An active, character-driven Hogwarts experience set in the early 2000s. Unique items, plots, and features. Non-canon; this isn't Harry Potter's story, it's ours.
Post by Grace Babineaux on Aug 6, 2019 2:20:32 GMT 10
Spiders! Specifically, the Blue kind. She wondered if there was another kind, since it did say blue specifically on her scroll. She thought the best way to go about collecting them was to move slowly, and not startle them. She was still thinking about the Savannah, and the way to get there, also, she really wanted to make an invisibility potion, if such a thing existed.
"We should probably look for spider-webs or something." she hummed, crouched down and looking at the walls. She wondered if the blue spiders were very big. "Have either of you guys seen a blue spider before?" she was grateful for the light down here. If it was dark, it would've been impossible to find anything, let alone a spider Grace was sure was no bigger than her fist.
'The Savannah does look like a good spot, yeah.' Ryan continued staring at the scroll as he walked, following the others into another part of the dungeons. He hadn't really explored this area of the castle yet, having had no desire or reason to until now. Well, he had the reason - not so much the desire.
'No?' Ryan frowned. He was glad to have not seen many spiders at all, honestly. 'It says in the scroll that the webs are silvery or something.' He agreed with Grace's plan, but hoped this whole ordeal would be over soon.
Something brushed his foot and he screamed, jumping back. Ryan fumbled for his wand, catching his breath as he stared at what it was. Oh, it was just someone's pet cat wandering around. Why was it here? He blushed bright pink, putting his wand away and trying to focus on the scroll again.
'That cat better not have eaten the spiders...' he muttered, catching up with Grace to join her in searching for silver webs. He checked the corners and stuck close to light sources, pretending he just happened to leave the darkest and scariest spots for her.
Maybe Blue spiders where a type of flower? Gerald knew it was no use, but it was nice thinking about peaceful things. They were going to find Blue Spiders, so hopefully they weren't dangerous. "Um, I haven't" He said, looking into corners for webs.
Hearing Ryan screamed, Gerald nearly set a reocrd for vertical jumping. WHy was there a cat down here? "Um, how are we getting the Spiders?"
In a dark corner, closest to Grace, a blue spider crawled from a crack between some stones - just visible enough in the grim lighting nearby. It was only one spider, but it crawled higher towards some silver webs that might contain more. It hesitated, but didn't scurry from view - unaware it could be spotted by any f the first years nearby.
Post by Grace Babineaux on Aug 6, 2019 3:23:21 GMT 10
"Grab 'em, of course!" Grace said, feeling truly like a Gryffindor compared to these two. She looked at the cat curiously, wondering if it was a smart cat that could help track down spiders. A gasp caught in her throat as she saw a spider nearby some webs in the corner. Jackpot! She crept over there, keeping a finger over her lips to signal the boys to be quiet, and gesturing to the silvery spider webs in the corner.
"C'mon, c'mon," Grace whispered as quietly as she could, making her way towards the spider. She felt a little guilty, since she knew it would probably die, but couldn't help the excitement of figuring out how to catch it. She tried to gently cup her hands around the spider, not wanting to hurt it anymore than she had to.
The spider wasn't tiny, yet she was able to cup her hands around it without too much of a risk of it escaping. The spider was still, wary of the darkness and her hands closing in. No harm came to it, but the spider sensed it was in danger. It scurried around in her hands, looking for a big enough escape - if she stayed strong, she spider would be hers. If she panicked or let go, it'd get free.
The choice is yours. You will have a chance to recapture it if it flees.
Post by Grace Babineaux on Aug 6, 2019 3:39:15 GMT 10
Grace laughed a little as the spider scurried around. It felt weird, and she was scared she would drop it. She held it tight. Who knew how many opportunities to catch a spider there were? She held it tightly. "Sorry, little guy." she said, wondering what to do next. She could put it in her pocket, but it might run away. She might have to kill it right there, to make sure it stayed still. Would it be more humane to take its legs off? she wondered, or should I just kill it and be over and done with? I wish I had a jar... She thought of the vial of pumpkin juice she had been carrying around, and was struck with inspiration.
"I got one," she said to the boys, "There might be more. Do you think one of you can hold the spider for a little while? I have an idea."
Ryan stared in disbelief as Grace just used her hands to grab the spider. Was she crazy? Probably. Maybe it was a Gryffindor thing? He could never be in that house, no way. He held his breath the whole time she captured it, his heart pounding loudly as he waited for everything to go wrong.
She seemed okay. He had no idea how.
Then she asked the most horrifying thing of all. Ryan immediately weighed his options. Grace wasn't his friend - he just met her, so it wouldn't be mean to not go out of his way to help her. But then, if he didn't then Gerald might have to. And Gerald was his friend. Ryan grumbled.
He eyed her hand, convinced if he tried then he'd panic and get scared - losing the spider she'd bravely captured. He looked around for something to help him either get out of it or make the horrifying request less awful. He sighed, determined to be brave for once and prove to someone or even himself that he could do some scary things too.
He hated everything about this. Ryan pulled his sleeves further over his hands - far enough so no skin showed, but also the spider had no idea of getting up his sleeves. He would die on the spot if that happened. Would he become a ghost?
'Okay, I can do this,' Ryan said more to himself than Grace. He took his time approaching, his toes tense and curled in squirming dread of what he was about to do. He slowly reached out with his covered hands, convinced the feel of the spider would be more bearable if there was a buffer. In theory. He waited for Grace to hand it to him, then tightly cupped his hands (securing the spider but being mindful not to hurt it).
Ryan closed his eyes, fidgetted from foot to foot, whimpering fearfully and praying she'd hurry up with whatever she was doing. But he held strong. He didn't panic, he didn't let go, no matter how desperately he wanted to just scream and run.
This is exactly why he should never leave his tower or socialise with anyone.
Post by Grace Babineaux on Aug 6, 2019 3:58:18 GMT 10
Grace grinned as she passed the spider off to Ryan. Maybe he wasn't such a scaredy-cat (haha, cat) after all. "Be careful," she said. She was still wary that he might drop it, and lose all their progress. It wasn't much, but they only had so much time that afternoon. At least they weren't in that homework session, though. This seemed like a lot more fun.
"Great." she said, and took her bag off her shoulder. She pushed some things around in it before pulling out a bottle of orange liquid--pumpkin juice.
She thought it looked big enough to hold three spiders. She would have to poke some holes in the lid if she wanted them to breathe, though, and it had to be empty as well. She shrugged, "Bottoms up" and began to drink the pumpkin juice. It was tasty, as expected, though she couldn't help but be reminded of the dare from lunch, and the gross sandwich.
When she had finished the pumpkin juice, she grinned even more, and grabbed a quill. The lid was soft, she felt, and the quill was one of the sharper ones. She poked a few tiny air holes in it. "Alright, transfer time." she held out the bottle to Ryan, gesturing for him to put the spider inside of it, ready to put the lid on.
She was very impressed with her plan. Plus, the pumpkin juice didn't taste bad, and she had been a little thirsty. Being scared by Snape had made her mouth a little dry.
Ryan wasn't really aware of what she or Gerald were doing. He shivered and whimpered fearfully, but kept his hands closed. Why she was pausing to have a drink was beyond him. He almost wanted to throw her stupid spider away for such an unnecessary snack break - until he realised what she was doing.
'That's a good idea,' Ryan said - gladly handing off the spider. He quickly made a small gap around the bottle's neck for the spider to crawl from his hands to it. He mentally pleaded for it to hurry up and do that so he could be rid of it.
Once it was gone, he pulled his hands back out of his sleeves and walked away. Ryan pressed his forehead to a cold, stone wall and exhaled a long relief. Feeling better, and a bit proud of himself, he rejoined the others. He really didn't want to stay there though. What if she wanted another spider and he had to go through that awful ordeal again?
'I don't have a bottle,' Ryan invented an excuse, though it was the truth. 'Maybe we should go somewhere that's a bit easier? Like picking plants or something?' There was a quiver in his voice that gave him away, but he was embarrassed by it and trying really, really hard to be brave. He just couldn't deal with anymore spiders in dark corridors.
Post by Grace Babineaux on Aug 6, 2019 4:23:50 GMT 10
Grace looked at the spider in the bottle. Her first ingredient! Only four more left. She was lucky she had that bottle. Now the boys had to get their ingredients. She was rather pleased with herself, but she doubted more spiders would be contained in the bottle. Well, at least Ryan had been able to keep his hands on the spider for long enough. Now they would have to think of something else.
"I mean, we could go to the Savannah now." she said, "If you think that's a better idea. Plus, I'm sure we could get some stuff from the Boathouse too, on the way over." she wondered if they'd be allowed to take a boat out. It seemed like fun, and the Black Lake could have some ingredients, too. Grace shoved the spider jar into her bag, making sure the lid was on tight. It rested at the top.
She pulled out her scroll and looked. Ryan was right that picking plants was probably easier, and you didn't need a jar for them either. "Alright. Where do you think we should go?" she asked, waiting his opinion, and Gerald's too.
Ryan was relieved that she considered his offer, but remembered his time accompanying Dani to the boathouse so she could look for ingredients. Going from spiders to spider eggs was not what he had in mind when suggesting a change of location.
'I don't want to.' He decided to be honest. 'It's okay though, you two can go get stuff from the boathouse or lake or whatever if you want to - I'll just meet you at the Savannah, okay?' Ryan felt a bit bad about it, but the spider was too much for him and he couldn't cope with the idea of then digging through icky stuff at the boathouse as well.
He wasn't so passionate about Potions that he cared about learning all of the different ingredients yet. He just wanted to do his task and get permission to use the lab. If he ever actually used it, who knows? Ryan gave each a smile to let them know there were no hard feelings or anything, he just wasn't up for searching certain locations right now after that scary spider moment.
He gave them a friendly wave, then hurried from the dungeons so fast he almost tripped along the way.
"Um, boathouse then Savannah sounds like a good plan" He said softly. Getting the Spiders seemed like a bit of trouble, and plants would be so much easier.
He was a bit upset that Ryan didn't want to go to the Boathouse. Maybe it was a nice place? But it did make sense. "We'll see you there, Ryan"
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