Eyes Of Emerald Green [Rosy + Anne]

There was something wonderful about working with her hands. Rosy loved the spell work of traditional wand charms, but physically making her charms and amulets made her feel so connected to them. She wondered if she should start offering classes on how to make your own. It might improve their effectiveness on their makers.

She paused in what she was doing to consider it. This summer she would have to do some intensive studies into the effect of the maker on a charm. Now all she needed was some volunteers...

Her desk, and a few of the surrounding ones, were covered with the scattered bits and pieces of different charm materials. She liked to use her office hours to perfect some of the details. Despite being open for students to come with their questions, she didn't usually have many visitors during those times.

This time in particular she was trying to work on fitting pieces of red coral into a delicate celtic knot wrought from silver. It should create an especially potent charm for luck in love, even more so once she worked in the final spells. She was concentrating so hard on it that she didn't notice anyone at the door, even though Murphy perked up from where she was batting at a spare rabbit's foot at the sound.

Rosy was sliding a small piece of coral into place when a sound broke her concentration. She jerked at the sound, the coral piece skittering on her desk. Her head whipped to the door where a girl stood, looking as if she was presenting herself for inspection. She blinked at her before realizing that she was probably a student in need of a charms professor.

She abruptly sat up straighter and waved her in. "Well, don't be shy. Come on in." Rosy attempted to clear off some of space on her desk. "Make yourself comfortable, lass." She leaned forward on her elbows and gave the girl a warm grin. "How can I help you?"

Rosy's mouth twitched in amusement at the girl's serious demeanor. Most of, no, scratch that, all of the teachers were probably less professional than her. It was cute in one way and unsettling in the another. "Mind the acorns, dear," she said nodding to the small pile of them near the girl's feet. Someday she would figure out how to make them into strong charms.

"That's very proactive of you," Rosy commented, a thoughtful spark in her eyes. She studied the girl a little bit closer. "Kirkland, you say?" She absentmindedly ran her finger over a protective charm bracelet on her wrist.

What ever she was looking for, expecting to see, she found. Something almost gentle in this girl's eyes, that sought approval instead of faults. Rosy's expression gentled. "The pleasure is all mine, Anne," her voice was soft and pleasant, "I'm Roisin Gallagher."

Rosy wondered if she knew. Would they have told the children about them, the black smudges on the shiny Kirkland reputation? Or were they considered too taboo a subject to even whisper about? Did she know about the young Kirkland woman who married the mad Irishman? Her eyes slid to the window. "Reputable indeed..." she murmured.

She shook her head slightly, red curls bobbing with the motion and returned a smile to Anne. "No need to be so formal, lass," she said affably. Murphy worked her way over and sniffed at the newcomer inquisitively. "Now," she sat back a bit getting comfortable in her chair, "I believe you had some questions for me?"

Rosy waved off the apology. "Think nothing of it. It happens to me all the time," she said lightly. Murphy seemed to be pleased with scent of this new person in her domain and jumped up onto Anne's lap, meowing in welcome and twitching her nub. Rosy smiled at that, no doubt in her mind that Murphy associated Anne's scent with her own. She chuckled warmly.

"I was just wondering what you wanted to ask me about," she said, fiddling with a shiny onyx charm. "And saying that it's alright for you to relax," her face morphed into a playful smirk, "I won't bite ya."

Definitely something sweet in this girl. Rosy smiled as Murphy began purring and nuzzling Anne's hand. The work load... Rosy knew she had a class schedule written up somewhere. "One minute," she said, and began digging through her desk drawers, setting aside various charm materials. Silvers and sapphires began to litter her desk alongside jade pieces, evil eyes, and horseshoes. Clovers and pennies were bundled on the floors. Complete and semi-finished charms of varying intricacy were set aside with care.

Then Rosy remembered that she had left it in her chambers. She cleared her throat and fought down a slightly embarrassed flush. "Well... most of your grade will be based on practicals. This is a charm heavy course, but we will cover both jinxes and hexes. You can expect a few papers, but it shouldn't be over anything a little research can't handle." She didn't mention anything about the physical talismans and charms, as they weren't a part of the actual curriculum.

To learn that kind of charm making took more of an apprenticeship sort set up instead of a full class setting.

Anne raised her eyebrow as the jewels littered the professor's desk. How peculiarly, she thought, reaching over to inspect one, forgetting her manners, as normally she'd ask, however, Gallagher seemed busy. In actually, this professor was terribly unorganized, something Anne felt was unfitting in a teacher, though she would never say such a thing. The jewel she picked up looked to be real and felt, well, magical.

She nodded to convey her understanding. The workload was what she expected, a normal class year it seemed. However, the jewels piqued her interest. What kind of practical charm included a real sapphire? None from what she could recall. She frowned a little, still toying with the gem in her hand. "May I inquire... What will we be using the jewels for?" Her eye caught again on the acorns. None of this was making sense. Gems, acorns, even clovers and little coins... How very odd.

It seemed her new professor was a pack rat.

Rosy couldn't help but feel a little proud. It seemed her relative ad a good eye for the right materials, even if she didn't know it. She felt an inclination to preen about it to her colleagues, but she couldn't do that without shaming the girl in all likelihood. Still it shone in her eyes.

"Those actually aren't for the regular class," she said, watching Anne give the sapphire an appraisal. "They are the materials for what we call 'Tangible Charms'." Her face lit up at the mention of her passion. "The keys to luck, love, prosperity, security, safety, and so much more all small enough to fit in the palm of your hand." She held up a delicate Cleopatra's wheel with reverence, studying each of its intricately decorated 24 spokes. "This is an art form. It takes much more intensive study and work than I can ask of my classes."

She set the charm down gently. "It's been passed through my family for generations..." she trailed off at the end, her eyes landed on the incomplete love charm she had been working on. She sighed quietly. "It's a dying art."

It was strange how charms were one of the only things that could make Roisin actually act like she actually had the wisdom born of experience that she had. "Don't mistake them for the whimsy of slack jawed folks with their heads in the clouds," she said, tone light and not at all like the chiding or patronizing tone that you might expect. "These charms are more real than you'd think."

She let herself swell a bit. "There's a reason my shop is sought out by wizards from around the world." She picked up the charm she had been originally working on. "This one was requested piece I was commissioned to make," she explained, "The buyer is paying 27,000 Galleons for it." She set it back down. The materials cost nowhere near that amount, but when combined correctly with the right spells, it was more than worth it.

She was a little struck when Anne asked about learning about it. But something about it seemed to feel right about it. She rested a finger against her chin as she considered it. Her intuition had always been one of her most reliable features. "There is no class for it, dear," she said, in a thoughtful voice, "Charm crafters take on apprentices. Never more than one or two at a time..." She considered Anne with her appraising eyes before her mouth tilted up in a grin, satisfied with what she saw.

"But I think you might be able to do it. You have the right eye for it." She nodded at the gem Anne had selected.

Anne prickled slightly, taking Roisin's words to be slightly chastising. She frowned a bit, feeling the need to defend her thoughts. "I never said anything about the charms not being real," she snapped, quick to lose her temper, even if she was with a professor. "I'm sure they're terribly effective."

However, upon hearing the price for one measly talisman... Anne nearly shook her head in disbelief. It was insane the amount people would pay for a "lucky" item. She wondered exactly how many charms went into a specific piece. The things she could by for twenty-seven thousand Galleons... She was sure her family possessed much more than that, but it wasn't exactly hers. But if she had all that... All to herself...

She'd leave them. Her family. She'd never have to put up with their closed-minded bigotry again. She could move elsewhere and obtain a job and a nice home. She could - apparently get off track. Anne blinked, focusing on the situation at hand. "Charm apprentice...?" She couldn't help but murmur, continuing to overturn the sapphire. She did enjoy charms... And this line of business... Well, she enjoyed her life-style. If she was taken in as an apprentice, selling talismans worth twenty-seven thousand Galleons... She'd be set for life.

"You... Come again?" The Briton glanced up at her professor, seemingly perplexed. Did this mean Professor Gallagher would take her on as an apprentice? Though she was just barely a fifth year? She suppressed a smile, keeping her emotions in check, only nodding once. "I would be honored."

Rosy knew she shouldn't find it amusing, but she couldn't help but think it was too cute when Anne got flustered. It made her look more like part of the family... at least, more like Roisin's part of the family. Hot heads the lot of them, but it made things more interesting. Rosy was shite at legilimency, but even she could tell that the exact worth of her charms had shocked the girl.

She watched as the girl turned her offer over in her head in synchrony with the stone in her hand. A grin broke out on her face "Grand!" she said, honestly meaning it. She had a gut feeling that Anne could become a true charms master. The only thing that could stand in her way, was actually believing in her charms. Hopefully enough exposure would open her mind to it.

"I have to warn you," she cautioned, "It is not easy. There's no textbook that can teach you what is really important for it." She tapped her current project. "And the first charms you make won't sell like this one. This is for a client whose family has been coming to mine for generations and happen to own an earldom." She turned her eyes back to Anne. "But with enough experience, a discerning eye, and a skillful hand holding your wand you could get to this level." Her grin sharpened. "Start producing charms of a high enough caliber, and I'll add my guarantee to your work, and that's when the charm sophisticates of the world will take note of you."

Her face held the odd combination of glee and seriousness. "Because everyone knows that I won't risk the good name of the Dark Rose on anyone whose product I don't believe in."