The Most Studious Scholar PV Finished

Amadea should have just kept her mouth shut and stopped talking. Then she wouldn't be in this mess. What it really a mess? Amadea wasn't sure. All she knew was that she didn't want to talk about the past. What had happened then stayed back there. Nothing she could do would change what happened in the past, and to be honest, compared to most bullying it wasn't even that bad. Why was she even thinking about it? She couldn't compare what had happened to her to what others experienced. 

Mia was still waiting for a response, and Amadea was still waiting for her brain to mix together what she was going to say. Finally she decided to just keep it simple. "There are some girls in London who are very privileged," Amadea said carefully. She didn't want to talk badly about them no matter what terrible things they had said about her. If she sunk to their level she would be just as bad as them and she wasn't about to do that. "Their notions about people who were different from them were not always correct," she said. "They showed that by being rude." She hoped she had explained it well enough for the other girl to understand. She didn't want this conversation to turn into a pity party so she refrained some talking about what exactly they did and said to her. 

She tried to think of something to say to change the topic. "Luckily that doesn't happen as much at Hogwarts," she said. "I really do love it here. Do you like it so far?" 

Mia ignored the last bit of her monologue and zoomed in on the first part. Now she was more sure that she knew Amadea.

Mia was also from London, at least from second grade on. She had seen her fair share of bullies, and even bullying, but had brushed it aside. Most people knew better than to mess with her. Messing with her was a death with. Literally. Mia's parents could sink someone's career in seconds flat. All it would take was a phone call and some tears.

She had only pulled that tool once. And she still felt bad. So she ignored the girl her age for the rest of the school year, only talking to her when needed to. But it wasn't completely unjustified. They had beaten her up and left her in the bathroom after she had busted them for cheating on the final. So Mia didn't feel as bad about it.

She was 100% sure that she fell in the privileged category. She had everything she asked for, and was blessed with brains that astounded her muggle teachers. She wasn't the it girl at school, but she didn't want to be, preferring close friendships and alienating others. She was quite content with the way things were.

So she turned to the girl with heavy lids, and asked her one burning question.

"It's quite nice here....Which school did you go to in London?"

Mia crossed her fingers under the table. Don't say the American School in London. Please. Don't.

Amadea inwardly cringed. School was rough for her, to say the least. Luckily, things were much better at Hogwarts, but she still shivered in the memories from the past. The girls at her school were ruthless and merciless, taunting her until she cried. Thinking about it now made Amadea angry, but mostly sad. She wished she had the confidence, then and now, to stand up to those bullies. She hoped that if something like that happened to her at Hogwarts, she would have the guts to do something about it instead of running away. 

If she remembered correctly, she remembered Mia mentioning something about living in London when she and Amadea were talking in the Leaky Cauldron. Amadea wondered if they had attended the same school. Amadea figured they would have been in completely different groups if they had been. If Amadea was any good at reading vibes, Mia's were prim and proper, as if she was holding herself to some standard even now. Amadea had no doubt that she had probably learned that from her upbringing. 

"I went to Dallington School until fourth grade," Amadea said. "After that, I was homeschooled." There were multiple reasons why her parents had pulled her out of Dallington, but the main reason was the bullying. All of the other girls attending were the snotty rich girls who snapped their fingers and got what they want. They had everything and if they didn't, they would ask for it and get it. Everything about Dallington screamed privileged. Amadea still wondered why her parents had even sent her there to begin with. 

Her family was definitely not the typical kind of family that sent their kids to fancy private schools. They lived in a modest apartment in the heart of London, not in one of those mansions that all of the other girls lived in. Her parents weren't rich by any means, in fact, they were solidly in the middle class. That was the main difference between her and the other girls, but more importantly the way they thought was different. The girls at her school were so used to getting everything they wanted and not having to work for it. They were used to having multiples of everything and being able to do whatever they want. When they saw how Amadea was different, they attacked. 

That was the most important reason Amadea was pulled out. That and the cost. Dallington, despite the rigorous academics, was expensive. Amadea learned plenty from her parents at home, without having to deal with the bullying. 

"What school did you go to?" she asked Mia, not saying any of her thoughts out loud. She really hoped Mia hadn't attended the same school as she had for those few years; if she had, she might know some of the girls that Amadea had loathed...and been loathed by. That was a part of her past that Amadea never wanted to relive. 

Mia mentally sighed. Thank god she had said Dallington and not The American School in London.

Mia knew that Dallington was, well, not the nicest place to be. Yes, the facilities were amazing and the kids addressed the teachers by their first names, but overall the school was not nice.

The kids were ruthless, and although well educated, complete and total pompous arses. Though Mia would never say that to any of them. There were some influential people at Dallington, and she was not about to piss them off. That was a death wish.

Smoothing her hair back, Mia remembered the ISST sports competition the year before the last. She was on the track, cross country, and swimming team. Her school came in first. Dallington came in second in everything but swimming. The Dallington kids were the ones that went around and pranked everyone that they lost to. Mia's hair was never the same shade again.

Mia wondered what Amadea's family was like. She wasn't pureblood-a wizard born witch, in fact-but that didn't mean that her parents weren't well off. She went to Dallington, after all.

Maybe they were poor. Maybe that was why she was homeschooled after fourth grade. So for one year. But she seemed well off enough, and could afford to buy all of her textbooks, which weren't cheap.

Mia snapped back to attention and looked at Amadea, cracking a smile.

"The American School in London. Say, why did you switch?"

Amadea debated what to tell Mia. She didn't like divulging her past to people, mostly because they ad a tendency to judge based on prior events rather than what was happening now. It annoyed Amadea, but from what she could tell, Mia wasn't the type of person that would do that.

Still, Amadea had to be careful. Mia seemed as though she was well cultured in London society and knew about her school. For all she knew, Mia could be best friends with the girls who had made Amadea's public schooling a living hell. 

Amadea had definitely heard of Mia's school before. Even at the young age she was when she attended the school, it was competing against the American School in London in almost everything. Sports, academics, you name it. She wondered how different it was from Dallington, if it was better or worse. 

She was still trying to think of what the correct thing to say to Mia was. She didn't want to talk about finances, as divulging that personal information wasn't something shared in normal conversation. She decided to keep it as simple as she could. "I mainly dropped out because of the atmosphere," she said. "It just wasn't a good learning environment for me. It was also very expensive and I could get a great education from my parents for way less money." Trying to keep her tone nonchalant, she added, "Do you know any of the Dallington girls?" 

So it was money. Mia flushed with shame for thinking that, and then focused back on what Amadea had said.

"Yes. I do."

Mia paused there and then tried to figure out what to say next. She wasn't best friends with any of the girls, but had flown out with a few of them to Hong Kong, where they participated in the CTY program there.

That experience had been fun, and she got to know them quite well. But then they lost touch, and now only ever communicated on Instagram or Snapchat when they felt like it.

Mia decided to tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Amadea deserved to know it, and if it turned out that these were the girls that had made her learning experience less than enjoyable, and the environment bad, then so it was.

"Do you know Kate Quinn and Scarlett Leigh? I went to Robotics camp with them in Hong Kong one year. It was a younger version of CTY."

Mia cringed at her tone of voice. She seemed...wierd. Just awkward. Like she didn't want to offend Amadea but also didn't give a damn. It was an unnatural combination that really screwed up her voice.

Amadea hoped she didn't sound as defensive as she felt at that moment. She didn't want Mia to think that her family was poor because they weren't! They were strictly middle class, which sure, might seem poor to any of the rich London families that attended Dallington, but compared to most of the world, Amadea was well off. 

Amadea snapped out of her makeshift reverie when she heard Mia say that yes, she did know some girls from Dallington. Immediately, Amadea felt a ton of relief settle over her as well as a bit of panic. She was glad she hadn't outright said anything about how rude the Dallington girls were. She could have risked being in a very awkward situation if Mia happened to be friends with the girls. She also began feeling panicked. She had pegged Mia as a nice person and was sure that she was, but Amadea didn't want to be friends with anyone who was friends with the Dallington girls. 

She stopped herself. She was getting ahead of herself. Maybe Mia only knew of the Dallington girls. Or, maybe she was friends with them. Amadea listened as Mia listed off two of the girls she knew. Kate Quinn and Scarlett Leigh. Amadea ran a mental check through her brain. If they were the same people, Kate Quinn had been the girl that Amadea had met on the first day of school. Amadea had thought she was nice, until she met Kate's friends. Scarlett Leigh, little miss Queen Bee, ruled the school. She hated Amadea from the start and made every day of Amadea's time at Dallington the worst seconds of her life. Kate herself had never personally done anything to hurt Amadea, but rather it was what she hadn't done that hurt so much. Amadea had thought Kate would be nice enough to stand up for her and tell Scarlett that what she was doing was wrong. Instead, she was a bystander, watching Amadea as she was tormented and taunted daily, not doing a thing about it. 

Amadea wondered what to say about them. She wasn't going to lie to Mia, but she also didn't want to tell the truth. "Oh," she began, still formulating her thoughts. She decided to just ask another question. "Yes, I do know them," she added quickly, answering Mia's question. "Are you friends with them?" 

Amadea quickly answered Mia's question, with a tone that led Mia to believe that she was concealing something. Something important.

Mia's brow furrowed. What should she tell Amadea? The truth was that they weren't friends anymore, but when they were at camp they were the best of friends.

It was them. The London trio that wen't everywhere together. Kate was the obvious follower, not exceptionally bright or funny. She would listen in on their conversations, nod her head, and laugh when either of them made a joke. She was...useful. Useful in a sense that they could manipulate her easily, though Mia didn't think of it as manipulating.

Scarlett was something else entirely. For one thing, she was as sharp as a needle, quick witted, and always ready to do something bold. She was rude, haughty, stuck up, and so on and so forth, always wanting everything to go her way. And when it didn't, well, Mia and Scarlett were always there to bully convince Kate into executing their thoughtful plan.

There was that one time when they were refused visiting rights-Mia and Scarlett had defied the teacher in class one too many times-and they convinced Kate that it would be a good idea to sneak into the teachers room while Mia and Scarlett talked to him and pour oil all over the floor.

And less than a week after that, an older boy had called Scarlett a bad word because she called him abrasive and ill-mannered, Mia hatched a plan to accuse him of cheating. It was Kate that was coerced to help carry it out.

It wasn't that Mia was mean. It was just that she was so much like Scarlett, and they shared common interests, that it would have been almost a sin to terminate her friendship because of the bad things about her.

And Kate? Well Kate just went along with everything. So Mia did too, making sure that she wasn't just a follower, but a clear leader too.

Clearing her throat, Mia looked at Amadea, ready to answer her question.

"We kind of lost touch, Kate, Scarlett and I, but I still text Scarlett and sing songs with her over facetime-do you know High School Musical? Like...

We're soaring, flying
There's not a star in heaven
That we can't reach
If we're trying
So, we're breaking free
You know the world can see us
In a way that's different than who we are"

Mia flushed. She didn't mean to belt a high school musical song in the middle of the study room, but there was something that compelled her to. Plus, she felt confident that Amadea wouldn't hold it against her.

"Like that."

From the sound of it, it seemed as though Mia had been quite good friends with Kate and Scarlett, which made Amadea feel much more depressed than it should have. It wasn't like Mia was going to start bullying her right here and right now and it wasn't like Kate or Scarlett could magically appear at Hogwarts. She reassured herself with those facts, trying to remain calm and not give anything away. 

She tried to picture it in her head. Scarlett and Mia jamming out to High School Musical, laughing and singing together. Amadea had to admit she was a bit surprised by Mia's surprise performance, but the girl did have a good voice, as well as good taste in songs. Still, at the back of her mind, Scarlett and Kate were still bugging her. She could vividly remember the days back at Dallington when Scarlett would sneer at her and call her poor and mock her for her looks. Kate would stand next to Scarlett, not saying anything, but reinforcing Scarlett's words with a nod of her head. It hurt. Amadea wasn't sure she could let it go that easily. 

She wondered what it would have been like if she had met them under different conditions. Mia didn't seem to be a terrible person like them, but maybe if Amadea had met her back in London during their schooling days, it would have been completely different. If she had met Kate and Scarlett at Hogwarts, she probably would have had a completely different view on them. She might have actually liked them. Immediately, she snapped herself back to reality. She couldn't get caught up in what could have been. She instead needed to focus on what was, and what would be. She couldn't focus on things that didn't happen, that just didn't make any sense. 

Sighing she tried to think of something to say. She was kind of tired of trying to hide her feelings about Kate and Scarlett, and after Mia's grand performance, Amadea felt as though she needed to reciprocate with something besides just an "oh cool you know them." 

She just really hoped Mia wouldn't say anything to Kate or Scarlett about what she was going to say next. "You have a nice singing voice," popped out of Amadea's mouth, unexpectedly. "You're a very well rounded musician." She cursed herself internally. Why was she rambling on about Mia's talents when she knew what she needed to say in her head? Finally she spoke again, this time her mouth forming the words her brain had intended.

"To be honest, I don't really like Scarlett and Kate," she said to Mia, hoping that she wasn't making a terrible mistake. "They were quite mean to me during my time at Dallington and that's another reason why I dropped out. They made the atmosphere terrible and I always dreaded going to school because I knew they were going to be there." She sighed, reliving her memories as she spoke about them. She was still desperately hoping Mia was different from them, that Mia wasn't like them. She was sure Scarlett and Kate had both changed from the time they were in school together, but Amadea still thought of them from back then. She really hoped Mia was different. 

"I'm sorry if I'm badmouthing your friends or something," Amadea added, trying to wrap up everything she was saying. "But...they made my life torture while I knew them, and I still kind of resent them for that. I know it's unfair," she added, trying to amend things. "I'm sure we all did a lot of changing from the time I interacted with them. But, that's just how I feel. And I'm not trying to make you hate them or anything, I just want you to know my opinions." She hoped what she said satisfied Mia and she wouldn't go off tattling on Amadea about what she had just said. 

Mia coughed into her hand. Had Amadea really been bullied by the pair?

She could imagine it. Of course she could. Scarlett could be vicious, especially when she found out that Mia was going to Hogwarts, and not her. She was being shipped away to Beauxbatons along with Kate. Then she had screamed at Mia saying things like "You took my spot!" or "Watch your back".

She had really wanted to go, and they kind of lost touch because of it, Scarlett still fuming whenever they saw each other.

Kate was a different story. She was accepted to both, being as bright as she was, but didn't accept Hogwarts and instead followed Scarlett.

Mia sighed and looked down at the wooden table. It was her choice, of course it was, just as Mia had gone to Hogwarts instead of staying at home with her tutor. But Kate should've gone with her, even if Mia wasn't extremely fond of the girl.

Mia looked at Amadea, realizing that the girl might not have known about Kate and Scarlett being magical. True, they both came from important families, but Amadea didn't seem like the type to try to memorize people's last names. Not like Mia.

Gulping, Mia refocused on what Amadea was saying.

"I'm sorry if I'm badmouthing your friends or something, but...they made my life torture while I knew them, and I still kind of resent them for that. I know it's unfair, and I'm sure we all did a lot of changing from the time I interacted with them. But, that's just how I feel. And I'm not trying to make you hate them or anything, I just want you to know my opinions."

Mia looked at Amadea with sympathetic eyes. She was so...articulate for an 11 year old, always getting everything done in a few sentences, all wrapped up like a Christmas present.

But what could she reply to that? Amadea hadn't been out right rude, calling her friends terrible people, but she obviously didn't like them.

"I'm sorry that you had such a bad experience with Scarlett and Kate. I know firsthand that they can be a bit..much. No. Scratch that. Outright rude. Especially Scarlett."

Mia's gaze turned symathetic.

They really suck for doing that to you. I've never been bullied, but if I was then I imagine I would have some resentment towards the perpetrators. I'm so glad that you can see both sides of the card.

Looking up slightly, Mia thought Sorry Scarlett and went back to the conversation.

I think Scarlett was jealous of you. Her parents...they were the first pure-blood couple to split in years. It was concealed by them quite well, but it still hurts her so much. I know that's not an excuse, but it's a why.