"Good evening, Minerva." Professor Vector greeted her as the teachers gathered for dinner in the Great Hall.
"The same to you as well, Septima." McGonagall nodded as the two witches sat next to one another. "How was your day today?"
Professor Vector shook back the sleeves of her royal blue robes slightly. "Interesting enough. My new Third Year class seems full of bright prospects. Miss Granger is in my class, but as her Head of House, you would probably know this already..."
"Oh yes. Miss Granger is a bright girl, very talented. It's a pity that she seems focused on her books to the exclusion of all else at times. Still, Mr Potter and Mr Weasley seem to be helping her a bit in that regard..."
"I saw that neither of them joined her in that class. What electives are they taking?" Vector quizzed as she helped herself to some fish, which had just appeared on the table along with the other dinner foods.
"Divination," McGonagall pursed her lips at that. "and Care of Magical Creatures."
"There's a subject I enjoyed learning about while I was in school. Professor Kettleburn taught us well about the things like Demiguises, Unicorns, Quintapeds, Acromantulas and such. Not as much as Arithmancy, of course." Vector smirked.
"Oh yes. Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures were your Third Year electives, weren't they?" McGonagall asked.
"And Ancient Runes, yes. I continued all three of them to NEWT level too. I have no regrets whatsoever in that regard, though Care of Magical Creatures was more of a subject I took out of interest, rather than having any real career ambitions relating to that subject..." Vector helped herself to some roasted potatoes and savoured them as McGonagall made her next comment.
"Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture the heart. That's an old Indian proverb I once came across. It seems to suit you well. You are a good teacher." McGonagall said.
"Thank you." Vector smiled. "Speaking of good teachers and pursuing your true interests, how is Hagrid doing as the new Care of Magical Creatures professor? I know he loves the creatures, but is he doing well at teaching about them?" Vector glanced down the table, where the rather hairy part-giant teacher was sitting at the very end, actually looked a bit more subdued than usual.
"Ah. Well, Hagrid has always been... enthusiastic about the creatures and sometimes forgets that his students are not as durable as he is. He introduced a Hippogriff to some of his Third Years today..." McGonagall's mouth thinned.
"Did he really?" Vector's fork hit the table as she dropped it in shock. "I can't believe he did that!" She paused. "On second thought, perhaps I can... What possessed him to do such a thing?"
"I wondered that as well. It is not as if it's unknown to him how they are... Prideful creatures, who can get highly offended if not shown proper respect..." McGonagall sighed.
"What exactly happened in the class though?" Vector pressed.
"Draco Malfoy decided to insult the creature. Perhaps he did not realise that the creature was as intelligent as he was, but it decided to teach him exactly how painful a slash from Hippogriff claws can be..."
Vector's eyes swept the hall and landed on the Slytherin table, where Draco was currently holding court, showing off his bandaged arm.
"And Madam Pomfrey was unable to heal the injury?" Vector's attention returned to her dinner.
"She was, but I suspect that Malfoy is playing up his injury just to garner sympathy with his housemates and stir up trouble."
Vector sighed. "To think, that my former house is supposed to be for ambitious, intelligent people..."
"Sometimes we have to ignore our gut and do what our heart's telling us to do. But Hagrid... he just doesn't seem to think at times." Vector thought.
"He is a sweetheart, but sometimes..." She trailed off, speaking the last statement aloud.
McGonagall nodded in understanding. "His enthusiasm gets the better of him..."
"Perhaps I shall go visit him tomorrow after I make some headway in marking this latest batch of assignments." Vector mused.
"I think I'll come with you." McGonagall agreed.
"In the meantime, let us just enjoy this lovely food. Then I have to go over some lesson plans for next week." Vector returned her attention to the food at hand, although she occasionally stole glances at Hagrid and was actually rather off-put by how melancholy he looked.
Poor Hagrid. His first time as a Professor and he has to go and have an injury take place in his class.
To the bratty Draco Malfoy no less...
Written for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Competition Year 3 Arithmancy/Ancient Runes classes on the Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges forum.
Runes & Numbers Used: 0-Demiguise, 1-Unicorn, 5-Quintaped, 7-Unknown, 8-Acromantula
Prompts used:
Food: Fish
Colour: Royal Blue
Action: Hit
Emotion: Pity
Adjective: Hairy
Quote: "Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture the heart."- Ancient Indian Proverb
Phrase: I saw that.
Dialogue: "I can't believe you did that!"
Dialogue: "Sometimes we have to ignore our gut and do what our hearts telling us to do."
Genre: Slice of Life
Lower Word Count: 222
Upper Word Count: 778