#5 - Hung Up

Even with a large portion of the school busy watching the match, the Entrance Hall was as busy as ever. Most had given up on enduring the weather by then anyway, and were wandering around with friends or looking for something to pass the time with. 

That meant, as usual, Kamari had to deal with the stares and whispers. A group of 3rd years even halted in their tracks to gasp, then chattered to each other -- all she caught was her surname, and something about balloons? They had released a new range of balloon animals recently, which was probably what they were so excited about.

No one came up to her today, but many did glance her way as the passed by. So aware of her surroundings because of them, Kamari would easily spot Silvana hurrying off the Grand Staircase and headed towards her with a shoulder bag full of rolled-up posters.

She slowed her pace, frowning as she saw the attention Kamari was getting. She caught the mention of Sagemores and clicked her fingers, now knowing why her first name had sounded familiar. Silvana smiled, pleased to have solved the mystery, but (unlike so many others) she didn't particularly care about the rest of it or understand why everyone was making such a fuss.

'Here. Spellotape should do the trick.' Silvana handed her a roll of sticky tape. She grabbed a poster from her bag, ready to get to work. 'We'll spread these out around the Hall, okay? Spots where people will see them, but not too close together. I'm taller so I'll hold, you tape -- deal?'

She let Kamari pick the first spot, busy counting her posters to make sure she had enough. They were all on rather nice parchment and clearly homemade. Kamari couldn't see what was on them yet, but the sight of Silvana with posters caused a few students to roll their eyes at her and make an effort to keep their distance.

Silvana didn't need to answer Kamari's question, as the posters were revealed while they worked on taping them to various strategic points of the Entrance Hall. They were indeed beautiful, despite the otherwise simple design. The focal point was the hand-painted text, and each one had one of three magical creatures drawn and coloured in the middle.

The Niffler was easily recognised -- especially for Kamari, as she had the fortune (and misfortune, given the headache their care was), of helping raise three baby Nifflers when she was eight, and Alora was six. She couldn't remember why, or where they came from, and it was only for a few weeks -- but their cuteness was as memorable as the mess they also made if unsupervised.

The second creature was a Winter Hummingbird, which was the most accurately detailed of the three drawings. She'd only seen a few from a distance one dry fall afternoon when setting up camp in a forest. Her Mama said they were so named because of the way they spend months preparing their nest for winter. 

So far, both creatures enjoyed collecting or scavenging things from their environment. It fit with the theme that the next creature was some sort of mole. Kamari didn't know that one, but if it burrowed underground than it likely had a little hoard of food or materials as well.

The slogan read: Protect Our Magical Creatures. DON'T LITTER.

Silvana reached for another poster, of which there were only two left, but sighed in deep frustration at the unmistakable sound of parchment slowly being torn in two. She shot a glare at two teenage boys, possibly around their age (yet houses unknown as they were dressed casually, out of uniform).

They took one torn piece each and scrunched it up into a ball, then tossed it on the floor. Laughing, they just left it there and walked away.

Silvana clenched her fists, staring at the balls of parchment -- her hard work, wasted, but also the sheer rudeness of it all.

'Pick it up,' she said, suddenly. Silvana seemed surprised by her own words, though kept her gaze low and uncertain. She'd reacted out of anger, not confidence. 'You jerks, pick it up.'

'Nah, don't wanna.' One said, turning to give her a lazy shrug. 'Maybe you shouldn't waste parchment with this nonsense. So what if we litter, anyway? Isn't that what House Elves are for?'

'That's one of the Sagemore kids,' a boy whispered to his friend, as they finally noticed Kamari there. 'As if she knows anything about hard work or picking up after herself.'

The other boy opened his mouth to retort something bound to be even worse, but the moment was interrupted by the loud chatters and cheers of an approaching crowd. It seemed the Quidditch match was finally over. Sure enough, the doors burst open and shivering yet high-spirited students flooded into the Entrance Hall.

Silvana shied away from it all, and didn't seem to know what to do. The boys took advantage of that and gave both girls a sarcastic wave -- before rushing to find friends and get the gossip of the match. Based on the display, it was clear that Slytherin had won.

'Thanks,' Silvana told Kamari, though it wasn't clear which part -- the company, the posters, or speaking up on her behalf. 'I'll put the last ones up somewhere else. See you at dinner, I guess.'

She gave the jerks a shy look, clutching the strap of her shoulder bag. Sighing, she went to retrieve the balls of parchment herself -- then hurried off to the Grand Staircase, trying her best not to be bumped into by other students.