<br/>The pop culture reference got just a brief second of a blank look, covered by a polite smile… Somehow the ancient professor knew more about that modern bit of ‘entertainment’ than her younger student.<em>What did the theories about the creation of the universe have to do with vampires sparkling? Why would cosmology offend geeks? Nevermore astronomy must be way more interesting that normie…</em>And she had to wonder if, in the olden days… it was a lack of planning or people not having access to knowledge. When was the Gutenberg information revolution? How many people could truly learn magic when the limiting speed of information transfer was person to person, or laboriously copying scrolls? But of course Merriweather presumably knew the truth. She’d been there and Alundra was guessing.  Maybe they’d discuss it more later, but for now, it wasn’t a priority for the retiring girl to confront the teacher in any way. Attending office hours was itself a calculated risk.<br/><br/>A slender finger rubbed chin, thinking. Always thinking. “Interesting… There’s so much more to history than the regular schools can teach, isn’t there? I’ll have to read some books on the fair folk, it sounds interesting.” Another moment of unguarded, open thinking from the redhead. Merriweather wasn’t particularly scary, or threatening. And it was true Alundra liked learning.  There was another thing added to the list of topics to browse. Maybe starting with the Encyclopedia Nevermoria would be a good idea. Especially if it gave her more ways to impress the beautiful teacher. Her reasons and flaws might have been weird, but Alundra was a teen girl under all the baggage and issues.  So the teacher had a lovely smile, and she liked being smiled at. So what. “Metamagic, huh? So that’s what it covers…” Her head tilted, lips moving slightly as she worked out some possible implications of mixing everything into giant complex spells.  Interesting.  But clearly not for her, yet.  Who could say what the future would hold? Uh, probably someone at the school, but not the point.<br/><br/>Especially when Miss Merriweather got deeper into the practicalities and realities of magic composition beyond the basics. She’d seen peacocks once, most improbable birds with the giant feathers. Men. Such silly beasts.  “Hrm, interesting. So many factors to consider… Well, I suppose if it was easy, everybody would do it.” Magic, as stated, was dangerous, but that in of itself wasn’t a reason to ignore it. The girl managed to not read with her finger, leaning over eagerly to check the offered book. Of course Alundra was going to rise to the obvious test. Because staying on the professors good side seemed firmly in her professional and personal safety interests. Plus, impressing the older woman, well, Alundra had as stated, issues.<br/><br/>“Double, double toil and trouble;<br/>Fire burn and caldron bubble.<br/>Fillet of a fenny snake,<br/>In the caldron boil and bake;<br/>Eye of newt and toe of frog,<br/>Wool of bat and tongue of dog,<br/>Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,<br/>Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,<br/>For a charm of powerful trouble,<br/>Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.<br/><br/>Double, double toil and trouble;<br/>Fire burn and caldron bubble.<br/>Cool it with a baboon's blood,<br/>Then the charm is firm and good.” She murmured, again referencing more of the immortal Bard, this time one of the more famous spells from literature. Gracing the older redhead with a wide, happy smile… Only a portion calculated… Alundra nodded. “Thank you Professor Merryweather, you’ve given me a lot to study and work on. I’ll see what I can come up with for the words.” She felt it was probably time to go… Of course, she’d metaphorically sit at the professor’s feet and listen to all the received wisdom… But didn’t want to overstay her welcome. And was feeling like she’d been in one place for a while, one where people expected to find her.<br/>