Archive BlossomFest Festival Grounds

Abi relaxed and admired the girl's plucky spirit. Mia definitely gave off an air of privilege that Abi wasn't used to from her youth and it intrigued her; she wanted to know more about where this girl was from and what her life was like. Her accent was strange, almost sporting an Irish lilt but not quite enough for Abi to think she was from Ireland, and her voice was sing-songy, like a songbird on a sunny day.

"Blossomfest has been amazing so far, though I haven't participated in many of the activities." Mia said.

"Same, I arrived a bit late and I wasn't sure where to go first. I don't know anyone yet, have you made a lot of friends?" Abi got the feeling that Mia was the kind of person who knew a lot of people, just from the fact that she wasn't afraid to unabashedly approach someone.

"And Hogwarts? I love it. This whole experience- I've been dreaming of it for as long as I can remember."

Abi smiled, that was the sign of someone who was ambitious with an eager curiosity. Maybe the two would get along perfectly fine.

When they approached a tree, Mia placed down a blanket retrieved from her basket and looked taken aback as it appeared not to have been stuffed in the basket in the way she had expected. She sat down next to Mia on the blanket, enjoying the slight breeze.

"Undetectable Extension Charm. Ministry Approved."

Abi smiled and nodded in realization, "Ah, that's what it is. My family used to use it to store harvests in our chiller and freezer using it so we had fruit and veg for the year for ourselves and to sell. I'm from Kinsale, Ireland, if you know where that is, it's small. Where are you from?"

"What about you? How are you finding it so far? What have you been doing since you started?"

"It's been amazing. The castle's beautiful! Nothing like I've seen back home. There's so much history and... magic! Believe it or not," Abi laughed, her passion for the study of magic evident.

Serena stared down at her hands. They were shaking slightly. She could see her fingers visibly shaking for no apparent reason. Sighing, she looked outside the window. It looked to be a nice warm day. The sunlight fell into the room nicely, lighting it up. It was definitely not shaking from the cold. Frowning, she clenched her hands into fists. Her eyes fell onto the parchment that lay beside her. Letters from home. They were scattered on her bed, surrounded by books and notes as she attempted to catch up on the homework she had missed whilst she was in the hospital.

A sober look fell over her face. She knew why her hands were shaking, she just did not want to admit it. She was scared. Of course she was. She had almost died. Her life had almost faded away from her. The physical wounds of that night had healed. It had been several weeks, after all. The emotional wounds, however, were forever present. Perhaps even worse now than they had been then.

Stop it... Stop being this useless...

She thought to herself as she moved to the edge of her bed, got up. Serena threw her cloak over her outfit, which was a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. She threw on a pair of converses that sat by her trunk as she grabbed her bag and threw it over her shoulder. Glancing into her bag, she scanned the contents to make sure she had everything already packed in there. Luckily her wand was already in the cloak pocket, which meant there was less to grab. 

You can do this... Well, nah, you probably can't. But like you should do it.

She told herself, ridiculing herself and doubting her own abilities. Her motivation skills were weak, that was for sure. Her self-motivating skills were non-existent, at best. With that, the Hufflepuff left her dorm room and headed out towards the grounds. There was something she had to do. There was a fear deep within her heart that she had to remove.

Walking to the main door, Serena took a few deep breathes to steady herself and calm her nerves. She hated this. She hated everything about this. However, she had no choice. She was the daughter of the Towers. And the Towers were not weak. They feared nothing. She had to prove it, even if only to herself.

With that, Serena left the castle and walked outside into the grounds. Her hands were shoved into the pockets of her robe, with the right hand clenched tightly around the wand inside it. She was ready to take it out and attack if she needed to. This had not the first time she had been attacked on the castle grounds and, she doubted it would be the last.



As she walked through the grounds, her gaze fell onto various stalls and tents that were not normally there. Stopping suddenly, she watched them for a moment. The girl quirked an eyebrow, raising it as she stared at the scenery in front of her. There were lots of children and professors around the area. Things were lively. 

Wh-Wha- Oh, the Blossomfest? 

Serena looked around a little before deciding to make her way there. Perhaps there was something there she should check out. Her gaze flickered over to the lake for a moment before sighing and returning to the festival taking place. There were plenty of people around but in all honesty, she was not in the mood to talk to anyone right now. She just wanted to prove to herself that she was not afraid. That she could go to the grounds and she could do it alone. 

She walked up to the closest stall to her and examined the items on it. There appeared to be a number of different types of quills and a sign that read "Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop" on the stand. She eyed up the various writing materials, though she was not sure what she would write with them. There was some beautiful coloured ink and a gorgeous peacock feather quill that she would have loved. But... what was she going to write with it? Notes for classes she hated? Letters to a family she did not want to reply to? 

The girl sighed. Well... at least everyone else looks happy. She noticed as she looked around and was greeted by plenty of smiling faces. Her own expression was blank. She had masked the fear and sadness very well. It was not noticeable. Perhaps even her closest friends would be deceived into thinking nothing was wrong.

As Amadea stood awkwardly behind the two students, she looked around at the grounds. People everywhere were conversing and having a great time, it seemed. If only she could say the same for herself.

She had always had trouble socializing and making friends, but it was almost harder here because there were always so many people and they all had so many friends already. It was hard to make friends with people who already had clearly defined friend groups. She backed away from the students, letting them have their personal space and privacy to continue their conversation.

She figured she might as well just walk back to the castle, since no one else had yet ventured over to the festival grounds that she knew, or might be interested in getting to know. Everyone seemed to be in their own worlds, which would have been fine with Amadea if it was any other day, but she had come to the grounds for the sole reason of finding people to chat with.

Just as she was starting to head back, she spotted a lone Hufflepuff walking toward the festival. She looked scared and fragile. As she came closer, Amadea recognized the girl as the prefect of the Hufflepuff house, Serena Towers. Amadea didn't know the full story, but she knew Serena had been pretty banged up in the campout. She had seen Serena being treated in the hospital wing, and she had to admit, she hadn't looked the greatest. Now though, she looked better albeit scared. Amadea decided to head over to her. It was the prefect, after all, and it wouldn't hurt to be on good terms with her. Plus, Amadea thought, she couldn't think of a time when she and Serena had actually met face to face. It would be good for both of them, she thought.

As she walked over, she noticed Serena's hands were shaking and she was taking deep breaths. She wondered how terrible things must have gotten at the campout for Serena to be this freaked out. She wondered if there was anything she could do to help. It didn't seem like the Hufflepuff was in the mood for a conversation, but Amadea decided to go and talk anyway. Maybe Serena would relax a little bit if she was distracted from her thoughts.

She walked over to the booth where Serena was standing, reading the sign that said Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop. "Hi," she said hesitantly. "I'm Amadea."

"It's been amazing. The castle's beautiful! Nothing like I've seen back home. There's so much history and... magic! Believe it or not,"

Abi smiled and Mia laughed, surveying the small crowd that had formed by the entrance.

"We should go over and introduce ourselves"

Mia recognized the prefect of Hufflepuff and anoth Hufflepuff chatting by the enterance.

"They seem...nervous. And everyone should have fun at Blossomfest!"

Mia smiled and stood up. SHe stuffed her stuff into the small basket, and looked over at Abi.

"Sorry for sitting down, and then requesting you to move, but it's only polite."

Mia started walking towards the two girls by the enterance. She stopped infront of both of them and smiled, opening her mouth to greet them.

"Hello! I am Mia Alexander. Slytherin, First Year. How are you enjoying Blossomfest? Amazing right? I love that they sent for magicians to preform for us."

Mia gestured towards the magician closest to them, shooting brightly colored string in the air, and then by some invisible force, keeping them there.

"What spell do you think that he is using? I'd love to learn how to do that."

Mia smiled at them, hesitant. She wasn't sure if she was being too forward, but she would never turn down the opportunity to meet a prefect. She had admired Serena from afar, and Mia wanted nothing but to succeed at Hogwarts. This was a person who had.

Serena glanced over as she heard a voice nearby. A red haired girl introduced herself to her. She blinked a little, as she girl looked familiar but she could not quite place why. Perhaps she had simply seen her around the common room, "Serena Towers," She replied curtly with a smile on her face, as she took her right hand out of her pocket and held it out for the other Hufflepuff to shake. 

Luckily she had managed to calm a lot of her nerves whilst she was walking towards the grounds and before reaching her. Plus she was excellent in hiding her true emotions. That was a skill she had acquired from years of masking her own anger, sadness and fear. Her mother was very particular about certain things. One was that the Towers and Oberois, her maternal side, should always present themselves properly. They were always meant to be composed. Over the last few months, she had allowed the mask that she had practiced for eleven years prior to fall. Hogwarts brought her out of her shell. 

Her true personality started to shine through and her shyness started to fade away. However, with recent events occurring, Serena had reverted back to a habit she had been forced to learn. No one was allowed to know that she was afraid. No one should find out when she was upset or angry. She had let a few people break that shell of hers. She had become an open book since she had arrived in Hogwarts. Not anymore. This was Serena Towers and there was no way she was going to let her mask fall so easily.

"Nice to meet you," She continued as she held her hand out for her fellow Hufflepuff to shake it. For a second, she allowed her eyes to flicker to it. The shaking in her fingers had stopped. There was a firm grip in her handshake before looking Amadea in the eyes again. The smile on her face stayed in place the whole time, refusing to show anything other than being polite. 

"Have you seen anything of interest here, Amadea?" She asked the girl politely, still smiling at her kindly. Serena was wondering if there was anything around that she ought to have checked out herself. Her voice and mannerisms did not have the usual spark of light that they normally had. However, this was the first time she was meeting Amadea, there was no way for the girl to know that. Perhaps the only few who would know that were some of her closest friends. However, it appeared that none of them were here. Or at least, she had yet to see them, if they were.

Before she could continue to talk, Serena heard another voice approach her. Turning on her heels, she spotted a girl standing by them. "Serena Towers," The female replied as she introduced herself to Mia, holding out her hand to shake hers too. To match Mia's instruction, she provided more information about herself in return, "First Year Hufflepuff Prefect," She continued. Following her indication, she looked over to see a magician and watched him for a moment. 

She had no idea how he did that... Which was probably an indication of her own failings as a witch - something she had grown accustomed to over the past week or two. Looking at Mia, she smiled, "I just arrived actually so haven't seen much yet. This was literally the first thing I saw," She explained, gesturing back towards the quill stand that was now behind her, "I'm not sure what spell he's using either. It's pretty cool though," She replied as she looked back at the magician. 

As much as she hated to admit it, attending social gatherings her entire life was paying off. Despite the fact she was standing here wishing she was back in the warmth and safety of her own bed, she was still able to make small talk. That was a skill she owed to being forced to network from a young age by her mother. That and the ability to mask her true emotions. The smile on her face never once faltered whilst she was talking to the two girls.

Amadea wasn't much of a people person, but alas here she was standing with Serena and another girl who had approached the two. She felt very awkward standing there, shaking Serena's hand. Everything about this interaction seemed so polite, almost as if it were staged. She looked around at the festival, wondering what she could say.

"I had a cauldron cake from one of the booths over there," she said gesturing. "It was delicious. I highly suggest getting one. I haven't seen much of the festival yet, though. I've only just arrived."

She looked over at the Slytherin coming over. She introduced herself to Serena and Amadea. She then went on to talk about everything she had seen and Amadea had to admit, she was also impressed by the magic. She followed Serena's gaze over to the quill stand. Amadea didn't want to admit it, but she didn't know what spell was being used either. She still was learning about the magical world, and though she had made great strides in her knowledge, she still often felt behind the others in class because of their upbringings. She hadn't been around any magic before coming to Hogwarts, so plunging into all of the work was a bit of a struggle, but nothing that she couldn't handle of course. She just had to make sure she learned everything the other students knew and then she would be fine. She decided to not acknowledge the question, for fear of being deemed stupid. Plus, it didn't seem like Mia was asking Amadea, she was directing her words more toward the Hufflepuff prefect. It didn't surprise Amadea. Serena seemed like an amazing witch and if she was given the choice to talk to herself or Serena, she would pick Serena.

She tried to think of something to say to continue the conversation. "Do you guys want to walk around more and see what other booths there are?" she asked.

Kaegen walked around, smooth and silent. There was something odd about the fair, it didn't really seem to interest him, the rides and booths were not capable of attracting his attention. It was kind of odd, honestly. This was all new, all different all exciting. There was no reason for him to not be interested. It worried him a little but not enough to do anything about it. So he kept up his aimless walk, grey scarf trailing behind him and large walking staff with a umbrella head clutched tightly in his hand. It was an odd umbrella, to say the least. But it suited it's purpose just fine.
He had spent roughly an hour here and accomplished nothing. His eyes picked up their darting pace, trying to find something of interest when they settled on a girl he didn't know. She was surrounded by one or two others but they didn't really interest him as much. One of them was asking the other about booths so they were probably exploring the festival together anyway. He wasn't sure why she was interesting but then again his curiosity never made the most sense and he didn't feel the need to fight it. He had been bored anyway. The young ravenclaw made his way up behind the girl and then he paused. There had to be something to say, right? He moved around her slowly, ending up in front of her. He looked at her face as closely as he could. There was always a sign on their face, assuming you could read it. He got nothing out of hers, not any hind of hint as to what she could possibly be going through. So he just assumed she was bored. He was bored and walking alone, she was bored and standing with a few people. It made sense, right?
He might be able to fix both of their problems if he worked at it for a bit. It might take a bit more talking then he would like but that didn't matter. It was worth it to save this girl and himself from the grasping clutches of boredom. Boredom was something he couldn't accept, it was something he refused to accept. It meant that you were wasting a part of your life that you would never get back. It was kind of philosophical for an 11 year old, but it made sense when you realized how much Kaegen thought about surviving. If you couldn't survive you might as well live.
"You aren't having fun."
His voice sounded like it was coming from far away, a whispery little breeze of a voice that still managed to seem at least a little matter of fact. It was quiet more than anything, and didn't sound like it should come out of a little boy's mouth.
"I can fix that if you want. No, on second thought even if you don't want."
He pulled back from her face and took a fluid step backwards.
"Kaegen Deathmote Fens-Born Scarf-Wielder at your limited service."
He decided to not put all of his other titles there, this wasn't that much of a formal setting. He had a couple things in mind that they could do, but wasn't entirely sure which one he wanted to go with. Besides, half of them were illegal and she did have a perfect badge on, which meant she was perfect according to the standards of the incompetent professors. He wondered briefly if it was embarrassing to wear a perfect badge around, then dismissed the thought. He had interesting things on his agenda and like it or not so did she.

Looking over to where Amadea was pointing to, Serena grinned a little, "That sounds great, I'll have to try it," She replied as she made a mental note of where the stand was. She did have a big sweet tooth and some cake would definitely be a good idea. It made a change from the hospital food she had been served for a while, anyway. Though, she had managed to get some chocolates and sweets in - mostly thanks to her friends.

Serena was about to reply to Amadea's suggestion of walking around together and checking out the other booths. She had not actually planned to have any company today but now that she was here, company did not seem like a bad idea. It certainly made a change to being stuck in her dorm room all the time. The Hufflepuff decided that it looked like she was going to be spending some time mingling with her fellow students.

Mia and Amadea would probably make some good company, too. One had a good taste in food and the other suggested some good entertainment to watch. It was a brief initial judgement but both seemed friendly enough to get to know...

At least, that was the plan until she almost had a mini heart attack. Serena's quiet trip was turning into a not-so-quiet one as a third person appeared. Unfortunately, this person chose a very unusual way to greet the girl. Instead of saying hello, like a normal person, the boy sneaked up behind her - which was a terrible way to start any conversation. Especially given that the girl had only recently gotten out of an hospital after being sneaked up on by a creature that tried to kill her. He then appeared in front of her. Next to her face. In fact, way too close to her face for her liking.

Serena immediately took a step back, her eyes widened at the sight of something in her face. She almost screamed in his face but in reality, she was so shocked that she could not actually even make a noise. Her body couldn't react in time. It just froze, wondering why there was someone so close to her. Serena blinked rapidly, her eyes slowly adjusting to the figure. She had never seen him before. And she certainly had never expected him to be so close to her face. In fact, Serena had not really had anyone get this close to her face. Except for perhaps a certain Gryffindor but even then, he didn't get that close knowingly or to a complete stranger.

The Hufflepuff blinked. The boy claimed she wasn't having fun, before deciding that he could fix it - regardless of whether or not she wanted him to. "Uhh what?" She replied after she composed herself, listening to his introduction. Kaegen Deathmote... Fens-born? Scarf-Wielder- What? Oh- She thought to herself as her gaze fell onto his scarf. It must have been something special to him if he was going to include it in his introduction. She had no idea what or where Fens was, though. Or at least, that was what she thought he said. Right now, she was doubting her eyes and her ears. "Uh... Serena... Towers. Just Serena Towers, I guess..." She replied slowly, blinking at him in confusion.

In all honesty, she just wanted to him get his face out of hers and away from her. Serena just blinked, wondering why he was staring at her so intently. It was scaring her a little. Did she have something on her face? Was she still scarred from the campout? What was it?

Serena did not even hold out her hand for a handshake this time. She was still in a bit of shock so, even replying took a lot of effort. Her brain was not thinking properly. "Urm, it's okay, I don't need... fixing...?" She continued, unsure of what was going on. Why was he going to "fix" the boredom he had decided she had, even if she didn't want him to?

A smile started to spread across the boy's face. It was a decent smiles as smiles go, but a bit too maniacal, and just a little bit off key. Wrong. It was the same smile that adorned his face when he succeeded at something, which usually consisted of a successful hunt or a particularly quiet outing past something deadly. She did have a name, then. TOWERS. He wondered how on earth she had managed to get a title as grand as that one, to be compared with a pillar of stone was incredible. And it also promised greatness.
"Under who's authority? Mine comes from grandfather who got his from the conqueror of the 14th dark place."
Putting the question aside for the moment, confident he would get an answer soon enough he addressed her next question, which was completely ridiculous. She obviously needed fixing, and saying she didn't was just proving his point more. She was just standing there not doing anything exciting or interesting. That was useless, she could at least read a book. The boy had already decided to help out, which meant there was almost no deterring him. The only question that remained was where to go and what to do. He wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to stay in the fair or leave in search of interest but considering she was at the fair in the first place, it was safe to assume that she wanted to be here. His eyes darted along the stands. There was ice cream, but nothing really interesting there. There were fruit stands that interesting him, however. He could try and carve the watermelons into something cool. Or better yet throw them into the air and then chop them before they hit the ground. But on the down side it would be pretty expensive to just go around killing fruit willy nilly. Did this girl even know how to use a knife or did she prefer some other kind of weapon?
"Why aren't you carrying a weapon on you?"
His mind was running wild, going on tangents and tangents of tangents. He eyed her frame. No, definitely not a club. She was more like him. A lot more like him then he had realized. A mad spark ignited in his eyes. He wasn't feeling especially smart, boredom made him reckless and recklessness made for stupid choices. But not all stupid choices were bad.
"Do you need one?"

"Why aren't you carrying a weapon on you? Do you need one?"

It was quite obvious that he was talking only to Serena-he was ouright ignoring her and Amedea-but she couldn't help but butt in.

"No. I don't think that she is. Except for her wand, which can harm others but.."

Mia shook her head. GET BACK ON TRACK MIA she thought.

"That's besides the point. You promised to cure her boredom, which is evident. So do it."

Mia challenged the boy standing across from her, eyebrow raised.

"Mia Alexander. Partially bored, and waiting for you to make this Blossomfest the best one in the history of Blossomfests. Go on. You volunteered."

Mia smiled slightly, her eyes flitting towards the Hufflepuffs beside her. Sure she was daring, sure she was challenging a boy that hadn't come up to her, but she had enough of the back and forth between this Ravenclaw, Kaegen Deathmote, she remembered, and Serena. She had never heard of the Deathmote name, though if she had ever encountered someone with that last name she would have remembered it. It was quite... unique. She was pretty sure it was the name of some anime show, though that might have been Death Note. She wasn't sure.