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Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Oct 4, 2007 22:37:08 GMT -5
D'rorah knocked on the door of Professor Choi's office, waiting for an invitation to enter before opening the door and striding through. Her thoughts at the moment were for Dylan, worried at the state of emotional distress he had been in since hearing the news of Aiden's death. Even though she had said she would see to the arrangements, she was forced to bring him with her for this part, knowing the Professor would likely wish to speak with him as well before allowing her to accompany him. She wondered whether Janet would question her motives for wishing to go, and wondered at the same time exactly how she would respond.
"Professor Choi?" she asked quietly, her tone imminently respectful. Not too long before, she had been here requesting to borrow a runic lexicon from the Professor to assist in her translations. She carried the lexicon in her satchel at the moment, prepared to return it now that she had finished the consulting she had needed to do. She came to stand before the Professor's desk, waiting patiently to be acknowledged. She cast one final glance at Dylan, taking in his almost broken expression. "Did you receive my note, Professor? I wished to obtain permission to accompany Mister Cooper to the funeral of his foster father," she remarked respectfully.
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Post by Dylan Cooper on Oct 4, 2007 22:53:13 GMT -5
Waiting in the hall behind D'rorah, he glanced around aimlessly, his eyes unfocused as per usual this week. Not wishing to be here at all, Dylan followed her into the room, knowing he must. Hoping that no questions or comments would be directed at him, he stood before Professor Choi, attempting to concentrate for two seconds. He tried; he failed. His mind continued to wander over the now roughly-beaten track of his foster father, unable to remain grounded for any remotely extended period of time.
As he traced the familiar path through his mind, a small corner of it was elsewhere, anticipating a positive answer from the professor. He couldn't possibly imagine not being allowed to leave the school for a funeral, nor of going without D'rorah. Sincerely wishing that she would allow them both permission, he waited quietly.
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Post by janet on Oct 4, 2007 23:03:06 GMT -5
Janet looked up from her notes at the knock on the door, recognizing Drorah's soft-spoken tone. She had been hoping to speak with the girl ever since her encounter with the Headmistress. It wasn't that she had specific interrogation strategies in mind, but she did have a sense of what she hoped to gain from their next meeting. Janet had the feeling she was beginning to walk around the perimeter of a battle, hearing the spells fire but not yet seeing the fight.
"Come in," she said curtly, finishing up a few quill scratchings before looking up to see Drorah and another Ravenclaw boy, whom she recognized from her records to be Dylan. She raised an eyebrow slightl at the two of them together. She could feel a certain energy flowing between the young girl and boy and sensed a deep connection fueled by something a little more fiery than friendship. It was like seeing a crackling of fire out of the corner of one's eye.
"Yes, I did receive your note and I appreciate your advanced notification" she said, her dark eyes looking slightly unfocused as she stared at a point between the two of them.
She took a breath, and leaned back in her chair.
"Normally we only allow the family members of the deceased leave Hogwarts," she said matter-of-factly and staring directly at Drorah. "These are rather delicate times, and I think it would be best if you told me exactly where you were going and how long you will be gone."
Her eyes were void of emotion but not to the effect of being harsh. Janet simply had the appearance of a person trying to be as business-like as possible in the situation she was in.
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Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Oct 4, 2007 23:13:57 GMT -5
D'rorah nodded, understanding Professor Choi's request to know where they were going. It certainly seemed to be a reasonable request. Her statement that they normally only allowed family members to visit made her worry a bit that her request would be denied, but she was determined to secure permission to leave as well.
"We will be attending a funeral for Mister Cooper's foster father," she replied respectfully, her voice a shade quieter than normal in deference to the subject of the conversation. "His hometown is in Alconbury. We intend to travel there together by train for the duration of the weekend. While we are there, Mister Cooper's mother will be housing us. I intend that we shall leave early Saturday morning and return on Monday evening. Our assignments are all more than up to date, so there is no risk that either of us will lag in our schoolwork due to the absence," she reassured.
Her own voice, in contrast to her usual cold, formal tone, seemed a bit more subdued. She had spent the past days attempting to comfort Dylan as he dealt with his grief over the murder of Aiden and was making an effort to remain emotionally open so as not to shut him out. She had a bad habit of allowing her own tendency for remaining unemotional close out people and she certainly did not wish to close Dylan out in his grief.
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Post by janet on Oct 4, 2007 23:32:38 GMT -5
Janet cocked her head to the side as Drorah finished the details of their plans. It wasn't as thought they were trying to pull a fast one and suggest they needed to stop over in london for a night for some lawyer business. She knew that's where Dylan was from, but it would be fairly easy to simply lie and go somewhere else...however if Drorah and Dylan were being truthful she didn't want to interrogate Dee now. Even if they weren't Dylan had just lost his father and Janet knew that it would not do well to interrogate grieving students in her first year as a professor.
She sighed and put a hand behind her head, resting it as she weighed her possibilities. Although friends had accompanied students in the past it was not something that was encouraged. And even then, the Trace would let the teacher know if they were going out on adventures they shouldn't. But Drorah was of age, and technically an adult.
"I'll allow it. But," she raised a finger and pointed to each of them in turn, "I need to speak with each of you alone. Drorah, if you'll please excuse us, I'd like Dylan to talk with me first," she said, giving Drorah a polite smile that implied she had nothing to worry about.
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Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Oct 4, 2007 23:36:51 GMT -5
D'rorah nodded politely as the Professor requested to speak with each of them alone. A bit apprehensive as to what she might wish to discuss with them, she turned to head from the room quietly. As she passed Dylan, she offered what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
She stepped out into the hallway and allowed the door to quietly close behind her. Not knowing anything else to do at the moment, she decided to simply wait. Perhaps the Professor merely wished to confirm the details, though she was not certain why that would mean she would need to speak with Dylan privately. She took a deep breath waited for the door to open.
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Post by Dylan Cooper on Oct 4, 2007 23:52:12 GMT -5
Dylan felt himself become slightly relieved that permission had been granted. Not particularly feeling up to being interrogated by Professor Choi, he watched as D'rorah left at her request and chose to remain standing. Every time he sat down, he could never quite seem to raise himself when it was appropriate. Just yesterday he'd spent about six hours straight seated in the common room, unable to find the will or energy to remove himself from the comfortable leather armchair.
Not wishing to speak all that much, he simply waited for her to continue.
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Post by janet on Oct 5, 2007 0:03:14 GMT -5
Janet's slightly pinched face softened as she looked at Dylan. She alwas found it interesting that the word "loss" was a synonym for grief, since often people feel "lost" while the are trying to figure out how to live without an important part of their life. She waited until Drorah had been outside of her office for a few seconds before speaking.
"Dylan, first let me say that I am sorry about your foster father. Losing a parent is never easy, but the pain does lessen," she said, knowing her words would go through him like sand, not really sticking until he had regained his footing with the world.
"I wanted to talk to you and Drorah separately because the matters I wish to discuss are rather...delicate," she said carefully. "Please understand, this is not an interrogation, simply a request for information. I met with Caire the other day, and she expressed concerns that there were dangerous shadow creatures threatening the school. I'm asking what you know about this; I'm unsure what the school population at large is aware of."
She stared at Dylan, but her face was unreadable. She knew it was risky to tell Dylan about the shadows if he hadn't heard of them since, but if his relationship with Drorah was as close as she surmised, it was the correct move for Janet to make.
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Post by Dylan Cooper on Oct 5, 2007 0:21:25 GMT -5
Waiting, his mind slightly devoid of thought at the moment, he glossed over her initial comment and focused on the next. A slight amount of concentration seems to have been sparked by her precarious question. Thinking immediately that she would speak to him about the relationship he had with D'rorah, he found himself surprised, though most of that quickly faded beneath the sea of his current emotions.
As she mentioned the Headmistress, he found himself too much in pain to even become slightly angry at the mention of her and simply spoke about what him and D'rorah had discussed. They had prepared for this situation, and he was ready. "I know what most of my peers know," he said quietly, not bothering to be polite and use her name. "There are shadows in the forest, threatening the school. That's why we had the ban, and that is why we currently can't leave the castle between the hours of 4p.m and 10a.m." He did manage to feel slightly angry, however, that she chose this point in time to ask him about these matters.
"Now, if that's all, I'd like to get on with grieving without rude, unimportant interruptions," he said rather rudely.
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Post by janet on Oct 5, 2007 0:34:57 GMT -5
Janet raised an eyebrow at his outburst, but her demeanor remained cool. She had expected this, and was actually pleased that he had said what he did. It seemed much too rehearsed to simply be all that he knew. He said it with ease, barely pausing and with little regard for slipping up...all too perfect.
"I understand you are grieving, but please understand that in the future--since this is our first meeting--that I only ask important questions. A student has been killed; I consider any knowledge of these dark creatures extremely important. You must understand I have to look out for the students." She kept a very even tone, but the ever-present edge in her voice was showing through as always.
"How long have you known Drorah?" she asked, making her voice more light and conversational. She leaned one the arm of her chair, appearing to switch to a more comfortable position, giving Dylan a small smile.
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Post by Dylan Cooper on Oct 5, 2007 0:40:29 GMT -5
Raising his own eyebrow, he didn't believe he cared for Professor Choi. He noticed that he could look forward to more meetings with her, he felt absolutely overwhelmed with joy at the thought. In a completely sarcastic manner, of course. "A couple of weeks, why?" he said, impatience at her questions evident on his features. He knew it was inevitable that everyone would soon know about him and D'rorah, but he wasn't particularly happy about certain people knowing. Still, he couldn't actually help that.
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Post by janet on Oct 5, 2007 0:52:04 GMT -5
Janet could see the impatience lined on his face. She knew immediately that he wasn't going to reveal anymore, and if Janet forced it out of him she would burn a very important bridge. Resting her head in her hand as she propped her arm on the desk, she gave a small shrug in response to Dylan's "why".
"I guess I'm a bit of a gossip hound...bad habit from my school days here," she said, smirking slightly. She gave him a small wave to let him know that he could leave her office.
"I'm sorry if my questions troubled you," she said quickly, as if running off a list of things that needed to be said, "please let Drorah in and you can go as soon as you like to your home town."
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Post by Dylan Cooper on Oct 5, 2007 0:55:32 GMT -5
Nodding quickly, her comments didn't quite sit well with him as he left the room, making sure to close it behind him. Seeing D'rorah dawdling in the hall, he moved to her and spoke. "I didn't tell her anything," he said quietly, his eyes retaining their slight anger. That soon faded however, to quickly be consumed by his grief. He lowered his head once more, his hair flopping before his eyes. "She wants to see you," he added in a small voice, backing up against the wall and sliding down it, resulting in him sitting on a very cold floor.
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Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Oct 5, 2007 1:01:22 GMT -5
D'rorah nodded and placed a reassuring hand on Dylan's shoulder. Not wanting to keep the Professor waiting, she made her way into the office. Her gaze was calm and collected, though still reflecting a glimmer of concern for Dylan. He was having a rather difficult time with this particular loss. She wondered what Professor Choi had wanted to question them about. Considering the timing, she had thought they would be questions about the nature of her and Dylan's relationship to one another. However, his comment as he exited led her to believe she had instead asked about the Shadows. Not entirely sure what to expect, she allowed the door to close behind her.
"You wished to speak with me privately." A statement of fact, not a question. There was no discernible emotion in her tone of voice. "First, allow me to thank you for approving my visit as well. As you can see, Mister Cooper is quite upset at the moment." As she spoke, the picture of him sliding down the wall to sit on the cold stone floor was in her mind.
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Post by janet on Oct 6, 2007 0:32:12 GMT -5
Janet noded slowly at Drorah's comment, keeping her eyes focused on her hands folded neatly in front of her. Janet was going over what she was meaning to say, and making quick adjustments for every possible response she might recieve. When she looked back up at Drorah, her face was almost completely blank, except for a firm line formed by her mouth.
"I appreciate your thanks. Dylan is a bit shaken up to say the least; I think I'm seeing him at his worst," she said thoughtfully.
"Let's not beat around the bush Drorah. I spoke with the Headmistress the other day and I got the feeling that the two of you are not on the best of terms," she said, repeating the events in a measured voice, careful not to sound accusatory ot sympathetic. Taking a breath, she stretched her arms in front of her and leaned back in her chair, her body more relaxed.
"I don't want to get involved in a dissidence between the Headmistress and another student. If it doesn't concern me I don't want to be a part of it," she said casually, tossing her hand in the air as in to wave away an anoying fly.
"But," she said, her voice cutting through the silence, "as a Professor my first priority is to protect the students of this school. I must say it was disturbing to learn that Caira believes you might have had some hand in the death of your parents," she said, staring at Drorah with unreadable dark eyes.
"Tell me, should I keep a closer eye on you or the Headmistress?" Janet leaned forward. A tiny smirk-like sneer slid acress her face with the last words she spoke, her body eminating an almost imperceptible power, pulsing in each second that the silence dragged on.
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