Accidents Happen.

[Desideratus Lesley]

The Owlery. Desideratus had been in the school for only a few days, and already he had written a letter home. He missed his sister, Audel, Gregory, and especially Damide. His initial decision to build a raft and float away had been ruined by the fact that he was caught, and that especially when he realised that the raft would not get anywhere being made by an eleven year old using Gryffindor bed sheets, and sticks from trees. It sunk as he was talking to his discoverer. It had been a disaster. But he was not giving up on his plans yet. A part of him wanted to be here, but the other just wanted to leave. He had the letter in his hand, it was already written. The I's dotted and the T's crossed, but it was such a walk to the Owlery. The young Gryffindor sighed, and folded his arms across his chest. This was not fair. He was here, having wasted that much energy, and now he was wondering if he should send the letter. Would everyone back home appreciate listening to his ramblings about how much he was not enjoying himself, but at the same time was? They would think he was complaining - and he was - but he didn't want them to know that. Demeter would probably send him a howler, telling him to stop sulking.

He shook away his doubt, and put his letter to his owl. They would want to hear back from him anyway, in fact, Demeter would probably pass the letter to Desislava, who was probably bald by now. He thrust the bird outside and watched as it flew off. That was it, no going back. While he was at it, he scanned his eyes over the scenery, noting the forest. He could probably use that as some sort of cover, perhaps figure out a way to get out of here through there. Then again, there would probably be magical barriers or something. It was still a possibility. Perhaps he could pass it through Dina, she seemed pretty level-headed.

He turned sharply and moved quickly to get out of the Owlery. So quickly that he had neglected to note his path, and wound up ramming right into someone, and slipping over on some feathers. Spread like an eagle, Desi sat up to see what, or who, he had ran into, and smiled slightly. "Hi!"
​

 

[Soren Sedridor]

The days following the Sorting Ceremony had been awful for Soren. It was a struggle to avoid people when he was stuck inside of a castle full of hundreds of students, professors, ghosts and house elves who were around every corner. Even the paintings were "alive" and talking. He'd kept his head down and constantly tried to look like he was busy with one thing or another. By now, he knew his class schedule like the back of his hand with the amount of times he'd buried his face into his timetable whenever people approached, hurrying off to look like he was late to a class. The middle of the day had been the easiest for him so far, he could go out to the grounds and sit by himself under a tree to read a book or think, or skip rocks at the lake and admire the mermaids residing there. The creatures couldn't speak above the surface of the water, their voices coming out as ear-splitting shrieks. He felt he could relate to them in a small way and found himself wishing he'd been born as a merman instead. When it came to the mornings and nights, it was a lot harder to be alone. Everyone would gather at the surprisingly long house tables and sit together to eat breakfast at the start of the day. Toward the end of the afternoon, they returned to their dorms, which to Soren's dismay were shared with a number of other people. He'd taken to going to bed earlier than the others and pretended to be asleep whenever they came in.

It was after the first night that Soren received his first letter. His father's owl, an old but large bird with the biggest eyes he'd seen had shown up in the morning as he was eating breakfast. The poor thing had a letter from his mother taped around its left foot, firmly secured in place. She didn't understand the magical world and was worried that the owl might drop its message. It had taken Soren five minutes just to unwind the excessive amount of tape and open the envelope. Inside was a sheet that looked like it had been torn out of a notebook, with his mothers familiar handwriting scrawled across its lines, bringing the young Hufflepuff a small comfort in the unfamiliar castle. She asked how he was fitting in, if he'd made any friends yet and what house he'd been put into, though she admitted she didn't really understand the point of it. His father simply wished him well.

It had taken a couple of days before Soren finally decided to respond to his parents, after being unsure if he even should. The young wizard made his way toward the Owlery, ascending the floors to the North Tower and utilizing shortcuts he'd found existing behind portraits. Even with the passageways, it was such a trek to get to the top. If there was one thing he was going to miss about the muggle world, it was definitely elevators and escalators. Whilst some of the staircases at the school would turn, none of them went up as an escalator did. He had seen an older girl use a spell to change a staircase into a slide though, a spell he wished he could use on the way back down.

After what felt like forever he finally reached the Owlery, letter firmly held between his hands. Its contents were short and simple, as he had little to say. He read over it again. I'm doing okay. I haven't made any friends yet, I don't know if I will. Tell fader sorry, but I got put into Hufflepuff. I know he wanted me to be in Ravenclaw but- Soren looked up from his letter as a student rushing out of the Owlery ran straight into him, sending them both reeling back. The Hufflepuff let out a small sound of surprise as his back roughly made contact with the tower wall. He was thankful he hadn't gone crashing back down the stairs. He winced slightly as he straightened himself back up and looked back down at the boy, Gryffindor judging by his robes and laying spread-eagled on the ground, a position he might normally have found humorous given they were in a room full of birds. Is he okay? Soren thought with concern. His question was answered when the boy sat up and smiled, greeting him casually. The Hufflepuff froze. He didn't know how to respond. His mouth moved uncertainly before any sound came out. He tried to say hello back, but he stumbled over the H a couple of times before shutting his mouth again and opting for a small wave in response

 

[Desideratus Lesley]

Desideratus fluttered his eyelashes as he stared at who he had run into. One of the yellow, it seemed - Hufflepuff? It was something like that. He only really knew Gryffindor, because he made a point of learning the name of his house. He sometimes remembered the green house, but that was only because of Dexter. He had not really cared for the names of the houses, he just agreed to come here and be sorted, he had not put much thought into his future accommodations. "Um..." There seemed to be some sort of issue with the Hufflepuff, as he was not saying anything. It appeared clear that he was trying, and failing outstandingly. The young boy had never met anyone with speech issues, and so had no idea what was wrong with him. At first, he assumed that perhaps he had been attacked by an older student, perhaps with langlock, the same sort of spell Desislava used to threaten to use on him (but she never had the guts to actually do so). The wave would suffice, he assumed, although he the boy in yellow was looking for a professor, he should really know that he was going the wrong way. Maybe that was what was wrong, he was looking for a professor. Well, it was Desi's duty as a fellow first year to help the poor kid out. He would only find smelly birds up here!

He stood up clumsily, and brushed feathers from his body and head. "I'm Desideratus," he told the boy, grinning at him. "Not that you'd actually be able to say that. Don't feel bad - even people that can talk properly can't say it. I can barely say it. Just call me Desi, or Des, or D." He approached the boy, and grabbed his forearm. "But don't worry, we'll get you fixed. Don't worry." As he spoke, he began to tug on the boy, attempting to get him out of the Owlery and down the stairs. "I just think you should know that you're going the wrong way. You want a professor right? They aren't up there. That's where the owls are. I bet it was those stupid stairs right? Signs. That's what they need. Nice, big, flashy signs."He then finally looked at his new companion. "Who did this to you? I have a cousin, he's a fifth year. Maybe he can beat them up! We'll make whoever did this to you be sorry, just trust me. What's your name? Write it down or something - unless you want me to call you something? How about Damide?"
​

 

[Soren Sedridor]

Soren's face faltered by the other boy's initial unsure reaction, but it soon seemed like he quickly understood the Hufflepuff's situation. He couldn't help but smile. The first person to really speak to him and he didn't think he was weird, or a freak. Perhaps it was a Gryffindor thing? He tried to remember their characteristics from the Sorting Hat's song. No particular words came to mind, but he was sure they were all positive aspects. He was glad it wasn't a Slytherin he'd run into, given their reputation.

As Desideratus introduced himself, Soren was overjoyed to hear that he could refer to him simply as 'D'. Singular letters he had no trouble with, but before he could open his mouth again the boy was grabbing him by the arm and tugging him towards the door, saying how he'd "get him fixed". What the hell was he even on about? Confused, he took a few steps after him, being led away from the owls, but by then it was evident that the boy was under the impression he was looking for a professor, as he rambled on about stairs and flashy signs. The Hufflepuff stopped moving, rooting himself to the spot, while it dawned on him that Des had absolutely no clue at all. The kid thought he'd been cursed, and even suggested a name for him in the meantime. Soren gawked at him in slight exasperation.

Shaking his head, the young wizard pulled his arm back, a glum expression on his face. "N-n-no." he stammered, a touch of sadness in his voice. He clutched the letter to his chest while his lips trembled, trying to form words but unsure of what he could say, or how to say it. Maybe he'd think he was a freak after all. After a moment he closed his mouth again, opting to use gestures to try and convey his inability to speak fluently.

 

[Desideratus Lesley]

Desideratus stumbled slightly when his companion stopped moving. Really, this would not do. Naturally, he assumed that perhaps the one in yellow was embarrassed about being cursed, but when he looked at him once more, the Gryffindor finally noticed a letter in the boy's hand, now clutched to his chest. It was clear that something was wrong because the boy did not look happy to be going off with Desideratus, yet the Gryffindor could not fathom why. He was trying to be helpful. He would want to be helped if he were in the other boy's shoes, although perhaps being dragged around was upsetting him? Or maybe it was the name? Damide was a nice name, the name of his best friend. Completely worthy. He folded his arms across his chest, pursing his lips. "So... you don't want to find a professor?" He shifted his weight to his other foot, and leant against the wall. "I'm only trying to help. Honest."

He chewed on his lip as he considered his current situation, and eventually came to the realisation that perhaps the boy actually wanted to be in the Owlery. Maybe his initial assumption was wrong? "Oh, you want to be in the Owlery?" he asked, pointing back to the mass of birds. "To send your letter?" Maybe he was naturally like this? Was that possible. His face dropped and he slapped his forehead. "Oh... I am so stupid." Covering his face, that was now as red as his robes, he peeked through his fingers. "You're... I'm... you know what? Let's not talk about this. Ever. I'm sorry." He dropped his hands, and stood off the wall shyly. "You, you wanna go back to the Owlery now? I'll just..." His thumb pointed to the stairs, and he clicked his tongue. "Go..."
​

 

[Soren Sedridor]

Soren nodded enthusiastically as Desideratus started to understand that no, he didn't need a professor. It was quite plainly obvious that they didn't sit perched up in the Owlery tower all day, though as he thought about it, an image of a bunch of full-grown adults sitting in nests hooting and flapping their arms weaved its way into his mind. He had to bite back smiling like an idiot. Instead, he gestured his confirmation that he had indeed intended to send off a letter. Perhaps they were starting to make some headway with this communication barrier. He gave the Gryffindor a reassuring look, understanding that he was trying to be helpful, even if he was going about it all the wrong way. It was the nicest anyone had been to him in a while and he didn't want to upset him.

It didn't take too long before the real truth dawned on Desideratus, who immediately looked embarrassed. Soren wasn't going to disagree when the Gryffindor called himself stupid. He made a quiet 'mmm' sound, waving his hand in a so-so fashion as Des covered his face, now a bright shade of scarlet. At least he got there in the end. He was still thankful that the kid had stuck around for as long as he did, and he almost laughed when the Gryffindor asked that they not talk about it. Soren couldn't even do so to begin with, so it wasn't going to be a problem. Plus, he liked this boy. Even if he could talk, he wouldn't have brought it up again.

The smile on his face vanished almost as quickly as it had formed when he realised that Des was going to head off, pointing back toward the stairs. Oh. He...does he not want to be around me now? Soren thought with a frown. He shook his head. He knew he needed to stop assuming the worst of things. The guy wouldn't have been as nice as he was if he didn't want to hang around. No, no. He's just embarrassed, right? He doesn't have to be. He told himself, looking back at the Gryffindor's slowly retreating form. He held up his hand, signaling that it was fine for him to stay. Really, he'd much prefer it. Unless his original thought was true. "D?"

 

[Desideratus Lesley]

One supposed good thing about the Hufflepuff not being able to construct to words was the fact that he could not continually remind him of this, or tell anyone else, or even poke fun at him about it. While it was probably wrong to be grateful for someone else's disability, Desi found himself glad. Sometimes, people just talked too much and it was interesting to have found someone that actually couldn't speak. he had never experienced this sort of dynamic before, and it made him very curious. Clearly, though, he had perfect hearing because he seemed to somewhat agree with Desideratus' criticism about himself, and he could feel his reddened face starting to cool down a little, but it would still be rather flushed for a while. At least he wasn't on the floor rolling around and laughing or something, Desideratus would probably run away, and attempt to build another raft to solitude and live out his life as a hermit.

With his face now exposed, however, the young Gryffindor was still planning his retreat. It was time to call it a day, and get out of here before he said something else stupid and turned back into a tomato. With himself clearly being the more active voice in this conversation, he had a greater chance of sounding completely stupid, or mad, and neither sounded like a good impression to leave on someone he had just met. He had already taken a step, not noticing the gesture for him to stay, but paused when he heard what he assumed was a call for him to pause, and so he turned around, and looked at the Hufflepuff carefully, examining him to see if he would figure out with any degree of accuracy what the other boy wanted. "You want me to... stay?" he asked, mostly guessing.
​

 

[Soren Sedridor]

It was a little surprising that Desideratus was able to catch on to the Hufflepuff's meaning straight away this time, instead of horridly mistaking what he was trying to convey. Soren had forgotten how difficult it was to try and talk to people who weren't used to his signals and body language. His parents and family had managed to become quickly used to it. He'd even learned to use sign language, but it wasn't much use when few other kids his age could do so. It was definitely going to be a long year.

Soren smiled and gave Des a quick thumbs up. Though he had come up to deliver a letter by himself, now that he'd interacted with someone for the first time since arriving at the castle, he wasn't too thrilled to be left alone again. "Uhh." he said, unsure of how to best get what he wanted to say across. Things would probably be a lot easier if he started carrying around a large book to write in, though it wasn't an idea he'd ever thought of before. It hadn't been necessary in the past. "D-d-do y-y-yo..." the Hufflepuff began, but stopped and sighed. His tongue felt thick, like it was taking up his entire mouth. It frustrated him to no end. He took a deep breath and tried again, a little more to the point. "H-h-ha-ha-ng o-out?" he asked, pointing from Des to himself. He wasn't sure what kind of answer to expect, or if he was being too forward and overstepping his boundaries. The boy probably had other things to do, or people to see.

 

[Desideratus Lesley]

Desideratus was relieved to have discovered that he was right in Soren's wishes, and wanted him to stay. He wanted to make friends - who didn't? He was new to the school, and had only been here a short while. Like every other person, Desideratus was worried about being lonely and he knew that a sure-fire way to combat loneliness was to never be lonely. It just made sense, and besides, Soren looked like someone that needed someone like Desideratus. Someone that could talk for them, and defend them. Although, he would have to work on his Soren reading to actually be of any use to the boy in yellow, but the Gryffindor was willing to have a go at it. It would not be too difficult to understand what he was saying, surely. Maybe if he paid a little more attention to him, and focused a little more, he would be virtually mind-reading the boy in no time. He returned the thumbs up gesture enthusiastically, he was completely prepared to let everything else drop, and go back through the doorway to the owls.

When Soren once again began to say something, however, Desideratus stared at him, waiting for him to finally manage to say what it was he wanted to say. It had to be hard, stammering and stuttering like that, taking Merlin knows how long it would take to finally get the point across. What if someone was just nasty and could not be bothered waiting? Or an impatient professor demanding an answer. It had to be horrible, but the Gryffindor was determined to not be like that, and so continued to watch the boy intently, hoping that it didn't make him feel uncomfortable or something. Once he understood what was being said, he beamed. "Sure! We can hang out. Just post your letter, and we can... we can go to the lake. Swimming! Or, we could go to the kitchens and get something to eat, or climb trees, or do handstands and cartwheels on the Great lawn, or... hey..." He tapped his chin in thought. "You know how to build a raft?"
​

 

[Soren Sedridor]

Though Desideratus' staring was a little discomforting at first, Soren couldn't describe how much he appreciated his patience with him. As in, he was literally incapable. One of the greatest faults people had when it came to dealing with him was impatience. There'd been times when a person would try to rush his speech, but the more the pressure there was on him to speak faster, the more difficult it became for words to come out. His tongue would often seize up or dry out, which only made a situation more difficult. He was happy he didn't have that problem now.

Pleased that Desideratus was interested in hanging out, the Hufflepuff boy relaxed a little. But as the Gryffindor boy fired off idea after idea for what the two of them could do around the school, Soren could do little else but nod his head in agreement. Even if he could have made a comment, there wasn't much of a chance to interrupt. He didn't object to any of the suggestions anyway; swimming wasn't his strongest point, but he could at least float and paddle around. He wouldn't have minded a bite to eat either, or playing around outside. The raft question did confuse him, though. He raised his eyebrow quizzically and shook his head. He wouldn't have known the first thing about building almost anything, he lacked creativity in that department. The lego blocks he'd played with as a child always turned into ugly haphazard mess.

Reminded by Des' comment, Soren looked back down at his hands, where the letter to his parents was still tightly clutched. He'd almost forgotten about it. Holding up his finger, he rushed back into the Owlery. He didn't have a bird of his own, and unfortunately whilst his pet rock could grow wings and fly, it was incapable of delivering messages, so he was left with only the option of sending off a school-provided owl. Before picking one out, the young boy removed the roll of parchment from its envelope and reached for an old, discarded quill, using the little ink it had left to strike a cross through most of his writing and adding a new line just beneath it. I have made one friend here. I think I'm going to be okay. He scrawled down, before depositing the letter back in its envelope and passing it to a small, disheveled looking bird. He watched for a few moments as it took flight and soared off into the distance, a little concerned it might drop out of the sky at any moment, then turned, heading out of the Owlery and back to where he'd left Des. He gestured toward the staircase. Alright, let's go!

 

[Desideratus Lesley]

It was disappointing to find that Soren could not build a raft, even though it was to be expected. How many people would know how to build a raft? Desideratus certainly didn't, so while it would have been amazing to find a friend that knew how to build a raft, and so could help him build one as well, he had to deal with the fact that Soren would not be useful in that regard. He still seemed pretty cool. At least he could never betray him, or tell on him if he went to try and escape again. Perhaps he could even convince the Hufflepuff to go with him. He watched the other boy edit whatever his letter was about, and sent it away. In that moment, he realised that he had no idea what his new friend's name was. It seemed that he reacted badly to Damide, so he couldn't call him that. But he could not just think of him as the Hufflepuff either - what if Demeter asked him about his friend and all he could say was 'he wears yellow?' 'He's a boy?' 'He cannot talk?'. He had to learn his name, and as soon as Soren gestured for them to go, Desideratus was ready to get somewhere that they could write, so he could learn of his new friends name. It was really important.

He reached out with his hand and grabbed Soren's forearm, and then began trying to go down the stairs, all while telling Soren how they needed to find more writing material so it would be easier to talk. And in an effort to even the playing field, so to speak, Des had also decided that he would write too. He needed to fix his spelling and handwriting anyway. "I have the perfect place to find some parchment too," he added, letting go of Soren so he could jup down more stairs at a time. "We can write all the time, and we can put them in a-AHHH!" On his third jump, the Gryffindor mistook the distance between the steps, and ended up tripping on his robes. He moved his arm to cover his face from the steps, but still found himself tumbling, and landing a few steps below Soren. He looked at Soren, with a beating head and held out his hand. "You can't call for help, can you?"
​

 

[Soren Sedridor]

Soren didn't object when Desideratus once more grabbed for his arm, pulling him along toward the staircase. He wasn't sure if the Gryffindor boy thought he was somehow incapable of traveling unsupervised, but he enjoyed the feeling of having someone want him to be around. The contact made him, somehow, feel a little safer in the unfamiliar castle.

The young wizard listened intently as his friend suggested they find some parchment for the two of them, to make communication a lot easier. The idea appealed to the Hufflepuff, the duo trading small letters to each other constantly. He wasn't sure how honest Des was being in regards to his spelling and handwriting problems though, it was unclear whether or not he was just trying to make Soren more comfortable by not being the only one having to jot down what he wanted to say. It wouldn't have surprised him if the Gryffindor actually did indeed have atrocious handwriting, Des didn't seem like the type to take things slow. As the thought passed Soren's mind, Des released his arm and began to descend the stairs by jumping a few at a time.

Shoving his free hands into his pockets, Soren gradually walked down the staircase at his own pace, listening contentedly as his companion rambled. He wondered how someone could have so much to say. Even if Soren could converse, he didn't think he'd say anywhere near as much as Des. There were only so many topics he could burn through. The Hufflepuff glanced up at the boy, at the same moment that he caught his foot on the hem of his cloak and plummeted down the rest of the way to lay in a beaten heap at the foot of the stairs. Soren froze on the spot, jaw dropping in utter surprise.There was a brief moment of stunned silence, while he took in what had happened. This guy was an absolute walking disaster.

Once the moment passed, Soren was quick to rush to Desideratus' aid, reaching a hand out to help the Gryffindor up and hoping to Merlin that nothing had been broken. He shook his head at the question of calling for help. Talking at a normal volume was difficult enough for him as it was, shouting was almost impossible. "N-n-no." He responded sadly as he helped his friend to his feet. Thankfully, he was only a little battered, there wasn't any serious visible damage from what he could tell, but already large black and blue bruises were beginning to appear. Carefully, he dusted the boys robes down with the palm of his hand, using the other to gesture and mime heading down to the Hospital Wing to get him patched up. Gingerly lifting up Des' arm, he wrapped it over his own shoulders and together, the two hobbled towards the third floor. It was definitely going to be a long trip.

Fin.​

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