Thank you so so much. [tag Professor Wright] on Charms

Evelyn Stones

April 24, 2020 4:58 PM

Thank you so so much. [tag Professor Wright] by Evelyn Stones

The end of the year was here. The Ball was done, the final projects were turned in, the bags were packed, and soon, the school would close. Or whatever it did during the summer. In just a few months, Evelyn would be a fifth year student and Heinrich would have moved up to the Advanced class. She wasn't so scared about either of those things now; she could do magic most of the time and life was really really good at the moment.

So Evelyn retrieved a small wrapped package from her wardrobe and made her way to Professor Wright's office with a light heart. There were good and bad things she wanted to say, but for Professor Wright, only the best would do. When she arrived, she knocked on his office door and came in when he answered. Greeting him with a brilliant smile, she set the package down on his desk.

"Thank you," she said, her voice strong and confident. She felt strong and confident most of the time these days. "For everything." Inside, Professor Wright would find a very fancy golden cup adorned with a moving peacock in all the brilliant hues those birds exhibited. It was intended as a pen stand and it was the best Evelyn could do since she was pretty sure Professor Wright had very high standards for his pens and things and would prefer to pick them out himself. Same for paper.

"Are you looking forward to summer? Do you get any time off?" Evelyn asked. She didn't want to linger if he didn't want her there, but she didn't want to leave without telling him her news either. She wasn't sure why, because it wouldn't necessarily do her any good, but she thought Professor Wright probably cared about her at least a little bit now. He'd want to know maybe. And she wasn't sure what next year would look like for them. Even if they weren't supposed to meet as often, she would definitely be coming by to talk about charms theory and such with him, if he'd have her.

OOC - Fancy peacock holder.

22 Evelyn Stones Thank you so so much. [tag Professor Wright] 1422 1 5

Grayson Wright

April 26, 2020 3:27 PM

You're most welcome. by Grayson Wright

The end of the year had, once more, arrived unexpectedly. Gray tried to remember if it had always seemed to come so abruptly, or if this was some indication of the beginnings of the inevitable mental decline that all adults experienced after age twenty-five. The fact that he could not remember exactly what it had felt like to be a student at the end of the year was probably not a good sign, but he refused to regard it as conclusive.

With the students now through their exams, both major and minor, he did not expect many visitors to his office, so it was a bit of a surprise to hear a knock on the door. Quickly shoving his manuscript notebook (the sequel was coming along surprisingly well over the past few days, though it still lacked much of a plot to tie the amusing incidents he was writing together; that probably wouldn't present itself to him until the second draft) in a drawer he had long since made a habit of keeping cracked for just such occasions, he said, "Enter," followed by, "Ah, hello Evelyn."

He was always relieved any time a knock at his door didn't involve Topaz Brockert and Ness McLeod murdering each other, but someone actually smiling was very nice, especially someone he had gathered was not necessarily very happy as a general rule. He was not truly surprised, though, until she put a package down in front of him.

"Oh - thank you very much," he said. "You really didn't have to do anything like this." Curious, he pulled at the paper to reveal a very handsome pen stand. "It's beautiful. Thank you, Evelyn," he said.

He nodded when asked about whether he got time off over the summer. "Yes," he said. "We stay later and return earlier than you do, but we teachers have some time to dispose of how we like, within reason," he said. He supposed it was possible to get fired for what one did over the summer, but he had never been given to very interesting behavior. The most controversial things he'd ever done had involved media, and the only time he'd done that since becoming employed here involved a pseudonym. "Visit family, attend conferences, that sort of thing. I hope you're also looking forward to summer?" he asked, with a faint note of concern beneath the return of the pleasantry.

16 Grayson Wright You're most welcome. 113 0 5

Evelyn Stones

April 27, 2020 11:41 AM

Is this how grown ups are supposed to treat minors? by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn smiled, glad that Professor Wright seemed genuinely excited about his gift. She had been worried that he would not accept it, or else that he wouldn't like it, but he seemed not to mind and that made Evelyn happy. Of course, she could never make up for or thank him enough for the difference he'd made in her life, but she suspected he wouldn't want her to try. He was a teacher, after all; he made a living helping kids become better adults.

The idea of attending conferences over the summer struck Evelyn as particularly interesting, as it wasn't something she'd ever considered. "Teaching conferences?" she asked. "Or magic theory? Or . . ? That sounds so fascinating!" What she wouldn't give to attend a conference on magic theory. It wouldn't happen since she didn't have very much to give, but still. Good to know for future when she would hopefully be in a little bit more secure situation financially and what not.

"I am," Evelyn replied about her own summer, not hiding the hesitancy there. Or the determination. She was the one who got to decide whether her summers were good or not in a lot of ways, and she was determined to enjoy this one. "My sixteenth birthday is this summer. Which is not so exciting in the wizard world, but I'm excited." She'd grown up around enough Muggles that she couldn't help being excited about a sweet sixteen, particularly one that was shared with a very handsome guy. "I'll be spending a couple weeks at my dad's house in August I think. I was wondering . . . I didn't come to ask this. I'm sorry to bother you for business and pleasure at the same time. It was just . . ." She hesitated, not sure whether it was giving too much away to ask. Professor Wright knew a lot of her story but he probably didn't want to know any more of it. He probably didn't want to know as much as he did. And she also felt bad asking a favor from someone who had been so helpful and giving thus far. But she couldn't imagine spending so much time at her father's house without some plan in place, either. "I can't do magic at home," she began. "I wondered if it was possible to make a trinket or something that would let me lock a door so only some people could come in? Like maybe only people younger than twenty-five or something?"

Her father's letter had come just that morning, asking her to spend a few weeks at home with CJ, who was now a walking talking little guy, and spend time at "home" when this was a big birthday. She was pretty sure her father didn't care one lick about a sweet sixteen, but she felt guilty not agreeing, so she was planning to spend the first two weeks of August there. Long enough before her birthday that if something crappy happened, she could spend some time getting over it before her own celebrations, and close enough to her birthday that she could get mentally prepared over July and then make her dad happy. That being said, she had high hopes that Ness or Heinrich or both might come visit. She suspected Marijke would not want Ness to stay overnight - and rightly so - but Heinrich might be willing. If he didn't decide to hex her father's face off. In any case, Evelyn didn't want to keep CJ or her friends - inclusive of folks up to Kir's age - out of her room. Just other, unwanted company.

22 Evelyn Stones Is this how grown ups are supposed to treat minors? 1422 0 5

Grayson Wright

April 27, 2020 6:18 PM

I hope so? by Grayson Wright

Gray couldn't help a slight smile at the enthusiasm with which Evelyn embraced the idea of conferences. Not something one expected from students, really, but Evelyn was in many ways an unusual student.

"Mainly Charms conferences," he said. "If you do well enough in university, you end up with lifetime membership in societies - though the conferences are still expensive. Still, they can be interesting enough."

This was more or less true. He was still also affiliated with some organizations in his old field, despite most of his work falling in other arenas these days. He was not exactly sure he ought to mention that, though, at least not specifically...

"And some from the wireless world - I worked in that for many years before I came here to teach," he added.

Gray supposed celebrating the sixteenth birthday was a Muggle custom, from what Evelyn said. He wondered - he had always thought that the Muggles considered people children for longer than their magical counterparts, not a year younger, but who knew? Perhaps it had changed since the days since he had taken Muggle Studies and thought he had learned these things. It made even more sense given how out-of-date textbooks in such areas tended to be...

"Birthdays should always be exciting," he said with a smile, from the grave height of not-quite-forty. He still quite enjoyed his birthdays, anyway. People acted happy about his continued existence and he got cake and ice cream at the same time, and often coupons exchangeable for extra books. What about that wasn't enjoyable? "I hope yours is excellent." His expression became a bit more serious, though, as she went on. Beginning with apologies was never good, and then noting that she couldn't do magic at home was downright ominous, and then....

He thought back to the documents she had written up when they had begun their association last year. About her uncertainty that she was safe when she was with her father. That her mother had abandoned the family, leaving her and her younger brother stranded with the man. How the social worker had considered calling in other legal authorities. And now this - dear Merlin. It was all appalling. For one of the very few times in his life, he could see why cursing someone might seem like a logical solution to a problem - especially when one had his lifelong difficulty of not being a terribly fluent speaker by nature, and particularly not when genuinely moved by some emotion, which was one reason why he suspected he had found it worth the trouble to put in the effort to master nonverbal spellcasting in school.

Making a point that way, however, was not something which was permissible or wise, or the topic which was under discussion right now, so he tried to put the thought back in the little mental cupboard it had emerged from and to consider his answer carefully.

"It's possible, certainly. Charming objects to work without a direct incantation - well, that's more stuff we'll start covering next year, but it's common enough. However, there are...difficulties. For instance, if you needed medical care...." That would come with problems for him and possibly the school, too, along with the issue of knowingly enabling a student to subvert the parental will - however little right it seemed said parent should have had to an opinion on anything. The primary concern was not being, by some freak accident, partially responsible for Evelyn's death, but he also preferred the condition where he was not in legal trouble or facing the loss of his position. "August...you told me once that you have a social worker," he said, thinking. She had written it, properly, but that was a technicality. "Is that still the case? If so, it seems like an issue you might bring up with him or her, to consider your options. But it is a thing that can exist, yes."

16 Grayson Wright I hope so? 113 0 5

Evelyn Stones

April 27, 2020 7:37 PM

It works for me. by Evelyn Stones

Universities. That wasn't something Evelyn had thought much about. When was she supposed to start thinking about that? It would be nice to get to go to fancy conferences and things, but she probably couldn't do well enough in university to go to Charms conferences because her wandwork was still subpar for sure. Was there a degree in magic theory? Or in magic for the only-kinda-magical?

"The wireless world?" Evelyn asked, thinking first of cell phones and then of internet and things. Maybe radios? Wizards had radios, right? These weren't things she had picked up on from her father and she hadn't spent much time around other magical folks before coming to Sonora. It was hard to remember which things were only non-magical and which things were only magical. Some non-magical things made their way into the magical world, but then it was hard to remember which ones they were.

Evelyn couldn't imagine why she might need medical care whilst in her room, and if she did, then she would hope CJ at least could toddle his way in and out for her. It was hard to make a choice between the vulnerability that came from an unlocked door and the vulnerability that came from possible death by lack of medical care, and it wasn't a choice she wanted to think about. She frowned a little, both because it seemed like Professor Wright was reading enough into this to be worried and because he didn't seem to be offering to help. That was just as well - he was allowed not to help - but it made things more difficult for her. Ms. Heidi would be happy to help, but that meant bringing things up in a face-to-face conversation that she didn't particularly want to bring up and acknowledging either ongoing threat of harm, which could bode poorly for any stability in CJ's life, or some . . . oh what was the thing the pamphlets from the McLeod foundation said? Something about a trauma response. She didn't want to acknowledge that either.

Her instinct was to smile, brush it off, and dismiss it as Professor Wright having read too much into her question. But she knew that that wasn't nice of her, and that Professor Wright would see through it. Also, she was trying to be more honest. It had been her goal at the beginning of the year to be a better person and this was just another chance to live up to that. She thought of the makeup shop that had gone up before the Ball and wondered idly, and a little bitterly, whether there was a market for personal safety products.

"That's okay," she said, offering a more sincere smile than her instincts had told her to. "I'm not too worried, it just made me think more about all the theory of it." That was true. She knew that there was very little chance of anything happening that she didn't want to happen - the specific things she was worried about had only happened twice in fifteen years so far (granted, it was really twice in six years but still) and her father did seem to be sincerely better than he'd been before. It was more for her own peace of mind than anything. She could probably set up a bell on a string to wake her up at night and she'd do just as well. She was pretty sure she'd be able to hex someone who tried to come in that she didn't want to come in now. She wondered whether her classmates thought about these things before they went home for the summer.

"I'm excited for learning more about that next year," she added. "Am I on track right now to continue Charms into my advanced grades? Should I call it a lost cause now?" She offered a weak, joking smile. Professor Wright had seen her exhausted, angry, sad, and he'd seen her magic flood as often as fizzle. She wasn't worried about what he'd think of her and a weak smile was sincere.

22 Evelyn Stones It works for me. 1422 0 5

Grayson Wright

April 30, 2020 10:06 PM

Good, very good. by Grayson Wright

"Hm, yes," said Gray at the repetition of his former professional sphere. "I was mainly involved with scripted content, not music - not very good with music," he admitted, thinking of the moments of sheer awful that were the moments right before he was expected to join in singing 'happy birthday' to someone. Whether to sing at speaking volume, or to try to carry a tune, or just to mouth the words along and hope nobody noticed....

"Which does, er, limit my use of some forms of charms, but ah, well," he concluded. There were charms - mainly very antique ones, though no less powerful for that - which were closer to music than to speech, though he thought those mostly fell into rather specialized areas of the field. Certainly the classes on them in school had been elective for him, though he had quietly sat in the back of a few in the day just to see what was going on in there, out of Aladrenish curiosity. "We all have our weak points."

He saw the attempts at humor, and attempted a smile in return when Evelyn made the joke about calling Charms a lost cause. "No, I don't think it's quite time to raise the white flag," he said. "I'm hardly going to turn down a student who asks me to loan her books about theory," he added with a hint of humor of his own, though he sobered again quickly. Partially this was because he was generally fairly quick to revert to a more serious expression - it was just his face, it had always been so - and partially because he still had the 'theory' question she had asked today on his mind.

"Yes, theory...." He put a hand up as though to remove his glasses, but caught himself short and merely pushed them further back up, leaving his eyes un-rubbed, despite the fact that this felt like the exact gesture to make as he considered this damned knotty problem he was fairly sure he could only see parts of. You are an Aladren, he reminded himself sternly. If seeing solutions was easy, anyone could do it. "Theory..." He picked his wand up off the desk and gave it a flick, bringing a book to the desk. He checked the title, then slid it toward Evelyn. "This discusses some of the theory surrounding enchanting objects," he said slowly, and then Summoned another book from the other side of the room. "And this concerns charms used for securing and concealing things - including magical locks. Between them you might - find an answer to your question about - theory," he added blandly. "Though of course, I must remind you that underage witches and wizards may only use magic at home, er, in the case of self-defense of some kind - however many magical families may not follow the rules."

This was already, he was fairly certain, ethically shaky territory, and he had never been one with the coordination for walking on high wires. "You can borrow those for the summer if you want - and write if you have any questions," he said. "Entirely up to you, of course."

16 Grayson Wright Good, very good. 113 0 5

Evelyn Stones

May 01, 2020 9:44 AM

Sorry if this was weird. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn looked at Professor Wright with searching eyes. To some degree, they both knew what they were talking about. Somehow, there was an unspoken agreement that talking about it all by not talking about it was the easiest way. How much of that was because Professor Wright was more comfortable like that, and how much of it was because he thought she would be, Evelyn wasn't sure. In any case, she was surprised by how much it meant to her. There had never been a day he had ever treated her like she was incapable, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and he'd brought her back from the very brink of squibdom.

She nodded appreciatively, and accepted the books. They wouldn't get the job done this summer, but next summer she would turn seventeen and the next one after that she'd be able to do whatever she'd like between school years. She really really hated that she would be eighteen going into her seventh year, but that was just how her cards had played out. Or been played for her.

"Thank you," she said softly. Perhaps talking to Ms. Heidi wouldn't be so bad. If Professor Wright could understand without needing to really understand, maybe Ms. Heidi could too. After all, they both cared as much about her safety as they did about her mental health, and this was by far more a matter of peace of mind than actual physical safety. Probably. Professor Wright's reminder about magic for self-defense was proof positive of that, although Evelyn couldn't help wincing some. Self-defense magic was, it seemed, not her strong suit. Perhaps Professor T Brooding-Hawthorne wouldn't mind helping her with that? She made a mental note to find out at the start of the new year after she'd had some more time to think.

Evelyn smiled a little at Professor Wright, who had been put in this position rather reluctantly she imagined, and had never been less than kind to her. "Have a really really good summer, Professor," she told him. "I'd love to see your conference notes in the Fall."

22 Evelyn Stones Sorry if this was weird. 1422 0 5