Shifting Gears

[Professor Grace Holland]

Getting the job at Hogwarts in New Zealand hadn’t been something Grace had expected. She wasn’t shy or modest, she knew she had the skills to teach any child how to fly, but she had expected her age to be more of an issue. Settling in New Zealand would be better than traveling back and forth to France so much, and though she had to admit she would miss playing Quidditch, she would be glad to see the sport in a more casual manner again.

Competitive as she was, Grace had noticed that actual professional games brought up a lot of emotions in her. Whenever they had lost, she would feel terrible about it for days. While a win was simply a victory for a single day. It hadn’t been very healthy for her, though she did wonder if she would ever return to it. Quidditch would forever be her one passion, even if her parents weren’t very happy about that.

She had expected them to be happy about this job, as surely they would see teaching as more respectable than professional sports. But Grace was quickly starting to realize nothing would be good enough for her father, not unless she did exactly what he had in mind for her. While he had seemed pleased she was quitting the team, he had made a few comments that made his mild disapproval of her new job known. Grace had elected to ignore them.

Nerves were dancing in her stomach as she made her way through the school. Already she saw a few students that looked like they could be her age, and she knew they were probably only two years younger than she was. She knew that didn’t matter, she only had to teach the youngest kids, but she still felt a little self-conscious. More than she had expected. The school wasn’t entirely new for her, as she had been here with the Beauxbatons Quidditch team a few years ago, but it still took her a little while to find the professor’s common room. When she entered, she quickly found a seat and took out a sheet of parchment. She wanted to write Dominik about her first experiences as quickly as possible. It would be even harder for them to see each other regularly now, but she was sure they could make it work.

 

[Olive Layton]

Up until last year, Olive had spent her entire life based in America, but since acquiring her position as a professor last year she'd finally made the decision to move herself and Leda to a new home in New Zealand. Most of their time over the summer had been preparing their new flat, and it only made sense that her sister came to live with her until she were old enough to branch out in her own direction. Olive had considered that perhaps Mervyn was a bad influence on the redhead, however over the break Leda had been adamant that she and her best friend were going to try their upmost to stay on top of classes, and the potions professor, not one to stand over others ambitions, believed that she would do as well as she could this year.

When Olive joined, she'd been part of a large group of new professors at the school. It had been a comforting thought that she wasn't the only one, although this year it seemed there hadn't been quite as many changes. Just two in fact. Entering the professors common room, Olive caught sight of one of those that had just joined them, although unsure yet of which subject she taught, the potions professor could only introduce herself to find out. Regardless of whether she was busy writing, Olive wanted to let her know she knew how it felt to be new, especially if she was unfamiliar in these surroundings. Taking a seat opposite the new professor, she flashed her a smile on the off chance she looked up at her presence. "I love the shade of your robes. They remind me of Ravenclaw." she stated, laying out her own work in front of her as she spoke. "Was that the house you were in?" She asked genuinely curious to know a little more of the background of the woman.
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[Professor Grace Holland]

Before Grace had managed to write more than a greeting to her boyfriend, someone spoke to her. She placed her quill down carefully before looking up, surprised but glad to see the friendly face of a young woman. She had spotted her at the professor’s meeting, but didn’t know which subject she taught. She was glad the woman had approached her, though. Eager to make at least one friend among her colleagues. Looking at the redhead across the table, she folded up the parchment. This letter could wait. “Thank you. I didn’t pick blue because of that, though.” She said honestly. The Hogwarts house Phoebe was in hard hardly crossed her mind. “I didn’t go to Hogwarts, I attended Beauxbatons.” She said, hoping the other professor wouldn’t hold it against her. It wasn’t immediately obvious when she spoke that she had been to school in France. Her father was British, so her accent only had a slight French tilt to it. He had insisted on teaching her proper English as a child, even hiring tutors to ensure this. “I would have liked to be a Ravenclaw though, I think. I have a cousin in that house.” She paused, smiling a little. “One in each house, actually. Which one were you in?” Then she realized she hadn’t introduced herself. It was possible the other woman had caught her name during her introductions at the meeting, but she couldn't be sure about that. Extending a hand, she introduced herself. “I’m Grace Holland, the new flying professor, pleased to meet you.”

 

[Olive Layton]

It didn't really occur to the potions professor whether or not she'd interrupted the woman, she was just glad to make her acquaintance. Olive's facial expression turned into a silent "Ohhh," as the new professor explained that she didn't attend Hogwarts at all. One of Olive's closest friends had attended Beauxbatons, but she was unsure whether they would have known one another. Jon was so old now he'd turned thirty, a feat she couldn't resist teasing him about. Even as Grace spoke, Olive hadn't put two and two together that she was from France, "Have you been living here long?" she questioned, curious to know more about her new colleague. "You have a cousin here?" Holland? Didn't she have a student enrolled this year with the same surname? "Do you know Rose?" the redhead asked, delighted whenever she heard of more professors with relatives in the school. "I was in Gryffindor, although I attended Hogwarts Scotland." The only reason she'd come to New Zealand was for Leda's sake, although she was glad she did. "Olive Layton, Potions professor." The woman grinned, taking her head and giving it a small shake from across the gap between them. "I've only been here one year, although everyone has been very welcoming, you've nothing to worry about." In fact, she could hardly remember what her life had been like before she'd met her colleagues here that she spent most of her time with. "What attracted you to flying?" she asked. Every professor had a connection to their subject, and although she'd never spoken to Justin about why he'd joined the school, she wondered why Grace had chosen that topic.
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[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace wondered if she was the only professor here that hadn't attended Hogwarts. Presumably not, but it was just another way in which she stood out. But Grace tried her best not to get caught up in her insecurities again. She had the job, she deserved to be here. "No, while I've been visiting on and off for a while to help with my aunt's campaign, I only really moved here for the job." She explained, hoping she wasn't boring the older woman with too many details about her life. "I have four cousins here." She said with a slightly sheepish smile. "Rose is one of them, yes. She's the oldest." There were a lot of Hollands at the school now, it wasn't really strange that Olive would know at least one of them. As she introduced herself as the potions professor, Grace wondered how Rose did in that subject. Her cousin wasn't the most patient, but perhaps she would surprise Grace. But it was too intrusive to ask other professors about her cousin's school performances, even if she was curious. "Thank you, I admit I've been a little nervous." Grace said with a slight smile. "And flying has been something that has enthralled me since I got my first broomstick. I was on my school Quidditch team for years, and then went on to play professionally for a year." She wasn't really proud of how quickly she had abandoned her spot at the Quafflepunchers, though she was glad with her new job. "I just want to give kids that same spark, let them fall in love with it." She said, smiling at the redhead. "What about you? Why did you start teaching potions?"