You might belong in Gryffindor

[littledhampir]

Who: Gryffindors! (+ Friends/Visitors/People sneaking in)
Where: Gryffindor Tower: Common Rooms + Dorms. Gryffindor Table in the Great Hall.
When: During the event
Rating: Label as you go
Summary: Gryffindor Mingle Log
The Story:

Common Room
The common room is a circular room where Gryffindor students can relax after a long day of studying. It is full of squashy armchairs, tables, and a bulletin board where school notices, ads, lost posters, etc. can be posted. The common room is decorated in several shades of red, which is associated with the house.

There are many windows that look out onto the grounds of the school, and a large fireplace dominates one wall. The mantle of the fireplace is adorned with a portrait of a lion. The walls are decorated with scarlet tapestries that depict witches and wizards, but also various animals. There are also bookcases located in the room.


Dorms
The Gryffindor dormitories are also located in the Tower, with two doors leading off from the common room that open to spiral staircases. One of them leads to the girls' dormitory, the other to the boys'. The stairs to the girls' dormitory are enchanted to become a slide if any boy attempts to climb them, but not vice versa, since it was deemed that girls were more trustworthy than boys... (Look don't blame me it's canon)

Comments

cw vague internalized ableism

[postictal]

I've got a bad brain.

[He says it shortly, tiredly, abandoning the effort it would've taken to maintain some kind of bizarre story, and there's no point in keeping it concealed. Zacharie might be a lot of things, but "judgmental" isn't the vibe he'd say he gets from him. Maybe that's an error in Tim's own perception, but he can't bring himself to care.]

Just born wrong, I guess. So my doctors gotta mail my meds in so I don't have a fit in the middle of class. Only Hogwarts doesn't take normal post, so it's gotta come in by owl.

[There's no small measure of disgust in the words. He knows. He knows what he is, and he loathes it, and there's no point in pretending otherwise. He's not, and never will be, normal. That's just not in the cards for him.

Never was.]

[catinthemask]

['a bad brain'.

Zacharie doesn't judge much. He had his moments but they fell to the apathy that not many knew he possessed. Tended to keep things cheery. It's better that way.

But there are just some lines that shouldn't be crossed. And there's no mask that could hide the subtle edge in his voice when he speaks.]

I suppose that would happen. Nevertheless, I cannot truly do much about the rumors people may spin. However...if people decide to make your life difficult over this then I will be happy to have a chat with them.

[Or dunk them into a vanishing cabinet. Either or.]

[postictal]

[That offer is greeted, for a moment, with a long stretch of uncertain silence. He's not sure what to make of it. What Zacharie could possibly get from that. It's not any of his business - why would it matter what other people think of a guy he only knows peripherally, whom he occasionally drags off to get into myriad trouble. This is easily one of the most personal discussions he's ever had with the other guy - maybe even any other person at all, period.

After a long moment, a continuous extrapolation of a glaring quiet, Tim finally responds, simply:]

Why?

[catinthemask]

I had a friend.

[A good friend, perhaps something more if that was possible for someone like Zacharie. Didn't need a mask for that one, she knew what he was thinking anyway. Yeah, she was one of the closest people he ever walked away from. For the worse.

Speaking of walking, they've arrived. Another password later and they're outside, a skip and a hop away from the Gryffindor dorm. Now isn't that exciting.]

I believe I should find a way to clean that tunnel out. Quite musty.

[postictal]

[Ah.

Tim doesn't need much more of an explanation than that. He stops dead for a moment, considers the words quietly, and then - moves on. Keeps going.

The fact that Zacharie doesn't elaborate means a lot, he thinks. An awful lot. He scrambles out of the passageway and follows along to the portrait of the Fat Lady, the looming entrance to the common room he remembers.]

I appreciate it, [Tim says, at last.] Thanks.

[catinthemask]

[The sad thing is that once this event is over and done with, he'll never bring it up himself again. But he has no memory of that for now, so let's move on.]

Not a problem amigo. It is not an easy thing for anyone subject to it.

[A game locked on hard mode, but it's not quite fair to use game logic on it. Instead he gives the Fat Lady the password and endures her grumbling of being woken up in the middle of the night before they're back in the safety of the dorms.]

I plan on leaving after a quick nap so if I do not see you in the morning, see you sometime soon?

[postictal]

[Not an easy thing. Yeah. He gets that plenty, only it's usually accompanied by a mixture of pity and wariness, like he's something rabid that might snap at any minute. Zacharie, at least, seems to have taken it in stride.

But then, from the way he's speaking, it seems like he's used to doing so.

Tim scrambles into opening left by the portrait as it swings outward, pausing to glance at Zacharie over his shoulder, brow creasing.]

...yeah. Yeah, I think so.

[catinthemask]

[He tries to avoid pity. Ask one too many questions on the behalf of a friend who didn't and you learn to recognize the patterns in words.

Zacharie tilts his head to the side before laughing.]

Then I will see you soon.

[He'll crawl in after that and look for the nearest couch to crash on. It seems this journey was productive in more than one way. Ah ah ah.]