Much-Needed Advice

[Gail Lawrence]

Gail nearly ran through the halls. She had been held up after her last class and barely had time to drop her bag back in Ravenclaw Tower. Now she went through hallways and up stairs, trying to get to Professor Raynor’s office on time for her Career Advice. She had run over a firstie a couple floors back and what looked like the Head Girl as she rounded that last corner.

Finally, she saw Raynor’s office at the end of the corridor, evening sunlight streaming onto the door. As she arrived, she held off knocking so she could catch her breath. Gail could not believe that five years had already passed. Just a couple years ago she too was a naïve firstie. Well, that time had gone down the drain long ago.

Shaking her head, she went from one thought to the next. What would she tell Raynor about her plans? Truth was, Gail was fairly sure what she wanted to do, but she could not decide whether to voice that decision aloud, even with privacy assured. There was what she wanted to do, and there was what she wanted to do in reality. And lying was no more appealing than telling the truth.

Pulling out of her thoughts at last, Gail gave a last reluctant glance at Raynor’s door, as though it would bite her. In the end, she knocked hard upon the door, perhaps a little harder than she intended, and waited for the anticipated response.

[Tamis Raynor]

The Ravenclaw might have been on time, but the Professor was not and thus the girl was not alone in her excursion of trampling through the halls. While once upon a time, Deputy Raynor might have ran, she did not dare do so now. She could forget to leap a missing step in the stairs or even trip over her own feet and fall flat on her face. Such concepts had never worried her before, but they did now. Oh, over caution was not necessary, but if she fell wrong... she did not need to be overcautious, but some did not hurt.

Therefore, Tamis settled for a very brisk walk. This whole idea of something -- someone -- growing inside of her was not one that she found easy to adjust to, and yes, she was paranoid.

She arrived at the corridor in a matter of minutes after Gail, whom had just knocked on her office door with considerable power. Not a slam or a pound mind, but considerable enough to make it rebound with the force.

"Well, Miss Lawrence," she stated in a nonchalant tone, "I daresay if you had knocked any harder, you might have knocked my door right off its hinges."

The Professor came up behind the girl whom, like the vast majority of the school above their first year, towered over her own petite stature.

[Gail Lawrence]

Gail was surprised to hear Raynor’s voice come from behind her. She suppressed the urge to jump, instead pulling her head up and turning around to face her head of house.

Gail was almost always sitting in Raynor’s presence, and she had barely realized Raynor was so short. The Ravenclaw was now several inches taller than the professor she remembered looking up to – in height and in principle.

Restoring her calm, she said, “Hardly my intention, professor.” A small smile graced her face. “It is nice to know I’m not the only one running late, though.”

Her foot began shaking absently, and Gail waited for Raynor to open the door. She had no desire to hold this meeting in the hallway for all to hear.

[Tamis Raynor]

"I rather it was, Miss Lawrence. For you it is running late, for me it is a lack of responsibility and a dip in my reputation," but Professor Raynor chuckled and then clearing her throat, motioned to the door (it would be considered more than rude if she shoved the girl out of the way to open it herself). "I do not believe it would be proper edicate to hold the meeting out here, and the portraits are more than slightly curious. If you will lead the way?"

This would be the first actual, personal confrontation between herself and Gail. As she was a Ravenclaw, Tamis may know a bit more about the girl herself. Family relations she might have, progress in school, anything that an overseer might look for and be satisfied yet, but she had yet to actually get to know the girl herself. If anything, she was displaying a promising show of wit, but she would expect no less from a Ravenclaw.

[Gail Lawrence]

With a bit of humor, Raynor motioned that she should open the door. Gail reached out and found it locked. Hardly surprising with the professor out of the office. With a flick of her wand, the door unlatched, and Gail led the way into the office.

Once inside, she found that things were rather disarrayed. Dark detectors, creatures in tanks, and papers half-graded were spread out over multiple surfaces. She had been in this office only once before, as a first year, and she had forgotten the room was quite so cluttered. (Gail doubted her Head of House remembered the meeting. It was short, and Gail had changed significantly since then.)

Quickly remembering that Raynor was behind her, Gail found a seat near the desk and sat down. Her back was straight, and she sat right on the edge of the chair. From behind her, she could hear Raynor close the door. Impatience growing, the Ravenclaw watched her professor come around the desk and take the seat opposite.

[Tamis Raynor]

The fact that the door was locked was a mystery to Tamis indeed, her door was always unlocked, closed or otherwise. It was a common place to students, more oft than not, she had one or two lounging in chairs waiting for her return. However, her mind did slip her now days and with how she had rushed out of the office, it was not impossible.

Following the girl in, Raynor closed the door behind the them, indeed, not recalling the meeting at all. Reasonable as it had been a good four years ago. Unless the girl had tried to bring the office down from its roots, she would not have recalled it.

Taking a seat, she acknowledged the girl's tense frame with an arched eyebrow, "relax, Miss Lawrence, this isn't a matter of life and death, and despite the rumors, I bite but not as hard as they say."

[Gail Lawrence]

Raynor made a cute comment about being afraid. Gail looked at her head of house. She decided to humor the professor, for Raynor did not bite. “A bite is, nonetheless, an injury. I’d like to avoid that.”

Gail relaxed slightly, but her mind was still on edge. She disliked not knowing what would come next. As the professor seemed content to let her student begin the conversation, Gail decided to end the silence.

“Professor, what is involved in this meeting?” she asked. “There are some plans I’ve made for myself, but they may not be the best. So, what do you need to know from me?”

[Tamis Raynor]

Of course, there was nothing more than the Deputy enjoyed more than toying with her students, under reasonable circumstances of course, but enjoy it she did. Very content to let the Ravenclaw get things rolling, Professor Raynor leaned back in her chair, listing to the girl attentively.

"Well, let me hear these grand plans of yours, first off and we will go from there. This is nothing more than a consolation, I'm not here to tell you what your suppose to do, you're suppose to tell me."

Easy enough. As long as it was reasonable and not completely out of reasonable reach of the student, there was no reason they could not do what they wanted to.

[Gail Lawrence]

Ah. Raynor had asked the essential question. Gail noticed her hands were shaking slightly and took a deep breath. With her nerves under control, she began her tale.

“For quite a while, I liked studying theory. I read up and thought seriously about trying to join the Committee on Experimental Charms. But I don’t think that’s a reasonable option for me anymore. Now, I… I—”

Gail took another breath and met Raynor’s eyes. This was the big moment. To tell the truth or to lie? That is the question.

It came out very quickly. “I think I want to be a Healer.”

I can’t believe I told her!

Raynor seemed ready to respond, but Gail barely noticed. She finally lost her composure. “I don’t know if I can do it, though. I mean, I’m pretty good with a wand, but I can’t make potions, and I can’t keep a plant alive in Herbology to save my life. So that’s a good part of the requirements that I really don’t know. And I didn’t take Care of Magical Creatures. I mean, I was 13 at the time, for heaven’s sake. How am I supposed to know—”

Finally, she took a breath. Panic was truly setting in. Raynor seemed to take pity on her student, and Gail’s rambling was cut short.

[Tamis Raynor]

"Easy, Miss Lawrence, yes, deep breath, there you are. Very good," Tamis cut in as the girl began to take a deep steading breath. She had rushed so quickly through her speech on her worries about becoming a healer that Tamis only snagged about half of it. Now she was desperately trying to figure out the full of what the girl had said. Gail did indeed look on the urge of a panic attack.

However, the Professor could not help but wonder why half the fifth years wished to become healers. It had to be a Ravenclaw thing.

"Care of the Magical Creatures would be a good subject to take, especially with a woman as knowledgeable in it as Professor Davenport, however, you do need to take Potions, Herebology, Transfiguration, Charms and my own class at N.E.W.T.s level and pass with an E, which means you need to pass your O.W.L.s in all those subjects as well."

She paused for a moment at the girls Herbology problem, "I would suggest seeking out the help of Allegra Thornton or even Professor Shaw himself, ask for extra help in herbology. Tutoring couldn't hurt and if you are serious about being a Healer, its a good idea."

[Gail Lawrence]

Gail was relieved that Raynor interrupted her rambling. As the professor dispensed her advice, she evened out her breathing. She barely caught most of the words, but Gail did hear about talking to Allegra or Professor Shaw about Herbology. Personally, she knew who she would prefer to talk to, but talking to both would probably be beneficial.

There was some mention of which classes she would need to take. Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Defense, and…Herbology, that was it. Gail frowned a moment.

“What score do I need on my OWLs to get into those classes?” Despite all the emphasis on OWLs, there had been discussion of passing scores, but nothing about what was needed to continue to NEWT classes.

[Tamis Raynor]

"Well, with the exception of Herbology, you are going to need to score an 'Exceeding Expectations' or higher to get into the N.E.W.T.s classes. Professor Shaw allows you to sneak by with an 'Acceptable' in his class," the Professor explained. Her lips pursed ever so slightly however, which was enough to show her feelings about that. But he was not the only one and therefore could be forgiven.

Taking a sip from her teacup, the Deputy massaged her thumb on its brim as she continued.

"Once in your N.E.W.T.s classes, as I stated, you will again need to pass with at least 'Exceeding Expectations' in all of them, but with how competitive the healing industry is becoming, I would score for 'Outstanding' in your better of those subjects", she finished.

It was not to sway the girl from taking on the occupation, but simply giving her the reality of the situation. Professor Raynor did not baby her students, while the best intentions may come from such, it was unhealthy to those you were trying to protect in the long run.

[Gail Lawrence]

Gail thought for a moment about what Raynor had said. Exceeds Expectations. She was already achieving on that level in Transfiguration and Defense was borderline O. Charms was probably a high A and could be brought up with a bit of work. The Acceptable grade in Herbology was promising. She was performing on that level already and could possibly put off tutoring there until next year. However…

“You said Exceeds Expecations in Potions, didn’t you?” Gail said.

Raynor nodded, and Gail winced.

“I’ll need to talk to Professor J too. I think I’m only getting an A in Potions.” She settled back into thought for a moment. “My two electives are Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. I’m probably A-level in both. Would either of those be beneficial, or should I cut them loose after OWLs?”

Raynor opened her mouth, but before she could answer, Gail thought of something else. “Also, since I haven’t taken Care of Magical Creatures on the normal level, I can’t take it at the NEWT level. What do I do about that?”