2:30ish

It had been about a year since it was first reported that the dementor population was rising, and despite efforts from I.D.R.E.A.D, dementors were still dementing. Mai had never been able to produce a corporeal patronus. When she was a student at Hogwarts, her professors had been as varied as they were lacking, and the times weren't exactly the easiest in which to learn. There had been times where she very nearly produced a complete patronus, but the shape always disappeared. It was probably some sort of four-legged thing. A cow? A horse?

Either way, if she couldn't produce a corporeal one in private, she certainly could not produce one in the presence of an actual dementor. Something was certainly better than nothing, but it wasn't good enough. And it certainly would not protect the students in the event of another dementor sighting on campus. As a staff member and Head of Hufflepuff, her standard should have been higher.

With Adon currently recovering from a dementor's kiss, protection against them had become a larger priority. Many of the NEWT students could successfully and consistently produce a patronus, something that Mai credited their persistence as well as their professor's teaching skills for.

The witch knocked on Ignan's classroom door before peeking her head in, greeting him with a small wave and a faint smile. "Is this a good time?" Sometimes she stopped by for a friendly chat and a hug. Today, there was a set seriousness in her expression that indicated a less cheerful motive.

Wednesdays were one of Ignan’s lighter teaching days, so he was using the time as best he could to keep on top of things. Since moving to Hogsmeade, Miranda expected him home with regularity, and earlier. It wasn’t always conducive considering the castle, but at least he could avoid taking work home. He was making his way through marking a test he’d given the second years when Maiko knocked.

“Nobody’s on fire, so it must be.” He replied to the Hufflepuff Head of House, before glancing back down at the parchment he had beneath his quill and scratching a total. “Please distract me from the fact the second years still can’t use correct punctuation.” The Deputy Headmaster looked up properly and noticed Maiko wasn’t wearing her usual smile. He anticipated the door might close after her, so placed aside his quill and got up to join her at the front row of desks, feeling it more respectful as a fellow member of staff than to put the desk between them.

“You’ve got that look on your face I mustn’t ignore.” Ignan admitted quietly as the distance between them decreased. He slipped a hand into his suit trouser pocket, studying Maiko carefully.

"It's not an emergency!" Mai quickly clarified, hoping to give Ignan an out if for some reason he would rather be doing literally anything else. Even if it meant going back to grading poorly written papers. It was strange that a professor who inspired so much fear and unhappiness in students could manage to teach the likes of Eli Amherst how to produce a patronus. If he said no, maybe he'd still offer some advice? 

Well, it was best to get to the point then.

"I need to learn how to produce a corporeal patronus." She said, "I can almost get it to take form, but it's not consistent. With all the dementor activity lately, it's..." She wasn't sure how to finish the sentence, so she grimaced instead. "I'm seeing someone, and he's recovering from an incomplete kiss. Didn't realize that dementors were the jealous sort." Maaaybe not a great joke, but it certainly lightened her mood. "So, patronuses. They're on my mind." Mai decided it was best to just stop talking now, to allow Ignan a chance to respond before she ran him over with the feelings train.

Ignan might have replied ’shame’ to the fact it wasn’t an emergency, but in the grand scheme of things it was a relief to hear. Maiko soon got down to the point, and Ignan’s eyebrows lifted a little for the topic. He hadn’t anticipated that subject, though it had come up in at least one or two staff meetings. Nobody had been forward enough to take it up. Ignan perceived them all to be lazy, but it was more that his colleagues thought he was pretty damned scary to approach for it. They were used to him casting a shadow at their office door for business reasons, like late marks or student infractions, or approaching him for dire requirement of backup if at all. Personally, Ignan didn’t see an issue with that relationship...

He leaned against the row of desks, both hands now in his suit pockets, head slightly bowed to Maiko to show he was listening but not intending on interrupting. He managed to show a mutual bad humour at her attempt at a joke with a twitch of his mouth.

“What would you prefer,” he asked once Maiko had paused to seek his response, “some suggestions on where to pursue reading, common issues, or … would you show me?” With a student it was part fear, part excitement of what their patronus might do which tinted the practical lessons. It was difficult magic - magic that required the mind and emotions to be in tune together, and for someone to retrieve that combination in peril. He didn’t want to make any assumptions, but the mention of a romantic partner could be muddying the form.

He didn't say no! Good. That was good.

"I'm just going to show you." She said, reaching into her pocket to grasp her wand. Rowan with unicorn hair, stained purple. Maybe he could see something wrong with her wandwork, or her pronunciation. Or her stance. Magic could sometimes be so fickle. The Patronus charm was advanced magic, and she tried to exercise patience with herself. That was easier said than done.

Happy memories. She was supposed to focus on a happy memory. Choosing her happiest was a definite challenge, though. Mai was the type of person to look for happiness in her everyday life. Dumb jokes with Shona and Adon, the scandalized look on Akiva's face every time a dirty joke took her off guard. Inside jokes with students. Gabriel's laugh. Cuddling with Adon. Dancing with Rick and Shona. Late night heart-to-heart talks with Kohaku.  She had so many good things in her life to hold onto, and they kept her going through hard times.

She pointed her wand at an empty space in the classroom, away from Ignan.[1] She rotated the wand in small circles, just like all the texts said to do, and focused on how she felt when she found out that Dree was alive, and home safe.

"Expecto Patronum!"

The silvery, incorporeal patronus seemed like it was close to taking shape. As soon as she got excited about it though, it dissolved into a mist before completely disappearing. Ugh. Mai let out a short, frustrated sigh and turned her gaze to Ignan.

1.	The most basic of wand safety!

Ignan watched respectfully in silence as Maiko cast. It was hard to diagnose exactly what was going on from outside, admittedly. With students they would stumble upon trying to focus on a happy thought as well as making the wand movement smoothly without hesitation. His colleague had the wand movement correct, with the grace of a witch who had cast tens of thousands of spells in her lifetime, granted each of them had their foibles on how they held themselves or their wand, bad habits learned over years, but Maiko exhibited nothing that would limit her magic physically.

“Hmm,” the Deputy Headmaster uttered quietly in contemplation as he watched the spell dissipate into the cool air of the classroom. “Forgive my potentially intrusive questions,” Ignan began in a quiet, but easily understood tone, “but I can only perceive the visible.” He made efforts not to be disparaging or sharp with students over this spell, since confidence was inextricably linked. His pale gaze turned to the Hufflepuff Head of House, “The memory you choose to focus on for the spell, is it one or many? Would you say it is clear in your head, or transient?” Ignan inclined a little to the left as he studied Maiko, hands still relaxed in his pockets.