Open Private Studying

[Leia Hume]

Leia had decided upon returning to school that she would do better, that she would work hard in her classes. She wanted to impress the head of the house without it being too obvious that was what she was doing. She didn’t want to end up being mocked by the other students for caring about her education, she had seen other slytherin’s studying, but she didn’t particularly want to. She had known that she wanted to study but didn’t her roommates to see it. She wanted to be cool to them, she wanted them to not realise that she was putting in the extra work for it. She had therefore come to the abandoned classroom, it was a quiet place and she hoped she would be able to sit undisturbed. She also thought that if someone did find her and question what she was doing she would be able to just say that she was practicing her spells, it had enough space that it could be likely, and there was less wrong with practicing spells that just straight out studying. She found a desk close to the windows and was just working away, her wand sitting in front of her ready for her to use. ​

 

[Brooke Townsend]

Brooke had done her best to get her bearings around the school as quickly as she could, but it was still big enough that finding her way was difficult, especially when the stairs weren't cooperating. She knew the library was on the fourth floor, but getting up there was proving to be a struggle. Not wanting to lose any more value study time wandering, Brooke had decided the next relatively quick spot she could find she'd just settle down into for now.

Checking doorways, Brooke tried not to feel too sorry for herself about how much easier this would all be if Sydney would just agree to show her around. They were even in the same house now, but Brooke had no doubt Sydney had been avoiding her as much as possible since the first night. Sighing, Brooke checked what appeared to be an empty classroom, surprised to see another girl already inside apparently doing much the same as she wanted to. "Oh, sorry to disturb you. Are you working on something?" She asked the girl with a polite smile. "Maybe I could join you? I'm looking for a quiet place to go over some Defense Against the Dark Arts notes," She added, noticing the girl seemed to be in her house, but not in her year. Assuming the older girl was open to it and actually a competent witch, maybe Brooke could even get a few advanced tips from her.

 

[Leia Hume]

Leia looked up as the door opened and a young student walked in. She had her hand on her wand before the girl could say anything, but she apologised and then asked if she was working on something, though before she could say anything the other girl asked if she could study there, looking for quiet place to study. Leia had to admit that she had found a lot of the young first years to be pretty noisy. Leia much preferred her year, they were quieter and she liked that a whole lot more. The slytherin glared a little at her for a moment, seemingly coming to a decision about it. ”Only if you don’t tell anyone I was here,” Leia told her, her tone sharper than she might’ve wanted, ”The girls in your year seem…..loud….,” the slytherin commented. She felt like it would help soften her earlier statement. She knew that it was important to do well in Defence against the dark art above all else. ”but, yeah, find a desk, work, don’t mention I was here,” leia finished by saying, letting go of the wand and then just going back to her work. ​

 

[Majora Valentine]

There was now a solid group of names that Maddox could identify just by looking at someone face, thanks to the year book archives, although now that the Slytherin was a second year there was a huge number of fresh students that he was left in the dark with, which had him feeling a bit uncomfortable. He still had the blue nail polish on the tips of his fingers that one of the first years has given him, but he wasn’t quite sure what to make of them yet. Not wanting to hang around the common room in case one of them tried to talk to him again, he’d left and headed out to find somewhere quieter. Surely there were enough places around the school that more exciting than the quiet spots, so with any luck he’d be able to find something less busy. He had a shoulder bag crossed over his body, walking slowly through the corridors looking for a good space to sit, when he figures he may as well check the abandoned classroom too. Poking his head into the room, he had been semi correct because it was quiet, although it wasn’t empty. Leia was in there taking to one of the other girls from their house, and for a moment Maddox considered just leaving them to it. He’d not spoken to Leia since he’d seen her hanging out repeatedly with Luxen, a boy in their class he really didn’t want to be associated with. Perhaps it was unfair of him not to give her the benefit of the doubt, especially as he’d joined her for Vaders party last year. “New friend?” He asked her, coming into the room properly to glance at the younger girl, trying to place her name although ultimately failing. ​

 

[Brooke Townsend]

Brooke was surprised by the older girl's response, interested that she was acting so defensively. She wondered if a moment if maybe they weren't supposed to be in this room, but surely the school would have made it more obvious if so. "Okay," She said simply, sitting herself down at a nearby free desk after inspecting it for dust. "They're just excited," Brooke responded, smiling at the mention of her fellow roommates and choosing her words carefully. Loud was certainly one way to describe them all, but it wouldn't do for word to get out Brooke was badmouthing her roommates just yet. "Was your year not as enthusiastic?" She asked curiously, still interested in the girl's curt manner. "Are you not supposed to be in here?" She finally asked, making a show of acting disinterested as she flicked through her notes.

Brooke looked up when someone else entered the room, a boy who seemed to be familiar with the girl she was talking to. "I'm Brooke," Brooke said, considering offering her hand to shake before ultimately settling on a friendly wave so she wouldn't have to stand up.

 

[Leia Hume]

Leia shrugged, ”They’re loud,” she countered, just about the whole school had heard the screaming on the first night. She hadn’t interacted with a lot of them, but they seemed to have a different energy than other students, than other first years. ”No, they weren’t,” she replied with a shrugged, ”We can be here, just don’t say I was,” this girl didn’t know her and didn’t know why she might not want others to know that she was there. It was however ruined by the fact that the door opened again and maj appeared. She knew him, and though they were in her mind friends, she knew that he’d been distant towards her. She moved to close over her books and just took her wand more in hand. She looked back at the other girl and shrugged at the statement, ”I just met, Brooke, we’re just using this class to study,” Leia wouldn’t be heading back here to study, there was no point if it was busy. An empty classroom would be an obvious choice to study for people, of course it would be. Who wouldn’t want to study in a place that was apart from the library and had the space that it couldn’t provide. ”Are you looking to study too Maj?” she asked him, keeping her tone polite and it was friendlier than it had been with the girl. She doubted he’d tell anyone she’d been there, but there was also a familiarity she had with him. She looked to the girl, wondering if perhaps she could lie about helping her, but decided against it in the end, just letting the offer be the thing to hang there. ​

 

[Majora Valentine]

The new girl decided that apparently waving was the best thing to do, and Maddox looked at her questioningly given their distance. He turned then to Leia, who was closing her books in front of her. He couldn't help but think he had interrupted something as it certainly didn't look to him as though she was studying if she'd just closed her book. It only added to the doubts in his mind that Leia was hiding something from him, although he didn't know what. He did like her, but he didn't trust the other people she hung out with, although he wouldn't say that out loud easily. He sighed slowly, pressing his lips together as he looked between Leia and Brooke. "Yes. Charms actually." he forced a smile on his face and took a seat at the table in front of him, sliding his bag over his shoulder and laying it on the floor, taking his own wand and placing it on the table. "Are you practising spells too?" he asked somewhat assuming, given that she'd just put away her theory. "How are you finding casting spells?" he suddenly turned to Brooke, with a smile just as polite on his face, "I know some first years can be daunted by that prospect," he added, as a somewhat underhanded way of saying that he could help if she'd been having trouble.​

 

[Brooke Townsend]

Brooke was starting to wonder if her roommates' disruptive reputation was reflecting badly on her, deciding she'd have to try to be extra polite and friendly to people in the future just in case. The older student seemed to be set on the idea that the new Slytherin first years were unusually rowdy though, and Brooke simply smiled, amused by the assessment.

The older girl referred to the new boy as 'Maj' and Brooke lifted her head in interest when he announced he was joining them to study as well. Brooke hadn't had a chance to do much Charm work, not having the class yet, and she was itching to try and learn a few spells before Ivy could act all superior just because she'd had an extra semester of practice. "I feel like I've been practice wand movements for ages, it's exciting to actually learn some spells properly," She told Maj, holding herself a little higher at the implication she might find it 'daunting'. "I haven't been able to do much Charmwork yet though, what are you working on? Maybe you could show me?" She said eagerly, scooting her chair a bit closer to the older Slytherins.

 

[Leia Hume]

Leia couldn’t help but frown ever so slightly as Maj came into the room, it was clear he was intending to study there. SHe wasn’t sure why it made her feel a little on edge. Maj had never shown himself to be anything other than nice but it just seemed that with the fact she didn’t want her year group knowing about the extra work that she was doing and he was part of that. She took her wand lightly in her hand, and the mention of charms was good, that was a spell focused class that she could easily pretend she was doing a little more with. She looked at brooke as Maj asked her a question about how she’d found spell casting so far. She thought the words that Maj chose was a little tricky, it implied in her mind that the girl didn’t know, that she wasn’t good enough at it. ”Sure, we can show you,” She said, that would be good, it wasn’t what she’d been revising, but there was no harm in practicing some magic and going over old spells, that was as much studying and revising as anything else. ”Can you do Lumos yet?” she asked, it was a farily basic spell, she wouldn’t be surprised if Brooke had managed it. ​

 

[Majora Valentine]

Maddox narrowed his eyes as Leia frowned at him, as though he had just done something wrong or said something stupid but he was confident in himself that that wasn't the case. The second year was more than happy though to show a younger student a bit of magic, and besides maybe it would give Slytherin an edge when it came to her own lessons next semester. "Lumos is easy and will be the first one you learn in class," Maddox stated. Perhaps classes would change but if her lessons were anything like the ones they'd had last year, then it would be covered very early on. "You'll need your wand," he added, taking his own from his pocket and laying it on the table for a moment. He couldn't wait until he didn't need a wand to do magic, but apparently they would have the master being about to control their skills before they fined tuned them. Maddox had half a mind to ask what Brooke's blood status was, if only for information on what her background knowledge of spell casting was like, however with that would have brought the opportunity for the question to be reversed and there was no chance the second year was going to answer that. ​

 

[Brooke Townsend]

Brooke wondered if she was imagining some kind of tension in the room between the older students. Between that and how defensive the older girl had first seemed at being disturbed, Brooke had to wonder if there was something more going on, but she decided to file it away for later, more focused on the potential learn some magic from the older students. "Thank you," She said brightly when they offered to show her some things, nodding and drawing her own wand. "I've got the hang of Lumos on my own, I couldn't resist practicing as soon as I could," She said, adding the last part sheepishly so she didn't come across like she was bragging. Between all her competition with Ivy and their tutoring before school had started, Lumos hadn't been too hard to grasp, but Brooke hoped the older students might know a spell or two they wouldn't cover in class yet. "Maybe you know something that wouldn't be covered in class?" She asked hopefully.

 

[Leia Hume]

Leia nodded, of course this girl had lumos covered, it had been so long since she’d been a first year - it hadn’t, it just felt like it had to her - that she struggled to really remember what they had covered and when. The slytherin nodded and though she didn’t appreciate the other girl’s tone, ”What about accio?” she asked, perhaps this was a spell she hadn’t yet learnt, ”Or maybe you’d like to learn the trip jinx? It’s a good spell for duelling,” she wasn’t sure what kind of magic interested Brooke, perhaps it was all of it, perhaps it was just the charms and transfigurations and not so much the defensive or offensive magic. She would more than happily help her master those spells, it wasn’t the revision she’d been looking to do, but circumstances change and Leia had to adapt to them, had to do better with it. She didn’t want either of them to take anything from this other than Leia could do magic, and had been practicing her more advanced spell casting. ​