Lessons Learned and Enemies Made PV P. Barret Finished

@Persephone Barret

The Gryffindor's eyes fluttered delicately as she rolled them for what felt like the millionth time in this fairly short encounter. She had taken time out of her day that could have been spent studying, practicing her flying, or catching up on precious sleep to help this ungrateful, faded wench. The girl rather looked like all the color had been extracted from her, and her attempts at wit struck Ana as in line with this impression. There were many valid criticisms of Ana that could be made - as her parents made clear - but this girl had yet to strike any of them. She was failing blindly at some straw man, choosing her words based on stereotypes and rumors as opposed to the truths that Ana unknowingly exposed about herself.

Did she genuinely think herself to be superior to the blonde? That was a more complex question than one might anticipate. Her entire life was full of reminders that some people were simply better than others for reasons beyond their control such as birth, class, and education. There wasn't a moment with her parents that this belief failed to permeate. For Ana, the options were simple - declare her own superiority or wait for someone like her parents to deem her inferior. Given her prideful and stubborn nature, there wasn't a real choice to be made. She would choose to define herself rather than let someone else attempt to label her every time, even if her self imposed labels were less than accurate or even what she wanted. In her youthful pride, she failed to see the folly in defining herself as one thing to spite others.

Anastasia Beckett had to be better than others. That was the only possibility she had ever been allowed growing up, and it was the only possibility she was even remotely willing to consider. Her dark eyes were full of quiet hatred and calm fire as they met the other girl's. She didn't have to tolerate this. It wasn't a matter of pride, since the one that had anything to lose in this situation was Persephone. The Gryffindor offered a tight, falsely sweet smile in reply to the other girl's sarcasm. This had ceased to be even slightly amusing to the heiress, and she had better things to do with her time.

Amusedly, Ana placed two fingers on her temple and cocked her head faintly as she took in the girl's words. Once again, she swung wildly and missed. Ana was well aware of her own shortcomings, and she knew for a fact that she was probably a bit more self-absorbed than she ought to be. It was a fact of her life, and she had long ago accepted it. She also knew with complete certainty that she was anything but dumb. While she might be a bit impulsive and quick to anger, there was no way for a person to define the word such that it would accurately apply to her. "Oh, my, such language is certain to prove you correct," Ana said drily and uninterestedly. Considering she could swear strongly enough to make a sailor's ears bleed in five languages, she was hardly one to be scandalized at the use of curse words. That wasn't the point though. She of all people knew that swearing generally meant people didn't have much else to say and she wasn't going to sit here and tolerate it.

"Since I'm so fucking dumb, obviously you don't require my assistance in not failing Transfiguration," Ana said brightly, her eyes glittering dangerously the way they often did the moment before she hexed or slapped someone. Instead of actually attacking the girl, Ana stood gracefully and gathered her things. "To be fair, I'm not confident I would have done you much good anyway. Even someone as talented as me can't turn a dunce into a proper witch." With that, she turned with a very dramatic (and well-practiced) hair tossed and exited the room.

Exeunt Anastasia Blair Marie Katherine Alexandra Sophia Isabella Ann Beckett