 be curious, not judgmental
"Yes, ma'am," came Sophie's affirmative reply to the professor's confidence in her and Zander, accompanied by a thumbs-up and a smile over at the Gryffindor. Tanner always made her feel good, like the woman believed in her. Always had her vote of confidence, Sophie did, and it was greatly appreciated.
Turning her attention back up to the board, Sophie listened attentively, but ultimately ended up flipping through her textbook to get to chapter thirty to see just what Tanner was talking about as she explained it. Before she found the right page, Tanner was asking a question, and... Sophie had a general idea before she could even find out for herself in the book. She was already wondering about what happened when there were no positive arrows present, as SHE had no positive arrows present, so... she was going to peek in the textbook really quickly. Yes.
...She was reading through the positive arrows when Norah's answer made her squint. No special good things? Her hand shot up to object, but then the Hufflepuff prefect made up for it a little with providing other options. Yes. Good on you, Norah. Except... Norah then admitted that SHE didn't have any positive arrows, but that meant... Norah was essentially admitting to the whole class that she thought she didn't have any special good things about her. Right? Wasn't that what just happened?
No, Norah. No. Could Soph go hug her?
She also was sure Norah wouldn't have guessed such a thing if she knew Sophie didn't have any positive arrows, and she felt bad for letting her know otherwise... but Soph's hand raised anyway. "Well, I don't have any positive arrows, and I don't think I lack strong personality traits. Maybe... someone with no positive arrows has too many strong personality traits but it seems highly unlikely to fill the whole grid based upon a birth date, so y'can't just have all the arrows." Y'know? "Plus, the arrows don't even cover the entire realm of possible personality traits, so... people can still have strong personality traits even without a positive arrow, 'specially for traits that aren't even applicable, and I don't think not having one of these arrows means that personality trait isn't strong for you." She didn't think anyone would say she didn't have a strong personality, so it just COULDN'T work that way.
"Like, for me, the positive arrows of..." peeking at the book, "willpower... activity... 'n determination all seem applicable to me, and I don't need Pythagoras to tell me that." Since he hadn't, but she already KNEW. And... was she being helpfully critical, or uncooperative? She wasn't sure. "But I think these are more like... guidelines anyway. Like, s'not a one size fits all kinda thing, but I see how it could be helpful to some people who seek greater clarity in life and need help identifying strengths and weaknesses 'n stuff. These things aren't always super relevant, but when they are, it can be mega cool." So she wasn't ENTIRELY refuting this activity... just hopefully maybe encouraging those who, like Norah, seemed troubled by the whole thing already.
Pythagoras, man. Crushing hopes and dreams since the sixth century B.C.E.
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