From the Lookout Finished PV Alan Vanes

Help? Flash didn’t even know what kind of help he was intending to offer, so it came as a surprise. He knew Alan was generous with his help, but what was he even expecting to contribute? Flash wanted to know, so he intended to accept.

”Well, that boy there, he doesn’t have a good track record. Things that happen during class, so it’s not hearsay.” Flash realized at once that ‘hearsay’ was not in the common vernacular of preteen boys, and halted a moment to rethink what he was saying. ”Well, I’ve seen him. And heard him, it’s wretched the things he says to people.”

Flash stayed comfortably within the realm of truth, he loathed the boy and his foul mouth. He could understand a lot about a person given time, but there were some with whom he avoided out of pure repulsion.

”The girl he’s with is someone I see all the time at the library, she always keeps to herself. I suppose it might be nothing, but I don’t want to just ignore it. I want to know it’s not… something bad.”

Flash took a specific approach. He laid the facts out with extreme bias-- look at them, a bully and a bookworm. It was true to an extent, but people were never actually that black and white. It was a matter of perspective, but to be fair, this perspective was very suspicious.

”Not that I doubt you could, but how could you help me with something like that?” Flash was looking at Alan now, the two had turned a corner and he had an idea where they were headed. He didn’t have much time, but he didn’t want to just look a gift horse in the mouth.

@Alan Vanes

Alan glanced over at the couple, while Flash was explaining to him what exactly was so troublesome about the boy. He frowned slightly and had half the heart to give him the benefit of the doubt, blame it on Flash confusing the boy with someone else maybe. But Flash seemed smart and like he would not say this, if he was not sure that the boy with the girl was bad news, so Alan wanted to believe him. They could maybe watch the pair at first and see what they were up to, maybe actually interacting with them was not the smartest idea anyway. But Alan also was not sure what would be the smart thing to do in such a situation.

"Are y-you sure that they a-aren't just friends? That she reads a lot m-means nothing?", he wondered, as he turned back towards Flash, a small frown on his face as he tried to think about the situation. "The th-thing that worries me more is that he troubles you... do you think he said s-something mean to her?", he poked further, before he gave a quick glance towards the couple again and Alan had to admit she did not seem quite comfortable with the situation. Her slim fingers clawed at the books she was holding, pressing them tightly to her body as if they could protect her somehow.

When Flash asked him how exactly he thought he could be of help, Alan's cheeks reddened slightly. He had not thought that far, but he had just wanted to help the girl, if she really was in trouble and helping Flash with his plan seemed to be a way of doing so... "I... uh... I dunno...", he muttered, before shrugging slightly, "I don't e-even know what you were p-planning on doing?"

It seemed Alan was onboard, but directionless. He didn’t much have a reason to bring Alan along, but it wasn’t as if he expected Alan to get in the way either. He was a quiet, respectful person, so he wasn’t a liability. It made Flash think for a moment about the similarilties between them. He wondered if Alan’s parents had also taught him respect and civility. He marked it with a dogear in his head-- he should ask Alan about his family.

”I just want to know, so I’ll listen to them talk. If they’re having a decent conversation I’ll leave them alone. If they aren’t, then I’ll keep listening. Once I know what’s happening for sure, I’ll act. It all depends on the information I find.”

Flash hadn’t set out to lay his method out so bare, but once he started explaining it, it came out plainly. He had to remember to stay in character, or people would start noticing that he was putting on a face. Which people hated, for whatever reason. They all loved it until they knew it was happening. Hypocritical.

Whether Alan wanted to join him from that point on, he would leave up to Alan himself. He started to tail them.

The third year nodded slightly. The plan that was laid out by the Slytherin seemed nice, good enough to not have them be caught or seem suspicious, if they would do well enough. Alan was quite sure it could happen that they just coincidentally walked into the same direction, if the couple would notice them at all. But Alan also just wanted to trust in the plan and that what Flash was saying was only based on facts, so Alan was sure they could worry about complications later.

So as soon as the other boy started walking, he just walked quietly next to him, breaking apart a piece of the tangerine he had gotten from the great hall and ate it. He was sure that Flash would concentrate a bit on listening on and tailing both the boy and the girl, so he probably would not speak to Alan, but if he chose to address him, Alan would obviously reply and chat with him. Probably that would also seem like a good cover, them chatting while following them, would raise less suspicions, right? So Alan glanced over to Flash, who seemed like he knew what he was supposed to do in situations like this and it made Alan wonder, whether he had done this before.... and why. But he shook his head slightly, getting rid off the thought, as this was no moment to have ideas or thoughts like that. He should be concentrating on listening in on the conversation between the couple instead of getting distracted by every bit of tiny detail. However not knowing what the Slytherin's plan was - or well he knew, but so far nothing interesting had happened - made it difficult to concentrate on the task at hand.

Alan had decided to follow along like an eager little puppy, glancing over at Flash for instruction and fidgeting a bit like he wasn’t sure what to do. Flash knew, however, and helped Alan along by acting calm, smiling. He made subtle movements, drawing attention to what mattered.

His feet-- the pace he was taking was not too hurried, but not glacial. He stepped heel-toe by barely lifting his legs, a method of lessening the sound of his footsteps to make him appear further away.

His pockets-- by keeping his hands in his pockets, he could lessen the sound his clothing made by keeping it held to his body.

His smile-- he pointed to his own face to see how Alan would react. The gesture had a purpose: to make Alan laugh, to remind him that he had everything under control and not to worry.

It was like this that they got within hearing range. The sound dampening efforts had seemed to work, because the boy talked candidly, thinking he was alone.

”If you don’t, I’ll tell everyone that you were the one who trashed Professor Price’s desk.” The boy was clearly using threatening words. Flash’s suspicion had been warranted.

”But I didn’t!” The girl instantly protested, but was cut off by the boy again.

”That doesn’t matter!I know people who will say they saw you!”

He wants to use hearsay to blackmail her, that’s funny. And here Flash was just saying how useless hearsay was as a defense of character. This was part of what made the child so repulsive. A pathetic bully, using aggression and fear. Not that he expected most kids his age to do much more than whatever action was directly in front of them. The boy was probably too stupid to know better.

This was another easy case. If the boy did anything too unsightly or annoying, Flash could suggest to the professor that he and his friends conspired to lie. He still needed more ammunition, though. such as what the threats were being made about.

Unfortunately at that point in their conversation, the boy glanced behind him and saw the two of them. Thinking his secret was still safe, he only just picked up his pace to elude them, turning another corner in the winding hallways.

”Drat.” Flash also intentionally slowed down when they were seen, to allow him to escape unpursued. Anything else would have been instantly incriminating. Now he was at a full stop. ”We barely heard anything. But it’s bad. Ugh, I wish I could hear more.”

Flash couldn’t help but let his real frustration show, he hated being cut off when he was learning something interesting. He couldn’t use the same tactic twice, so he basically had to accept that his espionage was already over before it had barely begun.

@Alan Vanes

Alan walked with Flash and just followed his example. He was quite used to not making much noise and drawing little attention to his self, so there was not much he had to adapt. However instead of choosing to bury his hands into his pockets, he just crossed his arms, as his robe pockets would probably have caused too much noise.

Alan could not help but frown, when the two of them got into hearing range, quite displeased with the fact, that Flash had been right after all. Alan had wished so badly, for the two of them to just be friends and that this was all a huge misunderstanding. But Flash had been correct and the girl was in trouble, since the boy was threatening her in some way. When the boy glanced back and saw into the direction of the two of them, Alan could not help but freeze slightly, his step slowing down a little and he glanced over to Flash. He too had gotten a bit slower, after the two of them had been caught, or not as it seemed, since the bully seemed to only quicken his footsteps to get more distance between the four of them.

"We barely heard anything. But it’s bad. Ugh, I wish I could hear more.”, he heard the Slytherin curse lightly, and Alan halted completely for a moment. "Y-yeah... we don't know yet wh-what he plans...", Alan muttered. They had enough knowledge to know that there was something wrong, but they needed more if they wanted to do something with the knowledge. If they wanted to offer help to the girl or confront the boy and make him stop this just was not enough to do anything useful. But Alan knew there were more ways than this. They were walking along the corridors and it seemed like the two of them were heading towards what appeared to be the area where the study room and empty classroom could be found, which was probably the perfect spot to threaten someone without witnesses.

Alan hummed disappointed, looking around as if he was trying to remember something, "Oh!", he suddenly remembered and grabbed Flash by the wrist in a gentle hold and began to walk taking him along, "F-follow me..." he hushed, before lightening his grip and eventually letting go in the hopes that the boy would follow on his own accord from then on. Alan would disappear behind one of the many statues that the castle had, waving for Flash to follow him, as he walked through a passage way in a moderate to quick walking speed, that eventually lead them to another opening behind another statue. Alan would turn around and lightly grin at Flash in a mischievous way, before keeping hidden, making space for the Slytherin.

It took a bit of time, but the passage way turned out to be a short cut to the classroom and study room, one of the countless passage ways the castle had to offer, but soon enough they voice of the bully could be heard again, seemingly to walk down the same corridor they had just been walking on. This passage was quite useful for one was running late, but apparently it could also be used well, if one was trying to catch up to someone else, if the need occured...

Before Flash could get too upset, or remember himself and release the momentary mood, Alan seemed to intuitively start off in another direction. Flash didn’t hesitate to follow. He was not only curious about what Alan wanted to show him, but the way it happened so quickly, he was sure it had something to do with the two they were following.

Sure enough, as Alan slipped behind a statue, he revealed the way to a secret passage behind it. Flash could hardly believe how useful Alan really was. Even though he hadn’t scouted him out as a person of use, he had been more useful than nearly any person had yet proven to be. The strangest part of it was that it was always without having been asked. Flash didn’t know he knew about magical creatures, or that he knew secret passageways. Alan always helped without even being asked.

Naturally, Flash was grateful that he was the lucky recipient. It was the kind of thing he had hoped for when he started on his path of social engineering, that with enough ethos, he would have people go out of their way to help him. Wasn’t it because Alan saw him as a hero of justice that he so easily revealed a castle secret? Flash couldn’t think of another reason.

At the other end, Flash recognized where they were. It was brilliant, they could easily go to the door and hear the rest of the conversation as they passed by. Flash stepped quickly to the door, holding it still and slowly turning the knob as to not make a noise. He didn’t feel the need to make sure Alan kept quiet-- he seemed to be handling himself just fine. Flash opened it just a crack and listened.

”... and Potions and Divination. Give it to me outside class before we go in.” He only caught a snippet of the end, but it had to be about school. Homework, most likely, and the boy telling the girl to do all of his for him. If true, it was an extremely powerful chip to hold. No professor tolerated plagiarism for even a moment. It was pretty objectively bad, no excuse would be good enough to explain extorting someone else so you didn’t have as much work to do.

”I… I…” The girl was trying to argue, but was too intimidated, or afraid of the repercussions. He must have picked her out specifically knowing she wasn’t going to fight back. Flash also sought out weak targets, but never to extort them. All he ever asked for in return was acknowledgment, he didn’t even slightly compare to the people who used manipulation to cheat the system. The kind he used was all towards the greater good. Such as finding dirt on trouble makers and serving them their just rewards.

”If you don’t have all my homework done before class, you’ll be regretting it for the rest of the year.” The bully put the cherry on top of the threat cake, a classic numbskull. All the evidence Flash would need, he was satisfied.

@Alan Vanes

The third year did not notice much, but he was glad that the younger student followed him through the secret passage and that he did not question him. Alan was not sure how to deal with such a situation they were in, but Alan was quite sure that they needed to do something and somehow help the girl.

So while the two of them were eavesdropping on the conversation the couple had inside of the empty classroom, the Gryffindor clenched his hands into fists and his jaw tensed slightly. He could not believe what he was overhearing and thoughts were running through his mind, different scenarios of how they could stop the boy and how they could react. But all somehow seemed blurry and Alan glanced over to Flash, wondering if he had any kind of clue on how to proceed now.

But the third year glanced over to the Slytherin next to him, who to Alan's surprise looked oddly calm with the situation. Alan wondered whether he had been in such a situation before and whether Flash would know how they would need to act. But he did not seem affected by what was displaying in front of them, furthermore, Alan noticed the tiniest smile forming on the taller boy's face; a smile that seemed oddly satisfied. Alan frowned confused, before he lightly caught the other kid's attention and tilted his head ever so slightly. "What now?", he mouthed as he nodded towards the couple inside the classroom. Because for Alan this was not finished yet... he wanted to help the girl.

Flash seemed like he had been in a situation like this before, at least he seemed comfortable with the way things were going and Alan was sure that Flash might know how they could proceed. Alan barely knew anything about the boy, but he hoped that he knew what to do in a situation like this, because it was the first time Alan had found himself in such a setting and he wanted it to possibly end well for the girl. Maybe it would help her if she talked to a professor about it, but it would not do well if they themselves did; it would end up being word against word so they would need to have the girl realize that she should not let the boy get away with this. At least that was Alan hoped and thought... So what was Flash's plan?

Flash was tapped on the shoulder, surprised to find himself being called to action. Somehow he hadn’t taken into consideration that Alan wouldn’t be satisfied with just knowing that someone was in trouble. Undoubtedly he wanted Flash to go in and rescue her from her dire situation. He had pretty much owed Alan that he knew anything at all, so in part, he was obligated to do something.

But, what? If he walked in suddenly, not only would the boy recognize them as having followed them earlier, but he might even become aggressive. There were a lot of variables to account for. He would have to prove he knew something without triggering his sense of fight or flight. There had to be a way, the boy was nearly braindead after all.

He would have to decide quickly, their conversation was over and the boy was headed for the door. Flash would just have to talk his way out like he always did, it wasn’t like he could pose an intellectual challenge. And besides that, Alan was with him, so he would certainly back him up if things went wrong.

Before the bully reached the door completely, Flash took a few large steps back, guiding Alan back with an outstretched arm as well. He raised his voice when talking.

”Did you hear that? Who’s in there?”

With the distance he made, he ran forward like he was in a hurry, his footsteps reverberating loudly in the empty corridors. All he had to do then was explain the situation. The door budged momentarily, no doubt a hesitation to open it once he heard someone on the way, hoping they weren’t coming for him. Flash completed the distance, opening the door the rest of the way, with the boy having to clumsily detach. As he stumbled back, it was not only clear that he had been properly given the impression a prefect was coming, but the young girl had begun to tear up.

”I see. Jason Harrington, causing trouble again?” It didn’t matter if the boy recognized Flash or not, in fact, it was better if he didn’t. ”If I catch this girl handing you anything outside of your classrooms, I’ll be telling Professor Jensen everything I’ve heard. Do you understand me?”

It was important that he ended his command with a question. It demanded immediate response, no time to think. Flash glared at him unblinkingly, the expression of honest annoyance he had for the boy etched into a jeer. It worked, he panicked.

”I didn't do anything yet! You can’t tell on me if I haven’t even done it yet! Forget this!”

Jason trudged past Flash and Alan, hurriedly making his way away from the scene of the crime. As young as he was, Flash expected him to lay low for a few days before he realized he wasn’t on the chopping block any more. Then he would find another victim to bother. Flash’s method would have stuck longer, but once again he had to play the hero. Now, they were left with a bewildered, nearly crying girl. She looked at the two of them back and forth, probably reeling from the shock of being rescued so suddenly when she seemed truly alone. Flash waited for her to gather herself and realize what happened. One the recognition hit, her face ran through one emotion after the other before landing on relief.

”You… you stopped him?” She came up to Flash hurriedly, spouting one thing after another in a state of jumbled feelings. She busied herself with thanking them for a while before Flash could finally convince her to go on her way. Nicely, of course. Once she nervously ran off back to civilization, Flash sighed, knowing that so much more could have been done with what they hadd found.

At the very least, Flash was introduced to a secret passage in the castle. Not only that, but learned a bit more about Alan. He turned to his companion, smiling again, but more as a sign of comraderie over having been through something strange than he usual placid ‘happy face’.

”Another maiden saved by the immaculate Flash Holmwood. They’ll speak of me in legends.” Flash laughed a bit himself. This way was a bit more fun, at least.

@Alan Vanes

Alan had just tagged along, really, because of the Slytherin seemingly instantly knowing what to do. What surprised Alan more was, that Flash knew the full name of the other boy, which meant that he probably knew the kid better than Alan had first assumed. Alan wondered how Flash would know the other boy, since he did tell Alan that he was sure the other kid had not been nice; Flash had used the word hearsay even, that this was what he would not do and Alan had believed him and believed it now more than before. They knew another, but Alan was in no position to snoop, even though he was slightly curious about how this had happened.

Alan also was not sure whether he liked the way that Flash was solving the situation, but he assumed fear and respect was the only thing that could combat the bullies' need to have other people do his homework. Clearly it was being effective in a way, because the bully soon left an the girl had been okay. But who was to say that he would stop and was there a way to make the boy drop the behavior completely? Alan had no idea, but he was sure that only the girl could do something against it and that she would need to report this, so that the boy's behavior would not go unpunished. Alan did not like the situation, but he was glad the girl was safe! He offered said girl a light smile and shrugged.

"I... I guess? A-At least for now, but to make sure it w-won't happen again you would n-need to keep an eye on him... I assume he is in y-your class, right? Your house even?", he asked softly, noting that she was also wearing the Slytherin uniform. "I-If you see him do it again, it would probably better t-to report him to your Head of H-House", Alan explained to the girl, before glancing over to Flash, then back at the girl, "W-will you be okay now?", he asked to make sure and the girl nodded slightly, seeming unsure but then ran off.

Alan was quiet for a moment, until he heard Flash talk and he could not help but snort lightly, shaking his head at the Slytherin. "D-do you think she will be okay?", he asked Flash, as the tension of the situation finally calmed down and Alan was able to relax slightly. Alan was not quite sure how he was supposed to think about the situation, but he assumed he should take it lightly, the boy would stop bothering her and the girl would be fine for now. Alan hoped that if something like that would happen again, that the girl would go to her Head of House, but that was not up to him anymore and there was nothing more he could do.

"So.. uh- do you have anything planned? I am p-pretty sure I still gotta do some homework", he told the Slytherin and sighed; this classroom setting had reminded him of his duties he would need to keep up, if he wanted to keep his oustanding average. Sometimes it was not easy, but Alan did well in doing just enough for the subjects he was not so good in and evened it out with some extra effort for the subjects he was fond of.