Closed Sleeping Your Worries Away PV Avery M.

Date: 1/12/23
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It was a familiar trek. Perhaps not in terms of location, exactly, but as a means for some time to her own thoughts? Absolutely. The chill in the air was a bit of a double-edged sword though. It helped keep the majority of students indoors once the sun began its final descent for the day. But Avery also couldn't really feel her face anymore beyond the slight burning the cold air provided. She wasn't eager to return to the safety of the castle walls just yet though.

Dinner had been a quick affair. A few scarfed bites and an excuse about homework saw her out and wandering the grounds before much time at all. The first year relishes in the act any opportunity she can get. Wandering the countryside around their farm was something she'd back home for years, her brother usually at her side. It was something of a comfort, cold or not.

Her path usually varied, but tonight seemed to lead her along the eastside, the Forbidden Forest looming nearby. Avery would readily admit the place gave her the creeps. But then again, that seemed to be its whole point. Creep you out enough to counterbalance any potential youthful curiosity. She was curious how often that actually worked on her peers. It was more than enough to steer her tendency to wander away from the darkened woods.

That thought does nothing to provide any additional comfort at the sight of a lump in the grass just ahead, though. The soft crunching of her feet in the grass slows to a halt as she observes...whatever it may be. Avery glances quickly to the Forbidden Forest. Some strange, magical creature maybe? Was it...dead? That thought prompts the Hufflepuff to inch a little closer.

The proximity quickly clued her in that the strange, potentially terrifying creature was actually just a small doe. White spotting and all. That revelation only served to add more confusion. Deer didn't seem like a common sight here. Regular wildlife didn't usually seem too keen on venturing onto magical grounds, not that she could fault them. Especially willingly situated right next to the Forbidden Forest of all places. Even she could feel the extra unease that permeated the air nearby. Avery stares a moment longer in confusion before a somewhat ludicrous idea strikes.

The first year had stumbled across a book early on in her explorations of the library detailing a form of magic that had instantly grabbed ahold of her interest. Animagi. Every kid's dream was being able to turn into an animal at some point or another. And as she thoughtfully stared down at the dozing doe, she couldn't entirely rule out the possibility in this case. Though, it may very well just be an incredibly lost deer of no real importance. Or it could be some nightmare creature from the Forest that she'd never heard of. Innocent doe would certainly be one way to draw in unassuming victims.

In this case, youthful stupidity curiosity won out. Avery took a few steps closer, purposefully adding some weight to her steps to make them a just that much louder. A hand hesitantly lifts and rests against the handle of her wand tucked just inside her robes. "Hello?" She really hoped it wasn't either of the latter two of the options. Otherwise she'd either feel really dumb for trying to talk to a deer or possibly end up dinner for the creature in disguise. So much for a peaceful walk.

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𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉: @Annie Morgan
≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Location: Eastside of the Grounds, facing the Forbidden Forest
Time: 1/12/23, Early Evening

Time ticked by quickly, although the amount of time that had passed was unknown. The deep sleep state she had fallen into was blissful. Had she not been in her Animgus form, light snoring would be exiting the girl. But nothing ever stayed peaceful around Hogwarts.

Footsteps.

They started out quiet but began to get louder and closer. A mere shuffling and then a halt. The deep lull of sleep Annie had been in before was slowly dwindling. Who was coming to disturb her peace and quiet?

Then it dawned on her.

A voice called out to her, feminine by the sound of it, but it was a mere greeting. Slowly coming to her senses and out of the groggy sleep state, she realized she was in a world of danger. Bolting upright to her long limbs, a bit shakily, her head swerved around to face the direction the voice had come from. Her torso was heaving, and she stood frozen. The only indication of movement was the swivel of her ears, pinned back in alarm and the twitch of her tail.

The voice was unrecognizable, given that she only heard a singular word being spoken while being half asleep didn't help. Now in a predicament, she couldn't run. A deer sprint on the grounds, unsure of her surroundings would lead to either getting in trouble or hurt, potential both. Not wanting to take that risk, she'd think of another possibility. Going back to her normal form would be just as dangerous and not knowing if the person would tell on her or not was also an issue. Instead, she found a third possibility, the one she was going to go with. It had the least chance of a bad outcome and didn't put her in a bad position.

Taking a step forward, an exhale of air was released from her nose, like that of a huff. Followed by a grunt, she'd paw the ground with her hoof, trying to make herself appear scary or defensive.

It was a warning.

Interactions: @Avery McCall

Date: 1/12/23
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Okay. Perhaps approaching sleeping figures, animal or otherwise, with attempt to wake them was not her brightest of ideas. Avery couldn't fault the doe for the panicked reaction. But the first year did let out a yelp of surprise at the sudden burst of movement, her approach coming to an abrupt halt and channeling the momentum into a more vertical trajectory. Were there any witnesses, she would fully deny screaming and jumping when faced with an alarmed doe.

Once she's able to wrestle her heartbeat back into a somewhat manageable rhythm both hands are raised placatingly. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't..." she hurriedly apologizes, only trailing off when the fear and panic seems to morph. Into...anger? Or at least as close to it as she could surmise at least. Avery stares across at the display with even more trepidation than she'd come into the scenario with.

"Right, uh, well," she starts, taking a tentative step backwards. "Sorry. I didn't really...plan that through to be honest. Didn't mean to startle you." Now that the doe was awake and facing her head on she could just make out the cloudy nature of its eyes. Right well, no wonder they freaked out. Might as well tack on just a little more internal guilt at the direction the encounter was taking. Regardless, she did her best to keep her voice as placating as possible even if the deer didn't wind up understanding any of it.

Was it rude to ask if someone was an animagus? One one hand, if it was a regular creature it's not like it would have any clue what was happening. She'd at least learned that much with a bit of hands on experience and an unfortunate beetle that had caught her attention when she'd first read up on the ability. Needless to say she hadn't gotten a response. She held back on the temptation for now, though. Best to not add more potential fuel to the proverbial fire. At least until the doe hopefully calmed down a bit.

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𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉: @Annie Morgan
≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Location: Eastside of the Grounds, facing the Forbidden Forest
Time: 1/12/23, Early Evening

So she had been right about the voice being that it was more feminine and perhaps had some more youthfulness to it, although she could've been wrong as it was very hard to identify one's age based on their voice. Although she was sure it wasn't a student of her age or older at the bare minimum. That lessened the potential candidates by barely any, but it was progress. It wasn't like the girl was going to introduce herself to the deer.

The thought made her snort, causing her own head to shake in amusement. Then again, she was idiotic enough to come to the edge of the Forbidden Forest and talk to a deer. Not the smartest move on her part, but hey she probably had her own motives for doing so. Noting the anxiousness in her voice by the slight waver and the shuffling of feet in a backwards motion, Annie backed off a bit, lifting her head instead of looking like an angry bull.

Then a devious thought went through her brain. It would be rather fun to mess with the girl, so what best way to do it than play pretend. Turning her head she'd gaze off in the distance for a few long minutes before lowering her head to the ground and taking a mouthful of grass. Yup grass still tasted like grass regardless of her Animagus form or not. It reminded her of the grass tasting Bertie's Botts Every Flavoured Beans. It wasn't bad per-say, just odd.

The girl had gone rather quiet, and she'd pause her pretend grazing, turning her head back to where she last heard the figure. A mere shrug of her shoulders, which translated to a tail twitch was how she replied to the silence, standing and peering off into the distance again. Would this girl catch on? Had she covered her tracks. Then again, she was a deer on magical school grounds so that was a bit abnormal. A sigh escaped her at her not-so-well thought out plan, a sort of content noise escaped her mouth like a "Mmm". The silence continued for a few more minutes. Had she scared the girl off by her aggressive display? She hadn't heard the footsteps disappear, so she hesitated. Or maybe she was very light on her feet and backed away to not agitate her further. Annie's brain was buzzing in response, ear flicking as she tried to come to a conclusion. Unable to convince herself that she was gone, she'd curl back down in a comfortable position, legs splayed awkwardly underneath her as she listened the noises of the forest, deciding to stay out a bit longer until she could confirm the girl had fully gone away and was out of sight.

Interacting with:@Avery McCall

Date: 1/12/23
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Avery did her best, she really did. As curious as she was about the deer and what it might do in perceived isolation, the urge to move and stay in motion was that much more powerful. At least it didn't look like it was going to charge her anytime soon. Even as she stood as still as she could manage while the deer decided to graze for a quick snack, the Hufflepuff couldn't help but anxiously fidget with the fingers on one hand.

The movement briefly stills as the doe pauses and looks back in her direction. Or, at least, appears to. It's a little hard to tell just how perceptive the creature actually is. Not very it seemed. The slight fidgeting resumes as the doe seems to release some sort of sound before curling up once more a few moments later. Well, this was a bust. Not to mention interrupting some poor creature's nap, unfortunate location aside.

Avery glances once more to the Forbidden Forest towering nearby before looking back to the deer. She briefly considered trying to herd it somewhere away from the forest, even if it did happen to be further into the grounds of Hogwarts, but decided against the course of action. No reason to give it any further fright. Releasing a quiet sigh under her breath, the first year finally urges her limbs into action as she moves to step back once more. With her attention still focused on the deer laying prone, she didn't quite look where she was stepping.

A startled yelp rings out as her foot comes awkwardly down on a rock partially hidden in the grass. Her ankle twists slightly in the rapid motion of trying to pull out of the movement. Insult to injury is only added when Avery finds herself falling backwards directly onto her butt. The first year hisses in slight pain as her ankle throbs uncomfortably. "Great..." she mutters, wincing. Reaching forward, she prods lightly at the joint even as her eyes flick up to see if the unintended noise disturbed the deer once more. No peace to be had for anyone today it seems.

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𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉: @Annie Morgan
≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Location: Eastside of the Grounds, facing the Forbidden Forest
Time: 1/12/23, Early Evening

It had become unearthly quiet. Deep down Annie knew the girl hadn't left. There was no noise of feet marching backwards to indicate a sign of retreat. Maybe she had stayed frozen in the spot. It could've been one of those scenarios where "you are more afraid of it, than it is of you" that your mother always told you when interacting with wildlife. Annie had no idea how terrified the girl was, but Annie was petrified and starting to slowly regret the decision of leaving her dorm room to try and sleep in the forest. Firstly, it had backfired with a student stumbling upon her and not getting the sleep her body so desperately craved, and secondly the student was now in trouble.

Wait what?

Annie's head jerked at a slight noise that came from the girl and a small thud that followed afterwards. She knew that sound all too well. The girl had tripped, or did something that resulted in her landing on the floor. Nostrils still flaring in slight alarm, she now became the curious one. She inclined her neck towards the direction of the noise, decidedly getting up and making her way over. Pausing once her hoof touched the edge of the piece of clothing attached to limb, her neck lowered, as if peering down to examine the girl, not like she could do much of anything. Her nose twitched, snuffling around the area where the girl remained until her cold, wet nose pressed against the warm skin of the figure.

This was a dangerous game she was playing, but she had to make sure they were alright. Drawing back from the warm skin, she'd lower her head in a bow, before slightly nudging the figure. A gesture as if asking if they could move. The doe had now opened up somewhat, but still twitched at the lightest movements or actions. Some progress was being made. Slowly.

Interacting with: @Avery McCall