Closed Books and Pages

[Cyrus Thorne]

Cyrus had grown to really love the library at Hogwarts, it was quiet and there were so many books on all kinds of different subjects. It was useful for studying, but it was also just fun to browse and pick out books that were interesting. He had spent many afternoons here last year, which was probably why he hadn't made that many friends in his first year. It was a rainy afternoon and Cyrus had grabbed a few poetry books he hadn't read yet, he then moved to the Charms section and grabbed a few books there as well, he liked being somewhat prepared for his classes. With his stack, he made his way over to a table and sat down. There was another boy there, also surrounded by books. He looked vaguely familiar to Cyrus, and he guessed he had seen him around in the common room. He gave him a quick smile. "First year, right?" He asked quietly, hoping the boy wouldn't mind the question too much.

 

[Elijah Edogawa]

Elijah looked up from his book, slightly startled by the sudden question. He had been so engrossed in his reading that he hadn't noticed the older boy approaching. The library had quickly become one of his favorite places in the castle, a sanctuary of quiet and knowledge. Especially when he knew it was unlikely for any of his siblings to be here. He had always been the mores studious of all of them, except perhaps Rica, but she was in Mohoutokoro (where he should be!). "Well, first year here anyway, not my first year of education," Elijah replied, returning the smile. "I'm Elijah." He took a moment to study the older boy, recognising him from the common room but not knowing much about him. The stack of books he had gathered caught his eye, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of kinship. Clearly, they shared a love for reading. "Charms and poetry, huh?" Eli remarked, nodding towards the books. "That's an interesting mix. I was just reading up on some magical theory. Figured I should get a head start on understanding how things work around here."

@Cyrus Thorne ​

 

[Cyrus Thorne]

Cyrus raised his eyebrows slightly at the boy's response, taking a moment to try and figure it out. When he didn't, he asked. "What do you mean with that?" He asked curiously. "I'm Cyrus." He added, starting to put his books into two piles. He smiled hesitantly as the younger boy mentioned the type of books he had. "Half preparing for class, half just for fun." He explained, gesturing to the charms book first and the other stack second. He nodded. "Understandable. I also prepared for my classes last year, though I found them fairly easy at first as a result." He added with a small frown. "The teachers go over the real basics first. I do suppose that is more fair to students from non-magical backgrounds though."

 

[Elijah Edogawa]

Eli blinked at the boy as he asked him what he'd meant, not totally realising that the students here didn't have day classes until the question was asked. "Oh, I just meant I was a day student at Mohoutokoro until I came here," he said, shrugging. He'd started school at the age of seven, so he'd already been at school for five years before he'd come here. It was a bit different in Japan, he was beginning to realise that slowly. "Okay, that's good to know actually. I have a solid foundation on magical history and some theory because that's what we learn whilst we're day students at Mohoutokoro, but that's mostly our history, so I think I might be starting a little from scratch here," he frowned. He wished his parents had let him continue, but his dad had a job here at the school, so his mum had said they had to come here too. He was still rather grumpy about it. At least at Mohoutokoro, he wouldn't have felt so separated from his siblings. None of them were in his house! (he couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not actually.)​

 

[Cyrus Thorne]

Cyrus had to piece together what the boy was saying. He knew that Mohoutokoro was a wizarding school and he could figure out what a day student was from context, but he hadn't known that other schools offered that to students under the age of eleven. It sounded nice, and Cyrus was honestly a little jealous. He was glad he had been able to give some useful information. "Well, like I said, they're prepared for students starting from scratch so I think that's good." He said with a small shrug. "It means your classes won't be too boring." He picked up a book on charms, opening and glancing over the index. "Do you like it here so far?" He asked, glancing up curiously. "It has to be very different, right?"

 

[Elijah Edogawa]

Honestly, Eli hadn't decided how he felt about the school yet. He wasn't sure he liked how strange it was. He was still getting used to not immediately replying to someone in Japanese, or even asking for something in Japanese. He and his siblings all knew English of course, since his mother was American, but it was still a transition. It was quite common at home to switch between sentences, and then only slightly funny to watch his mum struggle to catch up. Even after spending more than half of her life in Japan she still sometimes struggled to pick up what was being said when she was talking to them. It didn't help they all spoke in semi-slang, and his mum hadn't quite managed to pick that up yet. "I don't really know, actually. It is very different, it's so loud here." Which maybe didn't make a lot of sense to this boy. If Cyrus had grown up here he was probably used to it, but Mohoutokoro was so quiet, his home in Tokyo was so quiet, that could have been the wards he supposed, but it was just... different. New Zealand was very loud by comparison. "I don't hate it. I thought I would."​

 

[Cyrus Thorne]

Cyrus considered what Elijah said about it being loud here, then he nodded. It could be very loud at Hogwarts, Cyrus never quite understood why some kids felt the need to yell or talk so loud. He guessed the Japanese school had to be a bit quieter for Elijah to pick up on it. He smiled a little. "Glad you don't hate it. Why did you switch to this school?" He asked curiously. If the boy had gone to Mohoutokoro, wouldn't it have been easier to stay there?

 

[Elijah Edogawa]

"I don't really know, I was supposed to be going there, and I thought I was pretty much right up until I wasn't," he said, frowning. He supposed now he understood why his parents were so secretive about all of it when he'd asked them. They'd made him come and get his wand from New Zealand and everything, which, he figured should probably have been the first clue, now that he thought about it, though it certainly didn't make him feel better. "I think probably because my dad got a job here, maybe they wanted all of us together, my older siblings only to Mohoutokoro still because they're doing their final studies, so my parents probably didn't want to disturb them," and they all knew how much help Ru needed in that regard, he certainly wasn't the most studious of the siblings, that was probably a title for Rica and for Eli - maybe Yuki, but he wasn't sure what she had been like in school, she'd been gone by the time he was old enough to register anything about learning. "I'll get used to it, I guess."​

 

[Cyrus Thorne]

Cyrus couldn't quite hide his surprise when Elijah said he had thought he would go to the other school and hadn't been told about the change until he was basically here. It seemed... rough, and kind of mean. But he bit back any sort of comment, he knew it wasn't nice to comment on someone's family, and maybe something happened that made him have to switch suddenly. The boy continued and made it a bit more clear. "Your father works here?" He asked, trying to think of who he could be. He didn't know all of the upper year professor's that well, so it could be one of them, but it could also be some other staff member. Cyrus listened quietly as Elijah talked more about his family and how his older siblings still went to Mahoutokoro. "How many siblings do you have?" He asked, trying to make sense of the picture. Enough that he had multiple older siblings far enough into their schooling not to switch, apparently. "I hope so, it doesn't sound like you had an easy start." He said sympethetically.

 

[Elijah Edogawa]

"Yes," he said, finally pushing his book away since he probably won't get much more done whilst in the middle of a conversation. He's not a very good multitasker unfortunately. "He now teaches the upper years Muggle Studies class, he was the Head of the Muggle Office back home in Japan." He couldn't quite remember the English word equivalent for what his father did and so left it at that, he was sure it explained it well enough. Though sometimes admittedly, Elijah wasn't wholly sure exactly what his father had done for work if he was honest. "My mum is still in Japan, she's the Tengu coach," he hadn't asked, but he figured he'd add it to the information he'd already given the older boy. "I have nine siblings, two of them are no longer in school, Corey and Yuki, they also fly for the Tengu, the twins Kakeru and Jericah, then my older sister Hinata, she's in Hufflepuff, my triplet siblings Rose and Jonah, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff respectively and then my younger sister Sayuri, Slytherin. Lewis isn't old enough for school yet." Elijah was already twelve, he should have started the Mohoutokoro boarding classes ages ago, he supposed that should have been his first hint. "No, I suppose not." He didn't know if Cyrus had any siblings, but he hoped that if he did they were not split up in different houses, Elijah had no one, at least Sayuri had cousin Mikael, and Jonah was in their dad's house. Rose was in their Mum's house, but Elijah didn't think anyone had ever been in Ravenclaw.​

 

[Cyrus Thorne]

Cyrus nodded as Elijah explained his father taught Muggle Studdies, it wasn't a subject Cyrus could take yet, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to later on. He wondered if Leah was in his class. He straightened his notes as Elijah talked, but his eyes widened when he started talking about his siblings. Had he heard that correctly? Nine? He stared at the boy, trying to figure out if he was making fun of him. But Elijah was rattling off a list of names that seemed too difficult to make up that fast. He blinked. "That's- that's a lot." He said weakly. "I just have one sister." He couldn't wrap his mind around having that many siblings. The triplet thing alone made his head spin. Elijah complained that the school was loud, but surely it wouldn't be very quiet at home either with so many kids. He had't kept track of everything Elijah said, but he felt like he had to share a little about his own family too. "My sister is in your year, Ruth... you might have seen her in class." He said quietly. "She's in Slytherin."

 

[Elijah Edogawa]

Eli laughed lightly. He did indeed have a lot of siblings, Corey had once joked that their mum had been pregnant for most of his life, which seemed silly to Elijah, because no one could be pregnant that much right? But he did have a lot of siblings, that was true. "It makes the manor really loud," he said, nodding. The difference was that they all had their own rooms, and when he needed an escape, he could crawl into his room. They all had silencing charms on them for that very reason, so that they could all do their own thing. It had been a necessity when Ru had picked up the violin for a while - and been abysmal at it. Eli had been very thankful for that particularly loud six months. "Oh, yeah, I think I have Astronomy with her, and she's probably in flying somewhere too, though I'm usually focused on my broom, so I wouldn't know," he didn't feel the need to brag that he had been flying for years, because what would be the point. As a second year Cyrus could probably fly anyway. "My sister Sayuri would be her dorm mate then, I hope she's not too mean," he said, hoping Sayuri might rein it in for a while. She could be a little prickly. The thought of his siblings brought a frown to Eli's face though, talking about them was nice, but it also made him miss them, which was probably a bit funny when he had so many. He was used to them constantly occupying his space and when they weren't, well it was weird. He was much accustomed to being on his own and maybe that was why he had a tendency to seek out either his dad, or someone else to study with, he maybe didn't know how to study in the quiet, regardless of how desperately he seemed to crave it.​

 

[Cyrus Thorne]

Cyrus knew the word "manor" shouldn't have surprised him, but it did. He supposed a house with ten kids would have to be big, but he hadn't expected to hear anyone mention a manor outside of a book. "A manor? That sounds like something out of a novel," he said, intrigued. "I guess with so many siblings, you'd need a lot of space." He still couldn’t wrap his head around having that many siblings and wasn’t sure if he’d like it. Maybe it was good that he just had Ruth, he already felt like he was failing her as a brother sometimes. He nodded when Elijah mentioned having a few classes with his sister. "Flying is always chaotic and way too busy," he said with a sigh, remembering his own lessons. When Elijah brought up his sister being Ruth's dorm mate, Cyrus tilted his head. "Is she usually mean?" he asked curiously. "Ruth can stand up for herself pretty well, so I think she’ll be fine," he added with a small shrug, not too worried. He glanced around before focusing back on Elijah. "How are you finding life at Hogwarts overall? Do you have a favorite subject yet?" he asked, hoping to find something Elijah felt positively about.

 

[Elijah Edogawa]

Eli raised his eyebrows at the thought that a manor sounded like it would be out of a novel, really? They had manors everywhere in Japan, he wouldn't have thought it was that weird? "Yeah, kaachan, my mum, likes the space because she's the Coach of the Toyohashi Tengu, most of my siblings play, my brother and sister are on the Quidditch teams, so we've all been flying since we were really young," he said, wondering if it was weird that his family had a lot of space in their home. It wasn't that common in the big cities, but where they lived it was pretty common, he thought. "Yurichan is, well," he wasn't quite sure how to describe his sister, but she was certainly her own person. He got along with her the most out of his siblings, and he currently couldn't stand his brother Jonah, he had a feeling it was only going to get worse before it got better too, going by how things were progressing. He hadn't spoken to him yet and he wasn't sure even how to approach it. Thinking about it just made hm angry so he shook his head. "She can be mean, yes, but it's not unwarranted, she won't just say or do something because she feels like it, you have to slight her in some way first." he said, defending his sister against what he'd said earlier. It was true and she was mean on most occasions, but he supposed it was more like indifference to someone's existence than actual meanness. "I think I like Transfiguration, it's... interesting," there were a couple of subjects so far to pique his interest, but that was the main one so far.​

 

[Cyrus Thorne]

Cyrus wondered if Elijah was going to try out for the Quidditch team next year if he had grown up flying so much, Cyrus had tried out this year and was still waiting to hear if he made it, though he didn't have the best feeling about it. He listened as Elijah explained his sister, he made her sound like she was only mean for good reasons which Cyrus supposed he could understand. "I see." He said softly. He smiled a little when Elijah said Transfiguration was interesting. "I like it too. It has interesting theory and fun spells." He said honestly. "I don't have it this semester though."

 

[Elijah Edogawa]

"I haven't had much in the way of classwork yet, but I've read a lot and I love the ideas that it goes into, particularly the different ways transfiguration can be used in every day life," he said, thinking about how easy it would be just to have more things to do. It seemed so simple to him, for it all to go one way, and then he could just pluck out the information he wanted. Maybe he could use something in transfiguration to research, discover some hidden path or maybe write a book, something tangible with his name on it, that was really all he wanted, to be able to hold something and say it was his. "I want something that has my name on it one day, just something that's mine, that I don't have to share with my siblings."​

 

[Cyrus Thorne]

Cyrus nodded in understanding as Elijah spoke about transfiguration and how it can be used in everyday life. He thought he understood what the younger boy meant. He contemplated what the boy said next, wondering what he meant. "Like a trophy in the trophy room?" He asked after a moment.

 

[Elijah Edogawa]

Eli shook his head, that wasn't quite what he meant, though it was maybe the closest he could get at his age for the moment. Maybe once he graduated there would be more chance for him to make a name for himself, but probably not at the school. People didn't just get noted for their academics here after all. Although he supposed that wasn't necessary strictly true either. But neither of his parents were particularly academic, so he wasn't entirely sure where it had come from with him. If it wasn't for the fact that Jonah and Rose were his guaranteed siblings, he might have thought he was adopted. The most academic probably was Rica - but he didn't really consider her to be terribly academic of all of his siblings. Maybe one of them would surprise him? "More like a book I've written about something," he admitted, though he didn't know if he wanted to write a book specifically or just that was the best example he could think of in the moment. Beyond that though, he didn't really know.​

 

[Cyrus Thorne]

Cyrus glanced at Elijah as he thought, he seemed to consider what to say. When he spoke, Cyrus nodded. He could understand that drive. "I see, that sounds great." He said, his voice sincere. "I'd also like to do that one day, maybe." He said with a small shrug. He wasn't entirely sure, but seeing his name on a poetry collection would be wonderful, he thought.