#c;dirk

Dear Dearest Diary,

[x]

( @dork-cresswell )

The streets of Diagon Alley had been packed all day in anticipation of the evening’s events. Decorations being enchanted into place, drink and food stands being piled high with all sorts of wonderful treats, music beginning to fill the air. Later, he would return to these streets, dancing, drinking, and taking part in all sorts of debauchery. But first? It was time to do something worthwhile, and with the crowds already gathering, the timing could not be more perfect. Xenophilius picked a spot that was out of the way enough to keep himself from being trampled, while still intrusive enough to catch the crowd’s attention. “Perfect.” He sighed contentedly, finally relieving himself of the half a dozen sings he had had tucked under his arms. They clattered to the ground around him. The magical writing danced and wiggled across the cardboard canvases. “Protect the Gnomes!” some of them read. “Say GNO to Violent De-Gnoming!” said others. There were plenty of variations, but they were all preaching the same message. Some simply featured painting’s of smiling gnomes sporting rosy cheeks and little golden halos. 

He jammed the signs into the grass surrounding him, held the “Say GNO” sign in one hand, and a clipboard in the other. He cleared his throat and began shouting at the crowd as if it were the most normal thing in the world. “Ladies and gentleman! Witches and Wizards! Open your eyes to the cruelty happening right beneath your noses! In your very own gardens! End the senseless violence against innocent gnomes! Sign the petition to outlaw gnome abuse today!” He went on like this, brandishing his sign and shouting his mind at strangers. Other then the wayward glare, or the barely-hidden snicker, he was ignored by the crowd. Not that he cared. They weren’t going anywhere. There was going to be free alcohol flowing on these streets in just a few short hours, and he had all the time in the world. “Save the Gnomes!”

“Probably only, um... -this shouldn’t be this difficult of a question, you know? Damn these times- okay, probably only Dirk, Ophelia, and Pandora.”

“Right!?” The blonde replied excitedly. The night was clear as any, and there were far off enough from the school to be undisturbed by the castle lights. There was a glint of child-like joy in Xenophilius’ eyes. When he found a spot he found suitable, he playfully threw himself to the ground, rolling down the cool grass of the hill, and coming to lay comfortably at the bottom. When the other joined him, they simply enjoyed the beautiful night in silence for a while. Eventually, something caught his eye, and Xeno started. “Dirk, look.” He raised his arm to point at a fairly irregular, nondescript cluster of stars. On the edge of the odd constellation, slightly more visible than the rest, was a gentle arch of three stars. The three seemed to top off the cluster in a twinkling sort of tiara. 

“Do you see it?” He asked the other, hardly waiting for an answer. “That’s corona borealis.” No one had asked, and there was a good chance that Dirk didn’t care, but Xenophilius could never hold himself back from a good story, so he went on. “You know, the legend goes, that long ago, in ancient Crete, there was a cruel king named Minos, who lived with his wife, and his daughter, Ariadne. He wife eventually bore him a son, but the creature that was revealed to the king was sub-human. An abomination. Half-man, half-bull. The Minotaur.  Deeply ashamed and disgusted at what he had created, Minos locked his son deep within an inescapable labyrinth to live out his days in exile. To keep him sustained, the king would periodically lead unwitting citizens into the maze, sacrificing them to the monster within. One such sacrifice was the hero Theseus. However, the king’s daughter was in love with the man, and agreed to help him if he would take her away. With her aide, Theseus slayed the Minotaur, and escaped.” Xeno’s voice fell slightly. “Her own brother, can you believe it? Serves her right, then, that he abandoned her not long after. Pitying the girl, the god Dionysus came to comfort her. He took her royal crown from her head, and tossed it into the sky, immortalizing her glory.” Finally, he fell silent, considering the constellation above them. “I’m not sure she deserved her crown in the stars, you know? For what, killing the brother she deemed a freak and running away with a handsome stranger. Strange just who history will paint as heroes.”