Seeing other adults at the castle during the schoolyear was a rare experience and not one that usually boded well: after all, for what possible positive reason would Headmaster Black ever summon a parent to the castle? And yet, the younger woman was smiling and cheerful and, other than apparently being a little lost, did not appear to be in distress.

Which meant she probably hadn’t been anywhere near the Headmaster given his ability to suck the joy out of the world.

“They can be a nightmare,” she replied, thinking of her own troubles with the stairs earlier this year. She had been convinced, for a terrible few moments, that she was going to be trapped through dinner with two hungry students but thankfully the stairs had done her a favour and sprang back to life. “I’ll show you out if you like? I’m free as a bird until the fifth years come out of their exam and begin to panic about what they’ve just spent the last three hours forgetting,” laughing fondly at her charges Connie tried not to openly stare. Another adult and one that seemed almost familiar, though she couldn’t put her finger on why.

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MJ made me beautiful