Hogwarts Summer Camp Campfire Stories

Posted as Theodore

Theo looked around when he heard his name. That was about all he understood, when she continued in german. It was the Durmstrang girl Greta Fransson he had met at the chess combat. Back then he seemingly had made a mistake by telling her that he could speak bits of german. It was the bare minimum and he had no idea what she was telling him. Or asking him? Her tone made it sound like a question. He sent her an almost apologizing smile. "Greta, hey. Uh... Ich er... weiß nicht...?" (I er... don't know...?)

When she gave it a try in english, he got at least an idea what she was trying to tell him. "Oh! Yeah sure, you can sit here." He nodded and moved to the side a bit to give her some space. A blond boy, probably from her school walked over and sat near them. Was he going to just listen to them? It was not like he had something to hide, but he had noticed that... almost overseeing behaviour from other schools before. They were kids, what were they scared of? " Is he a friend? Freund?" (Friend?), he asked Greta.

Then she asked him what was going on. Well that conversation was a difficult... But then, Theo had always enjoyed a good challenge. "Oh, so um... Campfire. Feuer. Camp... Feuer?" (Fire?) He started with the obvious, pointing on the blue flames. "People... Uh. Menschen? They tell stories." (Humans? (As in 'People?')) He moved his hands as if he would turn the page of a book. "Uh... Buch? Uh... sagen... Stories?" (Book? Uh... speak... Stories?)
Again his hands showed more than his words. A little unsure he looked at her.

@Evelynn Decipio as Greta Fransson

Interacting with @Akari Kato
Mentioning @Aurelia Roberts, permission has been given to slightly godmod Aurelia
Open to other interactions!

Jess waited for a moment, but the girl that she had approached (Aurelia) didn't respond. Reckoning that she had simply spoken too softly for the girl to have heard her, Jess was about to ask the question again when she heard a voice cut through the air behind her.

"Hello, no not at all."

Jess turned to find a girl looking at her as she shifted over to make room for her, and was momentarily confused. Did she think I was talking to her? Jess thought to herself. She hadn't been, but there was no point in blowing off this girl and going back to talk to the one that Jess had originally planned on sitting with, so Jess smiled at this girl instead. "Thanks," she said gratefully, then sat down next to girl, careful not to take up too much room. She glanced over at the girl's marshmallows, which looked perfectly toasted and very tasty.

Jess herself couldn't properly toast a marshmallow to save her life, as she always either held it too far from the fire and nothing happened, or she kept it in the flames too long and it got burned. There were also the memorable times when Jess accidentally dropped the marshmallow into the fire and had to watch it turn to ashes as it was consumed by flames, of course. Those instances never failed to make Jess feel sad and as if she had failed the marshmallow in some way. She knew that the food didn't actually have hopes and expectations for how she would roast it, of course, since it wasn't alive, but that did little to relieve Jess's guilt. Now, she resolved to finally learn how to properly prepare her marshmallows once and for all. Even if it didn't work, at least asking the girl about this could get her and Jess into a conversation, and spare them the awkwardness of sitting in uneasy silence.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking," She began. "How do you make the marshmallows all nice and.... perfect like that? I always mess mine up..."

Interacting| @Ileen Knight
Closed to interactions

Santario shook her head slightly “Don’t worry about having screw-ups I still get them too. No one is perfect.” She recognized the dark shadow that fell over Ileen’s face, something she had said hit a nerve. If she were, to be honest, something she had said hit a nerve for herself as well. The only thing the two didn’t know was that it was the same thing.

When she was asked about her plans for the photos, San just shrugged a little. “I keep personal photo albums. Just memories of my time here, the people, the events I’ve been to.” That was the truth; she just wanted to keep the memories because she of all people knew that people can and will leave you at the drop of a hat. It was good to have good memories after they were gone, even if their departure hurt you. After Ileen, asked her a couple of more questions and this made her smile with a soft chuckle. “Kind of. Professor Jensen was really kind to me after the illegal blossom ball and helped me set up a room to develop the photos after I got out of the hospital wing. It’s the first time I developed them here. Where I live, I have my own darkroom attached to my bedroom, so it’s easier to do things over the summer sometimes.” She thought for a moment on the other question, she was twelve now. “Hm, It’s been like… six years I guess that I’ve been doing it. I started with those… Uhm. Those cameras that get destroyed when the films are used up. When my father was confident enough that I could hold this bad boy here.” She lifted the camera she had for reference. “He started to teach me how to use it. Counting this year though, I’ve really only been ‘good’ at if for the past two. It just takes a lot of practice.”

Santario didn’t seem to mind being asked a lot of questions; in fact, she was actually better at talking to people her own age when asked questions that got her talking. Casual situations seemed to be a bit of struggle for her still, but that was her fault for not socializing as much as she could have. She glanced around them quickly, just taking in who was all actually here before giving her full attention back to Ileen. She recognized two Durmstrang students from the chess combat (Theo and Geta) and Gris, but that was about it.

Outfit | Jacket | Camera Bag

Reducio

Ileen listened to Santario carefully. Without noticing, she played around with the strap of her camera - something she tended to do when she was concentrating. “Hm. Capturing memories then.” The dark brown eyes would reflect the blue fire when the young Slytherin peered into it before fixing her gaze on the other girl again. A soft smile curled her lips. “That’s what I’m trying to build. Also, I want to make an album for a friend.” She shrugged. “I guess happy memories are the only present I can give. I just hope to catch some of these moments in here.” She patted the camera and her smile deepened.
That had been her main motivation in the first place to buy the camera. But now she also wanted to capture the memories for herself. She would try to be aware of her past and presence and not ignore, deny, or hide it like her parents had done. She wanted to keep all the steps in mind she had taken to become the person she was. All the people accompanying her on that journey. She had found some great friends and breathtaking adventures. The pictures would help her keep that in mind, even when they were not around.

Santario's next words tore Ileen from her thoughts and her face brightened. “Oh, you have a place to develop them at school?” With sparkling eyes she stroked a strand of her brown hair from her forehead. “Do you - would you mind showing it to me one day? I mean, if it’s too personal I totally understand,” she hurried to add and blushed. She would understand that. She would struggle to show her favorite place for writing to a stranger. It was something intimate - to share spots where you followed your passion.
Still, she hoped that Santario would agree to show her the laboratorium one day - Ileen would kill to see how the pictures were developed. But she carefully tried to hide that since she didn’t want to push the other girl.
“Wow, so you basically grew up as a photographer?” Ileen was stunned. The girl was in her year if she recalled correctly so she had started doing this around the age of five or six. To be fair, her own father had taught her yoga when she had been five years old. Maybe this was similar? Ileen ignored the twinge in her heart when she thought of her dad.
“Is your father a photographer? Or is it just a hobby?”
She didn’t mean to disturb Santario. Maybe the other girl just wanted to take some pictures or chat with other people? But it was an interesting conversation that assured the blue eyed Slytherin all of Ileen’s attention. She actually felt comfortable even though they scratched some sensitive topics a few times.

Closed to interactions | interacting with @Santario Martin

Writing as Alexei Petrov

Mentions
Interacts with @Eyre Reeves and @Aurélie Nimco
Now Closed to Interactions except for @Eyre Reeves

Color: #0040BF

Alexei's tunnel vision was disrupted by an annoying and vaguely familiar face popping out of nowhere. The boy seemed to want to drag him away from his mission, which was incredibly irritating. He would have just ignored the boy, but he seemed to be friends with the lovely Aurélie, so that wasn't an option. He also would have simply brushed off the boy, but Aurélie seemed to be alright with him leaving for a moment, so he would have to at least make it look okay. "I shall return as soon as I can, Aurélie," Alexei said as he rose, shooting her a flirtatious wink.

He walked a ways away, assuming the younger boy would follow. Maybe he was trying to apologize for the mess the other night, although Alexei doubted it from his tone. "Make it quick," he said, his irritation with being forced away from his sole purpose in life very evident. His English was generally fairly lightly accented, but with his irritation, his Russian accent grew thicker. "I'm feeling charitable at the moment, hence my speaking to you, but if you continue to stop me from talking to that lovely girl, that won't last long. What do you want?"

He glared at the boy while crossing his arms and ever so slightly flexing his muscles as if to make sure that both of them knew he was far stronger than girly hair.

Interacting with: @ Jess Malters

After shifting over for the girl Akari decided to bite her marshmallow but in half so it would last longer and she could enjoy and savour every bit of it. She chewed on it contently until the girl who had sat down next to her started speaking.
Um, if you don't mind me asking," "How do you make the marshmallows all nice and.... perfect like that? I always mess mine up..."
Akari grinned at this statement proud that the girl had taken a notice to her roasting 'Skills'.
Does it take really take skill to roast marshmallows? Absolutely not, but Akari was still pleased that she was asked about it.
"It's not that hard actually, you just need to find the right spot in the fire and keep a close eye on it. Would you like me to show you?"
Akari asked and without actually waiting for the girl to respond she began to stand up and then shot a glance over at the table of snacks to see if there were more marshmallows.
Sure enough there were surprisingly still quite a bit in the bowl and then she looked back down at the girl waiting for her reply.
Even if the girl didn't want to make some right now, Akari would still go and get a few more to munch on.

Xailah, the eldest prefect of Gryffindor sat beside Ms. Lydursdattir- the Ancient Runes professor. The young lioness didn't take the class, but she had seen the woman around. The burgundy-haired lady seemed nice. Probably had a lot of good stories to tell too. Occasionally Xailah would look up from the letter she was writing, to take a tired glance at the professor. The elder Icelander looked to be slipping into a dormant state. Actually, wait. No. For a moment the professor looked like she was going to close her eyes and sleep. But then those blue hues shot back open, and continued to stare into the azure campfire. Xailah blinked owlishly at the runes professor. She put out a dainty little hand as if to poke the lady; but it would appear the child had second thoughts. Her hand would quickly dart away from the shoulder of the woman; and fall back to its original position, of holding a quill.

Griseldis, one of the younger prefects of Gryffindor would soon arrive; with a gaggle of students, trailing behind her. The girl had been assigned to shepherd the children to the campsite. Gris was a nice girl. Had a good heart. Her kindness was without strings and ulterior motives- which was rare. Unlike many with her qualities, Gris was genuine. And she could kick butt too. Gris would make her way over to a spot where the professor, and prefects were, to greet them. When it was Xailah's turn for a greeting, the metamorph returned the gentle smile, and wave, from her fellow lioness. "Has it? I suppose it has been awhile. Well, in any case I sssuppose I am doing well, Gris. Thank you for asking." Before the metamorph could return the question, the other Gryffindor was already up and saying 'hello' to others students.

Xailahs attention would briefly be taken away from her letter, as she took the time to observe the faces that had been brought to the fire. There was a familiar one in the group, and Xailah immediately waved the girl over. The girl was Meenauh. One of Xailahs friends. "Ah. I was afraid that you weren't going to ssshow." The Gryffindor chattered quietly to Meenauh. "Would you like a parchment? We can write down the stories, as they are told to us." Her long fingers fumbled at the notepad of parchment, that she had been writing on. "I figured Pericles would enjoy reading about them. I hope he does anyway."

The elder lioness would quickly scribble something down, as a lass with deep, crimson locks; shared a story. Xailah wondered if the girl was a metamorph like herself, or if her hair was just naturally an unnatural shade of red. One could never tell these days. Leaning over to her Mancunian friend, the metamorph would whisper: "This is sssurprisingly our first ssstory of the night. I think it is quite good, yes?" She would fall quiet for a moment before adding: "I hope our prefect, Griseldis will share some ssstories. I find her culture quite interesting." Xailahs stare flickered over to the direction of said prefect, before returning to Meenauh. "Don't you?" She questioned, as she absentmindedly pulled a rusted pocket watch, from one of her pant pockets. She clicked the thing open, and checked the time out of habit.

She had practically nothing to do that night. Actually, she had nothing else to do but to join her friend that night. They were all (prefects) assigned to certain activities and she had already finished hers — that Chess duelling game. And now she was in the group of students guided by her fellow Gryffindor prefect — Gris. Meenauh remembered when Gris was the prefect and she wasn't. Meenauh remembered when Xailah was the prefect and she wasn't. Meenauh even remembered when Scott was the prefect and she wasn't. Those were the times...

Interacting with @Xailah Alptraum

Gris guided them successfully to the campfire, which was surrounded by another group of students. Meenauh quickly looked through the crowd as during her guided journey she failed to recognise a single face. As she approached the warmish blue flame, she started to recognise more faces (as she thought), but she could name only two students after all. She continued to go from one face to another until she managed to recognise the one she was looking for. Xailah's wave consolidated the successful search and Meenauh started to carefully go around people to occupy the seat next to her friend with a silent "Hey".

Xailah was scribbling something, presumably the stories that were being told prior to Meenauh's arrival. That guess was confirmed by an explanation from her side. Meenauh didn't feel like writing that night, but more like listening: "I'm sure Pericles would love to read, especially if that would be you writing those stories down," she politely changed the subject towards Pericles rather than accepting the parchment offer. She smiled at Xailah because she loved when Xailah was talking about Pericles. Even in the small routine things that had supposedly no connection to Pericles, her dear friend could find that connection even without probably understanding she was making one.

Her feline friend made a quick review of the night, which revealed the fact that it was only the first story of the night. She also expressed her hopes on a story from Gris, best if about her eastern culture. Meenauh didn't know much about East in general, except when her mother was mentioning some Chinese medical practices, which were very different from hers. Father also said that they use quite extravagant ingredients in similar potions, which enhance the effect drastically. Meenauh never paid attention to those stories, because there was little interest in things that couldn't have been practically utilised.

"I do, I do," she absent-mindedly confirmed to Xailah but then woke up after a few seconds passed in staring at her recent guide, "I like Griseldis, to be honest. She's kind and that is a rare trait, you know."

She hoped the stories would be actually good. Even if nothing specifically practical could be absorbed from it. Though, they could bring more knowledge, or reveal someone's real-life experience. Which in theory was also a practical thing.