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**Wilber Winterbottom** · #1 (**permalink**) 12-27-2022, 12:45 AM

A set of paths, some stone, most dirt, link the wooden bridge to almost every other area of the Hogwarts grounds. You will more than likely use these pathways at some point to reach your grounds-based classes, to visit other outdoor locations, or simply to take a walk and clear your head. This is a quiet area of the grounds with the soft sound of leaves rustling in the wind or lightly crunching below your feet. Doesn't the air just seem fresher around here somehow?

Walk with a friend, sit and relax on one of the many benches placed in intervals along the numerous pathway routes, climb a nearby tree, take a moment to appreciate the great outdoors in this breathtaking part of the country. Just be careful not to trip on loose stones or roots as you go. The groundskeeper does what he can to keep the pathways maintained, but he can only do so much.

SilverTiger · 01-17-2025, 02:18 AM

She wasn’t normally used to practicing her skateboarding off-road, so to speak, but Teagan had felt like she wanted to try something new. And there were enough people in the courtyard that she’d felt like moving elsewhere. Nothing to do with any lingering feelings regarding last term and being less…colorful. That was the past, and she had a whole new term to look forward to. Plus, she was no longer the hesitant little first year so trying something new was needed. Minus trying to check out the forest, but she knew better than to attempt that on her board. Tree roots and whatever else was in there. The pathways were a little easier to maneuver.

Any roots there were, in her opinion, grounds for a trick or two, depending on the size, and there were stone pathways too so the chance to practice on many surfaces. If only she’d figured out how she could listen to music, but at least there were birds and other creature sounds to soundtrack her tricks.

sweetpinkpixie · 01-18-2025, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverTiger

She wasn’t normally used to practicing her skateboarding off-road, so to speak, but Teagan had felt like she wanted to try something new. And there were enough people in the courtyard that she’d felt like moving elsewhere. Nothing to do with any lingering feelings regarding last term and being less…colorful. That was the past, and she had a whole new term to look forward to. Plus, she was no longer the hesitant little first year so trying something new was needed. Minus trying to check out the forest, but she knew better than to attempt that on her board. Tree roots and whatever else was in there. The pathways were a little easier to maneuver.

Any roots there were, in her opinion, grounds for a trick or two, depending on the size, and there were stone pathways too so the chance to practice on many surfaces. If only she’d figured out how she could listen to music, but at least there were birds and other creature sounds to soundtrack her tricks.

Nyle had been walking toward the courtyard with a few flowers tucked carefully in his jacket pocket, his thoughts drifting here and there with the breeze. His fingers lightly brushed the petals, as if trying to decide which one to press for further study and which to preserve as a keepsake, when a sudden movement caught his eye. His gaze snapped toward the source of the motion: a girl in Slytherin, Teagan, he recognized from their shared classes.

Nyle’s blue eyes widened, and his first instinct was to keep walking, to leave her to her practice ... but then the curiosity tugged at him. After shuffling his steps a few times, Nyle decided to approach slowly, careful not to startle her - as if she were some unicorn foal who had stumbled haphazardly onto the Hogwarts grounds. "Hey, that was really good," Nyle called out, his voice friendly but tentative. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, suddenly aware that he’d probably interrupted her flow. "I, er, I didn't mean to distract you, I just... didn't know skateboards could handle paths like these." He gestured vaguely at the ground beneath their feet, unsure if she even wanted to talk right now.

SilverTiger · 01-25-2025, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Nyle had been walking toward the courtyard with a few flowers tucked carefully in his jacket pocket, his thoughts drifting here and there with the breeze. His fingers lightly brushed the petals, as if trying to decide which one to press for further study and which to preserve as a keepsake, when a sudden movement caught his eye. His gaze snapped toward the source of the motion: a girl in Slytherin, Teagan, he recognized from their shared classes.

Nyle’s blue eyes widened, and his first instinct was to keep walking, to leave her to her practice ... but then the curiosity tugged at him. After shuffling his steps a few times, Nyle decided to approach slowly, careful not to startle her - as if she were some unicorn foal who had stumbled haphazardly onto the Hogwarts grounds. "Hey, that was really good," Nyle called out, his voice friendly but tentative. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, suddenly aware that he’d probably interrupted her flow. "I, er, I didn't mean to distract you, I just... didn't know skateboards could handle paths like these." He gestured vaguely at the ground beneath their feet, unsure if she even wanted to talk right now.

It was easy enough to avoid any tree rots with basic flips, so Teagan had advanced to making them varying levels of difficulty. She needed to work on coming up with new variations if she wanted to be someone who won competitions after all. The fact she hadn’t considered an audience to her current activities was another thing altogether, and one she’d dwell on later, turning to face the boy who had spoken after the 360 flip she’d just done to avoid another troublesome spot in the pathway. “Thanks”, she responded, flipping the board up into her hand after stepping off.

A bit of a break wasn’t too big of a deal, and she figured it didn’t hurt to practice fielding questions either. There were many aspects of her career, after all.

“Usually they aren’t, but I’m kind of limited in places I can practice while I’m here as is”, she continued, shrugging slightly. “Do you ride?” It was honest curiosity that had made her ask the question. He didn’t look the part, but that meant nothing. Having others she could practice with might be nice.

sweetpinkpixie · 01-26-2025, 01:21 AM

Nyle blinked at her question, his cheeks flushing slightly like mum's favorite tea roses in bloom. He wasn’t exactly the athletic type, always being more comfortable with his hands in the dirt or tending to plants than balancing on anything that moved so quickly, but her grace on the board, how easily she made it look, made him feel like he should have a better answer than the one brewing in his mind. He shifted his weight nervously, suddenly acutely aware of how out of place he probably looked standing there just gaping at her. "Uh, no, not really," he said, his voice a little sheepish. He hesitated for a moment, then gestured toward her board as if trying to understand it better. "I mean, I’ve never really tried. But I—" He paused, fumbling for words and waving his hands a little as if they could manifest the words for him. "I’ve always wondered how people stay so balanced. It’s a bit like, well... like how a plant grows, you know? At first, it seems fragile, but once it’s rooted, it just knows how to move with the wind, like it’s been doing it all along. Like dandelions. A lot of people don't give them all that much consideration because they're considered just simple weeds, but they have increeeeeeeeeeedibly deep and resilient taproots that can grow several feet deep into the soil! Lets them survive in harsh conditions making them symbolically resilient in many cultures, like the Lakota and Cherokee, two of the indigenous tribes of America. Their deep roots also give them the ability to access nutrients and water from deeper soil layers, which helps them thrive even when the surface is dry or disturbed and—" His fingers twitched, instinctively brushing against the flowers in his pocket, and he realized with a little embarrassment that he’d probably rambled ... again. The comparison made sense to him, though, and hopefully it would to her as well. Though, in his experience most people - especially girls - had not taken well to being compared to weeds no matter how much he sung their praises. The weeds' praises, that is.

"I-um, I think I’d probably fall flat on my face if I tried," he said with a small, awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his neck and smearing dirt across it. "But it’s amazing how natural you make it look." He couldn’t help but add, his words coming out quieter this time, "It’s... kind of like watching something graceful... like a vine, stretching across a fence or trellis, with cascading clusters of bluish-purple flowers just finding its ethereal place." He felt his face heat up, a mix of admiration and embarrassment, the tea roses that had been blooming now becoming a whole rose garden upon his cheeks. His fingers curled into the fabric of his jacket as he tried to shift the conversation somewhere safer. "I don’t suppose ... you could teach me, could you?" He shot her a nervous but hopeful smile, half-expecting to hear a laugh at his expense. But then again, there was something about her that made him feel like maybe, just maybe, she wouldn’t mind the challenge or at least take pity on him and humor the sheepish request.

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