Perfection

[Amelia Saltzman]

The early morning sun was shining brightly above the castle, lining each corridor along the North side with slanted squares of light. Amelia dodged each one, not feeling the hyper cheer that was gripping the rest of the student population. It was the first sunny day since she had been here, which Amelia had mixed feelings towards. In her normal world, Amelia revelled in and was energised by sunny weather. She would be out soaking up the Vitamin D any chance she got. But, the driving rain and occasional rolls of thunder had given the first year an excuse to hide away in a quiet corner of the Gryffindor common room and basically wallow in self pity. She had already missed a week of gymnastics, three ballet lessons, and the Grade 4 piano exam. All because she was stuck in a school for wizards. Wizards who just didn't understand her lack of enthusiasm for magic. As Amelia dodged each patch of light, she leaped further and higher, stretching out her stiff muscles, flying down the corridors and taking the stairs two at a time as she climbed deeper into the castle. Since she hadn't been avidly exploring every inch of the castle like her fellow first years, Amelia had no idea where she was or where she was going. It was breakfast time and the upper floors of the castle were mostly empty save a few ghosts and older students, so Amelia was free to twirl and leap all she liked unnoticed. She had made a quick trip to the Great Hall and taken a couple of crossaints and a banana from the Gryffindor table, which were now tucked away in her shoulder bag along with her ballet slippers. She needed a nice quiet place.

Coming to a halt at the top of a flight of spiral stairs, Amelia realised she had climbed as high as the castle allowed. In front of her was a heavy wooden door, which Amelia gingerly pushed open, almost expecting a rush of green flames or some other crazy magical phenomenon to burst out and engulf her. Instead, Amelia blinked as blinding sunlight and the sound of birdsong greeted her. Stepping out, she realised she was on top of one of the highest towers of the castle, so high it took her breath away. Shrugging off her shoulder bag and setting it down against the wall, she gracefully sat down crosslegged to pull on her slippers and secure the ribbons around her tiny ankles. Her wand, which she had quickly stuffed inside the bag this morning, tumbled out onto the ground. She had not yet used it, and it was starting to weigh on her mind. Magic. What if she couldn't even perform a spell like the rest of her classmates. Pushing the worries out of her mind, the little Gryffindor focused on more important matters. I may be at a crazy magic school, Amelia thought determinedly, but I can still be top of the game. The thought pulsed inside of her as she stretched briefly, before beginning her routine on the warmed stone of the tower, throwing in a few wild cartwheels and flips. For the first time since being at the castle, Amelia was at ease. She felt strong. She felt perfect.

 

[Tybalt Archer]

Remembering the days as a first year was easy when the youngest members of the school had just arrived, and were freshly sorted. Tybalt remembered those days easily, it was a new and different school where no one knew him, and not everyone was out to pick on him. As he awoke on those first few days upon returning to Hogwarts as a now third year, he was briefly blinded as the sun shone in through the windows of the dorm room. It was pretty bright, he wasn't quite used to it but, it still felt good. For his eyes, it was just really overly bright, but the light warmth that the sun provided felt good against his skin. One thing that Ty knew he'd never get used to was the slightly wetter and colder weather that New Zealand had to offer rather than back in his home where the sun shone most of the year. It was something he was becoming a little more adjusted to, but he didn't enjoy it. The monochromatic Gryffindor loved the sun, and the warmth even though he couldn't see very well in it, and it hurt his eyes if he was out too long, without sunglasses more so. It was why, it was odd for this Gryffindor to not have rushed outside to enjoy the bright sunshine knowing full well it might not be there the next day. Instead, he had lazily done everything that morning. Getting up and out of bed slowly. Sitting up and letting his eyes adjust to the room. Placing on the new glasses he'd discovered he loved. Almost more than he loved wearing contacts. To mask the faults in his eye sight. He had run a hand through his hair, messing it up more, and tugging out the knots that he found. Grimacing as he found many, perhaps, he mused that it was time to cut his hair. He got out of the bed, and slowly made his way to shower. Grabbing the clothes he'd need before heading in. He had stopped really caring if they actually matched. Finding it was easier to just not bother. He had a valid excuse for why he'd get it wrong. There was no need for him to pretend, or put more effort in. After a long shower, Ty got dressed and headed back into the Dormitory, smiling as he found the entire dorm was filled with the bright sunshine of the slowly passing day. Skipping over to his bed, the young Gryffindor switched his glasses for the contact lenses, and pulled on his slightly too large for him Gryffindor hoody. It fitted him a lot better now than when he'd first got it, but this wasn't really saying much. Ty was a little taller than he had been, just not as much taller as he'd want.

With no real purpose to his day, Ty left the dorm room, without having brushed the messy morning hair he still had. Instead he somewhat waltzed his way out of the common room, and then just walked. In no real direction with no real point. The school was beautiful in the day light sun, even though his eyesight made what he saw limited. An old castle with large and small windows of stain glass, and normal glass, the bright blue eyes of the boy dancing from painting to window to painting smiling as he walked. The sun illuminated the castle in a way that made Tybalt feel like he was in an old medieval castle in the 12th or 13th century. That he should be wearing a long flowing cloak all the time and instead of a wand in his pocket, a sword. It had been a surprise to find out that this Hogwarts Castle had been built more recently than the medieval feel it gave off. However, it was no matter of concern for the young Gryffindor who was happy enough pretending that it was. That he was Tybalt from the Shakespeare play his name was from, or pretending that he was the great King Arthur, and his friends were knights of the round table. Although he knew now, that the great Arthurian legend was much more real to the people of the magical world than the muggle world, considering Merlin and all that man had done for the magical world. The smartest, and most powerful wizard to have ever walked the earth. Tybalt's imagination got lost in itself on days like this. He didn't even realise he was walking up stairs until the stairs stopped, and expecting another, he'd tripped and stumbled ungracefully to the ground. Ty couldn't help but laugh at himself as he pulled himself to his feet and glanced around him. The North tower, or just outside it. That's where he had found himself. Well, that was funny, considering that he barely went there because of that massive fear of heights that the boy used to have. Though he'd in part dealt with it, using quidditch. Smiling to himself he decided that he'd go into the room, that he went into so rarely. Opening the door and stepping into the brightly illuminated room, Ty stood blinded for a few seconds, before he adjusted himself and his eyes grew adjusted-ish. There was only so much his monochromatic sight could do. Raising his eyes to block some of the light he noticed the room was not empty, but against one of the walls sat a girl, who looked fairly young throwing the wand up into the air. She looked like a first year, Tybalt wasn't sure if he should stay or if he should leave. "You're good at that" He said, with a small smile on his lips. He took out his own wand and weighed it in his hand, he wouldn't be as good his coordination wasn't the best, and that equalled with his eye sight, he'd break his wand on the first go. "I have the coordination skills of a deer on ice." He gave the girl another small smile, motioning as he spoke to the area beside her, silently asking if it were okay to join her. Since he didn't want to have to physically ask.
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