(1938-05-28) Seeking Aristotle
Details for Seeking Aristotle
Summary: Ophelia and Phae brainstorm how to get to Leander's pet fox to take care of him like Ripley asked.
Date: May 28, 1938
Location: Ravenclaw Girls' Dorm then Grounds
Related: Checking on Ripley
Characters
OpheliaHephaestaRia

"I just can't think of anything that won't get us in trouble. Or get Snidget… " Ophelia, sitting cross-legged on her bed, sighs, unable to say the last word. She's getting her color back, and isn't losing weight anymore, after a while now being back at the castle and safe. But the question of getting Leander's fox out of the dungeons to feed him for Ripley is stumping her. Diagrams and ideas are scattered all over the bed, but most have been scribbled out with little notes like 'tyoo complex,' or 'too dangerous' in the margins.

Hephaesta sits at the foot of the bed, looking over the various ideas curiously. "Eaten," she says, finishing Ophelia's thought for her. "I could try sending Gizmo in. But he's sort of obvious, and if he were caught, I think I'd be a in a lot of trouble."

Ophelia nods. "I could ask Professor Mopsus. But I rather think all of the professors must be far too busy right now. I've been trying every day to get in and see Professor Dumbledore." She sighs, picks up a sheet of parchment, then drops it without really looking at it.

Hephaesta sighs and nods. "Well, besides Ripley, are there any Slytherins you trust? I could ask my cousin."

"Ria?" Ophelia shrinks back, shaking her head before she's even finished speaking the short name, "N-no, I… um. Llewellyn?" Biting her lip, she looks over the plans. "Perhaps? I don't see him as often but… maybe?"

"Technically, he's my cousin, too. But what's wrong with Ria? She's always done right by me." Phae tilts her head curiously at Ophelia.

Ophelia sighs. "She doesn't like me, Phae. She never has. And you may be convinced otherwise, but I'm certain she, too, blames me for… " Closing her eyes, she turns away, "You know."

Hephaesta sighs. "She just seems that way. I know she can be a little…standoffish. But she's very sweet underneath." She reaches a hand out to touch Ophelia's knee. "She's a smart girl. Of course she wouldn't blame you."

Ophelia shakes her head, "I heard her, at the assembly. She blames someone. I'm sure its me. She's never liked me. I wasn't good enough for Kaiden. Then, aparently, I was too good. And I'm sure she doesn't think I'm good enough for you."

Hephaesta sighs again. "I think you misinterpret her. She actually once tried to give me advice to win you over, you know. Maybe it wasn't the best advice…but she tried."

"What?" Ophelia blinks, looking back up. "She.. did?" Frowning, she tries to figure that new piece of information out. "I… why would she do that?"

Hephaesta looks down at her hands abashedly. "Because I was being hysterical and silly. She wanted me to be happy. Obviously she thinks you're good enough for me if she was willing to help me win you over."

Ophelia watches Hephaesta, a tiny smile growing on her face. Then, suddenly, she rocks forward onto her hands and knees, which moves her just close enough to press a quick kiss to Phae's lips. She's grinning a little when she pulls back, "I'll have to thank her then. And if you like, lets speak to her about the fox."

Hephaesta blinks in surprise, but it's a happy surprise which spreads into a beaming smile. "We could go looking for her now. I mean, the sooner the better. We don't know if Aristotle's had anything to eat."

Ophelia nods hurriedly, "Yes. Yes, lets." She frowns, as she sits back, "Except… what do they eat? Besides tiny little Owls… " Glancing over her notes, she starts to crawl of fthe bed, wondering if she has a proper book on the subject…

Hephaesta blinks. "I haven't the faintest idea. Rodents, maybe?" She wrinkles her nose at the thought. "Are we going to have to bring animals for him to eat?"

Ophelia shudders, "Maybe… its a veget…ablian fox?" Shrugging, she grabs her shoes, stuffing her feet into them without socks, "Do you know where Ria's likely to be?"

Hephaesta shrugs. "Not really. Hopefully not in the Slytherin rooms. Wherever she is, she's probably with her boyfriend. We could just ask around. Everyone in school knows who they are."

Wrinkling her nose, Ophelia nods, "Alright then. Lets get this over with and help that poor fox."

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After asking around the castle for a good half an hour, Hephaesta and Ophelia finally got someone to say they thought they'd seen Ria heading up to the roof. It's certainly not Phae's favorite climb. But with Ophelia's assistance, she handles the stairs well enough. Her usual click, whirr, click, whirr echoes up the stairwell, announcing their approach.

Ophelia, moving much more slowly than she ever does when coming to the roof, glances about as they make it through the door leading out. Her arms are wrapped around Hephaesta, but then considering that she's hardly let the other girl leave her side since the group returned to Hogwarts, this isn't unusual.

Graced with a free hour or so till her next class, Ria levitated a chair and stool up to the roof so that she could enjoy the cool May breeze. Casually sitting back in her seat with her legs propped up on the stool her arms are crossed so that one hand holds a book up in front of her hand and she idly reads in the sunlight. Despite all the recent events, she looks rather nonchalant about everything though she's been spending a bit of time alone and avoiding others. But the clicking and whirring makes her peek up from her book, and it shuts with a soft pat of pages. "Are you alone Hephaesta?" she calls before even seeing the girl make it all the way up the stairs.

Hephaesta blushes just slightly at the call of her name, knowing full well how easily her approach is recognized. But she calls back as she comes into view, "It's me and Ophelia. Thank goodness you're up here," she pants. "We, um…we have a favour to ask of you." She looks to Ophelia, giving her an encouraging nudge.

Its a good thing Hephaesta nudges Ophelia, because her eyes are on the ground the moment she hears Ria's voice. She jumps, nods and starts softly, "Ripley… he asked us to take care of… o-of Lean… of Aristotle. Only… we don't have a way to get him out of the dungeon… "

Ria blinks as the two come into full view, her mouth crinkling into a half frown when she realizes Ophelia has come with her cousin. She places the book upon her lap, keeping her arms crossed as she listens on to their request. "Aristotle?" she looks confused at first. "Aristotle's been dead for thousands of - oh. Leander's rodent." Even though it's technically a fox. It's small enough to be a rodent. The disapproving frown turns into one of slight annoyance. "So you want me to get it then? Ripley couldn't … give it to you himself?" Ria has a very basic understanding of Ripley's state. She hasn't spent anytime with him yet, for her own reasons.

Hephaesta shrugs uncertainly. "Ripley is…well…he's distracted. I think understandably so. We didn't want to bother him about it. I thought you might be able to…um…" Phae's certainty that her cousin would help starts to falter. "Can…will you help us?"

Ophelia goes very still when Ria mentions the word 'dead.' She remains there, not moving, until Hephaesta speaks up. Slowly, she nods. Eyes still on the ground (for which she misses the frown), she adds, "Please… "

Ria eyes Ophelia curiously, carefully observing the avoid ant behavior from the girl. And despite how much she understands the red head at the moment, she also isn't in the mood to talk to her either. So when she speaks, she looks at Phae and Phae alone. With a slight sigh, Ria looks around the empty rooftop before reluctantly giving in. "Did Ripley give you any idea where Leander kept the thing?"

Hephaesta shakes her head slowly, grimacing apologetically. "He didn't. I'm guessing…a cage, maybe? I don't know how well trained Aristotle is."

"I-if you can just… just get him to the doors, we can take over from there." Ophelia's voice remains soft, her eyes on the ground. "And if you… if you don't want to, I can ask Llewellyn… "

Ria's green eyes stare sharply at Ophelia like daggers, as if they were saying: I don't need your suggestions. And then rising gracefully to her feet, she dusts her skirt off and says to Phae. "I'll go get it." Taking her book with her but leaving the chair and the stool there she begins to head toward the steps. "Come with me," she pauses only to look over her shoulder and see if they were following.

Hephaesta's eyes dart between Ophelia and Ria. "R-Really? Oh, thank you, Ria. Thank you so much." She hurries after her cousin, tugging Ophelia along.

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