Springfic: "In Flames" for rosivan
Title: In Flames
Author: Slam_Girl
Recipient: rosivan
Character(s): young!Albus Dumbledore, young!Elphias Doge
Rating: G
Wordcount: 1,139 words
Warnings (highlight to view): None
Summary: How exactly does Albus set the bed curtains on fire?
Author's Notes: This fic was actually inspired by a bit of movie canon and there is an early look at a very familiar object. I hope you enjoy :)
Beta: LL
In Flames
Albus stared at his sketch… what to call it, he still wasn’t sure yet. He added a few more notes to it. It would be a fantastic device. One of extreme usefulness made by a truly cunning mind. He rather prided himself on his cunning mind, surely one of the smartest in his class and possibly in the school. His inventive sketches were proof of that. He knew his idea was genius. Now what else did it need? Maybe if it had some sort of voice recording function so as to make it easier to remember odd ideas that struck at various times of the day. Or some sort of reminder function.
He scribbled the words 'The Illuminator' across the top of his sketch. He wasn’t too fond of that name but that was all it actually did right now though that wasn’t quite what it was supposed to do. Underneath that, he began to write something else but suddenly Elphias Doge popped up behind him.
"Hey, what’s that?" Elphias said, trying to get a better look at the drawing over his shoulder.
"Oh, er, just something I’ve been working on," Albus said, pulling the drawing closer to him.
"Well, what is it?" Elphias asked, sitting in the empty chair next to him. It was Saturday afternoon so the Gryffindor common room was only a third full of students more interested in games of wizard chess than studying.
"Just something I’m…inventing," he replied.
"Ooh, really, what’s it for?" Elphias leaned toward him eagerly as if Albus was about to divulge some very secretive plan to take over the school. Elphias had always been a very eager boy, which wasn’t necessarily a bad trait. But occasionally, his enthusiasm bordered on too much. They had been good friends since their first year and Albus was used to all Elphias’s little quirks, and the same was probably true for him.
"It’s supposed to create and put out light. And I was trying to work out how to be able to record voices on it, you know, like for taking down notes or ideas or something like that. I’m trying to figure how much I can make it do and have it still work properly." Albus stopped himself from rambling too much as he was wont to do when talking about one of his interests.
"We’ve already got our wands if we need light? Why would you need something else?" Elphias asked.
"Well, I guess you don’t, really…I just wanted to see if I could do it," Albus explained. He could tell that Elphias didn’t quite comprehend what he was saying and Albus decided it was no use explaining himself any further at the moment. It was hard to talk about what doing something just to prove to himself that he could-meant to him. It was like when some of his fellow classmates asked him why he was taking more classes than he had to, thinking him barking mad for doing so. He could never adequately explain to them that it came out of some deep inner desire to always test himself.
He thought of his family-his cold mother, his absent father, his unruly brother, his sad little sister-they were limited in some way, whether by their own doing or by others. All he knew was that he never wanted to limit himself. He loved his family but he felt stifled at home, knowing their expectations of him would never match what he believed he could accomplish. And so he tried, always tried, to push himself to do more than anyone expected from someone of his age, his background.
"Do you want to see it?" Albus asked after a moment, thinking this might catch Elphias’s interest more than his stilted explanation.
"You mean, you’ve already made it?" Elphias asked, looking impressed.
Albus nodded. "It’s upstairs. Come on." Elphias followed him to the boy’s dormitory, which was, thankfully, empty. He went over to his trunk, lifted the lid, and pulled out the… his still nameless invention. It looked nothing like his sketch, turning out to be a much cruder model. He got his hands on an old blue cigarette holder that one of the Ravenclaw boys in his year, Terrence Mefflepose, had misplaced. It supposedly belonged to Terrence’s Muggle father. Why Terrence had it in the first place, he didn’t know, other than it being something for Terrence to show off to the others. He handed it to Elphias, who held it delicately in his hand. Before he could wrap his fingers around it and possibly damage it in some way, Albus snatched it from him.
"Well, go on then, try it out," Elphias said.
"All right. Here it goes." Albus flicked it once, but nothing happened. It was supposed to light up very brightly, brighter than any of the normal dim lighting they could automatically conjure with their wands or start up in the fireplace. Then the light was supposed to go out with another flick and take out all the lights in the surrounding area with it. It wasn’t supposed to be done with a flicking motion but it looked like a short wand so Albus hadn’t figured out how else to operate it until he was able to find some other device to use.
"Did it do it? I missed it."
Albus ignored him and tried again. Still nothing. He gave it another, much firmer shake and suddenly the curtains on the bed across from him burst into flames. They both jumped back in surprise and Albus swore loudly. The boys shared a stunned look with each other before acting. Albus pulled his wand out and pointed it at the curtains and cried, "Aguamenti!"
That put the fire out but the damage was already done. The curtains on Aaron Tillstone’s bed had nearly burned up. He looked at Elphias again, who stared back at him, wide-eyed.
"Is that what it’s supposed to do? Set things on fire?" Elphias asked.
"Er, not exactly…" he said. Elphias started to laugh suddenly and in the next moment, Albus joined him. They both laughed loudly, falling back against the bed nearest them. "D-do you think Aaron is going to mind?" Albus asked through his laughter.
"He’ll p-probably try to hex you," Elphias replied. "But I won’t say anything if you don’t."
"Agreed. Thanks, mate," Albus said, his laughter finally dying away. He straightened up and decided he could take Aaron as long as it was only a matter of hexing one another. Aaron was quite a bit bigger than Albus so anything else would most likely not turn out well for him.
"Just for future reference, don’t ever test that thing out near any of my stuff," Elphias said with another laugh.
Albus nodded. He made a mental note to get rid of the lighting function for the time being. A full-blown fire was a bit more light than he’d intended.
Author: Slam_Girl
Recipient: rosivan
Character(s): young!Albus Dumbledore, young!Elphias Doge
Rating: G
Wordcount: 1,139 words
Warnings (highlight to view): None
Summary: How exactly does Albus set the bed curtains on fire?
Author's Notes: This fic was actually inspired by a bit of movie canon and there is an early look at a very familiar object. I hope you enjoy :)
Beta: LL
In Flames
Albus stared at his sketch… what to call it, he still wasn’t sure yet. He added a few more notes to it. It would be a fantastic device. One of extreme usefulness made by a truly cunning mind. He rather prided himself on his cunning mind, surely one of the smartest in his class and possibly in the school. His inventive sketches were proof of that. He knew his idea was genius. Now what else did it need? Maybe if it had some sort of voice recording function so as to make it easier to remember odd ideas that struck at various times of the day. Or some sort of reminder function.
He scribbled the words 'The Illuminator' across the top of his sketch. He wasn’t too fond of that name but that was all it actually did right now though that wasn’t quite what it was supposed to do. Underneath that, he began to write something else but suddenly Elphias Doge popped up behind him.
"Hey, what’s that?" Elphias said, trying to get a better look at the drawing over his shoulder.
"Oh, er, just something I’ve been working on," Albus said, pulling the drawing closer to him.
"Well, what is it?" Elphias asked, sitting in the empty chair next to him. It was Saturday afternoon so the Gryffindor common room was only a third full of students more interested in games of wizard chess than studying.
"Just something I’m…inventing," he replied.
"Ooh, really, what’s it for?" Elphias leaned toward him eagerly as if Albus was about to divulge some very secretive plan to take over the school. Elphias had always been a very eager boy, which wasn’t necessarily a bad trait. But occasionally, his enthusiasm bordered on too much. They had been good friends since their first year and Albus was used to all Elphias’s little quirks, and the same was probably true for him.
"It’s supposed to create and put out light. And I was trying to work out how to be able to record voices on it, you know, like for taking down notes or ideas or something like that. I’m trying to figure how much I can make it do and have it still work properly." Albus stopped himself from rambling too much as he was wont to do when talking about one of his interests.
"We’ve already got our wands if we need light? Why would you need something else?" Elphias asked.
"Well, I guess you don’t, really…I just wanted to see if I could do it," Albus explained. He could tell that Elphias didn’t quite comprehend what he was saying and Albus decided it was no use explaining himself any further at the moment. It was hard to talk about what doing something just to prove to himself that he could-meant to him. It was like when some of his fellow classmates asked him why he was taking more classes than he had to, thinking him barking mad for doing so. He could never adequately explain to them that it came out of some deep inner desire to always test himself.
He thought of his family-his cold mother, his absent father, his unruly brother, his sad little sister-they were limited in some way, whether by their own doing or by others. All he knew was that he never wanted to limit himself. He loved his family but he felt stifled at home, knowing their expectations of him would never match what he believed he could accomplish. And so he tried, always tried, to push himself to do more than anyone expected from someone of his age, his background.
"Do you want to see it?" Albus asked after a moment, thinking this might catch Elphias’s interest more than his stilted explanation.
"You mean, you’ve already made it?" Elphias asked, looking impressed.
Albus nodded. "It’s upstairs. Come on." Elphias followed him to the boy’s dormitory, which was, thankfully, empty. He went over to his trunk, lifted the lid, and pulled out the… his still nameless invention. It looked nothing like his sketch, turning out to be a much cruder model. He got his hands on an old blue cigarette holder that one of the Ravenclaw boys in his year, Terrence Mefflepose, had misplaced. It supposedly belonged to Terrence’s Muggle father. Why Terrence had it in the first place, he didn’t know, other than it being something for Terrence to show off to the others. He handed it to Elphias, who held it delicately in his hand. Before he could wrap his fingers around it and possibly damage it in some way, Albus snatched it from him.
"Well, go on then, try it out," Elphias said.
"All right. Here it goes." Albus flicked it once, but nothing happened. It was supposed to light up very brightly, brighter than any of the normal dim lighting they could automatically conjure with their wands or start up in the fireplace. Then the light was supposed to go out with another flick and take out all the lights in the surrounding area with it. It wasn’t supposed to be done with a flicking motion but it looked like a short wand so Albus hadn’t figured out how else to operate it until he was able to find some other device to use.
"Did it do it? I missed it."
Albus ignored him and tried again. Still nothing. He gave it another, much firmer shake and suddenly the curtains on the bed across from him burst into flames. They both jumped back in surprise and Albus swore loudly. The boys shared a stunned look with each other before acting. Albus pulled his wand out and pointed it at the curtains and cried, "Aguamenti!"
That put the fire out but the damage was already done. The curtains on Aaron Tillstone’s bed had nearly burned up. He looked at Elphias again, who stared back at him, wide-eyed.
"Is that what it’s supposed to do? Set things on fire?" Elphias asked.
"Er, not exactly…" he said. Elphias started to laugh suddenly and in the next moment, Albus joined him. They both laughed loudly, falling back against the bed nearest them. "D-do you think Aaron is going to mind?" Albus asked through his laughter.
"He’ll p-probably try to hex you," Elphias replied. "But I won’t say anything if you don’t."
"Agreed. Thanks, mate," Albus said, his laughter finally dying away. He straightened up and decided he could take Aaron as long as it was only a matter of hexing one another. Aaron was quite a bit bigger than Albus so anything else would most likely not turn out well for him.
"Just for future reference, don’t ever test that thing out near any of my stuff," Elphias said with another laugh.
Albus nodded. He made a mental note to get rid of the lighting function for the time being. A full-blown fire was a bit more light than he’d intended.