The hard whirr of plastic casters followed the soft tapping of Katalynn’s boots as she wandered the halls of the school with one hand grasping the extended handle of a suitcase that trailed behind her. Her eyes scanned the faces of the students and people she walked by, searching for something. She’d never attended school before - at least not that she could remember - but Mother had told her to look for adults: they were the teachers.

However, so far she’d seemed to have little luck. She slowed her pace until she came to a stop, spotting someone nearby and lightly tapping on the shoulder of a person who seemed to be another student. “Hark- Er, hey -- do you know where I can find a teacher? I am a bit lost.” She asked, a hint of hesitation in her voice.

A strong voice was heard from the distance. “No need to search any longer, madame. Ze teacher has arrived and he shall guide you to your destination!” from the hallways a tall shadow started to move closer, with a peculiar way of walking as if galloping. It got smaller as the steps became louder, then smaller, and smaller, then a bit more…

A papillon breed dog had arrived. “Bounjour Madame! How may I assist you?” he walked all the way up to her feet. “It is wise of you to seek a teacher to aid you! This school is a dangerous location, what if you were to come face-to-face with one of the many undead who roam these halls?”

Katalynn turned away from the random student, seeing as another individual came bounding down the hall towards her. However, his appearance was far from what she’d expected - he was...a dog? She looked down at the pooch who now stood at her feet, tilting her head with a bit of a confused look.

“You- you are a hound.. who speaks?” She asked with a measure of bewilderment. She was no stranger to weird things - she was a Dullahan after all, and Mother had taught her of many things of impossible natures that existed throughout the land(though she hadn’t seen them firsthand) - but she had come to understand that dogs were definitely among the most mundane.

She let the suitcase sit upright by itself as she bent down to look more closely at the pooch, placing her hands on the front of her skirt. “Do you know of where I can find a teacher, Mister Hound..?” She inquired further.

The dog seemed to be deeply, thoroughly offended, but it swallowed its pride as he was dealing with a cute girl. “I am no hound, please do not refer to me as such, I am a cursed soul by a witch who I legally cannot name.” the dog said making a pained face as he tried not to bark or be uncourteous.

“Again, as it was said by me moments prior, I am ze teacher.”

Katalynn blinked. “Oh. You are a teacher stuck within this body…” She said, recognition in her voice. She bowed her head despite the height difference, raising her hands to clasp them together. “Please forgive me, Mister Teacher! Mother told me the teachers would be older and I did not know- I thought you would- You are not-“ She rambled suddenly, her cheeks growing a hint of pink as she realized how silly it was that she misunderstood the situation.

He looked at her with puppy eyes, mostly because he had no option but to do so. “No, no, it is fine. Call me Sir Bertrand, no, you may call me Barty if you want.” preferably in a cute tone. “Nevertheless, fret not, I do not take offense, tell me, where do you want to go, and I will guide you there!”

The girl opened her eyes as he began assuring her that it was alright. She hesitated a moment before moving her hands back to her thighs and speaking down to the pooch once again, albeit slightly more flushed than before. “Well…Mother said she arranged for me a room to sojourn. I do not know where to go. I was hoping that maybe a teacher like you would, Mister Barty?”

He nodded at her, gently raising up and placing his paws just under her knees as she sat. “Of course I can help, I know this school very well, do you have the name of the room? If she arranged for you, you must be in one of the pretty dorms. Just between us, some of the dorms here are quite unfit for a lady such as you.”

“Well-“ She reached to her side and dipped her fingers into the pocket of her jacket, retrieving a small slip of paper. She looked at it, reading off a piece of it’s contents to the pooch. “-it is called…‘Room CB 6’?”

The dog nodded. “Oh? There…? But why?” he questioned in a lower tone, it was a nice dorm but people didn’t go there for ‘good’ reasons. “Well, it's no issue, I know where it is.” moving in its tiny legs, Bertrand started to lead the way to the doors, however, being a tiny dog made it pretty hard for him, Katalynn would have to walk very slowly to stay in his pace.

Katalynn stood up straight as the dog hopped off and started leading the way on his little legs. She grabbed the handle to her suitcase and began following him, albeit at a delayed pace. She waited a couple minutes before leaning down a little.“Mister Barty, do you want me to carry you? It might be faster?”

He stopped, turning. “Oh that would be so kind of you. If you have no issue, I think this might be way more efficient. You see, I had to chase some villains earlier and as such I cannot walk at my full speed.” he lied, he was just glad he got someone to hold him and cut the work.

Sitting down, he patiently waited to be picked up. “Oh, I am the professor of magical defence and curse nullification, if you wanted to know.”

Katalynn smiled lightly and stooped down to pick Bertrand up, hugging him against her chest with one arm so as not to drop him, as the other grabbed her suitcase. She continued walking, her hand holding the professor under the chest. “You were chasing villains?? Are the halls unsafe?” She asked, looking around expectantly. She looked down to him then. “It makes sense that you would defend us students, being the professor of defense. But...why are you in this body if you can remove curses?”

He found himself incredibly comfortable when held by the girl near her torso. He also looked quite proud of himself. “Why yes, our headmistress has the habit of allowing all sorts of creatures of the night to roam these halls, the undead, demons, vampires. All they do is cause trouble really.” he sighed in a fake way and then sighed harder when she mentioned his situation. “W-w-well, you see, I uhh… it was a very powerful curse! Yes, it totally wasn’t a joke that went wrong because I was so weak. Nope. It was a powerful unbreakable spell.”

“Oh..” She whispered with a hint of dejection. “Well I am sure they are not all bad..” That hint was wiped away quickly as the professor tried to make a rather hasty excuse as to his canine condition. She hid a small smirk, “Ohhh, I see, I see.” She said as they continued down the hall, the whirr of the suitcase’s wheels following behind them.

Soon they’d leave the traditional center of the academy and go to a shining new building, a small skyscraper. The dog sighed happily in the embrace of a lady, being a dog wasn’t so bad when it came to that, most women would beat him if he asked to rest in their lap as a human, hell, some kids would beat him just for the sake of it, the man always unable to hold up in a fight against most entities that move and some unmoving ones.

“Ever been to an elevator before?” he asked proudly, as if it was him who had invented the device. “You walk into that door and you press the button number, in this case, we are going to floor 5”

Katalynn’s eyes trailed up the height of the mini skyscraper - she’d never been in a building that looked quite like it. Her head turned back to the informative pooch as he coached her on how to use the elevator. “I have not seen such a device in person…” She said as they approached the doors and soon entered the building, “..but Mother has told me of them.”

She would walk as the professor directed her, making it into the elevator and cautiously stepping inside before pulling her bag in. She hit the button labeled “5”, before beginning to awkwardly wobble with a nervous expression as the small room started to ascend.

Being experimental technology, the elevator was quite shaky and cranky, Katalynn would find herself vibrating a lot, unable to hold her head with the puppy professor in her arms. When the chamber came to a halt, it was a sudden and brute stop that made their bodies jump a bit.

The girl tried to keep her balance in the jarring elevator ride, clutching the pooch closer. “A-Are these safe?” She asked worriedly, moments before they stopped. She grabbed her bag and hopped out of the lift as soon as the door allowed her. “That is going to take some getting used to..”

She started to walk down the hall with her suitcase rolling behind her once again, beginning to hear the murmurs of voices as she approached what she could only assume was the place she was meant to stay at. She peeked in a bit, noticing that others were already inside.

Was she sharing an abode with other students? She paused, uncertain of how to feel about that - the only person she’d ever lived with was Mother. “Is this the right place, Mister Barty?”

“Yes, it seems to be the case. I also saw your key and that seems to be the number of the door.” the dog said to the girl he didn’t know was an undead dullahan. “I guess my galliant mission ends here, I am glad I was able to keep you safe.”

Katalynn gave the professor a small squeeze as she smiled at him, before placing him gently on the floor just outside the dorm. “Thank you Mister Professor!” She beamed. “I do not think I could have found it on my own.” She said as she scratched her head. She grabbed the handle of the bag before looking down to the pooch once again. “Maybe I will see you in class at another time? That would be the best - you are a most helpful teacher.”

The dog beamed with happiness at that, most people thought he was the worst teacher. “Yes! I do teach the first year, so you will be seeing more of me yet! I look forward to teaching you in the years to come!”

Katalynn offered a shallow bow as the two parted ways, the little dog making his way back down the hall with his little legs. Meanwhile she entered the dormroom, reaching up one hand to knock on the open wooden door a few times. She looked at the two other students standing before her - two blue-eyed girls, one with black hair and one with brown - and it seemed they were in the midst of their own conversation.

“I am sorry to interrupt, but...are you also living in these lodgings? I did not know that I would be having.. room-mates.” She said with a bit of nervousness.