A spot of glory

[October Alcott]

October had never been to a school large enough to have a whole room for trophies before, and it had been pretty high on her list of things around the castle to investigate. Finding her way to the room had taken longer than she expected... even with all of Dad's warnings about the moving staircases and winding corridors, the school still somehow managed to exceed all her expectations, and October had gotten lost in the labyrinthine halls several times before finding her way to the trophy room.

October had expected the room to make her feel... proud of her school, or excited about all the new things she was going to learn, or... something along those lines. But walking through the glossy cases of shiny trophies, the only thing she really felt was... pressure. So many names of former students engraved forever in gleaming metal... how could she ever make her mark on such a huge school? There had to be a thousand students here or more, all competing to be the best students, the best witches and wizards, and there was a sinking feeling in October's gut that no matter how hard she worked and practised and studied she would never see her own name engraved on a school trophy, and she could already feel her dad's quiet disappointment.

Classes hadn't even started yet, and October was already terrified she would fail. Sure, she had been able to get good grades at her old school, but it had always taken hours of studying and reading, and she couldn't even use her laptop here... how was she supposed to find the time to dig through the library (Dad had described it as "enormous") and manually find all the information she needed? Being good enough seemed like an insurmountable slope to climb here, and it was scarier than October had expected. Closing her eyes, she pressed her forehead against the cool glass of a trophy case and took a few slow, soothing breaths, trying to calm down, remind herself it was still school, just a new type of school, arms wrapped around her stomach to try and soothe the butterflies that had taken up residence there.

 

[Edwin Fessenden]

"Hmm... Was this the right way? Edwin looked around the long hallway, scratching his head in confusion, the area completely foreign to him. He had hoped that he would be able to figure out this strange new place quickly, but he found himself getting lost way too often for comfort. He had to admit, he felt a bit silly for getting lost so much, though he took at least some small comfort in the fact that other students were probably having as tough a time of it as he was.

As he walked past one particular room, he noticed the door was open, revealing a bunch of very shiny metal plaques and engraved trophies. His curiosity piqued, the young man quickly stepped inside, eager for a chance to check out a new room. At least now he could add a new place in the castle to his list, in order to decrease his chances of getting lost in the future.

He walked through the room, looking around in wonder at all the awards and accolades. Edwin wondered just what people had managed to do to earn those awards, and how many of them were still at this school. Maybe he'd get a trophy like this at some point, but he doubted it. This kind of stuff was for heroes and scholars, not people who get lost trying to go get breakfast. He tried his best to suppress any sadness or regret over that, wanting instead to focus on the positives. Still, despite his best efforts, there was only so long he could admire other peoples' wild success, and he soon turned around and quickly made to leave.

Before he stepped out, however, he saw a girl around his age. It looked like she was in Ravenclaw too. Now that he thought closely about it, he thought he saw her get sorted, though he never got a chance to talk with her. Maybe this would be a good chance to make a friend.

Okay, Edwin. You can do this. He mentally prepared himself up for talking to this strange new person, Just be normal for a few minutes.

"Um..." his voice hung awkwardly in the air, "Are you okay? You look kind of down."

 

[October Alcott]

October didn't realise she wasn't alone anymore until she heard a voice, shocking her out of her malaise. Smiling too quickly and too brightly, she turned to face the boy, smoothing her robes and trying quickly to look normal. "Fine! I'm fine!" She said, accented voice infused with an overly chirpy tone. "I was just... resting for a moment, I'm fine, sorry..."

Standing up straighter, October looked over the boy quickly. There had been a lot of faces and names over the last few days, but she felt like she recognised him from sorting, or maybe her common room. "You're a Ravenclaw too, right?" She asked, trying to quickly draw attention away from her moment of weakness.

 

[Edwin Fessenden]

Edwin grinned and nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets, "Yep! My name's Edwin Fessenden. Its great to meet you!" he nodded again, happy that he had been right in his suspicions, "What's your name, and what brings you to this trophy room?" He looked around it again, marveling at all the different rewards on display, "This place really is something. I never saw anything like it back home."

For a few moments the young boy was lost in thought, remembering how things were back home. Things had seemed much simpler then, before he had learned that he was capable of magic. He wondered whether his brother had gotten the news yet. Not that he knew how mum and dad could have broken the news...

He looked up and saw his new companion still looking at him. "Er, sorry for zoning out there," he quickly stammered out, his cheeks turning red in embarrassment at his lapse.

 

[October Alcott]

October clasped her hands nervously, standing up straight, her feet defaulting to first position as she tried to look normal and put together and like she definitely wasn't just almost crying. "It's nice to meet you too, Edwin." She said politely, smiling a little. "I'm October Alcott. I was just... looking around at all the awards. It's nice going to such a prestigious school, I've never seen anything like it either..."

October couldn't help a slight curious frown as the boy seemed to become lost in his own thoughts, wondering what could be distracting him so quickly. She pondered whether or not to try and get his attention back, but before October had made up her mind on whether to act or not, the boy recovered and apologised. Smiling politely, October shook her head. "It's fine..." She said quickly, deciding to just brush it off. "Everything here is so new, there's so much to think about..."

 

[Edwin Fessenden]

Edwin smiled politely, "Nice to meetcha October," he wasn't quite sure what to make of the girl. She seemed really stiff, like she was trying to hide something. He hoped he hadn't said something wrong, "Is this school really that prestigious? I honestly had no idea..."

He looked over the rewards again, unable to stop himself from feeling a bit nervous. There was so many new things in his life now that he was at Hogwarts, now that he was learning magic. Even as everyone he talked to assured him that he'd be able to catch up easily on his pureblood and half-blood peers, he couldn't help but retain some doubts about himself. Trying to snap himself out of it, he turned back to October, "Ah well, hopefully I'll be able to figure stuff out. Being honest, I'm still kinda new to all this magic business. There's only so much you can get out of reading the textbooks before coming here..."

 

[October Alcott]

October nodded. "Just look around... there are so many awards, so many witches and wizards from here have gone on to do so many amazing things. It's inspiring, but also... sort of scary." She touched the glass again, looking into the cabinet a little wistfully. "Can you imagine getting your name onto one of these trophies?"

October looked back at the boy as he kept talking. "Oh, are you muggle born? That must be so difficult... there must be so much to adapt to..." She couldn't help being curious, imagining what it would be like for students encountering magic for the first time. "What was it like, discovering that magic exists? I always knew, my dad went to this school when he was young... if there are things you're unsure about, I can try to help!"

 

[Edwin Fessenden]

Edwin smiled and shrugged, "It would be pretty cool being known like that, I guess. Being honest though, I just want to figure out a bunch of new things. It doesn't really matter much to me whether someone gives me a trophy in the end because of it." he wondered whether that was the right thing to say, given how she'd been acting about the trophies.

When he heard her ask him about being muggleborn, he couldn't help but grin a bit wider. He'd heard some nasty things from the older kids about how muggleborns were sometimes treated, and was relieved she seemed nicer about it, "I was just surprised how... extensive it all was. It would've been one thing if there were just a few groups of wizards or something, but you guys... er, I guess 'we' since I'm magical, live in an entire world, just out of sight. Its just so weird to think about..." however, he couldn't help but bristle a bit at her offer to aid him in stuff. "Thanks, but I can manage fine on my own. I don't need any special help just because I didn't know about magic until a few months ago." He winced a bit as the words came out, hoping he wasn't acting too harsh towards someone who just wanted to help him, "Sorry, I know you were trying to be nice. Its just..." he trailed off, not really sure how to properly express his thoughts.

 

[October Alcott]

October sighed, still staring into the trophy case as the boy spoke. Sure, trophies weren't the point, but did it even really count if you didn't earn one? "I suppose..." She mumbled, pulling her hand off the glass and looking back at Edwin at last.

Octobers face fell abruptly as the boy spoke, startled by his harsh reaction to her offer. "It's not such a big deal to need help!" She said, somewhat affronted. "It's not like nobody else here got any help, I only know about magic because my dad taught me about it, I'm just offering you the same thing everyone else got." She folded her arms, frowning a little. A nagging thought in October's mind pointed out to her that she would probably react the same if she was the one needing help, but she ignored it, still startled by the harsh reaction.

 

[Edwin Fessenden]

Edwin scratched the back of his head sheepishly, trying to figure out what to do. He hadn't really meant to go on the defensive like that, but the idea of having to rely on others to get ahead just did not feel right to him. Still, as much as he hated to admit it, he was in a completely new world...

"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry," he smiled apologetically, shrugging a bit. Hopefully he could avoid making her very unhappy with him, "I don't really like it, but I can see where you're coming from. Still, I'd at least like to see how far I can get on my own first..." Was he being stubborn? Definitely, but he just couldn't help himself. He had to maintain at least some pride.

 

[October Alcott]

October frowned. "So you want to prove you're tough by starting out with less knowledge than anyone else, by choice?" She said incredulously. "Even if it was when we were younger, all of us learned about magic, we all had to have someone explain it to us. All you're doing is making it harder for yourself on purpose..." October couldn't imagine what would make a person so insistent on keeping themselves behind, but she supposed pride could make people do a lot. If she was in the same situation she didn't know how easy it would be to accept help, but the thought of trying to do all the extra work to catch up on basic knowledge at the same time as starting school sounded like an unreasonable challenge.

 

[Edwin Fessenden]

Edwin tried to suppress his frustration. He knew October was right, but it wasn't really something he wanted to acknowledge. He'd managed to make it this far on his own with enough hard work, so he should be able to handle this on his own too. At least that was what he thought.

Still... he mused to himself, thinking on her words carefully, Even if that's true, I shouldn't be making enemies in my first week here. My family'd probably be less than pleased with me for that.

He looked back up at October, trying to figure out what to say, "Yeah, I know. Its stupid. But I've managed to get to here on my own. Feels weird having to go to others for help all of a sudden." he shrugged, his words sounding stupid even in his own head.

 

[October Alcott]

October sighed, frustrated, and gave up. Well, if he wanted to be at a disadvantage, that was his business. One less person for October to compete with for grades, she supposed. "Fine." She said with a sigh. "It's your own problem, I guess." October looked back into the trophy case, letting her imagination run away with her again. Prefect, Head Girl, top of all her classes... those were the goals to worry about, to make dad proud.

 

[Edwin Fessenden]

"That's not what... Listen, I..." Edwin stuttered, struggling to make himself understood, "I didn't say I wasn't going to take help. I was just explaining why it felt so weird to." He sighed and looked at the trophies as well, running his eyes over the various awards. "I'm sorry. I should have been more clear. If you can point me to where people are offering help, I'll take it." He looked away, nervously running a hand through his hair. Just a few days, and he'd already made an enemy. Just wonderful...

 

[October Alcott]

As Edwin spoke again October sighed, trying to calm herself down. This was all a lot for her to deal with, it must be so much more for people with no magical background. Turning back to face him, she tried to keep that in mind, and speak more gently. "I mean, I was offering to help you." She said slowly. "If you have questions or anything, you can ask me so you're not just... wandering around not knowing who to talk to. That's all I meant."

 

[Edwin Fessenden]

Edwin smiled sheepishly, not really sure how to take it. He decided to be thankful and nodded to her, "Thank you very much, I appreciate it. Sorry for snapping at you..." he absentmindedly scratched the back of his head, not really sure what else to say. Somehow the atmosphere had quickly become incredibly awkward.

 

[October Alcott]

October sighed and shook her head, trying to stay gentle. "It's fine... it's... I get that this must all be overwhelming." She said slowly, folding her arms. "It's like, a whole different world. How did your family react?" She asked, trying to change the subject. "It must have been weird for them... if my dad hadn't already known about magic I don't think he would have even let me go..."

 

[Edwin Fessenden]

Edwin eagerly went along with her subject change, happy to move on from the rather uncomfortable and played-out awkwardness of before, "Yeah, it was a bit of a shock. Luckily my brother was already out of town when it happened, or else I don't know what would have happened. He was always the "smart" one between us... he grinned bashfully, rocking back and forth on his feet, "He's off in Europe learning accounting, and I'm here learning to pull rabbits out of hats. Funny how life goes, right?"

 

[October Alcott]

October nodded, quietly wondering what her... almost stepsister would think of her new school. Part of what Edwin said gave her pause though. "You know it's... not the rabbit out of a hat kind of magic, right?" She asked, not quite sure if that had been a joke or not. "Your brother would... probably think it's pretty weird though, I guess. I don't really have any siblings, but there's this girl that's sort of like my stepsister and she's a muggle, and she'd think I was super weird if she knew what I was doing. She thinks I'm away at an exclusive ballet academy..."