Next Generation 2

[Q.Araignee]

Gwydion smiled back calmly, if a little downheartedly. “If I thought you were a fool, I’d have told you I was here just to look through the Library. As it is, I merely think you’ve gotten the wrong impression of me.”

Gwydion sighed and placed his hands on his hips, cocking his head as he pondered whether to let Damien in on a secret. He never liked to talk about it, it was bad enough filling Potter in on the “situation” so that he might be allowed to handle it more personally and delicately.

“If you want to know why you think I’m such a git, despite never meeting me prior to yesterday, I’ll tell you. But not here in the corridors. This requires a bit more...privacy. Might I suggest we meet tonight, an hour or so past curfew, for a quiet word- one professional to another?”

[salemboy]

Damien wasn't sure. Could it be a trap? No, McCallum wouldn't blow his cover that easily. "Fine, we shall meet in the astronomy tower." Damien didn't wait for Gwydion's reply. He travelled towards professor Sprague's office. She wasn't there, and Damien didn't want to disturb her class. So, he simply wrote out a note, and left it attached to Galena's door.

Then he set off back towards his classroom, where he awaited Geneve. While he did so, he monitored his dark Wizard's parchment for any signs of dark magic. He truly did not like Gwydion or Nikolaus... neither of them were good news. It would seem, then, that all of the male additions to the staff had problems. Damien laughed. He wasn't sure who was more of a threat, those two or himself.

[Q.Araignee]

Well, he was certainly terse and perhaps a little rude but Gwydion forgave Damien his character flaws. At least he’d acquiesced to the meeting, that was a start. He ran a hand through his hair and basically ambled back up to where he was staying. There was no rush, after all. He was tempted to go check in on Nikolaus, there had been one or two whispers at the end of breakfast saying that he was hurt badly- by what Gwydion couldn’t imagine- but he reined in his curiosity for the moment.

Instead, he focused on speaking to those working on his Midlands case by Floo and checking up on a few things closer to home. The latter, however, was not as successful as he’d hoped. Upon his return to the Castle a few hours later Gwydion was sporting yet another deep wound, just under his right eye. Any higher and he would have had to resort to magic to heal it. As it was, he merely cleaned it up and stitched it closed. Probably yet another scar, but oh well. He poured himself a glass of “medicinal” mead, and looked at the clock. It was almost time for Farissas’ free lesson. Gwydion sipped at his mead, and decided he would head down to the Staff Room after he had finished.

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Geneve couldn't help but feel confused by this generosity and kindness. She reflected these feelings in the look she gave her professor. She wondered if this new teacher was in on the scrutiny the rest of the school had her under. "I.... " Geneve began. The woman seemed so genuine, but Geneve proceeded cautiously. "What do you know about me? What have you heard?"

[Q.Araignee]

“Only what was deemed necessary by the Headmistress, and that wasn’t a lot.” Farissa said gently. The girl was obviously worried about trusting someone who may be attempting to instead keep her on a tight rein and where she could always be seen. It was unfortunate, for one so young to have so many people trying to examine her and control her in one form or another. It saddened Farissa to see it, and let her know the truth.

“I know who you are related to, and I know that certain recent events have changed you somewhat. And yes, I was told that should something out of the ordinary happen in class I would have to report it to the Headmistress. But the way I see it, you are just a student with more difficulties than most. You can’t help who your family were, and you aren’t necessarily going to be like them just because you share blood. You are your own person, my dear, and I intend to treat you as such.”

Farissa paused for but a moment, then offered a friendly smile with a twinkle in her eye. “As for “out of the ordinary”, I only intend to mention anything should someone actually be badly hurt. If you just Transfigure the desk into an angry Troll who can breathe fire, or conjure a Blessing of Unicorns out of thin air, or anything else that you think may surprise me, I can handle that with nary a problem.”

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Geneve stood for a thoughtful moment, pondering what had been said. Then she knodded, and looked into her professor's eyes. "I believe I can do anything, just by THINKING about it. Is that such terrible, black, magic?" she asked, and she closed her eyes, the emotion building in her so much that a tear streamed down her cheek. She opened her eyes and looked to her left, and the torch on the wall transfigured into a baby dragon. Geneve stumbled back as the little creature fell from the wall ,but caught itself with it's wings and glided to the ground. She stared at it, and without looking at Professor Feles, she walked toward it carefully. She put out her hand, still not believing what had happened. The little thing was backed against the wall, and before Geneve could register what animals do when they are cornered, it blasted the air with a yellow flame identical to the one the torch possessed moments before.

[Q.Araignee]

Farissa pulled out her wand, quickly extinguishing the flames before they could burn Geneve. She paused for a moment, thinking how best to deal with a baby dragon in the corridor. Then the idea came to her. A small, if intricate, spell to make the dragon a perfect lifelike model instead- with the option to bring it to life for demonstrations. She smiled at the thought of using the model today with her class, just to show what they could do if they put their mind to the subject.

“See, Ms. Riddle? No harm done.” Farissa was still smiling, and silently admiring the girl for her talents- raw and untrained as they were. “It is my personal view that Dark Magic should only be labelled as such if the intent behind it is malicious. For example, did you mean any harm in Transfiguring the torch into a dragon?” Geneve shook her head vigorously. “Then I wouldn’t deem it Dark, my dear. But then, my opinion is one of the more relaxed among the other staff members.”

[Ms. Elsewhere]

"Please! You won't tell anyone it was me?!" Geneve stepped forward frantically. "This can't keep happening! I'm excelling at Potions, and I've never done potions in my life! My mum bought the materials, but I can put together potions like it's all there already in my head. I can't keep doing things lke that, I have to use spells, I need to follow recipes! There are rules..." Geneve started to pace. "This is what Nikolaus was talking about. I have to control it, not smother it, there is no sense in ignoring this... gift." Geneve scoffed at the last word. Then she realised she had said too much. She cleared her throat and composed herself. She tilted her head and looked at the dragon. "I did that?" she asked. "I did that." she stated now, and sighed. "So now what do we do?"

[Q.Araignee]

She let the girl babble until she was done, it wouldn’t be fair to interrupt her and the conclusion was hers to reach. When she was done, Farissa knelt down to pick up the model of the dragon and studied it for a minute. Then she turned back to Geneve.

“Well, Ms. Riddle, we can either stand here nattering or we can head for class. I see no need to delay it for any errands, and I think the students will certainly be entertained by, ahem, “my” little friend here?” She said, nodding to the dragon model. “And as I said, if we intend to chat it should at least be in a modicum of privacy. So, if ever you should like it, I am here to help.”

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Geneve blushed. She needed to keep her emotions under wraps. She took a deep breath and said "Yes Professor.". The she followed her into the classroom, where a few students had already arrived.

[salemboy]

Damien was looking at his parchment when suddenly, it happened again. Geneve's name appeared. And while he was sure she hadn't intended it, Damien needed to make sure there was no damage done. So, rolling up his parchment, he tucked it into his jacket and set off towards Geneve. When he reached the her, she was walking into the classroom.

Damien looked around... there weren't any problems from what he saw. He walked to the classroom door, and stood by the entrance to it. He noticed that there was a new teacher teaching. He watched as she taught. She seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He decided he'd wait until she was done teaching. That way, he could ask her if they'd met, and he could escort Geneve to his classroom.

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Geneve stayed focused on her lesson in spite of another class with Gryffindor. Albus and his friends were snickering and passing notes and it was making her crazy. But they soon settled down when Professor Feles surprised them by transfiguring their note into a bird and calling it back to her. It landed on her hand, where she spoke a spell and it turned back into the note. She opened it and read it, and stared sternly at the boys. Albus blushed so badly the room warmed up. Geneve couldn't help but smile after that. She took notes and focused closely on every aspect of the lesson.

[Q.Araignee]

The lesson was rather simple really, after embarrassing the boys enough to shut up and settle down- if there was one thing Farissa could do, it was meddle with Transfiguration enough to make her point clear. It had ever been her favourite subject, after all. The students were all to take a candlestick and Transfigure it into a candle. It would keep most of them occupied for a lesson or two, making notes on the theory behind the spell before attempting it.

Farissa had noticed someone watching her from the doorway early on, but had decided to leave him be as he was doing no harm. It never bothered her to have observers anyway. The lesson was mostly uneventful after the incident with the boys, except for when one of them managed to make his candlestick pop with a crack like a shot. It made most of the class jump and fret for a few moments, but a quick flick of her wand cleared up the mess and a correction of the poor lads’ technique prevented any more mishaps.

When the bell rang for the end of lesson, Farissa busied herself with collecting in all the candlesticks and was writing up the text for her next lesson- waiting to see if the gentleman in the doorway intended to come in and make any comment to her.

[salemboy]

As Geneve walked past Damien, he whispered, "Remember, be in my classroom when I get back. I'll see you there."

Then he walked into the room. The new teacher was collecting the candles, candlesticks, and everything in between. He walked to her, and said, "Hello, my name is Nomare, Damien Nomare. Nice to meet you." He held out his hand.

[Q.Araignee]

She shook it with a warm smile. “Farissa Feles, it’s a pleasure to meet you Damien.” Oh, to keep that spark of recognition from her eyes was difficult. He actually had no idea who she was, how perfect.

“I hope you enjoyed the class, I’d hate to think that you stood for just over an hour and were bored. I’ve only recently turned my attempts at teaching, and sometimes I find it so much harder than the freelancing I’ve been doing for years. Though I’d guess you were more keeping an eye on Ms. Riddle than my teaching, hmm?”