Slightly saddened at the still empty Hufflepuff section, Erica continued to press on with trying to solve the puzzles. She had decided, against good advice, to just continue working with the first puzzle. She didn't know why she wanted to do it like this, perhaps it was just stubbornness on her part, but she didn't care. These puzzles were driving her mad anyway, adding a little stubbornness to the mix wasn't going to make things worse.
She continued working silently, scratching her quill against parchment, when Fox came into the class and wrote something on the chalkboard. After leaving, Erica glanced up at the board and read what was on there. When she finished, she read it again, and when that was done she read it once more. She had the funniest feeling in the pit of her stomach, the feeling that she shouldn't have put something off for so long. Quickly, she stood from her desk and scanned the bookshelf before grabbing a book and returning to her seat. She flipped it open and read the pages, feeling increasingly stupid with each line. She then glanced back at the board, specifically at the example, and stared at it for a very long time, before gasping with complete surprise.
Knowing she was on the right track, she went back to the puzzle with renewed vigor and soon enough ended triumphant. Scribbling down the answer she had come up with, Erica stood from her table, replaced the things she had borrowed and gathered all of her things before heading outside. |