SPOILER!!: Professor
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Cassirin 
November was upon Hogwarts like a great crashing wave of the ocean, the weather going from mild and dry to overcast and soggy. Heavy clouds seemed to hang right over the castle, although they held back their showers for now. Perhaps they wanted Cornish to get through his lesson, although he would hold it regardless of the weather.
They were all getting wet anyway.
The professor waited on the lake shore, dressed in flip-flops and a ratty cardigan worn over a t-shirt and board shorts. He'd built up a fire pit back from the shore, a dry place for the students to warm up while they worked. There was other bric-a-brac laying in tidy piles on the beach, nets and fish tanks and a trunk overflowing with brightly colored fabric, but noticeably nowhere to sit. These kids sat too much already.
Holly wasn’t entirely sure why they needed to be in something old and with their swimming stuff on, but she had just shrugged and pulled on a pair of her trousers (that fit around the waist, but were now very much on the cropped side of trousers after her growth spurt) and her quidditch jumper from last year that also now came up a few inches from her wrists and sat at a stupid length (so they had been pulled up to her elbows) on over the top of one of her bikini’s. She didn’t own one-pieces, but it was fine. She liked swimming in the lake, and in the ocean when she was at home. Nothing better after a long gymnastics session than jumping in the icy water before having a warm (okay, tepid) bath.
Hair pulled back in a messy bun, Holly waved at the Professor as she got closer, her feet encased in an old pair of plimsoles that had a hole in the bottom of them. She’d almost thrown them out when she’d realised they had a hole in them, but figured she could use them today and then they could go to shoe heaven… heh. Flying shoessss. That was a funny thought.
“Morning, Professor.” SPOILER!!: Professor
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Cassirin Now they were gathered, and Cornish was eager to be done with the niceties and get on with it. He clapped his hands to get the attention of those with wandering minds and eyes. Back to the him, kiddos. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts, giving them all a cool and assessing gaze. He had high hopes for the day, believe it or not.
“Okay, let’s get started. I know it’s a bit nippy and dank, but you’ll be plenty warm once we start moving again. I want to make sure that everyone’s worn clothes that can get wet or dirty? And a bathing suit is best… I have extras in the box here.” The box full of neon shaded shorts and raggedy t-shirts with holes in them, as well as more than one mildewy wetsuit for the truly brave.
He waited only a moment, trusting that anyone who needed a bathing costume would come up and grab something to wear. Onward and whatever. “I don’t want to insult any of your intelligence, but are you all aware that you’re not the center of universe? And I mean that… not from an astronomical perspective, but a biological one. Look around you. The grounds here at Hogwarts are literally crawling with creatures, teeming with plant life, crawling with the creepy crawlies we can’t see unless we really look for them. So do that for a moment. Look around and tell me who else lives here. What else. Plants, animals, anything.”
Hey folks! Sorry he’s a grump, but know that it’s in good fun and I love you. Answer as creatively and fully as you want, but know that I will move on sooner rather than later so we don’t lose our momentum. You can always play catch-up.
…… Holly was suddenly very happy with her awkward-lengthed trousers and too-long-but-too-short-sleeved t-shirt as she took a look at the box of clothes on offer. Ew. No thank you. She gave the Professor a look, judged he was serious and then nodded her head. Just to make sure that he knew that
she wouldn’t be wearing anything from that box. No thank you.
Rude. Holly Tamesis was very much amazing and very much the center of the Tamesis family. Thank you. Her brother loved her, so did their parents. Her best friends were amazing and Avery liked her too. Mmmmhmmm. She was very happy thank you.
Oh. Creatures. Right…. That made sense... ”Well there are Centaur’s like Professor Thereos… and I think I read in a History book that they have been living in the Forbidden Forest since before the Great Wars 100 years ago…” She was pretty sure she’d read something about them and Unicorns and Harry Potter?? Maybe she was making it up, but she knew that Centaur’s were here. That much was true at least…
SPOILER!!: Professor
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Cassirin Fair examples from the lot of them, and they must get the idea by now. Ecosystems. Food chains. The balance of life at Hogwarts, not including the hundreds of students recklessly thundering around the place. They were not part of the balance. Cornish gathered his thoughts for a moment, since it wasn’t in anyone’s best interest for him to rant about living in harmony with their present ecosystem.
“I imagine that from the examples you’ve just heard, you’re getting a picture about how we’re all interrelated. And about how easy it would be for the entire place to go sideways. Think about that. Think about how adding extra fertilizer to the gardens could wash off into the lake, which would cause the algae to bloom more than it already does. Too much algae blocks the sun from the plants that grow in the shallows, kills off the creatures who feed and live there. And then the larger creatures, the predators, have nothing to eat, and they die off or leave. Just because we want our vegetables to grow.” He smiled, a surprising flash of teeth considering how everything in his story just died.
“So that’s terrible. But let’s just keep playing the game of terribles. I want you to think about what you’ve experienced at Hogwarts during your time here… the good and the bad, the intruders and the disasters. Think about what you’ve studied about past events at Hogwarts over the past thousand years. How do you think those events have impacted this ecosystem? And to be clear, I’m talking about the forest and the lake. Everything on the Hogwarts grounds, but not further. No more orca whales, please.”
Big broad question here – how have historical events at Hogwarts impacted the ecosystem? You can keep answering past questions or you can ASK questions or you can keep refusing to answer us. The main event starts in 24 hours!
Blink. Blink. Blink.
….. He… was cheery today.
Holly furrowed her eyebrows slightly, nibbling on her lip as she listened to the Professor being sad and down and depressing. She didn’t want everything to die just so she could eat vegetables. She didn’t really like them all that much, she just had to eat them for her training and to be healthy. She’d stop eating them all apart from carrots… and peas. She liked them. Maybe cauliflower… and Lettuce… couldn’t eat a salad without lettuce… Merlin… Sodit. She liked vegetables.
”Well, I’d assume the Great War affected a lot of creatures, since a lot of the actual castle was destroyed… surely that affected bugs and spiders and things that birds eat… which probably affected the bigger creatures like …” She paused to think.
”Thestrals and Hippogriffs if there were any here?” She was guessing… but it sounded somewhat logical.
”That and we’re probably really loud. Students, I mean.”