Minerva smiled and followed Professor Magnus into the office. She couldn't wait to get back with her favorite professor. "Hello Professor Magnus, I hope you had a great summer." She looked around the office "I am excited to get back to transfiguration and was wondering if maybe if your ever not busy I could learn some extra things on top of what we learn in class. As long as she feel I'm doing well in class. I read many transfiguration books last year in the library and saw many different spells."

Nate followed Minerva into the teachers office. He just couldn't wait to take this class. Even though it wouldn't be his favorite, but he woud still participate as much as he possibly could. "Thanks, and I can't wait to take this class. I just wanted to stop by and say hi beccause I didn't get to at the feast. This was my sisters favorite subject here at hogwarts. She said that the teacher was really nice. Except if you are late. She had figured that out the hard way." Nate said with a smile.

Isabelle walked round to the far side of her desk and gestured for the three children to sit in the opposite chairs, one of which she had to conjure on the way round. Usually she only made provision for two at a time. But it seemed she was inundated today.

"I had a lovely summer, Minerva, thank you. I hope you did as well." Isabelle grinned at the girl as she took her own seat, folding her hands across her lap as she waited for the questions or comments. Extra work? Classes hadn't even started yet. She was eager. "Well the practice room is always available for that sort of thing, and I'm willing to be there to help if you need me. I don't do extra lessons though, my time is taken up with the ones I do, and the homework." She cleared her throat and smiled. "But if there are any spells you think you can do, or want to try, within reason obviously, then you're more than welcome to use that room."

"Oh, the food is more important at the feast anyway. Don't worry about that - but it is nice to meet you, and welcome to Hufflepuff!" Isabelle, being the new house moderator, felt extra pride in saying that. But she had to laugh slightly at the boy's next comment. Except if you're late. Well yes, that was never a good thing.

"If your sister was talking about me, tell her thank you. And yes, lateness is something you should try and avoid."

Minerva smiled at her favorite teacher. "Professor did you ever get that teddy bear back that the baby elf had taken the day in the practice room?" She looked at the other students. "Well professor I don't want to take up to much of your time I know you are very busy. I also wanted to stop by to let you know if there is any time you would need extra help with anything I would love to help."

Alyssa entered Professor Magnus' office and noticed Minerva and Nate already in there. "Hi Minnie. Hi Nate." She greeted both of them before turning to Professor Magnus. "Thank you for allowing me to speak with you, Professor. I know that you must be very busy, so I won't take up too much of your time. I came to ask you whether you needed any help cleaning up your office or helping to prepare for class or cleaning up after class, but I just heard Minerva asking you the same question. I know that you don't need that many helpers but maybe if Minnie didn't mind me partnering up with her, we could get the job/assignment completed faster."Alyssa looked to Minerva to see whether she was agreeable with that suggestion.

Teddy bear? "Ohh, no, I didn't actually," Isabelle laughed, suddenly remembering which one Minerva was talking about. "But I don't mind. If it wants to keep it it's more than welcome to."

As for helping her....Seems she had a team at the ready. Heh

"It's very kind of you to both volunteer to help. I don't need anything at the moment, but I'm sure I wouldn't say no to you teaming up after class to tidy the classroom with me." Isabelle nodded and grinned at both girls. She had things in hand at the moment, but clearing up after the kiddies was always something she could do with some help for. "Perhaps if you stay after the lesson I'll be able to find something for you to do."

Minerva smiled at the professor. 'Well I bet the baby elf is enjoying the teddy bear it is so nice of you not to mind the little one keeping it. Professor do you know if it was a boy or girl elf?" She couldn't remember if that was ever said at the end of year feast. She laughed a little "it seems funny now how afraid I was of it when it had come into the practice room when I was in there." She listened as Alyssa spoke and then Professor Magnus said they might be able to help after class. "Oh that would be great Professor, Alyssa and I work very well together."

That was actually a very good question. "I think it was a boy, but don't hold me to that," Isabelle chuckled. Could just be that she thought boys might be more mischievous than girls. Or maybe all baby elves were the same. She couldn't remember where she'd heard it from. "Well, it's natural to be fearful of things we don't know about, and until the feast none of us knew it was an elf." Isabelle grinned reassuringly at the girl.

"Good, good! In that case I look forward to the help. Was there anything else I could help you all with?"

Kurumi had jumped a bit when the door had opened and Professor Magnus had called her into the office. Her heart began to pound in her chest and she felt as though it were going to come bursting out of her at any moment. This was going to be a more difficult conversation than she had imagined it would be. Chances were that the woman already had an inkling about her...issue...since Kurumi had shown a lot of concern about it last term during the lesson with the discussion about Metamorphagi, and this fact almost made things feel even harder.

Bowing slightly as she entered, Kurumi stood a few feet from the doorway and made an awkward attempt to smile at Professor Magnus as she sat at her desk. "Thank you for seeing me, professor," she greeted meekly.

Minerva got up from her seat. "No there is nothing else Professor. I will see you in class soon. Thank you for your time." Minerva smiled and headed out of her office.

"Kurumi. Please come and sit down, no need to stand up," Isabelle grinned at the prefect and gestured to an empty seat. Her mouth might have been grinning, but her eyes were searching the girl's face. She seemed nervous and hesitant - certainly not something that Issy wanted the students to feel when they entered her office.

"I always have time for anyone that needs to talk. I'm assuming this is about what we were going to discuss last term? Or is it something else?" Because, you know, she wasn't a mind reader, just assuming. The Gryffindor's body language though was hinting towards the former.



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Oh, right. Okay.

Isabelle nodded her head at Minerva when the child got up to leave. "Not a problem, see you in class."

Kurumi nodded as Professor Magnus instructed for her to take a seat. Upon doing so, Kurumi's hands rested on her thighs and she averted her eyes to everywhere in the office BUT Professor Magnus until the professor spoke again. She picked her head up and took a deep breath.

"Yes," she said. Phew. That wasn't so hard now, was it? But, that wasn't all and Kurumi knew that the simple answer of yes wasn't enough for now. "Professor...I've...um...last term, when we were learning Felintas and Ristaris...I...sort of cheated..." There. She had said it. Kurumi Hollingberry hadn't been completely honest during a lesson.

By the time Kurumi had taken a seat, Isabelle had leant back in hers and crossed her legs. Resting her hands on her lap she waited for a response to her question. And it was a stuttery one. Also not quite what she was expecting.

"Cheated?" Her face scrunched slightly into a semi frown. That was very un-prefect like. But she had to admire her for her honesty now. In a way. Although it perhaps confirmed suspicions she'd had since that lesson, from the questions the Gryffindor had asked during it. "In the sense that someone else performed the spell on you....or you didn't use the spells at all?" Straight to the point? No, lets take the scenic route.

There was a frown. Kurumi didn't like that frown. Treyen had said that she wouldn't frown and that everything would be alright. But...Professor Magnus was frowning. Oh Merlin...this was it. She was getting her badge revoked and expelled from the school!!!

Breathe Kurumi....BREATHE and answer her question.

"More like...I couldn't use the spell on myself," she said softly. "I didn't cheat to gain an advantage or anything. I-I-I only did it to fit in with everyone else." She looked down at her hands that were not gripping her black skirt. "My friend couldn't even perform the spells on me for homework, so...I cheated then too, to make her think that she had done it properly." She couldn't bring herself to look at the professor right now, she was far too ashamed of herself. Using her ability to cheat...she had sunk to an all time low. It had been one of the only times her ability had actually cooperated with her too, using it controlled her and did what it wanted to when it wanted to.

This all probably made very little sense to the Transfiguration professor, so Kurumi really ought to just come out with it.

"Professor I'm...I'm..." She swallowed. "I'm a metamorphagus."

As the professor admitted him to her room, João took a deep breath to calm himself down. He'd get through this conversation easily, and start the training he'd long been dreaming of. It was just that the professor had been busy or something and couldn't get back to him. He'd--

Was she looking at him?

"Hello, Professor." Pause. Could he have been any politer? Hopefully, a hello would suffice. "Thanks for seeing me. How are you today?" Better to ask how she was, right?

Isabelle didn't like feeling disappointed in Kurumi. She was a good pupil, and cheating was something that Issy never thought she would hear of her doing. But here she was, confessing to it herself. Her frown softened, however, when she heard the full explanation.

She'd wait to reply to the last part of the confession until later, first she had to deal with the cheating part. "You know if I'd have discovered this last term, you would have suffered a detention and points loss." Isabelle sighed and crossed her arms. Even though the prefect not even looking at her, she kept her gaze fixed on the girl as she spoke. "As it is I don't act retrospectively, so my disappointment in you will have to be punishment enough." And she was sure it would be, considering the lack of eye contact.

"Not being able to perform a spell, for whatever reason, is nothing to be ashamed of, Kurumi. Especially when the reason is because you've been born with the gift of being able to change without the need for a spell." Yes, she had heard the little whisper from the Gryffindor. Truthfully it was something that Isabelle had suspected, but she was never going to press her on the matter. No, she was going to wait until Kurumi had wanted to talk to her. "Next time, please, just admit to me when you are having trouble. I won't be mad if it doesn't work."

Now, onto what she wanted to ask about the actual subject of the visit, cheating aside. "So....how are you getting on controlling this ability?"
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Oh, yes. Mister Neves. Isabelle had known there was something she had been meaning to owl out, and his visit reminded her. Animagus studies.

Putting her cup down on the saucer, she placed both on her desk and smiled as the boy entered. "Mister Neves. I am well, thank you, please do take a seat." She pulled a piece of parchment towards her, and took a quill out from her right side draw.

"My apologies for failing to reply to your essay. I did read it, and found it to be very well written and thorough. I assume you're here to discuss a timetable for your lessons?" Well, he could have just been there to say hello, how are you? but it was unlikely. "I have homework to mark the next couple of days, but any day you have a free period after then would be okay." Isabelle looked up and grinned, quill at the ready to note down any day he preferred.



OOC: I was thinking Saturday 21st (ooc) to start, in the practice room? ^___^

Taking a seat as she allowed him to, João noticed that she didn't ask how he was, but at least she was well. Watching her as she found a paper and a quill, he listened attentively to her words and he was visibly relieved as she said that she'd found it thorough. Well, that eased things greatly and he even smiled a little, before getting serious to discuss serious stuff.

"Yes--well, thank you, professor." He should thank for the praise, right? It was a praise, wasn't it? He was way too eager to become an animagus to judge her words properly. But at least, he would now start training.

"Whenever you are available, professor. I can arrange my timetable according to the training." He'd love to do so. "Though, I guess, Friday would work the best." Y'know, so that if it was tiring, he could rest at the weekend?

OOC: Sure. :33

Kurumi frowned. No...she HAD been able to perform the spell, it just hadn't worked on herself. "But...Professor, it wasn't that I couldn't perform it at all...it just...I couldn't perform it on myself, and others couldn't get the spell to work either when they performed it on me." Just in case Professor Magnus was a little confused on her explanation...although Kurumi probably just sounded like a broken record. Treyen had been wrong. Professor Magnus WAS upset and disappointed with her to the point where she would have received a detention. Maybe...it would have been better if she hadn't come here? "And I...I didn't want to bring attention to...what I am...in front of everyone..."

Kurumi wiggled in her seat a bit, bowing her head deeply in a humbling manner to signal that she understood. Don't try to cover up being defective. Got it.

Cue more wiggling. "Father has tried to help me...and I suppose it is getting better...but, I still feel like it controls me than me controlling it." Especially her hair. "To be honest, using it to cover up what happened last year was the first time I actually had any control over the changes. Professor Magnus, I've never been able to see this as a gift...It's...It's always been a curse to me." Even before she knew what it was that she was.

"Oh, I see." Isabelle had gotten the wrong end of the stick, yes. She gave Kurumi a nod of the head and small smile by way of an apology for that. Although the situation hadn't changed much - she had still changed her hair and lied about how she had done it. "You could have taken me to one side, the class didn't have to know, and I would have understood if you'd told me you were having problems performing it on yourself." There was always a way.

As her attitude began to soften, Isabelle looked at the Gryffindor curiously. She could tell that she was remorseful, the fidgeting and head bowing told her that. But it was very difficult to have a conversation with someone that didn't want to look at you.

"Please. Please don't think of it as a curse. The things that make us different are the things we should appreciate and celebrate. There are many people out there that wish they could be like you. Once you've learnt to control it I assure you, you won't feel as bad." Isabelle's smile broadened as she tried to make the prefect feel better. As with anything, the better you were at it, the less you worried. Not that she was a Metamorphmagus. "If you ever want to talk more about it, do let me know."
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Friday, friday, friday. Yes, that could work.

Isabelle frowned as she trawled through her memory to see if she had anything planned for then. No, she didn't. At least not in the late afternoon when the majority of lessons would be over, and Joao would have a free period. "I think Friday would be fine," she smiled, writing it down on the parchment so she could add it to her planner. "We'll go to the practice room, I can shut it for an hour or so, so we won't be disturbed. Then we'll see how you get on before we schedule another lesson." That sounded okay, yes?



OOC: Goodo! ^__^

João offered her a smile of his own too when she said Friday would work. Nodding eagerly, he wondered for a moment if only one hour would be enough. Though, of course, this was just the beginning. Surely their lessons would get longer as they got more complex, right?

"Thanks, professor." He paused, thinking whether their conversation was over. "What time shall I be there?"

Could have. Would have. Should have. Wasn't that how the expression went? She seemed to remember her brother, Ryunosuke, using it in a similar situation. "Understood, professor, and no argument there," she said with another small head bow. "I'm...sorry...for what I did...I was just, just, just too afraid." But, at least she had gotten a few things off her chest now. It was all out there in the open so, at least with one more person, Kurumi didn't have to feel like she had something to hide.

Kurumi nodded as she listened to the professor's next words. She didn't want to turn this session into her own personal sob story, but it seemed like there was no avoiding it for now. "I wish...I could have grown up believing that," she said softly. "There is...an expression in my hometown, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down...and, well, I've always been the nail. Being different was never something to celebrate." So, with an upbringing by society like that, it was hard to think that anything that made her stand out as something to be proud of. Others were helping, her father, her brothers, Selina, Treyen, Jonathan...but it was still hard. "I'm not sure what all to talk about regarding it. Father has tried to give me ways of dealing with it...but...I hate being a walking mood ring all the time."

Yes, she was sorry. Isabelle could tell that, she really could. Kurumi didn't need to say it, although it was nice that she had. Giving her a warm grin in response, Issy shifted position in her seat. "You don't need to be afraid of telling me things. Us staff are here to help you, and my door is always open, and my ear always ready to listen. In class or here - remember that." Just in case there was anything in the future. Being a child wasn't easy, especially one that was afraid of being different. But if she could help, then Isabelle would do.

Isabelle let out a sigh when the prefect explained about her upbringing playing a part in the way she felt about it. Of course it would. The way people were treated, and the things they were told, would shape the way they saw the world. "I understand that," she said, leaning forward in her seat. "But you're here now. Among people that won't nail you back down. Perhaps, with a little more practice, you'll learn to embrace it."
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Time. That was a good question. Tapping her quill to the side of her head, Isabelle had a think about it. Lessons in the morning, lunch, lessons, then dinner. "I think late afternoon would be best. You all usually have a break around then, I believe." If she had memorised the schedule in the staff room properly.

She wrote it all down, before sliding the paper across the desk. "There we go. I'll make a copy for myself, so neither of us forget."

Kurumi nodded. Nothing more really needed to be said on the matter. She DID feel like a giant weight had been lifted off her shoulder. She had been carrying that with her all summer and all of last term. Still, she felt guilty about it...and even more so now that she knew that she would have earned herself a detention and point loss. "I will," she nodded again. "And...if there is anything I can do to...make this all up to you...please let me know." Cleaning, organizing, anything. No expectations on Kurumi's end, just a way to pay back the Transfiguration professor.

"Do you know...what sort of things I can do to practice?" she asked sheepishly. "Father has tried to train me but...our abilities manifest themselves in very different ways, so what works for him doesn't work for me." Maybe she needed to speak with the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor about yoga.

Late afternoon. Sure. The school should be quiet enough with people already in the mood of a nice weekend. He nodded in agreement, as he also said "Yes, I don't have any lesson then." Luckily.

Scanning the paper to check if he got everything alright, he got up as he shoved it into the pocket of his robes.

"Thank you professor." Why thanking her, now? Because she accepted to teach him to become an animagus? "And, if that's all..." I shall leave.