A/N: Written for the Collect the Cards Challenge: char: Herbert Beery, prompts: fleeting, sunshine

Also written for the 10,000 challenge: 300 words and "If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it. If you don't ask, the answer is always no. If you don't step forward, you're always in the same place." ― Nora Roberts

Herbert Beery's Last Lesson

Herbert Beery was a Master in Herbology, but his true interests lay in dramatics. It was a well-known fact, as his classes were often brightened by amateurish antics that tickled a great many of his students. While there were some – disgruntled Ravenclaws being the majority and scorning Slytherins the rest – who frowned upon his lively classes, the rest were much appreciative of his passion. After all, it more so than the knowledge they gained made standing in the baking greenhouses, complete with its magically eternal sunshine, worthwhile.

So when he announced his resignation one May, his students were upset. There was no teacher like him, and they were sure whoever replaced him as the Herbology teacher would not liven up proceedings nearly as much as him. But Herbert explained that his passions lay elsewhere, and while he had enjoyed the many years he had spent as a teacher it was time to move on.

There was a hole, he explained. A hole that grew when one was not entirely satisfied, and he knew the reason behind his. For it was in human nature – Muggle or Wizard – to dream and pursue those dreams, and he was getting on in his years. Life was a fleeting passage after all, and he for one had no intention of forever haunting Hogwarts' long-standing halls.

And so he left the school, disappearing without a trace for many of them, until his past students graduated and pursued careers of their own. Some remembered his love for drama; others were drawn from their Muggle roots, but many of them found their way, for whatever reason, to the Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts.

If they did not take stock of Herbet's words in his parting speech, they did so upon seeing him shine brighter than they'd ever seen.