A Helping Hand

[Professor Landon Carter]

Landon tried to keep his first year lessons as simple as possible, hoping to introduce the new students into the magical world and classes as best as he could. The third lesson for them had already approached, and Landon could see that most people were keeping up with everything, and he had definitely noticed which students liked the class and which didn't. The students were giving their pumpkins to the house elves, telling them what they would like their pumpkin to be made into, when he noticed one of the Hufflepuff students holding theirs rather than levitating it into the air like everyone else. He watched her as she passed it to the elves, and as she had turned around to leave, Landon gestured for her to come over, easily remembering her name. "Marylou, if you please!" he exclaimed with a friendly smile, not wanting to potentially scare her away. She hadn't seemed very bright or cheery the past couple of lessons, and so the man wanted to know what was up. "I couldn't help but notice that you didn't attempt to levitate the pumpkin. Of course, it wasn't essential for you to be able to move it, but it would have been nice to join in, right?" Landon hoped that the girl agreed with him. After all, magic was supposed to be fun to the first years and so he found it odd that she didn't attempt to cast the spell. "Would you like to follow me back to my office? Maybe have some afternoon tea with me? It gets lonely sometimes, so I would love for you to come!"

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou wasn't afraid of the houselves exactly, but... they were kind of scary and after her initial encounter with one on her first night, she hadn't exactly warmed up to them, nor had they really warmed up to her. She wasn't sure if this house elf was the same as the one from her dorm (it had been dark and she hadn't really been able to have a good look at the creature) or if they just talked about her since she screamed, but this house elf didn't seem particularly happy to be receiving her pumpkin (of which she was rather struggling, it was quite heavy for her small frame) Once she'd managed to hand off her pumpkin though, she'd tried to quietly slip away, only it seemed that Professor Landon had other ideas as he called her over. She sighed inwardly, more out of frustration at everything going on than actually anything he had said or done, but she slowly headed over to him, neither eager or unpleased with the attention. She couldn't look up at him as he spoke, worried he'd see the lies she was hiding behind, that she wasn't really a witch, that she'd somehow managed to slip into the school undetected. She had nightmares about almost every aspect of magic, but, she didn't want to leave either. This was still part of her father and she felt connected to him somehow, even just a little bit. She didn't want to give up yet. She looked up at him though, when he invited her for tea. She hadn't been invited anywhere for tea since she'd had tea with her mother and sister the day before she'd been shipped away. That had been the day she'd had her first taste of magic... of course she knew it had been a one time thing, since she'd yet to be able to replicate the experience. "Um," her mother would have chastised her for saying um, but it was the only relevant response to his question. "I... would very much like that, yes please." Tea, she could do. She was very good at tea. She needed some normalcy in her life.​

 

[Professor Landon Carter]

Marylou seemed shy, not being able to look at Landon, but the man tried to meet her eyes as she spoke, and beamed as she had accepted his offer. "Wonderful!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together and beginning to head back outside the castle. He began to speak to her as she followed him through the castle doors, looking up at the nice blue sky above them. "It's such a lovely spring day, isn't it? I think spring is my favourite season. It has just the right amount of sun and clouds, and so many new plants start blooming. It's most definitely the perfect weather there is." he told her. He continued to talk about the weather until they had finally reached his office. With a flick of his wrist, the door had unlocked, and Landon opened it, standing aside as he gestured for Marylou to enter first. "Feel free to take a seat." he told her as he entered. A steaming teapot waited for him upon his desk, and he reached into the cupboard for two cups before pouring the tea into both of them, giving one to the Hufflepuff student. He then reached for his tin of biscuits, placing them on the desk and sitting behind it. "So, how are your classes going this semester? How are you liking it all?" He didn't want to rush into the main question so soon, and hoped that this would help ease her into it.

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Professor Landon was a bit odd, Mary Lou thought as she followed the man back to what she assumed would have to be his office. Hogwarts school grounds were much vaster than the small school she'd attended when she was back home outside of Daphne. There hadn't been nearly the size or amount of people at the school then, of course that could change soon, with everything that was going on. She didn't look up as he kept speaking, focuses instead on her hands in the pockets of her robes. It was so uncultured to have her hands in her pockets, but given that was where he wands was living at the moment, and she didn't want to let go of it (it smelled so nice) she kept he hands in her pockets for the moment. She couldn't tell if he actually wanted her to answer his questions as they walked, he seemed to be answering them on his own, so she left it alone with no response, since one didn't seem to be strictly required. The weather was a safe neutral topic though and she felt mildly comforted by the clear attempt at putting her at ease, as little help as it was doing in that respect. She jumped slightly when he managed to open the door to his office with the flick of a wrist and she was still convinced that Professor Landon was secretly a lizard, not the she was going to ask him. She swallowed what fear she could and stepped into the office, slowly heading over to what looked to be the most comfortable chair in the room that he wouldn't have been sitting in and gracefully sat herself down. When she was handed her tea, she immediately tipped it to her mouth to get a sense of the type. It wasn't bad tea, but it certainly wasn't het favourite. That was okay though, he couldn't have been expected to have sweet tea here, so far from home. She waited for several moments before she found an answer she liked. "I am... finding my studies to be... difficult." She told him, not wanting to give too much away so quickly into the conversation. "It is, rather more overwhelming than perhaps I had prepared for."​

 

[Professor Landon Carter]

Landon smiled as Mary Lou began drinking the tea, and proceeded to drink from his own cup as he listened to her response. It was brief, but nothing Landon didn't expect. It was common for first years, particularly ones that hadn't been brought up with magic, to feel so overwhelmed once they began attending a magical school. The man placed down his cup of tea and sat back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. "I do understand that." he said simply. "When I was your age I attended Ilvermorny in North America, and even though I had been exposed to magic before with my sister, it still felt odd to be in a new environment. Magic can be very overwhelming indeed, and some professors do give more homework than others, which definitely can get stressful." Landon didn't want to question the girl too much, hoping she would just be able to chime in with her own responses, and maybe give Landon a little bit more insight on her background. "Luckily, it is only your first year at the moment, which gives you plenty of time to get on top of things before your OWL year and your NEWT year. I would be willing to help you with your studies if you wish, but it is entirely up to you."

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Focusing on her tea as Professor Landon spoke, Mary Lou was only mildly aware of what was being said. It wasn't that she was trying to ignore him, it was that speaking about magic, seeing git, knowing about it, was making her anxious and she didn't feel comfortable around it. She wasn't sure she ever would, though she hoped desperately to understand more of her father before she was forced to leave the school for her lack of magical ability. She was sure it all disappeared on that one kettle of her mothers. Her ears pricked however when she heard a name she'd heard only once before, from something her mother had told her about her father. At the time, she'd filed it away as information crumbs about her real father, but it seemed like there was something there. "Ilvermorny... that was where my Father went to school I think!" Mary Lou said, hungry for information she knew she could get no where else, since no one wanted to tell her anything. "I do not know anything about him, just that he was magic and that he went to that school, my Mama doesn't talk about him." She so desperately wished her Aunt and Uncle would tell her more, but she had nothing to go on. She had no information and barely even her father's birthdate and name. The bit about his attendance at Ilvermorny she'd only gotten when her mother had thought about sending her there, only to change her mind and ship her to her relatives. The rest of what the Professor said went in one ear and out the other, eager as she was to hear more about her father's school. She placed her tea on the desk. "Could y'all... tell me a bit about it... Ilvermorny?"​

 

[Professor Landon Carter]

Landon beamed when Mary Lou told him that her father went to school where he did. He was hoping she could tell him more, maybe what his name was or what year he had attended, but she didn't seem to know. It upset Landon that people grew up without a mother or a father, or both, and he really did feel for the girl not knowing at all who he was. He picked up a biscuit from the plate between them and began eating it as she spoke. With half of the biscuit still in his hand, the man sat forward in his chair and didn't hesitate to tell Mary Lou everything he knew about the school. "Ilvermorny was in fact a really good school. I favoured it over all of the other wizarding schools after I found out I was magical. I began attending it internationally as I lived here in New Zealand, but then I soon moved to North America when I had the ambition to teach there. The sorting process is rather... different. There are four houses, just like Hogwarts, except the houses choose you for themselves. Their symbol is carved into a piece of wood, and they react if they would like you to join them. For me, both Thunderbird and Pukwudgie made a move, and I chose Thunderbird." he told her. "But enough about me!" Landon quickly ate the rest of his biscuit before clapping his hands together and simply asking her what he wanted to know. "What about your studies are difficult? The homework or the actual magic?"

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou was glad that Professor Landon seemed to want to give her more information. It was more than she had before and even though he could probably tell her nothing about her father, it was nice to know a bit more about him. She hoped that the more information she had, the more she would be able to find out. She was not terribly good at research, but perhaps this would prove to be something of a calling. Even if she had not fully inherited her father's abilities, it was still something she wanted to know more about. She leaned forward slightly as he spoke, hanging on to every word he said. Of course all of it was completely unfamiliar, but she enjoyed the passion he spoke with. Just hearing that there were more schools beyond this and the one her father had attended blew her mind. She knew nothing about magic or the culture or world in inhabited, but she had thought it to be incredibly small, since she knew nothing, to find out this may well not be the case was... eye opening to say the least. Perhaps there were people somewhere who might've known her father. It was something she would have to discover one day. He finished up talking about his old school and Mary Lou could see the pride he seemed to have for the establishment, even if a lot of the intricacies went over her head. She was dying to have more information, but did not want to run the risk of his discovering more about her situation than she was willing to reveal and so she refrained from anymore questions. She leaned forward for her tea again and picked up one of the biscuits to dunk into it. As he asked about her studies, Mary Lou shrugged. "I... do not often understand the task," she said, shaking her head. "Magic is... strange and I don't always seem to be able to do the same things as everyone else." She didn't want to tell him she couldn't get her wand to work, as that would immediately identify her as a fraud, she didn't know what the problem was, but she needed a solution.​

 

[Professor Landon Carter]

Landon was confident that Mary Lou was perhaps feeling a bit more relaxed since when she first entered the room. He watched as she took a biscuit and listened as she answered his question. "Perhaps what you need is a little bit more of an explanation?" he suggested, suddenly getting an idea in his head if she was up for it. "From my understanding, you are taking charms this semester, right? I'm not sure if your professor has taught you the charm that we had used in class today, but I will be more than happy to help with it. Did you want to come outside with me now and we can quickly have a try of it? No one else is about, and it will definitely help for when you do eventually use the levitating charm in your charms class. Or would you prefer we saved that for another time?" Landon wanted Mary Lou to do things at her own pace, and was just letting her know he was definitely very willing to help if she wanted.

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou finished her tea and placed it carefully on the desk in front of her, the biscuit beside it as she carefully flicked off any crumbs from her robes. He was trying to help her, she could see that and she greatly appreciated it, but, she just didn't see the point in pointing his hard earned time into helping her when it was going to make no difference. Professor Grace had helped her with flying, which was admirable, but she knew the brooms themselves already contained magic, so lifting someone with no magical ability was probably no problem at all for them. However actually performing a spell was not going to help her confidence as she had as yet been able to achieve that kind of a milestone. She doubted if she ever would. She stood up, since the jig was probably up now and pulled her wand out of her pocket, placing it on the table. "Professor Landon, I'm afraid I have to tell y'all something," she said, trying to keep her voice steady as she let him know the truth. "See, there's been a mistake, I'm not really a witch at all, I shouldn't be here." She told him, finally admitting to her deception. She had enjoyed her time here whilst she'd been here, but, unfortunately it just wasn't to be. "I'm handing in my wand... I won't need it when y'all send me home." She could be a nun, she was sure, she had all of her bibles and her words memorised, that would absolutely work and if she went to them right now, she was sure they would take her into one of their schools too. Perhaps back in Daphne it would be easier, but she didn't have any money. She would need to find a way to make some. "I know I need ta skedaddle outta here, but, I wanted to apologise for passing the cow and hiding the truth from y'all this time."​

 

[Professor Landon Carter]

Landon sat back in his chair as he watched Mary Lou stand up. He was afraid she was going to yell at him, tell him that he was asking too many questions and that he should just mind his own business, but instead she placed her wand on the table between them. She seemed to believe that it was all a mistake and that she wasn't really a witch at all. He waited for her to finish speaking before he chimed in. "So you're not a witch!? Then why didn't the sorting hat say something?" he questioned, taking another sip of his tea before continuing. "I'm afraid that if you didn't possess any magical ability that the sorting hat just simply wouldn't have sorted you and you would've been sent home then and there." Landon didn't want to argue with the girl, but he did want to tell her the truth. He simply didn't believe what she was saying at all and he was slowly able to piece it together. He spoke calmly to her, wanting her to realise that this wasn't a mistake. "So when you say that you find your studies difficult and that you can't do things like everyone else, do you think it is only because you haven't been able to perform a simple spell yet? That after only three weeks of being here you'd be able to master a spell already?" Landon sighed, running a hand through his hair before continuing. "The thing is, Mary Lou, everyone does things at their own pace. There is no reason at all to believe that you're not performing magic yet because you are not a witch. That's just like saying I can't play quidditch because I've never played in a professional team before. Everything requires practice and persistence. You may not be the best witch that there is, but a negative mindset is definitely not going to get you anywhere. I believe that one day you will be able to perform magic at the same level as everyone else. It might not be this year, it might not even be next year, but you will." The professor smiled at her, hoping that his words motivated her somehow as he waited for her response.

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou was all set to go and pack her bags when Professor Landon seemed to be shocked and surprised that she'd managed to be sorted at all. She immediately bowed her head slightly, with her hands in her lap to apologise to the Professor, only to realise he was still talking as she looked up at him, a slight frown marring her face. She was confused by what he was saying, because it didn't make much sense to her. How could she have magic if she couldn't make her wand work? "But... I..." She was more lost than last year's Easter eggs. "So, y'all saying I am magical? I do have magic?" She asked, uncertain how else to clarify. But were that true, why didn't it work for her, and how was she supposed to get any school work done if the wand didn't want to do what it was supposed to. "Well I never, let's say that's true then, how am I to succeed without the same level of work done as my classmates?" She asked, still standing before Professor Landon without answers.​

 

[Professor Landon Carter]

Mary Lou seemed a bit taken aback at Landon's words, and the man was slightly shocked at her reaction. He expected her to agree with him, and hopefully even add something else positive. Instead, she questioned it, and Landon sighed a little as he attempted to formulate a response. He decided to use another example, hoping they were helping her understand. "You can definitely succeed without being on the same level as everyone else! It's just like how muggle-borns, with no magical background whatsoever, can attend a wizarding school yet still end up being first in their class. You'd think that someone who has grown up around magic would know more, simply because they've seen it firsthand and already know how it works. With a little bit of extra study, you could definitely catch up to them in no time." Landon told her, giving her a reassuring smile. He took another biscuit, taking a bite into it.

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou wasn't quite sure she believed it, firm in her ingrained belief that she was actually not a witch. She'd seen very little evidence over the last weeks to convince her any differently. She remained standing, still not quite sure what to make of all of this. The only thing she really had cleared up was what the term muggleborn meant. Which was a little bit better for her, well, somewhat. "Professor Landon, I have been studying, it's all I've been able to do to keep the nightmares away," she admitted, trying to think of any other reason she could give for studying, though it wasn't easy to figure it out as she was not accustomed to withholding the truth from people in authority. Professor Landon seemed convinced she was a witch and though she would have soared had that been the case, she had never been able to get her wand to work beyond the initial choosing (which still completely baffled her) and so it was obvious she just didn't belong. "No, no it is simpler I should leave, open a space for some other magical child who actually is a witch... or wizard, is there a gender neutral term?" Either case, she wasn't it.​

 

[Professor Landon Carter]

Landon sighed as Mary Lou still didn't believe him. His tea was getting cold, and so he finished it in one last gulp and pushed his cup to the side, sitting forward in his chair. She admitted to him that she was having nightmares, something that Landon knew he would have to keep an eye on. He wanted to know more about her to help her through whatever she was going through, but wasn't sure how to find everything out. "I know you don't believe me, but I assure you that you are indeed a witch. I want to help you, Mary Lou, in any way that I can. Maybe if I offered you some extra tutoring I could show you that you do have those abilities? Give it a chance, and if perhaps you still don't believe me, we can discuss alternative options." Landon spoke calmly, not really sure what he would do if it didn't work. He was confident however that it would. He had seen students who struggled a bit more with using their wand than others, and soon enough they managed to catch up. Landon reached into his pocket and took out his watch, eyes widening when he realised the time. "Would you look at that! You better head to your next class! Please let me know if and when you would like some help. I am always available!" With that, Landon opened the door again with a flick of his wrist.

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou was pretty adamant that the things Professor Landon was saying were not true. However, he seemed just as adamant that they were, so one of them had to be wrong, him probably since Mary Lou was sure she knew herself well enough to know if there were anything different in her body over some other thing. Still, back home in Daphne she would have said she'd never go to a magic school and that magic didn't exist, and, clearly, it did. She'd seen enough of it in others since she'd got here to come to that conclusion on her own. It just wasn't something meant for her and she was sure that in subsequent sessions he would come to realise that, it might be a slow process, but she would get him there. This place was too scary for her anyway. "Alrighty Professor Landon, I don't know if I believe what you're saying, but, I'll give it a try, I promise," she said, as he finished speaking. She quickly picked up what was left of the biscuit she hadn't finished and quickly finished it. He was shooing her out, which was fair as she did have another class. She picked up her wand as she left. "Be seeing you, professor Landon, we'll get this whole mess straightened out, you hear me?" She said, as she was practically scooped out of the room. The people here were so big on punctuality.​