Closed Discussions

[Professor Mallory Grayveson]

Mallory was seeing a little bit of... concerning tendencies in some of her younger students, but she didn't think she had the power to do anything about it. Or really the chance to see if there was more there. So she'd sent a message to Professor Castillo, asking him to meet in the Professors lounge. She had the assignment in question and she had also compiled a few notes on things she'd noticed, just wanting to present her... arguably feeble proof but still, there was enough to at least point it out. She'd made some tea and settled in, wearing a comfortable hoodie and yoga pants, curled up on one of the couches and sipping her drink while she waited.

 

[Professor Angel Castillo]

Angel had to admit since his very rough first year as head of house, Slytherin had slowed down a lot in terms of trouble and he was starting to get slack. The note from Mallory had been a stark reminder that he had to keep an eye on his students at all times. If anything when it came to a house like Slytherin, the quieter things were, the more Angel should be wary that something was afoot.

Hopefully though, Mallory just wanted to talk about a late homework assignment or two so he tried not to worry as he entered the teachers lounge, giving Mallory a quick wave before summoning himself a coffee mug to pour some from the ever hot carafe on the sideboard. She looked comfortable, so Angel relaxed even more as he joined her, taking a long sip and relaxing against the arm chair. "So, who's causing you problems today? Please don't say Celia," he said with a grin, mostly joking.

 

[Professor Mallory Grayveson]

Mallory smiled as Angel joined her, cradling her cup and sipping on her tea. She tucked her legs up under her, and shook her head. "Oh, not at all. Celia is lovely, she stops by to talk with me quite often." She smiled, rubbing her thumb over her warm mug. "I was just... noticing something with some of your younger students." She explained, giving him a shy smile. "Nothing crazy yet, but maybe something to keep an eye on."

 

[Professor Angel Castillo]

Angel raised an eyebrow at Mallory called Celia 'lovely', not exactly the phrasing he would use himself. Determined, perhaps. Intense. But he figured it might be best to keep that to himself. "Ah, of course. Always glad to try and nip a few problems in the bud," Angel lied. He'd much rather ignore things until they actually became an issue, though he supposed he appreciated Mallory trying to make his life easier, and keeping an eye out for his students too. "Who in particular caught your eye?" He asked, running through a mental rolodex of his lower year students. He wasn't as close with some of them as he was the older students, through sheer virtue of time as well as not having them in his own classes yet.

 

[Professor Mallory Grayveson]

Mallory chewed on her lip, brushing her thumb over her cup. "Well- I don't mean to assume," She spoke slowly, lowering her eyes to look at her tea. "But... Cassius Styx and Terror Zhefarovich, both second years." She looked up at him. "I've noticed some other students seem afraid of them... a hufflepuff boy and Zion Lind in particular. I don't know what's really going on, I'll admit. And Terror at least has a dark sense of humor, he said the cleaning charm was good for cleaning up a murder," She gave a small smile. "It's nothing... terrible, right now, but it could become something later..."

 

[Professor Angel Castillo]

Angel knew he didn't spend nearly as much time with the younger students as some of the other heads of house like Landon or Cyndi, so he was curious to hear more about what some of his kids might get up to in class from someone like Mallory. He hadn't gotten much of a read from her outside of 'nice' and 'young', and it was almost amusing to watch her stumble through trying to explain her concerns about Cassius and Terror.

"Ahh, them," he said, nodding slowly, somehow not at all surprised. "Styx seems to have a talent for keeping us on his toes even after leaving the castle for years," Angel said wanly. Truth be told he was still half expecting to find some sort of horrible booby trap down in the dungeons or in his office that the previous Slytherin head of house had left, but so far so good. "Bad taste in jokes aside, you haven't actually seen them doing anything right? I mean, everyone's kind of scary when you're 12 and I'm sure those boys have a reputation from their family alone," he asked, just to be sure. He appreciated Mallory's warning and he'd try to take heed, but he didn't plan to watch those two any more than he had to if it was just a hunch.

 

[Professor Mallory Grayveson]

Mallory smiled softly, rubbing her thumb against her cup. "Well- I haven't seen anything directly." She offered gently, biting her lip. "But... I get a lot of kids, Professor Castillo... I've had shy kids before, but never... something is going on between Gregory and Cassius. I can't really prove it, but... I know it." She tried to express the depths of her concern. "I'll keep an eye on my classes, I just... if you could keep an ear out," She smiled shyly, hoping he might understand at least a little.

 

[Professor Angel Castillo]

"Right," Angel said slowly when Mallory revealed this was little more than a gut feeling apparently. He didn't want to dismiss her just because she was young, but it was hard to take an accusation like this too seriously. Mallory did rather seem like the sensitive type. "Well, maybe this is something better to take up with Gregory or his head of house. For all we know it's just a little crush or something, kids are like that," Angel said with a shrug. "I'm not exactly keen on treating kids like trouble when they've done nothing wrong. From my own experience that always makes stuff worse," he said with a tight smile. He was sure Mallory meant well, but he was much happier giving his Slytherins the benefit of the doubt here. Especially if it meant less work for him too.

 

[Professor Mallory Grayveson]

Mallory took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. "You're probably right," She admitted with a shy smile. "I'm not sure what to even do, if anything can be done... I just didn't want to ignore it, if something might be happening." She told him with a shy smile. "Do you ever just worry about your students?" She asked him, cradling her tea.

 

[Professor Angel Castillo]

Angel hummed, taking another sip of his coffee before setting it aside. "I'd say best you can do is ask if Gregory's okay and hope that if he is in trouble he'll tell someone about it," he said with a sigh, leaning back in his chair. "It's an admirably quality to be sure, but if you worry about every little thing you see with all your students, you'll probably go insane," Angel said with a gentle laugh. "I try to trust that my kids know the door is open if they need anything. Honestly, the few times I've stuck my nose in unprompted haven't exactly gone my way so I leave it to them to let me know now," he admitted, remembering how much grief Jenna Irons and now Celia had given him.

 

[Professor Mallory Grayveson]

Mallory nodded, listening to everything he said and trying to take his advice seriously. "I suppose you're right," She gave him a small smile. "I just... can't help but worry sometimes," She cradled her tea, taking a sip and just letting it sooth her. "I felt alone growing up, I suppose- well, I suppose I'm projecting, being overprotective of my students and wanting to be sure none of them feel the same way I did." She bit her lip, running her finger over the rim of the cup.