February 27th, 1891 - A Hallway

Sirius did not often get detentions, but whether that was out of some inherent goodness of his character or because professors didn't want to give the headmaster's son detention, he wasn't sure. (It could have been both, perhaps?) He hadn't been able to weasel his way out of this one, though, and was instead stuck in one of the levitating punishment baskets that a professor had sent into the hallway, presumably because the professor had better things to do than watch Sirius levitate in a basket on his Saturday morning.

He didn't actually mind the punishment baskets; he didn't have any fear of heights, and was actually doing his reading for Care of Magical Creatures instead. He flipped a page and became aware that he was being watched; Sirius tilted forward in the basket, leaning against the bars of the basket.

"Hello father," he called down.

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Phineas Black @"Elsie Beauregard"

  

Phineas was in a rather pleasant mood this morning, all things considered. That was apparently about to change as he made his way toward the staff room. He passed by the punishment baskets as he went, and to say he was quite startled when the, Hello, father." rang from above.

"Well, that's certainly disappointing." He said as he paused, looking up to indeed find Sirius situated in one of the baskets. "How did we wind up here?" Phineas was torn between outraged one of his staff would actually give his son a detention and wondering what exactly Sirius had done to earn it.

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Av by MJ

Sirius had not expected his father to actually engage with him, and answered honestly before he could think about it: "Talking in class." It had been of course several instances of 'talking in class,' dragged out over a not-insignificant amount of class meetings - but that was the jist of things. Sirius was not particularly good at being quiet; he liked to be the center of attention as often as he could.

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   Ursula Black

Phineas quirked any eyebrow up at his son, faintly amused by the straightforward answer. "And we thought this was a good idea because..." He drawled, assuming that was not the entirety of the answer. Phineas didn't think any of his staff were stupid enough to give Sirius a detention for a minor infraction.

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Av by MJ

"I mean, I never claimed to think it was a good idea," Sirius pointed out, well aware that smart-ass comments like this were what had landed him in the punishment basket in the first place. He probably would have taken it more seriously if the punishment basket had felt more like a punishment, but really it felt more like a levitating place from which he could do his readings.

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The boy's answer caused Phineas' eyebrows to raise unexpectedly. He was a little surprised Sirius would deign to speak to him that way. Other staff sure, but not him. Interesting. "Now I can see why you are where you are, hopefully you'll learn from it." Unlikely, in his experience with adolescents but this one was more his responsibility.  "Watch the comments in class." He advised a little more sternly.

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   Sirius Black

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Av by MJ

Oh, was Phineas being stern now? He hadn't expected this — well really Sirius had not expected a paternal conversation at all, but such was a thing that could happen here — but he sounded like when Aunt Ella was stern, so. Also — well, his father was right.

"Yes, I suppose this is not exactly a good use of my time," Sirius said, in a tone that approximated solemn.

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Unsure as to whether his son was taking a leaf from Ursula's book in the placating department, Phineas chose not to comment further on that. "Should I hear of you up there again, there will be further consequences." He would not have his son being the smartass in class and causing trouble. How poorly that reflected on the family, which was not something Phineas would stand for.

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   Ursula Black

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Av by MJ

Sirius had an impulse to say something flippant, but the self-restraint to swallow it back. Instead he said, "Yes, Father." This wasn't a particularly good use of his time, like he'd said — he could restrain his snappish comments to the hallway and the beginning of class, when most professors were uninterested in giving out detentions.

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