Busying herself with another attempt at marking some of the homework assignments, Josephina glanced up at the sound of a knock at the door. Tilting her head, she wondered vaguely about it; most of her assignments were done and those who seemingly had questions about it had already asked. So who was this then at the door?

"Come in," she said, a hint of curiosity in her tone.

Simon walked into the Professor's Office, he was sure she wouldn't make fun off him, wearing the High-Heels and the skirt, he had only done what he had been told to, granted maybe he should have asked another boy to partner him, but Chloe had asked him and he had said yes without thinking about what would happen when the Polyjuice Potion wore off.

Simon smiled at the Professor. "Professor I have a problem." Simon said nervously he didn't know what Professor Hadley would say about the way he was dressed or if she would take off some points for him being in the wrong uniform, though if she did he would try and explain to her the situation.

"Okay." Creating own poem=lots and lots of thinking. Hopefully it doesn't have to rhyme. Rhyming poem=lots and lots and lots of thinking.

Chocolate hater. Chocolate=:angel:

"All right then. Good bye professor." Chocolate hater. And Savannah walked out of the room.

Hearing the clickety-click sound of heels on the stone castle floor, Fina glanced up from her papers expecting to see a girly-girl there. Someone like Lexi Denvers, perhaps, except the fact that the girl didn't take Arithmancy. Her eyes opened in shock though when it wasn't the face of a female that met her eyes. Rather it was that of Simon Simpson. Wearing a Gryffindor uniform and high heels.

"Um ... What's the problem? Did someone addle your memory to make you think you were a Gryffindor witch?" Because if someone messed with his memory, there wasn't terribly much she could do about that.

***************************************

That was it? "Bye dear and good luck," she said as she watched the young Slytherin chocolate addict walk from the room. She had little doubts that girl would come up with something decent for her.

Simon looked at the Professor and smiled. "It was the Potion Final, we had to use polyjuice on ourselfs and this Gryffindor Girl asked me if I wanted to partner her and I said, though if you see now I have a problem, I can't find her and I don't want anyone to see me like this going back into the common room so I was hoping you might be able to suggest away for me to get back without being seen?" Simon then looked down at the high-heels. "Professor how do girls wear these shoes?" Simon sighed. "They hurt like crazy and are hard to walk in."

WAIT?!? Hecate Lefay had the kids use polyjuice for their final exam?! Wasn't she taking the old phrase, "try walking a mile in someone's shoes" a bit literally? Huh.

"Makes you appreciate them, eh? But I will say its easier for a female because the female foot is generally a bit narrower than the male's foot..." You know, smaller feet have that advantage in heels and all. "But anyway, you could always leave the heels behind in my office and I can see that the Gryffindor girl," whoever she may be. "...gets them. Or perhaps a temporary switching spell for your proper uniform which will enable you to get back to your common room and change into your proper uniforms." Both would work. She doubted though, that any housemates would notice the incorrect house uniform; heels, yes, robes, no - most Hufflepuffs were oblivious like that.

Simon looked at the Professor. "If I ever become Minister of Magic, I'm banning High-heels." Simon said truthfully he thought everyone would like that, because then their feet wouldn't hurt them.

Simon took of the high-heels and handed them to the professor. "Thanks Professor, they belong to a Seventh year called Chloe." Simon then looked at his uniform and made sure you couldn't see the skirt under the robes. "Professor how do I look?" Simon asked. "And please tell me truthfully."

Taking slow and silent steps, Josh made his way to the corridor where he remembered Professor Hadley's office to be. It had to be there, right? If of course it was not changing locations randomly. One could never tell what anything would do in this castle. Heh. Whatever...

Stopping in front of the door he paused for a moment or so reconsidering his acts. Maybe this was not really a good idea. Maybe it was just better that he went on dealing with it himself. However, as weeks and months and years passed it was getting more difficult for the boy. Especially this term was...challenging. So he couldn't even imagine what it was going to be like next term if he failed the plans during summer.

Apparently he needed adult advice. An adult who was the member of the wizarding word and not named Ryan Chambers.

So, taking a deep breath in the Gryffindor boy lightly knocked on the door and just...waited for a response.

The Disillusionment Charm was really amazing. Legend had been hiding out for about 30 minutes, just waiting for Hadley to slip and leav her room. Just as he was about to give up, the Arithmancy Professor made her way out, but not before locking the door.

This probably would be called trespassing, or breaking and entering, but Legend didn't care.

It was for a good cause right?

Carring the two items in his hand, Legend waited until he could no longer hear Hadley's footsteps before taking out his wand. "Alohomora." Click. The door unlocked easily enough. Really, the Professors probably needed something stronger to lock doors with if they were at a school where they taught magic to kids.

He pulled the door open, just wide enough so that he could slip inside. Quickly Legend placed the nicely wrapped package in the middle of her desk before placing the journal on top. He gazed around for a few seconds before opening the journal up so that Hadley could read the small note that was left on the first page right away.

SPOILER!!: The Note

Dear Professor Hadley,

From our Fourth year when you arrived at Hogwarts to teach us Arithmancy through to our Seventh year, you have been a great teacher; You have taught us, pushed us to do our best when you knew we could do better and encouraged our dreams - Even if some were crazier than others. We want to thank you, and let you know how much we really did appreciate your guidance during our time at school. Although I can't say the same for Legend, it's because of you that I have decided to further my education (in Arithmancy, particularly) on the side while I persue my goals in life.

Unlike Katie (this is Legend now obviously), I have not decided to do any education with Arithmancy cause really, that is just mad. But without you Hadley I probably would despise the subject so much. Now I just don't mind it! Although you may not know it, you are the professor I share the most memories with. After all, you did give me my first detention, and you've probably are the person who did the majority of my point deductions. I don't mind though, that just made my journey at Hogwarts more entertaining. So because of all you did for us, of course we wanted to get you something to remember us by. Just don’t forget who your favourite students are! (we KNOW we are)

Goodbye Professor Hadley,
Love, Katie Mae & Legend Chosen

P.S the gobblestones are antique, yeah, we care that much. dont lend them to some first year

Once he was sure that everything was set in place, Legend gave the office a small sad smile. "Later.." Really it was just an office...but he would still miss it. Turning he left the office and locked the door.

Everything was set.

Fina shook her head at the fourth year. "They have their uses... high heels, so I'm sure banning them isn't quite necessary. After all, for one, it closes the height gap that is generally present between males and females." Something that Simon might appreciate in a year or two.

"Chloe... yes." Sounded familiar; she was pretty sure the girl took Arithmancy. "Perfect. So I guess you don't need the switching charm then?" Since he seemed to find a way to conceal the skirt all on his own.

*****************************************

Another knock? If the students kept knocking at her door she would never get these homework assignments marked on time! But being the kind professor that she was, she put aside the assignments once more and folded her hands on the desk. "Come in!" Whoever it was, it was probably urgent. Right?

*****************************************

After deciding on a quick escape to the Great Hall for a snack to motivate her to finish up marking the last couple assignments, Hadley unlocked her office again. But immediately her eyes shot toward her desk where there was something new. A gift and a notebook on top? Who? Oh but that meant someone had broken into her office in the ten minutes she'd been gone!

Horrified, her hazel eyes glanced around the room to see that nothing was taken and then outside the door for the culprit. She hadn't noticed suspicious behavior, but then again, she hadn't really been paying attention either.

Shrugging it off, the Arithmancy Professor approached the desk cautiously and picked up the notebook. Opening it to the first page, she blinked at the words that filled it. And before she could help herself, a single teardrop rolled down her cheek and onto the page. Breathing suddenly became work.

Upon hearing the voice that allowed him to come in...the office, Josh took another silent breath before opening the door and stepping inside. First he looked around the office, then his dark brown gaze landed on the professor behind the large desk.

Closing the door slowly, he looked back at her not really leaving the door way though, just in case she was busy and had no time to deal with...other stuff like...a Gryffindor boy's problems...or problem. ''Professor...'' he said a hand still on the doorknob ''...i am not disturbing anything, am i?''

Seeing the tall Gryffindor boy appear behind the door, Josephina instantly wondered if this would be a repeat of the meeting with his girlfriend a few months ago. Where he would figure things out on his own from not much speaking and leaving her bewildered as to the problems.

Those thoughts and memories of the meeting was Evelyn dissipated as he spoke. "Josh..." She greeted, smiling. "No, no, not at all. Have a seat. What can I do for you?" If it's about your Arithmancy OWL, then I know nothing of it.

Seeing the smile on the woman's face appear, of course, helped the boy to let that breath of relief. Actually it also surprised him some since he had not get that kind of a warm approach before whenever he had come to ask for something to a...well...adult person? On the other hand the fact that he had gone to Lafay for advice so far made it pretty natural. He had seen that woman smile only once and that was a very little one which lasted about...maybe an instant. Eh....whatever...this was no Lafay, this was Hadley so concentrate!!!

Nodding, the Gryffindor boy smiled back at the Arithmancy Professor ''Thank you, professor.'' then he approached the desk and chose one of the seats there to sit down. The closest one to him. ''I...'' he began looking down at the floor for a moment or so. He was still not sure of sharing that yet a part of him still insisted that it was necessary to do so. ''...have a problem. Don't misunderstand me. I haven't come here to demand you to solve it for me. I prefer to deal with my own...problems. But...i think i need some advice because it gets harder and harder to deal with every day. I know, for this kind of...things, i am supposed to talk to my Head of House instead of disturbing you but...she is not really available these days. Well...at least i can't seem to find her anywhere.''

*blink, blink*

Noticing the sixth year's hesitancy, Josephina was actually a bit taken back. Joshua Carter, since she'd known him, had always seem so forward and open. So confident and sure of himself. This was a whole new side of him. Advice though? She could do that; it did seem as though more students seemed to be coming to her for advice this term than before. Something she supposed could be attributed to the fact that she was still there.

"Advice..." She said, speaking quietly. "Fair enough. I don't mind. So what is it that is troubling you?" Because she couldn't even offer options if he didn't speak his mind; something she already knew he was capable of.

Turning to the professor to face her, Josh nodded when she repeated the word 'advice'. Yes, he just wanted advice. And advice alone...probably. Because he could never feel comfortable when people tried to directly help him. The reason for that was unknown to him. When she asked what the problem was, the Gryffindor boy had that momentary thought of keeping it to himself again yet...it was kind of too late.

''I am not financially supported by my parents.'' he said quickly in order to avoid any hesitance that would disturb his words. And yes, he had said it. He had managed to express it so he could go on without any pressure, right? The hard part was how to begin this. ''Well...lately. So, i had some difficulties with affording those stuff necessary for school at the start of this term. Well...to be honest i couldn't buy some of my books.'' hence why he kept stealing Evelyn's books during classes.

''It seems i managed to handle this term yet...i don't have any...money left to afford stuff for my last year. So, i'll spend all my summer working and trying to gain some. For this i am going to work in my uncle's farm, of course. But the problem is...he is gonna pay me less than ever because...well...he'll provide me somewhere to stay in the farm. I am not sure how much i can save from that amount. So...well...umm...this...is the problem.''

Merlin!!! He was so ashamed to actually have spoken this out. But...this was Hadley, right? She wouldn't tell anyone, right?

That first sentence . . . came out as a bit of a shock. Bewildered and almost as Josh sensed that she would be, he elaborated further and Fina swallowed, not realizing his hardships and she almost felt guilty for all the hard times she gave him. Almost, but not quite, since financial hardships didn't give one right to disobey the rules.

She was about to suggest he got a job, but then he explained that he had one, which paid little money but also gave him room and board. Ugh. She wanted to reach and say it would be okay, but she knew he wouldn't take her money, even if it was OKAY for a professor to help out a student monetarily. He would sort his expenses out on his own and she knew he could. He was smart enough with numbers.

"Have you ever attempted budgeting? Also perhaps when you get your school supplies, you could prioritize with the books and supplies that are a necessity versus just a want." Hmm. Resting her folded hands under her chin, she looked at him. "There's also negotiation; shops like to markup their prices in order to make a profit, so you could try that or even maybe purchasing some of your books off of a graduating seventh year." Surely one of them would be content to hand off their books to another student, even if it was for less than half the price they paid. And if he wanted to know more about budgeting, then she guessed she could explain that to him.

Eeeeeeh...

Here, the look on the Arithmancy Professor's face. That was one of the main reasons he had been hesitating to tell anyone. But what had been done was done anyway. So, just avoiding eye contact, he silently nodded at her words.

Budgeting...well...

''Yes, i kinda tried that. But my uncle is a muggle so he gives me muggle money in exchange of my labour.'' Not to mention that he didn't pay extra for making him deal with all the dirty stuff or for those that required lots of his strength and energy. ''So it's hard to be into some budgeting and plan things when the stuff i need to buy require wizarding money.'' Negotiation did not sound like a bad idea. However it was risky for he was not sure if any shopkeeper would negotiate with him about anything. He had a short temper so he might...maybe...punch the man in the face for saying something stupid or refusing and never get a single thing ever. ''I think...i can try that.'' he said though, reconsidering the idea. Maybe he could hold the temper and try to act civilised.

Then, there was that idea of asking a graduating student to purchase his/her books. That was not a bad idea either. Well...a good one to be honest. Simon would give him his books, Josh supposed yet...on the other hand Simon was a bookworm what if he wanted to read them over and over and over again? Plus him asking for the seventh year books would surely lead him to be attacked with questions that he probably would not like to answer. ''Ummm...do you know any graduating student who would give the books and would not ask any questions about it?'' And preferably one Josh did not hate.

Oh well the muggle money would complicate things a bit with budgeting since he had to convert currency and stuff, but it wasn't impossible, right? Of course not. But he liked the idea of negotiation or even asking a graduating seventh year.

A graduating student to give the books and not ask questions? "If you offer some money in exchange for the books, then provided its a student who isn't likely to use them ... perhaps one persuing professional quidditch, this should minimize questions." Maybe. "Huh... maybe Legend or Evan?" She could just picture Legend handing his books over gladly. And Evan? Wasn't he going into some muggle sport? Or was that a different Slytherin?

If he offered money, yes, there might be less or no questions. And he could also say that he was too lazy or simply hated to visit the bookstore then...he was done with the book problem! That was good. But there was still rest, other needs and stuff but...he supposed he had enough help from the Arithmancy Professor. He couldn't ask her how to deal with every single necessity after all. And yes, Legend or Evan, right, might be a good choice to get away with this without questions.

Nodding and smiling a bit at the woman Josh rose back on his feet ''Thank you, professor.'' To be honest sharing the problem took the burden of it a bit. Then, maybe he had had difficulty with deciding if he should express it but it turned out to be fine. ''I will try to do my best with the rest. Thank you for listening and...advices and...have a nice summer.'' and with that he started to approach the door slowly without turning his back to her.

As he seemed to be taking in her ideas and suggestions, Josephina was silent. He had told her he simply wanted advice, input, and she would do that. She would respect that; as he seemed to respect her.

"No problem." She said, as he turned leave but then turned back to add more. "And thank you, you too. Good luck and Josh?" She paused wondering if she should or not, but at the same time, the last ten minutes or so, Joshua Carter has seemed the most diplomatic and chivalrous she'd ever seen him. She couldn't let that go unnoticed, could she? "Josh. Ten points for your utmost honesty and bravery that you've shown me just now. Good day and thank you." Yes. That will be all.

WHAT IS THIS?!??!! -shifty-
 

Ok the night had finally come. Riley hadn’t been able to sleep a wink and had spent the whole evening checking every once in a while to see if the other boys in the dormitory had fallen asleep or not. Eventually the clock beside his four poster had flashed midnight and with one last check of the room, the seventh year slipped over the edge of his bed dressed in his full black outfit he and the Snake had planned out and he walked swiftly to the door borrowing a wand , out of the Portrait Hole and snuck down to the Second Floor corridor stopping by Professor Hadley’s office door.
Turning his head to peer down the hallway, making sure no one else was around, Riley pulled out a parchment and the stranger’s wand performed the sticking charm to the door leaving the note.

Then as swiftly as he had come, Riley headed the opposite direction from his Common Room. It appeared he was going downstairs…to the Entrance Hall. “Evelyn you had better be on time!” he whispered through clenched teeth.

Hearing footsteps outside her door, it took Josephina a good few minutes longer than it should have to go look. After all, it was well into the middle of the night and students should be sleeping, right? She herself was half-asleep, after all. Once she finally managed to make it to the door, she opened it and looked around, surprised to see . . . no one. Or maybe not so surprised.

Just as she was going to head back into her office though, little pieces of papers caught her eyes. Reading it her eyes bulged; there was students out of bed and from the words on her door she knew exactly who they were! BUT oh ... how creative of them to put the last part of the note in code that she herself taught them. Have a great summer and we shall see you at the feast, so obviously they didn't want her to bust them this time. However, that didn't stop her from wanting to go down to investigate this face. Or the fact that she was curious what letters those books were from, if not her subject's.

Sorry for lateness and of course that different timeline from the previous post
 

Nodding and smiling at the professor's words again, Josh continued to approach the door to exit the office yet halted when Hadley pronounced his name again. Was something wrong? Or maybe she had something else to say. Turning back to face her, the Gryffindor boy blinked a few times as he was curious about what she was going to do or say. Then she started to speak, apparently she had something else to say and...

...now that was a surprise, was not it? Ten points? Ten points for...? ''Professor, i just...'' he began yet couldn't complete it. He did not know what words were suitable for this anyway so smiling wider this time he said ''Thank you.'' again no matter how weird it possibly sounded seeing the fact that he had repeated it a lot lately. ''I hope to see you again next term.'' then he uttered. Eh? Did that sound...odd? Whatever. He had no idea what he should say anyway so with a last smile, the Gryffindor exited the office.