Open Wild Ideas

[Lorelai Gates]

-open after Camilla posts with Aine-

Lorelai hadn't gotten lost in one of her stories like this in a while. But it all made so much sense, how could she possibly be wrong? She was hurrying now, searching for a prefect or a head person or another professor or someone- anyone but Professor Graveyson. Luckily for her, she bumped into the head girl first- Aine, she thought. "Head girl!" She declared, not willing in that moment to test her memory. "Head girl, can you spare a moment? We have to talk!" She chattered, bouncing on her feet and twisting her hands together. "It's about the charms professor, please? Somewhere we won't be heard," She looked around, almost afraid the ex-mob wife would appear and spell her into silence for the forbidden knowledge she possessed.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine thought she was pretty lucky to have not had to spend an evening writing out 'I will not mess with the first years' five hundred times considering the way this semester was going. If anything, it would be sufficient proof that she was right and that she didn't deserve to be Head Girl because no way was she good enough compared to everyone else. But for better or worse, the badge was hers and she had to at least try not to let the intrusive thoughts win. She had to be a good influence and a responsible human being and-

She was immediately lost by the approach of another first year calling for her help regarding a professor. This was giving her incredibly uncomfortable deja vu, and Aine took a deep breath before looking at the young girl carefully. "Okay, first of all, she hasn't...passed out or anything, has she?" she asked, quietly enough so as not to make the girl think she wasn't taking her seriously. Professor Corrins - no, Professor Graveyson now (Aine needed to send her a congratulatory note, now she thought of it) was a very nice woman and Aine didn't want to make the same mistake twice. "Alright, lead the way, if it's that serious."

 

[Lorelai Gates]

Lorelai shook her head quickly, bouncing on her toes. "No no no, she's not- she's fine, I- it's," She let out a breath and tried to pull Aine over to a corner, her voice already dropping to a whisper. "Why is she teaching here? Is it really safe? How long has she been here?" She threw out questions without waiting for answers. "Does anyone else even know? How can everyone not know?" She turned back to Aine, looking up with panic in her eyes as she twisted her hands together. "She's ex-mob! The charms Professor- she has to be- she's on the run! It can't be safe around here, around her," She was looking around, like she expected the woman to appear like a ghoul and curse them.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine stared blankly at the girl for a few moments, blinking as she processed what she was trying to say. She had to put on a nice and friendly and approachable face for the first years (not that that came naturally, but she was trying). "Uh, she's been here as long as I've been here, possibly longer...why?" she muttered, only having to stop, desperately throw a hand to her mouth and bite down on her index finger so she wouldn't laugh. To mild effect, as she kept snorting with laughter. It wasn't appropriate to judge by appearances, sure, but of all professors! "If you told me Professor Styx was a dark wizard, or if Professor Moncrieffe was an artifact thief, or Professor Zephyrmoon was on community service, I'd believe it. But Professor Co- er, Grayveson? The single nicest professor in the whole school?" Aine shook her head, quickly swallowing and trying not to offend the girl. "Er, that is to say, did she do something to make you think that way?" Aine couldn't see it happening, but maybe she'd changed since she'd gotten married.

 

[Lorelai Gates]

Lorelai's brow furrowed and she stuck out her lower lip a bit, pouting. She shook her head quickly, stubborn in her views. "That's just it! She's too nice!" She whisper-shouted. "No one is just that nice! Look at her! She's too graceful, with expensive, custom tailored robes, she's too put together!" She defended. "Think about it- she's got to have some secret, untold history! She's an ex mob wife, on the run, making up for all the horrible things she's either done or allowed to be done!" She bounced on her feet.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine stared blankly ahead for a moment, her mind ticking over to try and work out what she was supposed to do here. It wasn't her job to parent or teach kids, just to keep an extra eye on them to make sure they weren't doing anything stupid. Aine didn't have younger siblings, and her niece was still very young to the point where talking to her was more 'no sweetie, don't run into the street' and less 'no sweetie, don't jump to mildly racist conclusions'.

Also, Aine wondered if her own mind had been quite this bad. She regretted that article from last year.

She placed a hand to her head, rubbing her forehead as she tried to put words together. "Well." She started, drawing in a deep breath. "If it's not a case that she's done anything to hurt you or your friends, and you're basing this entirely on the way she looks and acts, that's pretty rude. How do you think you'd feel if someone said things like that about you?" For a moment, she wondered if she was trying to prove something in and to herself. "I think if she'd done anything really bad, she would've been caught by now. The magical world is really small.."

 

[Lorelai Gates]

Lorelai was surprised by the Head Girls words, and she blinked, sidetracked for a moment. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to wrap her mind around being told she might be rude with her story. She was almost brought back to earth, but then Aine spoke again and Lorelai was drawn back into it, shaking her head quickly. "If thats true, then why are there still dark wizards in the world?" She asked. "If it was really so hard to do things and not get caught, then we wouldn't need a whole class on how to defend ourselves against them!" She countered. "Maybe Professor Grayveson is just really good at hiding things," She spoke a little too loudly, not noticing the woman in question walking nearby.

 

[Professor Mallory Grayveson]

Mallory had gone out for a stroll, feeling a bit uneasy in her office, and had decided to go to the library to see if she could pick up anything new to read. She was dressed a bit more casually now, in dusted pink flats with matching pink capris and a white eyelet lace top, her dark hair twisted into a messy low bun on the back of her neck. She was just walking by when she heard someone mention her name, something about being good at hiding things. Oh, were they talking about the hide and seek lesson? Intrigued, she changed course and stepped over, an easy smile on her face. "Oh, what have I done now?" She asked, thumbs hooked in her pockets and stance relaxed.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine wondered what the optics were on throwing a student out the window. Not good, she suspected. "Because the dark wizards aren't going through all the background checks to work at a school," she explained, though that didn't necessarily explain Professor Styx. Still, the kid didn't have him for classes yet, so she didn't need to try and justify that one too hard. "I don't know, why don't they bring magical currency into line with muggle currency and use the decimal system? Why do we do anything at this school? Because that's what their parents did, and their grandparents, and so on and so forth." Aine rubbed at her temple, exasperated not so much with the girl, but with the system. None of it made sense. If it did, they would've picked a better Head Girl.

She was about to retort defending the professor again when the woman herself showed up. The colour, or whatever of it there was, in her face drained as she drew in a deep breath. "Oh, Professor, congratulations," she said, politely, racking her brain as how to handle this. It was probably not good to turn and go 'yeah, the kid thinks you're some kind of mafia princess and is honestly kind of rude', not in the least because of how hypocritical it was. Lying was probably not a good idea, but she couldn't think of a better one. "We were just talking about Charms classes. Things to look forward to, y'know."

 

[Lorelai Gates]

Lorelai was starting to see a little bit of sense in what Aine was saying, but before she could really shift her view of things, the Professor herself appeared. Lorelai squeaked and jumped instinctively behind the other girl, her imagination running wild again. "I won't tell anyone!" Her voice shot up three octaves. "What's a secret past anyway? We all have one! Your mafia connections won't hear anything from me that you're here," She stood too straight, peeking out from behind Aine with her wide eyes impossibly bigger and her hands trembling.

 

[Professor Mallory Grayveson]

Mallory smiled at the girls. "Oh, thank you, Miss Thompson," She replied. But then the younger girl jumped back behind the head girl and seemed to be afraid. Mallory blinked a few times, taking in the words, before letting out an amused laugh. "Oh, goodness," She put a hand on her stomach. "That's not quite right, my dears," She spoke to them both. "A good guess, and a wonderful imagination. I do have a past, but nothing quite so drastic." Mallory waved a hand. "Would the two of you care for some tea in my office? I can tell you the real story, if you'd like. Nothing dark, I promise, but I do have an interesting history."