| Details for Childhood Abuse and Pity |
| Summary: | Julian and Alphard have a difference of opinion regarding Unforgivable Curses and Grindelwald. Andromena comes around just as Alphard takes pity on Julian. |
| Date: | 1938-11-12 |
| Location: | Hogwarts Library |
| Related: | — |
| Characters |
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Given the fact that Julian's class schedule was lax, given he hadn't elected to continue with Herbology or Arithmancy this year, he was able to devote his time to personal study and reflection on the previous week… and get homework done. Taking the chance and gambling on the library being a decent place to settle in and do so, Julian was loaded down with his bookbag, carrying it along carefully, balancing himself and the books in his arms. Not a hard task, mind you… But still, it was quite a few heavy tomes.
Once he seems to find what he considers to be one of the more quiet, secluded corners of the library, he slides the books in his arms onto the table, then throws his bookbag down into one of the chairs, unloading the books, parchment, ink, and quill… He begins to organize things, and once he's ready, he slides into the chair, pushing the bookbag into the floor. Sliding his robes off, he drapes them over the back of his chair. He rolls his sleeves up, and loosens his tie. Shoes off… He wriggles his sock-clad toes, and nods.
"Time t'go to work," he says to himself gently, and he reaches for the first scroll of parchment he can get to. As he unfurls it, it appears to be some kind of runic text. A textbook is immediately reached for, and opened… Then, the quill, and some blank parchment.
And he's off to the races, left hand scribbling over the parchment with the quill.
Even if Alphard was laboring beneath the extacting curriculum required to gain admittance into the Auror's Office of the M.L.E, he had still elected to continue with Arithmancy, leaving him with a complete study workload in addition to his club duties and his Quidditch team duties. It was the latter that was the main cause of the Slytherin boy now being stuck in the Library, rather than taking advantage of a chance to soak up on some free time. All the preperation that had gone into the first game of the season versous the Gryffindors; it had really left him behind on several of his subjects. Now that the game was over, and it would be a while until the next one, he was forced to put in extra effort to make up for lost time.
He came back from his search through the bookshelves, a couple of advanced potions tomes and a book on Dark Creatures, only to find that the secluded oasis he had intended to occupy had just been taken. Immediately his expression was cast in a displeased frown. He cleared his voice. He coughed. He cleared his voice again. His foot tapped. Down the length of his arrogant nose he frowned at Julian.
Of course, Julian had started tuning out the world once he had gotten into his groove. His cares were more focused on things like Legal/ethical reasoning behind disallowing the Ministry to use the Unforgiveable Curses, and theories on antidotes. And runic translations. However, there's only so long someone can ignore someone staring so intently at you. It's not even the throat clearing or the foot tapping that gets his attention. Wriggling his toes slightly, Julian continues to work… but finally, he pauses, the scribble of the quill stopping bringing an odd silence to this corner of the castle that sort of resonates afterward.
Looking up, finally, Julian blinks once, twice, focusing on Alphard and tilting his head. "Oh. Black. G'morning."
With that, the scribbling resumes without even the next further thought. "Workin' on your Potions homework? That Volubilis potion that we worked on last week was kind of a squeaker. I think that I perhaps used a little too much syrup of Hellebore." He continues to write, talking casually.
"I was sitting there, Edwards," Alphard told Julian quite severely. "It's bloody impolite to grab someone's seat just because they're getting their books." Of course he hadn't left anything behind to actually indicate the table was occupied. He had left his robes back in the Dormitory, leaving him in just his fashionable grey Slytherin blazer, and his slacks. Of his writing tools and notebook he had taken all that with him. Because you never knew when some pauper student might try to steal one's equipment. In Alphard's case, it was some pretty expensive equipment, too, because he wasn't one to settle for second grade anything.
With a muffled sequence of thunks, he dropped his books down onto the table, then took the seat opposite to Julian. It wasn't quite the insolated and peaceful retreat anymore with Julian there, but he would be damned if he moved.
"I wouldn't be surprised," as to how Julian had fuddled his potion. "Mine came out perfectly." Which was debatable, of course, but at this moment it was a point of pride.
"Ah, my apologies, Black," Julian responds in kind, "but I didn't see anything here, so I figured that for once, this place was empty." With the plopping of the books, though, Julian does glance to the stack that's being added. He makes no motion to move his own. The table's plenty big enough for the both of them, after all. And be damned if he was going to move, himself. He'd already settled and furled his wings, so to speak. Continuing to write, he makes no immediate mention of the potion again, but he does glance up toward Alphard. There's the smallest shake of his head, a sort of look crossing the boy's face… it's unreadable, but it's there.
"It at least came out usable, even if the color was a little off," Julian responds, "so I'm going to take that as a plus."
He pauses, and purses his lips. "So, you worked on that paper for Merrythought yet? I went and visited her for her office hours yesterday to talk to her yesterday."
"I'm not going to leave my things just lying around so some snotty little thief can have a glorious treasure day at my expense," Alphard declared haughtily. His books arranged, allowing him to cross reference the potions notations counter some of the Dark Creatures from the other book, plotting out possible uses and applications. Cross subject studying, with the hope that referencing both ways would give him extra points and credit by both Professors. "With the sort of riff-raff they allow into Hogwarts, you never know."
The question regarding the ethics paper made him resurface from his reading only moments after his first deep dive. He grunted, glancing up in the Ravenclaw's direction. "What? Oh, yeah. I'm done with that already. It's pretty simple, I think. The Ministry cannot allow the agents of the law to be deprived of any possible weapon, not when there are criminals who won't hold back anything. The risk of dark taint associated with the Unforgivable Curses are, in my opinion, a sacrifice that Ministry agents will have to couragesly carry. For the Great Good."
"Y'know, that phrase… 'For the Greater Good.' There's a lot of things that're for the greater good in this world," Julian remarks cryptically. "But the question is, whom is it for the greater good of? All, or only some?" A pause, and Julian stops writing, placing his quill into the inkwell nearest him, and he tilts his head.
"The Americans, in their own best interest, 'for the greater good,' forcefully relocated the native population of their country into camps and tribes so far out of the way and so far from their original homes that many of them were unable to continue thriving… died off. Infected them with Smallpox-laiden blankets… killed them, murdered them in raids. All for the greater good of their country, so it could grow and expand."
Another pause. "So, I guess my question is, why do we need to allow such powerful, dark magic that's even harmful to ourselves… to be used by people who should, in theory, have the sense to handle things without killing someone outright, torturing them horrifically, or controlling their actions, through magic?" A pause, and he breathes in. "The Killing Curse not withstanding, the two other things being used in a magical sense is absolutely apalling to me. Wrong, on many levels. The foes of the Ministry may resort to such things, yes, but does that mean that we, as a society, should conform to the bottom rung and give in? No. We find other ways. Ways that aren't going to harm you as an agent of the Ministry, and ways that justice can be properly brought to tose who use this form of magic."
A pause, and Julian breathes in. "I finished my paper yesterday evening. Kind of burnt the midnight oil. Merrythought liked the first few inches… Let's just hope she can make it through the rest."
He neglects to mention the fact he turned in six rolls of parchment on the issue.
"For the Greater Good of Wizardkind, of course," Alphard answered without a flicker of hesitation. As if it was so obvious that he was having serious difficulties understanding why Julian would even have to ask. "And by extention humanity as a whole, as Muggles are.. by your exact example there," of which he couldn't verify, since Alphard knew little to nothing about Muggles beyond the fact the made war, did terrible things, and tried to burn honest witches and wizards. Really, they were the enemy. "Completely incapable of handling even their own affairs."
His mouth twisted in a disgusted grimace as he listened to Julian explain his own sense of morality. "Oh please," Alphard snorted, waving his hand dismissivly. "You don't meet a curse with a smile. If someone is trying to kill you, you don't treat them gently. You do whatever it takes to bring them to justice, even if that's the justice of Death. Anything less than that and you just don't the dedication necessary to protect our society. Far better to use the Unforgivable Curses, than it is to hesitate even for a second and risk your own life. Or perhaps the life of your partner. Or the lives of everybody else that the Dark Wizard can and will harm if you fail to neutralize them."
"And not just the Killing Curse. The Imperius Curse is perfect for infiltrating conspiracies, and the Cruciatus curse is perfect for extracting information."
"I'm not saying they should be used lightly, but if the situation deserves it, then it should be up to the Ministry Agents themselves to decide. Judging the situation on the ground from afar is, in my opinion, appaling and cowardly."
Peraps if the situation were different, I may be forced into it, yes. One wouldn't know until they're put in the situation. I just know that from my own moral standing, I would be disinclined. I'm more than happy to disarm someone, and maim them to the point they can no longer carry on the fight," he explains, "but to be quite frank, I've never been put in a position where it's life and death. Just positions where entitled lummocks decide that it's a good idea to do what they please, because they find it amusing."
A pause, and Julian furrows his eyebrows a little bit. "As for the Greater Good of Wizardkind… And humanity by extension…" His nose wrinkles. "We get along well enough without mingling in their affairs. One day, the world will be fully aware of magic. Be it by the extension of our power and the fact that eventually, the Muggles will murder eachother off, or we come out and proclaim ourselves to them by our own volution is left up to fate." He sits back in his chair, bringing his hands to rest on his chest. "Muggles will do what Muggles will do. The days of witch burning's done, though. That was seen with the Salem Witch Trials," Julian remarks softly. He tilts his head, furrowing his eyebrows. "Not all are completely incapable of handling themselves." His father's more than capable. "They're like any society, really. Even we, as a society, have our own internal problems."
"Of course you've not been in a life-or-death situation. We're bloody students for Merlin's sake. It is it really so hard to imagine it?" Though his lips did twitch with a vague suggestion at bemusement when it came to lummoxes who thought they could do as they pleased. It was the sort of label people tended to ascribe Alphard, the notorious bully that he was.
"Bullshit. Only reason they stopped burning us is because we went into Secrecy. And they still burn and stone people all over the world. Down in Africa, or in the Middle East, or in Asia!" Not that he actually knew much about it personally, but his father had told him all about it! "Muggles are barbarians. Uncivilized, rude, dirty. I see them on the street all the time when going to and from our townhouse. And the cars, how hideous are they? Loud and obnoxious. They should be banned as soon as Grindelwald leads us to the obvious answer."
"Auror Bates did put me through my paces during my apprenticeship during the summer," Julian remarks softly, beginning to smirk a little bit at a couple of memories, "so it's really not that hard to imagine, I suppose."
A pause, though, and Julian furrows his eyebrows, listening to the other boy as he talks about Muggles… and he just frowns, outright. "The cases are so rare and few between, Black, that the evidence doesn't support sweeping change. Hate crimes even happen between our own people." He pauses, just shaking his head. "Our sense of justice and a Muggle sense of justice don't falter that far from one another."
And then, Grindelwald. "And just what is the… Obvious answer?" Julian had read the manifesto. He'd processed the information and formed his own conclusion. "Dominanting the will of a society that would not take it lying down?" He furrows his eyebrows a little bit. "Then, how are we any different from the Americans, who treated their natives with such lack of care?"
"Did you really just ask me that, Edwards?" Alphard asked with bewilderment. He flopped back into the library chair, sprawling in that limbs-go-everywhere way that teenage boys could do so marvelously well. Exasperately he rolled his eyes. "Firstly because the Americans you're talking about were just a bunch of greedy and unenlightened Muggles. They were Muggles, Edwards. Nothing they ever do has any actual value. Secondly, because they did it all for themselves. When we take our proper place at the head of the world, it will be for the good of everybody. Wizards and Muggles. If I thought for a second they'd accept our guidance without the need of force.. well. Then I guess we could've tried that. But honestly, Muggles are too stupid to know what's in their own good nature. Plus, Grindelwald has already been proven right. He prophesized the Crystal Night."
Alphard and Julian were sitting at the same table, in a quiet little secluded area of the Library. There were a ton of books infront of them.
"The Crystal Night. Ah… yes. My father wrote me about that." Julian furrows his eyebrows a little bit, frowning a little bit… "The Crystal Night can be attributed to the hysteria and panic that their leader, Adolf Hitler, is attempting to stir up in their country. Because Jews… well. In Hitler's eyes, they're dirty. Unclean. They need to be controlled. Taking one charismatic Muggle and placing 'im in front of a gaggle of people who, since the Great War, have been looking for a leader… it's no surprise they're drinking his words up. I've read Mein Kampf. Do you really want me to start comparing it to Fur das Allgemeinwohl?"
A pause, and Julian breathes in. He's likewise slid himself down into his chair, and his hands rest on his chest. The runic translations in front of him are completely forgotten. "The fact of the matter is that every time we've had a cross between our world and theirs, it's ended tragically. Because of one circumstance or the other. It's never been an attempt at true exchange of information; a flow, if you will, between the two worlds. It's not an impossibility that we are skipping that step entirely, and instead going to dominance and submission of their culture to ours." He breathes in, shaking his head.
"I don't buy into Gellert Grindelwald's thought process on the 'greater good.' If I'm wrong for that, then I don't want to be right." A pause, then, and he clears his throat. "I'm of the opinion that it's really no different than what is going on in Germany right now, with the Jewish population and their government. They're beginning to turn on a society of people within their own society… Killing, arresting, imprisoning and labeling."
He just shakes his head again… then looks at his translation. His eyes are alight with something in them, but it's not readable. "I don't know that I'm going to be able to focus on this," he finally decides, and he pushes the translation aside, reaching instead for another book…
The library. Perhaps one of the most comfortingly familiar places within all of Hogwarts. Andromena rarely went very long without finding a reason to go there, and today it just so happened to be so that she could check out a book for further study in her Defense Against the Dark Arts class. While she was there, however, there was no rush to leave. Another book, one that she had tucked safely away in a book bag at her side, was stealthily (insofar as it could be) retrieved. Her eye scanned for a nice spot in which to read, when…
Was it? Why, yes, it was! She had almost missed them due to the large pile of books upon the table, and the fact each boy was sprawled and slouched in such a way that Andromena wondered how their bodies didn't just slide right down to the floor. The book was stuffed away, and the Ravenclaw approached Julian and Alphard, expression neutral as she greeted them.
"Blablablabla, Edwards," Alphard's tone was one of aristocratic boredom. Detatched and with growing disinterest. "All I'm really hearing is you reinforcing just how evil and easily swayed to barbaric actions Muggles are. Which only proves the whole point I've been making. And considering your ancestry, it really comes to no surprise that you're suffering from that inability to accept what's right, and would rather be wrong even if it means continued cycles of pain and misery. Your mother really should've done a better job at shielding you from the corruptive influences of Muggle thinking. It's a pity how often it happens with you half-bloods. So much potential wasted."
With a lazy wave he welcomed Andromena to their table. "Hey Meanie." While she gave them the neutral treatment, his grin was nothing if not friendly. If a bit on the sly side, too. "You too trying to cach up on DADA?" He asked her, noting the title of her book. ALphard too had a DADA one infront of him, along with some potion tomes. All that time spent on Quidditch meant he'd fallen behind a little.
"I think that the better question there is… How is your judgement of me, just then, any different than the judgement that's being passed on that particular culture? How's it different from what Grindelwald wants to do? He wants to dominate, control. That's what Hitler wants, too. To make the world a better world… a more German world. Just like Grindelwald wants to make it a more Wizard world. For the greater good, am I right or wrong in deducing that?"
Julian just shakes his head. Alphard is past listening at this point, he can kind of surmise. However, as Alphard keeps talking… Julian's face sinks. "My mother raised me how she saw fit. It's not your place - or anyone's place - to judge her for what she does, either. Just like I won't judge you - as convoluted as your ideology is, following Grindelwald - you have your right to the opinion. And I would be willing to defend you and that opinion if it came down to it. It's a different matter, entirely, when one group begins to destroy and devalue the other's opinion."
The look on Julian's face is one of mild disgust… but it's quickly veiled. As Andromena approaches, he looks toward her, and blinks. "Afternoon, Andromena." Not her nickname… Curious. He notices the books in her arms… but says nothing else.
Well, so she tried to be be neutral, but quiet quickly her mouth quirked into a wry grin, as though she were trying hard not to. Spotting an empty chair, Rowle slid into it. "I heard this book was particularly good," she informed Alphard. As to their conversation? Andromena heard practically nothing, and what she had caught was enough for her to decide that she did not really want to become enmeshed within it.
A slight incline of her head was given to Julian. It would appear that while Alphard could get a smile, she was as yet unprepared to offer her own House mate anything more than a cool reception. Girls, catty creatures, weren't they? "Not interrupting, am I?" Because if they were going to continue blathering on about Grindelwald and Hitler and whatever else, she was going to high-tail it out of there, no bones about it.
"The difference is that Hiller," and he was oblivious at the fact he'd even gotten the name wrong. Which proved just how much he actually paid attention to Muggle affairs. "Is some deluded Muggle. While Grindelwald is one of the greatest wizards in all time, whose ideas are brilliant. The difference is that a more Wizard world means a better world. Whatever. You're not even listening, so I don't really see why we need to debate this." He waved his hand dismissivly.
"Too bad, then. Because I do judge her, and every wizard or witch like her. Bad enough to fall for a Muggle. I guess everybody does stupid things. But when you don't even teach the kid properly? That's abuse." He sniffed. "You, Edwards, were abused by your parents. And honestly? I mostly just feel sorry for you." Each word dripping of patronizing contempt.
"No.. no. I think we're done discussing this. Infact I think I'm going to move to a different table. Or stretch my legs a little. The current atmosphere," and he looked at Julian when he said it, "just isn't very inducive to intelligent thought."
"I don't need your pity, Black. Or any other Purists' pity."
With that, Julian stands. He's quickly gathering his things, reaching for his bookbag and as carefully as he can, putting things away. Parchment, quill, inkwell… books. Yes, that's everything. He doesn't bother unfurling his sleeves; he just slips his robe back on, closing the front up. After he's got all of his things gathered in his arms, he pauses… and the fire in his eye flares a bit, stoked. His lips curl down, and he suppresses a small shake. Internally, he's wanting to scream at the boy. Hex him. But his self-control prevails.
"And if you ever so much as suggest that my mother or my father abused me growing up ever again, so help me, Black. I don't lie down in front of people like you, and I never will."
There's a sharp intake of breath, and he just shakes his head. "Hitler Youth. Sieg Heil," he remarks softly, and instead of turning… he backs away, steadily, from the table… until he's sure he's distance enough away that he's safe, to a degree, from being drawn on at his back.
Great. It was worse than she had even anticipated! Clutching her book to her chest in an obviously nervous manner, Andromena's gaze passes between Alphard and Julian. Black was practically saying the same thing Andromena herself had naught but a few days ago, albeit in a far more disdainful manner. She and Julian had parted ways on a sour note, and this was the first time she had seen the other boy since. The third member of their group was practically the poster child for what Edwards had described for her the other night (save for being a prefect, hey?). Julian even made a point of referencing that youth stuff again, though Andromena was still not really knowledgeable about it.
"Alright," said in a quietly exasperated voice. She pushed herself to her feet as well, though rather than go her own way, Andromena tails after Alphard. They're friends now, whereas she she can't rightly see eye to eye with Julian at the moment, for all the sense he may firmly believe he's talking. She stood up on her tiptoes to whisper something into the taller boy's ear.
Alphard was mostly looking at Andromena while Julian got his things together, though he did make sure that he kept the boy at the periphery of his vision. Just in case. His instincts said that if he had absolutely no scruples about drawing on someone who wasn't really expecting it, then obviously everybody else was willing to play equally dirty. "You're looking quite pretty today," he murmured playfully. Since Julian was leaving, he saw no reason why he should, and instead once more straightened up in his seat so he could actually read one of those massive books. "Anyone in particular you've shined yourself up for?"
Though that little threat of Julian's as he parted ways, did draw Alphard's attentions. His smile was cruel and arrogant as he taunted the half-blood: "Suggest it? I said it. I'll say it again, and again, and again? And what're you going to do with it? Nothing. Just walk away and save everybody the trouble."
What was the Hitler Youth, anyway? He shrugged, then sighed towards Andromena. "Some people.. so dramatic. And quite so, quite so. I know." That to her little whisper.
"Don't. It's what he wants you to do," Julian quietly whispers to himself as he continues to walk… One arm on his books, the other having dug into his pocket. His hand was tight around his wand, to the point of white-knuckling it.
Tuning out Black was harder than initially anticipated, though. Lips pursed and back straight, Julian continues to move toward the exit, moving calmly and un-rushed. He refused to give Alphard the satisfaction of thinking he's chased him off.
Finally, he's past the check-out desk, and on his way out the door. No exploding bookshelf cases today, thankfully.
So Andromena wasn't about to let the state of affairs between the two boys distract her from a compliment. Beaming as she was, Andromena practically missed Julian's departure! But not quite. Her smile slipped, and she peered after the other boy with furrowed brows. It would have been so easy to call out to him, to say anything. Oftentimes, however, things that seem easy never are; thus Julian was allowed to leave the library in relative silence.
"People are just difficult," said in a voice that was more resigned than anything else. Her book was flung open, but she didn't really look at it. "I think you owe me a number," this in a much more light-hearted, nay, playful tone. "Though from the looks of things I'd guess it can't possibly be many." Edwards was gone; no reason to remain in a negative mood.
Alphard smirked at Julian's back, before slowly letting his attentions turn back towards Andromena. "A number?" he asked, and it took him a couple of moments before he remembered the tail end of that conversation they'd had. A sly smile bled into his lips, and it had its own darkly charisma now that it wasn't covered with haughty superioty. "Mhmm. Meanie, didn't I tell you you aught to have gone searching for that yourself? Besides, looks can decieve." Which.. was true. He grimaced suddenly, aware of all the bumps and bruises he'd suffered in the game. "Way too many. But worth it."
"So that's how it is to be!" Said with a laugh. Truth be told, she was thankful Julian had left without things resorting to a fight between he and Alphard. Folding her arms across her chest, Andromena gave a haughty little 'hmph'. "Winning is always worth it," she informed Alphard. There was a unique glint that had taken up residence within her eyes. Something that rarely surfaced, but did indeed dwell within the young woman: competitive spirit! What else could be expected from someone that strove ardently to achienve perfection in all that they did? One could say the two went hand in hand.
"In any case, I really did come here to study. I even took the liberty of taking notes for you." Which she presented to him in short order. "Study with me, if you want," no, she wouldn't beg for his time. Pfah! "But I won't keep you."
"Studying sounds good," Alphard replied.
FADE TO BLACK, STUDYTIME.