[Gavyn Howell]

Sequestered away in the library Gavyn had his face almost uncomfortable close to the Transfiguration book sprawled in front of him. After a laid-back summer, the Professors seemed determined to drown them in difficult homework right from the get-go. Granted he knew these were his last two years of school and that meant having to buckle down for NEWTs at the end of next year. It was that thought that kept him from complaining too much, even as he sat here feeling like he'd gone cross-eyes twice in the last thirty minutes.

A groan left him as he suddenly pushed back, looking like he might melt out of his chair as he slid down it. When his head came to rest at the top of it he stopped to let both hands come up and scrub at his face. The intricacies of human transfiguration were mind-boggling and he couldn't wrap his head around the concept of conjuration and the laws and nature surrounding it. All he had been able to comprehend thus far was that a conjured did not last and would return to not being. Whether that was a timed thing or if one had to dispel it themselves was still up in the air.

Hand dragging down to rest at his lap he glanced around the library to see if one of his classmates or an older student might be about. This early in the school year there might not be too many people actually getting an early jump on their work but there was still a good chance of someone being here to do homework. Not seeing anything he resigned himself to trying something else. Getting up he plucked his books up to put back, having grown over the summer he was now five foot ten and could easily reach higher shelves to tuck his study materials back. Or get them down if needed.

[Rhiannon Heathcote]

The professors really seemed to have started the year’s work at a sprint. After a mostly laid back summer it gave Rhiannon a bit of mental whiplash. They could at least ease them into the new year but that apparently wasn’t in the cards. So here she was in the Library, trying her best to apply herself to her studies.

Her brain just wasn’t getting into the right gear, though, no matter how she tried to mentally bribe herself to be more productive. As she poured over a Transfiguration text to take notes a slight twitching in her right eye made her stop. Covering the offending eye with gentle fingers she pushed the book and her notes scroll away from her and tipped her head back, viewing the nearby section of the Library upside down through only her left eye.

Was that Gavyn? What was he doing on that chair? He seemed to be done with whatever he was working on at least and clearly she wasn’t being very productive herself. Rhian rubbed at her right eye lightly before gathering up her belongings and poking her nose in Gavyn’s direction and heading over just as he reached up to put a book back on the shelf.

“Limited luck in the studying department?” she asked softly so as not to have her voice carry too far to disturb anyone else.

Gavyn Howell

[Gavyn Howell]

A quiet voice behind him distracted him from his task, luckily not before he had gotten his book back into its spot on the shelf. He recognized her immediately as a sixth-year Slytherin because they shared classes together. Not to mention six years at Hogwarts. Gavyn laughed very lightly, keeping his own volume low like she was so the people who were successful in their studying didn't get interrupted. "No luck at all I'm afraid, I can't seem to find the information I need no matter how much I try. The Professors have successfully demonstrated that this year is going to be horrible."

Truthfully he was much more worried about why they were pushing so much work, so much advanced work at that. The rumours going around about dark forces moving about had not escaped his notice and he worried that this was what their Professors were preparing them for. It was this thought that was likely the culprit for his mental studying block. The worry that once he left school he was going to end up squaring off against the Purists who thought people like him were a disease to fight off. Not exactly a comforting reality when one thinks about it.

"What about you, having trouble studying yourself or simply finished?" Gavyn figured not everyone must be struggling as much, though the seventh years already looked stressed out, so it could be she had completed her work. if she had he might ask her opinion on how to get his own done. Or perhaps if she hadn't they could put together a study group so they could all put their heads together for the task. if this was the start of the year they would need it! "If you haven't though maybe we both need to make a study group, we can't be the only ones struggling."

Rhiannon Heathcote

[Rhiannon Heathcote]

Rhiannon smiled at Gavyn’s soft laughter. It looked like they were in the same boat with their schoolwork. And that irked, Rhian. She liked to be on top of her tasks but she felt like she was fighting an uphill battle when the year had only just begun. She nodded at Gavyn’s words and replied, “Between that and just plain inability to focus, this afternoon’s studying is much harder than it needs to be, at least at the start.” She sighed softly and ran a hand through her hair, pushing the long strands away from her face.

She understood the need for such study; her parents kept her abreast in an age appropriate way of the current situation in the wizarding world. All the same, though, she could only think that all this hard work benefitted the ill-intentioned amongst the student body as well as the good. Being in Syltherin had showed Rhian that there were plenty of ill-intentioned students attending Hogwarts at present. It kept her on her toes since she was widely considered a “blood traitor” just for not falling into lock step with the purist bullshit.

“Every little thing pulls me off track and it’s made easier by the fact that it hasn’t been easy to find all the information I need,” she admitted, looking down. “It’s been…” She paused, mentally groping for the right word in her mildly distracted mind. “Very frustrating,” she finally settled on a beat later. “A study group sounds like a wonderful idea, though!” she said brightly, still mindful of her volume.

Gavyn Howell

[Gavyn Howell]

"Agreed. I knew our NEWT years would be difficult but I never expected it to be like getting hit by a train." All the work assigned to them right now seemed to have protective qualities about them. Except for Defence Against the Dark Arts which was focusing quite heavily on defense and duelling, with an emphasis on deflecting dark spells. It was part of why he had signed up for the duelling club this year where he had not in years prior. Whatever was coming could not be ignored and he wanted very much to be able to use his magic if it came down to it.

Gavyn blew out a breath in relief when Rhiannon said that she had been unable to find the information she needed too. All the books he had brought down had been utterly useless for his Charms assignment and he was starting to think he would need special permission to check the Forbidden section of the library for it. "Merlin I am so glad you said that, I've been struggling for ages to find information on this charm. I was starting to think I was simply going mad and that's why I couldn't find it."

A smile replaced the look of exhausted relief when she seemed to like the idea of a study group. As sixth years they didn't have their NEWTs to worry about at year's end, sure, but they did need to keep their grades up which was turning out to be harder than expected. At the very least having a group meant they could all help each other find the answer faster than on their own. "It has been. Honestly, I think I read the same pages twenty times and didn't absorb a single word. With a study group, we could make more progress, perhaps we could get together on a study block between classes? Put up some fliers to draw in others too."

Rhiannon Heathcote