A Moment of Peace {Tag: Timothy}

Alfie had found an empty chair and table near the rear corner of the dungeon. He tried to spend as little time in the Common Room as possible but some days he couldn't avoid it. Alfie stared at the roaring fire in the grate, shuffling through his tarot cards mindlessly.

He had a brief memory of his father teaching him how to use Floo Powder for the first time. Alfie had mastered it perfectly and his father had been so proud. A card fell from the deck. He glanced at it, the Four of Cups; confusion. He placed it aside.

Timothy stepped into the Common Room, hoping for some peace and quiet, maybe a game of chess. He spotted a boy shuffling a large deck of cards, large in size and number. Not a standard muggle deck. Timothy wandered over.
"Hello. Mind if I ask what you're doing?" Timothy smiled, shoulders slumped, trying to not seem authoritative.

Alfie stared at the older boy, taken aback. His fellow Slytherins usually didn't make a habit out of talking to him, everyone seemed happier that way. But this boy was cute and seemed genuinely interested in being nice, Alfie decided to give him a chance.

"I'm shuffling my tarot cards. It's kind of a habit I have..." He trailed off, unsure what to say next.

"Taro cards? I'm not familiar with those. Could you explain how to play?" Timothy asked. The boy was quite surprised at being addressed, eyebrows up and mouth slightly parted. Timothy pulled up a chair beside him, curious about the large cards. Perhaps it was a game that would adequately occupy his time and intellect.

"It's not... uh, it's not really a game. They're used for Divination, mostly. It's called Cartomancy. These cards can be used to work through relationship problems, or give advice on a certain situation, or even interpret dreams." This older boy really did seem interested. Alfie continued, "They are very open to interpretation and a little bit hard to translate sometimes. But when you learn? They can be very insightful."

"Homework for Divination class, then?" Timothy smiled. "How can they be useful if they're open to interpretation?" He didn't put a lot of faith in things of that nature, preferring to focus on the known, the provable. He highly doubted a deck of cards could be of help interpreting dreams.

"Less homework, more habit. As I said, they take some practice and maybe a little natural ability. Each card in a read represents a different aspect of a problem." He pulled a card face down at random from the deck. "Take the Queen of Cups for instance," he flipped the card, it was indeed the Queen of Cups. "She's upside down, which means that she's inverted. An inverted Queen of Cups represents a betrayer. Someone who takes more than they give." Alfie's eyes met his companion's.

Timothy frowned. Could the boy have memorized the placement of every card? Impossible, Timothy had approached as he was shuffling. The boy was staring at him, but Timothy couldn't tell if it was an accusatory gaze about the nature of the card, or checking to see if Timothy understood. He would act as if it was the latter. 
"How does pulling cards from a deck help? What if there is no betrayer in the problem you're trying to solve?" Timothy asked. He'd figure out how the boy knew the card was the queen of cups later.

Alfie put the flipped card on top of the Four of Cups. "Then you search for another interpretation. Or you reassess the situation keeping that new piece of information in mind. I know it must sound a little inexact, but that's the future for you. Always changing, shifting with our choices," he said with a smile.

"Mmm." Timothy responded. The boy seemed completely at ease and open. "So, how did you know that card was going to be queen of the cups?" He asked, gesturing toward it with an open hand.

Alfie smiled. He had expected the question. "I usually know," he said simply, raising an eyebrow.

Timothy frowned, not liking the boy's cockiness. 
"So, what, are you a Seer?" He asked. That might explain the boy's faith in the cards, if he used them to enhance his ability or something. "Can you recognize the cards from the back somehow?" If that was the case, it would make a neat parlour trick.

Alfie's gaze turned serious. "Spend enough time with anything-- or anyone and you'll usually know." He paused, picked up the Queen, and held it out for the older boy to see. "My Queen's missing part of a corner, that's all." He smiled at the boy.

Timothy chuckled at the simple explanation. 
"So what does 4 cups mean? Did you pick these cards out for me in particular?" Time to find out if the boy meant anything by the upside down queen of cups meaning a betrayer.

Alfie picked up the card in question and placed it on top of its Queen. "It typically means 'mixed emotions', he switched the cards. "The Betrayer." Alfie chuckled, "I wouldn't read to much into those if I were you, though. Focusing too intensely on interpreting every card that ever comes out of the deck can drive people mad. Trust a reading, not individual cards." He placed the deck on the table and looked at the older boy.

Timothy nodded. He couldn't be certain the boy was telling the truth, he didn't look at Timothy when he spoke, but he was focused on the cards. 
"Interesting. You said you use this for a lot of things?" It was interesting, in a way a person's habits or beliefs usually weren't to Timothy. Perhaps because it involved a gaining or rethinking of information in an odd way.

"They can be used for a lot of things," Alfie said. "I use them to clarify a specific problem or situation. I don't need dream interpretation, I know what my dreams mean." He looked away and was silent for a moment. Then, without thinking, he pulled another card from the deck, looked at it, and set it on the table. "Inverted Nine of Wands," he said.

The boy was blocking when he talked about his dreams, but dreams were private things. 
"What does inverted nine of wands mean? I'm Timothy Carpenter, by the way." Timothy smiled.

"Alfie Angelo, nice to meet you," Alfie said with a smile. "An inverted Nine of Wands means that a conflict is coming and that defense will be difficult." He put it on top of the other cards in his hand, looking at it with unease. After a moment, he looked back at Timothy. "I don't know what that means," he said truthfully.

"Maybe it's referring to Quidditch." Timothy smiled, though he could tell the card worried Alfie. His eyebrows were pressed together, eyes wide, corners of his mouth slightly downturned. "With the kind of stuff that goes on at this school, who knows?" Timothy sighed. "No use worrying about it."

Alfie tried to stamp out the worried look with a smile. "You're probably right," he said. He gave the Nine a final glance as he shoved it and its companions back into the middle of the deck.

Alfie tried to smile, but it was obviously fake, his mouth stretching sideways instead of up, the corners of his eyes smooth.
"So you said you use these cards to work through problems? You just pull them out of the deck and what they mean helps you find the solution to a problem?" Timothy asked. "No offense, but it sounds like just thinking would also work." Timothy hoped he didn't offend Alfie.

"Not quite. The meanings of the cards are fixed. Death represents change, the High Priestess is meditation, the Four of Swords means a truce. It's up to the person using the cards to interpret how those meanings apply to their life or current situation. 
"There are a lot of Muggles that think they are very good at this. They call themselves 'psychic' and charge people to have their 'futures' told." Alfie shook his head with reproach. "No, the cards don't tell the future. They're like a crystal ball, or even a wand... the user is the one with power, the object is just a tool. It works for some and doesn't work for others."

"So if I picked a card from the deck it may or may not mean something?" Timothy asked, thinking about Muggles who were good at the taro cards. Were they almost muggleborn wizards or something?

Alfie sighed inwardly, Timothy was not quite grasping the concept. He couldn't help but feel he was not representing these cards very well. 
"Let me ask you something. Did the three cards I pulled earlier mean anything?" he asked, changing tactics.