| Printable Version of Topic
Click here to view this topic in its original format |
| Virtual Hogwarts > An Unused Classroom > Sariss Ravon |
| Posted by: Sariss Jan 27 2005, 10:51 PM | ||
| Sariss Ravon, Slytherin 5th year and OWL candidate this year, shuffled into an unused classroom on the ground floor of the castle so as to receive some badly needed advice concerning her future career. She simply didn't have the slightest clue about what to do with her life. Her grades were all just fine; she could play any position at Quidditch (even though she had preferences); she was said to be one of the best duellers at Hogwarts... It seemed that this was exactly the problem. Sariss could do anything. Well, anything that she wanted to, that is. And there was another problem... As Sariss seemed to excel at everything that she touched, she didn't know what she wanted. And that was why the general piece of advice "Do what you do best" wasn't much help to her when it came to deciding on her goals for the future. Being the best just wasn't a very helpful goal, especially since it was only inspired by her fear of not being good enough. She needed some guidance badly. Oh the poor professor who would try to help her... If it was Professor Giordano, the poor woman would probably have to struggle through the meeting as she didn't seem to possess much patience. Nobody was there yet. Understandable. Sariss was dreadfully early and clutching her form in her hands. She had filled it out thoroughly. Some of the questions had been really hard to answer too! And filling in the sections about her grades had made her blush. All those Os... It seemed so show-offy to see them all gathered there... A long list of Os. She was almost glad to see that list disrupted by N/A occasionally, as she had dropped the two subjects that she really didn't need and that weren't mandatory either. For one, she had been living with Muggles for more than half her life, so she knew those things... and Divination was just... well... it went against Sariss's sense of logic. The girl sat down at the desk that stood at the front of the classroom with the armchair on the other side of it still empty. Hopefully her advisor would be a little bit early as well. Waiting was so unnerving to her. Sariss placed the form on the desk so that whoever would sit down could read it immediately. And while she waited, she skimmed through it again--with the form being upside down from her point of view.
|
| Posted by: Mr. Dervish Jan 27 2005, 10:56 PM |
| Mr. Dervish rushed down the hall towards the classroom - late again. Oh certainly, he could blame it upon his research, but quite honestly, did he HAVE to pick up the books an hour before he had an appointment? And with whom - dear, oh dear. He reached to his pocket and wrenched out the paper, unfolding, and uncreasing it - looking to see... Sariss Ravon! Well, that ought to be rather pleasant. Still walking, he pushed the paper back into his pocket, this time crumpled in a little ball. "Miss Ravon," He said, turning the corner into the room, shutting the door behind him. "How are you today, well I hope?" He moved towards the desk and sat down, picking up the paper, reading it. "Mmmmm-haaaaaah." |
| Posted by: Sariss Jan 27 2005, 11:03 PM |
| Well... this certainly was boring. The waiting. Lalalala... Why couldn't time just pass a tiny hint more quickly? Why was Sariss so paranoid about being late that she tended to be much too early? Why oh why... It didn't help much that she was alone in this room and that the room itself was rather uninspiring. She sighed and checked her clock only to find that she had forgotten to twist that little wheel around a couple of times that morning and that the clock had stopped. Bah. Batteries would be so convenient. How she wished that electrical devices would work at Hogwarts sometimes. Sariss hummed a tune to herself, one of the latest songs of the Wyrd Sisters, when--as if out of nowhere--Mr Dervish was in the room all of a sudden and thus startled her a little bit. She wondered if he knew about the Boggart during her DADA practical. So embarrassing. "Um... Good afternoon, sir. Yes... Thank you... I'm..." dreadfully nervous "...rather well." Sariss eyed the man closely when he skimmed over her form. "Mmmmm-haaaaaah." "Sir?" |
| Posted by: Mr. Dervish Jan 27 2005, 11:07 PM |
| "Well," Dervish slowly lowered the paper, looking up at the student, his face excessively level. Prodigy. An absolute prodigy. "I wouldn't want to make you too optimistic...sometimes it can take a long time to get any of the truly magnificent jobs..." She'll have the Ministry beating down her door to ask her to come work for them before she's even finished sixth year. Not to mention...the others. "But I would say, quite honestly, that at least as far as your grades and abilities go, you could have your pick of any career in the world - aside from those related to the sight, or muggle relations, naturally. What of your personality then? Would you describe yourself as a people person?" |
| Posted by: Sariss Jan 27 2005, 11:45 PM |
| "I wouldn't want to make you too optimistic...sometimes it can take a long time to get any of the truly magnificent jobs..." That was pretty much of a given. Whoever thought that they'd get to the top of the world immediately after graduation definitely had a problem with fitting their ego through a door smaller than the gates of the castle. "I understand, sir." Of course there would be few really good jobs for many good graduates of Hogwarts, and if Sariss applied for a position at the Ministry (though she had no idea which one that would be), she was sure that she'd have a lot of competition. Sariss nodded when Mr Dervish elaborated the possibilities some more. Yes, clearly Sariss didn't have the slightest talent at Seeing. As for Muggle relations... Her background would probably be of help there... though she didn't have much interest in anything pertaining to Muggles--probably because, when not at Hogwarts, she was basically a Muggle herself and found that situation dreadfully uninspiring. She wanted to do something that involved magic. The wizarding world was where she felt alive. "What of your personality then? Would you describe yourself as a people person?" Mr Dervish asked. Sariss hesitated. Those were tricky questions! Just like she would have expected them of Mr Dervish if she had known that he'd be tackling this CAM meeting. "My personality?" Do I have a personality at all? "Well... I... I don't know. I suppose I'm rather flexible. I'm a team worker but I'm also fairly self-sufficient. I couldn't stand having people buzzing around me all day though. That's like a beehive; like the common room after the Sorting. I suppose that rules me out as a journalist, I suppose. I... um... I'd probably like a bit of everything. Every day the same would be so... so..." Sariss's mind struggled for the appropriate word. "...unchallenging." |
| Posted by: Mr. Dervish Jan 27 2005, 11:54 PM |
| Dervish chuckled. No buzzing, eh? "One might wonder how you can cope with being a shop assistant...unless you've quit that to focus on your studies? Dreadfully hard to keep track of these things... just the same, you're perfectly right - you'd be excluded from being a journalist, or rather, from being happy as a journalist. Likewise, I'd say you're probably not terribly anticipant at the thought of being trapped in a busy office... which is most of the ministry jobs. Nor would you be likely to enjoy the life of a professional dueller... fans, you know." He drummed his fingers, moving further down the form. "Which leaves us Potions Mistress and Auror, as far as your thoughts so far have led you, at any rate. Let's look at aurors... there's no doubt that you're one of the greatest duellers at this school - I believe you've...er... wiped the floor... with most your opponents. Which means your strategic skills and reflexes must be great... how about your decision capabilities? How long do you hesitate before coming to decisions? If you were given orders, are there situations in which you might question them? This isn't a bad thing, of course - but they are things you have to take into account." |
| Posted by: Sariss Jan 28 2005, 12:12 AM |
| "Oh, I don't work in the shop itself anymore. I just keep the records in order. That's not much work, really. Just a few hours a week. After all, I have to concentrate on my OWL studies... and I didn't have much time to duel last year as it was... and this year, I wanted to be more involved in the club, especially since I'm not part of any other club at Hogwarts due to the immense amount of time that I usually dedicate to my studies." Sariss smiled in amusement as Mr Dervish mentioned fans. Indeed, she'd not like all the attention. It had been bad enough when she had still spent a lot of time in the Duelling Chamber. Nowadays her appearances there were scarce, but her duels were by far better in a way that she could not quite explain. She blushed slightly when Mr Dervish observed that she must be a rather good strategist and everything that was indicated by her duelling skills. Well, yes... She had defeated several students who were stronger than she was occasionally. Not every time that they had faced off against each other, but occasionally, against all odds... yes, she had found the one or the other loophole of sorts. "I have to admit that I'm really bad at making decisions, Mr Dervish," she said, slowing down more and more the further the sentence progressed, as she realised something that she had previously not noticed. How could she have? With all the trivial decisions that daily life brought with it? Decisions that didn't really matter, that didn't make the slightest difference. "...though... come to think of it... the less important a decision is, the more difficult it is to make. Because it doesn't really matter, you see? Of course it also depends a lot on the situation. Sometimes there isn't much time to decide... so reflexes have to do the trick. I mean... It's also one thing to have all the time in the world to do something or to have to act quickly and hope that the choice that was made was the right thing." Sometimes hesitation could be more destructive than the wrong choice. "If you were given orders, are there situations in which you might question them? This isn't a bad thing, of course - but they are things you have to take into account." "Orders... Hmm..." Sariss pondered that question. Orders were a double-edged sword. If one blindly obeyed to them, they could be just as destructive as if one kept questioning them. "That depends on the kind of order. If it seems logical... or if there is even time to question it. Sometimes things have to be done quickly in order to work out." |
| Posted by: Mr. Dervish Jan 28 2005, 12:18 AM |
| "Absolutely, absolutely," Dervish nodded, leaning forward over the desk. "Sometimes it is nice to let your reflexes do the work...to tell you where to go...and to deal with the rest when it is over... I have to say, Sariss, I think you would make an excellent auror... with hard work. But humour me... I'm curious. What would you do if your orders were to capture somebody who had been a member of your own house... a member of your own year... somebody who you had sat with in classes, laughed and joked... what, for example, if your orders were to capture Sebastian Darwin, dead or alive?" |
| Posted by: Sariss Jan 28 2005, 12:44 AM |
| "What, for example, if your orders were to capture Sebastian Darwin, dead or alive?" Sariss sat there for a moment, her mouth half-open, somewhat dumbstruck. That was so unrealistic. Seb wouldn't go down that road. Not Seb. But... what if... Hmm... the most likely scenario for that would probably be if he was put under the imperius curse... Though dead or alive... Gulp. "There would surely be a reason for such an order... and... well... I don't know, Mr Dervish. I suppose that I can only hope that this won't happen. It may be a set-up... It could be a trap... It could be a horrendous mistake. Or it could all be true. Orders like those can't come out of the blue. I mean... I'm perfectly conscious of Slytherin's history... the relatively high percentage of Dark wizards that have come from my house compared to the other houses, and I fully expect some of them going down that path. But still... for as long as it hasn't happened... You see..." she fidgeted. Oh boy, please no fidgeting. The man must think you're a five-year-old. "I don't know what I would do," Sariss added in a small voice. |
| Posted by: Mr. Dervish Jan 28 2005, 12:52 AM |
| "Alright, well I'll tell you what," Dervish spoke slower, trying to take the edge off his voice. "You're still only seventeen...only a fifth year...there's two years left before you have to make any decision, but I'd suggest that for now, you maintain every one of your classes...at any rate, do not drop more than one of the electives. That will leave the path to being an auror open. And once you'd graduated...with no less than an EE in anything, but I'm sure that won't be a problem for you... then you can see about getting accepted to a three year auror programme. I'm sure that they'd give you all the counselling and training to act speedily in such situations..." "As for being Potions mistress... again, it's something to look into, though I have my doubts that Isabella...I mean, Professor Giordano... will be leaving any time soon - though there is, of course, Beauxbatons, or even Durmstrang, if you don't mind the cold. That would be an ideal backup job for you, if you were not accepted into the program..." "And then...there ARE the office jobs, if you were able to get past the bustling... working for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement... I'm not about to suggest you become a Hitwizard, but there are women like Amelia Bones...that's the head of the department... who are very theoretical and logical. They deal with the facts, and guide the department to make the right decisions... in order to help take the burden off those who have to go up against people whose guilt is thus far uncertain. Frankly though, I think you'd rather be out in the field." |
| Posted by: Sariss Jan 28 2005, 01:12 AM |
| Sariss stopped squirming somewhere halfway through of what Mr Dervish said and even smiled a little when he said that Professor Giordano didn't seem like she would be leaving Hogwarts any time soon. It certainly seemed like the woman had a firmer grasp on the position than her predecessor who had barely lasted a year. Sariss liked very much that many of the current professors had lasted for a while now. It brought a sense of security and consistency to the school. She listened closely to what Mr Dervish said and nodded at the appropriate places, a thought occurring to her. "Say... Mr Dervish..." Now or never, Sariss. "I have been thinking--you must think that I've done a lot of thinking recently--" she gave a little laugh before growing serious again. "But... you see... the thing is this... I have never been a great fan of Astronomy. Don't get me wrong... I will take the OWL exam and I will make sure that I'll pass it with flying colours... but if there is one subject that I would like to drop, it's this--apart from Charms, perhaps, but Charms is still a good spell-casting practice." Well, it did look like Sariss would have to continue that one no matter what. How good that she had put effort into her OWL there. "And... well... it would make time for something that I've also been thinking about. You see... I would like to apply for the studies of Legilimency and perhaps Occlumency too, especially now that a future as an Auror has become fairly realistic. I'm not quite sure which one would be more useful. Maybe Occlumency... But..." Sariss blushed a bit. "No matter which one of those two options... it might help me get this..." She felt herself blush even more. "...fidgeting under control. I'm always much too nervous, I fear. And practising concentration and meditation would surely help a little concerning my lack of calmness. Not to mention that I start babbling endlessly when I'm nervous as you may have noticed..." |
| Posted by: Mr. Dervish Jan 28 2005, 01:29 AM |
| Dervish couldn't help but laugh outright. It seemed that as the conversation went on, the girl was setting her heart more and more upon becoming an auror. "Well then, let's see..." He tapped the quill against the desk. "Alright - this is my advice to you. Get yourself an O in Astronomy...get yourself an O in every OWL you take this year - I'm quite certain it's well within your abilities. Then... you will need to submit... this form..." He reached for a stack of papers, and pulled out the relevant paper. "To the Ministry authorities... they insist on overseeing all those who learn such dangerous abilities.... I'd start with Occlumency, if I were you. Naturally, we don't expect you to be captured much, if at all... but if you are, it's the safest way to protect your mind from invasion. And if you choose to go ahead and drop Astronomy, I would assume them to still be open to you as an auror, assuming that at least a fair few of your NEWTs are Os, AND you have the Occlumency credit, to show that you are in fact, a hard working and studious girl." "Although..." He added. "I notice that you've listed Professor Trimble as the other professor who you could expect to recommend you. I suggest you have a chat with him... although you can hardly expect him to exert himself to get you into the program this early... and you should be able to do that on your own at any rate... he should be able to tell you if you DO in fact need Astronomy as an auror." |
| Posted by: Sariss Jan 28 2005, 01:48 AM |
| Sariss nodded. She'd try to get straight Os for sure, no matter what, just because she'd never be satisfied with anything less than that anyway. But nonetheless, getting rid of one of the subjects that she didn't like just as much and might not be useful for her future in favour of spending that time on something more rewarding... that thought was just too appealing. "Then... you will need to submit... this form..." Sariss took it and skimmed through it. Oh dear... That form looked awfully long and complicated. It would take hours to fill in all the blanks and explain her reasoning. She nodded again. Yes, Mr Dervish was right. Sariss had thought that Occlumency was the more logical choice if there had to be a decision made. It was just that Legilimency would have been so darn interesting too. But... at second thought... did she really want to know what went on in the minds of her fellow students? Ewwww... no... no, Sariss was sure that there were some things in there that she wouldn't be able to stomach. Some people just had such dirty minds... and you didn't have to be a Legilimens to see that. "That is an awfully long form..." Sariss whispered, somewhat in awe at it. It would take hours to fill it in. The first draft! It would take a week till she'd be satisfied enough with all the explanations to even consider handing it in. She nodded. "Yes, sir. I shall go see Professor Trimble about this soon then. I would really like to make it all so. It seems like a grand goal to me. The thought is so inspiring. You know... I... Thank you, Mr Dervish." Sariss was smiling now. It was amazing, the sort of warmth that spread through her now that she knew where her path in life lay and where it might lead her for as long as she did not stray from it. |
| Posted by: Mr. Dervish Jan 28 2005, 01:53 AM |
| Dervish smiled at the girl. "The world needs protectors, Miss Ravon. And frankly, I think the aurors would be fools not to accept you - assuming that you don't stray from the light. And really...better the Ministry, than the Deatheaters, eh?" He smiled once more, reassuringly, and then looked around to find if there was anything he'd brought that he didn't have...no...no, there didn't seem to be, so he stood, holding out his hand for the girl to shake. "Congratulations on getting thus far, Miss Ravon. I look forward to seeing you in History, and wish you all the best with your application, and your future. You are a credit to Slytherin." |
| Posted by: Sariss Jan 31 2005, 07:09 PM |
| Sariss got up and took Mr Dervish's outstretched hand for a little shake. "Thank you very much sir," she said, her cheeks flushing a little from the compliments. "I am looking forward to History of Magic as well." And maybe I can get rid of that chronical feet-shuffling now... I mean... I survived this CAM meeting almost without fidgeting! Was there anything that she had forgotten? Hmm... No... The only thing that she had brought with her had been that form... and Mr Dervish had it now. And she had another form in her hand. Well... more of a stack of parchments, not just a 'form' per se. "I'll go see Professor Trimble about all of this as soon as possible, sir. Thank you again." Sariss smiled broadly and left the classroom with a bounce in her step. |