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[Alexander Sowerby]

Alexander had watched the corridor for over half an hour, but Professor Penvellyn had not yet returned from wherever she had been. Sure, he had not seen her come out of her office, but he had come across a few other fourth years who claimed that they had seen her in the upper floors walking around and patrolling. Glancing around to see whether anyone was watching him, he quickly darted to the Professor's Study. Taking out his wand and murmuring "Alohamora" on the door. The lock clicked, and like a cat he slipped through a very thin space that he dared to open. Closing the door behind him noiselessly, he once again pointed at the door and murmured "Colloportus" this time the lock clicked again and knowing that he was locked in here for a brief period of time to do his deed, gave him a great sense of both urgency and pride.

The professor's office was spacious, a beautiful oak desk stood in the centre of the room while the room was surrounded by ornate heavy book cases filled with tomes and volumes on transfiguration, charms, magical theory, defence against the dark arts and so on and so forth. If he wasn't here on a mission, he'd have gladly taken a long time looking through these books. Mind you, he thought to himself. That would never explain why he was here in the first place.

Dropping the bag he had on his shoulder to the floor, he took out a heavy sack which jingled merrily. A year's worth of allowance and his parents idea of a Christmas present. Money, they considered this to be a thoughtful gift. Sending him a sack of gold so that he could do whatever he pleased. He always felt a lump in his throat at the idea, however he shook his head sighing heavily he slowly placed the sack over the desktop. Before he placed the sack on the desktop, he looked over the letter which he had written to go along with the note. The letter was written in blockish letters so that when Professor Penvellyn had read it, she wouldn't be able to confirm it was his doing.

He quickly glanced at the letter ensuring that it had correct spelling, syntax and grammar or at least it was written well enough and that his hand writing did not shine through. He had chosen on a purple ink, since his usual choice of a green ink would likely be a dead giveaway.

Professor Penvellyn,
I must apologize for breaking into your office. It is with utmost regret that I had taken that rash decision. I wish you to know that I respect you as a Professor and that you need not to worry about your personal and private possessions.

I left in your possession a sack of gold to be used to your disposal for the benefit of the less fortunate children of Hogwarts. The abandoned, the orphaned, the impoverished. Those who have not known Christmas those who have yearned to be loved by someone. This is a small token, not worthy of praise or any real consideration. I know that you, as a once student of Hufflepuff and now it's Master will use this money in the best way possible.

Thank you and I apologize once again for the covert nature of the donation.
-Anonymous

He wasn't sure whether it was well written or not. He hadn't bothered to explain that this was a family tradition. Giving gold for Christmas to those who needed it more. Although he called it a family tradition, his sister had started it while she was still at Hogwarts. Although, in her case she had bought the gifts and treats herself and spent a good deal of time arranging them to be given to the needy children. All covertly of course. It wasn't that Alexander didn't have time nor didn't want to put an effort in, he knew that if anyone found out about this; although in his sister's case no one ever did or at least no one ever said anything. They would likely question his motive, even though it was noble and genuine. They would also likely cause Alexander to become a person everyone viewed as so vain that he could give away all this money, remain rich and think he was somehow noble for being charitable. The fact of the matter was he didn't care about the money he had just placed on the desktop. He knew that for whatever it could buy, it would not buy his parents love for him or his siblings. Similarly it wasn't noble at all, since he wasn't spending the whole wealth of his family. He could only spend his own, and he would remain in a well off group of individuals who could always support him. Something that these children, that Alexander had wanted rewarded did not have.

Alexander knew as well that it would seem big headed of him to be looked at as someone who thought he had a load of galleons he could shower the school children with treats and gifts, to show-off how much money his parents had. He didn't want that kind of attention, he didn't really want any attention. Feeling that everyone already thought of him as snobbish, arrogant, pompous and big headed was enough to spin his head; there was no need to add egotistical and show-off to that list. The fact of the matter was, that unlike his parents who gave money to St. Mungo's and other causes, they did it in the most public way possible so that everyone knew about how much gold they gave away and how much time they spent. Alexander felt it was best to give the money in the most quiet way possible because this way there would no phoniness about how it would be spent, there would be no chance for any newspaper to write glorifying articles about him and his generosity.

He gingerly placed the letter on the desktop and the bag on top, when suddenly with a terror spreading across the whole of his body he heard the unmistakable scratching of metal on metal, as a key was slid into the lock and turned a few times. Without having left his place, he watched as he saw the door knob turn. There was no time to flee, to dart off to a corner, to try and hide. There was no hiding space here other than under the desk and the Professor would find him there too. He stood transfixed as the door swung open.

Edited by Alexander Sowerby, 25 October 2011 - 11:56 AM.

[Professor Penvellyn]

Something strange must have come over Eleanor recently; she was becoming the most forgetful person she knew, and that included Mr. Bauldaugh. She had had to return to the tower to retrieve her list of students that would be serving detention that weekend. Perhaps her subconscious had left it up there on purpose. Be that true or not, she had just retrieved it and was making her way back to her office.

The corridors were mostly empty now that classes were done for the day. Students either buckled down for studying or ran outside into the invigorating freedom that even the recent snow storm couldn’t dampen. The Christmas holiday was only a short ways away, and it seemed that every little boy and girl was dying to go home; or, at the very least, to spend some time away from the school. Eleanor would be one of the few professors that stayed behind with the children that signed up to do the same. Not everyone had a family to go home to.

Automatically drawing near to the office, Eleanor pulled out her charmed key. Anyone that had grown up with only magic would have pulled out their wand, but Eleanor was a stickler for using a key on her door for two reasons. One, she didn’t mind the muggle way of things once in a while, and she liked the look of the large piece of metal with the curly end that fit snugly in her hand. Second, when she put it in the door, it would grow warm if a charm had been used on the lock since she last used the key. Oh yes, she was quite fond of the device.

The teeth slid in effortlessly, but when she gave it a twist, the metal in her hand rapidly changed temperature. On her guard, the old professor pulled her hand back, took her wand from her pocket, and used the left hand to push the door open. “Hello?” she asked firmly. Her wand was held aloft, but she wasn’t pointing forward as if to fire. Only once her eyes surveyed the scene and noticed that there hadn’t been any damage did she spy the small boy standing before her desk. Was he shaking?

“Mr. Sowerby, when a door is locked it is a good indicator that one is not meant to enter.” She told the boy kindly, pocketing her wand and looking around to make sure nothing was missing. “What did you mean by breaking into my office?” Though her wand was away, she could surely out maneuver the eleven year old. Hopefully he would confess without too much prompting.

[Alexander Sowerby]

“Hello?"

Alexander looked as Professor Penvellyn's figure came into view. He shook slightly from the nerves and the awkward position he stood in. Any wild theory, excuse, alibi of why he was here suddenly evaporated from his head, he couldn't think of anything and yet, the Hufflepuff Master did not seem at all angry. It was a surprise to Alexander. Was it only because he had startled her, surprised that there was a student in her office? He turned pale, as he thought of what his parents would say when the Professor would write them about what had happened.

What would his parents think when they heard? Well it would probably mean he would be passed over as the successor to the estate and the business. Which would be the best possible solution to the thing. He didn't want anything to do with the House they lived in, or anything to do with the business his parents spent more time at than him or his siblings. Alexander knew that he'd probably be allowed to finish this year off, with his parents cutting tuition as of next year. Who was he, he could hear his mother's shrieking voice to spend their 'hard' earned galleons on mudbloods, half-bloods and the no good lazy poor.

“Mr. Sowerby, when a door is locked it is a good indicator that one is not meant to enter.”

Alexander's face flushed, his eyes looked worried; caught like a defenceless animal in a corner. He gulped and stuttered slightly. "I-I'm sorry P-p-professor." Closing his eyes he calmed himself, he couldn't start stuttering now. He knew that he was as pale as a sheet. Annoyance seeped through him, he could always remain calm enough not to stutter; the problem had been something he had mastered. If Luka Chancery knew, if Emmanuelle knew, if anyone knew he had this problem, well; he wouldn't mind if the ground opened up and swallowed him or his parents did not allow him to return to Hogwarts. He was deeply ashamed of his nervous stutter, mostly because of the caning and the weeks of solitary confinement he received for doing so at a Party a long time ago in front of his parents guests. Not since he was younger had he stuttered uncontrollably. He took a deep breath and sighed.

“What did you mean by breaking into my office?”

He felt that the truth, no matter how terrible it would be when his parents would find out, would be better than them learning he was a potential thief. Although a thief they would probably tolerate more than a absent-minded do-gooder.

"I broke into your office Professor, to leave this." he nodded toward the brown suede bag which stood on the purple ink letter on the desk.

Alexander's eyes became watery as he knew that the calm in the storm was only temporary. He could plead, he could beg, he could grovel with all his might but he knew his life was over.  His parents would be notified, it would mean the end of his time at Hogwarts and a miserable existence as a pseudo-squib in the magical world. He hadn't expected this; he half-wished he had asked an elf to deliver this to Professor Penvellyn, but the House Elves served the school and would not be loyal to Alexander if he begged one of them to keep it a secret. The elf could obviously trace the contents of the bag back to him if asked. He waited for the sentence to come down. He blinked away the tears which welled up inside his eyes, trying to look down so that the Professor wouldn't see, he was braver than this and he knew that whatever came next he'd face it standing on his two feet.

[Professor Penvellyn]

Long ago Eleanor had learned the error in judging too quickly or lashing out harshly. That didn’t stop her quick-working mind from coming up with a possible explanation and ruling out any lies someone might try to tell her, but she was always careful to withhold too harsh a judgement until the time was right. Another key element in catching a wrong doer was not letting on as to how much trouble they were in, not right away. If they didn’t feel scared or threatened, Eleanor found they were much more likely to explain the truth than if they were back against a wall and figured their only way out was to spew excuses.

Alexander said he was sorry which, admittedly, wasn’t enough to get him out of any sort of trouble. At the very least, he didn’t seem very defiant. Perhaps he had a good reason for being in here after all. The boy motioned toward a bag and piece of parchment which hadn’t been on her desk when she left. The writing there wasn’t that of Mr. Sowerby and the purple was a ghastly contrast to his usual choice of house pride green, so the old woman had little doubt in her mind that he had gone through great effort, in addition to breaking into her office, to hide his identity. Seeing the money in the bag impressed her even further.

“Mr. Sowerby, was this money yours to give away?” It was a delicate situation with children wanting to give away gold. Very few did, but that were willing to, especially among pureblood families, tended to not think the decision all the way through. “Your parents are fully aware of your decision to help out the less fortunate?” Though she would hate for the children that Alexander wanted to aid to be without on Christmas, she had a responsibility to help him make wise decisions. There was also the feeling that she needed to cover herself and her job position. She didn’t want to be considered a professor that conned students out of their allowance.

[Alexander Sowerby]

“Mr. Sowerby, was this money yours to give away?" Professor Penvellyn spoke keeping calmness in her voice. Alexander was completely shocked, he had expected the teacher to blow up after finding him in her office.

Before he could answer her however the Hufflepuff Head spoke again. “Your parents are fully aware of your decision to help out the less fortunate?"

The boy smiled wryly, if his parents knew he would be flogged to an inch of his life. Not being certain as to whether or not the Head was about to reserve punishment until he last moment he decided to be fully honest.

"No, they wouldn't know about this. Seeing as they don't exactly approve of giving away gold or spending money on anything but personal favours! At least not without publicity showing how generous they are. So giving gold anonympusly to the less fortunate  wouldn't warm their hearts!" Alexander looked at the bag of gold and keeping calm spoke up, "They look down on everyone who is not pure of blood and is of the same social standing and wealth."

At least if she notified his parents, he'd be spending Christmas at home. Although he knew it would probably be the last time he'd see Hogwarts.

Edited by Alexander Sowerby, 04 December 2011 - 10:43 PM.

[Professor Penvellyn]

Alexander unfortunately admitted what Eleanor hoped against. She had two options at this point. On the one hand, she could turn him down by telling him that she couldn’t accept his generous donation without an adult’s permission. On the other, she could and hope that it never got back to his family. It was unlikely they would ever find out unless the boy let something slip or they kept very good notes on how he spent his money. It was a gamble though, for if they did find out, Eleanor would certainly be without a job.

To give herself a bit more time to think, she moved to her chair behind the desk and took a seat. She did not want to punish Alexander for his generosity, but he was only eleven, and this was certainly a large sum of money. She sincerely regretted coming back to her office quite so early. Had she only allowed him the anonymity, they would be without the dilemma. That was the answer!

“Dear boy, we are going to leave my office. I intend to go to the library for a short while and you are to take your money and return to your dormitory. If I return and there is a bag on my desk, I will be forced to assume that some other child was more successful at not getting caught than you, because I know you will not disobey me.” Hopefully the young Slytherin was quick enough to understand her plan.

Eleanor stood and handed the bag back to him and led the way to the door, holding it open for him. Once they were in the hall, she shut the door and moved down the corridor, “forgetting” to lock it. “Have a Happy Christmas, Mr. Sowerby,” she said, careful not to look over her shoulder and catch him if he had indeed decided to put the money back.

[Alexander Sowerby]

“Dear boy, we are going to leave my office. I intend to go to the library for a short while and you are to take your money and return to your dormitory. If I return and there is a bag on my desk, I will be forced to assume that some other child was more successful at not getting caught than you, because I know you will not disobey me.”

"Of course not Professor" Alexander grinned as she said this. He couldn't believe it, I mean he was always very careful around Professor Penvellyn for she was very strict, but it seemed that she had a good head on her shoulders.

The Hufflepuff Head gave hiim back the money bag, leading him to the door, opening it and letting him walk through. Once she passed the door herself, she shut it and walked briskly toward the library calling "Have a Happy Christmas, Mr. Sowerby,” the teacher said not looking over her shoulder.

"Happy Christmas to you too Professor" Alexander said loudly enough for her to hear as she headed down the corridor. Alexander grinned, not being able to believe his luck. He had gotten out of trouble without any consequences! How sweet life was.

He waited for a few minutes and with no one passing the corridor and Professor Penvellyn far away, like a cat he opened the door, placed the money bag on the table and within seconds was out of the office. No one saw him enter or leave. Whistling 'Good King Wancellas' Alexander turned and headed the other way toward the Slytherin dungeon.

Edited by Alexander Sowerby, 09 December 2011 - 07:44 PM.