Caught in the Act… of Drawing PV Alexx Closed

Private to @Alexx Séverin

Ruby was sitting in the Library. She had already read several books today, been outside, socialized a little, hung out in the common room, and put in her notebooks the information she had found out relating to people. Now, she was observing some more and drawing. Her eyes darted around the room. The young Slytherin was calculating, analytical, and observant by nature, and she was almost always fully aware of her surroundings. This meant that hardly anything went unnoticed by her, but it also meant that she picked up a lot of knowledge – whether it was stuff to do with people or events. She had a love of learning – a deep desire to find out all she could – and she fully intended on satisfying that as much as she could throughout her life.

A pencil was held in her hand, and it darted across the paper as she sketched, capturing every detail of the scene in front of her. Gradually, it became more and more realistic as she added shading and tiny details, somehow managing to make it seem almost like a photo. Years upon years of practicing for hours every day had got her to this point, and she was proud of it by now. After the scene was completed, she flipped the page and started adding sketches of each individual separately. These were ones that would be copied over to her notebooks or simply stuck on. One might ask what the contents of these notebooks were. The answer: hundreds – perhaps thousands – of observations and notes on everyone she came across. The sections on people each contained a sketch (or multiple ones) and all the information she had learned about them, whatever that included – be it a name, house, behavior, where she had seen them, actual things she had heard them say, or anything else. If she encountered them again or heard them mentioned, she would add more to that individual's section.

Many would definitely call her creepy for having these notebooks – possibly even a stalker or a freak. She was none of these things, but she saw the value in being prepared. Prepared for what? Well, she didn't exactly know that, but if she had information on people, then it gave her an advantage. She wanted to know who people were, and building up this collection of knowledge was something that, for some reason, interested her slightly. Perhaps it was to know her potential enemies and friends. If she ever got on someone's bad side or got into a fight, she would probably have some information on them, even if it seemed trivial. Sometimes even the smallest thing could be of great use. In previous schools, she had done this same thing, and it had been incredibly useful in many situations.

Although her good memory generally preserved these things, writing them down and occasionally reviewing it increased the chance that she would be able to easily remember stuff about people when she needed to. The only problem was that putting something in writing meant that it could be found. If someone ever came across her notebooks or managed to steal them from her, it wouldn't particularly cause her harm, but it could then give that person an advantage over other people. There was also the possibility that that person could then use the knowledge for bad purposes. Thankfully, nobody knew about them so far. She was very, very careful that she didn't say anything about them or get them out when others were around. If she let the slightest thing slip, it could have bad consequences that could affect her and others. That was part of the reason why she didn't carry them around, and she did many of the drawings separately.

She was currently drawing a nearby girl – one of the prefects of Slytherin that she had seen around quite a lot. The girl was a second year named Alexx, if Ruby was not mistaken. The sketch was beginning to come to life. She focused carefully on it – not looking up, but instead concentrating on the mental image she had now formed. She wouldn't notice if Alexx came over, as she was now fully absorbed in the act of drawing. Although it was tilted towards her, it wouldn't be enough to stop Alexx from seeing – provided the older girl was looking this way. If something was said, she would then be caught by surprise. Somehow, people generally didn't notice when she was drawing them, and so she hadn't been confronted regarding it in this school before. This could possibly be the first time at Hogwarts.