31 Dec 2020, 15:27
Disturbances
@Michael Miller
A thick blanket of snow covered the school grounds, making it a beautiful day to look at from the comfort of a warm room such as the Library or the Gryffindor Common room but a miserable day to be outside doing anything at all. Bits of ice would cling to anyone who dared brave the elements, glistening on their clothing or melting on their cheeks.
The unforgiving weather, a deterrent to most students, only spurred on the excited second-year. She was anxious to see how the Great Lake changed in the icier months, if it didn't freeze over entirely. Alone (or so she assumed, for so she always was in the winter mornings), she dashed from her dorm before the opening of curfew to the lake, paying no heed to the wind that tore and bit at her face with its frosty rage. Tossing her uniform carelessly onto a branch to reveal Lady Aithne's charmed diving suit underneath, she waded out into the muddy knee-depth banks before taking a depth and plunging into the deeper center of the lake.
The suit was a remarkable thing, charmed with one of Lady Aithne's original incantations - it kept Jo warm and snug as she weaved and dipped through the water. As her fingers curled around a giant stalk of kelp, Jo almost felt as if she were home in Okinawa, diving for abalone or clams. Of course, the Great Lake was far too deep for her to search along the bottom in the same way even if she held her breath for as long as she could, and she was more than aware of the dangers that lurked under the glassy surface of the magical lake. Thus, she was always careful to stay towards the surface of the lake, never braving anything more than half a dozen metres down. Grindylows would nip at her toes from time to time, but nothing more frightening than that.
She knew that her morning swims were forbidden, but this was one of the few rules she was willing to break. Although she'd never admit it, there were times when Hogwarts became too foreign and she longed for the comfort of her old family. When she did backflips through the icy water, long auburn-brown hair swirling about her, it was almost as if she could feel her Ama stepmother watching her and smiling, saying that's my daughter, that's my little Jo. In these moments, all of her puny Hogwarts worries seemed to melt away in the water, and it was just her and the world, blending seamlessly. In those moments, she became part of something bigger. Jo wouldn't give that away for the world.
As she glided through the weeds, however, she was oblivious to anyone around her, focused only on her breathing and the flow of the water. Perhaps her white shirt, clinging to a branch and flapping loudly, would attract some unwanted attention, or perhaps it would be the splashes and the occasional leg or head that peeked out of the water. Perhaps it would be a while before either party noticed each other, each minding their own businesses before their worlds collided. Either way, there was nothing Jo could know at the moment. Just her and the world, like always.
A thick blanket of snow covered the school grounds, making it a beautiful day to look at from the comfort of a warm room such as the Library or the Gryffindor Common room but a miserable day to be outside doing anything at all. Bits of ice would cling to anyone who dared brave the elements, glistening on their clothing or melting on their cheeks.
The unforgiving weather, a deterrent to most students, only spurred on the excited second-year. She was anxious to see how the Great Lake changed in the icier months, if it didn't freeze over entirely. Alone (or so she assumed, for so she always was in the winter mornings), she dashed from her dorm before the opening of curfew to the lake, paying no heed to the wind that tore and bit at her face with its frosty rage. Tossing her uniform carelessly onto a branch to reveal Lady Aithne's charmed diving suit underneath, she waded out into the muddy knee-depth banks before taking a depth and plunging into the deeper center of the lake.
The suit was a remarkable thing, charmed with one of Lady Aithne's original incantations - it kept Jo warm and snug as she weaved and dipped through the water. As her fingers curled around a giant stalk of kelp, Jo almost felt as if she were home in Okinawa, diving for abalone or clams. Of course, the Great Lake was far too deep for her to search along the bottom in the same way even if she held her breath for as long as she could, and she was more than aware of the dangers that lurked under the glassy surface of the magical lake. Thus, she was always careful to stay towards the surface of the lake, never braving anything more than half a dozen metres down. Grindylows would nip at her toes from time to time, but nothing more frightening than that.
She knew that her morning swims were forbidden, but this was one of the few rules she was willing to break. Although she'd never admit it, there were times when Hogwarts became too foreign and she longed for the comfort of her old family. When she did backflips through the icy water, long auburn-brown hair swirling about her, it was almost as if she could feel her Ama stepmother watching her and smiling, saying that's my daughter, that's my little Jo. In these moments, all of her puny Hogwarts worries seemed to melt away in the water, and it was just her and the world, blending seamlessly. In those moments, she became part of something bigger. Jo wouldn't give that away for the world.
As she glided through the weeds, however, she was oblivious to anyone around her, focused only on her breathing and the flow of the water. Perhaps her white shirt, clinging to a branch and flapping loudly, would attract some unwanted attention, or perhaps it would be the splashes and the occasional leg or head that peeked out of the water. Perhaps it would be a while before either party noticed each other, each minding their own businesses before their worlds collided. Either way, there was nothing Jo could know at the moment. Just her and the world, like always.
"Out here, the wild ones are taming the fear within me.
Scared to call them my friends and be broken again; Is this hope just a mystical dream?"