Flobby Hunting

꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱ ☾☼☽ +:｡.｡　 ༺❀༻　｡.｡:+☾☼☽ ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱

Mentions: @Paul Turner, @Ellaine Weatherby

WC: 256

Hex code: #0050b4

꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱ ☾☼☽ +:｡.｡　 ༺❀༻　｡.｡:+☾☼☽ ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

x

Skylar makes her way to the Great Hall, her satchel bouncing along with her steps. She had agreed to meet up with Paul and Ellaine earlier, the three of them planning on searching for flobberworms. Now, Skylar does not really know how to feel about the slimy things. She appreciates them, especially since flobberworm mucus is such a prominent ingredient in potion making, but she would not consider them particularly... charming. As she arrives at the entrance, she was greeted by the ever jolly Paul Turner. Her fellow Gryffindor always seems to have boundless energy, just like her. She returns his wave with an enthusiastic grin of her own, eager to begin there flobberworm hunting. Or as Paul had fondly dubbed them, "flobbies." The nickname makes the worms sound a lot cuter than they actually are, but oh well. Ellaine had also appeared, the trio now being complete. "What do you, guys, think, will there be a lot of them out there now, after it's rained?" The boy asked. With a shrug, Skylar answers. "Well, I do not know much about the nature of flobbies, but I would assume so. After all, they need moisture for their mucus, right? The rain offers great hydration for them to produce more." But with rain, mud also comes. Skylar had chosen to don a pair of sturdy boots, so hopefully her socks will not get wet nor muddy. Her satchel is slung across her body, filled with various equipment — and of course — snacks. "It's flobby hunting time!"

x

x

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Hex: #855B51 Mentions: @Paul Turner, @Skylar Blue

Notes: Word Count: 318

Ellaine half-ran, half-walked up the stairs to the Great Hall from the Hufflepuff Cellar. She was quite anxious, really. Ever since they’d agreed on their little outing together – searching for flobberworms, or flobbies, as Paul had said – she’d been thinking of her preparations.

After much staring and dismissing of options, Ellaine now donned a simple pair of boots, tall enough to protect her precious socks from water. For her outerwear, she’d chosen to use a lightweight water-resistant jacket. Perfect, she had thoughout on forest grounds after a light shower. And, learning from their previous experience, she’d brought a few snacks along with her, located inside her ever-trusty satchel, slung over her shoulders. A precaution, just in case they decided to hold an impromptu picnic somewhere, of course.

Catching sight of the Great Hall, and subsequently Paul and Skylar, Ellaine slowed down to a quick walk. Paul greeted them with a joyful wave, cheerful as always – she simply couldn’t imagine him without a smile. It was as bright as it was infectious, and she soon found herself smiling too, the traces of worries disappearing into a distant memory. She echoed his greeting, and moved to a stop at their side.

"What do you, guys, think, will there be a lot of them out there now, after it's rained?" asked Paul out loud.

Beside her, Skylar answered him, “Well, I do not know much about the nature of flobbies, but I would assume so. After all, they need moisture for their mucus, right? The rain offers great hydration for them to produce more.”

Ellaine nodded thoughtfully. “That makes sense,” she said. “I really do hope they’ll show up, otherwise we’ll never get to see them flobbies racing…”

“It's flobby hunting time!”

Ellaine heeded her call with a straightening of her back. “Ready, whenever you are!” A pause, then she continued, “…But where are we first heading to?”

Time: Early-ish afternoon, October
Weather: Cool, cloudy, not long after a shower
Date: October 20th, 2026
Interacting with: @Ellaine Weatherby , @Skylar Blue

Paul smiled with his crooked smile at Sky's assumption. "Right. They're suckers for water, just like earthworms. Two points to Gryffindor, Miss Blue!" Nodded the boy theatrically, his smile quickly passing into a giggle.

Then, Ellaine added the part about if the Flobbies would show up, so he grimaced at her, shaking his head. "Of course they will, El! Don't jinx it." The boy paused then, grinning, likely to lighten his previous words. "At least not yet anyway." In his eyes, there ran a flash of mischief. Well, the truth is that we might need to use a Wingardium and a Scourgify. Who knows? The worm might be wet and we might not be able to hold him cause he'd be all muddy and slippery. Added his wandering mind, his magic-loving nature almost trembling to use as many spells as possible.

"Yay!" Paul joined the cheer for flobby hunting time, then started walking out of the castle's ground floor corridor, towards the exit. The medieval gate opened itself, just like it always did, so they didn't really have to produce any additional effort to basically just walking towards it. The spells on it were pretty impressive, opening the whole, heavy thing up for anyone who wished to leave.

'Ready whenever you are!'
Paul noticed Ellaine's sentence and wondered where he knew it from. Was it a film or a TV show? It could have been a comics too. Likely, 'cause it certainly wasn't a book.

"Uhm... the forests around the Great Lake first, then the Dungeons!" Paul felt like he needed to set the direction, doing so confidently, after El asked about where they were heading first.

The gate opened soon and Paul leaped forward with high-knee leaps, looking like a kid looking forward to going to school. Except, in this case, it was the premise of leaving the school to enter nature that made him excited. He ran down the stairs that were the only thing that parted him from the beauties and secrets of Hogwarts' Grounds.

When he was quite done leaping, he started walking fast, gradually starting to trot forward. Then, he turned around to look at the girls and grin. He never stopped trotting, this time, doing it backwards, though. "Come on, guys... or, as my grandma says, add a little energy into the dying!" Called the boy, jokingly. "Or, shall I say, the last one is providing a dessert for the rest?" With that, he playfully stuck out his tongue at Sky, whose words from their autumn flight he'd just used, turning around, then heading forward again.

Hex: #855B51 Mentions: @Skylar Blue, @Paul Turner

Notes: congratulations on your internship!!! Word Count: 375

“Come on, Ellaine! Run before you get tagged, too!”

Laughing, she stumbled into a run after her, boot-clad feet trampling the ground underneath. The satchel she’d slung over her shoulder bounced against her hip, a steady rhythm matching the pace of her chase. Ellaine paid it no mind, focusing instead on the exhilaration blooming in her every breath. Really, running outside was quite fun – too bad that she always forgot that. Only her brothers could rope her into it – her friends now, too, she supposed.

Ellaine shot a wide smile at Paul, almost tripping over in her haste. “Can’t catch me, can you!” she cried and turned around, disregarding how Paul was very, very close to her, instead focusing all her energy on sprinting towards where she’d last seen Skylar: at the forest’s edge.

Only, when she looked ahead, Skylar was nowhere in sight. Unease poured into her mind, and she beckoned Paul closer, crossing into the forest and slowing down to a jog. She swivelled her head left and right, trying to catch sight of those deep sky blue locks of hair among the many bushes and greenery.

Her hand found the bark of a tree, and she absentmindedly leaned on it for support before she caught sight of the ants marching up its surface. She snatched back her hand, a frown marring her face as she brushed off the dirt on her palm. This had her distracted, right up until she finally heard a familiar voice call out.

"Guys, come over here! I think I found a flobberworm!"

So soon already? thought Ellaine, following where she’d thought the voice was until she came upon Skylar, sitting down on the ground. “Are you alright…” Ellaine trailed off as she processed what she was seeing. The aforementioned flobberworm was, in fact, real, and squirming not far from where Skylar was.

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Ellaine approached Skylar, keeping the flobberworm in her sight. She knelt beside her, careful not to slip on the weird, unappetising slime – ahem, flobberworm mucus trailing behind the creature.

“I s’ppose we should capture it?” she said, not moving any closer. “…Ah, wait. Should’ve brought a plastic bag…” Or was that inhumane?

Paul turned around and ran backwards for a few secs, only to point at the two slower individuals behind him, and come up with a The Simpsons' character laughter. "Haw haw!"

As Sky called the thing about the cookies after him, he turned around, lifting his hand and waving it off.

As he kept running, he also looked over his shoulder every now and then, to check where the girls were. After his last turn, he slowed down, seeing that they were both behind enough. Are you sure, Paul? They might surprise. Wait. Is that a... a butterfly? The boy got distracted from his thoughts about the possibility of being overtaken by either of them. He turned right and squatted to offer a finger for a resting dragonfly on a straw of grass by the sidewalk, to climb on.

The dragonfly flew away as soon as he neared his finger to it. Paul moaned in dismay. Ugh... hey! Where are you going, girl? Come back! Looking around, he somehow forgot that there was a very competitive, Gryffindor individual whom he had hot on his heels. And that was when Sky tagged him.

"Ugh!" The boy didn't even manage to evade, for he hadn't seen her. However, he wasn't really angry, no. His competitive nature didn't allow him to be. The only thing he felt was the urge to tag her back. That was why he grinned at her, a flash of challenge running through his eyes. He looked for Ellaine, who was very close now too, and therefore, started running forward fast.

"Hey! We should make a... uh, deal. To... uh, split the scope of authority!" Did the boy call, as long as he still hadn't started sprinting. Even despite that, the frequent "uh" pauses occurred in his speech, which signified he was running out of breath gradually. "Your domaine will be the sky, mine will be the ground!"

El started sprinting then, and Paul, therefore, had to start sprinting too. Woohoo! It's finally here! The real running race! Forests around the lake, beware! Ran through his mind, as he was rushing down a path among the trees.

Paul trained all year long, going for a run every afternoon. Not for random races with his friends, but just to keep fit and not to get out of the shape that he was required to have to be efficient at football. He was a sporty guy, really, with his mother's heritage and a long-lasting, deeply rooted hobby.

And then, at some point closer to the edge of the forest, he managed to overtake them... Yay! Finally! But... wait. Where are they? Paul turned around, to see no one where he'd expected to see El. So, he stopped, turning around, breathing heavily.

"El? H-hey... s'up?" Asked the boy, seeing the girl standing not far behind him, looking around, as if she was looking for someone. He started trotting towards her. "Where's Sky?"

"Guys, come over here! I think I found a flobberworm!"

"Huh?" He looked at the Puff, then turned to the direction where the calling came from and jerked his head to it.

The two of them started walking that way, only to see Sky on the ground. El asked her if she's alright, which he added to, with a small frown: "Nothing sprained, twisted, or broken?"
His eyes then found the Flobby on the ground next to Sky. "Oh!" The boy's eyes widened, as he breathed in and joyfully exclaimed: "My! That... that's a real Flobby!" Commented the boy, excited. He then knelt down on a tree root opposite to the girls, on the opposite side of the flobby. Leaning his hands on the ground, he touched the slime that was left by the worm on the moss nearby.

"Ugh... ew!" Forced out the boy, looking at his hand first, then reaching for a wider fern leaf that he tore and wiped his sticky hand with it. "Yeah... almost forgot why do wizards not look upon them fondly." Uttered the boy sarcastically.

Ellaine suggested they captured it, with which Paul agreed. The following part of her utterance, however, not so much. "Heavens, no! Anything but a plastic bag!" Said the boy partly terrified. "He would suffocate in it! Plus, he wouldn't have enough space to move. Ya know what?"

Fortunately, Paul had an alternative! He pulled his wand out of the case on his belt. "I'll try to levitate it. It's not certain that it works on animals, but still... it's the least violent way." The boy informed them, shrugging and waving the wand at the Flobby. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

⋅- ⋅-⋅⋅ ⋅⋅ ⋅⋅⋅- ⋅

Hex: #6a7246 Mentions: @Paul Turner, @Skylar Blue

Word Count: 326

A chuckle escaped her mouth, borne out of awkwardness. Perhaps her brother was right. She truly needed to work on her loose-lipped mouth. How do flobberworms breathe, anyway? she thought, keeping that question on the back burner for later perusal.

“Well, Paul, I'm sure you can have fun with this little flobby,” said Skylar as she went ahead and gave light-hearted pats on his back. Ellaine smiled— at first. Of course, her eyes then narrowed. It was difficult, after all, not to notice how her race-loving friend was using her mucus-covered hands. Should she be telling him…?

Skylar turned around, and an odd sense of caution overtook her. “You have... thirty seconds before I try to tag you, too.” She blinked, brain still stuck on processing the command.

“Wait, what—? No, no… hear me out,” she said, desperately trying to stall for time. “What if I— ah, do away with that mucus first…?” She got out her wand, waving it the way someone would wave their hands to get a point across. A code of actions was building in her hands, and the final decision was… to run like a headless chicken. Strategically!

Turning around, she screeched at Paul to run, before taking off in the other direction, skirting the edges of the forest. Not too deep in case she got lost, and not too out in the open that she’d get easily spotted. She was pants at consistently sprinting, but maybe she’d have a chance at out-obstacling her?

Of course not, the voice inside her head said. Let’s try it anyway!

Sighing, she wove through and between trees, looking back every few seconds— just in case Skylar got on her tail. Upon not seeing a sign of Skylar behind her, she leaned behind a tree, catching her breath for a few precious seconds.

Looking around, she acquainted herself with the towering trees above her. “Pretty,” she remarked. Soon enough, she began to wander around in search of more flobberworms, while trying to spot her other tag-friends. Absentmindedly, she wondered if a Scourgify would work against those pesky mucus…

⋅- ⋅-⋅⋅ ⋅⋅ ⋅⋅⋅- ⋅

"You do know that the Levitation Charm only works on non-living objects... right?"

"Yes, I'm aware. It's just that Wingardium does work on people in duels, so I thought that... ya know what, never mind." Paul waved it off, shaking his head. He was aware of what was said in Charms. Though back then, he didn't know Wingardium was used as an offense charm in duels, so he hadn't asked the professor about it. Which he, admittedly, regretted. Dammit, I gotta ask about it in the next lesson.

Paul watched his housemate being proactive about the Flobby, rising his eyebrows. Her effort and obstinacy in spite of the omnipresent thick slime that was the only valued product of the being, surprised him. Sky grabbed the Flobby with her bare hands, then tried putting him into her net bag.

"Well Paul, I'm sure you can have fun with this little flobby."

"I will! We just need to find an earthworm now. They're usually out after rain. But, hm... Sky, thanks, I guess." The boy grinned, putting his jar back into his backpack and taking the bag with the flobby.

When Sky lifted her hand, Paul realized there was mucus on it. Crouching down, he moved to the sides to avoid it. "No. Skylar Blue, don't ya dare touch me with your sleazy-" Said the boy, dead serious. He rose to his feet even, to get away from her touch easier. But it was useless. His housemate dearest managed to pat him on the back in the end, and so he sighed in defeat. "Dammit, Blue. Couldn't ya ask El to clean your hand for ya, or do it on your own? She's drawn her wand, anyway." Paul chose to start reproaching her.

“What if I— ah, do away with that mucus first…?”

"Well, it's useless now to her. All her slime is all over my back, thanks to this... Blueberry muffin." Paul pointed at Sky, not realizing it was a game that El and Sky were playing, to get rid of the tag.

When El shouted at him to run, he understood, running in an opposite direction.