Between Bookshelves and Beginnings PV Atlas Woodrow

Dialogue, Thoughts
IC date: August 20, 2026
Location: Flourish and Blotts
Time: 11:30 AM
Mentioning: @Vivienne Thorne

Diagon Alley was foreign.

Atlas' mother had just exchanged their pounds into a handful of gold coins called Galleons in a bank run by goblins. Then, he found himself wonderstruck in a shop selling cauldrons of every size and material, gawking at the ones that somehow stirred themselves.

Luckily, their guide had been assisting the Woodrows with their shopping, and Atlas ended up fitting an entire "Standard Size 2 Cauldron" into a trunk that was neither cauldron-shaped or cauldron-sized.

Unluckily, Mrs. Woodrow insisted they were Atlas was fine with finding the rest of his supplies alone.

He wasn't. He had no problem shopping alone back in Wingham (his mother often made him while she made some important business calls outside), but not here, in a world he found out about last month. Atlas also heavily suspected his mother knew of witches and wizards but never told him. When their guide had delivered them that acceptance letter, she put on her grossly superficial shocked face and was now wearing her even more grossly superficial smile.

However, as soon as the guide left, Mrs. Woodrow's face contorted into an ugly but genuine scowl, suddenly disgusted by everyone and everything including her own son. If any stranger were to see the pair, they'd think "angry woman and boy", not "mother and son".

Atlas had his own problems in this new world. First of all, before entering that cauldron shop, he had passed the Apothecary Shop, where he'd overheard chatter about bats wings, dragon liver, salamander blood, and all sorts of other things never to have ever been spoken of in the so-called "muggle" world. His world.

Second of all, a young girl seemingly belonging to a rich family of wizards had pointed at him on the street, squealing "Look Mom! There's another one of those!" as if he was some exotic animal. He wasn't sure what "those" meant, but judging from the disdain written all over the mother's face, it wasn't good.

Third of all, he didn't fit in. That was the only thing on his mind as he entered the bookshop "Flourish and Blotts" alone, leaving his newly bought trunk to his grudging mother and instead taking a large bookbag. Perhaps if he pretended to know what he was doing, people would think he was just another student doing his shopping and not some alien outsider. That of course, came at the cost of not actually getting his shopping done since he didn't know what he was doing, which unbeknownst to him, clearly showed as he picked up a book called "Xylomancy" and flipped through it; something a first year had no business looking at.

Word Count: 443

Date: August 20, 2026 Time: 11:30 AM Location: Flourish and Blotts

Interacting: @Atlas Woodrow Outfit: navy blue top, jeans speaking:#8b2909

Five, six and finally, seven; Vivienne counted the books in her hands. All the books in her list had been checked out. She was almost set to go with all her shopping. They had already bought the wand, the robes, and the cauldron related stuff. All that was left now was the rememberall, and then Vivi could go get ice cream from Florean Fortescue's, as her mother had promised her earlier in the day.
Atlas and Lucas must already be waiting there, she thought. It did take her a longer time to collect the books than it should have, partly because of her endlessly distracted mind.
The twins would definitely annoy her about being tardy later.

Vivienne turned to move toward the reception to buy the books, and couldn't help but notice the boy from earlier.
He had brown wavy hair, and possessed a pair of beautiful amber eyes. (Vivienne had always found coloured eyes a desirable trait; hers were just.. brown. Just there, no personality.) He looked around her age, possibly also going to hogwarts, she assumed.

And right now, he stood with a book about Xylomancy in his hand. That, as far as she was aware, was not taught at hogwarts until at least fifth or sixth year.

That meant her assumption about him being a little lost would have to be true. He was probably a muggle-born or someone raised in the muggle world, coming to Florish and Blotts for the first time.
And he currently looked like he could use some help. No offense.

Without thinking about it, as she seldom did, she decided to take a deep breath and ask him if he would like some help.
And thus Vivienne walked up to the boy, confidence and composure radiating off of her as it naturally did. As 'natural' as it can be after years of being trained for it, anyway. Her family made her partake in actions she deemed as rather unnecessary sometimes.

“ Hey,” she called out as she started reaching him.“ Would you like some help?” She began as she stood in front of him, making an extra effort to make her tone sound as nice and appealing as she could. She wouldn't want him to take it the wrong way and assume she wanted to mock him for not knowing what he was supposed to be doing. “You just looked a little confused, so I assumed that maybe you'd appreciate it?” She clarified further, making sure he could know she was trying to genuinely help with her heart in the right place.

That was just who she was. It annoyed her father sometimes; You're too nice, you don't need to inconvenience yourself for strangers; he would attempt to teach her.

It is very safe to say she never learnt.

word count:467

Dialogue, Thoughts
IC date: August 20, 2026
Location: Flourish and Blotts
Time: 11:30
Mentioning: @Vivienne Thorne

Oh no.

It must have been that confused and dazed look in his eyes while he struggled helplessly to comprehend whatever the hell "Xylomancy" was. Or maybe it was the way he stepped into the bookshop, eyeing the stacks and endless shelves of books as if they would come alive and strangle him to death.

Atlas felt his chest inflate with panic as the girl approached him. A part of him felt his fear was rather excessive and comical; something he'd laugh at himself for later. The other more irrational part of himself that unfortunately, occupied the majority of his brain, ran through every possible outcome of this interaction. Maybe his I-know-what-I'm-doing disguise worked well enough that she cared to ask him a few questions about Xylomancy. Even worse, she could be an expert in Xylomancy and falsely believed she'd saw someone of the same caliber.

The second, more likely outcome was that she had seen right through his pathetic facade and was going to confront him about it, maybe even make a snide remark or two, if he was lucky enough to not be turned into an ugly toad instead. Judging by the handful of disdainful looks he had received out on the streets, that wasn't too far off of an assumption. Clearly, outsiders were not welcome.

But she only kindly asked him if he needed help.

At first, Atlas had surveyed her for any sign of mockery or sarcasm. Fortunately, he found none. He felt his cheeks slightly redden in embarrassment, resulting from both his exposure as completely clueless and his delusional predictions from moments earlier. Did he seriously think she was going to turn him into an ugly toad?

With nothing to lose, he hastily shoved "Xylomancy" back into its rightful place, straightened himself, and smiled a mix between awkwardly and lazily.

"Sure, some help wouldn't hurt."

Word Count: 310

Date: August 20, 2026 Time: 11:30 AM Location: Flourish and Blotts

Interacting: @Atlas Woodrow Outfit: navy blue top, jeans speaking:#8b2909

W ell, that answered that. The frantic way in which he shoved the book back into the shelf he had taken it from confirmed Vivienne's suspicions before he even got a chance to speak. He was actually lost. Or didn't know any better.

Up close, he looked far less confident than he had from across the shop, more like someone trying very hard to appear as though he belonged amongst the towering shelves and strange titles.

Then came his reply: he wouldn't mind the help. The easy smile that followed caught her off guard. It was new. She'd never get used to genuine motiveless smiles; family connections were forged through polite greetings, and favors always came with terms and conditions masked behind flawless facades, never lazy smiles.

With a sudden jolt in her train of thought, she realized she'd been staring at the bookshelf for longer than she'd like to admit. Great. She'd got lost in her mind and now he probably thought she was weird as hell.

Or worse than weird, he would think she didn't want to help him; that her sudden silence was just polite detachment, a subtle sign her mind was elsewhere and she’d rather be anywhere else. Maybe she was overanalyzing, but she genuinely didn't want him to think she was just going through the motions.

Deciding to get over the embarrassment, she tried to lighten the mood.

"Good," she said, a hint of amusement warming her voice. "Because by the looks of it, you probably don't know what xylomancy is, no offence. And this book is a little advanced." She continued playfully, putting her hands in her pockets, her dry humor shining through.

Her gaze briefly flickered toward the book he had just abandoned.

"Not exactly light reading." She chucked to herself. Then straightened up, diverting her gaze back to the boy. She felt oddly uneasy now, mind again wandering to what her first impression on the boy must've been. That she was absent-minded? Distracted? Uninterested?

"Did you come to shop for Hogwarts, by any chance?" Vivienne asked, offering a soft smile of her own to reset the mood.

word count: 355

Dialogue, Thoughts
IC date: Aug 20, 2026
Location: Flourish and Blotts
Time: 11:30 AM
Mentioning: @Vivienne Thorne

The girl was observant in a way Atlas wasn't sure benefitted him, but he couldn't say it hurt him either. Trading a few moments of embarrassment for successful shopping was worth it in his book, especially in the condescending shelves of Flourish and Blotts. Every book taunted him with its mystery. Golden-stitched titles and multicolored leather covers glistened from a faint autumnal sunshine. The rustling of aged, cream-colored pages were constant reminders of the immense quantities of knowledge he lacked.

Atlas was starving for knowledge. He had been for a while, and despite his many efforts to seem knowledgeable, he was rewarded nothing.

Perhaps there required a change in strategy. He wouldn't get far being Mr. "Fake-it-till-you-make-it", as evidenced by an eleven-year-old girl seeing right through him. Others must think his little "Xylomancy" stunt was pathetic. What was he thinking?

Temporarily pushing his worries aside, he evaluated the situation.

The girl seemed kind. He had been eyeing her unblinkingly since she'd approached him and found no signs of an ulterior motive. Accepting her help was a beneficial move, certainly leading to a successful shopping session and not as certainly flourishing into a friendship, but you never know. If all went well, he would be saved from being a complete loner at Hogwarts... assuming she went to Hogwarts, soon confirmed by:

"Did you come to shop for Hogwarts, by any chance?"

An eager "Yes, I did." flew out of Atlas' mouth quicker than he wished. Too enthusiastic. Too joyous. Too desperate, as if he would die of hunger if this random girl hadn't lent her hand to him.

Dread clouded his head and swam down to his heart, squeezing with all its might. Why would she want to help him? What would she get out of it? A new friend? She probably knew her way around this place well enough to get a dozen. A dozen friends who actually knew what they were doing in Diagon Alley. Atlas had observed many his age, unbothered by the self-stirring cauldrons and freakish apothecary ingredients.

He felt himself go rigid, but his face remained acceptably relaxed, masking his internal horror.

Word Count: 346