Coven Head's office

Lina woke early Sunday morning, even after reading until the late hours of the night. She got dressed, surprised that she didn't wake Emma. She finished tying the ends of her braids, and quietly left the room to head of the Coven Head office. She didn't know when Professor Sladen was in her office within the coven, but didn't see any harm in seeing if she was there or at least leaving a note.

Once she was on the ground floor, she walked over to the office, and hesitated. I wonder if she's here, she thought as she stood in front of the office. Lina wondered if her coven head was there or not, and if she was, Lina didn't want to bother her.

Shaking her head, Lina finally gained enough courage to finally knock on the door. With a note in hand, all she had to do was wait a few seconds before she would slide the piece of paper under the door, that's all.

She'd only been in her office not five minutes when the knock on the door took Erywin by surprise. Now, who is up this early? she thought. Of course, a lot of students did awake with the birds; she remembered one in particular from her own school days....

He opened the door and found the little Asian girl from potions standing before her. "Oh, Lina," she purred. Holding the door open she had Lina step in and walk to the center of the room before shutting the door and saying, "Now, what could you possibly need of me today, love?"

Lina was surprised when the door opened, after all, she didn't think that she would be in. As she entered the office, she slipped the note into her jacket pocket and took out the paper with her herbology plant choices on it. When Professor Sladen asked her what Lina needed to see her about, she kind of froze. "Eto ne.." she muttered, mindlessly playing with the paper with the plant names on it, "there's a project in Herbology class where we, um, plant and cultivate them. Um, they're also found on the school grounds too. The, ano ne, ones I chose were: Dittany, Valerian, Goosegrass, and Moondew."

Lina had to pause to make sure that Professor Sladen was following what she was saying before she continued. "Eto, Professor Semplen also said that the plants could be used for Potions, and, um, since you're the Potion's Mistress, I thought I'd go to you first before asking Professor Semplen."


(OOC: 'eto', 'eto ne', 'ano', and 'ano ne' are all different variations of 'um' in Japan.)

Vaguely remembering Holoc saying something about this the other night, Erywin asked, "Are you asking about the sort of potions you might product from those plants?" she asked, "or is there something else about your project you would like to know?"

"Both, really." Lina stopped playing with the paper and placed her hands behind her back. "The Moondew plant is the only plant that I know that's an essential ingredient in both the Wiggenweld Potion and Draught of Living Death, but I don't really know what the other plants do."

Moving from one leg to the other, Lina paused before she continued to speak. "The only other thing about the project that I wanted to know was if the plants had to be grown in the greenhouse, or could we grow it on the grounds naturally?"

Smiling, Erywin told Lina, "Now then: Dittany is used for healing. Mixed up right you can grow skin with it. Powerful restorative. Valerian is also used in the Draught of Living Death, and it's very good in fudge." She smiled broadly. "And Goosegrass is used in hundreds of potions." He led Lina over to a chair and motioned for her to sit. "In fact, you used it in the potion we did in class.

"As for where to grow it..." She looked Lina over with an appraising eye. "If Holoc wants this grown as part of a project, then I'm of a mind that he wants it grown in the greenhouse so he can gauge the progress." She leaned back in her swivel chair. "Why would you want to grow it somewhere other than the greenhouse, Lina?"

Lina sat down at Professor Sladen's suggestion. She listened to the various types of potions that could be made with the plants that she'd decided to grow. Lina's expression, however, went from stone, to confusion when Professor Sladen had asked why Lina would grow something anywhere outside of a greenhouse. "I thought plants that are grown where they are exposed to the elements are stronger and are overall better than ones that are grown in a greenhouse. Is that not right?"

Crossing her legs, Erywin turned on the charms. "Oh, Lina, you have to remember," she said sweetly, "we're working with a magical greenhouse here. So the elements you want to duplicate can... well, be."

She thought for a moment, then added, "You should speak with Holoc. He might like your idea for growing your plants. The only reason we would use the greenhouse--and, believe me, I do--is because the growing season here is so short."

Lina completely forgot that the seasons were different in southwestern Canada compared to northeastern USA, which would make sense, and she didn't even think that the greenhouse at school were different from a regular greenhouse. "I guess that would make sense," Lina gave a shy smile, "I keep forgetting that seasons are different here."

"Nothing to worry about," Erywin said, laughing. "I've been living most of the last 20 years in this bloody country and I'm still not used to the changes." She snorted loudly. "Give me the Devonshire moors; I'll take the mist and muck there over the fucking cold and snow here any day of the week."

Scanning her desk, Erywin said, "Is there anything else, Lina?" She shot another look at her. "Finding everything to your liking so far?"

Lina smile a genuine smile. Despite the fact that Professor Sladen dropped the F bomb, she knew what she meant. Lina would gladly take the rain and general cooler weather than outrageously hot or extreme cold any day. When her parents thought it was nice to take a family vacation to Las Vegas, NV, USA during the summer to visit her father's parents, she thought she was going to literally melt away.

"mmhmm," she hummed in response to the professor's last question. "I really like it here and it's better than how Ka-I mean, my mom and dad described it." Just then, a sudden thought hit Lina like a bag of bricks, and she became shy again. "Um, if you were here in the States for the past, um, several years, was it because you, um, were a Professor or was it cause, um, you wanted a change of scenery?"

Lina felt like she was prying, but she really wanted to know something, something that only a select few would know...what kind of students were her parents?

Erywin shook her head. "No, love. The States are the last place I'd move to for a change of scenery." She adjusted herself in her oversized chair. "I've been Mistress of Potions since 1992." Her eyes darted up towards the ceiling as if she'd noticed something, then returned to affix upon Lina. "I'm the longest serving instructor at the moment... just beating out Little Miss Transfiguration by two years." She laughed thinking about the look Jessica gave her the last time she brought that little tidbit to the table.

"Is there something about the school you wanted to know?" she asked.

"Um," was pretty much all she could say. She started to become nervous again that she started to play with the end of her jacket. "Um," Lina said again as her eyes started to drop to the floor, "I was kind of, um, wondering if you would remember students you've had in the past is all." She was getting uncomfortable real quickly, "it's nothing, really, I was only wondering."

"I tend to remember the exceptional," Erywin said. Her eyes sparkled. "As well as the ridiculous." She somehow knew where this was going, given what she knew about Lina's being a legacy, but she decided to play it coy. "Who did you have in mind, love?"

"Eto ne," she muttered with her eyes glued to the floor. Lina could feel the heat of embarrassment rising up to her face as she tried to think of something to say. "Um, I was wondering if, um, you happen to know, um, a student with the, ano, surname Watanabe from this coven, and, eto, a boy named Royce in Åsgårdsreia."

"Royce Cromwell? From Åsgårdsreia?" Erywin laughed. "Oh, he was a twit." She quickly recovered when Erywin noticed the first signs of Lina's face beginning to fall. "Only joking, love. You have to forgive my somewhat brazen sense of humor.

"Yes, I knew your father. And, coincidentally, I knew your mother as well. I had them for Potions..." Erywin slid to the side of her chair, propping herself upon one arm. "Can't say they were that good, however." She smiled at Lina with her eyes. "What are you looking for, Lina? What do you want to know?"

Evangelina couldn't help but wonder why everyone, especially the professors, knew that her nickname was Lina when she didn't tell anyone with an exception of a select few of her peers. She removed her eyes from the floor to face her coven head to ask this, but something else caught her attention, "what do you mean that they 'weren't that good?'" she asked innocently, no malice intent behind it, "I thought that they were good students; they always said that they were pretty much even in their studies."

"When I say they weren't good, I'm looking it things from my own standards." Erywin pursed her lips. "As far as potions were concerned they were fair, but one could see they had their minds on other things."

She spun her mind back to those days when she first started teaching. "God, that seems so long ago..." She gave Lina the tiniest bit of a sad smile. "Well, all water under the bridge."

Erywin tapped her desk twice with the flat of her hand. "Your mother was far better than your father, but they both just passed their O.W.L.s every time. There were both very good at charms, as I understood, and had a flair for transfiguration and dark arts." She got to what she was sure Lina really wanted to hear. "And dueling, of course. They were both captains of their respective clubs. Though..." Erywin paused, then knew she would have to continue, because it was out there in and the girl would likely press her on it. "I never quite understood their attraction."

"Oh, ok." Lina wanted to know more, but she felt like she was prying into her own parent's lives; something she could just ask them when she goes home or in a letter. She wanted to know more about why Professor Sladen didn't understand their attraction, but decided against it.

Besides, Lina had another question on her mind, something that had been bothering her since she started to notice it around the coven, and school. "Um, Professor? I have another question," Lina waited to see if she would say anything, when she didn't, she continued without hesitation, "this has nothing to do with anything really, but I kind of notice something that I think is kind of weird. I've started to notice that some of the other students, and Professors, are starting to call me 'Lina' instead of 'Evangelina.' I don't really mind, but I've only told seven others, all of whom are first years, so I don't get why other years call me 'Lina' when I haven't met them yet."

Lina gave a quick pause before she explained even further, "I think the first time I noticed the other Professors calling me 'Lina' was in Professor Lovecraft's class...or, I think, your class, but, um, anyway, I was wondering, how come you know my nickname?"

Erywin was surprised to hear that particular question. "It's really very simply," she said. "We live in a communal home, and we often all dine together. So when one of us hears something, it gets out to all the instructors."

She nodded towards Lina. "Someone brought up your nick--to be honest, I think it was Deanna first." Erywin shook her head. "Girl has Sight like you've never seen, but I think it tortures her a bit... Anyway, once the word was out you nick was 'Lina' it got around."

She tried to smile as well as she could; afraid Sundays are a bad time, she though. Particularly after last night. "Can I help you with anything else, love?"

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Lina said, accepting the answer. "Do you happen to know how the other girls found out?" she asked. She remembered that one morning she went to the restroom to get ready for the day, but she stopped in her tracks when she heard the other girls say her name. She wasn't sure what years, but they looked like they were 13-14. When they caught sight of her, however, they stopped their conversation right away and quickly left the bathroom. "It's really weird that they know who I am, but I don't know who they are."

Laughing this time, Erywin said, "It's surprising how quickly your name gets around when you're a first year. Keep in mind, love; all these people saw you when you were sorted, so..." She let the thought trail off. "They know you as the girl who came out clutching her head, and they hear your name... that sticks in their minds."

She leaned forward, elbows against her desk. "It was like that when I was a first year. You get called, you are sorted, you go to your house. Everyone knew me long before I knew a dozen names." She shrugged. "It's all part of the magic, Lina."

Lina flushed a pinkish color when Erywin explained it; I didn't think about that. She thought that she must have made someone angry at her without her realizing it, not that people happened to remember her because of her sorting. "Oh," was all she could mutter before her eyes fell to the floor once again, too embarrassed to look at her coven head.

"That's all I wanted to know," she said as she stood up. "Thank you for your time, Professor," Lina bowed a rather deep bow, "it was very...informative."

It was anything but, Erywin thought, but she didn't press home the query. "If there is anything else you need, Lina, please, never be afraid to ask." He nodded towards the door. "That is always open. Even when it's not."

She began pulling out parchment. "If there is nothing else, you can see yourself out, love."