Cassiopeia eyed the letter she had just finished writing and reread it carefully. A smile crossed her face. She dipped the quill into the ink again and signed the letter - Yours sincerely, Cynthia O'Leary.
She leaned back on her chair. Ever since her conversation with Tom she had not been able to get the idea of teaching children again out of her head. She had really loved teaching and she still remembered how sad she had been when Tom had told her that he would forbid homeschooling. It had always been great to see the children get a grasp of their magic. It would probably be even more intense with Muggle-born children, given the fact that they had not grown up knowing magic. And it surely didn't compare to showing a couple of aspiring Death Eaters how to be even more effective.
Cassiopeia had to admit that the thought of teaching at the school for Muggle-borns had kept ghosting through her mind ever since, even though Tom had been unmistakable on the fact that he would do everything it took to prevent her from teaching there. She didn't doubt that he had already made sure she wasn't going to get any job offer if she were to apply.
But the more she had been thinking about it, the more an idea had started creeping into her mind. It was probably crazy but definitely very tenacious. If people didn't know it was her, they couldn't reject her.
So she had spent her evenings trying to come up with a convincing cover story, in the beginning simply out of fun but finally more and more seriously. By now she had a good idea of all the details of the life of Cynthia O'Leary.
She took a pile of parchments from her desk. Flipping through the pages once again she threw a last glance at her reports. They looked rather authentic. She had revised her O.W.L. and N.E.W.T grades a little, making them more average in order to not arouse too much attention. With satisfaction she noted that the fake name didn't look fake at all on the parchments. She folded the pile of parchments and put it into a thick brown envelope.
Picking up her wand, she went to the mirror and gazed at her reflection for a moment before she waved her wand at her hair, changing it to black, shoulder length, curly locks. Then she altered her eye colour to a matching dark brown. After performing another few charms on her features she was quite satisfied with her new appearance. She looked different.
Then she grabbed the envelope and apparated to Diagon Alley. The street was quite crowded, seeing that it was Christmas break and many families were enjoying their time together going shopping. Cassiopeia walked to the owlery.
The wizard who was taking care of the mail smiled at her, "Good afternoon, miss. Can I help you?"
"I would like to post this letter." Cassiopeia gave him the envelope and the wizard tied it to one of the owls.
"That's eight sickles, please," he said.
Cassiopeia pulled the coins out of her pocket. "Do you happen to have any post office boxes available?"
"Of course, miss. Rent is 2 galleons a month."
Cassiopeia nodded. "Then I'd like to rent one."
The wizard placed a form on the counter. Cassiopeia quickly filled it out and handed it back together with the rent for the first month.
The following weeks Cassiopeia returned to Diagon Alley every other day, checking her box at the owlery.
Two weeks after sending her application she finally received a reply. When she opened the letter, she felt excited.
Unfolding the parchment she scanned its content. It was an invitation to an interview the following week. A smile crossed Cassiopeia's face.
When she arrived at the School for Muggle-born Witchcraft and Wizardry one week later she eyed the surroundings curiously. The school looked quite different from Hogwarts. It was a plain grey building with three stories. Cassiopeia strode to the entrance and the caretaker showed her the way to the headmaster's office.
She took a deep breath before she knocked on the door. A few moments later the door was opened by a man in his late fifties. He threw her a questioning glance.
"Good Morning. My name is Cynthia O'Leary..."
A smile appeared on the wizard's face. "Ah, Miss O'Leary! I'm Headmaster Horatio Monroe." He motioned her to follow him. "Please take a seat."
Cassiopeia sat down in front of the desk. The headmaster took a pile of parchments which Cassiopeia recognized to be her application.
"Miss O'Leary....I take it's miss?"
"Yes. I'm not married."
"And your blood status is half-blood?"
Cassiopeia suppressed a sigh. Oh brave new world where the blood status was ranking higher than the academic qualifications. She nodded.
"You didn't attend Hogwarts though?"
"No, but I took my O.W.L. and N.E.W.T." She gestured at the parchments.
"Yes, I saw you achieved remarkable results."
Cassiopeia smiled, "Thank you," silently wondering what he would have thought about her actual results if he already considered her downgraded marks 'remarkable'.
"So, I think you're aware that we are a school for Muggle-born students only?" When Cassiopeia nodded, the headmaster continued, "How do you feel about Muggle-born magic?"
Cassiopeia looked back at him, inwardly frowning at the strangeness of this question. Choosing her words carefully, she answered, "I think it's not wise to underestimate Muggle-born magic."
Headmaster Monroe eyed her for a long moment. Then he nodded. "Well, we're always in need of adequate teachers so for all I care you could start teaching here right away. But all our new teachers have to be interviewed by the special forces of our government first. So if you pass that interview I'll be delighted to welcome you to our institution."
Cassiopeia swallowed. "The special forces?"
"Yes. There'll be coming someone of those..." His voice trailed off.
"Now?" Cassiopeia resisted the urge to jump up from her seat.
The headmaster simply nodded, oblivious to her concern.
Cassiopeia tried to relax but it wasn't that easy. The special forces surely were the Death Eaters. Depending on who of them was going to come, her little adventure might just be over before it even started.
"I'll take you next door. You can wait there."
Cassiopeia followed the headmaster to a small room furnitured with a table and two chairs.
"I wish you good luck and would be happy to see you soon." Headmaster Monroe smiled again and left the room.
Cassiopeia eyed the chairs for a moment but decided against sitting down. After a while the door opened again and Cassiopeia unconsciously held her breath.
It was Dolohov who entered the room. Cassiopeia exhaled slowly. At least he was none of the Slytherin gang who had known her almost all her life. He would hopefully not recognize her.
Dolohov took a seat and shot her a bored glance. "O'Leary? Sit down."
Cassiopeia nodded and sat down on the chair opposite him.
"Blood status?" His voice was sharp and somehow accusing.
"Pu...uhm half-blood," Cassiopeia replied.
Dolohov eyed her disdainfully. "What are you going to do if one of the Mudbloods here doesn't behave?"
Cassiopeia stared back at him. The way he had asked his question irritated her, as did the question itself but if she wanted this job she had to play along. "I'll report them."
"How do you react if a pure-blood orders you to do something?"
Cassiopeia resisted the urge to scream at him. Instead she lowered her eyes and said, "I'll obey."
Dolohov nodded and pushed his chair back. "Ok. You may teach the filth. But always remember, no advanced magic, no Dark Arts, no defence. We'll know if you disobey and we won't tolerate it."
"Yes."
Dolohov eyed her sternly for another moment, momentarily looking as if he was going to say something further but then he got up and left the room without another word.
Cassiopeia watched him leave and slowly relaxed.
******
Author's note: There we go with another chapter! Hope you enjoyed it :)