Tears in Transfiguration PV Amadea Campbell Fin

𝒜madea was done with her homework for the day and she couldn't have felt more relieved. If she had thought first year was difficult, she was laughing at her naivity now. She wasn't trying to be dramatic, but wow second year was a lot of work. It was so much more work than first year and Amadea had felt overwhelmed enough back then. She supposed it was a bit better now that she knew all of the basics about the wizarding world. She remembered entering Hogwarts practically clueless coming from basically a Muggle family. It was very, very overwhelming.

Despite all of this, Amadea had finished all the homework for the day and she was going to take advantage of the extra time she had to stop thinking about school and just let herself relax. After working diligently for the majority of the day, she felt as though she deserved it. Thankfully, she didn't have any Prefect work to do either, so for once, Amadea had the rest of the day free. This didn't happen often and Amadea was determined to make the most of the time she had. Starting her second year had reminded Amadea how precious time was and how important it was not to waste a single second of it.

She began walking and soon found herself on the sixth floor, walking by some classrooms of classes that were for the older students. As Amadea neared the end of the hallway, she snapped out of her nostalgic thoughts as she heard a noise coming from the Transfiguration classroom. It sounded as though someone was crying.

Immediately, Amadea hesitated. She wasn't sure what to do. She wasn't the best at comforting people who were crying and usually ended up just awkwardly patting their shoulder while they calmed down. Plus, she knew some people that preferred to be alone when they were sad and not have other people around them. Amadea peeked her head into the empty classroom to see who the person was.

As Amadea looked into the classroom, she saw the girl standing next to a desk. On the desk, what Amadea figured was the Transfiguration book was open wide and parchment surrounded it. Whoever the book and parchment belonged to, they were a diligent student. Amadea slowly made a move and stepped into the classroom. The girl seemed to be too busy crying to notice that Amadea had entered the room, and Amadea was struck yet again with a decision. The girl didn't know she was here. Maybe Amadea should just leave. That way she could avoid the awkward confrontation and then the inevitable conversation about why the girl was crying and what Amadea could do to help.

No, Amadea thought to herself, determined. She wasn't going to strand the poor girl here. That would be rude. Sure, it might be awkward, but if she could help the girl, it would be worth it. After all, Amadea was a Hufflepuff. She was loyal and kind. She would do everything in her power to help the girl. Determination steeled, Amadea slowly walked over to the girl and cleared her throat. "Um, excuse me?" she asked hesitantly. "Are you alright?" 

Cecelia could barely hear footsteps approaching her, but she did not care or notice. Since she was so depressed she did not even realize it could be a person trying to speak to her.

"Um, excuse me? Are you alright?"

For some reason Cecelia's stomach gave an upsetting lurch, and she jumped as she heard the voice. Cecily did not recognize the voice nor the person. It was a girl, most likely the same age as her, with auburn wavy hair. The girl had blue greenish eyes and was a bit shorter than Cecily. The girl was very pretty, especially for a twelve-year-old, and Cecelia could not stop looking at her hair. Cecily always had wanted to have auburn hair, as that is how she always a Cecily to look like.

She must be from Hufflepuff. Her personality says it all. Who else would come to a dark Transfiguration room during dinner time? Well, maybe a Ravenclaw. But they would be too busy studying like I am. Cecily thought, rubbing her eyes.

"Hi there," Cecelia finally said to the girl, trying to pull herself together. "I'm alright. I-It's nothing, honestly. I'm just... oh, nevermind."

Cecelia thought the girl must be very thoughtful to come to a lonely Transfiguration classroom at dinnertime. That was part of the reason why she imagined the girl was a Hufflepuff. There could be some Griffyndors who would come by, maybe some Slytherins (although Cecelia highly doubted that), possibly some Ravenclaws, but Hufflepuff was the house that was caring, loyal, and kind. They would be wanting to look out for other students.

Cecelia sniffed, dried her eyes, and then took a deep breath. She was determined to finish her studying session and be prepared for the test. Although the girl seemed very nice, Cecily knew that she had to continue to study. She looked at the girl again, hoping she would go away. Cecily never liked to tell people what to go away, especially if they were trying to help her. But after all, Cecily needed to study, and she could handle herself.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to be mean or anything, but do you mind... leaving? I'm alright, really. It's nothing. Nothing at all." She closed her eyes as she said those sentences. She really hoped the girl wouldn't be offended. She seemed such a kind, beautiful, Hufflepuff, but Cecily didn't think that she could help her in the situation.

"I'm sorry, I just... I'm crying about nothing. It's all fine."

Cecily thought hard, wondering what else she could tell the girl. Then without thinking, she blurted out, "Dinner is happening now, and I'm sure there is delecious food. I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss the food that the house-elves cook."

It was a worth shot, saying that. The girl probably was on her way to dinner anyway. Cecelia hoped and prayed the girl wouldn't be offended or storm off. No, she didn't seem like that kind of person. Hopefully.

𝒯he girl looked startled as Amadea addressed her and immediately she felt a pang of fear. Maybe she shouldn't have approached. Amadea stood in an awkward silence, unsure of what to do or say. Was the girl going to speak?

Thankfully, she finally did though her words only succeeding in confusing Amadea more. She stuttered about how she was okay and it was nothing, even though Amadea could clearly tell that it wasn't just "nothing." Nothing wouldn't have caused the poor girl to be sitting alone in the Transfiguration classroom crying. There was definitely something wrong. Amadea didn't want to pry, but she also really wanted to help.

From the looks of things, it looked like the girl was studying for Transfiguration. Could that be the issue, maybe? After all, her books were spread open wide and she had parchments filled with notes everywhere. Before Amadea could open her mouth to ask the girl if she needed help with Transfiguration, the girl spoke, asking Amadea if she didn't mind leaving. As if this didn't make things even more confusing.

Amadea was now feeling very conflicted. On one hand, she wanted to stay and help the girl. She was a Hufflepuff after all, and it was her nature to want to help. It pained her to see the girl so upset. She wanted to know what was wrong and what she could do to help. But then again, on the other hand, the girl had outright asked Amadea to leave. It wasn't like Amadea could say no. The girl knew what she wanted.

As Amadea's brain fought against itself inside of her head, trying to convince her to do one thing or the other, the girl spoke again, mentioning something about dinner being ready and how Amadea shouldn't miss it. "I wouldn't want you to miss dinner, either," Amadea commented. Maybe she could go down to the Great Hall and bring some food back up to the girl. Food always managed to make Amadea feel marginally better. "Do you want help with anything?" Amadea added. She moved slightly toward the door, just in case the girl didn't want anything. She didn't want to be disrespectful and not abide by the girl's wishes, but if the girl wanted something, Amadea was ready to help.

"My name is Amadea, by the way," she added, sticking out her hand with a smile. She felt bad for not asking for the girl's name earlier, but then again, she had only said a few other words to the girl, mostly concerning her emotional state. Hopefully this situation could be turned around and the girl would feel better. 

The girl, who Cecelia assumed was a Hufflepuff, did not leave right away. Cecily was feeling a mix of emotions. First, she was sad because of her Transfiguration. Second, she was happy that someone actually came by and wanted to help her. Third, she was a little impatient with the girl. As nice as the girl seemed, she really did need to get back to studying. Cecily wanted to tell the girl togo away, but her kindness inside of her fought with that resolution.

While Cecily was thinking about this, the girl replied to her comment. Cecily looked up, a little startled to hear what the girl had to say. She was relieved the girl didn't storm off or any of that sort.

"Oh. Thanks. I-I appreciate that. But I'm alright. I'm crying about nothing. I'm all good. I seriously don't want to waste your time while you could be eating delicious food." She offered the girl a friendly smile.

"Do you want help with anything?"

Cecily looked down at the floor. She wanted to tell the girl to leave, but she didn't want to be rude. The girl was only trying to help her in a kind way. It was rude of her to tell her to leave just because of Transfiguration.

The girl introduced herself, and Cecily looked up again at her.

"Hello Amadea. That is a beautiful name. I'm Cecelia. But you can call me Cecily if you want."

She returned back to her thoughts, still deciding what to do. Amadea was just trying to be nice, but Cecily did need to get her studying done.

"Um. Please Lea-" Cecelia started, but she couldn't say the rest. Something stopped her from telling the girl to leave. No, she couldn't do it. She couldn't choose to study over a kind student who was trying to help her.

Cecelia didn't say anything else. She didn't even know if she could speak anymore. Unsure what to do, Cecelia felt hot tears building up in her eyes, although she didn't know why.

Then, she did understand why. She had almost told someone to leave her alone even though she was trying to help her. Thinking of this reminded her of her experience with Anastasia Beckett. Cecily had been trying to help Anastasia but Anastasia got annoyed at her even though Cecily was only trying to help. The two had resolved the argument and did end up apologizing to each other and became friends, but Cecily would still never forget that experience.

I'm being such a hypocrite. Oh. No. Don't cry Cecelia. the girl thought to herself, feeling the tears reach her lashes. Then she couldn't take it. She broke down crying.

"Oh, Amadea. I'm sorry. I-I just. I can't do this. T-Transfiguration is killing me," she started, trying to find her voice. "I can't study anymore, but I'm not prepared for my test. A-at all. A-and then I have been horrid to you when you were only trying to help." Her tears were slowing now, which she found surprising.

"I'm sorry. I'm a mess. And embarrassing. I don't want to waste your time. I-I think I'll be alright. Really."

It really was true. She dearly didn't want to drain the girl's time, and she was such an humiliating wreck. She knew Amadea probably felt awkward listening to her rant about how hard Transfiguration is. At least, Cecily knew she would feel awkward.

Feeling a bit better, Cecily dried her tears again and tried to stand up straighter, a little curious what the girl's reaction would be or what she would say.

𝒜madea really had no idea what to do. Thankfully, it seemed as though the girl was less hesitant about the idea of letting Amadea stay in the room with her. This meant that Amadea now had to brainstorm ways to cheer the girl up and distract her from whatever was bothering her while also figuring out what exactly was bothering her in the first place. It all seemed very complicated to Amadea, who was still only becoming accustomed to the amount of human interaction being a Prefect entailed. This was her job, however, and Amadea was a problem solver. She would figure all of this out.

The girl introduced herself as Cecilia, nickname Cecily. Amadea smiled at that, reminded of her close friend Cecily Quinn who shared the same name. Amadea smiled graciously at the compliment about her name. To be honest, Amadea didn't love it; people always tended to butcher the prounounciation and it quickly became tedious correcting them. However, she didn't hate her name so she couldn't complain. Of all the names she could have been named, Amadea wasn't a bad choice.

Cecily looked as though she was about to say something to Amadea before she let out a long breath and then burst into tears again, to Amadea's surprise. She had thought the girl had her tears under control, but apparently not. Amadea sat down next to Cecily and awkwardly patted her back. Really, this whole comforting thing was new territory for Amadea and she wasn't sure how she should proceed. Finally, Cecily spoke, sobbing about how Transfiguration was too much work and how she couldn't do it.

At last, a reason for Cecily's sadness! Amadea now easily could figure out a solution to this problem. "Oh Cecily, Transfiguration is nothing to cry over!" Amadea said, reassuring the girl. "Sure, it's not the easiest course, but with some practice I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. Do you want me to help you?" she asked. Amadea ,being the hard worker she was, had received high marks in Transfiguration during her first year and so far, she wasn't doing too badly in her second year.

"What part of it is giving you so much trouble?" Amadea asked. Hopefully Amadea could clear up any confusion Cecily was having with the subject and make her feel better.

Reducio

So sorry for the late response! I'll try to be more timely next time, but no promises! 

The Ravenclaw took deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. She was literally having panic attacks. Thankfully, she was able to slow her tears, but this rarely ever happened to Cecelia before. She was a very tough girl, and usually could toughen up through the situation, especially if it was school.

At last, her tears came to a stop and Cecily blinked a couple times to make sure she could see right. Her eyes were burning and she was positive they were bright red, and her face was wet. She wiped her face off on her thick sweater, and the looked at Amadea.

She smiled as Amadea comforted and offered help to her. "T-That's awfully nice of you, Amadea," Cecily paused, choosing her words carefully. "A-All of it is confusing. I-I mean, I love Transfiguration, usually. It is one of my favorite subjects. But I'm so bewildered with everything. I don't know why. I'm usually never like this. I suppose it is because I've been working for so long, a-and I know I should take a break but I have so much to do with such little time."

Cecily paused, unsure what else to say. What she said was completely true. Cecelia loved Transfiguration, and most of the time succeeded and had no trouble. But not after studying for a long period of time. Sniffing a little more, Cecily continued.

"I supposed it's all the memorizing that gives me the most trouble. I've never really had trouble memorizing things, because I usually find ways to help me remember it. But these signs just confuse me. All the alphabet signs. No matter what I try, it just won't stick with me." Cecelia sighed, looking at the floor. She was already rambling a bit, and felt terrible sorry for Amadea. Poor Amadea probably didn't understand a word she had said.

"I'm sorry if I've caused you too much trouble. I-I tend to speak fast and ramble, and none of my sentences make sense. I'm so sorry you got dragged into it. I must have ruined your evening plans by now."

Cecily felt like crying more, but no tears came out. It felt like all the tears she had in her eyes had been drained out, and none more could be formed. She didn't know what else to say to Amadea, but knew she shouldn't say anymore. Amadea already had enough to deal with.


OOC: Oh, no worries! Take all the time you need. I totally get all the busyness! I've been super busy (which is also another reason why this post was very bad )

𝒜fter a few minutes, the girl's tears began to slow down. Amadea internally thanked all of the gods and divine creatures that could possibly exist. She really had no idea how to comfort crying people and she was glad that things were beginning to look up.

Now to tackle the matter of Transfiguration. Amadea didn't want to brag, but she had to admit that Transfiguration was one of her best subjects. Hopefully Amadea could trasnfer her knowledge to Cecily. Unfortunately, it seemed as though there was no root to Cecily's confusion; all of it was confusing her. That could definitely be due to the fact that Cecily had probably been in the classroom for a long time. She probably needed a break.

Cecily then mentioned something about memorization and the alphabet. Amadea nodded. Memorization could be difficult. She wracked her brain trying to think of some tips that she could offer on how better to make the information stick. "How long have you been here?" Amadea asked. "I know it seems like there's a lot to do, but you obviously aren't going to get any work done while you're sitting here stressing yourself out. You should take a break, eat some dinner, and then come back to it," Amadea suggested.

"As for memorizing the alphabet," Amadea added, "what I do is look for patterns." She tried to think of a good example for Cecily. "For instance, the symbol for X is just an X with two lines at the end. And for Z, just draw a Z, then draw a backward Z, and then draw two lines connecting them." Amadea was unsure if this explanation was helping Cecily or making her more confused. She decided to stop talking in case it was causing more confusion. She definitely had a unique way of looking at things that some other people found confusing. Hopefully Cecily would at least somewhat understand what Amadea was trying to say.

Amadea gave Cecily a reassuring smile. The poor girl seemed to be worrying herself half to death over Transfiguration and being scared about ruining Amadea's night. It wasn't like Amadea had any other place to be; plus, she could use a little review of Transfiguration! 

Her face was completely dry now, but not very presentable. Thankfully, Cecelia wasn't allowed to even wear makeup, so she didn't look like a complete wreck, but she still could use some help.

Trying to ignore how she looked, Cecily looked up at Amadea as she suggested to take a break. Cecily sighed. The Hufflepuff was probably right, but Cecily didn't have time. She had so many things to study, already, that she didn't have time for a break. Cecelia then focused hard on her hand. She didn't know what to tell the Hufflepuff without feeling bad. Amadea didn't understand, but Cecily wasn't the type to openly tell someone they were wrong and didn't understand... even though she had already done it.

"I-I just don't have time. I have so many things to study but hardly anymore time to waste. I-I mean you aren't wasting my time, of course, but as much as I'd like to take a break... I simply can't. It was my fault, I have wasted too much time crying, and-" Cecily said no more, and bit her lip to prevent tears to even form.

She jerked her head downwards and stared at the floor while Amadea talked about memorizing. She smiled a little, thankful for her help.

"Thank you for your help, I guess that does make it easier," Cecily said, looking back up at Amadea, unsure what else to say.

There was a silence for a little while, and Cecily continued to stare at the floor again, trying to think what she should do. She knew Amadea was right, she had to take a break, but she didn't know if she should. Besides, her taking to Amadea was basically a break, because she hadn't been studying for... what? Around fifteen minutes now? Cecily calmly looked at her watch, not wanting to make Amadea feel bad. Cecelia was grateful for the girl, but now she didn't know what else to say to her.

"So," Cecily looked back at Amadea after the long silence. "uh. What do you suggest I do now? You know, this is super unfortunate. I feel super bad for keeping you in this room for so long, when you could have been somewhere else, and you seem like such a sweet person that I wish we had met when I wasn't studying. I guess that is pretty uncommon though. I study a lot," Cecily giggled a bit, hoping that their conversation and time wouldn't be awkward. She knew Amadea probably wouldn't be worried about Cecily ruining her evening plans, but she felt bad she couldn't talk with Amadea for a longer time. She really did seem like such a sweet, caring, and wonderful girl.

OOC: I'm going out of town for spring break (and I'll be busy the next most likely!) so if I don't reply for a little while that is why!

𝒜madea gave the girl a reassuring smile. Even though she had stopped crying, she still looked in pretty miserable shape. Nevertheless, Amadea was sure that she could help Cecily feel much better in no time. After all, it was only transfiguration!

As Cecily went on, working herself up again, talking about how she didn't have time, Amadea nodded along in agreement. Unfortunately, it was definitely something that she could relate to. Her second year at Hogwarts was shaping up to be a lot more work than her first year, which was to be expected, but it still left Amadea staying up until the crack of dawn cramming in all of her studies. Along with her Prefect duties, it was definitely hard to manage. Fortunately, she had some tips that she could pass along to Cecily.

"I completely understand what you mean about time," Amadea said. "It would definitely be a help to have a few more hours in the day, wouldn't it? Sometimes you just have to accept that there is no possible way for you to physically finish everything. Try to prioritize your work; get the things done that are the most important first. Then, if you have extra time, finish the things that are less important. Also don't hesitate to talk to the professors. They're here to help us, and while it's best to try to complete your work, if they know you have a good work ethic, I'm sure they'd be willing to give you some sort of extension every once in a while." Amadea was beginning to feel as though she should start listening to her own advice more. "Just remember that your mental health is very important and you have to have time to take breaks and just relax."

She smiled at Cecily, hoping that the girl could benefit from her advice. "As for now," Amadea said, "I think you should take a break. It seems like you've been studying for a really long time and you deserve to take a break. Let's go down to dinner. Once you eat some food, I'm sure you'll feel better." Amadea hoped that Cecily would come with her; the girl definitely needed a break from all of the work she was doing. Plus, it would be nice to talk to Cecily when she wasn't so stressed about school. Cecily seemed like a genuinely nice person and Amadea hoped they could get to know each other without the tears.