Spilled Ink [Minerva/OPEN]

[Pamona Sprout]

The soft scraping of a quill on parchment was the only audible sound in the staff room. Pamona Sprout, Herbology professor, was behind a desk quietly correcting some of her students' work. Some of her whom were brilliant. However, several others always had that vacant expression on their faces no matter how simple the explanation.

The young woman was seriously considering offering follow-up classes for the less talented group, hoping that would reduce the number of fails in the end of year exams. A soft sigh escaped her lips and she lowered the now empty quill on the table. Mona could not help but eye her wand, which was resting beside the scrolls of parchment.

It was tempting to enchant a quill to finish her work, but that was not her style. Pamona liked making sure that the work of her students was thoroughly corrected. She even left little notes at the end of the task with tips on how to improve it. All of a sudden the door swung open and Mona jumped in her seat, simultaneously spilling her ink.

[Minerva McGonagall]

It had been a long and not a particularly successful day for Minerva McGonagall. She sighed, put her quill down and rubbed her temples. She had spent almost two hours locked in her classroom, correcting essays. It made her sad and annoyed her greatly that there were some sixteen-year-old magic students who still had problems with grammar and spelling. There were, of course, talented and hard-working students, who always did brilliantly. Unfortunately they were in the minority.

The dark-haired witch sighed again, casting a quick glance at the large pile of parchments, essays and letter she was supposed to correct or send to the Ministry. And there was that bloody letter from her brother she had received earlier that day. It wasn't supposed to vex her, after all it was just a wedding invitation, but somehow it did. What worried her the most, however, was the fact that she had no idea why.

Minerva suddenly jumped on her feet. She needed some air and a walk, even only to the staff room. There were days when Minerva wanted to change herself into a cat permanently. At least cats didn't do paperwork and didn't have schools to run. She was occupied by these thoughts as she ran down the corridor towards the staff room. Minerva entered the room, occupied by colleague and friend, but her entrance unfortunately made Pomona jump in her seat and spill a bottle of ink. The Transfiguration teacher quickly pulled her wand out and waved it to repair the damage. "I didn't mean to scare you, I apologise." she whispered with a small frown and lowered herself into the nearest chair.