Multi-Tasking (Open)

[Nelle Rosier]

Although she had grown used to it throughout her years as a Hogwarts student, Nelle often found the warmth of the Hufflepuff common room rather suffocating. Everyone was comfortable there, with very few people having anything of actual value to say. Sometimes she wondered if her decision to be placed in the house of yellow had been a good one, but she did know that people saw Hufflepuffs in a certain light. They were underestimated, trusted, and that was what she found to be the most useful. Even now, in her seventh year, she often went unnoticed even if she was in plain sight.

At that moment, she was sitting on a comfortable armchair, her gaze resting on the pages of an open book in her lap, but she was not reading. Instead, she was listening. A conversation nearby, was carrying over to her despite the hushed tones used by the participants. The people meant little to her, but the topic was interesting. It was likely made up mostly of gossip, but Nelle had become rather apt at deciphering what was true and what was rumour, and she could tell that some of this conversation was truth. She was so enthralled by her ‘reading’ that she didn’t look up when someone walked near her, though she didn’t miss the telltale sound of footsteps.