In a secluded corner of the library, Brodie was hunched over a book, tired eyes reading page after page, desperately trying to absorb all the information into his head. Just one sign, that’s all he needed…Just the smallest, most insignificant indicator that he was making some sort of progress, that’s all, and he wasn’t getting it. Four years now, four years of studying on his own in secrecy, sacrificing his real academic performance, losing precious hours of sleep, damaging his social life even more than he already was beforehand, and all for naught. Brodie couldn’t have been more frustrated if he’d taken a bludger to the face. What was he doing wrong? What was it about the secrets of becoming an animagus that made the ability so difficult to figure out? He just couldn’t find the answer…but that was the story of his life, really. Things were always getting so confusing for him and always right when he thought he had everything figured out too. What was perhaps the worst part of this current roadblock though, was that with so few animagi around, he had very little to go off of in order to tell if he actually was making a hint of progress. None of the other Gryffindors ever tended to bring it up, and with his lack of real social output with the other houses, he had no way of knowing if any of those students had any knowledge worth sharing. Once again, his cold feet proved to be his downfall…and there was hardly any reason for it too. He proved himself more than capable of branching out after that conversation with Rose back in the Three Broomsticks, though perhaps that was just due to the influx of butterbeer he had consumed that evening…Regardless, he just couldn’t bring himself to go randomly ask around for help, and his own studying, as far as he knew, wasn’t getting the job done…a lose-lose scenario.
Brodie eventually slammed the book shut in frustration and rested his head on the table with a groan. This was bothering him to no end, and to top it all off, he still had quite a bit of actual homework to do, but his head was aching far too much now thanks to his ridiculous endeavors.
“I gotta get some air or something…it’s too damn stuffy in here to think straight.” He grumbled to himself before returning the book back to its shelf and shuffling his way out of the room, making his way back down to the ground floor and proceeding to head out towards the long trail that lead to Hogsmeade, hoping that a simple stroll there and back would clear his head and get himself out of his latest slump. Much as he loved all the great bits of technology that dominated his summer life, he also was quite fascinated by the more natural aspects of things as well, and as far as nature went, he couldn’t have gotten much better than some of the sights Hogwarts had to offer, but then again, almost everything Hogwarts had to offer was a marvel to him and his muggleborn mindset (he’d often still find himself feel a little giddy whenever someone did something as simple as levitate something around). Even this beaten down path with hardly any real enchanting features to it had its own little charm…metaphorically speaking, and if he ever needed a reminder of this, he’d only have to look back at the majestic view of Hogwarts Castle in the distance. Yes, he was already feeling a little better now, though it was a fleeting optimism, as he was well aware that his troubles weren’t going to just poof away because he was a wizard.
All the same, his spirits had been raised enough upon reaching Hogsmeade that he decided to do a bit of window shopping, just to see if he should come back next time with a few galleons in hand. Coming up to a bookstore window, he observed the books on display, looking to see if any of their titles had anything related to his particular transfiguration of interest, completely unaware for a while that someone else was also peering in on the selection available...until his sudden company spoke up.
“They never seem to have the good stuff on display, huh? Kinda ironic really,” the all too familiar female voice rang through his ears, and with a quick turn of his head, Brodie was shocked to see his sister standing there with an impish grin on her face.
“Lynn?! What’re you doing here? How did…You’re really flaunting that apparition license, aren’t you?” he said, shaking his head at the reminder that the Ravenclaw graduate was quite skilled when it came to apparating, proving herself more than adept at traveling long distances in such a fashion. Yet another skill the legendary older Troughton was known for…
“You know darn well how much fun I think it is!” She said with a laugh before giving her brother a quick hug and giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder, having to stretch upward a bit due to their height difference. She was a rather short girl for her age, with long black hair that went down to her shoulders. She was wearing a blue blouse and slightly worn jeans, her usual casual attire, with a more than justifiable color scheme considering what alumni she was a part of. “Didn’t expect to run into you though! Thought you would’ve been out there zipping about on that snazzy broom of yours.” She said jokingly, Brodie chuckling back in response…albeit a little uneasily, as that last match’s result still stung a bit in his memory.
“Just ‘cause I accidentally got on the Quidditch team doesn’t mean I have to be airborne all the time out of obligation or anything,” he answered back, getting an immediate scoff out of Lynn.
“Accident my foot, there’s not a better choice in the entire Gryffindor house! You’re still sore about that little stumble against Hufflepuff, aren’t you? Hey, you win some you lose some! Just be glad you managed to recover. From what I heard, you took a pretty nasty fall there at the end.”
Word got around fast among families when it came to Quidditch apparently, though Brodie wouldn’t have been surprised if Lynn had somehow managed to sneak her way into the crowd during the match…she could be crafty like that if she wanted to be, and with a lot of her friends still in Hogwarts, she could likely get away with quite a bit too.
“Heh…you heard about all that, did you? Sorry if I worried you there…Never saw that bludger coming…and some of the scars are still irritating a little…Shame none of them are a funny shape or else I could be the new ‘boy who lived’ or something, right?”
“There’s that sense of humor of yours I’ve been missing!” Lynn remarked, still smiling all the while. “What brings you around Hogsmeade anyways? Just passing the time or something?”
“Well, kinda…had to get my mind out of a rut of sorts, and I figured a good walk would do it.” Brodie answered with a shrug. Lynn’s smile faded as she suddenly looked at her brother with concern.
“Are you still working yourself up over all that animagus business?” She inquired, her arms crossed.
“…Yeah…” Brodie sheepishly answered, biting his lower lip slightly.
“You know how stressed out you get whenever you think about that. I remember how many times you’d sneak away to the library just trying to find some hidden answers, poring over all those books obsessively…That’s what it’s becoming for you, an obsession!” She said, firmly recalling all the times she’d catch Brodie off in seclusion, staring blankly at random pages, shutting himself away from others even more than usual.
“I know…It’s been eating away at me all this time, it’s just one of the many reasons why I have so few friends outside of my house…but I just…I dunno…” He let out a sigh, massaging his forehead as he tried to put the right words together. “…This is just something I want to prove…that I can do something unique, something special, rare, challenging, and all that sorta thing…I want to know I can achieve something on a grand scale that hasn’t already been done by…” He caught himself there, a wave of guilt washing over him at the realization he was about to directly say to Lynn that he wanted to do something that she couldn’t do. He lowered his head shamefully, figuring she got the message just fine without him finishing. “…I’m sorry…that was wrong of me to say…”
Lynn didn’t say anything for a moment, but eventually she placed a hand gently on her brother’s shoulder. “Hey, did I ever tell you how jealous I was when I found out you made the Quidditch team? Hell, I was pretty envious when the folks sent you that Nimbus 2001, but you proved you were the one who deserved it the most. You’re far and away the better broom rider of the two of us, Brodie, and that’s not the only thing you’re better than me at either. I know, you see me as some kind of role-model, but the fact of the matter is, even with the accolades I managed to get, I wasn’t a perfect student, I had to work so hard to maintain my grades that I sometimes would just hide away in the bathroom for a while just to get some time alone to ease some of the stress I was feeling. You don’t have to go out of your way to prove yourself better than me at stuff. I don’t want you to go through some of the issues I went through because of that. You’ll find out where your skills lie with time, and I’m sure you’ll stand out and make a name for yourself like I always say you will.”
Brodie looked up slowly, rather astonished by what he had just heard. He had no idea Lynn had been under so much stress back then…but then again, it’s not like he saw her every day, and he definitely wasn’t able to read her thoughts. She could’ve been hiding quite a bit from him that he never knew.
“Just remember, Brodie…You only get seven years to be a student at Hogwarts. There’s time later for all the difficult grown-up stuff, but right now, you’re at the greatest bloody place in the world. Make the most of it, okay?” Lynn said as she gave another warming smile. “And I’ll bet if you do that, you’ll be able to be whatever you want, even an animagus if you’ve got your heart set on it,” she added, causing Brodie to smile back.
“Proving you’re a true Ravenclaw even now, huh?”
“If that’s me proving I’m a Ravenclaw, I can’t wait to see what you do to prove you’re a true Gryffindor.” She said, giving Brodie a wink before making a quick turning motion, almost immediately disappearing from sight with a loud cracking noise. Brodie stood there alone for a brief moment, before turning back towards the trail to Hogwarts with a newfound determination, suddenly quite eager to get back and hit the books...an eagerness that, for some reason, reminded him of his dog’s eager behavior back home…
Brodie eventually slammed the book shut in frustration and rested his head on the table with a groan. This was bothering him to no end, and to top it all off, he still had quite a bit of actual homework to do, but his head was aching far too much now thanks to his ridiculous endeavors.
“I gotta get some air or something…it’s too damn stuffy in here to think straight.” He grumbled to himself before returning the book back to its shelf and shuffling his way out of the room, making his way back down to the ground floor and proceeding to head out towards the long trail that lead to Hogsmeade, hoping that a simple stroll there and back would clear his head and get himself out of his latest slump. Much as he loved all the great bits of technology that dominated his summer life, he also was quite fascinated by the more natural aspects of things as well, and as far as nature went, he couldn’t have gotten much better than some of the sights Hogwarts had to offer, but then again, almost everything Hogwarts had to offer was a marvel to him and his muggleborn mindset (he’d often still find himself feel a little giddy whenever someone did something as simple as levitate something around). Even this beaten down path with hardly any real enchanting features to it had its own little charm…metaphorically speaking, and if he ever needed a reminder of this, he’d only have to look back at the majestic view of Hogwarts Castle in the distance. Yes, he was already feeling a little better now, though it was a fleeting optimism, as he was well aware that his troubles weren’t going to just poof away because he was a wizard.
All the same, his spirits had been raised enough upon reaching Hogsmeade that he decided to do a bit of window shopping, just to see if he should come back next time with a few galleons in hand. Coming up to a bookstore window, he observed the books on display, looking to see if any of their titles had anything related to his particular transfiguration of interest, completely unaware for a while that someone else was also peering in on the selection available...until his sudden company spoke up.
“They never seem to have the good stuff on display, huh? Kinda ironic really,” the all too familiar female voice rang through his ears, and with a quick turn of his head, Brodie was shocked to see his sister standing there with an impish grin on her face.
“Lynn?! What’re you doing here? How did…You’re really flaunting that apparition license, aren’t you?” he said, shaking his head at the reminder that the Ravenclaw graduate was quite skilled when it came to apparating, proving herself more than adept at traveling long distances in such a fashion. Yet another skill the legendary older Troughton was known for…
“You know darn well how much fun I think it is!” She said with a laugh before giving her brother a quick hug and giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder, having to stretch upward a bit due to their height difference. She was a rather short girl for her age, with long black hair that went down to her shoulders. She was wearing a blue blouse and slightly worn jeans, her usual casual attire, with a more than justifiable color scheme considering what alumni she was a part of. “Didn’t expect to run into you though! Thought you would’ve been out there zipping about on that snazzy broom of yours.” She said jokingly, Brodie chuckling back in response…albeit a little uneasily, as that last match’s result still stung a bit in his memory.
“Just ‘cause I accidentally got on the Quidditch team doesn’t mean I have to be airborne all the time out of obligation or anything,” he answered back, getting an immediate scoff out of Lynn.
“Accident my foot, there’s not a better choice in the entire Gryffindor house! You’re still sore about that little stumble against Hufflepuff, aren’t you? Hey, you win some you lose some! Just be glad you managed to recover. From what I heard, you took a pretty nasty fall there at the end.”
Word got around fast among families when it came to Quidditch apparently, though Brodie wouldn’t have been surprised if Lynn had somehow managed to sneak her way into the crowd during the match…she could be crafty like that if she wanted to be, and with a lot of her friends still in Hogwarts, she could likely get away with quite a bit too.
“Heh…you heard about all that, did you? Sorry if I worried you there…Never saw that bludger coming…and some of the scars are still irritating a little…Shame none of them are a funny shape or else I could be the new ‘boy who lived’ or something, right?”
“There’s that sense of humor of yours I’ve been missing!” Lynn remarked, still smiling all the while. “What brings you around Hogsmeade anyways? Just passing the time or something?”
“Well, kinda…had to get my mind out of a rut of sorts, and I figured a good walk would do it.” Brodie answered with a shrug. Lynn’s smile faded as she suddenly looked at her brother with concern.
“Are you still working yourself up over all that animagus business?” She inquired, her arms crossed.
“…Yeah…” Brodie sheepishly answered, biting his lower lip slightly.
“You know how stressed out you get whenever you think about that. I remember how many times you’d sneak away to the library just trying to find some hidden answers, poring over all those books obsessively…That’s what it’s becoming for you, an obsession!” She said, firmly recalling all the times she’d catch Brodie off in seclusion, staring blankly at random pages, shutting himself away from others even more than usual.
“I know…It’s been eating away at me all this time, it’s just one of the many reasons why I have so few friends outside of my house…but I just…I dunno…” He let out a sigh, massaging his forehead as he tried to put the right words together. “…This is just something I want to prove…that I can do something unique, something special, rare, challenging, and all that sorta thing…I want to know I can achieve something on a grand scale that hasn’t already been done by…” He caught himself there, a wave of guilt washing over him at the realization he was about to directly say to Lynn that he wanted to do something that she couldn’t do. He lowered his head shamefully, figuring she got the message just fine without him finishing. “…I’m sorry…that was wrong of me to say…”
Lynn didn’t say anything for a moment, but eventually she placed a hand gently on her brother’s shoulder. “Hey, did I ever tell you how jealous I was when I found out you made the Quidditch team? Hell, I was pretty envious when the folks sent you that Nimbus 2001, but you proved you were the one who deserved it the most. You’re far and away the better broom rider of the two of us, Brodie, and that’s not the only thing you’re better than me at either. I know, you see me as some kind of role-model, but the fact of the matter is, even with the accolades I managed to get, I wasn’t a perfect student, I had to work so hard to maintain my grades that I sometimes would just hide away in the bathroom for a while just to get some time alone to ease some of the stress I was feeling. You don’t have to go out of your way to prove yourself better than me at stuff. I don’t want you to go through some of the issues I went through because of that. You’ll find out where your skills lie with time, and I’m sure you’ll stand out and make a name for yourself like I always say you will.”
Brodie looked up slowly, rather astonished by what he had just heard. He had no idea Lynn had been under so much stress back then…but then again, it’s not like he saw her every day, and he definitely wasn’t able to read her thoughts. She could’ve been hiding quite a bit from him that he never knew.
“Just remember, Brodie…You only get seven years to be a student at Hogwarts. There’s time later for all the difficult grown-up stuff, but right now, you’re at the greatest bloody place in the world. Make the most of it, okay?” Lynn said as she gave another warming smile. “And I’ll bet if you do that, you’ll be able to be whatever you want, even an animagus if you’ve got your heart set on it,” she added, causing Brodie to smile back.
“Proving you’re a true Ravenclaw even now, huh?”
“If that’s me proving I’m a Ravenclaw, I can’t wait to see what you do to prove you’re a true Gryffindor.” She said, giving Brodie a wink before making a quick turning motion, almost immediately disappearing from sight with a loud cracking noise. Brodie stood there alone for a brief moment, before turning back towards the trail to Hogwarts with a newfound determination, suddenly quite eager to get back and hit the books...an eagerness that, for some reason, reminded him of his dog’s eager behavior back home…