Open Inky Tears

[Scott Baker]

Scott hurried out of the History of Magic classroom, his hands still covered in ink and his clothes had inky handprints. He didn't want to make a bigger mess and didn't want to look stupid in front of everyone. Entering the boy's bathroom, he set his ink riddled bag next to the sinks and started to wash the ink off. It was not coming off with ease and it was starting to make Scott panic. The last thing he wanted was to make his house lose more house points or to get sent home for not being a good enough wizard.

Close to tears, Scott scrubbed his hands and arms under the hot water. He barely noticed the sound of a stall door opening, he took a deep breath and wiped a tear that was forming away. Scott turned his head around to see who it was.

 

[Abian Hunter]

As Abian stepped out of the stall, he was startled by the sight of a young boy. He supposed he could have heard the sound of the running water, but his mind had been elsewhere. He blinked at him, then noticed the boy was covered in ink and also seemed pretty upset. Abian immediately felt bad for him, and moved over to the other tap to wash his hands quickly. He hesitated for a moment. "Are you okay? What happened?" He asked the boy gently. "Did someone spill ink on you?" Abian thought he remembered the boy from Hufflepuff, and knew if the kid was being bullied, he could go tell Professor Carter about it.

 

[Scott Baker]

Scott looked up at the older boy who made his way from a stall and he remained quiet until the boy spoke to him. “No, nobody else did it. I guess I spilt it myself.” He had already gotten in trouble in the kitchens and was regretting telling his mom, but now he could use some more ink since he only had one more bottle left. “I don’t know how it happened but when I reached to get my notes it was all over everything and now all over me.” Scott didn’t want to be wasteful and put more stress on his mom, no longer able to conceal the tears, a few came rolling down his cheek. He tried to brush them away with his shoulder while scrubbing his arms.

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian was glad to hear the boy hadn't been bullied, but he figured it may be just as bad for him to admit he had spilt it himself. "Oh, that sucks." He said sympathetically. "I remember when I first got here I had to get used to the ink. It's kind of dumb, like... why not just use pens?" He noticed the boy was crying and tried his best to reassure him. "Hey, it's okay... it happens." He said, fumbling to grab his wand. "Actually, we learned a cleaning spell in second year. I can clean your clothes for you." He paused, "I hope, I'm not the best at spells." He pointed his wand at the inky hand prints on the boy's clothes. "Scourgify." They faded a bit, and he repeated the spell until they were gone. "See? No harm done." He said, hoping it would at least help him a little.

 

[Robert Kain]

Professor Kain was on his way to lunch when he heard muffled commotion in one of the bathrooms. He took a detour, his hands in his pockets and quietly made his way into the room to see if everyone was a-okay, and catch sight of one of his fourth year students cleaning one of his first. “Abian, Scott,” he addressed both boys. The younger one looked a little panicked, but Rob believed there wasn’t much reason for that in this school, especially when the older students were looking out for you, “Making practical use of your charms Mr Hunter,” he smiled towards the older boy, “and for a good use. 10 points to Hufflepuff. What’s got you upset Scott?” He asked, feeling obliged to make sure as a professor that he checked, summoning a tissue and handing it to the boy.

 

[Scott Baker]

Scott smiled a little through his tears. "Pens are definitely easier." He sniffled his nose and listened as the boy explained a new spell he learned. Holding as still as possible, Scott closed one of his eyes as the older boy began the spell. His eyes widened watching the stubborn ink fade from his hands and his clothes. Magic, of course! He suddenly felt very silly by the fact that it was so easily curable by magic, he likely could've asked the professor for help in class. "Thank you," Scott said wiping away a couple of tears on his now ink-free arm.

Turning his attention towards the bathroom door where he heard his own name and another, Scott saw Professor Kain enter. He had been quite enjoying Charms class so far this year and he was very nice. "I spilt my own ink all over," Scott said quietly, but his mood brightened by Hufflepuff earning points. "I forget how easy magic makes things sometimes." He tittered, taking the tissue from the professor.

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian was glad the boy could smile a bit, it seemed like he had helped him at least a little. He smiled at the younger boy. "No problem, glad I could help." He jumped a bit as he heard a voice behind him, and turned to see Professor Kain. He blushed as it became clear the professor had seen him use magic. Surely he had seen how it had taken him a few tries to do a second year spell? But Professor Kain said nothing about that, and even gave Abian some points. "Oh, thank you Professor." He said a bit shyly. He glanced at the younger boy, apparently named Scott, and nodded at his statement about magic. He figured the kid was muggleborn like him. "I still have that sometimes, and I've known about magic for three years now." He said with a small smile. "But you'll get used to it."