It was a Saturday morning; brunch was still underway in the Great Hall.  Sasha had simply lingered by the Ravenclaw table long enough to ingest some toast with marmalade and some pumpkin juice and pack an apple, some bread and cheese in his bag as a makeshift lunch.  The snacks tucked away in his bag, Sasha slipped out of the Great Hall and started making his way up the maze of shifting staircases.  He kept his gaze firmly on the stairs under his feet; Knight's wanted posters had only gone up two days before and they were still persistent stray ones all over the castle.  Peeves loved them and had taken to placing them in as difficult to reach places as possible. 

It was the weekend and it was broad daylight.  Given those two factors, it seemed like the newly remodeled Astronomy tower would, potentially, be deserted.  And, warm.  And, it wasn't exactly on the beaten path.  All of these factors combined (along with the Astronomy towers new muggle-friendly reputation) to make the tower a potential new study hiding place.  Common rooms were always too crowded and noisy and, even though everyone knew about Sasha's other academics, out of habit he was still uncomfortable with studying Chemistry in the middle of the common room.  He'd spent four years hiding his extracurricular studies - it still felt weird to do otherwise.  He still preferred to avoid the library out of principle and he still wasn't allowed outside the castle without supervision. 

The empty astronomy tower, with a fire blazing in the fireplace, seemed like an excellent place to settle for a day of studying.  Especially if his mind would work with him and stay clear.  He only had two more midterms to make up: arithmancy and herbology.  The professors in both classes had been the most amiable and had granted him the longest amount of time to make up his work.  He'd settle down, hash through those two classes and, maybe, be caught up enough to pick up one or two other topics.  Initially, he'd planned on letting them fall to the wayside until after OWLs - especially since he wasn't under any obligation to continue them anymore - but the change in Astronomy curriculum ... well, it had inspired him.  German literature and European History - those he'd probably let lie where they were.  But, he wanted to start back in on Chemistry, Pre-calculus and ... well ... Jacoba thought he should pick up French again. 

The room was unlocked and, thankfully, empty when Sasha finally reached the tower.  He considered the image on the screen for a moment, for a moment doubting if this was appropriate before moving towards the small alcove.  Coals were still banked in both fireplaces from the previous evening's fires and, with just a little coaxing, the one in front of the couches sprung back to life.  He settled himself in the corner of the couch closest to the fire and opened his arithmancy book out on his lap. His notebook with precalculus notes he set open on the couch cushion next to him.  For time's sake, he couldn't linger on comparing the two topics but he wanted the math notes and problems on hand in case something struck him as familiar. 

Not that he often found much.  Similarities were usually much more fulfilling between Chemistry and Potions but he'd come back to potions later.  He'd worked his way through a series of arithmancy review problems before the door opened and Professor Trishna walked in.  It didn't seem like he'd been noticed.  Sasha froze, watching the Professor, trying to decide how to ... make his presence noticed.  He didn't want to startle the man but he still wasn't sure he was supposed to be here.  He could try to slip out quietly but, then, closing books and stuffing them back in bags silently wasn't easy. 

So.  He opted for the default.  Apologize.  A common tactic for the Ravenclaw.  He'd been known to apologize for apologizing on several different occasions.  He cleared his throat.  "I'm sorry, sir," Sasha offered, quietly, his hand on the corner of his book.  At the first sign of disapproval, he'd have the book closed and he'd be out the door.  "It was ... the door was open.  And I ... was just studying.  I can go, though."

He blinked in surprise at Sasha's voice,  dropping the stack of papers he'd been carrying. "What? Uh - I, uh." He knelt and was very clearly collecting himself mentally. Glasses got adjusted and sweater sleves got shoved back into place as he scrambled to pick up the papers and put them back in order.

"It's no problem, Schlagenweit, no need to apologize," he said with a smile, stacking the papers next to him. "I'm just moving things up from my office, so you might be interrupted by...colorful metaphors if I drop anything...else." As he spoke, he frowned down at the papers in his hands; of course he hadn't bothered to number the pages. Good gods, but he missed his computer - crashes or no, it made life so easy!

Tapendra finished rounding up the papers and dropped the rough stack on his already crowded desk, sighing. He glanced at the boy over his shoulder. He'd seen the posters and could certainly understand Sasha's desire to get away from the hubbub of the school below; Georgiana had dropped one of the posters off in his office the day before and 'warned' him about the boy. She seemed to think it was all a big joke, and to her it probably was, he thought.

Still, if the boy wanted to study in peace, he could certainly let him. He still needed to work put the tests from the previous class, anyway - and figure out how to introduce them to the subject.

Sasha flinched in a small touch of sympathy and a hardy dose of guiltily as the armful of papers fluttered to the ground.  He had such a tentative grasp on his reputation with new professors, the last thing he needed was to be accused of stalking professors.  He quickly pushed himself to his feet to help gather up the spilled papers, muttering another apology.  But, by the time Sasha had reached the edge of the alcove, the Professor had already assembled all the papers in a relatively neat pile in his hands. 

He stood still a few moments at the edge of the alcove, watching the fellow and trying to gauge how sincere the dismissal of his concerns and invitation to stay were.  "I ... that doesn't really bother me," he offered in semi-sincerity himself.  "My sister's prone to -"  what was the appropriate way to put it in the presence of an authority figure?  "Liberal use of expletives."  Which all may be well and good but the same from, again, authority figures was a different story. 

Professor Trishna settled himself at his desk and, after a moment of uncertainty, Sasha settled himself back on the couch, situating himself in a much more rigid and straight posture than before.  He repositioned his Arithmancy book on his lap and looked down at the page, trying to focus but his mind kept wandering to the other figure in the room. 

Sasha was intrigued.  There was no doubt about that.  All year, his academic (and future-oriented) goals had been shifting more and more towards the interrelations of magic and science but ... such academic pursuits were not the most prevalent at Hogwarts.  Sure - there was muggle studies.  But that was the study of muggles.  Lately, the focus on different cultures had provided Sasha with new material but it wasn't exactly what he was looking to pursue.    And there hadn't been a whole lot in the way of guidance in such an academic avenue in that field.  Until now. 

Having not managed to read a single line of his text, Sasha looked up from his text and regarded the Professor for several moments.  "Sir?" he asked, tentatively.  "Can I ... Can I ask a question?"  Usually, Sasha was careful to keep his interest in science studies close to his chest but, given what he'd seen, Professor Trishna was bound to be a professor who'd understand and wouldn't give him grief.  "You mention during class that wizards who've pursued scientific studies ... a lot of them are at Cambridge?  Do they go there as students, too?  And ... um ... how does that work?  I mean ... we don't exactly sit GCEs with our NEWTs.  Did they use magic to fake them?  Or something?"

Tapendra took off his glasses at that, and his brows knit as he thought. He fussed wit his glasses as he did so, chewing lightly on the end of them. "Most of the people I know in our 'group', who went to a muggle university, didn't attend Cambridge itself," he said, going down his mental list. "Quite a few are muggle-born, though, so they have an easier time - they can take the tests 'late', but many choose to fake them." He shoved his glasses back on. "In the case of Cambridge, we have friends in the University itself who help us in; the man who got me admitted is the primary one." He smiled fondly - George White was certainly quite helpful.

"While I faked the test, he had me take it anyway - so my scores reflected my actual knowledge. Needless to say, I had a lot of studying to do when I first started trying to get in," he added. "Many of our group went to muggle schools overseas - mostly in America, and I understand they usually take the tests for real. The American GED test is apparently fairly undemanding, and it's a bit more...acceptable for wizards to be into muggle science there. Their traditions aren't as entrenched as ours are."

As he spoke he rose from his desk and paced the room, stopping to rest his hand on the globe. "However, most of my wizarding colleagues did not attend universities as students; they come to us as a gathering point for discussion and work. Many of them come because they've educated themselves and want to be involved in the 'real thing', as it where."

"I see." 

Sasha looked back down at his book, though he didn't even bother trying to read.  His mind was slowly piecing through the information and filtering through it to see how, exactly, it applied to him.  So, most wizards didn't take the entrance exams.  Which, wasn't really surprising.  Faking would be easy enough for the average wizard and how prepared were most wizards going to be when they came to the entrance exam.  That quiz Professor Trishna gave them during their first class illustrated the answer to that quite readily enough.  So, apparently, when it came down to it that was always an option.  And, an oddly well-accepted option.

Even if it felt somewhat like cheating. 

"I'm hoping to be able to pass the evaluations honestly."  Despite the reputation for the reasons he'd been suspended, he had no intentions of cheating his way into University.  That was, of course, if that ended up being the direction he planned on taking.  He still wasn't even sure of that, yet. 

While the man's attention seemed to be elsewhere, Sasha looked up from the book and watched the man's progress across the room until he stopped by the globe.  He opened his mouth to speak but hesitated to speak.  After a few moments, he opened his mouth, again.  "Most of your colleagues - you mean the ones in physics-based scientific disciplines?  Like Astronomy?  It just seems ... I don't know.  The others are harder to self-teach.  The concepts, you can learn on your own.  But, like Chemistry.  There's a lot I don't get and I ..." 

Another hesitation.  Despite knowing the professor's background and experience, talking about science at Hogwarts still felt strange.  "A lot of times I think I'm missing a lot by not being able to do labs.  There's only so much theoretics you can learn in Chemistry - and like with Biology - without getting into a laboratory."  Maybe, astronomy was different - after all.  Hogwarts had a lot more telescopes than it did bunsen burners. 

He leaned on the globe, hands cuppig his elbows. "Most of my colleagues who didn't attend the university are in other fields - Biology and Chemistry, mostly. Physics, well - if they didn't attend it the first time, they often give in and go." He laughed, grinning. "With what most wizarding children are taught it's difficult to grasp the concepts on your own - Space-Time was the worst one for me, personally."

He sighed, silently agreeing with Sasha's point on labs. "Chemistry labs can be replicated, however rudimentary they might be, with the potions supplies on campus; for studying muggle theory, however, what we're really missing here are computers. Wonderful things - don't know how I got on without one. They're completely indispensable in Astronomy and physics as well. That's part of the reason wizards come to us, Mister Schlagenweit," he added. "Most wizards don't have proper access to labs that let them check out the 'deeper' theories. We can provide them - and if they're involved enough in the University itself, they can sit in on or participate in the Muggle's experiments."

He drummed his fingers on his elbows. "If it's the math or particle level of chemistry you're having trouble with, I'm always willing to tutor you, if you'd like," he said pleasantly. "Most of my study of chemistry comes from the astronomical side of it, however, so it's probably a different angle that the one you've approached it at."

"Most of them - I mean us -"  Yes.  Old habits were hard to die.  Four years of looking at his education from a bilateral approach still left him with something of a residual 'us/them' mentality.  He knew he was a wizard, of course.  Things would be so different ... so much easier if he weren't.  But, he was.  It was just ... four years of lies had kept him separated.  "Well...Hogwarts students spend too much time staring at drowned tea leaves to contemplate principles that are abstract and beyond our day to day realm."  Such as the Space-Time realm. 

He shook his head, flipping the cover of his Arithmancy book shut though he sat for several moments staring at the front illustration.  "The worst for me is just balancing everything.  And keeping people from stealing my textbooks.  And destroying them. And then-"  He cut himself off, pursing his lips in thought.  No one liked complainers; he doubted Professor Trishna was an exception.  But, let's face it.  Getting caught studying chemistry didn't exactly make one popular.

Sasha shrugged his shoulders before shaking his head.  "Right now ... I'm just having trouble concentrating like I used to.  But, most of the Chemistry is just basic secondary school level Chemistry.  Nothing too specific."  Was that going to be disappointing?  "I don't really know what I want to focus on.  I've just been following normal muggle courses as best I can.  I really didn't get, you know, into it until the last year or so."  Before that, he'd been doing them because he had to. 

He sighed,  looking towards one of the windows. "Wizarding culture doesn't encourage looking for 'why' all that much," he said. "Though the reasons for that are quite myriad, I'm afraid. It's rather depressing, really."

Tapendra raised his eyebrows as the boy continued to speak in his shy, unsure way.  If the posters plastered around the school had anything to say about it, he'd bet concentrating was difficult, all right. Especially since quite a few of the students seemed to be taking the posters at face value - that, and if the echoes coming up the stairs where any indication, Peeves had already composed himself a new ballad. At least that was still the same, though when he'd been in Hogwarts as a student it was mostly about who was snogging who, or Bombay's underwear sometimes too.

"Other students are stealing and destroying your books?" he asked, his expression and feeling of shock quite evident. Good god, this school was going downhill. He'd never realized  what an asset Dumbledore had truly been to the school. It was becoming increasingly evident that Snark...well, couldn't control the school as well.

He looked at the boy for a moment before deciding it was probably better to be direct. Schlagenweit seemed jumpy and shy enough as-is; he had a feeling he might dance around the issue otherwise. "Is it Knight?" he asked, having thought back to his encounters with the boy.

Sasha watched Professor Trishna quietly though the way his eyes darted rapidly between the man and the globe and the window behind him betrayed the thoughts running rampant in his head.  These were the types of conversations he had with Dreogan and had done so since the first day he'd met the Israeli wizard.  He wasn't sure why, exactly, but h'd put his trust almost immediately in the man without any second guess and he felt comfortable with these types of conversations with him.  The thoughts - the ideas he'd had after reading Kafka's Metamorphosis weren't really ones he could see himself sharing with anyone.  Dreogan had been an exception.  Fergie, it seemed, was a second - though they hadn't, really.  But, for a lack of opportunity rather than avoidance on the Ravenclaw's part. 

Talking about him wasn't easy.  Talking about his own thoughts, ideas and concepts about the wizarding world, wizards in general and himself as a wizard - that was an extremely difficult topic for him.  His own mind was a mess - and when he tried to talk about things that confusing, his thoughts had a tendency to bounce around in a much more disorderly and, well, emotional fashion than he liked.  Or liked to share.  Professor Trishna was, as of yet, still a rather unknown entity.  And, the conversation was remaining ... academic and professional. 

"I suppose," Sasha agreed, nodding his head.  "But, it makes sense, though, doesn't it?"  The wizarding world wasn't prone to asking why but that really wasn't surprising, was it?  As to whether it was depressing ... "I don't know."

"Well...no.  Not often, at least," Sasha quickly corrected, shaking his head.  It wasn't like his books getting stolen was a daily occurrence.  "I don't ... I tend to keep them safe as much as I can.  I mean, before this year I don't think anyone knew I had them.  I couldn't just go loosing books.  I'd have to write home to get replacements and that ..."  He shook his head.  Well - that wouldn't have been feasible.  It would have led to questions about why he lost his books.  Not to mention having to figure out a way to have his parents send him replacements without telling them where he was.  Or how to get them to him. 

"Knight's one of them," Sasha admitted with a slight shrug.  But, that was far from an exclusive list.  Bella Dark, Harper, he'd even run into trouble with Ava in the past.  Ava, Knight and Harper had surrounded him on the Quidditch pitch once.  "There just a lot of kids who aren't very ... pro muggle.  You get used to it."

Tapendra watched the boy with - and he hoped it didn't show  - growing concern. He walked up into the alcove and sat on the couch against the opposite wall, crossing his long legs at the ankle. "I suppose depressing isn't the word," he admitted as he sat. "Frustrating, maybe. Infuriating, on the right days - especially when muggle science gets called primitive."

So the boy didn't like to talk about home. Hardly surprising, given what had happened there recently. Sliding the subject away from that was probably wise, for now.

"Let me know if you have any more...trouble with Knight," he said. The Knight boy hadn't come to offer any explanation for his behavior; and for now, Tapendra was just fine with that. He just hoped he wouldn't cause trouble next week, and if he was lucky he wouldn't show up at all. It had been an almost physical feeling of change when he'd left the classroom.

 He did smile, in a slightly odd way, at the mention of anti-muggle sentiment. "That hasn't changed much, then - though I daresay book destroying is better than..." he trailed off. "Well, a Basilisk," he said and sighed. Boy had that been a fun 6th year - not that 7th had been much better. "Unfortunely the students aren't the only ones with anti-muggle sentiment at the moment. The school could certainly use with some sort of support for u-them." He'd almost said us and he wondered, for a moment, why he hadn't. Gods knew he pretty much counted as a muggle now. He glanced at the fire and drew his wand, flicking it; the fire blazed up and he shifted so his bare feet where close to the fire.  "Of course, we had Dumbledore then, not..." he remembered himself and made his tone as respectful as possible. Schlagenweit had enough issues on his own - he didn't need a lecture on Tapendra's. "Well. Not the current Headmistress."

Again, Sasha hesitated, his thoughts shuffling through his head in their usual disarrayed fashion.  The man opposite him was still a rather unknown entity.  Some professors felt their role was that of lecturer; some seemed to view it as more like a conductor providing guidance through a piece of music - be it a full orchestra or a solo.  He just hadn't yet figured out where Professor Trishna lay in the spectrum.  He wasn't sure how ... well, welcome differing thoughts or ideas would be. 

"Perhaps."  The vague answer should be safe.  It illustrated that Sasha didn't think the whole science perspective was that simple but it didn't commit him to any response either way.  Either the professor would think it reasonable for Sasha to elaborate and would invite him to do so or he wouldn't.  In either situation, the door seemed to be, respectfully, propped ajar. 

Sasha nodded his head but, after a moment, shrugged.  "I've seen the movies," he said with a slight shrug.  "Things never end well for the snitch.  And, really, since those ... those posters, he has been leaving me alone.  I know it's only a matter of time but ... I really try not to complain.  Nobody likes to hear complaining."  He glanced down at his book and slid his finger over the corners.  "I usually just try to find places that seem likely to avoid him and the others, you know?  Used to be the library but I don't go there much anymore.  I came up here hoping ... it seems unlikely he'd come up here.  Not if he doesn't have to." 

"And, at least we had Greyfriar before her."  Though he hadn't intended it to be so prominent, the bitterness in his voice was unmistakable.  The previous Headmaster hadn't been Dumbledore, of course - there were few, if any, that could fill the great Dumbledore's shoes.  But, the school had definitely been very different under his leadership. 

Tapendra gave the boy a reassuring smile, tilting his head to the side. "You've had a different experience?" he asked, geniunely curious. "My perspective might be a bit...warped," he admitted. "The wizards I grew up with didn't take well to the idea of me attending or studying muggle schools and science." Boy was that an understatement - his smile turned sad for a moment.

"That depends on the movies you watch," he continued. "I don't think it counts and being a snitch if you're a genuinely wronged party, Schlagenweit, though I can understand why you wouldn't want to be seen as a complainer right now." He reclined further into the couch and spoke gently. "I've heard good things about Greyfriar," he said with a sigh. "His removal was certainly unwarranted." He nodded to Sasha. "Keep that between the two of us, will you? I've got enough letters of complaint on my desk as is."

He smiled again at Sasha. "If you'd like to come up here to study, you're welcome to do so. It's certainly kind of empty up here otherwise." He glanced towards the small flight of stairs as Kepler trotted up them, the Kneazle giving Sasha an appraising look. Tapendra scooped up the grey cat and scratched him under his chin.

"That hasn't changed much," Sasha pointed out with a slight shrug.  There were still plenty of witches and wizards that didn't take kindly to the muggle side of things.  "There's still a lot of that.  My sister, you know, works in Diagon Alley now.  She's a muggle. There are some that support her but she's been threatened and the Ministry's been on her back some.  I -" In that sense, his experience had been the same.  On one side at least. 

Perhaps, the difference in his experience was seeing the other side of it as well.  "Not all muggles are exactly better at it, are they?"  Sasha shrugged.  "There are plenty of, you know, muggles that are just as archaic about their views of magic - it's not just wizards.  I guess it just kind of depends on who you think is reacting to whom."  He shrugged, scowling slightly as he considered the comments.  "But, then, there are also muggles who don't agree with the scientific approach.  I don't know."

"His removal was unwarranted?"  Sasha glanced up, his eyebrows knitted in confusion.  Again, with obvious bitterness.  "I thought he resigned.  I thought he chose to leave.  I ..."  Yes.  There had been good things about Greyfriar, even if those good things had been somewhat overshadowed by the conversation in the man's home.  "He helped out the students a lot.  He was the reason I was able to come here, you know.  He helped me get started and get my footing." 

Sasha nodded, offering a slight grin.  Given all the classes were at night, the tower - now that he had permission - wasn't a bad place to study.  It was certainly quieter and less crowded than the library.  "Thank you, sir.  I appreciate that."

"A muggle in Diagon Alley?" he was geninely surprised - but glad to hear the boy hadn't lost his entire family, at least. "I'm glad to hear there are some who support her," he said, truthfully. He glanced over at his desk - the howler had been cleaned up but it hadn't been alone. "It's nice to know there are wizards who like muggles still - recently I've begun to think the students are the only ones, sometimes." He smiled slightly as Sasha mentioned predudiced muggles. "My experience there has been refreshingly positive, to be honest - the only muggles I've seen introduced to magic are scientists who nearly faint as the possibilities of it." He chuckled to himself - when he and Ryan had shown George Appriation, the poor man had had to go have a lie down. "Though that's hardly universal."

"People are people wherever you go, I suppose," he said, after a moment's thought. "Culture plays a huge part of it - muggles just tend to have a more progressive culture, these days." He hissed as Kepler started kneading his chest, trying to pry the cat's claws out of him. "That's one of the reasons I stick to astronomy, honestly. At least until I stuck my big nose back into wizard astronomy, it's been a world of completing theories but, well, acceptance."

He rubbed Kepler's chin and the cat let him go. Tapendra smiled as the Kneazle began to purr loudly. "I'm afraid I've only got the student and outsider's opinions on Greyfriar to go on," he said. "But those I respect feel that his choice was...well, pressured." He noted the bitterness in Sasha's voice. "I'm sorry," he said. "I don't mean to upset you, Schlagenweit. I meant no offense."

"She works at Reducto?  That record shop?"  Though small and humble in its origins, the little record shop that could had been steadily building its reputation.  The squib shop manager's pending love child with one of the founding members of Three Owl Standard helped.  The band had built a strong cult following since its days contributing to Potterwatch over the wireless and had grown to be the wizarding worlds popular alternative underground band.  The band pureblood kids listened to because it'd irk their parents.  The fact that Reducto had hired a muggle had made the shop even more of a household name. 

"She couldn't find work in the muggle world when she came back to the UK.  The economy, you know?  She dropped out of the university so finding work with the global recession had been near impossible.  And they gave her a job at Reducto." 

As a wizard, Sasha's experience with muggles had been rather limited.  Up until the holidays, her sister, Jacoba, had been the only one who knew he was a wizard.  "I ... no.  My parents are- well, were-" he hesitated a moment, glancing down at his books.  He could feel the wave of grief swell and warmth rise in his cheeks but, with a deep breath, the feeling passed and he continued, though he kept his gaze dropped.  "They were Catholic.  Pretty traditional.  They didn't really agree with the idea of magic.  They didn't agree with a lot of things." 

"But, there are a lot of unknowns in Astronomy, too.  It's harder to, you know, be unaccepting of other theories when you know there are so many unknowns in your own theory." 

"I don't really care."  It was a lie and likely a very transparent one.  Deep down, Sasha cared quite a bit about the nature of Professor Greyfriar's departure but he wasn't going to admit it.  He tried to sound off-handed as he added: "I was, apparently, a disappointment.  It doesn't matter."