𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒌𝒊𝒅𝒔 - pjo x hp

xxi. sleepover in the great hall

"𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐆𝐔𝐘𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐃𝐄𝐅𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑?" Professor Sikander met all of their gazes, his brown eyes studying Raya's bright grey ones. "Raya? What do you think?"

"Busted," Elias muttered under his breath.

Raya kicked his shin as some of her classmates laughed.

They had Muggle Studies at the end of the week, and apparently, news of Raya's new favorite teacher had reached Professor Sikander. So did news of Neville seeing Snape in an atrocious dress as they battled Boggarts.

"He's — well, he's much better than Lockhart," she decided.

"Ah, that one was incompetent, wasn't he?" Professor Sikander muttered mostly to himself. "I'll be honest, I was upset that you picked him over me, but now that I remember who you're comparing him to, I feel a little better."

"Honestly, I think it's just gonna be tied between you two for the rest of the year," Raya shrugged.

"I'll take it," he shrugged. "But seriously, I do hope you guys are getting proper Defense Against the Dark Arts training this year. He's the first competent teacher we've had in a while."

"He taught us how to take down Grindylows," Kayse told Professor Sikander. "They're ugly little things, but it was nice to have a practical lesson for a change."

"Eh, I wouldn't mind playing the part of an amnesic banshee again," Thomas shrugged mostly to himself.

"What?" Professor Sikander asked.

"It's from Lockhart's books," Raya told him.

"There's no amnesic banshee in his books," Kayse tilted his head. 

"Well, of course not," Thomas said. "You think I'd actually play the role he assigned us?"

The Hufflepuffs and Slytherins looked at each other in confusion. Only the Gryffindors — who the Ravenclaws had shared Defense with last year — understood what was happening.

"We bothered the shit out of Lockhart," Raya explained. "Thomas and Elias often volunteered to play different roles when he reenacted parts of his book, but they never stuck to the script. Thomas' most famous role was an amnesic banshee, while Elias often played an iron-deficient vampire."

Raya watched as they digested the statement.

"You guys were the third years he constantly complained about?" Professor Sikander exclaimed. "I didn't expect that."

"He talked shit about us too?" Elias leaned forward. "What an asshole?"

"All he mentioned was that there were a group of third years driving him up the wall," Professor Sikander raised his hands. "He didn't say much about you guys — he preferred talking about himself."

"Sounds like him," Dwayne — a fourth year Gryffindor — snorted.

"We always assumed he was talking about the Slytherins or the Gryffindors," Professor Sikander continued. 

"Excuse me?" Kayse sounded offended.

"Not you in particular," he waved his hand dismissively. "But the Slytherins tend to either suck up to teachers or bother the shit out of them, no in between. Gryffindors tends to speak their mind even they shouldn't. Hufflepuff is too calm to actually do anything against a boiled lout like him. And most Ravenclaws care too much about their mark to argue with the teachers."

"I think we can both agree the fourth year Ravenclaws are a little different," Raya told him.

"I've never met a group more excited to pick a fight with their teachers," Professor Sikander agreed. "I'm not sure I want to even know what you did."