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PadfootAndTheWolf · 09-04-2013, 04:41 AM

{banner by sweepinkpixie}

High up in the top-most reaches of the Castle is a tower dedicated to Ravenclaw House. You come across the entrance in the form of a door with no handle or lock but a single knocker shaped like the head of an eagle. If, and only if, you answer the riddle that the eagle presents you, you may gain entrance to the Ravenclaw Common Room. Hey, there's a reason that Ravenclaw is the house for those with brains.

Upon entering the Common Room you see a number of things but mostly you see the floor to ceiling windows that span around almost the entire curved room. Beyond their panes you can see what looks like all of Hogwarts' campus and the majestic mountain range beyond. One sweeping look through them and you can see the Forbidden Forest, Quidditch Pitch, The Greenhouses, the Black Lake, and even the shimmering light from the windows in Hogsmeade. At nighttime, the glass reveals the starry night beyond.

Placed on the center of the curved wall is a large fireplace with plenty of navy blue sofas and armchairs placed around it. They are there for students to lounge as they work on homework, socialize or just relax and enjoy the view between lessons. A crowded night in the Common Room for a party or rowdy game of Gobstones? Take a seat on the newly installed deep blue carpet.

Along the wall you entered there is the Announcements Board where all things will be posted regarding school events, lessons, and homework as well as the Study Tables that are provided for a more structured setting for Ravenclaws to do what Ravenclaws do best. The Grey Lady, the House ghost of Ravenclaw tends to visit this spot especially every now and then. And last but not least, to the right of where the impressive statue of Rowena Ravenclaw herself stands, is the staircase leading to the dormitories. Once you ascend these stairs, going to the right will take you to the ones allotted for the girls and the left will lead you to the ones reserved for the boys.

Come in, relax, have fun and make yourselves at home.
Welcome to Ravenclaw!

DragonBear · 04-01-2014, 10:50 PM

"You do." Andrew confirmed, unable to suppress his smile. Justine's influence on Andrew was perhaps in most aspects a little difficult to notice to anyone but himself, but since meeting Justine he certainly did an awful lot of blushing. "I know! Why would we even come up with a phrase like that? How can forgetting yourself among your thoughts ever be likened to brain flatulence?" He chuckled.

He smiled sweetly at the girl when she placed her hand on his. He was so certain Justine and everyone else would be okay - that somehow this would be fixed - that he could honestly look into her eyes and tell her that he knew she would be alright. He himself had attempted to look into the aging epidemic, but after a grueling night in the library, he had come up empty. Perhaps he would have another look later. "We'll fix this somehow." He said encouragingly, putting his free hand on top of hers.

"Just something I'm looking into for fun." He admitted, shrugging. "According to the professors, we won't even be looking into runes and vellums until next year!" He grumbled, dissatisfied with the slow pacing of Hogwarts' curriculum. Andrew was by nature a fast learner, and had grown bored with the subjects they were working with in most classes.

"Runes.. Symbols that can 'store' spells that can then be activated later without the use of a wand or any external magic at all. In theory, even a muggle could activate one! He explained enthusiastically. "Isn't that fascinating?"

nicole black · 04-03-2014, 02:16 AM

At Andrew's smile and his confirmation, Justine couldn't help but smile brightly back. It was so easy to talk with him, not just because they had similar interests, but because he had a genuineness to him, that Justine couldn't he;p but appreciate.
"I do not know, it is certainly two very different zings," Justine agreed, laughing lightly at the very true, but funny observation. Really, certain words or phrases made no real sense to Justine, in any language.

"You're right, ve just 'ave to be optimistic," Justine said with a nod, her smile brightening at the boy's kindly re-assurance.

"Vell, I can see vhy, zis is very tricky stuff," Justine said, turning over the book to get a better view of the various runes and vellums. She had no head for runes, for all she knew about it, they could have been some strange doodles. "It's fascinating, but I must admit, I don't understand it," Justine added, frowning at a particularly difficult looking rune that looked like a rabbit without it's hind legs.

DragonBear · 04-03-2014, 03:32 AM

It was certainly rare these days for Andrew to feel so comfortable talking to anyone, but there was something about Justine that really helped him open up. Something unique to her. Now I'm curious to find more English idioms that don't make sense. Do you know any? he grinned, wracking his brain for more idioms and phrases that just didn't make any sense.

Andrew let out a soft, drawn out sigh. It felt unusually nice to have such a reassuring moment with Justine, and his determination to help out in some way grew stronger by the moment. "This time, it isn't about being optimistic. This time, I'm telling you, we couldn't possibly be in better hands than here at Hogwarts." He smiled, gesturing around the room. "And even if they give up, I won't." He added.

Directing his attention towards the book again, he smiled and shook his head. "It's really not so complex. Just have a look at the starter ones to begin with.." He pointed towards an earlier page in the book, covered in illustrations of much simpler runes. "Like this one right here, used to store the 'Lumos' spell." He pointed at an illustration showing a simple circle with a squiggly line running through from the top to the bottom, and a straight line running through it from the left to the right. The point where the two lines crossed was marked with a smaller circle.

"You just draw the rune, preferably on a calf-skin vellum, but if none are available, almost any surface will do, and then it's as simple as activating the rune with this incantation!" He explained with perhaps a little too much enthusiasm as he ran a finger to the incantation written in bold font on the bottom of the page.

'Ignis Notatem' it read, the text shimmering gently as it so often did in books like this one to signify the text's importance as a magical incantation.

nicole black · 04-04-2014, 04:58 AM

"I never cared much for kicked the bucket, what does that 'ave to do with death?" Justine said, her green eyes narrowing as she spoke. There were plenty of other English language idioms that Justine disliked, but this particular one had always irked her.

"Vell, I don't 'ave much faith in 'Ogwarts at zee moment, it is 'er fault I am in this mess to begin with," Justine haughtily said, glaring up at the ceiling of the Ravenclaw Common Room as if it had horribly wronged her. "But you, you I cn 'ave faith in," Justine added, her voice becoming softer, more sincere as she addressed the young man.

Justine listened intently as Andrew enthusiastically explained to her the intricate workings of Runes and how they worked. It was a fascinating subject and with Andrew explaining it to her, she was finally beginning to get something of a hang of the subject. She nodded as he pointed out a interesting symbol that looked like something one of her little cousins might have drawn, explaining how to make the Rune work and what it stood for.

"C'est merveilleux!" Justine exclaimed, watching with bright, eager eyes as the text began to shimmer, showing its magical importance. "You are very good at this Andrew," Justine said, with a bright, cheerful smile.

DragonBear · 04-05-2014, 01:36 AM

Andrew thought about Justine's example for a moment attempting to decide on a good way to explain that particular idiom. "I think it has to do with, erm..." He began, pausing momentarily. He wasn't sure how to explain without sounding too morbid. "Well, I think it has to do with, you know, erm.." He tried again, but he just couldn't formulate the sentence without sounding far too morbid for their conversation. "It has to do with suicide, I think." He said bluntly, hoping Justine would catch on without them having to go much deeper into that particular subject.

Andrew was going to protest in Hogwarts' defense, but the words that had come to him so quickly were nowhere to be found once Justine had confessed such trust in him. "I promise you, Justine." He began, having finally regained the ability to speak. "We'll get you out of this mess. You and everyone else." He continued confidently, his eyes burning with determination. This would mean more time spent in the library than ever before, but since when was that ever an issue for Andrew?

Andrew lit up when he saw Justine beginning to understand and take interest. "I know, right?!" He almost giggled. As he flipped through the pages, the structure of the book became very apparent. Every opening contained one large illustration of a rune in all it's fine detail on the left page, underneath which was the name of the spell it represented. The other page contained paragraphs of text detailing the rune's origins and instructions on it's use.

"I'm only about a quarter of the way through this book, but what I've seen so far is amazing! I can only imagine what some of the more complex runes towards the back of the book have in store for me!" Andrew beamed over at Justine, unable to contain his enthusiasm.

nicole black · 04-05-2014, 03:50 AM

It was rather uncharacteristic of Andrew to be at a loss for words, he was the sort of person who always seemed to know what to say, how to say it and whether the timing was right, unlike Justine who was rather blunt and occasionally spoke without thinking. Perhaps he's distracted? Justine thought.

Oh, well, that made a great deal of sense actually.
"Ohhhhh..... Oui, zat, zat is actually very appropriate," Justine said with a small laugh of embarrassment. Goodness, she was glad she'd asked this of Andrew and not someone else who might have taken the question badly.

Justine noticed Andrew's silence, but rather than thinking that she was the cause of it, she believed it to be simply because the boy was thinking, or something of that sort. "Andrew..." Justine said, her smile widening at the Ravenclaw's determined words and pledge to her. LaCroix was an impossibly good friend and she couldn't have been gladder to have him on her side. "If you don't and I die, I vill come back to 'aunt you," Justine said with a light laugh, feeling the need to lighten the suddenly tense mood between the two friends.

He was so passionate, so clever, and sweet, and- and she needed to stop thinking like that because she did not have a crush on him, definitely not, totally not. Nope, nope. No crush here.

"I sink zey must be very difficult and I'm glad I do not 'ave to worry about zem," Justine playfully said, her eyes wide as she looked over the more complicated shapes and strange lettering of the Runes. Andrew's explanation had been informative, but there was no way she could wrap her head around some of those.

"Oh! I just remembered! Zee Feast!" Justine exclaimed, grabbing Andrew by the hand and dragging him through the Common Room. "Ve must be very late! Come on Andrew!" Justine said, beaming brightly at the young man.

DragonBear · 04-05-2014, 07:51 AM

Andrew nodded, smiling in relief at Justine, happy that she'd understood and not pursued the question any further. That could have been uncomfortable. "Yes, that one's not so bad." He nodded along with her. He knew someone else might have reacted badly at her question, but Andrew had nothing but patience and understanding for Justine, and helping her get a firmer grip on the English language could never be anything but good.

"You promise?" he smiled back at her. Having her around to haunt him sure would brighten up his otherwise dull day. In all seriousness though, he obviously preferred having her around ALIVE, and he wasn't about to let her die. Not on his watch.

Justine was so wonderfully sweet and caring, so intelligent and beautiful, and she had been such an amazing friend to him. He was going to find a way to get her out of this mess if it was the last thing he ever did. It's not as if he had some kind of crush on this girl though. Nope. No crush. Not even a little bit. What a ridiculous idea that was. No crush, nope, nope, nope.

"What, are you kidding me?" He grinned. "I'm sure you could do these in your sleep." He smirked, gesturing towards some of the more complicated runes. The specific rune he had pointed at was represented by a diamond shape containing three wavy lines. The text underneath the illustration read 'Aguamenti'.

It took him a moment to realize what Justine was talking about. "What fea-" He began, but stopped the moment he realized what they had both forgotten about. "Run like the wind!" He laughed, holding her hand.

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