Revising Knowledge ((open))

[Kerridon Paradox]

((Might be good to have some interaction with one of the lightfighters who knew Kerridon before as a spy of the Mage, and has since been told about his change in allegiance))

With his views of the Shadow Wars so utterly shattered, Kerridon had been spending a lot of time in the library. The majority of what he had been told as a child seemed to be mere scratching on the surface of the truth, or just outright lies. He had honestly believed Dark Phoenix’s power to be infallible as the Shadow Mage, but with the knowledge that the Order of the Light had always won on previous occasions, he had been forced to reassess. So he had turned back to the source of most of his knowledge – books. Having stopped researching the Shadow Wars years ago, when he found limited resources in his own home, he had not thought to look in the school library for more information on the subject. He had been convinced he knew all he needed to determine who was going to win. But, apparently that had been a misconceived idea.

So now he had entered the restricted section once more to find out as much as he could on the matter. For all he knew, D’rorah had been lying to him as well, although she seemed much less the type than his father. And surely she would know that he would not just accept her words to be true after discovering that all he had ever known on the matter might be falsified to manipulate him.

Carrying a couple of leather-bound tomes Kerridon returned from the restricted section and moved to a nearby table to set them down. One text was on historical conflicts that weren’t as well known as say, Voldemort or Grindelwald. The other was on mythical Powers That Be, and what basis they might have in fact. There were plenty more he could have picked up, but these two seemed a good starting point, and he would collect more to take out of the library once curfew arrived. These were just for him to peruse now. When he returned to his dormitory he would note down his thoughts on the two books, but currently there was no parchment or quill before him. He preferred to make his private notes actually in private, rather than in a place where anyone could come across them and comment on what he had written. A near-photographic memory was particularly useful for this choice, especially when the texts were written in another language. Both volumes did have original sources quoted in their contents, he had noticed when quickly browsing through, but for the most part were in English, which would be beneficial to remembering accurately.

[orin]

His first day at Hogwarts had been challenging, to say the least.

Orin had found it exceedingly difficult to talk to the other students. It seemed as though they were all deeply immersed in events of their own, with enough people around them who were in on the game to be completely impenetrable to an outsider. Why was this undercurrent of a group mystery so prevalent? Or was it all in his own head; was he just being paranoid? Orin heaved a sigh and tipped his chair back on two legs, the newest edition of Hogwarts, A History on the table in front of him forgotten. If only he could catch somebody alone, strike up a conversation. Maybe ... but it seemed nearly impossible to bump into any other students who weren't actively involved in something!

After a few minutes of thought, Orin let the legs of his chair thud back to the floor. He scooped up the book and stowed it away in his messenger bag, thinking that perhaps he could get some reading done in the common room. Idly, the boy made his way through the library and, as he turned around the corner of a bookcase, he was surprised to see another student emerging on his own from the Restricted Section. Instantly intrigued, Orin watched Kerridon for a moment before taking a few tentative steps closer to where the other boy sat. "Hi," he finally managed to offer.

[Kerridon Paradox]

Skimming down the contents page of the first book, Kerridon picked out a chapter title that looked appropriate to what he was looking for and flicked through to the page number specified, about halfway through the volume. From the looks of things much of this book would be superstition that held no basis in fact whatsoever, but the unfortunate thing about this was that the occasional part of superstition would actually be what he was looking for, since it would not be differentiated as fact. This was going to take a while.

Kerridon was vaguely aware of other students about, but was honestly not expecting anyone to actually approach. He was not exactly the type of person with a large group of friends who he could talk to whenever he liked. And he was quite grateful for that really – he was just fine on his own, and actually preferred the independence of not having to explain what he was doing every time someone approached and wanted to make conversation. And if someone did approach, he wasn’t downright rude – he had been taught never to make an unnecessary enemy, because you never knew when that action might come back to haunt you.

He heard the footsteps nearby but paid little attention to them, not thinking that they might be approaching his direction because of him. But then the footsteps stopped and he raised his head in curiosity to see who was there just as Orin spoke. ”Good afternoon… can I help you?” he asked, wondering why the boy appeared a little tentative.

[orin]

Kerridon seemed slightly surprised, and it suddenly occurred to Orin how stupid it had been of him to approach another student in the library, for crying out loud! Clearly the lone student in the library is working on something and wishing that the obnoxious cougher two tables away would bugger off. This wasn't a campus coffee shop or something ...

'Stupid, stupid, stupid ... need an excuse ... the truth is just way too pathetic ...'

Orin cleared his throat, realizing halfway through that it was far too quiet around him, and fumbled in his bag for Hogwarts, A History. "Yeah, uhm, I'm sorry. It's my first day and, yeah ... do you mind if I sit at your table?" As if providing evidence that his presence would be non-distracting in nature, Orin pulled the book out of his bag and held it up with a flourish.

"I mean, I'll totally go away if you want me to, though," he added earnestly.

[Kerridon Paradox]

The Gryffindor suddenly looked awkward and embarrassed, Kerridon noticed; the clearing of his throat being a huge clue to this, even if other more surreptitious actions had not already given it away. So well trained at reading people, this boy was not difficult. Even so, the reason for his discomfort was not apparent so Kerridon retained his wariness for a few moments longer.

But when Orin mentioned it was his first day, the discomfiture was explained and he relaxed a little – but still a little cautious, as always. It was not in his nature to let his guard down completely. ”Sit down,” he replied, moving the book a little closer to him as he waited. ”You do not have to go.”

On his own personal preference he would have left it like that, but he had been taught to make as many allies as possible – and now he had lost a fair few allies in the form of Dark Phoenix’s minions, even if they did not know it yet and albeit that he had gained new ones in the form of lightfighters, it would serve him well to make a good first impression on this boy. ”My name is Kerridon, 6th year Ravenclaw,” he introduced himself, getting the most boring part of the conversation out of the way as soon as possible. Expecting Orin to provide similar information soon enough, he paused before continuing.

”Where are you from? And how are you finding Hogwarts so far?” he enquired, turning some pages of the book so it was opened on a chapter with less dangerous material on display. Not that the boy was probably able to understand the content anyway, because 1) it was upside down to him, and 2) it was of a particularly complicated nature. But there was nothing wrong with being overcautious.