Closed A Strange Crowd

[Yuelia Rossingol]

Yuelia sank onto the couch with an overly dramatic sigh, looking over at Emrys with a small smile despite herself. She was glad to be back at Hogwarts mostly because she could actually cast spells. Months without being able to was miserable, and she'd been scared she would've gotten rusty. Thankfully, she hadn't - and she'd gotten a bit more physically capable too. She took out a green silk scarf from her bag, appropriate for Slytherin and something she thought might make a decent accessory. Without a word, she ripped a tear in it, using about as much strength as she could, before pulling out her wand and clearing her throat. "Reparo," she cast, watching in satisfaction as the tear mended itself as though it was never there. She looked back at Emrys with a triumphant gleam in her eyes. "It didn't all go away...now I can fix Mister Trumpets myself if he gets torn. Father never gets it quite right."

 

[Emrys Connelly]

Emrys was enjoying his time at school. It was very chill, relaxed, he just lazed about the castle reading stories to his friends. He was resting in the student lounge that day, looking up as Yuelia appeared and smiling back at her. He watched her as she destroyed and repaired a scarf, raising a brow. "That's a useful spell," He murmured softly, turning his head slightly to make sure his place was saved in the book he was reading. "How was your break?" He asked her.

 

[Yuelia Rossingol]

Yuelia gave Emrys a small smile. She liked being on top of things with magic and she was determined to do well again this year. She had to keep getting straight Os to impress her father as well as to prove that she was the best. "Thank you. I am practicing everything we are learning this year." She carefully unscrewed her inkwell, dropping a couple of drops onto the scarf and clearing her throat. "Scourgify," she cast, doing the s-motion with her wand and making the inkdrops disappear in an instant. Yuelia wondered why she even needed teachers, sometimes. She could do all this perfectly well enough on her own. "It was boring," she said, matter of factly. "Apparently I am not allowed to practice magic at home even though it is just me and my father and we don't live near any muggles." She frowned. Magic was supposed to be her companion and she hated not being allowed to do it at will. "...how was yours?" she added, a little more gently.

 

[Emrys Connelly]

Emrys had grown used to Yuelia's quirkyness, and often he found it quite interesting. He liked watching her practice her spells. He was more simple, not really caring if he did it or not, but that was alright. He nodded sympathetically as she complained about not being able to do magic at home. When she returned the question to him, he smiled softly. "It was alright. I just helped mother in the library and read to my friends," He murmured. There were so many stories. He could spend the rest of his life happily reading.

 

[Yuelia Rossingol]

Yuelia gave a small smile, wrapping the scarf around her wrist mindlessly. She would compress it, then roll her wrist about before letting the scarf unravel. It was an action she didn't really even realize she was doing, just something to aid her slightly aching wrist. She had been working on weights and wand work a lot. "My father made me practice cutting ingredients for potions," she added, looking down at her hands. "Reading sounds much nicer." In saying that, Yuelia wouldn't have traded her father for anything. Even if he was stern and intimidating. "What...kind of stories did you read?" Yuelia may have felt sorry for muggles in a way, but she did find their stories fascinating. There was so much variety and so many strange ways of thinking that she couldn't help but be intrigued.

 

[Emrys Connelly]

Emrys nodded softly as Yuelia spoke, trying to show the sympathy he thought she wanted. "Reading is nice,' He agreed gently. "I like all kinds of stories. Mystery, Fantasy, Horror. I'm reading Choose Your Own Adventure stories right now." He told her, showing her the book he had. "I like them. You read a page, and it gives you a choice to make. You pick one, then turn to the page with that choice. There are a lot of endings you can have in one book." His smile widened as he went on. "We could go through one together if you wanted, I have a new one in my bag I haven't read yet," He offered.

 

[Yuelia Rossingol]

Yuelia couldn't help but blink a little in confusion at the idea of a story with multiple endings. Did it magically change the last page? That didn't make sense, it was a muggle thing. "Why would there be a lot of endings?" She wasn't being rude in asking, she hoped. She just genuinely didn't quite understand. She idly wrapped the scarf around her finger, pondering. "Okay. Show me the magical muggle book with the changing story." Yuelia nodded. "I want to understand how it works."

 

[Emrys Connelly]

Emrys chuckled. "It's a lot simpler than you think." He told her, before shifting to get his bag. He grabbed the book, sitting a little closer to her and opening it up. He read her the first three pages- the main hero was a teenager going on vacation with their family on an island. Things were getting weird, and the hero had heard something strange on the way back to their room. "So," Emrys point to the two options at the bottom of the page. "We've heard a strange noise. Do we want to investigate it, or ignore it and go to bed?"