𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜... | ᴍᴀᴛᴛʜᴇᴏ ʀɪᴅᴅʟᴇ |

4.

4. late
• • •

I RAN TO MY next class. We got caught up at lunch, ranting about anything annoying that happened in the morning. I approached the door and tried to slow down my heart rate, quietly opening the door. "You're late." I flinched at the voice of a professor.

"Sorry, my apologies," I tried to say but she cut me off.

"Please don't let it happen again. It takes time from the lesson." I tried my best not to roll my eyes. This lecture was taking time from the lesson. "Take a seat." I sat in the only chair left, next to a dirty blonde. He smelt like almonds and vanilla. "As I was saying, so far, your curriculum has been... unorganized at best. Both the Ministry and I are aiming to fix that. To do so, we have decided to help you learn without wands."

Whispers erupted through the class. I agreed, this was rubbish. Why go to a magic school and not learn with wands?

"How are we supposed to be prepared then? This is Defence Against the Dark Arts after all," the boy next to me questioned.

"Mhm?" I asked, only half paying attention.

"I said; how are we supposed to be prepared?" He repeated. I tooled at his tie, another Ravenclaw. "I'm-"

"Quiet please." We turned our heads to the professor who Dumbledore introduced as 'Umbridge'. "We will be learning in a secure, risk free way."

"How is DADA supposed to be 'risk free'?" I learned over and asked.

"That's just what the Ministry wants us to think," he whispered back. "They're scared, so they tell us that-"

"There is nothing out there dear," Umbridge said, as if she was finishing the boy's sentence. "Who'd you imagine want to attack children like yourself?"

"She looks like she would kidnap children, torture them until someone pays her back," I giggled silently. "Buy you'll never expect it because no kidnapper wears bright pink."

A girl raised her hand, waiting to get picked. "How are we going to study for our O.W.L's then?" She questioned. Her voice as sweet and soft as a marshmallow. Then I realized, that was my roommate, Tanya Reynards.

"We will be reading about all the ways of defence. The Ministry concluded that it is easier to obtain knowledge from text," Umbridge chirped, handing out books. An awkward silence fell over the class, no one wanted to read, especially when practicing the spells were more exciting.

The lesson dragged on forever as we were required to read the same text four times. By the time I walked out of the class, my brain shrank. "Hey," the dirty blonde boy said, stopping me as I walked out. "I never got a chance to introduce myself. I'm Conan Warren."

"Edith," I replied.

"Do you want to come to the library with me after your last class?" He asked quietly.

"Do you really want to study the same fucking paragraph we just read a trillion times?" I laughed.

"No, definitely not. But we're also in the same potions class. I sit right behind you." He waited for an answer. "So, do you want to? Come to the library? With me?"

"Sure?" I said, unsure but not wanting to let him down. He seemed really sweet.

"Great, I'll meet you at three," Conan planned before running off to his next class which I would also be late for.

As I ran through the now empty corridors, I tripped over my own shoelaces, tripping and dropping everything. "Wanted to see the floor from a closer angle?" I looked at Riddle who was leaning against the wall, watching with amusement.

"Yes," I replied sarcastically, "I was hoping to find some germs but it looks like you're right there, so I guess I don't need to look anymore," I huffed, picking up all my books.

"How do you already have that many books?" He questioned, walking over.

"It's O.W.L's. And I have this really annoying teacher who won't let us use spells."

"And they're doing this because...?"

"The Ministry said so. I can't stand her," I groaned, getting to my feet. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a class to get to and I'm really late. Again." I rushed past him, arriving in the Divinations tower. I don't know why I took this class again, maybe to take naps. Probably. The first thing that caught my eye when I walked in was Tanya. I felt a small blush creep on my face, why was she here? I snuck past the professor who was helping some students and sat next to Tanya.

"Hey roomie," she grinned, flashing her pearly white teeth. "How come you're so late?"

"I was talking to someone then I tripped and had another conversation with someone else," I sighed heavily.

"Who were you talking to?" Tanya asked curiously.

"Conan Warren. And Mattheo Riddle," I answered, taking out my things.

"I'd stay away from them, if I were you," she warned, her browns knitted with worry.

"Trust me, if I could stay away from Riddle my whole entire life, I would've. And Conan doesn't seem bad, he's very sweet." I didn't even know what we did all class, Tanya and I just talked about our lives. This was the first whole conversation I've had with her and it was quite pleasant, she was easy to talk to.

"Do you watch musicals?" I asked, needing to know.

"No," she sighed. "But I saw your collection. It's quite impressive actually." I groaned, leaning back in my chair. "I don't watch them, mostly because the first one I watched sucked."

"If you're going to say 'Beetlejuice' I'm kicking you out of our room," I threatened, loving that musical.

"No, I don't know what that is," she replied quietly. That was almost worse. "I watched 'Cats'. It was quite scary."

"Nobody likes that musical," I said with disgust. "You and I are going to watch 'Heathers' tonight. Are you free after dinner?" She nodded. "Great. I can't wait. It's so good, it's one of my favourites. If you don't like it, I get a pair of shoes of my choosing."

"Ok," she smiled.

"Wait, really?" I asked happily.

"It's only fair. Besides, every pair of shoe you see I have two of. Can't be too careful." I grinned, excitement building up in me. "What's 'Heathers' about?" I nearly squealed at the question then proceeded to tell her about the musical.

Before I knew it, class was over. "I'll see you after dinner," I said happily. "Also, if you like 'Heathers' I'm going to keep showing you musicals until we pass out."

"Good to know," she laughed. We went out separate ways and I made my way to the library where Conan was already waiting.

• • •
i hate writing about classes bc they're boring so i tried to make it a little more enjoyable 🩷
what's your favourite song from a musical?
——>

also sorry if i offended anyone by saying 'cats' sucks. i've never actually watched it, it just looks kinda scary 😦