A million new things to peruse Closed

Reliving memories? How strange! But, he supposed it made sense to him, given the context of the book he had read that had introduced the name to him. After she explained it use, she leaned back in her seat with a shrug.

" I don't see why anyone would want to relive their memories anyway, I personally would just want to remember mine- to relive them would just be unnecessary."

As she said this, she seemed to fall into irritation, tapping her fingers down on the table impatiently. She tried to stop before opening her mouth again to speak.

"Hey Charlie, have you seen a Hippogriff yet?!"

She seemed far less irritated, and Charlie returned a smile.

He leaned forward. "Pardon me, but a hippogriff? He placed his hands firmly on the table, eyes sparkling with surprise and wonder. "There are real hippgriffs? They aren't just fantasy book creatures?!" His smile got even wider as he tried to imagine what they might be like. Were they just like in the fiction books he read as a child? Or were they completely different?

"Are they really half bird-half horse? Or are they utterly different from the children's books regale?" He probably had that same child-like demeanour from before which would probably make him look laughable, to say the least, but she seemed like she was having fun too.

When charlie leaned forward, it caught Xailah off guard a little bit, causing her to lean back further in her seat. It was a quick but small motion triggered by instinct.

"There are real hippogriffs? They aren't just fantasy book creatures?!"

She raised a eyebrow at this. Fantasy book creatures? Did he mean a Monster Book of Monsters? Or did the muggles have their own encyclopedia for magical creatures? "Hippogriffs are very real- I'm kind of surprised you haven't seen one yet, usually thats the first creature people want to see when they get here-" In truth Xailah had wanted to see a Basilisk or a Thestral when she first got at Hogwarts, but something made her a bit embarrassed to admit that. Maybe she was afraid that admitting that would scare her new acquaintance away.

"Are they really half bird-half horse? Or are they utterly different from the children's books regale?

"You'll have to see for yourself- if you want I can take you down to the Hippogriff stables sometime- of course you would have to be comfortable with breaking a few rules, since students technically aren't supposed to be messing with the Hippogriffs." She came to the realization that she had broken more than her share of rules since she had gotten to Hogwarts. The thought made her slouch a little in her seat. Maybe the invitation was a bad idea, what if the boy went and told on her? She would be spending the rest of her life writing sappy letters to her parents and members of the staff.

He noted that his excitement might've been a little to sudden for her as she leaned back a bit when he was excited, he sat back down properly feeling a bit bad about it, but still was far too impressed with the magical world to mope. Xailah told him more about hippogriffs, and he could only imagine the slew of creatures that the magical world had to offer. He was going to have to pick up a book on them at some point...

"You'll have to see for yourself- if you want I can take you down to the Hippogriff stables sometime- of course you would have to be comfortable with breaking a few rules, since students technically aren't supposed to be messing with the Hippogriffs."

She seemed to automatically regret saying that, sinking a bit in her seat. She suddenly looked as if she had said the wrong thing.
"Why would I mind breaking a few rules?" He laughed, trying to ease the tension. "I see it as a fun outing! All we have to do is not get caught messing with them right?" He leaned back, rather than forward, and shrugged a bit. "I've always seen rulebreaking as a fun way of saying 'secret adventure! Plus I'll be learning about stuff so I'm sure the teachers would be lenient if we were caught... But I doubt we'll even be seen!" He was definitely confident after years of sneaking around in the forest at his home, but he realised he was getting ahead of himself. "I-I mean if we did go to see them, not saying I've already decided, but like-" His prior confidence melted quickly, and he felt a tad bit embarrassed.

She was relived to find that he had no problem with rule breaking. Xailah noticed a slight change in Charlies confident stature. "Well, you can find me near Care of Magical Creatures, tomorrow evening- so I suppose I'll either see you there to, or I wont." she leaned forward once again, placing her chin on her hands. "Charlie are you alright?" She narrowed her eyes at the boy, did she say something that made him uncomfortable? She tried to think about everything she had said previously, but she couldn't think of anything that could be potentially upsetting.

Eventually she gave up, figuring that it probably wasn't important. "If it makes you feel any better I know we wouldn't get caught- the headmaster and the professors are too busy to be monitoring two students. And its not like the prefects do anything around here anyway." She said as she pushed on the edge of the table making her chair teeter.

Xailah then took out a worn timepiece out of her pocket and slid it across the table to Charlie. "I found that a few nights ago, near the entrance of the forbidden forest. I think its muggle made, since it doesn't seem to tick. Do you know why most muggle objects don't work here? Do you think the pocket-watch can be fixed?" This was one of the few questions that she had never been able to solve or answer unfortunately.

He gave a smile, thinking about the potential fun they could have sneaking out to look at amazingly magical creatures- she was right, they wouldn't care about 2 students sneaking out to see a few animals. When she leaned forward, asking if he was alright, he just forced a laugh, feeling awkward. He was terrible with social interaction it seemed. "I'm fine, just a bit..." He fell off into another small chuckle, avoiding eye contact. "Don't worry about it!"

As he said that, she shifted in her seat, fishing a watch from her pocket. She slid it over to him. He could recognise the brand, it was an older piece; rusted a bit.

"I found that a few nights ago, near the entrance of the forbidden forest. I think its muggle made, since it doesn't seem to tick. Do you know why most muggle objects don't work here? Do you think the pocket-watch can be fixed?"

He picked it up gingerly, examining the face. None of the exteriors was broken at all. He turned the watch over, searching for a clasp or an opening. When he ran his nail into the indentions of the backing, the metallic plate popped off.

"Well Hogwarts isn't affecting it- at least, I don't think it is." He had repaired his father's watch before, and his own clock a number of times. It was obvious what had happened with this watch-- A number of the spinning gears had popped out of place. It was pretty common if you dropped it while walking, or if it had taken a tumble itself.
He poked at the wheels, spinning them until they snapped into place. It took a moment, but the watch began to tick quietly. It wasn't set to the proper time- but Hogwarts didn't seem to affect it.
"It's old, but all mechanical watches are the same." He set it down, thinking more about her question as he watched it tick. "Electronics, as I understand from my own phone when I first came here, go weird once they enter Hogwarts. I read that there's a special barrier around the school to protect it from Muggles and stuff like that. I'm pretty sure anything that requires a connection to the internet is going to get all screwy in here. Not only that- but the magic probably messes with it's processors and the like." He began to ramble about possible theories based on the very little he had read on the train ride to the school, using a lot of technical terms that he realised Xailah might not recognise.
"Anyways- Since it's a mechanical watch it shouldn't be affected by the magic around here. I can probably get it to tell the right time if I had something small to turn the gears with." He felt quite proud being able to provide some sort of information- even if it was just his own theories.

It was only yesterday that Aurelia had dropped her history of magic textbook into a puddle. She was rushing to herbology class in the large green house on the grounds when tripped over a rock ing the middle of nowhere. All her textbooks sprawled onto the dirt, the history of magic textbook, however, wasn't so lucky and landed in a small pool of mud and water. She had left the book in the common room for the day, but when she returned to check on it during lunch, the pages were still damp and was likely to tear with only a small pull.

History of Magic lesson was two periods away. She only knew one place where she could get a spare copy. The library. Aurelia scurried up to the fourth floor and immediately began scavenging for the book. It had only been five minutes when she found it high up a shelf. It took quite some effort before she managed to hook her finger on one of it's pages and pull it towards her. The heavy book had almost fell right on her face but thankfully onto the floor with a loud this instead.

She began walking towards the librarians desk in order to check it out. But as she did, she saw someone familiar. Strawberry blonde hair and green eyes, staring at something in his hand. It was Charlie. Aurlia approached him and tapped him slightly on his shoulder. She had previously done her research on why his last name sounded so familiar, her investigation skills had proven to be better than what she had expected, maybe it was due to a full year as a Gryffindor writer for the papers. She could sniff and article from miles away.

"Charlie, I couldn't find you yesterday at he common room but I've got some good news... I may or may not have found out who your ancestors are. " She spoken with haste. She was quite eager to share it with him, from what she knew from their first meeting, he was adopted and the famous Woodward bloodline could be his. If she predicted correctly, Charlie was the heir to the line.

Then her gaze fell on to the next object he had in his hand. A watch, a rather old one, the sides were reddish brown with rust and clearly much older than the cartier one she had one her wrist. What was he doing with a stopatch? Then She realised another person was sted beside him, a dark haired girl with a pair of glasses framing her face. Her hieght had hidden her from the brunette's view. Crap. Had she inturupted what ever they had going on?

"Oh, I didn't notice you were there. Well, you two seem to be having a moment... I could always... Um... Come back another time if..." Aurelia stuttered, feeling slightly awkward she had suddenly became a third wheeler.

Charlie, placing the watch down on the table to examine it, as it was now ticking, felt a sensation on his shoulder. He whipped his head around to see Aurelia, clasping onto a large textbook about magic history. He was surprised to see her here but smiled as he turned to face both her and Xailah.

"Charlie, I couldn't find you yesterday in the common room but I've got some good news... I may or may not have found out who your ancestors are. "

She spoke with haste, and he felt a twinge of excitement bubble up. Before he could say anything though he glanced over at Xailah. He couldn't just walk away from her either, since they were still technically talking about the watch- and potentially their hippogriff adventure.

"Oh, I didn't notice you were there. Well, you two seem to be having a moment... I could always... Um... Come back another time if..."

She looked almost upset as she sputtered out her sentence. "Nonsense Aurelia, here, sit down if you've got the time to." He pushed the third seat that had been resting between him and Xailah out with his foot. "We were just talking about hairspray and hippogriffs! Then I ended up fixing this watch she found." He laughed. He looked over to Xailah to catch her expression as they spoke, did Aurelia know her? "This is Xailah, by the way" He pointed to her, "-and Xailah, this is Aurelia. She's a... Friend." He hesitated slightly as he said friend. She did kidnap him earlier, so their relationship was a bit.. odd. -Anyways. You mentioned that news. I'd love to hear it, if you both don't mind!" He rested his cheek in his hand and smiled.

Xailah leaned over the table trying to see what Charlie did to fix the watch. Was the fix really that simple? She reached over, grabbing the watch by its rusting chain. She put it to her ear. Tick-tock-tick-tock. The sound was strangely calming.

Xailah directed her attention away from the clock, and to a girl. She came right up to the table Xailah and Charlie were sitting at. She looked like she was eager to talk to someone. And that someone was Charlie. The blue-eyed haired girl didn't see Xailah at first, it was that moment Xailah was deciding to get up and leave- that was until the girl spoke.

"Charlie, I couldn't find you yesterday at he common room but I've got some good news... I may or may not have found out who your ancestors are. "

Oh? Now this was interesting. Xailah decided that she would stay for a bit longer. Since the blue-eyed girl, hadn't noticed her right away, she thought that maybe she could stay that way for a little while, so she could collect random bits of information. Of course that didn't happen.

"Oh, I didn't notice you were there. Well, you two seem to be having a moment... I could always... Um... Come back another time if..."

Xailah gave the girl a nod of acknowledgement while, listening to Charlie greet the girl.

-Anyways. You mentioned that news. I'd love to hear it, if you both don't mind!"

"I don't mind." as she said this, Xailah realized that she had seen Aurelia before. But where? She narrowed her eyes at the other girl, in a attempt to remember exactly where she had seen her. Was it on the train ride to Hogwarts? No. There was a sudden inkling of a memory- it was like the faint flicker of dying lightbulb.

Xailah nearly slammed the clock that was in her hand down."Pardon me, but did you play in Rictusempra Tag, Aurelia?" She was sure that was where she had seen the blue-eyed girl.

Aurelia didn't really want to leave without sharing the information she found with the boy. She was really busy being a Gryffindor writer and the club manager of Hogwart's only drama club. She also had tons of homework and assignments every week that she probably wouldn't find another time to speak with Charlie about this besides in the common room. However, it was polite for her to leave if he and the girl wanted to be alone.

Nonsense Aurelia, here, sit down if you've got the time to. We were just talking about hairspray and hippogriffs! Then I ended up fixing this watch she found.

The brunette was grateful when he pushed one of the wooden chair out with his foot. The girl nodded in acknowledgement. She plopped herself down and put the heavy history of magic book down on the table.

They weren't talking about anything important. Aurelia raised an eyebrow when the girl, which Charlie had introduced as Xailah, pressed the pocket watch against her ear. She probably hadn't seen a watch before. Aurelia discreetly adjusted the sleeve of her robe so it fell on the face of her watch on her right wrist, barely hidding it from view. It was to expensive for them to medle with. It was a gift that was given to her by her Grandmother as a present on her eight birthday, a sleek aesthetic Cartier watch. The gifts from her family members was almost always pricy. But no matter what the objects' worth, the young girl would always treasure them even if it was a knitted mitten. The watch like many others was precious to her and she was reluctant for someone she barely knew to be touching it.

Xailah looked familiar, Aurelia might have had saw her somewhere or sometime in Hogwarts, maybe during passing. She didn't bother to ask, but the girl thought otherwise.

Pardon me, but did you play in Rictusempra Tag, Aurelia?

It was then when Aurelia recalled where she had seen the girl. It was during the game of tag, the Rictusempra tag, the spell was a couple times worse than Flipendo. It was terrible, Aurelia unfortunately didn't even last a couple of minutes in the game when she was hit and had to be dragged out. She had only saw the dark haired girl briefly.

Aurelia was taken aback when Xailah slammed the watch down onto the table. It was another reason why she wouldn't let any stranger handle her stuff. Especially not an expensive watch.

"In fact, I did. I didn't stay around after I was hit, unfortunately,"

The Brunette then remembered why she had approached the table in the first place. She had to tell Charlie about his situation and she didn't have a lot of time. She opened the hard cover of the History Textbook as if it was a suitcase containing important documents. She flipped the pages and stopped at one of it's chapters. Her pointed at one of it's articles.

"I barely have an hour. Here. It says that after the first wizarding war, a lot of lives were lost and many bloodlines went either extinct or missing. It mentions Woodward in a few of it's pages. the girl explained in a breath before pausing so Charlie might have some to to register the information.

"Woodward is one of the families who has a long lines of purebloods. Or so as they say. I'm really don't have anything to prove that you are an actual Woodward or just coincidentally had it as your last name." She pointed out.

Charlie watched in silence as the two girls talked. Something about 'Rictusempra Tag' which Charlie wasn't going to as about, even though he was interested in an explanation. He noticed that Xailah was about to leave before Aurelia mentioned having news, and he was thankful she didn't because he would have probably felt extremely bad if she had- he also noticed Aurelia hide her wrist watch when Xailah's fascination with her own became apparent. The exchange was very entertaining to say the least for him.

"I barely have an hour. Here. It says that after the first wizarding war, a lot of lives were lost and many bloodlines went either extinct or missing. It mentions Woodward in a few of it's pages."

Aurelia started, pointing to a number of passages in the book she had brought over with her. He could see the name 'Woodward' strewn about in a number of places along with a number of other names that he couldn't recognise. They were all pureblood magic families, based on the subtitles and footnotes that he quickly scanned over. Before he could interject, Aurelia continued.

"Woodward is one of the families who has a long lines of purebloods. Or so as they say. I'm really don't have anything to prove that you are an actual Woodward or just coincidentally had it as your last name."

She made it clear to point out.

"Would names help? Like, first names I mean. Despite not remembering much from my childhood, I do have a family heirloom of sorts- An almost empty journal. It has the names of my family dating back to my great-grandparents but nothing else."
He was enthralled to think that he might learn something about his family-- about his past. He didn't know much about blood status rather than what he picked up in a book once about famous witches and wizards, but it would be interesting to know more. His real family would be a great place to start.