Character Analysis
Professor Nolan
This vampyre is the Drama instructor. According to Zoey, she "oozed energy. She had an athletic, but somehow pear-shaped body. Her brunet hair was long and straight. And Stevie Rae had been right—she had a serious Texas twang" (12.50). She sure seems to know her stuff, though, so Zoey is excited about her class.
Professor Penthesilea (Prof P)
Zoey thinks her Lit professor looks "like something out of the movies (well, the ones on the Sci-Fi Channel)" (13.16), as in, even for a vampyre she looks pretty exotic and hot. Here's what Zoey notices about her:
She had seriously long reddish-blond hair, big hazel eyes, and a curvy body that probably made all the guys drool […] Her tattoos were thin, pretty Celtic knots that traced their way down her face and around her cheekbones, making them look high and dramatic. (13.16)
Yeah, she sounds like a real show-stopper. And on top of that, she tells the class that she was born in 1902, using this attention-grabber to launch into a lecture about the Titanic and literature—so she's also an effective teacher.
Prof P tries to inspire her students to live appropriate vampyre lives. She lectures Elliott, who's failing her class, about how he's not only failing her class, but more importantly, "failing life. Vampyre males are strong, honorable and unique […] How do you expect to make the Change into a being who is more warrior than man if you do not practice the discipline it takes even to stay awake in class?" (13.30). Spoiler alert: He doesn't make the transition. But still, her point is well made.
Prof P is all about the direct approach, so when Elliot dies in her class, she responds calmly: "Matter-of-factly she cleaned up the spatters of blood that stained Elliot's desk" (25.23)—and then she resumes her lesson plan. Got to give this lady props for having her act together.
Professor Dragon Lankford
This prof is in charge of fencing, and at first Zoey only notices his vampyre Mark:
His tattoo represented two dragons whose bodies, serpent-like, wrapped down over his jaw line. Their heads were over his brows and their mouths were open, breathing fire at the crescent moon. (14.1)
He's not the huge, buff type of vampyre that Zoey was expecting, though, since he's "short, has long blondish hair that he pulls back in a low ponytail, and (except for the fierce looking dragon tattoo) has a cute face with a warm smile" (14.1). But then once he starts to fence, he moves "with unbelievable quickness and grace" (14.2). Looks can be deceiving, yo.
He's married to Anastasia, another vampyre, and he's Elliott's mentor (before Elliott dies). In other words, Dragon has a lot of relationships built up at the House of Night.
Professor Garmy
This is Zoey's Spanish prof, and Zoey thinks of her as "a little Hispanic whirlwind" (14.57). She runs her class "speaking entirely in Spanish" (14.57), which is tough for Zoey, but also spurs Zoey to study harder.
Professor Lenobia
Everything about this instructor just screams hardcore. She rides into the Equestrian Studies class on "a magnificent black mare" (14.60) and her appearance is totally imposing. Here's how she looks:
She had thick hair that reached to her waist and was so blond it was almost white, and eyes that were a weird shade of slate gray. Her body was tiny, and the way she stood reminded me of those girls who obsessively take dance classes so that even when they're not in ballet they stand like they have something stuck way up their butts. (14.60)
Yep, she definitely seems disciplined and hardcore.
As she greets her new students, she tells them that although they were chosen because they might have an aptitude for horses, "The truth is that less than half of you will last the semester, and less than half of those who last will actually develop into decent equestrians" (14.61). We're going to go ahead and add intimidating to the list of adjectives to describe her.
She has the kids mucking out stalls on their first day in class, and she chews out Elliott for slacking off (big surprise there), but she also recognizes hard work when she sees it and she rewards Zoey with the chance to brush a beautiful mare. So in short, Lenobia's a little scary, but not all bad.