How did one...knock on a tent? Paul levitated the mossy rock along with him.

He'd heard the hag new Divination professor had set up, er, camp here? That was pretty...interesting! One with nature and all, taken to the NEXT LEVEL. It was why this strange mossy rock he had found on a camping trip this summer and had sat in one of his gardens for a few months was just...the perfect gift for Miss....Divination lady. He really needed to learn the poor woman's name, assuming she had one.

"Er....hello? Hello? Is anyone in there? I have a gift!" he yelled into the interior of the tent. An odd smell was coming from within...well every home had its own...distinct odor, of course!

Hanging the last bit of her rags on a clothes line, Ursula heard a voice and turned. "I'm right here." Moving closer to the man she began to recognize him from the feast. Her grin growing more sinister. "Get dried off? That room won't be the only thing flooding by the end of this term, better keep an eye on those plants." She pointed towards the greenhouses.

A gift? She looked at his hands, "Well then what is it?" There was never a time the hag would say no to a gift.

Paul wasn't sure how to deal with the woman yet. She wasn't rude...or mean, or anything. But she made his chest tighten, and he felt SO uneasy being near her, like he might self combust at any moment.

"You think so, eh?" he chuckled a little. "I...h-hope my plants will be just fine..." maybe he would put up protective wards on his greenhouses >.>

He looked down at the rock and held it out. "It's a rock...covered in moss. I thought it was quite beautiful, and natural, since I found it like this. And I gave all the new professors a gift...I thought this one was perfect for you...Miss....? I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch your name!" he smiled and wasn't sure he wanted to wander into the tent.

He was going nose!blind to the smell, though.

He was finally back to school! FINALLY! FINALLLLLLLLLLLLY!!!!!!! David literally LOVED Hogwarts, and all its classrooms, and all its professors, and ESPECIALLY all its grounds, and was thus SUPER STOKED to be back home outside. Skipping along as he was, his new notepad tucked into a pocket of his SUPER COOL CARGO SHORTS, Davie gave pause as he spotted a new addition to the grounds.

Was that a tent? And was--- was PROFESSOR MYERS hanging out by it!??! WAS PROFESSOR MYERS CAMPING OUTSIDE NOW??!! DID HE BRING MILTON HIS HUSBAND TO SCHOOL WITH HIM MAYBE?!?!?!!!

Drawn in toward his favorite professor ever, Davie skipped closer, then a bit closer, then closer still, peeking out from just behind Myers as he watched the Herbologist interacting with someone. He peeked around the man, who was blocking his view of whomever he was addressing, someone to whom he was about to give the ...... the..... wait...... waaaaaaaaait a hot second.....

"Are you a hag?"

Oops, that came out louder than intended, and David quickly popped back behind Myers for cover. No, no no no, Davie, that was definitely not Milton.

Julia hadn't really been looking for anything in particular out on the grounds, but seeing as this tent was right, smack-dab in the middle it was only a matter of time before she came across it. And in fact, she might have gone around it entirely, not particularly enticed by the holes, smell, or surplus of wirey cats, if she hadn't seen someone her age skipping towards it.

Surely one wouldn't skip towards something unless one knew it was worth skipping to? She trailed along behind the other student, stopping when he stopped, peeking out when he peeked out...

O_____O

But most definitely not saying that. Without even introducing herself first she poked the boy in the side and hissed, "You can't just ask someone that!"

"OH! Owchhhhhh!" David whisper!hissed back to the girl, who... well, where had she come from anyway? Were there MORE people hiding in this tent? Was Milton there AFTER ALL? And whose cats were these! WHY COULDN'T HE ASK SOMEONE THAT? He had manners, yeahhhhhhhh, but a hag was like... like on the level with a troll.... right?

He took a big step back from Professor Paul and toward the girl a little bit. He ain't afraid of no hag. "Why not? Is she the same one from the feast?"

"Interesting gift to give." It was interesting indeed and Ursula reached her hand out taking it. Looking at it she pulled it close to her nose and sniffed it. "I can use this. The moss helps rid the area of the smell of children." Shoving it in her rags she turned just to see two children.

She eyed them as they came closer and the one blurted out a question, "Ursula Black" Her eyes on the man who had asked her name. Hadn't she warned them not to forget it. "Memory is the first to go when doom is approaching. You won't last a month and you dearie," She pointed at the boy, "You will end up with a missing tongue if you keep blurting out words like that." She cackled and moved closer to the opening of her tent. " Are you two hear for a reading or to go blind for staring?"

Paul WHIPPED around when he recognized what was David's voice RINGING out those VERY rude words. He eyed the boy. "David Truebridge!" He said sternly. "You cannot just ask people that question, m'boy!" He softened his tone because well...it was David. "And what is this, Mr. Truebridge? No visit in my office yet? I'm so very HURT--" he smirked a little.

But...back to the matter at hand. "Listen to Julia. She's wise." He tapped his own head and turned back to....Ursula, apparently.

"Moss is good for ridding of smells...and for pulling the bacteria of surrounding area into it..." he nodded a bit.

He was frightened at the idea of David losing his tongue. Merlin. The hag...was a frightening lady. But a LADY nonetheless, therefore she deserved respect because all people deserved respect! He also felt...the need to protect the young ones...so he stepped closer to them and put a hand on David's back. "Ahh...why don't I just...uh, stay with you two then..." he smiled and chuckled nervously, trying not to seem...........sketchy.

He did not trust this Ursula Black.

Prior to examining her new Common Room for the first time ever, Altha had left the castle. She desperately did not want to see her fifth year Gryffindor brother, who'd looked at her with an expression of utter disappointment when the hat had shouted out Slytherin. No, she couldn't go straight into another social setting, she needed time to herself for a moment...

Pacing around the grounds led her to a distinct stench. Altha stopped in her steps, wiped away a strand of long black hair from her pointed face, and scrunched her nose. I think.. -sniff- it smells much like... -sniff sniff- horribly scented perfume. But there was some other curious smell there, and it was this that pushed Altha to walk on.

An ugly tent sat peculiarly in front of Althas dark hazel eyes. Blinking twice, she was puzzled. What was this stinky, ugly tent doing here? Though, there had to be a purpose... It's got something in there, she thought as she walked up to the tent calmly. She paused briefly, then decided that there was no point to knock or announce her arrival. It was a tent, for Merlins sake. And with that, Altha pushed the tent flap open and stuck her head in the tent, staring quite blankly at its residents.

Was she the same one from the...? Julia actually didn't know, but the thought that there could be multiple hags running around Hogwarts was just a little bit intimidating so she hissed back, "Of course she is, silly!"

But then... meep! Staring made you go blind?! In the normal course of things that obviously wasn't true, but at Hogwarts, land of the thundering ceilings and scream!fainting professor that apparently did it often enough to warrant no comment, she supposed anything was possible. So even though she hadn't really stared at Professor(?) Ursula Black, not really, she resolved to not even look at her. Just in case.

Not even the professor calling her wise made her come out from behind this David Truebridge person, though much later in the safety of the common room she would preen over it a little. Instead she tried as casually as she could—it came off as little less than a cling—to hold the professor's hand.

"What um... what kind of reading?" Poetry? That'd be nice...

Ursula grinned crazily showing all her almost rotten teeth in their full glory at the man. "You don't trust me yet. Interesting. Bacteria is everywhere. It likes to grow and thrive and next thing you know you have a nice little epidemic on your hands...Wouldn't that be neat?" She liked growing things. All alive things that thrived. The more nasty the better.

Turning to the girl hiding behind the boy she cackled "Why a reading of your future dearie. You have a peculiar aura around you. It speaks of approaching trouble. You don't happen to own a toad do you?" Gesturing for them all to follow she ducked into her tent leaving behind an eerie giggle.

Dropping her onions into her boiling soup cauldron Ursula turned around slowly to look at her new visitor, cackling. "Are you going to stand there staring until I turn into a beautiful toad which is never or are you going to come in and let me read you your future?" Ursula didn't do with staring children or adults for that matter. Her macaw bird squawked eeriely from his place ontop of his stick to echo his owners sentiments.

Even at the start of term feast, Yoongi had felt a sense of fear when he had looked at the …person…If he could call her that… Her whole appearance just made him uneasy but he was also a Gryffindor and he wanted to proof that he wasn’t a coward even if the Yearbook had called him that.

Although feeling nervous, the Head Boy bravely walked to the tent that he knew was on the Grounds from what he had heard. Wouldn’t the ….person…. prefer an indoor room? The smell of the tent was awful, A mixture of scents that he could not place and thought he didn’t want to know either.

He wasn’t sure if he had to knock or something, could you knock on tent? He didn’t want to look stupid and try out so he looked at the bird and cat instead, curiously. “Uhm…..H-hello?” he called, trying to sound like his normal , confident self but failed. He would just…welcome her and then get away as quick as possible, yup.

A fortune tellers tent? Seriously? Altha snorted aloud and started laughing, a sarcastic tone edging into the laugh. "That's what this smelly old tent is for? Rubbish fortune telling?" She looked to the hagish witch, thinking 'beautiful toad' might be quite possible compared to the hag's current appearance.

And yet her eyes wandered past the witch and onto the students. Actually, the witch here may not be so dim. What was more rubbish than giving made-up fortunes had to be those who believed them. Althas face straightened up as she looked to the students in the tent, and shook her head slightly.

"I'll leave you to your fortune telling, now." and without saying goodbye she turned on her toes and withdrew her head from the tents entrance.

"Oh!" Altha called as she almost bumped into a boy. He stood much, much taller than her- he had to be in his sixth or seventh year. And pinned to his chest was a Gryffindor Head Boy badge. At the moment, Altha hardly wanted to think about Gryffindor - the house she apparently should have been sorted into, according to her entire family. The mix of the tents stench, Gryffindor badge, and ridiculous fortune-telling-talk brought a disgusted look to Althas face. "Don't even bother, it's a smelly station for false fortune telling. Brought-to-you-by... A lovely old hag!" she ended on the sarcastic note, looking at the boy.

The Hag…old lady from the train was still there. Mel, having explored the grounds a bit today had stumbled upon the tent not once but twice…it felt like it was the right thing to do when she found it again. Walking forward to toward the tent the little first year held onto her little bag and nervously stood there outside of the smelly tent.

“Helloo?” She quietly called out and fiddled with the thing in her hand. She was going to apologize and give the hag Professor…something about the smelly tent was making her nervous…or disgusted she couldn’t tell. “h-um…Excuse me I have a thing for you – an…apology for the train” Mel muttered as she walked a step closer and placed a little box with fairybread and a little now somewhat sticky sprinkle-covered-sparkly dream catcher necklace on the ground. “I’ve got the thing for you” she muttered, and took a small step back.

She was intrigued nonetheless. Tia was never really one to brown-nose her professors and bother them in their offices unless she had reason to do so. But this Ursula person who was evidently the new Divination professor, had caught the seventh year's attention. If nothing else than because she had this sense that someone else was using Ursula to get the inside scoop of Hogwarts. That Ursula herself wasn't the dangerous one, but there as a distraction so the one who was dangerous could fulfill their plans.

"Hello again, Mel," she greeted as she noted the young first year present there too. "Congrats on Gryffindor."

But she was not here for Mel and it would be rude to ignore the reason she was here. Smiling politely at the distasteful woman before her, she nodded at her. "Excuse ma'am, I just wanted to come by and introduce myself. And welcome you to Hogwarts." But if the woman was Divination professor, she likely already knew who she was, yes? She should just leave... besides, it seemed the tent was getting quite crowded.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayquilz

Paul WHIPPED around when he recognized what was David's voice RINGING out those VERY rude words. He eyed the boy. "David Truebridge!" He said sternly. "You cannot just ask people that question, m'boy!" He softened his tone because well...it was David. "And what is this, Mr. Truebridge? No visit in my office yet? I'm so very HURT--" he smirked a little.

But...back to the matter at hand. "Listen to Julia. She's wise." He tapped his own head and turned back to....Ursula, apparently.

"Moss is good for ridding of smells...and for pulling the bacteria of surrounding area into it..." he nodded a bit.

He was frightened at the idea of David losing his tongue. Merlin. The hag...was a frightening lady. But a LADY nonetheless, therefore she deserved respect because all people deserved respect! He also felt...the need to protect the young ones...so he stepped closer to them and put a hand on David's back. "Ahh...why don't I just...uh, stay with you two then..." he smiled and chuckled nervously, trying not to seem...........sketchy.

He did not trust this Ursula Black.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ashwinder

Was she the same one from the...? Julia actually didn't know, but the thought that there could be multiple hags running around Hogwarts was just a little bit intimidating so she hissed back, "Of course she is, silly!"

But then... meep! Staring made you go blind?! In the normal course of things that obviously wasn't true, but at Hogwarts, land of the thundering ceilings and scream!fainting professor that apparently did it often enough to warrant no comment, she supposed anything was possible. So even though she hadn't really stared at Professor(?) Ursula Black, not really, she resolved to not even look at her. Just in case.

Not even the professor calling her wise made her come out from behind this David Truebridge person, though much later in the safety of the common room she would preen over it a little. Instead she tried as casually as she could—it came off as little less than a cling—to hold the professor's hand.

"What um... what kind of reading?" Poetry? That'd be nice...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ursula Black

Ursula grinned crazily showing all her almost rotten teeth in their full glory at the man. "You don't trust me yet. Interesting. Bacteria is everywhere. It likes to grow and thrive and next thing you know you have a nice little epidemic on your hands...Wouldn't that be neat?" She liked growing things. All alive things that thrived. The more nasty the better.

Turning to the girl hiding behind the boy she cackled "Why a reading of your future dearie. You have a peculiar aura around you. It speaks of approaching trouble. You don't happen to own a toad do you?" Gesturing for them all to follow she ducked into her tent leaving behind an eerie giggle.

But WHY couldn't he just ask someone that?! It wasn't that obvious--- okay, it was pretty obvious, even to him. But it was also an honest question! It wasn't like she got to CHOOSE to be a hag, er, had she? Did she choose the hag life or did the hag life choose her? Or had she been a witch once? Where did hags come from anyway? Did hags have husbands, and little hag children that had to be kept away from their hag mums in case the hag mum ate her hag children?!!

David shook his head before he got too carried away with these ideas. "Okaaaaaaay," he mumbled instead, looking at neither Professor Myers nor the other Ravenclaw, nor, even, the hag. He looked at the mossy rock for a moment instead. "I mean, sorry Mrs. Black." For asking an innocent question. He looked up eventually toward Myers. "I was actually on my way to visit you, sir, but I found you!" Here, at the hag's! Heh. Heh. Wait, the hag wasn't named Julia, right? Julia was the other kid here? David shot a glance at her as though making sure she was cool with this hag thing.

And anyway, back to the woman-ish thing of the hour. "You do fortune readings?" WAS SHE THE SAME HAG WHO WORKED IN KNOCKTU--- no, wait, he couldn't ask that either, probably. Not with all these sensitive people around. Hmph. "Can I have a reading?" Davie bounced a little closer to Myers, not out of fear since he was cool and he was there, but more out of curiosity and comfort. "You're going to get a reading too, right sir?" Right? Right? Divination was AWESOME. ALL the subjects were!

Paul felt the first year's hand squeeze his, and his...usually dormant fatherly feels SPROUTED like an EAGLE bursting forth from its nest, and he would NOT LET GO OF THIS CHILD.

Ahem.

Protective Paul.

He tried to shoot her a reassuring smile as the hag..continued to spark fear in his heart at her words. Merlin. He was...not looking forward to the traumatized faces after Divination lessons...

Well. No, Paul did NOT trust her...but she wanted them to come in her tent. His Ravenclaw common sense was telling him that he should NOT let the children go in there..nor himself, for that matter, but his half Hufflepuff side thought it would be so so so so RUDE to turn down the offer. And after all, she was at HOGWARTS. What could possibly happen? It was a safe place! So Paul swallowed.

"Well if you insist, Ursula..." he chuckled nervous and shot David a look. A 'curiosity kills the CAT' look. He looked down at Julia. "We'll just have a quick reading and pop out, Ursula...I am sure the students have...shenanigans to get into and whatnot...in the castle.." Not out here. Near your tent. Ahem.

HE COULDN'T LET DAVID GO IN ALONE. And the boy CLEARLY wanted a reading so fihgerfgiuhetrghtighiutgh.

Following the child out Ursula stopped as she saw another. "You children have never heard curiosity killed the cat before have you?" Her wicked grin showing her ugly yellow teeth as she glanced at a cat leaving her tent. "Dearie if you come into someone's home, you should at least speak, it is rude to just enter and leave, thieves do that, but a thief will never come out." Her glare was a warning to anyone who tried to enter her tent again without allowance.

There was a shiny badge on the other one. It caught her eye, "I'll trade you a reading for that badge." It would go with her collection of objects.

Stirring her pot that was boiling on a fire, the hag looked up as two guest had arrived. The smells that were coming from it were just as strong as the smells from her tent. What was she couldn't was not recognizable. "Come for dinner dearies?" She looked at them as if she was measuring them for something. "A welcoming is not what you should be doing, you should be protecting yourself and your friends for the dangers ahead. Doom will come to all that walk these grounds."

"Come on then, all of you." She looked at the three and turned towards her tent. Moving slowly she let her macaw flap in first. The smells stronger as you enter, "Have a seat where you like." Moving towards a stack of papers she brushed them onto the floor to show the crystal ball that sat in the middle of the table.

Altha snorted. "And dearie, have you ever heard the end of that phrase? Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back." Her eyes rolled around as the woman continued to press on, claiming that it were rude of Altha to poke her head in and out. What did she expect if she were living in a smelly tent for all to see? Or rather, smell?

Before Altha said anything, the woman had turned to the boy beside her and offered a reading for his badge. She had just been about to leave when she decided it'd be more interesting to see if the boy would trade his badge for a rubbish reading. Though Altha knew he wouldn't do it, a tiny part of her stayed, wishing he would.

It would be a stretch to say that Julia felt braver holding the professor’s hand, but she definitely felt protected, and that made her less afraid and more curious. Not curious like David, which was the kind of curiosity better left to creatures with nine lives, but curious nonetheless.

Curious enough to look at her free hand when Ursula told her about the peculiar aura. She wasn’t exactly sure what an aura was… could Ursula smell it? Who could smell anything around here with so many cats? She held the professor’s hand a liiiittle harder as she answered Ursula, ”No I don’t have a toad, but I touched a hedgehog the other day.”

Maybe it had been poisonous after all!

Still holding onto the professor, she shuffled into the tent. It might, just possibly, be quite exciting to have one’s fortune read. Ursula could hardly be as inaccurate as the cookies her family always got after ordering in Chinese food, after all. And since this was Hogwarts, she might… even… be right.

Text Cut: The power of three.... that's a Divination thing, right?

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayquilz

Paul felt the first year's hand squeeze his, and his...usually dormant fatherly feels SPROUTED like an EAGLE bursting forth from its nest, and he would NOT LET GO OF THIS CHILD.

Ahem.

Protective Paul.

He tried to shoot her a reassuring smile as the hag..continued to spark fear in his heart at her words. Merlin. He was...not looking forward to the traumatized faces after Divination lessons...

Well. No, Paul did NOT trust her...but she wanted them to come in her tent. His Ravenclaw common sense was telling him that he should NOT let the children go in there..nor himself, for that matter, but his half Hufflepuff side thought it would be so so so so RUDE to turn down the offer. And after all, she was at HOGWARTS. What could possibly happen? It was a safe place! So Paul swallowed.

"Well if you insist, Ursula..." he chuckled nervous and shot David a look. A 'curiosity kills the CAT' look. He looked down at Julia. "We'll just have a quick reading and pop out, Ursula...I am sure the students have...shenanigans to get into and whatnot...in the castle.." Not out here. Near your tent. Ahem.

HE COULDN'T LET DAVID GO IN ALONE. And the boy CLEARLY wanted a reading so fihgerfgiuhetrghtighiutgh.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ursula Black

"Come on then, all of you." She looked at the three and turned towards her tent. Moving slowly she let her macaw flap in first. The smells stronger as you enter, "Have a seat where you like." Moving towards a stack of papers she brushed them onto the floor to show the crystal ball that sat in the middle of the table.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ashwinder

It would be a stretch to say that Julia felt braver holding the professor’s hand, but she definitely felt protected, and that made her less afraid and more curious. Not curious like David, which was the kind of curiosity better left to creatures with nine lives, but curious nonetheless.

Curious enough to look at her free hand when Ursula told her about the peculiar aura. She wasn’t exactly sure what an aura was… could Ursula smell it? Who could smell anything around here with so many cats? She held the professor’s hand a liiiittle harder as she answered Ursula, ”No I don’t have a toad, but I touched a hedgehog the other day.”

Maybe it had been poisonous after all!

Still holding onto the professor, she shuffled into the tent. It might, just possibly, be quite exciting to have one’s fortune read. Ursula could hardly be as inaccurate as the cookies her family always got after ordering in Chinese food, after all. And since this was Hogwarts, she might… even… be right.

Alright alright, Meyers. David caught the look. It was about the third look shot to him so far just in the past half hour, so he figured he couldn't pretend to miss that one. He could tone down the curiosity... maybe a notch. Maybe two notches. He HAD been called insensitive before, but he'd thought that was just the Grey Lady.

He trod behind the others into the tent, his eyebrows popping up somewhat just at the strange smells of the place. Had someone recently....er.... peed him or herself inside here? Or was that from the cats? Gingersnapple never smelled that bad, not ever. He nearly chuckled at Julia the child's comparison of a toad to a hedgehog, and then suddenly felt #blessed that he hadn't bought that toad over the summer after all. So hags didn't like toads. Noted.

Right, where to sit? David took the seat nearest the crystal ball, 100% counting on Myers to sit in between him and the girl, and curiously glanced up at the bird. "Where did you get your macaw, ma'am?" he asked politely. WAS THAT AN OKAY QUESTION TO ASK A HAG, HUH?

Paul regretted stepping into the tent as soon as he stepped into the tent.

It smelled weird. He was reminded, horribly, of the muggle tale he had heard once about a wicked witch having a house made of candy, and she'd invite children over to her house..or lured them there, or something, and then she'd COOK THEM.

Paul was glad, in this moment, HE WAS NOT A CHILD.

AHEM.

He DID sit down next to David and pulled Julia with him. If he wasn't so concerned, he would be admiring how adorable this first year was, or how charming David was. Sigh.

"Well...Miss Black...if you would uh...you can do my fortune first...unless...or you could do us all at the same time..whatever your uh..system is." He cleared his throat.

Mel listened to what the older smelly lady was saying and just tipped her head to the side as she spoke. She did give Tia a small smile, “Hi Tia,” she nodded. The smell from the tent was almost overpowering as she stood just outside of it.

“What is dinner?” Melbourne asked carefully, “allergies run in my family so we have to be extra careful with everything” she nodded but still lifting the little box of delicious sprinkle covered bread…really whoever had come up with this thing must have loooooooved sweets. “Will anything help alleviate said doom?” Mel asked as well, if doom were on the horizon wouldn’t it be smart to…well, profit from it?

Sell charms…have people pay for what the Hag was spouting. Watching people walk into the tent she didn’t see the harm….there were others there too and wouldn’t it be rude NOT to enter if others had entered?

Taking one brave step into the tent. Something had died in there….or well…maybe the tent was made of hides? She couldn’t tell but it was smeeellly. "readings? I wouldn't mind a reading...I'll give you fairy bread for it if you want?" She asked smiling happily.

As she sat there she reminded herself breathe through mouth. BREATHE THROUGH MOUTH. breathe through mouth...it was all she could do to keep from smelling the tent but she could still somewhat taste the pungent aroma.

She'd been staring at the tent from the Ravenclaw tower all day. Curious. Wondering. Imagining. Plus she was bored. So she came down to explore and check it out.

Seriously, though, what was with the tent? The closer she got to it, the worse it looked. Quite contrary to the rustic beauty and sheer amazingness of everything else that was a part of Hogwarts. It really did just get worse and worse looking. And oh, man... She had neared the entrance of the tent when it hit. That smell. It was worse than her brother's room, back in their old house in L.A. And they had been sure several things had died in there. And at least one thing that had probably mutated several times before dying, and one other.... well you get the picture.

"Holy carp, what IS that smell?" In her attempt to stomach and ignore the smell, the words inadvertently came out louder than she meant. As bad as it was, though, she had to know. Haddie lifted the flap and peeked inside, blinking at the occupant. "Oh." She bit her lip, and looked around. "Wait, why are you living out here, and not in the..." Um, maybe it would be better not to suggest living in the castle, so she doesn't stink Hogwarts up. "Nevermind. Nice Tent."