Exploring the Grounds Open

Aviana had arrived at Hogwarts the day before. She had spent that day getting put into a house and shown her dormitory. While Aviana had been shown around briefly she couldn't remember what she had already seen.

That next day she woke up and got out of bed. Aviana went into the bathroom and washed her pale face and hands. When Aviana had finished giving herself a quick wash she got dressed into some blue skinny jeans, a white t-shirt and some black shoes as she couldn't decide what else to wear. After getting dressed she gives her straight blond hair a quick brush through and braided her hair so it was in a braid. Once she was ready Aviana left the bathroom and the girls dormitories. She made sure to pick up her wand on her way out and wandered through the common room and out of the door in hope she would find her way round and hopefully make a few new friends. Aviana kept walking until she had wandered slowly through the entrance hall and out the doors.

Once Aviana had reached outside she noticed it was a nice sunny day. She loved the sunny weather at times as it was nice and warm. Aviana had no idea where she was heading to just that she was hopefully going to explore. She realised she still had her wand in her hand so she slipped it into her pocket so she wouldn't loose it. Aviana started to hurry up walking as she saw lots of people. Aviana started to daze of into a day dream thinking about her new born sibling as she was feeling lonely. She didn't notice where she was until she bumped into someone. Aviana shook her head once she realised she had ended up day dreaming. She looks at the person with a worried expression on her face. Aviana saw 2 girls and 1 guy. "I am so sorry for bumping into you all! I kinda zoned out into a day dream" she says apologetically but lets out a small laugh when she had said she kinda zoned out.

Arty looked around at the scenery before her. Everything was so new and different, it was like a whole other world. She missed Scotland, and was feeling a bit homesick already. Her parents had been so proud of her when she got her letter, though. That certainly had felt nice. And they promised to write once they got an owl. She wondered how long it would take them to get one. While she didn't know how much it cost for an owl of their own, Arty was sure she could just use one of the school's ones to send them letters. Then again, her parents HAD said that she'd be getting letters from them as soon as possible, and she didn't want to cause any trouble by not being patient.

She sighed and gazed off at the lake and the surrounding forest. It was so odd. Arty remembered the Headmaster's speech, saying how the Forbidden Forest was, well, forbidden. But what could be in there that was so dangerous? Arty had practically grown up in the woods - always hiking, going camping, spending her nights stargazing... Her curiosity peaked at the sight of the dark trees. There had to be something interesting in there. One day... she thought to herself, one day I'll go in there and find out.

Sarafina was zoned out until someone bumped into her. The girl quickly apologized, and Sarafina only laughed saying, “it’s fine. Really, that’s how I met this lot too,” she motioned to the others. “I feel like I’ve seen you around before.... Aviana right? But, it’s all good. I was also zoned out for a while and didn’t notice you. I guess that’s a popular thing now,” she joked. The girl affirmed that that was her name and they continued on towards black lake. The landscape was mostly flat, but had hills scattered haphazardly in several places. They were almost to the lake. She tried to avoid stepping on insects, which proved harder than thought, since there were many hiding in the grass. She was glad she was getting to know people. The year would be a lot harder if she was all alone. She was surprised that she had talked that much. She was by far the biggest introvert she knew. She guessed she was just getting more comfortable with the people around her. Making friends was never her thing, but maybe she was lucky today. Or maybe she had found more people like her. At least someone finally accepted her. She continued on, and zoned out, cursing as she tripped over a sharp rock.

Watching the newcomers file into the "traveling circus" of wizards, Anatole kept realizing he was the only boy. He didn't know the ratio of females to males, but by looking at all the girls he was meeting as opposed to guys, the males should be relatively low.

On the contrary, Anatole didn't mind this. He tipped his head, smiling and waving at the new girl. "Hey Aviana, I'm Anatole. Pleasure's mine." The Gryffinfor fellow exchanged a glance with Cynthia, doing the miniature speech she had done to the first two earlier. "The three of us are heading towards the lake, if you care to join us." Anatole made sure of Cynthia's state. "I don't mind, but I'm not sure about the other two."

Just looking at the flock of girls around him and bystanders making use of the sunny day, he realized he was the only one wearing his cloak. Huh.

Referring back to Cynthia's earlier comment, Anatole explained, "Apparently we're searching for some type of special squid that exists in the lake." He chuckled, continuing to stroll. "To be honest, I know absolutely nothing about it, so if you have any questions, direct them that way!" He enthusiastically pointed towards the girls.

"It's okay if you don't want to come, either," Anatole remarked with a bright grin.

Aviana felt worried but she saw one of the girls laugh it off telling her that was how she had met the rest of them. Aviana laughs slightly. "That's probably how a lot of people meet each other here I guess... by bumping into each other!" she says happily. Aviana nods as Sarafina recognizes her and her name. "Yes Aviana and your Sarafina?" she questions back. "Mind if I tag along with you all?" she questions politely. Aviana was a bit worried in case they said no because they all seemed pally pally with each other and might not want some newbie tagging on.

She looks at the guy who introduces himself as Anatole. She notices he was wearing his cloak. Aviana listens to what he says next. "I would like to come if the two girls don't mind me tagging on. I don't mind if they say no..." she says with a slight worried tone but then laughs slightly. "You know nothing about it? I hardly know anything about it either so don't worry we can learn together" she says enthusiastically. "A squid exists in a lake?" she questions confused. Aviana looks at them wandering what Anetole was on about or if he was just making it all up. She looks around and then back at the three of them.

“Welcome to our little group, Aviana,“ Cynthia welcomed her warmly.  She was glad that everyone was so accepting of everyone else who kept joining their little group.  Cynthia smiled at the new friends she had made so far as they all happily made their way towards the Black Lake.  She really was hoping to see the giant squid.  Her parents told her it was a rather friendly squid.  “Don’t worry, my parents told me that the giant squid is actually quite friendly,” Cynthia reassured her new friends.  She was hoping to put them a bit more at ease with the thought of a giant squid in the lake.

Soon they reached the shore of the Black Lake and Cynthia slowly scanned the smooth surface when she saw it.  “There’s the squid!” Cynthia exclaimed.  “Awww, he’s cute!” she added.  She sat down on the soft ground near the shore and watched the squid lounging lazily on the surface of the Black Lake.  “I wonder what other creatures live in the lake.  My parents told me there were some dangerous creatures way down in the murky depths, she said after awhile.  She remembered traveling along the lake when she first arrived at Hogwarts.  Though at that time, it was nighttime so it was too dark to really notice anything.  She never really noticed just how big the lake was.

Sarafina was glad that the others welcomed Aviana. They seemed to all get along well. They made it to the lake, and Cynthia soon pointed out the giant squid. She assured everyone that she had heard it was safe, and Sarafina relaxed a bit. They reached the shore; Cynthia exclaimed:
“There’s the squid! Awww, he’s cute!” She said. Sarafina didn’t know how you put a gender on squids, but she didn’t really know that much about giant squids. She guessed there was a story behind it. The squid was actually really cute. She wouldn’t mind having one as a pet. She didn’t know how though. Cynthia went on. “I wonder what other creatures live in the lake. My parents told me....” she talked about dangerous things lurking beneath the surface in the murky depths. Sarafina’s mind wandered off to other places. The lake was so huge! It looked creepy, and she would love to come back at nighttime when it would be even creepier. She was pretty dark herself for a Hufflepuff. That’s why she had considered Slytherin more. The sky was a little darker. She didn’t know what time it was exactly. Time passed quick when you were with friends.

Arty watched the squid with excitement, smiling at it splashing around, almost like it was saying hi. She laughed to herself, doodling the squid happily. The young Ravenclaw noticed a gaggle of first years close to her, also admiring the squid. While her extroverted nature urged her to introduce herself - to laugh, crack a few jokes, to probably babble on and on about all of the things about Hogwarts - she decided it would be better to let them be. They seemed to be having enough fun on their own. If they wanted to say hi, they'd come over, and then she would introduce herself.

Yes, perfect. That way she'd be able to continue admiring the lake, and possibly make some more friends. Any friends, really. While she had met a few people at the table and in classes, she hadn't truly made any real friends.

She continued to observe the group in silence, giggling at the singular boy in a cloak surrounded by the many girls. That was something she understood greatly, back home at her old school she often was surrounded by a group of boy friends. Not necessarily SURROUNDED, but being one of the only girls.

Sarafina was laughing at the adorable octopus, when she heard a faint giggle nearby. She turned and saw a girl not too far away from them. She was going to force herself to be social, to get over her asocial-ness for at least one day. She saw the girl look over and waved. She walked to where the girl was, her boots crunching the grass. The others hadn’t noticed she’d walked away yet. The girl looked to be a Ravenclaw. She felt a pang of sadness, once again reminded of how she had wanted badly to be in Ravenclaw. She quickly shoved down her emotions and smiled when she got over.
“I’m Sarafina, but you can call me Fina for short.” She glanced around. “It’s a lovely afternoon. Ravenclaw I’m guessing,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound too intrusive or overly observant. “I’m a Hufflepuff. It’s nice to meet you. You can join us if you want. We’re just walking around. You don’t have to if you don’t want to though. You seem a little busy. We’ll just be over there,” she pointed to where the others were. She was proud that she talked that much to a stranger. That never happened. She silently hoped the girl joined them. She needed friends.

Cynthia suddenly noticed the sky was getting darker.  She thought it was a bit early for a darkening sky, but she also knew how quickly time flew when you were having fun.  She thought it must be much later.  “Does anyone happen to know what time it is?” Cynthia asked, hearing a quiet giggle from nearby.  She looked around and saw a young Ravenclaw girl sitting nearby with a book in her lap.  She saw Sarafina walking away from the girl.  A moment later, Cynthia waved at the girl and called out, “Hi, you can join us if you’d like.  We’re all friends here.”  Cynthia hoped the Ravenclaw girl would join their little group and join the fun.  She left the decision up to her.

Cynthia did not like having people feel left out so she was more than welcome to include anyone who was interested in joining them.  She turned her attention back to the giant squid, who had swam a little closer to them.  She hoped her friends wouldn’t get frightened, but she was there to reassure them if needed.  She smiled as the squid splashed them just a bit.  Cynthia had to admit that the squid was pretty cute.  Perhaps she would come down sometime and take its picture for her photo album.  For now, she was having too much fun.