D E C O D E || OPEN

[NEVAN OMARI COOTE]

To Nevan, the Hogwarts year was slipping past him like water through his fingers. Little bits of residue remained, but the whole of it disappeared. And while Nevan could reflect on what had happened, it seemed that no matter how much he tried to cup his hands and fill them with that same water, the overall recollection was murky. He pondered his life and remaining months as a student as he stood over the balcony of the Astronomy tower that early November morning - the third Saturday, to be exact. His eyes looked out at the tops of the trees of the Forbidden Forest and the sunrise that waved from beyond them. Nevan didn't know why, exactly, but the Astronomy tower was a place of solace for him. He found comfort in the metail railing that kept him from his death and the view was unlike any other - spare, perhaps, from a broomstick hovering over the Quidditch Pitch. There was something about the tower, despite his disinterest in the subject taught there, that calmed Nevan's nerves about what could be ahead for him.

As light yellow trailed into the mix of purple and orange sunrise hues, Nevan took a big sigh and realized he needed to get down to the Great Hall in order to eat before taking the trip to Hogsmeade. With one last, long glance at the beautiful scene before him, Nevan turned his back to the railing and found his way down the narrow steps of the tower. He drudged on with little thinking, seeing as he had traveled the corridors and stairs of Hogwarts for years. He might have been able to find his way in complete blindness, actually, if it weren't for the mere fact that the stairs were tricky; if he were blind, he'd surely be led astray by the moving staircases or, worse, Peeves. Thankfully Nevan did have his full sight and was able to subconsciously remind himself he was going the right way toward the ground floor, but if one were to notice, Nevan walked in a sleepy trance as he moved from one set of staircases to the next. In fact, if it weren't for the call of a younger girl to her friend on a floor above, he might have stepped right in between a staircase and the landing it was approaching.

Thanks to the young girl, Nevan snapped out of his daze and continued on his way to the Great Hall with a little more alertness. He stopped outside the closed door of the Great Hall and sunk down into one of the benches sitting on either side of the door. Nevan stared at the ground in thought as he awaited for one of the house-elves to open the door and mark the way for the early-rising students. It took a few minutes, but finally the door creaked open and Nevan ventured into the hall. As he made his way to the Gryffindor table, his eyes set upon the gold fountain sitting to the side of the headmaster's podium at the front of the hall. It was that fountain that chose the champions for the Hogwarts tournament. Nevan hadn't entered his name, but wondered if he had, if he'd been chosen, or a good choice, for his house. He wasn't exactly certain of his intelligence, and maybe that was what held him back in the first place. Still, the tournament was pretty cool, and Nevan had to admit that the first task definitely got him regretting not entering his name.

Nevan took a seat at his house table and looked upon the food that sat arranged on various antique platters. He snatched up a few biscuits and pieces of ham, then assembled sandwiches on his plate and proceeded to devour them like a hungry lion. He was, in fact, very hungry after finding that his stash of sweets had been snatched by a lurking scavenger. That was his real point in going to Hogsmeade, really. Breakfast passed quickly, what with his shoving of food into his mouth and the gathering students, some of whom were his mates and made conversation with him. Nevan and a few of his pals got up from the table when they were through and gathered with professors to make their way down to the wizarding village. Through loose conversation and a thorough discussion about chocolate frogs being pointless, Nevan and his mates found that their journey to Hogsmeade was over. Nevan parted ways with his mates, promising to join up later, and headed for Honeydukes.

Honeydukes happened to be the most forgiving sweetshoppe in all of the wizarding world. At least, Nevan thought so. It stocked plenty of goodies of all varieties, including chocolate, sweet, sour, and flavours. Nevan would never forget his first trip into the shop as it was his first 'ah-ha' moment of the true nature of magic. Magic wasn't about power or control, but about happiness and love - that was true magic. Whenever Nevan felt the latter, he felt compelled to be stronger. That shaped the kind of wizard he was as he stepped into the shop that November day. Of course, daunting on such emotional experiences wasn't something Nevan did often, but as the overwhelming scent of sugar invaded his senses, Nevan couldn't resist the flashback of his little kid self fawning over the fudge sitting in the glass case near the right side of the room.

Nevan scoured the shop for his own particular delights and approached the counter, smiling at the woman behind it. She, of course, knew Nevan well, and before he even got the chance to ask, she lifted up a bag of fudge. "I'd seen you comin' lad - knew you would want your usual," she teased before taking his money and bidding him goodbye. Nevan grinned as he cheekily walked out of the store, a bag swinging at his side. His trip at Honeydukes took a couple hours since he was very particular, and by that point his ham sandwiches from breakfast had all but disappeared from his innards. At the sound of a growling tummy, Nevan decided it was best to grab lunch at the Three Broomsticks before searching for his mates to do whatever it was they felt compelled to do for the rest of the trip.

The pub, famous for frequenting students, was filling fast with kids who had the same thinking as Nevan. He was grateful to find a booth near a window, and he expressed such thanks to the hostess as she sat him. He nodded at her before setting his bag on the seat beside him and picked up the menu, looking it over. Eating alone was no hard task for Nevan as he did it often, but that day he secretly hoped kind company would find him.