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Csuri was still unsure of the fox, thinking it was just a liiiiiiittle too smart. But, he seemed to want her to try a spell from the charms book. Maybe, just maybe, taking a break from Transfiguration was the way to go. After all, it was a confusing mess. Perhaps she could ask her teacher, but something about it was just... so overwhelming. She didn't particularly like any of her teachers so far, least of all trusting them. Maybe she could find Annalise? Was she even good at magic?

The fox nudged her once more to try the charm, so she gave it a go. After her second attempt, the vase on the mantle exploded. Luckily, the older girl seemed to be able to fix the whole thing without much fuss. How good at magic must she be to be able to cast without even looking up from her book? It was super unfair! She sighed softly, then turned back toward the fox.... but instead

"Aah!"

She yelped out, seeing an unfamiliar man in what looked to be the softest sweater ever. He congratulated her on the spell, though not necessarily the breaking of the vase. "Oh, um... I..." She tugged on her hair, feeling a weird feeling of being watched. Grey eyes looked around, trying to figure out where the fox had gone. Wait. Was.... was the fox actually this guy? Csuri knew there were some people who could shift into animals, but she'd never actually met one.

"I.. I was trying to practice. I know we're not supposed to do magic outside of class, but, to be fair... it wasn't my idea." Her normal frown settled back on her lips, though she had to admit she was worried. What if she got in trouble for doing magic here? This dude didn't seem to mind, but she also had no idea who he was. She looked around, trying to find the fox once more. Maybe this dude was the fox's owner.... or was he the fox itself? It was confusing.

"Are you even a teacher? Or are you just... some guy? Because that's super creepy if you don't work here." She said, trying to push away any proof that she'd been less than her normal level of grumpy. This guy didn't know her... and she certainly didn't know him. It was suspicious for sure...

Csuri was still quite confused over where this guy came from. He apologized for scaring her, and she squinted at him in return. After trying to tell him she was only practicing, he brushed off her concern over being in trouble for doing magic outside of class. Apparently he simply didn't mind, nor did the girl, who was apparently a prefect. Csuri looked back over at her, and noted she didn't even flinch from her pile of homework.

He pondered a moment, then started to list his credentials. Apparently he was indeed a teacher, though not for one of the classes she had. He then went on to say he was the head of house for Slytherin too. His name was Vihaan (which Csuri hadn't ever heard, but then again, her name was pretty unique too), and he seemed to know her name too. "Um... yes. Csuri Douglass. I can't take your class for at least two years... then possibly not at all. Who knows." She shrugged a bit, trying to seem nonchalant. Sure, Alchemy sounded like the coolest class she'd heard of so far, but Csuri didn't want this guy to know that.

"So um... what is Alchemy? Like. Is it a potions class? I'm pretty good at potions, so if that's it, maybe I'll look into it." She looked away, curls bobbing as she shuffled about. Maybe if she got her plans all figured out now, she could plan her life beyond school. The faster she could get her life figured out, the faster she could leave Wool's. Did Hogwarts allow for early graduation? Grey eyes glanced back up, the girl studying the man before her. What if he was a super nice guy? Or, if experience taught her anything, he was probably a dickhead. She huffed a small sigh, wondering who he would prove to be.

Csuri simply shrugged when Professor Narain questioned her choice to say "not at all". She didn't have any of her future figured out, least of all what classes she was going to take in a few years. The man took a seat in the chair beside the couch, so Csuri sat up a bit further, grey eyes curiously watching the man.... while trying to seem like she couldn't care any less. It was a difficult line to walk.

After asking about Alchemy, the man mentioned it to be an excellent question. He also gave a small description, saying that most would call it a mix of potions and transfiguration. It was also somehow a combination of all the cores, with a focus on the philosophy of magic. It seemed interesting, but goodness sake, did all the classes need transfiguration???

After speaking, he sent over a smile... one like he had a secret. He then decided to add that the secret (aha, so he did have a secret!) was knowing that all magic was magic. She furrowed her brows, trying to figure that one out. Of course magic was magic? That made no sense. But, lucky for her, he continued. He said her being good at potions was magic as well. At the core, spellwork, potions, all the things were all doing magic. A faint smile touched her lips, thinking it a relief to know that even struggling, she was still doing magic.

"Really? You think so? E-even though it's really hard to do magic in the other classes?" She'd never really felt this weird mix of self-conscious and excited. A small frown settled back onto her face, brows furrowed. Knowing most of the people that told her good things were lies... this guy must be lying too. But this guy had only met her like two minutes ago. She shifted her stance, crossing her arms and tried to make herself small. What if he was just being nice, and secretly he thought Csuri was a failure of a witch.

"I still can't do transfiguration, so that kicks alchemy out, right? And probably every other useful class. I'm awful at classes, except like two, so what hope do I have anyway?" Her brain was bombarding her with all sorts of awful thoughts about how terrible she was, and how her future was set to be a messy failure. Her toes curled, hair falling down around her as she curled down. Her chin rested on her knees, grey eyes blinking back tears as she watched the embers in the fireplace.

"Thanks for trying to help, but if a million other teachers can't figure out what's wrong with me, there's no hope for you to." Her voice was soft now, a low grumble escaping her. Who was this guy to tell her she was suddenly good at magic, when she knew for sure she was awful. She'd only successfully done a handful of spells, and even then, they were usually on shaky footing. Maybe this guy could help her, but most likely, he was just another teacher trying to push out the vague, generic help that the teachers in her primary school did. At least this guy wasn't telling her she had some sort of "disorder" or anything. She just didn't like listening to dumb rules, why should that mean she's challenged?