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.
After the absolute disaster that had been the Flying class, Saoirse had gone straight for her regular swim. She was still trembling and her shoulder was in dire need of some cold therapy. She also couldn't stand being crowded any longer and needed alone time. That made the Black Lake an even more perfect spot to visit.
Saoirse made her way down to the icy shore. She was also going to hunt for wintercress, but first she needed to blow off some steam. She tossed down a towel and a change of underclothes. She removed her outer robes, skin chilling where it was exposed. Then she hunted along the shore, looking for where the ice was already weakened.
Someone had apparently been jumping up and down on a certain patch. Saoirse retrieved a small foldable shovel from her robes and started smashing up the ice, quickly working up a sweat. She struck the ice with anger and precision, and was breathing hard by the end of it.
Red and sticky, she slipped out of her boots and dove in before she had the chance to back out. The cold stole the breath from her lungs, and her whole body felt like it was encased in ice. Saoirse didn't stay down for very long before forcing her way to the surface, tossing her hair back.
She took a moment to feel the blood freeze in her veins and listen to the emptiness around her. Everything was so muffled and still. Before she searched for her ingredients, she would enjoy this moment of peace.
Last Edit: Jun 13, 2022 20:06:35 GMT 10 by Deleted: The boathouse is far and Saoirse is smol
Post by Alice Jane on Jun 13, 2022 19:47:38 GMT 10
Alice felt much better after sitting in a corner until the flying class ended. They sat at a corner watching others finishing the round. With every passing second, Alice could feel her knee getting better. With her old experience of getting hurt a lot, she knew that snow could be helpful. So, she picked up some snow and put it on her knee. It was relaxing with snow and watching everybody fly. At that moment, she also wanted to go and fly but resisted the temptation.
After a few minutes, it almost felt like an old injury that could heal by itself. Alice could move her leg and didn't feel the need to visit Madam Pomfrey. She rather returned to the dorm for some time.
Ahe had some free time after this and two options for spending it. Either she could go t the library to continue her research or go out to enjoy herself. She chose the latter one and went outside.
She picked up her warm jacket and went out. She didn't have any destination in mind when she was walking and soon reached near the black late. She heard voices from the ice, so she went there to check, and Saoirse enjoying in the water.
"Enjoying the chilly water." She said loud enough for her to hear. She likes swimming but was not sure if she could handle it in the chilly water.
Saoirse forced herself to shove her head underwater a few more times, letting the cold still the wheels turning in her head. Her fingers and toes were already numb, and moving her limbs was starting to become difficult. She knew it was dangerous to stay much longer, but she was loathe to leave.
A voice carrying across the water made Saoirse twist, treading her legs slowly. She recognized her friend Alice standing on the shore, thankfully looking much more stable than she had before. Saoirse waved at her and then began the trudging swim back to shore.
She got out of the water, shivering. The air was still warmer than the lake had been, but nonetheless Saoirse went straight for her towel and started dabbing herself with it. She disappeared behind a tree briefly to change her underclothes, and then emerged to put on her robes. The whole process was quite quick, as she had done this dozens of times before.
Saoirse walked up to Alice, wrapping her hair in the towel so it didn't turn to ice. "It was fun! How are you? How's the leg?"
Saoirse felt guilty for walking out of flying so abruptly, but once she'd realized Alice was going to be just fine she had needed to get out of there.
Post by Alice Jane on Jun 13, 2022 22:15:13 GMT 10
Alice waved back to Saoirse when she recieved once. She choice an flat log, removed the snow on top of it and sat down. Her knee was not bad, but she felt like sitting for a while after walking from castle to here.
She liked being outside compared to sitting between four walls. It would be a better if weather coudld be a little warmer, but it wasn't bad. She closed her yes and took some breaths.
Soon Saoirse returned back. "My leg is better. Thanks. It wouldn't stop me from having fun." She said with a laugh. "You are also alright?" She asked.
"Did you came here for swimming only, or something else also?"
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Jun 13, 2022 23:08:00 GMT 10
MJ had checked a few places in the castle but Alice was nowhere to be found. She frowned and decided it wouldn't hurt to check outside after all. She had promised to help her friend out with some things and MJ wasn't going to go back on her word!
So she wrapped up warmly for heading outside and took the path that led towards the lake. MJ was happy to see a few familiar faces there as she walked. Saoirse was probably swimming, she assumed, since the other girl had talked about that in class just earlier. Luckily, the second person was Alice herself! MJ jogged to join them at the lake.
"Alice, I was looking for you~" She beamed at the Gryffindor and waved at Saoirse too, "Aren't you cold?" She said, amazed once again by Saoirse's habit.
Of course, since she was here, MJ couldn't help but look around for some potion ingredients and became distracted peering into the water. Thinking about one of the potions she wanted to try making, she stepped away a bit to look for some frogspawn. "Have you found any frogspawn here by chance?" She asked the girls.
Last Edit: Jun 13, 2022 23:09:00 GMT 10 by MJ Birdwhistle
Post by Alice Jane on Jun 13, 2022 23:50:46 GMT 10
Alice was silently sitting when she heard MJ's voice.
Looking for her, but. Then Alice realized they were going to meet to practice charms after flying class, but she totally forgot.
"Oh, I'm sorry. We need to practice." She said.
"Actually, I haven't searched for frogspawn." She replied. But since they were already here, it would be better to search for some. She stood up from the log and looked for some wintercress because this was its season. It would be better to collect more of them before the season ends because they would find them again next year only.
Saoirse had scared off most of the tadpoles, which would have been a tell-tale sign of Frogspawn in the area -- but luckily MJ was able to spot one among some reeds a safer distance away. They were viable for use in Potions, but only enough for one. If there was one though, there were probably more nearby.
Meanwhile, Alice had an easy time spotting Wintercress even though it did blend in a bit with the wintry backdrop. There was a whole patch of them, easily for three ingredients -- for herself, or if she chose to let the others know in case they wanted to collect some too.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Jun 14, 2022 1:23:43 GMT 10
Scanning the area and noticing that Saoirse's swimming wasn't helping, MJ walked off a little to look for frogspawn. Which seemed to be the right thing to do. She waved to her friend to signal she had found something in case Alice thought she was walking off entirely. MJ crouched and using a jar, scooped some frogspawn out of the water. She studied in through the glass.
It reminded her of summers spent finding and catching frogspawn or frogs around the pond in their garden. Each glob with a dark dot inside seemed like an alien eyeball staring back at her. MJ considered if she would need more than this. It wouldn't hurt to get extra, would it? She stood up again and searched a bit more, checking for a second batch of frogspawn she could claim. She walked along slowly and carefully, not wanting to disturb anything else in the water.
Despite the cold, MJ thought hunting for ingredients was fun and her accident from the morning was forgotten.
Last Edit: Jun 14, 2022 1:24:50 GMT 10 by MJ Birdwhistle
Alice was looking for wintercress, which was definitely easy to find, as she spotted a patch. It would be around three servings. "anybody wants wintercress?" she asked both Saoirse and MJ.
"There is some here," she said. She collected around one-third of it, which would be equivalent to one serving, and let both of them take the rest.
She was hopeful that she found kind more wintercress. Probably she could find enough for all three of them. So, she kept looking around for more.
MJ was looking for some frogspawn while Saoirse was enjoying the water. It was after a long time since she had gathered ingredients with someone. "Searching for ingredients together is much more fun. Isn't it? We should do this more." She said.
Saoirse was glad to see that Alice was doing well, and didn't seem to have any reservations about the crash. For all she complained about the wizarding world, the children here could brush off a knock or a scrape far better than any of the Muggle children she'd known.
"I wanted to swim to relax, but I also wanted to look for wintercress. And I'm good- the cold helped my shoulder a lot."
MJ appeared shortly afterwards, having apparently been looking for Alice to practice charms. She regarded Saoirse with some amazement- more amazed than bewildered this time, which was nice. Saoirse smiled and adjusted the towel on her head.
"I was cold, but now I'm fine."
Saoirse then realized that MJ was hunting for frogspawn. She hadn't realized people looked for frogspawn around here, and wondered how many ingredient hunts had gone poorly because of her habitual swimming here. Saoirse watched MJ take off, and then joined Alice in looking for wintercress.
Alice was successful very quickly, finding a large patch near where Saoirse had been swimming. She joined her roommate and pulled out one good handful of wintercress, adding it to the small note bag she'd brought with her. Her pockets wouldn't be able to fit all this anymore.
"Looking for ingredients together is fun," she agreed. "You're going to practice in charms after this?"
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Jun 14, 2022 3:28:39 GMT 10
"Is there a spell to warm you up afterwards? Or maybe a potion?" MJ mused, worried about Saoirse catching a cold. Then again, if this was something she was used to doing then maybe her body had adapted to it. It still wasn't something MJ would want to do but she couldn't exactly disagree with Saoirse if she did.
MJ nodded and smiled at both Alice and Saoirse, "We were going to ask Professor Rivera for some extra charms work so we can practice our skills." Hopefully her head of house would have something for them to do.
She held up her jar of frogspawn, "I found one lot so far, on the lookout for a second for a potion I want to try making. And thank you but I got some Wintercress the other day, however. So feel free to pick the rest between you, I don't need any more right now."
It had been one of the ingredients she had found when finding things from the list Snape had given her. She went back to her frogspawn search, moving along with slow and careful steps.
Saoirse had never been invited to join for extra curriculars before. She had to admit that extra studying sounded horrible and boring, but it seemed necessary to survive here. And it might be significantly less painful if she had company, so she decided to agree.
"Sure, I'll come. Thanks for the invite."
Saoirse was then inundated with questions about her swimming and if she would catch a cold. Saoirse found a lock of still-wet hair that wasn't safely in her towel, and tucked it inside. Not many people knew about her swims, and she suddenly became worried that the professors might catch wind and ban her from it. So, she did her best to alleviate concerns.
"You'd be surprised how fast you warm back up. I think it's actually good for you, swimming in the cold." Alice's question puzzled Saoirse somewhat, as she had always just swum. No techniques or methods or anything. "I can stay underwater for a really long time? Not when it's this cold, but in the autumn I would usually stay under a few minutes."
Saoirse watched MJ continue to search for frogspawn. She wished she could give her some advice, but had honestly never really noticed the frogspawn. She'd spent too much time keeping an eye out for merpeople ready to stab, or giant squid tentacles.
Post by Alice Jane on Jun 14, 2022 23:26:47 GMT 10
Alice's interest went to MJ's question. "There should be something for warming also. There is an ice potion made by wintercress only. So, there must be something for warming also." She said, thinking about it. "We should search for it. It would be useful for you." She said to Saoirse.
"Which potion are you planning to make?" She asked MJ. It would be fun to brew some potion. Probably she should also do something like that.
Saoirse's suggestion was genuine. Alice had swum before but never in cold weather. So, she wasn't sure about it. "Maybe I will join you when it is a little warmer." She replied.
"Underwater for a few minutes. That would be awesome. I couldn't do more than a few seconds." She laughed. They were having fun chatting around, but she needed more wintercress. So, she kept her eyes wandering for it.
Last Edit: Jun 18, 2022 19:18:36 GMT 10 by Lena: Fixed: forgotten bold text for one line
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Jun 14, 2022 23:31:39 GMT 10
"That's what I was thinking too. Might be worthwhile investigating sometime~ " She smiled at both Alice and Saoirse. The more time she spent with Saoirse, the more she liked her. At the very least, she hadn't seemed too annoyed at MJ for crashing their get-together. She looked over at Alice who asked about the potion she wanted to make and she stopped her looking for a moment.
"Well, I have a couple I want to try making. One is Pumpkin Juice, which is very easy to do but the other is a lot more complicated and requires a lot of ingredients. It's the invisibility potion. I have a few things I need for it already." MJ had no plans to use the potion, she had only felt it would be a good experience to brew something a bit more complicated. Pumpkin Juice, after all, only needed two ingredients.
After explaining that, she let Alice and Saoirse go back to talking about swimming while she checked for the frogspawn.
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