Close To The Water

High up in the trees again, Hunter finally found a spot to breathe and not be bothered. Originally it was himself in the courtyard, and then he transferred to the trees by the Grounds area of Hogwarts. In both cases, a student or a group of them would show up and question Hunter on his readings or disturb his peace of mind. As for the potions room, it was getting too dark and stuffy even for him. So much studying, his grades were better than they should ever need to be. Hunter just wanted to rest. He was falling asleep in classes, mid-readings, or was always in a half-daze when walking through the hallways.

The Great Lake, with its cool and warm temperature and decent scenery. Especially in the early morning, it was something no one would want to miss. The way the light shined upon the water's surface and danced through the few bits of mist that slowly crept by. It reminded Hunter of home, and it was something he was glad he could cherish. In this small part of the school, a small corner in Hunter's world that he could enjoy to himself. He rolled onto his back as he lay upon a scarce branch on one of the scarce trees in the area. One leg off swinging back and forth just enjoying the soft cricketing sounds with his eyes closed. Hunter felt like he was back home, he felt like nothing had ever changed. He began to quietly state the few teachings his mother gave him on how to be a great healer. He began to recite the ingredients to Murtlap essence. His mind was healing, so he- *Snap*

Eyes open, a sudden familiar jolt entered Hunter's muscles as he shot himself up to find out whatever that noise was. it sounded familiar to a twig snapping. To his left was the castle. A lovely view as the sun was still rising behind its massive walls. To his right was the more clear greenery of the Great Lake with a few more trees and large boulders covered in moss. Below him, was a bit more of a surprise. Another student. Hunter gave a slight sigh but decided to just let it be how it was.

He stayed up there for a bit and waited for the girl below him to talk loudly or make a ruckus like most students Hunter had met. Perhaps she was here to practice magic, or perhaps she was here to vent about something. Hunter was just gonna wait and ignore whatever it was. So, he waited and waited... No sound so far. Just ringing crickets, a few croaking frogs, and the smooth crashing sound of the waves. Hunter turned over on his stomach to look back down towards the girl. She was reading in a rather peaceful way. She seemed focused and Hunter never really got to meet another student like that. Most were either crazy or mysterious; not many seemed peaceful. As Hunter watched, he grew in curiosity about what she was reading. He never wondered what another student was reading, but Hunter was bored and left all his things back in the dorm; except for a few chocolate frogs he planned to snack on later and his wand. As he leaned to see if he could get a glimpse of the title of the book, he could see his reflection in the water near the girl. He immediately backed away, "Crap..." He thought.

@Judith Cohen

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For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo." She whispered. Yes, by wonder, Judith read novels, Romans, and she was obsessed with them. William Shakespeare was her idol, nothing he had read was something she did not like. When she read the books, she felt safe, locked in a story that indeed does have an end, every story does, but you just have to flip it over, to relive it. And that was worth some good galleons. At home, her room was practically a library, filled with books, and so is her trunk, she brought over 25 books with her, once she knew, she could live over and over again. And there was no moment, you would see her, without.

Her love for books had always come as a surprise for her parents, her mom read books, but never this many, nor were they novels. Her mom was obsessed with history, and knowledge. Judith was rather obsessed with the feeling of living the book. And the last year, she has been reading them more and more. They reminded her of her and her sister. Which she valued more than anything. She looked up over the river, tempted to go into the water. Judith loved swimming, but in no way she'd be swimming now, she wasn't into detention, not at all. So she returned to her book, reading in peace.

As she was reading, she suddenly had this weird feeling, she wasn't sure what exactly it was, she looked up, looking around her as if she was looking for something. And then she knew. She felt like two eyes were poking into her skin. Someone was watching her. She looked around, but no one to be seen. She leaned towards with her back to get a view behind her, but still, no one was to be found. She shakes her head, telling herself that she was just hallucinating, and tries to get back to reading. After a few minutes she closed her book, she couldn't concentrate, she opened it back again, trying again to get back into her story but it was still unsuccessful.

She looked at her book and then back around her. She stood still for a moment, listening if she could hear anything, she looked up and to her surprise, there the eyes were. A boy was lying on a branch of the tree where she had been sitting against. She looked up and silently said. "What..the..hell".

Intercating with: @Hunter Argentum
Word count: 420

Her lips moved and were definetely on Hunter, he was found in a bad position. A calm morning high up in the tree has resulted in what could end with him being judged or mistaken incorrectly.

Shifting himself, he stood upward a bit to prepare for a descent down to explain himself. Hunter was sure he wasn't in the wrong, but he was found out and it would be akward if nothing was said. Unfortunately, Hunter overestimated the strength of the branches in the Great Lake. The moist atmosphere and gluttonous mold that grew on the trees made them more flimsy than those in the grounds. He could hear it loud, the too familiar sound of a branch slowly about to snap. Hunter's luck was just not with him today.

Jump into the lake? No, it seemed risky to him. Who knew how many Gringotts were hiding beneath the surface. Also, he couldn't tell how deep it was either, and he'd have to find a good explanation for wet robes to avoid detention. Seems like quick jumps were needed. The creaking was growing, Hunter had no time to think so he immedietly jumped for the first branch he saw below him. He grabbed onto it, but it immedietly snapped and he felt himself free fall the rest of the way. His falling slowed after hitting a few more branches, but he eventually landed on the ground with his back. He landed next to the girl, and it was pure chance that he didnt land on her.

The wind being blown out of him, Hunter knew it wasn't over quite yet. The loud *SNAP* of the branch echoed and spooked some near by birds. Hunter forced himself upward and pointed his wand upward in a swift motion of a check mark with a curved u: "Flipendo!" The spell flew past the girls head, and luckily timed onto the branch falling towards them. It was pushed about a foot away from them and landed strongly into the lake; it resembled a massive dugbog.

Hunter collapsed back onto his back, feeling the cool air flowing between his teeth with eash gasp of breathe. A slight ache in his arms and back. The cold wet ground was actually soothing. He looked over to make sure the other student was alright, but now he also got a good look at the book she was holding. He only saw the term "Shakespeare" written onto it. Hunter recalled the name from only one story, one about faries messing with the love of muggles, and even transfiguring one into a donkey. He decided if he made a slight joke about Shakespeare, he could calm the situation down a bit. He looked up and gave a slight smile with a chuckle, "Sorry, it seems the Impish Puck found my spot.*chuckle* Oh, although some know him as a fairy I suppose. Or... was he a leprechaun?" Hunters voice was still calm and quiet, despite all that just occurred.

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Judith had no idea what to say. In less than a few minutes, a few seconds he had not only managed to fall down out of the tree onto the ground but also made fun of her, trying to, not sound creepy? For a second she had no idea what she would be saying to the guy, hello?, are you okay? or are you out of your bloody mind? She had a few options, obviously, and she didn't really know which one would be the best. She thought she'd go for are you okay, but what actually came out of her mouth was not quite that. "Are you mad? Are you actually crazy? What on earth, how?" She was tumbling over her words. She had not really an idea of how to put her thoughts in words. And so she tried again. "I got like, a million questions, so first one, what on earth were you doing up there? The second one, Are you spying on me? Third, you just managed, to not only creep me out, thinking you are probably the weirdest person someone could ever meet, but also that you're mad, crazy, and clearly don't know how to properly leave a tree. Oh and a very funny joke there."

She said. She took a breath from all her words, trying to still process what had happened. She had never noticed the boy before, which wasn't quite a surprise since Judith didn't usually notice people quite often. She liked to stay on the sideline, just live her life the way she wanted it, if she'd notice someone, it'd be quite special. After thinking all of it over again, in less than a few seconds, she realised that the boy did save her from a tree, which he broke, cause if he wasn't in there, it wouldn't have fallen down. But he did save her head tho. "Altho you are crazy, mental and out of your mind... thankyou. Thank you for you know... the branch. She said, and closed her book, putting it back in her backpack. She had this feeling, that she wouldn't be reading much more at this time at least.

Intercating with: @Hunter Argentum
Word count: 370

"A very funny joke?" Well, it seems Hunter has improved on his social skills, which was a plus. The downside was when he realized that the girl and the area seemed to have a crack on them. He realized his colored glasses were broken, and he hasn't learned oculus reparo yet. Hunter decided to just leave them on, he wasn't in the mood of moving after hitting all those branches. So if he can't move, might as well listen.

The girl's questions came flying rather quickly, each justified with good reasons. Although Hunter wasn't 100% sure as to why he would be considered crazy or a creep, he had a good idea as to why he was. He decided to stay lying down on the ground feeling the soil between his hands and... feet. Hunter typically took off footwear when climbing, because it was easier to climb without them. Now... Where were they? A thought for a bit later, he looked up at the girl as she was beginning to straighten her words and thank Hunter for his mistake.

"A thanks isn't needed. It was my fault for overestimating these old trees. For your questions, can we keep it to a hundred or less instead of a million? I get enough of them as is." Hunter felt relieved to know she wasn't harmed at least, but he was being honest when it came to questions. Sometimes he felt that's all he was good for, just answering questions to homework or quizzes.

His eyes shifted towards the ceiling of the sky with the slight branches and leaves blocking a bit of light from the sun, and the few clouds that flowed by. With the croaking of frogs and the chirping of crickets, nature was slowly dancing and quietly singing: "For starters, I'm no creep nor was I spying on you. I was here first and was enjoying the scenery." Hunter shifted his head towards the lake, noticing the water looked a lot murkier down here. "If you'd like to see the lake and castle from a better perspective, I suggest climbing here. I think I might have to head back up to find my shoes. Next, again I wasn't spying. I wasn't expecting anyone else to be here this early, I was just caught by surprise." Hunter thought back to how peaceful the girl looked as she read. It was rather nice to see another student be calm and enjoying their own time alone. Hunter supposed he was the annoying student in this case. He looked back towards her and looked back towards the sky: "I was expecting you to start yelling or start practicing spells like most students. Instead, you were quiet, so I got worried. I assumed some Gringotts had pulled you down. Speaking of which, if anyone's crazy it would be you, Miss. If you didn't have that book I would have assumed you were about to go swimming with how close to the water you were. I decided to keep watch in case you did get attacked or something." Slightly the truth, but not the complete truth essentially left Hunter's mouth. His words came out slightly stuttered with a bit of nerve.

He heard her shuffling and rummaging a bit, he looked over to see her placing the book away. "W-wait, you're finished reading already? I-it seemed like you were really invested in that book, w-what was it about?" Asking another student what they were reading? Intruding their privacy? Quite the irony since Hunter came out here to avoid being in that sort of situation. He lifted himself, to now sit and be slightly at eye level with the girl.

@Judith Cohen

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Judith listened carefully to the boy explaining himself. And to her surprise, it made her smile. She was typically the one who liked to ask questions but never answer them herself. So she understood the boy in some way. She looked at the boy, just laying in the grass, without shoes? IN some way she didn't feel like asking him why he wasn't wearing any shoes. She laughed as he mentioned the lake. As much as she'd want to just jump into the lake and swim, she couldn't. It was against the rules, and her mom would hate her for it, bringing herself in danger.

As she continued listening to the boy, she left as he gave of some peace, quietness, some sort of rest. It was rather undescribable which she thought was rather weird as well. She came to notice that the boy, was not like other people at all. They were rather weird and strange, and maybe even crazy, but she saw some beauty in the aspects. As she put her book away, and the boy started, stuttering? She laughed a bit. "What are you worrying about? It's not like I'm leaving or anything haha. I'm just putting my book in my backpack, i could stay here for hours with or without the book." She said and laughed.

She looked up at the sky, and started smiling, softly but bright, she looked back at the boy, who had seated himself in front of him. She looked at his eyes and smiled. "Do you hear that?" she asked him. She looked back up and then back at the boy. "Silence..." She said and laughed softly. "Isn't it beautiful?" she asked. Judith loved silence, when she was outside, or alone, but when it was crawled, she could enjoy some noise as well. She tent to be louder when a lot of people are around her, it's like her body reacts to the adrenaline of others, giving her even more adrenaline. And it practically works like a boost. But she didn't quite like those. It made her feel, extremely overexcited, and mostly made her end up crying because she'd used so much of her energy. Flashing back out of her thoughts. She smiled and laughed a bit. "Now since it looks like you wont run away from me yet, yes yet, i tent to be very scary, I'll introduce myself. Judith Madelaine Cohen!" She said and looked back at the sky, listening to the birds singing.

Intercating with: @Hunter Argentum

Silence was a beautiful thing, Hunter thought. It was something that he found few people appreciated. It was a way to show respect, and a way to enjoy the things currently occuring. He liked silence, but there was always an issue with silence. Hunter had to be alone in order to gain such a beauty like silence. Being alone was never an issue, but feeling lonely was a much different story. Being around others was pleasent, but some people were just rather loud. Being alone was nice, but it would bring fear of being alone forever.

Hunter was rather surprised to hear another student call silence being beautiful. Then he became slightly more shocked by her laugh, her comment of being scary, and how he will run away. "Cohen?" Hunter had never quite heard a last name like that. He looked up towards the sky in the same direction as her. Silent, and not alone, it was rather nice. Hunter chuckled a little.

With slight grunts of pain, he stood up while a popping sound in his joints could be heard as he stretched, "Scary? I have yet to see how so. I can still run away if you'd like," Hunter looked back towards the tree he fell from. His toes wiggled slightly in the soil, and he rememberd he needed to find his footwear. He jumped for the nearest branch, swung to the next and decided to dangle above Judith's head upside down (legs latched onto the branch): "If you find the silence rather beautiful, then you'll find something more alluring up here. Care to give chase as I run? Or do you prefer a hand Ms.Cohen?" With his politness and habit as always, he referred to students by their last name; even if they were older, younger, or same age. He reached out his hand to see if she wanted help, "Silence sounds beautiful, but you need to see beauty to appreciate silence. Also, if you want my name then you'll have to agree.

This was rather unlike Hunter, well at least when it came to being in class or close to the main grounds of Hogwarts. He was feeling like how he did back at home with the slight freedom. Just him, nature, some animals if they were around, and one or two other people. It had been quite awhile since Hunter felt like having this much fun outside of studies.

@Judith Cohen

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Judith felt rather double at this point. On the one side, she was happy and felt like Hunter was rather funny. But on the other side, she thought he had something strange, something, special. Which she enjoyed much as well. She laughed with his jokes but paused a bit when he mentioned her name. She hadn't really talked about her life out of Hogwarts before, and her name made that pretty obvious. "Oh yea, my mom is a descendant from the Cohen tribe, just a Jewish thing." She said and smiled softly. she didn't feel uncomfortable talking about her religion, but it was exposing herself, her inside which was rather harder than usual. She hadn't really mentioned it to anyone really, the only one who really knew was Juniper because she was family.

She laughed when he suggested climbing into the tree, and helping her. She had climbed in trees before, but ages ago. It was intriguing to follow up into the tree, but she was perfectly able to do so herself. She stood up but did not take his hand. " Thank you very much Mr.stranger, but I think I'll find the way myself. " She walked towards the tree, and started to climb into it. It wasn't really going as she intended to, she wasn't that high yet. And she looked down at the boy and smiled. "What are you waiting for, Scared to fall?" She said and laughed.
But as she tried to climb higher, she misplaced her feed, causing her to fall, All the way down into the great lake.

Intercating with: @Hunter Argentum
Word count: 225

A Jewish thing?" Hunter for his young age actually didn't know much about religion, because it wasn't forced or introduced strongly towards him. Hunter's parents wanted him to be free, and his grandmother respected their wishes on only introducing Hunter to religions if he ever asked. Always learning and curious; if Hunter were introduced to them, then he would probably research and spend hours a day looking into the beliefs and history of the different varieties of religions around the world. He was about to ask Judith what the term "Jewish" even meant, till he heard her ask if he was scared of falling.

Hunter took a minute to realize that Judith was already above him in the branches, and was caught a bit off guard. Always spacing out when he had questions. Also, "scared?" he thought. Hunter was far from being scared of falling since he's dealt with it multiple times. The only time he was scared was when he had his first accidental instance of magic. As Hunter watched Judith ascend higher into the trees, he decided to follow with a quicker tempo. Swinging from one branch to another and propelling himself with his bare feet; Hunter was merely proving that the domain of tress was his to conquer.

Hunter never really had another person to race, nor climb a tree with. It was a bit exciting and a thrill to be competitive in an activity of strong movement. He was also anticipating Judith's opinion of the scenery that one can only see of the great lake and the castle once you've reached a certain height. He was gaining up to Judith, but his ears perked at a very slight *crack* sound. Hunter looked up and could see Judith on a bit of a weak-looking branch. Anticipating for the worst, Hunter took out his wand but was surprised to see Judith slip rather than the branch breaking. Judith began to fall towards the great lake.

Just when luck seemed to have gotten better for Hunter, it really seemed like neither of them learned a lesson from Hunter's first fall. Hunter's mind went on full alert, and for a quick few milliseconds, as if the world itself was slowing down, Hunter could hear his thoughts, "Alright, if I had to assume, we are currently 6 meters (~20 feet) in the air. Assuming air resistance is negligible, and the fact that the acceleration of gravity is ~9.8 ms^-2, then- "Wingadrium Leviosa!"

Reducio

WDC: 9. Wisdom Bonus: +10 Roll: 17, Total: 27

There was no time for basic math or physics. Honestly, Hunter wasn't even sure why his mind had gone to some simple science and math calculations when he had his wand already at the ready. Casting the levitating charm at the last and quickest moment he could, Hunter stopped Judith from taking a dip within the Great lake; her face and hair just centimeters from the lake's surface based on what he saw.

This was probably the 2nd time Hunter used this spell to stop a falling object, but it was his first time using it on a person. His mind went back to charms class and the history behind the levitating charm. Such as how the inventor of the charm hadn't realized the spell works on clothing, not actually on people.

This really wasn't the time for Hunter to do a quick review of charms class. Honestly reviewing history, physics, and math; Hunter had really become a true nerd at this point of his young life. Slowly moving Judith away from the lake, the only question now was if he should levitate her back up to where he was or settle her on the ground.

Reducio

WDC: 9+2= 11 ; Wisdom bonus: +10 ; Roll: 9 ; Total: 19

So far so good, Hunter felt confident in his abilities and decided to slowly levitate Judith back to her original spot. It was gonna take time, but Hunter was confident he could do it. "There are reasons I don't wear footwear when ascending these trees you know. Also, curious question. What does it feel like to be levitating, never experienced it myself" Hunter called to Judith as he slowly moved her up, "Really hope your not afraid of heights now."