21 Sep 2022, 15:06
Small Frogs in a Big Hall
"Catching frogs in the change of chocolate frogs? I`ve never thought about that before. I don`t particularly like frogs, but catching frogs seem like a challenging and fascinating thing to do, and the chocolate frogs are what I am drawn to! Let me stay at the great hall after dinner to see what happened there! I hope I will have some fun there!" Rita thought when she saw the notice for the frog catching event in the great hall, "I know the skin of the frog is quite slippery so it might be a bit difficult to catch, but I think it might be a fun activity to do!" When she went to where the frog-catching event was taking place, she was surprised to see that there were frogs everywhere! There had already been several students busy running around the great hall, trying to catch frogs, and the great hall is filled with frog noises and students` laughter and shouts. Rita was influenced by the fun atmosphere and shouted to them, "Hi guys! You are all being busy and having fun catching frogs, ugh?" After speaking to all the students in the great hall, Rita also began to run around the hall and stretched her arms, trying to catch the frog. Needless to say, the skins of the frogs were really slippery, and they were jumping everywhere in the great hall really fast, so it was extremely difficult to catch them! Seeing other students managing to catch the frogs successfully, Rita could not help to ask them, "How do you manage to catch those frogs? It was really difficult! Their skins are so slippery, and they keep jumping everywhere! They keep escaping from my hand even though I am trying my best to run near them and stretch out my hand to catch them!" After running and stretching her arm to catch the frogs for quite a long time, Rita was sweating and gasping, and even thinking about giving up, but thinking about the chocolate frog awards, she determined to keep on catching frogs until she managed to catch one. "I have never imagined catch frogs can be that difficult, but I am definitely trying my best!" Rita thought while running as fast as she could and trying her best to stretch her arms and hands to catch the frogs.
After trying so hard to catch the frogs, the time and effort finally paid off. She finally managed to hold a slippery frog in her hand. "I finally made that! Now I can ask Professor Takagi for her chocolate frogs!" She thought when she walked to Professor Takagi at the high table and handed the frog to her to report her success, "Dear Professor Takagi, here is the frog that I caught successfully, hope you will appreciate my effort. Thank you for holding this frog-catching activity, it is extremely tiring and challenging, but it is rewarding to see your event finally pay off!"
After reporting the success to Professor Takagi, Rita was extremely exhausted, so she quickly went back to her dorm to take a rest after taking a shower to wash away her sweats. When she finally lay on her bed to take a good rest and prepare for the next day, she thought, "What a day! I still can`t imagine catching a frog can be so difficult and tiring! The frogs are jumping so fast, and you have to run everywhere to catch them! Anyway, it is still very rewarding to finally manage to catch one frog successfully and get the chocolate frog reward, and this frog-catching activity is definitely a memorable event! I have tried so hard for it! I would like to say thanks again to Professor Takagi for organizing that event, and I hope to see some more interesting events sometime afterward, and I am looking forward to seeing what event these professors and prefects will organize next time! I will definitely not be going to miss it if it is something that sounds interesting to me!"
Interacting with: @Tara Takagi
Word count: 673
Last edited by Rita Su on 24 Sep 2022, 07:10, edited 1 time in total.
Rita Su - Hufflepuff Andy Menton - Ilvermorny, Thunderbird
Color code: Rita: #560edd Andy: #c40e0e
Rita`s Ency Andy`s Ency Shop
23 Sep 2022, 03:58
Small Frogs in a Big Hall
|
|
|
|
|| @Tala Takagi and @Cassandra Ironwoods ||
✿✿✿
Aly Salinger had never, would never, and honestly could never take Care of Magical Creatures. She loved Herbology for sure, but cringed at the idea of having to even touch the creepy-crawly critters that covered her beloved plants. After willingly dealing with Flobberworms during her second year and immediately regretting it, the pretty Ravenclaw had sworn off ever dealing with animals again, with the exception of her fluffy, oversized cat, Dauncey. She much preferred her electives of Muggle Studies and Divination, anyway - Muggles and tea leaves were so much easier than murtlaps and tebos, in her opinion.
However, it seemed that animals - even the non-magical ones - would follow her around til the day she died, despite having managed to successfully avoid taking Care of Magical Creatures for over a year now. There was a new CoMC professor on the staff this year - a pretty British woman with shiny dark hair, impeccable eyeliner, and, apparently, an undying love for creatures great and small. Aly was sure this was great for the people who actually wanted to take Care of Magical Creatures, but when hundreds of frogs were suddenly running amok throughout the Great Hall and this new professor just so happened to have a frog tank up the dais on the professors' table... well, that couldn't have been a coincidence, can it?
At the first sight of the hoppy pests, little blobs of green skirting erratically across the smooth Great Hall floor, Aly shrieked and pulled her feet up onto the bench to avoid one jumping onto her foot. "Merlin's beard!" she gasped, watching ten more jump by. "Oh, aren't these supposed to stay outside?"
Still, as even more began to appear, Aly overheard that new Care of Magical Creatures professor shouting something about winning Chocolate Frogs based off of simply catching one frog and bringing it up to the High Table. That first part didn't seem too hard, but the second one would require wading through a veritable army of frogs and frog-catching students; still, the chocolate reward was worth it, as anyone who knew the Ravenclaw fourth-year at all could tell you that she had an unparalleled sweet tooth for the ages. Slipping one of her shiny black uniform shoes off of her foot, Aly knelt on the bench of the Ravenclaw House table, watching a few of the flood skitter and leap by... and then she struck, swiping the shoe downwards at top speed, like she were throwing a Quaffle towards the goal hoops (only, this time, not letting go of it). The shoe swung down in a semicircular motion, scooping a small green creature into its open hole, and Aly immediately slammed the shoe to the ground upside-down to avoid it escaping.
Piece of cake.
Glancing upwards and trying to steel herself to fight through the flood of frogs towards the high table where Professor Takagi stood, Aly happened to look to her left, spotting a friend similarly trapped on the Slytherin table. Cash Ironwoods had been Aly's partner in Herbology class last year, and the two fourth-years - well, third-years at the time - had sort of hit it off. Aly considered pretty much everyone a friend as long as she knew them at least a little, and the look on Cash's face - surely mirrored on Aly herself's - told the Ravenclaw everything she needed to know about her Slytherin counterpart.
"Come on, Cash, grab one," she encouraged, trying to cheer the Slytherin student on. "Then we can both go up to the high table together, get some chocolate, and get the hell out of here!"
It sure would be a lot easier to force herself to go up there if she had a friend by her side...
✿✿✿
Had permission to mention Cash & Prof. Takagi.
WC: 619/600
Had permission to mention Cash & Prof. Takagi.
WC: 619/600
gen1 Aly Salinger || gen1 iNPC Manu Macedo || gen2 Kahira Valerian || staff Aulis Vorozheykin
Jordyn Fletcher
23 Sep 2022, 18:32
Small Frogs in a Big Hall
Jordyn was coming to learn that no matter how quiet the day might seem, there would never be a dull moment at Hogwarts. What she found interesting was that she was getting used to it and even expecting it. It gave her new school character and typically helped her make friends in the oddest ways. All that considered, meal times, at the very least, evening meals, were usually the quietest time of the day. Most people were out of energy by then and were ready to hit the books or the bed afterwards. But clearly, even the evenings were off limits.
Jordyn had just finished eating and felt a wave of exhaustion hit her, as was the effect of Hogwarts dinner. She didn’t think she even had the energy to make it to the Ravenclaw tower when the shrieks began. She saw a few of her classmates dart past her towards the doors, food half eaten and forks askew on the floor. When she looked to see the cause, afraid it might be too late for her, she actually laughed out loud.
Frogs! So many of them in one place. It was like an amphibian takeover! Was that what had so many people fleeing? But frogs were cute! And they were friendly. Jordyn had caught plenty of frogs near her favorite duck pond growing up. She may not have had a lot of human friends, but she’d like to think she had plenty of animal ones.
When a professor Jordyn wasn’t familiar with made her announcement, Jordyn was all too glad to help. She splashed her hands with some water from her goblet and jumped up to join the others who’d stayed behind to help. She couldn’t help noticing that the professor in question appeared just a little too amused for this to be an accident which only made the situation all the more hilarious. Having teachers who knew how to have fun made the learning experience way more fun.
“Gotcha!” Jordyn declared, as a frog landed across the table from her. She carefully made her way towards the tank at the front of the hall and placed him gently among the others that had been caught already. Jordyn wondered if there was a way to bait them into all coming towards the same direction. She grabbed an empty platter off the table and walked to the table nearest the fireplace. She placed the platter on the floor a ways away from the fire and poured water into it. She didn’t know if that would help much in attracting many frogs or how long it would take, she thought it might be worth a shot. Her dad had told her that frogs liked humid, wet places. The fireplace was her best source of heat and there was fresh water on the floor, in a warm place.
The only thing to do now was wait. But in the meantime, she hurried off to grab any that may have escaped the great hall or were about to. On her way, she’d noticed a Hufflepuff handling the frog she’d caught rather roughly and Jordyn wanted to speak up but she shied away. The frog would be okay, she convinced herself. It was best she stayed out of it and do her best to help.
Eventually, she’d managed to catch a total of four frogs, following the lead of others who were on all fours before she wanted to check her frog “trap”. To her delight, it worked! Okay.. so it had only attracted two frogs but that was better than nothing. If she left the water there longer, she was sure more would come. She grabbed the two and returned them to the tank as she had the others but felt like she had barely started with how many there were still left to catch.
Jordyn had just finished eating and felt a wave of exhaustion hit her, as was the effect of Hogwarts dinner. She didn’t think she even had the energy to make it to the Ravenclaw tower when the shrieks began. She saw a few of her classmates dart past her towards the doors, food half eaten and forks askew on the floor. When she looked to see the cause, afraid it might be too late for her, she actually laughed out loud.
Frogs! So many of them in one place. It was like an amphibian takeover! Was that what had so many people fleeing? But frogs were cute! And they were friendly. Jordyn had caught plenty of frogs near her favorite duck pond growing up. She may not have had a lot of human friends, but she’d like to think she had plenty of animal ones.
When a professor Jordyn wasn’t familiar with made her announcement, Jordyn was all too glad to help. She splashed her hands with some water from her goblet and jumped up to join the others who’d stayed behind to help. She couldn’t help noticing that the professor in question appeared just a little too amused for this to be an accident which only made the situation all the more hilarious. Having teachers who knew how to have fun made the learning experience way more fun.
“Gotcha!” Jordyn declared, as a frog landed across the table from her. She carefully made her way towards the tank at the front of the hall and placed him gently among the others that had been caught already. Jordyn wondered if there was a way to bait them into all coming towards the same direction. She grabbed an empty platter off the table and walked to the table nearest the fireplace. She placed the platter on the floor a ways away from the fire and poured water into it. She didn’t know if that would help much in attracting many frogs or how long it would take, she thought it might be worth a shot. Her dad had told her that frogs liked humid, wet places. The fireplace was her best source of heat and there was fresh water on the floor, in a warm place.
The only thing to do now was wait. But in the meantime, she hurried off to grab any that may have escaped the great hall or were about to. On her way, she’d noticed a Hufflepuff handling the frog she’d caught rather roughly and Jordyn wanted to speak up but she shied away. The frog would be okay, she convinced herself. It was best she stayed out of it and do her best to help.
Eventually, she’d managed to catch a total of four frogs, following the lead of others who were on all fours before she wanted to check her frog “trap”. To her delight, it worked! Okay.. so it had only attracted two frogs but that was better than nothing. If she left the water there longer, she was sure more would come. She grabbed the two and returned them to the tank as she had the others but felt like she had barely started with how many there were still left to catch.
Reducio
WC:642
26 Sep 2022, 01:08
Small Frogs in a Big Hall
Graphic by AngelFyre McCubbin
AngelFyre had just said goodbye to Simon as he left the Great Hall after dinner. He had eaten very little, which was not abnormal for him, and had headed off for what he told her he suspected would be a quick Prefect duty of some sort. He mentioned he may even be back before she had finished dinner and she just smiled. That likely meant she would not see him again until after curfew. This was Hogwarts. Shenanigans were always brewing somewhere on the premises which generally meant there was no such thing as a "quick" Prefect duty. She would, however, be elated to be wrong.
After she watched him retreat out of the Hall, she turned her attention back to her plate. She was nearly finished when she began to hear a growing murmur amongst the student population. As a second year, her positioning had moved somewhat further away from the entrance to the Great Hall and incrementally closer to the high table where Headmaster Lear and the professors sat during meals and ceremonies. It was somewhat a surprise, to be sure, to see Professor Takagi, stand on... was it her chair?... and begin to speak.
At this point, some of the murmurs had turned into squeals. Some were sharp and shrill and gave off a panicky displeasure sort of vibe, while others were followed by delighted laughter. AngelFyre was still not certain what was going on, but she knew she was unable to hear what the CoMC professor was saying. She was just about to lift herself from the bench to get a better idea of what was happening when she noticed a frog had hopped onto the table, landing right in the middle of bowl of mashed potatoes. Good thing it missed the steaming hot gravyboat!
Now all of the squeals made sense. She looked at the small green and brown beauty in a moment of surprise and thought the little amphibian shared a similar look of surprise as well over its predicament, but not for long. There was a sort of revolting squelching sound being made amidst the mashed potatoes as the frog repositioned itself. Then, in the blink of an eye, there was a comical vision of the frog leaping from the bowl, a tuft of fluffy, white mashed potatoes on its head as it then landed on the head of another Hufflepuff who had been crawling on the floor.
AngelFyre could not help but laugh, but told her fellow Hufflepuff to be still for a moment. She quickly reached for her uniform's witch hat sitting next to her and rather adeptly encircled the small frog on the head of her housemate. She asked her housemate to bend their head down as she moved her hat in a synchronized movement, allowing the frog to either leap into the cone of her hat or have gravity do the job for it. When she could see and feel the frog moving in the cone tip, she patted her housemate and thanked them profusely, telling them the frog had been captured.**
When she looked up, it appeared everyone was taking their adorable captives up to a large, glass tank next to Professor Takagi, so AngelFyre dutifully did the same. "Do not be confused by this little fellow's costume of mashed potatoes, sans the gravy. I swear there is a frog beneath it all somewhere," and she smiled teasingly as she carefully lowered her hat inside and gently prodded her charge into the tank with the others.
There were still hundreds of frogs croaking and ribbiting and filling the Great Hall with all sorts of wonderful sounds. As she went about frolicking throughout the hall, capturing many more frogs with her witch's hat, she began to miss Simon. This was fun, but it was the kind of fun she would have loved to share with him. He was not an animal person, but he was clever as heck. It would have been fantastic fun to see his brain come up with ingenious ways to wrangle these frogs. It crossed her mind to wonder in that moment if she were to kiss the next frog she caught whether her very own Prince Simon would show up? She laughed at herself and dismissed such nonsense. For all she knew, these slippery little devils could be poisonous, and even if they were not, kissing him after kissing a frog would likely not be something he would appreciate.
Then another silly thought overtook her. This one would require a companion in order to bring it to fruition and she knew exactly who would be an eager comrade in arms... Colin! She looked up from her frog hunt and her eyes scanned the Hall for him. She was about to approach him to see if a rousing game of 'leap frog' would tickle his fancy when she caught the tail end of some sort of crushing heartbreak written across his face.
AngelFyre's smile immediately disappeared as she saw her friend implode. All she knew was that he had been speaking to Clair and all joy was seemingly sucked from his being. She stayed put, not needing to intrude on their interaction, but when Colin wheeled away and ran for the exit, AngelFyre caught sight of the sadness, confusion, and desperation turning over on Clair's face as well.
Her instinct was to chase after him, and she did, but she knew it would be an act of futility. He was a werewolf. There was no way, fast as she was, she would be able to catch him. All she could do was give him his space and let him come to her if and when he felt the need. She just hoped his need would be sooner rather than later.
She looked down as she felt something plop onto her boot. As worry for her friend shrouded her, she whispered rather sadly, "It is your lucky day, little frog. Go forth and be free... at least for a little while longer," she said as her appetite for frog wrangling had suddenly disappeared.
Mentions @Simon Kincaid, @Colin McCoire, and @Clair Fernandez** If anyone wishes to be the Hufflepuff the mashed potato frog landed on, feel free to RP it! AngelFyre has left the thread.
The magic is real.
26 Sep 2022, 17:46
Small Frogs in a Big Hall
Banner made by the magical Sarah Night
#8B4513 English
#C71585 French
#006400 Latin
#000000 Parsel
#000080 Spanish
@Aly Salinger
Henry Knight
𝒮𝑒𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇
𝟤𝟪𝓉𝒽, 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟤
𝐸𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝒟𝒾𝓃𝓃𝑒𝓇
Ever since the lost of Henry, the young Ironwoods were not the same person anymore. Well, to be honest, Cash was never much of a people person. They only came out of their shell when they were comfortable with the opposing end. Nowadays Cash was more reserved than any other time but their sarcastic trait are sharper and some could say more vicious than ever.
It was a night before the end of September. When Cash thought today will be boring and smooth sailing like any other dinner night on previous days, they could have been much wrong about it. Cash loves Care of Magical Creatures so that's why they took it as one of their electives for about a year now.
They were fine with creepy crawlies and any other slimy creature as long as it was not a rabbity four-legged hopping of a frog. Cash draws the line at frogs. They did not know why frogs grosses them out. That way when they joined the Frog Choir back when they were a wee first year, they opted to be just the singer not the handler of the frogs.
And so, Cash enjoyed their dinner while being a polite counterpart to whoever talked to them. Nowadays, Cash only said necessary things when the said things were addressed to them and more acts like a polite listener on the sideline. Their counterpart tried to gauge Cash into their conversation but Cash was only half-minded and tuned in to whatever the conversation was about.
Ever since Cash gave Aero some freedom, the 75 cm black and yellow Emerald Gazer snake tails Cash everywhere except when they need to go to their classes. Right now, Cash could feel the cold skin of Aero's scale against their ankle as the snake curled up near the Beater's foot. Then something cold and slimy hop into their foot that was not occupied with Aero.
Their counterpart shrieked and jumped up from their position and quickly stand on the long wooden bench. Since Cash did not possess the agility of a cat, when the slimy hopping creature took residence on top of the green eyes foot, Cash banged their knees quite hard. "Son of a-"Cash cursed under their breath in Spanish.
The sudden jolt awake Aero from his little nap near Cash's foot. Cash stood out from the Slytherin table and it seems the Great Hall was now pestered with not only one but hundreds of frogs. Their green eyes scanned the room. It seem Cash was not the only one that had distasteful toward the green creatures.
A lot of students also let out either a shriek or scream when they saw the four-legged pest. Cash was ready to push and shoved the other students who either have the same strategy as they which is run out of the room or try to catch one. They saw an opening and the fourth year was ready to run out of the door when someone called out their name.
Cash whipped out to look at the source of the voice. And when their green eyes landed on Aly - their Herbology partner last year - Cash let out an annoying sigh that mixed with frustration. "You catch one,"They countered back not knowing Aly already had one in her shoes. "Why in the bloody first place there are frogs in here?"Cash inquired more to themselves than to Aly.
Then their gaze bounces from Aly to the new Care of Magical Creatures professor who coincidentally had a large tank up on the professor's table. Cash was too busy avoiding the green creatures to listen to what Professor Takagi was shouting about. Their eyes then looked at Aero who is ready to devour one of the frogs.
"That was not your food!"In their panic state Cash shouted in Parsel. Cash was sure that little frogs are snake food but since the frogs belonged to one of the professors, they did not want to hold accountable if one or two frogs were missing because Aero ate them. When they realized what they were doing, they glance at Aly hoping the other girl did not hear it.
And even if Aly did hear Cash speaks in Parsel, they need to explain it to Aly and hopefully, the other girl did not see Cash differently. The crown-wearing flower girl started to grow on them. Cash's first instinct when Aero was about to eat the frogs was to kick the frogs as far away from Aero and essentially from them.
But Cash was not that mean even though frogs were their least favorite animals of theirs. With a sigh and it seems Aly needs a friend to give the frogs away to Professor Takagi, Cash succumbed to Aly's plea. The promise of the chocolate frog and getting out of the room as fast as both of the fourth-year could is too good to pass it up.
The young socialite then shrugged off their school robe and tied one end to the other. With their school robe, they made a makeshift sack to catch and store the frogs. Thank Merlin for cleaning spell they thought to themselves. Their green eyes then scanned the room. When they spotted several frogs near them, Cash leaped from their position and scooped the frogs as many as their robe-makeshift sack could hold the frogs in.
And when the Beater was sure the frog(s) was safely secure in their makeshift sack, they pick up their robe from the floor, and surely the frog(s) started to hopping and wiggled trying to be free from their captivity. "Gross!"Cash shudders as their robe wiggle about. "Come on, Salinger, let's bring this damn pest to the Professor"Cash uttered to the second-string Ravenclaw Keeper.
"I need to clean my robe thoroughly as fast as possible before I wear it on again,"They said to Aly. Cash tried not to shudder at the thought that their robe had been contaminated with frogs slime as the Cuban descendant started to walk up to the professor's table. And hopefully, Aly was not that far behind them.
| sta • 10 | eva • 10 | str • 10 FROM ASHES WE RISE wis • 8 | arc • 8 | acc • 10 | PA | OS | PM Y3 THROUGH⠀THE⠀YEARS ability | PM Y5 | ability |
27 Sep 2022, 13:53
Small Frogs in a Big Hall
Athena loosened her grip on the frog by suggestion and brought it back to the tank, glad to rid of the disgusting creature. She snatched the chocolate frogs out of the teachers hand then thanked her. She was going to scrub her hands until they were bright red, and only then would she stop. She could still feel the frogs disgusting lumpy skin on her hand… she shook the thought from her mind and looked around the room. The frogs jumping around had gone down noticeably and only a few students remained. She observed Colin talking to Clair… then he ran out of the room. She watched the first year she had met, Keith, go after him though she was curious what was happening… but no, she needed to clean her hands. That needed to be her main priority. She glanced at Clair who looked helpless and quickly turned way do that Clair wouldn’t catch her looking. A war was happening in her head. Go after Colin or wash her hands? Go after Colin or wash her hands? Athena decided to wash her hands then try and find Colin. She was ready to exit the hall and did so soon after receiving her chocolate frogs, and after washing her hands she would forget about her search for the heartbroken boy.
LEAVES THREAD
Mentions: @Colin McCoire, @Keith Moore, @Clair Fernandez
sta • 6 | eva • 6 | str • 6 | wis • 10 | arc • 6 | acc • 6
⠀⠀⠀AthenaPedia • SHOP
ability | Sixth Sense | ability
27 Sep 2022, 17:16
Small Frogs in a Big Hall
|
|
|
|
|| @Tala Takagi and @Cassandra Ironwoods ||
first post:
✿✿✿
Aly had never seen Cash so... well, frightened, she assumed. Sure, neither of them were the brave and bold of scarlet Gryffindor, but her brown-haired Slytherin friend was actively avoiding the frogs, hissing at their pet snake in a strangled sssss noise that Aly had never heard before. Growing up a pureblood, the curly-haired Salinger knew plenty about magical history and lore, and that strange hiss was something that Aly could only assume was Parseltongue.
She'd never heard Parseltongue before, though she had heard of it. Of course, she'd known Cash had a snake, but that the Slytherin could communicate with it... Aly shivered, goosebumps prickling unintentionally up and down her pale, freckled arms. The Ravenclaw had never quite liked magical creatures in general, and although she didn't hold any particular vitriol towards snakes as opposed to other creepy-crawlies like bugs or rats or fish (though she supposed fish didn't creep or crawl, they snuck and swam), the idea of being able to talk to a snake was still kind of creepy.
Still, Cash was a Slytherin. Maybe they just liked to make hissing noises. Maybe Slytherins had some sort of thing for pretending to speak Parseltongue to make themselves cooler in the common room. A bit odd, but Aly was not going to be one to stereotype. If Cash really was a Parselmouth - well, Aly didn't really want to think about what would happen if that were true.
Because even Aly's mother, Hesper, who had been a Slytherin born and bred in one of those old, by-the-book pureblood wizarding families... even Hesper spoke ill of Parselmouths. Bad luck. Evil. Terrifying.
They're just hissing at the snake to get its attention, Aly reassured herself as she straightened up from the floor, frog safely in her shoe; grabbing a napkin from the Ravenclaw table, she covered the opening of the shoe so that it couldn't hop out. That wasn't real Parseltongue. If we had Parselmouths here at Hogwarts, I think I'd know about it!
Cash made a sack out of their robe to catch the frogs, and Aly grinned at them, though her smile was slightly less bright than usual as her expressive face raced to catch up with her overthinking mind. "Oi, that was clever, Cash!" she chirped. "Yes, let's get these up to the Professor right away."
Rather than follow Cash on the floor, however, where frogs were still hopping about, the Ravenclaw put that brain of hers to use. Aly stood, still one-shoed, up on the bench of the Ravenclaw table that was just high enough to avoid frogs leaping up onto it; she then carefully walked after Cash all the way up to the dais on which the high table stood, balancing with Quidditch grace and poise like a Muggle gymnast atop a balance beam. Oh, who was she kidding? Nah, she definitely almost fell off more than a handful of times, but at least she managed to stay atop the bench until she could leap off onto the dais, which was thankfully at least freer of frogs than the main floor.
Aly stepped up to where Professor Takagi was standing and took the napkin off of her shoe with a flourish, turning the shoe over and unceremoniously dumping the frog inside into the tank. "One frog, Professor," she declared, stepping to the side to give Cash a turn. "Now, I'll take that chocolate and be on my way, please..."
✿✿✿
WC: 619 + 573 = 1,192/600
Had permission to mention Cash & Prof. Takagi.Aly has left the thread.
WC: 619 + 573 = 1,192/600
gen1 Aly Salinger || gen1 iNPC Manu Macedo || gen2 Kahira Valerian || staff Aulis Vorozheykin
27 Sep 2022, 22:45
Small Frogs in a Big Hall
September 28, 2022
Ellie was in the Great Hall in comfortable overalls and sneakers. Her red hair was in a messy bun to keep it out of her eyes. It was dinner time, and she did what she usually would and had a copy of the newspaper with her. She always wanted to stay informed on current events especially looking out for anything that would give her information on the Muggle world. It helped her to feel connected with her family.
She was one month into her first year now. It has been going better than she had expected. The time was flying by. Sadly, the progress she made of make friends at camp didn’t translate well once classes started. She fell back into old habits and put all her efforts into studying. She knew she needed to branch out more, but yet again, she sat there at the end of the table with no one really nearby reading the paper.
From what she could tell, there wasn’t anything of note being reported, so she took out her book on Astronomy. It was the one class she wasn’t completely excelling in and it bothered her. She always strived for perfection, so she had to find a way to improve her grade. She imagined it probably was be cause the subject required her to think outside of the box, which was completely opposite her usual way of thinking.
She grabbed a piece of bread to eat and read away. Some time had passed and Ellie realized the noise wasn’t going down in the hall. In fact, it actually was louder than usual and dinner time was essentially over. She looked around to see students running around all through the hall, as if they were playing. She thought maybe they were playing tag, a game she used to often be forced to play in school back home. But when she took a closer look she realized they weren’t chasing each other, they were chasing something. There were little frogs hopping around all through the hall.
There were too students nearby panting from running around. In between their breaths, she overhear their conversation. They mentioned that Professor Takagi was rewarding students for catching the frogs. It made a lot more sense now that so many people stood behind. Ellie contemplated wanting to participate, but she knew she would do it anyway. She started to gather her things so that way they were on a neat pile on the table. She then took a moment to take a good look around her. There was frog not too far away sitting in some cold soup at the table. Truthfully it blended in and would be easilhy missed. Ellie then looked around to see if there wa anything should could use to actually capture the frog.
There was a plate with a deep enough bevel that she figured she could use to cover the soup that the frog was. She then took gradual light steps to the other side of the table to try and get behind the frog. She didn’t want to scare it away. As she tiptoed over to the plate, she knew she had to move quickly otherwise it will hop away. She reached the edge of the table and quickly slammed the plate on the bowl. There was a loud clingy sound from the two plates colliding that made Ellie instantly fill with guilt. The poor was probably terrified and felt trapped.
The guilt was almost enough to get her to set it free. She picked up the bowl to hold it close to her and parted the plates slightly to see if the frog was okay in side. She saw it attempt to jump towards her and she closed the gap once more. She didn’t want to lose the frog so she left her books on the table and immediately made her way over to the professor. She was nervous. “I heard that we should bring the frogs to you. I’m sorry this one is in some soup…cold soup” She felt the need to specify the temperature so that the professor knew it was still alive and not boiling. She gently placed the bowl on the table in front of the professor. She did so while bowing her head because she half expected to get in trouble for her methods of capture.
She watched the professor gently handle the frog out of it’s pool and into the tank with its friends.
WC - 747
28 Sep 2022, 00:03
Small Frogs in a Big Hall
Tesla considered every dinner in Hogwarts an exciting dinner, if only because of the limitless food she got to enjoy eating every day, but especially now that she had the comfortable weight of her rat in her pocket since he'd gotten more comfortable with her and was happy to sleep his way through the day in her robes. She didn't expect this dinner to actually be exciting to everyone else too, but when the shrieking from up near the teacher's table started, Tesla was afraid it was exciting in a terribly dangerous way! As she heard the care of magical creatures teacher yelling at the front of the room, and saw the first frog come hopping her way, she immediately lit up with glee. Not literally, of course, but since she'd seen some students struggling with the Lumos spell glowing the other week she felt it was a reasonable clarification. No, she just grinned happily and immediately scrambled up on her chair to keep her clumsy feet away from any friends coming her way.
She wasn't surprised by the number of students scrambling to stand on the bench next to her, but she got the impression from the startled screaming and frantic movements they weren't worried about stepping on the assortment of frogs, but rather the moderately slimy friends stepping on them. Eying a frog that was really more of a toad the size of her hand rather than one of the little green palm sized ones croaking happily near it, she wasn't sure she blamed them. Tesla wouldn't stop any hesitation over touching a frog stop her though! She was more than happy to pick one up and return it to the professor, and the added promise of a chocolate frog to replace the real frog had Tesla jumping to the ground. Carefully. After checking underfoot for any hopping fellas.
She made sure her rat Argentum was still securely asleep in a pocket where she'd left him while studying before dinner, and without hesitation started waddling after the nearest frog. She didn't know if rats ate frogs, but after Argentum had taken the time to clip off one of her fingernails and eat it, she didn't want to take any chances. With the familiar low-set stance of one who has chased many chickens, cats, and other small animals that don't want to be caught but the chaser desperately wants to pet, Tesla was on the hunt!
As the first frog she was chasing after dove under a table to escape her, and the one after that was lifted by an older student's Leviosa, and the one after that made its way right into a Ravenclaw's shoe with a terrified shriek, Tesla was starting to get frustrated. She wasn't one to say that she had "a way with animals", in fact she ended up bit, scratched, or kicked, more often than she didn't, but she still loved them unconditionally. She had hoped that would mean maybe some animals could magically sense her love for them, and one of the frogs would hop kindly into her outstretched palm. They did not. Traitors.
Admitting finally that the "chicken-catcher waddle" wasn't cutting it in her frog hunt, Tesla locked her eyes on an unsuspecting friend. She'd need to go about this like the cats in the barn would go about catching the fieldmice! One step, two steps, both carefully quiet. Just one more step... And jump! Tesla pounced, hopping with both feet and crouching to cup her hands over top of the frog. The concerned ribbit and feeling of a frog running into her palms let her know her hunt had been successful!
Carefully closing her hands until the frog was cupped gently inside, Tesla walked up to the front of the Great Hall where the tank already filling with frogs was sitting. "Excuse me professor! I brought one!" Tesla exclaimed, bright smile and closed palms held happily out towards Professor Takagi. She carefully passed the frog over, wiping her hands off on her robes and ignoring the curious rat nose sniffing at her frog covered hands. She took her chocolate frog, stuck it in her non-rat filled pocket, and skipped happily out of the room. She had a heck of a letter to send to her mums!
⭑☾☀☽⭑
Interacting with: Errand Wordcount: 715 Color=#7D6608
❁❀ Tesla "Tes" Stone❀❁ Hufflepuff ꧁Optimism is not ignorance꧂
Interacting with: Errand Wordcount: 715 Color=#7D6608
❁❀ Tesla "Tes" Stone❀❁ Hufflepuff ꧁Optimism is not ignorance꧂
Tesla Stone⭑☾☀☽⭑ ⭑☾𖣂☽⭑Basil Blackwood
28 Sep 2022, 17:46
Small Frogs in a Big Hall
It was fortunate that most students had already eaten their stomachs full by the time that the frog fiasco happened. Illusia had been reading The Daily Prophet while slowly emptying her bowl of soup. Some student had left the paper at the table in the morning, lucky for her. She'd had it waiting in the pocket of her robes through her morning classes, and had now read through almost all of the little items – even advertisements, because she found wizard things and words to be quite funny –, but the commotion broke her submersion in the world of self-cleaning pans and Babbling Beverages.
"They're just frogs! Not hard to catch at all!I've got a pair of Chocolate Frogs for every student who catches a frog and brings it up here to the tank!" Illusia heard a teacher's voice rising over the volume of panicked noises. She deflated from her tensed up reach over the other students' heads and sat down with a laugh. Just frogs? She'd thought there was something serious going on from hearing people scream like that. What was the big deal?
A few escaped frogs was what she'd imagined. When more and more started to advance to the part of the hall she was sitting at, she began reconsidering if the situation was a problem or not. The frogs were desperately jumping around and seeking shelter in all kinds of places; there were lots of frogs under the tables, but some also leaped onto the benches and tables, tried to seek a dark crease in some students' clothes, or landed in the food dishes, like the one frog near Illusia that was covered in vanilla sauce and marked the table with stains as it moved around.
A frog leaped onto a near student's leg to escape another. The girl with a frog on her tights jumped up with a scream while the other student chased her flailing and trashing leg around with his hands, now twice as motivated to catch the frog as soon as possible. Illusia couldn't hold back her giggles as other students started laughing at them too.
"Oh yeah, get her froggy!" Someone exclaimed. "Seriously, you could scare a Mandrake with that awful screeching!" Meanwhile, the girl finally took her wand out and levitated the frog off of her with a spell, then launched it at the person who'd made the comment. Another round of laughter ensued.
Illusia finally set down her spoon and rose up, stepping over the bench to the space between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. She crouched down – ah! There, tucked in the corner of a base of the table, was one frog laying almost flat against the ground. Illusia crouched down even lower and crawled forward. It would've been great if she already knew some spell to do this. Older students were catching the frogs with all sorts of easier solutions than simply crawling under the table and grabbing a frog with your hand. She succeeded, though.
She formed a closed ball around it with her hands and started walking to teachers' table. She grimaced at how slimy the creature felt. She much preferred chocolate frogs, although they could melt if you held one in your hand too long, so Illusia didn't know which was better. She'd first tried chocolate frogs on the Hogwarts Express, and had been craving for more ever since. Not just because of the chocolate, but she liked the cards that came with them. She'd often use her allowance on collector cards in the muggle world.
"Professor, I've got a frog too", she said as she came up to the table with the frog held out in front of her, and looked at the teacher expectantly.
"They're just frogs! Not hard to catch at all!I've got a pair of Chocolate Frogs for every student who catches a frog and brings it up here to the tank!" Illusia heard a teacher's voice rising over the volume of panicked noises. She deflated from her tensed up reach over the other students' heads and sat down with a laugh. Just frogs? She'd thought there was something serious going on from hearing people scream like that. What was the big deal?
A few escaped frogs was what she'd imagined. When more and more started to advance to the part of the hall she was sitting at, she began reconsidering if the situation was a problem or not. The frogs were desperately jumping around and seeking shelter in all kinds of places; there were lots of frogs under the tables, but some also leaped onto the benches and tables, tried to seek a dark crease in some students' clothes, or landed in the food dishes, like the one frog near Illusia that was covered in vanilla sauce and marked the table with stains as it moved around.
A frog leaped onto a near student's leg to escape another. The girl with a frog on her tights jumped up with a scream while the other student chased her flailing and trashing leg around with his hands, now twice as motivated to catch the frog as soon as possible. Illusia couldn't hold back her giggles as other students started laughing at them too.
"Oh yeah, get her froggy!" Someone exclaimed. "Seriously, you could scare a Mandrake with that awful screeching!" Meanwhile, the girl finally took her wand out and levitated the frog off of her with a spell, then launched it at the person who'd made the comment. Another round of laughter ensued.
Illusia finally set down her spoon and rose up, stepping over the bench to the space between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. She crouched down – ah! There, tucked in the corner of a base of the table, was one frog laying almost flat against the ground. Illusia crouched down even lower and crawled forward. It would've been great if she already knew some spell to do this. Older students were catching the frogs with all sorts of easier solutions than simply crawling under the table and grabbing a frog with your hand. She succeeded, though.
She formed a closed ball around it with her hands and started walking to teachers' table. She grimaced at how slimy the creature felt. She much preferred chocolate frogs, although they could melt if you held one in your hand too long, so Illusia didn't know which was better. She'd first tried chocolate frogs on the Hogwarts Express, and had been craving for more ever since. Not just because of the chocolate, but she liked the cards that came with them. She'd often use her allowance on collector cards in the muggle world.
"Professor, I've got a frog too", she said as she came up to the table with the frog held out in front of her, and looked at the teacher expectantly.
Stamina: 7 | Evasion: 5 | Strength: 3 | Wisdom: 4 | Arcane Power: 9 | Accuracy: 7