Roots PV Aida

A thin albino girl paced in a corner of the library near a closed window, knocking back and forth between the walls like a bird trapped inside. Her violet-blue eyes were trained on an open black book inscribed with a stark red emblem and a block-letter title: When To Start a War. She mouthed the words of a line, and upon Eden's approach she became audible in her soft-spoken repetitions:

“‘You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.’ No… yes… No… ‘You have enemies? Good.’ No, yes...” Slowly the girl’s pacing came to a halt as she stared at the page. “Something to lose? Do I have something to lose?” she whispered. The book snapped shut and she took a step back realizing someone was there. Her jaw dropped, eyes full of fear, but like a pool of blood being washed away in the rain her face faded into the realization that the boy was not whom she thought he was. Then, curiosity lit up her eyes. Leaning in slightly, Aida inspected the boy’s eyes, ocean blue, and the angle of his cutting jaw. Similar but different. Not a spell? A failed transmutation?

"Excuse me, I do not mean to disturb...”

No, not Valentin. Someone else. Someone else like her. Filled with a sense that fate had just shifted, Aida realized that there were others out there like her. Someone not Valentin. Maybe someone who could actually understand her, and maybe even feel the same! With a slight smile, Aida’s eyes lowered. How presumptuous of me, she thought. Yet, words clung to her mind in a haze– “feed my curiosity.” The boy’s pale hand extended and for a moment Aida didn’t understand what she was agreeing to as she reached out and grasped his hand. Then, another sideways smile. No, this was just a normal human gesture. Aida would try to be human in case this person was normal. Her mind had immediately begun spinning fantastical wishes but she had to stay realistic. Violet eyes rising to meet the boy’s gaze, Aida’s half smile turned full and round like the curve of the moon. His fingers weren’t as long as Valentin’s. This boy was his own person.

"Eden Gardener, and for apparent reasons, I believe you might have heard of that name."

Gardener. An English name. Had Aida heard of it? She couldn’t place it, but maybe... Maybe. Or maybe she was hallucinating a sense of familiarity out of a subconscious desire for companionship. Were they relatives somehow? Did he know if her parents were still alive? Aida had never been able to find more than folk legends about her mother’s lineage-- maybe he would know her ancestors. Cocking her head to the side, Aida decided she’d be more than happy to feed this boy’s curiosity and to feed in turn on the fascination of this moment.

"Apologies," said Aida, bowing languidly to Eden and releasing his hand. He was being gentlemanly, so Aida would do her best to reciprocate. The pale girl never liked doing anything halfway, and before her she sensed a new opportunity to take up a certain challenge again. Perceived danger rushed into her blood like during the caper she pulled at the masquerade. This time she wasn't wearing a mask nor a cloak of invisibility, so it felt even more dangerous. It felt like when Valentin would take the broom too fast, too sharp into a turn. A thrill rolled up Aida's spine. This would show her just what she had to lose and therefore what she should be fighting for.

Though Aida was very much a country girl, in her childhood she had loved reading about refined people in books. She had a secret wish to be like these beautiful folk-- the opposite of her foster parent, Sean, with his stink of knocked-over bottles and vomit forever clinging to the furnishings… a stench forever associated with pain and punishments for honesty. Subconsciously the drive to distance herself from her past had been what had given her the courage to choose that edgy white corset for the recent ball. Now, entirely dissatisfied with her weaknesses Aida decided to do better than Alexander, whose recent deceptions and acting had been proving far more powerful than her own feeble attempts to help while remaining honest. She would do better than Alexander. She would do better than becoming the liar that Sean had always pushed her towards becoming. Aida would not pretend to be someone else– no, she would simply become something else: something powerful. An entity stronger than the house elves with their deceit, more all-knowing than any central puppetmaster underpinning the memory theft conspiracy. If she couldn’t have it all, she would make that no longer matter. She would just have to discard wishes until the most important one won. She had been told she would have to make a choice. So here, with a sort of mirror of a boy reflecting back a different version of what she could be, Aida discarded a piece of her old self. It’s not like Alexander would care, she thought. Somberly smiling, Aida wondered if his plan was succeeding. He had never had a problem with her dirty bumpkin habits and manners of speech. He had always accepted her for what she was. Accepted, but not... not more. If anything, this is in his best interest. I have been holding back victory.

Minimizing her Scottish Highlander accent as much as possible, Aida’s voice smoothed out in a delicate imitation of the tone of the boy before her. "I am Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood, or simply 'Aida'. It is a pleasure to meet you, Eden Gardener. It would be a delight to satisfy your curiosity. I admit some ignorance of the Gardener family name, but if you could afford a few words to enlighten me, I would be most eager to learn of your family lineage.”

Aida's Hex Code: #351C75
Interacting: @Eden Gardener
Mentioning: @Alexander Varellion

#008040

How delightful it was, like a classical piece - to hear someone speak with such delicacy and politeness. Not even a drip of rowdiness or any manner of informality. It tingled Eden's skin as weird as that might sound. But when one took into consideration how long had it been since Eden had the pleasure to make a new proper acquaintance, it'd make more than just sense. Especially given how he was mostly, at often times, unwillingly, surrounded by complete incompetent fools who found difficulty in the simplest of things.

There was only a few handful allies Little Ed kept in his mind for reasons of his own. But his relationship with them remained as silent as a grave. Secrecy was key if he wanted to retain his reputation, which at no point could he afford to damage it any further. At this point and time, it was crackled like a feeble glass window that had been cracked courtesy of a thrown rock. There were so many risks he was willingly taking, and it came to him as a huge surprise every time he remembered the possible consequences that could come out had he been discovered. Even the thought of it sent shivers down the boy's spine like a chilly breeze in January. His paranoia helped to feed such thoughts as well. So often his mind trailed off wandering about tragic ends to such poor alliances.

But ties with the likes of someone who shared a whole lot with Eden, yet they also remained unknown up until now, could serve to become most useful in ways many couldn't relate. And not to mention, Eden was ambitious. The second he ever managed to achieve anything, he'd think of a billion objectives more. It never grew tiring. So much knowledge, so much little time. Who knew what ties did the newly introduced Aida held? What secrets could she be aware of? Her family's history, background and blood. Once he started dwindling on about such information, not even a barrier cast by the world's greatest witch could stop him.

Eagerly, the Hufflepuff placed his hand on top of a chair and drew it out as fast as he could. Its legs made a squealing sound against the wooden floor, swiftly shifting his legs to take a seat in front of the girl. That white hair of hers, pale skin. Colour drenched from body and soul. Eden almost felt as if he was looking at a mirror. Or wait, no... his sister. She looked like his sister. But older and less cheery. How he longed to hear her voice again, play chess or climb up trees. How he regretted not doing any of the named activities more often with her. If he could turn back time, he'd make sure to double the countless times his sister and he got in trouble for running down the halls of their families castle.

"A rather eerie name to my ears," Eden admitted in response to her introduction, completely unaware of her legacy. "I swear to you I've been told about every Pure-blooded family in Britain." Eden couldn't help but stop at a halt when he realized that there could have been a possibility of Aida not being blessed with blood purity. The idea and concept of it confused him. How could someone look so... compatible and proceed to not be born into a pure family? Regardless, Little Ed advanced with his motives.

Soon, a grin across his face wiped any fears he had. Talking about his family had always made the boy feel more intelligent than he already was. Speaking about anything he was particularly full of knowledge in actually made him feel that way.

"It's always an honour to talk about my family's legacy. Where do I even begin?" He said, ready to talk about the time his house was founded during the medieval ages where kings, queens and all sorts of monarchies existed.
"My family's been occupying our lands for thousands of years. I could talk about our accomplishments and never stop. But that'd probably bore you, not that they're boring, but you know." He spoke in a confident manner and held his voice high and strong. His hands followed the pattern of his speech, gesturing politely.
"Nowadays, my family is mostly known for its ancient reputation and great contribution of providing our society with all sorts of herbal ingredients used for concoctions and the such." Eden wanted to go on ahead and state how their unique features made them easy to distinguish as well, but clearly, the Gardeners were not as unique as they thought.
"Are you aware of any possible unions between your family and mine? I have married uncles, but I'm not aware of any extended members. Maybe that could be it."

For Aida, Eden was like a sapphire glistening in the light, just like his ocean-blue eyes. Such elegance, sophistication, and politeness… It was as if he bent the light of the world around him into more crystalline, refined glints shining off the many facets of a complex mind. The way he mentioned not wanting to bore her made Aida feel that Eden must be an intrinsically curious boy who had grown wary of imposing details on the minds of the less inquisitive.

“Oh you wouldn’t bore me at all!” smiled Aida with a wave of her slender hand. It took concerted effort to keep her countryside Scottish accent from creeping back in, but she was riveted by the challenge. After months of failing at what she cared most about, Aida wanted to start over and become a new person– more capable, more… charming.

As an insatiably curious bird Aida replied honestly, effusively, “Please, tell me everything!” Bouncing slightly as her hands came together in a silent clap, Aida thought she might just make a new friend of this intriguing albino.

“It is an eerie name to many. At least in my...” Aida paused, searching for a prettier word than “village.” “In my hometown the name of Mòrsgor-Ama is one surrounded by legends and whispers of the ‘white’ curse. I have been reading many books you see, since I...” paused Aida. A year ago she would have just spouted off the truth about how she had learned that her parents were sentenced to Azkaban prison. For all her life she had been a compulsive truth-teller. Now, failing repeatedly in the shadow of Alexander the Slytherin, tempted by the power of the cloak of invisibility, and reeling from the hallucinations that had been cracking apart her reality for the last half-year, Aida was on the cusp of a lie of omission. She had apologized to Alexander before for not answering a question (regardless of whether he was a demon at the time), but Eden wasn’t asking her a direct question now. At no point had he asked the whereabouts of her parents or what she knew of them. Yet, with Eden and Aida being brought together by the topic of lineage, she sensed such a question would soon drop.

“So sorry; I got distracted,” said Aida, having paused suspiciously long as her inner battle raged. “I have been studying my lineage ever since I… received a letter from my parents– ” a cursed letter, I should add, thought Aida guiltily. Her face rumpled like a flower closing up at night. She didn’t like being selective like this, especially to her mirror image. Perhaps it was easier to want to lie to Eden because it felt like lying to herself rather than a friend. Chewing her lip, the omissions tasted like poison on her tongue. Her accent was beginning to slip, too, as her focus shifted onto the moral quandary. It wasn’t like Eden was even asking about her dark past, right? She just wanted Eden to be happy, even if she had just met him. Why should she burden him with such grim details about her haunted past? In any case, she had to keep talking. The flow of her speech must have become unpleasantly jittery…

“I’ll be honest with you,” began Aida again, trying to muster the courage. This wasn’t like talking to Alexander, who would not think badly of her even if she were squatting in mud wrestling flobberworms… a fate that might have been hers if Professor Griffith hadn’t disappeared without a trace. Everything would have been different. She would still be a dirty animal-coddling bumpkin if the night of the ball hadn’t happened... when Griffith didn’t answer the call...

“I will tell you anything you wish,” decided Aida, standing up straighter and smoothing out her tone. She could sound like Valentin if she wanted: like liquid silver. “I simply have a tendency to go too fast for most people, and maybe I would even bore you with all the details. I do not wish to barrage you with my stories when you have simply asked if we might share a common lineage. So. I will endeavor to answer you simply to make respectful use of your time– there is a tome…” she finished, trying not to outright dash across the library to where she knew the white leather-bound book must be. She walked back with it quickly and opened it by rote to a worn-in section. Laying the book gently on the table, Aida allowed it to speak for itself.

… And so it was that the great Pureblood matrilineal line of Mòrsgor-Ama was polluted by a wastrel muggleborn, Ronan Ellwood, with his insidious seduction of Jennifer Mòrsgor-Ama.

Drawing her finger over the diagram, Aida flushed with excitement and began to ramble with great speed. “So you see, all of these people were purebloods except for my muggleborn father, Ronan. And, there! It turns out the one you see there is 'Thorngrapple son of Thorngrapple.' His father was Thorngrapple the First, a pure-blooded goblin. When Guinevere married Thorngrapple the Second they had a big argument about what to name their daughter. Goblins don't use surnames, you see, but the Mòrsgor-Amas were always very proud of their lineage. They ended up naming her Moga as a portmanteau of Mòrsgor and Ama, yet Thorngrapple also got his way since the child carried no surname. All the Mòrsgor-Amas before me have names that show their tendency to develop white hair and the family magic of... well, anyway... 'Jennifer' is another name for 'Guinevere,' meaning 'white shadow,' while Fiona means white, and... Many of them are seers. This one here, though -- oh look! What do you suppose this 'G.' is for, in 'Bainbridge G.'?"

Aida blushed rose-red as she realized she had been monologuing. “Do you know him?" she asked more shyly. “Bainbridge G. Do you think he might be a Gardener?" Aida turned the page and looked up into Eden's eyes. “Here, it says...

'Bainbridge G.: English pureblood albino wizard, graduate of Durmstrang Institute, publicly outcast for wedding a white-haired witch due to unwarranted concerns of inbreeding.'

He's the only Englishman in this entire tree. The rest are Scots, except for Thorngrapple and his daughter who were Serbs. Why do you think it's just 'G.'? Did he want to be like his part-goblin wife with no surname? Did the Gardeners cast him out for marrying another white-hair and so he couldn't keep his surname? This is so fascinating!" gushed Aida.

“Oh, please, tell me everything about the Gardeners!”

@Eden Gardener
OOC: Please feel free to make up anything you want about if Bainbridge is a Gardener and so on. It is known that he is an albino not because of a Seer gene but simply because he inherited albinism. The only other things that are known about him are described above.

#008040

Discussing genealogy with one's self and a book was one thing. All the information you needed was there, waiting to be read and learned. It was a manner to discover history through the eyes of others. It was why Eden loved such particular history. To see the world from the perspective of his ancestors, their actions and decisions that affected themselves and those around them. Had it not been for Edward Gardener's cunning nature, the family would not be standing where it was right now. It was his influence that raised the House back from the depths of its dark reputation. Not that it still wasn't lurking in the shadows, as many perceived House Gardener as nothing but a family that caused mayhem whenever they spoke their mind.

On the other hand, however, discussing genealogy with someone who seemed just as genuinely interested in the topic, was far more exciting and thrilling. There were stories to be shared and knowledge to be learned. Eden had never heard of Aida's family, and that was a reasonable case.
Half-blood, Eden thought to himself after the girl had clearly stated her father's lack of blood purity. He bit his tongue until he felt a tasty dash of blood hovering in his mouth. Even her presence had finally made him anxious. If he could resist the presence of Hufflepuffs on a daily basis, then he could most definitely go through this without sharpening his words till they stabbed.

"It'd be an absolute pleasure to hear all there is to know about your family," Eden reassured her using a rather cocky tone. Almost sarcastic, as if he intended to say that although he appreciated discussing such a topic, his family's lineage was and forever will be the best. Still, he listed carefully, with his pink ears spread wide open, carefully listing every particular detail she had mentioned. Once the book had been put down on the surface in front of them, Little Ed's eyes opened wide in excitement. Even the aesthetic of the book had brought him some sort of warm feeling, let alone the information that it beheld.

But his excitement dimmed with every new piece of information. Eden kept a track of particular keywords that she was using and made a mental note of them.
Goblins. Matrilineal. Half-blood. Seers. Poor thing really had everything, yet nothing going on for her. The mixture of blood had been an unwelcomed subject for the Gardeners. The children were taught so, and when those children became fathers and mothers, then their children learned to think the same. Eden was no different, even though he was letting loose from such restrictions.

"I do have to admit," Eden's own leash on his tongue seemed to have been pulled up. "The choices your family made... well," he didn't know how to put it, and to be frankly honest, he wished he had stopped himself from even thinking of expressing his opinion.
"I just think they're... choices." He tilted his had to the side, his hair waved and flicked down to the side of his eye, poking at it. "I mean no disrespect, of course." He chuckled awkwardly.

"But yes, this G. It's curious. Very curious. I swear to you I know every Gardener in our family. Living or dead." He pondered on the matter, his eyes focusing on the name, dwindling to find some piece of relevant information. But he couldn't find anything. Not on the book nor his mind. But he had enough knowledge to respond to Aida's assumptions.
"Well, if this... Bainbridge married a goblin, that alone is a good enough reason for my family to have banished the man. Which is fair." Eden once again spoke his mind, and pretended that it was perfectly alright to state such opinion in front of someone who had literally just stated they had goblin-blood.
"No offence." He then proceeded to make up for it, realizing that he was not helping himself. "One thing I know, however, is that if this is a Gardener, then he has to be from a distant line. Maybe my father's cousin, or grandfather's. My family doesn't bother to keep records of such distant relatives. In fact, they don't even get to live on our lands. It's only the inside family that has that privilege. Once I'm Lord Gardener, for example, I can send my stupid uncle and even stupider son away and finally get rid of their nuisance. And seeing how I have no brothers, only sisters, once they marry, they'll be sent away too." Eden had suddenly felt lonely at the idea of living in such a big castle all alone. Especially his sister. There was still time for her, if anything, she'd need to finish her education at Hogwarts first, and she was four years younger than Eden. He'd still have time to get in trouble with her. Plenty of time, and if it went as slow as Eden's current stay at Hogwarts, then everything in the world was perfect.

"The Gardeners, yes. Where do I begin?" Eden needed a drink to wet his throat as it had started to dry up, and talking without barely catching a breath in between had really took its toll.
"We're old. Served-King-Athelstan-old. From what I've studied. My family kept their magical abilities hidden away during their times as servants of muggles, who saw magic as a threat against their practices. Once enough Gardeners started to get beheaded, they sought refuge within a safer community, and their hatred towards muggles grew with every passing generation. Can't blame them." Ed shrugged, mushing his lips together. He wanted to leap closer towards more recent events. But his father never liked discussing such time. For he stated that such allegiances had brought them downfall and ache. And if the Gardeners were ever to pick side again, they'd pick the right one. Eden didn't know what that meant.

"We don't have a single track of muggle blood in our veins. Not through the main line anyways. Clearly, those who went out of our House's original ways found no favour within the family ever again. So I'll make sure to ask about this... Bainbridge. I know someone who can help me. Maybe over the spring holidays. Once I return home." The chances of his return were low, but regardless, the boy could only hope.

"It'd be an absolute pleasure to hear all there is to know about your family," said Eden almost sarcastically. After hearing her out, he continued, "The choices your family made... well, I just think they're... choices.” Aida picked up on the strange tones in his voice and at some point his inflections became more meaningful than his actual words. "Well, if this... Bainbridge married a goblin, that alone is a good enough reason for my family to have banished the man. Which is fair." The light of realization dawned over Aida’s face. It seemed that Eden did not approve of mixed-heritage marriage, and he was probably a pureblood himself given how he claimed to know every pureblood family in Britain. Perhaps the information she had so candidly given him would give him the impression that she was inherently inferior, the way humans almost always saw themselves as superior to other animals in any way that mattered. Based on his comment, he probably saw her as something of an animal after learning of her goblin heritage. Yet, such a conclusion could only please Aida. She hated humans and didn’t want to be one. Well, no. Yes. No. She liked certain, very particular humans.

“I believe you, about knowing every Pure-blooded family in Britain. In the book it says that even though Bainbridge was a pureblood, only one of his parents was British. The other was apparently from Constantinople and his parents disowned him for marrying a part-goblin. It would be understandable if many tried to erase evidence of his existence from history,” said Aida, amusedly echoing Eden’s tone. “This book, however, needed to prove its point,” she continued, closing the tome quietly to display its title:

End of an Era: British blood purity in ruins

“It claims there has been a rise in muggle-wizard interbreeding in recent times.” Aida’s voice dripped with fresh venom, though she did not appear at all angry. In a strange way, she seemed even more calm than before. “Apparently his and his wife’s families were among the most ‘unsullied’ of the time in terms of muggles, and yet for such purely magical bloodlines to converge was heresy by other standards of homogeneity.”

Aida listened to Eden carefully as he talked, smiling slightly at the mention of him soon becoming “Lord Gardener” and having power. His story about his ancestors serving King Athelstan and having kept magic a secret during their time as servants… it was intriguing. What was even more interesting was his frequent use of terms such as “can’t blame them” and “which is fair,” suggesting that he had actually put some thought into his current position. The more extreme Eden seemed, the more Aida took a liking to him. He even said he would be kind enough to ask about Bainbridge, which made Aida smile in gratitude. Most importantly, Eden was saying such things directly to her face, and that was absolutely delicious.

For a moment Aida imagined a mob of power-grubbing purebloods vying for Eden's hand in order to secure themselves a place within his elite nexus of wealth and clout. He appeared confident to the point of cockiness and not just a little intelligent. He was clearly extremely learned and probably naturally curious. Yet, what was most important was not these things, but the sharpness in his voice. He was like a very beautiful knife, yes, and... quite like... Manticore. Yes-- her best friend before she had killed him. Eden carried what Griffith and Manticore had in common. Aida smiled back with her amethyst-like eyes in a most cordial, honest, and warm gaze.

Aida was happy. She knew what she wanted now.

"Oh you know what else, that this book doesn't mention? After all, the details of it are classified today. These people, Jennifer and Ronan-- my parents... they are even convicted criminals. Not for reasons of blood purity, but because of intentionally executing high crimes that landed them in Azkaban. They abandoned me as a child and I was foisted onto a foster parent by the Ministry. I ran away and now have no one around to call family, even if I do technically have a 'legal guardian.' You said the decisions my family made were... 'choices.' Well, if anyone made '... choices'... then it was these people."

Aida's eyes were laughing. This was fabulous. Eden was wonderful. She was finally having an good day. She leaned forward and put both hands on the table. She stared directly into Eden's eyes with a rapturous grin.



"I have very strong instincts," whispered Aida, "and right now they are telling me that you are quite ambitious. Tell me, please, Eden Gardener. What is it that you truly want?"

@Eden Gardener