Themis wouldn't lie to the girl about the harness of the world. That sort of lie only led to misery. She would do this child the kindness of honesty. "The world can be a very uncaring place, but it is up to you whether or not it will make you an uncaring person." She considered the description of herself as 'forgetful' with a rueful smile. "I am many things, but I have never been fortunate enough to be forgetful. Sometimes, Charley, it's remembering that causes us pain. That, it would do you good to remember."

Themis allowed the girl time to consider her words, allowed her a moment with the stars that had counseled her for decades. What Miss Charley wondered made her smile. For all her troubles, Charley was still a child at heart, the nagging of adults still a great nuisance. "I can't think of a reason you wouldn't be allowed at the table, Charley. We will work on the speech and manners." Themis managed to keep her lips in a firm line as Charley assessed her character. Alright, then. "Professor Lyra," she corrected gently, "And thank you for your promise."

Themis was thinking that was the end of it, until the little creature spit into her hand and shook it. As the mother of the most precocious and wily little boy she'd ever met, and now the den mother of the most chaotic house at Hogwarts, this was not the first saliva shake encounter in her life. Themis was so disappointed she could say that. Etiquette before magic; posthaste.

"Then, Charley, let's go home."

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   Charley Goode