"But it could be," she says softly, almost as a way to hint to him that she thinks Slytherin House can have more to it than just snakes, green and leather. "It could be warm - and interesting, like the underwater dwellers coming to say hello? It just needs ...um...incentive."

Which is a diplomatic way of saying it needs its students to not be little shits. Course she can't say much, considering the house she comes from. And Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs aren't saints either. In fact, the closer she gets to her thirties, she more she believes are teenagers are little shits, truth be told.

Back to point, and his question, she shrugs. It's not her first year experiencing teaching to Slytherins. "I like to think I'm fairly prepared. Most of them have had me as their professor for a few years now and will have had time to get used to my method and behaviour. It's the first years that will find it all novel, really, but...that can be told of every year."

She looks at Malfoy with a little smirk, and then shakes her head. "You'll see. The first week you teach first years, you will start seeing...mini-Malfoys and mini-Grangers everywhere." She lets out a laugh at that. "It's a scary revelation to see children with behaviour akin to yours from years ago and think, oh bugger I was such a little git."