The Eagle's Nest: Common Room

[MadMadamMalfoy]

Image credit: hermionesclone

At the top of a long spiral staircase on the west side of the castle, you come to the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room. The door bears no doorknob or keyhole, only a bronze knocker shaped like an eagle. For those able to answer the knocker’s riddle, the door will swing open to reveal an airy, circular room. The room boasts one of the best views in the castle, overlooking the school grounds and surrounding mountains.

The room is decorated in varying shades of blue and bronze, from the silks adorning the arched windows to the starry-patterned midnight blue carpet. If you happen to look up, you’ll see the same stars reflected in the domed ceiling. Even the furniture follows the blue and bronze color scheme, with plush blue chairs and sofas topped with bronze cushions scattered about the room. Portraits of famous Ravenclaw alumni hang on the walls, and a white marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw herself stands beside a door at the opposite side of the room, Through that door you’ll find the stairs to the dorms.

THe common room is designed to be warm and inviting, so why not curl up with a good book and make yourself at home?

[sweetpinkpixie]

It had been on a whim that he had filled out some lottery contest form or another found inside one of his photography magazines. The winning camera equipment had been to fantastic to resist and even if the odds were slim...one just never knew without trying. He figured nothing would come from it, which was why he was beyond surprised when an owl had arrived for him that morning at breakfast in the Great Hall with a parcel for him. It seemed much smaller in size than he expected one containing this particular set of equipment...but there could be an extension charm placed upon it to allow for everything to fit comfortably.

Either that...or he had a consolation prize nestled on his lap. Either way, he was pleased just to have received anything from it.

Drumming his fingers along the side of the box, his feet tapping on the floor as he wiggled into a comfortable position on the couch. "Okay then...let's see what you've got inside..." Cooper hummed to himself as he began to carefully open the box and...

POP

He had no idea what had hit him, literally, but there was a sort of...soft almost waxy fabric that overtook him and was massive enough to cause him and the sofa upon which he was seated to topple over. Legs just barely poking out, like some Hogwarts rendition of the Wicked Witch of the East, Cooper Emilio Branxton was now trapped beneath his very own ... Inflate-a-Troll.

....um.

[Cassirin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

It had been on a whim that he had filled out some lottery contest form or another found inside one of his photography magazines. The winning camera equipment had been to fantastic to resist and even if the odds were slim...one just never knew without trying. He figured nothing would come from it, which was why he was beyond surprised when an owl had arrived for him that morning at breakfast in the Great Hall with a parcel for him. It seemed much smaller in size than he expected one containing this particular set of equipment...but there could be an extension charm placed upon it to allow for everything to fit comfortably.

Either that...or he had a consolation prize nestled on his lap. Either way, he was pleased just to have received anything from it.

Drumming his fingers along the side of the box, his feet tapping on the floor as he wiggled into a comfortable position on the couch. "Okay then...let's see what you've got inside..." Cooper hummed to himself as he began to carefully open the box and...

POP

He had no idea what had hit him, literally, but there was a sort of...soft almost waxy fabric that overtook him and was massive enough to cause him and the sofa upon which he was seated to topple over. Legs just barely poking out, like some Hogwarts rendition of the Wicked Witch of the East, Cooper Emilio Branxton was now trapped beneath his very own ... Inflate-a-Troll.

....um.

Mercer bopped down from his common room, two pairs of socks on his feet and another pair on his hands. He stopped short as he spotted the sofa in the middle of the room flipped over, a pair of feet peeking out over the top... and a giant troll squatting on top of that.

"TROLL. TROLL. TROLL." Mercer took a fast turn right into a wall and spun wildly in pursuit of the birds now twirling above his head. There was a TROLL sitting on the sofa, and someone had released birds in the common room. "HELP. TROLL. AND BIRDS."

It occurred to Mercer that he recognized those shoes, perhaps because of Milo's obsession with feet, and the first year paused as the birds over his head swept past and out the window. Or so it seemed. "TROLL HAS KILLED COOPER."

[sweetpinkpixie]

The good thing about all this was that the troll was not particularly heavy...but it was a lot like trying to take off a soaking wet shirt. No matter where Cooper moved his limbs or how he pushed, there was just no budging the massive troll shaped circus tent on top of him. Grunting and groaning, his voice seeming to be simultaneously muffled and amplified by his face being pressed into the...er...well...somewhere he hoped his face would never actually end up in, the seventh year used all his strength to roll over on to his stomach and then every attempt to crawl his way to freedom.

...and then he hear yelling.

"Mercer?" he called, still mostly submerged beneath troll derriere. "Mercer! Listen...I need you to swish and flick and Wingardium Leviosa this off me."

There would be questions (read: comments) about all the socks in a bit. Once he was seeing more than spoiled split pea soup green.

[Cassirin]

It WAS Cooper. And he wanted him to do magic to lift an entire troll off of him? Mercer scrabbled in his pockets with his socked hands, but grabbing anything was a challenge. He finally jerked the fabric inside his pockets and pulled them outside-in. Empty. No wand. So now he had no wand, inside out pockets, socks on his hands, and his brother was dying.

"NO, you won't take him today!" Mercer threw himself at the troll's head, arms wringing around its neck like a giant horseshoe around the ringer. "LET HIM GO. Why isn't anyone else saving Cooper's..." He was cut off a bit as his weight carried the troll's head, followed by its body, much further than he would of thought. Ah. Not... a real troll, then?

[sweetpinkpixie]

Sometimes, like in this moment, Cooper wondered how his little brother had not ended up in Gryffindor. Mercer's flinging his body against the inflatable troll displaced the air inside of it and ended up assisting the seventh year as he continued to crawl his way out from underneath the prize that was...not really a prize.

"...or that...suppose that was..." Cooper grunted as he pulled half of himself out from under the mass, just a little further and he could wiggle out easily. "...a more direct path...ironically..." Abd out it was, at last, and his little brother sinking into the side of the 'troll' like he had just flopped into a massive bean bag chair.

[Cassirin]

Mercer hung from the inflatable troll for a long moment, the pause most definitely pregnant, until he finally released his hold and dropped into a pile on the floor. So. His heart felt like it was trying to crawl out of his throat, along with a little vom-vom, his limbs were shaky, and there was no chance he was moving for a minute. Or ten.

"Ravenclaws always take the non-traditional but smart path, right?" Was jumping on a troll the smart path? Probably not, but it was the only option when no one ELSE WOULD HELP. "I thought you were squished soup, brother."

[sweetpinkpixie]

Relieved to just be out from underneath the glorified balloon, Cooper flopped on to his back and starfished on the floor of the common room just so he could catch his breath. "Unconventional and creative does seem to be your MO, Merc," he chuckled and stretched a bit, couple of joints popping in the process, and sat up with his arms out. "And since I am not...how about you get yourself over here so I can ruffle your hair and give you a squish."

Get over here, little bro.

"...and then you can help me try to figure out how to get this thing back in its box."

[Cassirin]

Unconventional and creative? Those were nice things, right? Were those things that Cooper admired? Or Mum and Dad? They sounded like compliments, but they also sounded like things that made him different than everyone else. The very definition of different.

Mercer crashed down beside Cooper and presented his head for squishing. That was a very normal and comforting thing. "If it was a real troll, I would have rescued you for real, okay? That's what brothers gotta do, especially when no one else is willing to help."

[sweetpinkpixie]

They were the best things and one of the things Cooper admired so much about Mercer was just how effortlessly he seemed to walk around with such carefree confidence. Cooper missed the days he was that way too, puberty had robbed him of that. Or, rather, his response to puberty had. He hoped, fervently, Mercer wouldn't get pummeled as severely as he felt he had.

Chuckling, he wrapped his arm snugly around his little brother's shoulders and pulled him closer for a proper squish. "I know you would," he smiled. Or, rather, he knew Mercer would try. "And I'd do the same for you. Hey, maybe dad can take us backpacking near some troll territory this summer. Observe the real thing from a more respectable distance."

And, for real, what was he going to do with this giant inflatable beast Maybe it would work on the lake like one of those blob jump things. Or...maybe best not to have it floating on the lake. Might scare the aquatic wildlife.

[Cassirin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

They were the best things and one of the things Cooper admired so much about Mercer was just how effortlessly he seemed to walk around with such carefree confidence. Cooper missed the days he was that way too, puberty had robbed him of that. Or, rather, his response to puberty had. He hoped, fervently, Mercer wouldn't get pummeled as severely as he felt he had.

Chuckling, he wrapped his arm snugly around his little brother's shoulders and pulled him closer for a proper squish. "I know you would," he smiled. Or, rather, he knew Mercer would try. "And I'd do the same for you. Hey, maybe dad can take us backpacking near some troll territory this summer. Observe the real thing from a more respectable distance."

And, for real, what was he going to do with this giant inflatable beast Maybe it would work on the lake like one of those blob jump things. Or...maybe best not to have it floating on the lake. Might scare the aquatic wildlife.

Mercer let himself be pulled in against Cooper, and he snuck in a snuggle along the way. Like maybe they were way too old for that sort of thing, or boys didn't cuddle, or whatever, but he took advantage of the moment. "Why would we be allowed near trolls at all if Dad knew this story? Like, we probably need to run away if we run into a troll, not jump on them and try to wring their neck."

Mercer propped his feet up on top of the deflating troll and stared up at the ceiling. Did Coop already know there were stars up there? Did everyone know?

"I'd like to go camping, though. Probably have to invite Cora and Marina, huh?"