(1939-11-13) Trust In Dumbledore
Details for Trust In Dumbledore
Summary: Angelus finds Madeline to find out if she's going to tell Rena about the rumours. And it ends with uncertainties.
Date: November 13, 1939
Location: Greenhouses, Hogwarts
Related: A Killer In Our Midst
Characters
AngelusMadeline

The greenhouses are warm, and quiet - and it smells a bit like home. All the earthy-ness, and green things growing. After tending to some plants for a project, Madeline had settled down on a crate with her practice chanting. It emits a quiet droning sound - at a much, much more reasonable volume than the early morning bagpipes had been - as she practices a new song.

After hurrying all the way up to the tower, Angelus is now meandering around one of the greenhouses with a rather pensive expression on his face. He barely notices his surroundings even as he glances around, not really seeing as his eyes take on a more distanced look. As the youth rounds the greenhouse and opens the door, he blinks, arching a brow as he hesitates by the entrance. Letting out a, “Heh,” as a grin lightly tugs at his lips, his blue eyes land on the girl as he approaches. He doesn’t say anything while she plays.

Madeline looks up and spots Angelus standing there, her lips quirking upwards at the corners for a moment as she nods her head in greeting - but she doesn't stop playing, her fingers moving methodically over the holes on her chanter as she picks out a simple tune with a look of concentration. She's really gotten pretty good at the circular breathing thing - there isn't a pause in her playing.

Angelus lifts a hand in a wave when the girl looks to him, offering a nod. Then he clasps his hands behind his back, shifts on his feet, and watches her with a slight tilt to his head. He listens, brow lifting a little, and a smile flicking out against his lips. Eventually he’ll move, stepping closer and finding another crate to sit on, legs spread over the sides and facing her.

Madeline doesn't stop until she's done with the song - but once she is, she lowers the chanter and takes a few deep breaths. "Hey," she greets him simply.

And Angelus waits patiently for her to finish the song. When she does, his hands come around to clap. “Impressive,” he offers, flicking out a smile. “Macmillan appears to be a very good teacher.”

"He's not bad. He says I'm picking up on it pretty good, though," Madeline says with a note of pride in her voice. "Plus, I wanna get real good at it before I go home for the holidays - my da' is gonna have a fit!" she exclaims, before letting out a giggle.

An amused chuckle escapes Angelus, bobbing his head. “Heh, well it certainly sounds good.” He lets out a sigh as he shifts his seat a little. “You hear about the rumours about the new girl?” His voice drops, despite the fact that no one else is present. “What do you think?”

Madeline beams - though her expression goes more serious in the light of Angelus' questions. "Oh, umm, about… uhhh… Leander Fox?" she asks. "I heard," she admits. "I dunno what ta think. I mean - it's an unforgivable curse, right? Folks that do that are s'pposed to go to Azkaban. But… well, she was only a fifth year when she did it, right? If she did it. Did she do it? I just can't imagine that Dumbledore would have her here if she was dangerous…"

Angelus seems to think that talking in almost a whisper is better than being too loud - as if the shadows, or the plants, could hear and talk. “That’s like, next year for me.” His eyes widen and he lifts a hand to slide his fingers over his mouth. “Fifth,” he murmurs out, and shakes his head in disbelief, blinking. “I’ve been imagining how Durmstrang must be like.” He frowns, his hand disappearing into his robes to touch his wand as if for comfort. “Heh. Can you imagine a school that only accepts their students if they sign something like what Flint did?” He grimaces at the thought and shakes his head. “Huh? Oh, yes, I trust Dumbledore’s judgement. He’s always been a brilliant Head of House, hasn’t he?” He smiles proudly at that, but then shakes his head again. “I think it’s lame that people can’t keep things quiet and let out rumours. New girl comes to join our school and now she has to deal with that? Wouldn’t you hate that?”

"No. I can't really imagine- well, I can imagine a school like that, but I'd rather not," Madeline responds gravely, a frown on her features. "And, well, if… if she’s really done what they say she's done… then… well, she's gotta expect it, doesn't she? Can't really go to the school of the kid you killed and expect everyone's gonna welcome you. I mean, I never new Leander Fox, but… you musta. Everyone third year and up knew him." She shifts uneasily on her seat asking, "But do we know if she did it?"

“It’s not for everyone to know,” Angelus says quickly. He shakes his head and lets out a sigh. His lips flicker weakly and he glances down, tapping his fingers against his knee. “If she did I think we shouldn’t try to make her feel bad if she’s feeling remorse and try to be welcoming.” He looks down, shifting in on his seat as he thinks, looking concerned. “Sparks, I think the guilt would kill me…” he murmurs out, shakes his head, and sighs as he looks up to Madeline. “Anyway,” he says, his lips twitching lightly, “you aren’t going to tell Auror Odori about the rumours, are you?”

Madeline shifts uneasily at the question. "I, well, ummm… I hadn't decided," she admits. "We shouldn't be hiding stuff like that from the Aurors Office," she explains. "I mean, it's important, and it could be dangerous, and it's their job to sort this out, and if she didn't do it she won't get in trouble and, well, maybe she was too little to get into trouble - she hadn't had OWLs yet.

"But… but it's an unforgivable curse, and what if she did do it, and she really is sorry, and she gets carted off to Azkaban anyways… I oughtta forgive folks when they make mistakes. But Rena believes in forgiving folks when they make a mistake!" But she's an Auror. And it'd be her job to do something about it…

"I haven't decided," she repeats.

Angelus fixes his blue eyes on Madeline as she speaks, nodding his head as he listens. Once she’s finished, he says without hesitation, “I don’t think you should tell her.” He lets out a breath and nods once. “I’m sure Dumbledore would have sorted everything out. You know he knows what he’s doing. So I think we should stay out of it in case we cause more trouble.” He shrugs lightly. “Wouldn’t you feel terrible if you sentenced someone that’s trying to make it better to Azkaban just by letting an Auror know when you shouldn’t have?” As Angelus rises to his feet, he reaches out to pat Madeline on the shoulder. “I can’t imagine how angry or upset Parkinson must be, but she shouldn’t have done that.” He shakes his head. “We’re going to stay out of it though, right? Let Dumbledore do as he is?”

"I don't know," Madeline admits, still looking unconvinced. "I wanna do the right thing. It's just… it's all so messy, I don't know what is the right thing, yet." She lets out a heavy sigh.

"…what did Parkinson do, anyways? I heard she stabbed her with one of those Magijugend Means Murder pins and that Rosenbots," yes, she gets Valda's name wrong, "had to go to the infirmary to see Madame Spleen."

“It’s a struggle, isn’t it?” says Angelus as he lifts a brow. “Trying to figure out what the right thing to do is.” He glances down, taking on a perplexed look for a brief moment as he tilts his head. A ‘heh’ escapes him, and he looks to her. “What?” He frowns at her at the mention of the pin, but he releases a sigh and buries the annoyance with a soft smile. He shakes his head. “I- I don’t think so. I couldn’t really see, but I think she just pinned it and Rozenblats,” he purposely says her name as he gives Madeline a look, “flipped out about it. If that’s not guilt for you…” Gel sighs, lifts a hand, and shakes his head. “I wish there was a way to just end all this bloody vengeance and wars and just act nice to one another. There’s always someone who doesn’t forgive…” he murmurs out.

"Oh," Madeline answers. "So… you do think she did it. Rozenblats." She says the name properly this time, looking a bit sheepish at her mistake. "But she feels really bad?" She looks down at the chanter in her hands. "Maybe if I could talk to her… I'd know what to do better. But why would she talk to some little second year about it? I do wish everyone could just forgive and act nice and no more wars - you know that. But… We have to follow the laws, don't we? It's wrong not to."

Oh yes, because his family is totally following the law. Ahem. Angelus tilts his head, regarding Madeline in thought before his lips twitch lightly. “Heh, I just saw her in the courtyard. I don’t really know her.” He lifts his shoulders in a shrug. “But from what I saw? She seemed guilty when Parkinson was harassing her about it. Why would she feel guilty if she didn’t feel really bad? Don’t tell an Auror about it, Evans. Dumbledore has to know, so let him deal with it.” He lowers his head to think a second, and then adds, “Sometimes it’s not our place to tell something that we’ve found out.” A brow lifts and he eyes Madeline. “Right, Evans?”

If not for the way Angelus was eyeing her, the reference would have gone right over her head. Madeline's not thinking about her own secrets right now. "…that's different and you know it," she answers quietly. She looks back down at her chanter and lets out a heavy sigh. "I wish I didn't know anything about this. But if anyone's like to forgive - I mean, if there's any auror it'd be safe to tell - it'd be Rena, right? And this is adult stuff, for sure. Not kid stuff. But I just don't know."

“Tell me about it,” says Angelus, smirking. “I wish I wasn’t there when Parkinson said what she did.” He rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “People are entitled to have secrets, especially when it isn’t hurting people. Anymore,” he adds. He watches Madeline, shifting on his feet and letting out a heavy sigh. “Yes, if you were going to tell an Auror, Odori’s probably the one I’d go to. But she is still an Auror, what if you sentence the girl to Azkaban? What if-“ But Angelus cuts off, falling into his thoughts as he frowns. When he shifts his gaze to Madeline, he smirks. “Odori probably would handle it properly… I don’t know, Evans.” He gives his head a shake. “I still stand by letting the Headmaster handle everything.”

"I'd feel awful," Madeline agrees with Angelus quietly. "That's why I kinda wish I could talk to her - to Rosen- Rozenblats, that is. But I don't see why she'd talk to me." She frowns. "What 'm I supposed to do? Walk up to her and say 'hi! Would you talk to me about if you used the killing curse or not 'n how you feel about it so I can decide if I'm telling the Aurors or not?' Yeah. That'd work."

Angelus nods slowly. “I think she might appreciate it if people don’t bring it up,” he comments lightly. “But it might be a nice thing if you went to talk to her, to meet her. She could probably use friends right now…” Angelus trails off, letting out a ‘heh.’ “I’m going to head out,” he says, jerking a thumb towards the door. “Just think about hose bagpipes, Evans. You’ve gotten quite good at them.” He waves his hand as he starts to turn.

Madeline nods her head, still looking solemn, confused and uncertain. At the compliment to her playing, though, she smiles. "Thanks. I'll keep practicing. Just, you know, not in the common room."

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