Ezra had decided he wanted to try and look around the Grounds a bit before his Potions lesson that afternoon so after breakfast he set out across the lawn towards the forest. He'd been told by his parents, Alexa, his Head of House, and basically EVERY OLD PERSON EVER that it was called the Forbidden Forest for a reason but why name it something that just makes everyone, especially eleven-year-old boys, want to explore.

As he traipsed closer he noticed a big ole hut placed against the first row of trees. Maybe a Mountain Troll lived there or it could just be a storage building. The little Gryffindor crept up to it's walls and climb up the side on top of some logs to try and peek into a window. No luck, the curtains were drawn. Poo.

He looked around for other people before trying to decide if he should take a few steps into the shaded forest when he heard a sound.

Not he sound of footsteps or someone shouting at him to get away from the trees, it was more like a humming or buzzing sound. That only piqued his interest even more. He hopped off the logs, stumbled and fell on the grass before walking closer to the back of the cabin to investigate the noise.

It was a bunch of boxes on stilts with bees zooming in and out of them.

NEAT!

Ex began to circle the fence to try and find out HOW TO GET IN!

Kirby was in the Forest because he can collecting more lumber. The large pieces of dead wood follow behind in a neatly stacked pile sliding across the ground pushing aside some already fallen leaves, and creating a path of dirt behind them. Once he reached the clearing The Groundskeeper observed what looked to be a young kid...a boy in fact! trapsing around his hut climbing his wood pile, falling and such.

He stood in the shade of trees momentarily until the boy began to circle his around his fence. "You like Bees, Kid?" He said coming out of the clearing and staring down the kid.

He moved further in while logs came to a stop at the lumber pile to the side of his Hut. One at a time the Groundskeeper lifted a log up from the pile and began stacking them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ ExpelliarMOOSE

Kirby was in the Forest because he can collecting more lumber. The large pieces of dead wood follow behind in a neatly stacked pile sliding across the ground pushing aside some already fallen leaves, and creating a path of dirt behind them. Once he reached the clearing The Groundskeeper observed what looked to be a young kid...a boy in fact! trapsing around his hut climbing his wood pile, falling and such.

He stood in the shade of trees momentarily until the boy began to circle his around his fence. "You like Bees, Kid?" He said coming out of the clearing and staring down the kid.

He moved further in while logs came to a stop at the lumber pile to the side of his Hut. One at a time the Groundskeeper lifted a log up from the pile and began stacking them.

After circling the bee enclosure for a few second like a wolf his prey, Ezra stopped when a voice boomed from the edge of the forest. MAYBE IT WAS A TROLL'S HOUSE!

Oh, it was the REALLY BIG Groundskeeper. "I guess. Aren't they kind of mean though?" They stung people and stuff but they did make honey which was soooo good on scones. His grandma made those a lot.

He watched curiously as the man stacked the wood that he'd floated behind him from the forest. "Are you sort of like a magic lumber jack too?" Was that part of his job description?

Kirby halted on the last piece of lumber holding it up with one arm and resting it on his shouder. "Bees can only be mean if you're mean to them first." He nodded to the Kid and finished stacking the last log.

He made his way to the fence and laughed at the next comment. "I guess I am!" He did eat Pancakes on a regular basis, and the fact that part of his job for regular maintence on the Grounds is to have plentiful supply of wood..."You just won't see me wearing Flannel." Except maybe on Christmas. That was always a good day to wear Flannel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ ExpelliarMOOSE

Kirby halted on the last piece of lumber holding it up with one arm and resting it on his shouder. "Bees can only be mean if you're mean to them first." He nodded to the Kid and finished stacking the last log.

He made his way to the fence and laughed at the next comment. "I guess I am!" He did eat Pancakes on a regular basis, and the fact that part of his job for regular maintence on the Grounds is to have plentiful supply of wood..."You just won't see me wearing Flannel." Except maybe on Christmas. That was always a good day to wear Flannel.

Hmmm....that made sense though but not really. If Ezra was mean to a bee he would certainly crush it before it was able to be mean back to him. But he guessed more than one would be a problem. He threw a nervous glance over his shoulder at the buzzing bee box bungalows.

HE WAS A LUMBERJACK THOUGH, kinda. He said so! "Alright no flannel. I don't have any flannel either." He shrugged. The guy was REALLY big though, the Gryffindor could stop staring.

"CanyoupickmeupsoIcanlookinthebeehouses?" he spit out. There was no beating around the bush with him. The guy had muscles so he surely could. Maybe he could then throw him in the air and catch him? NOT LIKE A BABY. Just a giant strong man and a small child.

Really?! From what he's seen the Kid was the Flannel Type...Ah Well, There was some Ancient Hawaiin Saying about not being judgemental, but Kirby was too preoccupied to remember it. "Pick you up?" Really the boy couldn't just stand on his toes and look into them? "You can go into the Fence if you like. You'll just need to gear first" He pointed over to the opposite end of the Fence at some a small fitted beekeeping gear.

"I'll follow you in and maybe you can help me collect some of my last Honey for the Season." it was getting close to Fall now and the Temperature was no longer Hot, more so on the Cool side right now.

The Gryffindor wanted to do something because he was bored out of his mind. He refused to do his homework right now since that would even bore him more and seeing friends wasn't an option either because...well, he doesn't even have friends ha!

So what to do with this boredom? Kevin had found himself wandering over the Grounds and walked in the direction of the beehives. He was a bit curious about the creatures though, especially after last year. Could he free them and use them as a prank? a big one? that would be epic! He walked around the fence furtively and looking around to see if someone was close by before looking back.

Now...he just needed to find a place to break in. There was bound to be a hole in the fence somewhere because it happened in movies all the time! Nothing though, maybe on the other side? He took another look around before starting to search again.

Why was she out here looking so fabulous when it was so unseasonably cool? Didn't the weather appreciate the fact that she wanted to wear this fantastic red knee-length dress? She had been intending to head towards the forest to investigate the local creature scene and if she happened to run into that handsome specimen even better. But now she was thinking of heading back inside to her office. Besides, high heels and spongy ground were not mixing well. But that noise. That buzzing. Was that... Those couldn't be...

"LAS ABEJAS!"

Lolita screamed bloody murder.

Since he hadn't find any holes in the fence some time ago, the Gryffindor decided to come back to the beehives. But no matter how many times the Gryffindor had been sneaking around the fence he still couldn't find a way to enter the area with using the entrance. He wanted to sneak in, not being boring and using that route. Besides, he was pretty sure that would alert the Groundskeeper.

No, scratch that.... it was that bloody murder scream that would get the man's attention! He jumped up from where he was inspecting the fence and as he rounded the corner he saw a .......pretty woman....dressed in a red dress in this cold weather? Was she crazy or just weird?

"What are you screaming about?!" he shouted over her scream. "...also..are you a Cold One?" cause she wore those clothes in this kind of cold... and it would be so cool!

Bees! Beeeeeees!!!!!!

For as many times as she had been on safaris, excavations, expeditions, and everything else under the sun, she still had no love for the creatures.

"¡Abejas, abejas!" she continued screaming. Lolita began to run as fast as her high-heeled feet could take her, which got her about ten steps before she faceplanted. When she heard a voice she barely took notice. What was she screaming about? Wasn't it obvious?!?! "Bees, I hate bees! Are they coming for me?!" she yelled at the boy. And more importantly, were they going for him first instead?

Abejas? What on earth were Abejas?

But before he could ask what she meant, the woman ran away on her high-heels and then faceplanted on to the ground. Kevin laughed out loud at the fell because it had looked stupid. Who was she anyways? One of the Professors?

oooooh! she was scared of the BEES. Now the galleon fell in place! An almost cruel smirk stretched on his face as he decided to have a little fun. There was nothing else to do anyways. So , remembering that one girl in the Robe shop back in Diagon Alley who had told him to exaggerate his expression if he EVER wanted to be a good actor , not that he wanted to but he was gonna try it out now.

"No, i don't think they're coming. The bees are behind the fence and....oh...uhm... OH GOSH THEY'RE FLYING THROUGH IT AND THEY'RE CLOSE BY! RUUUUUUUUUUUN!"

hehehehe

P-tooey!

Lolita spat out a cold chunk of earth. Ohhhh no. That boy was laughing at HER? No one laughed at Lolita Carmen Inocencia Domingo and got away with it! She stood and began to brush herself off heartily when..

"AAAAAAAaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!"

She headed for the lake, because she knew they wouldn't follow her underwater. Running as fast as she could without falling again, she chanced a glance over her shoulder.

There was nothing.

Oh, so THAT was how it was going to be?

Kevin hadn't had this much fun since putting bugs in Angel's hair back at the Lake. He snickered when his yelling had worked and she ran away on those high-heels again.

He was a bit dissapointed that she didn't fall again, because that had just been comical but when he realised that she was running towards the lake he laughed again. Was she REALLY gonna jump in?!

But then the Gryffindor saw her glancing over her shoulder and with no bees flying behind her he had to grab his stomach from laughing.

"I can't believe you fell for that!" he shouted because she was a bit further away. "Which House are you even in? definitely NOT Gryffindor bwahaha" Yeah he wasn't realising he was pranking a Professor right now.

Oh no, chico. No no no no no. NOW you were in trouble.

Lolita came storming back towards the young boy, pulling out her wand as she went. It was for the bees, not the boy, but he needn't know that. This boy was about to learn that fiery Latina redheads such as herself were not to be trifled with. She began muttering disjointedly under her breath as she drew closer. "Usted... Nadie.. no cómico.." Fina was right: she definitely resorted to her native tongue when she was upset.

Finally reaching the beehive area again, she said "Protego" firmly to cast a magical barrier between herself and the swarm. "¡Ven aquí!" she said, pointing directly in front of her. Her meaning was clear even if her words were not - he had better get himself over here pronto.

Although he did not hear what the woman was muttering, just the fact that she was muttering under her breath made everything even more funnier. He did jump a little in shock when the woman suddenly took out her wand and the Gryffindor spread his legs to balance himself and flicked his wrist to grab his own wand, hiding it under his robe sleeve. Ready to either defend or attack, he did not care.

But then he heard her saying the Protego charm and Kevin chuckled again. Seriously, who was she? He did not pocket his wand though but still kept it hidden. Just in case you know?

Ven what? Kevin raised an eyebrow, not understanding a word what she was saying. The finger-pointing in front of her made it clear though and the boy rolled his eyes. His mother used to do that when he had done something. He wanted to say that SHE should walk to him if she wanted to talk but seeing the fiery look , he decided to play it safe for now. So with a shrug of his shoulders, the second year walked towards her. "What?" he grinned.

Grayson had been doing what he did best and was wandering around the grounds. Wandering and observing. It wasn't exactly a fruitless journey and it was MUCH better than the piece of Herbology homework he was meant to be doing. That could wait. There were more important things to worry about and look into, like............

................. Okay. WHAT?! BEES?

Grayson stepped up to the fence and observed whatever it was going on inside the fenced in area with an expression of mild interest and, well, confusion. There was a freaking BEEHIVE here. At HOGWARTS. And from the buzzing that reached his ears, he was going to assume that those winged terrors were having a blast in there. Oh merlin, it was the middle of WINTER. Who had invited these little buggers to party, eh?

And why hadn't HE been invited? HMMMM.

Whatever. He was going to get IN there. Or, if he found someone, he could push THEM in first, just to see what happened. Uh huh. So, the fourth year set about inspecting the fence carefully, trying to find a latch or an opening. He did take note of the white suit that was hanging on the fence, and the hat too. But, other than that, his attention was otherwise occupied in finding an opening.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermionesclone

Grayson had been doing what he did best and was wandering around the grounds. Wandering and observing. It wasn't exactly a fruitless journey and it was MUCH better than the piece of Herbology homework he was meant to be doing. That could wait. There were more important things to worry about and look into, like............

................. Okay. WHAT?! BEES?

Grayson stepped up to the fence and observed whatever it was going on inside the fenced in area with an expression of mild interest and, well, confusion. There was a freaking BEEHIVE here. At HOGWARTS. And from the buzzing that reached his ears, he was going to assume that those winged terrors were having a blast in there. Oh merlin, it was the middle of WINTER. Who had invited these little buggers to party, eh?

And why hadn't HE been invited? HMMMM.

Whatever. He was going to get IN there. Or, if he found someone, he could push THEM in first, just to see what happened. Uh huh. So, the fourth year set about inspecting the fence carefully, trying to find a latch or an opening. He did take note of the white suit that was hanging on the fence, and the hat too. But, other than that, his attention was otherwise occupied in finding an opening.

Casper admittedly looked more bovine than human when he left the dungeons, bundled up in far more wool than necessary. Or comfortable. Winter had always been his favorite season, but these days he seemed unable to bear the cold. Come September he had broken into the turtlenecks, even though they made him look significantly less threatening than he'd like to be, and it had only gotten worse from there.

This was far more effort than he'd planned on putting into his solitary walk around the grounds; he could barely put his arms down, having stuffed the thickest jumper he owned under the military coat he'd bought fashionably--and inconveniently--tight, and the Slytherin scarf pulled up around his mouth and nose had long ago re-routed his breath enough to fog up his glasses. Casper's ambitions to walk around the entire campus, at least once, were soon dashed amongst his onset of blindness and fatigue, and it was by Kirby's hut that he collapsed onto the ground with a huff and a groan.

Casper screwed his eyes shut and whined; he had only meant to sit down, not end up on his back, and his head was suddenly very, very cold. The desperate struggle to grab the black ushanka that had seemingly peaced out and shove it hastily back onto his hair was, at best, undignified. It was probably fine, though. There wasn't anyone around to see him.

.... Except for maybe that guy, he realized belatedly. The one overly obsessed with the beehives.

Wait. Bees?

Oh Merlin. Thank God so little of his skin was showing.

Why. Was there. No. OPENING?!

The boy was becoming thoroughly annoyed by this. And he was even more annoyed that there wasn't some sort of bait someone else here. How was he meant to know how dangerous these bees actually were? And whether there were bees there or if it was just a spell the Groundskeeper had cast on the area to keep people away? Maybe he could just leave and come back another time with someone who knew a lot about--

..............

....................................

WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN.

Hearing a groan, the Slytherin whipped around as quickly as he could and looked around to see where the source of the sound was coming from. A whine and his eyes flew down to the ground where-- ....... Oh jeez. Was it really necessary to wear your whole wardrobe outside? He wanted to ask about that SO BADLY but it was freaking freezing out here so maybe this wasn't as weird as he thought it was. Still. This kid looked like he was bundled up to tackle a mountain and some zombies.

If that was the case, Grayson had invited himself along. You're welcome in advance for the spectacular company.

"Why are you on the floor?" A bit of a weird way to hang out, don't'cha think?

She did not miss the telltale twitch. This boy was actually going for his wand against a professor. Who did he think he was!? This chico needed to learn some respect for his authorities.

With fire in her eyes and smoke coming out of her nostrils she swept her hair back. "Listen up, el joven. I don't know who you think you are, but playing tricks on a professor is NOT acceptable. You lied to me, laughed at my injury, drew your wand on me and tried to hide it, and in general were highly disrespectful in your speech and attitude." All of which were big no-no actions in Lolita's mind. "Tell me your name, chico."

The boy did not flinch at the fire in her eyes and stared right back. He was used to this behaviour anyways. But the fact that this woman was a Professor made everything even more interesting. Had he finally found someone else to prank instead of Culloden? 'Cause they had kind of made a promise to each other and Kevin was the type to keep promises.

"So?" he asked. "Everyone lies, anyone would laugh at people falling comically like you had, and i was just being precautious because i thought you were an older student who was going to attack me instead of a Prof.es.sor" the sass was strong in his voice. Ah , he was back again~

As for his name. The boy rolled his eyes. "Kevin" yes he was brave enough to tell his own name and not fake an identity. FOOLISH GRYFFINDOR YO!

Ay ay ay, children did not have any morals left these days it seemed. "Do not use such lazy excuses. Everyone doing something does not make something right. And though I do look fabulous," of COURSE she did, "I am clearly not an older student." She could spot an attempt at flattery a mile away, and this one was particularly lame. "What is more, now that we are absolutely clear on my status, the amount of sass in your voice is not to my liking."

So. This young man Kevin needed a lesson. "Let's see, chico. Combine the lying, laughing, disrespect, and sass, and I think you're getting off easy with ten points." She didn't know his house, but he could be sure that she would find out.

"Now, since Señor Kirby clearly does not wish students to be in this area without his supervision," because yes, she could read the sign, "I'm going to ask that you please make your way back toward the castle or somewhere else on the grounds." And she would have a clear path to take care of what she had come out here for in the first place.

Wow....she did have an ego didn't she?

Resisting the temptation to roll his eyes, Kevin listened to the redhaired Professor as she spoke. Lying, sass, disrespect, laughing...BLAHBLAH they all went one ear in and out of the other.

-10 points? What the? even Culloden had never taken away that many points and he had been AWEFUL to him. Yes, even Kevin admitted that. And now that he thought about it, the man had never taken points from him..or had he? Mweh it was hard to keep track with who gave and took his points.

He had to yawn while she spoke but didn't want to risk losing more points so held his mouth closed while he yawned, resulting in his eyes becoming watery. If she thought he was crying over the points then no. He could get them back anyways.

Pocketing his wand back in to his holster, the Gryffindor shrugged his shoulders as he walked passed the woman and to the direction of the castle. "Whatever, good luck finding out my house" heh.

The white layer of snow has extended to cover the grounds completely, including the area behind the Groundskeeper's hut. The thick layer of deadly snow left the beehives almost obscured; If you didn't know there were posts with bee homes kept in this side of the fence, you wouldn't be able to find them in this perfect sheet of snow.

The scattered bees that were usually found around this area have not been seen for a while now, either.

This icy, frigid, snow-filled virulent winter is beginning to esclate toward blizzard levels with a polar vortex wind chill suddenly sweeping the grounds on top of the already high snow drifts. Brrr! Best get indoors now before the snow covers you to your frostbitten nose! It looks like Hogwarts may already be in the process of being snowed in....

OOC: All grounds threads will shortly be locked in light of this snowpocalypse. You have about 24 hours to finish your RPs and get in the castle!