Post by Sylph on Oct 6, 2006 11:36:18 GMT -5
"Ravenclaw are really in with a chance this year," said one girl with fly-away hair to her bookish-looking companion, as they leaned over the pen of warp snakes for a better look at the shape-shifting serpents. "Gryffindor only just have the edge at the moment, and that girl from Hufflepuff, oh, what's her name? The crazy moody one with brown hair - "
"Charlotte McCartney," the bookish girl replied, not looking up from the information label she was reading.
"Oh yes, that's it," continued the other. "Well, she has single handedly lost her house one hundred and twenty points! In one day! I didn't even think going over a hundred points into deficit was possible, not until she set our common room alight, anyway."
"She did what?"
"Oh yes, didn't you hear? She snuck into our common room and set the living quarters on fire. She was caught - of course - by Muryllis and Sparky, and they sent her packing in a right state, so I heard, and took away one hundred points, just like that! Of course, only the head boy - Muryllis - has the power to take that many points away from someone. He's quite good looking, don't you think? And of course he would be a Ravenclaw..."
That was enough. Sylph had been in her usual place in the shop, behind the counter with her dragonscale-booted feet elevated comfortably on the desk in front of her, thumbing through the latest edition of Magical Creatures Monthly - that subscription Aednat had gifted her was certainly useful for killing the boredom - when her ears had pricked up at the mention of Gryffindor and the points tables. Inwardly she glowed to think that her former house - the one she had run almost single handedly for a whole school year as prefect and quidditch captain - was still in front in the house cup stakes. Just the way she liked it. Even now she was gone from school life, Sylph retained her zeal and competitive spirit for the lions, but that was not what held her attention on the conversation between the two girls.
The words that did were Charlotte McCartney. OK, so the description provided by the first girl was not entirely inaccurate, Charl' being more than a handful in recent months, but with Sylph and Forgoil's guidance, she had been starting to right herself again, hadn't she? And now she was apparently sneaking into other houses to set light to them. Burning books in the library was one thing, but igniting the eagle's CR? Perhaps Charl' was a complete pyromaniac after all. But it wasn't the girls' idle chatter that irked Sylph enough to make her move. IT was that last comment - the one about Muryllis. Gods did Sylph hate that kid. She had never liked the boy, she had known there was something... dark... about the now head boy from the beginning, but then he had shown himself to be a traitor to the school and all of Sylph's friends, and yet he still had girls gagging for him! To be perfectly honest, it turned Sylph's stomach more than a little, and she had taken just enough of hearing about it.
"Oi, you two," she said, swinging her long legs easily from the desk to stand all in one fluid motion. "Enough gossiping in my shop, got it? It upsets the dandy lions." She jerked her thumb at the bizarre looking plant-like things with teeth in the pot behind and to the left of the counter, the bright orange heads of which were starting to bob up and down distressingly, emitting a faint but high pitched wailing sound. Soon it would grow to an incessant roar, and Sylph did not want that. "Now, either buy something or get out." Her voice was firm and hard, and while her actions might result in her loosing business, it was preferable to listening to any more about that stinking hijofam Mury. After a moment of resentful silence from the girls, Sylph took a step forward and ushered them out of the shop door, pausing only to bend down and whisper the words Muryllis is homosexual, sorry doll, in the first girl's ear. As in, he only fancies other vermin, know what I mean?
Once that was dealt with, Sylph turned back inside to the now screeching dandy lions. Cursing out loud she stomped over to them and threw a towel over them, muffling the sounds, but the noise did not stop. Cursing again, Sylph leaned over the counted to grab her jacket, pulled out a falconer's leather glove and held out her arm. Obediently and as if from nowhere, a great black and white feathered thunderbolt appeared in the form of an enormous osprey and landed, all shining talons and hooked beak on her forearm. He clacked his beak once and eyed his girl through one huge yellow eye. It had been a while since she had taken him out into the real world; he was smart enough to realise that those fields out back were not entirely what they seemed, and he was happy. Snapping up a treat she tossed him, he stretched his wings and settled on her arm. Meanwhile, Sylph dropped her coat and grabbed the covered dandy lions, and muttering a silent prayer for them to shut up, walked out the front of the shop, switching the sign from 'open' to 'closed' as she went. She didn't need to lock it - the animals in there could take care of themselves, and if they couldn't... well, how many shoplifters would stand up to a forty foot long storm dragon?
Arriving on the grounds of Firefox, Sylph headed straight to the greenhouses. The Herbology professor - if he was still there - would be able to help her with these pesky plants, which still hadn't subsided, though at least they hadn't got any louder. As she strode along, her purple hair caught high in the autumn wind, Dylan flew high above, enjoying the freedom of the blustery blue sky, keeping an eye on things with his sensitive vision. Looking up to him, Sylph smiled, and with the slightest wiggle of her fingers sent a powerful gust his way. The fish-eagle rode it like a pro, whistling in delight, but Sylph's thoughts had turned back to the subject of Charlotte.
What the hell had happened to the girl since Sylph had left? She had been on the mend, hadn't she? And what the hell had Forgoil said when he'd found out what she'd done - single handedly - to his house's cup chances? Sylph's grey haired boyfriend - though she hated to use that particular word to describe him - was prefect of Hufflepuff, and Sylph knew that he'd go mad at going 120 points below zero due to Charl's reckless behavior. As she neared the greenhouses themselves, she whistled for Dylan, and he came quickly, closing his great bent wings and dropping like a stone. Catching him on her arm once more, Sylph whispered to him, and after a few seconds of staring, he flew off again in search of Charlotte. Sylph watched him go. He'd bring her alright. Even Charl' knew better than to tangle with one of Sylph's pets.
"Charlotte McCartney," the bookish girl replied, not looking up from the information label she was reading.
"Oh yes, that's it," continued the other. "Well, she has single handedly lost her house one hundred and twenty points! In one day! I didn't even think going over a hundred points into deficit was possible, not until she set our common room alight, anyway."
"She did what?"
"Oh yes, didn't you hear? She snuck into our common room and set the living quarters on fire. She was caught - of course - by Muryllis and Sparky, and they sent her packing in a right state, so I heard, and took away one hundred points, just like that! Of course, only the head boy - Muryllis - has the power to take that many points away from someone. He's quite good looking, don't you think? And of course he would be a Ravenclaw..."
That was enough. Sylph had been in her usual place in the shop, behind the counter with her dragonscale-booted feet elevated comfortably on the desk in front of her, thumbing through the latest edition of Magical Creatures Monthly - that subscription Aednat had gifted her was certainly useful for killing the boredom - when her ears had pricked up at the mention of Gryffindor and the points tables. Inwardly she glowed to think that her former house - the one she had run almost single handedly for a whole school year as prefect and quidditch captain - was still in front in the house cup stakes. Just the way she liked it. Even now she was gone from school life, Sylph retained her zeal and competitive spirit for the lions, but that was not what held her attention on the conversation between the two girls.
The words that did were Charlotte McCartney. OK, so the description provided by the first girl was not entirely inaccurate, Charl' being more than a handful in recent months, but with Sylph and Forgoil's guidance, she had been starting to right herself again, hadn't she? And now she was apparently sneaking into other houses to set light to them. Burning books in the library was one thing, but igniting the eagle's CR? Perhaps Charl' was a complete pyromaniac after all. But it wasn't the girls' idle chatter that irked Sylph enough to make her move. IT was that last comment - the one about Muryllis. Gods did Sylph hate that kid. She had never liked the boy, she had known there was something... dark... about the now head boy from the beginning, but then he had shown himself to be a traitor to the school and all of Sylph's friends, and yet he still had girls gagging for him! To be perfectly honest, it turned Sylph's stomach more than a little, and she had taken just enough of hearing about it.
"Oi, you two," she said, swinging her long legs easily from the desk to stand all in one fluid motion. "Enough gossiping in my shop, got it? It upsets the dandy lions." She jerked her thumb at the bizarre looking plant-like things with teeth in the pot behind and to the left of the counter, the bright orange heads of which were starting to bob up and down distressingly, emitting a faint but high pitched wailing sound. Soon it would grow to an incessant roar, and Sylph did not want that. "Now, either buy something or get out." Her voice was firm and hard, and while her actions might result in her loosing business, it was preferable to listening to any more about that stinking hijofam Mury. After a moment of resentful silence from the girls, Sylph took a step forward and ushered them out of the shop door, pausing only to bend down and whisper the words Muryllis is homosexual, sorry doll, in the first girl's ear. As in, he only fancies other vermin, know what I mean?
Once that was dealt with, Sylph turned back inside to the now screeching dandy lions. Cursing out loud she stomped over to them and threw a towel over them, muffling the sounds, but the noise did not stop. Cursing again, Sylph leaned over the counted to grab her jacket, pulled out a falconer's leather glove and held out her arm. Obediently and as if from nowhere, a great black and white feathered thunderbolt appeared in the form of an enormous osprey and landed, all shining talons and hooked beak on her forearm. He clacked his beak once and eyed his girl through one huge yellow eye. It had been a while since she had taken him out into the real world; he was smart enough to realise that those fields out back were not entirely what they seemed, and he was happy. Snapping up a treat she tossed him, he stretched his wings and settled on her arm. Meanwhile, Sylph dropped her coat and grabbed the covered dandy lions, and muttering a silent prayer for them to shut up, walked out the front of the shop, switching the sign from 'open' to 'closed' as she went. She didn't need to lock it - the animals in there could take care of themselves, and if they couldn't... well, how many shoplifters would stand up to a forty foot long storm dragon?
* ~ * ~ *
Arriving on the grounds of Firefox, Sylph headed straight to the greenhouses. The Herbology professor - if he was still there - would be able to help her with these pesky plants, which still hadn't subsided, though at least they hadn't got any louder. As she strode along, her purple hair caught high in the autumn wind, Dylan flew high above, enjoying the freedom of the blustery blue sky, keeping an eye on things with his sensitive vision. Looking up to him, Sylph smiled, and with the slightest wiggle of her fingers sent a powerful gust his way. The fish-eagle rode it like a pro, whistling in delight, but Sylph's thoughts had turned back to the subject of Charlotte.
What the hell had happened to the girl since Sylph had left? She had been on the mend, hadn't she? And what the hell had Forgoil said when he'd found out what she'd done - single handedly - to his house's cup chances? Sylph's grey haired boyfriend - though she hated to use that particular word to describe him - was prefect of Hufflepuff, and Sylph knew that he'd go mad at going 120 points below zero due to Charl's reckless behavior. As she neared the greenhouses themselves, she whistled for Dylan, and he came quickly, closing his great bent wings and dropping like a stone. Catching him on her arm once more, Sylph whispered to him, and after a few seconds of staring, he flew off again in search of Charlotte. Sylph watched him go. He'd bring her alright. Even Charl' knew better than to tangle with one of Sylph's pets.