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[Shane Ackley]

Shane hated some elements of Hogwarts. Overall it was a far better school, so much more suited to him than his last school was but the insistence of actively participating in classes was not something he wanted. It was not always a bad thing maybe, but in the cases Shane had been faced with, It had been his choice at least in the first instance and his choice to not in the second instance. Always his choice but he didn’t appreciate that he had been marked down in the class because of it. The boy did not like that. He didn’t much appreciate it at all. If he’d known he’d get marked down for it, he would’ve just walked out of the class outright, rather than trying to just play it off. Shane was sure that if he just went and explained his problems to the professor that the other man would maybe understand where exactly and why shane was reluctant, but he hardly wanted to get into his backstory with a professor just because he didn’t want to have liquid luck. Shane barely told anyone about anything personal - he’d told one girl when she’d been so frustrating to him it had given him great joy to shut it down, but in any other occasion he just shut down. He shouldn’t have to explain it. The professor should’ve just respected his choice to not. Shane had been wandering around hogwarts for hours, he knew if he just had a friend he could even just spend time with them. But Shane didn’t have friends, he had people he flirted with until he got what he wanted. The walking didn’t do much to help him, his growing frustration, it had started low, but the more he walked, the more he thought about it, the more his mind lingered on his parents the more frustrated he got. Eventually he knew he had to at least stop moving, since it was doing nothing to help him, and he ventured into the closest room - as it turned out the abandoned classroom. He paced the empty bare room a little. Shane stopped, feeling his hands ball up into fists and with a frustrated shout punched the nearest wall as hard as he could.​

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Even after so many years at Hogwarts, Phoebe found walndering around the castle and exploring things to be very rewarding and fun. It was a good way to empty one's mind, and she had a lot to think about. With Rose graduating soon, Phoebe felt like she was soon going to be in charge of the younger two at Hogwarts. But she had no real clue how to do that. Diana was always super annoying, so how was she going to take care of her? And Alice seemed to never really have any problems, but now she seemed very down about their parent's news about a baby, and Phoebe also had no idea how to deal with that. She could see why it would bother Alice as the youngest, but she also knew there was nothing they could do about it. Having such a young sibling would probably be kind of fun, as long as she wasn't expected to babysit all the time.

Phoebe walked past an abandoned classroom and paused her step. She had been meaning to check the abandoned rooms in the castle out a bit more, in case there were cool things hidden in places. Hogwarts had to have many secrets, or even cool trinkets students had left behind. So Phoebe headed inside, only to realize she wasn't the only one in the room. She watched as a boy paced back and forth and then punched the nearest wall. She winced, that had to hurt. "Hey, guy. Person. I don't know your name." She said, waving at him. "If you just broke your hand, I can bring you to the hospital wing if you like." Phoebe had a few jokes she could make, but could tell this guy was seriously pissed off. it probably wasn't wise.

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane shook his hand lightly, there were little spots of blood on his knuckles from where the stone had scraped at his skin, and the pain was quite intense but his frustration abated. Shane turned suddenly when a voice spoke. He hadn’t noticed the girl in the room and he swung around to look at her, a little frustration still evident on his features but he just shook his head at her, ”Not broken,” he replied holding up his hand and moving his fingers which caused a small amount of pain but he could tell they weren’t broken. He wasn’t the sort to really resort to violence, but his own frustration tended to spill out when he couldn’t do anything with it, especially given he was very good at talking about his feelings and didn’t really have anyone to discuss them with. He looked down at his hand and then back at the girl, ”But thanks,” he forced a smile on to his features, it was evidently fake, since he made no real attempt to try and look persuading. He wasn’t even interested in flirting with this girl, though he knew that would probably make this a little easier for him. There was still some frustration in him and the acute pain made it a little more difficult to pretend. He took a few steps, seemingly keen to start up the pacing again, he needed to get rid of all of the pent up energy he had and keep his mind off the potions class or his frustration would just build back up, Shane was sure that if he punched the wall again he might just break his hand. ”If you need the room, just like give me a minute,” the teen didn’t look at her as he spoke, his voice laced with frustration but there was a clear attempt to keep it as neutral as possible.​

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe didn't really know this kid, but something about the situation or his expression made her stick around. She wasn't usually a very caring person, but it was clear there was something bothering this guy even if he didn't seem to want to admit it. "That's good." She said simply when he said it wasn't broken. The smile he gave her was clearly fake, and Phoebe frowned a bit as she looked at him. "I don't need to use the room." She said after he mentioned it, though she also didn't leave. "If you want to relieve some frustration, we could always have a practice duel or something?" She had no idea what prompted her to offer it, but she thought it would probably be healthier for the guy than punching solid objects. "Or you can talk to me. I heard that works for some people." She added lightly with a shrug.

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane was rather relieved that she didn’t need the room for anything, he would’ve likely just kept aimless wandering around. He’d always walked to clear his head, to him just remove himself from society and get a moment all to himself. But with his level of frustration he knew even just pacing wouldn’t help him, it hadn’t so far. Shane looked at her with a bit of a questioning gaze, why was she offering it? Why did she care about what he was doing, especially given that she didn’t need the room so didn’t need to help him. At the alternative, his entire expression shut down, moving to a neutral, rather devoid of emotion expression, ”No, I’m fine. I’m good,” he spoke while shaking his head, clearly very uninterested in the idea of talking about it. What would it matter? This girl didn’t care, wouldn’t care. He didn’t want to talk about it either. Couldn’t talk about it. ”I’d rather just duel, but even at that, don’t go out of your way for me,” he tone remained neutral, devoid of much emotion apart from the light underlying frustration and there was no attempt to force a friendly smile or expression. ​

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe tilted her head to the side slightly, and then shook her head. "I don't think you are fine. People that are 'good' and 'fine' don't tend to punch walls." She told him with a shrug. "We don't need to talk, though. I don't really need to know what's bothering you." She was surprised he was taking her up on her offer to duel, but pleased as well. She took out her wand and spun it in the air for a moment. "You sure? I'm serious about that offer. I could stick to fifth year spells to keep it fair." She told him with a shrug. "You're a fifth year, right?" She had guessed, but she supposed she could be wrong about that. "I'd be keen to do a duel too, so don't worry about me." She added, enjoying the idea and hoping he wouldn't back out now.

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane looked at her and rolled his eyes a little, ”Thanks Freud,” he bit back with a sharpness in his tone. He glanced at her with a little frustration evident. He knew of course that she was right, but Shane didn’t want to be the one to tell her so. Shane didn’t want to admit that something was frustrating him so much, that his mind wouldn’t settle, but talking about it? Expressing it? No. Especially not when he knew that talking about it didn’t make him any friends, not like the flirting did. The teen took his wand out, and nodded, maybe venting out his frustration with magic would help. It would certainly be less painful than his hand currently. It would benefit him in the long run too, just being better at duelling. He nodded, ”A fifth year, I joined last year,” his tone had the same amount of sharpness to it, though it was more he couldn’t yet shake the frustration. He did know that the girl wasn’t in his year, she would maybe have at this point figured out part of his frustration. ”Just spells back and forth?” the boy asked for clarification. He just needed to get the frustration out, and was rather pleased that the hand he’d used to punch the wall was not the one he used to hold his wand.​

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe scoffed as the boy called her Freud, smirking. "Nah, Freud was full of crap about a lot of things. I'm way smarter than him." She said, half joking. She nodded when the boy confirmed that he was indeed a fifth year, like she had guessed. "Cool, so fifth year spells and below." She said, though she knew she would still have a slight advantage because she had an extra year of experience. "Have you dueled before?" She asked him as she gripped her wand more firmly. "And yep, spells back and forth. Person wins when the other can't cast spells anymore." She grinned. "You can start, since you're the one who seems to need it."

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane rolled his eyes at the girl when she insisted she was smarter than Freud, he was sure she was but eye rolling felt like the correct response. The boy just nodded, he would’ve expected an older student to more advanced spells anyway, it seemed almost silly that she wouldn’t. Really though Shane didn’t care. He just need to vent his frustration out, he needed to get it all out of him. The pacing hadn’t helped much, the punch to the wall had calmed him enough but the frustration was still very strong. He nodded at the question and took out his wand, holding it tightly in his hand and nodded again. The girl was smiling but he was just letting his frustration bleed through, letting his frustration keep a mostly neutral expression on his face, a slight hint of anger. ”Diffindo,” he cast, focusing all the built up frustration into that spell, an easier thing for him than punch the wall, and there was all the same force behind it.​

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Even though the boy had agreed to her idea of dueling, Phoebe hadn't been entirely sure if he would go through with it. Dueling in an empty classroom was definitely against the rules, and while Phoebe wasn't one who cared too much about that, she knew others might. But it seemed like the boy really needed this, and the spell he sent to her had a lot of force behind it. Phoebe blocked it, then grinned. This would be a bit more challenging than she thought. Stepping forward, she cast her own spell. "Rictusempra!" She called, figuring the boy might need some cheering up. It would be amusing for her, at least, if it hit.

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane could feel a certain level of relief in his body as he threw the spell, it didn’t matter that it didn’t hit, he felt that just getting it out was helpful, getting it out in a manner that almost seemed to allow him to breathe, for the anger and frustration to rush out of him, for everything to just focus on the magic. Shane blocked her spell, wasting no time in firing back with ”Incendio,” he was picking more destructive spells, spells where more of his frustration could find an outlet, where it would just hit hard and heavy and then let him relax a little. There was nothing that was particularly good about this duel they were having, he was sure they’d probably end up in trouble if caught but it was help more than talking would ever, more than his pacing had been helping. It was just good and helpful. It was just giving and being exactly what he needed in that moment. ​

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe let out a laugh as the boy sent his next spell her way, and stepped back even though she managed to block it. He really was mad, that much was clear. "Are you trying to set the school on fire?" She called to him, though she was grinning. This was definitely interesting. Offering to duel this guy was had clearly been a good idea. Phoebe glanced around quickly to make sure nothing was set aflame, then shot a spell at him. "Confundo!"

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane felt the relief wash slowly over him with the second spell, even managing a small and somewhat genuine smile in reaction to what she said about it. ”Maybe,” he retorted, he could focus his energy and maybe things would be better, it would be easier than pacing and easier than fighting a wall. He dodged her spell and nodded at her a little, the smile was gone but his face was soothed of some of the tension that it had carried. It was returning to sight neutrally without the clear frustration, this was certainly helping. ”Stupefy,” he cast back, a simple and yet effective spell, just getting the frustration out through it. Pushing any anger into the spell that he was casting. He knew it was helping so it would be good for him to just lean into it.​

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe laughed as the boy's reply was 'maybe', and jumped to the side to avoid his spell. It hit some old furniture that was stored in the classroom, but Phoebe didn't look to see if it was damaged. "There's better ways to do that." She quipped, then sent a spell his way again. She cast a Hair-Lengthening Charm, trying to amuse herself.