it’s a nice day to be outside, he thinks. even if he isn’t one for outdoor things like attending quidditch matches, he finds himself outdoors a little more often to get away from the suffocating atmosphere of the ravenclaw house common room. it’s almost laughable—almost. a third of those in his house clamoring and competing for the best marks and then another third going about their days without much care for studying because they’ve got eidetic memories and have already read the material months in advance, and then the final third that are those who don’t really care too much for their grades and would rather live creatively than academically—castor is among the third cluster of students, but only in the realm of reading, writing, painting, and drawing his life away.
with his back pressed into the hollow of a tree in the courtyard, he bides his time with a heavy tome from the library—he devours the information while occasionally nibbling at the snacks he has stored in the bag beside him. the world passes around him as he flips through the pages without much care or thought. nobody comes up to him, nobody bothers him. well, at least not until he’s halfway through the book.
he doesn’t notice at first, the sudden shadow cast over him despite being alone and under a tree—he naively assumes that it’s the clouds until he glances away from the book and sees the hard outline of a figure standing behind him. it surprises him, honestly. he jumps a little and then whips his neck around to be greeted with a much taller, much more imposing figure. he blinks and raises his brow. “you’re blocking my reading light.” he offers monotonously.
Zach, for one, was never considered to be a good student. He wasn’t badly behaved (at least most of the time), but his lack of academic skill and subsequent lack of will to study meant that he rarely managed to psych himself up enough to get stuck into a good book or two on Transfiguration or Divination. Some determined Gryffindors were spending time revising for exams in the common room, but Zach just felt as if it would drag his mood down. He’d had a successful Quidditch practice -- the best yet since he’d fallen off his broom and broken his leg -- and was still feeling the high. Sadly he was still expected to need more time to recover fully, and being on the bench during matches was never fully satisfying. He was craving to get out there and go, to score some points for his team and win for his house. But his injuries wouldn’t allow for that.
Instead, he decided to roam around outside for a while, taking long-winded routes just to pass the time and push himself further. He had made his way through the castle, but took a detour through the courtyard, slight rustles of what sounded like a crisp bag piquing his attention. A figure was sat at the base of a nearby tree, and the Curious George inside of the Gryffindor led Zach towards it. Once closer, Zach noted that it was a boy (or a girl with short hair?), whose head was probably just like the rest of his friends in the Gryffindor common room: in a book. Reading from a distance was definitely not an ability of Zachary’s, so he took a few steps closer, peering down slightly to see if he could make out any words.
Oblivious to how intimidating his figure could be, Zach flinched in return when the boy below him jumped, but the words that came out of the other’s mouth provided a very stark contrast to their reaction. “O-oh,” Zach instinctively crouched down, ignoring the slight twinge in his calf as he squatted beside the other, eyes now fixed on the boy’s face rather than his reading material. “Sorry, I didn’t realise the sun was behind me.” A slight pause, allowing for the beginnings of a friendlier smile to spread across his lips. “What are you reading? It looked like you were really into it.”
