kids in the dark | cara

[diana eoina bainbridge]

they left us alone, the kids in the dark

to burn out forever, or light up a spark

December 2022
cara june bainbridge

Diana sat curled up in an armchair of the Ravenclaw Common Room. The majority of students were in their respective classes this afternoon, but Diana had free periods essentially until dinner. She had spent the first part of her free time finally finishing a charms assignment that she’d been putting off since it had been assigned the week before. It was due the next day. And she’d continued flipping through the extra book she had checked out of the Library for a bit of research. It wasn’t for any particular assignment, and considering that it had chapters describing Inferi—only created through Dark Magic, she was surprised it wasn’t in the restricted section. Then again, one could argue the rest of the book fell under Defense Against the Dark Arts, and who was Diana to complain about access to knowledge without finding a way into the restricted section. Though the thought came to mind that perhaps their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor would eventually cover this subject with the sixth and seventh years.

She heard the faint voices of students entering and exiting the common room, but overall the only noise to tune out was the general scrawling of quills against parchment. It was like a quieter version of the Library but with no librarian shushing and threatening the usual suspects from Gryffindor and Slytherin to behave themselves. Occasionally an exuberant or excitable Hufflepuff but very rarely a Ravenclaw was ever in trouble in the Library. She focused on her reading, brow furrowed in concentration until she heard her name, and she slightly startled and blinked at the person calling it. It was typical to find her hyperfocused on one thing or another but also the way the school year had transpired so far made her a little jumpy. She worried about her family’s safety, and there was some solace in knowing they would be going home for Christmas soon. ”You startled me.” She muttered, shifting in the chair so she could stretch—not realizing how long she’d been curled up there. ”Is it dinner yet?”

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[cara june bainbridge]

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History of Magic had been boring, as per usual. It seemed like, as students at least, they were doomed to forever having professors that could only drone on about mind-numbing topics that occurred centuries earlier. As far as Cara knew, absolutely none of these lessons would ever be applicable for work she would do in the real world, and it was simply just a requirement in order to graduate from Hogwarts. The fact that they didn’t teach modern magical history was sort of crazy, like they didn’t want to bring up the events of the last fifty years. Considering how this school year had started out, she felt that now was the best time for that sort of lesson. The only reason she knew a lot was because she had pestered her parents previously about what had happened, and then decided to follow it up with some light reading in the school library after what happened at the beginning of term.

But class was done with, and it was getting later in the day so Cara decided to wander back up to the Ravenclaw tower. She didn’t have much going on for the afternoon, and it was too early in her opinion to start on homework, so the best options available were to take a nap or write. With the amount of other Ravenclaws heading in the same direction though, she was quickly realizing that either of those probably weren’t going to be feasible if the common room or dorm got loud. She had contemplated casting a noise cancelling charm over her four-poster before, but had never really gotten to it since it didn’t actually seem necessary. Which begged the question: had the school already done that? It was worth asking the Charms professor at some point, just to see.

The seemingly large crowd of classmates thinned out as she got closer to the tower, and by the time she entered, there were only a few other Ravenclaws coming and going from the common room. The fact that it was quiet wasn’t surprising, since this was Ravenclaw, but it was almost void of anyone else. One chair was occupied, and Cara immediately knew who it was without having to actually see, “Dee,” she called in her twin’s direction as she crossed the common room towards the chair. “Sorry,” she responded, not having realized how in the zone Diana had been with her book. She understood what that was like, completely blocking out the world when a good read found its way to her hands.

“It’s only-” she flipped her wrist around to look at her watch, “-four o’clock. They might have lunch out still, to be honest.” Apparently Diana was real deep into the book. Losing track of time was pretty easy to do, but that was a whole new level to think it was dinner time already. “What’re you reading?” she asked, leaning over so that she could try and catch a glimpse of the title. It was impossible to see though.

diana eoina bainbridge ● 503 ● Takeover by Beartooth

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[diana eoina bainbridge]

they left us alone, the kids in the dark

to burn out forever, or light up a spark

December 2022
cara june bainbridge

Her back was stiff from sitting at the strange angle she’d found herself in after a while. Cara had startled her, but she smiled as her twin approached, and for the moment, she folded the corner of the page she was reading and closed it so she could stand and stretch. Clearly, she had lost complete track of time, which would have only been unfortunate if there was a class she had missed. It wouldn’t have been the first time that had happened. Her professors assumed she would skip class on purpose as some students would in her year, but that typically wasn’t the case. ”Right, of course.” She put her hands lightly on her hips and pushed her shoulders back to hopefully crack her back, which it didn’t, but it at least felt a bit less stiff. She made a mental note to try and sit properly next time.

Cara asked about the book she was reading, and she picked it back up. ”Well, I was working on the paper for Disillusionment Charms, and then that reminded me of something the Professor said in History of Magic last week. So, I went to the library to try and find a book on it, but then I saw this one, and I remembered I haven’t done the reading for the Defense Against the Dark Arts assignment.” She paused a moment, not quite sure how fast she had been speaking. ”And then I saw there was a chapter on Inferi—so I was reading about them.” Diana picked up the book and found where she had folded the corner of the page a few moments before. Those in her house or especially her sisters would not have been at all surprised by her slight rambling, though others would be as she typically kept to herself.

”I think this is a NEWT level book. It wasn’t restricted or anything.” She mumbled, sitting back down in the chair. ”You finish your paper yet?” She asked. They both didn’t have an issue completing their homework though she knew Cara preferred to write about subjects she chose rather than History or other things. A second later, Diana stifled a small yawn—just a side effect of the time of day, she figured.

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[cara june bainbridge]

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She leaned back from the chair as her sister started to stretch and get into what Cara assumed was a more comfortable talking position. That was an all too familiar feeling for her as well – getting caught in whatever she happened to be reading, not really caring about what her poor back went through as long as what she was reading was semi-decent. Becoming one with a couch or chair was common both at home and in the common room, and if the library had more comfortable seating, probably there as well. Getting in the zone or taking a nap there was asking for trouble and someone to pull a prank though, so she tried to keep her lounging to where she was comfortable. Ravenclaw was fairly safe for that as far as she could tell.

Diana went on to explain, rather quickly, what she had been reading. Or what she had intended on reading and came out of the library with instead. Or something like that. Cara listened intently but got lost near the end of it. “So this is the Defense Against the Dark Arts book but you’re reading about Inferi?” Cara asked cautiously. Did she get that right? She didn’t really care too much for the class, and even though she did all the reading and work, she definitely hadn’t jumped this far ahead just because she was interested in something further along in the class. Going from the Charms paper to this was quite the divergence though.

“Yesterday,” she answered in regards to the paper. “It was quite easy. I feel like we’d get more out of the lesson if we did another class or two on practicing the charm though. It’s fascinating how much of our lives are covered up by the really large charms.” The paper had been fun but she really wanted to put it into practice. Writing about things was infinitely easier than practical classes or tests, especially when it was a simple research paper with a page requirement. She could waffle on for ages just to hit that without much trouble. “But I haven’t done the Defense reading yet. I’m assuming Inferi are more interesting?”

diana eoina bainbridge ● 364 ● The Mausoleum of Liars by Shadow of Intent

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[diana eoina bainbridge]

they left us alone, the kids in the dark

to burn out forever, or light up a spark

December 2022
cara june bainbridge

Diana’s train of thought wasn’t always the easiest to follow, no matter how much sense it made in her own mind. Cara could typically figure out what her twin was doing and maybe even why—sometimes. ”Yes.” She responded. The distraction from her assignment had been complete—but her professors would not have been surprised by that. Whenever the chance came that she was called upon in class, she could easily answer the questions. Then again, Diana did try to complete her homework first and then read up on subjects she was interested in. The current assignment for Defense Against the Dark Arts was a boring one—learning about the Inferi had been way more interesting even if her fascination with the magical concepts would have garnered concerned looks from her peers. ”I think I’ll do the actual reading for class tonight, just in case I have trouble falling asleep.”

The charms paper had been more interesting than her other assignments, even with her current distraction, and she had to agree with Cara. ”More practice would be nice, but I’m sure they’ll want to cover Concealment Charms as well. Those can be just as powerful, too.” On this, Diana had read ahead. But only because it had helped her wrap her mind around Disillusionment Charms in theory. It made sense how much they went hand in hand and hiding magical society from muggles. And it explained questions she’d had as a child walking through Diagon Alley and wondering how it was kept away from muggles as well as the very castle they were in right now. ”Much more interesting.” Diana mumbled, sitting back down in her chair. ”Its advanced shield charms—which is good to know obviously but not terribly interesting as a topic overall, don’t you think?”

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[cara june bainbridge]

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She seriously wondered if one would be capable of falling asleep after spending most of the day learning about Inferi. Diana was Diana though, so she had that going for her Cara supposed. There weren’t too many times where she actively went out of her way to learn about something that she knew would eventually show up in the curriculum. Unless it pertained to current work she was researching or interested in, of course. Inferi were so out there that it didn’t really align with what she currently found herself indulging in. Diana seemed to be the opposite. “I’m sure it’s a real page turner,” she mused about the actual reading they had to do. “Last week’s absolutely put me to sleep. I don’t mind dense subjects, but is it necessary to have us reading hundreds of pages per week on top of the rest of our work?” Almost anyone she knew in Ravenclaw would probably say yes to that question. Cara wasn’t ignorant of the fact that she differed slightly from some of her housemates. There were a few others like her that excelled in areas of research and study, but she did occasionally wonder what the point of the sorting hat putting her here if she wasn’t top marks on most exams.

Cara had forgotten about the Concealment Charms lesson that followed this up. She shouldn’t have, but it still happened nonetheless. Getting caught up on the fact that she didn’t feel like she was ready to move on to the next part of class definitely messed with her. “Right…” she mumbled. Diana was correct though, they were powerful charms and just as important as the unit they were finishing up with. But not as important as the Inferi were, or their actual Defense reading. Her twin explained that it was advanced shield charms. That seemed to be having a theme as of late with protection charms of all sorts. “I doubt I’d ever need to actually use anything stronger than a standard one, to be honest. Wanting to write books isn’t inherently a dangerous career…I think?” Except from maybe papercuts, stress, and poor critic reviews.

diana eoina bainbridge ● 358 ● Rats by Ghost

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[diana eoina bainbridge]

they left us alone, the kids in the dark

to burn out forever, or light up a spark

December 2022
cara june bainbridge

For Diana, reading about Inferi and other dark arts-related things was merely a question for knowledge. She wholeheartedly believed that having both sides of the story and all the angles created a fundamental understanding. Learn about dark topics did not immediately imply that one would do dark things. But, there was always that fear—Diana could understand that. When they had gone over the last wars in their history class, he’d been amazed at the stories and use of magic. At a very young age, she’d decided it was all about intent. The person using Expelliarmus could either be ‘good’, or they could be ‘bad’, and the spell would work the same. This didn’t sit well with some of her Professors, but she kept on in her quest. Cara didn’t share the same enthusiasm for such things, and that was alright. She had her writing. They were two halves of a whole in that way. Diana could read for days while Cara could write over the same amount of time.

”It would be different if it was a hundred pages on something interesting.” Unfortunately, not all topics engaged her interest as much as they should, much like when she’d been placed in the Home Economics course in her third year. She’d lasted a week before setting something on fire and being unable to shift her hair color from a bright red for three days. After that, she’d decided that Arithmancy might interest her more. Diana paused to think about Cara’s question. ”No, I don’t think so. Unless you travel somewhere dangerous. Like wherever Cursebreakers go.” The treasure hunters. The stories all told of adventurers on a dangerous quest for gold. She wondered if it was actually like that, not that she wanted to try. On the other hand, Diana still wasn’t sure what she wanted to do after she graduated—but there was time. ”But they probably know more stuff about curses than they do shield charms.” Shield charms implied being attacked and what was there really in a tomb that could attack them?

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[cara june bainbridge]

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The only hundred pages of literature that she would ever find interesting would come in the form of something fictional. There was nothing wrong with any of the subject matter that Hogwarts was teaching. If anything, it was absolutely necessary. Doing all of this, studying and researching, was important for what she wanted to do in life. She wasn’t approaching her dream career with reckless abandon and knew that writing would require some effort in researching whatever topic she would want to put in a story. And then it all depended on if she wanted to write for muggles or the magical community. There was less competition if she kept it around her people, but that also meant less money. So many different things to think about when she didn’t even have a story yet, nor had she graduated. This was still years down the road. Her parents were still saying that she would probably find a more interesting passion before then. Maybe.

“I’d love to write about sand and mummies,” Cara said sarcastically. She knew Cursebreakers went all over the world, but it seemed to her like they were always mentioned to be working in Egypt. “I can’t imagine wanting to climb down into tombs for a living. The goblins have enough gold as it is. And it’s not like it’s going to go anywhere in those graves. Literally nobody cares about them until it goes into a museum or the bank.” Despite the conversation starting with shield charms, she was suddenly getting worked up over a career she would never find herself doing. All of it together, from the constant travel to the dirt, all with curses and dead people, wrapped up as easily one of the worst careers she could think of. It didn’t matter if Cursebreakers found it lucrative. It was extremely dangerous and definitely not worth it. If the goblins really wanted the gold and treasure that much, they could get it themselves.

diana eoina bainbridge ● 328 ● Motion Sickness by Phoebe Bridgers

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[diana eoina bainbridge]

they left us alone, the kids in the dark

to burn out forever, or light up a spark

December 2022
cara june bainbridge

Reading was either the bane of Diana’s existence, or it was the time of her life. Unfortunately, writing was not a big part of that. Cara could sit and write all day about something. She enjoyed that Diana could read the same amount. It wasn’t a great combination when the majority of their homework involved writing. Their History of Magic Professor had told Diana that she rambled too much in her essays. It wasn’t all that different from how Diana spoke about a topic either. Something that her family was all too familiar with now, though Dustin wasn’t all that different when it came to Quidditch. He had a clear idea of what his future held for him, while Diana had no clue.

A grimace crept on Diana's face. The sand was messy and got absolutely everywhere. Not to mention it would ruin her books with the beaming sun. No, thank you. ”Its just so dangerous.” Diana commented. While the idea of a cursed object was fascinating to her. Taking something as ordinary as a jar or a small statue and whatever charm was placed on it would remain dormant until someone touched it. But how would one modify a charm in such a way? It wouldn’t be time-based? What if an insect landed on it? Her mind was filled with questions and possibilities. ”I need to go look for a book.” Diana closed the one she was reading, and as she stood from the chair, she put it in her bag. She was off to go back to the library. ”I’ll see you at dinner!” She gave her twin a quick smile before she was out the door.

[ end diana ]

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[cara june bainbridge]

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Dangerous. Right. That sort of thing wasn’t for her at all. Curled up in a chair reading a book absolutely suited Cara’s wants and needs. Though dealing with dead things sort of superseded people. She hated people. Mummies and ghouls were nasty things but they could easily be taken down with a flourish of her wand. Doing so to a person would have her kicked out of school and arrested. There were plenty of classmates she wished she could permanently glue their mouths shut. Albus Potter for one. He always annoyed her, and she was still upset with the ordeal from over the summer where his potion had gone wonky and messed her face up. Putting him in his place had been fairly easy, but now he had blackmail on her if he chose to use it. That annoyed her to no end. So far it seemed like he hadn’t acted on it.

Diana mentioned that she had to leave to the library to find a book, and Cara nodded. “I’ll take your spot then.” A permanent Bainbridge chair for the entire afternoon. That would probably make a few people chuckle. She had a few things in her bag that she could work on until dinner. Or one of her stories. They weren’t really anything yet but she was getting closer to something making sense enough that it could be a novel if she wanted to go for it. Writing hundreds of pages made her head spin though. “Yeah, see you in a few,” Cara called over the top of the couch as she took over her twin’s spot. Unsurprisingly, she slipped right into the position she had found Diana in a few moments earlier. Pulling out her notebook, Cara flipped to her most recent page of work and picked up where she had been scratching notes earlier in the morning over breakfast.

[THE END]

diana eoina bainbridge ● 313 ● Farewell II Flesh by Ice Nine Kills

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