Delegating (tag Isis) on Pecari Commons

Selina Skies

November 18, 2020 5:51 PM

Delegating (tag Isis) by Selina Skies

Was Oz Spellman a problem? He was certainly a lot of things. Loud, prone to interrupting, a bit off task sometimes... But was he really a problem? That had been the debate Selina had been left with after the last staff meeting. She had done a general check in regarding the first years, and had not been surprised to find that she wasn't the only one who had had to remind him about his behaviour. Also, whilst he turned in his homework, it wasn't always stellar stuff. He'd get a good seventy to eighty percent right if he was just reproducing facts or diagrams from the book, but anything which required him to be remotely thoughtful wasn't really his forte. But was it a problem?

Selina had tentatively come to the conclusion that it wasn't a problem yet. Oz kept running his mouth and being annoying but none of the other students had pushed back against him. Yet. Oz had not been in so much trouble that anyone had resorted to giving him detention. Yet. Oz turned in homework that demonstrated limited critical reasoning or original thought, but not much was required of him. Yet. The presence of that word, however, made it feel like she was watching and waiting for 'when' not 'if.' It seemed best to try checking in with him before any of it became a problem for real.

Grayson had mentioned that an attempt at talking with him hadn't exactly gone well, and she was cautious of making him feel like he was in trouble. A summons to her own office was definitely not the way to go about things. She had left it with his head of house. That was part of their role, after all. She had left it to Isis how many of these issues she wanted to tackle head on, though had advised that a casual check in might be the way to go. She was not expecting Isis to lay down the law and produce a new Oz Spellman over night. The goal really at this stage was not to frighten Oz or to punish him, but just to establish a bit more of a relationship with the adults around him, so that they could keep keeping an eye on him, and make sure none of this escalated into a Situation.

OOC: Gray's contributions approved by his author

13 Selina Skies Delegating (tag Isis) 26 1 5

Isis Carter-Xavier

November 19, 2020 1:29 PM

Momming [Tag: Oz] by Isis Carter-Xavier

To her own surprise, Isis actually liked Oz Spellman.

Truth be told, Isis often found her Head of House duties exhausting. Specifically, being Head of Pecari House could be exhausting. Whoever had decided to coop up all the spontaneous, active, result-driven, and daring kids together and make them the primary responsibility of one poor sap of an adult had obviously done so before the US made laws about cruel and unusual punishment. A kid jumping on or off of furniture was a pretty regular sight, for example, and Isis had learned to pick her battles.

Yet despite her constant exasperation with them, Isis did fit. Had she attended Sonora as a child, she would have definitely been a Pecari. She was the flexible and adaptive kind, the one who knew how to stay alive no matter what. She was a tough kid from a bad neighborhood, one who grew up a little too fast, forced to do so by poverty and personal loss.

Oz Spellman, she had a feeling, was both kinds. He was pretty energetic, but he was also quick and sharp in a defensive sort of way. Isis had read what was available to her in his files, as well, and knew a bit about his background. Not to mention, even if the extent of the matters were different, when you knew that life, you could tell. Isis was a Muggleborn who grew up with a (mostly) single mother with too many mouths to feed at any given time, and she knew what it was like.

So, no, she did not ask Oz to meet her in her office this evening to discipline him. In fact, she had made that very clear when she spoke to him about it. “You are not in trouble,” she had said, a genuineness and warmth to her tone that she had only managed since becoming (and really becoming) a mother.

Isis left the office door open, so he didn’t even need to knock. “Hi Oz, you can come on in,” she said once he was in sight. “Shut that behind you, if you would, and have a seat.”

12 Isis Carter-Xavier Momming [Tag: Oz] 31 0 5

Oz Spellman

November 20, 2020 5:52 AM

Got 1.5 of those already by Oz Spellman

Oz spent the time between when Professor Carter-Xavier told him they’d be having a chat (and that he was not in trouble) until the actual time for the conversation itself in basically a low key cold sweat. There were two reasons why you got called to a teacher’s office; one, to be praised (if you were Henry) two to be at-best-warned and at-worst-ripped-a-new-one (if you were him). So, the best case version of Professor Carter-Xavier telling him he wasn’t in trouble was that she was about to issue his final warning that if he didn’t buck up his ideas, he was about to be.

He felt the familiar twisting guilt that Mom (and Henry) would be sorely disappointed in him. The chance to come to this school was like winning the lottery. He had no idea how to judge a wizard education or how useful it would be, but it was out of their old neighbourhood, and it fed him. It had been onto a winner before anyone even tried to put any ideas into his head. And… magic. Magic was real. He was pretty convinced that the hall magicked up food, and they’d studied remedies for the common cold (just looking and touching not yet making but just… that existed) and he was starting to think that maybe poverty as he’d known it was just literally impossible if you had a wand. He knew he wasn’t supposed to mess this up. Mom had always told him and Henry to be better than where they’d come from, to pull themselves up and out like she’d come so close to doing.

There was also the fear that Henry had put into his head that the punishments here could involve being turned into a frog or whatever.

He looked around at his housemates. Was he worse than they were? They were loud. They blew things up. They jumped off furniture. He had not asked Henry whether any of those things happened in the Crotalus Common Room. Partly because he was trying really hard not to spend that much time with Henry, and partly because he already knew the answer. He wondered whether Pecari was where they put all the screw up kids that they were already, offiicially or unofficially, halfway to giving up on. And, of course, that was where he had landed.

He made his way to the open (but no more inviting) door of Professor Carter-Xavier.

“You said I’m not in trouble,” he reminded her, hitching a cheeky grin onto his face as he closed the door behind him. “So, gonna give me a gold start for good behaviour?” he asked, his tone making it clear that that was definitely a joke. He dropped down into the seat opposite her, slouching easily and casually like he didn’t have a care in the world.

13 Oz Spellman Got 1.5 of those already 1514 0 5

Isis Carter-Xavier

November 20, 2020 12:57 PM

How does the 0.5 part work? by Isis Carter-Xavier

Calm. Comfortable. Confident.

It was all fake.

Especially the last one. If Isis had learned anything from the years she had spent working with Sonora students - and, oh god, had she really been on staff here longer than the first year currently in front of her had been alive? - it was this: nobody between the ages of eleven and seventeen was actually confident. Even the cockiest of kids had some kind of insecurity, something that would break the thin veneer holding back the floods.

“Maybe next time,” she smiled, amused by his banter. He was definitely better at this than a lot of kids. “I just wanted to check in and see how you were adjusting to the new school and your new classmates. I know it’s probably really different than anything you’ve ever experienced. I know when I first found out about magic, it was a hard adjustment for me.” At least he had his brother, she thought. Isis would have loved a partner like that, but her siblings were all spread out in age, and Muggle. In her family, it was just her.

“Some of your professors are… a little concerned about you,” Isis continued carefully. “It’s a lot to take in, but we’re hoping as you grow more accustomed to things here that you’ll get a little less… disruptive in class. And I hate to use that word,” she added quickly, “but I just can’t find another. It seems you have a habit of reacting to the lessons quite vocally. I’m glad you’re engaging, but I need you to do it a little more productively, if that makes any sense.”

Isis offered another warm smile. “I think you’re a good kid, Oz, and bright. I think you’re going to do great things here. Once you settle in.”

12 Isis Carter-Xavier How does the 0.5 part work? 31 0 5

Oz Spellman

November 20, 2020 6:09 PM

Henry has strong Mom vibes sometimes by Oz Spellman

“The food’s good,” Oz quipped, when asked how he was settling. It was always a safe bet to talk about lunch or recess. Those were the parts of school you could admit to enjoying, usually along with gym class. Even if the food was terrible, you could enjoy the not being in class, and the laughs there had been of people letting off steam. That was usually with other kids, of course, but talking about lunch was always a safe option. It was both true and not true that food was the highlight of school so far. It was undeniable that it was more readily available, and that Oz was able to get three square meals a day here. Half of it was like swallowing sand though. Not in the way it had been at his old school, where Used To Be Veggies and Mystery Meat of the Day was the regular menu, but because he missed mom and Henry. It wasn’t so weird at breakfast, cos that wasn’t something they’d always eaten. It wasn’t so weird at lunch, because for the last two years he and Henry always sat at different tables in the dining hall. But it was weird at dinner. Mom wasn’t always home at dinner, because one of her jobs was in a diner, but even when she wasn’t in, he and Henry ate together. And when Mom was home, she was good at starting the conversation, getting them both talking, so he got to hear about Henry’s day. He was sure he didn’t get to hear all of it. He was sure there were thoughts and feelings that Henry was keeping from him now but whispering to Mom when he wasn’t around. Possibly about him, and what a jerk he was being. In some ways, he knew more about Henry’s classes now because they were in the exact same ones. They’d been split up in their last school, so even if they were meant to be studying the same things, the way Henry’s teacher had taught it, or the things that had happened around it had been different. Henry’s thoughts, as much he opened up and shared them, were different to Oz’s. He supposed he knew how Henry’s classes were going right now, and that the biggest problem was that this loud mouth kid called Oz kept calling out in them… Maybe it was better that he didn’t get to hear what Henry thought any more. But still, he missed it. Every time he sat down at the table and Henry wasn’t there, he felt lost. Every time he went back to Pecari without knowing how Henry felt about his day, he felt empty. Every time he fell asleep in a room with other people he felt strange. He and Henry had shared a room since before they were born. And now he just wasn’t there anymore.

He was a bit surprised when he heard Professor Carter-Xavier say she’d been new to this too. The emotion showed on his face, as he glanced up at her, really looking for a moment.

“It’s a bit weird,” he shrugged casually, deciding she could assume that was the magic and not the fact that he had a full plate but a crushing weight all around his chest or in his stomach every time he sat down alone to eat from it. Well, not ‘alone’ alone. There were always his fellow Pecaris around. But without anyone from his real home. “But I’m dealing with it.”

He wondered, for the briefest hopeful second, whether that really might be it – whether the reason she had called him in was because he was new to magic and she thought that might be scary or whatever. But of course it wasn’t.

“That sounds like a fancy way of saying I’m in trouble,” he pointed out.

The teachers all hated him and were complaining and now that was her problem to try and sort out. She was being nice about it. She was being one of those ‘I believe in you’ type teachers. He’d met a few of those. At his old school, he’d never been a really bad kid. He’d just been a bit loud, a bit easily led. How badly he was doing usually depended on who he was sitting next to, and he’d never been marked down as a serious trouble maker. He thought that Mom thought he was good. He thought Henry used to but he wasn’t sure if he still did. Whoever said it, it usually came with a clarifier. ‘You’re a good kid, but you need to pull your socks up.’ ‘You’re a good kid, but you need to learn not to run your mouth.’ He was usually a good-kid-but. And yet, here he was, already sitting in the teacher’s office being told to buck up his ideas. He had been called out in class more times than anyone else - probably more times than the whole rest of the beginners class put together. By wizard standards, was he a bad kid?

Apparently, she didn’t think so. If that was true. She thought he was good, and she wanted to see him try his best and show them all what he was really capable of.

“I think you’re mixing me up with Henry,” he replied. “I really hate when people do that – we’re pretty easy to tell apart.”

13 Oz Spellman Henry has strong Mom vibes sometimes 1514 0 5

Isis Carter-Xavier

November 21, 2020 6:23 AM

....I could see it. by Isis Carter-Xavier

Isis registered his surprise. Young people were often surprised to discover that old people like her were once just like them even in a more normal context, but toss in the added surprise of magic and all that came with it, and you had a downright shock present on Oz’s face. He acknowledged that it was weird, this whole new world into which he had been thrown, but said that he was “dealing with it”. When not coupled with any more information, “dealing with it” could often be a bit of an understated way of saying panicking horribly and succumbing to immense amounts of stress, so she furthered her resolve to keep an eye on him as the school year continued to progress.

She couldn’t help but chuckle at the statement that came after that. “I think ‘trouble’ sort of implies there’s a punishment coming, though,” Isis countered in a friendly tone. “You aren’t being punished. No punishment, no trouble.” That was probably not exactly true, because she definitely had Pecaris who weren’t “punished” per se, just got a good talking to, but who were definitely in trouble. But this was not one of those situations. As she had said, some professors had concerns, yes, and Oz was a bit disruptive, but he was just a kid, after all, learning a whole new world after the one he came from was probably not so great. If any of her coworkers had any stronger or more explicit complaints about Oz, Isis was ready to go to bat for him.

As she had also said, she thought he was a good kid. And it absolutely broke her heart to hear him suggest that she had him confused with his brother. He sounded somewhat like he was joking - as he had the whole time, a likely and common defense mechanism - but there had to be some truth in him, and it stung. “Nope,” she said with a bluntness softened by kind sentiments. “I think I’ve figured out who’s who. Different hair, right? And anyway, Henry is probably also a great kid, but I’m not keeping an eye on him as much as I am on you. You’re one of my students. I think Professor Skies can keep track of Henry.”

“I won’t keep you here long,” Isis went on, “but I’m glad we had this chance to sort of check in with each other. I hope you’ll keep this talk in mind going forward. And just know that if you find you’re having any difficulty finding your place here, you can always come talk to me about it. My door is always open. I was new too once, and I’m on your team. Okay?”

12 Isis Carter-Xavier ....I could see it. 31 0 5

Oz Spellman

November 21, 2020 8:56 PM

Yeah, he's a good kid by Oz Spellman

"Okay," Oz stated, nodding in slight agreement when Professor Carter-Xavier pointed out that trouble led to punishment and that he wasn't getting one. Obviously he couldn't visibly relax because he was already the picture of someone who didn't even care, but he felt the leaden feeling in his stomach lessen slightly. Just a little bit though, because he suspected he was skating a lot closer to that line than Mom would have liked. Also, the thing that was going to stop him landing right back here with actual trouble next time was just... learning to not be an idiot. Just being good now. And it wasn't like he hadn't tried...

He also just nodded to her assessment that he and Henry had different hair. He was her responsibility. She would be keeping an eye on him. He didn't visibly squirm in his seat but he had mixed feelings about that.

"Henry doesn't take much keeping an eye on," he shrugged. At least not by teachers. He just ticked along, doing what he was supposed to. Oz had to keep an eye on things because where they lived wasn't the nicest, and someone like Henry might've got eaten for lunch if he didn't happen to have a cool brother who most people liked. "So, lucky Professor Skies," he added. Also, possibly, lucky him. He couldn't imagine the strict transfigurwhatsit teacher being as nice to him as Professor Carter-Xavier was being. Professor Skies seemed like the kind of person who responded well to nice neat little kids like Henry. He pondered the rests of the heads of houses for a moment. "Do they pick you guys to be our heads of houses cos you're kind of like us?" he asked. He thought that might have been borderline insulting, given that he was here to be told to stop being a loud mouth, but she had already compared them. "I mean, Professor Wright seems like a massive nerd," he added, both because teachers were always on at you to show your working and because he didn't really like Wright and was totally not willing to let an opportunity to say something about him go by. Also, his other bits of evidence were that Professor Skies seemed kinda like she had a stick up her butt (which was ruder) and that Professor Xavier was just... sorta fuzzy (which wasn't as good an argument and also sounded weird as heck).

She finished up (at least, it seemed like she was finishing) with a request that he come back if anything was bothering him, and a reminder that she was on his team. That was sort of corny, but no one else was here watching, and she wasn't bad. He wasn't ready to be anyone's Hallmark movie inspiration of the struggling kid and the one teacher who turned it all around for them, but nor was he gonna laugh that off like it was totally cheesy and unwanted. He just mostly felt bad for her, being stuck on the losing side.

"Okay," he agreed, mumbling that with much less confidence and bravado than he'd said anything else so far. Like, he would agree if she thought that was necessary, but like whatever. Like he still thought that was a terrible idea. "So can I go now?" he checked.

13 Oz Spellman Yeah, he's a good kid 1514 0 5

Isis Carter-Xavier

November 22, 2020 12:48 PM

So are you. by Isis Carter-Xavier

Isis pondered Oz’s question for a moment. Did the school intentionally select professors who fit the four archetypes to be the Head of Houses? It was never explicitly stated, but there had to be some truth to the notion. Gray was nothing if not an intellectual, Selina had a decided command and authority to her, and Nathan was a pinnacle example of Teppenpaw cooperation, helpfulness, and kindness. And while Isis was perhaps not the “typical” Pecari, at the end of the day, she definitely was one.

“I don’t think it’s a strict policy,” she answered after a brief moment of thought. “You know, if there’s no one on staff who particularly fits, it isn’t like they’ll leave the House on their own. But I do think they at least try. The Head of House is the figurehead to your new ‘family’, so to speak, so they want to give you an adult you have the best possibility to relate to, if that makes sense. Someone you can feel more comfortable with.”

His little “Okay” sounded more vulnerable than anything Oz had said thus far, and Isis felt her heart swell. It seemed like a good sign she had gotten through, at least a little. “Yes, you are welcome to go now,” she allowed. “See you in class.”

12 Isis Carter-Xavier So are you. 31 0 5

Oz Spellman

November 22, 2020 4:50 PM

You're a pretty okay adult, maybe by Oz Spellman

She didn't tell him to mind his manners. She didn't tell him not to be cheeky about Professor Wright behind his back. He decided not to push his luck and ask out loud whether that meant she agreed with him, but privately he decided it did. Or that Professor Wright had been a jerk to her about Muggle stuff too. He hoped not, cos she was a grown ass adult and Professor Wright's colleague. But also, probably he wouldn't because Oz bet that in a fight, Professor Carter-Xavier could totally take Wright. The fact she didn't call Oz out when she could have did more than anything else to cement the idea that she might not be a bad grown up. He tried. He didn't mean to keep crossing all the lines, but sometimes it was like someone put so many of them around you that whichever way you stepped it was sort of inevitable. Kinda like those laser security grids in spy movies only not cool. Professor Carter-Xavier seemed like she would only have real actual lines that mattered. It might be easier to remember what they were, though past experience told him not to be too optimistic about his chances of not crashing into them by accident.

"That's cool," he nodded, when she said the heads of houses did kind of match. By extension, he sort of meant 'you're cool' or maybe 'we're cool with each other then.' But he wasn't gonna actually say that. He was still making his mind up whether to think it.

He stood up, though not too eagerly and quickly, not like a creature that had been cornered and given a reprieve because he wasn't feeling that way any more. He made his way to the door, pausing as he reached for the handle. He could go. He could just go, and carry on and try his best... But he had ample experience of that not being good enough to keep him out of trouble. And he... he wasn't scared, obviously, but it was true that he didn't exactly know what 'trouble' looked like here.

"If I really mess up, what happens?" he asked

13 Oz Spellman You're a pretty okay adult, maybe 1514 0 5

Isis Carter-Xavier

November 22, 2020 5:01 PM

I try my best. It's all we can do. by Isis Carter-Xavier

He could go. She told him that he could go. But he didn’t go.

Oz moved slowly - much slower than Isis had expected - toward the door, but he hesitated there. And he asked what would happen if he “really messed up”. As in, if he really, truly, actually got into trouble. For a second, Isis did not understand. Was he wondering what the process was, when parents were contacted, when expulsion paperwork was drawn, etc.?

He wasn’t. When it hit her, it hit her. Was there an underlying fear of magical punishment? Magic was all so new for him, so he wouldn’t necessarily know the rules. When Isis replied, she tried her best to remain calm as she explained. “No one will ever raise a wand against you,” she assured him, her tone even, doing her best to say that this concept was her suggestion and not an extrapolation based on Oz’s reactions.

“Our professors are authorized to give students detentions, and what that looks like can vary,” she explained. “Maybe helping Professor Brooding-Hawthorne sort potions ingredients. Maybe writing ‘I will behave in class’ on a piece of parchment a hundred times. Really, not too different from being in trouble anywhere. But anything more than detention comes back to me. I decide when we contact your mother, unless the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress override me.”

“But I don’t think it’ll come to that,” Isis added.

12 Isis Carter-Xavier I try my best. It's all we can do. 31 0 5

Oz Spellman

November 28, 2020 8:30 PM

But sometimes it isn't good enough by Oz Spellman

Professor Carter-Xavier was really good at working out what he was saying, even when he didn't say it. Oz had always been far too much of an open book in that regard. He knew he wasn't supposed to let his thoughts and emotions and motivations be so visible. It gave people ammunition. Still, Professor Carter-Xavier didn't seem like she would be taking any shots. None of them would, apparently.

Not that he had been worried.

"Henry was worried," he clarified. "He thought he might need a matchbox to keep me in if I don't learn to watch it. I'll let him know he can chill," he told her. Not that Henry was likely to take that advice any more than Oz was likely to instantly remember to mind his manners. His last remark was more self-directed, as he reached for the door handle properly this time. Still, it was most likely still audible to Professor Carter-Xavier. "When I see him..." he muttered, as he opened the door to the weird Henry-less void on the other side. He supposed he could go looking for him, but that had the risk that he wouldn't be able to find him. In some ways, that was worse than sitting in Pecari. Pecari was a bit like going to the batting cages in the park or the arcade - he didn't expect Henry to be there, and it was probably better that he wasn't. It hurt less than not finding him if he was actively trying, although it was still weird that everyone expected him to feel at home somewhere that didn't have the most basic element of that.

"Thanks Miss-Professor," he stated as he left, catching himself and correcting. Much like they had all got into the habit of calling him 'Oz,' he was now able to default to 'Professor' most of the time, especially in phrases he used every day. 'Yes, professor' or 'sorry professor' were now much more automatic. The phrases he had less occasion for apparently still needed an update.

13 Oz Spellman But sometimes it isn't good enough 1514 0 5