Errand Dance of the Bushpeople

@Eliseo Céspedes, and everyone else

Justin was in a good mood.

Nearly everyone was, it seemed. Spring was always a beautiful time of the year, especially after a harsh winter like this, but this time it was somehow more. The grounds of the castle were blooming, and tiny saplings were peeking out of the soil. As the snow melted, it had washed away all the troubles of the year before. You could feel the change in the air.

Justin walked down the grounds. The day so far had been pretty normal. Or as normal as it could ever be here. He had woken up and climbed out of the common room early in the morning. He’d walked around the deserted corridors until he knew most of them by heart. Then he’d gone down to breakfast. However, this was a first. Justin usually kept away from the grounds. Especially in the winter, they were less than inviting. Classes had just ended, and there was nothing much to do just then. As he was wandering about, he saw the smoke from a large bonfire rising into the sky. He could make out a few figures standing around it. He’d heard something about a bonfire in the dorm yesterday, but that wasn’t really his type of thing, and he’d just forgotten about the thing soon.

As he approached the fire, he noticed the Groundskeeper, Mr Cespedes, and a few other students. There were quite a lot of students, but most of them were Gryffindors. Only three of four were Hufflepuffs. Typical. Just then, he remembered something about spring outfits. Everyone had some sort of clothing made of leaves and flowers. It would probably be a bad idea to use his school robes. He fished around in his bag, and eventually found a t-shirt. He could do something to this, maybe, but just a shirt wouldn’t be of much use. He continued to look through his bag.

It was a mess. Most of the things in it were useless. Still, they might come in handy one day. Might. Eventually he found a pair of trousers and a cape. Eventually, he decided on starting with the cape, and leaving the other two as a plan B. He decided to model it after the abomination that was the groundskeeper. With just I little less moss. He started by grabbing some material from the table. If all those students did use things from it, it was a wonder there was anything left. Nevertheless, there was enough to work with.

Weaving was not one of the accomplishments he was best known for, but he decided to give it a try. What could possibly go wrong. Quite a lot, actually. This was a bad idea. A terrible idea. Now that cape was useless. It’s not as if it was useful before, but now it had lost any possible chances of ever being useful again. Time for Plan B. This went a little bit better, and he ended up with a decently bush-like outfit. All the vines hid most of the actual work, which was a relief. It was not much better than the first. It still wasn’t enough, though. He decided to go for a crown. Many students had gone for using branches as the base of their crowns, but it had not gone well for most of them. There were a few nice ones, but those were way too complicated. Instead, he decided to go for a simpler approach and use some long wire. He had some experience creating dandelion crowns before, but that was Plan B. The new plan B. It is always good to have a backup.

He started his crown by twisting the wire into a roughly crown-like shape. Then he carefully added the leaves. Flowers? Flowers were not his thing, but the crown would look incomplete without them, so he gave in. There were a lot of flowers to choose from. Most of the table was covered in them. Why would anyone want this many? Most of the costumes he had seen so far were just moss. Still, a lot of flowers were available, and it would have been a waste not to use them. He picked some forget-me-nots, daisies and some honeysuckle.

After having completed the crown, he got into the outfit he’d created. It wasn’t terrible. But it certainly was not one of the best. In fact, he’d managed to create this ‘masterpiece’ in quite a short time. Now, he looked like everyone else. A wannabe shrub with a suspicious figure. Now that he was ready, Justin walked over to the bonfire. It was a large bonfire. He sat down and looked up at the sky. It was crystal clear outside the plume of smoke from the bonfire. Hundreds of stars glittered back at him. This might have been an accidental encounter, but it was a happy one, and he had enjoyed every bit of it.

Word Count: 819/800

Kazuo also turned his gaze to the treeline, smirking a bit. “Well… at a magical school where even the paintings talk, maybe there are also wizards who can talk to trees…” He half-joked in return, grinning. Coming from a culture where reverence of nature was still alive and well even in the modern-day, it would hardly surprise him to learn that there was magic that allowed such a thing. “Perhaps the trees deeper in the woods can talk. Do you think there are ents in the Forbidden Forest? I wonder if ents could be real… And what they would say if they could talk to us.” He babbled a bit, thoughts wandering.

He watched her turn her gaze back to the fire, tilting his head slightly as he wondered what might be going through her head. His gaze followed hers, taking in the same scene. His thoughts pondering the fascinating difference between children and adults. The flexibility in youth that most adults eventually lost. How many of these children had experienced some horror within the halls of the castle? Maria, he knew, had seen the zombies. Had she been there for the fire too? Was that why she was out here on the edge instead of revelling like a child should want to?

“I like watching from a distance.” He retorted to her response. “Also, I’m not a fan of mud… so distance from Atlas and Ethen seemed like a good idea… As for secrets…” He smirked a bit. “The trees tell me that Cespedes-sensei is secretly one of them. What do the trees tell you?”

It was a silly thing to do, an obvious falsehood. The trees told him nothing. But how Maria might react to his small bit of silliness might tell him something about her. Would she laugh at his outrageous claim? Well… maybe not that outrageous if you looked at the groundskeeper. Would she think he was being silly and make fun of him? Or maybe just walk away? He didn’t think she’d be the kind to just walk away because if she was, she probably would have walked away when he’d made the claim about talking to the trees in the first place. Or maybe she was just humouring him… he hadn’t considered that at first. Although, why would she humour him? So many questions running through his mind as he waited for her response.

Open to Interactions
Interacting with @Maria Dee

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@Gabriella Haworth
Stamina 8 ⋆ Evasion 6 ⋆ Strength 3 ⋆ Wisdom 7 ⋆ Arcane Power 5 ⋆ Accuracy 6

7:00 p.m.
Friday, 19 March, 2021

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Gia grinned at her friend as the Ravenclaw helped her put on her bracelet. "Thanks!" she said gratefully once the bracelet had been clasped onto her wrist. "I am so bad with jewelry - like, actually getting it on myself, I mean." giggled Gia. Nodding her head at the next question she was asked, the girl smiled again. "Yeah, I did. I'm so glad you like them, by the way. And they do kind of sort of match the theme, I guess. They're a bit fancy, but whatever." The brunette shrugged.

"I probably should," the first year agreed quickly. "You got that. . . where?" Gabby answered almost immediately, and Gia gave her a grateful smile. "Got it - I'll be right back. You can start without me though, if you want to." As she walked towards the pile that her friend had mentioned, Gia heard Gabby call out to tell her that there was food, too. A sly grin appeared on the Gryffindor's face when she heard this. Both of them had brought plenty of food to their birthday parties when those had happened - maybe too much food, to be honest. Spotting the pile of supplies, these thoughts were hurriedly pushed from Gia's mind, and she quickened her pace so she could reach it faster.

When Gia arrived, she grabbed everything that she could carry. Was she being greedy? Perhaps so, but everyone else had already arrived and picked up their stuff, so it wouldn't affect them too much, she thought. Of course, it had been her own fault for being late, but still. Her arms full of leaves, flowers, and, in one case, a long branch, Gia scurried back over to her friend and gave her a grin that she might not have been able to see. There was a bunch of plants blocking her face, after all. . .

Saying that she wasn't sure if she was going to "go crazy" or not, Gabby then pointed to someone who was tall enough - and definitely dressed up enough - to be the grounds keeper. Guessing that it was him, Gia called out and complimented his outfit. Turning back to the Ravenclaw, the twelve year old laughed. "I totally think that we should both go crazy. It'll be lots of fun!" After a short pause, she added, "Once we're done, we can go crazy with the snacks. Although. . . do you think it'll be hard to eat while dressed up like a forest-y swamp-like monster?" Another laugh escaped her lips. Even though the two of them hadn't started making their costumes yet, Gia was having a ton of fun.

Speaking of costumes, we should probably get started. . . the first year thought to herself. Motioning to the pile of green and brown with little dots of pink (the flowers) in it, Gia began speaking again. "How're we going to do that, anyway? How will we get it all to stick together?" An idea hit her. "Maybe we could, like, weave some of it? That'll still be hard, though." Glancing at her friend to see what Gabriella thought, the Gryffindor waited for a response.

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1117/800 words

Interacting with: @Kazuo Shimada
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“You learn that in History of Magic?” Was her response to his humor. She looked up at him and returned his grin before turning back to the chaos and enjoyment of the event. Her ears did perk up as she heard the boy in the tree mention ents. “You know your Tolkein.” That gained him a nod of approval from the Hufflepuff. Her father was extremely fond of the man’s works and used to read her The Hobbit when she was younger. It was how he earned her trust when he’d begun dating her mother when she was two, and it was one of her earliest memories of the man. He upheld the same tradition with her brother, reading to him every night. At some point her mother joked that the baby’s first word would probably be “Bilbo” with how often he heard it. “Maybe there are ents in there. Maybe they might tell us about what happens inside.”She hypothesized. “But there’s also a whole lot of other things that are much scarier so I don’t think those are stories we’d want to hear.” This was uttered a bit more to herself than to the boy. She did not know if he was a first year, but his curiosity of the Forest made it seem like he didn’t know all the tales from the dark that were circulating around the school. At the same time, it was not her place to tell.

Looking back to the event she saw two of her housemates were giving each other mud masks. She gave an unsavory look as she silently agreed with the boy’s reason for being far away. It didn’t seem like a nice feeling to have to bathe before bed or go to bed caked in mud. “Mud isn’t so bad, but I don’t think I’m in the mood to get dirty either.” She would look down at her shoes which were already muddied up and dirty. Yes, to get even dirtier was probably not the best idea.

The identity of sentient topiary was confirmed when he said that trees talked about the Groundskeeper. There no other adult-shaped life form around, so she guessed he was the foliaged sasquatch. “Well, he’s certainly one with nature, I don’t doubt that.” If he were more one with nature perhaps he would be greener and yelling for people to leave his swamp. Or as Kazuo suggested, if it was true that one could become anything he would probably be an ent. Oh to be a tree with no problems but to stand tall and grow and make food (with the occasional whispering to people) – yes, that seemed like a wonderful existence.

While searching for something else to talk about, she realized she’d yet to introduce herself. “My name is Maria by the way, in case the trees forgot to mention.”

Bex backed up his shirt choice, and Grant grinned, "That's what I was thinking, good to know I thought right!", he said as she brought up earthy colors. He recognized the contained snort his friend almost let out and kept his own countenance contained to help her hide it. It was no doubt just the surprise, as it had been for him.

Mention that he might need help was all it took, and Arista darted off and came back with a wreath, which she plopped onto his head. "Thanks!", Grant said, pushing the wrath up from where it had slipped a bit. Hmm...maybe now he just needed to get some branches and he could make like an antler wreath...

A familiar older voice drew Grant's attention. Andrew Vance had helped Bex out of a tough spot and made both Hufflepuffs friends in the process. Even with older cousins to look up to, there was something in also having the Slytherin to talk to and look out for them that was nice. And you could say things to non-family and not worry over reaction at times.

Of course the voice was about the only way to tell it was Andy, the rest of him being covered. As the older Slytherin mentioned sewing leaves, Grant felt a bit relieved that it wasn't a dumb idea. It seemed creativity was the name of the game here, and therefore nothing 'wrong', but still, as a first year, Grant had wondered. Bex's reassurances helped with that also, though. "Only a bit of help...", he muttered to Andy's teasing over studying with a smile, knowing that the older boy was just teasing.

If the needle was enchanted that would make further preparations go a lot faster and so was a good thing. As Andy mentioned the groundskeeper, Grant motioned, "I think he's the bush over there". It kept moving and playing music.

Grant had a vague idea of what an ocarina was, mostly from Andy playing one, but still he and Bex did a much better job explaining one than Grant would have! He smiled, "It sounds pretty cool actually!", he informed her.

Andy mentioning his pet made Grant think again on his plan to maybe get one next year (His cousin, Sarah, reminded him he needed to focus this year) and what he might get. He didn't like to say anything before he knew if he could manage it though.

Yet hearing Arista mention hers...

"We don't have any pets at home, and...I don't know, I thought about getting one...maybe", he went on and admitted. He wasn't sure what yet though. or Owl he thought, though again no sense counting either ahead of time.

He laughed and nodded as Arista pointed out the groundskeeper they watched him dance about. "Maybe that's why he likes to work the grounds, so the other teachers don't tease him".

Bex was further covering herself in flora, and Grant followed suit, next going over to the bins and in search of the branches he'd thought of earlier. He began rummaging through them and did come up with two very nice branches! Taking off the wreath, he found a good spot and stuck the two in, and replaced it, now looking like a half leaf covered deer perhaps!

Time to finish the effect. Grabbing another armful of leaves, he returned to Bex, Andy and Arista. "Looking good, let's see if I can match", he began trying to find spots to put the leaves while listening to Andy suggest the snacks and bonfire again. "Sounds good to me!". He blended in no matter how many extra leaves he put.

“History of Magic,” Kazuo snorted. “Nothing nearly so interesting, much to my disappointment. Tolkein was interesting. Such a creative imagination. It makes me wonder if maybe he had a glimpse of the magical world to inspire him. Or if he really created his entire world out of his own mind.” He slipped out of the branches of the tree, landing beside her with the grace of a boy who had spent much of his life to date climbing trees and other high places. “Are they scary because they are dangerous? Or because you don’t know what they are and the not-knowing is scary?”

While Maria gazed at the muddy Hufflepuffs, Kazuo’s gaze was drawn toward the darkness of the forest behind them, her words stirring his curiosity, not that it took much. He had been fascinated by the forest from day one. An entire forest full of magical creatures, forbidden to the students. So many stories spread by the students about what might be hiding among the trees. Which ones were based on truth and which were just Hogwarts version of urban legends?

He turned his gaze back toward their illustrious shrubbery of a groundskeeper, chuckling. “Do you think he showed up to his job interview dressed like that?” It was a fantastic mental image of the caretaker meeting the Headmaster for the first time, all dressed up in foliage. “The trees aren’t very good with human names. Or human languages. I know you, though. From the duels in January. Sorry for your loss. I was impressed at how long you were able to go after you lost your partner.” Kazuo gave Maria a genuine smile. “I’m Kazuo. It’s funny, isn’t it? How we are Housemates and they talk about how your House is supposed to be your family at school but how most of us barely know each other?”

It had been something he had been thinking about since January, how little he knew of his Housemates. He didn’t really understand the House system, even after months. It was hard to imagine viewing all these strangers as family, especially when he seemed to have so little in common with them. Maybe Maria had a different experience, she was a second year, after all. Maybe she’d made friends and connections. Were the girls different? “Maybe it’s a dorm thing.” He mused aloud. “You probably know more girls, right?”

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Interacting with @Maria Dee

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Rose was glad that she was able to make Starlee laugh a little and smile. That compliment had definitely been worth it. "Of course." Starlee began to play with Loki, which only earned her a little while's worth of attention from the cat. Loki wasn't much of a playful cat- he was very chill and always thought himself much better than the people around him. Rose hadn't expected him to interact much with Starlee. Maybe she should have brought Chaska, her own kitten. Chaska would interact with Starlee a lot more, and would definitely enjoy playing with a flower from Starlee's cape. Rose smiled at the thought. Maybe Chaska would make an appearance anyway.

The redhead was much too shy to dance like some others were, but the beat of the drums definitely was rhythmic enough to push some kind of movement to the beat out of her. She shifted her weight to her right leg and the other bare foot kept time with the music, tapping on the ground.

She nodded in agreement at Starlee's comment. It really did feel nice out. "Up here at Hogwarts it gets so cold during the winter," Rose added. "The weather warming up is definitely a good change. I heard a couple of birds the other day and it made me so happy." She smiled, remembering back. It still wasn't quite spring yet, but the two birds that had come out had definitely cheered her up way more than she expected that day. Spring, along with Autumn, were her favorite seasons. But definitely spring over Autumn. Rose agreed again with what Starlee said. Herbology was not her best subject, but it was definitely one that she liked. Starlee talked for quite a while, but Rose didn't mind. She paid attention to what the girl was saying. She just loved the way that people's eyes lit up when they were talking about something they loved. She basked in her shining happiness as she talked with passion. It was an amazing thing to see, and Rose wouldn't ever get tired of it. Whether it was dragons, art, or plants, Rose loved listening to people talking about the stuff they loved. "I really enjoy Herbology, too. These plants are just so pretty," she said.

Starlee asked her the same question, but in return. "I didn't really have anything else to do, and I wanted to take my mind off of all the stuff. You know?" she explained. "But pretty much the same thing as you. It looked like fun, so I thought- why not?" She grinned, marking the end of her explanation. It was a good bit shorter than Starlee's had been, but that was normal with Rose and her responses.

"Would you say Herbology is your favorite subject at Hogwarts?" she asked. "Would you want to do anything... professional with it in the future?" Like being a healer or even teaching here. Or maybe researching plants. She hoped this showed that Rose really didn't mind Starlee talking about what she loved, and she didn't mind that the blonde had rambled a little.

Interacting with @Rose Moon & @Henry Knight's cat, Loki

It seemed the little cat wasn't quite so into playing with her at the moment, as he batted the flower once, twice, and proceeded to prance away to simply observe the goings-on of the evening. She smiled as the cat did so, her thoughts trailing back to her own pet, who she wasn't sure would ever like her again.

She tried to remove these darker thoughts from her mind as Rose began to chat with her again, and Starlee continued her rhythmic bobbing. Starlee opened her mouth in a bit of surprise and happiness about Rose hearing some birds. It was certainly a sign that spring was here, and she couldn't wait to enjoy the weather. Spring, while being quite the explosive season in terms of color and growth, was also quite calming; the green grass and trees reflected by the cool blue of the lake, surrounded by the twittering of birds was just so relaxing.

Rose then mentioned she also enjoyed herbology, which sparked joy into her eyes. She hadn't yet met a single person who actually seemed to like the subject, which is why she typically never brought it up. People tended to think 'Ugh, plants, boooooring...' whereas Starlee could see the inner workings and magical and mysterious properties of them, almost like she could talk to them.

It seemed the redhead had decided to come for the same reason that Starlee had, but she was curious as to why the girl had shown up alone. There was something about Rose that Starlee couldn't quite put her finger on, but she was quite a lovely person. Surely she would be more popular than to just have Starlee hanging around her. But, perhaps it was also just because she was so nice? She seemed to genuinely be interested in Starlee's love of plants, and proceeded to ask her about them.

"Mmmm... Yes, I would say it is! Although Potions is a close second. They kinda go hand in hand, you know?" she said, clapping her hands together as she said so. Again, Rose asked another insightful question, but of course Starlee was ready to answer that one right away. "A healer, definitely! My dad's a healer, and his dad... and his dad... well, it runs in the family, and it seems I got the gift too!" she smiled, really beginning to feel a friendship blooming between the pair. She doubled back on Rose's earlier comment, and said "You are the first person that I've met so far that doesn't seem to hate Herbology!" she laughed, and continued. "What's your favorite subject though? Can't go asking me all these questions and not return the favor." She said, cocking her head to the side sweetly as she said this.

Reducio

The Cape & Flower Headpiece

Starlee got so happy when she heard that Rose was interested in Herbology, her eyes sparking with happiness. Rose couldn't help but smile at that. She loved it so much when she saw people happy. Sometimes the littlest things, like saying you liked Herbology too, could make people excited and spark joy into them. Rose loved it so freaking much- that look in Starlee's eye as she talked about Herbology.

The redhead nodded in response. "Exactly." Potions and Herbology did go hand in hand. A lot of plants in Herbology were used in Potions, so it was always cool when you used an ingredient in a potion that you had learned about in Herbology. Herbology wasn't Rose's favorite, but she definitely didn't mind it. Sometimes it was really hot or really cold out in the greenhouses, and the greenhouses also required a lot more walking than some of the other classes,, but those was the only things Rose disliked about it. Their teacher was upbeat and happy all the time, and you couldn't help but be interested in what he had to say. Even if their teacher had been boring, which he wasn't, the plants and class subjects never were. There was always some magical property that hooked Rose. It was just so fascinating. These were just like other plants, except they had different magical adaptations that helped them live in their environment. Sure, some of them were dangerous and you had to be careful around them, but that's what made it so exciting a lot of the time. Herbology was just cool.

Starlee jumped to tell her that she wanted to be a healer, telling her about that her family and how her dad and her grandfather were healers, running in the family. Rose smiled. "That's so cool. My mom is actually a healer, too. She works at St. Mungo's." A lot. Her mother worked a lot at St. Mungo's. Her family didn't go back and back in healing, but she knew her mother always had a passion for plants, healing, and helping other people. She was lucky that she had a healer for her mother. Her mother kept low maintenance plants around the house at all times, and Rose couldn't imagine her mother's room without them. "Does your dad work at St. Mungo's, too?" Maybe they worked together. That would be really cool.

"Really?" Rose asked. What was not to like about Herbology? "I know some people like that, too, but not everyone I meet." Eyre especially loved Herbology, she knew.

What was Rose's favorite subject? Ah, it was hard to choose. The spellcasting ones- Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration- always trumped the other ones, but which one did she like the most? "I really enjoy Transfiguration," Rose replied. "I know it's complicated and hard, but that's why I love it so much. It's so fascinating that you can just turn one thing into something else, by rearranging the atoms and their particles and stuff. The thought process just blows my mind. I always enjoy Transfiguration." Yes, if she had to choose, it was Transfiguration all the way.

Interacting with: Ethen and Atlas

Hexcode= #507091

Defying all logical courses of action, Sylvain watched in silence as Atlas called his bluff, smashing handful after handful of mud into his hostage's face. As awful as this sudden betrayal had to be, it earned a rib shaking laugh from Sylvain, the laughter threatening to make his cheeks sore from smiling. It seemed instead, she was going to be the big bad guy and he was going to have to find a clever way to get her back for it. Moss Boy was a funny enough insult, but improper knowledge of flora simply wouldn't do. "I'm coniferous," he said back to her mockingly, his voice stiff like an instructor's, "can't you tell the difference?"

"What else could I do?" He thought between his playful jab and looking down to Ethen, now the muddiest of the bunch. Sylvain felt as though a lightbulb would have appeared above his head. If she wanted a creative offense then she'd get it. As he scooped up two handfuls of mud, the first handful letting a squelch escape as the second handful was plopped on top, he leaned in and whispered into Ethen's ear. That is, if his ears weren't plugged too tightly he was going to share his idea. Extending a hand to help his hostage up, Sylvain gave him a wink."You go high, I'll go low."

Taking both handfuls of mud, splitting the one stacked atop the other and holding them out in front of himself as he ran at Atlas, launching himself onto his side, Sylvain then slid a few feet in the mud to just behind Atlas. Looking every bit like a muddy tree-branch prepared to sling sticky doom, what was his goal? Surely not to knock her to the ground himself, but to get in position for a tag team. Holding onto the two handfuls of mud in the event Ethen understood the set up, tackling her from high while he tackled low, both hands were prepared to dump earth onto the would be dirt-desperado.

@Atlas Reid @Ethen Emrys