ORDER ONLY: Private Message to Siz

[alt_alice]

Siz,

I'm so very glad we were able to sort out your visit to Moddey and Sherwood yesterday. I hope it wasn't too overwhelming for you -- there are quite a lot of faces and names floating around, I'm sure, and our little ones do tend to swarm when there's someone new. Divyesh was absolutely thrilled about the lecture you gave on locational magics and apparation -- he's always been quite strong at maths, but we don't have anyone who specializes in astronomy and when Cecelia stops by for her occasional guest lectures, she prefers to focus more on runes than arithmancy, so we've been sorely neglecting both those areas of study, I'm afraid. (Divyesh helps us with brewing our day-to-day potions, if you'll recall.) Tim, the young man who showed us the communications network in Sherwood, was also especially keen to hear your lecture, and I'm so pleased you got a chance to see Sarah Fawcett again too.

Regina thoroughly approves of you by the way --- she's the herbologist, and tends to appreciate people with a 'firm scientific mind', as she likes to say. And you certainly seemed to hit it off with Cecelia from what I could see. I hope you don't mind my popping off to chat with Davidson while you met with her.

Arista's been peppering me with questions all morning, by the way -- I think she was intrigued by your conversation, and more than a little chuffed that you wanted to talk to her especially. Even though she didn't remember you terribly well, I think it did her good to meet someone who was friends with her mother, so thank you for that. Hector didn't have much to say about it, but he's an unflappable serious sort of boy who takes a while to chew on things before having an opinion about them.

I know you've got quite a lot brewing in your cauldron before the term begins, so thank you for stopping by, I really do appreciate your taking the time.

Comments

[alt_sinistra]

Those choices, yes. And I think Lana being Tosha's apprentice will give him some additional controls there, as I said.

(I'd say I'd rather someone else, and I would, but I actually can't think of anyone who'd be much better, and a lot who would be vastly worse.)

The Galleon group is a complication, yes. And the unexpected, which we keep having. Over and over again. I do best when I think through things in advance, as I said, but I don't even know where to start with some of what might come up now. Not yet.

Which is a lot of what's keeping me up, really. And how to balance things. Staff. Students. The NEWT classes. Protections on the tower. All the little things, like how to be social at meals in a way that's useful and not too much for me to manage, which - well, it's going to be hard, considering.

At least Tosha won't forbid the elves from bringing food to my office, like Madam Pinkness - or do I say Madam Toad? - did.

[alt_alice]

Frank can talk over basic safety protocol with you if it would be useful -- I've found it helps to have something you can turn to quickly and know without needing to think too hard, even if you might have to modify as you go. How you can get out, how you can help someone else get out, what happens in case we need to pull everyone in a hurry, that sort of thing.

It does help that our Order members attending Hogwarts already have some experience in these matters, and have fairly good instincts.

And goodness, I can imagine it'll be a rather exhausting transition. You have my best wishes on that front, and it seems as though you have a good support network waiting for you at Hogwarts. (You must know that my Evie would do just about anything for you, all you need to do is ask.)

[alt_sinistra]

It might help to talk through, yes. Raz and I - we had plans. Lots of plans. In case. Because I don't think fast in the moment, not fast enough to matter, but if I've thought through, I'm so much better. I don't need all the specifics for each, just more to think about what I'm supposed to make happen, and some ways to do that.

I expect lots of time on the tower. It's soothing. But I've known for years, since I started teaching, that it's easy to be pinned up there if I'm not careful. The Carrows, then other fears.

So you know, I keep a broom up on the observing platform, could keep more, and there's things that show me who's on the tower. (A star chart, the magnitudes shift by constellation when people in the class I've set are there, and then I have other stars that change for each of my newts and the staff and anyone I particularly want to know about. Not my design, but very clever, and students can't really read what it means.)

And yes. It helps they've got practice. And - for other reasons, but it's handy - I gave Harry something of Raz's that'll show where I am in the castle.

As to the rest, well, I suppose, the only way forward is through. And you're right, there are people who'll help. Students and staff. I don't know how I'd have managed this summer without Poppy in particular.

[alt_alice]

We can certainly make sure that happens, then. His brain is rather built for that sort of thing, and he wouldn't mind in the least.