I got up, deeply relaxed, and leaned against my desk with my teacup in front of me. "Mr. Martin, I'm your teacher. And I don't need to be insulted or questioned about my abilities," I said gently. I wasn't really a strict person, but I really didn't need to be insulted by such a little asshole.
"What kind of skills? You're the deputy headmistress' nephew, nothing more, nothing less." He said angrily and stood up while I relaxedly sipped my tea.
"Huh, and did the fact that I'm the deputy headmistress' nephew help me brew a potion that regrows my father's lower legs when he lost them in an attack? Did this fact help me to develop a potion that allows you to understand and speak foreign languages? I doubt it," I said, still relaxed, sipping my tea.
"You can do something like that? Um, sir?" asked a Gryffindor girl I used to help with her homework sometimes. I nodded.
"Yep. You can also ask my aunt if you don't believe me. In both cases she know it. I'd be happy to show you the language potion. It's my own recipe. I still have some of those at home.
Unfortunately, the potion I made for my dad isn't easy to brew," I said casually, and I saw some of the students change their faces and look at me curiously.
"I've developed some of my own creations, but I'm not allowed to show you all of them." I added with a smile.
"How do you come up with the idea of developing something like that? Of course, such a healing potion makes sense, but why would you brew a potion with which you can understand languages?" asked a blond curly haired Hufflepuff boy.
"My family is mostly French and Caelie, my wife, didn't speak French but I wanted her to be able to participate in the conversations. So I thought about it and tried a few things. At that point, you had to at least have a rough grasp of the grammar. I have further developed the potion and now you can understand every language. But this version is super complex and time-consuming. And it takes eight of the normal potion for a liter." I said, smiling softly at the boy.
I think now I was on the right way. The mood in the room changed a bit and it seemed like I had earned at least a little respect.
The Gryffindor boys also kept their mouths shut, although they still looked dissatisfied. That was enough for me. They would still notice that I have mastered my craft.
The hour passed and at the end we did the usual leaf test to see if the potion worked. I threw a leaf into each cauldron and if it withered and dissolved immediately, the potion was a success.
Nobody's leaf disappeared completely, but I didn't expect that at all. There really were a lot of good performances. I also praised Theodore when I tested his truly acceptable potion.
I thanked everyone, commended them again for their cooperation before they left the classroom.
I neutralized the potions, disposed of them properly, and headed to the great hall for lunch. I was about to sit down at the Gryffindor table when I realized my mistake and, a little embarrassed, walked over to the staff table, where Prof. Howin greeted me with a smile.
"And? How was it?" she asked me. "Unexpectedly good. The third years were all very friendly and the seventh years only insulted me once," I said, laughing. She placed her hand on my arm.
"Garreth, you can do it. Aesop recommended you for this post for a reason." "Thank you, Professor Howin," I said, smiling in relief. "My name is Bai. Nobody uses the first formal name among the colleagues, Garreth.", she said smiling and took something to eat.
My nervousness was slowly fading away. So far it's been really good. I knew that there would be problems with the Gryffindor group.
Finally, a group of first-graders was waiting for me. We actually only talked about the structure of the workplaces and the various tools. It was good to see students I didn't know who were just as new as me.
It was really enjoyable and they were all very nice. Some were really excited and at the end I gave everyone a piece of candy as a reward for surviving the first day of school.
I went to the fireplace and went home. Caelie was already beaming at me and holding out a small cake. "For a successful first real day at work.", she said and gave me a kiss.
"Did you do that?" I asked amazed. "Well, Gwen helped me with the baking, but I did the rest," she said quietly. "He looks amazing! Thanks darling!" I said and got five plates.
Mum, Dad and Edvin were in front of the house planning the upstairs construction they were planning to do over the coming days. Mum and Dad were on furlough and Edvin would come over to help us whenever he was free.
Almost everything was perfect.
The construction of the upper floor went unexpectedly quickly after they had everything prepared and so we now had a staircase to the upper floor near the basement stairs. They used wood for the most part, and it turned to stone. I liked it. It was nice. Of course, the house looked a bit strange from the outside, with the wooden construction, but I thought it was perfect.
As the weeks went by, I had settled in well as a teacher. The students accepted me fairly quickly and, apart from a few stupid comments from the older students, everything has been going smoothly so far.
Caelie's belly kept getting bigger and the babies more and more alive. I often sat on the floor in front of Caelie and played the lute. Mum said the babies could hear us through her belly, so I thought it would be great to give them a little concert.
I continued to think Caelie was gorgeous. Her skin was even more radiant than it already was, and even if we hadn't been intimate in the last few weeks, I found her endlessly attractive. But the pregnancy put a lot of strain on her body and I didn't want to annoy her with my urges, so I switched to the good old masturbation.
I cooked and gave her all sorts of vitamins to make sure she was well taken care of. I massaged every possible part of her body that hurt and continued brewing in the basement with remedies that should make the birth easier for her.
Because the pregnancy was already putting a lot of strain on her, and at some point what was inside has to come out.
Caelie was obviously quite terrified of the birth and, to be honest, so was I.
Mum helped us as much as she could to calm our fears, but I don't think you can calm an expectant parent's fear of what's to come. So we simply let it happen.