Corrections & Companions PV Connie Dawson Closed

Once upon a time, Connie Dawson had quite liked History. Sure, all she remembered from school was something about Henry VIII having six wives, or that the Egyptians used to put your organs in jars when they wrapped you up as a mummy. That was before she'd found out she was a witch and she'd been bundled off to the world's weirdest school.

Now she was stuck learning about the history of magic, when she hadn't any idea that magic was a thing until a few months before. She'd only had a couple of lessons but they'd already turned her head into a messy, useless goop. If she had to hear about another Goblin rebellion or Wizard Treaty in her life, it'd be too soon.

No wonder she was sat sighing in the study room, staring at a half-empty parchment that just wouldn't fill up. This is a wizard school, can't I just magic my homework and get full marks? she wondered to herself but somehow, she knew that they'd probably closed that little loophole early.

Connie had barely noticed the girl that'd sat beside her, until she started speaking. She blinked and stared back at her parchment, finding the word straight away. "Oh geez... ugh..." she muttered, reaching over. Her quill scratched over the errant mis-spelling, messily writing the correct spelling above it.

"No no, it's fine, it's great, thank you!" Connie insisted, looking at the dark-haired girl who'd sat next to her. "Please, tell me more. You wanna write it too?" she asked playfully, giving a shrug and a bright grin. Unfortunately, as she did, her robe caught on the parchment and smeared her ink a little, leaving a lovely smudged trail after anerkey anarchy.

"Oh, crackers..." Connie muttered as she stared at her work. "Uh... well. They won't kill me over a smudge, right?" she asked the other girl, eyebrow raised. Then she realised they were meant to be in a study room, so she should probably be quiet.

"I'm Connie," she told the new girl in a hurried whisper, "how about you? Thanks for the spelling help."

Interacting with @Connie Dawson

Setting her book completely aside, Allie turned to face Connie more completely and gave her a smile. "I'm Allie," she replied. "And if you want, I can help with your essay. . . I finished mine a few days ago." She gave the girl a hesitant smile, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger again. It was a habit she couldn't seem to break, and she did it all the time. She had done it ever since she was a little girl, and she was still doing it now.

"What house are you in?" Allie asked Connie. "I'm Ravenclaw. I was so nervous when we were being sorted!" She knew the sorting had happened a few weeks ago, but it was the only topic she could think of. Waiting for the other girl's answer, she though for a moment, wondering if she could guess correctly what house she was in. Maybe. . . Hufflepuff? she thought. The girl seemed friendly enough. Or maybe Gryffindor? Allie was pretty sure it was one of those two. Connie didn't seem the type to be sorted into Slytherin, and she would have remembered seeing her if she was in Ravenclaw. Turning her attention back to Connie, she added, "You're in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor, right?"

Interacting with @Allie Lewis

Connie's smile grew wider and brighter as Allie introduced herself. "Seriously? Thanks, that'd help a lot!" Connie replied, huffing a little. Enough to make a curl of her hair flip and sway a little.
She noticed Allie playing with her hair, wondering if it was a nerves thing. She had a friend back home that did something similar. The comparison instantly made Connie warm to Allie some more.

"Good guess! Gryffindor here. Whatever that means. Something about being a lion." She understood the concept of school houses pretty well. Back in primary school she'd been in Eden house. But back there, it was only good for imaginary points and a special badge on your jumper. In Hogwarts, it meant a whole lot more. She'd picked up some of the differences from the Sorting Ceremony, the rest from the people she'd talked to in the Common Room.

"Ravenclaw, huh? No wonder you're correcting my spelling," she teased, winking at Allie as she turned her homework a little more towards her. "I'm just running out of things to write about these stupid rebellions. How many times can Goblins kick off about wands in one century? There's one every other day," she complained, a little too loudly, poking the heavy book she'd taken out from the Library.

"I miss when History was about the Pyramids and making Roman soldiers," Connie pouted, folding her arms a little in a mild defiance of the magical air around her. There was just a half-second of sadness in her then, toiling in her stomach, reminding her of the world she'd been taken from.

"Uh.. sorry. That was just like.. a little ignorant of me. I'm not normally like this, honest. Homework and me, we don't get on."

Allie smiled at Connie's excitement about getting help. Maybe not everyone here dislikes it when I correct them, she thought happily. She noticed Connie looking at the way she was twirling a strand of her hair around and her cheeks turned slightly pink. "Sorry, it's just a habit of mine. . ." she said. For some reason it calms me down." she shrugged.

"Good guess! Gryffindor here. Whatever that means. Something about being a lion." Allie laughed. She could tell Connie didn't know very much about the houses. . . Allie decided to explain a little.

"Basically, there were four people that founded Hogwarts: Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor, Salzar Slytherin, and Helga Hufflpuff. They all wanted to make the most amazing magic school for witches and wizards, so they did. Each of them founded their own house (I'm sure you can figure out who founded which) and they all respected certain skills and traits. These became the values of each of the houses. You probably already know this, but Gryffindors are the students that are brave and considerate. So that's the house you were in." She took a long breath after finishing the last sentence and looked up at Connie to see if she got it then shrugged. "That's the basics, at least."

"And to be honest, I'm not sure all Ravenclaws are as grammer- y as I am. . ." Giggling, Allie added, "Although that last sentence had a made up word in it, so maybe. . ." When Connie complained about not having much to write, Allie tilted her head and pulled another book out of her bag - a different one than the ones she'd had out earlier. "Do you want to look at this book?" She slid the book across the table so that it was closer to Connie. "It's written in a slightly different point of view, it was written by a Goblin. That might give you a bit more to write about," Allie suggested.

When Connie mentioned Pyramids and Roman Soldiers, Allie gave her a sideways look. "Are you muggle born?" Realizing that kind of sounded rude, she bit her lip. "I was raised by an all magical family, so it's always interesting for me to meet others that were raised differently. And it'd be completely fine if you were always like this, I don't mind." she amended.

Connie listened intently to the explanation of the houses, actually taking it in for a change.
It was certainly better than getting lectured about it by... well, a talking hat. Though it had whispered something to her about bravery... she thought. She couldn't possibly be sure, all that went through her head at the time was "O.M.G. it's a talking hat!!"

"Ah okay, I think I get you. Does that make Ravenclaw's brainboxes then?" she asked Allie, "or was Row-whatever Ravenclaw's biggest traits being helpful for homework?" There was a little teasing tone to her voice, barreling through the conversation with all the grace and poise of a charging bull. She took the book though with a happy smile.

"Honestly, you're a life-saver, thank you!" she said, cracking open the book.

"Are you muggle born?" came the question. Connie looked up from the book and nodded quickly. She didn't really get the rudeness from the question, she supposed that it'd get asked a lot.

"Yeah, what gave it away? You should have seen me a week ago, I was still walking round with my mouth hanging open at everything." She put her quill down and pulled her face, opening her mouth wide in a ridiculous imitation of someone in awe. "Didn't even know there were wizards and witches until earlier this year. Was all getting ready to go to secondary school then *bam*, this owl slams this letter through my window and I'm a witch." Connie shrugged and shook her head a bit. "My dad had a lot of interesting words to say about that. Short words." She looked back over at Allie with a smile.
"So you grew up with all this then? That must've been insane. What do your parents do? Are they like... in wizard jobs?" she asked quickly, before pausing for a second.

"Wait, what even are wizard jobs?"

Allie looked up from her explanations and smiled when she saw that Connie had been listening attentively. This was one of the things Allie liked about meeting muggle-borns, she got to explain a lot of things to them. . . which was clearly something she liked to do.

"Ah okay, I think I get you. Does that make Ravenclaw's brainboxes then?" she asked Allie, "or was Row-whatever Ravenclaw's biggest traits being helpful for homework?" Allie gave a small laugh.

"Yes, I guess you could call it that. . . Rowena Ravenclaw founded the house of wit, learning, and wisdom. It might just be me, but I like helping others out." Allie shrugged and smiled even wider when Connie took the book she had held out to her. Having used it multiple times for her own homework on the Goblin Rebellions and other stuff, she knew it would be helpful.

Connie didn't seem to mind that Allie had asked if she was muggle born, luckily. Instead she joked around about it, seeming to be having fun with how she told her story. Allie had to hide her laugh when the Gryffindor mimicked the way she had been looking at everything the first week of school because she didn't want to disturb others who were nearby."So you grew up with all this then? That must've been insane. What do your parents do? Are they like... in wizard jobs? Wait, what even are wizard jobs?" Allie nodded and launched into another explanation.

"Well, it wasn't very crazy for me, even in the beginning, because I grew up thinking that this was normal. And for the wizards and witches it is," she added quickly. "My parents do have wizarding jobs - well, one of them at least. My father's an Auror." Even before she looked at Connie's face, she knew that she would have to explain what an Auror was. "An Auror is someone who works for the Ministry of Magic, the "government of the magical community," Allie quoted from a book she had read when she was younger. "They are. . . basically the equal to Muggle police, but for Witches and Wizards. They go around catching the Dark Witches and Wizards that have escaped and stuff like that." Taking a breath, Allie paused and then said, "My mother just stays at home, and before I came to Hogwarts she would home school me and take care of me while my father was away." She stopped, lost in memory for a few seconds, then added, "There are a few other jobs, most of them are things that you do for the Ministry of Magic." Finally stopping, she turned back to Connie to see if the girl had been able to take it all in at once.