An Instinct to Help PV Henry Holbrook

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| Location: C.O.M.B. Cabin | Date: August 1^st, 2026 | Word Count: 880 | Speech #1587A4 | Thoughts #1587A4 |
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The second year boy was rather pleased with how things had turned out, all things considered.

It had come as no surprise that the twins roomed together, at least that particular nightmare was easily avoided.

He was similarly glad he didn't get burdened with the task of bunking with He Who Lies Through His Teeth, though he did feel a tiny bit bad that the slightly shorter boy wound up with the gothic belltower given sentience and flesh, he imagined that was a bit intimidating.

He wouldn't have minded so much rooming with any of the others. Rooming with the Welsh boy would have been interesting. He seemed friendly, and having grown up close to Wales himself, it was fascinating to hear the mix of accents he heard Alfie using. Granted the unfortunate victim of nonconsensual spellcasting had claimed him nigh-on instantly, which was fine, he didn't have reason to suspect anything but the purest of intentions from either of them, even if the shorter of the pair was perhaps a bit... odd. Not bad, just... strange, which suited a theme revolving around Mysteries fine, to be honest. Honestly he'd love to get to know Demo as well at some point, figure out what was going on there.

The poor Irish lad who'd been unceremoniously punted out of the way wouldn't have been a bad roommate either, he seemed like a decent sort - even if his ears were seemingly less than 100% functional. Honestly, Henry could hardly judge him for that; it was a miracle he'd managed to (mostly) hear everyone properly during introductions, given how his own ears often wound up being mostly for show as the number of people around him increased. It was a bit serendipitous that Owen wound up rooming with Jo, Henry mused, given their matching heights and shared island of origin. The match was a tiny bit ironic as well, considering Jo seemed incredibly on the ball, meanwhile her roommate had only wound up at the correct cabin by chance and didn't recognize that fact even after plowing face first into one of the twins who served as his point of reference for which cabin he was assigned to in the first place.

All of that said, though... he couldn't have asked for a better outcome than this. Strike had been the first amongst them to repay his kindness, had bothered asking him his name, and seemed to delight in helping others in a way that reminded Henry of... well, himself, to be honest. But also of his buddy Liron, compassionate as hell. He'd been worrying about his friend, to be honest. He hadn't heard from him since he mysteriously disappeared partway through last year. He didn't even have an address to send an owl to to check on him, and Merlin bless the owls but... they weren't exactly... the brightest Lumos in Charms class, so perhaps one could forgive him being skeptical about whether or not they could just be given a name and miraculously find the intended recipient, so he just had to hold out hope that his buddy was alive and well wherever he was.

But now, even if he's still worried about his friend... there was at least someone else who reminded him of his buddy. Maybe Henry and this Greek boy could be friends as well. He could hope, anyway. His parents' plan of him coming here to make more friends was going disastrously poorly thus far, so it'd be amazing if at least one of his cabinmates actually got along with him...

When he heard Strike's question, Henry's blue eyes crinkled as smiled over at the other boy. He glanced at the other side of the room, at it seemed a bit... sparse, all things considered. Not necessarily a bad thing, he'd simply expected that a boy whose family could afford a bloody Firebolt would have splurged on stuffing any and everything imaginable into a magically expanded trunk. Maybe they were the quality over quantity types, he decided. Meanwhile he was still arranging his own little knickknacks and books and clothes - undoubtedly cheaper and of shoddier make than those of his new companion, by and large, but far more numerous.

He chuckled bashfully and rubbed the back of his neck, hoping the younger boy wouldn't think less of him for having brought so much... stuff... with him. He didn't want to come off as trashy, especially to someone he already somewhat admired, "If you'd like to help, I'd be fine with that. I swear I'm not like... a hoarder or anything, I just like my space to be, cozy, ya know?"

Henry sighed and plopped down amongst the clothes he was haphazardly folding, "You said your parents worked security? My dad's a bouncer." He paused, frowning slightly as he fussed with a sock in serious need of darning, this other boy had some sort of accent he was unfamiliar with, maybe they didn't call them bouncers there and calling his dad that could mean any sort of ridiculous profession involving hopping, skipping, and jumping about, "That's also 'sort of security', basically he works for a club and makes sure people behave, I think. I've never really thought to ask what all he does at work. Heh..."

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| Interaction: @Strike Allen |
| OOC Notes: None |

If Henry was attentive enough, he might have noticed a familiar face among Strike's sparse belongings. Propped up against a couple of books on his bedside table were a pair of moving photographs - one of Strike and his parents and the other of Strike with a slightly taller blond boy and a woman the taller boy took after.

When Henry smiled at his question, he set Strike at ease somewhat and Strike even managed to smile back. Good; that meant he must have been doing something right. He was offering to make himself useful like he was always told to, but he hadn't been sure if other kids would respond to his offer like his parents did.

As it turned out, Henry's response was even better. Strike had found that it had become increasingly difficult to cause his parents to smile at him like that as he'd grown up, but at least with Henry, for some reason, it wasn't. Strike recognized the English boy's bashful behavior of rubbing the back of his neck, but he wasn't sure what he might have been feeling bashful for. Maybe for accepting help...?

When the brunet spoke, though, things became a bit more clear. Well, sort of. Strike thought Henry's words suggested he was embarrassed for seeming like a hoarder or wanting his space to be cozy, but...why would either of those things have bothered Strike? And why would Henry have reason to care even if they did?

The younger of the pair followed the other's gaze to his side of the room. Oh. Did he...somehow feel bad for...having so many things...? He wasn't sure what to say about that, especially because he could have been wrong about his guess, so he ended up saying the first thing that came to mind to try to comfort the other kid. "Dragons, I think, are hoarders...and lots of people seem to like them," he pointed out with a feeble smile of his own. "But even if you're not a hoarder, that's okay. I'm sure your space will be very cozy by the time you're done with it."

He watched Henry sigh and plop down amongst his clothes before moving to pick up some of the clothes that still needed folding and folding them himself. There; something to do to make himself useful. Maybe Henry would smile more if he did that. And not bashfully.

The question about his parents working security caught him off-guard, though. He almost dropped what he'd just folded but caught it quickly. Fortunately, Henry almost immediately followed it up with a relation to his own father, who was seemingly a...'bouncer'.

He wondered if his confusion showed (which he sincerely hope it hadn't) or if Henry was a mind-reader, though, because right after he had wondered what a bouncer was, before he'd even had time to potentially ask, Henry had started explaining.

Ohh...that was interesting. And there - there was something Strike could relate to as well.

"I didn't really think to ask what my parents do at work either until Jo started talking about hers," he confessed, finishing with what he was folding and picking up the next article of clothing as he turned to smile at Henry. "Didn't you just say what your dad did, though? That he makes sure people behave? Or you're not positive?"

@Henry Holbrook

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| Location: C.O.M.B. Cabin | Date: August 1^st, 2026 | Word Count: 398 | Speech #1587A4 | Thoughts #1587A4 |
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When Henry heard Strike compare him of all people to a bloody dragon, he couldn't help the startled laugh that tumbled out of his mouth, "I think people tend to like them because they're awesome lizards that fly and breathe fire, not because they collect shiny things." He flicked his eyes down to the wand at his hip, pondering the heartstring inside. Maybe there was yet another reason it had chosen him after his first wand was damaged beyond repair back in June.

This other boy was doing a bloody good job of worming his way into Henry's good graces, it seems, because as he was busy trying to smooth a particularly stubborn wrinkle out of one of his shirts, one that the hot air charm would likely be able to take care of in no time at all, were the muggleborn inclined to try and solve his problems with magic like some of his peers were. "I think most of our cabinmates would prefer if I was a dragon, honestly. Don't think I made many friends earlier." He laughed awkwardly.

Once it finally registered that Strike was coming over to help, he smiled again, "I don't think I mind all that much, though. At least I got to meet someone nice like you." He reached out and gently ruffled the younger boy's hair like an older brother might. "My family keeps telling me I need to stop setting myself on fire to keep others warm. I think they might be right about that, even if it's a hard habit to break."

He looked back down at the clothes he was working on, "Ya know, they had Career Day here a bit over a month ago. Maybe you could see if your parents wanted to do something like that. That way they could show people what it is they do and make it less confusing." He suggested, imagining that every family would enthusiastically support their children like his did. At his new friend's question, though, he paused again, and the sheepish expression returned, "I'm not really sure everything he does, but I imagine it's a lot of making sure people don't get in with fake IDs and kicking out drunk people who try to start fights or harass people. It's security, in a way, I guess, but it isn't exactly the badass Security-With-A-Big-S people think of." He shrugged.

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| Interaction: @Strike Allen |
| OOC Notes: None |

"Oh. So...they're awesome because they're lizards, because they fly, or because they breathe fire?" Strike wanted to know. "Maybe someone thinks they're awesome because they collect shiny things. You never know!" He, personally, didn't see what was all that great about dragons since they were as likely and able to kill you as a lethifold or a manticore, probably. But that was why he thought it was just as possible that someone else could have liked dragons for an aspect Henry didn't think was all that cool just like Henry seemed to like them for aspects Strike didn't think were all that impressive.

At Henry's comment that he thought most of their cabinmates would prefer if he was a dragon, Strike looked puzzled. "If you were a dragon, they'd probably all be dead," he stated. "Besides, even if most of them would have preferred if you were a dragon, I know I wouldn't." Shifting where he sat to look at Henry better, he asked, "Were you trying to make friends? It didn't seem like you wanted to be friends with most of them."

Henry telling him that he didn't think he minded all that much because he at least got to meet someone nice like Strike caused the Greek boy to redden. "Nice?" he repeated, wondering what Henry was talking about. "I don't think I really did anything nice." He flinched briefly when the older kid reached out to ruffle his hair, but quickly realized what he was actually doing and tried to relax. He hoped Henry hadn't noticed.

"Setting yourself on fire?!" he cried, alarmed. "Why would you do that? That's awful! Aren't there other things to make a fire with?" Why would anyone have done that more than once, let alone made a habit out of it?!

He tried to concentrate on the next things Henry said, but his mind was still distracted by the mental image of the English boy setting himself on fire. He must have really liked fire if he liked lizards for breathing it and...set himself on fire. Or maybe he liked doing that because it had something to do with dragons...?

"...I don't think they'd go to that," Strike said, not quite sure wat Career Day was, but guessing at it based on context clues. "They're usually very busy." Not to mention pretty secretive. Most of what he knew of what his parents did had been discovered by Strike on accident. Or without their knowledge. Or both. But Strike felt too guilty about that to admit it to Henry.

"...Um...I don't know what 'Security-With-A-Big-S' is," he confessed instead, smiling sheepishly. "Keeping people who cause problems out of a place sounds like security to me."

@Henry Halbrook