First Week Blues

[Prof. Cora Strong]

"Bugger. Hell, holy shit."

Cora sat at her desk with her head in her hands. Summer terms were not her favorite time of year. She hated having to spend so much time in classes, hated grading papers in the heat, hated tailing students out of forbidden areas. It never worked out for her. But she did it, it was her job. So there she sat, frustrated and annoyed. The Headmistress had just gotten two letters from parents reguarding their children and the punishments she had given them. One had been in a girls room well after curfew, the other had tried to set the forest on fire with late night firework show. Both had been given kitchen cleaning duty for 2 weeks.

"This is great. One more and then I'll have my record. Been Headmistress three years, and never had I gotten so many damn reports in one term, hell the beginning of the term. Only a week in and already five reports on students. My god this is going to be one hell of a summer."

The young Headmistress sat there, shuffling papers and groaning. She complained to herself, the only person she would ever do that to. Not even her husband heard her complain. It just wasn't something she liked to do.

[Jonathan_Parisian]

*Johnny had wanted to look around the school. It had been a while since he had walked the halls, and seeing as he was running the bank now, he figured he would meet with the headmistress and talk with her about setting up scolarships for the less fortunate students at The Academy. Knocking on the door to her office, he waited for her to answer his knocks before he would even soncider entering.*

[Prof. Cora Strong]

Cora groaned again and dropped her head on her desk. It was going to be a long term. She looked up when someone knocked on her door.

"Doors open."

She spoke loud enough to be heard through the door, but not so that it worsened her already pounding head. Cora gathered the papers from her desk and piled them in a drawer.

[Jonathan_Parisian]

*Walking into the room, he noticed that the headmistress looked like the last thign she wanted was a visitor. Then again, looks could be decieving, so he would judge how long he would stay based on her reactions to him. If she really didn't want anybody around at the moment, then he would make this a short visit. Jonathan headed over to her desk, and slightly bowing to the headmistress as a sign of his respect for her, he took a seat in front of her desk.*

"I just wanted to introduce myself if I could find the time. My name is Jonathan Parisian. I'm the manager at the bank, and if it's not to much trouble, I wanted to talk about establishing an account that could be used for orphaned students and others who are going to be unable to pay for their school supplies. If that is ok with you of course."

*Her reaction here would determine how long this visit was goign to last. The longer the meeting went, the more details they could hammer out in the process, and the less likely he would need to return to discuss these matters further. Jonathan didn't have a problem returning to the school, especially since he had graduated from here, but he felt he could get more work done spending time in his office at the bank then in meetings.*

[Prof. Cora Strong]

"Welcome. I'm Cora Strong. Headmistress...Obviously."

She gave a small chuckle and extended her hand, indicating for him to have a seat.

"A scholarship account would be great. I had thought about it before, but with only having the position I do for 3 years now. But yeah, I think thats a good idea."

Cora looked around her cluttered desk for a note pad and pen. Sadly none were found, as she hadn't taken the time to sort everything out yet, what with term just starting and trying to deal with unruly students.

"So, how should we go about doing this Mr. Parisian?"

[Jonathan_Parisian]

"Well, that's part of the reason I'm here. Recently one of our older clients passed away, and we held his will. One of his requests was that we establish a trust for students, much like the one we are talking about now, and he left a considerable amount of money for the account with his passing."

*Watching her look around for a pen and paper, he reached into his briefcase and pulled some out for her and offered it to her. He smiled as he watched her catch up as far as what had been discussed and then picked up when she was ready.*

"The toughest part about setting up an account like this, is that you need to establish people who will always have access to this money so that they can get it for students. But there also need to be checks and balances against them having access and using it for personal gain as well. Generally we would reccomend a trusted co-worker who also has to sign off on the amount of money that can be taken out at one time. I would also reccomend that there be a cap that can be taken out by a single student at one time, this cap could also be adjusted for each student based on what year they are."

[Prof. Cora Strong]

Cora accepted the pen and pad with a slightly embarrassed smile and nodded.

"Yes, I agree. I am all for this scholarship account. I think it would be greatly beneficial for the students that need it. I can already name off a few that might do well with it."

The headmistress scribbled down as they spoke, all that she thought about the topic. Her hand writing was small and curly, but slightly off balance.

"I think, you should do as you think fitting for this Mr. Parisian. Checks and balances are always needed, and yes, a cap for the amount students should be able to take out is definitely needed. Maybe, start up separate accounts for the students and have an automatic transfer at the beginning of the terms of a certain amount. And that would be all they can use for it."

[Jonathan_Parisian]

"An excellent idea, especially as this also will give each student an account at the banks for as they mature. Once they get jobs they don't need to store their gold in their houses and can store it where it is safe instead. If you want to, come up with a list of all the students who need to have these accounts opened for them and we can bring all of them down on one day and open up all of the necessary accounts."

*Johnny couldn't help but smile, understanding why they had chosen her for this specific job. Her mind was keen and sharp, and obviously always working. He could only guess at the things she needed to deal with on a daily basis for her job, and was sure he couldn't even touch half of them.*

"I can begin setting all of this up as soon as I return to the bank. I'll set you up as the primary on the account right now for access reasons, that way you can send students when necessary to establish their accounts. The sooner we can establish a secondary name on the account that will have access, the better, but it's not a priority at the moment unless you know of someone. I suppose that really is all that needs to be discussed unless you have any questions."

[Prof. Cora Strong]

Cora shook her head and smiled.

"No, none at the current. But if I come up with any I'll send an owl your way."

She ripped the sheet from the note pad and capped the pen, then handed them back to the man.

"I think, though it is a smidge early, a drink is needed. Coffee, likely, as the school is alcohol free, unless some of my students have smuggled it in again. Care to join me? The kitchen isn't long off."

[Jonathan_Parisian]

*Taking the pen and notepad back from her, he tucked them back into his briefcase. He stood up and was prepared to leave when she offered him something to drink. He hadn't intended to stay much longer then for their meeting, but he was happy for an excuse to not go back to the bank right away.*

"A drink sounds fantastic. And I try to stay away from alcohol as much as I can, it doesn't always work, but I try. And I would hope that the bank coudl handle being with out me for a short while longer or there are some serious problems there that need fixed. It would be nice to see this place again, see how it has changed since I walked it's halls, although I can't imagine it has changed to much."

*Taking his briefcase in his hand, he tossed his traveling cloak over his arm as he held his left arm out to her, allowing her to lead the way. It is her school afterall, so why presume to lead her to their destination. He also had to admit that she was much friendlier then he had anticipated which was a nice surprise.*

[Prof. Cora Strong]

Cora stood and lead the way from the office. She needed a drink, a strong one, but that would have to wait until she got home. With any luck, her husband will have dinner finished and ready for her, but she wasn't holding her breath.

"So you attended the Academy. What year are you?"

((off to the kitchens))