Interschool Race Spectator Thread

Interacting with @Pericles Dralt

@Meenauh Silmataurea

The hint of anxiety on the edge of Meenauh's voice had driven Pericles to scour the flyers faster. That his flashy device managed to be of help came as a relief to him, and his smile was wrought with the satisfaction that comes from aiding anyone. It faded quickly, however, when Meenauh lightly expressed unhappiness at Xailah's abilities as a metamorph. In fact, to hear Meenauh disapprove of anything their mutual friend did was so abnormal, Pericles mutely looked her way with an expression of soft shock. There must be a good reason for it. "No," the boy admitted when asked if he had heard about an incident involving Aurelia in the library. "I can't say I have...." Societal standards insisted he abstain from asking. But curiosity pressed from the inside, struggling to surface....

Meenauh distracted him with a question. The boy brightened. "Just from watching her, really. When we first met, her eyes were always flashing- the pupils flicker when she's excited, or upset." He hadn't thought the yellowness of them odd, nor her eerie pallor. Who was he to judge anyone by appearance, with his bleached-beige hair, silver eyes, or his own ghastly skin tone? "And her hair is always moving even when there isn't a breeze. I saw her grow a set of antlers, once. It was extraordinary. Sometimes, she has this sort of...." Peri placed a hand on his head and wiggled one finger upwards, imitating antennae with a cheeky smile, eyes aglow with endearment. He found that particular tell especially entertaining. "Have you seen it?" Ultimately, those passive powers were somewhere between charming and practical. It was becoming easier to tell what she was thinking as time went on. Still, the concept of Xailah turning into someone else, especially for some sort of trouble, had planted the suggestion that they had dangerous potential. "What was that you mentioned, about the library...?"

Interacting with @Pericles Dralt

@Meenauh Silmataurea

Peri grinned through her giggling, an expression that started as a restrained smile, but soon broke free with a flash of pearly teeth. He was reminded of their summer-holiday parting on the train, how he had lost himself in a moment of childish emotion and thrown his arms around she and Xailah both. That was not to say this was a memory he regarded with any modicum of shame. If anything, the kindness they'd shown to his exceedingly rare outburst of affection- or maybe just the hugs themselves- had sealed the lid on their friendship. Peri's propensity for trust and sentiment would make the following story all the more difficult to believe.

It began with mention of Vladimir. That was an elusive Ravenclaw if ever he had seen one, a person tied to many strange sightings and sour encounters. He had testified against Harry Potter in the recent murder scandal, had been seen at the ball carrying strange liquids in a large bag, and of course, had been trailed by a chunk of Ravenclaw when he journeyed into the forest. Had he been seen since...? It seemed he'd done something even more horrific, something Pericles hadn't been privy to prior to this moment. Laced candies. He was quick to connect this to the incident in the hospital wing, where a Gryffindor- Galton- had seemed stark raving mad after eating enchanted sweets. Peri's gentle mouth was drawn into an uneasy frown. When first he heard the name, his eyes narrowed a fraction behind his glasses, though they went wide at what followed. Galton had tried slobbering on students. To hear Xailah and Aurelia had eaten the same cursed candies, only to be pitted against one another to fatal degrees, filled his stomach with the weight of dread.

It was in a stunned silence that he heard the rest, too shocked to commentate or interject. Pericles was a painfully loyal lad. His bleeding heart had difficulty believing that anything Xailah had done, in that instance, had been of her own volition. To steal another's identity was a truly foul crime against society, yet- as in this moment, during the race- he couldn't fault a metamorph for using another's identity as an advantageous tactic. The boy ignored the idea that he may have been more offended if it was his face being worn by another. No: his blame was placed on the one who had obviously played a hand in this crude game. Irritation hardened his frown while he stared broodingly at the omnioculars in his lap. On glancing up and seeing the sad smile Meenauh expressed, it lessened, and his frustration was tempered down into a soft simmer.

"Vladimir has been up to all sorts of strange things..." he muttered, letting the crowd's din cover their conversation from inquisitive ears. "Where are his parents...? Aren't any of the professors investigating his behavior?" The twang of offense implied Pericles was now taking Vladimir's schemes a mite more personally, hearing their friend had been a direct target to them. "How can a student just, do these sort of things, and get away with them? I read an old article of the Headliner that said in the year before I came here, a boy blew up one of the bathrooms and threatened to murder faculty! I don't understand, Meena." Pericles' life had been structured like a well-oiled machine. Misbehavior was punished, hard work was rewarded, and mistakes- after a stern talking-to- were forgiven. He was ever so slowly coming to terms with the fact that the world beyond Dralt Manor was not quite so simple or organized.

Interacting with @Pericles Dralt

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Pericles Dralt is welcome to follow if he wishes to.