Secret of charm

Evan's table was filled with different books: spells, potions, and even cosmetic guides, though he really tried to conceal the fact that he was reading the last one. But despite the amount of books he looked through, Evan was quite disappointed by the results of his research. He felt really desperate, but the business was too delicate to ask for someones's help. Okay. At least now I have a long list of books where one can find nothing about it. I deserved a break. He sighed and opened an old issue of "The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle" comic.

Evan was in the middle of another Martin's hilarious adventure when he heard a familiar voice, calling his name. Aylee? He lifted his eyes from the comic and looked at the girl who called him. "Hey, Aylee," Evan greeted her, moving his books, so some of them, like "Using snails to archive physical perfection", were out of her sight. Hmm.. Maybe Aylee can help me, she's a couple of years older and obviously knows a lot more about magic. I just need to pick words carefully. "Whatcha reading?" he asked after a five seconds pause.

Maya made her way into the quiet library, unnerved by the silence as her footsteps echoed loudly, disturbing the silence. Maya continued deeper into the maze of tall stacks of books, searching for a place where she could enjoy the solitude the room offered. She didn't venture into the library often, preferring to study in the dormitory as she didn't normally seek out the silence. In fact, she felt unsettled by the peace and quiet, not comforted. She nearly turned on her heel and returned to the common room where the chattering of people would be welcome, she chided herself and was reminded of why she had come. She had a difficult Astronomy assignment and even though professor Ramos had provided ample of information she wanted to do some extra research before she went stargazing, or moon gazing, to be more accurate, as she had never done it before and preferred to be prepared. If she was going to lose sleep over homework she might as well make it as painless as possible.

Sighing to herself Maya dumped her book on a nearby desk, jumping at the loud thud it made. She grimaced and glanced around, hoping she didn't make too much of a disturbance. Her eyes rested on two nearby students and she grinned in spite of herself. "Hey Aylee," Maya whispered quietly, not wanting to notify librarian of her presence. "And hello Evan." Maya noticed the other Ravenclaw sitting with her. She presumed it wasn't unusual to have a social gathering in the library, she just hadn't come across it as she didn't go there much. She was mildly surprised to see the pair interacting, given the history between Kynan and Evan but she supposed that each house had to stick together. Maya was actually surprised that Evan was sorted into Ravenclaw as the last time she seen him he was busy being a babbling buffoon and didn't make much sense to her. That was because Darcy was a Veela or something like that, she recalled Cassandra informing her. Maybe she should look up what a Veela actually was, since she came this far. She glanced around at the infinite amount of books on shelves and immediately felt overwhelmed, maybe not. Maya took a seat at the desk, maybe they could help her with the homework seeing as they were all in the same class. "so what are you guys up to?"

Darcy had been walking around the castle for a long period of time, until she finally decided to go to the library to do some reading. At that, she groaned inwardly. She loved reading, but right now, her mind was spinning wildly with annoying thoughts and weird sounds. She was thinking about her fellow Gryffindor, who had gone to such lengths to ignore her. Cassandra Periwinkle. That girl was starting to push on Darcy's last buttons, and she was both annoyed and glad that she had yet to see the girl this year. Of course, she was very worried, as was her nature, despite the dislike Cassandra clearly held for Darcy.

She reached the library and walked inside, trying hard to focus on what she ought to read up on. She walked past a rather sullen department with serious and too depressing titles when she noticed a small group of recognizable people. She mostly noticed Evan, feeling as though he was already a good friend of hers. Maya was also really nice, but Darcy hadn't know whether or not the girl actually liked her during their last meeting. Maybe now was the time to figure it out.

Darcy took a sharp, soundless breath and walked up to them. "Hello," she said in a slightly hushed voice so the librarian wouldn't come storming out of the office to hush them. "Can I join you guys?" she asked. She hadn't properly met the Ravenclaw girl, but knew that the name was Aylee. She had heard that Aylee was a really kind girl as well, so Darcy had wanted to meet her for a time.

Reading a random history book, huh? Looks like Aylee actually have some spare time, so I have to use this chance to ask her to help. Evan decided not to mention himself in any embarrassing context, so was going to use some non-existing friend as an example. He spent some time on making a speech in his head, and the last version of it was "Hey Aylee, I'm helping my friend here, he thinks he was affected by some kind of mind charm. Or, maybe, magic perfume, some kind of potion, hypnotic gaze or whatever. He can't say anything in particular. He met a girl and liked her really really much. Suspiciously much. And now we're trying to figure out what kind of magic it was. If it was magic, of course."

But when Evan started his speech, he wasn't the only person speaking. "Hey Aylee," he said simultaneously with some girl, "And hello Evan," the girl added. It was Maya, Evan knew you as they met once in the Owlery ans took some classes together. He couldn't say they were friends, so her presence during this conversation made Evan a little more nervous. "So what are you guys up to?" she asked. Okay. It's still not that bad. She was in the Owlery, but she probably wasn't feeling the same way as I was. So I guess she has no idea about the mind thing and I can still talk about it freely.

"I'm trying to help my friend, as he thinks he was affected by some kind of mind charm. Maybe some potion, I don't know. He met a girl and," Evan started to explain his problem, but then he suddenly stopped. Darcy! He couldn't believe his eyes. He was looking forward to seeing the girl, but this moment was the least appropriate. Oh. I'm not sure if I can actually talk about Darcy's magic in her presence. God. "Hello. Can I join you guys?, the girl asked in a hushed voice. Oh, that voice. Evan smiled and answered, "Yep. Sure. Of course you can."

Oh no, Aylee wants me to finish my story about the mysterious mind charm, but I can't tell it without Darcy understanding what it's all about. Evan was keeping silence for some seconds, thinking about how he could change his story. "Okay. Let's think more abstract. What ways of mind manipulations do you know?" I hope there will be no questions about my "friend" and we proceed to discussion of different forms of mind control. "Oh, forgot to say, I haven't found anything like that in any standard book of spells and in any book of simple potions. I haven't found any magical plant that can be used for it as well. Oh, speaking of plants and potions, they should be eaten or drunk by the controlling person, not the affected one." Hmm. Now everyone has heard enough new information to forget about my "friend", I hope. And about the girl he met, what is even more important. "I thought about the Imperius curse, but I'm sure that's not it," Evan added. Now, when his personal connection with this question was, as Evan thought, well-hidden, he calmed down a little and was waiting for the mind charm mystery to be solved. He doubted that Darcy could use something that a fourth year Ravenclaw student had no idea about. Besides, she could tell about her magic herself.

Darcy grinned at them and sat down. "Thanks," she said softly. And when Aylee asked for her name, she shook her head. "Oh, sorry. I'm Darcy Wilde, second year," she said kindly, giving a kind smile to the Ravenclaw girl. And then she listened to what Evan was saying. She frowned slightly. It sounded a bit confusing, she wasn't sure what they were talking about.

"Can I ask what you guys are discussing? If it's about mind compulsion, I might know something about it. My mother is an expert on it, so she keeps talking to me about stuff like that. Including the Imperius Curse. Though I hope that's not what you guys are discussing?" she halfway stated, halfway asked.

Both Darcy and Aylee paid attention to the Imperious curse, mentioning it in the discussion. What is all this fuss about the Imperious curse? I've said that it's definitely not what I'm looking for. Hm. Yes, it's illegal, but still too much fuss, if you ask me. Well, at least this thing drew some attention from the girl part of the story. Darcy told something about her mother and Evan was about to redirect conversation in that way, but then Aylee mentioned the girl again, making Evan think about another plan. I can always pretend that my non-existing friend I mentioned before is actually Kynan. Moreover, this might make Darcy understand that this story girl is in fact Darcy herself, without realization that the person who's trying to reveal her secret is me, not Kynan. It's a perfect plan in case I manage to make everyone believe in it.

May it was a good plan, maybe it would even work, but in the next moment Evan made a terrible mistake: he looked at Darcy. Oh, my. She looks great! It didn't matter anymore how cunning his plan was, because Evan forgot it moments later. Moreover, his tongue wasn't so easy to control now, so all what Evan managed to say was "The girl.. uh.. she was gorgeous.." And after some more seconds, still looking at Darcy, he added, "What a beautiful girl she was.."

Darcy gave a smile back at Aylee, and then turned slightly serious as Aylee turned back to Evan to further discuss the topic they were talking about. Darcy nodded at Aylee's words about the Imperius curse being illegal. She had heard a lot about the spell from other people, like her father, and he obviously hated the spell. It seemed to be quite the menace. And then Aylee brought up a girl as well. Darcy frowned slightly. Had a girl used the Imperius Curse on others?

Evan seemed to be thinking pretty harshly about something, probably trying to remember what had happened. And then he looked up at her. She hadn't noticed how intense his eyes could become before that. It was as if he looked at Darcy, but didn't just see her. It was as if everything about her was spotted by him and she felt her face heat up just a bit. And then he said the girl had been gorgeous. He paused for a moment before, still looking at Darcy, he stated how beautiful she was.

Somehow, the way he looked at her made her think that he was talking about her. Not just because he was looking at her, but because he was looking at her and not Aylee; the girl he was trying to explain the situation to. She frowned lightly. Could this have something to do with her Veela blood? She almost punched herself. If it did, then he seemed to be affected by it, and maybe he thought she was some sort of dark witch who enchanted people for the fun of it.

"Um... This hasn't got anything to do with me, does it?" she asked, afraid that saying it made her sound terribly shallow and self-centered. "And if it doesn't, then I just want to say that I'm half a Veela, and that's why I thought it might be," she hastily added, but felt as if she was just making her seem more and more shallow.

Maya looked up from the Astronomy book she had grabbed from one of the shelves and had been attempting studying studiously. She pushed it away, deciding that the topic of discussion was much more interesting. She had heard about the Imperious curse before, but wasn't very knowledgeable on it and didn't have much to input into the conversation. Maya doubted that anyone had used such a curse within the walls of Hogwarts as it hadn't been used in years, not only that, but she had heard it was very advanced magic. She considered the group of people huddled together and doubted that anyone here could come close to preforming it. It wasn't like dark magic was thought under the roof of Hogwarts and encouraged.

Maya stifled a laugh as Evan turned all googly eyed once more and his face seemed to glaze over when he rested his eyes on Darcy. This was how he had acted in the owlery when they had all bumped into each other. Come to think of it, Kynan had been acting very odd that day too and Cassandra had put all the blame on Darcy. Maya turned her attention back towards Darcy when she began replying to Evan. She seemed embarrassed by the attention she was receiving from Evan, and she couldn't blame her. He was still staring at her intensely, hardly blinking and breaking eye contact.

There was that word again, Maya thought to herself when Darcy had finished speaking. Veela, Cassandra had said it too, she was right after all. But what was it, Maya was left questioning it once more, wishing that she had taken up the opportunity to search what it actually was. Maya wondered if it would be rude to ask Darcy what it was, she didn't seem ashamed when she announced it. But on the other hand she didn't know her too well and didn't want to delve too deep into her personal life. Maya bit down on her lip, opting to remain silent.

Darcy started to think that she could be involved in all this thing after all, and she looked a little worried about it. Oh no no no, what have I done? Evan instantly felt guilty and was thinking desperately about the ways of saving the situation. I probably should somehow let her know that all this is really because of her, so we can make something up together to clear her name completely. I can also pretend that I've already read about Veela things and I'm sure that they have nothing to do with it. In case Veela blood means something bad in the wizarding world, I think I should add that I'm completely okay with it, just to look polite. Evan concentrated and on his plan for a second, making a quick summary. First, let everyone know that Darcy isn't involved. Second, touch her leg under the table and wink, letting her know that she's actually involved, but I don't want anyone else to know it. Third, say something about Veela tolerance. Three, two, one, go! But Evan neither moved, now winked, and the only managed to say, "You might be a Veela, but we still love you."

When Evan heard Aylee's laughter, he stopped gazing at Darcy and turned his head to look at Aylee. His thoughts instantly became clearer. Well, maybe I shouldn't have said anything about Veela without any idea what it is. I guess that was my Veela-tolerance phrase that made Aylee laugh. He became sure about it when he heard Aylee asking, "Do you know what a Veela is?" "Uh, no?" Evan replied. God, I'm definitely making a fool of myself now. His face turned slightly pink.

Maya tried to hide the uncontrollable fit of giggles that followed after Evan's statement towards Darcy. She was certain that he didn't know what a Veela was either if he was in the library researching it and then resorting to asking other students about it. Maya grabbed her book and opened it on a random page, trying to act interested in it as she was still shaking from the laughter and waited for it to pass.

Maya returned to the fray when Evan admitted that he didn't know what a Veela was in response to Aylee's question. Maya presumed that Aylee knew what it was as she was in fourth year and was always reading books and appeared intelligent due to this fact. Taking a deep breath Maya decided to join in the conversation once more and announced her lack of knowledge too. "Actually, I'm not too sure what it is either." Maya glanced in Darcy's direction, hoping that she wasn't offended by her ignorance.

It's time to end this conversation as soon as possible, I think it might make Darcy feel uncomfortable if it continues any longer. Aylee's words sounded more like a compliment in Evan's opinion, but he didn't want to risk. Now I know what I should read about anyway. Time for an escape plan! Evan whistled quietly, trying to make it as casual as he could, and sat still, waiting for something.

Sparkle was trying to find some mice among dusty book racks. It was forbidden to let cats go freely outside common rooms and dormitories, but Evan had always managed to keep her close to him. Suddenly she heard a whistle, sign for her to come back to Evan immediately. Purrhaps the kid is in furrouble again. Fast as a lightning, she dashed to the table which Evan took some time ago, trying to be undetected by the librarian. When Sparkle reached it, she was surprised to see four people sitting there. Pawssible sources of furrouble. With incredible grace she leaped on the table and looked at Evan. There was clearly some question in this look, like, "Why have you called me? Is something wrong?" Then Sparkle sniffed the air, turned around, and moved closer to Darcy to sniff her face. Evan likes this purrson.

Darcy wasn't embarrassed about being a Veela, she was simply embarrassed that she made it out to look as though she was the most beautiful person alive. She obviously wasn't. She gave Evan a soft smile when he said that she might be a Veela but that they still loved her. "Thanks, Evan," she said softly, before starting a bit when Aylee broke out into a laughter fit.

Darcy firstly wondered what the girl was laughing about, but soon realized there was no harm in the laughter. She let Aylee explain to the two others what a Veela was, and that's when Darcy frowned. "And that's all you're going to explain about Veelas? My mother is a full Veela and she didn't enchant my father into marrying her. Most of us don't do stuff like that. At all. And people can fall in love with Veelas without having to fall under their spell. You see, Veelas are actually really nice people," she said, her voice a bit sour. She wasn't really mad at Aylee, not at all, but she thought it was unfair that Aylee only explained the bad things about Veelas.

"Also, I'm only half a Veela, and I don't have any of that conscious charming technique. I wasn't even aware that I had one... So... Ehm..." At that realization, Darcy felt her face heating up. She had the charms of a Veela? She knew she wasn't ugly, sure, but she had never thought herself to have any of the Veela characteristics. Even knowing that her distant relative, Fleur Delacour had only been a quarter of a Veela and that she was very beautiful. Darcy sighed.

"I- um..." she jumped again when she saw something furry. A cat. It was really cute. It sniffed her and she couldn't help but giggle. "It's so cute," she said happily. She sighed again. "Anyways, just don't think I'm a person who charms people to get my way. My family never did that, and never will. I hope," she added, "And if I have charmed people already... Well, it was never my intention," she said softly. She wasn't stupid. She now realized why Evan was looking at her in the way he did.

The sad thing was; it was only due to her bloodline... Would she ever be loved for who she was, and not because of her ancestry?

Evan was listening to Darcy explaining things about Veela, waiting for his cat to come. He felt really sorry for involving her in a conversation like that. Okay. It will probably be over soon, at least for me. And right after he thought it, gray tabby cat jumped on the table and sniffed Darcy, making her giggle. "It's so cute," she said happily. Oh. I indirectly made Darcy a little happier. I'm so proud now.

Sparkle's here, great. What a wonderful cat! Trying hard to look surprised, Evan said, "Oh, Sparkle, here you are! Do you know you're not allowed here? Come on, I'm going to take you back to the Ravenclaw tower." Darcy likes Sparkle, or maybe even cats in general. Maybe I should become animagus one day? I really like cats after all, maybe I would like to be one sometimes. He stroked the cat and added, "Wait here a little bit, okay? Don't run away. I just need to pack my things." After these words Evan put "The adventures of Martin Miggs, the mad muggle" comic in his backpack. He picked up his sketchbook, made some notes, tore some sheets out of it, crumpled them, and put the sketchbook in the bag too. "Come on, it's your turn, Sparkle. Welcome to the bag world," Evan opened his backpack a little wider and the cat jumped there. "I don't know how it works, multidimensional magic or whatever. It's bigger on the inside. I really like this thing!"

Evan stood up and said, "Well, thanks for your company, but I have to go now. Can't let my cat get into trouble." He started to walk towards the exit, and when he was behind Darcy, so another girls couldn't see his hands, he let one of his crumpled sheet fall into Darcy's bag. Perfect. Even if this successive concealed move made Evan a little happier, he went to exit in rather depressive mood. I bet this poor Veela girl hates me now. God. I was such an idiot when asked someone for help.


((( OOC: Darcy, to know the content of the note, just roleplay that you read it, and I will post the text. )))

Maya's bout of giggles passed with time and she looked up from her book when Evan began whistling. What was he doing, did he want the librarian to come over and kick them out? Maya shifted in her seat as she was becoming stiff from sitting for so long, she remained silence as the conversation turned more awkward. She didn't think that Darcy was as bad as Aylee described Veela's but wasn't she only part Veela? she questioned herself. Maya straightened up and raised her eyebrows curiously at a cat that had just leaped onto the table they were sitting at. Presumably Evan's as he seemed the least surprised out of them Maya deduced. "Nice cat." She commented, although she did know they were forbidden in the library. Evan seemed to realise that too as he began packing up. Nice escape route she thought to herself, raising her eyebrows in suspicion in his direction. Nice one Evan, you started this whole topic and now you're the first to go and leave us to gather up the pieces! She tried to convey this in her eyes, as she glared silently at him. She realized that Evan probably thought he was doing what he thought was for the best, but she concurred that he was just being tactless.

The conversation topic didn't have much time to stay on the cat as it returned to what Veela's were. Maya didn't feel the need to seem uncomfortable in most situations, but she began to feel increasingly uncomfortable as Darcy weighed in on the conversation and what she said appeared to make sense. Maya wondered if Veela's could turn their charm on and off, that would be cool she though as her trail of thought wondered. Maya looked up again and realised that Evan had left the table and Aylee was in the process of following him.

She followed suit not wanting to be left alone with Darcy who was probably upset and stretching her stiff limbs she waved after Aylee. "Sorry at the unfortunate turn in the conversation topic." Maya shrugged at Darcy, feeling sorry that the girl felt the need to have to strongly stick up for herself. She probably thought that they were all cornering her as she was different. That was unfair though as neither Evan or herself even knew what Veela's were. Maya decided that it was a bad idea to research the topic more and concluded that she should just make up her own mind in the girl. "I've to go now too, see you around." She gave her one last fleeting smile before following the footsteps of Evan and Aylee.