Late afternoon


For about a week now, the counselor could not help but notice that a certain Durmstrang professor was making fewer and fewer appearances. He wasn’t usually in his classroom unless he was actually teaching a class. When she did run into him, he was polite, but he never engaged in conversation.. It had been like that ever since she ran into him and his lady friend-- he had left so suddenly after she mentioned that she was a seer. Clearly, he had a problem with it. In some ways, she understood. Being around seers could be a bit dramatic, but she was fairly good at managing her visions, and the ones she had been getting recently were minor, but accurate. None had been about him-- and none were particularly serious or ominous in any way.

In the morning, her body had swapped with that of a Gryffindor prefect by the name of Raine Almasy. Being in a different body was taking some getting used to, as the teenager’s muscles were stronger in some way than Mai’s own, while weaker in others.  It took a little bit of adjustment, though Mai was sure that getting used to her own body again would have been much easier than getting used to Raine’s was. Mai intended to take full advantage of the fact that she was in the body of a stuent-- it would be her chance to corner Atash Hendurabi and figure out what it was about her that was so offensive.

As preparation, Maiko had practiced pronouncing ‘H’ noises longer than was probably necessary. With a deep breath, Maiko walked into the sixth floor classroom, a practiced, controlled expression on her face-- it was not one that was too uncommon to see on the redhead. She noticed that the Iranian mage was busy putting things away. Perfect.

“Professor Hendurabi?” She asked, closing the door behind her in a silent, polite manner. “May I ask you something?” Although it had taken her a lot of practice to perfect this, it was probably easier on a tongue and mouth whose muscles were used to H sounds.

Obviously, Atash had decided, he was going to have to get used to the idea that very little at Hogwarts could be expected.  Disoriented professors racing through the corridors at night, students apparently staging uprisings in their classrooms and mealtime brawls in the Great Hall, and now a sudden epidemic of magical body switching -- it was proving to be more of a challenge than usual to appear unflappable. 

Even so, the chaotic day was over, and the liminal shadows that grew in the late afternoon gave him the opportunity to shift his thoughts to the meeting that was coming. He still had a few hours before he was due at the Ministry, which meant that he could take his time on the journey.  Traveling by Floo would have undoubtedly been easier than having to walk to Hogsmeade, apparate, and then navigate down from the street level entrance of the Ministry of Magic, but it was also much more public.  Atash didn't particularly want word to get out that he was consulting with a government official; dealing with his colleagues here was exasperating enough as it was without giving them reason to think that there were more conspiracies at work.  No, far better to deal with a little inconvenience and maintain his privacy.

All of his papers had been packed up and organized, and he'd just been beginning to gather up his belongings for the weekend, when the door to the classroom was pushed open.  Atash glanced up, and then down again at his left wrist -- with all of the chaos of today, one couldn't be too careful.

He recognized the girl as one of the upper-level Hogwarts students.  Of course, just because he recognized her didn't mean that she was -- the third year lesson that he'd instructed earlier that day had been a mess of gangly seventh year bodies, tiny first years, and everything in between thrown into the mix.  This was hardly a usual day.

"Certainly," he replied politely, giving her a careful look.  He was half-tempted to cast Goleya, but even that was unlikely to give him any clues to definitively ascertain her identity.  "But I'm afraid I must be leaving soon.  You are...?"

Maiko smiled politely at the professor and sat down on one of the desks, crossing one leg over the other. She considered lying and telling him that she was Raine, but if he was in a hurry, she didn’t want to waste his time too much.  “It shouldn’t take long.” She said carefully, staring at Atash with a serious expression that was very fitting on Raine’s face. He had somewhere to be soon, so it was best to be direct, right? She placed her hands on the edge of the desk, fingers curling over to touch the bottom briefly. She hoped that no students had put any half masticated bits of food or sweets on the underside.

“I want to know.” She said simply, “What it is about me you find so offensive that you’ve decided to avoid me for a week..” She hoped that he wasn’t so dense that he wouldn’t be able to figure out who she was. Yes, he could have been avoiding many people – with all the crazy events and the eccentric students and Hogwarts staff, she could see how a foreigner would want to elude all that. “Do you ‘ave a problem with seers?” Although Mai didn’t want to be, she was offended. She could understand students wanting to avoid her so that they wouldn’t be dragged into her office, but adults? Her job wasn’t to counsel them or psychoanalyze them (unless they wanted to be.)

“You do realize that just because I’m around you, doesn’t mean I will ‘ave visions.” If she had visions, they either tended to be incredibly minor, or they tended to be about family or people very set in their ways that were easily predictable to start with.  There were times when she had large, accurate, intense visions, but those weren’t exactly common. “In fact, I do very well at keeping my visions under control. It ‘appens when I am stressed out, or when I am too relaxed. It’s simple. Avoiding me will not prevent visions in any way. It does nothing except annoy me."

The girl hadn't bothered to acknowledge his question, but the answer still came readily enough.  Atash's expression shifted from careful to visibly guarded as he eyed her, his mouth pressed firmly shut. 

Maiko Biladeau-Yukawa. Evidently the school counselor had ended up trapped in a school girl's body. If it wasn't for the fact that she was clearly doing her best to corner him, he might have given a hard smile at the ridiculousness of it all.  For having such a reputation as a prestigious school, the everyday events at Hogwarts were far from impressive. 

And now here was Counselor Biladeau-Yukawa, who had been very welcoming at first, but who was now clearly intent on discussing a matter that he had no intention of addressing aloud.  Atash regarded her for a long moment, keeping his face carefully expressionless. 

"You are presumptuous," he said flatly at last, turning back to continue gathering his things.

There was still a few minutes left of organizing to do, but now he was far more interested in departing.  He flicked his wand at his satchel, causing the flap to snap open, and then began to levitate the quills, pots of ink, and array of books into it one by one.

"You let it be known that you found my behavior irritating," he said pointedly over his shoulder.  The words came quicker, harder than usual, his sharp accent more pronounced.   "And yet you think that I'm avoiding you because you stated that you were a Seer?"  He gave a quick, harsh laugh, shaking his head as he squared the stack of parchment with a wave of his wand.  "You may want to work a little on your ability to predict links between cause and effect, Counselor Biladeau-Yukawa.  I think you might be building off of a false assumption this time."

She stared at him incredulously, her eyes were practically screaming Don’t you dare insult my intelligence. Her body was calm, though if one was looking closely enough, there were a few muscles that occasionally twitched, as if she was ready to jump out of her seat at any moment. She remembered very clearly the change in expression that Atash had as soon as she had revealed that she was a seer. She remembered the way he quickly decided that he had somewhere else to be.

“I don’t believe that.” Mai said, her tone sure and confident. “When I told you that I found some of your behaviors to be irritating, “Your personality is too strong. The only thing you did was raise your eyebrows and waited.” She leaned forward, “But, when I mentioned I was a seer-- your friend started behaving nervously.” Her eyes narrowed at Atash, “You went from being inquisitive to guarded. You put up a defensive wall immediately. Your tone was indifferent, more so than usual. And afterwards, you began to avoid me completely.” She had spent many years studying humans, behavior, and the intricacies of the mind.

“I’m in Raine’s body now. I’m not a seer now. I’m not going to ‘ave visions about you now.” She raised an eyebrow, “Though I doubt you’d ever show up in one of my visions. For one, I don’t care about your future. You don’t pose a danger to me as far as I am concerned. Secondly, I care very little about your future. Your future is your own, and it is yours to control and manage as you wish. It is none of my business.” She shook her head. “What I do care about is the fact that you are avoiding me. I am sorry if I ‘ave offended you in the past.” Her words were genuine-- Mai had no reason to hide or to lie to the Iranian. She rarely felt like she had anything to gain from lying, nor did she feel like lying was always beneficial to every party involved.

"I am not building on a 'false assumption.'  I wish it was as simple as you feeling offended about previous comments, but it isn't." Humans were complex. Their reasons for doing things were both precise and messy, predictable and erratic. In some people, feeling insulted would be a reason to avoid another person. In others, it was not the case. Mai was positive that Atash was in the latter group.

No matter what body she was currently occupying, the Hogwarts counselor was refreshingly direct.  Atash would have appreciated it more if it weren't for the fact that he had already had to prepare himself for one less than desirable conversation regarding Seers this evening.  Having to brace himself for a second, especially one that had begun with him being cornered, was more than he had the patience to deal with right now.

"I am glad to hear that you feel as though you have such a firm understanding of my personality," he said politely, his eyes still on his self-packing belongings.  The last book settled into the bag, and then he sent the pile of papers flying into it with a wave of his wand, fanning themselves as if they were a deck of cards being shuffled.

That was the last of his things.  Atash waited until the satchel's flap had snapped shut once more, and then bent to lift it, hefting  the bag easily as if it didn't weigh much more than a feather.

With a sigh, he turned to face the young witch once more.  From the look of the red-haired girl in front of him, Maiko Biladeau-Yukawa wasn't intending to budge anytime soon.  Atash regarded her silently for a long moment, his dark eyes fixed on her expression, his own face unreadable. 

"I apologize if I offended you, Counselor," he said at last, his voice level.  "That was not my intent.  I did not realize that you are so sensitive about your visions.  You did not make it sound as if they were important to you.  If I had realized that you wanted to discuss them, I would have shown more interest."

She raised her eyebrows.

“It’s not that firm. You flatter me.” Maiko felt like she understood some very specific aspects of his personality, but she knew that she couldn’t possibly know everything. “You know yourself better than anybody else ever could. The understanding I ‘ave about your personality is limited. I know certain aspects, but not everything.”  She watched as he continued to pack. He certainly wanted to leave, and Mai was certain that she wanted to continue this discussion.

Then, he apologized. And implied that she was sensitive about her visions. The very idea of that made her suppress a giggle. “It’s not my visions that I’m sensitive about.” Maiko stood up and faced the professor, though her expression was serious, her eyes were relaxed and showed some amusement. “My visions are mostly, unimportant. It’s the fact that you are avoiding me because I ‘ave this ability that is insulting. You are avoiding me because of a trait I possess that is manageable, but not changeable.” Mai took a few steps closer to the mage and let out a sigh.

“It’s natural to be afraid of the future. Especially if you think you know what your future is.” She said softly, “But avoiding me will not solve anything, nor will it change anything. It is pointless. Whatever you think is going to ‘appen, you probably ‘ave control over it. If it is about you, you are the number one factor.” She knew she was pushing it, she knew her views about visions were different than other seers she had known. There were some who thought that their visions were one hundred percent accurate, that there was no other possible future.

In some cases, it may have been true.

In many, it wasn’t.

There were seers who only had visions when things had progressed to the point where there was only one possible future, though Maiko hoped that wasn’t the case. “Don’t limit yourself to only one possibility. It could kill you.” She didn’t just mean it in the physical sense, she meant it in the way that the fear that comes from ‘knowing’ could change somebody, to the point where they were only an empty, weak version of their personal essence, of what makes a person who he is.

As Maiko stared at Atash, she took in everything about him, everything from his general physical appearance to his subtle behaviors and expressions that revealed key personality traits. His careful mask, his measured politeness—this was a man who was accustomed to controlling any situation he was in, someone who had trained himself to remain emotionally distant from others. To her, it would be a useful, but lonely way to live (in fact, it was an important aspect of her job—to remain emotionally unconnected to her clients while still caring). She suspected that he viewed it differently.

The mage gave a quick, brief laugh, but there was no humor to it.  His expression was grim, his eyes dark as he shook his head.

"Miss Biladeau-Yukawa." He met her gaze and held it, a hard, unyielding look on his face.  "I have no idea what you are talking about."  He enunciated clearly and precisely, adding force to each word beyond his usual soft accent.  "Whatever you think you know, you are incorrect.  And I do not appreciate you being so presumptuous."

If she was presuming at all.  He had his doubts -- after all, she was speaking with the overbearing certainty of a Seer.  Either way, though, he wanted none of it.  Maiko Biladeau-Yukawa was young and inexperienced, at least when it came to matters of fate.  Whatever she thought she knew, he had no intention of getting entangled with it, whatever right she seemed to think she had to force her way into his affairs.

He bowed his head to her, but it was a firm, grim nod, with none of the usual polite distance to his expression. "Unfortunately, I have an appointment.  If you'll excuse me," he said curtly, gathering his papers in his arms as he began to stride briskly past her.  "Good luck recovering your proper body, Counselor."