The Theory of Anything

[Frankie Tillington]

The problem with some of her ideas, Frankie thought as she struggled with her latest task, was that once she had the idea - and decided that it was possible to carry out - there was no stopping her. Theoretically, she should be able to lift this heavy portrait off the wall, therefore, that was what she was currently engaged in doing. Or trying to do, anyway. The whole situation had come about due to a conversation she'd had with the portrait's occupant last week. Frankie had been having a great time, chatting away, until the portrait suddenly let slip that it was situated in front of a secret passage. At least, that's what Frankie had thought he had meant, even if the actual words were a bit vague and cryptic. But that was the whole point, wasn't it? Vaguery and crypticness - how else would you let people know about a hidden passage without actually telling them? The portrait had been quick to deny all this and try to distract her, of course, but Frankie wasn't quite convinced. After staking out the portrait every time she happened to be walking down the corridor on her way through the castle, she had discovered there was a certain time of day the occupant always seemed to be absent - and today, Frankie had taken her chance. If there really was a secret passageway behind the picture, all she had to do was move it and find out. It was just turning out to be a lot harder than she had realised, was all. The portrait was easily twice her size, and trying to manoeuvre it off whatever hook it happened to be hanging on (if it even was hanging on a hook, she couldn't see behind it enough to tell) wasn't something that was turning out to be very easy for her to do.

 

[Xavier Mackintosh]

This semester had been full of exploring, not so much for entertainment as for knowing the castle so that he would not be lost anymore in the next phase of his first year after the holidays, so Xavier was glad that he had an excellent memory. At least, now he could focus on getting things done, right now his goal was to read for exams that were coming up and were around the corner. Xavier also needed to send an owl to his family, and talk to his cousins, although he had to find them first...there were way too many things on his mind right now, but he needed to focus and get one thing done at a time. Otherwise he would never finish them. Normally, the Hufflepuff did not get distracted this easily, but what he saw when he reached the third floor on his way to the fourth, to the common room, was absolutely extraordinary.

He glanced around him, a little uneasy. Was the girl allowed to do that? He didn't see anyone stopping her, though the boy was still hesitant. What if a professor saw them? Prefects, he could deal with (kind of, his cousin had experience with the position). So on second thought, forgetting in the moment what he was originally going to do and where he was going, he sidetracked and instead went over to the girl in his year. "Um. Hi," he said to make his presence known. Then he raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me for interrupting...whatever it is you're doing, but I am pretty sure you are not supposed to do that." Xavier was bewildered. Surely, if the girl had some sense, she would leave the poor portrait alone? It was absurd. Did people do things this weird here? He hoped not. Call him boring, but Xavier wasn't one to break rules and this didn't seem like something adults approved of. Xavier wouldn't want the girl to hurt herself, either.​

 

[Frankie Tillington]

In theory, moving the portrait to see if there was a secret passage behind it was easy - in reality, it was decidedly not so. Frankie usually liked to pay attention to her surroundings, but the task at hand meant that she was momentarily surprised to discover someone taking an interest in what she was doing. She paused only long enough to examine the person that had addressed her before turning back to the painting. "No, probably not," she agreed with a grin, not the smallest bit deterred from her task by the boy's words. "Here, give me a hand would you?" Frankie was relatively tall for her age, but her skinny arms didn't reach across the width of the frame at all, meaning she was currently trying to lift it off the wall from first one side and then the other - which really wasn't working at all. Standing to one side, she grasped the frame with one hand and indicated to the boy with the other that he should take hold of the free side. "The dude in this painting, he said there was a secret passage behind the frame. Okay, he didn't come right out and say it but, how will I know for sure if I don't look?" Frankie grinned again, thinking her explanation sounded pretty reasonable.

 

[Xavier Mackintosh]

Xavier only felt this much more alaramed when the girl responded with a grin, giving the hufflepuff the feeling that she was one of those people who didn't care for the rules. This was not good. What if someone saw them? His year, he could deal with. But much older students... Xavier was only more surprised when she asked him to help her. She wanted him, a - well not exactly stranger, but close enough - to aid her with her task of removing the portrait from its position. Why didn't the portrait have any say in this? But what was worse, getting caught or the girl hurting herself? Xavier really didn't have many options here and there weren't many around, hopefully. He sighed but stepped to the other side of the portrait. "Okay fine, I'll help," he said, still hesitant about this whole thing. Especially because the girl wanted to find a secret passage. Xavier opened his mouth and then closed it again, unsure of what to say. "Um." He furrowed his eyebrows. "I mean looking isn't so bad, but you could have asked the portrait before removing him off the wall. What if there isn't anything and we're just wasting time? Maybe there are other, more exciting secret passages somewhere else."​