Screws Fall Out All The Time pv

Adlai bowed her head as Professor Boniface spoke to them.“I’m sorry professor.” She said as she folded her hands behind her, the extra fabric of her hijab falling over her shoulder. Never in her life had she gotten in any sort of trouble in school. If her parents heard about this she’d never hear the end of it and would surely be dead not long after she returns home for school break.

Adlai’s lack of attention wasn’t because of lack of interest, she really liked Herbology. Though how could Professor Boniface blame her? Being born and raised in a muggle family, how could she not lose her focus.

Ever since she arrived to Hogwarts she’s had so many questions but no one she thought they’d be appropriate to ask to, even if the administration stated they’d address any concerns students had.
Then again no one seemed terribly hesitant to ask her questions about the muggle world, especially personal questions about her life, most of those questions she wasn’t even sure how to answer.

With a heavy sigh she took note to find some way to keep her attention on the task at hand while in class. After all she didn’t want to end up being responsible for a accident in potions or transfiguration.
Goodness, if that happened she’d never forgive herself. Similar to now, she’d feel horribly guilty for the next couple of days.

• • •

Geez, what a mess this was. A little frown furrowed the young Gryffindor's brow, a pout on her lips. Her situation was no one's fault but her's, true. This didn't make her feel any better about it, though.

This would mark the last time Sylvie would avoid getting a good night's sleep. Falling asleep in class was NOT the way to go, which she soon found out. Having to stay after class was never fun. She didn't mind herbology. As a matter of fact, she did relatively well in the class and even he found some of the plants to be interesting. She had been so tired she couldn't focus on the lesson- or anything else, really. It disappointed her, that this had gotten her in trouble. Something so easily avoidable... Disappointment in yourself never failed to hit harder than any other.

The girl wasn't alone in the greenhouse, at least. It didn't justify her actions but it made her feel a teeny bit less embarrassed about the whole thing. Still, here she was, sitting in front of a professor for not following one of the most simple rules of the class. The least she could do was pay attention now, as the professor spoke to the small group.
"Um- Yes, Professor." She mumbled, looking away to the side as to avoid eye contact. It always had made her feel quite awkward. "Sorry..."

Professor MacTavish's eyes on her as he tsked made her shift uncomfortably from foot to foot. Yikes, she thought. Yikes was right. The girl tugged at the sleeves of her robes, quietly. Sylvie could only hope no house points would be taken because of this.

This was not how Asteria wanted to spend an afternoon. Yes, there was sunlight, yes, she knew that it was her own fault that she was here but still: not her ideal way of spending her time. Better to be curled up on a rock, actually outside, tossing rocks into the lake. But here she was, and there it was: that little nagging feeling in her gut that told her that this was her just punishment. Hands fumbling idly with her robe, she stared out the window, watching a formation of birds circle over the forest, letting Boniface's admonishment's wash over her. In a way, it was a perfect mirror of the situation that had landed her here in the first place.

Herbology was fine in her book: the more she kept away from the wand-waving nonsense, the better. But her tendency to space out, to start bird watching in the middle of class or simply stare off into the distance at no conceivable point had landed her in hot water, as she had forgotten to follow instructions and had mishandled plants. She knew the cost of inattention- potions was her favorite class after all, but she couldn't quite find it in her to drag herself back down to earth, either in class or at this very moment. Flying always comes with a fall, a fact she noted as she realized that yet again, she had not been fully listening to the Herbology professor.

A frown played at the corner of her mouth as she zoomed back into reality from her idle recollection, taking in the other students gathered (at least it wasn't an isolated incident, she thought, her faint frown twisting into a small smile), as well as Boniface's final, rhetorical question. What she wanted to say was that she would like to learn how to get this over and done with, but for once, her poor impulse control held up, preventing the casual barb from falling from her mouth. It wasn't her intent to be prickly, even when surrounded by briars and brambles, and the more her filter got under control, the better. So she bit her tongue, eyes watering slightly. 

"I- yeah. It would suck to not get anything from this. Um- sorry." It was a terrible apology, and she knew it, ducking her eyes to the ground, hands still fiddling with the hems of her sleeves. Still, it wasn't as if the other students were doing any better. The only way out of this would be through, and she was sure she could make something good of this. She had to. It wasn't how she wanted to spend this time, but wishes wouldn't bring back broken dishes.

Herbology sucks. Jack tried his best to sit as far away fron his professor as he possibly could. A rather unpleasant looking snear coated Jack Warren's expression as he leaned back in his seat. The boy was spoiled when it came to getting in trouble. With most of his hijinx and shenanigans, he was never caught. So it made him all the more sour that the time he did get in trouble was because he was flicking paper triangles across his desk.

The game was taught to him by some of his muggle classmates when he was still in a muggle primary school. The objective was to get the paper triangles as close to the desk's edge without going over. And Jack was so close to reaching his personal best amount of times of getting the paper on the tables edge! But It was safe to say that he did not reach that record before being called out, and that put him in an even worse mood.

As the boy continued to sit and stew, he finally realized that he actually wasn't alone in the room. It was kind of funny that he was so upset with getting caught he failed to even noticed the other kids that had been called to say behind with him. He recognized a few of the others, but he was still too annoyed for it to actually register in his head.

Finally Professor Boniface started to speak. Everybody knew the reason they were all here. That reason being that they had the misfortune of being caught not paying attention. Before he knew it, a single humorless 'ha' sounded from his closed mouth as he heard the professor mention not liking the class. He could say that again. Who honestly cared about stupid plants when you can make things float, or cause people to vomit slugs. There were so many better things the Hufflepuff could think of doing. As the apologies started to come from his fellow classmates, the boy only gave a 'hmm' of affirmation, and nothing more. He just wanted to leave.

Having to stay in Boniface's class was not particularly ideal, though what could she do? She began to fumble her hands as he began talking, causing her to roll her eyes back in annoyance. She knew why she was here, sitting in this dumb chair- listening to her professor ramble on about how she and the others weren't paying attention the first time he had given the lecture.

Boring, was it? Yes, extremely. Though as she glanced at the faces around the room, her face sort of lifted once she got a good look of everyone. The first that stuck out to her was one of the Hufflepuffs, with his facial expression irritated and grim. That was the boy she had an argument with in the Library! Oh how fun that was going to be. Perhaps a repeat would happen here?

Then her eyes flicked to another, a girl with the same robes as Jack. She was pretty, though she couldn't quite put a finger on her. Brielle realized she was the girl who saw her in the ballroom dancing, causing her to sort of shrink in her chair. It wasn't often that Brielle got embarrassed, though her dancing could certainly take her out.

The other few were names she couldn't seem to remember, so instead of racking her brain for connections; she turned her eyes back on Boniface and sighed. Loudly.

He wasn't surprised that some gave him an attitude. These were kids, after all. The young age of eleven where you are blessed with all the knowledge in the world and suddenly know everything! What an age to be. Meanwhile, at a stunning 32 years of age, Boniface apparently knew nothing at all. What a shocker that was.

"I was eleven once myself," He said, shaking his head. "I know ye must think I'm just old and dumb, but I know more than ye think. I especially know more than ye lot about herbology. Now, can any of ye tell me what Gillyweed actually does? Where to find it? What it looks like?" A chuckled escaped the man, and he positioned himself so that he was leaning back against a table. He watched them carefully, waiting to see if there was one in the lot that actually did know the answers to his questions.

He picked himself up and followed up with his previous series of questions before anyone else could answer. "This could save yer lives, ye know? I can teach ye about every plant in the book that could kill ye just as fast as another could save ye. Who knows, maybe one day, ye might need that knowledge and be thinkin', Merlin, I wish I had paid attention to Professor MacTavish. 'Nd ye're lucky I'm yer professor, too. One student told me that the professor before me was strict. I'm bein' generous by lettin' ye make up all the learnin' ye decided to miss." Shaking his head, Boniface paced in front of his chalkboard that he had positioned towards the front of the room.

“When Gillyweed is eaten it give the person gills which allows the person to breathe underwater. It also gives the person webbing between the fingers and toes which would allow them to swim faster, right?” Adlai said quietly after Professor MacTavish spoke. Though it seems as though she doesn’t pay attention she does have a decent grade in his class but only due to the fact that she studies every so often.

“As to on where to find it...the pacific sea?”
Adlai had never been good on remembering where things could be found but what she did remember was what things looked like. “And doesn’t it look like a bunch of slimy green rat tales?”
The image of someone eating a Gillyweed made her want to gage, how horrible would that be? Then again in a life or death situation she understand why someone would eat it.

People do many strange things when they are faced with death, as many are afraid of it. Adlai was to, for who would want to go when they believe they have so much left to do on this earth. For those who are not afraid, Adlai deems them as either very lonely or very free.

• • •

Sylvie watched the professor pace for a moment, before flicking her eyes back down to the floor, nodding slowly as the Hufflepuff girl spoke up about Gillyweed's properties. It may not have looked it- Sylvie didn't exactly front as your typical bookworm. The bandaids littering her body and old scratches on her face gave her a rough and tumble exterior... Which wasn't exactly untrue! Still, deep down she was a huge "NERD" as her friends liked to call her.

Out of the line of sight of others, she always buried her nose in some book, tome, or novel. Anything she could get her hands on for either personal reading or to help her study. This included books she'd find in the library on magical plants and other things such as that. Despite this, she wasn't about to go on a tirade about a plant that looked like green rat tails. Nobody had time for that. Not even her.

She twiddled her thumbs quietly, and when the girl finished, she spoke up in a soft voice, simply adding, "It grows in fresh water too, as well as salt. But the effects last longer if the plant was grown in salt water." Her eyes raised back up to Professor MacTavish after she had finished speaking.

Oh. She lowered her gaze even more. The other students here actually knew the material, could pull it out at a moment's notice. Stupid, stupid. She wanted to tear her hair out a little, the frustration of the whole situation and of her own incompetence at the things that mattered threatening to swallow her in one fell swoop. It shouldn't- didn't matter. And yet it did.

Classes and her had never gotten along. Sure, she could do, and liked the work most of the time, but the act of being in a seat, in a cramped space, made her want to run up a wall at all times. What she needed, what she was desperate for was a distraction. Not a way out, that was too easy and she knew that she deserved to be here, but still. There had to be a way to make the best of this situation, right?

Ignoring Boniface outright now, she leaned back in her seat, attempting to catch the eye of Jack, whose face on the outside reflected how she felt on the inside. He always seemed to have some sort of idea or plan. Maybe he would be a viable way to bring some mirth to this space. Wiggling her eyebrows at him, she was sure she looked strange. It was hard to convey Hey, how about we make this whole thing less boring? with minimal communication abilities. It was a long shot, but one that she would take.