I Wanna Know, Can You Show Me (Lysander)

[Deleted]

Anna was looking for someone to give her advice. She knew a bit about the Diricawl, but hoped that someone who studied magical creatures more might have something to tell her that might help. That's when she remembered Lysander. She hadn't really ever spoken with him before, but Anna hoped that he would be able to help her. So she hung out in the entrance hall after breakfast on a Saturday, waiting for him to come out of the Great Hall. When she finally saw him, she approached. "Hi Lysander," Anna said cheerfully, hoping he wouldn't think this was too weird.

@lysander

[Deleted]

Lysander enjoyed breakfast. He lived by the old adage that breakfast was the most important meal of the day, and always spent more time than was necessary deliberating over what combination of foods would give him the most energy to get through his day. He enjoyed the ritual of breakfast, and it helped him wake up before going to classes or doing homework. Sander was always happiest right after breakfast, and he exited the Great Hall with a spring in his step, ready to dive into his studies. He, however, was not anticipating being approached by someone. Sander swiveled his eye towards the sound of a voice, then turning his body when he realized that this was someone who probably wanted a conversation with him, and not just to say hi. “Hello, Anna.” The Ravenclaw said, mind already whirring. “What can I do for you today?” They hadn’t ever really spoken before, and Lysander only recognized the girl because she was the Hogwarts Champion. That in mind, Sander assumed that she needed him for something, perhaps related to the Tournament.

@annelise

[Deleted]

Anna was a little embarrassed that she hadn't spoken to her year-mate previous to this encounter, but she hoped Lysander wouldn't mind, that he'd still be willing to help her out. She smiled and shrugged a little when he asked what he could do. Hopefully he wasn't too busy at the moment. "Well ... I was hoping you could help me," she started, a little nervously at first but gaining enthusiasm as she went. "The next task has to do with magical creatures. We're supposed to befriend them and then protect them during the task and I was wondering if you could tell me what you know about Diricawls, if anything. I just ... I know you like magical creatures and that your parents do too, if I'm not mistaken ... you think you could help me out a little?" Anna was nervous to hear his reaction, but a part of her assumed that he would agree. He went to her school, so that made them part of the same team, right? Still, she was nervously awaiting his response.

@lysander

[Deleted]

If Sander still had a functioning eyelid, he would have blinked at Anna when she asked him for help. He generally wasn’t the most helpful person, due to his inability to communicate about much other than magical creatures, but he was willing to give it a try. Anna elaborated, saying that he actually would be talking about magical creatures, and Lysander perked up a little. This would be fun! His knowledge of the diricawl wasn’t as extensive as his knowledge of, say, the unicorn, but he knew quite a bit about it – and more importantly, he also knew the Muggle perspective of the animal, which was interesting in and of itself. “I can definitely provide assistance.” Lysander said. “Do you have a quill and parchment? It might be beneficial for you to write this down.” Sander trusted Anna’s memory, of course, but he’d prefer not to repeat himself if at all possible. Not to mention he didn’t always organize his thoughts the most coherently, which meant that having everything written down would allow Anna to reorganize everything in a manner that made sense to her.

@annelise

[Deleted]

Lysander seemed excited to talk to her about the Diricawl and Anna was relieved. She didn't know if he would think it strange that she came up to talk to him just because of the Tournament, even though that was true. She never avoided Lysander intentionally, but she didn't seek him out either. Anna smiled at him, "Oh thanks," she said when he told her he was willing to help. He asked if she had a quill and parchment and Anna nodded, reaching down into her bag and pulling the items out. "You mind if we move over to a bench?" she asked, thinking it would definitely be easier to write while sitting. Besides, Lysander might appreciate sitting more than standing, though she didn't know him well enough to be sure. "I'm ready when you are," she added cheerfully.

@lysander

[Deleted]

Lysander just nodded at Anna when she thanked him for accepting her request for help. He didn’t have a reason not to help her, and since people very rarely asked him to speak about his expertise in magical creatures, he was going to take every opportunity that he could. When Anna suggested moving to a bench, Sander nodded, following her to where she sat, though he didn’t sit down himself. He thought better when he was sanding, Lysander was finding. Anna said that she was ready, and Lysander nodded. “The diricawl is a magical bird, though it also has an extensive presence in Muggle pop culture. Due to the diricawl’s ability to disappear and reappear at will – which I’m sure you’re aware of – Muggles assumed that the birds were extinct. This perception is aided by the fact that the diricawl has a small clutch size. It’s normal for a diricawl to lay only one egg in a breeding season.” How this would be helpful in the task, Lysander didn’t know, but he had a captive audience, so he was going to unleash everything that he knew. “While the diricawl’s body structure doesn’t allow for flight, it can run at high speeds. Its original habitat was a large island, so while I’ve never observed this behavior myself, I’d assume the diricawl can also swim quite well.” That was probably more relevant to what Anna needed to know. “I would warn that you must be extremely careful about the diricawl’s ability to disappear. They can travel long distances when they Apparate, so if you lose track of it, you could be in serious trouble.” He wasn’t sure if Anna was supposed to fight a diricawl – he certainly hoped not – but Lysander fretted that its unique ability would be detrimental to her.

@annelise

[Deleted]

Lysander started talking about the diricawl and Anna wrote shorthand, as quick as she could, to try and keep up with his words. She was impressed by how much Lysander knew off the top of his head. She'd been studying the creature for a little over the week and she still couldn't have listed off all the things he just had. Obviously, he knew what he was doing a bit more than she does. Which was why she came to him in the first place. She wasn't sure if she needed all the information he was giving, but if nothing else, Anna was sure that it would help her understand her creature more, which had to be beneficial in the long run. After all, wasn't her task to befriend it and then do something with it? She wasn't sure exactly what she'd be asked to do yet, but she was making friends with her diricawl. She nodded as Lysander expressed his concern about the long distances a diricawl could apparate. "Thanks Lysander. You know, it's really cool that you knew all that right off the bat. I've been studying for a week and couldn't find all that information." She gave a short laugh. "Now I just need to figure out how to get a diricawl to trust me and become my friend ..." Anna trailed off a little as she looked down at the notes she just took, distracted. "Hmmm ... do you think I should name him?" she asked off-handedly.

@lysander

[Deleted]

Sander smiled when Anna thanked him. He liked to be able to use his knowledge for something useful, and helping Hogwarts win the Triwizard Cup was useful, indeed. Lysander wasn’t hypercompetitive, but he had some semblance of school pride and would gladly help guide his school to victory. It was better than lecturing a third year who just wanted help on their Care of Magical Creatures homework. Anna said that now she just needed to figure out how to get the animal to trust her, and Sander shrugged. “If it was equine, I could help you, but otherwise, I’m afraid time is all you need.” He said. Trust needed to be built, not given or taken, and that was a slow process. When Anna asked if she ought to name her diricawl, Sander nodded vigorously. “It’s good for your relationship if you make it more personal than just calling him ‘the bird’.” Sander advised. And, if she was looking for suggestions, the Ravenclaw had another interesting series of facts to lead to an interesting one. “Are you familiar with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?” Sander asked Anna. It was extremely popular among Muggles, but Sander wasn’t sure how much of a place it had in Wizarding culture. “The author, Lewis Carroll, wrote underneath a pen name. His real name was Charles Dodgson.” This whole thing probably seemed like a non-sequitur to Anna, but Sander was about to get to the point. “When he introduced himself, he was known to stutter, and so it sounded like he was saying dodo.” And, since Sander had just mentioned that the dodo was the Muggle equivalent of the diricawl… Sander was hoping Anna could find something from his convoluted story to use as a name for her bird.

@annelise

[Deleted]

Anna nodded when Lysander said that she would just need time. "I know. I plan on going down to visit him frequently," she informed him. "We have a month, so that should be enough time to form some sort of relationship, I think ..." By now, Anna was mostly musing to herself, but was open to any suggestions that he might have, which was why she hadn't walked away yet. She smiled when he agreed with the idea that she should name her diricawl. She was about to ask him if he had any thoughts or suggestions- she'd never named anything before- but he was already asking her another question. Anna shook her head slowly, "No, I haven't." He started talking about an author, which meant it was some kind of book, right? He continued, talking about the author and the names he went by, then how he stuttered and how his name sounded like dodo. Anna laughed, "Way to be clever," she complimented Lysander, thinking about the names he mentioned. Lewis Carroll and Charles Dodgson. "I think I like Dodgson," she told him after a few seconds. "Maybe I'll go down and see what my diricawl thinks of that. If he doesn't like that name, I might just search you out again looking for more ideas," she warned. "Really though, thanks for everything." She appreciated Lysander's willingness to help her so spur-of-the-moment.

@lysander

[Deleted]

Sander nodded when Anna said that she was going down to visit the diricawl frequently. He had seen the tents while walking around the grounds, but someone had told him that only the Champions were allowed inside. Getting to study the various animals in a domestic setting was something sounded fascinating… but he didn’t want to mess anything up by disobeying the rules. “If you have the time, visiting twice a day wouldn’t be amiss.” He suggested. The more time Anna dedicated to being with the diricawl, the better. “If you want to, you could probably even do your homework with it nearby. Even if you’re not interacting with it directly, being around it is important.” Lysander wasn’t certain what level of domestication the animal was at already, but if it wasn’t used to being around humans at all, that would definitely be helpful. Sander smiled at Anna when she said that he was clever for making the connection. “What else are Ravenclaws good for?” He asked, smiling even broader. If he still had two eyes (and eyelids), he would have winked just then, but as things were, he hoped that Anna would understand he was joking. “Have fun with your diricawl, Anna.” Sander added.

@annelise

[Deleted]

Anna smiled when he gave a few more suggestions. "Thanks Lysander. I'll probably do that. I really want things to go well for this next task." Not that he couldn't assume that on his own. Any champion would have wanted the same thing, she was sure. They all wanted to succeed and to win. She laughed at his comment about Ravenclaws. "Ravenclaws are good for a lot of things. I have a few cousins who are Ravenclaws, so I know that," she teased, smiling. "I will. Thanks again for your help. I'll see you later," she said happily as she turned and walked away.

---the end---

@lysander