Voila, another chapter. Have fun!
Special thanks to Conqueror Worm and SuGaRLiLy for reviewing. It's what guilts me into writing instead of just reading other fics! lol Onto the story.

Curse of a Dilettante

It was a beautiful morning; the sun's light flooded over the land, illuminating the skies in vivid colour; the birds sang, squawked and squabbled merrily in the trees; the squirrels hoped around on their busy business; the nocturnal beasts of the magical forbidden forest settled down for a merited day of rest; and despite all this, Eloise Midgeon was in a very, very, very bad mood.

She was presently sitting in the Great Hall holding her breath and counting to 10. You see, Eloise Midgeon also happened to have inadvertently rested her face on a wonderful stack of light crisp toast that had been scrumptiously covered in a nice thick layer of rich strawberry jam.

"Zacharias," she mumbled, though the sound was muffled by her makeshift pillow. "Could you explain to me why the table is mushy and tastes like strawberries?"

"Because dear Rebecca attempted to draw you from your inferi-like state by tempting you with food. She appears to have encountered a few unexpected obstacles however."

Eloise lowly lifted her jam smeared head and seethed, "Sssso itssss your fault."

"Seems to have worked nonetheless" Rebecca smiled perkily. "Don't you think so Zachy dear?"

"The end result is the same I suppose…"

"With the added benefit of jam," added Becca contritely.

"Of course."

"SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU!" raged Midgeon standing up and slamming her cup on the table. "AND IT'S NOT BLOODY FUNNY!"

"Whatever you say," answered Zacharias sarcastically. "We understand that a cup toting, milk spraying, jam covered Hufflepuff with a bad hair day, inside-out robes, and smiley-faced frog slippers is to be regarded only with the most solemn and grave of countenances."

Eloise sheepishly looked down at herself and the mess that she had created. Only then did she realize that she had inadvertently been providing entertainment for most of Hufflepuff house.

"Shows over people," she sighed. "Go find yourselves someone else to laugh at. I'll go get cleaned up."

"Don't forget we're making our schedules this morning."

"Oh. Thanks for reminding me."

As she morosely plodded out of the hall, Eloise was met with bemused expressions from all sides. Luckily, ridiculousness was expected of a Hufflepuff. Still, rising to peoples' expectations was not always complimentary.

OooooooooooooooooooooO

When Midgeon returned, Professor Sprout had already started making up the schedules for her year mates.

Zacharias had decided to continue with History of Magic as he had gotten an O in his OWLs and considered it and "easy credit."

Rebecca chose to keep up Divination for those very same reasons.

Hannah and Susan had of course taken all of the same classes, which included Charms, DADA, Herbology, Muggle Studies and Ancient Runes.

It was soon time for Eloise to choose her courses and she approached Professor Sprout with trepidation.

"Come on dear," Sprout smiled kindly at her. "I won't eat you"

Eloise mumbled something about how her OWLs might.

The teacher laughed. "Don't be ridiculous, you really did quite well on your tests. Let's see, you got an O in Potions-I take it you will be continuing? Good. Another O in Transfiguration, Charms and Arithmancy – will you be taking those as well? See, not so bad is it. An Exceeds Expectations in DADA and History of Magic. No History of Magic? Can't say I blame you. I'm afraid to say that you only achieved a P in Herbology. Your theoretical was very good, but your practical has always been abysmal."

"Is there any way I could continue Professor?"

"Why do you want to continue? Though it saddens me to admit it of one of my Hufflepuffs, you obviously have no affinity for the subject."

Midgeon shifted uncomfortably on her chair. "I know I suck at taking care of plants, but I want to be a mediwitch - from what I've heard, they think that if you can't take care of plants, you can't take care of people. Besides which, Herbology is incredibly useful in Potions. Please let me take it Professor, I'll work harder I promise!"

Sprout smiled sadly at her, "I'm sorry dear, but you just don't have what it takes. You have so many other subjects you're good at – Why don't you concentrate on them?"

However, Eloise was not so easily deterred. "What if I get Neville to tutor me? Don't accept me for now, but say come Christmas, would you reevaluate your decision if I improve?"

Sprout sighed. "Honey, I don't think you want to be doing this. Why don't you play on your strengths? St Mungoe's has accepted apprentices without Herbology NEWTs in the past."

"But all of the great potion masters have a solid background in Herbology."

Sprout shook her head. "Your theoretical knowledge should be largely sufficient. You won't make it in NEWT Herbology dear. It doesn't matter how hard you work, the ability for Herbology comes from the soul."

Eloise was silent a long while, tearing a loose piece of parchment into smaller and smaller pieces.

"What of the rest?" she finally asked in a subdued voice.

"You got an EE in Ancient Runes."

"I'll take it"

"You also got a T in Astronomy, both practical and theoretical, so you will have to retake fifth year Astronomy."

"Do I have to?" Eloise whined. "Couldn't I finish it by correspondence course or something?"

" 'Fraid not dear. If you want to graduate from Hogwarts you'll have to take it again. I'll put you down for Wednesday and Friday nights with the Griffindor and Hufflepuff fifth years. There we go – all finished. Ernie!"

Midgeon kept a polite smile on her face as she picked up her schedule. As soon as she had turned her back on her head of house, a ferocious scowl light her features and she stormed out of the Great Hall, sending a few first years scurrying for cover.

OoooooooooooooooO

"Oi mate! Why are you so bloody moody?" said Mandy sitting down beside her for Ancient Runes.

Eloise looked up from carving and inking in a hippopotamus at the corner of the desk. She would never indulge in this pastime were she in muggle school, but magic allowed you to do things otherwise deemed unacceptable. Thank Merlin she was a witch! She found defiling furniture a very relaxing exercise, almost meditative in a way. A combination of drawing and the innate urge to destroy things "Cause it's fun!" that humans seem to possess.

"Because I have to retake fifth year astronomy-with no more hope of passing it this year than I did the last - perhaps even less; because Madman Sinistra will undoubtedly throw me off the tower or jump off herself when she sees me back in her classroom; because Sprout will not let me into NEWT Herbology, no matter how much degrading pleading and groveling I do; because the stated reason for this is that I 'don't have the soul for it.' And …" here, Eloise paused to take breath before continuing on, even more disconsolately than before. "Because I am insanely jealous of Draco Malfoy."

Mandy merely raise an eyebrow.

Eloise soon finished her rant. "And I am jealous because I wish I could sneer in a similar snooty aristocratically refined fashion at all of my aforementioned reasons to be miserable."

"So sneering at your problems is the way to go," said Mandy rather nonplussed.

"Of course! I'm positive that sneering so condescendingly down at them would turn mountains into the smallest molehills."

"So what exactly triggered this new fascinating line of reasoning?" said Mandy massaging her temples, mentally asking the universe what she had done to deserve being confronted with a bloody nutter Puff, friend though she be, so early in the day.

"Oh, I just ran into him, his lapdog and his two pet troglodytes on my way here from breakfast. I'm inconsolable!" Eloise wailed melodramatically. "The physiognomy of my face was not designed to sneer, its physically impossible for me! I've got a round pleasant overtly Hufflepuffish face! Zacharias can sneer! Rebecca can sneer! You can sneer! Why can't I sneer? I want to sneer!"

Midgeon took out a hand mirror from her bag. "I will sneer if I need to practice all month to get it!" She then proceeded to make ridiculously contorted faces at her reflection.

Needless to say, Mandy was infinitely glad when class finally started.

A rather fluffy chapter-though I promise that the plot will slowly build up and that Eloise will eventually get to see some action. Dunno if this chap is any good. Too fluffy? Boring? Or just plain random?

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