Wielding Magic PV Leonard Oaksworth Closed

@Leonard Oaksworth

Opeila could not quite identify Leonard's expression when she expressed her unawareness of his dorm's existence, but it definitely made her ponder whether she had just said something very rude. "I just... No one from your dorm has attended my event a few months ago. Every other dorm has.", she tried to explain, a little lame.

She couldn't help turning red when the boy said that he was scared that staff would expel them for anything. Didn't she receive an indirect threat by her head of house that she would expel her only little less than a week ago? "...Yeah... You didn't attend the housecup victory party that... someone... made last week? People threw newspaper at Professor Jensen, so... I think we actually do have to mess up very badly to get expelled. Or mess up a little but unreasonably often." Opeila shrugged. "I do think we'll all make it to the next year though."

His reaction to Opeila mentioning her dad's dislike for magic was rather easy to read and the young Slytherin immediately regretted bringing it up. This was nothing to talk about with someone she just met. Why would she even bring it up?
What seemed to have caught his attention though was her revelation that she was a seer and again she turned a little red under his look. "Um... yeah. It's er... a very old family thing. Got it from my grandmother who got it from hers. Who... I think got it from hers as well." Yeah. That did very much sum it up.

But then he did go back to the topic of her father and claimed he wasn't sure if he would have made it to second year without her. "Don't be silly, of course you would have.", she said, grinning. "But yes, I'm glad I got that letter. But I think the wizarding world has its way of revealing itself to magical children anyway, no matter the parents' wishes. This decision is too big to let other people make it." Word for word quoted Lady Margary. That was what she had shouted at Nicholas when he argued that Opeila was only a child and didn't know what was good for her, so he would decide for her.

Opeila was not sure if he took her warning that investigating on his own might kill him serious, but she didn't push any further. She didn't want to end up scaring him or something, although she really would prefer if he watched his back. The short conversation they were having was enough to make her decide that she liked him so far. That automatically put him on the list of people she wanted to keep out of harm's way.

"Oh my", Opeila laughed at his story, "Poor Sean. I always wonder what it has to be like when you are victim of a magical accident by someone else, while not knowing of magic. As in not having the slightest clue of its existence. It has to be super scary!" The boy that cut up his hands on the bush she had accidentally turned into stone had been scared of her for the rest of their elementary school time. But... maybe that was also only because he had lied to the teachers and claimed that Opeila had used a knife. And no one had bothered to look into it further, other than having an unpleasant conversation with her dad that brought even more unpleasant consequences for Opeila.

"I don't know... I feel like auror is the equivalent for superhero to many muggleborns. Fighting evil with magic... Sounds pretty superhero-like.", she answered his question. "See? That's exactly what I mean. For people growing up in the wizarding world it's probably no more interesting than being a policeman or woman. Maybe that is just me, but I find that the superhero comparison makes it sound... well, a little silly, you know? When I think superhero, I think of this elastic woman from 'The Incredibles'."

Only after she had said it out loud, she realized that she was just assuming that he knew movies and TV. "Oh. Erm... You know that movie?", she added.

"Alchemist sounds cool!", she responded to his wish. "It's nothing I could imagine, potions are absolutely not where my strength or interest lies, but I think that it can be super interesting."
Opeila glanced at the clock. "Oh, darn... Erm, sorry, I wanted to get back to the common room and let my cat out- he's a walking menace, so he's in my dorm when I don't have time to keep an eye on him. It's been really nice to talk to you. Do you want to practice some more? I can leave the newspapers here if you like.", she said, picking up the plush bear and inkwell.

Opeila leaves the Thread unless she is stopped.

@Opeila Winters

By the time the Slytherin boy had reached the tender age of six, it had become a foregone conclusion that the world was quite a funny place, in both of the word’s definitions. He’d only really half-registered his miniscule corner of experiencing phenomenon to be a curious sort of area prior to that, filled to the brim with cacophonous crowds, colourful spectacles of nature that may or may not have been the cause of his mother being forced to buy a shelf’s worth of band-aids, and the odd slobbering animal companion here and there. However, it was with his first brush with magic and the importance of fire safety rules that he’d come to the conviction with absolute certainty. Until then, it had been as though he was living in a whole other plane of existence in which rainbows were a daily sight and everyone on planet Earth got together at noon for tea-time and singing uplifting show tunes. Most may have used their gall to assert that anyone below the average age of Santa’s reputation needing to be demolished should’ve inhabited such planes of existence as long as possible, but Leonard considered it to be one of the few gifts he’d received from the normally merciless universe. After all, ignorance was only bliss when you weren’t yet feeling the very much not blissful consequences for the ignorance, and he’d rather be on the side that took it upon themselves to cause such consequences.

No matter, if he desired to not become the equivalent of a wrinkled old man complaining about how good everything was in the antediluvian days, he needed to listen about whatever had caused him to become something that may have been on the brink of becoming commonly ignored.

“Really?” He frowned slightly upon learning the reason for his apparent nonexistence in the girl’s memory. It wasn’t as though he was the most keen on joining any events organised by people of his age, having known all too well how utterly idiotic his fellow students had the capability of being, but having known he had received a chance long ago to meet his tutor and missed it completely left a bitter taste in his mouth. Then again, with the lack of information provided about the inter-dormitory event in question, he could reassure himself that perhaps it was for the better with minimal guilt. “I will be looking out for your events, then, if you’re planning any more next year. I don’t think I’ll be heading off to summer camp yet, not with my trunk’s worth of owls from home.”

In truth, he had briefly considered spending one more month on campus upon gaining knowledge of the event’s presence, if only for purposes of mapping out the best escape routes in case of various mythological invasions that would result in ultimate destruction of the world and snatching up the recipe for the Great Hall’s decadent desserts. The idea had then left as quickly as it had graced his sleep-deprived brain with its profoundly horrible presence, being replaced immediately with another bout of wonder for the evolution of a magical creature from its perhaps muggle ancestry. Sure, perhaps the month after his second year ended could be spared for a visit, but he’d long begun to miss the safety and security of home. Besides, he couldn’t lie now, not to one of the few people he reckoned he could make a long-term companion of. That is, if he could avoid these disturbing disasters of events the other was telling him about.

His expression turned to nothing short of appalled upon learning of the blatant disrespect people had for the staff. He hadn’t talked much to any of his professors, save for the few questions in class he had the courage to ask and some exchanged greetings in the corridors, but people, not just one deviant person, threw things at one of their teachers sounded horrific. “Oh, I’d never attend something like that. I don’t care for parties much, and even if it was for our house, I can’t believe anyone would do that to Professor Jensen. If that’s what it takes to get expelled, turns out I’m definitely in the clear.”

On the topic of the girl’s gift, quite unlike any of the other peers he’d met previous, he became very curious. “Hereditary, then, passed down through a line of women in the family from maternal descent. That really is interesting.” His tone went from slightly nervous, but acceptably cordial to that of a scientist’s examining a specimen brought from the burial sights of dinosaurs in a matter of sheepishly said sentences. He was about to do so, just on the cusp of using his newfound proficiency in sorcery to summon a magnifying glass and mark down all potential physical particulars of a young seer, before returning to reality and figuring that was a bad idea. He cleared his throat, moving on to make a more tactful comment about her father.

The boy shrugged with her reassurance of his supposed success, doubt undoubtedly lined underneath the action. As much as he would have loved to march around with confidence and make sure to remind everyone of how fearless he was through boisterous comments and wrestling whatever things lurked in the forest to prove his upbeat tenacity, he couldn’t keep up such an act for too long. Besides, having the self-esteem of a valley so low it created a clean slice through the molten core of the world he resided in made for many more opportunities for self-deprecating humour. He didn’t plan on becoming a comedian anytime soon, but he would be needing some form of entertainment when it came to hours of tweaking and turning the heat up and down to perfectly boil a reptile’s eyeball. His wayward musings were put to an end with the surprisingly sagely statement he felt like he had heard at some point in one of his school-appointed guidance counseling sessions, which he nodded at in spite of not feeling as though he fully knew what that would feel like.

“It must’ve been horrific, yes. My parents were pretty terrified of my first few times showing magic, and they already knew it was going to happen at some point,” he professed. With a grin, he continued on to put a satisfying end to Sean’s story. “I don’t regret a thing about how it went on, though. He didn’t bother me again after that.”

Leonard nodded in not-quite-agreement to her explanation, confused withal about what was so embarrassing about the career. Perhaps his reaction was also ever so slightly tainted by the demonstration of hand-eye coordination, or lack thereof, he’d given her moments before, but that wasn’t the point. “Being a police officer’s still a very nice adventure in the muggle world, so whether or not you end up having to save your baby from your husband’s evil almost-apprentice doesn’t matter as long as you feel good and fulfilled in your career.” That sounded less smart than the unintentional advice he’d received, but no matter. “Don’t tell my dad, but I did enjoy the animation quality for its time.”

He was about to elaborate on his career path, most likely keeping both of them petrified with no use of the enchantment and probably no progress actually made, before this wicked feline caused their meeting to come to an abrupt end. He looked at the ticking, tocking source of his many problems, then back to Opeila. “Yeah, I think I’ll stay for a bit more. It’s been nice talking to you too. Hopefully next time we meet I won’t have to be using any of the more offensive spells, no?”

With a chuckle, he turned back to the newspapers and carried on his solo class until the time came for another activity. At least he’d know how to use those spells by their next meeting.