Accidentally Disturbing a Mandrake PV Irina Shevel Finished

Interacting with @Irina Shevel

"I get the feeling . . . wanting to carve a path for yourself rather than following the path already made by others. That's a good thing to want."

"Yeah", he said and raised his eyebrows with a nod. "Exactly."

Irina seemed super cool. She seemed so straightforward. She did as she pleased and seemed to do it with ease. Maybe he was taking life too seriously? A part of him wanted to be more like her. More adventurous. When hearing about her sister, he wondered whether the sister was more like Irina or more like... him, given the fact that she was in Ravenclaw. He could not remember someone named Idril. They seemed to have a good relation at least, not like he and his self-absorbed sister. She had not even sent him a letter yet. ("Just use a freaking cellphone like anybody else!" his sister said when he spoke about getting an owl of his own. "They don't work in Hogwarts, you fool", he had told her. "Sounds boring" she had said with a sigh and left).

"You alright mate?"

He looked at her firmly for a second before cracking up with a smile. "Yep." He got up on his feet and continued with a lively tone: "You know what? Being almost knocked out by a Mandrake was not so bad after all! I... I can't really believe I'm saying this, but... I'd be happy to explore the castle with you again some time. The more dangerous places, that is", he said with a slightly lowered voice, smiling. He offered his hand to help her up.

"You alright mate?"

"Yep. You know what? Being almost knocked out by a Mandrake was not so bad after all! I... I can't really believe I'm saying this, but... I'd be happy to explore the castle with you again some time. The more dangerous places, that is."

Simon had stood up, his hand held out to Irina to help her up. Her mind however was still stuck at his response. He had dodged the question . . . a lot. Clealry there was something he wasn't telling her.
'He doesn't have to tell you anything, he's only just met you!' she reprimanded herself, storing the situation in her mind for a later date. If he didn't want to talk, he didn't want to talk and there was nothing she would do to make him.
She took a few moments to decide whether she would take his hand. She preferred to do things herself, and didn't like the idea of a 'big strong man' looking after her. But Simon seemed to be a nice bloke and she obvisouly wasn't gonna be rude and say no.
"Thanks!"She took his hand with a smile and stood up, brushing herself down.
"I'd love to explore the castle more! Exploring is one of my favourite things to do. I don't really know any dangerous places though . . . I mean, there's the astronomy tower . . . and that deserted toilets. But other than that I can't really think of anywhere."

She stood still for a moment, pondering. "Oooh, we could go and see the Whomping Willow! Now, that's dangerous."

Interacting with @Irina Shevel

"I'd love to explore the castle more! Exploring is one of my favorite things to do. I don't really know any dangerous places though . . . I mean, there's the astronomy tower . . . and that deserted toilets. But other than that I can't really think of anywhere."

It made him glad to hear that Irina was up for another episode of a little mischief. When their hands met and he watched as she brushed the dirt off her pants he felt like Irina was like the sister he never had. Meeting her was like the ultimate confirmation that he should go with his gut more often; what if he had not snuck into the greenhouse?

”The deserted toilets? Don’t tell me you’re referring to the bathroom on the second floor! I stumbled upon it by an accident the other day and would not return unless there was something really interesting to find in there except for that stench of old pipes and a toilet that must have backfired…”

He chuckled inside and thought to himself that if he would return to that filthy bathroom with anyone it would have been Irina. Rather than just be disgusted they would probably have a laugh about it for even doing something so mad.

"Oooh, we could go and see the Whomping Willow! Now, that's dangerous."

"The... 'Whomping Willow'?", Simon tasted the word and cracked a smile. "I quite like the sound of that. Hey! I'm gonna finish my last page on the Transfiguration assignment in the library tomorrow after school. But perhaps we could meet up in the Entrance Hall after supper tomorrow? And check out this whomping willow."

Irina grinned at Simon's rather accurate description to the deserted toilets.
She gave a loud laugh, saying through the chuckles, "Yeah, you're not wrong, they're pretty disgusting. They're pretty good for doing something that's against the school rules. I tried brewing a potion there once!"

"The... 'Whomping Willow'? I quite like the sound of that. Hey! I'm gonna finish my last page on the Transfiguration assignment in the library tomorrow after school. But perhaps we could meet up in the Entrance Hall after supper tomorrow? And check out this whomping willow."

Irina grinned - 2 adventures in 2 days! Sounded perfect. "I'll be there," she winked, starting to walk back to the castle, hoping Simon would follow. He seemed like a pretty cool guy, potentially a tad hesitant about this side of life but definitely open-minded enough to try it. That was good - she could always respect someone with an open mind towards adventure.
Transfiguration sounds awful though!" she chatted, "I mean, it's not that I don't like it, but it can be a tad boring sometimes. I need it to either be immeditely interesting or immeditely action filled. I love Professor Aarden though . . . I've seen him in the corridors and he's pretty cool. What's the assignment topic on?"

As she walked, she thought more about Simon. Could he be a potential friend. She had been at Hogwarts a while and picked up one best friend and even more good friends. She wouldn't normally agree to meeting someone the next day so . . . maybe Simon had the potential to be a good friend! She'd have to wait and see.

"I'll be there", said Irina with a wink and it was almost as if he could smell the adventure in the air already.

Irina seemed like a capable person. Good to have around when bumping into Mandrakes and whomping willows. Therefore he could not wait to explore the school grounds with her. There was also the fact that she made him laugh so genuinely. Suddenly his Muggle friends from Edinburgh seemed quite boring. They started walking back to the castle.

"Transfiguration sounds awful though!" said Irina. (Simon chuckled). "I mean, it's not that I don't like it, but it can be a tad boring sometimes. I need it to either be immeditely interesting or immeditely action filled. I love Professor Aarden though . . . I've seen him in the corridors and he's pretty cool. What's the assignment topic on?"

"Honestly, Transfiguration is not one of my favorite subjects either. I'm writing an assignment on the transfiguration formula. The A, V, W, Z thing... Can't really see the practical use of transfiguration, although I get Professor Aarden's arguments. But how many times in life would you need to turn a desk into a pig? Even the other way around would be more convenient!"

They opened the heavy wooden door and entered one of the castle's many hallways. A bearded wizard with a pointy hat, in one of the portraits, looked up from his piece of parchment and began complaining about the amount of dirt the student brought in on the carpet, clearly referring to the muddy robes and shoes of Simon and Irina.

Simon was not sure in which direction to go but thought it would be best to leave Irina to it, though he knew he would probably miss her company for the rest of the day.

"I'm gonna head this way", said Simon and nodded in one of the three directions, wherever it lead. "So, see you tomorrow then? Meanwhile, I'll be sure not to disturb any more Mandrakes... But I can't promise anything." He gave her a wink. "Be seeing you!"

Interacting with @Irina Shevel

Irina and Simon had reached the castle, traipsing mud across the floor and causing a tidal wave of grumbles and complaints from the various inhabitants of the portraits. She looked down at her shoes and cringed - yeah, the usual amount of dirt from one of her excersions.

"I'm gonna head this way. So, see you tomorrow then? Meanwhile, I'll be sure not to disturb any more Mandrakes... But I can't promise anything." He gave her a wink. "Be seeing you!"

Irina was surprised and, in an odd sense, pleased to find a growing feeling of dissapointment at the fact Simon was leaving. She gave a small snort and his joke about mandrakes and paused, unsure about what she should do next . . . she had always been bad at goodbyes.
She gave a small wave and a wide smile. "Yeah. I'll . . . I'll be seeing you!"
As he turned towards wherever he was going, she turned too, deciding not to dwell on the fact she already wanted to be going to the Whomping Willow with him and holding on instead to the promise that tomorrow she had another adventure in store.

End of Thread