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 Amber Lloyd on Aug 28, 2023 5:54:31 GMT 10
Amber walked down the Forest Path, anxiously looking for any signs of fire. Ash on the ground or in the air, burned leaves, singed twigs, some small lingering flames, smoke.
Anything she normally wouldn't look for, not willingly. She gulped while trudging along the path, looking for a moment behind her, just to make sure she hadn’t lost Joshua.
Why were they here again, looking for her nemesis, for fire? Ah, right, a creature was in despair!
According to the assignment, some Fire-Belly Geckos were in need of some medicine. That sounded like they really needed help. And an animal or creature needed help? That meant Amber would be there!
Even if it meant confronting her fear – probably. And rather with her friend than without.
And Amber had to be honest, she was actually a bit excited about seeing the Fire-Belly Geckos in person. When would you get the chance to see them again?
But she couldn’t show it. Her mood was rather damp. For more comfort, she snuggled her face into the yellow scarf, that helped at least a bit.
Post by Joshua Twiggs on Aug 28, 2023 6:02:12 GMT 10
Joshua hadn't actually read all of the info on this part of the Charms quest. He hadn't expected to continue immediately after the first one, so he had only remembered where it was and that it involved creatures somehow.
He was glad he had run into Amber so that she could fill him in.
Also glad for her sake, as he knew she had trouble with fire. He didn't know if that was a secret, but it was no secret to him.
"We just have to focus all our might into the water charm if anything goes amiss," he said.
They didn't have much luck; all the students saw was dirt, grass, and some dried leaves that had littered the ground since Hallowe'en. The whole area had such an autumn vibe to it, and was quite the view either as a hindrance or to appreciate.
There were a few odd marks, though -- as if something had a scuffle here, but it was hard to tell if it was from creature or student. There were some scrapes on the tree trunks, then part of a bush was scorched... leading off the path and deeper into the overgrowth; a risky place to venture alone, though perhaps less so with backup?
Post by Amber Lloyd on Aug 28, 2023 16:35:13 GMT 10
A smile popped up at Amber's face at Joshua's words, and his calming presence soothed her anxiety a bit.
The water charm? Right, how could she forget? She was now prepped with a way to fight fire!
"Yes, we do!"
Feeling more motivated, she walked along the path, though not seeing any signs of fire.
However, at the next turn, there were some marks . Something had happend here. Was that a scorched bush? That seemed promising.
Amber looked into the overgrowth.
"See that scorched bush? I guess, it's that way!"
She pointed into the forest and wavered for a moment. What would they find so deep in the forest? It seemed nothing good...
Amber glanced at Joshua, then grinned. She was feeling quite secure with him around. And venturing into the unknown depths of the forest actually sounded like an adventure!
Without hesitation and now a bit of excitement, she stepped forward and started to venture deeper into the forest, having to use both of her arms to push some twigs out of her way, though some of them she would hold onto for Joshua to be able to follow her more easily.
Post by Joshua Twiggs on Aug 28, 2023 20:56:49 GMT 10
The autumn leaves that covered the floor were a rather pretty sight. At least in some places. In others they had been trampled down, broken and covered in mud.
When they found scorch marks as well as claw marks, he halted. He was concerned for Amber's sake but she surprised him with enthusiasm instead of fear. Perhaps his presence was enough to make her feel brave? He rather liked that thought.
"Hold on," he said when she took charge forward into the overgrowth.
Joshua hung his bag and robe into a tree to keep them from getting caught in branches and hindering his movements, or tearing. He had made that mistake in his second year and was not about to repeat it.
"Okay. I'm right behind you!" Joshua kept his volume low.
He was about equally as enthusiastic as his friend, however. They were supposed to help and he was living for that. Besides, crawling through overgrowths, roots and trees was right up his corner, as he had spent many days exploring the woods around the creek back home.
Holding his pine wand in hand, he was ready to step infront of Amber, should they run into fire. For now however, he enjoyed that she held the branches back for him to pass through.
It gave him more time to look around and search for further marks that might lead them to what they were looking for.
A scorched twig here, smeared ashy footprints there, and a bush on fire... yeah, this was the right place. Then a fiery-coloured Gecko scurried down a tree and across Amber's path, almost hitting her as it left a scorching trail behind it. Another ran after it, narrowly missing Joshua. The dirt itself burned, and both students felt the heat in the air -- immediately making them sweat.
The pair Fire-Belly Geckos spit sparks at each other -- their bellies flaring ominously until their bodies caught fire. Some squawking and bickering later, and the students were faced with eight flaming lizards. They weren't super tall, considering how long they were, but there was something unnervingly crocodile-like about them.
Either they hadn't noticed their young company, or simply didn't care. But someone should probably put that bush out before the fire spreads...
Post by Amber Lloyd on Aug 29, 2023 4:25:44 GMT 10
When Joshua told her to hold on, Amber looked back and saw him leaving his bag behind. As she thought that this was actually a great idea, she put her own beside his, stowing away her wand in her jacket, as she wanted to have both of her hands free to climb through the forest, helping Joshua in the process. And it seemed Joshua had his wand at the ready instead. That was team effort!
Amber actually enjoyed it as they made their way through the forest. It wasn’t easy, but it was fun. Reminded her of going on adventures near her farm. Maybe she should repeat that when she was home again…
Although, the joy didn’t last long, as signs of fire started to appear, even more frequently at that. Anxiety crept up on her and she put out her wand now as well.
Then there was a bush on fire. Amber’s attention was focused on this, so she completely missed the Gecko at the tree, noticing it only as it was quite near her. She felt the warmth and saw the flames from it, and took a startled step back with a loud “Eep!”
Amber’s eyes followed the fiery Gecko, seeing the scorching trail, the burning dirt – and eight flaming lizards. That was just too much for her.
With wide eyes she just stared at them, totally in shock, not able to move an inch. Her fingers even dropped her wand as they started to shake. Her heart started to race as she tried to grasp the situation.
She felt the heat in the air, smelled smoke, felt rather enclosed in the overgrowth of the forest and she saw creatures on fire – though Amber knew in the back of her mind that the fire wouldn’t hurt them, it was a part of them – it all reminded her about the incident five years ago.
Trying to suppress her memories, she closed her eyes. Out of sight, out of mind, right?
But that was a fatal mistake. It just made it worse, as vivid images from that day started to be displayed in her mind.
With panic, she flung her eyes wide open, her whole body starting to shake now.
Amber desperately tried to calm herself down, but she knew not how. Her mind went just blank.
Last Edit: Aug 29, 2023 12:50:10 GMT 10 by Amber Lloyd
Post by Joshua Twiggs on Aug 29, 2023 5:50:15 GMT 10
"Woah!" He startled when something firey and hot ran past them.
The heat came with it like a blow and he watched the pair of Fire-Belly Geckos climb a tree.
"Oh, sh-" Some leaves around their feet had caught fire and he quickly stomped it out.
The bush radiated enough heat to make the sweat pearl on his forehead and he glanced at his friend -- who appeared to be frozen in place.
He could see orange flames dancing in the reflection of her wide opened eyes and he spun around towards the Geckos -- to find not just two, but four, six, eight crocodile like creatures in the tree -- and they were on fire.
"Amber!", he called out to her.
To no avail.
He didn't think she'd heard him.
The heat became unbearable very quickly, urging him into action instead of tending to his friend.
"Aguamenti!"
He could feel his magic-muscle work as he doused the bush in water, making sure to wet its immediate surrounding as well, to prevent any sparks from spreading.
The fire hissed as though it was alive itself and smoke took its place as his water extinguished the burning bush.
With eight flaming Geckos in his neck however, he did not have the time to make sure the fire was properly gone.
"Amber, come on!"
Didn't she have her wand drawn as well? He noticed that she wasn't holding it anymore.
Where was it?
The Fire-Belly Geckos had moved, or at least he thought they had and with their bickering, he feared they might put the whole overgrowth ablaze.
"Aguamenti!", he aimed at the one who seemed to be especially loud and spark-breathing.
Something drew his gaze downward however and he caught sight of Amber's wand, dropped onto the forest floor.
He quickly picked it up and stepped in front of her, using his body to shield her from seeing the firey reptilians, and hopefully blocking at least some of the all-consuming heat.
"Amber," he somehow managed to sound calm despite himself and the literal tree on fire.
He moved closer to her, until their foreheads were merely an inch from each other.
"Water charm. We've got this. Remember?"
He could not keep his back turned to the fire for long. But took her hand to push her wand into her it as he turned to face the inferno once more.
There were a lot of angry geckos for just one wizard here.
Last Edit: Aug 29, 2023 5:51:20 GMT 10 by Joshua Twiggs
Post by Amber Lloyd on Aug 29, 2023 13:46:05 GMT 10
Amber hadn't heard neither Joshua calling her name nor his spell casting – in that moment, there was just her, the fire and her fear.
As her gaze was so focused on the fire and the fiery reptiles, it was rather sudden to her when it was abruptly blocked, and with it a bit from the radiating heat. That helped to break up her complete state of shock.
Amber finally was able to hear Joshua's voice, calling her name, calm and composed.
Her eyes shifted the focus to the origin of it, letting her realise that he was the one shielding her from the shocking view. He was standing right before her, even closing in until the only thing she could see were his blue eyes. Blue like the ocean, a nice contrast to the read fire. An ocean, which was able to fight the fire.
She started to feel like everything would be alright now, and a sudden calmness rushed through her, washing away her fear, letting her hear his other words.
Water Charm? They got this? Right!
As if she had been in trance before, she shook her head and felt like she woke up from this nightmare at last, being her true self again.
She noticed how Joshua pushed her wand into her hand – asking herself when she had dropped it – and clearly saw how her friend had turned to face the danger ahead.
Danger, she couldn’t bear alone. But neither could he. Good thing, they weren’t alone here but together. They could do this. She could do this.
Amber tried to focus now on the task at hand – saving Joshua and herself from fierce-looking lizards – and it worked. She raised her wand to cast the spell, but her throat still felt a bit hoarse, her voice sounding a bit shaky.
“Ag -… Aguamenti!”
Her wand only produced a few droplets which evaporated immediately because of the surrounding heat.
Panic started to well up in her again, a feeling of being useless, but by instinct she grabbed with her free hand Joshua’s, it helping her to compose herself as it made her feel his calming presence.
Breath, Amber! You can do this! Think they... are like plants in the Greenhouse! Fiery plants, but simply plants.
That thought actually conjured a slight grin on her face, thinking that this was actually something Joshua would say to her, then she made a determined step forward, standing next to her brave friend. She raised her wand again, aiming at the nearest Gecko with resolve.
“Aguamenti!”
A strong current of water shot out of her want and doused the lizard, extinguishing the flames, letting steam appear instead.
Nice! Next target!
“Aguamenti!”
The Gecko next to the doused one had to bear with water getting shot right into his face as it turned just in the same moment as her spell worked. Amber quickly changed the position of her wand, trying to pour water on it more from the top.
For a moment, she took in the scene in front of her. There was definitely less fire, still heat through, a lot of smoke, steam – but there were still five burning Geckos left. Time to stop the fire then!
Amber wiped a bit of sweat from her forehand with the back of her wand hand, then focused her attention back to the Geckos in front of her, taking aim.
“Aguamenti!”
Another well-produced jet of water soused a fiery Gecko, now not so fiery anymore, then she proceeded to do the same with a fourth.
Last Edit: Aug 29, 2023 13:51:14 GMT 10 by Amber Lloyd
A Gecko was ready to spit fire at one of its buddies, when suddenly it was raining. No wait, someone was hosing it down. He stilled, confused by what was happening at first, then its feisty temperament sizzled out along with the flames. It stuck out its tongue, then lay chill on the ground -- yawning widely. It was content.
Its would-be-opponent made weird squawking sounds in victory, then scurried off to find someone else to spit at -- while carefully avoiding the other Gecko, which was bigger... despite its dulled colour and cold-burning flames. One was doused in water by Amber and followed it back to her out of curiosity, then promptly sprawled out in front of her -- and partially over her foot. Its belly was squishy and smooth, yet heavier than it looked.
Four Fire-Belly Geckos chilled on the ground, while the other four ran around squabbling with each other -- too high in energy and temperamental. Another bush caught fire, and there was scorched tracks all over the grass.
Post by Amber Lloyd on Aug 29, 2023 18:47:23 GMT 10
Despite still seeing a bush on fire and fire-spitting Geckos in front of her, the air feeling now like a sauna, Amber started to feel relaxed. While Joshua's presence had a great impact on this, the Geckos themselves actually did as well.
The sight of one of the doused lizards, just chilling lazy on the ground, sticking out his tongue, warmed her heart.
The Geckos weren't such fearinducing anymore without spitting fire everywhere. They reminded her more of weird looking dogs now, mainly the ones laying around.
Even the four still squabbling Geckos hadn't the power anymore to shock her as the whole situation now reminded her rather of a group of chaotic little children than harmful creatures, especially as they had their focus on themselves and not on Joshua or her.
"Huh, Caine would fit right into it", she thought in her mind and chuckled.
Her attention immediately shifted to the Gecko approaching her. She observed it warily for a moment, but Amber noticed soon that it didn't mean any harm, it was just curious, and she cracked a smile.
Her smile went brighter as the Gecko just sprawled out right in front if her, feeling quite comfortable. It was just too cute!
Although, she herself felt a bit less comfortable now as his heavy belly layed on one foot of her. She tried to pull on her leg, but it didn't butch, though it didn't hurt either.
She frowned. What to do now?
Amber glanced to Joshua, then over the chaos in front of her and back to Joshua. And her planning nature overcame her immediately. "Don't worry, I'm fine now! But we have to first stop the fire from spreading and calm the other Geckos down. I'll try to douse the ones in my reach, you take care of the rest?"
Freeing her foot could wait. It was way more important to extinguish the fire first.
Amber readied her wand and cast the water charm again.
"Aguamenti!"
She aimed at the scorched gras and the bush, hosing them down, and any fire ceased.
With determination, she changed her aim to the squabbling Gecko group, but out of her position she had only the reach to douse one of them down.
"Aguamenti!"
Water splashed down on the Gecko, smoke and steam originating from it, but no flames anymore.
Amber was sure, Joshua could handle the rest of them. Though if not, they would have to free her foot first.
Last Edit: Aug 30, 2023 0:34:36 GMT 10 by Amber Lloyd
Post by Joshua Twiggs on Aug 30, 2023 15:23:27 GMT 10
Wow!
Amber had snapped out of it and started shooting water at every flame, fire and cinder in their sight. She was a force to behold.
He had chosen his friends well, it showed in moments like this.
"Aguamenti!"
He doused the next bush in water that had caught on fire. He was more focused on containing the flames than on the Geckos by now, trusting Amber to hold her own -- especially since the ones they'd extinguished seemed rather tame suddenly.
One even tried to lay down on Ambers foot!
"Got it!"
The heat was dying down with every fire they put out and, with Amber out of her fear-shock, he was actually, kidn of starting to enjoy himself. The water making charm was one of his best.
Perhaps he shoudl go into fire fighting as a career. He seemed to be good at it.
"Aguamenti!" He shot water straight at a Fire-Belly Gecko that had just opened its mouth to spit at the big grouchy looking one.
Their energy and skittering around made it hard to track and count the remaining Geckos. Two wandered off during all of this, a bit confused what to do with their pent-up energy now everyone else was just chilling on the ground like a day at the beach. They were quite bigger than the others. Each sneezed, and sprawled flat on their bellies -- less cute than the others, as they seemed to do so out of exhaustion.
The chest was nearby, as promised. Inside contained two vials of medicine.
Joshua and Amber were well on their way to completing the task. With so many Geckos in the area, it was only natural they overlooked one still on fire -- who had taken to biting a bush in frustration, which promptly setting it on fire.
Post by Amber Lloyd on Aug 30, 2023 20:20:18 GMT 10
Amber was impressed how easily Joshua seemed to handle the water charm, as it took all her concentration to cast the spell. His water jets were even way stronger than hers, extinguishing the fires with ease.
As the fires died out, Amber was visibly relieved. Though she had started to feel more relaxed, it was still mentally exhausting for her as she constantly had to fight her fear - internal and external.
Their final task would be to administer the medicine. Amber glanced around and could spot the chest.
First though, she had to take care of that heavy Gecko-belly on her foot.
She put her wand away for the moment and knelt down, looking at the Gecko right in front of her. It had earlier been scary to her, but now she just internally melted. The sight was just too cute! It chilling on its side, tongue sticking out.
"Aww, who's a good Gecko?" Amber squealed and gave it some careful belly scratches, then tried to shove the belly away from her foot.
"But you're ... arghh... quite heavy!"
The belly didn't budge an inch.
"Josh, can you help me?" Amber looked up for help in his direction - and spotted the fiery Gecko biting the bush, even setting it on fire.
"Sheesh, you can't eat that!" She exclaimed and pointed towards the Gecko. "Maybe you should tend to that one first?"
She and her new friend on her foot wouldn't go anywhere quickly, but the fire could spread.
Last Edit: Aug 31, 2023 4:25:36 GMT 10 by Amber Lloyd
The Gecko squeaked at the sudden touch to his vulnerable belly... but hold on, those were nice. Belly scratches? His life was forever changed.
After a while -- just as Amber was asking Joshua for help... the Gecko was so content that he rolled over (and thankfully off her foot), to entrust her with his entire belly awaiting to be scratched.
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