𖤓 This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things 𖤓 PV Jade O'Reilly

| Mentioning: @Cassian Montelise Byrne | Date: Jan 20th 2025 |
| Dialogue: #407e58 | WC: 250 |

Jade was dutifully taking notes on the Professor’s lesson in her notebook, making sure to keep everything neat and organized. Despite having been at Hogwarts a full term, the novelty of attending the school had never quite worn off. Jade had gotten more used to it, certainly, but every day she was able to discover something new. It never ceased to amaze her how much she could learn simply by going about her day.

Charms class was one of Jade’s favorite classes here at Hogwarts - it was a fascinating blend of instruction and hands-on practice with magic. Jade loved trying out the new spells they learned, and she was eager to get to that part of the lesson. Still, she took good notes - the information was important, after all. It would help with her homework assignments, ensuring that she would get full marks, and she was sure it would be useful later on, at some point.

She hadn’t been able to quite hear what the Professor had been saying, since the students in the row in front of her had been chatting with each other. It was some kind of name, she thought, but she hadn’t been able to make it out clearly. Jade turned to the person sitting next to her, frowning slightly when she noticed he didn’t seem particularly engaged in class. He should pay more attention, she thought to herself. “Did you hear what the Professor was saying just now?” Jade asked. “I didn’t quite catch it.”

Despite his best efforts, Cassian was slowly beginning to realize that his fight to stay awake was a losing battle. It wasn’t his fault that an edition of one of his favorite magical sports magazines had been delivered the day before and he had stayed up way too late reading it, huddling under the covers with a precariously balanced candle. It was a miracle he hadn’t accidentally burned his dorm down, to be completely honest. That would have made for an awkward conversation with his dormmates, nevermind their own spats. Cassian rubbed his eyes hard, trying to force himself to stay upright in his seat at the same time.

It was one thing to be distracted and tired in class, and another to be falling asleep completely. He shuddered internally at the thought of being called out directly by the teacher. Terrible, terrible, nope, not going to happen ever. He hoped. Cassian had heard the horror stories of nightmare OWLs and NEWTs, where students who slept more than four hours a night were a minority rather than the majority. He had no doubt that he would be even sleepier come fifth year and he wasn’t much looking forward to it. He was a growing boy and needed his sleep, thank you very much. Cassian missed home, where he could sleep all morning and wake up at noon to have his first meal of the day and no one would bat an eye.

Cassian stared hard at the piece of paper in front of him, trying to force the words into focus. He had been supposed to be taking notes on it, but if he was honest, it had devolved into a sea of doodles under his quill. What could he say, he was particularly absentminded today. He wasn’t even completely sure of what the Professor had just said to the class. Oh well, he could just beg the notes off of one of his friends later. It wasn’t like he was failing the class and needed the extra help either.

A sudden voice came from the person sitting to his side, a girl that he hadn’t paid much attention to when he sat down. It was a question, one that Cassian found himself unable to answer. Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, he shrugged glibly. “I’m not sure,” he replied, “it’s not like it’s important anyways.” All classes were the same. If he really needed to check something, it was always in the textbook, and in the worst case scenario he could just go ask the Professor. Most of the lecturing was just to fill time and make sure students were paying attention.

Now, Cassian didn’t mind the genuflecting from Professors when he was in the mood to listen, but he definitely wasn’t today. Nor was he in the mood to help a random person who couldn’t even pay attention to a class they obviously cared about. If the girl was so concerned with Charms, she shouldn’t have taken a page out of Cassian’s book and missed the Professor’s words.

| Mentioning: @Cassian Montelise Byrne | Date: January 20th, 2025 |
| Dialogue: #407e58 | Word Count: 352 |

“I’m not sure. It’s not like it’s important anyways.”

Jade sighed softly in frustration at the boy’s response. Now she would have to figure out another way to get the missing information - which likely was important, despite what the boy had said. In her opinion, all the information presented in class was important to some extent. “Well, thanks, I suppose,” she replied, a bit of annoyance creeping into her tone.

Shaking her head softly, Jade resumed her note-taking, making a note in the margins of her notebook to figure out what she had missed after class. She would likely have to ask one of her friends, or ask the Professor. Admitting that she hadn’t been paying attention in class to the teacher seemed incredibly embarrassing, though, so Jade would probably just stick to asking her friends. I wouldn’t have to do that if this boy had simply decided to pay attention. The way he had answered her question made it sound like he had simply missed it, but Jade suspected he hadn’t been paying much attention in the first place. He was practically falling asleep!

I wonder if he’s even taking notes… Jade was tempted to look, but… No. That’d be rude. She took notes on the spell the Professor was discussing - they were moving into discussing practical applications now. … It’s not like he’d notice me looking, since he is basically asleep… Jade sighed, then discreetly glanced at the boy’s notes. She couldn’t see his entire paper, but what she could see of it was entirely covered in doodles. He’s not paying attention at all! To be fair, Jade did draw in the margins of her notes occasionally, but she still took notes. This boy wasn’t taking any.

Jade didn’t know why she cared that the boy wasn’t paying attention, but… he had been a bit rude in his reply. And he was getting in the way of her enjoying Charms class. What if… After a moment of silent deliberation, Jade discreetly poked the boy with her quill. “Pay attention,” she hissed. “You’re going to miss what the Professor is saying.”

Cassian flinched at the poke, the tip of the girl’s quill jabbing into his upper arm like a tiny, feathery vessel of its owner’s indignation. His head jerked up as if someone had doused him with cold water, and for a moment, he stared at her like he couldn’t quite believe she’d actually attacked him with a writing utensil. The nerve of some people, honestly. He chanced a glance at the crest emblazoned on her robes. A Ravenclaw, huh? They weren’t usually so bold, but it seemed as if he had found an exception to the rule.

“Oi,” he said under his breath indignantly, “did you just poke me?” He didn’t even know her, for the sake of Merlin’s baggy underpants. “I was paying attention,” he added quickly, voice annoyed. “Sort of. Multitasking.” He gestured indicatively towards the parchment in front of him, which contained several things, of which notes were certainly not one of them. A stick-figure wizard was mid-duel with what might have been a fire-breathing Hippogriff, there was a flying quill with fangs decorating the top right corner, and in the middle of it all was a breathtaking (not really) rendition of a unicorn with three horns carrying a trident in its mouth.

Cassian leaned back in his seat with a sigh, crossing his arms as he stared the girl down. “Anyways, it’s not like we’re sitting our OWLs tomorrow. I’ll pick it up when we start practicing — it’s not exactly advanced Arithmetic. You can read the theory twelve times and still blow your eyebrows off.” He glanced at her again, easily reading the judgment crossing her face. Great. One of those. He could practically see the meticulously color-coded notes and the painstakingly precise timetable in her book bag.

“What, you’ve never zoned out?” he asked sarcastically. “It’s a miracle that we have a sunny day at all, and they’ve got us locked in here learning wand movements. Bit criminal, if you ask me.”

Cassian shifted in his seat again, rubbing the back of his neck. The fight to stay awake had been real, but now that she’d jabbed him like an angry librarian, he didn’t really have a choice. He didn’t want to get prodded again.

Mentioning: @Cassian Montelise Byrne | Date: January 20th, 2025 | Dialogue: #407e58 | Word Count: 448

“Oi,” the boy exclaimed, “did you just poke me?” Jade didn’t answer that question — it was fairly obvious that she had poked him. (And that he likely deserved it, because she was very certain he wasn’t paying attention to class). “I was paying attention,” he continued, defensively. “Sort of. Multitasking.” He gestured to his paper, and Jade glanced over to see it covered with — doodles, it looked like. It was a bit hard to tell what they were supposed to be — she thought one of them could be a unicorn, but it had a few too many horns.

“That doesn’t look like notes to me,” Jade remarked under her breath. She wanted to say something more — something like, unless unicorns are somehow relevant to the lesson — but she didn’t want to sound mean. Yes, the boy was being terribly annoying, and rather disrespectful to the instructor with his lack of engagement, but that didn’t really warrant such snappy comebacks. Also, Jade didn’t want to get in trouble, and she had a feeling starting an argument — which her comment could have done — would probably make that happen.

“Anyways, it’s not like we’re sitting our OWLs tomorrow. I’ll pick it up when we start practicing — it’s not exactly advanced Arithmetic. You can read the theory twelve times and still blow your eyebrows off,” the boy continued.

“The theory is still important!” Jade snapped in a harsh whisper, the words flying out of her mouth before she even realized it. She hadn’t wanted to argue, but this boy clearly didn’t understand the importance of certain aspects of class. “Understanding the theory behind the spells is what helps you not blow your eyebrows off.” Seriously, how can he not get that? Frustratingly, the boy was right, at least a little. It was possible to still mess up spells after studying the theory. But it’s a lot less likely if you actually pay attention when the theory is being explained! Jade barely managed to prevent herself from saying that out loud.

The boy’s next comment irritated her even more, though. “What, you’ve never zoned out?” The question was so sarcastic, it sounded mocking. “It’s a miracle that we have a sunny day at all, and they’ve got us locked in here learning wand movements. Bit criminal, if you ask me.”

That definitely deserved a response. “The whole purpose of going to school here is to learn wand movements,” Jade said slowly, as if going slower would convince the boy that his opinion was completely ridiculous. “Not to play in the sunshine and sit about like you’re doing,” she snapped. “That’s what breaks, or off days, or even weekends are for! Not class time.”