Fin Discrete Delving PV Ileen

Ileen peered at the windows of the library as she slowly strolled along the shelves. The weather was beautiful and normally she would have stayed outside - but not today. The nice summer weather was the reason why she was here. Almost all of her classmates enjoyed the sun, so she hoped to stay unnoticed. Her mission was not intended for many observers.
She had already done all her homework yesterday. That had bought her time. Time for a subject that had been driving her to the library more and more lately. So, while everyone else was heading outside, she came here.
The coolness in the library was almost a relief. The young Slytherin had tied her long brown hair into a loose bun. Still, some hair curled up in her neck. Ileen had chosen a wine-red t-shirt and knee-length jeans, but still it was almost unbearably warm.
Lost in thought, Ileen touched her reddened cheeks and looked at the specks of dust that floated in the air and sparkled in the sunlight. She closed her eyes briefly and breathed in the smell of the old books. She loved the library. All the knowledge – and also the peaceful silence. It definitely was one of her favorite places in Hogwarts.

Actually, she didn't have too much hope to find what she was looking for – her previous research had been frustratingly unsuccessful- but in any case, it was better than just sitting around. Thoughtfully, she bit her lower lip and let her finger slide over the gold-embossed spines of the books. Where could she possibly start? She hesitated. Like every time she delved into the history of the Knight family, mixed feelings came over her. As much as she hoped to finally find what she was looking for, she was afraid to do so.
While she stood a little lost in front of the shelf and wondered which of the countless books would be helpful for her further research, she didn't even notice the boy who approached her. Although he talked to her gently and carefully, she flinched. Somehow she felt caught.
Admittedly, her random acquaintances in the library had not exactly been pleasant so far. So, it was no surprise that she was additionally frightened.
When she recognized the Ravenclaw, she relaxed a little. “Syl.” She put a hand on her heart and gave him a relieved, but still a little tense smile. “Sorry, you frightened me. I thought I was alone.” How long has he been here? “Wow, I really didn't notice you." She chuckled softly. "You see? I told you I don't notice anything or anyone when I'm here. How are you doing? Why are you not outside enjoying the sun?"

When he offered her his help, her smile deepened and again painted small dimples on her cheek. Syl was very kind - and in her last conversation she had gained the impression that he liked to stick to facts. She didn’t really know him, so she was not sure, if she could trust him. But he also was friends with Dee…
Well, maybe he actually could help her. He didn’t need to know the whole story though. “Thank you Sly, that’s very kind,” she said softly. Her hand was resting on the book shelve, secretly giving her some strength. “Maybe, you could help… but only if it’s not disturbing you. I don’t want to interrupt your work.”

Hexcode= #3c78d8

With her hand pressed to her heart, Sylvain immediately felt ashamed for having frightened her. "Sorry," he apologized quickly, hoping to diffuse any tension his surprise had brought the pair. The way she had reacted, he would believe he had caught the unaware bookworm doing something she wasn't allowed to do. Miss Knight hadn't even picked up a book yet, and already she looked nervous. Curiosity was going to kill him if he didn't figure out what was keeping her inside today. He gathered up his belongings and placed them on the table behind the pair of library delvers.

Sitting in the hardwood chair, Sylvain grabbed one of the books he had proactively requested from the elves. The library elves and Sylvain were very clearly more closely acquainted than he was with Ileen and even Dealla, so the elves were more than happy to help the scholar by fetching or retrieving various tomes or articles for him to read. "I come here a lot." The lad said a bit bluntly, "and I don't often find people who seem as nervous about books as you are right now." Leaning over the top of his book, he smirked at her, waiting to see if her unsteady nerves would be dismissed by his awkward observation, or if perhaps it was himself that unsettled Ileen. Either way, Sylvain turned his nose back to his books.

"The weather is too hot for my enjoyment," Syl said while losing posture and slumping in his seating. "I'll probably make a trip outdoors once it gets cooler. I like to get a walk in before curfew sometimes." Truth was that the forlorn boy had planned to make a trip down to the lakeside later, but he wasn't sure he wanted to invite someone he'd only just met. "What about you? Jumpy, Focused, Nervous, Suspicious. I asked you about the Wizarding War the other day, and you got the same way. Correct me if I'm wrong but, Do you know something about the dark arts I don't, because that would be very interesting to me indeed." Sylvain did his best to modulate his voice so that it was closer to a whisper, but the way he expressed interest in the dark arts would have to be at least a bit unsettling.

Clearing his throat, "Sorry," he said again, apologizing for the forward nature of his questioning. "It's not every day I find someone as interested in the library during their free time as myself." This was true, at least from his perspective. Even though Hogwarts had no shortage of over achievers and studious wizards, there were only a few who spent their free time researching. These few people were ambitious, Flash Holmwood in particular. Although ambition was more of a Slytherin quality, it was clearly a quality Sylvain possessed when it came time to reading. The lad just hadn't figured out how to tap into it for his other goals yet.

Kind. People had called him kind a couple of times recently. Honestly, he just did his best not to insult people. Asking Ileen what she was doing, and asking if his research could help was more aligned with his own goals than Miss Knight had first realized. It was hardly kind of Syl to be nosy, and even less kind for him to pry so quickly. Still, the sensitive boy was genuinely interested in discovering the answers the discrete delver was looking for. "I'd love to help you find the answers you're looking for," he said with a smirk. "It's certainly not an interuption to this fantasy novel I'm reading." He put down Piers Anthony's "A Spell for Chameleon" and stood to help her search the shelves. "What uh, what are you looking for?"

With a soft chuckle, Ileen waved his apology away. “No worries, Syl. It’s not your fault that I’m not paying attention.” She shrugged and her smile became bit crooked. “I just didn’t expect anyone to be around.” Her cheeks turned pink and she quickly turned her eyes away.
Her heart was still beating fast in her chest and she forced herself to take a deep breath. She wasn’t doing anything forbidden. It was just a topic on which she was very sensitive. She didn't want anyone to know about her past - or rather the past of her parents - whom she did not trust completely. She didn’t want to be judged or punished for that again.
When she regained her composure, she forced herself to face the Ravenclaw with an open mind. He had done her no harm. He just happened to be here, and he certainly wasn't spying on her. So, there was no reason to behave that way.

However, this composure was quickly shaken when he shared his precise observation of her emotional state. Defensively, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and frowned. Normally, she was the observer. It was a strange feeling when the tables were turned. “Why would I be nervous about the books?” She watched him carefully. In her current situation, she wasn’t capable of sorting this question into general curiosity, but then he smirked and Ileen relaxed a bit. “Well, fair enough.” She brushed a lost strand of hair out of her eyes and gave him an ironic smile. “And I come here a lot, but I rarely see people reading a novel.” She peered at the book that the young boy held in his hand. She was indeed curious. It seemed to be a Muggle novel – completely different to the other historical books with their thick leather covers.
Thoughtfully, she broke away from her defensive posture and grinned slightly. "What is it about?"
She was always careful when it came to reading preferences. There were intimate thoughts and feelings hidden in stories that could tell more about people than intended. She smirked back at him, noticing the ironically connection. “I mean – you always should be nervous about books, right? They have so much to tell. Some things might even destroy the way you are seeing the world.” She shivered, but in a positive way. “That can be intimidating. And last time I thought I was alone, books fell on me. So, you never know where or at what level they're attacking you,” she joked and took a step towards Syl's table. "May I?" she asked, pointing to the chair next to him.

A soft giggle escaped her and she covered her mouth with her hand. One could only see her brown eyes, which sparkled in amusement and her raised left eyebrow. “Is that a description of me?” She leaned forward and smiled conspiratorially. It was easier for her to discuss this delicate topic on a fun level. This way she could see the truth behind it without having to go into it directly and feel threatened. Otherwise she would have had to push Syl away, but she didn't want that. She wanted to be open minded, at least once. That much she had learned from Dee. Interest was not always connected with bad intentions. She always had been struggling with her family motto, which had accompanied her the whole life: You never know where someone is setting a trap or is trying to get rid of you. She couldn’t help but shake her head slightly, when her dads word came into her mind. He was a fool. And she would try to be better then that.
“Well, it might be accurate, though.” With a snort she grinned. “If you would have made the same experience in this library as I did, you would be jumpy, too.”
With an exaggerated, regretful sigh, she theatrically laid her hand on her heart. “And when it comes to the Dark Arts, I fear I have to disappoint you. I know few about it.” She frowned and thought about her own words again. She had the strong urge to be completely honest about that specific topic. “Hm. Actually, I mean… I kind of know what you have to do, to get punished for life.” She had checked that to find out what her parents might had done. “What are you looking for? Something specific?” She smiled slyly at him and then rubbed her nose in a playful, worried manner. “You are not up to anything bad, are you?”
She brushed the hair from her neck, which was curling there because of the heat. Then she glanced outside the window. “And I also escaped from the heat. And the people… It really is hot. I thought about to jump into the lake after my research.” Well, at least, that was half of the truth. And she wasn’t actually lying. Just leaving something out. For a moment she looked thoughtfully out the window, then she turned back to Ravenclaw. Probably it was inappropriate to invite him. She barley knew him and he seemed to be the kind of guy who appreciated it to be left alone. Well, she didn’t mind. If he wanted, he could join her, if not, also fine. She wouldn’t pressure him by asking.

When he offered her his help, the young Slytherin gave him a soft smile. “Well…” She turned and looked around. “Thank you very much. But I have to warn you – it’s a dark secret I’m looking for.” Hoping to cover the truth behind it with exaggeration, she made a vague gesture to the books about the second wizard war, carefully keeping an eye on Syls reaction. She was prepared to stop this interaction as soon as it was about to go in the wrong direction. “Honestly, I already read all of them. Do you know, if there are newspapers or some school reports about Harry Potter’s time at Hogwarts?”

@Sylvain Indarys

Hexcode= #3c78d8

Ileen's crooked smile worked wonders on Sylvain's mood, there was just an air of lightness to being around Ileen. Perhaps it was how she blushed and turned away, or maybe it was the way her mind clearly operated at the right speed to rival a jet liner. As the bashful young lady found equilibrium, she turned and faced him. Was she defensive? Had Sylvain unwittingly asked too much? Typically responsible for getting himself into tricky waters, Sylvain was becoming better at navigating without guidance. Sylvain was reluctant to address any of the fleeting questions Ileen had, and focused instead on building trust by giving nods of encouragement as she spoke and shared. Trust was something the reserved scholar hadn't built with her yet, but he intended to. Syl just hoped he had the tools to do it.

Syl's eyebrows rose in concern as Ileen described how the avalanche of reading material had likely ruined a previous foray into wizarding literature. Something about that first sentence bothered him deeply. Was Ileen the sort of person who feared knowledge? The lad's face grew more and more perplexed as she spoke of books and the way they give you new perspectives. Regaining focus, the lad's thoughts absently landed in the conversation after having determined his next line of questioning. Sylvain then patiently listened to Miss Knight, awaiting another opportunity to observe who the bookworm was behind her carefully chosen words. "Oh this?" he said raising the fantasy novel. "Couldn't tell you yet." He said tossing it on the table. "I generally prefer to wait until I've tested my opinions on things and people out before I move on to sharing judgment."

Sheepishly, his smile widened a bit as she joked about falling books. The empathetic boy both felt the pain and the humor in her words. When she asked to sit next to him, Sylvain did his best not to break composure. "S-sure," the awkward by said with a croak in his voice. "You can sit by me anytime, anywhere." Immediately he grimaced, hoping his boyishness wasn't too unbearable. As she sat next to him the boy brought his leg back down from off the top of his knee, and he slouched forward. Ileen had certainly been made uncomfortable by his probing. At least, that's what her words and body language told him.

The pre-teen mage never expected Ileen to agree with his observation regarding her suspicious behavior. Generally, when Sylvain pointed something like that out, nobody took him seriously. Why was it that Ileen took his words to heart so quickly? Was she starting to trust him? It felt as though the more they talked the more expansive the list of Sylvain's desired answers grew. It was peculiar how she agreed with his conflicting message, almost like she understood his hidden meaning. Mind racing at the thought of asking all of his questions, Syl reminded himself to take his time and keep his feelings steady. The last time he moved too fast towards wistful feelings in the library, the shy lad nearly did the exact opposite of making a friend. Sylvain almost visibly recoiled at the thought of Flash Holmwood yelling at him for using the wrong name. It was a memory he'd not soon forget.

"A shame," he said as she confessed to knowing little about the dark arts. "Uhh, erm, not that I in particular want to be some sort of dark arts user." The lad realized just how cringy his questions had been. "It's more that, I want to know how to help people and knowing more about the dark arts can help me to do that." Satisfied with sharing a small feeling, one Ileen would hopefully be capable of relating to, Sylvain turned his chair a little more sideways to face Ileen, and rested his elbow on the table, using his hand to prop his head up as he looked curiously at his company with his head tilted to the side. He would raise his eyebrows every time she admitted something personal.

“Hm. Actually, I mean… I kind of know what you have to do, to get punished for life.” This, more than anything, would glue Sylvain to the hunt for answers. "No," he said plainly. "I'm hadn't come looking for anything specific."

"Me?" Sylvain said with an almost incredulous chuckle as Ileen questioned his intentions. "Up to no good?" Sylvain looked at her a second time, this time seriously for a second. It was clear to her that he became worried. The lad was worried that she might have assumed the worst in him. Sylvain wasn't so absentminded or awkward that he came off as disillusioned or disinterested, and he certainly wasn't the kind that picked on or took from others. Still, maybe his goals weren't all that good exactly. "I don't think so Ileen. Maybe good has some sort of additional meaning to you but, I just want to read and talk. Promise." His voice was sincere, and genuine. His face was pensive, but understanding, and his stance was open and inviting. "You can always tell me no as well." He reluctantly let those words slip past his teeth and they hung in the air like an obstacle. There were fewer choices he wanted the young lady to make less than to reject his questioning, and his eyes betrayed those feelings. Still, a confident smile told her exactly where he stood. friendly and prepared to help her.

Chuckling as she joked about the lake, Sylvain observed again that Ileen used truth as the basis for her humor. When she then to joke about her "dark secret" he took it very seriously. Not a single hint of laughter, nervous or forced, would lighten the look of severity on his face. It was plain to see the lad feared little about learning. "I'm not afraid of the dark Ileen. Nor the deepest fathoms of water, or the infinite vastness of space. If you're looking for someone who's willing to go there, you've found him." His smile returned, though a bit of sadness remained locked away behind his eyes. There was definitely more to his willingness to answer the call of the void, but that was the kind of secret people spent a lifetime trying to discover. Instead, he offered an apology. "I believe I started us off on the wrong foot at Dee's party. Will you accept my sincerest apology?"

@Ileen Knight

Ileen cocked her head to one side and frowned. Would he again try to get answers from her and then refuse them as soon as it came to him? Well… Maybe he was just a bit uncomfortable with opening up? She could understand that – even though she wouldn’t start a conversation about personal opinions then. This time, she wouldn’t allow him to not provide anything personal if he wanted to learn something about her. She would try to figure him out. That would be a challenge.
When he didn’t tell her about his opinion on the book, she uncrossed her arms. “That’s actually very mature. Sometimes a book starts amazing and then it turns out the ending is poorly written - or unexpecting sudden.” She raised her eyebrows meaningfully to tease him and one corner of her mouth curled into a half smile. She would give him one more chance. But just this one.
Maybe they just had started on the wrong food. He had started with interesting questions, even if he dropped them very quickly again - so she wasn’t ready to give up yet and chose to let down her defence - at least a bit.

Still, she wasn’t comfortable standing in front of him where he could notice every move she made, so she carefully let herself slide onto the free chair and rested her chin on one hand. Her dark brown eyes were fixed on his face, trying to figure out his intentions. He seemed a little blindsided that she wanted to keep him company. This time, she was very anxious to emphasise the seriousness of her next words. Had she done something wrong? “If you want to be alone, I can also leave you alone.”
She frowned and didn't quite know where to put her hands. She didn’t mean for him to feel uncomfortable and if he wanted to be alone and just had been polite by saying hello to her, she wouldn’t mind. She also came here a lot to enjoy solitude and peace. “I mean, I really understand that.”

When he mentioned his urge to help people, a slight smile escaped her. She only noticed how tense she had been about him sharing something personal when she was relieved that he finally did so. “Oh, do you want to become an auror? Breaking curses and stuff?" And well, her intentions to learn about the Dark Arts were not that honorable even though she shared his wish to help people. Or more - to prevent doing evil… giving the name Knight new value.
The young Slytherin bit her lower lip, thoughtfully gazing at the Ravenclaw. He was still listening - and now she was curious, wondering what his motivation might be. What had happened in his life to make him put the concerns of others before his own at this young age? Or was he more like her? Doing it for kind of a selfish reason?
“You are not afraid of the dark? Well, that makes it at least one of us.” The last words had rushed out of her like that, she had mumbled them into herself. When she realized that she had spoken her thoughts out loud, she raised her head to cover her mouth and looked at him defiantly. Would he think she was a coward now? Well - she was not afraid that someone would harm her, but to become dark.

With a soft sigh she shook her head to get rid of that thought. She was acting ridiculously. Maybe that was the reason why Dee was so much better atin befriending others. Because she didn’t overthink it.
She forced herself out of her dark and serious thoughts which turneds out to be a good timing since Syl mentioned their first encounter aton Dee’s birthday party. Ileen gave him a warm but slightly mocking smile. “True that. You should feel bad. I didn’t get any letters with answers so far.” To make sure he got she was just joking she waved it off away. Suddenly she felt kind of silly and pedantic. “Nothing to apologize for. Don’t worry.”

@Sylvain Indarys

Hexcode= #3c78d8

"If you want to be alone, I can also leave you alone." The lad shook his head profusely in protest. Watching as Ileen struggled to find somewhere to place her hands naturally, he rejected her understanding comment with another nod of reassurance. Reassurance that he was doing exactly what he wanted to be doing. "No, there's plenty of time left for me to be alone later." Another nod of confirmation escaped him as he did in fact want to be an auror someday. The lad just wasn't sure what branch of service he was cut out for. Good thing he still had plenty of time to figure it out.

As she gazed thoughtfully at him, Sylvain noticed that Ileen was biting her bottom lip. Usually when someone chewed their lip, it meant they had something they were considering saying. It was clear Ileen was holding something back, but Sylvain trusted her to do what was right for herself and was the kind of person who dug too deep without trying to build trust up first. Miss Knight would have to be comfortable setting her own boundaries. As the witch confessed to being afraid of the dark, Sylvain felt rather silly by comparison. It wasn't that the mage didn't fear the dark, no, he just feared ignorantly being in the dark. If one chose to carry light to the places others feared most, it would surely illuminate some unknown truth.

His accompanying companion letting out the kind of sigh Sylvain had the most familiarity with, Ileen then did the exact thing Syl had done to Flash when he felt left out. She teased him. “True that. You should feel bad. I didn’t get any letters with answers so far.” A frown grew on Sylvain's face. The wizard had fallen short of his promise but she also hadn't asked him anything he could answer. This wasn't so uncommon that he hadn't dealt with it before, but it was surprising coming from someone he'd genuinely offended once before and had just offered an apology to. Sometimes Sylvain didn't understand the goal of humor. Was it used to protect her feelings this time or was it used to hurt his? Why did either of those need to happen? Rather than figure it out, Sylvain decided not to overthink it and tossed the stinking pile of thought away.

"I'm really sorry about it Ileen. Best I can do is take time to answer your questions now." He offered a slight, but obviously pained smile while hoping his openness and stability was enough to show Miss Knight that he harbored no bad feelings about the joke. The wizard understood the intention behind the tease now, that was all that mattered. Apologies were a form of atonement, a way a person could make it up to themselves and each apology was an attempt to relieve yourself of guilt and shame. Any rejection at all meant learning to live with it. Teasing was another way to get rid of that same shame, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

"If I remember correctly, and I probably don't, you didn't ask me much, you only just told me it was my turn." The boy's face grew into a grim expression as he attempted to recall the events of the birthday party from over a week ago. The wizard's eye lids shut as the eyeballs themselves rolled back into his skull. Mouth drawn tight, with his lips folded inwards his eyebrows arched in the middle as he gripped the bridge of his nose. A moment later he emerged from somewhere within and brought the old conversation back to the forefront. Looking around the library, Sylvain chuckled. "I do come here a lot, it was the only question you got to ask." His voice almost stoic. "Otherwise, I withdrew before you had a chance to follow up."

Now he understood. Sylvain had asked her to be vulnerable first, only to yank the rug out from under her by retreating. A shame he'd neglected to consider her feelings then, but it was not really his fault as they were her feelings not his. "I'm an open book now, and we're in the library with no distractions." He smiled as he found the courage to tease her back. "No falling books, and no stick duels."

@

A soft smile appeared on Ileen’s lips when Sylvain gave her an approving nod as she asked him about his plan to become an auror. Interested in the dark to understand and defeat it? That was something she could relate to. Immediately he raised in her ranking of people at Hogwarts - one to cross from the list with impulsive and weird idiots. Not that he had been on this list – but now she was sure about that.
With a slight shake of her head she glanced out of the window. “Why is it, that all decent people I’ve met so far are mostly Ravenclaws?” It was more a murmur to herself, not intended to be an actual part of the conversation, but the careful listening boy would hear it for sure. And it was a question that had haunted her since her fist day at Hogwarts, when Dee and she had been sorted into different houses.
Looking up again, the young Slytherin would meet his eyes with a defensive look. The blood in her cheeks was rising again. She wasn’t proud of being a Slytherin. Even though she respected and liked some of them, she still felt lost there. She had admitted that to herself, to Dee and involuntary Erik and even to a prefect and professor – but it had been a while since she last had said that out loud. She was still struggling with her faith after all this time – being a snake instead of a raven. A part of her was still waiting for the statement of the sorting hat to come true. But she highly doubted it though. Idiots everywhere…. especially in Slytherin. Well, back to the ‘not-idiot’ she was talking to at the moment.

When the Ravenclaw boy apologized for not sending her a letter, she was taken by surprise. “Oh. No worries, I was just kidding,” she waved it of but frowned as he tried to recall the situation. Clearly, he had a great memory, but it looked but the process of recalling the thoughts looked precarious and unpleasant “Are you alright?”
It was touching to see how hard he dealt with this joke accusation and her really seemed t try to make it up to her again – Ileen immediately felt guilty. “I- I am sorry. I really wasn’t that serious about it after all.” Uncomfortably, she moved around on her chair. Did he really think that she was mad about it? Okay, fair enough, she had been confused and had considered him to be a bit rude… Maybe he was just good in adapting moods. And maybe she should reflect her own behavior more careful. She would try not to push him to much. She didn’t like it to be pushed either, so she should also accept the other one’s comfort zone.

“An open book?” the corners of her mouth curled into a soft smile. “You don’t like to talk about yourself, do you?” Her smile deepened. Again – something she could relate to.
Leaning forward, she brushed a lose strand of her dark hair from her eyes. “Actually, I really have a question for you.” She would try to hold eye contact before continuing. “You don’t have to answer it though, if you don’t want to.” With a soft sight, she leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms again. “Why do you want to become an auror? It haven’t met many people who already knew what they want to reach in life.” Okay, she hadn’t asked many, either. But she really was interested in his motivation. Sylvain seemed to be a caring person with some difficulties when it came to social interaction. Willing to work the whole life to protect others was a very tense decision.

Hexcode= #3c78d8

“You don’t like to talk about yourself, do you?”

Sylvain nodded in agreement,"True." He saw the smile on her face and his own awkward grimace came out. A cookie cutter smile twisted by the curling of the corners of his mouth.

“Actually, I really have a question for you.”

Ileen's eyes caught his. Afraid to look away and afraid of missing what she wanted to share, Sylvain eagerly awaited her question but became quite serious as she questioned him. Occasionally he would look away as he spoke, it might appear as if he was 'gathering his information' before returning to match Ileen's gaze.

“Why do you want to become an auror? I haven’t met many people who already knew what they want to reach in life.”

"It's true that there are many things I could be and I'm not against becoming something else. If I had to pick one reason, it's because I can't help others if I don't know how. I believe that the path to becoming an Auror will teach me how I can help others." In just the short amount of time the lad lived at Hogwarts, there had been whispers of hags, the students had been poisoned by spiders, and there were more than a half dozen fires, including the one in the Forbidden Forest. Until recently he'd thought there must surely someone else fighting against it, the Forest had proved him wrong. The school could honestly do with an Auror in training or two. Perhaps his own perspective was narrow, but he was going to do what he thought was the right to do and training to become an Auror was just loose enough to fit the scope of his ideals. Unbeknownst to himself Sylvain was aiming for a target nobody else saw, or rather one nobody had asked him to aim for. A safer Hogwarts.

Smiling as firm reassurance before raising his eyebrows inquisitively and addressing the misunderstanding that took place earlier when Ileen had mumbled under her breath, Sylvain continued to maintain eye contact with Ileen as he worked through the issue. Sylvain wanted to understand why the Knight's shame reflected on him so strongly when she spoke about knowing so few decent people. By virtue of his own research, Sylvain had discovered that shyness was often the cause of decent peoples' exclusivity.

First the scholar had discovered Flash hidden behind books in this very room. Now he was looking at Ileen, hidden behind a friend and books."I hope we meet and learn to trust a few good people from each house, but we should both try to get out of the library more often." Wanting no misunderstanding, Sylvain spoke up to share his opinion, something he was loathe to do with people he didn't trust. "and thank you for being deserving of my trust." There were plenty of good people at Hogwarts, they were just getting started on finding them. Curiously though, Sylvain thought a bit harder on what Ileen's questions meant.

Emotions observed from Ileen's face earlier twisted Sylvain's own expression as he connected the two thoughts. Sylvain became puzzled. What if the girl had met someone important that he hadn't. "Do you know any bad people Ileen? Should I be worried for our safety?" Sylvain asked with genuine concern behind his voice, hushed but loud enough that she wouldn't have any issue hearing. Ever since the Forbidden Forest, he couldn't forgive himself for how many people had gotten hurt because of the flock being caught unaware. It was a potential threat to their safety if he was ill informed, and Sylvain wanted to keep an eye out for his own ignorance.

@Ileen Knight

“Hm, I guess I get that.” Thoughtfully biting on her lower lip, she watched the Ravenclaw boy closely. She wondered why he was so honest with her then. Maybe because she was a friend of Dee’s? Or because she had asked for it – at least indirectly?
In any case, she didn’t want to interrupt him when he told her about his motivation to be an auror. It was interesting to see how the young boy set values and moral concepts as a goal already in the first class. Admirable – but Ileen was still too young to really see behind the curtain. She wouldn’t catch all of it, but what she learned was that he wanted to protect others. Interesting. All the people she had met so far wanted to become aurors because it was ‘cool’. It was more a self-insert than actually a goal to aim for. To her, being an auror wasn’t about being one of the cool kids. It was about danger. Risking your own life for others – admirable, but something she wouldn’t do, at least not for everyone.
Besides, even if she would not admit it, the thought of having to attack others, even if it was only in defense, scared her off.
She had developed a deep aversion to it over the year. If she or her best friends were threatened - yes, she probably would attack. But if she had to intervene spontaneously and didn't know what the other person had done... she shuddered at the mere thought.

But it was good to know that there were a few people who wanted the right thing and were ready to take the risk and responsibility.
Another smile curled her lips as she crooked her head and met Sylvain’s gaze. “That sounds like a very noble motivation. Also, this school could need a bunch of people defending it, I guess.” Even though some people are working hard on getting us in trouble over and over again, she added in her mind and thought back at the events in her own house. Idiots. Some of them actually seemed to search for chaos and danger.
Ileen hadn’t been part of the spider attack – she hadn’t been on the blossom ball, but she had seen her house mates and had been at the Slytherin Party. They were attracting and sometimes even causing the chaos. So yeah, it was good if someone would put these shoes on and helped the professors by taking care of this school.
“It’s not the auror’s life for me, I guess.” She gave Sylvain a soft smile to make sure that he got the fact she wasn’t disapproving with his goal. In contrary. It was just nothing she could do. Or wanted to do.

When he said that she had deserved his trust, she smiled faintly, but her brown eyes were wide awake and sparkled with interest. “Thank you.” She frowned slightly and her eyes narrowed a little as she thought. Trust was a big word. There were only three people she trusted and on different levels. One of them was a professor. Ileen was the kind of girl who had experienced how trust could hurt you if you hand it away too soon. She wasn’t one who trusted easily now.
“Why? Be careful, you barely know me.” The words were soft and caring. Not aggressive at all. She really was worried. If there were two advices the young Slytherin would give to newcomers, it would be: Be careful who to trust and stay away from big group gatherings. But maybe it was the same with Syl as it was with her: He had simply met so many idiots that someone normal like her was far above average.

As if he was overhearing her thoughts, he addressed this topic with his next question. “Bad people?” Ileen shrugged and peered secretly to the place where she had made her first Slytherin acquaintance. This had been a bad first meeting. Maybe the second one also hadn’t been that great but now, they were friends. “Depends on how you define ‘bad’.”
Her thoughts were at the Slytherin Party again. “I think, I met many idiots, but they are more a danger to their own safety than to ours. I wouldn’t call them bad.” Even though some of them claim to be bad.