Theo Spurn
May 28, 2020 7:25 AM
Sofa talk by Theo Spurn
Theo had a very shiny new homework diary. Or rather, a fluffy new homework diary. Because Dad knew how to get Theo’s attention on something, and faux fur was a sure fire way. Dad was a little bit worried about Theo’s organisational abilities, so after he’d got through his first year without dying or whatever other baseline his parents had set, dad had seemed determined to actually tackle this.He had a brand new watch which was divided into things like ‘dinner’ and ‘homework’ and ‘freetime’ which was much handier than actual numbers because it was sort of hard to forget what class you were meant to be in because you just followed everyone else around. Also they went in the same order as they had last year, so that was easy to remember. He had only nearly gone wrong once when he’d just automatically kept walking with Anya after breakfast and then realised she was going the wrong way, and then had to be sad all over again that they weren’t in class together any more. As it was still the first week, the teachers weren’t locking them out for being late (he wasn’t sure if any teachers actually did that anyway?) and he’d got to his class more or less on time (if they hadn’t got to your name on roll call, you weren’t officially late, and being an S gave some pretty good leeway there). And then he’d got to be excited all over again about Wally and Stanley being there.
Theo liked his new diary. He liked to stroke it. He did not necessarily like to do more than that with it, but it had been charmed to open itself at the mention of ‘homework’ so, as long as he had it out on his desk, he stood a chance of actually writing the homework down. It was also charmed to cough pointedly at him if it had not been opened and checked each evening, and had further measures in place if that failed to work.
He liked it very much. He liked it and he had shown it to Anya and to Stanley and then someone had suggested that the floor was lava and Theo loved that because it involved bouncing from sofa to armchair and back and that was all soft, and then there had been a need to throw the cushions to make rafts and they had even been super good and responsible and remembered to put the cushions back on the sofa afterwards. They had only needed asking twice! Whether it had been a prefect or just someone who wanted to use the sofa, or even whether it had been the same person both times, Theo had not really noticed. The main thing was they had had fun and been responsible. What Theo had not noticed was that the cushions had all gone on top of his homework diary.
He had missed it a couple of times since. He thought about it sometimes in class. It had not really registered with his brain yet as ‘lost’ though. Had it done, he would have worried and felt bad because it was fluffy and he didn’t know where it was and it was all alone in the world and he loved it and it was fluffy. However, he just kept noticing that it was not there when he was in class, and presumed it was in his room or… somewhere broadly fine. And he always meant to check when he got back, but then other things happened, and even when his watch said it was Homework O’Clock he didn’t always think about it.
The diary was not impressed with this. It had coughed pointedly several times but, between the muffling effect of the cushions and a cough being a more or less normal thing to hear, it had not led anyone to discover it. Now it was, at a regular interval of ten minutes, pointedly calling for attention in a soft but firm British male’s voice.
Theo, however, was not around to perceive the phenomenon of one of the Pecari couches calling out ‘Theo. Look at me, please Theo.’ Undoubtedly though, someone else would notice that.
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Theo Spurn
Sofa talk
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Janis Rosemary Silver
May 28, 2020 2:10 PM
AHH! They don't normally do that. by Janis Rosemary Silver
Her legs were crossed underneath her to give her space to lay the comic book. The weather charms outside meant that the weather was like winter at home, cold and wet. So inside time was to be. She had enjoyed school thus far, much to her chagrin. She didn’t think she needed to do any of her homework just yet, it didn’t seem as important as reading her comic book about a superhero who goes around fighting dementors.The common room was so nice and cozy that she had decided to sit down there. After all, she’d thought, she might see Fitzgerald! She’d been happy to find out that Fitzgerald was a last name. Specifically her own Prefects last name! He seemed kind enough, though at times looked a bit exasperated. Or maybe that’s just how adults looked. Maybe he just wanted a nap after dealing with kids playing lava? Still, he was usually filled with good cheer. Janis hoped to be able to get into a one on one conversion with him. In her mind, she’d played out that if only she had a one-on-one conversation with Parker he’d realize she was his sister and embrace her, literally and figuratively, as such.
So it was with giddy excitement that she’d come down to the common room to find the couch cousins all moved around. She moved some of them about to make it easier to sit, but it wasn’t her job to fix the couches and the cushions worked just fine.
So she sat cross legged with the comic book sitting in her lap. She wasn’t really reading it as such as looking up every few seconds to see if anyone was coming down the stairs. Then she heard a cough. She’d thought maybe it was someone hiding somewhere. After all the three louder Pecari’s could be having a fun game like that. But she looked behind currents and under tables and didn’t see anyone.
She sat down again, and once again heard a cough. She looked around. It had sounded close by but distant as well. Maybe someone was a ventriloquist?
“Hello?” she said looking around. There was a brief pause and then “..ook at me please…” came from… the couch she was sitting on??
She jumped off quickly getting into a crouching position. This wasn’t ok. She had her comic book in her hand like a weapon of some sort.
“I didn’t catch that! You want me to come at you?” She said loudly to the couch. Was there such a thing as a magical couch? Maybe it was some kind of magical creature that could shape shift. Her mom had told her about those. She poked the couch again with her comic book. It did nothing.
Then a cough. Again from the couch. Specifically the pillow that didn’t match. Janis went to the cushion and pulled it off quickly. As if it were something toxic. Underneath she saw a fuzzy book. She gave it a quizzical look, uncertain of what it meant. Janis looked around first before she went to pick up the book.
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Janis Rosemary Silver
AHH! They don't normally do that.
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Mab
May 28, 2020 5:50 PM
Don't touch it! by Mab
There was something weird happening in the common room. Sometimes when she was in there all by herself, she heard coughing. It might have been one of the couches. She'd been pretty sure last year during her Head of House speech, that the couches were potentially dangerous and should not be touched without consent, and though she'd eventually dismissed that theory through lack of obvious retaliation against Theo and Leonor, she was now beginning to reevaluate that conclusion. Specifically, she was now remembering that many of the fey were patient and subtle. Basically, the opposite of Theo, who was distracting and obvious and had almost made her forget that he was the minority and not the norm.The couch spirit was real.
As she entered the room tonight, she saw Janis standing over the one she'd noticed had a cold (she could only assume couch spirits could catch colds same as anyone else because the reason she knew it was real was because it coughed.)
Janis was not respecting the couch spirit's desire not to be touched without consent. She was yanking the cushions off. Mab stepped forward to warn and stop her, but it was too late, the cushion had been removed. And there was a book. A talking book. A talking book that had apparently challenged the first year.
That was worse.
"No!" she said urgently, holding out a hand to prevent Janis from touching it. "Stop!"
When she felt sure she had the younger girl's attention, she continued very seriously, "This is one of the things you need to know. Enchanted objects can be very dangerous. Especially ones that can speak and think. Do not touch it. I'll stand guard. You get a prefect."
Mab had her wand out, not because she thought it would help her cast anything if she needed to do magic, but because it was a symbol, and it looked more intimidating than just standing there without one. Her eyes did not leave the falsely innocuous looking fuzzy book.
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Mab
Don't touch it!
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Janis Rosemary Silver
May 28, 2020 7:27 PM
Then what do we do with it? by Janis Rosemary Silver
Her hand shot back quickly. Janis turned to look at Mab. The second year was standing behind her pulling out her wand. She looked kind of like the superhero in her comic book, only younger. Then Mab said something kind of silly. Janis had a few enchanted objects herself at home. Still the older girl was so certain that Janis assumed that it was possible she didn’t know something, and took Mab’s word on it.“That was close,” Janis said to Mab quickly, “Thanks.”
She ran up the stairs to knock Parkers room only to end back in the common room. It took her a moment to realize she had been turned around by a ward not her own getting lost. She wasn’t allowed up into the male section of the dorms. What idiot built that feature into the dorms, thought Janis. It was down right dangerous.
Look at me sounded behind her from the couch. Janis, turned to look. She couldn’t figure out where the sound was coming from. It was eerie. It looked almost like an animal now that Mab had mentioned how dangerous it was.
“Do you know if the girl prefect is in?” She asked towards Mab. Janis couldn’t remember her name right now. If the girl prefect wasn’t here, it was going to be up to them, a first year wizarding worlding and a second year muggle born, to solve this problem. How on earth did you defeat an enchanted object if they were bad? And if they were so bad, why didn’t DADA start with that? Janis' mind slowed for a second, maybe it did.
“Maybe there is something in our Defense book?”
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Janis Rosemary Silver
Then what do we do with it?
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