In Waves [OPEN]

[blaise leo zabini]

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June 8th, 2027

A new school year once again. Everything ran a little differently at Hogwarts now, though his station was more or less the same. Teaching general education was the sort of life he wanted until it was time to retire, and as much as the Ministry and Board of Governors had begged him to teach in the upper level classes for the incoming Auror and Hit trainees, sticking with Defense Against the Dark Arts was what suited him best now. That had been cemented the night the fire had raged and he watched as his students frantically fought for their lives. So many had relied on and trusted him. He saw himself again, at seventeen years old during the Battle of Hogwarts, knowing that he had been wholly unprepared for what life had thrown at him. Teaching these children everything they needed to know in order to create superb witches and wizards was his role as an educator, and he could never throw that aside at this point. And anyways, the Heads of house had all been upgraded to more responsibilities as the High Council of Hogwarts. Continuing to teach his curriculum to the first through fifth years as he had the past few years would allow him to run the managerial side of the school as well. Trying to create complicated and stimulating classes for future law enforcement students would take all of that time away from him.

With the entrance ceremony for the LIFE students complete, Blaise still had several months until his own classes would begin. That didn’t mean he could lay about at home though. The introduction of the higher level education had changed the schedule around enough that the older students were treated more like muggle university students. He sort of liked that. Having them lumped in with eleven year olds had always seemed strange especially when they needed to be concentrating on what they wanted to do with their future careers. Now they had the freedom to do that.

So that was why he was on the new Hogwarts campus, taking a leisurely stroll to pass time until a meeting he needed to be at later on in the afternoon. Most of the LIFE students were ones he recognized as his most recent students at the OWL and NEWT level. They hadn’t changed much in the year apart, though he was sure that wouldn’t be the same for his actual students once they began in September. Merlin, they changed so much in the matter of a couple years. The class rosters had so many names he didn’t recognize, and it made him wonder how many families had decided to stop homeschooling and finally send their children to Hogwarts. It was modernized and could supposedly offer more professional options in its new state. While that was yet to be seen, that definitely tapped into the generation after him. Those that he had worked with in the Ministry were ambitious and wanted their children to be as well.

Stopping in the middle of the pathway to check his watch, Blaise was surprised to see that he still had two hours until his meeting. He couldn’t wait to have his students back again so that he could use them as scapegoats to avoid these things. They were worse than watching never-drying paint dry.

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[kaylee māhealani mahi'ai]

June 8, 2027

Kaylee had finished her studies at Hogwarts before it was rebuilt, but the idea of being able to attend classes for further education interested her. On top of that, she had all four of her younger siblings set to attend Hogwarts that year, since an elementary school had been added to the structure of how they were handling schooling there now. It was all very interesting to her, especially when she and her two siblings who were now students at LIFE had experience at Ilvermorny even before they had come to Hogwarts as it had been before.

Since their parents were living in Britain because of their father's work, it made things even easier. The students who wanted to live in the dormitories after the elementary level could, but they didn't have to. It gave people more flexibility.

Except, unfortunately, when one of her siblings forgot their textbook at home and didn't know where they had left it to attempt to summon it. Despite working at the museum, Kaylee had volunteered to bring it to LIFE for them (partly so she could check out the new Hogwarts campus for herself, in all honesty).

When she arrived at the campus that housed the three schools, Kaylee was shocked. She had seen the buildings from a distance in Hogsmeade as they were being built, but she hadn't seen them up close and in person yet. From a security standpoint, she assumed that there had to be some sort of front office where she could leave her sibling's forgotten book. Where that was, though, she hadn't a clue.

Walking around and knowing that she must have looked out of place, Kaylee realized that not all of the people around her were wearing uniforms. In fact, none of them were, and it took her a second to remember that only the students attending MAGIC had to wear uniform robes anymore. Fortunately, however, she spotted someone she recognized: Professor Zabini, her former Head of House as well as the Head of House for both of her siblings at LIFE.

"Professor Zabini?" she called. If anyone would know something, he would.

blaise leo zabini

[blaise leo zabini]

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Hearing his name called whilst on campus wasn't an infrequent occurrence by any means. The same could have been said about old Hogwarts, usually by the older students since the younger ones always found him 'intimidating'. Which he could understand. Minerva had guided him to use words and methods that weren't nearly as militant as the techniques he'd used for hit-wizard and obliviator trainees. These were children after all, not adults that were being prepped for mind erasing or state sanctioned murder. At the time, he had found it funny that not only was he learning new methods of teaching from one of his own former professors, but that McGonagall of all people thought he was too harsh. Blaise knew he could pull out dozens of his own memories that were exemplary examples of her Transfiguration class where she threatened to turn someone into a tea cozy or stripped them of a dozen house points for being a minute late. 'Learn from the best', as his own instructors at the Ministry had told him almost thirty years ago. Now he was at the top and supposedly passing that knowledge down as well.

Turning to see whom the voice belonged to, he was surprised to see that it was one of his former students, Kaylee Mahi'ai. "Miss Mahi'ai, I thought you graduated," Blaise commented as he approached her. "Though I suppose with how the school is now, you could be back for further education." Even though he only taught MAGIC, he had two of the younger Mahi'ai siblings still in Slytherin. Interesting that the family chose to stay and continue their children's education here. Ilvermorny was no slouch of a school, and had things taken longer with Hogwarts being rebuilt, Blaise had considered teaching at the American school. Then he would have been closer to his wife whenever she was working in LA. Alas, magic made repairs quick and things were finished in a year, and here he was. Back to how it was before.

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[kaylee māhealani mahi'ai]

June 8, 2027

Kaylee had been a good student at both Ilvermorny and Hogwarts, so she had no reason to fear Professor Zabini. That did little to minimize the awkwardness of his questioning if she were still a student there, though. Having the occasional nightmare about having forgotten to turn in homework despite no longer having homework to forget in the real world was one thing; it was another for her to worry that she might actually end up with detention somehow and have to explain that one to her boss.

"Yes, sir," she replied with a nod. "I've graduated, and I'm working at Merlin's Mystical Museum of Magic." Hopefully, that would clear that up, but it didn't explain why she was suddenly back at Hogwarts. "One of my younger siblings left their textbook at home this morning, and I was wondering where would be the best place for me to drop it off."

blaise leo zabini

[blaise leo zabini]

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"Ahhh the Merlin Museum...it's been a while since I visited," Blaise mused. While quite important for the folks that enjoyed history and odd magical items, it had very little significance for any of his careers. If he was recalling correctly, the last time he'd been there was when he took his children prior to them attending Hogwarts. He doubted it had changed much in the last decade. Not to mention that it was quite out of the way for anyone that was traveling by anything but disapparation. "I imagine you're rather busy during the summer months then?" Because there with the way Diagon Alley looked like during the school year, he could see how a magical museum would be almost dead.

Kaylee then mentioned that one of her younger siblings was still attending and had forgotten their textbook at home. The question was where the best place to find them would be. For a moment, Blaise almost asked her which school the sibling was in, forgetting that it was June and only LIFE students were currently in session. "Depends on what class they're in," Blaise stated as he looked up at the closest building. "You'll find that Hogwarts has expanded quite a bit. To be frank with you, I'm still trying to figure out the layout myself. But I'd be more than glad to help you find where you need to go." If anything, doing so would help him commit the campus layout to memory. He knew the old castle so well that it was jarring to make such a sudden switch. Even the husk of the former Hogwarts that had been saved and retrofitted to the new design was different. What was the muggle saying again? Can't teach an old dog new tricks? Blaise felt like that old dog now. He imagined in a number of years, former students would start teaching as well. Minerva had not been kidding when she said time moved quickly here.

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[kaylee māhealani mahi'ai]

June 8, 2027

Professor Zabini said that it had been a while since he had been to the museum, and he asked her if she was busy during the summer months. For her, the "busy" season didn't really depend on when the visitors were there; she was working in the back regardless of what the attendance was like. Still, for the sake of keeping the conversation flowing, Kaylee nodded her head. "Yes, sir," she replied. "There's a lot of people in and out." The museum was busier when there were more people available to go there, which meant whenever people were more likely to be off from work or school. She didn't know what it would be like once everything was back up and running at Hogwarts, since she had only been working there while the school was out of commission, but she guessed that it might be different with the option for day students and not just boarding students.

Back on the subject of her sibling's forgotten textbook, Professor Zabini's response wasn't as simple as having someplace to drop it off. He wasn't opposed to her having brought it, fortunately, but it was apparently a matter of which class they were in. "You'll find that Hogwarts has expanded quite a bit," Professor Zabini remarked. "To be frank with you, I'm still trying to figure out the layout myself. But I'd be more than glad to help you find where you need to go."

"That would be great, thank you, Professor Zabini," Kaylee told him appreciatively. Figuring out the layout of Hogwarts the first time had been confusing enough, and she wasn't really planning on spending all day there to do it again post-fire. With the school's having been rebuilt and expanded so much that it hardly resembled its former self, there was no telling how long it would take her to get around on her own.

Plus, if the new buildings were anything like the old castle, then it was likely that there was more than met the eye. Hidden passageways and moving staircases had been standard previously, after all, and it seemed pretty likely that those elements hadn't gone anywhere. It made Hogwarts more like a labyrinth at times, and it didn't help matters that the portraits that hung on the walls could only be relied upon to an extent.

"This is a Charms book. NEWT Studies," she added, "but I don't have my siblings' schedules memorized yet. Is there, like, an office where I could leave it with the professor?"

blaise leo zabini

[blaise leo zabini]

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While Hogwarts had changed drastically over the last year or so, this wasn’t the first time the campus was expansive. He had seen a number of old blueprints from centuries earlier, which ended up as a basis for several of the newer buildings, in which the school used to have several buildings or wings dedicated to entire fields of study. Quite unlike what he grew up with and started his teaching career in. The drafty, centralized moving staircases with the numerous towers were not always the way the castle was meant to be. With a lot of that destroyed and redone since the fire, he was pleased to see what had become of the school. Kaylee, explaining that her younger sibling’s book was for the NEWT studies Charms class, meant that Blaise had a decent idea on where she needed to go.

“There should be a general professors’ lounge of sorts, which you could leave it there. Or I can take you to the actual department area. Charms has an entire wing for the various teaching disciplines now, believe it or not,” Blaise explained as he started to walk in the direction of said building. He still didn’t know of every new subject that was being taught in the LIFE building, but it was quite impressive to say the least. This was the sort of thing that he would have killed to have during his time in school. Obviously the specialized training he received after graduation for the hit department was never going to be taught in the walls of Hogwarts if the school could help it. But having the upper classes as a more university learning style was smart. One of the few areas he had been on board with one-hundred percent since the inception a few years earlier. “Have you thought about coming back at all? I believe they allow older enrollees take classes as they wish,” he asked as they approached the building that held the Charms department.

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[kaylee māhealani mahi'ai]

June 8, 2027

"There should be a general professors' lounge of sorts, which you could leave it there," Professor Zabini told her initially. "Or I can take you to the actual department area. Charms has an entire wing for the various teaching disciplines now, believe it or not."

An entire wing just for Charms? Kaylee knew that she hadn't misheard Professor Zabini in actuality, but it was still shocking to hear. They had done a lot more than rebuild the school as it had been before. A whole wing devoted to one subject would have been unthinkable. Sure, some people had an interest in Charms, but it was never one of the more popular subjects, in her experience. Most people she knew from Ilvermorny and Hogwarts had at least had their sights set on pursuing flashier careers. Her interest in History of Magic and history in general was more of the exception than the rule.

Kaylee didn't think that having whole wings devoted to specific subjects was a bad thing at all, though. In fact, she thought it was pretty great. "Wow," she responded, impressed. She continued to walk along with the professor, almost wondering why nobody had thought to create maps for the new Hogwarts campus. Then again, it was probably a safety measure not to have something like that widely available.

"Have you thought about coming back at all? I believe they allow older enrollees take classes as they wish."

Professor Zabini's suggestion wasn't a bad one, either, though Kaylee wasn't sure if she wanted to go back to school or not. "I like my job," she acknowledged, "but I wouldn't be against taking a few classes at some point." As long as it wouldn't cost her money, she was happy to take the opportunity to continue her education. With more doors opening for further study in just about every career, she didn't want to end up falling behind her peers.

blaise leo zabini

[blaise leo zabini]

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The sheer size and volume of Hogwarts now was apparently similar to how it had been centuries prior. Blaise, in all of his intelligence gathering and strict adherence to knowing everything about his surroundings, had not known how detailed of a history the school had in the past. Changes like the one the castle went through weren’t frequent, of course, but had occurred on and off every couple hundred years or so. It all depended on what the magical community required from it. His time had been in a serious decline, no thanks to Voldemort, and it had been that way for quite a while too. With the burning, there was no reason not to improve and expand. Now, they were in an age of expansion again. The classes full of younger children were indicative of that.

Kaylee’s surprise at his example of the Charms wing was exactly the same way his own children had reacted, though they had been skeptical at first that their old man didn’t know where every single classroom and the detailed history of each new professor that had been hired. He sort of did, but only names to faces, and what their previous (or current) careers were. The influx of cursebreakers was definitely of interest to him, as he knew they followed whoever paid them the most. They were a group to keep an eye on.

Speaking of the cursebreakers, that ended up being a perfect segue from his thoughts to the conversation. ”Let’s see…if you’re working at the museum, then a couple of classes from the cursebreakers that are teaching now would definitely supplement that. They cover far more than any History of Magic class that I’ve sat in on.” No offense to his colleagues that taught in that department. While history was important, covering centuries old information across seven years really never cut it for him. There was simply too much to go through, and that always bored students. At least the cursebreakers focused on regions for a little while and moved on. Enough to pique interest in their field.

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[kaylee māhealani mahi'ai]

June 8, 2027

Her mentioning that she would consider going back to Hogwarts to further her education was of obvious interest to Professor Zabini, though Kaylee understood why. As Head of Slytherin House, he was one of the leaders of the entire school, and it was probably an unspoken part of his job to encourage more people to enroll. Kaylee didn't mind him mentioning the opportunities that were available to her. It was no secret that she was a little bit of a nerd, and that hadn't changed just because she had completed her NEWTs.

"Let's see…" Professor Zabini began. He went on to suggest that taking some courses from the Curse-Breakers who had started teaching at LIFE would be a good supplement to the work that she was already doing at the museum. Although she was an assistant archivist and not responsible for actually going and finding items of possible value, the way the Curse-Breakers were for Gringotts, Kaylee was sure that there would be some interesting elements of history in some of the Curse-Breaking courses. Knowing what had value and what needed to be preserved and how was important for everyone.

"There's a whole Ancient Studies department now, right, Professor? It's not just the, like, 'Escaping Cursed Tombs 101' stuff?" Kaylee asked for clarification. Some combination of the courses required for Curse-Breaking plus some of the more traditional History of Magic offerings would be good for the work that she was doing as well as what she wanted to do in the future. Plus, it was kind of hard to turn down the idea of getting access to a bigger and better Hogwarts library.

blaise leo zabini

[blaise leo zabini]

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The expansion of most of the departments had been unbelievable at first. While Blaise knew that he would have been perfectly suited for teaching the upper-level students, he almost felt obligated to stay with MAGIC now. There were plenty of capable professors now too, even if there were certain parts of some of the curriculum that he would do differently. Especially the American auror that was handling one of the LIFE courses for trainees. She had excellent presence in front of the class, but he was of the opinion that she was a tad bit young to be leading the next generation of aurors. At the same time, he remembered seeing Nottingham frequently during the attack on the castle, so he assumed her leadership saw something in her.

”That’s correct. The bank and the Aurors decided that they wanted to put their training programs into the LIFE curriculum. I assume there are some students in the beginning classes that aren’t on track for either career, and are merely curious about what the subjects are.” More like a university. That was what had been proposed during the reconstruction. The independence of the older students was important, and he could see how that would build more of a community again. The poor children had been through so much the last few years that they were more than grown up at this point.

”But if you wanted to take a single course, I don’t think they would turn you away. Everything is so new that they’re accepting any and all of the students that they can get.” Trust had to be rebuilt with the families of the younger students, and Blaise was somewhat surprised at how many parents had put their children into the pre-school-like program Hogwarts was offering now. He hated that his brain automatically called them ‘soft-targets’, only because he had been trained to have that sort of thinking drilled into him for three decades now. And it unfortunately came true. Thank Merlin he had been in his office that night. Had he been in the Great Hall, things may have gone differently for the students that were on the upper floors of the castle…

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[kaylee māhealani mahi'ai]

June 8, 2027

Professor Zabini stated that she was correct and that the training programs for Curse-Breakers and Aurors had been included in what was being taught at LIFE, but he also said that he assumed that some of the students who were taking the relevant courses weren't planning on having those specific careers.

That made sense to Kaylee, considering how few students were typically accepted into Auror training, for example. Instead of having one or two students in each classroom at the most, it made more sense for there to be courses that were as broadly applicable as possible so that other students could learn from them, too. Though she had only attended non-magical school before she had begun her magical schooling at Ilvermorny, it seemed more like what she knew of higher education for No-Majes. That wasn't a bad thing, though. Being able to learn more about everything under the sun would have been a great way to spend time; the thing was, Kaylee couldn't afford to be a student forever, and she wanted to do more than just learn and not do anything with that knowledge. Becoming a historian was still her goal, and making use of her time in Britain would be that much more important to her when she would eventually go home to Hawaii.

"But if you wanted to take a single course, I don't think they would turn you away," Professor Zabini continued. "Everything is so new that they're accepting any and all of the students that they can get."

Kaylee nodded. She had done well on her NEWTs in spite of the disruption to the end of her seventh year, so she wasn't too worried about the entry requirements for LIFE. Still, it wasn't something that she could just agree to right then and there. It would require some more planning on her part, and she would need to have a better idea of what she could study to know if it would be the right fit for her.

Taking a course or two when she could sounded reasonable enough, though, especially when trying to work under a historian as an apprentice was out of the question. That was unless she could find someone with the sort of wealth to pay her for an apprenticeship as though it were a job, and most people who were that wealthy probably weren't the type of people for whom she really wanted to work.

"Could I meet with you some other time to discuss my options, sir?" she asked. Talking over everything when she was just there to bring her sibling's textbook wasn't particularly ideal.

blaise leo zabini

[blaise leo zabini]

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Blaise often times forgot that not everyone that was wandering around the Hogwarts campus was also not on the same time as him. That had been a hard shift for him to make from the old days at the Ministry, as after a certain point, everyone that worked under him operated on his clock. When he said jump, they asked when. The only thing that truly mattered for him at the school was when he had class and office hours. Aside from that, he had become completely free. It was a little like retirement, in a way. Though over these last few years, it was also apparently just as, if not more, dangerous than being a Hit Wizard and Obliviator.

So when Kaylee asked him if they could meet at a different point in time to talk about all of this, he was caught off guard and blinked a few times at her. He had forgotten in that moment that she was no longer his student, having graduated, and that she had a life outside of Hogwarts now. Blaise bowed his head slightly at her. ”Of course, of course. My apologies.” He laughed at himself a little bit for holding her up. ”And I really should know more about what part-time students have available to them. Send me an owl if you’re interested, and I’ll collect all of the details for you about who you would need to get a hold of.” That was the least he could do for a former student. Over the last few years, Blaise found that he enjoyed having protégés that way instead of the ones he had in the Ministry. Children, while terrifying at times, were starting to be easier to work with than adults, funnily enough.

”If you go in that building right there,” he pointed ahead of them as they approached the one Kaylee needed to go into, ”The professors lounge should be inside and directly to your left. Just tell them I told you to leave the book there and they should be able to call your sibling down to grab it.” He’d seen it done a few times already. With allowing basically anyone onto the campus now, plenty of parents had stopped by to drop off forgotten items or textbooks. It was far easier to do so than mailing it like the old days. ”It was a pleasure seeing you again Miss Mahi’ai,” Blaise said goodbye before heading off in the direction he had originally been going.

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[kaylee māhealani mahi'ai]

June 8, 2027

Professor Zabini apologized to her when she asked about the possibility of meeting with him at some other time. Of course, he said, she could do that. He added that he needed to familiarize himself with the options available for part-time students. Presumably, there weren't very many of them so far, since LIFE had only just opened. "Send me an owl if you're interested, and I'll collect all of the details for you about who you would need to get a hold of."

"Great! Thank you, Professor," Kaylee replied. Though the man had an intimidating demeanor, he wasn't really that bad, and she didn't mind sending him a letter by owl as a follow-up to their conversation.

In relation to her reason for being back at Hogwarts that day, though, he indicated to her where she needed to go with her sibling's textbook. There was a professors' lounge in the building he pointed out, Professor Zabini said that she could tell whoever was in there that he had told her that she could leave it there for her sibling to collect.

Kaylee nodded as Professor Zabini told her that it was a pleasure to see her again. "Thank you again, sir," she told him as she went to deliver the book she'd been carrying around. "I'll write to you about the process for LIFE."

blaise leo zabini
Fin!