26 Jun 2021, 08:41
A Herring Quest
It was only recently that Evelynn had found herself heading to the grounds to attend one of the many "errands" run for the sake of school spirit (or so she presumed). True to her resolution, Evelynn had scoured the board for any more such events and had made her way back to the grounds once again when opportunity for landscaping had presented itself. Although, there certainly seemed to be a rather large discourse between the eventual goal and the actual task at hand. Reenvisioning the grounds seemed, to her, to be an interesting idea. The rolling hills could use a few more trees with wide shade-producing canopies and thick twisting branches that could serve as comfortable perches for reading. But they weren't to be doing any actual planting. Only digging. Digging and destruction.
Was this really the errand? Were they really being encouraged to wreck havoc across the school grounds? It was entirely and completely unsettling. What if some dunce of a student decided a particularly loved piece of flora just had to go. What if they tagged her tree for destruction? Well. They could try. It was already quite firmly planted in her mind that she would be treading specifically in the direction her little tree at the lakeside. If anyone so much as looked at that area with a desire to redesign it, they could very well find themselves pointedly at the tip of some very compelling counter arguments.
Of course, there was still an errand to complete. Thus, care would have to be taken. Venture too near, and students might erroneously think she was attempting to eliminate or change that part of the landscape and help. Too far, and she might not catch them in time. She'd have to settle on a vague distance of moderately nearby. Near enough to suggest that a claim had been made to that general area and hopefully encourage others to dig elsewhere. Although the notion of digging didn't really appeal to her at all. Perhaps this was just a healthy outlet for pent up destructive energy. No doubt her mother might have lauded the man for his flexibility and willingness to surrender control of his precious charge to the hands of small beings of chaos. On the other hand, if he really as planning to replant anyway, this could border on extortion and child labor for the rather inexpensive promise of a few petty house points. As the groundskeeper finished the explanation, Evelynn really couldn't help but purse her lips, frowning slightly.
It didn't seem to be that she was the only one to feel this way either. A not-nearly-as-familiar-as-she-might-have-liked face swam more clearly among the rest of the gathered children, displaying what could only be a similar reticence towards the task at hand. Smoothing her own expression over, Evelynn made her way to Prince, the newest Prefect. "Well, this seems rather a recipe for disaster, don't you think?" Came the wry comment as she, upon coming to stand next to her fellow, tilted her head in Prince's direction. "Nevermind the asking for trouble with encouraging everyone to make use of spells to help make the holes, but this hap-hazard uprooting and replanting can't end up looking decent…"
"I was thinking…" she went on a moment later, "…I wouldn't be surprised if some of the students decided to make their way towards the lake." While not the reason that Evelynn wanted to veer in that direction, neither was this entirely untrue. The lake always had a way of drawing the attention of younger students, and the fact that entering into its depths without supervision and permission of a teacher was grounds for detention never seemed to be much of a deterrent. "Perhaps we ought to keep an eye in that direction to ensure no one takes this moment of incantative freedom too far?"
[font=century gothic]WORD COUNT: 642 / 600[/font]
28 Jun 2021, 11:45
A Herring Quest
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@Evelynn Decipio
Credit where credit was due - Mr Céspedes had a true knack for coming up with the oddest activities for students to partake in. Starting with making them babysit Flobberworms - which Freya had taken way too literally and started talking about raising her baby and teaching it to swim (in toilet pipes, which Dee thought raised concerns for any future kids the girl might have) - to the curious event where he had encouraged students to dress up as shrubbery, which Dee had sadly missed, and now this.
Arming a significant part of Hogwarts' student body, which generally wasn't known for its vast amount of common sense, with shovels and encouraging them to redecorate the grounds seemed like the furthest thing the groundskeeper should want. By the end of it, Dee had no doubt the entire grounds would look like it had been invaded by an army of giant moles. Which, honestly, wasn't too far from the truth, just that the moles were walking on two legs and lived in a castle instead of underground.
But then, Dee supposed Mr Céspedes likely knew what he was doing. Maybe. She hoped he did, for his sake. If not, he'd be learning a valuable lesson very soon.
That said, Dee was on her way to participate in the errand, and with very little intent to hinder any havoc that her fellow students might decide to wreak. She also wasn't necessarily very motivated for the errand itself: Dee's interest in plants and landscaping began with what she needed to keep her Herbology grade up and ended with plants that had use in potioneering. Any plant that she couldn't chop up and throw into a potion usually didn't manage to hold her attention for very long.
She did, however, have a healthy amount of energy and frustration to burn, so she was heading down to the grounds despite the fact that she had no interest in trees beyond the question whether she could climb on them or not. Although it had been an objectively rather successful year for her personally - appointed first as duelling captain, then later in the year as prefect, grades living up to her own high standards (except, perhaps, in Astronomy, but she'd quickly decided that was the class that mattered least, anyway) - the ending had felt unsatisfying. Her team had had a terrible third stage, losing even duels Dee had expected as easy wins. It had cost them the championship. Most efforts towards the house cup had fallen flat. Not to mention, the upcoming summer break was more than two months of freedom: It brought with it a pinch of dread deep in her stomach, a bitter taste in her mouth.
And thus, presented with the opportunity for a little wilful destruction, she was willing to take it, picking up a spade that was likely meant for adults rather than 13 year olds of slightly-less-than-average size. Not particularly motivated, no. A little apprehensive. But present.
Approached by a somewhat familiar face, Dee brightened up a little, a smile quirking the corners of her mouth upwards. It seemed she wasn't the only one questioning the prudence of this task, but shrugged. "I guess Mr Céspedes will reap what he sows. Or rather, he will have plenty of space to sow and plant new things when this afternoon is over."
Perhaps there was a trace of guilt on her face at the suggestion that they ought to keep an eye on the other students to stop things from getting out of control, a direct contradiction to her own previous thoughts of not planning to interfere, but then she just grinned at Evelynn, bright and breezy, and nodded. "Lake it is," she agreed, turning towards their destination, shovel in hand. "I'd bet there are a couple overenthusiastic landscapers-to-be around." Company was better than no company, and when it came down to it, snapping at a few kids might be just as good a way to get rid of frustration as digging holes into the ground.
Word Count: 675
"One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar."