Checkmate – Lesson 1

[Professor Elliott Casaubon]

A new job, a new year and a new challenge, that was how Elliot Casaubon saw it and he had spent weeks building up for his first Transfiguration lesson. He felt like a student again, spending hours pouring over old textbooks brushing up on his knowledge and finding new and exciting things to teach the students. This being his very first lesson as a Professor at Hogwarts Elliot wanted to do it right and so with the help of many other member of staff (particularly the headmaster who seemed very keen on creating crazy and quite frankly dangerous challenges) he had created a lesson he thought would be educational and more importantly fun.

The first and most noticeable change with the way he was going to be teaching Transfiguration was that the lesson was not taking place in a class room. In fact it was taking place outside on the Quidditch Pitch.

So that is where the new Transfiguration Professor stood, under the hoops at the far end of the Quidditch pitch looking out over the vast grassy expanse and the random objects that littered it. There were old wardrobes, picture frames, lumps of rock; anything you could think of it was most likely somewhere on the Quidditch pitch as a result making it look more like a yard sale then a sport arena. He had a feeling this was going to be a fun lesson, he just hoped that the students who turned up were alert, awake and most importantly ready to learn.

[Alexis Heart]

Alexis had been eating breakfast in the Great Hall when she heard a classmate proclaim that their first transfiguration lesson with their new professor would be taking place on the Quidditch Pitch. Alexis looked at the source a dubious Ravenclaw with a bad reputation and wondered if this was some sort of trick. What reason would this new professor have to hold class outdoors. Alexis made no comment just continued eating her cereal. Of course she would go check it out but no one had to know that.

After the last cheerio was gone, she got up from the Ravenclaw table, grabbed her bag and slowly walked out of the room. Alone in the hall she started to wonder again why class would be outside. Not that she minded the pitch was one of her favorite places. Reaching the large oak doors she threw them open and walked out into the sunlight.

Students littered the grounds here and there but Alexis paid no mind, she was focused on one destination and she would get there in no time. As the pitch came into view she could see someone standing there. So maybe the little toe rag want fibbing after all. Making it to the spot where the man (she could see he was a grown man now) stood Alexis kindly introduced herself. "Hello, I'm Alexis Heart. I take it you're our new professor. Its nice to meet you. What will we be doing out here today?" She was pumped up and jazzed now that she knew they really were having class outside.

[Professor Elliott Casaubon]

Elliot had expected the build up of students to be slow, the Headmaster after all had warned him that recently students had turned a little lax with their attendance to lessons and it stuck Elliot rather odd how Dan simply laughed at this rather then, as a headmaster should, sort it out! But because of this warning Elliot had tried to make the lesson more interesting for the students and so this was why they would be out in the Quidditch pitch and as he stood in the morning sun he only saw, at first, one approaching student.

“Well at least one is better then none.” He mumbled to himself as the female Ravenclaw drew closer. It also seemed that like most Ravenclaw’s she wanted to be on his good side and know everything and anything before the lesson had even started. At her introduction Elliot gave a small bow of the head and a very forced smile (he hated social interaction, why was he teacher?) “Today’s lesson?” He questioned trying to keep the smile upon his pale face. “I guess your just going to have to wait Miss Heart, but do not worry it will be about Transfiguration”

He was not a comic, he was not even a very light hearted man in fact he was rather cold and unapproachable compared to most of the other hyper and child like Professors at the school. He just could do with more students turning up to try and stop an awkward silence filling the large space of grass.