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GroundsHave a case of cabin castle fever? Best to take a break from all the stone corridors and go hang out by the lake, or explore the expansive school grounds. Don't forgive to send your regards to Bartholomew Henry!
The large freshwater lake of Hogwarts is located just south of the castle. About half a mile wide in diameter, the lake dominates much of the school's landscape, a steely and ominous mass of icy water in the winter, yet an inviting and refreshing sight once the weather starts to heat up. On one of its banks, a towering beech tree stands sentinel, and is a popular location to meet and relax. Castle-side of the lake stands the boathouse.
You may swim in the lake, but be careful, and also mindful of the creatures that reside here. Merpeople, grindylows, and the Great Squid, to name but a few, call these watery depths their home. You would do well to leave them in peace. If they feel like it, they'll come to you; the Giant Squid, who goes by the name of Bartholomew Henry, has been known to bask in the shallows on sunny days.
Bathes in Maple Syrup | Dancing Lobster | Moy Pomidor | Seneca's Beard | That Is So Fetch!
Rajan had been studying. Technically, he was still studying.
The sixth year sat positioned well within the shade of one of the trees bordering the Black Lake to avoid any unnecessary heliosis, his back resting against its trunk and an Ancient Runes textbook spread open across his lap. Several sheets of parchment surrounded him, held down at their corners by whatever objects he'd had available: his ink bottle, another textbook, his wand, and a few particularly cooperative rocks.
At some point, actual studying had become staring across the lake while pretending he was thinking very deeply about runic translations. Every few minutes, Rajan's gaze would return to the same paragraph, make it approximately three sentences farther, and then drift toward something else. A ripple across the water. A bird overhead. A group of younger students making enough noise in the distance.
With a resigned sigh, Rajan eventually shut the textbook. Studying outside had proven to be too distracting.
He began collecting the parchment scattered around him, carefully stacking each sheet according to the page numbers he'd written in their upper corners. Suddenly, a breeze rustled the branches overhead.
"No, no, no!"
He saw the corner of a loose sheet beside his knee lift. Rajan lunged forward, fingertips narrowly missing the parchment as the wind swept it away. It flipped once in the air, hovered just long enough to give him the false impression that it might come back down, and then sailed several feet away.
Rajan scrambled to his feet, sending the textbook tumbling from his lap in the process. He took off after the escaping page without thinking of using his wand to retrieve it.
doesn't proofread tweets | #wrongaboutcereal | #siriusly? | emo to the extremo
SPOILER!!: umm, ur coming home w me
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoe
Rajan had been studying. Technically, he was still studying.
The sixth year sat positioned well within the shade of one of the trees bordering the Black Lake to avoid any unnecessary heliosis, his back resting against its trunk and an Ancient Runes textbook spread open across his lap. Several sheets of parchment surrounded him, held down at their corners by whatever objects he'd had available: his ink bottle, another textbook, his wand, and a few particularly cooperative rocks.
At some point, actual studying had become staring across the lake while pretending he was thinking very deeply about runic translations. Every few minutes, Rajan's gaze would return to the same paragraph, make it approximately three sentences farther, and then drift toward something else. A ripple across the water. A bird overhead. A group of younger students making enough noise in the distance.
With a resigned sigh, Rajan eventually shut the textbook. Studying outside had proven to be too distracting.
He began collecting the parchment scattered around him, carefully stacking each sheet according to the page numbers he'd written in their upper corners. Suddenly, a breeze rustled the branches overhead.
"No, no, no!"
He saw the corner of a loose sheet beside his knee lift. Rajan lunged forward, fingertips narrowly missing the parchment as the wind swept it away. It flipped once in the air, hovered just long enough to give him the false impression that it might come back down, and then sailed several feet away.
Rajan scrambled to his feet, sending the textbook tumbling from his lap in the process. He took off after the escaping page without thinking of using his wand to retrieve it.
"Come back here!"
It was a genuine wonder how the students at this school managed to take care of themselves - or rather, didn't. The dinners were never-ending and lacking in any basic nutritional balance, and there was a distinct, appalling lack of a proper gymnasium. Sure, everyone was obsessed with Quidditch, but flying on a broomstick is a lazy sport. Hardly any actual cardio involved.
Asena, however, refused to sit around and become complacent, which meant committing to routine daily runs around the grounds. She’d even started swimming in the lake in the mornings. Hogwarts would not best her. Absolutely not. Fortunately it was a beautiful day for a run.
Asena was mid-stride, dark hair pulled back, actively judging the damp air quality, when something came hurtling through the breeze.
Fwap.
It hit her straight in the chest - or rather, it would have hit her directly in the face if her fast reflexes hadn't kicked in first. With a startled gasp, Asena’s hand shot out, her fingers snatching the flying parchment right out of mid-air. The paper crumpled in her tight, defensive grip.
"What in the—" Disdain on full display, btw. Who loses their parchment outside?
She looked up, fully prepared to deliver a scathing critique, only to catch sight of a boy scrambling wildly across the grass like a lunatic. The sight of him lunging frantically after a runaway breeze was... well, embarrassing for him, lbr.
And because he was making the effort to chase it down, Asena stood still, feet firmly planted, crumpled parchment held between two manicured fingers like it was infected, and waited expectantly. So not judging him.
Bathes in Maple Syrup | Dancing Lobster | Moy Pomidor | Seneca's Beard | That Is So Fetch!
The Ravenclaw's pursuit came to an abrupt halt when the parchment stopped fleeing. Or, more accurately, when someone caught it.
He slowed from his frantic sprint to an awkward jog, then finally to a walk as he approached the girl standing there with his notes pinched between two fingers. His breathing was slightly heavier than it had any right to be after such a short chase, and he pushed a few strands of dark hair away from his forehead as he closed the remaining distance between them. Rajan was relieved to see the parchment again.
Less relieving was the state it was currently in. Crumpled. His expression fell as his eyes travelled over the numerous creases now running through the sheet.
"Er... thanks." He reached out to take the page from her, carefully smoothing it between his palms before running his hand over the worst of the wrinkles. Once. Twice. It did very little to restore the parchment to its former condition. At least the runes he'd painstakingly copied across the page were still perfectly legible.
Rajan glanced back toward the tree and the trail of belongings he'd abandoned in his pursuit. His textbook lay facedown in the grass where it had tumbled from his lap, its pages bent awkwardly beneath it. His ink bottle remained beside the tree, fortunately upright. Several other sheets, however, were threatening mutiny of their own. One had already managed to wriggle halfway out from beneath a rock.
Brilliant.
"I probably should've used my wand," he admitted, mostly to himself. The realization seemed painfully obvious now.
Only then did he properly register the way the girl was looking at him. Rajan's eyebrows drew together slightly. "What?"
doesn't proofread tweets | #wrongaboutcereal | #siriusly? | emo to the extremo
Asena stood patiently waiting as she watched the boy awkwardly make his way over, tail between his legs. She could see the heavy breathing, the dramatic rise and fall of his chest. Merlin. Perhaps it was time to cut out courses such that of divinations and creatures and replace them with something that could be of actual use here: Physical Education. Asena would certainly be a big advocate. Possessing the inner eye is not a skill afforded to everyone, but anyone could benefit from learning to train for a basic five kilometer run. Case and point.
"You're welcome," she replied in return, offering the boy the crumpled parchment, noting his distress, but not feeling terribly guilty over it, tbh.
She followed his gaze back over to the tree, tilting her head as she noticed his abandoned set up. "Yes," he should have used his wand. She agreed. But there was little to do about it now. A lesson for his future self, perhaps.
When he spoke next, Asena furrowed her eyebrows, not understanding his question; however, she decided to ask her own in return as there were several of them brewing (questions, she means). "Do you study out here often?" Asena found it such a peculiar thing to do. Especially with the fickle nature of the weather here. With rain that came out of nowhere quite regularly, studying outdoors seemed to her like ... a choice. A hazard. But still, she was intrigued. Did it work for him?
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The Great Lake 
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