Matilda Wormwood, Roald Dahl’s "Matilda"

[misswellread]

((This is a mix between book!Matilda and movie!Matilda (also known as British!Matilda and American!Matilda) though I am mostly going with the first. She’s taken from the start of the book where she’s heading for her first day at school, thus, she doesn’t know that she’s telekinetic.))A little girl, certainly no more than six years old if that,

Comments

[rosecasson]

'It is okay to kill something if you do not really kill it,' Rose notes, studying the girl. (She'd better be sensible.) 'For example, if I do not like people I just draw them being fed to the sharks.'

She tilts her head, curious. 'You like reading all that stuff?' Rose loathes reading. The lines squiggle about on the page too much.

[misswellread]

Matilda looked up from her game, watching the Quill move. Oh, look at that! A person. A girl-shaped person. Who was a bit intimidating, as nine-year olds generally are to five-year olds.

Sharks. She knew something about sharks... It was safe to say Matilda knew at least something about everything. She nodded thoughtfully and dangled her feet. "I can't draw," she said. "But I understand the general idea, I think."

Matilda smiled widely. "Oh yes. I love to read." Then she looked uncertain. Maybe that was a bad thing here, too? Her parents hadn't liked her reading. They'd preferred it if she'd been into watching TV instead. But this was a school, so reading should be encouraged...

[rosecasson]

Rose wrinkles her nose. Matilda seems perfectly normal, except for that comment about reading. 'I hate it. But loads of people like it here, so you should make some friends.'

Then she blinks. 'You can't draw?' For Rose, this is tantamount to only breathing on certain days. 'Have you tried over and over? You'll need to learn stick people, at least. I can teach you. You know. If you want.'

She sticks out her hand, full of pomp and ceremony. 'I'm Permanent Rose Casson.'

[misswellread]

Blink. Blinkblink. How could someone hate to read? Okay, so Mum and Dad weren't very keen, but Matilda had always assumed that it was because they weren't very good at it. Maybe that was the case with Rose too. Still... hating it? That was... HORRIBLE.

"I haven't tried all that much," Matilda admitted. She was more interested in painting pictures in her head than on paper. But this girl was offering, and it'd be rude to say no. Besides, Matilda never could get enough knowledge into her head. So she smiled. "That would be nice! Have you tried reading lots and lots?" Well, best to make sure.

With a similar expression of solemnity, Matilda accepted the hand and shook it carefully. "I'm Matilda. Wormwood." Which was also a plant, she'd read.

[makeminemayday]

((YAY! Assuming, of course, that some of Matilda's random words are way beyond a six-year-old's expected vocabulary.))

It was the stream of random words that caught May's attention - especially considering the number of big words that were tripping off the little girl's tongue. She picked up the application and read it over thoughtfully. Huh. Another accidental arrival. Geez, Hogwarts was even yanking in little kids without warning? A really bright kid, but still. And she didn't see any parents around. Hoo-boy.

She approached the girl quietly, waving to get her attention and hopefully not startle her out of her game too much. "Hi," she said with a friendly smile. "I'm May. I don't think that second question is serious, but I don't like it either. Do you know where you are?" she asked, not condescendingly.

[misswellread]

The girl, who had been admiring the words "translucent" and "conscience" as they were written (c's looked very pretty in the Quill's careful script), peered up at May sort of dazedly. She hadn't heard her coming. Then she grinned and raised her hand, waving back.

"Hi! I'm Matilda." She gripped the edge of her stool and hooked her feet around its legs as she thought. Then, a tad uncertainly, "I'm at a school, I know that much. I think it said Hogwarts on the application form. What's Hogwarts?" Best to get this information quickly.

[makeminemayday]

"Nice to meet you," May said, coming over and offering a hand to shake.

"Yeah, this is a school - specifically, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland. People show up here pretty randomly sometimes. Most of the application's pretty silly, but so are a lot of things about this school. I guess you showed up by accident too?"

[misswellread]

"You too." That was polite. With the solemnity of a child, Matilda shook the offered hand.

Afterwards she looked around the Sorting Room and scratched her nose. "Yes, it must have been an accident. I was going to start school today, though." She sighed, a little sadly. "I was really looking forward to that, too... But maybe magic school isn't so bad." Because magic? That was something she hadn't read many books about. Not many real books, anyway. And Matilda was always on the look-out for more information to fill her head with.

"Scotland isn't very far from England," she mused. "Maybe I can go back and forth, and Mum and Dad don't have to know that I'm going here instead of Crunchem Hall." Matilda had no scruples about hiding things from her parents. Especially things they'd be better off not knowing anyway.

[blue_weirdo]

Gonzo zipped across the room, eyes bulging, to the little girl.

"Your answer for the cheese question was AMAZING!!!" he cried, throwing his arms out wide, straining the stitches of his purple tuxedo. "It was INSPIRED!!! NEVER before have I met someone who so truly understood the nature and importance of flexibility in cheese selection."

"Well, nobody who wasn't a chicken," he added. "I'm Gonzo," he said, sticking out a furry blue hand. "What's your name?"

[misswellread]

Matilda's grin was pretty much automatic. She was far from a normal child, but she was a child, and there was something fundamentally appealing about Gonzo. Besides, he had complimented her taste in cheese, so she couldn't resist jumping down from her stool to chat with the funny blue creature.

Everyone here were apparently very keen on shaking hand. Matilda shook Gonzo's carefully, unable to stop grinning. "Thank you," she said politely. And then, because this was interesting information, "Do chickens eat cheese?" She had not known that. Or that creatures like Gonzo existed, for that matter.

"I'm Matilda Wormwood. I'm supposed to start here, I think." Well, she was fairly sure. What she had heard of the library... She didn't want to miss out on that, so she certainly hoped she'd get in.

[blue_weirdo]

((OOC - Matilda is SO my niece! Reading, and all! Even looks like her a bit! You play her well! lol!))

"You are most welcome, Matilda Wormwood." Gonzo threw his head back and yelled to the ceiling, "MATILDA WORMWOOD!!!"

He looked back at the sweet girl. "Your name is so terrific, it just needed to be screamed!"

"And no, chickens don't eat cheese. At least, my girlfriend Camilla doesn't. She's on a non-dairy diet, trying to slim down for swimsuit season - which BOGGLES the MIND! She's utterly perfect the way she is!!!"

"Say, Matilda, do you yodel?"

[misswellread]

((=D Thanks! I hope I'm doing her justice. Great movie, great book...))

Matilda jumped a little at the shouting, not expecting it, but relaxed when he explained to her why and even laughed a bit. "It's a plant, too," she informed him. "Wormwood. They used it before to cure intestinal worms." Yes, she knew words like "intestinal." She was neat like that.

At Gonzo's words about his girlfriend, Matilda nodded approvingly. She had no experience whatsoever when it came to boys, but she had the distinct impression that it was the kind of thing they should say. "I'm sure," she said politely.

And then she grinned again. She knew of yodelling in theory, as she knew plenty of things in theory. But she had never done it herself, so she shook her head. "No. Is it hard?"

[ibrokeaplanet]

Brenda gazed longingly at the freshly sharpened pencil, then shook it off. "Hi. Can I have the apple, please?"

[misswellread]

Matilda looked up. Ohhh. Old. Much, much older than her. She instantly grabbed the apple without a moment's hesitation and held it up to Brenda. "There you go!" she said.

[woocha]

Aw, what a sweet little girl....that Wishbone might not have read about since the mun hasn't decided yet.

At any rate, Wishbone just got up on his hind legs, wagging his tail, eyeing the book.

What book is that?

[misswellread]

A dog! A dog that talked! Matilda sank to her knees and held her hand out for the dog to sniff, as she smiled widely. Magic was real. There was no doubt about it, now.

"It's about a girl named Sophie who's learning about philosophy," she said. "It's very good. You can borrow it after I'm done, if you like." She was happy to have someone to discuss books with, even if it was a dog. Matilda had never had that before.

[woocha]

Ooh, sounds interesting! And I haven't read that book yet! I'd love to read it. Wishbone licked Matilda's hand. I'm Wishbone.

[misswellread]

Matilda looked delighted, and started scratching Wishbone behind the ears. She had already gotten her dog-fussing groove on with May's puppy, but Wishbone was adorable and Matilda was still a child, even if she read 500-page novels about the history of philosphy.

"I'm Matilda," she said. And then, because she was curious, "Is it magic that's making you talk?"