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Post by am on Feb 19, 2011 6:12:45 GMT -5
Year 2
Ainsley walked with his hands in his pockets. Even though it was his second year he was still coming to terms with the great losses that had been inflicted upon him. Like his CD player, his rock collection, eating fast food... The second one was something that he hadn't even cared about until it wasn't there. His parents had insisted that it was a healthy hobby and had practically forced it upon him. His preference was finding toads out in his family's yard and finding somewhere inconspicuous in his sister's room to stick it until he heard her scream. This summer, though, when he'd been at home and tried this, Alise had used magic against him. She had gotten into trouble with their parents but he didn't risk trying it again. Alise hadn't been so friendly toward him since he went to Hogwarts...
He started to think about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. It irked him that even the pretty girls he thought were intelligent were simply falling over themselves to impress the fancy man Lockhart, even when he said comments that other boys closer to their age would get punched for! “It has to be a wig or something. How would he have time to make his hair so perfect and sign autographs when he's supposed to be preparing for class?” Ainsley asked himself, comically tilting his head and resting his hand on his chin in thought. It was a theory he'd been working on. The signing autographs rather than preparing for class. Why else would the lessons be such utter rubbish? He was twelve and could think of more compelling things.
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Post by Harry Potter on Feb 21, 2011 4:59:30 GMT -5
This was ridiculous. Why would he petrify Mrs. Norris? Granted, he would enjoy kicking her just once if he ever got the chance like everyone else in the school but he would never do something like that...even if he knew how to! He was walking quite quickly down a corridor, having shaken off Ron and Hermione at the library by reminding them both that they had to finish their potions' essays. When Hermione asked why he wasn't doing his, he lied and said it was already done. Snape was just going to give him bad marks anyway, why bother?
He rounded the corner and, in his haste, walked straight into someone else and stumbled backwards, but he flung out one hand to grab the nearest window sill to steady himself before he could land on the ground. "Sorry" he appologized immediately.
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Post by am on Feb 21, 2011 5:19:47 GMT -5
Ainsley stumbled a bit, his thinking posture positively destroyed. And yet not. If a person is in that much thought they don't really pay attention to what's around them, do they? “Hey. It's no big deal,” he said casually. It wasn't, to him. As long as they weren't standing on the Grand Staircase and Ainsley hadn't taken a fall down them, he saw no reason to make a big deal of it. The image of himself sailing down the stairs and landing on one of the trick steps and falling even more struck him as funny, and so he had a broad grin on his face by the time he noticed who had hit into him.
Harry Potter. He knew who he was because they were in the same house and thus had classes together. That was really the only significance Ainsley could place because he had never been that interested in reading books for fun, where Harry's name could be found. Everyone made a fuss over him the year before and frankly he felt a little awkward on Harry's behalf. Now there were rumors because of Filch's reaction to what had happened. “Er, hey, Harry,” he said, that old awkward feeling coming back. “I don't think we've actually met on a one on one basis, and uh... well, you probably don't know me. I'm Ainsley.”
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Post by Harry Potter on Feb 21, 2011 5:25:44 GMT -5
Harry always felt awkward when people knew his name and yet he had no idea who they were in return and the awkward tension between them only added to that. "Hi Ainsley" he said politely when the other boy introduced himself. He recognized him from classes and the common room but they had never actually spoken before.
He kind of stood there awkwardly, just looking around as other students passed them, not sure what to say next but not rude enough to just walk away after having nearly bowled the poor kid over.
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Post by am on Feb 21, 2011 5:37:30 GMT -5
Ainsley laughed a little bit to break the tension. “You really know how to make a boy feel stupid, Potter. You've said three words and I've done at least five times as much.” He wasn't sure what to say really, which was obvious, but he did want to say something. He was naturally a social person and without the fear of Potter's fame, he thought that he could try to make friends. Make acquaintances at least! So he jumped to a random subject.
“Hey how do they make the food appear at feasts? I want to learn how. I mean, I hope that it's not something to do with the tables or something. It would be cool to just make something appear when you were hungry. Then again, I think more witches and wizards would be fat if everyone could do it.” He laughed again, though this time it probably seemed less forced.
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Post by Harry Potter on Feb 21, 2011 5:45:34 GMT -5
Harry inwardly flinched. It was a habit of his because generally the only people who called him Potter were enemies who then mocked him or tried to hex him. But it was quite evident that this boy had no such intentions so he relaxed, and even smiled at the random subject change.
"I'm not really sure. It's probably somewhere in Hogwarts: A History..." He shrugged sheepishly. "But I've never really read it." Hermione would probably know. He made a mental note to ask her later.
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Post by am on Feb 21, 2011 5:51:04 GMT -5
Ainsley wasn't sure whether to feel happy or deflated that Harry hadn't read it either. It made him feel like there were other people with better things to do than sit around reading books, but at the same time, the question was unanswered. “I don't think most people have. I can't... I read the word History and I start hearing Binns in my head. Then... the world fades to black and I wake up a few hours later with paper stuck to my face.”
He wasn't lying, actually. He had started to read the book, fell asleep, and woke with the pages sticking. He nearly ripped it when he jolted awake. It was better for his well-being and the book's that he not sleep, because if Pince heard of such a gross mistreatment of a book he wasn't sure what punishment she'd have when no one was looking.
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Post by Harry Potter on Feb 21, 2011 5:55:50 GMT -5
Harry chuckled. "I know someone who has read it...cover to cover...probably more than once. I'll ask her about it some time." He saw Snape approaching them and quickly addressed his companion. "It's a nice day outside, do you want to take a walk?" He prayed the other boy wouldn't stand around pondering it or ask questions because that would give Snape time to reach them where he would no doubt ask why Harry wasn't holed up somewhere working on the essay he had assigned.
Snape stopped a few paces down the hallway to tell off some third year hufflepuffs for running in the corridors, conveinently not noticing that it was a pair of sixth year slytherins who had tried cursing them which is why they were running. As unfair as it was, it bought Harry and Ainsley some time...not that the latter knew they needed any time to be bought.
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Post by am on Feb 21, 2011 6:06:08 GMT -5
Ainsley had an unfortunate righteous streak which made him want to stop and tell Snape off, as the scene had drawn his attention that way. But then, if he got in trouble anymore so early in the year he'd never get away with doing it later. It didn't help that he hadn't finished his homework, either. He glanced over, then hurried toward the outside. Just as they were out, the clouds seemed to come out as well, covering the grounds in shadow. Ainsley's first thought was that it was something like a movie.
“I hope that doesn't mean that he's spotted us,” he said to Harry, not completely aware that Snape was the reason that he wanted to go outside. “He is rather good at casting a gloom over a moment. That person who's read it more than once, that's Granger, isn't it?” he asked, trying to hurry past what he said before in case Snape appeared behind them. “I told my parents about it before because my mother was worried that I would be behind everyone since I was raised with muggles and now instead of expecting me to get low grades they think I should be at Hermione's level!” Instead of sounding annoyed, he laughed yet again. “I bet it's tiring for her to always get attention for it.” [/color][/blockquote]
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Post by Harry Potter on Feb 21, 2011 7:03:53 GMT -5
Harry glanced warily over his shoulder. Snape was strolling along, looking plesed with himself, but at least he didn't seem to notice the twi gryffindors that had made a dash for it which made him breathe a lot easier. He was not in the mood for another run in with the overgrown bat.
His attention was dragged back to Ainsley when he mentioned Hermione...by her last name. Again Harry felt himself, by instinct, stiffen as though ready to fight someone and had to take a few deep breaths to relax, hoping the other boy didn't notice his odd reaction. "Yeah, that's Hermione alright."
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Post by am on Feb 21, 2011 7:09:45 GMT -5
Unfortunately, Ainsley did notice Harry's reaction and gave him a weird look. “Err, did you run some laps before running into me?” he asked. After all, he didn't think it was strange at all to call people by their last names – most people did. So Harry's reaction was incredibly strange to him, and he didn't see it for what it was. “Oh... I bet you're just worried about Snape accusing you of something else, right? The faculty must have it out for you.” He thought of Filch and his cat, Mrs. Norris... Whom Ainsley actually had kicked once. It wasn't his fault she snuck up on him. “Who hasn't thought about getting rid of Mrs. Norris somehow? But how would you have done it, you don't have snakes coming out of your head or something.” He was of course referencing Medusa.
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Post by Harry Potter on Feb 21, 2011 7:16:19 GMT -5
The faculty had it out for him. That was the understatement of the year when "faculty" meant Filch and Snape. Harry smiled dryly, trying to keep his tone upbeat instead of bitter. "Snape and I have never gotten along and it's not likely we ever will." There was a flash of hatred in his green eyes that vanished very quickly as he continued to talk. "And Filch would have blamed a tree for his cat being petrified if it happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time like we were."
The "we" was obviously referring to him, Ron, and Hermione, though it was only he who had gotten blamed and nearly attacked by the panic stricken caretaker.
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Post by am on Feb 21, 2011 7:28:37 GMT -5
“I don't think Snape should be allowed around children. I mean, I doubt that Dumbledore wanted children to fear adults when he hired him.” Ainsley couldn't know for sure. Adults in general had strange ideas sometimes. And Harry's comment about Filch made him chuckle appreciatively. “Oh yeah. And that man loves his cat. I imagine if Mrs. Norris was about to step on a thorn and at the same time a student was about to walk off the staircase, he would push the student off if it got him to his cat first.”
He couldn't deny that part of him was pleased that Filch wasn't prowling the castle as much anymore. He'd been staying by where it had happened, as though waiting for the culprit to return. “It is weird though. Maybe Snape petrified Mrs. Norris so he could frame you.” Ainsley loved coming up with theories about things. The most nonsensical the better!
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Post by Harry Potter on Feb 21, 2011 9:12:56 GMT -5
The comment about Dumbledore and Snape made Harry's lips twitch. He had asked multiple times why Snape had been hired and all he had gotten was that Dumbledore trusted him unconditionally, which in Harry's mind was not a good enough answer.
"He definitely does love that cat." Harry couldn't fault the man for loving his pet, as he was crazy about Hedwig, but the extent of their connection was a little creepy. How could Filch possibly know that a student was out of bed past curfew when he was on the other side of the school just because Mrs. Norris had seen them?!
"If Snape had done it purely to frame me, he wouldn't have started to try and get me out of trouble with Filch" Harry pointed out. It had been strange, to say the least, when Snape had observed that maybe they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Harry, Ron and Hermione had all swapped befuddled looks, wondering if an alien had taken over Snape's mouth. But then he had seemed unable to continue to help them and started ranting about not seeing Harry at dinner. Luckily Lockhart had saved him on that one. The prat does have a use after all.
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Post by am on Feb 22, 2011 3:44:39 GMT -5
For some reason Ainsley initially thought that Harry was making that face because he actually was angry with Ainsley for his comment. Why though? He had said that he didn't like Snape... Maybe he was annoyed that he had said that about Dumbledore. Ainsley quite liked the strange old man though and hadn't meant anything by it. Because Harry didn't say anything though he carried on, hoping it wouldn't have bothered him too much.
“Well, he might have pretended that he was trying to get you out of trouble with Filch. Filch was going to think it was you either way until it was proven otherwise just because he wanted someone to be punished for it.” This was apparently another theory that Ainsley was working on – not one so vexing as Lockhart's hair. “He was pretending so that no one would realize that he was the one who did it.”
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