House of Toads PV Group 4

@Griseldis Edelhardt

As much as Dymphna wanted to make a nice house for the toad, she wasn’t that good with her hands. She was terrible at embroidery and most crafts that she tried, somehow even worse in Potions but it was something she was working on. A toad cave would be her best bet. She got to work on picking out where the toad house would go, meanwhile observing the others in the room.

Everyone was familiar in some way but Griseldis caught her attention. From what she had been told, the Gryffindor was one of the people that tried to save her at the ball. She gave her a little nod, unsure if she wanted to talk about it. It wasn’t exactly an appropriate topic, especially since she didn’t think she’d spoken to the girl before.

Making up her mind, she wandered over towards her all the while looking for a good spot. The area near the window would do nicely. ”How are you, Griseldis?” It was an innocent enough question, not actually mentioning the ball but the other girls well-being in general.

She went about getting the dirt for the toad cave, making sure it was packed down and even but doubted that a toad would care about that sort of thing. What sort of toad would live in her cave? Was this where Professor Griffith left the toads after their Frog Choir practices?

WC: 240/1000

Serena listened intently as the Herbology professor explained how the toad houses should be built. The last thing she wanted was to mess up and have to start over. The toad caves seemed more in her area of expertise to make, so she grabbed a few clay pots and began to work.

Serena was about to wander over to the windows when she noticed two students already over there. As much as the first year wanted to socialize with the people in her group, Professor MacTavish did say that the houses should be spread out. So instead, she moved farther down.

Placing one of the clay pots down, Serena started packing dirt into the lower half, just as the Professor had shown earlier. Once she was satisfied with her handiwork, she began looking around for another spot to place a toad cave.

Looking around at her fellow group members, Serena didn’t really know them. Sure, she’d seen them wandering around the corridors. And the first year was pretty sure that most if not all of them were at the Masquerade Ball. But for obvious reasons, Serena didn’t like thinking back on that night if she could help it.

The badger debated on if she should try to socialize a bit while working or strictly focus on making more caves. After a moment of hesitation, Serena decided that she should get a few more caves completed before trying to talk to anyone. That was what her main task was, after all. Making new friends would hopefully be an added bonus. So, after making sure she wasn’t too close to any other houses, Serena placed another pot down and began filling it with dirt.

With House Points available, there was no wonder Bridget showed up outside the Herbology greenhouses. Whether it was for money or to put Slytherin in the lead, it was highly likely you'd find the short girl at one of Hogwarts' errands. How else would she ever have the money for magical things? And the brunette wasn't exactly the type to volunteer in class and rack up points, so an errand was a sure way to help her House along in that realm of things. All she had to do, after all, was show up and get the job done, no extra social interaction required. Still, depending on who came, the opportunity to talk to people in the kind of simple atmosphere errands brought was welcome.

Yes, Bridget was doing this errand for the reward, not because she had some sort of fascination or even liked toads. Although she wasn't repulsed or terrified by the amphibians, she really didn't care too much about the toads themselves and they would never have been a compelling enough reason for her to journey out into the chilly Hogwarts grounds. However, doing something beneficial for the magical castle's toad community wasn't a bad thing either.

When she arrived, Bridget listened attentively to Professor MacTavish's instructions, all the while surveying the other students. She recognized everyone in her group, which was a bit surprising considering her reserved demeanor. Dan, of course, was her Quidditch Captain. There was an older girl she recalled from one of the Quidditch matches and a younger one she'd seen at the Slytherin versus Hufflepuff cricket game. Finally, she knew Griseldis from the last errand she'd done as the prefect had been the one to arrange the whole thing. If the Gryffindor were to glance her way, Bridget would give her a small wave with the hopes she remembered her.

Total Word Count: 309/1000

After listening to professor Caradoc Browne detail how to make toad houses, two variations of toad houses in fact, and only spacing out twice, Dan was ready to start.
He wore his usual casual outfit. Blue hoodie, green shorts, and bare feet. Looking at his group, he recognized Griseldis from the Masquerade Ball, and of course, recognized his Beater, Bridget.

He smiled and waved to them both. While true, Dan did care for the environment, to say he was here for the toads' sake would be mostly untrue. As far as he was concerned, the toads had existed fine before they'd come to make houses, and he rather doubted they would much be able to tell the difference whether they did or didn't build houses for them. But, there were house points to get, and he figured that making these houses wouldn't hurt anything, and honestly could only help. There were worse things to get house point rewards for.

Dan had decided he was going to make the toad houses, not the toad caves. Entirely because they looked better, and were more homey, and because he felt like putting extra effort in. Not at all because one part of him spacing out was during 97% of Professor Caradoc Browne's explanation of how to do the toad caves, perish the thought.

He addressed the two he knew, Bridget Collins, and Griseldis, whose last name he did not know.

"So, which ones are you two doing? House or cave?"

Word count: 247

Moderation: Gris contacted me about not being able to fulfill this errand. Taking her place will be @Mattathias Jermaine.

@Dan Palmer

It took Bridget a long moment to notice Dan was waving at her and yet another to realize she should probably wave back. He was her Quidditch Captain, after all, and although she mostly saw him in class and at practice and had never had much of a conversation with him, she still thought it was necessary to be friendly, even if that wasn't her strongest suit. Saying hello, she gave him a somewhat awkward wave, proceeding to retrieve one of the clay pots.

"Oh, um, I'm going to do a cave," she answered. The main reason for this choice was her uncertainty for how to cut a portion of the pot out with the limited supplies she had on hand and not shatter the whole thing. Professor MacTavish hadn't really explained that part. She supposed she could just observe one of the other members of the group, assuming one of them constructed a house, but for now she would stick with what she understood how to do.

Now that she had what was really her only provided material for crafting, not including anything nature had to offer, she began searching for a good location to set up the cave. Her hazel eyes caught sight of a nearby bush, and compared to just building it in the middle of a stretch of lawn, she decided nestling her pot beneath its branches was a good idea. She made her way over to the bush and squatted down, placing the pot on its side. From here, she was still close enough to Dan to continue a reasonable conversation but far enough to respect the instructions to space the houses out. Plus, that space offered ease for her shyness, allowing her a bit of breathing room. Bridget wasn't sure why, but having some distance between her and other people made her more comfortable.

Underneath the bush was a patch of dirt completely barren of grass, easily accessible and perfect for making her cave. Bridget began scooping up handfuls of it, dropping them in her pot and patting it down. Her hands were soon covered in dirt, but she didn't care. Being in the outdoors had always been enjoyable for her, even peaceful, and being dirty wasn't a problem, especially considering she had at her disposal a spell that could clean up any mess in an instant. Besides, it was that same solace she found from being outside that made her anxiety over the prospect of failing another social interaction fade away.

Total Word Count: 309+418=727/1000

After Serena finished filling her second pot with dirt, she stood up. She was tempted to wipe off the soil that covered her hands on her jeans. But the errand wasn’t finished yet, and it would be pointless to clean off her hands when they would just get dirty again anyway.

So, she resisted the urge and picked up another empty pot and started debating on where to place this one. While looking around, she noticed a girl and boy exchange some words about which type of house they were building. Serena was about to join in the conversation when the girl walked away. She clearly wanted to be left alone, so Serena decided to not approach the two after all. There would surely be more opportunities for conversation later.

So instead, she wandered over to a place that didn’t have very many houses and set the pot down. Serena knelt down once again, scooping up some nearby dirt and placing it into the container. Standing up, she noticed that her jeans were now covered in mud. Looking down, Serena realized that she had knelt right in a big mud puddle. Oh well, she’d figure out how to clean them later. This pair wasn’t a favorite of hers anyway, so it wasn’t a significant loss if they couldn’t be saved.

While she liked making the caves, the badger was ready to try something a bit more challenging. She looked over at Professor MacTavish’s example of the toad house. Serena tried to remember if the Herbology professor had mentioned how to cut the hole into the pot. After a few moments of thought, her mind was coming up empty. Maybe one of the members of her group remembered if he’d said anything?

“Hey, guys, did Professor MacTavish mention how to cut the hole for the toad houses?” She asked, addressing the whole group. Hopefully, one of them had some answers. If not, maybe she could figure out how to do it herself.

Total Word Count: 282 + 331 = 613/1000

Dan waited patiently for Bridget's answer, and he received it. Bridget, it appeared, was making a toad cave. Dan smiled. He wasn't going to do that, but variety is the spice of life and all that. And being quite good at cooking, Dan knew a thing or two about spices. Without any spices, any dish is probably bland. Same with life. No variety means no spice, no spice means a bland life. Dan did not like blandness. In dishes or in life. He hated repetition, in all its forms. It was so boring and redundant and-

Dan shook his head. That really was a particularly nasty ADHD tangent. When he looked around again, he saw that most of the ones in his group had already begun their houses. And here he was, just standing there staring into space like a barefooted Irish stoner. A very, very, undeniably, and immeasurably cute barefooted Irish stoner, but the point remained. He needed to get started.

Dan selected an area rather close to the lake. For strategy as well as convenience. He idly noticed that he had been thinking in strategic terms for quite some time now, most likely due to his Quidditch Captain status, always having to strategize and make plans for every single moment, and backups for those plans, and then backups on top of those backups. The idea was that, if there were snakes around, the toad or toads inside could just quickly get into the water, where they have the advantage, and get away.
Dan also liked the feeling of mud under his feet, so that was a nice bonus.

He walked toward the lake, but didn't go too close, he didnt want to put the house on ground thats too unstable, after all. He'd probably make more elsewhere, but this was a good place to start.
The idea of Andy seeing how dirty he was and seeing his shocked face made Dan grin.

Upon feeling the mud underfoot, Dan got busy. He set the pot upside down, and surrounded it with rocks, as Professor Doc Browne had said. He made a little rock walkway and, Serena spoke up. The all-knowing Professor Doc Browne had not told them how to cut the hole in the pot to make the house.

So, Dan did the only sensible thing to do, and took out his wand. He pointed it at the pot, performed the proper motions, and spoke the incantation.

"Diffindo."

The toad hole cut itself into existence, and Dan took the piece left behind.
He smiled at Serena.

"Like that, I would guess."

Was it easy, yeah. It was. But then, Professor Doc Browne should have specified how to do it then, shouldn't he?

Word count: 453+247=700.

@Dan Palmer

After her response, they worked in silence and Bridget completed her toad cave. The bottom had been nicely floored with the soft and somewhat damp soil, which had stained her hands and gotten underneath her fingernails. Finding an assortment of multi-sized pebbles, the Slytherin ringed her cave with them, the embellishment, however simple and unoriginal, making the creation a little more her own. Finished, the brunette peeked down into the pot, vaguely interested in what it looked like inside. And... it was just dark, and awfully barren for a house. Then again, perhaps toads liked it that way.

"I'll be right back," Bridget said to Dan, popping up to her feet. Although unnecessary, she made her way over to the collection of clay pots at a run. Even not full-on sprinting felt amazing--the rush of wind flowing past her, the bounce of her hair with each spring of her step, the freedom of moving, of bounding from one point to the next. She was so used to being disappointed in how small she was, how bad she was with words, how physically weak she was no matter how hard she tried to get stronger, that she'd nearly forgotten she did, in fact, have the gift of speed.

After scooping up a new pot, Bridget settled in a different spot, about equidistant to Dan in terms of her last location. This time she would make a toad house, if only for the experience of doing both. Still unsure of how to cut out the hole for the doorway, Bridget was just about to try the old-fashioned Muggle chisel method when, thankfully, the Hufflepuff girl voiced the question she'd been thinking and Dan demonstrated how to use Diffindo to do it. Instantly she felt like smacking herself, although she resisted the impulse. How stupid was she, ready to resort to a bloody chisel, which only would've been a sharp rock, when she had a wand, for goodness sake, and knew a cutting spell? Of course, living her whole life up until last year without knowledge that magic even existed had hardwired her brain to think of nonmagical solutions, a habit she was still trying to break.

Extricating her wand from the homemade pouch hooked to her belt, she gave the laurel wood the correct wave and incanted, "Diffindo," the effect immediate. With satisfaction, she saw that the spell had worked perfectly, separating the piece of pottery from the rest of the pot, even if she hadn't figured out to use the Severing Charm herself. Bridget stood it up on its lip, admiring her handiwork. The entryway was somewhat jagged, but it would do. Still, something was missing... of course! The cave had received a cushion of dirt, so it only seemed suiting that the house would have some sort of mat between the toad and the ground. No loose soil nearby, Bridget ripped up shreds of the longer grasses, arranging them on the ground of the house.

There. She was done. "How's your toad house going?" she called to her Quidditch captain. And really, she was thankful she'd gotten a chance to actually meet Dan, however few words they'd shared. You'd think that with them being in the same year, house, classes, and sports team they would've had more than a teammate to teammate conversation before, but with Bridget being so reclusive, they really hadn't. Besides, who didn't appreciate an opportunity to help out some toads?

Total Word Count: 727 + 575 = 1302/1000
~Word Count Complete~