Finished Hole in one PV • A. Valentine

Careful with her steps, Aurelia Valentine steadied herself first before breathing heavily, the gesture visible in the chilly air. Watching the snowy slope again, the young badger gulped. She had rolled down this hill back in December when she was studying the Great Lake, like Jill and that stupid children's story. She can't risk that again, especially when a Ravenclaw girl saw her that day. That had been embarrassing, a second roll will end her in a literal way because she'll change names and move to another country and just start a new life if that happens ever again. In all honesty, she'd rather not come back here. It's snowing lightly today but the cold still induced headaches even with a knitted cap on.

The young Hufflepuff witch is wearing a pastel green sweater underneath her winter cloak, her leather satchel dangling in her side as she clutched the strap with her mittened hands for mental support. Half of her face is buried in her Hufflepuff scarf and her messy curls are tamed beneath her knitted cap (which was pinned with her dark green barrettes). Aurelia shifted her weight anxiously as she looked down on the snowy slope; her winter boots crunching the collected snow on the ground. She can do this another day, with witness this time if she breaks her neck after another fall.

Letting out a squeak, Aurelia tentatively took a step forward, her arms outstretched, before slowly sliding down. Her deep brown eyes are focused on the slope as well as her winter boots as she balances herself, trying to avoid thinking about the idea of failing to stay upright and then roll down again. After a few seconds, Aurelia reached an even footing, leaning on a tree for support. Huffing victoriously, the young badger chuckled slightly. “Not today, I can't be defeated!” She declared with a shaking, mittened fist up in the air as if challenging the gods themselves to shat on her day. The response she got is the flap of the wings of faraway birds as well as their hoots, and the snowflakes falling down slowly and perching on her mittened fist. Her nose crinkled slightly as she smiled mockingly, brushing the snowflakes collecting on her shoulders and knitted cap.

Aurelia had to come back here for her article about Giant Squids, hoping to see the resident Giant Squid in this now frozen Great Lake. She could knock on the ice and wait for it to peer on her from the sound. If she receives a tentacle smack from that disturbance then that's Aurelia's fault and honestly, the young badger can understand. If someone came knocking on her door in 10 in the morning, she'd smack them outright too. Clapping her mittened hands together, she reached inside her leather satchel to take out her parchments and her muggle ballpoint pen. She loved quills, of course, but sometimes when she was in a hurry, muggle ballpoint pens did do the trick for her.

Skipping towards a large boulder she found, Aurelia sits on it as soon as she brushed the collected snow over it, hoping for it to not be that wet. Her deep brown eyes scoured her field of vision before sighing contentedly. Merlin, she despises winter with how inconveniencing it was for outdoor activities but if it isn't so beautiful... The sun is not peering today, of course, it almost had never been in the Scottish Highlands. The clouds obscured everything the sun can provide and instead produces snowflakes instead. She blinked when some perched on her eyelashes. The Great Lake's surface, of course in winter season, is frozen solid. You can almost never see its murky waters, everything is just still in the eye.

The young Hufflepuff witch was about to proofread her article when she heard a noise not far away from her spot. Her eyebrows creased, she stood up and looked around. Whenever she comes here, she always found herself accompanied. For the love of Helga Hufflepuff's ingenious craft of food conjuration spells, when would she ever be alone? The Hogwarts Grounds is massive enough perhaps she could have the place to herself for a few minutes?

After a quick looking around, she found a bespectacled boy behind a tree. He's sitting, putting something on in his feet. Careful not to make any noise by tiptoeing with her winter boots—darn that sound of crunching snow—she briefly watched what he's doing. He's a scrawny boy with brown hair, sporting a grey hoodie and pants with a Ravenclaw scarf wrapped loosely around his neck. Aurelia glanced at the sky, her forehead creased. Is she a wimp for feeling that extreme cold enveloping the air right this moment? It's snowing lightly, true, however it is really cold. How come this boy is rather underdressed for this snowy weather? At least his hands are mittened.

Aurelia's eyes widened slightly when she saw what the boy was doing. He's putting on his ice skates. He's planning to skate.

The young Hufflepuff witch simply do not care. Hey, the surface of the lake is frozen, even if it looks dangerously brittle today. Other students can skate all they want, as long as it's not her. The surface can crack, other students can fall in, other students can drown and die from hypothermia. It's a common cause of death during winter, of course, it's always all over the news. The television in their house back in Croydon must be featuring news with these certain types of deaths right this moment. In fact, a Gryffindor student did fall in here after brazenly skating. The caretaker had to fish her out.

Aurelia Margaret Valentine simply do not care, especially when she jumped out of her hiding spot and loomed over the bespectacled boy with a raised eyebrow and arms crossed. “You can't seriously be thinking of skating out there,” Aurelia huffed out, her breath visible in the wintery air.

Who keeps an upbeat mood in a chilly weather like this? Aurelia looked at the boy incredulously, who introduced himself as Curtis Gates. Perhaps a First Year Ravenclaw since it seems like he wasn't aware that this breaks a gazillion of rules. The Ravenclaw boy struggled to maintain his balance on the ice skates as he wobbled dangerously. Aurelia scowled at his boyish smile, his nose a little pinkish from the cold as well as his heavily freckled cheeks. What is there to be happy about? And why did she get this urge to smack him across the face and shake some sense into him?

“Yeah, I'll skate here if I was stupid,” Aurelia responded haughtily, her nose crinkled slightly. His mischievous grin stayed like this was just a nice and hot summer day. The young badger gestured her mittened hands to the frozen lake in front of them, trying to show Curtis that the surface might be dangerously brittle today. “Which, by the way, I'm terribly not. Thankfully!” Aurelia let out a disbelieving huff as she took a step backwards to make way for him. Hello, is he listening?

She raised an eyebrow at his amazing deduction skills enough to applaud about. Aurelia doesn't even skate—she doesn't know how. It's incredibly dangerous, just like riding on a bike! It requires maintaining one's balance and the young badger has many things to think about than think about maintaining her balance. The Hufflepuff witch also despised riding a broom, she's abysmal in her broom flying lessons and in every lecture she couldn't help but sob uncontrollably from the lack of even footing. She despised flying. She despised vehicles or type of transportation that requires maintaining one's balance.

Keeping her chin held up high insufferably, Aurelia huffed again; the gesture visible in the wintery air as she crossed her arms. “Why I'm here is none of your business! However, if you don't want to meet your perilous end then you have to listen to me: You can't skate here! What makes you think you're capable? A Gryffindor had already fell in days ago!” Her deep brown eyes scoured the area again, as if to search for an adult, prefect, or better yet, a professor to see this and issue detention to this brazen Ravenclaw boy. When she found no one, Aurelia followed the boy with purposeful strides. “If you continue this nonsense then I'll have to tell a professor! I know your name—you’ve told me, all odds are against you right now—you don't want that, I promise you. You're breaking gazillion of rules!” Aurelia babbled on angrily, her eyes flashing on Curtis as he pulled his hoodie up.

“You’re bonkers,” Aurelia couldn't help but say, her eyes widened slightly from the ridiculousness of it all, especially when Curtis acts like this is all just a joke. And how did he expect that she memorised all the rules? Every student in this school are required to buy Hogwarts: A History, it might be an optional read but everyone is obligated to read the entirety of the book, in Aurelia's opinion. Everyone should know that it is not allowed to dip, to skate, to swim, or to be associated in the Great Lake in any way. It is not only for the students’ safety, but for the magical creatures that resided in the Great Lake. If one disturbs the habitation and ecological pattern of this part of nature, it sure as hell will strike back.

How did she know that? It's part of her interest about magical creatures and her eagerness to write articles about them and spread awareness. The young badger is already glaring at the Ravenclaw boy, especially when he teased that she was a party pooper. Yes, she might be, since this Ravenclaw boy is clearly acting up from selfishness. Perhaps she should lend her copy of Hogwarts: A History, force him to read it, or drag him up in the castle and show him the Educational Decrees posted right in the Entrance Hall.

Aurelia immediately followed him when he started to wobble towards the side of the lake, testing his blades on the frozen surface of the lake. The young Hufflepuff witch let out a squeak as she was sure that the surface will give in, what with how brittle it looks in the eye. Thankfully, it didn't. She looked up at him again as soon as he giggled, which made her eyes squint. “Where’s the fun in that if you serve detention at the end of the day? Because mark my words, Gates, I will definitely tell on you—”

She stopped talking when he outstretched a hand for her to shake, asking for her name. Aurelia gritted her teeth, asking all the gods for forbearance as her face reddened slightly from the gesture. What is he doing? He can't expect them to be all buddy-buddy, is this his strategy so Aurelia wouldn't tell a professor from this ridiculous rule-breaking notion? She's not that gullible, unfortunately for him. Glaring at his goofy grin, Aurelia huffed haughtily. Instead of answering his question, she glared up at him before taking his mittened hand with hers to try to pull him away from the frozen lake. If this fails, she sure as hell will run up at the castle and tell on the first professor or prefect she'll see!

Curtis, of course, tugged back. Aurelia tried to dig her winter boots in the snow, but just like what happened that day back in December, it served as a terrible mistake; the young badger instead was overpowered and she flew back. Her back hit a tree, her mittened hand still clutching the boy's glove as collected snow fell down on her head as she slid down. It doesn't hurt, of course, as layers of sweaters and the winter cloak cushioned the impact. She still let out a little whimper though, as the snow did wet her curls. They are the thickest kind and took forever to dry.

Aurelia did not focus on that though. Curtis fell back on the frozen surface of the lake with a resounding thud, which made her freeze. If that did not crack a skull then she's convinced that he might be superman. When the Ravenclaw boy twitched first before attempting to get up, the young badger was also half-convinced that he was dead and it was her fault. Watching him sit up, her deep brown eyes are wide from worriness as she clamped a mittened hand over her mouth. His glasses are crooked, his face slightly pinkish from the cold.

He rubbed the back of his head, wincing slightly, and Aurelia is sure that there will be bump there. I mean, if that didn't crack a skull then a bump is more guaranteed. Should she drag him towards the Hospital Wing and force him to get checked for head concussion? Is he even okay? Aurelia assessed the Ravenclaw boy anxiously with her eyebrows creased in agitation. She huffed and her breath shook when he remarked that the frozen lake is fine to skate on. Really, he's focusing more on that?

“Are you even okay?” Aurelia asked and her voice shook, crawling towards the edge of the lake. There is no way she'll cross that frozen surface. Even though Curtis might be capable still to skate on the lake, it didn't convince Aurelia that the lake is not dangerously brittle. She threw his glove back to him.

“I’m going to tell a professor,” Aurelia threatened exasperatedly, seeing that he's back with his goofiness again. Curtis pushed himself up, wobbling before maintaining his balance. The young badger rolled her deep brown eyes when he grinned boyishly, inviting her to go for a skate. Yeah, in his dreams. There might be a promise of pot of galleons in the middle of the lake and no one will see her go for it. She's not stupid, the frozen surface is a hazard in itself. She only squinted her eyes when the Ravenclaw boy continued his skating with a smile, perhaps whooping in happiness. She looked up at the skies when noticed that it stopped snowing.

Huffing exasperatedly, Aurelia also pushed herself up from the edge of the lake. As she brushed away the snow from her winter cloak with her mittened hands, she concluded that she doesn't care anymore. She'll tell a prefect, or better yet, a professor, that there's a Ravenclaw boy brazenly skating on the Great Lake. She will state that he's clearly rule-breaking and a good amount of detentions issued will do him good. If they would let her, the young badger can also recommend where Gates should serve his detention. Clean the trophies in the Trophy Room. Collect mucus from Flobberworms for Potions class. Clean the armoury in the Fifth Floor. Arrange the portrait passages in the Portrait Room. Collect some unicorn hair the branches snagged in the Forbidden Forest. There are a lot of things to do, in Aurelia's honest opinion.

Turning around, Aurelia took her leather satchel and attempted to climb the snowy slope. When she heard a crack after she stepped forward, the young badger assessed the soles of her winter boots. Did she just step on a shard of glass? Before she could process anything, she heard a resounding scream that echoed through the tall trees surrounding the Great Lake. The sound knocked her whole system awake. With wide eyes, Aurelia whirled around and scoured the surface.

Curtis Gates is nowhere to be found. And there's a large crack opened in the frozen surface. The Ravenclaw boy definitely fell in, Aurelia just knew it.

The young Hufflepuff witch was paralysed with fear and shock. Several thoughts clashed together in her mind that it became incoherent for her, her mind circuited on her. She was right, the frozen surface of the Great Lake is dangerously brittle today. Did someone heard that scream? Good thing the birds residing on the branches of these tall trees wasn't disturbed by that sound. Talking of disturbances, would the merpeople be mad at them for intruding in their property? The Great Lake is off-limits, especially for a swim, for a reason. What was her breakfast again? Toast and hot cocoa. She doesn't eat much, for starters. What chapter did she left off in that book she was reading last night, Picture of Dorian Gray?

What should she do?

Aurelia let out a helpless whimper. What should she do? Merlin, Curtis Gates fell in the Great Lake! She can't cross or she'll fall in herself. Ignore it? Act like nothing happened? She felt like running away. Why is he not surfacing?! She tentatively stepped on the frozen surface but decided against it, shaking her head. Perhaps he's pranking her. This is all a joke, this is an attempt to scare her, that's why he's not surfacing. “Gates? Come up now!” Aurelia choked out. Nothing. Her heart pounding in her chest, the young badger fumbled for her black walnut wand inside her cloak pockets.

Aurelia wants to run away. Aurelia wants to run away. Aurelia wants to run away.

Her mind is in shambles. She never worked perfectly under pressure. Tugging at her curls with her eyes closed, she tried to remember their first lesson in Defense Against The Dark Arts. If one is in need of help, one should cast the Red Sparks Charm up in the skies. Her breaths are fast like she ran from miles away. Pulling away the Hufflepuff scarf from her neck as she felt like being constricted, Aurelia aimed the tip of her wand up in the air.

“P-Periculum!” As expected, the spell didn't work. Red sparks only appeared from the tip of her wand but it didn't shoot out. Her breaths shook as well as her body, visible from before. Her fingers trembled and she involuntarily dropped her wand, making her kneel in all fours. She felt like the tall trees are closing in on her, looming over her, attempting to embrace her consciousness. She tried to focus her eyes on the large crack where Curtis falls in, hoping against hope that he'll resurface. However, the only thing she saw are the bubbles, and the black dots appearing in her vision. She tried to calm herself down. Pity she couldn't.

“H-Help..! There's someone drowning in here... Please!”