Adrianna still was not pleased at being at Hogwarts. But she would survive. She had to, of course. Her family wanted her to finish her education, and that's what she had to do, right?

She found her favourite bench in the Student Garden and sat down, thinking. She smiled as Treble, her pygmy puff she received from Amelia the previous term, squeaked on her shoulder.

Carson wandered around the grounds in search of somewhere to sit and someone to talk to. But before he could walk another step, the black and white cat he had perched on his shoulder had jumped down and ran into what looked like a garden. Well, there were plenty of plants and a lot of grass patches so why not let the cat roam around? As long as he didn't mess up the plants.

He smiled watching the cat stand still waiting for him. He shook his head and walked toward the cat picking him up and perching him back on his shoulder. "Don't you know not to go running somewhere you don't know?" he said stroking the cat under his chin hearing him purr hopelessly with enjoyment. He carried on walking still scratching Socks' chin. He looked over at a bench which was occupied recognising the girl sat there. "Someone looks lonely?"

Ad looked up suddenly as she heard a familiar voice. "That's because I am..." she commented, sighing. She eyed the cat on the boy's shoulder warily, but said nothing. If she didn't bother the cat, the cat wouldn't bother her.

Carson glanced at the cat on his shoulder moving his head away. He looked back over at Ad. "Now you're not" he replied. He eyed that black and white cat as he jumped off his shoulder and onto the bench rubbing his head against Ad.

Ad smiled slightly, then stiffened as the cat rubbed its head against her. Very gently, she stroked its head with her thumb. "V-very sweet c-cat you got there...." she said, stammering nervously.

Carson raised an eyebrow. "Don't be scared. And try not to stammer. And definitely don't shake if he jumps on your lap" he replied running his hand over the cats back.

Ad nodded nervously."Okay..." she said softly, smiling slightly.

Carson raised an eyebrow. Not much of a conversation! Was she still upset about being at Hogwarts? "So... How are you?" he asked trying to start a conversation. But that one would end in silence.

Ad shrugged, "Okay, I guess..."

Vickers trudged down the path towards the student gardens, carrying a small water fountain in his hands. He neared an area of a loose patch of soil, then reached out for a small trowel, taking out a couple of scoops and laying the soil out evenly on the wooden part of the small fountain. He carried the water fountain into a quiet corner surrounded by trees, then took a few more things out from his robes-- a bowl of candle, a small clump of incense sticks, his school scarf and a small bell-gong. He set the gong on the ground at the foot of the water fountain, then folded his scarf into a wide square and set it down at the opposite side. He tucked the bowl of candle securely between the stones right beside the water fixture, then stuck the incense sticks into the soil area across from it. Taking his wand out he quietly uttered Incendio, lighting up the candle and the incense sticks. With wandstroke he aimed for the water fixture and uttered Aguamenti, filling it up and letting the water pass into the stone bowl, stopping the flow of water from his wand only when he sees the fountain has begun to cycle on its own.

Finally he took out his runes pouch, within it were the runes discs he created from last term. He picked up one of the runes pieces and ran his thumb over it, happy that the combination of ochre paint and his own blood used for staining was not chipping off.

He set the pouch down beside him and knelt down on his legs, then closed his eyes. He breathed in the cool, crisp air of the garden, calming his nerves immensely, trying to be one with the natural elements around him.

Slowly he opened his eyes and picked up the first rune-- Fehu. He tapped the gong and a deep, melodious sound rang throughout the garden as he uttered “Spirits of the South, bless this Fehu rune with the flaming passion of fire!” then passed the rune disc a few times through the candle flame.

He then moved the rune over the smoke of the incense sticks, tapping the gong again and saying “Spirits of the East, bless this Fehu rune with the breezy presence of air!”

He dropped the rune disc gently into the soil, then rolled it around, tapping the gong again and chanting “Spirits of the North, bless this Fehu rune with the stabilizing presence of earth!”

He picked up the rune piece from the dirt and dropped it into the water filled stone bowl. With another tap of the gong he chanted “Spirits of the West, bless this Fehu rune with the ever-changing flow of water!”

He picked up the rune piece and set it neatly on his soft clean scarf to dry, then picked up the next rune out of the pouch, the Uruz rune, tapping the gong and repeating the process for that rune.

When all twenty-four runes pieces were done and was lined up against on the scarf to dry, he folded the scarf over them, pressed both hands against the cloth and uttered “Bless these runes with the all-encompassing presence of Spirit!” and tapped the gong thrice, ending the ritual.

He waited for a few minutes before taking his runes discs out of the scarf and returned them back into the pouch. He packed his things back into his robes, snuffed out the candle and the incense, then emptied the water fixture. He returned the loose soil back on the ground where he dug it from and picked up the fountain, then made his way back towards the castle.

The young Ravenclaw had been looking for the garden shed, and got distracted by all the lovely plants. There were so many! And most still so pretty even though it was almost winter. She skipped down the path, pausing to bend down and sniiiiiiiiff the flowers or just be at THEIR level.

See what they see.

That's what she was doing now, lying on her back on the edge of the path beside a patch of flowers, whispering to them. NEWLY planted flowers. Giving them welcomes and telling about the ones she'd be planting out here soon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by grangerfan8

The young Ravenclaw had been looking for the garden shed, and got distracted by all the lovely plants. There were so many! And most still so pretty even though it was almost winter. She skipped down the path, pausing to bend down and sniiiiiiiiff the flowers or just be at THEIR level.

See what they see.

That's what she was doing now, lying on her back on the edge of the path beside a patch of flowers, whispering to them. NEWLY planted flowers. Giving them welcomes and telling about the ones she'd be planting out here soon.

Aspen was out on the grounds today, doing her own research. Before West came to Hogwarts, she'd been quite interested in the trees on campus.

A post-West at Hogwarts turned Aspen's attentions from Botany to Entomology. She had a jar, a magnifying glass, and a book of common insects to Scotland, and her usual look of concentration.

She came across one of the little first years, one from her own House, and stopped to listen to her chatting...with a flower. Fascinating. Aspen didn't interrupt, but she didn't at all hide the fact that she was observing the one-sided conversation.

She didn't notice the older Claw, not at first. The first year was letting her eyes roam to all the other plants, and it was only she they roamed towards the older girl did she notice her. "I read that talking to plants helps them grow." She said by way of explanation. "I'm helping them grow."

Possibly.

This wasn't exactly the way she read it was supposed to be done.

She shifted to a upwards position. "Hi! I'm Isidora."

Aspen had read that too, though she'd had some issues with the text. She didn't find the research into the statement that human speech helped plants grow to be all that convincing. There wasn't enough facts. Testaments. Proof.

But Aspen wouldn't argue with a first year over it.

"Hello, Isadora. I'm Aspen. Do you mind if I collect some insects around you while you help the plants grow?"

"Nope, don't mind." Dora had been curiously eying the stuff in the older girl's hands, and wondering about it all before she spoke since it didn't look like plant caring stuff. And it didn't look like she got that out of the garden shed, wherever THAT was.

But now... now she was eying the GIRL with even more interest. "Aspen.." She repeated the name thoughtfully. "Odessa? West's sister Aspen? Aspen with a bat?" Could there even be another Aspen in Ravenclaw? With a bat?

She didn't think so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by grangerfan8

"Nope, don't mind." Dora had been curiously eying the stuff in the older girl's hands, and wondering about it all before she spoke since it didn't look like plant caring stuff. And it didn't look like she got that out of the garden shed, wherever THAT was.

But now... now she was eying the GIRL with even more interest. "Aspen.." She repeated the name thoughtfully. "Odessa? West's sister Aspen? Aspen with a bat?" Could there even be another Aspen in Ravenclaw? With a bat?

She didn't think so.

Aspen with a bat. She laughed, then confirmed with a little nod. Yep. Aspen Odessa with a bat.

"I'm not surprised you know West," but hadn't familiarized herself with Aspen yet, even though they shared a Common Room. It just made sense. Aspen was pretty sure the ENTIRE school knew West.

"But I don't have Egbert on me today. He's confused about days and nights right now." So he was being fussy in the dorm.

She didn't know why Aspen was laughing, but it didn't seem like a mean laugh or anything, so she grinned in returned. "Yeah, he's a cool friend." Except maybe when he was calling her Siddie. Then he got looks.

"You carry him around?" West never mentioned that! "What's got him confused?" If there was anything she read about the least, it was creatures. And bats. And how bats confused days and nights.

But she never knew anyone that had a bat, so she actually was interested for once.

"I can help you collect insects if you want."

Quote:

Originally Posted by grangerfan8

She didn't know why Aspen was laughing, but it didn't seem like a mean laugh or anything, so she grinned in returned. "Yeah, he's a cool friend." Except maybe when he was calling her Siddie. Then he got looks.

"You carry him around?" West never mentioned that! "What's got him confused?" If there was anything she read about the least, it was creatures. And bats. And how bats confused days and nights.

But she never knew anyone that had a bat, so she actually was interested for once.

"I can help you collect insects if you want."

Aspen smiled again, picturing how West's chest would puff up all proud at being a cool friend. "I do carry him around. He doesn't know it, but he's pretty small for his species. He's usually in my pocket."

But what had him confused? That was... a complicated answer for a first year. Aspen ... well, yeah, just that: Aspen. Aspen had him confused. "I think it's the noise in the dormitory, so he's been sleeping more in the day."

And of course she could help. Aspen didn't think twice about handing over one of her jars. "Just no eating insects, okay? None of them. No eating."

Isidora imagined what it would be like, carrying around a BAT in her pocket. It would probably feel weird and be distracting as all get out. But the older Claw... probably liked it.

"My dorm's far from yours." Separate by all the other underclassmen girls. So even though it was really noisy almost all the time there, it wasn't her fault Egbert was confused about when to sleep. "Can I see him later?"

She accepted one of the jars and twisted off the top, turning so she could properly face the flowers she'd been talking to again. "No eating insects, got it." Her eyes set to inspecting the flowers for bug-like movements. "What are the insects for?"

Emmanuelle strode into the student garden carrying a burlap bag, wearing overalls and had her hands covered with gloves. She was on a mission. But first she had to gather her materials. Organic floral matter, to be exact. And where better to get said matter than a garden? But she wasn't going to be yanking petals or leaves off the plants or anything. Nope, she was just going to pick up the stray limbs and leaves and stuff from the ground.

Opening the burlap bag, she began to look around for some aforementioned stray organic litter. She found whole bunch under a mundane hedge that really needed to be trimmed. And some more around a seemingly abandoned rose bush. Then more somewhere else. Soon, the sack was full and she felt she had enough floral matter for the rest of her plan. She left the garden as quietly as she came in.

Indy was quite looking forward to this mission. And she exactly what she was going to do. Hopefully she'd be able to find pretty flowers to press. With her little box, Indy entered the student garden, and began looking around. She didn't want to take flowers off of the plants, because that was mean, but she'd just pick them up from the floor. That way the plants would still look pretty. Ahh. here we go. Indy smiled as she picked up some of the flowers, and placed them into her box. She tried to get as many different colours as she could so that they would be nice and bright and in eveyones face.

Hmm. Maybe she could get some leaves and such to go with them. Indy bent down, and put some leaves into her box. There we go. That should do. Indy wasn't too sure whether she was going to put them onto a poster or just write out the message on the floor. That would be nice. She might do that. And take a photo. Because she wanted to have some evidence of her pretty work. She looked in her box, deciding that she had enough materials now. With a smile, she exited the student garden and headed back up to the school.

With his luck, of course João was working with Louisa. Had it been a week before, he would be quite happy about it. Well, maybe not that quite, but still it wouldn't have been a problem either. Now? It was a helluva problem. In a week, many things had changed. In a week, he had forgotten all about her, only to be remembered by this stupid task force thing. Why had he signed up for it anyway? Why had Louisa signed up? Why did she keep interrupting his life? Why was it just...

He sighed to himself as he arrived at the student garden a good fifteen minutes early. He had his gloves and all that with him, of course. Luckily, it was sunny today at least. It was a miracle. His luck liked him in that way, at least.

With their plan already discussed, he figured he might as well start picking up the materials they were going to use. He had two big boxes of cartoon, one for the dead material like branches, and one for the alive flowers. Since she was the girl, he figured she might wanna choose the flowers they would use, and he would take up the mechanical side of the job. Bending down, he started to examine the branches and occasionally, placed one in the box.

Where was she?

She was done regretting her decision of befriending the enemy. She was naive back then and fell into a trick. Not anymore, though. Especially after that morning a week ago. She'd set the rules and drew the red lines. That was all she wanted.

Now Louisa got ready for the task - and no she didn't mean the Herbology task, it was the task of the silent treatment. Discussing the plan via letters went alright but now that they had to actually do it... and Louisa being the talkative enthusiastic student coughEGOcough she really questioned the silent treatment will be in session.

However, she walked through the greenhouses on to the student garden, making sure to leave her face blank of any emotions. She spotted him kneeling and getting something off the ground already. Good. He was serious about this Herbology task.

Louisa stood in front of him. Glanced down at the dead branches gathered in one box and nodded. She placed down her canvas bag, slipped in the dragon hide gloves and grabbed the other empty box that Joao had brought. She was going to gather some cut-off stems for hanging purposes. She didn't dare PLUCK OUT any flowers even if she thought it was justified. After gathering some stems from around the flower beds, she'll dig and take the flowers with their roots out.

... that was green enough.

She turned her back on the boy and focused her gaze down on the ground.

João didn't look up at the footsteps, but he saw her out of the corner of his eye alright.

Silent treatment, eh?

As if he was dying to talk to her. He had already forgotten her anyway. She was just someone he used to know. But he didn't remember any memories. Just her name and the face attached to it. He wondered if he should break this stupid thing, but then he would miss out the change of earning some points. No. He wasn't going to just miss out the change because of her. Plus, he was determined not to speak at all, unless it was quite necessary. So that she would maybe understand how broken he--

MEMORIES! There were still some MEMORIES down there! He blinked, shook his head and went on with his work. There, done. He had erased that too. Phew. That was close! He had nearly remembered something about her other than the formal information. That had been close indeed, but he parried the danger quite effectively.

After a few more minutes, he deemed he got enough branches and then offered her the box silently. Or more correctly, he simply left it there next to her so that she could put the dead things in it. Getting the small shovel in hand, he stood right on top of her and waited for her to pick the flowers they were getting. They might not be talking, but he was still doing the hard work.