Armoured Souls Finished

Millie tapped the hard cover of her most recent book. Her violet eyes flickered through the halls as she descended through them. The book tightly clutched beneath her fingers was titled 'Quidditch Through The Ages'. It got her thinking. How many of these famous Quidditch players came from Hogwarts? What about other schools? Millie knew there were plenty of them.

Taking a trip to the Trophy room definitely took some time. Millie forgot what was her left and right and ended up taking two wrong turns, and only realized she was on the wrong path when she was on the second floor corridors. Then she had to find her way back to the Trophy room, and Peeves didn't help. The poltergeist chased her and tried to throw water balloons on the Gryffindor.

Luckily, the Bloody Baron saved Millie from anymore trouble, and told her the correct way to get to the room. It took an extra twenty minutes from when Millie started to leave the Gryffindor Common room to finally reach the Trophy room.

So Millie thought she 'oughta send a little prank towards Peeves way. But after she spent twenty minutes trying to get to the Trophy room. Curiosity lead her heart and her mind followed suit. But when finally reached the room, Millie was struck confused when she found another girl, sitting and looking. The girl had a dazed look, and a sandwich in her hand? Millie only got more confused as she stepped closer, and examined the girl.

The girl was very pretty, that was for sure. She had curly brown hair and matching brown eyes, and it made Millie slightly self-conscious. Her purple eyes flickered to her black hair, and they didn't look nearly as pretty. But the girl had on mustard-yellow robes, and Millie knew that she was a Hufflepuff. 

Millie stepped closer to the girl. "Excuse me? Are you alright here? You look kind of lonely," Millie bit her lip, was what she had said invasive? Like an invasion of privacy? "I don't mean to seem invasive-" She suddenly covered her mouth.

"I mean-" Millie exhaled, she ruined her chance at seeming somewhat normal. "I'm Euphrasia, but call me Millie."

When the girl began talking, Millie took notice of her voice and actions. So the girl was in the Great Hall, but its chaos seemed to overwhelm her. This wasn't too shocking, since the Great Hall was always loud, with students bustling, studying, or just trying to eat. People always occupied it during mealtimes, and if you stayed over Christmas, it was sometimes quiet. That wasn't very often, since a lot of people did tend to stay at Hogwarts.

The castle was so interesting, Millie used the majority of her free time just exploring it. Whether it be by herself, or with a group of friends, she always seemed to find time to find a brand new room. It was still difficult, because the castle was loaded with tricks and bribery, and things had their own schedule of appearing and whatnot, it was always confusing.

Mari reached her hand out for a shake, and Millie swiftly complied, giving it an enthusiastic shake, before watching as the girl turned towards the suit of armor. She touched it, and it smudged, but Millie didn't really take any notice.

"Do you ever wonder what it would be like to be a knight? I always find it interesting that Lear wears it; do you think he feels stronger with it on? Maybe I should do that. I'm...not as brave."

The headmaster wore armor. How could Millie forget? While she only saw the headmaster at mealtimes, it was easy to realize that he always had a suit of armor.

"I'm sure he wears it to seem strong, but maybe not brave. Even the strongest knights can be cowards," Millie offered a smile. "I'm sure you can be brave."

Millie tried to bring out her confidence to the girl, who simply lacked it. But, not having millions of confidence wasn't that bad. After all, nobody wanted to end up like the Flying Professor. 

Maybe her confidence came from America. The land of the free, where so many people were confident, happy, and extremely arrogant. Was that why she was put in Gryffindor? Everything she had learned in America, she had adapted to. She had changed from a naïve little girl, to a brave, and happy woman. Or, an older little girl. Maybe growing up was scary, but it also must've been amazing.

She dragged one of her hands through her messy brown-black hair. She was looking at the armor once more. Millie thought about being a knight. Oh how it would feel to be a brave fighter. Sort of like Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon. That was a good anime. Being a normal muggle was nice, but so was being a witch. Nothing was every as it seemed.

"Do you really think so? Do you think you could show me how?"

How would someone show another how to be brave? For, bravery came from deep within. Perhaps that was why this girl didn't seem to be brave. Time would come when she needed to be. It was like a question of life. How to act on emotions you don't know you have? Could it be the adrenaline rush you would need? Or just trying to stick up for what was right. It was all confusing, none-the-less.

"I absolutely believe so. Anybody can be brave when their time comes. As for teaching you how to be brave, I think you just need to believe in yourself. I'm no Philosopher, though."

"What do you do to be brave, then? When have you felt the bravest?"

Millie closed her eyes and let her imagination take charge. She always felt brave when she was trapped in her own mind, exploring all the goods and the bads, explaining her own negativity and positivity, exploring everything she could ever imagine. That was her bravery. Knowledge.

But she also felt brave when she was with her friends. She had never felt better when in the company of others. Though, solitude was also a gift. She loved being alone, and with other people. She loved herself. Was that the key to bravery? Self-love and help? Living your truth? No-

You could not just live your truth and be happy. You had to do it with pride. Find it inside of yourself with all the happiness and love you could muster, even if it was against everything else in your life. You have to find it in yourself and accept it and love it with pride, especially when nobody else can. That's bravery.

Somehow, Millie didn't know how to do that, but she was learning. That was bravery too. Living and learning, forgiving and forgetting. Bravery came in all shapes and sizes, she just had to learn her own.

"I don't do anything to be brave. I fight off everything telling me otherwise, and when nobody else can, I tell myself it'll be alright. Because in the end, everything will be alright. Scared, or in the midst of braveness. It'll be okay, no pain lasts forever."

It didn't make sense. That part was true. Nothing that came out of Millie's mouth made sense- usually. There were times when she said wise words, but even then, she didn't understand them. Yes, she spoke quickly, and yes she did say some pretty dumb things, but she could be smart! If she really tried, anything was possible. Except maybe teaching this other girl how to be brave. That might've been impossible.

There was absolutely nothing that made Millie brave. She just... was. She had always been that way. Maybe not like a fearless person, or something, but she definitely was brave. But bravery came from her stupidity, as well. She was stupidly loyal and selfless, which lead her to be brave in scary situations. But the word brave was nothing than a mere word to her, whereas Mari seemed to treasure the word like a possession. Something you could be, rather than what you were.

She had been so lost in thought, she almost didn't realize Mari had said her goodbyes. Quickly, Millie raised a hand, and waved off to Mari. She offered a smile, something she had trouble doing, when deep in thought. Perhaps working on homework wouldn't be so hard.

After all, Mari had been brave enough to do it.

Euphrasia Millie has left the thread.