✢ Naivety And Frustration ✢ Closed

Jack looked up, as most of his fellow classmates did, at the late entrance of the Hufflepuff girl. He wasn't quite sure what to make of her, and though he absently wondered what might have caused her tardiness, she didn't seem to think it necessary to provide a reason alongside her apology.

The Slytherin had just been resigning himself to forget about it when said girl came over and asked him if the seat beside him was taken. A crooked grin altered his features as he contemplated if she would have sat anywhere else if another seat had been open to her.

"It's not taken," he assured the Hufflepuff, pulling out the chair so she could put her books down and sit. They appeared to be almost falling out of her hands. "Go ahead." Sure, Jack may have preferred to work by himself, but there was no help for it now. This could have been an interesting oppertunity anyway, as he hadn't personally met too many other Hufflepuffs since his encounter with Stella Dawson.

Regarding her more closely, he noted that, similar to his dorm mates, the young lady's complexion was almost alarmingly pale. Jack took that to mean she didn't spend much time outdoors. Did she prefer to stay inside and read, then, as Selim did? Her platinum blonde hair was almost the exact opposite as Selim's raven-black, though.

The combination of her nearly-white skin and hair reminded the Slytherin boy of an albino. While lots of albinos had pink or red eyes, Jack knew that those with ocular albinism had light blue, and this girl's irises were so light in color that they looked more silver than blue.

Her eyes were rather large on her face, giving her a slightly more childish look than her peers in addition to her rounded face shape, short stature, and petite frame. Only her small, pointed nose and narrow jaw suggested otherwise. Well, aside from the mature way she carried herself and her careful mannerisms.

"Mind me asking why you were late?" he asked quietly, leaning toward her once she was settle in her seat so there was less chance of being overheard. "Not fond of Transfiguration or something? I thought Hufflepuffs were supposed to be hard workers." The playful smile on his face suggested the last comment was more of a tease rather than a beration.

Sorry I took so long to reply!
@Airlia Winter

[Font= Times New Roman]When Airlia sat down she smiled at her desk mate and thanked him. The boy looked at her as if he was trying to see into her very core and unravel all her mysteries. Like he was contemplating her very existence.

Airlia felt only slightly put off by it but reminded herself that any opportunity to make a new friend should be taken.

When the boy asked her why she'd been late her skin flushed, there was burning on her cheeks and she just knew she was blushing in embarrassment: "Oh, well I kept tripping on the stairs and I couldn't figure out why. Turns out I had been jinxed by some third graders and I had to ask a passing teacher to undo the spell. It was quite embarrassing actually."

She looked down at her book as she opened it, allowing her hair to fall over on the desk so it covered the side of her face so this boy wouldn't see her blush that much.

"And I don't hate transfiguration. I am not great at it but I work hard to get better. So I think Hufflepuffs are hard workers, they just need to be fed and given some time to sleep first though. And I missed breakfast because of the jinx." Airlia pouted. This morning had not been her best. In fact, it felt like she'd been cursed to have everything go wrong which was ironic since she'd been jinxed.

She kept her voice low so she wouldn't bother the class: "I'm Airlia. It's lovely to meet you. What's your name?" She offered her hand politely as she turned back to the boy, her blush gone and her happy attitude back in place.

Sh could turn this day around. Just wait and see. [/font]

At the sight of the pale girl turning pink with humiliation, Jack couldn't help smirking slightly in amusement. However, he seemed to admire her willingness to tell the truth despite her evident embarrassment. "Wow. And here I thought you'd make up some silly excuse," he admitted. "Thanks for being honest. Sounds like that could have happened to anyone. Glad you managed to figure out what was causing you to trip."

He recognized the girl's tactic to hide her face and had the grace not to comment on it, turning to his own book as if there was nothing more to see or say on the matter. Jack nodded in acknowledgment at the Hufflepuff's mention of her proficiency in Transfiguration, and then in agreement. Her remark about needing to be fed and given time to sleep earned a laugh from him.

"Yeah, I think food and sleep are pretty much a necessity for anyone to do anything. You seriously missed out on breakfast? That's terrible." He thought for a minute. "Too bad we haven't learned how to turn things into food yet in this class. Maybe afterward, you can head down to the kitchen and see if they'd have anything left over for you."

When the pale girl introduced herself as Airlia, the Slytherin hesitated a moment before accepting her offered hand to shake. "Jack," he answered simply. "Nice to meet you, too. Transfiguration's not my best or favorite subject by any means, either. Seems kind of messed up to me to want to change the very nature of a thing simply to suit one's needs." Jack frowned.

"Like turning a teacup into a rat? What's the point of that? I'd much rather learn something practical, like the Cleaning Charm. Or...well, there's got to be some transfiguration that's more useful than that, right?" He began to page through the contents of their textbook to see if he could find something to support his theory.

@Airlia Winter

[Font= Times New Roman]Airlia noted that the boy hadn't given her his last name. It was strange but she made a mental note to ask him later. Of course, she would forget, but still. Mental notes did work once every ten times or so.

Airlia chuckled at the boy's notion about the teacup into a rat spell. She agreed; it seemed wholly unnecessary and kind of stupid. Why would you want to have a rat unless it was a pet, and those aren't too expensive in the pet store either? It truly made no sense to her.

"I think vanishment and conjuring spells are the most useful in this class. I mean if a bear was running at me in the forest I would love to be able to just swipe my wand and make it disappear into thin air." She smiled, thinking about the bears in Finland. She'd met surprisingly many people in school that claimed to fear them, but it seemed silly for her.

Bears leave when they hear humans and won't attack one unless they truly feel threatened.

Children in Finland are taught from a young age that you don't have to fear bears in the forest unless you end up between a mother bear and its cub. Because then you are screwed. But it rarely happened.

In fact, there are only about three bear-related deaths in the world in a year. At that thought Airlia seized; she had no idea how she knew that and it made her giggle: "The mending charm is cool too. I can't wait to learn it. I'm tripping and breaking stuff all the time, even when I'm not under a hex."

Briefly, Airlia wondered how she remembered all those spells but shrugged it off with the thought that knowing the spells didn't mean she could actually learn them when the time came. In fact, she probably wouldn't. But it was nice to feel smart once in a while. [/font]

Jack, who preferred to be called by his last name than his first, would have normally given it. However, as he believed in an equal exchange of information and Airlia had only given her first name, the Slytherin had returned it with his own and nothing more. Besides, if she didn't know his last name, the less likely she was to recognize who he was. Jack had become somewhat alarmed at how quickly word had seemed to travel regarding his deeds and reputation.

Her comment on vanishing and conjuring spells caused his eyes to light up with interest. "Aren't they? I didn't see too much about them in our course syllabus, though. All I remember was something about flower-conjuring and that was a spell we learn in our second year. And then something about a snake-vanishing spell, but that's only in our Defense Against the Dark Arts class in our third year." He sighed. "Maybe I just haven't looked thoroughly enough yet, though. If you find anything like those, would you mind letting me know? I'll be sure to return the favor."

Airlia's comment on the mending charm caused Jack to blink at her in surprise. "'Mending Charm'?" he repeated. "You mean 'Reparo'? But isn't that one of the first charms we learn in Charm class??" Jack tilted his head at her. He might have thought it was just his class, but he was fairly certain that charm was one of the first in all their course syllabai - along with Tarantellegra for whatever reason. Had this girl simply forgotten?

@Airlia Winter

[Font= Times New Roman] Airlia nodded when the boy asked her help in finding the spells. Honestly, if she were to find the spell it would be by accident. She was quite horrid in research work. It had never been a specialty of hers.

She could get lost in her own common room, so shuffling through books really made her brain spin. The worst place for her was the library. It was a maze! At least to her...

For a moment she thought back to charms class. Her 'dumb' was showing once again when she just giggled: "Probably, I can never remember what we've learned and what we are yet to learn."

She smiled hopelessly: "But you can learn the spell to an enormous extent when you have the required skill and concentration. I mean fixing a broken mirror is one thing, but to put a completely trashed room together with one spell is an amazing accomplishment."

"To be completely honest, I am not too good with remembering spells. I just trust my gut to guide me if I ever get into a duel. There is one thing that I am sure about though. I am always the smartest person in the room when I am alone." She smiled with a stern look in her eyes. She believed her reasoning to be flawless and thought herself quite smart with that one.

Reducio

OOC: Sorry for taking a bit longer to respond! School stuff came up.

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At Airlia's confession about not being able to remember what they'd learned versus what they were going to learn, Jack gaped at her. "Wait, but...how do you pass any of your tests, then?" he wanted to know. "Or your classes for that matter?"

Lowering his voice conspiratorially, he leaned in to whisper, "You don't cheat, do you?" He understand maybe having trouble remembering dates or equations that might not have been of use in everyday life, but spells? Especially ones as simple and practical as the Mending Charm? How could she not have at least tried to memorize it?

"Wait, wait, wait," he insisted, putting up his palm as if to stop her as she went on about 'learning the spell to an enormous extent'. "How...do you know that if you don't even remember the actual spell in the first place? Like...what, do you just pull out your spell book whenever you need to repair something and follow the instructions as if learning it for the first time again?"

He didn't know whether to be more exasperated with the Hufflepuff girl or sorry for her. At least she knew her faults, he supposed, and she was right enough about being 'the smartest person in a room' when she was alone. He forced a weak laugh at that.

But how could she be so okay with that? Were her parents okay with it? Unless they were muggles like his were, he doubted it. But even if that were the case, what were they sending her to this prestigious school for if not to learn? And what good was learning if you couldn't retain the knowledge learned once you acquired it?

"...Trusting your gut is great and all," Jack told Airlia with an awkward smile, "But...have you maybe tried a memory charm or something? That really seems serious. Especially if you're supposed to be learning as a student at Hogwarts."

@Airlia Winter

[Font= Times New Roman]He'd asked her how she passed classes and Airlia fell silent. Her face moved into a thinking look just like from a kid's cartoon show as she thought... And wondered... And reflected on how she had passed classes and made it to second year.

She wasn't even really sure why she hadn't been kicked out of school yet. 'How do I pass classes...' She thought and scrunched her brows.

"I think it's... Sheer dumb luck." She smiled happily with a proud nod, feeling smart about coming up with an answer. "Trusting my gut does not feel safe for basic spells I just use it in duels. My gut just always feels hungry. And either way I have switched the place of someone's eye and nose too many times to keep winging it." She shrugged and thought back to all the spells she had royally fumbled. "And books have the recipes for spells. You wouldn't try cooking without a cookbook either would you?"

"And I don't cheat. Like you said I use my books when I need a spell or fix things the muggle way. I don't know much about the nonmagic folk and haven't really ever even met a muggle, but there is this muggle-born girl I am friends with and she brought me this sticky muggle substance called glue. It's quite magical you know." Airlia smiled and wished she hadn't poured all the glue thing to the Hufflepuff common room carpet. People had been furious at her. They got even madder when she cut out the contaminated area of the carpet and left a giant hole to the middle of it.

The glue had made her hands sticky for days but it was a lot of fun to have everything stick to her fingers. She had stopped dropping things for two days and it was great to finally not have to be cleaning shards and paper off the floor. "Maybe you are onto something with those memory charms."[/font]