Closed A Little Shifty PV: Alan Vanes

There was not really a lot going on for the fifth year that day, well except for the train ride back to school, which he had mostly spent patrolling the train, since he was a prefect now. Prefects also had their own compartments but at least that meant he would see a few familiar faces along the ride, but it definitely meant it could be a little awkward if you tried to go sit with someone who was not a prefect. Well not that it really mattered much. The arrival feast had been amazing, the young metamorph had stuffed his cheeks with scrambled eggs and mashed potatoes until he felt like he couldn't take another bite. He had also taken some bits from the table that would be safe for a cat to consume, after all he liked giving Tiger some treats and more delicious food than the one you could commonly buy for felines.

When Alan was walking through the hallway he did not have any particular reason or destination in mind, he just had started walking and then had gotten swept away by his thoughts. So his absent mind took a couple of seconds to even take notice of the fact that he was not alone in the hallway he had just steered toward, as he could hear a somewhat unfamiliar voice. At first he thought it was a girl arguing with an armor stand, because how couldn't he when he found himself with a girl glaring down on the polished suit of armor. She seemed a little distressed which made the boy wonder what could have happened. "You alright there?" he decided to be forthcoming and simply ask, perhaps she needed some help? Alan was not sure he has met her before, aside from possibly seeing her here and there every now and then.

The petite first year jumped in surprise at the sudden voice behind her. She whirled around, her face going pale as her nose changed shape... Going from the 'Not Right' she had managed back to her own normal nose. It was fairly fast, but definitely visible as she stared, skin a little pale, at the older boy. She felt extremely nervous, because her most recent experience with a strange older boy had been VERY unnerving to the girl. She licked her lips slowly as she tried to figure out what to say to this stranger.

Finally, she spoke, very softly. "Did I disturb you? My apologies, I was not trying to draw any attention. I thought this corridor was generally disused, which is why I came here."


She shifted, nervously, as she looked quite a bit of a ways up, nervously, at the older boy through her long black eyelashes. Seren was not at all certain if she SHOULD tell this stranger what was going on. She noticed, however, that he wore a Prefect's badge and in some ways that made this ever so much worse... But it did take the decision from her, in some ways. She would not lie to a Prefect, just in case. "I am fine, just frustrated at myself. I... Was trying to practice my shifting skills, you see. I was trying to get it to look like hers..." She gestured with her hand at the photo she had set nearby.

There was a small pause as his eyes widened in recognition as he watched the facial features of the girls shift in a hurry, before his face broke into a smile. "Don't worry, you didn't do anything disturbing whatsoever," he calmed her gently. He related to this fear, that worry that he used to carry with himself wherever he went. Even nowadays he still felt that worry occasionally.

He took a small glance at the picture of the girl in the picture, "Who is she?" He stepped closer to the image. Why was this girl trying to change her features into that of someone else? Then again she mentioned it was practice, which is what he understood. He used to practice a lot too, but he never used pictures of existing people, but that was because he always had felt uncomfortable impersonating someone without their permission. "My name is Alan, who are you?"

Alan had been dressed casually in black pants and a simple button up shirt. He wore his usual red sneakers and had his prefect badge attached to a belt. If she was paying attention she could easily spot it, however since he was not wearing his uniform it was not pinned to his chest, so generally less obvious. He wondered if he should simply disclose who, or rather what he himself was. Perhaps he could help the girl? "You are a Metamorph, right?

Her eyes went wide, and she looked surprised at the older boy's kind tone and gentle way of speaking to her. She watched him approach, taking in the details of the boy's very relaxed outfit. Even though he was not in his uniform, she did notice the badge on his belt. It confused her that the prefect was just so casually dressed and calm. So far she had not had any negative experiences with any of the prefects, but she could not help being nervous about interacting with someone who was in charge.

That said, she smiled shyly and said "Oh... Oh good. I don't... Want to cause problems."

She watched him approach the photo, her eyes tracking his motions every time. His first two questions made her smile, though, more fully. "Her name is Jocunda Sykes... A...And I am Seren Yong. It's Nice to meet you, Alan."

Her hand came up to brush against her hair, in a gesture that seemed to be rather habitual to the girl. She licked her lips, at the last question, the fingers of the other hand coming to grip at the edge of her robes for a moment. Finally, she gave a slow, nervous nod. "I am... I am not very good at my abilities yet, I think, but. Yes."

"You aren't causing any problems, don't worry," he reassured once more with a gentle smile. "The opposite really, it's nice to see you practicing your skill set, it makes you special you know?" he added. He could only understand how weird she must feel sometimes, a lot of people did not always understand their abilities and what they were capable of. Many however knew about how the Ministry of Magic weaponized such abilities and he kind of related to why people might get creeped out by it. He wondered how he would think of the ability, if he had grown up without it and then met someone with it. At the very least it would have been startling. He gathered some focus for just a second and let his eyes shift into a warm golden colour that he rarely achieved naturally, usually it was defined by specks of gold but he had decided to push the occurrence to its limits for the girl in front of him. It was only for a second and they were back to the beautiful green. "See? Nothing startling about it".

"Is she a student or something?" he wondered, when the girl introduced the person within the picture. Alan wondered what it was about this girl in particular that made her choose to replicate a feature of the person. Then again Seren had already answered that, because of her nose. When she mentioned not being very good at her abilities yet, he shrugged slightly. "That's what practice is for right?" She probably was better than she thought she was.

Her blue eyes went quite wide at the comment about being special for her abilities. Special? She was special? What a surprising claim, and from a stranger, no less. She was not used to the idea that she was special in any way. Annoying or in the way? Sure. Special? Not so much. Her life kept changing over and over, now that she was here at Hogwarts. "I... Yes, I suppose so. I... Yes."

She did not know how to express that she just worried about being a bother, or annoying someone... Or scaring them. As such, she just gave in and chose to accept his comment. And then she realized he had changed his eye color. It was fast but she had seen it. Her eyes went truly huge and she stared silently, then suddenly said "W... Wait. Y... You're a m... metamorphmagus too? I... I have not m...met another one before!"

His question about Jocunda Sykes had Seren blinking, and then she half shrugged and half shook her head, and turned her head to focus on the picture. When she spoke, she seemed a little more calm, as if paying attention to the picture made it easier for her to relax. "I do not know if she ever attended Hogwarts. I just picked her from a book on famous Witches of the past. She was the first Witch to cross the Atlantic on Broomstick. I just thought she was pretty, and had very distinctive features... I thought it might be easier to focus if I like the way she looks."

She nodded at his last question, still gazing at the picture. "Yes, agreed... I would... Rather not practice at home, nor where I can surprise my classmates, but I... I do want to get better."

Alan once again gave her a gentle smile. When she figured out that he too must be a metamorphmagus because he had changed the color of his eyes, he couldn't help but chuckle. It was a warm and kind chuckle, that held no offense or mockery. "I am, yeah, sorry I don't usually tell people that I am, because why make a big deal out of it, right? However I thought it would help you out a bit," he mentioned. He was a little surprised that she mentioned that she had never met one before though. Yes, they were rare but he had encountered a handful during his time at Hogwarts, but perhaps she meant she had never talked to one before. Or simply did not recognize them as one. Alan had gotten exceptionally good at spotting them however, so perhaps he was a little biased there.

"Oh I realize now why she looked familiar then, I think I have a couple of chocolate frog cards of her!" he said with a sudden realization, studying the picture again and nodding to himself as if to confirm this new discovery or connection. "I don't think you really have to focus on the change, you have to focus if you don't want to change, but if you wish to change you just gotta imagine the way you wish to look? It helps if you close your eyes and picture the attribute of yourself that you wish to change," he offered his advice with a hint of encouragement in his voice for her to try it out right away. "There are plenty of ways to practice without drawing attention, I can tell you if you want to know?"

His easy acknowledgement of his abilities made her a little envious... She wished she was so comfortable with herself and her abilities that she could be that nonchalant about it. But this was not to be in her life, she thought, not now and maybe not ever. She was trying, though, trying ever so hard to get to the point where she was good at it and also good at accepting herself. Maybe, just maybe, someday when Seren was older, she would be able to be as relaxed as this apparently nice Alan boy seemed to be.

"I... Can understand not going out and just telling everyone." She kept her eyes on the picture for the moment, trying to use it to keep herself calm and focused. She hated the fact that she stuttered nervously so much of the time, but it was such a hard thing to overcome. "It is nice to know someone else like me, honestly... I have always wondered how many of us were out there."

His comment about having chocolate frogs of Miss Sykes made Seren smile a little, pleased to know this rather pretty witch's achievements were so commemorated on a card. The rest of his words had her frowning in a thoughtful way, clearly concentrating on everything that Alan was saying. "I... Don't think I've ever read anything like that in the books I was studying. But I think that they were unclear in a lot of things, honestly." She tilted her head, thoughtfully. "I should try that..."

She turned a little and looked more closely at the photo, then closed her eyes. She was silent for a long moment, then her nose began to shift. When she finished, her eyes opened and she looked at the polished breastplate again, then smiled, brighter than she had done in Alan's presence so far. "Still not right but... Closer. Closer than before! Thank you... D... Do you have any other advice or tips?"