I need your advice. [Professor Wright] on Charms

Evelyn Stones

August 04, 2020 10:38 PM

I need your advice. [Professor Wright] by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn had been finalizing the final version of her own letter, addressed to the wizarding penitentiary in Oregon, when she'd received an owl. It was odd to see the two letters next to each other. To see what might have been next to what would be, and that the happy one and the sad one seemed very backwards. Or perhaps they were both sad? Certainly neither one made Evelyn exactly happy. There was a deep sense of relief that accompanied the new letter, though, and she wasn't sure how to feel about that. She also wasn't sure how to put it in words.

I'll come, but CJ will go back to his foster home when I go back to school. But she wouldn't get to. She'd be seventeen and then that would be it. Christmas had been it. Except that now it hadn't been.

Mathias Stones passed away in his cell on February XX, XXXX, and an investigation into his death confirmed that there was no foul play. We are sorry for this unpredictable and unpreventable loss.

Perhaps she should have gone to Ness first. Or Heinrich. They were both going to be impacted by this news and they had a lot to talk about, but Evelyn wasn't sure what she wanted to say first. She wanted to cry and she wasn't sure whether it was more from sadness and grief, or some amount of relief and, dare she say it, joy. There was a deep sense of loss, however, which surprised her. There had been almost no chance of things ever getting better, but now that was for sure. It was set in stone. The last time Evelyn would ever see her father was when she said goodbye, covered in bruises. The last time they talked was in letter form, written back and forth from her dorm and his jail cell. It would never be better than that. She was the girl with the mother who'd abandoned her and the father who died in prison for the way he treated her and . . . a snake bite? What a ridiculous way to go, after everything.

I'm doing this for CJ, not for you, and not for me. Can you promise I'll be safe at your house? But she wouldn't be safe.

It seems that Mr. Stones fell victim to a venomous snake's bite, as evidenced be wounds on his body, although no snake was found.

There were also more morbid thoughts where her mind turned to the funeral. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to go, but she was pretty sure she did. Or should. She was sure she'd rather go and regret it than not go and regret that. But what if Mr. Carmichael also went? How would that go? Would Heinrich come with her? How was she supposed to help CJ? Would he even understand?

I want to be able to have guests when I'd like. But she wouldn't have guests.

His body may be retrieved for burial by a designated adult, or buried in the institutional cemetery if not claimed.

These thoughts all swirled through Evelyn's head as she made her way from Pecari commons to Professor Wright's office. Perhaps it was the friction, but she felt warmer and angrier with every cycle. After everything she'd been through, after she'd finally gotten herself to write her own stupid letter, now her father went and died? And she got to clean up the mess he made, like always. It was not fair. But who was she supposed to be angry at? There was no one left but herself, and she didn't want to be angry at herself; she'd done that for long enough.

So she knocked on Professor Wright's door, even though they didn't have an appointment and even though she'd spent the last few weeks trying not to answer his questions because she really didn't have any answers until then. Until now.

When he let her in, she held up the letters. "News," she said blankly, her face empty of emotion; she couldn't pick which one to display. She gave him both letters, so he could see the whole picture. "Sorry to bother you, sir," she added. "I'm not sure how to tell Ness or Heinrich." She rubbed her scarred forearm. "I'm not sure what to tell myself," she admitted, trying to keep her eyes dry.

22 Evelyn Stones I need your advice. [Professor Wright] 1422 1 5

Grayson Wright

August 05, 2020 11:27 AM

You may have it, for whatever it's worth. by Grayson Wright

As soon as he saw Evelyn’s face, Gray knew something had happened, but not what. He was prepared to guess, however, that it wasn’t good.

He ushered her in quickly, accepting the papers she was handing him – the apparent ‘news’. He suspected another letter from her father, and had brief thoughts about strangling people before he glanced at the one not in her handwriting and froze, realizing that it was a piece of formal correspondence, not personal. From the prison itself. What the…

‘What the’ became clear quickly enough. He was too stunned to know what to tell her about it, either, he thought – it was so very bizarre. After all this – all Evelyn’s backs and forths, trying to build a life somewhere, after all the courts and social workers and failures of the system, after everything – and now, only days away from starting it all up again, the man was dead.

Strange, he thought. What were the odds? A venomous snake got inside a prison and bit someone who just happened to be on the verge of leaving the facility, almost certainly, given the sadism of the way he’d issued Evelyn his ultimatum last term, to offend again. Very little was impossible, but quite a lot was unlikely, and that seemed an incredible chain of events – like Fate finally taking some pity on Evelyn and intervening, if he was to be honest with himself what he thought about it.

Evelyn, however, might have different thoughts about it. He glanced also over the second piece of paper, expecting it to be more official documents, but instead finding Evelyn’s own handwriting. It seemed she had been working on a letter to her father before she received the prison’s message – one where she had been accepting the deal, with some reservations. No wonder the child was almost certainly going into a sort of shock right now.

“I can see why that might be the case,” he said when she said she didn’t know what to tell herself or others about the situation. “Sit down, sit down – do you want anything? Tea?” Wasn’t that what people did when other people had had shocks? He thought it was. “I’m not sure there’s anything you need to tell yourself right now,” he added, more to the point. “I’m sure this is a terrible shock…and that you might have, er, complicated feelings about it. It might not be the time to tell yourself things, unless they’re helpful….”

He decided to shut up before he talked himself into a contradiction and upset her more. Where was the Greene woman when you needed her? That wasn’t fair, though, really, this had all just happened, for one thing, and she could hardly be expected to simply appear from thin air whenever a student was in emotional distress, even one of her clients….

“You can stay here for a while, if you want,” he decided was a good way to conclude. “You can talk, or…not, if you don’t want to. You can just sit, if you want. I’m not sure there’s any really right or wrong way to respond to – all this.”

16 Grayson Wright You may have it, for whatever it's worth. 113 0 5

Evelyn Stones

August 06, 2020 11:06 AM

It's worth a lot. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn followed Professor Wright's directions - verbal and gestural - without much thought, taking a seat and waiting as he read the letters. It was odd to feel so blank, especially when it wasn't a nice blank. She didn't feel like a canvas, ready to be used for something beautiful, but an etch-a-sketch, shaken all the designs disappeared. She nodded because yes she did want something, but she wasn't sure what. Tea? Sure. A bacon sandwich? Sure. A bowl of cereal? Why not. She took the letters back from Professor Wright and considered them in her lap for a moment before setting the one from the prison back down on the desk and staring at the one she'd been writing. Her own handwriting, set on the page to betray her own safety.

"I think," she began slowly, forcing her eyes to focus as she looked up at Professor Wright. The poor man really did get the worst of her. "That I'm supposed to feel something. But I just keep thinking about the logistics. Of telling people who need to know. Of people who now have to keep fostering me, or else kick me out." She closed her eyes, surprised by the wave of feelings that did accompany the next thought as she tried to get it out. In the abstract, in the back of her mind, it was frightening but manageable. Saying it out loud made it real. "About the funeral." Her voice cracked and she hated it so she took a deep breath and forced herself to talk about this in a detached, nonchalant way. She was also pretty sure she hadn't told Professor Wright about anything that had happened with people who might be there, and she supposed that might be a conversation best reserved for Heinrich and Ness. But she really did need help. But she didn't want to think about all that again.

The conflicting feelings rising in her chest did the only thing they could do then and burst out in tears that streamed down her cheeks. She buried her face in her free hand and shook her head. "I'm so sorry," she managed between sobs. Above, snowflakes had appeared and were tumbling through the air. The letter she still held in her hands promptly burst into flames and the desk rumbled, shaking the contents and items on top. Evelyn gasped, shocked. and the fire burnt out - luckily, the letter did not burn to ash this time - as the desk stopped rumbling. The snowflakes kept coming. She looked up at Professor Wright with a grimace. "I'm so sorry," she said again.

22 Evelyn Stones It's worth a lot. 1422 0 5

Grayson Wright

August 07, 2020 11:26 AM

Then listen to this bit of it very carefully. by Grayson Wright

What would it be like, to find out that one of your parents had died like this?

It was not, all things considered, a topic Gray preferred to dwell on. His mother was in her seventies, and while that was not a very advanced age for a witch, he, at least, didn't know how being a Squib would affect her lifespan. Quite aside from that, though – Stones had not, to the best of his understanding, been an old man. This was a bolt from the blue. An act of pure Chance. No-one could have predicted it, braced themselves for it. How could one know how to react to something so sudden?

Or, he thought, with less reluctance and more anger, to something delivered so callously to a literal child. He knew that magical prisons could not, almost by definition, attract employees over-infused with the milk of human kindness – it was no easy task, containing wizards who didn’t want to be contained, and were by definition, in theory, those who had crossed lines that were not to be crossed already – but to send that letter to a child - !

There had, he thought angrily, been better options. Many of them. They could have reached out to the school. To the McLeods. To the social worker, if she was still involved. The psychologist. Any of those options would have been infinitely better, and he couldn’t think of many that could have been worse…

Since they had not availed themselves of good options, though, all he could do was try to help Evelyn through the consequences of their bad one. Unfortunately, this was not something his intellect seemed to extend to, and he wondered again where Lillian Greene was when you actually needed her, and what to say or do – until Evelyn suddenly burst into tears.

Without thinking, he crossed the room and knelt beside her chair, patting her back and going, “it’s all right – it’s all right – “ even as Evelyn accidentally lashed out at the paper in her hand and at his office.

“It’s all right,” he repeated, at more normal volume, as she mostly regained control. “You’re all right. I’m going to make it stop snowing now, all right?” He was careful as he took out his wand, careful not to make any abrupt movements that might startle her, and then muttered a countercharm. Slowly, his ceiling stopped emitting snow. “See? No harm done. You’re back in control – and you got there quickly, even in the midst of – all this. I’m proud of you for that, and you’ve nothing to apologize for – to me, or anyone else.”

He patted her shoulder again, hopefully in a comforting manner. “And you’re not going to have to handle any of this alone. You have a lot of people around you who care about you, who can help you handle these logistics, and whatever it is you feel or don’t feel. You have your foster-parents – who I very much doubt are going to kick you out – and Dr. Greene, and Professor Carter-Xavier…and me, for what that’s worth,” he added as an afterthought. “Whatever happens, you don’t have to handle it alone.”

16 Grayson Wright Then listen to this bit of it very carefully. 113 0 5

Evelyn Stones

August 07, 2020 12:02 PM

I hear you. by Evelyn Stones

Professor Wright drew up close to Evelyn and, to her surprise, it made everything suck a little less. That wasn't the sort of contact she generally appreciated but then, she didn't generally have people like Professor Wright in her life. She looked up to watch the countercharm take effect and all the little snowflakes disappear. "Are magical snowflakes all unique too? Or just the regular weather kind?" she asked looking back at him.

He said he was proud of her and her eyes welled up again. "Thank you, sir," she murmured. She thought it was a little funny that Professor Wright listed adults that were on her side, but then she realized that that's probably exactly what she needed to remember. Sure, she had Heinrich and Ness (and Gary and Parker), but she didn't just have Heinrich and Ness (and Gary and Parker). She had real adults, not just teenagers about to become adults, and she had people who could help her in more ways than just emotional support, although she had those too. In this case, other than Fionn, who Evelyn loved but was not half so close to as other McLeods/Langes, Professor Wright was the only grown-up man she had on her team. At least in the list presented. She supposed Kir was technically a grown-up but like . . . also not really.

With everything swirling in her mind, she wasn't sure why the funeral was such a sticking point for her. Perhaps it was because it was something that hadn't yet happened, when everything else was said and done. Perhaps it was because it was something that still could impact her safety in unknown ways. Perhaps because it was the one concrete thing in this hurricane. In any case, she had the distinct feeling that if that was okay, then everything else would feel a little bit okay.

She wiped her face with her hands, resisting the urge to wrap her arms around Professor Wright for what she was sure would be a very helpful hug, and blinked at him. "Sir, for my dad's funeral--" the word felt wrong in her mouth but she pushed past it "--how do I get a school pass to go? Could . . . maybe someone come with me?" She paused again, trying to think of how to say what she wanted to say without saying it. The problem was that she wasn't exactly sure what was wrong. It wasn't like she would be in any real danger at a funeral with other people around, particularly on a subject which the people in question would undoubtedly prefer to remain quiet. But the idea of going alone . . . that was terrifying. "My dad's boss will probably be there," she said, squirming and suddenly not liking how close Professor Wright was. Her hands came up defensively over her arms to press away the chills under her skin. "He used to come over and . . . wasn't very nice to me and . . . I don't know. I don't want to see him, but I know he'll be there. And I don't want to go alone." She grimaced again. "I'm not sure that Heinrich or someone would want to see him either though," she admitted, mostly to herself.

22 Evelyn Stones I hear you. 1422 0 5

Grayson Wright

August 07, 2020 3:55 PM

Good. Is there anything else I can do? by Grayson Wright

“I don’t know for sure,” Gray admitted when asked about the difference between magically created snowflakes and naturally occurring ones. “My best guess is that they’d be individualized. Water created - or gathered together, depending on which theory you prefer - through charms is drinkable, so it makes the most sense that it would form snowflakes...similarly at least.”

Body language in the broad sense of the term was not a subject he knew very well, but awkward and defensive body language was. It was a kind he used reasonably often and had learned to recognize in other awkward people, as it meant everyone involved could be made more comfortable. Seeing Evelyn slip into it, he immediately, automatically, even, withdrew from her personal space, glad for the excuse of logistics coming up again now that her sudden rush of violent emotion was over.

“I’m certain you can get a pass to attend the funeral,” he said, returning to his desk. “You’ll need to be escorted by an adult, of course, either one of the staff or one of your foster parents. As for Heinrich….” He hesitated, then offered his best guess there. “There’s no harm in asking if you may have a friend go with you as well for support,” he decided. “Though his guardian will most likely need to give him permission as well, if Professor Skies approves in general of giving him a pass as well. If I recall correctly, though, Mr. Hexenmeister also lives on this side of the country, so the owls can probably go back and forth in time – well, depending on what the arrangements are, time-wise.”

16 Grayson Wright Good. Is there anything else I can do? 113 0 5

Evelyn Stones

August 07, 2020 4:10 PM

Know where I can get some more snakes by chance? by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn wasn't sure which was worse, the idea of going with a staff member or with one of her foster parents. She didn't really want to go with either of them, to be honest. She didn't want to go on her own, but she also didn't want to take people who were going to be there as lookouts or chaperones. That seemed . . . impersonal at best. It also meant that she would possibly have the need to either disclose information to a staff person that she'd rather not, or else feel the need to keep herself together just to avoid conversation with the McLeods about what was going on in her head in seeing Mr. Carmichael there. Those both sounded dreadful.

Professor Wright seemed doubtful about Heinrich coming which made Evelyn feel more squirmy. She wondered if Uncle Karl would come as their chaperone. That might be better than someone who might ask her how she was doing afterwards, as most of the Hexenmeisters seemed to carry a common trait: stoicism. "I'll talk to Heinrich," Evelyn said, knowing she would have had to have done anyway. It wasn't going to be a fun conversation, but it was going to be a necessary one. Her eyes widened at another thought. "I was thinking that if he can go, perhaps his uncle could come as the adult? But actually . . . if he can't, or if he can, would you come with me, sir?" It was no secret that her Head of House was hugely pregnant and probably would not be up for standing for a while at a funeral for a stranger, nor was Evelyn particularly close to her. Professor Skies wouldn't have been so bad, but the woman had enough else on her plate and had seemed particularly stressed recently, or perhaps Evelyn was projecting. Professor Marsh would be almost hilarious to invite, in no small part because he would be absolutely terrifying to anyone who looked at her funny, or Professor Scary Brooding-Hawthorne, who would also be terrifying for her own reasons. But Professor Wright was hands down the professor she was closest to and he knew the most about what was going on, and if she got sad or scared and wanted a hug, if Heinrich wasn't there, then Professor Wright might be up for the challenge.

"I have to write to Miss Heidi about getting his. . . . getting him from the prison. I think she'll help with funeral things, as I'm not sure who's meant to plan them. I think my dad had money and can cover the costs . . . we'll probably have to sell the house, right? And all the stuff there . . . " She wouldn't live in Oregon anymore. She hadn't for a while, really, but it would be official. All of it would be gone, cleaned out for someone else to move in. Hopefully there would be no residual misery in the walls. "I probably have extended family, but none I'm close to."

The movie Christmas Carol came to mind and she wondered what her father's spirit would think of all the people who were either relieved to see him go, or sad to have lost a working man. His existence was replaceable - another employee could be hired, and another man could play father to his children. Heck, Professor Wright's awareness in the face of Evelyn's discomfort already proved he was a better man than her father was. Heinrich's parenting to CJ was better. Evelyn's parenting to Edgar was better and she wasn't even a human. There was nothing left of Mathias Stones except a child who wouldn't remember him and a child who wouldn't want him back if she could get him. What a devastatingly well-suited legacy.

She supposed there was also a child he hadn't ever met. She would have to tell Alexander. Or Nathaniel. Or both. Or something. Her brain began after the logistics again.

"Am I a bad person because I'm not really very sad?" she asked, meeting Professor Wright's gaze. "I'm a little sad. But most of my sad is not because he's gone . . . it's all the other stuff. Does that make me bad? Am I as bad as he was?"

22 Evelyn Stones Know where I can get some more snakes by chance? 1422 0 5

Grayson Wright

August 09, 2020 6:34 PM

...may I ask why you what you want them for first? by Grayson Wright

Gray was not sure if he was surprised by the request or not. He supposed he could have predicted it, or at least not found it surprising, given that in a daze immediately after finding out that her father was dead, she had evidently felt that the logical thing to do was to come here….

“If you’d like me to, of course, I’ll do that,” he said. He had, after all, offered whatever form of help she might want, and had meant it, barring anything so bizarre he highly doubted anyone would ask it. This was not an unreasonable request.

There were many downsides to not having a particularly expressive face, as a rule, but at the moment he suspected it might be a blessing. He was not sure any expression he might have lapsed into, upon hearing Evelyn talking about the details of arranging funerals and body retrievals and home sales, would have been helpful. Gray was not a particularly huggy person, but he at least wanted to tuck a blanket around her shoulders and assure her she needn’t worry about all that, that the responsible adults would manage it. It wasn’t something a child ought to have to worry about, frankly, but here they were….

“Would it be helpful, or anything, for one of us on the staff to write Ms. Heidi for you?” he asked gingerly. “Or the McLeods? Or anyone? I expect a lot of these questions will be easier to answer once there’s contact with these other people, but it’s quite understandable if you find it difficult to…engage with this, now. It’s not easy work.” His parents were still alive, but he remembered his grandmother’s death well enough, and had lived long enough to watch many people go through many things.

“No,” he said, relieved by a question which had a definite, instant, unambiguous – to his mind – answer. “Not at all. For one thing, th – he was, the reason he was where he was, it was because he hurt you badly. You weren’t sure you would survive going back there again.” He adjusted his glasses, purely to avoid expressing anger in a more visible way. “You, as far as I know, haven’t harmed anyone, or been a threat to anyone. You’re a good person. And – well – you might be sadder later. Or angrier. Or any, any number of things. From what I understand, it’s not uncommon to…take a while, to go through all the things you might feel. But even if you never want to shed a tear over him, you aren’t a bad person. Not at all.”

16 Grayson Wright ...may I ask why you what you want them for first? 113 0 5

Evelyn Stones

August 14, 2020 3:29 PM

Oh, just an unrelated funeral I've got coming up. by Evelyn Stones

"Thank you so much," Evelyn sighed, relieved. It was almost impressive how much pressure came off her shoulders in knowing she had somebody in her court already. This whole thing was going to suck anyway but at least she'd have good company. She'd ask Heinrich next. "Sir... I'm not sure whether you'd come to the funeral, or just be nearby, but you should know that there is likely to be someone in attendance at the funeral who . . . may be antagonistic towards me," she said, feeling a bit sick at the thought. "I won't have any other family there. I just don't want you to be surprised."

"I can write to the McLeods," she decided after a moment. "I'll talk to Ness first anyway. Ms. Heidi..." She sighed. It was so nice to think of accepting Professor Wright's offer for help but she really couldn't see how it would do her any good long term. She'd rather be able to make sure everything was going smoothly. "I think I can write to her too. Thank you though."

Professor Wright rather reminded her of Kir when he spoke of it being her father's fault he was in jail and not her own fault. Kir had had the same instant reaction to her not being a bad person and he had had the same, very intentional display of emotions that weren't anger too. They were also both very kind to her. She made a mental note to tell Kir sometime that he behaved like a proper adult sometimes, for however he'd take that, and then smiled softly at Professor Wright. "Thank you," she said. "I really really want to be a lawyer now. Or something like that," she said firmly. "I want to do better than anyone ever thought I could before I came to Sonora." She cocked her head, thinking over what he'd just told her. "I'd like to be a good person," she agreed.

22 Evelyn Stones Oh, just an unrelated funeral I've got coming up. 1422 0 5

Grayson Wright

August 15, 2020 4:07 PM

...do I want to know more? by Grayson Wright

Gray fought not to look as startled as he was by the idea of someone being uncouth enough to be antagonistic toward a sixteen-year-old girl at her father’s funeral. Even considering that her father had been no prize and therefore cast suspicion, by definition, on his associates….

“Noted,” he said. “I shall do my best to look very intimidating to ward whoever off,” he added, though he wouldn’t have been terribly surprised if the very idea had made her laugh. He was…well, if it came to a fight, he supposed he was good enough with a wand and at creative thinking to do as well as most people, but a bland-featured forty-year-old in glasses and without any extravagances of muscle mass was not someone who was going to do a very good job of coming across as intimidating. Most of the time, anyway. Perhaps with the right sort of personality, but as he both lacked that sort of personality and regarded said deficiency as good thing, that theory was not something he thought he would get to test out any time soon, unless the antagonistic person in question was the sort to be intimidated merely by the sight of dark suits and spectacles in combination. Which…didn’t seem entirely implausible, given that anyone who would go to the trouble of troubling a child at her father’s funeral was someone of revoltingly weak character. A coward through and through. He was a coward, too, of course, but there was such a thing as reasonable limits to that kind of thing.

He was still somewhat anxious about the prospect of a sixteen-year-old trying to participate in funeral arrangements – sure, they were adults at seventeen, legally speaking, but he had been seventeen once and he had not been remotely competent to take care of himself or anyone else; hell, he was forty now and would only rate himself so-so in that regard – but nodded just the same. “You’re welcome. Whatever you need,” he added.

As serious and upsetting as everything was, Gray couldn’t quite help smiling as Evelyn announced her intentions for the future. “Well, you won’t find me betting against you,” he said sincerely.

16 Grayson Wright ...do I want to know more? 113 0 5