#8 - Gobstones Mission

Ryan had wandered back and forth around the whole Alcove Courtyard, or as far as it went on either end anyway, until he could summon enough courage to enter it. He nervously sat on a stone stool, staring intently at the table thing where games were played.

It was a mistake, he was convinced. He should have spent the afternoon with Joe or something. But he had three missions he needed to do, and learning how to pay Gobstones was one of them. Not only that, but spending time with a student he probably didn't know, who was from another house. Ryan hoped it was someone patient enough to teach him how to play because he was clueless. It sounded like the Muggle game of marbles though, so he was confident enough to risk it.

He was too anxious to leave now, so he just had and waited - hoping someone had enough free time to venture this way and consider playing with him. If not, he didn't have to deal with this yet but on the other hand, he'd rather just get it over with.

Joe's talk of Bigfoot had inspired him. Missions were things brave and capable people did, right? All the heroes in his books had to overcome things to get strong, so he set himself some things too. He was picky about it, not wanting to push himself too far, but figured it was a place to start. So long as it didn't go horribly or backfire on him, of course.