Excitement for the Future PV Finished

Interacting with @Rosalind Kibitzer

This was incredibly embarrassing. She had barged into an esteemed professor's office with very basic simple questions, none that probably surprised Professor Kibitzer at all. They were probably expected, predictable. Now she was on the verge of a mental breakdown in her office upon their first meeting. This was not the kind of impact she wanted to leave on the professor that she had set out to impress at all.

There was still time to recover, she could save this. She was strong. The demons of Xavier and crew no longer lurked around every corner, they were far behind her. Even with the scars they had littered upon her body they were becoming but painful memories. No longer an active reminder of the fear that she had lived everyday thanks to the people that she had surrounded herself with at Hogwarts who continued to help her distance herself from her town, and build up the building blocks of the new person that she was. It was in a time like this more than ever that she had to remember that.

While stuck in her mind, she didn't even realize the Professor had gotten up and closed the door to give them privacy, something she was very grateful for. Only a handful of people knew her dark past, and only one person knew the whole story. She didn't want Professor Kibitzer to know her full story, just the one of self empowerment and confidence now, but she had already made a mistake by mentioning it in the first place.

Her head snapped up when she seemingly apparaited next to her offering her more of the biscuits she had brought, which she could never say no to. With a still slightly shaky hand she picked one up and took a small bite. Focusing in on the initial bite of the cookie, the melt of the pastry, the sweet buttery taste that delicately spread through her mouth. It reminded her of home, in a good way.

With another deep breath her eyes finally returned to the Professor who was back at her desk, they were slightly red but her stubbornness refused to let a single tear fall in this situation, her breathing had returned to normal though her hands still gave her away of the momentary fear that flooded her thoughts. While she honestly wasn't a huge fan of the tea she didn't want to be rude. "The tea is lovely, thank you for sharing it with me."

She ate the cookie silently as Professor Kibitzer offered her different stories to latch onto to carry her out of this. Her curiosity peaked, this time in a non-panic way when she mentioned New York, one of the only other states that she knew. "The coven my family sometimes works with in London actually has a satellite group in New York city, uh.. I can't remember where exactly. Mainhatten? Someday I want to go visit, honestly I think I'd like to visit Salem someday and be able to honor the witches who perished, whether or not they were actual witches." Willow knew the Salem witches' weren't her distinct ancestors but she felt a tie to them because of the similar torture she had been subjected to. The idea of seeing the city both terrified and excited her. She didn't want to focus just on herself though so she passed another question to the Professor. "What made you come all the way over here then?"

Rosalind sat across from the girl, her fingers tapping a quick pattern on the underside of the desk. Emotional support had never been her strong suit. She was a good critic, but when it came time for a pick-me-up, she came up short. She didn't know how to fix things, but she stayed quiet - that could at least stop her from making things worse. Her eyes drifted back to the little pile of cookies, but she'd already used the trick once, and she didn't want the poor girl to have a stomachache on top of whatever had her so upset over Salem.

The girl lied about the tea, earning her a sympathetic smile from the professor. She remained polite, even in these circumstances. Based on her experiences with other students in her office, the first-year was stretching her bravery to the limit. For some students, just the prospect of talking to an adult was enough to turn on the waterworks. Willow kept her brave face on in spite of worse.

One of the hooks she had cast caught the girl's attention, and Rosalind was quick to reply with some questions on those covens - steering away from the subject of Salem. Visiting Salem was a nice prospect on paper. Many English wizards made the visit if they visited America, since it was quite close to Boston, and had a real magical presence. But it was no London. There were still some dark shadows hanging over that place, even after all this time.

"Manhattan," Professor Kibitzer said, offering a quick correction. "A... coven? Muggles have covens? International covens?"

Muggles were industrious, weren't they? It was strange to think of Muggles as beings who were aware of witchcraft, even if it was just their own little game. Willow would likely see it that way in time, Rosalind thought, but she wasn't sure. If they had such close approximations to the magical methods of divination, could they really be that different? She had to imagine they were, or the questions raised were uncomfortable.

"If you were going to visit America, I'd visit New York so you could see the MACUSA Headquarters. It's beautiful- or well, it is if it's in the same place. I haven't kept track since they had in some of the kids from Ilvermorny on a little field trip. Pretty slick offices," she recalled, her eyes wandering off to the side as she visualized the ornate interiors. Just as stuffy as the British Ministry. She made a mental note about them for her next trip to London - still some paperwork to sort out.

What made her come over here? It was a complicated story with a bad ending. Practitioners of Divination were often hounded by fate, but she had managed to dodge so far, but it had come so far that she felt that all she could do was run away. Hogwarts was well-respected and far away, two qualities she wanted for herself while she was in America.

"I needed a change," Rosalind supposed, trying to keep her answer vague. The child was upset enough. "You're fortunate enough to go to one of the best schools of magic in the world, and I am lucky enough to teach at it. And the Divination curriculum is much better than the one offered at Ilvermorny, at least compared to when I attended, I'll tell you that for a fact. You'll like it."

She paused a moment before gently broaching the subject of Salem once more, indirectly. "Feeling alright now? I could open the door. There is a handkerchief there, if you need it."

Interacting with @Rosalind Kibitzer

Willow's tongue clicked in the correction of 'Mainhattan' "Manhattan, yes!" Her mind had already moved past their previous topic, no use in staying in that moment when there were much more exciting things to be discussed. "Sometimes we do! My coven is especially large because its located in a huge city. Some of the original founders actually moved to New York for whatever reason, I don't remember, and ended up starting a satellite coven there. We communicate usually around the holidays for the Wheel of the Year, which is the holiday cycle kind of. So instead of Christmas we celebrate Yule just as one example. So even if we can't have celebrations at the same time the rituals themselves mimic each other and are pretty similar. It's kind of cool to know that my coven will be there for me if I ever want to move to New York." A small smile grew on her face. Her coven made her feel safe and welcome whenever she was able to attend ceremonies. Usually her parents only brought her to the major ones since she was still learning.

There was so much to learn, like the fact that MACUSA moved? Her head tilted at the comment. "Entire buildings can shift location? Just... for funsies? Something I don't understand is how so many walls can actually hold entire towns behind them! Like, I know it's magic but how? It just doesn't make sense! There's gotta be a limited amount of space in the world still right? What if all the places you want to move are taken? What do you do then?" Willow felt comfortable, maybe too comfortable, for Professor Kibitzer's liking of just popping off all the questions she had as a muggle. Some of this stuff absolutely mind boggled her, and she wanted to know as much as possible. Sometimes classes didn't have all the answers, and she was nervous to ask the wizard-borns around her in case they would make fun of her.

Willow hang onto every word Professor Kibitzer said as if it would be the last time she ever talked to her, which definitely wouldn't be the case if she had anything to do with it. She knew how lucky she was that she was able to attend Hogwarts. It was something she actually questioned, why her? Out of her entire muggle family why did she suddenly have the gift? It didn't make sense to her but she didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth. She had to just be grateful for now that she had this privilege, and that Professor Kibitzer was the one teaching her favorite subject (even though she hadn't even taken it yet).

As Professor Kibitzer mentioned opening the door, she glanced back at it, and with a small sigh returned her attention back to the professor. "I should actually head back to my dorm soon. I still have some homework to do before I go to bed tonight." She glanced down at her tea that had basically been finished with just enough to swirl the leaves around. Tentatively, she asked. "Could we... possibly do a leaf reading before I go?" A small blush appeared just from asking, feeling embarrassed for asking for some reason. It would be an honor for someone as distinguished as the Professor to do a tea leaf reading for Willow, and she could only wait for the answer with bated breath.

Wheel of the Year? Rosalind pressed her tongue against her cheek as she considered it. It sounded like some kind of No-Maj automobile awards show, but even this sort of witchcraft was considered a little out there by the mundane masses. She didn't have much to say about that. It wasn't the first time she met someone who preferred Yule to Christmas, and she'd learned to accept any number of other holidays. Any excuse was a good one for a little bit of winter cheer, so she generally celebrated as many of them as she could get invited to parties for, though she would admit that Christmas was her favorite of the bunch. she did have a little bit of wisdom to offer, though. It was simple. "Don't move to New York," she advised. "The paperwork you must need to go through to get a British wand registered in the States- save yourself the headache."

The girl had misinterpreted her comment about the movements of MACUSA, bringing a smirk to the professor's face. "No, kid - the building stays in the same place. The people move. Although... you know, sometimes, they probably do move bits and pieces. Last time they had to move it because... was it... werewolves? Someone was mad, that's all I remember. I think that's when they got out of Washington, but it was before my time." Before her time? This girl would probably take that to mean 'ancient history'. Rosalind smiled for a brief moment before letting it fade.

Then the girl suggested a reading of tea leaves, and the professor sat up straight, prepared to show a girl a thing or two about tessomancy technique. Her own tea matched Willow's, nearly empty, with the terrible-tasting leaves bathing in the bottom. "Well, since you brought me cookies, we'll do one." She lifted her hand up, her left hand, and swirled the tea around the cup. "Non-dominant hand, clockwise three times."

Why those movements in particular? It was just the way it was. Perhaps turning it three times was somehow determined through magical science or magical thinking to be the most effective number for Divination. An explanation existed deep in a tome somewhere, but the routine was comfortable enough now that Professor Kibitzer didn't question it. Saucer on top, overturn the whole deal, let it drain, flip the cup. And voila, your future in a cup."

But she didn't turn the cup back over yet, as she demonstrated. "But you better have a question in mind for the cup. So think of a good one, now, Willow. I don't know about you, but I think the leaves might have something important to say to you if you ask the right question."

Interacting with @Rosalind Kibitzer
Mentioning @Flash Holmwood

Willow's eyebrow perked up at the reason Professor Kibitzer gave for refraining from moving to the states. It didn't seem like the most... convincing reason to have Willow stay away but it wasn't exactly something on her mind currently. She had a while to go before she was even close to thinking about where to go and what to do after Hogwarts. Although, maybe Willow could ask for a trip to Manhattan as a Hogwarts graduation gift just to see what it is like. "I didn't know that was a thing you have to do." A small sigh escaped, "There is so much to learn about wizards, goodness." Willow felt like she was always running and stumbling to catch up and grasp onto to all of the bits and pieces of knowledge that seemed essential.

Including information about the Ministry. A small blush grew on her face with her misunderstanding of what the Professor meant by it moving. She had no knowledge about Washington or even how old the Professor was. She learned that age could be different and weird with wizards so she didn't even try to estimate how long ago that was. She did assume Washington had to be nearby New York. For the moment she stayed silent, but quickly perked up when the Professor agreed to a tea leaf reading. She knew cookies were a good idea, her grandma always taught her to never come empty handed and that tip was working out well.

Willow sat up straight, and her nose scrunched up in concentration as she watched the Professor with hawk eyes. Her eyes moved up from the cup when she mentioned asking a question. Well of course, how could Willow forget about that step. Her eyes looked up to the ceiling in thought, wondering what in the world she could possibly know right now. Ah, her best friend immediately came to mind. The person she expected to spend all of her years at Hogwarts with. If anyone knew if that friendship would survive, it was the leaves. 'Will Flash and I be best friends forever?' With a nod of satisfaction at the question she reached out and took the tea cup in her left hand, swirling it clockwise three times. The Hufflepuff diligently followed the divination experts movements, not wanting to mess up anything about her first magical tea leaf reading.

Once following the rest of the steps, she gently flipped the cup and stood up to walk over and present her cup to Professor Kibitzer. Without any of her books she had absolutely no clue what the teas meant, so she was glad that she had the Professor to guide her through this. "Did I do it correctly?" Her voice was more matter-of-fact rather than feeling insecure. She knew that she was good at this, but the methods were unfamiliar so she just had to hope she followed the instructions properly.

"I dunno whose idea it was to start having registries for this stuff. Wands, Seers..." the professor grumbles, letting her qualms with the government distract her from the tea-reading process. When Willow made her concerns known, Rosalind waved them away with one hand, shaking her head. The world of Wizardry was exotic to Muggles, who spent their whole lives believing that everything in the world was bound by the constraints they knew, not realizing what existed beyond their own little world. "You've got the fundamentals of it down. Magic's what separates a wizard from a Muggle. The rest is just decoration."

The professor observed Willow's technique as she prepared for her question, thinking over the words she had said. Asking if she'd have her best friend forever. The professor couldn't help but let out a soft exhale through her nose, finding humour in the question. For a kid of her age, forever might not seem like that long of a time. "Juicy question," she noted dryly. The girl had the procedure down, it looked like, and the professor waited until she was finished for the girl to approach and present her cup. She leaned in to study the leaves at the bottom, stroking along her chin with her thumb and forefinger as she contemplated the mysterious patterns of leaves mushed together on the bottom of the cup. There must be some meaning to be found within them.

"The signs are good," she said, with an affirming nod. "The procedure was correct - but don't get cocky, now. The leaves can be wrong. If you want to keep... Flash? Is that... a person?"

The professor hesitated. She wasn't sure she wanted to continue down this route if "Flash" turned out to be a stuffed rabbit or a lightbulb or some other inanimate object the girl had attached to. She seemed sensible, but the children at Hogwarts often had unusual friends.

"If you want to keep Flash as your best friend, the cup doesn't have any say. You'll have to work for that. Especially if you want it forever," she added. "That's a long, long time."

The mentioned of time made Professor Kibitzer look toward the window, glancing down at her wrist afterward. There was no watch. It was just a reflex. A moment passed and she remembered to lift herh and, pointing to the girl's cup. "Good job," she said quietly, giving her some praise for following directions.

Interacting with @Rosalind Kibitzer

Willow blinked, watching the professor grumble about government stuff which Willow didn't really have an opinion on because she was... eleven. She also didn't know much about the wizard government in general, but it was mostly because she was eleven. But her eyes seemed to brighten back up when Professor Kibitzer mentioned that she was on the right path.

The sarcasm of the quality of her question went right over her head, nodding excitedly in agreement. "I think so!" She felt the eyes of the professor on her, and was mildly intimated by her gaze. She couldn't let it get to her, as a first year, she felt like she had to prove her worth to even be in her office. Taking up her precious time away from her lessons and third years. Especially since she had just arrived in the school and was probably still settling in.

Proudly presenting her successful cup to the Professor probably filled her with more pride than she had felt the entire school year. Divination truly was her bread and butter. "Flash is my best friend! He's a first year Slytherin, we met in Herbology. I actually call him my brother. He's the best." Her bright smile turned warm in thinking about her favorite person at Hogwarts, besides Professor Kibitzer. She listened intently to her advice, "Forever is a long time, but I think he'd be worth all of the work." After the praise which filled her heart with more joy than imaginable she glanced once more towards the door. "I should... probably get going." She stood up and gave a small bow awkwardly. "Thank you for your time Professor Kibitzer, and answering all my questions. I look forward to taking your class in third year, and I'll be sure to send you the green tea!" With a small wave she exited in the classroom, a renewed bounce in her step.

Willow has left the thread.