Grammar School – Round Two
School and Year: Mahoutokoro, Exchange Student
Topic: Dialogue tags, action beats
Prompt: [Setting] A serene garden with a beautiful fountain
Word Count: 636
She was a pretty girl, Percy thought. A pretty girl with a face full of tears. She didn't seem to notice him; Percy watched her rubbing her teary eyes. Next to her sat two toads that kept jumping on her hand.
Percy carefully approached her. He didn't want to scare her, but he wanted to find out what was going on.
"Penelope?" he asked.
She flinched and moved away. "What are you doing here?"
He sat down next to her. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to intrude. I just saw you sitting here and I thought it was a first-year that sneaked into our garden."
The Prefect's Garden was one of Percy's favourite spots. He liked to come here to study; there was no place quieter. A few benches were arranged around the beautiful fountain in the centre of the garden.
He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Don't you want to sit down?" he suggested. "I'm sure it'll be much more comfortable to sit on one of the benches than here."
She slowly got up and allowed the toads to climb on her hands.
"I didn't know you had two toads," Percy remarked.
She shrugged.
"They seem to be friendly," he continued.
She shrugged again. "Friendlier than humans, that's for sure."
They sat down.
"What's happened?" Percy asked.
It took a while until she answered, but Percy didn't pressure her.
"I got a letter from my parents today," she said finally. "They're pretty angry. You see, my O.W.L. exams didn't go that well and I told them that I wanted to be a zoologist anyway. They thought I was joking. But I've sent off some application letters and apparently, the answers have been flying in. My parents want me to start at the ministry and now they've found out that I've been accepted by a university in Wales as a zoologist apprentice." She pulled a tissue out of her pocket. "They don't understand. They forbid me to start the apprenticeship and said that I should finish school and work at the Ministry, just like them. But I don't want that! I've never wanted that!" She leaned her head against Percy's shoulder.
"I'm sorry," he said, not sure what else to say. Although he understood Penelope's conflict, he couldn't understand why she didn't want to start at the ministry.
"I'm sure they'll cool down after a few days. It'll probably just take a bit of time for them to get used to the idea."
"I don't think so," Penelope said. "They can be stubborn and they really hate the idea of me working with Creatures. And in addition to that, my father's asked me if I made it into the Ravenclaw Quidditch team this year. They have no idea I haven't even tried out. Quidditch training is at the same time as Magical Creatures Club and there's no way I'd skip that. I don't even like Quidditch that much, but my brother's been on the team every year, so my parents expect me to do just as well as him."
"Sounds familiar," Percy muttered.
She blew her nose. "I don't know what to do. I don't want to disappoint them. But I don't want to work at the Ministry, either."
Percy gazed at the fountain, thinking about what to say to her. "The way I see it, you can either please them or please yourself. If you want some advice, Penelope: I don't think you should ever try to fulfil other people's expectations if it makes you unhappy. Your parents will accept your choice if they accept and love you as their daughter. If they don't – I'm sorry, but then they're simply not worth the thought."
She looked at him thoughtfully. "Are you sure about that?"
"I know that."
