Criminal Cell

[Droo]

Rules are made for a reason. For your safety and the safety of others. Not to mention the sanity of the Professors and Staff of Hogwarts. If you find yourself in this particularly smelly dungeon room, then you must have broken a rule and need punishment. Take this time to learn the rules.

[Lockhartian]

Criminal. Pfffft. Lottie was no criminal.

It would be criminal not to accept certain gifts, but she was nice and accepts gifts anyway. Regardless of where those come from. What was gifted couldn't be taken away.

Like ice cream. Precious ice cream.

Lottie was not planning on giving Vinteren any sort of fight, she rarely did, but he ought to at least call her 'Ms. Wisteria'. Manners, Vinteren. Every school governor must have them. Did Arya's brother have manners? Still holding her head up high, the girl entered the criminal cell, and crossed her arms.

What now, Vinteren?

[Erik Vinteren]

Erik tailed Wisteria, Lotus Wisteria, into the criminal cell and closed and locked the door behind him once they were in. He summoned up a simple wooden chair, just one, for himself, and placed it just in front of the door. He had a seat, getting nice and comfortable and crossing one leg over the other at the knee.

He studied the girl for a moment before addressing her. "Tell me vhy you vhink you are here, Ms. Wisteria. In vhis room, specifically."

[Lockhartian]

Smirk.

That was oh-so-smooth of Vinteren. He was locking doors again, as if she'd get away without her wand. Really, though, she wouldn't get away, she hadn't argued about getting detention had she? No, so it was all okay, the'll be ice cream after.

And no chair? That's fine, she didn't really one.

For some reason...she smiled, a very small smile, but it was still a smile. She'd addressed her correctly, therefore, she'll answer as truthful as possible. "Well, I was kind of hoping you would tell me," TRUE, she almost always spoke her mind. "But...I'm positive there is a lesson to be learned, so...the criminal cell...," she pretended to eye the room, that had no decoration whatsoever and looked even worse than the check-in area, "...suited for someone who has committed a crime, therefore not suitable for me."

BUT...to answer Vinteren's question, "I think there are two options. One, that you think I committed a crime. Two, that I refused to follow instructions, or telling the truth." There was nothing else...probably. Vinteren was really difficult to decipher. With or without ice cream.

[Erik Vinteren]

How amusing of her, to assume he would be providing her with some answers in this cell. Fat chance, person-named-after-a-plant. He waited with a blank face for her to work her way through it. Did she really not steal the sapphires? Because she was acting quite like a Ravenclaw at the moment, with all this reasoning and logic.

"Vhere is alvays a lesson to be learned, Ms. Wisteria," was all he said in reply. "Remember vhat as your first lesson learned in vhis room."

Heh. As for her next...without rising from his chair, Erik flicked his own wand into his hand and summoned up an obnoxiously yellow bucket of paint and paintbrush. "I vink vhis room needs a re-decorating, don't you? It is awfully dull...and smelly."

He gestured for her to take up the paintbrush. "Begin painting vhe walls. Use all vhe paint. All of it." Erik paused. "And work fast, Ms. Wisteria, vhis paint tends to dry almost as soon as it comes in contact vith a surface." And then it sticks. Permanently.

Especially to skin.

[Lockhartian]

Yeah, yeah, she knew. Always a lesson. Like NEVER listening to Lex. That was probably the hardest lesson ever, yet she already learned it thanks to this mess. Granted, her option wouldn't have been better. I mean, Ivy Knox was the one with the vial...then again, Lottie might have been more willing to explain certain things to Ivy Knox, not to Vinteren.

Hey, wait, what? And he wasn't even going to tell her why on Earth was she put in the Criminal Cell??

O____O

What was a bucket of YELLOW paint doing in the room???? Lottie blinked at it, and instinctively stepped back. Then her blue eyes were on Vinteren as her heart began to race.

O___________________O

WHAT?! No. No. No, no. You...do not understand, Vinteren. And this is all Romanos' fault, for that stupid boggart. She'd only defeated it because she knew it wasn't real, and she had a wand, she...didn't have a wand right now, it was held hostage by Erik Vinteren, and..., "No." She was shaking her head, and tugging at her bracelets, "I think this room is quite lovely, I can barely catch its scent anymore. You should save the paint for another occasion." Nod, nod.

Lottie was attempting breathing, she was probably succeeding, we really don't know, the yellow had her undivided attention.

[Erik Vinteren]

And he had been waiting for this reaction. A slow, self-satisfied smirk spread across Erik's face as Wisteria appeared to be shaken by the mere sight of a yellow paint can. What, it was just a can of paint! A can of innocent, mostly harmless, yellow paint.

He didn't bother removing neither his smirk nor his cold eyes from her face. "No? Ms. Wisteria, I believe you chose vhis detention. For yourself. Now you must face vhe consequences of your choices." He reclined further in his chair, clearly enjoying this detention. So far.

"You will remain in vhis room until it is coated in yellow paint, so one way or vhe other, I suggest you get started."

[Lockhartian]

Lotus Acacia Wisteria wondered what would happen if she yelled Airey Flamsteed's name right now. Would he come save her from the other man in a suit?? He probably wouldn't even HEAR. And, she was the one who told the others not to scream, she could not, and would not, scream for help.

She kept tugging at her bracelets, her heart racing even more. That wasn't a mere CAN, that was an enormous bucket of paint, YELLOW paint. And she had no wand. She would've been super happy to paint this room, in any color, really, except that one who was staining her eyesight just by laying there. It was hurting her eyes, okay? Yellow and blue did not match.

No fair. "I chose a detention, not this," this was torture, "Why exactly am I here, Mr. Vinteren?" THIS was an answer she was desperate to find out. Why exactly was he torturing her? She did nothing. Nothing except taking gifts, and then back at his office she behaved as any Hogwartian would. Whatever that meant.

Her eyes flickered between the room, the paint, and Vinteren. And again. That meant that he was supposed to stay here, too, right? What an incredible waste of time, Vinteren. And she just wanted ice cream.

Ice cream...do you think her fear could be calmed by thinking of it? Because she was having lots of trouble with being around so much yellow and didn't know if ice cream was strong enough.

She'd been right. Vinteren tortures people.

[Erik Vinteren]

Vinteren did torture people, and he sometimes enjoyed it. But this? This was not torture. This was a can of paint and a thirteen or fourteen year old girl who had a problem with authority.

With his authority, specifically, and he wasn't going to allow it.

"Vhis is your detention assignment," Erik explained simply. He raised his brows as she questioned him yet again. See that? That glint of defiance in her eye? That was why she was here. She should know that he hated being questioned. Even Ivy had learned the fewer the questions, the better.

"Start painting. Maybe vhen you vill haff your questions answered." He would say nothing further on the subject. And with a frosty silence settling into the room, Erik removed a pair of aviator sunglasses from his suit pocket (it was a very bright can of paint) and folded his arms across his chest.

Paint, child, paint.

[Lockhartian]

This fourteen year old had no problem with real authority. School governor, pfffft. NOW, the Headmistress, Airey, those were the real authority here. Maybe Hadley, too. Queen Alice was good authority, no one would mess with those teeth.

Back to the dungeons, Lottie frowned at Vinteren, as if he cared, yeah, this is her detention assignment. Looks more like DADA homework to her. Vinteren wasn't scary, what was scary was the dreadful paint in front of her. She had resort to biting her lip now. THAT didn't happen very often.

"No, I know I won't get my questions answered, Sir," but she also knew Vinteren wasn't joking about leaving this place unless it was covered in yellow. HOW on Earth was she to cover ALL the walls with that paint??? And what will he do with whatever was left of it?! Scary. Like Santa.

ANDTHENHEPUTONSUNGLASSES! MERLIN!

Why was Lottie going through this AGAIN? Twice in one term to be locked in yellow?? That's a record, yo! AND NO ICE CREAM! No Ivy Knox. How utterly unfair.

So, she inched closer to the bucket, NOT a can, BUCKET (because one's fear always looks bigger), and inched closer again, still tugging her bracelets, still biting her lips. And she breathed, in and out, repeatedly, trying to calm her racing heart. She felt like crying, but she wouldn't. She was REALLY hating Vinteren right now. Funny thing, hatred. Although, surprisingly, that gave her a bit of strength and she picked up the brush and it barely touched the wall before there was a big ugly yellow stain on it.

She closed her eyes. THAT didn't make her feel any better. So, they were open again in no time.

[Erik Vinteren]

Did she really know that, or was that just her dislike of authority talking again? Erik didn't answer either way, and instead summoned up a Norse magazine on runic spells to read while she got to work.

If she ever got to work.

He didn't even have to look up from his magazine to see that this punishment was working. The girl was close to either screaming or crying, either of which was fine by him, and neither of which would soften his hard heart. He might have encouraged her to keep painting, since he knew the paint was doing its job, but she was still being rude to him. So he would keep his thoughts to himself.

The one stroke Wisteria had put on the wall was currently dripping, dripping down the wall in a distinctive pattern. In fact, it almost looked like it was starting to form a word, or a letter at least. A big, blindingly yellow letter I...

[Lockhartian]

Hatred. It seemed to help, clearly. Fear could still be seen in her eyes, though, and the slight shaking of the hand whenever the brush was bound paint the wall. Shaking, yes, Vinteren. You could see her shake sliiiightly, but she will NOT scream nor cry.

She wouldn't. One boggart was enough. And she kept reminding herself that there will be ice cream after this, and that she could still annoy Vinteren in class. By 'annoying' we mean: Not talking, or being extra smart to Vinteren, or being extremely bored and showing it. All things she knew Vinteren wouldn't pay attention to, but she'd still do.

The dripping she suspected happened when one hand painted a WALL. A wall she was unable to cover in its entirety because she was relatively small in height, so she merely focused on the middle, uneven strokes of yellow...

*shudder*

...strokes, right, and since she was mostly focusing on the part of the wall that wasn't painted...then she failed to notice if the paint was doing something it shouldn't be doing.

It did dry very fast. And she tried to be as careful as possible not to get it on her, which made this ridiculously slow and extra painful. She wanted to be done already so she could be out of here, but she couldn't move faster than this. Only when she thought of hating Vinteren forever then she was rather quick about it, but then she was reminded of NO ICE CREAM and went back to her former speed.

[Erik Vinteren]

The shaking of her hands only made him all the more entertained. Why was she so afraid of the colour yellow? It was her house colour, for Odin's sake. How did the girl sleep at night knowing that she was surrounded by gold and yellow things?

It occurred to Erik that later he would describe this detention as "so boring he would rather watch paint dry," and then he would be reminded that he was, actually, literally watching paint dry. The paint was continuing to form amusing shapes as it dripped, however. First the i, then the next letter, a big 'M,' then came the 'U' of course...Vinteren idly wondered how long it would take Wisteria to notice that she was spelling something out.

So far, the wall read:
I MUST N

Well this was going to take all day.

[Lockhartian]

You know, the curtains on her dormitory were not up yet ever since she took them down. And she'd rather they be kept that way, away from sight! She'll take them down again if they were ever up, or she'll change the color, no big deal.

"Stupid yellow." She kept with the brush, quicker this time because she was hating a lot of things right now, and with some strength too, poor wall. It got so fast at one point that the brush flew away from her and landed...

...well, that was a disappointment.

She half hoped it would've landed ON Vinteren, but it only landed near him, not splashing anything in sight, as far as she could see. Except the floor, where it had landed, and three dots of yellow paint in her shoes.

*wrinkles nose*

"Oops." It sounded SO FAKE, though, especially when she shrugged. She would've been LAUGHING if the brush had landed on Vinteren, though. So, 'Oops' was a very fair response.

Heeeeey....what was on the wall???

[Erik Vinteren]

Erik had been waiting for the girl to try something with that brush and that horrid, eye-popping paint. So when the brush 'accidentally' flew out of her hand, he calmly flicked his wand out and created a shield around himself, without even losing the page he was on in his magazine.

Accident or not, this suit was worth too much to dirty with common yellow paint.

"Keep going," he growled in warning. "I have no qualms about leaving you locked in here, alone, all night."

At least she had made some progress on her lines.

I MUST NOT TELL LIES

said one part of the wall.

[Lockhartian]

Whaaaaaaaaaat?

All night?! But...her pygmy puff...she needed to eat. And Lottie needed ice cream! And a trip to the forbidden forest. Just kidding. She believed him, though, that was a step forward. Not that one should care she believed him or not, he was still no Professor, just a school governor with enough power to make her come to detention.

And aaaall that yellow...

*shudder again*

..."I wasn't planning on stopping...," neither was him. A shaky hand took the brush back, but...remember what he said about the WHOLE wall? Well, this wasn't exactly like what she'd gone through for that DADA homework, the floor wasn't yellow, and if everything in the room had to be yellow then that would include Vinteren as well...

...she still hated the stupid yellow and, yes, she was definitely scared of being left alone here amongst ALL the yellowness. So, painting it is. "I must not tell lies. Funny." She said, reading what was on the wall. In what way was the painting charmed, though? Was it gonna be stuck forever??? If so, she was getting new shoes. And ice cream. "I do not tell lies, I just accept gifts." FACT.

Her fear had subsided a bit, oooonly a bit, because she mostly wanted to be done and out of here. FOREVER. So, brushing still.

[Erik Vinteren]

Right, whatever. She could continue to be a brat if she wanted to, and Erik would continue to read his magazine. He stretched out his long legs and flipped a page irritably.

When she spoke, reading the message on the wall, the wall echoed it back to her. "I MUST NOT TELL LIES," the wall repeated in her voice. "Funny." Then it added, in a slightly softer echo, "I DO NOT TELL LIES, I JUST ACCEPT GIFTS."


"Oops?" Was he not supposed to hear that admission of guilt? Erik smirked to himself and turned another page in his magazine. Fascinating, what magic could do. Good thing she was still painting, because he was certain this lesson hadn't stuck to her yet. Her next phrase wasn't even halfway completed. Tsk tsk, they were burning daylight here.

FROM

[Lockhartian]

Vinteren was annoyed, wasn't he? Well, good. She was starting to get annoyed too...

..until...

...GASP!

A YELLOW PAINT THAT TALKS BACK?!?!??! eeeeeeek! This was the scariest thing ever, and her eyes were wide enough to show how incredibly surprised she was by this development, not to mentioned she stepped back from it as well. Yeah, we're burning all the curtains in the dormitory.

Lottie didn't want to keep painting, the next thing the paint could do was start chasing her and that was.....................unthinkable, so, think about ice cream instead, and how much you hate Vinteren, yeah, exactly. The 'Oops' sounded better on her, by the way.

But then...'FROM'...ugh, there was no point in keeping an answer hidden was it? The paint probably had some sort of charm that would let the truth be on the wall or something. She narrowed her eyes at it, her hand kept going, brushing more paint into the wall. Not before saying ONE single name: "Alexa." She wasn't 'Lex' at the moment, okay? Because Lottie was upset.

[Erik Vinteren]

That was another good reaction. Bravo, Wisteria, you are livening up this detention marginally. Erik continued pretending to reading, smirking and shaking his head as the girl talked to the wall.

"Alexa," it repeated in her shuddery tone. That wasn't exactly what the wall was waiting for, though. As she kept painting the next lesson became more clear.


FROM NOW ON,

[Lockhartian]

Now, this was a real 'Oops' moment, because when the paint talked back (which was insanely creepy and scary), she was more than certain that Erik Vinteren could hear that, which made it all worse.

He probably found out about something he wasn't supposed to.

HOWEVER, she figured something out...

...if she didn't speak, then the paint will not talk back, right? Right. So, she kept quiet this time, even if she wanted to explain things a bit more to Vinteren, she...really wasn't trying to blame anyone here. Even if the one person to blame was the goblin from Gringotts for not noticing that ALEXA was taking the gems.

So what happens once the paint was gone? Did the super mega HUGE bucket refill itself? That would be terrifying. Merlin, she wasn't going to sleep tonight, and she'll be having nightmares thanks to Vinteren. And Alexa. And she just wanted ice cream and Airey. Though, this was a pretty cool punishment from Vinteren, she'll never admit it.

But all this yellow....when does it end?! Her breathing had started to pick up where her heart left off, it was too much yellow already. She never stopped brushing, NOT ONCE.

[Erik Vinteren]

Truth be told (irony, ha), Erik didn't need Wisteria to dig herself into a deeper hole. He already knew that she and Alexa had the gems. What was he trying to prove here?

Maybe he would let the walls speak for themselves. The sound of her paintbrush moving across the brick was reassuring in its own way. He looked up to check on her progress. The wall now read:

FROM NOW I ON, I WILL ONLY TELL THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT

[Lockhartian]

EXCELLENT.

Now, if Vinteren happened to ASK about this, what will she do, eh? Will she do exactly what the wall was pointing out...or...? Chances are that she'll be telling the exact truth, which was different than truth, because that one she'd said back in his office. But the exact truth...well, she sort of gave it away when she talked to the wall a few moments ago.

Seriously, though, the paint was running low, but she didn't want to mention anythiiiiing to anyoooone. You know, yellow talking back was the worst. Cue another shudder.

Lotus Acacia Wisteria will be changing the color trim on her robes FROM NOW ON. And then cry to Airey after this is over, and after she's had some ice cream.

Brush, brush. Her arm was getting tired, though.

[Erik Vinteren]

The next phrase was completed. Just in time, too, as Erik was tired of sitting. He stood up and stretched out, tucking the magazine under his arm. He stared down the Hufflepuff and the vile yellow wall, which stated:

FROM NOW I ON, I WILL ONLY TELL THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH.

OR ELSE.




"Read it. Out loud, Ms. Wisteria."

[Lockhartian]

'Or else'? Snort.

No, seriously, it would've been super amusing if the THING hadn't been painted in YELLOW, but...you know, it really wasn't as amusing.

Either way, the moment she felt Vinteren standing up, she looked up from the wall and her eyes landed on the man in question. Oh. Read. Aloud. As if she was actually meaning those words? She'll mean them, don't worry.

Not like she has anything to lose. She has a lot to gain, though. Ice cream, ice cream, Airey, Airey's rock, crying about this with Airey, getting rid of all things yellow...

...so, Lottie put down the brush, because...pleeeease Vinteren we cannot hold that yellow brush anymooooooore!!! And then, she cleared her throat.

Was the yellow gonna talk back now? Was she supposed to start from the very beginning? UGH. Better not chance it. "I must not tell lies." Well, that was the beginning of everything.

"From now on...," her eyes were hurting, but that was probably from fighting tears than the bright yellow on the wall, "...I will only tell the truth...," the exact truth, "...the whole truth, and nothing but the truth...," and get ice cream, more ice cream, "...Or else."

Now she was only hoping Vinteren wouldn't ask anything, and she went back to tugging her bracelets.

[Erik Vinteren]

Even Erik would maybe admit that the yellow paint threat was...how do you say...cheesy, and not just because of the colour, but he was dealing with a child here. He couldn't exactly be his usual intimidating self within the confines of this castle. It would be slightly illegal frowned upon.

He waited for her to read it, listened as the wall repeated it back to her, word for word, and then nodded. "Good. Now haff you learned something today?"

Had she re-thought her actions from earlier?