Freedom (Cara)

[Deleted]

Hugo felt like he was walking on air as he made his way to the library. He'd felt that way all week. Ever since Xan felt well enough to leave the Hospital Wing, he really couldn't feel anything but joy. She was better! Granted, he knew that was going to happen. He told her so repeatedly during her stay, but it was nice to have it actually happening. He could now see her in classes, at mealtimes and all around the castle and grounds. Not to say that he spent all of his time with her. He didn't, but knowing that she was happy made him feel so. At the moment he was on his way to do some studying. Sure, he kept up on his studies while Xan was in the hospital, but he hadn't been as dedicated as he should be, so now he was going to do some good studying while he could. He walked in, surprised when he saw how busy it was in here.

He wandered around the library for a while until he finally found an open seat, right beside someone else. "Hey, you mind if I sit here?" he asked with a smile. 

cara june bainbridge

[cara june bainbridge]

@hugo

There was nothing quite like studying in the library on a quiet day. Of course, it would be about a million times better if that day was today. But it wasn’t. At least it wasn’t now. It had been earlier in the morning, when Cara had first arrived. Apparently the tranquility of the morning study session was too much to ask of for the afternoon. If there was one thing she hated more than anything else, it was disruptions and loud noises in the library. She felt bad for the librarians that had to deal with the mess, because it definitely wasn’t improving as the day wore on. Cara had chalked it up to the lasting excitement and energy from the second task, though she didn’t really understand why people could be that amped up over a silly contest. They were at school, and learning was what they were supposed to be doing. That was starting to take second to the tournament unfortunately.

The library had become crammed at some point though, and while she hated the rising decibel levels, Cara knew that if she left that would be giving in to the idiots that had decided to make it their personal playground. The only good thing was that those feelings were clearly being emitted off of her, because she still had her small table all to herself. No one dared touch the open seat that was next to her. Until someone actually did. Cara didn’t immediately look up as the boy asked if she minded if he sat there. Personally she wanted to say that she did mind and shoo him away, but she also knew that the library was full to the brim. If he had managed to get to her without finding an open seat that had to mean he was serious about studying. At least she hoped it did. “Yeah its fine I guess,” Cara muttered dispassionately. If he kept quiet and did his work, then there wouldn’t be any issues. Still scribbling down notes, she continued, “There weren’t any other seats?”

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The girl sitting next to the chair in question seemed annoyed or angry about something, but Hugo needed somewhere to sit. When she said it was fine, he pulled the chair out and sat down, opening his bag so he could pull his books out. He heard the question and nodded. "Yeah, all the other seats are taken. I wasn't expecting it to be this busy." Hugo glanced at the girl, but she was still working on her things. She hadn't even looked up. Alright then, if she didn't want to talk, he was going to try and not be a bother. After all, Hugo came here so he could study and get his work done. That would be a lot harder to do if he was talking with someone. 

His book out in front of him, Hugo grabbed a piece of parchment as he scanned through the information. Hopefully writing this essay wouldn't take too long. He didn't expect it to, but he wanted to get caught up as quickly as possible. Besides, the girl beside him was giving a strong don't-bug-me vibe.

cara june bainbridge

[cara june bainbridge]

@hugo

Cara mentally rubbed her temple as the boy sat down next to her and responded that all the other chairs were taken. She was more than positive that if she walked around for a few minutes, she would be able to find an open one. Even with all the extra bodies in here today, there were always enough spaces to fit an influx of students. That was one of the things the librarians here were good for, aside from telling people to shut-up when they were being too loud. Today they were slacking on that a lot. “Neither was I,” she responded back about the library being packed, her eyes still glued to her own work. “Wish they would be quiet,” she muttered as she flipped the page in the book she was reading. The material was dull, but she needed to know it. Her idea of fun magic was the difficult kind. Not the content in this book, which so far was looking rather elementary to her.

The boy started to unpack his things onto the table, and each time he placed something down Cara felt a radiation of annoyance. Couldn’t he be a little quieter doing it? They seemed to agree about the library on a fundamental level, at least those were the vibes that she was getting from him. He looked like he was here to study, despite the clunkiness of his methods. Cara mostly ignored him for the next few minutes, scribbling her notes down and flipping through her book, page after page. Then it happened. A bang. A whiz. A roar of screams. And then the shattering fizzle of a firework, soon followed by another. Cara didn’t even have time to be upset, groaning loudly and slamming her head onto her book. Why couldn’t these stupid children stop screwing around for once in their pathetic lives?

[Deleted]

She still seemed very annoyed, so Hugo was determined to keep to himself. Unlike some of the people in the library today, he actually was here to study and he didn't want to make someone angry at him when that was all he wanted to do. She spoke, not looking up from her work as she did so, but saying that she wished the people would be quiet. "Me too," he muttered, hoping that wouldn't annoy her. At least he wasn't disagreeing. That would almost surely upset her. 

As he got his things out, it was almost like he could feel her irritation. She seemed very upset, so he tried to be a little quieter, breathing more calmly when all his stuff was out and he was actually looking at his paper. When the large sounds started ringing through the library he jumped and looked around quickly. Who would set off fireworks in the library. "Woah," he jumped out of his seat when a firework flew directly where he'd been only moments before. He glanced over at the girl next to him, wondering how she was reacting to all of this. "Any idea how to get rid of these?" he asked, keeping his expression neutral.

cara june bainbridge

[cara june bainbridge]

@hugo

Slamming her head down onto the book she was reading in frustration was probably the smartest thing she had done. In doing so, the lone firework that came in the direction of her table whizzed right over her head. If she hadn’t been so aggravated by the whole thing, her head wouldn’t be on her shoulders right now. Realizing that there could others still flying about, looking for a target, Cara kept her head still, observing the boy’s movements instead. He wasn’t in his seat anymore, which meant that he was the one that allowed her to almost get hit. In his defense, that was a pretty damn good dodge. The Ravenclaw didn’t want to be hit, and neither did this kid. Who would? The only thing fireworks were good for was celebration, and this was neither the time nor the place for that. They were only midway through the second term; not even remotely close to the end of the year. She expected that to happen after finals, but not now. And especially not in the library of all places. Though she supposed a troublemaker would be prone to target a place where people were preparing for tests or studying.

Cara maintained her vigilance with her head still down on the table, even as the boy began asking her a question. How to get rid of the fireworks…that was a good question. She had plenty of ways to stop them. Blowing them up was one, but the side effects from the magic could be more than explosive. The last thing she wanted to do was cause more of a problem by trying to fix one. “Hex the hell out of the idiot firing them off obviously,” she yelled as another string of them went off somewhere behind them. This was stupid. The only positive from all of it, and she was surprised to even find a positive among it, was that the library was surely going to clear out after the culprits were apprehended. That meant the boy could run along and find his own table. “Since it’s impossible to do any work right now, might as well talk,” she yelled. “What’re you in here for?” She hated idle chit-chat, but she also knew she wasn’t wrong. This was better than nothing.

[Deleted]

Hugo could tell from the look on this girl's face that she was not pleased about the goings-on in the library at this moment. In fact, he felt a sudden suspicion that whoever set them off should probably keep that fact a secret, because she looked murderous. Also, she was a Ravenclaw (he could tell by the robes) and might come up with some clever way to punish them for ruining her study session. Hugo was just glad that this time, he couldn't get blamed for it. He had a witness that he had nothing to do with this prank. 

After he asked if she knew a way to stop the fireworks, the girl seemed to think for a moment before saying that she wanted to hex the person who set them off. Hugo fought to not grin at her vehemence, along with the fact that he was right. She was furious and probably would take revenge if she ever found out who did this. Another point to Hugo for being able to read the people around him. Granted, the point system was in his head and not really something he actually did, but he'd still been right. That was the point. "Good luck finding them," he answered in a loud tone. "If the person is smart, they won't admit to pulling this any time soon." Though they might want to keep it a secret forever, Hugo added in his mind as he looked at the angry girl next to him. 

She yelled at him, saying they might as well talk and Hugo's eyes widened in surprise. He thought she'd just want to leave, but apparently not. He shrugged, I have some studying for potions to do," he explained, "As well as an essay for Transfiguration." He didn't really expect either to be too difficult, but Hugo liked to finish his homework early. That way, he could spend as much time as he wanted messing around and hanging out with his girlfriend. "What about you?" he returned the question.

cara june bainbridge

[cara june bainbridge]

@hugo

Good luck finding the person? Cara didn’t need luck. She just needed to hijack Kinsey for a few minutes and make her find the person with malicious intent other than herself. Probably wouldn’t take too long considering most of the people in the library had escaped already. The real trick to it all would be getting her sister to agree to it in the first place. Apparently they weren’t on the best of terms or something. Not her fault that Kinsey couldn’t get over herself. She would finally be putting her power to good use here as well, probably something she had never done before other than to avoid people she didn’t want to interact with, namely Cara. The older Bainbridge thought that was a pretty good idea, but it was also extremely idealistic. She would have an easier time storming through the aisles of books until she came across the idiot giggling about setting off the fireworks. “Obviously,” Cara retorted to the boy’s comment about the person probably not admitting to it. “You do realize there are ways to make people talk, right?” Clearly using veritaserum or an unforgivable curse was off the table since they were at Hogwarts, but Cara knew a few horrendous curses and hexes (that were easily reversible, mind you) that always got the culprits talking. Why she was never named a prefect was beyond her, because she would have been ruthless when it came to rule breakers.

She was trying to put the fireworks behind her though, because they were still going off and didn’t look like they were going to end any time soon. The person probably did something to the stash to fire them off randomly and without interference. Cara wasn’t sure if she could count herself lucky that the boy seemed happy to talk to her. First of all, everyone should always be happy to talk to her, since she had great insight. Second, it sounded like he was actually doing work, which was far from what half the students in the library had been doing when she arrived. Exploding Snap didn’t constitute as a valid essay topic on ‘Magic Gone Haywire’, or whatever the one she had heard was about. It was stupid either way. “What’s the-” she started asking at a normal volume when another loud crack echoed throughout the library. Rolling her eyes, Cara tried again. “What’s the essay about?” She could easily gauge the boy’s intellectual capacity based on whatever it was he was writing about. If he simply stated the essay topic, that meant he was average, at best. If he really knew what he was talking about, there would be more substance to discuss between them. “Re-writing my notes for NEWT-level Charms. Repetition helps with memorization,” she stated. That and she couldn’t learn things in one go. The re-writing part was so that she could catch up on things she had missed or hadn’t comprehended in class. The boy didn’t need to know that though.

[Deleted]

The girl beside him seemed to be getting angrier by the second ... or was that just Hugo's point of view? He couldn't tell, but when she started mentioning the fact that there were ways to make people talk, Hugo started to feel uneasy. She sounded deadly serious. While he was definitely annoyed by the people who set off fireworks in the library while he was trying to study, her anger was beyond that. It was kind of scary, not that he would admit that to her, or anyone else, for that matter. "Yes I know," he answered after a few seconds. Of course he knew that. "Are you planning on doing something about it?" If she was, all Hugo was going to do would be get out of her way, but he couldn't help but be curious.

Hugo was curious when she started to ask a question and then was interrupted by yet another firework. Then she asked what the essay was about. Hugo shrugged, not sure why someone he didn't know would care about his homework. Still, he wasn't going to ignore her. With how annoyed she already was, that wouldn't go over well. "We're learning about the gemino curse. We were asked to write an essay on how to perform the curse and also what one can do when something of theirs has been cursed in this way," he explained. She said she was re-writing her notes and Hugo tried hard not to look too surprised. That would be so hard for him. He'd get bored. Sometimes he got bored writing notes the first time. But to each his own. He nodded slowly, "Sounds like good preparation," he commented after a moment.

cara june bainbridge

[cara june bainbridge]

@hugo

The boy took a few seconds to answer her question about making people talk. She couldn’t tell if it was because she had surprised him, or if it was because he was trying to actually think. Sometimes she preferred that people didn’t try to do that. Thinking required a certain level of skill, and hurting oneself while doing that was just sad. His response sounded confident enough though, so she was fine with it. He probably hadn’t expected her to bring up torture so easily. Any defense against the dark arts class would have taught the boy that magical torture was the go to route for both the Ministry and dark wizards. That’s why there was an entire class dedicated to protecting against it. Didn’t take a genius to figure that out. He went on to ask if she was planning to do something about it, and Cara laughed. “And get in trouble for something as stupid as this? Yeah right,” she shook her head. “If they launched them off right next to me, I might curse them. Right now I’d have to first find them though, if they’re even here anymore, and then decide what the appropriate punishment would be. I don’t have the time to do that,” Cara paused, wondering if her earlier statement was the cause for the question. “That earlier stuff was hypothetical. If I had seen them do it.” There really wasn’t a reason to cover herself like that, but if someone did end up cursing the perpetrators, she didn’t want this kid going off and blabbering about how he heard an older girl in the library talking about going after them. That was the last thing she needed with only a few months left at school.

The gemino curse. Cara remembered that one. So that meant the boy was a sixth year. Same as Kinsey. This time last year in Transfiguration would have meant she was writing a paper as well, though she couldn’t recall what it had been on. Definitely not the gemino curse. He explained the general premise of the essay and how the goal was to ultimately discuss what to do when one was presented with dealing with the curse. That sounded pretty solid to her. “Here’s a test then. What do you do when something of yours has been cursed?” Cara threw the statement back at him in the form of a question. If he knew how, then the essay would be easy for him. Talking about it with her would help him memorize the material better, and allow for a freer flowing essay. At least in her experience it worked better that way. “I know its good preparation. I wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t.” Obviously.

[Deleted]

This whole conversation he was having in the library was ... strange. It was strange and Hugo wasn't really sure how he was supposed to handle himself with it. However, since the girl seemed satisfied with his answer, which Hugo considered a good thing. At least he wasn't about to get a lecture, or was he? The girl laughed at the idea of going after the people who did this, calling their actions stupid. Well he definitely agreed with her there, but he found himself oddly relieved that she wasn't planning on chasing them down. As she explained her reasoning, Hugo nodded slowly, mostly to show he was still listening. "I guess that makes sense," he responded as they finished. Then he smiled a little, "I guess they're lucky they didn't decide to mess around here ... unless the librarian finds them. Then they'll really wish they hadn't messed around." That idea sounded oddly amusing to Hugo as he said it, but he kept his amusement to himself.

The girl seemed to light up when Hugo explained what he was studying. Obviously she knew what the Gemino curse was, he expected that when he told her about the essay. After all, she was a year older than him. Then, she said she was going to test him. Hugo looked at her curiously and then sighed at her "test." "That would be why I'm in here," he admitted, gesturing to the book in front of him. "I know exactly what the Gemino curse is, but I don't know what to do once I discover it on something of mine. Nor do I know what to do when any object has been cursed in general." Hugo shrugged and looked down at his book once more, assuming that this girl would want nothing to do with him now that she knew he didn't know what he was doing.

cara june bainbridge

[cara june bainbridge]

@hugo

Lucky was an understatement, and of course her reasoning made sense. Clearly this kid didn’t know who she was. Some of her siblings would say that was particularly good luck for him. Not the same luck that the ‘pranksters’ had though. Their fireworks had come close to her multiple times, and they were in a rather secluded part of the library. Anyone that was in the general sitting area had probably been subjected to much worse. Dealing with magical fireworks was almost a skill in itself; it was like dealing with a wild animal loose in a store. More destruction was caused trying to stop it or run away than it was to let it go about its business. “If the librarians didn’t stop them, then they failed at their job,” she stated dryly. “Honestly, they were failing the second they let this many people into the library. It’s too crowded in here.” Cara wouldn’t have been surprised if it was significantly quieter in the common room. It had happened before.

She tried really hard not to be frustrated with him when he said he was in the library to research the gemino curse. Cara had thought that he was there to fine tune some details, and then get into writing the paper. Now it sounded like he had nothing past the basics. What were they teaching kids these days? Not how to deal with the gemino curse apparently. She distinctly remembered the professor covering that part in her lecture on it. Then again, she also remembered reading up on it prior to class and may have instigated a question regarding how to deal with an item cursed by it, so there was that. It benefited the entire class though, so who could blame her? “Don’t let me stop you then,” she commented, taking note that the fireworks seemed to stop. Finally. At some point, her book had fallen onto the ground. Picking it up, she tried not to fume at the fact that a firework had hit it. The cover was completely singed, and a portion of the pages were now smoldering. She could feel her blood pressure rising as she tossed it onto the table. This was her personal book, not one of the libraries. Wonderful.

[Deleted]

As the girl beside him spoke about the librarians and that they weren't doing their job right if they didn't stop this right after they began, Hugo realized that she was much more intense than he originally realized. She seemed to believe that the library was a holy place and that if others didn't treat it with that same kind of respect they were heathens. Well, he's be surprised if there were many others at the school who felt similarly. Sure, Hugo enjoyed and respected the library, but he also wouldn't be above planning out a well-organized prank in here. To be honest, when he was in one of his moods, knowing that it would about someone like her to this extent would probably make him want to do or sometime soon ... As long as he did it all enough to not get caught by anyone. Not that he would day that to her. She'd probably go ballistic of she realized her fury made him want to do it more.

Still, Hugo just shrugged at her comments, hiding his own inner thoughts and feelings on the subject. "Well, they can't exactly turn people away if they say they want to study. Especially when there's enough space in here for more people," he tried to reason, though he had a feeling this girl would not be easily reasoned with.

Her next words took Hugo by surprise. He hadn't expected her to tell him to get on with his studying. She'd seemed so intrigued by weekday he was doing that apart of him wondered if she was going to teach him herself. Apparently not, but that was fine with Hugo. He smiled at her, "Thanks. I'll let you get back to your studies as well." She reached down to pick something off the ground and Hugo glanced at her when she came back up, not expecting her angry expression. He thought about asking her if she was alright and then decided that if she wanted to talk, he'd let her start it.

cara june bainbridge

[cara june bainbridge]

@hugo

Cara pretended not to hear the boy say that the librarians shouldn’t turn people away. She was about fifty-fifty on that herself; if they entered with the intent to study, converse quietly with friends, or look for a book, then that was fine. But there should still be a limit to how many people could occupy tables. Right now it was ridiculous. Students were elbow to elbow at each one. She had watched chairs be summoned out of storage to accommodate as many people as possible. And then there was the fact that there were a ton of people sitting on the floor. Everywhere. Leaning up against bookshelves, walls, the backs of couches and lounge chairs. It was complete insanity, and it was no wonder that someone decided to let off a few fireworks. She didn’t want to repeat herself, but she still believed that the librarians had failed at their job today. There were precautions that should have been taken to avoid this nonsense, and they hadn’t been followed through with. Still, she couldn’t keep her mouth completely shut. “Enough space for more people?” she asked, eyes widening in disbelief. “We don’t need the entire school in here.”

She took her wand out and pointed it at her book. The spell she was thinking of using to clear up the burned pages could work, but she wasn’t very hopeful. If she was correct, the fireworks were probably magical ones, which meant any damage was through magic. Cleaning up after those was difficult sometimes. All depended on the brand. She attempted it nonetheless, and was disappointed in the result just the same. “You wouldn’t happen to know how to fix something like this, would you?” Cara asked, holding up the book to show him. “Not trying to judge by appearance, but I have a feeling you’ve dealt with fireworks before.”

[Deleted]

She was obviously not of the opinion that the library should be available for anyone and everyone that might want to use it and Hugo found himself a little confused by that fact. Wasn't she Ravenclaw? Didn't that meant that she valued knowledge? Wouldn't other people trying to learn be a good thing in her books? Obviously not, but Hugo found himself surprised by that all the same. He shrugged, "Why not?" he responded, his tone sarcastic now. "I mean, we're only missing about ten. What's the point in keeping them out when everyone else is here?" Yes, Hugo was trying to be funny, but he doubted this girl would appreciate that. She seemed entirely focused on her studies ... or whatever it was she was so focused on here. 

He watched as she turned her attention to her book, obviously trying to fix it so she could use it for ... homework or whatever. He didn't recognize the spell she was trying to use, but whatever it was, it didn't work. Hugo was starting to turn his attention back to his own book when she asked if he knew how to fix something like that. Hugo shrugged, putting his own books down once more. "I know a few spells I can try, but there's no guarantee that they'll work," he told her as he performed the first. Nothing. Second? Nothing again. Hugo smiled however, when his third and final spell started working immediately on the book. "There you go!" He told her, handing her book back. Hugo was actually quite proud that this worked.

cara june bainbridge