Closed More than a passing fancy

[Elijah Edogawa]

So maybe it was more than a simple thought, he’d poured over all of the books he could find on the subject in the library, but it wasn’t like there was a lot of information on how to do this sort of thing. After all, that would only make it more easy for students to do this in secret and he knew that could be dangerous. Animal transfiguration had always been talked about as being quite dangerous, and so becoming an animagus was presumably also quite dangerous, though he wasn’t sure he was particularly interested in getting into trouble about wanting to learn more. There were many reasons as to why he wanted to do this, or at least to find out more information, his family are loud and over the top, none of them would do something like this, so it would be something just for him. The fact that it would be a physical manifestation of his studies, of his choice to be different to them. His choice to be academic, and really just the freedom and ability to be in solitude. That’s all he wanted honestly. So he knocked on Professor Pirrip’s door, hoping the man would have at least one recommendation on what to do.​

@Professor Edward Pirrip

 

[Professor Edward Pirrip]

Edward liked to play a guessing game on who was knocking at his door and if he could get a jist of the reason for knocking by the knock itself. Professor's were the easiest, confident and purposeful, Teddy didn't usually bother knocking, and other students varied. He wasn't familiar with the next knock, he didn't think it was a professor but perhaps a student who hadn't visited before and had a question for him. "Come in!" He called out, curious to see who it was and if his guess was anywhere close to the mark or not.

 

[Elijah Edogawa]

Eli didn’t know a lot about the new Transfiguration Professor and that was a bit daunting because it meant he didn’t really know what category to put him in, since all the Professors at the school had a category in his mind and he put them firmly in there when he could. There was the “Actually worth listening to” category filled with the professors he respected and found useful, like Professor Moncrieffe who was no nonsense and got her point across very well or Professor Josephs his head of house. Then you had the “Tolerable, I guess,” professors he didn’t mind, but wasn’t overly invested in like Professor Landon Carter who was sometimes useful but mostly not worth listening to too much. And then there was the last category, “Why am I even here?” for the professors he found the most unbearable, like professor Grayveson. At the moment he didn’t which category Professor Pirrip was in, and that made him nervous because it was hard to know how to approach a professor he hadn’t yet categorised. As he was told to enter, he quickly headed in and smiled lightly, a little nervous but he knew what he wanted. “Sorry to disturb you Professor, I had a kind of personal and I guess academic question, I wanted to talk to you about.”​

 

[Professor Edward Pirrip]

Edward was pretty close in his guess, turned out to be an academic and a personal question in one visit. That meant this was double as important and he’d better pay attention to whatever he wanted to talk about. “Not a problem. Take a seat Elijah." He gestured toward the seat opposite his desk. His tone was easy, but his eyes showed he was focused and attentive to the conversation. He wasn’t the kind of professor to waste time, but he also wasn’t the type to make things intimidating for anyone either. Folding his arms, he gave a small nod. “Alright. Let’s hear it.”

 

[Elijah Edogawa]

Eli nodded as the Professor told him to take a seat and quickly sat. Now that he was in the room and about to speak, he didn’t feel as nervous. He’d frequently found himself in the office of a professor when he was back in Mohoutokoro as a day student because he was always interested in learning more so this almost felt normal. “Last year,” he started because that seemed like the place to start, “we learned about Animagus, and the professor talked about what they were, the fact they could become an animal - I liked that it seemed like the pinnacle of a transfiguration study, that to become an animal was sort of the culmination of years of study and training,” he said, trying to think of what else there had been. “I love Transfiguration, it’s my best subject and it’s what I want to focus on in my life, I want to be that guy people know for my ability in transfiguration.” He added, rolling his shoulders a little as he watched the man’s reaction. “Sir, I want to learn more about Animagus and what it takes to become one, I’ve read everything in the library about it, and I’m eager to learn more.”​

 

[Professor Edward Pirrip]

In all fairness to the boy, Edward heard Elijah out before he replied. “Well you’ve got ambition kid, I’ll give you that.” he took a breath before continuing, he didn't think the boy was going to like what he was going to say. He had to choose his words carefully, after all it wasn't often that he had requests to learn more about animagus transformation from a student who hadn't even mastered animate to animate Transfiguration yet, but he didn't want to quash any of that ambition either. He nodded slowly, “You’re right. Animagus transformation is considered the pinnacle of a transfiguration as you say. It follows years of study and training and I mean years of study, Elijah. A lot of the fundamentals might not seem relevant and can be skipped over, but it is all relevant and needs to be done in the correct order.” He hoped the boy was really listening to what Edward was telling him. He lent back again, his voice more serious than it had been, “But that’s exactly why I can’t, in good conscience, encourage you to pursue learning more than the textbooks you have access to right now have offered." His tone softened again, but remained absolute in his decision. "You’re too young Elijah. You won’t always be too young, but right now there are still so many foundations to master. Jumping ahead without doing that groundwork first is dangerous. It's like, um, well it's like playing in the Quidditch world cup when you've just mastered the 'Up' command.” He wasn't sure if Elijah was a Quidditch fan or not, but it felt like a relatable analogy to give the young student.

 

[Elijah Edogawa]

It felt like he was being patronised, at least a little bit. Shouldn’t everyone who was in a school have ambition? Why was it so strange that he would have ambition? It took him a moment to let what the man was actually saying sink it, and Eli had to pull himself off of hit soap box. Of course the professor would think this of him, it wasn’t just a small extra credit thing he was asking for, this was a skill that took years of study to master, and he knew that and he was ready for it. He knew he was ready for it, and more than that, he was willing. He couldn’t hide the disappointment on his face when the man essentially told him no, and he didn’t really like the way it made him feel either. Rejection sucked at most points, but having it from someone he wanted to admire stung. Even though he might have been right about his age, his ability to understand the fundamentals, like the Up command, that didn’t mean he agreed with it. “Second year Transfiguration is a little more complicated than the ‘Up’ command Sir, I can turn a beetle into a button,” it was a useless point, but he could still do it. Even when he was learning to fly with the Up command as the Professor put it, he was still on the broom. “Professor my mum has always taught me that the best way to learn to fly is to get on the broom and just do it, it’s not about how much you study, it’s about the willingness to take risks, Sir, I’m willing to take risks.”​

 

[Professor Edward Pirrip]

Edward listened patiently even though he got the sense that Elijah was missing his point, he bit back a smirk before replying. “I’ve seen your beetle transfiguration, and it’s good,” he acknowledged, lightly wondering what his mum would think about this conversation, “But nasty things, and by that I mean the stuff of nightmares, happen to people who take risks in Transfiguration before they’re ready. And you, Elijah, are not ready yet.” Edward didn't want the boy to leave with nothing and decided to give him a goal he could choose to take if he was as serious as he said he was. “But look, here's the deal. If you focus on mastering what’s in front of you right now. If you practice, stay out of trouble, and turn your homework in at the highest standard, then we'll discuss animagus training when you're older. If you ever want to be an animagus then you need to care about Transfiguration as a whole, and not just because you want to be an Animagus.” His gaze held steady on the boy, making it clear that this was the best he would get out of today.