28 Aug 2021, 03:54
An Unexpected Dip
With the second week of class completed, Avery felt that he was getting to know the campus better. He still got lost occasionally on his way to class, but the corridors were looking a bit more familiar, the dorm a little more homey, and the faces of his classmates a little more familiar. However, the Great Lake was still a place that he had yet to explore on his own. Sure, he had been to summer camp and he had hung out by the lake, but coming by himself was a new adventure of sorts. The lake party had been very well-maintained, with food galore, splashing children, and a well fenced-off portion of the lake cleared for swimming.IC Date: Friday, September 10, 2021
Without all the traces of a party, the lake seemed bigger on its own. No cheery swimmers filling the waters, no sunbathers laying across its beach, no boardwalks or springboards lining a perimeter. It was tranquil on this usual cloudy day in Scotland, and the water was a mysterious, murky shade of green. The air was just a bit chilly due to the cloud cover, and it seemed that fall was beginning to come. The small boy, still in his school uniform and robes but his dark hair a usual mess, walked towards the lake waters, wandering without a particular purpose except to explore the edges of the lake in search of any possible reading spots in the future.
It was a good day for a walk, and Avery picked this day in particular because it was Friday afternoon and classes had ended for the week, giving him the feeling of being able to finally make his way further from the castle. He lightheartedly hummed a tune to himself as he walked along, examining the flora as he passed, breathing in the air, and gazing at the hills in the distance. He was not usually one to wander around on his own, since the castle (and very possibly the grounds) were full of strange magical things, but many students often wandered to the lake, right? Henry had even said he liked to come here often for his light reading. What could possibly go wrong?
He passed some students lounging on the grass, noting that seemed to be a popular spot. Would he be able to find a more secluded reading nook? He wandered onwards, approaching some boulders in the distance. They seemed to be climbable. He leapt onto a boulder, and scaled the rocks towards the edge of the water, squatted on the edge, and peered down into the murky green.
Was something moving?
He looked a bit closer, spotting a snaking movement just underneath the water. Could it be billowing algae? No, it did not seem to move with the current. In fact, it moved more erratically, like it was slithering. An eel? He gazed at it curiously, wondering if eels lived in lakes such as this. It had tentacles! The boy let out a small, short gasp, as he watched the tentacles sway in the dappled waters, inching forward to take a closer look.
@Samantha Salwis
Last edited by Avery Chen on 11 Sep 2021, 14:50, edited 1 time in total.
29 Aug 2021, 16:30
An Unexpected Dip
@Avery ChenHer first real schoolweek was already finished, Samantha had no idea what happened with the time. Even though it was just a little over a week she had been back at Hogwarts, it felt like she had never left. Her summer break hadn't been the best one, so she was happy she was back.
Hogwarts now felt more like a home then it had ever done before. She could find her way in the big castle really easy now. In her first year she had felt lost, a tiny girl in a huge castle. Now it she felt home, Hogwarts was the place where she could be herself. She didn't have to lie about being a witch, she didn't have to hide a part of herself here.
Samantha had quickly gotten back to her daily routine. Making homework or reading a book at the great lake was part of it. She loved spending time by the water. She could relax, watch other students have fun and she sometimes even could catch a glimpse of the giant squid that lived inside the lake.
Today was no exception, Samantha was sitting on the grass at the lake. The homework she had gotten in her first week of school she had already finished. She had been eager to learn about magic again, just like a year ago. On the brunette her lap was laying an open book, but she didn't pay attention to it. Her blue eyes wandered over the lake.
A couple of other students were outside, but Samantha only paid attention to one. A young boy, probably first year, seemed to be very interested in whatever was in the water. The boy was dangerously close to the water. It worried Samantha, what if the boy would fall in?
The boy was pretty far away, but if she would yell at the top of her lungs he should be able to hear her. Samantha closed her book and placed it in her bag, she stood up and placed her hands next to her mouth.
"HEY YOU THERE! WATCH OUT! YOU MIGHT FALL IN THE WATER!" the small girl yelled as hard as she could.
29 Aug 2021, 18:26
An Unexpected Dip
Everything about Hogwarts was so bewitching. Paintings that moved and spoke, hats that knew your innermost thoughts and being, etc.. Large tentacles in the lake?!
Now, this was definitely something that needed a little bit of a closer examination. It seemed that one tentacle was thick enough to be the eight tentacles of a regular octopus, or something! Just how big would a creature like this be?
However, just as he decided to take a closer look, the tentacles receded back into the murkier depths. Avery sighed, disappointed that he couldn't observe them for longer. He gazed out into the distance, trying to see where they might've gone, inching closer towards the edge, putting one hand down on the side of a boulder so that he could crane his body further towards the lake.
"HEY YOU THERE! WATCH OUT! YOU MIGHT FALL IN THE WATER!" The shouted words caught him off guard, and he turned his head quickly to see if someone was addressing him. At that instant, his hand left the boulder and his awkward, twisting position made him lose his balance.
His eyes widened as he felt his body leave the boulders. He plummeted into the lake.
Cold, frigid waters engulfed him, and his robes swirled around helplessly. Water entered his nose as he hit the surface like a sack of potatoes. He struggled to come back upright, flapping his arms and kicking his feet, but it was difficult with all his clothing and shoes on -- they only seemed to weigh him down.
Finally, his head and shoulders broke surface, and he coughed for air, managing to at least tread water. He used a hand to wipe the water from his eyes as he kicked, managing to eventually swim to the boulders from where he fell. However, it was not a beach he could merely land on, as he had fallen from a bit of a height after all. He clamored with his arms, trying to get a good grip of the rock he fell off of, but it was just a tad bit too high, and he didn't have the arm strength to pull himself back up by gripping the top of the boulder.
@Samantha Salwis
30 Aug 2021, 22:28
An Unexpected Dip
@Avery ChenIt was like Samantha saw it all happen in slow motion. The boy's turned around right after he had heard her, leaving his body in a uncomfortable position. His arm slipped away and the gravity started to do its work. The boy started to fall and disappeared from Sam's sight.
"O no!" The brunette lowered her arms and ran over to the place the boy had fallen into the water. Her long brown hair and school uniform waved behind her as she ran. "I warned him, I told him." Samantha thought about how right she was, but she knew this wasn't the moment to tell the boy this.
"You okay?" Her eyes needed a moment to locate the boy, when she had arrived at the side of the lake. The boy was soaked, he had dark brown eyes. The boy tried to get out of the water, but he failed.
Samantha didn't look forward to get her cloak wet or dirty, but she knew she had to help the boy. After all it was kind of her fault that he landed in the water. Of course the boy shouldn't have been so close to the water in the first place, and all she tried to do was help him, but it was still her yelling that had made the boy fall into the water.
"Do you need any help?" she didn't wait for an answer. She laid down on her belly with her head and arms above the water. That way she should be able to help the boy get out of the water. He would be able to grab her and and pull himself with Sam's help out of the water. She place one hand so that the boy would be able to grab it and waited for him to do so.
1 Sep 2021, 01:47
An Unexpected Dip
Those darned tentacles! If only he hadn't been so interested in those things that were in the water. Were they even really there, or was he imagining them? He really didn't know at this point, nor did he care too much, now that he was having a difficult time actually getting out of the water. The small boy tried to see if he could find another way out, where the water was more shallow and the land more sloped, but it didn't seem like there was anywhere within swimmable distance at the moment. Goshdarnnit.
"You okay?" a girl asked, probably the one who yelled and saw him fall into the water. As he was struggling to get some traction onto a large boulder, he looked up to see a girl with Ravenclaw blue on her robes, and long brown hair. "Urrrghh..." he managed to grunt, trying to pull himself up in an embarrassingly unsuccessful manner. His grip slipped and he fell back into the water. His shoes and robes felt heavy with water weight.
If only his parents saw him now. They probably would've pulled him out of Hogwarts in an instant. A son of theirs, who had become so wild without direct parental supervision in some magical boarding school, falling into a lake? What a disgrace!
"Do you need any help?" The girl obviously saw he was struggling. "Umm, no, thank you, I think I got this," he replied weakly, not sounding very convinced himself. He looked for a way up that didn't require help, but sadly didn't find any.
He saw that the girl had already gotten down on her stomach to reach down with a hand. Seeing no other option, and not willing to make a further fool of himself, he grabbed her hand and allowed himself to be dragged back up onto the ledge of the rock face, dripping water everywhere from drenched clothing. He took a moment to steady himself and catch his breath on his hands and knees, face flushed with embarrassment. He must've looked a sore mess, clothing clinging to his skinny frame, hair drenched and dripping into his eyes. Avery shook his head like a dog to clear the beads of water from his dark mop of hair, but stopped when he realized he might've been spraying the girl with water. "Sorry," he apologized, deciding to just sit on the rock cross-legged for a bit, thinking he actually would've preferred lying down after that debacle. "I was getting there, but thanks for stepping in to help," he said, not believing a word he said about getting out by himself. There was no way he would've been able to get out without his savior's help, but he wasn't quite ready to admit it juuuust yet.
@Samantha Salwis
3 Sep 2021, 18:22
An Unexpected Dip
@Avery ChenThe boy let Samantha think of a clumsy puppy. He somehow had managed to fall into the water, even after her warning. She let out a little giggle when the boy said he didn't need help.
The way he had said it didn't sound confinsing at all. When the boy grabbed her hand, she couldn't surpres a triumphant smile.
In the proces of getting the boy out of the water, a part of Samantha's cloak became wet and she wasn't to happy about it. But still, she was in a far better state then the other student who looked like a wet dog. Appearantly the boy also thought he was a dog, since he decided to act like one. The boy shook his head and the some of the waterdruppels that had freed themself from his hair landed in Sam's face.
Annoyed she wiped it from her face. But when the boy said he was sorry and thank her, she couldn't stay mad any longer. "It is okay and no problem!"
Samantha sat next to the boy she still didn't know the name of. Her legs were stretched in front of her and she was leaning sligthly back on her arms. After she had observed the boy for a few second she decided that he was okay. Even though he had been pretty dumb, he seemed to be really sorry for the fact he got water in Sam's face.
She placed her hand in the air so the boy could shake it. "I am Samantha Salwis, second year, ravenclaw. It is nice to meet you."
One year ago the young girl had found it strange that when people introduced themself they always said their first and last name, but now she did it to. She made sure that the boy knew she was a second year students. She looked younger then she really was. Somebody on the train to Hogwarts had already asked her if she was a firstie, she didn't want that to happen again. She told that she was Ravenclaw because she was extremly prous of her house.
4 Sep 2021, 15:55
An Unexpected Dip
Our poor, dripping puppy was quite a sight. One could almost imagine a little puppy whining after having accidentally fallen into a shallow pond, emerging confused and disoriented as it scampered back up to dry land, tail tucked between its legs.
Perhaps it was the girl's sympathy for him that allowed her to be so kind, despite the water he sprayed at her from shaking his head. "It is okay and no problem!" she kindly replied, probably knowing that he was quite embarrassed in his sorry state.
Avery took in some deep breaths, squeezing some water from his robes, happy to be back on land with arms and legs intact. Who knew whether the giant squid (which he had heard about) was friendly or menacing? He might've been squid dinner, for all he knew! And the girl who pulled him out had seen everything: His awkward twist-and-fall despite her warning, the splash his small body made, the floundering like a fish who didn't know how to swim, the pathetic struggle-and-slip upon the boulder, and the final heave that took him up, causing him to finally splay upon the rock on his back like a melting gingerbread man.
However, the nice girl held out her hand for him to shake and introduced herself, breaking his train of thought about his pathetic state momentarily. "I am Samantha Salwis, second year, ravenclaw. It is nice to meet you." Avery stared at her and her outstretched hand.
What? She was an upperclassman of his? He had assumed she was a first year like him, considering her smaller size and younger-looking features. His previously blank stare turned into a look of horror, aghast. Mouth slightly open, eyes wide, as if he had just seen a ghost. It was bad enough that he thought a girl his age had seen everything, but she was his senior? How could he face any of his classmates after this, or participate in any club events, or walk in the hallway without hiding from all his upperclassmen? What would his snake upperclassmen think of this? All this happening, in his second week of school!
Somehow, he managed to stumble to his feet from his sitting position, leaving the girl's outreached hand unshaken. It was all too much for him to handle right now. "Sorry, I... I gotta go!" He gathered his wet robes in one fistful so that they didn't stick to his legs, turned, and sprinted away from the boulders, stumbled onto the grass, and across the grounds, back towards the castle. Thank goodness he didn't give her his name before he ran off without even an explanation. It's better that she didn't know who he was. Perhaps he could just stay anonymous, forever, as the mysterious Asian boy who fell into the lake one Friday.
Avery exits the thread
@Samantha Salwis
11 Sep 2021, 13:35
An Unexpected Dip
@Avery Chen
Sorry for the late reply!The boy just stared at her hand. Samantha felt like he didn't understand that he had to shake it, or he was just in shock. The second option seemed more likely, or the boy had to be really stupid. He didn't look stupid, he did look like a lost little puppy, but not stupid.
The look on his face turned into fear. Samantha was confused, what had made his scared? Was it her name? She didn't have a bad reputation at school, she was a nice and friendly student at least that was what she thought. How come this boy is so scared of her? She hadn't said anything rude. Samantha wasn't the kind of girl to wonder and not ask. If she wanted to know something she would figure it out.
The boy got up, muttering an apologie, grabbed his clothes and ran off, leaving Samantha behind. She was confused, she didn't understand what just happend. She tried to grab the boys arm to prevent him from running off, but she was to slow. She had still been processing what happend, which had given the boy the time away. She could still see the boy and she wasn't planning on letting him get away that easy.
"WHERE ARE YOU GOING AND WHY?" She got up and ran a few meters following the boy, but she quickly gave up. The boy had sprinted away and she wasn't going to make a fool out of herself by running after him. She placed her hands on her face, just like she had done a few minutes ago. "I DO NOT BITE!" She had no idea if the boy could still hear her, but it was worth trying. She didn't want the boy to be scared of her. She wasn't that scary at all. Sam didn't understand why the boy had run away from her and thought it was something she had done. She wouldn't rest until she found out why the boy had run away.THREAD FINISHED
