(1938-05-01) My Special Parts Killed Me
Details for My Special Parts Killed Me
Summary: Magic in the halls. Talking about special parts. Elise reveals a family curse.
Date: Wed May 01, 1938
Location: Moving Staircase
Related:
Characters
RandyEliseCillianPringle

The Grand Moving Staircase, Stairwell


It is a spring morning. The weather is cool and raining.


Hogwarts' stairwell is a grinding, twisting mass of controlled pandemonium. Stairs are visible above and below swinging past, students holding onto railings waiting for the arrival of their stairsteps, lifting up onto a moving stairway, dropping down onto the floor below. First-Years suffer the sting of their peers' laughter as they miss making their appointed position and are left stranded on the landing as the others continue on. A flood of activity surges in all directions, a cascading tide of humanity with students, teachers and even ghosts milling throughout the stairwell. There are waves of students from the floors above hurrying at various times to get down to the main floor, and the rushes of students hurrying upward toward their classes or research. Traffic jams are not uncommon, especially when the stairway is blocked by a hapless student caught in a stair with an appetite for sucking in the legs of the unwary. At times, confetti drifts lazily through sunbeams after someone sets off a firecracker or other magical gimmickry on a higher level, and occasional shrieks of students who've become victims of stink-bombs thrown over the railing rise above the general bedlam calling out the gross unfairness of their treatment.

It's one of those random Saturdays and it's the afternoon when people either nap…or get into trouble. Something always happens as the day boils towards this point. But today, it's actually not bustling…it's eerie compared to the crazy bustle it usually is. Randy is twirling her wand as she leans up against the wall opposite the staircase.

Elise stops walking, her eyes trained on the wand as it twirls around and around. Like she's mesmerized. Hypnotized! She blinks a couple of times. Then she takes out her own wand and fumblingly tries to copy the motion… and fails. Her wand clatters to the floor and she scrambles after it.

There is Trouble in the air, which may well explain the presence of the Head Girl. Diana's on her way up the stairs when the first year's wand hits the floor, and she arches a brow, her gaze traveling upward to spot Randy. "Good afternoon, Randy." She inclines her head politely, then looks at the younger girl and comes up with a name after a moment. "Harper. You're not practicing magic in the halls, are you?"

"15 flobberworms in a Deadman's pouch…ho ho ho and bottle of rum, take one out and swallow it whole…woopsie daisy and now its gone!" Cillian sings cheerfully as he makes his way along, holding a small chest in front of him as his burlap sack and satchel both hang from one shoulder and he carefully makes his way down the stairs. "Soooo nooow 14 flobberoworms…" Then he pauses and notices Randy. "…why are ye always on the stairs?" He nods politely to Diana. "Me Lady." Then he notices Elise, narrowing his good eye before nodding. "Little lady there as well." Arms wrapping protectively around his chest.

Elise grabs her wand and pops up again. "What?" she asks. "No, of course not. Only, I saw her twirling her wand," she explains, pointing toward Randy. "And I thought it looked… sort of pretty, I don't know. I thought I'd try it, too, only I was clumsy." She self-consciously shoves the wand into her sleeve. She can't stop the giggle that bubbles from her throat at Cillian's song and his greeting. "Hello," she tells him.

Randy coughs and grins at Diana, just normally. Then she twirls her wand again, idly. "Don't worry Diana, she won't bring down the roof," she says with a little roll of her eyes, not for Diana, but for that rule.

"Hello, Captain." Diana greets Cillian with a respectful nod of her head, coming up the stairs until she's level with where Randy's standing. There's a slight tug to her lips, as if she's fighting the urge to smile at Randy's words, before she looks back at Elise. "You should always be careful with your wand. You should also be careful when attempting to copy things you see the older students doing. Especially this one," she adds, gesturing toward Randy.

"Yes, you really should listen to her," Randy nods emphatically, looking at the younger girl. "She's the Head Girl you know," as she talks, she starts the wand movement of a charm or something or other, and is able to whisper the incantation without moving her lips, smiling, as a pair of faun horns just peeeek through her hair.

"'ello!" Cillian greets Elise brightly before looking between Randy and Diana and then back to Elise. "Come up on this step, its safer, iffen ye stay down there, somethin' will 'appen and ye'll fall into the pit of hash nibblers. They can't tell feet from chocolate and nibble a wee bit too 'ard." He adjusts his hold on his chest to rummage around in his burlap sack for a chocolate bar which he offers to Elise. "Here ye…." He trails off and just stares at Randy for a few moments. "…oh bugger m-quickly! Me lady, onto the step, get behind me and take the chocolate!"

"Alright," Elise says to Diana, appearing suitably chastened. She glances at Randy, apparently sort of curious as to why she's been referred to as 'especially this one.' "Hash nibblers?" Elise says. She squeaks and jumps up onto a step, looking around at the floor as if tiny creatures are going to gnaw off her toes at any moment.

"See, this is a classic example of why you should always know ahead of time what spell you're casting." Diana steps up to Randy, ruffling her hair aside so that the horns can be seen more clearly. "You wouldn't believe how many Transfiguration mishaps are treated by St. Mungo's, and that's for people who ought to know better."

"Yes. I'm completely deplorable. It's all on account of my pirate blood," Randy says with a wink. Then she bears her teeth up to Cillian. "Midget Giant, at your service lad," wand twirl. That Midget Giant was always a bit squirrelly in its manners. Then she charms her shoes with an effect that makes them sound like she's…well a giant walking through a hall. Krssssh. Krssssh. as she sets her feet down lightly. Then she bears her teeth again.

Cillian holds out a protective arm in front of Elise as he eyes Randy and Diana with that tell-tale wariness, head tilting to the side. "Aye, but they are all runnin' around because ye see the horny midget giant there? With the fancy wand work? She's tryin' to get me 'ouse to lose more points and she might eat you, so stick close…"

Elise watches this all with wide eyes, not entirely sure what's going on. Most of her time here has been spent on the outskirts, in the background, or alone somewhere studying. Hijinks and pranks simply aren't something she's /done/, herself. "What's a hash nibbler?" Elise whispers to Cillian, sort of peeking around his arm, trying to catch sight of whatever menace he's warned her about, and keeping one eye on the… horned midget giant.

"No worries on my account, Captain," Diana says to the boy, with a nod in his direction. "There are others, though, who aren't so forgiving even of a little harmless magic. Pringle, for instance."

Speak of the devil now. Pringle was drawn by his name? Likely not. Likely the slamming sound of Randy's charm echoing throughout the corridors. "I HAVE YOU NOW MACMILLAN!" in his Scottish brogue. "No magic in the halls!"

Randy sighs and says, "I didn't do this in the halls. Side effect of some practicing earlier with a prefect," as if it's run of the mill. She doesn't expect him to believe her, because she follows with, "Why do we have that stupid rule anyways? I was able to do magic over easter, I'm seventeen…but not here."

"Hash nibblers comes out of potatoes, they are tiny little blue men who wear kilts and 'ave spears. They have biiiiiig teeth and hop about." Cillian explains for Elise as they watch the show, lowering the arm and then when there's Pringle he takes a deep breath and then another. "And now we see the Pringle comin-oh bugger, now we see the midget giant talkin' back, it might be the thumb hangin' for the brave little ting…"

Elise's eyes pop open even wider at the mention of Pringle's name… and then at the man's presence she actually cowers back against the bannister, hunching her shoulders up around her ears like she can hide in her robes. Possibly, she says, "Meep!" Talk of thumb-hanging sets her to actually shaking. No Gryffindor, she. And still she's trying to keep an eye out for hash nibblers, totally taking Cillian's word on the creatures as the truth.

"She's not doing magic unsupervised, Mr. Pringle," Diana says, giving the caretaker a polite and courteous nod. Strictly speaking, this is true, since her presence alone means the students are supervised.

Pringle is about to erupt with sadistic glee when he hears Diana. It's a quick sharp grumble that takes him out the view to find other prey.

"Can't anyone tell me?" Randy opens up to the small gathering of students. Somewhere deep inside she grimaces, because she notices they are mostly all aged under 17, save for the Head Girl who already /can/ do magic at school unsupervised.

Cillian looks thoughtful before he carefully pats Elise on the arm, offering her a piece of chocolate. "Its okay, the nibblers are gone now…and the midget giant is askin' the philosophical questions 'bout 'ow unfair it is she can't make judicious use of her wand out in public." A pause. "She's an odd duck that one…are ye alright?"

Elise shakes her head at Randy. "Sorry, I don't know the answer," she says. "But perhaps if you spoke with one of the professors, or with the Headmaster, they could tell you," she suggests helpfully. "Or maybe the answer is in a book in the library. Or we could write to the Ministry and ask?" She gladly takes the chocolate Cillian offers her and will take a healthy bite of it. "Thank you," she tells him. She relaxes a little bit when he says the hash nibblers are gone. "Yes, I'm alright. They didn't get me," she answers.

"Presumably, because it's easier to ban unsupervised magic outright than to list specific spells that shouldn't be used," Diana suggests to Randy. "It's probably up there with whatever archaic reasoning caused the Founders to put protection spells on the girls' dorms but not the boys'."

"How is that fair?!" Genuinely shocked about this recent revelation, Randy's transfiguration melts back into two pieces of hair that drop down to her shoulders. Suddenly, it matters now that /she's/ affected.

"Because girl parts are probably more interestin' and less disgustin' and smelly than boy parts. No need to be protectin' somethin' nobody wants to see!" Cillian replies helpfully to the question of why there are protection spells where there are protection spells. Then he nods and pats Elise on the shoulder once more. "I like ye, yer smart. Talk to Gabriel or Cathal about joinin' the crew. There's lots of chocolates and we teach ye how to get more chocolate and protect yerself from…scary tings. Like Hash Nibblers and Buttermunchers." Then he straightens up. "I 'ave to get back to me mission, I'm a Captain so…lots of work to do."

Elise stares at Diana for a moment. "What protection spells?" she asks blankly. If any boys have tried to sneak into the Ravenclaw girl's dormitory this year, she's obviously been oblivious to it. "Protection from what?" Cillian's answer seems to stun her, and she simply gapes at him as her face turns red. Then… "Eewwwwwwwwwwwww!"

"Well, it's not fair." Diana says this quite matter-of-factly, but in a way that suggests she's accepted the status quo. "There are plenty of things in life that aren't, though." She fights that urge to smile again at Cillian, then looks at Elise. "There are spells on the girls' dorms to keep boys from going into them, but the boys' dorms aren't similarly protected."

Randy smirks knowlingly and almost cracks up, "Sooooo true," as if she knows from experience, but that bad taste in her mouth…that injustice which alerts all chivalrous Gryffindors everywhere, it draws her back. "Well I think it's hogwash," she oddly doesn't really cuss all that foully in Diana's presence.

Elise is beyond grossed out by this point. She edges away from Cillian a little bit even as he leaves and clutches her robes a bit closer. "Nobody's looking at my parts!" she declares, utterly scandalized by this topic. Clearly, she has lead a sheltered life of propriety and decorum. Or something. "I don't want to die!" What she means by that isn't clear.

"Perhaps." Diana very wisely decides to refrain from commentary about gender equality, and instead gives Elise a curious look. "What do you mean?"

Randy just simply looks from Cillian to Elise with a bit of surprise. "Really? What's so wrong about seeing people's parts?" She shrugs and leans back against the wall. She glances to Diana.

Elise is already bright red. She's clearly embarrassed. But Diana is Head Girl and all, so she stammers and hems and haws, and finally mumbles something. "Mymothertoldmethatthefamilycursewill kill me ifIshowaboywhat'sundermyrobes," comes out all in a rush. "Until I get married, you know." And then she turns and clatters up the stairs, mortified beyond belief.

Diana spends a moment staring after the little Ravenclaw, before finally shaking her head and glancing back at Randy. "I'm not even sure I want to intervene with that one." She gestures the the horns still on Randy's head. "You should probably take care of those before someone less lenient comes along and turns you in."

"Yeeeeeah," Randy says as if ready to disengage, "I'll let you deal with that one." As she's leaving, she looks back at Diana with a little laugh, "Yeah. I'm not that ugly." Then she disappears around a corridor.

Diana spends a moment staring after the little Ravenclaw, before finally shaking her head and glancing back at Randy. "I'm not even sure I want to intervene with that one." She shakes her head again and continues up the stairs, no doubt on her way up to the commons.

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