Participants:
| Scene Title | OWLs Diversions |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Two Hufflepuffs and a rat meet in Diagon Alley.. |
| Date | July 4, 1994 |
| Watch For | Diversionary tactics! |
| Chronology | None |
| Logger | Perpetua |
After having said goodbyes to Amber, Perpetua is wandering Diagon Alley, waiting for her mum to finish up shopping. Which she delightfully got out of assisting with. Sometimes it's nice to be the older sibling. She hasn't stopped cooing over her new pet, the black rat that's still riding in her jacket pocket. Poor thing is probably resigned to its fate by now.
Antigone steps out of Gringott's, tucking a small pouch away in her pocket and frowning down at a bit of paper in her hand. But after a moment, she shrugs that off, straightens her shoulders, and heads down the steps into the crowd of fellow shoppers. Her path takes her in the same general direction as Perpetua, and when she recognizes her housemate, she alters course to head over to her, offering a grin and a wave of greeting as she approaches.
Perpetua wiggles a finger in her pocket, resuming her cooing over the rat. Glancing up at the same time Antigone waves and approaches, she smiles in return at the younger student. "Hey there! Wow, I normally don't run into this many students so early in the summer! I just saw Amber a little while ago. How's your summer going? Ready for the horribleness that's known as OWL's?" All this is said with a smile as she stops fussing with her pet.
Antigone makes a bit of a face as OWLs are mentioned, though she continues grinning in a friendly way. "Ugh, don't remind me. I'm not looking to worry about those until I /have/ to," she says. And even then, probably not worry about them quite as much as her parents or teachers might like her to. "Anyway, my summer's been, ah, fine thanks. Run into quite a few from school too these days. Guess no one wants to stay cooped up. How's yours been?"
Perpetua laughs and stretches out her arms. "I'm /so/ glad it's over, but I hope I failed a few of my courses so I can just focus on less classes for NEWTs. Oh well, mum'll box my ears if I fail too many." Wrinkling her nose slightly, she continues on, "OWLs starts so fast. The professors have no mercy. So don't be surprised if you have so much work the first day back that your eyes cross. My summer's going okay. It's been the usual, except this little guy was hiding in my trunk." She wriggles fingers again at the black rat poking its head out of her pocket. "I took pity on him and adopted him as a new pet!"
"I never thought I'd hear anyone hoping they failed, but I guess that makes sense. But I hope you did all right, just the same," Antigone grants, and as Perpetua continues, the younger girl starts to look a little queasy at the idea of all that work. "Ugh, I don't even want to think about it yet! We still have a few months before I have to worry about it, anyway. I'll just - I'll figure it out when I get there, right?" She tries to sound hopeful about that, but can't quite. Nonetheless, she tries to just shrug off the unhappy topic, instead offering a grin at the rat. "Oh, he's so cute! What's his name?" she gushes, offering the critter a little wave.
The rat could possibly be thinking that this is Hell. Hell is full of cooing girls, can the torture end now? But rats can't think, so it's probably, pls let there be cheese in this. The black rat claws up the inside of the pocket to peek out, then drops back down. Perpetua just beams down at the creature and is all too happy to not talk about school, work and tests! "Amber helped me name him. I'm gonna call him Mister Skitters! He's a healthy little thing, well after I nursed him some. He was all shaking and looked underfed! Other than that, he's pretty healthy. Looks like he had a fight sometime in the past, but he's okay. I should stop going on and on, you'd think I've never had pets before, what with all the cats we have!"
Antigone gives a little laugh at the suggested name, nodding approvingly. Unable to get a word in, she lets the other girl keep going, an then chimes in at the end, shaking her head with a kind grin. "Nah, it's all right. Every new pet is pretty exciting, I think. Though I've only really had Moth, myself." Her massive, lazy, lolling cat is not an uncommon sight in the common room. "Mister Skitters. I like it. I think it fits," she agrees, before giving the poor creature a sympathetic look for his plight. "Poor thing though, being trapped up in that trunk for who knows how long. Glad he's all right. Seems he's found a good owner to take care of him, at least."
"Yeah, we had to make it clear to our cats that he's not for eating. Some nosed at him with curiousity, mostly they just hissed, which is all normal." Perpetua resists the temptation to pull him from her pocket again, and just lets the rat curl up and do as he will. "Hopefully there won't be a problem introducing him to everyone's pets next term. Otherwise I'll have to send him back home."
"I'll have a talk with Moth," Antigone offers seriously. She'll do her part, at least. "But he's never given the other pet rats a hard time. He doesn't really give anything a hard time," she has to admit. He is one laid-back feline, that's for sure. "I hope the other cats and owls will be the same and just let him alone. Be a shame for you to have to send him back. But I guess he'll get looked after either way, right?"
"Oh yes. Mum may be more cat crazy, but we love all animals. I've already gotten a cage for him to stay in up in my room." That should suffice to keep the little guy safe! Perpetua doesn't seem terribly worried for Skitters' safety. "He should be fine either way, at school or at home! So what brings you out here anyway?" Switching topics easily, she just breezes on through.
"Sounds like you've got a plan then," Antigone agrees, before moving with the switch of topics. She gestures back towards Gringott's with a jerk of her head. "Had to pick up some money for mother. She's been letting me run errands so she doesn't have to bring my sisters down here. Though with that attack, it took some convincing that I'd be all right this time. But we got there in the end," she notes with a little laugh, so the row couldn't have been too serious. "How about you?"
"Attack? OOOOH right, mum and dad were talking about that. They're convinced it was some copy cat or someone just trying to take credit or make themselves to be bigger than they are." Either way, Perpetua is unconcerned and not bothered at all by the news. Just a little airheaded, this one can be. "Mum's picking up supplies and my brother is the one to help her out. Although I shouldn't tempt fate too much, before mum decides I should be put to work too. I suspect she's letting me fret about my OWLs results. I put on a good show for her!"
"Yeah, I dunno, the whole thing sounds dodgy, doesn't it," Antigone replies, a little ambivalent herself. She doesn't like to think about unpleasant things, and daring daylight attacks in Diagon Alley certainly count right up there in the ranking of unpleasantness. "Ah, well, good thinking. I'll have to remember that trick for next year," Tig comments, of pretending to fret so much about her OWL marks. "Though things have been kind of … complicated, so mother's got her hands too full enough right now to be fussing over me."
Perpetua shrugs a bit! "Mum and dad sounded anxious about it all, but convinced themselves it was just some people being scarier than they ought to." Not wanting to think of unpleasantness either, as ignorance is bliss, she giggles a little, "It's an excellent tactic. I only have a little longer to play at it though.. oh.. I'm sorry to hear things haven't been so great then. I would be helping mum as much as possible if she were in a tight spot, but things are alright for us."
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Antigone agrees, of people being scarier than they ought to. That sounds much better than the idea of it being any sort of real threat. Real threats aren't pleasant. She offers a smile, but shrugs off the sympathy. "It's all right. Just a bit of a setback, that's all. Anyway, there's a trip to Greece and then the Cup to help keep our minds off of things." Because her mother doesn't like to think about unpleasant things anymore than Tig does. "At any rate, I still think it's a brilliant plan with your OWL results. When do you expect you'll actually get them?"
"Ooooh, you lucky thing. We just don't have the money to go to the cup or to go anywhere really," but Perpetua isn't too fussed about it. She's genuinely content with her lot. Shrugging again slightly, "I'm not sure. Possibly this month, can't take any longer than our usual exam results as far as I can figure." Her manner then becomes subdued as she says with all honesty, "I hope things get better for you and your mum."
Antigone looks rather sympathetic that Perpetua can't go to the Cup, whether or not the older girl feels badly about that. "Oh, that's rotten luck. Well, maybe there'll be some other way to go. If we end up with extra tickets, I'll be sure to keep you in mind," she promises. There's a nod as to the amount of time to get results back. "That's right, isn't it. We've got exam marks coming out." There's another little face before she shrugs that off again. Oh well, she'll worry about it when she has to. "And thanks. But really, it's not so bad. Don't worry about me," she assures rather hastily. "I certainly don't mean to be complaining."
Perpetua waves a hand airily, "If it happens, it happens, if not, I'll live! I appreciate the thought though! Oh hey, if you need some help with revising for OWLs, I'll help out best I can. It's the least I can do to help out my fellow housemates and younger students!" She smiles encouragingly at Antigone, "Nah, you didn't seem to be complaining at all… uhoh. Here comes mum, looks like she's ready to haul us home. If I don't see you again before start of term, enjoy the rest of your holiday and the Cup!"
"Well, that's a good way to look at it. And thanks for the offer. I may end up having to take you up on it, from the sounds of it!" Antigone remarks with a little laugh. She only just manages to get by in her regular classes, and this OWL stuff is sounding like quite a headache. Still, it doesn't seem to have inspired her to go study tonight or anything. "All right, don't let me hold you up. And good luck with Mister Skitters. I'll see you 'round, I'm sure." She offers a grin, and then a wave at Perpetua's family, friendly to the end.