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(Hartcrofte Manor) Food for Thought
Author: Cassandra Catesby
Date: 05-06-13 04:35
Cassandra's initial burst of irritation, even resentment, at the possible manipulation of Philantha Parkinson had hardened into resolve by the time she arrived on the doorstep of Peregrinus Hartcrofte. She would prove Nephele wrong. If her and the Mockridge libraries didn't contain an answer, it didn't mean that there wasn't one to be found. Maybe it just meant that they hadn't looked in the right place. And since Pip had seemed as ardent a bibliophile as she when Nephele had introduced them at Christmas, well, asking to see his library had to be worth a try.
A house-elf led Cassandra through Hartcrofte Manor to the interior Library entrance. The Library had an exterior entrance, of course, but she was there not just as a seeker of knowledge, but as a friend. Peregrinus met her in the atrium which separated his enchanted treasure trove of the written word from his family abode.
"Cassandra! So good to see you again. Welcome to the Library! It's strictly a reading library, I'm afraid - the books can't leave - but you're more than welcome to peruse at your leisure. Our indexing system can be a bit overwhelming, I'm afraid. Can I help to point you in the right direction?"
"Thank you for allowing me to examine your books," Cassandra said. "It's most kind of you." She hesitated, considering what to give as her direction that would provide the most helpful books whilst revealing least about her personal problem.
In a carefully casual voice, she said, "I am currently researching medieval magic. Hexes, jinxes and curses in particular."
Pip leveled a cautious eye on his fellow Ravenclaw as her words sank in. "I see. I don't mean to sound accusatory, but considering the possible ramifications, I have to ask you to take a solemn oath that you're not intending to use information you might find for anything ... nefarious."
A brow arched. "I can assure you that I am not planning to hex anyone," she said, "as tempting as it might be on occasion to give Kirley Mockridge boils."
Pip threw his head back and laughed, a raucous belly-laugh that evoked warm butterbeer by a roaring fire. "Aye, I'm sure it can be tempting. But I trust you, on your honour as a Ravenclaw, to not abuse any knowledge you gain here. Follow me."
She did so, looking around with interest as they entered the Library. The sheer number of books brought a sparkle to her eyes. "This is most impressive, Mr Hartcrofte," she said. "Has your family always had a passion for books?"
"Please, call me Pip. I'd very much like for us to be friends, after all. To answer your question, my father was a Ravenclaw, so he was an academic as well, but what you see before you is all my doing. That said, my family has fully embraced this Library as a kind of social institution, like a museum where you're encouraged to touch the exhibits." Despite the years that Pip had owned the Library, he still felt awe as he walked its book-laden halls.
Cassandra gave him a quick side-long glance. There was an odd note in his voice when he spoke about the Library. "That is very... generous of you," she said carefully. "Not everyone would be so welcoming to all and sundry."
"Yes, well, the books cannot be stolen, nor damaged, nor defaced in any way. A damaged book would simply disintegrate and reappear on the shelf, unharmed. With no risk, keeping such a treasure private would be criminally selfish. 'Knowledge hoarded is knowledge wasted.' Besides, my mother loves playing the pillar of society. She was friends with Cloris Mockridge, back at Hogwarts. Well, friendly rivals. I believe the term know is 'frenemies.' Never much cared for the sound of that. Sounds like something one ought to have lanced."
Despite her best intentions, her lips twitched. "Yes," she murmured, trying not to laugh. "It does."
Cassandra looked up at a shelf as they passed by, noting what volumes sat upon it. "Cloris Mockridge is a formidable presence. I had the pleasure of spending some time conversing with her at Christmas. If she and your mother were friends, it says much about your mother's mental stamina."
Pausing, she reached up to take a volume off the shelf. "Theories of Transubstantial Transfiguration. The first edition," she murmured. "I had a difficult enough job finding a second edition for a customer."
"Oh, we have a second edition as well, right here." Pip reached up to grab the book, allowing his sleeve to slip up his arm, revealing a scrawl of triangular hashmarks inked across his bicep. Cassandra took note of the tattoo with one eyebrow arched appraisingly.
"'I let a filthy mat of hair grow over my body, and donned the skin of a lion and roamed the wilderness.' ... that's from the Epic of Gilgamesh, and in the original cuneiform, no less. You continue to surprise me, Mr. Hartcrofte ... Pippin."
Pip self-consciously pulled down his sleeve to cover his exposed marking. His smile, formerly warm, became suddenly mirthless and apologetic. "Yes, well, let's just say that I have some personal experience with your subject matter. Mine can be a dangerous line of work."
He deposited the book onto a reading table as he walked. The book would re-shelve itself. Suddenly, as if he had stepped on something sharp, Pip shot upright, and spun around to look Cass in the eye. His warm smile was back.
"You can read ancient cuneiform. That's rather impressive!"
A small smile touched her lips. "I read a number of languages, both ancient and modern," she said. "The perils of scholarship, I'm afraid." But behind the smile, her thoughts whirled. Was Pip too under a curse?
(Gus) Early Bird
Author: Johanna Steele
Date: 05-06-13 05:28
Gus woke up very early and he knew he just couldn't sleep anymore. He dressed himself in the semi darkness of the dormitory under the snoring sound coming from one of his companions.
The Slytherin common room was empty, with the exception of a blonde girl who had fallen asleep by one of the tables, her head resting in an open book as if it was a pillow. He left the dungeons and went upstairs, not really sure if he should go to the Great Hall and have breakfast or just walk around the silent castle.
In his mind he recalled what had happened during, after the match against Ravenclaw. Christopher Chant had caught the snitch, giving the victory to his house. Gus remembered the heavy environment inside the Slytherin locker room. One defeat was tolerable but a second one was insupportable. Now the Quidditch cup would be almost impossible to win. Gus was leaving the locker room with Mark when he found his mother standing alone at the door, waiting for him. Mark greeted Mrs. Van Tassel and then he excused himself, leaving mother and son alone.
"You played very well," his mother said, complimenting him.
"Thanks. But it wasn't enough."
"You did everything you could, Gus. You only let them score once. Once!" she repeated.
Gus smiled and in a tone of excitement he started to describe in detail all the defenses he had done and how the bad weather did not affect his skills. But then he noticed his mother looked somewhat absent. She used to love hearing her only son talking about his achievements, even if most of the times, like today, Gus tended to exaggerate. Like all the other players, he had a bad time playing in the cold and all he wanted was the match to end.
"Is there something wrong?" he asked preoccupied.
"I came here today because I didn't want you to find out by a letter. I thought you should know it personally."
"Mum? What's wrong?"
"I am going to leave your father, Gus."
The shock invaded Gus, but before he could ask any questions, his mother started to explain him the situation. The other day, when she returned home, she found her father in the company of a woman. They were having what it seemed to be an intense conversation at the living room and neither of them had touched their tea that was getting cold in their cups. The woman was named Camilla Macaulay and by her clothes, his mother concluded she was a muggle.
Gus' father seemed somewhat pale and tense and Miss Macaulay left after Edmure had presented her to his wife. His mother immediately asked for a justification for such encounter. She didn't know his father get along with muggles.
"What did he say?"
Katrina Van Tassel told Gus that his father had an affair with Camilla. He assured her it had been brief and he didn't keep in touch with her after their secret encounters. She didn't even know he was a wizard. She spared her son the details of how they met and how long such relationship lasted. However, after the affair, Camilla did not tell Edmure she was pregnant. She decided to raise the child, a girl, on her own. Until the day a letter from Hogwarts arrived and she decided to enter in contact with him.
"She had come to ask your father if he could meet with her daughter and well…teach her about our world."
"She's going to Hogwarts next year?! You mean I have a sister?"
"Half-sister," his mother corrected with disdain.
A man in a red hat from one of the portraits raised his hat to Gus in a morning salutation. Gus ignored him and he kept walking around the castle, not minding where he was going. Learning about his half-sister was disturbing, but it was even worse to think their parents were going to split. His mother just could not live with his father knowing what he had done.
Gus always thought they were the kind of couple that would be together forever. He had told Mark that same day what he had discovered and Mark told him that he had always heard that having divorced parents would mean he would get everything in double doses because his parents would feel guilty. As for the sister…well Gus wasn't obligated to get to know her, was he? He could just pretend they weren't related once she came to the school.
"Hey!"
Gus bumped into Joanna Porter. He hasn't exchanged a word with her since their apparition lesson. She was coming down the stairs he was climbing. They met in the middle and the stairs started to move so they stayed still. She wasn't wearing his scarf anymore.
"I didn't know you were an early bird," Joanna commented.
"I'm not. I just couldn't sleep."
"Have you been avoiding me because of the match?"
"What? No!" he assured her. He hasn't been avoiding her at all; he just spent the last days at the Slytherin common room, finishing homework and thinking about what his mother had said.
"I thought you were mad because your house lost and mine won. I was afraid you would take it personally."
"Not at all. I don't really care that Ravenclaw have won. It's just that I have had a lot in my mind lately. Family stuff."
"You want to talk about it?"
"Not really."
Joanna didn't insist. Instead she asked Gus if he wanted to go to the Great Hall with her, in order to have breakfast. He agreed and they went downstairs. Joanna told him how she used to wake up early because she liked the peace and quiet during in the morning. The bathroom was empty and she could take a shower without rushing and have her breakfast calmly.
"I don't have any trouble with the bathroom. I use the prefect's one," he said teasing her.
"Roger told me how the prefect's bathroom looks like. It's a shame you only share it with boys. Do you all use the tub at the same time? I always wondered..."
Joanna was good when it came to teasing him back. Gus felt a bit embarrassed but then he replied saying she was only jealous because since she wasn't a prefect she didn't have the right to access such bathroom.
"I wouldn't want such bathroom. You prefects and Quididtch captains always smell funny after going there. Must be from the bath salts and oils you use. Roger always smelled like lavender. He smelled like a girl!"
Both of them laughed and Gus thought to himself that from now on he should be careful whenever he took a bath at the prefects' bathroom. He didn't want to end up smelling like roses or something too feminine.
They entered the Great Hall. Gus had never seen the place so empty before. There were not more than five people inside, counting with a teacher at the High Table. It felt silly for them to seat separately so she invited him to the Ravenclaw table that was completely desert.
"Are you sure about this?" Gus asked, as he filled his plate with sausages, bacon and scrambled eggs. He hasn't eaten much during the weekend and suddenly he felt hungry.
"Roger and I used to do this all the time. Each day we would sit in a different table. Relax Van Tassel. It's still early and everyone's asleep," and she served Gus' cup with some pumpkin juice.
They had a cheerful breakfast and once the other students started to arrive they abandoned the Great Hall, completely full. There was still time before their respective classes but Joanna wanted to go to the library to fetch a book and Gus still wanted to do a last minute adjustment to his Transfiguration homework.
"Oh before I forget, when do you plan to invite me for the Valentine's Dinner at the Common Commons?" Joanna asked, already with a foot on one of the steps.
"How about now? I guess it sounds fair, after the nice breakfast you offered me. A dinner in exchange for the breakfast. But I have a few conditions, Porter: I won't wear any fancy clothes and don't expect any flowers or chocolate boxes. I'm broke."
"Fair enough," Joanna kissed his cheek. "See you at History of Magic!"
Gus stood there for a moment watching her climb the staircase and then he went back to the Slytherin common room.
Stunned
Author: Coco Nutt
Date: 05-07-13 19:54
Apparating to the restaurant's courtyard Coco pauses to check her reflection in the window before going in. Stray lock of hair clipped back into place she enters, eyes scanning for Chad Yeates. She spots him as the maître d' welcomes her. Coco offers a small smile. "I see who I'm meeting."
He nods and makes a small gesture for her to go on, his attention turning to someone coming in behind Coco.
As she passes a decorative column the entire table where Chad sits comes into view. Coco's steps falter at seeing Letitia Rufford is there as well. She quickly recovers, a smile firmly fixed in place. It's not that Coco dislikes Letitia. It's more that Letitia has never been more than cordial. She's had her moments of being friendly and pleasant, especially after Coco was able to successfully treat Letitia's cat Button for seizures and get the cat started on a potion protocol to ensure no additional seizures occurred.
There is also the fact that when inviting Coco to dinner Chad never mentioned Letitia would also be there. She wonders if it was a last minute thing.
Although Chad knows he's not Coco's father as they'd once thought, he very much liked the idea of being a father, very much enjoyed the time when he thought he was. Despite not being Coco's father he's stayed in touch, still thinking of her as family. He knows part of not wanting to let go is that she's Bryony's daughter, his one great, albeit far too brief, love.
Letitia and he care about her other but never enough to take the big step of marriage. Their on again, off again relationship has gone on for years and both have been happy with that, Letitia because she's too career driven as a healer to fully commit to someone. While also having a tendency to focus on work over relationship, for Chad a large part of that is because he's never been able to stop mentally comparing other women to Bryony. That Letitia wanted to come with him tonight, knowing that she sometimes feels threatened by Coco though he doesn't understand why, and knowing that the reason Chan invited the young woman to dinner is for a somewhat unpleasant reason, means a lot to him. It's made him think what a shame it is that he's never been able to move past the ghost of Bryony and she's more interested in her work than she is in creating a family.
Chad rises to greet Coco, giving her a small hug then holding a chair for her. As she sits Coco nods at Letitia. "Hi, nice to see you again."
Letitia's words confirm what Coco had wondered. "Good to see you as well. My coming was very last second."
They make small talk while perusing the menu, Chad wanting to wait until nearer the end of the meal before saying what he needs. Conversation during dinner ranges from Coco's clinicals to all three of their jobs to how Papa Wal and Cash the bassett hound are doing. Over coffee for Chad, tea for the two ladies, and sticky toffee pudding Chad broaches the topic he's been putting off. It's really a private matter but he thought he'd do better with it in public. Why, he has no idea.
Setting his coffee cup aside, he glances to Letitia who gives him an encouraging nod. "Coco, you know I was so disappointed when I learned I couldn't be your father."
"I know. I was so disappointed too."
"I've been thinking a lot about that summer, who else it might be. About why Bryony never told anyone, not her parents, not her best friends, who he might be."
Coco's brow furrows. "You don't have to waste your time trying to think back to who else Mum was with."
"I don't want you think she was the sort to carry on with more than one man at a time. She wasn't at all like that."
Coco gestures, hands going palms up. "Yet here is the proof she was. I don't think badly of her. I just mean we can't deny my existence and if you aren't my father ." She leaves the rest unsaid.
Chad again glances at Letitia, who once more gives a small nod. He takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly before saying, "I honestly don't think Bryony was the sort. Ask anyone who knew her. What I've come to believe is that perhaps ." He takes another deep breath, wishing he'd thought to order a shot of whiskey to go with the coffee.
When he takes too long to get the words out Coco asks, "You believe what?"
There's nothing for it but to just say it already. He blurts out, hoping his voice isn't overly loud, "I think Bryony may have been raped."
Though thinking her mother slept around hasn't been pleasant, Coco never once considered Bryony might have been raped. The idea of it has her somewhat stunned and when Chad orders a fire whiskey for them all, despite not being much for hard liquor, the stunned Coco downs hers in one long gulp.
Going Home (But Not Yet)
Author: Desdemona Diamond
Date: 05-07-13 20:36
I sat in my cubicle, staring at the paperwork on my desk. My mind had decided to drift after lunch. I had seen Ember and her newest addition. I couldn't help but start thinking about motherhood. Things like, if I would ever have kids. Of course, there was always if Bronwyn was going to turn me into an aunt.
As my mind wondered it went to Driver's dreams. He had dreamed that we would have children. Were his dreams even accurate? If he saw the future so clearly, how come I never do? Would things happen to separate me from Orion? Would Orion be open to even having children?
"Desi!"
"What!?" I started upright, and looked around. Emily stood next to the opening of my cubicle.
"You were a million miles away, you ok?" She asked.
"Yeah, fine. Mind decided to go wander the either."
"...Huh, ok... So, I was asking if you had plans for tonight."
"Ummm... No, not really. But I'm not going to go drinking." I said, anticipating her next question.
"What about just dinner? And not at the bar where you destroyed the table."
"Why...?" I asked suspiciously.
"Because you don't socialize with anyone, and you should. I'll treat."
"Ok... Sure." I got up, grabbed my coat, and started to follow her.
"You can also show me how to make that coffee…" The world faded away from me as she spoke.
I felt myself floating in darkness, nothing around me. Sounds of a woman talking slowly rose, but I couldn't make out the words. Slowly two marionettes started to emerge from the blackness. They were highlighted by a faint red light. Above them the puppeteer's silhouette in the same red light. They appeared to be elderly, possibly a woman.
Without warning the red light became a blinding white flash. I felt the floor before I could even see it. I had dropped like a sack of bricks. I think I had hit something on the way down too, because of a sharp pain in my head.
"OHMYGOD! Are you ok? What happened?" Emily shrieked as she kneeled down.
I put a hand to the side of my head that had the sharp pain. I felt something trying to ooze through my fingers. A quick glance at my fingers confirmed that it was blood. "So much for dinner..."
Dealing With The Reed
Author: Christina Sorcha
Date: 05-07-13 22:37
"That's it? 'You're working on it?' I'm supposed to accept that?" Reed tried to keep his voice below shouting volume.
"Yes." Sorcha replied coolly.
"How do I know you're actually working on it?"
"You're just going to have to accept my word that we are. We have not forgotten what we have agreed to. Our end will be held up in time. I would also like to suggest that you drop this. There are a lot of people who are willing to make sure you will stop being a pain." Sorcha's tone remained steady.
"Are you threatening me?" He asked, slightly surprised.
"No, I'm not," Sorcha answered, "I'm only delivering a message." Reed looked at Sorcha a moment before sitting down in a huff. "I also have another task for you."
"What now?" Reed huffed.
"I would like you to make sure a certain person becomes the new Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
"How the hell do you think I'm going to do that? I have no say who gets appointed."
"Impersonate people, forge papers, curse people, I don't care how it gets done. As long as the right man gets selected."
"Who is 'the right man'?"