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The Clock Tower Entrance is one of the three main entrances of Hogwarts Castle (the other two being the Viaduct Entrance and the main Entrance Hall). It aligns with the third-floor corridor, connecting with the courtyard that stems off to the Wooden Bridge and the rest of the school grounds. This large open space can be magically sealed with a portcullis and the massive double doors can be locked with numerous bolts.
At the base of the Clock Tower is a large window that may cause you to question why it is even there as all you can see out of it is the side of a building. Fortunately for you, the massive steel and iron pendulum swinging back and forth will likely pull you out of trying to figure out that mystery. If you look closely at the suspended weight, an imprint of a many armed star in the middle and a number of runic symbols on the outer rim can be seen. Study the purposeful design on the pendulum as long as you like. Just don't fall into temptation of swinging from it and pretending to be a wrecking ball.
Shoe!Girl │ Rebel Ravie │ Confundus Queen │ RP Addict
As the days passed, she was becoming that much more aware that perhaps it was a good idea to study for exams. However, Gracelyn had found it difficult with everything else there was to focus on, but study she was going to do. Even if the clock tower was possibly an odd place to have chosen if she’d been trying to avoid distractions. The library or even the study hall would’ve likely been better, or the Astronomy tower, but there she was, seated on the floor with a stack of books next to her and one open in her lap that she was reading.
Actually, the sound of the pendulum was kind of soothing.
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♥♥♥♥ It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me, at tea time, everybody agrees
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Stealthy Ninja Queen | Snake For Life | waddling baker | binge royalty ♚
She was frustrated with studying for the potions exam she had, but she didn't know what else to do. She seriously had been staring at the papers for ever and ever it seemed. A groan left her lips as she tried and tried to keep from stomping her feet through the clock tower entrance.
"ugh." Moving to sit down and read the recipe again to see where hers was going wrong she noticed Gracelyn. Studying. Oh no. "sorry." she mumbled trying to apologize for her groaning as she had taken a seat. Glancing over she wondered what she was studying.
Left, right, left, right, left, right... Ash thought that pendulums were a very clever idea. She secretly hoped that a muggle invented them. Secretly.
Left, right... Ash sat on the ground, sketching the pendulum. Why? Uhhh... she wanted to? She thought pendulums were interesting? Practice? She didn’t NEED a reason to draw things. Sometimes she just drew to fill the time. And drawing was fun? And an activity that could be done alone? Yeah, Ash was drawing for fun. That was okay.
She looked up and stared at the pendulum. How did it work? Physics. Um, momentum right? Something about gravity. She looked around. Maybe there was someone here who knew about pendulums.
astronomizzle ♧ gryffinDORK | & the rest is drag ♣ #badluckDerf
Quote:
Originally Posted by astrocat
Left, right, left, right, left, right... Ash thought that pendulums were a very clever idea. She secretly hoped that a muggle invented them. Secretly.
Left, right... Ash sat on the ground, sketching the pendulum. Why? Uhhh... she wanted to? She thought pendulums were interesting? Practice? She didn’t NEED a reason to draw things. Sometimes she just drew to fill the time. And drawing was fun? And an activity that could be done alone? Yeah, Ash was drawing for fun. That was okay.
She looked up and stared at the pendulum. How did it work? Physics. Um, momentum right? Something about gravity. She looked around. Maybe there was someone here who knew about pendulums.
She was in an empty room.
Atlas had been performing pendulum experiments as far back as the days of diapers, but that was not what had brought him in this direction. It was a quick trip to the hospital wing, actually, and now that his eye had been tended to and a bit of bruise paste applied...he reckoned that he would not have much of a black eye come morning. Hopefully. He was positive he would not want to have to explain the why too many times.
Lightly touching his cheek, the third year decided that the swelling had indeed gone down a bit...even if he still could not really see out of his right eye just yet. In a couple of hours that ought to change.
So it was because his peripheral vision was impaired that he did not entirely notice Ashley (though, truth be told, even if he had had perfect vision it was unlikely that he would have responded all that differently) as he continued to pitter patter on by to the rhythm of the pendulum ticking back and forth.
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When you’re stuck in a moment and your spark has been stolen .................................................. ........... this is our time to own it, so own it..................................... baby we were born withfire and gold in our eyes
Atlas had been performing pendulum experiments as far back as the days of diapers, but that was not what had brought him in this direction. It was a quick trip to the hospital wing, actually, and now that his eye had been tended to and a bit of bruise paste applied...he reckoned that he would not have much of a black eye come morning. Hopefully. He was positive he would not want to have to explain the why too many times.
Lightly touching his cheek, the third year decided that the swelling had indeed gone down a bit...even if he still could not really see out of his right eye just yet. In a couple of hours that ought to change.
So it was because his peripheral vision was impaired that he did not entirely notice Ashley (though, truth be told, even if he had had perfect vision it was unlikely that he would have responded all that differently) as he continued to pitter patter on by to the rhythm of the pendulum ticking back and forth.
Hey! Atlas was kinda book-smart, maybe he knew about pendulums!
On the other hand, he probably didn't like her and she didn't want to talk to him. She felt actual guilt. First year was fear, second year was anger, third year was misery, fourth year was... mostly alright but also was one of the first times she'd ever felt guilty or remorseful about stuff. And she had a whole list of people that made her feel like the worst person. Atlas was on the list.
But he also probably knew about pendulums. And Ash usually did whatever her first instinct was, sooooo...
"Atlas. What makes the pendulum do the thing?" Like, swinging back and forth. "Is it gravity and momentum? Why doesn't the pendulum come to a stop?" She paused for a while. "How's your day been?" Yes, that was a half-hearted question and yes, Ash added it as an afterthought. But she did care. She was trying to care? Same difference. She watched him. "Is there-"
astronomizzle ♧ gryffinDORK | & the rest is drag ♣ #badluckDerf
And it was in this moment that Atlas realized he understood dad's irritation with the word 'thing'.
Pausing mid step, and taken a bit by surprise, Atlas' craned his neck around to see Ashley as the source of the mild onslaught of questions...out of the blue. He wasn't sure he wanted to stick around and answer her questions. He had, after all, been taught the why's she sought by someone who was apart of the corrupt machine or whatever claim it was she had taken when bashing on the Ministry before. So suuuuuuurely she would be disinterested in any information coming from such a cOrRuPt source. Thankfully. he kept his words in check (for once) and swallowed them back.
"...do you mean swing?" he asked instead. Clarification was important, after all. "...and no pendulum can swing forever...you just don't ever see it being wound." By the house elves, he supposed. Assuming she was asking any of this because of the clock right there. "Unless they have enchanted it to wind itself...which goes against the physics but magic cheats nature like that so..." There was a small shrug at the end there.
__________________
When you’re stuck in a moment and your spark has been stolen .................................................. ........... this is our time to own it, so own it..................................... baby we were born withfire and gold in our eyes
And it was in this moment that Atlas realized he understood dad's irritation with the word 'thing'.
Pausing mid step, and taken a bit by surprise, Atlas' craned his neck around to see Ashley as the source of the mild onslaught of questions...out of the blue. He wasn't sure he wanted to stick around and answer her questions. He had, after all, been taught the why's she sought by someone who was apart of the corrupt machine or whatever claim it was she had taken when bashing on the Ministry before. So suuuuuuurely she would be disinterested in any information coming from such a cOrRuPt source. Thankfully. he kept his words in check (for once) and swallowed them back.
"...do you mean swing?" he asked instead. Clarification was important, after all. "...and no pendulum can swing forever...you just don't ever see it being wound." By the house elves, he supposed. Assuming she was asking any of this because of the clock right there. "Unless they have enchanted it to wind itself...which goes against the physics but magic cheats nature like that so..." There was a small shrug at the end there.
For the record, Ash regretted saying that stuff to him. It had been a bit extreme and she was definitely talking to the wrong person. But she did still think the ministry was corrupt, or at least somewhere very close to being corrupt. And she was pretty sure that there was evidence of that. So.
”Yes, swing, that’s what I meant.” She bit her lip to avoid saying something sarcastic and kinda mean. Because she had self-control. “Leonardo da Vinci -and a lot of other people too- wanted to make a machine that would go forever... I don’t think it used a pendulum but it did use its own weight... but it stopped after a while because it still had a little bit of air resistance and it made sound.” Leonardo da Vinci was a muggle, she thought. That was cool. And he was left handed like her. That was cool. And they were both smart. And they both did art. So. There were similarities.
“I think it would be fun to wind a pendulum. But I suppose if the house elves have to do it then they’d prefer to use magic because winding the pendulum all the time would be annoying.”
astronomizzle ♧ gryffinDORK | & the rest is drag ♣ #badluckDerf
Atlas had not attended History of Magic the day of THAT particular lesson, he skipped out on that subject more often than not, but from what he heard...he wondered if people really knew what corruption meant. He wasn't so sure that they did. Proof of any one in the Ministry demanding or taking money or favors in exchange for services? Proof of granting public jobs or contracts to their sponsors, friends and families? Proof of bribing officials to get lucrative deals?
Hadn't heard any of those accusations.
Some elite and incredibly efficient group of people infiltrating the Ministry AND Hogwarts AND other regions of Europe and pockets in other countries? Yeah...that happened.
It was a topic one did NOT want to talk to Atlas about. He had nothing but anger.
"...you sound like you know plenty about them," he pointed out, sans any physical pointing this time. "Not sure why you are asking me things." Because what she had just shared now was no novice knowledge. And had literally answered her own question.
Unless it was just an excuse to talk to him...which...made him feel a little twitchy.
"...probably magic...yeah..."
Slips his hands into his pockets and rocks back on to his heels.
__________________
When you’re stuck in a moment and your spark has been stolen .................................................. ........... this is our time to own it, so own it..................................... baby we were born withfire and gold in our eyes
Atlas had not attended History of Magic the day of THAT particular lesson, he skipped out on that subject more often than not, but from what he heard...he wondered if people really knew what corruption meant. He wasn't so sure that they did. Proof of any one in the Ministry demanding or taking money or favors in exchange for services? Proof of granting public jobs or contracts to their sponsors, friends and families? Proof of bribing officials to get lucrative deals?
Hadn't heard any of those accusations.
Some elite and incredibly efficient group of people infiltrating the Ministry AND Hogwarts AND other regions of Europe and pockets in other countries? Yeah...that happened.
It was a topic one did NOT want to talk to Atlas about. He had nothing but anger.
"...you sound like you know plenty about them," he pointed out, sans any physical pointing this time. "Not sure why you are asking me things." Because what she had just shared now was no novice knowledge. And had literally answered her own question.
Unless it was just an excuse to talk to him...which...made him feel a little twitchy.
"...probably magic...yeah..."
Slips his hands into his pockets and rocks back on to his heels.
Ash shrugged. “I forgot, but then I remembered again.” That happened a lot. Because like, she remembered everything, which made it hard to remember the important things, and also pendulums had never counted as an important thing, and yes maybe she did want to talk to him but she was regretting that.
“Is there a spell to wind a pendulum or is it a more general spell? Why do they need a pendulum at all on this clock??? Has it ever hit someone? That would hurt.” Were these questions related to the first one? Not really. Did she need Atlas to tell her? Also no. She started scribbling on the back of her drawing. Eventually she looked up, deep in thought.
“I thought you liked pendulums. But you kind of just look uncomfortable.” Did she know why that was? Yes, but she wasn’t going to say it outright.
astronomizzle ♧ gryffinDORK | & the rest is drag ♣ #badluckDerf
He felt as though her response answered his hypothesis, though he was not sure what to make of that and felt even more twitchy about that. He wasn't sure why she would want to go out of her way to talk to him, but nothing good ever came from a conversation between the pair of them so...seemed like it would just be best for everyone if he and her just...didn't.
Conserve energy for more lucrative things.
So he simply nodded at her, er, forgetful comment as it did seem to be pretty on brand with her from observation. But now he wasn't sure if he should try and answer her question or if these two were the results of a memory lapse as well. He also didn't know the answer to her questions so...there was that too. "I...don't know...dad might though." Because dad knew everything and if there had ever been someone to walk the halls of Hogwarts who either mentally or literally took apart this particular clock to see how it ticked, then it would be dad. He did this sort of thing all the time back home in his study - and then Atlas nicked a thing or two for his own needs.
"I...don't dislike them..." he said with a small shrug and confused expression. "Well..." Words spewing out once again before he could process them and apply any sort filter or otherwise tact to them, though none of it was said maliciously. Very matter of factly, if nothing else. "...you make me uncomfortable...so makes sense that I look it. I'm not exactly the best at hiding reflexive emotional responses."
__________________
When you’re stuck in a moment and your spark has been stolen .................................................. ........... this is our time to own it, so own it..................................... baby we were born withfire and gold in our eyes
He felt as though her response answered his hypothesis, though he was not sure what to make of that and felt even more twitchy about that. He wasn't sure why she would want to go out of her way to talk to him, but nothing good ever came from a conversation between the pair of them so...seemed like it would just be best for everyone if he and her just...didn't.
Conserve energy for more lucrative things.
So he simply nodded at her, er, forgetful comment as it did seem to be pretty on brand with her from observation. But now he wasn't sure if he should try and answer her question or if these two were the results of a memory lapse as well. He also didn't know the answer to her questions so...there was that too. "I...don't know...dad might though." Because dad knew everything and if there had ever been someone to walk the halls of Hogwarts who either mentally or literally took apart this particular clock to see how it ticked, then it would be dad. He did this sort of thing all the time back home in his study - and then Atlas nicked a thing or two for his own needs.
"I...don't dislike them..." he said with a small shrug and confused expression. "Well..." Words spewing out once again before he could process them and apply any sort filter or otherwise tact to them, though none of it was said maliciously. Very matter of factly, if nothing else. "...you make me uncomfortable...so makes sense that I look it. I'm not exactly the best at hiding reflexive emotional responses."
...did Ash know how to fix this? Nope.
“Your dad sounds cool.” Did she know where she was going with that? Nope. But it was true statement. Who cared about pendulums? Interesting people. She would like to meet his dad. He didn’t sound as awful as her own.
Now it was her turn to look uncomfy. I got him a birthday present to say sorry but it obviously didn’t work... it never works... it’s because I damaged our relationship too much... it’s because I suck, just like she said, and I don’t know how to say sorry... AM I sorry? Or do I just hate being disliked?
“Oh.” Ash pulled her knees up to her chest and decided to suddenly be very interested in her art(why is it blurry?) “Okay.”