The Black Lake
 

https://i.postimg.cc/rpf4dGWm/theblacklakefinal.jpg

Located just south of the castle and extending up to the edge of mountains in the distance is a half-mile wide body of freshwater known as the Black Lake (or the Great Lake). This is where the first years catch sight of Hogwarts for the first time when the Groundskeeper takes them across by boat, and where the seventh years set sail to new adventures on their graduation day. To the left side of the lakeshore is the way to the boathouse containing those seldom-used school vessels and other aquatic equipment.

If you decide to dip your toes in or feel brave enough for a swim in the chilly lake water, please be mindful of the many magical creatures inhabiting the lake. Grindylows, merpeople, selkies, and more all call the Black Lake home. On a warm day, you may even spot a tentacle wrapped around a stone in the shallows near the shore. Bartholomew Henry, the semi-domesticated Giant Squid, still hangs out here from time to time. Farther down the shores of the lake and heading toward the forest is a large white tomb belonging to a legendary former Hogwarts Headmaster, and a sandy stretch of shore where a certain Azkaban escapee was once saved by a stag patronus.

Whether you skip a stone or just sit and contemplate the serenity of the water, remember that you're walking along the path of history when you visit the shores of the Black Lake.

OOC: This probably goes without saying, but please do not RP for the Giant Squid! He DOES go here!

yke & mr. cal !
 

After a first few very very long days, Cal was in need of a break. A Derryvane break. All of Hogwarts had more people than all of Derryvane, maybe even just one of the houses, now that he was thinking of it, so it would be hard to find any place as quiet as his home in Derryvane.
But he could try, could he not???

And so, after some debating with himself, he headed down to the lake. Best to get away from the castle for a wee bit.

He almost turned on his heels when he saw who else was by the lake. That girl who said he was shouting when all he'd been doing was yelling. Two very different things, of course. Cal stopped himself from turning away though, too curious to find out who or what she was talking to, and so he tiptoed over, glancing over her shoulder before announcing his arrival. "Who are you looking for?????"

Kizzy pouted big time, staring at her own reflection in the dark water. "Mr. Henry? Please?" She would've slumped all the way down had it not been for the fact that her face would go directly into the body of water. The no good, very bad day was only getting worse. The giant squid didn't even want to come out to play! It was a modern day travesty!

The second year was still busy pouting when she saw another reflection appear. Good thing she saw his reflection too, otherwise he might've startled her.

Big pout still in place, Kizzy rolled over so that she could lay on her back and look up at him without doing any real work. Energy was so hard to come by these days. Hey! He was the boy who shouted on the train! AND he didn't know what synonymous meant, so Kizzy wasn't surprised that he had been sorted into Hufflepuff House after all. "Mr. Bartholomew Henry," she answered almost immediately and with lots of context, obviously. "He lives here, but I've never seen him."

re: modern day travesty

Violet had finally just had to get out of the castle and gone for a walk by the Black Lake, a place she always felt more at peace. Maybe it was because she could see it from the windows in the Slytherin rooms, but it always felt like home.

She was going crazy with all the tension, and for the first time in many years, she didn't have the outlet of writing her thoughts down in her journal. After carrying the miniaturized book in an inner robe pocket since the opening feast, trying to decide where she could safely hide, she had reluctantly decided that there was no safe place in the castle this year and she couldn't risk it being found and possibly thought to be incriminating. So very late one night she had crept from her dorm room into the Common Room and burned it in the big fireplace--fortunately, after last year, she'd become quite good with flame-casting charms, though she didn't remember clearly how that had happened.

Now it was October--nearly her 15th birthday, and it was probably going to be the worst birthday she'd ever had. She ought to be enjoying her budding figure and new hairstyle and making friends and thinking about boys and what she wanted to do with her life, but instead she was constantly on edge, worrying about everything she did or said for fear of attracting the wrong kind of attention from these vicious intruders, and not knowing who she could trust. She'd never regretted her social awkwardness more bitterly--she ought to have some close friends around her by now, but there were only a few acquaintances and now she wasn't sure where they stood.

She walked up to the water and looked into it at her reflection--well, this was one kind of mirror they couldn't break! And why did they get rid of the mirrors, anyway? She could understand looking for contraband and getting rid of the owls and other means of communication, but mirrors? Were they all a bunch of vampires or something? What were they up to? Surely they didn't think their thuggish behavior would encourage any of the students to join their cause? Quite the opposite--most people hated them so much that even if they hadn't originally thought much of Muggles, they wouldn't have joined this "Neo-Alliance" now. And how long did they think they could cut off all the students from communicating with anybody before their families would start to raise a stink? What use were a bunch of school-kids to them, anyway, unless they were going to hold them for ransom or something.

Tired out by all these thoughts which she could not release by writing them down, Violet absently picked up a smooth stone and tried to skip it across the Lake, with limited success.

Kinsay did not understand the confusion and decided that this was likely something part of his personality. He seemed confused on the train too (about shouting and yelling). Maybe that's the common characteristic that sorts people into Hufflepuff House. Henry Hembree was always confused too. And in Kinsay's opinion friendliness never seemed like a real sorting trait in the first place. Bet everyone says that just so that the Hufflepuffs don't feel bad. Kinsay would hate to be placed into the house for confusion. Bravery was WAY cooler.

Poor kids.

"My brother said so," and Teddy would NEVER make things up. That would be out of character and James' were incessant truth tellers! "That'd be silly. Where would he go?" She countered, raising her eyebrow as she sat up properly now.

Kinsay eyed the confused Hufflepuff some more before flipping back onto her stomach to once again poke her fingers into the lake. For a moment she did consider throwing rocks into the lake to get Mr. Henry's attention, but she wasn't sure that would work.

"Maybe your sister never met him." Kinsay replied almost automatically. Her second thought was that maybe his sister wasn't cool enough to meet him, but Kizzy hadn't met him yet either and the implication that maybe she wasn't cool enough to meet him kind of made her sad. Maybe he was sleeping.

Do squids sleep?

Again, Kinsay turned to give Cal a funny look. ".... That doesn't make sense because Mr. Henry isn't people. He's a squid." She wrinkled her nose at him the way that Phoebe sometimes does. And then Kizzy had a thought. One that she needed to voice immediately because it felt like a revelation. "Do you think Henry Hembree's parents named him after the squid?" Cal would know. They were housemates.

Daniiiiii <3
 

She had to admit, she had been feeling some type of way about her relationship with Sammy of late. She didn't want to believe what Fox said but she couldn't stop thinking about it either. If Sammy didn't REALLY like her, she wouldn't know what to do with herself. He was the LOVE OF HER LIFE. They were going to have pretty blonde children, a crup and a white picket fence. She would be a famous dancer and he would stay home with the kids.

Everything was planned so carefully!

It all left her feeling low and these baddies in the castle were doing little to make her feel better. Know what DID make her feel better though? This date. Sammy never asked her out on dates, it was always the other way around. Maybe...maybe he was starting to properly come around and realise they were soulmates, too!!!

So she skipped across the grounds wearing her prettiest dress. It wasn't TOO dressy, just the right kind for a date out by the lake. There was a wide smile across her face as she approached the boyfriend. One of the only real smiles she'd had since the term started. "Hey, Sammy." Strange, she suddenly felt....nervous. Like she was walking on eggshells trying not to shatter their relationship into a thousand pieces.

"I like your hair today."

The sound of a greeting was what ended up distracting him and making him look up, instead. There she was, standing there with a smile on her face. She looked happy - like, really happy. Sweet Merlin, this was going to be much harder than he thought.

But he couldn't back out either. Not again.

"Oh hey, Emm." The comment about his hair caused him to shoot her a smile of his own, all while running a hand through his hair. He hadn't done a lot to it but maybe it looked better this way. So good, that maybe, it would make his dad proud if he knew. Maybe. "Thanks! It decided to listen to me today." What? "I like your dress, by the way."

There was a slight pause before Sammy patted a spot on the blanket that was right next to him. "Come, take a seat. Your legs are going to get tired if you keep standing there like that."

Let the record show, Samuel Summers had the best smile ever. Her heart skipped a beat when he showed it to her, skipped a few more when he complimented her dress and straight up gave out by the time he patted the spot next to him for her to join him on the blanket. Maybe Fox really was wrong. Maybe this was going to work and she wouldn’t have to think about dad what ifs.

With her own smile widening, Emm flopped down right next to him. She folded her legs delicately easing back onto her hands to support a lot of the weight. Play it cool. This could be saved. Sammy was showing interest now and that was the first important step.

“I’m glad we’re getting some time together. Feels like everything’s been moving so fast lately. And there’s all these.....things. Kinda hard to relax. Half expected the hooded weirdos to be out here on patrol.” But she was glad they weren’t. That would’ve killed the date mood ENTIRELY.

Oh! Had to pay attention to him. Show her own continued interest so he KNEW she cared. ”How’ve you been holding up? Yknow....with all these restrictions and muggle talk?” He and Cece had muggle grandparents if she remembered clearly. He definitely needed someone checking in on him.

It was her job as his girlfriend—and as his friend but she didn’t wanna JUST be his friend.

The moment Emm started speaking was the moment he knew it was over. He could feel that huge weight somewhere in his chest that only told him how much worse he felt about this. Emm was glad they were getting some time together. Oh merlin, this was not good. This was not the way this was supposed to go.

"Like what? What's been moving so fast?" Please please please don't say it was them. They were just friends. Part of the coolest group of friends out of Stark school. But she was now talking about the hooded figures and he....... didn't know what to say. This didn't feel like the right time to say a lot or make a joke or whatever. It was because of this that he let out a soft whisper, "You were the one who saw them, didn't you?"

And then she was asking about him.

And Sammy just...... sighed.

"It's a bit weird, you know?" he started, absent-mindedly picking at his nails, "I'm scared about mum and dad and both granddads. Kinda makes me wish letters home were still possible." Maybe then he could ask and make sure that they were still okay. Because if they were okay, there was nothing to worry about, right?

Sammy shook his head, almost as if he was shaking away the bad thoughts. "Let's not think about the hooded people. Let's talk abouuuuut....... us."

Smooth transition? He thought so.

”Everything.” Everything was moving too fast. It made her head spin if she thought too much about it.”It feels like...it feels like we showed up and the world has been steadily crashing down since then. We lost our Headmaster—and now I don’t think he ever was our Headmaster. We’ve got all these people...taking notes and hexing kids...our stuff’s been smashed and every day it feels like we’re losing something else.” Overwhelmed would’ve been a good word for how she was feeling. Definitely.

She nodded confirmation she’d seen the army coming into the school, remembering how it made her blood run cold. Just like hearing Sammy’s worry about his family.

“They’ll be okay. Uncle Alec and Auntie Ella won’t let anything happen to them. They’re super strong and the moment they realise something’s wrong.” She nudged him gently by the shoulder. “It’ll be okay. You’ll see.” She didn’t ACTUALLY know that, but would say anything to make him worry less.

...

......

Us?

Emmerson perked up immediately, all talk of the hoodedfigures behind her.Y-Yeah. Okay. Us.” Sammy had NEVER called them us before and it sent her heart fluttering something fierce. “I think in these times it’ll be important we keep close and not let anyone tear us apart.”

She was talking about everything being a lot and the world steadily crashing down And, even if they were probably talking about different things, Sammy couldn't help but agree. "Yeah, this year's been much worse than first year, so far." And he didn't like it. "But it's not because of us. These people are just crazy. Out of their minds! We have to stay safe but...... even that seems impossible."

That nod said it all. You know, apart from just answering his question. "Hey," he started softly, "Maybe it's a good thing that you saw them. Think about it: you're basically a hero." Was that what Gryffindors wanted to hear? He didn't know.

The nudge was enough to bring about a small smile on his face. "Yeah, they really are. And Cece too." He wasn't going to say it but it really helped that Cece was at Hogwarts too, even if they were in completely different houses. "And Auntie Lex," he said, the smile turning into a more cheeky one.

.........

Oh no.

Oh no oh no oh no.

The weight in his chest grew heavier and he could feel his face dropping at her words. This was NOT how this was supposed to go. Not at all. The worst part? Sammy didn't know how to get back on topic from this. Emm was now talking about staying close during these times. How was he supposed to say what he wanted to say after that??

"Uh, yeah, stay close." He could feel the weight becoming almost too heavy for him. As if it was trying to stop him from saying everything he was planning on saying for months now. But the words were tumbling out before he could stop himself again. "I guess, that's what I wanted to talk about. We'll always be close and great friends but I......."

He cleared his throat.

"...... I can't keep going with ~this~."

Wait, what?!

Sammy just stared at her, waiting for her to say something. Something that wasn't about the hooded figures and everything they were doing. In fact, he didn't know why she was bringing this up. Now. It only left him feeling more confused than he was before. "Don't even think I can do that. The pretending. What if they use it against you?" But then again, that sounded better than anything else they might plan to do.

The Ravenclaw became silent once again. If he was being honest, he half-expected her to curse him and run away to talk to Kizzy. But this? This was somehow worse than what he'd imagined. And it was taking the award for the worst conversation he'd had with a friend.

They were still friends, right?

Right?

Eventually, Sammy decided that if she wasn't going to talk about it, he would. "Uh, Emm? Did you hear what I said?"

”Of course I did.” Wasn’t that what they were talking about now? He didn’t want to keep pretending and now she knew it was in case the hooded bullies tried using it against them later. “I don’t really like all the pretending either but I think it’s better than the other options.”

And you know what? She was starting to feel a little more secure in the fact that Sammy really may have just been talking about school things all along. She’d been worried for nothing. Her boyfriend was just sharing his feelings about the recent school climate and being the EXCELLENT girlfriend she was, she was going to listen.

“It’s even worse when the others start acting out in class. It’s like they WANT to die—but not us. We’re smarter than that.”

Stark School kids had a fair bit of common sense about them afterall. “So I was thinking, now that Kizzy and Matty are a thing too we get to double date!! Won’t it be exxxtra romantic?” She may or may not have been swooning at the idea as she spoke but it was absolutely everything. “At Hogsmeade—or in the kitchen!”

So Emm did hear him? So why was she talking the way she was? Not that he wanted her to curse him but that would make more sense than whatever she was doing right now. And he wouldn't be confused by the end of it, like he was now.

"Yeah, we are. And we don't want to die or make things worse for no reason." That was not smart. Not at all. But he had to admit, the drama was entertaining for some lessons.

And then she was talking about double dates.

And a part of him died.

Sammy stared at Emm in disbelief as she spoke. "I thought you said you heard me." So why was she now talking about double dates? What was going ON?! "Because that means that we can't go on double dates." It was that simple. She had to understand.

Right?

Samuel Summers was truly a boy after her own heart. He also got that it was better to lay low and not die during lessons and was no doubt equally keen to ensure they both lived to have their first kiss on the Hogwarts Express next September. It would be the perfect start to third year and they would be mature~

Emm was fantasising about it, wondering what it would be like when he mentioned something about not having the date. It pulled her right back down to that blanket by the lake.

”Why not? Even if we have to pretend around the hoodie guys, I don’t think they care what we do on our own time. I’m sure it’ll be fine to still have dates—we can all wear red. It’ll be soooooo cute. Fireworks! We need fireworks! I think we can brew some by then.”

It couldn’t have been that hard.

And now she was getting excited, to the point she now wore the stupidest grin on her face. The little girl LOVED planning events like these. “They’re still new to this relationship thing so we’ll have to set the right example. You can hold my hand and we can sit close and and and...and I’ll even kiss your cheek after—but you’ll have to walk me to the common room after. It’s only fair.”

Had to tell him. Sometimes Sammy ALSO liked to act new.

Why not?

WHY NOT?!

Sammy was beginning to feel a lot more than just confused. He didn't know what it was but he knew that this was worse. In fact, it was enough to give him a headache - and he could feel one coming on. Fireworks? Why was she talking about fireworks and wearing red? He didn't understand.

No. No no, she didn't understand. Clearly.

This was only proven when she started talking about holding hands and walking her to her common room and- ...... and KISSING???!?!! He stared at her, eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. She wasn't serious, right? She couldn't be. Didn't she say she heard what he said? So what was this?! Why was she talking about them as if they were still dating?!

Okay, why not. Maybe he could start with that question.

"But people don't continue doing that when they've..... you know, broken up."

....

.....

"Broken....broken up?" Emm stared right back, now just as confused--and possibly getting a headache--as Sammy was. Broken up WHERE?? Who said ANYTHING about breaking up?? How did they even GET here??

"But we're not broken up..." Her voice grew soft with uncertainty. They'd been talking about double dates and scary hooded people. To have the conversation do a complete 180 like this sent her head reeling. Suddenly, words weren't making sense. Nothing was making sense. Had the sky always been blue????

"We...you're my boyfriend. You wanna be my boyfriend...don't you...?"

It was a question she'd been dreading. One she kinda knew she HAD to ask but had always been afraid of the answer. It was always so much easier just to assume, and with him never saying no, she'd fallen into perfect peace about the whole thing. Now...now she didn't know what she felt.

Except horrid. She definitely felt that.

The moment he'd said it, Sammy could feel a deep sense of regret settling in. Not because he didn't want to break things off, but because maybe, just maybe, this might be the moment she would consider hexing him. Now, he was suddenly becoming nervous for what might be coming.

The worst part? Her voice. The way she was asking these questions was enough to make the Ravenclaw grow very quiet. How was he meant to answer this? He didn't know. He half-wished there were instructions on how to do something like this. Maybe then, he wouldn't be sitting here, opening and closing his mouth without any words coming out.

Sigh.

Why was this so hard?

"I...... I don't think so," he said, his voice now also becoming soft but for entirely different reasons, "I mean, I still want to be friends! For sure. But dating?!" He pressed his lips together and just shook his head.

Her heart hurt, in a very different way than her bradycardia made it hurt. This was the kind of hurt that bit into the deepest part of your soul where it could freely pick at you and quite suddenly, her entire world felt like it was crashing down. The term had been horrible since DAY ONE. All the bumps and curveballs, she kept telling herself everything was okay.

But this was the straw that broke the erumpent's back. This was the thing that made her realise that this term was NOT actually going to be okay. In fact, it made it quite clear that the world really WAS ending.

Her eyes flooded with tears instantly. These weren't the quick kind she drew for when she wasn't getting her way, they were the kind that spoke of disappointment and heartbreak. Sammy had been her boyfriend since they were seven. Sure...she'd always been the one to say it...and maybe he never acted like it...but it never occurred to her...that he...actually didn't want to be her boyfriend.

Sammy wasn't playing hard to get....he didn't wanna get with her.

"...Why?" Her voice cracked when she spoke next but she had to know. "Is it something I didn't do? We can make it work, we've been so happy this whole time. I don't understand."