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last online May 3, 2024 19:21:32 GMT -7
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Mar 20, 2016 19:04:56 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2016 19:04:56 GMT -7
At Lysander's comment, Alice's eyes went slightly wide in awkward embarrassment. She wasn't sure if he was just being silly or trying to make a dig at her... Either way, it was an awkward statement in Alice's eyes. She moved on from the subject quickly. "Well, you could come with us next time we go into the forest..." she shrugged, watching the path ahead of them. "Carcer's really nice, I don't think he would mind your company at all." The blonde smiled at the thought of her fellow Hufflepuff. He seemed to have a positive effect on her attitude whether he was near or far.
Alice suddenly slowed in her walking as she looked at Lysander with a creased brow. "I don't think they doomed us," she shook her head. "Never in their wildest dreams could they have predicted that they would live through something as horrible as they did when they were our age. Passing on stories like that wasn't just theraputetic to them, but educational to us," the Hufflepuff droned on as they continued walking. "I like to think that my father's stories... they encourage me to fight back, if ever the situation were to arise."
When Lysander seemed confused at her mentioning of Phoenix Rising, Alice's eyes widened slightly. "Uh, sorry," she admitted sheepishly. "I kind of just assumed you knew about it..." She glanced around them and when she saw that they were still seemingly alone, she spoke in a whisper. "Abby and James... they sort of started this group to kind of weed out suspects, if you know what I mean," she glanced at Lysander to see his reaction. She figured he was okay to tell about the secret organization since he was Aunt Luna's son.
@lysander
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last online May 3, 2024 19:21:32 GMT -7
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Mar 21, 2016 18:49:37 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2016 18:49:37 GMT -7
Lysander didn’t particularly want to dwell on the subject of going into the forest with Alice. He didn’t think it would end well, considering they were just now speaking cordially to each other despite that their parents had been friends since before they were born. Pushing the relationship would likely lead to it dissolving altogether, and Alice obviously seemed to be fond of this Carcer fellow. He was a Ravenclaw, and would never have that same rapport with her. It was one of those things that he had to accept to have any hope of changing. Maybe over the summer they could spend more time together and figure out how exactly they fit together – as friends or acquaintances or just familiar strangers.
When Alice slowed down, Sander was forced to do the same. He wasn’t inclined to set out on his own after the scare they had had by the tomb. Her explanation of her argument was solid, if a little sentimental, and he eventually nodded. “Still, if our parents were telling us stories about their side of the war, you’d have to imagine that other kids’ parents are doing the same thing.” Other kids meaning the kids at their school who still held bias against those of lesser blood purity, of course. Sander was a fullblood so he wasn’t ever a victim of discrimination, but he knew that there definitely was a subset who hadn’t quite let the whole ancestry thing go.
The Ravenclaw shrugged when Alice said that she had assumed he knew about Phoenix Rising. Secret group that theoretically was saving the school from an unknown evil – that didn’t sound familiar at all. “Lorcan probably knows about it.” Sander said noncommittally. He certainly hoped that her little speech hadn’t been Alice’s recruiting pitch, because he wasn’t particularly inclined to join their clandestine operation by what she had said. “What exactly are you doing?” He asked. God help him if they were practicing dueling in the middle of the night.
@alice
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last online May 3, 2024 19:21:32 GMT -7
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Mar 24, 2016 14:22:08 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2016 14:22:08 GMT -7
Lysander's next comment really got the gears in Alice's mind going. Of course if their parents were telling them their stories, she was sure that children of the old Death Eaters were being told similar stories just with a different take on them. Two people in particular came to mind. "That may be true," she said, thinking rather fondly of her newly adoptive sisters for a moment. "But I can say from first hand experience that some of those kids know better. I don't think 'blood purity' is as big of a deal between students as it used to be. I mean, there are still those who abide by it..." She thought for a moment of the Nott boy and Elaine Dupree. "But there are people who are breaking those old social norms, too," she said, looking again at Lysander. "Take Albus Potter for example," she thought of the middle Potter child. "He's very nice, and he has told me that Scorpius Malfoy isn't so bad either. Neither of them believe in blood purity. Albus was raised that way, sure, but my dad always told me that Scorpius's father was not very nice..." Alice found it oddly easy to talk to Lysander about these things. He made for a good conversation.
"Well," Alice let out a little sigh. "Abby and James started it to bring together those who were against the murdering of the muggleborns. And after Ethan Johnson was attacked, Abby put in motion a 'buddy-system,'" she spoke with her eyes ahead once more. "No muggleborn that could be considered a target was allowed to wander around the halls at night by themselves." She thought back to the meeting in the Room of Requirement. "And we sort of just keep our eyes peeled for people in our respective houses that could be of interest," she shrugged, glancing at the Ravenclaw again.
@lysander
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last online May 3, 2024 19:21:32 GMT -7
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Mar 24, 2016 16:59:50 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2016 16:59:50 GMT -7
Alice was being ridiculously idealistic. The thing about life was that there was always balance – for every child of a Death Eater that defected to their side, there was probably a child on their side who was defecting to the side of darkness. Everything went two ways. He didn’t want to say anything, though, just in case Alice thought that his constant arguing was akin to agreeing with the opposition. Everyone deserved to be treated fairly, right? Lysander wasn’t sure why Alice was using Albus Potter as an example. He wasn’t even a pureblood - his grandmother had been a Muggleborn. If the point was that he was a Slytherin, then Alice was even more clueless than he had originally thought. Their Minister of Magic was a Slytherin, for goodness’s sake. The house didn’t hold nearly as much of a stigma as it used to, as far as Sander was concerned.
It seemed to Lysander that having a group against murdering was kind of…well, pointless. Unless one of their members was the murderer himself, then it didn’t make sense. A buddy system was the same way. If someone was willing to commit murders and use an Unforgiveable Curse, then they probably wouldn’t mind if their body count was two instead of one. Nothing Alice was saying made sense to Sander, and he considered himself a pretty logical person. “Who from Ravenclaw is in it?” He asked. If there were enough people from his house in this secret organization, then he didn’t need to join. The closer they drew to the castle, the less sure of everything Sander became. His mother had told him often of the heroics of her friends, but people had died. That was all that he kept coming back to. Last time, they had been lucky to lose as few people as they had. Sander wouldn’t count on that luck to hold out.
@alice
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last online May 3, 2024 19:21:32 GMT -7
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Apr 5, 2016 13:17:05 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2016 13:17:05 GMT -7
Alice had never sustained a conversation with a Ravenclaw she wasn't somehow friendly with for this long before and she could now see why. Alice was feeling a weird vibe from Lysander; he asked a lot of questions and seemed to make his own assumptions about things. Like your usual Ravenclaw would. It was a little annoying, to be honest, but he liked animals... and Alice knew she was really in no place to pass up friends and she was an adult now... she needed to move on past this "thing" she had with Ravenclaws and break out of that shell she had always hidden behind.
"Uh," Alice had to take a moment to think back to which Ravenclaws were in the group. "Aurora Lestrange... Dominique and Rose Weasley... uhhh, the Jaeger girl with the skates and... Cain Edge are a few I can think of off the top of my head." She said, doing her best to respond amicably to his question.
@lysander
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last online May 3, 2024 19:21:32 GMT -7
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Apr 6, 2016 18:59:16 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2016 18:59:16 GMT -7
Sander had to admit that he was impressed by the amount of names Alice was able to summon off the top of her head. He remembered people by the colors of their voices and not much else, so it would have been difficult for him to copy the same feat. He’d have just left her wondering who on earth had a voice that sounded like whatever color. It wasn’t always evident from the person’s exterior, that was for sure. In any case, Lysander ended up matching the names to the colors he remembered as a memory exercise, nodding as he did so. Anyone he cared about in his house would know at least one of those people, so his membership would be redundant, and having a clandestine organization that exceeded a certain size was unwise.
“If you thought that Phoenix Rising was doing more harm than good, would you disband it?” Sander questioned suddenly. It was another one of those hypothetical, devil’s advocate style questions that he was so fond of. Did people every know when to stop fighting? Did they even care? What made the good guys good if they kept going? Those were all questions that tormented him, and he wasn’t sure if Alice even knew the answer. “By you, I mean the group as a whole, not you personally.” He added, just in case Alice thought he was unclear about her role in the organization. She was just another soldier, which was…scary.
@alice
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last online May 3, 2024 19:21:32 GMT -7
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Apr 8, 2016 12:32:15 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2016 12:32:15 GMT -7
Alice's brow furrowed in a mix of frustration and slight confusion. Why was Lysander asking all of these hard hitting questions about Phoenix Rising? Alice wasn't the right person to ask all of it to and she was growing more awkward as they grew nearer to the castle. She found herself more relieved that they were getting close to the walk ending... though she grew worried how well the two of them would fair together for an entire summer in the States. He seemed nice, though it seemed that their love for animals was one of the only things they agreed on. But she still barely knew him, and hoped that was not the only thing they had in common.
The Hufflepuff's face scrunched a bit in confusion, not quite sure how to answer his question. "Uh," she looked away from him. "Well, I doubt that a group of teenagers is going to do anything worse than the things that have been happening." She answered, her tone sounding slightly on the verge of annoyance. "At this point, I don't think they could do any harm - they are trying to protect their fellow students. There's no harm in that." Alice felt a bit protective of the group because her two best friends had started the group, so perhaps that was why she had sounded so on edge.
@lysander
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last online May 3, 2024 19:21:32 GMT -7
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Apr 9, 2016 11:41:56 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2016 11:41:56 GMT -7
Lysander realized, too late, that he had probably annoyed Alice with all of his questions. That tended to be a common thread when he met people for the first time; he pushed a little too far and people began to dislike him. It wasn’t in his nature to stop, though, which was frustrating. He could read people, and didn’t know when they were reaching their breaking point – he only saw it after they were already miffed at him. It wasn’t conducive to starting friendships, which, Sander supposed, was the reason he didn’t have many of them. His questions were valid ones, though, which made it even more mind-boggling when she got annoyed with him. People were supposed to like talking about themselves!
“Protecting people can end up hurting them in the long run. And it hurts the protectors.” Sander finally replied. He still had a hundred more questions left to ask, but he didn’t think Alice would take kindly to them, and they were nearing the castle anyways. They could talk about something else, he supposed. “Has my mother told you where in America we’re going?” He asked, voice much meeker than it had been before. It was the nearest to an apology he could get, especially because Alice hadn’t even told him he was annoying her. “Lorcan and I were born in Canada, so I thought maybe someplace up north.”
@alice
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last online May 3, 2024 19:21:32 GMT -7
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Apr 16, 2016 21:55:05 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2016 21:55:05 GMT -7
Maybe it was Alice's protective nature to defend those she loved and the things they cared about, or maybe it was her personal prejudice she had against Ravenclaws that was clouding her judgement but she was really wondering how the summer would end up being with Lysander there. His twin brother she already knew she could not stand and she really hoped that he woul be different. So far she really wasn't sure what to think.
Alice was beyond grateful that it seemed he had caught her drift and changed the subject. One to a subject she knew they could both talk about with no problems whatsoever. However, the tone of his voice had changed and sounded much smaller... this tugged at Alice's conscience a little bit. She suddenly felt very bad for how she had been letting her feelings toward his questions get the better of her. She didn't look at him when he asked her a question. "Uh, she hasn't stated explicably," she said, her own voice a little more detached from the conversation as she felt a heavy weight of guilt on her shoulders now. "But the northern part was one we discussed... I - I actually really want to visit the Northwestern part of the states. The climate there really sounds nice." The more she spoke about this, the easier it became to talk to him again. While she still felt a little bad for how she had just acted, she hoped their common interest could help them find some kind of even ground.
@lysander
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last online May 3, 2024 19:21:32 GMT -7
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Apr 21, 2016 12:28:32 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2016 12:28:32 GMT -7
Now that they were back on a subject that he knew, the Ravenclaw felt a little more relaxed. He hadn’t liked it when Alice had been angry at him, and she didn’t seem to be as annoyed now. “I’ve heard that the northwest has a climate a lot like the one here in Britain. It rains a lot.” Sander offered, voice still softer than it had been. “Ilvermorny’s in the northeast, so maybe we’ll go there to see the school.” They were off at the same time that Hogwarts was, so they likely wouldn’t be able to get into the school itself, but it would still be cool to see it from the outside, if they had time. They didn’t have time to see everything that Sander would like, though; America was big, and the summer was only so long, especially since he didn’t get to decide the entire trip’s schedule.
“The Great Plains also seems cool.” He said, looking sideways at Alice to gauge her reaction. “I mean, there’s so much space. There’s supposed to be a herd of wild unicorns somewhere there, too. How the Muggles haven’t noticed that, I don’t know, but it seems like it would be fun.” Lysandeer adjusted the position of his pet in his arms so that he could swing open the door to the school. Hopefully it wouldn’t creak, because then both he and Alice would be in serious trouble. Once they were inside, they’d be able to get off mostly scot-free, hopefully.
@alice
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last online May 3, 2024 19:21:32 GMT -7
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Jun 8, 2016 15:20:25 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2016 15:20:25 GMT -7
Alice's eyes widened slightly at the idea of visiting another school. "I've always wanted to visit another school," she said, her mind wandering slightly to the very thought of being at one. "My brother, Phil, is actually going to Brazil next semester. Castelobruxo." She added, thoughtfully and proudly. "But I doubt I'll have the time to visit him," she shrugged dismissively. Alice was proud of Philip, and while she was slightly envious he was going off to study at another school for a while, she knew that she would soon go on her own adventures as she ventured into the world of magizoology after graduation.
The Hufflepuff turned to the Ravenclaw with a slightly more excited look in her eye. She had never heard that there were unicorns in the Great Plains before, but she figured if anyone knew that it would be Luna and her family. "I would love to try to find them." She looked at him, nodding quickly. After meeting the unicorn in the forest that Carcer had introduced her to, Alice felt slightly more confident in her abilities to tangle with unicorns and she thought it may be fun to help Lysander see one too. "I think we have got our work cut out for us," she lowered her voice slightly but smiled at the Ravenclaw, the excitement for the summer building inside of her more and more.
@lysander End? We can start a new thread for just the two of them in America, off doing fun magizoology things~
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last online May 3, 2024 19:21:32 GMT -7
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Jun 30, 2016 9:44:40 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2016 9:44:40 GMT -7
Lysander didn’t see the allure in visiting another school. Hogwarts was brilliant by its history alone, and when you factored in the teachers and the students and the grounds, it was no less than perfect. Besides, new places were always overwhelming for Sander; there were too many new sounds, and therefore new colors, for him to acclimate to. He’d imagine that Brazil would be extremely noisy, especially in the rainforests nearby Castelobruxo. Sander made a soft noise of sympathy. He couldn’t imagine Lorcan being an ocean away with no prospect of visiting him. It sounded awfully lonely.
The prospect of finding unicorns was exciting for Sander, and he was glad that the previous tension of the conversation was dissipating as he and Alice talked further about their shared passion in magizoology. When Alice said that they had their work cut out for them, Sander just nodded enthusiastically. He wasn’t sure if it was safe to talk now that they were inside the castle – sound echoed horribly with the stone walls, and it was in both of their best interests to be as covert as possible. Lysander raised his hand in a brief goodbye before heading on his way back to the Ravenclaw common room.
@alice
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