A Distressing Read
Reducio
Word Count: 355
Mentions: @Ténébra Lowfa
Date: If Ténébra is okay with backdating, 24th September 2025? (Reasonably early in the year)
Dido stood in the furthest right aisle of the library, furiously muttering to herself as she pulled out book after book from the shelves. Why are they so long!? Dido thought to herself as she deposited another set of 1000 page books back onto the shelf. Suddenly, a bright purple book caught her eye. It was thin. Dido quickly took it out, grinning in anticipation. The book was called “The History of Wands”, which didn’t seem like a terribly inspiring read but its brevity would have to make up for it. Dido opened the book and, to her surprise, a small magnifying glass attached by a ribbon fell into her hands, dangling from the book. She stared at it for a moment before turning the page and immediately groaning. The words were miniscule.
Dido shoved the book back, carefully though because she had already been warned that “aggressively attacking the Addendum to “Aviaries and Argonauts” was atrocious” by a random fifth year and she did not want to be criticised again. She softly marched towards the seating area and threw herself into an armchair, curling up and grumpily pulling out “Magical Draughts and Potions” before flipping through the index in order to do her homework.
Admittedly, Dido was comfortable in the sitting-area, reading and copying down notes from her textbook into her homework but she was still angry. Back at home she had never felt as she did now: hating herself for her aversion to reading. When in the muggle world, learning had never had so many barriers. She could listen to audiobooks, find podcasts, even just ask either of her mothers to teach her something which, as academics, they were always willing to do. But now, in Hogwarts, which was supposed to be the beginning of her whole new world… she wasn’t just home-sick… she was actively disliking it. So she sighed, scowling at her book and snapped it shut before eventually pulling out her diary and she started to write. Angrily.
Last edited by Dido Bleaklane on 27 Mar 2026, 19:22, edited 1 time in total.
-Dido Bleaklane |
A Distressing Read
This morning I didn't know what to do to occupy myself... I still didn't know many people and I didn't have any friends. Then an idea came to me... My best friends since I was little had been books, so I got up and headed briskly towards the library. There's nothing better than reading when you don't know what to do, and besides, I needed to start learning a little about the magical world. I had grown up with my mother, who was a witch, but I didn't know much about this whole world that was still new to me.
I arrived at the library, entered silently so as not to disturb the readers, and began to look at each of the book titles. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a young girl angrily close a book and walk over to a table to start writing in a journal. "Poor thing, she must be feeling awful." I approached her and sat down opposite her.
"Tell me, is everything alright? You seem...angry..."
Maybe she would yell at me and tell me to leave her alone, or maybe she would agree to talk to me and explain what was going on. I much preferred the second option, and I could only hope that she preferred it too.
@Dido Bleaklane
A Distressing Read
Reducio
Word Count: 240
Interacting with: @Ténébra Lowfa
Dido glanced up when a girl with short black hair approached and sat down opposite her. She flashed a quick smile to the girl before returning to her writing, punctuating her sentence with a hostile stab into the paper.
To Dido’s embarrassment, the girl noticed her irritation, and she said, “Tell me, is everything alright? You seem...angry…” in a warm tone.
Dido looked up, mildly surprised, “Oh yeah… It’s fine don’t worry. I’m just being an idiot.” She folded her diary and rubbed her eyes, almost as if she was trying to avoid eye contact.
But Dido continued, “It’s just… I don’t get how you all do it!”, she gestured at the students around them, engrossed by their books.
“Like, I love the idea but… I don’t know… I guess there is a reason I’m not in Ravenclaw”, she finished drily with a short laugh.
As she stopped speaking, Dido glanced at the girl again with a concerned expression, hoping that her short outburst hadn’t alienated her. As she did, she realised that this girl might in fact be a Ravenclaw. In a slight panic, Dido swallowed and narrowed her eyes at the girl’s non-uniform clothes, trying to work out which house would be most likely to wear chains as a fashion statement. Not Hufflepuff, she assumed, I would have remembered that… And I don’t recognise her from Slytherin…
“You are a Gryffindor, right?” Dido asked, praying that her guess was correct.
-Dido Bleaklane |