Closed Fall Breeze and Autumn Leaves PV Victoria Lena Jones

Victoria deliberately took care to step on dried leaves as she followed the path that led to the Great Lake. Winter was almost here, but the surroundings were still full of oranges and reds.

When she arrived at the big lake, she first collected the dry leaves on the ground, made a pile and threw herself there. She lay in that pile for a while. She felt very energetic. While she was lying in the leaves, she saw a spider on one of the leaves. She immediately took it carefully in her hand

"I'll call you Furry"

She was not afraid of insects. It could even be said that he loved it. That's why she didn't hesitate to pick up the spider. Bit just sat there until she heard a melody. It sounded like jazz. She stood up so as not to disturb the spider in her hand. She still felt like there were leaves in his hair, but she didn't care and started walking towards the sound of jazz.

She noticed that there was a boy a little further away, older than Tori, and that the voice was coming from the radio. She went to him without caring.

"Hi. My name is Victoria, but they call me Tori. This is Furry. Don't worry, it is a non-poisonous spider. What is your name? I loved the sound of jazz on the radio."

@Simon Kincaid

With the radio out, he now began to work on retrieving his wizarding camera from his satchel and that's when he heard a voice nearby. An approaching girl was introducing herself, as well as something that she held in her hands, but with a name like Furry, he envisioned some small rodent like a hamster.

She continued on that he was a non-poisonous spider, which through him off a little. It wasn't because Furry was a spider, but rather that she'd name a spider Furry. On second though, he figured it was not much different than calling a gentle dog Spike or a huge dog Tiny, or giving a cat a human name like Steve.

"Pleasure to meet you, Tori," he said to the girl as he set his camera gently upon the top of his bag. Simon was always eager to meet new people - and their apparent pets. He had his own, although his little gray rat was in his dormitory, comfortably sleeping away.

Some of the students at Hogwarts had spiders for their pet, which was an interesting choice. Simon always thought that out of all the options one could choose that spiders and goldfish were the most unique. If he could choose, he still wasn't quite sure what he would have chosen. Rascal came upon him as obligation, but he was definitely a treasured friend.

"And Furry," he said as he now stepped close enough to see the spider that she held. No, this wasn't a pet spider but rather one that lived out there near the Great Lake and probably enjoyed walking upon the flowers that he and AngelFyre planted earlier that Spring. Those flowers that were sadly shriveling up in preparation for a cold approaching Winter. Hopefully Furry had a nice warm place to go.

"I'm Simon," he introduced himself. "Simon Kincaid. I came out to listen to some music and take some photographs - hopefully of Herman, the giant squid." He was always hopeful to catch a snap of Herman, but alas, he had yet to capture one. "What brings you out here?"

She smiled and bowed in a friendly smiling manner. She sat up, trying not to let Furry fall from her grasp, and began to speak.

"Pleasure too meet you too Simon. Do Giant Squids actually exist? I've heard kids in my class say this. I came to the Great Lake to spend a beautiful fall day. Maybe I'll draw one of these beautiful leaves when I get to the Common Room. Which artist's jazz sound is this? I guess I haven't heard of this."

She approached Simon. She noticed that he was paler than a normal person. "You are very pale. A normal person was not this pale. So from what I've seen on TV and the people I've met here." Out of curiosity, she immediately asked the question on her mind.

When he felt Furry start to walk to get off his hand, he bent down and carefully placed it on a yellowing leaf. She stood up. 'I wish I had an animal,' she thought.

"Aren't spiders such cute creatures? If I had an animal I would definitely want to get a mouse spider or lizard. Do you have any pets? "What's your house? She asked curiously to find out some information about Simon and to get to know her better.

@Simon Kincaid

Simon watched as the student approached him, careful not to drop the spider in hand. He wondered if the spider was as keen on having a temporary new friend as the girl was. Possibly. The spider didn't seem upset, it was calm in her hands and not trying to dart for a quick escape.

"I was once captured by Herman in a broom race. He's very real," he said as he looked out to the mostly-calm waters which indicated that Herman was probably idle somewhere below and his chances at capturing him on camera that afternoon was slim. "I've never seen him fully though, only partially, and it makes me wonder how giant the Giant Squid really is. I hope to catch him sometime on camera now that I actually know how to use this thing," and he held up his wizarding camera.

She asked about the music and he ceased talking so he could hear. "I don't know who this is," but it was pleasant to the ears. The problem with wizarding radios is they often didn't play muggle composers, artists, or groups and therefore it was an entire new world to him like everything else withing the world of magic. He knew Celestina Warbeck the moment she began singing and could pick out the Weird Sisters. Oh, and Blodwyn Bludd, the part vampire singer was very recognizable with his bass baritone voice.

Speaking of part vampires being very recognizable - Victoria brought up his paleness. "Yea, uh, I suppose that I am quite pale in comparison to most of my classmates," he said as he looked to her, trying to figure out what she was thinking. He felt he knew. Some people just seemed to feel the vibe right away or maybe they got hint of his adult fangs now that they were in even though he attempted to normalize them, or maybe the trees were making shade that enlarged his pupils the way only a dhampirs eyes did.

"Spiders are.....interesting," Simon stated, not sure he would call them cute. "Some have them for pets back at the castle. I've got a rat named Rascal; had him for what feels like forever. We're in Hufflepuff - Rascal and I." Even though Rascal often did show traits of Slytherin but it wasn't like the pets did a sorting and he had to live with Simon in his dormitory so Hufflepuff it was for Rascal. The little gray rat did have strong faithfulness to those he loved.

"What about yourself? Happy to be sorted where you got sorted? What sort of things do you like doing around the castle when not finding spider friends by the Lake, drawing leaves in the Common Room, or inquiring about dhampirness on your fellow classmates?" but he smiled when he asked that, implying that he was opening the door to truthfully and honestly talk about it if she was wanting to know if he was one or not. He was more open with it this year than those prior.

"Are you a broom racer? This is very cool. Are broom races difficult? Male squids can reach up to 10 meters in length and female squids can reach up to 13 meters in length. Some people claim to have seen squids as long as 25 meters. Maybe they saw Herman."

While she was researching, she didn't believe in the big squid either, but she didn't really believe it. After coming to Hogwarts, she realized this could happen.

"I think a wizard plays it. Can wizards play muggle instruments too?"

She was still trying to learn about wizards. She had spent most of her life away from other people and did not know anything about wizarding world, but now she was just learning.

"You look like this. You're as white as dead. There's nothing wrong, right?"

She asked with some concern. She didn't want her friend to get sick or anything else.

"I would like to meet Rascal one day. I also want to buy a mouse soon. Maybe we can introduce the two of them one day."

Tori was happy to meet another mouse lover. Some people were afraid of animals such as mice. 'I hope to meet Rascal one day.' she thought.

"Reading books, researching new things and spending time outside. So, what do you like to do? Apart from listening to songs."

@Simon Kincaid

"I like taking photos with my camera, being with friends, reading, interning with the Hospital Wing. Anything that occupies my mental and social register, really," and he smiled because he was reminded how just moments ago she said he was as white as dead.

In the October 2023 edition of The Hogwarts Headliner he had come out as being a dhampir but he certainly didn't expect everyone to have read that or remembered that, nor did he expect the Hogwarts population to know who he was. But what he did expect after writing such an article and bearing his true self to the school was that he was no longer hiding who, or what, he was.

"I'm well, yes," he smiled and looked down to his arm. White as dead. He didn't know if it was that white. Maybe though. "I'm a dhampir. We don't get the benefit of tanning, sadly. No healthy glow for us - either the palest of paleness or burnt."

He wondered if she knew as much. She was a Ravenclaw after all and they were pretty quick on the uptake of things, plus, she was inquiring pretty heavily there. Maybe she just didn't want to be rude and outright ask but now that it was declared and out in the open, he was happy to answer any questions she might have - and truly hoped that this new friend wasn't afraid of such a revelation.

"What is it like to do an internship? Is it tiring? How often do you do your internship? And can I look at the photos you took?"

She listed her questions with curiosity. She was intrigued. She had heard that some students were doing internships. She was surprised to hear that it was Dhampir.

"Are you Dhampir? You're half-vampire then, right? Do you need to drink blood or something? Or do you drink blood? Are you affected by the sun? Did a vampire bite you? Or are your parents a vampire or a Dhampir? This is the first time I've met other wizards like me. But I'm not a Dhampir."

She talked a little too fast and too much. When she spoke, she did not speak in an annoying tone, but only in a curious tone. When she came to the wizarding world, she started researching interesting races like her, but she had never met anyone like this.

"Can you play a musical instrument?"

It came to her mind when she remembered the jazz sound played by a wizard on Simon's wizard radio. If she had a bag, she could offer Simon chocolate. Tori was generous. She loved doing little things for her family.

@Simon Kincaid

She asked a LOT of questions but Simon didn't mind it in the least. The best way to get to know someone knew was by talking and it reminded him of nearly every Ravenclaw friend he had acquired while at Hogwarts. He too had an inquisitive mind, often writing down questions in a notebook for him to research answers to at a later time. They both liked to research new things.

"If you have any interest in helping others, any interest in herbology, any interest in potions, or any interest in magical medicine - then I highly recommend the healing internship. You can begin in your third year. Sometimes it's great too for when they close the hospital wing to visitors but your girlfriend's a duelist and you still want to see her after a particularly rough match." He was glad that AngelFyre was a broom racer now, although that wasn't without worry of getting hurt, unfortunately.

He was glad that her questions continued even after hearing he was a dhampir. After hiding it for years at Hogwarts, Simon was ready to come out with it freely and be who he was - and hopefully expand acceptance of halfbreeds. This girl certainly didn't hold any fear or prejudice toward him - only curiosity.

"My mother was a witch - came here to Hogwarts in her time and was sorted in Gryffindor," he said. "My father is a vampire. They met in London after she graduated." Full vampires would never attend Hogwarts. "I recently met him a couple years ago and we're working to establish a connection, I guess you could say." His father was an interesting character and Simon was still trying to figure him out. "But uh, yea - I can be in the sun but not for long periods of time when it's strong or I'll get a major burn and the Ministry requires us to have a daily ration of blood. I take mine with some fruit juice." He wasn't quite sure why but somehow that made it all better.

He wanted to go on and continue about how he was no threat to any of the students at school but she didn't seem to think he was, nor was he, and so he didn't bother saying it.

"Music is my life! I like to compose my own music and I can play the piano and guitar," he smiled. "And back home in London I listen to it all the time. It's sort of my thing, I guess you could say." Music and faith. "What about you, what would your thing be besides rescuing poor little spiders off the streets?"