Errand Stories of the Palm pv

It was early afternoon, the usual time when students started heading off to various locations around the castle to relax or to gather in the Great Hall for lunch. Not too many had trickled into her office for one of her advertised palm readings before then, save for one particularly lovestruck girl and another whose session was akin to therapy, so needless to say, Nadège was quite hopeful for someone new to fill up the empty time. She was a woman who enjoyed the presence of people, and she felt there was no closer way to knowing a person than unwrapping even most hidden of experiences.

When she heard the rattling of the doorway beads behind her, Professor Benoit pulled the cup of coffee away from her mouth and spun around to face the student. "Oh—" she wiped the corner of her mouth— "Welcome, Santario! It's nice to meet you, and this is the place. Please, come right in and make yourself comfortable."

Nadège could prove quite the chatterbox when it came to Divination. "Thank you for stopping by. It has been such a slow day. You know, I bet it's the weather... the cold always makes me sluggish. Anyway! You've brought your hands. Good, good. And an open mind, I hope?"

"If you have any bags, feel free to leave them on the couch there," she said cheerfully over her shoulder, clearing the round table of the scattered cards that lay there. "And then we can get started with the session."

Santario smiled brightly at the professor. “My hands and an open mind I promise!” She replied enthusiastically. She wasn’t sure what she expected out of this entire thing, but it was probably going to be an experience she would not forget. The fact that the professor was, in fact, a chatterbox didn’t bother her at all she enjoyed a professor that didn’t give regular stoic answers to things. Although she understood why some professors choose to act that way it was refreshing when they didn’t. 

When she motioned towards the couch Santario would walk over and set her school bag and her camera bag down on the couch. “It is a pleasure to meet you, thank you for offering your professional talents like this.” Santario brought in a house with old fashioned manners so it was only proper to thank the professor for her talents. Santario would make her way over to the table that was being cleared off seemingly for the palm reading.

“I really like the cold personally. I love being able to bundle up in warm clothes and go on walks. The cold helps to clear my head when I need to think and I love Hot cocoa.” Santario could also be a little chatterbox when put in the proper situation and it seemed like Professor Benoit was one of the people that could bring it out in her. She seemed warm and inviting added on to the environment of the room and the scents it was just relaxing.

Post word count|252|Total 501/1000

"Perfect!"

Nadège made her way back to the round table, now cleared, and pulled back her seat to sit. "I'm from Cuba. The winters there are nothing compared to Scotland's. But you are right; there is something special about having the excuse to bundle up in warm clothing." Talking about her home was something she didn't go out of her way to do unless someone was curious enough to ask. In this instance, it was relevant enough to the conversation that she wanted to indulge in anyway.

"Both hands, please," said Nadège, holding out her own hands for Santario's. In palmistry, it was important to get a good look at both hands. But even in the few years she'd been employed, jokesters found it witty to ask, "What if someone has one hand, or none at all?" to which she'd clarify the obvious; if the former, the reading would be done with the remaining hand, and if the latter, no reading would be possible at all. Luckily, Santario didn't seem the type to ask questions in bad faith, in fact, Nadège felt she had seemed quite excited to work with her. Positive attitudes always rubbed off on her. "I'll start by getting a general look at your hand shape."

Santario admittedly knew nothing of Cuba other than she thought it was warmer there, so she assumed their winters did not come with much of the cold and snow. “I heard it is quite a bit warmer there.” It was a statement and not a question in case the professor did not wish to speak on her mother country further. She knew they were there for a purpose and not necessarily idle chitchat, not that she would have minded.

Santario would sit down at the same time as the professor in the seat provided and make herself comfortable. When asked for both of her hands she would comply reaching forward and gently placing her soft and slender hands in the professors. Her pale complexion would contrast with the tanned skin of the hands below hers. “Okay, I think the only thing I am particularly concerned about is if I will have a good career.” She wanted nothing more than to be a healer and a potions master, but she wanted to be unparalleled in potions. She knew the professor would never be able to give her a definitive answer if there even was an answer there at all for her.

She was however so far very successful in potions, earning top marks in the classes she had taken so far. As far as healing was concerned it always seemed to come naturally to her. Like when she made a makeshift splint when Gris had sprained her ankle. It was the first thing that came to her head since she didn’t know Ferula yet and she needed to keep the ankle stable to help Gris get to the hospital wing.

“As far as anything else is concerned I’m happy to know what my hands have to say for themselves.” She smiled as she looked down at her own hands analyzing their shape wondering what the shape of her hands could tell the professor. She would no doubt hang on every word the professor had to so and she would be relaxed making it easy for her to manipulate the girl’s hands as necessary when she needed to.   

Post word count | 356 | Total | 857/1000

Nadège gently took Santario's hands and brought them closer, propping up the student's elbows on the table. As the professor flipped them over and looked at the back of her hands, she noticed that her skin was soft and vibrant, and her nails and knuckles appeared healthy. Then, she turned the palms face up to finally look at its shape. Disregarding her lines for the moment, she noted that Santario's palm was rectangular-shaped. "Ah," she started, smiling, as if the revelation was as clear as day. "You have what us readers call, in basic palmistry, a Water hand. Very dainty palm and fingers."

It may have seemed coincidental that Santario's hand aligned with the element of her house, but Nadège hadn't paid not a thought to the colour of her robes, focusing as she gripped at the joint of her forefinger. "I'm seeing that you are probably a friend of nature, independent, virtuous... from my experience at least, those are the traits commonly associated with a shape like yours. Most of your effort may be mental, rather than physical, but you are still capable of doing a lot of good rather than harm, just from the state of your hands."

"This type is often not as fiercely competitive as those with Fire hands, but are still intelligent and concerned with the protection of self and their loved ones."

It was about time they'd get started on the fun part. She looked up at the first-year student and grinned. "Let's see what's lined up for you."

Santario allowed her arms to be moved and rested her elbows gently on the table to help support the weight of her arms. She watched intently as the professor examined her hands commenting that she had what was called a water hand. Santario always thought of her hands as artistic and that seemed to fall in line with what the professor said.

As she continued to speak Santario would look between the professor and her hand. She was surprised that she could get so much just from the shape of her hands. Then again, that was why she was the professional here. The only thing Santario would disagree with to an extent was the competitive nature, although she was not a sore loser she did love to win, and she would always try her hardest against someone even if they were a friend. She was also not a sore winner and did not rub her opponent's noses in her victory if she did win. The young Slytherin was fiercely independent if she could do it without anyone’s help, she would do so.

“I do love to garden and help people.” She giggled amazed at what the professor already knew about her. When it came to protecting her loved ones there was nothing more important to her in this entire world, not even becoming a potions master. Santario wasn’t by nature what one would consider a troublesome or violent child, but she would do anything for the people that she held close to her heart.

“Yes, you’ve stated so many true things so far. I learned to be independent and I would do anything that I could to help protect those I love. I am very excited to see what else my hands have to tell you.” Her excitement was genuine as she grinned back at the professor who seemed just as excited about this as she was. This was truly a refreshing experience for her as October had not been a fantastic month for her at all, but this would be considered one of the highlights. 

Post word count | 346 | Total |1,203/1,000