"And a strong stomach, I'd think." Malvivicus's activities made his stomach churn and he was only reading the barest hints of it. At the same time - the man obviously had to be censoring himself around Sasha, carefully presenting his image in such a way that the boy didn't run away.

Tapendra tilted his head to the side. Could they be so sure Sasha hadn't lost it on his own? The long nights without sleep, the lack of food, the letters written in the dark and the crushing uncertainty would be enough to drive anyone a little nutters, he'd think.

He looked at Raine with an expression of surprise at her comment, but he quickly smiled. "That he does. Though...my home won't be much of a break, I don't think. Everyone's got at least one tag along this year, it seems." His smile turned wry. "He might need a break from the break what with Harper and Oliver and Gigi being in the same house with him..."

Professor Trishna's expression was not reassuring- it alluded to the notion that perhaps Sasha had indeed lost himself to some sort of insanity. It was a possibility but even then she supposed that it could only be a transient state of mind. They were helping him come to his senses.

Raine smirked, much less concerned by the comments that followed.

"A full house..." she considered. Gigi had her bewildering ways but she was a solid classmate, more sensible than anyone would assume on first impression. The Slytherin was possibly a good influence on Schlawkward. "It might be better for him to be surrounded by plenty of people. Gigi is fun company."

That would make it difficult for him to escape into a corner with his precious cards and personal troubles.

"Less space for him to run away, at any rate." Raine smiled faintly, folding her legs up on to the chair. "The world is bigger than Malvivicus and NEWTs, or those muggle things he sits for." That was what she told herself when the workload was building up.

Which reminded her of something.

"You don't... you don't think he's spreading himself too thinly, do you? With his studies?" Trishna would know better than she did- and Raine wanted to know the truth, if only to eliminate any reservations about teaching Sasha animagi.

Tapendra smiled, rather more happily than he had before. It was nice to hear people liked Gigi, especially students of whom he thought highly. Tapendra adored his sister, he really did – but her growth into a teenager had turned the once slightly shy girl into a brooding, snarling sort of person who had few friends and seemed to prefer it that way.
“Not for Sasha, perhaps,” he admitted, highly doubting the quiet, shy Ravenclaw would mesh well with the darkly humored Slytherin. “But I’m glad to hear you say so,” he added.

He echoed her more casual gesture, relaxing into his office chair, one arm propped up on the armrest, his hips at an angle. The statement she made he answered with a simple nod, only speaking when she looked at him with a question.

“Well,” he started, but paused to consider. That was a difficult question, one he didn’t quite feel he could answer accurately. Sasha’s study habits certainly made his own workload at school appear a rather paltry affair, and the lack of sleep and food…

“It’s a coping tactic, I think,” he said, recalling the way the boy always seemed more relaxed with a rigid and demanding schedule in from of him. “And his parents demanded it of him, though not on purpose. I think he finds it…well, not relaxing, but…perhaps reassuring is the word for it.”

He shook his head. “But do I think he’s spreading himself too thin? Yes, I do,” he said, finally. “He’s passing all his courses but he’s sacrificing eating and sleeping to do so. I’ve tried to convince him to drop classes but he’s all but refused. Why do you ask? Did something happen?” It was the first time a student had directly brought up that aspect of Sasha to him.

Hesitation was never an encouraging sight, though understandable. It was difficult to gauge another person's capacity.

Nonetheless she nodded in agreement with the professor's premise- that Schlawkward employed his workload as a sort of coping mechanism. That was as much as she conveyed to him over the course of their prefect patrols. At least as much as she used to. He no longer had his badge.

"I see..." Raine bit her lower lip thoughtfully and considered the wizard. He was going to find out at any rate. "Nothing happened. It's just that Sasha, he asked me to teach him animagi."

It surprised her that he was the only person to have actually made such a request since her reveal at the Second Task. Perhaps she wasn't all that approachable a witch to ask.

"I mean," she felt her ears burning. "I'm not yet a master at it but he wants me to help him get started. I know he won't have his prefect duties anymore but I won't... I won't encourage it if he can't handle the workload."

The last thing she needed on her conscious was somebody else's mental breakdown.

"Because it won't be easy." Raine clarified and moved a hand to indicate her chest. "Animagi is in here too, it needs more than just brains. It's rather intangible. I don't want to frustrate Sasha any further."

Tapendra raised a surprised eyebrow. Animagi powers were not easy to master, and certainly appealing. As a teenager he himself had long wished to be one…until his struggling scores in Transfiguration had doomed that dream. It was probably for the best, really.

Still, it made sense he’d ask Almasy, and Tapendra took a moment to be relieved that Sasha was fond enough of Raine to do so. But – did the boy have time? Tapendra, personally, didn’t really think he did; best to find that out after his GCSEs were complete.

And…well, it was hard not to imagine Sasha turning into some sort of sheep.

Tapendra finally nodded. “I can talk to him about it – but it may be best to wait until after the Christmas break to discuss that seriously. His muggle exams will be complete, then – and that’s about half of what he’d been doing.” He scratched his chin thoughtfully.  He had learned of Raine’s talent much as everyone else had – via her transforming during the second Task.

"What sort of mental state is involved?" He asked, openly curious. He hadn't studied the spell much.

“And - you have gone and gotten yourself registered, haven’t you?” He added, the question put rather cheerfully but still with a slight grain of seriousness. He couldn’t help but imagine that would be a struggle to get Sasha to agree to do the same, if he did become an Animagus.

If that was true, if the muggle exams were a solid portion of Sasha's work, then perhaps it would not be so great a burden for him to learn animagi next term.

"He did say that he would mention it to you..." Raine added with a fleeting smile. They trusted each other- two tiny Ravenclaw peas in a pod. "And I've recommended some light reading for the subject but we've yet not started on any serious training."

There was a bulk of theory behind the transformations and they would need to get through that before attempting a physical shift. Certainly something she looked forward to seeing. The prefect ran a hand through her curls, frowning slightly as she pushed past a knot.

"A stable, self-conscious state." Awareness played a key role in the spell, or at least so she thought. "You have to be able to...feel something inside of you. Something like a soul, perhaps, I don't know. It's difficult to describe." Which explained the thorough lack of comprehensive texts on the subject. Librarian Morgan might agree.

Raine grimaced at the mention of registration. Her expression was answer enough to his question but she was quick to explain, visibly annoyed by the idea.

"Not yet. I'm staying in London for the winter, I'll be at leisure to visit the Ministry then." Of all the reasons for her to visit the DMLE, this wasn't one she much appreciated. "Can't avoid it at any rate."

Tapendra clicked his tongue at her, shaking his head. The smile on his face gave away the emptiness of his scolding gesture, but it still stood true. “Not really something you should be doing at your leisure, Almasy,” he said, hand at his chin coming up to cup his chin as he leaned sideways, head resting against his arm as he leaned on the chair’s arm. But with her open annoyance, he let it drop – she clearly knew she needed to do it, and she wasn’t foolish enough to try to get out of it (he hoped).

Still, he thought he understood her description somewhat – and he wasn’t quite sure how good Sasha would be at it. “Something tells me you may be stuck at step one for some time. Sasha is not the best example of inner reflection.” But…he did need to do it, too. And it may very well do him some good.

“But it may be a good sort of stuck,” he mused. “When I spoke to him he was struggling with the idea he might be deluding himself – didn’t seem to be outright confused by the idea, but rather he denied it extremely quickly.” He looked at Raine a moment, expression communicating his feelings on that: The Nile wasn’t just a river in Egypt, and Sasha was clearly uncomfortable pondering the possibility because of the truth it contained.

“He hasn’t mentioned it to me yet, though. After the talk we had the other night we’re sort of cooling off. I can mention it to him sooner rather than later though, if you’d like. Probably best to sort out that whole thing at the resumption of term.”

Raine tried her best not to look like a scolded child, even if she knew that Professor Trishna didn't mean anything negative by his reproach- he was correct after all. Registering was the law and she would have done it eventually, Tournament or not.

"I know..." she sighed, resigned. "It's just a shame that everybody knows about it."

It was a rather nice feeling, having her secrets. There was - she supposed - a lifetime ahead for procuring more of them. The Gryffindor glanced back up at his mention of Sasha's... limitations. Her mind had been moving along a similar thread. He could be surprisingly obtuse at times and animagi needed flexibility. Not just the literal sort.

"At least that means he's considering it." Raine bit her lower lip and allowed her legs to drop back down as she leaned back with crossed arms. "A part of him must know what the rest is refusing to believe. I hope that it is only a matter of time. If... if he has time."

Her gaze flickered to meet Trishna's, conveying both concern and an enquiry of opinion. Did he think that Sasha had time enough to grow out of this delusion? Perhaps it was hard to tell with Malvivicus.

"You don't have to bring it up. Let him," she shrugged. "It is his secret after all."

“That rather ruins it, I imagine,” he said, able to sympathize to some extent. His own studies into Legilimency certainly were ones he preferred only a few very close friends finding out about, and it was easy enough to assume her Animagus abilities were the same way.

He watched her for a moment before he answered the unspoken question. Did Sasha have time? He hoped he did – by Merlin, he hoped he did.

“That’s my hope, too. And I think – I hope – he has time to sort this out. The..the plan, more or less, is to try and appear as if things are normal to Malvivicus. I don’t know how much Sasha will want to believe Malvivicus’s replies, but I’ve encouraged him to try to read into the words as much as he possibly can.”

He nodded to her suggestion after a moment. “If he doesn’t bring it up – can you at least tell me how he’s doing at it?”

If anyone could act 'as if things are normal', it was certainly Schlawkward. Raine had faith in her friend's general ability to lie, conceal and deny something that would have appeared glaringly obvious to anyone else. Or not- perhaps she was being too harsh.

"Yes," she nodded slowly. "I will, or I'll try. I know that I... I try to be mature about these things but I'm hardly any older than him. It would be safer to have someone else aware of his efforts."

And who else better than Professor Trishna? It was obvious that the man cared a great deal for Sasha and, more importantly, that Sasha trusted him. There weren't any other ready candidates as far as she could tell.

"I had better go." Raine began to stand. "Revision. It can't all be conspiracies and secrets," she smiled dryly and tried not to think about the heap of scrolls awaiting perusal in her dorm room. "I still need those Outstandings to make auror, don't I?"

Both eyes on her goals and a finger on the pulse.

He could certainly agree with that assessment, though what Tapendra left unspoken was the fact he really wanted Sasha to have more people his own age he could rely on. Friends were the most powerful force a man could have, he felt, and Sasha had distanced himself from his own friends for far too long. Perhaps if he’d had more close friends, he wouldn’t have fallen for Malvivicus’s ploy.

“Thank you, Almasy,” he said, smiling, as she stood up. “Good luck with Sasha…and your more mundane priorities.” He didn’t doubt she’d excel, of course. 

He paused just a moment, the corners of his mouth twitching into a very slight smirk. “And I didn’t tell you this, but you may want to focus on the southeastern stars for a little bit.”

Tapendra cleared his throat and stood up himself, folding his arm behind his back. “Have a good day  - and let me know if anything comes up.”