Unexpected Company During the Storm PV Madi McQuade Finished

Madi had not gone down to dinner. She was invested in her book and didn't notice the students around her getting up and heading to the Great Hall. She didn't even notice anyone was gone until some came back. But she had an excuse for her lack of attentiveness. She had a book, and she often thought books were the only things worth paying attention to.

It was a book she had checked out weeks ago, but hidden under the large pile of books on her bedside table, she hadn't seen it until recently. It wasn't a book other people would call interesting, necessarily, as when most students had to read something they tended to avoid the history genre.

Lightning flashed, illuminating the corner Madi was sitting in. Rain pounded against the window and the ground. The thunderstorm was only getting worse. Rain fell heavier, lightning strikes became more constant, and the thunder was getting louder.

Eventually, she couldn't stand the sudden bursts of light that would come through the window and she got up. She picked up her stack of books. There were so many that they went up past her head. But Madi didn't need to see forward to be able to navigate around the library. She'd been there so many times that she knew exactly where she was going.

She went to the second floor to put the books she had finished away. Having five left in her stack, she went to go back to the first floor of the library so she could head to her dormitory. As she was crossing the library, she ran into a boy.

She was glad she hadn't fallen over, but every one of her books went tumbling out of her arms and all over the floor.

"Sorry!" Madi apologized, bending down to pick up her books, and she heard her name and looked up to see who she had run into. "It's okay, Simon, it was my fault, I couldn't see where I was going." Simon handed her two of her books. "Yeah, about four hours ago. When did you get here?" Madi asked, standing up with all of her books. She held them off to the side, so this time she could see.

They headed down to the first floor, which was now completely empty. Every few minutes the entire room would illuminate from a lightning strike.

"Again, really sorry for running into you." Madi said.

Interacting with: @Simon Tilia

"Yeah, about four hours ago. When did you get here?"

"I don't know exactly, I lost track of the time while I was reading. Maybe an hour", said Simon and got up with Madi before following her down to the first floor.

Simon's impression of Madi was that she was a quiet but hard-working girl. Like so many other Ravenclaws, himself included, she usually had her nose in a book. He did not know much about her, however, except that she was Muggle-born, but he often caught himself wondering what was going through her head. She seemed to be a deep thinker, but there was also something tormented about her expression from time to time, as if she was weighed down by her thoughts. Or perhaps it was just the look of determination and concentration – he knew that she was doing well in school. She seemed like a student who both had a genuine interest for learning and the ambition to use her full potential.

Besides, maybe the explanation was even simpler – maybe he was just not so good at reading people. After all, he had just begun to learn that girls at this age were like mysteries. Sometimes they said one thing but meant another. It was all a bit confusing to him and quite a difference from primary school.

"Again, really sorry for running into you", said Madi.

“No, you shouldn't apologize! It was completely my fault. I had my head in the clouds. I was reading this… never mind what I was reading, but… Wait”, said Simon and stopped. “Did you say you came here four hours ago? You haven’t eaten? Would you like me to follow you to the kitchen? I’m sure the house elves would be happy to get you something. Besides, I’m still a bit hungry myself.” That was true. Simon was always hungry since he began growing more rapidly before the summer. And maybe they could keep each other company on their way back to the common room before curfew. Having said this without thinking, he was afraid that he was intervening in Madi's study bubble or forcing his company on her. "If you want to, that is", he added, as humbly as possible.

Interacting with @Madi McQuade

"Yeah, that happens all the time to me." Madi nodded, falling in step with Simon. They walked in silence for a while.

Madi admitted to herself that she barely knew anything about Simon. Or any Ravenclaws in general. She tended to keep to herself, to invest in her own world rather than other people's. All she knew about Simon was that he did well in school, he was in her House, and he was a lot more outgoing than Madi was.

Madi told herself she was going to be more attentive around people and try to learn things about them, so she wouldn't have another moment where she felt guilty for not knowing much about a person.

“No, you shouldn't apologize! It was completely my fault. I had my head in the clouds. I was reading this… never mind what I was reading, but… Wait”, said Simon and stopped. “Did you say you came here four hours ago? You haven’t eaten? Would you like me to follow you to the kitchen? I’m sure the house elves would be happy to get you something. Besides, I’m still a bit hungry myself.” Madi paused before answer and thought about it.

"I've skipped dinner before. A lot, actually. But... I am kind of hungry." Madi admitted. She hadn't realized how hungry she was before this. Her last meal had been lunch and she hadn't gotten a lot to eat. "But I'll have to follow you, I've never been down to the kitchens before." Madi said. In fact, Madi had never even seen a house-elf before, although she really wanted to. She'd read all about them. This was partially why she wanted to go down to the kitchens. "Wait, one second." Madi said, and put her stack of books on the table she normally sat by. "Okay, now I'm ready."

"I've skipped dinner before. A lot, actually. But... I am kind of hungry. But I'll have to follow you, I've never been down to the kitchens before."

"Of course", said Simon and gave her a small smile. "But I can't say I know exactly where it is. All I know is that it's that stair where the Hufflepuffs go down to their common room, but I've never been down there. But I'm sure we'll find it."

There was something about the way she said 'a lot, actually'. He remembered when his big sister Clara was around 14. She had trouble eating and one day his parents came into his room to talk to him about it, asking him not to speak with Clara about food or about eating, or making comments during breakfast or dinner. He never understood it back then because he was too young, but as he got older he learned that some teenagers got quite anxious about their weight or was just going through so much emotionally, socially or psychologically that they could not eat (at least that was what his mother had told him). Eventually his sister got out of it and she never had any problems since. He hoped Madi did not have the same troubles as his sister. Either way, he was happy to join her for an excursion to a part of Hogwarts which he had not visited before, and he was very curious to finally get to know Madi McQuade.

"Wait, one second", she said and put her books on one of the tables. "Okay, now I'm ready."

"Alright? Let's go", said Simon with a smile, put the strap of his brown leather school bag on his shoulder. A couple of flashes from a lightning strike lit up the library and another rolling thunder could be heard. "It's a nasty weather outside, isn't it? By the way, you're Muggle-born, right? And what do you think of Hogwarts so far?"

Interacting with @Madi McQuade

"Okay. How hard will it be to find?" Madi shrugged.

Madi thought about all the food that she could get and all the house-elves she could meet. She wondered what the kitchen looked like, and she wondered how they got the food up to the Great Hall. Maybe they put a charm on it to appear. She had always been interested by that.

But Madi could not wait until she got some food. She vowed to go to dinner the next night, and not let any books stop her.

"It's nasty weather outside, isn't it? By the way, you're Muggle-born, right? And what do you think of Hogwarts so far?" Simon asked. Madi thought about it.

"It's amazing. It's huge and all the enchantments on it are incredible. The things in paintings move, the classes all teach us to do things I never knew possible." Madi said.

Growing up in a Muggle home, she hadn't been raised to despise the thought of magic, but just to think it didn't exist at all. Nobody addressed it, so Madi had never found a reason to think it was real. At least, not until she started showing signs of it.

"You grew up knowing about Hogwarts and magic, right? Wasn't your father a wizard?" Madi asked as they continued walking, thinking back to everything she knew about Simon, which wasn't much.

Interacting with: @Simon Tilia

"It's amazing. It's huge and all the enchantments on it are incredible. The things in paintings move, the classes all teach us to do things I never knew possible."

He chuckled at Madi's romantic description of it all.

"I totally agree with you. I only found out that I was a wizard two years ago, so it's all a bit overwhelming to me still", said Simon and closed the library door silently behind them.

"You grew up knowing about Hogwarts and magic, right? Wasn't your father a wizard?"

"Yes, that's true! Well, I know some things. But far from all. I still feel like I have a lot to learn, discover and get a better understanding of. My mother works at the university. So she's a Muggle. And my big sister is a squib, so we kind of thought that I was a squib too. Learning that I wasn't... Well, that was quite a big change for us. Not at least for me", Simon said. "But I think that's the best thing that ever happened to me. Otherwise I wouldn't be . . ." He looked around the hallway, the armor statues, lit torches, moving paintings. ". . . here." He paused for a moment. "Do you have any siblings?"

As they reached the end of the corridor they greeted one of the ghosts before moving down the Grand Staircase. They could still hear the roaring thunder from outside. Simon found it quite cosy to walk around the castle after dark, especially when rain was pouring outside. It was a shame that they were not allowed to be out of their common rooms after 8 o'clock. He would have loved to explore the castle all night long because there always seemed to be new rooms, new corridors or new corners to find. Since Madi was a Muggle-born and new to it all, he wondered silently to himself if she would be interested in discovering more of the castle together with him. Perhaps I should ask her? Maybe she is just as curious as me? Or it'll just be weird. Perhaps she does not want to. . .

"So", said Simon, with his eyes in the ground, trying to grasp for another subject to talk about. "What do you like to do, when you're not at Hogwarts? Or when you're not studying?" He looked at Madi as they waited for one of the moving stairs to take them to the floor below them.

Interacting with @Madi McQuade

"Hogwarts is pretty amazing. Like I said in my very romantic explanation." Madi shrugged. "It must be hard for your sister, two of her family members being magic and she isn't." Madi sometimes said her thoughts out loud. She thought about how his sister would never get to see Hogwarts. How she could only imagine it, and realized how that must be true for Madi's younger sister too, when she got older.

Madi listened to the rain pound against windows. She had always loved rain. When she was younger, the minute it started to rain, she would go outside and run around her street in it, her hair and clothes completely drenched.

Remembering those things made her think about how different she was now.

"So," said Simon, "What do you like to do, when you're not at Hogwarts? Or when you're not studying?"

"I really like running. My parents used to take me and my little sister out to my grandmother's every summer in France, and she would take me running out in her open field. I also, of course, love reading. What about you? What interesting hobbies do you have?" Running was one of Madi's favorite things, it was the only Muggle sport she liked.

"This is near the Hufflepuff common room, I'm sure of it." Madi said, looking around where they were walking. She had, of course, never been inside the Hufflepuff common room, but she'd been near it.

Interacting with: @Simon Tilia

"It must be hard for your sister, two of her family members being magic and she isn't."

Simon chuckled a little. "Honestly, I think she's glad that she is a squib. Or muggle, as she sees herself. She was never really interested in the wizarding world and I think all she wanted was to live a normal life or pretend as if our lives were normal, despite my dad being a wizard and working at the Ministry of Magic."

As they walked down the Grand Stair case he learned that Madison liked running. He did not except that, given how engaged she was in school. The fact that she was able to combine that with running was impressive!

". . . What about you? What interesting hobbies do you have?"

"Well, I'd say I'm more of a tree climber and explorer rather than runner. I like being outdoors though. And I also like listening to music, like, Muggle pop music. Reading books, stargazing and that sort of thing", explained Simon. It was hard for him to pinpoint only one or a few hobbies, but he tried his best to keep it short.

"This is near the Hufflepuff common room, I'm sure of it", said Madison when they went down the staircase to the underground corridor.

"Yes. I've heard that if you fail to get inside Hufflepuff's common room you get a shower of vinegar all over yourself." He laughed a little. "Oh, speaking of which! That's right . . . I quite forgot." He turned around and walked back to one of the paintings on the walls. "This is gonna sounds really weird. But you tickle the pear." He pointed on a painting depicting fruits, and smiled. "Would you like to do us the honor?"

Interacting with @Madi McQuade

'Weird. I wonder why she wants to be normal. Being different makes life more exciting." Madi could not understand how anyone would want to be a Muggle. Maybe they thought magic was dangerous? Or strange? Some people did seem to hate strange things.

Madi listened to Simon list his hobbies. "That's awesome, how you like to do so many things. I think you have way more hobbies you didn't mention. " Madi said. Simon seemed like the kind of person who was interested or liked doing a lot of things.

"Yes. I've heard that if you fail to get inside Hufflepuff's common room you get a shower of vinegar all over yourself." Simon said. Madi's eyes widened. She was glad she wasn't trying to get in the Hufflepuff common room.

"That sounds awful! I wonder why they decided to use vinegar." Madi knew that House common rooms didn't let you in if you didn't belong to the House in which the common room was for, but never thought so far as to shower vinegar on someone for trying to get in.

Madi thought that maybe Simon was messing with her, but she couldn't tell. She had always been bad at figuring those things out.

"This is gonna sound really weird. But you tickle the pear." Simon pointed at a painting that showed fruit, including a pear. "Would you like to do us the honor?"

"Why not?" Madi shrugged. "I've always wanted to tickle a pear." She gave a small laugh and went forward to the painting, brushing her fingers against the pear. Apparently, that was enough, because an entry to the kitchen opened and they stepped inside.

There were house-elves bustling around the kitchen, looking cheery. Madi thought they looked a bit like the dolls her sister had. Madi had rarely been this excited since coming to Hogwarts. She was finally going to get to meet a house-elf! And she was so hungry food sounded like the best thing in the world.

Interacting with: @Simon Tilia