ᶜˡᵃˢˢʳᵒᵒᵐˢ

@p. isabella Hyungwon winced at the sound of the chair scraping against the floor, the witch moving herself closer and peering at the crystal ball. He looked at her instead of the glass ball, wondering what she saw, if anything, and how he missed it no matter how much he tried and tried again to figure out what was going on. When Isabella suddenly turned her attention on the Slytherin, he found himself rubbing at his nape and glancing to the side, the woman looking at him as if she could see past his flesh and bone into his very essence.

"...No. No I don't believe in it." If she or anyone else knew the Slytherin, they'd know /why/ he didn't believe in some crystal ball supposedly being able to tell him what was or wasn't going to happen in his life. Ludicrous if you asked him, something he hated in fact as he was told from a very early age exactly what his destiny was going to be, rather than being allowed to try and make his own. When you had a father like Hyungwon's, a family like Hyungwon's in general, you didn't want to put much belief behind these kinds of things for the realities they could possibly make come reality.

"I suppose that's that then." Hyungwon shrugged his shoulders for a moment, figuring that there wasn't much else he could do. He wasn't going to go start believing in these things because that was /exactly/ what his father would want. And he wasn't about to get into the habit of giving that man anything he demanded.
"Thanks for the help, Isabella. I guess there is a class I won't be able to pass after all." He tried to joke, not wanting the Hufflepuff to feel bad because she couldn't help him behind diagnosis. It wasn't her fault Hyungwon had such a troubled family.

@c. hyungwon Not even giving the name thing a second thought, Isabella continued her waving until she was acknowledged. In retrospect, it was probably pretty obnoxious but she was in too deep. Once Hyungwon finally turned in her direction she smiled and easily dismissed his apology with a shake of her head before scooting her chair a bit closer so she could get a proper look at the other's crystal ball. The sturdy wood scraped against the cold stone floors, causing a brief grating noise that caused her to grit her teeth. She decided to just lift the chair a bit while moving it the rest of the way. His self-deprecating statement got a chuckle out of her and Isabella shook her head, tucking a chunk of hair behind her ear.

"Don't worry about it, I can hold my own" the Hufflepuff responded lightly, turning her attention more to the sphere before them. Quite literally as soon as she'd finished talking, her full attention was on the ball. With her chin resting on the backs of her hands, she stared into the depths of the swirling mist and essentially got lost in it until the other spoke.

"Uhm..." she started, taking a moment to remember exactly what she'd been doing. "Oh!" Once she did she straightened up and scrutinized Hyungwon, looking up at the male as if the answers were scrawled somewhere on his face. "Are you into this? As cheesy as it sounds, do you believe in the crystal?" She asked after gathering her thoughts a bit, fingers fiddling idly with the frayed ends of her scarf. "Your crystal ball relies outside energy, including interaction with your mind and spirit. If you aren't into this, or at least genuinely focused, it won't work."

@p. isabella Hyungwon almost didn't respond when a voice beside the professor's addressed him by his last name, his eyelids half drooped shut like he might fall asleep any moment though if the professor asked what he thought he was doing he would surely say something along the lines of 'Just visualising the images for decoding later'. Probably would have been accepted as an answer too considering he wasn't a purposefully bad student, especially at divination. God knows why he had managed to pass it in the first place, but here he was again, sixth year and ready to be done with the subject for good.

Isabella did however catch his attention with her hand waving in front of him, the man looking over and staring at her blankly before noticing she'd been talking to him. Clearing his throat as he straightened up, Hyungwon mumbled an apology before looking back to the crystal ball, a ball that no matter how hard or how many times he looked, he couldn't see the shapes and signs others swore to.
"Uh, sure. But I'm terrible so don't let me drag you down." Hyungwon mumbled, sitting up straight and rising to his full, lanky height as he did so.

He knew Isabella, not as a friend but they'd joined Hogwarts in the same year. Of course they'd been in different houses, two you couldn't find any more different really, a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin, but there was no animosity between them at least. That was more than Hyungwon could say for some others. He also knew Isabella loved these classes probably as much as he loved charms and jinxes class, if not more so, so accepting her help to at least get the professor off of his back wasn't exactly a bad idea.

"So... What am I missing? I have the book, the ball but I see nothing."

@c. hyungwon For Isabella, Divination was extremely important; so much so, that she'd caused a scene by screaming excitedly when she saw the class on her timetables again. She couldn't really explain why the practice resonated with her so much, but the idea of being able to predict the future just fascinated the half-blood endlessly. So, she learned to ignore what she imagined was the lingering smell of burnt ossein from some long passed lesson on oracle bones.

Even from the start of the lesson, her attention had been caught by the crystal ball as she tried to make sense of the silvery, unidentifiable mist. As the professor lectured, giving instructions for what the class was supposed to be doing and what they could potentially see, the 6th year stared intently into the ball. Her cheek was resting against her arm, squished ever-so slightly as she squinted, looking between the ball and her textbook to discern some shapes from the billowing cloud.

Just as she spotted something forming in the fog, her ears picked up on the professor's voice just a few feet away from her. She finally tore her eyes from the quartz sphere to see what was going on. She was a nosey person, admittedly so, so she found herself tuning into the conversation between the older woman and Hyungwon, the Slytherin boy. He was clearly having a hard time, so she decided to offer her help. It wouldn't hurt.

"Hey, Chae," she whispered, waving a hand to get his attention. "Need a hand?"

@p. isabella Divination, one of Hyungwon's least favourite lessons to say the least. He honestly thought the professor was on something the first year he had taken it and soon after he figured he might not have been entirely wrong. The classroom always smelled like /something/ odd was burning and whilst Hyungwon was used to the darker side of things being a Slytherin who spent a good portion of time in the dungeons- it really said something when the lighting even affected him. Nevertheless, he wasn't rude or unkind about his own beliefs, never really putting any faith or belief behind what egg yolks or tea leaves predicted about the future.

Today involved crystal-gazing and the Slytherin found himself folding both arms over the table in front of him, bowing his chin to prop against his forearms as he gazed into the misted ball of nothingness. Searching for... well he didn't know what he was supposed to be searching for, Hyungwon scrunched up his nose a little bit before he glanced over at the professor who was going on about the stars coming into alignment and how it was such a big deal too. All Hyungwon could think of was the quidditch match he had coming up and how he'd been made captain of the team in his now, sixth year.

"Young Chae, tell me what you see." The woman had come over to him, pointing at the crystal ball in front of him and causing Hyungwon to sit up just a bit, Peering into the silver mist within the crystal ball, that was all he saw and nothing more, nothing else, just like /always/.
"Nothing yet, professor." He responded finally, the woman sighing before she told him to keep looking. That he did, and honestly he'd tried, at least in his first year of divination he had but now? Now the lesson was a portion of time in his timetables he wished he could be spending on something else, anything else.

@l. soohyuk /your words cause me to clam up, neither feeling cowed nor brought down, but too peeved to feel like wasting pleasant conversation when it's clear you're not interested; with the last vials filled, I remain silent at the mention of the list and Hagrid, knowing it's a question of whether I'm capable of fulfilling the job when instead I was merely trying to offer a little extra personal assistance; with the vials filled, corked, and secured in their box, I glance to you, catching sight of your nose scrunched up and for a moment it seems vastly more human in nature than the coldness you've displayed thus far/
Don't mention it, Professor Lee.
/turning around, I look to Hagrid as he enters in your place, giving him a rather brief explanation of the encounter with Quirrel, the broken vials, and the second round of collection while I take off the thick hide gloves and set them aside; I remove the black elastic from my hair to wind about the box as an added level of protection this time, not about to lose any of the vials I've had to replace/
I'll be back after I drop these off.
I want to make sure everything is taken care of in advance.
/as I move to step past him, Hagrid places a hand on my shoulder without a word and gives a small squeeze, and perhaps that's what inspires a fresh display of emotion, a faintly watery smile overtaking my features before I bow my head to hide it/
I need to get going.
/he lets me on, and I return to the castle, the box wrapped within my robes this time as I deliver the necessary vials, thankfully without further incident as I bring them directly to the classroom, and dare I say it in hopes of going unnoticed this time/

@k. minji /working in silence i stand by your side, towering above you as usual whilst my mind is on anything but what we're doing now
/functioning on autopilot i barely hear when you begin to talk, either about the slugs or the fact you're apologising to me right now
i don't want to hear your apologies, miss kim
/sighs the words out, corking the last bottle i was filling before beginning to place them in a box, making sure they're all secured as i do so
you should have a list already for what the classes will be needing. if you don't have it yourself perhaps you should ask hagrid
/waiting for you to finish up your own part i take off the gloves, sighing to myself as i do so and then leaving them on the side afterwards
otherwise i don't have time to stand here telling you what to do for your job
/remembering that quirrell is probably somewhere else in the school now looking as mischievous as before and i'm here with you instead of watching him bugs me immensely
have these delivered without incident this time
/gestures to the box on the table before i begin to head away from you, scrunching up my nose as i do so, a habit of mine no one has really told me i have considering my life so far
...thank you
/mutters by the door, pausing when hagrid appears and greets me before asking you what you're doing back here, excusing myself as i leave you to explain but not without another glance back

@l. soohyuk And I was being honest.
/countering you with a smile, I rise onto the balls of my feet, though even that offers me little advantage when it comes to my normally diminutive height; ultimately, I'm determined not to let your mood ruin mine, especially this early in the day, and especially not when I'm offering to do what I can to fix a mistake that wasn't entirely my own fault; before I can say anything more, my eyes widen at the sight of the vein throbbing at the side of your neck, a clear sign of your frustration/
Professor Lee--
/quick enough I'm practically skipping behind you to keep up rather than asking you to walk any slower to account for my shorter legs as I make my way from the dungeons toward the work room; with Hagrid having taken care of the particular slugs we need already, returning them to the tiered enclosure in order to best attend to his guests, I'm left pulling on the thick gloves I ordinarily work with to begin filling vials right alongside you/
Thirty then. There should be plenty left for that.
/my jaw is set as I handle the slugs, coaxing the corrosive saliva from them into the thick glass vials a bit like milking venom from a mundane snake/
I am genuinely sorry.
/though I doubt it's anything you want to hear, I murmur to fill up the silence with something other than the very occasional hiss of an errant drop hitting wood and eating its way into the surface of the work table to be fixed later when time isn't pressed; there's an acerbic quality to your demeanor that isn't foreign to me, but it feels very different now, a decade later, and I find myself determined to keep up the mood/
If you know what you'll need for lessons tomorrow from the creatures, I'll make sure it's taken care of tonight-- to make up for the mistake.

@k. minji /your reasoning of why the mistake happened isn't one i asked for or care to listen to, impatience splashing over my expression to show just as much
he always rushing about... running from something it seems
must be tiresome
/murmurs more to myself, looking down the hall as if i might spot the professor darting about the dungeon classrooms but of course there's nothing
i was being sarcastic-
/biting back my next words, words of how i want to ask whilst you cleaned up the mess made earlier if you washed away your knowledge with it too i even know in my mood its too much
/lifting my arm i check the time on my wrist watch, debating whether or not i do actually have time considering the other classes i have to get to
/cleaning up after other people and their mistakes is perhaps one of the most irritating things to me, time consuming and an annoyance in general, showing as much as my jaw tenses and a vein throbs along my neck
fine
/sighs the word out, not waiting for you to begin leading the way as i know the grounds too, glancing at hagrid's hut when we pass it, seeing the smoke coming out the squat chimney and thinking he must have company
/i do however follow you into the work place we find ourselves coming up to, placing on gloves and keeping an eye on the time as i, silently, begin refilling new vials with you
about thirty should do
/mutters to you, corking and lining the bottles up with you, my mind a million miles away and leaving me absent in the mind of making conversation with you beyond what's necessary, still in an apparent bad mood

@l. soohyuk Oh--
/there's a certain sting to those words, one's I don't fully expect, though there's a part of me that insists I should have; the sound of the book being snapped shut causes me to jump, shoulders rising toward my ears, and yet when you come closer I tip my head back, neck craned as I peer up at you, expression open at first thanks to shock, and then closing off with my nose scrunched up and my brows furrowed; even as drawn as I am, I obediently take a step out of the way to let you pass/
I was just trying to help.
/murmuring to myself, I tip my head down, shoulders slumped and I remain within the classroom a moment longer before stepping out a moment later to the sound of my name/
Hmm?
/perhaps it's your own coldness that stiffens my demeanor, my robes swirling about my feet as I take a couple of steps closer to you and regard you with a brow raised, though I wouldn't mention that you very suddenly seem to need something from me after all/
I apologize for that. Professor Quirrel rushed past, I must have startled him when I came down, and I just...
/sighing softly, I give a small shake of my head, the thought of carrying Flesh-Eating Slug saliva in my robes one that makes me visibly shudder/
I don't carry that kind of thing around with me.
But if you have the time to wait I can go and get more to replace the broken ones.
/with a flutter of lashes and a soft, rather accommodating smile, I turn my head to glance away and back down the hallway I've come/
And four hands will get the work done quicker than two, if you're so inclined.
Otherwise, just tell me how much you need at a minimum.

@k. minji /annoyed by the distraction and now hindrance caused for one of the later classes, a smaller voice in the back of my mind tells me i'm just agitated for an entirely different reason
/taking a moment inside the classroom to check the roster i've been working from, i see when next i'll be needed and when and where i have time to be doing other things i need
/hearing you before i see you, i barely glance up from the piece of paper in front of me, my jaw tense as i'm reminded of my irritations today when looking at you
from you? no. i can't say i do need anything from you
/snapping shut the book on the desk in front of me with a little more force than needed, i tuck it under my arm, striding right up to you and towering above you
/for a moment, looking down at you seems familiar, an old memory barely scratched at the surface before i'm stiffly requesting you move out of my way
/walking out the classroom i head down the hall, opening the very closet you were supposed to deliver the vials too, stepping inside as i glance around and think to myself
miss kim
/calls for you from the closet, my voice not loud or shouting but strong, cold enough to be heard no matter what or where you might be
/when you join me i'm shutting the door behind me, looking down at you though not at such a sever angle this time since we're not as close as before
i needed the ingredients lost earlier for a lesson in the early afternoon
i don't suppose you have any spare in those robes, do you?
/pointedly looking you up and down, i settle my gaze on your own eyes, myself unrelenting and like a force of nature when i want to be - quite clearly some of the basis from the rumours of the kind of man i am based on such traits

@l. soohyuk /being an assistant, at least in my position, was largely a matter of running errands between classes, and while I had never found reason to complain about collecting and delivering molted feathers from the owlery, or even the thestral hairs naturally shed while grooming the large, misunderstood equine beasties, today was a task I didn't particularly like/
"They'll want these down in the dungeon."
/corking the last of the putrid smelling vials of flesh-eating slug saliva and tugging off the thick hide gloves I had worn while handling the slugs along with Hagrid, I had made sure to store the vials carefully in a leather box, each vial held upright to keep the saliva from reaching and eating through the stoppers/
I'll go take them down now.
"Take the rest of the day, Kimi."
/nodding once as I secured the loop that held the small box of vials closed, I took it in hand and left Hagrid's hut behind, very nearly bumping into the trio of Gryffindors headed inside as I left; after a pleasant greeting, I departed for the castle, and made my way down to the dungeon; the dark, enclosed space, and the slightly damp and mildewed smell was never very pleasant to me, and yet a smell much more akin to rot awaits me as I head by toward Snape's closet, the box meant to be slid just inside the door through a small door like a deposit, safe from student hands without anyone potentially disturbing the otherwise meticulous organization the potions professor maintained himself; lifting my head a second too late as I try to ignore the smell burning the inside of my nostrils, I find myself bumping into Quirrel, the box almost lost from my hands, the thread holding it secured snapping under the pressure of my fumbling and one of the vials smashing upon the stone floor to stink and sizzle/
Oh no no no no--
/dropping onto my knees, I hesitantly withdraw my wand from my robes only to see the pieces brought up from the floor before I have a chance to clean it myself; lifting my head I look to you even after you head back into the classroom/
I-- hardly need to disturb him for this.
/murmuring quietly to myself, I gesture with my wand, conjuring water first from the tip to dilute the corrosive saliva, and after using the aguamenti charm, and then repairing the small pits eaten into the stone; the box, and the vials that remain intact within, are deposited where they need to be before I step just inside the classroom after you, gathering my robe about myself/
Professor Lee, did you need any help?

@k. minji /today brings a class of last years early in the morning, half of them still asleep by the looks of things but paying just enough attention not to get in trouble, though the professor, quirrell never seems like a man who would stand up for a fight or anything in general
/something about the man in general doesn't sit right with me, making me keep a closer eye on him though nothing is out of the ordinary, a voice in my head telling me its because its not a certain wizard's class
/when he's finished bumbling about and, in my opinion, proving he's the worst choice for a professor teaching defense against the dark arts, i help tidy up, insisting he goes on to do whatever else he needs to as its just easier working without him around
/the dungeons are fairly quiet too, a cauldron off to one side of the room bubbling softly away for one of the other class's experiments, the feeling of being in a classroom perhaps suffocating to some but since i spent my seven years here as a slytherin and in the dungeons, i find comfort in it
/placing the last of the books on one of the shelves, i pause when hearing a scuffling noise from beyond the classroom door, left half open from quirrell's exit earlier
/narrowing my eyes for a moment i draw my wand, on guard as is natural for an auror and a man in my general position
/the sound of glass shattering has me swinging the door back, rushing out into the hallway and finding a pungent but familiar smell filling my nose
/winces a the smell, knowing it was one of the deliveries needed for one of the lessons today now splurged over the cold, stone floor
/and last but not least i find you to be the reason, lowering my wand and pinching the bridge of my nose again, my wand lifting to collect the glass, not wanting you to cut yourself in cleaning up and causing more of a mess
i don't have time for this
call filch to clean up the rest, miss kim
/dealing with disposing the glass i disappear back into the classroom, not in the right head space or mood for that matter to ask you if you're alright