Y32 Electives Fair

Professor Kalif Styx

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Kaitlyn
Professor Kalif Styx had half an hour to get the fair ready before the electives professor would come along and set up their own tables. Kalif took out his wand and started to get to work on the Great Hall. He moved tables out of the way, conjuring up individual ones for each elective. Majority of them had two professors, so he conjured a couple of chairs per table. He was not looking to impress, so the chairs were simple. Kalif sighed and put his wand away. Easy enough. Kalif was normally early to get these events underway, so that maybe he could have a moment of peace. He waited until the fair officially started once the elective professors were present, before he ducked out of the way. He would answer questions if asked. That was his duty after all.
 
The Electives Fair was one of the events on the Hogwarts calendar that Kahurangi always found herself looking forward to. Holed up in her classroom teaching relatively small groups, she often wished she could connect with more students and open their eyes to the possibilities her subject opened up, and the fair was the perfect opportunity to do just that. Kahurangi had come prepared, with a couple of her favourite bags of runes, some interesting books about the subject, and a few of her favourite bind rune pendants, some of them designed by her older students. It was quite the haul of supplies, but Kahurangi set up her half of the runes table quickly, looking forward to Cyndi's arrival. Another upside of the fair was getting to work directly alongside her colleague, another thing she wished she had more opportunity to do, and she hoped the other woman would join her soon. In the mean time, once her side of the table was set up, Kahurangi sat down happily and opened one of her bags of runes, spreading them out on the table for the arriving students to look at.
 
Cyndi entered the Great Hall early to her own great surprise. She was usually fairly late to this event, one thing or another always delaying her. Stopping in front of her colleague, Kahurangi, the woman held out one of the lidded cups in her hand. "Tea. I'm not sure if I remembered how you like it" she offered, hoping it would be to the woman's liking. She'd figured they would need it for all of the talking they were about to do, and it had been fun to use her new teapot for the first time. Watching it come to a boil and roar had been ever so amusing. "Good morning Kahurangi" she added with a smile, putting her own cup down so she could set up her portion of the table with similar ítems, a bag of glass runes and even a bone set since those always made for fun conversation. Finished, Cyndi was about to sit down when she noticed the chairs. "What the hell, Kalif? Couldn't have gone a bit fancier with these chairs?" she called out jovially. The woman enjoyed teasing her much older colleague. She reached for her wand and transfigured her chair into one with slightly more cushioning since she would be in it for several hours.
 
That years electives fair would be Jon's last, and he wanted to make it count. By inspiring the second years to choose muggle studies as a subject, Jon hoped this would mean throughout the rest of their schooling they found the subject interesting and in turn inspire the professor that replaced him. It was a roundabout perspective to have on things, and Jon was sure whoever took his place would be inspired in their own way, but that didn't mean he couldn't do his best to help motivate as many people as possible while he still had the chance, and when he did leave feel like he had made a positive impact on the school, no matter how small the impact might have been. Arriving to the great hall, Jon carried his usual sets of movie posters and magazines, though also brought along a few old handheld gaming consoles and an old model of a smartphone for the students to check out. Despite the devices not working within the school Jon thought showing some of the technology that students learned about in muggle studies couldn't be a bad thing, and hoped it was enough to show how interesting the subject truly was. Jon walked to one of the free tables and placed everything down, quickly setting up the posters and organizing all the other items he had brought, leaving some empty space for Ryder to set up anything he needed. When this was done Jon moved to sit down in one of the chairs on the other side of the table, and waited patiently for the students to arrive.
 
Kalif glanced over when he heard Professor Kingsley call out to him, before changing the chair he conjured to something else that he could not see at that angle. He shook his head and conjured his own chair, which was a lot more elaborate than the ones he had for the electives professors. It even had cushions on the arm rests. He sat down to observe, while softly smirking to himself.
 
Vader didn’t know what classes he wanted to take in the following year, there was already a lot on his plate and would be more so as he took on the sole responsibility of the accio yearbook. It was what he’d been preparing for for a while, but that didn’t make it much easier for him to figure out what else he wanted. The gryffindor hadn’t known what he wanted to do more magic, and though this opened a lot more doors for him, it didn’t make it much easier for him to figure out what he wanted to do. If anything it made it more difficult, there was just a lot more for him to consider. He knew for certain that he didn’t want to take muggle studies, he’d had enough of the muggle world. The holidays and his parents were the only reason for him to go back home. The boy had his camera around his neck and he was glancing about at the different class stalls that were dotted around the room, he had plans to meet Ava and they could go wandering around the stalls together, but Vader wasn't very good at waiting and he wanted to get a quick glance at who was already at the room. He didn’t know what he wanted to do and he kind of hoped that Ava would have a little more clue, perhaps she could offer some advice to him. The boy noticed the muggle studies stall with its muggle devices and he raised his camera to take a picture of it, he didn't know if ava would want to talk to them, but they could always cycle back to it. The boy moved to the next one that had a bag of runes, ”Ancient Runes?” the boy asked, looking for them to confirm it, ”What can you do with Ancient runes?” he was asking largely both what the subject was and then also how it might be useful to him in the future career wise. He noted that one of the professors of this subject was his head of house, perhaps he should speak to her about what he was to do next if he remained as unsure as he was.
 
Alice had heard a bit about various electives from her sisters, but she still was eager to see what the electives fair would bring. She skipped into the great hall happily and walked past the Ancient Runes table. She hesitated for a moment, then walked on. She would maybe return later, but first wanted to talk to someone else. None of Alice's sisters took muggle studies, which was a little weird as her mother found it a very important subject. It was probably because they knew quite a bit about them already, but Alice was still curious about the subject. She stopped in front of the Ravenclaw head of house and smiled at him with a small wave. "Hi! Can I ask you some things about muggle studies?" Alice asked him curiously. She didn't spot the other teacher for the subject yet.
 
Kahurangi was pleasantly surprised when Cyndi was quick to join her, giving the other woman a warm smile in greeting. "Oh, thank you." She said cheerfully, accepting the cup of tea. She gave an experimental sip, and nodded in approval. "That's lovely." She noted the things Cyndi had brought to decorate their area, pleased to see that they had been thinking along similar lines, and shifted some of her own things a little to make room and make the space look more consistent. Kahurangi couldn't hold back a giggle at the exchange between Cyndi and Kalif, enjoying the sight of someone teasing the intimidating Slytherin immensely.

It wasn't long though, before Kahurangi had to compose herself as the students began to arrive, and immediately someone was approaching their table. Kahurangi gave the boy a friendly smile as he came near, nodding when he asked for confirmation of the subject. Kahurangi loved explaining her subject, jumping on the boy's question happily. "There are just about endless things to be done with runes, it's a very broad subject." She smiled kindly. "As the name suggests, they make up an ancient language, so once you can read runes you can dig into reading historical magical writings, and looking into ancient forms of magic. In our course you'll learn how to craft your own runes and perform readings with them, as well as the very basics of working with runic artifacts." She picked up one of the pendants on the table, holding it out for the boy to take a closer look at. "This symbol is a bind rune, designed by one of my old students for protection from misfortune. If you're interested in a career in crafting magical objects, or law enforcement, this is a very useful skill to have. We only delve into pendants for personal use, but runes have a variety of applications for different purposes. The main focus of the years I teach is the use of runes in prediction, as we look into casting runes to see potential outcomes of different circumstances." Kahurangi knew she had talked a lot, but it was never easy to tell which different use of runes would be the one to catch a student's attention, and she liked to cast a broad net and give them a lot to consider.
 
When the fair began Jon waited patiently for someone to approach him, smiling as a girl eventually walked over to ask if she could ask him questions about muggle studies. He nodded and leant forward on the table slightly. "Of course you can ask me questions, what would you like to know?" Jon said, before adding, "I teach the fifth, sixth, and seventh years but I'm sure I can give you answers." Jon had learned of what was taught in the earlier years of muggle studies, out of his own curiosity and for the purpose of answering questions during the electives fair so he felt confident he would be able to answer what she wanted to know. Hopefully whatever answers he gave her would be enough to inspire her to choose the subject, as that was what Jon wanted most.
 
Ava skipped into the great hall, humming happily. She was running a bit late, but that was alright. She made her way through the students. "Allie!" She greeted the girl, waving enthusiastically before skipping past and over to Vader. She poked her head around his shoulder as the Professor there began answering a question he'd asked. She listened, a little curious. "That sounds kinda interesting. What do you think Timmy?" She asked him, looking at him with a bright smile. "Sorry I'm late," She apologized. She stepped over to the table and laid her fingers gently on a rune. "It's kinda like an art form." She said offhandedly.
 
The woman had been a little distracted and was grateful when her colleague stepped in. She listened to Kahurangi, smiling and nodding in agreement with her response as she continued to sip her tea. The woman looked around the room, disappointed that there weren't as many students or colleagues as she expected to see. She made note of which Gryffindors she spotted and those she did not as those students would be required to meet with her at some point. The woman was lax in some areas but not when it came to the students beginning to think about their futures. She gave the young girl who approached next a curious expression. "How so?" she asked. She didn't disagree that reading runes were a skill that was developed and that two readers with the same reading might have slightly different insights especially if they knew more specific details about the individual, but their overall gist would be the same. She always liked engaging with students regarding the subject, so she was interested in her response.
 
Ava looked up as one of the Professors addressed her. She lit up at the question. "Well, she said you craft them and read them. It's like making and organizing little bits of yourself... in a way." She turned back, forgetting her explanation. She'd just talked herself into it. She put a hand on Vader's arm, her eyes sparkling. "This sounds really interesting. Can we? I want to. What do you think?"
 
Alice smiled as the professor said she could ask him questions. She nodded as he told her he taught the older years, as she knew that already. "Thank you." She said politely. "I was just wondering what sort of things we would learn in muggle studies." She said, shrugging. "Is it just the basics, or more deep?" She wasn't sure yet if she wanted to take the subject, but was leaning towards yes.
 
Abian had been anxious about the electives fair, and had tried his best to walk as slowly to the great hall as possible. He didn't know anything about magical electives, and while he realized that was kind of the point of this entire thing, it was overwhelming to have to ask questions when you didn't know where to start at all. He was already bad at every subject he had, getting no better than a P for anything. Granted, he didn't really try that hard, but he knew from experience that trying wasn't likely to make it better. If he tried, he probably still would get bad grades and would be a lot more disappointed about it. He wandered around a bit, unsure. He'd probably end up picking some electives at random. Muggle studies sounded like something he could ace easily, which would be a welcome change. He lingered near the Ancient Runes table, trying to figure out what exactly it was without having to ask. He tried to listen in on the conversation the professors were having with Vader and another student while trying to look like he wasn't listening in.
 
Kahurangi listened with interest to the exchange between the girl and Cyndi, smiling kindly. "You'll learn to craft a set of runes in Professor Kingsley's fourth year class, and begin reading them in my fifth year class." She added, to give the students an idea of when to expect to learn these things. It was nice to see enthusiasm for the subject, as Kahurangi's classes always tended to run on the small side, and it wasn't a secret to her that some of her older students weren't fans of the readings. She hoped these kids would enjoy the subject enough for her to see them in her own classroom in a few years.
 
Emily was excited for the electives fair, and she was excited in spite of her sister. Charlie complained about her elective classes all the time, but Charlie complained about all of her classes all the time, and Emily was determined to enjoy them, just to prove Charlie's grumpiness wrong. She made her way to the Great Hall and looked around, a little dismayed to see none of the subjects she was excited about taking. Care of Magical Creatures sounded cool, as did Divination, but with nobody around to ask about them Emily made her way over to Alice instead, greeting her best friend with a light nudge and waiting to hear the answer to Alice's question.
 
William didn't really wanna take more classes, as school was already way too much in his opinion, but he had to go along to this stupid elective fair anyway, whether he liked it or not. He was relieved that Phineas and Uno were nowhere to be seen, making a beeline for Abian and giving the other boy an elbow. "Oi, how is it so far?" William asked, glancing around. "You know what classes you're taking?"
 
Abian was relieved when William approached him, and gave his friend a smile as he elbowed him. "I dunno, I just got here." He said with a shrug. The boy's next question made him shrug again, and he cast an uncertain look at the professors and tables. "I don't know... I barely know what half of these are." He admitted nervously. "What do you think? I might take muggle studies, would be pretty easy."
 
Jon listened to the girl's question intently, waiting a moment to gather his thoughts before he spoke. "In the earlier years you learn the basics about the general muggle way of life, how the school system works in the muggle world, about electricity and transport, and if I remember correctly there's a field trip to what a muggle apartment looks like. Then in the later years the lessons are more culture focused, and you're able to learn about different kinds of muggle entertainment and how the entertainment has changed throughout history." He explained. "So you start by learning the basics and work your way up to learning about more things as you continue in the later years, depending on if you consider entertainment and culture as the basics as well." Jon concluded his answer and smiled at the girl, hoping this was enough to answer her question. As he noticed someone else arrive to the table, he decided to mention the items he had brought with him. "There's some things here relating to what you learn later on." He moved his hands on the table, showing the various things related to subjects from the later years of muggle studies. "I have some old gaming consoles and magazines, and a smartphone. The electronics don't work inside hogwarts, but you're welcome to pick up a magazine and read a little bit if you want to understand the kind of things you might learn about muggle culture." As Jon said this, he moved the stack of magazines closer to the girls in case they were interested in reading one of them. Reading and experiencing the kind of culture they might learn about was easier to understand, Jon thought, and this way students could gather her own opinion on the subject and decide whether it was for them or not.
 

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