Aphrael Pilotson

[Devon Eriksen @Devon_Eriksen_]

After a day as terrible as the one he’d just had, Harry was more than ready to shamble back to the Gryffindor dormitory, throw himself onto his narrow bed without so much as pulling back the covers, much less undressing.

But as he climbed, the noises coming down the stairs from the boys’ section told him this probably wasn’t going to happen.

It sounded like someone ransacking one of the rooms. There were definite rummaging noises, punctuated occasionally by the sound of a thrown object bouncing off a wall or some furniture, and a muted sputtering, as if someone were trying to swear in frustration, but couldn’t, not really, because she didn’t actually know all that many bad words.

Wait.

She?

Harry bounded up the last few stairs, and the hall, and through the door. Then stopped dead in his tracks.

Even though he had already heard what was happening, what he saw was the last thing, the very last thing, the absolutely last thing, that he ever expected to find.

It was Malfoy.

She stood over Harry’s bed, surrounded by a scattering of Harry’s possession all over the floor, spilled from an overturned chest, all the drawers she has removed from his dresser.

No one else seemed to be around.

Harry was too surprised even to be properly angry. He could only sputter out the first thing that popped into his mind.

“Malfoid? What are you doing here?”

She whirled to face him, her face twisted in a furious expression. There were dust bunnies clinging to her skirt, and her hair was an absolute mess.

“Stop calling me that! My name is Draecina! Dray-see-na! Draecina Esmerelda Aribeth Malfoy! The Third!”

Harry rallied his thoughts a bit. “I’m not going to say all that. And you haven’t answered my question. What are you doing here? How did you even get into the Gryffindor dormitory at all?”

“Fairy lights,” she snarled at him, “The password is ‘fairy lights’. Did you really think I couldn’t get that information out of one of you weak-minded idiots any time I wanted?

“Except the last place, the very last place, that I would be caught dead is your bedr— your dorm room! If I didn’t need to find it!”

“Find what?”

“Don’t play innocent with me, Potter! You know what I’m looking for! A doll! Made out of beeswax infused with moonleaf sap and three drops of my blood, which you probably collected last year when we fought the Bandersnatch. Then you dressed it in a scrap of my clothing that you stole from somewhere, and bound the neck, wrists, and ankles with three strands of your hair!”

Harry was far too surprised to say anything. He’d never seen or even heard of any doll like that, of course. But the description seemed oddly… specific.

“Does that sound familiar, Potter? I found the spell you used! It took me a year of searching through half the library, but I found it! Now tell me where the blasted doll is so I can take this curse off!”

She kicked a pile of what turned out to be Harry’s spare robes, and then looked disappointed that they didn’t fly very far.

“Malfoid —”

“Draecina!”

“— I have no idea what you’re talking about. What curse? Did someone curse you?”

“Of course they — of course you did! Just look at me!”

Harry was looking at her. Same pale blonde hair, so blonde it was more snow than gold. This was the first time Harry had ever seen so much as a strand of it out of place. Same dainty, aristocratic features, upturned nose and pointy chin. Come to think of it, those green eyes, smoldering with fury, had slight dark shadows under them for once.

And her wrists seemed the same, too. For some reason, Harry’s gaze always seemed to linger on her wrists, on how very pale and delicate they looked, on how they always seemed to pose at some elegant angle.

“I… ah… can’t stop looking at you.”

There was a long, uncomfortable pause.

“I mean, because you’re standing in the middle of my room throwing all my stuff on the floor. If there’s some sort of curse on you, I don’t see any effect. What’s it supposed to do?”

“Hah! As if you didn’t know! There’s no one here but the two of us, so there’s no point in pretending you don’t know!”

“Malf — ah, Draecina, I really have no idea what you’re talking about. How do you know you’re under a curse, and what is it that’s happening?”

Her expression shifted from rage to… well, if it was anyone but Malfoy, Harry would have called it a pout.

“Oh, I see. You just want me to say it out loud, so you can humiliate me more. Well, I won’t. And I won’t give you the satisfaction of hearing me beg. So gloat if you have to, mudblood. Get it over with. Have your fun. Then. Take. It. Off.”

“Look, I really don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. I haven’t cursed you.”

“Last year in potions class, you turned me purple!”

“Well, yes, that. But it wore off in a few hours. And you deserved it for hiding that Strong Toad in my locker. I mean I didn’t do it this time. If someone’s really cursed you, then couldn’t it be… well, you haven’t exactly been nice to a lot people, have you? It could have been anybody.”

“No, couldn’t! It has to be you, because you’re the one that I — arrrrrrghhh!”

She trailed off in a snarl of pure frustration, and then slowly and deliberately drew her wand out of her jacket and pointed it at Harry, squinting down the length of hazelwood.

“Harry Potter, you take this curse off me right now, or I’ll… I’ll… well, I’ll think of something equally awful to do to you!”

Harry didn’t doubt it. And only now it occurred to him that, like every wand carried by every student, it wasn’t just a tool, or a device for playing harmless pranks. Wands could be weapons, and some spells you could do with one were no laughing matter.

He thought about going for his own wand, trying a simple disabling spell to buy some time to talk sense into her. It wouldn’t be impossible. He usually beat her in Wizard Dueling practice.

On the other hand, her wand was already pointed right at him, which was more than a little bit of an advantage. Maybe he should just skip right to the talking-sense part.

Not that talking sense into Draecina Malfoy was ever the easy option.

“Look, Drae, I —”

Why did he call her that? Only her friends called her that.

“I really didn’t do anything to you this time. If it’s something really bad, can’t you just go to one of the instructors for help?”

“Oh, you’d just love that, wouldn’t you? Me humiliating myself like that. Well, fine. If you’re sooooooo innocent, and you just have nooooo idea what I’m talking about, then prove it!”

“What?”

“Prove it!”

“How I supposed to prove —”

Malfoy tore at the neck of her blouse with her other hand, and a single button popped off, bouncing away somewhere into the mess, as she came up with a small pendant, hung around her neck on a black leather cord. Her hair mussed every which way again as she yanked it over her neck and head, and thrust it at him.

“There! See? I came prepared! Take it. Go on, take it!”

“What… is that?”

He could see it clearly enough, a little white stone on a gold bezel, shaped a bit like an egg, and carved with… well, carved with something. Not for the first time, Harry wished he had paid more attention in Runes class.

“It’s a Truthstone, idiot. Don’t you know anything? Why should any decent wizarding school waste its valuable time trying to educate useless mudbloods like you if you’re not going to come out any smarter than dirt?

“You hold it, stupid. Now put your grubby fingers on it and hold it up where I can see, and tell me the filthy lie you just told me. Say it again. I dare you. Say it again so I can put a hex on you that the entire faculty won’t be able to remove for a week. Er… as soon as I pick one out, I mean.”

Bemused, Harry reached out, very slowly, and took the stone from her. It seemed unusually cool in his fingers. Belatedly, it occurred to him that he could have just grabbed her wand and disarmed her instead, or at least tried to. But however this… Truthstone… worked, if it could prove he wasn’t lying, then perhaps he could find out what on earth was going on.

He held it up in front of his face, between thumb and forefinger. Stared past it into her green eyes that still glittered with suppressed rage.

“Okay, fine, look. I didn’t know you were under a curse, I have no idea what curse you might be under, I didn’t put it on you or ask anyone else to put it on you, and I have no idea who did. Okay?”

The stone… did nothing. Harry really had no idea what it was supposed to do, whether it was supposed to do something if he told a lie, or to force him to tell the truth, or what. But it just stayed slightly cool in his hand, with no light, no noise, no vibration. As if it were just a rock.

Draecina’s face went blank with shock.

“But… but… I thought that…”

The pointing wand wavered and drooped, slowly, until it hung at her side.

“But, if you didn’t… If I’m not cursed… Then I actually…”

She didn’t seem to be able to finish a sentence, much less explain herself.

“No. No, no, no. It’s not possible. It’s not!”

She leaped forward and snatched the stone out of his hand, hunching over it, peering at it intently, shaking it as if it were a malfunctioning watch.

“No, no, no, no, you must have tricked it somehow, you must…”

Then she straightened up, staring at him, blinking rapidly. Her eyes seemed to be watering for some reason.

“Damn you, Potter! I hate you! I hate you so much!” she screamed, hurling the Truthstone past his head with a full arm motion, where it bounced off the wall with a loud clack.

And then she stormed out of the room before Harry could even open his mouth, much less think of anything to say, leaving him alone with the mess she had made.

Wondering what that was all about.

Wondering if she had meant to miss.

As he stooped to try to sort out the mess, or at least begin to figure out even how to sort it out, the first thing his hand landed on was the Truthstone, lying under it tangled leather cord.

It didn’t seem any worse off for having been thrown against the wall. It wasn’t chipped or cracked or broken.

Except now, for some reason, it was jet black.

[Aphrael Pilotson @AphraelP]

@GrimGriz It's cheaper than candles, I'm not eating it.

[Corner Citizen @Corner_Citizen]

Other people often having interesting things to tell you (even when others perceive them as “lower status”)

[Aphrael Pilotson @AphraelP]

https://t.co/HLICC4tKDC

[moonlightbro @moonlightbro]

"A love potion." Snape repeated flatly.
"I didn't say the word love," replied back Draconia, "But yes, something of that nature."
Snape sighed, but continued writing, not bothering to look up at her.
"What symptoms are you experiencing?"
"A quickening heart rate. Shakiness around the... suspect. Unusual emotional responses in the presence of the suspect. Intrusive thoughts of the suspect. Romantic ideation." Draconia's face blushed as she said the words aloud.
"And who might the 'suspect' be?"
"I don't see how that's relevan-"
"Miss Malfoid, this is a very serious accusation. It is my responsibility as a professor to inquire fully. Who is it?" Snape finally set his papers aside, looking up at her from his desk.
Draconia twiddled her wand in her fingertips, refusing to even look in his direction.
"...Potter.", she said, pushing a lock of silver hair behind her ear.
"Potter." Snape repeated.
"T-that's what I said, isn't it?"
"Potter can hardly brew a sleeping draught much less a-"
"Then Granger brewed it! Or he stole it! I don't know! Can you just test me? Or something?"
Snape stood up, seemingly annoyed by the whole ordeal. He turned, reaching into his cabinet of restricted potions, rustling through them, looking for something.
"And why, pray tell, would Potter do this to you?"
Her heart skipped a beat. She hadn't considered that. Why would he? Unless he... She shook her head, as if the thought could be shaken out of her.
"To humiliate me, obviously. I bet he's having a grand laugh right now at my expense. Stupid Potter." She clenched her fists, indignant.
Snape turned and produced a small potion of silver liquid.
"Drink this. It will cure you of whatever may, or may not be ailing you."
She swiped it from him and held it up to her lips, but paused. Why did she pause? Drinking this would cure her of the love potion, it would make these inconvenient feelings go away. So then why isn't she drinking it? She clenched her fists, and chugged the potion before she could second guess herself again. She stood there, eyes closed and cheeks pink, waiting for something to change.
"How long until it starts to wor-"
"Instantly."
She stood there for several more seconds, holding her breath, until Harry appeared in her mind again, and her pulse quickened.
Her eye twitched, "Well clearly this has been a huge waste of time."
"Obviously." Snape said flatly, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

[Christian Heiens 🏛 @ChristianHeiens]

@JoelWBerry As often as we feud, you are correct about the last paragraph here.

Unfortunately, nothing stops this train. No one is touching Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid until the unavoidable second-order consequences forces them to.

[Aphrael Pilotson @AphraelP]

@GrimGriz @BenjaminABoyce Europe is hard at work creating the conditions outlined by Heinlein.

Lots of "roving gangs of youths" in France right now.

[JonTron @JonTronShow]

Hi guys. Some of you may have noticed the sneaky channel drop last night. Me and Internet Historian are doing a fun little gaming channel for goofs on the side where we joke around and play video games… badly. Rest assured my main channel is still my priority! We welcome your thoughts and feedback, and we hope you enjoy Consolation Guys! Channel link here:

https://t.co/7wuMrhKgJ6

[Flesh Simulator @fleshsimulator]

Hey! You know that shit where you spend months having a small handful of people relentlessly attack someone's reputation, seeding alternative narratives, harassing them 24/7 while going "What the fuck dude, why are you harassing us?!", using DARVO tactics, doxxing, etc?

That's done now. You don't get to do that anymore. You picked the wrong guy to do that to, and now nobody gets to do it any more. It's over, I'm ruining the fun for everyone, womp womp suck my dick bitch.

This is the month of september. For one person.

Introducing Dynamic Solutions CaseLog!

[Sir Parsifal @grailcountry]

Hope to see you in Sacramento but even if not here's a chance to support Estuary. https://t.co/9e1Lzy3iKF

Help me spread this TLC the reach of my new account is significantly less than the old one.

[Bennett's Phylactery @extradeadjcb]

I love Ayn Rand but the biggest gap in her worldview was failing to understand that security (violence) is a good that you are obligated to pay for like any other

You don't own anything unless somebody with a gun says you own it

[Aphrael Pilotson @AphraelP]

@mattcrotts Don't worry, it only gets weirder from here🙃

[nuel @c68ty]

Arnold Schwarzenegger reveals he built a smoking tent outside his Capitol office to bypass laws and negotiate deals with lawmakers

"The law says that you have to be 20 feet away from the building."

"I have an atrium where my office is, and we have measured 20 feet away from the building from each side of this atrium. And we're building a tent. We built a tent that is big enough so we can have inside meetings and everything like that, and we're going to smoke our cigars in there."

"They sent me a bill to forbid smoking in a smoking tent. And so, of course, I didn't sign it. I vetoed it."

"Democrats and other legislators came down and asked me, begged me, 'Can I come down and smoke?' And that's how I got most of my deals done."

"They came down to smoke, and we found something in common, which is smoking. We smoked our stogies, took our jackets off, took our ties off, and we were sitting there and saying, 'What are you working on?'"

"And so we started working together, and I was able to sign more of their legislation because they were not stubborn about how they wrote the legislation. We got a lot of things done because of the smoking tent."

[Aphrael Pilotson @AphraelP]

@VDAREJamesK What elo threshold?

[Aphrael Pilotson @AphraelP]

@mattcrotts https://t.co/7iMw9z8qPY

[Aphrael Pilotson @AphraelP]

@mattcrotts Bill Burr speaks of this.

[Aphrael Pilotson @AphraelP]

@kalezelden For me, there's a curiosity of what true things she's being told to say in order to discredit them. Higher order "pre-bunking", if you will.

[Kale Zelden @kalezelden]

@Catholicizm1 You and I have only been "white" for about 75 years.

[Aphrael Pilotson @AphraelP]

@kalezelden Fair, but what does computer numerical control have to do with it?