Jumping to Conclusions PV Sylvain Finished

Hexcode= #3c78d8

Two days. Only two short days had passed and the new librarian was already very high on Sylvain's list of suspicious characters in the castle this year. With all the information of hags that had trickled in at the end of the last year, the lad's imagination had begun to take its toll on his sensibility. He had come to do homework, honestly he had. The tomes had been requested weeks in advance to ensure he got them in time. Surely, the librarian had caught on to his lines of research. Focusing on the curse on the Slytherin Students, and the hags was fine until she showed up. Was she a spy, an impostor? Surely now she worked to corner him in what he once thought was his safest space!

Nothing but books in his possession, Sylvain panicked the moment the stunning librarian rounded the corner for the first time. Robyn's looks put him into a state of awkward paranoia. The sheepish lad gathered his belongings in his nervous clutch. Stuffing the contents of his Defense Against The Dark Arts homework into his satchel, Sylvain then scurried of to the Q section of the library. Nobody ever followed him that far, and if the new librarian did, he had one more chance to give her the slip by retreating to the Z section. He optimistically hoped that it didn't come to that, but the prickling feeling of confrontation made his hairs stand on end.

Setting his satchel on the table, the boy slipped his wand from his pocket and set it on the table next to him as he began to unpack his belongings. Quickly and nimbly, Syl adjusted the jars of insects, and shuffled the chocolate frogs around so that they made as little noise as possible. He didn't want his collections to give him away, there were important things he wanted to hold onto if he had to book it. After retrieving a comedically large book from the shelf, Sylvain hid in one of the chairs behind the large book. Secretly, he peered from behind the cover, waiting for the spying librarian to give herself away. Sure enough, after only a few minutes, she sprouted from between the shelves like a thorn from a rose would spring from the bushes.

He was much less subtle about how she intruded upon his quiet reflection this time. Frustrated, he grabbed his wand and with a long sweeping motion pointed it at his belongings and told it to "Pack." Without complaint, his collections returned to their place within his satchel. Scooping the bag over his shoulder, and abandoning the enormous tome to one of the tables nearby, Sylvain found himself at the back of the library in the Z section. Nowhere to run, nowhere to turn if things got dangerous. Just him, the books, and the librarian who'd become a thorn in his side.

Prepared for the worst, but hoping for a misunderstanding, Sylvain picked a place to stand his ground. It was from behind the last bookshelf in the library, where an arm sized gap in the shelves gave him cover enough so that he could see the librarian as she leaned against her shelf. Admittedly, her body language seemed quite inviting, and her facial features kind and soft. Such illusions were possible with magic however. No, he would continue to assume she was a dangerous monster despite what she said and how she looked. Some things were too good to be true, and curiosity hadn't let him down before.

"I enjoyed this library plenty before you started following me around it!" he said back defensively, remaining partially concealed but peaking out enough that she could see his face. He wasn't going to hide entirely on purpose, there was something about seeing the face of a monster that had always made him too curious to look away. Even if looking was dangerous he had to. "If you're not a monster, then prove it," Sylvain said with an air of skepticism and paranoia. If she wasn't a monster, then she would have a logical reason to follow him so far into the library. Surely he had done nothing wrong, and didn't deserve to be followed. "Why are you following me?"

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Interacting with @Sylvain Indarys

Robyn couldn't fault the boy for getting increasingly aggravated by her following him. But she also couldn't fault herself in getting to the bottom of this. She wasn't about to walk on eggshells around someone that frequented the library. She had work to get done and at a certain point it was not her responsibility to organize her work around making sure he could get his done. Especially with the attitude of the pack spell that he did upon her second time finding him. If she were to be nitpicky, she would chastise him for using spells outside of organized class time. But she would grace him with an unknowing kindness.

She would pick herself up off the shelf to move and get a better look at the cowering boy before her. She took a seat at the table that laid between the stacks for studying. Hopefully he would see it as a sign of letting him have advantage over her, despite her ultimately being a more capable wizard than a child. She nodded slowly as he bit back against her and her mere presence in the library. "Believe it or not, librarians generally do care about the people that frequent the library. Mr. Indarys, I ask you why you're petrified of someone that has given you no reason to fright." She had checked in with one of her house elves that had been working there for far longer, trying to get information on the boy before cornering him.

The idea that this young boy was asking her to prove herself boggled her. Would she have to do this with every mildly paranoid student? "I'm following you because it's no use to either of us if you keep packing up as I'm simply trying to do my job that I've been hired to do. No use to you if your studying keeps getting interrupted." She sighed, pushing her hair back out of her face and pulling out her wand from a pocket that had been sewn on the inside of her cardigan. "Non-wizards can't do wand magic, right?" Quickly racking her brain for a harmless spell to use in a library. "Accio Mothers of Evil." She held out her hand, only having to wait a few moments before the book flew into it. Hopefully harming no one on the way to her. She set it on the table and slid it towards him. "I don't know what's happened to you lot to make hags such a requested topic in the library, but I am not one. I can promise you that." She sat back, hoping he would be satisfied with the proof she had provided.

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Immediately, a wave of shame washed over him as the clear look and sound of frustration alleviated any concern or reservation Sylvain held onto that Robyn was a hag. Her wand and the use of it was proof enough, but recalling his reading selection made him uneasy for different reasons. If she wasn't a hag, then was she really unaware that the school had been attacked by hags before? He stepped out from behind the library shelf in full, albeit bashfully as there was no use in hiding anymore, and made his way over to the table the irritated librarian stood next to and sat down. He would sigh in relief as the weight was lifted from his shoulders.

There was a whole lot of reasoning behind her words, and although Sylvain would likely never have known she was just interested in his comfort, it was wrong of him to assume she had the worst of intentions. Ever since he had first laid eyes on the tome, he'd felt some amount of paranoia. Unfortunate timing had lead to her arrival coinciding with his reading of the book. Both of which had were factors worsened by his wrongful jumping to conclusions. Naturally that paranoia originated from his own imagination, a magical force that under the worst of circumstances would run away from him. Ultimately however he was just scared, scared that he was in danger, scared that something might go wrong. Well, something had, just not what he thought would. At least he still had time to make it right.

"I'm sorry...." Sylvain said, his voice cracking the way it does when one's throat dries out. Clearly the aftereffect of adrenaline. "I don't think you're evil, it's just that ever since the fire in the forbidden forest last year, the school hasn't felt safe." Sylvain paused for a moment as the book whistled past his head, nearly taking it off his shoulders. His eyes widening, but his mouth staying zipped shut. Robyn's magic was impressive to him in that moment. "and reading that book did NOT help me at all." He said pointing to her now filled hand as he tried to hold back his enthusiasm for the creepy stories in the book. Even if they weirded him out, he had been genuinely intrigued by them.

Looking up to Robyn, Sylvain smiled his best, but it was an admittedly weak grin, barely managing to raise the corner of his mouth, his eyes still sad. "Don't you know there are hags around the school?" Surely someone had told her? Right?

Mentions @Robyn Finley

Interacting with @Sylvain Indarys

As soon as his voice cracked, Robyn softened visibly. Her eyes gaining a gentleness, her body language shifting to be less rigid and offended than it was. He was scared. She knew what that was like, she lived that almost every day despite being from the house of the brave. She had gone too hard on him, and she immediately regretted it. A small chuckle couldn't help but break the tension as he called out the book for only being an addition to his fear. "While books are helpful aids, sometimes they can make things worse as they confirm or deny our fears. Even at my age, I haven't decided which is worse." The confirmation of the fears, the acknowledgment that everything someone was terrified about was true versus knowledge that contradicts what someone thinks. Even with evidence, sometimes the deepest fears still lingered. So what was worse? The confirmation that they were true? Or the lingering feeling that they could eventually come true?

With a heavy sigh, she leaned back in the chair she was resting in. She had been given information about the covens, about what had happened at the school. Yet she still chose to accept the job. There was something in her that wanted to help protect it. There was something building in her that made her want to run at the same time. "I have... a good idea about what lurks at this school yes. As someone who used to attend it, I graduated in 2011, I thought surely the school must get less haunted and foreboding over time. I suppose with magic attracts some less than favorable visitors." She paused, briefly considering summoning more books across the library before deciding that it was a bad idea to do that. "Have you heard of the theory that the more you know about something, say hags, the less likely you are to be... effected by them?"

A single finger was raised, a signal to wait, as she stood up and walked away from the table to go fetch a book. Well, two books. She returned and walked over to set them in front of Sylvain, before returning to her seat. "Whether or not you know what you're going up against can be terrifying. Especially when things happen one after another. The Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century has many people, who were terrified of what they were up against. The Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century, well that one explains itself."

Robyn paused, attempting to arrange her thoughts quickly and effectively. "My point is, I shouldn't have faulted you for being paranoid knowing what I know. But you also can't run from fear forever. Eventually you have to face it head on and be prepared as you can be. I'm not saying you go out and hunt down a coven of hags. I'm saying, as terrifying as terror can be... you have to push past it to absorb as much as you can to be prepared if," She left a heavy distinction on the if, pausing before repeating. "If you ever meet them again." The seriousness of what she was saying seemed to be combined with a mild intensity in her eyes. "There are many heroes within the stories we read, the histories that we study." A hand gestured to the books she had gotten for him. "Be a prepared hero. To be there for your house, your school, your friends, if need be. Hopefully you won't ever have to deal with them again, and it's better to focus on your actual class studies which will slowly help you learn how to best wield the power of a wand. But, it's always smart to learn the ins and outs of your greatest fears so they're not as scary." As someone who rarely pushed past her fears, she had a lot to learn from the advice she gave to others.

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Despite the fact that she had just admitted to not knowing everything, the fact that the librarian was just as undecided on the future and as a result perhaps as scared of it as he, was a comfortably reciprocated feeling. The knowledge left him with a better understanding of why she'd been chosen to be the new librarian. She was still able to relate to him, something most of the older staff couldn't claim. Not for lack of trying on their part of course. Old people were just out of the loop sometimes.

Impressed that she landed a job so soon after graduating from Hogwarts, Sylvain felt all that much more comforted by Robyn's presence. He too stifled a chuckle, but his laughter was directed at her reasoning for knowledge. "Can't say knowing more has ever really helped my fears," admitting that she was right, and that perhaps he had taken his research a bit too far. It was fall though, and rainy fall afternoons in the library was like syrup on pancakes. Exactly what the situation called for.

As Robyn plonked two tomes on the table in front of him, he couldn't help but become even more quizzical. Was she inferring that he could be as great as Norvel Twonks, or Laverne de Montmorency? Any doubt he had was erased as she made her point loud and clear to him. To push past his fears, to be brave and experimental like his heroes were. He would do everything in his power to make sure he was prepared to save his friends, but even more so, he would make sure he was prepared to face the possibility of being wrong.

As she finished her lecture, he stared at the scarlet haired professor awe-stricken. She'd told him to be brave and reach his potential, and he intended to do that. Right as soon as his brain started working again.

Mouth closing shut, stomach full of butterflies, and head full of dreams, Sylvain blushed and looked to the table where Robyn had piled books for him to read. "I understand." Sylvain said finally after looking through a few pages of the tome. "I have to be prepared to succeed," he took a deep breath looking up to one of the people he'd be most likely to spend his time at Hogwarts with. "Because if I'm not ready to succeed, I'm doomed to fail from the start."

That calm, warm feeling of mutual understanding washed over him as he thought to ask his next question. "What about you Miss uh..." It was then he realized he'd made the mistake of not even asking her name before accusing her of treachery. Sticking out his hand, he bravely confronted the librarian. "I'd like to start again. I'm Syl, and I'm a little on edge today." He would wait for her name, and then ask her for an example. "What scares you?"

Mentions @Robyn Finley

Interacting with @Sylvain Indarys

Robyn couldn't help but let a small smile grace her face as Sylvain admitted that knowledge doesn't necessarily combat fears. "There's nothing wrong with researching. But, there's a reason in your classes that you have to actually face and attempt to combat the things that you'll face in the wizarding world. It's the purpose of Defense Against the Dark Arts. More so in other classes where you have to actually practice the spells you learn so if the time comes to use them, you're not relying on just book and lecture knowledge that might fail you." Robyn was starting to realize just how many of the students relied on books completely for all of their knowledge, and it slightly worried her. How many of them were ignoring other sources in preference for ink on paper?

The look that came over his eyes made a pang of worry as she wondered if his awe came from the heavy secret of her bloodline rather than the words of advice that she gave him. Half-Veelas were still compelling naturally, drawing someone in to pay more attention to them then normal. She pushed aside the thought, and hoped that it was just a general awe of the advice she gave. Or perhaps the summoning of books across a library. There was a soft smile, and warm honey brown eyes of kindness that quickly took over the uncomfortable look that may have flashed across her face. "Just because you don't succeed, doesn't necessarily mean you fail Mr. Indarys. You're thinking in extremes, something I feel like you have a tendency to do just by your uh... hide and seek earlier." She laughed softly, already seeing the whole situation as humorous rather than humiliating.

She took his hand, gently shaking it but keeping it brief. Handshakes were probably her least favorite thing in the world before returning her hands to be carefully folded in her lap. "Miss Finley. The library is a place to relax and feel safe." She leaned forward and talked in barely a whisper, as if what she was about to say was of upmost importance. "Between you and me, I have some blankets for emergency cozy needs behind the desk if you ever need help feeling less on edge." She leaned back into her chair, ultimately unprepared for his next question.

A lot of things scared her, but she didn't know if she necessarily wanted to share that with a young student. A gentle hum of thought as she let her eyes wander the shelves in search of an answer that only lay in herself. "Starting new is always scary for me. For some it can be kind of exciting. But, for me leaving what is most comfortable is always scary. The libraries I've worked in that I knew so well, traded for something as expansive as this one. Although, it's starting to be more exciting. Especially with the students I'm meeting. I never know what someone will need walking through the doors, and that can be quite exhilarating." Her idea of fun definitely did not match the typical idea of fun for non-librarians. But for her the library was the most exciting place to be in her life, and helping others was the greatest task that she could think of within the walls. It truly was a job made for her.

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Humiliation would briefly wash over him as Miss Finley laughed gently at his childish game of hide and seek, but after a few moments he too would join in on the giggling. It was quite ridiculous how rapidly things had devolved. How he'd managed to jump to the conclusion that Robyn was a hag in disguise, attempting to corner and eat him in the library of all places. Whatever had overcome his sensibilities was something he was glad to be able to laugh at. The brevity of their handshake was something he was thankful for, albeit because he realized how sweaty his hands had gotten. It was clear enough to him now that this was a place for him to be himself, relaxed and open to learning, unafraid of the very things he sought to understand.

"Again, you are right as ever Miss Finley. Something I will hope to count on in the futre." That she had been so convincing, reason mixed with understanding of his fears, would be the most important thing he could latch onto. As someone who often felt he lacked the means to convince others to see his point of view, and as someone who often felt misunderstood because of his lack of words, Robyn Finley's reassuring presence was a soothing and welcome one. Finally. He thought that perhaps if he had a similar issue in the future, rather than waiting for his mind to think of all the wrong and horrible answers, he might come to her to convince him of the truth so that he might not worry as much. So that he might find something to temper his brittle curiosity.

As she confessed to her hidden stash of blankets behind the desk he would chuckle that light-hearted joyous chortle that came only when he felt tickled by another's kindness. "I will keep it in mind, the library certainly does take some warming up to." But she did not take nearly as much warming up to as many others did. Perhaps that was the power of conflict. Syl felt as though he liked her quite well already, but he did not say as much out of fear that she pat his head or back or something else one would do to a child.

Relating to her fear of starting something new, Sylvain remembered how his stomach felt when he first saw Hogwarts looming in the distance from atop the lake. He also remembered how the deep darkness of the great lake had captured his curiosity before that fear could fully grasp him. It was as if the sea itself was boiling inside him then. Others called it butterflies in your stomach, but butterflies were gentler and less prone to causing nausea and sweats. Blushing with shared pride for the hall of the library and the uncertain nature of the future, Sylvain simply nodded in agreement as Robyn confessed her fears. He would not know how to support her, or what advice to give, but he would know exact feeling she referred to when she mentioned the feeling of not knowing. A feeling he embraced often.

"Curiosity of the unknown is why I'm here so often," Sylvain said in a quieter tone, remembering how he needed to remain respectful of others. "I know I could be out practicing or adventuring with my friends... but this is my home." Sylvain motioned forward, towards the rest of the library. He honestly thought that if he had been right and Robyn was a hag trying to devour him alive, that he'd come back as the wispy ghost of a boy that would haunt the library until she had been discovered. "I would be just as happy in the Ravenclaw tower, but I feel like all of my adventures bring me right back to the library eventually." He would smile a small smirk, no smugness in his expression as he would speak from his heart like he was wont to do. "What's just as exhilarating to me is finding something that I would never have known had I not turned the page." He paused, searching for the right words. "Had I not let go of what I thought I knew, and let my curiosity answer the questions I never knew I needed answers to."

Mentions @Robyn Finley

Interacting with @Sylvain Indarys

The mood seemed to finally have a fully shift with the boy in front of her finally laughing along at how silly the whole occurrence had been. Though valid in what he was experiencing with his fears. It was an interaction she feared would happen multiple times over now that she had experienced it once. How ingrained were the students to automatically fear someone that was new? What was brewing on the Hogwarts grounds in terms of what the students were going through over and over? If anything, she hoped this library would prove to be a sanctuary from it all. She just had to hope whatever darkness was lurking, did not see the tall bookshelves as a suitable hiding place. That she just wouldn't be able to stand for.

"If I'm ever not right, we can just work together to find the truth. Which is a lot better than fearing the truth in the first place." Facing the truth had always been one of her biggest fears, facing what was real, what she was avoiding. The realities she spun for herself to wishfully ignore what was actually occurring. It was something that she was slowly learning how to deal with, especially now with the especially watchful eye of children trying to figure out what she was doing within their castle.

New places could always be slightly terrifying, but with a library she always felt some sense of safety and comfort when she found one. "Hogwarts in general can take some getting used to, even back after only nine years of being away I feel myself resettling. But, it's quite a bit easier now that it feels kind of like an old home." A very old, distant, maybe not one she'd return to for fun kind of home, but a home nonetheless. So far, as much as she thought she would coming into the position, she didn't regret a second of accepting the job offer. It was proving to be the best adventure she had gone on so far.

She found herself leaning forward, resting her head in her hand as she listed to Syl speak softly about his curiosity. Her eyes had a special brightness to them as she listened to someone that echoed her own thoughts from around the same age. She saw a lot of herself in Syl in the seeking knowledge department. A thought blipped through her mind of him possibly being a librarian, but she also wished for him to achieve more than she had. "Finding the answers to questions you didn't even know you had can be quite exciting, I agree." Her eyes softened slightly, showing a brief moment of concern. "Just remember that you should be writing your own story as well. Take that knowledge and excitement and apply it to some adventures, even if that adventure is practicing with your friends. Trust me, looking back you'll find a lot more adventure in the memories that you created than you think you might've had."

There was a moment where she paused, leaning back in her chair and folding her hands in her lap. "I could see you becoming a great adventurer Syl. One that has books written about him that eventually join the shelves among other great adventurers for students to find. How exhilarating would it be for you to be the answer to a question someone didn't know they had?" Her head tilted slightly, an inquiry into what he wanted to be. Where did he seem himself, because surely it couldn't be in the same place Robyn now existed.

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From then on, these would be the words that Sylvain tried to live by. The lad had admittedly been keeping track of his own story in a journal, but had yet to consider it his story. Mostly he had just tried to have as much fun as he could. That that was what he had been doing, making memories, never really occurred to him until she pointed it out. He shifted in his seat becoming more and more uncomfortable as he became aware of it. Part of him was fidgety and anxious to get back to it, but part of him wanted the answers all the same.

That Robyn believed him capable of becoming a great adventurer after having only just met him either made her a swift judge of character, or him an easy study. Neither of which he was ashamed of or embarrassed by. In just a short time, his heart was warming up to her in all the ways he had felt it become closed off earlier. He understood now that she was just trying to do her job, and that despite her unearned confidence in his potential, she had only wanted the best for him. Love is love, so he would hold onto her vision of the future a little longer and entertain her if he could.

His cheeks became flush as Miss Finley said she could see him becoming an adventurer. Sylvain reflexively chewed on his sleeve as Robyn posed her own question to him. He would mull it over, seriously becoming lost in his thoughts before finding his way back, still a little uncertain. Answering other people's questions could be annoying at times, even if it was for the better that someone had spoken up. It was also fun to have the right answer at the right moment because it made him feel smart. It was even more exciting to teach others what he was passionate about, but the thought of being responsible for the enlightenment of others made him uncomfortable on a level he had never known. It made him resent being so slow to ask. It made him wary of sharing what he knew.

Curiosity had its own, unique way of getting him into trouble but overthinking his answer would only make him doubt himself further so he spat the truth out rather than toil effortlessly to understand what he wanted. "I-" he started, letting the sleeve fall from his mouth slightly more chewed up and spit soaked. On second thought he decided to admit to his feelings before they overwhelmed him.

"It makes me anxious to be the one they depend on," he said openly to the librarian with a shake in his voice, the truth having been drug out. "What if I don't have the answers they need and what if I can't figure them out on my own?" He truly wanted to write his own story, but not if it meant being forced to answer for everyone else. "No." he interjected bluntly. "I only want to answer my own questions," his voice firmly finding the reserves of that willpower he denied himself having, but had ultimately learned to embrace when it came to matters of his heart. "At least, until I'm satisfied enough to move on."

All this time, one question plagued him night and day. Who were his real parents and why had they left him?

Despite all of his curiosity, the question was one he had been afraid to ask an adult since he arrived. Not in fear that he would find them, but in fear that he might learn the answer and be unable to bear it. Fear that Robyn had suggested he face despite knowing the answers or not. Well, she had done it. Her words convinced him he would write his own story, and the heroes in his books always faced their past when facing their fears. It was time he started looking for his own story. Even if it hurt to know the truth, he would at least be free from the death grip ignorance held him with.

"I want you to help me learn about my real parents," there was no playfulness or joviality to his voice, though it was still gentle and more quizzical than expressionless. He honestly had no idea where to start, other than to explain his situation, in full, to the librarian. "I was adopted by muggles." Sylvain said with surprising ease for having mentioned it to only a select few people. People he had thought might understand the pain that came with being abandoned and although he had already taken a guess at being a pureblood his research was as thorough as he could manage on his own.

Reaching into his bag, Syl pulled out a book to present as the only evidence he had available to him. One Robyn would no doubt recognize had she a nose strong enough to deal with antiquated and snobbish wizarding lineage. Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy. It was his own copy, painstakingly procured so that he might not worry about returning a library copy. "There's no sign or mention of my name anywhere in it, and I have no clue where to look next." He would look to her pleadingly, puppy dog eyes and all.

Mentions @Robyn Finley