Overwhelmed was an understatement for how Julian felt right now. He had barely gotten back to the castle when McGonagall had approached him with the news that the Ministry was going to be stationed at the school, and all of a sudden Julian was in charge of making sure they know how the school works. Julian was too speechless to argue and McGonagall gave him a tired smile -- that maybe, after all of this, Julian would finally be heard about his projects for the school's curriculum and everything else that needed to be funded. Maybe, he thought, after all of that, it would be worth it to be in charge of their -- visitors.
It didn't help either that the faculty mourned the loss of Hagrid, the groundskeeper, but not enough to fetch his dog from the hut. Julian quietly fed the dog and sat on the floor, lamenting their predicament, as the dog drooled into his lap waiting for its real owner. By some unspoken agreement, Julian had to be the one to herald in the first years across the lake with the dog too, almost as if trying to remind the dog that they both had a responsibility to the school.
But the dog didn't ask to work at the school, and maybe, as silly as it sounded, that's why Julian pitied him all the more. Julian could have gone, disappeared somewhere too before all of this happened, so he couldn't feel sorry for himself in this case. He felt like he was stuck -- not moving anywhere in particular, and doing what he's supposed to do, with little reward except the longer vacations -- and the attacks have made it worse for his chances at leaving Hogwarts after 14 years.
He wished he had used his one day before the start of term to fall asleep, but for some reason, taking care of a dead man's dog was more of a priority than getting rest before the term started.
He was immediately caught off guard by the first day of classes, but he was thankful that Julian from the year before had outlined the perfect plan, at least enough to tide him over for the next few weeks. So as unprepared as he was that day, he only hoped it was a fluke, that he would be back in the regular swing of things, with office hours on Tuesdays and lesson planning on Thursdays, grading on Fridays, and Sunday tea with Professor McGonagall. It made him uncomfortable knowing that he hadn't been able to sit down and really think about his students, and all of the extra work that he didn't ask for meant that his priorities couldn't actually be teaching.
But there seemed to be much more in his schedule than what seamed reasonable -- meetings crossed paths and what were once neatly lined boxes in his planner overlapped. Or maybe he was just going cross-eyed every time he tried to plan something. Maybe he needed a walk, or a cup of tea, or sleep. Julian finally dragged himself from his desk that now served a second purpose of being his bed, and wandered to the deserted hut, tugging the dog along on its leash.
He was hardly paying any mind to where he was going, half-asleep as he wandered the grounds and eventually getting to some place that was no longer the Hogwarts grounds. Julian rested on the ground for a moment, tugging the dog over to where he sat and let him rest on his lap. His fingers scratched behind the dog's ear, his head drooping over the dog as his eyes closed for only half a second, maybe, before being startled by something nearby.
"What the fuck?" Julian's head snapped up, taking a deep breath before rolling over to stand up again, with a leash in the hand that fumbled around for wand. For all the work he had done with Aurors, he had no idea how he'd handle a Dark wizard... in the daytime. He cursed himself for being unprepared when he should have been -- or wandering around to places and not actually paying attention. Julian clenched his teeth, trying not to breathe too loudly as he did when he was stressed, and kept his wand arm up and the dog close to him. "What the hell's going on here?!"
