To Cry over Spilled Ink PV Elijah Closed

”Oh no, n-not the first one... Charms is actually pretty fun and one of my favorites!”, he agreed with the boy. Charms class was probably the class he had the best average in. Except for that one A he got in the assignment his report card must only have Outstandings on it. ”I usually practice it outside or do the homework outside of the castle, because it is more boring inside-”

He liked being outside, he liked spending his time anywhere outside and the activity did not even matter that much as long as he was outside. Except for flying, he would rather take a dive in the murky water of the Great Lake than to fly. He could not wait to not having to go to the flying class anymore, because it was his least favorite. There was History of Magic of course, but that one was just boring. Flying however could kill him easily and the height just made the second year nauseous.

”You mean the homework from Miss Henley and Miss Seaborne? Yeah they were rather easy so it is not difficult to do them... I am more worried about other subjects, but that is not important!”, he added cheerfully before he continued to read over the other boy work. He smelled some food and looked up for a moment from checking through the other boys homework, shaking his head slightly.

”Don't worry, I would eat some chocolate frogs but I'm sure you would not want them smeared over your homework, Lijah” he said in an attempt of making a bad joke. The homework looked fine, perfect even and Alan had no doubt that the boy would get an outstanding for this one. D-Do you even need help with this? You seem to be doing fine without any help,” Alan smiled at him, making sure there was no damp ink so that it would not smudge before he placed it aside.

The other boy seemed nice, someone Alan could be friends with. Even if it still worried him that the other reacted kind of sensitive upon giving him a nickname. Alan wondered what that was about, but he would hope that Elijah and him could be good friends at one point.

In all honesty, Elijah had no idea what to make of the boy in front of him. His stuttering was irritating at best, a habit that he personally abhorred. Stuttering showed weakness but in this case, it was good. He knew from the stuttering that Alan either had a stutter (probably not, he seemed fine with most sentences) or he was lacking self-esteem, confidence, or was just nervous. That meant that he could be taken advantage of- having a weaker backbone, so to speak, meant that he would be reluctant to say no, to disagree. Even now, when he disagreed with Elijah's opinion on the homework, it was in a gentle and persuasive tone, rather than an argumentative one.

Really, at the rate that Hogwarts changed its teachers, it was quite likely that his own sister would be called upon to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts in a few months! Alan referenced the previous Charms professor, Violet Henley, who he really didn't get much of a chance to meet at all. Eating absent-mindedly while studying Alan with a lazily inquisitive gaze, he watched him read through his essay before proclaiming its perfection. Was that too grand of a word? Elijah reminded himself to keep his ego in check- it wouldn't do to be pompous and overbearing, would it? It was good enough, he decided mentally. Its quality had been approved of by someone who had already taken the class before him, and Elijah was satisfied.

"Thank you," Elijah said graciously in response to Alan's compliments. "But I just wanted to be sure that I was doing this assignment right. Thank you for taking the time to look it over." This part, at least, was genuine. No one was ever forced to help someone out, and regardless of who it was, Elijah had been raised to be polite, and to thank those who took the time to offer assistance to other people. Taking his essay back from Alan, he tucked it in his bag, glancing at Alan with a smile.

"I have to go," Elijah said apologetically, standing up and putting his things in his bag. "But it was nice meeting you! Really." Tucking his food containers into his bag as well, he extended his hand out for a parting handshake. "Hopefully we can do this again." Obviously, he really didn't want to 'do this again', but he knew it would be rude to leave without some reassurance that no, he didn't hate or dislike Alan. Well, of course, he was mildly annoyed by Alan, but it was vague enough yet reassuring enough at the same time that he hoped it would convince Alan that they were tentative friends.

𝚎𝚡𝚒𝚝 𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚓𝚊𝚑