"Oh bloody hell, what shall I do with you, Charlie?" Professor Jordan scratched the back of the Irish Wolfhound's head. "Would you like to go for a run?" The dog stood up, wagging its tail. "I will change my clothes and we'll hit the path around Kensington and Hyde Park. Professor Jordan's flat was near Bayswater Rd in Paddington. Kensington Palace and the Royal Albert Hall were a mere hop, skip and a jump from his home. He would often go for a run with Charlie around the Park. One lap is roughly four miles and one time, they made five laps around the park.<br/><br/>Within minutes, Professor Jordan changed into a pair of navy blue Adidas running shorts, running shoes and a yellow London Titans football jersey. Bonnie Prince Charlie followed the Hogwarts professor out-of-doors. They trotted across the street and found themselves headed west along Bayswater. Next, a turn at Kennsington Palace Gardens and across the back of the palace. They couldn't see much of the palace with the high hedgerow concealing everything. Shortly after turning east on Kensington, Tyre passed an entrance. The King's Guards operated the portal, dressed smartly in crimson and black. They remained frozen, like statues. Previous, the regiment guarding the palace had been The Queen's Guard, up until the death of the Queen Mother in 2016. But since William was coronated in 2017 after his father Charles abdicated, the regiment had been known as the King's Guard. William's son, George at age 5, was next in line of succession to the throne.<br/><br/>Professor Jordan was always amazed at the level of discipline of the King's Guards. They reminded him of the stone warriors who guarded Hogwarts. He'd never seen them active, but heard they were quite busy during the last wizarding war.<br/><br/>At West Carriage Rd., Professor Jordan and Bonnie Prince Charlie turned into Hyde Park and headed for South Carriage Rd, eventually running north along Park Lane and back home to his flat in Paddington. Tyre would take a shower and prepare for dinner and a concert at the Royal Festive Hall. The London Philharmonic was performing and Professor Jordan was quite interested in seeing them. In his opinion, the concert was always a pleasurable experience.<br/><br/>For dinner, Professor Jordan had invited a friend, Nathalie Woodbridge of Brent Park. Nathalie had also attended Hogwarts with Tyre, a Slytherin of course. They had been friends forever and maintained close ties, but never any sign of romance.<br/><br/>Professor Jordan dressed in a dark Armani suit with black bow tie. He hailed a cab to meet Ms. Woodbridge at<span style="font-style: italic">The Cut</span>near Southwark. They planned to walk to the Royal Festive Hall from the restaurant. At no time during the evening's affair did Professor Jordan think once of Hogwarts or the upcoming school year. It was his summer break and he took full advantage of it.<br/><br/><br/><br/>As Professor Jordan considered his evening with a friend, the clouds apparently had other plans. A deluge of rain splashed upon the pavement and brownstones in Paddington as well as all of London. Fortunately, he considered an umbrella prior stepping near the curb on Bayswater. He hailed the taxi and rode less than three miles past Buckingham Palace, Westminster, and Big Ben, then across the River Thames at Waterloo station. The rain appeared to intensify, the skies darkened. Tyre Jordan felt a bit uneasy about the storm. The skies gave off that pea green color associated with terrific summer storms, definitely unsettling.<br/><br/>When Professor Jordan arrived, Nathalie Woodbridge waited in the dry comfort of the restaurant. The couple enjoyed a quiet dinner listening to soft violin music while two performers presented a series of spirited one-act plays. The couple was mildly amused by their performance and when dinner was complete, they hailed another taxi in the rain and rode the brief half-mile distance to Royal Festive Hall. "It would have been a nice evening to walk, if the rain held out a while longer," Professor Jordan smiled.<br/><br/>"Tyre, I do not understand this rain. It came on all of a sudden. I was under the impression we would have warm, sunny skies the next three days. This is quite peculiar," Nathalie responded.<br/><br/>"Madame, not too unlikely to fetch us a squall like this, tis time a yeah," the taxi driver announced in a thick cockney accent. He stopped the taxi near the Royal Hall.<br/><br/>Upon alighting from the cab, Tyre paid the man in pounds. The couple quickly walked inside to find their seats in the auditorium. They listened to a wonderful performance by the London Philharmonic Symphony.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="360" width="640"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/mqOY-02XAFk"/><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/><embed height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/v/mqOY-02XAFk" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" wmode="transparent"/></object></div><br/><br/>"I've always enjoyed Mendelssohn. They rendered a smashing performance of that piece, wouldn't you agree?" Professor Jordan was excited about the musical display they witnessed. He forgot about the weather after being inside for two hours. He was annoyed it was still raining. They shared the taxi ride home, dropping Ms. Woodbridge at her flat before returning to Paddington.<br/><br/>The next morning, the skies were clear and Professor Jordan made ready to travel to Diagon Alley. He planned to bring Sir Charles Leslie with him. For that reason, he opted to walk. It is a distance just under two miles, near Soho, Covent Garden and the National Portrait Gallery.<br/><br/>Professor Jordan entered<span style="font-style: italic">The Leaky Cauldron</span>with Charles Leslie close behind. The proprietor gave a curt greeting, "morning, professor."<br/><br/>"Top of the morning to you, Thomas," Professor Jordan responded with glee in his voice.<br/><br/>The older man muttered an indiscernible comment under his breath that Professor Jordan failed to hear, nor would he have cared to hear. Charles Leslie on the other hand, heard and understood every syllable. He glared at the man as he trotted by on the way out the back door into the alley that lead to one of the few economic centers in the wizarding community.<br/><br/>After tapping the appropriate bricks, the two entered Diagon Alley. Tyre went immediately to Gringott's Bank to make a withdrawal. He located his vault, number 341 promptly. The vault itself contained very tidy stacks of gold galleons. Each stack, in perfect straightness, not a coin out of place. Each stack contained exactly twenty coins and all stacks arrayed in several rectangular patterns on tables arranged uniformly inside the vault.<br/><br/>The first stop after leaving the bank was Flourish and Botts. Since he taught seven classes on the subject of Transfiguration, there were no fewer than nine textbooks on the subject he arranged for the students at Hogwarts. The first years had an introductory text on the subject, written by Professor McGonagal of all people. Professor Jordan had the utmost respect for the former Headmistress and head of Gryffindor house. Professor Jordan purchased several copies of each book to have on hand in case a student needed a copy.<br/><br/>Regarding the textbooks, it was the sixth year students he was most concerned about. They required two textbooks. The first covered Transformation and Vanishment spells. These subjects covered both human and inanimate object transformations, including animagi and werewolves. The second text, which covered Conjuration, and Untransfiguration were covered in the second semester after the Christmas break. Conjuration was a N.E.W.T level course and would require the focus of the students in this class. The sixth year students would be subjected to a strict regimen of conjuration spells come January and February. They would be drilled repeatedly on them for two whole months so they would be committed to memory.<br/><br/>At Madam Malkin's Robe Shop, Tyre looked over the variety of wizarding wear. He found a black twill robe with a silk green lining, he really enjoyed. The Slytherin house crest emblazoned upon the chest. He chose one with the house crest as well as one without. He also found a lime green vest, bright and colorful intended to be worn beneath the robe adding a hint of vivacity to an otherwise stodgy professor.<br/><br/>After each of his purchases, Tyre cast a transfiguration spell reducing their size to roughly that of a galleon. Each item placed carefully in a paper bag, he carried. Instead of teleporting them to a distant location like his flat or Hogwarts office, he believed it was safer just to make them smaller and carry them on his person.<br/><br/>Professor Jordan's final stop was Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour where he and Charles Leslie enjoyed a frozen treat. Professor Jordan preferred a hot fudge sundae, while Bonnie Prince Charlie leaned toward a caramel flavor to whet the palette.<br/><br/>That afternoon, Professor Jordan planned a trip to his office at Hogwarts. This would be Professor Jordan's fifth trip from his flat in Paddington to Hogwarts. All his school supplies were there, books, parchments, quills and clothing. He'd stocked the school's theatrical closet with costumes for this year's production of<span style="font-style: italic">Romeo &amp; Juliet</span>. A few of his previous trips were spent dreaming about the play. He wondered who would be at school this year that would make a wonderful Juliet. There were several candidates he had in mind, but was not sure if they would be interested. He played with asking this Slytherin or that Slytherin. There were also a few Hufflepuffs or Gryffendors, but he had his mind set on a Slytherin. In any case he was entirely thrilled to be putting on the play this year.<br/><br/>For this trip to Hogwarts, his final trip before the start of class next week, he wore a grey tweed suit, with bright red silk cravat. A similar colored red handkerchief rested inside the left breast pocket of his jacket, the points sticking up as though representing a fire like appearance. His spit shined black wing tipped leather oxfords glistened off the morning sunlight as he made his way to Kings Cross station.<br/><br/>Professor Jordan hailed a taxicab riding just under three miles to Kings Cross. The Taxi driver did not appear to have a problem with the oversized dog riding in the back of his car. If he had a problem, Professor Jordan was prepared to remove the problem from the man, if necessary.<br/>With windswept hair, his appearance was otherwise fastidious. He always took pride in his appearance. The cab driver stopped in front of the station. Tyre handed the man, who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent some muggle money to pay for the transport.<br/><br/>Professor Tyresius Jordan casually made his way to the portal between platforms nine and ten at Kings Cross. Without so much as a second thought, he just as casually strolled through the brick wall and exited in front of platform nine and three quarters.<br/><br/>As professor Jordan took his seat on the train, he retrieved a copy of<span style="font-style: italic">The Daily Prophet</span>. As he unfolded the wizarding world's daily periodical, he muttered, " If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss." [Scene V, Romeo & Juliet]<br/><br/>...and then he read.