The Lion, The Little Witch and the Wardrobe... or something else this time?

He had summoned Pippa Bennett over for their scheduled meeting. Well, it wasn't exactly scheduled, and it wasn't exactly a meeting, but it was a planned interaction that would benefit both of them. Upon wishing the best to Arthur and Amelia, Wilson wasn't successful in finding another protégé until accidentally meeting Pippa during his check up on the castle. Since then, they had a few very interesting moments and, after a long time, Wilson managed to feel something for a certain person. Arthur and Amelia were different, they were, like a brother and sister, but Pippa... she was exceptional and she made Wilson feel like a person again, which is something he had not felt in a while.

He sent her a message and waited for her in his classroom, the place they would usually meet. He remembered Lupin and his extra classes, the help he was. Now, he had the opportunity to do the same, to help one person, a worthy person, to cope with life. She should come soon.

Her penultimate year of schooling was marred not only by political upheaval in the form of Gellart Grindelwald but also in the sense that for Pippa, life was a lot harder for her. In terms of school, it was much the same The Slytherins were as foul and as loathsome as ever and the people that hung about the castle, guards they were called, were as equally unpleasant. In reality, they weren’t guards, they were just hired wands looking for someone to intimidate. They got their fix from the students and Pippa was one of them, along with the other Hufflepuffs that were as skittish as ever.

Pippa had taken it upon herself to start teaching the younger years what few defensive spells she could actually properly cast. She had learned much under Professor Wilson but there was a lot that she still wanted to try out and some of the spells she’d been reading about over the summer were the ones she considered to be important, especially to her slowly developing arsenal of offensive and defensive spells. She’d read about Grindelwald. She was well aware of what he was capable of and it baffled her that people seemed to forget so easily.

As boring as Binns was, he was a good teacher if you actually listened to him once in a while. He didn’t scrimp on detail. One of the lectures that would have been useful now was one concerning Grindelwald but it all would have been altered, Pippa was sure and what was being taught now was purely for propaganda.

It was to the study room that Pippa had retired to that afternoon and it was there that she received the note that Professor Wilson had sent her. She couldn’t quite keep the grin off of her face at the sight of it. A summons, she supposed. It would mark the continuation of her lessons she hoped and so she wasted no time in getting packed away. She didn’t encounter trouble at all which was a welcomed surprise. Pippa, ever careful on the stairs, trod hesitantly but as soon as she reached the second stair, flew from the already revolving staircase onto the floor which held the DADA classroom.

Cheeks flushed, chest heaving and hair flyaway, Pippa entered the room. The grin on her face was beginning to make her cheeks ache but she couldn’t bring herself to care. Robes askew, shoes scuffed, socks shrunk around her ankles...she wasn’t quite the picture of a N.E.W.T student. She was, however, the picture of Pippa Bennett and that was exactly who she needed to be.

“Hello Professor!” She exclaimed breathlessly, her smile ceasing not even for a second. “How are you?”

Wilson had heard footsteps coming towards his classroom. Someone was obviously running to his office, which is why he raised his awareness, just in case something had happened, although, he wasn't the one do advocate pessimism. He raised his eyes and waited for the door of his office to open. Who, or maybe even what, would enter when the massive wooden door moves and opens the space for it to enter. He had his wand ready, he always did, but he had a certain hunch that the visit would be polite and pleasant.

Soon, like a small dose of explosive, Pippa Bennett entered his classroom, grabbing the air in his classroom. There was enough oxygen to go with because Wilson liked to keep the windows open while he was present inside the classroom. He never kept any plants, though, he did not like them. That was one of the reasons he did nor prefer Herbology during his student years.

He smiled upon the little girl and stood up, going towards her in order to meet her half-way. ''I am fine, thank you. You should not have rushed, Pippa, we have all the rime in the world'', he said pleasantly, ''How was your day? Did you have any trouble with the patrols or guards? Do I need to speak to anyone?'', he asked. ''I suppose you know why I called you here, since it was not clear in the letter, but I suppose it wasn't hard to deduce. Do you have anything you want me to show you, did you have anything in mind that interests you, or should we proceed according to my thoughts?'', he asked.

Leaning over, Pippa yanked her custard coloured socks further up her legs, taking the moment she used to do so as a chance to lower the speed in which her heart beat. For some reason though, she couldn’t brace herself. Her breathing was slowing itself but her heart still thundered, akin to the sound of a herd of animals stampeding across the pride lands. She looked up at the sound of the Professor’s voice and she smiled brightly at him. Pippa shrugged her shoulders and hopped back up to her feet before putting her bag down on one of the desks. She shed her robes and popped the material on top of her bag before pulling up the sleeves of her jumper. Her hands came behind her head as she pulled the hairband from around her hair again and she set about bunching her hair back up into a pony tail as the Professor spoke.

“Oh no! It’s fine, honest. I was, uhm...looking forward to when you’d want me next.” Pippa’s eyes widened a little at the way her words sounded to her ears and she dropped her eyes to the floor, her cheeks blazing scarlet as her arms fell back to her sides. “That is to say...um...well, I...I enjoy this....these...meetings.” Pippa bit her lip and raised her eyes again. She released her lip from between her teeth and smiled optimistically at him before shrugging her shoulders once more. “It’s fine. No more unbearable for me than it is anyone else. The guards...they’re not very nice are they?” Pippa shook her head and hopped over to one of the desks. She sat herself down on it and pulled her legs up onto the top, crossing them and placing her hands on her knees as she turned her gaze back to the Professor. “What did you have in mind, sir?”

She was far too at ease with the Professor. She felt he was more of a friend to her than Reid was at this stage. Reid was doing whatever he did best and she didn’t exactly gel well with the other students her age so she was quite alone. She certainly hadn’t received a letter from anyone at home so she did truly look forward to the meetings she had with the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Thoughts of him made her cheeks flush at times, though no more than usual when she put her foot in her mouth under his gaze. She hoped the meetings would be as few and far between as the ones they’d had in the past; and perhaps maybe they could do something other than practise as they did. Pippa had her doubts - though, no more than usual. She would cherish the time she could spend with him and hopefully prolong or make the time as frequent as possible.

''You always seem to be... messy when you're in my presence'', Wilson said laughing. It was an honest, childish laugh. Pippa managed to awake the child in him. That child never left, it had only been hiding all this time since it did not find anyone worthy of seeing it. Little Pippa Bennett, that seemingly clumsy, but exceptionally bright girl managed to awake that child in him. She had the liberty to sit on his desks, to do things no one else was allowed to do. And yet, Wilson had the need to do the same. And it made him happy. Although, he would probably fall down from the desk due to his height, which is why he restrained himself from climbing on, but he sat down on the floor, crossing his legs. For the first time, she could look down on him, and not the opposite. He smiled.

''The guards are idiots. Incompetent thugs that can impose their power only on students, no one else. If you have any problems, just call me or the Headmaster, whoever is closer'', he said, dismissing the subject irrelevant. He could take care of that without any problems. ''I presume you have faced your Boggart, Pippa?'', he asked. ''If you have, I would like to teach you the use of the Unforgivable Curses, if you would like to. Times are like that. That is something you have to master'', he said.

At the Professor’s words, Pippa couldn’t help but grin. She giggled, bringing her hand to her mouth to stifle the sound, and shook her head animatedly as she tried to form the words to reassure the Professor that she was always this way. She was certainly a lot messier around him but it wasn’t anything out of the norm. “I’m sorry!” she apologised as her giggles continued. “I just...I don’t know.” Pippa’s cheeks coloured and she ducked her head a little. “I guess you just make me clumsy.” She licked her lips hesitantly before smiling optimistically. “Not that, that’s a bad thing! Clumsiness is usually the root of all comedy moments.” She wrung her hands together in her lap and licked her bottom lip before lifting her gaze back to the Professor who had seated himself down on the floor. A reverse of roles, it seemed. She liked it though she was far used to him towering over her. “I’m the tallest now!” She declared with a laugh.

Pippa nodded at the Professor’s words, taking heed of what he said. Though, at the mention of the Boggart she couldn’t help but blanch a little. She brushed it off with a smile but that smile fell away when he mentioned the Unforgivable Curses. Pippa blinked rapidly before stuttering out, “A-are you sure that’s a good idea?”

''Depends on the point of view. If you're an exceptionally tall and skinny man with glasses, clumsiness is just a source of unneeded pain and embarrassment, but it does tend to get humorous from time to time'', he said with a laugh. ''It seems you are'', he replied to her loud observation of his little play. He laughed.

He then took his wand out and observed it, before looking at Pippa. ''There are just three of them. Learning them is, probably, the first step to advanced magic. I do teach them on my N.E.W.T. Classes, that much I am obliged to do, but what I am going to teach you are the tricks of the three curses. Upon mastering them, you are free to call yourself an experienced witch. Sadly, they are a part of our existence and you will, if you already haven't, see or even feel them during your life, that much I can, sadly, guarantee you. Your enemies, whoever they might be, shall not mull over your fate if they have control over it, they will cut it without prior thought. In order to avoid that, you must know what you are dealing with, you must know what you are facing. Although there is no effective way of blocking them, with the exception of Crucio, but that is advanced defensive magic, something we shall learn later on, but there is a way of avoiding them. With a strong mind, you can be immune to Imperio, and with a strong wand you can block even Avada Kedavra. But, in order to do that you must know what those three spells are, their core and their utter being. That is why I would like to being this year with those spells, if you agree'', he explained and smiled at her.