A Little Bird Told Me PV Finished

Everyone had sisters. Her friend, Xailah, had a sister, and her friend, Pericles, had a sister. Meenauh was the only child in their small family. Suddenly, she stopped building and just stared at the snow in front of her. It was a pity she was alone, but she was in no position to demand a sister or a brother. She had Xailah now — that was a friend. They could be sisters after all. At least it felt like that in the dreams.

The sad thoughts were the background for the Pericles, so Meenauh lost bits of his monologue about the powerful families and Xailah's comments as well. She was still recording it in the back of her mind and would try to access them later, but the chance was small. She got distracted and was only slowly finding her way back into the investigation.

"Mhm," was the only answer of hers when Xailah mentioned her name and the drinks. Horseshit finally brought her back to listening to a very convincing theory why it was important to call the man Harold. She was nodding heavily as she was greatly surprised by Xailah's psychological analytical triumph. And finally, they changed the topic to Liberation club, leaving the squibs resting in the outer yards of their brain. When there's a dead point in the investigation, one should let it go and focus on something else. Then the answer will float in after a while. Or not. Anyway, she was full consciousness now catching every bit of information about the club, because... well, she brought it up.

She was doing a mental notebook and crossing out certain points to structure useful and useless information she would get from Pericles. Potter and VanCleaf — check. The Mask and The Glove — check. Vladimir, Davenport, Moore — new. (Xailah will chase Moore later.) Half-giants — check. Dolls — ugh, check. The headmaster is missing — known for a while, but unsure if the public is aware.

So, now they needed to track the witnesses and question them. Or find his wand. As their investigation was focused on Potter's case, there were many more pieces to the puzzle.

"Thank you for sharing, Pericles. I don't think we heard about the witnesses, to be honest. But we also know that Potter's wand is missing. Presumably on Hogwarts' Grounds. If the wand is found — we at least can save Mr. Potter as we would know his wand did not cast the unforgivable," she replied before the comments about Potter and VanCleaf. And returning to the Xailah's request to share details of her meeting with the school nurse.

"Yeah, speaking of that partner — just before the holidays I got to our hospital wing, nothing serious, but I got introduced to our nurse. What a dreadful coincidence that the surname of our nurse is effectively the same as Potter's partner. He revealed to me that Mr. August VanCleaf was his twin brother. Based on how he referred to August, I wouldn't say they are close. But it was still uneasy to be there after finding out the other one was involved in the case. He said his name was..." she recollected the list the nurse provided her with, "Fin or Finny or Finnly or Finlay — that's a quote, as it seems people call him differently," she finished describing the meeting, "but we didn't have a chance to discuss how he may be relevant yet."

@Xailah Alptraum and @Meenauh Silmataurea

Xailah's insight intrigued young Pericles. She had an interesting regard of the world, and there was something about her wily wisdom that went exceptionally well with Meenauh's grounded knowledge. When she wondered over whether or not he had been a middle child, he did not interrupt her, only stared back with rounded eyes and a hint of an inquisitive smile. It stretched when she added that he seemed neither bitter nor resentful, though this sounded like an observation as opposed to a compliment, so he didn't thank her out loud. Instead, Pericles wore a wistful look at Abigale's mention. She had all sorts of stories, though it seemed they three had quite the story on their hands as well.

The sad thing about good siblings was, when one grew besides them, they would be forced to miss them once they went away. Such was the case with Abigale, whose occupation whisked her to far-off lands and untold dangers. But Pericles, now that he had gathered a few friends to call his own, found family and companions to be a bittersweet and invaluable addition to anyone's life. He had sought his sister's council more than once when he was skittish about seeking the guidance of their parents. Now he was discussing the strange state of affairs with friends as opposed to Hogwarts staff. There was a comfort in their companionship that he couldn't put a price on, never mind the value to their analytical conversations. When Xailah looked to Meenauh for further insight, he did the same, deferring to her experience. The Ravenclaw had already divulged speculations and facts alike, all that he'd gathered thus far. There was the wonder of Potter's work, seeking odd artefacts on school grounds. There was the matter of his partner, twin to the school nurse, who hadn't been present for the purported murder. There was the strangeness of Squib attacks, hags, and the mystery as to how these things connected cleanly, if at all. It was a dizzying amount of information. His only addition, when Xailah wondered over how a dozen drinks could be spiked simultaneously, was to wonder "Perhaps something was added to the barrel they'd tapped at the time?"

Whatever the truth may be, Pericles had shared what he had, played metaphorical catch with all their estimations, and contributed what he could to the snowman. With a clump of pine to make a mustache and bits of bark forming pointed ears, he closed his contributions upon realizing he had to take off for the owlery. A hint of apology touched his airy tone as he excused himself, pausing to pet Schrodinger one last time, then added over a shoulder: "If I hear anything else, you two will be the first to know. But let us all try t'be careful, shall we...?" It wasn't the sort of affairs three children should be meddling in, let alone trying to solve. But Hogwarts children were a different breed.

Exiting thread.

Watching the snowman making a true form and Pericles giving it some final touches made Meenauh suddenly warm. It didn't matter whether it was a feeling of completion, or from physical work, or from doing something fun with good people around. She grinned without realisation as she watched Pericles saying goodbye and departing.

"Thank you for your information, Pericles. It was nice to meet you," she waved at him and nodded as he inserted the cautious bit to the farewell.

She would watch him stray away for a while before bringing back her attention to the snowman and Xailah.

"He's a nice boy," she'd start, "The snowman I mean, Pericles is totally horrible, of course," she'd look at Xailah and start laughing resoundingly, "I'm joking. He's a nice guy, it seems. And he seems really intelligent. I think he'll be bringing more important information. I think we should get to know him better."

She smiled at Xailah, watching her closely. She still couldn't believe they were together. The dreams they had were still fresh in her memory. The life lost was brought back in a new way and Meenauh appreciated it. She wouldn't let it go, she wouldn't let her go. After putting a last thorough glance at the completed snowy masterpiece, she'd invite Xailah to leave the place and head back to the castle. There were many more cosy activities to perform, which would be working as the glue to their to-be-lasting-long friendship.

Leaving with Xailah

Her hand had relaxed on the doll in her pouch. Maybe it was better to simply "forget" about the thing- when in the company of others at least. Yes. She could do that. Shaking off the thoughts, she took the sticks that she had borrowed from a nearby, abandoned snow-fellow; and lodged them securely in the torso of the snow-goblin that was currently pending completion. One snowman had been sacrificed, in the benefit of a new one. A snow-person without arms to wave to passerby, was simply sad. The trios snow-person, would not be sad- she wouldn't allow it to be. While she granted the snowman the gift of limbs, Xailah wondered about the unknown faces who committed the crimes discussed. She wondered who they were really trying to benefit, with the sacrifices they were making. Themselves? Their families? Their masters? It was all a mystery right now. A very foggy, and messed up mystery. There was a ghost of a smile, that cracked across pale, rose-kissed cheeks. It was pleasing to hear Meenauh explain her brief experience with the nurse, who shared the same name with the Auror- it was pleasing, to slide the pieces together.

They really had no business in trying to untangle this messy knot of a whodunit. But sometimes, things needed to be reviewed from the perspective of children. Younglings had a different way of observing a world that was being puppeteered by twaddling adults. Someone needed to provide answers, and if the caretakers, and guardians weren't going to be the ones to provide; then the adolescents needed to step up. Was it wrong? Oh absolutely, but someone had to do what the professionals couldn't. Xailah dropped herself into a calculating silence, as she watched the encroaching completion, of the snowman that had taken form. She considered Pericles barrel theory. She tried to test it, via a scenario created in her head. Most endings concluded with twelve dead, sometimes it was more. Twelve was an oddly specific number. Not too high. Not too low. Even, and easy to distinguish. It was unique. If the number had been thirteen, or even eleven, then the incident could have been passed off as a sick "accident"- this just in: SCAR resorts to violence, and goes on a rampage in the Leaky Cauldron after poisoning patrons! If the barrel had been tapped, then that meant those who poisoned and assaulted patrons, most likely worked for the Cauldron. They weren't squibs. They knew what they were doing, and they had targets. Twelve of them. Or maybe it was all nonsense, and numbers were simply numbers.

It was all too much. Just when the metamorph thought they were on to something, past speculations were brought back into perspective. Thus any new inklings of ideas, evaporated. Perhaps it was a sign to bring the impromptu investigation to a close. And be it through either an unknown telepathic communication, or a recollection of a task that needed to be done; Pericles knew that was his time to make his departure. He would say goodbye to his lions and their mutual kitty, leaving them with a confirmation- that if anything were to happen, the lions would be the first to hear about it. He then- while looking over one cloaked shoulder- advised all to be careful. Xailah looked at the boy in a forcibly cold way, with a slight upturn of her chin. Careful, in the sense of being safe, wasn't exactly in the vocabulary of a Gryffindor. At least not when applied to oneself. She waved with four lazy fingers, all wrapped in black. No thanks would be spoken from her. Meenauh would say something, after the boy was some ways away. Something along the lines of how horrible the snowy-boy was. It was followed with a warm laugh.

There was a calm agreement. Teasing agreement. "The absolute worst." Xailah nodded with a strange sort of distant haziness. Two quirky tufts of hair that sat atop the metamorphs head; curled inwardly towards each other in an expression of quiet, yet attentive contemplation. She turned to Meenauh, and gave the girl a delayed smile in return for her laugh. Xailah never took the time to look at the finished snowman. There were too many thoughts buzzing around in that strange little head of hers- and for once, she and Meenauh sat on different wavelengths, but only briefly. "Perhaps."