Take A Bite [Open]

[Deleted]

Zita tried not to make a habit of sleeping through dinner, but it happened often enough that she always ended up having to sneak out to the kitchens to grab something that would sate her hunger pangs. What had her so tired today? Quidditch practice. In fact, that was usually the reason she slept so long. Well, that and the fact she felt too comfortable in her bed so she would sleep rather heavily. Quidditch practice today though had been great. Her and the team were working harder than ever to make sure that they won the Hogwarts cup this year. They’d pulled out an epic and overwhelming victory against Gryffindor and she’d been positively giddy about it. That didn’t mean they were going to let up in practice though and her team understood that. Hard practices meant Zita would come out a little bit tired and today was no exception. She’d woken up 10 minutes ago and had wrapped a robe around her pajamas before making her way to the kitchens. She should have been worried about getting caught by a patrolling professor considering it wasn’t that late at night but she was a little too hungry to care. It took her no time at all to reach the kitchens from the Hufflepuff common room, something that she always thought was the trade for having to stay in the cold basement. She made quick work of the fruit bowl portrait before she was in the kitchens, looking over the few house elves that stuck around. Now she just had to figure out what she was in the mood to eat.

Tag; open

[Deleted]

Clarence Corntassel was pleasantly surprised by how well the term had been going so far. As unlike Ilvermorny as Hogwarts was and how uncomfortable he had first felt there, he had begun to warm up to the place. He wasn't particularly thrilled that the school would be hosting a Thanksgiving feast in the coming days, but he understood that there wasn't anything malicious in the gesture. To the British, he was sure, it must have seemed so quintessentially American. It wasn't exactly their fault; rather, it was the fault of a narrative that had painted Indigenous peoples as savages and as peoples who had been dead for centuries.

As he thought about how he could possibly broach the subject with Minerva McGonagall, Clarence made his way down to the school's kitchens to see what tea they had available. He would have gone in search of a cup of coffee, but the British weren't as keen on the stuff. Tea and alcohol—the latter of which he didn't touch—were their beverages of choice.

It was later in the evening—well past dinnertime but not so late as to be unreasonably so—though it appeared that most of the students had returned to their common rooms before curfew. Clarence could hear the sound of his own footsteps echoing as he walked down into the basement of the castle.

After tickling the pear in the portrait which was actually the entrance into the kitchens, Clarence stepped inside to see that a young woman was standing there, dressed in a robe over what must have been her pajamas.

"Excuse me," he spoke, albeit not in the sense that he was going to get her in trouble for being there. "Is everything alright?"

@zita

[Deleted]

Zita watched the house elves move around the kitchens with expertise, momentarily distracted from thinking about what she wanted to eat and admired their efficiency. She wondered what they had for dinner. Would the elves possible have some leftovers lying around that she could eat so she wouldn’t have to bother them with making some new? She went to walk over to sit down at one of the tables when she felt a momentary wind blow through the room, signalling the portrait opening. She didn’t think much of it until she looked back and noticed that a professor stood before her. He was polite when he spoke but that didn’t stop her from completely freezing up out of nervousness. Would she be punished for being out so late. "I’m really sorry for being out so late. Professor, but I slept through dinner and I wanted to come and get something to eat. It seems rude to ask one of the house elves to bring me something when my common room is just down the hall so I walked down here instead." Darn, this would be the first time all year that she had gotten caught sneaking out so late. She really hoped he would let her off with a warning considering the fact that this time she wasn’t sneaking out just because nor was she sneaking out to do anything she shouldn’t. Her stomach chose then to rumble and she clutched it in slight embarrassment. "I’m just really rather hungry." She immediately recognized the professor before her as one of the newer professors from Ilvermorny, Professor Corntassel. Though she didn’t take his class herself, she’d thought about it because of the uses of Native American magic. It was quite different than magic used by most in the wizarding world. Had she not already been so overloaded, she would have joined it.

Tag; @clarence

[Deleted]

As soon as she realized his presence in the kitchens, the student who was standing there immediately apologized to him. She told him that she had slept through dinner and that she had wanted something to eat. It had seemed rude to her, she continued, to ask one of the elves to bring her something, considering that her common room was so close by, and so she had walked to the kitchens for herself.

The girl's stomach audibly rumbled after she had finished pleading her case. "I’m just really rather hungry," she emphasized, though Clarence wasn't going to deny her the opportunity to get food.

While the professor understood full well why it might not have been considered appropriate for a student to be wandering around the castle where they weren't supposed to be at such an hour, especially given everything that had happened at Hogwarts and in Britain in general, it seemed ludicrous to punish her. From what he could tell, she wasn't up to anything mischievous; she was just standing there, hungry.

"You're not in trouble with me," Clarence told the girl plainly. "Take what you need, and then go back to your dormitory," he instructed her as he took a few steps farther into the kitchens.

He turned his attention to some of the house-elves who were working in the room. "Pardon me," he spoke to a nearby elf, kneeling down to the creature's level, "this young lady could use some food, if you please."

@zita

[Deleted]

Zita took a deep breath and the feeling of her hunger was a punch to the stomach. She waited with bated breath to hear the professor scold her about her being out of her dormitory so late but she was surprised that it never came. Instead, the professor stated that she wasn’t in trouble with him. That was a new one. She sat there and stared at him for just a little too long, blinking blankly, before the professor rushed her to get something and go. Maybe he was being kinder to her because he understood how late it was? Or maybe the new professors were just nicer in general? She wasn’t sure about that, but she was really grateful for the fact that she seemingly wasn’t going to get detention for settling her craving of food. She quickly nodded before turning to the elves, watching as they got to work at his request. She didn’t know what they were making but they were moving quickly around the kitchen, shuffling pots and pans using magic and guiding food to a flame. ”Thank you," she quickly threw out to the elves. She felt a little bit awkward as she waited, not exactly sure what to say to the professor. What did you usually talk to professors about? Considering she didn’t know him as well she wasn’t sure. She didn’t have class with him so she couldn’t bring up any interesting topics from lecture. He had been kind to the elves though when he’d requested her food. Come to think of it actually…. "Were you here to grab food as well, professor?" It wasn’t really much for small talk, she knew, but it was the only thing she could think of to ask.

Tag; @clarence

[Deleted]

The girl looked absolutely stunned by his response to her apology, and, when she eventually spoke again, it was to the elves who had gone back to work on making her dinner. Clarence was surprised to see such a disbelieving reaction. Were his colleagues really so unreasonable that they would have denied her the opportunity to eat? While he imagined that his opinion on the matter probably wouldn't be worth very much at their next staff meeting, he would be sure to raise his concerns.

"Were you here to grab food as well, Professor?"

"Clarence," he corrected her gently as he stood from his kneeling position. He didn't have the girl as a student, so she must not have known that he wasn't one to go by "Professor". He put up with it on the occasions when it was inevitable, but he much preferred the use of his given name. "And I just came down for a cup of tea, myself," he answered.

"What's your name, miss?" he asked the student, looking to her and then to the elves, who were still hard at work.

@zita

[Deleted]

The professor started out by quickly correcting her when she referred to him as professor, instead suggesting she call him by his actual name. That was also new. Most professors flipped when you didn’t address them as such. Maybe it was a respect thing or maybe it was just because it was appropriate. The thought of calling him by his first name left a sour taste on her tongue, she had to respect his wishes though so she nodded instead. He mentioned coming down for a cup of tea. Similar realm but shouldn’t take nearly as long. She thought then that he was probably allowing her to go first to make sure that she made it back out of the kitchens and to her common room without taking any detours through the rest of the castle. She hoped he didn’t try and walk her back. That would be embarrassing. ”Zita Fernandez," she replied when asked her name. Shifting from resting on her left foot to the one on the right, she didn’t sit down because she didn’t want to seem as if she was getting too comfortable. She’d had every intention of returning to the Hufflepuff common room after grabbing her food but she didn’t know what this prof--Clarence was like. Would he get annoyed with her? She didn’t want to seem like she was guilty of something but that was hard. "Have you been enjoying your time at Hogwarts prof-- Clarence? Or are you excited to get back to Ilvermorny?" Small talk was probably better than the silence. Besides the sounds of the elves hard at work.

Tag; @clarence

[Deleted]

"Zita Fernandez," the girl introduced herself, rocking from one foot to the other. Was it really so unusual, thought Clarence, for a student and a professor to have a casual conversation here? It probably hadn't helped that he had caught her off guard, but still…

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Zita," he nodded. She had done nothing wrong.

"Have you been enjoying your time at Hogwarts prof—Clarence? Or are you excited to get back to Ilvermorny?" Zita asked him.

"I'm looking forward to returning to Ilvermorny, of course," Clarence prefaced. He'd been teaching there for longer than some current students' parents had been alive and had been a student there himself, so it was a place he knew well. "But I have been enjoying my time here." He wasn't thrilled by everything, of course, though he knew that he was also a guest at Hogwarts—and very fortunate to have been able to come, at that.

"I'm very thankful that Hogwarts opened its doors to Ilvermorny," he added. "It was a shock to everyone," and no doubt a scramble for many of the parents, "but I hope you've enjoyed having our students here, too?"

@zita