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+------- Thread: euphoria ~ avery (/showthread.php?tid=1049)
euphoria ~ avery - Maevie Golding - 05-04-2026
Tuesday, 3 October 1922
5:10pm
5:10pm
With a groan Maevie let her arms drop to the floor, eagle-sprawled, muscles aching. It had been all of five minutes since they'd started on this, and already she felt like giving up. There were about one million tables in this library and she was sure all of them had gum sticking to their undersides.
They'd be doing this their whole shift at this rate.
Fortunately she was proficient enough with her wand at this point to use magic or else she thought her arms would actually come off today. Poor Avery might not be so lucky however.
Would Mrs. Barlowe check? Maybe they'd just take a little break right now. They still had plenty of time. Definitely time for a snack.
"Hey, Avery." Maevie twisted her head to where the Ravenclaw was laying close by. "Want a lolly? A seventh year gave them to me earlier." Pulling them from the pocket of her trousers she unwrapped one, plopping it into her cheek while holding out the other. "He said they're really good. Was giggling all the way through the common room."
A strange thing, in hindsight. She'd never seen him do that before but she hadn't questioned. Free sweets were always welcome and sharing them with her partner would be even better.
Better than scraping gum hard as rock from tables, that was for sure.
RE: euphoria ~ avery - Avery Hale - 05-06-2026
He didn't know what he'd done to deserve such a punishment, but he supposed it wouldn't be the first time the boy had been oblivious to such. More than a handful of times, Avery had found himself in the midst of a consequence for something his brothers had done, and while he'd been an innocent party - usually - his mum always decided that rather than teach each of them individually how to act, they could all benefit from the same lesson at once.
So here he was, for whatever reason, uncomplaining as he sat beneath a table, scraping old chewing gum manually form beneath a desk.
Professor Barlowe - the lady one - ran a tight ship, and he reminded himself to stay on her good side as much as possible. Ingratiate himself, so to speak. Especially considering her daughter was...terrifying. The apple probably didn't fall far from the tree, he figured.
"Ugh," he muttered, as a dry wad flew from the desk with a rather forceful chip of his tool, landing with a plunk on someone's nearby shoe. "Um..." he started to call out, his finger pointing in the direction that the shoe owner couldn't see anyway.
Him being under the table and all.
"Hey, Avery."
His hand remained stationary in the air as he glanced to his right, his gray eyes falling on Maevie as she rummaged around in her pockets. Avery? Avery who? Him?
"Want a lolly? A seventh year gave them to me earlier. He said they're really good. Was giggling all the way through the common room."
He smiled as she held one out to him, but gave a little shake of his head. He knew the rules of the library, having asked Professor Barlowe to clarify each and every one when he signed up for assistant duty, and didn't fancy getting nipped by a bauble. He'd seen them in action over the past month and they seemed unforgiving.
"No thanks, Maevie. I don't like sweets that much." He turned to face her fully, cocking his head slightly as he studied her, candy protruding from the side of her already plump cheeks. "Aren't you worried about more trouble? Those baubles are nuts. What do you think they're made out of? I heard the librarian conjures them out of thin air, but it doesn't seem possible does it? Do you think I could catch one and study it? Do you think it'd put up much of a fight?" A deep breath, and then he continued.
"Sometimes when my dad has me catch an ornery sheep, we just had to outsmart it by cornering it and making it think it doesn't have an exit strategy. If these things don't have brains, I bet it wouldn't be much different."
He narrowed his eyes slightly. "Did you know that sheep's brains are actually similar to humans?" The boy didn't notice he had gone off on a tangent already, but here they were. "Most people think them unintelligent but they can recognize faces."
He smiled. "Blind humans can't do that." For emphasis.
RE: euphoria ~ avery - Maevie Golding - 05-09-2026
“You don’t like sweets?”, she asked, a little perplexed, lolly clicking against her teeth. That was the single most outlandish thing she’d ever heard. If she could, she’d eat nothing but!
“Aren't you worried about more trouble? Those baubles are nuts.”
Maevie rolled onto her side, propping her head up in one hand. Peeking out from below her table she scanned their immediate vicinity but there were no baubles she could see. She shrugged lightly, eyes finding back to Avery with a small grin. “It’s just one lolly. They can’t be that quick to find me.” Right?
Throwing another cautious glance upwards, Maevie scooted further under the table, closer to the wall at her back.
Avery rambled on in the meanwhile, peppering her with questions that she didn’t get a chance to answer. One deep inhale and the boy was already rattling on.
Maevie kept her eyes on him, sucking on her lolly, but her focus drifted. She couldn’t say why, but suddenly the light around the library seemed to brighten, drawing her attention. More vibrant, so colourful and pretty it made her heart ache, spiralling into a pit of unprovoked joy.
"Did you know that sheep's brains are actually similar to humans?”
Chest feeling light, Maevie snapped her gaze back to Avery, smiling dreamily. “Really?”, she asked, brows raising. Little stars of sunshine danced around the Ravenclaw’s head, and without noticing, her eyes followed them. The way they moved, so softly, growing and shrinking with ease, made her want to reach out for them and put them in her pocket.
"Most people think them unintelligent but they can recognize faces. Blind humans can't do that.”
The sound of his voice shifted the air between them, like little ripples on a pond and Maevie dropped her head to the floor, giggling brightly. “Sheep are awesome!”, she declared happily. “They’re so soft and wooly. We sometimes pet them at the markets in Norwich, my friends and I.”
A sudden thought hit her and her head bolted up again, face bright. “Have you ever ridden one?”
RE: euphoria ~ avery - Avery Hale - 05-13-2026
He gave a little shrug of his shoulders in reply. It wasn't that he didn't like sweets, he...just wasn't the biggest fan of them. He could go for some candy now and then, if a sweet-tooth suddenly reared its head, but, "I'm more of a savory connosieur. I like roast meats and my mum's mashed potatoes and chicken pies on my birthday. My dad says I'm very English in my tastes."
Often, his brothers got his share of dessert and he wasn't at all glum about it.
“It’s just one lolly. They can’t be that quick to find me.”
"I don't know," he answered honestly, casting his eyes beyond the table edge to a bauble that was hovering a bit away, stalking some Gryffindor girl who was chatting a bit too loudly. "I haven't actually sat and studied their timing. I suppose I could, if I found a stopwatch of some type. How long it would take between the time of the crime and the bauble's interference." Actually, that sounded rather riveting. Not only would he get to conduct his first real experiment at Hogwarts, but he'd get to watch criminals get their consequences in action.
His eyes drifted back to the newest criminal, Maevie. He pursed his lips in thought. "I'll have to spend some time in here. Several hours over several days, to ensure I record the most accurate average and outcome, but I can provide you my findings when I have them." He'd offer her to join him, but again, she was a criminal and that made her one of his subjects.
It would be a conflict of interest to have her involved beyond her participation as a candy-eater in the library.
His eyes lit up again as she seemed...interested in his thoughts on sheep. So very few people did, and he'd made it his life's mission to ensure everyone knew what fantastical creatures they were. It didn't occur to him that she suddenly looked or seemed different, otherwise Avery may have decided then and there to change the subject of his upcoming study.
“Sheep are awesome! They’re so soft and wooly. We sometimes pet them at the markets in Norwich, my friends and I. Have you ever ridden one?”
"When I was small," he answered quickly, abandoning his table to shimmy across the floor and join Maevie under hers. "My dad used to pluck me on them, and they'd take off super fast, trying to throw me off. Sheep don't like being ridden much. Not Chloe though. She's always been really gentle." His eyes reflected the dreaminess in hers as he thought of his pet.
"Cal, my older brother, he says she's dumb as a box of rocks," she probably was in some ways. She often head-butted the gate to try and escape, not realizing thumbs were needed to undo the latch, "But she's sweet as can be. I bet she'd be okay letting a smaller kid ride. I haven't actually tested the idea."
Apparently there were several tests he needed to run.
He glanced around quickly. Too bad there was no parchment under these tables. He needed to make a list.
RE: euphoria ~ avery - Maevie Golding - 05-17-2026
Maevie’s eyes shone with unrestrained eagerness, bright and round as Avery skuttled over. She let his words roll over her, another wave of disproportionate joy rushing in as he spoke about his sheep riding adventures. Again, her gaze drifted away, this time towards the table’s underside and the gum still sticking there, mind alive and bursting at the seams.
The globs of colour scattered above like stars seemed to intensify, making them wobble around the edges until suddenly they resembled little sheep, legs wiggling happily.
A breathy giggle flopped her back to the floor.
With a plop, Maevie pulled the lolly from between her lips. “Too bad I’m not small anymore,” she sighed, feet bobbing to a melody only she could hear. Her entire body was filled to the brim with energy. “It's like rodeo. They do that in the Wild West. Just with sheep instead of horses.”
For some reason this made her laugh, eyes closed against the silent burst of amusement shaking her shoulders.
Sighing deeply — as though she had just slid into the most relaxing bath of her life — Maevie followed the gum-sheep rolling and twirling along the wooden sky.
“I wish they had sheep here. Or horses.”
She stilled. Another sudden thought struck like the most brilliant idea of the week.
Maevie scrambled to her knees, lolly back between her teeth. “The winged horses,” she breathed, gaze boring into Avery's as her hands landed on his shoulders, shaking him slightly. “We should try and ride them.”
Amazing. Absolutely splendid idea.
RE: euphoria ~ avery - Avery Hale - 05-19-2026
Avery blinked as Maevie suddenly flopped herself backwards, deciding that laying on the floor of the library was better than sitting on it. He grimaced slightly, knowing how dirty the floors were in places such as these. He didn't think Professor Barlowe - the lady one - had a lot of time for mopping. She had a baby that she carted around, and a toddler sometimes too that made more noise than seemed possible. How that kid didn't get chomped regularly by baubles, he didn't know, but figured it had something to do with favoritism.
Anyway, the floors were probably grimy and now she had germs on her.
Not that he was afraid of being dirty, or germs, but he was a muggleborn and wasn't accustomed to wizardy afflictions just yet, nor had he had any innoculations.
He probably needed to ask Ruth about those.
“Too bad I’m not small anymore. It's like rodeo. They do that in the Wild West. Just with sheep instead of horses.”
Huh? The boy cocked his head a bit. They rodeoed with...sheep? Who did that? The wild west? Didn't they do that with bulls? What?
He was confused. Did Maevie not know the differences in creatures. "ACTUALLY," he began with a deep breath, but she spoke again, cutting him off before he could start a really good tangent.
“I wish they had sheep here. Or horses.”
Avery wished that too. He missed Chloe and her dumb gentle ways. He missed helping his dad feed, sheer and shepherd them. "I bet the CoMC professor would probably be open to sheep, if not, maybe Professor Barlowe - the bloke one - would be. Rumor had it he used to be in charge of creatures. Maybe he could pull some strings?"
“The winged horses."
She was scrambling back up to her knees, and Avery breathed a soft sigh of relief, glad she'd removed herself, or most of it anyway, from the dirty floor. She was gonna catch Kneazle Flu or something. "What about them?" he asked, slightly wary of where this was suddenly going.
Maevie was nice, really nice, and pretty, but she was acting really strange now. Stranger than he knew her to act, at least in the few short moments they'd had now and then.
“We should try and ride them.”
"Sorry?" he squeaked out, gulping hard, his blue eyes never moving from her, even as she grabbed him and shook him. "What do you mean ride them? Maevie they fly!" He grasped her shoulders in return and gave them a solid shake, "Really high."
RE: euphoria ~ avery - Maevie Golding - 05-22-2026
“Exactly!”, it burst from her as she gave Avery another enthusiastic shake in return to his. “It’s rodeo in the sky! Isn’t that awesome!” A violently joyful giggle dropped her head back.
Right now it sounded like the best idea she has had in her entire life.
“After our shift,” she continued with as much earnestness as her muddled mind and prickling body could muster, “we will go down there and check them out.” Because they obviously couldn’t just leave during their shift. Mrs. Barlowe would find out and then put them into detention.
Her mother wouldn’t be happy about that.
Actually —
“Hold on.” Maevie stilled, gaze drifting off to somewhere behind Avery. “Not during daytime. They would catch us.” Her eyes snapped back, voice dropping lower, shifting into something more determined. “After curfew.”
Yes, that was the ultimate plan. No one would ever know.
The lolly clicked against her teeth as she stared off into space for a moment, following the dancing lights of the library as her mind raced a million miles an hour, slowly overheating.
First, they had to finish their jobs, before the baubles or Mrs. Barlowe found them lazing about instead of doing their assigned tasks. Could baubles hear? Hopefully not. They’d snitch on their fantastic plan in a second and then rodeo in the sky would be cancelled.
At last she remembered that she was still talking to Avery and she pulled her gaze back to his face, putting a bright smile on. “Yes?”
RE: euphoria ~ avery - Avery Hale - 06-01-2026
Avery was nothing if not a scholar.
He enjoyed learning, and with learning came experiences. Sometimes experiences weren't always comfortable or fun, but they achieved something that reading books couldn't always. Experiences broadened one's mind, his father always said, and one must never fear having their world expanded.
Perhaps it was why it had been so easy for Avery to accept that he was some sort of magical being, rather than a regular human like his brothers. An open mind allowed him to accept that his world was ever changing, always full of secrets and surprises that he only needed to uncover if he were brave enough.
Did he want to ride the flying horses in the Hogwarts paddock? Not particularly. Avery had a fear of heights and an even bigger fear of falling from those heights. But how else would he ever say he had a clean grasp on flying horses if he never allowed himself to partake in the full experience of riding one?
He couldn't. And despite his terror at Maevie's suggestion, he wouldn't let anyone outdo him on knowledge where it could be helped.
“Yes?”
Her smile was pretty, in the same way his mother's was when she was beaming at him with pride. Despite himself, he found his lips were smiling back and he nodded, as he heard himself squeak out a strangled, "Yes."
For once, the boy had nothing else to say, or at least, he struggled to find the words to say. They would need protective gear. A helmet at the very least. Avery couldn't risk his skull fracturing and his brain enduring a traumatic injury. The pursuit of new knowledge wasn't worth losing what he already possessed.
"Tonight then?" he asked softly, realizing it would be just him and the older Hufflepuff soaring through the cold October sky. The thought itself sent a chill down his back, and he swallowed hard. "I'll...I'll need some time to get ready."
She'd need some time too, in case she decided to talk herself out of this.
RE: euphoria ~ avery - Maevie Golding - 06-04-2026
Avery squeaked his agreement and Maevie beamed, giving his shoulders a last squeeze before searching for her wand. They still needed to finish this gum scraping job before anything else and the sooner they got done, the better.
Twisting on the spot, Maevie looked around herself. She had put it somewhere here.
"Tonight then?”
She glanced up briefly, nodding enthusiastically. “Yes, let’s say…” Her hands slid over strangely warping ground, making it impossible to see her wand along the groves of the stone floor, “eight!”
Eight o’clock was probably a good time. Not too late to get too close to curfew, but late enough for most people to have returned to their common rooms, or at least the castle. Plus, it would be dark, so it’d be harder for anyone to spot them.
"I'll...I'll need some time to get ready.”
Her hands patted the space where the wall met the floor, hitting nothing but dust and dirt. “Yes!”, she said again, as though just having had an enlightenment. “We need warm clothes, it’ll be colder in the sky. And sturdy boots too! Also snacks maybe, to coerce the horses.”
She would have to steal some apples from the dinner table later.
At last, her fingers brushed against a thin wooden stick, threatening to roll off again and she quickly grabbed it. “Aha!” Eyes shining, Maevie turned back to face Avery, body buzzing with energy, mind on the edge of its metaphorical seat.
“Okay, let’s finish this!”
Not waiting for a response, Maevie went back to attacking the splotches stuck to the underside of the table, much more eagerness to her attitude than before, driven by the promise of adventure and the dissolving lolly on her tongue.