Grounds: The Duck Pond

[Wilber Winterbottom]

Graphic credit: FearlessLeader19

A dozen white feathered Pekin ducks could be found gracefully swimming or sunning themselves in this pond in this pond. With their orangish-yellow legs and feet and short yellow beak, this particular variety of feathered creatures is among the friendliest of its species you will ever come across.

The rocky ledge surrounding the pond allows you to take a seat. You may even dip your feet into the pristine water if you like, just beware of the ducks wanting to take a nip at your feet for the fun of it. Or maybe they’ve mistaken your toes for a tasty treat? Speaking of treats… have you brought along a snack for these magnificent creatures? While bread is not high in nutritional value for them, they will accept fresh and small pieces of it. Lettuce, oats, seeds and cooked rice will also suffice.

Play nicely with the ducks! While they are social, they will not take kindly to anyone being cheeky with them!


OOC: You are free to RP for the ducks though there should be no serious injuries!

[Emzily]

You might think that this Slytherin would have a distaste for ducks, given his silly surname that had granted him plenty of ridicule over the years, however that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, Solomon Duck quite resonated with the feathered cuties. (He’d never admit to calling them that out loud.)

Solly did not have his uniform on due to no classes today, and was instead wearing a thick, grey tracksuit. It was brand new, thus appearing very clean. However his trainers were far from that. Tatty, dirty, and almost falling apart. Unfortunately he did not have much of a fashion sense, this one, but it never bothered him much. He slumped down onto a rock placed around the pond, but kept his feet away from the edge. Although foot dipping was allowed, that was not his cup of tea.

He beckoned a couple of duckies towards him after tossing some oats around them. Some he picked up from the kitchens on his way here. He knew very well that bread wasn’t the best option despite popular culture. He smiled widely as a few swam over to him.

[Lottiepot]

Any addition to the school grounds was appreciated by Aurora. Although she admired the castle for all its grandeur, it was outside where she truly felt she belonged. Even better when that new addition featured small furry creatures (or in this instance feathery ones), it was likely to become a frequently visited spot along her weekend walk.

Dressed rather casually in a t-shirt and blue denim shorts, her hair down in loose waves, making the most out of the remains of a short-lived summer, the fifth year instantaneously spotted a familiar set of dark waves by the pond's edge. Usually she would’ve just barged her way into a hug but judging by Solomon’s lack of acknowledgement at the feast, the blonde was a little hesitant on her approach to the space next to him.

That didn’t stop her from leaning into his side as she watched him toss the oats into the water. No greetings were deemed necessary, it was obvious from the closeness who she would be, at least she assumed that would be the case. “Do you think they know your surname is Duck? Like maybe you have some spiritual connection with them.” If that was the truth then she’d need to find and marry a man whose surname was Unicorn.

[Emzily]

Though he would unlikely realise that he would need to explain himself for his lack of sociability during the feast, Aurora needn’t take it personally. In fact, he simply hadn’t noticed anybody, rather than actively ignoring them. Well, he was possibly trying to ignore one person or two, but certainly not Aurora. His smile grew less when company made itself known, however once realising it was his bestie, was comfortable to return its cheerfulness. “There you are, Rora.” Solly leaned towards her too and gave her a shoulder nudge. She had, in fact, been on his mind very recently so they could resume their Hoggies journey together. Anna, too. Golden trio vibes.

He laughed and shrugged his shoulders at her question. “I hope not. That would be a bit of a sad special attribute of mine.” He quickly imagined being in a mighty battle and summoning… ducks to his side. Not very galant. “Although I can speak to ducks.” His face was very serious.

One duck in particular had approached the pair very closely and Solly bent down and whispered some silly quacks to it. “He says hello.” He said to Aurora, trying his best not to smirk.

[Lottiepot]

The smile on Solomon’s face was a relief, she wouldn’t have known what to do had he rejected her company nor would she have the words to comfort him on whatever issue he was going through. That wasn’t to say that she wouldn’t try but there was a lack of male hormones in her house, her experience was very limited. “I thought you were avoiding me after the feast” she continued the lean, softly chuckling. She didn’t really think it was true, the ‘golden trio’ were practically inseparable - until the other two would graduate a whole year before her anyway but she didn’t want to think about that yet.

The ability to have a connection with any animal or creature sounded like an incredible attribute to the Ravenclaw. “It would be better than having no special attribute at all! And I reckon ducks are much smarter than you think.” Their bills were probably capable of great damage if they wanted to, they just chose to be passive and friendly and live a docile life floating on the pond. If those pesky squirrels were capable of planning world domination, she was sure that birds could too.

“Does that make you a Quackletongue?” she giggled, carefully reaching down to see if the duck would approach her without invading its personal space. “You can tell him that I say it’s nice to meet him.” Mostly because it was cute watching Solly quack to a duck but also on the off-chance that he really could speak to them and then the fifth year would be seen as rude.

[Emzily]

The thought of upsetting Aurora at the feast had quite clearly unsettled Solomon in return. He frowned and shook his head, though there would never be a reason for him to want to avoid Aurora. She was a good egg in many ways. “No way!” He exclaimed before sighing, wondering if he was now obliged to explain himself. As usual he did NOT want to get into it. “I was just, uhhh… a bit grouchy. Not to be back here, of course, but just saw someone I didn’t want to see.” Solomon squinted his eyes shut in realisation that he’d said too much and knew very well that Aurora would press for more details. Looking for a distraction, Solly pulled a nearby flower and offered it to his fifth year friend. “Milady.” ‘Twas but a mere daisy, fyi.

“Ha! I suppose they would be great at listening in on conversations and spilling the details back to me.” Their ability to walk upon land as well as swim would definitely come in handy. “Know what? I reckon I could take over the world with that power.” Solly said quite seriously, before laughing at her choice of name for the language. “Yes, that’s perfect.” It was quite a funny homage to Parseltongue, which sounded much MUCH cooler.

Solly whispered his quacks once again to the creature who mid sentence turned its back on him completely and swam away. “Well. Your smell clearly frightened him off.” He told Aurora. “I can only apologise for his rudeness.” He refrained from using milady again because it had now retired.

[Lottiepot]

It wasn’t that she was upset, it was more a matter of concern for his happiness. No one was allowed to be sad or frustrated or annoyed around Aurora, you see? She was making it her life’s mission to put a smile on every person’s face, or at least every Hogwarts student's face anyway and so far she was achieving it to varying success. It would be no good if one of her closest, most favourite people wasn’t happy in her presence.

Which he quickly put to rest anyway as she squished into his side, linking her arm through his. “Good. Did you feel better after the feast though? The Elves outdid themselves this year.” They did every year to be honest. Maybe it was just the same but the two month break had made her crave something unhealthy. The second part of Solly’s sentence quickly caught her attention. “Who?” she gasped rather dramatically. Because if he was avoiding someone, it would only be right that she avoid them too! Unless it was Anna, there was no way they were splitting up the twenty-second century reverse golden trio.

The daisy was a great distraction though, she adored flowers. “Awww. I’ll put it in my hair” she giggled as she tucked the stem behind her ear.

“No one will suspect a duck.” The cute feathery creatures they were with their wiggly butts. “Just as long as you ask them to spare me. I wouldn’t like to be pecked by their bills.” And she rather fancied herself as a real life princess the way she tried to talked to animals. Quackletongue would now be firmly cemented into her vocabulary should the need to use it ever arise again.

Now that was just RUDE. “I smell like strawberries!” she protested followed by a laugh. “At least I don’t smell like pondweed.”

[Emzily]

“Yeah,” he smiled softly, “I felt much better afterwards, thanks.” That was actually true. In fact, he’d almost forgotten why he was so grumpy once he had unpacked the basics and relaxed into his bed. His attitude switching quickly, Solomon was quite clearly bothered by Aurora pressing about who it was. While it was a normal reaction of a best friend to find those sort of things out, Solly knew that she would likely be upset to hear the details and would probably tell said person about it. That being said, he didn’t want to snap at Aurora, which took a bit of effort in all honesty. “Nobody. Just some guy, you don’t even know them.” He lied.

Solly felt warmed when she put the flower in her hair, and he found another that matched and placed it into his own mess of hair, nearby his ear for extra security. It would likely get lost shortly, but for now, they were a pair. “Probably doesn’t look at lovely on me as it does on you.” He complimented her, effortlessly.

“Of course we shall spare you.” Solly placed his hand on his chest as if he were making a promise. All of the nearby ducks had now moved away from them, leaving him looking a bit of a silly Quackletongue. He laughed at her defence over her smell. “Suuuuuure, you do.” Nah, she did always smell pretty nice. Her gel pens did, anyway.

“Pondweed never smelled so good!!” He lifted his arm and dramatically sniffed his armpit. “Ahhhhh. Delightful.” In reality he could do with some sort of deodorant. Hopefully Aurora couldn’t REALLY smell him.

[Lottiepot]

Food had the amazing ability to work wonders on one’s mood, or it did for Aurora anyway. Not that she was frequently found in a negative state and even if she was she rarely ever showed it. But a helping of jam roly-poly or an apple crumble and custard would always put a smile on her face. “It’s always the best way to end a long journey.” That and the deep sleep in the dorms afterwards, if she hadn’t remained up all night catching up with her dormmates that was.

Aurora wasn’t enquiring to be nosy nor was her intention ever to be annoying. She WAS a curious Ravenclaw after all and even more so when the situation applied to one of her most favourite people. It was only natural to want to know more. With that being said, the blonde was starting to understand when others didn’t want to say anything further. “Oh. Well if you see him, point him out so I can avoid him too.” For friendship reasons obviously, she couldn’t go unintentionally hurting her nearest and dearest. Friends enemies were HERS too, right?

Maybe. She was pretty sure she was incapable of having enemies but she could probably pretend.

The compliment was greatly received by the rosy colour touching her cheeks. “You’re beautiful too, Solly” she smiled sweetly. It was true. Aurora might have blossomed into the young lady sporting her Mom’s model looks and golden hair but she also had the innate ability to see the beauty in everyone and Solomon was obviously exceptional. She reached out to place another daisy gently in one of his curls on the opposite side, braiding it in so that it remained secure.

“Perhaps you could ask the ducks to protect me from the squirrels? They have a vendetta against me you see? The gnomes too.” Scary creatures the both of them, squirrels with their perfect acorn aim and gnomes needn’t have any explanation as to why they were terrifying when running full pelt at her baring their teeth.

The Ravenclaw wasn’t offended by the mocking, she knew she smelled great most of the time. Nor could she smell anything negative on Solly so he was safe from any accusations on her behalf. “I didn’t mean YOU smelling like pondweed” she laughed, nodding her head towards their retreating feathered friends.