Constant Vigilance

[Young Lawrence Keelan]

1998, Hogwarts.

Kardat was seated at his desk in his empty classroom when the kid he'd escorted through Diagon Alley ducked his head of wild, bouncy curls through the door, tiny fingers splaying against the wood to shove it open.

Since his arrival at Hogwarts, Keelan had practically become invisible, despite the steady stream of people who surrounded him. It was as though he existed in a little snowglobe all by himself, attempting to make himself as tiny and discreet as possible.

He had a large messenger-style tote over his shoulder, and was practically lost amidst miles of black and green colored robes.

[Kardat Blacksworth]

Due to recent (and not so recent) events, members of Slytherin House tended to belong in a few categories when it came to dealing with them.

There were the ones who loudly announced that they or their families had nothing to with Death Eaters or the Dark Arts, the ones who stayed quiet with their heads ducked and tried to will the bad reputation away, the ones who, even if they really hadn’t been involved, were sick of the prejudice and generalisation and aggressively told others ‘so what’ (and of course, those who joined in with this just because they were sheep), the (fewer) ones who publically agreed with the actions of the dark wizards and pure-blood supremacists, whether because they really did agree and were too stupid to hide it, were seeking reactions, or did so as a misguided attempt to defend oneself (and earned harsh responses from students and rebukes from professors), and also the ones who purposefully extended invitations of friendship towards other Houses to dispel it (because they were genuinely friendly, were making a calculated move, or needed to make themselves feel better and less unwanted). Of course there were also the muggleborn students (a higher number than before, as Slytherin House now focused less on blood purity) who were trying to get their heads around it, or didn’t care, and ones like Einda, who was aware but just did whatever she felt like.

Kardat had not been available for the first DADA class of the year, which was inconvenient because the first class was an introduction to the course, his expectations, and his students. Having to do this in the second class also made the beginning of the course feel disjointed. Professor Shar had kindly left him notes listing what they’d spoken of during the first class, as well as the students and homework. Kardat had arrived back from his three-day trip in the morning, and now sat there reading through them. He looked up at the first small movement of his door, and when he saw the boy, he… well he just watched him.

Kardat Blacksworth was a tall wizard, and his build was more lean than wispy. His hair was expectedly black, and the well-kept strands extended neatly down his back, reaching the bottom of his shoulder blades. Black eyelashes framed hazel eyes with noticeable flecks of green, yellow, gold, and amber-red. His features were smooth and sharp, but his eyes were not easily readable, his expression almost always neutral with a sprinkle of seriousness. There was a present but unaccented grace to his movements – but also that same sharpness – which made every gesture easy, confident, and when needed, swift without a hint of discomposure.

He watched him.

[Young Lawrence Keelan]

Laurie didn't say anything, he just slid into the nearest desk to the door and pulled out a bottle of ink, a large quill and a notebook. He leaned over it, letting out a slow exhale and resting his chin in his hand.

[Kardat Blacksworth]

He gave him silence for a few moments.

“What are you doing in my classroom?” It was a question spoken flatly; not a get out.

[Young Lawrence Keelan]

Laurie cleared his throat and looked up. His form of eye contact was to glance briefly at Kardat's face and then dart away, settling on a spot vaguely behind his shoulder. "Uh, study, studying," he mumbled.

[Kardat Blacksworth]

"Is your way of getting used to this new environment burying yourself in books instead of exploring the castle to find out what you're inside of?"

[Young Lawrence Keelan]

Laurie's features briefly appeared flummoxed before smoothing out, and he shrugged. "I, like books, sir."

[Kardat Blacksworth]

“Hm.” He looked down at the notes and didn’t say anything else.

[Young Lawrence Keelan]

Laurie didn't make any more comments! He remained seated in the desk and quietly poured over his notes, with only the periodic scratching of his quill as background noise. It was nice and non-disruptive.

[Kardat Blacksworth]

Kardat hated the scratching of the quill. =_=

“Do you have a smoother quill.”

[Young Lawrence Keelan]

Blinking a bit, he stuffed it back into his bag and peered instead at his book.

[Kardat Blacksworth]

They sat like that until Kardat, leaving his papers and things on the desk, walked towards the door.

[Young Lawrence Keelan]

Laurie stayed where he was! :3 Maybe he lived there now.

[Kardat Blacksworth]

He came back five minutes later, and dangled a quill, with mostly (ruffled) black feathers with bits of grey and a light grey shaft, a third of the way down its length beside Laurie’s head. “Found it in the classroom two doors away.”
Some classrooms had spare quills for students who forgot theirs or broke them.

[Young Lawrence Keelan]

Laurie slowly reached for it. "Oh, um, thanks," he replied quietly.

[Kardat Blacksworth]

Kardat went back to his desk.

[Young Lawrence Keelan]

Like everything else about him, his move to use the new quill was slow and wary. When he determined it was smooth and noiseless, he gradually began to write once more in scratchy, illegible scrawl.

[Kardat Blacksworth]

The quill was a bit big for Laurie – yes, Kardat had grabbed ones that wouldn’t be huge for the kid when they were shopping at diagon alley, but it wasn’t as if Laurie had been using smaller quills for years before this anyway.

The parchment was still a bit rough, but the noise either didn’t reach Kardat or he was fine with it. The black-haired professor picked up his own book and began to read.

[Young Lawrence Keelan]

He must have had a free period, because he stayed there for a good hour until the time when dinner would have been occurring in the Great Hall rolled by.

[Kardat Blacksworth]

Yeah he didn’t care that the kid didn’t want to get fed – there was food; he could eat when he wanted to – and just left.

[Young Lawrence Keelan]

:3

The next day, he came back!

[Kardat Blacksworth]

As Laurie was sliding into the seat, Kardat spoke.

“Do you not ask to use the classroom.” It didn’t sound angry.

[Young Lawrence Keelan]

He went totally still.

[Kardat Blacksworth]

His gaze flicked up to him from his book.

His hazel eyes were very distinct. Right now, at least, they didn’t hold him in a vice-grip.

[Young Lawrence Keelan]

He shook his head. :3