The office of Professor Sophia Bellaire
 

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...adaoffice4.jpg

Before you enter there is a mat on the outside of the door. Please wipe your feet before entering, because trudging any dirt into the professor's office will result in you getting a proper telling off. Upon entering it's hard to miss the fact that her office is extremely clean almost unnaturally so. There is not a speck of dust on the well polished furniture and every book, quill and parchment paper is lined or packed away perfectly.

The professor is usually seated in front of her when in office or on one the soft plushy couches in the office. Please be sure that your uniform is well kept and your hair looking presentable before entering or you'll be sent back to get decent before being able to address the professor.

ooc: Please wait to be invited in and do not just barge into the office. If you do, your post will be deleted. There is a waiting area outside, post there and wait to be invited in.

Sophia sank into the leather seat behind her desk and motioned for the two students to sit in the chairs facing her.Her desk was of course decorated with photos of her family; her husband, Tyler, Rhea and of course the picture she had received from Rhea yesterday of her new born grandson. He was so precious.

She turned her attention to the two delinquents. Honestly the term had barely started and they were breaking rules already."I trust you two know that you are in trouble. The FORBIDDEN forest is first and foremost forbidden. This means it is out of bounds to all students. Why you both thought it would be wise to enter the forest is beyond me."

She picked up her wand off her desk and flicked it lazily. A box levitated from the corner. In it was silverware along with two pieces of cloth. She pointed her wand to the area in front of them and the box followed and settled.

"There is a cloth in there, I expect to see my face in those when you're through."

Brooke gulped, looking at Lucca before shuffling over to the chair the professor had gestured them too, she sat on the edge of it, swaying nervously. They only had to polish things ? that didn't seem that bad.. Brooke didn't know what Forbidden meant but she daren't say anything to the professor. Instead she nodded. She reached in the box for one of the two clothes and took a piece of silver and began polishing it with all her might. SHINY! BE SHINY!

Lucca moved forward and sat in the chair as Professor Bellaire indicated. He glanced sideways at Brooke to find her swaying and he tried to catch her eye to reassure her, but her attention seemed to be fully on the Charm's Professor.

He looked back at Bellaire. The FORBIDDEN Forest? It was really called that? Why didn't it have a massive great signpost outside to warn students then?

“P-professor.” He replied tentatively. “I'm new here. I got a little lost. I had no idea where I was. I think Brooke here didn't intend to break the rules either..” Was there any point in telling her this? Probably not. But Lucca felt the urge to tell her anyway.

Their punishment, however, wasn't as bad as he had anticipated. They were going to be dusting silver.

With a nod, he picked up cloth and selected a piece of silverware, and began to polish, glancing again at Brooke to find she seemed to have relaxed a little and was happily polishing away.

*bliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiink*

Wait. NOBODY KNOCKED?! Sierra's eyes shut in disbelief. She'd just assumed João had already knocked since he was the first to arrive. ARGH. So much for trusting a fellow Slytherin. She'd shoot him a death glare, but seeing as they were here to hopefully get out of trouble, she'd pass on the death glare for now.

Sierra thought about explaining the no knocking incident to the professor, but she figured she'd just put her foot in her mouth. So for once, she just shut up. Putting one foot in front of the other, she passed by the professor and into the office. Was she supposed to sit now?! Her father had taught her to stand until she was asked to take a seat, so she guessed she'd stand for now.

Once inside the office, she got out of the doorway and turned to wait on the others to come inside.

Paulie looked over at Sierra and Joao, lifting an eyebrow as he did so. Why didn't they knock? Or whichever one of them got there first, really. Judging by the daggers Sierra sent the other Slytherin, Joao must have been the one who messed it all up. No surprise THERE.

'..Quickly slipping from her good graces'? Paulie wasn't aware that they were in her good graces to begin with. Or at least, him singularly.

After being permitted, Paulie got up and followed the Charms professor inside. He'd never been in her office before, but he supposed it suited her. Immaculate, with everything seeming to be in its precise place. The Gryffindor stopped at one of the black leather-lined chairs and took a seat.

João wanted to just roll his eyes at the woman. I lack the ability to see through walls and doors... Right. She knew alright that they were coming, though. The class had just ended--what did she expect anyway? That they were going to go take a shower or something before seeing her? He keep taking deep breaths to calm down, or else, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to control his temper. He had a corrupted sense of justice and believed in the power of powerful alright, but he couldn't bear the others doing wrong to him and it was this woman who was slipping from his good graces. Once he took a few deep breaths though, he was all relaxed. No matter what, he was still a son of two bright politicians and if there was one thing they taught him, it was controlling his expressions on his face.

Being the last one to enter the office, he stood by Aspen and waited Paulie to take up all the blame. After all, he had been who hit him to a floating Aspen on purpose and caused her to react so harshly. He expected the boy to be the first speaker, so he forgot all about a neutral expression and looked confused at hearing Aspen's voice taking all the blame up. He was a second late collecting himself again for his expression, though he kept silent and looked right at a spot on the ground. Although he was relieved someone took all the blame, it still bugged him that that person was Aspen. Why was she doing this? Why did he feel bad for her doing this?

Better to keep silent and... wait to see if Paulie bothered to make an explanation. If not, he would have to find a way to at least lighten Aspen's burden.

She had heard enough. She held up her hand to shut them all up lips pursed. Really she just didn't believe any of it. Really she knew how children these days were. She knew they liked to cover up for each other especially when it seemed they had a common 'enemy'. Well, regardless of what really went down, none of them were completely innocent.

Anyways..the Ravenclaw spoke first. She turned her attention to her.

"You levitated someone else's partner while yours was right in front of you? Do you have a problem with direction Miss Odessa or perhaps you need glasses to help you see." Story did not make sense to her."You won't receive detention but I will be taking those points, you may leave."

Next?

Was no one else going to to explain themselves? She hadn't accidentally performed the silencing charm on them had she? Then the head boy spoke and his words upset her. Clearly whomever advised Tate on his prefect choices was sorely misinformed. Unfit.

"How noble. It is now you feel your house character kicking in Mr.Foster? You too will lose the fifty points from your house and you are lucky I'm not keeping you in detention for a month. If that is all you too may leave."

She looked at the other two. Well did they have nothing to say for themselves?

Eyes stuck at that point on the ground, João was relieved when Aspen wasn't given any detention. He didn't care whether she was the reason that they were all here or not. He never believed in 'let's all be fair' anyway. He figured that maybe he shouldn't hate her, for she didn't give Aspen any detention and yet deducted those points; Ravenclaw was the closest up at their napes, but he would hate to see her in detention because of stupid Paulie.

And then Paulie spoke. Good thing he tried to protect Aspen. Good thing he didn't tell the beginning of the story. Good thing he kept João right out of it and put himself in the centre. Because seriously, João was just tired of dealing with Adam and any of his pals, and he didn't want to go up to Paulie again because of Aspen. He wouldn't even be sure why he cared her so much, and he didn't like confusions.

Bad thing professor didn't give him any detention, though. He wouldn't mind seeing that shiny 'Head Boy' badge in the dark dungeons, along with his detention shrieks. Too brutal of a dream? Heh. Maybe minus the shrieks, it would be cool. Maybe.

Now, seeing the professor's eyes on himself and Sierra, he figured he should go first. Even though he was relieved and not angry anymore with the decisions of the professor, he still felt like Sierra was better at twisting these situations and if he made a bad apology, she could at least get herself out. Clearing his throat a little, he said "As Paulie was levitating me, professor, I guess he thought it would be funny to collide me and Aspen in the air. And so he did. We both fell down, and Aspen--she wanted to show him how to levitate a person. I guess she overdid it, though."

See? No need to deduct any points from Slytherin. None at all.

...and now it seemed it was Sierra's turn to speak.

She'd been sitting here the entire time, her eyes and ears jumping from person to person, as she thought about how long her parents would ground her if they ever got wind of this. Technically, she'd done nothing wrong, but she wasn't sure if her parents would even see it that way. They were pretty strict about this sort of thing, especially with her being a prefect and all.

She needed to speak up, though. Clearing her throat, she began. "Aspen was my partner, and she and I had decided that I'd levitate her first, and then she'd levitate me," she explained. Only, Sierra never got to be levitated. Blahhh. "So I was in the middle of levitating her when João collided into her, causing them both to fall to the ground." Only, hearing the story now, she knew Paulie had been the cause of that. She hadn't known in class, since she'd had all her concentration on Aspen.

"So I headed over to João and Aspen and tried to help Aspen off João," she continued. "...but before I could get her off, she started casting the spell on Paulie. A moment later, you'd come over to step in, and that's when we were sent to the back." She blinked and looked away for a split second. She still felt humiliated, this being her first year as prefect and all.

Sophia fixed the already neat parchments on her desk and straightened the already straight photos of her family while listening to the last two explain their situation. It was all starting to come together more clearly now. Now these two seemed sincere, but she expected nothing less of students from her former house.

She said nothing right away, in fact she took her time mulling things over in her head. They did seem to be the victims of the other two students bad behaviour after all but that did not change the fact that they did not do one thing..

"And as prefect Miss Greingoth, did you not think that it was your responsibility to report those two to me right away. You don't have that shiny badge on your chest to just accessorize, it comes with responsibility. Do you understand me?" She fixed her with a penetrating stare.

"And you Mr.Mendoca..you may not be a prefect but as an older student you are charged with similar responsibility. I don't want this happening again or I won't be as lenient. You may leave."

What took her so long? Was she calculating how many points she should deduct? Was it a nasty trick to make them feel uncomfortable? If it was so, it worked alright on him. His silent posture started to move a little as he shifted legs. He even thought she had forgotten all about them when finally she spoke, first to Sierra. He realised he held his breath while waiting for 'fifty points from Slytherin!' that never came. So... so she saw the sense? He didn't even hear she chose a different surname than usual to address him, and focused on the main message: They didn't lose any points!

"Yes madam, I'm sorry to be in such a situation as a Slytherin," he said in this very suave voice--he meant it too. He was ashamed now that she had put it that way. "Thank you for your understanding." Understanding of deducting 50 from both Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, but none from Slytherin.

Glancing over Sierra, he decided he could wait for her outside, or else he would really start grinning and it wouldn't look appropriate at all. Had he hated her before? He just loved the woman!

Sierra sat there, still thinking about how to break the news to her parents, when the professor finally spoke up. After all was said and done, Sierra still sort of sat there, trying to digest what was being said. Wait. She'd...gotten out of it?! ...but what was the professor saying? She should have reported it? Exactly how long a period of time did she think it was between the incident and the time she walked over to punish everyone?!

Sierra wasn't going to question that, though. As a matter of fact, she wasn't going to rock the boat at all. She'd gotten herself out of fifty points and a detention, so she was going to take the first opportunity she could to get out. "Yes, Professor. I understand," she said. Booo. She hated saying that, but if it'd get her out this office sooner, it was worth it.

...and now they could leave? Sierra quickly stood from her chair. "Thank you, Professor," she said. Then she turned and made way to the door. Thinking better of running out so quickly, she turned around and said. "Have a good day." Then she turned again and left the office.

Sophia slipped into her comfy chair and motioned towards the coffee. He could have some if he wanted. There was also tea of course. She waited for the professor to settle in.

"You don't have to whisper...just don't use the booming man voice."Inside voice Mr.Williamson." And no he doesn't, he's a five month old. I was allowed to keep him for a few days since he was born when I was away from home." She spun the photo of a grinning Tyler around though so he could see. "I'm sure you've met my son though, Tyler Bellaire? He's a second year hufflepuff."

"Right, so I need to ask a favour of you, for my up coming lesson.."

Sophia took a moment to think on his 'oh yeah I remember Tyler' statement. Had he been a rowdy ruffian like some of the students she had encountered? The thought of that gave her an instant head ache. Oh dear. But perhaps now was not the time to dwell on that.

"Well I checked the logs and I noticed you taught the umm rodents last year." She looked at her notes again."Ah pygmy puffs they were called. I'm hoping to use them for my next lesson you see but I have no experience in handling them. Also I'd like to take my class into the forest..I think I'd be more comfortable if you came along..as a guide." Hmm, what do you say Willy? She watched him intently.

Rodents? "I never taught ro----oh, you mean pygmy puffs." William stared right back at her just as intently. She wanted his help with handling pygmy puffs, not rodents. See, Willy didn't deal with rodents unless they were rats or ferrets for Roro's lunch.

"They aren't hard to handle," he shrugged, not answering her request just yet. "They're pets, really, similar to having a Muggle gerbil or hamster or kitten, even." None of which were rodents. "But why do you want to take the students and the pygmy puffs into the forest?"

Not that, you know, William had a problem with it... he just didn't want any pygmy puffs harmed in the Charms class.

She didn't expect that the little hairballs were hard to handle, that was not her problem. She needed help with the demonstration..touching them and all that."They're more like...rats in my book,,really hairy...rats." She shuddered."But the students, they seem to like them. I'd like your help with the handling of these rodents you see, I'm not big on touching them."

As four taking them and the class into the forest, that answer was pretty simple." A change of scenery..I like variety and if I'm to keep the attention of my students I'll need to excite them with new things." Children,,meh. So much work.

"Oh yes I think they do resemble little fluffy rats." No pet pygmy puffs for her. Crups she could deal with, she had a crup or two over the years but definitely not little pygmy puffs.

Why did he sound like he was afraid of the forest? Greeeeat, they would be venturing into the forest with a whimp. Oh well, it was the best she could do on such short notice." I want to go deep enough for it to be dark. Is that alright with you?"

"You SHOULD though." Should, they were co-workers, they ought to work together and stuff. "It's soon. I'll owl you with final details after you say yes." She was hoping he'd just hurry up and say yes now.

She heard the mumbling but ignored it. Did William not know that grumbling under one's breath in the presence was someone else was rude?

She was sure he knew but wanted to be rude anyways. Men...hmph...this man. "Ha ha, you're hilarious." She looked at him with a straight face. There it was again that strong urge to roll her eyes."Fine, I owe you."

"Good." William held out his hand and waited for her to shake it before turning to leave. "I'll be seeing you, Bellaire."

Now that they were cohorts coworkers or something.

Sophia looked at his hand for a while taking it would feel like shaking hands with the devil she was sure, but oh well. She shook it firmly anyways. Eww what if he was touching those rats and all the other foul creatures he tended.

Her and the sanitizer had a date after he exited the office yes. "I'll be seeing you William and it's Professor or Mrs.Bellaire." Jeez.

Upon being granted entry Sarah walked in. "Good Day Professor," she said by way of greeting". I hope I passed inspection, she thought to herself. "I was wondering" she began "In the first charms last of this year, we learnt how to use a broom or duster - you know - Liberum Arbitrium..., the older students practiced this spell. I was wondering what the need for this spell was as would not a simple spell like Tergeo dust the object just as efficiently and rather much more speedily and easily then a duster using the Liberum Arbitrium?" she asked.

Professor Bellaire nodded then reclaimed her seat as the student entered. "And good day to you Miss Edwards." She interlocked her fingers and listened to the girl's question with a relaxed expression on her face.

"Have you ever heard the expression..'there is more than one way to skin a cat' Miss Edwards? Well there is one that one way to clean a house. Be sure to observe that the Tergeo is a spell, Liberum Arbitrium is a charm. Do not get that confused. Charms 101." She pushed the plate of craisins forward so the child could take one if she so pleased."Also charming an object to dust while you focus on something else can save time as well. Is there anything else?"

What is there difference between a spell and a charm. Sarah never knew yet disperatly wanted to ask, although she may sound stupid. Yet it is better to be curious and be ashamed of your own stupidity and learn new things then to not try at all. 'No thank you' said Sarah referring to the craisins that were offered. She was very into sticking with her comfort zone when it came to food. "Sorry, yet what is the difference betweena spell and a charm?" asked Sarah feeling rather sheepish.

Hmmm another one that did not read. She received a slight frown from Professor Bellaire who got up anyways to walk to bookshelf. This was her personal book, it better be returned to her and in good condition too otherwise heads would roll.

"You know Miss Edwards, it would help if you read some." She offered the book to the girl and eyed her."The annex is there for you to make use of, as well as the library."

Oooh. Reading material. Oh Sarah liked to read and therefore her eyed lit up when she saw the professor going to the shelf. "I do read, professor. Yet the answers the book provided where not as clear cut as I wanted. It talks about charms in general. Do both charms and tranfiguration fall under the catergory of spells - an tergeo is a spell from another catergory?" asked Sarah. My, she was stupid.