Devil's Radio PV Jess Malters Closed

The sound of Jess's footsteps was slow and soft against the stone floor of the Hogwarts corridor, her pace slowed as her eyes stared into the pages of a book rather than the space around her. The Hufflepuff knew the dangers of walking around without especially knowing where in the castle she was going, of course, but she figured that as long as she walked slowly and put the book down before she got to the staircases, which would have been dangerous to go on while reading even if they hadn't had a tendency to move right out from under her feet as she was about to step on them, she would fine. Besides, the Tales of Beedle the Bard were proving to be a very interesting read, and Jess felt far too guilty for checking this book out of the school library nearly two months ago and still not having finished it to abandon it now simply because something as unimportant as her personal safety existed. So, head stuck in place as her gaze trailed over the pages, eyes drinking in the tale of the Fountain of Fair Fortune, Jess's feet barely moved as she slowly, slowly made her way down the corridor, trying to pay as little attention to her surroundings as she could while still not getting in anyone's way.

It was because of this self-imposed stillness, perhaps, that Jess managed to linger in the same spot in that hallway for long enough to hear a familiar name thrown out into the wind. Well, the Hufflepuff's extended time in that area may actually have been caused more by the light coming from a torch mounted on the wall, attractive to Jess in the illumination it granted to the story that was so captivating to her mind, more so than her stilled step, but it didn't really matter. Regardless of the cause of her lingering, Jess ended up hearing the name that brought to her mind an image of a girl sobbing on the bathroom floor, overflowing all thoughts of Asha, Altheda, and Amata with the sudden rush of longing to talk to the other girl it brought: Anastasia Beckett.

Leaving one finger tucked safely between the pages to mark her spot, Jess softly closed the Tales of Beedle the Bard and allowed herself to tune in more to the conversation. As she listened, a small smile spread across the girl's face as she realized these students wanted to become friends with Anastasia. The Gryffindor may have acted as if her friends were really her worst possible enemies back when Jess had found her in the bathroom, but the younger girl still found that the thought of Anastasia surrounded by friends warmed her heart. The older girl may not agree with her, but everyone, especially kids, needed and deserved friends. With this pleasant thought in mind, Jess was about to move off down the corridor when she heard a new voice cut into the flow of conversation and paused to listen.

The overheard statement started off normal, but as it continued, a fist of anger wound its way tight into Jess's stomach. She whirled around, eyes narrowing in on a fellow Hufflepuff who she thought she recognized as a first year. As the girl finished speaking, Jess watched her walk away and slump against a nearby wall, nearly unable to make a move towards the girl for the rage quickly consuming her mind.

What the hell? Who was this girl to talk about Anastasia? To tell random people who she clearly didn't even know not to become friends with Anastasia? Did she even know the older girl? Based off what she said, probably not. So, then, why in the name of holy hell was she preaching to people she didn't know that someone else she had never even met was practically the devil? And to say that Anastasia was not just mean, not just scary, but that she was a murderess? And a murderess who had killed her own mother, no less? Again, what the actual hell?

Anastasia may not be the kindest person to ever have existed, perhaps even borderline rude from what Jess herself had experienced, but who didn't develop a sharp edge when they were walked in on crying? No, not even crying, but sobbing? Anastasia had been fully justified in not exhibiting perfect damn manners when talking to Jess then, and even as Jess had stayed, continuing to watch her cry, Anastasia had warmed up, let Jess give her a hug, and even thanked the first-year Hufflepuff. And then, when she had found Jess in the owlery, ready to send the letter home that would end her life in the magical world altogether, hadn't Anastasia been the one to stop her? Hadn't Anastasia comforted her? Hadn't Anastasia even given Jess a hug? This was clearly someone who loved and deserved to be loved, not someone who had murdered anyone, nevermind her own blood. This was not someone who should be left friendless and alone just because some asshole wanted to sound cool and spread rumors about her for absolutely no reason at all.

Snapping this new Hufflepuff prick into her mind as her designated enemy, Jess whirled on her heel and stalked towards her. The girl was still leaning against the wall, her eyes closed and her arms crossed over her chest as if nothing had happened. As if she hadn't just spread complete lies that could quite literally ruin someone's life. No wonder Anastasia had been so scared of Jess telling people about what she had seen, what with attention-seekers like this girl walking around the castle ready to exaggerate and exaggerate just to get somebody to look at them and give them that attention that they so desired. "Hey!" Jess called out, rage clear in her words and her voice a borderline yell.

"What the actual hell is wrong with you?"

Several other conversations caught her interest but none kept it long enough to keep her mind occupied and thus it quickly traveled back to the topic of death. Atlas, in her eleven years of life, had seen a good share of it. Not with her eyes, but with her mind through the pages of the countless novels that made up who she was. Her parents had categorized these deaths as fake telling Atlas to snap out of it when they would find her in the dead of night choking on sobs and clutching a book to her chest. They weren't wrong, Atlas had never seen real death and never wanted to. At least that's what she told herself, time after time again, desperately attempting to hide away the curiosity that always managed to crawl back into her thoughts. The curiosity that yearned to find out what it would feel like to have a loved one die. Atlas knew the aftermath would destroy her, wipe out every speck of self-love and dignity her guilt wouldn't have already taken care of. She knew if someone were to die it wouldn't be by her hand, at least not one Atlas could consciously control, but that wouldn't matter. Does the light actually leave their eyes? Atlas shoved the curiosity behind an imaginary door, making sure to turn the lock and throw away the key.

Despite the words that her parents spoke having some truth, every death she witnessed, no matter it being fictional, took a piece of Atlas with it. That's what happens when you connect with someone. When you adjust your personality to be more like theirs. When you begin to love them. When you becoming willing to offer the world in return for a single meeting, only to lose them. Atlas tucks every single one of these characters deep into her heart, into her soul, making sure to never forget them. She surrounds herself with thoughts of them when she's lonely. When the world seems to be covered in darkness Atlas reaches for these characters, her friends, like she would reach for a torch to be the light in this darkness.

Her eyes snapped open when she heard some student yell "Hey". The voice sounded furious and Atlas didn't want to stick around long enough for a confrontation to start. She was about to lean down and pick up her book, with the intent of continuing her path to the Hufflepuff dorms, when her eyes caught sight of a girl striding toward her with a deadly look in her eyes. The girl was coming from the same direction as the yell and confusion crossed her features as Atlas connected the dots. Was the girl addressing her? If yes, what possible reason could she have to look so furious? First of all, Atlas didn't recall ever meeting this girl and second Atlas couldn't think of any reason for some random person to be mad at her.

The girl was quickly closing in on her and if she were being honest, Atlas found the situation rather amusing. This girl was stalking toward her looking like she was about to explode out of anger while Atlas had absolutely no clue what she was even mad about. Part of her even hoped that she had really done something to offend her. Not because Atlas wanted to cause anyone pain, in fact, if she did hurt the girl Atlas would spend the next hour apologizing, but because her existence in Hogwarts had been extremely dull since day one, and being yelled at by someone definitely didn't categorize as dull. Surprisingly, this girl brightened Atlas's day after the horrible thoughts of Anastasia killing her mother, and her own vivid imagination had plagued it.

"What the actual hell is wrong with you?" Atlas assumed the girl was simply mad at someone that resembled herself and so her amusement grew. She knew it was mean to feed off of the anger of others but couldn't help herself. They would probably resolve the misunderstanding and maybe even become friends. "Why hello," Atlas answered, sounding entertained with the situation. The tone of her voice had slipped through but Atlas managed to contain the smile begging to break free in order to not seem rude. The girl was now closer to Atlas than she was before and if not for the livid expression she wore Atlas thought she seemed like a kind person. She was carrying a book in her hand, a finger holding her place in the story. It didn't look like one she owned and Atlas made a mental note to look for it the next time she visited Flourish and Blotts.

Due to the possibility that Atlas had actually done something to offend this girl her stomach fluttered with anxiety. What could she have possibly done to result in this much fury? Her amusement transformed into concern as she chose her words carefully. Atlas didn't want to sound indifferent to the situation and yet didn't want her words to be remorseful before she even knew the context behind this girl's anger. "Are you okay? What are you so mad about? I'm sorry if I did something wrong."

The girl sounded happy. Pleased with herself, even. As if she was some savoir that had just be oh-so courageous in telling all the other kids to fear Anastasia. Yeah, great damn job, asshole, you just spread blatant lies about someone who needs nothing but love right now! Hurrah! And her words, too, not just her tone, held not even a trace of remorse. "Why, hello?" Who even talked like that? No real people started conversations with "why" except for, like - Jess's mind scrambled to find a comparison through the wall of rage blocking off all reasonable thought - super duper old fancy proper people, and this girl definitely wasn't any of that. All she was was a leech, using other people's misery to expand her own social status as if the only thing that mattered was who knew her. And the rest of the people, that ones that she spread horrible rumors about? Well, who cared about them when she had herself to look out for?

"Pleased with yourself, are you?" Jess nearly snarled, her knuckles white as her grip strengthened around the book she was carrying. She watched the girl's eyes travel to this tome, now, and fought the urge to throw the thing straight at the Hufflepuff. She had just told somebody that Anastasia had just committed murder, of all horrid things, and what she was interested in now was a book? Jess's knuckles grew whiter.

Then, the girl spoke again. Jess's eyes bored into her, surprise shocking her into a few seconds of silence. Her mouth opened and closed again, unable to grasp words that would convey how angry she was. Her thoughts spiraling, going a minute a mile, as she stood, glaring at the girl, Jess clenched her jaw and allowed herself to think what she so dearly wished to say to the nuisance standing in front of her.

Do you seriously not even know what you did? Nothing... comes to mind? No, not a single damn thing that somebody might be mad about? Really, asshole? Not a one? Let me tell you, then.

People aren't always the nicest. They lie, they offend, they lash out. They hurt. And Anastasia, Anastasia is a perfect example of this. But it isn't her fault, see? She's hurting inside, so the only thing she can do, the only thing she thinks will ease that pain, at least momentarily, is to make others hurt, too. And the worst thing, for these people, for Anastasia, is to admit to someone else that they're hurt. They'd rather suffer alone, not telling any of their family member or friends about what's wrong or what's happening - the way that Anastasia did, at least when given the offer to have her friends brought to the bathroom for her. And when they do that, they protect their friends, in a way, but that means everything that they're feeling is left inside.

Their feelings can't be let out, so they stay inside their bodies, pressing against every corner of their minds and their heart and even their stomachs, making them physically sick, begging to be let out. Now, maybe Anastasia did open the chest where all her feelings are locked away a bit in that bathroom, but there was clearly something she was holding back. A really big, bad something, that undoubtedly will fight its way out of the chest eventually, whether or not Anastasia wants it to. And when it does, it will spill out of the chest and come out in ways that nobody, including her, may want.

So, yes, asshole, Anastasia isn't always the best of people, but you have to understand that it isn't her fault. Whatever it was that had her sobbing on the bathroom floor, something like that doesn't just go away after one quick conversation and a hug. It stays, for a real long time. Maybe she can even forget about it sometimes, but it's clear that it's too big of a problem for it to ever permanently exit her mind. Whatever it is, it'll always be there, pressing into her every thought and driving her insane even if she doesn't actively recognize it for what it is during every single second of every single day. So, you prick, it isn't her fault.

And some people just don't understand that. Now, I don't know if you do, or if you even care, but clearly, you put your own social status above it anyways. So, bear with me here, think this out. If people saw Anastasia explode because she was hurting, do you think they would take a moment to actually consider why she was acting the way she was? No. And if they saw that, do you think they would paint any other picture of Anastasia in their heads except for her as a savage or a horrible person? And if they had this thought in mind, don't you think they would create some funny little story to expand on that belief? If she can explode, then surely, she can kill her own mother, right? And, asshole, do you think other people who heard this story would doubt it? Or do you think it'd excite them, give them something interesting to think about? People don't often stop to think when there's a taste of adrenaline hanging in the air, you know. So, do you seriously, truly believe that whatever people are saying about Anastasia is true? And, most importantly, do you really think that it's a good idea to be spreading that around to people who clearly haven't heard it? Do you seriously not think that hearing you accuse Anastasia of that might make someone mad? For real?

Now, of course, Jess couldn't tell this girl basically any of that. Those thoughts were classified, holding vulnerable information about Anastasia as they did. It might feel good, great, even, to tell this asshole these thoughts, but Jess, unlike her, wasn't one to go blurting around information about people to random strangers she met in the hall. So, instead, she set her jaw and glared at the Hufflepuff, daring her to pretend to care again.

"You tell me. What do you think I could possibly, possibly-" sarcasm dripped from Jess's voice, "-be mad about?"

This was exactly the type of confrontation that Atlas was trying to avoid witnessing, much less being on the receiving end of. She stood there not really knowing what to say to the girl who was asking her to just magically figure out what a stranger was mad about. And why in the world would she be pleased with herself? They had only met a couple of seconds ago but Atlas already felt that the girl disliked her. Well, at the very least Atlas didn't particularly enjoy her company either.

It took a couple of very long seconds of silence for Atlas to realize that it wasn’t a rhetorical question and that the girl actually expected her to answer. Not wanting for these seconds to continue and wanting to get out of the situation as soon as possible Atlas began to ponder over what she could have done wrong.

Of course, the first thing that came to mind and probably the reason this girl was mad was the encounter she had with the three other first years during which she told them about Anastasia Beckett. Atlas was very sure that the girl in front of her wasn’t Anastasia. Firstly, if she were her, Atlas would probably be dead already for telling some kids that she killed her mother. Although technically, Atlas did make sure they knew it might not be true. Secondly, Atlas imagined that Anastasia looked a lot more intimidating than this girl did. Not that the girl in front of her wasn’t intimidating at all. She may have only been about three inches taller than Atlas but the tone she used when asking what she could have possibly been mad about made it seem like she towered over her. She could definitely be lethal with her words if she tried to be. If not for the wall behind her Atlas would have taken a step back. She just imagined Anastasia to be different, taller definitely and also different in the way she held herself. The right word to describe what she envisioned the mysterious yet so talked about individual to be like wouldn't come to mind.

The girl in front of her seemed furious but Atlas didn’t mean any harm by telling three students about the older witch, she simply wanted to let them know something they would have probably found out anyway. It wasn’t that big of a secret that people thought Anastasia killed her mother and it was even less of a secret that she overall wasn’t a nice human being. At the very least she was saving them from an encounter with someone that would probably make them feel like shit.

Memories of the malicious words her father used to throw at her reassured her that she made the right choice by telling the students about Anastasia. If she were really as mean as people said she was Atlas was glad her words might have put a stop to those kids trying to become her friends. Words can break hearts, shatter them, no matter if the words come from a stranger or from a loved one. Her fathers had shattered her heart. Of course, he wouldn't scorn her daily and he loved her, loved her so much, but the words still hurt. Whenever people would assure her that she was worth something the first thoughts that would come to mind were "How can I believe in myself, believe that I will ever become something, become anything, if my own dad doesn't?" Every couple of months or so William would sit her down, ask her a question about history or mathematics that he knew she couldn't answer. When she inevitably gave the wrong answer he would spend the next hour or so drilling into her how useless she was. He'd tell her that one only has so much time to become an intelligent human being, a human being with worth, before their memory got worse, their ability to learn perished, and that her time was running out as she stayed stupid. Tell her that no one wants to be friends with a mindless fool, no one wants to marry one, spend a life with one.

Later, he would apologize to her and tell her that he said what he said because he loves her and he wants her to grow up smart. She would believe him, be thankful even, that she has a father who worries about her intellect. The talk wouldn't get mentioned for the next couple of months, but knowing it was going to happen again Atlas either hid behind books or avoided her dad altogether. Because the words hurt. She felt like she wasn't enough for him, wasn't enough for her family, and reserved her father, in her eleven-year-old mind, as just a person who can be a little unkind at times. If Anastasia was as unkind as her dad can be she was glad the three students would most likely stay away.

On top of that, it’s not like Atlas threatened them with something or demanded that they don’t become friends with her. If she wasn't as cruel as people said, all three of them were still completely free to go and become friends with Anastasia. Maybe it could even grow into a beautiful friendship, maybe everyone was wrong about Anastasia. Atlas sure hoped they were.

Nonetheless, if this confrontation was about Anastasia then who was the girl in front of her and why was she here? From what Atlas had heard Anastasia was quite capable of taking care of herself maybe even more than capable so why was this girl trying to defend her? She was sure Anastasia didn’t need some type of vigilante running around the school and sticking up for her by getting into arguments with random first-year girls. She was probably going to tell Atlas to not talk about Anastasia or something like that and that would be the end of it, so why make such a big deal out of it? Atlas severely disliked people that made big deals out of things that simply weren’t.

Just as a precaution, Atlas decided to skim over her day and see if there was anything else she has done that could have ended her up in this situation. It hadn't been extremely eventful, just a usual Friday full of classes that she was immensely thankful were over. She had barely even spoken to anyone today, a couple of friends here and there but no long conversations. Concluding that the girl was mad about her Anastasia talk but still believing it really wasn't a big deal and if the girl truly believed it was she could just tell Anastasia who could stick up for herself, Atlas finally spoke. "I can't really think of a reason for you to be angry other than my chat about Anastasia Beckett. But you really have no right to be mad about that because from what I can tell you're not her."

With that being said, even if the girl was content with spending her time reprimanding students in corridors she could have done it in a much nicer way. There was no need for the harshness her voice had held, no need when she could achieve her goal while keeping her tone and her words kind. It was easy to assume what the girl's goal was, to make Atlas feel horrible about what she said. But Atlas wasn't going to let that happen, at least not yet, she knew if the girl continued to scorn her tears would most likely start to form. It wasn't hard to get Atlas to cry, even though she would never let it happen in public but instead rush to a bathroom or try to run to her dorm before letting the tears fall down. Despite this, Atlas was dead set on trying her best not to let this girl completely ruin her day. She still planned on going up to her dorm in a little bit and spending the rest of the day there. Maybe reading, maybe playing some game, but in order for that to happen her mood couldn't be ruined even more by some girl who thought she was a vigilante. All Atlas wanted was for the girl to leave her alone, and maybe make her words a little less harsh. In order for that to happen Atlas would have to speak to her again, there was sadly no way she could manifest her way out of this.

Growing a backbone, Atlas straightened out her shoulders, put on her best resting bitch face, and spoke again. "And there’s no need to be so rude about it, I was just telling them what I’ve heard. They would have probably found out either way." She was trying to explain to the girl that it really wasn't the end of the world while trying to reciprocate the same sarcasm that the girl's voice held. Maybe if she spoke with the same tone as hers the girl's rudeness wouldn't affect her as much, or better yet, the girl would leave.

Be that as it may, Atlas didn't want to upset her with her words. She didn't like the girl too much so far, but wouldn't want to cause her harm. A small amount of guilt, that always appeared when Atlas did or said something in a mean way, started to leak into her heart. Was my voice too sarcastic? Maybe I should apologize. The girl just needed to understand that Atlas meant no harm, that it really wasn't a life-changing event, and be on her way. Maybe an apology would make her see that Atlas isn't a bad person, that she never meant to hurt anyone by spreading the rumor. Ughh The word rumor has such a negative connotation so maybe it wasn't the right word to use. Was it accurate? Technically speaking what Atlas did is considered spreading a rumor. If she put it that way Atlas could kind of understand why the girl in front of her would be mad. But she did make sure they knew it was a rumor, that they knew it might not be true. It wasn't her fault if they believed it since Atlas had no control over what they did or did not believe.

God. Now it was starting to seem like she was making excuses. Not wanting to continue stressing over whether or not she did something wrong Atlas went through with the apology. "I'm sorry if I offended you though." Her resting bitch face was long gone as Atlas stuck out her hand before giving the girl her name. She really hoped she would get out of this conversation unharmed. Her eyes looked up at the girl's face before skimming over the floor to realize that her textbook was being stepped on by students walking from one place to another, some of them throwing curious glances at Atlas and the person in front of her. Atlas stuck out her foot, placing it on the cover of the textbook and moving "Hogwarts, A History" closer to the wall before her eyes moved back up to the other girl.

The girl took a rather long time to respond, as if she actually had to think long and hard about what could have possibly angered Jess. Was it really that difficult to figure out? The Hufflepuff had approached her immediately after she told a bunch of people that Anastasia was a murderess; to Jess, at least, it seemed plenty obvious what the cause of her rage was. It should have been obvious to anyone, really, so unless this girl had never in her entire life heard that rumors weren't meant to be spread, finding an answer should take exponentially less time than it actually had for her. Just as Jess was about to yell at her again, tired at playing this pointless waiting game, the girl spoke.

Well, that was certainly a response. Not a reasonable response. Or a sensical one. Or one that served at all to lessen Jess's anger or make her agree with the girl. If anything, the girl's nonchalant comment, calling her unwarranted statement a simple "chat" and making Jess out to be over escalating the situation only made the urge to hit something stronger. "No right to be mad? No right-” the Hufflepuff spat out. “You called my friend a murderess! Pray tell, what the hell else would I need to give me the ‘right’?” Seriously, how did this girl's mind work? Was Jess supposed to get some sort of permit in order to be mad? Should she have signed a contract that said she was allowed to feel anger at someone else's words? Was that the way the girl thought people's emotions worked?

Jess watched with incredulity as the other Hufflepuff stood up straighter and called her rude. Vaguely, Jess remembered the common image in cartoons where the characters, in their surprise at whatever was happening in that scene, would quite literally have their eyes shoot about a foot out of their faces. Well, Jess thought to herself, if this was a cartoon, her eyes would be at least at the end of the corridor by now. As it was, her body remained intact, though she hardly doubted that her shocked anger was painted quite clearly on her face. “Did you seriously just call me rude? Are you just trying to save yourself right now, or are you actually delusional? You just told people that someone you don’t know killed her own mother, yet I’m the one who’s acting ‘rude’!? I’m sorry, did you expect me to politely ask you what the hell you were doing?” Sarcasm was Jess's forte when it came to arguments, apparently.

Honestly, if this girl kept spewing out this bullshit, Jess's eyes might actually defy all laws of physics and chemistry and whatever else separated this world from that of cartoons. How could this girl say what she had, call Jess rude, and then apologize, all within the span of a couple of minutes? Did she have any sense of how conversations ran? Or arguments, for that matter? Not that this was an argument, per say, but Jess guessed it would soon become one if this girl continued to refuse to accept that what she had done had been horribly unjustified and wrong. And to apologize to Jess, too, when it had been Anastasia that she had spread the rumor about; that only showed that the girl cared about saving her own ass, trying to please Jess, not that she was actually sorry about what she had said.

Really, had she claimed that Jess had murdered her own mother, the Hufflepuff probably would have calmly come up to the girl and asked her to elaborate on the story, if only to laugh at it more thoroughly when the girl was done. Not too many people in the castle knew who Jess was, but the ones that did knew that she could never physically hurt anyone, especially not her own flesh and blood. Just looking at her, even if the students the girl had talked to didn't know Jess, anyone who heard the rumor would be able to tell that this was not someone who had anywhere near the capability to kill anyone. So, had the girl talked about Jess behind her back, her reaction would not have been anywhere near what it was now.

However, the girl had not talked about Jess. No, she had come up to a random group of people, people that wanted to befriend Anastasia, and had told them that the older Gryffindor had murdered her own mother. Now that, that was a different matter altogether. Anastasia hadn't been particularly the nicest to Jess when they had first met, but she had, or at least the Hufflepuff hoped she had, warmed up to her later. Most people, though, wouldn't have allowed Anastasia to get past that initial hostility, so Jess guessed that the general consensus around the castle regarding Anastasia was not exactly love and adoration. Meaning: If people heard such a horrid rumor about Anastasia, they might actually believe it. So, because Anastasia had a bit of a hard exterior, people like this girl could ruin her reputation and really her entire experience at Hogwarts just because they felt like it. And yet, the girl had gone right ahead and said what she said regardless, giving no thought to the damage it could cause.

Generally, Jess was careful with her words, wanting nothing less than to accidentally hurt her friends and be crushed by guilt afterwards. With this girl, though, that hesitation had gone out of the window as Jess's rage boiled over. For now, at least. “It’s not me you should be apologizing to!” she roared. “Do you seriously still not understand that!?”

The urge to smack the girl's hand away made itself known in Jess's mind, but she refused to resort to physical violence. Words would do, even if she had to keep spewing them out for the rest of the day. Classes were over and dinner wasn't for another couple of hours, anyway. Instead, Jess just stared at the girl, her annoyance at her only growing as she stepped on the book she had been holding earlier. Of course this girl didn't respect books, just as she clearly didn't respect other people.

Atlas was thoroughly baffled. Instead of dramatically rolling her eyes and walking away she slowly blinked a couple of times and raised her eyebrows, creating a look that she hoped expressed what she was feeling. The girl's words made it seem as if she was one of those people that whole-heartedly thought they were right and refused to even listen to the people on the opposing side. If she was trying to impress someone with what a good friend she could be or prove something to herself, Atlas was glad at least one of them was getting something out of the useless conversation. But if the point of this was to try and tell Atlas she did something wrong and to not do it again the girl was failing horribly because as soon she spoke again, claiming that she was the one in the right without even giving Atlas a chance to explain what had happened, every trace of remorse Atlas was starting to experience disappeared.

Giving up on hoping she would try to understand a different person's point of view Atlas attempted to spell it out for her. "Well, actually, I never called her a murderess. I just told them I’ve heard rumors. And Jesus Christ stop acting like they wouldn’t have heard them either way." She had probably just heard enough of the conversation to support the decision to confront a random student but not enough to actually know what happened. On top of that, did she really not know how rumors worked? Atlas would have to have heard about Anastasia from someone else before knowing the rumors so it was quite obvious that other people around the castle would be talking about it. The three students she talked to could have just as easily heard it from any other person. But the girl in front of her wasn't running from person to person asking them not to spread rumors about Anastasia. She wasn't even speaking to the three students and trying to make sure they don't believe the rumor. Instead, she decided to confront someone who had already told other people but go figures her God complex probably needed validation. There was no way she could get into an argument that she would win with the other three students seeing as they hadn’t said anything to anyone yet and had just been told the rumor, so logically she chooses to argue with someone else. She chooses to argue with Atlas, who can't really go and fix the issue but is someone the girl could probably win an argument against. Atlas was just the unlucky person this stupid vigilante chose to torture today for self-validation.

Apparently, denying that she was being rude was also a forte of hers. Was she being serious? Did she need the word rude defined to her? Because Atlas would gladly do so, even gift her a dictionary if it meant she could realize that she had indeed been rude. “You are being rude, you’re practically yelling at me, and for what? Because I spread a stupid rumor?" This girl really needed to face some real issues, ones that were actually a big deal.

According to her, first, there was something wrong with Atlas, then she was pleased with herself for absolutely no reason, and now she is both delusional and trying to save herself. From what exactly Atlas couldn't identify since Anastasia clearly wasn't going to be showing up. If the girl assumed Atlas was going to try and save herself from her, she was utterly incorrect. She might have been intimidating, but it would take more than petty sarcasm to get Atlas to back down now. If she was being honest, it wouldn't take much to get her to step away from the argument, an apology and goodbye from the girl in front of her would do it, but definitely not sarcasm.

What angered her even more, more than anything else regarding the situation were this girl's fucking double standards. “So you’re saying that Anastasia could be mean to everyone around her and you’re still going to defend her. But I did one wrong thing and you blow up at me?” Atlas asked, her voice barely remaining calm. It was no secret that Anastasia wasn’t a nice person, this Atlas was sure wasn’t just some petty rumor. Anastasia had hurt several people and yet this jerk had the audacity to stand there and protect someone who has caused repeated harm while claiming that Atlas causing nonexistent harm to the all mighty Anastasia was the end of the world. She hadn’t wanted to meet her before, simply on the basis of rumors but was open to her opinion of Anastasia changing. Now though, Atlas definitely didn’t want to get to know her. She wouldn’t want to know anyone with friends like the girl standing in front of her.

From an objective point of view, she seemed loyal and ready to stand up for her friends, but it was all a little bit too much. Especially since she would rather tell off a random person instead of actually solving the problem in an effective and civil way. If one of her friends decided to publicly defend her Atlas would be thankful, of course, but more embarrassed than thankful. She’d much rather her friends just let the problem go instead of causing such a scene over a stupid rumor.

Atlas wasn't even surprised when instead of accepting her apology, the girl decided to rudely throw it back into her face. So did she want her to apologize? Or did she not want her to apologize? It seemed that she did want her to apologize, but not to the person yelling in front of her. Instead, to someone who has no idea this confrontation is even happening and is somewhere else within the 414,000 square foot castle they were in. She had to admit that this girl's reasoning was superb. Atlas would just snap her fingers together and appear next to the girl in question and apologize. Easy.

Maybe it would actually be easy if she were in a higher year and had learned more complicated magic. But did this girl really expect her to find Anastasia? Did she herself at least know a spell or a way to find a person in a huge castle? “What do you want me to do? Go find Anastasia and apologize to her? How the hell am I supposed to do that?” she bit back. Atlas wouldn't be surprised if the girl turned out to be one of those spoiled purebloods that has known magic her whole life and walked around the castle like she owned the place. No wonder she was friends with Anastasia, Atlas had heard the older witch was a pure-blood as well.

Ruling that she didn't need to be polite if the girl wasn't going to be, Atlas rolled her eyes and took a deep breath. The argument had morphed into one less about right and wrong and more about her growing hatred for the girl. She wasn’t stupid or delusional contrary to what the waste of space in front of her thought. Atlas could understand where the girl was coming from, would probably have been just as angry if Anastasia had been her friend. But the girl had to at least try and understand where Atlas was coming from and why she did what she did instead of completely ignoring her points and sticking with her “I’m right, you’re wrong” default. Not only that but she had blatantly refused to shake her hand leading Atlas to start seriously debating whether or not she had some type of God complex that made her believe being angry excused her from having the common courtesy to shake a hand. Because how hard is it to shake a fucking hand? Atlas would once again gladly give her a tutorial, and this time a lesson on processing information while they were at it since what Atlas was saying seemed to go into one ear and out of the other.

Although she had just moved "Hogwarts, A History" closer to the wall people were already managing to step on it again. Sighing, Atlas squatted down and picking up the book while still looking up at the girl. She stood back up, her body leaning against the wall in the same position as before but this time a book was being hugged to her chest.