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 Reena Ashworth on Jul 20, 2022 21:35:13 GMT 10
Reena almost felt like she was becoming a regular at this door. She also felt like her getting-into-shape would happen a lot sooner than expected, judging by the way she was running all over the castle and grounds lately.
At this rate she should join a race team - if Hogwarts had those. All they seemed to care about here was Quidditch after all. But next time she faced the beast, she would simply outrun it, like it was no big deal.
- Of course she was kidding herself but someone needed to put her into a better mood before approaching a professor who's class she didn't even take and had no interest in their subject.
With a firm knock on the door she made her presence known and stepped back to be out of the way of the door.
The door opened rather abruptly, as if company was most unwelcome at this time. Professor Hathmore appeared, then relaxed when he saw who it was. Just a student, and a Slytherin one -- which was a most welcome sight for him this morning.
'Hello--' he was cut off by growing noise within the staff room; some sort of argument, in which Professors Rivera and Fairburn's voices were the loudest, followed by Professor McGonagall stating she had a headache.
'Ah, sorry about that.' Hathmore stepped out of the room, closing the door to muffle the noise. 'How may I assist you, Ashworth?' he wondered, looking glad for the break.
Post by Reena Ashworth on Jul 20, 2022 22:09:44 GMT 10
Her neck almost cracked by the fast movement of snapping it upright when the door swung open so abruptly. She glanced at Hathmore, then behind him into the staff room, quickly making sense that the professors were arguing with each other.
Just her luck.
"Hello," she greeted her DADA teacher back. Reena shifted her feet, feeling awkward to have interrupted and now witnessed bits of an argument in the staff room.
"Umm. Actually I wanted to see professor Fairburn," she said with an awkward smile. "But if now's a bad time, I could come back later."
And here he had looked so glad for a break from - whatever was happening inside. She was almost sad to disappoint him but it wasn't exactly her problem what the teachers were fighting about. Not that she wasn't curious, however.
His disappointment was clear, wishing he brief reprieve from whatever was going on could have lasted a moment longer. Then again, she'd asked for Professor Fairburn and that might be the next best thing.
'Good. Please do take her,' Hathmore muttered, then returned to the staff room.
There was more muffled debating, and Hathmore had to raise his voice above it all to be heard. Fairburn's tone when was angry to intrigued so fast that it was almost as if two separate people had spoken. Then she appeared in front of Reena, quickly composing herself as she stepped outside the room.
Shutting the door behind her, the tone of the room was much quieter but by no means resolved.
'Hello here,' she said, surprised to see it was a student who didn't take her class. Fairburn was familiar with her brother, though. 'What can I do for you?'
Post by Reena Ashworth on Jul 20, 2022 22:59:19 GMT 10
Reena's nose twitched at Hathmore's muttered words as she cringed inwardly about requesting an unfamiliar professor at a time of upset for said person.
Fairburn did sound intruiged rather than angry however, probably taken aback at being requested by a student she didn't know.
"Hi," Reena said, feeling even more awkward than before. At least Fairburn did not appear to want to take whatever had been happening inside and put it onto her now.
"Err, I have a few questions regarding a rare beast, which is your area of expertise." If her assumptions were correct, Fairburn might have been given questions about the same beast before. It had sounded familiar to Hagrid after all.
"I don't know its name but it's a bear-like creature with three eyes, scales and curvy tusks. Do you know of something like that?"
Professor Fairburn was baffled yet intrigued by their request. She made a hmm sound as she considered the details, trying to think what creature it could possibly be though she was convinced someone had asked about this before. It was awhile ago now.
She decided not to ask Reena why she wanted to know or where she even heard such details.
'That certainly sounds like a Gerodenus.' She nodded, confident that's what Reena was asking about. Nothing else fit, and Fairburn had an exceptionally extensive knowledge of beasts -- even the rarest or most ancient ones.
It was also nice, being sought for such information from someone who didn't take her class. Someone different, which was refreshing but also made her warm inside to know even those who didn't study Care of Magical Creatures might have an interest in learning about them.
'A Gerodenus can live for thousands of years, though haven't been seen for centuries,' she explained, happy to impart some rare knowledge. 'It was rumoured that Godric Gryffindor captured one, which was tamed by feeding it an ancient fruit grown by Helga Hufflepuff. She kept a supply of the ancient seeds, but after the founders left the school there was no sign of beast nor fruit.'
Post by Reena Ashworth on Jul 20, 2022 23:20:45 GMT 10
"Gerodenus?", she repeated to make sure she had gotten that correctly. Not that the name told her anything but putting a name to the beast made it the tiniest bit less frightening.
She listened carefully when Professor Fairburn went on, awe-ing at the appropriate times.
"Certainly sounds like the Founders worked closely together in more areas than just school. Unless of course the Gerodenus was kept for educational purposes. Or perhaps it was the fruit that was part of the curricular? What was its name?", she asked.
If the fruit was ancient and hadn't been heard from in a thousand years, how likely was it Reena could find any seeds left? Not that she'd be particularly confident in her ability to grow it. But the beast certainly was real, so why not the fruit?
"Were there different means of taming a Gerodenus?", she asked instead. Couldn't hurt to have a few options to try. "And, if it wasn't tamed, then how much danger would it pose to a person who came close to it or its territory?"
'My specialty is beasts, I'm afraid.' Professor Fairburn gave Reena a sympathetic look. 'I do believe it was grown in one of our greenhouses though. I think the remainder of your questions are better suited for Professor Sprout. Not just for her expertise in Herbology, but also as Head of Hufflepuff herself. I'm sure she'd be happy to help.'
She had a look of being just as intrigued by the subject as Reena was.
'I'm afraid I really don't know more than that,' Fairburn said, huffing at her own lack of ancient knowledge as if she hadn't just revealed more than most would ever know. Even Hagrid hadn't been sure. 'But from everything I've heard, it seems the fruit really was the only reliable means of taming it.'
She offered her a smile, and turned to head back into the staff-room. Fairburn paused, giving Reena a curious look.
'Was that all? Do you need anything else?' she asked, just to be sure. 'I could fetch Professor Sprout for you, if you'd like to speak with her next?'
Post by Reena Ashworth on Jul 20, 2022 23:33:29 GMT 10
"Ah, okay," Reena said. She was already dreading having to run out to the greenhouses again. What would she do, just turn over every ancient looking pot in all the greenhouses to hope to find ancient seeds?
She wasn't even sure she could tell them apart from eglower seeds.
"Thank you, that was very interesting." Reena remembered her manners as Fairburn turned back towards the door. Hathmore would be disappointed again, that Reena hadn't kept her longer.
She perked up however when Fairburn offered to fetch Professor Sprout.
"Is she there? I'd love to speak to her, thanks!", she said quickly.
Students were always surprised to hear Professor Sprout was... well, literally anywhere except at the Greenhouses. Professor Fairburn liked to imagine the look on their faces if they learned she even had her own office.
'Of course. We're having something of a staff meaning.' Fairburn winked, then ducked back into the noisy room. 'Pamona, let me take over. There's a student wanting to ask you about old seeds.'
Not the most eloquent request, but she was keen to get back -- much to the resignation of those who disagree with her regarding her stance on the morning's events, and various other issues of hot debate right now.
Professor Sprout left the staff room, offering Reena a tired by warm smile as a way of greeting. 'Good morning, Ashworth,' she said. 'How can I help? Old seeds, she said? Do fill me in.'
Post by Reena Ashworth on Jul 20, 2022 23:43:20 GMT 10
Reena cringed once more, yet was oddly comforted by Fairburn's wink. She decided that she liked this teacher but liking a teacher did not mean it made their taught subject worthwhile.
"Good morning, Professor." Reena returned the smile. The Herbology professor seemed tired and Reena felt a little sorry for staff, having to deal with this many kids in their care and tensions that arose from having too many people crammed up together for too long.
"Terribly sorry to disrupt your meeting. Professor Fairburn and I were just talking about the ancient beast Gerodenus, which Godric Gryffindor allegedly tamed with an ancient fruit. It was said Helga Hufflepuff grew it and kept the fruit's seeds in the castle. You wouldn't happen to know about that, would you?"
Oh, please do interrupt -- her expression implied.
'Gerodenus? I haven't heard that name in quite a long while. Those are indeed the rumours, yes,' Professor Sprout said. 'I can confirm the ancient fruit, supposedly used to tame it, did exist. I would be honoured to have those in one of my greenhouses...'
She trailed off for a moment, not flinching as something shattered within the staff room. Sprout gave the impression that was perfectly normal. Interestingly, no one sounded too angry or combative -- perhaps it was just a heated clash of opinions?
'The ancient fruit are incredibly rare nowadays,' Sprout continued. 'The only person known to have seeds for one is an old collector from Ireland, named Kahlin O'Klore.'
Post by Reena Ashworth on Jul 21, 2022 0:03:44 GMT 10
Reena lit up when the fruit's existence was confirmed by the Herbology professor and she made a small sound of agreement as Sprout digressed into dreaming about raising it herself. That would have been very convenient for her as well.
She could have just asked for one, or traded in some physical labor in exchange for one. She was sure there was always something to do at the Greenhouses.
Her gaze was sharply drawn towards the staff room door at the sound of something shattering inside. But there seemed to be no consequences following whatever had broken.
"That is all very interesting, thank you, Professor. That was all."
Reena bid her good bye before she more or less fled from the staff room before anything else happened or the arguments inside got too heated.
Kassia returned to the castle after a successful interaction with the magical platypus. What a ridiculously cute creature. If it was in movies, it would be a cash cow. She shook her head to focus on the task at hand. Extra-curriculars. She had to get her grades up as much as possible, or else she'd end up in the gutter.
Kassia was surprised to find the door closed and no other students lingering about. Most students her age were panicking at this time. Hopefully that meant her request would be granted quickly. Kassia banged loudly three times on the door. She hoped Professor Rivera was there, or Professor Fairburn. She wanted to work on charms, but was also willing to do care of magical creatures if Fairburn was available instead.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Jul 21, 2022 18:43:28 GMT 10
MJ arrived at the Staff Room with Alice, both of them carrying the paintings they had worked on together in the empty classroom. She hoped Professor Riveria would like her underwater pond scene. She was particularly pleased with the colourful fish she had painted and the diving frog. Likewise, she thought Alice had done a great job as well.
There seemed to be a Slytherin girl waiting already, someone older who she didn't recognize. Certainly, it wasn't someone from the Quidditch team. MJ gave her a polite smile and stood nearby. She assumed this girl had already knocked on the door so there would be no need for her to do the same. The last thing she wanted was to annoy whoever was inside.
She shared a look with Alice as they waited, excitement bubbling inside. If Professor Rivera felt they had done a good job, did that mean they would be able to do another task for her another time?
[OOC: Alice Jane's arrival with MJ mentioned with permission]
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