Dear Ishane,

Our Luthas says you've gone and gotten yourself a job as Hogwarts's new Herbology Mistress. First let me say congratulations thats a very good position and much better paying than the nursery I am sure, though you don't really need a job with Luthas's money....

The letter carries on for sometime, updating on the status of unknown realtives, what our Paul said to their Stan, and so on and so forth.

...which brings me to my youngest, Tynan. I'm sure you've spotted him, cant miss him really, with those grey eyes and hair hes got (also he is missing an eye but do not mention it, he is Sensative) He will be handsome I am sure provided he doesn't lose the other eye.

He is not doing as well as we had hoped. Ty is not the brainy sort and so is finding it hard to read and write and work in the school envirorment. I was hoping you could put the boot in some and get him on his feet so to speak and don't worry if you actually have to use a boot he is a boy and can take it. Also you may want to talk to him about his friends they seem the odd sort.

Yours,
Theodora MacFusty

---

April 24th, 11:00am, after Herbology

Ishane led Tynan to one of the smaller greenhouses while the rest of the class skidaddled. The greenhouse was one that was off limits to students, and reserved for private use by the current Herbology professor. She had converted one end of the greenhouse to a temporary office while she sorted through the crud that Bombay and other former Herbology professors had left in her actual one. She sat behind the beat up, old desk  she had borrowed and gestured for Tynan to take a seat in one of the chairs positioned in front of her desk.

Ishane tapped the letter she had received from his mother on her desk idly, trying to figure out how to best phrase things. "Your mother has informed me that you are having difficulties in school and, since we are family and I'm now one of your teachers, Theadora asked if I could get you up to speed, so to speak."  She leaned back in her chair and looked the boy over, giving him a  moment to let that sink in. From what she had seen Tynan seemed to have all the basics down so  all they should need to do is to work on expanding from that point.

She leaned forward and rested her chin on her intertwined fingers, "At least I can give you assistance with the parts you're struggling with, so lets break it down to the basics. What do you feel you are having problems with?" Hopefully he would take her offer for help, she really didn't want to explain to Theodora why Ish couldn't really make Tynan go to tutoring if he said no.

Finding out the new Herbology professor was a relative had not been a highlight of the year. Finding out his mother had written to her to put the boot in on his studies was definitely not one.

Tynan sat across from Ishane, his arms crossed, and legs crossed and expression sour, which for him was quite easy. Part of him was aware he  did need the help; badly, in fact. The reading was difficult, the concepts above him, and the writing was difficult too. Wandwork? No problem. Herbology, no problem. Potions...potions was okay, but not when he had to read complex essays pr, worse, write them. It was easier to simply escape to the stables by the hut and forget about his homework than try to do it.

He drew in on himself more, bringing his heels up to hook at the edge of the chair, arms still crossed. He glowered. "Readin'," he said. "An writin'. Nae one seems tae git what I write even when I try." Mairead got it just fine. As did his friends. "An' even when they do git it they give me bad marks," he added, since this annoyed him particularly. If they got the message he was trying to send then why did it matter if he'd misspelled things or had run on sentences? He wasn't sure how sentences could run, but apparently his did.

"Magic is fine," he added, with just a hint of pride. "m'good at that."

Ishane sighed mentally at Tynan's sullen displeasure. His reaction was one that she had expected but Ish had hoped she wouldn't have to deal with. "The lower grades you're receiving on your essays are because school essays are graded for grammar and spelling in addition to the concept. I know it might not seem to make sense but English is a standardized language that students are taught while primary school and it's now expected that first years have reached a basic level of ability. Unfortunately," here Ishane grimaced, "you came to Hogwarts below that level. You have been improving quickly, which is good, so all you need is a little extra push to get you at the minimum."

"I do also want to let you know that Theodora also informed me that if you don't pass your classes that other arrangements will be made during the summer." She met his eyes, her expression serious. "By that she means that you won't be going home during the summer and will be staying with relatives." And by relatives Theodora seemed to be implying the Blairs. Whether this meant her mother and father in law (Tynan's great uncle and aunt) or her and Luthas remained to be seen. Ishane hoped that Tynan would take the threat for what it was and buckled down or else the coming summer was not going to be pleasant for all involved.

She then smiled at him, "Though it's not all bad. As you said, you are good at magic. In fact I would say that the only classes that your grades are in trouble are History of Magic and Astronomy. I don't know about Professor Austerlitz but I do know that Professor Trishna would be happy to break down the subjects that you are having issues with." Ishane looked thoughtful for a moment, "Though if I remember correctly, for that final all you need to do is know how to star char to pass. It would be best, however, to ask him to be certain."

Ishane reached down and opened one of the lower desk drawers and pulled out a language arts textbook and spelling/vocabulary workbook. She placed them in front of Tynan and flipped to a random lesson in the LA textbook. "With reading and writing you luckily have a strong foundation, so all we need to do is to expand and fine tune it. To do this you'll have an extra assignment for the next few weeks based upon your current weaknesses. I'd also like you to do at least one lesson from the spelling book," Ishane opened the spelling book and gestured to an activity, "Each lesson has several activities designed to help you remember the spelling and meaning of the words introduced. If you can do more than one lesson during the week that would be great but you don't have to."

She leaned back in her chair, "I also want to meet once a week at least to go over things and check your progress. Feel free to also bring in any current assignments or essays and I can help out with the editing or explaining some of the concepts that you're having difficulty with." She smiled gently at him, "Try and keep in mind that this is all for your benefit and will help you in the long run, even if it might seem like a punishment right now."

He took the book with an air of suspicion and hesitation so thick she might as well have been handing him an enraged cat. He held it like it'd been dropped in something, flipping the book open to look at the pages and pages of workbook text and projects. His single eye narrowed.

"Did she really say that?" He asked, looking up at the mention of his mother. She'd told him that repeatedly, of course, but if she was telling others, she probably really meant it. He shifted in the chair uncomfortably, looking down at the book again. He sat in silence, listening, but saying nothing, his gaze following her pointed fingers. He wasn't entirely sure how this would all help, but...

"Fine," he said, with a set of his jaw. He closed the book with a snap. "When?" His tone was simple, direct. Hater of academics he might be, but Tynan seemed fairly determined to actually do this.

Ishane nodded, her face serious, "She did. Theodora hasn't decided where you'll be staying but she is serious about not leting you go home if you fail; so let's make sure that doesn't happen, hmm?"

She smiled at Tynan, pleased that dispite his reluctance he was taking his mother's threat seriously. "I was thinking either after Herbology on Tuesday or on Thursday. If you have problems during the week and need help feel free to stop by the greenhouse."

Ish sat back in her chair, mentally going through what she had wanted to talk to him about. 'Oh yeah, his friends.' From the little Ishane had seen of Tynan's interactions with his fellow first years he seemed to be on good terms with most of them but she couldn't really pick which ones were his friends. The only ones who she could say anything about was his relationships with Mister Collins (who Tynan seemed to not get along with), Miss Antonopoulos (who he seemed to really not get along with) and Cyhirae (who's only mention about Tynan was summed up as 'boy with nasty scar' at Christmas when asked about her classmates).

"So, beyond your classes Tynan, how are you feeling at Hogwarts?" She smiled at him, "I know you're homesick but have you settled in alright? Made any close friends?"

Tynan's scowl grew deeper, if that was possible. He nodded, which was, apparently, all she was going to get out of him. But it was approval, and Tynan more or less understood what he had to do. It didn't mean he liked it, of course.

"It's too crowded," he said. "Too loud. Too many books and not enough sense." Tynan sniffed. "And the others are...strange."

Letting his feet down, he crossed his legs, one ankle on his left knee.

"Friends?" He shrugged. "Yeh. Mairead an' Keegan and Erik an' them. The girls are weird." He crossed his arms again, perhaps defensively, but his whole posture hinted at annoyance. "They're really nice to me, but they won't stick around much. They're odd. Mairead's different, she dinnae care about mud an' all that." He blinked, as if remembering something. "The others get all..." He waved at his face. "Red, feverish. Mairead's got it too now."

Ishane nodded sympathetically, "I imagine that the castle is completely unlike anything that you've ever known." She had experienced the same feelings herself when she was a first year, though, given his home, Tynan's feelings would be much worse than hers. "I can assure you it will get better as you become used to it." She smiled at him, "Even if the castle never becomes a home to you, life here will eventually become normal."

Ish sat back and listened to him describe his friends. She found it interesting that the friends that he called out were the two muggleborn Gryffindors and no one else. Ishane choked when he described how the girls looked... feverish around him. "Are all the girls looking," she stifled a snicker, "feverish around you, or is it just a few of them?"

Tynan doubted it, but whatever. There was really no point arguing it, so he didn't. But he wasn't really sure this crowded, chaotic and dangerous place would become home.

It was quite a bit like home in some ways, of course, but more crowded. And louder. And didn't burn down as much.

"Jus' a few," he said with his usual deadly seriousness, his eye narrowing at her, sensing quietly she might be setting him up. "The others jus' look scared or look at me funny." He knew why that was, of course - not that he liked it. You'd think they'd get used to the damn scar.

"Why, ye think they've got somethin'?" he asked sharply.

Ishane chuckled, "Oh, they have something all right, though I don't think I'm the best person to tell you about the birds and the bees." And god did she hope Theodora wouldn't request it of her. "What I can tell you is that the girls aren't sick exactly. They certainly aren't contagious by any means. They're just going through something that happens to all girls at their age and older."

She grinned at him slyly, "It'll happens to you boys too in a couple of years or so. I'm sure if you looked around you would find plenty of girls getting feverish around other boys and vice versa among your older classmates." Her smile turned to full on amusement, "Your second year is going to be very entertaining."

Tynan had been set up. He might know next to nothing about...more things than he'd admit, but he knew that neither birds nor bees had anything to do with the illness or whatever it was she was going on about. He'd never even seen any of the girls with birds or bees! Unless it was transmitted via honey, but then how did birds factor into this? Or maybe it was from chickens, but he'd eaten that and so had everyone else and they were fine. Honey-basted chicken, maybe....?

His belligerent gaze hinted as to both his annoyance and his inner confusion. "Yeh, well." He crossed his arms tightly. "My school years aren't fer yer amusement."

Glancing at the door, he betrayed his confusion in one small way; he fidgeted, then glanced back to her. "Everyone gets it? Even' me?"

Godmodding approved by Armiece

---

Ishane smiled kindly at Tynan, "Yes, Tynan, even you will experience it someday. Having a crush on someone is a  completely normal part of growing up. Boys expirience it after the girls so it'll be a few years before it happens to you."

As funny as it was to her, it was obvious how uncomfortable Tynan was with the subject. "It will happen when it happens Tynan so I wouldn't worry about it. And the girls are defiantly not sick, so that's not something you have to worry about that either."

"Anyway, do you have any questions about your assignments currently?" With Tynan's curt no she stood up from her desk and handed Tynan his workbooks, which he took with a sullen look on his face. "Well then I think we'll call it good for today." Ishane led the boy to the door of the greenhouse, "I'll see you after class on Tuesday, but don't hesitate to stop by or send an owl if you're having trouble in the meantime."


End.