ʰᵃᵍʳⁱᵈ'ˢ ʰᵘᵗ

@k. minji /casts my attention to the niffler again, eyeing the mammal for a moment before i look back at you, much more interested in your seeming reluctance to answer me now
oh-
/your answer almost floors me, bringing me back to a time in my life, teenage years and early twenties i wish to forget, knowing i never will try as i might
i see
/stiff and perhaps even a little cold now, i barely throw a glance at the way you feed the creature before i'm shaking my head and tilting my chin up
hogwarts, unfortunately, did not hold the best of memories for me in my last two years. i was absent for most of it in more ways than one
/trailing off it seems there's more to my words than what lays on the surface, refusing to look at you now as i add on quickly
my apologies for not remembering you. though i'm sure the school, and hagrid, are delighted to have you back
/an equally stiff smile graces my lips as i incline my head towards you for the briefest of moments, missing my longer hair from my younger years in that single space as i used to be able to hide behind the waves - unable to say the same about my very business, slicked back hair
i shan't keep you any longer than i have, miss kim. thank you for returning my belongings
/clearly not feeling those first name basis right now i've my heels in the next moment and am sweeping back up the hill i came down before, returning to the castle with a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth too

@l. soohyuk He responds to it well enough.
/what nearly sounds like a trill escapes the niffler seated on my shoulder while he very nearly braids the ends of my hair together in his grasp, though it's clear it's not the first time he's played with it as I otherwise ignore the minor tugs at my hair so long as he doesn't manage to make my head tilt; but even as you ask me to explain myself my own memory is clear enough that I would sooner continue to blunder on than really explain myself, and then you ask for my name which puts me on guard just as quickly/
Oh-- Minji, Kim Minji. The Kim is common-- you should know that why am I explaining?
/drawing a hand to my face, I conceal lips, nose, and right eye behind my palm like a protective mask for but a moment before I manage to compose myself, my voice a little softer and the somewhat nervous bouncing of my head slowing to a nod for which Rogue is immensely grateful as he curls up beside my neck/
I, yeah, I was. You were a sixth year when I started.
It's not important, really. I just have a memory for faces, that's all.
/exhaling softly, I turn my gaze from you back toward the Bowtruckles, most of them having nabbed at the offering of food before retreating into their nests and out of sight; rather than say anything further, I reach into the pocket inside of my robe procuring one of the morning's pastries wrapped in paper to tear a small piece no larger than the tip of my thumbnail off to give as a peace offering to Rogue who's only now completely settled/
I suppose since it's only been a few years for me between leaving and returning I remember a little more clearly.

@k. minji rogue? suitable name for the little one. if i find something less valuable to me but just as shiny i'll be sure to send it your way rogue
/nods to the creature, speaking as if he might understand or even care about what i'm saying, my hand eclipsing your own naturally as i shake your hand
oh- we have?
/asks as i pull my hand back from your own, looking at you with a narrowed gaze as i'm trying to recall where we've met before, wondering if you mean the teacher conference but something tells me that's not quite right
yes of course. we're both staff so you can address me on a first name basis
/about to just ask you where we've met before i let you go blundering on with your words, though none of it gives me an answer i was hoping for
sorry to sound dense, but where have we met before?
or how might be better
/assuming we've met here at school i don't remember you in my year, and you look a little bit younger than me too, knowing if you were in the years below the chances of me remembering lower drastically
mnh...
i know his name, rogue, and i know a bowtruckle when i see one, but i don't have your name
you have a name, yes?
/raises an eyebrow at you, wondering if you're always this flustered, the word 'peer' floating around in my head though before i host the thick book at my hip up a bit higher
were you in one of the years below mine when i was here?
if so i'm afraid i can't remember. i can't remember even most of the people from my own house year. its been a long decade since i've really been back here

@l. soohyuk This one usually spends more time playing with my hair so I don't keep as close an eye on him as I clearly should-- yeowch--
/as if on cue, there's a particularly sharp sting at my scalp, silvery strands of hair held in either of Rogue's nimble paws and a little snuffle near my ear/
Rogue, please.
/I bow my head apologetically, the snitch within your care, and I have to swallow the lump in my throat when you extend a hand; it's strange how easy time seems to move backwards, and yet I force myself to slip a hand into yours, grasping a little more firmly than my petite figure might imply when I shake your hand and then draw my own hand back to hide within my robes/
We've met before.
But the pleasure is still mine.
/tilting my head up, a small smile flits across my pink lips, though it disappears when I laugh softly, a self-conscious quality in the melody when my hand causes the fabric of the dark, and rather plain robes to flap somewhat and only the tips of slender fingers appearing from within/
I do, I do.
You're very observant, Soohyuk.
Can I call you that?
/chirping perhaps a bit like a bird, it's likely the Bowtruckles sense my own nervousness when they shy back from you and I look toward the trees with a soft sigh/
I'm sorry-- it's been so long I feel like I've forgotten how to interact with my peers.
Not to imply that you're just one of my peers-- I'm going to stop talking now.

@k. minji /watching you with the creature i straighten up after a moment, relieved at least that my snitch could be retrieved fairly easily considering how badly this could have gone
its quite alright. nifflers can't seem to help themselves after all
/murmurs as a moment of amusement flashes across my features when the niffler tries grabbing the snitch again, holding out my palm for you to place it on
/when i have it back i give it a small tap with the end of my wand, the snitch springing to life and zipping up above your head before i reach out and snatch it back, another tap of the wand immobilising it
no harm done
/pockets the snitch, this time in a pocket on the inside of my robes, actually the pocket of my waistcoat, looking from the niffler to you finally
and yes. whilst i'm here i suppose i am a professor
/the term feels weird for me to say, holding out one one of my hands for you to shake, giving you a small smile as i do so
soohyuk. lee soohyuk and assistant professor in defense against the dark arts
/waiting for you to take my hand and shake it i retrieve it once the formality is over, trying to recall what subject i saw you linked to when there was a teacher conference some time ago
/unable to remember i'm reminded of how long its been since i was really back at hogwarts, the place not having changed much but myself finding comfort in that
you work with hagrid yes?
and care for the magical creatures, it seems
/motions vaguely to the bowtruckles you seemed to have been tending to before i interrupted, turning my attention to the green creatures, looking at their strange little limbs and how they seem to shy away from me, a stranger

@l. soohyuk /it wasn't unusual while doing my rounds to be accompanied by a niffler, affectionately named Rogue, whom I did not own so much as cohabitate more often than not, but it was while meeting some of the newest students then that Rogue had gotten out of sight/
Now where could he have gone...
/with a sigh, I opted against seeking him out, knowing that he would return for a promise of the pastry in my pocket when he was bored, or had found something suitably shiny for his own; the inglorious task of making note of the Bowtruckles nesting in a few of the trees on the grounds was mine, and without either of my charges in immediate vicinity I was more focused on that until the shuffle in my robes announced the return of the missing niffler/
You're just in time for the main attraction--
/yet even as I speak, Rogue grasping at the shiny strands of my hair to tug at it like a fussy toddler and then almost hiding within the short curtain, your voice catches me off guard; I turn, a little too fast for the small creature perched on my shoulder so that the subtle sting of pulled hair is enough to make me wince, nose scrunched up, as I tip my head up to look at a face rather than a chest/
Oh! I didn't know you were--
/a flash of recognition crosses my face just as I cut myself off/
I'm sorry for him.
/I quietly clear my throat before I glance away and reach to my shoulder, pulling Rogue into my arms with care much like an infant, but one in the midst of a tantrum with the pouch on his stomach held up; the tips of my fingers urging that secretive pouch open to grasp at the snitch within the second it rolls within reach, surprised its wings hadn't engaged and hurt the little thing; Rogue protests my hold and attempts to scrabble back up onto my shoulder with a small paw and long snout stretching out for the snitch I attempt to hand over with feigned ignorance/
This is yours then-- professor, right?

@k. minji "professor lee? can i talk to you for a moment?"
/hearing a young voice i've come to recognise quite well with these situations of 'just one more question please', i nod to the bushy haired girl and motion for her to give me a moment
/picking up my book from my own table at the front of the class i hold it under my arm, wand in hand whilst i stride over to the doorway where the young witch waits
/unbeknownst to me, a niffler gone rogue has taken it upon themself to not only take a shine to my golden snitch that i showed for but a brief moment when rummaging in my robe's pocket, but the audacity to pinch it too
/amidst speaking to miss granger i find the flash of black and gold racing around the classroom corner and down the hallway, my hand immediately moving to my pocket where i find he familiar weight of the snitch has gone missing
i'm sorry miss granger but we're going to have to continue this another time
/nodding apologetically to the young witch i rush out the classroom, looking down the hall in time to see the niffler scuttling for the main doors
/black robes billowing over my suit, i find myself running after it, swerving around students and rushing right through nearly headless nick which has me throwing him an apology over my shoulder
/making my way outdoors i find the little thing, raising an eyebrow as i see it making a beeline for the fields hagrid's hut resides upon
/saving time i apparate down the knoll ridden hill, making the niffler jump in surprise when seeing me so suddenly, no doubt having thought it gotten away
/tilting my head i watch it hurry its way up someone's robes before reappearing perched on a shoulder, half trying to hide behind short locks of hair
/turning my sharp gaze to the face those shoulders and apparently the niffler belongs to, i find you, and i also find myself looking down at you a fair amount
/recognising you as one of the other teachers, but nothing beyond that, i part my lips for a moment, only to lift my hand and then point at the animal on your shoulder
might you persuade that little one to return my golden snitch to me? its rather valuable and i'd like to keep it, if you don't mind