[OPEN MINGLE] Or perhaps in Slytherin

[fulllifeconsequences]

Who: Slytherin House! (And friends and visitors, of course!)
Where: Slytherin Common Room, Quidditch Pitch, various places around Hogwarts
When: Duration of the event
Rating: G (will edit as necessary)
Summary: Slytherin open log!
The Story:



The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling, from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and several Slytherins were silhouetted around it in carved chairs.

The common room has changed, somewhat, from its historical description, thanks to the decorative powers of one Mettaton. Though it still extends beneath the lake and thus retains a greenish, aquatic cast, it's much more brightly lit, its cold, damp atmosphere replaced with dazzling MTT-brand warmth. Even the giant squid, occasionally peering in as it does its rounds of the lake, seems just a shade more glamorous inside such a charming space.

Students - and a ghost or two - can be found nestled within its confines, plotting mischief around the fire, studiously doing their homework (as good students do), or perhaps trading Chocolate Frog trading cards. Though Slytherin is not especially well-known for its wide-open, trusting nature, Slytherins are known for not snitching on each other; if a guest or two were to creep in for a while, then odds are, nobody saw anything.

Comments

[kralitsa]

The best.

[ katerina's smile remains wide and mirthful. clementine has a point — not every adventure needs to be grand, or one for this history books. she oftentimes forgets she can be whoever she wishes; she can be someone who has books dedicated to her work, or someone who only impacts a few dozen. ]

[ she's always wished to be the former, believing there to be power in that, but katerina has since discovered perhaps size is merely just a number. ]

See? Our friend's using her best skills to further her own survival. [ she leans back in her chair, finding she thinks clementine's onto something. ] All you need to do is follow her example. Use Defense for Transfiguration. Be someone who doesn't need to boast of your accomplishments like Salazar and the other House Founders did. [ she leans forward again, and flicks her hand into the air as she shrugs. ] Or be loud and boastful. You just proved to me you have what it takes to take the world by storm.

Hurricane Clementine has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

[shorthair]

[clementine quiets, taking in katerina's every word. she never thought about the future. she never thought about doing great things. when seh was tiny, she played pretend in many different ways and then life changed and became survival. she thought about hogwarts in the same way (this is how i can defend myself and stay safe) instead of thinking about what she can do.

the whole world could open up for her. lee taught her how to survive. her parents loved her unconditionally, but no one has ever told her she could 'take the world by storm' before.

she smiles then.]

I really like it.

[her smile widens.] You're amazing. [she's sad katerina is going to leave after this year.] What do you want to do? Take the world by storm or something else?

[kralitsa]

[ katerina smiles, and it isn't one that's smug. slytherins are thought to be conceited, but she finds herself touched, and a little embarrassed, by clementine's words. katerina may spend her time talking herself up, informing her friends of her own amazingness, but she's never quite been on the receiving end of such compliments. ]

[ she doesn't answer clementine right away. it's a question she finds she's begun to become frightened of, even though she's not afraid of anything. ]

[ she thinks to lie, but instead shrugs her shoulders, and her expression becomes thoughtful. her tone is lower, quieter, ] I don't know. [ she looks down at vasilka, who is the only being she has confided this to, and still finds her cat has no advice for her. ]

[ she looks up at clementine, ] I guess that's the adventure, isn't it?

[shorthair]

[clementine wonders if people ever really know. it seems like slytherins are expected to have ambition and know what they want out of life and believe they will get it. it seems smarter to her to not assume that they'll be king of the world. or that they will be the most powerful wizard ever. she doesn't really know what people aspire to be. she thinks she just wants to be happy one day, to feel safe. and maybe to do something really great once that's been achieved. it feels more possible here at hogwarts when she's reminded of what the world and life is really like.]

That's okay. [it's okay she doesn't know, but clementine smiles at that. it's quiet but warm. she doesn't dispense warm smiles very easily. they don't come naturally to her.]

Sounds like something our friend might say. [the woman they made up who actually founded the house of slytherin before heading off on her own adventure into the unknown. what greater triumph would there be than to find what you want and to take it?]

[kralitsa]

[ clementine may not know it, but her simple "it's okay" is what katerina has been searching after for months. it hasn't felt okay to not know where she wishes to be, whom she's going to become once she emerges from hogwarts' hold on her. ]

[ everyone seems to be telling her the same thing, either inadvertently giving her the advice she seeks or deducing what she needs to hear, but the words of a girl who is so much younger than those she's confided in weighs more heavily and stops her feet from wandering away. she still wishes to swerve around and miss it, shifting that weight that gives her some semblance of peace away from herself, but she leaves it be, letting herself, for once, stop trying to fight everything. ]

[ she appears thoughtful, her expression not necessarily open with a smile, but a small one forms at clementine's next words. it may not be smart to rely on a figure who's imaginary, but perhaps it's enough to know that there's a void that needs filling — clementine can be anyone she wishes to be, whether worthy of having copious books written of her, or simply being a mere footprint that ends up disappearing beneath the brush of time as it grows over her. ]

[ katerina tilts her head, wondering, ] You think so?

[shorthair]

[clementine has lived a lot in a short amount of time, but she's still young at least this version of her. she isn't cynical just yet. there's a belief beating away in her rib cage which hasn't been squashed out. she tends to view it all differently than someone who has been around longer, who has had those same expectations placed on them to have it all figured out.

she meets her gaze in the quiet, nodding, as if she knows, as if she's relying on something more than youthful hope to have these feelings. she believes because she wants to believe.]

Yeah, I think so.

That sometimes there's not answers. Just mysteries and adventures, and you get to say where it takes you.

[not anyone else.]

[kralitsa]

[ sometimes katerina likes divination for how it's supposed to be a guiding force, but it gets bland to know how the future is meant to unfold. there's no mystery and no control, and katerina likes both. ]

[ appearing thoughtful, it's clear she accepts clementine's proposal. sometimes even the oldest of the students need to be tutored by those who are younger than them. her experiences are her own to hold, but they've also left her being rather single-minded and often blind to what's around her. ]

I like that. [ her smile is small and soft. ] I've spent my whole life believing there was always a destination before me, but sometimes there isn't. Not all maps have an X that marks the spot.

[ some do, and that makes the adventure worthwhile. but sometimes it's nice to not know where you're going. ]

[ she readjusts herself where she sits. ] You should consider tutoring when you're older. The students could learn a thing or two from you.

[shorthair]

It only helps to believe there's a destination before you when you know where you want to go. Otherwise, the destination might feel more like a sentence that you can't escape.

[it might feel more like a cage really. she never had that problem at least, but she's also not spent a lot of time thinking about her future, wondering about where it might lead her or where she wanted to lead her. in hogwarts, she'll have the chance to.

professors will want to know where her interests lie, and it will matter. she smiles sideways at her]

Really? I... think I'd really like that.

[maybe she'll be a professor herself one day. she likes teaching other people how to take care of themselves, how to survive, how to view the world in a different way.]

[kralitsa]

[ katerina imagines it may be a little too much if she tells clementine she's doing a perfect job at tutoring right now. she imagines it'd be met with a surprised "really?" and even doubt. not all teachers had to wear the title of "professor" to be able to teach someone a valuable lesson. ]

You can do whatever you want. [ it's a lesson katerina has to learn herself. if she wants to embrace a new life, then she has to let herself begin to learn how to walk toward and with it. ] Be a teacher — here, Beauxbatons, even in a Muggle school. Walk on the moon. Invent cars. Become a dog whisperer. Train thestrals. [ katerina smiles at the end of it, not quite grasping hold of the traction she's built in her own confident voice. ]

[ she simmers down. ] I guess you just have to realise you need to take chances. [ and that's something she has to learn, once again. ]