Absit Omen RPG

Zeta squealed and grabbed for Celene as the mooncalves entered the clearing. Celene tensed at the sudden contact, but then relaxed. It was only natural for Zeta to be nervous around such large creatures, but she had nothing to fear. Celene had positioned herself a safe distance away from the mooncalves. Safety around wild animals started with a healthy respect for  what they might be capable of.

Celene began to take notes, or at least attempt to. It was difficult to write by moonlight. 'Yet another reason why you have class inside!' she huffed under breath. She was interrupted, however, by a commotion next to her. Kyson, Kelvin and Zeta were getting into it. Celene flinched reflexively; they were being far too loud for her taste. She widened her eyes at the three of them and made a slicing gesture across her neck in warning.  She'd hoped they got the message before the group drew any unwanted attention, whether it be from Onuris, or the mooncalves.

"Psst. Oglesbee"

A tap on her shoulder. Celene spun around in both directions awkwardly, trying to locate the direction of the speaker. It was hard to see with her scarf pulled up to her eyes.

"Hey, babe, have you seen these before? Are they cute?"

"Zeta?!?" Celene asked, bewildered. Zeta's not even in this class, she thought. Why would she subject herself to a night out in the cold forest when she could be inside where it was nice and warm.

Celene whispered her answer to Zeta's inquiry. "Mooncalves are kind of cute, in a creepy sort of way. Their eyes are way to big for their heads. My Uncle Arty took me to see them once."

She fell in line next Zeta and Kelvin. Was a group of three allowed? Celene didn't know, but at this point she was willing to chance it. The only thing that could make this night more uncomfortable was if she got paired with a stranger.

Celene buried her face deep in her Slytherin scarf. She was certain that she looked ridiculous with her scarf up to her nose, and her head adorned with the furry green ear muffs she had received for the Christmas holiday, but then again, she hated being cold far more than she hated looking ridiculous.

Celene fought to keep the scowl of her face. Care of Magical Creatures maybe her favorite class, but she had not signed up for this. Classes belonged between breakfast and dinner. Everything after that was for studying and sleeping. Not for tromping out into the middle of the forest to attend class.

 Celene let out a dejected sigh into her scarf. Sometimes she wished she could blow stuff like this off. Go back to the squishy chair in Slytherin common room and drink tea. But she needed a good grade in this class. All her future plans depended on it. So she stepped a few feet closer so she could here what Professor Onuris was saying.

"I ask everyone to find a partner and hold their hand, oui? "

Cold sweat ran down Celene's spine. Partners? No. No way. Definitely not. Not happening. N.O. There was only one thing that Celene hated more than the fear of failing classes, and that was group work. "Perhaps if I stand very still, the Professor won't notice that I don't have a partner?" Celene thought to herself. She tip-toed to the side just out Professor Onuris' eye-line and awaited further instructions.

Celene shrugged her shoulders. She was worried, and she definitely didn't like to sound of "conditioning". What did Naomi expect her to do, run laps? Did she think that Celene was... what? A Gryffindor or something? Umm, hard pass thought Celene.

Despite her misgivings, she obediently answered her classmate's question. "This book over here says that the speed at which bees beat their wings causes vibrations which human ear detects as a buzzing noise." Turning back to Naomi, she asked: "Was that boring enough?" "I'm not sure I understand how this will help?" Celene couldn't keep some of her doubt from slipping into her voice.

Celene gestured vaguely toward the stacks of books strewn across the table. "We have, it's just that they haven't been very helpful. They keep going on about how bees are "important to the environment" and "a necessary part of our ecosystem" and how the magical varieties are "useful" because they create ingredients that go into "many beneficial potions"" Celene rolled her eyes, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"That's all well and good" she said, "but none of this helps the fact that they are also tiny, loud, murder-beasts that will ruin a perfectly good day outside." She looked at Naomi plaintively.

Celene's brow furrowed as she watched her classmate approach. Book forts? Couldn't Naomi see that this was very serious research?

However, as she turned a more discerning eye toward the chaos that she and Frank had wrought together she conceded "Perhaps we did go a little overboard with the books." She blushed, embarrassed.

Normally she would have found any way to send the other girl away, but she hesitated. As mortifying as this was, Naomi was a knowledge witch, and unlike some of Celene's other housemates, genuinely helpful.

She turned toward Naomi, her face reddening even more. "It turns out that Frank  and I share the same embarrassingly crippling fear, and we're trying to figure out a way to kick it."

The library was fairly quiet, it being a Friday night and all, and Frank and Celene had managed to claim the entirety of one of the long tables for their dark searchings. They had both been back and forth several times gathering books and the table was now a maze of mountainous texts.

As Frank ferried yet more tomes from the shelves, Celene dusted off the book at the top of the nearest stack. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think we might have too many books. " She set the book down again and scanned over their collection, trying to figure out a good place to start.

She reached across the table and picked up one of their earlier selections. It was actually a muggle book, but Celene had the spark of an idea forming.  She called to Frank. "If we can't use a spell or a potion to get rid of fear, what if we try a muggle style medicine."

Frank rose, looking like he wanted to escape. As he did, Cricket immediately reclaimed her seat on the bench, indignant as ever that it had been stolen in the first place.

What's your cat's name?

Celene reached over and scritched her feline companion under the chin "Her name is Cricket. I named her that because she likes to chirp when she's happy."

She looked back a Frank. "I think we're going to have to get creative with this one. Perhaps we should take a stroll down to the library? Cricket always likes a good trip to the library, she spends the whole time trying to pull the books off the shelves."

Celene's face fell as she saw that her attempts to help had definitely not succeeded. Everything the younger boy said echoed in her brain, painful and familiar. She nodded. Speaking more to herself then Frank now, she replied: "they're so little, but they are the @%#$ing worst." "Everyone else gets to go outside and play and have picnics like it doesn't matter because they don't care, but then you get stuck running around screaming because the bees are chasing you and everybody is looking at you like you're a bleeding idiot" she mumbled bitterly.

She drug her hands across her face, frustrated. They were still nowhere and Frank still needed help. Then, the flicker of an idea. She turned to Frank. "I could research potions to get rid of fear, but those will most likely make you incredibly reckless and you're very likely to get hurt. What about a potion that makes the stings not hurt? You'll still be afraid of the bees, but at least you won't have to be afraid of the pain." "But I don't know how your professor would feel about any of this?" She looked at Frank, feeling like she was failing him.

Celene had to admit that she had very little interest in love potions. She very much doubted that any of her future patients were going to be consuming love potions on a regular basis. But she was a dutiful student, and if this was the assignment, then she was at least going to try.

But then, as she watched in open-mouthed horror as Professor Darkfall downed an entire vial of the stuff, Celene realized that this lesson had just become vastly more relevant. Beasts accidentally poison themselves all the time. She would need to be able to concoct antidotes for them on the fly and be able to do so quickly.  Time to get to work she thought.

She knew that Darkfall wanted them to change the potion somehow, but the panic quickly rising in her as she watched the only real adult in the room melt into an unintelligible puddle was causing her to lose her confidence. She had no desire to go playing around with a tried and true recipe right now. But then, an idea! Nothing snaps someone back to reality like a cold shower she thought, I'll make the potion as normal and then chill the final product down to near freezing!.

She quickly got to work, attempting to block out the chaos and quibbling around her. She took one more glance at Darkfall before starting and hoped desperately that they would all still have a professor when class ended.

Celene's enthusiasm rushed out of her. She winced instinctively. Why did it have to be bees?

Celene absolutely hated all types of bees and wasps, both magical and garden-variety alike. It had taken a long time to get to a point where the mere thought of them didn't send icy panic down her spine. Ever since she'd heard that the gazebos on the south lawn had been outfitted with beehives, she'd been giving the area a very wide berth.

Celene exhaled forcefully and screwed up her face in thought. She now wondered how much help she would really be able to give Frank. She looked at him with what she hoped was compassion. "That sucks "  was all she said.

She thought for a moment longer. She could do better than that. This kid needed her help.

"Sometimes, when you deal with magical creatures, you're going to run into ones that scare you. There are a lot of scary ones out there. But you deal with each of them the same way that you dealt with Cricket just now. You have to be respectful of them. You have to respect the fact that they can hurt you. You need to be respectful of the fact that they are probably frightened of you. You need to be mindful of all of these things so that you don't get hurt. "

She looked at Frank, searching his face for any sign that he understood what she was trying to say. She felt like she was rambling.

This is the perfect study spot
Celene couldn't help but smile. She had chosen well. Frank would make an excellent protege.

She gestured toward the bench, offering the younger boy a seat. She shoved Cricket out of the way to do so, receiving  an indignant merf from the cat for her efforts. "So...word on the street has it that you don't want to die."

She'd only heard a little bit of the story, as what passed for news in the lower classes usually didn't receive much air time among the sixth years. She had gotten the gist of it, however- a third year had gotten reprimanded in CoMC class, and now Frank was apparently convinced he was...what? Going to be murdered by... animals? Or someone else was going to be murdered because of him? She honestly was little confused. But she liked him, and when she heard he was looking for help in her absolute favorite subject, she had reached out. She was genuinely excited to help. After tutoring him last year in potions, she'd found she kind of liked teaching, and she loved talking about animals.

She looked across to the third year next to her. "How can I help you?"

Celene remembered Frank Sellaphix from their interactions last spring. She'd tutored him in potions, and found him to be a delightful pupil. She had also found him to be very punctual,  which made the fact that he was now fifteen minutes late for their meeting all that more surprising. Had he fallen down the stairs? Did she need to go rescue him?

Her note had been clear: through the main corridor, past the weird bear statue. That was were her favorite little study nook was. She'd found it in her second year, desperate to find a quite place to study for her final exams. The spot was perfect- a bench big enough to seat two comfortably, or for one to stretch out with her cat next to her. It was nice and quiet back there too, since the statue muffled the echos from the hallway. And the very best part, pretty much no one knew about it. It was always open.  Frank better understand what a gift she was giving him by revealing her secret spot.

Growing concerned enough to actually get up and look for him, Celene rose and stepped out from behind the weird bear.  The hall was quiet and empty, save one very lost looking 3rd year.

"Frank!" "What the hell are you doing?"

Celene Oglesbee
Slytherin Commonroom
Hogwarts Castle
Hogsmeade, Scotland



Dearest Niobe,
Hopefully this letter finds you well. The end of the school year is quickly approaching, and all that remains between me and summer are my dreaded O.W.Ls. I believe that I am adequately prepared, but we shall see.

I am writing to alert you that my summer plans have changed. My Uncle has alerted my that my trip to visit with him must be postponed. So I wish to ask you a favor. I know that you were not planing on having me and Cricket until July, but I was hoping, if you were able to accommodate me, that I could come stay with you sooner? My parents are lovely and all, but I would really rather not spend a whole month at home before I come see you in London. My parents' house is SO boring. I might actually die. Please help!!!

Anxiously awaiting your response,
Celene

Celene was so happy she could have cried. She let out a long exhale, letting the relief flow over her. Juni was going to help her.  She was not in this alone. Step 1, at least, was over.

Now for Step 2- Make a plan.

"When do you need to get in there? Tonight? Tomorrow? In a week?"

Celene leaned closer still, so as to be certain that no one could hear them. "I told my cousin I would try to get in tonight. What do you think we can whip up in such a short amount of time?" She asked.

"By the way" she added, "We're looking for any information we can find on runespoors." She said the last bit at barely even a whisper, mainly just mouthing the words.

This is actually happening she thought. I'm about to break into the restricted section! Niobe will be so happy!