hh_mirror

Arthur had been busy, but he hasn't been passing the time burying his nose in books in the library or exploring the castle. Instead, his time had been occupied by one problem that had presented itself as soon as he'd dumped his jacket and bag on his new bed in Slytherin.

It was habit by now: get in, check PASIV. It was the first thing he did after closing the door, even before hanging up his coat or unpacking his bags. He set the device on the bed and bent down in front of it, popping the latches and easing the lid up. A quick visual inspection turned up nothing, so he pressed the white buttons to unlock a vial and start checking the Somnacin.

Nothing happened.

The display should have lit up, the vial should have unlocked but there was nothing, not even a beep. He pressed harder, then gave up and moved to the next vial. After trying them all he slammed the middle button down, hoping for the familiar hiss but only getting silence. Arthur gripped the sides of the case and took a deep breath to calm himself.

This wasn't panic, (the first time in a dream, his first death, the first time Mal had attacked him, that had been panic) but it did create an icy lump in his stomach that was impossible to ignore. He checked the fuses, the batteries, the leads, even the monitoring chip, swapping out parts where he could and testing each new change. When he'd run through everything in the manual (and everything that wasn't) with no result, he sat back on his heels and glared at the illicit piece of tech that was now completely useless.

Only when he checked his phone he realized that the problem was more widespread. The phone and laptop were both bricked, and soon thoughts of magic and EMPs were wandering through his head. He could have accepted it as an unsavory price for coming to Hogwarts if he hadn't happened to catch a glimpse of a giant robot out the window and then immediately stumbled across a computer lab filled with working machines that were almost as old as he was.

Now it just seemed like a cruel joke.

He spent hours in the lab, reading through old threads on the message board for some sort of answer. He made his own post and was answered back by somebody claiming to be an octopus, who had told him that computers would work in the town outside of the castle and to check out his blog, please! Arthur replied that he would look into the town but made no promises about the blog, even if the octopus did claim to have the best recipe for meatloaf in the whole school.

The laptop and phone were the first to come with him to Hogsmeade. When they turned on he laughed with relief, drawing the attention of the witches and wizards in the cheerful little pub. Before paying his bill he asked about the rooms on the second floor, creating an excuse about the damp in the dungeon making it hard to sleep. He reserved a room for that night and went back to the castle, but not before stopping in a shop that had caught his eye.

Overnight bag and PASIV packed, he went back up to the grand entrance of the school. In the reflection of a window he tightened his new Slytherin tie, and he had to admit that maybe the Hat was right. The green was a good color. Behind him, in the reflection of the window, he saw a familiar face leaving the school. "Heading out?" he asked without turning around.