Details for Different Scenery, Different View |
Summary: | A congenial walk around the lake becomes a tense debate on blood purity. |
Date: | Friday, November 18, 1941 |
Location: | Hogwarts Great Hall -> Black Lake Shore |
Related: | — |
Characters |
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It's some time after breakfast, and with no scheduled classes until the afternoon, that means the majority of Tavish's free time is taken up by studying. Which, admittedly, he rarely does in the great hall, because it's noisy and crowded and frankly the benches aren't all that comfortable. But all of his usual secluded spots are occupied, much to his consternation, so he'd ended up back down here with a stack of parchments and an even bigger stack of books. He's camped out at one end of the Ravenclaw table, quill held frozen over a sheet of scribbled arithmancy formulae as he scans a page of his textbook.
Possibly skipping a class, Alexander waltzes into the great hall with a scowl towards anyone that even thinks about bumping him. His eyes scan the area with a look of distaste, having been unable to track down a certain dark haired teen in his usual spots. When he finally spots the culprit, Alexander sighs in relief and walks towards the Ravenclaw table, ignoring the sneers that came from the Slytherin table. He slides into the bench across from Tavish, his back facing the Slytherin table and a sly grin on his face, "Hey there." He says innocently.
Mackenzie sits at the Slytherin table by herself, books open in front of her. She leans over one reading, her lips moving silently to herself. She doesn't seem to notice as other people enter and leave the room, no matter how much noise they make. For the most part, she's quiet and unobtrusive, until suddenly she slams her forehead down on the book and nearly yells, "I DON'T GET IT!" She beats her head a couple of times against the book before sighing out and just remaining in that position with a groan.
Tavish holds up a silencing finger to Alexander without actually looking up at him, eyes narrowing as they skim rapidly over text. Finally, he frowns, and turns back to his parchment, crossing out several lines of numbers. "I thought I was onto something there," he says. "Back to the drawing board." He flips to a fresh parchment and starts to write, but his quill stops abruptly against the paper when Mackenzie's voice cuts through the relatively low din of the great hall. Too late, he pulls his quill away, but there's already a large blob of ink on it. He sighs and flips to another piece. "She's in your House," he says to Alexander, voice low. "You should go make sure she's alright." He makes a little 'go, go' shooing gesture at his friend.
Rolling his eyes at being given the silent treatment, Alexander leans on the table with his elbow, his chin in his open palm as he awaits for Tavish to finish being his nerdy self. When the male finally starts mumbling to himself, Alexander's eyes flick back to him, raising an eyebrow in question. He completely ignores the groan that comes from behind him, a little to the left, and would have continued to ignore the sounds if it was not for Tavish's sudden shooing. He lets out a long sigh of breath, leaning back and turning slightly to turn towards the owner of the groans, Mackenzie, "Oi? You're good? Good." He turns back around, waving a hand as he speaks to Tavish, "She's fine."
Mackenzie raises her head upon being spoken to, looking about confusedly before realizing who the speaker was. She gives Alexander a strange look for his concern and stares for a long moment before turning her attention back to her books. She sighs at the Transfiguration textbook and closes it, rubbing her hand over the cover softly.
For a long moment, Tavish does nothing but level Alexander with an unimpressed glare, before he closes his own book and stands from the table, circling around it so he can instead seat himself across from Mackenzie at the Slytherin table. Not exactly the first time he's sat here, but still. It feels a little weird. "Are you alright?" he asks, genuinely (unlike, for instance, Alexander).
Unfazed by Tavish's glare, Alexander simply continues to grin back until Tavish suddenly stands up, the grin turning into a groan as Alexander quite literally lays his upper body on the table, arms stretching out and curling around the other side of the table like a child throwing a tantrum. Knowing where Tavish is heading, Alexander grumbles to himself, causing a few first year Ravenclaws to turn and give him weird looks. Alexander levels them with a glare that surpasses the glare he was given earlier, causing the kids to squeak and scoot down further the table. Alexander stays where he is, not wanting to be thrown into whatever study troubles that are happening.
Looking over at Tavish's approach, Mackenzie nods singularly. "Transfiguration is just getting to me today," she says in a reasonable tone of voice, "I need to take a break for awhile." She gives the Ravenclaw a lopsided grin, adding, "The answers will probably come to me in a dream." She reaches up, running her hand through her hair over her head and spreading the long, straight strands about her shoulders roguishly.
Tavish nods slowly, eyes moving back and forth between the Transfiguration book and Mackenzie for a moment or two. "Sometimes your own viewpoint isn't enough to overcome a problem," he says, not unkindly. The 'you' is obviously more generic than directed at Mackenzie. "Maybe a change of scenery?" he offers.
Sighing from his position, Alexander straightens himself out with a grumble. He leans against the table with his elbow, his chin in his palm (like earlier) and lets his eyes fall onto both Tavish and Mackenzie. No, he does not plan on joining the study club, but he doesn't mind simply watching the conversation play out. He clicks his tongue a few times in distaste, he always hates the thought of studying.
Mackenzie rolls her shoulders in a shrug. For a moment, she glances at Alexander and then gives a slight smirk before focusing back on Tavish. "If you had somewhere in mind you wanted to go, I could be up for stretching my legs a bit," she says. She begins to clean up her mess of papers and books scattered around into a neat pile and then shoves them in her bag before turning on the bench to better face Tavish.
It's almost like Tavish can feel the weight of Alexander's eyes on the back of his neck, and his annoyance is visible in the slow but steady downturn of the corners of his mouth. "Sure, I suppose." He stands back up and returns to the Ravenclaw table so he can gather his things together, sliding them carefully into his bag before he grabs Alexander by the collar. "Get up, you lazy arse," he mutters, all but bodily dragging his friend to his feet. "A walk around the lake?" he asks, to Mackenzie. No, Alex, you don't get a say.
Alexander narrows his eyes when Mackenzie's met his, the smirk on her lips rubbing him completely the wrong way. He's nearly about to say so but cut himself off from the confrontation when Tavish makes his way back to the Ravenclaw table to collect his crap. He gazes at Tavish with a raised eyebrow, "Mackenzie get under your skin alr-ack!" Alexander chokes his reply, the dragging of his collar grabbing him by surprise, "Easy, man, you trying to kill me?" He growls, his voice low and nearly dark, as he climbs off the bench and stands at full height. His facial expression turns into one of boredom as he looks up into the air for help or death, but follows Tavish nonetheless.
Mackenzie stands, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder as she makes her way over to Tavish and his hostage. "This'll be interesting," she murmurs to herself, taking a deep breath and plastering a smile on her face. "That sounds nice," she says to Tavish's suggestion congenially. She pulls her scarf out of her bag and wraps it around her neck, pinning her long hair down beneath it for extra warmth. Slipping her gloves on one hand after another, she pauses, waiting for Tavish and Alexander to lead the way.
"If only," Tavish says, beleaguered, but he only smacks Alex on the arm as he starts to button up his cardigan. "She's in your House, you could have a little bit more sympathy," he mutters, then flashes Mackenzie a tight, but genuine, smile. "I'm sure Alexander could give us a nice talk about the magical creatures that live in the loch." As he says this, he not-so-subtly elbows Alexander in the side as they walk towards the double doors leading out of the great hall.
Even after the group found themselves outside on the lake shore, Alexander is still grumbling under his breath as he rubs his side. Only a few words can be caught, such as "hurt", "Tavish", and "jerk". He trails a little behind both Mackenzie and Tavish, his other hand pulling at his tie as though it's choking him (even though it very obviously was not). "So what exactly are we learning?" He growls loud enough for the two to hear, looking up and blinking in surprise to see that they're the same height.
"Something interesting, I hope," Mackenzie says, "I'm not up for another boring Care of Magical Creatures lecture." She walks beside Tavish slowly, her attention drawn to the lake beside them as she watches the ripples across the surface. She shifts the bag on her shoulder a bit to get more comfortable, forces a pleasant smile onto her face, and then looks back at Alexander.
Tavish doesn't look back at Alexander. It's almost as if he knows his friend is having a fit and isn't willing to acknowledge him. "More than you were learning when you were bothering me instead of working on the final draft of that Potions treatise," he replies. His hands are in his jacket pockets as he walks next to Mackenzie, matching her slow pace. "A change of physical viewpoint can oftentimes change your mental viewpoint."
Alexander simply chuckles at Mackenzie's comment about not wanting to hear a lecture on his favorite subject, shaking his head, "I doubt you would enjoy my lecturing skills anyway." He replies, raising an eyebrow at her smile towards him. He turns his attention to Tavish, rolling his eyes, "In my absolute defense, I finished that last minute and got a perfect score. Otherwise what kind of Parkinson would I be?" He mutters, putting his arms behind his head, his gaze focusing on the sky as makes his own pace slower than the two chatter boxes, knowing otherwise he would quite literally run them over.
Mackenzie loses interest in Alexander fairly swiftly, turning her attention to Tavish instead. "Tell me a bit about yourself, Mister Urquart," she says congenially, "I know so dreadfully little about those outside of my own house." One hand grasps the strap of the bag on her shoulder, the other sways comfortably at her side. Her bright green eyes search Tavish out, looking for something she may or may not find.
Finally deigning to glance back over his shoulder at Alexander, Tavish just says, "Of course you did," and turns back around with a long-suffering sigh. There's a moment, after, when Mackenzie directs her attention at him, that the Ravenclaw has little to say. "I'm afraid I'm not very interesting," is what he apparently decides on.
Alexander rolls his eyes at the dismissive ways of not just one but two people! How rude. Alexander nearly grumbles under his breath again, but instead decides to gaze from the sky to Mackenzie. He is curious as to why she's questioning Tavish, especially since she did not seem to notice him before. His eyes narrow for a moment, mentally promising to involve himself if he notices anything uncomfortable occur, before looking back up at the sky, staying silent.
"How droll of an answer," Mackenzie responds, "Come now, you must have some quirk or bad habit that will provide some entertainment." She smiles pleasantly at Tavish, her eyes on him expectantly as she slowly makes her way around the large lake. The wind blows at her hair, pulling some strands free of the scarf as the cold turns her nose and cheeks pink.
"Hardly my intent. It's just the truth." Tavish steps over a piece of driftwood washed up on the shore, head turning to track something out on the water with his eyes. They come upon a large rock half-sunken into the sand and he stops at it, frowning slightly. "Carefully curated blandness is a successful method of social camouflage. Wouldn't you say?" He looks away from the water then, pale eyes focusing on Mackenzie for a heartbeat or two before he breaks contact.
Alexander shakes his head at Tavish's response to Mackenzie's question. He removes his hands from the back of his hand, stuffing him in his pockets as the wind nips at his exposed forearm and chest. "Social camouflage, huh?" He mutters, chuckling under his breath. Already knowing anything and everything about Tavish, Alexander doesn't consider the shorter male to be bland. Rather than voicing this, of course, Alexander stays silent. He has to keep up the "bad boy" air around him, especially in front of Mackenzie!
"Social camouflage?" Mackenzie repeats, "Why would you want to hide? Is Ravenclaw such a bad house that you don't want to be known in it?" She reaches up with a hand, pushing her hair out of her face only for the wind to blow it right back in. Quickly giving up on the effort, her eyes focus on Tavish's, never breaking contact beyond what is necessary to keep herself from tripping and falling.
Tavish resumes walking, hands still in the pockets of his cardigan, looking particularly unbothered by the weather. He's from Scotland, after all. "No more than the other Houses, I suspect," he replies. "And 'disguise' would be the more accurate word. Camouflage isn't solely the tool of the fearful." He walks silently for a time, pace still leisurely, before he looks back at Mackenzie. "What about you, then? Alexander doesn't speak overly much of his Housemates."
Alexander can't help but roll his eyes at Mackenzie's assumption that Tavish would hide himself simply because of the House he was in. Ravenclaw is a House of some of the most intelligent students in Hogwarts, the House is definitely not below any other. At the mention of his name, Alexander perks up for just a moment to pay attention, only to turn his attention away with a glower at the lake. There's a reason why he does not speak much regarding those within his House.
"Anything he would say about me would be negative anyways," Mackenzie says casually, "He seems to approve of the half-blooded chicken, so he winds up in tangles with half of the house - myself included." She shrugs offhandedly, the insult to the girl coming naturally to her lips as if she isn't even trying to be insulting but merely telling the truth.
Though he doesn't react overtly, Tavish's gaze grows distant, and briefly darkens. He takes this information in and sorts it accordingly. "That much I'm aware of, yes," he replies coolly, "I'm curious as to what would emerge from facing that level of adversity so young. I suppose she was sorted into Slytherin for a reason, though, and I'm hardly one to question the Hat's expertise. Don't you think, Alexander?" He doesn't bother looking back.
Alexander tenses at Mackenzie's insult towards the half-blood, the hands in his pockets balling into fists as he turns his glare to the back of the girl's head. While Alexander may not lower himself to punch a female, he has no problem with exchanging words. The fire in his chest dies, slightly, at Tavish's pointed question towards him. With two steps, Alexander shows up beside his friend, his eyes now facing forward as he speaks, "The Sorting Hat does not make mistakes, at least none that I have seen. Maybe he believes that Slytherins need to be kicked off their highchair." He states, keeping the same pace as the other two.
Mackenzie glances over at Alexander for a moment, an amused smirk crossing her face before she shakes her head and looks in front of her, focusing on where she's walking instead. "Salazar Slytherin wanted this house to be for Pure-bloods only, and with reason," she replies in a reasonable tone of voice, "It is only at Headmaster Dumbledore's insistence that it tried to integrate the house with those of lesser blood." She rolls her shoulders in a shrug. "And look where his insistence has gotten him," she continues, "The girl doesn't have a moment of peace or any friends. She doesn't belong."
"We cannot remain beholden to the wishes of the founders. They were exemplary witches and wizards, but they weren't all-knowing, and the world was much different a thousand years ago." Tavish tilts his head to acknowledge Alexander's presence, but says nothing to his friend, though one corner of his mouth does twitch just a bit at 'highchair'. Forgive him, he couldn't help it. "Shame to hear, though. Who knows what she might be capable of if given the same chances as the rest of Slytherin."
Not noticing Mackenzie's smirk, or deciding to completely ignore it, Alexander clicks his tongue in thought, but otherwise stays silent as Tavish speaks. "The Sorting Hat would not have been swayed by Headmaster Dumbledore's wishes, no matter persuasive he may be." Alexander stays facing forward but his eyes flicker to the two beside him before he looks back forward, continuing speaking after the small pause, "The girl may not have friends in Slytherin, but I truly doubt the other houses would be so narrow minded and turn their back on her. They are usually much more open minded than the average Slytherin." A grin plays at his lips, emphasizing the word average as though it was a weapon.
Mackenzie seems completely unaffected by Alexander's implication; in fact, if anything she looks amused. "We are all swayed by the Headmaster's wishes, whether we like it or not, the Hat is no different," she says factually, "A thousand years and never once has a half-blood or mudblood been sorted into Slytherin, and then suddenly he becomes Headmaster and everything changes? He disbands the Magijugend, gets rid of SCUMS…" She shakes her head slowly.
Tavish's chin lifts, eyes raising to the murky sky. "From the horror stories I've heard of SCUMS, it was a disgrace to Hogwarts and magical education world-wide. Two months of time wasted. I'm still surprised by how many Ravenclaws managed to catch up in their O.W.L.s studying after that travesty," he says. The Magijugend gets nothing but a faintly disgusted wrinkle of his nose.
Raising an eyebrow, Alexander lets Tavish finish speaking before adding a comment of his own. "The Magijugend were disbanded not because of Headmaster Dumbledore, but rather because of the overall view of Gellert Grindelwald most individuals had." His voice was dripping with boredom, as though he was repeating himself. He removes his hands from his pockets to stretch his arms above his head, his voice turning into a lighter tone as he speaks again, "Does this change of scenery help you, Mackenzie?" He asks, letting one of his arms fall and slip back into his pocket as the other covers a yawn that escapes Alexander's lips.
Mackenzie halts in her place, staring ahead for a moment as she purses her lips. "Yes, I do think it has," her smile and voice seem sincere as she says, "I thank you for the time out, but I think it's time I get back to my studying. I refuse to fall behind in class." She lowers her head slightly to the boys in a demure way, before easily turning and striding away from them back to the castle alone.
"Of course," Tavish says, and if there's been any shift in the dynamic since the topic turned to Grindelwald, Muggle-borns, and blood purity, there's no evidence of it in his voice. He sounds practically pleasant, even. "Everyone in Hogwarts deserves to succeed." He watches Mackenzie go, expression neutral, and it isn't until she's a good fifteen or so meters away does Tavish turn and punch Alexander on the arm, hard. "This is why you're supposed to do the talking when someone seems upset," he hisses out under his breath.
Alexander doesn't say anything, simply nodding his head as goodbye. He watches her leave for just a moment before turning back to Tavish, raising an eyebrow at him with an air of arrogance, "Did you have fun meeting M-ACK!" Alexander yelps in pain, jumping back and staring at Tavish with a dumbfounded look, "There is a reason why I did not go over there, you're the one that assumed I was being lazy and uncaring!" He growls, but looking more like a wounded kitten than a fierce animal. He rubs his arm for a moment, grumbling under his breath, before pulling his arm back and slamming a fist into Tavish's arm, although not nearly as hard. "Now you know to ask rather than assume." He states with a firm nod, grinning at Tavish.