Dungeons and Dragons

[Bren Bartlowe]

"Broomsticks splints and cauldron cracks" Bren said loudly as he cursed his terrible sense of directions. He was so annoyed that he allowed himself to get turned around in the schools dungeons, that he could nearly scream. He was shouting, which was just a few clicks below incoherent screaming. Running a hand through his platinum locks, he spun around in circles as he attempted to find the proper way out of his current predicament.Bren had a some free time before classes started up officially to explore and get to know the school and grounds better. It seemed that Hogwarts gave the students a few days to adjust to the new environment before the school year officially kicked off as students had to map out their routes to each of their classes unless they wanted to be held up on those accursed moving staircases and the doors that were not doors at all. No matter how much his family tried to tell him about the school before he arrived, there were bound to be a few details that they glossed over in hindsight. Though how anyone forgot about the ever changing landscape of the castle's interior was beyond him at this point as it was the giant dragon in the room in his humble opinion. He would have to write his uncle a long note listing of his failures at preparing his nephew for school. That was if he did not starve to death first trying to find his way out of the schools dank basements.

When he heard dungeons, his eleven-year-old mind started to go haywire. In every fantasy book, he had read there was always talks of dungeons and the mysterious they held such as treasures or DRAGONS. Though a Ravenclaw girl had sarcastically informed that there were no dragons in the schools dungeons and that he was a little child to believe such hearsay. He nearly hexed her but then he remembered he did not know any hexes yet, much to his annoyance as she sauntered off feeling rather pleased with herself. He should have expected as much from a Ravenclaw as his mother was rather factual and logical in her analysis of things. She wasted no time calling him out on his misinformation and was all too prepared to offer him proven facts as to why he was wrong. If he did not know any better, he would swear that he was adopted or something as he found her sternness to be a bit grating at times. He loved her deeply, but she could be a real joy kill. Like the year, she sat him down and told him that Santa did not exist. His uncle was quite a bit furious about that one, so they both agreed, Bren and his mother that was, not to tell him that Bren had also ben informed that the Easter bunny and tooth fairy were not real either. He would have had a heart attack if he knew as he still to this day tried to sneak a basket of goodies into Bren's room on Easter morning with a note, in his handwriting, addressed by the Easter bunny. He was a strange one, but Bren deeply loved his uncle in all his weird glory.

Having no clue where to go, Bren did the most logical thing he could think of at the time. He sat down in the middle of the corridor, Indian style with his arms crisscrossed over his chest. If he could not find his way out, then he would wait for someone to come by and ask directions then. No need wasting his energy walking around in circles. It was survival skills at its finest. Though given his weak internal compass, this choice was questionable at best. He had a box fo chocolate frogs in his pocket so if worse case he could ration that off that for a few hours if he had to. He once read that the muggle spiritual leader, Gandhi survived twenty-one days without eating, so he knew that it was possible to survive. Though he also knew that he would not survive more than a few days without water. He could drink his urine, but that hardly sounded appealing so he hoped that he would not be stuck down in the dungeons forever. After several hours, More like minutes, he heard footsteps approach from the rear, Jumping to his feet he waited for the person to round the corner before he bombarded them with his demands and his shouting. His voice seemed to carry so maybe that had heard him shouting and came to save him from his own overconfidence in skills.

 

[Rory Fergusson]

Rory had been finding his way about the school, seeking out one of the older students so that he could acquire a map from them had apparently been the wrong thing to do, but Rory didn't know his way around and it definitely seemed like no one actually wanted to help him. But this didn't bold well for the young boy who rarely liked doing things for himself, even in his short time in New Zealand a lot of that time had been spent just following either his sister or his father around, waiting where they told him and being shown where things were if he needed them. His sister remained in New Zealand to be close at hand to help him out should he want it or need it and right now he needed it, needed it greatly but it wasn't like Bonnie knew the school at all or would be able to help him find what he wanted in this school, the boy was therefore left to his own devices and this wasn't exactly a good thing since he didn't like that, and he relied on others far more and no one, at least very few people seemed really willing to help him with the little bits and pieces of trouble that he was having. First of, the fact that he couldn't figure out his own breakfast and was living off the bread he could get, since Rory was a fairly fussy person first thing in the day, and now this, he had known from when he'd first been lead to the dungeons and where he would need to remain for his time at this school that he'd get lost, too many of the same corridors and too many hallways to remember. It hadn't helped that Rory with the wound of not being a hufflepuff still so very fresh had barely been paying attention to the prefects and where they had been going, which he was now realising had been a mistake, but this wasn't the end of the world, getting lost wasn't the end of the world, Rory thought that the fact no one was helping him was.

Rory didn't much like the dungeons, he liked the fact they were a little more hidden than other sections of the school, and at the very least the coldness of them reminded him of home, but they did also help Rory feel a little less nervous, and that was likely just the fact they reminded him of home that did that. But, being lost didn't help him at all, and Rory was growing more and more annoyed about the fact he wasn't finding what he wanted, and the scottish boy really hated not getting his way. And as of late he'd not been getting his way a lot, after all he was in New Zealand rather than Scotland, and in Slytherin rather than hufflepuff, and the fact he didn't get what he wanted annoyed him, but those specific things also made him feel just generally upset and lonely, this school was so huge, and so filled with people, so many more than Rory had ever thought possible and no one was doing things for him or getting what he wanted. Eventually as the boy turned another corner he spotted a boy that he distinctly remembered from sorting sitting in the hallway, sitting in an odd manner, but the boy pushed down his own nervousness as he walked quickly towards him and blurted out, " 'Scuse me," he said, the thick accent pouring through his words, "Ah cannae find ma way, gonnae help me," though his accent was thick and he had a fairly demanding tone, Rory looked nervous, he wasn't yet good at speaking to people and he didn't want to be rejected, he needed this boy to stop what he was doing and just help him. Rory didn't care if he'd been doing something important, his mother had always stressed how important he was, how people had to treat him well that he firmly believed that this other boy would drop everything to help him, because Rory was better than him and he needed to help him find his way because he was more important. The scottish boy had his hands in his pockets and took a few steps away from the boy kicking the floor a little with his shoes in a nervous move waiting clearly for the other boy to respond with the help that Rory had asked for, "Please" he added, thinking that the word would not go amiss, and though this blonde boy should be helping him anyway, it might just aid in the process, but only time would tell. ​

 

[Bren Bartlowe]

"I can't help you!" Bren said as his hopes of finding an escape were dashed in a blink as the newcomer appeared to be equally as lost as he was at the moment. Two lost people could not be of any help to each other. Not only that but Bren did not have enough rations to keep the boy alive. Then again if he was kept close and not allowed to flee, if they were to be lost forever then Bren could eat the kid as a last ditch effort of survival. While he had never eaten a human being, he had read about a tribe of cannibals that lived in Papua New Guinea. He would have to start a fire of course and without know any useful spell outside of Lumos and Nox yet, he would likely have to find a torch or something. Either way, he could not let the guy go yet, "I am lost as well. But what was in the direction that you just came from?Maybe if we both put our heads together, we can backtrack to a more heavily traffic section of the Dungeons, maybe run into a Slytherin. Though I am not sure, they would help me being that I am a Gryffindor and all. Our houses do not get along all that well, Slytherin and Gryffindor that is. What house are you in? Please do not say Hufflepuff please as I have no clue where their common room is supposed to be. So I would really be of no help." Bren said as he brushed his hands off on his robes before offering a hand for the newcomer to shake. It was only proper courtesy to shake hands on first-time introductions. Though Bren knew, he was forgetting something. "BREN!" He shouted with embarrassment, "The name is Bren Bartlowe by the way. " He said with a snort and a laugh. He could not believe that he had forgotten to offer the guy his name. That was more important than a handshake as he did not want to spend for however long it took for them to find a way out of this place, calling each other guy or kid, or worse bruh.

"I came down here to explore and managed to get lost. I am a first year, so I was hoping to figure out where everything was before classes started up. I figured they would give us a map or something, but I guess I was mistaken. How did you manage to get lost down here anyway? Let's go this way for now." Bren said as he picked a direction and began walking again. Soon or later they were bound to find someone else who could point them in the right direction. Standing in one place and hoping someone would come along did them no good. So they would just have to pick a direction and hope for the best, but at least they were not alone. There was a security that came with traveling in numbers; there was a smaller chance that someone would think to mess with them as the newcomer looked closer to his age and being lost himself he would guess he was the first year as well. Bren had been so wrapped up in the sorting festival that he did not actually pay close attention to who all got sorted were. There had been a large number of first years after all, and Bren was a bit terrible with names. So he had no way of knowning for sure the exacte year that his companion was until the boy himself said so, even then it could be difficult to trust as there seemed to be a natural hazing ritual forced upon the first years who did not know any better. Bren was not a fan of teasing or bullying so he hoped to acclimate quickly and find a few friends to hang with so as not to draw any unwanted attention his way. Maybe the newcomer was in the same boat. Maybe this was fate working in his favor for once. Though he was not sure that he could trust Fate given thier tumultuous past.

 

[Rory Fergusson]

The first thing that he realised upon speaking to this boy and him responding was that he had a very odd way of speaking, he didn't sound like he did, he didn't sound like anyone he'd ever met before and that fact almost a little freaked him out, he wasn't sure what to expect and this hadn't been it in the slightest, "Naw but ye have tae help me," he tried to say as the boy continued asking which way he'd come from, but this didn't help him, this boy wanted out of the dungeons and he needed to further in, "Am a slytherin," he told him, "and I cannae find ma way back tae ma common room," he insisted hoping that this boy would actually listen to him and actually help him rather than being weird and trying to help himself, after all, once Rory knew where he was he was sure to try to offer the other boy a little help so that he could find his way out, but only when Rory had found his way, only then, he was better than this gryffindor, so he had to be helped first, he took the boys hand just as he exclaimed his name, Bren, "Rory," he replied easily, although the issue at hand hadn't of course been solved and he was feeling increasingly like this boy was going to be the least amount of help to him, and the boy spoke a lot which Rory really didn't like, he just said so much and he just could not keep up with any of it, he didn't want to go the way he had been going and Rory was getting increasingly annoyed at it, but he didn't want to scare the boy off, he didn't want him to not help him.

"GONNAE STOP" Rory exclaimed loudly, unable to keep the anger out of his, out of his tone and his stance, his hands in fists and just a general look of anger upon his face, "Just gonnae f#cking stop," he repeated his voice lower but just as angry, he wasn't able to process half of what this boy was saying, he said too much and he didn't want to go whatever way this boy wanted, he wanted the boy to help him and that meant going the way that Rory wanted to. He wanted to find his way, not help someone else find their way without him knowing where he might end up going, he didn't wanted to get more lost, and this would make him end up being more lost. The young slytherin still looking angry pointed in the opposite direction, "Ah need tae find ma way tae the slytherin dorm, and ye should help me first 'cause then I can help ye, but ye have tae help me first," the boy explained to him he didn't have any other way of doing so, and the anger in his voice was definitely clear, he needed this boy to help him before he even considered helping the other boy, "Right, understand? Now let's go this way," Rory knew that he wasn’t exactly being nice to him, but this boy spoke in a complicated and formal manner he wasn"t used to, he made him feel like an idiot for not speaking like that, and generally just annoyed him, he just didn't get that the first person to help was him and the others just came after, Rory had always been told that he was the most important and he did wholeheartedly believe it.
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[Bren Bartlowe]

Bren blinked. Slowly. Apparently Rory had a different idea of what was going to happen next. Though that soon became the low priority on the totem pole of issues. Something far more pressing floated across Bren's mind in a cloud of strange color smoke. Crossing both arms over his chest, he decided not to move at all in any direction as he leaned in slightly closer to the boy. A critical look on his face as he scanned Rory from head to toe and when at least the tense seemed to reach it's zenith Bren said what only moments before ago came to his head. "Are you a leprechaun!?" Bren asked in a loud booming burst as he placed one hand on his waist and the other was raised to scratch his head. "You see, you sound just like what muggles think leprechauns sound like. There is this advert on muggle Television in the States about a leprechaun who is being harassed by children. Though it seems that it is because the leprechaun in question has gotten away with a box of rather delicious looking cereal. When he is caught or duped as the Americans like to say, he cries over the loss of his cereal in a catchy little rhyme." Bren said as he began to pace back and forth in the small corridor as if solving a rather complicated mystery. "Hearts, Stars, and Horseshoes. Clovers and blue moons. Pots of gold and rainbows. And me red balloons." Bren stopped as he raised on hand in a Shakespearian way as a confused look still littered his somewhat pale face. "The last bit always was so confusing as I always figured leprechauns were partial to just pots of gold." He added with a shrug. "But anywho I thought I asked as I have never met a leprechaun in person."

"Now for this business of which way to go George." Bren said making a reference to an old muggle cartoon he had watched one time . "Why should I trust a Slytherin to honor their word? Did you not listen to the old hat during the sorting? Resourceful and Cunning, They’ll join the house of silver and green." Bren said firmly as he puffed up his chest and gave the foul-tempered youth a stern look. "For all I know, once I get you to where you need to go then you could tell me to sod off or something and leave me trapped in this damp nightmare. So I believe we are at a small impasse. Besides, I do not know what crawled up your robes and died, but if you think that throwing a fit will get you anywhere, you are a bit mistaken." Bren said with a shrug as he leaned against one of the walls with a huff as he was inclined to sit here for hours if need be if the boy at least didn't change his tone. He had no one else around to help, and it would be far more embarrassing for a Slytherin to be lost int eh dungeons as the place was their natural stomping grounds. It made sense for Bren to be lost, Gryffindor was kept in one of the towers high above the likes of the Dungeon, and he did not imagine very many lions lurking about the underbelly of the castle. Heck, he had only come down because he knew that potions would be held down here, and he was hoping to find some treasure. As the latter was least likely, occur he had found the dungeons to be far too bleak for his taste. He missed the warm of the sun on his skin and hoped to quickly get back to the central part of the school grounds. It all came down to the leprechaun as to what happened next.

 

[Rory Fergusson]

If Rory had known any defensive spells he would've fired them right at the other boy there and then, considering he had just called him a leprechaun?! The boy didn't know how insulted to be by such a comment, didn't the blonde boy realise he was scottish and not irish, and Leprechaun's were an Irish tradition rather than a Scottish, Rory was not an idiot he knew that the two countries shared a lot of cultural things but that didn't cover the leprechauns and the scottish boy was just floored by the question that he missed the rest of what he said, he was sounded like a leprechaun, "Am Scottish ye f##king prick" the boy told him angrily, "Leprechaun's are f##king Irish," Rory explained to him barely keeping the anger out of his tone, he didn't care about helping the boy in the slightest any more, this boy was clearly a clueless idiot who didn't know the first difference between the scottish and Irish, and why on earth would he help him after that, Rory had his hands in fists at his side, going red in the face from anger from the statement, "And am clearly no Irish!" the boy turned away from the other boy he didn't care about the other boy did, he wasn't interested in helping him, not interested in the odd name he was called or the continued words by the other boy, he wasn't going to help out of this "damp nightmare", not without an apology first.

"Go f##k yourself, I wis gonnae help ye but naw, not any mare," he spat at the boy before turning away and heading in the direction that he had pointed to before the boy had so graveously insulted him, he had half a mind to go complain to the headmistress about the boy, and at the very least he'd be telling his father, he knew that people wouldn't understand him, and if the boy had just thought him Irish and asked him about it, then Rory might not have been as annoyed but he was fuming from being told he sounded exactly like a leprechaun, the implication being that he was some muggle cartoon caricature of an irish leprechaun, Rory was as Scottish as they came, generations of his family had come from the small northern country and he was unlikely to leave those roots, and this was the first time that he'd ever been likened to some creature. He didn't care if the boy got so lost he never found his way out of the dungeons, Rory knew that eventually he'd find his way or someone that would help him, but he hoped that the old rivalries between the Gryffindors and Slytherins that he knew existed in the school in his home country were as true in this one. Rory was fuming about it, he felt so angry and so insulted, so ready to fly at the other boy, he deserved respect, his mother had always told him that because of their money and status that he deserved to be treated with respect with everyone that crossed his path but this boy had spoken in such an odd way and just been so exceedingly insulting to him, damn disrespectful.
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[Bren Bartlowe]

Bren stood where he was with a stunned look on his face for all of ten seconds before following after the foul-mouthed Slytherin. "How was I suppose to know you are Scottish! You never said you were Scottish. You just talking with that strange accent and expected everyone to know your life story. "Bren grumbled. "As for screwing myself, well that would be rather awkward Dontcha think? Now I can piss off if you want but I do not believe that either of us will find our way through this accursed dungeon going it alone. All I need is for you to put up with me for a few more minutes so I can get out of here ." Bren said with a scowl. The boy storming off was forcing to Bren to walk a bit briskly for his liking as he seemed rather irate with the leprechaun remark. He could not say that he had talked to an Irish person or a Scottish person to be able to know the difference though in hindsight he could hear a mild difference in the accent from that of the little green creature from the commercial. Squinting att the ceiling he rubbed his chin for a few minutes before shrugging it off and once more trying to catch up to the preteen.

"If you want an apology then you best stop for five seconds before I have a heart attack will ya?" Bren shouted as he reached out to grab the guy by the arm. He stayed out of striking range as the last thin he wanted to do was to get into a fist fight in the Slytherin filled dungeon. " I am ... Sorry... okay. Wooh." He said as he was breathing a bit harder than normal. "Jesus you walk fast," Bren added as he took a deep breathe for a second. "You are wound up tight aren't ya. Use to getting things your way. Well if we are going to help each other I need some kind of assurance that you will help me get the hell out of here once I got you back to your common room." Bren said as he gave the boy a stern looked that revealed his seriousness in this circumstance. " I just do not see why you would want to help me out of here if you are having a hard enough trouble going deeper in. I imagine that you would not want to try and leave the dungeon in case you might get lost again, this time without someone to help you back to your common room. " Bren said once again trying to get the Scottish guy to see his concern on the matter at hand. Bren was not sure if he would help after being so easily offended but at least he bought a few moments to plead his case. The Slytherin was his best option at the moment an os he would do what he had to get what he could out of the temporary arrangement.

 

[Rory Fergusson]

Rory felt utterly bemused by this other boy, who seemed to be accusing him of not telling him what he was to avoid getting annoyed about being wrongly associated with a country, Rory just stared at him in slight disbelief, looking around almost as if to see others, maybe those boys from the bookstore jump out and tell him that this was a prank, but of course that wasn't going to happen, of course not, that was silly, and this was just an entirely insane thing, "Ye never even asked, you just assumed ah wis somethin' and now yer gettin' annoyed at me, nae chance pal, all ye had tae dae was ask me," Rory shot back at the young Gryffindor, since the boy could've asked, it would've been better to ask, Rory might not have found himself so annoyed and he was grumbling under his breath about not being a leprechaun. It was clear that he was very much still annoyed by it all, it was so ridiculous, so insulting, and the boy hadn't even had the sense to apologise to him, Rory knew he was better than this boy, in quite possibly every way imaginable, and yet he still had not heard the slightest apology from him, and the Gryffindor boy still expected Rory to help him. Rory knew that he was lost and it was going to take him a bit of time to be able to find his way back to the dorm, but he would much rather be lost for hours than give this other boy any help in the slightest, which was why he just walked away.

Rory was therefore very surprised when the other boy reached out to grab him, and while a little startled he pulled his hand away and glared at the boy, "Don't touch me," he told him sternly pulling himself away and taking a few steps back and listened to him, thinking that if this boy wanted to win his favour, wanted to end up with Rory helping him out he was going the wrong way about it, Rory was indeed very used to getting his own way but he didn't need anyone saying as much. And with all of it, this boy didn't seem to understand that it was just simply off the table, he was simply not going to help him any more, whatever nice things had been on offer before he wasn't going to, because as much as Rory liked getting things his way, and was used to other people doing things for him, he would do something in return, he wasn't entirely selfish, but right now he was going to be, he didn't care what this boy wanted, he didn't care about how the Gryffindor might end up getting trapped by others, he really didn't care. Rory just shook his head at him, "Look, mate, just realise ah'm no gonnae help ye, yer on yer own," he told him, "Leave me alone, find someone else tae help ye, and try no tae insult them within the first five minutes," he advised the boy before walking away from him, hoping that in this instance this would be the last he would see of him, Rory didn't care what happened or if this was entirely the wrong way, he would find it eventually and that would be all that mattered. Rory wondered how many other people at Hogwarts believed that he was a leprechaun, if any, Muggles being cannibals was far more believable as a thing, than Rory despite his small stature being a leprechaun.
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