For his part, Kurby was obviously feeling decidedly better about this entire session the further that Fauna got into the questionnaire.  He leaned back on the desk, resting his weight on his hands, as he watched the dramatic flourishes and the poncy hair tosses that continued to happen right on cue.

Miss Blake wouldn't win an award for her acting, and she certainly wouldn't win one for her time management skills, as she stopped again to whinge about a question - this time to Ó Móráin.  Rolling his eyes, Kurby gave an extremely loud sigh, and opened his mouth to prepare to chastise both the student and the Deputy Headmaster for again wasting his time, until the meaning of her complaint sunk in.

An enormous smirk spread over the werewolf hunter's face.  Rising to his feet, he attempted to peer at what the girl had been writing, and then immediately burst into extremely loud laughter.

"That's why you're on about all this werewolf nonsense?" he asked incredulously, a note of glee in his voice as he smirked at the girl.  "It's not just a crusade, is it, then?  Well, at least that makes a hell of a lot more sense than thinkin' that you'd try to do anything serious, Blake," he added gleefully.  "What, did you miss your schoolgirl crush and decide you ought to stick it to the school administration?"

His momentary pleasure of having Bagnold finally get off of his desk was ruined by the way he spoke to Fauna. "Mr. Bagnold!" he snapped, rising to his own feet. He might be at least a half foot shorter than Kurby, but it didn't matter. "That is gross and inappropriate conduct. You are here to conduct an interview. You are here to have her fill out this questionnaire as nothing more than a formality- because you and I are both intelligent enough to be aware that Miss Blake is not a werewolf."

"I will make sure that your superiors are made aware of the way you have chosen to conduct this interview, and I am certain they will be displeased with your behavior. One would assume an adult would be able to see past a personal vendetta against a little girl and conduct himself with the proper decorum befitting a ministry official. Unlike most of society, I expect more- dogcatcher or not."

Professor O Morain's considerate response about sharing a glass of pumpkin juice with a friend got a slight smile out of her, but it faded as soon as Bagnold stood to see what she'd written. For some ridiculous reason, she tried to cover the parchment with her hand, as if he were attempting to steal her answers to a test. But her efforts were in vain. He burst into laughter, causing her face to turn bright red as he poked fun at her 'schoolgirl crush'.

Fauna opened her mouth, about to sputter at him, when the professor rose to his feet and started scolding Bagnold. She looked smug about this right up until he called her a little girl.

What!

She gave the professor a hurt, shocked look, as embarrassment and shame crept up on her again. Did he mean that as a snide comment to let her know how childishly she'd been acting today? Or was that how he really saw her? Fauna had thought he'd been helping her out so much because he believed she could do well after graduation, but hearing that from someone she respected made her feel incompetent. No wonder Bagnold never took her seriously. Anger flared for a moment - the professor should know better! Then again, Bagnold was a Ministry worker and his position hadn't granted him any special knowledge about how to treat people.

Silently, without looking at either of them, she turned back to the parchment and read over the last remaining questions. Fauna swallowed, distracted by everything that had just happened. SAWS was personal for her. There was no doubt about that. She and Ollie had been best friends for years, and yes, she wanted her back at school. But there was no way she could explain that without bursting into tears or acting even more childishly. She was not only upset with the men in the room, but at herself - her own snotty, petty conduct.

The last questions asked about any werewolf attacks she had personally experienced or any werewolf transformations she had personally witnessed. Fauna kept her answers very short and brief, unwilling to add any sense of personality or emotion to it. It took her about five minutes to write about both experiences. When she was done, she stood, and handed Bagnold the parchment and quill, avoiding his eyes.

Not even the Deputy Headmaster's rant made Kurby's smirk waver.  He grinned, flashing his teeth at the younger man as he lazily pushed himself up off the desk, taking his time as he climbed back to his feet.

"Grand.  They can add it to the list," he said dismissively, taking the parchment back from Blake without comment and rolling it back into a scroll.  "Go ahead and pitch a scene, O Morain.  Who knows?" he asked, giving the Deputy Headmaster an extremely self-satisfied smirk.  "You're from a respectable enough family, aren't you?  Maybe you can even convince the Wizengamot that you know what you're speakin' to when it comes to decorum."

Chuckling, he returned his wand to his pocket, tossed the quill on the desk, and tucked the scroll under his arm.  "You'll be hearin' from us within the next week," he informed Blake with a broad smirk.  "Don't go makin' plans for the next full moon until you get word.  And if you end up feelin' lonely and start yearnin' to share a glass of pumpkin juice again," he added, with a glint in his eye that made it look as if he were on the verge of bursting into laughter a second time, "see if you can't practice some restraint and choose a girl who isn't furry, won't you?  I'd hate to have to waste another afternoon runnin' you through this nonsense again, Blake."

Declan had to fight the urge to fling a silencing spell at the infuriating dog catcher as he continued to make rude comments toward Fauna about her personal life. His job, however, might be on the line if he went around throwing spells at ministry officials- however inappropriate their actions. He stood up instead, voice stiff when he spoke. "If you are done harassing my students now, Mr. Bagnold, I would appreciate it if you would be on your way. Miss Blake and I both have better things to do than worry with this nonsensical accusation of lycanthropy."

"And if there is a next time, Mr. Bagnold, I'll be sure to ask your superiors to send a different official to conduct the questioning." It had to be against protocol to bait the person you were questioning, and if it had caused Fauna to fail the inquiry, he would have words with the head of the capture unit- and whoever else was in charge over at the ministry.

Fauna really wished she could hex that grin off of Bagnold's face. She wasn't sure why he brought up O Morain's family, but forgot about it when he remarked on her choice of kissing partners, like it was his damn business! Fauna glared at Bagnold as O Morain told him to leave, glad the professor was still on her side, even if she had behaved immaturely. She had a hunch that she never would have done so badly on the LRE[1] if someone less abrasive had questioned her, and at the moment it was easy to put all the blame on the Ministry worker.

As soon as Bagnold made his exit, her shoulders slumped and she let out a sigh. She gave Professor O Morain a guilty, miserable look, feeling embarrassed and defeated and all sorts of unpleasant emotions.

"Do you think I failed it?" She asked in a wavering voice. The professor couldn't really know either way. She supposed she was hoping for reassurance.

1.	Lycanthropy Risk Evaluation

Declan was glad to see the man go. He took a long sip of his water as he pondered Fauna's question. With a resigned shrug, he sighed. "Probably," he answered honestly. "Though your failure of the questioning would be due to the nature of the person who gave it to you rather than your answers." It was frustrating to know she would find herself in trouble with the ministry simply because Bagnold could not quit bating her. What did a grown man have to gain by tormenting such a young girl? Declan would never understand that.

"But if nothing else at least you will be able to prove that you are, in fact, not a werewolf and put these ridiculous rumors to rest and move on with the final months of your Hogwarts career. If I were you I would opt not to work with that man in the ministry upon your graduation."

Fauna nodded, trying not to look too upset when he answered that she'd probably failed the questioning. At least he was honest.  He also seemed to blame Bagnold for it, which made her feel validated.

Like he pointed out, staying at the Ministry on March 11th would prove that she didn't have lycanthropy once and for all. It was just difficult to look on the bright side and let go of her anger at how much the rumor had affected her lately: socially, in classes. It shouldn't have gotten to this point, and yet it had. She wished she could have done something to quell it early on.

"Right," she murmured when he mentioned that she should avoid working with Bagnold. Then Fauna looked up and seemed to process what he'd said.

"Oh. Well... I don't know if I'm going to be able to avoid him either way," Fauna said hesitantly. "I mean, if I go into the Ministry, especially if I do something with the RCMC, he's just going to... be there."

Joining the WCU was never something that had been on her agenda. Thank Merlin. Fauna had to admit that sometimes, the thought of dealing with Bagnold really got to her, and made her wonder if she could handle that kind of animosity. Not just from him, but from anyone who might give her a hard time. The feeling was especially strong after this humiliating experience.

"He's around even now, and I'm just a student. Like he was making comments at the mixer over the Holidays. And bothered me when the Floo network stopped working that one day," she muttered, shaking her head.

"But he's unpleasant to everyone. And I have to get used to it, right? That's what being an adult is," Fauna looked at the professor curiously, thinking back to when he'd called her a 'little girl', and hoping he saw her as stronger than that.

"It is an unfortunate repercussion of being raised in a pureblood family to think that you have the right to harass everyone who has ever crossed you in the most trivial of ways," he commented. Declan of all people would know that. He was raised that way, shipped off to live with his aunt, forgotten by his family and shunned by the rest of the pureblood world. Even now- over a decade later- his supposed transgression was something everyone refused to forget. "Perhaps a bit of exposure to some of our own purebloods would help you learn how to better handle him?"

"I would definitely suggest, if you're going to be spending time with him due to your career, to learn how to handle him, then. Find a pureblood from a high society family who can stand to socialize with you and ask for their help. Not that you lack any intelligence or skill, Miss Blake, but the form of verbal sparring common among purebloods is very specific."

"I wish I could have done something to prevent this," he finally added. "I know it is a ridiculous accusation. If you were a werewolf, we would know by now- plain and simple. Unfortunately the ministry doesn't see it that way. I would like to say they are only doing their jobs. I have no doubt that his superiors, at the very least, think that they are. As for Bagnold specifically, I highly doubt that is the case. At least, after this whole ordeal is behind us, the rest of your time at Hogwarts should go without anymore ridiculous interruptions."

Fauna raised her eyebrows, shocked when Professor O Morain admitted the drawbacks to being raised in a pureblood family. O Morain sometimes overreacted to minor offenses with Professor Trishna and other students. She wondered if he knew that. She respected him and was growing to like him as a professor, but it was slightly funny to her that he commented on Bagnold's fault with such calm objectiveness.

The surprises kept coming when he suggested that she spend more time with a pureblood student from a high society family. Oh shite. Fauna looked horrified for a second before she managed to compose herself. She was friends with some purebloods, but most of them were not from high society, and most of them were Hufflepuffs. There was a huge, huge difference between the Hufflepuff purebloods and the rest of them (like the Slytherins). Prejudiced? Nooo.

Fauna was well aware, however, that she was terrible at verbal sparring. She often got flustered and emotional, or shut down and couldn't talk at all. It wouldn't do her any good once she graduated if she let nasty comments bring her down, or let people walk on her. While it was nice of Professor O Morain to say she didn't lack any intelligence of skill, she doubted she was clever enough to ever sling insults like the best of them. Still, something needed to change. It was downright embarrassing that a third-year had rendered her speechless a few weeks ago just because he'd kept throwing accusations at her.

Fauna took a deep breath. "I know one person I can talk to who might help me."

The only person she could think of who fit that description was Fergie. Though he'd been really nice to her lately, Fauna did not look forward to asking him for help in that area.

"It'll be over soon," she agreed with much more hesitance than the professor. Fauna appreciated his confidence, and that he was trying to reassure her without sugarcoating.

"Thanks for... sticking up for me, though." She glanced down, embarrassed. "I know that... I didn't really respond well to Bagnold. But... it's good to know that someone here believes me."

Her friends believed her, of course. Fauna just felt grateful that somebody who was in a position to help her was willing to offer advice and tell Bagnold to shut it. Especially the Bagnold part!

"Good," was his only response. Declan didn't even know where to begin with suggestions if Fauna hadn't anybody in mind for the task. Most of the purebloods who were what Fauna needed would hate her based on principal. Such a shame. Sure, he had been the same when he was younger- but he had been liberated. (However forcefully and however much he had hated it at the time, Declan realized now that it wasn't so bad.)

"I just wish he would have behaved more professionally to save both of us the trouble. I would like to tell you, Miss Blake, that most people aren't like that. It is not, however, true." Finishing his water, Declan levitated the tray back to a table in the corner before gathering up some paperwork on his desk.

"Are you going to be quite alright, Miss Blake?" he finally asked, opening the door and holding it for her. "If you feel as though you might need a day to yourself, I am not opposed to excusing you from classes tomorrow. This is a stressful situation, and if you need the time to gather your thoughts and process things I understand." He eyed the Hufflepuff critically as he spoke. His words were true, but he hoped that Fauna would take this in stride. It wasn't as though she were an actual werewolf. The imaginations of some of her classmates had simply gotten carried away.

Declan remarked that Bagnold wasn't the only person she'd encounter who would act like that, and Fauna privately agreed. If people didn't grow out of an attitude problem, they usually got sneakier about it. Bagnold, at least, made no show of hiding his issues.

As the professor held open the door from her, she paused and thought about his offer to let her have a day off from classes. Her face flushed. Though a part of her knew she'd never get this chance again to skiv classes with a professor's permission, Fauna didn't want to come across like a spoilt child.

"I'm alright," she reassured him, meeting his eyes. "I mean, if I have to stay at the Ministry on the eleventh, I'll already be missing a class or two for that. And... it's just rumors," she said with much more confidence then she felt. "After the eleventh, everything will go back to normal."

She had to believe that. "But thank you, professor," Fauna said sincerely. "I really appreciate, uh, everything."

She smiled at him and then headed out, looking forward to reaching the Hufflepuff common room so she could complain about Bagnold to her heart's content, and expecting that she would probably regret not taking off class in the next minute or two.