9 Jan 2021, 13:40
The Fallen Angel
Interacting with @Karlina Ackerman
#008040
There was a chill in the air that turned the fingers of students purple - regardless of whether or not they wore gloves. The wind blew harshly and almost showed no mercy. It almost felt like as if the glasses of Greenhouse one were going to be shattered had it tried to force its way through even further than it already had. Had it been Spring, the green lands of Hogwarts; bushes, trees and grass would all be trying to hang onto the very earth they grew on. But it was Winter, so Eden had to suffer the dull whiteness of the weather that bored him to death every time he remembered that his favourite season was still a tad far away.
But at least, the Herbology class of that day was entertaining. To be frankly honest, Little Ed had found everything related to this particular subject captivating. Assumingly, that trait came with his family name. There might have been a lack of green life outside in the cold, but inside the glass-paned walls, Eden felt at home. All cosied up, warmed and fuzzy. There was indeed such buildings back on the isle of Gweal. Where all sorts of plants, flowers and herbs were grown. So the connection was definitely a familiar one.
Even the fact that it was simply quiet had served as a pleasant way to survive that day. The students seemed to have learned what respect was actually like. There was only a few whispers here and there, giggles that got on Eden's nerves (which he retaliated at by aggressively shushing the students), and the touch of fingers and leaves. At least, Eden was carefully inspecting the life in front of him. Surrounded by fresh soil that nurtured it. Some might have considered the inspection of a plant a boring activity, but Eden had found this approach of education a therapeutic experience that he hadn't been able to find anywhere else at Hogwarts.
He had already grown tired from trying to fight back the fact that he was Hufflepuff. His father had decided to just decide to not love him anymore. His mother and her beautiful face, her caring embrace that he hadn't been able to feel in what felt like ages. The poisonous words that left his mouth, that stabbed him in the heart and pained him probably more than his victims did. Even that didn't work out his way - everyone took him lightly and made fun of him behind his back.
They were truly no different than him. But that was a hopeless argument that he could only bring up while standing in front of a mirror. No one understood him. No one knew anything. No one could sympathize. And yet they all judged with cynical eyes, everyone was willing to show the same kind of wicked viciousness Eden did. They were nothing but hypocrites.
But then, the sun proceeded to glimpse from behind the grey clouds and beam its light on the hair of a girl. A girl whose face was somewhat familiar. Her eyes were just as dull as the clouds but just as beautiful as the sun. Eden was an admirer of the arts - and he couldn't ignore such walking art. Maybe it was just his own way to describe people. Assume what and who they were. Compare them to art. Paintings, music, stories and tales. But what piece could this girl be related to? Eden couldn't help but find out.
He chewed on his lips anxiously, his back was arched like an anchor rather than held straight as he usually did. Contrasting his usual behaviour where he tries his very best to look confident and strong.
"Excuse me," he started to chatter quietly, "I don't mean to be a nuisance but I couldn't help myself but as-" he stopped at a sudden halt. He sounded like a five-year-old trying to start a conversation with the intentions of making friends. He changed his wording immediately.
"Do you know what you're doing? With that plant, I mean."
11 Jan 2021, 09:01
The Fallen Angel
Interacting with @Eden Gardener
Mentioning n/a
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Karlina's father had taught her to see value in everything; he believed there was nothing that could truly be considered useless, but Karlina was beginning to disagree. As much as she recognized and admired her father's intelligence, Karlina couldn't help but feel that she had finally found something that held no value in her mind. Herbology may have been the most useless activity she had ever engaged in, and their current assignment only convinced her of it. She could understand the reason for learning basic ingredients and magical herbs, but to inspect a plant so closely and learn about its features in that much detail seemed excessive.
The damp chill in her bones made the experience worse. Her fingers were protected by large leather gloves, but they still burned from the cold, fueling her desire to be done with the class. She hated winters in England, and those in Scotland weren't much better. The air was never purely cold, but always tainted with an unpleasant wetness that was impossible to escape, no matter how many layers one wore. Instead of snow, rain and hail greeted the students on particularly dismal, grey mornings and often kept them company until they went to sleep again. There was rarely any sign of the white, tranquil winters that were depicted in novels and movies, and Karlina wished for a change of weather almost on a daily basis.
Once Karlina had heard the basics of their task and decided it was a pointless one, her mind began to wander. She was conscious of the fact that her attention was drifting and that she was no longer focused on the lesson, but allowed herself the rare pleasure of yielding to her fantasies anyway. Karlina's mind was occupied with unrelated topics, and though some of them may have been equally pointless, they were much more interesting and succeeded in winning a space in her head. Despite generally having a short attention span, Karlina had become good at controlling her wandering thoughts and directing her attention to whatever she was supposed to be doing. However, she had no intention of doing so at that moment, preferring her familiar daydreams to whatever they were being taught in class.
That decision seemed rather harmless at the time, but as Karlina sat with the plant placed on the desk in front of her and no clue how to begin her inspection, she was starting to regret her choice not to pay attention to the instructions. You shouldn't be surprised, thinking you know better has always been one of your greatest flaws. Karlina flushed with embarrassment at the comment, the heat flowing from her cheeks to her ears and spreading warmth across her frozen face, providing some comfort despite the sudden bout of self-consciousness that accompanied it.
She cautiously snuck glances at the students around her, trying to understand what exactly they were supposed to be doing. Many of them were sitting still, their eyes fixed on the plant in front of them, occasionally scribbling hurried notes on their parchment. It was more or less clear what she had to do, but the lack of details made her work difficult. In the end, Karlina decided simply to sit and stare at her plant, her chin resting on her palm as she looked on with boredom and slight irritation.
Karlina was actually enjoying the task, mostly because it gave her time to do nothing and think. The lessons at Hogwarts were very different from any that she had previously attended and it took a great deal of adjusting for her to get used to them, but she was slowly growing accustomed to the busy schedule and the unfamiliar methods of teaching. Karlina welcomed the unintentional break she was getting, for the months she had spent learning at Hogwarts certainly tired her out and it wasn't often she had a moment to completely relax and sit with herself.
Her moment of peace didn't last for very long, though. It seemed that one of the students had caught on to the fact that she wasn't working; her blank, uninterested stare was probably to blame and she cursed herself once again for failing to pay attention. "Not exactly," she replied, not bothering to look away from her desk. Karlina was not in the mood for conversation, but it seemed too harsh to drive others away when she was clearly in the wrong, so she accepted defeat and allowed the scene to unfold. "Fortunately, you seem eager to help," she added, finally looking up to see who she was talking to.
Reducio
Abilities include terrible presence
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20 Feb 2021, 14:18
The Fallen Angel
Interacting with @Karlina Ackerman
#008040
A smirk crossed the pale boy's lips faster than a lightning bolt striking the skies on a dark chilly evening that often stormed Hogwarts grounds. He had never been one to help strangers, not unless it benefitted him or brought some manner of satisfaction, which usually was what urged him to help the helpless in the first place. In this case, Eden also got to show off his intelligence and peculiar mindset on the subject that was Herbology. Not only did he excel at it, but also found peace and some sort of safe haven. Which was rare nowadays given the circumstances of which devoured the boy's stressed mind. How long could he keep it all in there?
His heart was just the same - in the same state. It hurt, ached and silently wept for the love of his mother who was so close yet so far away. Her silk-like fingers trailing on his cheeks, as another hand raffled the white hair of his and scratched gently against his roots, until dreams took him to another world. How much he longed for that feeling once again, to be loved and appreciated. He didn't even think of his father, regardless of how much they now disliked one another. Still, Eden tried to love him just as he did once. To lunge and wrap his arms around his father's neck, to see his own reflection in front of him, a white man who shined in the dark, with eyes purple like amethysts, a wicked smile that could light a hearth.
"Not so eager," Eden softly cackled, not providing too much of his innocence. He leaned a tad forward and shuffled the stool he was occupying as quietly as he could. Silence fell over him as his blue eyes swiftly inspected what laid in front of him. Greens and leaves with linings that could tell a thousand stories. Small ones and big ones, long and weary of age, fickle by texture. Others short and still growing strong.
"It's always the leaves that catch the eyes first," Eden stated his own mind, "or rather, my eyes. Something about them appeals to me. But I understand not everyone shows the same passion towards such life." He meant not to sting with his tongue, only the truth. As soft and kind as he could.
"If your passions lay elsewhere, I'm curious to know exactly where." Eden hinted at a topic to conversate, speaking in whispers as not to disturb the peace that had blessed the greenhouse. In the meantime, he scratched down some few notes on a new piece of parchment. The tip of his quill had just been dunked in fresh ink as he jotted down information, and compared it to his primary work. His handwriting was clean and clear, his father forced him to write every day, be it copying from a publishment of the Daily Prophet, a book about one plant or another, or even function his creativity and write stories. But that was only allowed when his mother watched over him. As long as he wrote and practised. All those hours spent working seemed to have paid off.