Wanderlust PV Landon Storm Closed

One full week, seven days, one hundred sixty eight hours, ten thousand eighty minutes, and a whole lot of seconds had passed since Landon was sorted in Slytherin. His opinion of the house varied day-to-day. It was wholly influenced by the variety of individuals he had met, the gloomy vibe of his dormitory – despite the coolness that felt like a welcomed escape from the late summer’s air outside. Despite all those factors, he didn’t know if he liked it at Hogwarts yet. One thing that was certain was his nostalgia from home.

He had found that moving up to the ground level to get a clear view of the greenery that surrounded the castle had brought warm memories of the scenery back home in Dunton Green. Even the scents in the air – trimmed grass, flowers that tried their hardest to maintain their bloom despite Fall soon approaching, and the soft whiff of fresh water that emanated from the lake off in the distance reminded him of the rolling mountains that was his home – miles and miles away.

It was on one particular afternoon that Landon’s desire to reminisce on his home forced him from peering through a window to actually walking the grounds. In truth, he had avoided stepping outside of the school in fear of stumbling upon some magical monster that he had yet to learn about. However, after watching numerous other students’ venture off toward a seeable distance, he was able to gather enough courage to find himself walking along the grassy knoll, a short walking distance from the castle.

Landon had been admiring a large tree off to the distance that seemed to wave back and forth despite a lack of wind in the forecast. He wondered if someone was chopping at it’s base or if there were a pair of … very large squirrels running about its trunks to have it move. But at this distance, it just looked like a menacing tower of bark – almost waving toward him in invitation.

Still distracted by it, Landon seemed to have stumbled upon a loosened rock from the ground and found himself tripping and rolling over toward the feet of another student walking toward his direction. It was an embarrassing scene, to say the least and Landon lay there for a few more seconds looking up at a brown-haired girl.

Grinning sheepishly at her, he tried pulling himself back up on his own as he said, “This might have been a perfect pickup line move. I can imagine a ‘I’m fallin’ for you, girl’ kind of moment." He laughed at his own clumsiness before adding, “Sorry, there was this tree that looked like it was moving on it’s ---“ Landon had pointed toward the direction of the tree but it seemed to had stopped it’s swaying and stood stoic against the blue sky. “That’s … weird.”

Saskia frowned. She was so sure she would find at least something that would catch her attention, but right now, everything was just... Normal. Boring, even. Even the plants from outside the greenhouses were nothing out of the ordinary, and the Great Lake was a rather normal lake, despite the rumours of a sea monster lurking around. But then again, maybe she was thinking too hard about this. Just because she was in a magical school didn't mean everything had to be magical related, after all. It wasn't like the school could be completely powered with magic. It would be like saying that Muggle schools were completely filled with electronics and technology, although the girl couldn't really say much on that subject, considering how little she knew about Muggle schools in general.

Well, maybe there was something worth notice. There was a surprisingly large tree far from where she was standing, and it appeared to be moving on its own. She was certain there was something odd about it. No other tree would be able to move like that on its own, unless someone was somehow trying to pull the tree by its branches. Even then, she doubted that would be the case. No sane person would waste their time trying to pull a tree, anyhow. What would that even do?

Now that her focus was on the weird tree, Saskia was sure she would be able to get something out of this expedition. A grin formed on her lips as she started to walk towards the direction of the tree, trying to get a closer look at it. Her plan would end up abruptly interrupted when someone came crashing down the ground and managed to fall right in front of her. She stumbled a bit, but luckily, she managed to stop herself in time before she ended up falling right on them. It would have been quite an embarrassing disaster if she did, and she was thankful for her quick reflexes.

"Whoa there," she blurted, trying to steady herself. Looking down, she could see that the person she almost tripped on was a Slytherin boy with dark hair that looked around her age. Saskia couldn't help but feel a bit of second-hand embarrassment to see the boy on the ground. He certainly seemed embarrassed himself, though he didn't look too affected by it. After an awkward silence between the two, the boy picked himself up from the ground.

“This might have been a perfect pickup line move. I can imagine a ‘I’m fallin’ for you, girl’ kind of moment."

Saskia couldn't help but laugh at the joke. Normally, she would have settled with a grin, though the awkward atmosphere must have been getting to her. "You better save that pickup line the next time you really want to impress a girl," she quipped back.

Then the boy added, “Sorry, there was this tree that looked like it was moving on it’s ---“ the boy paused to point at said tree, though he seemed confused. “That’s … weird.”

Looking at where the boy was pointing, Saskia could see that the tree was the very same one she was about to investigate. Interesting. It seemed that he also saw how odd the tree was being. "No, I saw the tree move on its own too. There's definitely something going on with it," she said, trying to reassure the boy that he probably wasn't going crazy.

"I was actually looking to, well, investigate it a bit more. See what makes it all... Weird, I guess," she continued, looking towards the tree. She then looked back at the boy, a grin present on her face. "Want to join me?"