14 Jun 2018, 21:24
Swingsets and Strangers
The scissors did not move. They had been there all day, from the moment Eris woke up on the cold hard ground under the bridge, and to the moment she came back, after a day spent playing the park. Whoever had left them there was unknown to the girl, and thus, she attempted to ignore them, trekking away from the spot of the park that doubled as her sleeping spot, and a home of sorts.
Her day had been peaceful, the flocks of children that had raced over the the park being small, younger children, as the kids her own age were in school right now, an endeavour that Eris had never experienced, having been homeschooled to an extent, by her mother. Nannies had brought their children together, gossiping on the same benches Eris and Amelia had been mugged at a few weeks prior, while the toddlers ran around on the playground, as Eris swung on the swings, ignoring the stares of a few of the bolder children, watching the girl with long red hair push herself higher and higher. There was something peaceful about the way the wind hit her face, the way she saw the ground from below her, and yet kept soaring. For a blissful moment, Eris imagined she was a witch, flying on a broomstick above the world. As a child, she had never been let out to soar on a swing set, and even at 10, she felt an impossible sense of childlike freedom. Even though children her age were supposed to be brave and tough, because at 1o, you were practically a teenager, Eris felt none of that pressure as she floated up on the swing, feet pumping as hard as they could, swinging her up higher and higher into the deep blue abyss of sky that surrounded the treetops of the Londonian Park.
Then she leaped, pushing herself off the swing and into the blue sky that surrounded her. Children in the park stopped and stared, as instead of falling straight to the ground, the girl glided through the sky, landing safely on both feet, without the thudding impact that most experienced when they flung themselves off the swings. Apparently this was normal for the small girl with the long hair, as Eris laughed loudly and turned back to do it again, ignoring the rumbling in her stomach and the jaw-dropping stares of little children, who were now hurrying over to the swings, as flustered nannies attempted to hold back the flood of small children wanting to leap off the swings.
So she climbed onto the swing again, starting to push off, legs flying off the ground as they began to pump in tandem. The whole cycle began again, legs pumping, eyes closed, imagining she was on a broom, or even a winged horse. About to jump, Eris’s eyes opened again, only to see someone down below on the ground, standing in her way. It was the figure of a stranger she had never seen before, a man clad in a formal looking suit, looking vastly out of place in the park full of children and gossiping nannies. He looked nervous in his clothing choice, fingering the fabric of the suit as if it pained him, eyes darting towards the people in the park ever once in a while, one hand placed firmly in his pocket, as if something in his pocket was steading him.
When he saw the small girl’s legs stop swinging and her eyes narrow, staring at him with a befuddled expression, the man’s face broke out into a kindly smile that instantly settled Eris’s nerves, to an extent.At least he wasn’t wearing a snake logo, or didn’t look like the kind of person who would hurt her. He just looked..off.
The swing started descending, unable to stay in the air without the girl’s legs pushing it up. As the swing came to a stop, Eris’s feet started making circles in the sand, eyes averted to the man in front of her. It was natural, of course, that she was worried about the presence of a stranger, but the man shrugged it off.
Sitting on the swing next to her, which was mercifully abandoned of children, as the nannies had done a good job of keeping the children away from the swings and the dangers of jumping off of it, the man studied Eris--almost as if he knew her already. Finally, he spoke in a comforting voice, suited for talking to a fearful child. One that had to be honed through years of practice.
“Are you Eris Elcan?” The man said, smile still affixed on his tired face.
At once, the girl’s hungry face faded of any color that it had retained from her time on the swings. How did he know her name? Was it any good to lie to him, the way she had lied to the red headed american just nights before? There was a part of her that was tired of lying, a part of her that called out for help, whatever help this impeccably dressed man could offer.
So when her lips parted, opened and then closed, unable to form words, there was a pause before Eris nodded her head, although her whole body recoiled at the usage of her full name, a name she hadn’t heard spoken from the lips of another human in months. The man nodded his head, as if that confirmed something, looked like he was going to pat her knee, but thought better of it.
“I’m here on the behalf of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, here to offer you a place at our school.” The man lowered his voice, studying the frail body of the small child, “There will be food, and a proper place to live.” He added, ignoring the small flush of color that came to Eris’s face at the comment, although most of her mind was racing at the prior statement.
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
So her mother wasn’t lying about Eris being a witch, so the cake exploding, all the strange incidents, everything that had went wrong, it was because of magic. It was because of Eris. There was no crossroads at this moment, there was no way to decline the man’s offer, to live the rest of her life back at home, to pray for her mother to take her back and save Eris from a life on the streets. No, her mum’s claims were the truth, the impossibility of magic being real, when just minutes ago, she had daydreamed of being a witch, it was now a possibility. And that was terrifying, yet some part of Eris felt the truth of his words, the blessed relief that echoed in her soul, screaming out for this very moment, knowing that it would come.
Words were hard to come by, but not impossible. Nothing felt impossible anymore, the world was open for possibilities, whether they were good or bad. Letting out a little cough, voice straining from disusage, Eris stared at the man, whose legs were bent oddly as he sat on the swing next to her. Her legs shook in the sand, as she finally formed a sentence.
“So it’s real.” She managed to say, hands gripping the sides of the swing set tightly enough to turn the skin pale white, as the man nodded kindly. “Whatever you’ve heard is true.” He pulled a thick letter out of his robes, presenting it to the girl. How was he to know that all she knew of Hogwarts was her mother’s screams, warning her of how bad the school was, how bad being a witch was, how the school had ruined lives--had led to a child dying.
Yet, as the heavy letter was pressed into her thin, shaking hands, Eris was not worried for her own sake. She did not find herself terrified of the school that the man was mentioning, not in the slightest. Although, she still wanted to make sure that the school wasn’t a place of nightmares, just in case. Even though it was somewhat obvious it wasn’t, for if her mum thought something was bad, that normally meant it was good, and vise versa.
“What’s it like?” Eris finally asked, feet still tracing circles in the small mound of sand that was gathering under her feet. The man seemed a bit peeved by the fact that Eris didn’t need convincing that the school was real, but apparently the change in conversation was still something that he could handle, even if it wasn’t the norm for him.
“It’s truly an amazing place. We have a sport on brooms called Quidditch with four teams, for the four houses of Hogwarts. There are four houses, Gryffindor for the Brave, Slytherin for the cunning, ravenclaw for the wise, and hufflepuff for the kind.”
Eris felt a jolt at the name Slytherin remembering the name from her mother’s bedside drawer, when she had opened it one day, when her mother was off on one of her nightly escapades. Instead the drawer, which Eris had opened just the once, was a drawing of a snake, and a worn old scarf, embroidered with green and silver stripes and a black name spreading over the scarf. Slytherin
So her mum had gone to Hogwarts, had been in the House of Slytherin. That was not a house that Eris wanted to be in. But a sport on brooms! So wizards and witches really did fly! So Eris really could fly like witches in story books. At once, she felt a rare flare of joy course through her whole body, and Eris let out a smile, forgetting her frightened demeanor in her childlike excitement over the new ideas that were running through her head.
“When do I start?”
They were an odd pairing, the tall man in the fancy outfit, and the small half starved girl. He told her they were going to a place called the Leaky Cauldron until school started, and to get anything she needed. He followed her to the bridge she called a home, standing a respectful distance away as she picked up the ripped old sweater and tied it around her waist, eyes catching on the scissors that had somehow appeared there, almost as if by magic.
Something drew her to the scissors and Eris found herself picking the rusty old things up in her small hands. Everything happened for a reason, and this was her chance to start over at a new place, away from her mother’s hurtful comments, her father’s absence, and her sister. A pang of pain hit her at the thought of her sister, at home alone with their mother, but she pushed the thought away as she reached the scissors up to the red locks of hair.
She had never cut her hair before, but new things in life required new changes. Carefully, she grabbed the right side of her tangled hair, and snipped the scissors across her hair, letting the red locks fall down to the ground with light thuds, landing on the cold floor. She did the same thing to the other side, until both sides were unevenly cut in a small bob of hair. Even though Eris couldn’t see her hair, she felt freer.
The man said nothing about the girl’s hair, as the two walked together. People watching might of wondered about the odd pairing, but when they looked to stare at the two again, there was nothing left in the area of park they had just been in. All that was left was snippets of red hair under an abandoned spot at a children’s park.
sorry not sorry bout' what i said
STA: 6 EVA: 7 STR: 1 WIS: 8 ACC 9 ACC: 9
abilities: transfig DC -5
Her day had been peaceful, the flocks of children that had raced over the the park being small, younger children, as the kids her own age were in school right now, an endeavour that Eris had never experienced, having been homeschooled to an extent, by her mother. Nannies had brought their children together, gossiping on the same benches Eris and Amelia had been mugged at a few weeks prior, while the toddlers ran around on the playground, as Eris swung on the swings, ignoring the stares of a few of the bolder children, watching the girl with long red hair push herself higher and higher. There was something peaceful about the way the wind hit her face, the way she saw the ground from below her, and yet kept soaring. For a blissful moment, Eris imagined she was a witch, flying on a broomstick above the world. As a child, she had never been let out to soar on a swing set, and even at 10, she felt an impossible sense of childlike freedom. Even though children her age were supposed to be brave and tough, because at 1o, you were practically a teenager, Eris felt none of that pressure as she floated up on the swing, feet pumping as hard as they could, swinging her up higher and higher into the deep blue abyss of sky that surrounded the treetops of the Londonian Park.
Then she leaped, pushing herself off the swing and into the blue sky that surrounded her. Children in the park stopped and stared, as instead of falling straight to the ground, the girl glided through the sky, landing safely on both feet, without the thudding impact that most experienced when they flung themselves off the swings. Apparently this was normal for the small girl with the long hair, as Eris laughed loudly and turned back to do it again, ignoring the rumbling in her stomach and the jaw-dropping stares of little children, who were now hurrying over to the swings, as flustered nannies attempted to hold back the flood of small children wanting to leap off the swings.
So she climbed onto the swing again, starting to push off, legs flying off the ground as they began to pump in tandem. The whole cycle began again, legs pumping, eyes closed, imagining she was on a broom, or even a winged horse. About to jump, Eris’s eyes opened again, only to see someone down below on the ground, standing in her way. It was the figure of a stranger she had never seen before, a man clad in a formal looking suit, looking vastly out of place in the park full of children and gossiping nannies. He looked nervous in his clothing choice, fingering the fabric of the suit as if it pained him, eyes darting towards the people in the park ever once in a while, one hand placed firmly in his pocket, as if something in his pocket was steading him.
When he saw the small girl’s legs stop swinging and her eyes narrow, staring at him with a befuddled expression, the man’s face broke out into a kindly smile that instantly settled Eris’s nerves, to an extent.At least he wasn’t wearing a snake logo, or didn’t look like the kind of person who would hurt her. He just looked..off.
The swing started descending, unable to stay in the air without the girl’s legs pushing it up. As the swing came to a stop, Eris’s feet started making circles in the sand, eyes averted to the man in front of her. It was natural, of course, that she was worried about the presence of a stranger, but the man shrugged it off.
Sitting on the swing next to her, which was mercifully abandoned of children, as the nannies had done a good job of keeping the children away from the swings and the dangers of jumping off of it, the man studied Eris--almost as if he knew her already. Finally, he spoke in a comforting voice, suited for talking to a fearful child. One that had to be honed through years of practice.
“Are you Eris Elcan?” The man said, smile still affixed on his tired face.
At once, the girl’s hungry face faded of any color that it had retained from her time on the swings. How did he know her name? Was it any good to lie to him, the way she had lied to the red headed american just nights before? There was a part of her that was tired of lying, a part of her that called out for help, whatever help this impeccably dressed man could offer.
So when her lips parted, opened and then closed, unable to form words, there was a pause before Eris nodded her head, although her whole body recoiled at the usage of her full name, a name she hadn’t heard spoken from the lips of another human in months. The man nodded his head, as if that confirmed something, looked like he was going to pat her knee, but thought better of it.
“I’m here on the behalf of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, here to offer you a place at our school.” The man lowered his voice, studying the frail body of the small child, “There will be food, and a proper place to live.” He added, ignoring the small flush of color that came to Eris’s face at the comment, although most of her mind was racing at the prior statement.
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
So her mother wasn’t lying about Eris being a witch, so the cake exploding, all the strange incidents, everything that had went wrong, it was because of magic. It was because of Eris. There was no crossroads at this moment, there was no way to decline the man’s offer, to live the rest of her life back at home, to pray for her mother to take her back and save Eris from a life on the streets. No, her mum’s claims were the truth, the impossibility of magic being real, when just minutes ago, she had daydreamed of being a witch, it was now a possibility. And that was terrifying, yet some part of Eris felt the truth of his words, the blessed relief that echoed in her soul, screaming out for this very moment, knowing that it would come.
Words were hard to come by, but not impossible. Nothing felt impossible anymore, the world was open for possibilities, whether they were good or bad. Letting out a little cough, voice straining from disusage, Eris stared at the man, whose legs were bent oddly as he sat on the swing next to her. Her legs shook in the sand, as she finally formed a sentence.
“So it’s real.” She managed to say, hands gripping the sides of the swing set tightly enough to turn the skin pale white, as the man nodded kindly. “Whatever you’ve heard is true.” He pulled a thick letter out of his robes, presenting it to the girl. How was he to know that all she knew of Hogwarts was her mother’s screams, warning her of how bad the school was, how bad being a witch was, how the school had ruined lives--had led to a child dying.
Yet, as the heavy letter was pressed into her thin, shaking hands, Eris was not worried for her own sake. She did not find herself terrified of the school that the man was mentioning, not in the slightest. Although, she still wanted to make sure that the school wasn’t a place of nightmares, just in case. Even though it was somewhat obvious it wasn’t, for if her mum thought something was bad, that normally meant it was good, and vise versa.
“What’s it like?” Eris finally asked, feet still tracing circles in the small mound of sand that was gathering under her feet. The man seemed a bit peeved by the fact that Eris didn’t need convincing that the school was real, but apparently the change in conversation was still something that he could handle, even if it wasn’t the norm for him.
“It’s truly an amazing place. We have a sport on brooms called Quidditch with four teams, for the four houses of Hogwarts. There are four houses, Gryffindor for the Brave, Slytherin for the cunning, ravenclaw for the wise, and hufflepuff for the kind.”
Eris felt a jolt at the name Slytherin remembering the name from her mother’s bedside drawer, when she had opened it one day, when her mother was off on one of her nightly escapades. Instead the drawer, which Eris had opened just the once, was a drawing of a snake, and a worn old scarf, embroidered with green and silver stripes and a black name spreading over the scarf. Slytherin
So her mum had gone to Hogwarts, had been in the House of Slytherin. That was not a house that Eris wanted to be in. But a sport on brooms! So wizards and witches really did fly! So Eris really could fly like witches in story books. At once, she felt a rare flare of joy course through her whole body, and Eris let out a smile, forgetting her frightened demeanor in her childlike excitement over the new ideas that were running through her head.
“When do I start?”
----------------
They were an odd pairing, the tall man in the fancy outfit, and the small half starved girl. He told her they were going to a place called the Leaky Cauldron until school started, and to get anything she needed. He followed her to the bridge she called a home, standing a respectful distance away as she picked up the ripped old sweater and tied it around her waist, eyes catching on the scissors that had somehow appeared there, almost as if by magic.
Something drew her to the scissors and Eris found herself picking the rusty old things up in her small hands. Everything happened for a reason, and this was her chance to start over at a new place, away from her mother’s hurtful comments, her father’s absence, and her sister. A pang of pain hit her at the thought of her sister, at home alone with their mother, but she pushed the thought away as she reached the scissors up to the red locks of hair.
She had never cut her hair before, but new things in life required new changes. Carefully, she grabbed the right side of her tangled hair, and snipped the scissors across her hair, letting the red locks fall down to the ground with light thuds, landing on the cold floor. She did the same thing to the other side, until both sides were unevenly cut in a small bob of hair. Even though Eris couldn’t see her hair, she felt freer.
The man said nothing about the girl’s hair, as the two walked together. People watching might of wondered about the odd pairing, but when they looked to stare at the two again, there was nothing left in the area of park they had just been in. All that was left was snippets of red hair under an abandoned spot at a children’s park.
Reducio
A picture of Eris with long hair, for reference:
sorry not sorry bout' what i said
STA: 6 EVA: 7 STR: 1 WIS: 8 ACC 9 ACC: 9
abilities: transfig DC -5