Charming to Meet You

[Winnie Calida]

Winnie had left having these conversations with professors a little later than she had intended to. But, still, it had just been busy and she was doing it now. It wouldn't take long, she was already well established in the school, and after this, there would be far fewer for her to meet. She had heard a lot about the charms professor, mostly that the woman was friendly. She was glad to have had charms in the second semester, when the professor was back, having to meet a professor who'd leave at the end of the semester was not something she was interested in. Winnie knocked on the door and then waited.

 

[Professor Mallory Grayveson]

Mallory was glad to be back at school. She'd missed it. Peter was asleep in his crib in her room, but she left the curtain open so she could hear him as she reviewed her class lists and lesson plans. She was humming softly to herself, cats curled around her feet, when she heard a knock at the door. Mallory lit up, eager to see her students again. She waved a hand, the door opening. "Come in, come in!" She greeted brightly. "Hello! I don't think we've met." She set her papers aside. "How may I help you, miss...?"

 

[Winnie Calida]

Winnie smiled at the professor as the door suddenly opened. She walked into the room, immediately spotting the way the room was, the baby in the crib. She made a note to be quieter, not sure if the professor would've put a charm on the crib and not wanting to make a bad impression by waking the woman's baby. She glanced back at the woman. "Calida, Professor," she said. "I'll be in your first year class this semester, and I'm just taking a moment to introduce myself, and find out if there's any way I can ensure more success in your class,"

 

[Professor Mallory Grayveson]

Mallory noted the last name, but didn't mention it- it was most likely coincidence, or if not, the girl herself would say she was related to a Professor. Mallory didn't want to start an interaction with a new student by attaching them to someone else with the same name. She motioned for the girl to sit, smiling warmly. "Well, I'm very pleased to meet you, Miss Calida," She waved for her tea set. "Would you like some tea?" She asked, feeling very much like a cup herself.

She considered the question presented her. "Hm... well," She took a blank journal and slid it across her desk. "The first step is to understand your wand," She summoned a small book summarizing wand making, going into details on common wands, woods, and cores, and how they got on with each other and the types of users they tended to bond with. "Aside from that, its open communication- my office is always open, though I do now have to ask you send a note first," She smiled.

 

[Winnie Calida]

Winnie looked at the tea set and gave a little shake of her head. "That's okay, professor. I won't take up much time," she said. "But don't let that stop you," she told her. Winnie took in the points she was saying about charms, understanding ones wand was obvious, it was good advice for all her classes. She didn't think communication would help but just nodded. She had to suppress a desire to raise an eyebrow, an open couldn't be always open, if one had to send a note first. Winnie glanced towards this woman's baby and then back at her. "Did you not get my note?" she lied, having not sent one, but pretending she had. "Sorry,"

 

[Professor Mallory Grayveson]

Mallory fixed herself some tea and set it aside. "Oh don't worry, my dear. It's perfectly fine." She folded her hands on the desk. "I generally wait until third year, but I do offer tutoring and more personalized lesson plans- I've had several students take extra lessons to learn more advanced spells. And my office is open for other areas of study as well," She waved to her bookshelves. "I was homeschooled and often tutored my siblings in many subjects, and I've studied many other things as well. You're welcome to ask more than charms questions if you'd like, or if you need a quiet place to study. Peter does have a room seperate from my office- it's the only reason I ask for a note first, so that I can move him if he needs the space."

 

[Winnie Calida]

Winnie gave a little smile, wondering a little why the professor waited until third year to offer it, but perhaps it was just a matter of time, or that in the first few years there weren't enough spells to merit it. She gave a little smile, and nodded. "That's very kind of you professor," she complimented, she knew that she had other places to study, but, the idea of studying in the nearby room, to get to know the professor was a good thing. "I'd love help with a lesson plan, or revision plan, even though I'm younger, I think charms is the most vital lifeline of magic that wizards have, I really want to do well in it," she said.

 

[Professor Mallory Grayveson]

Mallory sipped on her tea, considering what Winnie had to say. She took a spells list from her lessons plan. "Well, there are two advanced spells I could teach you this year. If you come in for tutoring, lets say, once a week, half an hour after lessons?" She looked to Winnie. "We could set up an individual plan for you, if you'd like?" She took out a different notebook for herself.

 

[Winnie Calida]

Winnie was a little surprised at the offer, but immediately nodded. She'd need to figure out how to fit this into her schedule, she probably could fit it in, but it wasn't going to fit neatly into her schedule. She would make it work though, this was too good an offer to pass up. "That would be really good professor, thank you," she said, somewhat honestly. "I really appreciate it, anything I can do to get better is what I want,"

 

[Professor Mallory Grayveson]

Mallory smiled, scribbling down a few available dates on a note and sliding it to the girl. "Just let me know what time works best for you, darling," She offered with a gentle smile. "I want this to feel like a safe place for students. I want to make sure you're getting everything you want to from your schooling. I know it's early, but do you have a little bit of a plan for what you'd like to do when you're older? It'd be easier to craft a plan if we had a vague notion for where you wanted to go."

 

[Winnie Calida]

Winnie looked at the timings that the professor gave her, and then took out her own schedule, to find the time that suited best as the professor was speaking. She could figure out how to move a few things to create the necessary time. It would make things a bit tight, but it would be worth it. "I'm going to work with my mother," she said, without missing a beat. "That's the plan," If she'd been thinking more about it, she might've lied and said something in charms, but there wasn't much sense in that.

 

[Professor Mallory Grayveson]

Mallory nodded, making a note. "What does your mother do?" She asked. "I could look into things that would support that and make sure I have extra material for you, if you'd like." She offered, her mind flashing back to another student that had taken her extra help. She smiled softly at the thought.

 

[Winnie Calida]

Winnie gave a little smile. "She's in property development," Winnie replied, knowing that there wasn't a lot that this woman could offer that would be involved in that, it wasn't something that people needed anything specific for, especially not at this school. "Which isn't, you know charms or whatever, but I still want to do well in Charms,"

 

[Professor Mallory Grayveson]

Mallory considered what Winnie said, turning it over in her mind. "Property development?" She got up, moving over to her library. "Let me see... maybe I'm a little off, but I'd think that would require some knowledge of architecture, of landscape, things of that sort," She pulled out a few books she'd gotten for a previous student, both a bit more geared towards the study of architecture- where to build, the different structures, things like that. She hadn't done more than lightly skim through it herself. She set them down in front of Winnie with a soft smile. "Perhaps these might help?" She suggested. "I had a student before that wanted to be an archeologist so I picked up a few things."

 

[Winnie Calida]

Winnie was a little surprised when the professor handed her a couple of books, she didn't think she would need these things, her mother had people to tell her what was the right and wrong thing, this was beneath what position she would take, but Winnie nodded. "Oh these are great," she said with a warmth in her voice that she was forcing there to be. "Thank you so much professor, I won't take up any more of your time,"

 

[Professor Mallory Grayveson]

Mallory thought she might sense a little bit of forced warmth from the girl, but she shook the thought away. That was just silly. Instead she just nodded and gave Winnie a warm smile of her own. "Well, thank you for coming by," She offered gently. "It's always so nice to have students stop by." She peeked around the room. "Was there anything else I could get you? Some tea for later perhaps?"

 

[Winnie Calida]

Winnie immediately knew she'd probably have to visit the professor a little more often than others, to maintain the relationship that was possible, it would be better in the long run, being in with the professors but she knew too that it was going to be time-consuming, perhaps though sticking to just the times that the professor was arranging would be enough. "Oh, no, I don't want to take more from you, you've already been a good amount of help,"