30 Jun 2021, 08:01
Thanks for the Shovel
Aida had no cheritable intentions when she took a shovel for the groundskeeper’s errand. She very simply needed it and was more accustomed to manual labor than finding magical ways to accomplish things that raw elbow grease could just as easily accomplish. Besides, Aida needed something physical with which to vent her frustrations. Gripping the shovel’s white pine handle, Aida laughed sardonically: it needed a new coat of varnish. This was likely to give someone splinters any day now. Would Aida offer her labor to the task? No, she had enough heroic missions to accomplish as it was. Distractions from those tasks could lead to her failure and were therefore unacceptable.
Walking the grounds where she usually ran, Aida understood that the task was to dig holes for the groundskeeper to fill. What plants were undesirable for people in general was irrelevant to Aida’s wild-spirited inclinations. Where there was good soil was also opportunity, and if something was there that she did not know how to use, it could give way to something she would. Assuming the groundskeeper would be suspicious if she did not leave open holes as directed, Aida would indeed remove some plants and leave open craters for him to work with. However, Aida’s true purpose was to distribute the seeds and sprouts she had lining every pocket of her long coat and breeches.
The smell of the dirt exploded as the edge of Aida’s shovel bit into the earth, knocking some dandelions and grass aside. Pleased with the sensation of the lightly-packed soil moving at her whim, Aida smiled. She was no longer as strong as she used to be, having grown rather emaciated after the House Elf incident, but she was doing better now that she had developed a stable food supply of her own. Wishing to expand the breadth of the wild and horticultural foods Aida plucked from Hogwarts’s landholdings, Aida gathered a handful of carrot seeds from her right breast pocket. Interspersing them before burying them again in dirt behind a retaining wall abutting the courtyard, Aida nodded. Carrots would be a natural clandestine choice for an area so close to a popular area. Though Aida had grown up only doing basic planting since she was born more into the ranching life than that of a farmer, she knew enough to be confident in her success.
Next Aida found another patch of dirt near her favorite oak tree. The grass was worn down from her frequenting the area on her daily runs, so knocking the remaining grass out of the way with the shovel came quickly and easily. This time Aida pulled out not seeds but little clusters of wild strawberry. She hoped that in their new home they would have ample room to spread their runners rather than struggling in the competition of their original home by the lakeside. Packing them neatly into the dirt, Aida thoughtlessly threw back her hair. Small clods of dust would end up there again, as it would have been in her natural state before she began losing touch with her care for the land. After all, the girl still didn’t feel like Hogwarts was her home. Still, the girl needed food she knew she could trust, and in this sacred spot by the old oak Aida felt safe.
Lastly, Aida knew she needed more calories in her diet, so she had selected some old sprouting potato eyes for her final cache. On her way to the edge of the grounds where she had first gained her magical powers at the behest of the Undead King, Aida looked at her broken swing hanging lifelessly from a now rotting tree. This was also where she’d had her concussion. What had ever happened to that boy? Would he ever find the tree they had carved their names into again? Aida remembered but… she was sure that he had forgotten, vanished as he was.
Approaching the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Aida dug again into the dank soil and dropped in bits of zombie potato along a long line. Covering them back up again, Aida was confident no one but her would end up in such a random corner of the grounds any time soon, let alone dig here to deprive her of her potatoes. Wiping her hands on her pant leg, Aida sighed with satisfaction. Now all she had to do was find random places that meant nothing to her and dig holes to distract the groundskeeper from her true objective.
Walking the grounds where she usually ran, Aida understood that the task was to dig holes for the groundskeeper to fill. What plants were undesirable for people in general was irrelevant to Aida’s wild-spirited inclinations. Where there was good soil was also opportunity, and if something was there that she did not know how to use, it could give way to something she would. Assuming the groundskeeper would be suspicious if she did not leave open holes as directed, Aida would indeed remove some plants and leave open craters for him to work with. However, Aida’s true purpose was to distribute the seeds and sprouts she had lining every pocket of her long coat and breeches.
The smell of the dirt exploded as the edge of Aida’s shovel bit into the earth, knocking some dandelions and grass aside. Pleased with the sensation of the lightly-packed soil moving at her whim, Aida smiled. She was no longer as strong as she used to be, having grown rather emaciated after the House Elf incident, but she was doing better now that she had developed a stable food supply of her own. Wishing to expand the breadth of the wild and horticultural foods Aida plucked from Hogwarts’s landholdings, Aida gathered a handful of carrot seeds from her right breast pocket. Interspersing them before burying them again in dirt behind a retaining wall abutting the courtyard, Aida nodded. Carrots would be a natural clandestine choice for an area so close to a popular area. Though Aida had grown up only doing basic planting since she was born more into the ranching life than that of a farmer, she knew enough to be confident in her success.
Next Aida found another patch of dirt near her favorite oak tree. The grass was worn down from her frequenting the area on her daily runs, so knocking the remaining grass out of the way with the shovel came quickly and easily. This time Aida pulled out not seeds but little clusters of wild strawberry. She hoped that in their new home they would have ample room to spread their runners rather than struggling in the competition of their original home by the lakeside. Packing them neatly into the dirt, Aida thoughtlessly threw back her hair. Small clods of dust would end up there again, as it would have been in her natural state before she began losing touch with her care for the land. After all, the girl still didn’t feel like Hogwarts was her home. Still, the girl needed food she knew she could trust, and in this sacred spot by the old oak Aida felt safe.
Lastly, Aida knew she needed more calories in her diet, so she had selected some old sprouting potato eyes for her final cache. On her way to the edge of the grounds where she had first gained her magical powers at the behest of the Undead King, Aida looked at her broken swing hanging lifelessly from a now rotting tree. This was also where she’d had her concussion. What had ever happened to that boy? Would he ever find the tree they had carved their names into again? Aida remembered but… she was sure that he had forgotten, vanished as he was.
Approaching the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Aida dug again into the dank soil and dropped in bits of zombie potato along a long line. Covering them back up again, Aida was confident no one but her would end up in such a random corner of the grounds any time soon, let alone dig here to deprive her of her potatoes. Wiping her hands on her pant leg, Aida sighed with satisfaction. Now all she had to do was find random places that meant nothing to her and dig holes to distract the groundskeeper from her true objective.