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Felixir · 06-27-2018, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy

Gaston smiled as he watched Abra petting Phantom. The little cat leaned into his hand and began purring wildly, loving every minute of the attention she was getting. He chuckled a little at his words. "That's good," he said. "Phantom wouldn't take too kindly if you forgot about her! She likes to think she leaves a lasting impression on everyone she meets." He looked at the cat. "Isn't that right, Phantom?" The cat gave an emphatic meow in reply.

He vaguely noticed Phantom follow Abra to the chairs and curl up on the floor beside him, but his focus was on the boy as he began speaking. His eyes widened slightly as he listened. That was... a much longer explanation than he expected. Sympathy danwed in his eyes as he looked back at the boy.. "I understand... I think exams are overwhelming for everybody," he said. He remembered what a wreck he'd been over his own exams! "But I don't think skipping the OWLs is the answer." If he excused every stressed out kid from the OWLS, there would be nobody left to take the exams! "There are other things we can try. I can help you study, teach you some memory tricks, and I'll write to the Ministry about giving you extra time to do the theoretical portions of the exams."

He gave him a small, encouraging smile. "Don't worry, you won't fail everything. As a matter of interest, what do you plan to do after graduation?" If he knew Abra's intended career path, he could get a better idea which subjects to focus on helping him study.

As Phantom settled down beside him, and as he went on with his explanation, Abra leaned down and pet the little cat very gently, giving her a soft scratch behind the ears every now and then. Honestly, he knew that Phantom was Professor Marchand's pet, but having a cat in the office was actually a really good idea. Cats, and maybe just cute animals in general, were great for getting rid of anxiety - especially while talking about something that was hugely anxiety-provoking.

When the response from Professor Marchand came, Abra was, naturally, a little deflated, but resigned to the fact all the same. He'd honestly never actually believed that Marchand - and especially not the Headmistress - would actually let him just skip his OWLs altogether. He was, after all, in school for a reason. He suPPOSED.

Even so, he smiled, because Marchand was not entirely leaving him to his problems. Not that that was something Marchand was ever very likely to do. "That would be really great, thank you, sir." Maybe they could leave off from starting the studying part RIGHT away; it was still way too early to start that stress and Abra was still learning how to balance his Quidditch responsibilities with regular homework. And also attempting to live in a world of denial about exams. That too. "I think... I think that could help a lot."

He felt somewhat doubtful about Marchand's reassurances, but smiled anyway, before going quiet and thoughtful for a moment. The question was something he thought about a lot but also tried not to think about, as much as he could help it. Because scary future things.

"I... it's nothing to do with school, really. I was thinking about... trying to get into music? Like..." Feeling slightly embarrassed and, predictably, anxious about voicing his thoughts out loud, Abra got just the slightest bit flustered. "I play guitar and I... I sing. So... writing songs and performing them and... and stuff like that." If he ever got his anxiety under control, of course, potions or not. It always seemed to go away when he could get on stage and put on a persona or perform a role, but it was getting up there - getting out there - that was hard. He really needed to ask West how he did all the things, but the fear of not being good enough to go into a profession like that had been enough that he'd not really let himself give the matter any serious thought, and so he hadn't yet approached him on the matter. "My only other idea was art. Something to do with magical portraits, maybe."

Both ideas had notoriously limited success rates, Abra knew that. He did wish he was properly good at school, so that he could find a more stable sort of ambition, but apparently it just didn't work like that. He was only good at the things - music, art, Quidditch - where potential careers were incredibly ambitious or unlikely. And THEN there was his father to think about, and what he'd approve of, and all that fun stuff. Abra was getting anxious just thinking about it.

06-27-2018, 11:02 PM	#12 (permalink)
Felixir Forum Manager Book Club Mod Alley Proprietor Banshee Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posts: 50,173 Hogwarts RPG Name: Charlie Upstead Gryffindor Fifth Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Aurelio Kaiser Slytherin Third Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Alexei Petrov Slytherin First Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Yves Flamel Slytherin Sixth Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Achilles Zacharias Ravenclaw Third Year Diagon Alley Proprietor: Ezekiel Ransom-Kruus Ollivanders x12 x12	Lovely™ \| Captain Hurted \| Ariana's Bane \| Resident Antagonist \| Unparalleled Delight Quote: Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy Gaston smiled as he watched Abra petting Phantom. The little cat leaned into his hand and began purring wildly, loving every minute of the attention she was getting. He chuckled a little at his words. "That's good," he said. "Phantom wouldn't take too kindly if you forgot about her! She likes to think she leaves a lasting impression on everyone she meets." He looked at the cat. "Isn't that right, Phantom?" The cat gave an emphatic meow in reply. He vaguely noticed Phantom follow Abra to the chairs and curl up on the floor beside him, but his focus was on the boy as he began speaking. His eyes widened slightly as he listened. That was... a much longer explanation than he expected. Sympathy danwed in his eyes as he looked back at the boy.. "I understand... I think exams are overwhelming for everybody," he said. He remembered what a wreck he'd been over his own exams! "But I don't think skipping the OWLs is the answer." If he excused every stressed out kid from the OWLS, there would be nobody left to take the exams! "There are other things we can try. I can help you study, teach you some memory tricks, and I'll write to the Ministry about giving you extra time to do the theoretical portions of the exams." He gave him a small, encouraging smile. "Don't worry, you won't fail everything. As a matter of interest, what do you plan to do after graduation?" If he knew Abra's intended career path, he could get a better idea which subjects to focus on helping him study. As Phantom settled down beside him, and as he went on with his explanation, Abra leaned down and pet the little cat very gently, giving her a soft scratch behind the ears every now and then. Honestly, he knew that Phantom was Professor Marchand's pet, but having a cat in the office was actually a really good idea. Cats, and maybe just cute animals in general, were great for getting rid of anxiety - especially while talking about something that was hugely anxiety-provoking. When the response from Professor Marchand came, Abra was, naturally, a little deflated, but resigned to the fact all the same. He'd honestly never actually believed that Marchand - and especially not the Headmistress - would actually let him just skip his OWLs altogether. He was, after all, in school for a reason. He suPPOSED. Even so, he smiled, because Marchand was not entirely leaving him to his problems. Not that that was something Marchand was ever very likely to do. "That would be really great, thank you, sir." Maybe they could leave off from starting the studying part RIGHT away; it was still way too early to start that stress and Abra was still learning how to balance his Quidditch responsibilities with regular homework. And also attempting to live in a world of denial about exams. That too. "I think... I think that could help a lot." He felt somewhat doubtful about Marchand's reassurances, but smiled anyway, before going quiet and thoughtful for a moment. The question was something he thought about a lot but also tried not to think about, as much as he could help it. Because scary future things. "I... it's nothing to do with school, really. I was thinking about... trying to get into music? Like..." Feeling slightly embarrassed and, predictably, anxious about voicing his thoughts out loud, Abra got just the slightest bit flustered. "I play guitar and I... I sing. So... writing songs and performing them and... and stuff like that." If he ever got his anxiety under control, of course, potions or not. It always seemed to go away when he could get on stage and put on a persona or perform a role, but it was getting up there - getting out there - that was hard. He really needed to ask West how he did all the things, but the fear of not being good enough to go into a profession like that had been enough that he'd not really let himself give the matter any serious thought, and so he hadn't yet approached him on the matter. "My only other idea was art. Something to do with magical portraits, maybe." Both ideas had notoriously limited success rates, Abra knew that. He did wish he was properly good at school, so that he could find a more stable sort of ambition, but apparently it just didn't work like that. He was only good at the things - music, art, Quidditch - where potential careers were incredibly ambitious or unlikely. And THEN there was his father to think about, and what he'd approve of, and all that fun stuff. Abra was getting anxious just thinking about it. __________________ Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!