Oops. Hadn't meant to startle him. Gwen giggled at his reaction. It was like he hadn't heard her up there or something. Maybe he wasn't paying very good attention.

She raised one eyebrow skeptically. "You fell off a chair and now you need a cane?" That didn't seem very reasonable to her. Gwen had fallen off of lots of things. The worst she'd ever had was a sprained wrist. Maybe this had something to do with all of the old students? And hadn't one of those kids said something about a time-thief?

What did it look like she was doing? "Climbing," she replied obviously. She gripped the branch and swung down, dropping to her feet on the grass. "Are you doing that old-people prank?" Because she'd thought that was mostly Gryffindors, but he was a Hufflepuff, wasn't he?

Ian saw a level of concern mixed with skepticism in the look she returned. Don't know what to say. Maybe I have brittle bones or joints or tendons or whatever is making my hip hurt. The cane helps keep me from being in too much pain. He didn't know why he was in pain from falling from a chair. It was wierd, but it happened he supposed.

He smiled as she answered him like he should have known better and then she asked an odd question. What prank is that? He tried to think what she could mean.

Brittle bones? Gwen almost laughed out loud, but held it back. If he really had a problem, it wasn't nice to laugh at people with disabilities. "Wow, I'm really sorry about that," she said, trying her best to inflect the words with sincerity. Canes were boring. You couldn't climb a tree with a cane. You couldn't play soccer with a cane, you couldn't really do anything besides sit and be boring.

Like he didn't know. He was just acting like that because he wasn't supposed to tell people it was a prank. Well it had gone on long enough that Gwen wanted in. She plopped down on the grass beside him crossing her legs. "You don't have to pretend. I know about it already. Pretty much everyone does. Where everyone acts all old like achy and with grey hair and stuff." The growing number of people who had caused them not to do fun things in classes was getting slightly irritating to Gwen. If she couldn't be in on the prank, she wanted it to stop.

He heard the apology and nodded. It's ok. Hoping it goes away. He really was hoping sometime soon it would go away. He wasn't enjoying the pain all the time. He was also starting to get nervous about his hair. And it felt like he had cotton balls in his ears sometimes.

He watched as she plopped down next to him. She seemed pretty nimble, but of course a first year student would. When she said he didn't have to pretend, he wondered if he should be offended. I'm not pretending. I don't know what's going on with the other students. He did think about Hannah. Then he remembered at that time he hadn't introduced himself. He extended his hand and said I'm Ian, by the way

She scoffed. Sure, he didn't know. Either this time-lord crap was real, or he was just refusing to let her in on the joke. She shrugged. Whatever. "It's okay. I guess you don't have to tell me."

Introductions? Oh. She shook his hand like a good little lawyers-daughter. "Sorry. I'm Gwen. It's nice to meet you, Ian." Then looking at the book in his hands "what'cha reading?" Because he was a boring sort of kid, he would probably be reading something boring.

He felt like she was offended by his response. He really didn't know. Certainly, he'd seen the other kids, but there was no prank he knew about. when she shrugged, he felt sad. Sorry. I really don't know what's going on with those other kids. Some of them are really upset.

He smiled back at her as she said her name. He looked down at her question and picked up the book he'd dropped. It's called Giants 101. I got it from the library. He didn't think she cared much for him. Or at least, like Bart thought he was a bookworm.

Maybe it really wasn't a prank. For the first time, real doubt starting boiling. Maybe it really was that freaky time-stealer guy. Could he really make students get all old? If so, why weren't the teachers doing anything about it? They were supposed to take care of the kids, right?

Giants? "Are giants real too?" she asked in amazement. Things like that shouldn't surprise her anymore, but they did. Also, Gwen was afraid she'd hurt his feelings with the prank-thing. She wanted to invite him to do something fun with her, to make up for it, but with his cane, she wasn't sure what sort of fun things he was capable of. "How old are you?" she asked, flipping around to lay on the grass on her belly, head propped up in her hands.

"Do you want to do something fun?" she asked anyway. She asked it kind of quietly, unsure of his answer, but just as an offer, it was nice, right?

Ian saw something like concern cross her face as she processed his answer about the things happening to other students. at least she knows I'm not just making this uphe thought to himself. Come to think of it, some really odd things had been happening to him too. He reached up and felt the place where his tooth had been junction recently.

He smiled as she seemed interested in his book. oh! he's. Quite real. I think they are misunderstood by our kind though. I can't believe they would survive so long as a species if they were just dumb beasts. he certainly thought that he was understanding them a little better with all these new books he'd found. It made him feel a little less of an outcast like he was at home.

He grinned as he told her, just turned 12 years old this summer. Was a right nice birthday too. A cousin of mine bought me a new broom so I don't have to keep using the school ones. And my parents bought me a new cell phone even though I told them they don't work around here. How old are you? he guessed she was a bit younger than he.

When she asked about doing something fun, he looked at her perplexed. isn't sitting here talking about giants fun he thought it was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

Gwen listened with interest as he talked about the dragons. Ian seemed to be pretty into them. However, she disagreed about the dumb beast part. "Chickens have survived this long, and you couldn't call a chicken smart," she argued. She'd seen a video where a chicken got it's head stuck under the stairs, and even after it was unstuck it walked around with it's head sideways.

His cousin bought him a broom? Brooms were so expensive. Gwen would never be able to afford one for herself let alone a cousin. "Eleven," she replied, noting his comment about the cell phone. "Are you muggleborn then?" Because it would be pretty nice to talk to someone who understood that her family didn't understand.

Ian had a strange idea of fun, Gwen decided. She shook her head. "No. It's interesting, but fun is where you laugh." That was the distinction, right? Fun got your blood pumping and your head spinning. Education wasn't fun.

Ian was pleased. She certainly seemed interested in the things he was talking about. Her comment about chickens was a valid point. sure. But have you ever seen wild chickens? I haven't. hopefully that helped bolster his argument.

He nodded as she said eleven. I thought you were a bit younger than me. What's your birthday like? the muggle born question was interesting. From some, it meant they would look down on him. For others, it made them feel easy. He figured it didn't matter one way to another. I am. Me dad's a fisherman and mum keeps the house. We live in northern Scotland. And you?

He listened to her definition of fun. I suppose your definition suits. What have you got in mind?

Gwen shook her head. No, she had never seen wild chickens. She grew up in the Big Apple. Maybe that was a fair point. Dragons were wild, weren't they? "Well what about turkeys? They're wild, and so stupid they drown in the rain." She paused. "I'm not saying dragons are stupid, but are you maybe overestimating their intelligence? Any stupid animal could survive on it's own." Maybe. Gwen probably couldn't. But that was beside the point.

Gwen shrugged. "Depends on whose house I'm at. Dad usually takes me out somewhere fun. The whole day just me and him and Iestyn, my twin," she explained. Bit of a pain, having to share birthdays, but nice to have someone who understood you entirely. Well, until recently apparently. "And if I'm at my moms we do cake and things. And we always get balloons with confetti in them." So that when popped confetti spread everywhere. It was fun.

Another shrug. "Muggleborn too." He shared his parents professions, did that mean she had to do the same? "My dad's a lawyer." No comment on the mother situation, or the living situation.

She grinned popping up to a standing position. "We could go swimming," she gestured to the lake. Swimming was easy on bad limbs and things. "Or we could explore the dungeons, or we could find Peeves and see if we can help him with anything." She didn't know if the legendary Poltergeist actually existed, but in the little she'd read about the school, she didn't doubt it much.

Now Adelaide was definitely glad that Tag had been the one to join her. She could ask him questions about his dad's job...if that wasn't too weird. Hopefully it wasn't. "Really? Does he like it? Been considering going that route myself." Best to probably give a reason to her questions right?

She leaned back and looked up at the tree. "This one looks perfect for it, even though I wouldn't know. Never really climbed a tree." Which was kinda sad actually. Addi giggled, kind of glad he didn't question her little add on at the end of that sentence.

Ian wondered why she seemed so intent on proving him wrong. Yes, there are wild turkeys and domesticated turkeys may drown by looking up. I just think that by and large, creatures that have survived this long have done so based upon some measure of intelligence. He also was intent on 'winning' this debate.

Ian wondered how they had gone from giants to dragons, especially since dragons tended to live solitary lives. Was she intent on a solitary life? Then she spoke about her birthday and his mind completely shifted gears. [b]Oh! You have a twin? Are they here too?[b] He hadn't met any twins to this point in his life, so he was interested. And then she mentioned her mom's house. So... He stopped and wondered if it were an impolite question to ask if her parents were no longer together.

He smiled more widely when she mentioned that she was also muggleborn. Well, if there's any way I can help you navigate the magic world, I'd be happy to help. He remembered what it was like trying to learn all this about the magical world and not being able to talk about it at home with his friends, who kept asking about the school he was going to when he left. And how his parents peppered him with questions and his mother made him feel bad when he called because whenever she called him, it went straight to voicemail.

The swimming idea sounded very interesting. Well, I don't have any real issue with swimming. I need to put the book somewhere safe though. When would you like to go? Of course clothing wasn't much of an issue as he was wearing shorts underneath his robes and he supposed he could put the book in the box with his robes and stuff.

"Some measure," Gwen repeated. "But what you said was that we misunderstand giants because we think of them as dumb beasts. I don't think that not being able to differentiate their intelligence from that of ants proves your point though. Because ants aren't sentient, but they form whole societies or something." Walden, right? If by 'some measure' he meant that all living creatures had some intelligence, so did turkeys and ants and things. He wasn't claiming that Giants were actually any smarter than that, thereby disproving his point. They were dumb beasts. Not that she had ever met one, but she seriously hoped she never did.

She nodded, then shook her head. "Yes I have a twin, no he doesn't go here. He's a muggle." Was that a derogatory term? She didn't mean for it to be. It was just what people said here. "I mean, he doesn't have magic in him. He's really smart though." Way smarter than Gwen. He was pretty much the only reason she'd ever passed a test in her life.

He seemed super-nice, offering to help her with all of the magic stuff. She laughed. "It is a little overwhelming, isn't it?" Like Giants. Gwen had only just learned that they were real!

When would she like to go? "Um, right now." So put down the book, old-dude. She was wearing her climbing clothes, so mesh shorts and a tee shirt. Totally okay to swim in. And the days were only getting colder! Gwen kicked of her shoes, nudging them up against the base of the tree and setting her socks on top of them. "Last one in is a rotten egg!" She shouted over her shoulder, already racing toward the waters edge.

Ian wasn't ready to concede the point yet. Listen, at even the lowest levels of society there is some hierarchy. One wouldn't consider single cell organisms and such intelligent, but there is either through evolutionary means or design (whichever you ascribe to) intelligence. There is some reason these creatures come together and create a leadership position. Ants have a queen, just as bees do. They are not acting solely on instinct. Giants are the same. There is some reasoning for their choice of leadership. I think that wizards can (and do) utilize that leader to enable greater cooperation. Perhaps wizards can even help them to develop more civilized behavior and governance Of course, not all decisions about wizarding governance could be considered civilized, especially the attitudes wizards had toward other magical creatures.

How interesting. How is it? Being at a school different than your twin. Of course it wasn't the best question to ask, perhaps it brought difficult thoughts, but he was curious. She mentioned his intelligence and smiled. You seem like a very smart person to me, for a girl.

He nodded. Over whelming is an understatement. So much to learn because not only are you responsible for school work, but you're learning a whole world. I suppose it's like being an explorer. He had really enjoyed his transition and he was beginning to gain confidence with his world. This conversation would have been impossible for him last year as he was so timid.

He saw her kick off her shoes and socks and she took off running. He struggled up from the base of the tree and shuffled off to the lake, after taking off his robes and shoes and setting the cane on the ground beside his things. I'm on the way he called after her. He shuffled off toward the lake.

"You're right, you wouldn't do such a thing," she said with a sigh. "I wonder who could have been lying to my then..." she remarked, looking around as if another culprit were hiding behind a rock.

Safe on the ground, Tessa put her hands on Sander to make sure he was steady once again. "I'm fine," she assured him. "I've done many emergency dismounts from brooms going a lot faster and a lot higher than you," she told him with a grin. "It wasn't dumb," she told him, gently tapping his nose. "It was a part of the tour. Come on," she said, slipping her hand in his. "Shall we continue? PErhaps I'll hop up again later," she assured him with a wide smile.

She wasn't going to lose. Gwenhwyfar Jensen hated losing. Even if he knew more about the subject than she, and he might be making his point, she'd gotten into the disagreement and now she didn't want to lose. "I see your point, and I understand what you're saying," she began. Lawyers trick. "My point is that I don't believe that giants are as intelligent as you seem to think they are. They certainly are not as intelligent as wizards." There. That was her point. Take it or leave it, final statement.

Gwen shrugged. "It's fine. I mean, I miss him, sure. But we still write letters and stuff. It's not like I don't hear from him." And moving away from the subject before she thought too much about the last letter from her brother. For a girl?! Was he implying that in general girls were less smart than boys? She raised one daring eyebrow. "For a girl? I'd like to hear you say that to Cristina Fernandez or Judit Polgar." Exactly. Girls were just as smart as boys if afforded the same education and lack of disadvantages. Gwen might not be as smart as the average boy, but that didn't mean the average girl wasn't.

Oops. Forgot he was a gimp. Oh well, Gwen would just have to beat him and he would have to be the rotten egg. She felt her toes splash into the cool water and launched herself out from the edge ducking completely under the water. She swam to the top and flipped her hair out of her face. This was fun. Way more fun than arguing about stupid giants anyway. "Coming in, old man?" she teased, watching his shuffle.

Ian could tell that she wanted to have the last word, but it really wasn't a matter of discussion. I'm not implying that giants have the same intelligence level as wizards, but isn't it quite a biased opinion that they can't have the same level? He felt that she was now arguing merely to 'win' the debate and it became a little more interesting. How long could he make her string out the discussion before she got exasperated. He had learned to be very patient as he listened to the sea tales of his father and his father's crew.

Oh dear! Now he seemed to have insulted her, which obviously wasn't his intention. She appeared quite intelligent, but he'd chosen his words poorly and now he was going to have to backtrack a little. I wasn't trying to say girls aren't intelligent. I've met many who run circles around me academically. It just seemed that you were implying he was smarter because he was a boy. Sorry. My mistake. Hopefully that helped smooth over the pudding he'd disturbed.

He grinned as she called him an old man. He tried to speed up and as his feet hit the water's edge, his body shrank up. Oh goodness, that's chilly water! He edged himself further out just as she reappeared from having taken under the water. She did appear to be having fun.

Was he still on about that giant stuff? Gwen splashed the water a little, flipping over to float on her back. "Biased simply means you're refusing to acknowledge all of the facts. No, I don't think it's biased, I think it's factaul that based on past experience and current societies, Giants are not as intelligent as us. I'm not saying they don't have the potential to become that way, just that they aren't right now." Whoa. Too much fancy wording for the first year. Where had that come from? She shook it off and held her breath, sinking under until her feet touched the bottom, then pushing up as hard as she could with her toes.

Oh. That made more sense. Gwen shrugged. "Nah, I just meant that he's smarter. No gender-bias implied. Sorry for freaking out." See? Gwen could apologize. She was nice. People should want her to be their friend.

"Hey, I bet you swim all the time," his dad being a fisherman and all, right? Also, thinking about his dad's occupation led to a question she hadn't thought to ask. "Are you an only child?" Because he had seemed curious about the twin thing. Gwen wondered mildly how he would react if she told him she was the fifth of six kids. He seemed a little like the only-child type. He liked to read. Probably meant he didn't have many playmates growing up, right? Lucky for Gwen, she'd always had Grey and Iestyn and October close enough to her age to play 2-2 soccer.

Ian decided that it was time to give up the ghost, so to speak. He could go on like this for some time, but the last time he got in a discussion with another student about giants, there had been some 'trouble'. Fair enough. Point conceded. He bent over and splashed some of the cool water back at her.

Ian shrugged at her response to the smart-ness question. And I was trying to say you were a smart girl. It may not have come out that way. He grinned. He seemed to be getting a little better at talking to new people who hung from trees and startled you while you were reading a book.

He shook his head. Not much. The water is a wee bit chilly all year round up where I live. Not good for swimming. I really only do it hear, though I did have to learn survival swimming so I could go on dad's fishing boat. He hadn't expected the next question. First time he'd been asked. I am. Just me, my dad and me mum. Well, if you don't count the chickens and dogs and ferrets we have at the house. Have you any other brothers or sisters?

Now it was Adelaide's turn to be excited. And no Tag didn't mind that he was now being asked questions. She really seemed into the whole baking thing so maybe, he wasn't too much help, but Tag could give her ideas. "Yes, really. And he does. Been working as a chef since he was a young adult. Never let go of the job." Always cooking. It was good for Tag. Free delicious food. "Maybe you should give more input to it. Sounds like it's something that might interest you."

Tag nodded as she mentioned that it looked like the perfect tree to climb it. "Its got a lot of branches, so lots of space to move around and be safe, by holding onto other branches." Or at least that's what Tag thought. He didn't know too much about tree climbing himself. "You should give it a try one day. It doesn't hurt. To try something new, you know."

Adelaide listened, slightly shocked at how long Tag's dad had been a chef. That was a really long time to do one thing. Then again, if you loved something it must not feel like that. "That's amazing." Because it was. How did you make up your mind that young? "I've been mulling it over a bit. I'm just confused because I have so many things that interest me." It really was more of a problem then she ever thought it was going to be.

Addi leaned back, looking up at the tree as Tag talked. "They look pretty sturdy from here." Most of them were thicker so they had to support weight better. "You're right." She set her book down carefully so not to ruin it. "Maybe I should try right now." Because it always looked like fun. Plus another person here might be helpful if she falls or something like that.

Tag simply nodded when Adelaide had said it was amazing, probably at how long his dad had been cooking for. And then he was agreeing with her, on that whole 'so many things interest me' part. "I'm having trouble with that too. Figuring out exactly what I want to get into after Hogwarts. Maybe try to look into the things that interest you more than the others?"

"It looks pretty sturdy, yeah." He said agreeing some more. He then looked at her curiously when she'd put her book down and expressed her desire to start climbing it at this very moment. "You can, yeah. But I might panic if you fall or something. But I'm sure you won't. It rarely happens. You'll be fine." Tag even got up too. He could go along with her.

Sander leaned over to kiss Tessa on the lips. She was a trooper, always seeing good in everything. Sander knew that he was lucky to have her in his life. Entangling his fingers with hers, he continued down the path with her, contented to walk for awhile and give his back and legs a break. His legs felt wobbly and his back ached, but Sander was not going to mention any of that to Tessa. He knew telling her would only worry her.

"Okay let's continue with the commentary. Over there is supposedly where Harry Potter played hide and seek with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. At least that's what I was told," Sander fibbed making up things as they walked along. He didn't know anything about the history of the school, being a transfer and all. But he could still spin a yarn and that was what he was doing now.

Point conceded!! She had won! She didn't even know the first things about Giants, but she had just won a debate about their level of intelligence. She would have to write and tell her father. He would be proud.

Gwen looked startled at his next comment. Her? Smart? Nope. Not at all. Just because she was in Ravenclaw didn't mean she was smart. She still firmly believed she'd been sorted into the wrong house, though Hope had told her otherwise a half-dozen times. She decided to let it slide. Not important enough to comment on. She did offer him a smile in thanks for his comment, however.

Oh, well that made sense. Too cold for swimming all year though? Even in New York the days got warm enough for outdoor swimming if you wanted to drive out to Long Island.

"Wow! That must be so quiet!" she marveled. What did his mom do all day while his dad worked and Ian was at school? There couldn't be that much cleaning to do, and Ian had said it was her job to keep the house. And pets! "I've never had anything but goldfish," she said enviously. Does it get lonely?" Oh, her siblings. Had she not already said? She must have thought it. "I'm the fifth of sixth. Well, tied for fourth, but someone has to be number five, and since I was baby B, we say it's me." Lots of kids. It was never boring at Gwen's place.