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Originally Posted by Disneymaniac

Conan knocked on the door, with his appointment slip in his hand. He had his rucksack ready for school. He had a quick 5 minutes before the start of his next class, which thankfully was his appointment time. Lucky.

"Come in." Professor Schirmer invited and her door opened obligingly. She was sitting on the edge of her desk, legs crossed, book in hand, but stood up to greet the young Hufflepuff. The tall blonde woman smiled politely enough and gestured at the available seats.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Disneymaniac

Conan pushed the door open, and smiled at the Professor. Was he meant to shake her hand? It looked like it from her stance. Yes? No? He'd take a seat, and then she could say otherwise. He stood in front of one of the chairs and waited for her to take a seat first. Don't speak unless spoken to first. He had learnt that from Borr last year.

Not one to beat around the bush, or waste time, Thea walked around and took a seat at her desk proper, leaning forward just slightly.

"What can I do for you, Mr Taylor?" She carefully placed her book aside and fixed her attention on the youngster, not warmly, but attentive enough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Disneymaniac

Conan smiled at the Professor. He was a tad embarassed. "I had an accident over the summer. I was practicing. I know I wasn't meant to, but I had to catch up. And well I changed my hair color, and I don't know how to change it back."

Althea eyed the boy's hair. "I see." She answered. "You believe you were behind to begin with?" And was that the boy's fault or the fault of the professors that came before her?

"I'll tell you what, you may have access to my library, and research which charms and counter-charms may be appropriate, and then I'll help you practice and learn it, if you need my help." She gestured up at the mezzanine library, circling the office.

What, did he expect her to simply tell him which charm to use? Or do it for him? That wasn't Althea's style. She smiled again, a bit more encouragingly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Disneymaniac

Conan nodded. He was slightly embarrassed at his lack of knowledge. "Well until this summer I refused to believe magic existed and that well I was...uh...doing it. So I had to catch up. I can levitate things and summon them. I can also change the color of things, even if it is the wrong thing." He laughed nervously. He had caught up somewhat. He just needed to practice some more. He had read the books though. So he knew the theory.

He smiled and nodded at the lady, "Thank you. I won't let you down." He was going to study hard and prove that he could fix his hair. Then he could change it whenever he wanted to. He could even make it blue.

Was that a joke? Was this child making a joke? Althea leaned forward slightly, her expression didn't change.

"Are you new? Were you homeschooled?" She asked carefully, you could almost say sympathetically.

"You can have a look at the books now if you like." She gestured at the ladder.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Disneymaniac

Conan shook his head. Why would he be homeschooled? "I am a third year. Not new. I am a muggle though." He checked himself quickly. Indy said he was a muggleborn. Not a muggle. "Sorry I mean muggleborn." Cos that reasoning totally made it all better.

He smiled as she said that he could read her books. He loved the idea. Now where would the fix it spells be?

"And nobody addressed your difficulties in the past?" Althea asked softly. Poor child. Thought he was a muggle? What was wrong with Hogwarts these days?

"There are rules of course, if you wish for my help, and for the use of my books."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Disneymaniac

Conan shook his head, "Were they meant to?" He thought it was all dog eat dog. Therefore he was the runt that starved. He didn't realise the teachers could've helped him. Though he didn't really want any help. Not last year anyway. This year he'd welcome any help someone offered.

"Rules?" he frowned. He nodded though. Anything for help. "What kind of rules?" He would follow them though. To the letter. Because if you diddnt have rules people would die.

"Of course." Althea answered, surprised. "That's the job, to help and to teach, regardless of whether or not people want help or not."

Poor kid needed to lighten up.

"You may only take one book at a time, and return each before borrowing another. You won't lend then to anyone else, you'll return them in the same condition they left - and I'll know if you don't, and one more important rule."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Disneymaniac

Oh. He didn't know that. His previous school, kinda left him to his own devices. And he liked that. He was good at that. Just as long as he got his assignments in on time. "I will keep that in mind now."

He nodded furiously. He would never hurt a book. "I promise. Your books will not have an extra crease or bend in it. And one at a time. I wouldn't want to hog your resources." That would be mean. Noone else would be able to use them if he had them all.

She nodded. "And the other important rule is to thank the books whenever you use them. They'll be more cooperative with finding particular pages if you let them know they're appreciated."

Althea loved her books.

"Go ahead and take one, and thank it now, then perhaps you had better hurry along and I will see you in class, yes?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Disneymaniac

Conan nodded, "Thank the books. Got it." He could do that. He was very thankful for them anyway. "I like that. Polite books. More things should be polite. People too."

He nodded. She would definitely be seeing him in class. "Thank you." He smiled. He took hold of one of the books. A charms one. He gave it a kind stroke, "Thank you," he whispered to it.

He hurried out the door.

Well he was a sweet boy. Professor Schirmer hoped that he'd open his eyes and willingly learn what she could teach.

She smiled back and watched him go.

After class, Althea went right to her office knowing that she had some students that had made appointments to see her.

Quote:

Originally Posted by grangerfan8

Bag slung over her shoulder, Arya made her way out of class and to the professor's office, leaning heavily against the railing of the door. She had wanted to grab a snack of some sort when the lesson ended, but with her common room being a bit of a walk, and that whole appointment thing, she opted for having this 'meeting' instead. Maybe Professor Schirmer would have food in her office?

She could hope.

The prefect twirled her wand idly as she waited for the woman.

Noticing the Hufflepuff prefect was already waiting, Thea gestured for her to enter first.

"Hello. Go on in."

Quote:

Originally Posted by grangerfan8

It was a moment before she acted on the professor's words, having had to pull herself out of the reverie she'd entered before the woman's arrival. And it took her even more time to make it over to the desk, her eyes wondering around the office thoughtfully, taking note of all the changes.

"That was a nice lesson, professor."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Althea answered, immediately going over to her desk and taking a seat there. She indicated that the prefect could sit too if she wanted.

"How can I help you?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by grangerfan8

"I actually had a few questions about the corridor," She took a seat across from the professor, making certain not to jar the egg nestled in her pocket. Didn't need anything happening to her before the day was even over. "Specifically about some of the charms you've placed on it. When I came down before I was... it felt like I was walking on stairs, and the walls changed colors, and floating objects." Now that she said it aloud, it sounded more like something from a muggle fairytale then a corridor in the castle. "What kind of enchantments did you place on the corridor, professor?"

"Certainly." Althea watched the girl and waited for these 'few' questions. When they came she listened attentively.

"Well you've correctly identified that there is more than one spell at work out there. They're all harmless of course, and as the castle tends to do, its sort of embraced them and put its own spin on things. I think its been a while since the corridors have been charmed in such ways. It used to be more common, as a security measure, and a teaching tool, and in some cases in order to prevent use of certain areas. So I have a question for you in return. Do you know what a ward is?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by grangerfan8

Arya listened too and tried to picture it, the castle full of corridors similar to this new one, and the mental images alone were distracting. She would never make it to a lesson if even a few others were charmed in such fascinating ways. Nodding her head at the question thrown back at her, she shifted in her seat.

"It's a form of protection. There a few magical ones placed on the castle."

"Right, wards are usually protections, or sometimes warnings, but generally you can say they're defensive in nature. Some exist permanently, others activate when a human is present, though that's a bit like the whole 'sound of a tree falling in the woods with nobody around to hear it' thing, so you'll have to take my word for it. A sort of net or a web of magic, you might say, over an area. The thing about wards is they last. They're spells which are made to outlive the caster in some cases, though admittedly, like any magic, they'll fade and weaken over time if they aren't replaced and strengthened. A lot of the oldest ones on the castle are anchored to runes actually, because that way they have more permanence, but you can also anchor a spell to another spell. The oldest wards exist in the very foundations of Hogwarts; in the stones." Professor Schirmer said, watching the young prefect to gauge if she was following so far.

"I like to think of it as a web with lots of different strands, something to connect to and of course a master weaver." She gestured at herself. Yeah she was comparing herself to a spider. "Those spells out there in the corridor, they're connected to each other in a web of sorts. Some of them, like the staircase one, could easily be considered a ward, as my presence isn't needed and it is set off by certain parameters, can be used defensively... I'm sure you can imagine it would be unnerving for a thief trying to run away for example. Of course I've only got that one set to activate temporarily when the right parameters are met." She laughed quietly. "More for fun and to inspire curiosity than anything other reason, but I can tell you the spell itself is quite useful in duels, just much less effective when it isn't anchored and in the case of the corridor, the spells are linked. Some are required for the others to work, based on how they are weaved."

She quite felt like a cup of tea and wondered if the house elves would actually oblige.

"Some warding magic is substantive in nature actually, made up of substantive charms. A substantive charm has effects which exist independently from other magic forms and is not reliant on the presence of other enchantments in order to be effective in and of itself, but is required as a foundation on which other spells may be built upon. That is why you can get more and more complicated enchantments, and manipulate them to anchor to certain substances, or activate at certain times, because all the different elements are separate and adjustable but sometimes while you're building or weaving, when you mess with the foundations or anchor points, the whole thing can collapse. Additionally, wards often feature spell layering. Spell layering is a process where multiple spells are required, usually in succession, to achieve a complex effect."

She'd test the elves out. Althea stood and went over to a bell pull, which she tugged, eyeing it for a moment and then sitting down in her chair again.

"I'm sorry if my answer is more complicated than you expected, but I suppose I see the opportunity for a lesson in almost all situations. The corridor is definitely one. So I have a little challenge for you if you're still curious."