Wasting Time

[Stella Lagowski]

A full day had passed since Stella had read the critical muggle magazine article her Mom had sent her, and her anger had still yet to dissipate. It just wasn't fair. Why did she even have to go to Hogwarts? Stella scanned the ground around her, sizing up the rocks and stones which lay a few feet from the Hogwarts lake. She picked up a rock that was almost as big as her hand, and with all her might launched it down into the lake. The stone hit with such force that a spray of murky water showered her face. "Ugh!" Stella said aloud, becoming more furious by the second. She couldn't even let her anger out without it backfiring on her in some way. She marched back over to the pile of rocks, and directed a swift kick at a large boulder, but the only thing she achieved was a sprained ankle.

Stella sighed, sitting down on the rock she had kicked and burying her face in her arms. There was no way Stella could stand seven years of this. Seven years of feeling as though she wasn't as intelligent as everyone else. Seven years of not being able to talk to anyone about her feelings for risk of them gossiping. Seven years of turning matchboxes into small animals. What was the point? She wasn't ever going to need to know these things. Once she got home, she was going to go straight back to acting anyway. Hogwarts was such a waste of time.

All of a sudden, Stella felt the warmth of the sun disappear, and the brightness under her closed eyes darkened slightly. A shadow had fallen over her - that of another student or a Professor or something. "Go away," Stella said, deciding to take the chance that it wasn't a Professor. The last thing she needed was to have house points taken away from Hufflepuff. She had to keep her impression up somehow. Whoever it was, she didn't even want to see them, let alone speak to them, so she kept her face concealed and hoped they'd leave on their own accord.

 

[Valery Matthias]

Valery Matthias was looking forward having the day to himself, but instead of keeping to himself at the dorm, he ventured out of the castle and onto the lawns. He had been to the lawns a few times, and could not seem to stay away from them. With earphones in his ears and listening to a magical CD player, playing muggle music from the 1980s (he thought they were active bands today). Valery knew nothing of the muggle world, because of the way he was raised. He could not help it! He had a lot of learning to do. Especially about the muggle world. However, he did not want to really know anything there. Just the music. Could Valery really be blamed for what he was thinking? Probably not, due to how he was raised. He was sure that his family wondered how in the world he became so interested in music. No one else had that talent that he had. He looked around the lawns, before he made his way to the lakefront. He decided that music there would be awesome.

The Gryffindor walked onto the side of the lake, and noticed that there was a girl there. She was a first year, like him. He thought he could go say hi. He took out one of his earphones, and opened his mouth to say hi before she said something first. His blood ran cold and wondered if this girl had eyes on the back of her head. "I uh, I'm sorry. I don't know what I did wrong but I'm sorry." Valery let out a sigh and he put his other earphone in. This reminded him of what all he went through with his family. Valery lingered there for a moment, noticing that she concealed her face. She must not want to be bothered. He could honor that. Valery looked away from the girl and continued walking, humming a song from the 80s. It was a good song for him, and only picked up his spirits. He was optimistic about everything, and he hoped that the girl would cheer up soon, just as he would in time.​

 

[Stella Lagowski]

As Stella heard her acquaintance speak and start to wander away, Stella lifted her head from her arms. She thought for a moment, wondering whether the company would actually be nice after all. It was nice of him to honour her wish to be left alone, but she was actually pretty lonely, and he didn't seem too bad. It wasn't like she had to explain to the Gryffindor what it was that was bothering her. Stella was an actress, she could just make something up. "Wait!" Stella called guiltily, slightly louder than she would have normally since he appeared to have earphones in. Fortunately, there was nobody else nearby to overhear her, so she could shout without heads being turned. She wondered what he was doing down by the lake by himself. He looked like the kind of boy who would have plenty of friends to hang out with, so why wasn't he with them now? "I'm sorry, don't go," Stella said ruefully, standing up and closing the distance between them a little. "It's nothing personal or anything," She added, as if this wasn't painfully obvious already. She hadn't even seen his face yet, so how could it have been personal?

Stella thought quickly, wondering whether she should make up a quick explanation as to her rude introduction, or tell the truth with the important parts emitted. In the end, she opted for the latter. "It's just this place. It's a waste of time. I don't even like magic, so the whole thing's pointless," She said, kicking a nearby stone into the lake with a satisfying plop. She kicked another in, and another, pretending they were the heads of the Hogwarts Professors. Her dislike for them wasn't personal either, it was simply a bi product of her anger about the school itself. "So what are you doing down here?" She asked him, unable to contain her curiosity as another stone flew into the lake. That one was Professor King.

 

[Valery Matthias]

Valery hummed along to the song that he was listening to, mainly due to really getting into the music. However, he was sure that a girl saying "Wait" was not in the song. That made him take out one earphone, and looked around to see if someone was calling out. However, he noticed that the girl that told him to leave him alone was coming after him. She didn't look mad so he didn't take off running and screaming in horror. Although, he wanted to run in a way. Just not run away. Running and music made all troubles go away! She apologized and told him not to leave. Valery looked a little confused, before gave one short nod, "Okay." His red eyes even told how confused he was, but he did release a breath of relief when she said that it was not personal. That was good. He didn't want to have someone have something against him that he did not know about! Valery had to stop himself from humming again, since he did not want to interrupt what she could say to him. After all, he did not want to be a rude Gryffindor.

The girl explained that it was this place, and how she thought it was a waste of time. She didn't like magic. Valery now looked even more puzzled than before, if that were even possible. Valery's look of puzzlement finally changed to a gentle smile, "Why wouldn't someone like magic? You can make sparks, flowers, and all sorts of other stuff with it! Were you raised like a muggle to not know about magic?" Valery would likely never understand it, but he couldn't do anything about it either. Instead, he would gladly try to be an understanding person, and point out the good things. "I'm just walking along the shore of the lake, listening to music. It seemed like a fun idea, so I went along with what my brain suggested." He followed his brain more than anything. And, often, it led to amazing discoveries.​