W is for Will
Why the heck am I awake???
Again, completely unedited and may need fixes.
W is for Will
Will sat in a surprising comfortable chair in the Dean's office and tried not to freak out. When he'd gotten the letter asking for his presence, his dorm mates had all told him that it couldn't be anything bad. After all, Will had one of the highest grades in his class.
They'd been wrong. Will had barely sat down when the Dean told him that he was failing Human Interactions and Politics.
Will couldn't lose his scholarship. He'd have nothing if he lost his scholarship. In Will's mind, the scholarship is the only thing that had saved him from going insane. When he'd first arrived at the school so many years ago, he'd joked to his classmates that he was a real life Harry Potter. He'd stopped when he realized most of the people around him had no idea who Harry Potter was, but he still thought it in his mind. He'd grown up in the mundane world. A lost, lonely boy who had no one and nothing to his name. Then a stranger had shown up at the orphanage, sat Will down and explained that the reason all the weird stuff kept happening was because Will had magic. The Wizard Council was going to pay for his schooling.
Will had grasped onto this chance with both hands, especially the last couple of years when he was old enough that the mundane system would no longer help him out if something went wrong. Will was still thankful that the council believed in paying for his education even after reaching the age of majority but was fully aware that if he stopped going to school, the money stopped. If the money stopped, Will was out of a place to live and food to eat since his scholarship also paid for his dorm room and meal plan.
Of course, if Will's greatest fears did come to pass, Will would survive. He always would but just the thought of being out on his own again, with no one and nothing, scared the bejeebers out of Will.
Finally, finally, the Dean returned from where he'd gone to “look something up”. The Dean sat behind his huge, but surprisingly not intimidating desk. “Will, thank you for your patience.”
Before the Dean could continue as he obviously wanted to, there was a quick knock on the door and the door opened to reveal Will's Human Interactions and Politics professor.
“Professor Schnarp, thank you for coming so quickly.” The Dean said, “Please, have a seat.”
Professor Schnarp (which Will always translated to Snape in his mind) sat on the chair next to Will with the usual sneer in Will's direction.
“Professor Schnarp, Will, I appreciate both of you coming to see me. I've spent a bit of time talking to Will, his fellow students and other professor's Will has trying to get to the bottom of this.”
The Dean turned towards the professor, “Professor Schnarp, is it standard practice for you to not return your student's tests and not tell them their marks?”
Professor Schnarp nodded. “Yes. I believe it's good practice for when my students enter the workplace as often, one never finds out the result of their work until much later.”
“I see. So, it is unlikely that a student like Will would be aware that he is failing your class until it's too late to fix things?”
“Not completely. As I've explained to William, and all my students, anyone who doesn't use their full and proper name on their tests and assignments earns a zero.”
The Dean glanced at Will before turning back to the professor, “I'm not sure I follow.”
“In my class, nicknames and diminutives are not used. I use, and expect my students to use, their full and proper names at all times.” Professor Schnarp sent another sneer in Will's direction. “William refuses to comply and so he should be aware of his failing grade. Obviously he doesn't care about his education and the council is wasting their time and money on him.”
The Dean looked quizzically at Will. “Professor, if you insist on using proper names, why do you call Will, William?”
“That is his name.” The professor snarled.
“No, it's not.” Will interrupted, “I tried to explain at the beginning of the term that school had made a mistake on the class lists. I took my birth certificate in to the student relations office and got it fixed there but Professor Schnarp refuses to believe me. I finally started answering to William, no matter how much I hate that name, in class because I got tired of arguing.”
“I see.” The Dean said quietly. “Professor Schnarp, you and I will discuss this issue further another time. For now, thank you for coming. If you will excuse us, I need to speak with Will for a little bit longer.”
The professor nodded. He sneered at Will yet again as he got up and left the office.
The Dean sighed. “I apologize Will. All of your tests and assignments will be re-evaluated and the proper grades will be recorded. If for any reason you are still in danger of failing, which I highly doubt after looking at your grades in your other courses and speaking with your other professors, I will let you know and we will work out some extra credit assignments for you to do to make up the marks.”
Will gathered his wits enough to nod at the Dean and offer thanks.
The Dean smiled at Will's thanks. “If you need anything else Will, please come and speak with me. That includes if you ever come across a situation like this again, though I hope you don't. I understand why you didn't approach anyone about it earlier. You're not one to cause trouble, as I'm sure complaining about a professor calling you by the wrong name would seem to you. I understand your desire to get through things without raising a fuss, I was much like that in my younger years. I think it comes from growing up in the system. Of course, unlike you, I grew up in an orphanage for magical kids, but I'm sure the situation was probably very familiar.”
Will blinked. His automatic reply of not wanting to be a bother died on his lips.
“Now, I'll let you go Will. I believe you have a shift at the Familiar shelter that starts very soon. It's a good thing that you are volunteering there. It's good for the kittens to see someone with a similar background be so successful.”
“Thank you Dean. For everything.” Will managed to stutter out as he rose and shook the Dean's hand.
Will was still flustered as he was ushered out of the Dean's office and sent on his way. His mind didn't clear until he was at the shelter and being greeted by cries of his name from kittens who wanted to play.
Will took a deep breath to clear his mind, promising himself he'd think through it all later. For now he had a bunch of young, rambunctious kittens whose keepers would probably appreciate him playing with to wear them out.
Again, completely unedited and may need fixes.
W is for Will
Will sat in a surprising comfortable chair in the Dean's office and tried not to freak out. When he'd gotten the letter asking for his presence, his dorm mates had all told him that it couldn't be anything bad. After all, Will had one of the highest grades in his class.
They'd been wrong. Will had barely sat down when the Dean told him that he was failing Human Interactions and Politics.
Will couldn't lose his scholarship. He'd have nothing if he lost his scholarship. In Will's mind, the scholarship is the only thing that had saved him from going insane. When he'd first arrived at the school so many years ago, he'd joked to his classmates that he was a real life Harry Potter. He'd stopped when he realized most of the people around him had no idea who Harry Potter was, but he still thought it in his mind. He'd grown up in the mundane world. A lost, lonely boy who had no one and nothing to his name. Then a stranger had shown up at the orphanage, sat Will down and explained that the reason all the weird stuff kept happening was because Will had magic. The Wizard Council was going to pay for his schooling.
Will had grasped onto this chance with both hands, especially the last couple of years when he was old enough that the mundane system would no longer help him out if something went wrong. Will was still thankful that the council believed in paying for his education even after reaching the age of majority but was fully aware that if he stopped going to school, the money stopped. If the money stopped, Will was out of a place to live and food to eat since his scholarship also paid for his dorm room and meal plan.
Of course, if Will's greatest fears did come to pass, Will would survive. He always would but just the thought of being out on his own again, with no one and nothing, scared the bejeebers out of Will.
Finally, finally, the Dean returned from where he'd gone to “look something up”. The Dean sat behind his huge, but surprisingly not intimidating desk. “Will, thank you for your patience.”
Before the Dean could continue as he obviously wanted to, there was a quick knock on the door and the door opened to reveal Will's Human Interactions and Politics professor.
“Professor Schnarp, thank you for coming so quickly.” The Dean said, “Please, have a seat.”
Professor Schnarp (which Will always translated to Snape in his mind) sat on the chair next to Will with the usual sneer in Will's direction.
“Professor Schnarp, Will, I appreciate both of you coming to see me. I've spent a bit of time talking to Will, his fellow students and other professor's Will has trying to get to the bottom of this.”
The Dean turned towards the professor, “Professor Schnarp, is it standard practice for you to not return your student's tests and not tell them their marks?”
Professor Schnarp nodded. “Yes. I believe it's good practice for when my students enter the workplace as often, one never finds out the result of their work until much later.”
“I see. So, it is unlikely that a student like Will would be aware that he is failing your class until it's too late to fix things?”
“Not completely. As I've explained to William, and all my students, anyone who doesn't use their full and proper name on their tests and assignments earns a zero.”
The Dean glanced at Will before turning back to the professor, “I'm not sure I follow.”
“In my class, nicknames and diminutives are not used. I use, and expect my students to use, their full and proper names at all times.” Professor Schnarp sent another sneer in Will's direction. “William refuses to comply and so he should be aware of his failing grade. Obviously he doesn't care about his education and the council is wasting their time and money on him.”
The Dean looked quizzically at Will. “Professor, if you insist on using proper names, why do you call Will, William?”
“That is his name.” The professor snarled.
“No, it's not.” Will interrupted, “I tried to explain at the beginning of the term that school had made a mistake on the class lists. I took my birth certificate in to the student relations office and got it fixed there but Professor Schnarp refuses to believe me. I finally started answering to William, no matter how much I hate that name, in class because I got tired of arguing.”
“I see.” The Dean said quietly. “Professor Schnarp, you and I will discuss this issue further another time. For now, thank you for coming. If you will excuse us, I need to speak with Will for a little bit longer.”
The professor nodded. He sneered at Will yet again as he got up and left the office.
The Dean sighed. “I apologize Will. All of your tests and assignments will be re-evaluated and the proper grades will be recorded. If for any reason you are still in danger of failing, which I highly doubt after looking at your grades in your other courses and speaking with your other professors, I will let you know and we will work out some extra credit assignments for you to do to make up the marks.”
Will gathered his wits enough to nod at the Dean and offer thanks.
The Dean smiled at Will's thanks. “If you need anything else Will, please come and speak with me. That includes if you ever come across a situation like this again, though I hope you don't. I understand why you didn't approach anyone about it earlier. You're not one to cause trouble, as I'm sure complaining about a professor calling you by the wrong name would seem to you. I understand your desire to get through things without raising a fuss, I was much like that in my younger years. I think it comes from growing up in the system. Of course, unlike you, I grew up in an orphanage for magical kids, but I'm sure the situation was probably very familiar.”
Will blinked. His automatic reply of not wanting to be a bother died on his lips.
“Now, I'll let you go Will. I believe you have a shift at the Familiar shelter that starts very soon. It's a good thing that you are volunteering there. It's good for the kittens to see someone with a similar background be so successful.”
“Thank you Dean. For everything.” Will managed to stutter out as he rose and shook the Dean's hand.
Will was still flustered as he was ushered out of the Dean's office and sent on his way. His mind didn't clear until he was at the shelter and being greeted by cries of his name from kittens who wanted to play.
Will took a deep breath to clear his mind, promising himself he'd think through it all later. For now he had a bunch of young, rambunctious kittens whose keepers would probably appreciate him playing with to wear them out.