everything you say is a sweet revelation [ophelia]

[Deleted]

School was about to go back into session, which meant that Imogen was going to be more or less trapped at Hogwarts. She didn't like the idea of staying put in one place for so long, but Imogen was hoping that it could be a fresh start. She loved her old job, she really did, but Imogen was ready to start changing the world in bigger ways. After all, those who held the children held the future, and Imogen was hoping that she could make the future a lot bigger and brighter and better. That was, if she could ever get past the whole new people thing. She wasn't sure how that was going to work, but Imogen had high hopes.

Before she went off to Hogwarts, though, Imogen wanted to see Ophelia one last time. She was waiting for her friend in the cafe at St. Mungo's, and had ordered coffees for the both of them while she waited for Ophelia's break to begin.

Ophelia Mae Teller

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia was delighted when Imogen asked her for coffee; Im was one of Ophelia's oldest and bestest friends from Hogwarts.  Im had been there for her when her mother had died of cancer her fourth year, just as Ophie had been there for her when she first publicly came out as Imogen.  She was so proud of Im when she had gotten the Charms professor position at Hogwarts, but would definitely miss being able to go out with her whenever they wanted to - but she supposed this would just give her an excuse to visit Hogwarts on her days off!

Today had been exceptionally busy for Ophelia; a family squabble had broken out, causing multiple hexes and curses to be fired over breakfast and thus multiple new patients for St. Mungos.  When the last of them had hopped away with the Healer, Ophelia put her little sign that said 'Lunch..back in 30 minutes' and bounded up the stairs to where her friend was waiting with two coffees.  "Im!" Ophelia exclaimed, hugging her friend and plopping down in the seat next to her.  "This morning's been crazy!  Families cursing each other, someone who I'm pretty sure had Dragon Pox, and a man whose Nose-Biting teacup latched itself onto...well, down there," she said with a small shudder.  "But more importantly, how are you?  Are you getting excited to return to Hogwarts?" she asked with a big smile.

@imogen

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Ophelia really was the perfect Hufflepuff. It was a good thing that Imogen didn’t get jealous easily, because that definitely was the sort of thing that would make her jealous. Imogen was a Hufflepuff more because of her patience and dedication than her can-do attitude (or lack thereof). Seeing Phee come bounding down the stairs like a caffeinated rabbit was something that never ceased to put a smile on Imogen’s face; she mentally added that to the list of things that she would miss when she was at Hogwarts. Imogen listened patiently as Ophelia gave the morning report – crazy families and dragon pox and a Nose-Biting teacup to the nether regions – and winced as each item was rattled off. None of those things sounded particularly pleasant.

“My day’s been decidedly less graphic.” Imogen laughed. “Packing, mostly. I’m actually kind of nervous, Phee – the more I think about it, the less sure I am that the Hogwarts life is for me.” Of course, Ophelia would be quick to dispel all those notions. Teaching was one of Imogen’s passions, even if she hadn’t always followed it like she did her other callings. “I guess I’m excited, too, though.” She admitted. Rumors had been circulating about the Triwizard Tournament coming to Hogwarts, something that hadn’t happened since before Imogen had been in school herself. It was sure to make for an interesting year if the rumors were true.

Ophelia Mae Teller

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia reached over and squeezed her friends hand. "You should be excited Im, this is an amazing opportunity! Charms is one of the most popular classes at Hogwarts, and you'll soon become their most popular teacher," she predicted with a big grin.  Perhaps she was overreaching; Professor Longbottom had been a particular favorite of hers when she and Im were at school, even though she had been rubbish at Herbology.  He was Headmaster now though, so perhaps it was time for a new professor to be the favorite in the hearts of students!  "Are you thinking about getting a pet Im?  Someone to keep you company?" she asked her.  Im did not have any pets yet, while Ophie had her Pam, a young Turkish Van cat that she loved more than anything.  "I was thinking about purchasing an owl this week, you know so we can actually keep up a correspondence when you move all the way to Hogwarts.  Come with me and see if any one of them speaks to you!" she suggested.  She had been debating on getting an owl for awhile, but couldn't bear to keep one in a cage for lengthy periods of time.  Now that she lived on the top floor of her building, she could set up a little outdoor space for one so that they could soar the skies at night as they pleased.  She'd have to keep some Muggle repelling charms on it of course, but it would be worth the extra effort.

@imogen

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Charms was one of the most popular Hogwarts classes, wasn’t it? It was a core subject, and honestly one of the only classes where you got to learn magic that was both light-hearted and applicable to everyday use. Sure, subjects like Defense were markedly more popular, but that was only because fear of a new Dark Lord had been the zeitgeist of the past decade or so in the Wizarding world, and with a new unknown threat, it was popular again. “I doubt I’ll be anyone’s favorite professor.” Imogen said, rolling her eyes. It was difficult for her to make connections with people without getting to know them quite a bit first, and she wasn’t sure she had the sort of personality that naturally attracted people. She wasn’t like Ophelia, who was a ray of sunshine no matter where she went.

“I might get an owl or something.” Im replied with a shrug. “I don’t know how much free time I’ll have and I’d hate for a poor animal to be stuck with me when I can barely make the time to feed it.” Besides, changing careers wasn’t exactly a good time to add a pet into the mix. “Maybe at Christmas, when I’ve settled down more.” Imogen frowned a bit at the implication that she and Ophelia wouldn’t be communicating as regularly. It was true, she supposed, but still not a happy thought. “That would be nice – I would miss talking to you.” Im replied, trying to seem as casual as possible. “But we can still visit each other on Hogsmeade weekends and the like, right?”

Ophelia Mae Teller

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia laughed. "Come now Im, you certainly won't be able to become anyone's favorite professor with that attitude!" she exclaimed.  She patted her friends hand.  "You have to have a little faith in yourself, you know I have all the faith in the world in you," she told her kindly.  "Well we can use my new owl for the meantime, I'm debating between a snowy, an eagle, a barn or a Great Horned owl," she said, then laughed.  "Of course I just named the most popular breeds that go to Hogwarts.  Perhaps I'll just know when I go into Eyelops which one of them is my owl.  We'll bond and such, and then their name will just come to me," she added, still giggling.  "You should get an owl though; and you don't have to worry nearly as much as you think!  That's what the Owlery is for at Hogwarts," she said.  Plenty of her friends at school had owned owls; they hadn't had any complaints about not having the time to care for their owls.  "I really think you should consider it Im, just come with me anyway!" she told her friend pointedly.

@imogen

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Ophelia’s positivity was something that Imogen needed in her life, and she was glad that she had someone like Ophelia to bring her mind out of the negative. She could be someone’s favorite professor, as long as she remembered to channel some of Ophie’s infectious laughter and happiness. Imogen was feeling marginally more confident, and moving on to the discussion about the owl was slightly easier with that behind her. “Maybe you should get a really rare kind of owl, so it’s easy to spot in the crowd.” Imogen said with a smile. That way she wouldn’t have to wait to see if an owl landed at her place at the table – she could just look for a smear of color in the inundation of birds. “I suppose I will get an owl, then.” Imogen decided. “Do you think that they have owls whose feathers are charmed to be green? That way you could just look for one that looks like that one hair color I like.” Imogen had been alternating between green and lilac hair for a while, though she was also beginning to experiment with a rainbow gradient style. “I will go with you! We can do that tomorrow, maybe, before I leave?” Imogen suggested.

Ophelia Mae Teller

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia beamed as Imogen finally relented and said she'd consider getting an owl. "I definitely want to get a rare owl! Something unique and memorable, kind of like you," she said, nudging her friend with a small laugh. "I'm hoping to have an instant connection with one of the owls when I get to Eyelops, no matter what they look like.  If I feel that the connections right, I'll buy them," she told her confidently.  She'd never heard of anyone else who picked an owl based on connection, but she didn't want to be like everyone else anyway.  "I'm sure you can charm an owls feathers regardless of their colour, but maybe a snowy owl would be easier to work with?  I'm sure the owners of the shop would be able to help you," she mused, playing with a lock of her brown hair that had fallen out of her ponytail.  Looking back up at her friend, Ophie allowed a teensy bit of sadness creep into her smile.  "I'm glad you'll get an owl Im; I'm going to miss you like mad while you're at Hogwarts," she admitted.

@imogen

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Imogen laughed when her friend said she was unique and memorable. Unique she would concede, but there were some days when Imogen tried to be as unmemorable as possible. If people didn't notice her, they couldn't get mad at her for existing. Then again, the fact that she was unable to keep her hair a natural color without feeling bored made Imogen more recognizable, and therefore more memorable, than most. "A connection with an owl?" Imogen laughed. It seemed a little silly to expect that with a bird. Maybe a cat, but a bird? Imogen didn't think she'd ever seen a bird make eye contact with a person ever, let alone enough to discern if there was any sort of natural connection. "You forget, Phee, that I'm going to be a Charms teacher." Imogen told her friend factually. "I'd hope I'd have enough skill in the area to charm feathers no matter what color they started with." She would be a poor teacher indeed if she couldn't complete such a basic piece of magic. Imogen's teasing smile faded, however, when she saw sadness begin to creep into Ophelia's face. "I'll miss you too, Phee. But we'll write. I can leave the school on the weekends. It will all be okay." Ophelia was all Imogen had anymore. She wasn't going to let that slip away because she got a new job.

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia stuck her tongue out at her friend. “Yes, a connection with an owl. They do exist don’t make fun!” she said, laughing. “Harry Potters owl Hedwig was completely loyal to him until the end,” she stated, then felt sad for a moment. She had read about how Hedwig had died during the Battle of Seven Potters; her heart had ached for Harry while reading it and she had shed a few tears for the poor owl. “What if we got twin owls? Then you could charm your owls feathers to match your hair, so I’d know it’s your owl when you write to me?!” she suggested, excited again. It would be cute if their owls were siblings, so that they would get as excited to see each other as Ophelia would be to see Imogen.

“Good, and I’ll come to Hogsmeade on my days off to come see you too!” she added brightly. She was glad Imogen was thinking of their friendship as she started this new journey; it meant that she wouldn’t be forgotten. She checked her watch quickly and pouted. “Well my break is just about up. But let’s meet in Diagon Alley tomorrow - I’m not in until 1pm, so let’s meet around 10 in the morning? That should give us enough time for shopping and lunch,” she suggested, smiling.

@imogen

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Imogen rolled her eyes. "He's Harry Potter. He's the exception to literally every rule that ever governed wizards. He survived the Killing Curse." Imogen didn't mean to rain on Ophelia's parade, but she didn't want her friend to go in with expectations that were too high - it was perfectly fine to buy an owl even if you didn't have some magical, instantaneous connection with it. "Twin owls sound like fun." She agreed despite her earlier pessimism. "We'd have to give them good names, though, because I refuse to have an owl with a bad name." Imogen disliked people who named their animals stupid names, and people who named their animals human names, and also people who named animals after other animals. (She was extremely picky about naming habits, obviously.)

"I look forward to your visits." Imogen said with a smile. She knew that the students always looked forward to Hogsmeade, but it was also nice for the teachers to be able to get out of the school every once in a while. "Sounds like a plan." Imogen said. She had finished her coffee, so it was just as well that her conversation with Ophelia had ended. Imogen leaned over and kissed her friend goodbye on the cheek. "See you then!" Imogen tossed her coffee into the waste bin as she exited the hospital, her spirits buoyed. Maybe she would be a good teacher after all.