The Great Picnic PV Amaris Levine Finished

Amaris complimented Anna on her hobby, and went back to reading, although she seemed more like she was thinking. And just like Anna wasn’t good at music, Amaris didn’t seem to like art all that much. Annas’ eyes skimmed page over page, beautiful scenarios and landscapes appearing before her, her mind was filled with such pictures.

Agreeing with Anna, Amaris said that it would be interesting to travel the whole world. Maybe they could do it together? Oh, well that is too far in the future to tell. Then she asked a curious question, about a spell tor transportation. Anna put her book down and thought about it. She remembered her parents sometimes popped up in various spaces, but they said she would learn about that when she’s much older.

“There are always brooms and other sorts of air transportations. You can teleport but it’s something we’ll learn when we’re much older. Umm, I think you can also teleport with objects, but those are timed, like a train is”, Anna played with a strand of her hair. “I’m sure there are other ways as well, but those are the ones that I know of”. She smiled and went back to reading. The girls fell into a comfortable silence each enjoying their books. The only sounds that were heard ware pages turning, a light shiver of leaves and the calming sounds coming from the lake.

Perhaps the two could travel the world together once they were older. That was certainly an option. Besides, Amaris wouldn’t want to travel to a country that didn’t normally speak English by herself. It would be an overwhelming experience at the very least.

After she asked her question, Anna put her book down and seemed to be thinking about it. “Huh, you can?” Amaris replied when Anna finally spoke. She had known about the air transportation and brooms from the wizarding sport everyone called Quidditch though she had previously been unaware of teleportation. It somehow had never occurred to her, despite being one of those stereotypical superpowers in Muggle comics. She smiled at the prospect of learning to teleport. It was a pity that she would have to wait until she was older, the ability was versatile and well, it seemed cool to be able to do something she had only dreamt about before.

Amaris continued to read the book, getting consumed. The sounds of the environment around them and the flipping of pages filled the air. Not a word was shared between the two girls until Amaris spoke up again. “Did you know any magic before you came to Hogwarts?” she asked. That question had been on her mind for a while and Anna was the perfect person to ask.

@Anna Blackrose

Amaris was quite surprised about all the transportation methods. It made Anna think. She never really stopped and thought about how bizarre her world would sound to someone outside of it. She never really thought about the Muggle world at all. Now that she thought about it how did they get around, did they use carriages maybe? “What kind of transportation do you use in the Muggle world? Do you have trains like the Hogwarts Express?”, Anna picked her brain a little more, she seemed to recall some smaller, uhh machines that the Muggles used.

After a bit of peaceful silence Amaris asked Anna about magic itself. “Well I did know of magic, because my father and mother used it almost daily, my nana and grandpa as well. But it is forbidden to use magic if you are underage. For kids it’s okay to sometimes use accidental magic, because they are well, kids. But from the moment you get your wand you are only allowed to use magic on school grounds until you graduate. So I never learned any spells until I started classes here a Hogwarts”. She went into a long rant, feeling like a professor, hopefully it didn’t annoy Amaris.

Anna yet again changed her position on the blanket and took a biscuit from the basket. They’ve been here for quite some time and Anna was enjoying herself. She should study a bit later, but that can certainly wait.

She was surprised at the question, it wasn’t something you got asked every day since for Muggles, it was common knowledge. “Well, we do use trains but most people use stuff like cars.” Amaris answered, wondering if Anna knew what a car was. It was also a bit humorous how Anna didn’t know about any Muggle transportation, similar to how Amaris was confused about the wizarding world a lot of the time.

Amaris listened as Anna answered her question about magic. Huh, it turned out that you couldn't purposely do magic when you were underage. That was a pity, since she would have loved to show her parents the spells she learnt when she saw them next. At least it meant those born in magical families didn’t have too much of a head start. “Oh, huh, ok.” she said, lacking a better response. She could still remember her first instance of accidental magic, or at least she thought it was her first. It was helpful to her, but unappreciated at the same time. When it happened, Amaris thought she had been seeing things or someone had been playing a cruel joke on her.

Seeing Anna reach for a biscuit, Amaris opted to do the same, making sure not to get any crumbs on the book.

@Anna Blackrose

Time skip~

The sun reached it’s peak a while ago, all the food has been eaten long ago, but neither of the girls wanted to stop reading their books. Anna’s stomach was now growling, but she was so close to the end of the book and she was in the middle of an epic battle. She didn’t know Muggle books could be so exciting. As she neared the end of the book Anna screeched. “He killed him! How could he kill Roger!”.

Anna was holding the book so close to her face, her eyes looked manic as she furiously read over the pages. Her breathing soon relaxed and she calmly settled down, her eyes not slowing. Finally with a deep breath she put the book down, gently closing it and stroking the cover. She stared blankly nowhere in particular. Recollecting her thoughts, it took her a few moments to finally say something. “There is a sequel, right?”, she asked Amaris hopefully. “This book was just, just amazing. It has everything, adventure, escapes, friendship, betrayal, secrets and and. It’s marvelous. Magnifique!Magnificent!”, she could rant the whole day about it but she also wanted to hear what Amaris thought about her book.

“How did you like the stories Amaris?”, she smiled brightly trying to keep her emotions under control.

The time passed quickly, and both girls were consumed in their books, not noticing the passage of time. The food was depleted as more students filtered out into the courtyard. The sun was already descending by the time Anna finished. Amaris chuckled at the other girl’s reaction. She had already read all the books in the trilogy, and of course, she knew what happened later on. She wondered if she should reassure Anna, but decided not to in case she spoiled it.

Amaris had finished the book earlier than Anna and had laid it beside her. The Tales of Beedle the Bard hadn’t coerced an intense reaction from her, but it was interesting; she couldn’t stop flipping pages. The last story, The Tale of the Three Brothers caught her eye. She noted how compared to Muggle fairytales, they were much more mature. “There is, there are two more books. They’re both amazing as well!” Amaris replied. “I can lend them to you if you want.” she offered. If Anna had enjoyed the Golden Compass, then she would surely appreciate the next book as well, the Subtle Knife.

“The stories were great! They were definitely much better than the Muggle fairytales.” Amaris answered, grinning, shuffling on the blanket.

@Anna Blackrose

Anna breathed a sigh of relief when Amaris confirmed that there were two more books. And she even offered to lend them to Anna. “I would love that, thank you”. Since Amaris finished the book before Anna she still kept flipping the pages, and she liked the fairytales as well. She also mentioned the Muggle fairytales. “Oh, what are Muggle fairytales like? Are they like The Golden Compass? Or is that just a genre on it’s own?”. Anna asked now really interested in Muggle culture.

Her stomach whined again. “I think we should get going we’ve been out here far too long”, Anna smiled and handed the book back to Amaris. She thought about keeping it and reading it again, but since there were two more books it seemed unnecessary. “We can meet up again, I can’t wait to read the other two books”. She started picking up the napkins and leftover trash, piling them up in the little basket. “I loved hanging out with you, Amaris. You’re great company! Let’s hang out again next weekend. We can make it our thing! As long as it doesn’t interrupt our studying schedule”. Anna smiled warmly and shook the blanket a bit, folding it neatly.



OOC:

Amaris nodded as Anna accepted her offer for her to lend them the rest of the series. She would have to remember to bring them the next time they met. “They’re way different from the Golden Compass, and I guess it counts as its own genre.” she paused before speaking again, thinking. “They're kinda like children’s stories mixed with fantasy. A bit like folklore.” she said, settling on that description. Perhaps she would have to bring some fairytales from home to show to Anna since she hadn’t packed any in her trunk though since the holidays were quite far away, she probably would forget.

She accepted her book back and in turn, picked up Anna’s book, handing it over to her. “Yeah, we’ve been here a while.” Judging by the position of the sun, it had been a few hours since the girls had first met up. Amaris glanced inside Hogwarts, wondering if lunch was still being served. Seeing Anna picking up rubbish, she began too as well, piling it up into the basket that Anna had brought. “Yeah, it was really fun to hang out with you!” she replied, smiling. It had been a great time and Amaris was glad that Anna had felt the same.

@Anna Blackrose

Alright!