Meeting the New Professor (Mackenzie & Jake)

Subject: Meeting the New Professor (Mackenzie & Jake) Sun Jun 04, 2017 7:24 pm

Another day over, and Jake could feel the strain of Christmas coming around fast. His mother had been a god send, not to mention Victoria had been helping, and just having his dad in the same house was more familiar that he would ever know. However, as much as they were trying to make this transition 'normal', his parents were never there when Ivan asked when mommy was coming home.

They were never there when Adrienne would not settle because she missed the familiar feel of Veronika's arms.

It was a very difficult thing, going through another break up. The first two times had been simple enough because he'd only had to deal with his own emotions. However, this time, with Veronika having left him with two children, it was not simply him who had to be dealt with. The stress was high for this reason, but Jake refused to give in.

Turning in to the Staff Room, Jake made his way to the kettle and flicked the switch, grabbing himself a cup and setting up for a cup of tea. Spooning just a few granules of sugar - as a pick me up - in to the bottom of the cup, Jake drummed his fingers against the side as he waited for the water to heat up.

There was nothing out of the ordinary today, really. Professor Jameson had mentioned a replacement Care of Magical Creatures professor, but Jake doubted he would see the witch up in the school much. Much like Professor Loverin, who preferred the company of the plants he cultivated, Jake doubted Professor... Faucette would come indoors if she had animals to care for.

Though, of course, Jake was fully open to the idea of being wrong about this!

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~ Auror ~ Profile ~ DADA Professor ~
~ In a Relationship ~ 36 ~ Father ~ 6' ~ American Accent ~

Guest

"Now aren't we ravishing?" Mackenzie chuckled as she finished grooming the multi-chrome mane of the unicorn before her. She'd had to hold in her excitement upon first encountering the unicorn, as she'd never had a one-on-one encounter with the creature before accepting the Care of Magical Creatures teaching position at Hogwarts. She'd already seen a plethora of beings that she'd never imagined meeting and she'd only been on the grounds for a week or so. It was marvelous, really, how much responsibility she'd been given over this living beings. It felt good.

The unicorn, she'd decided, was named Ozzie. No-one had informed her otherwise and not even the unicorn himself had questioned the title. Ozzie'd been a good friend since her arrival on campus. She made sure to make his acquaintance at least once a day and in return, he gave very little attitude. Unicorns were fragile creatures, but Ozzie made it known that he wasn't beyond fighting. Mackenzie appreciated that quality.

Since her arrival, Mackenzie Faucette had made very few appearances amongst the other professors. Seeing as no-one had sought her out for this, the woman assumed that this was normal CoMC professor behavior. She loved the alone time that this allowed her to have with the subjects of her lessons. Yet, she felt as though it may have been time to make some friends.

"I'll be back later," Mackenzie cooed, running her hand through Ozzie's mane one last time before making her way to the castle.

Seeing as she herself had been a student once, Mackenzie was not unused to the layout of Hogwarts castle. Still, it was a rather large building with a million turns and twists. One could get rather lonely wandering around by themselves. The thought of this sent a shiver up her spine. How terrible it would be to get lost here by oneself.

After turning a few corners and asking a couple of students for directions, (this may have been embarrassing, but Mackenzie did not quite care) Mackenzie found herself in the staffroom. Had this been where she was trying to go? Sure, why not.

The first thing she noticed was not the room itself, but the person sitting in the room alone drinking tea. His face was familiar but a name did not find its way to her tongue's surface. She'd simply have to find his identity for herself.

Mackenzie poured some boiling water into a cup and dropped in a fragrant tea bad. She then sat down at the table across from the man.

"You look as though you may be in need of some company," she smiled.
"Mackenzie Faucette, Care of Magical Creatures professor, drinking rosemary lavender tea."

"And yourself? Not to assume, of course. You could be a coffee person and I would introduce myself all the same."

As the door to the staff room opened, Jake looked up to find the very witch he'd just been thinking about step in to the room. Strange as that might have been considering he'd never met the witch. She wasn't quite what Jake had expected, either. He'd expected someone a little less... feminine. Not that the CoMC professor couldn't be girly...

He stopped himself in his tracks, offering the witch his warmest smile considering his current predicament.

The witch continued on to the kettle, making some kind of tea before heading over to the seats that were set up in the room in something of a semi-circle. The comment of needing some company once she was settled made the DADA professor smile in thanks, straightening himself up a little in that moment. "I would say you're probably right with that analysis." Jake replied to her comment, before taking in the rest of the words she said.

"It's lovely to meet you, Mackenzie." Jake greeted the witch, wholeheartedly meaning that. New people were always a good way to forget about things for a moment. New people didn't know everything, and didn't need to know everything.

"Jake Newbury, Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, and Auror." He explained, before looking down to his cup. "Tea, strongly brewed with a light dashing of milk, and, today, a few granules of sugar." He explained, hoping that wasn't going to be a hugely telling sign of the person he was, because he didn't know what that would say about him, personally.

"Professor Jameson spoke of your arrival. How was your first round of classes? The kids weren't too much of a bother, I hope?" Jake asked, genuinely intrigued on how her first class had gone. Teaching was the world to Jake, but he didn't by any means believe it to be easy.

________________________________________________
~ Auror ~ Profile ~ DADA Professor ~
~ In a Relationship ~ 36 ~ Father ~ 6' ~ American Accent ~

Guest

Mackenzie offered the man a warm smile once he concluded his introduction. Jake Newbury. The name rang a bell but she could not quite place the exact moment in which she'd heard it. She dismissed the confusion, deciding that it must have been in an article that she'd either written or read. And once he added his professions, she decided that she was content with the assumption.

"A professor and an Auror," she responded. "You must be a busy man, Jake Newbury. How could someone juggle such daunting professions and still manage a social life on top?" She wondered if perhaps her questions were becoming too personal for a first introduction. Despite the changes in her life, Mackenzie's mind was still fashioned into that of a reporter. She wanted to know everything.

But his physical appearance gave most of the answers away. She believed that he didn't have much of a social life. His eyes were tired. And based on his response to her tea question, adding sugar seemed to be something unusual in his characterisation. Perhaps he needed it to maintain the illusion that he was not overexerting his energy. Was this because of his work? Or was there something else.

Attempting to put her curiosity to rest, Mackenzie was pleased that the topic had been spun to a different focal point.

"The kids were lovely," She smiled. "I hadn't expected so many to show an interest in Magical Creatures. I was pleasantly surprised!"

She lifted a spoon from the table and began to stir her tea for no purpose other than the aesthetic.

The question of a social life was one that made chuckle softly in to his cup of tea. A social life... he didn't believe he knew what one of those was any more -- as sad as that might be, his children came first. "Well, I'd love to pretend I have such a luxury, but, I have two small children who contend over my 'free' time." Jake replied honestly to that question. Of course, he hadn't mentioned Veronika, but he supposed that would be something the other witch had perhaps picked up on even in her short stay at the school thus far.

Mackenzie's comments on the kids made Jake smile to himself. "Definitely, they're great, the kids. Have you had the delights of Joshua Abbott yet?" Jake asked -- though he didn't like to gossip about students, he did feel the new professor deserved something of a heads up about the Hufflepuff.

"Mr Abbott decided to come to my class with IKEA chairs -- apparently my more practical approach was not to his liking, and standing was too much for him." Jake explained with an amused smile. "I should probably have come down a little harder on him on that one -- I hear he's been taking the chairs to other lessons -- but, in all honesty, I found it much too amusing to reprimand him for."

Jake paused, taking a sip of his drink and just about containing a grimace at the sugary taste -- he was so used to plain tea -- before asking. "So, what creatures do you have up your sleeve? I'd make sure not to show Max too many intriguing creatures, he has something of a... fondness for animals." Jake explained, again speaking of their students fondly. There wasn't really a student Jake didn't like, in truth, they were all good kids, in their own way.

________________________________________________
~ Auror ~ Profile ~ DADA Professor ~
~ In a Relationship ~ 36 ~ Father ~ 6' ~ American Accent ~

Guest

"Wife too busy to watch the kids?" Mackenzie questioned with a friendly chuckle. A part of her felt guilty for asking such personal questions so early into a conversation. Surely, Jake hadn't engaged in this interaction expecting to be interrogated by the new professor. But she couldn't help herself. Every person was made up of myriad layers, each one just waiting to be peeled back. It was the journalist in her, wanting to know everything about everyone.

She did hope that Jake would understand this. Personal questions sometimes offended the people that Mackenzie spoke to. An assumption of marital status could open a handful of touchy subjects, but it was one of the simplest ways to start a conversation. She could only hope that he wouldn't take her curiosity the wrong way.

Mackenzie smiled at Jake's talk of his students. While she was unsure if this sort of gossip was technically encouraged, she was glad to have met someone who felt comfortable sharing stories and opinions.

"Mr.Abbott has graced me with his presence," she nodded. "But I hadn't heard about his infatuation with Swedish furniture. Perhaps he has enough common sense to realise that chairs do not do well with grass." Most of the students she'd met were kind and ready to learn, but Joshua Abbott was another story. The boy was not one for playing by the rules. He strayed far enough to entertain, but not too far as to break any major rules. It was somewhat impressive.

"Is chair building against the rules?" She chuckled. "I don't think you could have reprimanded him for that if you'd wanted to."

On the topic of creatures, she smiled.

"I hope that I manage to interest at least a few students. I have a few lessons planned on creatures that I personally find interesting. My most recent lesson was on Kneazles. Fascinating creatures, Kneazles. Wouldn't you agree?" She took a sip of her tea, hoping that she didn't sound too geeky.

The question of his wife -- Jake looked down to his left hand, out of habit he still had the band on his finger, and it was understandable that the question had been raised. But, that didn't mean the question didn't feel like Jake had been kicked in the gut upon hearing it. Moving the wedding hand from sight, Jake gave a small grimace of a smile. "She... left, actually." Jake explained, lifting his tea to his lips to take a small sip.

There wasn't really anything else that Jake could add to that, so he didn't. Simply taking a few moments to deal with the feelings that evolved in that moment, before returning to the conversation.

"Perhaps the boy had enough sense to know." Jake agreed about taking the furniture out in to the grounds. It wouldn't be the cleverest of ideas, after all, and Mr Abbott was not stupid. "But, no, it's not against the rules, unless I supposed it becomes disruptive to those around him..."

Hearing that the current lesson had been on Kneazles, Jake paused for a moment to consider. He had always been more of a dog person, so Kneazles were certainly not up there on his list of favourites. But, they weren't to be disliked. "I'm not so sure I can agree on them being fascinating. A fascinating creature, in my opinion, would be a Boggart. Or... a thestral. But, of course, I'm not the most knowledgeable on the animals of our world."

________________________________________________
~ Auror ~ Profile ~ DADA Professor ~
~ In a Relationship ~ 36 ~ Father ~ 6' ~ American Accent ~

Guest

Once Jake confessed the status of his wife, Mackenzie did nothing but nod. A part of her wanted to apologise, but she knew that her sympathy would be no help to him. In fact, allowing the mood to dampen anymore would more than likely make Jake feel worse about his situation. So she nodded. It wasn't much, but she hoped it was enough.

"Are your children of school age?" She questioned, wondering who took care of them when Jake was off teaching. She had no children of her own, so she'd never had to think about how she'd go about watching her kids whilst she worked. It couldn't be easy.

Of course, Mackenzie had Marly. But a little sister was different than having a child of her own. And seeing as she was to be a sixth year, Marly was practically able to take care of herself. She went back home on holidays. Mackenzie wondered what gossip her sister had begun to tell their parents upon her gaining a professor position at the school. She smiled to herself. It had been nice to finally get some time with her sister. They'd hardly seen each other previously.

On the topic of Joshua Abbott, Mackenzie chuckled.
"I am sure that his intention is to disrupt. But so long as it is entertaining, I guess it can be forgiven," She shrugged.
"I'd like to see him pull something in my class though, especially during a lesson on something such as a hippogriff." She'd never stand to see a student hurt, but giving a jokester a scare would be a different story.

"Everyone has a right to an opinion," she responded to his view on Kneazles. "Even if the opinion is wrong. Thestrals are interesting, yes. but it is such a basic lesson for a class. I really want my students to come into a different mental environment each lesson, you know? I want to teach them about creatures they have never seen before." This was true. She was not a conventional teacher. Mackenzie taught subjects that she was interested in. With the exception of preparing for exams, she saw no point in teaching from a book. The world was the best teacher.

"Do you know how many students were able to tell me that the lesson was not on cats?" she questioned. "Two. That, Mr.Newbury, is how I know that I have chosen correctly."

Jake shook his head at the question. "Not quite, Ivan, my eldest, will start umm... pre-school in September. And, Adrienne is almost three, so another couple of years before she will be heading off." Jake explained, smiling fondly to himself as he spoke of his children. "They grow up much too quickly." He added with a small chuckle.

The conversation of Joshua Abbott made Jake smile in to his tea. He knew Joshua was trying to make a scene, but Jake hadn't allowed it to consume the lesson, so he hadn't had to do anything too hard to get the boy to comply with the lesson. "That," Jake mused when Mackenzie spoke of a Hippogriff. "Almost sounds like a threat." He said, though the small laugh made it clear that he didn't think the witch before him would set a Hippogriff on a student.

Listening to the witch speak of her teaching, Jake couldn't help but smile at her. She loved teaching -- that much was clear in how she spoke of wanting to educate the children on more abstract creatures. Not simply wow them with things that were fun. He understood that much, and he valued others who held the same view as him.

The question Mackenzie posed at the end, however, was one that Jake shook his head at, not completely sure where to throw a guess in that moment. Her answer, however, made Jake raise an eyebrow. Two in a whole class...

"It definitely does sound like you picked the right topic..." Jake agreed, nodding his head slightly to show he approved of the logic. "Well done." He added softly, taking another sip of his tea.

"It's difficult to know when you're doing the right thing, though, I find. Some days I think I've really nailed a lesson, and they just don't respond. Other times... they love it when I didn't think they would. Fickle, teenagers, very fickle." He mused, not really having much more to say on the subject.

________________________________________________
~ Auror ~ Profile ~ DADA Professor ~
~ In a Relationship ~ 36 ~ Father ~ 6' ~ American Accent ~

Guest

Mackenzie nodded along as Jake mused over his children. She respected the way that he so deeply seemed to care for them. It was refreshing, really. The witch had been lucky to have been raised by two people who were active and present and loving in every aspect of her life, but she’d also had so many friends who hadn’t had the same experience as she. It was important, she’d decided, to know how much you’d care for someone before you bring them into the world.

She'd thought about children before, though it had obviously never gone further than a thought. She liked to assume that she'd be a great mother; someone who was loving and present and strict and careful. She wanted to assume that every trait of the perfect guardian would magically enter her bloodstream in a single moment, but that surely wouldn't be the case, would it?

At the growth comment, she lent him a small smile to show she was in agreement but that she also had no knowledge of her own to throw into the water.

"Threat?" she laughed on the topic of Joshua Abbott's inevitable date with a hippogriff. "Never! Very strong suggestion, possibly."

"Do you ever wonder if the children will maintain the information that we give to them in lessons?" she asked, purely out of curiosity. It seemed silly to her, assuming that five years from now Joshua Abbott would know what do if he did happen upon a hippogriff.

"If five or ten or even eleven years from now, they will find themselves in a situation where defensive magic or basic knowledge of beasts is needed. I can't help but wonder if they'll be able to find the information from pushed away memories of the classes that we teach." She wondered if she spoke with a hint of angst. It wasn't intended, though she'd understand if it was there.

"It's silly, I know," she chuckled. "But I can't help but always find myself wondering what it takes to truly make an impact."

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