Cleverest Witch

“I apologize, Master Ravenclaw.” Matilda dipped her head slightly, and then nodded, “I have enrolled in the class, yes.” She blinked, a bit confused, and a bit taken aback at the suggestion. “I am not trying to teach. I would just like to learn if that’s alright with you. It’s- I read something of interest to me. It’s about seers. They can predict the future, am I correct?”

Cass kept her attention firmly on the teacher, although it looked as though she was not paying attention to any one thing in particular. It was a habit from when making deals. When Rowena spoke, the werewolf clicked her tongue in disappointment. “Well, thank you for that lead. I’ll have my father send it to one of our contacts in India.” She tucked the pages away, mind on who they could trust enough to do this for them. Perhaps Tristan, he’d been seeking further responsibilities. 

Pulling herself back to reality, she offered a small smile. “Really, thank you. You’ve cut down a lot of time for me.” Tilting her head slightly, she posed another question. “Do we have any books on werewolves in the library here?” She’d already read every single one that pertained to werewolves, but perhaps Rowena might have come across something else in her travels.

Rowena’s job did not begin and end with transferring knowledge to her students. She firmly believed in helping them with their personal lives as well. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help.” She said gently, reaching out to Cass. “I hope your father finds what you need.” 

“It would be fascinating to learn ancient Egyptian. I’m already studying Latin and Greek.” Leila admitted. She often read more than was strictly necessary for her studies, but that was how she’d learned at home. Two decades of learning by herself, she’d gotten to research some obscure areas. “It’s just a habit.” She was always apologising. Leila was always afraid someone would get upset with her, so she tried to avoid it. “I don’t mean to take up your time.”

“Exactly, curiosity must have been the inspiration of at least some of them.” she concluded, pleased to find a good common ground that allowed her to think well of her students, “No, I wouldn’t be. I would have to deal with Godric and Salazar by myself and I may be patient, but without you here, I think I would have given up already.” shooting her friend an unimpressed look, she shot back, “Do you want me to list your virtues? I will, but I recommend you sitting down first, because the list is quite long.”

“I am quite sure I am not a cat.” scrunching up her nose, she giggled and shook her head, “definetly no purring!”  she nods, pretending to understand, but she never had a chance to go through that phase, “She is a good kid, one of my best students.”

"Of course,” Rowena agreed, “But I must admit, seeing you miss the point was very entertaining.” She couldn’t help but smile as Helga complained about their friends, “You’re right, I am completely indispensable. No need to list my virtues, I know them all. But I also know all of yours and that the list is quite long on that account as well.” 

Matilda was startled when the door opened on it’s own but saw no one behind it. She carefully stepped inside and towards the founder. “Miss Ravenclaw,” she greeted, and shook her head with a small smile at the apology. “I am interested in the study of divination. I understand that you were the one teaching the class. My skills are limited to chinese divination techniques, and although there are some similarities, it is not exactly the same with the ones I’ve read since arriving here.” 

Eleonora laughed a little as well before saying, “Then it’s a secret I’ll take to my grave. We don’t need them being any the wiser.” Of course, they both well knew how fond she was of them, even if she enjoyed teasing them far too much. Then she chuckled again. “I’m not going to argue with you on that,” she said with a grin.

“Well I’m afraid that I started off to just learn,” she though to her adventures as ‘Navi’, “and then it was to outrun all the armies and wars, the borders change and it’s hard travelling alone as a woman, let alone with all this rage.” Xio had spent months of hard travel, many experiences were not pleasant, so many times she was sure she’d die, so many times that she was sure that it was over. But in the end it wasn’t to be. She was here in Hogwarts, surrounded by learning and never more content. “They have taken much of Greek’s splendor, that’s true, but there is so much still to be found,” the Greek magical beings knew magic in connections with ceremony, and beauty, in art and philosophy. “You can’t help but realize how connected the world is, a ripple in one area can spread forth. I learn a method, I teach it along, they teach it along, knowledge travels. You see the stars,” Xio smiled, “which are beautiful, gorgeous things, but the world the connection of minds and people from place to place. That’s the chart I adore.”

Rowena realized suddenly that she had only seen this through her own point of view. She looked down at her feet, feeling a little ashamed of her privilege. She should have been more perceptive, “I didn’t realize...I’m sorry, I do understand, though.” She had not experienced the feeling of wandering because you had no other choice, but in her travels she had met many who had. “I hope that at Hogwarts at least, you feel safe.” 

Eleonora offered her a simple smile in return, glad to be rid of being addressed by her last name for the moment being. Then she inclined her head in amusement at the other women’s words. “I can only agree with you…if you agree to never tell them that I admitted them to be such a thing,” she said with a little chuckle. “I don’t think they’d let me ever forget it.”

Xio blinked, her lips curling into an excited smiling for having done something correctly before a Founder. She so admired them for how they had built the school, this temple of learning that Xio could worship at for all the days she could here, “I did, I spent time there when I was in still in my youth,” she had traveled quite extensively, the world was broad and beautiful, “I found it beautiful, but boring, quite the aristocracy there, even among the magical folk. So I went south to Italy and what has become of the Great Romans, there are an interesting bunch, magical theory thrives.” she sighed wistfully at the memory of her time, before letting out a bright laugh. “Oh don’t be too upset, I just cannot wrap my mind about Astronomy, you are welcome to change my mind, Miss Ravenclaw. Oh… thank you, I studied quite a bit of Greek runes while I traveled into Macedonia and onto Athens. Fascinating honestly. I can’t imagine where I’d be without learning out there. So I can hardly take all the credit.”

“I’d like to believe it was, that the young student was curious and did not want to embarrass his teacher like that.” another student she might have started to suspect it, but she had faith in him. “Thank you, really.” leaning against her friend, Helga was already planning the several ways she would thank Rowena for her assistance. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Glaring up at the hand that was petting her, Helga shot her friend an unimpressed look. “I am not a cat,” she said bitingly, though her smile only seemed to shine brighter as she spoke, “but I will accept being called adorable, this time.” deciding that they have spent enough time talking about her follies, she jumps to change the subject, “Where is Helena tonight?”

“I’m sure not all of them had dark intentions.” Rowena smiled, running her fingers through her hair. Her leaning in only encouraged Rowena’s patting her head further, “You would be perfectly fine without me, Helga, you are an amazing witch and an even better woman.” She didn’t think much of the compliment, knowing that no one deserved it more than Helga herself. 

Generally, Eleonora wasn’t much for formalities and the like. She’d been raised on such things, but when you travelled around the world with not many knowing exactly who you were, and healing being the main focus, titles and being proper took a back seat. “It’s juts what I’m used to, I suppose,” she said with a smile. “I’m inclined to believe the men wouldn’t listen anyway,” she said with a little laugh.

Settling into the chair that was offered to her, Cass smiled gratefully. “Thank you. I’m sure you have many other things to attend to, but this is… rather important, at least to me.” Nothing was more important than her father, and he suffered more than she did. If he could control the wolf, everything would be better. Of course, she also wanted to control her wolf, but that wasn’t the priority. 

She drew the loose sheets of old vellum, torn and tattered, but the drawings and words were clear enough, just illegible to her. “Do you know what language this is? I know it is no European language, and the script does not look like it comes from Asia, but taking it to every African and Middle Eastern country would take every so long. I know you’ve travelled just as far as I have, so I had hoped you might recognise it.” She was sure that even if the teacher didn’t know the language, it’d be clear enough with the pictures what she was researching, but she’d never hidden her father’s condition, only her own.

“Of course, Miss. Armstrong, may I have a look?” Rowena took a look at the manuscript with a critical eye. She pulled out a pen and began to write notes on her own parchment, sometimes scratching things out and looking back at what Cass had given her. Finally she looked back up.