Vision With Nowhere To Go [Dom]

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It was another typical afternoon for Dominick. Classes had finished up around an hour ago and so he was sitting in his office trying to get some work done before he decided to settle down for the afternoon. He was flipping back and forth between doing research for his book and grading another essay he'd assigned to his fifth years two days ago. It was March now and it was getting closer to the end of the school year. He was worried about his Ravenclaw students of course so he had plans to meet with a few of them to discuss their plans after graduation to see if there was anyone he could get them into contact with to discuss things they would need in order to pursue their chosen careers. Because they still had a few months of school left, he'd decided he could put the meetings off until next month because he didn't want to bother them but he also didn't want to take much of their time in the middle of studying for NEWTs. He was going to try his best for them to make sure they had the resources they needed to succeed though so he was excited about getting to meet with all of them. He could remember his own seventh year in school and how excited he was to get out on his own. He hadn't quite known then what he wanted to do, even when he graduated, but he knew he wanted to work with numbers. If he could help his students get rid of any indecision, he would be happy to help. Scratching away at a bit of parchment and flipping through a few books at the same time, he continued grading when he heard a knock at his door. "Come in," he called politely to whoever it was before he set his quill down on his desk and waited for them to enter.

Tag; @dominique

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Dom didn't know what she wanted to do with her life. Granted, that wasn't really something that concerned her, most of the time, but she was tired of all the comments that she was getting. She knew that asking about future plans was what everyone wanted to talk about their seventh year, but she just didn't have the answer to that, so every time it was brought up she had to listen as people suggested this job and that job. Fortunately most of the time she was able to hold back from rolling her eyes. After all, they had good intentions. They just had no idea that she wasn't worried about it. After having so many people ask and suggest she see her Head of House, Dom decided to do just that. A part of her was convinced that he wouldn't have any better suggestions than the bunches she'd already heard, but at least if she went to talk to him, she could tell people that she was working with him to figure it out and then they'd leave her alone. Yup, that was what she would do. So she made her way to Professor Riveras' office, knocking when she arrived. She didn't have an appointment, but hopefully he wouldn't mind that. And hopefully he wouldn't assume she was here to talk about her problems. She knew she was more down lately than she'd normally been, but she didn't want to talk about that. She only wanted to talk about job opportunities. When she heard his voice telling her to come in, she opened the door and stepped in, closing it behind her. "Hi Professor," she started politely. "I was wondering if you have time to talk for a bit." If he didn't, she'd just make an appointment or something, but she knew he probably had a lot to do and didn't want to bother him more than she already was.

@dominick

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Dom was surprised to find that it was one of his Ravenclaw students, Dominique Weasley coming into the door. "Ms. Weasley, please come in. Did we have an appointment that I forgot about?" he asked quietly to himself. He usually didn't forget about appointments he had with students but sometimes he did get caught up in grading and his research that appointments would show up and he would be a little less prepared, especially when they asked questions about a previous lesson. He smiled and nodded encouragingly when she asked him if he had time to talk to her. He was always willing to put off anything to speak with a student when they needed. "Of course. What can I do for you today?" He paused a moment before reaching into one of the draws on the side of him and pulling out a tin of cookies he'd recently baked. He didn't make them dance like his old Head of House often did to cheer up other students but he always found that a good cookie made a meeting easier and less intimidating for students. He sat them down and gestured to them. "Feel free to take one if you'd like," he smiled before crossing his hands on his desk and waiting for her to continue. He wasn't certain what she could be here for considering, as far as he knew, she was doing well in Arithmancy. Whatever it was, he was hoping he could help her considering it must be important if she came to him about it.

Tag; @dominique

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He invited her in and Dom entered, closing the door behind her and then turning to face her Head of House. "Thank you. Sorry I didn't make an appointment or anything ... this is kind of spur of the moment." Caused because she was tired of people asking what she was going to do with her life, but spur of the moment all the same. Still, Dom knew that not everyone was as impulsive as she was and she felt bad for interrupting his schedule. Dom walked forward and sat down in the seat in front of his desk, smiling when he asked what she needed before pulling out some cookies. Dom's smile widened as she took one. "Thanks," she said once more. "I ... was hoping we could talk just a little about career options," she told him confidently. "I know most people my age already know what they want to do, but I don't and I'm tired of everyone asking me so I thought I could come and see what the options are at least?" Dom was almost positive she wouldn't make up her mind regarding her future career, but at least she'd be able to list some that she was "thinking" about and then maybe that question would stop popping up. Also, she was interested in what Professor Riveras would suggest. Being her Head of House and her professor, he knew her better than most adults. At least, she thought he did.

@dominick

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"No need for any apologies. I'm always glad to meet with a student" he smiled happily in response to her. He hadn't meant to make her feel like she needed one so he felt a little bad. His smile stayed when she took a cookie and began explaining to him why she wanted to meet today. Well, he shouldn't have been surprised that at least one of his students was ahead of his planning. They were Ravenclaws after all. Even when you think you're smart, there is always someone who will come along in Ravenclaw to prove otherwise. Even if it's smart in a different way. He grinned when she was finished and spoke. "Absolutely! I would love to offer any assistance I can, whatever that may mean for you. I had actually planned on meeting with all of you one at a time to discuss your career goals but there is nothing wrong with getting a jump start on it.". He picked up his wand and with a flick, he sent all of the papers and books that cluttered it away to their proper places. The cookies stayed just in case she wanted any more of them. Or if he wanted to indulge himself. "Now let's see. Where can we start?" He was thoughtful for a minute and almost asked her how she felt about going into Arithmancy, just because he was curious. She did well enough in his class that if she wanted to go into it she could. He didn't want to sway her options though. This wasn't just about what she was good at, this was about what she wanted to do. It would take more than just this meeting to figure that out, of course, but he could help her find a path. "Let's start with your current schedule and see if we can glean anything from there. If you don't mind summoning it for me?" He had files on his students neatly packed away that contained information about their careers at Hogwarts including all classes they had taken, any OWLs they'd taken and information on their extra curricular activities. He only used them when he really needed to and today seemed like a good time. He usually had students Accio the file themselves.

Tag; @dominique

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Dom smiled back at her professor when he said that he was always glad to meet with a student. "Well thanks," she responded cheerfully. She explained why she'd been there and was a little surprised that he was grinning. He wanted to explain to her what jobs were available? Or ... no, she couldn't think of another reason why he'd be smiling so much. Most people would want to already be prepared when someone else was going to ask them about job opportunities, but apparently not in this interest. Rather than being annoyed or confused by this, Dom was pleased. At least she wasn't inconveniencing anybody. Dom smiled back and shrugged, "Oh you know me, I love jump starts." Sort of. At least, she liked being ahead of others, whether that be in a race or their studies. Either way, this was going better than she'd expected. He asked where they should start and it kind of seemed like he was talking to himself, but Dom still wasn't sure. She shrugged, not wanting to give more of a response if he didn't expect it. Then he said they should start with her schedule. Dom nodded, lifting her want. "Accio schedule," she thought, not trying to impress him with the non-verbal magic. As a general rule, she did most spells that way lately. Her schedule came out of a nearby cabinet and towards her. Dom caught it easily and then held it out towards him. "Here you go, Professor," she said cheerfully, interested to see how things would proceed now.

@dominick

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Dom waited and then watched as Dominique waved her wand. Her file came floating gently from the side of the room where he kept all of the students' files and he smiled in thanks when she handed it over. Her nonverbal magical abilities had developed well over the years; there were plenty of people even just his age that couldn't perform even a simple 'Accio' without having to shout the words forcefully to get them to work. That ability spoke to her charms work as well. He looked over her schedule and as well as any clubs she was signed up for to see if any thing stood out to him. He found that the Ravenclaw was currently taking Charms, DADA, Herbology, Potions, Ancient Runes, and Wandless Magic. Many of those were basic classes that more students than not ended up taking. She was a part of the Flying club and Dueling club as well as the fact that she was a member of the Ravenclaw quidditch team which could point out special interest in those topic. That didn't always mean that though for Ravenclaw students who liked to sate their curiosities by taking up many hobbies. A few possibilities had run through his head though. He felt like he'd been contemplating her schedule just a bit to long before he looked up at her, clearing his throat. "So I know they're a bit expected but lets start with the classes that you enjoy most. Which ones are those and what do you like about them?". He only felt a little bad starting there but the better he got to know her, the better he would be able to help her figure out what might suit her.

Tag; @dominique

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He smiled when he took her file and Dom waited while he looked over it. She assumed all that was in there was his schedule and such, but he took so long looking at it that she wondered if something more interesting was contained inside. Finally he looked back up at her, asking about which classes she liked most. Dom was tempted to say all of them right off the bat, but decided to think for a moment. "I really like Charms, Ancient Runes, Defense Against the Dark Arts ... and your class, of course." She smiled at him. Then thought again, "I guess I like the challenges that each brings. No matter how much I learn about them, there's always more. More charms, ways to defend yourself, things to learn and such. I don't like it when things are too easy for me." She paused for a moment. "I also really like flying." But she already knew she didn't want to make a career out of that. At least, not a Quidditch career. "I can't think of anything else," she added after a few more seconds.

@dominick

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He listened to her answers to his questions, nodding here and there in understanding. He gave a light chuckle though when she added in that she liked his class of course as well. The urge to ask her about going into Arithmancy came up again and he wanted to laugh at himself. He was trying to get a feel for something she might want and just her answers on her classes and what she liked about them gave him a few ideas for jobs. She said she liked being challenged but depending on how you looked at it, many things could be challenging for you especially if you weren’t particularly good at something and you continued to pursue it. She said that she liked that there was always something more to figure out though so that did set it apart, the challenge of never being done or never knowing all there was to know. "We’re the same in that. How do you feel about research in general? Have you ever thought about going into something research based? Just from experience I can tell you that there is always something to find there." He thought she would do well in a research setting but he didn’t know if he was being biased or not because she was one of his students. And of course if she didn’t enjoy it, she wouldn’t fit well. "Also with those classes, is it the subjects themselves that you find interesting or is just that you feel challenged in those classes? What is it about each of those classes that sets them apart from each other?" he asked curiously before reaching out and grabbing a cookie for himself and taking a bite.

Tag; @dominique

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Dom smiled when Professor Riveras said they were the same in that way. Well it was nice to have someone understand her. She appreciated that. Then he mentioned research and she thought a moment. "I guess ... it depends on the kind of research," she responded honestly. "If it's me sitting in a library looking at books, no thanks, but if it's going out into the world to discover something-or-other, I might be interested in that." She shrugged. "I kind of need something to challenge me mentally and physically, if that makes sense." Really she hoped he understood. Most people in the castle knew about Dom's inability to remain inside for an entire day. She needed to run around, have fresh air, find challenges. She liked exploring and running and experimenting. Sitting around for any long period of time wasn't something she would be particularly good at at all. She smiled at his next questions, giving an unhelpful shrug. "I think both. I love learning and all my subjects give me new things to learn, but they're also not easy. I like things that I have to work for. If it just comes easily, it's boring." Which was one reason she worked so hard on learning non-verbal spells. They were challenging and useful and Dom loved mastering that sort of thing. "Charms is ... I like the variety there. I like how there is a charm you can use for almost every circumstance, so it's a challenge to see how many you can master and remember when it's not just for class. Umm ... Runes. I like translating. I think it's fascinating. Remembering the small details is important and it's rewarding when done right, but I don't know how much I'd like that outside of the classroom." She thought for a moment, tapping her chin as she did so. "Defense Against the Dark Arts ... that one's probably pretty obvious, but I prefer to defend myself. Especially with everything that's happened over the last few years, it's important and hard to learn the more advanced magic. Arithmancy is different from all the others, as you know. I don't know, I like working with numbers and doing it right." She made a hesitant face. "Does any of this help?"

@dominick

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Dominick ate up every word she said in answer to the questions he'd asked. Mulling everything around in his brain was helping him decide on a course of action to offer her and he didn't want to just focus on one thing because if she said no he wanted to offer her advice on something else. All of her words were pointing him in a particular direction though because he couldn't help it. Unfortunately it wasn't Arithmancy. She said she liked a challenge and she didn't mind research as long as she was not locked inside with books. He had, what he thought to be, the perfect idea. "I have an idea but I'm all ears if it's not you." he began. "I am unsure of how you feel about working for the Department of Mystery..." his sentence lead off there and he paused, his brow furrowing. Wait how did she feel about working for the Ministry? His idea would be useless if she didn't care for the governing body and they would have to start from scratch again. "Wait how would you feel about working for the Ministry? Would you like to? Or would you rather be self-employed? Do you want to work at a company? Have you thought about anything like that?" he asked his questions curiously. He would understand if she didn't want to work for the Ministry, he hadn't himself mostly because after the war had ended there had been a big push for people to get over it once Voldemort had been vanquished. They hadn't given people enough time to heal nor had they provided resources for those who lost people in the war or needed to cope. People had their reasons and he supposed they were better now.

Tag; @dominique

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Professor Riveras listened to everything she said and seemed to contemplate for a minute before saying anything. Then he mentioned the Department of Mysteries. Dom started to shrug, but he paused and looked like he wanted to say something else, so she waited. He let her say everything on her mind, so she was going to do the same thing back to him. It was respectful. Then he asked how she felt about working for the ministry. Dom then allowed herself to shrug. "I'm not quite sure. I mean, I don't want people to think I got a job there because of how many Weasley's there are ..." she thought another moment. "And I'm not particularly fond of the idea of having lots of people checking on me and making sure I'm doing what I'm supposed to." She made a face at her professor. "Sorry! I promise I'm not trying to be difficult. I just ... want to do something where I can feel like I can be me and enjoy it. Maybe self-employed, but I don't know. I guess it would depend on the job in question. I mean, having someone supervise me would probably be good to make sure I do what I'm supposed to, but I don't want to feel like I have someone breathing down my neck. I want to feel like I can do it." She frowned. "I'm not making any sense, am I?"

@dominick

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He watched her shrug at his question at first and that didn't necessarily mean no so he thought he was in the clear to offer up his idea. Her comment about only getting the job because she was a Weasley made him furrow his brow. He was certain that wouldn't be why she got the job if she wanted it. There had to be regulations for hiring that needed to be followed. He didn't know any of the Weasleys well either but he didn't expect any of them to give her a job without following any of the Ministry's regulations. His idea sunk deeper into his brain, however, when she said she didn't want to have anyone watch over her to make sure she was doing her job. It was the Ministry and they wanted to make sure that their employees were using their time to for Ministry related things. He knew they monitored their employees, though he wasn't sure how often. He assumed it depended on the department. The face she made that accompanied her words had amusement appearing on his face and he shook his head at her apology before she further explained. "You're making enough sense to me but what matters most is that it's making sense to you. This is about you figuring out what you want to do. I'm just here to offer suggestions," he shrugged and gave a small smile before he gripped his chin in thought. "What about cursebreaking? It has a bit of all of the classes you've just named. You won't necessarily have anyone watching over you. You could use your expertise in Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts. And it allows you to travel so you can have fun exploring other countries," he threw the suggestion out without thinking much about it but the more he did think about what was required of the profession it seemed to match her quite well.

Tag; @dominique

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As he listened to get explanations and thought pro, Professor Riveras blows a bit perplexed... or maybe he was just confused? Dom couldn't really understand why, but she wanted him to get why she wanted what she did. After being her head of house for so many years, Professor Riveras knew her better than most, which lead to her trusting him. She nodded, however, when he said the most important thing was making sense to herself. That was logical and she agreed, thinking over the idea a bit and liking it more and more as she did so. She nodded again as he said he was merely making suggestions. "Thank you Professor," she responded. He mentioned cursebreaking and Dom laughed,"Sorry Professor #but I don't really have any interest in following my father's footsteps." As much as Dom adored her father, she did not want his job. She grimaced, "Sorry. I'm not trying to be difficult, you know." She hoped that he did. "You see why I'm struggling to do this on my own?" she asked, hoping that he did.

@dominick

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Dominick gave a smile and a quick nod at her words of thanks. He still wanted to help her at least get some idea of the direction she wanted to go and felt like his small words of advice weren't yet worthy of any thank yous. He appreciated the reassurance though that she was getting something out of their chat. At his suggestion of cursebreaking, she declined stating that she didn't want to go into the same field as her father. Did he know that? That her father was a cursebreaker? He couldn't quite remember but he was certain she would have done well in the field if she'd decided to pursue it. It was quite possible though that the reasons she didn't want to go into it were because she'd heard things from her father that turned her away from it. "I assure you Ms. Weasley, you're not being difficult at all. If I'm being honest you're helping me a lot as well. Preparing me for the other bunch of these meetings I have to have with your fellow soon-to-be graduates," he commented with a laugh. He was very appreciative of the fact that she had come earlier, seeking his help. Every class of graduates was different so he had had a different experience his first time last year doing this with seventh years. More practice made perfect. "Let's try a different direction. Are there any fields that you've ever thought about wanting to try out? Not ones that you're certain you want to go into but ones that you've given thought to and would like to job shadow, possibly?" It was closer to the end of the year but he was certain he could set it up with McGonagall to have students in Dominique's situation shadow a job or two in order to see what they were like.

Tag; @dominique