The Golden Card
|
|
|
✿✿✿ |
Collections had never quite been a hobby that Winnie had fallen into as a young child, the closest she had come was the wildflowers she picked that grew on the outskirts of her family farm. Flowers were temporary, lasting at most a week before wilting, they, in part, posed an unending quest for the young Irish girl, but were not tangible items she could safely store within an old shoebox like she had seen muggle children do on television shows.
Her collecting habits had changed once she had finally entered the world of magic, small little trinkets that possessed simple charms would often leave the girl wide-eyed, and she thought she would never tire of opening a chocolate frog box to see the twinkling eyes of the wizard displayed on the card beneath the frog. But, as she edged closer to completing her collection, she found herself growing frustrated as she ripped open package after package, only discovering duplicates hidden inside. These damn frog cards were also starting to feel like an unending quest.
It was early evening, a free period from their studies before dinner time, and the grand scenery of the Great Hall's festive decorations were ignored by the redhead as she tore open another package. A plump, milk chocolate frog plopped onto the long wooden table that accommodated generations of Ravenclaws, it released a low croak before hopping away. Although the freed frogs were earning Winnie a few glares from her peers, she had already had her fill of chocolate. A smudge of the substance clung to her upper lip as she groaned in disappointment and tossed a bronze card onto the table. "I... I give up. I'll never find the damn card!" With a dramatic sigh, the girl slammed her forehead against the table, grabbed a handful of the duplicates and tossed them into the air.
✿ |  | ✿ |
│ │ | │ │ | STA: 15 • EVA: 18 • STR: 8 WIS: 11 • ARC: 7 • ACC: 17 | │ │ | • Healing Sage • Muggle Condition • Paragon of Health • • Poison Resistance • Animagus • Wandmaker • Lovely Creature • | │ │ | │ │ |
The Golden Card
Appearance: Dark brown hair, shaggy. Green eyes, glasses. School uniform, well-kept.
Cain sat at one of the other house tables, actively avoiding some of the more troublesome Slytherins so he could read his books under the table in peace. He sat quietly, looking up now and then at the spectacle that was one Ravenclaw girl with fiery hair and more fiery manners, she'd even cursed. If Cain let slip that kind of language his mother would jinx him personally, only his uncle could get away with even saying 'bloody' to this or that and that was fairly tame in his young eyes. He'd finished his meal already, just slowly savoring his pumpkin juice while trying to finish a chapter before he'd close the book entirely. A frog came hopping his way and he was quick to stab it through the middle with a fork before it dared besmirch his book's pages with it's chocolate, webbed feet. He looked up fully from his reading to lecture this girl on keeping her candy from escaping when a shower of cards rained down on the table.
He was quick to let go of the fork- it stood still while it was embedded into both the frog and the table, he then snatched one of the cards to save it from a juice-covered fate. He looked from it's title it's portrait of a sneaky man in red gloves staring eerily back at him, Cain mumbled the name and details of the card to himself. Details that would apparently make children and goblins cry so he couldn't say them aloud. He was a little jealous, he hadn't been able to collect the frog cards since he overdid it one Yule and got sick. His mother severely restricted his sweets after that, of course that only made him want them more. His measly collection of maybe five cards were stowed away in a small box back home. He half considered just taking it, but if the girl was throwing them around then she probably had more she didn't want.
More that he could have.
"Excuse me." He moved from his spot and took the empty space in front of her, a lot of other students had moved to avoid the plague of frogs. "I could help you throw those away..." His nimble little fingers were already gathering them up, wiping a few clean on some cloth napkins before neatly stacking them in a perfect little pile in his hands. He told himself not to appear too eager, if this girl wanted to, she might try to charge him for them or ask some kind of favor and then he'd lose them entirely. His allowance was meager at the moment and he had to save for other more important things. "Unless you wanted to make more work for the house-elves? I suppose they love it." He smiled in what he hoped came off as friendly.
He was quick to let go of the fork- it stood still while it was embedded into both the frog and the table, he then snatched one of the cards to save it from a juice-covered fate. He looked from it's title it's portrait of a sneaky man in red gloves staring eerily back at him, Cain mumbled the name and details of the card to himself. Details that would apparently make children and goblins cry so he couldn't say them aloud. He was a little jealous, he hadn't been able to collect the frog cards since he overdid it one Yule and got sick. His mother severely restricted his sweets after that, of course that only made him want them more. His measly collection of maybe five cards were stowed away in a small box back home. He half considered just taking it, but if the girl was throwing them around then she probably had more she didn't want.
More that he could have.
"Excuse me." He moved from his spot and took the empty space in front of her, a lot of other students had moved to avoid the plague of frogs. "I could help you throw those away..." His nimble little fingers were already gathering them up, wiping a few clean on some cloth napkins before neatly stacking them in a perfect little pile in his hands. He told himself not to appear too eager, if this girl wanted to, she might try to charge him for them or ask some kind of favor and then he'd lose them entirely. His allowance was meager at the moment and he had to save for other more important things. "Unless you wanted to make more work for the house-elves? I suppose they love it." He smiled in what he hoped came off as friendly.
Stamina: 5 | Evasion: 6 | Strength: 3 | Wisdom: 7 | Arcane Power: 7 | Accuracy: 7
The Golden Card
|
|
|
✿✿✿ |
Winnie was not well known for her anger control, that was for certain. Recently she had been working with a friend of hers, Santario Martin, to try and rein in some of her displays of anger. She was simply frustrated that she had spent most of her allowance on dang duplicates instead of putting it towards a present for Mattie. When she heard the sound of the bench creaking, she forced her head upwards to stare over at the boy. A Slytherin, as determined by his uniform. His face was framed with spectacles, brilliant green eyes the hue of spring growth stared over at her. Hm, she didn't recognize him, so perhaps it would be safe to assume he was a first-year. She licked the chocolate off her lips, a bronze card stuck against her forehead as blue eyes narrowed at the boy, eyeing him suspiciously before suddenly perking up at the mention of helping the house-elves.
She didn't want to cause any more trouble for the small creatures, especially since she was already not happy with the way they were treated. Although perhaps better than just a few decades prior, she found herself uncomfortable with the idea of house-elves. "Oh... I guess you do have a good point." She sat up straight, though the card remained stuck to her forehead. She clearly had her life together. Still, she had spent her grandparent's hard-earned money on these cards, should she really just throw them away without further thought? "Throwing away seems so wasteful, though... Don't you think?" Despite the fact that she had basically just tossed her new cards all over the floor and nearly into Cain's juice. She tilted her head to the side, her brows furrowing as she thought, "OH! I know!" She suddenly jumped to her feet, slamming her hands against the table. The sudden movement disrupted the card pasted to her forehead and sent it flickering downwards onto the wooden table. "You're a first-year, right? I mean, I've never seen you before and you're kinda short so I just assume--..." She paused, a soft blush blossoming onto her cheeks. "I-I didn't mean that in a bad way, I just meant... Um... You're taller than I am still... A-Anyways, if you want, maybe you could take all my spares and give them out to some first years? Since you were just going throw them out anyway."
✿ | | ✿ |
│ │ | │ │ | STA: 15 • EVA: 18 • STR: 8 WIS: 11 • ARC: 7 • ACC: 17 | │ │ | • Healing Sage • Muggle Condition • Paragon of Health • • Poison Resistance • Animagus • Wandmaker • Lovely Creature • | │ │ | │ │ |
The Golden Card
Appearance: Dark brown hair, shaggy. Green eyes, glasses. Uniform, well-kept.
The young boy noticed her eyes move to the Slytherin crest giving him away, though so far no one told him to leave. He found as long as he was quiet, people barely noticed he was there. After all, there were much more interesting and colorful students around to distract them. Still, his house had an understandable stigma, a miasma of distrust clinging to any and all snakes. It was well earned even to this day. Thankfully his excused worked in relaxing her, not to mention she was obviously older so she had nothing to fear from him as a first year.
Cain opened his mouth to mention either the chocolate on her mouth or the card on her face but couldn't seem to find the right time to interject and his words died in his throat. His mouth closed shut. It would resolve itself in time.
"Sorry, I didn't introduce myself. My name is Cain, Slytherin house of course." If you wanted to know someone's name, you had to give yours first. It was only polite. He refrained from outstretching his hand to shake hers though, there was most definitely chocolate on her fingers. Probably. "Now that you mention it, I couldn't agree more. You put in a lot of effort to open them too." The smile on his lips was more true this time, a subtle tug at the corners of his mouth as his plan was working. He blinked as she slammed her hands down on the table, slightly startled by the jump in excitement. Then his expression turned into a small grimace at being called short, but he kept his eyes on her reddening face and let out a breath. "It's fine, your deduction is correct. I'm a first year and I am short right now. I'll be taller when I get older." Both his father and his uncle weren't short so he was confident in that fact even if he was on the shrimpy side right now. "You should be more careful with your words, some people around here have fragile egos." Cain hoped that came off as friendly advice and not a threat, that's how he meant it anyway.
"That's a great idea, I know one first year who doesn't have any and would take very good care of them." He smiled slightly again as he picked up that last card from the table, gently wiping it clean as well before he added it to the stack. When he saw the name he knew those cards were fated to be his after all, magic threads were being pulled to ease his pointless envy and reward him for all his efforts. If he could, he'd return the favor to this girl someday despite her calling him short. He would definitely be tall someday, his mother assured him as much.
Cain was just a late bloomer, that's all.
Cain opened his mouth to mention either the chocolate on her mouth or the card on her face but couldn't seem to find the right time to interject and his words died in his throat. His mouth closed shut. It would resolve itself in time.
"Sorry, I didn't introduce myself. My name is Cain, Slytherin house of course." If you wanted to know someone's name, you had to give yours first. It was only polite. He refrained from outstretching his hand to shake hers though, there was most definitely chocolate on her fingers. Probably. "Now that you mention it, I couldn't agree more. You put in a lot of effort to open them too." The smile on his lips was more true this time, a subtle tug at the corners of his mouth as his plan was working. He blinked as she slammed her hands down on the table, slightly startled by the jump in excitement. Then his expression turned into a small grimace at being called short, but he kept his eyes on her reddening face and let out a breath. "It's fine, your deduction is correct. I'm a first year and I am short right now. I'll be taller when I get older." Both his father and his uncle weren't short so he was confident in that fact even if he was on the shrimpy side right now. "You should be more careful with your words, some people around here have fragile egos." Cain hoped that came off as friendly advice and not a threat, that's how he meant it anyway.
"That's a great idea, I know one first year who doesn't have any and would take very good care of them." He smiled slightly again as he picked up that last card from the table, gently wiping it clean as well before he added it to the stack. When he saw the name he knew those cards were fated to be his after all, magic threads were being pulled to ease his pointless envy and reward him for all his efforts. If he could, he'd return the favor to this girl someday despite her calling him short. He would definitely be tall someday, his mother assured him as much.
Cain was just a late bloomer, that's all.
Stamina: 5 | Evasion: 6 | Strength: 3 | Wisdom: 7 | Arcane Power: 7 | Accuracy: 7
The Golden Card
|
|
|
✿✿✿ |
It was with a hum the second year took in the Slytherin's offered name. Cain Corvus, what an interesting name. If she were a betting woman, she would guess the boy was pureblooded, and from a traditional family at that. "Cain Corvus, it's nice to meet you. I'm Winnie Harper, from house Ravenclaw." Although that fact would be quite obvious given the table she was seated at. She would quickly wipe her chocolate-coated hand with a napkin before accepting his handshake, she had some manners when she was self-aware enough. Her mind kept trailing back to the name the boy had offered her. Corvus. It made her think of a famous poem and she just had to ask her new friend if he had heard of the author. He was famous in the muggle world so it would usually be a given that one would know of him, but if Cain were a pureblood, perhaps he didn't. "Your name is very nice, by the way. Corvus, like a raven or crow? Do you read Edgar Allen Poe?"
Her cheeks burned as Cain tried to dismiss her off-handed insult. She felt bad about it, of course, but she often would speak without thinking, things that should have been kept to herself. It was one of her flaws. "Right... Sorry again, it just... came out..." She shook her head, wishing to forget the incident and move on as quickly as possible. Her hands gripped the red tresses cascading over her shoulder, long enough to fall against the top of her thighs, though a bit dishevelled from her treasure hunt.
"Oh?" Her blue eyes lit up at the mention of a first year. It was a bit odd that Cain had not offered any further information about his peer. The cogs in her brain whirled and turned; even Winnie realized that the young Slytherin was likely referencing himself. A small smile crept upon her face, slowly curving her mouth upwards. "I see... Well, if that is the case..." She turned towards the large leather satchel bag that had been sitting beside her. With a quick hand movement, the flap was opened. She dug inside until she withdrew a medium-sized tin container, the kind that used to store candy or cookies before grandmothers snatched them up to store their sewing supplies in. Somehow Winnie doubted Cain would be disappointed to discover there were no confections within, but rather hundreds of chocolate frog cards, so much that the tin was almost bursting when she removed the lid. "This is where I stash my doubles, you're free to take a look through them and grab any that your 'friend' might want."
✿ | | ✿ |
│ │ | │ │ | STA: 15 • EVA: 18 • STR: 8 WIS: 11 • ARC: 7 • ACC: 17 | │ │ | • Healing Sage • Muggle Condition • Paragon of Health • • Poison Resistance • Animagus • Wandmaker • Lovely Creature • | │ │ | │ │ |
The Golden Card
He could see the girl absorbing the information of his name carefully and it put him a little bit on edge. Cain wondered if she knew about his father or even other members of his family, surely she didn't. She wasn't much older than him and probably didn't read wedding announcements of pure-bloods or anything. "Just Cain is fine, since you're older than me you don't have to be formal or anything." He saw her wiping her hands to try and offer a handshake, quickly tucking his own into his sleeves and then pockets as a pretense to tuck the cards away. "Quoth Cain, 'Nevermore'. If that answers that question, though I didn't read him for an interest in poetry. I just like... scary stories." And with titles like The Cask of Amontillado, of course he'd pursue the author's work, it was very inspiring literature. "Maybe Ravenclaw would've suited me better? That might be overkill though."
Cain just shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not one of those with such a fragile ego and you're not wrong, it's fine." If she apologized any more, someone might think a Slytherin was bullying a Ravenclaw, probably not for the first time either.
He smiled a little to see that she was catching on, she definitely belonged in her house. He sat down across from her, tilting his head when she brought out the small tin. He almost thought for a second that she was bringing out some sewing supplies, though his curiousity shot through the roof when he saw they were more cards. "R-Really?" Embarrassed by the stutter, he cleared his throat and carefully parsed out her cards from the tin onto the table after pushing food and drink aside. He couldn't be greedy, he'd only take the doubles. He paused when he saw a very Slytherin card, setting that aside for approval first. It was rare on top of that much. Cain lingered on another particular card, but accepted it like any other to keep her from questioning him about it. Winnie could probably assume he was just reading each one like anybody would.
"I'll accept these on one condition." He stated as he packed up her beautiful collection back into her tin, neater than when she'd brought it out before. "As a gift for that first year's upcoming birthday." He was a little embarrassed to admit that, but he didn't want any strings attached to these coveted cards.
Cain just shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not one of those with such a fragile ego and you're not wrong, it's fine." If she apologized any more, someone might think a Slytherin was bullying a Ravenclaw, probably not for the first time either.
He smiled a little to see that she was catching on, she definitely belonged in her house. He sat down across from her, tilting his head when she brought out the small tin. He almost thought for a second that she was bringing out some sewing supplies, though his curiousity shot through the roof when he saw they were more cards. "R-Really?" Embarrassed by the stutter, he cleared his throat and carefully parsed out her cards from the tin onto the table after pushing food and drink aside. He couldn't be greedy, he'd only take the doubles. He paused when he saw a very Slytherin card, setting that aside for approval first. It was rare on top of that much. Cain lingered on another particular card, but accepted it like any other to keep her from questioning him about it. Winnie could probably assume he was just reading each one like anybody would.
"I'll accept these on one condition." He stated as he packed up her beautiful collection back into her tin, neater than when she'd brought it out before. "As a gift for that first year's upcoming birthday." He was a little embarrassed to admit that, but he didn't want any strings attached to these coveted cards.
Stamina: 5 | Evasion: 6 | Strength: 3 | Wisdom: 7 | Arcane Power: 7 | Accuracy: 7
The Golden Card
|
|
|
✿✿✿ |
The logic behind his request was actually quite adorable. Was she meant to become this boy's mentor? Perhaps. Although Winnie Harper was not in the mental state to mentor anyone, really. She was a bit of a loose canon. "I'm not that much older than you, Cain. I'm just a second year." Or perhaps not. Winnie could not help the small frown that tugged at her lips when her handshake was ignored. She didn't understand why, there was nothing on her hands. Was Cain some sort of germaphobe? The Ravenclaw allowed her hand to fall, resting it against the table again. Any points the boy had lost by refusing her handshake he re-earned when he quoted Poe, the smile that had been playing on her face quickly returning. "Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door." She quickly responded, her blue eyes lighting up. Had she found a fellow poetry buff? "Ah, so horror is where your interests lie? I do enjoy horror, but there are so few students that appreciate poetry. Crows are such lovely creatures, I think they deserve more credit. My mother and I used to feed the crows that gathered near our farm." He didn't ask her, but she shared a sliver of herself with him, oversharing with a stranger, just as she always did.
She was glad the boy wasn't insulted, but was still a bit embarrassed. She had definitely seen shorter first years, like that one really annoying boy named Cody. He was basically the size of a toddler. Winnie had to swallow a giggle at Cain's response, as it was quite adorable seeing the his oddly grown-up demeanour break momentarily. "Of course. What am I going to do with all of these anyway?" If she made the boy believe he was doing her a favour, he wouldn't be able to reject the gift! This was perhaps as cunning as Winnie Harper could get. She silently watched him carefully shuffle through the cards, setting aside the ones he wanted. She was tempted to tell him just to take the entire thing, but thought better of it. "Oh...?" A birthday, how interesting. Winnie was always the type who enjoyed celebrating. "I can agree to that, but I have a condition myself." She claimed, a mischievous twinkle in her eye as she leaned in closer to the boy. "You... Have to tell me when this first year's birthday is."
✿ | | ✿ |
│ │ | │ │ | STA: 15 • EVA: 18 • STR: 8 WIS: 11 • ARC: 7 • ACC: 17 | │ │ | • Healing Sage • Muggle Condition • Paragon of Health • • Poison Resistance • Animagus • Wandmaker • Lovely Creature • | │ │ | │ │ |
The Golden Card
While Cain was looking for a mentor, he was sort of hoping to find an older boy for that job. One in particular that may or may not even like him, if not him, then he'd probably become some teacher's pet. His mother raised him to be very polite, although he still slipped now and then, like now when he refused this nice girl's hand. He'd just have to make up for it later.
"Now we just need someone named Lenore." He joked in his ever placid voice. If not for the smiles Cain sometimes wore, one would assume he was utterly joyless and without laughter. "Yes. I think having a cold shiver run down my back is fun." He paused and then nodded. "You'll just have to raise some poetry awareness, maybe start a little club with some girls." Some boys would benefit from it too, but he didn't notice any that would be into it. Yet. He gave a single, sage nod to that information. "Crows and ravens can make good friends, they remember faces and could even bring you something in return." And that was a Cain fun-fact.
Cain thought about that question for a moment, thinking up some genuine responses before he realized she was being rhetorical. A joke was in order then. "You could build an awkward house of cards?" A good jape if he said so himself, which he would in his head. Winnie surely had no need or patience to build one. Of course he almost immediately regretted mentioning his birthday at her curious tone. She knew too much already. He would have to sacrifice this knowledge for the procuring of his precious cards.
"It's on the ninth of December, four days from now." His honesty felt like an open wound. "No singing though. He hates the birthday song." Did there even exist anyone that liked that song? Yet each and every time a group of friends or family would chime in to sing off-key and as loud as possible when the time came to blow out candles.
"Now we just need someone named Lenore." He joked in his ever placid voice. If not for the smiles Cain sometimes wore, one would assume he was utterly joyless and without laughter. "Yes. I think having a cold shiver run down my back is fun." He paused and then nodded. "You'll just have to raise some poetry awareness, maybe start a little club with some girls." Some boys would benefit from it too, but he didn't notice any that would be into it. Yet. He gave a single, sage nod to that information. "Crows and ravens can make good friends, they remember faces and could even bring you something in return." And that was a Cain fun-fact.
Cain thought about that question for a moment, thinking up some genuine responses before he realized she was being rhetorical. A joke was in order then. "You could build an awkward house of cards?" A good jape if he said so himself, which he would in his head. Winnie surely had no need or patience to build one. Of course he almost immediately regretted mentioning his birthday at her curious tone. She knew too much already. He would have to sacrifice this knowledge for the procuring of his precious cards.
"It's on the ninth of December, four days from now." His honesty felt like an open wound. "No singing though. He hates the birthday song." Did there even exist anyone that liked that song? Yet each and every time a group of friends or family would chime in to sing off-key and as loud as possible when the time came to blow out candles.
Stamina: 5 | Evasion: 6 | Strength: 3 | Wisdom: 7 | Arcane Power: 7 | Accuracy: 7
The Golden Card
|
|
|
A smile spread across Winnie's face at that comment. Usually, when people made jokes Winnie didn't catch on right away, but this boy seemed to be speaking her language. "I like you, Cain, you're funny." It was decided, just as simple as that; they were friends now. Winnie always had been too quick to trust. The boy liked poetry and chocolate, how was he not to be trusted? "It could be fun, but... I dunno, I'm not the leader type. I'd rather join a club that is already established." She shrugged her shoulders. Despite her willingness to speak to strangers, Winnine was, in truth, an introvert at heart. She didn't have it in her to approach a bunch of people to ask them to join a club.
"That's interesting, I suppose that explains why they used to bring her trinkets. We just thought they liked us." She joked, the memory causing her to smile. It had mostly been things like buttons and broken pieces of electronics, but it had been sweet nonetheless. Winnie missed all her animals friends, and that included the nice crows. "If I give you something will you give me something in return?" She couldn't resist teasing him a bit, that serious look had to crack eventually, right?
"Maybe I'll build some birdhouses." The joke was taken more seriously than it should have been. The girl was now picturing tiny little houses made just for a flock of crows. "The ninth is so close!" How would she have time to get him a gift? "Oh... Good, because I... I don't like singing in front of people, so I'm glad you won't be expecting it." The thought of singing in front of anyone but her mother made her feel sick to her stomach. She suddenly paused, realizing she had destroyed their illusion. "I mean, I'm glad your friend won't." She quickly tried to correct herself, shaking her head.
She noticed more people were starting to leave the hall, and realized it must have been getting late. Dammit, she still had homework to do! She sighed and stumbled onto her feet as she pushed back from the table. "It was nice to meet you, Cain. We'll see each other again. I promise." She gave the boy a playful wink before grabbing her leather bag and heading towards the Great Hall's exit but paused once more to speak to the Slytherin. She had realized she had forgotten her tin of doubles, but seeing the joy it brought the boy... Well, she wasn't about to take it away. "Until then, why don't you hang onto my tin of doubles? You can give it back to me empty." With that, she exited the room.
Winnie leaves the thread.
│ │ | │ │ | STA: 15 • EVA: 18 • STR: 8 WIS: 11 • ARC: 7 • ACC: 17 | │ │ | • Healing Sage • Muggle Condition • Paragon of Health • • Poison Resistance • Animagus • Wandmaker • Lovely Creature • | │ │ | │ │ |