Hiking on Holiday PV closed

The Accolas were an old acquaintence of the Jangleton family and probably one of the more likeable connections that Elena preferrred. This was mainly due to the fact she had managed to bond with one of their own over the years and it was due to this fact she was practically bouncing up and down on her feet as the residence popped into view, a warm and welcoming view. The lush green and water surrounding it gave it a very hospitable look as they neared, the grin never leaving her features. As if on cue, the front door swung open and the sight that she was presented with was one that Elena had seen far too many times. There she was, she watched with a smile as Rora and her sister in tow made a beeline for them carving a direct path, their energy practically radiating off them as the two reunited.

The girl let out a laugh as Rora embraced her, Elena returning the hug giving her a pat on the back glad to be here again, here with the one person that was basically like the other half of her. "Exactly just who I was hoping to see, looking amazing as always." It never failed, around her friend, she just carried around that positive vibe and aura of happiness that it was impossible not to be contanimated by it. Turning, she gave a wave towards Ansley gracing her with a smile as well. "Ansley, hi! Rora's not giving you too much trouble, is she?" She joked as the topic of breakfast was brought up. Yes, food was much needed after the trip they had made. The rugged terrain of Scotland was not exactly a simple one and as compared to the flatlands the Jangleton estate rested on, this had more of a appealing view but the trek up here had defintely been worth it.

"Everything went smoothly. thought I was gonna get lost up in these mountains but strength in numbers." She replied grinning gesturing at their little group. She was keen, curious even about this little humbe abode tucked away in the corner of Scotland. Through the many trips to that shop in Knockturn Alley, the brunette had wound up here and it was funny really how something as simple as that could turn into something meaningful over the years. "Lead the way then. You're the host after all." The Gryffindor remarked smirking slightly gesturing for her Ravenclaw friend to take the reigns.

April 2018 during Easter Holiday Break
The Accola Residence in Killin, Scotland

Rora beamed at Elena and took in any and all of the compliments. She looked up to Elena in a variety of ways, one in particular being the way she always made Rora feel welcomed and valued in conversations. Elena was finally at Hogwarts while Ansley and Rora still had a couple of years to go. That in itself gave Elena many extra brownie points.

Ansley responded, half annoyed at her sister but also half excited that Elena was here "Of course she's already stolen one of my outfits and woke me up quite feverishly. I'll give her a pass this time just because you're here!" Rora stuck out her tongue and gave Ansley a playful nudge.

Her three brothers pushed past them in a hurry and went straight for the kitchen. Rora glared with a pouted lip and an eye roll, "Well... Missed you, too, I guess!" Pivoting back to the girls, Rora smirked "Their loss. They won't get to join our fun adventure." She puffed out her chest and put her hands on her hips in a power pose stance. They strolled across the lawn and into the dining room as Holby whipped into the room with a tray of pastries, bacon and eggs.

Pulling a battered leather notebook from her jacket pocket, she cracked it open and began reading aloud. "In the forest, we could see fairies, bowtruckles, gnomes and if we are lucky, even a hippogriff!" She held the book close to her chest and looked off into the distance, thinking about the beautiful, half-eagle and half-horse creature. Flipping a page, she continued "In the mountains, we could probably be a little more cautious. There could be mountain trolls, manticores, griffins, doxies and salamanders. Mum would kill us if we brought back one of those pesky doxies." Rora shuddered at the thought of a doxy infestation in their home. Not only would her mum kill her, but Holby wouldn't be pleased either. "Near the water, we could find a plimpy, grindylow, murtlap and flobberworm. Lastly, the grasslands could hold pixies, nifflers, knarls, diricawls and abraxans."

Slamming the book shut, Rora looked over her shoulder to make sure no one, especially her mum, had seen the book or heard their conversation. Ansley had stolen a personal journal on magical creatures near their home from their mum's office about a week ago. Maybe it's best we get going soon and don't tell Elena about that minor detail for now. "I'm personally most excited about the potential of seeing a niffler. They just look so cute! She pinched the air, pretending it was a niffler's cheeks.

Word Count: 437 | Featuring @Elena Jangleton

Yes, an adventure indeed they were going to be embarking on because it would almost feel like the crime of the century if Elena didn't explore the mountainous terrain of Scotland and clearly, the two sisters were on the same page as Rora began to fire off an extremely exhaustive list of animals, some that the brunette wasn't even sure she had heard of before ranging all the way from a lowly garden gnome to the possibility of stumbling something far more nefarious such as a troll. "Well, as long as we make it back in one piece and without getting gobbled, chewed or clawed up, I reckon we can make this work." That said, a few scars here and there was a small price to pay at the chance to sight one of these majestic beasts but Elena did rather prefer having her limbs attached to herself and only Merlin knew best what things resided in these mountains. Still, a bit of danger was not going to prevent her curious nature from overtaking her. Like most Gryffindors, Elena Jangleton tended to adapt the philsophy of react first than think later.

Spearing a piece of bacon with a fork, she chomped it down relishing the taste of the Accola's cooking which was second to none. "Animals, a beautiful view and top-tier cooking, you guys have it all." Elena said laughing slightly as Rora made some vague gestures in the air at the mention of a niffler, it painted a very entertaining mage in her head. "They are sweethearts when they aren't off robbing your pockets or snagging your jewlery." The blasted things tended to have a tendency for shiny objects but if you took that factor out of the equation than Elena reckoned they could make for some decent house pets but still, she very much doubted Rora's mother would approve if they kidnapped a niffler to bring back, it would probably wind up wrecking the house in search of something lavish to get it's paws on, not an outcome that any of them wanted.

Gulping down the last of her eggs, she left a clean plate, an indicative of how much she had appreciated the breakfast. "Thanks, Holby. You're the best." Elena said smiling down at the house elf, a brief reminder of the three elves they had at the Jangleton manor before she pushed those thoughts out of her mind refocusing on Rora and Ansley, the former seemed to be rather invested in the book that she had been rattling the names off from. "Well then, when does this great animal sight-seeing trip start?" The brunette was more than prepared and ready to stumble into the woodlands and see what things awaited them. New things, new experiences and the Gryffindor was more than ready to witness what this nice little place nestled between the mountains and greenery of Scotland had to offer.

April 2018 during Easter Holiday Break
Highlands in Killin, Scotland

A bead of sweat ran down Rora's forehead as she avoided Elena's eyes. "Well, I assume we'll be alright! You know spells and such now if we get into any trouble." She paused and met Elena's gaze, trying to play it cool and casual "not that we would or anything." Ansley quietly kicked Rora under the table, signaling for her to get it together immediately. The last time they had gone on an adventure, their brother Ash had suffered a nasty bite from a magical creature that left him with the grossest looking warts for a few weeks. Needless to say, he returned to Hogwarts and was not able to find a date to the ball at that point in time because he scared all of the girls away.

"Thank you, Elena. Killin is wonderful. Mum and dad have been working on the inside, though. Trying to make this place look a little less like it apparated out of the 1800s." Ansley nodded toward the drapes, which looked terribly flat and outdated. Snatching the book from Rora's hands, Ansley continued "I'd love to see a hippogriff personally. I've spent the whole summer reading about them. Let's go on and get this party started" Rora rose from her seat and grabbed a little backpack on the way out. "Holby packed us some snacks and water. He knows how dreadful Ansley is when she gets hangry" Rora smirked and playfully rolled her eyes.

Once outside of the house, Rora propped open the book and cocked her head to one side to look at a hand drawn map of the terrain nearby. "Erm, this looks like the right way! Off to the highlands first." Her Scottish twang picked up a bit at the end of that sentence, unable to contain her excitement. Adrenaline rushed through her as she gazed toward the beautiful fields. This must be what it's like to be at Hogwarts. One day I'll be able to be my own independent, free spirit in the wizarding world. Turning back to Elena, she asked hungrily "Soooo, tell us all about Hogwarts. What's your favorite class? Any crazy stories? Oh! What about special friends?" Her eyebrows raised up and down playfully when emphasizing a potential crush that Elena could have.

As they made their way across the property and into the highlands, Rora let out a delightful gasp. You could see most of Killin from up here! The hills descended down into a valley where there was a decent sized lake and you could see the mountains in the distance. Her parents had restricted the younger lot from exploring unsupervised. But, they were on in Australia during the holiday, picking up some kind of rare herb for her mum's work. Rora started skipping through the fields, bending over to pick up a wildflower, plucking it and then placing it in her hair. "How wonderf-" her voice trailed off as she heard a weird noise. "Erm, anyone know what that thing is?" She pointed in the distance, slightly trembling with both fear and intrigue.

Word Count: 510 | Featuring @Elena Jangleton

Elena did know a fair few spells, that much Rora was correct about though she liked to think she wouldn't need to use any of them. Near-death experiences was not something she was a fan of nor was having to hurt creatures but at the same time, she didn't fancy having a manticore or something rip them to shreds "We'll be fine. Between the three of us, I reckon we got this." She reassured her friend shooting her a grin nodding an appreciatve gesture towards the house elf who had not only given them a proper breakfast but ensured they were well and ready for their little outdoors trip, Holby was certainly dedicated to this family to care for them so much, a fact that the brunette liked to see as they turned their attention to finally getting this animal sight-seeing journey underway finally.

As they followed Rora's lead drawing her navigation from a map, they soon found themselves away from the safety of the Accola residence and off trekking within the Scottish highlands with a breathtaking scenery as Elena looked around taking it all in clearly impressed as Rora's question about the castle drifted towards her. "Well, I'll tell you one thing. Hogwarts most certainly doesn't have anything that even lives up to this." She admitted, sure, the Great Lake and the terrain around were expansive but in terms of scenic views, this certainly was the gem as they walked forward, her friend bubbling with excitment about what secrets the girl could share with her about Hogwarts laughing a bit, their laughter bouncing off the terrain to be heard for a good distance. "If there are any special people, you'll be the first to know, Rora." She reassured the girl. It was only her first year, the brunette hadn't even given that much thought.

She was just about to launch into a very in-depth explanation of the wonders and marvels of not just one but several of her preferred courses as something, something that did not belong with their laughing voices, with their footsteps nor with Rora picking the flowers sounded and her head snapped up as her friend voiced her concern. She squinted, her eyes peering in the direction that the girl pointed trying to make out whatever it was that the girl saw. "I don't see anything." She whispered at first as if afraid any louder and she might scare off whatever it was but then Elena realized she was wrong, very wrong.

It was at some distance so it was hard to make out from they were situated but the Gryffindor watched in relative silence as the grassy terrain revealed a figure, a creature of sorts creeping forward, it's eyes flicking about almost in a nervous state. Recgonition dawned on the girl as she realized what it was they had stumbled upon. "Oooh, that's a good one, you guys." She watched as the thing bent down to digest some grass blades before retreating back where it had came from. "That was a porlock, sort of looks like a horse, there must be a herd of horses nearby, they guard horse herds and are really, really shy of people." Perhaps it had sensed their approach though they were awfully quiet about it.

April 2018 during Easter Holiday Break
Highlands in Killin, Scotland

Rora knew perfectly well that Elena wasn't to do magic outside of Hogwarts but the fact that she had a wand made Rora feel just a tad more secure about their mission. Her brothers were in the same boat and had tricked Rora their first year by telling her that they would hex her if she bothered them too much. Of course once her mum found out about this, she made the twins de-gnome the garden and help Holby with household chores for a month. Clutching her bag, Rora felt the magical object she had brought in case of emergency. She wasn't precisely sure how to use it, but she could wing it if it came down to it. Her mum and dad has used it once when they ran across a dragon in Romania and needed immediate assistance and the object hadn't appeared difficult to operate based on Rora's memory.

Hearing Elena's impression of Hogwarts, Rora's heart sank ever so slightly. She had romanticized the castle and grounds, building up this picture in her head that made everything seem like a fairytale wonderland of sorts. The conversation continued to flow, and Rora shot Elena a wide smile "That's right! You know we have quite high standards for our friends and family. You deserve only the best." Ansley, nodding her head, added with a chuckle "You know, Calan brought a girl home once for holiday his second year. Rora made her fill out a questionnaire and interrogated her in our library. Poor girl didn't make it back for the next holiday." Mortified, Rora elbowed Ansley in the side and could feel the redness flooding her face. "Well that's different, Ansley. I would never do something like that to embarrass Elena." Rora muttered reassuringly, rolling her eyes. "You know Calan and Finlay have always teased me so this was my little way of getting payback. Dad found it quite entertaining.. Mum grounded me for a few weeks though." Cringing, she remembered all of the dishes she had to hand-wash and the laundry she also had to hand-fold. Thank goodness for magic. Once Rora knew the spells, she would never touch a dirty dish or piece of laundry ever again.

Ansley slid behind Rora and grabbed her arms firms, using Rora as a shield. Feeling stuck and extremely vulnerable, Rora let out a sigh of relief when Elena identified the creature. "How cute!" She exclaimed with glee, shaking Ansley off and clasping her hands together with a smile spread across her face. The creature was only 2 feet high, max. It did look like a very tiny horse with its hooves, long nose and beautiful red and brown coat. What stood out to Rora was its ocean-blue eyes and black skin. The contrast on its face was simply wonderful.

"Look, up there!" Sure enough, the porlock had scampered away and in the distance were majestic, full grown horses and their foals grazing on the grass. Around the horses were what now seemed to be porlocks, but it was hard to truly tell because of how small they were. The giveaway was that the small animals guarding the horses were on two feet and had the same auburn coat as the porlock they had encountered. Rora reached into her bag and pulled out a Muggle object called a polaroid camera. She aimed at the field and snapped a shot. The image emerged from the top of the camera and Rora started waving it in the air, waiting for the picture to develop before placing it back into her backpack. "Can't wait to hang these in my room!" While they were primarily oriented in the wizarding world, her Muggle father made it a point to gift them Muggle items and team them about his childhood and how he grew up.

Word Count: 636 | Featuring @Elena Jangleton

The idea of questionaire for a prospective partner sounded like the very thing Darren Jangleton would do although laughing slightly at the image. "Funny thing is, I imagine my brother would do the same thing just to get some kicks and laughs out of it." Thankfully, he had not resorted to such measures and the brunette wanted to make sure he never did. Fortunate for them, the porlock was just out of earshot unable to pick up their sounds of chatter and laughter completely at home as the three girls viewed with a bit of awe eyeing it taking in all it's fine details. "I reckon it's best not to get too close, they're shy but I reckon they can give a good proper kick if they feel cornered or outnumbered." She whispered as if afraid any louder might alert the animal that they were watching and that might not go down too well with it.

As if on cue, Rora pointed out just what it was the animal was guarding as it wandered off only to be replaced by the herd of horses all happily munching away on the gras mingling with each other. Every now and then, a neigh could be heard and she felt an immense amount of respect for the porlock animal. It had to be a massive responsibilty for a single creature like that to guard a large herd or maybe they traveled in groups, they had only seen just the single porlock though. As she squinted harder though, she could make out more of them spaced out, okay, so there were multiple of them watching as Rora pulled out something that Elena could only best describe like a weird sort of box. "What is that, some sort of chest or something?" She asked eyeing it. The brunette's Muggle knowledge was not every expansive though this was at no fault of her own having been primarily raised in a family of wizards and witches, her contact with Muggles was rare at best.

She watched interested as the girl utilized the machine and a few clicks and whirs later, something began to feed out of the item, an perfect image and display of what they were looking at. "That's amazing, almost like magic." Elena replied clearly taken aback by this contraption making it a note to keep an eye out for these box-like things. As for the herd, it seemed their grazing time had come to a conclusion as the porlocks began to urge them on gently and firmly as the horses began to move slowly walking onwards as the girls watched blissfully unaware of the fact that the three girls were just mere feet away observing all of this go down. "Reckon they gotta keep moving as should we." The Gryffindor said grinning, after all, they still had quite some distance to cover in front of them.

"Where to next, fearless leader?" She asked jokingly to Rora. Porlocks had only been the start of it and there was bound to be more things here.

April 2018 during Easter Holiday Break
Highlands to Mountains in Killin, Scotland

The blondes mouth broke out into a wide grin. Darren was older than Rora so they were never the closest, but she assumed her was wonderful since he was related to Elena. "Knew I liked that brother of yours! He's got his priorities straight." Her chuckle trailed off as Elena alluded to the repercussions of ticking off the porlock. Nope, no thank you. Not today. Rora was in no place to take on a wild animal, let alone a wild magical animal. You never knew what you could except, so she wouldn't take the risk and leave her fate to chance today.

The most satisfying part of a polaroid was watching the film develop. It was different than developing wizarding film, which caused the pictures to move and illustrate a small video clip in time. Muggle photographs were still and lifeless, yet the pictures spoke for themselves with awe and wonder. "This is what muggles kids like us use to take trendy pictures." She eyes glimmered with amusement and she stuck her hand out with the teal blue camera toward Elena. She often forgot that not all of her family friends had much idea what went on in the muggle world. Rora was somewhat sheltered to what her dad shared with them and Rora got the most exposure when she'd join her dad at "Bring Your Kid To Work Day." "Want to try? You look through the little hole in the top to angle up the shot, then you press the large button. The film comes out on the top and develops within a minute or so. It's quite fun, but forewarning that the pictures are still and don't move."

"Hmm...." She glanced down at the hand drawn map then back up at the surrounding land. The lake was to the left and the mountains were to the right. The forest connected the loop they were doing and was between them and the Accola's house. "Let's head to the mountains next! If we visit the lake first, I don't know if I can make it all the way back up." Rora joked, but only kind of. She was certainly the least graceful and athletic of the Accola gang. It would be a struggle to get that girl all the way down the mountain then back up.

They continued their trek through the highlands and started the ascent into the mountains. She was a little surprised that the only wildlife they had come across so far was the porlocks and horses. The terrain started changing and they were strolling through a daisy field with rocks surrounding them and trees in the distance. A rustle in the field caused her to jump in surprise, sounding like it was within a few meters of the girls. Spoke too soon. She cautiously walked toward the noise and saw what looked like a spikey little creature nibbling on the daisies. "Oh! How cute!" Ansley peered over her shoulder and whispered carefully. "That's either a hedgehog or a knarl. If it's a knarl, you don't want to act like you have any food because it could attack."

Word Count: 521 | Featuring @Elena Jangleton

Elena had to roll her eyes at Rora's comment because as far as she was concerned, Darren Jangleton did not have his priorities straight. He was an all-around jokestor who's only purpose in life was to make her as annoyed as frustrated as possible and yet it was in this way that they managed to bond funnily enough. She made a mental note not to let Rora and Darren ever conjure up any plan together because that would most certainly almost end up in something blowing up or perhaps worse. She watched rather invested as Rora explained the concept of the box item which in fact was not a box at all. It was moreso an alternative to producing pictures through muggle means which Elena found rather fascinating.

She wasn't like her parents who were completely shut off from the Muggle world, the brunette had an open mind to these sort of things. "Don't mind if I do." Elena said curious graciously accepting the object from her friend as she angled it using the holes Rora talked about to get a good shot from where they were situated and then a few clicks later, she watched impressed as a film began to feed out the top, a perfect reflection of what Elena had been seeing with her own two eyes. "Wicked! You guys got some neat stuff." It was always interesting to see the trinkets Muggles came up with as alternatives to magic and some of them, the Gryffindor had to admit were more ingenious then what their wizarding world had invented and she couldn't help but be just a tiny little envious.

A tinkling laugh escaped the girl as she gently nudged Rora as they made their way to the lake glimmering and reflecting in the sunlight. "It's too soon to get tired or was that porlock too much for you?" Elena joked mostly as they went from the smooth grassy fields to stumbling over rocks, a rustle alerting them that something was very close. She nodded at Ansley's comment watching the creature with fascination, it was almost scary how striking the similiarties was. "You want to know how to tell the difference between a hedgehog and a knarl. You offer it milk, hedgehogs are lactose intolerant so milk kills them but a knarl on the other hand will gulp it down no problem." It seemed like a rather cruel way but it was the only way they could be certain as Elena dared to creep forward a few more inches as the creature happily munched away at the flowers. It seemed so happy, so innocent in it's little daisy field and that brought a smile to Elena's face.