Professor Cornish's Airstream There’s a glint in the trees between the Creatures hut and the Black Lake, and if you get close enough, you can see a large caravan shaped like a plump silver bullet. It glitters where sunlight reflects dappling patterns against the side of the vehicle. This is clearly where Cornish lives – a chair and table under the awning, laundry flapping from the line stretching between two trees, and his shaggy dog Brenda asleep under the steps. |
Chloe had wandered somehow down the grounds. She was enjoying the warm sun and let her thoughts take over while her feet kept walking. It didn't seem like she had started in this direction, but here she was and now she was staring at the new professor's office space... or was it living space? Did the professors sleep at the castle all the time? She assumed they probably didn't with families of their own, but she had never ever put any thought in whether they did or not until now. Looking around it Chloe saw the dog and smiled, "Hi there cutie", not going to close since the dog clearly didn't know her. She wanted to make friends with it but knew that she had to go slow with animals. Seeing the wading pools took her attention from the dog for a moment and she headed over. Had this always been here or was it new? No, she knew it had to be new. She had been to the other professor's hut before and never saw this. Bending down she looked in and started to observe the life swimming around. |
"That's Brenda," Cornish emerged from his caravan with a hand over his eyes to bloke out the sun. In the other hand was a jar of dog treats. Homemade, by his mother, who spoiled the only 'grand child' she had right now. "She won't bite. In fact, if you give her a treat, she'll roll on her back and give up all sense of her own pride." He shook the jar of treats at the girl, in case she wanted to try. "What do you see in the water?" |
Chloe wasn't expecting anyone to come around while she was there even though she should have realized the professor probably had something to let him know when students were outside his door. Looking up to see him coming closer she smiled, "Oh I wasn't sure and I was always taught to let them come to you so they can sense you aren't going to harm them or anything. Dogs are smart like that, I wish people had that sense in them, to know good and bad like they do." Honestly it would be a great thing to have sometimes she thought. Moving back to her feet she took out one of the treats, "Hi Brenda, I'm Chloe wants to be my friend?" She leaned down with the treat so the dog could take it. Smiling as the pup ate the treat her eyes went back to the water. "Well I don't know really, I was just starting to look at it when you came out. I thought I saw something down there though. It's a cool little set up you have here." |
"The lake is cool without me having anything to do with it. Hundreds of kinds of creatures, thousands of individual little souls, all living in perfect harmony. With us, I suppose, although we're not very good at the harmony thing." He dropped to his haunches beside the water and stared into the shallow water. There was a waterbug skittering across the surface like a tiny Olympic ice skater those Muggles had, and then it disappeared into the mouth of a plimpy. Just like that. He glanced back as Brenda rolled over for Chloe to scratch her belly. "Have some self respect, girl. You're embarrassing yourself." |
So rusty :whaa: Belle was here for the creatures. Only and solely here to discuss creatures and nothing else. Merlin's honour. The very handsome professor who kinda, sorta maybe looked like her dad had nothing to do with her stopping by his office...house...thing... What was this contraption anyways? Belle squinted as the gleam from the professor's house thing reflected in her eyes. Her brown eyes lit up as she noticed the shaggy dog near the steps. "Doggie!" :whaa: The first year Claw rushed to the dog and began scratching him behind the ear,not once considering the fact that not all dogs were friendly. This one seemed friendly enough though. |
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Brenda loved the attention, but Cornish wasn't thrilled about the whole 'doggie' thing. Brenda wasn't a baby. She had no self respect, but Cornish sure did. "Her name's Brenda. Did you come by to go in the lake? I have some kayaks." And canoes and diving equipment and fishing nets and probably a wave board somewhere. |
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She looked up suddenly when a voice caught her attention. His voice was as melodious and soothing as waves crashing against the shore and even more dreamy when it wasn't floating across the Great Hall and tainted by the other voices of her peers. She stood up quickly and straightened her clothes. "Professor!" Belle looked back at the dog and tilted her head a little. The shaggy pooch didn't much look like a Brenda. " I've never met a dog with that name..." Actually, the first year did not come by to go to the lake but Kayaking didn't sound a bad idea. "Will you come with me?" she looked at him with big brown hopeful eyes.." And can Brenda come?" Hopefully the squid wouldn't think she was snack. |
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Her attention was to the water though and her thoughts to what the professor had said, "I think some humans want to live in harmony, but it's hard for the ones that do try to convince the others that feel it is their birthright to do what they want because they are humans that is the hard part. I feel that we should want to live in harmony with all creatures, but I know that is difficult." Moving closer to the water she looked in. |
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"Brenda doesn't swim. She can do it, but she prefers to bark at the water from the shore. She's better in a canoe. But why don't we drag some kayaks over to the lake shore and see if anyone else wants to join us?" Quote:
It went from muddy and nearly opaque to clear again pretty quickly, the mud settling back to the lake floor and allowing the sun to dapple through the trees above and leave interesting patterns on the muddy bottoms. "Ah, there we are," Cornish reached into the settling muck and plucked out a plimpy who was only willing to enter the shallow water because it was stirred up. "They're shy," he added as an aside, turning the creature over in his hands, long legs flopping everywhere as it struggled to escape. |
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"The only one of her kind because of what kind of dog she is..or because she's the only dog named Brenda?" The first year was hoping it was the first option. Maybe Brenda was a flying dog..or maybe she could breathe fire. She watched him as he pulled his laundry off the line manually. The only person she'd seen do any kind of manual labour without magic was her dad and he was muggle born so that was completely understandable. "That's a shame. Swimming is one of my favourite things to do." Naturally, she did live on a beach. The little RavenClaw groaned inaudibly. She had to shaaare the professor's time with other people? Ugh ugh ugh. "Fine." She said quietly. |
"Sadly, just the only good girl named Brenda, although I think she's one of a kind. She's just a good old fashioned mutt, but she's special." At least, that was Cornish's opinion. He gestured toward the back of the hut, where there were kayaks stacked in an untidy pile. "I'll levitate them toward the lake shore, but you go ahead and grab one for yourself first." |
"Good old fashion mutts are nice. My friend Avery from wiz-prep had a cute mutt named Daisy. I wish I had a cute mutt." She sighed with an air of dramatics and ruffled the pooch's fur again before following the professor. She paused feet away from where the Kayaks were stopped and tapped her little chin. She wanted to choose the best one. "Which one is your favourite?" |
"They're all the same, honestly. Kept up and cleaned all at the same time, about the same age. You can pick one by color or because you have a gut feeling, but none of them are going to sink on you." In fact, Cornish reached out and tapped a dark green one. "I like this one, I guess." Or maybe she was one of those people who needed her kayak to match her eyes or the shirt she'd chosen today because it mattered how the moment looked to other people? He didn't know, but the dark green one was perfectly acceptable. |
Belle listened until she heard what she was waiting for. Everyone always said they didn't have a favourite something but usually they did. His favourite was the dark green one so that was the one that she took. She was still small, so even though the kayak wasn't heavy she struggled a bit to maneuver her properly so she could pull it with her. "Everyone has a favourite. I'm everyone's favourite." Of course the first year very much meant that and it never came from a place of narcissism. She was always the baby of her house and the only girl for her parents so naturally she was the princess. "Besides this will make me invisible if the squid is looking up. My kayak will blend in with the water." Belle Bellaire-Moore dropping straight facts. |
It was difficult in some ways having such a high turnover rate for teachers at Hogwarts. With it being his fifth year, Gunnar was starting to feel the pressure of needing advice for his educational and professional future, even though he was still only fifteen, and he was at a bit of a loss on who to talk to. There were so many new professors this year, two of them being ones that crossed his mind to talk to - namely his new head of house and the new CoMC professor. He also had the vague notion of talking to Sutton as Herbology very much pertained to his prospective interests, but it still struck him as odd that their old Divination professor was now teaching Herbology and he was having a hard time getting past that. Eh, maybe he'd just talk to all three and get their different perspectives. But today he was going to speak to Cornish first, for no other reason than he was already outside and walking past....whatever this muggle contraption was that was apparently the man's office or living space or whatever. Looking around curiously a bit, he raised a tentative fist and knocked on the door. |
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He wasn't going to comment on the favorite. She wasn't his favorite, since he'd just met her, but he had enough sense to know that she wouldn't handle that bit of news very well. "Brenda's my favorite. Ready to get on the water?" Quote:
"Yeah?" Cornish peered at the kid in the morning light, blurry after the darkness inside the caravan. "Uhhh. McCarthy, right? You lost?" |
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Belle shook her head. "No I don't mind. I have more shoes." Okay she expected him to say that but Brenda was a puppy. "Yeah but Brenda is a dog. It's not the same as having a favourite person....ready!" |
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"She's my favorite everything. Now. Get in and I'll push you off. That'll save your shoes one minute longer." |
Belle listen as the professor explained why the kayak wouldn't work. She needed to keep in mind that Hogwarts wasn't an average place. It wasn't even an average magic place. "Let me guess. They can basically see through the kayak right? Or can they read minds?" She had a feeling it was both, but really it was just her imagination getting away from her. The first year wouldn't argue with Cornish, she had met Belle, and as brief as it was, it's obvious she was a very good girl. She scrambled into the kayak and clung to both sides. |
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"Yes... I mean, no," he started, feeling almost as confused as Cornish looked. "Yes, I am McCarthy, but no, I'm not lost. I was looking for you, actually. And I found you, so I suppose I'm right where I'm supposed to be." |
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"I'm going to push you out into the water now. It'll wobble a little, but you won't tip over." He pushed the kayak gently out into the water before returning to grab his own. Quote:
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"Just wanted to talk to you for a few minutes, if you weren't too busy." Relevant things, he supposed. And he made his way to the chair and sat down. |
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It was way better than tea. "So hit me with these topics." |
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Right... "Uh, well, since it's my fifth year and I'm taking OWLs and all that, I've been trying to think more about what direction I want to go in after school," he began. And he figures here was a good place as any to start. "I'd like to combine my interest in Herbology and magizoology, and I was thinking a little about animal nutrition. It might be a field I'd be interested in." And since he was the new creatures guy, perhaps he'd have some guidance or advice. |
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