Some time alone…or so I thought- Locked

"WATCH OUT!" cried a voice from above as a red-headed fourth year flew low enough on a Firebolt for his broom's wind to ruffle Eli's hair. Jack had no time to pull up before he crash-landed into the fountain. His book bag went flying and school supplies rained down from it as it catapulted through the air. Quills, bottles of ink, books, parchment, and a strange, rough, ivory-colored stone with holes through it scattered everywhere, including into the fountain with their owner.

Jack groaned as he tried to sit up, soaked in the fountain water. He glanced around for his broom and sighed in relief when he found it not far off still in one piece. At least he wouldn't have to buy another one. Seeing one of his favorite history textbooks nearby drenched in the fountain, however, he quickly stood up and cursed under his breath, hoping to snatch it up before it got too wet. He also found his bag and began to gather his things to put back into it, coming across a long-haired first year and his cat as he did so. It was the student he had almost crashed into on his way down.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked, slinging his messenger-style bag over his shoulder so his hands would be free as he walked over to the stranger. "Sorry about that. I got lost in thought while flying and wasn't paying attention to where I was going until it was too late. Did anything hit you?" He glanced at the feline nearby. "Or your cat?"

@Eli Jonson

Attire: Usual school day attire: robes, shirt (buttons mismatched), tie (undone), kilt, neck ring, no shoes.

Reducio

Colin looked up from the book he was reading. History of Magic. Good stuff, but now that study was done, he thought that maybe the courtyard would offer something else interesting, like history in the making? He saw a lad come walking through the stone paved place in Hufflepuff yellow. There was a cat walking with him. A tabby, Colin noted. Boy and cat appeared to be in deep conversation and this piqued Colin's interest greatly!

Colin liked cats. He got on well with Clair's kitty, and ∏érre's as well. At last they chose a bench and sat down there. The boy took out some school work and the cat took an interest in someone's owl. Colin smiled. He decided he'd like to meet the kitty. He quietly tapped his satchel with his wand and said "Pack." That was such a useful charm, the packing spell! Magic never ceased to fascinate Colin, and he watched as his book slid from his hand and into the depths of his satchel along with his notebook.

Silently, his bare feet took him over towards the bench where the kitty seemed to be absorbed in the goings on. The sounds of other kids chatting & playing and the scents of school life wafted around Colin. Even in the air above the courtyard there were playful kids on brooms zooming around. Colin stepped up onto the end of the stone bench away from the Hufflepuff boy and crouched there like a lanky dog. He winked slowly at the kitty.

Colin ducked. He heard the shout from above a mere second later! "WATCH OUT!" A red haired Slytherin lad, imitating the meteoric fire ball that his broom was named for, executed a brilliant crash landing right into the fountain! Colin smirked. He knew of the boy. Jack Burnett, famed Slytherin quidditch star! And now poster boy for the Slytheirn broom rowing team!

Colin shook his head as the older Slytherin collected the jetsam that had erupted from his satchel upon impact with earth. Colin's wiggled his toes a bit in time to some inner music as the poor Hufflepuff recovered from what must have been a terrifying near death experience! Burnett, still sopping wet, a state which Colin thoroughly approved of!, slung his satchel over his shoulder and asked the Hufflepuff first year if he'd been hit by any bits of random stuff.

"And if it isn't the famous Jack Burnett, star of Slytherin's new aquatic quidditch team, practicing his bumphing technique on the hapless crowd of spectators! And their cats! I have to admit, that was a stellar approach! Strong work missing the gryffins. That's a cool hag stone you've got, though! I saw ye picking it up just now."

Colin smirked slightly. "Colin has looked through the hag stone, and no hag did he see! Only the world. As it is meant to be seen!" Nodding towards the Hufflepuff boy, Colin said: "Ye might want to consider wearing a helmet oot here, laddie!"

@Jack Burnett | @Eli Jonson

Word count: /200

Walking from the library, Bailey was headed to the courtyard. She had some school work, an essay, to write but she was headed to get some sunlight and some personal reading done.
Walking down the corridors, baileys heels on her boots clicked on the stone floor. Bailey smiled at all the peoples who eyes she met. She was a generally very nice and kind person, and was always willing to make new friends.
Entering the courtyard, Bailey heard a shout and saw a readheaded blur on a broomstick @Jack Burnettalmost take the head off of a kid @Eli Jonson, and then crash into the fountain. Bailey spotted Coco @Colin McCoire, one of her close friends, going to check on the younger kid. Bailey joined him, and the redhead - who turned out to be fourth year Jack Burnett, someone Bailey had never gotten to talk to much but knew of.
Bailey smiled as Coco immediately started to talk. She walked up behind him and smiled at the younger boy, who was probably a first year. She, when there was a break in the conversation, say “Hey guys! Jack- I saw you crash, and almost take the head off of this poor boy! Though… he seems well equipped and eager to kick your shins-” she laughed to show that she was joking, just teasing.
“My names Bailey- Bailey Glade. Third year, Ravenclaw! Are you all doing ok? Jack, that crash was spectacular- but it looked like it hurt.-”

Jack startled upon hearing his full name being announced to the world and he straightened, eyes wide as they fell upon the speaker. It was a kid Jack had seen around as a fellow Slytherin, but had never personally met. His face reddened in embarrassment as he got past the shock and actually took the time to comprehend what the platinum blonde boy was saying.

He opened his mouth, wanting to start by denying his supposed fame, but if this kid he'd never met already knew his name, didn't that mean he was famous to some degree? The thought only made Jack redder and his whole body tingled with warmth despite the fountain water threatening to seep its cold into his sodden bones. So he closed his open mouth. Then he opened it again.

"A hag what?"

He stared at the light-haired boy, perplexed, and wondered if his name was, indeed, Colin and, if so, why he had referred to himself in third person. Not to mention what he knew about hags.

Jack was distracted from the thousands of questions suddenly buzzing in his head by the Hufflepuff boy's reply, but was glad and relieved that he and his cat were fine. He almost wanted to laugh aloud at being called 'lad', especially by someone who was likely younger than him, but managed to refrain from doing so. The Hufflepuff then introduced himself as Eli Jonson.

"Yeah...sorry about that. I don't usually almost fly into people or things or crash. I was just lost in thought about...something." He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I'll definitely be more careful next time. But other than that, nice to meet you too, Jonson."

He sighed heavily when Eli asked his and the other boy's names. "Well, as he so proudly declared," he said, gesturing at the platinum blonde boy, "I'm Jack Burnett. Not sure his name, though," he added. It made him distinctly uncomfortable, too, knowing that there were people who knew his name but he didn't know theirs.

Speaking of people he didn't know knowing his name...someone else was suddenly addressing him by his first name again. It was another person he hadn't met before; this time a Ravenclaw. At least she had the manners to introduce herself, though.

Jack smiled weakly at the girl - Bailey Glade - and raised a hand in greeting. "Yeah, it hurt, but I'm used to getting scraped up all the time. Just a few bruises and scratches, I think, but I'll be fine. Thanks for asking." Hopefully the Hufflepuff didn't really mean to kick him in the shins, though.

I wonder if I still would have joined the quidditch team if I knew everyone and their grandma would learn my name, the Welsh boy pondered silently to himself, but then decided the answer was yes. For Flash, he would have. What he wouldn't do for the people he cared about...

@Eli Jonson, @Colin McCoire, & @Bailey Glade

Colin watched Jack from the bench where Eli had been trying to study and where Colin himself was now perched. He was a little older than Colin, the other Slytherin, and though he didn't know the boy personally, had never had any problems with him. Right now though, the poor boy looked like a fish out of water! His mouth opened and closed in confusion. And when at last he did speak, Jack questioned what Colin had said about hag stones. "A hag what?" he said.

Colin closed his eyes and gave Jack a smirk. He felt one of his moods coming on and he tilted his head to the left a bit before saying his little rhyme:

"pierced by sky and white like bone was that which fell;
hole to see and hole to gaze is what I tell;
Colin knows that what you have is gloine nan druidh^{( 1 )};
put yer eye to haggy stone and tell me what you see?"

Colin turned to look the Hufflepuff boy up and down curiously. He gave the air a sniff.

"Aye…I thought I would be able to do my homework without risking m’ life-"

Colin smirked. "Irish, by the sound of ye lad!" He appreciated that the boy didn't quail in fear or collapse into jelly when confronted by two Slytherins. Even so, a little quailing might not have been entirely out of order! "Aye, but this is Hoggys, boyo, and here even the homework fights back!"

"Hey Bails!" Colin smiled and stood up on the stone bench as his Ravenclaw friend approached. Naturally she would worry over Jack getting hurt. He couldn't help but roll his eyes just a little bit. "Don't worry about Burnett, Bails. His head is harder than any stone in the fountain. You should have seen the look of fright on the poor dear gryffins as he came careening in! He's one of our quidditch stars after all, and he can take a beating! He's a real keeper this one!"

"Well- since I was almost killed by a broom, what are ye’ lads names? So that way I can kick ya shins-"

Eli, the Hufflepuff gave them a smirk, which Colin returned. He got down off the bench and stepped closer to Eli. Looking down at the boy's legs and then towards his own bare legs and feet, he gave Eli a short barking laugh. "Shin kicking, eh lad?" His eyebrow raised in true curiosity. "Do ye mean proper shin kicking or just muckin aboot? If so, ye'll do no such thing to this Scot, Irish boy! I'll have ye doon squawking in the mud, shins and all!" Colin smiled at Eli all the same, lifting up the lapels of his school robe in challenge. "Name's Colin. We can have a go any time ye like!"

1. Druid stone or hag stone

@Eli Jonson | @Jack Burnett | @Bailey Glade

Word count: 205/200
@Colin McCoire || @Eli Jonson || @Jack Burnett

Bailey first asked Jack if he was alright. She knew he could take some hits, due to playing Quidditch, but his impact had looked painful.
“Glad you’ll be fine!” Bailey said with a smile. She honestly cared about people, and when she said stuff like ‘I hope you’re ok’ she honestly meant it.
As she approached Coco said hello, and his nickname for her made her smile, per usual. “Hey coco!” she said in reply, watching him stand up on the bench. He continued to say that Jack would be fine, and his head was harder than stone. Bailey smiled wider despite herself, and rolled her eyes at her Scottish friend. He was joking, surely. Surely he’s joking.. she thought.
The other boy smiled when she walked up too. He nodded, and said it was nice to meet her. She smiled softly at him, and grinned wider when he introduced himself as Eli Jonson.
“Eli, it’s great to meet you! If you ever see me in the corridors, feel free to stop me and say hello. It would seriously make my day!”
Turning to the other boys, Bailey said “That extends to you guys too- though, Coco, I already stop to say hello to you!”

When the platinum blonde-haired boy closed his eyes and smirked, tilting his head a little as he spoke a little rhyme, Jack was somewhat creeped out. The last time he had heard a rhyme like that being said, it was from the mouth of a hag herself. Had that been where this boy had gotten his rhyme? But it had his name in it, so could he have just made it up just then? Regardless, he made Jack wary.

Still, what he told Jack to do intrigued him. He was...supposed to put his eye to the hole in the stone and look through it? What would that do? He guessed he wouldn't know until he tried it, but it all seemed so...ominous. Maybe he would try it in a minute, but for now, he was more curious about the exchanges going on between the others.

Apparently, the boy presumably called Colin knew the girl since he called her 'Bails'. He was busy telling her not to worry about Jack because his head was 'harder than any stone in the fountain', to which Jack exclaimed, "Hey!" but said nothing else of it. Colin was probably right even if Jack didn't want to outright admit it. He still didn't even know this kid. "I'm only a second string beater. I haven't even played a proper game yet," he protested, not wanting Colin or anyone listening to Colin to get the wrong idea. He was pretty sure he wasn't any sort of quidditch star.

As the other boys introduced themselves, Jack learned that the platinum blonde's name was, indeed, Colin (though he hadn't said a last name) and the long-haired brunet Hufflepuff was Eli Jonson. The boys discussed shin-kicking a bit, but fortunately, they only seemed to be joking about it. When Eli said he'd heard Scotland was lovely, Jack laughed. "But isn't that where we are right now? Scotland?" He was fairly certain that he'd read and re-read several times in the book, Hogwarts: A History by Bathilda Bagshot that Hogwarts was somewhere in Scotland. Well, if this kid was new, it made sense he wouldn't have known.

Eli's feline seemed to really love jewelry as he played with his owners' rings and earring. Eli, however, politely kept his attention on his schoolmates. Jack thought he seemed like a decent fellow. "Are you new to Hogwarts, Jonson? We could probably answer any questions you have if you have any. Do you like the school so far?"

Jack could tell Bailey was the considerate sort by her trying to make sure everyone was alright first thing. He couldn't help snickering at her nickname of Colin, however. "'Coco'?" he chuckled softly under his breath. Maybe he'd just call Colin that, then, if he didn't know his last name. "Good to meet you, Glade. Coco, though...I'm still trying to decide what to think about him. He knows a little too much about hags for my liking." Though he said it with a smile, he was only half-joking. He really would have liked to know more about why Colin seemed to know more about his hag stone than he did.

"Have you ever met a hag before, Coco?"

@Eli Jonson, @Colin McCoire, & @Bailey Glade