Playing with Fire PV Closed

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May 16th, 2019
Private to @Marla Quinlan, @Emile Yorke, and @Dinara Lucey

Ruby had packed supplies into a small bag. They were taken from her trunk, various classrooms (only small things taken one at a time, in a careful way so that they wouldn't be noticed), and from her cousins. Well, perhaps taken wasn't the best word to use regarding her cousins' things. They had given them to her. Those three boys were closer to her than anyone else she had met, and they basically acted as her best friends, older brothers, and mentors of sorts. One of the things they had educated her on when she was still fairly young was the art of mischief-making. Was that what she was here for? Possibly. She had some things to do first, and if it did involve mischief then it would probably be preparations for future escapades, or perhaps some sounds that would attract attention. When she gained people's attention and caused them to come running, she could then conduct some kinds of experiments. Those ones would be social – some figurative poking and prodding and possibly setting off some other things, just to see how they'd react.

Was Ruby cold? Did she care about the people she used in the process? The answer to both: maybe. She was a curious child, with an insatiable desire for knowledge. This knowledge could be in any form and on any topic, and often it meant that she spent a lot of time reading. However, sometimes it meant that she conducted experiments. Experiments with people/socially, experiments with magic, experiments with chemicals – you name it, and it's likely that she had tried it or considered it. Testing the limits of what she knew/what she could do was a very important exercise for her. People would scorn her for what she did, frown upon her actions, question the morals of some of it, and much more, but that never bothered her.

There was a tendency of people to invalidate and fight against/push away those that were different. Ruby was very much a "different" one. She cared little for societal norms and expectations, and frequently rejected things that "she was supposed to do". This sometimes meant discarding niceties/being polite, but it didn't matter to her as long as she was closer to reaching her goals. What, she hurt the feelings of those poor little darlings? So what? People were capable of recovering if she jumped over the boundaries of what was expected. She could be direct and to the point, she could stall for time, she could ask very personal things very quickly, she could be so impersonal that it was a bit unnerving, she could be manipulative, she could be genuine… really, there were a lot of things that she did, and that meant that she was a bit of a walking, living paradox. Her personality and even her core values could sometimes directly contradict each other, and that formed a very strange, fragile balance of things inside her.

Ruby had arrived at the Abandoned Toilets. She would be experimenting here, practicing, and creating contraptions. After all, these were called abandoned for a reason. She could finally get some peace and quiet here, and have a place where she could do what she wanted and prepare without being interrupted. First, she had to check that no one was in here already. She began a systematic search, looking in every stall and every corner, and listening for the slightest rustle of clothing or crunching of glass underfoot besides her own noises. However, little did she know that there was someone in the room with her and that she hadn't seen him. Only someone similar to herself would be able to evade her.

Satisfied that there was no one else in here with her, even though that was wrong, she started working. She laid her bag down carefully, avoiding piercing it with the glass shards that were scattered across the floor. Pulling stuff out, she let her mind drift into a very specific phase. Her thoughts raced as she began getting ready to set up contraptions on the door, just in case anyone tried to come in. Hooks, rope, cord, springs… the list went on as she selected items to use for it. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she analyzed the door, then she started to get to work.

The door would now be hard to properly open, but when it did open, then it would fling open, essentially firing the person through or at least opening for a short period of time. Then, it would slam shut again, but the bits attached to the door would release the cords (which were making this happen) with a snap, and a weight simultaneously dropping because of this reaction would cause the cords to flick out of the things securing them and continue withdrawing themselves until the door was no longer affected and could be opened normally again. With this in place, Ruby moved on.

Some time passed and she walked around while reading books that she had deemed helpful, interesting, or full of good content. She paused every now and then to look up and try practicing some of the more practical things she was learning about. She also cast spells, working on her aim for those, and then put the thick protective gloves from her bag on. With her hands safe, she began picking up some of the shards of glass from the ground, selecting the ones she deemed to be the best, and then started throwing them as quickly and as hard as she could. Her target? A spot on the wall, which was on the other side of the room. There was a jagged crack there that had already existed, and she chose that place because she was not damaging the wall or making the crack any worse when she threw it there. Good aim and generally decent throwing could be key some day. Ruby didn't consider how her current activities might appear – after all, she thought she was alone and that it would remain that way.

When she was satisfied enough with that, she crouched over her bag again. What did she have now that she could work with? The Slytherin started pulling random things out – bug spray, a lighter, a couple of cans of hairspray, lighter fluid, empty aerosol cans, an empty water gun, L brackets, tinfoil, rubber bands, blu tack, matches, candles, and more. She stared at them for a while and thought. What could they be used for? Really big flames? Well, she supposed that she could do that… whether it was safe was another question, but, to be fair, she had just been casting spells and throwing glass. She started assembling things, debating which to use first. To begin with, she took the cover off the lighter and messed around with that before turning it on (after slipping her fireproof gloves back on). It still wasn't very big, so she sprayed stuff in the air and onto the flame, holding both the lighter and the spray can away from her body.

Now, the stream of fire was much longer, and Ruby watched it absentmindedly. Fire was so beautiful. But, nevertheless, she was experimenting, and that meant that she had to keep moving on and trying to improve it. She crouched down and picked up a can of hairspray, using some of the rubber bands to secure one of the L brackets to it. She then attached a small candle to the L bracket using a piece of the blu tack, lining the wick up with the spray part of the can and hoping it would be enough. After lighting the candle, she held the mechanism away from her again. She sprayed it, and a flame blossomed, bigger than the jet from the lighter had been. Pretty good, pretty good. Through this, she heard a sound. Footsteps? Tapping? An attempt to open the door? Her head turned in the door's direction, and she remained careful of the flame-weapon that she was still holding.

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