Symbolic Gifts PV Justin Whiteley 𝙲𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍

Justin looked up at the ceiling of the Great Hall. Far above, through towering ornate columns, the sky appeared mostly clear, with a few wispy clouds racing across the enormous carved arches in the strong wind. Though the hall was bare of any ornaments other than the usual, it was still the most grand, imposing room in the entire castle, and one of the few places he liked well enough to put up with all the noise and people.

Breakfast had just been announced over, and the vast spread was being cleared away. He wondered where everything went, for there was far too much for even the largest crowd you could fit in the room. As it was, a lot of the food was still on the tables, filling the air with multitudes of varied scents, as if still freshly prepared.

In seconds, the tables were emptied, and a slight hush fell on the students, as if in anticipation. Sadly, this was not to last very long, as soon, a large flock of owls burst in, carrying in their talons letters and packages of all shapes and sizes.

Justin's eye fell on one large, scruffy owl flying towards his table, that looked very much like Tuppence had gotten her claws on it. The letter it was carrying was very similar in appearance to its bearer, being of a flimsy, brown parchment. The bird flew over his head, and deposited its cargo on an older boy on the next table, and flapped off dismally.

As he was looking at this, another owl dropped a large, brown, boxy package in front of a boy sitting next to him, shaking the entire table. This seemed to have been just as startling to the recipient, who was soon unwrapping the unnecessarily flamboyant packaging. This soon opened up to reveal a thick, bound, leather book with the title set in large gilded lettering, clearly stating it the “Pure Blood Directory.”

Usually, Justin would not have intervened, but this was proving far too interesting to ignore. Besides, curiosity never really killed cats. That was all just fantasy. And so he turned to the boy. “Hi. That is quite an interesting gift.”

@Enrico Gathorne

And so it had begun, Enrico’s mind - whereas usually, it refrained from thinking half the time he required it to - was now going on and on about what this book was, who sent it, and where did it come from. He didn’t particularly appreciate a mystery unless it involved some manner of physical rowdiness and exploration. This required him to ask questions and the worst part was that he didn’t particularly have anyone to ask them to. A few couple of his friends popped in mind but he was quick to assume that they’d be just as confused.

Then it was almost like Enrico’s thoughts were being heard. Someone next to him had commented on the mysterious item that he had just received.
“Interesting?” He asked back, his brows rising upwards and his eyes peeking in curiosity, he had a feeling that maybe this fellow student could be the answer to his many questions. Poor lad didn’t know what was coming his way.

He shoved the book closer to his new acquaintance and tapped his fingers a couple of times on the leathery cover, his fingers traced the letters that represented the title of the book.
“Do you have the smallest idea of what this book is?” Enrico asked, his voice quieter than usual, intending to keep this mystery a secret before he could allow every resident at Hogwarts (including the ghosts) about his newest possession. Not that insinuating that he imposed zero knowledge about the book to somewhat of a stranger particularly helped such a plan.

He could only assume that the book was about some grand family’s achievements or the history of a legacy that has now perished. He didn’t particularly indulge in magical bloodlines, he didn’t know how it all really worked and to be frankly honest, he didn’t care either. As if hearing students blabber about such privileges in the hallways, while walking from one class to another, was already not enough lecturing. Luckily for him, the Hufflepuff Common Room was quite careless about such matters just as much as he was, and so he didn’t get to suffer such inquisition throughout the day.
“I don’t believe this book was intended for me,” Enrico confessed, looking at the boy. Though his vision failed him, he was certain he saw him somewhere. But then again, Enrico thought that about everyone he ever came across.
“Can the owls possibly commit a mistake? Or maybe the delivery itself was flawed, to begin with. I don’t think I’ve even ever seen this book at the library, so why would anyone have it sent to me?”

It had only been a few minutes of conversation with this new lad and Enrico was already bombing him with philosophical questions. Though he wanted himself to believe that it was indeed just a flaw in the system, something told him that it was all meant to be, and for someone so naive and young, Enrico trusted his instincts more than anything.

Justin studied the book in front of him. He was reasonably sure that he’d never heard of it before, though it did seem rather important. ‘The Pure Blood Directory’. The cover was not giving him much to work with. It was completely blank except for the title set in the centre. It looked quite old enough to be in a museum. It was in very good condition though. Still nothing like a piece you would expect to find lying around in someone’s room. Besides, he doubted anyone would publish something like this today. No-one would buy it.

Had he any idea about what it was? A directory, he assumed, of the Pure Blood Families. “Not really. I think I’ve heard something about a book on this subject, but I don’t remember much about it. Besides, that was meant to have been published decades ago. Why would someone send it to you?”

He looked at the book again. Pure Blood Families. His parents didn’t talk much about these subjects, so he rarely heard of them outside Hogwarts. Apparently, there were very few of them, at least in Britain. Twenty something, if he remembered right. Maybe this was some sort of biography?

All this speculation was rather pointless though, when the document in question was right there. “I think reading this would answer more of your questions than asking random inquisitive strangers,” he said.

Could the owls possibly have committed a mistake? Justin was really starting get tired of all these questions. This was all a bad idea. Why had he interfered in the first place? He usually didn’t. Why this time? Too late now.

Anyway, back to debating the reliability of owl post. Though it was certainly possible, Justin had never heard of the owls making a mistake with deliveries. Then again, he rarely received any owls, so he was not going to be a great judge. “Maybe,” he said slowly, “but there is a name tag on this, which you probably saw before you opened it. So, actually no. I don’t think they did.

“Do you know anyone who might have sent it?”

@Enrico Gathorne

Enrico had asked for help, and though the fellow Hufflepuff seemed just as confused and unaware, he was still providing the first-year with enough logical sense to certify the fact that indeed, the book was indeed for Enrico. It was sent to him, labelled and all for the right person. Unless there had been another Enrico Gathorne attending Hogwarts, but the chances of that were pretty low, had there actually been someone who shared the boy’s name, the Hufflepuff would have forced their way towards meeting them by now, one way or another.

“I’m asking myself all the same questions,” Enrico confessed, puzzled. He should have no problems reading the book himself. Though his preferred methods of entertainment often involved rowdy and dare devilish challenges, getting lost in a story was just as satisfying, as he usually loved to wander in a world of his own that existed solely in his head, and whatever else he had there.

“Inquisitive stranger?” Enrico cackled as he clucked the buckle open and turned over the first few pages of the book, where he found the title of the book designed in fancy and rich calligraphy.
“They’re my favourite, inquisitive and curious people. Oftentimes I find them when I wish I never did, and sometimes, I encounter them right exactly when I need them the most. That’s what mum says anyways about me.” A sudden snort left his nose as he inhaled everything back and wiped his face with his arm, still cackling like he was some ridiculous comedian of sorts.

As he turned over the pages, he was quite frankly very disappointed to find out that the book contained anything but a story. It was just pages and words rambling about families, names, genealogical trees and achievements that Enrico didn’t really care about. He was lucky enough to know about his grandparents, and that was because they lived with the rest of his family. Two of them, that is. From his father’s end, he never got to meet them, and neither did his oldest siblings. Now that arose some curious questions as to what actually happened to them and why Enrico actually never bothered to ask.

Anyways, he turned to the boy whose name was still unknown to him, Enrico had always been one to introduce himself in the most politely odd ways, but the arrival of such an eerie gift was still so overwhelming that the eleven-year-old had completely forgotten about introductions in the first place.
“Not really, I don’t. Both of my parents are muggles you see, absolutely no connection with magic and all that. No family relatives either, hence the mystery.” Enrico said in a spooky, exciting tone, almost as if he was telling a horror story to a bunch of five-year-olds around a campfire.
“Which is exactly why a book about pure-bloods being sent to me; Enrico Mario Lawrence Gathorne, is an extremely weird oddity.”

This discussion did not seem to be getting anywhere. So far, all they had managed to establish was that there was a book that had definitely been delivered to the right person, and that this was a most unusual occurrence. All information they had already known. And, of course, that neither of them knew anything about it. All of which was Not Very Helpful.

The book itself appeared just as useless, seeming to be completely ordinary. It looked as if it was just another history, only much more exclusive, biased and controversial than most. The only feature that betrayed its importance, to him at least, was the typesetting. This, like the text it read, was long, rambling, fancy and barely legible. Actually, a lot of books in Hogwarts were like that for some reason. Why? Surely not all of them were written in the Dark Ages.

Why would someone have sent it, and without any identification. There must have been something. Maybe they might send another owl? But why? This entire affair was highly illogical. “Are you sure there is nothing in there?” he asked. He knew there probably wasn’t going to be. Why would there be? If someone did have something to hide, they wouldn’t send it to others. If they didn’t, it would be out in the open. Nevertheless, one could hope. It wouldn’t be the strangest thing that had happened today.


Justin smiled at the boy’s infectious energy. “Then your mum was right,” he said. “I pity the next one that finds himself in your way.” He wondered who it was going to be. “Do you often happen on mysteries like this? Because that would be completely unfair.” Think of all those poor, unfortunate souls going about their business like normal people. They deserve problems too!

“You put it so well, I keep expecting you to go on,” he remarked. “It does feel quite jarring to just stop there.” He noticed that the boy had said his full name. Was that meant to be an introduction? Quite a strange way to go about it, if so. “I’ll start again. Good morning. My name is Justin Whiteley. Pleased to meet you.”

@Enrico Gathorne