Of Comfort and Guidance PV: S.Clairmont Finished

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❂《 ⌜ February 12, 2024 ▎ Late Afternoon after classes ⌟

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Raizel can't deny that Sereia speaks the truth, especially about others being able to feel if one is overwhelmed. That was, after all, why she's been trying to avoid others that she knows, barely spending time with them as she doesn't want this dreadful feeling to spread. She felt bad when she realized that she accidentally let that mask slip off when she was practicing with EmmaLee before and while months have already passed since then, she can't help but think that she might've caused her trouble for her gloomy self.

Well, now she is kind of glad that she doesn't have tons of friends. She used to know people, those that she met during her first year. She thought that they would be able to stick around as friends for at least a couple years but they either left and never showed themselves again or turned out to be major assholes that thinks they are better than the other. While she had lost some, she had gained some and those people are the ones that she'd rather not be a burden too. She's already giving her duelling team a hard time for staying in the team when she's performing so bad, she can't add more to that.

“I would prefer them not noticing it to be honest.” Goes to show that Raizel should probably work on her masking skills, to the point that no one could tell what she's truly feeling. That'll save them the trouble. Sereia did earn a wondering look when she offered a hug towards the Gryffindor. One, it was weird that someone that she just met, even if she's a professor and clearly showing concern, is offering such a thing called a hug. Two, it is a bit embarrassing receiving one, especially out here even though Raizel somehow feels like it is just what she needs.

Then again, what can a hug fix? Can it fix her shattered confidence? Her poor duelling performance? Her ruined record that she has nothing to do with? No, not really. “I think I'm fine, professor.” She declined, respectfully of course. The thought of receiving a hug was heartwarming though but the Gryffindor let the awkwardness win this time and adding to that, she is still skeptical towards adults despite how friendly and caring Sereia is, how safe she is making her feel in her presence.

“Sorry, but I appreciate the thought.” Might as well tell her that it did make her feel heard. Maybe that's what she needs though, someone to just rant everything but she won't do that towards someone who is still a complete stranger. “It's not like you're bad or anything, professor… I just… don't know.” She is being too cautious but what does she know of what they do when they aren't in front of a student. Maybe Sereia, too, likes marking students absent for fun. No, she's probably overthinking cause Sereia showed nothing but genuine care. How could she lump her in the same level as that of Octavius Baird. “Well, you don't seem like someone who ruins people's academic life for fun at least.”

The moment she said that, her eyes widened in surprise, not meaning for that to slip. Who would even believe the word of a child? It could easily be brushed off by a single word of an adult, twisted with a bunch of lies to cover their own mistakes as they are too prideful to admit they were the ones wrong.

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⌜ Of Comfort and Guidance ⌟ | ⌜ WC: 582/200 ⌟
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Sereia's Calming Presence is in effect

Sereia sighed, not because she was frustrated, but because she could understand. But she wouldn't pry further. If there was one thing she always complained about as a teen, it was that too many people were in her business and she never had personal space. "Well, if it gets too much, my office is always open. North Tower in the Divination classroom." She said with a smile.

The professor nodded. Not everyone was into hugs and she could respect. "Of course, it was a question for a reason." It took a few months for her to even get comfortable holding hands with her boyfriend. It was an incredibly slow process because even he wasn't used to public displays of affection.

The next statement was certainly a shocker. Someone who ruins people's academic lives? Where did that come from? "I'm- what?" Sereia sputtered. "I do believe altering academic scores that isn't part of grade scaling is unfair conduct..."

This was not good. Someone ought to call a lawyer or at least conduct an audit on students' academic reports now. Or something. Sereia wasn't entirely sure what the protocols were for student achievement yet. That was something to look into soon. Sereia cleared her throat. "Right, would you be okay with telling me who it was? I'll see if staff were already working on something about it."

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❂《 ⌜ February 12, 2024 ▎ Late Afternoon after classes ⌟

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When was the last time that Raizel interacted with a professor? No, scratch that… interacted with a professor outside of class, big emphasis on the ‘outside of class’. It sure felt like these professors only exist within their own classroom but who could blame them. There are tons of students' papers to grade, homeworks, tests and only a few of them. Hogwarts should hire more of them and maybe those who actually know professionalism.

“I might take up your offer then, professor.” Perhaps someday, Raizel will give Sereia a visit since she did offer which was nice. “Maybe, sometime in the future, who knows.”

There was a huge pause, the Gryffindor letting her mind wander to a couple of things due to her blunder of speaking out about her experience with an unprofessional Ex-Professor. This is the first time she mentioned it, despite being accidental, to another professor and she sure was expecting for Sereia to just let it go. Then again, her asking about it was kind reassuring for Raizel. Someone was willing to hear about it but isn't it… a bit too late now?

She sighed, looking back to the frozen lake with a disappointed look on her face mixed with pent up anger. “It was the previous Astronomy Professor, Octavius Baird. No, he doesn't deserve to be called a professor. Sadly, he's already gone.” Mentioning his name was disgusting and Raizel would rather not mention him nor associate the word ‘professor’ to him. “Turns out he was marking me absent in all of his classes. Mind you, I wasn't.” She quickly followed it up with a serious tone. His son was kind enough to mark her present according to the letter he left anyway. “If you don't believe me, my classmates can vouch for me.”

Raizel may be a lazy student at first sight but she has an average to maintain. She is, as much as she doesn't want to admit it, a perfectionist… in a way at least cause if she was a pure perfectionist, all of her grades would be O by now but no, only certain subjects deserve her full effort. Speaking of, Sereai's actions might affect her grade in Divination once she starts taking it. Kind people deserve effort after all.

“I should've known better. I knew there was something funny going on when he called my name and immediately assumed I was absent during one of our classes.” Didn't he even call Alyssea Roadkill by then? And that she's dating his son? Gross. “In any case, what's done is done. I doubt there's anything I can do about it anymore, what anyone can do." The more she talks about it, the angrier she gets, the more her voice trembles. Her grip tightened around her broom, hands shaking due to the building up frustration. She wishes she could just scream it all out right now. “And that Baird even wished for me to get expelled for something I didn't do, can you imagine that? What a joke.”

There was no way the adults would work on this. They would cover it up, she just knows it. It would ruin Hogwarts' reputation after all. Not like it has that much of a reputation aside from hosting events that would always go wrong and leave children traumatized for the rest of their lives. She'd rather not have her hopes up.

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⌜ Of Comfort and Guidance ⌟ | ⌜ WC: 561/200 ⌟
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Sereia's Calming Presence is in effect

Sereia sighed. Oh dear, what was she to do? First thing to do when making an accusation was finding written records on top of eyewitness accounts. Written records always made for better evidence. It was highly unlikely Octavius left his records at school... unless the attendance records were kept somewhere in the staffroom. Yes, that would be feasible. She could only wonder how long it went on for. Months? Years? How long was Octavius a professor at Hogwarts?

Part of her wondered if it was also bad conduct of her to snoop through old records. Surely not, right?

Sereia frowned. "That is awful." She was lost for words, frankly. What else could she say? Apologies often felt wrong; Sereia wasn't in the wrong in this situation, just the messenger. Maybe during the summer, she'll sign up to a workshop on communicating with teenagers. That sounded like a solid plan.

She huffed and noticed the broom in the girl's hand. Right, that was still out there. She quickly looked around to see if anyone had been watching. Pleased by the sight of nobody around but aware of the darkening skies, Sereia leaned towards Raizel and whispered, "Time for dinner, soon. Don't tell anyone, but I'll let you off the hook with this one. Hide your broom before coming back to the castle, 'kay? Make it smaller with a spell- do you know Reducio yet? That could be useful."

With one final nod of her head, Sereia turned towards the stairs. "I'll see what I can do about amending your attendance, granted I'm still new and I don't know how some things work, yet. Again, if you need me, my office is always open to you."

Sereia quickly glanced at the broom before giving Raizel a wave and set up a jog up the stairs.

Leaving now. Take care!

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❂《 ⌜ February 12, 2024 ▎ Late Afternoon after classes ⌟

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What? What's this? This Professor is taking everything she says… seriously?

It was astonishing. It left Raizel speechless for a couple of seconds as she stares at this lovely person who's in front of her. Perhaps she's too trusting, a problem that she has since the beginning. For all she knows, Sereia is just saying all of these to calm her and wouldn't actually take action. Not to mention, something that has nothing to do with her subject. But here she is, offering assistance, to help fix things. She had lost all hope concerning this, that people would even bother helping, much more, a professor.

Was it just due to Sereia being new? Trying to build her image and getting into the good side of most of her students. She gotta earn their trust after all? No, it doesn't seem like that. Much like what she felt earlier, it's all genuine care. Maybe there is hope for these adults, that some of them can still be trusted. Ever since she suffered from this unfair and maybe, could even be considered bullying, by Octavius, it sure made her feel very skeptical. Who knows who else had been doing this, who else had been making her efforts meaningless.

Sereia letting her go without a detention was what sealed the deal. “You… you're a nice person.” She's not the type to keep the compliments to herself, especially towards anyone who had been nothing but kind to her. “Thank you, professor. This… really means a lot.” It felt heartwarming? Yeah, that's the word, something that she hasn't felt for a while now. She watched as the professor went on her way first, returning her wave with a wave of her own accompanied by a warm smile.

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⌜ Of Comfort and Guidance ⌟ | ⌜ WC: 292/200 ⌟
««««« Dialogue | #800000

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Thread End. Thank you for melting her heart