It was a few days after the career fair on Saturday, and Eirene was well prepared to take advantage of the career counseling offered this week. Monday after her classes, she marched to the Astronomy tower, ducked into the small alcove beneath the classroom, and knocked on Professor Trishna's door. She missed Professor Bombay as her head of house, but she liked Professor Trishna too, even if she didn't always enjoy Astronomy. It was something she'd never admit to him, though.

Once she heard a voice from inside the office, she opened the door and hovered by one of the couches.

"Hello Professor!" Eirene chirped, looking critically at the haphazard piles of papers and books. She'd tidy the room for extra credit, she would.

Out came the folder from her backpack, which held an impressive stack of parchment. "After the career fair, I wrote up my ten-year career plan!" She informed him eagerly. "Would you like to hear it? I have it on parchment, in diary format, and memorized in my head."

Eirene beamed at him and folded her hands in her lap, waiting for him to tell her to take a seat.

The Career Counselling had been going smoothly so far, even if students kept asking for advice on things he was hardly an expert on. He'd been spending what spare time he had frantically brushing up on those subjects, especially the non-Ministry ones. Before the 19th, he frankly hadn't known how you got a job playing Quidditch other than 'try out and hope', and that wasn't exactly what a nervous hopeful wanted to hear. The same issue had arisen with several other odd jobs, some of which he hadn't even be aware were real jobs. Part of him couldn't help but feel annoyed that some of the Ravenclaws wanting those jobs, though. They were Ravenclaws! Getting hit in the head with balls or being a hairdresser was what Gryffindors or Hufflepuffs did.

House pride aside - Antonopoulos turning up had been a given. It had just been a matter of time. As for what she wanted to do with her life - he'd had to speculate on that one a bit, but he quietly hoped she didn't go for a paperwork or administrative Ministry job. There were some part of the Ministry the general wizarding world liked being slow and incompetent, thank you very much. Like any office in charge of stupid pointless fees.

Thus, when she popped in his office, he greeted her with a smile with only a hint of apprehension in it. His gaze latched onto the parchment in her hand, and he gulped subtly.

"Have a seat, Miss Antonopoulos," he said, gesturing her over to the couch as he stacked some of his papers out of the way, not for the first time missing his file cabinets. "And we'll see if we can't refine your plan a bit, eh?"

Folding his hands in front of him on the desk, he leaned forward, all broad smiles. "I'm sure you've prepared a presentation," he said, as someone who was sure that file contained pie charts, "So would you like to start with that?"

Eirene sat, happy that he was smiling at her and looked interested in hearing her out. Clutching the folder in her hands, she stared at a spot just above the professor's head (having read that tip in books about presentations), and began speaking.

"I want to be a Healer," she announced proudly. "I've wanted to be one since I was five-years old. No, four! My mother's a Healer, and she's brilliant, and she works at St. Mungo's, specializing in potions and plants and poisons."

Eirene paused, hoping he'd noticed the impressive new word she'd learned.

"And I want to be like Sasha Schlagenweit," her face flushed. "Because he's so smart, and he takes so many classes, and I want to do that too, except for Divination, because it's rubb- because it wouldn't help. Potions and Herbology would be the most important classes, of course. I'm good at Herbology!" She told him happily, distracted for a moment by the need to impress.

Eirene's face fell suddenly. "I forgot the drawings and charts!" She started scrambling through her papers, trying to find the right ones to show him. "May I start over?" There was a touch of panic in her voice. She hadn't even talked about her detailed plan, yet, but everything had to be perfect!

A healer? That could be good, actually, even though he hoped she'd matured some by 7th year (you never knew.) He sat back a bit at his desk, absently adjusting his tie as she spoke.

"Well, your current grades certainly support your goals so far," he said, encouragingly. "I wouldn't worry about taking as many subjects as Schlagenweit, however, he's..." How did he put it? "He's got a fairly unique outset," seemed the best way to say it without saying the words 'coping mechanism'. "And a lot of the subject he studies are muggle, and St. Mungos would likely not approve of that - even if those subjects could actually help."

Reclining in his chair, he restrained a grin. He knew it; now if only he'd had time to put money on that. Ah well.

"Go ahead," he said, smiling again. "Keep in mind, though.." He leaned forward, steepling his arms and hands again. "I'm going to be critical of your plan - that's the point of these sessions. We'll be trying to work the kinks out and make sure your career plans are more realistic. So keep in mind," he raised his hands into a half defensive gesture, palms towards her. "When I offer criticism, it's not because your plan is bad." He gave her another quick, and hopefully disarming, smile.

Eirene nodded, a bit confused. She had a few reasons for wanting to take as many classes as she could, though 'being like Sasha' was a big part of that. At least, however, the professor remarked that her current grades supported her goal.

She was able to breathe again when he offered her a reassuring smile and said she could start over. Of course, Eirene didn't see criticism the way he did. The whole point of this counseling session was to impress the professor and show how thoughtful and prepared she was! If he pointed out flaws in her plan, she'd failed!

"I understand!" Eirene lied quickly, clearing her throat and straightening her back. This time, she wouldn't forget anything.

"I've wanted to be a Healer since I was five, because my mother's a brilliant Healer," she began again, pulling out an old photograph and showing it to Professor Trishna.

"See? This is me, age five, taking care of my dolls and horse figurines in the hospital." Eirene paused, lowered her voice. "It's not really a hospital, it was actually my bedroom, but I made it look like one by hanging sheets!"

The photograph showed a young girl in braids, bandaging a doll's arm while a sour-faced house elf stood in the back, holding supplies.

Eirene flipped through to the next illustration, then sat there staring at it for a long moment, expression conflicted. The drawing was a picture of Sasha's face, set up in the same style as the Wanted posters, but with text like 'Nicest Prefect Ever' and 'Unicorns like him'. She glanced up at the professor, blushed, and showed him the drawing for two seconds before hiding it away.

"And this is Sasha!"

She cleared her throat, then went on. "For my first and second years, my goal is to get O's in all of my classes. Also, I made a chart that shows if I get at least ten to fifteen points for Ravenclaw each class lesson, we should be able to win the cup every year! As long as Mairead keeps getting into trouble!"

Eirene stopped talking abruptly, realizing she'd said something she shouldn't have.

He smiled, restraining a good-natured laugh at the photo - precious, in its own way, though the house elf's 'please shoot me' expression turned it from precious to hilarious. He retrained his urge to laugh, barely managing to turn it into a smile and a nod as she continued.

Sasha's photo nearly did him in, mostly due to the writing on it. He nodded as it went by, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"Ahem, yes," he said as she put the photos away, calming down himself. Os...hm. The house points was a worry, and he sighed, having to be honest; he'd told her about the criticism, so that was what he had to do.

"Your current grades - we'll go over those in a few minutes," he said. "As for the House Cups, well..." he stroked his beard as he tried to figure out how to phrase this. "The issue with that, is that while yes, points are given for good behavior and participation, most teachers will refrain from overdosing points," he explained. "You'll notice how I don't give out points for every single right answer in my class, for example, and getting 15 points from Storm..." Did Ignan give out points at all? He honestly wasn't sure. "Would likely be like pulling teeth out of an Alligator, frankly. That said..." he lay his arms down on the desk.

"A, It is rather rude to put your hopes on the misfortune of others, Miss Antonopoulos - though I understand the two of you have a history. B, That doesn't discount the other houses; if it's possible for you to get that any points, it' possible for Miss Collins to do it as well, or one of the Slytherins. And, well, C," he smiled gently, "The house cup has no effect on your resume or career. I really wouldn't worry about it so much."

Eirene barely noticed the professor's mouth twitching, having seen it so many times during the career fair that she just assumed the adults were extra stressed lately. The sigh and the disappointment, however, she caught on to very quick, and some of her initial enthusiasm wavered.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly, only sorry that the professor possibly thought less of her, not about insulting Mairead. Eirene understood his logic when he explained that professors rarely gave out too many points to a single house, but she took that as a greater challenge, not an impossible one.

"So it's possible?" Eirene concluded, completely missing his point. "Wouldn't St. Mungo's be impressed if we win the house cup for seven years in a row and it's because of me?" Her eyes gleamed with academic zeal. "I'm sure I could earn more points than Dahlia if I work harder," she frowned.

Pesky Dahlia Collins! Hufflepuff was supposed to be nice and safe!

"It would be really impressive, wouldn't it?" Eirene looked as though his answer had the power to crush her hopes and dreams, and of course, it did.

"In a theoretical sense, yes," he said, and had a feeling he'd regret that. 'But in practice, no, not really. There's no rule that says you can't, but most professors won't. Besides," he added with a smile. "As odd as it may sound, if you try to garner points too much you could actually loose them," he explained. "For example, if you answer too many questions or actively push for them over your classmates, a Professor could take points for impeding your classmates from participating." He had no doubt that Eirene was capable of that.

He drummed his fingers together, making a 'hmm' sound. "I think it'd depend on why you won all those points, really, for St. Mungos to really be impressed. The House Cup is supposed to represent a concerted effort by the entire house. It's only in exceptional circumstances that a few students win it for their house; think Potter in '91, for example."

Tapendra rubbed one of his sideburns. "There's a book in the Library - Points, Prefects and Perfection, or some such. You might find it useful."

That said, he smiled as encouragingly as he could. "But yes, it would be impressive," he said. "And I'm not saying it's impossible to do," he added quickly. "But it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to do it via classes alone. So, if that's one of your goals, I'd expand your points of attack, as it were."

Eirene had a hard time understanding what 'impeding her classmates from participating' meant. If other students didn't raise their hands high enough, or sit in the front row, or say hello to the professor, that was their own fault, wasn't it? She nodded anyway, focusing on his advice. The phrase 'exceptional circumstances' signaled 'you must be exceptional' in her brain, and she started daydreaming how she could be like Potter, just without the trouble-making!

She wrote down the book title he gave her, then looked up when he smiled, advising that she should expand her points of attack. Better send her professors more fruit baskets, then!

"I can do that, professor," she grinned, then moved on to what was next for her presentation.

"My third year, I will take all the electives, achieve O's in all of them, and start a Healing club. I'll be president of it, of course. Pax and Noriko can be my assistants! We could have weekly meetings with Madam Nagde. Our mascot will be the unicorn. We'll patrol the school and heal broken bones and bloody noses, and stop fights - I'll threaten to tell - and heal students that get beat up all the time, and rescue kittens," Eirene said all in one breath, handing him a chart that showed the number of cats (and people) they could save daily.

Pax said super heroes did those things. They'd just be Super Healers!

He took the chart, wordlessly, his amusement quite well hidden (he thought). It was a very well-drawn chart, he had to admit. And he wasn't about to complain. The Healing club could help the school quite a bit - the kittens certainly needed help! She'd even put little pictures of kittens on the chart. It made him want to go get Kepler, but the kneazle was lounging in the sun by the office's large window, and he didn't have the heart to rouse him.

"An admirable idea," he told her happily. "Though I wouldn't worry about rescuing this many kittens; we don't have that many on the grounds, at least I hope we don't, so rescuing that many would be rather difficult. It's hard to help something that isn't there," he told her, with a nod of his head.

"That said, if you want to take all of the classes and O all of them, I would be careful on how much time you spend with the club," he continued, tone reasonable and level. "Taking every class requires a lot of study time, so you'll be having to do a lot of homework. A single meeting with Tul-with Madam Nadge each week may be best, to start with - until you've gauged your comfort level with your classes and established a schedule for your homework."

Eirene paused to make notes about his advice on time management, though she wouldn't truly understand what he was talking about until she was swamped with schoolwork and her overly ambitious club ideas. All she could pay proper attention to was that he seemed to really like her chart with the kittens on it! An admirable idea, he'd said.

"My fifth year, I hope to become a prefect," she looked up from her notes, moving on with extra pep in her voice. "By that time I would have been the Healing Club president for two  years, and I would be taking lots and lots of classes and getting Outstandings in all of them, and so I'd be a leader to my peers, and the best choice," Eirene beamed, trying not to think about the Gryffindors that never listened to her, called her 'fykie', and dumped her in the mud.

"Oh! And over the summer, I'd try for an internship at St. Mungo's! I've already written my essay to them, if you'd like to read it, professor," Eirene handed him a hefty roll of parchment, tied with red ribbon. "Of course, it will need revisions when I become a fifth-year, but I think it's important to..."

Eirene trailed off, hit by sudden inspiration.

"Maybe I should start a journal about my experiences! Like a memento![1]"

1.	Memoir, haha.

Antonopoulos as a prefect...there was something he wasn't sure he'd want to see. As hopeful as he was that Cyhirae would get that, neither of them were really material for it. In fact, almost none of the first year Ravenclaws were fit for it, at the moment. It wasn't his decision, though. It was up to Snark.

Or whoever her replacement was. A bloke could hope Snark'd get fired before him, right? Right.

He cleared his throat. "At the moment, your grades would need to be raised to reach Prefect levels," he warned. "Hence my caution about budgeting your time carefully."

Aware that would likely deflate her balloon, so to speak, he held his hand out for the scroll. It was fairly long;  he certainly wouldn't have time to read it now. "Would you like me to make notes on it, for you?" he asked. "Though I'm sure your mother would be a great assets in this, as well, if you've showed it to her."

He was still scanning the scroll as she continued talking, and he looked up in surprise. "That could be useful, but you may find a planner a better tool," he said, rolling the scroll back up.

"Thank you! That would be lovely!" Eirene smiled when he offered to make notes for her, something she hadn't expected. She gave the roll of parchment an anxious look now that it was out of her hands. She hoped he liked it!

"Oh, I already have a planner, professor. It's color-coded," she added, fishing in the papers she'd brought and wishing she'd brought it to show him.

To the professor's credit, a bit of his advice was actually starting to sink in. The warning about her marks had done it, and the following comment about budgeting her time. Eirene could talk all day. She wanted to tell him about her plan to become Head Girl, and what her first steps at St. Mungo's would be, but instead she paused in her rifling through parchment and looked at him.

"Professor? What do you mean about my current grades? I want to raise them all to O's and I really think I can do it, it's just there are a few that are a little more difficult than the rest, but if I study extra hard I should be able to, shouldn't I? And Flying is awful but I'm going to pass it this time, I promise!"

"Do you? Good." Privately, he wondered if she used star stickers. She seemed the type, certainly. A gold star for every right answer or accepted fruit basket.

Not that he was going to complain about the fruit baskets anytime soon. He wasn't the sort to turn down free food.

She seemed to get nervous when he mentioned her grades; he allowed his face to become appropriately grave. Technically, he was being a little mean - her grades were actually fine. But a slight kick might get her going on the here and now...

He made a show of pulling her report card towards him, frowning at it. "You're doing quite well in most of your classes," he said, adjusting his tie again. "Even Remedial flying, I see. Your current issues are in Defense, Transfiguration, and Astronomy. Defense is one of the key classes for Mediwitches, as I'm sure you're aware."

Putting the paper down, he folded his hands again. "Are you having difficulty with the concepts, or the actual spellwork in Transfig and DADA? In my course, you're doing well enough on your charts, but the concepts seem to be your sticking point."

Eirene got very quiet when the professor adjusted his tie and looked over her class grades, her energetic and arrogant attitude crumbling away at the slightest frown. Mediwitch? But she wanted to be a Healer. It very well could have been a slip up in words, but Eirene immediately assumed he thought she should lower her goals.

When he asked if she was having difficulty with the concepts or the spellwork, Eirene hesitated, unsure which it was, and thinking there must be a right answer that he was looking to hear.

"I don't have any problem with the concepts. Or the spellwork! I just need to work harder," she nodded, fidgeting with the parchment in her hands. 'Work harder' was her answer to everything. Not enough time? Work harder. Don't understand something? Work harder. Professor looks disappointed? Work harder!

"I can do it. I can get O's in everything," she repeated in a painfully earnest voice.