Year 2: Open Your Mind

Chapter 13: November 2015

"This is such a waste of time," Sarah complained. "Three feet on the uses of flobberworm mucus? I ran out of things to say after the first foot."

"You need to write bigger," Debbie said without looking up from her own work.

"That's terrible advice," Molly cried. "That's the kind of thing you do when all you want is an A."

"Have you seen Sarah's writing?" Julie pointed out, grabbing Sarah's essay and shoving it on Molly's desk. "It's miniscule."

"Oh," Molly nodded. "Yeah, okay I see now. Sarah, you need to write bigger."

Sarah grabbed her parchment back, glaring at her friends. "I do not," she disagreed. "I'll come up with more to say."

"There's only so many uses of flobberworm mucus," Debbie pointed out. "What else can you say once you've named them all?"

"I can elaborate on the different potions it can be used in – how it reacts with different ingredients to produce different effects, how the heat of the potion at the time of addition affects it's potency…" Sarah muttered.

"You really want to do all that?" Molly asked. "It sounds like way more than Professor Abbott-Longbottom asked for."

"Of course I don't want to do it," Sarah replied. "I hate potions. But I want the O."

"What do you mean you hate potions?" Molly frowned.

Sarah shrugged. "I mean I don't like the subject," she said. "Its far too particular and there's way too much room for error when brewing a potion. I mean, just look at what happened with your wideye potion last year. Every time we brew something new, I'm afraid that'll happen because I was distracted and missed a step, or did a step too early or something."

"But… but…" Molly spluttered. "But you can't hate potions, you love potions, you love all of school."

"Well sure I love being in school and going to classes," Sarah agreed. "But that doesn't mean I have to enjoy every class."

"Why does this bother you so much, Molly?" Julie questioned.

Molly shrugged. "I don't know," she muttered. "It's just… weird."

The truth was, Molly knew exactly what was making her uncomfortable. Sarah, Debbie, and Julie were supposed to be just like her. They were supposed to like all the same things. They were the tops of their class, spent all their time together… All through last year, they'd done everything together. Molly had thought they were a team. But this year everything seemed to be changing. First, her friends had all decided to join flying lessons, and now Sarah was telling her she hated potions?

"What's next?" Molly demanded. "Debbie, are you going to suddenly declare that you hate charms?"

"No," Debbie shrugged. "I quite like charms. It's transfiguration I'm not a fan of."

"What?" Molly cried. Transfiguration was arguably Molly's favorite subject, though she loved them all with a passion. How could Debbie not enjoy a subject full of careful calculations and precision?

"I like herbology though," Debbie offered.

"Well of course you like Herbology," Molly said. "You also like transfiguration. You have to."

"No," Debbie shook her head. "I really don't."

"Come on Molly, it's not like you don't have your favorites," Julie said.

"Well sure," Molly agreed. "But I only have favorites from my list of favorites. I don't hate any of my classes, I love them all."

"Well see, that's just not true," Sarah said.

"What do you mean?" Molly demanded.

"You hate defence," Sarah declared.

Molly gaped. "I do not!" she cried.

"You do, actually," Julie said. "Which I find simply bizarre, because defence is my absolute favorite class. But it's cool, you know, because everyone's different."

"No!" Molly insisted. "This isn't right. We love school!"

"Molly, I think you need to just calm down a little," Debbie said. "Take a walk or something."

"I think I will," Molly decided, grabbing her defence textbook as she stood. "In fact, I'm going to go and find someplace where I can read the upcoming chapter in defence. Because I love defence, and I'm going to be extra-prepared tomorrow."

"Sure, Molly," Julie said. "You do that."

Molly left then, slamming the door behind her. What was happening? Not long ago, she and her friends had agreed on everything. It was them against the world. Whenever the other students were making fun of them for always studying, they would band together for support. Whenever a subject in a class was difficult, they'd help each other through it. When Headmaster Slinkhard threatened to take away their study room, it was together that they'd found a way to keep it.

So what was happening now? Suddenly it seemed that her friends were drifting away from her. Molly couldn't pinpoint exactly when she'd come to rely so heavily on her friends, but apparently it had happened. But could they even be called friends anymore, if their interests were so different? Molly felt like she didn't even know Sarah, Debbie, and Julie anymore.

Molly walked down to the second floor and made her way to the library; the only spot in the castle she could think of to go to study by herself. It wasn't as good as the study room upstairs, but if she found a secluded enough corner, maybe she could manage to read without distraction.

As Molly wandered through the library in search of a suitable spot, she came upon her cousin Dominique, studying with two male friends.

"Hey Molly," Dominique greeted her upon seeing her.

"Oh, her Domi," Molly replied. "Don't mind me."

"Is something wrong?" Dominique wondered. "Where are your friends? Shouldn't you be off with them, wherever it is you go?"

"How do you know we go someplace?" Molly wondered, narrowing her eyes. If Victoire had told Domi anything about their study room…

"Well you're never in the library or the common room," Dominique explained. "And I spend a lot of time in both."

"Maybe we spend our time in the inter-house study lounge," Molly suggested. "Two of my friends are in Ravenclaw after all, so we would benefit greatly from it."

"Then where were you all last year?" Dominique pointed out. "Look, it doesn't matter, I was just curious why you were here, without them."

"It's nothing," Molly sighed. "I'm fine."

Molly started to walk away, but Dominique stood and blocked her.

"Hang on," Dominique said. "You seem… off. Sad isn't the word, but you're in that zone."

"I'm melancholy," Molly said.

"What's making you melancholy?" Dominique asked.

"People don't need a reason to be melancholy," Molly said. "Sometimes it just happens."

"But I'm getting the sense that you do have a reason. Something's bothering you."

Molly hesitated, torn between her desire to talk about things and her desire to just lose herself in her defence book. "It's really nothing," she said.

"Look," Dominique declared. "I'm not leaving you alone until you talk to me."

Molly sighed. "Well can we do it someplace else?" she asked. "I don't fancy having a heart to heart in the middle of the aisle."

"Oh," Dominique nodded, steering Molly further into the library to a private spot. "Alright, is this better then?"

"I guess so," Molly shrugged.

Dominique waited for Molly to talk, but when Molly didn't volunteer anything, she decided to prompt her. "So you're feeling melancholy?"

Molly sighed. "I just think my friends and I are drifting apart," she said.

"Oh," Dominique nodded. "I can understand that."

"I mean, we used to be the same. We'd do everything together. But now…" Molly trailed off.

"But now they want to do things without you, they're hanging out with new people, you don't see them as much, and you start wondering if they're only staying friends with you out of a sense of duty," Dominique completed for Molly.

Molly frowned. "No that's not it," she shook her head.

Now Dominique frowned. "Then what is it?" she asked.

Molly searched for the words. "It's… Like before, we only had the same interests. We were all the same. But now it's like I'm realizing that they're all so different from me."

"Can you give me an example?" Dominique asked.

"Like… Sarah says she hates potions. And supposedly Debbie hates transfiguration. Up until today, we all loved our classes equally and then out of the blue they're announcing that actually they don't like all their classes. And Julie seems to think I hate defence, even though she loves defence. And if that's true, then what does it say about me?"

"Well do you like defence?" she asked.

Molly reflected for a moment. "No," she admitted finally. "I really don't."

"Then it means that you don't like defence," Dominique said.

"But how can I be friends with Julie if she loves defence and I hate it?" Molly asked. "And how can I be friends with Debbie if she hates transfiguration and it's my favorite subject?"

"Differences are part of what makes a friendship so interesting," Dominique said. "You don't have to be exactly the same in every regard. You just have to have enough in common to get along. Look at me and my friends. They all love Quidditch with a passion. Brooke's even on the Quidditch team this year, and Miles and Tom tried out, only they didn't make it this year."

"But you hate Quidditch," Molly frowned, confused. "Why are you friends with them?"

Dominique laughed. "Because we get along. We have a good time together. We have plenty of other things in common that we can connect over."

"But what do you do when they all decide to talk about Quidditch?" Molly asked.

"Sometimes I listen," Dominique replied. "Try to understand what they're saying and contribute what I can. Most of the time I roll my eyes and ignore them."

"And they're okay with that?" Molly asked in surprise.

"Sure," Dominique nodded. "And then when I want to talk about something that I'm interested in, I know they'll listen too, even though they aren't as interested as I am."

"Or they'll roll their eyes and pretend to listen," Molly added.

"Exactly," Dominique grinned.

"But is it really friendship if they're only pretending?" Molly asked.

"Well they're not pretending to be my friends," Dominique explained. "They're pretending to listen to me, because they are my friends and they know that whatever I'm saying is something that interests me. So instead of walking away, they pretend to be interested."

"I never thought of it that way," Molly said. "So if I want to be a true friend to Julie, I have to let her talk about how interesting defence is, even if I hate it. And if Debbie wants to be a true friend to me, she'll let me talk about transfiguration, even if she's not interested in the least?"

"Right," Dominique nodded. "And then you can bond over… What's a subject you all like?"

Molly thought about it for a moment. "We all seem to enjoy charms," she said.

"There you go," Dominique said. "Something you all have in common."

"I guess I see your point," Molly said. "Thanks."

"No problem," Dominique smiled.

"I think I'm going to go and find my friends now," Molly declared.

"And I think I'll be getting back to mine," Dominique nodded.

Molly stood and began to walk away. Just as she was about to round the corner and disappear from sight, she turned to address her cousin once more.

"Hey Domi?" she called out.

"Hmm?" Dominique asked, looking over.

"If you and your friends are going to study in the library, you should really keep the volume down. There are people trying to focus in here," Molly said.

"I'll keep that in mind," Dominique chuckled.

MmMmMmMmMmM

Molly returned to the study room with her friends, nervous that they'd be angry about her earlier outburst. Thankfully, they were happy to have her back, and studying was able to continue without further incident.

"Hey Debbie?" Molly ventured a while later.

"What's up?" Debbie asked.

"Well since you hate transfiguration, and I enjoy it immensely, I was wondering if there was anything you were having trouble with that I might be able to help you with," Molly offered.

"Thanks Molly," Debbie smiled. "Not at the moment, but I'll let you know."

Okay," Molly nodded.

The room lapsed back into silence for another half hour of silent study before Molly spoke again.

"Hey Julie?" she asked.

"Yeah?" Julie said, looking up from her herbology textbook.

"Would you mind helping me out at some point with my disarming spell?" Molly asked. "I'm having trouble with the aim. I think it's coming out of my wand at a peculiar angle and I don't know why. I just figured… since you love defence so much and I hate it, that you'd be willing to help."

"Sure," Julie agreed readily. "Maybe tomorrow after class?"

"Sounds good," Molly nodded, letting herself again be absorbed by her astronomy homework.

A couple of minutes later, Sarah spoke up. "What's your deal?" she asked. "Earlier it was freaking you out that we could like different subjects, and now it's fine?"

"I talked to my cousin," Molly explained. "I realized that we can still be friends even if we like different things."

"Well of course we can," Debbie said. "You thought we couldn't be?"

Molly shrugged. "I don't know," she muttered. "I've never had friends before. I didn't know how it worked."

"So who's going to help me with potions then?" Sarah demanded playfully. "Because my flobberworm mucus essay is a disaster and I've only got two feet so far."

"I already told you," Debbie repeated. "You need to write bigger."

"Actually Debbie, maybe you could help Sarah come up with more to say," Molly suggested. "You said your favorite subject was herbology? Herbology and potions overlap quite a bit. And flobberworm mucus has a lot of interesting reactions with different magical plants as well."

"Well alright," Debbie agreed. "I guess I could help with the essay. I still think you just need to write a little bigger though.

The girls lapsed into silence again until Molly found herself with thoughts flying through her mind. She would have preferred to stay focused on her work, but clearly she needed to sort things out first.

"Julie, you never told us what subject you hate," Molly said. "And Sarah, you never said which subject you enjoy most. I like transfiguration, but Debbie hates it. I hate defence, but Julie loves it. Sarah hates potions and Debbie loves herbology."

"I don't think it can be so oversimplified," Debbie said. "Not everyone has just one good and one bad subject."

"No," Molly agreed. "But everyone has a scale, and there's always something at the top and at the bottom of the scale."

"I like history," Sarah declared. "I like it because all I have to do is remember it. It doesn't depend on my skill level. I don't have to brew a potion or cast a spell to show that I understand it. I just have to remember what I've been told."

"I hate astronomy," Julie declared. "I like things that are fast-paced. It takes months, years, for anything interesting to happen up in the sky."

Molly nodded.

"I like transfiguration because of the theory," Molly said. "It's not like charms, where you can cast a spell without understanding what you're doing. In transfiguration, you have to really know what to do. And I hate defence because it's too spontaneous and disorganized. And loud. Everything in defence is so loud. People are always screaming in that class."

"I already told you why I hate potions," Sarah said with a shrug. "Too much room for error. Too much need for precision."

"I like herbology," Debbie said. "Because I like the idea that from almost nothing, we can grow a plant that can be the main ingredient in a potion that can cure illness. And I like caring for the plants, nurturing them."

"I like defence because it's fast-paced," Julie said. "I like that I can be dueling and I'm not even thinking about my next move before I do it. I like how simple it can be. And I like the running and the dodging. It's exhilarating."

"I hate transfiguration because it requires too much concentration," Debbie said. "Sometimes I feel like my head is about to explode from me trying to remember every detail of a spell. And it takes forever to learn all the theory. We're not even scheduled to learn our first new transfiguration spell until the second term. We're spending four whole months on theory alone."

"But the theory's so interesting!" Molly protested. "Sorry," she immediately amended. "I just really like transfiguration."

"It's alright," Debbie said. "I understand. I'm sure I'd be just as defensive if one of you hated herbology."

"Well I don't hate it as much as potions, but I'm not a huge fan," Sarah volunteered. "It's pretty low on my list of favorites."

"Well I'm not the hugest fan of history," Debbie said. "So I guess we're even."

"This is good, right?" Molly asked. "Sharing like this?"

"Yeah," Julie agreed. "We are friends after all. We should know each other more than just each other's study habits."

"We should keep talking," Sarah agreed.

"Yeah," Debbie nodded.

"Maybe we should save the more talking for tomorrow though," Molly suggested. "Curfew's coming and I'd really like to finish this assignment."

Her friends readily agreed that returning to their work was a good idea. Talking about their differences was all well and good, but they all still had one important thing in common; they were all still striving to be top of their class. And as Molly picked up her quill, she realized something important. That underlying desire they all shared – that's what made their friendship so strong.