King Of The Cliffs

[Aodhan Kaelen]

Although Aodhan missed his uncle a lot, it was a blessing not having the man around to tell him what he could and couldn't do. Of course there was still his aunt Libby but after the talk he had with her a few nights back he was sure that she wouldn't rat him out to his uncle if he begged her not do, or at least he hoped so because going back home for Christmas while there was an angry uncle Eryk waiting to lecture and punish him wasn't exactly something he was looking forward to. However that thought didn't stop him from leaving his friends behind after their last class to go to the cliffs and write to his uncle about his first few weeks at his new home.

Aodhan stopped once he arrived at his destination, taking in the view from where he stood. It was simply breathtaking, and for a moment it made him feel like he was the king of the world. After a few second of looking around, Aodhan dropped his bagpack and saw down on the cold, hard ground. He took out his writing equipment and lay the parchment, ink and quill down in front of him, thinking about what he should tell his uncle first.

 

[Aurora Night]

It had been a busy few days for Rory lately, and she was feeling like she needed to get away from the castle for a bit. Even though she'd been having fun talking and laughing with her friends all day, she'd started feeling that quiet tug on her insides that meant it was time to go away and sit by herself for a while. Going up to her dormitory to swap her school bag for a small leather journal, pulled from the depths of her suitcase, Rory quickly made her way outside. Stopping only briefly to decide on a direction, she set off towards the cliffs, keen to explore an area she hadn't ventured into yet.

She hadn't felt a need to bring out the journal until now. She'd been too immersed in her new life at Hogwarts and all the new demands on her time. But it had been a few weeks; Rory had met heaps of new interesting people. She tapped her fingers absent-mindedly on the journal's cover as she walked. Seeing the cliffs up ahead of her, however, she soon saw that she wasn't going to be alone after all. There was someone sitting down, bent over something on the ground in front of them. Not upset by this at all, Rory smiled and went to sit down near the boy. "Hey," she greeted, as she busied herself pulling the ties off the journal.

 

[Aodhan Kaelen]

Aodhan stared at the blank parchment in front of him. He knew that he wanted to tell his uncle that he was sorted into the same house as he was but had a feeling that since his aunt was also present at the Sorting Ceremony uncle Eryk already knew in which house the Sorting Hat had sorted him into. Then he thought about telling him that the girl he met at the Obsidian Harbour when they bought his school stuff was also sorted into Gryffindor House and that they were friends but was not sure if his uncle was actually interested in hearing that, as he had caught Aodhan whilst walking back to the parlour. The Gryffindor looked up from his parchment when he heard a girl's voice and smile when he recognized her. ''Hey.'' He said, as he watched her pulling the ties off her journal. ''You're in Gryffindor too, right?'' Aodhan then asked hoping that for the love of Merlin he was right about recognizing the girl.

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory looked up, grinning. "Yup. Apparently it wasn't a very hard decision for the hat." The sorting hat hadn't even really talked to her, which she'd been thankful for at the time. Now that she could see the boy's face, she did recognise him from her classes. "I'm Rory." Finally getting the journal untied she quickly flicked it open to check she was at the right page before letting the cover fall back, using her thumb as a place-holder. This could wait a couple of minutes.

Peering over to look at what the boy was doing, she took note of the blank parchment. "Writing or drawing?" she said, looking up at him again. Either would be cool, in Rory's opinion. She was terrible at artistic things, even though her sister was somehow already really good at the piano and getting better at the flute, of all things. Writing was much more Rory's style, when she could be bothered that was. She wasn't having a lot of fun with all the notes she was expected to take during lessons.

 

[Aodhan Kaelen]

Aodhan chuckled at the girls comment and nodded his head. ''Same with me.'' he answered. Although the boy wanted to be alone for a while before going back to the Gryffindor common room, he figured that he might as well make a new friend as the opportunity to make one was right in front of him, or in this case right next to him. ''Nice to meet you.'' the first year said with a friendly smile. ''I'm Aodhan.''

Aodhan shrugged when Rory asked him whether he was writing or drawing. ''Might as well send my uncle a drawing of me since I can't figure out what the hell I'm supposed to write to him.'' He said truthfully. ''I promised him I would write every week, but with my aunt working her as a professor, I'm not sure what to write because I bet he already knows it.'' He didn't blame ''professor'' Libby because he knew that his uncle had probably told her to keep an eye out for him to make sure he wasn't doing something he wasn't suppose to be doing but still. ''What about you?'' Aodhan said while nodding at the journal in the girl's hands.

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory laughed in amusement at Aodhan's response, before becoming more thoughtful. "What have you done that your aunt wouldn't know about?" She wrinkled her nose slightly as she suddenly thought of something. "What about your classes? Adults always seem to want to know about those." She'd sent a letter to her own family within the first week, and she'd soon had a return message wanting to know more about the lessons she'd only briefly mentioned. Remembering the main subject of her letter Rory brightened, adding, "Or people you've met, you could talk about them."

At the question about her journal she paused for a moment, considering. As she fiddled with one of the ties, Rory realised that she'd never really had to explain it to anyone before. She inhaled purposefully before replying. "Writing. Not anything in particular, really, just stuff I see, things I've noticed people doing." She suddenly grinned, realising what that might sound like to Aodhan. "Not anything weird, though. People are interesting, that's all." Her stomach felt a bit... lopsided, explaining it out loud, which was strange. Maybe it was just because she'd never done it before.

 

[Aodhan Kaelen]

Aodhan chuckled. ''Other than going to the bathroom, and visiting the cliffs? I don't know.. Well I managed to sneak around at night once without being caught, but if I would tell my uncle that, I am pretty sure he would go mental on me when I return for Christmas.'' He said, laughing at his own answer. Then Rory mentioned classes and he looked at the blank parchment for a moment, considering writing about the classes he had attened so far. Uncle Eryk would probably like to hear about the things he learned in his first weeks at the castle. Aodhan nodded his head and began writing a bit on his classes and who his favourite professor was. ''Thanks.'' He said after finishing his last sentence, and looked up at Rory again.

He listened as she told him what the journal was for. ''''Noticed people doing''?'' Aodhan quoted. ''Like what?'' He wondered what she had seen people do so far, curious to know if there was anything fun or interesting written about students, or even professors, in her journal.

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory's eyes widened before she grinned excitedly. "You didn't get caught? That's awesome, what did you do?" She smiled as she remembered her own foray into rule-breaking. "I went out into the forest with one of the other girls, but we got found." Shrugging, she looked away for a moment over the cliffs before turning her gaze back to Aodhan. "You win some, you lose some." Although, to be honest, she hadn't decided if she'd won or lost that particular attempt yet.

At his question about her journal, Rory paused again, looking down at the cover. "Well, I haven't written anything since I got here, so it's mostly just bits about my neighbours and family, and friends." She flipped the journal open with her thumb and looked at the last thing she'd written, giving a soft snort. "Like, my sister made a kind of squeaking sound every time I wrote my name crooked on one of my new school things." Rory looked up again. "I don't really know what I'm going to write before I write it, though. Um..." she closed her eyes, thinking about someone Aodhan might know. "Our Defence professor looks like he has a stone face, right? Well, he blinks, but it's really quick, like he's pretending he didn't, trying to make us think he really is a stone." She opened one eye, squinting to see what Aodhan's reaction would be. Was there actually a difference in the speed of blinking, or did she just think there was?

 

[Aodhan Kaelen]

Aodhan grinned too. ''I couldn't sleep so decided to look for a secret passageway.'' the Gryffindor said. ''Too bad I did not find any that night,'' He said, looking down at his parchment with disappointment on his face. ''But I'm thinking of going again soon.'' Aodhan then listened on his turn. His mouth opened while he listened to Rory. She went into the forbidden forest? He knew he was taking a risk by sneaking out at night to find the passageways but even he hadn't dared to wander into the forbidden forest. ''That's awesome!'' the boy said, almost jumping up.

He laughed out loud when Rory mentioned their Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. ''Oohhh man, you better make sure he never gets a hold of that journal.'' Aodhan said, still laughing. ''Unless you want to spend a week in detention.'' It was funny because that was exactly how he had described their teacher, too. Stone like.

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory tipped her head to the side. "A secret passageway sounds cool," she said, thinking about it... more importantly, thinking about where it might go. "You should totally let me know if you ever find one." She hadn't been out exploring the castle a lot, she was waiting to share that experience with her friends, it would be much more fun that way. Her trip to the Forbidden Forest with Harley had certainly been more fun than if she had gone alone. She grinned at Aodhan's enthusiastic response to her mention of that very trip. "If you want to go out there, just do it. It's totally cool, especially if you don't get caught, I bet."

Rory pulled a mock scared face at the threat of Professor Styx giving her detention, before laughing as well. "I'd like to see him try. He'd have to battle his way all the way up Gryffindor tower past all of us before he could get to this," she said, waving the journal. If she had been faced with the professor in question right at that moment, she may not have laughed so hard, but imagining the grumpy stone-faced man fighting off a bunch of children throwing pillows at him was too much for Rory, and she had to wait for a moment to calm herself down. Hiccupping slightly, she smiled. "I'm glad I'm in Gryffindor, we all seem pretty awesome."

 

[Aodhan Kaelen]

Aodhan nodded his head at her remark. A secret passageway did indeed sound cool, and it would definitely be useful for hiding or escaping from teachers such as professor Styx or aunt Libby. But unfortunately his aunt wouldn't give him any information on where he could find one of them, which left him to leave her office with one thought in mind; if she wouldn't tell about them, then they really existed, and that was a clue whether she would like to admit it or not. ''Why don't you help me find them?'' He asked, as it surely would not be an easy task discovering the passageways on his own. Aodhan listened to Rory's advice and nodded his head once more. ''You come across any dangerous creatures while venturing into the forest?'' The Gryffindor asked again, curious to know whether the stories about creatures living inside the forest was real or not.

He smirked at the face his house mate made. ''Do you think he knows the password to the common room?'' He then asked, wondering if the professor could just waltz into the common room and take the journal from her or if he had to talk to professor Kingsley first to get inside. Once the two first years seemed to have calmed down, Aodhan nodded at Rory's statement while breathing in and out slowly because he stomach was beginning to hurt from all the laughter. ''We are awesome.'' He corrected her. ''I'll bet you anything that Gryffindor will win that house cup this year.''

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory straightened up excitedly at Aodhan's offer. "Yeah, I'll totally help you look!" She was really glad she had chosen to come out to the cliffs now. Not only had she made a new friend, she'd already decided, but the possibility of discovering secret passageways alongside that friend had made this the best part of her day. Her enthusiasm didn't dampen, even as she shook her head at Aodhan's next question. "Nothing except a wood pigeon." Rory leaned in a little closer, her interest rising. "Why, are there dangerous creatures in there?" That would explain everything! Why hadn't anyone told her?

She actually shuddered slightly at the thought that Professor Styx might know the password into Gryffindor tower. "I hope not. Well, if I ever see him in there I'll just have to defend my journal to the death." Although the idea hadn't halted her continued laughter completely, Rory finally managed to control herself enough to respond to Aodhan with a nod. "Yeah, Gryffindor's so awesome," she agreed, "that they shouldn't even bother with points - they should just give us the cup automatically." Considering all the potential point-losing side effects to the plans Rory and the girls in her dorm had been making, she couldn't see how her house could gain any other foothold, particularly if all the other Gryffindors were just as willing to break the rules as she was.

 

[Aodhan Kaelen]

Aodhan's smile widened when Rory agreed to help him find the passageways. It was going to cost him a lot of his free time in between classes and in the weekends to find them since he had absolutely no idea where in the castle he could find one of those secrets but knowing that someone would help him out made him feel more confident on ever finding a secret passageway. The Gryffindor smirked when he was asked about the dangerous creatures that were supposedly living inside the forbidden forest and nodded his head. ''You didn't hear about that? People are saying that there's a vampire living in the forest, and that you will only be able to make contact with it at night because it is afraid of the sun.'' Of course it was all just talk but who was he to not believe everything older students told him about the school and its surroundings, they obviously had more experience with the castle and magic than he had.

''If he comes we'll throw everything we can get our hands on at him, that will probably fend him off don't you think?'' he said as he slowly gained control over his laugher. Aodhan was glad that making friends seemed to go much easier than expected, as he was always seen as 'that weird kid in the back of the class' at his muggle school he thought that making friends whilst attending Hogwarts would go just as difficult as before but luckily he was wrong and making friends here was much more easier for him. ''I know right!'' he said when Rory told him that rather than giving the students points they should just give them the cup instead. ''The other houses ain't got nothing on us.'' Aodhan cheered happily.

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory drummed her fingers excitedly on her journal cover, which was now sitting upside down on the ground in front of her in prime spine-breaking position. "An actual vampire? That's so cool!" Even though she was almost certain that it probably wasn't true, she had half a mind to head back into the forest at some point to find out. With a blood bag. Just in case. "No one else I asked knew anything - one of my friends thought it was forbidden so the teachers could have secret parties, or because they were hiding something." Rory laughed, before tipping her head thoughtfully. "Would your aunt tell you if they were?"

"Heck, yeah," she replied in response to Aodhan's plan of defence against Professor Styx, and raised her hand to give him a mock salute. "I hereby draft you into Rory's Brigade. Backing out of the defence of Gryffindor tower and a certain journal will result in dishonour to both you and your family," she joked. Actually, she quite liked the idea of having a brigade, if for no other reason than it was a particularly cool sounding word. Nodding her head to show that she shared Aodhan's enthusiastic house pride, she continued to grin. "Do you think we'll win at Quidditch too? Show them who's boss everywhere we can?" Although if Rory had to pick between the winning the house cup or the Quidditch games, she'd rather it was the latter - Quidditch was much more entertaining.

 

[Aodhan Kaelen]

Although Aodhan wasn't exactly sure whether the vampire living inside the forest was true or just made up to scare as many first years as possible one thing he was sure of: If there really was a vampire in the forbidden forest then he would be visiting the beast soon. He smirked at Rory's remark and nodded his head to imply that what he told her was true, or so he believed. ''I know right!'' the Gryffindor said excitedly and then laughed as the girl told him what a friend of hers thought on what was really happening inside the forest. ''If that's true then I think we're allowed to have parties as well!'' he told the girl beside him while imagining a party just for Gryffindor first years. When his aunt was mentioned he thought about the conversation they had and if she had told him about anything else other than not to go into the forbidden forest because it was too dangerous for him in there. ''I don't think so,'' Aodhan said when he couldn't remember if aunt Libby told him something about parties in the forest. ''She wouldn't even tell me where I could find the secret passgeways.''

Aodhan smiled and nodded his head as she told him he was part of her brigade and put his right hand on his heart. ''I promise that I will protect that journal with my life.'' the Gryffindor said solemnly. So far he was glad that he had met Rory because she seemed really nice and really fun to hang out with. He shrugged at her question. ''I don't know about that, but we will probably defeat the other houses anyway.'' Aodhan told her with a smirk on his face.

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory nodded her head excitedly. "Yes, we should totally have parties! One of those glow-stick ones would be really cool when it's dark!" Realising the flaw in her plan, she hurriedly continued, "Although, we'd have to go really far in so they wouldn't see the lights. You'd have to do a scouting mission beforehand to test it out." She would be up for doing that actually. Maybe she'd mention the idea to the rest of her friends and see what they thought. As Aodhan talked about his aunt, Rory made a face, although she was unsurprised by the professor's behaviour. "She might not know where they are. Maybe no one does. We could be the first to discover them!" If that were true, it just made her want to look for the secret passages even more.

She was pleased to see that Aodhan was going along with her brigade idea. "Great. As the first member, you can be my second in-command." Nodding her head once in affirmation, Rory decided that the brigade had just become a real thing. As real as her imagination could make it anyway. And the fact that Aodhan hadn't told her it was a dumb idea made her pleased, because that meant that hanging around with him was going to continue being as awesome as it was now. Boring people held no interest for her - luckily she hadn't seemed to have met anyone like that yet. Nodding her head again at Aodhan's statement about Gryffindor winning, she grinned. "You bet we will."

 

[Aodhan Kaelen]

Aodhan smiled, throwing a party would be a great way to meet the other Gryffindors and make more friends, friends that could help him and Aurora with finding the passageways hidden inside the castle. He nodded in agreement when she said that you would have to do a scouting mission first to make sure that it was safe for them to have glow-stick party. If scouting the forest would mean that they could have a part without being noticed by a patrolling professor then Aodhan was up for doing it. At Aurora's next comment the Gryffindor shook his head. "No, I'm sure that she does know about them. I think that she doesn't want me use them while walking around at night." If he could escape from professors by using them then yes, he would probably use them during his adventures otherwise he would just use them as shortcuts to classes or play hide and seek in them with his friends.

He saluted when Aurora told him that he was her second in-command and smiled brightly. "It would be my pleasure, general." Aodhan said formally. He was excited to have Rory as a friend because she seemed to be really cool so far. After saluting the Gryffindor looked down at the letter on the ground. He had completely forgotten about writing his uncle because of Aurora. He looked back up at his friend and said, "Besides from protecting the journal, what else does the brigade do?" Aodhan asked wondering what kind of stuff they were going to do while their main objective was safe from evil hands.

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory felt momentarily disappointed that it seemed they wouldn't be the first to discover the locations of any secret passages, but the feeling quickly passed and instead she just shrugged at Aodhan, grinning. "Well, too bad for your aunt when we end up finding them by ourselves anyway." At this point she was convinced that once they started looking for the secret passages, there was no way they wouldn't eventually find them. And even if - worst case scenario - they never did, it would still be fun just to look for them. Weeks ago Rory would have been horrified to think that she might one day actually enjoy spending time at school, but now she was almost thankful that she would be here for a whole seven years - there was going to be so much to do.

She grinned at Aodhan's salute. "Good to hear it." What was a second-in-command to a general actually called? She'd probably have to find out. Later. Tipping her head to the side, Rory pondered his question. "Well, we should probably add general missions like discovering secret passageways, and forest scouting missions - you know, the stuff before the fun stuff." She smirked. "That's in times of peace." Looking out over the edge of the cliff for a moment, she considered some more. "And in times of war, defending other Gryffindors, and any of their own journal-similar possessions." Rory might be the general of this made-up brigade, but she definitely didn't consider herself to be more important than anyone else. Looking back at Aodhan, she was about to ask him what he thought the brigade should do, when she suddenly took notice of the blank parchment in front of him again. "Weren't you supposed to be writing a letter? If you forget about it, would your uncle consider that an act of war?" The brigade might be needed sooner than she had thought.

 

[Aodhan Kaelen]

Aodhan put his hand down and smiled. He was happy to have made friends like Andi and Aurora because they seemed to be into fun stuff just as much as he was. The boy nodded his head excitedly when Aurora gave him an idea of what the brigade would be doing when not protecting the girl's journal from professor stoneface. ''We should also add missions like exploring more of the castle, because I want to know it all.'' the Gryffindor suggested, hoping that his friend would agree with him as it was no fun doing that alone, specially in the middle of the night. ''Only Gryffindors, right?'' Aodhan asked, he liked the idea of the brigade but if he was to defend students from other houses as well he would object. Aodhan nodded again, ''He probably would, yes.'' he said, remembering what his uncle had told him before the train left the station. ''I should get back to writing then.'' he told her, even though he'd much rather talk to his new friend.

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory felt like she was grinning a lot, but she couldn't help it. Pleased with Aodhan's suggestion, she nodded. "I like it. Mission number three it is." They were going to be living here for seven years, so it only made sense to know the place inside and out. From what she'd seen of the castle so far, there were sure to be some amazing things hidden away from the more majorly used areas of the school. Just thinking about it made her want to get up and start looking right now. But she remained sitting, smiling at Aodhan's unnecessary check of the brigade's loyalties. "Of course! We definitely can't trust anyone from the other houses to honour the importance of our missions." Laughing, she considered the blank parchment in front of her friend again for a moment, before deciding that, if she really was going to give this brigade thing a go, she should leave Aodhan in peace, even though she didn't really want to. Although, she hadn't written in her journal yet, either, which is what she had come out here to do. That decided her, and she stood up, brushing some grass from her robes. "I'd better leave you to it then. But I'll definitely see you soon." Smirking, she gave him another salute. "As you were."