| Details for Unburstable Bubble |
| Summary: | Myrus is in the Owl Tower, Melody finds him, and Cara is kind of… lurking. But when the talk turns to Animagus forms, Cara's optimism about one day becoming one proves hard to shake. |
| Date: | 5 november 1939 |
| Location: | Owl Tower, Hogwarts |
| Related: | — |
| Characters |
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Fjurik screeches, seeing Myrus coming up with a hand in his pocket. The owl knew what that meant. Fresh mouse. As Myrus sets it on the window sill in front of the owl, it scurries furiously towards somewhere to hide but only in vain. The feast begins, and it ends just as quickly. Myrus' fingers scritch on the back of the owl's head, and the bird is want only to half lid his eyes and enjoy the attention. "Fjurik, what should I do? She makes me happy, but I'm so worried that the second I let myself open up to her completely, something will go wrong." A deep breath, looking at the bird leaning into his hand without a care in the world for human teenage boy problems.
"Psh.. dumb bird," more a term of endearment as Rus insults the bird all the while showing loving attention to it and he half sits on the window sill, looking out the window this cool afternoon down at the grounds where other students are spending their free time before it gets darker earlier this time of year.
Music floats through the halls of the school, coming from somewhere in the upper towers, although clearly not the Owl Tower. It's an instrument that Myrus at least has heard before, although the song is different. It may well have been heard also, but from one of the Higgins brood, not from the blond Hufflepuff that learned it not long ago. Melody has stopped her drifting long enough to play a song for some housemates, tarrying after it's conclusion to talk about the Charms homework. She even offers to help a third year student that's having a bit of a struggle. In the midst of the conversation, one of the girls smirks, and mentions off-handedly, "You know, Abernathy, I saw that Lowe bloke not too long ago. Looked like he was heading up for the owls."
This morning, Cara had been strolling through the hallways before her classes began, people watching and enjoying a small bag of chocolates she purchased last Hogsmeade weekend. But then she notices Myrus Lowe. Trying her best not to be conspicuous about it, she casually strolls his direction, thinking to greet him and talk about the weather or something. But when he headed up stairs and stairs of staircases, she found herself more curious as to his destination than excited to converse. And so, she began to follow him, telling herself that it's not a big deal. But of course, whenever he looked back, her heart skipped a beat and she made a bee-line for the nearest dark corner or large column. Such was the case all the way past the air bridge and into the Owl Tower itself. Unfortunately, she did not prepare herself for the more chilly temperatures, having left her gloves and scarf and even her robe back in the girl's dormitory. So, wearing her white headbands, vest, oxford shirt, gray skirt, stockings, and Mary Janes, she dashes towards the best hiding spot in the Tower to listen in. Her eyes widen. 'Open up to her?' She glances around nervously, chewing her lower lip. Who could the boy be talking about? She hears a bit of music in the distance, but thinks nothing of it, too distracted by her own thoughts and worries all throughout.
Myrus wasn't oblivious. But he's learning a bit from Melody in how to seem like he's not paying attention. Or maybe she's just rubbing off on him. He knew someone was following him. And more likely he didn't know who it exactly was, but he had a guess.
But once he was in the tower, and began conversing with Fjurik, that feeling dissipated. So for now, he keeps asking the bird questions. "So, if I tell her how I feel, you're saying she'll be putty in my hands? What a liar you are." He says that last bit through a laugh, a breeze whipping through the owl tower but neither he nor his owl are affected, since down feathers and Myrus' winter robes both kept out the cold well enough.
"I mean, if she really likes me, she'll look past my problems if I can't fix them, right?" Like this anger deep down that he gets from his mother's side of the family. "But I prefer 'Carrow' over 'Lowe'. Wouldn't father love that?" Continuously giving Fjurik attention while he talks.
The music did make Myrus pause while he heard it, but went back to looking at his owl after it fades out.
In the other tower, Melody perks as the subject of a certain Ravenclaw comes up. Having very little in the way of guile, her response is likely expected, her smile toothy and wide. "Brilliant." She pauses, looking around to the direction in which she would need to go, then turns back. "Ta," she chirps simply, turning away again in a swirl of her robes and heading off. The girls staying giggle among themselves, one remarking, "She has no clue about playing hard to get."
Light, quick steps take Melody on her way, her flute getting tucked away as she goes, and by the time she trots into the doorway of the Owl Tower there's a pink flush to her cheeks. She announces herself at once, with a cheery, "Hallo, Myrus."
Cara has not the slightest clue if Myrus is aware of her, though she certainly hopes not. She is presently huddled up against one of those recessed arches, doing her best to keep her breathing under control if for no other reason than to better hear the boy's words. She feels her ears heat at the thought that Myrus is actually talking about -her-. 'Tell me how he feels?' Her heart thuds in her chest at the mere image of it. Suddenly, a gust of cold wind slithers through the arches of the tower, forcing her to shiver from the chill. She hugs herself and tugs at the sleeves of her vest, gritting her teeth to keep them from chattering out her position. But then the boy speaks of his own 'problems,' like such a thing exists for him, and she arches a brow in surprise. 'Carrow over Lowe?' She'll have to remember that. And then Melody arrives out of completely nowhere. In her current location, she may be hidden from Myrus, but she is in awful plain sight to the other girl. Her eyes widen and her mouth falls agape, both in shock and no small amount of fear. Somehow, she keeps herself from actually gasping, but her spine remains stiff with worry nonetheless. She hurriedly presses a finger to her lips and puts on a timid little pleading expression.
The Ravenclaw boy turns his head when he hears his name, and a big smile crosses his face. "Well hello there, Mel." He stands, a final scratch to the side of Fjurik's head and he steps towards Melody, right up to her with his arms reaching up to put around her waist and hug, if she didn't move away. But his eyes wouldn't move around and about to see if anyone was there, merely tilt his head down to put a cheek against Melody's temple. But again, that's if she doesn't move away or do something to impede him.
Being somewhat unobservant as she is, or at least seems to most, and being distracted by sight of the target of her little scamper through the upper reaches of the castle, Melody doesn't see anyone else in the area at once. She waits for him to approach, and her arms go up and around Myrus' neck for a return of the hug. The embrace lingers for a moment, but is still fairly brief and holds to a certain propriety. As she's taking a single step back, brown eyes happen to fall on the younger girl. She doesn't speak to betray the presence, but a curious look settles on her face and she doesn't look away from Cara immediately. She could be just her usual level of distracted, or, if he's paying enough attention, Myrus might notice that something has her attention for a moment. Melody blinks a time or two, before tearing her gaze away and returning it to Myrus. "Enid Dutton said she saw you coming up this way."
Cara is frozen in place with stunned anxiety as Myrus actually walks up to Melody. All he needs to do now is glance behind him or turn towards his owl, and it's quite likely he'd see her. But she finds herself additionally surprised to see the boy so familiar with the Hufflepuff girl. Her mouth gapes even wider to see them actually -embrace-. They're just longtime friends or something, right? Right? Or perhaps that's just how Sixth Years greet one another. She'll have to ask around about that one. When it feels like it takes an eternity for Melody to look away from her, she makes a gesture with her hand, waving in the direction of the boy, trying her best to get her to look elsewhere. She breathes out a quiet exhalation of relief when she finally does so, and then she begins to glance around for a better hiding spot. Curse this circular tower.
Myrus does in fact notice something catching Melody's attention, and glances over at Cara. But it's no biggie, right? She's the other beater on the Ravenclaw team. What she does in her spare time is her business. "Hey Goyle, didn't see you over there." Then attention back to Melody.
"Well, on the topic of Dutton, she has a pension for gossip." Even though he saw Cara, he isn't perturbed by her presence, really. But he does find it odd, but just shrugs it off anyhow.
"So, I was thinking we could go head up to the Three Broomsticks next Hogsmeade Weekend. Us and some friends after I'm done at the farm. What you say?" Grab a few drinks, stumble back to Hogwarts, sleep it off and repeat.
"But she did tell me where you went," Melody says lightly, clearly forgiving her housemate's gossipy tendencies. And now that Myrus has seen and greeted Cara himself, surely it's alright for Melody to do so as well. She leans slightly, looking over to the younger girl as she offers a bright, "Hallo, Goyle." Wondering about the motivations of other students when they choose to lurk about in the shadows is another thing that Melody doesn't really excel at, so she gives it no more thought than Myrus. The proposition has her looking at him for a moment, perhaps considering the options, perhaps just a moment of blank, before she nods agreeably. "Alright." Pause. "May I come see you at the farm sometime and visit the animals?"
Cara feels her face pale in horror as Myrus actually turns towards her. It seems to happen in slow motion, first the shrug of a shoulder, then the shift of his neck, then his eyes center on her figure. She just stands there, stunned once again, for an interminably awkward moment. Eventually, she forces her back to relax and even pushes a smile onto her lips. She goes for casual, but it likely looks as though she's just bitten into a sour treat, "h-hey, Lowe. A-abernathy. Funny to…t-to find you all the w-way up here." A calculated roll of her eyes, "you t-two are loud enough to w-wake the dead. If I w-wanted to, I could sneak up on you a-and you wouldn't e-even notice." She swallows, clearing her throat, sauntering nonchalantly over, "a few drinks at Three Broomsticks? S-sounds like fun." And then she realizes the boy might not actually be talking to her. The faintest pink blossoms across her cheeks, but it's too late to take it back now. She barrels onwards and asks what feels like a dumb question, "y-you work at a farm, Lowe?"
Myrus can't argue that the gossiper did let Melody know he was here, so that's something positive. "True." He nods to her aceptance of his proposal of some time at the Three Broomsticks. It always involves drinks.
Cara talking about them being loud gets another glance, "Well, you know me on the pitch, Goyle. Nothing new to you, eh? And yeah, lots of fun. Too bad you aren't old enough, you might could come with us." He did say some friends, and Quidditch temmates were close enough.
"And of course you can come visit me. I don't know how Miss Fawley will like it, but I can ask and have Fjurik there bring you a note post haste."
Another glance at Cara with a confident nod, "Yeah, I do. Lots of fun and planning on going to work for the R.C.M.C. someday." A look to Melody, sheepish look seeming like he meant to tell that to her, first. Darnit Cara!
Melody might not have known that plan in so many words, but the two yearmates did have Care of Magical Creatures together for a couple years, and she's aware that he's still taking the class. Plus with his work at the farm, even Melody might have been able to connect the dots on that one. Maybe. "I think that's brilliant," she says to Myrus with a smile. But that curious look is back on her face as she looks to Cara again. Well, she's right, Myrus can be a bit loud, but Mel herself typically speaks quietly, often overlooked because of it, and more often than not she's talking to herself anyway. Still, it gets shrugged off with the indulgence that older students have for the younger ones. They're so cute. "She can't have butterbeer, but she could still come to the Broomsticks," she points out, in a moment of clarity.
Cara chuckles nervously and nods her head, "of course. If it wasn't for me, Clayworth wouldn't ever have had someone that could fill in as a Seeker." She licks her lips, bobbing her head again, "s-sure…if only I was old enough…" A seemingly awkward silence ensues where she feels entirely too young. Finally, the boy continues speaking, and she responds with a shy smile, "really? The R.C.M.C. That would be such an interesting job, I bet. I actually just recently received a letter from the Ministry. I had been asking about what people were on the Animagus registry." She furrows her brow, suddenly relaxing into a more casual demeanor as she continues speaking, "I don't suppose you know some of their names, do you?" She shuffles about wildly in her pockets, "I've got the list here somewhere…" She stops searching for the moment to look up hopefully at Melody, to hear she might actually still be able to go with her elders. She smiles gratefully, only to glance at Myrus with another one of her pleading expression.
Myrus nods to both of them on the positive feedback about working for the Ministry. Myrus looks at Cara on the topic of the Animagus registry, but shakes his head when she asks if he knows their names. But the subject changes so quickly to Cara possibly coming along, he looks between the two. "I guess. My thoughts on it was when I had to sit there and watch my older friends drink real drinks it wasn't much fun for me. But sure, if you still want to come, Goyle." He smiles between the two of them, looking at Melody. "So you come see me at the farm, then we'll meet Goyle and the others at the Broomsticks say, Saturday?"
"Saturday next," Melody reminds gently, since they've just had a Hogsmeade weekend pass with Halloween. The blond witch drifts away a few steps, moving aimlessly, seemingly blown by the wind that tugs at her hair, but she doesn't seem inclined to stray very far from Myrus, no more than three steps able to have her back at his side if necessary. "The farm," she says, in her light, sing-song way. "Brilliant. I hope she says yes." Mel isn't entirely unfamiliar with Camilla, since the Fawley Farm supplied most of the animals for classes in one way or another. It takes a moment while Cara digs for her list, before Melody's eyes focus and she looks at the girl. "Do you want to be an Animagus?"
Cara looks up at Myrus excitedly as he gives his approval. Her eyes shine and her lips crease up in the most sincere smile she's had all day long. She even elicits a few embarrassing giggles, "oh, thank you, thank you. I promise not to be a bother." She glances with a bit more secret gratitude to Melody, thinking the Hufflepuff girl was helping her out a bit. She's barely even listening to Myrus' exchange with Melody as she returns to patting down her skirt and shirt and vest, trying desperately to find that list. "Ah-ha!" She slips the white parchment from her inner vest pocket, with the broken seal and all, "sure, sure. Saturday next." When Melody asks her question, she proudly bobs her head, "very much so! Aside from being a Curse-Breaker, it'd be a wish come true! I love animals, and I've always dreamed of what it would be like to actually become one." She shrugs, "at will, in any case." A bright, sunny smile, "plus, I'm so curious what sort of animal I'll become! Perhaps a hippogriff, or a unicorn, or a phoenix, or a sphinx, or a chimaera, or even a dragon!" Apparently, the idea of being a mundane creature is nowhere near her thought processes. She beams, "can you imagine what it'd be like? I've heard Animagi can even speak to animals! Like, how we're speaking right now!"
Myrus nods to the confirmation of Saturday next. Upon the question if Cara wants to be an animagus, he listens to her, and finds very similar the feeling he had when he was probably a third or second year before he learned all the nuances of becoming an animagus. He never really gave up, per se, but once he found out he couldn't become a magical creature, lest they be somewhat mundane in themselves, that it was impossible.
He looks at Cara, and kindly says, "Good luck to you on that, Goyle!" Knowing full well the heartbreak she was in for, but not saying anything about it. Because he as well, would not listen to anyone until he actually spoke with his charms professor, and was told the what-for, even read straight from a book about it, did he believe. But until that happened, noone could tell him otherwise. So he'll leave her heartbreak for the charms or transfiguration professor to bare upon her poor, soon-to-be-breakable heart.
"Anyone hungry?" The bells somehow chime right at the end of his question for the eleventh hour, showing it was now time for midday meal to start. "Oh, perfect timing!"
Melody seems to be still drifting aimlessly, but she's listening to Cara and smiles at the other girl's enthusiasm. She's never wanted to be anything but a Melody, herself, although she's thought it would be fun to run through the forest on four legs sometimes, instead of two. "Wow…" A pause, of course, before she looks to Cara to finish her thought. "That would be brilliant, talking to animals." Her drifting brings her back next to Myrus as he brings up food, and the bells time their ringing so well. Melody looks at him, brown eyes wide, and she murmurs, "Perfect."
Cara lets the sunshine of her giddy jot fall upon Myrus when he wishes her luck, "thanks! This year, or next year? You'll only rarely see me as something other than a unicorn or phoenix or dragon." She giggles, "my professors will have to bribe me not to come to class in my creature form. Oh, it'll be -so- great. I've read stories upon stories about it, and nothing will ever get in my way of becoming the greatest Curse-Breaker Animagus that ever lived." She blinks, doing her best to return herself to reality, "hungry? Sure! I'm starved!" Another blink, "oh! Right. My list. Let's see here…" She unfurls the parchment and begins to read, "Enid Pettigrew, Janus Heathcote Arkham, Camilla Kharna Kwaito-Fawley, Nova Tiva, Lucian Proudmore…there are others, but…anyway. Any of those sound familiar, at least?" She giggles and bobs her head towards Melody, "to speak with animals would be sooo exciting. I wonder what they think, how they talk to one another, how they spend their day. Perhaps rather than taking afternoon tea, I'd join an Erumpet in taking an afternoon sip on a pond or river." She chuckles some more at that, eyes going distant for a moment to picture the wonder of a life in the skin of an animal.
Ok, yeah, Cara's energy about all this animagus stuff was just too much. He, a touch annoyed at her ignorance of it, turns around and looks at her, "Ok, sorry to burst your bubble, but you can only transmog into one animal, ever. Whenever you want, but it can only be one. You don't even choose what animal. And magical animals? Forget it. It's usually whatever your corporeal patronus is. And even then, if that is a magical creature, you might not even have the ability to become an animagus. It's never been documented before. No matter the hundreds of people trying hundreds of times to shift into multiple animals or magical creatures." He takes a breath, "Sorry, it just.. I didn't want to hurt your feelings, but the earlier you learn the rules of being an animagus or even becoming one, the better." Like he had to wait four years to learn the problems he was imagining up.
Myrus then looks at Melody, and Cara each in turn, "So shall we eat?" Turning toward the staircase opening to head for the great hall, offering Melody an arm for her to take.
It might actually be a little bit of a perturbed look that goes from Melody to Myrus at his lack of tact, but her eyes are gentle when they shift to Cara. "So you can still be an animal," she says softly. "You'd make a lovely doe." As they've all seen from the Halloween festivities. And it still beats a poke in the eye. The Hufflepuff looks to Myrus, her eyes settling on him for a moment as she remains motionless, before she finally takes the offered arm.
Cara nods her head excitedly to Myrus, as though she's heard all of this before. She elicits a squeak of a giggle, eyes shining even more for his words, "right? Isn't that just wonderful? Ooooh, I'm so excited! It's such a thing of luck and connection. I'm seriously, so so curious what my animal actually is. Who can say for sure?" She squees a bit, "but that's the whole fun of it!" She rolls her eyes half-heartedly, "suure, an Animagus' animal might not be magical, but I'm sure mine is! I've no doubt it is! Besides," she shrugs, "even if it isn't, I would still love to experience the thrills of becoming a wild creature. A horse, a cat, a dog. A dove, a snake, an otter. They've all got a certain magic to them anyway, you know?" She blushes faintly and giggles again to the Hufflepuff girl's words, "t-thanks! See? Even a doe would be wonderful." Either way, she turns and beams and bobs her head to the boy's question, "eat it is! So. Do any of those names sound familiar?" Her smile only marginally falters when it looks as though the boy is offering Melody his arm. Her lips actually twitch slightly when his arm is taken, and she gives the other girl as inconspicuous of a questioning glance as she can.
Myrus can't help but have to sigh and lower his head, close his eyes, and shake his head at Cara's uncaring nature of his warnings that she is wrong about animagus being a magical creature. "Fine, be disappointed later on when it hurts more, Goyle." He drably states, giving a sidelong glance at Melody as though to defend against another perturbed look from her as they start down the stairs heading to lunch.