OWL's

Amelia had to admit OWL’s were killing her. She didn’t know how to keep up. It didn’t help she is missing so much class. She had given up on Potions, she sucks at it. She has accepted that and is focused on Transfiguration, Charms, Care of Magical Creates and Defense Against The Dark Arts. She was focused on getting as knowledge in as possible. Her mother was persistent on keeping her in school no matter what happens. She also wants to do go for her mother. She knows she is studying for OWL’s extremely early but she was determined to do well on every single one.

She also wanted to have a bit of a life. Her goals right now is to pass her OWL’s, try not to be so anti-social, to stop mourning and to find a way to control her astral projection. She wished she could just get rid of her astral projection but it didn’t seem possible. She hated it but she had to learn to control and use it because it wasn’t going to go away. It was part of her life, forevermore.

Many people thought the library was a great place the study. After all, it had all of the required characteristics. It was quiet, had plenty of books and class materials and offered less distractions than pretty much any other room in the castle. But for Alice, this was definitely not true. She came to the library with the goal of studying potions today. But as always, within the first hour of her studies, she got completely sidetracked from her topic. She couldn't help but explore the many books on the shelves near her and find ones she would much rather read than her potions book.

Her attention then shifted to the girl who was sitting next to her. She seemed familiar, like Alice had seen her before many times. But she just couldn't remember her name. The girl seemed rather frustrated. Feeling very sympathetic, she gave the girl an understanding smile. "Don't worry... you're definitely not the only one who can't concentrate right now" said Alice with a soft smile.

Amelia fought the urge to glare at the girl. She knew the girl hadn’t done anything to her. She was just in a bad mood. She would be nice if even she had to force herself to be nice. She knew who the girl was right away. It had been a while but it was definitely Alice Longbottom.

“It’s not that I can’t concentrate I just have a lot on my mind. You’re Alice Longbottom, right?” she said “you might not remember me it’s been a few years. Amelia Macmillan.” How long had it been? She had no idea. She shrugged it off, it was important.

"Yes it's Alice" she confirmed with a nod of her head. Hearing the girl's name, she finally remembered who she was. Another hufflepuff, just a year older than her. "I remember" she said with a smile. Glancing at her table, she couldn't help but notice a lot of Transfiguration and Charm's books. Then she remembered the huge exam everyone has to take in their fifth year - the owls. She immediately sympathized with the girl even more. Even though she was only a forth year, she often thought about her owls and it only made her anxious and worried. After all, it was an exam that would define the rest of her life. But no pressure.

"I almost forgot what year you were... though one for sure. But it looks like you started on time" Being a panicy person she was, she would start studying at the very beginning of the year. That's her only chance of her not completely losing her mind during her 5th year.

“It’s not the best year to be missing so much school. Trying to catch up with school work and study is killing me. I could do just studying. I ended up just ditching Potions, I could never catch up and I suck at it,” sighed Amelia as she opened up her charms book. She didn’t really know what she is going to study but there has to be something interesting.

“It isn’t half that bad, just don’t cram it all in until the last few months. Advice from my mother, she has she had a friend that failed a few of his OWL’s because he cramped it all in until the last month,” she said. She didn’t really want to study, but she had to.

"Potions is my weakness as well...I don't think anyone can actually be good at it. Or at least that idea just sounds crazy to me. I work hard at it though. I hope I can keep it as my class for owls next year. I'm not expecting a miracle though. I would be perfectly satisfied with an average mark. So you're definitely not the only one. I wouldn't worry about it too much," said Alice shrugging her shoulders.

She knew very well she couldn't leave everything to the last minute. After all, preparing for such a test takes time. Just a few months is simply not enough. And she couldn't risk doing badly on her owls. She was determined to start her studying on time or as early as possible. "That's what everyone tell me. Just start on time and things won't be that hard. That's what my dad says anyway. I don't think he would be mad if I did badly on it, just disappointed. Which is much worse. It determines the rest of our career, so I'm really not sure how I'm supposed to be relaxed about it. Congrats to people who can though.

“Not all witches and wizards make a living using magic you know. My mum still uses machines in the Daily Prophet. She banned magic printing. You can be a smart and powerful as you want but if you can’t do anything without magic you won’t make in the real world,” said Amelia. That meant everything for blending in with muggles, to money management, reading, writing to being able to drive a muggle car. Most wizards and witches don’t live in wizarding communities.

Having an muggle grandmother she understood these little things and had some idea of how she would manage in the muggle world. If she ever was in a situation where she couldn’t use magic that she could manage a few months, thanks to her mum and grandmother. She knows how to cook a bit and manage her money.

Alice nodded her head, agreeing completely. Ability to blend in with the muggles was crucial. She was glad her mother thought her at least some things, being a halfblood and all. She could cook a few decent meals by herself and blend in pretty well with the muggles. But other than that, she was pretty useless in most other things. "I'm pretty sure you're right. My mom really tried to teach us both muggle and magic culture. She always said that was the only way you could truly be educated and prepared for the world. She thought me how to cook some simple meals and the general stuff. But I'm afraid I'm pretty useless in anything else.

"What about careers? Have you ever though about what you wanted to do after school?" asked Alice curiously. That was always a thought question for her and she wondered what other people had in their plans for the future.

Amelia didn’t really know what she had in mind but she knew that she had to do something important. It was like the family duty to do so. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be an Auror though. She didn’t really have one single career she wanted. She just wanted to live up to the family name.

“I might do something in one of the stores or cafes once I graduate for a few years. I might end up going around the world doing with magical animals or something. I want a job where I can be in control of what I do and when,” she said. She wanted to do something unexpected like her mum. Who would have seen her mum saving the Daily Prophet, the newspaper she used to hate.

"A lot of people I know had worked in stores before figuring out what they really wanted to do. And somehow I see myself doing pretty much the same thing. But it would be rather nice if I actually figured out what I would do before that. It's just very dificult for me I guess. I've never really loved doing anything so much to want to do it for the rest of my life." This was very true. She enjoyed doing some thinks and disliked doing others. But love and hate was never really in her dictionary. Sometimes she envied people with specific goals in their life. It someone seemed so much easier, knowing exactly where you are going from the beginning. But Alice was never like that.

"I think even after graduation, a person is still to young to truly know what they want to do for the rest of their life. And in most cases, I'm sure they make mistakes. I don't want to risk getting myself deep into something I'm not sure about." Making a decision was the hardest for her really. Because no matter what, she always has the question of whether she could have done and decided upon better than she did. Regret brings her back to the same spot over and over again. Her career was just too important to risk having regrets.