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Who: Adelaide Legaux and Professor Walsh
What: Addy has a problem and tries to fix it.
Where: Professor Walsh's classroom
When: Backdated to February 28th, between classes.
Rating: Safe!
The first senior wandless class Addy assisted with after breaking up with Luka was excruciating. Everyone in the room knew that they had something, and that now they didn't, and that neither one of them wanted to be enduring an awkward cycle of pretending nothing was wrong in front of other people.
They avoided eye contact the entire lesson and didn't speak once. She didn't broach the area of the classroom where he was sitting at all; busying herself with a student at the front of the room and running back to her dorm after the class ended as though she were escaping a disaster zone. She buried her face in her pillow and howled with frustration. This was not going to work.
The only solution she could think of was a rather cowardly one, but it would have to do. She met up with Professor Walsh between classes the next day to extend her proposal.
"I don't want to TA the seniors' class anymore," she said, simply and to the point.
He leaned back in his chair and looked over her. The entire faculty had seen the blow-up on the student journals after some party at the Ford house that had gotten out of hand over break. The students had gotten lax about locking their posts against adult eyes.
"Because of what happened over vacation," he surmised accurately.
She was startled at first, but then she remembered who she was talking to. Professor Walsh was probably there, disguised so impeccably that no one even knew. He could even be reading her mind right as she sat there in front of him.
"Yes," she said quietly, aware that lying would do her no good with him. She was abandoning part of her study and because of boys. "I just... I can't. It's too hard."
Walsh looked at Addy with the sort of fatherly admonition he only reserved for his special favorites. Everyone else would have seen his Darth Vader silent choking charm in practice, up close and personal. This was where the university system broke down: student relationships. They'd have to form a committee about this, maybe run a summer session of seminars for the teaching assistants so they knew better what to expect and what was expected of them.
"Adelaide, I can't let you just quit one of your duties as a university student." Hell, even Hawthorne Nikitin had found a solution and mostly (which Walsh italicized dubiously in his head) shaped up to make it work. He waited, hoping she would find a solution herself, something simple, something supremely easy to absolve her of wandless but keep up her end of the bargain.
"It's not just me," she argued weakly, even though she knew to some degree before coming in here that he wouldn't just let her run away. "He doesn't want to be in a room with me either. He's not going to do it if it means being with me. Isn't it better that I leave so he can finish wandless?" She sounded pathetic and she knew it. "I'll still be doing all the other classes! Please," she begged.
Walsh shook his head slowly, adamantly. "No, Adelaide. I know it's harsh, but I can't offer special treatment. Plenty of kids break up and are stuck in the same class to finish out the year. They manage it and so will you."
She pouted horribly. Most of the kids that happened to tended to ditch out on the shared classes until they were over it, but Walsh would certainly notice if she happened to fall 'sick' every day at 1:40pm. "But, I could do something else instead; like a research project, or practical application or something. I could grade papers!"
She could help him administer his Apparation practical on the weekends, but the amount of class time didn't equal that of Wandless. That and it didn't particularly strike him as safe or wise having an unlicensed student helping him teach something that required LAW certification. She could always switch gears and TA something else, but it was a big change to foist off on another teacher mid-semester. Walsh frowned, no, Addy was going to have to stick this out. "I'm sorry Adelaide, but this is just one of those things you're going to have to deal with. If Luka drops the class that's his decision and he'll have to deal with the consequences of it. If you drop the class you're going to lose all of your academic credits for this semester and we'd have to start over again in the fall."
Addy sighed deeply. "I don't want to start over in the fall," she said quietly. "I want to be out of here by then." She'd be lying if she didn't admit that it had something to do with breaking up with Luka, but she had also been pondering what her future held. She couldn't stay at university and be a teaching assistant forever. Of course, she'd also screwed herself over by not declaring a focus; doing that might have put her in a position to be picked up by interested parties looking for a specialist in a particular field. Instead, she had half a degree in Transfiguration, and half of one in Wandless. "I'm going to be here forever, aren't I?"
"No," he replied, but he was surprised at her sudden need to be finished with school. He tilted his head a bit and thought about his next words carefully. "I did have a career idea in mind for you. I didn't want to suggest it because I was hoping you'd think of it on your own." He almost smiled at that thought, but wiped it off his face before it had a chance. "Have you heard of the VSA?"
She wrinkled her nose. "They're not real." They were tall tales, like the boogeyman. Don't use magic in front of muggles, the VSA will come for you. Don't download hexes off the wizarding web, the VSA will have you arrested. No one knew anyone who was in the VSA, or knew anyone who knew someone who did. No one could tell you where they were located, or how to contact them. "Just a bunch of whispers and shadows."
"They're very real," he said with a quiet smirk of satisfaction. "I think if you spent another year here working on some finesse you could make a decent career out of it. You need a little more potions work and some astronomy wouldn't hurt. Maybe spell theory and combative magic if you haven't taken those. You could even double up a focus and take on two areas of study at once. It would be hard work, but it would prepare you well for what to expect."
"You can't be serious." She raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief. He was having her on. "You want me to be a boogeyman."
He shrugged with the most amused look on his face. "I'm not saying I am. I'm not saying I'm not. I am saying I think you'd make a damn good spook if you applied yourself to it."
She stared him down, and then bit her lip hopefully. "Can I drop seniors wandless if I take up spell theory?"
He wanted to laugh at her tenacity. "You'll have to talk with Professor Montgomery. If he agrees with it I'll try and finagle it for you. I admit though, I'd be disappointed if you just dropped altogether. I bet you could handle an afternoon a week. I'd expect nothing less of a future VSA."
Addy smiled. She could handle an afternoon a week, surely. Even if Walsh was pulling her leg.
What: Addy has a problem and tries to fix it.
Where: Professor Walsh's classroom
When: Backdated to February 28th, between classes.
Rating: Safe!
The first senior wandless class Addy assisted with after breaking up with Luka was excruciating. Everyone in the room knew that they had something, and that now they didn't, and that neither one of them wanted to be enduring an awkward cycle of pretending nothing was wrong in front of other people.
They avoided eye contact the entire lesson and didn't speak once. She didn't broach the area of the classroom where he was sitting at all; busying herself with a student at the front of the room and running back to her dorm after the class ended as though she were escaping a disaster zone. She buried her face in her pillow and howled with frustration. This was not going to work.
The only solution she could think of was a rather cowardly one, but it would have to do. She met up with Professor Walsh between classes the next day to extend her proposal.
"I don't want to TA the seniors' class anymore," she said, simply and to the point.
He leaned back in his chair and looked over her. The entire faculty had seen the blow-up on the student journals after some party at the Ford house that had gotten out of hand over break. The students had gotten lax about locking their posts against adult eyes.
"Because of what happened over vacation," he surmised accurately.
She was startled at first, but then she remembered who she was talking to. Professor Walsh was probably there, disguised so impeccably that no one even knew. He could even be reading her mind right as she sat there in front of him.
"Yes," she said quietly, aware that lying would do her no good with him. She was abandoning part of her study and because of boys. "I just... I can't. It's too hard."
Walsh looked at Addy with the sort of fatherly admonition he only reserved for his special favorites. Everyone else would have seen his Darth Vader silent choking charm in practice, up close and personal. This was where the university system broke down: student relationships. They'd have to form a committee about this, maybe run a summer session of seminars for the teaching assistants so they knew better what to expect and what was expected of them.
"Adelaide, I can't let you just quit one of your duties as a university student." Hell, even Hawthorne Nikitin had found a solution and mostly (which Walsh italicized dubiously in his head) shaped up to make it work. He waited, hoping she would find a solution herself, something simple, something supremely easy to absolve her of wandless but keep up her end of the bargain.
"It's not just me," she argued weakly, even though she knew to some degree before coming in here that he wouldn't just let her run away. "He doesn't want to be in a room with me either. He's not going to do it if it means being with me. Isn't it better that I leave so he can finish wandless?" She sounded pathetic and she knew it. "I'll still be doing all the other classes! Please," she begged.
Walsh shook his head slowly, adamantly. "No, Adelaide. I know it's harsh, but I can't offer special treatment. Plenty of kids break up and are stuck in the same class to finish out the year. They manage it and so will you."
She pouted horribly. Most of the kids that happened to tended to ditch out on the shared classes until they were over it, but Walsh would certainly notice if she happened to fall 'sick' every day at 1:40pm. "But, I could do something else instead; like a research project, or practical application or something. I could grade papers!"
She could help him administer his Apparation practical on the weekends, but the amount of class time didn't equal that of Wandless. That and it didn't particularly strike him as safe or wise having an unlicensed student helping him teach something that required LAW certification. She could always switch gears and TA something else, but it was a big change to foist off on another teacher mid-semester. Walsh frowned, no, Addy was going to have to stick this out. "I'm sorry Adelaide, but this is just one of those things you're going to have to deal with. If Luka drops the class that's his decision and he'll have to deal with the consequences of it. If you drop the class you're going to lose all of your academic credits for this semester and we'd have to start over again in the fall."
Addy sighed deeply. "I don't want to start over in the fall," she said quietly. "I want to be out of here by then." She'd be lying if she didn't admit that it had something to do with breaking up with Luka, but she had also been pondering what her future held. She couldn't stay at university and be a teaching assistant forever. Of course, she'd also screwed herself over by not declaring a focus; doing that might have put her in a position to be picked up by interested parties looking for a specialist in a particular field. Instead, she had half a degree in Transfiguration, and half of one in Wandless. "I'm going to be here forever, aren't I?"
"No," he replied, but he was surprised at her sudden need to be finished with school. He tilted his head a bit and thought about his next words carefully. "I did have a career idea in mind for you. I didn't want to suggest it because I was hoping you'd think of it on your own." He almost smiled at that thought, but wiped it off his face before it had a chance. "Have you heard of the VSA?"
She wrinkled her nose. "They're not real." They were tall tales, like the boogeyman. Don't use magic in front of muggles, the VSA will come for you. Don't download hexes off the wizarding web, the VSA will have you arrested. No one knew anyone who was in the VSA, or knew anyone who knew someone who did. No one could tell you where they were located, or how to contact them. "Just a bunch of whispers and shadows."
"They're very real," he said with a quiet smirk of satisfaction. "I think if you spent another year here working on some finesse you could make a decent career out of it. You need a little more potions work and some astronomy wouldn't hurt. Maybe spell theory and combative magic if you haven't taken those. You could even double up a focus and take on two areas of study at once. It would be hard work, but it would prepare you well for what to expect."
"You can't be serious." She raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief. He was having her on. "You want me to be a boogeyman."
He shrugged with the most amused look on his face. "I'm not saying I am. I'm not saying I'm not. I am saying I think you'd make a damn good spook if you applied yourself to it."
She stared him down, and then bit her lip hopefully. "Can I drop seniors wandless if I take up spell theory?"
He wanted to laugh at her tenacity. "You'll have to talk with Professor Montgomery. If he agrees with it I'll try and finagle it for you. I admit though, I'd be disappointed if you just dropped altogether. I bet you could handle an afternoon a week. I'd expect nothing less of a future VSA."
Addy smiled. She could handle an afternoon a week, surely. Even if Walsh was pulling her leg.