She heard..No, not heard but saw that there was a new Groundskeeper at Hogwarts. Sure, there were lots of new staff to be exact and she wanted to know more about those people who'd take care of them while they're at the school.

Thus, she was here. In front of the Groundskeeper's hut, knocking on the door.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Whilst waiting, Beatrice settled herself on one of the curved wooden benches.

Waylon did not hear the knock at his door.

Instead, he heard the very high pitched bark of his puppy, Biscuit, and knowing what those types of barks meant was the only reason why he was off his sofa and heading to the door. So, it was a great shock to him when he opened the door and noticed the girl sitting on his bench. Sure, the kids were allowed to sit there, but she was alone which meant..she was there to visit him!

Not weird at all.

"Hello." he greeted with a grin, "You're not allergic to dogs, are you?" So he could stop Biscuit from making his way over to her.

The whole place seems totally new to me, she thought. So many things in Hogwarts has changed, but all were good changes so she liked it very much. Hopefully, the new teachers wouldn't be so hard on them so the whole term would turn out to be the best.

Smiling widely like a cat because of her thoughts, Beezus was a bit startled when the new Groundskeeper came out if his hut. She immediately stood up and bowed, "Good day!" She greeted. "Nope. Not to dogs sir, only to chocolate.." She answered when asked if she was allergic to dogs. How can she be allergic to those adorable creatures when they're that cute? Then she saw the dog, so that's why he asked. "Pretty dog.." Beezus commented.

Ahh, good.

Grin widening as the girl said she was not allergic to dogs, pity about the chocolate though, Waylon moved his foot from out of the doorway and allowed Biscuit to continue his journey towards her, his little tail wagging a mile a minute. And just like the good little puppy he was, he parked himself right down by her shoes once he reached her, just waiting for her to bend down and pet him.

Waylon chuckled and shook his head as he watched the puppy for a moment longer before turning back to the girl. "Thanks, his name is Biscuit." And before he forgot, which would happen, "And I'm Mr. Murdoch." Which sounded really, really weird.

"Was there something I can help you with?" Like..an important something he could help her with? Otherwise, he would just talk more about how cute his dog was!

Raven wanted to meet the new groundskeeper and asked him where was the giant treehouse, did they vanished it and changed it into some new spots? Gah, Raven really missed the treehouse.

She walked to his hut and knocked the door.

"Knock knock knock..."

And just after she had said that she wasn't allergic to dogs, a cute little puppy emerged in sight and trotted towards her. Pretty..So cute, adorable little puppy! Beezus thought as she knelt down immediately when the puppy reached her shoes. She did not know the Groundskeeper had a very adorable pup. Not to mention that it was such a well behaved one.

"Biscuit!" Beezus exclaimed, hugging the little dog. "That is so cute sir. Just like him.." Oh, can she borrow him for like a while and maybe tour the little thing around Hogwarts? "I already know that sir." She was referring to the Groundskeeper's name. "And it's very nice to meet you."

Help her with something? No, not at all. Beezus stood up, Biscuit tightly carried on her arms. "No, nothing sir. I just wanted to tell you that you have done such an explicit job with the grounds." True, the school grounds were totally amazing and it had undergone a major wonderful change.

Gemma walked towards the Groundskeeper Hut carefully. It was nice having a path to the hut but the path and her heels never really worked well together...it was like walking in cottage cheese when it rained even a little bit...she thought as she shook her head slightly left and right. As she walked, well no stumbled gracefully in heels, down the path, she tried very hard to keep the basket of goodies from falling on the ground. She wasn't normally a clumsy person...actually she was quite the opposite...well usually.

Finally, she arrived at the hut and walked towards the door. She was excited to sneak down from the castle...fresh air always made her day...she made a mental note to take a walk by the lake later...o no a run sounded better...she realized she was standing by the door staring/thinking and must look rather odd...so she quickly knocked twice on the huge wooden door.

As she waited, she noticed the cute little curved benches and decided to sit down...her basket of goodies beside her on the bench. She crossed her legs and waited...taking in the outdoors and wishing she had more time to spend outside....and getting more excited about

Waylon..was scared.

He knew those types of knocks, and they were never the good kind. He was actually thinking about moving off of his sofa to lay down on the floor, that way, if whoever was knocking like that happened to look through one of his windows, they wouldn't see him and just leave. But, remembering that he was working around children, and they might possibly need his help, he'd just suck up the scary knock and answer the door.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed himself off the sofa, and making his way over to the door of his hut, he swung it open slow and creeper-like. Only to see the knocker was a girl and..standing right there. "Err, hello." he greeted, glancing around to see if anyone else was out there waiting for him. Nope, no other visitors. "Can I help you with something?"

Ohh!

Not only did the girl like Biscuit, then again who wouldn't!?, she liked his name, AND she already knew HIS name. Perhaps he wasn't going to have to introduce himself to as many people as he thought he was going to. Waylon made a little mental note to only introduce himself if the student asked. Not that he'd remember that note anyway.

Biscuit liked compliments. Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes he did! The little dog's tail began to wag even more and he gave a few high-pitched barks until the girl!person bent down to give him some attention. She smelt like treats! And as she began to hug him, his very wet nose got to work, first sniffing her face and hair before moving to her pockets, looking for something he could eat.

Treatsplease!?

Leaning up against his door frame, Waylon chuckled as he watched Biscuit attack the girl with his nose. The puppy was going to like it here, especially if all the kiddies spoiled him with attention. And he himself was going to like it even more if the kiddies complimented the things he put on the grounds. It was the ducks, everyone loved ducks! "Thank you," he paused, trying to remember if she had told him her name. But coming to the conclusion that she hadn't, he continued. "I'm really glad you like everything." And just because he was thinking it..

"It's because of the ducks, isn't it?" Hehe.



From the sound of the very first knock, Waylon had his eyes on the front door, an eyebrow raising as he heard the second. He was half expecting more, but was glad that there wasn't. He didn't like those more than two knock types, they always meant he had to hurry and go see what the problem was, because he was at Hogwarts, and there were always problems. And anyone who knew him, knew he did not like to rush.

Placing down his issue of The Daily Prophet, he was in that issue after all! Sure, it didn't say his name, but it did say new Groundskeeper, he was going to put that article up on the fireplace, Waylon made his way towards the door. Once it was open, he was surprised to see a Professor standing there..the same Professor who had managed to wake up the Healer when she..fell asleep on him.

Was she there to..yell at him..or..something? Ehh, he couldn't think, he was too busy taking notice of the basket she was holding.

"Gemma, isn't it?" He was pretty sure it was. "Please, come in." Grinning, Waylon stepped aside to let her enter.

Huzzah! You may post in the office hut! ^__^

Biscuit was very adorable, it seemed to know its way around and yeah, it was good at it because the puppy was now moving towards her pockets, possibly seeking for some treats?

But oh! She didn't brought any. Not one single cookie, but then again, she was not Kurumi who always had cookies with her. "Oh..Biscuit, I'm so sorry but I don't have any food with me right now.." She said as she scratched the dog's neck. "I only have my wand with me.." And patted its head. "I'll bring you some next time, okay?" The Groundskeeper probably found her weird since she was talking to his dog.

Of course, she liked everything. Everything was marvelous.

Ducks? Ducks? D.U.C.K.S ?? Oh! Ducks on the Duck pond. She heard about those but since she hadn't been there yet, she can't compliment well enough. "Errr--I think so too sir, but I..I most especially like the new garden," Yes, that one. The one with the moving bushes. The topiary garden. Woot!

Oh, the new groundskeeper. Raven smiled to her and boewd to her.

"Good day, Sir. Sorry if I'm disturbing you." said Raven polite. "Oh, My name is Raven Charlotte and.. First, I want to say that you do a great job for the ground. But.." she doubted whether she was appropriate to ask it.

"I didn't see the Giant Treehouse, sir."

Sniff, sniff, sniff.

Biscuit's nose was moving just as quickly as his tail was wagging as he tried to find where the girl was hiding her treats. She had to have some! What was the point in having those pocket things if they weren't full of treats? For him!? The old guy always had treats in his. Whimpering, the puppy's tail began to slow and was just going to settle for the neck scratches and head patting when his ears perked up at that certain word.

Wand. STICK!

Jumping out of the girl's arms, Biscuit moved into his playful pounce mode, head resting on his front paws and his bottom sticking up in the air. He let out a few high-pitched barks, and once again, his tail moved back and forth.

THROW THE STICK!!

"Biscuit." Waylon started sternly, giving his dog a look to let him know that the girl was not going to throw her wand for him. Merlin, Biscuit had left so many bite marks on his, he was surprised it still worked! And he wasn't about to go into details about how many times he had to dig it up from the ground. He was not letting the dog do that anymore. "Your toys are inside." Silly puppy.

But, with the puppy ignoring him, and being confident enough that the girl would not throw her wand, Waylon turned back to face her, his eyebrows raising slightly. Sure, sure, he was happy to know she enjoyed the Topiary Garden, but the ducks! She hadn't been to see them! That was the only reason why she would only think she liked them. "Ahh, glad you like that then!" The garden just happened to be his favorite, as well.

"The Topiary didn't give you a hard time, did they?" There were ways to get them to stop.

Waving a hand dismissively in the girl's direction, she was not bothering him at all, Waylon opened the door to his hut a little further and leaned up against the frame. It seemed he had nothing to be afraid of, those knocks could be deceiving!, and he grinned when she introduced herself and complimented his grounds. That was number two! He was going to keep a tally somewhere.

He had just opened his mouth to thank her, and ask about the ducks, because everyone loved ducks, when she mentioned not seeing the treehouse. Err.. Oops? "Why don't you go and take a seat inside?" he asked, gesturing for her to enter his hut. She was probably going to have to sit down for this.

Go ahead and post in the hut!

Zephania was not all that fussy for elf cooked food,particularly the meats and mushy vegetables. Oh how he longed for a fresh salad and wild foods such as truffles or morelles or even anything picked fresh and eaten right there. But it was not the normal way at Hogwarts.
Now he had come to the one place that might be the answer to his longing.

Gaaaahh, she really felt bad that she did not bring any treats for the puppy. But seriously, who would've thought the groundskeeper had one? She was rather expecting that he had a dragon. Not to mention that that fact wasn't announced throughout the whole school. She just kept on reminding herself that next time when she comes over to visit, she'll bring goodies for Biscuit.

Suddenly, the dog jumped off from her hold. And it was...errr--what exactly was it doing? Okay, so she loved animals, especially cute little ones. But she did not know that much about dogs. For Merlin's sake, she only had a cat! Turning to face the Groundskeeper, she decided to ask. "Errmm..sir, is Biscuit implying that he wants to play?" Because that was the only thing she could think of upon witnessing that kind of behavior.

Ah, the Topiary Garden. "No sir..They just..err--sometimes they get spooky." She gave out a small laugh. "With moving all of a sudden you know," Beezus added. Other than that, the garden was spectacular. She even remembered seeing the other students taking picture there.

Arriving at the hut with Daichi and Thea, Kurumi stepped to the side and gestured towards the door. "Go ahead Daichi," she coaxed, implying that the younger Slytherin was the one who ought to knock on the door. Yes, Kurumi said she would come with him, but this was all about Daichi and...ducks.

The nervousness came back when they had arrived at the hut and Daichi had to take a deep breath to calm himself. He walked to the hut's door after giving one last look at the two. What if he would laugh? or worse, what if he would refuse?!

Trying not to think about it, Daichi lifted his fist, it hovered a few seconds in mid air before he knocked. Atleast the first step was done now...

Thea smirked, and nudged Daichi with her shoulder. 'Go go go, duckie boy!' But she did smile.

Minerva walked over to the Hut and knocked on the door. She found a seat on the cute little bench and sat down.

Shaking his head as he watched Biscuit, Waylon bent down and scooped the little puppy in his arms. Really, if he was going to act like this everytime someone came to talk to him, well, he was going to have to keep him inside the hut! Which..wouldn't really help matters, would it? Especially if the visitor needed to go inside. Ehh, at least there were real toys to distract him in there.

"Yep!" he answered with a chuckle, giving the dog a good scratch behind his ears. "He knows the word 'wand' a little too well." Probably from all the times he had to yell at him to get his wand out of his mouth. And Waylon wasn't sure, but he thought Biscuit enjoyed watching him dig his wand back up. Crazy dog. "And I suggest you not let him see yours. Unless you want to dig around for three days." Right Biscuit!? Waylon gave the puppy a look before turning back to Beezus.

Who was spooked by the topiary!?

He didn't mean for that to happen, and it was probably a good thing he was talked out of charming them to make noises like he wanted to. "Oh.." Hmm.. "They're quite harmless. The giraffe will even let you sit on it." And..he probably shouldn't be telling everyone that, but it was actually amusing. "And they're afraid of water." Just in case.



From his very, very comfortable spot on the sofa, Waylon flicked his wand towards the door once he heard the knock. He was feeling rather lazy, and whoever was there, he hoped they didn't mind him not physically answering. As long as he answered, right?

Although, he probably should have physically answered once the door swung open and he saw not one, not two, but THREE kids there. And one was the Gryffindor Prefect.

Pushing himself from off the sofa, he moved over to the door and held it open. "Unless this is a emergency, you three can come in." He was hoping there wasn't an emergency.

OOC: And in the hut you three go!

And more knocks!

Waylon was feeling very popular and it probably showed as he answered the door. He spotted the girl sitting on the bench, and after realizing that she was the only one out there, he held the door open and moved aside. "You can come in." Unless she wanted to just sit there. But the sofas inside were much more comfortable.

OOC: Now you can post inside! =P

Asher had heard some pretty interesting stories about this groundskeeper this term. He sounded totally awesome. So if he was this awesome, he wanted to meet him. Because awesome people should met each other.

He skipped to the hut where Mr. Awesome supposedly lived and knocked on the door. Asher plopped down on the benches outside the hut. That's what you were supposed to do right?

WOW!

Waylon sure was popular, and with all the knocking going on at his door, he had thoughts of just leaving the thing wide open. Imagine all the walking he wouldn't have to do if he left it open!

He'd think about it. But for now..

Swinging the door open, Waylon looked around and spotted the boy sitting on the bench right out front. It didn't seem like anything majorly important, just a social visit and he waved him over. "Hello." Little guy. "You can come in." If he wanted to..

OOC: Woohoo! You can post inside now!

She stared as the Groundskeeper picked the puppy up and propped it close to him. Gaaaah, such a sweet gesture. The two of them looked very happy with each other. How she wished her cat Davinci was also like that. Merlin, that cat was just snobbish towards her and now she can't find it anywhere. Stupid cat.

She frowned a bit when Mr. Murdoch told her about a wand incident. "Three days?!" She couldn't help but burst out, wide-eyed and open mouthed. Surely not Biscuit? Not a cute little thing like it. But then again, Beezus was always deceived by cute things. The same happened with Panda right? She thought he was harmless but the owl pecked her finger when she tried feeding it. Yeah, not everything that shines is gold indeed. Then after a few seconds, she realized that she must be looking funny with her eyes and mouth all opened.

Ahemmm.. She tried to regain her composure. "Errr--sorry if you have to see me like that Sir," Pretty embarrassing, that one is.

Yet her astounded face hasn't been suppressed for too long because there was another thing that the Groundskeeper said that made her eyes open like a crystal ball again. "Reaaaaaally? The giraffe would allow that?" She asked when he said that the topiary giraffe would let them sit on it. Hey, hey! That was awesome! And another revelation! Beezus blinked. TWICE. "Water? water?" Her face scrunched up into a small frown. "But they're plants."

Waylon couldn't help but chuckle at Beezus' reaction.

Did she not think little Biscuit was capable of burying a wand? Sure, it was his own fault his wand was missing for three days, but if it wasn't for the puppy, he would have never had to look for it in the first place! And then forget to look for it. If only those Remembrall's told him what it was he was forgetting. It would make things so much easier. "Don't worry about it." he waved a hand dismissively as he moved passed her and took a seat on one of the benches. He was standing for too long and.. these benches were not comfortable at all.

He should probably get new ones. "Besides, I would have made that same face." An adult, because Waylon was an adult, losing their wand for three days all because of a puppy? Yes, his face would have still looked like that.

Oh, and there was that face again. Chuckling once more, Waylon leaned forward, and placing Biscuit onto the ground, he watched as the puppy scampered on into his hut. Well, goodbye to you, too, Biscuit. "I think all of them will, really." He didn't see anyone try to ride the other topiary, but it was still early in the year. As for the topiary not liking water.. well, it was most likely due to his charmwork not being the best, but he wasn't going to say that. "Animal instincts.." Yeah, that sounded good. "They are charmed to act like the animals, and not many animals like water." Oh gosh, that did not sound good.

She shouldn't worry about it? Riiiight! She should not. That is, if it wasn't her wand. Yet considering the fact that wands are wizard's most prized possession, she couldn't but feel for the Groundskeeper. When he sat down on the benches, she stayed on her spot. She was not going to sit on those benches, those didn't look too pretty comfortable. Besides, it was already getting late so more or less, she would need to get a move on in a while.

And whuuuut? He would also have made the same face? That ridiculous face? That was just ridiculous. But then again, the Groundskeeper was a bit different from the other staff. A good different, he was more welcoming per say.

The puppy ran into the hut. Gaaaah, she'll definitely come back soon and with treats for Biscuit at that. Beezus then faced Mr. Murdoch when he told her more about the Topiary Garden. "Really?" She repeated with sparkly eyes. She really wanted to ride those Topiary animals. Probably the giraffe? They say it has a very long neck. Listening more, she nodded and made it a note to remember what he said. "I'll look after those plants Sir," Yeap, she just appointed herself that. "And I'll..." suddenly, her stomach made a churning sound.

O________________________O

Embarrassing! Embarrassing! Embarrassing!

"Errr---I'd love to stick around sir yet my stomach seems to be hungry already," Beezus said thereafter, trying to hide any hint of embarrassment on her face. Besides, it was also getting dark now. So.. "I'll go on ahead Mr. Murdoch sir, shall I?" And without waiting for a response from him, she jolted away. "I'll come visit again soon!" the eaglette added.

Now that the tree-hugging convention was over those few things were taken care of back home, Waylon finally arrived back at Hogwarts It had felt like he was gone forever and he was almost scared to take a walk around the grounds. He knew how some of the Professors students acted. There better not be a headless horse topiary in his garden.

Thankfully, though, after mustering up his courage and taking a quick walk around, he saw that everything was in the same condition as it was when he left. Well, almost everything What had happened in his vegetable patch?

Eh. He would take care of that later. He was too tired to do anything.

So, making his way to his hut, a very squirmy Biscuit under his arm, Waylon pushed open the door and stepped inside.