A "Dark" Secret Closed

Alyss was roaming the shelves, searching for any books that might catch her eye. There were many the made her consider plucking them off the shelf and continuing on with her day, but today Alyss felt picky. She was going to find the perfect book for herself.

It was really for her own pleasure that she looked, being able to read the short descriptions of as many as she wanted! This often meant it could take her hours to find an appropriate book for herself. Luckily for Alyss, she found one quite quickly.

Thanking her lucky stars, she looked around for a place to read. Alyss often found that she couldn’t sit in one of the regular seats for a long period of time, as her back would begin to hurt and she just couldn’t sit still long enough in a seat that wasn’t comfortable.

This led to her walking around the perimeter of the library, seeing quite a few people tucked away in their own little reading nooks. While Alyss patrolled the edges to look for a comfy seat, she came across a girl probably about her age. She was tucked into the corner, and there was no reading lamp in sight.

Perhaps someone had neglected to place one here, or perhaps it was moved. Either way, it left what looked to be a first year reading her book as though she wasn’t blanketed in darkness. Alyss paused her walking, eyes on what looked to be a Hufflepuff based upon her robes.

She gazed appreciatively at her, the girls eyes even flicking up to scan a nearby shelf. She had the best dark vision Alyss had ever seen. “Hey.. I’m Alyss, and I was wondering, how can you read in such a dark corner?” Alyss asked, neglecting to even ask the girl her own name.

Her curiosity clearing having gotten the better of her, she padded a little closer, and crouched down so that she would be eye level with the sitting badger, staring into her eyes. They almost looked to be faintly glowing in the dark, though that could just be Alyss’ eyes playing tricks on her.

Alyss had completely abandoned her quest to find a good reading spot with her book, and instead found herself drawn to the girl whe could see in the dark and chose to use such an awesome ability to read. Squinting at the title, Alyss only managed to make out the word “Magical”, which could be from a variety of subjects. “Oh, and what are you reading?”

Viviana sat reading for roughly a minute more before she was approached by a Slytherin, First Year, judging by the facial features, which would put them on the same playing field.

The girl, who calls herself Alyss, asked about her uncanny ability to read in the dark, though the girl seemed less freaked out and more curious. Of course, Viviana couldn't really tell her why....her mind flitted for an excuse, sentences in her mind going a mile a minute before she settled on...

"Eh...It's not too dark to me." Internally Viv facepalmed, externally she had an innocent, almost silly smile. Perhaps the answer would suffice? She hoped so at least. As Alyss got closer, Viviana curled into herself a little, keeping her lips tight over her teeth. She found herself combing her fingers through her wavy hair, subconsciously untangling it.

It appeared the girl Viv met would be here to stay, making as much room as possible, Viviana welcomed her by answering her second question, much more enthusiastic this time; "Oh! I'm reading a book on Magical Creatures, I think they're very fascinating, especially the Puffskeins."

In explaining this, the Hufflepuff moved a little, and a bit of the natural light hit her face, showing her sickly pale skin, as well as her green eyes, that had a tinge of grey in them, in contrast with this, Viviana's behavior was very healthy, she didn't "act" sick at all. It's nice to meet you Alyss, I should have probably lead with that." Viviana had this awkward way about her, being less articulate with words and making her sentences very brief, yet also having lots to say in those packages of dialogue.

Alyss cocked her head to the side, interest evident on her face. “Really? That’s so cool! Is it like genetic?” She asked, smiling. It was clear she didn’t mean any harm by the question. Although Alyss could be seen as nosey or a prying person, she was really just interested in everything that she couldn’t immediately understand, and never had any peeves about simply asking.

Alyss went to sit beside her, slowly lowering herself to the floor. She nodded in appreciation at the room Viviana made for her, noticing the extra step the other girl had taken. She put the book she had grabbed down, cover first. Unless the badger asked, she didn’t really want to explain her literature choice.

As Viviana began talking about the book she was reading, Alyss had a notable reaction to hearing about the topic. “No way, I think magical creatures are so cool too! I don’t think I’ve ever really heard of Puffskeins though, what are they?” Alyss was beaming, delighted that she happened to run into someone who found creatures just as cool and fascinating as she.

“Did you know that some non-magical creatures are actually really cool too? You should look into the poison dart frogs! They actually make themselves stand out so that predators don’t eat them. Isn’t that cool?” It was clear Alyss was very passionate about this, as she had started to rant about frogs, of all things, to the poor girl who seemingly just wanted to read in peace.

Alyss had always found animals fascinating, both magical and non-magical. Although magic always made everything more interesting, there were some spectacular things animals could accomplish without magic. It was something Alyss always found cool, because she was so used to using magic when needed, as that’s what her parents demonstrated for her. Alyss only ever saw a magic free household with her grandparents, and they weren’t the best role models for an 11 year old girl.

So the sheer ability that animals could contain amazed Alyss. Not only the magical, who were of course astounding, but also the normal ones, who could hang upside down for hours, or ingest toxic leaves, or mimic any sound they hear. All of these were real things animals could do, without magic. Upon hearing such things, Alyss wanted to share this with absolutely everyone else she could talk to.

This is what often led to her ranting about the wonders of animals, both magical and not. Even to strangers, such as she was right now.

”Complicated how?” Alyss questioned, sending the girl a small smile. She was simply curious, not meaning to cause any harm or distress to the young Hufflepuff. She just wanted to know. Unfortunately, Alyss never seemed to realize that sometimes she didn’t deserve to know everything about people she just met.

This is because although Alyss does understand some social cues, she often doesn’t consider them as applying to herself. She ignores them for her own benefit without considering the consequences for herself and others when she continues to pry about sensitive topics, as she was doing now. Anyone could tell Vivi wasn’t enjoying this conversation, but Alyss was ignoring that fact so that she could get the information she was so desperately craving and to satisfy the “curiosity cat”

Of course, while Alyss was nosy, she wasn’t nearly observant enough to notice all the clues directly in front of her, like the paleness, fingernails, and even the hiding of teeth the other girl was doing.

Alyss’s face morphed into an interested expression as she listened to the explanation about Puffskeins. “That sounds both interesting.. and a little gross.” She giggled in true 11 year old fashion, thinking herself better than to make the bogey joke but still laughing at the mere mention of them.

“Are they related to Pygmy Puffs?” She questioned, as she knew very well about the magical pets that quite a few of her magical neighbors had. After all, the puffballs sounded remarkably similar except for the minor bogey stealing clause.

As Vivi asked questions about the poison dart frogs, Alyss grinned. “Isn’t it interesting? The frogs are poisonous, so if anything eats them then they die. So the frogs make it known that they are poisonous and stand out so they’re not eaten!” She explained, eyes shining. “I don’t have a picture but there’s gotta be a book somewhere in this library!” She told the other girl, a bit down that she didn’t have a photo on her, which was something of an absurd thing to be down about, but it is what it is.

“No no no! If you’re talking too much, then I’m talking up a storm! Don’t worry about it!” Alyss reassured her, eyes widening in surprise. She stood up and held out her hand to Vivi, book left on the floor, forgotten. Wanna go find a poison dart frog books with me?” She asked, praying that the next words coming from her companions mouth would be a “Yes”.

September 27th, 2024	Library
“English”	“Gaelic”

Alyss’ carefree smile started to waver as she tried to maintain a calm and relaxed expression, but it was noticeable that she felt rejected. “Oh, okay. Sorry for asking.” She replied a bit coldly, attempting to hide her hurt.

Of course, Alyss had no right to be hurt. It wasn’t her business to be poking around in. But the problem with an eleven year old who is stubborn, impulsive, and thinks herself better than social cues and the right to know what she asks about? The problem is that she will retract in on herself to hide her hurt and she will act cold to hide this hurt, especially when she didn’t find herself in the wrong.

Thankfully, she was above acting the victim. She didn’t want adults to butt in, because most of the time, they didn’t understand. And she tried not to cry unless her emotions were already running high, and because it made her look weak. Alyss would not look weak, especially in front of people she wanted to befriend.

Alyss lifted her cold demeanor when the Hufflepuff mentioned how Alyss had been right, and that the two animals were related after all. “Awesome! So did the Pygmy Puffs evolve from them, or are they just related species?” She questioned, as no amount of hurt could distract the Slytherin from the answers she seeked, especially with a magical animal.

When Vivi thanked her, Alyss went right back to liking the girl again, previous hurt forgotten. Because Alyss was still an eleven year old girl, who had the attention span of a couple seconds, so unless she was really hurt, it was not unusual for her to be bouncing around with the same person a couple minutes later.

Happy with Viviana’s acceptance, Alyss helped her to her feet, walking along with her for a bit, before realizing that.. the girl wasn’t at her side anymore. Whirling around, Alyss found her gazing at the cover of a book. Her book. Alyss fumbled around, hoping to find she just had a brain fart and that it was in fact still in her hand.. but no. She had left it behind, and now she had to deal with the questions that came along with researching Xylomancy.

She had found it more interesting and funny than anything, but it was still something that she wouldn’t blame any wizard for questioning why a first year was interested in such a thing. After all, divination came in third year as an optional class. So why was a first year looking into a specific part of it two years before necessary? That was a great question that Alyss didn’t seem to have the answer to.

Viviana's head rocked side to side before briefing. "No, see, they are kinda like what dogs are to wolves, the same thing but also not." She had a slight issue trying to articulate it but she hoped inside that Alyss would truly understand.

Viviana looked at the book for quite a while, she didn't have much luck reading it for a moment, having a bit of trouble due to English not being her first language, eventually she put together bits of understanding and her head tilted confused. She then looked over at Alyss, a muddled expression "Xy-lo-mancy... what is it?" Viviana obviously had an idea of what it was by now, but she wanted to hear the meaning from Alyss' mouth to confirm. Oh how weird that girl seemed sometimes, as curious as a Ravenclaw, yet the green undertones of the robes assured Viviana, this was no Eagle.

Around now, Viviana felt a twinge of guilt for shooting her supposed new friend down like that. Viv wondered now what would happen if she actually told her. She closed her eyes, frustrated with herself. Her face twisted in a grimace. Looking back at Alyss, she looked as though she didn't care, and yet Viviana couldn't really tell if that were true. "Cavolo!" (Cabbage, usually a polite "swear", like crap) she said to herself, though not too quiet to be unheard. Guilt was so annoying!

'You'd think being a monster would make you lose guilt, this is so dumb.' She looked at the floor, sheepishly picking out little details in the floor. I'm really sorry about what I said... You're actually kind of different as well. She thought about what she said a moment too late and looked at Alyss, "But not too different.."

September 27th, 2024	Library
“English”	“Gaelic”

Alyss nodded along with Viviana, as if she understood what the other girl meant. She didn’t quite understand, but it was probably just her fault, not the other girls. “So like the Pygmy Puffs were domesticated and evolved because of that, while the Puffskiens stayed the same?” She questioned, trying to put it in a way that the other girl would understand and Alyss would figure it out from the answer.

Alyss winced as Vivi asked about the book, especially considering she didn’t even know what is was. I- uh, I can explain!” Alyss quipped, trying to not look like the weird girl already. After all, she had only just met Viviana, and already Alyss looked like such an odd person to associate with.

Xylomancy is an ancient kind of divination using twigs and sticks.” Alyss started, slowly trying to explain away the odd book choice. If only she had been normal and picked up her usual magical animals book, then this wouldn’t have happened.

It would’ve been easier to find an excuse if Alyss had been a Ravenclaw. Then she could just say she found it interesting. But the problem with being a Slytherin is that everyone believes that everything you do is connected to some scheme for power.

”I grew up in a really rural area, so there’s a lot of sticks that are just on the ground. I figured if I learned about how to read the sticks, I could find out what everything means.” Alyss told the Hufflepuff, face a little scared. What if that wasn’t a good enough answer, and Vivi hated her now? Because even with that explanation, it was kind of weird.

She held her hands out for the book, eyes wide and eyebrows slowly pressing together as she awaited the judgement from the other girl. After all, if she was in Vivianas position, she would absolutely judge the other girl for such an odd choice and a vague explanation that only kind of made sense.

Alyss sighed, preparing herself for the inevitable words of judgment and the haughty tone that she would use. As a Slytherin, Alyss kind of expected some mistrust and weird looks for such a book. And she would probably give the weird looks and eyebrow raises if the roles were reversed. But maybe a Hufflepuff would be more forgiving than Alyss herself would.