The Giant Treehouse

[BanaBatGirl]

Off to one side of the lake is a copse of trees that arch so high up in the sky, it's nearly impossible to see where their leafy tops end. But at the bottom of one is a rope ladder and a winding wooden staircase that wraps around the thickest trunk of the trees and leads up into the sky.

If you dare to ascend the ladder or the staircase, you'll be rewarded by entering the Giant Treehouse, which looks something like a cross between a log cabin and a miniature Hogwarts castle. The treehouse has a large veranda with rocking chairs on it and is completely surrounding and supported by the trunks of at least three trees, so it feels fairly stable even though it's suspended waaaaaaaaaay up in the air. The inside of the treehouse contains a few empty rooms, a tower, and a loft, but there are pillows and blankets, spare bits of parchment, ink and quills, and a bucket on a rope and pulley that goes all the way to the bottom of the tree. The treehouse looks (and smells!) brand-new, with nice new windows and fairy lights that illuminate the treehouse at dusktime.

No one said Williamson didn't still have the heart of a kid sometimes. He built this just for you.

And don't wory about falling out of the treehouse; there are a LOT of spells protecting and supporting the giant treehouse. If you were to fall from the treehouse or its platform, your fall would be slowed by magic. Plus, the ground below the treehouse has been charmed to feel like the equivalent of a squishy gym mat. Be careful though; too much horseplay will result in the grumpy groundskeeper shutting things down or turning this into his personal fort where kids can't find him.

[PhoenixRising]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waddles

If Apollo had asked, Mamie could have told him her older brothers had trouble pronouncing Margaret when they were little, so the whole family took to the shortening of her name. She did not truly have a preference. Margaret was her name, but so was Mamie. She just didn't like the bad guys calling her by her family name.

She perked up, however, when Apollo brought up Quidditch. Her favorite sport! Unconsciously standing straighter, she nodded vigorously. "I love Quidditch!" she said. "And flying! Every week, I--" she broke off mid-sentence, glancing back at the guard(s) and lowering her voice to a less enthusiastic volume and allowing her shoulders to slump again. "Before the holidays, I flew every Tuesday. Professor Aguilar was helping me get better, since--" another glance "--since I didn't get to learn as early as you probably did."

"I'm going to play U14 Quidditch this summer," she announced proudly. Ooh. Maybe Apollo would be on her team. "Do you play?"

Oh good. Judging from her reaction Apollo sensed he picked a good topic, but also he kind of hated the assumption that just because he was pureblood it meant that he got to learn flying early. He shook his head at her. "My whole family is pretty much into quidditch, several pro players in the family, though my parents didn't play. Not really. But it also means that I actually didn't get to learn to fly until I got to Hogwarts. I mean, don't get me wrong, I know all about the sport and HOW to play, but actually getting to play..." he sighed. Downsides to having magical family is that they KNEW and UNDERSTOOD the risks. Of course he also had healers in the family.

"Wow!! That's exciting!! I ... think mum said something about quidditch camp first? To sort of get things going.... Get me more comfortable. " He glanced around. "Speaking of going... its ... we should probably get going back to the castle, don't you think?"

[Waddles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

Oh good. Judging from her reaction Apollo sensed he picked a good topic, but also he kind of hated the assumption that just because he was pureblood it meant that he got to learn flying early. He shook his head at her. "My whole family is pretty much into quidditch, several pro players in the family, though my parents didn't play. Not really. But it also means that I actually didn't get to learn to fly until I got to Hogwarts. I mean, don't get me wrong, I know all about the sport and HOW to play, but actually getting to play..." he sighed. Downsides to having magical family is that they KNEW and UNDERSTOOD the risks. Of course he also had healers in the family.

"Wow!! That's exciting!! I ... think mum said something about quidditch camp first? To sort of get things going.... Get me more comfortable. " He glanced around. "Speaking of going... its ... we should probably get going back to the castle, don't you think?"

This...did not make sense. If Apollo had several pro Quidditch players in his family--which was, by the way, super cool--why hadn't his family taught him to fly? Mamie frowned, trying to understand. It was like...if her parents knew how to swim, and hadn't taught her how to swim. No, he said he had professional Quidditch players in his family. It was like if his parents were Olympic swimmers, or maybe a swimming coach, and they hadn't taught her how to swim.

Or if her brother was a professional footballer and she had only ever watched his matches but not been taught to kick the ball around.

Or--she could go on. Sports were probably the one analogy she had a lot of examples for.

"At least you're learning now," she said. Though...she supposed it was probably difficult for even the purebloods to learn new things in Flying class, since their flying instructor wasn't allowed a broom himself. She nodded at his mention of Quidditch camp. He was young. He had time.

Mamie glanced back towards the guards at Apollo's mention of returning to the castle, and sighed. "I suppose," she said, already dreading being locked in the dungeons again. Their trips outside was the closest thing to normal nowadays.