Brad Madley (madley) wrote in valesco,
@ 2008-02-20 19:31:00

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Brad had been on his way to the library when a curious noise stopped him in his tracks. He looked around to see if anyone was around, but no... the corridors were empty. And then he heard it again. He pulled out his wand and looked around curiously before hearing it coming from...the wall? He frowned and took a few steps closer, and a few more, until his nose was nearly against the wall. He stashed his wand behind his left ear and turned the other to the wall, trying to hear if the noise was coming from behind there. He knocked against the stone. Nope... mostly solid.

"Hello in there...." Brad said into the wall, tapping again and waiting to hear if he heard the noise again. A first year had come along and stared at him for about a minute before leaning forward and sticking her ear to the wall. Brad held up his finger to his mouth, indicating her to be quiet. There was a scuffling noise from behind them and the first year squeaked, jumped up and ran off. Brad chuckled to himself and turned his head so that his other ear was pressed against the wall and that he could see who was standing behind him. "I think there's something behind here. Do you think house-elves have like a tunnel system behind the walls?"

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elizaddled
2008-02-21 09:00 pm UTC (link)

"Hm," Eliza said, stepping near the wall. She didn't put her ear to it just yet, thinking that it might disturb whatever was going on in there, but the idea was intriguing. "I'm not sure. I don't think they come out of secret passages when they clean the dorms. Or, at least, I've never seen one."

She bit her lip in thought. These were the things she thought about on a daily basis, and was more than amused to see that other people did as well. Or, well, Brad seemed to. Sometimes Dedalus, but Eliza believed that some of the time he just talked about her odd questions because, well, she was asking them.

Eliza stepped closer, gently putting her ear to the wall, her eyes narrowing in concentration. "Sometimes, if you put your ear to the desk, sometimes I swear I can hear things moving in there, too."

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madley
2008-02-22 03:04 am UTC (link)

"You've never seen a house-elf? Or you've never seen a tunnel? I think they'd be pretty hidden, I've never seen a tunnel here at school but I know there is because well, how do you think people sneak around so easily?" Brad pulled his head back but looked up at the ceiling, running his hands up the wall to see if he could feel a straight crack or something. There had to be something back there...

Brad looked over at Eliza and raised his eyebrows, "Desk? Which one? Like the classroom desks? Maybe it's Peeves. Or like, I don't know. Like Peeves isn't a ghost right? He's just the mischevious energy of all the students that have lived here forever, maybe the stuff in the desks and walls, it's like that. This castle is alive you know. It's not just like... charms and stuff. This building has done more than magic can explain. That is if you can actually explain magic," Brad nodded and then went back to exploring the wall.

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elizaddled
2008-02-22 03:33 am UTC (link)

"A tunnel. I saw a house-elf in the middle of the night once, he was trying to get this stain out of the floor from a potion Miranda had spilled earlier. His name was Tibby, he was rather nice," Eliza said, pulling back from the wall and following Brad's eyes.

She absolutely believed that there were hidden tunnels in Hogwarts, she'd heard rumors of it; the infamous Marauders were always in possession of items they couldn't have possibly found in the castle. Eliza liked the idea of it, though, and often wondered how one stumbled upon a tunnel or a hidden room. It had to be pretty accidental, or did people search for them? Well, Brad seemed to be searching, but he had heard something first.

"I'd rather believe it's Peeves than just my imagination," Eliza said with a nod, "Have you ever found something? Like a secret? One of the gargoyles started talking to me the other day because I dropped by notes. Apparently there are five all together that talk, but I've only found the one."

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madley
2008-02-25 04:17 am UTC (link)

"Oh, yeah. I've never seen a tunnel neither, but I know there's got to be someone. How do you think people like Dung get things without leaving the school or getting owls? It's not like he gets any mail in the mornings, there's got to be like, another way or more, but it's like, if everyone knew then they wouldn't be secrets right?" Brad shrugged and then sighed. There was probably nothing behind this wall. He took a step back and squinted at it, his hands on his hips and frowned slightly.

"Uh, I found a room full of toilets, once. But I really had to go so I think the castle was just taking pity on my social life. It's really sad when a castle has pity for you," Brad joked, reaching out and touching the wall once more. He was sure there was something behind there, but it was probably just his imagination and lack of sleep. All the studying really took it out of you. "Did you ask him his name? Or what the names of his friends were? I like talking to paintings. Except for the Fat Lady, she's still mad from that time in fourth year when I spilled a pot of vanishing ink on her. Oh, and the entrance to Ravenclaw. I'm pretty sure that thing hates me. I can't ever go alone, because it always gives me the hardest questions when I'm alone," Brad pulled a face and a mocking tone, "'If one train is going west at fifty kilometers per hour and another going east at forty, what time is it in China?' Wit my arse, it's just mean."

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elizaddled
2008-02-25 05:13 am UTC (link)

"Mmhm," Eliza had a feeling that Dedalus knew of some tunnels, but she wouldn't ask him about them. He seemed to have a need to keep things to himself, which was fine with her, and she would appreciate it even more when he told her without prodding. Except that her stomach twisted terribly during those long nights, even with her knowledge about the time turner, they'd never settle with her. "The Marauders, too. Dedalus is friends with James, I bet he teases all the time."

She leaned back against the wall, sure that her hearing wasn't good enough to detect movement behind the stone. But, if something decided to pop out, she'd be ready.

"His name was Fred, isn't that odd? Fred the Gargoyle, he's the one on the way to the Divination room, he's rather snarky, actually---" Eliza smoothed down her skirt, "asked me if Dedalus knew how short my skirt was, when it is at exactly the proper measurements."

Eliza smiled, though, and nodded again, "I can see how after seven years the knocker could lose its novelty. I'm getting better at it, though."

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madley
2008-02-25 05:23 am UTC (link)

Brad nodded, "Yeah, Frank with Emmeline too. You can't live with someone for seven years and not pick some of their habits and stuff up, you know. Well, sort of," he shrugged a little, not looking at Eliza. He didn't think she knew about some of the weird secretive things they (Emmeline, Dedalus and Elphias) got up to, and he really didn't want to give it away, even though Brad knew Eliza was smart enough to figure out whatever on her own.

"Fred's a fine name for a gargoyle, even if he's a little shirty. Probably there to give directions, maybe. There's the other one, in front of the Headmaster's office, he talks too. Well, mostly listens, because you know, the password. But I'm sure he has fun conversations with Dumbledore."

Brad scratched his ear, "I think it likes girls best, or at least, the ones in our year. It never gives them trouble, except when they're rude. And I figured Dedalus would've had like an overriding password, being Head Boy and all."

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elizaddled
2008-02-25 05:39 am UTC (link)

"Mm," it wasn't that Eliza didn't like Emmeline, no, she talked to her rather well when they were in the common room or the Great Hall, but the girl couldn't...well. Dedalus did spend an awful lot of time with her, and Eliza could write it off as nothing, that they've been friends for ages upon ages, but...no, there was definitely something going on. They talked far too much for people who were just friends.

But, she didn't want to think about it in that way.

"I think they share them," she said lightly, casting a quick glance over to Brad before looking across the corridor again. "I think this castle holds a lot more secrets than either of us could ever imagine."

Eliza let that settle for herself before she pushed off the wall, before looking at Brad full-on.

"I think he just knows the password, is all, or if he has an overriding one, he wouldn't use it. He'd knock and wait." She smiled in amusement, just imagining Dedalus whistling as he waited for the headmaster to open the door.

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madley
2008-02-25 05:50 am UTC (link)

Brad turned and leaned his back against the wall, shoving his hands into his pockets, nodding in agreement to her non-committal noise. It was hard, to live in a dormitory with such a tight friendship and not be involved in it. Especially now, with Brandon gone and no one else to really lean on.

"I wouldn't put it past them... and yeah, this place has a thousand years of history, we're just a second of time in it's history. It'll be here long after we're gone," he scuffed his shoe a little, nudging a small stone with his toe.

He looked up at Eliza and gave her a weak smile, because well, he didn't really believe that Dedalus wouldn't use it, just that he wouldn't use it around someone that wasn't 'in'. "There's a lot of stuff that goes on that the average student doesn't know about, but then again, I've probably been spending too much time owling Leo. Turning me into a conspiracy nut, he is."

Sighing a little, Brad scrutinized Eliza's face a little more than usual. "You know, I don't think we've really ever talked beyond classes or you studying with us."

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elizaddled
2008-02-25 09:02 pm UTC (link)

"That's all right, no one really talks to me outside of class, anyway."

Eliza shrugged. She wasn't a recluse or anything, it just tended to be that she was talked at and not to. She had her friends, of course, Ingrid, Brianna, and Lucy, but Eliza didn't really break out of that circle of friends. She didn't mind it, really, she just never did much about it. Brad seemed like someone she could get along with, though, so Eliza would not mind putting in effort there.

"Conspiracies are interesting, though," Eliza added, noting his previous comment, "I think with how the war's going, we need to look at things from a different point of view. Plus, I like the Quibbler's puzzles."

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madley
2008-02-25 09:16 pm UTC (link)

"I don't think it's alright," Brad shrugged, feeling a little bad. "But if you look at the forty-ish people in our year, how many of them are we ever going to see again? In earnest, I mean, not just the see you on the street, oh hi, how many kids do you have now, kind of thing. Kind of sad really, because at least a quarter of us will be on the 'wrong' side, by family or other connection if not their on wont," he made air quotes and gave her a half-smile, which bloomed into a slightly bigger one at her next comment.

"I spend most of my time on those, and trying to figure out what to write next. Once I have the idea the article just..." he made a watery kind of motion with his hand, "flows out, I guess. Gets lots of people angry though. Better than lies and crap though," Brad said, thinking of the other paper. "The nutty stuff, which, I will tell you Leo believes in whole-heartedly, kind of takes away from the seriousness, I guess, but it's probably better, flies under the radar of people who should care, but don't. Not about the real things anyway."

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elizaddled
2008-02-26 02:53 am UTC (link)

"Ooh, I know what you mean, I'm glad I made friends with Dedalus because he knows some really nice people, so," Eliza smiled and nodded a few times. She was sure of some friends, like the Gryffindors, Brianna and Lucy (and Dedalus, because apparently he didn't see them breaking up which was terribly exciting), but she did want to keep in contact with some of her new ones.

Eliza nodded, mimicking Brad's 'flowing' motion.

"That's how I am with some of my crafts," because she really couldn't call putting a bunch of sticky paper on the wall into the shape of flowers 'art.' Eliza's hands went up again and she cupped them over her eyes like a pair of omnioculars, "It's all I could see at the moment, and I get really restless if I can't finish it before doing anything else."

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madley
2008-02-26 03:51 am UTC (link)

"Yeah, just puts things into perspective, anyway," Brad nodded, not really sharing the sentiment of having a lot of people to keep in contact with. Out of school, there would just be Leo, pretty much. Emmeline, if she'd have him - any way she'd take him, Brad would let her, but right now he wasn't so sure she even wanted to be in the same castle as him.

"Have you figured out what you're going to do with yourself after Hogwarts? Going to be an artist or whatnot like Davy?" Brad had very little clue beyond working with the Quibbler and maybe getting his babysitting job back, but as a career, he had zero idea.

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