An active, character-driven Hogwarts experience set in the early 2000s. Unique items, plots, and features. Non-canon; this isn't Harry Potter's story, it's ours.
Post by Reena Ashworth on Mar 18, 2023 0:43:47 GMT 10
The book titles were blurry and Reena had to blink away the tear that insisted on creeping into her eye so stubbornly. She was breathing calmly now, finding the library a comforting place, a quiet place, a safe space.
It also offered great distractions, which she desperately needed in that moment. For more than the usual reasons.
She had known going in, that it would be the hardest conversation she's ever had, but it had still gone worse than expected, having Reena doubt herself and decision all over again.
Having her whole perception of herself challenged, not only by herself, but by someone she had called her friend for the better part of four years... It was hard. She would have loved to talk to Lucas but figured he would be busy on the first day of classes.
She had also briefly considered searching for Kody or Ezra to cheer her up -- but she did not feel like she deserved their love right now. Not that she would have been able to confide in them anyway. Verity might understand... But no, she would tell none of them. Not even Jaxen.
Reena pulled out yet another book on curative potions and added it to her pile which she then placed on her favourite table in the library.
This made her pile: Two Books on the history of Hogwarts and the land surrounding it, one book on powerful curses and three books about curative draughts. She opened her backpack to add the book her grandpa had gotten for her about Ancient Magic to the pile and started to search the indexes for mentions of Ashenelle, Mirthwood, Blood Magic or Lucidity.
It was a rather broad search but she needed to start somewhere to figure out which books might be of use for more specific research.
She had a busy year ahead of her, that much was certain.
Post by Arthur Hocking on Mar 18, 2023 8:13:52 GMT 10
Arthur headed up to the library primarily to study. Everything felt much more pressing now that they were O.W.L. students. This stuff could affect their lives forever! It was a bit frightening to even consider it, especially when Arthur thought about the idea of having to do something he hated because he wasn’t particularly good at stuff like Transfiguration or Defense Against the Dark Arts.
He browsed the shelves for a little bit of extra help with those subjects in particular. It couldn’t hurt to be extra certain about some topics, after all. Then, he got out some Herbology books, mostly for his own interest than because he thought he needed to study extra hard for that class.
When looking for a spot, he noticed Reena sitting by herself. He hadn’t considered how odd it would be to no longer share Care of Magical Creatures with some of his classmates, and Reena was one of the few that was taking Divination instead.
He trailed a hand along the desk, slowly approaching so he didn't startle her from whatever project she was focused on. He'd seen too many older students bite the heads off of younger students for distracting them from their studies. Now that he was the older student, he got it. There was a lot on the line.
Arthur cleared his throat, "Hey, Reena, mind if I sit here, too?" he asked, gesturing to the table.
He wanted to ask about how Divination went, partially so he could talk about his fun Care of Magical Creatures experience, but also because the class sounded so foreign to him. He doubted people could actually know the future with little symbols in their tea leaves or whatever it was.
Last Edit: Mar 19, 2023 15:00:30 GMT 10 by Arthur Hocking: lore
Post by Reena Ashworth on Mar 18, 2023 16:50:21 GMT 10
Flipping through the books seemed to take longer than she liked. She was usually fond of research and could get lost in a topic of interest, which all of her chosen books were, but today she had trouble concentrating.
Could it be they weren’t distraction enough?
She would have loved to postpone her talk with Lindsey, but she deserved to know where she stood and it would have been cruel to string her along any longer. Plus that note Sinead had slipped her the night before had urged her to act - it was always the quiet ones that did the most unexpected.
Reena was still trying to focus on her research when someone cleared his throat close to her, so she put a finger on the word she was at, in an attempt to find it again more easily.
When she looked up, she had already recognised Arthur’s voice and could feel a small smile appear on her face, despite herself.
“By all means,“ she said and made an inviting gesture.
Had it been any other classmate, she was certain she would have sent them away. But for some reason, Arthur’s presence never seemed to bother her. And right now, he was a welcome distraction. She sometimes had the feeling she worked more concentrated with someone else working around her.
He had also been there when Aris Meek had told her about Mirthwood and Ashenelle. He hadn’t seem suspicious then, he most likely would not get suspicious now, about her choice of research.
When Reena stared at the Herbology books he was carrying for a moment. She hadn’t even thought about browsing the Herbology section for Mirthwood, which in hindsight seemed like an obvious place for that.
But to be fair, she rarely ever did think about Herbology. While they made great ingredients or food and were useful in general, she found tending to them mindlessly boring. That, or too dangerous. If she ever saw one of those Dragon-Clawed Violas again, it would be too soon.
“Congratulations on making the Frog Choir by the way,“ she remembered seeing him at the audition during the Feast. “I had no idea you could sing.“
Reena's research was not a particularly fruitful one thus far. A few bits and pieces might hold some value, but it was like having a few pieces of a far larger puzzle and no idea how they fit together. Ancient magic was barely even mentioned, and only ever-so-briefly in one of the history of Hogwarts books -- and only that the castle was a stronghold of it.
The book from Grandpa was frustratingly difficult to read, as the concepts and language were quite advanced even for an O.W.L student. She did manage to find some references to Mirthwood often being a versatile curative and protective plant when combined with certain magic, and Ashenelle was sketched alongside... er, something about something, in a general blood magic section.
Mainly in warning not to use it, and a disclaimer that such dark practices should not be used. And most especially, do not mix well with ancient and other types of magic.
Post by Arthur Hocking on Mar 21, 2023 14:31:08 GMT 10
Arthur took a seat, smiling back at Reena. He did take a little peek at the books she was reading, but it seemed pretty complicated. He was a little impressed, but he did have to wonder why Reena would want to stress herself out more when OWLs were coming. At the end of the year, yes, but Arthur had experienced the crunch of last year. He thought it might be better if he started studying from the beginning.
"Thanks," Arthur felt his cheeks warm a little. He hadn't considered that his classmates would notice him, but it didn't bother him all that much. Sometimes he felt like he faded into the background, so it was nice to be noticed a little every now and then.
"To be honest, neither did I...but I heard it's good for the Academy, and I definitely can't play Quidditch, and I wasn't made a prefect either. Congrats, by the way."
It was pretty cool to have two friends with titles like that, though he would probably be a little sad every time Oscar was out patrolling. Maybe he would have to get to know Joshua a little better. They could probably chat about the Snarlpogs later. Arthur was still thinking about that lesson.
"Are you looking for anything specifically?" Arthur asked, gesturing to her books, "Or just trying to get a jump on studying before we're assigned pages and pages of essays?"
Post by Reena Ashworth on Mar 22, 2023 6:01:28 GMT 10
Taking down some notes here and there, Reena tried to copy the sketch of Ashenelle, but compared to some of her sibling's sketches, her own seemed like that of a toddler. Had she her drawing skills remained in toddler stage because that was when she had stopped honing them, or had she stopped drawing becaus she could not surpass the toddler stage, she wondered.
It was a slow research however and she felt as though she was standing still, with everything she discovered seeming to warn her not to proceed into the direction she had thought she needed to go. If the books warned her not to mix Ashenelle with Ancient Magic... Would it be foolish to pursue?
She wrote 'Snape?' next to her doodle of Ashenelle, then crossed it out again. While he was the expert, she feared he might find out more than she wanted him to. It was a dreadful feeling,not knowing whom to trust.
Good thing Arthur was here to keep her from spiraling.
Reena nodded at his explanation about his audition to the Frog Choir.
"I've actually had the same idea," she admitted. "But this little badge saved me from singing in front of the entire school. You're a lot braver than I am."
She pointed at her prefect badge, feeling warmth at Arthur's congratulations. She took it that he at least thought it was a good idea to appoint her this student position, which was very reassuring to her. She had not even been aware before now that his opinion mattered to her.
"Well...", she was not sure how to answer his questions. "Both, kind of. Remember talking to the potioneer on Career's Day last term? I'm trying to find out more about those ingredients they told me about. Ashenelle and Mirthwood. If you come across them in your Herbology books, give me a shout?"
Reena talked in a light tone. It was the same one she put on when talking about family matters with non-family members- well-practiced and concealing the real emotions or urgency behind her words.
"And you? Getting a head start on O.W.L.s?", she asked. She wondered if she should ask about his summer. She wouldn't mind hearing about it, but asking might prompt a similar question in return and she did not feel like talking about what had happened with her this summer.
Post by Arthur Hocking on Apr 2, 2023 2:37:24 GMT 10
"Ha." Arthur laughed at the idea of him being brave, since he hadn't really felt like it when he was up there. He wasn't a Gryffindor for a reason, but at least he knew when his limits were up. He could be a little brave at times, he knew, but he was proud to know that at least one person thought that he was pretty cool for doing Frog Choir, especially since it was Reena.
"You're the one who's going to have to deal with Peeves." Arthur joked. He still avoided going near the poltergeist's known favourite spots unless he had to. He liked being somewhat presentable, and Peeves liked to make that an impossibility. What had he thrown at those third years the last time Arthur had seen him?
He considered it for a second before focusing back on the conversation. "Ashenelle and Mirthwood?" Arthur didn't know much about that, which wasn't surprising given that he was from a Muggle background. This time it seemed he wasn't alone.
"I'll keep an eye out." Arthur said, though he did start searching the Herbology books he'd brought over for information that Reena could use while they talked. He couldn't quite remember the conversation, something about Reena's parents and research.
He realized he didn't know all that much about Reena's family. He'd heard about some of her siblings before, but none of them were in Hufflepuff so they didn't really meet that much. When they were talking to the potioneer it had seemed a little private, so Arthur was hesitant to poke too far and lose Reena as a friend. That didn't prevent him from wanting to know what was going on.
"Oh! Um, yeah," Arthur felt his cheeks warm. "Honestly, I should probably be looking at the Defense books more...or the Transfiguration ones. I'm not the best at either of those, and it looks like Defense is really important for a lot of jobs. Well, the kinds of jobs I was thinking about."
It was a little frightening to know how much impact this year could have on his future, and he stammered a bit on the last words. It might be a year of studying and extra practice if he wanted to do well on the OWLs.
Post by Reena Ashworth on Apr 2, 2023 18:25:15 GMT 10
Reena was a bit surprised when Arthur laughed, since she hadn't made a joke or been trying to be funny. But it was a nice change to make someone happy instead of hurt them this morning and she could not help but smile. Arthur had a nice laugh too.
She grimaced at the mention of Peeves and shrugged. Thinking back to her last interaction with the Poltergeist, she was certain it would be an exhausting yet no impossible task to get him to stop causing trouble. The trick seemed to be to redirect him towards something else - without him noticing what you were doing.
"Peeves will have to deal with me aswell,", she said with an almost amused snort.
She was glad when Arthur agreed to keep an eye out for the ingredients she was looking for without prying more into the matter. In fact she could not recall him ever prying too hard into anything that seemed personal, which she appreciated. Made it easier to talk to him when she did not have to worry about what to say around him too much.
"Transfiguration is a tough one," she agreed. She wasn't the best at it either which she figured she would have to change if she wanted to take it at a NEWT level next year. "Perhaps we could try mastering it together?", she suggested.
She wasn't sure why she had made that suggestion. Reena had no idea how good of study partners she and Arthur would make. When she had studied with a partner or group in the past, it had almost always included Lindsey, but that was not an option anymore.
Reena looked down onto her book once more, flipping the page in hopes that there would be another paragraph on Ashenelle to distract her from the gried that tried to push itself into the foreground of her mind.
She cleared her throat.
"When it comes to Defense, I find focusing on the practical side greatly improves my understanding of the theory. Like, I know the theory but I don't really get it, until I've confirmed it with magic. You know?"
Post by Arthur Hocking on Apr 10, 2023 0:55:03 GMT 10
Arthur grinned. If Reena had confidence when dealing with Peeves, that surely had to be one of the reasons that she was chosen. He was almost a little glad that he hadn't been chosen as a prefect. It seemed like a lot of responsibility, but from what he knew about Reena he was pretty sure she could handle it.
Arthur flipped through his Herbology book and reluctantly opened the Transfiguration one to glance at the diagrams inside. "Yeah, it sure is complicated."
He wondered if magical kids would understand this stuff easier than he would. He thought he had a pretty good grasp on most things, but he never quite understood why certain spells needed certain movements. It was a little comforting to hear Reena mention that it was tough, if only because it meant he wasn't alone.
Arthur smiled again, "That would be great!" They could muddle through it together. That would work well, since they could answer each other's questions. He made a mental note to be extra thorough with his notes for Transfiguration.
"The practical side is what's tricky." Arthur admitted, "I can memorize what the spell's for, especially if it's related to creatures, but I've never really been good with actually doing the spells?"
He hadn't yet managed a way to stop feeling just a little nervous with newer spells, even after seeing them cast in class.
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