A lost cause

[Professor Carlyle]

It was a Saturday afternoon and as usual David Carlyle had planned the day with the best intentions- he'd decided to wake up early, actually have a decent breakfast for once, go for a nice walk around the grounds, and then finally get to marking those essays he really should have given back to his students by now. Of course, being a not-especially-organised person, David had misplaced said essays and spent most of that wonderful Saturday morning looking for them. His office now looked like a tornado had hit it. Glancing amongst a pile of other essays, David precariously crouched beside a stack of books which looked like it could topple if the lightest gust of wind brushed by iit. He wasn't the most coordinated person ever so, while crouching, he lost his balance thanks to his cat distractedly winding her way round his legs... long story short, he knocked over the huge stack of books, sending them sprawling over the floor of his office with a loud crash while Socks yelped loudly and bolted away from him.

"Fu- I mean... flipping heck!" he exclaimed, stopping himself swearing at the last minute and sighing, instead sitting down on his office floor amongst the piles of rubbish and giving up. David stretched then, reaching up to his desk and pulling his now-lukewarm cup of tea towards him, managing at least to pick it up without a major incident happening. Taking a sip of it then he stuck his tongue out with a "bleurgh," of disgust at the cold temperature of it, shaking his head slightly as he surveyed the mess around him. "How much do you think they really want those essays back, hmmm?" he commented, looking to Socks as if expecting the cat to actually answer. Seeing his cat staring past him, David then realised that his slightly ajar door had been pushed open fully and someone was standing in the doorway, witnessing the chaos of his office and a grown man now sat asking for advice from his cat.

((ooc: Anyone? I just really wanted to write as David, any and all are most welcome to be the person at the door!))

[taniahart]

((ooc: Hope you don’t mind Tania, I assume they’re back in school by now, and have been for a while now?))

“You know, talking to eenanimante obj-gects and aneemals dzat can not talk back are dze first signs of mental eellness,” Tania joked in her thick French accent as she stood in the doorway. This oblivious professor had finally noticed her. God help her if he actually knew his way around the castle.

Stepping inside his office she tiptoes around stacks of papers, strange muggle contraptions and other such things, “I was looking for ze Transfiguration class but do not know vw’ere it is.”

((ooc: Okay that was really complicated to write, I hope you understood it and I hope I sort of wrote a convincing French accent, I tried to put it what I’ve heard as much as possible. It’s so much easier to fake a French accent than to write one, haha.))

[Professor Carlyle]

"Aye? Well that memo about me being crazy has already been sent years ago," David remarked, looking up at the young girl who stood in the doorway. "Besides, though my cat may not be able to talk back but I can see what Socks wants to say from looking into the eyes," he joked, looking to his cat in a loving way before dropping the act and instead smiling cheerfully, reaching a hand out to gently usher Socks out of the way of harm as another stack of papers looked like it was ready to fall fairly soon.

Shaking his head, "Transfiguration? Uh no... I am definitely not important enought to teach Transfig," he commented with a good natured laugh. "It's down the corridor a bit, make a left at the statue of Herbert the Hunchback," David informed her before looking at her curiously, "You're new?" he asked, "And from France I assume from the accent. In which case, Bienvenue à... Hogwarts," he continued conversationally, slipping into French before deciding that you couldn't even attempt to pronounce 'Hogwarts' without sound like you were trying to take the mick out of the French accent. Shifting slightly, David then gingerly got to his feet, making sure not to disturb any more of the mess that had collapsed around him, before he smiled down at the girl now, glad to not be in danger of suffocation by falling parchment... that really would be the worst, most pathetic way to die.

((ooc: Thanks for replying! I hope this is okay? I didn't know whether she was new this year or not... if she's been there for longer than since September then let's just say David's bad with remembering faces!))

[taniahart]

“I think I ‘ave just walked into a beautiful mind,” Tania deadpanned. “Euh… dzen you don’t know where it ees no?” she asked, confused. She knew he wasn’t the transfiguration teacher that would require him changing genders and being much sterner with his pupils.

“Euh, thank you,” she said gratefully, still a little unsure as to whether or not he truly knew where said classroom was located. He talked to his cat for goodness sakes. Then again the girl in the bunk beside her in her common room talked to her stuffed animal bear named Clover. Tania nodded in response thinking this was a bit obvious and mundane considering every teacher she’d met seemed to look at her with delight as they said, “You’re new, and from France,” the Quidditch Professor seemed to quite like her, as well as the Head Healer in the Hospital wing. She’d gotten into a bit of a spill while on the Quidditch field and was trying out for Chaser, or Beater. Even though she really detested getting dirty she didn’t mind a jolly good victory and gloating afterwards.

Gryffindor would win if they had her on their team that was a no brainer. At least in her mind it wasn’t. She had never played Quidditch at Beauxbatons, at least not on any team. She wasn’t really known for doing anything physical, well… nothing sports wise anyways. She was popular, a fashionista, and never had a chipped nail in her life, which were always well manicured, and she prided in doing them herself. Really she had gone to the tryouts for purely selfish reasons. Their captain was truly gorgeous, and he didn’t mind flirting with her throughout the tryouts, or escorting her to the hospital wing when she actually did get on her broom and almost immediately got hit by a bludger.

“Professeur de merci,” she smiled, it felt so natural speaking in her mother tone, and she felt much more comfortable speaking French rather than English. Looking around his office Tania’s mouth puckered in a thoughtful expression. If there was one thing she was good at it was organisation. It was either that or makeovers. She may not be the brightest bulb in the world but she certainly knew how to tidy a place. “Do you… ‘ow do I say… do you ‘ave extra credeet, for…” she pointed to his office and waved her finger around as if to make her point more clearly, “For organeesation,” she added. Usually at her school they would be forced to do this sort of thing as punishment, but perhaps Hogwarts was more lenient, perhaps they gave… benefits to willing students. Tania knew with her track record for mediocre grades she desperately needed brownie points, and her French accent could only get her so far.

((ooc: That was perfect, thank you, I intended Tania to be new, only there since September, and was sorted into Gryffindor if that’s okay? Sorry it was a bit long, she apparently likes to think a lot.))

[Professor Carlyle]

"Aaaah sarcasm," David commented with a nevertheless cheerful smile, "Aye, go left after the Hunchback statue and it's the..." he broke off, closing his eyes for a moment while visualising the layout of the corridor, "...third door you come to," he informed her more specifically. To her thanks, David responded in her native tongue since he'd quickly realised she sounded more comfortable using it, "De rien," he said 'you're welcome', with a vague wave of his hand as if to say it truly was nothing.

Glancing curiously at the girl as she looked around his, admittedly disgracefully messy, office David shifted uncomfortably, scratching his cheek as was his usual 'tell' that he was embarassed. Mostly he just thought it wasn't a very good impression to make in front of a new student. His brow furrowing slightly as she struggled to communicate her thoughts he smiled, "Oh! No, not really. The things I give extra credit for are... well... knowing about Shakespeare... or any muggle playwright for that matter. But the other professors always frown on me giving students credit for reciting a sonnet or poem... apparently it's 'not enough, Professor Carlyle'," he said, doing a rather accurate impression of what Headmaster Gayfor had said to him on many occassions. Then, shaking his head he smiled kindly at the girl before bending to pick Socks up and gently tickling the cat's neck, causing it to purr in delight. Turning back to Tania then, "Je suis le professeur de 'Muggle Studies'... vous êtes dans ma classe?*" he asked then.

*(I'm the Muggle Studies professor, are you in my class?)

((ooc: Yep totally fine with me at least, haha! I guess she won't have taken Muggle Studies as one of her options then (don't know if they teach in at Beauxbatons I mean?) which could be an explanation as to why he doesn't recognise her then? Anyways, I have him asking her whether she's taking the subject so... you can choose hehe.))

[taniahart]

“Euh… right troisième porte à gauche,” she said while pointing to her right, “Mais no, à gauche, left,” she corrected herself gesturing with her left hand. Tania smiled immediately as the Professor spoke again in French. He was fairly good at the accent too most people butchered her language, which really saddened her to hear.

“Really?” Tania’s turquoise eyes lit up. Being Muggleborn Tania knew plenty of Shakespeare and other such nonsense, that was how she learned English through reading and going to the theatre or the cinema. As he began speaking French again she slipped into her mother tongue effortlessly. “Non je ne prends des études de Muggle. Je suis Muggleborn et ai donc pensé cela inutile,” she said then realising this might sound offensive when she didn’t mean it to (it was a habit Tania did often, offend people, but with Professor’s she was trying very hard not to). “Euh, mais, Je do know Shakespeare, et many others,” she said realising that perhaps if she had wanted an easy class perhaps she should have taken Muggle Studies.

*third door on the left
**But no or oh no, left.
**No I am not taking Muggle studies. I am Muggleborn, and therefore thought it unnecessary. (interesting fact I learned something new today. I knew the verb penser means to think, but I never knew that cela means that or [/i]it[/i] such as après cela means after that)

((ooc: I love writing French, even though I am using a translator for most of that, which is bad of me, I should know everything but I don’t, it may be wrong due to the translation? Pardon me if it is. I figure she might be taking DADA, Potions, Transfiguration, and maybe History of Magic, Astronomy, or Ancient Ruins, and oh Arithmancy if she must. ))

[Professor Carlyle]

"Oui, c'est la gauche," he indicated 'left' with his hand and then 'right, "Et c'est le droit," David continued, speaking quite easily in her mother tongue. Having been an ambassador for the Ministry had meant you had to know French to a high degree, naturally, as most political business was conducted in French to this very day. "J'espère que je ne suis pas d'endommager votre langue avec ma prononciation*," David smiled kindly at the young girl.

Nodding in the affirmative he asked quickly, excitedly, "You like Shakespeare? It's the surest way to my heart, give me a sonnet any day and I'm yours," he joked easily with a chuckle, looking down at Socks then and giving the poor cat some much needed attention in the form of scratching behind its ears. Nodding along to show he was still listening to her, David smiled to himself as she talked on Muggle Studies, "Oui, je comprends. Je suis aussi 'Muggleborn' mais j'aime tout ce qui concerne la culture alors je enseigner la leçon**," he explained simply, not at all offended by her opinion on the futility of Muggle Studies if you were Muggle- it had been an opinion most of David's family shared, they couldn't quite understand why he wanted to enrich the minds of the young wizard folk with the delights of everything muggle! Then, he suddenly looked up from his cat to the girl, "Oh! Excusez-moi d'être terriblement impoli. Je ne me suis pas présenté... mon nom est professeur 'David Carlyle'. Et vous?***" he inquiried in a light hearted manner of the teenager.

*I hope I am not damaging your language with my pronunciation.
**I am also a 'muggle' but I love everything about the culture so I teach the lesson.
***Excuse me for being terribly impolite. I haven't introduced myself, my name is David Carlyle. And you?

((ooc: Don't worry, hehe, I take Spanish so I have no idea on French, I recognise a few words since both languages come from Latinate roots but aside from that I'm clueless without a translator. Ooo okay, just checking that David has an excuse as to why he doesn't know her yet.))