Errand Promise Me This PV Professor Benoit

Frankly, when Nadège applied for professor over a year ago, she hadn't expected trauma on this level.

The ball had been a disaster. It was tradition, apparently, but the woman couldn't stand for that. Bad occurence after bad occurence was disgraceful for what many considered a renowned school— her dearest Uagadou certainly hadn't those issues— and the students deserved better learning environments. On top of the headache she'd sat nursing the past hours, she felt a strong desire to make it up for those affected, and spent the past few nights staring into her crystal ball for any glimpse of the future. She hadn't seen anything. Maybe it was the caffeine.

When she heard the knocking at the door, Nadège turned away from her window view of the grounds. Cloak flowing behind her, she yanked open her classroom door and smiled once noticing the Hufflepuff visitor. It was refreshing for once to see a child roaming the corridors that looked like a child— most students around here seemed to shoot up towards the ceiling like weeds. It made the professor, only five foot three herself, feel somewhat out of place. What she had lucked out on in magical talent, she was clearly lacking in stature.

Perhaps their similarity would prove as a bonding measure regardless. She knew Serena as someone not only taking her elective but also doing quite splendidly with her marks. The girl held quite the reputation for herself despite being so young; Benoit recalled her tenure as Head Girl. It was not easy for Nadège to forget when a student impressed her so effortlessly.

"Hello again, Miss Towers," Benoit sang cheerfully, standing in front of the open the door so the part-goblin could enter. "How is one of my star students faring today? Please come in." The classroom was void of any other people save for the two of them; only the colorful draping, set tables, on trinkets on shelves served as any other semblance of livelihood. In the corner of the room was a sink by a small stove that she would point to.

"The reading will be held up these stairs, in my office. But before we go, please wash your hands for me in the sink there. I'm sure you have something interesting embedded in your palms, so I want not a single speck!" As Nadège reached the edge of the stairs, the curtains covering the open doorway began to part on their own.

Serena smiled up towards the Professor, who seemed to be in good spirits. Then again, she had never seen Professor Benoit in bad spirits either. There were definitely a few adults that Serena found a little scary or intimidating - usually because of the mean scowl they had on their face - but the Divination Professor was not one of them. She was far too bubbly to be scary. It certainly helped that the lady also called her one of her star students, which was a really nice little ego boost that the Hufflepuff needed in her life. "Thank you," She replied politely, as she was greeted and invited in.

"I'm fine, thank you..." Serena added in good British fashion - claiming to be fine as a default response to how she was doing, regardless of how she felt. As her mother said, people asked this out of politeness. They don't really want to hear your woes. At least, the adults at her family gatherings did not want to know.

Following Benoit, Serena turned her attention towards the corner of the room that was being pointed at. There was a sink there, which quickly made sense as she heard the instructions. Nodding, she turned mid step and made her way over to the corner.

Serena was careful in her actions for once. The instructions specifically requested no specks. She usually only washed her hands before meals or after visiting the washroom. Even when she went outside, she would just embrace the dirt and not really care if she touched her clothes or anything. As long as she could not see visibly strains on her hands, she would assume they were clean. Of course, germs were usually invisible to the naked eye but Serena was thirteen - and she really did not care enough. But today, she rolled the sleeves of her shirt up to her elbows before scrubbing her hands.

She took care to clean each finger, the gaps between them and her palms. Extending the soap past her wrists, she cleaned her forearms a bit too. She did not need to clean that much but Serena really did not want to disappoint the professor. It took just under four minutes for her to finish scrubbing her hands, as clean as she could. This was way longer than she normally spent washing her hands but specks could make a difference on the palm reading, after all and she really did not want to wreck an accurate reading.

Patting her hands dry on the towel, Serena returned towards the stairs and followed the Professor up towards her office. She had no idea if she had anything interesting on her palms but hopefully she did! A part of her could not help but feel a little nervous. It was the sort of nerves that was mixed in with a bit of excitement. Getting a glimpse into your future was an exciting but also a scary prospect. What if it was not as good as she would have hoped? Was it better not to know? Questions plagued her mind but she was not sure if she would voice them to the professor.

Taking a deep breath to try and calm her nerves, "Have you had many volunteers so far, Professor?" She asked, wondering if former students had had good predictions or not.

She waited patiently as the Hufflepuff washed her hands. When she said "not a speck", Serena certainly took it to heart. It was nice to see a student care so much and already, and Nadège was looking forward to making her predictions. When the girl was finished, she asked, "All set? Great! Just this way, Serena. Watch your steps."

Nadège walked to the base of the stairs leading to her office. Although there wasn't any sort of visible railing to hold on to, the staircase was enchanted to prevent any falling over, but the steps themselves were still a bit steep. "Just three others before you. It was a slow day, but the things I saw more than made up for it." She didn't elaborate more on the students who came to visit her earlier. The latest had a likely marriage in his palms, and the others a mix of bad and good. But she wasn't too worried about them. That was the thing about fortune-telling; one's fate ultimately came down to their own actions. Nadège heard too often of undisciplined clients failing to heed the advice given to them. Such self-fulfilling prophecies were always a disappointment.

Once the professor reached the top of the platform, she stepped aside to hold open the curtain and beads covering the doorway. There was just enough room for Serena to scoot by. "Here we are. Please take a seat there." Serena would be able to see a rectangular shaped room, even more brightly coloured than the classroom. There was a couch with books and posters on the wall, and off to the side, a bare round table with two seats. That was where Nadège motioned to with her hand.

Serena smiled politely and nodded in response as the Divination professor asked if she was ready. Minding the older woman's words, Serena was careful to follow her - trying hard not to trip over the steps that had been pointed out to her. The lack of a banister made it a lot harder. It was like she was suddenly off-balanced when she was warned to be careful. Kind of like how you were tempted to eat the cake after someone said not to eat the cake. That's exactly how Serena felt right now.

Her interest perked a little as Professor Benoit answered her question. A part of her was incredibly curious to know what the professor had seen but she felt it might be far too impolite to ask. These visions were likely very personal, after all. In truth, Serena was not sure if she wanted others to know about whatever happened in this meeting. So she figured others might not want her to know, in the same regard. "That sounds really interesting. Do you enjoy it?" She asked, wondering if the professor actually enjoyed being able to read people's futures or not. It could definitely become a burden - especially if you saw terrible things into people's futures.

She eventually managed to climb the stairs without any real mishaps occurring, silently grateful that she did not make an utter fool of herself moments after being warned. Serena politely nodded as the professor held open the curtain for her and quickly stepped into the room, "Thank you," She said gratefully as she looked around the room. It was beautiful. It was colourful and that was enough to make her mood a little brighter. She took a seat where the professor had motioned too, ready to get started. Instinctively, Serena raised her hands, placing them both onto the table in front of her with the palms up towards the ceiling.

She had no idea if she was meant to do something before the professor would read her palms but the excited girl was ready to get started - and since she had no idea how to get started, she did what her instincts told her to do. For a palm reading, the teacher had to read the palms, right? That was why she had to wash them, after all. The Hufflepuff bit her bottom lip as she stared at the palms on the table. This was it. She would find out. Her eyes shot up to glance at the professor. She was clearly ready for the palm reading by the look on her face. It was a mix of nerves and excitement as her eyes were eager but her lip was hesitant. "So uhh do you just read the palms or am I supposed to do something?" Serena asked after a moment, deciding to come clean about the fact that she had no idea how to do this. Clearly she had not had her palmistry lesson yet.