Snakes and Their Counterparts
It was an amid blessing to Vale that despite her newfound changes, she was still able to read books, to an extent. She'd have been in hysterics, of course, if she could no longer taste and smell the papery refines (assuring that nobody would catch her in such an instinctive act), but apparently her most important sense, according to many scholars and adults surrounding her, was her eyesight. Her access to the restricted section of the library for her personal potions studies was thankfully still available, but now she had to make more use of larger-print book versions.September 15th, 2026
Apparently threatening and blackmailing students to read some texts back to her wasn't a 'tolerable ploy to partake in'. Abet an enjoyable leisure for any Ashwood of Vale's age to partake in. And thus, via a house elf or two that happened to work the wondrous library, came to be one of the more useful resources for her to use. Stacks of books littered her newly reserved table. Her face was obnoxiously shoved into one of the many large-printed books she requested for. She sniffed the pages. Newer edition. Dust not even yet settled between its toned papers. Newer means updated content, usually.
Finally, Vale went to reading the contents about foreign potions that failed in equally foreign lands. Perhaps it was a better idea for her to have studied such a subject before she went along with her own form of experimentation that failed at an unimaginable, grand scale. But a beginning failure is always a principle to a final success.
Vale's black, signature nails tapped away at the pages before they hurried to flick through to another in mere seconds. One thing Vale realized is that she could no longer read cursive writing. Such a charming style it was, it was her special style of signature even. But it made many years of her notes no longer viable. She had to get all her notes transcribed into a plain, basic font. And a feather can only ever work so fast along with a wand before summer would end.
Now here she was, writing in haste to replace old notes with new, updated content where simple transcription of a font could not fix. New information required new learning after all. And in Vale fashion, she was much too stubborn to go slack with her advanced studying. Whom else could anyone go to for any specific information regarding potion ingredients and their chemical procedures that explain their behavior in combined formulas? The Potions Professor? A secondhand source of knowledge! An Ashwood could not afford not to be the best in all things potions. It is their very livelihood! And without that, they would not be alive-
Vale twisted her head up, scanning her environment with a serpent-like behavior before she squirmed away to another side of her table to quickly pick up a heavy, impossibly large book to lift closer to her chair with a noted 'hmph!'. It fell, a muffled noise thankfully. With equal haste, she pulled the book open and scanned its contents quickly. She had to rub her eyes, fixing her contact lenses to prevent an oncoming headache from the burning white light that now takes most of her daylight vision.
Oh.
She missed an entire section of formulas. Her notes shall be off by a page.
Vale made a quiet scream of frustration, only so thankful she had completed her OWLs with less difficulty. And back to her frantic writing she returned, ripping through pages to find where she had likely gone wrong.
@Della Barfield
—
Fearless ✳ Poison Resistance ✳ Terrible Presence ✳ Prodigal Potions Learner ✳ Restricted Potions ✳ Blindvision ✳ 7th Year Ability
Stamina 10 ✳ Evasion 12 ✳ Strength 5 ✳ Wisdom 15 ✳ Arcane 8 ✳ Accuracy 15
Note: Vale has applied achromatopsia, making her blind. She wears special contact lenses to help her see.
Snakes and Their Counterparts
English | Parseltongue
interactions: @Vale Ashwood
For one sixth-year Gryffindor, the return to Hogwarts had been bittersweet. On one hand, Della Barfield had passed all the OWLs she had cared about with flying colors—literally with respect to flying class. And the totalitarian zombie state of studying for those OWLs had been lifted from her shoulders. On the other hand, without the study frenzy driving her forward, she felt rudderless.
The jumpscare that was @Fang Hui-Ming on the first of their NEWT-level herbology had her remembering the past and reconsidering her future. She had tried being a recluse devoted completely to broom racing, then she even tried being absolute romance stir-crazy (this one might not be fully past tense with Ming’s return?), and then she went back to being a recluse with studying. This year, before her NEWT levels could fully crush her, she needed to find balance. Hogwarts was going to throw her out on the curb in two years, and to secure her future, she needed not only brains and a broom but really some friends.
But there was another distraction from the past still eating at her: Della’s heritage was still a great mystery. There had been hints here or there about how or why she, a muggleborn, came to be a Parselmouth. But nothing she could fully grasp. It was tantalizing to think she could possibly figure it out. Track down her father’s family. Maybe even find him. If he was out there. So tantalizing, in fact, she was skipping socializing in the Great Hall or the Gryffindor common room for a trip to the library.
At least the library never let her down.
Today, it was emptier than usual. It was only September, so most students didn’t need yet need to sequester themselves between stacks of books. Della did take note of some fifth-years who seemed to already be suffering. And then she spotted Vale Ashwood. The two girls had been in many of the same classes over the years, and they had raced against each other more times than she could count—but Vale seemed to have different issues than Della, namely fire, darkness, and potions? It’s funny, Della had been to Ashwood family home in her first year, but the visit must not have been deemed successful because there wasn’t another gathering as far as Della knew. The Ashwood family was just as unique as Vale herself; even for purebloods, they’d be seen as an oddity. But twelve-year-old Della Barfield didn’t know any better and figured most witches and wizards leaned into their own spookiness. She thought the trip was time well spent.
She looked to Vale and then back toward the shelves she was thinking of disappearing into. There was a section on genealogy of pureblood wizarding families—Della hoped to scour them until she found a hint of anything serpentine. But that would take ages. Instead, there was a pureblood girl right in front of Della. It’s possible she could make up for five years of little rapport, right? Kill two snakes with one stone? Make friends and do some research on purebloods? The plan didn’t make complete sense, but there was something intriguing about possibly spilling her guts to Vale Ashwood.
“Um, hey, Vale? How are you? Mind if I join you? I wanted to get a good start to the year, too.” Feeble attempt, but it hopefully didn’t make Della look too desperate.
sta 8 - eva 16 - str 5 - wis 11 - arc 5 - accuracy 13 |||| Parselmouth - Evasive Maneuvers - Beast Master
also Ruckus Weems | Quentin Gagné
Snakes and Their Counterparts
Vale froze up upon hearing her name. She slowly turned around, her mouth open and prepared to give in to sampling a book page with her tongue. Once her eyes were able to recognize Della, her tongue quickly snapped back into her burn-scarred face. A smile replaced her original intentions.September 15th, 2026
"Della Barfield! One of my many, living arch-nemeses! How unpleasant it is to see your face!" Vale only stopped her vibrant noise-making when she felt someone wander by with a dirty look. Her attention returned to Della with ease, albeit with a quieter voice. "I am most certainly doing the most vileness as usual. But as you can see," Vale waved her arms around, as if to express her entirety. "I have blown up my father's lab. He was surprisingly not pleased. Even grounded me and forces me to have bodyguards when I am at home from now on! Are fathers usually this unreasonable?" Vale scrunched her eyebrows, rubbing her scaled hands together.
"Anyways, I am re-doing my potions notes. I can not read my previous notes anymore. You're welcome to borrow them if you want." Vale gestured to the rather organized stacks of papers next to her before she picked up a large-lettered book to scan through. She realized she didn't even take in regards to Della's own perils. "Oh! How did your OWLs go? I have accomplished my ability to have 'a bright future' so far." Her face was practically shoved into the book.
@Della Barfield
—
Fearless ✳ Poison Resistance ✳ Terrible Presence ✳ Prodigal Potions Learner ✳ Restricted Potions ✳ Blindvision ✳ 7th Year Ability
Stamina 10 ✳ Evasion 12 ✳ Strength 5 ✳ Wisdom 15 ✳ Arcane 8 ✳ Accuracy 15
Note: Vale has applied achromatopsia, making her blind. She wears special contact lenses to help her see.