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september 1st, 1996.
NOVANA SOLARR HADBECOME familiar with the corridors. she had become familiar with the stairs, so familiar in fact that she was even able to predict which way they would move next. she had become familiar with the teachers, and the library, and the ghosts that roamed the castle, and especially familiar with the students she had known for the last five years.
novana was, though, not yet familiar with the seed of fear that had planted itself in her stomach, blossoming every time someone mentioned anything regarding you-know-who in a hushed undertone.
she waved it off as nothing more than exam stress; this was her first year sitting at N.E.W.T. level, that had to bring some kind of nervousness along with it, surely? yes, she had thought. that was why she had felt a bubble of anxiety in her stomach for the last three months, the new abundance of coursework she was soon to face must have been the root of it all.
it had, she half-heartedly convinced herself, absolutely nothing to do with her brother. after all, she had no brother anymore. nova was the sole child of the solarr name, according to her parents, anyway.
nova blinked, her green eyes coming back into focus. she looked around, the faces of three familiar students from the slytherin house table looking back at her, waiting in response.
"what did you say?" she asked, picking up her fork.
"i asked," started odeya sayre, her brown hair glinting in the flickering light from one of the candles. "if you think lupin will last the year again."
"why wouldn't he?" nova asked through a mouthful of roast chicken.
"obvious, innit?" spoke jacob nawaro from the other side of the table, his mouth also full of what looked to be mashed potato. "job's hexed. nobody's lasted more than a year, i'm shocked lupin's still standing."
humming in agreement, nova picked up her goblet and took a sip. they did seem to run through defence against the dark arts teachers at an alarming rate; nova could remember five different teachers in each of her five years at hogwarts, and was highly surprised there hadn't been a new member of staff in the defence against the dark arts position announced accordingly.
"maybe he's broke the hex," said olive crain, tucking a stray piece of her blonde hair behind her ear, craning her neck to look behind her at the staff table, as if to confirm lupin was still sitting there and hadn't disappeared in the last thirty seconds. "finally the right person for the job."
"he's the best one yet," nova nodded. "the only bloke that can actually teach."
"snape's not that bad," said odeya. "bit creepy, to be fair."
"at least he picks on the gryffindors." jacob said, half snide and half sarcastic.
"harry doesn't half get bullied, though. it's like snape's trying to make him kill himself."
