Open Time and Space

[Ivy Ashworth]

Open after Charlie posts as Flynn

Ivy had gotten up bright and early for this first school day, and had quickly done her hair and put on her uniform before heading to the Gryffindor table for breakfast. Schedules were being passed around, and once Ivy received hers, her breakfast was quickly forgotten. Out of her bag came a planner, a roll of parchment, a vial of ink and several quills. Ivy pushed a few dishes out of the way to make room for it all, taking up more space than anyone else at the table seemed to. But this was important. Now that she knew her classes, Ivy could start planning her semester. She started writing in her brand new planner, neatly writing down what time she would have what class, and how she would divide her homework time after classes as well. She had Transfiguration this semester, which meant she needed to set time to practice the spells as well as write any essays that might be necessary. And History usually required a lot of reading, she definitely needed to put time aside for that as well. Smiling to herself, Ivy worked on filling up her planner, feeling accomplished already. She used different colors of ink for different subjects, and the end result was pretty neat. Ivy was ready to make the most of this semester. She was going to show everyone what she could accomplish. After filling in as much as she could in her planner, Ivy dove back into her bag to make sure she had taken all the textbooks she would need for today. She piled them up on the table, then opened one. It wouldn't hurt to get a head start and read ahead a little bit while she still had some time.

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

Moving and getting around was just a right pain in the arse these days. It took him two times longer to actually get up and down all the stairs and it was at this point he almost wished he was in Slytherin or Hufflepuff just so he could live on the lower floors and not have to walk down seven flights of stairs just to get to breakfast. Flynn was already sick and tired of it and it was only his first morning back. Huffing with effort as he finally maneuvered himself into an empty seat at the Gryffindor table, the twelve-year-old wasted no time in piling his plate with some pancakes and absolutely smothering them with syrup. He was in a bad mood already and wanted some good food. And his mood was worsened somewhat as he glanced up to find that he was sitting opposite a girl he did not happen to get along with. It seemed as though she hadn't noticed him there yet, so Flynn made the most of the opportunity to scowl at her from across the table as she worked. But after a while of being absolutely ignored he just had to say something. "Nerd," he spoke up, though quickly covered it up with a cough as he shoved a forkful of pancakes into his mouth.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy was just getting started on the first chapter of her brand new History of Magic book when she heard a familiar voice speak up, even if it was quiet. She frowned and looked up, not surprised to see Flynn there even though she had been too busy to notice him arriving. She had no fondness for the boy, and it seemed like he felt the same way. Ivy hadn't gone out of her way to avoid him, but she hadn't sought him out either. And even from a distance she had noticed something seemed off with him, not that she cared. "Sorry, what was that? I don't speak idiot." She snapped at him.

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

"Didn't say anything," he was quick to lie through a mouthful of food, simply giving the big-headed girl a sickly sweet smile as he chewed what was in his mouth. Of course, he was going to happily take the opportunity to annoy her, it might actually make him feel a little better. It was only after he swallowed and was working and cutting his next mouthful did he snort just a little at the accusation she apparently didn't speak idiot. "Really?" He feigned a mock look of surprise, looking up from his plate to glance at her from across the table, "Because you seem to speak it perfectly."

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy rolled her eyes when Flynn claimed not to have said anything. Even though he had been mumbling, it had been clear enough. Ivy didn't get what his deal was. He was so annoying. Ivy was determined to ignore him and looked back at her page, but her determination only lasted a few seconds, as she couldn't ignore him when he started speaking again. She closed her book with an angry snap and glared at him. "What is your problem? Are you jealous I'm actually accomplishing something at Hogwarts? Is that why you're so bitter?" She asked him.

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

He did have to laugh out loud, rather loudly in fact, at the insinuation that he might actually be jealous of her for something. As far as Flynn was concerned, she was just some annoying big-head who thought she was better than everyone else. Absolutely nothing to be jealous of there. "And what exactly are you supposed to be accomplishing that I should be jealous of?" There wasn't anything special about her, and he decided to even tell her this fact, "You're nothing special. Got absolutely no reason to be jealous of you." The only thing she had that he might be jealous of was two functional feet, but he didn't really want to get into that line of thought right now so decided not to mention it.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy kind of hoped that her words would shut Flynn up, but so far that seemed to be an impossible task. She scowled as he laughed at her, laughed right in her face. He really was the worst. Ivy huffed at him in annoyance. "Maybe my superior grades." She snapped at him. "Or the fact that I'm actually good at magic and don't get in trouble." Truthfully, she had no idea what Flynn was capable of. She just had to assume she was better than him, she certainly studied and practiced more. "That I have actually worthwhile things to do with my time rather than feel cool for trying to fly around like an idiot." She told him. It had been clear to her that the flying lessons were the lessons Flynn had enjoyed, when to Ivy they were clearly the least interesting ones. She was glad to be done with them. "I assume you're going to try to be on the Quidditch team?" She asked him, making it clear in her tone of voice how much of a waste of time she found that. "How original."

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

Shoving another forkful of pancakes in his mouth, Flynn couldn't help but roll his eyes as she brought up her grades as if those were anything he should be jealous of. So he took his time in chewing through his food, carefully swallowing before finally responding, "Yeah, my 5.9 GPA last year is weeping I'm sure." Though he had been rather surprised by his end grades, expecting to fail way more classes. In the end, he had almost gotten straight O's, just one E staining his record in Transfiguration. "And I like trouble, so why would I be jealous of you avoiding it?" If he cared that much about not getting into trouble, then he probably wouldn't cause trouble as much as he did. But then his jaw tensed, knuckles turning white around his fork as she brought up flying and Quidditch. Instantly he felt an anger bubbling away inside of him, eyes narrowing almost into slits as he stopped cutting up his next mouthful of food. "And what if I said I wasn't trying out? What then, huh?" Though it hurt to even say that, the dreams of making the team seemed ever so hopeless these days.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy's eyes widened as Flynn told her her GPA, and she inwardly winced at this news. That was not what she had expected, at all. With her own low grade for flying, her own GPA was lower than Flynn's. Unless he was lying, which he had to be. She hadn't seen him work nearly as hard as she had, so why would he be doing almost as well as she did? It was clear to her that flying didn't really count, but it still frustrated her. "No one likes trouble." She snapped, responding to that instead rather than the GPA. "That's stupid, idiotic. Why would you want detention or to lose points?" She asked him, sure he was just saying things and didn't mean it. The reaction he had to her bringing up the Quidditch team surprised her, but she didn't look away. She narrowed her eyes in return, then considered his next words. They surprised her, he had really seemed like the type to try out. "Then I would say you're doing something smart for once, as you'd have time for actually useful things." She said pointedly.

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

Flynn really couldn't help the slight smirk on his face as she watched her expression change. It was quite clear he had surprised her with the news of how high his GPA last year had been. Which was understandable, it had surprised even him and he had been expecting to almost fail all of his classes because he didn't care. "Just because you don't like getting into trouble doesn't mean that other people don't mind it," he did have to point out with a shrug. And yeah, while he was sure no actually liked detention that wasn' going to stop people from getting out there and causing mischief as soon as they were out the door again. "And house points are important," he did have to add his own opinion on that matter. He didn't care about them and he never would. "Smart," he repeated, sounding incredibly bitter as he pushed the rest of his pancakes around his plate with his fork, "Just because you don't like something doesn't mean not doing it is smart."

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy sighed as Flynn tried to argue that getting into trouble was something anyone would want. "Detention, losing points, being a disappointment... why would anyone want that?" Ivy asked him, frowning. "My parents would kill me if they heard I had gotten into trouble with a professor. I would hate to disappoint them that much." She added, wincing at the mere idea of her father's reaction to Ivy getting detention. She hadn't seen him angry with her often, but she hated it when he was. "Of course house points are important! It shows that we're the best house, that we're winning." Ivy said, incredulous. She didn't get why he was being so weird about Quidditch. "No, but Quidditch is a waste of time. The only reason its useful at all is because the winning team wins house points, which I personally believe is ridiculous. House points should be for being a good student, a good witch or wizards. Not because you captured a golden ball in front of an audience." She said, rolling her eyes. "It's just a waste of effort. It would be much smarter to spend that time practicing spells or studying. That's not my opinion, it's a fact."

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

The problem with being a disappointment was that you generally needed someone to be disappointed in you. Flynn didn't have that. While sure, the matrons back at the orphanage were generally less than impressed with him, the problem was that Flynn didn't exactly care about them or any of their disappointment. "Yeah well, I don't have to worry about that," he simply offered with a plain shrug of his shoulders. He could do anything he wanted and there were no parents back at home to disappoint. But then the reverse was that there also wasn't ever anyone to be proud of him. And the argument about house points just made him roll his eyes, "They really aren't that big of a deal. Winning some stupid cup at the end of the year hardly matters." It was needless to say that he was not exactly filled with any house pride and he doubted that was going to change. And he didn't even think the houses were that important, either, but didn't really want to get into that argument right now. "People can make careers out of Quidditch, you know. So how can you say that it's a waste of effort? If you get good enough you can have your whole future set. And studying is not that important in the end, not everything in the world revolves around grades and studying."

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy snorted at Flynn's words. "Right, you probably didn't set the bar very high before Hogwarts." She said, guessing that his parents probably didn't expect much from him. A part of her wondered if that wouldn't be easier, she would have more time for exploring the castle if she didn't have to keep her grades perfect. But it seemed like Flynn had time for that despite being a troublemaker, so what did she really know? It was starting to be a frustrating conversation. "It does matter." She snapped when he talked about the cup. "It is important to strive for perfection, and the house cup helps us focus and helps us be the best witches and wizards we can be." She told him. As he went on about Quidditch, Ivy simply shook her head. "Yes, a few people play professionally. But it's only a small percentage." She said. "And even if you play professionally you only really play for a few years until you're probably injured in some way or simply too old. And then what?" Ivy shook her head. "I know the world doesn't revolve around grades and studying, it revolves about magic and being good at it. And you can prove you're good at it by getting good grades and studying." She told him. "Being good at magic and knowing a lot about the magical world and how magic works makes you a better witch or wizard."

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

"No, I just don't have anyone to disappoint," he snapped back with a small huff. She probably didn't know that he was an orphan. Why would she know? It was not like they were friends, and he was pretty sure he hadn't even told that many people about his home life. As in he didn't really have a home. Not a proper one, anyway, just an orphanage which was never going to be home and different foster homes over the years before he was sent back. "You sound like the poster girl for Ravenclaw or something," he snorted, unable to stop himself from wrinkling his nose. If she had this mindset, it was curious why the hat thought she was a better Gryffindor than she was a Ravenclaw. "But you clearly don't know anything about professional Quidditch if you think that's how it works," but that wasn't surprising as she clearly thought that Quidditch was a waste of time. "And no, it's not about being good at magic, plenty of people are successful without being that good at it. Or did you just happen to forget that there are other career options out there that don't involve you to be some magic master or something? Magic isn't everything, you know. You should spend your life doing something you enjoy doing, not just wasting it like you appear to be doing."

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy's dismissive comment had felt clever as she said it, but as Finn replied to her she felt cold. Oh. Did he mean-? Well, of course he did. What else could that mean? Ivy blinked at him for a moment, then stammered. "Oh, I.. I'm sorry." She said, feeling her cheeks heat up. She had no idea what she would do if she didn't have her dad, or even her mother though she was less close to her. The thought made her incredibly sad, and looking at Flynn now she realized that she felt sorry for him. But that didn't mean he was right, and she had to stick to her morals. "I'm not a Ravenclaw. I just know what's important." She told him. As he told her about magic, Ivy frowned. She didn't get what he was saying. "The other career options are for those who can't make it to the important jobs." She told him slowly, as if that was obvious. "To be truly successful you have to be the strongest witch or wizard you can be, or what's the point of being one?" She said, remembering the times her father had said that. She knew that he never liked that Ivy wasn't a full witch, that she was part Veela like her mother. The resentment between her parents had always been obvious to Ivy, and she knew her father was disappointed in her every time she reminded him of her mother. So Ivy strove to be the best witch she could be, so no one could doubt she was a real witch. But clearly Flynn didn't understand that. "I'm not wasting my life, I'm working to be the best I can be." She said softly.

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

"Stop," he was quick to butt in, pointing the fork he was holding at the time right at her the moment he got the sense she was thinking about apologizing or feeling sorry for him about the fact he was parentless, "The last thing I want is any sort of apology from you. So just stop." And he doubted that she actually meant it, anyway. She clearly didn't know what it was like, not many people did and he didn't really want people feeling sorry for him about it. Them feeling sorry for no reason wasn't going to change anything, it wasn't going to bring his parents back or make him feel any better. "That's just... no. That's wrong you have to know that. Every job out there is important, without people working in the shops or serving food then where would the world be? And even in those big jobs, you don't have to be perfect at magic and the best in the world. I very much doubt the Minister of Magic was elected because of their magical prowess." It would have been because of her views and how she promised to change things in the world. But he didn't know why he was bothering, he doubted she was ever going to agree with him, just so caught up on the idea that she needed to be perfect at everything and spend her whole life studying. "You should just focus more on what makes you happy, not what makes you more powerful," was what he finally offered with a small shrug before shoving another forkful of pancakes in his mouth.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy sighed as Flynn told her to stop. With how their interactions had gone so far, she guessed she couldn't blame him for not wanting her apology. But what else was she supposed to say? She felt awful for him, but there was no way to make that clear to him without giving another apology. She just nodded quietly to show him she understood. But then frowned as he said she was wrong. Ivy rolled her eyes when he said the Minister of Magic wasn't elected because of their magical prowess. "That's clearly a factor." She told him like it was obvious. "The minister is often a high ranking person in the Ministry or another powerful witch or wizard. Clearly magic has something to do with that." She told him. "It's not like they'd elect someone weak." She didn't understand his point. "To be competent as Minister of MAGIC you have to be good at magic." She told him. "It's the most important thing you can do as a witch or wizard, it's a waste of your magic if you don't use it to your full potential." She said. "Being powerful and smart is what makes me happy." She told him, tilting up her chin. "Because I know what is important." She then started to gather her things, feeling the urge to leave. "Now if you'll excuse me, I was trying to study." She snapped at him.

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

At least she didn't try and apologize again or say something else incredibly stupid which would no doubt grind on his nerves and make him hate her even more (if that were actually possible). She just left it at that, and Flynn was honestly perfectly fine with that. But that still didn't stop him from being annoyed at himself that he had gone and told her he was an orphan in the first place. It was not really information he liked spreading, people always tended to look at him differently after he admitted it. More than they now already did when they realized he only had one foot. "No, I'm pretty sure they elect someone on if they're likable and if they have good policies and ideas. Their job doesn't actually really involve doing any magic, you just have to understand the community and have ideas about how to change and improve it. For all we know, the Minister could be completely useless at magic," not really likely, but it could be possible. "No one is wasting magic just because we don't spend all of our time studying," there were far more interesting things to be doing. "And you sure it's not just what makes your parents happy instead of you?" He could imagine it, he couldn't think this girl came from a household where grades didn't matter. "Fine," he simply huffed, cutting himself another bit of pancake to chew on as she made signs she was going to leave, "You won't be missed, trust me."

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy sighed as Flynn continued to argue with her on the Minister thing. Of course he wasn't entirely wrong, but he seemed unwilling to admit that Ivy wasn't entirely wrong either. She scoffed when he said the Minister could be completely useless at magic. "No she's not." Ivy said with an air of superiority. "My father said she used to work at the Ministry already before being elected, so she had to have had good grades." She said. "Keep telling yourself that." She said when Flynn argued no one was wasting magic. "We should use our gifts as much as we can." She said, repeating what her father had often told her. She knew he had been relieved she had been born a witch, and had always encouraged her to rely on that side of her magic, rather than her part-veela side. At least, that was what she had heard her parents argue about a few times. Ivy hardly knew what her part-veela background could even mean for her, but she didn't care. If her dad didn't like it, it had to be bad. He just wanted her to be the best witch, so she would be. "I don't care what you think of me." She told him as she stuffed her things in her bag. "You're insignificant." With that, she turned around with her nose in the air, and stormed off.

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

She really was a lost case going on and on about how they should always be working to the best and it was a waste of magical ability if you didn't work to be better. And Flynn still didn't care in the slightest what she thought about it, she was still horribly wrong about everything in his books and he couldn't wait for the day that would all become clear to her. Maybe she would even owe him an apology one day. A nice thought to have in his head. "Just because she worked in the Ministry beforehand doesn't mean she is amazing at everything magical or had perfect grades. Even people in the Ministry aren't going to be the best at absolutely everything. There are different departments, different specialties," no one could be amazing and perfect at everything, "And besides, there is probably a janitor at the Ministry and cleaners or something. You saying they must have had great grades as well?" Unlikely, if they ended up as a janitor. And that wasn't even counting the departments that had nothing to do with even performing magic. He doubted the people who regulated wands and licenses had any magical prowess to speak of. But he supposed it still didn't matter, it was clear she wasn't going to listen to him and he simply scoffed as she called him insignificant. "Pot calling the kettle black," was all he offered in return before she turned on her heel and stormed off. And good riddance. Flynn hoped she ended up tripping down the stairs.