Gathering of the Dementor Hunters Closed

On the Grounds, right after lunch. That and that they were going to hunt dementors. This Alma had told him the day before at the Slytherin Table. Edric didn't really know her all that well and also didn't have any idea how to find dementors this close to Hogwarts, but Alma had seemed very competent in her knowledge and so he trusted her to know what she was doing.

Going on a hunt with his classmates sounded fun, like an adventure. One were he could actively take part for once and didn't have to stand behind Adair and Harry who excluded him from anything they thought was too dangerous for him. Not this time, though. They'd go and find a dementor and he would show them!

He found Alma easily enough. She was sitting on the grass with a book in her hands, which he had already figured she liked a lot. All kinds of books, really. She was the first person he'd ever met who had read about hippogriffs. Edric liked her, even if her fast knowledge made him feel a bit insecure.

"Hello, Alma," he greeted her, coming to a stop in front of the black-haired girl. The grass looked dry enough, so he flopped down beside the other Slytherin, sitting cross-legged and facing her. "I'm really excited for the hunt! You think we'll really find a dementor?"

Marcia looked at the ceiling of her dorm, unsure what to do. It was quiet since everyone enjoyed their free time somewhere in the castle or on the grounds rather than stay in their dorm. She avoided the window and what might lurked there, and still she couldn't concentrate. The idea that Alma had planted in her head yesterday didn't leave her, although she knew with absolute certainty, that it was a bad idea and it probably would only bring trouble with it.

Let's hunt for Dementors, she'd said, could be fun. Marcia could hardly see the fun in running around, waiting for one of the most deadly creatures of England to just show up. There was a reason they were kept on Askaban to guard the most dangerous criminals. And yet, although she had bid Alma a good day after lunch, she had the feeling of missing out on something.

With a heavy sigh Marcia sat herself upright, facing the wall and door. "Ah, why not, it might be fun after all?" Fun and dangerous, but maybe this little adventure was exactly what they needed to form a friendship.

She remembered Alma had told her that she wanted to meet with everyone on the grounds and Marcia hoped it wasn't too late. She doubted that many would show up so who knows what everyone could mean in numbers.

Thankfully the common room wasn't far from the entrance so she was out on the grounds after a short run through the hallways. It was a sunny day, not ideal to meet any Dementoren, should they exist the Forrest. Some small animals and plants were most likely the only things they would find, which was fine with Marcia. She clasped her wand which was hidden under her robes. All she could cast was a Lumos, which wasn't impressive and it was hardly enough to defend herself against anything bigger than a rabbit. Her trust laid with Alma, who proved herself to be a far better spellcaster than Marcia was.

As she thought about her roommate, she discovered her sitting in the grass with, unsurprisingly, a book in her hands. Another boy, short with brown hair, stood besides her, but dropped besides Alma just as she approached them.

Alma looked at the boy whom she recognized as a fellow Slytherin. She recalled having him seen sitting on her table, but so far she hadn't talked to him.

She nodded to Alma, slightly jerking her shoulder. It was a silent concession that Marcia was curious about what the little adventure would hold for her, despite her initial reservation. After that she turned to greet the boy. "So Alma coaxed another one to join the little hunt. Well, I'm guilty myself. Marcia Kingsleigh, nice to meet you." She presented her hand for the boy to shake, while she stood in front of him.

The walk to the meeting area was uneventful. Just the usual bustle within the castle, and the sense of freedom being out of the walls. Sebastian had slowly found his enjoyment of being outside increasing, mainly because he was able to escape the large crowds of students. Additionally, the boy could disappear and have time to himself, without being interrupted, on the vast expanse of the grounds of Hogwarts.

This time, however, Sebastian was walking to meet with others.

Keeping a steady pace, Sebastian followed the rock-laid path, crossing the bridge and moving parallel to the nearby lake. With his student robes billowing in his wake, Slytherin colored scarf around his neck, and a determined glint in his eye, Sebastian knew he was walking toward fate - how else would one consider facing down a dementor?

Veering off the path, Sebastian soon reached the meeting point. He noticed several individuals, all Slytherin, and wasted little time reaching them. The boy's gaze shifted between the group members, seeing Alma seated in the grass with her books, Edric beside her looking excited, and another he wasn't aware of... but Sebastian heard the exchange, and got Marcia's name as she introduced herself to Edric.

"I'm Sebastian," Sebastian said simply, stopping beside them, hands jammed into his robe pockets. "I overheard you mention you were Marcia. Good to meet you."

Sebastian made no move to shake hands. Instead, he looked to Alma, eyebrow raised.

"Alma, are we waiting on others?" He asked, glancing to Edric, then back to the blue-eyed female with the books. "I made sure to suggest some concerns to students over lunch, making sure to tell individuals known for wanting to please Professors... so the faculty should be looking the other way while we do this."

With a sniff, Sebastian glanced toward the Forbidden Forest with silver-blue eyes. He couldn't wait to have a chance to venture into the shadowy depths of those trees, to see what he could find and overcome through power and skill. But for now, the group had a specific goal in mind, and dementors wouldn't find themselves...

Alma closed her book with a snap, stood up from her spot in the grass and took her time brushing dirt and foliage from her robe. She then looked around, excited that almost everyone had followed her invitation already. There was till someone missing, yet Alma was uncertain whether the girl would decide to join the hunt after all.

"Welcome to the Wild Hunt...or Dementor' Demise...the name's a process in the making, we'll have a vote about that later. Thank you all for coming here. I'd like for us to get along during this time," Alma pointedly looked at Sebastian who was still ignoring Marcia's offered hand. "It might be unwise to dismiss potential allies so quickly, Sebastian. Still, we've all gathered here today per my request and I'd like to offer some explanation of what I was planning: We're all new to Hogwarts and while most of us have already gotten to see a bit of the castle, I've seen only a few first-years venture outside to explore. So I thought exploring the Grounds together would be a good experience to learn more about the school we're going to spend the next seven years of our lives, as well as maybe make some new connections. Some will prove beneficial, certainly. For today, I'd like to start slow and stay a good bit away from the edge of the Forest, at least until we've learned some spells to defend ourselves or call for help in case anything happens. I'm open for any suggestions, by the way. Tell me what you'd like to see of the Grounds and what we possibly could look at, first."

"Hey... pleased to meet you, too," Edric greeted Marcia with a shy smile. He was used to his outspoken brothers and had thought he would have no problems getting to know the other students, but in reality he got nervous when he introduced himself to a new person. What if they didn't like him? What if they would be mean to him?

He was even more jittery around girls, as while he had obviously met a few, he'd ever had a female friend, nor had his brothers as far as he knew. Adair didn't care for girls, and Harry had only recently started to like them. Currently he was making a fool out himself by prancing around a pretty Ravenclaw girl from his year. It was idiotic, Edric had told him, and for once Adair had agreed with him.

"I'm Edric," he continued and took the hand she offered to shake. "Banes. Edric, Banes."

He couldn't really say more, because then Sebastian arrived. Something about the boy drew the attention, maybe it was the prominent color of his eyes. Edric shrugged to himself and nodded to his dorm mate in greeting. Right now he had no idea what was going to happen, so he listened to Alma exlpain the plan behind their quest. Her way of speaking was special... she knew all those words he'd only ever heard grown-ups use before.

"I think exploring the Grounds would be a good idea," he agreed with Alma. They really hadn't learnt any spells to defend themselves with yet, so maybe going to the forest was too daring at the moment. Still, deep inside he was a bit disappointed that they weren't gonna get close to the Forbidden Forest.

Syrah heard around the Slytherin table about a Dementor hunt. The table in the Great Hall was bustling with the idea of it. Apparently someone in Slytherin wanted to organize a hunt for the so-called Dementors in the Forbidden Forest. Of course the Forbidden Forest was off-limits to students, and Syrah couldn't imagine that Dementors were actually residing in the forest anyway. Those Spirit monsters have plagued the castle in the past and Syrah doubted that the current Headmaster would be fine with them lurking about so close to the school.

However despite this, Syrah was still very interested. She managed to ask around enough to learn the name of the leader of the small group, someone called Alma. She also learned the meeting place on the Grounds. And so with that, she decided she would try to join the group. She figured it would be an open kind of group, since they didn't seem to mind that it was so well known among the House. If they wanted it to be more secretive they wouldn't have told so many people, and let it spread so far. Of course, that meant there was a larger chance of getting caught. But Syrah was all about magical creatures, and she knew even if there weren't Dementors in the Forbidden Forest, there was definitely something else cool.

The only time she had ever been in the Forbidden Forest was during the forest exploration of Slytherin and Ravenclaw. It was cool but she wanted more. And so after she finished eating at the table, she ran back to her dorm room and grabbed some things she thought she might need and headed to the Grounds. It didn't take long for her to spot the small group on the grass and she walked up to them just as, the one she thought might be Alma, began talking about the day's Adventure.

She waited until the student was done speaking, and then she greeted herself. "Hey, I'm Syrah I overheard your guys's plan at the table today, and I was wondering if I could tag along." She grinned at the group, hoping this wasn't a waste of time.

After she exchanged some courtesies with the boy called Edric she walked over to Alma, while her eyes were fixed at the clearly visible edge of the forest. Edric had looked as if he was uncomfortable with Marcia standing near him, so she wanted to give him some space. They were all still new to the school as well as to each other and she could understand that one wouldn't open up on the first meeting. Why would they? At least she knew their names, which was something she still had trouble with her and Almas dorm mates.

Internally she called that a success and allowed each other to be a little shy.

With one ear she listened to Almas speech welcoming them here on the grounds and Marcia couldn't help herself but smile about the title she'd given their little squad. She rolled the name over her tongue without speaking it out loud and she had to admit, she liked it. Dementors Demise. All they needed was an actual Dementor for it to be impressive, but on the other hand, Marcia was quite alright with the prospect of finding nothing but dry wood.

She gazed at the other boy, Sebastian was his name, who listened with a stern look on his face as if he was ready to battle whatever came out of the forest. Marcia frowned at the boy's expression, clearly irritated about why someone could look forward to facing a dangerous monster; be it imaginary or not.

"I can't do much besides some simple stuff, nothing to seriously hurt or damage something, least of all a Dementor. To walk along the trees is fine by me," she said sighing in relieve. The prospect of doing nothing more than strolling over the grounds and sniff some forest air on a sunny day was pleasant and Marcia began to relax.

She closed her eyes and stretched her arms, enjoying the wind on her skin. "If someone is able to cast a Pratonus, please feel free to take the lead," she said jokingly without addressing someone. However she quickly looked at Alma half expecting her to declare in all earnestly that she could, in fact, bring up a perfect Patronus.

The group seemed to be assembled, from what Sebastian knew. As for the name, Dementors Demise, the boy wasn't so sure. It sounded specific, as though the gathering only sought the soul-sucking creatures, in favor of anything else. Thinking on the possibilities of different names, Sebastian was absently aware of the other arrivals, listening as they introduced themselves and the discussion shifted to what the group should do.

Sebastian glanced toward the Forbidden Forest.

While the notion of venturing into the forest was exciting, logical thinking told the boy that doing so would be dangerous. In fact, knowing little more than a handful of spells, Sebastian doubted most of the creatures found in the forest would have little trouble injuring the students; still, the possibility of crossing paths with a Dementor was still intriguing and Sebastian couldn't deny that even if the tale ended with them - very likely - running, it would be an amazing story to tell.

"I've given some thought to our possible name," Sebastian said, clearing his throat. He looked to Alma, eyebrows raised. "Since our group would seek adventure, pursue threats, confront creatures and generally hunt trouble... what about the Venators? It's Latin for hunter, tracker, and has ties to similar meanings like investigator and explorer. Seems fitting, in my opinion."

Whether the group agreed, Sebastian didn't mind. All he knew was that dedicating the group name to a single creature made them sound obsessed and fixated on Dementors, when really every mystery and adventure should be of interest to them. Unless Alma and her band only wanted to hunt Dementors, in which case Sebastian likely wouldn't stay with them for long - he wanted to seek out anything and everything...

"I am content to wander the grounds, perhaps we can venture near the Dragon Pavilion on our way?"

Sebastian was curious if anyone in the group could actually produce a Patronus. The likelihood seemed unlikely, but one never knew when it came to magic. Sometimes even the most unassuming person could possess incredible power.

"Seeing a Patronus would be impressive."

After everyone, including Syrah that had just recently asked whether or not she could attend the meeting, had arrived, Alma clapped her hands together sharply.

"Very well, then. We can all think about the name of this little club, meet-and-greet or whatever we want this little group to eventually become, as we move along. For now, how about we stroll over the grounds and see what hidden things we might find, shall we? It would give us a chance to get to know each other better. Also, just to answer the question, I can't cast a patronus. I'm eleven. It takes a strong magical core and an immense amount of practice to produce a patronus. I am aware of the tales about how Harry Potter was able to cast a perfect patronus at only thirteen years of age, but really now, we are no Harry Potter."

Alma pulled a roll of parchment out of her bag and spread it out on a dry bit of grass so everyone could see what she had prepared. She'd asked her brother, who since had graduated from Hogwarts, to draw her a map of the school grounds so the group would be able to plan their route. The drawing was crude and certain landmarks were labled with his usual, chicken-scratch handwriting, but it would do the job.

"How about everyone picks a spot they want to visit? Sebastian, you said you wanted to see the...what was it? Dragon Pavilion? Where would that be, on the map?"