12 Aug 2023, 12:54
Duelling Aspirants Assemble
In retrospect, it was honestly weird that Mahlioz was in the Trophy Room. After all, she was the one who always complained about sports, couldn't mount a broom without getting nauseous, and had never gone to a quidditch game in her life. Sports did not, to say the least, have very much importance in her life. And despite all that, here she was in a room that was all about them.
Time: 11:04
Mentions: X
Thoughts
The reason was that Mahlioz was curious. It had been a year and three weeks since she'd first stepped into this school, and she was the first to admit she hadn't explored very much of it. Sure, she knew her way around, and could get to her classes fine, but there were so many potentially interesting rooms she'd never set foot in.
So she was planning on changing that. Starting with the Trophy Room. Why? Because she actually did have a very slight interest in one sport. Duelling. Ever since the beginning, it had intrigued her. Sending spells at each other until one of the two could barely move anymore? (At least, that's what it sounded like). Awesome!
She'd even signed up for the Slytherin duelling team, though she had no idea if there was any chance she'd make it. She had absolutely no experience whatsoever - she'd heard there were unofficial duels for aspiring duellists and things of the sort, but she was always too shy to try. What if she made a fool of herself? Then again, making a fool of herself unofficially would be better than doing so officially. So she'd have to try one of those at one point. But for now... she preferred the safety of the Trophy Room.
Walking through the room, she admired each trophy, though she had no idea what differentiated them. They all looked pretty much the same to her. She kind of wanted to reach out and touch them, but she had no idea if that was allowed or not, so she refrained from doing so. The silence was amazing. Saturdays were usually quite busy down in the Slytherin common room and the hallways, but here... not a sound could be heard but her footsteps. That is, until the door creaked open, making Mahlioz jump around to see who had just walked in.
4 Sep 2023, 22:11
Duelling Aspirants Assemble
Artemis liked museums. There was something about them that made history feel... tangible. Touchable. Something about how a physical artifact can tell a story about a moment that has already passed, marking its place in all of time and making it all the more real. Something special that breathed life into mere accounts, purely from the evidence of an object that takes up mass and space in the world. Something that told him those experiences existed in the same way his experiences exist now, giving him that strange sense of awareness of other lives outside of his own. It was the past surviving long enough to be brought forward into the future.
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He didn't know how to put any of these thoughts into words, so he just tells people he likes to look at stuff for fun.
Going to school at Hogwarts was just like being in a museum in a way, on account of the fact that they were literally walking the halls of an extraordinarily well-preserved Scottish castle. Even now, nearly a month into his stay, Artemis still felt amazed, trailing one hand against the cold stone walls as he ambled along, his feet taking the stairs up, up, up to the third floor. The night before, he'd been staring at the maps in the Steppe Eagle dorm, wondering where he’d find a collection of Hogwarts history that was more than just words sitting on a page in a book from the library and more tangible than a lecture from a professor’s mouth. What he was looking for was less of a second hand account and more of a first hand experience. It had taken a bit of rifling and digging through the layers and layers of papers on the walls (somebody really ought to make a detailed map of Hogwarts for the sole purpose of sneaking around), but eventually, Artemis found what he was looking for.
Artemis liked museums, which is how he found himself finally coming to a stop in front of a heavy wrought iron door, tall and imposing in its size.
The Trophy Room. There was bound to be heaps of stuff to look at there for fun! Medals, prizes, plaques, trophies, he’d even bet that there were a ton of awards for sports competitions; if he was lucky, maybe he’d be able to find out which house won the Hogwarts dueling championship in the year before… With a small huffed breath of excitement, he leaned his shoulder against the rough surface and pushed, feeling the heavy door creak and move with more ease than he expected. Actually, it was far easier than he anticipated, and Artemis nearly tripped over his own feet with how quickly it swung open against his weight.
“Whaughh- bloody-!” His right knee banged against the edge of the door loudly as he spluttered and grasped at the handle for dear life. Somehow, someway, Artemis managed to remain upright and save himself from a disastrous meeting with the piece of history that was the ancient grime of the stone floor, heart leaping from the close call. A small, slightly rattled but mostly sheepish laugh made its way out of his throat. He felt incredibly silly. At least no one was here to see that, Artemis thought to himself cheerfully as he finally straightened up, shaking his leg out and pushing aside the twinge in his knee that promised a bruise later. His brown eyes glanced up to meet green ones.
Someone had been here to see that.
“Oh! Ha! Haha.” Play it cool. Maybe it wasn’t that embarrassing; it was an easy mistake to make after all! Artemis cleared his throat and decided that he was just going to pretend like his fumbling entrance hadn’t happened and that his knee wasn’t smarting. Not at all. “...Are you here to look at stuff too? Trophies, I mean?” He'd heard that kids got sent here for detention sometimes, so you couldn't be too sure. Even if the student in front of him didn't seem like the troublemaking type.
Reducio
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Hello, Anxiety~ You've come to keep me company~
Stm: 5 | Evs: 7 | Str: 3 | Wis: 8 | Arc: 5 | Acc: 7
17 Sep 2023, 21:27
Duelling Aspirants Assemble
The creaking of the door was followed by some other, rather louder, sounds. A boy walked - well, more fell - into the room, holding onto the door's handle for dear life and cursing as they nearly fell over, bashing their leg into the door. And I'd thought I was clumsy. This amount of clumsiness probably broke records. Mahlioz was kind of impressed. Once he'd managed to stay alive, he laughed slightly, somewhat sheepishly, before straightening up and shaking out his leg. It seemed he had not yet noticed her.
Time: 11:04
Mentions: X
Thoughts
Which did not last long. As soon as he glanced up, his eyes widened and he laughed a little self-consciously, then cleared his throat. Mahlioz wasn't really sure what to say. That had been rather... entertaining, to say the least, and if she was around anyone she knew, she very probably would have burst out laughing. But she didn't know this guy, and he seemed adamant to act like it hadn't happened, as proven by his quick change of subject when he asked if she was here to look at the trophies too.
"Er... yeah," the Slytherin replied, before glancing at his leg. "Is your knee okay?" Maybe he was trying to act tough or something, but that door was made of iron. Her mind wandered back to his question again, and she looked behind her at the many trophies collecting dust (although maybe there was a spell against that. They all seemed pretty shiny to her).
"Do you know which ones are which? I... don't know my sports very well, and I have no idea what these are supposed to mean." Maybe he was more interested in them than she was - after all, he was in the Trophy Room. Although that didn't mean too much, considering she was there as well.
She would've asked why he was here, but he'd said "too", which implied he was here for the same reason she was. Now that the original surprise of him falling into the room was over, she was able to get a decent look at him. He was way shorter than she was, probably a first year. And if his clumsiness was any indicator, he probably got himself into trouble a little more often than she did. He didn't seem like someone she would approach on any other day, but he was here now. Might as well make the most of it. "I'm Mahlioz. Who're you?"