As Liam took his position standing off to the side so that Addie could step forward and face her boggart, he had a brief thought about what she might have thought about his own boggart. She was a Ravenclaw after all, the smart ones who were always trying to figure out everything...literallly. He couldn't bring himself to feel self-conscious about her having seen his greatest fear, though, mostly because he was not a dishonest person...for the most part anyway. He tried not to hide anything that he thought was actually important.
While Addie took her own stance in front of Liam's Hopping Pot, a solution he still felt absurdly proud of, he found himself scrutinizing her in much of the same way she must have been doing to him during tutoring. She kept tensing up, and he furrowed his brow as he stood there with his arms crossed loosely over his chest. He hadn't expected her to seem so uncomfortable during her demonstration, since he figured she was one of those students that was good at all of her classes. Perhaps it simply had to do with the boggart...
As previously mentioned, Liam was not the brightest, most intuitive person in the world. However, even he realized the significance of her boggart, though it did take him a minute. The man that Addie had caused the boggart to turn into was large and looked full of rage, but the slight resemblance to Addie herself was the most disturbing. This was her greatest fear? A sudden memory sprang into mind from five days ago, when she had practically fled from him in the Potions room when he'd gotten just mildly stern.
"Alright," he said suddenly, stepping forward with his fists clenched at his sides, his forehead slightly creased as he watched the still spinning boggart retreating against the storm of laughter, "Now you've seen the charm in action." He lazily flicked his wand at the boggart and sent it reeling back into the closet where the door promptly slammed on it.
"Everyone take a few minutes to think about what your biggest fear is and how you plan on making it funny, then we'll let you have your turns." He glanced over at Addie, quickly putting a smile on his face, his questioning look asking if she had anything to add.
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Posted: 7/12/2019 at 8:49 PM
Post #22
Looking back on her life, there had been so much downs. So much pain and heartbreak. A certain darkness. Addie wouldn't deny that, not in a million years. Well, at least, not to herself. To others, perhaps, but merely because she didn't really want to deal with their emotions... But that darkness is why she worked so hard today. She saw a light at the end of her tunnel, a brightness in her future, and by Merlin, that alone was enough to disregard her dark past. She was only sixteen years old - with luck, she'd live to a hundred. She had plenty of time left.
But nothing good was going to come without some degree of work. She knew that. That, exactly, was why her personal life was often put on hold in favor of that which would allow her more time to focus on her personal life later. People often called her shrewd, or cold, or distant, but she didn't like to believe that she was such. She was just... busy. Preoccupied.
That's why she had been so determined to conquer the boggart. Her past meant nothing when compared to her future, and the silly charm that hurt the creature that embodied her past was something that it was important for her to have mastery of.
She listened as Liam gave instructions to the third years, luckily not saying anything about her boggart. He then glanced at her, and she recognized the question there. And, well, she appreciated it. Having room to put in her word. She swallowed and looked back to the children.
"Don't worry," she told them, "if you can't conquer your boggart. It is a truly debilitating thing to be faced with your worst fear - that's why they're called worst fears. A boggart is one of the most difficult things to face, I've found, because of that. No one will make fun of you if you don't want to go, and if they do, they can answer to me." She forced a smile onto her face and winked at the group.
Britters
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Posted: 7/13/2019 at 6:06 PM
Post #23
It was not Liam's to judge others, mainly because he had enough of his own secrets and shortcomings, though the latter were part of the former. He was popular among his fellow students, he was decent enough in most of his classes, and he was a star of his Quidditch team, but no one knew just how much insecurity all of that hid. Still, he couldn't help but feeling something when it came to Addie and her boggart. It was sadness, it was curiosity, and there was a desire to help her in some way.
There were days when Liam would be by himself, which wasn't a common experience, and he would think about the path his life was taking. He would think about how little he really wanted any of it. In those moments he would allow himself to daydream about the life he wished he had, though it was always painful to do so. He would dream about a quieter life at Hogwarts, a less demanding schedule that would allow him to pursue his passions. He loved and hated those moments, but in the end he would just remind himself why he was doing all of this and tell himself it would all be worth it.
Brought out of his thoughts as Addie began to speak, Liam stood back slightly to give her space to address the students without him hovering. He couldn't put his finger on it, but she still had a lot of tension throughout her body, which he assumed was just leftover from her facing her boggart. He wished he could say something, but not only were they in the middle of a demonstration, but he honestly wouldn't have known what to say anyway. He didn't know Addie very well, they certainly didn't hang out with the same crowd, and they hadn't exactly gotten off to a great start.
Perhaps Liam could think of something to help with that during their next tutoring session. He still wanted to apologize to her for whatever had happened during the last time.
"And me as well," he added to Addie's last statement, stepping forward again and smiling at her, "Now, everyone get lined up and we'll get started. Remember, we are both right here if you need us." He glanced at Addie again, his face softening suddenly as he wished he could tell her the se thing...that he was there for her.
That was, of course, an absurd thought. Not only was Liam was he uncertain he really could be there for her, but he had a suspicion she wouldn't react favorably to such a statement.
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Posted: 7/14/2019 at 11:12 PM
Post #24
(Timeskip - 2 days)
There was no such thing as reward without payment. Addie had taught herself that throughout her years at Hogwarts in order to keep up with her classes. Once she discovered the Room of Requirement, she spent all day, every day in it. Her marks had lagged for a month or so before Professor Clearwater pulled her aside and expressed her concern. She had realized with a touch of horror that she was passing off her entire future in exchange for some instant gratification entertainment.
Since then, Addie made it a personal rule that she wouldn't even allow herself into the Room of Requirement until all of her homework was completed. She liked to get her homework down as quickly as possible, sometimes going straight to the Ravenclaw common room right after a class and writing out an essay within a couple hours of the class itself ending.
She had done so earlier today, and so, now homework-less, she was writing a letter as she awaited Liam's final arrival to their now-weekly tutoring sessions. She had been thinking of ways in which she could help him, and she thought that today, perhaps they should just practice using ingredients, and she'd help him learn the right ways to prepare certain tricky ones.
Her attention was fully focused on the letter she was writing, and she was about halfway through it. She had figured Liam would be late again, but that didn't mean she was happy about it. He was, again, wasting her time. Time that could otherwise be spent in the Room of Requirement...
As her left hand began to tremble slowly, her attention was caught on it, and she could hear Liam approaching. Perfect timing. She carefully tucked the letter into her satchel and then occupied her left hand by reaching into the basket she had filled in the ingredient closet - which Professor Greengrass gave her full access to for the purpose of teaching - and laying out the ingredients she wanted to reteach the preparation of to her lackadaisical student.
Britters
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Posted: 7/15/2019 at 2:50 PM
Post #25
Not surprisingly, Liam was once again running late. Today was to be his second tutoring session with Addie, and he had actually meant to be on time. He had specifically asked for Quidditch practice to be scheduled so that it ended with plenty of time for him to get to the Potions classroom. Then, of course, he had been delayed on the way because he'd been stopped by some of his fellow Hufflepuffs who wanted to talk about the upcoming game and how well he thought the team was going to perform ("Fantastic, of course!" he had told them...).
Walking down the corridor as quickly as he could, Liam was starting to feel a little bit anxious about today's tutoring lesson. Firstly, he was sure Addie was not going to be pleased that he was late again, but that was not the only thing giving him trepidation. He was worried about having to prepare another elixir today that was bound to be a failure, but even that was not all that was making him nervous. He had been unable, over the last couple of days, to think of a way to apologize to Addie for the way their first lesson had ended, since his spoken apology HAF gone largely ignored.
There was the door, Liam had finally made it. He took a deep breath, smoothed a hand over his short ash blonde hair and walked inside.
"Hello, professor," he said cheerfully, his green eyes glinting mischievously as he continued to her his little nickname for Addie, "I'm sorry I'm late again..." His voice trailed off as his eyes scanned the contents of the table they were working at.
A pounding sensation began in Liam's chest as he heart began to pound erratically. There was no rhyme or reason to his reaction, at least not one that he expected anyone to ever understand. He tried to get control of himself as he stared at the various potion ingredients spread out before him, and he tried calming his wildly thumping heart as his mind thought about what Addie had planned for him today. He closed his eyes briefly, reminding himself that he had to do this, no matter how uncomfortable it made him.
Forcing a genuine looking grin on his face, Liam opened his eyes and glanced at Addie, trying hard to keep himself from lapsing again.
"So what's in store for today?" he asked her, his voice cheerful and relaxed, though his green eyes had lost their glint, "I promise I'll try really hard not to blow up my cauldron." It was funny because that was yet another disaster he'd actually managed to achieve in years passed.
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Posted: 7/15/2019 at 10:24 PM
Post #26
There was a small thunk behind her, and Addie glanced back just as Liam was coming in. Of course, the sight of her cat, having knocked a book off of a table, didn't really surprise her. Iris was incredibly needy, and so Addie had to keep her with her as much as she could. Otherwise, Iris would cry and bug most people around her.
Upon recognizing her owner looking at her, Iris gave Addie a blank stare and knocked a pencil off of the table.
Sighing, Addie turned back towards Liam, arguing with herself for a moment as to whether she should stand or remain seated. Eventually, the latter part won over, and she gestured down to the seat across from her, on the other side of the table. "Sit."
At least he had a sense of humor secure enough to be able to joke about his own failings, she reflected. Or, really, to laugh about his greatest fear. That was certainly hard without casting a Riddikulus charm. Addie herself couldn't really laugh at her boggart, even after casting the charm, because that's just how debilitating greatest fears could be. So, she had to admire Liam's ability to laugh at his greatest fear - his greatest failure - just as easily as he seemed to do.
"You won't," she told him simply as she carefully laid out mortar and pestles, flat-ended knives, scalpels, and so on, all instruments he could use to properly prepare his ingredients. "You won't be brewing today."
With a wave of her hand, she indicated all of the instruments that she had set aside from the ingredients. "Today, we are focusing solely on ingredients. Your work involving the preparation of them last week was shoddy at best, and I've always found that the easiest way to fix a problem is to get down to the basics of it, fix those, and work from there."
Britters
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Posted: 7/16/2019 at 3:22 AM
Post #27
Upon entering the classroom, Liam became very aware of both Addie as well as her cat, who was sitting on an adjacent table. He had known the feline was there during the first lesson, but he had chosen to ignore. However, it was hard to miss the thumping sound of a bookshelf knocked to the ground, and his eyes swivel in the cat's direction. There was no mistaking the feline expression on her face that demanded attention from her owner. It was quite adorable, but he quickly turned his gaze away and hurriedly focused on something else.
For a moment, when Addie responded to his query, her words barely registered in Liam's mind. He knew he was being absurd with his reaction, but the relief that course through his body was very real. He struggled to keep his face straight, so as not to betray the inner whirlwind which had suddenly gripped him. It was difficult to maintain his relaxed smile as he continued to look at Addie with merely mild interest, but he managed. He pulled a chair out with his foot and languidly sat down in it
"Sounds great," he managed to say with enough of a casual tone to keep up appearances, "Hopefully I have better luck with sharp objects." He quirked his eyebrows at her with a sly grin and that gleam back in his eyes.
The truth was, Liam had been shocked by what Addie said about what they were doing today. He was so relieved because, for the first time ever, someone was breaking it down for him. Not that it made him any less fearful, but it did make it easier for him to learn. He was happy enough to not have to face the cauldron today, and that was enough for him right now. For today, he could relax a little, for today all he had to handle were the ingredients she'd chosen to work on. He could get through today's lesson without an anxiety attack.
"Glad you decided one batch of Draught of the Living Snot was enough for you," he quipped, pulling his chair forward with a large grin as he set his elbows on the table, "So where do you want to start when it comes to ingredients?" He could keep up his calm persona on the outside, but on the inside he was quite elated.
Today was a good day.
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Posted: 7/16/2019 at 12:17 PM
Post #28
By nurture, Addie had become somewhat of a resentful person. Most things, she resented. Most people, she resented. Though, she attributed it all to her situation - it was hard to find joy, sometimes, when you simply weren't free, when someone had you chained up and you couldn't leave. And she knew that one day she wouldn't have to be so resentful to protect herself, but for now, this was how things worked.
And it did work. No one got close. No one really knew her - which, well, was the goal for the time being, but, of course, was just another thing that she resented.
She didn't laugh at Liam's jokes, merely gazed back at him, her hazel eyes unmoving as she waited for him to be done so they could quit wasting time. Once they finished up the lesson, she could scoop up Iris and just return to her sanctuary, because, again, her homework was completed. The lesson and Liam were the only things standing between her and a piano.
Her fingers itched to dance across the keys, and she carefully tucked her left hand under the table, on her lap, in case it began to tremble again. She didn't want to deal with possible questions if he noticed it doing so.
"You'll make one again, just not today," she assured him with one eyebrow raised slightly. "Think of it as an exam that we're working up to. Last week was a pre-test." She spoke quietly, her voice involuntarily lifting in question at the end. With her right hand, she reached over and set a few sopophorous beans away from the rest of the ingredients, placing them in front of him. Then, she gently took a knife by its blade, being careful not to cut herself with it, and held it out to him.
"Your technique with the sopophorous beans last week was, in a word, horrendous. Show me how you juice them again. Just do one, and then I'll show you how to actually do it with the second."
Britters
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Posted: 7/17/2019 at 8:57 PM
Post #29
There was a part of Liam, a deep, dark part of himself that he tried not to acknowledge, that blamed his family's current condition on the wizarding world. It was their rules, their punishments that had killed his grandfather. It was his grandfather's arrest and subsequent death which had caused his family's strife. His father's drinking, his mother's obliviously happy attitude, both were things he'd had to learn to live with for the last five years.
Rather like Potions, Liam wasn't sure he would ever fully get the hang of it, and he was quite sure they didn't have tutors to help with family misery...
"Sure," he said amiably as folded his arms behind his head and leaned backwards in his chair, "Dash all my hopes and dreams with one fell blow." He smiled at her in his easy and relaxed manner, his eyes sparkling with humor.
Despite all Liam's jokes and his flippant attitude, he was still feeling very eager and excited about what Addie had planned. He had never been able to try and learn potion making this way. Sure, he'd thought about it sometimes since discovering his anxiety, but there had just never been time. Also, he hadn't ever wanted to admit what the actual problem he had with the subject was. It was only because his grades weighed so heavily on his plans for redeeming his family name that he hadn't resisted the suggestion of a tutor.
With a deep breath, Liam scooted his chair closer to the table again, and surveyed the sopophorous beans that Addie had laid out for him. He reached out and grabbed one of the brown pods, examining its shriveled looking surface. He knew that the skin of the bean was much tougher than it appeared, which was why they were notoriously hard to cut up. He grabbed the knife from Addie with as much care and caution as he could muster. It was strange how calm he felt as he held the bean with one hand and began to cut into it with the knife.
Ingredients had never been the scary part, but even so, Liam felt a sense of pride as he finally managed to cut through the tough bean and squeezed the juice into a bowl, admiring the silver color.
"Reminds me of unicorn blood," he mused aloud, forgetting himself for a moment before he realized what he'd said and quickly cleared his throat and added, "So how did I do, professor?" He flashed her a wide, charming grin so as to try and cover up his momentary slip up.
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Posted: 7/19/2019 at 8:47 PM
Post #30
It was hard to know what Liam really meant most of the time. Addie knew that what he said was not always what he meant, and that cocky, lopsided smile was far too frequent to truly be real. No one felt entirely the same all day, every day. Her own emotions were... Well, they could be wacky, and... finnicky... Even someone as airheaded as Liam couldn't possibly have such a short emotional capacity.
While she saw through his facade and lies, though, what she still didn't see was the truth. As a Ravenclaw, she was dedicated to discovering new things, to finding facts and information. She always had to find the truth. But it was so hard to tell with Liam. Every new angle just begged the same question... What was his truth?
Her eyes widened a little in shock at his mention of that horrid substance which carried with it so much hatred and evil, despite having come from the most pure thing in the world.
"Unicorn blood is not something to be joked about, Fitzpatrick!" she hissed, her hazel eyes aflame. She felt heat fill her freckled cheeks as the passion slowly diminished again. She sighed and leaned back, her arms across her chest and her eyes narrowed in scrutiny.
She glanced down at his sopophorous bean juice and offered a nonchalant half-shrug. "You should probably learn how to do it faster," she told him, though her voice involuntarily raised in question at the end. "You won't always have fifteen minutes to spare on obtaining sopophorous bean juice. Next," she reached forward and took the sopophorous juice away before carefully handing him dragon liver. "We're going to take things up a step. Cut the dragon liver into perfect fourths."
Part of her longed to just leave, to just jump up and escape the room, much like she had done during their last lesson when he'd frightened her, but at least she'd been able to keep her composure, then. She wasn't quite sure she'd be able to do the same today if he were to intimidate her again...
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