Insurrection Against Weeds Errand pv Finished

29 Jun 2021, 01:34

@Santario Martin

Word was flying around about a certain errand being put forward by the herbology professor. Many laughed off the prospect of digging weeds and doing actual gardening as a whole, but one person oddly had a liking to it. Percival had always been keen on the activity, normally doing it from "Chores" which even his parents knew he enjoyed secretly. Now and then he would do it without intervention in his spare time, mainly to calm his mind after a day of homework or a rough event. Considering the events that had recently happened, he really needed something to rest his tired mind.

Dressed in a pair of shorts and a comfy black sweater, Percival walked his way down to the great lake. From regular runs and walks, he had seen the place needed some kind of makeover from the overgrowth of weeds, so his first thought was to head down there as an area to tackle first. He didn't think many people would have the stomach to do this errand, especially snobby purebloods who didn't want a single spec of dirt on them. He wasn't entirely wrong, some students were spread out across the allocated area's but not a great deal of them. Not a problem, at least he was doing something decent and giving back to the school itself. Not many students would even think of doing that...

When he reached his destination, he was surprised to see a familiar face, and a pureblood by that fact. Santario wasn't the kind of person that struck him as a Gardner, but you never knew what was behind the cover of a person. As he approached, he made sure that his clothing was presentable and stood behind her, his arms crossed while he studied her technique of ripping out weeds "Who would have thought Santario Martin was a keen weed killer" he said sarcastically, before taking himself beside her and kneeling, not caring about his knees getting dirty or muddy

He had met Santario a few times, the first time being in the middle of a chaotic ball that had bloated bees stabbing people for fun. Since then they had somewhat gained mutual respect and a better understanding of one another poersonailitys. It would have been a lie to say that she was pretty, but Percy had no plans to go further than that with his process.

With his bare hand he reached down and tightly grabbed a large weed pile, suddenly tugging upwards to bring up the roots as a remedy to end its miserable existence "What are you doing down here? you're probably the only pureblood I've recognised that's even invested in this errand, let alone doing it" he questioned, clapping his hands to release any excess dirt.

“This is only a foretaste of what is to come, and only the shadow of what is going to be.”
Stamina: 9 / Evasion: 10 / Strength: 9/ Wisdom: 7 / Arcane Power: 7 / Accuracy: 11

29 Jun 2021, 03:59

Santario would remain oblivious to the young man’s approach as she continued to hum to herself while discarding the weed she had just unearthed. The trowel would be taken up once more, following the same pattern as before. Four clean slices into the dirt followed by her fingers entwining underneath its root structure and pulling it from the ground. That was when her eyes laid upon Percival Grey, and her humming cut off abruptly, almost as if she had been embarrassed. Not that she would have a reason to be any other member of the Frog Choir could attest to the fact that the young Slytherin could carry a tune.

Santario discarded the weed next to the first. “Greetings to you as well, Percival.” A smirk played with the corners of her lips at his words finding something about it amusing. As he approached, her dirt covered hands moved the trowel out of the way for him to take his chosen seat next to her. She watched his hands as he grasped a weed and uprooted it. As he addressed her once more, she looked back down, grabbing the trowel next to her to start working on her third weed. Silently, she wondered why he put himself beside her instead of across from her. It was curious but not something she would take the time to contemplate now. Most of the behavior of her classmates confused her.

“There are many, many things about me that most people don’t think or don’t care to know.” Stated matter-of-factly as she gave him a sidelong glance. “However, to answer your question. I love to garden; it was something that I used to do at home all the time. On top of that, I enjoy giving back to the school in my own way.” Santario reached up with her wrist pushing some of the stray strands of hair out of her face, managing to create a smeared line of dirt across her cheek in the process.

She would then wipe some of the dirt from her hands on her pants before placing her palms on her thighs, pushing up slightly, giving her back a quick stretch. More curious than anything else was Percival calling her out as a pureblood being here working on the weeds. A curiosity she could not help but call out. “What of you, Percival Grey, Hm? You speak as if most purebloods find themselves above and beyond connecting with the earth, and yet, here you are getting dirt under your nails just like me.”

@Percival Gray

30 Jun 2021, 02:00

@Santario Martin

Nodding slowly to what she had to say, Percival ripped out another large patch of weeds. His hand was already covered in a layer of dirt, some finding their way into his once pristine fingernails that he savagely used to pry the roots locked into the earth. He placed it neatly in a pile to the right of him, his gaze soon looking back to Santario who said something similar to his ideals. She was also doing it to give back, something of which forced a small smile to appear in the corner of his lips.

"That's a good way of going about it, considering that's my reason for being here too" he replied to her while wiping some dirt that had attached itself to his knees. Santario soon asked him about the way he was putting across pureblood participation, almost as if he was saying they were above all this. With a small sigh, Percival turned his head fully to the girl "Unfortunately, many purebloods have this mindset of being high and mighty where all they do is let others do it for them. Thankfully, from an early age, my parents drilled the lesson of hard work and dedication into my values. Heck, most of the items I own at Hogwarts I had to get myself out of my own pocket." he confessed, not really fussed if Santario had a problem with his parents being strict.

Secretly, he was happy to see another Pureblood getting their hands dirty and doing hard work as he did. He didn't see it too often, but it was always a pleasure to know that someone else wasn't a part of the typical pureblood set "You seem to know what you're doing, who introduced you to this kind of stuff?" he asked curiously before turning back to the job he was here for "Also, have you seen many black orchids around here? I've searched around the great lake and haven't found any as of late"

“This is only a foretaste of what is to come, and only the shadow of what is going to be.”
Stamina: 9 / Evasion: 10 / Strength: 9/ Wisdom: 7 / Arcane Power: 7 / Accuracy: 11

2 Jul 2021, 15:07

It was admirable that he was here to give back to Hogwarts, even if the school was trying to kill them every few months or so it seemed. Though all in all, it seemed as if they were here for the same reasons, which was interesting. Perhaps, if Santario had taken even one moment to try and understand her peers, this would not have surprised her so much.

As he gave her his full attention, even if it were adorned with a sigh, she would in kind do the same. After all, the weeds were not going anywhere, but the boy before her certainly could if he so desired. So, she listened while studying his face while he spoke. It was something she did with most. Trying to learn their mannerisms and little idiosyncrasies. She would find herself nodding as he spoke something else that was admirable. Perhaps, he, like many other Slytherins, did not deserve her disdain.

“I think that was good of them.” Santario was raised much of the same way while her parents were alive. Since she had been forced to move to France, she was almost not allowed to lift a finger, and she hated it. When Percival would ask her who had introduced her to this kind of work, her eyes dropped. A myriad of painful and happy memories triggered all in one. An awkward silence was avoided by his second question as she did not answer him straight away. She did not pay attention whether he noticed or not as her hands absent-mindedly reached for her trowel to start working again.

“No, I can not say that I have seen any, but Orchids are a summer flower if I am not mistaken. They probably only start blooming a month or so before we graduate, and that is when we are most swamped with exams.” Santario took a deep breath, and she allowed her hands to flow through the automatic process of weed removal, albeit at a slower pace than before. “My mother introduced me to gardening. It was one of her favorite past times.” Past tense, it was not exactly a secret that her parents were dead. Two affluent purebloods murdered on a Christmas Eve? The gossip would have hit the pureblood circuit like a wildfire.

“My mother was ahead healer at Saint Mungo's, so we had our own vegetable garden and a potion ingredient garden. We spent a lot of time outside cultivating them. She taught me many other things as well, like muggle first aid. She always wanted me to be prepared in case I was ever without my wand. It was her belief that while we do have magic and it is great to use it, there may come a time where we cannot rely on it.” The Slytherin fights of last year had only further ingrained that lesson into her brain. Magic could not always be relied on, and in many cases, it was a crutch.

“Hm., maybe we’ll get lucky and have a summer camp here again like what happened before our first year. Perhaps, you can find some black orchids then? I assume those are your favorite?” She mused while ripping a weed from its home. If they were, he was lucky that his favorite was native to Scotland. She didn’t think hers was, but not that she was thinking of it. She realized she never bothered to find out before now.

@Percival Gray

22 Jul 2021, 00:41

@Santario Martin

Gray nodded to her first reply and proceeded to ask his questions, a firm grip on the thick weeds below. Being as sharp as he was, he noticed the small hesitation in her reply and stopped tugging on the weeds for a few seconds, realising what he just asked. How could he of been so absent minded, this was Santario Martin, a girl whose past was well documented in the pureblood scene. Gray almost felt bad for purposing the question, but when she answered he looked her way and nodded slowly, a frown crossing his face from the thought of losing his own

"You're doing something very respectable by going down that path, I'm sure your mother and father will be looking down with great interest," he said with a rare friendly smile before suddenly tugging out a big patch of weeds that had resisted its fate "And, you really don't know how useful that will be in the future. Considering the dark presence that plagues our school, you'll probably end up saving lives"

Her willingness to help people made him admire Santario. She was different compared to the rest and seemed to have a head that was firmly screwed on. If only there was more like her in the school, everything would be fine and dandy by now

"I believe you're right, summer camp will be the best bet really. The only problem will be finding them in the first place. I asked my father about any spots he knew while he was a student here. But when I went to check it appears they were moved or simply destroyed." he said, his eyes gazing around him for a good few seconds "They are not just mine, but my whole family. We've pretty much adopted it as our plant of choice... the dark yet beautiful features really make it different from the rest. Kinda like yourself" he said in a surprising change of direction, even though he probably didn't even realise or make it out that way.

Slowly, he lifted his hands from the weeds and put them on his knees, looking out into the far horizon of the lake. It was almost as if something had struck his brain and led him into deep thought, one that left him with another frown crossing the corner of his mouth "You know, I never realised how beautiful Hogwarts can be." he explained, his right hand beginning to visibly shake from the thoughts that were seeping back into his mind. Looking down, he casually gripped it with his left and stopped it from moving, nonchalantly continuing as if nothing happened "Although, there will come a time where we will need to fight and protect this ground from the stench that surrounds it. I'm afraid not everyone will be ready in time to face this threat..." he said in a lower tone.

He and the other students had seen horrors beyond their wildest dreams already but had come far to overcome such evil. The only question was, were they prepared to go further beyond?

“This is only a foretaste of what is to come, and only the shadow of what is going to be.”
Stamina: 9 / Evasion: 10 / Strength: 9/ Wisdom: 7 / Arcane Power: 7 / Accuracy: 11

22 Jul 2021, 05:04

If only she could do better, though. Percival spoke beautiful words, but everything looks great on paper. Santario’s success had remained mostly… non-existent, or at least she felt that way. It was not entirely true she had managed to do some very heroic things, and she had saved someone before. She just happened to see that there were more failures than that one success. “That is the hope.” It was quiet enough that she was not sure if he had heard her. A small peak into her own insecurities.

“That’s a shame.” She interjected in his pause, also taking a moment to look up around them. Making a mental note that she should take some time to see if she could find any during summer camp. She had plans to take photographs, and if she correctly remembered, orchids of any kind only liked indirect sunlight. Then Percival spoke of his family and their deep connection to the flower. “I suppose I am a bit different.” Santario usually tried to talk before fighting, granted not all scenarios allowed for that, but she did at least try most of the time.

“My family doesn’t have anything like that per se, but my locket has been passed down since my great grandmother, and it has my favorite flower on it.” The white rose locket that she rarely took off the possible only exception had been the most recent ball. Another thing most of her housemates would quickly know about, the silver chain could be seen by the collar of her shirt, but the locket itself resided under the cloth.

She looked at him now when he spoke again, and she nodded. “Sometimes it is hard to remember.” Her eyes momentarily dropped to his hand before returning to his face. The urge to ask was there, did he get cursed? Was he inadvertently one of the ones she was working to try and save? Would she fail him too? How interesting it was that such a new acquaintance could make the weight on her shoulders that much heavier, but she did not blame him Santario blamed the world they were thrust into. “Most of them are too blind to see it. What is happening, what will happen, and when we try to tell them, they jump to conclusions instead of listening. We are in the middle of a war…”

Her voice faded as her eyes dropped to the ground and the tiny holes they had made in front of them. A dry chuckle escaped through her nose. “Not unlike our work here. So much to be done with so few hands… Only here we at least stand a chance.” The conversation had turned grim, but that did not surprise her as she continued to stare down at the holes in the ground. It usually did when she was involved, but she was not one for ignoring the truth around them. "It is why I take so many photographs, you know. In that one moment, preserved, everything is as it should be."

@Percival Gray

2 Aug 2021, 23:48

@Santario Martin

The prefect nodded slowly and listened to what she had to say of her heirloom, his gaze shifting to the silver chain that was seen around hanging around her neck. Not many families chose to preserve their family history, but for those who did, Gray always found it fascinating to listen to the story behind the object. He wanted to see the locket itself, but more pressing matters took over that motive.

A frown crossed his lips when she mentioned not many people chose to listen, Something of which was unfortunately too true. Many students attending Hogwarts were still stuck in their bubble, unknowing of the dangers that were to come and what was already here. Those who chose to ignore or jump to conclusions were simply afraid of the unknown, they simply didn't know how to handle such a bleak incursion "They are not prepared, that's all it boils down to..." he replied coldly before his hand roughly pulled out a weed from the ground

Gray threw the plant with the rest of them, soon releasing a quick smile from her lack of hands joke "I'm afraid we'll need an army to get all this done. I dread to think how long it would take with just the two of us" he remarked to the Frenchman, briefly chuckling to himself from the very thought alone. The sight of the Hogwarts grounds being weed free would bring a tear to anyone's eyes, especially the groundsman who'd probably breakdown in uncontrollable joy.

Percy looked back to Santario with interest when she mentioned her photography. He had always admired the hobby and wished he could get into it himself, but other things had always come ahead "You're right. When you take a photo it stays in that moment forever, ageless and unchanged from when it was taken. That's why you should always use it for good and preserve all the moments that make people happy" the boy said thoughtfully while nodding over to the lake, giving notice to the sunset that was beautifully disappearing under the lake "A view like this has a right to be preserved..."

Although, that would only happen if they let the darkness surrounding their great school take over. This was a safe haven for everyone, and he wasn't willing to let that get taken away by a few maniacs bent on destruction. Looking back to his counterpart, he looked intently at the bright orange glow shining onto her face. For now, he saw Santario in a different light. The once seemingly grumpy student had now turned into a thoughtful girl who really understood the things going on. His only displeasure was that not many students were like her at all "Even though my shorts and knees are covered in dirt I'm quite satisfied with our job so far. There's no hard work without a bit of dirt" Gray nodded with satisfaction. However, a cheeky idea suddenly snapped into his brain.

Slowly, his hand reached down to a small dirt pile below and grabbed a handful of earth. Without warning he playfully tossed it at her waist, looking to break the nervous tension the conversation had led to "Maybe after this, you'll look the part!" Percival chuckled, a rare goofy side showing in the way he acted.

“This is only a foretaste of what is to come, and only the shadow of what is going to be.”
Stamina: 9 / Evasion: 10 / Strength: 9/ Wisdom: 7 / Arcane Power: 7 / Accuracy: 11

6 Aug 2021, 02:43

No, they were not prepared; none of them were, not even somewhat informed people like Santario and Percival. After all, they were still children thirteen going on thirty trying to be prepared to fight a war they had no business being in. It was downright soul-sucking when you thought about it and was often why Santario was so quiet; it was all she could think about at times. “Are you one of the cursed?” It came out suddenly before she could even think to stop herself. There had been so many bitten that night somewhere between twelve and fifteen, but she just was not sure who it had all happened to.

A small chuckle escaped her. “We would easily be here the rest of the year if it were just us. You should keep that in mind for future detentions.” Granted, she was sure that the groundskeeper could probably magic the weeds away somehow. She was sure incendio would do the trick if they really wanted to get it done quickly. Santario had felt his eyes on her as he spoke about using her photography to preserve beautiful places such as these, and she had. Santario had more pictures of the grounds, lake, and castle than she could count. Even some of the lake dwelling creatures that could be seen from the windows in their common room. Santario finally looked back at him and nodded her agreement, not wanting to finish his sentence.

She smiled at him as he declared his satisfaction with their job. “I agree I-“ She was cut off by a clump of dirt flying at her. “Percival!” She gasped, which quickly flowed into rare laughter and a smile that truly touched her eyes. Though she would pay the boy back in kind as her hand scooped up a clod of dirt and tossed it at his chest. “I started before you. Clearly, you are the one that needs to look dirtier!” Up to this point in time, there had only been three other students to see her this way, and it was a rarity in the beginning, even more so now, but Santario was not all that she appeared to others. She pushed them all away for a reason, but right now, she couldn’t bring herself to remember why.

@Percival Gray