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[darkart]

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SEVERUS SNAPE

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[darkart]

Uh.

[ It's hard to tell if, for a second, he swallowed a laugh, or if he's still utterly confused. ] It's sort of ringing a bell but I don't believe we have them in England at all. Perhaps there are some at one of the American academies...

[ .. trails off. STILL CONFUSED. ]

[pushfall]

[ While she's very intrigued at the idea of an American Magic School and what kind of sports get played at wizard... school, she has to clear up one thing first. ]

Are you laughing at me?

[darkart]

No. I'm a teacher. I don't believe in fun.

[pushfall]

I don't think those two things are mutually exclusive.

[darkart]

It's true. My only joys in life are detentions and newspapers.

So, you were a cheerleader.

[ Prompting her to continue. You know. Now that he's done his stealth trolling. ]

[pushfall]

Mmhmm.

[ She's onto you, Mr. Teacher. ]

It's not something that I'm proud of, but yes. I was a cheerleader. Pompoms and bake sales were kind of my thing, and I had a very impressive back tuck. [ Claire is aware that means nothing to him and continues on without explanation anyway. ] It lost its luster pretty fast.

[ Until she needed to use it in the biggest backfiring lie in history. ]

[darkart]

[ He can figure those out on his own, fortunately. ]

Most team efforts do, I've noticed.

[pushfall]

[ "Fortunately." ]

Honestly it always seemed like more of a popularity contest than it did a team effort. It was cool for a while and then... [ And then everything. Her voice is less filled with humor than it had been. ] And then it wasn't.

[darkart]

[ Team effort jabs are mostly jokes for himself, about something less whimsical than cheerleading. ]

And you were happier without it?

[pushfall]

Yeah. Yeah, I was a lot happier.

[ It isn't a lie. It's just that so much happened as a result of those experiences and just after those experiences that she can't actually remember the last time anyone ever really asked her that question. ]

I mean, who isn't happier after all the crap in high school is in the past, right?

[darkart]

Sirius Black.

[ Is said with deadpan humor. Then-- ] I understand what you mean.

[pushfall]

[ Claire doesn't say anything for a long moment, though she's doing something in the background that makes up for it and might explain her momentary distraction. She's back quickly without missing a beat, though. ]

So school sucked for you?

[darkart]

I liked school fine. It was a matter of company.

[ Why is he telling her this? Is her admission that unusual? Augh. ]

[pushfall]

That makes sense. Someone said to me once that life gets a lot better after school. [ For as much as she respects Peter, Claire has still been unable to determine the validity of that statement. ] Hopefully it did for you. You know, minus getting sucked up into a giant spaceship.

[darkart]

The spaceship has been relatively uneventful.

[ .. Welp. ] I'm not sure about better or worse. But it was at least a change.

[pushfall]

Except for the part where we wandered around for the better part of an hour in changing hallways.

[ The more she thinks about that, the less crazy it sounds, probably for the both of them. ]

Did you go to wizard college? Sorry, I'm sure that's not the right word for it.

[darkart]

[ He did say relatively. ]

It would be the correct word if we had any. Our population is too small to demand it, or.. that is the going opinion. [ His tone suggests he disagrees. ] It is normal for a student to train as an apprentice in their chosen craft after they finish with school, before they go on to other things.

[pushfall]

Is that what you did?

[ Maybe this is a little bit of a directionless eighteen-year-old talking, someone who's stuck in a world of expensive textbooks and finals and serial killers dropping in from time to time. His current vocational track might not have been what he always intended to do, and she still knows very little about him - shocking - but at least he's got some conviction in his voice. ]

[darkart]

No.

[ Well. ]

[pushfall]

What'd you do in the time between graduating and teaching? Travel?

[darkart]

[ He killed people, played war strategist to a genocidal dictator, and learned enough dark and forbidden magic to land anyone else a death sentence. ]

I pursued my own projects. I didn't really want to go into teaching, but academic fields are limited in our society. It worked out; that they needed someone and I didn't need any further training.

[pushfall]

[ Right. Travel. ]

That sounds better than college, honestly.

[ Cheerleader Bennet if only you knew. ]

[darkart]

I always thought it would have been nice to attend one. There aren't enough suitably talented people in our society to populate a faculty much less a student body, though.

[pushfall]

Some colleges are pretty small. Maybe not as small as you're suggesting, but... I don't know. Maybe the ratios could work out or something. [ Something opens, a cap spins on a hard surface, and then there's a sound of something being scooped. ] Anyway, the last thing you probably want to talk about is school.

[darkart]

Hm. [ Probably an agreement. Studying is something he's actually interested in, but he's well aware it's boring as shit to just about everyone else. Meanwhile: ] Are you in the kitchen, or are you organizing an on-board drug racket?