Barn and Pastures Similar to the Magical Creature Sanctuary, the barn is an enclosure that contains a variety of creatures scattered about, mostly ones that need to be kept inside during the winter. In the spring and fall, many of these creatures will be allowed out into the Sanctuary where students can continue looking after them. The Hogwarts barn itself is a well-aged and well-maintained structure located a distance from the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Like most structures here on the grounds, it's bigger on the inside than on the outside, with tidy enclosures for each of the breeds of animals kept for the use of the school. Out of the great back doors that swing open, fences lead to open pastures. The wooden and stone fences are charmed to prevent any kind of creature (or student) from escaping. |
Quinn! Was it at all possible for her to somehow be able to stay here in the barn at all times with the creatures? Surely they wouldn't mind having her around constantly to clean up any messes or to give them food, water and the occasional treat. She could talk to them and give brushing's or just play with them too. Cuddles were always nice too. And she was more than capable and willing to do all of these things. Plus she was small, so she wouldn't even take up much space at all. It sounded like a really good idea to her. Dahlia had actually already done most of the things previously mentioned when she had arrived at the barn earlier. Helping WWW tend to the creatures was one of her absolute favorite things to do and so far she hadn't missed a day this term. Not that she planned to either. Being around the creatures was comforting, she could talk to them or not talk. They didn't care either way. They knew if she needed them though and she was happy to accept a purr or gentle headbutt, neigh or niffler trying to swipe something of hers. She did her best to spend time with all them. Though there was a particular area of the barn she had been avoiding since last term. An certain stall that even though she knew the creatures were they, hadn't every been able to see. Now she was afraid to find out if she could. For months she had been wanting to know, wanting to see with her own eyes. Could she see them? The Thestrals were right there. All she had to do was turn around and look. |
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So why, you ask, would Quinn now be going out of his way to try and see one? Simple. What if... he couldn't see one? Memories were fickle things, after all. You could easily trick yourself into thinking you saw something when you didn't. Sure, it was common knowledge what happened at that Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, but.... just because Quinn was there doesn't mean he saw it. He could just as easily have seen... the Muggle... after it happened and then... y'know, tricked himself into thinking that he watched it happen. He... he might not have seen it happen. He might not have seen it happen. He could still be... clean. Quinn cautiously slid the door to the barn open, and he immediately saw "Oh! Dahlia... I mean, I guess I should've known you would be in here..." he chuckled awkwardly. He walked over to her and looked into the stall in front of them. He could feel the presence of the Thestrals in their stall, but... he was having a hard time mustering up the courage to look. "S-so... how's it going with... y'know... the creatures?" he asked nervously. |
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"The creatures? They're all umm.. okay?" Nothing much had changed with them as far as she could tell. At least not since she had been in here yesterday. Or the day before. Or well any of the days before that. Lia really was very much unaware that Quinn was actually trying to ask about the Thestrals and that could very well be because she herself was trying to somewhat avoid that topic. As much as she wanted to know everything she could possible know about that, a part of her was also terrified in making it real. Realer? Whatever. |
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Indeed she had been at that lesson. That lesson that had changed things for all of last term, made her incredibly weary anytime she was even remotely anywhere near that stable she had to move away from it post haste. Dahlia shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she looked at Quinn, allowing him to take him time as he spoke. However his question made her heart race and she fixed her gaze firmly on her fellow Ravenclaw. She could feel herself fidgeting, her fingers twisting in the hem of her hoodie. "..I uhh.." Why was he asking her this?! Does he see them and he wanted to talk with her about them? "N-not yet.. I want to.. but I also.. I don't want to either but I feel badly th-that I haven't already.." It was difficult to explain. Deep down she wanted to know. There was that creature lover side of her that wanted to see them, know what they felt like under her finger tips, get to feed and care for them. She wanted to experience what they truly were with her own eyes. Then there was the part of her that was frightened because of the reason behind seeing them. It would all be more real, more permanent. |
Atlas / Kath! <3 Lisa really liked this part of the castle. Well... technically speaking it wasn’t located in the castle but was on the grounds; however, she pushed all ‘well technically’ thoughts away just to enjoy the calmness that came with being with creatures. Scooping out some feed with her hand, she went over to Maya, a Kneazle that shared her name with her sister’s. “Hi Maya,” she said softly approaching the Kneazle a little bit slower than expected. She crouched down and HDL out the food as she tried to entice said Kneazle to come closer. The Kneazle simply looked up at her and then looked away to ignore her. Lisa sighed. “Come on Maya. Come get some food...” she began and then paused, wondering what phrase her brother had used. She waved her hand a little as she held the food, trying to get the Kneazle’s attention. “Yum Yums?” The Kneazle obviously look quite unimpressed with her. Would she have to beg? ;_; |
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He could tell his question made Lia uncomfortable. He felt bad, but... he wanted to know.... He sighed and nodded a bit. "Yeah... I haven't, either, but..." He paused for a moment. "...I just....I feel like I should because... what if we can't see them, y'know? Like.... like what if... we didn't actually see, we just... saw... after...." God, that sounded horrible coming out of his mouth. He winced and sighed, crouching down and putting his head on his knees. "Sorry, that's... that's stupid..." |
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However she was feeling right than, Lia could tell that Quinn was hurting too. Their pain while it may have came from the same source it was still different. "Well..how-umm how could you if- if uh, you haven't been in here?" She hadn't meant anything bad by her words so she hoped they didn't come out sounding harsh, especially as her tone held it's own note of sadness. Huh? Lia paused. Quinn's words while it took her a full minute or two to fully process what he was saying to her.. made sense. If they hadn't actually saw, what they thought they had saw and they only saw it directly afterwards then they wouldn't actually have seen anything. Therefore, no Thestrals. Letting out a breath, she sat herself down on the ground beside him, hugging her knees to her chest. "..I never thought of that before.. and it actually does make sense. It's possible.. not sure what the odds are.. but yeah.." Either way there was only one real way of knowing and that was to look over at that stall. |
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Because Atlas was one of those and his unrequited love affair with one Phoebe James was the evidence. No one could prove the delusion otherwise. But...alas. It seemed as though the man was not in here...so Atlas figured he might as well continue his search elsewhere when he saw Lisa, that one Ravenclaw from Muggle Studies, trying to talk to a kneazle and get it to come when she called. Things didn't work like that. "Probably plotting your demise," he said casually, sans greeting, and like such a notion were no big deal. "Saw a book on my dad's shelf about that. How to Tell if Your Kneazle is Plotting to Kill You. It's practically textbook." |
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He shrugged because she was right. He wouldn't have ever known if he hadn't come in here... but he didn't even want the chance of being able to see them, at first. He just... wanted to avoid it like the plague. But he wasn't sure exactly how to vocalize that. When Lia told him he was making sense he let out a little sigh. He was... almost afraid of that, really. It confirmed that.... that he wanted to look. He watched Lia as he sat next to him. "Um... do you think that.... um.... we should...." look? He let the sentence trail off. A definitive action word was a little bit too hard for him to say in this moment. |
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72% sure it was Atlas.... So she gave Atlas a grin momentarily before the grin disappeared all together and she looked completely perplexed. What...? What was he saying? And how exactly did he know?!? Cue internal gasp! Could he tell the Kneazle’s most inner thoughts? She cast her gaze back at the Kneazle and clutched her hand closer to her chest, wondering if it was really plotting her demise her. She didn’t realize that perhaps she was being annoying. Maybe that’s why her chameleon always ran away from her to catch a break. “How.... How?” she was ready to ask him what his source of information was but then stopped herself as Atlas had mentioned a full title of the book. from finishing the question because Atlas had practically explained that what he knew came from a textbook. And in Lisa’s book textbooks were more knowledgeable than anyone else. “Oh.” She blinked, looking up at him in awe of his knowledge. Sheesh. HOW DID HE KNOW SO MUCH?! “Wow. You know a lot of things. You’re smart,” she commented, glancing at the food in her hand and then at the Kneazle who seemed quite happy that Lisa’s attention was focused elsewhere. “Have you read that textbook of a book? I like the title. It’s funny.” She turned her eyes back to the Kneazle who had meandered away from her and she sighed. She supposed she’d try again... next time. But then again since Atlas knew a lot of things maybe he KNEW how to get Maya, the Kneazle, towards them. “Hey! Can I ask you a favour? How do I get the Kneazle to come over here and not plan on plotting my demise? I’d like to at least live past sixteen or the end of this year...” |
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Quinn shrug and the soft sigh didn't go unnoticed. She had simply chosen not to dwell on them. There was much more pressing matters at hand. Dahlia shifted uncomfortably, biting the inside of her lip. "I uh.. well it's the um.. only way to know for sure.. right?" she whispered quietly, glancing over at him. "We can.. do it together?" How that was supposed to help, she didn't know but the offer was there. |
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Dahlia nodded her head slowly in reply to Quinn's words, her fingers intertwining with his as he took her hand and they got to their feet. This was for the best, it had to be done. Too many 'what ifs' and she needed the truth once and for all. The time was now. "I uhh, think that would.. be a good idea.. yeah," she whispered . "O-on three. O-one.. two.. th-three.." |
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Some of the things checked out too. Bit ironic that, despite all this, Atlas had no fear of any felines what so ever. Dad still did...which is why he tweaked that muggle robot thingy that was used to clean the floors in the house. It was circular and just sort of moved about on its own with this cool little censor that could detect dirt and then suck it right on up. Atlas had done several experiments with that too. But the best tweak of them all was making it look like a cat and it sneaking up on dad while he was at his desk. Only the little vacuum thingy could go in there when he was working because cleanliness helped the man focus or whatever. Boooooooooy did he shriek when his fuzzy pancake came a floating on in and knocked into his chair. The grounding had so been worth it. "I'm well read," he offered with a small shrug of the shoulders. Which was true. Reading was one of the things he had learned FIRST (aka before Aries) and thus he had latched onto that skill and really gone to town with it. He would even read instruction manuals just because he could. "It's a title that gets straight to the point and I like it for that." So many books tried to be whimsy with titles, but really it was just better to not try and fancify things and just tell it straight. No one needed a mathematics book called The Birth of the Poetry of Logical Ideas. Just tell him that this was a Calculus book or whatever and let's move on! "Uh...well...that's kind of the thing. You can't get them to do anything. Not so different from you. If you don't want to do something...you aren't going to do it. Not without proper incentive and clearly that stuff in your hand is not it. Best to just stop embarrassing yourself or maybe they will start taking offense to you offering things below their standards...which may only speed up their plotting process because they will dub you unworthy." He was just trying to be helpful and honest. But it was a fact that when something became useless to you or held little value...you got rid of it. And this was even more cutthroat in the creature kingdom. "Or a toy. Might want to play. But playing can also be a training exercise for sharping their skills for demise, but at least they will then find you useful. Kind of like the dummies in the dueling arena." |
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He paled a bit as his gaze landed on a large winged horse, black skin taut over bone. The thestral gave off an aura of wintery decay, like what you would expect if you found what was left of a horse frozen in a glacier. The chill seeped into Quinn's bones as he studied the creature quietly; it soon found and infiltrated the ball of anxiety in his chest to create an overwhelming, indescribably awful feeling that overtook Quinn's body and made him sick to his stomach. He looked down defeatedly, knowing that he now would be able to see these things forever, knowing that he saw what he thought he saw, knowing that there was no escaping reality. But he didn't cry. He just looked down. He opened his mouth to speak, but he wasn't sure what was right to say in this moment and he didn't want to throw up, so he shut it back tight again. |
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"Th-three.." She had whispered 'three'. That had been their cue to look. Would it be wrong to back out now? Tell Quinn she had changed her mind and they could do this another time? But she couldn't do that. As that word fell from her lips, she felt herself spinning around on her heels along with Quinn.. this is what happened when you don't let go of someones hand. She could feel her heart racing in her chest and her breathing grow shaky, pretty sure her hands were all sweaty too. Sorry Quinn. Blue eyes were met with white ones that seemed to stare straight back at her. Unlike Quinn beside her, a part of her wanted to cry for what was now fully confirmed to be real. Another part, fascinated by what she was seeing. Black taut leathery skin so thin its bones could be seen underneath. It was scarily beautiful. Almost mesmerizing in a way. And for several really long moments, Dahlia couldn't look away even though she had wanted to. When she finally did pull her gaze away to check on the one who's hand still remained firmly held in her own, she felt only a deep sadness. He had seen them too. She hadn't wanted him to see them. Without a word, Lia pulled him into a tight hug. Nothing needed to be said right now. |
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Lisa eyed the food in her hand and then turned back to look at Atlas. She continued listening to him, learning from him that if she acted the way she was acting in front of the kneazle then it wouldn’t respect or come to her. The comment around the dummies in the Dueling Arena made her gulp. She didn’t want to be a Kneazle toy. She shook her head a few times before exclaiming. “I don’t want to be a kneazle dummy!! Something for them to practice on!” she pouted and folded her arms. Then Lisa made sure to turn her back directly on the Kneazle to ignore it. AHA! Take that! ……… Sorry Kneazle… “So… I should ignore it and act aloof like this?” she asked, tilting her head to the left as she thought. So to get a Kneazle’s attention… she would have to act like one? Would meow-ing help? she wondered and then decided it was best not to ask some questions in her mind at this present moment. Lisa couldn’t see the creature anymore so she wondered what it was doing. “Any change with the Kneazle?” she asked Atlas impatiently as she subconsciously started tapping her left foot lightly on the ground. |
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... "Are... are you alright..?" |
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Was she okay? Yeah, she thought she was. It was quite a bit to fully process. She was emotional torn still on how she should really feel and why she felt that way and more importantly, was it okay that she felt that way. "I umm.. I think so? Are you?.." Because that seemed like the more important question right now. |
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"Um... yeah, I think so, too..." While he wasn't feeling good he also wasn't feeling particularly horrible. It was more like... a confirmation, of sorts. Of something he already knew but didn't want to believe. He stood in silence for another minute. "Um... do you want me to make us a cake?" Cakes always helped to liven a situation. And baking and eating were both good times for thinking and processing. You just get a nice treat at the end. Whenever Quinn had something that was troubling him, he baked. |
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Standing there in silence, still hugging Quinn was fine. Only at the mention of cake did she finally let her arms loosen from their hold around her friend and drop down to her sides. "Yeah, sure.. ca-can I help?" Always likes helping parents around the kitchen at home. Also remembers them talking about baking cakes for their friends birthdays last term and having parties in the treehouse.. sadly that didn't happen. Maybe they could make up for it this year? |
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Clearly the Gryffindor had jumped from topic to topic too many times and had lost her a little along the way, so it was his obligation to set the record straight. "Well, that's what the toy would be for. Better a toy than your hand or your feet." He had seen that time and time again with dad before dad had finally surrendered to the kitty toys mom kept teasing him with. It was weird and embarrassing seeing his parents interact like that. "So...it's a good thing that a kneazle would want to play with a toy you are offering." He couldn't help but laugh when she turned her back on the kneazle like that. Didn't she know that you couldn't beat a kneazle at their own game like that? "Uh..." He turned to look at the kneazle, who really could have cared less that she was no longer paying it any attention. "Not really. It's licking its butt." |
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When he mentioned the use of a toy, it all suddenly clicked in her mind. “Oh,” she said as it sunk in. She should really start taking notes around Atlas. He was incredibly SMART and that would make her want to be JUST AS smart… not that she was competitive Aaaaand Atlas confirmed that her new strategy wasn’t working. She slumped her shoulders and hung her head. KNEAZLES!!!! she thought and waved her fist like Mr. Turner did to his neighbour in that Muggle cartoon show her siblings had showed her a few years back. Hmmmmmmm…. Back to the drawing board, Professor Nam Jr. “Guess I’m trying too hard?” she said and shrugged her shoulders. She’d just try to ignore the Kneazle. “Soooo what brings you down here? Do you have a Kneazle friend to?” |
The sorts of games she was thinking of were the ones that they had started out with as kids, and the ones that Andromeda had always excelled at. But as they had gotten older, mom had added a bit to their games and done so in a way to foster discussion. Dad had enjoyed the shift as well, even though he grumbled at first about it all. "Yeah...like...someone will give a page number and everyone flips to it. Then we read the words and definitions and write down all the words we feel encompassed the adjective of the moment. A lot of the time it was a search for words we felt carried positive meaning...and then we would share and discuss. Mum and dad said it encouraged us learn about other perspectives." Atlas mostly liked the debating that every round ultimately ended up in. Apparently that competitive nature was something else they maybe had in common He nodded a bit, recalling something else he had heard or read somewhere...which meant he was blurting out some version of it right away. "And no one likes a try-hard," he nodded sagely. "That kneazles maybe is looking at you and thinking you're putting way too much effort into a thing that isn't you...or can sense its more for your own gratification rather than its own... and sees right through it." There was a lecture in there of some variety from dad. Atlas couldn't really remember. He tended to tune things out once dad got going. "Uh...no..." And, actually, now he could not remember why he came down here in the first place. "My familiar has eight legs...and I think I had come down here to find Professor Williamson but I can't remember why now." Oh well. |
Super late!! Apologies friend! <3 Lisa listened and occasionally nodded her head as he spoke to show that she was listening. It was something she had picked up from watching her father and older siblings in conversation. The game that Atlas described sounded fun. It sounded like a good way to learn and increase your vocabulary (so you could sound super intelligent which is something Lisa LOVED) as well as a great way to debate. “We should play it sometime!! Maybe we could get a group together and do that?” Maybe Aries could come too? And Remy? And more friends? She gasped when something dawned upon her. It happened right after he mentioned making something look like a freak accident. Her brother’s cat liked to rub up against her legs when she was at home last year. WAS JINX TRYING TO PLOT HER DEMISE?! :whaa: “That’s exactly what they do. Make it a freak accident… absolutely brilliant,” she said with widened eyes. Kneazles could get away with ANYTHING. They were so SMART. “The detective would never expect it….” No one likes a try hard. That comment hit really hard as well as the other sentences next. She stared at the Kneazle as she listened to Atlas. He was wise like so WISE- practically Saint like? Or was it sage like? She couldn’t remember. Lisa was fairly certain it was sage like. She found herself nodding this time in agreement because the words really hit home. She did try too hard, didn’t she? She had tried all summer long to keep all of her siblings happy because they were all so upset and tired with what happened last year at school. They didn’t tell her what had happened but she just had a feeling it was very, very, very bad. So she did her usual Lisa thing which was entertain and try to keep group morale up but it was exhausting. She took a shaky deep breath and nodded twice in a row. She gripped her left arm with her right hand just above her elbow before rubbing it. “So…I gotta be more distant and not try as hard to please… I’ve been feeling that way since the mandatory therapy session,” she sighed as she looked down at her shoes. She cleared her throat, trying to push back the sinking feeling in her stomach. It was easier than she expected because what Atlas said next piqued her curiosity. Lisa blinked. “Is your familiar a spider? Mine’s a chameleon.” Note to self- if it was a bug… don’t mix the two together. |
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