evergreen • remus lupin

31. latin

March 6, 1977

Selene had barely a moment to herself anymore. Under different circumstances she could usually hide in her dorm room or sneak off to the Forbidden Forest with Remus, but now with Theodore breathing down her neck everyday she was never alone. 

If she was studying, so was he. If she was in the common room, so was he. Meal times. Classes. Everything. He was always there. 

It was suffocating. 

At the moment, it was one of the rare occasions where Theodore was at quidditch practice and didn't make her go watch. She had hoped to see Remus but he was serving a detention with James, so Selene found herself in the library. 

She had no idea what to do with this free time, so she found a random book and sat and read it, strictly for pleasure. She bathed in the silence taking in the smell of the old book pages. She cherished these moments knowing she had to go back to her chaotic life soon, but she pushed those thoughts aside and just let herself live in the moment. 

The sky was blanketed with thick clouds laying low over the grounds. The tops of some of the taller trees and even parts of the castle were swallowed into the clouds. 

She was reading a book titled 'Hogwarts Complete History of Headmasters and Head of Houses' she was amused to find Phineas Nigellus Black in the book, the man Regulus had told her to be his great-great grandfather. 

She had actually briefly met him, or his portrait to be more exact, on a family visit to 12 Grimmauld Place, which was why she was not surprised to read that he was "one of the least popular Headmasters Hogwarts had seen."

She read about his death in 1925, and then moved on in the book to the next Hogwarts Headmaster, Armando Dippet. He was the previous Headmaster to the current, Albus Dumbledore. 

Armando Dippet was Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1925 until 1969. He accepted the post at the age of 288 and retired at the age of  331. He employed a lot of the next generation of teachers such as Horace Slughorn, Silvanus Kettleburn, Albus Dumbledore, Herbert Beery, Minerva McGonagall and Galatea Merrythought, and is still living to this day.

Selene had to do a double take on his age when she first read it. She had heard of him before but she never knew he was almost 300 when he accepted the job, or that he was still living. She thought they must have to update this book a lot to keep it accurate, but she figured it probably updated itself using some ancient form of magic. She continued reading on, 

Dippet was popular amongst many for his dealings with the many tragedies he faced as Headmaster, such as the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, The Christmas Pantomime, and the Exchange visit with Castlebruxo.

During the 1942-43 school year Hogwarts faced a string of attacks that left students petrified, and even dead. Dippet was forced to consider closing the school, but on June 13, 1943, esteemed sixth year Slytherin, Tom Riddle helped in the capture of the Acromantula responsible for the attacks. The owner of this monster, Rebeus Hagrid, was expelled by Dippet and peace was restored in the school. 

Riddle rightfully received an engraved Trophy for Special Award for Services to the School, for the help in stopping these attacks and making Hogwarts safe once more. 

Selene had never heard of Tom Riddle, which was odd considering what a brave act he seemed to have commit. The name sounded familiar to her but she couldn't place it. She moved on to the Heads of Houses at the time. 

Professor Tobias Stump, Head of Gryffindor House

Professor Pomona Sprout, Head of Hufflepuff House

Professor Filius Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw House

Professor Horace Slughorn, Head of Slytherin House

Selene thought how old they must be if they were teaching in the 1940's and still are teaching today. That's a long time to be doing one job. 

She would love to teach Astronomy or Herbology at Hogwarts when she got older, but given her circumstance, it was likely out of the cards.

She read through all the information on the Heads of Houses until something about Slughorn caught her eye. She went back to the top of the paragraph and read it again, 

Horace Slughorn was the Potions Professor and Slytherin's Head of House since the early twentieth century. He was well known for his exclusive 'Slug Club' parties held throughout the year for a select few. Slughorn was fluent in Latin and even taught Latin to some of his students in his earlier teaching years, especially those in his 'Slug Club'. Professor Slughorn is still teaching potions today...

Latin. She knew it was a stretch, just the fact that Remus randomly knew Latin proved that it wasn't an uncommon thing to learn, but was it possible that Slughorn or one of his student were the one who wrote in that book?

She flipped through the rest of the book, and found nothing mentioning Latin or anything like what she read about Slughorn.

She decided to leave it for now. She put back the books and grabbed one of Astronomy that she had already read a few times. She got cozy in the chair and read about constellations for the rest of the afternoon, finally at peace from the chaos that became her life

900 words

very short chapter but it's pretty important

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