Silence is Golden.....Sometimes Finished

Harper had looked everywhere for some peace and quiet. It seemed as though everyone wanted to be in the library. Normally if the library was full, then she would head back to the Hufflepuff common room to read or write. Not today apparently. She never left the castle, at least not ourside if her classes. So she gad decided that she would get some fresh air for once.

It was a fair day outside, except the temperatures cool and the wind a but chilly. Not that Harper minded that much, she rather liked cool weather. It somewhat reminded her of London. When she would walk outside with a breeze of chill air hitting her face. Even though She has been at Hogwarts for some time now, it's never really felt like home.

Harper kept her eye on the Whomping Willow as she passed it. Was it really enchanted? She soon walked by the greenhouses, recalling her lessons there. It was one of her favourite classes, other than charms. Eventually, she came upon a hill with an excellent view of the Great Lake. There already was a boy sitting on that hill, but that wasn't what drew her attention. In the shimmering blue waters of the lake, giant testicles were visible above the surface of the water. Unconsciously, Harper sat down next to the boy in the emerald grass, and watch the testicles move curiously. She heard that there was a Giant Suid in the Great Lake, but she didn't believe it at first. "Is that the Giant squid?" She asked the boy, a Slytherin based off if his robes, quietly.

Kyden had been so entranced with the tentacles of the Giant Squid he hadn't heard the girl come up behind him. He jumped slightly and whirled around when he heard her speak. "Um Yeah it is. It's pretty amazing isn't it?"

Kyden turned back to stare at the Squid. The tentacles tangled and untangled themselves. It almost looked as though they were dancing with each other. It was truly an amazing sight. He then thought about how rude he was being to the girl. He should be more polite, he was a Prefect after all. 

He turned back towards her and smiled. "I am Kyden Goodlow and it's a pleasure to meet you. This is just such an amazing view. I wish some Merpeople would come up just enough so I could see them but I know the odds of that are extremely low. Think of all the amazing creatures and thinks that live in the water. It's actually quite spectacular really. "

He stopped talking and looked down toward his bag. He looked in his bag checking to see if maybe just maybe he hadn't left his sketchbook in his dorm after all. He dug through the bag but had no such luck.

Hogwarts was a big place that Dana loved exploring. There always seemed to be something new to find, a new room, a new corridor, a new area, new paintings and people in them moving as if alive. The exploring was really interesting although Dana seemed to get lost a lot being too shy to ask someone for help not having gained friends yet in the new school, and the fact that she felt homesick didn't help. She missed her mothers cooking, baking, and how she encouraged her to do her best no matter what. Her mother always belived in her and wanted he best for her, that's why she sent her to Hogwarts in the first place, so suddenly being here with no friends and no reassurance felt lonely.

Today though Dana explored the outdoors and everything outside the castle. She made a mental note to herself to write to her mother about it as soon as she could. She reached the Great Lake hoping to to be seen by the Slythering and the Huffelpuff being too shy to make a conversation, though she saw the suid move in the water, startling her and making her jump and gaining their attantion by accident.

"Sorry about that, I've just never seen something like that before and it scared me..." She laughed nearvusly, "I'm Dana, by the way."

Kyden turned to see a second girl approaching. This one was a Ravenclaw judging by her robes. It was quite obvious that she was frightened by  the Giant Squid. "Don't worry about him. He can't get you as long as you stay out of the water. Nice to meet you I am Kyden."

Of course if they got just a little bit closer the Giant Squid would be able to splash them with out a doubt. He looked at the new girl and smiled. He could tell she was nervous about being so far away from home. It was different for him of course. He didn't really have a home per say. 

"So tell me how are you liking Hogwarts? It's pretty amazing isn't. This is my first real big adventure outside of the castle. Other than for classes I have had no need to leave the castle. There is just so much to do and explore in there. However I figured since there isn't so many people out today and I like the cold, I thought it might be fun to be outside."

He stopped talking and looked at the girls again. He always seemed to babble on when he was around others. It was most definitely a curse more than a blessing.

The boy's talking sure calmed Dana down. She's generaly a friendly peson once a conversation is going, but starting a conversation - no. She was never good at that.

"Yes, it's definitely amazing. I mean, it's so big it actually seems endless." She glanced at the Giant Squid again, this time taking a moment to admire it. "I think this is the biggest, most fancy place I have ever seen."

She never had much money growing up, ever since she could remember it was just her mother and her. She did have her friends and her bullies, none of her friends were close enough to actually keep in touch with after moving to Hogwarts though.

"Actually I'm still a bit shook by everything. I mean I didn't even know witches and wizarsd existed up until a few weeks ago, let alone that I'm one myself." She always loved stories, fantasy books all kinds of things that were fictional - except they weren't. Unicorns, Griffons, drangons, magic, all was real, and she was part of it. She HAD to make her mother pround no matter what.
Dana was actually quite worried for her mum, it has always been the two of them and now it's just her in that small apartment.

"You never did tell me your names..." She pointed out

Verla walked along the lake shore, almost skipping happily. She smiled as she played with her new bowtruckle, she had no name for him yet, and she didn't want to name him after her last one, she'd bought this one at the store and she wasn't going to give him up no matter what people told her, she didn't care. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw others in front of her. Then she kind of shied away, hoping they wouldn't see her. Maybe she could speak if spoken too, otherwise, she didn't have a parchment to write on. 

They'd probably see her as a freak. She tried to say HI, and she opened her mouth to, but nothing came out, just a small squeak. She was embarrassed. Come on Verla! Make some friends! She walked up to them, after grabbing her bag and pulled out a piece of paper with HI written on it, and after that was I'M VERLA. Verla was embarrassed, maybe it was best if she didn't speak. Sometimes it was hard to get her to speak, other times it was hard to get her to shut up. She smiled sweetly at them though, hoping not to frighten them or intterupt their conversation.

Kyden looked at the third girl who was now approaching. He could tell she was a Hufflepuff. He had seen her around. He looked at her and smiled. He was surprised at how what he thought would be a nice day outside alone was turning out to be a nice day to meet friends.

He looked at Verla who was not speaking and a thousand questions ran to mind. Was she deaf? Could she speak? How could she do spells and things if she couldn't speak at all? He was very curious but didn't want to offend her so he bit her tongue. 

"Well to all of you. I am Kyden Goodlow. Obviously I am a Slytherin. I am actually a Slytherin Prefect." He smiled at the girls. "So how are we all liking Hogwarts? It's pretty cool isn't it?" He glanced back out at the water watching the Giant Squid fling it's tentacles around. If Kyden and his group of friends where about 10 feet closer they would be soaking wet from the splashing of the Squid.

Kyden mentally told himself to come out on a day where it was just a little bit warmer and sit close enough. It looked like it would be fun. 

Verla began to shake and smiled back at him. She wrote down, I can speak, I just get so dang nervous when I speak to new people, so my mother taught me to write it down. Verla scratched off the mother part, she did not want to get into that conversation. When she spoke, her voice began to shake, but she spoke in the kind and sweet and gentle voice that she had, "N-now that I-I K-know you, I c-can speak, half ways." Verla then thought of the time when her mother had slapped her.

"Verla Jane Harness! You get down here right now!" Her mother yelled.

Now what had she done? She rushed down the stairs and saw the mud all over the floor, she had just mopped, and she groaned "now who did this?"

"Don't play stupid with me Verla Jane Harness, you washed the floor halfways! I swear I'll have your hide for this."

"No mother! I didn't do this! I never would, you know that!" 

*SMACK* across the face.

Verla cried and ran to her room and laid on her bed and snuggled her now dead cat, she just got slapped for something she didn't do.

Dana looked at Verla and realization hit her. The other day when she flew for the first time, she lost controll of the broom and Verla saved her from possibly snapping her neck.

"I remember you though!" Dana smiled cheerfully looking back at Verla's kindness. "You helped me land when I couldn't hold on to my broom propraly. I could have gotten seriously hurt if it wasn't for you. Thank you for that again."

Dana briefly remembered a bad expirience with a broom that Verla mentioned before. Back then she asked her about it, though Verla never answered so Dana figured she should let go of the topic. She turned to look at the lake again, seeing the Squid swim around, splashing water at the shores.

A cool breeze blew, sending shivers up Dana's spine. She could take the cold, but was never too fond of it. Maybe she just got tired of rainy days after living eleven years in London, and above that the best memories she had were in worm days. The memories assosiated with cold were her mum and dad fighting, and her mum working late and Dana waiting for her, staring out the window to the rain. Scratch that. Dana hated the cold. It was bearable only physically, even then making her uncomfortable.

"I wonder what it does in the winter, when it snows and the lake probably freezes..." The cold breeze made her ponder as she mumbled refering to the squid. She thought out loud more often than she'd like to admit, at times not even realizing it.