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Lissy Longbottom · #1 (**permalink**) 08-20-2022, 08:40 PM

Image Credit: Felixir

Every 1st September, new first years arrive at Hogwarts via boat, travelling from the outskirts of Hogsmeade, across the lake, and into the boathouse. This structure stands, logically enough, at the edge of the lake, and can be reached via a pathway from the courtyard, consisting of a long and winding stairway down the cliff face. A hidden passageway accessible from the inside of the boathouse leads up through the cliff itself, and emerges onto a patch of lawn which lies in the shadow of the castle.

All of the Hogwarts boats are stored here when not in use. You are free to take them out onto the lake, as long as you have permission from the groundskeeper to do so. Everything you might need for a trip out in the boats is hanging up around the walls, including oars and life jackets. Be sure to put everything back where you found it once you're done with it. Including - and especially - the boats themselves.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

astrocat · 09-05-2022, 07:50 PM

Ashley Fox was in a mood. Not a good mood, or an awful mood. Apparently it was the kind of mood that required her to head to the boathouse and paint there all alone while thinking deeply about Stuff. She was painting a portrait for Mikey, the nice first year she'd met on the train, and her little sewn toy phoenix was sitting by her to keep company. As she painted, she gradually relaxed and felt her mood dissipating.

Sometimes, all she needed was a little bit of quiet time with her thoughts.

La_Luna · 09-06-2022, 08:29 AM

It was a pleasant day. She decided to take a stroll through the various parts of Hogwarts. This place was indeed beautiful. It was magical, truly, the castle. She was still getting used to how very out of a muggle fairy tale this place looked.

Ooh, a boathouse! Could she take one out with permission? As she walked about the place, she saw an older Ravenclaw painting. 'That's beautiful,' she remarked.

astrocat · 09-06-2022, 03:09 PM

Ash wasn't very present, between the thinking and the painting and her general Ashley state of not-present-in-the-moment. It took her at least good thirty seconds to notice someone was talking to her, and five more seconds to remember what the question was. "Oh... thanks. I asked a first year if I could paint them, and I figured now would be a good time to work on it, when I was in a quiet space." She looked over at the girl and studied her, recognizing her from the feast. Too bad Ash had skipped most of that. "We haven't met. I'm Ashley. Or Ash, if you'd like." Either was fine. Although in her opinion, they had slightly different meanings.

Kimothy · 09-07-2022, 07:12 AM

Henry couldn't quite remember when the last time he went to the boathouse. The first time, yes, because he'd been a tiny wimpy first year when the boats docked here had brought him and his classmates across the lake on their first night at Hogwarts. Obviously, that was a very long time ago and Henry didn't even have much memory of it, just that it felt good at that time. Any Giant Squid related questions and concerns in relation to his name were dodged perfectly well, thank you very much! Watching you from afar or something, Kissy James! All was forgiven, but not exactly forgotten.

Walking to the boathouse right after class, Henry had decided he'd just take his bag with him as the journey to the basements was far too long and the seventh year was feeling lazy. Which already proved to be a terrible idea because the next moment after tossing his bag to the side, it slid off the edge from too much force and into the water. "No—" He'd spoken too soon.

Sighing LOUDLY out of frustration, the Hufflepuff removed his robes so as not to get it wet, and bent down from the edge to pick his bag up in a very awkward position. All fours, with a lot of hand stretching. The human limbs were capable of amazing but WEIRD positions. Thankfully it sort of lodged itself between a docked boat and the wall, so it didn't sink (yet) (who knows).

The only thing sinking here? Henry Hembree. Who fell right in the water from all that awkward positioning. He even hit his hand on the boat's hull. Nothing serious or broken, but MERLIN THAT HURT.

He let out not a sigh now, but a YELL of frustration. Now both he and his bag were soaked wet. And it was COLD DOWN HERE. Thanks, I hate it.

La_Luna · 09-07-2022, 07:15 PM

That was genuinely nice of her, Tahani thought. The paintings were beautiful. Reminded her of home. 'That's awfully sweet of you,' she remarked. 'My mom is an artist too,' she said.

'Hi Ash, I'm Tahani,' she said. She vaguely remembered meeting her at the feast.

astrocat · 09-08-2022, 01:16 AM

"Yeah, well... I told them I enjoy painting interesting people and that's true." She had lots of time on her hands, and painting gave her something to work on when she felt like this. Plus, thinking about Mikey made her feel pretty good about being a seventh year and being among the oldest at Hogwarts. She wished she felt that way more. "My father taught me how to draw and paint. He isn't an artist though, he runs a computer hardware company. What sort of art does your mom make?" That was really cool! Ash likely would have gone to art school or been a writer if she hadn't agreed to follow around her dad learning business.

"Tahani. Nice to meet you. You're a first year, I assume? I think I might have heard your name being sorted." It had been hard to connect the name and the face, at least when Ash had her head down on the table and was thinking about something totally different.

sweetpinkpixie · 09-08-2022, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kimothy

Henry couldn't quite remember when the last time he went to the boathouse. The first time, yes, because he'd been a tiny wimpy first year when the boats docked here had brought him and his classmates across the lake on their first night at Hogwarts. Obviously, that was a very long time ago and Henry didn't even have much memory of it, just that it felt good at that time. Any Giant Squid related questions and concerns in relation to his name were dodged perfectly well, thank you very much! Watching you from afar or something, Kissy James! All was forgiven, but not exactly forgotten.

Walking to the boathouse right after class, Henry had decided he'd just take his bag with him as the journey to the basements was far too long and the seventh year was feeling lazy. Which already proved to be a terrible idea because the next moment after tossing his bag to the side, it slid off the edge from too much force and into the water. "No—" He'd spoken too soon.

Sighing LOUDLY out of frustration, the Hufflepuff removed his robes so as not to get it wet, and bent down from the edge to pick his bag up in a very awkward position. All fours, with a lot of hand stretching. The human limbs were capable of amazing but WEIRD positions. Thankfully it sort of lodged itself between a docked boat and the wall, so it didn't sink (yet) (who knows).

The only thing sinking here? Henry Hembree. Who fell right in the water from all that awkward positioning. He even hit his hand on the boat's hull. Nothing serious or broken, but MERLIN THAT HURT.

He let out not a sigh now, but a YELL of frustration. Now both he and his bag were soaked wet. And it was COLD DOWN HERE. Thanks, I hate it.

Her usual spots had felt off today, which was rather unfortunate. In fact, the entirety of the castle had felt off and no amount of salt deposits had been able to redirect the unusual energy she had felt. Which was partly what had prompted her to take a quick trip to the kitchens and ask the house elves for a pair of eggplants and cucumbers. She needed to collect sticks next, the total number pending the size of the sticks and how easily she could snap them, but that was not what had brought her to the boathouse.

No, something more exhilarating lured her here and she had approached the auspicious space with wide eyes and a racing heart.

She could see no one from her point of view but the yell seemed to echo in the space, a vengeful disembodied voice that surely only meant one thing. A haunting.

Quietly, she tip toed along the wooden dock with her eyes cast to the walls looking for scratch marks or other signs of unrest when she heard the sloshing of water and the knocking of one of the boats against the dock. Peculiar. Eagerly approaching the boat, and still unable to see that there was an older student submerged in the water since she was on the other side of it presently, she squatted in front of it and waved her hand over the boat...but felt no change in temperature there.

Hmmm.

"Shall I untie the boat?" she asked the air.

La_Luna · 09-09-2022, 08:20 PM

'That's nice!,' Tahani said. 'Ooh. You're from a muggle family as well?,' she asked, at Ash's mention of computer hardware. She was excited at the prospect of meeting another person from a muggle family. As much as she was liking it here, it was very different from her world and she could use some advice.

'My mom isn't a professional artist. She does sketches mostly. On books and canvas. By profession, she's an architect and interior designer,' she said. Tahani was from an artistic family.

Kimothy · 09-09-2022, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Her usual spots had felt off today, which was rather unfortunate. In fact, the entirety of the castle had felt off and no amount of salt deposits had been able to redirect the unusual energy she had felt. Which was partly what had prompted her to take a quick trip to the kitchens and ask the house elves for a pair of eggplants and cucumbers. She needed to collect sticks next, the total number pending the size of the sticks and how easily she could snap them, but that was not what had brought her to the boathouse.

No, something more exhilarating lured her here and she had approached the auspicious space with wide eyes and a racing heart.

She could see no one from her point of view but the yell seemed to echo in the space, a vengeful disembodied voice that surely only meant one thing. A haunting.

Quietly, she tip toed along the wooden dock with her eyes cast to the walls looking for scratch marks or other signs of unrest when she heard the sloshing of water and the knocking of one of the boats against the dock. Peculiar. Eagerly approaching the boat, and still unable to see that there was an older student submerged in the water since she was on the other side of it presently, she squatted in front of it and waved her hand over the boat...but felt no change in temperature there.

Hmmm.

"Shall I untie the boat?" she asked the air.

There might have indeed been a haunting here, something Henry wouldn't even try to refute. So much bad energy and bad luck already, surely a ghost or malevolent spirit caused it because there clearly was no other reason for how quickly things moved south in what was supposedly a good day.

After massaging his sore hand, Henry was successfully able to pull his bag from between the boat and the wall. It had already been heavy, but with the water getting on all the places, it felt like twice its weight at this point. With much more force and effort, he tossed it towards one of the stone steps near the dock, that students used from getting in and out of the boats, and it landed in a wet squish. He'd have to check his things there and dry them up later. His mum was going to give him a good yelling if nothing in there was salvageable!

Still in the water, Henry was ready to get out of there, but he needed to remove his shoes first. He had just took his left shoe, given it a nice shake to release any excess water when.... huh? The boat??? "What? Uh, w-why?" The Hufflepuff asked right back, to whoever it was. Henry couldn't see, he was down here. Why would anyone untie the boat anyway?

Confusion taking over, Henry tossed his left shoe upwards in an almost involuntary move on his part. The shoe flew in projectile motion, hopefully landing on dry, stony land. He waited for the potential squelching noise from the contact.

astrocat · 09-10-2022, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by La_Luna

'That's nice!,' Tahani said. 'Ooh. You're from a muggle family as well?,' she asked, at Ash's mention of computer hardware. She was excited at the prospect of meeting another person from a muggle family. As much as she was liking it here, it was very different from her world and she could use some advice.

'My mom isn't a professional artist. She does sketches mostly. On books and canvas. By profession, she's an architect and interior designer,' she said. Tahani was from an artistic family.

"Yes." She'd been through a lot of stuff because of her blood status(and in general) and she was totally willing to give Tahani advice about Hogwarts or many other things. At least when she was in an approachable mood. To a younger year, that would appear to be most of the time.

"Architect and interior designer? That sounds like a type of artist to me. Just a different kind." There are many different kind of artists, Ash thought. "Do you make any art yourself?"

La_Luna · 09-13-2022, 01:54 PM

That was really nice. Tahani felt lost sometimes, as she was tossed into this world. 'It's weird sometimes, this new world.,' she confessed.

'She is an architect by education. Interior designing - she does because she's passionate about it and hence does it.,' she said.

Tahani liked to draw. She wasn't very good at it. 'I do it for fun, but I'm not great at it,' she said.

astrocat · 09-16-2022, 01:33 AM

Ash felt out of place all the time. But she wouldn't be saying that to Tahani, she'd prefer to not make eleven-year-olds unnecessarily sad. "You'll probably get used to it. Some parts are always weird, but hopefully you'll end up feeling like you belong." And hopefully there won't be any blood status wars in your time at Hogwarts.

"It's good to do things you're passionate about." Ash personally struggled to do things she wasn't passionate about... good thing she had lots of passion, right? "You don't have to be good at drawing to draw. In fact, there would be no artists if it was like that, because people don't generally start out being great artists." She'd been practicing since she was like 5... she wasn't born knowing how to sketch portraits.

sweetpinkpixie · 09-16-2022, 03:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kimothy

There might have indeed been a haunting here, something Henry wouldn't even try to refute. So much bad energy and bad luck already, surely a ghost or malevolent spirit caused it because there clearly was no other reason for how quickly things moved south in what was supposedly a good day.

After massaging his sore hand, Henry was successfully able to pull his bag from between the boat and the wall. It had already been heavy, but with the water getting on all the places, it felt like twice its weight at this point. With much more force and effort, he tossed it towards one of the stone steps near the dock, that students used from getting in and out of the boats, and it landed in a wet squish. He'd have to check his things there and dry them up later. His mum was going to give him a good yelling if nothing in there was salvageable!

Still in the water, Henry was ready to get out of there, but he needed to remove his shoes first. He had just took his left shoe, given it a nice shake to release any excess water when.... huh? The boat??? "What? Uh, w-why?" The Hufflepuff asked right back, to whoever it was. Henry couldn't see, he was down here. Why would anyone untie the boat anyway?

Confusion taking over, Henry tossed his left shoe upwards in an almost involuntary move on his part. The shoe flew in projectile motion, hopefully landing on dry, stony land. He waited for the potential squelching noise from the contact.

Her hand pawed at a nearby boat bobbing up and down in the disrupted water like a kitten would do with something floating in water. She supposed it surprised her that the voice was confused about her offer, perhaps it had been waiting for centuries for someone to come along and help lay its soul to rest. Mitsuki visibly jumped when the shoe dropped out of no where and fell on to the deck near where she knelt. She couldn't help but think about Mercer and how he may be jealous of this shoe and how it had spooked her when soggy shoe had done so easily. Perhaps not a spirit...perhaps a giant koi fish that had been abandoned much like the legend of Tomoe. In any case, the question that was asked begged for much presumption, which meant that she ought to seek out a bit more information to ensure that she could administer the best of services.

"...do you not wish to be set free?" Which sounded a lot more like a genie than a haunting, but in any case she had moved over to the shoe now and was looking it over it for ectoplasm. Retrieving her want from her pocket, she gave the shoe a little poke to see if it would do anything.

**Peeves** · 09-16-2022, 06:52 PM

Did someone say free?

It feels sooo good to be free. But who was free? No one could see for Peeves is here for free! Oh tut, tut. The poor overgrown student (Henry) fell in the water. If he didn't want to be in STEALTH MODE he would allow a giggle to ring. Ehehehe. No one could hear that.

As STEALTH SANTA, gifts were present. Flipping through the invisible book. Perfect. One for you (Henry) and one for the helpful one (Mitsuki) as the page was brandished in front of their unknowing eyes.

Enjoy. Tehehe.

Kimothy · 09-18-2022, 06:34 PM

Henry...still had absolutely no idea what was going on here. Pleased to hear that his left shoe landed safely on dry surface, he decided he should do the same with his right shoe before he could get out of here and take his DRENCHED bag with him.

Wait, free? Henry didn't know where this conversation as going, the choice of words here were quite questionable as well. It's not like he was trapped or anything? "Yeah, sure, I'd like to be free of the water. It's getting cold down here—" Henry had shuffled a bit to his left as he used his right hand to remove his right shoe and his left hand to keep himself stable by pushing it against the boat for support. All was fine, until...

Crunch. CRUNCH.

CRUUUUUUUUUUUNCH!

Surprised by the LOUD crunching and CRUSHING of the boat's hull, Henry let out another YELL as he quickly moved towards the closest wall. What JUST HAPPENED?

That was when he saw the other student. The girl. Maybe she was the one talking to him all along like he had been some kind of prisoner. However, that didn't matter because HE HAD JUST CRUSHED ONE SIDE OF THE BOAT. With ONE hand??!??!??! That was NOT possible. The boat didn't seem that worn out? It looked quite new, even??

Haha. HAHAHA ha ha ha HA. Henry forced a LOUD laugh, the echoes bouncing on every wall and ceiling near him, because this was too ridiculous, this COULD NOT be real. This was a dream, wasn't it? HA ha HA ha ha hA. WAKE UP, HEMBREE.

WHAT IF THEY WERE GOING TO MAKE HIM PAY FOR THE BOAT?? HE WAS A BROKE KID.

La_Luna · 09-19-2022, 05:40 PM

Tahani listened intently..maybe things will fall into place after all. 'Some parts are..weird,' she admitted. There was still a lot she didn't understand.

'I have started drawing very recently...after Hogwarts,' she said. She had actually started drawing after she had come to Hogwarts. It made her feel less anxious.

sweetpinkpixie · 09-20-2022, 04:33 AM

An icy swoop and a tingle along her forearms into goosebumps and she was certain that, for once, her inclinations would produce fruit ... only to be met instead with a loud CRUNCHING sound as though someone (Mercer) had attempted to eat an entire bag of very crispy crisps at once. It was another noise that had startled her, all the hairs on her arm standing on end, and she sharply inhaled copious amounts of dust from the various ropes and oars she leapt backwards into. Some of the oars came toppling off the wall, bouncing off the deck and into the water towards her surprise guest.

"ACHII!" Mitsuki mouth quickly covered itself into the bend of her arm to try and muffle her sneeze and when her eyes opened (because one simply had to close their eyes while sneeze) she was clutching a bouquet of wilted orange lilies. The Ravenclaw blinked a few times in utter confusion before adjusting her gaze back towards the source of the crunch, which had apparently been the side of one of the boats coming off, and her exceptionally ordinary guest of an older students in the water.

Disappointing, though not nearly as much as the reveal of the sphinx she supposed.

The panic on his face, she presumed, was related to how cold the water was since she had missed the whole sight of him being the reason the boat had broken...and was not beginning to sink. The grindylows would probably enjoy the change of scenery at the bottom of the lake.

"Perhaps you should climb out of there if you are cold," she suggested calmly, her nose beginning to itch again and she looked for a vase or...somewhere to put the wilted lilies in her hand.

Or perhaps she would press them in the friendship tome her and Mercer were keeping.

astrocat · 09-21-2022, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by La_Luna

Tahani listened intently..maybe things will fall into place after all. 'Some parts are..weird,' she admitted. There was still a lot she didn't understand.

'I have started drawing very recently...after Hogwarts,' she said. She had actually started drawing after she had come to Hogwarts. It made her feel less anxious.

"It always feels like that in a new place." And sometimes it didn't go away. But strange wasn't the worst thing to feel. She could live with strange. It was much nicer than out of place. Things could be strange but not out of place, she thought. "I started when I was very young. It helped mentally." Took away all the stress and pain for a while, gave her something to do... all that stuff. "What have you been drawing?"

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