au_hogwarts | Hogwarts: Staircase, early evening

Entry tags:

Hogwarts: Staircase, early evening

If anyone's walking around the castle in the early evening, they might come across Rhys, sitting in a lovely squishy armchair on a staircase landing and sipping a cup of tea. There's an empty portrait frame next to him- if you're fast, you might notice a flurry of movement across the other paintings nearby. The girl in the picture's shy, you see.

And you've interrupted their chat. How rude.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I will. I want to do well on this one because Transfiguration does make sense to me,"

Will likes Professor Owens, he seems to know so much and understand how complex the spaces between the Muggle and Wizarding worlds can be to live in.

"Transfiguration is by and large one of the more logical branches of magic, in my opinion. It seems to be more consistent than Charms."

Rhys has spent a long time wandering between both of them and watching them develop, watching the gap between them widen. It's a strange place to be.

"I've never been that good with Charms. Things seem like they should work but the result isn't what its supposed to be."

"It's a tricky one. I like it, but it's surely not for everyone. Is Transfiguration your favourite?"

"Yes, but Defence Against the Dark Arts is close because I know I can use it. I just like seeing how things can change with Transfiguration."

"And it can be useful in its way. Defense Against the Dark Arts seems to be quite popular these days."

"I like to be prepared as do a lot of others,"

Things are tricky in Nottingham and Will wants every weapon available to him.

"Quite understandable. Preparation is admirable- it's only when it crosses the line to paranoia that it turns bad."

Don't mind him. He likes giving advice a lot.

"How do you know where that line is?"

"It's difficult to tell from the inside, honestly. When you're being paranoid, you've got a skewed view of the danger you're in, and anything you do seems rational or at least excusable." He frowns, taking a bite of cake. "The best thing to do, I think, is to have someone you can trust to tell you when you're treading that line."

"I think I have some people I trust to do that,"

They're all on the alert but some more than others.

"That's good. Is there a reason you need to be so cautious?" Rhys leans forward a little, his face concerned. He doesn't like to think of anyone being in danger at Hogwarts.

"There's just some troubles at home, so I want to be prepared,"

And here as well but its not his place to talk about DA or Order business.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I hope things work out for the best."

Unfortunately, Rhys has been in America for the last fifty years, so he's a little bit out of the loop.

"So do I, but I think it will in time."

"Things often do, even when you least expect them to."

"So you have to be prepared for anything that might happen and know how to think on your feet."

"Excellent qualities in any situation, not just trouble. Thinking off your feet means you're in trouble."

"Which I try not to be too often if I can help it though it doesn't always work,"

He knows he has a bad temper that's got him into some fights he shouldn't have gone into.

"It's one of those things that comes with experience. Don't do anything too stupid and I'm sure you'll be fine- you seem like a bright lad."

"I'll try not to, professor."

"Avoid stupidity. Good general rule."

"I think I can do that and I'm going to see if I can get anymore done with this essay. Thank you, professor. I hope you have more good conversations tonight,"

He stands up and gathers his books.

"Let me know how it goes, and thank you for your company. Take a cake if you want."

There's a shy blonde girl peeping around the edge of the portrait frame now, waiting for Will to leave.

Will grabs a cake and bows to the girl in the frame before heading down the stairs,

"I will, thank you again."

(no subject)

fortunatestory.livejournal.com - 2011-10-06 03:43 (UTC) - Expand

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only