A job interview
Date: 31 August [BADLY BACKDATED]
Time: 2 PM
Location: Hogwarts - Headmistress's office
Characters Involved: Professor McGonagall, Maria Dulac
Rating: PG, tops
Maria had given up all hope for a teaching post. She must have been mad to think a hastily written C.V. for a position she had not considered-- a position the formidable Headmistress herself had taught-- was anything but grasping at straws, and she had certainly grasped at a lot of straws. An Exceeds Expectations N.E.W.T. as evidence of great achievement in the field? Sheer desperation talking. She had come to her senses the day after, and resumed combing the Prophet for opportunities.
Hope was renewed, however, two days before term, when the Headmistress wrote her offering an interview. It could of course be a mere courtesy, interviewing all and sundry who knew of the opening, but it was a chance.
Desperation spoke again, and Maria wasted most of the morning working to make herself presentable. Would dress robes be overkill? Were plain good enough? Did this colour make her look peaky, and had she lost weight since the last time she wore this dress? When at last all these questions were settled with a sober black robe, and an ivory silk scarf to further cover her shoulders, it was well past noon. She was too nervous to eat lunch, but that only gave her time to fiddle with her hair, and ultimately leave it down.
She hadn't fussed this much for her wedding, for Merlin's sake!
At last resigned to her appearance, she apparated to the gate of Hogwarts, a fair half hour early. It had been some time since she had wandered these halls, and it would not do to be late simply because a stair had misled her. Luck was with her, however, and she found the right corridor with a quarter of an hour to spare. Not wanting to arrive too desperately early, she paced that corridor trying to compose herself.
Time: 2 PM
Location: Hogwarts - Headmistress's office
Characters Involved: Professor McGonagall, Maria Dulac
Rating: PG, tops
Maria had given up all hope for a teaching post. She must have been mad to think a hastily written C.V. for a position she had not considered-- a position the formidable Headmistress herself had taught-- was anything but grasping at straws, and she had certainly grasped at a lot of straws. An Exceeds Expectations N.E.W.T. as evidence of great achievement in the field? Sheer desperation talking. She had come to her senses the day after, and resumed combing the Prophet for opportunities.
Hope was renewed, however, two days before term, when the Headmistress wrote her offering an interview. It could of course be a mere courtesy, interviewing all and sundry who knew of the opening, but it was a chance.
Desperation spoke again, and Maria wasted most of the morning working to make herself presentable. Would dress robes be overkill? Were plain good enough? Did this colour make her look peaky, and had she lost weight since the last time she wore this dress? When at last all these questions were settled with a sober black robe, and an ivory silk scarf to further cover her shoulders, it was well past noon. She was too nervous to eat lunch, but that only gave her time to fiddle with her hair, and ultimately leave it down.
She hadn't fussed this much for her wedding, for Merlin's sake!
At last resigned to her appearance, she apparated to the gate of Hogwarts, a fair half hour early. It had been some time since she had wandered these halls, and it would not do to be late simply because a stair had misled her. Luck was with her, however, and she found the right corridor with a quarter of an hour to spare. Not wanting to arrive too desperately early, she paced that corridor trying to compose herself.