Small Frogs in a Big Hall Errand Closed

Colin had just shown off his own wee frog choir to Keith when he felt someone bumping into him. "Oof!" Oh, a --- hi" Colin turned to look. Athena held out a nearly squashed frog. Colin blushed. The someone was Athena. The girl that gave him his first kiss. Whoa. Memories of the recent spin the bottle game came flooding back. That snog had been really brilliant! She seemed quite flustered by something --- must be the frogs all over the hall, Colin concluded.

"Athena lassie, you're gonna squeeze that poor froggo! Ease up a bit!" He smiled at the Hufflepuff girl.

“Sorry for crashing into you guys” she said.

Colin turned towards Keith. "I wonder what's got into her!? It's not like she's never seen me before!" His eyes widened as he spotted a frog hopping along under the Ravenclaw table. "Aha! And I'm off! FROGGOS!!" He was so happy that Keith was as keen on frognabbing as he was. The boy shared a similarly high energy level and only spurred Colin on! "Come on Keith!! Owoooooooooooo!!" Colin's long legs covered the distance and he dove towards it! Landing on his belly, he skidded along the smooth wood of the bench, scooped up the frog and at last came to a halt. He looked up and smiled broadly at who he saw tucking a frog into her own pocket.

"CLAIR!!! I'm glad you're here! Isn't this fun?" He sat up next to the Ravenclaw broom racer with a smile. "I got another one!" he said, holding up his most recent catch so she could see. "Um. Clair? Can I --- er. I want to --- um." Ach! Why was it Colin could gush to his friends about Clair Fernandez, but he could hardly get out a comprehensible sentence when talking to Clair Fernandez? He blushed. This was so embarrassing!

"Clair. Can --- can I ask you for the honour of going the Ball with me? Er. That one that's coming up soon? I --- er ---" Shut it Colin! he chastised himself. Just leave it at that! Don't say anything sillier than you've already done!

"Creebit! Creebit!" the frog in his hands spoke up just then. He hoped the frog was saying Colin's idea was grand!

@Clair Fernandez | @Keith Moore | @Athena McClenin

And then Colin's world came crashing down around him.

The happy songs of a million frogs faded away. The jubilant cries and frightened squeals of students fell silent. Even the sound of Clair's happy greeting, the one sound that should have delighted Colin's heart for as long as it beat in his breast, that sound too shattered and was no more.

The world ground to a halt around him. Even the frogs he had in hand abandoned him, breaking free and hopping away. The only movements were those of himself and Clair, the only light cascading in from the high windows flooded Clair with brightness. All else fell into shadow and confusion. Her clear voice that had once comforted him now bore with it only arrows and darts and all aimed straight for his heart!

Colin took in the words that she spoke, unaware, surely, how badly they'd hurt. "Oh, Colin, I'm sorry." She said, "I already have a ball date, but if you had asked me earlier I would have said yes." Her voice sounded as if she regretted her words. "I really am sorry."

I really am sorry

Really am sorry

really sorry

Colin's throat felt constricted, his tongue bloated and dry. He made no sound, could think of no words to say. Colin could scarcely even breathe!

He was too late!! Someone else had already asked the love of his life to go to the ball with him! He was too late!! Colin had never really been late before. He was generally on time or more often early for classes. He never turned homework in late.

if you had asked me earlier I would have said yes

Her words accused him. She would have gone with him! Clair would have said yes!

Colin could only nod his understanding. Or rather, Colin could only nod that the words Clair said to him had been received. He could feel the tears welling up in his green eyes. He blinked a few times. He knew this was all his fault!

if
you
had
asked
me
earlier
I
would
have
said
yes

It was all his fault. If he'd asked Clair yesterday or last week, or even before dinner --- things would have been so different. But no. Colin was late! He didn't ask her when he should have. He felt his heart cracking in half again.

When his voice came back at last, he could say very little. He felt sure that Clair didn't mean to hurt him; and he swore to himself that he would never hurt Clair. He shivered violently, but at last was able to get out a whisper: "Oh. Um. I --- I hope you have fun Clair..."

Colin could take no more! He stood up, his hot tears dropping to the cold stones of the floor.

Colin turned and fled the hall.

Colin leaves the thread.
@Clair Fernandez || @Keith Moore

Name: Jannette Applebottom
Date: September 28th, 2022
Location: The Slytherin Common Room
Outfit: Slytherin School Uniform

*⑅*⑅*⑅*⑅*⑅*⑅* *⑅*⑅*⑅*⑅*⑅*⑅*

Well, today was finally over.

After a long day of studying, and doing homework, relief swept over Jannette's shoulders. It felt like she finally actually did something this weekend and it's all thanks to the library. Sure, she got distracted every 10 minutes when doing her charms homework, but honestly, the young brunette would enjoy it when her mind would wonder on what she would be doing on the weekend.

Walking through the halls, Jannette planned to head over to The Great Hall to get herself a midnight desert. She hated going to bed without having a sweet to eat, and honestly, Jannette deserved a treat after a long day of studying so why not get a little more than she usually gets plus it's a good snack when she's in her room, maybe they'll have cupcakes today. With her books pressed by her chest, the thought of cupcakes honestly caused her little legs to walk a little faster than she usually would. Getting close to the Great doorway, students began to run past her, bumping Jannette's shoulder hard causing her to drop her books, some letting out a sharp cry and laughter in the direction of the Great Hall the words of "Frogs" and "They were everywhere -- the one girl got one in her hair" seem to escape their mouths.

Picking up her books, Jannette would peak her head through the huge castle doors, her brown eyes would grow wide at the sight. 'Frogs, frogs everywhere!' It was honestly a little goofy, seeing hundreds of small frogs hopping around The Great Hall, some students staying as they all seemed to look at a woman standing on top of a chair. She was a familiar face, Jannette saw the woman every now and then, and was Professor Takagi, The Care of Magical Creatures Professor for Hogwarts.

"They're just frogs! Not hard to catch at all! I've got a pair of Chocolate Frogs for every student who catches a frog and brings it up here to the tank!"

Chocolate Frogs. Today couldn't have been better, she could catch the frogs and get rewarded with some sweets and not no ordinary sweets but Chocolate Frogs?! Say less. Jannette would study the students seeing them catch the small green amphibians; some succeeding while others failing rather humorously. Obviously, these students haven't seen a professional frog catcher like Jannette Honey Applebottom before. Putting her books down on the table with banners colored scarlet and gold.

As students continued to try to catch them in a more traditional method, Jannette on the other hand, decided to do some different, something more cunning. Going into the pose of a frog, Jannette would puff her cheeks out, and attempt to be a frog, hopping around. Maybe, she thought, that if they thought she was a frog some of them would have to trust her and get close to her, and that's when Jannette will strike! It was an amazing plan -- no, a genius plan, something that was way smarter than any Ravenclaw could come up with.

Letting her plan go into action, Jannette would begin to hop around, mimicking the croaking sounds the frogs would make. She was a snake in frogs clothing, and as a snake, she needed to wait, be patient and wait for her time the right time to attack. It only took a few minutes for an unsuspecting frog to get close to her, squinting at her new target, Jannette would leap forward and take her hands out, and before you knew the Flog jumped right into her hands. Clasping it, so the pretty thing doesn't escape Jannette's mouth formed an 'O' shape. 'That was easy...'


Scurrying over to the Professor, a wide grin would appear on Jannette from ear to ear. "Profess'r, Profess'r oiiii go' one! Oi go' one, see?! Look a' her isn' she so cuuu'e!~"¹ Jannette would open the top of her hand slightly, showing the Professor the small frog she caught before handing it over. The snake hated the fact that she had to give the amphibian to the Professor, in all honesty, Mrs. Frog was so cute and tiny, Jannette just wanted to keep it for herself, but a reward is a reward.

As Jannette got her reward, her eyes would begin to sparkle as she'd got chocolate frogs. Her face would show delight as she'd take them out of the box.

"OOOooooooh~" And without hesitation, or (even washing her hands) Jannette did the unthinkable.

"Ahwghrdhdsahgagjgwkwjwkhw!~" She gobble the chocolate frog in her hand as if she was the cookie monster finally getting a cookie, small chocolate chunks would fall onto the floor as she'd wipe her hands on her sleeve, with a smile still planted on her face, Jannette would grab her books and head back to the Slytherin Common Room.

Reducio

1. "Professor, Professor I got one, I got one see? look at her, isn't she so cute?!~"

Keith has left the thread

word count:223

Froggos!

House Colours: Ravenclaw

Calming Presence in Effect

The Jester was at the Ravenclaw table today, having blended into their ranks most effortlessly thanks to a blue inseamed cloak that was but one of several unforms that had been modified to alter the original read seam that had once been there. Piérre was currently trying to make himself as sparse as possible in arousing suspicions, and so had his own prepared mask ready to go when it came to how he would react to people speaking to him. Today he was a "shy" kid, one who preferred to listen more and talk less, try an untangle hidden meanings, but when speaking had a bit of a wit to his tongue. Wit insofar as a bias towards cleverness as opposed to raw intelligence, that was. Despite himself, the boy found himself still being a bit "out of place" as one would say, just a little bit more odd than one would expect a Ravenclaw to be, with curious questions and a peculiar cunning that seemed too straightforward to be of a Slytherin's type and too veiled to be a Ravenclaw's taste.

Just... peculiar.

Thus, Piérre had carried on for most of the meal in the Great Hall, picking at his food with disinterest, listening vaguely to the scattered conversations out of curiosity of what seemed to be the biggest topic for the week. Despite himself, he found that he was not really able to pick much more at his food other than a few large, square bites, and that the first few symptoms of indigestion (as if he had eaten too much to begin with) were beginning to settle in. That didn't prevent the smells from being extremely tantalizing though, and Piérre couldn't help but keep feeling his mouth watering beyond his control, a strange disjunction between his desire to eat and the reaction to salivate painfully present. Turning his head to the side in order to disguise his spitting into his goblet as drinking for the fifth time that meal, Piérre became aware of a commotion closest to where the professors sat, and immediately snapped to attention as he put the goblet aside and tried his darndest to decipher what the nature of this disruption was.

Were those.... frogs?

The boy's eyes lit with immediate joy and the discomfort of sitting quietly and being strangely hungry and not hungry at the same time vanished all at once as he witnessed a parade of what seemed to be hundreds of those verdant little froggos initiate their parades all across the room, eliciting screams from some, shouts of dismay and surprise from others, and the sudden bubble of effervescent laughter emanating from the boy himself. Was this an elaborate prank? Was this a practical joke? Was this a school event? A planned event?

Man, whoever did this was a freaking genius.

One of the professors, the new Care of Magical Creatures Professor (if Pi remembered correctly) seemed to call attention to the matter with a tantalizing proposition, one that Piérre could never turn down unless he was paid in tens of galleons. Catch a frog and get some chocolate frogs? Sounded like a done deal!

The kid was on the floor in less than a second, even before the Professor's words had finished leaving her mouth. Rushing over to one that he spotted under the table, the boy quickly clapped his hands over the top of it so that he could scoop it up into his hands. Petting the frog's spine gently, Piérre smiled at it. "Hellu lil friend!" He cooed at it as it croaked in his hand, its throat pouch expanding and contracting. Feeling his eyes crease with joy, Piérre caught another frog that had hopped onto his school robes...

And then had a brilliant idea.

Opening up the sleeve of his school robe, Pi began to rush the largest collection of frogs as possible inside the robe itself. Frog after frog he collected inside the black and blue inseam, and each one that he inducted into the fold he stroked gently and ribbited at before putting them with their slimy and green brethren.

After collecting as many as he could, he gathered all the frogs into one fold of the robe and then pulled it off entirely to stand just in a black undershirt and his black trousers. By the time that he had collected enough to make his entire robe seem like it was croaking, Piérre proudly went up to the professor with his uncombed hair and his devil-may-care smile. "Here ya go, Miss Takis!" He announced proudly. "I got a lot of them in here, as many as I could get. Oh! I'll get more, hang on." Finding his brain moving faster than his movements, Piérre was caught between pouring the frogs out right there and then rushing back to grab more. Starting to turn to run away a few times, Piérre took a few seconds to pause, actually reciting: "Stop. Think..." and then gently overturning the cloak to dump all the frogs that he had collected thus far into the aquarium procured for them.

With a wide smile, Piérre rocked back and forth, and then rushed away again to collect as many as he could, regardless of the chocolate frog rewards. He scooped up all the fun little fellows, and crouched down to get on their levels, poking them softly with a quiet. "Boop!" before laughing softly and putting them in the cloak so that he could rinse and repeat his process of returning the little friends.

And if he snuck a few of those froggies into his messenger bag so that he could transport them back to the Gryffindor dormitories so he could play some pranks on some of the kids there... nobody had to know, right?

───────────────────────────── ─────────────────────────────

She was beyond exhausted. Adjusting to being back at Hogwarts had been difficult for Lucky but she was doing her best. Promising her father that she'd try harder in classes probably hadn't been the best decision -- but a promise was a promise. Lucky spent more time studying than she did hanging out in her own bed with the curtains drawn. Gone was the withdrawn yet overly defensive lurker who preferred to watch from the background. She was a quidditch player, a member of several school clubs, a cat mom (!). There were responsibilities in Lucky's life now, things for her to care about. Her third year was already going remarkably better than her first and second.

The only downside is that she was tired a lot more than she had been before. Running around campus for classes, quidditch practice, and clubs wore her out. Most of the time, Lucky would curl up in bed and skip dinner. She'd have a snack or a treat hidden away and would sleepily munch on it until she collapsed into her bed -- which left her ravenous for breakfast...which always resulted in her being late for the first class of the day. It was an endless cycle but now was the time to break the pattern. With a kiss to Cielita's head, Lucky bid the cat goodnight -- leaving her curled up on her pillow -- in order to have a proper dinner. By the time she made her way to the Great Hall, it was bustling with activity. She hurridly took a seat within a group of slytherins, conversing with a charms classmate about the homework. Only when her hunger had abated did Lucky hear the siren song of her bed calling to her.

She stood, preparing to bed whoever noticed her absence a goodnight when it all started. Quiet murmurs turned into all out shrieks and shrills. The girl next to her pulled her feet onto the bench, screeching as Lucky tried to understanding what was going on. It was then she saw one. Slimy, hoppy, and just so...green. Lucky never considered herself afraid of frogs before. Snakes? Yes (Ironically). Spiders? Maybe so. But...a frog? They seemed so harmless but as they caused a flurry of activity in the Great Hall, her first instinct was to follow the lead of the girl next to her. She shrieked, slapping her hands over her mouth when she realized how embarrassing the noise was. Oh no. This was not good. The brunette pulled her feet up from the ground, standing on the bench. It made her lack of uniform robe stand out but she wasn't worried about getting detention. She wanted out.

Other students had varying reactions but Lucky's kept darting back and forth, measuring the distance from her spot and the grand doors that lead into the hallway. If she could just get there, she could get out of this mess. As a Hufflepuff ran by, their body bumping the bench and making Lucky lose her footing, she knew that time wasn't something she had in spades. The little Slytherin hopped onto the table, speeding across it to the other bench and watching the floor. Dozens upon dozens upon dozens of frogs hopped across the room and Lucky couldn't help the bubbling of laughter that left her mouth. They were freaky little things but she couldn't deny that it was kind of funny.

She heard the echoing of a professor speak but couldn't focus on the words. Instead, she noticed that other students began to chase the frogs. Huh? She quizzicly sent a gaze across the room, confused at this new development. Maybe they wanted to clear the space? That made sense. She watched students fall over themselves, robes flying as they crashed into the floor or began to use the fabric to scoop frogs up. One kid with an arm full of frogs ran up to Professor Takagi and offered them to her. Surprisingly, she accepted. The pieces clicked into place and Lucky knew just what she was supposed to do in the moment. A frog hopped past her and she reached down for it. Before her fingertips could even come into contact with the animal, she shuddered and yanked her hand back -- afraid of how it would feel when she touched it.

❛ god! pull yourself together! ❜, she huffed before dropping her feet to the floor. It took several tries before she could get a frog into her grasp. It was no bigger than the palm of her hand but she had chased it around the room for ten minutes. She laser focused on one and went all out for it. The end result was her t-shirt and jeans stained with food. Diving across the tables, rolling across the floor, and dodging crashing into other students had exhausted her. She hustled over to Professor Takagi, mashed potatoes in her hair, as she proudly grinned and offered up the animal. ❛ i, lucinia thawin, have touched a frog! ...now please get it from me before i retch. ❜

Reducio

WORD COUNT: 848
ACTIONS: lucky has dinner, realizes she's afraid of frogs, and then conquers her fear / ends w/ thread exit
STATS: ST • 9 | EV • 8 | STR • 6‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ | WI • 7 | AR • 7 | AC • 8
ABILITIES: the muggle condition, evasive maneuvers, & sixth sense