Vanishing Intellect ((Gavin))

[Chloe Reynolds H5]

"This is impossible!" Chloe cried out frustratedly, throwing her quill onto the table as she felt tears rise up in her eyes. She had always been a bit of a crybaby and, as the youngest, had always been almost encouraged to be so because of the excessive comforting her family heaped upon her when she was distressed. They couldn't be blamed for it, really, not after her self-esteem crisis when she was eight years old. That had immediately pinpointed her as the most fragile member of her family, she supposed. It played in her favour sometimes but she did get tired of how easily frustration and anger drove her to tears. It was just such a hassle when her friends thought she was upset rather than angry.

This whole day was just turning out rubbish. Maybe she should just call it a day, pack up her stuff and go back to bed, even though it was barely past midday. First, she had woken up at 8am, as usual, to find the entire house empty, with just a note on her door telling her that Mum and Andrew had been called out for some work-related issue. Since Dad was still off taking pretty photographs somewhere in France or Spain or somewhere and Reagan didn't live at home anymore and would be busy with work anyway, that left Chloe to her own devices, which she always hated. It wasn't a surprise though, not when she realised that it was more than two weeks since her fifteenth birthday. Her parents always ensured that they were at home for the days surrounding their children's birthdays but then they had to work even harder to make up for the time they had spent celebrating. Judging by past years, she wouldn't be seeing either Mum or Dad again for any reasonable length of time until it was nearly time for her to go back to Hogwarts.

She couldn't handle the thought of being alone almost nonstop for the next month so she had gathered up the remainder of her summer homework and settled down at a table outside Florean Fortescue's ice-cream parlour two hours or so earlier. Charms and Astronomy had been easy enough; she had whizzed through that essay and the star charts in less than two hours which, for Chloe's somewhat lacking work ethic, was an achievement indeed. Then she had attempted to tackle Transfiguration, which was the reason for her outburst. No matter how hard she tried - and she was trying, for once, because the new Chloe was going to be smart, she had decided, even if it killed her - she just didn't understand the theory behind Vanishing spells at all.

"I'm just thick," Chloe moaned, dropping her forehead against her arms and just barely avoiding the bowl holding the dregs of her ice-cream. "I'll never understand this bloody thing. Hogwarts should just kick me out and be done with it."

[Gavin Armstrong H6]

“Summer, summer, summer. Oh how I love the summer! Summer, summer, summer. Oh the summer is so hot!” Gavin sang at his sister Anna as she ate her breakfast at the kitchen table. Being 14 now she simply rolled her eyes at how embarrassing her older brother was. Gavin remembered the days when Anna would have gleefully took up the chorus and added her own versus, those days would still come back but… not quite yet. “Any big plans today, Anna Banana?” he asked her as she sighed at the nick name.

“Yes Gavin, I am going to the library to work on my summer homework. I was thinking about working at the table here, like I do in the school year, you know, when you’re gone. However I don’t think that will work as people keep singing at me and that stops me from concentrating” was her peevish reply. Normally the two got along like peas and carrots, but this summer Anna was moody and Mum said it was because of some boy who broke up with her on the last day of school. Jheylon, Gavin’s twin brother, had made many suggestions as to how this boy could be dealt with but Gavin knew his sister was better off without the guy, and also likely better off having dated a jerk so now she could be on the lookout.

“Sorry little sis, I didn’t realise Cheerios took up so much of your concentration; or is the milk you’re swirling at the bottom of the bowl there that makes you look so glum? How about ditching your school work and I will take you out for ice cream? We can go to Diagon Alley! You love it there and you haven’t come with me once all summer. Please!” Gavin said to her. His exaggerated pleading made his sister smile, but a small one, he hadn’t seen her real smile at all since coming home. Besides when he first appeared and when she opened the super awesome birthday gift he had bought her in Hogsmead, of course.

Still she shook her head, “It’s the morning! I am still eating my Cheerios as you so aptly pointed out. Maybe in a couple hours? I wasn’t kidding I really have this super boring history paper to work on. If I get time I will meet you there, but don’t count on it.”

Gavin sighed, he knew that was a no because they both understood Anna couldn’t get into Diagon Alley without him, being a muggle and all. He wasn’t going to push the subject though; Jheylon was the pusher, never Gavin, and Jheylon was still in bed and would likely stay there for a number of hours more. “Fine, whatever. Give me a call if you want to meet outside the Leaky Cauldron. Enjoy!” Gavin told her as he threw up his hands and left the house. With his parents both working, Jheylon sleeping all summer long, and Anna being pouty the house was not where he wanted to be, at all. Maybe ice cream in the busy alley was a good idea after all anyways. Perhaps if he willed it enough Anna would change her mind. Positivity usually worked, right?

Not too long later Gavin found himself licking a cone of Bear Track ice cream all by his lonesome with his phone volume up as loud as it could go just willing it to ring when he heard the girl at the table next to him talking to herself. “Is it something about me that causes all the beautiful ladies around me to be sad today? Seriously, if it’s me just say the word and I will go off into the woods or something and you can go on with your brilliantly enjoyable life” he said to her.

[Chloe Reynolds H5]

"What?" At the sound of a male voice that she was pretty sure was being directed at her, Chloe lifted her head just enough to peek up at the new interruption to her misery. "Oh!" Flushing darkly at being caught acting so immaturely, Chloe instantly shot upright, her right hand automatically smoothing down the ruffled blonde locks above her widened eyes. It had become an instinctive reaction to feeling embarrassed or awkward, smoothing her hair down or tugging on it. She was always surrounding herself in protective, defensive little gestures, if she stopped to think about it. Her colourfully painted nails, her love of fashion, even her nervous tic brought her arm up to cover a bit of her face for a second or two. A lot of things about her tried to distract attention to something else. Chloe's mind didn't work that way though; she didn't look that deeply into anything.

Well that was nice. The pink on her cheeks deepened slightly at the boy's offhanded implication that she was beautiful. It didn't mean anything, of course, she knew that. It was just one of those things that people said. It didn't mean that he actually thought she was pretty at all. Still, it was lovely to hear. Clearly her new hair was working.

"I'm not sad," she protested hurriedly before promptly backtracking with a faint grimace. "And it's not your fault, obviously. It's this stupid..." Chloe huffed as she trailed off, gesturing wordlessly at the crumpled mass of parchment, scribbles and ink blotted textbooks on the table in front of her. Maybe she should have started her summer homework earlier, like when Andrew was still lazing around the house with nothing else to do. He had been a Ravenclaw back in the day; he wouldn't have had a problem understanding this, and he was pretty good at having enough patience to explain things to her. He just always had a tendency to look at her like she was defective or something, just because she wasn't smart.

"Transfiguration hates me," Chloe confided in him with an unhappy twist to her mouth. "Or else I'm just really stupid, which is actually a lot closer to the truth." She didn't really mind admitting that she wasn't exactly academically gifted. She had her strong points; that was enough for her. Besides, no one knew current fashion trends quite as well as she did. Except Andrew and Mum, but that was their job so that really didn't count at all. "I'm Chloe, by the way...what's that?" She nodded her head at the weird rectangular thing on his table, blue eyes narrowed quizzically. Whatever it was, it didn't look at all familiar. "Something new from Gambol and Japes or something?"

[Gavin Armstrong H6]

After Gavin spoke the girl sat up and rustled her long hair with hands decorated with brightly coloured nail varnish. Gavin felt mildly bad for obviously having intruded on a private moment, even if it wasn’t an enjoyable one. However, now she was talking to him and looking a little more cheery than she had on her own, so it was all for the best. The girl told him her problem, a much easier one to solve than Anna’s thank goodness. Of course, possibly Anna’s issues could have been solved by a good chat with a boy over ice cream, but not by one with her brother over Cheerios. That was the difference between a brother and a stranger. Brothers could solve the silly little problems with a funny joke or an odd smile while strangers only made the problems seem bigger. With the big things though strangers gave the freedom to talk it out and problem solve while brothers only made it worse because sisters know how worried they really are too. Sisters also knew brothers would remember the conversation for life, while strangers will forget it within the day.

The girl introduced herself as Chloe and asked about his telephone, something he usually didn’t carry in the magical world. However, today while Anna needed him he had it out and was willing it to work. “Gavin, you’re not stupid, tansfiguration hates us all, and it’s my telephone” Gavin said very quickly, he often spoke quickly and babbled, though he tried to be more subdued around people who don’t know him that well. But this girl had said a lot very quickly and he wanted to address it all before the conversation moved on.

“It’s basically a muggle device that only sometimes works in the magical world because the magic interferes with it somehow. Don’t ask why it sometimes works and sometimes not, I don’t get it, something to do with the magic and the muggle science. But I have it with me today just in case my sister needs me while it happens to be working, a lot of ‘maybe’s’ in there for sure. Long story short, she has one and I have one, and most the other muggles have them too. All of them have a special number, sort of like your address, that lets you chose which phone you call and so she can use hers to call mine and we can talk. It’s like using howlers but not as loud and faster than an owl. However, the real thing we need to talk about it tranfiguration; I don’t know how that works either.” That wasn’t 100% true because Gavin’s grades were always pretty good, he got an A on his OWL at the end of the year at least; but he didn’t know it well enough to tutor anyone and could really relate to this girl’s frustration with the subject.

“Seriously, how people get to be animagus I will never understand. All the theory that you then need to be able to put into practice in such specific ways. The minutia of the subject can be really aggravating. Which is a shame because I really want to know what sort of animal I would transform into. I think maybe some sort of super friendly dog... you know the kind that runs laps when the owners get home from work? I don’t know, that sounds stupid doesn’t it? I don’t have owners, don’t worry, and I can contain myself when I get excited... for the most part. But I just want to know what sort of animal I would be and that’s the only one that comes to mind. Imagine if you were a sloth though? You put all that effort into learning how to transform into an animal and it turns out you’re lazy and slow and so rare outside the zoo that your animal form is pretty well useless? Sorry, I talk a lot.” Gavin said suddenly shy realising he was out of breath from how much he said in such a short time.

[Chloe Reynolds H5]

"Nice to meet you," Chloe responded, a bright grin lighting up her face. A bit of a chat with a cute boy would soon set her to rights, or at least that was the advice her best friend always swore by. Of course, Kayla was red-haired and smart and beautiful, and she didn't have a plain name like Chloe did. There was a difference, Chloe thought somewhat gloomily, between being statuesque and sexy and being short and a bit pretty. It was a bit like the difference between ice-cream and Transfiguration: one was thoroughly enjoyed, and the other just had to be borne with patience and a great deal of suffering. And Chloe never had been good with suffering. Sometimes she really wished her parents would have given her a bit more of an unusual name, like Reagan's, rather than reverting back to traditional, solid English names like Andrew and Chloe. They were such common, everyday names. You couldn't walk across the street without falling over a couple dozen Chloes and Andrews.

"Transfiguration is evil," she grumbled, then shrugged sheepishly, "but I actually am quite thick. It's alright, I don't mind. There's no point denying the truth." Chloe laughed lightly, her smile turning impish and playful. "Life's full of little things like that that we just have to accept. Personally, I'll never be tall, I'll never be a genius, and the professors will always accuse me of not working hard enough. On the over hand, I can sing well enough and my best friend loves me even though I'm not bright, though that might be because I bribe her with fashion magazines."

Her eyes examined the so-called telephone curiously, her fingers itching to fiddle with it. Figuring out how stuff like this worked was Chloe's weakness; she loved poking and prodding at items to work out how they were put together and what made them tick. That was probably part of why she was so interested in wand-making. Kayla, being a muggleborn, had always been decent about bringing in little Muggle trinkets for Chloe to mess about with during the term (though she had never brought a telephone before and now Chloe was going to have to remember to write a letter the very second she got home and demand to know why, because it looked fascinating), usually as an incentive to sit down and ficus long enough to get her homework finished. She wasn't half bad at it either. Sure, she didn't know the right words and technical terms for everything unless Kayla told her but after a while the image of how everything fit just seemed to assemble itself in her brain or something. It was a talent, Kayla always said proudly, but Chloe wouldn't have minded a more useful talent - like being able to poke at Transfiguration and work that out quickly.

"So it's a bit like two-way mirrors," Chloe mused thoughtfully, teeth nipping at the corner of her lip like they always did when she was trying to analyse one of her projects. "But better, right? Except for the whole instability around magic. Because you can call more than just one person. Can you see each other while you're talking?"

"That would be awful!" Chloe blurted out helplessly, eyes wide and horrified, and then promptly clapped a hand over her mouth, cheeks reddening. "Oh Merlin, I hope no one who might be listening in is a sloth animagus." Then she stopped to think and frowned at her own instinctive response, thoroughly embarrassed. "Sorry, that was so stupid. I did warn you that I was an idiot! Being a dog sounds cool though. I've only ever had a cat but dogs always look so happy to see their owners, like they're super loyal and loving. So I get what you mean. I don't even know what I'd be. Maybe I would be a sloth," she suggested jokingly. "At least I'd be rare, even if I am useless." Gavin apologised for being talkative and Chloe raised an eyebrow, fixing him with an amused blue gaze, the corner of her mouth twitching up into a smile. "Don't even worry about it. You're being a gentleman, if you think about it. You were trying to cheer up a damsel in distress, if that makes you feel better. Besides, I'm the worst for always talking. The problem is trying to get me to shut up, my brother says."

[Gavin Armstrong H6]

When Chloe started telling Gavin things she thought were the positive and negative traits about herself he simply shrugged, how did she expect a stranger to respond to that? He couldn’t do the polite thing and deny her statement that she was thick, he had no way of knowing the truth or it. He could not confirm it either though, that would have been unthinkably rude. Thank goodness she took the subject back to his mobile, a topic that was safe with friends and strangers alike. “Yeah,” said Gavin, “I suppose it’s like two way mirrors, except that no you cannot see each other which makes it less convenient and of course they’re not like mirrors at all in that they’re so common. Mirrors have this cool fascination about them because you don’t see them every day, but telephones are all over the muggle world. I suppose it is nice that it’s so common though, because you can call just about anyone as long as you know their number. Of course the numbers are all kept private, you have to tell people your number so that you don’t have strangers calling you up. And of course almost no one has my number because I have to tell my muggle friends I don’t have a mobile, otherwise they would wonder why they can never call it while I am at school. I even have to send letters home from an owl and ask my brother to direct them through muggle post because communication is so hard. I also had to tell all my friends to send my mail through my brother because I lied and told them that my roommates would go through any unguarded mail. It would be a lot easier if we just had magical and muggle means of communication at Hogwarts but if I have to chose between mail and magic then magic will always win.”

Gavin just smiled at Chole when she called him a gentleman and said the problem was getting her to be quiet, he knew that feeling all too well. There was no reason to tell her that, however, clearly it was obvious by his previous spurts of talking on and on and on.