Easier Said than Done

Subject: Easier Said than Done Mon May 06, 2013 8:35 pm

It had never been hard for Matthieu to study. Whenever he'd crack open a textbook, the information inside opened the door to a literally magical world filled with excitement and intrigue, and his attention would be held. No matter the book, no matter the time, and no matter the location, it was usually the simplest of tasks. Writing, on the other hand, took a little more effort.

When he had been assigned his first major essay, the Third Year hadn't been worried in the slightest. It was on a subject he was more than familiar with, Potions, and it didn't sound that long - only two feet of parchment. Though the time constraint was a little short, seeing as he only had one night to complete the assignment, Matthieu believed that his work ethic would be enough to carry him through and earn him a perfect score.

However, when he had actually sat down in the Common Room with a quill, ink, textbook, and parchment, he found it a little harder to concentrate than he had expected. Though he knew perfectly well everything there was to know about the Shrinking Solution, the Common Room was quite noisy. This usually wasn't an issue when Mathieu was engulfed in the wonders of a textbook, but when he was trying to focus on writing, something about hearing multiple conversations in the background made things difficult.

Several times he moved his quill to write a sentence, and several times he paused, trying to figure out where he was trying to go with his train of thought. Finally, after finding himself "stuck" at the same spot for about ten minutes, Matthieu sighed and looked around the room. What was he doing wrong? He liked to think that it was the fault of the other students for talking, but it was the Common Room, so they were completely allowed to chat if they wished. And anyway, he should have been able to focus no matter how noisy the environment!

The revelation that his problem might be partially his fault didn't improve Matthieu's mood at all. He considered moving to the Dorm, a more peaceful environment, to finish his homework, but slouching on one's bed wasn't exactly the most comfortable writing position. The best place to do homework was the Common Room, but as it was, it didn't seem to be working. There had to be a solution... and though there was one, Matthieu wasn't sure he was comfortable trying it.

If worst came to worst, he could always ask the other Ravenclaws to quiet down. However, this was practically impossible for the quiet student; he hadn't been sorted into Gryffindor for a reason: he wasn't brave! And anyway, asking them to quiet down would be as bad as openly admitting his incompetence when it came to focusing. No, he couldn't do that. He looked down to begin writing again - or at least try to again - when a feeling of hopelessness arose. He couldn't just do nothing. His grade was at stake, and it wasn't going to get any better by trying to write in an environment not conducive to work.

Setting his supplies down, Matthieu rose from his chair and slowly approached another student. Taking a deep breath, he tapped the student on the shoulder and asked, "I'm sorry, but could you quiet down a bit? It's hard for me to work in here." As soon as he said it, he began assuming the worst. He sounded like one of those obnoxious teachers who insisted on silent work and an annoying, younger student combined into one. His face turning red, he shrank away without another word, hoping impossibly that maybe, just maybe, the other student hadn't heard him.