Tracking Important Information

[Phoebe Holland]

Parchment, Phoebe decided, wasn't the most useful medium of writing things down on. Especially not if you were trying to make a map, and had to use a new sheet for every floor. She was struggling with a stack of sheets, each labeled with a new floor of the castle. Her quill was clenched between her teeth. She paused in her walking and attempted to organize the sheets of parchment in a more manageable way. She studied the one for the Fourth Floor, which was on top because it was the floor she was currently on. She hadn't bothered to mark the library, student lounge or any of the other rooms that were on this floor. No, Phoebe had a much more important goal than trying to understand what the castle was like and where to find certain places. That sort of thing would come later.She was going to track certain things in this castle. She had heard rumors that the suits of armor moved around at night, and she wanted to see if was true. She had also noticed that the portraits and paintings at Hogwarts could visit each other, so she wanted to track them too. See if there were any interesting patterns, and just find out how everything in this school worked.

On the map she had marked all suits of armor she had encountered so far with a little 'x', and the paintings with a square. By each square she had written a small description of what the painting contained. Like "Grumpy older lady with a bird. Didn't talk much." Or "Group of partying monks, pretty drunk." A few of the people in the paintings had been looking at what she had been writing, and some hadn't liked what they had seen. Phoebe thought that was just awesome. The paintings on the walls had opinions! They could argue about them! She needed to study this more! A few people that she had passed had stared at her as she did her thing, but she didn't mind. It wasn't her fault they had never thought of doing something like this.

She had now paused in front of another suit of armor and was trying to hold all her parchment sheets and an ink bottle with one hand so she could write another 'x' with her other hand. Both her hands and face were already covered in ink stains, and Phoebe had made a mental note to just use a muggle pen next time. Just as she had drawn one line of the'x', the quill slipped and fell out of her hand. Her movements in an attempt to catch it disrupted the stack of parchment she was carrying and they also fell out of her arms, landing in a big messy pile on the ground. Phoebe groaned. The only thing she was still holding was the ink, which was a small miracle and a relief. She closed the bottle and picked up the quill, putting it behind her ear without thought of ink stains in her hair or neck. She started picking up the pieces of parchment, slowed down by the fact that she stopped to look at her work so far with every piece she picked up.

 

[Leila Walden]

After spending the afternoon lazing and splashing around the lake with her best friends, Leila was getting hungry. She trudged all the way back up to the Gryffindor common room in soaking wet clothes and quickly had a shower and changed into dry ones. She ran out of the common room and ran all the way down the many stairs until she came to an abrupt stop because of a mess of papers on the floor and a girl trying her hardest to collect them all. Leila immediately bent down and helped the girl pick up some of the stray papers "here you are" she said gathering the ones she had, ready to hand them over to the girl. "What are all these?" she asked as there were a lot of sheets with different diagrams and words on them and Leila wondered what the girl was doing with them all.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe was just contemplating giving up for now and returning with a pen or with Veronica who could help her with this, when an unfamiliar girl approached her and handed her her papers. She smiled at the girl as she took them from her. "Thanks." She said. "I'm just trying to make a map of the castle so I can keep track of the different paintings and suits of armor. You know, to see patterns in movement and just to know where they are." She wondered if this girl would understand, her sisters never seemed to get her when she got like this. She rearranged the pieces of parchment in her arms and took the quill from behind her ear. "But quills aren't very practical for this, are they? I feel like muggles honestly have a point with their pens and pencils, I will definitely use that next time, unless I figure out an easier way to use this." She waved the quill around vaguely, then double checked her parchment to see if she had crossed the nearest suit of armor yet. She smiled, and nodded in a satisfied way. "It's really coming along." She paused. "You're a first year too, aren't you?" She wasn't completely sure, but she looked short even for eleven. If she was any older, Phoebe would be surprised. "You're not in my house, I don't think. I'm a Ravenclaw. You're coming from upstairs and I noticed the only other people that went up further than the fourth floor on our first day to our common rooms were the Gryffindors. So I guess you're a Gryffindor? Unless you were doing something else up there. If you are, do you know my sister? Her name is Rose. She wouldn't be in your year, though, we aren't twins, she's a year above." She realized she was rambling and tried to stop, but she had to ask one more question. "Have you met any interesting paintings yet? They're so funny to talk to, don't you find?" It hadn't occurred to Phoebe that the other girl might not have attempted a conversation, seeing as it was one of the first things Phoebe had wanted to do in this castle. Next on her list was talking to a ghost, but she hadn't managed to hunt one down yet.

 

[Leila Walden]

Leila smiled at the girl as she took the papers from her and explained what she was doing with all the sheets of parchment. She hadn't thought too much about the different paintings and statues that were dotted around the castle. She knew, of course, that the paintings could move and speak to each other but she hadn't paid too much attention to the statues and the fact that they seemed to move. "How far along are you with it?" Leila asked "do you need any help?" she added. It wasn't particularly Leila's cup of tea, recording the different paintings and statues from around the whole of Hogwarts as she barely paid attention to them, but she was always keen to meet new people and to potentially make a new friend in the process.

She giggled when the girl began talking about the quills "they're not the easiest things to use" she agreed "they're a bit of a pain having to carry around both the quill and the ink all the time. It is far better to use just a normal pen sometimes" she chatted "although, I suppose we'll just have to get used to them since we have to use them in lessons and whatnot" she added sadly. "I've tried to practise with them at home before I came here and I still don't think I've got the hang of them. Although, I don't think I've ever got the the ink all over my face" she giggled gesturing to the girl where the ink spots were. She reached out to the girl's face and tried to rub a spot off her cheek but it didn't want to budge. "I think i've probably made that worse" she said, a little sheepishly.

The young Gryffindor girl nodded her head "yeah i'm a Gryffindor first year!" she announced proudly. She was incredibly happy to be in the same house as her older siblings and her best friend. Leila grinned when the girl revealed that she was in Ravenclaw house. It made sense after what she had been doing that day. She could have guessed that the other girl was a Ravenclaw, she seemed very curious and logical which was something that Leila lacked. "I haven't met your sister yet, though I'll be sure to keep an eye out for her now!" she said smiling.

It was so nice for Leila to have found someone else who seemed to like talking and getting to know people as much as she did. She bounced off of the energy that the other girl had and she was so happy that she had bumped into this girl. "I haven't really spoken to any of them yet to be honest" she admitted, she was often too busy talking to Jess most of the time to engage with the portraits. "What about you? Have you met any good ones?" she asked, genuinely interested in what she had been missing out on.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe was surprised by the girl's offer of help. She had already assumed that her interest in what Phoebe was doing would be short-lived and that she would quickly move on. She didn't like it very much when her first impression of someone turned out to be wrong, but in this case it worked to her advantage. "I started at the top floor so I'm pretty far." She told Leila."I was thinking of doing the rest tomorrow but then they might all have changed and that would ruin everything." She sighed, shaking her head at herself. Why did she think of these things? Whenever a question formed in Phoebe's mind, she felt like she had to figure out the answer, no matter how much effort it took. "If you want to help, I'd appreciate it. But you don't have to." She added the last part with a smile. If the other girl just offered to be polite, she wanted to give her a chance to back out.

Phoebe laughed when the girl agreed about quills and tried to remove an ink spot off her face. It was a nice gesture, but not important. "It's fine, it's just ink." She told her. "What's your name, by the way? It might be easier to talk to each other if we know that." She smiled. "My name's Phoebe Holland." She smiled at her. "Could you maybe hold the ink bottle, if you want to help?"

It didn't surprise her that the girl was a Gryffindor. Even if she hadn't deduced it from where the girl had come from, she probably would have guessed it herself. She smiled when the girl asked her about the portraits. "Some, but they mostly seem annoyed to be interrupted. I wonder what it's like for them when we talk to them. Could you imagine a huge face just coming up out of nowhere to ask about your life? I sort of wish I could see how they see us for a moment..." She sighed, trying to imagine it.

 

[Leila Walden]

Leila nodded enthusiastically "I'd love to help you out!" she said excitedly "not sure how much help I would actually be to you though, I might be more of a pain" she giggled "just let me know what you want help with and I'll try my best!" Leila loved helping people and if it meant doing something a little out of her comfort zone then that was completely fine with her. "Like you said, it might have all changed around again tomorrow so it's probably best that we continue today, and we'll get it done twice as fast with two of us!"

She laughed when the girl waved away Leila's attempt at wiping the ink off of her face. "My name is Leila Walden. Nice to meet you Phoebe!" she replied. "Ooh yes, I'll take that" she said eagerly, holding out her hand ready for the ink pot. She listened to Phoebe's thoughts on the portraits and tried to imagine a big head popping out of nowhere and giggled "that would be so weird!" she squealed in agreement. "No wonder they get annoyed when you ask them a question then. But surely they should expect it, being a painting and all?" she suggested.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe really appreciated this girl's enthusiasm and her willingness to help her. If she hadn't already concluded that she had to be from Gryffindor, and if the girl hadn't confirmed it, she might have theorized that she was in Hufflepuff instead. She wondered how good she was at guessing people's houses at first meeting, that would be a fun experiment to do sometime. Maybe next year during sorting she could close her eyes and ears and then afterwards try to see if she got it right. She filed that idea away for later. "Thank you so much, it really is better to do it all today." She told the girl.

The name Leila somehow suited her, and Phoebe nodded with a smile as she handed over her ink. Leila would make a good assistant, though she would have to be more confident. She could sense that Leila was very emphatic because she was concerned about the portrait's feelings about getting questions, but she disagreed. "I don't see why anyone would get annoyed by questions, it is that by asking that people get smarter. If anyone wanted to ask me questions about things I knew about, I bet I would always answer them." She said with conviction as she drew a cross for the next suit of armor. "What do you like to do for fun, Leila?" She asked the girl as she walked over to the next portrait and studied the sleeping old man in it carefully. "Do you think he would wake up if I poked him with my quill? Would he feel it?"

 

[Leila Walden]

Leila pondered what the girl was saying. It was so obvious Phoebe was in Ravenclaw when she spoke about asking questions, Leila would be too concerned about being too annoying if she asked someone too many questions but it was obvious that the Ravenclaw girl didn't mind lots of questions. She shrugged "I don't know some people, or paintings, are grumpy and do not like being spoken to I guess" she explained. "Ooooh for fun?" she said "I like being outside mostly, just exploring and hanging out with my friends, especially Jess. She's my best friend. Jessica Cade? Do you know her? Have you met her yet?" she asked Phoebe "I also just like looking after animals and stuff like that" she finished "What about you?" she asked.

Leila watched as Phoebe walked over to a painting of a sleeping old man and giggled at her suggestion. "I don't know if he'd feel it. It would be funny though wouldn't it? If he could" she replied. "Why don't you try it?"

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe laughed at Leila's talk about grumpy people. "I suppose so." She said, not looking like she cared a lot about people that didn't want to be spoken to. "Some people are just always looking for reasons to be grumpy. There's this girl in my dorm that I think I haven't smile once! She's constantly moping and complaining about things." Phoebe just didn't understand people like that, and honestly she had no patience for them. If they wanted to stay angry at everything they could do that away from Phoebe. She liked Leila with her enthusiasm a lot more. Though she didn't really understand why she seemed to think Phoebe would have met her friend. "No I haven't." She said distractedly. "Should I have?" There were so many first years, and Phoebe was already glad she could name the ones in the dorm with her, she was still working on the boys in Ravenclaw.

Phoebe was glad Leila encouraged her, she smirked mischievously. "Well, with encouragement like that... how can I not?" She wiggled her quill. "For science, let's say." She poked the portrait with the quill and waited a beat. Then another. Nothing seemed to happen. She sighed. "I guess that answers that." She muttered, disappointed.

 

[Leila Walden]

Leila giggled at what Phoebe was saying about grumpy people, "I haven't met that many grumpy people at the moment but my sister can be grumpy early in the mornings" she said laughing. She loved her sister but she was hard to get on with at times, Leila had learned to not talk to her for a while in the morning until she had properly woken up else she would have probably got shouted at. She shook her head at what Phoebe said "I don't know how you could be grumpy all the time, it must be so tiring! It's so nice to be friendly and decent to people don't you think?" she asked her new friend.

The young Gryffindor shrugged when Phoebe asked her about her best friend "you probably haven't met her then, but she's so amazing. You would love her and she would love you!" she said smiling "she's really nice and friendly, i'll introduce the two of you sometime" she offered. Leila loved meeting new people and forging new friendships, especially when her new friends and old friends could all hang out together and have a really good time!

She giggled as Phoebe went to tickle the portrait with her quill and practically jumped up and down on the spot with excitement, she really hoped the portrait would feel the quill and wake up and talk to them. However, the portrait didn't even flinch and Leila frowned "what happened?" she said in shock. "I thought that he would wake up!" Leila put her hands on her hips and looked around the corridor, the only other painting seemed to be a shepherd herding some sheep. She walked over to it and pressed her finger against the painting but nothing happened. "Hellooooooo?" she sang to it, hoping for a reaction.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe laughed at Leila's comment about her sister. She couldn't really relate in that aspect about her own older sister Rose, who never seemed to be grumpy even when she should be. Her younger sister Diana though? Definitely. "I didn't know you had a sister, what's her name?" She asked curiously, filing away all the information in her head. She liked knowing these things about the kids in her year.

Leila's talk about her best friend made her think of her own. "I'd love to meet her someday. It's nice that you made a best friend here already. I did too." She grinned. "Her name's Veronica and she's in my house. She's pretty awesome too, I'd love to introduce you to her as well." She wasn't entirely sure how Veronica would react to Leila's excited chatter, but it would be fun to see anyway.

Phoebe was about to tickle the man in the portrait again when he opened one eye, glaring at the two girls. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said, his voice sounding more awake than it probably would have if he had really been asleep. "I didn't have a portrait made of me so I could be tormented in the afterlife by two little girls." He gave them both a stern look before turning away from them, his back to the front of the painting.

Phoebe raised an eyebrow and then turned to Leila. "See? Told you most of them are grumpy." She winked at her and then pulled a face at the man. "Let's go on, he clearly has no intention of talking to us." It was disappointing but definitely in line with her experience so far with these paintings. "If I ever had a portrait like that of me I bet I would be so much nicer to students."

 

[Leila Walden]

Leila nodded "she's called Maddie, she's a few years older than us though. She's in... fifth year. I think?" she rambled. "Do you have any siblings?" she asked Phoebe, Leila wondered if she would know them, or at the very least Maddie might know them, her sister seemed to know a lot of people. "We'll all have to get together sometime then!" Leila suggested "I'm sure that we'd all get along just fine" she finished, smiling at the Ravenclaw.

She jumped back in surprise when the man in the portrait opened his eyes and addressed the girls. She tried to stifle a giggle when he told them off for waking him up. Leila crossed her arms and turned to Phoebe "It's not like it's night time, it's not even late. He shouldn't even be sleeping really" she reasoned. She agreed with Phoebe about leaving the portrait and moving on, they weren't going to be welcome there any longer anyway. She smiled at what Phoebe was saying "exactly! You'd have to be nice to students, it would be more entertaining that way for everyone surely?" she suggested. "Where have you got to go next? Any more corridors?" she asked the Ravenclaw girl. She wasn't sure how far she had got before Leila had caught up with her.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe looked up in interest when Leila mentioned her sister was a fifth year. "Wow, fifth year? That means she's doing her OWLs this year, right? I'm jealous, I wish my sister could show me advanced magic. She's only a second year, and not very good at most things." She paused. "Most magical things, I mean." She didn't want to be mean about her sister, Rose could do a lot of things well, she just could also be very distracted and not the best at teaching Phoebe new things. Still, she liked Leila's suggestion. "I agree, I think we would all get along." She said with a smile. Rose got along with most people and Leila seemed like that sort of type as well. Phoebe was curious what her big sister was like.

Phoebe walked away from the portrait with Leila and smiled at her. It was nice to have an assistant in something like this that agreed with you so readily. Phoebe hesitated at her question. "I wanted to do the fifth floor next, but you don't need to come help even longer." She was aware she was taking much of Leila's time, wondering if she wanted to leave but was too polite to say so.