The Most Studious Scholar PV Finished

The conversation had fallen into a lull and Amadea didn't know what to say next. The other girl had placed her hand on the music while replying. Amadea felt an urge to pull the music out from under her hand and hide it away forever. She didn't know why she had ever thought that sharing her music with others. Clearly, it should have just been something she kept to herself. When it was exposed to the world, it became tainted by what other people thought. 

Amadea wondered if the other girl had ever written any music. She wondered how long the other girl had been playing her instruments, how good she was at them. Amadea had a bad habit of comparing everything she did to what everyone else could do. It made her a perfectionist, if not a lunatic. Perfection was an illusion that Amadea could never seem to figure out. Obviously she knew that she couldn't be perfect at everything and trying to be that way would just end in a lot of disappointment, but some innate part of her always needed to be number one. Whenever she wasn't, she was severely disappointed in herself.

Of course, over the years, she had grown to change her mindset a bit. The courses at Hogwarts were rigorous and she didn't expect to always get Os. But when it came to the things she loved, it was harder for her to let it go that easily. Music was something she lived and breathed. It was her life. Being shown up in life took a toll on one's dignity. 

Amadea realized she was still lost in her thoughts and the conversation still was at a very awkward halt. She tried to think of anything she could possibly say to get the conversation going again but was at a loss. She decided to just ask the question she had been wondering. 

"Do you write music?" Amadea asked, trying to keep a neutral tone. She wasn't sure how she felt about the girl yet. She seemed nice in the Leaky Cauldron but Amadea wasn't sure if she had corrected the music out of kindness or just because she thought it wasn't good enough and Amadea was still trying to figure it out. 

Mia took her hand off of the music. The girl seemed tense, and Mia wanted to-oddly enough-comfort her. She seemed more uptight than Mia usually was, and that was saying something.

If you looked in the dictionary for the word "uptight", you would see Mia's picture. Which, admittedly, wan't that bad. But she was uptight. Even she admitted that. When people truly got to know her she was looser, more relaxed, but when she was there, interacting with acquaintances or strangers? She was a mess. A complete and utter mess.

"No. Not really."

Mia brushed her hair out of her face and looked at the girl cautiously. What she said next would be crucial to how things turned out. If she too was uptight then the conversation would go nowhere, and they would both sit in silence and read and study. Or in her case, write. That was a depressing thought.

Mia thought of ways to turn the conversation around. Maybe she could ask her something? Or re-introduce herself. That was a good plan. Then the girl would introduce herself again and then Mia would finally know what to call her.

"I don't think that I've mentioned this before, but I'm Mia Alexander."

Mia half smiled and looked at the ginger girl, waiting patiently for her reply.

Amadea watched the other girl as she responded. She tried to gauge the girl’s body language to read her emotions, but Amadea had never been good at that type of thing and the other girl seemed as though she was good at hiding her emotions. As the other girl answered Amadea’s question about writing music with a quick response, Amadea figured she shouldn’t press the subject judging by how closed her answer was. She hadn’t offered any details and Amadea wouldn’t pry.

Finally, thankfully, the girl reintroduced herself. If Amadea could guess, Mia probably didn’t remember Amadea’s name either. Once Mia had reintroduced herself, the rest of the memory came flooding back to Amadea from the day in the Leaky Cauldron.

She smiled at Mia, wondering if she should offer her hand to shake. Would that be weird? They had technically already been introduced and gone through the motions of introductions. Amadea decided against putting out her hand, one because Mia hadn’t offered her own hand and two because Amadea’s hands were sweating. A lot.

Realizing that Mia was still waiting for Amadea to respond, she quickly cleared her throat and responded. “I’m Amadea,” she said. “Amadea Campbell. It’s good to finally know your name,” she added with a laugh. She would no longer have to think of Mia as ‘that Slytherin she had met in the Leaky Cauldron.’

She hoped Mia had some interesting conversational points in mind to talk about because Amadea didn’t. Even though they had moved away from the topic of music, Amadea still had no idea where to segway into next. Or should they just stop talking and study? Did Mia want to talk to her? This was why Amadea didn’t like talking to people. It was just too complicated.

Mia laughed a throaty, awkward laugh. The girl had reintroduced herself, which was good, but now they were at another standstill. Welp. This was awkward.

Brushing her hair out of her face, Mia gazed at the small girl with a piercing gaze. Not kind, but not mean. She really was just thinking.

What should she say? There was the whole HOW IS LIFE AT HOGWARTS, but that was basic. And Mia was anything but basic.

She could ask about the girl's life before hogwarts. That was an option.

So, where did you live before Hogwarts?So, where did you live before Hogwarts?So, where did you live before Hogwarts?So, where did you live before Hogwarts?

Mia rehearsed saying this, going silently crazy. She really wanted to make a good impression, she was an Alexander after all, and being friends with this girl was key. She liked her music taste, and felt that the girl would be a good friend. One key question would save their attempt at a relationship. Just one. That would lead to another, and then maybe a conversation. A half-decent one.

"So wher-What social stigma does wizarding society need to get over?"

Before she knew it, the girl blurted out the question. It was not the intended question. Not at all. Though it wasn't a bad one, it was not a good one in this situation, talking with a girl she barely knew.

Mia could feel the waves of awkwardness radiating off of her and she flinched, drumming her fingers on the underside of the wooden table.

The least the girl could do was answer her question briefly and then go back to studying. But what Mia wanted her to do was laugh. It was so unexpected, but Mia wanted to know what the girl thought. She was an interesting character after all.

Amadea fought the urge to knit her eyebrows together and laugh out loud. She had expected Mia to say something that was more basic in conversation than asking about social stigmas. Maybe Mia was as awkward as Amadea in trying to make conversation, and Amadea would be the last person to judge her for it. 

Amadea thought about the question. She hadn't been immersed in the culture of the wizarding world until she came to Hogwarts since her parents were both Squibs and wanted to close out the world of magic. They led lives of normal Muggles, never talking or mentioning Hogwarts until Amadea received her letter. 

She wasn't sure how many social stigmas the wizarding community had, but Amadea could think of one that she definitely wanted to change. "Personally, I think they need to get over Muggle borns," she said. "Just because their parents aren't wizards doesn't mean that they can't have the same powers that anyone else would have." 

Amadea herself wasn't a Muggle born, but she often felt as though she was. Her parents was kept her very sheltered, and mentioned as little as possible about Hogwarts. Amadea had never suspected that she would turn out to have magical abilities. She had almost as little information about the wizarding world as any Muggle born witch or wizard would. Ever since she had arrived at Hogwarts, she had learned about the discrimination of Muggle borns and how people looked down upon them. It immediately angered Amadea, even though there wasn't much she could do about it. 

"What about you?" Amadea asked. She realized her question was quite vague. She could either be asking what Mia's stance on Muggle borns were or what social stigma Mia thought the wizarding world should get over. Amadea decided not to specify and let the other girl decide for herself which way to take the question. 

Mia refrained from facepalming. Though the girl gave an answer that was quite good, she still felt embarrassed. What was wrong with her? She was usually sly, cunning, and trustworthy in conversation. She never embarrassed her parents at social gatherings and went around making hideous small talk. After she would steal some chocolate and hide in the bathroom with Scott, giggling, but always out of earshot. Perfect little Mia.

On edge, Mia wondered about the girl's question. She could either be asking what Mia's stance on Muggle borns was, which was similar to the girl's but not quite as...forward. Or what social stigma she thought the wizarding world had to get over.

Mia decided to answer the latter. She did have a good answer, or a decent one, that was quite controversial.

"Personally, I believe that the primary social stigma that wizarding society needs to get over is the stigmatization of were wolves. They're just people y'know? The process of discrediting people who experience periodic episodes of madness-not even madness, just symptoms, they occur infrequently and can be managed with treatment, is the major hallmark of the stigma process. My parents had a professor named Remus Lupin. He was banished from the school when his secret was discovered-that he was a werewolf. It wasn't fair. The school gave no other reason for firing him, and they didn't need to. He posed no danger, as he was taking a potion at the time. But he was fired."

Mia drew in a breath. She had rambled on, which was unusual for her, but she just drew in a breath. She didn't feel like apologizing. Amadea was sure-was fine with it. Or partially fine. She didn't seem like the typical Hufflepuff, but she wasn't the judgy type either. Actually she was a mystery to Mia. A mystery that she was determined to crack. Crack and make her friend.

Amadea listened to Mia talk about the werewolf stigma. It was interesting that she had chosen to go in that direction rather than answer about her stance on Muggle borns. Amadea began wondering what Mia's history was like. Was she Pureblood or Muggle born? Based on how she had decided to answer with her own stigma, Amadea guessed she was Pureblood. 

Amadea had never really taken a second thought about the whole werewolf dilemma. She still wasn't quite sure what a werewolf was, to be honest. She had read the stories and read other informational books about them but she had never encountered one that she knew of. Now that Mia was explaining it, though, it made a lot of sense to Amadea. Every world, not just the wizarding, discriminated against different groups of people simply because they were different. It angered Amadea that this happened, but there wasn't much she could do about it except accept those people and try to make people understand how everyone was fundamentally the same. 

Unfortunately, not everyone wanted to accept everyone. It's easier for them to just hate instead of trying to understand. Amadea still wondered what Mia's stance on Muggle borns was, but she wasn't about to ask that when they barely knew each other. 

"I don't come from a particularly magical family," Amadea began hesitantly, "so I only recently learned about the werewolf stigma. But I agree with you. Anyone who is being discriminated against is being discriminated against unfairly. We should all just love each other and try to understand each other instead of pushing each other away!" She made herself stop talking because she knew if she continued, she would get carried away with her ideas and she didn't want to scare Mia off. She was trying to make friends here. 

Mia smiled at the girl's response. She was so...refreshing. The crowd that Mia usually went with-or at least the magical one-was conservative, and hated muggle-borns. Like Charles Freaking York. He was such a pain, with his hulking figure and cold eyes. And his blatant lies. But she had to go along with it. Had to.

Mia's smile slid into a frown. Did Amadea think that she was against muggle-borns? She was hesitant in the way she talked, like she didn't want to piss Mia off. Almost no one really did, so she couldn't blame her. But still.

Mia wasn't against muggle-borns and squibs. Sure she thought they were kind of not-as-worthy, but they were still magical, and the pure-blood line was getting smaller and smaller, so it made-kind of-sense to marry a muggle-born and produce a half-blood. Or even marry a muggle. Not that Mia even remotely considered the idea. She would probably get set up with someone in her later years at Hogwarts and eventually marry them. That was how her parents met.

Brushing her hair out of her face, Mia wondered how she would make amends, or show the girl that yes, she did not hate people for being muggle-born. So she decided to say the following.

"I agree with you. Discrimination can be harmful to all of the parties involved. We shouldn't discriminate against others based on certain factors."

Mia smiled at the girl kindly, showing a set of pearly white teeth. Now maybe the girl wouldn't be so hesitant. Maybe.

Amadea wondered how different her history was from everyone else's at Hogwarts. She knew that her history was quite complicated and hard to explain, even she didn't understand some of it. It was interesting to see everyone's different perspectives considering their upbringing. She loved all of the differences to be honest. she liked to think about how everyone was so different but they all had one thing in common, they were magical. 

The discrimination just made her completely angry. She honestly just couldn't wrap her head around why they would do that. It made her quake with anger. She realized her face was heating up, and tried to calm her thoughts. She hoped Mia didn't think that she was mad at her for something. 

"Exactly," Amadea said, responding to what Mia had said. "Most of the time, people don't even know the whole story so they're making assumptions." All bullying started that way, with false assumptions. Amadea had experienced a lot of bullying in her life, whether or not it was directed at her. No matter, it ended badly for both the target and the bully and Amadea had sworn to herself that she would always try to learn someone's full story so she wouldn't have to make assumptions. Unfortunately, she wasn't the best at it, but she kept assumptions in her head instead of using them to hurt other people. 

She wondered what Mia was thinking of her, and she wondered what she thought of Mia. Amadea thought Mia was nice, but she couldn't fully understand the girl just yet. Somehow, there was some sort of magnetic pull that made Amadea really want to learn more about Mia. She just wasn't sure how to go about it. 

The girl's tone was interesting. Something about it made Mia wonder: Had the girl faced any discrimination? From what she knew, the girl wasn't muggleborn, just wizard born. And that came with challenges, but certainly wasn't terrible. As far as she knew.

Mia took a deep breath. Asking the girl would be a risk, yes, but a possible path to know her better. Plus her risky questions had turned out good enough, and asking another one might give the girl a bad idea. If she didn't have one already.

Most people already had a preconceived notion of Mia before they met her, that she was poised and prejudiced, polite but a prick. Mia called it the 4 P's. Poised, polite, prejudiced, prickish. People either leaned towards one end of the spectrum or the other. Amadea seemed oblivious to this. That was nice.

Picking up her head so that she wasn't looking straight down at Amadea-Merlin the girl was tiny-she took a breath and steadied her hand on the table.

"You sound like you are speaking from experience...."

Mia looked at the girl questioningly, raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. The light illuminated her face for a brief second and it made her look almost wild, like a younger version of Penelope Cruz posing for a cover of a fashion magazine. Her hair was out, almost glowing, and her freckles seemed to wash off of her face. She was breathtaking.