Mysterious Places

[Cairo Savage]

Exploring the castle alone was too far out of Cairo's comfort zone than he wanted to admit, but it was necessary. As he grew older his classes became more difficult and as did the task of getting between each of them on time. The Slytherin boy had many pet peeves, and being late just happened to be high on his list so that was the reason he ventured unwillingly from the safety of reading in his dorm room, to trailing the stone hallways of the castle in search of secret passageways to make trekking from one class to another less exhausting. Through reading, the platinum blonde boy knew the passageways existed behind large, and sometimes obnoxious talking portraits. He also knew they required passwords, and that sometimes the portrait required a task for him to earn the password. In a way he was prepared for a wild goose chase and to have his work cut out for him but what he wasn't prepared for was walking around in circles like a chicken with it's head cut off. Because while he did know about the passageways and the portraits that concealed them, he didn't know where he could have found them.

So Cairo continuously lead himself into one dead end after another as he inspected each and every painting, following the school corridors without a proper sense of direction or an idea to where even one of the paintings would be. It was all he could have done as he only knew the portraits in theory and he had never seen an image of what they looked like. There was a big chance he could have missed a portrait because they might appear completely different in real life to how they appeared in his imagination and that thought caused Cairo to frown as he continued walking aimlessly.​

 

[Hilton Tiwari]

Hilton often found herself in her common room because there was so much she needed to prepare for the upcoming year. Her two previous years at Hogwarts New Zealand had been uneventful and, ultimately, wasted. She needed to prove to her father that she could do this magic thing. Hilton rarely left her house, unless she needed to get something. She was particularly hungry, so she was going to go to the Kitchens. The Hufflepuff despised the house elves, as she believed their ugliness was an ill omen. But, she was willing to put her luck at risk if it meant they could make her a taste of home. It had only been a week or so since the students had filled the school's hallways, but Hilton already missed home. Jatin threw a tantrum when she had to leave for school. She had practically raised the younger boy, so it was as if their mother was leaving all over again for him.

Hilton shook the thought out of her head because they were only going to make her sad and regret coming to Hogwarts for another year. The girl looked up from her feet and saw a boy frowning and dragging himself through the corridor. Seeing people like this never sat well with Hilton. So, of course, she strolled over to the boy, standing maybe a bit too close. "Are you okay? Do you need help with anything? I was just walking and saw you didn't look so good. Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing?" she asked earnestly. She did not just worry about family, but she worried about her peers too.

 

[Cairo Savage]

The portrait passageway search seemed to be furthermore pointless by the minute and Cairo's frown only deepened at that realization. This was time wasted, spent searching for useless portraits instead of studying for the classes he wanted to pass and it was bothering him every minute he spent skulking around the corridor. He eventually stopped and leaned against a wall, running a hand through his platinum blonde hair and sighing in frustration and the lack of productivity that afternoon. He may as well have spent it sleeping because at least if he slept he wouldn't feel as grumpy and lethargic.

As someone approached him, speaking to him in a kind and concerned tone and standing too close to him for comfort Cairo nearly shouted at them. Socializing was the last thing he wanted when he already felt pressure to do well in school and be the upstanding kid everyone knew he wasn't. He turned to look at the person, noting their appearance and smile. He didn't want to respond to them but he thought about the situation logically, deciding that he may as well speak to them and tolerate their intrusive presence simply for the practice. "I'm fine, thanks. No need for the hospital wing." Cairo said. In the future he knew he would need to deal with more idiots than the entire school combined so he may as well begin tolerating them early on and see where it would take him. After failing to search for the portraits he was determined to at least do something productive that afternoon. "Who are you?" He then asked the girl to keep the conversation going.
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