Doom And Gloom PV Ruby Cazares Closed

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It was the beginning of Ruby's third year and it was off to a lovely start—making enemies, hexing other students, and hanging out in the dungeons. Lovely, right. As if. She was scowling as she made her way down to the dungeons again to cool off. Truthfully, the bit about the enemies didn't bother her. It was easier, more comfortable. That way, they could only hurt her physically, since their opinion wouldn't matter enough to her for their words to hurt her emotionally. She wouldn't care if they got hurt, if they stopped talking to her. It was a safety measure, an attempt to protect herself. She was starting verbal and magical fights deliberately in case someone got the idea that they wanted to be her friend.

No, she was alone, and content to be that way. She couldn't exactly say she was happy with it, because the memories of laughing with her friends, carefree and facing the world together, called up some kind of longing inside her, a sense of sorrow at what she was losing. But it was too late, she had let her anger consume her and it seemed like nothing could get through it, disrupt it for long enough for her to go back to normal. Her journey to the dungeons was as much for her protection as for the protection of others. It gave her a space to be alone, away from all those that made her annoyed and jealous.

She could take out her anger on the walls. It was crude and a little pathetic, but she was severely lacking in the realm of coping mechanisms, so she viewed this as her best bet. Sometimes she just sat there, basking in the silence of the cold corridors. Wandering outside or through the hallways above ground might have been more pleasant, but she had tried that last year and just kept running into people over and over again who drove her mad or were breaking rules. No, there was no break for her up there, so she had ended up down here or obsessively reading, studying like her life depended on it, desperate to bury herself in the comfort and knowledge that the books contained.

She was standing in the shadows, pondering over which route to take, when she heard footsteps a small distance behind her. She spun around and watched as a small figure approached—another student, then. He called out, asking if anyone was there. “You should be warier of what lurks in the darkness,” she answered coldly, tone flat and emotionless, much like his own had been, but quieter. She was the one who was in here first, the one who could see him, so she was the one in control.

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She wasn't wrong. She could be a little scary and dangerous, as could anyone else who had magical abilities, but she wasn't talking about herself. She was vaguely aware that there were things at Hogwarts that made wizards look puny. Yeah, volatile kids capable of casting spells weren't exactly safe, but she would take that over the other creatures anyway. The Mosps that had attacked the Blossom Ball were bad, but even they were weak, easy enough to take out with a spell or two. What about the spiders that had invaded the Slytherin common room back in February? They had caused pain unlike anything she had felt before, inflicting a curse on the students that had no known cure. Her leg and part of her side reminded her of it every morning when she got dressed, and she was one of the lucky ones because she had only been bitten once and she could easily cover up her inky black veins with long trousers.

That was not all. Her friend Thomas Lestrange had gone missing and then had returned seeming... different. Hags had taken residence in the school and children wandered into the Forbidden Forest and come back injured and upset. So, yes, the boy should be wary of what lurked in the darkness. She knew that even being here in the dungeons, away from the common room or the potions classroom, could be dangerous, but she was trying to stay alert and avoided venturing further than necessary. Apparently, she should have gone deeper into them if there were students lurking around here. Why had this boy even come? What business did he have in the dungeons, of all places? She doubted he'd answer properly if she asked, and truthfully, she didn't really care anyway. She wanted him to leave.

Speaking of which, he had challenged her slightly, pointing out that she should have given him a reason to be wary of the darkness. Had he thought she was talking about herself? Pfft, she was likely the least dangerous thing here and she wasn't bothered by that, even if she should have been. “Mhm,” she hummed in agreement with his words. Perhaps he would feel more at ease knowing that she hadn't actually attacked until he had said this. “What a good idea. Flipendo.” Her voice was soft, but able to be heard easily, and her tone was emotionless and careless as she cast the spell, like it was just an afterthought. It was a basic spell that she succeeded at without requiring much effort, hitting the boy square in the chest and sending him flying. (To any staff members: this was rolled for on Discord and agreed upon via DMs.) She lacked remorse for this action, even if it threw him against the wall and injured him. With an almost bored attitude, she waited for a reaction, not particularly caring about potential consequences. What a great way to spend the first Sunday since they had returned to Hogwarts.

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Wyatt flew back and hit the wall. He was in total disbelief until the spell actually hit him, and even then, he still doubted reality. This girl fired a spell at him! That had to be in violation of every rule there was, and Wyatt should know. He was usually the one to fire a spell towards the end of an argument to go out with a bang, but it was only the beginning here, or so it seemed. With his eyes on the ground, he thought, What the hell is going on?

But his answer would have to wait for now, since he would have to give the girl a reaction to whatever that was. He desperately wanted to send a spell her way but he didn’t seem to be in the position to fire back, as he was mostly leaning on the wall for support. The Slytherin’s hair was messy and covered his eyes, and his back ached like someone took a hammer and smashed it to bits. So he stood there, facing away from the girl with his hand on the stone wall holding him up. She was going to pay, somehow, the git.

As soon as he was able to stand on his own, he picked up his wand from the ground and began walking closer to the shadowy figure. He was practically vibrating with anger. The snake knew he should’ve been more cautious around the person who’d just blasted him into a wall, but he just didn’t care. As he walked towards the girl, he had his wand pointed in her direction. He was getting closer than before, like he was planning on casting a horrible spell at her.

Once he got up to the figure in the dark, he raised the wand higher, closer to her face. Then, he growled, “lumos.” The spell lit up the girl’s face, and he recognized her immediately, they were both Slytherins after all. Ruby Cazares, “a bloody prefect!” His lips contorted to produce a crooked smirk. If Jensen found out about any of this, she’d surely lose the title. She may have had the upper hand in the moment, but Wyatt knew as long as he could still speak after this encounter, he’d be able to get her title removed, and the girl would likely spend days in detention.

_{@Ruby Cazares}