Hard to find what's right [Parvarti]

[parvati patil macmillan]

Jasper chuckled, saying that he didn't think he was to that point quite yet. He also questioned if it ever felt weird to wander the castle at night, and Parvati honestly couldn't say that it did.

"No," she shook her head, "not really." As an adult re-entering Hogwarts, it had never felt like rule-breaking. I think I got over that by my fifth year…"

In her day, and especially in her later years at school, she had been rebellious; she couldn't deny that. She wasn't a troublemaker, exactly, but it was much less of a concern to be breaking school rules when the people who had created them only had the authority to do so through increasingly flagrant levels of corruption. The enforcement of the school rules wasn't much better, really, a fact that was particularly true under the Carrows. By that point, curfew had been the least of her worries.

As a staff member, Parvati found herself in the corridors at night with relative frequency. Both of the roles that she held within the school occasionally required that she be up and about even once the students were supposed to be asleep in their dormitories. She usually wasn't one to wander around, though, and she did prefer her sleep when she could get it. That was the ideal, anyway. Not having to attend to any sudden emergencies was a good thing.

The one place to which she didn't really venture was the Forbidden Forest, though she didn't feel that there was very much for her to do there. Most of the creatures preferred to be left alone or were too dangerous to be handled without the proper training, so it was better not to bother them if it could be helped.

@jasper

[Deleted]

The woman didn't seem to share the same thoughts as he did. Jasper was newer to teaching at Hogwarts, but he had always followed the rules. He was the top of his class, and did his best. He rarely stepped out of line. That was partly why it was fun to wonder the halls at night now. "Guess I never really got that out of my system when I was younger" Sure he did patrols during his time in student leadership, but he had never snuck out of bed when he wasn't supposed to.

While there were still lessens to plan, and papers to great, Jasper felt the difference most times. He was definitely a different person now. The past eleven years had shaped him into someone different.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

"Guess I never really got that out of my system when I was younger," Jasper mused about his own lack of rebellion while a student at Hogwarts.

"My sister was the prefect in the family," Parvati told Jasper, laughing softly as she spoke. "Not me." Although some people might have expected that both she and Padma would have been prefects because they were identical twins, it was Hermione and Ron who had been the Gryffindor prefects in their year. The latter, in Parvati's opinion, was still sort of funny to think about. Merlin, even Ernie had been a prefect, which was more amusing to her still.

That hadn't made her a "bad" student, though, even if her parents had been pleased by Padma's additional responsibilities. Parvati had never had any serious problems with Professor McGonagall, aside from the fact that she had been talkative. Alright, she still was talkative, though she had gotten much better at listening in the decades that had passed.

"No one's going to mind if you stay out after the students' curfew," Parvati reminded him. There were Aurors around the castle because of the numerous potential security threats that existed, so he would have to take care not to do anything that would make them suspicious of his motives. Apart from that little detail, he was free to be up however late he desired. "Can't exactly dock House points from a member of staff."

@jasper

[Deleted]

Jasper was a model student. This was thanks to his upbringing. His parents demanded perfection. And being the youngest of the Yaxley kids, expectations had only been heightened by the success of his older siblings. Just doing the same things they did, wasn't enough. His most rebellious thing that he did, was have a muggle born girlfriend for the last three years of school. His parents didn't exactly like that.

She talked about how her sister had been the prefect of the family, and not her. "No one's going to mind if you stay out after the students' curfew," He nodded, laughing a bit. "Your right." There was a part of him that wondered what a student would do if they found a tiger roaming the halls. The thought brought a smile to Jasper's face. "Can't exactly dock House points from a member of staff." He laughed again. "Guess not. It would be funny if someone tried" He smiled at the woman, feeling much better now, than before.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

There were some benefits to being a staff member at Hogwarts. The rules that they had to follow were fewer in number than the rules that the students had to follow, and more of the rules were really just implicit, common sense things. Other restrictions, such as the inability to Apparate to or Disapparate from the castle or its grounds, were for security reasons. As nice as it would have been to pop in and out of the school so easily, Parvati was fine with the inconvenience of using the Floo Network or going to and from Hogsmeade if it meant that it kept things safer.

When she brought up the fact that Jasper wouldn't face disciplinary action from anyone simply for being up late at night, he acknowledged that she was right, and he seemed to relax a little more. He noted with a smile that it would be funny if someone were to try to dock House points from him at that point.

"Hopefully none of the prefects confuse you for a student," Parvati told him, shaking her head. She didn't think that they would, though; Jasper didn't really look younger than he was. He wouldn't get mistaken for being seventeen or eighteen, anyway. "If it happens," she added, which she supposed that it theoretically could, "they'll be embarrassed, I'm sure."

@jasper

[Deleted]

Over the short time or working at his old school, Jasper had enjoyed the perks of being a professor. But he couldn't lie, it did feel strange to him to sit up at the teachers table for the opening feast. He couldn't help but think of his first year being sorted when the newest set of first years were called one by one to get the sorting hat pleased on their head. "Hopefully none of the prefects confuse you for a student," Jasper gave another laugh. "If only I could pass off as a student" he joked. He knew that no one would make that mistake. Jasper nodded in agreement with the woman's response as he took another gulp of his drink. It certainly would be embarrassing to mistake a professor as a student.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

"If only I could pass off as a student," Jasper lamented.

"Merlin, don't I wish!" Parvati laughed, shaking her head and trying not to take it to heart that Jasper—young as he was—was talking about how amazing it would be if he were mistaken for seventeen. It was far less improbable a situation for him than it was for her, plus the fact that he was a new addition to the school's staff made it more likely that a student who was at NEWT level and wasn't taking Charms might mistake him for another student—at night or from a distance, especially.

As much as it was a gradual process, Parvati had never been fond of aging. There wasn't much fun in growing older, and giving up her youth was a strange thing. Merely mentioning that she had two adult children felt as though it couldn't have been true. Teenagers, sure; she was used to that, but they were officially out of school. She knew that she wasn't ancient, but it did give her pause. Since when had she wound up being in her forties and divorced? She hadn't planned her life out that way.

It also came with the territory of working at her former school, she supposed. Watching as the next generation of students—her generation's children—grew up and left Hogwarts to begin careers of their own was what they had wanted for them. Thank Merlin, her own children had done alright.

"Honestly," she assured him, "it shouldn't be a problem." It wouldn't take long to correct any problems that arose because of an overeager prefect, and if any of the Aurors were too eager to cast a spell first and ask questions afterwards, that was a significant problem for all involved. "And it won't be as exciting once you've been woken up unnecessarily in the middle of the night," Parvati promised, which did happen from time to time. Hopefully, it wouldn't happen as often for him, since he wasn't a Head of House and the students had less reason to need him after hours.

@jasper

[Deleted]

When he was younger, Jasper had always been told not to take his youth for granted. But as most idiotic teenagers do, he did. He still wouldn't classify himself as "old" but he was certainly older than the majority of the inhabitance of the school. In part, he did wish he could still pass as a young student. But the man wouldn't give up his experiences for anything. Were there things that he wished that he could take back? Absolutely, but who didn't? He was who he was today, because of those decisions, regrets or not. Jasper knew that he was still young, and given the lighting and perhaps some distance, it could happen, especially if the student didn't know him. But he quickly let those thoughts move along. There was no point dwelling on them, given their unlikely and wishful nature.

Moving from an experienced curse breaker, to a professor, defiantly didn't help Jasper feel young. He still had all his limbs, and could use them all. Being forced, or strongly suggested, to retire hurt. He would be lying if he said that he didn't long for those times. He had built a life, and had his own place. In a way, he felt like he was simultaneously stepping back and starting over. You couldn't plan things like that.

He didn't imagine that a prefect would try to take any points away if they saw him wondering at night. Still, if something like that happened, he could always replace the points with no fuss. "it shouldn't be a problem." He chuckled and nodded "That is right" he agreed. The staff at Hogwarts were all accomplished and well trained. Solving magical mishaps was just apart of the job at a school for young wizards and witches.

The woman continued. "And it won't be as exciting once you've been woken up unnecessarily in the middle of the night," he gave an uneasy chuckle. "That wouldn't be too much of a problem for me" He said honestly. He didn't get too much sleep lately. "I'd actually consider that as an achievement as a professor." Sort of like the idea that you weren't really a curse breaker until you have a scar. Though, not being a head of house, meant that he was certainly less likely to experience this.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

There weren't actually many problems with being a staff member at Hogwarts. It wasn't similar to her previous career at Witch Weekly, but it would have been wrong to say that the publishing world was entirely stress-free. The dangers that existed with being a Hogwarts staff member were the same dangers as anywhere else in the magical world at that point; it was just that some people weren't as aware of them. Getting woken up in the middle of the night wasn't the worst thing to happen, Parvati thought. She enjoyed her sleep, but she'd had twin infants of her own, years before.

Jasper, though, stated that being woken up in the middle of the night wouldn't really be a problem for him. That was probably true, considered Parvati. While she didn't know what sort of missions he had been on as a Curse-Breaker, it couldn't have been easy at times. Comfort probably hadn't been the primary focus. "I'd actually consider that as an achievement as a professor," he added.

"It will happen," Parvati assured him, laughing. "Either because of the students or because of Peeves," and a poltergeist couldn't exactly have points taken away from his House. Sometimes, there wasn't much that could be done to deter him.

@jasper

[Deleted]

Jasper hadn't been a professor at Hogwarts for very long, but he did know that it was quite a comfortable job, as compared to his last. Being a curse breaker meant that you always had to be on your toes. True, dealing with thousands of teenagers carried a similar idea. Still, he felt like he could lean back and take a breath.

In all honestly, he didn't sleep well at night, he tried. If he tried early, it wouldn't last long. He had found that the best thing to do was to stay up late and try to get a little bit of sleep later at night. Or, see if his good buddy the potions teacher could whip up a sleeping draught. He, too was used to pulling long hours. If you were in the middle of a tomb, and night fell, you took rests when you could, but normally you just had to keep moving. "It will happen," the woman assured him. Jasper smiled at the notion. He couldn't help but laugh at the mention of Peeves the poltergeist that inhabited Hogwarts. He had ruins while a student, and now as a professor. Luckily, he had some good ideas on how to deal with the ghost. "Ah Peeves, He tried to put a bell on me the other day, calling me...what was the words he used" He paused to remember "Yes, it was "kitty-witty"" Pretty sure he was trying to treat him like a house cat, because of his Animagus form. Jasper found it hilarious. But he couldn't help but laugh at that. He wondered if it would catch on with his students. The best way to resolve that would be to let them see his real animal form.

Taking another gulp of his drink Jasper relaxed. He defiantly thought that he was getting the hang of this new career of his.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

Peeves, from the sounds of what Jasper said next, was up to his usual antics again. It didn't matter how many times the poltergeist was told off for the mischief he created—which was often more like wreaking havoc—around the castle, because he would always find a way to outdo himself sooner or later. Peeves, apparently, had tried to put a bell on Jasper, referring to him as "kitty-witty". Fortunately, Jasper appeared to find the incident humorous enough in hindsight to be laughing about it.

Parvati, momentarily puzzled, wasn't sure what would have possessed Peeves to want to treat Jasper, an adult male human being, as his own personal kitten, until she remembered that her colleague was an Animagus and took the form of a tiger. She hoped that Peeves at least would have possessed the sense not to mess with an actual tiger—not that there would have been one walking around Hogwarts, mind—but was relieved that Jasper hadn't taken the teasing too seriously.

"Oh, Merlin," she laughed. It must have been a sight, though she did feel a bit bad that Jasper had been put through that. "I'm not sure if it's the greatest idea in the world, giving Peeves a pet," because he tended to lack a sense of responsibility unless the stakes were extraordinarily high, "and especially not an Animagus, regardless…" That was messy, end of story. It was one of the less destructive pranks that Peeves had attempted, in all fairness, but everything was relative. "He's found tarantulas before," she noted with a little shudder as she recalled pranks past, "probably in the dungeons or something."

Shaking her head in dismay that Peeves had really tried to make a kitten out of a member of staff, Parvati was immediately thankful that she wasn't harassed very often by Hogwarts' resident poltergeist. She as an individual had never come across as an easy target, she supposed, and she doubted that Peeves had seen a need to—ahem—initiate her into Hogwarts life when she had returned as a member of staff years later. He'd no doubt seen what she was really capable of as a student, and their aims hadn't been wholly dissimilar at times; Peeves had hated Dolores Umbridge just as much as most of the rest of the school, and he had done his part, as well, in the Battle of Hogwarts to prove that it wasn't just chaos that he was after.

Even with that shared history, Parvati couldn't say that she was capable of keeping the poltergeist in line, either. She didn't command quite that much respect from him, but she knew not to take it as a personal slight. Peeves wasn't one to respect anyone's authority. He listened to Professor McGonagall, thankfully, and also to the Bloody Baron, who was rather intimidating at times and who seemed to have held his ground over the centuries amongst the more… spectral members of the Hogwarts community. Between the two of them, there was at least some mechanism to keep Peeves under control if and when it was necessary.

@jasper

[Deleted]

While Jasper wasn't used to working with ghosts or poltergeists at his last job, but he did have cursed areas and objects. Not knowing what you were getting into. Dealing with some unknown ancient curse seemed more exciting than the ghosts at Hogwarts. He knew of them and interacted with them during his school years, things didn't seem too different coming back as an adult. At least this time, he could freely use magic against Peeves, if it got bad enough. The woman seemed to take some time to realize why Peeves' antics had been so humorous to Jasper. If he took the prank seriously, it would have added to his troubles. That wasn't exactly something he wanted to do at the moment. And there really wasn't much he could do to, or about the poltergeist.

But, in time Parvati laughed, seeming to catch on to the joke. "I'm not sure if it's the greatest idea in the world, giving Peeves a pet," He joined in the laughter at that time. "No, I don't think he should have one, imagine the trouble he would get in if he did." She brought up more information, past stories, which were always fun to hear. "Sometimes I wonder..." Peeves rarely did anything that could be classified as "good" for the school, but the powers that be seemed to have decided that he was going to stay.

He knew that if there were more problems with Peeves he could talk to the headmistress, or the Bloody Baron. Honestly, he would probably go to the Bloody Baron first. He knew the Slytherin house ghost fairly well. "As much trouble as he is, I'm not entirely sure if Hogwarts would be the same without Peeves"

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

As frustrating and occasionally time-consuming as it was to have to deal with some of the pranks that Peeves pulled on the unsuspecting students (and occasionally staff) of the school, most of what he did was relatively harmless—at least nothing that would have been likely to cause lasting damage. That was a better record than some of the students themselves, especially when one took into account that Hogwarts had had students who had murdered while still enrolled. It was a strange way of looking at it, maybe, but how much of an issue was taking a few minutes out of the day to clean up a small mess rather than dealing with something much more severe? Parvati would take being pelted with chalk over dealing with any more student deaths, and she didn't think that any of her colleagues would have disagreed with her on that. At least, she hoped for the students' sakes that they wouldn't have disagreed. Things were finally beginning to take a more positive turn again after so much renewed heartbreak, and she hoped to keep it that way for as long as she could.

Somewhere deep, deep down, Peeves had some sort of boundaries or a moral code. He didn't do what he did for the sake of hurting anyone—again, with the exception of Dolores Umbridge—or he would have used some sort of Dark magic to do it. Dealing with him was almost like dealing with a small child throwing a tantrum. He knowingly caused trouble, and he was very aware that what he was doing was inappropriate for a school environment, the majority of the time. Even with that, however, Peeves stopped short of truly crossing a line. Rules or laws might not have been of any interest to him, but he only reached the point of getting on most people's nerves. He didn't seek to inflict pain beyond a superficial level. The Cruciatus Curse and the kinds of punishments that the Carrows and even Umbridge had given so freely weren't of interest to him. He wanted a quick laugh, but he wasn't sadistic.

The thing was, Parvati supposed, that Peeves didn't feel much of a sense of responsibility. Beyond the loyalty that he had shown to Hogwarts, she didn't think that she would have much of a reason to trust Peeves with very much unless she were doing so out of desperation. Entrusting him with a pet, as Jasper agreed with her, would have been a foolish move. Setting aside the fact that he was a poltergeist, he also didn't seem to maintain interest in anything for very long, in general, so providing for the upkeep of anything with more needs than a pet rock or a ball of lint was out of the question.

"As much trouble as he is," said Jasper, "I'm not entirely sure if Hogwarts would be the same without Peeves."

Parvati smiled without a moment's hesitation. She didn't doubt that the atmosphere would be different without Peeves there—quieter, sure, but also nowhere near as lively at times. There were other presences within the castle, namely the ghosts and the portraits, who often provided conversation and commentary, but Peeves was unique. He had a way of knowing how to keep the school on its toes, but it was tame enough. A mild annoyance from a known entity was much easier to handle than any security breach. And, what was more, Peeves's handiwork involved far less explanation to the students' families; a poltergeist wasn't going to come in and kidnap anyone, nor would he target them with the Killing Curse. With Peeves, any political agenda like that simply wasn't a consideration, thank Merlin.

Prefacing her comments with a word of caution, Parvati looked to the entryway as she spoke. "I don't want him to get the wrong idea if he hears me saying this," she said. Although she hadn't seen Peeves just then, she did want to make that much known aloud, just for the record. She wasn't endorsing all of what he'd done, though she worried that Peeves might use her comments against her as a suggestion that she wouldn't mind it if he were to ramp up the pranking. That wasn't it, though, and she continued her thoughts on the hypothetical situation. "But I don't think Hogwarts would be the same without him here, either, you know?" It was something that she hadn't thought about, truly, and definitely not at such length. "He's"—Parvati realized as soon as she began her next sentence that there wasn't actually one word to encapsulate Peeves, which was also part of his charm—"different, and he's been here for… as long as the castle itself, hasn't he?" Admittedly, Parvati didn't know for how long he had been at Hogwarts, but she hadn't heard of a time when Peeves the poltergeist hadn't been there as a thorn in someone's side. "Besides," she added somewhat thoughtfully, "where would he go if not Hogwarts? The Ministry? They would run him out as soon as they got the chance…"

@jasper

[Deleted]

Peeves was definitely not a school favorite when it came to the castles more permanent residents. And while there were times that he seemed to have favorites on who his pranks were for, he seemed to just want some attention. Very much like a child, all of his pranks were mostly harmless, and more annoyances - especially if you knew how to deal with them. In a way, weren't all people like that. True, there were probably better ways. Things had been hard lately, especially for the school over the past few years. If Peeves was all they had to worry about this semester, they would be lucky. There was a part of Jasper that felt glad that he had missed out on those things, but another part that made him upset and sad that those he cared about had to deal with them instead.

Peeves was apart of just about everyone's Hogwarts students life. From now to the time that he first appeared. Jasper meant what he said about Hogwarts not being the same without the poltergeist. Either way, Parvati smiled, and Jasper couldn't help but smile too. In a way, Peeves helped the students understand the reality of the world outside of Hogwarts. Things weren't just studying and tests, with every meal magically conjured onto tables with all you can eat. Sometimes there were bad things and little you could do about it.

What the woman had to say next, she started off with a disclaimer, just in case the little trouble maker was listening in. It was important to remember that, as teachers, they couldn't go and encourage any mischievous behaviors. She then continued with agreeing with his statement. Hogwarts was how it was, and in part so were each student - past and future - because of peeves. Not to say that he was all good, in some instances he was purely trauma and bad. Especially to certain first year students who had no idea how to deal with him. Or that poltergeists even existed. But he nodded in agreement. He gave a chuckle when she attempted to describe the eternal being. "That he is. And you never really know what he's going to do next" Peeves certainly kept things from getting boring or mundane around the castle.


"where would he go if not Hogwarts? The Ministry? They would run him out as soon as they got the chance…" Jasper, once again, laughed. "You have a point there. I don't think there is a better suited place for him than Hogwarts." Or a place that would actually let him stay.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

It seemed that both she and Jasper were firmly of the same mind when it came to Peeves. Would the school caretaker have thought the same? Parvati couldn't be as certain about that one. From everything that she knew, the poltergeist had taken to tormenting just about every caretaker that had ever set foot in the castle. Argus Filch hadn't had much luck at all with him, not that old Filch had ever been a particularly personable man with anyone. He had found himself a companion in his cat, Mrs. Norris, anyway, so that was good for him, though Mrs. Norris had had an awful habit of stalking the corridors on his behalf. She didn't miss that one bit.

"It's sort of funny, isn't it," Parvati smiled, "that nothing much really changes around here?" Thankfully, there were short-lived elements of life that had changed: A basilisk had been let loose not once but twice; Dumbledore's Army had helped to topple an oppressive regime; it wasn't always pretty. The castle had survived a battle and had been reconstructed where necessary, returning it to a glory that it had never really lost. Maybe that was why Hogwarts had felt like home to so many people. Even if they had proper homes outside of the castle, it was always familiar.

@jasper