Details for Treasure Seekers Without Map |
Summary: | Virgil goes to the library where he runs into Chastity, Elise and Captain Cillian. Aliea soon joins in, and some very light discussion of not just how to seek the treasure but what to do with it is mentioned. There is also some general getting to know each other behavior as new students meet the second years. |
Date: | 1938-09-13 |
Location: | Library |
Related: | The Founder's Treasures |
Characters |
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Its early in the evening or late in the afternoon if you prefer and Chastity is doing some before dinner research. Her head buried in a thick transfigurations book which sits on the young girls lap. She peers down at the book intently. Thankfully for her concentration her golden curls are pulled into a single tight braid and out of her way as she reads. He bites her lower lip her brow furrowing in concentration. She is sitting at a central table but it is empty except for her.
Immediately behind Chastity sits Elise, and there are books spread around her, but it appears she's taken a break from studying to write in a journal bound in beautiful sapphire-blue silk with a bronze clasp. She's lost in thought, and the matching quill in her hand tickles the underside of her chin while she muses.
Struggling under the weight of his bag and covered in his usual sweat, Virgil enters the library and immediately proceeds to the history section. Pulling down several girthy tomes, he puts them down on the table near Chastity and greets her with a friendly, "Hey coz." His face mostly hidden and slightly muffled by the thick Ravenclaw colored scarf he always wears high on his face so that he doesn't cough on people. "Busy?" he asks.
There's a soft whisper under Elise's table as Cillian is currently laying there, when he got there…who really knows, but one moment he's not there and the next he is. The young man with the eyepatch just giggles softly and whispers. "Oi ve…lil' Mousie is always a tiny bit busy isn't she?" He's reading from a large leather bound text, scanning each page and idly sucking on a peppermint stick.
Chastity looks up at Virgil with a bright smile. "Hello cousin…I'm just doing abit of extra reading. Transfiguration is fastinating! I simply cannot wait till we get to the bigger things like turning our desks into lions..or maybe a leopard." Her head tilts as she ponders the benifits of lions vs. leopards. "Anyway sit down and tell me how you've been. I haven't seen you much lately…" She gestures to the seat across from her and gives him an expectant look.
Elise squeaks in surprise at the whisper coming from under her table. All in a fluster she hastily tries to close the journal but fumbles and only ends up dropping it. It lands on the floor with a thunk, open to pages covered in her precise, dainty writing. If he's quick, Cillian will be able to snatch it up and read some of it before she can stoop to retrieve it.
"It is! I don't know when we'll get to," Virgil concedes and leans forward a little to look at what she is reading before he starts to use those bony hands to separate the books in front of him. Pushing things one way and then the other. "I've been okay. No more need for potions than normal," he explains, by way of mentioning his health status, "I'm trying to research the treasures left behind by the founders. Maybe they're really there to be found."
Cillian has to cover his mouth to keep from giggling as he notes Elise's reaction, then he just presses a finger to his lips. "Shhh." He does notice the Diary fall though, being a gentleman he just flips the book closed with care and holds it up for Elise to take back if she can. Then he freezes upon hearing what Virgil says and his eye(s) narrow thoughfully and he quirks an eyebrow.
A scrawny child, Virgil has whispy thin hair and a pallid complexion. His skin is waxlike and he constantly perspires no matter the season or temperature, as if he is burning up from the inside. His thin hair has a generally straw color that borders on white, and his eyes are similarly pale, the lightest shade of blue. The slight arch of his brows is only enough to give his face shape as they are rather thin and sparse overall. At times, the youth coughs for what seems like hours and is occasionally bed ridden. All the same, he seems to smile and do his best to fit in with others.
At the moment, he is wearing a dark burgundy sweater with a beautiful scarf wrapped around his neck despite the weather. His articulate and bony hands are seemingly a bit long for his stature, and he frequently taps them against whatever he can, as if playing an unseen piano. The trip of his pants indicates some wealth, as they are new, and his shoes are similarly well appointed. Across his shoulder he frequently carries a bag filled with whatever he is reading.
"That is good. Hopefully you will keep getting stronger and maybe one day you won't need the potions at all." The blonde states with a smile to her cousin. At the mention of treasure she pauses. "Oh? That -does- sound interesting. Can I help you look?" Chastity looks hopefully at Virgil.
Elise snatches the journal out of Cillian's hand and makes it disappear up her sleeve. She is beet-red by this time, and desperate to divert attention away from the embarrassing contents of her little journal. "Like Rowena's diadem?" she asks, just a /little/ bit too loudly, for a library. Someone shushes her and she slouches down on her chair, looking as if she wished the floor would swallow her then and there.
"Yes, like the diadem, the sword, and all of that neat stuff. Well, the hat was saying they're real, and there to be found for the seeker," Virgil explains and taps at the books a few times. Pushing them around in circles he turns one of them around to face towards Chastity, and then another for Elise, in case she wants it. "Feel free to help, they're important, historically speaking. But anyway, I'm looking through any journals or recollections I can find that track the location of any of the treasures."
Cillian smirks gently and just shakes his head as he watches Elise for a few moments and his jaw sets. This is important information really and he just has to listen, brow furrowing before he gestures towards Elise and whispers. "Iffen he knows too much, he'll 'ave to walk the plank."
Chastity nods looking interested and glances back down at her book for a moment before closing it. "I will help you look through the journals then. maybe we will find the sword though the diadem is likely prettier….still just finding any of them would be a good way to get attention especailly since we are just first years."
Elise leans over to look t the book that Virgil pushes toward her, half-standing up from her seat to get a better view. She glances down toward her feet where Cillian is hiding under her table, blinks a couple of times, and then looks back up at Virgil and Chastity. "You want to find them because you want /attention/?" she asks, frowning a bit. "They're objects of great power. Probably. I mean, that's why they were hidden, wheren't they?"
"It's not about the destination. It's the journey. We aren't looking so that we can wear them around school, they're not meant for firsties or even seventh years, they're meant to be kept by someone like Professor Dumbledore," Virgil replies sagely and pushes through another page. Indicating the books he'd pushed across the table, he smiles and adds, "There isn't exactly a map to where to look. It's about seeing the pattern in the madness. Imagine you're a powerful wizard, why would you hide some artifact you made, when you die?"
Aliea steps from around the corner, a pile of her own books in her hands, and says quietly. "To keep it safe and out of harms way, especially first years at magic school. But if you're looking for someone who may be able to help, perhaps I can help? I'm very good at puzzles." She approaches shyly.
Cillian pinches the bridge of his nose and takes a deep breath, and then another deep breath, then…another deep breath before he peeks out from under the table, tapping Elise's shoe and whispering up at her. "/Drawn/ an' quartered…good job Mousie, keep 'em talkin'…novices workin' on the mysteries could get us all caught." Then he back under the table.
Chasity sighs dramaticaly and gets up from her seat. "I have to find -some way- to prove myself don't I?" She picks up her book and heads for the door. Glancing back to Virgil before she leaves completely. "Adults don't know -everything- cousin there is a high chance Dumbledore has as many flaws as the rest of us…why should he get the relics? Think on that." And then she flounces off with her book in hand.
Again Elise glances down at the hidden Cillian. She bites her lip at his words. "It was obviously for a very good reason," Elise says to Virgil almost on top of Aliea's words. "Perhaps you should all leave things as they are," she says, propping her hand on her hip in an almost bossy pose. "There are other things you should be concentrating on, like your studies." She raises an eyebrow at Chastity, and frowns after the girl when she flounces away. "Hmph," she says. "She seems rather shallow, to me. That's the /last/ sort of person who should get their hands on something powerful."
"Not really, and he's an amazing wizard," Virgil calls after Chastity, but she leaves before he can really even begin to form a defense of his position. When Aliea asks if she can join, he pulls out the chair next to his for her and goes back to looking at Elise, now. "I'm not saying Dumbledore though, but someone like Dumbledore. What would a firstie do with the sword of Gryffindor? Cut up his pie at supper?" he asks. He coughs violently into his scarf then and pushes it firm against his mouth. Leaning forward then, he looks over the edge of the table at Cillian and says, "You're not a king or a pirate."
Aliea gets ran over energetically by Chastity, and smiles as she sits down in the offer chair. "We're looking for the sword of Gryffindor?" I rub my forhead and look between everyone. "Can you remind me again where the last place it was seen at?"
Cillian just gives Virgil a look and just smirks gently. "Actually I am. Not a king but the other one. M' Captain Cillian." He rolls back onto his back and gropes for his satchel, rummaging around before pulling out a few gold coins…big as sand dollars each, for those in the know they are those special chocolates he handwraps himself in the gold foil and he offers them up to Elise to offer to the others and keep one for herself. "There are many mysteries that can be looked into 'ere in this castle, its why I spend so much time studyin' the history of the founders and the castle…and its me job to make sure that knowledge is only used for good while protectin' those who need protecting in the school itself. Lots of work for me and me crew but we manage."
Elise takes up the chocolate gold-foil-covered coins and passes them out to Virgil and Aliea. "We're pirates, like Robin Hood was a highwayman," she says. "Sort of." She unwraps the chocolate and pops it into her mouth. "And… Dumbledore is an amazing wizard," she agrees. "So if /he/ can't find them, or isn't looking for them, what makes you think you're good enough to?" She asks this in a genuinely curious tone, not really hostile at all. Just wondering.
The sickly boy's eyes crinkle a little when he smiles, but Virgil's smile itself is hidden deep beneath the edge of his scarf. He bites back his friendly-teasing retort when the coin is placed in his hand. Pulling the foil off, he settles the chocolate onto the foil in front of him and then seems to force a cough into his scarf. He does this a few times, just to be sure he doesn't do it while he is eating. That done, he throws a chocolate into his mouth. "Being smart is half the puzzle, the other half is luck. If he hasn't found them, maybe its because he is busy. He is a busy wizard."
Aliea takes the chocolate from Elise as she listens. "Well he is busy here teaching isn't he? I could see why he hasn't had the time to look for them." She smiles softly as she takes a bit of the chocolate and sticks it in her mouth.
Cillian just watches Virgil thoughtfully for a few moments, head tilting curiously as he regards the other boy with some akin to empathic concern before nodding. "M' a bit of a specialist in puzzles and maps and bein' smart…as are the people in me crew. So now that ye've been recruited…Scarfie and well…I'll come up with yer name soon luv, ye'll 'ave all the sweets ye want and we'll 'ave to get ye swords…and then ye'll 'ave to come to a meetin' and if ye want to explore the story behind the missin' tings, we can but…it must /be secret/."
"You really ought to see the nurse for that cough," Elise tells Virgil, looking a bit worried for him. She nods at his and Aliea's comments that Dumbledoor is busy. "Certainly he is," she agrees. "But if it were that vital to find the lost treasures, then surely he would make the time. Or delegate or something." She genuinely seems to be trying to talk them out of it. Then she blinks. "Wait, what?" she asks Cillian. "They're Pirates, now?" She looks back and forth between her Captain, the newly-dubbed Scarfie, and Aliea. "Um. Yes. A secret. /Especially/ from that girl who left."
"I'm Virgil Goshawk," Virgil introduces himself properly, quirking an eyebrow over the edge of his scarf. His eyes and eyebrows being really all that shows, so thus are the most expressive part of his face. "I don't know if I want to swear onto your crew, Captain. But I'll come and see if we're a fit, if our methods and mindsets are you know, meshy."
Aliea peeks her head under the table, and smiles at Cillian. "Hello there." She sits back up and looks back between Virgil and Elise. "I'm Aliea Winchester. First year, Hufflepuff." She glance through her Wizard history book, as she continues listening to the other three. "I have to be a pirate to be part of this? Do I have to wear an eye patch?" She just grins happily as speaks.
Cillian just shrugs helplessly. "Dun be so 'ard on the girl that just left, Mousie…I'll see iffen she has the spirit within to do some good…then we'll see what we'll do about her." He looks back over to Virgil. "Iffen ye want to solve mysteries, me crew's the safest way to do it….but aye, its your choice." Then he looks over Alieia. "I…wear the eye patch because I 'ave to luv, ye dun 'ave to wear anyting ye dun want to wear."
Elise sits back down and crosses her arms. She jiggles one leg up and down, slightly nervously. "Goshawk, you should really go to the Nurse for that cough. It sounds rather bad."
Aliea goes quiet as she glances through her book, and then peeks at the books on the table. "So why not go to Dumbledore, and ask if he wants help? We could say we want to learn more about where it is and help him find it. That way we are safe here, while he looks for it with our help."
"Unless the nurse has invented some cure that ten years of nurses, healers and medicine-men didn't have before, I have a potion I can take that helps some, but that's it," Virgil replies and pads at his sweaty brow a little with the edge of his scarf before coughing again violently. Turning his head slightly, he looks at Aliea, "He did ask for our help. The Sorting Hat speaks for the good of the school, so does Dumbledore, and he didn't countermand the hat. Therefore, we can assume he is of a similar mind," he tells them speaking, as he always does, nothing like an eleven year old.
"Elise…" Cillian offers gently. "Sometimes, we 'ave to deal with tings that no nurse, healer or doctor can or will never be able to cure or fix." He speaks from experience obviously as he smiles softly at Virgil before taking a deep breath and looking around. "We can't talk 'bout this anymore 'ere. Too many ears."
"Sorry, I didn't know," Elise says to Virgil. She blinks at Cillian. "I /know/ that," she tells him. "But just not about him in particular." She huffs a bit and gathers up her things. "I need to get back to the tower," she says. They all get nods from her, and Cillian gets a friendly goodbye smile, and off she goes.
Aliea smiles and nods to Elise a simple goodbye. She is kind of distracted looking in one of the books that's laying on the table.
"I wasn't trying to be clandestine," Virgil points out but doesn't push the question of the whole search any further. Nobody has anything further to offer, is willing, and he hasn't found all that much himself. Folding the book he'd slid towards Elise, back together, he sets it beside the one in front of him. "So, when is this meeting going to happen?" he asks, coughing a few times into his scarf.
Cillian crawls out from under the table, dragging his satchel with him and shouldering it as he gets to his feet, tilting his head to the side and smiling slowly. "Ye both will receive a riddle of an invitation, if ye can solve it…ye'll know the time and the place." A long pause. "But I 'ave a feelin' ye'll both manage it."
Aliea smiles as she stands, and salutes Cillian. "Aye Aye Capt'n."
"Fare thee well, Captain. Do you have a name?" Virgil says, sensing the impending departure. "I'll see you there," he agrees with the assessment about his ability to solve it, being appropriately confident in his abilities. Rising to his feet, he offers a little salute as well, seeing as Cillian is from an older year, then slides back into his chair and starts reading intently.
"Captain Cillian…at yer service." Cillian offers a gallant bow to both Aliea and Virgil before flashing a grin and making his way off.