You Jump, I Jump PV Dmitri Closed

Dearest Aunt Tabby,

I am steadily nearing the end of my third year here at Hogwarts, and as such, the Ordinary Wizarding Levels examination is growing ever closer, as well.

I am fully aware that most students would be encouraged to study for the exam in the middle of their fourth year, but I figured since I have plenty of time to study, I might as well start now. With this in mind, I was wondering if you, in your job at the Ministry, have any reading materials you can recommend? If one were to pursue the same line of work as you, which Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test subjects should I take? This would absolutely aid me in focusing in my OWLs--being able to predict the trajectory I could take.

Though, if you were so inclined not to tell me, I could just as easily pass each and every subject to be certain.

You can write me back anytime.


Your beloved nephew,
Dmitri Kazimir Jones

The Slytherin boy rolled up the foot of parchment and tied it off with a short flax string. This, in turn, was then gently attached to the outstretched foot of a tawny owl named Wigfrid--his favorite school owl--who was already twitching in eagerness to stretch out her wings. "Make sure this gets to Aunt Tabby safely, okay Wigfrid? You stay safe, too." Upon a last affectionate stroke of his index finger on the bird's chin feathers, the owl flew towards the east.

Sighing, Dmitri turned to head back to the castle. 

As he was descending the staircase, a loud wooden bang reverberated throughout the Owlery, causing several owls to take flight in shock and confusion. Dmitri himself almost tumbled down the remainder of the stairs in his fright. Upon arriving at the bottom of the staircase, the Slytherin saw a younger student throw her entire weight against the Owlery door. Oh hell no.

"Please don't tell me..." He started weakly, unable to finish the sentence in case his words made it true. Please don't tell me we're stuck here. Resisting the urge to pull at his hair in frustration, he instead volunteered his efforts. "Hold on, let me help." 

A few pushes and shoves later, Dmitri would sag against the door, helpless in the wake of his weak strength. Oh god. 

"We wouldn't be able to Alohomora our way out of this." He'd tell the girl. "It isn't even locked. It's just... stuck. And badly so." The Slytherin massaged a headache starting to form between his brows. 

They wouldn't even be able to blast themselves out of the door with magic--Hogwarts: A History specifically discussed that every door in the school was enchanted to protect against most destructive spells (a result of multiple castle sieges back in the Medieval Era). If it weren't so, the boy could have Flipendo'd his way out of there in no time--or heck, even a properly cast Bombarda would be nice.

Anastasia and the boy both tried to muscle the door open, but it was no use. Frustrated, she kicked the door and unleashed a string of profanity that would make sailors cry. She wanted her coffee and she didn't want to be stuck up here. She didn't like the Owlery in the first place and she quite frankly avoided it when she could. It always smelled like owl poop and the feathers always got stuck in Ana's hair and all over her clothing. If she had to choose a place in the school, this would be the last place she would choose. Literally. She would rather be stuck in the Forbidden Forests or Abandoned bathrooms or really anywhere that wasn't here. 

Exhaling, she listened to the boy's words. He was right about Alohomora since the door wasn't locked. She cursed again and tried to think. Her go-to spell, Incendio, wouldn't be much help here. Either it would do nothing, or the door would catch on fire and they would be worse off than they were. Anyway, she had damaged enough school property with that particular spell to last her another week or so. Trying to think of other spells she knew, she wondered if Flipendo would work. The door wasn't a person - oh, but the doors at the school were enchanted to be pretty much untouchable. Unless the boy had a spell that she didn't know about, she didn't think there was any chance of them magically opening the door.

 "I can't think of any spell that could open the door, so I think we're going to have to figure something out," Anastasia told the boy. They could try sending up bubbles or sparks like she'd learned last year in Defence Against the Dark Arts, but it was light out and she doubted anybody would be able to see the sparks. That meant that they were going to have to figure something else out. "I'm Ana by the way."

She introduced herself since it was clear that they were going to have to spend some time together and work together and they needed to be able to do that. Additionally, his impression of her thus far was her cursing profusely and throwing her weight at a door. Not exactly the way she'd been brought up to behave. Chewing on her bottom lip, she thought. She couldn't think of a way to send for help which meant they were going to have to either try to wait for the door to become unstuck or get themselves down. Anastasia wasn't a patient person and she also had no idea if the door would even become unstuck on its own. That just left her with one course of action.

They were going to need to get themselves down. She had three potential ideas, none of which were promising. The first was just jump and hope for the best. That seemed like the most dangerous. The second was to see if the boy knew how to summon things and have him summon brooms for them. The third was enchanted something to use as some sort of flying carpet or parachute. She knew she could be done since Wingardium Leviosa was originally invented to be a flying spell, and while it didn't exactly work on people, it worked on objects just fine. She hoped it did anyway.

Her companion's shocked expression at her language would have made her laugh if she hadn't been so livid. It was always hilarious to see people's reactions to a prim and proper little pureblood like her bursting out into profanity. It happened more often than she would have liked, but it still amused her.

At the boy's reaction, she glanced at his filthy robes and hurriedly inspected her own in horror. Fortunately, he seemed to have chosen the spot that was covered in owl droppings, since her robes appeared to be perfectly clean, although a bit rumpled from her attacking the door. Smoothing her own robes, she wrinkled her nose at his. "That is absolutely disgusting," she said, cringing. Sure, Anastasia was fearless and kind of an all-around badass, but she could not do with filth. It was just not her style.

"Nice to meet you, Dmitri, and I mean this in the most pleasant way possible, but please don't touch me," Ana said brightly. What a pair... Anastasia's filthy language and Dmitri's filthy robes. That sounded like the start of an absolutely terrible joke.

She sighed and tried to think of any less dangerous plan than what she currently had. Absolutely nothing came to mind. That probably meant that her ideas were more dangerous than this situation, but that was so not the point. "Alright, so I have about 3 ideas, but they aren't exactly safe, so I really hope that you're not scared of heights. Or falling, for that matter" she told him, tying her loose hair out of her face. She really didn't want to risk it getting caught on anything as they made their escape. One thing was clear - they were going to have to jump off the owlery.

What they did after jumping was questionable, but that much was definite. "Alright, Plan A, do you know the summoning charm? If you do, you could summon a broom or two," she said, deciding to lead with the "safest" idea. The other two were pretty much the same thing, just varying levels of magic. "Plan B, we levitate a cloak or something and use it as a parachute or possibly magic carpet. And plan C is just old fashioned jump and hope for the best. Unless you have any other ideas?"

To be perfectly honest, a part of her wanted to just jump and hope for the best. Honestly, how cool would that be? Of course, there was the possibility that a drop like that would kill her, but assuming it didn't, she would kind of be a legend. Not that was reason enough for her to risk her life, but that was reason enough for her to risk her life. It just depended on how many brain cells Dmitri was using at the moment.

@Dmitri Jones

If this were any other situation not quite as ridiculous, Dmitri would have treated the girl's refusal to touch him as one of the highest insults. His already bruised ego from the whole owl-crap debacle would have been poked similar to a firebrand and his reactions would be far more intense.

However, the boy was too engrossed, and overall grossed out by the droppings on his robes that he did no more than wave the comment off with a flap of his poop-covered hands as he grimaced at the mess on his clothing. Besides, she did say she meant it in the most pleasant way possible, which Dmitri gave her a free pass for.

She's safe from his rage.

For now.

Recently, no one has been safe from the boy's abrasive demeanor--the recent happenings around the school really put him on edge; darkening his mood and coloring his words with hurtful barbs. Today, however, was different. Maybe it was because he felt stumped--which he doesn't feel too often being the know-it-all that he was--or maybe because the other girl has not been particularly annoying or unnecessarily prattling on as most younger students were wont to be.

Upon hearing Ana's suggestions on ways to escape this incidental prison, Dmitri would grimace in disbelief. Grunting, he'd take his wand from his pockets gingerly (his hands were full of crap, remember) and wave it over his clothes with a small mutter of Scourgify. "What is up with Gryffindors and the desire to throw yourselves off the nearest high altitude?" He would say testily as he watched the stains on his clothes disappear magically with the simple cleaning spell. "Just back in September, a first-year boy threw himself off the window in a flight of fancy and broke his leg from the attempt."

Dmitri would shake his head in silent amusement and puzzlement at the memory.

These lions are weird.

"However, I am not opposed to your suggestions--just might need a little calibrating to, you know, not kill us?" At this, he'd look up above him at the nearest window which was at least twenty feet above him. The owlery was already set on a rocky bluff at the side of a steep hill near the side of the Hogwarts castle, so there was definitely a long way down--more than it appears.

He'd smirk smugly at the girl after a moment of contemplation. "Good thing you're with one of the best spellcasters in the school at the moment." Being the Slytherin that he was, he didn't miss a beat in trying to pimp himself out for recognition.

Gesturing to the girl, he moved to climb the stairs towards the nearest window (careful not to step in any more bird poop, thank you very much) to take the opportunity to size up the problem they were facing.

Looking down at the drop, he couldn't help but feel woozy.

@Anastasia Beckett

Anastasia was glad that the boy didn't seem too offended. Had it been her covered in owl droppings, she was sure that she would have been more focused on her own filth and less on some stranger's decision not to touch her. Anyway, it was good that her unwilling cellmate wasn't someone who got offended at people deciding to avoid being covered in owl poop or even coming into contact with it.

When he made a snarky comment, she couldn't help but laugh slightly. Before she had been sorted into Gryffindor, she had thought exactly the same. Truth be told, if she heard about someone else flinging themself off the Owlery, she would think that they were absolutely insane. When it came to her doing such things though, it just seemed logical. She still cringed slightly when he mentioned the first year breaking a leg. Being reminded of exactly what could happen wasn't the most comforting thing to hear at this particular moment in time. Still, she had just about made up her mind to jump, since she couldn't stand much longer in this filthy smelly prison.

"Yes, it would certainly be ideal for us to avoid death at this particular point in time," Anastasia said in reply to his comment about her ideas getting them killed. She was managing to contain herself fairly well, or better than she had when she had attacked the door and cussed at it, in any event. Still, she was getting a tad claustrophobic and antsy, and was more than ready to be out of this situation. The girl wasn't someone who loved being trapped in one place long (not that she exactly knew anyone who did), and her fingers began tapping against her leg to release a bit of her pent up energy.

At his remark about her being with one of the best spellcasters in Hogwarts, she arched an eyebrow slightly. Somehow, she was fairly certain that older students would be at least a little bit better than this boy, but she kept that to herself. It wouldn't help either of them for her to be snarky and irritate him since it would just increase to likelihood of one of them "falling" off the owlery rather than jumping in a controlled manner. "

Reducio

Ah, yes, lucky me indeed,

" she said dryly. She smiled through so that the boy wouldn't be too irritated. He seemed like the typical arrogant and easily annoyed Slytherin she knew, and for once, she wasn't actually wanting to irritate the person she was with. "So, what do you suggest to avoid killing us?"

She wasn't particularly afraid of heights, or really anything, but she was more than ready to be away from the stomach-turning stink. If Dmitri didn't have a relatively quick and simple idea, then Ana would just have to yeet herself off.

Dmitri braced a hand against the side of the open-air window as he looked down at the drop and then back at his companion. From her stature when she approached, it almost looked like she was already bracing herself to leap straight out of the Owlery and onto the ground below. "What, so you're just going to throw yourself off this..." He peered at the height once more, "...thirty, maybe forty, foot drop and hope you get out with only a broken leg?" The Slytherin raised an eyebrow, disappointed but not surprised at the typical Gryffindor behavior.

Sure, maybe the only way out of this mess was through this window, but simply throwing oneself off the ledge and hoping for the best without the slightest bit of thought put into it was just... stupid and juvenile. Now that Dmitri has gotten over his disgust over the mess that was once his robes, he was starting to revert back to being the easily-miffed Slytherin that he normally was. It didn't help that he noticed the girl being condescending when Dmitri mentioned being particularly good at magic, either.

"This is why younger students keep disappearing. I'm sure they all have killed themselves throughout the school year from being too thick in the head..." He grumbled to himself before straightening.

"Do you at least know how to cast Wingardium Leviosa?" Dmitri asked skeptically. "I mean, I expect you to. Even the..." At this, he'd look his companion up and down in a judgmental manner, "...lesser of the student body would know how to do a decent Levitation Charm by now." He just couldn't resist adding that one slight barb, fully into his broody mood by then.

"You'll just love my idea. It involves you jumping out of this window ahead of me, of course! Isn't that fun!" An eye-roll would follow the end of this sentence. Taking his wand out and pointing it at the girl, he'd gesture for the girl to ready herself by the edge of the window.

"I'm going to levitate your clothes so you'll float slowly down instead of plummet to an untimely death.

But I'm only letting you go first because I don't trust you to know what you're doing without me demonstrating it for you." Dmitri would raise an imploring eyebrow at the girl as if to say 'well, what are you waiting for?'. "When you're safely down there, you'll do the exact same thing for me. Capiche?"

Ana arched an eyebrow at him when he was snarking about her throwing herself off. Just because she had been considering it didn't mean she was actually going to do it. Anyway, why on Earth was he using feet as a measurement? What was he, American? "I mean, I was going to shove you and then use you as a landing cushion," she said cheerfully. It was mostly a joke, although she rather liked the idea of shoving him right now. Still, despite his condensing words, she let out a small laugh about younger students disappearing. If anything, third years were a rare breed, since she only knew a handful. Still, she was going to focus on getting out of this situation rather than this smug ass. He seemed to be far more focused on acting as though he was smarter than her, which she knew not to be the case. She assumed he was compensating for his inferior intellect and quite probably something else, but since, unlike him, she didn't feel the need to peacock, she was going to keep that to herself for now.

When he was speaking about the lesser of the student body, several thoughts went through her mind. The first was this definitely confirmed her suspicions about his compensating for things, and that was not something she wanted to think about. The second was what the bloody hell was that even supposed to mean? "I suppose you'll just have to wait and see," she said in reply to him asking if she knew the elevation spell. She rolled her eyes so far back she half expected to see her brain upon hearing his idea. That was pretty much exactly what she had suggested, but here he was trying to mansplain it to her.

When he was saying that he didn't trust her to know what to do, she seriously reconsidered shoving him. Sure, he was physically stronger, but she was small and very angry, so she was sure that it would all work out. She was just about to actually do it when she remembered that she would in fact still need his help to get down and he wouldn't be inclined to do so if she shoved him.

"Let's be real here, I'm going first because you're a bloody coward. In any event, you're going to have to trust me though, because if I go first, I could very well just go on my merry way and leave you with the owls," she replied as though she had not just been contemplating shoving him off a high building. "But, by all means, continue to bask in your superiority and cunningness, love."