The Houses Competition: Year 11, Round 3
House: Slytherin
Class: History of Magic
Category: Drabble
Prompt chosen:
- Ariana Dumbledore/Gellert Grindelwald (positive)
Word Count: 540
Warnings: None
Notes: Is it a bit heavy handed… maybe, idk
Ariana sat down on the grass next to Gellert in the back garden. Aberforth was locked in his room sulking, and Albus was still out of the house, leaving Gellert as the only one Ariana could talk to.
"Can I help you?" Gellert asked.
"I've been thinking about paradoxes recently," Ariana said. "How two things can be both true and false at the same time."
Gellert glanced at her, brows drawn together. "I don't understand," he said.
"Well you see," Ariana began with a smile. "Say two wizards cast a vanishing spell at the same time and vanish the same object. Who vanished the object?"
There was a moment of silence as Gellert contemplated Ariana's proposed paradox. "They both did," he said.
"But only one of their spells could have vanished the object, one must have uselessly hit nothing," Ariana said. "But there's no way of telling whose spell did it, so they both did it, and both didn't do it. Thus, it's a paradox."
Gellert was silent for another long moment. The only sound in the garden was the birds' singing, and the wind rustling the leaves of the tree. "I don't think that counts as a paradox," Gellert said.
Ariana's shoulders dropped.
"A paradox is like Thesius' ship. One by one the rotting wooden pieces of the ship are replaced by new planks, until the whole ship is new planks. Is it still Thesius' ship?"
Now it was Ariana's turn to contemplate. Could it really be called the same ship if none of the parts remained? How was that applicable to life? "If a person changes every part of their personality, are they the same person?" she asked.
"We don't call them the same person," Gellert said. "We say they've changed, or even that they're a different person now."
"I don't think I'm very good at paradoxes," Ariana said. She laid back on the grass staring up at the clouds drifting lazily above her. "I didn't really need anything. I'm just feeling lonely. I'll go away if you want me to."
Gellert laid back beside her with a sigh. "I don't mind," he said. "And I don't think you can be good at paradoxes. They're for thinking about, not for understanding."
"Like death?" Ariana asked. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Gellert turning his head to look at her.
"I suppose so," he said. "But I try not to think of death, at least not beyond the stories of the Deathly Hallows."
Ariana laughed lightly. She hoped it wasn't conceited, but she loved the sound of her laugh. She was convinced that it was her best feature. "Albus used to tell me that story all the time when I was little. I think it's his favorite."
"Yes, I know," Gellert said. "That's how we became so close."
"I'm glad you did," Ariana said. She looked over at Gellert in time to see the surprise on his face. "I like talking to you. You listen."
The surprise morphed beautifully into a quiet, happy smile. "I like talking to you, too," Gellert said. He turned his face back towards the sky. "You don't complicate things needlessly."
"Except for paradoxes," Ariana said.
Gellert laughed. "Except for paradoxes."