Buried in History pv Percival Rocier

Percival sat near the back of the classroom, his quill spinning between his fingers as Professor Break continued his class. Something about ancient burial rituals, or maybe it was magical hieroglyphs this time... he wasn’t sure anymore. At this point, his parchment was filled with scribbles that barely made sense even to him.

He sighed and leaned forward as he read another page of his textbook. There was way too much information to remember. Names of ancient wizards, civilizations long gone, and then there was memorizing dates... he hated it. Magic was always exciting when it came to wands and spells, but this was just... a lot of reading.

When Professor Break finally dismissed the class, Percival let out a long sigh and leaned back in his chair. His quill slipped from his fingers and landed on his notes. “This is impossible,” he mumbled to himself. Maybe there was some kind of charm that helped with memorizing facts, and if there was, he was definitely going to look it up later.

But with class over, he started closing his books, still frowning down at the messy notes. Then, as the other students began to leave, his eyes wandered toward a girl sitting a few rows ahead. She was still writing what looked like perfectly organized notes.

Percival blinked, caught a little off guard. He hesitated for a moment before saying, “You… actually liked that?” It wasn’t teasing, just honest surprise from him. “I think my brain stopped working halfway through.” He offered her a sheepish smile as he stacked his books together.

@Geneva Bishop

As students began to pack up their things, Geneva was still trying to cram the last bit of information into her notes. The ancient writing systems Professor Break had mentioned sounded mysterious, and Geneva felt that the lecture had hardly done them justice. She resolved to look up cuneiform in the library as soon as possible.

By the time she finally finished writing, the class was half emptied of students. Instead of packing her books into her bag like all the others, Geneva pulled out her wand and whispered "Wingardium Leviosa." Her schoolbooks began to rise, and using her wand she slowly directed them into her bag. Was it unnecessary? Yes, perhaps. But Geneva jumped at any chance she had to use magic.

Picking up her treacherously heavy bag (someone really needed to invent a bag-lightening charm), she heard a student speak behind her. It took her a moment to register that he was talking to her. “You… actually liked that? I think my brain stopped working halfway through.” Well, who else would he be talking to? Geneva was probably the only student there who looked as if she'd enjoyed the lesson.

She turned to face the boy. His hair was dark, and stood up in odd places. (The word disheveled came to Geneva's mind, but it was too harsh. Just slightly messy.) His eyes were quite blue. All in all, he looked to Geneva much like her brother, Caleb. Finally, she responded, slightly indignant. "Yes, I did." After speaking, however, she reevaluated her tone. She didn't want to sound haughty. "I suppose it is a bit odd for me to like a subject that's all facts and dates," she said with a slight smile. "I just get so excited about the wizard version of history- it's like I'm re-learning the world through a new perspective." With a side glance at the boy, she added, "I don't suppose you're Muggle-born, are you? Either way, I'm Geneva. Call me Gen, Eva, Geneva, whatever you like. What's yours?"

@Percival Rocier

Percival’s face warmed a little when she turned toward him, mostly because he hadn’t expected her to actually answer, let alone smile about it. He shifted his books into a neater stack and returned the smile.

“I’m Percival,” he said in response, lifting a hand slightly in greeting. “Some people call me Percy too, so either is fine.”

He readied his bag with books after that, only to stop when she asked about his ancestry. “Oh no. Both of my parents are wizards,” he explained, though not with pride. It was just a simple fact to him. “So wizard history is… well, kind of the only version I ever learned.” He gave a small shrug. “I guess that’s why it doesn’t feel new to me. It’s just a lot of facts to keep in my head.”

He then paused and looked her over, noting how she had mentioned that this was like learning a new perspective for her.

“So you are Muggle-born then?” he asked before curiously tilting his head. “That must make lessons like these way more interesting. You get to compare everything to what you knew before.” He paused and thought about that for another moment. It must make everything more exciting, not just history.

His smile grew a little at that. It was nice hearing someone talk about a subject he usually dreaded as if it was something magical in a whole different way. “My favorite class is Defense Against the Dark Arts,” he said. “I want to become an auror one day, just like my Dad, so it's an important class to me." It often included learning spells too, which was fun regardless of the spell they had to master.

@Geneva Bishop

So, his name was Percival. Geneva glanced at him. He wasn’t quite… regal enough to be a Percival. Right then. He would be Percy. She held out her hand to shake. “Nice to meet you. You look like a Percy.” Maybe she was a bit too blunt. She hardly knew how she acted sometimes; her outward personality seemed to waver depending on the circumstances.

Her eyes brightened with interest when he told her he was wizard-born. It wasn’t as if wizard-born students were rare in this school, but Geneva still took every chance she could get to talk to one- ask them questions, learn more about their world. Growing up with magic just seemed so intriguing.

Once he’d finished speaking, she jumped in with “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s it like to be wizard-born? I mean, where did you go to school? Have you ever done any magic before Hogwarts? Did you ever have any contact with normal- with Muggles?” (Geneva was still trying to get used to that word.)

History was “just a lot of facts” to keep in his head. Geneva kept silent at this, not mentioning that history had never felt that way to her. She’d always loved learning about the mysteries of the past, even when they hadn’t been magical. But it wasn’t too important here. If he didn’t like it, that was fine. She didn’t need to say anything.

“Your dad’s an… auror?” She wracked her brains for where she’d read that word before. “They work at the ministry, right?” Defense Against the Dark Arts was certainly interesting, but Geneva didn’t see herself as coming into contact with it that much. “I like Defense, but I’d much rather study charms. They’re so useful!” Plus, it was thrilling whenever she got to use one.

@Percival Rocier