Silas just wasn't willing to wait years to grow.
Today he felt like Zacchaeus, short and unwilling to wait for the crowds to part for him. His cleverness led him to climb a tree for a better vantage point, but Silas only wanted to for the tree itself. He'd need strength and courage to brave the ratlines if he joined the Navy someday. Maybe he still could, but not if he spent his term at Hogwarts just waving wands and muttering incantations. Silas could use that same strength and courage to brave a school that defied so much sensibility. A tree would do nicely for that, he told himself, and he was sure that wasn't his impatience talking.
Rolling up the sleeves of his shirt as if readying himself for battle, Silas reached up for the lowest branch. He could only brush it with his fingertips on tiptoe. If only an angel might help him jump, for when he did so the thicker branch scraped at his fingers before he could find purchase. Silas was not going to be deterred, but a disdainful noise escaped his lips nonetheless. Taking a few steps back, Silas lowered his head to mutter a few words as a prayer. Then he dashed forward, taking a running start before leaping up to catch the whole tree branch in his palms at last.
The strain in his arms burned, yet still he clung there. Dangling in midair, Silas felt the lack of purchase distinctly in his stretched lungs and his useless feet. Maybe climbing could wait for another day, when he could pull himself over the top of the branch while dangling in midair. For now, he lifted himself experimentally in a few small trials of strength. Once or twice, his brow rose level with the branch, near enough to see the patterns in its bark.
As always, Silas was forced to lower himself back down from the pull-up. He spotted the newcomer then, watching or waiting nearby. The boy didn't think he'd been putting on much of a show, but he puffed out enough of a breath to shout, "Fear not, I'm only testing if I'm strong enough yet."
OOC: Open to 2-3 others at Hogwarts
![[Image: 9L7tGPO.png]](https://i.imgur.com/9L7tGPO.png)