Wendy took a deep breath as she stared at the Hogsmeade notice board, clutching her notice to her chest. She missed Hogwarts. Of course the summer had been wonderful, and of course she loved the kids, and of course it was great to have time to work on her book. But, Wendy was a Ravenclaw. Sure, most of her affinity for her house came from her creativity, but she still valued learning immensely. And that part of her was starving. She’d managed to keep it up with reading a few books, yes, but her dilemma had caused something to occur to her: she was good at school. Not that she hadn’t known that before - that wasn’t the important part of the realization. The important part was that she could help students who needed it.
But she was nervous. She was beginning to feel like it was a key fixture of her being. Being in close contact with more people meant risking exposing her secret. Of course, part of her thought that might be a juvenile secret to keep - she was out of school, and really all she did now was work at the orphanage. Perhaps it was time to give it up. But then, maybe it wasn’t the best secret, but it was still hers. And a glorified maid at an orphanage wasn’t how she wanted to be seen.
Wendy braced herself, then posted her notice to the board:
Need help with your studies?
Tutoring available for most courses, will work with your schedule.
Really all that meant was that she’d help anyone who said they couldn’t afford a tutor for free. True, she wanted (and needed) to save up the money. But, while Wendy was practically minded, she wasn’t that way when it came to considering what others needed.
Wendy was reading over the bottom, where information about where to send an owl was, to be sure it was right (it was, she’d already read over it thrice before leaving the orphanage) when she heard the voice of someone she hadn’t noticed till then speak up.
It had been a quiet day on her shift, which Violet always appreciated. Gardner started to get itchy when things were calm for too long, which meant increased patrols, cracking down on petty comments people had given them and reopening any cold cases laying around to give himself something to do. Not so Violet. She appreciated the calm and the focus on paperwork that came with these quiet periods.
As she strolled down the street, keeping an eye out for any potential troublemakers, she caught sight of the girl putting up the posters. The mix of boredom and curiosity had her drifting over and reading the sign on the poster.
Not really thinking about what she was saying, she murmured, “Is it worth it to put up the sign in the middle of Hogsmeade? The students only get down once in awhile.”