Closed A Spot of Mischief

[Sydney Townsend]

The plan was simple, just sneak up to Divination Tower and borrow some Professor Le Fey's more high quality tea supplies. Professor Le Fey practically gave her tea away to her students for free anyway, and the tea they provided at meal times here was a joke, so Sydney felt they were well within rights to liberate some of the professor's stash. Sydney could just wait until next year and take Divination, but frankly she had no interest in such a wishy-washy subject, nor having to wait an entire year just for a decent cup of tea.

Loitering in the corridor near the entrance to the Divination tower, Sydney tried to scan the passing students as casually as possible, waiting for Samantha to appear. She had proven herself trustworthy previously, and honestly Sydney found she didn't mind spending more time with the Hufflepuff, so, naturally she was the ideal choice for this endeavor. There were no classes up there at the moment, so if they were lucky, they'd be in and out with no trouble. Sydney even had a few of the nicer biscuits she'd been saving from home for the occasion, which she hoped Samantha would appreciate. If push came to shove, Sydney also had a few banal questions about divination she could ask if they needed an excuse for being in the tower. It was the perfect plan.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha quickly made her way up to the seventh floor, to meet up with Sydney. They had an idea, or rather Syndey had the idea to borrow some sort of tea from the Divination tower. Samantha thought it would be something fun to do, and also thought that this shouldn't be something Sydney should do alone, so Samantha couldn't turn this opportunity down. She walked closer to the entrance to the Divination tower and saw Sydney. "Hey," Samantha says with a small smile and wave as she walked towards Sydney. She hoped that she wasn't regretting this decision.

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney straightened up with Samantha arrived, returning her smile briefly before beckoning her closer to the tower stairs. "Good, you're here," She said, checking the corridor quickly before starting to lead the way upstairs. "I'm glad you decided to join me, the tea they serve in the hall is a travesty and honestly at this point Professor Le Fey is practically giving her own away for free so it's not like we can get in trouble," She said assuredly, checking over her shoulder to make sure Samantha was following. Sydney knew she didn't need to rehash what she'd already mentioned about her plan, Samantha was already here, but Sydney couldn't help but feel like she needed to convince Samantha this was a good idea, just in case the other girl decided to bail out half-way through. "If we're caught, we can just pretend we wanted to know some things about divination, like you saw something weird in a dream or whatever," She said, ignoring the burning in her calves as they hurried up the stairs. "Wait, you do like tea right? You're not humouring me on this, right?" Sydney asked, turning to squint at Samantha as they hit the next landing. After the library incident, Sydney was already finding she trusted Samantha a lot, and it unnerved her to think that trust might be mislaid.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha nodded and followed the girl up the stairs, slightly tripping clumsily on her way up the stairs. "You're right. The tea in the Great Hall isn't great." Samantha says with a nod and a small sigh. It was true though, the tea they provided in the Great Hall wasn't all that great. "I guess that could work" Samantha replies with a smile and slight shrug when Sydney told her what they could do if they got caught. The Hufflepuff didn't mind coming along to this interesting adventure. She wanted to know what this special tea, people had mentioned a few times and she did miss the one she drank back home. "What? You don't trust me?" Samantha says with a slight laugh but realised Sydney had been serious and her smile dropped. "Of course I like tea. I love tea actually. And no, I'm not humouring you." Samantha says seriously. She wasn't the type to bail on people when they needed her and will stay loyal to her friends. "Now come on, are we going to borrow that tea you had been speaking of?" Samantha says with a small smile, before taking the girls hand and dragging her up the stairs, not thinking if the girl liked to be touched or not.

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney nodded, pleased when Samantha agreed with her opinions and her plan. It was nice to finally find someone at this school who actually had some proper taste. She tried not to feel defensive about having to make sure Samantha was actually on board with this, staring intently at her while she answered. It wouldn't be the first time someone had just gone along with Sydney's plans only to spite or ridicule her. She'd found so many people seemed to take some weird offense to Sydney's ideas and opinions, she'd always just figured she was destined to be unappreciated in her time. So it was a relief when Samantha seemed to be taking this seriously and actually wanted to do this. "Good. I don't just take anyone on these endeavors, I'll have you know-" She managed to get out, beginning to smile as Samantha urged them on.

Sydney was caught off guard when Samantha grabbed her hand, leading them both upstairs now. The move had her off balance, and Sydney had to tear her eyes off their joined hands as they crested the stairs and reached the divination classroom. Hesitating, Sydney gently pulled her hand free from Samantha's, dragging her palm absently on her pant leg as she drew her wand and pushed the classroom door open slowly. If they were lucky, there would be some tealeaves or something in easy reach and they could be in an out in no time.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Once they reached the divination classroom, realizing that Samantha held onto Sydney's hand a little longer than she thought while going up the stairs, but didn't mention anything when Sydney gently let go. When Sydney opened the door slowly, Samantha took a slight peak into the classroom. "Where exactly do you think this said tea is?" Samantha says curiously, while still looking around the classroom slightly, hoping that there was some tea laying somewhere around the classroom.

I apologise for replying almost a month late...

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney had never been in the Divination tower, but she couldn't imagine tea would be that hard to locate. Trying not to let Samantha see any evidence of her hesitation, Sydney lit up her wand with a quick lumos, peering around the room as the wandlight reflected oddly off a crystal ball. "Maybe she has a cupboard or sideboard with it or something," She said, walking around the room and stopping to inspect some teacups nearby. Her eyes lit up when she came across a collect of loose leaf tea, holding up some victoriously to Samantha. "Jackpot!" She said happily, excited so far that their mission was looking to be a success.

no worries!! I've been super slow lately too RIP

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha lit up her wand with the lumos spell and walked around the room, trying to find the tea. She slightly nodded when Sydney had suggested where the tea could be placed, forgetting that Sydney probably didn't see her nod in the dark. "Yes!" Samantha says excitedly when Sydney had found the tea. "Now that we have the tea, where exactly are we going to prepare and drink it" Samantha said curiously looking around the classroom to see if there was maybe anything that could help prepare the tea. She had decided to keep her excited manner in, as she didn't want Sydney to think that she was crazy over some tea.

 

[Professor Elvera Le Fey]

Elvera was just returning to her rooms after visiting her shop and calling in to see morgan. It had been a good visit they had had a meal together and enjoyed a conversation. she really should see her mother more often she was not getting older. she would be turning eighty this year. she had just reached the divination landing when she realised that her classroom door had been left open. maybe she hadn't shut it on her way out. or maybe one of her third years had been looking for her. as she drew closer she heard voices. she paused in the doorway her hand resting on the handle as she focused on who had last opened it. as she saw two girls entering the room she heard one person ask how to brew the tea now they had it. "there is a teapot over there" she said as she pushed the door fully open and saw two young students standing and holding one of her canisters of tea. she flicked her wand towards one of the cupboards which opened and a large teapot came floating out. "and if you are looking for tea I wouldn't recommend that one. it is a herbal one but tastes a bit bitter." she said. the one they had found was one of her healing blends which if they needed it would probably be better for them to see one of the school nurses than drink tea. "there is a selection of black, green and fruit teas in the same cupboard the teapot came from. I suggest you choose one of those and bring it over. and while you are there pick up some cups" she said. watching to see the expression on their faces as they realised they were being caught in her classroom.

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney felt her stomach drop when she heard a voice in the doorway, almost dropping the tea along with it. Spinning around she was almost certain they'd just been caught by the divination professor, and just once Sydney wished she could actually hang out with Samantha without them getting in trouble. But the professor didn't seem to be immediately throwing them detention and Sydney warily exchanged glances with Samantha, moving over to the cabinet to look at the tea and cups collected in there cautiously. This whole thing felt like a trick, yet Sydney figured if they could play it as cool as the professor was, maybe they wouldn't actually get in trouble after all. "Ah.. Thank you, professor?" She offered curiously, struggling to read the professor's expression.

Unsure if they would be in more or less trouble if they didn't make tea, Sydney motioned Samantha over to the cabinet, pulling out two teacups before pausing and pulling out a third for the professor. "I like green tea, what about you?" She asked Samantha, poking at a promising tin of green tea on the shelf and trying to appear relaxed and calm as the professor was. This was not playing out at all according to her clever escape plan if they had been caught, but it might still end fine for them.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

When Samantha heard a voice, her eyes widen like big white plates and gulped slightly. She was disappointed that they were caught, as she wanted to spend sometime with Sydney. Samantha turned slowly to see it was a professor that had caught them. It had caught Samantha in slight surprise that the professor hadn't mention anything about detention. Samantha's mouth became slightly dry, giving her slight trouble for her to speak, so she just nodded along when Sydney had said a thank you.

Samantha watched as the professor open one of the cupboards with her wand, which made Samantha slightly more confused. She watches Sydney walk over to the open cupboard and walks towards Sydney. "A fruit tea would be nice, I guess" Samantha says quietly and shyly with a slight smile, while playing with her fingers with slight nervousness. Samantha had hope that they weren't going to get caught in this adventure they had planned, but she was defiantly wrong about that.

 

[Professor Elvera Le Fey]

the student's reactions were just as amusing Elvera had expected. the first girl, the one with shorter hair almost dropped what she was holding and the other seemed to freeze like a rabbit caught in a spotlight. it was the best she could do to try and keep a straight face. and not let her amusement show too much. she watched as one of the girls picked a green tea and the other picked fruit. she was not a huge fan of the fruit tea herself but she kept it mainly for the third years hoping that they would enjoy it more than normal tea when reading the leaves. "It sounds like we will be needing another teapot" she said opening another cupboard just to her side and picking out another pot as the first landed on a large coffee table between a sofa, an armchair and a couple of beanbags. her classroom had never been the type to have desks sitting in such a regimented fashion was not conductive to divination. "for a fruit tea the one in the pink tin is a nice strawberries and cream one or the orange tin has a peach tea in it" she said. "Take a seat and I will brew up a couple of cups" she said. tapping both of the teapots and filling them up with hot water ready for the addition of tea. "what brings you up here today?" she asked. wondering what would drive two students to her classroom they seemed too young to be fifth years and she couldn't remember seeing them in her class. but there had been times when younger students would come to her for help hoping that her additional abilities would answer some of their questions.

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney scrunched up her face as Samantha's tea preferences, but she was ready to drink some fruity stuff if it was what the other girl liked until the professor produced another teapot from nearby, which was a relief. She encouraged Samantha to pick a fruity tea she liked, surreptitiously hiding the bitter tea she'd picked up before in the cupboard before grabbing the green tea and cups and moving them over to the teapots. It still felt a little like they might be being held hostage here, and Sydney was waiting for the other shoe to drop as she cautiously took a seat, but she and Samantha were still finally getting some good tea and beyond making a little breaking and entering, they hadn't really broken any major school rules so their plan was still technically in tact. Maybe this teacher had a very, very lenient open door policy.

Clearing her throat, Sydney glanced at Samantha again, mentally recounting her own reassurances to Samantha earlier before answering the professor. "Well, we- uh I had some questions about Divination, since I might want to take it next year," Sydney said, amending her story just in case it went wrong, she didn't want Samantha getting caught up lying and get in trouble because of her again. "We just got distracted by your tea collection while we were up here. Does the type of tea leaves affect the sort of readings you can get perhaps? Or certain plants lead to clearer readings?" Sydney hadn't really given Divination that much though, it seemed like a flighty subject to her, but she did have questions about some of the finer details, and it was enough to cover their less than academic reasons for being up here.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha shyly smiles towards the professor when she offers a couple of fruit teas. The options provided was a wee bit tricky for Samantha to decide as she liked the options. She decided that she wanted to go to the strawberries and cream tea.

Samantha then listens to Sydney tell the professor why they or she was there. "I just thought to tag along and maybe see if the subject would be the right fit for me." Samantha says shyly with a slight smile. She had heard many things about the subject from her father and it took some slight interest in taking the subject.

 

[Professor Elvera Le Fey]

Elvera smiled as the girls explained why they were in her classroom. she had a feeling that they weren't telling the whole truth but she was not a fan of punishing students especially when there was no harm done. and questioning them on their real motivations would just be a fruitless effort. either she would seem suspicious and loose two potential students or they would admit to something she would have to act on. "I have some
butterfly cakes too. if you want one. I made them for my third years tomorrow but they won't notice a few missing" she said taking the cover off a tray that she had put down on top of one of the cupboards when she had entered the room. she added the teas to the teapots and made to prepare them. she would be joining the girl with the short hair in having the green tea. "if these are the kind of questions you are wanting to ask i would highly recommend you taking the course next year. Tasseography is the first topic covered in the third year course" she said. before pouring the teas and passing them to each girl. "I am guessing you have been reading up about it in the library which is why you wanted to have some practice. she said. almost giving the girls an excuse as to why she had found them in her tea cupboards. "both yes and no. normal black or green tea is the easiest although other teas can be used but the shape of the leaves can make the shapes a bit harder to read. she said. "Some plants have particular qualities associated with them. which you should have learned about already in either herbology or potions. using teas made of those plants can influence the reading in that direction which can give a biased reading but can be harnessed if you want to focus your reading on a particular topic" she said answering the girl's question.

Out of Character:

"Maybe this teacher had a very, very lenient open door policy." I love it. yes she does have a very leniant pollicy

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney eyed the cakes as the professor prepared the tea, still wondering if maybe this was another test. Not wanting to back down though, Sydney took one, mumbling a quick thank you before taking a bite. This really wasn't how Sydney had imagined this whole thing would go, but they were still getting their tea in a sense, so Sydney was going to cautiously count it was a win. She was quietly pleased when Samantha further corroborated her story, wondering if they would both need to end up taking Divination next year to help retroactively cover their story. The subject might be more bearable if Sydney had company at least.

"We've been researching our options," Sydney said slowly, nodding at Samantha to corroborate. It might also be interesting if they got a subject that let Sydney drink and study tea. Even if Sydney had her doubts about the usefulness of the subject, if she was going to waste her time at least she could do it in comfort. "Uh yes, I find it interesting how tea can have magical uses as well as mundane ones," She said, eyeing the teapots and wondering how quickly they could make their escape once the tea was done brewing. It was also rather interesting to hear the professor answer Sydney's question, and she was surprised to find the answer wasn't all fluffy nonsense she'd come to expect from people who liked divination. Either this professor was an excellent actor, or they were going to get away with this and get some free cakes out of it too.