Closed Just a Little Lost

[Gwen Goodwin]

Gwen had been happy to explore the castle, but it was a lot bigger than she had expected. The dungeons were especially frustrating, though Gwen had the way to the Slytherin common room down by now. She figured that when it came to classes, it would be easy enough to simply follow her classmates to the classroom. But she was pretty curious about the Hogwarts library and had been unable to find it so far. She had asked an older student who had told her it would be on the fourth floor, but Gwen was fairly sure that was where she was, and all she had found of note so far was an abandoned yucky bathroom she had quickly run away from. But no library. Gwen frowned a bit, trying a random door that seemed to be locked. She then looked around for anyone else to ask, surely this shouldn't be so difficult.

 

[Rene Tofilau]

It was weird being back at Hogwarts again. René had spent so long building it up in his head last year before actually getting to see it and then coming back home again had felt so strangely normal. Being back now though, René could feel the familiar excitement and fascination building up again, this time joint by the fact that he was no longer one of the confused new kids wandering around not knowing anything. He knew about magic, he knew some spells, he'd passed his exams. Just. It felt good, feeling like he was in the loop.

Passing along one of the upstairs corridors, René paused as he saw one of what had to be the new first years trying to get in through a locked door, glancing around the corridor to see if anyone was going to say something before stepping over to talk to her. "I think that's just a broom closet. I mean, someone told me it was haunted, but I dunno if that's true... Broom closet part is probably legit at least," he offered sheepishly. "Do you need some help? I know my way around pretty well," he added hopefully, keen on the idea of actually getting to show someone around.

 

[Gwen Goodwin]

Gwen looked up as a boy approached her, she was disappointed to learn the door she was attempting to open was just a broom closet. "Oh." She said, then frowned. "Why would a ghost haunt such a small space?" She mused then, glancing at the door again. "Well, thanks." She added, sighing. "This castle is so big and confusing..." She frowned slightly, looking around. Maybe she was playing up a bit how lost she was so he would help her, but it seemed like that wasn't really necessary as he offered right away. Gwen shot him a bright smile. "Thanks! That would be great." She said. "I've been trying to find the library, am I anywhere close?"

 

[Rene Tofilau]

René shrugged at the girl's question, not wanting to admit he didn't know the answer. Or much about ghosts at all. "Maybe it died in there," he offered vaguely. They were on safer ground talking about the castle, which René wouldn't say he knew by heart, but he definitely knew better than the first years, which was a neat feeling. "Ah yeah, it's pretty confusing in your first year, but you get it after awhile," he said sagely, wondering if this was how Sully felt all the time. "Oh yeah, you nearly got it, it's on the forth floor. My common room's on the same floor so I go past all the time," he explained, motioning the girl to follow him towards the stair down. "If you have any other questions and stuff, I could help too. I'm already a second year so I've learnt loads," he said proudly.

 

[Gwen Goodwin]

Gwen giggled at the boy's solution to the ghost question, covering her mouth. "How do you die in a broom closet?" She asked, unwilling to let that statement go quite yet. Gwen sighed when he said it was pretty confusing, then groaned and put a hand over her face when he said she was on the entirely wrong floor. "Oh, how silly." She said. "You must think I'm really stupid. I swear I counted the floors." She said, frowning. "I'm sorry for bothering you." She then blinked, surprised. "Wait, are you sure?" She asked as she started to follow him. "I'm sure you have loads of super important stuff to do, as a second year." She added as he was clearly proud to be a year older than her.

 

[Rene Tofilau]

René tried not to overthink it when the girl asked him a follow up question, trying to think what sort of clever response Sully would make. "Maybe he tripped on a broom?" He tried, smiling but not wanting to laugh until he was sure the girl thought it was a funny joke. At least he felt on surer footing giving the girl directions, feeling a bit better when she was clearly embarrassed for being lost. He'd been there, he could sympathize. "No, no, it's okay. The staircases move and stuff, it doesn't make any sense," René said, waving a hand, confidence building at the idea he could help the first year with something that was so easy for him. "I don't mind, I only have like, Quidditch practice, but it's not for a little bit, I have time," he said, trying to pepper in the fact that he played and trying to gauge her reaction as he lead them to the stairs down the corridor.

 

[Gwen Goodwin]

Gwen giggled at the boy's joke, covering her mouth with her hand. "You're funny." She told him, lowering her hand slightly to smile at him. She followed him and sighed when he mentioned the staircases. "I know! It's so silly." She said, playing up her relief about him being so understanding. Her eyes widened slightly when he mentioned having Quidditch practice later. "You're on the team? That's so cool!" She said with a grin. "What's practice like? Is it very difficult?"

 

[Rene Tofilau]

René nearly choked when the girl called him funny, clearing his throat and straightening up in an attempt to be cool an unaffected. Funny was usually reserved for his brother, so René let him have a small moment of just enjoying the praise before paying attention to what else the girl was saying, preening some more when she seemed appropriately impressed with his status on the house team. "Yeah, they don't usually let first years onto the team, but I guess I impressed them last year," he said proudly, holding up a had as they reached the staircase and making a show of checking it wasn't about to move before letting the girl go down first. "Yeah, it's pretty hard, aye. We train a lot and bludgers are no joke, but I can handle it," he said, biting his lips a bit to tamp down what René was sure was a massive grin at a chance to get to show off a little. "You're in Slytherin, aye? I think Hufflepuff has to work like three times as hard as you guys to make sure we beat you," he added with a grin, noting the girl's robes. He didn't have anything against Slytherins himself, but it couldn't hurt to try and talk up the Hufflepuff team more.

 

[Gwen Goodwin]

Gwen could tell the boy was very proud of his place on the Quidditch team, so she tried her best to look even more impressed as she descended the stairs. "Oh, wow. You must be really good!" She said. "What position do you play?" She asked then, taking a moment to ponder it. "It'd be so cool to see you play in a match." She smiled. "I may even cheer for you as long as you're not playing against Slytherin." She said lightly. Gwen didn't want to visibly cheer for another house when they were playing, which she would guess wouldn't make her very popular in the Slytherin stands. "You use real bludgers during practice?" She asked.

 

[Rene Tofilau]

René couldn't help but preen a bit when the girl complimented him, tugging on the collar of his robes to straighten them a bit and nod. "I was a chaser last year, but I think I'm going to switch to beater, aye. It's more dangerous and stuff but I could handle it," he said, miming a swing at an invisible bludger in a way that hopefully made his arms look strong. He felt his face heat up when the girl mentioned cheering for him, clearing his throat awkwardly and trying not to smile to hard. "Yeah? Thanks! Slytherin's a pretty rough team but I think we could take them," he said with a shrug. "We do, they're not so scary, really," he said when she asked about bludgers, deciding to leave out the part that he'd definitely almost cried the first time he'd been hit. "You get used to it and stuff, playing as much as I do," he added casually. "Oh here, watch your step," René said as they hit the bottom of the stairs for the forth floor. "Hufflepuff common room is that way, which makes the library this way," he said, waving a hand down the corridor confidently once he recognized the tapestry against the hall and got his bearings.

 

[Gwen Goodwin]

Gwen had to stop herself from laughing as René got even more proud. It was clear he put a lot of importance on Quidditch. "Oh, being a beater would be terrifying." She said, which was true. But she also thought only idiots willingly flew after bludgers, which she kept to herself. She smiled when he said he thought they could take Slytherin. "I'll be curious to see." She said. "I don't know, some of the older students are pretty scary." She added, frowning a bit. Gwen nodded as he continued to talk about Quidditch, then smiled and thanked him as he told her to watch her step. She touched his arm briefly as she hopped off the last step, then let go with a grateful smile. "Oh, thank you." She said, looking at where he pointed. "And it's good to know where Hufflepuff is too, maybe I can visit you sometime." She said. "You've saved me, I would have been wandering around there forever until I turned into a Hogwarts ghost." She added with a small laugh. "Thank you!"