Hilda Hexenmeister
May 20, 2020 1:38 PM
I am here. And so is he. by Hilda Hexenmeister
Hilda imagined it was normal for people to walk into to the potions classroom encumbered by unwieldy objects. Right this moment, however, it was not a large potions cauldron that preceded a student into office hours. It was a large portrait frame. As it straightened out through the door and turned to face the potions professor, the woman would more readily notice the older white man painted in formal professorial robes a century or so out of date than the braided blond hair and blue eyes that peeked out just above the frame to watch where the wielder was walking."Hello," the portrait greeted the current professor with only a very faint whiff of a German accent.
"Hello," Hilda repeated, slightly muffled by her load. A stream of German words followed, and the painted professor translated, "Hilda would like to know where a good place to put me would be."
One they had worked out the logistics of where everybody should be placed and seated, Hilda spoke again in German and the portrait dutifully supplied the words in English. "This year her brother will not in class with her, and she has difficulty following the class lectures and discussions in English. She wonders how she can keep her grades up to the standard she established last year with Heinrich telling her what was happening. She has a few ideas and wonders what would work best for you. First, I could visit one of the frames here, and she can sit near enough to the wall that I can translate for her. A second possibility is if you do not already have one for the fourth year class, she can become your potion assistant this year, and you can go over the material again more slowly with her while she works. Or just during office hours if that would be simpler. A third option is that she could be supplied with a German transcript of what you planned to discuss during your lecture at the beginning of class and she can read that as you talk. Alternatively, a combination of some or all of these factors could be worked out. For example, she could get a transcript during class, and then during her work as an assistant, she can either ask questions about the material or just work on her ability to discuss potions theory in English without her classmates there, potentially with my assistance until she become better at it."
When the portrait finished explaining her proposal, Hilda nodded in agreement with the words she had only partially followed, even knowing what they were supposed to have meant. "Heinrich say you good. You make German labels. I ask you ahead. This need me in all class. You think best way? Professor Schmitt help me understand."
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Hilda Hexenmeister
I am here. And so is he.
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
May 20, 2020 2:02 PM
I am so glad! by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
People who took the initiative because they sincerely wanted to succeed and would not be stopped were Mary's favorite kind of people. Tabitha was that sort of person for sure, and it was part of what had drawn Mary to her. Hilda Hexenmeister was, apparently, another such person. It was difficult to say where the portrait should go when she wasn't exactly sure what was happening, but she could do her bit to help and levitated the portrait out of Hilda's hands and then set it down in a sort of triangle position between herself and Hilda.Mary considered the options carefully, both in terms of what would be least disruptive to herself and to class, as well as most beneficial to Hilda. There seemed to be some amount of genuine interest in the subject or else she wouldn't have been trying so hard, or been willing to add work to do so, which made it more important that a good solution be worked out. Also, it was clear from her work and from her speech that she was a bright, witty girl with a big brain ready to get all filled up with new information, and it would be a disservice to a whole lot of people if that wasn't cultivated and encouraged.
"I am open to all of those options," Mary said, keeping her eyes on Hilda and ignoring the portrait as he spoke. She smiled when Hilda said her brother that Mary was good. She'd been dedicated firmly to the inclusion of international students and various languages since day one at Sonora but she rarely got to hear about what a difference they made and it was nice to have it confirmed, especially when everything else in Mary's life was basically a disaster. "I'm not sure whether I have a real solid transcript I could provide, but I'd be happy to provide notes or an outline. The material that I usually put on the chalkboard is on paper first, and I could copy it for you so you don't have to try to write and read and listen all at the same time."
Mary thought for a moment. "As a second year intermediate student, the potions assistantship would require more work of you than just reviewing materials and discussing that more in depth. I would be happy to meet with you for that during office hours or another time if that worked best, and I would be happy to have you as an assistant if you were also interested in doing some of that work, but if you're looking more for academic help and less for experience, that might not be the best fit. That being said, the experience would also reinforce a lot of your learning and familiarise you with concepts we discuss in class, so I think it would still be beneficial. Otherwise, I am happy to have you sit near a wall with a portrait for the interpretation, or bring a small portrait that can be sat on your desk if that's more comfortable for you not to have to sit by a wall all the time. What do you think?"
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
I am so glad!
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