But first, Coffee. ¦ Juniper

[Alora Veda Astor]

Alora had had Spellbucks before, sure, she had lived in New York city where they're a dime a dozen in the Wizarding World there. But now there was one open in Hogsmeade she was delighted. No more would she have to suffer the sucky coffee from the old woman in Madam Puddifoots every morning with a forced smile. She could sit in the warm comfort and plan lessons as needed, or simply relax away from students in The Three Broomsticks.

Growing up she'd never been much of a coffee drinker, but since starting as a Professor, she found it an easier vice to have. Slightly more socially acceptable then some of her others, and easier to indulge in during the week.

Even though it was a bit of a walk down from the castle it was nice in the Autumn air, to freshen herself up and distract her from something other than Herbology or a certain curly haired Herbologist alfie edward o'callaghan . Even if it was just to sit in the café with the latest edition of Herbology Weekly, the difference was nice. As she took a place in line, she tucked her staff lanyard in under her chunky knit scarf, out of sight from any prying eyes. Inhaling the smell of the roast she closed her eyes for a split second before opening them again to focus in on the bland 90s pop song playing in the background. Half humming along with it, she was able to follow the tune, but not exactly where in the song it was. For now, all she could do was wait her turn in line and hope it wouldn't be too long till she could start her free afternoon and hopefully not be called to sub any classes out of the blue.

juniper minerva mcgonagall

[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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Whatever magical beast that granted wishes had clearly paid a visit in her dreams, because Juniper had believed that getting a Spellbucks in Hogsmeade was just that: a dream. The mad business mogul, Jimbo Blishwick, had apparently acquired another building and franchised it out practically overnight, or so the story went. Juniper could believe it, because she'd been through the town practically every day since LIFE began classes and it was suddenly just there one day, open and ready for customers. Now it was part of her daily routine when she needed to be on campus. A coffee before class and one for after. Her addiction to Spellbucks had reached a new high, to the point where she thought about stopping by to visit her parents when she traveled to get coffee, and not the other way around like it should be. Once a location opened in Diagon, she was going to be screwed. Goodbye extra fun money. It was all going to caffeine now. Even with two jobs she'd blow through it if she wasn't careful.

Today, she had finished with her Advanced Transfiguration class and was heading home to grade essays that they'd turned in. But first she needed another coffee. A few times she'd done her grading in the shop as well, which was fine if she didn't need to concentrate too hard. There was always the worry that some of her students would try to get their grades back early, and she knew she would be weak to bribery of the caffeine sort. So today probably wouldn't be the best day to perch at a table to do her reviews.

Happily popping into the store for the second time today, Juniper was met with a decently sized line. It wasn't uncommon especially before and after classes for LIFE students, their ability to come and go from the campus really giving a second life to the formally dull Hogsmeade. That and Blishwick had injected it with his money and enthusiasm. Both surely helped.

It took a moment for her to realize that the woman in front of was also a professor. Juniper had sort of recognized her, mainly from campus wide staff meetings, but it hadn't clicked for the first minute or so that she waited patiently in line. What was it that she taught again? Something in MAGIC for sure, because they would have plenty of other run-ins had she been a LIFE professor. "Excuse me?" Juniper asked, stepping to the side a bit so that she could draw the woman's attention. "You teach Herbology, at MAGIC, right?" The class had flooded back into her thoughts though the professor's name still alluded her. It would hopefully kill the wait time though.

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[Alora Veda Astor]

Alora was lost in her own world for a moment, eyes focused on the menu board high on the wall behind the counter. Gaze flickering over the wording, looking at them but not really taking them in at all. Her mind was elsewhere, not entirely known to her, but somewhere nice all the same.

As she was pulled away from it after a moment, her face scrunched up, appearing miffed for a moment. She wasn't annoyed; moreso confused as to why anyone would want to talk to her. Training her focus to the girl in front of her, a trace of a smile played on her lips. Now she was taking in the features, it was a slightly more familiar face anyway. Alora couldn't place her, but she was sure in Hogsmeade there was only so many places she could actually know her from. But then, it became clearer when she asked her directly about her position at MAGIC. She was another of the teachers, but not totally familiar, probably one of the LIFE ones. Though she had a nagging feeling she'd seen her elsewhere as well, but she wouldn't dwell on that too much at the moment.

"Oh, yes." The smile playing on her lips was more coy now, sort of careful. "I'm Alora Astor." with a nod, she brushed back some of her red curled hair behind her ear and watched Juniper.

"And you, although I can't place you exactly. You must be a LIFE Professor, I'm guessing?" as she thought about it, her head tipped to the side just slightly undoing the effort she'd put into tidying her hair just slightly. Her attention was drawn away just momentarily to finally place her order for a rather boring coffee considering all that was on offer, before she glanced back to Juniper. "I don't entirely envy you though, the older ones scare me a little..." stepping back to let to let her step up instead now she laughed quietly, an awkward tone to it like she was trying to be at ease and be friendly but was not entirely comfortable with it. There was a hesitancy.

juniper minerva mcgonagall

[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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A wave of relief washed over her as it seemed like she had guessed correctly about the other woman. MAGIC professors didn't really cross her path too much now that classes were going on at both campuses, but she occasionally bumped into them. Herbology was also so far removed from her own building that it sort of made sense that she couldn't remember the woman's name, though that problem was quickly fixed. "Juniper McGonagall," she replied in turn. She had no idea if Alora knew who she was but figured it wouldn't hurt to introduce herself nonetheless.

"Correct you are," Juniper confirmed. "Advanced Transfiguration and Transfiguration and the Human Anatomy are my two classes. Have to cover complicated topics for the NEWT students..." Though she never thought either of her lesson plans were anywhere close to being difficult. A little brainpower and the will to learn was all it required. And a steady hand while trying to transfigure fingers into snakes, instead of sausages. Some of her students weren't up to snuff on it, but that was okay. Not everyone was meant to master the art of it. Going into teaching, she sort of expected it to be overcomplicated and difficult for both sides. Now she sort of understood that they were still kids - very tall ones, of course - but still kids. They could roll with the punches and understood where their magical limits were. That was more impressive than anything.

Alora briefly mentioned how the older students scared her, causing Juniper to chuckle as she stepped up next to her fellow professor in line. "They're an alright bunch. I wanted to teach the younger students but the position is already filled, so this is the next best thing I suppose," she admitted. Eventually the job would open up, and then she'd waltz right in with her padded resume and get the position. She knew that age range so much better, what with all the television programming she'd done for them over the last few years at Witch TV. Her current position felt like she was writing NEWT exams again. Because she sort of was.

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[Alora Veda Astor]

Eyeing the other girl. she was in two minds. In one way, it was sad that there wasn't more crossover in terms of the staff between MAGIC and LIFE. Sure Alora had gotten to know her current colleagues well enough but none of them was particularly fun or friendly. There was none she'd spend more than five minutes exchanging pleasantries or anything with, and yet with Juniper now there was something drawing her closer in. Her copper curls tumbled over her shoulder just slightly as she nodded in acknowledgment of her name, not picking up on her well known surname for a moment. The classes Juniper admitted to teaching caught her attention a little more though.

"Oh, that's interesting" her tone was somewhat quiet, not seeming too interested, but she was. Transfiguration was always something that had mystified her to a degree, knowing some people were strong enough, powerful enough to train their body to just shift entirely. There had once been a level of jealousy there, but she'd moved past that now to an acceptance. As studious and dedicated Alora had been to her studies, she'd never put enough determination into transfiguration; and now she was entirely sure that ship had sailed. "I was always a bit jealous of Animagi, people who had the determination. Looking back I probably could have tried, but I dunno my interests just went elsewhere.."

At Juniper's next point though, the corners of her lips turned down "Oh." Careful of not letting her frown spread to crease her forehead, she failed and her eyebrows furrowed "Really? I mean I thought most people would prefer teaching at Lufkin. That's a shame." A momentary distraction was provided as she leaned forward to take her compostable take away cup with a small smile of thanks to the Barista. It was awkward, but she hovered by Juniper anyway for a moment; she was surprisingly genuinely enjoying her company. "Maybe with a bit of luck it'll open up soon. Or they'll hire a second Professor. It's a busy enough class I guess..." Still finding herself hovering for a moment, she paused internally battling with herself over whether to take the risk or not. After all she had a free afternoon, but really she wasn't sure if she was in the mood to be rejected. Eventually she found her mouth falling opening and the question tumbling out despite her anxiety over it.

"Do you wanna sit and have these?" motioning to their cups she raised an eyebrow "I mean if you don't have classes to get to or anything I guess"

juniper minerva mcgonagall

[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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Merlin, this was another one of those situations where she debated blabbering on about being an animagi to one of her colleagues, wasn't it? Juniper knew that she could come across as snobby when she mentioned it, but there really wasn't any other way to say that it was an honestly difficult feat to overcome. The real problem is that she had expertly managed the ability in one try. Her propensity to plan too far in advance had worked out with this, as everything was time (and weather) sensitive. She had stressed about it as well, considering she'd chosen to do it in the middle of her relationship starting to crumble around her, so it wasn't entirely without issues. But it did come across as awkward sometimes when she admitted she was an animagi. Though to be fair, her name was on a public list. Anyone could look it up if they wanted to.

Alora wasn't entirely wrong about professors wanting LIFE classes. The way the school was set up now, there was finally a chance to really branch out into topics and sub-groups of magic that one normally couldn't get to in a jam packed NEWT-level course. That was why she had her two classes, as ridiculous sounding as they were. At the same time, she would have killed to have the cushy MAGIC position. And she felt she did better with younger children anyways. They didn't talk back as much, and the ones that were brought in for shows at Witch TV were always so well behaved. That stopped after a certain age it seemed. "Maybe! Depends on if it pays more than my day job and these two classes I'm doing." Otherwise she was fine as she was with both jobs.

"Sure. I'm done for the day," she agreed. Getting to know the other professors had certainly taken a while, but she was slowly crossing them off her list. The ones that were tricky to find all came down to conflicting schedules. Only being on the campus a few days per week really made it difficult for her to chat with all of them. Plus there were so many now, with a large majority being similar to her in only have a class or two and then a full-time career. "I still can't believe they opened a Spellbucks here," she added as an off-comment while collecting her drink and heading towards the table.

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