Ink Blots | Joshua

Elias lay sprawled across the stone floor between the beds, parchment spread out in front of him and ink pot balanced precariously on a Transfiguration textbook. The thick blue rug would have been more comfortable, but Joshua might need to walk through, or one of his other roommates, and Elias didn't fancy getting stepped on.

Dear Mum and Dad, he'd written so far. Then nothing.

What was he supposed to say? That he'd gotten lost trying to find the library yesterday and ended up in some broom cupboard that smelled like old socks? That his matchstick still had splinters in it after a month of Transfiguration lessons? That he still hadn't managed to cast a single spell in Defense class?

He chewed on the end of his quill, tasting the bitter feather. The tip was already frayed from too much nibbling. He should have saved some of those sugar quills Mum had packed instead of wolfing them down his first week.

His Flutterby bush sat on the windowsill, the tiny wings on its leaves barely twitching. They were supposed to flutter constantly, Professor Briar had said - that's how you knew they were healthy. But his plant's wings moved maybe once every few minutes, slow and sad looking. The leaves themselves were turning yellow at the edges.

Maybe he was watering it wrong. Maybe the windowsill was too cold. Maybe he was just rubbish at everything magical.

He shifted his weight, his elbow already getting sore from pressing against the stone floor.

He rolled onto his back, holding the parchment up to catch the afternoon light filtering through the diamond-paned windows. The cold stone pressed against his shoulder blades through his robes. The letter looked sad with just those four words. But what else could he write that wouldn't worry them?

School is brilliant. Learning loads. Made tons of friends.

It felt like a lie. He stared at the potential words, then shook his head. He tried again.

School is going well. I'm getting the hang of my classes.

Also lies.

The food is amazing.

Well, that one wasn't completely untrue. When it wasn't bologna sandwiches.

He scratched out the last line, leaving a messy ink blot. What did parents want to hear? What would stop Mum worrying?

Dear Mum and Dad, School is brilliant fine. The other students are wonderful nice. I haven't gotten lost in three whole days.

Now that was just pathetic.

He sat up abruptly, ink sloshing in the pot. A few drops splattered onto his half-finished Charms essay about Lumos variations. Perfect. Now he'd have to start that over too.

"Oh, come on," he muttered, grabbing for his wand to try a cleaning charm. The spell fizzled, leaving a faint blue glow around the ink stains but not actually removing them.

His trunk lay open beside him, clothes spilling out because he still hadn't figured out the proper folding charms Mum used at home. Everything here required magic he didn't know yet. Everything was harder than it should be.

The dormitory felt too quiet. Too big. The other beds stood empty, and he could hear laughter drifting up from the common room below.

It hadn't taken long for Joshua to get submerged in life at Hogwarts, busy with lessons of all sorts, other students, the grounds to roam and the library to explore. He'd always been a boy who enjoyed keeping himself occupied, often surprising the staff at the manor with how little they heard of him, and that hadn't changed now that he was 11 and at Hogwarts. Especially not since the place had so much to explore.

The difference was just that now Joshua was not alone anymore. He had friends.

The common room had been busy when the first year had entered, students chatting and laughing or doing their homework. Someone at one of the tables had started what looked like a small chess tournament and an older Ravenclaw was tutoring another.

With his arms full of books, Joshua hadn't been eager to hang around and quickly made his way through the common room and towards his dorm. Technically he didn't need all these books and the student who'd passed him out of the library had asked with an eyebrow risen so high it had quite vanished in their hair, if maybe six books weren't a bit much for a first year this early in term. Josh had just grinned. Could you ever get too many books?

The books currently in his arms kept both of his hands busy, but luckily the door to the dorm opened with just a small nudge of his shoulder. One, two, three, four steps and the books tumbled onto his bed and Josh quickly followed with an oomph, making himself comfortable across the bed, feet off to one side and head to the other.

Not only was the position splayed across the bed comfortable, his arms happy to be relieved of the load of books, but it also allowed him to spot his friend on the floor. "Hi!" Joshua grinned as he peeked over the edge of the bed, brown hair flopping over his eyes. He'd been ready to explore his treasure of books the moment he'd entered the dorm, but the prospect of spending time with Elias quickly made thoughts of books slips into the background.

"What's you doing? Homework?" He tilted his head, looking around curiously at the pieces of parchment and the wand in Elias' hand. His own wand was safe in his robe pocket. He still wasn't quite used to it, or to being able to do magic, but he was getting better. He'd even managed a decent Wingardium Leviosa yesterday! And even if it had only seemed to work on his quill and nothing else, he'd still decided to take it as a victory.

It was heaps better than his last attempt to... well, to do anything at all in Transfiguartion, really. It was a wonder Professor Battersea hadn't kicked him out of that class already!

Elias scrambled to sit up when Joshua flopped onto his bed, nearly knocking over his ink pot. The parchment with his half-started letter crinkled under him as he moved. His back ached from lying on the stone floor for so long.

"Oh, hi Joshua." He glanced at the impressive stack of books Joshua had dumped on his bed. Loads of them. "Did you check out the entire library?"

Joshua's brown hair flopped over his eyes as he grinned down from the bed.

Elias pushed himself to his feet and started gathering his scattered writing materials. The crumpled letter attempts went into the bin, ink pot carefully balanced in one hand while he collected loose parchment with the other. One of his spare quills had rolled under one of their roommates' beds - he had to get down on his hands and knees to fish it out.

While he was down there, his fingers bumped against something smooth and cool. Glass vials, tucked back against the bed frame. He pulled one closer to get a better look.

"Whoa," he breathed. A beetle sat inside, perfectly preserved, its shell shimmering metallic blue-green in the afternoon light. There were more - a whole collection of them hidden under the bed. Each one different, some with horns, others with spotted patterns.

Voices echoed up from the courtyard below where students were practicing spells. Elias flopped down on his own bed, facing Joshua across the narrow space between them. He stretched out his legs and held up his Charms essay. Fresh ink blots decorated the parchment from his earlier wand mishap, dark blue stains spreading across his careful notes about Lumos variations.

"I was doing homework... But, uh, do you know how to fix ink spills?" he asked, holding up the ruined parchment. "My cleaning charm just made them glow."