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Post by Bellatrix Black on Jun 29, 2008 13:34:49 GMT -5
After her fight with Claudia, Bellatrix was not feeling at the top of her game. But she had to meet with Professor Rothschild today, there was no getting around it. She quickly went home to change clothes and straighten her hair, then apparated to just outside the Hogwarts gates where she then trekked up to the castle and to the Professor's office. She knocked firmly on the closed door and waited.
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Post by Isabella Rothschild on Jun 29, 2008 21:36:45 GMT -5
Isabella was still assembling some papers when she heard the knock on the door. Now that she had chosen her assistant, she was having a hard time deciding what she was going to have Bellatrix do for her. Isabella had never really been one to delegate work to others; she felt that the only way to be sure something was done right was to do it herself. But Conor was demanding a lot of attention, probably as a result of being held by Lord Voldemort for so long. Part of her still wondered what Voldemort might have done to the baby while he'd held him all that time. But perhaps it was better if she didn't know.
"Come in!" Isabella called, her back still to the door.
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Post by Bellatrix Black on Jun 29, 2008 23:01:01 GMT -5
Bellatrix fluffed her hair and straightened her robes, then turned the knob and walked into the office. As far as professors' offices went, it was rather untidy. But then again, that was probably why she needed an assistant. She couldn't manage the simple things on her own. It was a wonder the Dark Lord hadn't killed the woman off while she was still faithful to him.
Bellatrix adopted a pleasant smile and greeted her new employer. "Good afternoon Professor. I hope you are doing well."
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Post by Isabella Rothschild on Jun 30, 2008 22:55:04 GMT -5
Isabella turned quickly to smile at the girl. "Hello, Bella," she greeted her. "I'll be right with you. I just have a few more things to gather up here. Have a seat, won't you? I apologize for the mess... I'm usually much more organized than this. But having a baby means that it's really hard to take the time to keep everything neat all the time. Hopefully, you'll be able to help with that." She turned back to the file cabinet and continued rustling through the papers inside.
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Post by Bellatrix Black on Jul 1, 2008 19:50:39 GMT -5
Bellatrix thought she had been running late, after her run-in with Claudia. But clearly time was of no concern of Rothschild's. She was even more behind than Bella. "Alright," she said sweetly, as if it didn't bother her that the woman was so unorganized. She sat in the empty chair in front of the professor's desk and folded her hands in her lap while she waited. She took this time to once again look about the office, memorizing everything that she could in case it could be useful to her master.
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Post by Isabella Rothschild on Jul 1, 2008 21:48:26 GMT -5
Finally she had the last of the papers she needed, and she closed the drawer behind her. "Sorry about that. It's just been really hectic lately," she said as she walked back to the desk and sat down. She set the paperwork down in front of her and folded her hands on top of them, looking at Bellatrix carefully. "Thanks again for coming. You should know that it really was between you and your sister, Andromeda, and it was one of the hardest decisions I've ever made. But I chose you in the end for one very important reason... you remind me a lot of myself when I was your age, Bella. I really think that working here will be as good for you as it will be for me. I think you'll learn a lot and gain some invaluable experiences. So I'm glad you were interested in the job."
She laughed slightly, then said, "OK, well enough of that... I have some required paperwork here that you need to fill out as part of the staff. When you're done with that, we'll go over some of your duties. How does that sound?"
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Post by Bellatrix Black on Jul 1, 2008 21:55:07 GMT -5
Bella ignored the woman's comments about them being similar. She knew that most certainly was not true. She wouldn't even respond to such outrageous assumptions. Instead, she focused on the paperwork she would be filling out. "I didn't bring a quill," Bellatrix replied. She hadn't thought about bringing much of anything, aside from herself and her wand. Even if she had been in the right state of mind, she doubted she would have thought to bring a quill and ink.
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Post by Isabella Rothschild on Jul 1, 2008 22:20:25 GMT -5
"Oh, that's OK," Isabella said. "You can use mine. She grabbed a quill from a corner of the desk. "I like to use self-inking quills. I hope that's OK with you," she said as she handed the quill to Bella.
Isa knew how it was to be that age and to think you already knew everything. Bella most likely didn't want to hear that she was just like Isa herself had been at that age. The truth was, Isabella had probably been more filled with anger and resentment than Bella could even imagine. She didn't like to think back on those days; she was a different person now. And she was so much happier for it. But of course, it was up to Bella to choose her own course. Isa hoped that her interest in the job was a step in the right direction for the girl.
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Post by Bellatrix Black on Jul 1, 2008 22:31:20 GMT -5
"Yes, that's fine," Bellatrix said with a pleasant smile as she took the quill and the papers. It was a much larger stack than she had anticipated, but Bellatrix was a quick writer so she knew it wouldn't take long. It started off with simple questions such as her name. Nothing to forge yet, that was good. It was all very basic thus far, and Bellatrix was grateful for it. She wasn't in the mood to be here, nor to be so cheery. Her face was already hurting from all the smiling she was forcing herself to do.
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Post by Isabella Rothschild on Jul 1, 2008 22:48:16 GMT -5
While Bella was working on the paperwork, Isabella began sorting through her lesson plans. She knew that, for the most part, she wanted to do as much of the teaching as possible... it was mostly the paperwork and the one-on-one work she needed Bella for. But she wanted the girl to be familiar with all of it, if possible.
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Post by Bellatrix Black on Jul 1, 2008 22:57:19 GMT -5
It didn't take but ten minutes before Bellatrix had completed the stack of papers and handed them back to Professor Rothschild. She laid the quill on the edge of the desk closest to her, in case she needed it again. In an eager tone she asked, "What's next?" She wanted to get on with it already, and cease all the formailties. She needed to meet the students so that she could report back to the Dark Lord. But she knew that would most likely be a while still, with the way this woman seemed to drag things out.
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Post by Isabella Rothschild on Jul 1, 2008 23:05:12 GMT -5
Isabella took the papers and set them aside. "Thanks. I'll take these to Dumbledore later," she said. "Now, I'll just give you a run-down of the things you'll be doing, and then we'll discuss the lesson plans. For the most part, I'll be teaching, unless I have an emergency. You can be an observer, and you'll help out the students with the spells after the initial demonstrations. You'll also be grading papers and tests, so I'll go over my criteria for those things as well."
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Post by Bellatrix Black on Jul 1, 2008 23:11:02 GMT -5
None of what Rothschild explained seemed all that tough. She had already been through the course herself, so assisting with spells wouldn't pose much of a problem. And grading papers and such seemed easy enough. She had taken the exams herself an knew somewhat of the caliber of answers the professor would accept. She nodded and prepared to listen to a long list of do's and don'ts on what would be acceptable. She resigned herself to the knowledge that she would actually have to pay attention to this part, no matter how long the woman rambled on. This could result in an early termination if she failed to uphold whatever was expected of her. And that certainly wouldn't please her lord.
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Post by Isabella Rothschild on Jul 5, 2008 1:41:32 GMT -5
"OK," Isabella said, taking out another paper. "Now, this is is a sample answer key for a test I gave last year and a sample test. You'll see this student received a C. The multiple choice section is self-explanatory, of course. Multiple choice questions are worth 2 points each, to equal 60% of the total grade, and essay questions are 10 points each, to equal 40%. The essay section here at the bottom, however, you'll see I have listed key phrases. A complete answer needs to have all of these phrases at some point. And of course, they have to be well-written and use good grammar. This one, as you'll see, has the key phrases, but the spelling and grammar are terrible. This is why he received a C. I generally take 5 points off for each answer that is poorly written. Since there were 4 essay questions, and they were all poorly written, he lost 20 points. He would have made a B if he'd had the multiple choice ones all right, but he missed 6 of those." She handed the papers over to Bella for her to examine. "That all sounds easy enough, right? I'll prepare the answer keys for the tests, and you can follow them for the grades."
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Post by Bellatrix Black on Jul 5, 2008 10:17:36 GMT -5
Bellatrix listened carefully and tried to understand what was being asked of her. It sounded simple enough, especially if Rothschild was to be giving her the answer key. And Bellatrix was very good with spelling and grammar. Her mother wouldn't have allowed anything less from one of her daughters. "Yes, very easy," she replied.
She took the examples and looked them over, though they had been very clearly explained and she didn't really need to examine them further. But in the interest of playing the part, she stared at the pages in turn and let her eyes wander over the chicken scratch that was Professor Rothschild's handwriting.
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Post by Isabella Rothschild on Jul 5, 2008 22:22:26 GMT -5
Isa waited while Bella looked at the sample test and answer key. So far, things seemed to be going very well. Bella was smart, and she had a feeling that the girl knew exactly what was expected of her. That made things easier. "OK, when you're done with that, we can go over the lesson plan," she said. "And that should be pretty much it for today."
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Post by Bellatrix Black on Jul 8, 2008 21:08:20 GMT -5
Bellatrix looked up after a suitable amount of fake examining of the test papers. She handed them back to the professor and said, "that sounds good." She was glad to hear this meeting was nearly finished, though she had to admit it didn't sound nearly as terrible as she had previously thought. But it's not as though she now wanted to devote her life to teaching. She knew once she started dealing with the snooty little bastards that she would be right back to loathing having to do all this work. She hoped her master would at least be pleased with her devotion to her mission. Her arguement with Claudia was getting to her, but she wouldn't let it show here.
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Post by Isabella Rothschild on Jul 8, 2008 21:53:28 GMT -5
Isabella nodded and took the sample tests back. "OK, now here's the lesson plan. As you can see, we're scheduled to discuss counter curses and curse breaking for the next couple of weeks, and then we'll have a test. When we have tests, you can take over the class for the day, just distribute the test and collect them at the end."
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Post by Bellatrix Black on Jul 8, 2008 21:57:31 GMT -5
So they were to be discussing bore and bore-bore. Goodie. Bellatrix had got outstanding marks in this area and was not in need of a refresher course. But she thought, at least she wouldn't be hard pressed when she had to help the students. She would proctor the tests and get a day alone without Professor Rothschild. And the students would be required to be silent. Bellatrix thought test days were to be her favorite days. "Sounds simple enough," replied Bella.
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Post by Isabella Rothschild on Jul 13, 2008 22:28:36 GMT -5
Isabella smiled. "OK, good," she said. "Class starts at 11:00 tomorrow morning, so I'll see you a little before that. We'll introduce you to the class and then you can sit in on the lesson. When we start the practice sessions, you can help me by walking around the room and checking the children's progress. Oh, and also, you'll have access to the staff room... the password is 'fawkes'. You'll also be able to give or dock house points."
She stood up and held out her hand to Bellatrix. "Thanks again for coming today. I'm looking forward to working with you."
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