Chapter Five
Recap:
"Yeah, yeah," James said waving a hand dismissively. "I'm heading up to bed before Moony puts any more of a damper on my mood, you coming Padfoot?"
"Yeah, I am." He replied, getting up too, and Peter, being quite the follower, got up as well, the three of them going up to the dormitories.
Atria watched them go, and sighed, "They're going to try to sneak out of here, later tonight, aren't they?" She asked, looking to Remus, after the others had disappeared upstairs.
"Probably, yes," He agreed. "But I wouldn't let it worry you too much, at least for now. I don't intend on going to bed until later anyway. I have some homework to finish; being in the infirmary makes one fall behind rather quickly." He smiled, a bit of a twinkle in his eyes while he took to getting a few books out of his bag; Ancient Runes and Defense.
Atria nodded, "I got Sirius to do his own Charms; almost as bad as pulling teeth. Not quite, though. I have some work I could do with getting done, myself, if you'd like some company." She offered, quietly.
"I would absolutely love some company." He said with an even brighter smile, knowing he wouldn't have to study into the late nights alone while he propped open his Ancient Runes textbook, beginning his nightly readings. This evening it happened to be Tibet.
Atria smiled, and excused herself to get her books--most people were up in bed and she didn't want to startle anyone with levitating, self-propelled objects. She smiled to Remus a bit, as she joined him at the table once more, and moved to open her transfigurations book, needing to do an essay on theory-- something she tended not to pay a lot of attention to by bad habit. Spells came easily for her, and she was more than capable in potions, but when it came down to the theories on everything and history. History she was particularly horrible with. But she'd never admit it.
Remus, unlike Atria, knew his history. He was one to particularly dwell upon the darker parts of it, but he also knew how muggle and wizard history coincided. He also found it quite fascinating how quite a few religious leaders and moguls were nearly, almost always witches or wizards themselves in disguise. He was particularly focused on a very bright picture of a Mandala, a thing often used in the muggle Hindu religions for meditation to achieve a deeper state of unconsciousness. His long lithe fingers traced the pictures within the wheel, utterly mesmerized by its innate beauty.
She was clued in to his being mesmerized when she happened to glance up, and she looked to the book he had as well, curiously. Not sure if she wished to interrupt his concentration at the moment. Curious, completely as to what the colorful picture was of, actually.
"It's a Mandala." Remus told her softly, sensing her curiosity. "It's used by muggles who are Hindu they use it as a visual aide for their meditation practices to achieve a deeper state of unconsciousness." He paused for a moment. "However, they're mostly tied to Buddhism, a religion that believes in reincarnation as opposed to an afterlife, karma if you will, meaning, whatever someone does in this life, good and bad alike, affects who or what they'll be in their next lifetime."
Atria tilted her head in curiosity. "Religion..." She moved to get a better view of the picture. "It's very pretty. But, is it sand?" She noted the grains visible in the almost too-vibrant picture.
"Yes," He said, pushing the book a bit closer towards her so that she could see properly. "Sand mandalas are used to symbolize impermanence. After weeks creating an intricate colorful pattern within the sand, it's all brushed together and is usually placed in a body of running water to spread the mandala's blessings."
"They... take it apart?" Atria looked at the picture, quietly; in a fair bit of shock at the idea, not sure 'destroy' was the best word. "Weeks... so beautiful, though." She traced her way up the side slightly, with the tip of a fingernail. Seeing clearly why he'd been so awestruck.
"It's a kind of cleansing ritual, I suppose," He said, his hand gently brushing hers as he continued to trace the patterns with his fingers. "That everything changes."
She was almost startled by his fingers brushing hers, but she was used to keeping calm under pressure. However, the light blush that came to the tips of her ears, she couldn't help, keeping herself fascinated with the picture, but she nodded to show she was listening.
"Mandala's are also used as links to the cosmos." He said with a bit of a smile. "I have to draw my own Mandala for class, and seeing art so intricately beautiful, I fear I don't possess such a talent." He wasn't fishing for a compliment with the last statement he was just being honest with her. "But enough of my Tibetan Philosophy, what are you working on?"
"Hrm, nothing near as interesting, really, Theories of Transfiguration." Atria said, tapping her open book, which was void of anything as amazing as the mandala, just text.
"You're kidding!" Remus said a bit disappointed in her lack of interest. "Transfiguration is such a wonderful subject."
"I'm not good with theories, they don't like to stick." She said, tapping her temple.
"I don't know why, but it just won't. It's like... I read it, or listen to a lecture... I have to take explicit notes, or I'll be ridiculously lost when it comes to the work, because I just can't remember it. History is even worse, it's like someone goes in with an eraser, and removes that part of my brain after every class." She admitted.
She was far from a bad student--she got very high marks, but she lacked the necessary confidence when it came to anything down on paper. Her memory felt devoted to other things, subconsciously. It was part of why she tended to push things she didn't feel comfortable with to the back burner until they were about due. Like now she was slightly mortified of theory. She couldn't remember it, couldn't retain the information, and it made it more than challenging. It was no secret she was definitely Sirius's twin--though she tried to control her short attention span, where her brother did no such thing.
"Theories are just abstract thoughts; speculations. But I can see how the study of them could become a bit unnerving and discouraging." He said sympathetically. "Is there anything you particularly like about Transfiguration at all?"
"The actual spells." Atria smiled, softly, "Teacups into mice, quills to serpents, that sort of thing. The fact that magic can make change the chemical makeup of something is oddly quite fascinating. Like... taking an inanimate lifeless object and turning it into something that lives and breathes, has life... Even after growing up watching my mother turn dust into dishes every night rather than actually set the table, it's the fact you can make something do that, magic or otherwise."
"Well, there's your paper, then." He said with a smile. "You retain more than you give yourself credit for. I'm the same way, actually. I have to talk about something with someone, and then it just comes to me. It's not so much theory, as it is principal, really. Theorists only theorize on the things that are important to them, that they can pose questions about. It's the same when doing a speech you only speak about what you know." He winked, that smile never quite leaving his lips as he gradually turned back to his text.
Atria couldn't do a thing to hide the blush that came to her cheeks, and rather, said a quiet thank you, and turned to her own work, once more, and after a while, her quill softly danced across her paper as she began to write.
Remus began on his mandala, sketching a rather large circle on a piece of parchment, double checking the mandala on the page for reference to roundness. When it came to the little things, Remus was a bit of a perfectionist, but not insofar as it becoming a hindering flaw. He then began working meticulously on his patterns that would soon begin to fill the entire circle, as a very hypnotizing yet symbolic looking moon began to vaguely form within his etchings.
Atria would glance up every now and again, but she mostly kept to herself. She preferred to hide behind the mask of being silent, though, she rarely was; just sometimes. But this quiet was pleasant. The dying fire cackling in the background and the howl of the wind outside, it gave the room a cozy atmosphere for what would otherwise be a freezing, lifeless castle tower.
Lupin paused in his drawing, pulling out his wand. "For example," He said with a smile, and a simple wave of his wand, a pair of warm butterbeers appearing on the table before them. "It's just too awesome not to have questions about." He laughed.
"That's more conjuring than transfiguring, really." He added. "But still..."
Atria laughed a bit, "Well, cheers to that, anyway." She said, taking up a glass when he took the other, and she lightly tapped hers to his, letting him sip his first, before she relaxed to sip her own, and let it warm her up. Easily, it was ten times better than a pepper-up potion, and for nine times the reasons, the only one lacking was that pepper-up potions cured colds, where butterbeer would only make you think you were cured.
"Cheers," He said, toasting with her before taking a few hearty swigs from his mug before placing it back down, going back to his mandala. Once he got the basic outline done he moved on to Defense, which he finished in a matter of minutes.
She was proofreading her essay, by the time Remus wrapped up with his Defense. It was around then that the stairs to the boy's dormitories began to host inanimate sounds, of muffled footsteps, loud over the near-silent common room.