Out for a walk on Library

Michael Grosvenor

September 29, 2012 4:25 PM

Out for a walk by Michael Grosvenor

There are many magics which seek to control memory, via enhancement or obfuscation, and Potions is no exception... Michael's concentration drifted. He hadn't really come to the library to read anyway. It just helped to have a book out so that people didn't wonder what he was doing there. He figured it may as well be a book he needed to read, on the off chance that he accidentally found himself absorbing something whilst staring at one of the pages. He was really here because it afforded him peace and quiet and time to think. Following Defence Against the Dark Arts, he wasn't really sure he needed more time to self-examine, although that class hadn't gone too badly in the end. He wasn't sure he'd become more of a positive thinker but he'd enjoyed working with Sully and he'd got to spend time with Brianna and those had both made him feel better about himself. That, rather than knowledge, or even quiet, was what he had come to the library in search of. He needed to feel better.

Term had started well. He'd met Eris and she was just awesome. And he'd felt useful. She had, he reminded himself, been on the verge of crying when he'd come in. He'd made her feel welcome. He was... he searched for the right word. The right term was 'proud'. Michael was proud of himself for doing that, but it evaded him. He came up with 'good,' knowing that it wasn't quite right but it would do. He had felt good for helping Eris. He could pinpoint where it had all gone downhill. Charms. Charms and Purebloods and being pushed outside his comfort zone. It made him doubt whether any of the things he was good at, any of the positive things he felt about himself, had come from him at all, or whether he had just been a mirror, held up to his sparkling, clever, cool friends, reflecting their positive characteristics and their positive view of him. He thought of Eris again, and a little of Sully. He hadn't known them and he'd done ok. He tried to make that fit with his self-doubt. Maybe they were just good with making friends. Ok, Eris had been miserable when he'd walked in but she'd come out of her shell pretty quickly. She was an outgoing kind of person. It was a comfort to know though that he got on well around that kind of person, even if he wasn't one. He'd met his downfall when he'd been forced to work with someone who obviously didn't like him. Purebloods who cared about Pureblood things were always going to dislike people like him and there was nothing he could do about it. Did it matter if they didn't get along, so long as he did get on with the kind of people he actually wanted to talk to? Of course, he might have to talk to Purebloods, either in school again or at work when he was older, so simply crumpling into a gibbering wreck around them was not really an option. And he wanted to be someone with positive characteristics in his own right. If it all came from his friends, then they might one day see through it. He sighed, and fidgeted. Maybe the library had been a bad choice. He had too many thoughts and when he had too many thoughts he liked to walk them out. He was not good at thinking them through to their conclusions. He just needed to walk until they didn't bother him any more. Or talk to Natalie but she lived at home and he lived here.

He flipped the potions book shut. The library was big. No reason why he couldn't walk in here. He couldn't stomp, which might be an issue but it was worth a go. He decided to head for a section of the library he hadn't been in before. Those weren't exactly in short supply and so he set off, looking purposeful and striding out but really having no clear aim in mind. He did not want to weave up one row and down another, as that was far too ordered and would probably look rather strange, and so he would cut down one row, head along for a bit, before cutting down one a few rows along. In this way, he progressed through the library. He consciously avoided paths with someone in them, as he was roaming, and roaming did not go with whispering 'excuse me' and squeezing past other people. However, he was halfway down a row when someone else turned into it.

13 Michael Grosvenor Out for a walk 199 Michael Grosvenor 1 5

Linus Macaulay

October 02, 2012 7:20 AM

Didn't expect to find YOU here by Linus Macaulay

Since his very first night at Sonora, Linus had made it his mission to know as much as possible about what had then been a new world. He now felt suitably informed to count it as 'his' world, but, like any comparitively new environment, there was still so much in it that was unknown or confusing to him. He sometimes paused to wonder whether he would have been this involved in researching wizardkind had he not been allocated a dormitory with Paul Bennett, or some similarly reasonably established pureblood family. Linus had only been a member of Crotalus House for a few short hours when Paul had said to him, 'You might not want to tell people that your parents are Muggles if you can help it. Especially not in this House.'

As per his roommate's recommendations, Linus had not gone out of his way to make it known that his father was a Muggle. He was proud of his father, and if anyone ever were to ask then Linus would boldly own him, but as of yet nobody seemed especially interested in his heritage. Either this was because they, as Paul had, assumed he was from the Canadian Macaulay family, or could tell he was Muggleborn anyway, and hence didn't bother to ask. Regardless of the reasons, Linus was content with this outcome thus far, and he would happily continue on this path until someone forced him to make a diversion.

Without wanting to belitte his Muggle heritage in any way, Linus nervertheless had resolved himself to the fact that his Muggle days were behind him, and magic was what lay ahead. With this in mind, he had spent the previous three years at school thoroughly researching who's who and what's what of the wizarding world, being careful to conduct the majority of his studies away from calculating eyes. He always frequented the library alone, retreated to his dormitory shortly thereafter, and rarely encountered another student in the process. He was mildly surprised, therefore, to discover a fellow yearmate in the aisle containing the volumes Linus was seeking, particularly those containing information regarding recent alterations to modern wizarding law. He was quite simply astonished that the interloper was Michael Grosvenor.

Not wishing to be ousted himself, Linus made it a point not to directly question others about their personal details, but he'd also made it his business to know everything he could about every student in his own year, and all those of noted importance in other years. In their three and a bit years together at Sonora, Linus had barely spoken two words together to Michael, which he now realised was remiss of him. The other boy was disabled, not just by being a Muggleborn, but also because he was practically deaf. Considering this was the only way in which the Teppenpaw stood out from the other fourth years, Linus thought it was obvious that the twoof them would have nothing in common, and this was perhaps the reason they had never properly interacted. Yet as a more able and informed student, Linus should have made it his duty to ensure Michael was managing his classes and the inevitable struggle to adapt from his Muggle hme life.

Linus resolved in that instant to atone, and so he made a point of speaking slowly and clearly as he said, "Good day, Michael. Do you need help in finding a book?" He was obviously lost, because there was simply no reason at all for someone like Michael to be wandering around that section of the library, and while it was technically the work of a library monitor to help students to find books, Linus could shoulder the responsibility on this occasion, considering the extent to which he's shirked in his duties of mentoring Michael for such long a stretch of time.

0 Linus Macaulay Didn't expect to find YOU here 205 Linus Macaulay 0 5

Michael Grosvenor

October 04, 2012 1:46 PM

They let me out of my special room from time to time... by Michael Grosvenor

Michael didn't really know much about Linus. That was a bit unusual, given that they were in the same year in a very small school. It just went to show how successfully people managed to stick to those of their own kind. Although, that said, Michael wasn't entirely sure what Linus' kind was. He was very well turned out. He carried himself with that general air that said he was pretty sure of himself, which Michael found faintly hilarious, as he associated his name with the wimpy kid with a blanket from the peanuts comics. He assumed that most Muggles would, which made it likely that Linus' parents were magical. But something nagged at the corner of Michael's memory. Something that said he'd seen Linus looking lost, or that certain people didn't talk to him. He couldn't be sure, as he didn't really keep track of that sort of thing, beyond who he didn't want to talk to. He had provisionally placed Linus on that list.

Linus, it turned out, was an entirely different kind of person. The kind who attempted to be helpful whilst having no clue whatsoever about what they needed to do. Michael tried to be patient and optimistic about such people. People could not help not knowing much about hearing impairment. He tried to think how much he would have known if it hadn't happened to him. Probably zilch. And he probably would have reacted the same way. Speak up and speak s-l-o-w-l-y. At least Linus wasn't making hand gestures in the mistaken belief that a) this would compensate for him not knowing sign language and b). that all hearing impaired people did know it. It was still very irritating but he tried to tell himself that it wasn't Linus' fault that he was clueless, and that meaning well counted for something. He briefly considered telling Linus to just speak normally. When people slowed down and over-exaggerated, it simply distorted their lip shape and made it harder for Michael to understand them. However, this was going to be a hopefully brief conversation and he wasn't sure he wanted to get into teaching a deaf awareness course right now. As there were no distractions in the library, he could follow what Linus was saying, even with him using his Speaking For Idiots voice.

“No, I'm fine thanks,” he said, speaking at a normal speed and library-appropriate volume, hoping that this might give Linus a clue as to what sort of level he was at. There was also the fact, usually somewhat surprising to Linus' type, that there was no hint of a deaf accent in his voice. The only trouble he had was occasionally not monitoring his volume successfully but this was only when competing with a lot of other noise. “I was just passing through,” he added, mostly because he wanted to get away from the section of the library with Linus in it. Only after he had spoken did he realise the added benefit that he might have escaped serious embarrassment as he had no idea what section of the library he was in, and it could have easily been the Unicorns and Books About Boys Section. Hopefully Linus would be satisfied that he had assisted with Michael's book search LOUDLY and c-l-e-a-r-l-y enough that he would now let him get on his way.

13 Michael Grosvenor They let me out of my special room from time to time... 199 Michael Grosvenor 0 5