Closed Studying in Advance

[Oscar Davies]

Oscar didn't mind being in the library when he didn't have to be in the library. It was a nice and quiet place to do some studying, and it actually smelled kind of nice there. And today he would be spending most of his time in the library too. While they did not have to study for the new semester just yet, the Ravenclaw liked to be on top of his studies if he could, and thus had decided that he would read up on certain classes he'd have the following semester. Having made himself comfortable at one of the tables, Oscar started reading the third chapter of a book they'd use for the Defence Against the Dark Arts class. It was interesting and a rather good read, even if it felt a little bit outdated.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett grabbed his books for the next semester before leaving the dorm and heading to the library. He grabbed The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, the Charms book, and A History of Magic, the History of Magic book, that would certainly keep him busy for a few hours.
When he arrived he noticed that there weren't many students there as it was the holiday break, so he had almost all the tables available yet he decided to sit in one that had a person there studying already. He carefully put down everything trying to be as quiet as he could so he did not disturb the other boy, Beckett would normally sit as far as he could from other people but since the library was so empty today he decided to sit down near someone so he wouldn't feel so lonely.
He took his seat and got ready for a few exciting hours emerged in History of Magic and Charms so he could absorb and learn as much as he could, he would be looking forward to these classes.

 

[Oscar Davies]

Oscar had just finished the first few pages of the chapter he was reading when, out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed that someone else had joined him at the table. Looking up to see who it was, he recognised the boy immediately as one of his roommates. Arguably one of the only one he actually liked - he didn't know him very well but just enough to know he liked him. He sat up and leaned over the table a little, glancing around first to see if the librarian was around before speaking - they were still in the library after all. ''Hi, Beckett, what are you reading?''

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett couldn't help but laugh inside his head about how cautious the boy was being, he only let out a smile. He looked up to see the other boy, that happened to be his roommate, questioning him.
Beckett didn't quite knew the other boy, he didn't knew a lot more than his name as he never really bonded with any roommate. "Hey Oscar" he answered in a whisper slightly smiling about how silly the whole situation looked "Charms and History of Magic books for class, and you?" he added looking at the book that he was reading.

 

[Oscar Davies]

''Same here,'' Oscar said, holding up his book to show it to the other boy. ''I'm reading up on Defence Against the Dark Arts in advance.'' He knew that reading up on whatever they'd be taught next semester wasn't something most of the first years would be thinking of at the moment, but luckily it seemed that Beckett was doing the same. Now that he was at Hogwarts, Oscar wanted to make sure that he was spending his time on things that were actually useful later on instead of running around and exploring a place they would most likely get to know very well either way. ''What do you think they'll have in store for us next, the professors? I'm hoping for something a little bit more exciting than what I've read in this book thus far'' He didn't see the point in this subject dealing on dangerous animals with another class called Care of Magical Creatures taught at the school, but didn't think that he was in his right to question things yet, as a first year.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett gave Oscar's question some thought before answering, he wasn't sure exactly what the professors had in store but he certainly could tell which subject would be more by the book. "Well, for History of Magic I don not think that the professor will stray too far from what's in the book. There is not much to tell either." he said, his slight british accent showing "For Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, I do believe those are more practical classes so we would not dwell a lot on the books. Except to know what we would be learning next" he concluded, happy with his extended and very well thought answer.
Three subjects next semester would be more than easy to keep up with, he honestly wished some more subjects were added to the semester to keep things fun and actually challenging. "So what have you been up to these holidays?" Beckett asked try to switch the topic, the truth is that he was no good at small talk, he wasn't good at socialising in general, except if the talk was about studying, or books, or an intellectual conversation.

 

[Oscar Davies]

Oscar listened and nodded at Beckett's answer, agreeing that the professor probably wouldn't stray too far from what was in their History of Magic textbook. The topics didn't seem that interesting, he'd already read about most of them, so couldn't help to hope that the professor would also go over stuff that was not in the textbook. He wouldn't mind learning about the mysterious Calamity of the 2010s for instance. ''I've mostly been reading in advance for everything we've got next semester. I want to be as prepared as possible,'' he told the other boy. ''I told my parents that I wanted to spend the holidays at the castle so I could read in the library, which they, luckily, didn't mind. What about you?'' It was a godsend that his parents were so understanding of his thirst for knowledge, as it was more than likely that he wouldn't have had much time to do his readings what with his siblings and all their questions about Hogwarts. ''I've seen you here before so I'm assuming you're doing the same?'' he asked.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett knew Oscar but he didn't trust him enough to open up like a book and tell him all his dirty secrets so he just nodded his head as an answer to his question on why he was at the castle and not at home. He wouldn't tell him that he wasn't home mostly because he had gotten used to being away from his parents, from their control, from their influence. He couldn't say he was a better person without them, he was still the same guy as they made him be, the same uptight kid he was, the same boy that took everything too serious and the same boy that prefers to have good grades to have a good meantal health or a social life.
"Yeah you know." he said "Even though I have a library at home this one is way bigger. I also do appreciate our little library in the common room, very practical if you ask me" he added. He wasn't very good at this whole social thing so he had no idea on how to change the subject of the conversation, maybe he'd have to read on that sometime, after all, books had never failed him.

 

[Oscar Davies]

Oscar nodded in agreement. He too liked the library in the common room very much, though it really was nothing compared to the library they were currently in. ''Have you been enjoying Christmas at the castle?'' the boy asked the other curiously. He knew he had been enjoying it a lot with all the holiday-themed meals and the general holiday-themed decorations put up by the professors. It kind of reminded him of home if home had a tree put up around every possible corner. It was fun though.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett turned a page of his book, even though he was talking to Oscar he was also glancing at the book from time to time, one thing this Tavenclaw boy excelled at was multitasking. Beckett just shrugged at Oscar's question "Never been much of a holidays person. I much rather enjoy the time we actually have classes" he said. Probably Oscar would find weird that an eleven year old didn't cared for Christmas but Beckett's family Christmas tradition was pretending it was just any other day and immerse themselves in books and knowledge, maybe to hide from the hurtful truth that their family was in wrecks that was more present in that time of the year. "What about you?" he said said smiling at the other boy, one thing Beckett had mastered over the years was how to hide his emotions.

 

[Oscar Davies]

Oscar quietly listened to Beckett, surprised to hear that the other boy would rather have classes right now. While he was all about learning things, he actually kind of glad that the holidays had arrived. He didn't think he could keep up with their current schedule without a break in between. He sat up straight when the question was returned to him. ''Oh, I really like Christmas!'' the Ravenclaw exclaimed happily, momentarily forgetting that they were sitting in the library. ''We usually spent the holidays with the entire family. It's... a house full but I really enjoy seeing everyone again. I don't think my parents really liked the idea of me staying at Hogwarts but they send all my Christmas presents to the castle, so that's nice. Oh, and I really liked dinner the other day, it was really good!'' For some reason talking about the holidays and Christmas made him all excited again.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett listened as the other boy described what Christmas was like in his family. Oscar and Beckett could not be more opposites. At his house there weren't really a lot of presents besides the ones that his sister gave him and the Christmas dinner was usually something very quiet between the four of them. Now that Katrina was gone there were only three at the table, an enormous table where everyone sit at least five feet apart in a cold marbled dinning room. It was usually quiet, like it was forbidden to talk or maybe the house was inhabited. The only thing that would break the silence was Katrina's facetime calls. Her face still sleepy and her dyed white hair a complete mess from waking up so early so she could catch him before he went to sleep.
He smiled at Oscar who was still talking and when he was done Beckett looked at him and gave him a shy smile "Must be nice" he said not really sure how to react since he had such a different Christmas. "What did you get?" he asked. For Beckett the perfect gift would be some type of rare books that would teach him how to do extremely complicated spells and potions but he was sure the boy had other tastes.

 

[Oscar Davies]

''I got several books on how to take care of certain flora. I was given a Venus flytrap before the start of the school year so my Dad also gave me a book with a bunch of information about the Dionaea muscipula in it.'' It was really useful information too. His flytrap had been acting up a little over the holidays, and with now wanting to ask his father for help with this, the book actually described perfectly what may be wrong with his plant. Which was a good thing because he did not want to let his father down by not being able to take care of his Venus flytrap. ''What about you? Did you get anything from your parents, too?'' Beckett didn't seem as excited about Christmas as he was, which made him wonder if he was celebrating it at all.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

"Oh you like plants?" he said so the boy knew that Beckett could keep up, even if the conversation had scientific names on it "I personally was never a huge fan of carnivore plants and if I had to choose a favourtie one it would probably be Sarracenia. Way more discreet, the Venus flytrap looks like it has teeth attached." he said laughing. Beckett found those intellectual conversations very stimulating.
"My parents are not really the giving type. Sometimes they even work during Christmas but it's fine" he said giving the other boy a smile. You know what they say, fake it till you make it, and Harringtons are masters at hiding their emotions.

 

[Oscar Davies]

Oscar nodded. ''I do, yeah.'' To say that he 'liked' plants was an understatement. Ever since his father let him help out with taking care of some of their plants at home, Oscar had come to love them. Magical or not. It really was a surprise why his father had never allowed him to tend after his own plant before the start of the school year. If he had to believe his mother, it was about making sure that he knew the responsibilities of looking after something, which he found odd. He laughed at the other boy's description of a Venus flytrap, and had to agree with him that a trumpet pitcher indeed looked a bit more discreet than a Venus flytrap. ''Wait, so you didn't get anything this Christmas?'' the Ravenclaw asked, surprised. He honestly felt kind of bad for Beckett for not receiving any presents.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett shaked his head no "I don't get anything for a few years now" he said with a dismissive laugh, he didn't need the other boy to feel bad for him so he decided to laugh to pretend that it was okay for him not to receive any gifts. "Don't worry about it" he said just in case the other boy felt the need to show some compassion.
Beckett never had Christmas like other families, his family wasn't like other families and he couldn't really miss what he didn't have so he was partially okay with not having Christmas but he also couldn't help but feel a little jealous of everybody since this seemed to be a special occasion where everyone was happier than usual and for him it was just another normal day.

 

[Oscar Davies]

Even with the reassurance that Beckett seemed to be fine with not having received any presents for a few years now, Oscar couldn't help but feel a little bad for him. He couldn't imagine people not celebrating Christmas with presents, so to hear that people celebrated the holidays without any was just wrong. ''Well, as long as you enjoy the holidays, I guess?'' the Ravenclaw said. Not wanting the conversation to end just yet because he liked talking to his roommate, Oscar decided to change the topic. ''Got anything else planned for the remainder of the break? Maybe we could study together?''

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett saw the hint of despair on the other boy's face, as if he wasn't at all jealous of Beckett. Usually everyone was jealous of him but this time he guessed Oscar was right on not being jealous. "Don't worry, before the semester starts I promise I will go to the Brightstone village and drink a cup of hot chocolate with peppermint and marshmallows" he said chuckling a bit, then he stopped himself for a second "That's not a UK thing right? You do have hot chocolate here too right?" he asked the other boy, maybe he was from around here and could tell him.
"Just studying yeah" he said to Oscar with a small smile "I'm sure we could do that. You'll find that I'm already ahead in basically every subject." he said, hopefully Oscar wouldn't take that as bragging.

 

[Oscar Davies]

Oscar smiled widely. ''Why go to Brightstone village alone when you can bring someone along with you?'' the boy offered, already somewhat excited to see the village for himself. He had read about the village and it honestly sounded quite interesting so much so that was willing to drop his homework for a day and visit the village in person. The fact that it countered the shops in the United Kingdom fascinated him. ''No, we've got hot cocoa here, too,'' he answered, though he wouldn't exactly drink that in December what with it getting quite hot here most of the time. He smiled again when Beckett agreed that they could continue to study together over the break. ''No worries, you'll find that I'm probably just as ahead of the subjects as you are,'' Oscar told him. There had been a reason why he had chosen to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays after all.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett could not help but be wrapped up in the excitement too but he wasn't about to show that, at least not much. He rolled his eyes at Oscar and smiled at him "Are you offering yourself to go with me?" he asked just to make sure.
The Ravenclaw boy looked at his fellow dorm mate giving him a look that he knew too well "I know what you are thinking. Too hot for hot chocolate" he said "I lived in the UK most of my life so December for me usually has cold" he added to make sure Oscar knew why he wanted to drink hot chocolate. Oscar had his tradition of trading presents and Beckett had his, drinking hot chocolate sitting in one of the leather couches of his favourite place, Dark Sugars, while reading.
Beckett looked at Oscar, who clearly was feeling cocky enough to say he was as ahead as the Beckett Harrington, and crinkled his nose. If he actually was the Beckett was underestimating these people and he would need to work twice as hard, he had a goal of being head boy and as much ad Oscar was...tolerable, he could not allow him to get in the way of his goal.