don't kill the vibe | open

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It was a beautiful day, and a beautiful day always put Ophelia into a good mood. As in, easy to talk to, openly carefree, and perhaps even a bit extroverted, for people would be able to see her waving at friends, or even just random people who were passing by. Anyway, she'd picked the courtyard on the grounds outside to study, and here she was, open book in her lap, humming lightly as she skimmed the pages.

The breeze felt nice through her hair, and the sun was behind her, shining on her black shirt, which was absorbing the heat and warming her up. There was light chatter as people gathered around her in small groups, and the occasional wild laugh was heard in the distance as someone cracked up at one funny thing or another. Ophelia was by herself, reading, and she was content to just soak up the bubbly and happy atmosphere.

And then a shadow fell over her, making her squint as the text before her suddenly became unreadable due to the other person's presence. Frowning at this disturbance, she glanced up. "Hey. Can I help you?"

Words: 190
Tags: open! 
Date: A couple weeks into the start of school, weather transitioning into fall. 
Notes: -

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School was definitely back in session now and you could feel it in the air. And it wasn’t just in the changing of the colors of the leaves or the slight chill that was beginning to smother out any slivers of warmth from the sun. It was in the way that student after student littered even the smallest spaces around the halls and on the school grounds. It was nice though, being back and being able to be with her friends again. She didn’t really miss the homework though. It was what was plaguing her now as she walked around of the school doors and into the courtyard. Her face was buried in her Charms textbook, a look of confusion on her face as she studied the example images of the wandwork she was supposed to perform. She’d been having a bit of trouble getting the motions correct in class so she’d had to look over it again to make sure she was doing it right. The courtyard was the perfect place for her to practice too without hurting anyone. When she finally came to a stop at what she felt would be a good spot, the sound of someone’s voice met her ears and she looked over her book. "Oh! I’m sorry! I wasn’t paying attention, I didn’t know someone was sitting here," Seph laughed airly at herself before stepping back just a little bit. She took two steps to the left, so she wouldn’t be crowding the girl she was sitting near and plopped down on the ground, book in her lap. Now if only she could this spell correct..

Tag; @ophelia
(note: I promise this is going somewhere lolol if Ophelia doesn’t say anything to her she’d going to ask her for help)

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"Oh! I’m sorry! I wasn’t paying attention, I didn’t know someone was sitting here."

Looking down at her was nothing other than Persephone, a Hufflepuff whom Ophelia privately thought was kind of annoying at times, when she got all emotional, but not guilty enough to be fully hated for. In fact, all Hufflepuffs were pretty nice in general and Fi enjoyed their company, even if she was a Ravenclaw. They made good listeners and, by extent, great friends. She definitely didn't think they were the smartest, though, and when her House had classes with them she was careful not to pick partners from the rival; but then again, Ravenclaw was a pretty high standard to measure intelligence against. 

"Hey, Seph," Fi said with a smile, a natural one that was automatic and real, because affection came easily for Fi when she wasn't in the presence of someone dark. She saw Seph settle down next to her, and she leaned over to peek at the Charms book in her friend's hands. She hummed, tilting her head to read the text. "What're you studying up on?"

Words: 173
Tags: @sephy  
Notes: Hi there! c:

 

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Seph's eyes were focused completely on her Charms text book, going over and over the demonstration photos that were showing in the book on how to perform the Water-Making spell, Aguamenti. It was still early in the school year but being in sixth year meant they got into actual wand work much faster than they had in previous year and this is what the professor had landed on in recent classes. She'd tried just last period to get the movement correctly but she hadn't even been able to produce a drop of water from the tip of her wand and it was really making her sad. She liked Charms and even when spells had given her trouble before, it hadn't taken her long to get the movements down. This felt different somehow to her, oddly enough. She was getting really frustrated. Her eyes skimmed over the pictures once again as well as the small paragraph that explained how the wand was supposed to feel as it moved as well as what result to expect before the sound of someone's voice broke her concentration. "Charms work," she pursed her lips with her mild feelings of upset before she looked up. "For some reason I just can't-- Oh! Ophelia! Hi! I didn't even know it was you I was sitting next to. She'd been so focus that she hadn't realized that it was Ophelia Fawcett that had been next to her. How silly of her. They shared a few classes together so they knew each other well enough. "I can't seem to get this spell down," she said, pointing to the demonstration pictures even though the blonde Ravenclaw was already looking over the book. "Have you already done this one?"

Tag; @ophelia

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"No problem," Ophelia said, shifting a little to make room for the other girl. "Ohh, charms. Fun." She did really like Charms, primarily because she'd been good at it from the start; the teacher had pronounced her basic spells "beautiful" and that had made her feel good, and then she'd kept practicing until the arm motions felt automatic and like second nature. It was like her now to get a little cocky whenever Charms was brought up, especially by people who were struggling in the class. Ophelia couldn't help but preen a little.

"Water-Making," the blonde girl read over Persephone's shoulder. She tossed her hair over her shoulders and nodded. "Right, that's an important one. So..." she sat straighter and took her wand, gesturing it as the book told her to do to perform the spell. "...you just have to keep your movements fluid. Just imagine your arm like the water that you want to flow from your want." She waved her own wand and brought it up, then flourished her arms directed the point of her wand at the space in front of her. "Aguamenti." Water spurted out and spilled onto the grass, and Fi turned back with a smile that held a hint of the smugness she was trying to hold back. "See? Now you."

Words: 217
Tags: @sephy

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Seph watched as Ophelia talked about the subject of Charms with a casual air that she could never maintain. She liked Charms, she genuinely did but it didn’t come as naturally to her as it did others. She practiced a lot to make sure she go things down as they should be or at least well enough that she could perform them. Ophelia was all confidence and self-assurance. And she was in absolute awe. She watched the Ravenclaw, nodding her head as she explained what she was doing while she was doing. She explained that her arm needed to move like water and Seph followed the movements of the other blonde’s arm with her eyes. With a flick of her wrist and the spell flowing from her with ease, water poured from her wand into the grass in front of them. Ophelia smiled and Seph’s mouth hung open in a small ‘o’ for a few moments before she sighed. "You make it look so easy! But you’re brilliant so I’m not even a little bit surprised," she smiled at the Ravenclaw. It was her turn to give it a try. Could she even remember exactly what she’d done differently? She’d been a little distracted by the skill but trying wouldn’t hurt. She held up her wand, pointing it into the grass as she’d done before. She took a moment to look back and forth between her wand and the demonstration pictures. She kept thinking to herself, willing her arm to be like water, and then she waved her wand. "Aguamenti." She waited for a few moments. Nothing came out. "Hmm. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong..." she commented before turning to Ophelia and shrugging. "Did I do something wrong?"

Tag; @ophelia

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Fi liked to impress people, and so she was pleased when Persephone looked awed at her performance. "You make it look so easy! But you’re brilliant so I’m not even a little bit surprised," the other girl said, and Ophelia pretended that she wasn't flattered and gave a shrug, smiling nonetheless.

"Thank you, I know." The blonde Ravenclaw batted her eyelashes and stuck out her tongue. "Charms comes easy to me," she added, honestly, to give a bit of a humbler response, and reached to pat her friend on the shoulder and tapped the page. "Give it a try again. Sometimes you need to put a lot of intent into it when you're doing it for the first time, maybe that's the reason why." What was often frustrating about magic for Ophelia was the fact that you didn't necessarily know what you did wrong when the spell didn't work; there could be a number of reasons, and sometimes you just had to keep trying and changing different things. Entirely frustrating, and she was glad that she was blessed with easy ability, if she could say so herself. Charms, as she'd mentioned before, wasn't hard; it was almost natural, like she had an innate connection with the magic and incantations of the subject. Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, she had to put a lot more work in.

Ophelia watched Persephone attempt to make water again, with no results from the other girl's efforts. "I think you're trying a bit too hard. Keep your arm limp, I can tell you're thinking about fluidity, like I told you. If you just follow the book's movements and let yourself wave your arm naturally, without tensing up, then it might work. When I'm doing it, I'm not thinking about the individual movements more than the big picture of what I actually want to do. Think about making the water, instead."

Words: 317
Tags: @sephy 
Notes: tryna base it off of what you write about Sephy's actions. >.> Let me know if stuff seems wrong. 

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Seph giggled once again at Ophelia's playfulness, watching as the Ravenclaw stuck out her tongue. She once again wasn't surprised when the other girl mentioned that Charms came to her, acknowledging the comment with a nod. She was being really patient with her as far as trying to get her to do the spell went. And Seph knew that she could do it. She just wasn't sure what it was that she needed to change in order to get the spell to work for her as it had for Ophelia. She also knew that she wouldn't be able to control the amount of water that came out of the tip of her wand if it did work so she hoped that when it did, she would get as much as Ophelia had, since that was what she'd seen when other students had performed the spell successfully. "Okay," the Hufflepuff took a deep breath before holding her wand out once again towards the grass, "arm limp," she went through all of the suggestions in her head and adjusted her body and mind accordingly. She once again thought about water and pictured the water pouring from the tip of her wand, solidifying the image in her head and willing it to manifest in the real world. Her focus broke for just a second with thoughts pleading that it worked this time. "Aguamenti." She waited, staring down the end of her wand and hoping that the jet of water appeared. Nothing came. She held it in the air for just a little bit longer, hoping to see something happening. When nothing did, she let out an exasperated sigh and lifted her wand back to her lap. She felt a bit of water run down her fingers as she lifted it, curiously turning it around and seeing that a line of water had brushed it way down her wand on to her hand. "This counts right? I mean it's not a stream but it's a start." There was bright smile of excitement on her face as she looked at Ophelia. She'd gotten somewhere, and it was thanks to her.

Tag; @ophelia

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Persephone was giggling at the face she'd made, and Ophelia smiled back before patting the Hufflepuff on the shoulder, scooting back a little again to give room so she could move her arms as needed. "You got this." She watched as the other blonde girl raised her wand and brought it through the air, concentration written on her face as she must be picturing creating the water in her mind.

"Aguamenti."

For a moment, there appeared to be nothing, but as Persephone moved her wand light reflected off of the surface and Ophelia saw the stream of water trickling down the wooden stick; her own eyes brightened as Persephone realized what she'd accomplished.

"This counts right? I mean it's not a stream but it's a start."

"Hell yeah that counts!" Fi exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Good job." It definitely wasn't a jet of water, but it was improvement, progress, and it meant that they'd gotten somewhere. Mentally, she gave herself a pat on the back for good advice-giving, satisfied that she could both do the spell herself and actually spot issues in someone else's performance. Grinning, she held out her arms for a hug. 

"Now you just need practice, and soon it'll just be like any other basic spell," Fi continued. "Anything else you need help with? Or just want to hang out and talk?"

Words: 226
Tags: @sephy

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The smile on her face grew significantly brighter and wider when Ophelia praised her for getting the spell to work a little. She felt proud of herself but she was really happy that Ophelia helped her get to where she was. Now all she had to do was keep practicing it the way that Ophelia had taught her too and she’d be able to perform it like everyone else in no time. Ophelia held her arms out for a hug and Sephy didn’t hesitate to jump into it, her excitement and feelings of being grateful began to overwhelm her and she felt herself tearing up. "Thank you so much for your help! You’re a great teacher!" Her words were full of her adoration for the Ravenclaw girl. After a moment she pulled back and wiped her eyes of the tears that were waiting to fall, nodding as Ophelia mirrored her previous thoughts of needing to practice. Ophelia asked her then if she needed help with anything else and Seph felt her heart warm from her kindness. She was being really nice and helpful to her and it made her really happy. "I don’t need help with anything else at the moment. But I would love to hang out and talk," she replied with the same bright smile that seemingly wouldn’t leave her face. Her cheeks were probably going to hurt later from smiling so much. It would be a good pain though. They were in the courtyard so there wasn’t any grass around for her to lay in like she normally would but she closed her Charms book and put it in her bag before crossing her legs in front of her. "What do you plan on doing when you graduate, Ophelia," she asked genuinely. She knew it was a typical question but she was curious. She felt like Ophelia could do anything. She was a great teacher, she would make a great professor!

Tag; @ophelia

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Ophelia was a bit alarmed to see that the girl was so happy that she was crying, but then again Persephone was a naturally emotional person. Her excitement was infectious and the Ravenclaw blonde couldn't help but smile wider. She put her marked her page and tucked her book away at Persephone's request to hang out, and she mirrored her friend's position before they began their conversation. Ophelia found that yes, talking to Hufflepuffs were indeed the way to improve her mood. They weren't a pain in the ass like many other people-- or maybe that was just her, nitpicking others' faults until they grew wide and became a defining characteristic of them. But no, she could genuinely not find a reason to hate most Hufflepuffs. They were like the lightning rods of Hogwarts, absorbing all the dysfunction and crackling tension from the other adolescents so that the castle didn't explode every other day. She decided that if anyone were to dare insult the Badgers she herself would gladly hex them to hell.

"What do you plan on doing when you graduate, Ophelia?" Persephone was asking, and Ophelia blinked.

That was the money question. Her family members asked her all the time, her family friends pestered her about it, and she would rebuff them with an "I don't know yet!" and an appropriately timed timid and humble chuckle. For a very long time, however, she'd known that she would want to become an auror, helping to uphold the law instead of break it. But she'd told little to no one, and the people she trusted this deep secret with she would almost believe to be eternally bonded to. Even strangers were easier to talk to than most of her friends, because they had that distance and she could disclose whatever she wanted to about herself without worrying about people judging her or babbling to her parents.

All this thought went through her mind in a flash, a quick evaluation of the person before her, whether or not she felt comfortable in this moment to tell what she wanted to tell. And so, to Persephone, she laughed her laugh and said, "I don't know yet! What about you?"

Words: 367
Tags: @sephy

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Seph waited patiently for Ophelia to answer her question about her plans for the future. The Ravenclaw had gone silent and looked as if she was thinking really hard about it. Maybe she was just one of the people who still couldn't quite choose which direction they wanted to go? In her mind, that was perfectly okay. No one had to have everything figured out right away. After a few seconds, the other girl finally gave her an answer, that she didn't know yet, and she turned the question back to Seph. Her neverending smile seemingly grew bright as she turned and looked up towards the cloudless sky above them. It was a beautiful clear day out, but that wasn't what she was imagining, what was making her smile just then. "I want to be an astronomer so badly," she answered. Even if she couldn't see them just then, in her minds eye, they were sitting under the night sky and the stars were twinkling above them so that she could see and name all of them. So that she could chart their movements. "Like Charms for you, watching the stars has always come to me naturally. I like learning about them and learning what they mean for us here in the magical world." She also knew that in the muggle world, there were people who charted the stars too and even sometimes wizards took pages out of the muggle world's books on astronomy. There were differences between the two though, especially considering the information magical astronomers gleaned could be applied for other uses, such as potion making and herbology. "I really can't wait until it's my job to watch them." She turned back to her friend then. "I know you don't know yet but are there things you thought you might like? What do you like to do? I definitely think people should pursue the things they love doing rather than doing something just to say they have a career."

Tag; @ophelia

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An astronomer. Bold, Ophelia thought privately, because to her Astronomy was like History of Magic; the only prospects she knew of were teaching, unless Seph wanted to do some Muggle job. But if she liked it, then Fi would respect her for it. 

"You don't watch them now?" the blonde Ravenclaw asked teasingly, flopping back onto the grass beside her friend and putting her hands behind her head. There were no stars now; only clouds rolling around in the blue sky. Fi knew that they were still there, hidden, but she didn't know how, or why; that would be explained by a Muggle topic. "Do you have to learn... science, is it? Like, do you know why the stars aren't out during the day?"

She fought the urge to turn away when Persephone redirected the conversation back to her and asked about her aspirations. No, she did not voice her own ambitions, no matter how much Ophelia liked to wax poetry about her own intelligence. Her true dreams would be put behind all of that, like the stars behind the daylight, and would reveal themselves when it was time. "I..." she paused, thinking of a roundabout way to say what she really wanted to say. I want to be an auror. "I like dueling," she finally said. "You know, putting the charms to use." she smirked. "And the adrenaline rush from trying to overpower someone is always welcome." 

Words: 238
Tags: @sephy 
Words: Ayyy lmao I'm finally done with the semester! >.>

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The teasing from Ophelia made her giggle in turn and she followed the older girl’s motion, scooting her bum up a little and laying back in the grass at an angle so that they both could lay comfortably. "Of course I watch them now and I love it. But imagine getting paid for doing something that you love to do and do often anyway? That’s a wonderful dream and I can’t wait until I’m able to do that." The dreamlike quality of her tone bled through as she thought of herself in a tower like the Astronomy Tower of Hogwarts, bent over a telescope and admiring the view she loved so much. She heard herself sigh out loud in her daydream and she smiled just a bit wider. That dream was only a year and a half away from her, which wasn’t much time at all, and as long as her marks remained as they did, she would be a working astronomer just after she graduated. The way Ophelia spoke of science made her grin, not because of the way she said it but the word ‘science’ had always been weird to her, even when her father talked about it. It was a word that was used in the muggle world to describe the study of the stars and planets. She always just stuck with Astronomy. "Yes there is a muggle equivalent that isn’t unlike what we study here in the magical world but I think we study it for more reasons than muggles do. The stars aren’t out during the day because of the distance the stars are away from us. The sun is so close so we only see it and its light has a shorter distance to travel." The words came easily to her as she explained what she knew the answer to be. She liked the muggle study as well. Ophelia was quiet for a moment when she asked what she liked to pursue. She understood her need to think about it. When her answer came, she found herself beaming at the excitement that stamped her words as she spoke. "Have you thought about being an auror? That sounds pretty fitting. I’m sure you’ll get lots of adrenaline rushes from taking down awful witches and wizards," she sat up as she thought before looking down at Ophelia curiously. "It is a bit dangerous though…. You’ll get to use all of the charms you learned though I’m sure." she was thoughtful with her replies, really thinking about the auror position. It was really dangerous. Maybe she wasn’t really interested in anything too dangerous? Magical Law Enforcement seemed to fit what she liked best though. Minus the danger of course.

Tag; @ophelia

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"Of course I watch them now and I love it. But imagine getting paid for doing something that you love to do and do often anyway? That’s a wonderful dream and I can’t wait until I’m able to do that."

Ophelia gave her signature crooked smile, looking deep in thought as she commented noncommittally, "yeah, that would be the fantasy." Persephone seemed like she had her entire life sorted out already, with everything going for her so easily, and here she was, knowing what she wanted to but too... ashamed? frightened?... to do it. She supposed that if she had a more supportive family she'd be well on her way now, to her own aspirations. 

"Do you have to learn... science, is it? Like, do you know why the stars aren't out during the day?" she finally asked.

"Yes there is a muggle equivalent that isn’t unlike what we study here in the magical world but I think we study it for more reasons than muggles do," Persephone replied. "The stars aren’t out during the day because of the distance the stars are away from us. The sun is so close so we only see it and its light has a shorter distance to travel."

"'Light has a shorter distance to travel.' I think I remember some of that from my tutoring days as a child." Before going to Hogwarts Fi's family had hired a tutor to help her and Celine get a head start on their education; of course, teaching magic wasn't allowed, but they had covered the most basic topics, even some of the Muggle ones. Most of that information Ophelia already forgot, but now and then things ringed a bell. "I suppose we don't need to understand it for our purposes." 

"Have you thought about being an auror?" Persephone asked, and involuntarily, Ophelia jerked her head up sharply, as if the Hufflepuff had somehow read her mind. "That sounds pretty fitting. I’m sure you’ll get lots of adrenaline rushes from taking down awful witches and wizards."

The blonde Ravenclaw could feel her heart pounding, as if her friend had suddenly discovered some deep, embarrassing secret she was anguishing over. She tried to maintain a straight, nonchalant face as she shrugged, "I've definitely thought about it. Probably the only viable option I've got. I don't mind the danger, it won't be a risk if I know what I'm doing." at this she gave another cheeky, crooked smile to try and deflect her internal anxiety. It wasn't like it was even something to be ashamed of, but Fi could see a long and complicated road ahead of her if she chose to go down that path, and she didn't want to even think about it, much less talk about it. 

Words: 308
Tags: @sephy
Notes: I've read somewhere that some kids, like Ron Weasley, was homeschooled by a parent or tutor before they came to Hogwarts, and Fi's parents, being the snobby people they are, berated her and her sister to learn some stuff before entering formal education.