Mischief Meets Mischief PV Jack Burnett Closed

Another Slytherin wearing his typical school uniform wandered through the library, looking for something to read. As usual, he ended up heading toward the history section first since history was his favorite subject and one of his favorite pastimes was to compare records of events in history books. It was rare that he ever came across anyone with the same or a similar passion for history and history books that he had, however, so when he spotted someone seated on the floor with a familiar history book in hand, sincerely reading it, he was quite surprised.

After a few blinks, Jack realized he had seen the blonde boy around the school before. His name was Tristan Theramin, though Jack hadn't ever really gotten to know him well. They used to be in the same year, but for reasons unknown to Jack, Tristan had been absent from school for a while and had consequently been held back a grade. Curious, the fourth year strode over and seated himself beside his fellow snake, leaning toward him as if attempting to try to read over his shoulder.

"Hey," he said softly, not wanting to startle Tristan or get in trouble for speaking too loudly in the library. "What are you reading? Is it for class?" That would have explained why he was reading a history book if that was the case. Perhaps he had some assignment for History due and had to read about a certain event for it.

@Tristan Theramin

Noble House of Theramin

Outfit Reducio White undershirt Green vest with embroidered texture Tie with the same texture Black suit Green handkerchief with the same embroidered texture.	Languages English Parseltongue French Hebrew Spanish Thoughts	Age 14
Mentioning @Jack Burnett	Location Library	IC Date 10/22/2022

Mischief Meets Mischief

Tristan looked up and saw the person asking him the question. He believed he had seen that boy before in the Slytherin common room. Jack, something? Tristan could see his impishness from a mile away, a spark of mischief in his eyes. He seemed genuinely interested in what he was reading so he was pleased to share. Tristan replied quietly with a gentle smile, shaking his head, “ Nope, it isn’t for class, just for my own benefit and for fun. I enjoy studying the past because I think it can teach a lot of lessons to us here in the present. The book’s about Dumbledore and Grindelwald if you’ve heard of them. And I like learning in general.”
Tristan sounded banal to his own mind but he was gauging the waters. If Jack was as intelligent as he was, he would reveal more of himself, more mischief, more of his slight coldness, but for now he would start with this truth that was genuine but not as like young loopy dreamer with blatant emotion. He added on, “I also like Norse Mythology, or well the Marvel Cinematic Version of it, because of Loki as well.” Perhaps that would intrigue Burnett into keeping a friendship with him. He smirked in a friendly way, and quipped, “After all, green, gold, and mischief, who could ask for more?”

Upon hearing that Tristan was reading a history book for fun, Jack's face lit up. He eagerly nodded when the blonde boy stated he thought the past could teach a lot of lessons to those of them in the present. "I completely agree!" he cried enthusiastically, pleased that Tristan seemed to be of a like mind. He must have been a pretty clever teen. "And I like learning in general, too. History's one of my favorite things to learn about, though. Anything interesting or new you find out about Dumbledore and Grindelwald?" He was aware of both wizards, of course, and could see why Tristan would choose to read about them for his own entertainment.

When his peer mentioned Norse Mythology and Loki, Jack's thick brows rose, both surprised and intrigued. "You like tricksters, too? That's so cool! Loki's really fascinating to me also, but I'm sorry I don't know as much about the Marvel version as I do about the actual Norse Mythology version. Are they really different?" He chuckled at the question about who could ask for more than green, gold, and mischief. "What do you like about Loki?"

Tristan reminded Jack a little of one of his old Snape dormmates, Henry, who had liked Loki so much that he had named his cat after the god. It had been a fitting name, too, with how much trouble that cat had gotten into. He wondered if Henry had preferred the Marvel version or the Norse Mythology version, though. Maybe he had liked both.

@Tristan Theramin

Noble House of Theramin

Outfit Reducio White undershirt Green vest with embroidered texture Tie with the same texture Black suit Green handkerchief with the same embroidered texture.	Languages English Parseltongue French Hebrew Spanish Thoughts	Age 14
Mentioning @Jack Burnett	Location Library	IC Date 10/22/2022

Mischief Meets Mischief

Tristan listened intently to the conversation letting his face turn into a cold, unassuming face, although he was far more interested in normal banalities now than in the years before, he still found such blatant excitement and emotion disappointing. It seemed though that Burnett was intrigued in the conversation and curious and it was easy to see so. On the other hand, Tristan’s face was what the Muggles denote, a poker face. Leonard Oaksworth was a far better companion than most, in that regard, everyone else seemed so childlike compared to him. However, Tristan had heard of Burnett’s mischief and decided it was a necessary sacrifice to have someone as a companion who was up to as much mischief as him. He replied back, “In this book, it explains the Deathly Hallows and the two’s desire to search for them. It is indeed very interesting that though fate prevented them from achieving such, the deathly hallows were a great part of the string that entwined their life. The Elder Wand, the Invisibility Cloak, and the Resurrection Stone were an important part of the era thirty years ago, after all. The search for the elder wand was what killed Grindelwald, Harry Potter owned the Cloak himself, and the stone was owned by no one but Tom Riddle himself.” He paused for a moment, smiling slightly, his eyes sparkling and filled with mischief. He continued with a comment on Loki, “Indeed, Loki is quite different between the two. As you may recall, Loki was the representation of fire in Norse Mythology, but in the Marvel Universe, he’s quite more like a snake, Slytherin-like, if I may say. He doesn’t have any children, and Odin is his father in the movies rather than his relative, and many other changes exist as well.” After that sentence, Tristan paused to think about what he liked about Loki, and he couldn’t help but remember his first conversation with Leonard, years ago who had said,

Leonard Oaksworth wrote:“So, if no small talk, what would you like to talk about? Perhaps, plot to take over the world? Or plan the greatest dragon heist in history? We’ve already established we have much different ideas of recreational activities from everybody else.”

So Tristan answered the question similar to what he had said beforehand to Leonard, “What I enjoy about Loki is that I can relate to him. The world has trivial meaning with its recreational activities, emotional trivialities, and stupidity.It blames the strange and labels people like me sociopaths. No, the power to control and read minds is much better and Loki is quite good at such grand scales of manipulation.”

Jack, who was surprised to find his passion met with a nonchalant expression from Tristan, mellowed somewhat. Did he have something against excitement, perhaps? Well, whatever the case, he didn't comment on it, so Jack didn't bother mentioning or asking about it, either. Instead, he concentrated on the reply he got from the other snake regarding what he had read up on Dumbledore and Grindelwald. Truly fascinating stuff.

Tristan might not have been a fan of blatant excitement, but Jack could tell by the look in the other boy's eyes and the way that he talked that he was particularly passionate about his admiration for Loki. "Isn't he a lot like a snake in Norse Mythology too, though?" Jack asked, confused. "Since he's the Norse God of Mischief and he tricked a bunch of other people and gods?" That, at least, he thought the Marvel stories and Norse ones had in common about the trickster. Maybe he was wrong, though.

Jack nodded slowly when Tristan explained that he felt he could relate to Loki. When the power to control and read minds was mentioned, though, Jack's expression changed into something inscrutable. He regarded Tristan as if seeing him for the first time and then finally smirked.

"If you ask me, I'd say controlling people is a little too easy to do if you can read minds. It takes the fun out of things if you can't figure out what people are thinking for yourself. Can Marvel's Loki read minds? I don't remember that being one of the things he was able to do."

He paused, allowing Tristan time to respond before continuing on with a new thought. "Speaking of reading minds, though, have you heard of Legilimency?"

@Tristan Theramin

Noble House of Theramin

Outfit Reducio White undershirt Green vest with embroidered texture Tie with the same texture Black suit Green handkerchief with the same embroidered texture.	Languages English Parseltongue French Hebrew Spanish Thoughts	Age 14
Mentioning @Jack Burnett	Location Library	IC Date 10/22/2022

Mischief Meets Mischief

Tristan now understood that he had explained his idea incorrectly as Burnett had thought the phrase “read minds” was the actual magical power, but he had meant rather the power of deduction. He would have that misunderstanding corrected soon enough. As for the question about Loki, the way Burnett understood it was correct but Tristan had a different perspective on it. Tristan replied back, “I apologize for creating a misunderstanding. While you thought the words mind reading were literal, I had meant it figuratively. Have you heard of the muggle detective Sherlock Holmes, and his skill of deduction. Similarily, I admire the skills of reading people and their behavior and understanding them deeply enough to manipulate them, whether or not you do manipulate them. In the same way, allowing us to control the people through reducing their deepest secrets. Perhaps if you remember Grindelwald’s character, it is similar to his skills as a master manipulator and planner that I desire.”
Tristan paused and smirked, saying, “Supposedly the new Loki series involves a version of Loki that reads minds… As for Legilimency, let us say that I am yet unable to learn as youth prevents me from gaining that skill. As for the differences between MCU Loki and Norse Loki, I will start with the fact that Loki in Norse mythology is less ambitious snake but rather what fits the Prometheus myth, a character that brings creativity at a cost to human kind. Prometheus stole fire to give to humans allowing them to create but that creativity created negative consequences as well. Loki brings fire or in his case rebirth through Ragnarok, which has both positive or negative consequences. In the MCU, he is the true epitome of Slytherin cunningness for the purpose of his own ambition, less of a creation mythos.” Perhaps he had ranted a bit, but he was indeed knowledgeable about many things after all.

"Ohh, reading people," Jack repeated, understanding better now what Tristan had been trying to say. "So...you aim to manipulate and control people that way?"

When Tristan mentioned 'the new Loki series', Jack thought he remembered watching that. Now that he had mentioned it, he did remember that version of Loki who had read minds. There had also been an Alligator Loki, though. That series was wild.

He continued to listen to Tristan, nodding occasionally to confirm he was paying attention. "It's a shame that the Marvel universe seemed to paint him as more of a villain than a trickster, though," Jack commented. "It was easy enough to know what he wanted because of his ambitions - a lust for power the same as any other comic book villain. I think the Norse Loki was a little more ambiguous. Still, it was pretty interesting how he seemed to change his mind to want to help Thor in the end. In the Marvel movies, I mean. I guess that kind of made him more of an antihero later on."

He sighed. "It would have been nice to see him have a little more fun, though; to show a little more of his mischievous and playful side rather than just his betraying and deceiving side all the time." The redhead looked to the blonde boy. "As for reading people and manipulating them, isn't that kind of easy to do? All you have to do is to get to know someone. How they think, what they like, what motivates them - stuff like that."

@Tristan Theramin

Tristan Theramin wrote: 12 Jun 2023, 01:01

Noble House of Theramin

Outfit Reducio White undershirt Green vest with embroidered texture Tie with the same texture Black suit Green handkerchief with the same embroidered texture.	Languages English Parseltongue French Hebrew Spanish Thoughts	Age 14
Mentioning @Jack Burnett	Location Library	IC Date 10/22/2022

Mischief Meets Mischief

Tristan listened to Burnett intently, giving slight inclinations of his head to display his attention. He nodded at Burnett’s description of Loki as well and what he desired from it. To answer Tristan gave a small smirk and said, “Indeed, some believe we Slytherin are villains or anti-hero’s as well like Loki but there is more to us than that.”
He took a moment to digest what the other teenager said and then replied, “I agree with you also on the fact that it focused on Loki’s ambition for power far more than other characteristics of his person, such as his mischief which was fun rather than evil in nature.”
He considered Burnett’s answers in whole and from what Tristan could tell, he would be amenable to planning a prank. So, Tristan asked with a slightly gentler smile, with a sparkle in his eyes, “On the topic of mischief however, are you up for planning a prank with me, Burnett?”
He realized then however that he had never answered Burnett’s question on Legilimancy. “I just recalled that I don’t believe I answered your question on Legilimency. I have heard of it but a characteristic of my being, my age, prevents me from gaining such a skill. But I do have another skill that allows me to communicate with beings other people cannot.” It was a great hint but he wanted to see how Burnett would react when he told him so.
“As for the last question,I can concede, Mr.Burnett, to the fact that it is easy if you have the skill but not many get away with it. I appreciate the ability to weave these stories together for years and years, manipulations, without being found. “

When Tristan asked if he was up for playing a prank with him, Jack began to grin. "A prank? Sure! I'm always up for a good prank. The hard part is coming up with a clever one. Did you have any ideas in mind? Of pranks or who to prank?"

He blinked when the blonde boy said a 'characteristic of his being' prevented him from gaining the skill of Legilimency. Then he frowned when it was said that it had something to do with snakes. "What would snakes have to do with not being able to learn Legilimency? Would they bite you or something if you tried to learn?" he asked with a chuckle.

Scratching his head at Tristan's last statement, he asked, "What do you mean by 'not many get away with it'? Get away with what? Getting to know someone? Why can't someone get away with that? Seems to me people are getting away with it all the time."

He wasn't quite understanding what Tristan meant about what ability he appreciated except that he seemed to admire people who could play the long game and bide their time with their schemes without being found out. There was something to be said for that for sure, but it required a lot of patience - patience that most people didn't have.

@Tristan Theramin