12 Jun 2018, 10:37
Small Thrills
It was as I had feared. The fall had done some damage to the poor girl and yet here she was wearing a brave visage as if trying to 'act tough' before me. Did she truly think me such a monster as to disregard a student's need for medical intervention? Despite her exiguous attempt to dissimulate her pain, I cast my eyes towards Mr. Evans with a twinkle of impatience, urging him to action stemming from my earlier words. I had enlisted him as Ms. O'Sullivan's caretaker for the time being, in which case he would be tasked with escorting her to the Hospital Wing where she could receive treatment, regardless of how small the injury may be. With that, I was about ready to leave this hallway and return to more pressing matters, but I could not help but intercept the infinitesimal visual exchange between the two.
"Is there something else?" I asked with a slight raise of one perfectly manicured eyebrow. Surely whatever it was could not be more important than the need to see the young lady in proper care. It was such that when her halting words passed my ears, I paused visibly as I stared at her without so much as a blink in between. Her titchy reactions were not lost on me as I watched, but I found myself giving some thought to the overture. Could there possibly be anything that I could gain from accepting assistance from a first-year student or two? My vast wellspring of knowledge and a lifetime of pre-eminence has sensitized me where it concerns accepting outside aid. Others simply could not seem to keep up with my success. A couple of first-years would be no different.
With a slight crane of my neck to the side, a gesture which caused my head to turn ever so slightly to the right in what little show of a negatory physical response I wished to give, I rejected the offer. "I applaud your savoir-faire, Ms. O'Sullivan, but there is truly nothing that you could do for me." A little blunt, mayhaps? "At this time, at the very least." Better. Even to my own ears, it sounded like some of the stings from my earlier words would remit. If there was nothing else then I did not wish to linger. Looking towards them both once again, I gestured in a shooing motion with my hands. "Carry on then. I'm certain we will all be seeing much more of each other as the years progress. Until next we meet." Without any further need for pomp and circumstance, I whirled on my heels and stalked away.
"Is there something else?" I asked with a slight raise of one perfectly manicured eyebrow. Surely whatever it was could not be more important than the need to see the young lady in proper care. It was such that when her halting words passed my ears, I paused visibly as I stared at her without so much as a blink in between. Her titchy reactions were not lost on me as I watched, but I found myself giving some thought to the overture. Could there possibly be anything that I could gain from accepting assistance from a first-year student or two? My vast wellspring of knowledge and a lifetime of pre-eminence has sensitized me where it concerns accepting outside aid. Others simply could not seem to keep up with my success. A couple of first-years would be no different.
With a slight crane of my neck to the side, a gesture which caused my head to turn ever so slightly to the right in what little show of a negatory physical response I wished to give, I rejected the offer. "I applaud your savoir-faire, Ms. O'Sullivan, but there is truly nothing that you could do for me." A little blunt, mayhaps? "At this time, at the very least." Better. Even to my own ears, it sounded like some of the stings from my earlier words would remit. If there was nothing else then I did not wish to linger. Looking towards them both once again, I gestured in a shooing motion with my hands. "Carry on then. I'm certain we will all be seeing much more of each other as the years progress. Until next we meet." Without any further need for pomp and circumstance, I whirled on my heels and stalked away.
Reducio
Exits the Thread.
"𝔳𝔞𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔞𝔰 𝔳𝔞𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔞𝔱𝔲𝔪 𝔬𝔪𝔫𝔦𝔞 𝔳𝔞𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔞𝔰"
13 Jun 2018, 22:40
Small Thrills
Lucy briefly registered that Anatole volunteered to take her to the hospital wing. Well... maybe stopping by wouldn't hurt. After all, what was the use of suffering if they could patch up a possible fracture in under a minute? Besides, she would feel as if she were disobeying Professor Valtome at this point, and she absolutely did not want to feel any guiltier than she already felt after this strange encounter.
"There is truly nothing that you could do for me," the professor replied to her earlier question. "At this time, at the very least." Lucy grimaced, dipping her head in acknowledgement. She had expected this answer, but she still felt ridiculous. Of course there was nothing she could do for a professor - that's why they were professors! Oh well. He had at least responded graciously. He could have openly mocked her, which he refrained from doing.
She watched as he walked away. The echoing footsteps stuck around longer than the professor did. She turned to Anatole, releasing a pent-up breath that she didn't know she was holding. She offered a warm smile, taking a step toward him before she winced and immediately shifted weight to her other foot. She put her left palm against the wall, stopping to suck in a breath. "Well, we wanted adventure. I'd say we'd found it, wouldn't you?"
Her eyes twinkled at the Gryffindor boy. Lucy was awash with relief now that she had not only escaped the hole, but they had escaped any sort of punishment what-so-ever. "That was lucky," she mumbled to herself, wrapping her right arm around her stomach. "I was so scared when I heard Professor Valtome's voice," Lucy admitted to Anatole, grinning and sagging against the wall. "I almost pretended I wasn't down there so that I wouldn't have to face him! Stupid, right?"
"There is truly nothing that you could do for me," the professor replied to her earlier question. "At this time, at the very least." Lucy grimaced, dipping her head in acknowledgement. She had expected this answer, but she still felt ridiculous. Of course there was nothing she could do for a professor - that's why they were professors! Oh well. He had at least responded graciously. He could have openly mocked her, which he refrained from doing.
She watched as he walked away. The echoing footsteps stuck around longer than the professor did. She turned to Anatole, releasing a pent-up breath that she didn't know she was holding. She offered a warm smile, taking a step toward him before she winced and immediately shifted weight to her other foot. She put her left palm against the wall, stopping to suck in a breath. "Well, we wanted adventure. I'd say we'd found it, wouldn't you?"
Her eyes twinkled at the Gryffindor boy. Lucy was awash with relief now that she had not only escaped the hole, but they had escaped any sort of punishment what-so-ever. "That was lucky," she mumbled to herself, wrapping her right arm around her stomach. "I was so scared when I heard Professor Valtome's voice," Lucy admitted to Anatole, grinning and sagging against the wall. "I almost pretended I wasn't down there so that I wouldn't have to face him! Stupid, right?"
20 Jun 2018, 01:53
Small Thrills
Sorry about this bland reply…
Lucy had recovered quite surprisingly from the tumble. A bit of magic didn’t hurt (even though Anatole was almost sure Professor Valtome had the potential to curse the both of them until they were beaten up and scared silly). Anatole had gotten the cue that Valtome was growing rather impatient with the students, so he wished that this whole ordeal went by quickly to assure that the cursing didn’t actually become a reality.
The air grew rather tense as Anatole stood beside Lucy as if they were part of a chorus line: shoulder to shoulder and anticipating the next move in life’s choreography. Did he have anything for them? Some sort of punishment, or a painstaking chore? Surely he had something up his sleeve, considering how he had questioned Anatole earlier. Something about his demeanor screamed punishment.
But his reply shocked the boy. There was absolutely nothing the man needed? Well, it did seem appropriate. He did appear to have his chiseled self together. Anatole, with wide eyes, turned to look at Lucy in silence before rotating his head back towards the Professor at hand. ”Carry on then. I’m certain we will all be seeing much more of each other as the years progress. Until next we meet.”
The way his hands shooed them off was even precise and articulated. The way his feet moved was like an agile dancer with a sort of graceful speed. He was a rather puzzling enigma to the boy, and Lucy’s sweet voice cued him back into the reality of the situation: they were still in a secret passage with a gaping hole in front of them. ”Indeed. Quite an escapade.” He mocked Valtome again with a devious smile, later breaking out into a fit of laughter. ”Oh my lord, if we’re going to talk about his voice, imagine what it was like running into him...and accidentally mistaking him for a girl at first sight…? It does make sense about you pretending. Part of the time I wanted to disappear too. There’s this certain unfathomable quirk about him…”
They stood in between the entrance and the former pit in silence for a moment, and then Anatole clapped his hands to get her attention. ”So! Should we...go to the hospital wing? Keep going up the stairs?” He whirled around towards her, not noticing his cloak was caught in a splint in the wood above where the pit was. ”You decide..uh...I hope you’re feeling better.”
23 Jun 2018, 05:51
Small Thrills
"And accidentally mistaking him for a girl at first sight..." at this line, Lucy broke into a fit of giggles as Anatole finished speaking. The stress of the event finally washed over her and started making its way out of her system in the form of high-pitched laughter. "A girl! Really, Anatole," she continued, leaning against the wall for support as she tried to calm herself down. "You're lucky he didn't put you in detention on the spot."
She consumed the final chuckle with a sigh, finally swallowing the rest of the laughter. Now that she was calmer, her hip began to hurt more and more. While she was convinced that she would be fine eventually, going to the hospital wing was started to sound like a better idea. She was grateful when Anatole brought it up again. "Yeah, I think I better go to the hospital wing. I mean I'm not going to die or anything but... it hurts," she admitted. "To be safe, I'm going to go back down the stairs. I mean, we know those are safe, right?"
She turned and put her hands on both sides of the narrow stairwell and started swinging herself down each step, avoiding putting pressure on her right leg and hip. As she hit the bottom stair, she paused. There was still one person she had left to thank, even if it embarrassed her. It was the right thing to do. She turned her head slightly, her back facing him and her head angled just enough so that the sound of her words would carry back to him. "Thanks for saving me, Anatole. You helped me even though we could have got in trouble. That was really brave of you."
A blush tinged her cheeks, and she hurried forward, limping as she tried to keep the weight off of her hurt leg. "Well, this is going to be interesting to explain to the nurse!"
Lucy threw open the door from the secret passage into the ground floor corridor, light spilling into the dark hallway. "Shall we?"
She consumed the final chuckle with a sigh, finally swallowing the rest of the laughter. Now that she was calmer, her hip began to hurt more and more. While she was convinced that she would be fine eventually, going to the hospital wing was started to sound like a better idea. She was grateful when Anatole brought it up again. "Yeah, I think I better go to the hospital wing. I mean I'm not going to die or anything but... it hurts," she admitted. "To be safe, I'm going to go back down the stairs. I mean, we know those are safe, right?"
She turned and put her hands on both sides of the narrow stairwell and started swinging herself down each step, avoiding putting pressure on her right leg and hip. As she hit the bottom stair, she paused. There was still one person she had left to thank, even if it embarrassed her. It was the right thing to do. She turned her head slightly, her back facing him and her head angled just enough so that the sound of her words would carry back to him. "Thanks for saving me, Anatole. You helped me even though we could have got in trouble. That was really brave of you."
A blush tinged her cheeks, and she hurried forward, limping as she tried to keep the weight off of her hurt leg. "Well, this is going to be interesting to explain to the nurse!"
Lucy threw open the door from the secret passage into the ground floor corridor, light spilling into the dark hallway. "Shall we?"
Reducio
Lucy exits the thread. If Anatole decides to come with her, she would probably need to use him as a crutch at some point.