nexus_crossings | The Lure of Learning

The Lure of Learning

Hermione is wandering the Plaza area of the Nexus, with no particular goal in mind. She is closely followed by a large orange cat, who seems to twirl around her ankles just at the right time to avoid being stepped on, but still be close to the young woman in question.

Suddenly, Hermione stops, just outside the grand library and looks up to the immense building with a little bit of awe, a lot of interest, and a glee that is very close to 'kid-in-a-candystore'. But even though every bone in her body wants to go into that library and explore (and get lost in the books), Hermione has paused. A slight confused look on her face.

She finds a place to sit, nearby the library, looking up at the building. The orange cat claims a seat in her lap.

"Would you rather take time to improve your own skills, or teach others to be better people?"

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Jim frowns a little. He's had a little experience with magic through friends of his, but nothing involving potions, and certainly not sleeping ones. But he does have experience with medicines that do the same sort of thing. "I've tried sleeping pills before. All it did was make it so I couldn't wake up."

"That would be a disturbing sensation...." Hermione frowns.

"The Sleep Easy, or Potion for Dreamless Sleep, allows you to sleep, without any dreams or nightmares disturbing your sleep."

"Any side effects?" That sounds like a dream come true, no pun intended. But he can see why she might not go for it even without potential harmful side effects. How people deal with and process their pain, no matter how unwelcome, is part of who they are, or who they become. It isn't always for the worse.

"The only one is that the sleeper might wake up earlier than normal. And it is not recommended to take it continuously. A person needs proper REM sleep."

"So it'd just delay dealing with the problem," he concludes. Makes sense why she wouldn't want to start.

"There are also wizards who use the Obliviate spell, and completely remove the memory that is causing the nightmares. But I know from personal experience how difficult it is to return an Obliviated memory."

"I would rather deal with the nightmares. And learn from them."

Now that he can agree on. "If those were my options, I'm pretty sure I'd choose the same. Memories are what make us who we are, for better or worse."

"Yes." Hermione drops her eyes for a moment, looking away. "And once those memories are gone... you can never be who were again."

Jim isn't going to pry. He doesn't like strangers asking invasive questions either, and it's none of his business. Instead he turns his attention back to the cat that's sprawled out in his lap, purring like a little motor. It's a good thing these are his workout clothes; it doesn't matter if he gets covered in cat hair.

"So, about this school of yours," he asks instead, since that seems like a safer topic. "It was a magic school, right? Is that the only thing they taught, or did you get math and science and that kinda thing?"

Crookshanks reaches out a paw to try to claim Jim's hand, so he can rub his head over the man's palm. Surprisingly, he doesn't seem to be shedding at all.

"Yes. Hogwarts is a magical boarding school. Students lived there, while studying different magical courses, for three-fourths of the year. We had Christmas and the summer break to go back home."

"And while math and science were not taught at Hogwarts, I have taken time to study them. I have found both useful, in my Arithmancy classes. Arithmancy is a magical discipline that studies the magical properties of numbers."

"In your first five years at Hogwarts, you have a core of standard courses. And then you can take any electives that you desire. Then in your fifth year, you take your Ordinary Wizarding Level (O.W.L.) exams, to see where you place, for specialized courses in sixth and seventh year. Or even what specialized courses would be recommended for possible career options."

Jim is more than content to oblige the cat's demands, while he listens to Hermione. "So there's not any kind of... magical university after you're done there?" he asks, taking a guess based on her age, and the fact that she doesn't know what she wants to do with her life now that she's done. "Or even, uh, non-magical university, if you wanted?"

"Not really. You can take your NEWTS, specialized learning, in several courses. And there are a few specialized schools... like if you want to be an Auror, a magical police officer, or if you want to train dragons. But the wizarding schools are set up to teach you everything a typical student might need."

"Hogwarts is just one school of many. They are set up based on regions of the world," Hermione explained.

"I have considered a non-magical university... but if you want to work in the magical world, there is really no point going to a non-magical university. Most magical careers would want to know what your OWLS and NEWTS levels. They would not care to consider any non-magical studies."

"Wouldn't there?" he asks, politely challenging her claim that there would be no point in learning non-magical subjects. "You said that there aren't any magical counselors that you could talk to, so does no one train in magical psychology? Are there other specialized fields that the magical part of society doesn't have?"

"Excellent point." Hermione smiles softly. "Just because no one else has done it, doesn't mean that there are not possibilities..."

"And yes, there are other specialized fields that the magical part of society doesn't have. They don't have psychologists. They don't have dentists. They don't have doctors. They sort of have lawyers..."

"I was one of the few students in my class that returned to Hogwarts after the war to take my NEWTS. I achieved high scores on all seven of my courses. And I do like the idea of continuing to learn..."

"Maybe that's something you could do then," Jim suggests. "Not trying to fill all those gaps yourself, but just introduce the idea to the school. If they don't have the resources to provide non-magical classes, maybe encourage some kind of transition program, so that interested students can go straight into university classes once they're done. Maybe they won't use everything they learn, but it's a foundation to build on, to pioneer new fields of study that didn't exist before. Like psychologists, or doctors." It boggles his mind a bit to think that her magical society doesn't even have basic medicine, yet they have potions that make you sleep that also ignore the REM cycle completely.

"I can definitely start the conversation with the head master at Hogwarts. She always is looking to be innovative and change things."

"But it would be a harder program to introduce to the other magical schools. Not all of them have an open-minded registration for students, like Hogwarts does. Some of the magical schools even refuse to take any student who doesn't have a magical parent."

Jim shrugs, steadily petting the purring cat on his lap. "Most change doesn't happen overnight. If they don't want to take you up on the offer, you can't make 'em, but you can lead by example. Show them that there's value to what you're suggesting by your success. If your students can start filling the gaps, and people realize what they've been missing out on, the demand for more people trained in those career paths goes up."

If there's one thing that Jim can't stand, it's baseless bigotry. But he's also found that one of the better ways to combat it is to go on and show the bigots just how wrong they are by smashing down every barrier to success that stands in your way.

Crookshanks claims Jim's hand again in his paw, deciding to lazily clean the man's fingers with his sandpaper-like tongue.

"Lead by example. I like the sound of that." And in a way, she has been leading the way for others who are born without a magical parent. She was known as the 'brightest witch' of her generation, and for a muggleborn that is a high compliment to have been acknowledged time and time again.

"What is it that you do?" She assumes he is a leader of some type.

Having his hand washed by a cat is hardly the most comfortable sensation he's ever felt, but Jim tolerates it. Arguing with a cat doesn't end well, he's heard.

He smiles at her, in a kind of 'I know you might not believe me' way, given his attire. "I'm the captain of a starship. The USS Enterprise."

It is only for a few moments, before Crookshanks is content that Jim's hand has been properly cleaned, and he goes back to rubbing his head against the palm of the hand. One eye closed. The other eye half-closed. And purrs loudly again.

"A starship? That must be a big responsibility."

"It is." And he's only recently begun to respect just how much of a responsibility it truly is. "We're not actively deployed right now. Ship's in dry dock for repairs. I'm filling in as a guest teacher at Starfleet Academy at the moment," he adds, with a wryly amused smile, given how this conversation started. "Teaching Tactics to the command track students."

"Tactics are a very useful skill for any student to have. Is it limited to only those on the command track?" He challenged some of the ways that Hogwarts is operated, so she is curious about the methods of the mentioned Starfleet Academy.

Jim shakes his head, leaning back a little against the bench. "No class is restricted to any given track, but the required training for each are different. There's three main divisions in Starfleet: command, science, and operations. Command isn't just for captains, it's for helmsmen, navigators, anyone who might have a post that involves actually controlling the ship. Science is self-explanatory, and it includes the medical department. Operations is everything else - engineering, security, communications, anyone who helps keep the ship running smoothly."

"It sounds like it takes a lot of people to get the ship to its destination."

"Are any of the Starfleet classes offered on ship?"

"Crew complement varies by the ship. Enterprise carries four hundred thirty-three when she's at full capacity." He doesn't want to dwell on the fact that right now, almost a quarter of her crew roster stands empty, a flicker of sadness in his eyes. Not to mention guilt.

"Not in the way you're probably thinking, no, but every Starfleet officer has to do a six month internship in their department in order to graduate," Jim explains. "For most students, that means a starship post as a midshipman."

The Lure of Learning

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