January 15th, 1891 — Hogwarts Library

Elon had never been tutored by anyone before unless asking his friends questions during their studying sessions counted. In spite of his laziness, he had never really struggled at school. That and he considered himself too smart to need tutoring. If he struggled at school, it was because the subject was boring and it couldn't properly stimulate his intellect.

However, Miss Alice Dawson had offered to help him with his OWLs and he couldn't let this opportunity pass by. She had intrigued him ever since their awkward conversation at the library and their subsequent correspondence. He had fallen from her favour, then won it somewhat and now he wanted to impress her.

First of all, something about rubbing elbows with the poor intrigued him. He didn't want to end up like Marie Antoinette and the other French aristocrats during the French Revolution. He wanted to show the poor that they needn't hate him. He knew that certain students at Hogwarts hated him simply because he was born to riches. Unlike other rich kids, Elon didn't want to flaunt his money to anyone's face. It just sort of happened sometimes.

Secondly, Miss Dawson was a girl and Elon was at an age when every interaction with one was exciting. Once they were out in the world, Elon would become the young heir of a large fortune, so flocks of debutantes would come his way and overlook the fact that he wasn't that impressive. At school, though, it was different. Most of the girls his age were impressed by good looks and a chivalrous character, neither of which Elon had.

He had asked Miss Dawson to study Potions with him because he found it really boring that month with all of those medicinal potions. He felt kind of guilty for potentially taking up time she needed for her studies, so he decided to repay her kindness somewhat. Paying her was out of the question after their last interaction in the library. As such, he'd written to the butler and asked him to send over some potions book that looked fancy. He had thought of buying her a new cauldron perhaps but then decided that it would be too much.

He had gone to the library before her and picked a nice spot near one of the windows, when she arrived, he got up with a smile and pulled a chair out for her. "Miss Dawson! Thank you once again for your kind offer to help with my studies!" He moved to his seat. "I know you do not want my pity or charity, but I thought it proper I give you some sort of thanks for your troubles, so I had this book ordered for you from the family library!" He gestured at the large book on the table, which stood out amongst Elon's textbooks. There was a cauldron at the center of the cover, which seemed to be made out of a gold-like metal.

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Alice Dawson Melody Crouch

  

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When Alice had extended the invitation to assist his studies, she did so not believing the Ravenclaw would accept. It was an offer made strictly because it was the right thing to do after their discussion. A step in the right direction in not wasting his education. Surely, if he was serious about turning his grades around his family could afford a private tutor in every subject, a master of their craft even. Mr. Wildsmith was likely taking pity on her again and if she wasn't careful she might accidentally accept some other ludicrous offer he made.

One session. She would tutor him once, assess his motives and go from there.

Mr. Wildsmith's eager greeting took Alice by surprise, as did the beautiful book he gestured to. The potion's book was nicer than any of Alice's school supplies, and this was something that they had to just...give away! "Thank you, Mr. Wildsmith, but I can't possibly accept this. I didn't expect anything for helping you." It was just something she did, tutored those who needed it. "I appreciate the sentiment, though. Thank you."

  

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Amazing set by Bee!

Weren't girls supposed to want gifts? People in general, even. Did Miss Dawson deny his gifts because she feared he might take her for a gold digger? Crick wouldn't have questioned at all any gift he might have considered giving her. She'd probably charge him double what she charged if he'd ask her to tutor him!

"Please, Miss Dawson, do accept it! Otherwise, it would just sit on a shelf and be unused. Trust me, the butler wouldn't have sent it if it was needed by anyone at home!" He smiled for good measure.

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It was a beautiful looking book, even if she was still wholly uneasy about accepting it. Would Edison accept such a gift? They had such similar outlooks that she found herself wishing he was present to consult. However, without her friend's gentle guidance Alice was left with little choice but to agree. (She was dreadfully curious about what potions the book contained.)

"Alright, thank you," she nodded but didn't slide the book towards her possessions. Instead, she opened her obviously worn (and in some places patched) bag and set the needed books for the tutoring session upon the table. "I thought we could start with the potion's homework for this week. It's another essay, so we won't need our cauldrons just yet."

  

Elon smiled as she accepted the gift, even if tentatively.

"Alright," Elon replied to her instructions and reached for his own bag, which contrasted hers in newness and quality. He procured a somewhat crumpled piece of paper and placed it on the table. He used cheaper paper to write the first draft of an essay and then used magic to move the polished version to good quality parchment. The paper contained messy handwriting and, in some places, sketches of eyes and chickens.

"I have something done already," Elon explained. "Though I confess I mostly copied whatever this book was saying."

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Having become accustomed over the years to her friends having better quality supplies than she, Alice paid his bag no mind. The crumpled parchment did catch her attention, though, and she reached forward to uncurl the edges of it. Merlin, he was careless wasn't he? Distantly, Alice hoped he wasn't submiting work to professors with a similar carelessness.

"That's a start," she allowed as she scanned over the page. His handwriting bordered on indecipherable at some points, a fact that surprised her once again. "Repetition lays a foundation for your own thought. Like this concept here," she gestured towards what he'd written and the corresponding paragraph in the textbook, "you wrote clockwise and it was meant to be counterclockwise. It happens all the time, but that's why memorization is key."

  

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Amazing set by Bee!

"Oh!" Elon said and nodded along as she explained his mistake. "I totally didn't catch that." By the time he'd reached that paragraph, he'd gotten so bored with the assignment that he hadn't been paying attention. Good thing that Miss Dawson noticed. He picked up his quill, smudged the word in question and scribbled the correct word in the free space above.

"I've always preferred the more... fun potions," Elon explained. "The ones that make you elated and such. Do you have a favourite potion?" He rested his face on his palm and looked at her.

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Obviously, he hadn't caught his own mistake. If he had, then Alice wouldn't have had to correct it. But, that was the frustration that accompanied tutoring, having to suffer through the obvious blunders that simple double checking would have corrected. She waited as he corrected the error — still quietly horrified by how carelessly he treated his supplies — before continuing down the page.

She was ready to point out another (obvious) mistake when he changed the subject. What did it matter what her favorite potion was? Though, Alice was entirely unsurprised by his. Mood enhancers were amongst her most disliked potions, but that was because of the risk of dependency that came with them. She wouldn't want the only happiness she felt to be because of some random ingredients thrown into a cauldron.

"I wouldn't say I have any one favorite." Alice rarely took potions unnecessarily. "I enjoy brewing those that take longer to produce, or those that have ingredients you don't get to work with often. I more enjoy the thought of a successful brew than anything else, I guess. Does that make me dreadfully boring?"

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   Elon Wildsmith

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"Only halfway so," Elon replied softly, smiling at the girl. He enjoyed the challenge of using rare ingredients but didn't have the patience to brew potions that took days to brew. He recognized the skill of those who did, he simply didn't have the attention span for that. Especially when he could purchase those potions from a top potioneer.

"Have you brewed a Polyjuice potion?" he asked. "I bet something like that would be like... cooking to you. I've been told that brewing is like cooking and that cooking is generally easier." He hadn't had to cook a meal in his life.

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"Not outside of class, no." She shrugged. Alice wasn't the sort to go looking for trouble by brewing that particular sort of potion. Polyjuice could lead to all sorts of difficulties if taken incorrectly. Not to mention the potential troublemaking factor of being able to impersonate someone. Was that what he was looking for from these study sessions? Mischief? Her brows furrowed for a second before she schooled her expression once more. Surely, Mr. Wildsmith recognized by now that Alice was as straightlaced as they came.

"It is a bit like cooking. Though I would agree that cooking is likely easier. There's more flexibility in preparing a stew, for example. An extra shake or two of spices won't ruin the entire thing. But stir a potion one second too long, add an extra ingredient, and boom. It's ruined." She mimicked an explosion.

  

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Amazing set by Bee!

Elon laughed at her theatrical way of showing an explosion.

"Do you cook?" he asked her then. Something about a woman who could cook seemed very enthralling to Elon. His future wife wouldn't know how to cook, because she would have been raised in wealth like he had. She'd know how to arrange flowers and send signals with her fan. Cooking was so... rustic and different. Miss Dawson likely knew how to do that, and chop firewood and other such practical things non-priviledged people needed to know in order to function in life.

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It shouldn't have shocked her that he might've been surprised to learn that she knew her way around the kitchen, especially after their previous meeting. Mr. Wildsmith was wholly unaware of the financial burden placed upon the working class, and with it the inability to hire staff. However, the question surprised her all the same. Cooking was something girls like her learned before the learned how to walk. For as long as she could remember Alice was expected to help out in the kitchen.

"Yes," she confirmed with a hint of embarrassment. "I bake, too, but not as well."

  

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"That's impressive," Elon replied, his face resting on his hand. "No, I mean it!" he rushed to add because he caught the embarrassment in her tone and he was aware that it might have seemed like he was mocking her.

He wasn't.

"Do you know how to make those impressive plate arrangements?" he added. He was talking of course of the gourmet meals his mother's chef would prepare for her events. He assumed plating fell into the whole 'cooking' umbrella.

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Her cheeks flared with further embarrassment. While Alice knew of the fancy arrangements Mr. Wildsmith spoke of due to the Hogwart's feasts, she wasn't familiar with how one went about with such artistry. It was the same embarrassment she felt back in November when working on her star charts with Mr. Evermonde, the obvious lack of any kind of non-working skill.

"Oh, no," Alice tried to laugh it off but it fell flat. "Stews, roasts, those sorts of meals are what I'm more familiar with. I've never really had the opportunity to do something so extravagant."

  

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"I'm sure you'd be great at it," Elon replied. By now, he was convinced that anything Miss Dawson did would be great.

"You're much better than a mere cook, though," he quickly added, because he didn't want her to think that that's all he viewed her as. "You will become a great healer one day and likely hire your own cook!"

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Mr. Wildsmith never failed to impress Alice with his grandiose ideas of what her future may hold. First, it was offering to buy her her own hospital (which was, in plain words, insane behavior), and now he thought she would one day be able to hire a staff of her own. As though there weren't seven Dawson children following behind her to put through school. As though she would ever truly be able to escape the farm outside of marriage.

It was laughable. really.

She shook her head. "I do hope to one day be a great healer," she allowed. "We'll see about hiring staff. I've a long way to go before I'm able to afford more than the roof above my head."

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   Cecily Gallivan

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Amazing set by Bee!