7:15 am, Wednesday
21 October 2012

Maras often stopped by the staff room each morning before classes began to pick up any administrative announcements, sick notices from students, and to keep a close tabs on the scheduling and development of Tournament considerations.  By now, she'd made some professional headway with the Professors of Hogwarts as well as the other two schools.  Nothing all that chummy of course.  Although she did rather like her co-professor Aileen Reid.  Who knew they'd get along so swimingly?

She strode in, buttoned up tight in conservative dark robes, and went directly to the samovar of coffee that must have to be bottomless considering the demands on its contents every morning.

Professor Maras poured a mug and then regarded the others in the room.

"Is that very common then?" she asked in her Swedish accent, blinking her one visible eye slowly.  She waited a moment for the coffee to cool.

"That fiasko among the Hogwarts students?"[1]

It was a delicate and slightly accusatory way to begin the discussion, Maras was aware.

1.	Secrets, Scars, and Wild Hairs

Tulojow had missed the actual event but had heard plenty of war stories in the Hospital Hut to have a pretty good idea of what had happened.  Perhaps, she had a better idea than the staff members who'd simply be observers.  Of course, for every student (and staff member) who'd crossed the threshold into the Hospital Hut, there was a slightly different version of the truth.  Tulojow doubted any individual story was the truth but, by combining them and picking out the common threads between them, the ex-Auror was able to get a pretty good idea. 

The Hogwarts Healer wasn't a common sight in the staff room.  But, morning checks on all of the students to make sure broken noses, upset stomachs and impaled legs were healing properly had taken long enough that she welcomed a break and a cup of coffee before heading back down to the cabin. 

She'd already settled herself in one of the cushier chairs (age had its benefit) when Maras joined them.  At the visiting professor's question, a slight grin flickered on Tulojow's features and she nodded slightly.  She'd heard a few comments on the visiting Runes professor from students, including her own nephew.  However, she was willing to let the woman build her own reputation. 

"Not to that scale, usually.  But, tensions have been building for over a year now.  And, such skirmishes on a smaller scale aren't unheard of.  Not common and certainly not encouraged.  But, it's not entirely surprising, is it?" 

It was the veteran Healer who responded.  Ylva assumed from what she'd seen last evening that many of the students had been bound for her examination... hut.

"Tension," she echoed.  "That's some tension."

"Tension over what?  From where I sat I could hear only shouting and only see them forgoing wands for fists.  Is the penalty less for muggle-fighting?"

Halva had difficulty understanding how so little magic had been used among young witches or wizards.  Perhaps they didn't know any that would be helpful?

Coffee with tea. Sissel had once long ago found that perfect convergence of caffeinated concoctions that didn't give him too much feedback later in the day. Though the quantities just had to be perfect. Sissel was not used to getting up and working in the same location. For the multifaceted levels of security in the Department of Mysteries overnighters didn't happen. The other odd thing was that Sissel dressed causal formal more often then he even had during his TTI days, when he had moments of undercover or downtime.

Well, at least his collection of snappy ties got more use.

I didn't take too long for 'Eyepatch' Maras to comment on the events of last night's dinner, as she got her coffee after Sissel had poured his cup and dunked in a teabag. Had Sissel still felt active, secret operative nerves on edge, he would have been down there breaking up the fight in an instant. Though Sandusky and Hagrid were enough, for one it was Sandusky's house table and you never needed an extra man because Hagrid was bigger than two.

Nadge was referring to the student group SAWS, he'd gathered she had supported many of the meetings in the hut last year. Though Maras might not catch the reference.

"Rather uncommon, anytime fists and kicks are involved." Nearly two months into school had to still be a decent length of time without incidents. "I think the only other blip Hogwarts had for a physical student quarrel involved the Gryffindor quidditch team and a disrupted foul in a game." More than a decade ago but then Sissel hadn't been monitoring the school in the years since from that trivia to know for sure.

"Honestly, I think that rather left little damage to deal with," as Maras continued to sneer at apparent 'muggle fighting.' "Mostly easy medical mends instead of, say, passionate young magicians letting their abilities out of control and letting buffalo rampage in the dining hall or jinx everyone into jeopardy."

Tulojow regarded Maras a moment, taking a moment to speculate what, exactly, it was she was most baffled about.  Was it why the fight occurred at all or that the participants didn't go for their wands? 

The source of the tension was an easier, more straightforward question to answer.  Tulojow had watched the transitions from Greyfriar to Snark to Reid and had patched up the outcome of more than a few scuffles amongst students.  She heard a lot of gossip from her patients and garnered even more information from angry quips tossed between former combatants as their adrenaline slowly reabsorbed into their bloodstream.  Which usually took place while they were getting patched up during the aftermath.  She'd visited with Greyfriar after his own injuries, offered support to Fauna as she found her own footing and played casual observer (and baked-goods provider) to most of the illicit SAWS meeting during the previous year.

"I can only guess based on what I heard after the fact, but one student accidentally outed on of our resident werewolves and that sparked a chain reaction.  Hurt feelings, embarrassment, bruised loyalties - they have a tendency to get out of hand, quickly.  And, unless wizarding students are taught to be ashamed of anything that isn't magically-oriented, I find the tendency to meet personal affronts with more personal attacks is still prevalent." 

Tulojow glanced at Jowd, and grinned, shaking her head.  Hand-to-hand combat scuffles were hardly common but to say they were uncommon was a bit ... idealistic. 

"We get our share of broken noses.  And black eyes.  A couple knocked out teeth, too - though I can't remember if that injury was caused magically or not.  But, they happen more than I think most professors realize.  I don't know if there's a difference in penalties, though - I don't issue them." 

"You can be certain that the punishment will be made to fit the crime,"  Leopold chimed in.  "And there were some wands involved," he added.  "In such close quarters, however, there wouldn't likely be much room to cast a properly aimed spell before you were jostled off target." 

The same thing had happened during the war, Leopold remembered.  Wizards frequently got into hand to hand combat with their enemies, especially if they came upon each other unawares at close quarters.  Such meetings most often ended up with combatants grappling each other, trying to force their enemies wand away while simultaneously trying to bring their own to bear.  It made him shudder to remember.

"You'll find it more common with younger students as well,"  Leopold continued.  "They're so used to not being able to use a wand that it takes some time before they think to reach for one when things go south."

"It is very different at Durmstrang," Ylva said.

"The students come in with usually a good amount of experience with their wands and wish very much to prove themselves.  Perhaps it is not always good."  She shrugged very slightly. 

"They learn quickly where they stand," she said, "to stand up for themselves.  Except when they don't." 

She sounded a little cold, but inside she did feel pity for the ones who never figured out how to choose their battles or to fend for themselves when the battle comes to them.  It wasn't right.

"Things tend to resolve themselves quickly.  Tension released."

As she did most mornings, Aileen pretended to focus on her tea and her papers as conversation flowed around her. She made comments here and there, politely inquired as to how her coworkers were doing, but for the most part, she listened. And she was certainly listening now.

Aileen had been trying her best not to get involved in the latest werewolf drama, though she had several strong (albeit mixed) feelings on the matter. Werewolves at Hogwarts. It was like sealing a doxy in a jar and expecting it not to burst forth at the worst possible moment.

"The Durmstrang students have never climbed on the tables and thrown hexes at each other?" Aileen set down her tea and quirked a curious eyebrow. They saved their hexes for spiders, it seemed.

"They must resolve things more quietly, then. With the appearance of less tension."

She'd gotten to know Maras well enough that she didn't take offense to her blunt analysis, and challenged out of a similar respect. But the irony of the question was not lost on her. When she'd attended Hogwarts, she'd had no issue standing up for herself, and had often been the one instigating problems for other students. Aileen probably would have fared too well had she been a student at Durmstrang. As a professor witnessing student problems now, the thought both bothered and interested her.

Listening to Maras, Tulojow couldn't help grin slightly as she shook her head. 

"Durmstrang sounds like the polar opposite of Northwest Witches Academy[1].  But, we almost never fought.  Everyone was so mixed together - girls from every year were in the same cabin together.  No one felt a need to prove themselves.  Especially not through violence." 

It had always struck Tulojow how different Hogwarts was from NWA.  The differences between Durmstrang and NWA, though, seemed even more profound

"Regardless of their background, though - I think it depends on the transgression.  I've seen the most trained of Aurors resort to fists when the insult was personal enough.  I think, sometimes when someone is angry enough and they feel they've been personally wronged enough, sometimes, standing back and flicking a wand around just doesn't cut it.  Sometimes, you just have to feel your knuckle crunch against someone's chin." 

Tulojow shook her head.  "Flicking a wand from a distance just isn't the same - some things are still bette done by hand." 

1.

NWA

Maras, a witch of the old days, respected her elders, and when the wizened, sturdy-looking Healer spoke again, Maras nodded tolerantly. 

"True.  I've never done it myself, though.  Never had the occasion to be tempted," she admitted.  Ylva herself had not been a troublesome girl, nor had her peers been all that volatile.  Besides, she had been too busy struggling against Durmstrang's strict standards that she had little time to compete with others, so much effort she put in to compete against herself.  She'd never once gotten into a physical altercation, only a couple of traded hexes over childish affections.

"There is something distancing about keeping your foe at arm's length," she added, and sipped her tea.

"There were spells cast, though, yes?  Which ones?"  She assumed the Healer would know.  Ylva hadn't been able to see.  She was rather interested in what Hogwarts students knew of the darker sorts of magic...

"A jelly legs jinx was the worst of it,"  Leopold answered.  "And there was at least one levitation cast.  It might even have been a continuous motion spell because there was an apple that seemed to be bouncing off people at random, Hagrid included."  Leopold chuckled.  "As if an apple would do anything to slow him down.  Would anyone care for some tea?  I'm about to brew a fresh pot."

Leopold was still mildly annoyed at the behaviour of his students.  He'd been forced to deduct an enormous amount of points from his own house and he wasn't finished with their punishments.  They were all going to spend some extra time at the hospital hut, likely after the next challenge or potentially during a Quidditch match.  It might give them a little more appreciation of the amount of work that went into fixing the injuries they'd inflicted. 

"Mmm."

Jelly Legs Jinx.  She'd not heard the English name for it before, but from its name Ylva Maras had some idea of the harmless little jinx it likely referred to.  Harmless.  She wasn't sure if she was pleased that the students hadn't done anything too violent, or if she still disapproved of the Hogwarts students limited imagination when it came to settling their problems. 

"Please."

Maras floated her empty cup towards the Hufflepuff Head of House when he offered to brew tea. 

"Does Hogwarts have a Dueling Society?" she asked.  Perhaps all of the students could benefit from some instruction in proper technique for both starting and settling disputes...

 "I believe there is,"  Leopold answered.  "Currently it's open to all the visting students as well, so there are likely a few of your students that might be participating.  It's places like that where some of the best learning happens.  Students can pick things up from each other in ways that they never can in a classroom." 

He gave Ylva's cup a quick scourgefy before he poured her a fresh cup from the new pot. "I doubt you'd like the flavour of coffee mixed with your tea.  Do you take your tea the way you take your coffee?"

Tulojow cast an amused grin in Maras direction when the woman denied any previous need to settle any personal grudges or offenses with sparing.  The American-born witch would be lying if she attempted to boast the same.  She'd been in countless conflicts - both as an Auror and in her own adventures.  But, she'd only ever resorted to physical tactics when the alternative was ineffective.

"There's a dueling club.  But, strangely enough, no diplomacy club.  Nor a debate team.  Practicing free form with each other does give kids an opportunity to spread their proverbial wings, but I've always felt participants should be required to spend equal amounts of time learning non-combative conflict resolution skills." 

Sandusky and Maras freshened their beverages with tea and Tulojow settled more comfortably into her seat, turning her attentions to her personal stimulant of choice.  The Healer tugged her pipe from her pocket, filled it with a mixture from a leather pouch and lit it, after casting a quick air current charm that would draw the smoke towards the fireplace's chimney. 

"I've always questioned our right, as apparent leaders and role models, to punish the students for resorting to violence when we haven't given them much in the way of skills or tools to do anything but." 

Leopold looked at Tulojow and then at Ylva.  "I sense a favourite topic being broached," he said with a chuckle.  "I can't disagree, however.  You could always throw the idea out during a staff meeting to see who bites."  He snapped his fingers, signalling a sudden realization.  "Given the unpleasantness that we have just experience, now would be an excellent chance to suggest one.  You'd have the headmaster's support if you hinted that those involved would be 'encouraged' to attend."

It wasn't a bad idea at all.  There were any number of professors who might be called upon to assist the healer.  He himself wasn't anything close to a master debater or conflict resolver but surely there would be someone who had a standout talent in that area.