Closed Extra Studies

[Aine Thompson]

Aine liked maths. It was rational and made a lot more sense than magic. Plus, it would probably be more helpful in her day to day life. It was strange to her that the school didn't really seem to teach maths or language or science or any of those basics. Maybe potions would apply to like, cooking, or something? Or maybe it was a kind of chemistry?

Aine looked down. Her numbers were getting squished together as she wrote while unfocused again. Sighing, she scribbled out what she was doing and started again. She'd been sent some year 7 worksheets to work through in her spare time and that felt much more comfortable to go through than just reading Charms texts and hoping that she absorbed the information.

Her calculator didn't work, but at least she had a ruler, protractor, and an awful lot of paper, pencils and erasers. It probably looked strange to a lot of students in the library, seeing this eleven year old hunched over muggle schoolwork and occasionally whispering numbers to herself to aid in her memory, but thankfully for Aine, she was absorbed enough in what she was doing to not even imagine scornful glances, let alone look to see if there were any.

 

[Giulia Alcott]

Giulia was feeling much more settled at Hogwarts than she had in her first year, despite her consistent frustration with the language. She had figured out a section of the library that felt like 'home', and spent most of her study time there, poring over French to English dictionaries and cross-referencing them with the more incomprehensible parts of her textbooks. She was heading towards her usual area with her usual heavy armful of books when she realised her favourite table was occupied, by someone doing... something. She shifted closer, eyes widening when she realised it was maths. Giulia had really enjoyed maths at her muggle school, and it had been disappointing realising Hogwarts wouldn't let her take the magical equivalent until she was thirteen. So she only hesitated a moment before sliding into a seat at the table, setting her books down in a clear spot. "Are you doing maths?" She asked in excitement.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine flinched a little as someone joined her at the table. It was a fairly standard reaction for her, mostly used to being on her own. She looked up, confused, blinking a couple of times at the girl who joined her. She wanted to be mad about being interrupted, but in all honesty she had to admit she was more startled than anything.

There are other people here who are interested in maths?

The girl who joined her had an accent - she couldn't quite place it at a first listen. Realizing she hadn't actually responded yet, and probably looked like a stunned mullet, Aine quickly nodded. "Yes. Um, I got sent some schoolwork from home. I wanted to keep doing maths and stuff." She opened her mouth to continue, but quickly shut it, realizing she'd start rambling too much too quickly and probably coming across as even weirder.

Ask people questions about themselves, remember.

"Uhhhh...you like maths too?"

Better than nothing, Aine. Barely.

 

[Giulia Alcott]

Giulia was a little unsettled when the younger girl just stared at her for a while, but she supposed she had done the exact same to people before. Maybe she was having trouble with Giulia's accent, or maybe she also wasn't fluent in English. She nodded when the girl continued, sliding into a seat at the table without being invited. "I love maths!" She said enthusiastically. "My maman wanted me to be a, euh, scientifique, to study science, before we knew I was a witch. I wish we still got to study maths and science." She admitted, leaning closer to see what the girl had been working on. "Could... I, euh, borrow?" She asked hopefully.

 

[Aine Thompson]

"Oh, thank God, there are people here who like non-magic stuff," Aine blurted out, before she could help it. It was hard to be so guarded and conscious of what she said all the time. It was stressful, even.

Blurting things out made her feel guilty instead of anxious, however. She half listened to what the girl was saying, vaguely noting the heavy accent that was now more clearly French, but could barely react as her heart started beating heavily out of guilt.

Something about this school made everything feel a whole lot worse. Perhaps it was just being away from anything she knew. No safety net or security. This was as close as it got.

"Oh, yeah sure. It's probably not that exciting." She passed it over. It was some fairly straightforward maths problems, multiplication and division with a couple of problem solving questions at the bottom. Aine had struggled with problem solving. She tended to go too fast and didn't stop to think the process through.

"I wish we could study maths and science too. I miss stuff I can understand."

 

[Giulia Alcott]

Giulia laughed in relief when the girl burst out with the exact same thing she was thinking. "Oui!" She agreed, too excited to realise she had slipped languages for a second. "I miss my old school so much, nobody here wants to know anything but magic!" She peered at the page curiously as the girl showed her, brain buzzing with excitement at the sight of real maths for the first time in what felt like forever. "Maybe we can do maths together sometimes, yes?" She asked hopefully, nodding in agreement. "I miss them very much as well, magic is fun but... not the same..."

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine quietly wondered why someone from France would be all the way over in New Zealand for schooling, but she held her tongue on that matter, not wanting to potentially offend someone she could actually talk to about non-magical things. "You'd think that they'd need to teach things that aren't magic. How are we supposed to get jobs and stuff without maths?"

She was a little surprised that the other girl suggested they could study together. Aine usually studied alone, but she often found it hard to keep her attention on things, or wondered if she was going too fast or too slow, or never asked for help if and when she needed it...

"Um, sure. Uh...what's your name, anyway?"

 

[Giulia Alcott]

Giulia snorted and nodded quickly in agreement with the other girl's statement. "Exactly!" She exclaimed. "Even magic people must need to know how to do maths. It makes no sense!" The relief blossoming in Giulia at the thought of not being alone on this issue was overwhelming. She beamed when the younger girl said they could study together, nodding when she introduced herself. "Oh, of course, I apologise for my rudeness... I'm Giulia." She smiled sheepishly.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine could feel herself relax, just a little. It seemed like she wasn't alone in her line of thinking. She was so sure she would be, that she almost felt a bit of an ache of relief in her chest. She had been certain all students at Hogwarts would be similar, all magical, all looking down upon the non-magical world. Maybe, just maybe, she had to admit she was wrong.

"It's...it's nice to meet you." Her words were a little stilted from lack of practice. "I'm Aine."

 

[Giulia Alcott]

Giulia smiled back at the other girl, pleased to have found someone she could see eye to eye on this with, someone who understood the value of muggle education, and learning things outside of what Hogwarts taught. "It's nice to meet you too." She smiled, sincerity shining through. "I have missed having people around who understand things like maths and science."

 

[Aine Thompson]

((My memory for threads is like a sieve, I'm so sorry))

"D'ya think we're just kinda 'sposed to pick it up by chance as we study?" She asked, somewhat musing out loud. "I asked one of the Professors and he was like 'you have to be able to write essays' but, like, when do they teach us how to improve?" Usually omce she got on a train of thought, it was like a boulder zig-zagging down a hill, never quite sticking to a solid lane. "Oh, uh, sorry."