Chapter One: First Impressions Always Last

Raining again. It's always bloody rains when I travel on foot. Cassandra Talin trudged along the soaked dirt path that wound through the forest, clouds swirling above her, their gray drizzle drenching her cloak. What a wonderful first impression I'm going to make, I hope he likes his teachers wet.

Farther and farther she walked in her silent reverie, staring hard at the ground. This was something of her last resort, something she wasn't comfortable with, but would have to do. She had no job now, and had been barely making ends meet for as long as she could remember. This job offered her shelter and food, along with a mildly interesting subject, Defense Against the Dark Arts. If she did not get the job, she was back in the city working multiple jobs again.

Finally, a misty shadow was visible in the distance, looming off in the gray horizon. There stood an impressively large castle positioned near a black lake. It was enough to make one sharply intake breath; the castle sat proudly in the edge of a forest, but seemed to look just as mysterious as the depths of the forest itself. Cassandra stood at the edge of the forest, looking up at it for a moment, stunned. Then she shook herself slightly and began to make her way to the front of the castle. She came to a gate flanked by two stone boars on prestigious stone pillars, and she pushed the iron gate open just enough to slip through it, now walking a gravel path. Her legs were growing weary from the walking, and the rain had seemed to chill her to the bone. She shivered slightly, but told herself to stop it, shivering was a sign of weakness. She lifted her head and watched the giant wooden doors grow larger, beckoning her to open them.

Cassandra breathed in deeply as she reached the large entrance of the castle, unsure of whether she should knock or if she should just go in and seek out the headmaster herself. But before she could make that decision, a wooden door pushed itself open from inside and out walked a tall, dark man dressed in a heavy black cloak. She stepped back and bowed her head instinctively, as if attempting to become invisible or at least unimportant to the figure.

He was in the midst of pulling his hood over his shoulder-length black hair when he spotted a dark hooded figure standing off to the side. His cold dark eyes swept over the person, taking in very little as they were so heavily cloaked.

"Are you here for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position?" asked Severus Snape gruffly as he pulled the hood over his head. He had never liked a single Defense teacher to date, all were useless or troublesome, but he never said a word about the appointments, as he was here by Albus Dumbledore's grace as well.

"Yes, I am," said the figure, lifting their head slightly to look at the person. Severus went blank; it was a woman (unlike the last few), and her accent was familiar, an odd but pleasant blend of proper English with a faint Russian purr. Severus soon recovered from his momentary shock, and he searched her face vainly for some sort of hint at who she reminded him of. She was pale skinned with pouty pink lips and exotic lavender-light blue eyes that seemed to explode with the color. Her face was framed with raven black hair that hung perfectly straight, tucked neatly in her dark hood.

"Err, right. Well, the headmaster is waiting for you, second floor, right wing. I would not tarry if I were you," he said icily, looking away and ahead into the rain. He knew who she reminded him of now, but he was sure it wasn't the same person. He swept off with a swish of his robes, leaving her alone.

I do not like him. He is too calculating, she thought to herself. Far too prying, I can tell. She lifted her head and swept into the castle, immediately feeling very small in the palatial Entrance Hall. She soon realized how easy it would be to become lost in here, and was grateful the stairs were visible from where she stood. She hesitated a moment, then walked to the foot of the stairs, listening to her soft-soled shoes patter across the stone floor, sounding like small explosions in the silence of the hall. Up the stairs she climbed, looking around as she walked, hand never leaving the cool stone rail, observing the moving paintings, and the statues as she turned right at the top of the stairs.

She looked down the corridor, and observed a large gargoyle against the right side of the hall. She walked up to it and observed the stone figure, knowing she would need some sort of password to make it move. For the second time since she arrived, a person walked out of the door she needed into. This was another tall man, with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes and he smiled at her. She swept her hood back as she saw a much older man; she guessed it to be the headmaster.

"Excellent, Harper, excellent, we shall see you tomorrow to prepare for the term then," said the wizened old wizard kindly. Cassandra's heart dropped, was she too late for the job? The man smiled at him and then at her, then walking down the hall, leaving her standing in front of the old wizard who was looking at her just as kindly.

"Are you Ms. Talin, for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position?" he asked, smiling.

"Yes sir, I am," she said quietly. She observed him, a medium-sized wizard, well on in years, but his bright blue eyes still twinkling with life. She felt herself relax slightly.

"Come in then dear, you're a bit wet," he said, chuckling slightly. He gestured for her to step in first, and she did, walking up a small flight of steps and stepping into a room that he had indicated.

Cassandra found herself in an odd, round room, pictures posted on the walls. A bright red bird rest on a perch off to the side, and she recognized it as a phoenix. Towards the back of the room was a dark wooden desk with a single chair in front of it. The man sat behind his desk and gestured for her to seat herself in the chair in front of him. She removed her cloak and sat down in the plush red chair, folding the cloak in her lap. He folded his hands and leaned forward.

"I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of this school. We've been looking for a teacher to fill in for last year's, a bit of a hopeless he was. And the man outside," he said, answering the question that must have been apparent in her eyes, "was interviewing for Muggle Studies professor. Our previous professor has gone to live as a Muggle for a few years to…err, what did he say? Fully grasp their culture. Which put me at a disposition, being short two teachers. Alright, let's begin." He looked eagerly at her, and she waited for him to ask the first question

Snape walked up the stairs, thinking hard about the woman he had seen at the door. He wanted to slap himself for even allowing his mind to think it could be her, it was a complete waste of a thought. So what if she sounded slightly Russian, so what if she hid beneath her cloak? She's obviously a timid person. Or secretive.

Severus had appointed himself as the watcher of the new teachers, as there were so many problems with them. Not a year had gone by that some new appointment hadn't caused trouble, usually revolving around evil. Dumbledore was too forgiving, not unwise, just too trusting. It seemed up to Severus to keep the teachers in line, and he had usually stopped a problem with them, except for two years back, when an ex-Auror had been appointed. Severus did not watch him out of fear and distrust, and the teacher ended up causing a student's demise, something Severus blamed himself for. Now he kept a close eye on them, and he had two to look after this year.

He reached the gargoyle and spat the password distractedly. He heard faint voices behind Dumbledore's door, and knocked lightly.

"Come in," called Dumbledore. "Sorry Ms. Talin." Cassandra turned around in her chair to see that tall man again. He seemed to pop up everywhere. She looked at him carefully, taking in his long hair and black eyes, his thin mouth pressed shut firmly, and his long pale fingers grasping a beige folder. Not great looking, and something in his eyes made her uncomfortable, like he suspected her for something dreadful.

"Sorry to interrupt you Dumbledore, but Hagrid wanted you to read over this, his lesson plan," said Snape, some of the superiority drained from his voice. Cassandra guessed that he respected Dumbledore from his tone, as she had come to respect the Headmaster.

"Thank you Severus. Oh, Ms. Talin, this is Severus Snape, the Potion's master and Head of Slytherin house. Severus, this is Professor Cassandra Talin, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," said Dumbledore with that familiar twinkle in his eye. Cassandra's eyes lit up when she heard that she had the job, and then she remembered that she had to shake Snape's hand.

He shook her hand slightly and then let go, his grasp cold and his look colder. "Right, well, I have to go, Dumbledore," said Snape quickly. He gave her a calculating look and then swept out of the room.

Cassandra watched him leave, her face showing her puzzlement. "Don't worry," said Dumbledore in a reassuring voice, "He's like that with everyone."

"Oh, so I see. Alright, thank you Headmaster. I shall move my things in tomorrow and see you then. Thank you," she said, standing and shaking his hand. He smiled at her warmly and watched her go.

"Curious, very curious indeed," he mumbled to himself after the door had shut.

Cassandra Talin let herself out of the room and entered the corridor, looking at it in a completely new light, like one might study a new house, for that's what it was, her home now. She allowed herself a small smile and then put her damp cloak back on, feeling quite unprotected without it. She walked down the hallway and down the stairs until she reached the door. She was about to push the giant wooden doors open, but a voice rung out from behind her.

"So you got the job, did you?" said Snape's low voice in a silky, dangerous sort of way. She whirled around and stared at him intensely, not liking his prowling, stalking manner.

"Yes," she said shortly, and pushed the door open.

"Some say the job is jinxed," he said in a would-be casual way if it were not for his piercing eyes.

"I don't believe in luck or jinxes," she stated and left the castle abruptly. He stared at the door with a menacing manner, then twirled and stalked off to his dungeons, thinking that he had underestimated her willpower.

I reiterate, she thought, I do not like that man. She shook her head slightly at the prospect of spending an entire year as a colleague with him, and tried not to think about it. She instead began to listen to the crunch of gravel beneath her shoes and thought of the long walk back to the Hogsmeade hotel as the rain poured over her head. She soon found solace within the forest once again.