Catch The Snitch

Nathaniel sighed in frustration as he walked into the library. It was the first year and already he was getting stuck with the thing he hated the most- group work. In this case, it was partner work and he'd been partnered with some girl from Slytherin. Not even a fellow Ravenclaw! He shook his head as he picked out a table and set down his things. He looked around, wondering if she was there already or if he was going to be waiting awhile. He sat down at the table as he waited for her to appear, trying to think of how he was going to do this project. He was so used to doing things on his own, he rather hated having to wait on others and depend on them at all.

"What was her name again?" Nathaniel sighed again, rubbing his forehead, "Andromeda?" he muttered and glanced around again. The research was for History of Magic, so he supposed he could try to think of some topics, but it would help to see what she had retained from the class. He didn't really know her so he wasn't sure which one was her, and he'd figure it out once he saw her... though that wouldn't clear anything up since he never paid anyone else any mind.

A couples project, what a waste, and on one of the first days. She supposed it was a way for the professors to have their students get to know each other. It still seemed silly to Andromeda. She always felt she did better on her own, but perhaps she could make a friend out of the deal. She laughed to herself as she walked into the library, a stack of books in her arms. The only thing that made it okay was that she wasn't paired with another Slytherin. She was with a Ravenclaw but she also didn't want the Ravenclaw to think she wasn't going to pull her weight. So she walked into the library and asked the librarian if they had seen him. Nathaniel...She looked in the direction they pointed and thanked them before going to sit down with them.

"Hello." She took the seat across from him and set her books down on the table. "I was thinking that we could start with the gooey bits first and really get the Professor's attention. Then we can bring in the drab bits through the middle of the report." She went on to explain what she thought would be a good angle and what topics they could do as a team. "We could do maybe some of the history on spells or even the history of the school. Although I think a lof of the other students will pick the school and I want to choose something different. What do you think?"

Nathaniel was sitting almost as still as a statue while he waited before looking as the girl sat down, then at her books. He raised a brow before looking back at her as she started to just immediately talk. Well. At least she was using her own brain. He sat back and crossed his arms, "If we really want to be different, it doesn't matter if we do the spells or the school, we need to pick something obscure as a topic if we want to stand out. Though that being said, the teacher is a ghost, it's highly unlikely we will write anything especially captivating he hasn't heard from previous years," He mused a bit, thinking, "Though the class is a history of magic as a whole, so if we can find something unrelated to the school to focus on, maybe something to do with one of the other wizarding schools. Everyone knows how Hogwarts was founded but what about Durmstrang? Or the one in Japan? How did we get to a point where we were communicating openly with them?" he suggested, though he was thinking aloud and not looking directly at her, but at the surface of the table.

Finally, his eyes burned a bit from not blinking, so he blinked and looked up at her, "What do you think?" he asked, remembering to give her a chance to contribute.

She mused for a moment thinking upon his ideas. Doing something on the other schools wasn't a bad idea. They could do a paper on the communication and how it came about. How they stay in contact now, and why it is important to have that open line of communication. "It's not a bad idea. You're right though, he probably has heard quite a bit about the founding four, the school itself and probably anything else in the area such as Hogsmead and the like. We could do it on the communication of each of the schools. How it came about and when. Why it was important and why it remains important to day to have that line of communication." She hoped she was giving him ideas that would help them come to a solution on a topic. He seemed rather dry and maybe a bit arrogant but she wanted to be an equal part in this project.

"I think Hogwarts has the biggest connection to Dumstrang and Beauxbatons. We could start there and branch out to the others. Finding connections and creating a timeline of communication and importants." She grabbed a piece of parchment and her quill. "What do we know for sure off hand?"

Nathaniel listened to her response, clearly valuing not only her input but the fact she actually provided it, "I think that would be the best way to go about it," he nodded in agreement, tapping his finger on the table as his brow drew down. From her perspective, it looked like he was angry, but his eyes were fixed on the table. He was thinking and in his focus, he tended to come off as furious. His brows lifted after a moment, "We should start by maybe looking into who founded the other schools and perhaps see if they have a similar need for forming theirs as was needed here," he suggested, "I will see what books I can find on Durmstrang if you will look into Beauxbatons," he said before standing up and going into the stacks.

He was less concerned about working with this girl now that it was clear she had a working brain of her own. As he came back out with a few books on Durmstrang though, he overheard some of the other students from their classes talking.

"That poor Morningstar girl. Stuck with a Wright," the first girl laughed quietly, the group hidden in the stacks.
"And not just any Wright. My father said Nathaniel is just as severe as his father and uncle, that Nathaniel's probably going to end up an interrogator just like them," the second snorted, "What a job. Being known for brutality is not a redeeming trait."
"She's going to be so miserable-" they both looked up as Nathaniel dropped a book on the table surface broad face down so that it made a loud sound, "Oh bugger," they grabbed each other's arms and quickly walked away as he glared after them.

"Useless gossips," he muttered and sat down, opening the book he'd set down.

She had to agree with Nathaniel on all of this. She wanted to do something that hadn't been done before and she was pretty sure that the two of them found just that. It was refreshing to be partnered with someone that was willing to think outside the box and not do the same worn out paper that she was sure the professor had read more than once. A small laugh escaped her lips as she looked at him. His eye brows were knitted together and his face was very serious. Most would take it as 'RFB' but she knew that he was just focusing. Andie was well aware that she had that face when she focused as well. "So serious..." She muttered before focusing back on the task at hand.

"That sounds perfect. We can work our way into how the schools established their connections with one another and move on from there. I can grab a few books..." But he was already up and grabbing his own books for the project. She just chuckled and shook her head in amusement.

She pushed herself up from the table and made her way over to the books and started grabbing a couple that she thought would be useful. The gossip didn't get past Andie either. She heard them talking and it bothered her to no end. She had been talked about before, it was never fun to hear people muttering about you behind your back. She gritted her teeth, with books in hand, she stepped in front of them and glared.

"Do you know what I find that is not a redeeming trait?" She perked a brow at them and waited for an answer. When none came she smiled. "Mm...? Well, I find that talking behind people's back as one of the lowest thing someone can do. If you can't say it to their face, why bother?" She scoffed and smiled again. "Oh...because his life is so much more interesting than your own...You have to talk about him. Got it...go on then, keep gossiping." She turned to walk away but turned back one last time. "Oh, and for the record...I'm not Miserable. At least he has a mind of his own." She huffed and returned to the table.

She set her own books down and let out a sigh. "I hate people like that. No backbone to tell people how they really feel, but will talk and talk until their blue in face." Her book snapped open and she looked down at it, trying to find information for their paper.

Nathaniel had looked over as he heard Andie confronting the gossip and watched as they paled, looking at each other, unsure of what to do. When she walked away, they slowly started to walk away. He didn't say anything for a moment as Andie vented her own frustration about the girls before he sat down.

"I find they just show their own colors and weaknesses when they do things like that," he murmured, "They feel small so they try to change it by doing it to others," he shook his head, opening the book he'd grabbed and opened it, "There's no point getting angry, but... it's hard when you've done nothing to deserve their ire," he murmured, then took a deep breath, "Thank you though," he added softly.

"Anyways. You were saying something when I got up," he said, "Let's see if these books have consistent information about when the other schools were formed and when they started communicating," he nodded, "Though I also wonder about the different ministries if they started about the same time," he tapped his finger his finger on the table as he looked over the book's index.