The Hogwarts Express Finished

Avery pulled his grey-blue eyes from the yellowed pages, looking at her from across the cabin with a small smile again. “I think we’ve all got to learn a few spells first, but after that I wouldn’t mind someone to practice on. What good is theory, after all.” Ironically he said that as he turned the next page of his book, to the contents page. His thin hand moved to the page, tracing it as his eyes moved down the list of subjects and page numbers, noting each of the various topics, skipping over the creatures section and moving to glance at the spell list: “Curse of Bogies sounds horrid, but good in a duel I bet, not like the wand lighting and extinguishing charms at the end of the chapter. - I promise I won’t use that one on you!” He chuckled a little, with a devious smirk that threatened the opposite, though he meant in a mirthful, jokey, manner. He listened to her as she spoke about her doubts, realising that she probably didn’t want to talk about curriculum or anything that was coming across particularly nerdy.

Avery closed the book again, keeping a hand in the book on the contents page but showing her he was properly listening; in a polite gesture. “Well, it is not what we think we are that defines us, but our actions. And Gryffindor isn’t only for brave people. I imagine brave Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws exist. Determination is another quality of theirs, so if you are put into Gryffindor, it’s probably because the talking hat thinks you’re going to become an awesome duellist.” He gave again, with a nervous laugh and an attempt at a reassuring smile.


“Besides, I think anyone can ‘become’ brave. – Though I’m not sure I stand a good shot in Care of Magickal Creatures. ” He gave, opening the book again and shifting its pages of various magical creatures; landing on a fearsome image of a werewolf in the moonlight, depictions of its teeth and notes on how to treat it: “I hope we don’t have to ‘care’ for one of these…” He said, continuing. “Oh I didn’t know that, it says that Werewolf fangs are venomous and that there is no cure to a bite!” He exclaimed, shocked at that. He had heard plenty of stories about werewolves but learning about them was a different kettle of fish altogether.

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Avery pulled a face at her question, pulling his attention from her to glimpse the page with intent, looking as if he was about to read her his answer ." -Lycanthropy is a curse that begins like as an affliction passed on through the venomous bite of a werewolf. When it manifests, the afflicted will forever be cursed to live as a wolf on the night of the full moon, after a excruciating physio-" He hesitated: "Physio-logical change that changes the structure of their bones and other features. To date, there is no known cure. -" He read, or paraphrased from parts of the page, sending her an alarmed look. "Well I don't know about you Raizel, but I can't see that there's much to like. I hope the school is protected well enough." He gave, showing another glimpse at his own nerves. Avery wasn't a big boy, nor did he seem particularly strong; but what boy did at 11.

"At least we can rely on the -Curse of Bogies-." He smiled and began to shift through the book. "Mucus Ad Nauseam afflicts the recipient of the spell with a nasty cold and an extremely runny nose that can cause the victim to collapse!" He read, surprise written over his face. "I didn't think it was that strong by the sounds of it, just another pranking spell."

He closed the book then, tossing it onto the free seat next to him. "Well now I certainly won't be using it on you, unless you wanted to know what it was like. -- And listen, my mum says that a rising ride lifts all boats, so if you're encouraged I'm sure you will pay it forward and maybe it'll come back to me!" He smiled, unknowing of how apt his advice was. He leaned back in the plush quilted seats then, peering around the cabin with more attention to detail this time.

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He folded his arms around his chest and smiled, content now that they had spent some time talking, and that it seemed to be getting easier. "-What do they give them? - Like to avoid hurting others." Much like her, he had a vision of werewolves running around the school, rampaging uncontrollably, though he shook the thought and nodded it away. "I just find them really interesting and learning more about them seems very fun. Not like I will go looking for them on my own though. No sir, that's very dangerous." He nodded again at that, considering that and seeming fairly uncertain about what he was about to say: "Well I'm not sure Hogwarts would allow them to come here, too dangerous! Unless they have some kind of way of helping them. That'd be a great question to ask a professor though. - They're definitely on the scary side of interesting, that's for sure."

"I sure wouldn't like having a cold to the point of collapsing." He returned his thoughts to the Curse of Bogies causing another grimace to come from his lips as he looked towards the book again, thinking about how much he looked forward to learning from it, no matter how scary or dangerous. "I'm sure it's not as bad as they make out, else why would they teach it to us first years! -- Though, it does make the 'Bogeyman' a little more frightening." He chuckled again, pulling his feet up onto the chair and moving his folded arms to fold around the tops of his knees as she spoke again:

And yeah, all the encouragement you're giving, they will be rewarded greatly for sure. If you ever find yourself in trouble, feel free to ask for my help. Maybe, I can aid you with it. Or if you need company. It is only natural for one to return the favor." This made him smile then, canting his head slightly to the side in a moment of genuine reception of that, offering her a serious nod. "I appreciate that. Thanks Raizel, I'll bank on that favour for sure." He smiled, which grew into a smirk and then a grin.

Avery seemed to have settled into the car, leaning as far as he could into the plush chairs as he possibly could, content with watching the trees and hills roll past the window.

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Avery shook his head, causing a lick of his pitch dark hair fall from its place in his fringe; oh course they wouldn't compromise the safety of students at Hogwarts by letting feral beasts roam the dormitories and such. Avery himself found himself skirting the line between dangerous and hate, but it came mostly from fear. Perhaps time would change his view as he learned more about them, but for now his faith in the school was strong and he didn't think he had anything to worry about outside of lessons. With that topic done, he kept his dark eyes on the passing landscape wrinkling his nose in thought.
His attention turned back to her when she was talking about the curse again: "If that's the case, maybe one could even use it to skip class." and in that moment he couldn't help but sprout an equally mischievous grin. "Skipping is bad though." she had said, but he didn't think so; in fact he turned up his lips in a kind of facial 'shrug'; he could certainly see some classes he wouldn't mind skipping.

"Ancient runes doesn't really have any 'real' applications, I don't think. - I don't know, maybe it would be useful. I personally think that students should be allowed to specialise instead of doing all classes; maybe a range of them. Then outside of school they would be even better at their jobs!" Whether or not he had thought of that previously, or on the spot, was hard to tell. He seemed a bright boy, with a little spark of chaos to him that if nurtured could become a flame.

"I am glad that you accepted. Really I am. I will feel bad for not being able to return what you've done for me to be honest. Friends look out for each other after all." She said to him with a smile, he wasn't quite sure how to take that and so he offered her a timid smile in return. "Friends look out for each other indeed, I'll remember that." He said, content enough to consider her a friend given that they were to go through this together; come what may in regards to their houses. It was good to have friends, he thought; especially with what's to come.

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"I suppose that's true enough, there's still so much to learn." Avery gave to her first point, which was entirely true of their world and the world of the muggles; he shouldn't dismiss something that could be quite important; perhaps that is how people end up going down the wrong path, acting in accordance to their preconception. Avery made the decision to try and be actively open to all subjects; he would not give himself one exception; his mind was on achieving.

"If that were the case, what subjects would you specialist in Avery?"

He liked the idea about specialisation particularly. His mind racing at her question to the point where she could practically see his brain on a broomstick written across his features. The curious boy was enraptured in this question, diguring out all the possible futures he might have and which subjects would best suit them. Of course the usual ones came up; he imagined himself a wand maker, a professional quidditch maker, perhaps even as an auror or even the minster himself. Such were all fun thoughts, but they were clouded; not only by youth, but by the fear that he might possibly stray too far from his designated path, much like someone else he knew. He had to shake his attention free then, lest he fell down a dark hole that would prove to upset him for the rest of the journey.

"Uh well, now that I think about it, it's better to get a rounded education; else you risk taking ones learning and perhaps, viewpoits, to the extreme and that serves to help no one." He gave, by merlin did he think he was beginning to sound like his mother. He offered her a small smile, as if to apologise for the boring answers. "But if I 'had' to choose, probably Charms, Defence against the Dark Arts and- and Astronomy." There, he gave an interesting answer. He probably wouldn't have chosen Astronomy if he had to, but heck who's to say star-gazing can't be fun. By rights, it could easily give him the space to think about other subjects with a view.

He smiled at her then, properly.