Catch The Snitch

[OOC - Thread reserved for Skylar Jones]

Mid-September, 2005

Cassandra thought her first class had gone well. No one had jumped up and started shouting that she was a fraud, anyway, so she allowed herself the hope that the threatening message she’d received upon her arrival to Hogwarts was the result of a single disgruntled individual and did not represent the opinions of the public in general. So for now she put the whole thought behind her as she descended the small, narrow staircase from her office to the back of her classroom. Today was the first day she would be holding office hours for any students seeking additional help, and she needed to open the trapdoor to the classroom so they could get through and up the cramped stairs to her office. Really, when she thought of it she was quite isolated tucked up in the North Tower. Would anyone even want to make the trek up here?

Opening the trapdoor was more of an invitation than a necessity. The classroom wasn’t locked, although Cassandra did lock up her office and private quarters at night and when she wasn’t there. She just wanted anyone coming up to feel invited and know they were welcome. After pulling the door open, she strode back across the classroom and up the small stairs to her office. It was mid-morning and the sun was just starting to come in through the windows. Cassandra had taken to leaving the thick window coverings open to allow more light into the already dark, attic-like space. Unfortunately there were no windows in her office so she had taken to lighting it with glowing orbs that hovered around the ceiling and allowed ample light. The office itself was rather sparse. The desk contained her quill and containers of purple ink as well as a few photos and the selenium crystal she had charmed to help block negative energy fields. A tall, scarred mahogany bookshelf stood against one wall and was full of literature in the subject of Divination. Although the volumes were neatly lined on the shelf, they did not follow any particular order like by author or subject. Cassandra liked things neat, but she did not need them orderly.

On the other side of the office was a matching mahogany cabinet containing Cassandra’s tea things and a few personal divining items. The cabinet was flanked on either side by two felt-upholstered armchairs; one dark red and the other dark purple. Aside from that, a few posters hung on the wall as well as a medium-sized ancient scrying mirror that had been passed down to the Seers on her mother’s side across the ages.

Cassandra hadn’t been sure if any students would need her help so early in the term, so she had saved herself a little project to work on in case no one came. She pulled out a small handbag she had taken to Diagon Alley last week and set it on her desk. The bag was charmed to hold much larger contents than it appeared it could, and Cassandra had purchased some new teacups to replace the older, chipped ones in the classroom. She now set to work pulling them out and unpacking them from their protective cases. It was quiet, the only sounds being the rustling of her unpacking the cups. She would likely hear someone as soon as they were coming up the trapdoor into the classroom below.

Skylar had finally decided to suck up the courage and head over to Cassandra’s office. The class was fine, I guess, but she wanted something more. While her father did love her, he kind of assumed she was a lost cause after the whole…incident. But she wanted to be something more, didn’t she? Of course, the Jones family was considered to be a wackoo nutso group of Ravenclaw Seers, but she’d already defied that stereotype, hadn’t she?

And it was that thought in her mind that led her straight to Cassandra’s office. She cautiously clambered up the ladder, two rungs at a time, careful not to bump her head. She plugged her nose, thinking it smelled of incense that made her wanna puke. As she reached for the trapdoor, she did indeed bonk her head, yelping as she climbed up into the classroom.

The place reminded her of her mom…her dead one, though she never had met her. She stared at Cassandra nervously, fidgeting with her hands. Hopefully none of her friends, however few they were, would wonder where she was. She briefly shut her eyes to drown out the impeding headache, before nodding slowly and turning back to Cass.

“Hey, I’m Sky, Skylar Jones. Uh…” She laid her hands blank at the table. “Jones….True Seer….my dad thinks I’m a lost cause…but…I wanna learn.” She stared at her fiercely, a brief fire in her eyes. “Seers are more than those tea reading methods and tarot cards, I know that.” She laughed. “Obviously, I totally get it, you’re a teacher. I don’t even know why ‘m doing this, but…” She shrugged haphazradly. “Thought I’d ask.”

Cassandra had barely begun unpacking the first cup when she heard the noise of an approaching person from below. She winced a little as she heard a slight yelp admitted as the person must have hit their head coming up the ladder into the classroom below. The school really was full of hazards - a conversation she’d been having only the other day with Professor Forrester, except about the moving staircases. She consoled herself with the thought that she had hit her own head several times coming up to the North Tower when she had been a student and allowed herself to instead feel excitement at the prospect of her first student visiting her for office hours. Perhaps someone was seeking further assistance on their first project?

She set down the teacup she had just unpacked on the sturdy desk and turned a smiling face to the wild-haired girl as she entered the office. Cassandra’s smile quickly faded to an expression of quiet concern as she noticed immediately that the girl did not seem well. She recognized her from Divination class, of course, but was glad that the girl first introduced herself as Sky Jones because Cassandra had not yet memorized all of her pupil’s names. Jones was a rather common last name, but when Sky mentioned she was from a line of Seers, Cassandra’s mind mentally flipped through surnames she knew. Ah, yes, the Jones Seer line. She recognized the name. She wondered, though, why this poor girl seemed so distressed. She maintained eye contact with Sky’s fierce one, noting the blaze of fire within them. She had no idea what was going on, but she had a sense this girl had been through a lot and had been burdened by a lot of secrets. Breaking the eye contact, she sat down in the chair behind her desk and settled herself in for a moment before looking back up at the girl.

“Sky, you’ve come to the right place,” she said finally. “Of course I will help you, but why don’t you first explain a little more to me.” Always one for manners, she gestured for Sky to sit at one of the winged chairs although she figured the girl would be more comfortable standing.