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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2014 1:24:57 GMT
“For homework just review chapter two,” they were supposed to have done that particular bit of reading over the summer, but given today’s showing he’s fairly certain that most of them did not, “and be prepared to answer a few questions about Alihosty. That will be all.”
The quiet that persisted while he was speaking is punctured by the clatter of objects being swept into bags and the chatter of voices eager to catch up on whatever gossip they did not manage to cover during the class period (and from where Droog was sitting it seemed like an awful lot of gossip must have been covered). He takes a moment to wipe the board clear of the day’s instructions with a mechanically lazy flick of his wand before turning back to the exiting stream of students. There’s always some kind of holdup at the door, and he’s never been even remotely thankful for it until today. This is the sort of thing that’s easiest when done quickly, like a good execution.
“Lalonde”, his tone is flat and even, the same tone of voice he uses during lectures; it wouldn’t do to show any overt signs of favoritism, “a word, in my office, if you please.”
The office is warmer than the adjoining classroom, courtesy of a small fire that could almost be mistaken for the natural sort. Almost, because while it looks, feels, and smells like a fire lit through effort and matches it does not make even the quietest hiss or crackle. The shelves that dominate two of the three walls are crammed full of books with cracked spines, governed by some organizational catalog that is not innately apparent. Towards the far wall sits a worn, almost run down looking desk, a memento from a previous occupation that bears a series of scorch marks and what could be mistaken for a bullet hole. Behind it is a chair that looks like it must be remarkably uncomfortable, or at least less comfortable than the chair behind the polished, new looking desk he sits behind while conducting classes. Suspended on the far wall by a pair of hooks, behind and above the desk, is perhaps the only object of any real curiosity in the room; a cue-stick, completely ordinary and unremarkable, which makes its presence, here in the office of a Hogwarts professor, markedly strange.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2014 2:15:53 GMT
Roxy jerks up when she hears her name called, looking over at Professor Droog and nodding. She honestly wasn't expecting it - after all the years she spent in his class, she'd never been in his office - or even heard of another student getting in. She waits for the students to file out before she slings her bag over her shoulder and follows him into his office, "I read th' chapters, sir. I'm re'ly sorry 'bout earlier." She mumbles, cheeks already a little pink. She didn't pay attention for one of his questions and answered wrong, and Roxy was legitimately ashamed of herself a little bit for it.
She moves to stand behind the more uncomfortable chair, not going to sit until he says to - she knows him well enough by now to wait for instructions. "Anyway, Professor, you wan'ed to talk t'me 'bout something?" Roxy honestly had no clue what it was, and her eyes flickered around the room as she waited for him to reply. Wow, this was different than she expected.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2014 15:40:06 GMT
He is only mildly surprised when he comes to the conclusion that her apology is sincere. Most students wouldn’t give a second thought to a single incorrect answer that was quickly swallowed by the tide of the class. It’s probably a good sign, a sign that he’s definitely not wrong about this decision (not that he had any real doubts, she is the most qualified student he’s seen in years).
“It’s fine,” he absent mindedly straightens the cuff of his shirt sleeve, “as long as you take this opportunity to commit the correct answer to memory.”
Droog turns his attention from the formerly crumpled shirt cuff and fixes it on her. She’s doing something with her eyes and the way she’s standing might indicate… Discomfort? Nerves? Probably one of the two.
“Have a seat,” he nods to the chair but remains standing himself, “You’re in your fifth year, correct? So you’ll be taking your O.W.L. exams fairly soon.” He tries not to roll his eyes at the painfully constructed acronym.
“And next year you’ll have to select your N.E.W.T. level courses,” in his opinion that one’s even worse, “had you given any thought to continuing with Potions?”
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2014 13:43:03 GMT
Roxy sat down, placing her bag in front of her feet and watching Professor Droog rather carefully. "Of course I wanna continue wi' potions, it would be dumb for me not to." She pauses, thinking of why he would even ask. Roxy just assumed she would mark down potions for her class, Droog would accept it, and then they would move on.
Of course, they were also in his office rather than in the classroom, and Roxy's heart sank. "Do you... Not want me to or somethin'?" She asked, eyes widening, "'Cause I'll work really hard, an' I've been practicing som'a th' spells we use non-verb'ly so I don't fuck 'em up when I say the- wait - crap - sorry for cursin', I didn't mean t'act'ly do that, an' 'gain, I'll work sup'r hard n'-" She's rambling, nervously rubbing her arms and Droog really should stop her at some point.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2014 16:02:44 GMT
He opens his mouth to tell her that, no, he wants her to continue taking his classes, but before he has the chance she’s off, rubbing her arms and apologizing and demonstrating some very confusing behavior for someone who is about to be paid the highest compliment of which he is capable. It must be the chair; people talk and fidget when they’re uncomfortable, don’t they? Droog is fairly sure they do. He’s handled his fair share of interrogations, a few bruises, a bit of discomfort and the threat of what was to come was usually enough to get the average person talking. Not that this is an interrogation, and he certainly hopes the chair hasn’t caused her any bruising, but it would probably be best to remedy the issue before things get any worse.
“No,” with a deliberate jab of his wand the chair softens and expands until it resembles a cushioned recliner, “quite the contrary actually. I was hoping that you would be willing to continue with my class. Then, at the end of your seventh year I was planning on offering you a position here.” He waves his free hand, face expressionless, as he tries to conjure up the correct term.
“It would be an internship, of sorts. You would work with me; possibly conduct a few classes of your own, deal with students, that sort of thing. I wanted to make the offer now, so you could think it over.”
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2014 16:30:05 GMT
She shuts up when the chair expands - does he feel bad for her? - and crosses her legs, looking down. She doesn't speak as he does, waiting for him to finish. When he gets to the words 'offering you a position here' she looks up, eyes widening again. Roxy pays close attention to his next few sentences, trying to take it all in. A position? A job? At Hogwarts? To teach potions? Holy shit.
She already knew she was going to slur when she opened up her mouth, "Wai', wha', ser'sly?" She shakes her head, trying to figure out if this was for real or not, "You men, like, act'ly bein' your helper an' workin' here? I'm-" She cuts herself off, "I would lov'to. But, wo'dn't th' slur.. Uh. Get in'a way of this? Like, I still re'ly wanna, but..." Roxy trails off, unable to voice that she doesn't think she'd be any good for something like that when she can't even cast some simple spells even as a 5th year.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2014 17:44:54 GMT
Clearly the chair worked. Maybe. She’s looking down. Possibly to admire it, the change is a definite improvement, even if it is only a temporary one.
“I don’t think the slur will be a problem,” he shrugs, face still impassive, and continues, “but if you have concerns I’m sure I could help you with some of the finer points of non-verbal spell casting. Usually in a situation like this I recommend you broach the topic with your Defense against the Dark Arts professor,” Droog shakes his head at the very thought, “but given that he would probably tell you to just stab, set fire to, or otherwise physically damage whatever you’re attempting to enchant I think the safest course of action would be for me to teach you myself.” He is not, nor has he ever been, a fan of verbal spell casting. It gives too much away, and removes the inherent fear that goes along with not knowing what the jet of light flying at your face is going to do to you. And given how bright she is Droog genuinely doubts that it will take more than a month, possibly two, depending on where they have to start.
“Was that your only concern?” His eyes narrow slightly, some but not all of her physical symptoms have relinquished, but a few remain. Maybe she was nervous after all. Or maybe she doesn’t want the position at all and she’s just trying to be polite.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2014 5:07:28 GMT
She blinks, "You'd teach me how t'cast nonverbal spells? For serious? Up 'till now I've jus' been tryin' t'read about it." That, of course, didn't get her as far as she wanted. Reading it was a lot more theory than practice, and it wasn't the way Roxy normally learned, so she wasn't doing so well with it.
She actually thinks about his latter question for a second, "I would tot'ly wanna do it, but.. I jus' I don't know if it's a good idea for you t'have me. Because I'm not th' best, an' sure, I like potions, but I'unno if that's enough reasons for you t'take me as your aid..." She mumbles, "Do you have 'nother student who's better suited for this?"
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2014 14:47:09 GMT
“Yes, I think that would be the best course of action.” He nods, already mapping out the best way to go about this in his head. He’s almost surprised that one of his more involved and caring co-workers hasn’t offered to help her already. Not that he’s well acquainted with any of them besides Slick, so there is a distinct possibility that none of them are caring or particularly involved.
If Droog was the sort of person who laughed about things then he would certainly be laughing now; maybe not ha-ha laughing, but definitely a dry chuckle with some genuine amusement behind it. Instead he shifts his weight from one foot to the other and tries to come up with a delicate way of saying that the rest of her classmates are morons. The arbitrary rules of politeness and decency indicate that there is, in fact, no good way to go about expressing this particular sentiment, so he settles for his second choice.
“Last year I watched you make the mistake of adding an extra ounce of powdered unicorn horn to your Draught of Peace and instead of panicking, or giving up, or scrapping it and starting over you added an extra porcupine quill to counteract your mistake, stirred it counterclockwise instead of clockwise and then resumed brewing as normal, and your results were the best in the entire class.” He is almost certain that a well-placed hand gesture of some sort would really drive his point home. Unfortunately, he’s not entirely sure what sort of hand gesture that might be, so instead he crosses his arms and stares at her in an attempt to express his sincerity.
“So yes, Miss Lalonde, I am absolutely sure that you are the best candidate for this position. Liking potions is one thing, being good at it is another, and you seem to have managed both.”
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2014 2:20:32 GMT
Roxy stares at her professor with wide eyes, not entirely sure what to say. "Well, what else would I've done? I had t'add th' extra quill to null th' li'l bit more of horn I added, and stirrin' it counter set me back enough time t'let me continue without burnin' or missin' a step." She says it like it's obvious, "Th' defensive quill nullifies th' offensive horn, plus they're both pointy - unlike addin' a snail shell or somethin'..." She shakes her head, the last sentence was just to prove that, yeah, no, Droog, that was completely obvious and Roxy does not understand what about that situation makes her special. "Tha' stuff was in th' book, so..." What she's referring to is the theories in the book about nullification and connections between ingredients, not a single chapter devoted to it either, since it was a bit complex for 4th years.
She pauses a while, looking down at the bag in front of her feet and trying to pick out her words. When she does speak, it's slow and deliberate, and she looks up at him while doing so, to show she's serious. "If you feel like I'm th'- the best for this, than I am more than willing to accept." She only slurs once. An accomplishment!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2014 14:40:58 GMT
He nods once while she explains herself. Of all the moments in his life that Droog knows he will never forget this is probably one of the few he’ll be able to discuss with decent, law-abiding people; the first time a student really impressed him.
“For the record most other students would have given up. Although I suppose there are also several who wouldn’t have noticed the mistake at all and who would have ended up melting their cauldrons.” He shrugs, if she wants to play the incident off as if it was no big deal then that’s her business.
Her next comment, however, earns her his very best attempt at a quizzical expression; head slightly tilted down, one eyebrow raised and a barely noticeable twitch at the corner of his mouth.
“And which book would that be?” He takes several steps towards the bookshelf, “because I own several texts on the subject of nullifications and the connections between ingredients, but I’m fairly certain that the book I assigned you in your fourth year only mentioned those subjects very briefly and in passing.” He taps one such volume with his finger before turning back to her.
“Good,” he would smile if he didn’t think he’d mess it up and end up frightening her. “I’ll have more information on what your responsibilities will be when you’re a bit closer to graduating. There are probably some forms you’ll have to fill out as well, but we’ll handle all that when we get there.”
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2014 18:29:26 GMT
She watches him carefully, not sure if he's amused or just... Indifferent. It's hard to tell with him, and Roxy doesn't know him well enough yet to know which one it is.
"It started t'bubble. Which I knew it was too early for that. Plus th' scale was off." Roxy huffs, "That should be fixed, B-T-dubs." She was speaking a bit out of line, but it almost made her ruin a potion. Plus she knew for a fact that it messed up a few of her classmates (of course, after that experience, she made sure to never grab it again).
Was that almost a smirk? Roxy furrows her brows, watching him as he walks to the bookshelf. "Well it talked 'bout it a li'l in the book. Then I looked it up 'cause it seemed useful... 'Course not a lot of the books in the norm' students area had that info, either, but the adult section d-" She shuts up rather quickly, realizing a bit too late that informing a teacher that she sneaks into the adult section was probably a bad idea. Especially if she let it slip that she steals books and makes potions from them. Even more so if these potions end up being a part of Jane's pranks. Oops.
"I still can't believe you want me t'be your aid, but yeah, no, I am completely on board for this." She nods, actually honestly excited about the idea. Karkat's comments from second year still flashed in her mind, where she might not get a job, even in potions, if she didn't work past her slur. Now she had an option, although she would have to write to her professor over the summer to make sure it still stood, but an option!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2014 19:47:58 GMT
“Bee-Tee…” he trails off, bringing his eyebrows together to indicate confusion perhaps a second later than a normal person would.
“In any case I’ll check them and have the faulty one replaced.” It occurs to him that he is, more or less, taking orders from a student. But they’re sensible, logical orders (presented as more of a suggestion really), and he’s done stranger things for less savory people, so instead of arguing or attempting to put her in her place he just makes a mental note to check the scales later.
He pulls the book from the shelf while she talks, flips through it, then removes another, stacking it neatly on top of the first. As Droog reaches for a third volume to add to the small pile she abruptly stops talking, and that’s when what she said catches up to him.
“Yes,” he walks back over and sets the books on the desk in front of her, “it would be rather difficult to find the information you would need to have a functional understanding of null effects in the normal section of the library. Still, it’s probably for the best that you were able to find a way around all that.” He’d offer to write her a note of permission, but given that she seems to have already found a way around the security he doubts she needs it.
“If you have the time to do a bit of extra reading on the subject these might be useful,” he slides the stack of worn books towards her, “they mostly focus on the properties of specific ingredients and how those properties can be amplified or counteracted, but there’s also some other information that may interest you.” The books are mostly theory based, but there are some guidelines at the back that she might be able to interpret into functional instructions if she’s as good as he suspects she is.
“We can iron out the details of your assistantship once we’ve settled on a time and place for me to instruct you on nonverbal spell casting. Is there a particular day that’s better than others for you?”
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