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Post by LORELAI GAUNT on Dec 17, 2011 18:36:56 GMT -5
It was now winter break at Hogwarts. That time once again where many students opted to stay home and enjoy the commodities of their real-lives rather than the prison of living at school. The Gaunt family, however, was a bit of an exception. They remained at school, though this was out of the ordinary for them. It was, in fact, the very first year when they had not gone home for Christmas. For what reasons? Who knew? But maybe it really didn't matter so much.
Lorelai laid back on the Common Room's couch, her head pressed up against the arm of the couch. Being that it was winter brea, she was no longer dressed in her school robes. Instead, Lorelai wore a green sweater atop, still with the Slytherin symbol over her left breast and a silver-colored skirt. Pennyloafers for shoes.
She released a light sigh and placed her right hand over her mouth. Who else was out here anyway?
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Post by JULIAN GAUNT on Dec 17, 2011 19:24:33 GMT -5
There was something about the holiday that was making Julian long to be back home… The school was on break, sure, but it sure didn’t feel like it. And he really wasn’t used to being away for so long at a time. Ever since winter break had started, the boy had been feeling an aching pain in his stomach, a physical symptom of his homesickness… and it was just refusing to go away.
The bed he was sitting on couldn’t pass for the one he had back in his real bedroom, not even when his eyes were closed tight. Julian had been lying there for some time in his long-sleeved shirt and suspenders. Whenever he wore them, one strap would always seem to refuse to stay on his shoulder where it was supposed to stay. The boy never even noticed.
It came to his mind that he was the only one of his siblings who was new to being away from home at all. He rolled off the bed rather lazily and made for the door, wondering if they were doing anything fun. Although his attempt at a search could hardly even be regarded as such, only a few steps into the common room and Julian had already encountered his sister. He noticed her sighing and his mind was immediately drawn toward associating that with how he felt. ”Lorelai? Are you sad?”
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Post by LORELAI GAUNT on Dec 17, 2011 20:54:09 GMT -5
Hearing the voice of her brother, Lorelai sat up in the couch. What her brother was doing here, nor did she care very much. He was disturbing her thinking, even if she did appear very bored. Still, she didn't dislike him, and thus she didn't want to spurn him, so she'd give him her full attention. She faced him, examining his body. He looked tired and fatigued. He likely hadn't gotten much sleep recently.
"Sad?... Where would you get such an idea?" Lorelai hissed in parseltongue, the language of the snakes. "No, I am not sad."
Lori pet the seat on the couch next to her, indicating that she wished for Julian to come and sit next to her. She would at least do her best to comfort the boy, even though she knew he likely wouldn't understand anything she had to say.
"You shouldn't be either. Hogwarts is our home as equally as with our parents."
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Post by JULIAN GAUNT on Dec 17, 2011 22:38:55 GMT -5
Julian dragged his feet, making his way around to the front of the couch. He sat beside Lorelai but hesitated to speak up about anything. If he confided in her that his reason had been because he was sad himself, he wasn’t sure if she would make fun of him or not, and he didn’t want to risk appearing like a crybaby.
”I—I’m not…! You just looked sad sitting here all alone,” his protest probably wasn’t very convincing… And to make matters worse, his face had defied him by flushing a shade of light pink. Well, so much for that.
Julian made no habit of speaking in parseltongue, especially not now distraught as he was. When he responded to his sister, it was in English once again. ”It doesn’t feel like home. It doesn’t even feel like Christmas,” the boy grumbled.
”Can’t we do something Christmas-y?”
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Post by LORELAI GAUNT on Dec 17, 2011 23:07:55 GMT -5
"Well, not everything is about you," Lorelai said crossly. She looked crossly at her brother. She was a bit annoyed by his whining when she had much more important stuff to worry about, the likes of which he wouldn't be able to understand. She wouldn't bother concerning him with that type of stuff anyway.
"Our family is made up of the descendents of Salazar Slytherin himself. Our ability to speak Parseltongue is what cements our connection to him," Lorelai explained to him. "Thus, 1/4th of this castle belongs to us. And considering how no one else here has as noble a lineage as ours, this castle is more rightfully ours than anyone else here."
Lorelai was sure that her brother had at least heard everything she had said before from their parents. Whether or not he cared to listen, she didn't know. From the sound of it, perhaps he wasn't paying much attention or didn't care about this.
"Hogwarts is ours... and to think, they've riddled the halls with filthy mudbloods."
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Post by JULIAN GAUNT on Dec 18, 2011 0:11:38 GMT -5
… Lorelai was angry with him now. She was angry with him and he was not completely sure of the why. He honestly had not thought that he was making it seem like everything was supposed to be about him, it was just that he missed Christmas at his real house. For his whole life, he’d always celebrated it there.
The boy sighed softly, and as his older sister spoke a speech that he’d heard many times before, he bit his upper lip to refrain from uttering a response that would make her more upset with him. Truth was, that had never mattered to him, and no matter how many times mom and dad or anyone else said it, it didn’t make the fact interesting or relevant to Julian. ”Well, one-quarter of it is rightfully ours,” he couldn’t help himself. ”So the other three-quarters belongs to someone else, neh? Doesn’t that make Hogwarts more theirs than ours?”
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Post by LORELAI GAUNT on Dec 18, 2011 0:25:22 GMT -5
"Have I done such a terrible job of explaining this?" Lori hissed. She shook her head. Conveying her belief to her brother simply didn't appear to be as easy as she had hoped it would be. He seemed as though he had already been tainted by the outside society. She wondered if he had been. If only she could read his mind. Then she'd be able to know where his allegience truly was. She attempted to, turning to face him, she locked eye contact with him in an attempt to read into his soul.
"As I said. We are the descendants of Slytherin, the school's founder. There were three other founders, you know what, right?" Lorelai paused for a second, breaking her eye contact with her brother and instead focusing it on the fire place.
"There's Helena Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Godric Gryffindor. Their descendants would be that other three-quarters. However, as they have no know descendants, it falls to us," Lori explained once again. She turned to face her brother again, this time much more curiously.
"Or did that go over your head too?"
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Post by JULIAN GAUNT on Dec 18, 2011 2:01:54 GMT -5
”Oh…” Sometimes the boy forgot to remember that even the closest in age of his siblings had been attending Hogwarts for two years longer than him. She knew things that he didn’t know. Now she had to answer all of his silly questions for better or for worse, and taking into account the size of Julian’s curiosity, that amounted to a lot of questions! The thing he had to worry the most about though, was being a burden on Lorelai or anyone else… having to explain so many things to her little brother, he wondered how tiring that might be for someone. Worried about it greatly, in fact. But, in the end, he didn’t know what he could do about it when there were so many things that he did not know.
Julian watched his older sister, the house founders returned to his mind as she spoke of them. It had been the first school day, or somewhere around then, that he had learned a little about each one. And, he was also pretty sure that the sorting hat had only put him into Slytherin because of his blood relation to the person Lorelai spoke of…
”No, I understand now… Sorry…” the boy’s eyes drifted toward the fireplace with longing. He brought his legs onto the couch and sat on top of them before resting his arms and face against the arm of the couch, still watching the fireplace. It really was unlike Julian to seem so gloomy, usually he was overly cheerful and fun-loving. But something about this time of year was just making him feel so depressed.
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Post by PROFESSOR LESTRANGE on Dec 19, 2011 3:36:17 GMT -5
Alistar Lestrange was looking out of the window of his office, watching as the snow fell. He had managed to get past the previous few months with great ease. Everything was going as he saw fit. There were still a few things that he wanted to still change, but that would only take time. Eying the children as they would head to Hogsmeade to go and visit or to leave for their respective homes.
He knew that a few still lingered behind, so he felt that he should go and make some rounds. He knew his own home was in good hands. The school was more important now because it would shape their future generation, and he was the one to help lead them. Soon they would all be in his grasp, that was also why he had brought in a Dark Arts teacher, to show the students what could be done when you know the right skills.
He left his office and headed to his home house. Being a Slytherin Alumni held a lot of prestige to it, not only that but he was also a Lestrange. Both had their power in each respective name. Especially for those that knew him, he was a dark wizard in the secret. As he came up to the wall deep in the dungeons. Look upon it, he began to go back into the days of his own youth. Those were the best of his times when he made his connection. Which he used flawlessly when it came to getting the things he wanted.
Speaking the house password, he was as the wall moved out of the way. He entered inside of it and looked upon two students still in the common room. It was pretty quiet but it was winter break. He heard the little girl speaking in a bunch of hisses. He could tell the talk of Parseltongue when he was near it. Yet, the boy was speaking normally, he wondered if the girl was talking about something that she actually didn't want to say openly. He watched upon the two for a couple of minutes standing in the shadow. Unless they noticed the light come in from the dungeon, though it was a dim light.
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Post by LORELAI GAUNT on Dec 19, 2011 13:39:25 GMT -5
"Good," Lorelai hissed, this time in normal English. It was often difficult to use both languages. It required concentration, as to the Gaunt family, speaking in parseltongue happened unintentionally. It simply happened when they spoke to snakes. Of course, they could train to speak it consciously, but that took effort. Lorelai began to actually wonder if Julian could speak parseltongue consciously yet. He hadn't done it just now. However, she was certain that by the time she was his age, she had been more than capable of doing it.
"Now. Go get dressed and grab your wand. Lets go to Classroom Eleven and practice some spells," Lorelai suggested. She stood up from the couch and began to stretch her arms.
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Post by JULIAN GAUNT on Dec 19, 2011 18:28:40 GMT -5
Practice… Nothing could be any lower on the list of things Julian wanted to do right now. His sister really didn’t know him well, did she? Or maybe she did… because at the very least, there had been one part of her suggestion that stood out to him, and that was the mention of some weirdly numbered classroom. And while the boy wasn’t ready to leap off the couch and be overly enthused about the idea, his curiosity had at least been stricken lightly enough to bring himself to lift his body from the couch.
”Kay,” was all that he had decided to say as he left the couch and headed back to his dorm room for his wand. He wasn’t sure what the ‘get dressed’ bit was about, considering he in fact was wearing clothes at this time. Noticing no other presence in the room as he traversed between them, the boy retrieved his wand from beside his bed and a sweatshirt for good measure.
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Post by PROFESSOR LESTRANGE on Dec 19, 2011 23:09:15 GMT -5
Alistar watched from the shadows as they conversed a little more. His presence still unknown to them. That really didn't matter to him though, he just wanted to see how his old house was doing. That and to see if there were any potential students for him to take under his wing.
It seemed that the girl, as young as she was, was eager to continue her studies in magic. She just wanted a more hands on approach. The boy on the other hand, just seemed a little more hesitate about things. How odd that people of the same blood could still turn out so differently. Guess that's what truly made everyone stand out from each other.
Yet, he had to find that one that just glistened like a diamond for his agenda. Stepping forward out of the shadows, the headmaster looked over at the girl. "There will be no need to go to that classroom today, Miss Gaunt." He wanted to see how these two actually were when it came to their practice of magic. Pulling his own wand out from his sleeve, the white ivory handle flashing in the dim light. He waved it in the air, and all the furniture pushed itself against the walls of the common room neatly. Leaving an open space for the two to practice at.
"I think here will do just fine."
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Post by LORELAI GAUNT on Dec 19, 2011 23:28:11 GMT -5
"Whoah!" Lorelai turned around to see the couches slam against the wall. She had heard the voice of a man only moments before this, and quickly turned to see who it was. It was that smug man, Professor Lestrange, the new headmaster of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. She calmed herself down rather quickly and faced the professor.
"Here will do just fine for what?" she asked him curiously. "Are you looking to watch me and Julian as we practice?"
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Post by JULIAN GAUNT on Dec 20, 2011 0:13:28 GMT -5
Julian scrambled his way back into the room, wand in hand and sweatshirt half over his head so he was unable to see. Shoving your arms up and through your sweatshirt was a much more difficult process with a wand in hand, he realized. The pointier end of the wand jabbed against his sleeve the wrong way a few times before he successfully managed to get his arms through, and then finally his head.
Free to look about now, the boy finally came to the realization that something had happened to the layout of the room when he was gone. He looked around at the locations that the various pieces of furniture had moved to, confused until his gaze had drifted all the way over to an adult and his sister. Wasn’t that the headmaster…?
”Good evening Mister Headmaster, sir!” Julian smiled brightly… meanwhile he was secretly hoping that he wasn’t mistaking the man’s identity.
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Post by PROFESSOR LESTRANGE on Dec 20, 2011 0:25:28 GMT -5
Alistar smiled at the female Gaunt. He hoped that he wasn't making her nervous. He really wanted to see how far the studies of the students were going. His Aluma mater couldn't let him down with future generations, he could only hope. They would be the ones that made sure, if things went his way, that Muggles never set foot back in Hogwarts.
"Yes, Miss Gaunt. I would like to see if the Professors are doing well in their teachings. I know it's a little informal, but I hope you don't mind." He then turned his attention to the little Gaunt. "Evening, Mister Gaunt. Would you mind practicing with your sister for me?"
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Post by LORELAI GAUNT on Dec 20, 2011 0:34:13 GMT -5
"Umm... Yes sir."
Lori nodded. She was a bit confused as to what the headmaster was doing in the common rooms. Granted, he had been a Slytherin at one point in time, but he no longer held such a position. If he was worried about students getting in trouble in the common rooms and wanted to patrol, then that seemed like a more appropriate job for the Head of House. Either way, she wouldn't dare disrespect him by asking what his intentions were. So instead, she simply would go with the flow.
"What would you like to see?" she asked him curiously. She didn't want to waste his time with just any spell. And perhaps he already had something in mind. The girl reached into her left sleeve's inside pocket and pulled out her wand which she held firmly in her right hand. She waited for any further instruction.
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Post by JULIAN GAUNT on Dec 20, 2011 1:03:01 GMT -5
‘Practicing with his sister’… to words sounded all too easy when in truth Julian had a feeling that this so-called practice was going to be all too difficult. He didn’t know very many spells... at all… close to none, really. But in his defense, he really was very new to all this! It would have been so much better if Headmaster Lestrange had simply asked Lorelai to show off what she knew, Julian was only going to slip up and make her mad at him.
Despite his inner feelings that suggested protest, the boy nodded his head up and down for a brief moment. Since he did not know exactly what the headmaster wanted them to do, Julian waited to hear the man’s answer to his sister’s question. And then he would wait for her to begin as well… whatever it was that they were going to be doing, he was going to be following the older girl’s lead.
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Post by PROFESSOR LESTRANGE on Dec 20, 2011 1:11:45 GMT -5
Looked at the two of them, both seemed a little reluctant but that didn't matter cause he only wanted to help further their knowledge slightly. He couldn't have them duel each other, no that might end badly. Can't cause bad blood amongst a family, especially one as pure as theirs.
"How about you take turns in disarming each other." Turning his attention to Julian. "Have you been taught to disarm yet?"
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Post by LORELAI GAUNT on Dec 20, 2011 2:10:26 GMT -5
Lorelai sighed upon hearing his answer to the question, evincing how boring she thought this would be. She had assumed that he would want to see something more unique to her family's abilities. Being a member of the Gaunt family, studying dueling wasn't exactly something foreign to her. The most basic of these disarming spells was Expelliarmus. She had needed to learn said spell for her own protection, and she had taught it to herself in her second year. She raised her wand and pointed it directly at the Julian's wand.
"Expelliarmus!" Lorelai said. Her intention, of course, was to knock Julian's wand from his hand.
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Post by JULIAN GAUNT on Dec 20, 2011 14:46:17 GMT -5
Jeez... That was a 'no'. The answer to the headmaster's question was a flat out no! Disarming spell? Julian had never even heard of a disarming spell!
The boy was just beginning to open his mouth in response when his wand flew out of his hand... not by his own doing, but by something else he was quite unsure of. It felt as though something had forced it away from him. "Um!" he raced to fetch his wand, kneeling for a moment to pick it up before turning back to the other two people in the room.
"No, sir, I haven't learned it yet..."
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