Geeks by the Creek
───────── x 𝚃𝙾 𝙳𝙴𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙻𝙸𝙼𝙸𝚃 x ────────────────────────────────
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Early September was still warm enough for Locket to find herself outside going for a little stroll over the castle grounds. She wanted to use this good weather to explore the surroundings of the castle that she’d be living in for the next seven years. Besides, the grounds were captivating by themselves, and she wanted to see what was there to do. She had taken her digital camera (her phone was for some reason not working ever since the arrival to the school), and a magnifying glass in case she found any interesting animals - which, in a place like this, she was sure she would find something interesting.
Gosh, this place is huge… What would my friends say if they ever saw me here? She thought walking further down a path that looked like it led to a clearing, away from the glooming forest on the other side, that ever since she saw it, it creeped her out a bit. She walked down to the Great Lake, which is what she heard the other students calling it. She herself was way too new to this place to know the names of the places, or objects, such as the Whopping Willow, which is another infamous title she’d heard thrown around. Some had mentioned a book “A Hogwarts History”, in which she could have found all this information, but with the lessons starting she was already way in over her head and was in no mood to pick up another book - much less a history one.
She walked to the lake and sat near a shallower end of it, to see if there were any creatures lurking there. She hunched over the water and became absorbed in what she loved most - exploring. She lost track of time and her surroundings, or whatever was going on.
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ᴍʏ ᴘʀᴏꜰɪʟᴇ ᴘɪᴄᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴅʀᴀᴡɴ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀᴍᴀᴢɪɴɢ /ɪɴᴀɴᴇ
Geeks by the Creek
Her boots crunched the leaves underneath them as Nicole trudged forward. She was slow for her regular place, eyes staring at every little detail. Whomping Willow? Check. She had already clicked a mental photo. The Forbidden Forest she saw from a distance? Oh, yeah. She already had made plans to go camping there with her friends if students were permitted. The warmth of the September had made her leave her trustworthy coat back in the dormitory.
The castle tour was amazing—Nicole had zero doubts about that. But all those crowds, socialising teenagers and some nosy professors had made her freak out internally. She winced internally when she remembered how she had flushed and stammered out something when an elder student asked her name kindly. It wasn’t even the correct response that she had given. In embarrassment, she had dashed out. The smell of pine and wet earth soothed her. It smelled like home. Like her mother’s garden in their backyard right after it was freshly watered. This entire castle seemed like a fairy tale. Like a dream that was too-good-to-be-true. She paused some distance away. There it was. The Great Lake.
She remembered reading about it somewhere. Ah, she read about how many people had drowned in them. She shuddered at the thought. A short and petite thing with golden head stood as a jarring contrast against the dark waters of the lake. Curiosity got the better of Nicole. It always did. Her steps quickened into a jog. Turned out, it wasn’t a thing. It was a person. The girl looked at the lake, beholding its majestic beauty.
“It houses merpeople and Grindylows. I read that the plants growing inside are poisonous.” Nicole blurted as a sort of greeting. If greetings were some random facts or statistics she had read somewhere and stored it away in her mental library. Her cheeks flushed red in embarrassment that had absolutely nothing to do with the warmth.
“I just speak out random facts. I, ah, apologize for that.” Nicole mumbled, kicking the pebbles with her shoes into the water. She watched as they ripples once, twice, thrice of the surface and then sinking down to the bottomless pit.
To: @Locket Tarot
Notes: HEYY
The castle tour was amazing—Nicole had zero doubts about that. But all those crowds, socialising teenagers and some nosy professors had made her freak out internally. She winced internally when she remembered how she had flushed and stammered out something when an elder student asked her name kindly. It wasn’t even the correct response that she had given. In embarrassment, she had dashed out. The smell of pine and wet earth soothed her. It smelled like home. Like her mother’s garden in their backyard right after it was freshly watered. This entire castle seemed like a fairy tale. Like a dream that was too-good-to-be-true. She paused some distance away. There it was. The Great Lake.
She remembered reading about it somewhere. Ah, she read about how many people had drowned in them. She shuddered at the thought. A short and petite thing with golden head stood as a jarring contrast against the dark waters of the lake. Curiosity got the better of Nicole. It always did. Her steps quickened into a jog. Turned out, it wasn’t a thing. It was a person. The girl looked at the lake, beholding its majestic beauty.
“It houses merpeople and Grindylows. I read that the plants growing inside are poisonous.” Nicole blurted as a sort of greeting. If greetings were some random facts or statistics she had read somewhere and stored it away in her mental library. Her cheeks flushed red in embarrassment that had absolutely nothing to do with the warmth.
“I just speak out random facts. I, ah, apologize for that.” Nicole mumbled, kicking the pebbles with her shoes into the water. She watched as they ripples once, twice, thrice of the surface and then sinking down to the bottomless pit.
To: @Locket Tarot
Notes: HEYY
Propaganda you should believe in: me
Geeks by the Creek
───────── x 𝚃𝙾 𝙳𝙴𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙻𝙸𝙼𝙸𝚃 x ────────────────────────────────
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Just as Locket watched the water ripple slightly from the gentle wind, sinking in her mind, in her thoughts about home and a nudging feeling of homesickness, she heard a voice behind her. As quickly as her thoughts appeared they were pushed away as she focused on a girl, who seemed to be about her own age approaching her.
The unfamiliar girl spoke out, and what reached Locket’s ears was unlike any usual greeting, as the girl didn’t say “hello” or “good morning”, but she said a fact about the Great Lake that Locket had never heard of. That’s so cool! I totally need to know more! Maybe she knows more facts about the lake… All these places in Hogwarts are quite fascinating and full of secrets… Locket decided that from now on everybody should greet each other with interesting facts. It draws into conversation much more than an old-fashioned “hello”.
“That’s so interesting! And-and did you know that the lakes in Wales house fish that survived the ice age?-” she exclaimed an interesting fact of her own that she had been told by her grandfather the one time he took her fishing. This girl seemed so interesting and she wanted to chat to her more. She’d hoped that this stranger wasn’t here for the sake of escaping the loudness of the castle, because when Locket became passionate about something, she could get just as loud.
“Where’d you read that, about the merpeople, and the rest? I ought to know more about this place!” she said excitedly. She was also curious what other facts this girl might have known. “Do you know anything else about Hogwarts or its grounds? Perhaps… something about the Forbidden Forest?” she said with a little shiver in her voice remembering the scary trees. “That place sure seems to be haunted,” she said, in half joking, and half serious tone.
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ᴍʏ ᴘʀᴏꜰɪʟᴇ ᴘɪᴄᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴅʀᴀᴡɴ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀᴍᴀᴢɪɴɢ /ɪɴᴀɴᴇ
Geeks by the Creek
Nicole didn't exactly feel like blurting out a disturbing fact about the Great Lake had been a mistake. Heck, it was better than a plain-old greeting everyone used for the people they liked or not. It lacked. . . character. But when the girl replied with her own fact, a small smile passed across her face. A future witch, responding with her own energy that definitely matched Nicole's vibe. On top of that, there wasn't a hint of a condescending tone in the way she had replied.
If Nicole dared, was there almost excitement? No, she was probably kidding herself. Nicole scolded her overenthusiastic mind.
"Wow! Imagine surviving the Ice Age!" Nicole gasped, fully turning back to look at the girl with unadulterated excitement and surprise in those big and expressive eyes of hers. To even think of the fact that she would definitely remain friendless in this daunting castle now seemed as absurd as the fact that pigs can fly. But then again, this was Hogwarts. Pigs flying was a common occurrence.
Nicole shook her head when her mind diverted to such small things. Ugh, that was the worst part of being 11 years old. " Did you know that fish can get seasick? If the water gets too choppy, a fish can lose its balance and even vomit from motion sickness. Imagine spending all of your life in water, only to get sick when the water's a tad bit weird," Nicole said in a thoughtful tone. Now that she thought of it, it was an amusing sight to see a fish vomit in water. When the other girl said something about where Nicole had read that, she perked up. "Oh, I didn't read it here. My aunt, who is a witch, told me about it. I just researched about it a bit when I came here." Her cheeks flushed a deep shade of red. In her Muggle school, this was considered a 'nerd' thing. Hogwarts? She wasn't so sure about it. "I believe it was called 'A Journey Into Magical Aquatic Creatures'. It was mentioned in a small yellow box on page... 137, I believe," Nicole mused.
She stepped a bit closer to the girl, cutting their distance enough to make them look like new friends and not some strangers who talked about fish and lakes. "I'm Nicole. People call me Nic or Nicki." She introduced herself, biting her lower lip when the other sentence slipped free. Who even called her 'Nic'? "That was lame. I'm sorry," Nicole said quickly.
Notes:
Mentions: @Locket Tarot
Propaganda you should believe in: me
Geeks by the Creek
───────── x 𝚃𝙾 𝙳𝙴𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙻𝙸𝙼𝙸𝚃 x ────────────────────────────────
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Locket’s smile widened even more when the girl responded with equal enthusiasm. Although Locket never feared to be herself, not many people actually matched her excitement and energy. But this stranger was just so passionate about water and fish, that she for once found herself happy to be so full of energy.
“I know right? If I ever got the chance to go back in time I don’t think I’d go there, I totally wouldn’t survive. But when we’re talking about the Mesozoic era I would definitely go back there! I love dinosaurs! Do you have a favorite, by chance?” she chirped not even realising how she’d jumped from one topic to another.
At the next fact the girl spat out Locket bursted out laughing. “Are you serious? I never knew that! That’s funny! Oh, I’d pay to see how a fish gets seasick…” she smiled widely still chuckling from the newly discovered fact. This girl really does know a lot about fish. Gosh, is there any fact left in my head about that…? she wondered.
“Oh… See - I’m from a muggle family, so I never really got the chance to read wizard encyclopedias, if I’m guessing that’s a thing…?” she said reminiscently of her childhood. She sure had a lot of encyclopedias, which had all the information, from history to science, to all else. She had yet to have the chance to visit the Hogwarts library, but maybe they had a section for that?
“‘A Journey Into Magical Aquatic Creatures’, huh? I’ll remember it. Maybe they have it at Hogwarts…” she said as she watched the girl step closer. She giggled at the girl’s introduction. “Don’t worry, that wasn’t embarrassing at all! I’ve done things a hundred times more excruciating! Nice to meet you Nicole! Or, can I call you Collie? Don’t mind me, I just love nicknames!” she smiled, raising her brows at the girl expecting an answer to her offer. “My name’s Locket. You can call me Kit, Locks, Lou… whatever you want!”
“What made you come here today? I mean it’s warm, but still, most of my classmates just stayed in the castle. But to be honest with you, I’m so sick of studying. I needed to get outside for at least an hour…” she exhaled, and waited for the girl’s response as she felt the gentle autumn wind dancing in her free hair.
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ᴍʏ ᴘʀᴏꜰɪʟᴇ ᴘɪᴄᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴅʀᴀᴡɴ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀᴍᴀᴢɪɴɢ /ɪɴᴀɴᴇ
Geeks by the Creek
Nicole laughed in delight, tucking back her hair to look at the girl better. Now, she was enthusiastic while Nicole was, ah, well, reserved. Though, it would be a mild word. She was just so socially awkward person that making friends was a long, long road for her. But this girl, she understood her. Heck, they’d bonded over something as trivial and weird as. . . fish facts. Surely that counted for something, right? When the girl asked for her favourite dinosaur, Nicole racked her brain. Stegosaurus, T-Rex, velociraptors were cool and all. But they exactly weren’t her favourite. "Probably brontosaurus. It isn’t popular but the fact that it needs 3 hearts to pump blood up to its brain just blows my mind!" Nicole mimicked an explosion around her head before throwing her head back and laughing.
They laughed for a while like that, until tears rolled down from their eyes and stomachs hurt. At least, Nicole experienced that. She wasn’t so sure about the girl. When the girl joked about fish getting seasick, Nicole nodded eagerly in agreement. "I know right! Oh my days, imagine getting sick because of the water where you live. That’s just so bloody weird…" Nicole voiced out her own thoughts. Now the more she thought about it, the more her brain hurt as she tried to visualise the image of a fish throwing up.
When the other girl said about coming from a muggle family, Nicole smiled in sympathy. Being a muggle in Hogwarts really left you as an outsider. She related to that. "I’ll remember to give magical encyclopaedias to you if I come across them." Nicole joked, though it came out pretty lame. "Magic encyclopaedias are totally a thing." She said earnestly.
When the girl—Locket—decided to call her Collie, she flushed a deep shade of red. No one—literally not a single soul—called her any nickname. Her grandparents would call her by her full name (mostly). Her parents called her Nicki but that didn’t count because, well, they were parents. "I’ll call you Lou-Lou for maybe Kitts," Nicole declared. Some confidence in her had arose due to the fact that she made her very first friend. Before the confidence in her could waver, she stepped quickly and wrapped both hands around Locket in a hug. She stepped back after a while to give her some space. "There are 4 types of hugs. This was one of them, a hug given to friends." Nicole explained, looking at Locket’s stunned face.
"Well, the castle was too crowded for my liking. Too many people in one place makes me freak out." Nicole admitted. But Locket’s reason was very much justified. After seeing the books for the first year, she wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t see the sun for months.
Mentions: @Locket Tarot
Notes: N/A
Word count: 468
Propaganda you should believe in: me