Divers Alarums and Excursions OPEN

Interacting with: @Colin McCoire Mentioning: N/A Date: 04/05/25

Word Count: 603

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Avery was excited when she found out that there was a swimming competition. She loved to swim. Though, she hadn't swam in awhile due to the fact that she hadn't lived near a pool or lake that wasn't too cold to swim in for a long time. She could still remember the feeling of the cool water touching her skin as she glided through it. She couldn't wait to see what the day would bring! Avery was glad she still had a swimsuit that fit, and that she had brought it with her to Hogwarts. She knew that there was going to be something that she could actually use it for. Avery carefully pulled on the swimsuit and made sure to put a pair of blue jean shorts over it, so she wouldn't look too suspicious. Then she made sure to grab her wand and a towel like the note had said before she began her walk down to the Boathouse. Avery had never been to the Boathouse. Well, she had actually not really paid any mind about it until now. She was eager to find out more about the secret places such as the Boathouse that she had not explored yet. Exploring new parts of Hogwarts sparked an interest for adventure in her that she rarely felt nowadays due to the constant worry she had for her grandfather's health. Avery recalled the last time she had gone swimming as she walked down to the Boathouse. It was a beautiful summer day and there were very few clouds in the sky. Avery and Dylan were spending yet another amazing summer with their families and grandparents. That morning, their grandfather had proposed an idea that both Avery and Dylan were excited about. He was finally taking them swimming. They had never gone swimming with just them and their grandfather before, so they knew automatically that it was going to be a blast. Once they had told their parents goodbye, they had flown on their grandfather's old broom to a secluded lake in the middle of an unfamiliar part of the woods to Avery and Dylan. Though, their grandfather knew exactly where they were. This little lake was where he had always taken Avery and Dylan's moms when they were very little. He always told stories about the place, and every time they had asked, he told them they had to be a little bit older. That's why they were so excited to finally have their chance to swim there themselves! They had spent hours at that lake swimming to their little hearts' content. But, as always, exhaustion and hunger overcame them after constantly playing and swimming all day. That's when they had gone home and had an amazing night full of laughter and games. Avery cherished those moments from her younger life, and was sad that she may never experience them again if her grandfather didn't get better soon. She had to experience something like that again. Even if it was just one last time. She needed to remember the feeling she had in those moments. A feeling she hadn't felt in a long time. True happiness without pain and suffering. Avery had finally arrived at the Boathouse and was not surprised to find Colin there. Waiting. "Hi Colin. Looks like today is going to be fun! You ready?" She asked him as she claimed a spot on the dock to put down her towel. She wasn't willing to set down her wand just yet, though. She knew from experience that dangerous things could happen, and she wanted her wand close. Just in case.

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Outfit:

Interacting with : Reducio @Colin McCoire, @Avery Gray

Date: Reducio April 5th, 10 am

Notes: Reducio Speech: #3CB371 Thoughts: italics

Outfit: Reducio

It was a rather curious sight. An odd and inconspicuous notice in the Slytherin Common Room. It advertised a swimming and diving contest at the boathouse. While Kaitlyn never put too much stock in competitions, she liked being outdoors, especially when the weather was nice out. A nice spring day was a great time to swim, even if she had to compete a little. It couldn’t be that bad or anything? Sure, the advertisement indicated to bring her wand … but what type of witch would she be if she failed to bring her wand? A terrible one if she did! Not to mention, she needed her towel.

Due to this, Kaitlyn descended the grounds to the boathouse. Her wand was tucked behind her ear as she skipped to her destination with her towel draped around her shoulders. She missed skipping through the grounds like this and feeling comfortable! It was a nice feeling, and she wished to take as much advantage of it as possible.

Upon arrival at the boathouse, Kaitlyn glanced around … noticing she was the second to arrive. Colin and his brother …. Liam, if she remembered correctly, along with Avery. What they had planned, she didn’t have a clue. But, she hoped to swim and have fun … hopefully. Even if she wasn’t fully on board with Colin’s crazy antics, she must admit that Colin’s chaotic nature was entertaining and infectious. If Colin was involved, she rarely had a bad time.

With a small smile, Kaitlyn approached the dock. “Hey!” She called out in greeting. “I’m excited for this,” she admitted, bouncing in her sandals. She took a seat nearby on the ground, waiting to see what was about to happen.

Word Count:

Reducio

Note: 286 words

This was suspicious. The paper was small and well hidden. And the idea was a bit early to be frank as Maisie turned up the hood of her robes against the wind. Down here, by the boathouse the wind seemed stronger and more violent than it ever did up in the courtyards of the castle. Perhaps that was because it was generally more exposed—especially if you were wearing a swimsuit underneath your robes.

Because no matter how suspicious this whole affair might seem, that wasn't going to keep Maisie away from adventure or competition. She would arrive and throw her towel and satchel in a corner before undressing for the contest. It was a simple polka dot one piece she wore, one she'd help sew herself. Tying her hair up in her trademarked side braid, she walked over to the side's edge.

The water looked still for now as she towered over it, staring downwards in case there were any wayward grindylows. Assembled around her, there were three other students, only one of which (Avery) she vaguely recognized as being in her year. The other two had to be older by the looks of it. They sat around like they were waiting for something. "Water too cold for you?" she asked them with a wave before holding her nose and jumping right in.

Underneath the water, she could feel the current swirl around her. And yes, it was cold. But she fought through it as she made her way up to the surface. With a gasp, she emerged blinking. Perhaps there was, indeed, some kind of plan, but for now, she just kept treading water to keep warm.

He decided he'd take off running towards the boathouse with a bit of overhanging glee as his face flapped running down the hill. He was going to swim privately, he needed to. He needed to learn. He already had his speedos on, a baby shark print this time around.

It was comfortable, was all that it mattered. As he neared the boathouse he heard words being spoken. Fun. Well, now he was just going to have to crash the party, wasn't he?

He stepped inside and hollered, "DID YOU MISS ME?!"

He was not waiting on a response. He was instead turning his attention to pacing the platform to figure out how he should get in, without risking drowning. For gods sake, he needed to hurry up and get into the water before May 12th rolled around. Granted, he would have gillyweed, but he did not have gillyweed now. What was stopping him from going under?

He sat down along the edge and tried to dip his toe in the water. He certainly did not bring his towel nor his wand. He didn't even realize they were meeting down there because he did not see a letter, he just wanted to learn to swim privately!

He removed his feet from the water and stood up on the platform. He was not sure what to do really. He looked around, it seemed the others knew what they were doing. Maybe he needed to copy.

Or he could do something fun. He crept behind Liam (Colin) in the most obvious way to try and shove him in the water.

Avis slipped out the door to the grounds, winding the last of her two French braids as she crossed the still dead ground. Tying a blue hair tie around the end, she hugged her cloak tighter around her swimsuit. A blue one, obviously. It was warmer, sure, but that didn't mean that it was warm. But Avis had jumped into the lake in the middle of January. April should be a piece of cake compared to that. Right?

Stepping quickly, Avis gave a little skip down the path to the building looming in the distance. In all honesty, Avis didn't really come down here. The only time had been her first journey to Hogwarts in the boats. But Avis enjoyed swimming. Not that she was good at it, by any means, but she could hold her own, and if the water in the boathouse was nice enough, there was an opportunity for a little nook to be made in there.

@Avery Gray

Stopping just outside the boathouse, Avis set down her satchel. She was perfectly aware that if she walked in there and got all set up, she would never have the courage to actually get in the water. Avis wasn't a dip-the-toes-in type of girl. She was a bolt-in-jump-in-the-deep-end gal. And if possible, a drag-someone-else-in-with-you girl. Shrugging off her cloak, she shoved it into her satchel, on top of her towel, but she kept her wand in an outer pouch. The note had said to bring her wand. That was awfully suspicious. There was no reason for that unless something more was going to happen.

Shivering in the cold air, Avis took a deep breath before pushing open the door and sliding in, quickly laying down her satchel and turning to the lake, thinking and little as she possibly could. The more you thought about it, she had learned, the colder it would seem. In one fluid movement, she entered, placed the satchel, spun to the lake, stepped up to a deep(er) spot, and stepped off with one foot. While stepping, she pulled her other foot to meet it, stepping off the dock and sending her several feet down into the water with hardly a splash.

She came back up a moment later, shivering and sputtering. There was something about cold water, that made her want to suck in a sharp breath. Which wasn't really convenient, considering she had been underwater at the time. After catching her breath, Avis dove back under, swimming over to some steps. The only thing worse than cold water was cold wind blowing on a wet girl.

Avis grinned at the other gal in the water. She recognized her, but was really too cold to think beyond that. Flipping over to her back, she angled her feet, pointing them in an attempt to make flippers, before jerking them up and out of the water quickly, attempting to splash the girl. Nothing like to good ole' competition to keep warm. And if warmth wasn't an option, mischief would have to do.

Current Characters: A lot of people hehe.

Extra:Italics= thoughts

Extra Mentions:None!

Graci was most definitely NOT sure about this.

A small, mostly hidden note? Never good news in her experience. And she had plenty of experience, helping her sister in her shenanigans.

But a chance to swim could never be passed up. A competition no less.

No trouble, out of sight and out of mind. Loads of people are out here, right?

There were some people milling around, enough to make it not seem suspicious that she was out there alone, but not enough where it seems too obvious that something was going on.She hummed an old song as she strolled down to the boathouse.

She was kind of self conscious, only her robes over her spandex/mesh swim shorts and tank top. It was your average windy day, not too blustery, but just enough that she would be thoroughly chilled after she swam.

She hesitantly approached, wondering how many people were going to be there and who. She did not know too many people yet, even though it was already April.

She entered the boathouse, having only briefly seen it once before.

Graci slipped in, going mostly unnoticed, trying to take everything in before announcing herself to the few people that seemed like the whole world.

She took off her incredibly stifling robes, though quickly missing their warmth. Wondering why she needed her wand, she quickly decided it would be better to introduce herself to someone first, seeing as she knew no one.

Sitting down she found that the edge poked into her legs.

Her toes skimming the top, dipped in the cold water, she foolishly hoped someone would approach her without having to seek them out.

I wonder what others will think, me, a girl they have never met, sitting on the edge not immediately jumping in like themselves. Sitting all alone. How odd I must look.

Speech -- Thoughts

The decision to join the swimming party had taken Pam barely five seconds. If she was even half as sure about her History of Magic knowledge, she would have been able to breeze through first year without a worry.

Her only bit of hesitation had come from the fact that it was way too early in the morning. Not to mention on a weekend. However, after a bit of contemplation about whether her beauty sleep could give up first place on the priority list for the day, Pam decided that if she did not take this opportunity, she was going to regret it for the rest of her probably long life.

Isn't swimming in the Lake forbidden?

That question came to her way too late, for she was already halfway to the Boathouse. Pam had never actually been to the Boathouse, since she had seen it on the day they had gotten there. She pulled her cloak tighter around her swimsuit, shivering as a particularly strong guest of wind blew over her

I won't catch a cold.... right?

A handful of people had arrived in the Boathouse before her. Delightfully, Pam realised she recognised a few of those people. She spotted Avery first, and then, the girl she had met with her at the Tea Party at Beauxbatons- Lyanna. "Avery!" Pam called, waving at her, "Lyanna, hello!"

Shrugging off the cloak, she slipped into the water, the rather biting cold immediately hitting her limbs. She had loved swimming for a long time, although admittedly, she hadn't gotten into it willingly. Glancing around, she spotted Kaitlyn, recognising the girl almost immediately from the Flowers and Porcelain get together. She was rather surprised to see the girl, considering her first impression had been..... different. Either way, Pam had not expected to see the girl there. She raised her hand to greet her, "Hi, Kaitlyn!"

Word Count: 313

"Ayo Av! KitKaits!" Quite a few kids showed up early! Colin felt totally energised this morning as other kids started to arrive! Colin smirked. "I see all the Muggle kids brought their towels!" he teased. Mostly the gang was first and second years. If anyone did forget, he'd be happy to dry them off after, because, as every wizarding kid knew, there's a spell for that!

SPLASH!!

Colin turned to watch as one of the kids teased them all about the water being too cold as she ran straight for the water and dove right in! And then another! Colin's eyes widened --- he didn't even have a moment to warn Liam, who was getting ready to jump in himself. A familiar kid. Colin moaned. Clark. He was quick and before Colin could do anything ...

"YEEEP!"

SPLASHSHSH!!

The water in the Boathouse sprayed everyone around as Liam flopped face first into the water! Colin laughed! Liam sputtered and splashed Liam. Right! Well, there was no way two danger noodles were going to swim and leave Colin to watch from the sides! "OWOOOOOOOO!" he cried out as he twisted to one side and dove in to the cool water!

He swam from one end to the other, finding the water totally thrilling! His laughter echoed along with the others'. "I wonder," he said; "do Muggles go swimming at all? I bet they don't have houses for swimming in, like this!"

OOC Note: this is a fun event! A mass thread, so there's no need to observe order of who posts when. Basically, show us your coolest moves and enjoy the water! If any of you want to play a game, that's totally fine! If you do something that requires moderation (Clark I see you trying to shove Liam into the water!) we can do basic rolls for that. If you drown, Colin shall rescue you, and I warn you, he does know how to give the kiss of life!

Clark ACC 14 + 8 = 22
Liam EVA 13 + 7 = 20