(1938-01-19) Everything Changes
Details for Everything Changes
Summary: Gabrielle takes issue with how Lucian's meeting with Lionel went down, and they engage in another Transfiguration tutoring session.
Date: January 19, 1938
Location: Unused Classroom
Related: The Pride of Lions

The evening hours find Lucian returned to Hogwarts castle, and tucked away in one of the unused classrooms on the ground floor. He has several desks pushed together to form a table, and a number of small objects laid out upon them. His preparation done, he sits on a desk, staring off at the far corner of the room, alone with his thoughts.

Gabrielle comes in, her cheeks are flushed, but that could be from the cold . It's clear she just came in from outside, "You."she'll come in pointing her finger at Lucian, "You would think, being Slytherin, you'd at least be a little subtle!" She'll start taking off her thin jacket, but is obviously still upset.

Lucian doesn't even seem to notice Gabrielle until she's done with her accusatory greeting. He blinks, perplexed. "You'd think. But I'm not. Something on your mind, Evans?"

Gabrielle will slam her jacket down and start trying to shrug out of one of the layers of sweater she has one, "I had to deal with Lionel today…who accused me of not only being an novice, but said you said I told him what was in his reading. I didn't.And then he got all creepy, and now I'm going to lose my job!" She'll finally get out of her sweater and she'll slam that down next to her jacket. She'll end up, hair slightly mushed, glaring at Lucian.

Lucian shrugs, nonplussed. "He's lying. I never said any such thing. I said he made you think he might be trouble for me. You shouldn't let him get you so worked up. He's a Proudmore. They love a ruckus."

Gabrielle stands there for a moment, "He circled me like a damn wounded animal, don't tell me to not get worked up! I'm so tired of everyone saying that. I'm allowed to get worked up, if someone scares me…."She'll cross her arms, "I don't have defense against that. Kaiden, I can punch, Lionel, I don't think that's going to do anything. "

Lucian scowls, sliding off of the desk and tensing up. "He did what? Merlin, why did you even go back to him? You're the one who thought he was dangerous."

Gabrielle throws her hands in the air, "I had to! Madame Lunaris wanted pasties for lunch! I didn't want to go. He came and talked to me on the street, and was creepy then, much less in his store." Gabby will take a deep breathe, almost hugging herself, " He didn't get scary till Ripley showed up at his store, he was almost…sad…" Her voice loses some of it's edge, and she'll look down at her right arm.

Lucian's expression goes from scowl to outright glower at the mention of Ripley. "What the hell did Fox do? I swear, if he's screwing with you, I'll hex him into a simpleton."

"What?!?! Ripley didn't do anything! He came it to check on me, because I was in Rosie's, but Lionel had the closed sign up." Gabby blinks, a bit taken back by Lucian's shift in target of anger, "Look…just, go talk to Lionel, he's your brother…just don't bring me up…I kinda yelled at him, and I don't know if he's going to say anything to Madame Lunaris….So I'd rather not him even think of me…" Again, her glower is losing steam, and she just kinda looks like she's about ready to hug herself.

Lucian frowns. "You want me to go talk to him again? The only reason I'd go back to that arrogant ponce is to give him hell about you. So if you don't want me bringing you up, there's no point."

Gabrielle debates internally for a moment, "Merlin….Look, before Ripley came in, Lionel told me he made a mistake this morning…." She'll shrug, "I don't want you to go back and defend me…I told him off, he knows. Gods, I don't need another Slytherin fighting for my honor. I can do that myself." She'll start fussing with her right sleeve some, while she watches Lucian.

Lucian snorts. "Well, he's right. He did make a mistake, if he ever really wanted to get to know me." He shrugs. "Doesn't bother me. I've never needed him before. I don't need him now." He nods toward the makeshift table he's arranged. "You ready to get started?"

Gabrielle will just watch him, not quiet believing him. She'll look to the table and sigh, "I …don't understand your dynamic with him, but…I know if I had a brother…even a creeper one, I'd do anything to try….But, that could just be because I don't know what it's like."She'll shrug,and walk towards the tables."I guess." She sounds tired and will rotate her wrist, stretching it out some.

Lucian sighs in frustration, and braces his hands on the edge of the nearest desk. "I don't have a brother. I have a few half-brothers, none of whom have ever been brothers to me. There's no dynamic. There's nothing. He's a stranger who happens to have come from the same womb I did. Anything else you'd like to say on the matter?"

Gabrielle rolls her eyes, "you know what? Fine. You two may only be half brothers, but you're both jackasses." She turn to walk over to her pile of clothes."I've had a crap day. I'm not dealing with this." She'll start to pick up her stuff, making a slight face , twisting her wrist again.

Lucian stands upright, staring hard after her. "Don't break your promise to me, Evans. Every day. You agreed to do this every day. I'm not going to waste my time if you're not dedicated."

Gabrielle turns around, "Not dedicated? What is wrong with you?!?! Seriously? You're the one who keeps saying it's about clearing your mind, and I can'tright now, " Her eyes flash some, and she'll point at him again, "Sometimes, it's not always about you, you know. Merlin, Ripley's better at dealing with me than you…and that's saying something."

"Ripley's an idiot, and he's going to hurt you. He hurts everyone." Lucian shakes his head. "It's not about me. It's about you. You wanted to learn this stuff, and you know I'm your best shot at it. So go ahead and bail out. But I won't be here next time." He crosses his arms and waits.

Gabrielle rolls her eyes dropping her hand, "Ripley can't hurt me again. No one can…not like that." Her voice drops some. She'll narrow her eyes, and watch him for a minute, "Fine. You're still a jackass." She'll drop her clothes back onto the table. Her shoulder slump some. Gabby's got a lot on her mind.

"Shut up and listen." Lucian picks up one of the objects on the table, a small book. "It's not about clearing your mind. It's about adjusting your perception. This is a more advanced way of thinking about transfiguration, so pay attention. You look at this and think 'book.' But if you wan to effectively transfigure it into a bottle, you have to first see it as a bottle. You have to fully understand the nature of the book, and the nature of the bottle, and find the connections between them. Those are threads binding one form to another, and it's how you'll reweave a thing's shape into a new form."

Gabrielle huffs, but will step forward, looking at what Lucian is pointing at. She'll rub her wrist, "Are you talking physical connections, or more, metaphysical? Or more poetic? "She'll not look at him, just watch what's in his hand.

"Yes. All of those." Lucian offers her the book. "They're all connected. In a way, they're all the same. The book is hard, and so is a bottle. Both are containers. Both contain something soft and malleable. Both contain an experience. Both are man-made. Every one of these is a link between a book and a bottle. Latch onto those connections, realize that the two objects aren't as different as one might think, and changing something as simple and superficial as it's shape becomes easy."

Gabrielle takes the book,sighing softly and will nod. She'll pull out her wand and close her eyes for a moment. There's a slight quiver to her lower lip, that's most likely just stress caused, and she open her eyes and attempt to cast.

Lucian watches intently, his mouth forming a broad smile as the book shifts and reshapes into a glass bottle. He punches the air excitedly! "Perfect! You see? It's all about how you see the world. Everything…everything is malleable. Nothing is permanent." Any hint of his previous grumpiness is gone, and he's in pure teacher mode now. "I don't know why they don't teach this stuff right away. I think kids' minds could get it."

Gabrielle narrows her eyes, not sure if he just called her a kid or not. "Nothing is permanent, huh?" She's clearly being snarky.

Lucian shakes his head, apparently missing the snark. He's too giddy. "Nothing. Think about it. Even a mountain changes every time it rains. Hell, every time some rabbit makes a footprint, the mountain changes. Everything is in a constant state of change. Transfiguration is just the art of advancing and directing that change."

Gabrielle will set the bottle down and rub her forehead,why do these boys never pick up on anything? "So..what you're saying is it's the possibility of what it could become? So it's a lot more like divinations then?" ok, maybe she's poking at him, but she's mad, and wants to fight with someone, or go to sleep.

Lucian tilts his head, considering that for a moment. Either he's really good at ignoring her jabs, or it's going completely over his head. "Not exactly 'possibility,' but 'potential,' if that makes sense. No book would ever become a bottle by mere chance. The potential is there, but it takes magic to make that potential a reality."

Gabrielle closes her eyes, really? "Divinations isn't about just chance either, it's about the path that is set before someone, or something. IF the path is that someone is going to change the book into a bottle, then yes, it's the same thing." She'll fold her arms, almost in a defensive position…although her right arm is against her body, almost protectively.

"But Transfiguration has nothing to do with destiny or anything like that. If anything, it's just the opposite. Do you really think it's any mouse's destiny to be turned into a teacup?" Lucian smirks at the notion. "Transfiguration is about changing the very nature of a thing. I wouldn't recommend trying to think of it the same way you think about divination. They're different animals."

Gabrielle rolls her eyes again, and will rub at her wrist again, "Fine." She's not quiet convinced, but will drop it. "What's next?"

Lucian chuckles, giving his own eyeroll. "Hey, don't take my word for it. You're the divination expert. Have you ever done a reading that indicated something's transforming completely into something else?"

Gabrielle shakes her head, "that's not what I'd get. It's not like that..that clear.But yes, I could." She'll glare at him, at least it wasn't a direct rip on divinations.

"Well, the moment you do, let me know and maybe then we'll start looking at a connection. But right now, let's treat transfiguration as transfiguration, and not like divination. So, how about you stop treating me like your enemy, and we get back to learning this stuff?" Lucian offers her his hand in a friendly gesture.

Gabrielle huffs again, and will look at his offered hand. She'll close her eyes and swallow, saying softly, "I'm….sorry…it's been a difficult week…."she'll take his hand, and wince slightly, as they shake.

Lucian shrugs. "Don't worry about it. I get it. I'm here to make your life easier, not harder. Ready to try something tricky, but fantastic?" He picks up a pencil, dropping it into the bottle. "Turn it into a quill without changing the bottle. It's a lot harder than you might think." He grins, sitting back to watch.

Gabrielle takes a deep breath, and will nod, focusing on the bottle, but clearly she's still upset as, when she casts, the pencil, doesn't change, but explodes inside the bottle. Gabby winces and sighs, and will spend the rest of the evening trying to change the pencil, after charming it back together. Her wrist is clearly bothering her, as the further into the lesson, the worst her wand work gets. She'll mention other school work, along with working at Lunaris's. But she tries, and pushes through….poorly.
