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 21, 2022 22:54:50 GMT 10
Reena was somewhat amused by Lucas's apparent fear (or at least huge discomfort) of owls and gladly walked behind him as he more or less fled the Owlery. Wasn't like the birds were actively following them.
Yet she felt no need to comment on it as she walked behind him, feeling more and more at peace in the landscape around the castle. The end of winter truly was something special. Sometimes it seemed as though with the snow, some of her darkest thoughts melted away as well.
"I take it you don't have an owl either?", she could not help but put in a little comment after all. However, she made sure to keep her expression as innocent as possible.
When Lucas let her choose the way she lead them onto the path at the Forest edge that would later lead towards the Black Lake, not particularly feeling a call to the Forbidden Forest after last night's events.
"So, what did you want to know?", she asked. She was curious about why he had expressed the desire to know her, moreso even that he had made it into a deal. She would have likely answered him some surface-level personal questions regardless of a deal.
That's what people did when they enjoyed each other's company, wasn't it? Knowing surface-level personal stuff about each other? Perhaps this was Lucas' way of asking her to be his friend. That was a rather charming thought.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Jul 21, 2022 23:23:06 GMT 10
"—trees where there's more grass or wilder patches—" MJ had been muttering this to herself on her walk from the castle to the forest path. It had been the advice given to her by that Slytherin boy, Lucas.
She kept her eyes peeled for trees that had more grass around them or seemed a bit wilder than the others. It was easier said than done and it meant she was taking her time moving along the path.
MJ was in her own world, a world where she was going to find this honey if it was the last thing she did, that she didn't notice the aforementioned Slytherin boy or the girl with him. She was far enough from them anyway that she couldn't hear what they were talking about and their pace of walking was unhindered.
It wasn't like they were looking for honey too, were they?
"—trees where there's more grass or wilder patches—" She repeated, narrowing her eyes.
In this economy, MJ didn't need competition! She selected her first tree and climbed up a little without hesitation, inspecting the trunk for a beehive that would give her the golden treasure she sought.
Unfortunately, there was nothing of interest in the tree MJ had climbed. The area nearby was still considered on the path, and even with the lushness of the location due to Spring renewal, it wasn't quite as wild or grassy as what she sought.
Perhaps she'd need to venture off the path, further into the more overgrown and wilder parts?
Post by Lucas Mardling on Jul 24, 2022 15:44:58 GMT 10
Remembering not everyone was as tall as him, Lucas slowed his pace so Reena could catch up. When she led the way, he kept an even pace beside her. It really was beautiful out here, and he almost missed the forests on his estate but not enough to have even a shred of desire to go home.
'Hm? Oh, no pets for me.' He left it at that, though tried to sound light about it despite avoiding her gaze on the topic. 'No point, really,' Lucas added.
And once again, he did not elaborate.
'Well, lots of things.' Lucas rubbed his hands together for show, eager to learn new things about Reena while also not being sure where to start. It wasn't his usual info-gathering session, as he didn't intend to blackmail her later or use it against her. 'I know of Jaxen, obviously. And I know there's more of you. So, how many siblings do you have in total?'
He hoped that would include their names, but didn't want to outright ask for that in case she got suspicious and thought he had some sort of motive behind it. Old habits died hard, but Lucas also wasn't used to just being curious with no means to an end. He felt he was doing good at this so far.
Even so, a deal was a deal -- but he saw no reason to pressure for an answer. He had also specified only that she was comfortable giving.
'What are your favourite subjects or interests?' Lucas added, keeping things moving along.
He'd noticed the familiar 1st year nearby, but she was far enough away to keep their conversation private. Lucas was amused to see her climbing a tree, figuring she was following his advice. It was nice that someone actually took what he said into consideration. He hoped she fared well with her search, as that would work in his favor for the future too.
Post by Reena Ashworth on Jul 24, 2022 17:12:21 GMT 10
Reena agreed that there was no point in having a pet, yet still looked at him curiously. She had found most of her peers rather fond of their pets, so could it be she had found a like mind?
When he eagerly rubbed his hands together, she could not help but chuckle at the gesture.
“Ohh. Should I be scared?“, she asked. Her tone was almost teasing yet she felt a slightly nervous edge as well, as she still wasn’t entirely clear of his intentions.
Perhaps he was just a bit of a dork when his salesman persona came off. Must be. That would explain how he got Madam Pince to lend him ancient books.
She somewhat seized him up when he opened with a question about her siblings yet it seemed innocent enough. Not like it was a secret, if she was being honest she was even surprised he didn’t know all of them already.
“I have four siblings. Three brothers and a sister.“
She could have left it at that but she felt comfortable enough to elaborate. And if she did, perhaps he would too be more comfortable with her.
“My older brother, Jaxen, you know, my younger brother and sister are in their third year here and my youngest brother, Ezra, has just started in septembre.“
She briefly considered explaining that two of those were actually cousins, raised as siblings, but didn’t. The only times she felt a need to explain their situation was when Ezra publicly and loudly referred to their mother as ‘Auntie-Mum‘, as that could be taken out of context and raise rather embarrassing questions about their parentage.
“You have any siblings?“, she asked, although not exactly expecting an answer. She could not remember having heard of anyone else called ‘Mardling‘ at school but that did not mean anything. Siblings could be a lot older or a lot younger, not everyone had siblings as close in age as she had after all.
Reena could feel herself smile when he asked about her favorite subject.
“I have always liked Potions, even before school,“ she said. She may have not always found the time and she had only recently been urged to remember just how early she had developed that interest, but she had always been aware of it. Her thoughts briefly wandered to her potions book for children, sitting safely in the bottom drawer of her nightstand and the memory that had been magically tethered to it. Yet she decidedly burried that thought again, feeling herself get emotional again already.
“But I also enjoy the more hands on approach in Charms and Defence against the Dark Arts with the reform. Although -“ - Reena frowned as she spotted the first year in a tree ahead - “I‘m not sure what to make of Hathmore yet, do you?“
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Jul 24, 2022 18:48:09 GMT 10
Nothing, shoot.
MJ sighed and scooted down the tree and considered her options. Going off the path was technically allowed, right? She had done so for the nettles and hadn't got into trouble then. So it had to be somewhat safe.
She glanced over her shoulder at the Slytherin students walking together, not sure if they had noticed her. Still, at least someone was nearby if something happened... Thought how reliable would these two be?
Leaving the path, she ventured into the undergrowth and looked around carefully for a tree that would have a beehive on its trunk.
Last Edit: Jul 24, 2022 18:58:09 GMT 10 by MJ Birdwhistle
MJ venturing into the undergrowth was where the advice really paid off. There were patches much grassier than others, leading to several trees. And about mid-way up those trees were beehives.
One looked a bit small, and the other rather dry so honey production may be low -- possibly still enough for one ingredient, if she was lucky, but the bees seemed far too protective of it for there to be any outcome than her getting swarmed.
The third oozed honey, and the bees weren't particularly present. A few buzzed around, but most were off collecting freshly-grown pollen as if they had room for anything else in their dripping hive. MJ would still have to climb up, but had her free pick on ingredients -- though each collection would decrease the bee's mood and tolerance, so she'd need to act fast.
Post by Lucas Mardling on Jul 25, 2022 17:44:32 GMT 10
Reena hid her nervousness well, Lucas thought, amused by her teasing. She was certainly a lot more fun than her brother, though admittedly he hadn't been around Jaxen much -- but he couldn't remember a time he'd seen Jaxen laugh or muck about.
He nodded, continuing their pace along the forest path, as he listened to Reena's answers. Lucas glanced back at the first year, hoping she'd be fine, as they would be out of view of her soon. Not that he cared, of course, but she was following his advice so he needed it to go well. Yes, that was absolutely the reason.
Lucas had enough knowledge to know those siblings of Reena's included some cousins. There had been two brothers who were killed, each leaving behind some kids. It was about the extent that he knew of the Ashworths, at least until all those magazines went out and he could read up on more. Even that was limited, though. And getting it from the source was far more reliable.
'No. No siblings for me.' Lucas scoffed, which he tended to do whenever thinking of his so-called parents. 'Which is a shame for the Mardling line, no doubt. Put all their eggs into this basket.' He gestured to himself in an depreciative way.
Habit, he supposed. If everyone else was going to do it...
'Amara will be happy to hear that. As you know, she's the best in the school,' Lucas said, proud hint in his tone. It might be an exaggeration, but he didn't believe so. Nor would he ever dare think any student was better than her in Potions. He didn't have a death wish. 'Not me. Average at best. I prefer jinxes, personally.'
He wasn't one to share much about himself, but it was easy to do. No one else was really around, and he figured it was only fair. And opening up himself might make her feel more comfortable in doing the same, and be likely to give specifics.
'Just to be sure: you don't have class this afternoon, do you?' Lucas asked, wondering how much time they had. 'I don't. Free all day, though I should probably make an appearance in the Main Corridor or Entrance Hall at some point for needy deal-makers.' He sighed.
The question about Professor Hathmore clearly made him uncomfortable, as Lucas wasn't sure what he was allowed to say on that topic. He frowned, fidgeting, and pretended to admire the scenery for a moment. He had no obligation nor desire to answer, but then he came up with something he could say that maybe was more known but Reena herself didn't personally know.
'He used to be a sought-after tutor, years ago.' Lucas shrugged. 'Not to me, personally, but I know some who were tutored by him long before Hogwarts. He's... tricky. I don't know. It's hard to tell if he can be trusted, but he's quite famous. Infamous too, according to the Ministry. Why? Just curious or...?'
He eyed her, intrigued by the question while thinking of another he could ask her.
'What's your home like? I promise I won't judge.' He crossed his heart, which Lucas was fairly sure wasn't magically binding.
He left the question open-ended, for Reena to talk about her home life or the house / property itself. Open to interpretation, though it would still say a lot about which she picked. Or both.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Jul 25, 2022 18:18:19 GMT 10
Sighing in relief at the sight of the hives, MJ assessed each one as best she could.
The first one she spotted was a bit small and the next one seemed to be full of bees. Feeling deflated, that she wasn't going to be able to ever get the honey she wanted, she sees a third one. MJ approached carefully and peeked up at it.
It seemed to be dripping honey! She didn't see any bees buzzing around either... The boy hadn't given her any advice about that but she knew what choice to make.
MJ climbed the tree with the dripping hive. It was a little difficult to get a foothold but she managed to struggle her way up to a lower branch and then she got closer to the hive from there. She had her jars ready and eagerly leaned to fill the first one. She glanced around. From up here she could see the two Slytherin students, barely, walking and talking still.
No sign of any bees coming for her, at least.
But she really didn't want to push her luck by disturbing the other hives anyway, so she stuck with this one and filled up as many jars as she could from the three she carried.
Post by Reena Ashworth on Jul 26, 2022 2:08:24 GMT 10
“A shame?“, she echoed softly. His self-deprivation surprised her. Wouldn’t an only-child receive the undevided love and attention of their parents and thus grow to be secure in themselves?
Then again, she knew little of the Mardling family, besides the name and what came with hear-say, and her own parent was barely functional on her good days. All the more proud was she that her younger siblings had turned out to be as self-assured as they were.
“I hardly believe that,“ she said. He sure was zealous in starting a business young and working hard to maintain and build it up. She was not entirely sure what the name ‘Mardling‘ stood for, but ‘Lucas Mardling‘ stood for trustworthy, fair and good deals, here at Hogwarts.
Lucas seemed to be more at ease talking about Amara and Reena turned to look at him before looking back at the path ahead. If Amara really was as good as he said, then that was even more incentive to join the Alliance of Partisan.
Amara had said they would want her to succeed. Give her resources? Extra lessons? It was as though Reena could see her future open up. It seemed more and more foolish to her to decline such an offer.
“No, I‘m free this afternoon,“ she said with a smile. She might go down to the student laboratory later but she had no classes since she hadn‘t taken COMC.
There was a short pause and Reena used it to glance back towards the little girl who had started to climb a different tree further in the wilder patches. She thought she had seen some blue on her, one of Ezra’s new friends perhaps?
When Lucas answered her question about Hathmore she nodded, pensively. It was hard to tell. But if he was at odds with the Ministry, he couldn’t be all bad, could he?
Reena inwardly shook her head and smiled. Just before Christmas she would have been more suspicious of Hathmore with such information. Funny, how things changed.
“I‘ve… overheard him suggesting to Archerose to choose his loyalties, whatever that means. Poor Archerose seemed rattled.“ She shrugged. “And last Hogsmeade day I saw him threatening a Ministry worker. To leave us students alone. So I guess not too bad?“
Reena gladly left the topic behind, eventhough she had a feeling Lucas had more to tell. But she saw no point in pressuring him to reveal more than he wanted to, just like he wasn’t pressuring her to do the same.
She thought a moment on his next question. The way he had worded it left it ambiguous whether he was asking about her home life or the cottage in Puddlesway itself and her first instinct was to take the easy way out and simply describe the latter.
“We live in a small town of mixed folk. Many of our neighbors are muggles, so we mostly keep to ourselves.“ Sure. That was the reason. “It‘s rather lively with five kids in a small home. This Christmas it was only Jaxen and I and I‘ve actually had a room to myself for the first time since-“ She frowned.
Since uncle Conrad and Dad died? Had she had her own room before her sister and Ezra had moved in? She wasn’t sure. All she knew was there was a good reason she now shared with her younger brother.
“Since I can recall“, she finished. “I guess yours is less lively?“, she said. A light tone had returned to her voice after a small dip into a darker mood.
The morning was nearing its end, but MJ was able to collect her three jars of honey -- though each time, the bees became more aware and agitated by her actions. With her third and final jar filled, they decided to do something about it.
But their response time was slow. MJ could either fight them off and hope she didn't fall, or do the smart thing of fleeing as quickly as she could and... still hoping she didn't fall.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Jul 26, 2022 22:12:26 GMT 10
Hurrying to tuck her jars of honey away safely, MJ was well aware of how annoyed the surrounding bees had become. She didn't want to see Madam Pomfrey so soon again (as nice as she was) so she climbed down as quickly and safely as she could manage.
The growing buzzing was a good motivator for her to move as quickly as possible, her heart racing. She didn't look back as she jumped the final short distance to the ground and ran off back towards the path.
Even if those two Slytherin students were still there, MJ didn't give them another glance. She was just glad she finally had the honey she needed.
She could celebrate later, right now she needed to get back to the castle and put this honey safely with her potions kit.
Then she could worry about everything else she needed to do as the day wore on and the morning became the afternoon. MJ smiled to herself, pleased she had finally done it and she made a mental note to thank Lucas later when she went to find him to exchange the items and money for the potions.
Post by Lucas Mardling on Jul 27, 2022 22:56:39 GMT 10
Unsure what to do with her vote of confidence in him, Lucas decided not to address it. Not even a witty joke. It was frustrating that he couldn't tell if she was serious or not. Reena didn't really know him yet though, so that had to be it.
The information she had on Hathmore was both surprising and very intriguing. Lucas listened to every word, filing it away for later.
'Mixed, huh?' Lucas considered that. 'I can't imagine that. Though, I can't imagine having neighbours.' He chuckled, as the estate may as well be its own country for how big the moore and forests were.
He noticed her halting, no doubt something to do with having lost her father and uncle. Lucas knew enough about that to assume, but didn't dare push the subject. He kept walking, admiring the view and giving her the space to work through it.
'Hmm? Yes.' He nodded. 'Apart from events, of course. And the staff. But I mostly spend my time outside, exploring the forest on our estate. Amazing as it is, I'd much rather yours. Not that I think I'd fit into that kind of liveliness.'
Or family. He wasn't even sure what one of those looked like. Lucas had so many relatives, yet never felt part of a family. He just wasn't wanted there, so of course why would he want to be there? He wasn't aware of the hurt showing in his expression while he thought of it, how eager his parents were for him to go back to school every summer. And the efforts his relatives went to to point out all the things wrong with him.
'Do you hear bees?' Anxious, Lucas spun on the spot -- giving the area a careful look. No way was he doing battle with stinging insects right now. But it seemed to be far enough away, and soon died down once the Ravenclaw girl had left.
Wait, what time was it? Afternoon, at least. It was a very good thing neither of them had classes.
'I have more questions, but regrettably I think we've run out of time,' he said, having reached the end of the main path -- where it then looped back around or went off in different directions. 'But fear not, I shall consider our deal complete. Thank you, Reena.'
Lucas stuffed his hands into his pants pockets, preparing to stroll back towards the castle. They could have gone back together as well, but he figured she'd be sick of him by now. And he needed the time to gather this thoughts. He did pause to give her a curious look though, considering if he should say it.
'About Amara's group,' he added. 'If you're considering it, you should. I promise, it really is worth it. Amara's not as awful as people say. She has high standards and doesn't have time for those who don't appreciate the important things. It's not selfish to want the most out of your life -- and for it to be your life. She understands that.'
With a parting nod and smile, Lucas headed off back along the path. Hidden from prying eyes, he allowed himself a genuine smile. He had a friend?
Just as Lucas disappeared around some trees, a rather majestic owl swooped towards Reena -- almost for a moment as if it might crash into her. Instead, he swerved just in time to land sharply on her shoulder. With dignity, he stuck out his talon to reveal an envelope with an unusual wax seal.
My family was entrusted with the seeds and have guarded them closely, as well as any secrets relating to it or the creature you wrote of, vowing to only pass them on to our heirs or to students of Hogwarts who may one day seek them. It seems that time has come.
I will gladly bestow both of you an ancient seed in exchange for your surrendering of an item that holds great sentimental value to you. I am not a person of greed, I assure you. The payment is what's required to awaken the seeds and enable their cultivation at Hogwarts.
Go to the Astronomy Tower and place the item in a chest marked with the Hogwarts crest.
Post by Reena Ashworth on Jul 28, 2022 5:35:08 GMT 10
Lucas didn’t have neighbors? Reena looked at him wide-eyed as he described the estate. She could picture it, yet the only real comparison she had would be Hogwarts with its grounds and the nearby forest.
Was his home just Hogwarts without the students? Sounded lonely.
Or perhaps she had jumped to that conclusion because of the hurt on his face. She wanted to tell him that he too would fit into that liveliness but that would be a lie.
Nobody really fit with her family. Sometimes she didn’t even feel she did. She would love some quiet. But then again, she denied herself any quiet she could get anyway, of fear for where her thoughts might stray in the silence.
“I‘m sure you‘ll find your own kind of liveliness, if that’s what you want.“
After making sure there were no bees heading for them, Reena smiled.
She had almost forgotten this had been part of a deal. It hadn’t felt like a business meeting, rather like a noon well spend in good company.
When he brought up Amara and the Alliance again, she nodded. Her mind was made up and she would seek out Amara later. Or as soon as she found the opportune moment.
When he started to walk back to the castle with long strides, she rolled her eyes. They could have gone together. But as soon as she started to follow, she saw something fly towards her and stopped dead in her tracks.
Reena ducked a little, her shoulders pulled up as the owl landed on her. She looked at it in bewilderment and accepted the letter while straightening up, careful to not disturb the owl too much.
When she saw who it was from she felt an excited tremor in her legs. Written back so soon!
“Thank you!“, she said to the owl. “Err… I don’t have any treats for you… Sorry.“
Reena could feel her brows crease into a frown as she read the letter. What kind of magic required a sentimental object? It felt like this quest was getting more personal by the minute.
Reena started back towards the castle, in a slow, pensive pace. What object could she bare to spare that would have enough effect?
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