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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 15, 2008 12:53:55 GMT -5
Only a week into classes and Felicity couldn't believe all of her normal studying spots from the year before were taken by someone or other. The library spots she liked because they were cozy and comfortable were taken by people she didn't know, one of the rooms she liked on the seventh floor was taken by a couple she'd been embarrassed to walk in on, and the newspaper office just wasn't like it used to be now that it wasn't going at the time being.
So, while she'd had no intention what so ever to use the Prefect's Lounge, this was where Felicity found herself. It was quiet, spacious, the lighting was good, and there wasn't anyone else in there to distract her.
Without Charms as a class to hold her up, Felicity found a bit more time to study for the subjects she'd passed well enough to enter into their classes. However, she kind of wished she was taking the class, as much as she hated it. It was the one class she'd struggled most with and had been required a number of times to ask for Drew's help. Without the class and her inability to preform charms, she didn't really need to take up any of Drew's time in asking him for a lot of help. Transfiguration, for whatever reason, was an easy enough class and they didn't had Defense anymore, so she was a little bit stuck.
One more thing the lounge provided for was privacy.
Sitting on the floor, across from the jack-in-the-box her dad sent her the previous fall to help her work on her silencing charm, Felicity concentrated on the small toy. She wanted to be able to cast the spell correctly, hadn't done it even with Drew's help, but that was mostly due to him freaking out from it. After that, she hadn't bothered to bring the toy out near him to practice with it, she just found other things.
The toy was wound and Felicity listened to the haunting circus music it made, flicking her wand in the direction of the small wooden box, wanting to make it silent with magic.
((Connor))
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Connor Manning
Head Boy
Slytherin Seventh Year Quidditch Captain
something in the way
Posts: 737
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Post by Connor Manning on Apr 15, 2008 19:25:12 GMT -5
If it had been Connor’s decision the first week back would have been a little harder. Strange thing to wish upon ones self, but he actually found himself growing a little bored. Since the O.W.L.s exams were over and done with and all they had to look forward to were the N.E.W.T.s in two years, classes were breeze to him. He figured that eventually things would quicken in pace a little bit and perhaps be a bit more challenging, but so far things were going a bit slow for his liking. Indeed, though, he found no room to complain as he enjoyed getting back into the swing of things from the previous year. He had been surprised at how easy it had been for him.
Two days ago his family had all decided to write to him, probably making it a family thing. He had since then mulled over what to write but hadn’t actually decided. He had gotten two letters, one from his mother and father and another from his sister, along with a little side note from her boyfriend. Connor guessed that the guy was just trying to get in good with him, but he still didn’t like it too much. He was protective despite the fact that he was the younger sibling. Nonetheless, he decided it was about time to write back to all of the letters he had received. He emerged from his dorms to find the Slytherin Common room swarming with people, most of them younger. He instinctively checked to see if anything was broken before heading out into the dungeons to search for a spot to write back to his family.
The ground, first, second and third floors all had nothing to provide him and he was growing a little weary of climbing the stairs. He had to wait fifteen minutes for a staircase to come back from where it had moved to and decided enough was enough. Upon discovering he was on the fourth floor Connor decided to check out the Prefects Lounge. He had never been there before but thought now was as good a time as any.
Walking into the lounge with his parchment, quills and ink in hand Connor wasn’t too surprised to see it already occupied by someone. “ Hi, Felicity. “ He said with a light nod to the girl. Celina had talked about Connor meeting her best friend and he guessed now seemed to be the time.
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 16, 2008 0:27:15 GMT -5
Why wasn't the spell working still? There wasn't anything wrong with it, she was sure of it. Drew had done his own investigating of the toy, and it was sent by her dad. Even made by him. Her dad was muggle through and through and wouldn't put her in any danger, but she just couldn't understand charms. She'd passed the O.W.L. but hadn't gotten a high enough score to actually get into the class which was a bit upsetting especially with all the hard work Drew had put into her to work on the lessons she was supposed to have learned.
When the door opened, Felicity sat back against the wall, praying it wasn't the Slytherin boy entering, though she felt she'd be fine with anyone else. There was something Felicity just didn't like about him, that and he'd made fun of when she fell down the stairs that one time. And the comment he made about her bum after she'd told him he had nice shoes. But she was still uncertain what he'd meant by it, and Drew hadn't been a whole lot of help with that. He'd just asked her what she thought, if she knew what she thought, why would she have to ask his opinion on the matter?
However, the quiet voice and manner of the other Slytherin entered the room and the Gryffindor relaxed a little, but not much. She was almost as uncertain about Connor as she was about Damian. There had been very few times where she'd gotten to interact with the boy and he mostly seemed awfully nice, but History of Magic that one time had been something else. Though, Celina had been funny snapping back at him. On top of that, her best friend seemed to like him well enough, was constantly sitting by him in their classes and smiling and chatting away with him, so he couldn't be that bad.
"Hi Connor," Felicity greeted back with a friendly, yet cautious smile. Tucking her wand behind her on the floor, she hoped the toy wasn't too distracting, though with it's music, it was rather noticeable. "How are you? Enjoying being back from holidays?"
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Connor Manning
Head Boy
Slytherin Seventh Year Quidditch Captain
something in the way
Posts: 737
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Post by Connor Manning on Apr 16, 2008 18:14:55 GMT -5
Connor took a look around the room before his eyes settled back onto Felicity. He noticed she was holding her wand aloft in a manner that would tell him she was just performing a spell. From the jack-in-the-box in front of her, he assumed she was trying to do something to the toy. What, he didn’t know, but he supposed he would ask and find out eventually. He set his random bits of parchment, ink and quills on a small table that was a few feet away from the girl before turning back to her as she asked him a couple of questions.
He slid his hands into his pockets for lack of knowing what to do with them and gave a light shrug of his shoulders. Connor was glad to see a smile on the Gryffindor girl’s face, he didn’t want her to think of him as the jerk she had momentarily seen in History of Magic class last year. It had been one day, but it seemed to haunt him a little bit. He and Celina had cleared the air, both of them finding the situation a little funny looking back on it. He only hoped that Felicity could do the same, because if he was going to be spending more time around Celina, he didn’t want her best friend to think he was a creep or anything.
“ Oh, I’m good. Things have been a bit boring so far, I was just about to reply to some letters. How about you? Glad to be back? “ He asked her curiously, wondering if he should sit on the ground as well. Finally just deciding to, he sat himself down across from Felicity, questioning, “ What’re you up to? “
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 16, 2008 19:49:58 GMT -5
The simple act of him putting his hands in his pockets and shrugging reminded the young blonde of Drew a bit. He did that now and then when he felt awkward or just really had no idea what he was doing. Did Connor have any idea what he was doing? There were a number of areas in life that particular question could be aimed for, but really, did he know? Did he have a plan for after Hogwarts? Did he know anything about being a Prefect? Did he know what he was doing in the lounge, besides writing letters? What about with Celina? Did he understand the family she loved? Felicity had yet to understand them. Alfonz protect Celina as much, if not more so, than her father protected her. She'd only met the girl's mum once, but she seemed lovely. And Felicity knew next to nothing about her father.
Snapping back to what was at hand, Felicity tried to concentrate on Connor rather than the incessant noise maker she owned.
"I'm extremely glad to back here," Felicity grinned in response. She had to agree things were boring, but at least here her dad didn't keep her under watch at all times, she could actually spend a few moments alone with Drew, and she could actually see her best friend and Alexander. While she hated she'd been made Prefect, wanted to force it to be taken away, she was glad to be back.
But when he asked what she'd been doing, she froze. Felicity wasn't supposed to tell people how horrible she was at spell casting. It was hard keeping it secret she was mostly muggle-born, and it couldn't be kept secret forever as Connor was in her classes about her wandwork, but should she really make point in saying she couldn't correctly cast a simple spell?
"I was practicing," she answered. Felicity couldn't outright lie, he'd see right through it like everyone else. Why was she born to be such a horrible liar? She could omit the truth sometimes, but not blatantly lie. "Seeing if I could perform a charm I couldn't for the O.W.L."
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Connor Manning
Head Boy
Slytherin Seventh Year Quidditch Captain
something in the way
Posts: 737
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Post by Connor Manning on Apr 19, 2008 12:37:04 GMT -5
Connor looked down to the jack-in-the-box toy, thinking it looked rather intriguing. He pondered where she had gotten it from, and why she would decided to bring such a random thing with her to Hogwarts. Maybe she knew she was going to be practicing spells on the inanimate object? He could only guess.
The girl’s grin was pleasant, and he was glad that she didn’t hate him. He knew it would be stupid to think she would, but he had been pretty stupid in history class that one day. He never would have thought that the day would come back to haunt him. The event hadn’t been too big for him, he had a bad day. But he seemed to be pondering it lately. Why had he and Celina been so snippy with one another? While he had started the whole thing, she had continued it after all. He shook his head as he looked back over to Felicity just as she replied that she was glad to be back.
“ It is pretty nice being back. Good to see everyone again, too. “ He commented lightly. It had been good to see everyone, even people he didn’t talk to. It was just good to know everyone didn’t fall off the face of the earth.
As she paused, Connor took a second once again to look around the room. He hadn’t ever had time to stop by and look around before, but it was nice. A relaxing place, indeed. He was temporarily torn from his thoughts as Felicity answered his question rather simply. ‘ I was practicing. ‘ He gave a light nod, not having to ask what she was practicing. Spellwork, obviously. As she went on to explain a little more, he nodded again, this time more enthusiastically. Connor had done fairly well on his O.W.L.s, actually he had done a very good job. He studied hard for the grades he got, and was happy with the results. “ What spell? “ He questioned curiously, pulling his own wand out of his back pocket. Maybe he could be of help?
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 20, 2008 10:54:00 GMT -5
Nodding in agreement, Felicity was also excited to see everyone again. The only people from Hogwarts she knew and had seen during holidays were Drew, Charlie, and Hiro. Everyone else she'd seen were people she had no clue who they were, other than she could recognize their faces. When she'd run into her own House mate she felt awkward and ridiculous for not knowing who he was. To not even recognize someone who was supposed to be practically family, it was horrible. Again, she wondered how she could get Prefect when she didn't know anyone in her House.
Why did she have to continue? Felicity was supposed to be keeping it more of a secret that she wasn't extremely talented at wandwork. It was something Drew told her once before, something she'd been told by others after January. Keep quiet about her spell casting ability and keep quiet that she was muggle born. But it was Connor too. Sure he remembered some of her disasters from classes? While after January she was more apt to keep out of any form of spotlight in classes, she still hadn't done so well in Charms. Transfiguration was a whole other ballgame, and she'd done quiet well on her O.W.L. for that class, but she hadn't done well enough in Charms to continue with the class.
"I was trying to perform the silencing charm," Felicity answered with a small shrug. She'd been working on that particular charm since early October. It was the exact charm she'd gone to Drew with when she'd needed his help, and it was the exact day they'd made up after their first fight, too. "I'm not very good at Charms and I'm having trouble with this one. The day we tried this spell in Charms, I had trouble with it. But I went to my dad and asked if he could send me a noise-maker; so he made that little toy for me and I've been trying to perform it since."
He had to have noticed her accidents in the class the whole of the last year, so she wasn't really admitting anything new to him, right?
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Connor Manning
Head Boy
Slytherin Seventh Year Quidditch Captain
something in the way
Posts: 737
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Post by Connor Manning on Apr 20, 2008 14:56:39 GMT -5
Connor reached for his wand out of his pocket and twirled it around aimlessly as he sat talking with Felicity. As she mentioned that she was trying to perform the silencing charm, Connor nodded knowingly. That spell had given him some troubles at first, but he really found it easy to perform now.
Deciding to tell her, he reached up and brushed the hair out of his eyes before going on, “ Yeah, that spell used to be pretty troublesome at first. It gets easier, though. “ He offered encouragingly with a small smile to the Gryffindor. He briefly remembered last year in Charms class how Felicity had kind of geeked out during one of their lessons. Combat, he remembered it now. The lesson had been on magical combat and they were supposed to perform some simple disarming spells or something of the like.
“ Have you been practicing it a lot? “ He asked, wondering if this was the first time she had had another go at the spell. He couldn’t remember when they had learned the spell in charms. Some people just got it; others didn’t. He happened to be one of the people that charms just came to naturally. When it came to subjects like car of magical creatures and transfiguration, though, Connor had to work for the grades he got. He didn’t mind, though.
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 20, 2008 15:10:12 GMT -5
The smile he gave was kind of nice. It was the same smile Drew gave her when he was helping her to learn the spell. Encouragement and a little bit of knowing. Though, she wasn't sure how it could be any easier, or get there. She'd been trying since early October, and yet nothing had come of it really. At least now, though, the little toy wasn't going berserk anymore. At first, when she'd been trying the spell on the toy, the music only sped up and sounded more horrid than it all ready did, and things didn't help when she knew there'd be a little clown popping out. She wasn't a fan.
"As much as I can," she answered honestly. With the amount of spells they had to learn the previous year, and with her already being behind in classes because she hadn't really started any formal trainings until that year, she just couldn't keep up. Drew had helped her out a bit, but Charms wasn't working out well for her. Transfiguration she was fine in, and it pleased her that she hadn't ever had to ask Drew for help with that class, just Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts when they'd had it.
"I've been trying this spell since October, when we learned it." Was it odd to know when they'd learned the spell? She wasn't sure, but it was stuck in her mind because of events with Drew. "But it really isn't coming too easily. I mean, I can preform other spells all right, but this one just gives me some problems."
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Connor Manning
Head Boy
Slytherin Seventh Year Quidditch Captain
something in the way
Posts: 737
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Post by Connor Manning on Apr 20, 2008 21:44:57 GMT -5
Connor looked towards the jack in the box that was seated between the two sixth years as Felicity told him she had been practicing as much as she could. “ That’s good, I sometimes think repetition works best for spell casting. “ Constantly practicing and working on the spells was how Connor figured he had done so well on his Charms O.W.L. He had received an ‘ O ‘ and was very happy with the result. At the time of the exams, though, he had been pretty stressed out, thinking he hadn’t done so well on the questions part. It turned out to be otherwise, though.
They had learned the spell back in October? He didn’t question it because he felt certain that Felicity was sure of the month that they had learned it for whatever reason. It seemed like such a long time ago when really, it wasn’t. A few weeks shy of a year as a matter of fact. Connor was surprised that the time at Hogwarts seemed to be passing so quickly.
“ What d’you think it is about the spell that gives ya trouble? “ He asked curiously. Maybe Charms just wasn’t the girls thing? Just as Astronomy wasn’t his. Try as he might to see the constellations and determine what the stars were, he failed miserably.
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 20, 2008 22:47:10 GMT -5
Repetition and practice were what Drew constantly told her to do. Practice made perfect, and repetition didn't hurt. This made Felicity smile a bit more as she thought of how much Connor was starting to sound and act like Drew. Maybe all nice boys were like that though? It was possible, and it didn't hurt any, especially since Felicity really like Drew and if Connor had some of the same qualities, then she wouldn't have too much of a problem liking him either, right?
"I'm not really sure," she answered. "Drew's tried helping me with this spell a few times. I can say the charm fine, I've no problem in confidence," she snickered quietly, "and Drew's helped me out a number of times with the correct movements. I just don't really understand what's wrong. I used to think there was something wrong with my wand, but it does work. Some spells are stronger than others, and I do just fine in Transfiguration, but I'm horrible at Charms."
It was only then she realized how much information she'd just given. Would he care? Would he use it against her?
"It just doesn't work..." all she could do was hope.
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Connor Manning
Head Boy
Slytherin Seventh Year Quidditch Captain
something in the way
Posts: 737
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Post by Connor Manning on Apr 21, 2008 10:05:43 GMT -5
Connor had been about to suggest maybe something was faulty with her wand when the Gryffindor girl told him that she used to think the same thing, only she knew that couldn't be the problem. " Maybe it's because of the subject? A wand reflects that of it's user. " He was forced again to think that maybe charms just wasn't her forte. He didn't know if she would be offended by him telling her that, so he kept quiet for now on the subject. " So you have the incantation down and the movements down. Sounds like it's just piecing them together. " He offered, thinking that could be the problem.
Connor wondered about how many spells this happened to Felicity with. If it ' just didn't work ' than there must be something wrong. Finally speaking up about his former idea, he said, " Maybe charms just isn't your thing? " He hoped she wouldn't be offended by what he was getting at, but it wasn't a bad thing really. No one could be the greatest at everything. It would make things rather dull, and competition rather boring. Connor silently wondered why Felicity didn't go to Celina with her problem. Surely she could help? But then again, Drew was older than all of them so he would have had more experience. Plus it wasn't in Connor's place to meddle with Celina's and Felicity's friendship.
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 21, 2008 10:39:58 GMT -5
It was true, it was the subject overall that gave Felicity problems, not just the one spell. But she could still perform some charms without much problem, though, they were ones on a lower level than she should've been at. She figured part of the blame should come from the fact she hadn't ever had her own wand or practiced spellwork until the previous fall. Being home schooled and without the means to afford a wand meant she was able to use her mum's, but that didn't work out so well and after a year of trying, her mum laid off of the wand lessons and focused more on her own line of work, potion brewing and Herbology.
Piecing them together or just giving up on them altogether. Something had to eventually work out for her in the end. Though, some of the charms Drew helped her with, she got right off the bat, others, not so much.
When Connor suggested that Charms just might not be her "thing" Felicity started giggling. How many times had she actually thought that and then been told not to?
"I've said the same thing," she told him with a big smile. "But Drew doesn't like me talking that way. He figures since I can get some of the spells he teaches me pretty easily, that it can't be that hard to get the rest of them I think." It was just that it was hard to do some of them. For whatever reason, they just didn't want her to learn them. "Connor?" she continued with a small smile. "I know your in most of my classes with me," actually, she was pretty sure he was in all of them except maybe Muggle Studies, "but what classes are you best at? Or rather which do you like the most?"
A simple question with pure innocence attached. If Celina liked him so much, she really needed to try and be nice and like him too.
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Connor Manning
Head Boy
Slytherin Seventh Year Quidditch Captain
something in the way
Posts: 737
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Post by Connor Manning on Apr 21, 2008 16:45:46 GMT -5
Connor felt a little better now that he had told the girl what was on his mind. So what if charms wasn’t her thing? No big deal to the Slytherin. Maybe she was brilliant at Arithmancy, a class he had been shocked to have even achieved his O.W.L. in. Perhaps she was also doing very well in the classes he wasn’t taking such as muggle studies, runes or even divination. The Gryffindor didn’t strike him as a ‘ Divination ‘ type of person but he didn’t know her too well. Divination was a dodgy subject, guess work and make believe, or rather that was how Connor thought about it.
Her giggle placed a smile on his face as he thought that maybe he wasn’t doing too bad of a job? Making new friends was hard at times, but it was made easier by the fact that he was already friends with Celina. Felicity sort of came along with being friends with Celina, and he didn’t mind too much. The Gryffindor lass seemed nice.
Connor gave a light shrug as she mentioned Drew not liking her talk like that. “ Some people just don’t get it, it’s no big deal. At my old school I took Ancient Runes and failed miserably. It was actually kind of fun, but I just wasn’t any good. “ He chuckled at the memory of being asked to leave the class because he wasn’t good at it. At all. It was okay by him, though. It had been one of those classes that was a filler and it allowed him to focus on other things. He looked back up to her as she said his name and asked him a few questions. What class did he enjoy the most? He thought on it for a few seconds and answered, “ Actually charms is one of my favorite classes. “ He grinned slightly before going on, “ And I also like Herbology. I don’t think I’ll ever get into anything with a career in the field, but I think it’s interesting. “ Connor gave a small shrug.
“ What about you, what classes do you like best? “
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 22, 2008 16:38:04 GMT -5
So, Connor had been to another magical school? The only other school Felicity had ever been to was muggle school and she'd never taken Ancient Runes before. Looking at symbols didn't really appeal to the blonde, not that some of the other classes she was in really appealed to her either. Muggle Studies was easy enough because she grew up in a muggle world, but she figured it had to be hard to understand for those who were of magical descent. And if she had to look at symbols, she'd just rather learn another language while at it. There were a number of languages she wouldn't have minded learning in all reality.
Smiling lightly in response to him saying he liked Charms, Felicity wondered if he was teasing her, or if he was being truthful. She nodded when he said Herbology though, her mum loved the subject. She worked with plants for a side-job. Mum first, herbologist second.
"I like Care of Magical Creatures," Felicity answered. She was planning on stopping in and talking with Davenport soon about possible future careers in the subject. Drew wanted her to, and really, she thought it might be a good idea to do. After all, if she didn't know the research facilities in the U.K. and didn't want to be stuck at a boring job, nor too far from home, she should talk to someone who could help her out a bit. "And Potions, and Herbology. My mum taught me all about Herbology when I wasn't able to come here at first," the blonde admitted. "She works with plants and figured she might as well start teaching me as much as she could in subjects since mum and dad couldn't afford to let me come here at first."
Admission of the truth. Her family was poor, and while Hogwarts offered to help, her dad was too proud and scared to accept the offer. Besides, they needed Felicity around the house to help with her cousins.
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