A Mentor
Lirum sat in potions while listening to Professor Snape's lecture intently. If not for the fact they had his class so early, Penelope would certainly have continued her rant until lunch. At least then Lirum wouldn’t have had to climb up and down flights of stairs all day. On the bright side though, “a divination tutor will be assigned” to Lirum, since that is what started this mess to begin with.
“Mx. Ollivander, what ingredients are required for a Girding Potion?” Professor Snape inquired.
“Dragonfly thorax, flying seahorses, doxy eggs and fairy wings sir.” Lirum replied without even a pause to think of the answer, as the professor continued his walk to the front of the classroom. They couldn’t help but think of every interaction they have had with the stern teacher.
Professor Snape was one of the few teachers who used the prefix Mx. Instead of Ms. or Mr. when referring to Lirum, oddly enough. The only three who did so were Sprout and Trelawney. Their androgynous nature coming from their abilities as a Metamorphmagus, most teachers simply used their own prefix and pronouns, or assigned what they thought fit Lirum better. They had questioned if maybe his use of the word was to prove that he knew the third option as some sort of superiority complex. Or maybe he simply had a higher standard for himself. If so, he certainly chose an off place to draw his line in the sand given his treatment of the students in his classes. As he reached the front of the class he turned back and looked at his students.
“Precisely. I would Expect nothing less. Could you describe it?” He was testing them. They had always done well in his class. Potions was an easy class to grasp. From exact proportions and methods of preparation, everything had a reason. In an odd way, they actually enjoyed listening to the lectures. Unlike other professors, Snape did not teach the book verbatim.
Instead, dropping little pieces of insight on how to properly prepare ingredients and how they change when improperly processed. Information that comes with experience, not from a book. Lirum truthfully found him overly aggressive and condescending. But the information coming from him was invaluable. They figured out quickly in first year and made note to always pay close attention to what he said.
“A Girding Potion is a potion of moderate difficulty, used to prolong endurance. Typically green or red in color with a foul odor.” Lirum straightened in their chair, Having recited everything they could remember about the potion.
“Very well, it seems you may have been paying attention after all Mx. Ollivander. Make sure to keep it that way if you intend to pass this class.” Snape said, before continuing his lecture.
The rest of their classes continued on until it was time for them to meet their new divination tutor. Lirum knew the tutor had been hand picked by the Ravenclaw prefect herself, and had no doubt they would know the course in and out. But they couldn’t help but wonder who other than herself would she pick. Penelope Clearwater had always seemed the proud sort, and Lirum couldn’t imagine her recommending anyone else for the role of tutoring a Ravenclaw. They made their way to the library alone trying to think who they could be meeting, knowing they would be early but out of a mixture of fear of being late, and curiosity, they made their way along.
After arriving and finding a table to study at, they gathered their textbook and class notes from the last few days. Lirum sat waiting and snuck glances at the door often as they attempted to start their divination assignment. They weren’t quite sure when he appeared but across the table stood the tall redhead in Gryffindor robes. His prefect pin polished like it was his most prized possession. This made sense of course, the only person Penelope would trust to tutor her underclassmen would be her boyfriend.
“Percival Weasley but you may call me Percy.” He stuck out a hand to Lirum.
“Lirum but I think we already met the other night-“ they straightened themself out to shake his hand but got cut off before they could finish.
“Yes, when I caught you sneaking ‘to the library’ with my brothers.” They couldn’t meet his eyes, knowing he would never believe they genuinely weren’t sneaking out to get the twins in trouble. This is going to be painful.
“I’m truly sorry about that…I don’t have a good excuse, but I can promise you I wasn’t out there trying to get them in trouble-“ Percy looked angry already when he cut Lirum off.
“I don’t care. I’m here as a favor to Penny, and complete my duty to stop you from ruining your own future. I’ve talked to your professors. They all agree you’re a bright student, and it seems every time you get a bad mark or lose house points it has something to do with my idiotic brothers. From this day forward, I personally will be preventing this.” Percy spoke very matter of fact.
That made sense, a favor for his girlfriend. He was probably one of the only people in their year that could rival her academically. His scores must have been higher than hers in divination. Lirum began to question if his “Duty to stop them from ruining their life” was as a prefect trying to guide younger students, or because he feels some responsibility as the twins' brother.
“Now, your textbook this year is ‘Unfogging the Future’ by Cassandra Vablastky, luckily for you this is the same book we used in the past years.” He sat across from Lirum, pulling out a well worn book, black with a moon and clouds. Though it looked far to warn for a subject he seemed to care about; they thought, before the realization hit them. The Weasleys are a large family; this is mostly another hand me down. “Now, where are you currently in the course material?” Percy said, glancing at Lirum’s book to get an idea of where to start.
“We’re currently covering Tessomancy. I believe I understand it in theory, but in practice it makes no sense.” Lirum voiced the frustration they’ve been to scared to.
“Ok then, give me your parchment to look over. I see you’ve already started your assignment. This will give me a better understanding of your current level more than anything.” Percy spoke almost roboticly.
Lirum handed over their parchment and waited patiently. They had to remind themselves he was here to help. This is not a test. He is here because you need it. Penny and Percy both know you need help. That’s why we’re here so we don’t fail.
“If your attempting to jinx me, or charm the paper to make a correction you need to make eye contact. That should be known even to first years.” Lirum froze; they had been caught mumbling to themselves and even worse the thought they were trying to jinx him.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying either, I swear. I’m just trying to calm myself. Reassure myself, I get anxious about receiving bad marks.” Lirum admitted.
“That’s absurd. I’m not a professor, I was asked to help you.” Percy spoke letting his annoyance deep into his voice.
“I’m so-“ Lirum started but was cut off before they could finish.
“Stop apologizing, I can't focus on helping you if you’re going to constantly interrupt me with this nonsense mumbling and apologizing over nothing!” he spoke with his head in his hands clearly exasperated.
“Well maybe I wouldn’t be so nervous if you didn’t speak so harshly” Lirum snapped.
“Fine. Just talk to me like you would the twin-“ he started.
“I am not friends with them. We’ve rarely ever talked other than about assignments, or me attempting to stop them from doing anything stupid. Not to mention you’re a prefect, your job here is to judge us and hold us to your standards of what we should be.” It was Lirum’s turn to interrupt him running a hand though their minty curls and speaking freely.
“Our job isn’t to judge, it's to guide you, like I’m doing right now actively-“ Percy defended.
“This? You call this guiding? Not judging? Look at the way you're acting with your nose so stuck up it’s in the clouds. You’ve been looking down on me since the second we met, as we speak, even now. You're so occupied with your predisposition of what I am, how I should act, who I’m friends with, and what I should know; that’s almost all you’ve said to me. You’ve made it well and clear that I have failed every expectation. All I can do is apologize for it, but even that’s not good enough for you now.” They argued, feeling the same need to just meet expectations of what they are supposed to. Knowing they never would. They took in a breath trying to regain their composure once more.
Percy appeared taken aback “I see…I will attempt to be more careful with my words and reservations. For now, ignore that I’m a prefect.” He reached for the pin on his red and black robes and took it off, stowing it away in his pocket. “I’m here to help sincerely and by the looks of things here you were right. You said in theory you understand and you were correct; you understand the mechanics of Tessomancy, but your interpretations of the divination are what needs work.” Something in the way he looked at Lirum in that moment was wrong. Like he saw something that made him change his tone. Maybe they had been to harsh. They needed to remember he’s here to help, they needed to calm down and explain where they were running into problems.
“It’s like we’re supposed to just get it, when I say what the leaves mean I’m wrong…I’m answering exactly what the book says. How can it possibly be wrong?” Lirum spoke honestly about what they were struggling with.
“Well by the looks of it you’re not actually interpreting the results. It appears you’re just trying to give an answer. Like you're just reciting the book back onto the paper.” The ginger explained, like it was plain to see.
“Of course I’m trying to give an answer, it's an assignment for a class. They ask questions and you read the book, answer them correctly, and move on.” Lirum retorted.
“Oh Merlin, if you do that your just repeating information. You’re not actually comprehending anything. You need to understand the material enough to reform it into your own words. Enough to interpret it correctly outside of its original context then, you actually understand it. Yet you call yourself a Ravenclaw-.” Percy ranted as he leaned against the back of his chair.
“You’re doing it again” the Ravenclaw spoke unenthused, trying to hide how annoyed they were when they stood from the table. “Every time you find something someone does that doesn’t fit your perfect definition of how things are meant to be done, you go right back to looking down on them. I understand you’re supposed to be trying to help me, but if you think going about it through snarky comments about what i should and shouldn’t know or how I’m expected to understand things. I might as well have stayed in the tower and been talked down to by every upperclassman in Ravenclaw questioning if I really belong in this house.”
When they grabbed their book and parchment from the table, a woody brown curl fell into their view. It was the final straw to make their blood boil. The reason he changed his tone had nothing to do with the words they spoke. He wasn’t listening to them, he just saw the change. A reminder even if they try to hide it, their body will betray them. And out of all the people who could have figured out what it meant, it had to be the twins. Convinced they know Lirum better than even themself, they would tell their brother. Now they would be stuck with the Weasley twins stuck up, twit of a prefect older brother. Who not only knows who they're supposed to be, or act or know, but now thinks he even knows Lirum better than they do. Lirum stormed out of the library not willing to listen to another word from the pompous ass that sat across the table confused.