Dusty Walls to Hide Behind

[Theodore Westwick]

Theodore was getting used to Hogwarts, but that didn't mean he enjoyed being here. There were still too many people, too many uninteresting subjects, too many professors and too many things they had to do. He would much rather choose what he wanted to learn and do it himself instead of being forced to go to classes with boring kids that made a lot of noise and crowded around him. Edmund seemed to think other students could be interesting in their own way, but Theodore would prefer it if none of them ever talked to him or even came near him. He wasn't doing a bad job of making that a reality so far, though he wished it was easier to ignore everyone. Some of the kids seemed not to pick up on his body language and still approached him sometimes.

Still, there were good things about Hogwarts too. It was a magnificent building to explore, and he and Edmund had spent many of their free afternoons walking through corridors and looking for secret passageways. Another thing he just couldn't hate was the library. It was enormous and filled with books. Some were boring, but there were definitely a few gems in there too. Old books with fascinating illustrations. He suspected a lot of the darker stuff was out of sight for students, though. Which was a shame. Today was a sunny day, which meant most students would be outside. So he and Edmund were in the library, enjoying the relative calm. To be sure they wouldn't be disturbed, however, he had stacked a bunch of books on their table, basically creating a sort of wall around them. It worked surprisingly well, and he could only hope no one would need any of them anytime soon. He glanced at Edmund at his side, as they were reading the same book about magical creatures. "Do you think any of these live in the forest?" He asked quietly as he looked at a picture of a Thestral. He would love to see one, though they would be invisible to him.

 

[Edmund Westwick]

Edmund was disappointed that this far into their time at Hogwarts, he and Theodore still hadn't managed to discover any really interesting secrets of the castle. As disappointed as he was not to have found some secret ancient hidden chamber to call their own, that made the list for Edmund's favourite place in the castle considerably shorter, a list that was currently topped by the library. Sure, they had to deal with sharing it with other people, but they were usually quiet people, the books seemed to contain endless fascinating topics, and the dusty air reminded him of home. The only real source of frustration here was that the school seemed to have locked all its most interesting books away from general consumption, but Edmund was quite sure he would find his way into the Restricted Section somehow one day. For now he was quite contented to sit and read with Theodore in their little walled off corner of the library.

When Theodore spoke, Edmund leaned over to peer at what he was reading. The creature looked magnificent, and Edmund sighed softly. "Maybe, but I suppose we wouldn't be able to see it. I suppose the only practical way to rectify that would be to hang around a hospital for however long it took, which sounds tedious and less than ideal. I suppose it will remain a mystery, for the moment." He continued to study the page though, and the more he did, the more it felt like a shame. Thestrals seemed like magnificent creatures. He would have liked to encounter one.

 

[Stella Wright]

Hogwarts was a fascinating, though frustrating place. Stella had been continually disappointed that there was no scientific content to the classes (except for Astronomy, which was by turns blatantly wrong and disgustingly dismissive of muggles), but they were interesting nevertheless, and she was keen to start a new semester with new interesting information to learn. The library had already become her favourite place in the castle, though it didn't have many science books either. She loved the opportunity to read so many interesting things, and the quiet calm so rare in the castle.

Today, though, Stella wandered the library with increasing frustration. She'd been looking for a particular book that sounded like it would be a good place to get an early start on her Charms study. She well remembered Phoebe telling her that that subject was mostly practical in class but encouraged theoretical study outside of classes, and the older girl's enthusiasm had made her excited to get started. The textbook hadn't said anything about how spells like levitation interacted with the laws of physics, but it had made oblique reference to a volume which sounded like it might. And that book was in the library, and no-one had taken it out . . . but it wasn't in its place on the shelves either. It was a most vexing situation. She was about to give up when she spotted a wall of books in a corner. Stella approached, more out of curiosity than anything. She could just see two dark heads bent over a book behind the wall. Then something more important caught her attention: among the books in the wall was a spine bearing the title she'd been searching for. Now, awkwardly, Stella actually came close. She recognised the occupants now, the twins who she'd seen in the common room occasionally, keeping to themselves and casting hostile glances at everyone else. "Um, excuse me. Could I please take this book from your, er, wall?"

 

[Theodore Westwick]

Theodore smiled slightly at his brother, his words a comfort to him as he was thinking among the same lines as usual. "I would love to see one too." He said softly. "Though how we'll find a hospital... There's the hospital wing here, but I don't think many people have fatal accidents, despite the ludicrous sports they play." He said with a snort. Neither him nor Edmund enjoyed flying, quidditch, or anything related to it. The two had decided to opt out of flying alltogether last semester, and hadn't regretted it.

But then their peaceful moment was interrupted, and Theodore shot the girl a glare. With Edmund at his side, he felt brave enough to say anything on his mind. So he did. "I can't say whether you could or not, but I can say you may not." He told her with a cold look. "We need it." Then he turned to Edmund, the slightest smirk on his face. "Speaking of seeing Thestrals, it just happened to occur to me that the fastest way to ensure getting to see one would be by robbing someone else of their life." He glanced at the annoying girl significantly. "After all, there are plenty of worthy sacrifices here at school."

 

[Edmund Westwick]

Edmund tore his eyes from their book ever so slowly, to look up with disdain at the girl who had chosen to interrupt the twins reading time. How rude. He recognised her from classes, though Edmund had made no effort whatsoever to learn any of his classmates names. He smirked slightly when Theodore addressed her, relishing his brother's cutting remarks as ever. Seeing no need to address the girl himself, Edmund turned back to Theodore, listening with a widening smile to his remarks. "I'm quite sure we could find a worthy candidate. This school is hardly full of the most intimidating specimens. It would be easy to pick one of them off." As he spoke Edmund ran his eyes over the girl, meeting her eyes directly when he got up to them.

 

[Stella Wright]

This had been a mistake. It had been clear to Stella that the twins wanted to be left alone, and now they were being creepy and threatening. Still, it was too late, and now that Stella was here she had to stand her ground. "You need it? For your ridiculous book wall? You know, for people who seem so shy, you're being incredibly obnoxious. How long did you think you could get away without anyone wanting one of these?" Stella would not normally be quite so rude, but these boys were making her more anxious than anyone she'd met at this school so far. Besides, it was always her general policy to speak the truth. Even if a book wall did honestly seem like a pretty cool idea, it wasn't at all fair to do it in a public library. She met the boy's gaze bravely when he made eye contact with her, alarm swiftly giving way to irritation. "You really think you could manage to kill someone?" She asked casually, joining the conversation as though it wasn't a veiled threat, though the look in her eyes made it clear that she had noticed. "We're only first years." She wouldn't be afraid of these boys. They didn't know any more than she did, and they hadn't learned any offensive spells thus far, let alone ones that could be used for murder.

 

[Theodore Westwick]

Theodore nodded. "Yes we need it, for whatever purpose we want." He said coldly. "We got it first, try some other time." He wanted this girl to leave them alone, and even though he knew giving her the stupid book would probably make that happen, he didn't want to have to do that. He could tell Edmund enjoyed this, and honestly, he did as well. Theodore could take on anyone with Edmund at his side, and this girl was hardly even a challenge. He smirked when the girl asked if they could manage to kill someone, and he exchanged a significant look with his brother. "Who says we haven't already?" He asked her innocently. "You don't know anything about us. There are ways that don't involve magic, you know." He said, his voice casual and his expression neutral once again. "But keep annoying us if you want to find out." Of course, if she really did keep being annoying they would have no way to actually act on these threats, but Theodore just hoped she would get freaked out and walk away. That tended to happen quite often.

 

[Edmund Westwick]

Edmund snorted at the girl's ridiculous insults. "We never professed to be shy." He said curtly. "And making demands of people you don't know strikes me as far more obnoxious than refusing to give up something we're using to someone who interrupted an important conversation. But as my brother said, I'm quite sure the book you need will still exist tomorrow, when we no longer need it. Right now, we are using it." He raised an eyebrow at the girl dismissively, watching to see if she would leave.

Edmund actually laughed slightly at the girl's comment that they couldn't manage to kill someone, meeting Theodore's eye for a moment. "We collect the dead." He said coldly, meeting the girl's eyes. There was no need to elaborate that he meant insects. "You should be careful what you say. And where you let your guard down."