Same Stuff, Different Day

The door was inscribed with three particular runes:


The classroom itself was octagonal in shape, and of luxurious size. The seats were in rows, as usual, and upon each desk was a particular rune, in no particular order. Books, large posters of inscriptions, tapestries, and glowing enchanted items in display cases lined the walls. A few extra tables against the walls held more displays - some of them professionally done, while other cases contained students' work. An ornate pigeonhole-type cabinet in the back of the room kept cloth bags full of runes for divinatory casting, each set made of a different material: wood, bone, stone... if it could be made into a runestone without rotting or shriveling so much as to be indistinguishable, it was there. A wide expanse of chalkboard stood behind the professor sitting at his desk. The first panel on the far left contained a review chart of the rune system he typically taught with. At the rightmost panel, the professor had his name and the start of a list of students. Whether they were exemplary or delinquent was anyone's guess. Directly behind the professor was a middle panel of chalkboard, and it was blank.

Nikolai Malfoy sat at his desk, a mug of coffee within arm's reach on a coaster. Whether he was waiting for a class or just about to go up to his office was difficult to tell just by looking at him. The wizard was rather engrossed with grading a stack of essays. Two other piles of parchment were nearby: one with obvious quill-marks, and the other seemingly not having yet been touched.

Scribbling a grade onto the topmost parchment, Nikolai moved it to the 'done' pile of work and glanced at the old clock that hung just above the door. A look of near exasperation flickered across his face. Almost tiredly Nikolai stretched, grunting as a few joints quite audibly snapped, then sighed as he settled back into the chair. 'At least it is a comfortable chair,' he thought. Murmuring quietly in Russian, Nikolai once again lowered his eyes to a fresh essay with his quill poised and ready for whatever came his way.

Alex Nighthook approached Professor Malfoy's classroom begrudgingly, though not because he didn't like the class, he was in the NEWT class after all and despite his reputation of being the Quidditch sports jock and one for always getting in trouble.. he was rather good in the class most of the time anyway. The homework killed him on bad days.. so he wasn't perfect. But he understood the subject well enough to keep up with the class..

As for the reason he was going to talk to the professor, Damage control, the essay handed in the day before.. well not complete. Day of full moon he had been quite restless, and he couldn't remember in the haze of the day if he got all the key points or not. So he had just rewritten it, and according to Blackwood, he was in his classroom marking those very essays.. So he crossed his fingers and hoped his earlier one had not been marked yet and he would exchange it for the new one.. or if it had been well, he hoped he hadn't as bad as he thought.

He looked up at the door, the runic letters J D E he was sure they stood for something to the professor, but the didn't make much sense to him.. "J" Jera, meant harvest in rough translation. "D" Dagaz meant Day, and "E" Eihwaz was the tricky one.. associated with Yew in Proto-Germanic, still the Anglo-Saxon futhorc as well... Alex shock his head thinking perhaps it was just a display.

He knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

Nikolai was in mid-sip of his coffee when a knock at the door beckoned his attention. Without a word the wizard spelled it open. "Come in," he said, the opening door providing him with enough time to swallow the hot liquid and set his cup back down. It was unmistakable that Nikolai had an accent that was part British and part something else. The problem was placing that 'something else'.

One final marking had been made on the paper he was currently grading before looking up at his guest. Nikolai lightly squinted his eyes, trying to remember the young man's name. He mentally went through his attendance sheet of Gryffindors. Ah, yes, there it was: Nighthook. Typically a straight 'E' student. Nikolai set aside his stack of essays to grade and replaced his quill into its inkwell.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Nighthook?" the wizard asked, conjuring up an armchair for Alex to sit in instead of asking him to sit at one of the desks.

Alex nodded and took the seat, he would admit it but he was still terribly stiff from his transformation. "Thank you Professor"

"I wanted to ask about the essay that was due yeasterday, To be honest I may not have finsihed it to completion." he said not giving an excuse.. He learned long ago excues didn't fly with most professors.. He was hoping though his current grade in the class, would help in slack in this one assignment.

"I was curious if you happened to mark it yet" wondering if he had if they could come to some sort of arrangment so he could fix it.

He hoped he wasn't coming off the wrong way... though he feared he was. Even though his intentions was concern for the essay.. But he could perfectly understand if this came off as arrogant... A fact a few of his classmated told him quite clearly.

Brown eyebrows gave a tightening jerk downward at mention of the essay, and that the content was incomplete. Nikolai supposed the admission was better than an all-out lie. The wizard distinctly noted that Alex did not give an excuse for this incomplete paper, and in discovery of this he was instantly curious. Most would have excuse after excuse to regurgitate in a heap with pleas for reconsideration.

At the question, Nikolai's gaze immediately wandered to the crest on Alex's robes and the trim of his sleeves. Although House had nothing to do with what was being asked the wizard had suddenly decided to double check. Typically it was a perfectionist Ravenclaw to ask that question. "Let me see," he said, pulling out his wand. With it he drew a rune in the air to cast a spell, muttering Alex's name from last to first directly after it. Invisible hands seemed to curl the parchment and rapidly flip through the sheets. It came to a stop instantly, not more than two or three sheets away from the top of the stack the professor had had on his lap for grading. Nikolai pulled out the waiting parchment and set it with a stern look.

The wizard double-checked the student's name, the date, and noted that he would have been about to mark the essay if only another fifteen minutes had passed. "Ah. Lucky." Nikolai murmured, sliding his silver gaze to Alex. His eyebrows rose slightly. "I have not. Another fifteen minutes, however..." the wizard deliberately didn't finish his sentence and glanced at the content. Nikolai rapidly blinked three times - a quirky tic used when he tried to hide a facial expression. He flipped the paper over to the back, and upon seeing nothing there turned the paper back over again.

"O-kay," Nikolai murmured. He either licked his lips to moisten them, or briefly pressed his lips together into a thin line, before returning his gaze to Alex. The professor's arms rested gently in front of him, slightly crossed at the wrists. One hand still clutched the parchment and was kept within easy re-reading distance. "What do you propose?" Nikolai asked, inadvertently stressing and rolling the 'r'.

Alex nodded looking slightly relived as this made things much likely Professor Malfoy would accommodate him. giving the right conditions of course. His eye sight still better then the average human he glanced at the paper.. Not a passing paper at all he assumed, looking when he had written it his mind had gone blank.. He turned his gaze to the professor again, weighing the options he knew he had.

Alex was a hard working student, sometimes it was to a certain point of course where he weighed something else more important then school work.. But a matter of pride was in this as well.. he liked the fact he was actually doing well in this class... he didn't want it to faulter now if he could help it.

"Well I have rewritten it.. though I can understand if you might consider that cheating.." he placed the 3 page essay on the Professor's desk anyway. But continued;

"If you will have it, instead I earn the credit alternately? marking others,, or writing another essay right here right now with a different question. I know the work Sir, I have no excuse for what happened yesterday.. but am willing and able to fix it if you will allow me" he said hoping he smoothed things over.

Monroe never let him do this, once a piece was handed in final.. unless he deemed otherwise of course...

"I could even serve a detention... Merlin knows I have enough of them" he said a slight smirk on his face at the comment, before setting a curious gaze at the Professor again wonder what he would deem acceptable.

Nikolai listened to what Alex had to say. A frown flickered at the possibility of detention, but that was the only time in which his face did so much as twitch. He reached for the new essay, replacing it with the one that had been handed in. "If it is your own work, I cannot see how that is cheating. Although, I felt I was quite generous with the deadline," the wizard replied, then lowered his gaze to the new essay. As per his way of doing things he noted the heading before skimming the essay's contents.

It was definitely better in quality, the professor noted. Much more elaboration and detail that he would expect from a seventh year such as Alex Nighthook. Once more Nikolai did not read through the whole thing just yet, and flipped through to find three pages instead of the single sheet he had received. "It goes without saying, Mr. Nighthook, that your grades speak for themselves. You seem to be knowledgeable in the subject, write it fairly and with solid detail, and to my recollection have always handed in assignments on time. In short: good student.

"So. As for alternate credit... I do not know what you're talking about. I have decent essay right here," Nikolai concluded, tapping the 3-page essay against one hand and letting a small smile finally peek out from behind his usual demeanor. "I will take this, just this once. Continue to do well and I may extend a second leniency." Basil would likely consider Nikolai a fool right now, shaking his head and glaring - the wizard could just see it now. He supposed his friend needn't know this particular story.

"How is your translation piece coming along?" Nikolai asked curiously. It wasn't due for another several days yet - almost a week - however, the text to be translated was decidedly cryptic and obscure. He definitely put some of the students through their paces for not only was transliteration required but also interpretation of the assigned passages one could choose from.

Alex nodded relieved again once Professor Malfoy accepted the replacment "Thank you Sir, and it wasn't that Sir..." he said concerning the due date.. Had it been last week would have been fine.. it was however insanely hard for him to concentrate, for reasons he could not tell obviously.

"I will try not to let it happen again sir" He said, though he could not promise. much to his frustration.

He thought about his project, which was coming long, it wasn't near done yet, but it would be before next week now that full moon was out of the way it shouldn't be much of a head ache as it had been.

"It's coming along Sir, you weren't kidding about the cryptic and obscureness of this one, Proto-Germanic.. Anglo-Saxon, back to Latin, and finally English " he said sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "The Runes eat at my brain as I sleep.. But It will be done by its due, I can promise that" he said making a mental note to work on it tomorrow. He was curious how Lainey was doing on hers almost done no doubt knowing her he assumed.

Alex then leaned forward holding his hand out to shake, "Thank again Professor, I owe ya one" he said casually.

Nikolai simply nodded in response to the thank you. He had a feeling Alex may have just been saying that he would try not to let it happen again, but on the other hand he was in Gryffindor. And considering how hard the young man worked... Nikolai supposed he should not be so cynical of students as a whole, and make exceptions for the exemplary ones. "That is all I can hope for when giving an assignment," replied the wizard.

A chuckle left the professor as Alex explained the progress of his project. "Yes... it can be confusing. But you seemed to do well with the other transliteration assignments. I look forward to reading how the runes will be interpreted." Nikolai flashed a knowing smile in Alex's direction at the mention of runes invading one's dreamscape. "I'm sure it will, Mr. Nighthook." At the offered hand, the professor took it and gave a decent shake. "You are welcome, Mr. Nighthook. I appreciate the responsibility and effort you've shown by bringing me this. It is refreshing."