Astronomy Tower
 

For Daniel's haunting past XD
 

The Hufflepuff often hung out in the Library, but he was unable to focus on his book because of a small group of first-year girls who kept whispering to each other. Unfortunately, he had not been able to tell them to be quiet as it was not forbidden to whisper in a library, so he had picked up his belongings and walked to his next favorite spot.

The tallest tower at Hogwarts was usually quiet, and he checked his watch as he climbed the stairs. The Great Hall would be open an hour and a half for dinner. As he reached the top of the tower, the Hufflepuff examined the sky for signs of rain before summoning a large bean bag chair with his wand.

For Jesse <3
 

So there was probably a list of Top 10 things you weren't supposed to do at Hogwarts posted somewhere, and what she'd come up to the Astronomy tower to do probably would have been somewhere on it. Maybe high on it too, unless the Tower had the same enchantments on it as the Climbing Tree, considering dropping objects of the side would probably gain some speed to hurt anyone below.

Which was not the goal. The goal was a muggle physics experiment of sorts. She wanted to know what fell faster and if the differences in falling was big or like... Minor. But the other goal was also to see if there was something that would slow things before they hit the ground from this high.

Pulling her bag of items closer on her shoulder, Ve glanced out one of the windows towards the ground below - before rummaging around in her bag and pulling out something small. An eraser first seemed safe. She put it over the edge and released, calling out as she did so, "Watch oooooout!"

See! She was being safe!

be careful what you wish for (the astronomy tower is still haunted!!)
 

The stories Amelia had been told about the Astronomy tower had always made the place seem magical. Even if she knew that it was a slightly frightening place for her mother after that whole thing with dementors that she always glossed over. Walking out onto the tower she just remembered her mother saying how her old roommate and friend Nash had rescued her and always watched her dad’s face as his jaw ticked in anger.

That was one of the things she had always remembered about her dad. He attributed Nash and Pie together and seemed to rather dislike both, and whenever she wanted to irk him she would simply go to the bakery get pie and try and make it seem like it was from a secret admirer. Those were the most chaotic days, it was also her response to her dad saying she couldn’t go to Hogwarts the first time. Pie. The next year – more pie.

As she stood on the tour she couldn’t help but laugh as she heard someone yelling for people to watch out below. ”you could just cast a cushioning charm on them, ... or drop like bits of squirty cream they’d probably think it was from a bird you know just letting loose on them” that would be a sight to see. They’d just have to color it properly and make sure it splatted.

Daniel was difficult to locate when you needed him. He never told anyone where he was going and constantly changed locations until he found a place where he could be alone and relax. He only gave his location to Lisa and V because they were in the same study group and he needed to contact them on occasion. The other people had to find him using both guided and misguided directions.

As he sat in the bean bag chair, his black cat sleeping peacefully on his lap, the Hufflepuff flipped the page of his advanced Transfiguration book. But only a page in he realized that he was not able to focus on the writing.

When he heard footsteps approaching, he set his book beside him on the ground. Daniel frowned as he looked towards the stairs leading to the Astronomy tower. He was certain there would be no class at this hour, so either he was wrong, which was highly unlikely, or someone had decided to use the Astronomy tower for their own escape.

The cheerful hello was the first thing he heard, followed by the quill sticking out of the girl's hair, and the third, which should have been the second thing to have caught his attention because it screamed colors, was the notebook. Although he could tell there was writing on it, he couldn't read it from where he sat.

He watched, fascinated, amused, and irritated, as the girl dragged over a bean bag chair while he made no attempt to assist her with it. He was perplexed as to why she was dragging a bean bag chair over to him. Did she also want to read? He did have some comic books in his bag...

The spare office is on the sixth floor" he said after having misheard her earlier.

She was trying to lean as far as she could safely out to see if how quickly the eraser fell, but part of the problem was too it had been so small and white that it had disappeared from her eyesight almost immediately. She gave a small frustrated huff, before rummaging through her bag to find something else that might still be equally not life-threatening, but maybe bigger or at least bright so she could gauge it's speed.

She was still rummaging when someone's voice caught her attention and she turned and looked the girl's way. Ah, yes! Potato girl - from the Ruby over the summer. "I'm actually trying to see if there are already cushioning charms. Kind like the Climbing Tree y'know? It seems like given how much bigger this tower is there would be but... there's still room for curiousity because I've never heard anyone say there for certain is." Some more rummaging, before the sheer genius of the next suggestion caused her hands to still and she looked up at the girl.

And blinked a bit.

Before roaring into laughter. "Oh my gosh, could you imagine people's facial expressions? That's absolutely something we should do. Although I'd say maybe one of the tower's closer to the poor bloke's so we can see their reactions." Imagine getting squirty cream in your hair and thinking it was bird droppings. The idea made her giggle some more. "What brings you up here?"

His cat had awoken as Anna pulled her beanbag chair beside him and she hissed at the younger Hufflepuff who attempted to position herself on the chair. Daniel attempted to calm the cat down but she leaped off his lap, her sharp nails digging into his leg as she did so, and dashed to the stairs in the middle of the room.

"What?" he asked, only half-listening to her as he ignored the pain in his leg and watched the tail of his cat disappear down the stairs. Office? meeting? What in Merlin's Beard was she even blabbering about? He looked away from the staircase and at Anna as she opened up the rainbow notebook and flipped to a blank page.

He agreed that staying put was preferable right now because he didn't want to move either. "You realize you could have asked for my help with that, right?" he said as he gestured to her beanbag chair. But now on to the most important question of them all. "Why are you here?" he hadn't asked her to come over. In fact, he had been avoiding everyone in order to get to the Astronomy tower alone so why was she following him?

"I doubt it" he said when Anna asked whether the cat would return. He was actually more surprised to see her flee. Not because it was unusual behavior for a cat, but because she was getting old. He bought her when she was eight years old, so she is now about fifteen. Daniel looked at Anna as she spoke about the bean bag chair she dragged over, making a mental note to check on his cat later.

"Spoken like a true Hufflepuff" he remarked, rolling his eyes. He was still disappointed that he had been sorted to this House by the sorting hat. In his mind, he belonged in Ravenclaw House.


Her response perplexed him even more than he was expecting. Why was she so certain that he had offered to assist her with...whatever she called it?...' prism a rainbow'. But she continued before he could open his mouth to speak. Daniel frowned at the compliments. They did not feel genuine. "You need to stop calling everyone older than you 'important and big brain'" or whatever words she was using at the time. He'd overheard a few in the previous days. "It's uncomfortable. Furthermore, I have an excellent memory and do not recall ever offering assistance." He had finally grasped what she was on about though.

Daniel reopened his advanced Transfiguration book and flipped through a few pages. He was already bored. Perhaps he was going through a reading slump. He despised them. "There's no need to take out your book" He'd decided to amuse her for a while. "What exactly do you want to know?"

Nordic Witch
 

The headmaster had not even neeeeeeeeeeeded to approach Marion for her assistance with the absolutely spleeeeeeendid endeavor of helping guide this generation of youths towards the future. By the grace of Professor Gert, Marion had secured the Astornomy Tower for the evening and her meeting with a certain young Ravenclaw sir. She had prepared quite a bit as well, mind you, and had asked the house elves to bring a few things to make the setting a bit more accommodating. A pair of mahogany rockers with recently reupholstered cushions in a gaudy floral fabric. Well, the Bloody Baron claimed them to be gaudy and while Marion admired his dedication to the drab and dreary aesthetic, it ceeeeertainly was not for her.

Marion also had requested a quaint little coffee table complete with tea set and a plate of lemon biscuits she had fancied during her not-so translucent era. It was still a sore spot to the woman ghost, being dead, and thus she enjoyed keeping up a few lively appearances. Such as the cup of tea and rocker for herself. She was, at the very least, less haunted by the memory of being consumed by that blasted cursed plant and had the Friar and Sir Nicholas to thank for their counsel on coping mechanisms with her spectral situation.

Upon the coffee table was a little stack of parchments, turned upside down, to be utilized during her meeting with the budding studmuffin that was William Whitelaw. Though not quite the same level of studmuffin as the dashing Headmaster Winterbottom.

Oh ho ho ho ho...were she still alive...

Floating through the rockers, Marion waited in the peace and quiet for the young lad to arrive and admired the all but vanished below the horizon sun. "Oh hello there Veeeeeenus," she greeted the planet as her gaze fell upon the bright dot in the darkening sky. "You are looking absoluuuuutely ravishing this evening, my darling."

William was having his job consultation interview with a GHOST. He hadn't known that Marion Burbage was a ghost before he had spoken to his buddies and Charlie had with a laugh told him to read up on his Hogwarts history. Will had then learned that Marion Burbage was a former professor of Astronomy. Was she a former quidditch star too? Or healer maybe?

William trudged up the stairs this evening to the astronomy tower with his backpack and the required quill, ink and notebook that he was obligated to bring along. This felt uncomfortable, and unpredictable. The only ghost he had spoken to was the Grey Lady, and she wasn't very talkative. Will felt unsure of what to expect, and that made him on edge as he walked into the Astronomy Tower and over to spectre he assumed was the ghost he was here to see and greeted politley with an easy smile pursing his lips. "Good evening Professor Burbage, I'm William of the eagles. I'm here for my job consultation interview." Now that was done, hopefully Professor Burbage would fall for his charm and be awsome to talk to.

DANIEL OUT HERE CRUSHING DREAMS *cackles*
 

Gazing fondly at Venus, Marion wiggled her fingers at the planet and briefly turned her attention to the other stars who were finally being given their moment in the sky thanks to the biggest and brighter star dipping further and further below the horizon. It was one of her favorite times of day, though it did make her heart rather weary and filled with longing as well. Alas.

"Oh, hellooooooo there, my dear," she boisterously greeted as she spun around effortlessly. "A true pleasure to make your acquittance and a couple of brownie points to you for stating your purpose clearly. I doooooo believe your introduction, while cute and whimsy, will not be appreciated in a setting outside of Hogwarts in which prescribing one's self as being 'of the eagles' as little to no context," she explained while moving her hands around a bit and snapping her translucent fingers every so often. "Let's try that introduction again, shall we? We shall keep this part brief. Step out and try again. This time, state your full name, middle names need not apply, and your year. All houses were created equal, so you may include that your introduction as well if you desire. Doooooo keep in the detail about why you are here." Marion then shooed him with her hands but remained smiling brightly. "Go on go on. I'll turn back around and pretend not to know you are about to enter."

Because it was a bad thing. It was for him at least. His older brother had explained the Houses to him before he arrived at Hogwarts, and he was CONVINCED that he would be placed in Ravenclaw. Imagine his surprise when the Sorting Hat said he'd 'do great in Hufflepuff'. It was simply insulting that he had, once again, been cast in the shadow of his older brother who had been in Hufflepuff as well. One would think he'd accepted it by now, and he had to some extent, but not completely. "Let's just say that I would have preferred to be a Ravenclaw"

Daniel felt a short pang of remorse in his heart when Anna's face fell a little. It made him feel slightly awful now that he had made her feel embarrassed."I believe that compliments should be given at the appropriate time and not just thrown around" He had done nothing that deserved a compliment, so when she said them, he felt she was being dishonest with her words.

When the younger Hufflepuff began to apologize, the sense of remorse faded. Daniel scoffed as soon as he heard the word 'sorry'. He detested it when people apologized for nothing. To him, this sounded more like a miscommunication, which could happen to the best of people so why she felt bad enough to apologize for it was beyond him.

After telling her to stay and hearing her tone shift from sad to excited, Daniel let out a sigh. He wasn't sure what was worse. Her being sad or her being excited. His dark brown eyes were drawn to the journal she held in her arms as he listened to her words.

She thought he sounded confident back at the feast? The truth was that he had never sold anything before. He has no reason to. He was wealthy and his parents provided him with more than enough money. Though he had been in serious trouble before for 'throwing money around,' as his father would have put it. But that had been years ago and he did learn from it. "Right" he said, unsure of where to begin, and sat a bit more upright on his beanbag chair.
Her question had been wrong as well. She knew what he had meant otherwise she wouldn't be here. Where was Lisa when you needed her? The thought of just handing Anna over to her was extremely tempting right now. "Simple. Do you want to earn some extra money or not"

Don't fret, dearie. Marion was here to give you the most pleasant of reality checks!

Humming to herself as the boy did as was requested of him without even an ounce of attitude (which was earning you another patch of brownie points, my dear!), Marion turned to greet the boy once again and held her translucent hands in front of her with the same warm smile upon her features. "Very good, Mr. Whitelaw. Muuuuuuuuuuch better. I do hope you like biscuits, they're lemon," she offered with a gesture of the hand. "I have had some tea prepared for us as well, unfortunately you will need to serve us seeing as I...lack a certain...well...we will siiiiimply be waiting a long long while if I am to pour the tea."

Oh thank merlins underpants, Mrs Burbage approved of his introduction this time. Will wouldn't have been able to keep his cool, and not say something he might have regretted if he had been forced to redo it all a third time. He felt a lot of relief when he nodded in response to the spectre's question. "I like all kids of biscuits. Lemon biscuits will be lovely." He looked over at the tea set ,and then back at Mrs Burbage. "Of course, how would you like your tea served Mrs Burbage? Milk? Sugar?"

Could a ghost even drink or eat anymore? Will was a bit afraid to ask so he just went on with the task of pouring himself a cup of tea with milk, and a piece of sugar while he waited for his companions answer. "If you don't mind me asking professor Burbage, but what did you teach at school? Were you a flying professor perhaps?" She looked like she could have been a good flier in her youth.

"Ooooh there is a good lad," Marion coed in delight. The only way this moment could be better would be if she had made the herself. Granted, she hardly knew how to use the oven and they would have likely been a bit burned around the edges or perhaps not cooked all the way through and therefore a little ooey and gooey but it still would be nice to make something edible. Instead of floating through extreme rot just for a sliver of flavor. Not that she was lamenting anything, no sir! "Just a hearty dash of milk for me, thank you dear."

It spoiled faster. Again, she was most certainly not lamenting a thing!

Observing the young living man, Marion's chest puffed with pride. "Oh nooooo nothing like my dear, though I was known to date a quidditch player or two in my youth," she chortled. "That is until my dear Henry sweeeeeeeeeeeeept me off my feet and I forgot aaaaaaaall about those riiiiiiiiiiippling pectorals." For the most part. "My son and and daughter dabbled in it a bit while they were at Hogwarts though did not stick with athletics as a career upon their graduations. No no no my dear, I taught the Astronomy here at Hogwarts and DIED right in the middle of teaching it, if you can BELIEVE it."

Candidly as she was behaving and speaking now, she was still very much acutely observing her living pupil. There were very important, infallible, life lessons to be learned this evening! He was in the middle of a manners exercise as they spoke, in fact.

"Quidditch then, is the path you feel the most inclined to pursue after Hogwarts then? Or another flying career? Broom racing, perhaps?"

"Of course professor Burbage, it’s coming right up!" William replied as he fixed up a cup of tea for the professor, and poured in a 'hearty' dash of milk on top. He put the tea cup on the table in front of Professor Burbage, and then held out the tray of biscuits towards her. "Would you like a biscuit or two with your tea professor?" It was best to be polite or Will just knew he’d get to hear it. Ghosts couldn't eat or drink though so why did Professor Burbage still want him to fix up a cup for her? Will supposed he'd get to find out soon enough.

DATED!!! Swept off her feet, what even were pectorals? Doing his best to not think about Professor Burbage, and dating because that just felt odd he focused on the next thing she said making big eyes feeling shocked, and sad even if he had read about it in hogwarts a history. "You died while teaching a lesson in astronomy? Oh no, I'm so sorry Professor Burbage, what happened? Was it awful?" What had made her come back as a ghost because not everyone did that?

Drinking some tea to distract himself William also munched on a lemon biscuit that was quite delicious as the topic turned to his future career. "Yes, I’d like to pursue a sporty career, I think. Quidditch is one possibility. What is broom racing? Also, do you think it’d be hard to become a flying instructor/professor?"

Well wasn't he just an absolute daaaaaaaaaaaarling?!

"Oh no, my dear. Just leave whatever you don't want on the plate and I will indulge at a later date," Marion replied with a light shake of the head. "Those are an ooooooold Burbage family recipe, just so you know. Might be some good study fuel for those long nights preparing for OWLs I am sure you are having."

Passed done from generation to generation. She was trusting that her son and daughter had passed it on accordingly. She had not seen them since...since the incident and she did not wish to.

"Oh yes, gobbled right up by some cursed weed!" she boisterously lamented with some flapping of the arms. "But all that can be chit chat for another day, darling. Recanting how I met my end is not going to help boost you into the future." Well, perhaps it could should he ever come across the exact same cursed flora. And now that their tea situation was settled, Marion supposed she ought to put the poor dear out of his misery and permit him to sit. "Additional brownie points again to you, Mr. Whitelaw. For not seating yourself until you were invited to do so...which I do now. It is the polite and respectful thing to do. No matter the interview, do not seat yourself until you are invited to do so. So, that being the case, please doooooooo take a seat." As would she, though as a ghost it hardly made a different how she elected to float.

"A sporty career involving brooms to be precise," she nodded with a small smile. Precise goals and aspirations were quite important, no matter how short term they may be. "Ooooooooooooh broom racing is quite the exciting sport. Henry and I used to go watch the qualifiers for the European Grand Tours. Broom races are not just simple laps around the quidditch pitch, mind you. They are quite lengthy routes where the start and end points can be maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaany a kilometer apart. One in particular was over five THOOOOUSAND. In stages of course, my dear. No one can expect an individual on a broom to travel all that distance at once. There are shorter races as well, of course...but the long ones I always found the most charming." As to his query about becoming an instructor, that was something she could speak to a bit more. "Well, my dear, becoming an educator is a veeeeeeery noble path. It will likely depend on where you set your sights, but as a bare minimum to beef up your resume... I would imagine you need a degree of some sort from university. Sports healing or sports science are two fields of study I have heard of. Are you aware of summer quidditch camps that offer opportunities for young witches and wizards to assist at? I dooooo believe a darling former Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff...now where did those dears tell me they had been recruited too...oh YES, Kenmare. Yes, well, these two darlings I have heard started their own summer quidditch camp and are always looking for U-17 players like yourself to help coach. What were there names...hmmmm....hmmmmmmmmmmmm...oh YES, why, a Mr. Henry Henry Whittebrook and a Ms. Zinnia Shacklebolt. Henry like my own dear sweet Henry and just as equal a studmuffin if I do say so myself," Marion cooed as her eyes glazed over a moment as she reminisce. "Hmmm? Oh...where was I? Oh yes. Summer camp coaching. That too would look good on a university resume as well as give you a little boost to see if teaching is indeed something you would be interested in doing. The former Headmaster Kazmi, another fine specimen of a studmuffin, had quite a number of yeaaaaars in the field of broom racing and conditioning before he came to Hogwarts to teach...if I am not mistaken... "

She would need another moment or hundred to recall properly. Her thoughts were just a tad distracted at the moment.

If Daniel could read minds, he would have nodded in agreement with her thoughts. It was like getting a puppy but wanting a pretty dress instead. Except, in this case, he wouldn't be asking for a dress. He shook his head at her questions because it wasn't about the color or animal with which the Houses were associated. "My favorite color is actually red" he replied. He didn't recall ever telling anyone this.

Had Anna just spoken sense? Had he misjudged her for being simple-minded "It's true that I shouldn't have had such high expectations." High expectations were usually met with disappointment in his experience.

Daniel was skeptical that she wasn't just dishing out compliments. Although receiving compliments was preferable to being reprimanded. He didn't get many compliments, particularly at home. It wasn't that he was scolded every day; his parents adored him. But instead of compliments, they usually showed their affection by sending him expensive gifts.

Just once in his life, he liked a genuine compliment rather than one thrown around for the sake of being nice.

"I apologize for that I said you had ulterior motives. That wasn't my intention. "I'm just..." tired.

Perhaps she was correct, and perhaps he was projecting. He'd think about it later because he was most impressed that she talked back to him. It definitely caused him to look in her direction for a brief moment rather than at the sky.

Maybe Anna Walles wasn't as annoying as he expected.

Daniel almost burst out laughing. Almost. To cover up his laugh, he put the inside of his elbow in front of his mouth and coughed. He too used to be terrible at saving money. He still remembered being grounded for weeks after getting in so much trouble for spending money on a secret room project in his bedroom. In his defense, he hadn't thought it was that much money.

"Who says you have to keep your money when you earn it?" especially since the money she'd be earning at Hogwarts would be a few Galleons at best. "In my opinion, you should sell those rainbow baskets and use the earnings to buy things for yourself." As his father would say, wealth is earned through property value increases and inheritances, not by saving money. "Unless you really want to save the money then I might have some tips"

Will opened his mouth to respond but closed it again. Asking how a spectre as darling as Mrs Burbage was could indulge in food at all was probably very impolite so he let it be. At the mention of OWL studying a small grumble slipped out of Will’s mouth. "I study every evening after dinner for my OWLs. I just hope all the practise, and study will end in good grades on my exams in the end." Will was though not as organised as some who had constructed revision schedules, maybe he needed one too? Mrs Burbage brought his attention back to her as she offered that they could speak of her demise by a cursed weed at another time but he didn’t say yes or no to that.

Taking a seat Will did his best to hide his sigh of relief. "Thank you Mrs Burbage, I shall keep that in mind for future interviews." To not sit unless invited to do so was a tip to remember. Then Mrs Burbage began talking of broom racing and Will found himself sucking up every word. Broom racing sounded fast, fun and challenging. "In a broom race you race against other racers on a track or is it a team event? Or does everyone race against the clock to win the race?" Will really wanted to know. He’d have to share all this information with Char and Den later. They’d be so interested and excited too, he betted. Another thought came to mind. "If you broom race do you think you can combine that with playing for a quidditch team too?" If you could combine the two he’d be in sports heaven.

"Sports healing, will you become like a healer if you study that?" he wondered as he produced his notebook from his backpack, and scribbled down the degrees, as well as broom racing and flying instructor. "I’ve attended the summer quidditch camps every summer since I was old enough to start going to them. I didn’t know however that they’d let fifteen year old’s like me assist with coaching." Would he even suit for that? Will wouldn’t want to make a fool out of himself by coaching badly. He really hoped that Mrs Burbage saw him too as what she called a stud muffin because that’d be so uncomfortable. Hoping that his ears weren’t pink for thinking about stud muffins Will did his best to focus. "How did you know Mrs Burbage that teaching was the right career for you?"

Marion nodded. It was exhausting being a fifth year and even more exhausting being a seventh year based on examinations alone. Such a pity there was soooooooooo much emphasis on them and that they were such a defining aspect of the youth when it was only a tiny fraction of what they had to offer and what they could do. Marion's son had not been a particularly gifted test taker, his OWL and NEWT scores being rather abysmal, and entering university had only been by the grace of his charisma in an interview and his Hogwarts professors' recommendation letters. And now he was an important Ministry official in the Minister! "I dooooo hope you are not exhausting yourself too much, my dear," she cooed gently while reaching over to pat his shoulder. The shame about being a ghost was that limbs tended to pass through the limbs of the living and give the living an awful chill. Not intentional, dearie. She promises. "I have just the ticket to help with that though, which I will give to you after we go over other things."

She had come prepared with worksheets, after all.

Relaxing back into her seat, which meant she was floating stoically over the cushioned seat, Marion felt like a young lass all over again. The girl sitting in the stands waving a flag and making large posters for her favorite racer who absoluuuuuuuuuuutely had no time to be looking into the crowd to see what sorts of words were written in there worship. "Oh there are all kiiiiiiiinds of races. Some on a track and you just go arouuuuuuuund and around and around and arouuuuuuuund. It can be absolutely dizzying to behold. There are team races as well over long distances where the route can be through forests and over bodies of water and all sorts of breathtaking views. It is a competative sport, so you are racing against others. A more high stakes sort of race than you might have with you and your quidditch mates at practice or just for fun. Sometimes there were even students who created their own routes here at Hogwarts...ooooooh but I did not tell you that. Headmaster Winterbottom may not take too well to my encouraging you to do that...which I absolutely doooooo." She was no longer, technically, a professor here at Hogwarts and therefore not entirely obligated to remind students to stay within the rules. Hem hem.

"You could, but you could also simply gain a deeper understanding for your own body's needs when it comes to athletics. Each quidditch team and sports club does have their own personal team healers, after all," she nodded. Athletics were not siiiiiiimply about brawn and brutes, of course.

"Dooooooooo look into the coaching, Mr. Whitelaw," she smiled. "It was one of the first things you mentioned here in our little discussion, which means something, and would be worth a closer consideration." If he truly was interested in coaching in any capacity, it would be good to give it a whirl now to see how it suited him. "Oh, well, that is quite the difficult question I suppose. It began, perhaps, with this vague notion I had ever since I was a little girl that I wanted to be helpful. I always I always wanted to help the teacher, help my mother cook and clean, help my father repair the grandfather clock in our living room that just neeeeever seemed to want to stay repairs for long, help my friends with their assignments or whatever it was they may need help with. For a time I thought I wanted to be an auoror, because what could be more helpful than fighting crime! I hardly had the stomach for such a profession though, and I suppose it was meeting some teachers in my primary school and at Hogwarts professors that showed me there was a career in helping others that wasn't being an auror. I did not jump immediately into teaching, however, and dabbled about a bit in other fields of Astronomy first before returning to this childlike voice in my head that still did not feel satisfied in the help I was giving...so...I went into teaching and it was simply lovely."

So cooooooold! William couldn’t help but shudder as the chill of being touched by Professor Burbage passed through him, and he murmured up to her "Don’t worry Professor Burbage I don’t overdo my OWL revising, I know I need to have fun and relax too. I’d be very grateful for any exam tips you can give me though." Most of all he tried not to worry too much about the upcoming exams because he needed his beauty sleep.

Will looked on as Professor Burbage floated stoically over her chosen cushioned seat and next minute went into a very, very excited explanation of broom races. He leaned forward in his seat and took in every word that went over the ghost professor’s lips. At the mention of held races here at Hogwarts his brows shot up high and he asked with surprise "Hogwarts students did that? Wow! Do you think Headmaster Winterbottom would allow us to hold a short broom race around the grounds, if you Professor Burbage were supervising us? I’d really like to try broom racing. You make it sound so fun and cool!" His buddies would totally participate too.

"There are other healer careers too right aside from sports healing?" Will wondered thoughtfully. He knew healing was a big field, but he wasn’t exactly versed in what jobs you could have in the healing field and he wanted to know more about that even if his priority, and love was brooms and quidditch.

Will noted down coaching in his notebook as he listened to the story of how Marion had realised that she wanted to become a teacher. "It’s amazing to hear Professor Burbage. Not everyone is cut out to be good teachers though right?"

omg at LAST ;____; thank you for your patience, Lindz <3
 

Marion chortled rather shrilly at his question. "Ooooooooooooooooh my dear boy. Afraid I am just a tad out of touch with such examinations these days and you would be much better off asking peers for some tips," she lamented. This was technically advice, however, so she was delivery a proper response to his question. "You'll still be leaving here with something to help with things," she insisted gently. She had not gone to all the trouble putting it together for him not to accept it. "After a bit more trajectory research though. All things in due time."

Oh dear, yet another chortle.

"Oooooooohohohoho you do flatter me, darling. That is something you will simply have to take up with the headmaster himself, though I do have my suspicions that he may not take entirely too warmly to the idea." Headmaster Winterbottom was quite the warm gentleman and unlikely to outright reject any idea too harshly. Surely the stud muffin wouldn't become too cross with her for planting seeds of possibility in the youth. "Your Flying instructor would be much more qualified for such a thing, that I am certain. They at least are capable of using a broom." Not to mention her spirit could not linger beyond the confines of the castle for long.

"But of coooooourse, my dear," the ghost replied with a bit of a bewildered look about her. What a naïve young man, it took her aback for a moment. "You have your very own healer here at Hogwarts to discuss more on that should you wish." Now, talk about a fiiiiiiiine specimen of a man!

Her lips pursed and she almost sunk through her chair a bit as she pondered his phrasing a bit. "Oh, I wouldn't go so far as to say someone is not cut out to be anything. That does sound a bit harsh, doesn't it? It is all a matter of priorities and where you choose to spend your energy....which brings me to an activity I'd like you to do, Mr. Whitelaw. A self reflection activity. If you'll take that topmost piece of parchment and prepare your quill and inkwell. I'd like you to read over the list of items you see on this parchment and select 10 you feel are most important. You will find that more than 10 are important, perhaps all of them important, but this is an exercise in prioritizing." Alas, we could not having eeeeeeeeeeeverything everything. "Once you have picked ten, if you can try to rank them to the best of your ability. Again, this will be difficult and you will want to say they are all equal...but remember this is all part of the exercise. Take your time. There is noooooo need to rush through this. Help yourself to a couple more biscuits and tea to help tie yourself over while you think," Marion explained as she gestured to the coffee table and the rather long piece of parchment hanging off it.