just a bit of light reading

Saturday morning after a long week of classes, surely that had earned an extra hour of sleep or more. But, no Cecilia had been up at five am, showered and dressed, face scrubbed clean and fingers scrubbed raw. Old habits die hard, especially the ones that were ingrained in you at such a young age as this was. The girl had done the same thing every day for her whole life. She dressed herself in a pair of old jeans with a hole on the knee, and a blue striped sweater with sleeves so long it covered her hands, then she grabbed her books and headed out of the dormitory. The common room was fairly empty as she passed through a group or two of students tucked away in corners either studying or gossiping, but that was about it. Awkwardly, she kept her head down, eyes on the floor as headed out into the rest of the castle.

Normally she’d head straight for the library, it was sure to be quiet in there. Today wasn’t normal, instead she headed down to the entrance hall and out into the cobblestone courtyard. It had a simple fountain in the center, some greenery growing near the castle wall, and a tree in one corner. Under that tree was a stone bench. That would do nicely she thought to herself slowly walking over to the bench. It was just close enough to the tree that if she sat sideways with her feet on the bench next to her she could lean back against the tree, so that is what she did. The girl pulled her hair over one shoulder to keep it from getting tangled in the bark, then she relaxed and opened her book.

They had a test coming up in charms about color changing charms , so Cecilia chose to use this time to study up on it. The sound the pages made as she turned them brought a small smile to the corner of her lips, and since it was still pretty early for a Saturday most students were still at breakfast or in their doors. Thanks to this it was pretty quiet around the courtyard.

Being a fifth year last term wasn't no easy piece of cake, she was constantly studying to make sure she made the perfect grades, looking back she was glad she did.   Although she was glad those days were behind her, she could have somewhat of a easy year this year, or so she thought.  Turns out this year was preparing her for her NEWTs that were coming next year, ugh... get done with one and have to worry about another one.  Although she was also studying non verbal magic and how to be an animagus as well, so she been a busy badger.  Although she was happy to announce she found the book on animaguses now if she can just get down how to change into one.


With the book on Animagus and non verbal spells she skipped outside towards her favorite tree towards the courtyard to read.   Keeping to herself like she always does she headed quickly towards her spot to see that it was taken.  Not that she minded,  it was a pretty popular spot around Hogwarts besides the lake.  "Umm... hello, do you mind if I join you? Such a nice day today didn't want to be cooped up in the castle today."  She didn't have many friends,  but maybe Sophia and them buf she was working on that.

Cecilia had been so engrossed in her book that she hadn’t noticed when another girl had walked up to her and began speaking. Catching her off guard Cecilia jumped a little. “Oh, umm yeah.” she said, pulling her feet closer to herself, creating room for the other girl to sit as well. Maura, that was the girls name, Cecilia remembered after getting a better look at her. She continued to talk about the weather and enjoying the outdoors. “Yeah, I guess.” she replied looking at the book she held. “Animagi?” cec asked. She scanned her memory for information on the subject. It was supposed to be a tricky bit of magic.

"Thanks!" Seeing her look at the book on Animaguses she nodded.   "Yeah... I know it's very hard to be one but I would like to try to become one." Shs knew it was very hard and not many witches and wizards succeed in such a thing, but she wanted to try.  She knew the difficulties that were going to happen,  but like every great witch and wizard before her, they didn't give up on the possible and she wasn't either.   Taking a seat she opened her book and started reading where she left off on how to shift and change.

Cecilia thought about the idea of being an Animagi, the ability to turn into an animal at will, it did sound quite interesting. “What animal would you choose?” She asked the older girl. Cec didn’t know much on the topic outside of the general information. You couldn’t turn into just any animal, it was always the same one. Most of them have unique identifying features, making them easy to keep track of. There was a registry for the people who obtained the ability to do so.
Then her mind drifted off to what it would be like to be in the mind of an animal. Did you still think as a human? Did the animals natural instincts take over. There were a lot of questions for her to wonder about, so Cecilia made a mental note to check out a book on the topic next.

Taking a minute to think, she bit her lip thinking about what animal she would be.   She never thought about it,  but she knew that what animal you took had a lot on personality and stuff at times.  "I don't know,  I would like to be a arctic fox only because they're small but fierce but I love foxes."  The more she thought about being an animagus the more she thought about her human side verses the animal side as well,  were they two souls that connected as one?  She didn't want her animal side to take over and do something horrible,  but she doubt that would happen.  Her mind was else where thinking about the cons and pros of being an animagus.

As Maura explained her reasoning for choosing a particular animal, Cecilia listened attentively, finding her justifications to be sound. However, she couldn't help but think differently for herself. "I'd probably go for something smaller," she mused, "something that would allow me to sneak away and find some alone time whenever I need it."

Cecilia had grown up in a large house, but it never felt like a home to her. If anything, it was more of a place to stay out of trouble than a place of comfort and solace. So, having a smaller animal as a companion would make it easier for her to stay out of trouble and find some peace of mind.