Bad Liar (Gideon)

[Deleted]

Feb. 8, 2025

Edmund was annoyed. The other day, during the last Slytherin Quidditch team practice, his broom started acting all weird. He wasn't exactly sure what was wrong with the thing, but it was going the wrong way, basically doing the opposite of everything he wanted it to do, which was super annoying. Especially since it worked at the beginning of practice. Maybe it was getting old, though he hoped not. This was his last year at school. Next year, he hoped to make a professional Quidditch team. If his broom went out this year, it would make things complicated, he thought. 

Either way, he sat on a bench in the courtyard, his broom laid out on the ground at his feet. Ed had his elbows propped up on his knees, his chin in his hands as he glared down at the thing. If he really needed to he could ask his mom to buy him another one, but he didn't want to. He wanted to keep the one he'd had from the beginning. It could last a few more months couldn't it? Why was this so hard? 

gideon edward ollivander

[gideon edward ollivander]

February 2025

Gideon was finished with his classes for the day, so he thought he'd walk around looking for something to do until it came it him. These moods didn't strike often, but when they did, he took advantage of them. Fresh air was good, or so his mother told him. His entertainment came much quicker than expected, and it was someone equally unexpected. Prince Edmund Windsor. Sitting by himself in the courtyard, staring intently at his broom.

He approached the older boy with a quick stride before stopping in front of him, "Hey Edmund." he greeted, giving him a curious look. Gideon gestured to his house mates broom with a wave of the hand, "Is this what quidditch practice looks like these days? Manifesting?" he asked dryly, his tone meant to be taken as a joke. Gideon wasn't friendly with many people, but royalty was someone you rubbed elbows with if you were smart. They were housemates so it came natural.

@edmund

[Deleted]

Edmund looked up, a little surprised when he heard someone greeting him. He honestly hadn't been paying attention to the people around him enough to know who was talking to him. However, when he looked up to see Gideon standing there, Ed rolled his eyes. He had a very interesting relationship with the younger Slytherin boy, but Ed actually kind of liked him. The kid kind of reminded Ed of himself, how he'd been years ago. He wasn't as tense now as he used to be and he got along with a lot more people. "Yeah, you know I think if I stare at the thing long enough, it'll start to do what I want it to in the air again," he retorted shortly, glaring at the object in front of him. He wasn't annoyed at Gideon, but he was at his broom. "What brings you out here?" he asked, leaning back on the bench and looking up at Gideon. "Want to join me for a bit?"

gideon edward ollivander

[gideon edward ollivander]

February 2025

Gideon knew that Edmund would receive his sarcasm well. He wasn't overly sensitive like most of their classmates. His lips tugged upwards when the prince mentioned his broom not doing what it was supposed to. Following with asking what he was up to. Gideon shrugged, "Just coming out for air." he said nonchalantly. The castle got really stuffy, especially in the Dungeons. When Ed invited him to hang out, he accepted the invitation. Gideon was a smart boy, befriending royalty was important, it being Muggle or Magical. It appeared he was having some sort of issues with his broom. This was something that Gideon knew about. Being an Ollivander, he had a thing for woodwork, not just wands.

Gideon approached the broom, "What's your broom doing? Or not doing?" he asked him, reaching down to yank it off of the ground and inspect it. His eyes narrowed as he wordlessly scanned it. Gideon took a seat on the bench beside his housemate and pursed his lips as he ran a finger across the broomstick. It didn't feel too smooth. "Hm. Looks like it could use a good polish, and like it's missing a few bristles too." he stated, scrunching his nose as he gestured to the bareness on the bottom. Just general wear and tear, but it could certainly effect a brooms performance. Gideon wasn't going to offer his services straight away, people had to ask if they wanted his help, even Prince Edmund Windsor.

@edmund

[Deleted]

Ed glanced up at Gideon, not surprised at all when the guy smiled upon hearing his predicament. Gideon was much like he used to be, and Ed would have been sorely tempted to tease and make fun of someone who was behaving the way that he was. At least he and Gideon were friends, so Ed wouldn't have to get offended whenever Gideon started to tease. He nodded when Gideon said he came out for air. "Good reason," Ed agreed. Most days he was fine in the castle, but it could definitely get to be too much sometimes. 

Then Gideon was looking at Ed's broom. Huh. He asked about the broom and Ed shrugged. "Nothing I want it to. It's actually really weird. At practice the other day, partway through it started doing the opposite of everything I wanted it to do. You know, going up when I wanted down, slow when I wanted fast. It was really weird." Gideon mentioned that it might need a polish and a few more bristles and Ed's eyes widened. "Wait. You can tell what's wrong with it? I didn't know you knew brooms ..." Ed trailed off, his mind racing. He really loved this broom. He didn't want to get rid of it. "Would you ... possibly be able to fix it?" He didn't want to seem like he assumed Gideon could, but he did really want the help. If Gideon could help him. 

gideon edward ollivander

[gideon edward ollivander]

February 2025

Gideon listened to Edmund as he explained his broom situation, he propped the broom against the bench before turning to him, "Is anyone out to get you?" he asked him, "I mean, like, do you think there's a chance that anyone has cursed it?" Gideon rephrased the question a little bit, honestly just thinking about possibilities. "I've never heard of that happening before." he told him honestly, inwardly surprised that he was willing to admit that he didn't know something. Ed asked for his help after sharing that he didn't know that Gideon knew about brooms, "Y'know.. Brooms and wands. I guess I just like wood." he stated in dry humor, sealing it with a shrug. Ed asked him for help, Gideon could sense the desperation on his face and in his voice, it almost made him feel bad. He must have really liked this broom. Gideon pretended to think about it for a second, though he already knew he'd tell him yes. "Yeah, I can help you. We can check it out in the broom shed, they probably have tools and a work desk in there." he stated calmly, confident that he could solve the problem.

@edmund

[Deleted]

Edmund's brow furrowed as Gideon asked if anyone was out to get him. "I don't think so?" There were always people pulling pranks on him because he was a muggleborn, but this was a little extreme for that. "If they cursed it, wouldn't it have been like that all during practice instead of starting in the middle?" Ed asked curiously. He honestly didn't know how it worked when people cursed brooms, but he was interested, now that he was thinking about it. He nodded when Gideon admitted that he hadn't heard of something like this happening before. He smiled when his friend commented that he liked wood, waiting to hear if Gideon was willing to try and help him, though Ed kind of assumed he would say yes. While Gideon wasn't the friendliest of people, he and Ed always seemed to get along well enough. "Sounds good to me. You have time for it right now?" Ed didn't mind waiting if Gideon had to go somewhere, but if not he'd love to get this all figured out now. 

gideon edward ollivander

[gideon edward ollivander]

February 2025

Gideon assessed the broom intently, his eyes slowly scanning each inch, fingers feeling for any imperfections. From the appearance to the naked eye, it seemed fine.. despite a few straggler bristles, but that was easily fixed. When Prince Edmund questioned if his broom would have been acting weird throughout practice if it were cursed, he shrugged. "I dunno...I've never dealt with a jinxed broom before." Gideon stated honestly with a snort. Since he wasn't doing anything at the moment he didn't mind helping Edmund. Not to mention it gave him a reason to tinker with something. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but his will to help him was probably influenced by his royal status.

Edmund asked if he had time now to do it and he gave him a comical side eye. "Sure, but you owe me one, Windsor." Gideon told him, already walking down the path toward the quidditch pitch.

@edmund

[Deleted]

Ed tried not to seem too anxious as Gideon looked at his broom. The truth was, he really didn't want anything to be wrong with it. He loved his broom and wanted this one to last through his last year at school, at least. Maybe longer, since now he was considering Quidditch as a possible profession once he graduated Hogwarts. He nodded when Gideon said that he didn't know. It made sense that he hadn't dealt with a cursed broom before, since Ed hadn't heard of one at Hogwarts his whole time living there. Ed didn't really know what else to say. 

An easygoing smile crossed his face when Gideon said he'd owe him. "No problem. I'll owe you one favor or whatever." If Gideon could fix his broom, Ed would happily owe him anything within his means. He chuckled, "Any idea what you're gonna want?" he teased as he started walking with his friend. 

gideon edward ollivander

[gideon edward ollivander]

February 2025

They quickly made their way over to the broom shed, where there would be proper materials to tinker with the broom. Gideon opened the door and set the broom on the desk as Edmund asked him if he had any idea what kind of favor he would want. Gideon shrugged, "I'm going to think about that one and make it count." he stated honestly with a solid nod. He'd save that favor for a time he needed it because he never asked anyone for help for anything, sometimes he was too prideful.

"Gimme a second, I'm gonna check it out." Gideon said, inspecting the broom intently as it lay on the desk top. His fingers found the bunches of bristles that were poking out on the end, again. Pursing his lips in thought, he shrugged as he came to a conclusion. "I think the bristles are just uneven..." Gideon reached for clippers and trimmed the ends so that they were all uniform. The Ollivander rubbed some quick drying polish over the handle for a quick buff, before handing it over to Prince Edmund, "That should do the trick." he told him confidently. Gideon gestured for him to try it out, but couldn't resist joking with his housemate, "If it doesn't work now, you should just consider quitting quidditch." he stated dryly, not meaning it seriously, and confident that Ed would know that too.

@edmund

[Deleted]

Ed nodded and smiled at Gideon's answer. That was very much like the younger Slytherin, or at least what Ed knew of him. He wasn't one to rush into situations or anything. He wanted to think things through. Ed didn't mind. "Well, when you come up with something, I definitely owe you one," Ed reassured him. He wouldn't mind helping Gideon. He actually liked the guy. 

Gideon placed Ed's broom on the desk and he watched anxiously. He didn't know why he was so nervous about this, but he was. The thing was, Gideon really seemed to know what he was doing. He mentioned the bristles, moving to clip them so they were all the same length. Then he buffed the handle and gave the broom back to Ed. Wow. Was it really that easy of a fix. Ed smiled a little, moving to go outside so he could try it out. "I hope you've got it all figured out," he admitted, though he knew that wouldn't be much of a surprise to his friend. He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, good luck convincing me to do that." He mounted his broom and took off, zooming around in all directions before making his way back to Gideon. "Thanks, mate. It looks like you fixed it." Which Ed was ridiculously relieved about. 

gideon edward ollivander

[gideon edward ollivander]

February 2025

Gideon was pleased when it seemed like he had solved whatever problem was going on with Edmund Windsors broom. It was a simple fix for Gideon, didn't take much thought really. He'd take a free favor though. A favor from a prince was a good one to keep, he'd save it for a time in need. As Edmund thanked him graciously, Gideon nodded along, waving away his gratitude in a relaxed manner. "Right on." he said, wiping his hands on his pants leg before realizing the polish would stain his pant. Opps. The young teen started for the door, since his job was done there and he wasn't feeling very social. Gideon started for the door nonchalantly, "I'll get back to you once I think about my 'favor'." he told Edmund with a slow spreading smirk, "See ya." Gideon started for the walkway exiting the pitch to run off to the common room.

end giddy
@edmund  

[Deleted]

Gideon was definitely being cool today, which Ed appreciated. He didn't mind helping Ed fix his broom, and did so with amazing ease and speed. Ed was definitely grateful. He wasn't sure what kind of a favor his  younger friend would want, but Ed decided right then that it would be worth it. His broom was definitely worth it to him. Ed nodded back to him, making his way to the door, more because he was itching to fly around outside now that his broom was fixed. "You do that. I'm more than happy to help you out with whatever, mate," Ed answered with a smile. Gideon walked off as Ed shot away on his broom, chuckling to himself as the wind whipped past his face. Ugh, this is why he loved flying so much. 

--- the end ---

gideon edward ollivander