adolescents | hazel

[octavian archimedes vector jr.]

out of sight

out of mind

September 2025
Hazel Rosalie Burke

Archie entered the Great Hall among the students dragging themselves in for breakfast before their classes. It was rare to see a huge crowd here, so the usual rumbling of voices and conversation was missing. But it wasn’t unwelcome. It took Archie a moment or two to properly wake up—as seen by the giant yawn as he approached the Head Table. His usual seat was waiting for him, though his usual neighbor was not present. As he sat down and poured himself orange juice, he looked at his other neighbor. ”Good morning, Hazel.” Very quickly, he’d gotten out of the habit of approaching with a ‘Good morning Professor Burke’ as they would both respond simultaneously.

”No Ivy this morning?” Archie got along with both sisters, although Hazel was a newer member of their staff. But Archie couldn’t think of anyone he didn’t get along with aside from the fidgety Potions Professor and Head of Ravenclaw. The man was old and should have retired long ago, Archie always privately thought to himself. And if the number of Ravenclaw students that always sought his advice wasn’t an indicator, he was Head of House as a formality, it felt like. Soon there were eggs, potatoes, and two pieces of toast on his plate, and as he was greeting the Astronomy Professor, there were loud gasps from the Gryffindor table and a familiar scarlet piece of parchment yelling its message at the Gryffindor sixth year prefect.

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[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

September 2025

It wasn’t even funny how much Hazel wasn’t a morning person. “What in the name of Merlin’s goddamn staff am I doing here,” she grumbled to herself as she dragged herself through the corridors to the Great Hall. It was unnaturally early, there weren’t even students up and about yet, but Hazel wanted to eat quickly before it got too crowded. There was a reason she’d chosen Alchemy for her subject, besides her fabulous skills and flair for the dramatic of course – it was an advanced course, which meant Hazel didn’t have to put up with first-year kiddos who didn’t even know how to hold their wand right side up. Even so, she couldn’t believe she’d come back for a second year of hell in Scotland’s bloody frozen armpit. Must’ve gotten Confunded somewhere down the line.

After her second cup of coffee, Hazel felt it was less necessary to murder the first person who dared to speak to her – and after the third cup, she even got back some of her usual cheery disposition. “No it isn’t,” Hazel whined with her usual gusto as Archie gave his classic ‘good morning’ as he breezily poured himself some juice. He was a decent conversation partner, although it was a tragedy that such a bombshell was the Arithmancy professor of all things – like, he couldn’t have chosen a less sexy subject if he tried. Hazel only rolled her eyes at his question, although with a fond smile too. “She probably stayed up late revolutionizing the field of theoretical magic. You know, reading.” Hazel might have gone on about her sister’s unfortunate interest in academic articles that read like a brick (as in, one good hit would put you right out) but her interest was immediately captured by the scarlet letter approaching the Gryffindor table. She kicked Archie under the table to get his attention and leaned forward in interest. “She’s definitely breaking up with him this time,” Hazel decided. There was no need to elaborate who ‘he’ or ‘she’ was, because a good chunk of the professors had been following this saga since it started last year.

octavian archimedes vector jr.

[octavian archimedes vector jr.]

out of sight

out of mind

September 2025
Hazel Rosalie Burke

Archie grinned a little as he took his seat. Not everybody was a morning person, and he tried his best not to hold it against them. The least he could do was temper his urge to immediately converse until they seemed ready to. Lunch and dinner were easier in that regard. But he couldn’t entirely suppress his chuckle—if anyone knew Ivy, it would be her own sister. ”I suppose it wouldn’t be Ivy if she didn’t miss breakfast at least twice a week.” Not that he was keeping track, but one noted these things. The students were always flabbergasted at how observant the staff could be, but what else did they expect from masters in their craft? Let alone the number of former Cursebreakers that now taught them.

Archie looked down at his toast after seeing the letter, not particularly willing to pay much attention to it. But he dropped his toast on his plate when Hazel kicked him under the table. ”Who?” Archie asked, looking to his side but then back ahead at that Prefect. ”Oh.” Sitting back, Archie finally took a bite of his toast, but his eyes kept forward. ”Merlin, wasn’t the last time the scene she made after the sorting ceremony?” Or maybe he had missed one. With a furrowed brow, he tried to think. The entire previous last year had been a distinct pattern of alternating which one was angry. Every third time had involved a friend in some way.

Others at the table were attempting to subtly follow this saga as they ate their breakfast and drank their tea while whispering to one another. And finally, the Howler erupted. ’HOW COULD YOU? I’M DONE WITH YOU! YOU LYING LITTLE F-‘ And from the other end of the table, the Charms Professor stood with their wand out. The Howler floated very anticlimactically to the ground, now just red parchment. Archie cleared his throat and drank from his mug while the Prefect and his friends left the Great Hall. If any students had fallen asleep over their breakfast, they were awake and excitedly whispering. ”I suspect another scene and reconciliation will occur before Halloween.” It was based on the previous year’s patterns. Rate of scenes and how often this occurred monthly, excluding the summertime.

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[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

In what was truly an impressive feat, Hazel’s coffee sat forgotten on the table as she leaned forward in interest and placed her chin in the palm of her hand. Merlin, this was one part of school she’d never gotten to experience – gossip and drama. Blast her parents for choosing to homeschool her and Ivy, because even a fabulous entertainer like Hazel could only keep herself occupied for so long. But at Hogwarts the drama was never-ending. There were always love triangles and ‘lifelong’ enemies and a good heaping of teen hormones to help it all along. Hazel couldn’t get directly involved, of course, but she still found her ways. She liked to change the layout of her classroom often, and sometimes it forced students to sit in pairs of three or alone or in a big circle where they could all see each other. It added some spice to her life.

Archie was playing it cool, but his informed questions betrayed how closely he was following the story too. “There was an incident in a DADA class,” Hazel said with relish as she watched the letter explode and the wailing tones of its author beginning to accuse her boyfriend (ex boyfriend?) of all sorts of things. Zabini always looked somewhat grumpy, but he’d been particularly stormy after his class had gotten interrupted by petty teenage drama when a certain Slytherin girl had come bursting in with proof that our Gryffindor prefect had been snogging his ex. Needless to say, everyone involved had gotten detention that day. Hazel watched with disappointment as another professor quickly got rid of the Howler, although she at least satisfied herself with the knowledge that this was nowhere near the end.

“Who’s patrolling the corridors after curfew this week?” Hazel asked as she returned to her breakfast and thoughtfully jostled her fruit cup. She glanced down the long table of professors before poking her fork through a strawberry and eating it slowly. Then she grinned wickedly. “I bet it’s Selwyn. She always seems to catch them in broom closets. Has a talent for it, hey?” It must be those cursebreaker instincts, or maybe her animagus form that could practically smell students disobeying. At any rate, it was always easy to find out if she'd busted some students up to no good after dark – the school paper always printed stories about the ghost jaguar that roamed the halls of the castle, but especially so after an incident.

octavian archimedes vector jr.

[octavian archimedes vector jr.]

out of sight

out of mind

September 2025
Hazel Rosalie Burke

Hazel was clearly more interested in the happenings of the students’ lives than Archie was. But any Professor that claimed they never paid attention was absolutely a liar. So much occurred before them that it was impossible to ignore entirely, and some things were more interesting than others. Hazel corrected Archie on his timeline of events. With a surprised expression, he almost felt like laughing. ”I’m sure Blaise thoroughly enjoyed that.” The idea that such a juvenile incident occurred in the class of Hogwarts' most no-nonsense Professor was amusing.

Archie resumed his breakfast, swiftly moving from attentive to acting natural just as the rest of the staff table did the same. ”Actually I believe she’s scheduled for next week, and I have the week after that.” He paused, brow furrowed momentarily. What week of the year was it? What month was it? Ah, of course. ”I believe it is Ivy this week.” It was a little unfortunate that this incident had not occurred a week ago, Blaise was on duty last week, and the detention list would have been lengthy. ”The students forget that most of the staff also attended Hogwarts.” And it was true, so often the “secret” spots the kids were told about weren’t all that secret and had been passed down for years.

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[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

Hazel gave a little smirk at the thought of what Zabini must have looked like at the time of the incident. Oh yes, he definitely didn’t love any interruption to his class, but he could at least excuse those rare instances when official business took priority over everything else. But petty teen drama? Merlin, it was moments like that which made Hazel wish she could take on an Animagus form and go take a peek. It would make her week to see Hogwarts’ grumpiest professor find a way to be even a little more crabby than usual. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Blaise, just that…she didn’t like Blaise. He was rather boring with his predictable ‘follow the rules and be good’ approach.

“Oh boo, that’s dull,” Hazel complained as Archie informed her that it was actually Ivy’s turn to patrol the halls this week. She loved her sister, and Ivy was still loads more interesting than her basic older bro and his vanilla lifestyle. But still, Ivy probably wouldn’t know an illicit love affair if it slapped her in the face, and she had her nose buried in theory books even when she was supposed to do other things. “She’ll just make them write lines and that’s that,” Hazel explained a moment later, moodily poking at a grape. It wouldn’t be her turn to patrol the halls for ages still, but that just gave her time to scheme. Hazel rather liked the reputation she’d gotten for herself around Hogwarts, but it wasn’t as easy-breezy to maintain as it looked. At Archie’s last observation, Hazel eyed him and raised an eyebrow in speculation. “Oh really?” she asked innocently, even if her smirk was anything but, “And did a certain Arithmancy professor ever find himself somewhere he shouldn’t be?”

octavian archimedes vector jr.

[octavian archimedes vector jr.]

out of sight

out of mind

September 2025
Hazel Rosalie Burke

Thankfully, Archie’s Professors during his time at Hogwarts had been far less intimidating than Zabini. But it wasn’t every day you met someone with that much life experience in different careers. While Archie had shifted his life twice now, he hardly got his Artihmancy students to stop talking by merely looking at them. He didn’t comment on Ivy’s approach to student discipline. It still amazed him how different the sisters were. So close in age and raised together, as he was told, and yet such different ends of the spectrum on how they acted. While he spoke to Ivy more, he didn’t feel he struggled to get along with Hazel.

And Archie knew for a fact that if students could help it, they avoided trouble the weeks the harsher Professors’ patrolled. That is if they could figure out their schedule. They left it inconsistent on purpose, seemingly without a pattern. Archie kept as stoic of a face as he could manage, merely glancing at Hazel via a side-eye. ”Hazel, I was a Prefect. If I was somewhere I shouldn’t be, do you think they would have ever appointed me one?” Archie spoke matter of factly, drinking from his glass. ”Now if one isn’t caught—this is all speculation, of course. And one figured out the mathematical pattern used for the rotation of the staff’s patrolling schedule…” All speculation of course, though Archie would never admit or deny anything. But, he rather enjoyed his time at school despite his turbulent life outside its walls.

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[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

Archie was a tough nut to crack. To the casual observer, he was just the mild-mannered Arithmancy prof – nice to look at, but that didn’t make it any easier to pretend numbers were interesting. After a little digging, you could hear something about his cursebreaker past and that might offer little hints about his personality. But if you wanted any true sign of his rebellious streak, you had to be a committed detective. Hazel’s disinterest in many things (politics, business, and all the other vanilla nonsense that Asher used to seek out a shred of excitement in his life instead of just having an orgasm like a normal person) usually meant she couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to what was going on around her. But gossip, especially buried gossip, was something different altogether. No, that was worth the investment.

Hazel folded her hands and tucked them neatly under her chin as Archie finally began to lightly hint at at one of the few things that could be more interesting than the student drama unraveling in front of them. “I’m sure a Prefect wouldn’t dare, it would be a positive scandal,” Hazel agreed, the smirk growing on her face as she played idly with a lock of hair. “But let’s say he did. What might he do if no one was watching?” Merlin, it irritated Hazel to no end that she didn’t have any school stories like this – she and Ivy had gotten into plenty of trouble, but homeschooling really wasn’t the same thing. But this was a promising start to an otherwise mind-numbingly dull day, and anyway -- Hazel never hesitated when it came to catching a glimpse of an inner rebel, even if the rest of the time he seemed like a damn saint.

octavian archimedes vector jr.

[octavian archimedes vector jr.]

out of sight

out of mind

September 2025
Hazel Rosalie Burke

Archie had not spent much time with his father growing up, but he remembered the miraculous feeling when Octavian Sr. would drop by and pick up the boy. He spent those spare moments telling Archie about people, watching for body language, tone of voice, a unique choice of word, and every other variable one needed to formulate their response. Like a formula of sorts. When Archie was older and understood why this was so important to his father—all the pieces seemed to fit. And fortunately for Archie, his aunt had managed to whack him upside the head enough times to ensure he didn’t follow in his father’s footsteps. And he was glad she did. At least when he began at Hogwarts, that urge to follow the man’s footsteps, whose attention he was so desperate for, had wavered.

And much as he was now, Archie was very easygoing—not that it stopped him from noting the little things. So while he could rely on the patterns in life to speak their truths, he would also count on the consistency of human behavior. And teenagers were awfully predictable. But these particular students were an easy read. The clueless boy and the girl upset over his actions. Archie was tempted to pull him aside and help him with that lack of self-awareness, but the boy was a Gryffindor after all. From the corner of his eye, Archie noted Hazel looking at him, clearly interested, as she leaned forward in his direction.

He kept his expression neutral, only raising a slight eyebrow at the hypothetical question. Archie took his time to answer, placing his glass down after a few moments. ”Oh, absolutely. Prefects are supposed to set the example and all that.” Archie feigned sincerity in his answer. On paper, it was all agreeable, but teenagers never stuck to such plans. Again he paused, his eyes roaming over the tables of the Great Hall, but everything appeared normal. ”I can’t speculate what he would or wouldn’t do, only that he might tell you the Slytherin and Hufflepuff common rooms are very cold this time of year.” Archie kept his gaze forward, noting the doors opening again. ”Oh look, she’s back. Wonder if he’s hanging by his ankle somewhere.” Just before final exams the previous year, there was a similar dispute where one student may have enchanted the other’s shoe and left them there.

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[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

Merlin, the British were so tightly wound that it was a miracle nobody had snapped and broken yet. Although there truly couldn’t be any other way to describe the meltdown happening around the House tables at the moment – students hooting and jeering at the contents of the Howler, Hufflepuffs close to sobbing, and galleons changing hands under the tables as various pools were settled (that was Hazel’s particular favorite, even if there was that pesky little rule about professors not gambling with students). Hazel watched it all from the professors’ table with a satisfied smirk, mind whirling with little schemes to make her classes a little more fun (at least from the teacher’s perspective. There were going to be some riots after her new seating chart came out).

But then again, that was a classic Alchemy class at Hogwarts. A little magic, your weight in gold, and a healthy scoop of drama. AKA all the ingredients for the best subject in school. All of that, plus a rather unique upbringing in the heart of the pureblood social scene, meant Hazel had gotten rather good at smelling BS and separating it from the juicy bits. Archie kept up his mild-mannered act rather consistently, at least well enough to avoid being the subject of student gossip, but that meant absolutely nothing. Because in the same way that students liked to gossip about why the Transfiguration professor seemed to disappear at inopportune moments, Hazel just knew that Archie had a good secret too.

“Maybe an ex-prefect would share more deets if he added a lil Irish to his coffee,” Hazel observed, sliding a rather discreet pitcher of something across the table. Hey, the students didn’t need to know (and neither did the Headmistress). But it did get dullishly boring in the castle and cleverly-disguised flasks made survival possible. “I’ve got him in my research seminar later,” Hazel said with deep satisfaction, “We’ll see if he’s got any lasting marks there. But I suspect there won’t be evidence. There never is with those Slytherins.” Oh yeah, definitely her favorite House. Not that professors were supposed to have favorites.

octavian archimedes vector jr.

[octavian archimedes vector jr.]

out of sight

out of mind

September 2025
Hazel Rosalie Burke

Archie would never notice how many of his father’s traits he’d inherited. His interactions with his peers and friends and his social life in general. A propensity to not quite follow all the rules but fly entirely under the radar. And a bit of a natural charm. The differences lay in priorities. Archie enjoyed his role as a Professor and all the duties that came with it. His duty, ultimately, was to the students well being and safety. His father only ever cared about himself. As far as he knew, the students didn’t have some awful nickname for him like the more uptight Professors did. So he had that going for him.

The scene that unraveled wasn’t new to Archie, but it wasn’t any less fascinating than other times. Teenagers were consistent in that way. As Hazel spoke, his gaze moved to the pitcher in his peripheral vision. What Professors did to get through the day wasn’t his business, and he wasn’t going to make a fuss or snitch either. But in the spirit of the moment, Archie casually poured a bit into his mug. His classes weren’t until later. Otherwise, he would have declined. ”Five galleons he does.” Archie responded, doing his best to keep a straight face despite the newfound strength of his coffee.

”If you want someone to hide the evidence, ask a Ravenclaw.” He looked over with a satisfied grin. Maybe he was biased, but what the two houses shared in their cleverness, they differed in patience. Not all the ambitious could hold their tempers. Archie always felt his former house was underestimated. Maybe that’s why he didn’t think twice about his extracurricular activities as a prefect.

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[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

There were little moments that made life at Hogwarts bearable, or else Hazel would have fled the premises a long time ago. And really, it was quite odd that she’d settled here for so long because she’d never done that before. Call it Ivy’s good influence, or a deep pool of curiosity whose bottom she hadn’t found yet – but as much as Hazel liked to complain, she hadn’t gotten bored yet. There was something about the place that let her – and everyone else – be their own authentic selves. She could run her classes the way she liked, and traipse around the corridors like she owned the place, and Hazel hadn’t run into any barriers like the sort she might have found in her home community that had very specific ideas about who you were supposed to be.

And she had a sense of being above it all that meant she could observe and poke and prod without getting entangled into anything complicated. Drama and gossip without any personal cost – exactly the way she liked. “I can’t wait to count your money later,” Hazel said satisfied, folding her hands in anticipation as her eyes scanned the Great Hall. She could see some mutinous-looking Gryffindors, who probably would’ve jumped out of their seats by now if it weren’t for the long table of professors, and a few Slytherins who’d put their heads together to talk (well, scheme and plot).

Up to this point, Hazel’s attention had been almost exclusively on the students, but she turned to glance at Archie as he sipped at his coffee. “Didn’t your mum ever teach you that sharing is caring?” Hazel prodded, an eyebrow raised imperiously in that way she’d seen Asher do when he wanted to look imposing. She added, “I’m starting to think you haven’t got any stories at all.” She daintily stabbed at a piece of melon with her fork and ate it slowly, eyes drifting back towards the students and landing on a pair of Ravenclaws who were arguing over an empty cereal box and pulling it between them. “Oi, knock it off!” she called out until one dropped the box guiltily and turned back to his Hooties.

octavian archimedes vector jr.

[octavian archimedes vector jr.]

out of sight

out of mind

September 2025
Hazel Rosalie Burke

Archie raised a slight eyebrow at the challenge. While he could live without the few galleons, pride was priceless. He supposed that had placed him in Ravenclaw in the first place. How he didn’t rely on pride to fuel his self-worth as his father had done. Years of watching it bring down a man imprinted itself in a young boy’s early life. ”I suspect you should prepare for disappointment instead.” Archie warned his colleague before drinking the remnants of his orange juice. In his interactions with Hazel, Archie was reminded of Ivy at times. The two were not entirely alike, but little aspects of their personalities made them clearly sisters in his eyes.

”Unfortunately, no.” Archie didn’t clarify why he was not taught that fact. But perhaps that his mother had disappeared so early in his life had something to do with it. But one hardly brought that into a conversation if they wanted it to continue. ”The students forget we were in their shoes at one point.” Archie clarified. ”Even if not at Hogwarts.” Most of the staff were Hogwarts graduates, but all qualified were welcome. ”There’s always a seventh year that claims they were the first to find the secret passage from the Ravenclaw Tower to the Slytherin Dungeons. It was definitely there when I was a prefect.” He replied with a bit of a smirk. He was never out to find students in trouble. Did he stop them—yes. But here and there, he’d let one go, merely keeping an eye to ensure everyone was safe. Kids would be kids, after all.

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[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

Hazel made a ‘tsk’ sound at Archie as she shook her head and sipped at her spiked coffee. “Come on babe, I’m never disappointed,” she shot back cheekily. It wasn’t that she was particularly good at settling bets, but Hazel had a good record of getting the things she wanted (mostly through a combination of charisma and daddy’s gold – not that gold meant much to an alchemist anymore). Most importantly, Hazel had become invested in the outcome of the bet and Archie was one of the few professors who indulged in the finer points of gossip and intrigue. He was better at toeing the line of professionalism than she was, but it was better than the uptight profs that pretended they weren’t interested.

“Hmmm, why the past tense? We might not have exams anymore, but anyone who says they’ve got their life together is a shitty liar.” Hazel pitched her tone a little earlier so she wouldn’t get another citation from the Headmistress for cursing in the general vicinity of students, but she still raised an eyebrow at Archie to make her point. The professors might have more knowledge of magic, but they still had drama and petty fights and even the occasional urge to get into trouble. They just did their best to keep the students in the dark, even though there always seemed to be some kind of rumor floating around. Archie hinted at some kind of buried story from his misadventures as a student when he mentioned a secret passage, and Hazel pointed her fork at him accusingly. “If you don’t continue that sentence with ‘and then,’ I’ll riot. You’ll find the sixth-years’ pathetic attempts at geodes in your cereal until graduation.” And she’d make good on her threat, too.

octavian archimedes vector jr.