Adventure

[Nixon Mercury]

By the time Nixon was in week four of his classes, he had explored most of the castle alone, excluding the many hidden passageways and rooms. He had, at least, explored everywhere that he as a measly first year could reach and was proud of himself. Though he could admit that knowing where he was most of the time did leave little to be desired. The mystery of the castle was one of the aspects that intrigued him after all, and through his exploration much of the mystery was gone. But Nixon in all his sunny optimism tried not to let knowing where he was deter him from finding more of the castle's secrets even if his lack of knowledge on magic plagued him in his task.

It was this sunny optimism and determination that lead Nixon to the door of what he had been told was an abandoned classroom, during one of his free afternoons. It wasn't the ostentatious hidden room spoken about by older students that only appeared when it was needed, filled with whatever the person looking for it desired, but it was one of the few places he was yet to see for himself. The Hufflepuff boy sighed, taking a moment to prepare himself before pushing the door open and walking into the room. Dust that clouded in the air from his intrusion caused him to cough slightly as he walked around. But he simply waited for it to settle hoping that if the air was clear he could get a proper look at the place.​

 

[Katherine Porter]

Kat had finally found some time to explore the castle a few weeks into the first term. She hadn't found much of interest though, there seemed to be a lot of empty rooms and locked doors scattered about. She'd mostly avoided the second floor in her exploration because of the close proximity to all the Head People's offices and the Prefects' Common Room. Today, however she decided to check it out on her way to the courtyard.

She entered the corridor and tried a few doors, a little disappointed to find them locked as well. She didn't know an unlocking charm yet, but even if she did, she guessed that the doors were probably locked for a reason. She shrugged and continued on her way.

After a few minutes of nothing but locked doors and professors' offices (which she avoided completely) she was ready to give up and continue on her path to the courtyard. It was then that she noticed one of the doors hanging open and dust floating in the air from the doorway. She stopped and stared for a moment, waiting to see if someone was exiting the room, but no one did. After a minute or two of inner debate on if she should go into the room, she slowly crept toward the doorway.

She reassured herself that more than likely someone just left the door open, right? Finally she steeled herself and walked into the dusty room, she was able to see just enough that she could tell it was an abandoned classroom. Through the settling dust she began to discern a silhouette against the door, it was then that she realized she was not truly alone in the room.

Kat squinted and was able to make out a few features of the other person. Definitely a boy, and he looked to be about her age or so. She knew he'd probably already heard her approach and figured there was no sense in trying to back out quietly now. Confronting other people was not her strong suit. Her cheeks flushed deeply as she spoke, "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize someone else was in here." She turned to leave and added, "I didn't mean to intrude."

 

[Nixon Mercury]

The air surrounding Nixon began to settle, revealing to him the room and the few pieces of furniture left to gather dust in the corner. It really was an abandoned classroom, nothing more, nothing less and not hiding any of the secrets he wanted to find. The Hufflepuff sighed, moving his hand to stroke his chin as he inspected the furniture, again optimistic that it would turn out to be more. Though it truly was nothing but wooden furniture, old, creaky, and covered in dust that caused him to cough again as he stepped away, walking to the center of the room and ignoring the footsteps ringing in his ears.

As he stood in the center an unfamiliar voice captured his attention and Nixon eventually turned to the source of the noise, seeing a girl about his age. She apologized for her intrusion and Nixon smiled. "Don't worry about it." He reassured, holding his hand out as she turned to leave. "Wait, don't go! I swear you're not bothering me, I was just exploring and wanted to see what this room was like." He explained, hoping she wouldn't feel like she had bothered him. In truth her speaking to him was the opposite of an intrusion, the realization that the room was boring having made the opportunity to talk to someone new more welcoming than anything. At an absence of what to do, Nixon opened his mouth to speak again, introducing himself in the hope the girl would stay. "I'm Nixon. What's your name?" He asked, holding his breath in wait of a response.​

 

[Katherine Porter]

Kat turned nervously back to the boy when he asked her to wait, and listened as he explained that he was just exploring as well. She walked toward the center of the room where he stood, and he introduced himself as Nixon and asked her name. "Oh, erm, my name's Katherine, but most people just call me Kat." She smiled slightly back at him and glanced around the room again. It was rather boring, just a bunch of dusty old furniture from a classroom filling the space. Though it would be a decent place to come if you wanted to be alone or if you wanted a quiet place to read.

Pulling forth all of her courage, Kat continued speaking, hoping that maybe she could make a new friend from this ordeal, if he could overlook her shyness of course. "Hmm. It's kind of dull in here, I guess I just expected something a little more exciting than this." She paused and cocked her head ever so slightly in question. "You're a first year too, right? I think I remember seeing you in a couple of my classes."

 

[Nixon Mercury]

Nixon breathed a sigh of relief when the girl turned around, walking further into the room before introducing herself. Katherine was a nice name although a little formal sounding so he was glad when she said her nickname was Kat. "Nice to meet you, Kat." He said, a smile appearing on his face as he spoke. He then nodded when Kat said the room was dull and that she expected something more exciting, completely agreeing with her. A room with hidden secrets was his expectation when he arrived and the reality he found was a room with nothing but dust and old wooden furniture about to crumble to pieces. Nothing exciting indeed, and he was still disappointed by it. Hogwarts was exciting in general and Nixon knew this but he did expect better from a classroom deemed as abandoned. There must have been a reason it was abandoned in the first place even if the empty room did not hint to a reason.

Kat then asked if Nixon was also a first year, causing him to nod again in response. "I am! In Hufflepuff." He however, had not seen Kat in any of his classes and felt guilty for not recognizing her at all. Learning about magic really did take up all his attention if he could barely recognize a girl he had been in classes with that semester and who he may have sat next to many times already. Instead of showing this guilt, Nixon instead asked "What house are you in?" to try and make more conversation.​

 

[Katherine Porter]

Kat smiled back at Nixon. "Nice to meet you as well." He had nodded when she mentioned how dull and unexciting the room was, so it seemed he agreed. She remembered he said he'd been exploring when he found the room. "You said you were exploring before, have you found anything worthwhile yet?"

She grinned when he said he was a Hufflepuff, as she had yet to actually talk to someone in the house. "That's cool, I'm in Ravenclaw. How do you like being in Hufflepuff? Is that where you were hoping to go?" She was always curious to know if other people got the house they were hoping for. She wanted to ask about classes as well, but didn't want to babble like she had a habit of doing. She figured she should at least give him a chance to answer what she'd already asked.

 

[Nixon Mercury]

Nixon frowned slightly when Kat asked if his exploring of the castle had come up with anything worthwhile. It was a question with more answers than one and all of them in different directions. He shrugged before responding, trying to answer her question with honesty and without boring her. "Haven't seen many worthwhile things so far, I've sort of just figured out where all my classes are, or will be, really. Most of my plans to find something cool have turned out to be like this room here." The boy gestured to their surroundings, trying not to sound disheartened by his searches. "The problem is that I am, we are, both first years and I don't know enough magic to find many things that are worthwhile."

Nixon paused again, before adding. "Oh, I did find one of those password portrait things, though the grumpy old man in the portrait doesn't just want to give his password to me. He wants me to figure out a riddle for him, but he thinks I'm too young to even understand the riddle." Nixon ended his sentence with another shrug of his shoulders, evidently at a loss of how to handle his situation.

He was almost relieved when Kat answered his question about her house, changing the subject in a way that kept him from rambling on and boring her. "Oh cool, so you're really smart, then!" He exclaimed with a grin. The girl then asked if he enjoyed his placement and if he was hoping to be placed in Hufflepuff to begin with. He answered honestly. "I like Hufflepuff a lot so far, everyone I have met is very kind and helpful and the common room is so warm and comforting, I feel like I could fall asleep whenever I'm there, doesn't matter the time of day. I wasn't hoping to be placed anywhere, my parents were Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, but they haven't really told me if they wanted me anywhere, so I arrived to sorting happy to just see how it all unfolded." At the end of his sentence he quickly returned Kat's question, worrying he was speaking too much, even with the change of subject to their respective houses. "Do you like Ravenclaw, too? Did you want to be in Ravenclaw?" As he asked the question he tilted his head to one side, curiously.​

 

[Katherine Porter]

Kat smiled at Nixon, "Hey, at least you figured out where your classes are, I swear I spent at least my entire first week here lost." She let out a laugh. "But look on the bright side, we may only be first years now and can't get to the cooler parts of the castle, but that means there will be new places to discover every year as we learn more!" She flashed a quick grin of excitement.

Her excitement quickly died down as Nixon told her about the portrait. She scrunched her face slightly in thought, "Hmm. Well, that is a problem. Have you considered maybe asking if an older student could get the riddle for you?" Kat didn't even give Nixon time to respond before she barreled on with her thoughts. "Hmm, but I guess that wouldn't help much because he probably wouldn't believe you answered the riddle yourself." Kat huffed in annoyance and paced a bit, "I'd like to meet this portrait! I want to see how he gets off just thinking that because someone is young they can't understand a riddle. It could be true, but how is one to know they can't do something if they aren't even allowed to try!"

Kat stopped in her tracks and turned back to Nixon looking like a deer caught in headlights. She blushed in embarrassment, "Sorry, I guess I got a little too heated about that." She took a deep breath and calmed herself down. "It just makes me so mad when anyone judges another person like that before they even take the time to get to know them. Age is not, and should not be, a measure of intelligence."

Kat was just managing to feel calm again as they discussed houses when Nixon exclaimed that she must be really smart. Her whole face flushed again at the comment and she smiled slightly. "Oh. Erm.. I mean I never really thought about it, I guess I could be considered smart? Well, depending on the subject anyway. I just enjoy reading and want to do my best and learn all that I can." She listened attentively as Nixon described Hufflepuff, and was quite glad to divert from the previous topic. "Oh! Hufflepuff sounds so nice!" She exclaimed. "I'd been wondering what it was like, and you're the first Hufflepuff I have actually talked to."

She paused a moment before speaking to get her thoughts straight, "I absolutely love being in Ravenclaw!" She beamed. "Our dorms are pretty nice and I love that Edgar, my raven, can easily visit me in the tower. So far everyone seems nice, though I haven't really talked very much with anyone else." She paused before answering the second question. "Actually I was originally hoping to be in Slytherin like the rest of my family. It was sort of a family tradition, but I guess I kind of ruined that. I am much happier in Ravenclaw though, I think it suits me and I couldn't imagine being anywhere else." She tried her hardest not to babble, she didn't want to scare away a possible new friend by being overly chatty.

 

[Nixon Mercury]

Kat was clearly kind and understanding of Nixon's struggles in exploring the castle and that allowed him to feel happy that he could confide in someone and relieved that he wasn't the only first year searching the castle to no avail. He nodded to what Kat was saying, hanging on every word. He was disheartened when the girl apologized for getting heated over his portrait dilemma, chuckling as he said "Don't apologize, I'm glad someone understands how annoying it is." to reassure her.

Kat then responded to his comment about her being smart, answering his question about her house placement. She seemed pleased with Ravenclaw so far in the way she spoke about the dorms and her raven. This eventually caused Nixon to raise his eyebrows curiously when Kat later said she hoped to be placed in Slytherin like he rest of her family. Considering how pleased she seemed with Ravenclaw he hadn't thought she would have been hoping for a different house. It almost made him worry that she was not as happy in Ravenclaw as she seemed to be though she again commented that she loved being in Ravenclaw which made his worries disappear. "It sounds like Ravenclaw is a cool house, my mum was in Ravenclaw." Nixon said wishing he could go into more detail about his family but being unable to as his mother had not told him anything about her time in school. She hadn't even been the one to tell him she was in Ravenclaw nor his dad tell him he was in Gryffindor. He had learned it from one of their old school yearbooks one afternoon when he was looking for a spare notebook in his dad's office. Shaking his thoughts back to reality, Nixon tried to change the subject "Anyway, which class do you like the most so far? I really like Herbology."​