Muhe Entrance

by Guest Thu Dec 15, 2011 5:41 pm

After the sorting, the girl had been at a loss. In all the rush after dinner, she had lost sight of Tarragon and been swept along with other students of her house. However, since all of them seemed older and non of them particularly interested in her, the girl had not approached anyone, hoping that if she just discreetly followed them, she would reach wherever she was supposed to go.

But the group had slowly thinned out from the wide stone staircase and by second floor, there was only a group of four students ahead of her. Alys wondered if she should ask them where she was supposed to go when all four came to an abrupt halt in front of a statue of a beast she had never seen or heard of before. The statue had wings and a beak but that was where the resemblance ended.

"Go on Kathe, its your turn this time," a girl nudged another one by her side.

"I don't want to, I'm already not feeling well," the other student complained and Alys listened closely. the students appeared to be arguing over something but what.

"That's okay, Kathe, I'll do it," a boy offered stepping up to the statue. "I got hurt earlier out in the grounds and I think there might still be some." Alys watched with a mixture of amazement and horror as the boy pulled up his sleeve and rubbed a cut on his arm to the stone tongue protruding from the statue's beak. And even more amazingly, the statue closed its beak and made a swallowing sound before taking wing and flying upwards, revealing behind it a door. The doorway to Muhe common room.

It took Alys another five minutes to process what had happened. Entrance into her common room would require blood.

by Guest Fri Dec 16, 2011 5:01 am

Tarragon knew he should have listened a little more closely when the prefect of Muhe was telling people where the entrance was and how to get in, etc etc. But he couldn't help but get bored after the agonising list of rules.

"Don't do this, don't do that.." He'd switched off after the first one. He'd found himself on the second floor, this was apparently where the common room was, but he could see no door to enter into the Common room. All he could see what a statue of a Harpy. He looked around for a few moments, no one was around, perhaps he had heard wrong.

And then out of the corner of his eye, he saw somebody move. No, it wasn't somebody, it was the Harpy, it had winked at him. Tarragon had seen things move before that normally wouldn't, sure. But this was weird. He felt himself compelled to the Harpy in this instant.

"Is this how I get into the common room?" He whispered to the statue. "How do I get in then? What do you need...?"

by Guest Fri Dec 16, 2011 5:18 am

Alys was still a little queasy from her realization when she spotted Tarragon coming up to the statue. She watched as the boy spoke to the statue, asking it what to do.

"It needs booed," she clarified, stepping out of the shadows. Then, realizing how dramatic that sounded, the girl hastily amended. "Not a lot. i saw some older students grazing an old wound to its tongue. It swallows the blood and I guess make sure that we are in fact Muhe students." The witch stopped, trying not to confuse him even more.

"Here, I'll show you," she said, unclasping a hairpin from her golden locks and letting them tumble around her shoulders. Holding the pin in one hand and extending her thumb, the girl made to prick herself.

by Guest Fri Dec 16, 2011 5:23 am

Tarragon looked at Alys so totally confused. He thought maybe the day was getting to be too much for her with the prospect of all the classes. Maybe all of it had gone to her head.

"You have to what?" He asked in disbelief.

He watched as she unclasped a hair pin and pricked her finger. He grabbed her wrist, and looked seriously into her eyes.

"What are you doing Alys? There is no way this is true. Are you trying to pull a sick joke on me? Where's Ava?"

He looked around suspiciously, waiting to see a sign of Ava or Kai. Or just waiting for Alys to start laughing and this just to be a crazy joke.

by Guest Fri Dec 16, 2011 5:35 am

Realizing how it must look to the boy, Alys took a calming breath and gently freed her hands from his grip. "Ava isn't in our House, Tarragon," she explained as reasonably as she could. "Our common room is behind that statue thing. And I saw a few older students going in earlier. Apparently the statue needs blood to give way. It makes sense though as the compass that sorted us read our magic so our Houses probably can too. We med to give the statue a little blood, just a drop so it will open up and we can get inside."

The girl looked up at him earnestly, hoping he would understand it wasn't a joke. "I'll show you if you let me," she offered.

by Guest Fri Dec 16, 2011 5:41 am

He stepped back so that she could show him. His eyes darting back and forth from Alys to the statue. He could not get his head around why this would be chosen as to how to get into the common room, but he supposed me would have to get used to it. He wished Alys had let him give his blood, watching her cause herself harm really upset him. Where were his gentlemanly attributes when he most needed them?

He watched as the Harpy drank the drop of blood for Alys' thumb and soared upwards, revealing a doorway which led into the common room. Taking Alys' hand, more gently this time, he led her into the common room and found a couple of armchairs for them to sit in.

"So... why the blood?" He asked, still unsure of the whole ordeal. He rested his arms on the table between them, only then realising that he was trembling.

by Guest Fri Dec 16, 2011 5:54 am

"Well..." the witch began. "I can't say for sure but this is supposed to be the house of pain, founded by a master torturer. So maybe we're supposed to learn to deal with pain on a daily basis to make us stronger. I mean, it seems a big deal to us now but the students I saw earlier made nothing of it. They were so used to it." The witch stopped, unsure if she was making sense. "I guess we can look it up in the archives. There must be old scrolls and tomes about all four houses stored there."

by Guest Fri Dec 16, 2011 6:42 am

Tarragon shivered at the thought of the whole blood ordeal. He didn't like blood, it really did make him feel queesy. And he espeically did not like to see his friend hurt herself to gain entrance to what was supposed to be their home.

"I suppose we could go to the library for a rummage around in the histories at some point, but for now, tell me more about yourself. Where were you born? Where did you study your primary education? What are your parents like? Do you have any siblings? What's your favourite colour? Favourite book?" Tarragon realised the list he had reeled off and began to blush, he hoped she didn't think he was weird because of it.

by Guest Fri Dec 16, 2011 6:55 am

The blonde listened to the list, her golden eyebrows raised in astonishment. Why would Tarragon want to know so much about her. And she wasn't entirely sure if she should be flattered or a little afraid. Unsure of what to say, she opened her mouth and let out a huge yawn.

"Oops," she apologized. "I must be more tired than I realize. How about we tackle all these questions tomorrow?"

by Guest Fri Dec 16, 2011 7:00 am

Trying not to look upset by quite evidently being shut out by Alys, Tarragon merely nodded.

"Tomorrow will be fine." He says sadly. The boy couldn't help it, this felt like rejection. He'd only wanted to get to know the girl, and she'd yawned in his face and told him she was going. He stood up, bade her goodnight, and went up to find the boys dormitories.

by Guest Fri Dec 16, 2011 7:14 am

"Goodnight..." the witch trailed off feeling a little guilty. But she really was tired after her long day. Barely taking in the wall hangings and decor of the common room, the girl made her way to the left flight of stairs leading to the girl's dormitory. Feeling a little dread at climbing all those stairs, the witch set foot on the first step and suddenly, the staircase had changes into a smooth slab of marble, taking her upwards.

Smiling slightly, the witch went off to her dormitory.

by Guest Mon Dec 19, 2011 7:56 am

The next day, Tarragon was up fairly early. He decided that his broom required another polish, just so that he had something to do. Grabbing his polishing kit and his Firebolt, Tarragon made his way down into the common room. It was quiet as it was still the early hours. He placed his polishing kit on the table in front of the fire, and took a seat in the arm chair next to it. Laying his Firebolt across his knee he unscrewed the polish and commenced the long cleaning process.

As he sat and cleaned his broom, Tarragons mind wandered to the many delights he had already encountered at Durmstrang, and wondered how many more he would encounter in the day...

by Guest Mon Dec 19, 2011 8:17 am

Alys had slept fitfully, slumbering at peace for certain hours while dreaming of home and her parents the rest of the night. When she woke up, it was earlier than her housemates and the girl had thought that she should get a head start on that letter to her mother before classes for the day began.

Changing into her uniform but neglecting to tie up her still wet from the shower hair just yet, the witch made her way down to the common room with her bag only to find one of the armchairs occupied. "Good morning," she said to the blond boy sitting by himself polishing his broomstick. "You're up early, Tarragon."

by Guest Mon Dec 19, 2011 8:29 am

Tarragon was in his own little world. He was musing over the idea of becoming one of the youngest Austrian Quidditch players of all time. He hadn't noticed someone had come into the room, nor that they had walked right up to him.

"Good morning. You're up early, Tarragon."

He jumped from his seat, knocking the polish of his lap and all down his trousers. He looked down at the mess that he'd just made, slightly annoyed with himself at being so jumpy first thing in the morning.

"Morning Alys! I didn't see you there, I'm sorry. Did you sleep well?" He said as he reached down to pick up what remained of the polish.

by Guest Mon Dec 19, 2011 8:56 am

The girl laughed a little at his jumpiness before taking a seat across from him. "Sorry I startled you," she apologized.

"I just came down to quill a letter to my Mama," the witch said in lieu of an explanation. Her Mama had made her promise to write at least once a week and it was a promise Alys intended to keep. "Have you written to your parents yet?" she asked absently, getting out her quill and parchment from her bag.

by Guest Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:04 am

Tarragon waved away the situation, it didn't matter. He set back to his polishing, listening to Alys explain why she was up so early. He'd decided that she was still quite young at heart, unaware of the natures of the real world, still wrapped in her mum's cotton wool, if only slightly.

"Have you written to your parents yet?"

Tarragon felt like his insides had been squeezed by a giant fist, he didn't know what to say to Alys at the moment in time.

"I... um, no." He started. "You see Alys, I am a... I'm an... My parents died three years ago." He finished, his eyes fixed on his broom, not wanting to see the pity, pain, or countless other expressions he had seen before.

by Guest Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:16 am

"Oh," the blonde said, taken completely aback. Her quill simply hovered over the parchment as she tried to take in this latest bit of information. Too late she realized tat she hadn't said anything helpful or consoling at all. Not that she knew how to, seeing as she had never met someone who's Mama and Papa were no longer alive. In the end, the she lowered her head and said "sorry, I don't really know what to say..."

Alys herself couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose her parents. How would she live? Who would cook and clean and make the house a home. She wondered how Tarragon lived all by himself and if he ever got lonely. From the way he acted, it looked like nothing would phase him but now... The girl let her thoughts wonder in the awkward silence.

by Guest Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:24 am

He knew he had created the awkwardness between them now. He hadn't meant to, he didn't want to lie about anything to his new friend, why should he? He looked up at her bravely.

"It's okay not to know what to say. I'm comfortable with the situation enough to talk about it now. I hope this won't make things different between us, Alys, I would hate for that to happen. But I would very much like for this to stay between us. Bad things happen when too many home truths are known, in the given situation."

He knew she would probably never believe the first part of his reply, whether she did was up to her. But he hoped that he could trust her more than anyone else in the school at this point in time.

by Guest Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:30 am

Her Mama had always warned her against gossiping, saying that just because someone told you a secret didn't make the secret yours to pass on so the girl had no intention of telling anyone what Tarragon had confided to her. And she reassured him of such even as she tried hard to understand what he must be going through.

"Umm, do you miss your Mama's cooking though?" She asked after the heavy stuff was over with. "I only ask because mine said she would send me baked things every week and well, if you knew her, you would see that the amount of food she sends can never be finished by one person," the witch smiled softly up at him.

by Guest Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:38 am

He looked uneasily into her eyes. He wished he had lied after all. Did he miss his parents? No.

"My mother never cooked for me, Alys." He said sadly. "I was brought up by a Nanny, who had little interest in me. She was there for the money and nothing else. My parents were too busy living the high life to worry about me. I was an inconvenience to them. I always had been."

He looked away from her. How was it that Alys allowed him to let his guard down so easily? He didn't understand, but he also found that he was beginning to not care how much he told her either.

"Ever since I can remember, it had been a Nanny to take care of me. My Mother and Father would speak to me only at meal times and to bid me goodnight. They thought money would make the lack of love and attention that they had given me go away. It, of course, only made me hate them more. I was alone for the majority of the last eleven years. Home tutored."

He hoped she wouldn't judge him as spoilt, or posh. He hoped that she would see him as the Tarragon who she knew before, strong and confident. And then he felt something he hadn't felt in a long time. A tear ran down his cheek.

by Guest Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:49 am

Alys had cried before, of course she had. Who hadn't? What she hadn't done before was comfort someone who was crying in front of her and for the first time, the girl felt truly inept. First she had failed to say something comforting when he revealed his parents death and now... She couldn't imagine two parents ever treating their child like that but why would Tarragon lie to her. No, his defeated frame and expression suggested he had told her the truth.

Her only experience with offering comfrot had been when her Papa had chased monsters out of her closet when she was four. Afterwords, he would always cuddle her and hold her until she went to sleep. So the witch awkwardly moved towards him and give him a sideways hug, unsure whether he would appreciate it or not. She also made up her mind that everything Mama sent her from now on in terms of food and other home related things, she would share with him and Ava. The life she herself had taken fro granted she now knew was rare among her friends.

"You should meet my Mama," she said softly, still holding on to him. "She's nice and I'm sure she'll like you," the girl comforted as best as she could.

by Guest Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:56 am

One minuted he found himself crying, the next Tarragon was being hugged (albeit rather awkwardly) by Alys. He smiled and put his arms around her, embracing his friend as a thank you for listening and being understanding towards him.

"I'm sorry" He muttered to her, "Perhaps a little soon?"

He pulled away as he chuckled softly to himself. He knew she couldn't even begin to imagine what he had expressed, to him it sounded like her life was everything he had ever dreamed of, and more.

"Your Mama's food does sound good to me though, I'd be happy to help you finish what you can't eat. And I would of course love to meet her also. And your Papa. Should you let me of course. I don't wish to intrude of course."

He was entering babbling Tarragon mode again, so he focused his attention back onto his broom.

by Guest Mon Dec 19, 2011 10:21 am

As her housemate went back to his Firebolt, the girl turned to her parchment once more, feeling that she had offered enough comfort to make him feel at least a little better.

Dear Mama, she began in her neat, curly script, inking the words in bright blue ink. I've arrived safely and the fortress is... big. I haven't had a chance to see everything yet but I already miss you and Papa.

The witch stopped, wondering what to tell them next. Looking over at the blond boy bent over his broomstick, she continued writing.

We're going to learn to fly soon and there's a boy here who's really good at it. I'm going to look stupid in front of him trying to fly but he doesn't know what a bicycle is so I think we're even.

I miss your scones, Mama, they don't have them here, not that I've seen yet. Could you send some extras along too? I want to share them with my friends since they don't get a lot of home cooked food from their families.

Deciding to leave it at that, she girl signed her name and folded the letter neatly.

by Guest Tue Dec 20, 2011 7:06 am

Tarragon looked up as Alys folded the letter.

"Not telling them you've met a big scary guy that you don't know what to do about, I hope." He laughed softly. "I suppose it's lovely to be able to do that. I'd love to be able to do that personally... But never mind. Did you enjoy our first flying lesson, by the way? You did really well for your first attempt. I was surprised I must say."

His cheeks went slightly red as he revealed what he had truly been thinking the day before.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. What I meant was that most people don't pick up things like that easily, but you took to it really well. And with a broken broom!"

He smiled at Alys in awe. It did take a lot of talent to be able to do that!

by Guest Tue Dec 20, 2011 7:13 am

Alys couldn't help but grin a little at the compliment. "I thought it would be a lot worse but thanks to you, Ava and especially Lehrer Vikki, it was even fun. Though I did get scared when...." the witch trailed off, she was about to say "when that jerk said I would crash" but just remembered in time her rule of ignoring his existence.

"But next week we have to race," she continued. "And I know I'm no good at that. You have that one in the bag, don't you Tarragon?" In her class, she hadn't seen anyone fly as well as the blond beside her.