Academic Stew
2 October, 2025. 4pm.
Potions homework would be the actual end of her, or so Maelys decided with firm resolve. Her legs dangled, suspended across the armrest of a leather chair in an unassuming corner of the library. The Slytherin's head and arms fell over the other side like a particularly melancholic doll. It was an evil leather chair now. Everything was evil. The library was evil. House points were evil. Magic was evil.
None of this would have happened if she were back in Nagoya. Her teachers might have been strict but none of them expected her to brew elaborate, magical concoctions without a single failure. Who expected such skill out of eleven-year-olds? Maelys did not consider herself to be like others of her age. That made her sound like a stuck-up prick. She was not a stuck-up prick. What she meant was that, in comparison to her classmates, Maelys actually cared about studying. She had goals, albeit short term ones.
Unfortunately, that one E sitting at the top of her record was screwing her entire life over. Maelys did not ask to exceed expectations. She was supposed to be capital-O outstanding at everything she tried— academically, socially, and athletically. Anything less was basically a Troll (if she thought about it critically.)
Maelys was already an outsider in England and an outsider to the magical world. Now she was an outsider who let those boys who were busy launching flobberworms at each other while the professor was speaking rank higher than her. She did not know how they managed to complete the assignment. The young witch suspected it was due to either cheating or a seriously large amount of luck. On the other hand, because she was distracted by their class clownery, Maelys had managed to misread the question and answer it in the positive instead of the negative. It was a momentary error, admittedly. She ought to have been reading with a greater level of care rather than treating the speed with which she finished the assignment as a competition as well. It was difficult to go slowly when her brain insisted on speeding ahead.
Apparently, she thought quickly and not very well. That was why, she realized as she remembered she had a physical form, she was in the armchair. Staring at the ceiling. Spaced out. Who knows how long she had been there. Many people must have walked by and noted her there. "Who's the dumb firstie crashing out over there? She probably got a bad grade." That's what they were saying.
Maelys roused herself with a grunt. Her eyes glanced back towards her paper. Her homework had not disappeared. It was still hard. She hated potions. The young witch decided once more.
She pressed a palm to her cheek. There was the option of going to the professor's office, if she didn't care that he would associate her with incompetence and inability for the rest of her years at this school. Maelys did care about that. Her friends were probably busy. She wouldn't want to bother them with such trivial matters.
Approaching another student was mildly less bad, or so she determined. Mildly. All of these options were bad, awful even. Mae didn't wish to disturb anybody.
Instead, she hovered. Maelys stood a few feet away from the Ravenclaw girl, taking occasional, hesitant steps forward. She chewed on her lower lip. Surely, the girl couldn't be too rude. There were others Mae could go to if she was.
@Elena Clark | Outfit
.˚₊ reach for the unimaginable ₊˚.ꪆ. ( mae's ency )
STA: 5 • EVA: 4 • STR: 3 • WIS: 7 • ARC: 8 • ACC: 8
STA: 5 • EVA: 4 • STR: 3 • WIS: 7 • ARC: 8 • ACC: 8
Academic Stew
xx SECOND YEAR | RAVENCLAW xx 
english ; thoughts │ wordcount ; 517
| xxx | ☽ MENTIONS ; @maelys delarosa |
02 OCTOBER, 2025 ; DATE ☾ | xxx |
| xxx | ☽ OUTFIT ; x, casual |
position at the end :> ; OOC NOTES ☾ | xxx |
| XXX |
|
XXX |
 |
ᴍᴏᴏɴᴄʜɪʟᴅ ── ꜱɪxᴛʜ ꜱᴇɴꜱᴇ | ᴄᴀʟᴍɪɴɢ ᴘʀᴇꜱᴇɴᴄᴇ ꜱᴛᴀ 6 ; ᴇᴠᴀ 7 ; ꜱᴛʀ 4 ; ᴡɪꜱ 9 ; ᴀʀᴄ 6 ; ᴀᴄᴄ 8 |
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| ❝ 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧-𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐤, 𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥.❞ ☘︎ STAFF ACCOUNT ; ᴍᴀʟᴀɪᴋᴀ ᴏᴍᴇɴᴜᴋᴏ |
Academic Stew
This was a bad idea. Naturally, despite the extensive thought she put into the matter, her decision came to haunt her. Surely, if Maelys had stayed in that armchair for just a few more minutes, she would have been able to remember the answer to the question herself. That, or, she was currently standing in a room full of books. She could have actually looked for the material used in class. It was not obscure. Maelys was just slow enough to forget that there were many non-judgemental, non-human resources in her vicinity.
Apparently, she was not only slow but dumb on top of that. Maelys flinched, not in a visible way but her muscles tensed as the girl spoke. Right. She could be perceived. As if she had forgotten that. (The Slytherin did, on occasion, forget about her own existence. However, the present moment was far too grueling to either forget about the annoying nature of the outside world or appreciate the attention.)
"Hi. Can I help you?" Maelys took a full second to process the simple question. Help. The word could easily be loaded. It was not reasonable to expect someone, a complete stranger at that, to help her simply because they were in the same area at the same time. Given the parchment on her desk, the blonde witch was probably busy with her own, mostly unfinished work. A sinking feeling took over her stomach, glancing down at the table before making eye contact. She was most likely not mad at her, at least not as a first impression. She didn't seem to be openly happy either. However, due to her quiet tone, openness appeared to outweigh any annoyance present in her expression.
Hence, Maelys put on her best smile, one reserved for when she needed to appear like she knew what she was doing. She couldn't just stand there looking like a scared baby deer. In her mind, perhaps, that was what she was. Externally though? Absolutely not. She was a normal person asking a normal question. Said normal question was one she needed to have answered for the future of her academic trajectory and so that her life did not end up in shambles by the age of twelve.
She ought to do something instead of standing there like an idiot. "Yeah. Probably. I think so. Do you remember what constitutes as a common poison?" Random question but okay. It was a question. "It's a first year thing," she added, shifting her weight between the toes and the balls of her feet. This girl was older than first year, certainly, although not by too much. Most first years had an aura of uncertainty that didn't seem to be present in this case.
@Elena Clark | Outfit
.˚₊ reach for the unimaginable ₊˚.ꪆ. ( mae's ency )
STA: 5 • EVA: 4 • STR: 3 • WIS: 7 • ARC: 8 • ACC: 8
STA: 5 • EVA: 4 • STR: 3 • WIS: 7 • ARC: 8 • ACC: 8
Academic Stew
xx SECOND YEAR | RAVENCLAW xx english ; thoughts │ wordcount ; 466
| xxx | ☽ MENTIONS ; @maelys delarosa |
02 OCTOBER, 2025 ; DATE ☾ | xxx |
| xxx | ☽ OUTFIT ; x, casual |
position at the end :> ; OOC NOTES ☾ | xxx |
| XXX |
|
XXX |
| |
ᴍᴏᴏɴᴄʜɪʟᴅ ── ꜱɪxᴛʜ ꜱᴇɴꜱᴇ | ᴄᴀʟᴍɪɴɢ ᴘʀᴇꜱᴇɴᴄᴇ ꜱᴛᴀ 6 ; ᴇᴠᴀ 7 ; ꜱᴛʀ 4 ; ᴡɪꜱ 9 ; ᴀʀᴄ 6 ; ᴀᴄᴄ 8 |
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| ❝ 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧-𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐤, 𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥.❞ ☘︎ STAFF ACCOUNT ; ᴍᴀʟᴀɪᴋᴀ ᴏᴍᴇɴᴜᴋᴏ |
Academic Stew
Starting to get hungry… Did she look like a food? Maelys, in a moment of slowness, took a second to glance down at her appearance. She looked like herself— a human witch. Not edible, or at least not to a self-respecting individual who did not engage in cannibalism.
Surely this girl was not some form of beast dressed up as a human. Maelys did not know what to expect with these magical folk. She had encountered the giant squid in the common room already, Herbert. The creature seemed awfully docile for something capable of smashing windows.
However, his demeanor was not proof that his magical friends would behave similarly. He could have an evil twin squid named Sherman. Perhaps Sherman ate witches for supper. Perhaps Sherman wore a monocle and could transform into a twelve-year-old girl in order to lure idiotic first years into the lake. Perhaps Sherman had a kitchen at the bottom of the lake where he turned his catches into some grotesque, cephalopod rendition of mince pie...
That was ridiculous. With a second, less panicked consideration of the girl’s words, a polite chuckle escaped the Slytherin’s lips. This was a human girl. She was certain of the fact. Maelys felt guilt pool in her stomach. She seemed kind, receptive enough to humor her questions with little trouble. It was rude of her to think, even in a moment of childishness, that she could be a monster.
Maelys blinked twice as the girl continued on with her answer. "Poisons aren't all potions, then?" That had been her assumption. A mundane bee sting was not magical and could therefore be cured with a muggle cure. A poison requiring a healing potion ought to be a magical concoction. On the other hand, the entire subject of potions was evil and hated Maelys deeply. The Slytherin would not be surprised if it was conspiring against her with improper definitions of terms. That seemed sufficiently in character.
"It's alright. I have to do it in order to avoid imminent failure." The statement was as much of a truth as could be produced by the first year. She did not have much regard for whether information had a longer-term value. It could appear on her exam which was sufficiently important. Obviously, it would be far better if the potions professor failed to give an exam entirely and the subject was banned from Hogwarts grounds. However, that was not going to happen before the end of the semester. Perhaps a more long-term goal...
Maelys took a quiet seat. This was the basics? The Slytherin had let it slip from her mind that there were at least four more compulsory years of this course. She was doomed to fail.
@Elena Clark | Outfit
.˚₊ reach for the unimaginable ₊˚.ꪆ. ( mae's ency )
STA: 5 • EVA: 4 • STR: 3 • WIS: 7 • ARC: 8 • ACC: 8
STA: 5 • EVA: 4 • STR: 3 • WIS: 7 • ARC: 8 • ACC: 8
Academic Stew
xx SECOND YEAR | RAVENCLAW xx english ; thoughts │ wordcount ; 466
| xxx | ☽ MENTIONS ; @maelys delarosa |
02 OCTOBER, 2025 ; DATE ☾ | xxx |
| xxx | ☽ OUTFIT ; x, casual |
boop ; OOC NOTES ☾ | xxx |
| XXX |
|
XXX |
| |
ᴍᴏᴏɴᴄʜɪʟᴅ ── ꜱɪxᴛʜ ꜱᴇɴꜱᴇ | ᴄᴀʟᴍɪɴɢ ᴘʀᴇꜱᴇɴᴄᴇ ꜱᴛᴀ 6 ; ᴇᴠᴀ 7 ; ꜱᴛʀ 4 ; ᴡɪꜱ 9 ; ᴀʀᴄ 6 ; ᴀᴄᴄ 8 |
|
| ❝ 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧-𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐤, 𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥.❞ ☘︎ STAFF ACCOUNT ; ᴍᴀʟᴀɪᴋᴀ ᴏᴍᴇɴᴜᴋᴏ |