Do You Want to Build a Snowman?
Dated January 9th
Everywhere he looked, a thick blanket of soft, packable snow covered the meandering grounds of Hogwarts. The chilly weather of January in the Scottish highland brought with it all the usual sensations of post yuletide. Among them he noticed the smell of wood smoke from the Groundskeeper's cabin, the crunch of snowflakes beneath his winter boots, the stifling stink of sweat that came from bundling tight as the crackly, dried-up snot that collected at the end of his nose made it itch. Christmas was a wonderful Holiday, even if he hadn't had a proper family for it. The New Year had precipitated as much excitement for the future as it had left the school with untouched snow.
Today was the perfect day to build a snowman, or two even. Perhaps they would build several dozen if everything went according to their plans. The prospect of his own snowman coming to life urged Sylvain's steps further and further as he walk into the open acreage of the School's grounds. His hurried footsteps were left stranded in the snow behind him. Luckily, a few of the elves had already started bringing supplies for students to work on and the snow wasn't too mucky from people passing through. Though the walkways were shoveled well enough that a horse drawn carriage could easily have made its way to the school should guests intend to arrive anytime soon.
Surveying the cleared area, Sylvain noticed that there was a large wicker basket of coal containing lumps of varying sizes. The escaping dust had filled the woven container to its brim. Two nearly identical baskets of vegetables lay side by side just feet from the basket of coal. One with carrots of all different lengths and widths, some even and others crooked. The other basket held corn cobs, presumably for dashing little pipes made in a pinch. A sack which groaned and stretched out to near bursting was captive under the weight of thousands of buttons as it sat near the designated workspace, an area Sylvain had spent the whole day before this one clearing. Some of the buttons were quite large, while most others were petite and colorful. His favorites were fat and round, though a few were just plain and neat to look at.
A pile of sticks and twigs lay to one side, its apex stacked well above his head. Sylvain was joyous to have collected something that might have been of use to the other students. Next to the toppling bundle was a chest filled with tossed out or otherwise legally precured and/or donated garments, most of which he gathered from the Room of Requirement, with the help of the elves on staff. The rest was comprised of the lost and found box he'd made just after Christmas. Among the choices of fabric available, there were outrageous sweaters and scarves with patterns ranging from psychedelic to festive, hats of different builds and brims, spectacles which were both for reading as well as long distance and even a couple extra pairs gloves with matching socks, though he had no idea what to do with the socks.
"I should wait for @Griseldis Edelhardt and @Cecily Quinn ." The two were whom he intended to build the coolest snowman of all time with.
"Things are never so bad they can't be made worse." -Elim Garak
Do You Want to Build a Snowman?
Katrina was wearing the same winter outfit that she'd worn at the Hogsmede Errand just before break. A thick red 'ugly Christmas sweater' that actually wasn't ugly, some thick navy leggings, warm winter boots, some gloves, a hat that matched her sweater, and an outer jacket. Boomerang watched in curiosity as Katrina got ready. Katrina rubbed Boomerang's head as she swung out of the picture and down to the grounds.
Katrina figured it wouldn't hurt to participate in an errand. Out of all of the things that had happened, it was never during an errand that something went wrong. In fact, it now seemed that errands were the only entirely safe thing left in the school. Nonetheless, Katrina kept her wand tucked in her arm strap under her coat. Better safe than sorry.
There was already a prefect out when she arrived. It seemed there was already a bundle of supplies ready to be used. Excellent. Katrina waved to the prefect with an uncharacteristic smile. She was going to make sure today was a good day. No more worrying. No more stressing. Just a fun activity. And a reward for doing it.
Katrina started with the base of the snowman. She found a spot not terribly far away from the supplies and started rolling. At first, her snow ball was the size of a fist. It was a burden to lean over and pack it in. Slowly, the ball started getting larger and larger. Katrina stayed in the same small area, compacting all of the powdery snow and not worrying when she approached the icy grass. As long as the outer layer was perfectly white, it didn't matter what state the inside of the snowman was. Eventually, Katrina found that the ball was heavy enough that it took both hands to push it, it was about the height of her waist and took nearly all of her effort to roll it around. Katrina found a perfect white spot in the snow and pushed the large mount into the middle.
Next up, the middle. This time, the process was significantly faster. The snow was the size of her fist, than it grew and grew and suddenly it was about the size of her extended arm. Exactly the size she was hoping. Again, Katrina had used the dirtier snow for the middle and covered the outside of it with the clean fluffy perfectly white snow on the outside. Katrina rolled it over to the place where the largest snowball stood and grunted as she lifted the ball with all of her might onto the top of it.
Last, but certainly not least, the head. This was the fastest of all since Katrina already got the technique down. She finished this one about the size of her fingertips to her elbow. Pleasantly small. It was also the roundest of the snowballs. When put on top of her snowman, it was only up to her chin. The perfect height to decorate.
Katrina raced over to the supplies and dug around for what she was looking for. Two lumps of rather large coal. Two large black buttons. Two sticks. A top hat. A pair of safety scissors. The last few things took a bit more digging to find. Two lengths of black string. A length of black ribbon. And a simple black circle. The circle was such a lucky find, it was more of a simple black bracelet, but it was perfect. It seemed luck was on her side today.
Katrina returned to her snowman with a grin on her face. She started smoothing out the outside, grabbing handfuls of snow to smooth out any cracks and imperfections. When it, at last, looked even and round, Katrina got to work decorating. The sticks were stuck into the two sides of the middle snowball. The hat was shoved on top of the top snowball. The two buttons were placed below the hat to indicate eyes. The two pieces of coal were wedged in the middle and bottom of the middle snowball. Katrina tied one length of black ribbon into a bow tie, just like she'd done for Liam on New Years, and stuck that on the top of the middle snowball. One end of the black string was tied around the black bracelet and the other end was crammed into the side of the top snowball. The bracelet was then put around the right button eye. Lastly, Katrina used safety scissors to cut the smaller length of ribbon into something like a mustache. It was then put where others would but a mouth or a carrot.
The snowman was complete!
He had a top hat and button eyes, one with a monacle. He had a proper mustache and a bow tie. His arms were sticks and his buttons were made of coal.
Exactly how she had imagined it. The errand had been a pleasant escape from her normal day. Katrina waved over a House Elf with bubbling excitement. Three House Elves came over. One snapped his fingers and Katrina's creation came to life. "Heeelllloooo there! My, my, my, who do I owe my creation? You my dear? What is your name?" The snowman had a voice much like Katrina's uncle, deep and throaty, but this snowman had a proper touch. "I'm Katrina," Katrina stumbled out, unsure what the proper etiquette was to speak with a snowman. "Well, Katrina, I'm Edward. Edward the Proper Snowman,"
"Edward the Proper Snowman,"
"Has a very nice mustache,"
"He has a top hat too-oo"
"And songs from him to you!"
The house elves and Edward seemed to already know the song. They sang it loud and without any holding back. It was to the tune of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, but since Katrina didn't know the words, she just smiled and hummed as they sang. What a magical errand.
WC: 979 | Errand Complete | Sketch Below | Katrina Exits Thread
Snowman Doodle!
Reducio
>Stats: Sta 9, Evas 8, Str 3, Wis 11, ArcP 9, Acc 6<
>Healing Sage | Perfectionist | Charmer || Leader of SHC| Owner of The Kat Shop<
>Healing Sage | Perfectionist | Charmer || Leader of SHC| Owner of The Kat Shop<
Do You Want to Build a Snowman?
Semi-open to interactions
Interacting: @Michael Miller
Mentioning: @Cassandra Ironwoods | @Sylvain Wyllt
Permission given to godmode/place Michael Miller at the errand
January was arrived and even through winter break was over Christmas spirit was still in the air which was something that Henry didn't have or missed out on. The following winter break wasn't his favorite but it had it moments, the twelve year old went home for the holidays and met up with his best friend before ending his break on a bit of a long road or something they he didn't want to hear nor wanted to care about. Now being back at Hogwarts, Henry thought that everything would get better and Hogwarts would help but it felt like nothing changed or a cord was tightening around his chest making it harder to breath as his anxiety pressed against his life now more than ever.
Having to deal with his anxiety more than most days and not wanting to think about his home life, Henry stuck to isolating himself most days either in the library with a book and sometimes a rather close friend or he would sit and 'meditate' outside by a rather large oak type tree that branches hang over the great lake which was the spot he went when he wanted to be alone and isolated himself with his thoughts.
January 9th has arrived and with it the word that a errand was in the midst of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and Wizardry. Sylvia Wyllt the ravenclaw prefect who was also a second year was the one who created the unique errand that included the snow that still laid around the grounds of Hogwarts creating a holiday feel or a Christmas postcard like look since the errand was to build a snowman or snow women. Any type they wanted in any way and if they chose then the twelve year old heard that the house elfs could bring their snow man to life enchanting the the snow to sing and dance at least for a few minutes.
That part didn't sound to great to the second year boy but he felt inclined to go since Sylvain Wyllt was the one who created it and Henry felt somewhere that he knowed the boy since before the Christmas break started, in early December Henry had a rather bad panic attack and screamed out a few things that thankfully the prefect didn't hear but he was still rather thankful to him since Sylvain tried to help him or comfort him after the panic attack and his increasing anxiety which was something that he would always be thankful for since he helped him more than Henry felt like admitting. Which was why he was going to this errand because a part of him felt like he owed it to the prefect that helped him during a rather hard time or morning for him.
The second year slytherin decided to do the errand with his close friend and bunk mate in the snape dormitory; Michael Miller. He liked the boy's company and found him rather intelligent so he was glad to be doing this with him as Henry walked toward the grounds with Michael something stuck in Henry's head; wild Cash be there?
A part of the boy wished his purple haired mischievous rule breaking slytherin friend would be there since he enjoyed their company and had a feeling that if they were there then mischief would soon follow. Plus Henry hadn't experience any mischief or even fire, the Hogwarts classic event starter, at all during his winter break so if something happened at the errand then it was only to perfect, hopefully no one got hurt, but what was Hogwarts without a little trouble, mischief, danger, rulerbreaking, and of course fire.
Everything seemed to perfect of a day for trouble to strike when Henry arrived to the errand spot with Michael, the boy would scan the grounds for a moment before rounding on Michael and speaking " so what are you going build Mike? Do you think any trouble will happen?" Before started to the roll the base of the snowball as he rolled it so it was white large and stable before moving on to the middle ball which he rolled some snow together in a slightly smaller ball before carefully picking up and placing it on top of the base. Molding the middle part down then so it was a bit flat before going in again to make a smaller snow ball and carefully place it at the top so the basics of the snowman was done.
"If we find a few other's, do you want to have a snowball fight later Mike?" Henry asked before finding to large sticks and placing it the snowman's side as arms, he did took off the faded slytherin scarf from his neck and tied it around the snowman's neck before taking a rather faded slytherin beanie that use to be his brothers and placing it on the snowman's 'head'. The boy would then find a few pieces of coal near by and stick two for some buttons on the middle ball and a few on the top snowball for the eyes and mouth.
Looking upon his slytherin snowball, Henry then found some green paper and slowly folded and teared the piece of paper into a snake before placing it on the snowman's middle snow ball after getting rid of the coal buttons. Stepping back from his creation before turning to Michael and saying " slytherin snowman done, also I forgot to tell you Mike but a few others might join us."
Word Count: 924/600
"There's no such thing as strange creatures, only blinked people" - Newt Scamander
Do You Want to Build a Snowman?
Haley stood at one of the windows in the common room and looked out at the snowy landscape that seemed to have no end. It seemed as if a huge white blanket lay over the grounds of Hogwarts and the castle was dusted with too much powdered sugar. Haley had already put on her thickest winter clothes and packed her bag with a few things and dashed out of the common room to make her way into the beautiful snowy landscape.
Today she had one more task to do - build a snowman. During the winter vacations, she had built snowmen several times with her four cousins in her grandmother's backyard, and each time they got more creative until it became a little competition. When the five said goodbye, they decided each would build one at their school and send a photo of it to the others. So this was her task for today.
Her pace promptly slowed as she took her first step in the high snow and she stumbled forward slightly, but managed to keep from falling. She went a few more meters which felt like an eternity to her and then had found the perfect spot for her snowman. She put down her bag, put on her gloves and started to form a small ball. It took a while but soon the ball was big enough for Haley to slowly roll it down the small hill and with each turn the ball got a little bigger. After a few turns she made sure that the snow was firm and pushed it with her hands until the ball was so big that this was no longer necessary. Her first ball was almost done and Haley turned to roll it back up the hill.
She underrated the effort as the snow, cold, and ever-growing ball did not make it easy. At the top she took a few quick breaths until she repeated the whole process. It took a while and Haley had a slightly larger one. Breathing heavily from the effort, she paused before starting on the last and largest ball. The last ball took the longest but it too was soon finished and Haley stood with both hands on her hips surveying her results. Before continuing, she caught her breath and pulled her bag closer to her.
Haley took the one of the balls but instead of putting the middle one on top of the biggest one, she took the middle one and put it on top of the smallest one. She took some snow to stabilize and fix the whole thing and then she took the biggest ball and put it on the middle one. She had to stretch a bit so that she could place it perfectly in the middle, but on the second try it worked. Again she took some extra snow and fixed the two top balls together.
Haley took a few steps back to look at her result and was visibly pleased. "So Olaf, let's get you a little prettier." Spoke Haley to the snowman and at that moment was glad that no one had heard her. She didn't want to be called the crazy Gryffindor girl who talked to an unfinished snowman. Haley picked up her bag and laid her things side by side in the snow. First - the face. Haley took two big buttons that she got from her grandmother knelt in front of the snowman and put them as eyes. Then she reached back for a carrot and stuck it in the middle of Olaf's half-finished face, then last but not least, she lightly pressed a few stones into the snow in an arc. Step one done, now comes step two - arms and legs. Haley stood up again and looked around briefly until she could see a bush a few feet away. She jogged over to it, as fast as she could in the snow and looked for suitable sticks. These were quickly found, Haley took a total of 4 slightly thicker sticks and stuck two of them right and left in the middle ball, so that they went towards the head and ground. Then she took the other two and stuck them into the largest ball. She quickly picked up her second pair of winter boots and put them over the two sticks.
Haley looked at her little work of art and was more than pleased. All that was missing was step four - Asseciors. She took the Gryffindor scarf she was wearing and wrapped it around the snowman's neck until it was no longer possible. Then she took some smaller red buttons, which she also had from her grandmother and put them in a straight line into the middle part of her snowman.
Done.
Haley took another few steps back and looked at her snowman with a big smile. At that moment she heard small steps in the snow and turned around. There one of the elves came walking and also looked at her snowman who was doing a headstand. "Do you like him? His name is Olaf." Haley shouted to the elf and laughed. The elf was now standing next to her and smiled. He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers once. Suddenly it cleared its throat and Haley looked startled at her snowman.
"Excuse me Miss, but why are you upside down?" the snowman asked her. Haley looked excitedly at the elf and started laughing. She now turned her attention back to Olaf, "Well, um, I think it's because you're standing on your head." She replied quietly, continuing to smile over both ears. "Well, in that case." He spoke skeptically now, pausing briefly "And why am I doing that?" but before Haley could have answered the snowman continued "Well, anyway. I feel like singing now." And before anyone could react again the snowman started to sing.
"Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way!
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh."
Haley frowned at the singing, which was anything but beautiful. But the snowman wouldn't stop and sang louder and louder. She looked desperately at the elf, who was amused at first, but now had a pained expression on his face. He nodded briefly to Haley, there was no need to voice her request, he snapped his fingers again, and in the middle of the singing Olaf fell silent again.
"Thank you." she spoke with relief and the elf made his way back to the castle. Haley quickly took a picture of her work before gathering her things and heading back to the common room at a fast pace.
Olaf:
Reducio
Word Count: 1112/600
The only one who fear death are those with regrets
Ashley Coulson
Do You Want to Build a Snowman?
Ashley was bored. She had finished her homework, cleaned out her trunk, re-organized all her belongings, and read a couple of books. Some people could sit quietly for long periods of time, doing nothing. Ashley was not one of those people. Sighing, she looked out the window from the dorms at the snow covering every inch of the grounds, sparkling in the sun. It was delicately dusted over tree branches like powdered sugar and piled in heaps on benches. She gasped. She had completely forgotten! She was supposed to build a snowman today, and in the chaos of school and coming back from break, it had slipped her mind. Quickly, Ashley yanked on her blue coat and a warm black scarf. She pulled her boots on as she hopped towards the door leading out of the girls dormitory, snatching her mittens from her trunk at the last minute. Ashley half walked, half ran down the stairs, into the common room, down more stairs, out into the halls, and finally, outside. Once on the grounds, she surveyed her surroundings. There were a few students out and several finished snowmen dotting the wide expanse of white. Her glasses fogged up, and she wiped them on her scarf as she made her way over to them. Ashley began running through ideas in her head. The task was to create an original snowman, so the classic pipe and top hat was out. She could make a self portrait kinda thing, but that would be weird.
After a few minutes of contemplation, she decided to just start and see where that took her. Ashley squatted down and started rolling a ball for the base. She had only made a few snowmen in her life, and she always had help. Which explained why rolling a huge ball of snow was much more difficult than it looked. Panting, Ashley rolled the first ball into place. It was perfectly round. Ashley smiled. One down. Filled with newfound confidence in her snow-rolling abilities, Ashley started on her second ball. Right as she was finishing the ball of snow, part of it crumbled off, leaving a flat surface on one side with jagged edges. And that's when she got an idea. Ashley began patting the sides and scraping off excess snow with her hands until the snow that was once sphere-shaped was now a square block. Grunting, she lifted the square of snow up and set it as carefully as she could on top of the first ball of snow. Ashley stepped back and studied the beginnings of her creation. It looked wacky, just as intended. This snowman was going to be geometrical.
After deciding that the head of her snowman was going to be cone-shaped, Ashley began shaping another ball of snow. Making a cone out of snow proved to be quite challenging. The first time, the tip fell off. The second time, the whole thing crumbled in her hand. The third time, though, resulted in a perfect cone (well, almost perfect. It was kind of lopsided). Ashley picked up the head of the snowman with ease (the head was considerably lighter than the body), and set it on top of the square. It looked just right. Round base, square torso, and pointy head.
Ashley grinned. "Yes!" she exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air. She didn't care who saw her. Now she got to decorate it, her very favorite part. She made her way over to the supplies and chose a scarf. It was purple and orange plaid fleece and it wrapped perfectly around the snowman's neck. Next, Ashley stuck five swirly purple buttons on the body, each one a different size. Then, she pulled two carrots out of her deep coat pockets. Originally, she had brought the second carrot as a backup, in case the first one broke or something. But on second thought, maybe she could use both of them. Grasping a carrot in each hand, Ashley stuck them into either side of the cone head, making weird pointy ears. Ashley laughed. He looked hilarious! She selected two large flat green buttons for eyes, seven shiny, smooth grey pebbles for the mouth, and left the nose out altogether. Hands on her hips, Ashley made went through a mental list in her head. All that was left were the arms, and maybe some hair. She put two forked sticks in the sides of the square torso, and found three twigs that she stuck in a straight line across the top of her snowman's head for hair.
"Now," Ashley said to the snowman, "What should I name you?"
Bert? she thought. Nah.
Sylvester? Boris? Louie?
Kirk? That might work . . .
"Okay, Kirk," she said to the snowman, "Let's bring you to life!"
Ashley waved a house-elf over. "Hello," she said to her, "Can you make Kirk here alive?"
The house-elf nodded. "Of course!"
A few short moments later, Kurk the Snowman was moving. He bounced up and down a few times and wiggled his arms before starting to sing in a deep, opera-like voice;
"Deck the halls with boughs of holly
Falalalala, lalalala
'Tis the season to be jolly
Falalalala, lalalala . . ."
After singing the first few lines, he grinned with his pebble mouth, grabbed Ashley's arms and spun her in a circle until she was dizzy.
"Stop!" she gasped, "Stop!" Kirk stopped abruptly.
"My most sincere apologies, miss. I do beg your forgiveness."
"It's okay," Ashley replied. She was having a conversation with a snowman!
Kirk nodded and continued singing his song.
At the end, he said in his oddly deep and elegant voice,"Thank you for listening to Kirk's Concert. We value your support, dear audience members."
Ashley laughed and clapped, and Kirk bowed again. And again. And again. What a strange day this had turned out to be!
total word count: 975/600
Last edited by Ashley Coulson on 12 Jan 2021, 15:54, edited 4 times in total.
Do You Want to Build a Snowman?
For a few days now, rumours of a new errand had been circulating the corridors of Hogwarts, and even Gabriella, the most unobservant first-year in the school, had caught wind of it. She had never done an errand before, but she had heard the rumours, and decided she would give it ago. It's good to try new things, she thought to herself. Plus, this is the kind of thing I'm supposed to be good at. I can build a snowman - easy.
She clasped up her winter cloak, pulled on her muggle UGG boots, and flung her Ravenclaw scarf around her neck, before descending the dormitory stairs and making her way to the grounds.
It would be an understatement, Gabriella thought, to say that there was a carpet of snow on the floor - no carpet she had ever known was six inches thick, and completely soaked her feet. However, the scene was so beautiful that she could bear the wet feet - feet could dry in ten minutes, but she would have to wait another year to build a snowman again.
As quickly as she could in the thick snow, Gabriella made her way over to the small congregation of students she could already see in the chosen location on the school grounds. The Ravenclaw prefect running the errand, the two Gryffindors and the Slytherin, all with snowmen already made; the huge wicker baskets containing coal, sticks, buttons, vegetables; the small assembly of house-elves standing dutifully by the side of the prefect, ready to bring the snowmen to life - all of this created a spectacle too magical for Gabriella's eyes to behold.
Right, she thought, once she finally reached the location - time to build my snowman. For a moment she glanced around, to see what others were doing, before getting down on her hands and knees in the snow. "AARGH!" she yelped - she had forgotten that the snow was so thick and so wet. Imagine not knowing that snow is wet, she groaned to herself. Good going.
So instead, she had to stand up, bent double in the snow, to gather herself a huge snowball to become the snowman's body. It took her a while - and a lot of effort - to build up the snowball for the body. She had forgotten how painstaking it is to make a snowman, and by the time she had finished creating the snowball, her sides were aching so hard that she had to sit down - even in the snow, leaving her clothes soaked through. I've just made a series of terrible ideas, she thought to herself, angrily. But then, I've never been one for brainwaves...
Trying to walk in a way that made her sodden trousers feel less uncomfortable - and failing drastically - Gabriella set about creating a smaller snowball for the head. This task was much more easily accomplished, and it took her no more than five minutes to make a snowball big enough. Wishing she had brought gloves, for her hands were completely raw, she put the smaller snowball on top of the larger one. Now it was beginning to slightly resemble a snowman, at least. She crouched down, making sure her knees didn't touch the floor again, and tried to shape the bottom of her snowman so that it could become one with the ground.
Once she had done this, she rushed over to the wicker baskets and picked up some essentials - an especially crooked carrot for the nose, an old scarf, a pointed hat, some sticks and a few buttons and lumps of coal. First she dug out eye sockets for the snowman, and rested the lumps of coal inside them. Then she fixed the carrot to the middle of his head. Next she got her three buttons, and placed them in a line down the middle of the snowman. Finally she got the sticks and placed them either side of his body, creating a pair of pathetic little arms. Right, time for the clothes. She wrapped the old black scarf as tightly as she could around her snowman's neck, and rested the hat firmly on his head.
She took a few paces back. "Done!" she said to herself, out loud. "Now, what should I call you..."
"Excuse me, miss," said one of the house-elves timidly, having just appeared at her elbow. "If you want, I can bring it to life..."
"Oh, yes please!" exclaimed Gabriella, clapping her hands excitedly and trying to jump, although she couldn't because her feet were planted in the snow.
She grinned down at the house-elf who stood next to her. "Are you ready, miss?"
"Yes sir!" she replied, trying to make the 'sir' sound as genuine as possible. She wasn't sure if it worked. The house-elf snapped his fingers, and instantly the snowman jumped to life, waving his little twig arm at her.
"Why, hello there!" cried the snowman, cheerily. "My name is Beckett. And what can I call you?" Beckett, thought Gabriella. Odd name for a snowman, but I'll go with it.
"I'm Gabriella," she replied, extending her hand to shake Beckett's. "It's a real pleasure to meet you!"
She had no idea why she was being so formal, but it was the attitude that seemed to suit the situation - talking to a living snowman was not something that you did every day, at least not in the Muggle world she was used to.
Suddenly, a raucous outbreak of singing burst out from all around her. She looked around and realised it was the house-elves and Beckett, singing a carol for her!
Despite changing the lyrics to 'Beckett the Snowman' the song still didn't describe Beckett at all - but even so, Gabriella appreciated the effort and the winter spirit. "Wow, thank you!" she cried. "It's freezing out here, so I'm going back inside. Bye, Beckett! See you tomorrow!
She smiled and waved at her living snow creation, before retreating back into the warm castle to be dry. It had been a truly magical winter.
She clasped up her winter cloak, pulled on her muggle UGG boots, and flung her Ravenclaw scarf around her neck, before descending the dormitory stairs and making her way to the grounds.
It would be an understatement, Gabriella thought, to say that there was a carpet of snow on the floor - no carpet she had ever known was six inches thick, and completely soaked her feet. However, the scene was so beautiful that she could bear the wet feet - feet could dry in ten minutes, but she would have to wait another year to build a snowman again.
As quickly as she could in the thick snow, Gabriella made her way over to the small congregation of students she could already see in the chosen location on the school grounds. The Ravenclaw prefect running the errand, the two Gryffindors and the Slytherin, all with snowmen already made; the huge wicker baskets containing coal, sticks, buttons, vegetables; the small assembly of house-elves standing dutifully by the side of the prefect, ready to bring the snowmen to life - all of this created a spectacle too magical for Gabriella's eyes to behold.
Right, she thought, once she finally reached the location - time to build my snowman. For a moment she glanced around, to see what others were doing, before getting down on her hands and knees in the snow. "AARGH!" she yelped - she had forgotten that the snow was so thick and so wet. Imagine not knowing that snow is wet, she groaned to herself. Good going.
So instead, she had to stand up, bent double in the snow, to gather herself a huge snowball to become the snowman's body. It took her a while - and a lot of effort - to build up the snowball for the body. She had forgotten how painstaking it is to make a snowman, and by the time she had finished creating the snowball, her sides were aching so hard that she had to sit down - even in the snow, leaving her clothes soaked through. I've just made a series of terrible ideas, she thought to herself, angrily. But then, I've never been one for brainwaves...
Trying to walk in a way that made her sodden trousers feel less uncomfortable - and failing drastically - Gabriella set about creating a smaller snowball for the head. This task was much more easily accomplished, and it took her no more than five minutes to make a snowball big enough. Wishing she had brought gloves, for her hands were completely raw, she put the smaller snowball on top of the larger one. Now it was beginning to slightly resemble a snowman, at least. She crouched down, making sure her knees didn't touch the floor again, and tried to shape the bottom of her snowman so that it could become one with the ground.
Once she had done this, she rushed over to the wicker baskets and picked up some essentials - an especially crooked carrot for the nose, an old scarf, a pointed hat, some sticks and a few buttons and lumps of coal. First she dug out eye sockets for the snowman, and rested the lumps of coal inside them. Then she fixed the carrot to the middle of his head. Next she got her three buttons, and placed them in a line down the middle of the snowman. Finally she got the sticks and placed them either side of his body, creating a pair of pathetic little arms. Right, time for the clothes. She wrapped the old black scarf as tightly as she could around her snowman's neck, and rested the hat firmly on his head.
She took a few paces back. "Done!" she said to herself, out loud. "Now, what should I call you..."
"Excuse me, miss," said one of the house-elves timidly, having just appeared at her elbow. "If you want, I can bring it to life..."
"Oh, yes please!" exclaimed Gabriella, clapping her hands excitedly and trying to jump, although she couldn't because her feet were planted in the snow.
She grinned down at the house-elf who stood next to her. "Are you ready, miss?"
"Yes sir!" she replied, trying to make the 'sir' sound as genuine as possible. She wasn't sure if it worked. The house-elf snapped his fingers, and instantly the snowman jumped to life, waving his little twig arm at her.
"Why, hello there!" cried the snowman, cheerily. "My name is Beckett. And what can I call you?" Beckett, thought Gabriella. Odd name for a snowman, but I'll go with it.
"I'm Gabriella," she replied, extending her hand to shake Beckett's. "It's a real pleasure to meet you!"
She had no idea why she was being so formal, but it was the attitude that seemed to suit the situation - talking to a living snowman was not something that you did every day, at least not in the Muggle world she was used to.
Suddenly, a raucous outbreak of singing burst out from all around her. She looked around and realised it was the house-elves and Beckett, singing a carol for her!
Beckett the Snowman was a jolly happy soul,
With a corncob pipe and a button nose
And two eyes made out of coal...
[/color]With a corncob pipe and a button nose
And two eyes made out of coal...
Despite changing the lyrics to 'Beckett the Snowman' the song still didn't describe Beckett at all - but even so, Gabriella appreciated the effort and the winter spirit. "Wow, thank you!" she cried. "It's freezing out here, so I'm going back inside. Bye, Beckett! See you tomorrow!
She smiled and waved at her living snow creation, before retreating back into the warm castle to be dry. It had been a truly magical winter.
Word count: 1038/600
Last edited by Gabriella Haworth on 11 Jan 2021, 21:21, edited 1 time in total.
Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.
Do You Want to Build a Snowman?
Annie had a terrific Christmas. She got to visit her muggle friends, and her best friend April and her family, as usual, had come to visit from New York. Annie and April had spent practically the whole holiday season ice skating, like old times, before April and her family moved to the U.S. They laughed so hard they almost fell over when Annie changed the her hair color and the shape and size of her nose to make April's baby sister, May, laugh, and they took turns on April's new Comet 260 she got for Christmas. Annie was excited to be back at school, of course, but as always, the end of the holiday season brought a little bit of melancholy.
Annie walked through the corridors, trying to find something to do. She looked out the window. The grounds were covered in a layer of snow sprinkled with students and baskets of various objects. What on earth are they doing? She thought. She studied the students more closely. Oh! They're making snowmen! She realized. This must be that event I saw the flyer for in the common room. Annie skipped toward the grounds, eager to join the fun.
She decided to try starting with her snowman's eyes, nose, hair and accessories. For it's nose, Annie picked the strangest looking carrot she could find. At first, she thought it was a turnip but quickly realized it was indeed a carrot. It was orange and round and the thin root that usually protrudes from a turnip was small-carrot sized. Annie picked one big heart-shaped piece of coal for her snowman's eyes (she decided to make it a cyclops) a few different colored buttons for the mouth, small branches for the arms, and a floppy hat with a large pom-pom. The next part would be to pick a spot to build. After some consideration, Annie chose a small hill with a flat top, and set to work.
Annie gathered some snow in her hands. It was so cold she almost dropped it. I'm not wearing any gloves, she realized, scolding herself. No matter. Annie liked the cold, anyway. She packed snow onto her snowball, one hand full at a time. It got bigger and bigger. She experimented with rolling her snowball on the ground, and to her satisfaction, with each roll, the snowball got bigger and bigger until it was about 2 1/2 feet in diameter. She smiled. The snow was perfect for building snowmen today. The next level of Annie's snowman was easier. She rolled it about 2 feet, then, staggering slightly under the weight, placed it on the other ball. Snow is heavy, she realized. Annie constructed the final ball and placed it on top without difficulty. She stood back to admire her creation. She smoothed the edges a little bit, and filled in empty spots in the sides. Good. Annie picked up her carrot and decided to stick the skinny part into the snow, so that her snowman's nose was big and round. She drilled the piece of coal and the buttons into her snowman's face with her fingers and jabbed the stick-arms into his middle. Lastly, she pulled the hat over the snowman's head."Done!" Annie exclaimed, happily. It looked pretty great.
"Excuse me?" Annie motioned to a house elf, "could you..." She vaggly waved her hand at the snowman.
"Make it come to life?" The house elf asked.
"Yes, please."
The house elf waved her hand at the snowman. The snowman wiggled his fingertips, and then shook like a dog. Annie laughed. The snowman looked right at her. "Hello!" It said cheerfully. It looked itself over, then looked back at Annie. "Are you my creator?"
Annie laughed. "I guess so. My name is Annie."
"Hello Annie! What is my name?"
"Um..." Annie hadn't thought about it. "Inge!"
"Inge?" Inge said, unsure. Then she smiled. "I love it!" Inge looked around. "Would you like me to sing you a carol?"
"Yes, please!"
Jingle bells! Jingle Bells!
Jingle all the way!
Annie walked through the corridors, trying to find something to do. She looked out the window. The grounds were covered in a layer of snow sprinkled with students and baskets of various objects. What on earth are they doing? She thought. She studied the students more closely. Oh! They're making snowmen! She realized. This must be that event I saw the flyer for in the common room. Annie skipped toward the grounds, eager to join the fun.
She decided to try starting with her snowman's eyes, nose, hair and accessories. For it's nose, Annie picked the strangest looking carrot she could find. At first, she thought it was a turnip but quickly realized it was indeed a carrot. It was orange and round and the thin root that usually protrudes from a turnip was small-carrot sized. Annie picked one big heart-shaped piece of coal for her snowman's eyes (she decided to make it a cyclops) a few different colored buttons for the mouth, small branches for the arms, and a floppy hat with a large pom-pom. The next part would be to pick a spot to build. After some consideration, Annie chose a small hill with a flat top, and set to work.
Annie gathered some snow in her hands. It was so cold she almost dropped it. I'm not wearing any gloves, she realized, scolding herself. No matter. Annie liked the cold, anyway. She packed snow onto her snowball, one hand full at a time. It got bigger and bigger. She experimented with rolling her snowball on the ground, and to her satisfaction, with each roll, the snowball got bigger and bigger until it was about 2 1/2 feet in diameter. She smiled. The snow was perfect for building snowmen today. The next level of Annie's snowman was easier. She rolled it about 2 feet, then, staggering slightly under the weight, placed it on the other ball. Snow is heavy, she realized. Annie constructed the final ball and placed it on top without difficulty. She stood back to admire her creation. She smoothed the edges a little bit, and filled in empty spots in the sides. Good. Annie picked up her carrot and decided to stick the skinny part into the snow, so that her snowman's nose was big and round. She drilled the piece of coal and the buttons into her snowman's face with her fingers and jabbed the stick-arms into his middle. Lastly, she pulled the hat over the snowman's head."Done!" Annie exclaimed, happily. It looked pretty great.
"Excuse me?" Annie motioned to a house elf, "could you..." She vaggly waved her hand at the snowman.
"Make it come to life?" The house elf asked.
"Yes, please."
The house elf waved her hand at the snowman. The snowman wiggled his fingertips, and then shook like a dog. Annie laughed. The snowman looked right at her. "Hello!" It said cheerfully. It looked itself over, then looked back at Annie. "Are you my creator?"
Annie laughed. "I guess so. My name is Annie."
"Hello Annie! What is my name?"
"Um..." Annie hadn't thought about it. "Inge!"
"Inge?" Inge said, unsure. Then she smiled. "I love it!" Inge looked around. "Would you like me to sing you a carol?"
"Yes, please!"
Jingle bells! Jingle Bells!
Jingle all the way!
WC: 670/600
"Without courage we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous or honest."~ Maya Angelou
Stamina: 4| Evasion: 4| Strength: 3| Wisdom: 8| Arcane Power: 6| Accuracy: 5
Do You Want to Build a Snowman?
9 January, 2021
Gia had been planning to build a snowman at Hogwarts for a bit now, and so when she heard about the errand for doing just that, she immediately decided to participate. Really, why wouldn't she join in on the fun? If they were able to earn house points for simply building a snowman - something she was very good at - there was absolutely no doubt that it was something the eleven year old would do. She knew how to make the best snowmen, since she and Vance had done it plenty of times in the years before she arrived at Hogwarts. It would be a little odd building one by herself though, since she usually built it with other people, but. . . it would be fine.
The young Gryffindor hurried to pull on her jacket and tug a hat down over her ears. Once she finished with that, she walked quickly out the doors of the castle, stopping only a single time to look out in wonder at the beauty of the snow covered landscape before her. Hogwarts was a very picturesque place in general, but with the dazzling white ice and snow added on to that, it was much, much better - and who knew that could even be possible? She certainly hadn't, or she hadn't until she saw it for herself the first time it snowed.
Looking around the grounds to see where the errand was going to be taken place, Gia's gaze fell quickly to a group of people and. . . were those snowmen dancing around with them? No, that couldn't be. But the closer she got, the more of her doubt seeped away until she knew it for certain: they were snowmen talking with the students. The eleven year old knew that she should probably be used to seeing things like this by now since it had been multiple months since she first arrived, but she wasn't. Things like magic took a while to get used to, it seemed. At least this surprise wasn't a bad one.
The first year ran over until she was a little ways away from everyone, giving herself room to make her snowman. Or maybe it was going to be a snow woman, she had no idea yet. Gia looked at the other student's snow people and smiled when she noticed one was upside down. It was a good way to make it unique, she thought to herself. Then the Gryffindor girl got down on her knees and packed some snow into a ball that fit neatly in her hand. Ignoring the sudden shock of cold from the snow under her knees, she placed the snowball back on the ground and began rolling it through the snow that was there.
Once she had a ball of snow that reached all the way up to her knees, she began working on a second. Luckily, the blanket of snow that covered the ground was deep, so when she rolled the snowballs forward they didn't pick up much dirt or grass or leaves. They picked up none, actually, something Gia was very happy about. Clean snowmen were obviously much better than ones covered in dirt and twigs. By now, the eleven year old had four medium sized balls of snow, one big sized ball of snow, and two slightly smaller ones, which meant it was time for her to assemble all of them so that they actually made a snowman.
First, the young girl rolled each ball towards each other until they made a small spiral shape. When that was finished, Gia went over to the large pile of sticks and other small twigs and grabbed a bunch in her arms, struggling slightly to see over the brown branches in front of her face. Once she arrived back at her snow creature, the first year stuck them out of each snowball so they looked like legs. With the remaining two sticks she had left, the Gryffindor student made antennae. Then, she went back to the area where all the supplies were and grabbed a scarf, a carrot, and some pebbles. After placing the the pebbles on the biggest snowball for eyes, the carrot there as the nose, and the scarf around the "neck" of the creature, Gia stepped back to survey her snow caterpillar.
"Perfect," she said happily. Then, hearing all the singing around her, Gia tapped the closest house elf on it's shoulder. "Excuse me, do you know how to bring my snow creature to life?" The elf answered in a slightly squeaky voice:
"Yes, of course! Which is yours?" She pointed it out and the house elf nodded. A second later, he snapped his fingers, and. . .
"Hi!" Gia stepped back, startled. Her snow caterpillar was moving, and it was - it was speaking to her! But the shock wore off quickly, and she grinned brightly and gave the creature a wave.
"This is so cool! You're so cool!" The snow caterpillar seemed to smile back, and then it asked what it's name was. The eleven year old thought for a few moments and then told him: "Blitzen. Your name is Blitzen." Blitzen nodded, seeming happy with her choice of name. "Wanna sing something?" she asked him. The snow creature's face brightened.
"Yes! What song should we sing?" He asked her. Gia knew immediately.
"What about Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer?" Blitzen agreed, and the two of them began to sing.
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Had a very shiny nose
And if you ever saw it
You would even say it glows"
Blizten was just like she'd imagined him - plus super good at singing - and it was amazing! The two of them kept singing for a while longer, and Gia felt like she never wanted to leave. She would most definitely be doing more errands in the future - especially if they had something to do with bringing things alive. Vance was going to be so jealous when she told him about this the next time she sent him a letter!
Hogwarts was the best place ever!
ReducioSorry the photo isn't the best! And also, I know it looks kind of odd. . . I'm not the best artist lol.
1008/600 words
Last edited by Gia Adelard on 13 Jan 2021, 21:20, edited 1 time in total.
⋆ You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it⋆
Sta 8 ⋆ Eva 6 ⋆ Str 3 ⋆ Wis 7 ⋆ Arc 5 ⋆ Acc 6
Sta 8 ⋆ Eva 6 ⋆ Str 3 ⋆ Wis 7 ⋆ Arc 5 ⋆ Acc 6
Do You Want to Build a Snowman?
WC:625
The first 9th of the next year was a busy one for the boy, as he had some letters that needed to be delivered, after that he decided to go to the grounds, only to see various students already out and about. Apparently there was an errand happening, snowman in the mix. He had created a snowman before on his own, sure it was lopsided and more of a pile of snow than anything else but it worked.
Michael hurried up to his dorms, passing students wrapped in winter clothes on his way. In his dorm, he grabbed an old scarf, black, that he got the Christmas before Hogwarts. the second thing he grabbed was mittens, which he refused to wear not liking the feeling of that being able to use his fingers. Finally, he grabbed an old coat that was too small for him and some buttons from his drawer that he had accidently popped of a dress coat of his. After that he walked back outside. He laid the stuff on the bench closest and was about to start building his snowman when Henry came. "So what are you going build Mike? Do you think any trouble will happen?" he asked, Mike shrugged.
Michael had been distance lately, as he was still trying to figure stuff out, still trying to figure out if he was. . .
He couldn't even think it. The word was three letters long and he knew that the only reason he was like that, like this, was because of Percy. It was all his stupid eyes and stupid face and stupidly cute features.
Mike looked up as Henry began to make his snowman, bit by bit. Mike moved beside him, making his own, a smaller, less skilled snowman. He smiled where he sat on the cold ground, his gloved hands molding the bottom of his snowman, before building the rest. After that he put in the small coat. He looked around, before standing and getting some sticks. He walked back and rolled of the sleeves of the coat, stuck the sticks into the middle of his snowman, and then unrolled them. He was glad the mittens had a small rope on them, so he could tie it to a piece of the stick that was poking out on each of the makeshift arms.
After that he put the scarf on him, smiling at it. Then, the last thing it needed, he used his fingers to poke holes for two button eyes.
It needed something, but what? He looked around before seeing a small pile if rocks. He got some, making a small mouth on his snowman.
He looked up when Henry spoke last, before looking down at this own snowman and flushing redder on already red cheeks, "Mines named Timmy" he said, as he looked over his smiling creation.
Just as he stood up, two house elfs popped over, literally, and did something to the snowman, it seemed to shake, worrying Mike for a second about whether it would break, before it jumped to life. It seemed to collect snow from around it to make feet as it stared to dance, whistling a small tone. Mike started to giggle as he walked it, before looking over and thinking the house elfs for their special treat.
Timmy the snowman danced a final dance, before he bowed, and sat back down, snow legs breaking into just snow again, and was inanimated once again. Michael smiled at the thought of his snow creation. He looked over at Henry, "I like your snowman, and I'd love to meet the other people but its cold, i think im going to go inside" he said.
I wonder what Percy is doing.
"Do you love me, want me, hate me?" – Olivia Rodrigo
Do You Want to Build a Snowman?
✳hex color✳
✳✳12:15 PM✳✳
Aspen was, for lack of a better word, jubilant. After the odd, somewhat scary, craziness that happened in the Summers girl is excited to take part in one of her favorite winter activities of building a snowman. It did not snow in London over winter break this year, meaning that this is the first time in over a year Aspen can make a snowman!
Aspen took a lazy morning, sleeping in, having a large breakfast of pancakes and hot cocoa without even changing out of her PJs. When the time came, and after she started getting some odd looks for loitering at the table in the great hall, Aspen headed back towards her dorm to change into winter gear. Warm black pants, a white sweater under a light grey trench coat, and a plaid scarf looking positively cute. Aspen begins to head outside, almost forgetting her wand, but grabs it just in time before walking outside into the beautiful, snowed-in courtyard.
Aspen spins in a circle, laughing to herself as fat snowflakes land on her, catching a few on her tongue. Her eyes crinkle as other students laugh and make snowmen together, her eyes light up as she notices house-elves charming the snow-creatures into singing, what a wonderful day.
Waving at a few kids she recognized from class, Aspen walks over to a large empty space to begin her snowman. It takes a moment, to remember the steps one must take to make one.
First, you roll one massive snowball, that ball is your base.
Next, you roll a smaller ball, but not too small as your second layer. You carefully pick it up and set it on top of the base layer/
Thirdly, you do the same thing, this time with a little smaller of a snowball, your final layer.
Now comes decorating, a scarf, a carrot nose, time to be creative!
With these four steps laid out in Aspen's head, she gets to work. It takes a while, about 20 minutes, until Aspen gets a ball big enough to be satisfied. She rolls the ball back to her starting around and wipes her brow, even in the cold, hard work can make any girl sweat a bit. She throws her hair up into a ponytail with a band on her wrist and looks around, time for step two. This layer goes by faster, maybe because it is smaller or maybe because she knows what she is doing. When it is done, she enlists the help of a nearby, older student to magically levitate and set the second ball of snow on top of the first. When that is done and she has adequately thanked them, Aspen begins to roll out the third and smallest ball. Taking only a few minutes, Aspen all but cheers when it is done. The older student comes back to help, which earns them another round of 'thank you so much' from Aspen and now, three lumps of snow look more like a snowman than anything else.
Time for the last step, and frankly, Aspen's favorite. Digging around the lake for some smooth rocks, Aspen easily finds three of around equal size to use as buttons. She lightly pushes them onto the middle layer of snow and steps back, satisfied with her work.
Seeing that she is done, a house-elf scurries over to Aspen's side and explains that it can enchant the snowman to sing and dance, if the Hufflepuff desires. But first, she must name it. Aspen pauses for a moment, thinking of the perfect name for her perfect snowman, Puff, she decides. In honor of her house, the one that took her in when she felt oh so alone at this school. The house-elf goes on the enchant Puff to sing one of Aspen's favorite songs, one she would sing every year with her mom, 'Baby It's Cold Outside'.
Aspen, for the first time in a long time, is happy at Hogwarts. Purely content with the mix of magic and memories.
✳✳ interacting with: n/a ✳✳ mentioning: n/a ✳✳
✳ wisdom 5 ✳ stamina 7 ✳ arcana 4 ✳ accuracy 8 ✳ strength 6 ✳ evasion 7 ✳ statistically relevant [+2 acc] ✳
669 Words
Stat Relevant +2 ACC
Wisdom: 5 Stamina: 7 Arcana: 4 Accuracy: 8 Strength: 6 Evasion: 7
The Aspen Collection