Modest Moment PV Adlai Rod Finished

Flash had expected some kind of reaction, but nothing like the one he got. His smile faltered as he saw her flushed, wiping away the foggy residue of burgeoning tears from her face. Had he said something wrong? Perhaps the poem had touched on a sore topic somehow, even though she said that she liked it.

”Adlai, is something wrong?” Flash closed the book, watching her face carefully for signs of distress. He wasn't old-fashioned enough to carry around a handkerchief that he could give her to dot her eyes with.

The rain had picked up a bit, safely hitting the awning rather than them. It was only a summer storm, so it was likely to dissappear as quickly as it arrived. Perhaps Adlai's tears were much the same-- a quick and sudden expression of emotion. It wouldn't be the first time he saw her display somethign like that.

"If you don't mind me asking, did you tell your parents about what we learned..." That was, about her being a parselmouth. "When I suggested it you... seemed distraught."

The book and his hands were folded neatly in his lap, with a students occasionally walking by to their right to and from the Great Hall. When the doors opened, the lasting smells of pumpkin and ginger could be smelled wafting out.

@Adlai Rod

“Oh, no. I didn’t tell them. I don’t think they’d understand. Besides we got some news during the summer that really seemed to rock my mother.” She said as she used her sleeve to wipe the last of the salty tears away.

“But I did got back down there twice already and there are others like me here. Others no was would suspect of being one. It’s good to know that I’m not alone...”

When Adlai had first begun to hear the hissing voices she brushed it off as if it were nothing. After all she was in the world of Magic so everyone else must be hearing it, right? But when she asked her dorm mates if they ever heard it they looked at her rather oddly as they replied with a simple “no” before going to bed. If her dorm mates couldn’t hear it, then who could? She wondered.
Her mind is her greatest enemy. She cannot stop herself from thinkings the horrible “what if’s” though each time she I thankfully proven wrong.

“I also think I’ve connected too things. When I was down there the first time I saw initials carved into one of that statues, and given the news my family got over the summer. I think I know who’s initials they are.”

@Flash Holmwood

Adlai had cleared the short disturbance from her face, seeming to resurface with the reintroduction of conversation. She was more than prepared to talk about herself further, though the words were a bit detached. She still hadn’t told her parents, but the way she wrote it off was as though it was a given. Without saying it outright, she was certainly imply that they wouldn’t take the news well.

Then, she mentioned the Chamber of Secrets, where she had found even more Parselmouths. It was supposed to be a rather rare ability to have, but it wasn’t too suprising that the small population of Parselmouths in their generation would be attending Hogwarts. Though it did beg the question… how many people had access to that secret place?

After Flash had seen it, he did a bit more research on it, but there wasn’t much to learn. As it stood now, its use was up to whatever the people who had access to it wanted. It was important information that Flash tucked away for when it might become important.

Then, Adlai admitted to having found something there. Initials, and it having to do with the event that had ‘rocked’ her mother. Flash’s eyebrows lifted in reaction, not having expected to be invited to the information so freely.

”Is that so? Are you thinking the initials relate to your family?” As they began to get deeper into discussion, the quick summer shower had passed, either awaiting another or eager to start the slow process of drying. ”What happened?”

@Adlai Rod

“A few days before summer had ended my great aunt came to visit us, which was strange on its own she isn’t very fond of my family. She did seem to be in a bit of a rush though. She then proceeded to tell my parents and I that she knew I was a witch and that I was attending Hogwarts.”
Adlai began to explain. Her left leg was bouncing up and down vigorously as she recalled the strange and important event.

“When we asked her how she told us it was a lucky guess. But we were still confused as to how she even knew about Hogwarts and Magic in the first place...that is until she told us that she herself was a witch and that up until my grandfather, her brother, was born my fathers family line were...what she called pure blood wizards.”
Adlai didn’t understand the meanings behind the blood related names here. She heard it used every now and then but no one had ever bothered to explain it to her.

“I’m the first person in my family to have magical abilities in two generations.” She looked down at her hands as she said this.
“But from what I also know, people in my family must have also been Parselmouth’s in order for me to be one. And the initials I saw looked like my great aunts.”

@Flash Holmwood

Flash listened dutifully as Adlai began to explain what she had learned about her great aunt, after she had visited over the summer. It made sense, Flash had looked into the ability a bit more since that day, and one thing that was clear was that it was passed down. The idea that someone in her family had the ability was practically a given, though he couldn’t tell if there was some kind of genetic code that passed over generations. He wasn’t exactly learning about genetics at his age, even if the topic mildly interested him. Another puzzle to figure out.

”So she told you that she was a pureblood wizard…” Flash repeated the information, internalizing it. ”I can’t believe no one said anything before… that means that as far back as they can trace, everyone in their family had magical talent, and only married other wizards. Some people are quite obsessed with that… purity.”

Adlai continued, mentioning a set of initials she found in the chamber that she hadn’t mentioned before. A strange detail indeed.

”Oh… interesting.” Flash leaned back against the stone arch that he was sitting underneath and looked out to the horizon deep in thought. ”Of course, with two letters it can hardly be considered a hard fact, but it might. It’s a shame she seemed so dodgy about talking about herself. I wonder if there’s a reason why…”

Almost everyone had a reason for not saying something. Flash himself rarely talked about himself, for fear of that information being used against him. Coming from a powerful family, he had a lot to lose by being an embarrassment or by giving away too much. Could this mysterious pureblood line be the same?

”I wonder if she’s trying to hide something…” Flash’s words were drawn out, his hand having come up to tap a finger on his mouth inquisitively. Coming to suddenly, he looked back at Adlai. ”Oh. Forgive me, I shouldn’t theorize about your family. You say you can’t even tell them about your ability, and here I am coming up with conspiracies…”

Flash shook his head absentmindedly, looking a bit bashful. ”I hope I’m not being offensive.”

@Adlai Rod

“Not at all, I’m thinking quite the same as you.”She said as she leaned back heaving a heavy sigh. “She writes to me every now and then, my great aunt that is. Perhaps in my next letter to her I’ll ask her a few questions. Though I’m sure she’ll find some indirect way to wriggle her way around answering them.”

Adlai had so many questions that she knew could not be answered right away and it was slowly picking away at her. “I wonder if there is any trace of her left here. Does the school keep records of the students?” If it did then perhaps she could ask to see her aunts if the headmaster would allow it.

She was too curious for her own good, she was bound to get in trouble for it. In fact she already has before as once her mother had found her rummaging through her personal drawers when Adlai was six years old. Adlai only found old letters and notebooks her mother used to write in when she was learning English from Jón, Adlais father, when she had first moved to Iceland from Afghanistan.

Perhaps this winter break, if she were to go to her aunts house, she could try to slip away and rummage through her things and hopefully not get caught. Though she knew there was an exceedingly high chance of that happening.

@Flash Holmwood

Flash nodded, trying to think at the same time. He had intended to set this time aside for relaxation rather than scrutiny, he so often was mulling over little details to try to figure things out, but the concern about her aunt didn’t seem particularly pressing. SHe would be keeping in contact, seeing if she could get something out of her without her skirting around the answer. For now, there wasn’t much left to do, Flash wondered if she had anyone else to talk about her worries like this with.

”If she’s like that, try asking about other things that might prove it, rather than asking directly.” That was what Flash would do: convince them to give information under the pretense that it wouldn’t reveal anything. ”Something about the Chamber, perhaps, or magic in general. Pets, familiars… those might be good places to start.”

But with that, he didn’t want to leave the conversation on such a note. A mystery with no momentum, stalled until there was a break in the case. It seemed Adlai was often faced with these kinds of barriers. He wondered what kind of family they were to make her wary of being open with them, but it was frankly not a topic he wanted to delve into at the moment. He was already stressed out as it was.

”Well, it’s not like that is the entirety of your identity either. This thing with parseltongue and family history… I don’t want you to think that’s all I’m interested in.” Flash’s thoughtful face changed into a warm smile. ”You’re attentive, intelligent, and kind. Not everyone would take time out of their day to listen to a silly boy read them poetry.”

Flash looked away bashfully towards the end, gripping the book in his hand tightly. He didn’t often open up to others about things he enjoyed, but he felt like Adlai wouldn’t judge him for it, and he was right. He hoped she felt his gratitude.

@Adlai Rod

Adlai’s eyes grew wide as she registered what Flash had said.
“...Really?”
No one other than her close relatives had told her anything like that before. Sure she had been told she was nice but never anything like Flash had said.

Shyly, with teeth covered in metal bars and brackets she smiled widely. “Thank you.” She said.
“And not just for the compliment but for helping me. I really do appreciate it.”
Flash had been an enormous help to her even though they had only known each other for a short while.

“And I like the way you read it...the poetry. You make it feel real...and the imagery becomes very clear...a-at least to me.”

She stuttered. She had never really done that before. She has fumbled through her words a few times since she tends to talk very fast, but she’s never stuttered. And her cheeks, her cheeks they felt like they were burning.

What was happening to her? Why was this happening?
What is wrong with me?- she thought as she tried pressed the back of her left hand to her cheek. Could it be she was running a fever?

Strange...very strange. This school seemed to be doing odd things to her. Then again it was a school for Magic so what was there to expect?

@Flash Holmwood

Adlai flushed, thanked him. Flash could sympathize, he was also not spectacular at taking direct compliments, so he looked off into the distance out of courtesy so she could regain her composure without the need to feel embarrassed. The sky had cleared up again, so sunbeams were glowing forth out of the clouds and reintroducing the hazy mugginess of a dampened world. Flash would still nod along, quietly acknowledging her words, "Of course, any time."

It was what she said afterwards that caught him off guard. Not only that, but Adlai seemed to be scrambling to put the words together. They hadn't met often, but he never knew he to be someone who struggled to speak properly. He would have thought it was something he needed to apologize for, but she didn't seem to be terribly upset. In fact, she was complimenting his oration. Somehow, he had imbued it with something that made it feel more real? He wasn't sure how he might have managed that, but he was glad as well. Was that why it had made her tear up?

"I feel like I couldn't possibly take credit for that... Mister Harper's language is really what is so striking..." Flash's eyes wandered back to hers briefly, though they mostly stayed put watching the horizon, where a few birds freed from the sudden shower took flight. "But thank you, I'm glad you like it, really."

Flash was always overjoyed when he could share things he liked, whether they were ideas, people, or poetry. In a small way, those things were part of him, and someone liking them was nearly like saying they liked him. Though arguably, it seemed Adlai was trying to compliment him rather than the stunning writing, which he needed to humbly correct.

"Let me read you a bit more, that was only part of the sonnet." Flash reopened the tiny tome to where it was still marked by his forefinger, the spot easy to find.

With that, he quietly recited the entire sonnet, a tale of pining after an impossible love. Such strong emotion, gorgeous imagery. He was glad he wasn't the only one who appreciated it.