A Favour PV: Tory Williamson Closed

Made by Suzanne Byrd

For months now, Tory had been going on nightly walks once or twice a week, as Hogwarts was extremely tranquil, and the beautiful Scotish landscape cleared her mind of all worries and woes.  Anyways, walking around the lake everytime was getting a bit boring, and the few times she had gone to one of the courtyards instead she had just sat the entire time against a wall, people watching.

And so,  this evening, Tory was venturing out somwhere new- the campgrounds. She hadn't ever been there before, only seen it from a distance at the castle. She made her way through the muddy March grass covering the now snowless grounds, towards the camp.

There were a few cabins scattered, all of which seemed to be empty until the summer. Tory sat down at one of the wooden picnic tables, staring out at the thick forest, and the sky with just a touch of color left behind from the sun saying goodnight. It was nice, this campsite. So chattering children or scolding professors. The silence pushing against her ears, Tory stood up from the table. And then, she saw.

In one of the cabins, the Augurey one, there was a light inside. The door was closed shut tightly, the blinds were drawn, and there was a glow (Probably from the fire? Tory thought). But she knew nobody lived here during the school session- just during the summer for camp. So why was there somebody inside?

Maybe their homeless or need help or something... The Gryffindor thought, glaring straight-on at the cabin. Not one to just leave somebody in despair, Tory walked over to the cabin, and she really wanted to just barge in and interrogate whoever was inside, but knew that may not be the best option right now, so just decided to knock instead. Kindly, she said as she knocked “Um, hello? Er- is everything ok in there?”.

@ Anja Murtaja

Interacting with @Tory Williamson

A knock on the door jerked Anja from her reverie, and she pulled her head up. She quickly flattened her hair and swapped her floppy jacket for her more appropriate trench coat. Pulling out her wand, she approached the door. Another interruption. Maybe she should have gone somewhere else, where it was quieter.

“Um, hello? Er- is everything ok in there?”

Anja's hand hesitated on the door knob. She didn't recognise the voice as a teacher, or anyone she knew. Perhaps she shouldn't open the door? She looked back at the table. The notebook glared up at her, mocking her for her insufficiency. Deciding that things couldn't get much worse, she swiped the notebook from the table and flung open the door.

It was indeed a student standing outside in the dark. Anja couldn't quite make out her face, and her house wasn't immediately visible. Exhausted from the day and tired of being intruded on, she forwent the usual limited syllables of 'who the hell are you' or 'what the hell do you want', and settled with a more expansive statement. "The usual questions. Who are you, what do you want. You can add your own 'hells' to them." Anja stood aside in the doorway, as if she was inviting the girl in. Truly, she wasn't, but perhaps some part of her wanted company.

"Do you want something to eat?" she asked, sweeping back into the cabin, not waiting to see if the girl followed. She pulled her Slytherin robe off a chair and drew another chair up. She was being rather generous, but she simply couldn't be bothered with snark tonight. The lihapiirakka and korvapuusti her mother sent her sat on a shelf at the back of the cabin, beside yet another, larger table. She tugged the pitifully small supply from the shelf and placed it on the table. She got a knife from the small kitchen at the back and began to cut the pies up. She sat down, and opened her backgammon set. Her brother had brought it to her when the whole fiasco with her father went down, and she hadn't returned it to her bedroom yet. Perhaps she could teach this girl how to play.

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The door swung open, revealing a very tall, thin figure who looked about Tory’s age or maybe a little bit older. “The usual questions. Who are you, what do you want. You can add your own 'hells' to them.” She said, the dim light of the fire inside outlining her pale skin. “Oh I just thought to come check in on things, it’s a bit abnormal to be here before the summer, if you didn’t notice..” The girl stood aside in the doorway, but Tory just stood in her place. I mean, she didn’t know if the girl was inviting her in or not, and she didn’t exactly look like the kind of person you’d want to piss off.

"Do you want something to eat?" The mysterious girl then asked, going back into the cabin, Tory reluctantly following. “Oh no thanks, kind of you to offer though.” She said, hoping not to sound rude or ungrateful, as there was now a patter of spring rain steadily flowing outside which Tory was very happy not be stuck in. The glow of the fire illuminated the small room, and Tory noticed a glimpse of green on some black robes on the sofa in the corner, indicating that the girl was a Slytherin.

The Gryffindor sat down at the chair the girl had just brought up for her. “Thank you.” She said in a quiet voice, but not so quiet the Slytherin couldn’t hear. The still very mysterious girl had now taken something off one of the shelves, two things actually, and was cutting it up on the table in front of Tory. It looked like some kind of foreign pie, but she couldn’t tell from where. There was also a backgammon set, or so it looked. Again, something Tory wasn’t really familiar with.

“So, what’re you doing out here, right now, in the start of spring?” She intrigued, looking at the backgammon set and trying to figure out how to play. Realizing maybe that was a bit of an ambitious start, she backtracked. “Actually, let’s just start with introductions. I’m Tory.”

@Anja Murtaja

Interacting with @Tory Williamson

Anja looked up from the table, back at the girl. Her previous statement about it being of to be out on the cabins before summer has gone unanswered. Anja smiled cryptically. She could hardly believe that she'd let this girl into her cabin, but she'd make the most of it.

"You're a Gryffindor, aren't you?" Anja asked. She didn't seem like a Ravenclaw, and she refused her food — definitely not a Hufflepuff. She wasn't a Slytherin, either. Anja would recognise her otherwise. It wasn't as if that would make a difference anyway, even if she didn't really like those rednecks. "You're a Gryffindor," she continued, "but you're a pureblood." That didn't make a difference, but perhaps Anja wanted to stir some trouble. Really, she knew she shouldn't. This girl, who she didn't even know, had been kind enough to knock on her door and talk with a complete stranger just to check if they were okay. She would never do such a thing, even if she had to — that just wasn't the sort of thing she did.

"I'm sorry," Anja said, "it's awfully nice of you to come and check in on me. I shouldn't be so judgemental." This time, when she smiled, it was genuine and not mocking. Maybe they would even get on, after their slightly rocky start. Anja took a bite of her pie and shook the backgammon counters out of their bag and o to the table. She saw the girl staring at it, but when she asked a different question, Anja wondered if she knew how to play.
"I'm out here because I've been tasked with something I can't do." Anja paused a moment. "Something I won't do." she began to place the counters in their correct places on the triangles. Something about the way the pieces stacked up on the board was incredibly satisfying for Anja. For some reason, she found the game of half-logic incredibly therapeutic, despite its bad history with her. After all, it was backgammon which had got her owing her father a favour.

The girl introduced herself. "Introductions are a good place to start. It's Anja. Pleasure to meet you," she held out her hand to shake. Gesturing towards the backgammon, she asked, "Do you play?" she finished placing the pieces in the board, and moving her pie out of the way, she twisted it so that black was on her side and white in Tory's side. Anja always played black, except that once when she'd lost to her father. "If you don't, I could teach you?" Perhaps she really was desperate for company. Maybe Tory would even stay the night — Anja had never really had any proper friends, just Hänne, and they'd been together since they were born, practically.

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Made by Suzanne Byrd

"Um, yeah, I'm a Gryffindor-" Tory said in response to the girl with a strange tone of unsurenss in her voice. "And yeah, I'm also a pureblood. Not like it means anything..." The young Gryffindor said peacefully, and just in case the girlw as trying to cause some trouble, added on, "And trust me, I don't want to be in Gryffindor anymore then you would want to." She suspected that this Slytherin girl was the kind of person who's family had been in Slytherin for the last 3 centuries, but not like that's something you can tell just by looking at them.

Tory went back to studying the set. She had heard of backgammon, just hadn't played it, and for a minute or two the room was silent and all you could hear was the quietly crackling fireplace and the sound of now pouring rain outside, almost like mother nature was crying, sobbing. Then, suddenly the girl apoligized for their somewhat problematic start, although Tory didn't expect it from her. "I'm sorry," She said, "it's awfully nice of you to come and check in on me. I shouldn't be so judgemental." Tory still observed the set and pie and room without looking at her, but nodded as a "thanks, I guess." anyways.

"I'm out here because I've been tasked with something I can't do." She continued to answer Tory's question, "Something I won't do." And Tory smiled lightly. "I know how that feels." She said in a hushed but not silent voice, although to fit the cozy fireplace and rainy mood outside.

"Introductions are a good place to start. It's Anja. Pleasure to meet you," She went on, and held her hand out to shake, which Tory took kindly and shook back. Then Anja gestured towards the game, and asked, "Do you play?". Tory shook her head. "No, but I'd quite like to learn." She responded, noting how the white pieces were on her side, while the black pieces were on Anja's side.

"Sure!" She told when Anja offered to teach her. "What's rule number one?"

@Anja Murtaja

Interacting with @Tory Williamson

"What's rule number one?"

Anja smiled. She'd only ever played backgammon with her father, and teaching Tory might even take her mind off the favour her father had cashed in.
"First," she said, pointing to the board, "we assemble the board. The counters, called checkers are laid out like this." She gestured towards her right hand side, where five black counters were stacked. "This side is my home board. The opposite is yours. The aim of the game is to get all the checkers into your home board, then completely off the board. I'd say the hardest thing about this game is knowing which direction to go in — that took me some time." She explained which direction each player goes in, gesturing at the board.

Anja picked up the two pairs of dice in the middle of the board. "We each have one pair of dice. You roll, then you can choose whether you want to move one checker with the total or two with separate values." She rolled the black pair. 5 and 2. "Now, I've rolled this pair, so I could move this checker," she tapped a black counter, "seven triangles along, or this one and this one two and five triangles, respectively," she pointed at two different black counters.

Anja looked back up at Tory, hoping she'd understood. "We won't bet on it this time, seeing as it's your first go, but you should find it quite easy." She smiled, and tucked her notebook away on one of the shelves. Out of sight, out of mind. Perhaps she'd tell Tory about the favour later. For now, though, she hoped they could play. "I'll tell you how you take pieces off the board once we get to that point."

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Gameplay reference:

Reducio

Made by Suzanne Byrd

"First," Anja said,  "we assemble the board. The counters, called checkers are laid out like this."  She gestured her hand at the right hand side where a stack of black checkers lay, Tory’s eyes following. "This side is my home board. The opposite is yours. The aim of the game is to get all the checkers into your home board, then completely off the board. I'd say the hardest thing about this game is knowing which direction to go in — that took me some time." This time, she motioned her hand at the board.

“Ok, er, that sounds simple enough.” Tory said in response, a small smile carved upon her face. The Gryffindor then watched Anja grab the two pairs of dice that were in the middle "We each have one pair of dice. You roll, then you can choose whether you want to move one checker with the total or two with separate values." She explained, and Tory just nodded, as if saying “I understand”.

Anja rolled the black pair, 5 and 2. "Now, I've rolled this pair, so I could move this checker," She lightly touched a black counter, "seven triangles along, or this one and this one two and five triangles, respectively," And Tory just nodded again, this time a bit more confused, but she understood enough to play for a while.

"We won't bet on it this time, seeing as it's your first go, but you should find it quite easy." The Slytherin said, continuing with "I'll tell you how you take pieces off the board once we get to that point." Tory smiled and nodded, “Yeah”. She then, assuming it was her turn now, picked up the white pair of dice, the one that Anja hasn’t used, and rolled them. 2 and 6. “So then - I could move a white checker because I rolled the white dice, right?” The first-year said, but it was more of reassuring herself then asking a question.

"And uh sure, why not, I'll move two with different values." Tory added, moving one white checker 3 triangles, the other one 3 as well in her direction of play, or so she thought- it would be quite embarassing to mess up her own direction right after Anja explained...

@Anja Murtaja

Interacting with @Tory Williamson

Anja’s mouth twitched up slightly as she watched Tory move her checkers correctly. She actually knew very little about the girl, so as she rolled her dice and leaned over the board to look at her options, she said, “So tell me more about yourself. Where do you come from?” She was genuinely interested — not just trying to make conversation. Finding things out about people had always been something she was interested in. She wondered whether this witch could be related to her somehow, but doubted that. Besides, family dynamics were fascinating, and Anja was just about as nosy as you get. Her own family was quite something to speak of — a father in Nurmengard and a mother who cared more about her run away son than her promising daughter. Anja bet that Tory’s family was much less dysfunctional than hers, but you could never tell for sure. Family dynamics were not something she judged, even if she wanted to. Anja saw an opening, and moved two of her counters.

After the girl replied, she went on with explaining her own family. It was nice to have someone to talk to, even if they were a Gryffindor. “My father isn’t around anymore,” she said. To anyone who didn’t know what she meant, it would sound as if he had died. “He got shut up in Nurmengard for something he did when I was eight. In fact, it was right after the game of backgammon I played where he won and took a favour from me.” She sighed, passing the dice back to Tori. “My mother is an ice queen and doesn’t give a fig about anyone except my brother, and he’s gone somewhere to do god knows what.”

She thought back to the time her brother had run away. Her mother seemed to know exactly where he was going, but he didn’t tell Anja — he just left with a sneer and Anja hadn’t seen him since, until he told her about their father. Anja had received a brief, small-talk smeared missive instructing her to go to Nurmengard and speak with her father.

“I only recently heard from my brother, and even then, it was through my father. He wanted to call a favour in. That’s why I’m here — I’m trying to figure out what to do with his words. How to find a loophole.” Anja looked up expectantly at Tory, waiting for her to either calmly continue with the game or bolt out the door.

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Made by Suzanne Byrd

“So tell me more about yourself. Where do you come from?” Anja asked, and Tory smiled slightly. Such a simple question, but it could have so much depth. Of course, not much depth came with Tory’s answer. Her life wasn’t that deep. “I’ve lived in Bath my entire life, from November 13 2008 to September 1 2020, with my Mum and cat, Jammy. Well truthfully, right outside of Bath, but it’s just easier to say Bath. I live in this little cottage, surrounded my meadows and forests and fairies and magic mushrooms and-” She realized she was rambling a bit and stopped talking, a glorious image of where she lived popping into her mind. The hills and flowers surrounding it, her cat sitting on the picket fence, the small, old couch and the many books lying around.

Not cluttered, but cozy. Not modern, but clean. She watched as the Slytherin surveyed the board after rolling for the best strategy to put in place. “My father isn’t around anymore,” Anja began, and Tory couldn’t help but hide a concealed smile. Something the two had in common. No strong father figure. “He got shut up in Nurmengard for something he did when I was eight. In fact, it was right after the game of backgammon I played where he won and took a favour from me.” She continued to tell, and Tory couldn’t help but feel horrible. It was almost worse to have a father locked up than have a dead one. She passed the dice back, continued “My mother is an ice queen and doesn’t give a fig about anyone except my brother, and he’s gone somewhere to do god knows what.” Tory rolled, then observing and thinking about what to do. Her mom was ice queen according to Anja. That must really suck.

“How ironic, neither of us really have dads. My dad died when I was two. I had an uncle who could’ve been there, but of course he had to die as well.” She said this with so little sadness in her voice, the average person would think she was an emotionless psychopath. She couldn’t help herself. It was nine years ago. She didn’t even know his name or even the day he died because her mother never, ever, spoke of him. She couldn’t find any pictures, anywhere (trust me, she’d tried looking before).

The Gryffindor only knew they were both Slytherins. Nothing else. Her mother hadn’t even gone to Hogwarts. She’d gone to Beauxbatons. Finally, Tory decided to move a checker with the whole value and passed the dice back. “I only recently heard from my brother, and even then, it was through my father. He wanted to call a favour in. That’s why I’m here — I’m trying to figure out what to do with his words. How to find a loophole.” In all honesty, the first year girl that was Tory Williamson really badly wanted to sprint outta that cabin as fast as her legs could carry her. But she didn’t.

She wasn’t nosy, but if she could get into some family drama, she most definitely would. Plus, this was intriguing. And sad. Extremely sad, and unfortunate, and puzzling. “I’m afraid I can’t help you there. I would just do the right thing. If he’s asking you to do something horrible, just don’t. It doesn’t matter what people think, or even if you get disowned or sued or whatever. It’s more important to do the right thing than what your father wants.” she said thoughtfully, listening to the silence and rain now pouring down like sobs from the clouds.

@Anja Murtaja