au_hogwarts | (no subject)

It's late on a September school night - students should all be doing homework now, really. The Defence Against the Dark Arts professor certainly is. She's marking papers in her classroom, and occasionally batting away an errant pixie.

She's new to the school this year - this month - but she's been told that legend has it a batch of Cornish Pixies were released in this room around 1992 and nobody's ever managed to exterminate them properly. Legend has it, too, that they've evolved and become ever more intelligent, due to the high levels of magic in the air around Hogwarts.

Legend has an awful lot of things. Professor Brown is still making up her mind on whether or not any of them are real.

Teaching is kind of a new gig, and Hogwarts isn't very clear on what, exactly, the expectations for this Defence class are. So her first paper for the sixth-years is along the lines of: "This is what's attacking you. How do you defend? Give three options and three possible escape routes."

Her students' responses to that are -- apparently kind of entertaining, judging by the occasional hint of muffled laughter audible even from the corridor.

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He gives her an upset look that was trying not to be upset and desperate. he really doesn't need the points docked.

"I don't need help with the writing, I need help with the polishing. I can write well enough, that's what I've been told, but I can't spell and my letters come out all wrong," he explained. "None of the other professors seem to mind me getting help to correct things and I've been doing it since first year."

Steph considers, leaning back to sit on her desk, with a quick flick of her wand to keep the shuffling papers out of her way.

"I don't mind you getting help to correct things. You should always ask for help when you need it, that isn't a problem at all. I'm just not sure it's an excuse to be late."

But ... she doesn't want to be That Hardass Teacher. At least, not yet.

"... tell you what, just make sure it's on time next time, huh?"

"I can try," he says honestly. "It's just... it takes me a lot of time to read the books and then write out the papers. I mean, I could tell you what you wanted to know without writing it easily enough... but writing it is hard."

Alec then laughs. "You should see my notes. They're practically a cypher."

Steph has heard of that kind of difficulty. And hey, it's not that weird. Some kids can't swish and flick, some kids can't fly, some kids can't spell. It's not like it'll prevent him being a badass wizard.

She nods, thoughtfully. "Well, lots of people have trouble with writing. If you need extra time, you should come talk to me about it after class, or owl me, okay? It's always better when the teachers know. And I promise not to penalise you if it's just that.

"And hey ... cyphers can be very useful things."

He can swish and flick and fly with the best of him. Give him an essay and you've found his weakness.

"I guess I might as well say right now then, I'll generally need some extra time. Usually a day's good enough," he says. "If you want it legible at least."

"Cyphers are only good if you can figure out what they mean."

Steph grins. "I like legible. We can work on a day extra. Make sure you let me know if you need more time than that, and don't let it get around the students or they'll all want in, but - yeah, we can work with that.

"I might speak to some people I know about Self-Correcting Quills. I know they're hard to get hold of, but I might be able to sneak a couple into the budget, too. That could be useful for you."

"The other students already know I need the extra time, I've been here six years now and the teachers do too. I guess I should have mentioned it before classes started." He continues his sheepish look. It's kinda adorable. But he's been so busy with Qudditch and classes and he was so used to the other teachers knowing about his problem that he completely forgot that Steph was a new teacher and needed to be told.

"That'd be useful," he says with a nod. "I've tried them a few times back home and the tended to work."

"Okay." Steph stretches one arm out, wand flicking, and her small personal notebook and a quill jump to her hand for taking notes.

She should have asked around. Or someone should have told her. She feels stupid now, awkward, out of the loop. There really isn't a welcome-to-Hogwarts package but there really should be - especially since the other teachers have known these kids for so long.

"Anything else I should know?" she asks, taking a few notes.