Getting Back in the Game Finished

Adam threw his head back in laughter. They were such an odd group, standing in this trophy room, taking jabs at each other and acting like normal eleven-year-old boys might. It was pretty refreshing, to say the least. He was glad he had met Anatole, and though they hadn't gotten off on the best of terms right away, he suspected it was better like that. Kaegen also helped to keep things interesting, to say the least. At least Anatole had answered his question, even if his answer had been unexpected. "Dancing women and noble kingdoms, huh? Sounds like something out of an adventure story. Allow me to be your villain, my good sir." Adam raised his eyebrow and let out his best evil laugh. "We'll see who's kneeling at whose feet."

Then, he heard Kaegen speak. His goal was a lot more Kaegen, and surprisingly, a lot more Adam too. Adam peered at him with genuine curiosity. "Oh? For what?" What could Kaegen Deathmote, creature enthusiast and self-proclaimed Death Witch Hunter, possibly want to be remembered for in a school? Maybe he'd explain. It seemed more likely that he wouldn't. But, Adam had learned not to assume even the smallest of outcomes in this place. Quite literally anything could happen.

"You know what I want?" he asked, a certain smile spreading across his face. It had just come to him, after all of this time striving to achieve a hidden goal. "I want to stop something bad from happening. I want to do something world-changing, even if it's in secret. I know how horrible it was at the Battle of Hogwarts, and all, but don't you sometimes wish you could've been there? I'd love to be a part of some of that stuff. Fighting off Death Eaters, casting some real, effective magic. My dad knew all about that stuff. There were all these secret groups, I guess, back when Harry Potter's class was here. Dumbledore's Army, something called the Order of the Phoenix. I know we're better off now, I know it's not something I should wish for, but.....it just seems so exciting. The world is so much less interesting now."

Adam hoped he hadn't just driven away his friends. He'd never said that before. It felt right, honest. He just hoped it didn't sound as bad as it had the potential to.

Anatole tried to read the group's puzzled expression on his reply. Almost instantly, Anatole had regret bringing up his past hopes. It was true, his ambitions sounded terrible against Kaegen's bland, but somehow fascinating predictability and Adam's freaking soliloquy on all he had ever wanted, and probably all he will want to do in life. It made Anatole feel bad about himself, how he made it sound like it was only his wish and no one else had to heed it. It seemed just so...selfish.

The Gryffindor boy had always refused to see himself as self-obsessed, or selfish. In fact, he thought himself quite the opposite. He rubbed people's backs, he smiled when people needed one, and he laughed when people needed a joke. None of that was selfish, was it?

Ugh, he was thinking too much. Every now and then that happened. Maybe he was selfish and just couldn't figure out what that word meant. "Yes, that's right, dancing women and noble kingdoms. Throw in a conquest there if you want to," he joked, awkwardly laughing. He felt insecure repeating this, repeating his failure and his crushed wishes. Also, why had he just revealed his greatest wish to one of his possible adversaries? "Play the villain, all right. I'm sure to have the happy ending." Ergh. God, that was terrible. This image was all wrong.

Yes, sure, Adam wanted to be a part of something, while Anatole wanted to be something. Adam wanted to be known as a hero, Anatole wanted to be known as a conqueror and a gentleman. They couldn't have been more different.

It made Anatole feel terrible about all he had ever longed for.

The grin on the boy's face had reached maniacal proportions. He had learned a life lesson early on, avoided death gotten smarter and now. Now he had been handed the two most easily outmaneuvered people on the planet on a silver platter. If any of the other students had ever seen alice in wonderland, and the cheshire cat's smile, they might have drawn a connection.
Appy wanted to defend against something? Be a part of something? Well, something was coming, Kaegen knew that to be fact, he had seen it. None of these other boys even slightly conflicted with any ever so remote plan that Kaegen had dreamed about laying out. Now, if only he could get this to work. Finding that part of his brain designed for coming up with sentences, Kaegen found it a bit lacking, but up to the task. He looked from one student to the other as he talked, his grin never fading.
"Why are you guys fighting again? The way I see it, corridor kid's dreams, and appy's dreams both work together rather nicely. I don't see any conflict. And don't even worry about me being remembered. Now, if we joined forces."
Kaegen struggled to come up with something fitting, his brain wasn't used to coming up with this many words all at once, but it came through in the end.
"If we joined forces, think what we could accomplish. We would create a army capable of achieving something, like appy wants, and then we can slaughter something in the process and steal some guy's castle for corridor kid. I'll get my wish on the way."

Adam laughed ruefully. "Yeah, just imagine that. We'd be unstoppable, leading a charge together. No one would see us coming." He was happy to find that the other members of his class at Hogwarts were just as ambitious as he was -- maybe more. It put him on edge a little bit, too. He knew that Gryffindors were competitive and motivated enough to do some crazy things to get what they wanted. Even Ravenclaws, with their quick wit and intelligence, could quickly turn into psycho-killers if the need arose. He might have to keep an eye on Kaegen and Anatole for the next few years.

"I don't know about that army, though. The slaughter. Seems like something I'd have to stop, not start. I guess those are kind of the roles we've already taken though, huh, K? You wage war, I beat it back?" He didn't think that Kaegen would be able to pick up the barbed tone in his voice, or care much about it. He laughed again, bitter, and yelled inwardly at himself not to cause a scene.

"Besides, three smart, daring young lads like ourselves? We'd never be able to team up without conflict. Always getting in each other's way, yeah? Within the first week I'd fully expect to find a knife buried in one of our backs. But it's nice to know that people care as much as I do."

Anatole gulped, looking just a little frightened at the Ravenclaw boys. They knew what they were doing, well, they at least had some idea what they were going to say: a power Anatole had seemed to lose when he arrived. He became extremely helpless with his words around enemies, rivals, and even friends. Maybe the only person he wasn't like this around was Marissa. Everyone else gave him emotion.

However, he decided to remain confident. It was what a prince would do, keep his head up and smile at the crowds of passers-by, laugh haughtily at jokes, smile in public eye. So he continued. "It's a little 'friendly competition', we call it. Who can find the best room in the castle in a week. Sounded fun at first, hope it will still be." He winked at Adam. "My 'apologies' for ruining your quite grand reveal. Suppose it won't be as stunning after all."

At the other half of that comment, Anatole didn't want to think. Adam could...work with him? Eugh, gross. Almost as gross as love. A prince never goes into battle, but definitely, he could command him. In that sense, they could fit.

"Could create an army? Are you joking? Well, I, well, I..." Anatole couldn't say it. "I would love to, honestly, but I wouldn't fight. My thought is that...well...um...maybe we could wait until something terrible actually happens. Then I would be up to slash."

More crazy looks. Not again.

Mariah had one little issue with this school and it was this: Getting lost was an unavoidable incident. No matter how hard she tried, wrong turns plagued her like warts on a toad! If she walked through one more door that led to a flat brick wall, she was going to burn this bloody school straight to the ground and dance on its fallen ashes!

She huffed, admitting to herself that her terrible sense of direction was not what really had her in a sour mood. She was a hufflepuff, the very WORST house to be sorted in. Her family was a proud group Gryffindors. Her big brothers had all but invented what it meant to be brave and fierce! Yet Mariah, the absolutely fiercest of them all (according to her father) was put in stinking old Hufflepuff! The shock on her brothers' faces when her house was called out was enough for Mariah to crawl under a table never to reemerge.

Was something wrong with her? Did she have a glitch in her brain that made her a coward. Mariah didn't feel like a coward.

Her thoughts were cut short when she came across a large wooden door. This seemed large enough to be a library door, right? Did library doors have a certain look to them? Library Door Guidelines For Beginners maybe? Mariah snorted at herself and pushed the door open with both hands. She stepped inside.

What greeted her was not a library, but three boys gathered in the middle of a gigantic dusty room filled with glittering trophies. Mariah held back the urge to cover her nose at the odd smell that filled the room. Did no one air out this place?

"Hello," Mariah said, eyeing the boys. "I don't suppose you're lost either?"

What on earth was wrong with these people? Why did they act so timid, so unwilling to just work together. Kaegen was going to have to redouble his efforts if he ever wanted to get anywhere by himself. Their challenge accomplished nothing. He had to try something else, but with his limited knowledge of anything team-related he had no Idea what.
A girl came in, his eyes flashed over to her, took in what seemed to be a girl, asking if corridor kid, appy or Kaegen was lost. Well, that settled it, she was of no significance at the time. Kaegen's smile faded away as he thought harder about the issue at hand. In all honesty, the smart thing to do right now would be to just give up and leave, but then he would have to find another group of kids. Another couple students with ambitions that wouldn't conflict with his own. Kaegen wished for the solitude and safety of the mists, growing slightly flustered at his failed attempt. Appy was just worried about being stabbed in the back, which was ironic considering the only person who had done something similar to that would be he himself.
"You do realize that there are already things happening that you could stop? We would be able to master two times the amount of spells if we worked together."
That was it, his last ditch attempt. Honestly, it probably wouldn't work either, but he really wanted the extra help. He could keep an eye on them, he wasn't worried about betrayal.

Sorry for the heck long reply, I couldn't help myself and originally lost an earlier one of mine I had typed out.

The Gryffindor boy’s eyes first leaned over towards Kaegen, the mastermind of it all. His face read dismemberment, discontent, maybe even, if one was to be extreme about it, disgust. Anatole could almost tell just by his piercing stare. He clearly hated that the two rival boys disagreed with him. Anatole couldn’t help it; he couldn’t trust him. He was right, there was nothing to fight, nothing to conquer. Their eyes were almost locked in a silent staring contest, Anatole peering up through the boy’s squinted lids.

Next, he glanced to Adam, who seemed alright, and quite possibly emotionless. Clearly disturbed, he refused to show it, like the formidable enemy Anatole had agreed to have when the contest originally arose. Of course, the two had nothing alike, but the more he thought about it--Anatole had a sudden notion in his mind, one so weird, maybe even, if one was to be extreme about it, lucrative:

Maybe there is much more in common between Adam and me…

Frighteningly, that would mean the psychotic Ravenclaw was right. "You do realize that there are already things happening that you could stop? We would be able to master two times the amount of spells if we worked together." Two times the spells? Fully mastered? Unheard of! However, tt certainly wouldn’t be all too hard to get along with them, and they could make a relatively good team altogether. His dreams could be conquered, the noble kingdoms, the fine women, all of it. Even a castle of his own, the gorgeous school of Hogwarts. All his. It was dreamy.

”Yes, I fully understand, Kae. It sounds great and all, but what is there for us to vanquish, for us to cease? I haven’t heard of anything quite horrible so far…”


At the sound of faint footsteps, Anatole’s dark chocolate eyes darted toward the new girl. Her black hair glittered in the room, almost like a trophy itself. She was lost, nervous, anxious, at least, that’s what she told them. The young lion couldn’t stop staring at her; there was something about her he couldn’t describe.

Hopefully the boys wouldn’t mock him for finding yet another “fine woman”.

Mariah looked between the boys. Their faces were grim, as if they were in some sort of disagreement or talking about something serious. The black haired boy gave Mariah a dismissive glance before turning his attention back to the other to boys. Mariah got the feeling he did that a lot. That type of behavior was habitual and she tried not to take it personally.

Mariah considered backing out of the room, she didn't want to interrupt, but she also didn't much feel like wandering the halls lost. She grumbled to herself mentally. This was why she was a Hufflepuff. Gryffindors didn't back out of situations just because it made them feel awkward.

"You do realize that there are already things happening that you could stop? We would be able to master two times the amount of spells if we worked together."

And now she was curious. What were they getting into? The brown haired boy talked about vanquishing and nothing horrible. Mariah couldn't deny the intrigue.


The Gryffindor in question eyed her in a funny kind of way. It made her grab for one of her curls self conciously, her tan cheeks darkening.

"You- You guys are what? The Hogwarts Pest Control," she said, half joking.

Adam laughed as the girl asked them who they were. "No," he replied, smiling. "Well, only if you count Kaegen." He glanced back over at the other Ravenclaw boy, and realized that they probably shouldn't be having this conversation in a place where anyone could overhear. It wasn't like it was illegal for first years to practice their spells, but Adam had a feeling that none of them wanted to draw more attention than they already had.

"Would you excuse us for just a second?" he asked the girl that had just walked in, smiling apologetically. He'd have to learn her name when they came back. Motioning for Anatole and Kaegen to follow him deeper into the room, he walked until he was pretty sure they were out of earshot, and answered in a hushed tone.

"Listen, I hate to say it, but I agree with Anatole. As of right now, there's nothing we need to be extra-ready for. Besides, I think I'd only really trust Braveheart -- yes, you heard me right, Evans, don't let it go to your head -- around magic like that. He seems to have some self-control. You, Kaegen....well, let's just say I'd hate to see what you would've done to Eri if you could actually use that wand. And I'm not in the mood to be manipulated." Everyone knew that alliances were almost never a good idea. He liked Anatole alright, and he supposed he respected Kaegen, but he wasn't ready to join with either of them just yet.

Aware of how suspicious they must have come across, Adam cleared his throat and returned to his normal tone without an answer. "Come on, let's head back." He smiled once more at the girl as she came back into view, and said, "Sorry about that. Just finishing an argument. We're not really a club; just some people with goals. Do you have any?"