"Well professor, I was talking to one of the students in the common room yesterday and things were going fine until I mentioned Ms. Leiden, the Ministry official. I know this had something to do with what happened last year, but I didn't want to press for any more information because she was definitely uncomfortable talking about it. I guess I got worried. I checked out "Hogwarts, A History" from the library, but it really didn't tell me anything about last year. I don't want to ask anymore students and alienate myself from them. I'm only a first year, and it's kind of hard making friends when you're new and all. I figured it would be okay to talk to you, being my head of house. Well, I just wanted to ask what happened last year? Why doesn't anyone want to talk about it?"

Enters Professor Bree´s office.

Hello, Professor Bree, I had a great time last term. I´m really looking forward to your classes..."

She truly means this. Arithmancy is something you can cope with pure maths... Ok, you might have to think about your temperament and all that stuff, but the maths do help here... So Drusilla just loves the Aritmancy classes. She might be a nerd? You never can tell...

"Drusilla, so glad to see that you signed up for my class once again. I do look forward to seeing you!" she said smiling.


She turned back to the young hufflepuff, "Yes last term..." she said quietly sighing to herself, "I can see why she does not wish to speak about it... " she said slightly nodding and shuffled some papers, to try and find something... "AH! Here it is" she said taking out a newspaper... she handed it to her it read "Hogwarts Quill" she glanced at the students face and then began talking once more "Well that will fill you in a tad bit although it won't tell you much, I suppose that is why you came to me..."

"Well, where to start? You won't find many students and even staff mentioning the events from last term, I myself really won't say that much, but it's better to know the truth then just take all the rumors that are probably spreading, we lost several students last year to the hands of Lord Voldemortist" she whispered especially the last few words and continued..."well he ended up at Hogwarts and yeah" she sighed "As you may have heard Hogwarts old ghosts are now human... and..." she stopped realizing how much she was saying and waited to see the reaction on her face...

::Erica took the newspaper out of Professor Bree's hand and turned her full attention to what she was saying. She just stood there like a statue taking all of it in.::

::What Professor Bree said was almost too difficult to process. Students died. Sudents actually died. It completely shattered her belief that any school of learning was completely safe. It made her feel vunerable and she didn't like feeling vunerable. And who was this Lord Voltermortist guy? Her mind once again flashed back to the trickle of information she was able to gather. She remembered reading about a Lord Voldermort and a Harold...no...Harvey...no, wait...Harry. That was it. Harry Potter and Lord Voldermort in a showdown that killed them both. But that was at least fifty years ago. Perhaps this evil wizard was somehow related or a copycat. She figured not to ask seeing as how even Professor Bree was hesitant to talk about it.::

::She then quickly scanned the newspaper the professor handed to her, the Hogwarts Quill. She read about all of the precautions that the school was taking, the "listening devices," the dark magic detectors and she remembered Ms. Leiden from the Ministry. She also noted the section in the article where the Headmaster had issued warnings and how those warnings were not heeded and resulted in most of the deaths.::

"So, Professor, if I just follow the rules and stay away from the Dark Forest, everything should be okay?"

Bree attempted a small smile, how to respond? "Hendrik has taken in many security issues, and Hogwarts is as safe as ever... the staff will be here all the time, and we are doing all that we can, of course no one can guarentee anything because different times call for different situations, but let me assure you that, this year looks much more hopeful then the last... plus we have Miss Leiden here as well, who is overseaing some things..." she said with little to no emotion.

::Erica breathed a great sigh of relief. Professor Bree's words were like butterbeer to her quivering nerves and terrible fear. Just knowing that Hogwarts was doing it's best to protect their students wasn't enough for her, but hearing a member of the school staff come out and say it made her feel so much better. With all of the security precautions the school had taken, she was sure that anything would have a hard time coming onto school grounds undetected. If she exercised a little common sense and followed the rules, the danger, if any, would be slim. Erica wondered, though, why Professor Bree seemed quite distant when mentioning Ms. Leiden. Well, she thought, it's most definitely none of my business. I'm not going to mention it. She really liked Professor Bree and she could see why so many of the other students liked her too. She smiled.::

"Oh, thank you so much, Professor Bree. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I feel so much better now. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to speak with you and I'm so happy you're my head of house. And I never even introduced myself. My name is Erica Arbon. I will definitely be looking forward to your first class."

::She handed back Professor Bree's copy of the Hogwarts Quill and turned to walk out of the office.::

"Oh, and I also signed up for the Hogsmeade rebuilding. I hope I'll see you there."

::She turned and walked out of Professor Bree's office in much happier spirits than when she came in.::

Mithos enters Professor Bree's Office "Hello Professor.. How are you? Im Mithos a first year i've heard countless good things about this class, and you of course. Professor i was wondering when do we go to Hogsmead to help to re-built it?"

*walks into the room and walk toward the professor and smiles*

"hello professor, my name is Victoria Latin. I'm a first year and have been sorted into Slytherin. I also have herd many good things about your class. I cant wiat till the first lesson. I hope to see you soon. It was a pleasure meeting you. Good day professor.

*while exiting the room scans around to see if there was anything unique about the room. reaching then the door, turns around to the professor and smiles a great smile*

"cant wiat till your class."

*waves good bye and exits*

"Hello Mithos, I am just fine, thank you." she replied in a gently tone and was so pleased to hear that students were talking nicely about her... "Actually I am just finishing the list of who is to work where right now you can go down to Hogsmeade and read the notice there shortly! I am so glad so many students are interested!"

She watched as Victoria left her classroom, she hoped to see her in her classes...

Alyssa entered the professor's office. "Hello. Um, my name is Alyssa Spader. I just stopped by to meet you." she said. "Arithmacy is my favourite subject" Alyssa added

Francis walked in with a smile. "Hello Professor Bree!" she said gladly. "I am very excited classes are starting soon! Oh.. I wanted to ask you about Hogsmeade.. I just signed my name and I was wondering what sort of help was needed" she smiled.

"I am glad to hear that Alyssa, nice to meet you, can't wait to see you in class, I trust that you had a nice summer?" She turned to face one of her older students...

"Francis! Glad to see your back again, and that you enrolled in my class" she said smiling "I enjoyed having you last year.." she continued "About hogsmeade buildings just need repairing, for example painting, restoring supplies..."

Francis smiles and replies, "Last year was certainly a fun year! I am definetely looking forward this year". "The repairing at Hogsmeade sounds great!" she adds. "Well, I actually saw the notice regarding what places we were going to be working.. and I realized it hasn't had the new names of people who have recently signed up for it. But, I will keep a close look!" she added.

"Professor Bree, I believe we need some bricks to rebuild the quill-shops fireplace," Drusilla says. "I would like to also know can I keep this quill for myself. I´d like to buy it if it isn´t a finders-keepers." Looks at the quill as if it was some kind of treasure. Well, beautiful it was. Exactly right colours even...

After several days had passed, Diana went back into Professor Bree's office. There was barely any students to be seen in her office, except for Professor Bree herself. She felt this was the right time to talk about what had happened over her break.

"Um, Professor Bree? Can I talk to you?"

Bree smiled she was happy to see that Diana had returned. She pulled out her wand a summoned a chair to the desk, she waved her hand making a motion for the young girl to take a seat...

"How are you my dear?" she asked, trying to get the girl to relax a bit...

*She opens the door only to see that another student was in there with the professor at the time.* Oh, excuse me! I'll just come back at another time, since you're obviously busy! Sorry! *Her face turns a little pink as she hurriedly shuts the door*

"Th-thank you professor." Diana sat down. "You see, over the break, I went back to my hometown for the holidays. My grandmother happened to visit my parents. It was nice and normal as usual for several days; some training with my owl my grandmother sets up for me and my sister, competing against one another with my grandmother on some video games she had since she was my age, and many other activities, including those I've done with my parents.

"On one evening however, on a Friday, about a week or two before before term starts once more, something terrible happened. Though my grandmother was a muggle, and knows about my magical abilities before I even know it myself, she sensed that our family was in grave danger. I didn't know what it was then. All she did, she just grabbed me and my sister's hand and took us away from our backyard. Until we were about several blocks away from our house, she explained to us what happened.

"I just had a premonition."

"A...a premonition?"

"Yes dear, a premonition. His followers are after you."

"A-after me? H-how come?"

"I don't understand it myself, but as far as I know, they are going to torture your parents. Or kill them. I know there isn't enough time to grab them along with us because your parents will arrive and park their car in the driveway in a minute. I believe they were starting to gather in the front to attack the moment we left the backyard-"

"I didn't let my grandmother finish her sentence. I dashed back home just in time to find my mom and dad collapse to the floor, with barely any energy to fight them off. Knowing themselves that they are at a disadvantage (they are muggles themselves), they've only managed to fend for themselves for a few minutes by knocking their wands out of their hands.

"My mom saw me and told me to run away- I can't defeat them all, I don't know enough spells, and that we were outnumbered. They fended for me one last time before being wiped out b-by the k-killing c-curse. I felt enraged by it, I wanted to run away. I wished I had taken my grandmother's word for it. I was definitely outnumbered. One of those followers seized me by the chest, and I struggled to let go. The next thing I knew, they've all been blasted several feel into air, knocking them unconcious, including the one who grabbed me.

"When I came to, I was in my grandmother's home back in California. I dunno how she managed to get me from here in the UK, to here in the western US." Her eyes filled up with tears, she could no longer speak.

Bree listened carefully, and intently, she summoned some tissues for the girl id case she wanted them, and gently took her hand. "I am sorry about your loses" she said quietly, trying to brainstorm exactly what she wanted to say... "There was nothing you could do, so if you have guilt on your chest, that you were responsible for there death, I hope that you can see, that a young witch such as yourself could never take on many adult witches and wizards, I am surprised you managed to get away alive." she pasued for a moment and continued "I am shocked by what happened, it shows great loyalty to your parents, and strong inner will, I really would like to look into some of your numbers..."

Bree quickly realized she was off topic and returned..."I am glad you had the will power to tell someone though, getting something like that off your chest is a good thing, I hope that you'll feel a bit better, I know nothing but time heals pain, but I have faith in you, and for now I think it's best your at Hogwarts, we have high protection, and you will be safe, as for the summer break..." she stopped, she knew what she was going to say but stopped nevertheless "I am really sorry about the loss of your parents, if you ever need to talk or a shoulder to cry on, you can usually find me here" she said smiling...

Noel walks in slowly, not sure about whether she was allowed in this office, "Hello?" she spots professor Bree, "Hello. I've always loved arithmancy but i wasn't entirely sure about classes. Where can i sign up? Do you even have to sign up.?" she asks eagerly, feeling kind of stupid for not knowing this.

Bree turned to face Noel "Hello darling, you do not need to sign up, just come to the classes, they shall be starting soon." she said with a smile.

Noel is very happy suddenly, "Thanks I'll be there." she skips out of the office to check out some more classes.

"hi professor how are you i hope we have a great year professor"

She calmed down after a few minutes.

"I was able to realize how my grandmother managed to transport herself, me and my sister for thousands of miles." Diana took out a jade trinket, carved into a pig, that was hung on a red string around her neck. "It is a portkey. Unlike any other portkeys, it is not as closely governed by any ministry. It is only given to those that are chosen by certain magic schools or families. Like Floo powder and Apparition, it can transport to anywhere you wish at your will, except that you don't have to use the fireplaces and floo powder and it is not as dangerous as Apparition. It is also like Apparition because it does not let you transport to any place that does not allow anyone to dis/apparate.

"I have received this trinket from my grandmother, whose grandmother has given it to her. It was not charmed by any magic when I received it, until I was accepted into a magic school in the Pacific region of the United States for the summer three years ago. That time I was attending the US muggle primary schools because my parents felt that it would be better have the education there than to have a British education.

"When I was about to be transferred here by the end of the summer, the magic school chose me and several other classmates to have one their possesions, bracelets and necklaces mostly, charmed by a special combination transportation spell, in case if anyone of us was in trouble, or for other reasons. The reason why they do this is because a few of us were a little late to discover our magical abilities (we were still new to them, in which learning the apparition spell makes it inadequate) and thus, about to become independent young adults.

"Apparently, they've sent out letters to our parents/guardians for permission, which is how my grandmother knew about it. She also figured that those dark wizards might come back for me later if we hadn't gone someplace else where they won't find us." She paused. "I just missed my parents so much. At least I still have my grandmother and my sister."

Charlie arrives outside the Professor's office and waits outside for the Slytherin Prefect... she paces nervously whilst biting on her lower lip...