Closed Spell Practice

[Professor Minnie Calida]

There were not that many places within Hogwarts with a room big enough for spell practice, lots of rooms for studying, but none where Minnie felt comfortable practicing all the spells she'd learnt over the last six years. She could practice small charms in the common room, but she needed a place to practice the bigger ones. She was a NEWT student, doing all of the available classes, so she needed to be sure where practical was a part of the class that she was able to do that too. It helped too that the room at this point in the year was emptier, and Minnie was able to cast spells like confringo and reducto without fear of harming anyone. She need too to work out her frustration. She had known there would be a chance that Adorah would get head girl, and though Minnie knew that there was no one more suited to the role, that she was a good person, she couldn't help but be jealous, compare herself to her. What did Adorah have that she didn't. Was it just that Professor Josephs liked her. It didn't help either that Hattie had been made prefect too. Leaving only Minnie and Emily as not.

Minnie thought it was valid that Emily wasn't one, but she could help but wonder how deeply Professor Josephs hated her to make all the girls but her a prefect. Hattie deserved the position, she had been there for Minnie when she hadn't gotten it, but god if she wasn't now comparing herself to her too. Between the rejection of her parents and the rejection she thought from one authority figure she looked up to Minnie was feeling pretty frustrated, so setting up dummies in the Duelling chamber and casting confringo with increasing strength felt good. She didn't care that anyone could walk in and see what she was doing. ​

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney had found herself surprised to actually be looking forward to returning back to school this year. She only had one year left before she was free of Hogwarts forever, not to mention the holidays had been far more bearable for once with Emily's house to escape to whenever she felt like it. It was like the world was finally, if slowly, opening up for her.

Cheered by the thought, Sydney had made her way down to the duelling chamber, wanting to get a head start on working on some things for the SDA. It was good to have Juniper on board this year (and infinitely better than working with Tyler), but Sydney didn't need her new co-president forgetting who was really in charge of the club.

She paused nearing the chamber entrance, the notable sound of something being blasted to bits familiar from years of practice herself. For a brief moment, Sydney wondered if Eric had dared show his face down here after she'd humiliated him a few years ago, but upon entering the chamber, it turned out Minnie was here instead. Sydney had had a high opinion of Minnie in the past, keenly aware of the other girl's clear intelligence even if it was stuck behind the pitiable urge to conform to the school's expectations. Lately though, Minnie had made it clearer and clearer that she couldn't be all right in the head, between her apparent fixation on Quidditch and of course, dating Eric Holland. She clicked her tongue as she strode into the chamber, making sure to give Minnie and her spell-slinging a wide berth. "Holland's temper rubbing off on you, I see," she said, tone making it clear she meant it about as far away from positively as possible.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie was mid-spell when she heard someone speak, and her attention was turned to Sydney and her words. Minnie could admit she'd never been too friendly with Sydney, she knew her, had been polite with her but they had never been friends. The tone she was met with wasn't a positive one and Minnie frowned at her. "Some would've said I needed a little anger," she countered with a shrug. She tightened her grip on her wand and turned away casting another spell. If she'd been bolder, stronger, then maybe she would've handled everything better. ​

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney scoffed at Minnie's response, not wanting to let the topic go so easily now that she'd gotten her teeth into it. She and Minnie didn't get to talk much and the baffling nature of her relationship with Eric had been niggling at Sydney for awhile now. "I just don't get it," she said, moving to pace vaguely behind Minnie as she stayed focused on the dummy in front of her. "What do you see in him? I always thought you were smart but I guess having intelligence doesn't always mean you know what to do with it," she said, gesturing with her free hand, the other lingering near her wand. She doubted Minnie would jinx her, but Sydney knew one could never be too careful, especially considering who Minnie kept company with these days.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie frowned at Sydney's question, afterall what was there for her to get, she wasn't involved or anything. She looked at the girl and thought it was an odd way to describe attraction. "Intelligence and attraction aren't linked," she said, smart choices could lead to bad relationship and dumb choices to good ones. She didn't owe Sydney an answer to her questions, but she didn't feel ashamed for her relationship. "I see him for who he is, and he sees me the same. I never have to act like someone else around him, he accepts all parts of me even when I'm trying to get him to do his homework. Eric is more than his anger," Minnie said, she had a fond smile when she spoke of Eric. She knew they'd had problems, and she knew they likely would in the future, but whenever they fought she felt worse for it. "Why do you care anyway?" Minnie twirled her wand in her fingers, not doing more spells as she spoke with Sydney. ​

 

[Sydney Townsend]

"Clearly," Sydney said dryly, raising an eyebrow when Minnie mentioned attraction and intelligence weren't linked. No sane person would want to like Eric Holland if they had any say about the matter, she was sure. "No accounting for taste," Sydney said after Minnie's explanation, dismissing it almost the second she'd spoken it. Sydney knew Eric Holland, probably better than anyone else in this school and she knew he had another worth offering anyone. It was a shame to see someone like Minnie get so mixed into thinking anything otherwise. "I don't," she said simply, turning to check over one of the dummies for a moment before turning back around. "It just seems like a waste is all. Someone clever like you having to dumb yourself down for a troll who someone thought was a good idea to give a wand," she said, snorting slightly at her own description.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie opted to ignore what Sydney said about her taste, she couldn't help but think the same of Emily, who dated her but Minnie didn't care what people thought of her and Eric, she knew it wasn't the most likely couple perhaps, but no one knew him like she did. No one had understood how their relationship had developed like they had. She scoffed a little at Sydney saying she didn't care before continuing. A troll. "Eric's quite handsome," she replied with a little smile knowing that wasn't really the point but seeing no point in trying to argue with her. "Do you dumb yourself down for Emily?" Minnie asked. She liked Emily was friends ish with her, but she knew too that Sydney was a bit of a force and Emily was less. ​

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney didn't bother hiding her disgust at Minnie calling Eric handsome, scrunching up her face like she'd eaten something sour. "Keep telling yourself that," she said with a scoff. She bristled when Minnie brought up Emily though, turning to face Minnie properly, hand still on her wand. "Thankfully, I don't have to, that's rather the point of dating her," she snapped, annoyed that Minnie was getting a rise out of her when Sydney hadn't been able to while poking her about Eric. "But I guess you wouldn't understand all that and all. I feel sorry for you," she said, still trying to jab back in retaliation.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie gave a little roll of her eyes at Sydney's disgust, she didn't really care what Sydney thought of Eric or his face, or their relationship. They had nothing to do with each other. She didn't dumb herself down for Eric, she didn't need to, she didn't force Eric to her level either though she did always encourage him to do his homework, even if it would never work. "Thanks Sydney," she replied falsely clearly not meaning it but a hint of frustration that this wasn't just ending. "You know your girlfriend Emily is friends with Eric," Minnie replied a little sharply, she had to assume that Sydney knew about that, since Minnie knew Emily wasn't that hush about friends. ​