Errand Pumpkin Destruction Day

WC: 567

Pumpkin smashing. As soon as Charlie heard about the new errand she knew it was for her. That morning, Charlie woke up with her cat sleeping on her lap, and hair tangled. She rolled out of bed and pulled on black distressed oversized jeans and her dark blue converse that her mum bought for her on her trip to America. She found a dark blue and black striped sweater and pulled it on over her head. Charlie quickly ran a brush through her hair and left her dorm.

Charlie made her way down through the castle, past the great hall, and out the front doors of the castle. She made it out front only to notice the set up. There were tables covered with some sort of plastic and hammers in various sizes ranging from tiny to massive. The tables also had a multitude of pumpkins resting on them, in a range of sizes and shades of orange. Some of the pumpkins were perfectly round while others were closer to an oval. Multiple of the pumpkins had small wart-like bumps on them while others had been carved or decorated. Charlie also noticed a sign that talked about how this event was called pumpkin destruction day. It then went on to encourage students to pick up a hammer and smash some pumpkins! The sign also said what the students could not destroy. This included people, tables, trees, bags… and basically anything else that is not a pumpkin. Charlie was slightly disappointed in this but moved on quickly.

Charlie was arriving late to the event so she did not have first pick at which table and pumpkin she wanted. So, Charlie began walking around, looking for the perfect hammer and pumpkin. She finally spotted a hammer that was the perfect size for her, which was big enough to do some serious damage but also not too heavy. The pumpkin that was paired with this hammer was practically microscopic, so she picked up the hammer and swapped it with another. Charlie liked the size of the pumpkin next to her, so she decided to smash it.

Charlie looked at the others around her, which included Rebbeca Lark, or better known as Bex who was also her quidditch captain. Another Ravenclaw Quidditch player, Aly Salinger, who was a 6th year student, was also there. As an introvert, Charlie did not say anything but would gladly chat with them if they approached her. Ignoring the others around her, Charlie gripped her hammer and narrowed her eyes at the stem of the pumpkin ready to smash it. She raised the hammer to rest on her shoulder and took a deep breath, rotating her torso and lining up to hit it. She smashed the hammer down, letting it squash the pumpkin into pieces, splashing the guts everywhere.

She smiled, staring at the mess she made. She gave the hammer another swing, smashing the chunks of pumpkin shell all over, and making an even bigger mess. Charlie sweeped the mess onto the ground, and stomped on it with her converse. She made a big mess but knew it was time to clean it up. Charlie grabbed her wand from her pocket and shouted “Scourgify!” The mess instantly disappeared, leaving clean plastic. Charlie performed the spell one more time on her shoes, cleaning the orange goop from them. She smiled, enjoying the errand.

Punkin' Deconstructin' with @Simon Kincaid

Fun was the first word that came to mind when AngelFyre heard about this event. She could have really used it last year to get out some pent up sadnesses and frustrations, but fourth year was turning out to be so much happier than third year had been. She wondered about that, as it had been the same for Simon with his third year, but upon thinking about it for about a nanosecond, it was clear why. He had been dealing with the onset of his unsettling aura, and she had been dealing with the loss of her Grandma Ruth primarily, but loss of loved ones in general. As she hurried out to the Grounds, her heart was lighter because there was no question that she had turned a corner on so much of her past heartache.

Simon was going to meet her... or try to... once he had finished his interning duties up at the Hospital Wing. She remembered once up a time when he could barely speak of anything other than dragons and snogging. The boy still talked a good deal about snogging, if teasing her about the when and where of it counted.. and it did ... but dragons had fallen into the misty background of his million interests, only to be supplanted by all things healing. This could change, but she was pretty sure Simon was going to one day be a Healer. It suited him perfectly. He was more than a little nervous gearing up for his O.W.L.S. this year, but AngelFyre had all the faith in the world in her fellow. She knew he would sail through them, even if he was not certain of it.

Long before reaching the event, it was plain it was a smashing success, and she chuckled to herself at the obvious pun that had probably been uttered 50 times already, but she did not care. The girl loved her puns. The laughter and squeals of delight, and disgust, met her ears as she came upon the gathering, happily obliterating the defenseless gourds. It was wet, slimy work, and she was all in until she witnessed a first year, maybe a second, slip on pumpkin innards and go up before the laws of gravity took hold, and brought her down. No less than three students drew their wands and did some quick spell casting that prevented her from knocking her noggin, probably saving her from a concussion. That sparked a little idea, and as she caught sight of all of the tables and hammers and pumpkins, AngelFyre knew she was not going to simply take a hammer to them. There were more fun and creative ways to rid Hogwarts of the rounded, orange and speckled visitors who had clearly overstayed their welcome.

She grabbed a couple of pumpkins, and carried them out and away from pumpkin slaughterhouse 5. She set them down, and was about to go get some more when she noticed Evelynn Decipio having a similar, but more finessed, idea for her pumpkins. She was far enough away, and standing mostly at a 45 degree angel from AngelFyre's current position, but she could hear the upperclasswoman's voice even if she could not make out what exactly she was saying. Clearly it was magic AngelFyre was yet to learn as it looked a whole lot like actual target practice. Were they actually taught a spell in later years to shoot? Or to transfigure something into a gun? Well, there was no denying that might come in a little handy if she ever needed to protect herself, or Simon, or anyone she loved. Teapot to tortoise was never going to be her go to protection spell, that was for certain.

She sighed, thinking back on the meeting Evelynn had held at the end of last year. It had not gone completely has she had planned it, AngelFyre was sure of that, but it had been instructive in some ways. At least AngelFyre knew she was not alone in feeling that much of what they seemed to be taught was "fluff" compared to the real world dangers surrounding them, but that was a topic that might hopefully be picked up another day. Today was not that day.

Reaching for two more pumpkins, it hit her that if Simon were here, she could be using his dhampir strength to her advantage and could have loaded him up like a pack mule, but 4 pumpkins was likely more than enough, especially if he did not show up after all. Carrying both gourds under her arms and pressed to her sides, she made it back to her spot and set them down. She lifted the strap from her enchanted satchel over her head and then reached for the item she had made sure to put in last... her bashing boomerang! It had been gifted to her last winter before they all went home for the holiday. It was given by a Secret Santa, and what AngelFyre had not known was that the word "Ever" was missing before the words Bashing Boomerang on the gift box.

grrrrrrrrr

She continued on, knowing this would all be so much easier if Simon were here because the boy could have lobbed the pumpkin high in the air giving her an easier time of trying to hit them. This would be a good way to work on her accuracy she reasoned. It crossed her mind to try and levitate one, but casting and throwing a boomerang, simultaneously, meant she would most assuredly fail magnificently at both. So, grabbing two of them, she plodded carefully over to the stump and set one of the carved gourds upon it, and the other one on the ground next to it. Making sure it was set in place firmly, even if it was listing a bit to the side, AngelFyre turned and trotted back to her spot, about 20 meters away.

She picked up the boomerang and having never used one before, just did her best to aim in the direction of the stump. She swung her wrist loosely back and forth a couple of times before letting it go. Letting go at top speed did not seem a prudent thing to do because she had no idea how fast it would be and whether it would swing back only to conk her in the head or face on its return. It came from Weasley's, so that could not be ruled out. On the third wrist swivel, she let it fly with a decent amount of oooompf... or so she thought. It sailed out and over the field but lifted up about halfway to the stump in an arc and swung back in her direction. She stood for a moment to determine if it was going to make it back to her not, and then it became oh so clear that would.

AngelFyre, when asked about it later, would swear it took on a bit of a wobble when flying back towards her that gave it a menacing look. The two ends were green with a strip of black separating them from the red center so while in motion, which seemed to be increasing rather than decreasing, it looked disturbingly like a pair of green eyes flying at her with a malevolent, red grin.

Feeling uneasy, she snapped her wrist and Godshall slipped into her palm nicely, but she had drawn her wand too late. The boomerang came in hard and fast, yet AngelFyre still managed to dodge it... mostly. It clipped her on the top left side of her head, even drawing a little blood, which AngelFyre had been completely unaware of at the time. What she was aware of was the sound of high pitched laughter before contact was made. After it boomerang-bashed her, it wobbled a bit and she thought it was going down, but nope. It began another high arc return, but AngelFyre had had enough at this point.

Her own lips intoned "Arresto Momentum," as her stormy blue pools fixed their gaze upon her target, successfully slowing it in mid-air. Knowing it was safe to go retrieve it, she did so and plunked it hastily back into her satchel. "There ought to be a law against things like you," she stated out loud and felt silly afterwards. Talking to a boomerang! Wow. Maybe she was hit a little harder than she realized.

Dropping her satchel back down, she looked at the stump and at the pumpkin sitting crookedly atop it. Its smile was much friendlier than the boomerang's she was happy to report. "Sorry, punkin' head. I almost feel bad doing this, but, not bad enough to not do it apparently. Such a mercenary heart." And at that, AngelFyre lifted her hand and cast the Ascension spell, followed quickly by the Descension spell.

The sight of the orange gourd speeding towards the ground and exploding upon impact in a squelching thud was actually quite cathartic. It was a total mess when it erupted, spewing cream colored seeds that were densely entangled in stringy, slick pulp in a three meter radius of the stump.

A mess? Yes indeed. But nothing that a scourgify could not clean up later.

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The day was beautiful, Halloween was finally over. It was almost New Year's Eve. Alliasta was excited for this, she had always loved New Year's Eve celebrations. Last year she was with her family, but she wanted to stay in school this year. That was nice. Alliasta was always a fun-loving girl.

After one class, Alliasta was walking down the hallway feeling a bit bored. She hadn't found anything to burn off her energy today, and this was boring. She was dying to do something. Then she decided to go outside for some fresh air and maybe find someone to hang out with.

After a few steps, she heard a noise. It sounded like someone was hitting something. She quickly ran over to find out what it was. So maybe it was something fun or someone was fighting? It would be exciting to watch... but deep down, Alliasta didn't like people hurting each other. Competition yes, but real fighting no.

But what she saw when she got there surprised and excited her even more. There were pumpkins left over from Halloween... well, most of them were just pureed, but they were still there, and the people who were crushing them? It looked like fun to hit things with this exciting hammer. Definitely inanimate ones.

There was a place where the rules were written. Just as she had expected, no hitting living objects. Only pumpkins! But even that would be great fun! Alliasta had found the perfect place to burn off her energy. Here, she would both help and have fun! Secretly, Alliasta thanked the genius who had this task.

She got herself a hammer and quickly chose a pumpkin, first picking a small one. Cute and small but perfect for smashing and hammering!

"This is gonna be fun!"

She mumbled loudly to herself and immediately began to break it. First slowly and then slowly she broke it into small pieces and smashed them as well. The sound of the pumpkin being hammered was satisfying. This motivated she even more. So it looked like a great game. If she were at home, these would probably go to the kitchen to be made into jam or dessert, and Alliasta would not be allowed to break it like that.

She was very focused on the task at hand; she could barely focus on her lessons if she wanted to, but since this was a task that suited Alliasta, it was easy to focus on it. A few more pumpkins and then. She was done. She put her hammer back where she had found it and was happy to have used her energy this way, and her spirits had been lifted, so she walked back into the school, walking in a manner similar to a skip.

Ability: Lovely Creature is in effect.
Calming Presence is in effect.

Word Count462

Interacting: none ────── Outfit Reducio .║ .║ .║ ☽☾ .║ .║ .║ OOC notes Reducio

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date: November 10th, 2024
word count : 485/400

❝Erendriel sat on the edge of the grounds, her nose buried in a book, which rested in her lap. She wanted to concentrate on the words in front of her, but the laughter and noise surrounded her continued to draw her attention. She looked up, her gaze fixed on a sign propped on the table.

"Pumpkin destruction day! Grab a hammer and have some fun destroying pumpkins. People, tables, walls, trees, bags, and anything that is not a pumpkin is off limits for destruction"

Her brow furrowed, curious, she tilted her head slightly as she read the messy handwriting. destroying pumpkins? It seems chaotic and pointless, nothing like the orderly activities she usually preferred. She glanced toward the students gathered around the tables, their laughter echoing as pumpkin pieces flew through the air.

Erendriel’s fingers tightened around the edges of her book. I’m here to make friends aren’t I? That’s what I told myself everyday while imagining my school days. She wanted to join them. After all, making friends was one of her biggest hopes for Hogwarts. This is how people bond, isn’t it? They laugh and join in silly things like this. I should try... shouldn’t I?

She closed her book carefully, brushing imaginary dust from her skirt. She took a deep breath and stood. As she approached the tables, her heart fluttering in her chest. Her gaze swept over the scene in front of her, as hammers clutched in eager hands, pumpkins shattered into orange mush, and laughs everywhere.

Erendriel walked over to the table and offered a polite smile to the supervising, an older student. "Ah, a first year!" Someone said exclaimed. "Eager to join the fun? Come on, pick a pumpkin"

As she pick a pumpkin from the pile, she set it on the table in front of her. She stared at it for a moment, her grip on the hammer tightening. It’s just a pumpkin, she told herself. It’s not like it will mind and it’s not as if I’ll get in trouble for it.

"Go on, give it a good whack!" someone said, and the encouragement drew a timid smile from her.

She raised the hammer, hesitating. What if she didn’t hit it properly? What if she missed and everyone laughed? It’s just for fun. No one will care if I look silly. Gripping the hammer tightly, she took a deep breath and swung. The pumpkin cracked open with a satisfying smash, and pumpkin splattered everywhere.

She hearing cheers and laughter from the others, she couldn’t help but smile. By the time she stepped back, bits of pumpkin clung to her robes and her hands were sticky. But Erendriel didn’t mind.

That wasn’t so bad, she thought, raising the hammer again. Actually... it’s kind of fun. Destruction wasn’t always so bad after all. Maybe smashing pumpkins wasn’t something she’d ever thought she’d do, but it was worth it. ❞