COve came in, shut the door, sat down and started to speek. "Headmaster, I'm Cove Brett." She started. She held out her hand to him. "I wanted to ask you if you would allow me to take pictures of the grounds. I wouldn't be taking any that would be exposing magic, just ones that show the beauty of the school." She said. Headmaster Tate kind of scared her a bit.

"Mmhmm," Tate nodded. "You're welcome to take pictures, although you'll want to ask permission of your classmates if you plan on including them in the shot. Remember not to show moving pictures to Muggles."

Was that all? Finally... an easy one. "Anything else?"

"Really? Thank you Headmaster. You don't know how much this means to me! I don't make moving photos. I will make sure to get anyone's permission." Cove said smiling. Mybe he wasn't as scary as she thought. "I don't think so, sir. There's a lot of people down there. Thank you for your time." She smiled at him and walked towards the door.

"Send up the next one," Tate called after the girl. See? Easy. Let the next one be as good.

Ariadne walked to the office door and knocked rather delicately, but then realized it had been almost inaudible. The little firstie tried to convince herself that there was nothing to be nervous about, took a deep breath and then knocked again, properly this time. She sometimes wondered why she was a Gryffindor. Where was all the courage?!

"Enter," Tate called at the tentative knock. "Have a seat and spill your guts."

Hehe. He continued to be amusing.

Ari's nerves started to calm down a bit while she walked in. 'Hello, sir, I realise you are probably very busy, so I'll try not to keep you long.' she began. 'Err...I don't know how to say this, but...are you aware that our Transfiguration Professor used a chainsaw in class? Isn't that...agains the rules or something? No one was hurt, but someone could have been.' Ariadne was very concerned about the safety of her colleagues and herself.

'And I have one more issue.' She wondered how to make it sound less silly or embarassing. 'I didn't know who I could talk to about this.' She hesitated again. 'I want to become a wandmaker.' There. Honesty and ridicule in one simple sentence. 'But I have no idea what I have to do to become one, though. And I've never heard of a woman in this profession.' The young Gryffindor needed some career counselling, that was for sure.

"Did anyone get hurt by the chainsaw? We often use magic or tools that are dangerous in the hands of the inexperienced here. It's not necessarily cause for concern. He didn't let students use it, did he?" Tate couldn't easily get rid of Shaw, so he wasn't about to jump all over a first infraction.

"You should speak with your Head of House prior to your third year to help select the best classes, and then again during your fifth year to make sure you're on track for OWLs. Being a female will not limit you if you want to make wands, but you'll want to make sure you're taking the right classes."

Ari understood the headmaster's point, but as she recalled, Professor Shaw did allow an older girl to use it. Of course, that girl seemed to have enjoyed it...'Actually, yes, he let a sixth year girl use it. Or seventh. I don't remember exactly, I only know for sure that she is a Slytherin.' the firstie replied, forgetting about her initial nervouseness.

Ariadne smiled when the Headmaster told her she could indeed follow the career path of her choice. She could already imagine herself having a shop such as Ollivander's. Ah, dreams...'Thank you. I will speak to Madam Donovan then.' she nodded.

"She should be able to point you in the right direction," Tate agreed. Madame Donovan could certainly suggest classes to any of her students seeking career advice.

As for the chainsaw, he was just going to have to ruminate on that for a while. It wasn't the same as setting someone on fire, but it was dangerous. "Anything else?"

Ariadne nodded and made a mental note to see Madam Donovan as soon as possible. Why wait? The sooner she started preparing for her dream career, the better. Since the Headmaster said nothing more about Shaw, the girl understood that the conversation was over. Content that she did her part, telling him about a potential danger to the students, the Gryffindor replied: 'No, sir, that is all. Thank you for your time.'

"You're... welcome," Tate watched the girl depart. Might as well follow her down and check on the crowd waiting on the bottom of the stairs, right?

Up the stairs she went and into the office. THE office. The office of all offices.

...Huh. Didn't look at that intimidating like she thought it would.

Now having that worry off her mind, she could worry about other things. Like the IMPORTANT information she had to tell the headmaster. Holy Merlin, she was trapped in this office with the headmaster. The big leader and macho man of the school.

Somehow he wasn't as scary as Lafay though. Or Madam Donovan for that matter.

"Sit," Tate circled the girl to take his own seat with some appreciation. The place was absolute madness, the professors had taken to sword fighting and tying each other up, and he needed summer like it was air and he was drowning.

Still. "What can I do for you, Miss Flores? Waited a bit to complain about the curriculum, didn't you?" Should he offer her tea? She seemed a bit... frantic.

Sit?

SITTING!

Making herself comfortable, she paused for a moment before leaning back on the seat slightly after the headmaster spoke. Complain about the curriculum? "Oh, no. I'm sure you're probably tired of hearing that from others." Yup, she said it. "I wanted to talk to you about a concern of mine about the food given here."

...Seriously.

"The food," Tate repeated. He tried not to let his tone be laden with disbelief or impatience, although he certainly believed that if she found the buns overcooked or the meat too tough, she should speak to the house elves about quality assurance.

Right?

"What, in particular, do you dislike about the food?"

Hmmm, the food. There were soooo many things wrong with the food, but she couldn't take up all the Headmaster's time. "Well it's not really all the food..." No. There was only one item in particular that she was having the most trouble with. Besides, it'd take forever to rant about all the problems she thought the food had. "Just one in particular. In...more of the dessert course."

The moment of truth. It was now or never! "Headmaster, have you ever noticed that some people would go to great lengths to get their chocolate fix?" Seriously, has he? 'Cause she has!

What? WHAT?

"You want more chocolate for dessert?" He tried not to sound too flat and disappointed, but if that was the worst thing she could think of... well. At least no one was on fire. "Or better chocolate? Is that right?"

What? MORE chocolate? Was he insane?

....Was he related to Shaw in any way?

"No." she said plainly, even in a little disbelief. "No, not more or better chocolate. No more chocolate. We should be getting rid of it while we have the chance, Headmaster. It's practically taking over the minds of the students at this school! Myself excluded of course." No, she wouldn't let the evil food win.

"I even know someone who would go to the great lengths of burying her chocolate in the dirt outside just so no one would take it. It's...not natural what it does to people." Yea, well, she didn't really know if the girl had done that before or not, but she was pretty certain if her chocolate stash was threatened, she would be more than willing to try out new hiding spots.

"I feel like the real issue is impulse control, and we should get these students into counseling with their Heads of House," Tate mused. There were people who were that drawn to chocolate? Surely she didn't think that his depriving them of it would stop the behavior.

"If they want sweets, they'll find a way to get their hands on it. Send away for food by owl. Cajole the house elves. People are good at getting what they feel they deserve."

Counseling? ...Really?

"Yes..." she drawled out, nodding slowly. "But there will probably be significantly less of it in the school if you do...ban it. Besides, just think of how much more concentration the students could put on studies instead of the next hogsmeade weekend when they can stock up on the stuff. We should have a healthier food style."

Yeeaaa, she was going to throw that in there too. More vegetables!

"I'll certainly take it under advisement," Tate finally offered. He didn't manage the menus from the kitchens under the opinion the house elves would send him packing with glee. He didn't have the knowledge to advise anyone on nutrition or dieting.

"Was there anything else?"

Take it under advisement...well, that wasn't exactly the 'I'll go fix this straight away' that she was looking for, but it was better than nothing. "Okay." she nodded slowly. Alrighty. And...

Erm. "No..." Was there anything else? "I don't...think so. No." Yea, she pretty much got everything off of her mind so far. She was pretty sure she'd remember something when she left the office though. Meh, she'd just bombard him with owls later then. "Thank you for taking that under advisement." Advisement, pffft. "Am I excused?"

"You're excused." He managed to avoid smiling from amusement while she was still in the office, but only barely. Juuuust barely.

Chocolate bans? If that was the worst of it, then he was happy to oblige her.

A silvery praying mantis patronus came into the office, and it spoke with Hecate Lafay's voice. "Intruders on the Pitch, Flying Class. Your assistance is not only requested, but needed."