7 Jun 2020, 20:51
Tea & Animals
When Airlia strutted into the courtyard she was wearing a cute vintage summer dress. It was a nice calm blue color witch white detailing. The white mesh with lacing decorated her chest and there were little ruffles on her sleeves. She wore her snowflake pin on her collar and a belt snatched her waist cutely.
She had done her hair in curls and she joined the students doing the teabag errand rather happily. She drew towards a far corner of the courtyard so that she could be alone for now. When it came to crafts she did better alone... And it was safer that way as well.
Airlia was notoriously clumsy. She could make holding a stuffed animal dangerous. Some people actually would avoid her in fear that she would stumble and pull them down with her, or maybe a spell of hers would go wrong and someone would lose all their hair... Again...
But no problem since she had tried to get better this year. She focused on where she was going when she could and walked stairs up very slowly to avoid any trouble.
The day was pretty normal with a morning filled with singing birds and sunlight. A sleepy breakfast with a few friends had been perfect especially when she had gotten her homework done the day before and now she had free time to spend in this fun errand.
Making tea bags is something Airlia had never done before, but after getting a few notes from a fellow student there she felt like she could start.
She called for a house elf. He was a happy looking creature with a large nose, pale skin with freckles all over his face and shoulders, and some thin white hairs around his downwards ears that were far too large for his head. While house-elves usually had large round eyes this one had eyes that looked old and small under bushy eyebrows and droopy eyelids.
The house-elf brought her a basket with some supplies. Thread, scissors, needles, filter paper, and some silk papers and such with normal colorful paper and even all sorts of tea leaves to make the tea into the bags.
She stapped herself with the needle and even the scissors a few times before she actually got the embroidery thread through the needle. Once she cut a good amount of thread she cut it and took some filter paper that was a seethrough white shade. With a bit of paper for a teabag tag, she got to work with cutting her shapes out of the filter paper. The scissors were barely sharp enough to make clean lines, but at least that made the scissors safer.
When Airlia began to thing of animals she could make she decided to go with sea creatures. She thought that octopussies had always been cute so she started cutting some filter paper in the shape of tentacles.
When cutting the head of the octopussy she made two exact copies and then needled them together leaving one side open so she could put in some of the tea leaves. The first thing she put in was a rosehip that was ground into tiny pieces. Rosehip made the head of the octopus dark and fancy with their near black and red pieces. She added in a thread with a tag on it to write down 'rosehip' to it so she would remember the flavor and the teabag would look more realistic and cute.
The flavor of rosehip is sweet but with and after tone of tart on the tongue. The specific rose plant that is used for rosehip tea is Rosa Canina. Rosehip has a lot of health benefits such as good immunity, a healthy heart, and it even keeps your skin looking younger.
Because of rosehip's unique taste Airlia didn't pair with anything and sowed the octopussy shaped teabag shut after stuffing it with the tea leaves nicely.
By the time Airlia was done with her first tea bag, she wanted to make another. They were fun and while she pricked her fingers with a needle numerous times the cuteness was worth it.
So for the second one, Airlia wanted to make a similar creature and went with a giant squid. The squid shape was a simple one with tentacles and then a squid head to fill in the tea leaves. She cut a fan-shaped flimsy filter paper and attached it to the top of the head.
Once again leaving a hole open in the teabag Airlia began to plan the flavors. The house-elf had brought her echinacea, peppermint, rooibos, and even a hint of lemon balm but none of those flavors were what Airlia wanted. She thought of a friend of hers from the Hufflepuff house and how her favorite tea flavor was chamomile.
Chamomile had a ton of health benefits such as even preventing osteoporosis, reducing inflammation, helping with sleep and lessening the effects of a cold, and helping to keep skin clear and spotless. Airlia created a tag for the squid with chamomile flower on it and attached it to the teabag.
Once she threaded the teabag shut she put the squid tea into a small pouch and then decided to drink the octopus one she made.
When calling a house-elf the one from before appeared in front of her, already with a steaming cup of hot water. Thanking the house-elf Airlia put her teabag into the mug and watched the water turn darker and darker as she moved the teabag around by pulling on the tag and making circles in the teacup.
Sipping on her rose-flavored dreamy tea that tasted sweet and flowery with a thick aftertaste to it. She enjoyed it so much that she decided to exchange her morning tea from lemon balm to rosehip to change things up for a while. She watched the sun on the sky and clouds float by as she drank her tea and enjoyed the immaculate taste.
With half a cup left Airlia allowed her tea to run cold and lose the heat so she could watch the octopus come alive in the cold water and swim around. Truly magic was a wonderful thing and watching the little guy that was her creation was the best part of her day. Better than the sun, better than the birds in the morning and having all her homework finished.
Words: 1070
Errand completed!
Reducio
- Airlia Winter; The little lady of Taika