Calm Closed

Hogwarts was almost as wonderful as travelling, Briana had decided. It certainly provided the same rush - there was so much to explore, so many places to be. How anyone could even focus on their classes she honestly had no idea - she was constantly itching to do something. And they hadn't even started learning actual spells or potions or growing any plants or anything. It was all theory-this and theory-that. Hence, Bri spent all her spare time exploring the castle and grounds, rather than doing the homework they had already been assigned - the existence of which greatly offended Bri. It was week one, surely homework wasn't necessary yet.

Today, her spare time was going to be spent out by the lake. Bri felt sure she'd like to swim in the lake, despite the rumours of giant squids and such. The waters, though dark, just looked so cool and perfect, especially when it rippled under a light breeze. Not quite like the ocean but certainly close enough.

As she began her decent from the castle towards the lake, Bri noticed something that was, in her mind, very odd. There was a girl lying on the grass, and writing. A book was also involved. How could someone be doing something as boring as writing on a nice day with the whole castle to explore? That was definitely a mistake she had to rectify. The girl looked about Bri's age, and the idea that she might not even be a first year didn't even cross Bri's determined mind. She changed her course slightly so that she veered towards the girl instead of straight towards the water's edge.

"Hi," the Gryffindor piped, flashing a dazzling smile as she reached the girl, looking down at the notes she was taking. "Watcha doing?" First, she had to figure out why exactly there were notes being taken, so that she could convince the obviously misguided girl that swimming in the lake would be much more fun.

“Hi, whatcha doing?”

Amaya blinked, and stared at the Gryffindor girl for a long moment. Then she stared down at her book and her notes, as if it should have been obvious. Placing her quill down carefully beside her notes, and trying to memorize the page number (248), she looked back up at the other girl.

“Reading. And taking notes...?”, Amaya stated, confused. She looked back at the girl.

She restrained herself from frowning. She’d been shaken out of her state of calm, a peaceful state which she enjoyed because it was so rare.

It didn’t cross her mind that she may(just may) have been prejudiced towards the other girl because she was a Gryffindor, and she definitely didn’t think about how much of a hypocrite the was if she had the “stereotypical” Gryffindor while she was always upset when someone stuck Slytherin under the whole “evil Slytherins” stereotype. She was mainly just surprised the other girl had approached her at all.

“Anyways,” Amaya sighed, standing up, “I’m Amaya. Amaya Bourne. What about you?”

Then she noticed her odd choice of words. “Erm, I mean, who are you?”

She winced again, and decided to leave it at that before she embarassed herself further.

The girl seemed suspicious or something - Bri wasn't quite sure, but she felt just a little bit uncomfortable at the long moment the girl spent staring at her. The girl glanced at her notes and back at Bri, and honestly, Bri wasn't really sure why she was so confused. She was the only one Bri had seen out here - why wouldn't she come up and say hello? The slow answer the girl gave Bri confirmation that the girl had been studying - she was pretty certain that taking notes constituted study.

"Well, I mean, I kind of got that far myself," she replied, with a somewhat cheeky grin. "I meant what for? Like what class? And for what reason, too, I suppose." Why anyone would willingly spend their time taking notes was beyond her.

The girl stood up and it was only when she introduced herself that Bri realised that she herself had forgotten to tell the girl her name. "It's all good," she said when the girl stumbled over asking after Bri's name. "I knew what you meant. I'm Bri - Castle, that is - Gryffindor. You're a first year too, right?" As she was speaking Bri glanced at the girl's robes to find out her house.

"Oh! You're in Slytherin!" This was exciting. Bri was determined to make as many Slytherin friends as she could so that she could prove her cousin wrong. He had said that Gryffindors and Slytherins were supposed to be rivals, and she was determined to show him that she could have plenty of Slytherin friends. "My brother - er, cousin - is in Slytherin. I dunno if you know him, but his name's Atticus. It's so weird that we're both, er, muggle-borns - I think that's the word - from the same family. I heard someone say that's not very common. Are you a muggle-born? Or are you, like, a... wizard-born?" She was certain that wasn't the right terminology, but surely the other girl would understand. Bri was in her element, and it simply didn't occur to her that maybe, just maybe, she was talking a little too much.

Amaya smiled, taking a deep breath, before launching into a explanation, saying everything as fast as possible if only to finish it as quickly as possible.

“Potions, cuz I love Potions! It’s really interesting (to me, at least), and I can’t wait for when classes start and I get to take the Potions class! Yes, I’m a First Year, and no, I’ve never met Attitucus. I’m a pureblood... I think wizardborns are just slightly lower than purebloods in terms of ‘blood purity’...,” Amaya stopped to take a deep breath, almost tripping over Briana’s cousins’ name. “Do you like Potions? Or reading?”

Amaya leaned forward in anticipation, the famous Hermione Granger popping into her mind. She found a small part of her hoping that the Gryffindor girl was bookish as well, if only slightly.

“Or even writing? Music? Oh and was the muggle world interesting? We’re you really surprised when you found out about Magic? Is magic really strange when you’ve just noticed it?” Amaya inquired, not realizing how her blind curiousity might effect the other girl, especially with how much she emphasized the difference between the two of them.

“Oh and what do you think about Hogwarts and the wizarding world so far? What’s your favorite part about Hogwarts? What do you think your favorite topic will be?”, Amaya continued rambling, smiling at her. She was happy to find someone who talked a lot as well, as it had pushed the quiet side of her away and brought it the part of her that was ready to talk. A lot.

Bri was used to being the talkative one in her conversations with people she didn't know very well, and was quite surprised when the girl - who Bri had definitely had pegged as a shy, quiet type - launched into her own reply. Bri found herself grinning - excitement was infectious, and she was glad the other girl didn't seem mad about the intrusion.

The mention of blood purity drew Bri's eyebrows together in confusion, but only for a moment. She really didn't understand the whole blood thing - an older Gryffindor had told her that there were various different types of blood statuses - even within those whose parents were wizards. Half-borns and pure-borns or something like that. Honestly, she couldn't be bothered remembering it all. It couldn't be that important anyway, surely.

"Honestly, I don't really know if I like potions yet - I haven't had much of a chance to decide," Bri mused. She really didn't know what class was what yet - let alone if she liked them. "Potions sounds like it could be fun though. Mixing stuff together and blowing things up in cauldrons and stuff." She had taken to thinking of potions like the wizard equivilant of muggle science classes - and surely they would be blowing something up.

"And I don't really read - but I did read Hogwarts: A History before I came, because that was really interesting. Like, apparently, there's all these secret passages that not even the headmasters know about. Which, by the way, I'm definitely going to find. My mission is to find as many secret passages as possible in the next seven years." Bri grinned, basking in the thought of being the discoverer of all the secret passages, and then shook her head and tried to find her way back on track to the rest of the question. "I write a little bit sometimes - I used to write stories when I was little, but I don't do it very much now. And music.... well, my dad won't let me have an iPod - even though all my friends have them and I've asked so many times. But I love listening to pop music on youtube when I'm allowed on the computer. Who's your favourite singer?" It didn't even occur to her that these were all very muggle things she was talking about.

The was a long string of questions left and the highlighted differences between the muggle world and the wizarding world had been strongly highlighted - and Bri was loving it! Explaining the muggle world, a world she considered to be very boring and mundane was a prospect that actually excited her greatly. "I mean, not really," she said, shrugging. "Magic's, like, the coolest thing ever. The muggle world doesn't really have that so it's not very exciting. We have festivals and stuff though - do you guys do that? Like Christmas and stuff. And St. Patricks day, too." She made sure to pause to actually let the girl answer. She was just as eager to learn about the wizarding world as she was to teach Amaya about her own world. "Also, I've done a lot of travelling and, like, the muggle places I've visited were really nice. Italy was so beautiful - probably my favourite place. Or maybe Cambodia - there was like jungle and stuff there."

Right, next question. Magic. Oh boy. "I dunno - it was kinda weird. Like I just kept tryna explain it with everything non-magical cos I wasn't really sure what it was. And then Atticus came here and I put two and two together. And it turns out my Uncle Aaron's a muggle-born too and he came here once." Bri was downplaying the whole thing a lot. She had been so excited she'd nearly burst when she'd realised she was a witch.

Hogwarts? Oh, gosh, don't get Bri started. A huge smile lit up Bri's face. "I absolutely love it," she gushed happily. "It's so beautiful and amazing - and magical, I guess. Which is definitely the best part. That I get to go to a magic school. Like, we get to learn magic. Real magic, too. Not like, pulling rabbits out of hats or card tricks. Or, at least, I don't think we learn how to do that." The mention of subjects drew Bri to a brief halt. She didn't actually know a huge amount about the classes. "Anything that uses magic, I guess," she said after a moment. "Like, my wand. Defence Against the Dark Arts seems fun. Or Charms. The flying charm thing seems cool - the one to lift things up into the air. I can't wait to learn that." Her original goal of swimming in the lake had been easily sidetracked by the opportunity to talk about herself. Bri never missed an opportunity to talk about herself - she loved to talk and she loved herself almost as much.

Amaya grinned, only to find out what Briana thought of Potions. She rushed to mask her horror, and quickly reminded herself that she was inexperienced with the subject she was so passionate about. That didn’t stop her from going staring at Briana intently for a couple moments, before she began to construct her own reply.

“Secret passages...,” Amaya pondered, a grin worming it’s way back onto her face. “So many things we could do with that...”

While Amaya was quite the “book worm”, she couldn’t resist the temptation of scaring fellow students. She was tempted to peg it as just a “social experiment”, and her grin quickly turned mischievious smile.

“Oh, I don’t have one... It’s more just me listening to random classical music I can come across to...It is called classical, right? Or is it tactilal? Sorry, can’t remember these terms properly. But my favorite composer would definitely have to be Chopin. His music is so calm and beautiful...,” Amaya smiled once more.

“And about the holidays... Yes, we do celebrate those muggle holidays, but not St. Patrick’s Day. What is that? For pretty much every Holiday they celebrate, you get a chance to go home or stay at Hogwarts! Those are your breaks. You’ll also get the Weekends off, and once you’re a Third Year or older, you get to go to... Hogmeades! And that does sound nice... I’ve personally only ever been in the Wizardinf world...”

It didn’t occur to Amaya that she was leaving no space for Briana to respond, but she wanted ever-so-much to talk as much as possible and display all her sudden thoughts, and couldn’t help but find herself amused by the Muggles’ magic.

“No, no, we don’t do that here,” Amaya laughed. “But I’ll just warn you now... work with Wanda isn’t as easy as you might think. You’ll need to focus, both mentally and magically, if that makes sense...,” Anaya found herself regretting saying anything at all.

And Amaya decided to ask Briana something as quickly as she could muster, if only to try and keep some dignity. “Ermwouldyoumaybesortaconsiderbeingmyfriend?”

Amaya blushed heavily, and looked away because the grass was suddenly oh-so-interesting! She knew, instinctively, that you didn’t ask someone for friendship, but she wanted to insure it, in a way.

Bri noted the other girl's reaction to her indifference to potions and tried very hard to resist the urge to grin - it was just a little bit funny. Obviously, Bri had never known about wizard school like Amaya, how was she supposed to know what she liked yet? But she did appreciate that the girl pushed forwards - and onto the best topic. Secret passages.

"Oh yes, don't they sound exciting?" she exclaimed. "I'll bet there's some that can help you get to dinner faster than everyone else - or even some that get you out of the castle. I've heard there's a little village thing outside Hogwarts, but I'm not sure. There might even be one that leads out here! They'd be perfect for joking, though - watch your prank unfold, and then through a secret passage and suddenly you're on the other side of the castle and can't even be blamed."

The girl talked about her favourite musicians and Bri's smile faded, just a little. That's the sort of music my dad listens to when he's doing the dishes. "Oh," she said quietly. And then, "Oh! Do you guys not have the same music? Like surely you've heard of the Beatles and, like Pink, and stuff." Bri's broad taste in music came from her father and Uncle Aaron - who liked to blast their favourite hits as loud as they could, unashamedly uncaring of the genre or the expected age group the music was intended for. "Or do you guys have your own, like, wizard music?" Now that was an exciting prospect - wizard pop sounded way cooler than just plain pop.

"Oh wow," Bri said. "That's a lot of breaks - I kind of assumed, I mean, I thought that we'd be doing school like, all the time. Y'know, because it's a boarding school and everything. Hogsmeade, though - is that that village? I bet we could try and find something to get there before third year. Three years is such a long time to wait, and a whole wizarding village does sound ever so exciting." It seemed that Amaya was just as interested in talking about the perks of the wizarding world and Bri was of the muggle world.

Thank god, Bri though to herself silently. She really didn't want to pull rabbits out of hats - she wanted to do cool magic! Like making things float and blowing things up. She smiled a little ruefully at Amaya's warning about the wand - she herself had really given it her all while she waited for September 1st to approach, and it really just hadn't worked out for her - and then she realised that Amaya was explaining how to do magic, and her eyes lit up. "Have you done anything? Like I don't know how to do it, but I waved it around a fair bit and thought pretty hard but nothing happened - actually I think I might have shattered a vase once but I'm not actually sure if that was me or my little sister running into the wall. At any rate, nothing's happened since then. Can you already do some magic?" Bri was very excited by this prospect and all thoughts of the lake were abandoned - maybe this girl could show her some magic! Real magic!

When Amaya blushed, Bri grinned. "Of course we can be friends, silly," she said, giggling. "Why did you think I came over here, just to annoy you? School's like, all about making friends." It was kind of cute that Amaya had asked to be friends - Bri didn't think she'd ever really known anyone shy like that. All her friends from primary school were basically as outgoing as she was. Suddenly, thinking about coming over here in the first place, Bri's original purpose flew back into the foreground and her grin widened. "So, now that we're friends and all, did you want to go swimming in the lake? Becuase I've been simply dying to ever since we got here and came over it on those little boats." Bri was blunt and straight to the point - that was just how her mind worked. And she was desperate to swim in the beautifully shiny waters of the lake.

“Not even that,” Amaya smirked, “you could set your prank off right there, letting the beginnings of your prank occur, before even pretending to be a victim! No one would think of you as the pranker then.”

Amaya cocked her head to the side. “Pink? The Beetles? Yeah, we have our own music, but I don’t listen to it to it often. But why would a band name themselves after a bug or a color?”

Amaya wrinkled her nose at the thought of the color pink.

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure that’s Hogsmeade... It is absolutely great there! However... it seems that local, Hogwarts couples like to visit it... so you’ll have to watch out for them when you visit. I do wish we could access it earlier, but.. I think this is the way that things have always been. And spells? Um... Not really... I have tried out a couple of things... but you can’t just wave it around. There are proper hand motions for every spell, charm, and such.”

Then Amaya paused, shock written in ever each of her face. “Swimming?”

Amaya quickly covered it up with what she thought was a smile... but it was a grimace.

She couldn’t swim well. Really, she could only do the thing that the muggles called Breaststroke, and even then, she wasn’t good.

Amaya quickly thought of some excuses. “You do know that there are... things in the pool, right? Like... Merpeople...”

"You mean you don't know who the Beatles are?!" Was the wizarding world stuffed under a rock she hadn't heard about? Sure, she'd kind of expected Amaya to confirm that such bands weren't heard of in the wizarding world, but the reality wasn't really something she was prepared for. How could someone live a life of not knowing who the Beatles were? Maybe it was just them though. "Do you guys have any muggle music though? Like what about Abba - or... or... Michael Jackson! You have to know who he is!"

Despite her general shock at the lack of muggle music - even the absolute essentials - she was intrigued by the idea of magical music and was disappointed at Amaya's lack of knowledge on the subject. She did laugh at the girl's observation of the artist's strange names though. "I dunno - I think Pink's hair was Pink when she first came out or something. The Beatles are kind of old though so I don't know about them."

"Oh wow - and we have to remember them all?" Now that she thought about it, she did remember the mention of swishing and flicking in her charms class. But having to remember shapes and words for every single magic thing she wanted to do seemed exhausting.

Amaya did not like the thought of swimming - that much was immediately clear to Bri. She wasn't sure if the girl was trying to smile or something, but it was definitely a grimace that crossed her face. "Yeah," said Bri, undeterred. "Why not? The water's so pretty."

Bri's jaw dropped the moment Amaya said the word... "Mermaids?" Bri breathed after a pause. "You mean mermaids exist?!" This was almost as exciting as finding out that wizards exist - and that only trumped because she'd found out she was one. She didn't think she was about to find out she was a mermaid. "Well, we have to go swimming now! Don't you want to see a mermaid?"

After a moment, Bri switched tact. "We can just go up to our waist - or even our ankles. Think how exciting it'll be!" She hesitated a moment and then grabbed her newfound friend's hand.

"Come on!" Bri laughed, starting to pull the poor Slytherin towards the water's edge.