Graphic credit: Felixir

Standing squarely in the middle of an otherwise featureless lawn is an immense oak tree with sprawling, high-reaching branches, its foliage thick and rich with natural colour, depending on the time of year. The tree is taller than it has any right to be, and seems ideal for climbing. That is, indeed, what your benevolent groundskeeper had in mind when he grew it.

The very lowest branches jut out six feet or so above the ground, but if you can't reach or haul yourself onto these, there are little nooks and conveniently located knots in the trunk to get you started. Up in the higher branches, you'll find platforms and maybe a basic treehouse structure or two, but the real fun to be had is in traversing the tree itself.

Climbing tree though it is, this area also serves as a pleasant meeting place, the vast canopy of leaves providing plenty of shade in the summer months. A plank swing dangles from one of the lower branches, and a tyre swing from another.

It's pretty difficult to confuse this tree with the Whomping Willow. For starters, you're in an entirely different part of the grounds. Not to mention, the climbing tree is an oak, and (presumably) won't maim you for trying to climb it. All the same, you're expected to treat this place with respect. Don't act like a fool, especially when you're high up in the tree. If you do happen to fall, the slowing and softening charms in place around this area will kick in, and you will come to no great harm.

Do as you please here, as long as its within school rules. Relax. Have fun. Go wild (but maybe not too wild).

The climbing tree was one of the places that Aurora had discovered near the beginning of her time at Hogwarts, and it was somewhere that she enjoyed being. She got to be outside in nature and she got to enjoy a lovely view. It was perfect. Sometimes she would come here with friends to hang out, and other times she came here by herself. Today was one of those times.

Reaching the giant oak tree, she began the slow climb. Since the lower branches were out of reach, she always made good use of the nooks and knots in the trunk to get her started. Then it was just a matter of climbing on the branches until she reached out of the tree houses. The climb itself was fun, but she wanted to sit so that she could write to her sisters. She also wanted to enjoy the view. And maybe someone would stop by and they could keep her company.

Bria had not meant to be stealthy about it, but the way she skirted the base of the oak with arms full of odds and ends that caught the light diiiiid make her look like she was absolutely up to something. Polished buttons, a bent spoon, a bit of blue glass smoothed by the lake’s edge - all of it clinked softly as she tipped her head back to peer into the branches far above. "Oh! HI!" she added brightly when she noticed the older Hufflepuff. "Are you on a crow errand too?"

Not waiting for an answer, the blonde Gryffindor began her own careful climb, wedging her toes into the small nooks and knots as she went. "There's a nest up near the third split that I've been observing for the past few days. You see where the bark goes all silvery just there? They made their nest just beyond there." Bria explained. "I think it is rather ironic that humans as a species decided that crows hoard shiny things because they're greedy and often assign the same assumption of nifflers as well, but it's actually… well, as far as crows are concerned, mostly curiosity and structure that motivates them. Bright things are easier to relocate when you've got fledglings knocking everything out of place and sometimes they use them as counterweights to keep nests nice and steady. Also, they doooooo just like objects that look interesting. Which, well, I think is something that we all can understand and relate to." She grinned, adjusting her grip as the sun flashed off the spoon and the glare made it a little hard for her to see her next move. "They recognize faces too aaaaaaaaaaand they remember kindness. And grudges. Very important to note."

After the last touches on her letter to Nova, Aurora stretched and was debating if she wanted to go to the owlery and send the letters now, or if she wanted to stay here for a little longer and enjoy the lovely autumn weather.

Then she was joined by a younger girl and felt like the decision was being made for her. But Aurora was always happy to meet new people so she didn't mind AT ALL. "Oh, hi!" she responded just as brightly. Crow errand???? Before she could even ask what that was, she was being bombarded with information about crows. It was obvious that this girl was passionate about crows. Or maybe birds in general. It made Aurora smile. It was always so good to see people being passionate about things. She herself had numerous passions. And it was nice to hear her talk about crows even if she had already known a fair bit about them. And of course she glanced at the nest as it had been pointed out to her.

"I wasn't on a crow errand, but I am now." She wanted to observe them as well. Of course without disturbing them. "I want to make some crow friends." She did love animals. "I'm Aurora by the way," she added when she realized that she hadn't introduced herself yet.

Bria beamed and nearly lost her balance in her enthusiasm. "Aurora! That is a brilliant name. Very sky-adjacent. Crows approve of sky-adjacent" She nodded eagerly but not so eagerly that she risked falling out again. Carefully tucking the shinier offerings into a crook of bark for later redistribution, Bria straightened a little and lifted a finger instructively. "Best place to start would be learning how to introduce yourself whiiiiiiiiiiich, step one, is all about posture. You angle your head slightly—like this..." She demonstrated, chin tipped, one side of her face subtly more forward than the other. "Crows are very good at reading body language. Facing them head-on can feel confrontational. Slightly sideways says, 'I am interesting but not threatening.'" The blonde lifted a second finger. "Step two, breath from the diaphragm. It's less CAW! and more…" she inhaled and rolled her shoulders, then produced a surprisingly accurate and textured sound, "Caw–rrrk… caw-caw." She added a softer clicking rattle at the end of it and then cupped her hands around her ears and smiled at the trio of calls that followed. "That first one was a general location call," she explained. "Sort of a ‘hello, I am here, I see you.’ The double-note is friendly acknowledgment. If you do one sharp single caw, that can mean alert or annoyance depending on tone. Which we do not want." She winced slightly and rubbed the back of her head. "Learned that one through experience when dad was teaching me."

She gestured encouragingly to Aurora. "You try!" she chirped, settling lower on the branch so she wouldn't wobble. "If they answer with three quick caws in a row, that’s usually territory check. If they do the rattly croak, that's a bit more conversational." She tilted her head again, giving another gentle, rolling caw–rrrk, then glanced sideways at Aurora with bright anticipation.

Aurora's eyes widened as the other girl's excitement caused her to almost lose her balance. Fortunately she didn't fall and seriously hurt herself. They were quite high up. The last thing that she wanted was for the other girl to get hurt. "Oh, thank you." She smiled. "I'm glad that the crows would approve." She was happy to know that the birds would like it, even if she was actually named after Sleeping Beauty. But then that Aurora also loved nature, so it still worked.

They moved on to how to approach the crows, and Aurora listened carefully and watched attentively. She wanted to make sure that she did everything properly and didn't do anything that would upset the crows in any way. She wanted them to know that she was a safe person and wouldn't do anything to hurt them. That they could trust her.

Time to give it a try. Hopefully it would work out. Aurora stood and adopted the posture that she had been instructed to, making sure that she had the correct angle and her head was positioned properly. Next was the call. She did her best to repeat what the other girl had done, making sure to give what the crows would see as a friendly greeting.

She grinned as she received a response. "I think that was a good reply!" Or at least she hoped so. She didn't really want to have a confrontation with any crows.

Bria absolutely lit up at the sound of the response, her whole face brightening like someone had just handed her front row tickets to the most exclusive bird concert imaginable.

Why WEREN'T there any Wrock groups of birds? Or, at the very least, a group with names inspired by birds? The whole concept practically wrote itself!

"You did it!" she whispered excitedly, bouncing just enough on the branch to make a few leaves tremble but no wood snap. "That was perfectly polite. Did you hear the tone? That wasn't alarmed at all. Sounded curious and curious is good and curious means we're not enemies."

She leaned slightly, careful and balanced, peering toward where the sound had come from.

"And they answered pretty quickly too... which means they're engaged," she added with another bounce on the branch she was sitting on. "If they didn't like it, they would’ve either gone quiet or ... been much louder and more screechy.”