Closed Brawn over brains

[Tilly Drage]

Tilly had stayed on the Quidditch Pitch until her arms were jelly and the rest of her body ached from balancing on her broom. She smacked the bludger downward until she could wrestle it back into the box. The Hufflepuff team tryouts were two days from now and she figured taking tomorrow off was probably a good idea. Too tired to walk back to her house and shower just yet, she instead made for the lakefront with her bat and Sienna Storm in hand.

Sitting against a boulder that she didn’t realize was a memorial, she pulled a chewed-up copy of the Beater’s Bible out of her shoulder bag and cracked it open. There was more than one way to prepare for tryouts, even if reading wasn’t her preferred method.

@Beckett Harrington

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett couldn't believe that it had taken him a whole year to find out this place, in his defense he hadn't done much things other than study on the previous year. He decided to check Avie's rock, a rock that was a memorial to Avie Mitchell, a Slytherin that died ten years ago. Beckett wondered if he would have a memorial like that or if this was only because Avie might have died in Hogwarts. He should have read on her before coming to this place.
The Ravenclaw boy felt a little curious when he suddenly saw a bat and a broom near the rock, clearly the try outs fever was getting to everyone. To his surprise he saw Tilly, a Hufflepuff girl who had partnered up with him in class several times, with...a book?!
"What are you doing here?" he asked her, he should have probably started by saying hi but he decided to go straight to the point. He had no idea that she was interested in quidditch but, after all, they only knew each other from class, they weren't really friends, more like acquaintances.

 

[Tilly Drage]

Crouched over her book, Tilly hadn’t even noticed her fellow second-year approach. She looked up to see Beckett, a boy she’d paired up with a few times in Defense Against the Dark Arts. He gave Tilly the impression that he was intelligent and good at spells. Except there were different types of smarts.

Raising an eyebrow, she lifted the book. “Really, Beckett? I thought you were a Ravenclaw,” she joked lightly. Tilly laughed and jabbed a finger at the pages. She almost spelled r-e-a-d-i-n-g out loud but then stopped herself, because that would be getting a little mean-spirited.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett rolled his eyes with a hint of a grin in his face and stopped himself from saying something mean, instead he crouched near her and peeked at her book "You are trying out? You don't exactly seem like a quidditch person to me but that doesn't mean anything" he said. Beckett knew that sometimes the best things were the ones we don't see coming and for all he knew Tilly could actually be a star quidditch player in the future.
Beckett was never really into quidditch, maybe someday he would give it a try but he doubted that, istead this year he would just add another club to his curriculum, the Hogwarts Monthly, he just had to arrange his whole schedule better.

 

[Tilly Drage]

Tilly grinned. “To be fair, I don’t think you know me very well.” She dog-eared the page she was on and closed the book. “I love Quidditch.” There were a handful of players in the Drage family, both professional and non-professional, and she’d taken after their love for the sport. Her dad, however, couldn’t even be coaxed onto a broom.

“I take it you’re not trying out?”

 

[Beckett Harrington]

"Touché" Beckett said, he indeed did not know Tilly that well. "My Ravenclaw skills tell me that if you are reading a beater's book you are trying out for beater?" he said teasing her about her earlier comment "Isn't that kinda violent?" he asked. She was basically putting a target in her back because the other beaters would try to hit her and she would probably end up in the hospital wing sooner than she would expect.
"Oh no" he said to her. Quidditch wasn't at all his thing "I barely have time to study and do homework, I would definitely not have time for practices" he told the girl. Beckett was a straight O's student and he worked hard to get extra credit on top of his O's and that required a lot of time studying, taking notes and reading books.

 

[Tilly Drage]

Tilly nodded at Beckett and grinned wickedly. “The violence is what makes it fun.” She absentmindedly rubbed at her right arm. Merlin, she was going to be sore tomorrow.

Tilly made a face. “Blegh. Homework. Honestly, I think I’m allergic.” Tilly loved professors who didn’t require essays and hoped this would continue into their second year. There was a reason she hadn’t been sorted into Ravenclaw.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett was a bit shocked at Talia's response, he did knew she was such a violence fanatic. He took a mental note on that. He just looked at the girl with an apathetic expression, he rather not comment on that and motivate that side of hers.
Beckett strongly disagreed with her "Homework's main point isn't to test your knowledge you know? It's all about making you responsible, meeting deadlines, dealing with pressure, helping you prepare for the real world. Of course that if you are a highly intelligent being" like himself "you don't pass up the opportunity to brag about the immense knowledge you possess" he explained Talia, letting her know why he always did his homework.

 

[Tilly Drage]

Tilly was not ready for Beckett’s impromptu speech. She listened and nodded along. While Beckett’s heart was clearly into academics, Tilly couldn’t empathize. She shrugged. Everything Beckett described sounded like busywork to her.

“I don’t think being smart is something to brag about,” Tilly said, before realizing how unkind that could sound.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett looked at Talia surprised, she was totally wrong! Being smart was something that was worth talking about! Beckett did that all the time. That was what distinguishes him from all the other people, his superior IQ. "Allow me to disagree" he said "If you are smart you want people to know that. I brag about it all the time and look at me! I'm on top of the world" for him that meant having excellent grades and not getting his parents mad at him because he is not being the best.

 

[Tilly Drage]

Tilly smiled broadly at Beckett. She couldn’t tell if he was serious, joking, or a bit touched in the head. “Are you, now?” Tilly knew she couldn’t flaunt her own level of intelligence. That said, bragging was not something that other people usually enjoyed listening to. Even she knew that.

“You could be the most intellectual person in the universe, but trust me, people won’t want to hear you talk about it.”

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett looked at Talia completely shocked, he wasn't sure if she was serious or playing dumb, obviously she must have noticed that he was highly intelligent, way above average "Yes I am!" he said firmly and without any doubts. How dared she doubting?!
The Ravenclaw boy rolled his eyes at her "That's because you are not surrounded by the right people." he said "All my parents' friends throw huge parties when they win something or do something big. And lots of people attend those parties" he said to her with his natural British accent. He had been to some of those, since Katrina left that he was dragged to every party to represent the Harrington legacy and brag about how well he was doing in school and how important he would someday become. Everyone knew if the other people didn't brag about anything was because they were obviously in an inferior position.

 

[Tilly Drage]

Tilly smirked at Beckett. She tried to imagine one of her family, on the Drage side, of course, attending one of the parties Beckett described. They wouldn’t mix well. Her family wasn’t exactly cultured.

“Sounds...fun,” Tilly said, not sure it would be fun at all. But maybe Beckett would surprise her. She was desperate to change the subject. “What’s your favorite class?” she asked. Not the most interesting of questions, but maybe it would make them both a little less uncomfortable.