A Fine Day to Hang and Observe((August))

[Edward Summers R6]

Nobody quite understood the beauty of looking at the world upside-down. Although gravity still acted on your body, sending the blood rushing to your head telling you that this was unnatural, there was something majestic at seeing everything else defy gravity. Birds flew down instead of up, you had to lower your gaze to look at the clouds. If only it wasn’t for this nagging headache that was already forming due to the constant blood rush to his head. Ed held one finger against the bridge of his nose so that his glasses couldn’t fall from his face, the other was holding up his shirt so that it wouldn’t fall over his face and blind him.

Yes, under different circumstances and once he figured out that nasty gravity problem, Ed would love to revisit this position. “Well guys, I suppose this isquite humorous from your vantage point, though from mine the humor grows quite thin, I do believe you’ve had your fun and I would like to get down now.” Ed eyed each of the five Slytherin seventh years before him, albeit upside-down, and waited for the group to comply. None of them moved, they simply stood with their arms crossed and grinned at him. Ed knew this group quite well, in fact, he practically ran into them once a day to disastrous effects. Like all bully groups, Ed had run into this group during his first year at Hogwarts, and the meeting had not gone well, ever since that day Ed had been plagued by this particular group.

Ed had dared to hope that his being appointed a Prefect would finally let him see the end of this reign of terror, he had been horribly wrong. The group seemed not to be at all phased by his new promotion, and try as he might Ed could never build up the courage to assert his Prefect authority, well he wasn’t sorted into Gryffindor for a reason. “Listen guys, the fun is over alright? You know I would hate to have to give you detention or wor….” Ed shut his mouth so quickly he nearly bit off the tip of his tongue as the leader of the group slowly lowered his face toward Ed’s. The two were brought into eye level, though the eyes didn’t quite match up on the account of Ed’s current gravitational positioning. The Slytherin arched an eyebrow. “What you gonna Eddy? Give us detention? Do you really have the nerve for that?” He asked in a mocking tone, the other four members of chuckled.

“But you know that Detention only lasts for a few hours, maybe a couple of days, and once detention is over, we’re going to be looking for revenge. Revenge that is going to make the last five years seem like a simple initiation, now you don’t want that? Do you Eddy?” Ed sighed, knowing he was defeated once again. “No…” He answered quietly. The Slytherin smiled, even patted Ed’s head, “Good boy Eddy. Here’s your wand.” He stated and dropped the wand on the ground, out of Ed’s reach. “I’m sure a simple spell will cut the ropes for ya, and than your free. See you next time Eddy.”

With that the five Slytherins left the area and began to head back toward the castle. “I love these little gatherings.” Ed called after them but they soon disappeared from sight. He sighed and looked down at the afternoon sun hanging high, low, in the sky. Ed let go of his shirt and reached down, stretching his long fingered digits out and swiping at the wand. He caught nothing but air. Ed sighed, and resumed holding up his shirt and simply resigned to his fate and hung from the tree, swaying softly in the afternoon breeze.

[August Reid R7]

Every now and again August got fed up with schoolwork and had to do something physical. Now this usually meant walking around the castle or grounds or if he was feeling especially rambunctious he would take his broom and fly around the pitch a few times. He wanted to be ready for the upcoming game against Hufflepuff. He had performed so poorly in the last game that he didn't want to be benched, permanently. But today wasn't one of those days. Today he just wanted to take a peaceful stroll around the grounds. His Charms essay would be waiting for him when he returned. Unfortunately. So would his Potions and Transfiguration homework. It was a never ending cycle with schoolwork. It didn't help that the Ravenclaw pride in him would not let him do poorly. Sometimes he envied the Slytherins. They could not care. Sometimes...Rarely...

Today August was in the mood for a walk around the lake. Perhaps he would see some merfolk or the Giant Squid that was said to live there. He pushed open the great oak doors and immediately sheltered his eyes against the light. Sometimes one forgot how bright the outside world was when one was stuck in a dark castle all day long. He stood awestruck in the brilliance of the sun. Unfortunately a little too long. All of a sudden a hard shoulder knocked him over to the ground. He looked around for his attacker and found it was a group of older Slytherins. "Watch it Little Reid." The Slytherins often called him 'Little Reid' to distinguish him from his older brother. Which begged the question what did they call his younger brother Bronsen? Jack was probably the only reason August didn't get beat up by the Slytherins. They continued on their way into the Great Hall probably proud that they just terrorized someone younger than they. As August picked himself off the ground he heard them laugh and someone mention "Edward." August groaned to himself. He hoped they didn't do something stupid to Edward.

But soon the answer came clear. For just a little way off the beaten path there was Edward. Hanging from a rope by his feet. August ran up to him calling his name, "Edward, Ed, are you okay?" Edward had one hand on the bridge of his nose holding his glasses up and the other holding his shirt. August couldn't help it. He laughed. "I'm sorry Ed. This isn't funny," August said trying to stifle his laugh. He looked around and saw Edward's wand lying a few feet away from the poor victim. Just out of reach. August took out his own wand and pointed it at the ropes when an idea came to him. An evil smile came to his face. He aimed his wand at Ed and said, "Wingardium Leviosa." Nothing happened. But August wanted to make this work. "Wingardium Leviosa," he said again. Ed's body moved a little but nothing like August wanted. "Blast it!" He aimed his wand higher at the ropes. "Diffindo." The ropes were cut and Ed fell to the ground. "Sorry about that."

[Edward Summers R6]

Ed hummed quietly to himself as more and more blood rushed to his head, increasing his headaches intensity. He mostly hummed to fight against the boredom of his situation. Although the new perspective on life was interesting, the growing pain inside his head was rather distracting. Ed glanced over at the wand once more. He knew there was wand less magic out there, though it was a rather difficult feat to achieve. Even those that could do it could only do it with minor spells. The summoning spell was a spell that was increasingly difficult depending on what it was you were trying to summon. Ed concentrated on his wand and thought, Accio wand!

Ed even thrust out his hand, the one holding his shirt, to catch the wand in case it did respond to his summons, it didn’t. Sighing Ed returned his hand to its original position before the shirt could fall over his eyes. With another course of action failed Ed resumed his humming but was cut short as he heard a call. Turning slightly Ed brightened as he noticed the approach of a fellow dorm mate of his, August Reid. Ed smiled, almost waving but realizing that would be a bad idea, “Hello August.” Ed called to the boy cheerfully, as if he wasn’t currently suspended upside down. “Hmm? Oh yes, I’m quite fine in the sense that I am unhurt. Although my head is starting to pound a little thanks to our little friend Mr. Gravity.”

Ed waited patiently for the short laughing fit to finish in August, he couldn’t really blame him, this was quite a humorous position and even Ed would chuckle a little had it not been him who was in the position. “No, no. It’s quite alright. Every situation no matter how you look at it has one side that finds it un-humorous. So no need to apologize.” With a patience rarely found in teenage boys suspended upside down Ed allowed August to survey the current situation and then decide on a course of action. Although not properly aligned Ed watched carefully as August tried to perform a simple spell but didn’t quite manage to do it properly. Edward had always been good at Charms, and thankfully this spell was learned in that class. He noticed August’s problem immediately.

“You’re not pronouncing your flicks curtly enough after your swi……!” Ed’s sentence was cut off as the ropes gave way and that friendly of friends Mr. Gravity quickly seized the opportunity to yank Edward down to one of his well known acquaintances, Mr. Ground. His arms had flailed in panic as he fell so his glasses had lost their perch on his nose. Ed felt them crush underneath him as he rolled onto his back. He laid there for a second, letting the world stop spinning as all the collected blood in his head began to circulate back through the rest of his body before sitting up. Without his glasses Ed barely was able to make out the blur that was August before him. “Shs…” He finished his sentence where he had left of, groping for his wand.

Once found Ed quickly went about collecting the pieces of his glasses and quickly fixing them, he was quite skilled at this job, and replaced them to their rightful place. The world returned to its stark crystal clear quality as Ed stood up. “Thank you August, I have no idea how long I would have been stuck there had you not come along when you did.” Ed rubbed the back of his head, which had taken the brunt of the fall, and grinned. “Though I suggest you work on your rescue technique.”

[August Reid R7]

“You’re not pronouncing your flicks curtly enough after your swi……!” August couldn't help it. He felt slightly satisfied as Ed's body slammed against the ground. He had heard that same phrase from Professor Flitwick so often that he did not near to hear it from a friend. He did wince however when he heard Ed's glasses crunch underneath the weight of his body. August silently waited until Ed caught his breath and the blood drained from his face. It was bright red but it was slowly returning to normal. He knelt beside Ed as the other boy carefully sat up. He was tempted to put a reassuring hand on Ed's back but he wasn't sure if that would be crossing some social boundaries so he decided against it. Seemed like he had been second guessing a lot of his actions lately.

August just glared at Ed's comment. "Sorry Ed," August replied dryly. "I left my shining armour and my noble steed in the castle. Let me just conjure some more ropes and tie you back to the tree and we'll start over," August added with a smile. He stood up and reached his hand down for Ed to take. "Here, let me help you up." He had known Edward for four years now. Ed had a habit of being picked on especially by Slytherins. All right, so it wasn't just Edward it was usually all Ravenclaws. August was fortunate enough to have Jack to protect him. 'Protect' was a little strong. 'Have a blood relation with a Slytherin' was a better phrase. August could not recall the last time that Jack had stood up for his younger brothers. Either one of them.

"I was just going for a stroll around the lake if you'd care to join me," August asked Ed. "I wish I knew of a hex that we could put on those bullies," August gestured vaguely in the direction of the castle. "You know, so every time they picked on someone they would grow horns or something. Teach them a lesson."

[Edward Summers R6]

Edward could feel the blood slowly start to drain from his face and drift back down into his lower body. He accepted August’s hand and stood up, Ed grinned and took on a pensive pose as he looked at the tree as if decided whether he would care to be tied to the tree again while he waited for a proper rescue. Ed couldn’t help but let a grin spread across his face at the mild threat. He looked over at August, he had none him for four years now. The two hadn’t exactly been the best of friends, but they had gotten along quite well together. August was slightly more luckily than most other Ravenclaws, he had a powerful family and a older brother in Slytherin to protect him. Ed had never actually seen the older Slytherin stand up for his little brother, but probably the fact that they were brothers clearly fended off the greater majority of bullies.

Ed grinned, “No, that’s quite alright. I’m not exactly the ride off into the sunset type guy.” Ed glanced over at the castle, “really? They just let you keep the noble steed in the castle? I’m surprised, I bet Filch must hate you, he must be working overtime to keep those halls clean with a horse walking around them.” Ed chuckled as he pictured August riding on top of a noble looking horse from class to class with Filch hustling to keep up with a bag. Ed’s attention returned to August when he spoke about talking a walk around the lake. Ed looked off into the distance at the lake and thought it over for a second before nodding his head. “Sure, I think a walk around the lake is exactly what I need at the moment.” He chuckled, “Or else my legs might become a little useless after hanging upside for too long.”

As they began to walk Edward fell back into his thoughts at August’s comment. In fact he had come across a spell like that before during his studies, but did he actually have the nerve to cast it on that group? The thought made him shudder, “Well, if you’re really committed to that plan, I may have a book that could help you. Although I would be careful, the retribution would be great where they are involved.” Ed sighed, he knew he should have more of a backbone; he was a Prefect for crying out loud. At any sign of bullying Ed should step in and assert his authority and get the trouble makers to behave. He had no idea why Headmistress McGonagall had chosen him to be a prefect, out of all the Ravenclaws in this school Ed was the most cowardly. Out of all the student’s in this school he was the least likely candidate for Gryffindor. “Well, the way I look at it is that they will graduate after this year is over. And then I will hopefully never see them again.”

There was a high probability that he would never run into them out in the real world. Although his family was a well known pureblood family, he knew he would be kicked out of the house after he graduated, and since none of his family wanted anything to do with him he had no worries about any of them seeking him out, or any of their associates would seek him out.

[August Reid R7]

August looked at a ripple in the Black Lake and wondered what could have caused it. There was the giant squid of course but no one really knew for sure what else lived in the great lake. August had heard that when the Tri-wizards tournament had been held at Hogwarts one of the challenges was to dive into the lake and save a hostage. Many rumours of what had been down there circulated the school after that year and August still heard some of those stories even though that was almost six years ago. "My friend, who was a close friend of Harry's, said that..." or "Well Cedric said..." August had heard so much he wasn't sure who to believe anymore. The ripple grew larger and soon disappeared altogether and the lake once again grew still. He had always thought that going into the lake would be quite an adventure but the legend of the giant squid was enough to keep him out of the water.

Their pace was steady. Not fast as neither had a particular destination. August looked questioningly at Ed when he mentioned something about a hex that he knew about. "Oh?" he asked his fellow Ravenclaw wanting to know more. If there was a spell that they could use to get back at the bullies August was definitely interested in learning more. But Ed didn't seem to want to talk about it as he quickly added something saying that they would soon graduate. August rolled his eyes and looked away from his friend. It was no secret that Ed was a coward. Many of the fifth years had been shocked to learn that Ed was chosen as the new prefect. But not August. August knew that the power would not corrupt him like other prefects. Sure, he was sad that he himself was not picked, but he was happy that Ed was.

"That's one way to look at it," August finally said. "Although you need to take a stand sometime." August couldn't do it for him. Ed had to stand on his own two feet. August smirked. "But what do I know? I can't even stand up to my older brother. He scares the living daylights out of me. In fact, most Slytherins do. But we're Ravenclaws. We're the smart house. There must be someway we can outsmart them." August looked toward the grounds keeper's hut and the Forbidden Forest beyond. "Some way we can teach them a lesson without hurting them..."