EARLY MORNING MADNESS, tag Ginny!

[Silvanus Kettleburn]

In a few weeks or so, Silvanus would realize that the paperwork that went along with assigning detention was far more trouble than it was worth. That was the beauty of being able to deduct house points, he supposed. In just a snap, you could punish an entire house. If enough points were deducted, the student would have to suffer the irritation of their peers; sometimes that was even worse than being expected to report for detention at six o’clock in the morning.

Silvanus had always been the sort to adhere to the saying “early to bed, early to rise.” There were, of course, exceptions to every rule but he did not have very many of those at the moment. His favorite had been Sunday mornings: long, lazy hours spent in bed with his wife, picking at breakfast and talking and just enjoying one another’s company. The espresso could be brewed with a flick of a wand. Laurie had come along and silly stories and learning to read from the newspaper comics had been added to the schedule.

Pulling himself from his reverie, Silvanus saw the red-headed figure approaching the forest’s edge: Ginny something or other. He'd never had much luck with red-heads, personally. He hoped she wasn't going to pitch a fit. Her detention had been given by a prefect and he’d only vaguely heard the reason before the task had been handed over to him. He didn’t know why the deputy headmaster couldn’t have handled it but who was he to argue? As the girl came near, Silvanus dropped the cigarette he’d been smoking and crushed it under the heel of his boot. With a flick of his wand, it disappeared and only the faint smell of the smoke remained.

“Right. I hope you brought your boots.” It was not much in the way of a greeting, of course, but they were not about to sit down to tea and finger sandwiches. The sun was creeping its way into the sky by then but the woods were still dark and loomed ominously.

[Ginny Weasley]

Waking up at 5 o’clock in the morning on a day where she could have slept in was so not worth hexing Draco Malfoy. Ginny had crawled out of bed, almost falling back to sleep several times in the process, before showering and spending an absurdly long time staring at the clothes she had. Usually she would have just thrown on jeans and a t-shirt, but here in the 1940’s, women didn’t wear clothes like that. After turning her nose up at most of the skirts, she finally just resigned herself to wearing her school uniform with flats. Wearing the uniform (although it still involved a skirt) and these shoes was the best she could manage on her limited wardrobe. After tying her damp hair up into a sloppy ponytail and tucking her wand into her robes, it was time to head outside for her detention in the forbidden forest.

The grass was dewy in an early-morning sort of way, and the brisk air as Ginny trekked across the grounds to the assigned meeting place helped her shake off the last remains of sleepiness. She had only been inside the forest on one occasion, and that was for her last detention, assigned for trying to steal the Sword of Gryffindor from Headmaster Snape’s office. It had been odd that she, Neville, and Luna had gotten such an easy punishment, now that she thought about it. Other students had been given the types of detentions that Filch had been begging Dumbledore to use for years.

A lone figure came into view near the edge of the forest, and Ginny recognized the man as Professor Kettleburn. He was smoking, from the looks of it, but when she drew closer he snuffed out the cigarette and vanished it. At least he wasn’t littering, she thought with a quirk of her lips. Whether she should tell him that smoking was bad for you, she wasn’t sure. That would definitely count as having knowledge before her time.

“Good morning, Professor,” she greeted him, trying to remain as cheerful as she could. Detention with Hagrid in the forest hadn’t been terrible at all, so it was entirely possible that this trek into the trees with Professor Kettleburn wouldn’t be horrible either. It was preferred to torture, or to scrubbing trophies and floors by hand. At least the forest was exciting.

Glancing down at her shoes, Ginny shook her head. If she owned boots then she would have worn them, but apparently they hadn’t seemed important enough to buy. Once again, she fiercely wished for jeans and sneakers. They made life just so much easier.

[Silvanus Kettleburn]

If Ginny had taken the time to tell Silvanus that smoking could probably kill him, he most likely would have laughed. Even if it was true, he was of the opinion that he was much more likely to die by something beastly deciding that he looked delicious and taking a bite. He was rather lucky the manticore had decided to taste him before going in for the kill. He would not have had the opportunity to escort a young girl through the forest. It was something out of a fairy story, only this time it was Rose Red that went strolling with the huntsman and not Snow White. Luckily for Ginny, Silvanus was keeping his knife in his boot unless it was absolutely necessary.

“No? Hm. Didn't think so,” he groused as she shook her head at him. There was a fleeting moment where he considered transfiguring those little slippers into a proper pair of boots for her but this was supposed to be detention, not a holiday at Claridge's. Silvanus had never had much faith in the ability of women to plan accordingly. Young girls were no exception. Rather, they usually tended to be far, far worse. Even the Gryffindor girls, as this one was, were prone to being flighty. They just protested more loudly than the rest. At school, Silvanus had been on the receiving end of said shriekings more than was fair.

“I hope you at least brought your wand?” he inquired, lifting his eyebrows. He didn't give her much of a chance to answer, though. Instead, he turned on his heel and started into the forest straight off. One might wonder why they were allowing Ginny to go off into the woods on her own with a brand new teacher in the first place. Silvanus had not been teaching very long, there was no way he could have known where he was going. If that was the case, however, it would not have been obvious from just looking. His strides were long and steady over the uneven terrain; he certainly seemed to have a purpose.

“So what was it you did, then?” He glanced back only briefly to be sure that she was keeping up.

[Ginny Weasley]

Of course she had brought her wand. Did he think she was stupid? His grumbling about her shoes probably meant that he didn’t think her very capable, at least. Ginny wasn’t the type of girl to spend hours on her hair and makeup, which should have been fairly obvious from her clean face and quickly tied back hair. She nodded in response to the new query, not trusting herself to not let her mild annoyance show in her tone. Well, she’d have to prove to him that she wasn’t useless during this detention.

“I was dueling a Slytherin in the hallways,” she answered honestly, unable to keep a small smile from flickering across her face as she remembered Malfoy yelling and covering his head from the Bat-Bogey’s attacking him. “A Slytherin prefect witnessed it, unfortunately.”

Off Professor Kettleburn went into the forest, and Ginny followed not more than a half-pace behind. Briefly, the thought of Aragog and his colony of acromantulas crossed her mind, and she was torn between wanting to see the spider from a distance, and not see it at all. Aragog had become rather famous from all the stories Ron had told about how he was nearly devoured. How in the world had Riddle convinced the teachers that an acromantula had petrified people? How blind were the teachers, especially the former Care of Magical Creatures professor? That very well could be the reason why the position had opened up and Professor Kettleburn was here now.

“Professor,” she asked, wondering if maybe this would be the perfect opportunity to start incriminating Riddle. “Do you know anything about acromantulas? They don’t petrify people, do they?”

[Silvanus Kettleburn]

Silvanus was not really the sort of person to give anyone the benefit of the doubt. He judged everyone, though, so it couldn't really be any sort of prejudice, right? It was more arrogance, plain and simple, and a minor disdain for all human existence. The problems only came when people decided to make it personal and take offense. Which everyone did, so of course Silvanus felt the need to defend himself right back. It was an unending loop of arrogance and idiocy.

“Dueling a Slytherin?” he repeated, grinning broadly despite himself. It was lucky he was busy walking, several strides ahead of the girl already, or she'd see him doing it. Silvanus had gotten into his fair share of fights with Slytherins at school, if one was being perfectly frank. He actually wasn't a very good role model for his students, all told. His only excuse was that he'd never planned on being one. He thought he might have done all right as a father but it was not his job to be father to these children. And in any case, there had been Lucia to keep him from doing anything stupid. Here, he had free reign. Probably not the best thing.

“Let me guess. He insulted your mum or made a snide remark about your blood or your... hair.” He glanced back at Ginny briefly with a raised eyebrow before hanging a left off the path that had been beaten into the ground by centuries of feet. His steps slowed a bit, finding himself picking his way over rocks and tree roots. The air was still dim in the early morning but sunlight was starting to filter through the trees in patches. Silvanus neglected to light the way any further. He paused at the top of a boulder as she mentioned acromantulas, wondering why she was asking. Testing him, perhaps, to see how he measured up? Not likely.

“I know I was nearly killed by one in Thailand and it sure wasn't by being petrified.” Silvanus jumped down from the boulder, grunting softly as he landed. It was only a drop of a few feet but he waited until Ginny had cleared it before continuing, just to be sure she didn't twist an ankle on the way. He smirked as he continued his answer. “Their venom can kill you within ten minutes and you'll be in agony the whole time through to the end. Are you planning revenge on this prefect that gave you detention, then?”

[Ginny Weasley]

With Professor Kettleburn walking a few paces in front of her, it was almost impossible to see his expression as he spoke, but Ginny could have sworn that she heard a smile in his voice. The only people who would grin at the thought of hexing Slytherins seemed to be Gryffindors- Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs sometimes applauded, other times just kept to themselves. It wasn’t guaranteed that Kettleburn had been a Gryffindor in his time at school, he might not even have attended Hogwarts, but now her curiosity had been piqued. “Did you go to Hogwarts?” she asked, finally voicing the question. “What house were you in?”

Kettleburn’s question made her pause for a moment as she continued trekking along the path. The words that had been said before the spell casting started had begun to blur into just a feeling of anger towards Malfoy. She remembered him calling her names, but he always did that. He usually always insulted her hair too- maybe it had been about her mother? She remembered being outraged that he dare insult the deceased, but was that what had set her off? She shook of head to herself. “I can’t really remember exactly what he said, but he was rude as always,” she confessed, smiling a bit sheepishly to herself. “I just don’t like him very much and he deserved a good cursing.”

Her professor ducked off the path to the left, and she followed him without hesitation. During detention with Hagrid, they hadn’t left the path. The half giant had explained that they were safest on the trail, and leaving it wasn’t a particularly good idea. Even though it was incredibly early, suddenly this detention hadn’t become as bad. Maybe something exciting would happen.

“That’s what I thought.” Acromantulas didn’t petrify people, they ate them. Kettleburn jumped down off of a boulder blocking their path, and Ginny followed suit, landing lightly on her feet before walking on. She laughed at his comment about getting back at Riddle. Oh, that would be funny. Unfortunately, spiders were scared of basilisks. Otherwise that might work. “I wish,” she answered, her grin returning and settling on her face. “But I was just doing a bit of research into what happened last year- you know, with the girl who died? Apparently other students were petrified, and the monster was caught. But the monster was an acromantula. It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

[Silvanus Kettleburn]

Silvanus had somehow managed, even at the tender age of thirty-two, to acquire (and master) the ability to be incredibly gruff. There were times when he could, with very little effort, affect the demeanor of a seventy-year-old curmudgeon who just wanted you kids to keep off his lawn. It was hard to imagine what he would be like when he was actually seventy. Or maybe it was all too easy. The fact that Ginny thought (quite correctly, one might add) she could hear Silvanus's amusement just went to show how much that was all an act.

“Of course I went to Hogwarts,” he answered absently. “Gryffindor like yourself. And no, I'm not going to tell you 'good job' for what you did.” There was, naturally, the implication that he was thinking it, however. This girl was rather chatty and he wasn't entirely sure why. One of his fellow professors had pointed out to Silvanus the other day that a gaggle of fifth year girls had been watching him with appraising eyes during supper. He had scoffed, of course, though the fact that he was one of, if not the youngest professor may have meant that she had not been untruthful. He preferred to think it was just the natural instinct of girls to be nosy.

“Hmm, well, I'm sure the headmaster thought of that,” he muttered in response to her musings. Truthfully, no one had told him the reason for the previous professor's departure but he didn't think it was likely to do with the incident. One did have to hope the headmaster knew what he was doing. Then again, considering who it was... well, Silvanus was nothing if not skeptical. Perhaps he would look into it – but in the future. For now, he had other things to think about.

Silvanus came to an abrupt stop and raised his hand, indicating for Ginny to stop. There was a noise just ahead of them: scuffling feet – no, not feet, hooves. “Hold up, now.” There were centaurs in the forest, which Ginny would surely know, but a more adroit ear would be able to discern these hooves as being those of a much slighter creature. With a smirk, Silvanus looked back to the girl and nodded his head, indicating she should come up beside him.

“Now we'll see if you're actually any use.” Reaching into a (clearly enchanted) pouch with gloved hands, Silvanus pulled out a substantial cut of raw meat. He tossed it out, letting it land on the ground a few yards away. The sound of hooves grew louder. “There, just to the left. Do you see it?” Even as he spoke, an adolescent thestral appeared, drawn by the scent of the meat. Silvanus smiled.

[Ginny Weasley]

Professor Kettleburn wasn't a very chatty person, Ginny discovered. Hagrid had always been open to talk about the creatures he was working with, the creatures he wanted to work with, and the creatures he had worked with. The topics had stayed relatively along those lines, but out in the forest for detention he hadn't been above badmouthing the new professors and headmaster along with the rest of them. It didn't seem like Kettleburn would be quite as open about things, but it didn't hurt to try. Having something to talk about would make this detention go by swifter.

"I'm sure you hexed a Slytherin or two when you were here. Were they just as bad then?" She had been under the assumption that Slytherins hadn't really become as bad until the Death Eaters had been around, but from what she'd seen already, they were exactly the same as during her time. It also didn't really help that some of the students in green and silver were going to make up the first contingent of Voldemort's followers, or be the parents and grandparents of future killers. Abraxas Malfoy was the perfect example of a horrible Slytherin- he had walked into her in the hallway, and been so haughty and pompous (not to mention just downright nasty) that she had actually seen Draco Malfoy in a better light. That was something she would never have expected.

Kettleburn's dismissal of her curiosities left her a bit mellow, and Ginny was silent for several minutes as they continued walking. There was still time to try and convince him, or to bring her concerns to the Headmaster. He seemed to absolutely adore Riddle, so she knew that she wouldn't get anywhere by directly incriminating the future Dark Lord. Slowly dropping hints or raising questions, however, might get her somewhere. That was manipulation, though, and she grimaced involuntarily as she realized how Slytherin her barely formed plan sounded. There had to be a better way; it was just a matter of finding it.

Hoofbeats sounded from a distance away, and Kettleburn held out a hand for her to stop. She followed his direction, wondering what creatures they had come out here to deal with. There was a tribe of cenaturs living in the forest, but there were also unicorns and thestrals that she knew of, and probably even more creatures that she hadn't encountered. It wasn't like she was in this forest all that often. After just a few moments, one of the expected creatures came into view- a thestral- and Kettleburn asked if she could see it. She hesitated, knowing that only those who had seen others die could see a thestral. If she was simply a homeschooled girl, she wouldn't have seen anyone die. Ready to lie, she stopped herself, knowing that she had already hesitated too long. "I- yes, I can. What do I need to do?"

[Silvanus Kettleburn]

If Ginny really wanted to see Silvanus “chatty” then she would have to get five or six good shots of whiskey in him. It wasn't anything personal against her, though he could pick out a half dozen reasons for it if she really wanted him to: her age, her gender, her hair color... the list went on. Perhaps she had some French ancestry. It was really quite unpatriotic for him not to dislike the French, after all. King and country and all that. Still, if she was going to give up that easily, he would hardly think her worth her salt as a Gryffindor. Tenacity had to count for something.

“Oh, I'm sure I must have hexed at least a dozen,” he answered, his tone surprisingly mild considering the subject matter. Regaling Ginny with tales of hexing his fellow students was hardly the way to set a good example. He had actually been quite an arrogant git at the age of seventeen but in a charming sort of way. At least, he'd thought so. “I daresay they were just as bad, if not worse. The lot of us were rather terrible to each other. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, Gryffindors can be as haughty, pig-headed, and cruel as the worst Slytherin if they have a mind to be. That's just what teenagers do.”

He chuckled softly at that. No matter what house they happened to occupy, people were absolutely mad from the age of thirteen and onward, sometimes well into their twenties depending on the person. Silvanus liked to think of himself as one who had matured early but he did tend think highly of himself. Mature or not, however, he'd done fairly well for himself at school. It was only once he was older that things had taken a turn for the worse...

“Do?” he echoed, turning slightly to look at her. He wasn't about to ask who the girl had seen die, it wasn't his place to ask such a question. He had watched his grandfather die when he was fifteen himself. That had been the first, though not the last. Colleagues had been set ablaze, torn in two, and chewed on. Silvanus himself had suffered the last, earning himself a personal barometer but losing feeling completely in two of his fingers. Chasing down magical beasts was not a life for someone looking to make it to old age. Rather than go down that path, however, he smiled again.

“Come and make friends.” The thestral was now nosing at the piece of meat on the ground, investigating thoroughly. Silvanus went first, approaching the beast cautiously but without showing fear. Animals could sense things like that and the best choice was to be respectful and not startle it. After swallowing the meat, the thestral regarded Silvanus and Ginny with one bright, white eye. He pulled off a glove and lay his hand gently on the animal's nose.

“There, now,” he murmured in a incongruously gentle voice. “You're quite a beauty, aren't you?”