Mr. Murdoch's Hut
 

http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/t...murdochhut.png

Quite a distance from Hogwarts Castle sits a small wooden hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Once lived in by Rubeus Hagrid, the hut has underwent many different changes in the many years since the half-giant, thanks to the likes of the different Groundskeepers who resided inside. Waylon as well, has put touches of his own on the hut, starting with the area surrounding it. More plant life can be seen, showcasing his love for nature, plus an extra bench is right out front of the door, for the many people who he expected would visit him. In addition to the plant life, Waylon has placed a Vegetable Patch a few feet away, not only for himself, but for the students, and maybe the other staff members who would like to try their hand at gardening. If you're there for a visit with the Groundskeeper, you might want to peek your eyes inside the vegetable patch before knocking at the door.

If, however, Waylon is not in the patch and you have knocked on the door, you'll be led inside. The first thing you'll notice upon entering is that the decor matches Waylon's personality almost perfectly. The executive L-shaped writing desk in the far left corner will never be sat at, instead the top is cluttered with papers, books and even more papers and books, all dealing with his past and current studies. The inside of the drawers are in a somewhat similar condition, and the chair pushed underneath the desk is no better. To some it may seem unorganized and messy, but Waylon knows exactly where everything is. After all, he is the one who put everything there.

The middle of the room right in front of the fireplace is where you really want to be.

Two plush, brown in color pleather sofas sit facing the fireplace surrounding a matching ottoman. But I wouldn't try to put my feet up onto the ottoman; Biscuit has become quite attached to that piece of furniture, and unless you like the sound of a puppy's bark for the entirety of your visit, just keep your feet on the floor. If you pay close attention to the mantle attached to the fireplace, though, you might recognize the familiar faces of the current Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures Professors. Along with those pictures, there are a few of Waylon and his parents, a few of Waylon on his travels and previous jobs, and one particular photo of a woman who he will not discuss. A few knick knacks and small indoor plants also rest on the mantle, and the wall behind the fireplace is decorated with the Groundskeeper's diplomas and certificates. A Hufflepuff house banner is not so very well hidden behind one of the frames; now that he is working at Hogwarts, he thought it best not to have so much house spirit.

Next to the sofa farthest away to the door is a silver serving tray full of an assortment of goodies and drinks. Help yourself while you sit, relax and perhaps talk! Just don't eat the bone shaped cookies, Biscuit also doesn't like to share.

Gemma smiled and shook her head up and down slightly as she held out her left hand to the Groundskeeper. It was little awkward but her right hand was balancing the goody basket under her right arm. "Your are correct...it's nice to meet you...do you go by Waylon?" she asked with her kind smile.

She followed his lead and stepped through the door and into his hut. Her eyes took everything in quickly from the chairs that looked ooooo sooo comfy to the mantle with pictures, some with familiar faces and some that must be family, to the desk covered in papers and then her eyes stuck on the puppy in the room...ooooo animals where one of her weaknesses especially puppies.

She turns toward the Groundskeeper and sets the basket down in one of the chairs. She puts her right elbow on the back of the chair and turns towards him, "Well I just wanted to Welcome you to Hoggywarts!" she says pushing a stray hair back behind her ear with her left hand.

She smiles towards the little dog and she heads straight for him hoping he was friendly. She leans down about a foot away from the puppy and holds out one of her hands to let him sniff it. While she waits, she turns and smiles at the Groundskeeper. "O he is precious...what's his name?" she asks putting an emphasis on the his with a question in her voice.

so. late! so. sorry! D:
 

Feeling rather proud of himself for actually managing to remember her name, Waylon took hold of Gemma's hand as she held it out to him. See! He was paying attention at the opening feast! Maybe not enough to catch Cece, but it wasn't like the woman fell to the floor, right? Ehh.. "Nice to meet you, too! And yes, Waylon is fine." His name was short enough.

And he didn't want anyone to know his nicknames..

Letting his hand drop to his side after a moment, he made his way back into his hut and almost grimaced as Gemma glanced around. And took notice of his desk in the corner. He had been meaning to clean that up. Thankfully, though, she didn't seem bothered by it and he grinned at her welcome. "Oh, thanks, Gemma. I'm really glad to be back." Hmm.. was that what the basket was for?

Before he could ask, Biscuit noticed the visitor and he didn't wait to let his presence known. A few barks and a wagging tail later, he was moving closer to the woman, waiting to be pet and cuddled.

"His name is Biscuit. And I'm afraid he is not going to leave you alone now."

The moment the door had swung open, Daichi had to bite his lip hard to not break out laughing. Apparently, the Groundskeeper was a bit of a lazy person not to answer the door himself. "not an...Emergency?'' Daichi said as he looked at Kurumi and Thea next to him before entering the hut.

The first thing Daichi noticed was how messy it was in the room. He wasn't much of an organized person himself but this! His father would ground him forever if he had a room like this! Maybe he should take a picture of the room and show it to his dad that not all adults were cleaning their houses. unfortunately, he did not own a camera.

''Hi , sir uhm...my name is Daichi and uh...i wanted to ask you something" Yes, he knew he totally dismissed the fact that he should FIRST be apologizing. He looked at Thea but didn't make eye contact with the Prefect however. The Slytherin was bad at it and to be apologizing two times a week, first to Williamson and now to ... the Groundskeeper was just too much. Though, he did know he couldn't get out of it for that long. Not with Kurumi around but atleast it was worth the shot.

Kurumi gave Daichi an encouraging nod as they entered the hut. Yes, this was going to be difficult and potentially awkward, but it really was the right thing to do. As Kurumi entered, the first thing she noticed was...A PUPPY! Merlin professors had some of the most adorable animals this term and this one was no exception. Kurumi squee-ed softly, temporarily forgetting why she was here in the first place. "Mr. Murdoch! He is adorable!" she said, bending down and hoping the little doggie would come closer to her. "Is he a Scottish terrier?"

After a few moments of trying to coax the doggie towards her, Kurumi heard Daichi speak up. Oh, right, they had come here for a reason. She listened to Daichi, noting that he was avoiding the first bit of her suggestion, but decided to remain silent on the matter. It could very well come up during their discussion with the Groundskeeper - he probably found it odd that three students were all in his office together. Instead, she gave Daichi a gentle nudge and an encouraging smile.

This was all him right now, she was just moral support.

The Gryffindor smiled at the Groundskeeper. Entering the wooden hut, Thea folded her arms as she looked around the room. It was nice and cosy; a lot nicer than she imagined it to be. Sh peered at the photos by his fireplace and smiled. Aww, they were nice.

Looking up, she caught Daichi looking at her as he spoke up to Mr Murdoch. Thea smiled slightly. Thea shuffled about slightly. Well. This was slightly awkward. Were they going to get into trouble once Daichi explained why they were even here? This was honestly, brilliant. The Gryffindor resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and instead turned her attention to Kurumi who was talking to the Groundskeeper about his dog. Thea watched it, as Kurumi tried to persuade it to come and say hello.

Oh good! Not an emergency.

Relieved that he didn't actually have to do anything, which was probably not the best thing to think, but he really didn't feeeeel like doing anything, Waylon used his hand to gesture towards the sofas for the three of them to sit. Although, it seemed Kurumi had other ideas and he chuckled as she went straight to his dog. Biscuit. Always getting the attention. "He is a Scottish Terrier." Most people couldn't tell; Waylon was impressed. "And his name is Biscuit." In case she was wondering.

Turning his attention away from the puppy, who was now excited and attacking the Prefect's hand with his tongue, Waylon settled back down on his sofa and glanced at the other two students. He was just about to ask what he could do for them when Daichi spoke up and the other girl who.. just seemed to be there for Daichi. Ehh, the more the merrier he supposed.

His eyebrow raised as he turned back to the Slytherin, though. He had a question? It wasn't going to be about the lack of treehouse, was it? "All right, Daichi. Ask away." Waylon was ready.

Minerva walked into the Hut. What a nice hut and such a cute little dog. She reached down smiled petting the dog. "Hello" she smiled at the groundskeeper. "My name is Minerva Wheatborn. I was just out walking around the castle and thought I would come and introduce myself. Also I figured I would come and let you know if there is anything I could ever help you with please let me know. I love to help out with thing."

If it wasn't for Kurumi literally squealing at the puppy inside the room, Daichi would have completely overlooked him. He wondered how though, cause the pup looked adorable! So two of the new Professors had puppies~ He knew Williamson had one for he had been there a few days ago. Now he started to wonder if every Professor had a dog.... Daichi couldn't really imagine Scabior or Lafay with a dog though.hmm...

Turning his attention towards the Groundskeeper just as he sat back down on the sofa, he fumbled a bit with his fingers. He was a bit nervous, and it wasn't an everyday question..not to mention he was scared that Kurumi had been wrong and the man WOULD laugh! He gave Thea one last look before he inhaled deeply and let the air go. "I...well, i was wondering if.. if ICouldHaveADucky... i mean, if i could help taking care of the ducks in the pond...i-i uh..like them and.. can i have one? ..all of them? or take care of them or..." Not finishing his absolutely weird sentences , the Slytherin looked round at the two others inside the room with a clear look of HELP ME HERE! written on his flushed face.

The\a turned her gaze away from the dog and smiled at the Groundskeeper. 'What he's trying to say is he would really..' She prolonged the word. 'Like to help you look after the ducks at the duck pond. Daichi likes ducks. A lot.' Glancing at Daichi, the Gryffindor sighed. 'That's all rerally..' Thea bit her lip, beginning to feel a bit awkward. She didn't know why, this Groundskeeper seemed alright! Smiling slightly, she looked at Daichi again and raised her eyebrows.

'Also, I would be happy to help. I mean.. incase Daichi fell in the pond or something?' Thea shrugged her shoulders, and wrinkled her nose. 'But I'd let Daichi do it all.. I'd only be supervising.' No way was she touching a duck. Especially after their encounter with lovely Squishy...
'Oh.. and my name's Thea.' Just incase she'd forgotten to mention that....

Biscuit, that was a cute name. Perhaps the doggie really liked biscuits? Unfortunately, Kurumi didn't have any of her tuna fish cookies with her, but dogs had never really been all the fond of them to begin with. "He is lovely," she smiled looking up at the Groundskeeper.

Oh, right. She wasn't here just to play with the doggie. Kurumi stood up and walked over to the sofas he had indicated for them to sit in when they had entered and took a seat while she listened to Daichi and Thea speak....erm...ramble as the case was really.

Kurumi just sat back and listened, not wanting to make the situation more complicated or anything. She could help clarify things if needed though.

Returning the girl's smile, Waylon made his way over to one of the sofa's and sat on the arm of it. No matter how many students visited him, he always found it amusing that the first thing they would do was go right over to Biscuit. Biscuit didn't mind one bit, and it was obvious as her tail began to quickly wag back and forth.

Waylon chuckled as he watched the puppy and nodded his head towards Minerva at her greeting. He would try his best to remember that name. "It's nice to meet you, Minerva."

Even more so when she offered to help him.

But did he need help with anything? Hmm.. Eyebrows raising, he thought for moment before.. "Actually." he drawled, standing from the sofa and moving towards the window that overlooked the vegetable patch. "How good are your gardening skills?"



Eeesh!

Was it just him or did anyone else get the impression that Daichi seemed to be just a tad bit nervous? Waylon didn't understand why the boy would be nervous, it wasn't like he was some scary guy! Wait.. was he some scary guy? No, no of course not. Not scary at all. Scary guys wouldn't have lovely dogs, as Kurumi had called Biscuit. Smiling, though, trying to ease the boy's nerves, Waylon brought his arms up and placed his hands behind his head as he relaxed on the sofa even more. See, scary guys don't relax.

His full attention was on Daichi as he began to speak, but the more he did, the more Waylon stole glances at Thea and Kurumi. Why, he wasn't quite sure, but they must have known about his.. wanting a duck? No, wanting all the ducks? .. wanting to take care of the ducks?

Huh?

"You just want to take care of the ducks?" he asked Daichi after Thea piped up and explained. Yes, he heard them both say that, but he was just a wee little bit concerned over the whole 'CanIHaveADucky' comment. "Do you know how to take care of ducks?" The question was directed to all three of them, even if Kurumi was being quiet.

Seriously. He was not scary!

Minerva giggled at the cute dog and then looked back at Mr. Murdoch. "Well I have helped my mom in the garden some and I did herbology last term and this." Does that count she thought. She would do her very best in whatever task he asked of her. She just liked to help everyone and knew he was so busy with such a big castle. "Do you need me to do something in the garden patch. I will be happy to help in anyway I can."

Oh good, this was going to be easier than he thought! Minerva already had experience in the garden, meaning that they could get it winterized in no time.

Glad for that, Waylon clapped his hands together once and made his way back over to the sofa, plopping himself down on it. He thought for a moment, of all the things that needed to get done before nodding his head slowly. "Well, it is almost winter and I will be reorganizing the garden to make it winter-friendly." He didn't even want to think what would happen if he let the fall vegetables continue to grow in the winter.

"I will be doing that sometime in the next few weeks, you are more than welcome to help out."

Kurumi sighed softly. There really was no beating around the bush anymore. For the three of them, the issue that was looming over their heads was the dragon in the room that the Groundskeeper was blissfully unaware of. Kurumi looked at Daichi and then to Thea, trying to convey with her eyes that she was not about to rat them out, but more put all the chocolate frog cards on the table so that their conversation could go more smoothly.

"The truth is, sir," Kurumi said softly, her voice surprisingly steady. "I was walking by the duck pond when I saw Daichi and Thea attempting to catch a duck. I know these two well enough to be able to say in confidence that they were not trying to cause the ducks any harm." But had managed to send the ducks into a panic. A small detail that needn't be explained right now. "Which is why I suggested that he come and speak to you about perhaps helping you take care of them, in a more natural setting." As opposed to the bathtub in the Slytherin common room for example.

As to his other question. "I have some hands on experience caring for fowl," Kurumi nodded. Mostly chickens at her grandmother's, but there were some geese from time to time. "And...I would be willing to be an extra set of eyes and hands." Assuming that they could help with the ducks.

sorry I had missed your reply..
 

Gemma giggled at the little dog and bent down slightly, "Well, Biscuit, it is nice to meet you...I may have to come visit you..." she said as she pet the dog excitedly...she loved animals especially cute lil dogs....eeep!

She glanced up at the groundskeeper, "Well Waylon it's nice to meet you officially..." she said with a little nod up and down. Slowly, she reached for the basket and held it out to him. "And I guess I'm the unofficial welcoming committee so I thought I would bring you something and just say hello..." she said with her caring smile towards him which was soon interrupted as she leaned back down and pet the little dog.

Asher stepped inside the hut of the groundskeeper. Dang this hut was even more amazing inside then it was outside. He took a quick look around. The older man had style. Grinning at the man who Anya very Brilliantly named Mr. Groundskeeper Artchitect.

"Hey...There Mr. groundskeeper dude." Mmmmm.... Yeah Asher had called people dude before but never a professor type person. "I'm Asher Romalotti." Yeah at least that was more of a proper introduction. He put his fist out for a fist bump hopefully the professor type guy would not think that he was going to punch him.

Ah. Really? Thea raised her eyebrows and just looked at Kurumi. Turning away, she sort of face palmed. Brilliant. Settin a scowl on her face, Thea honestly didn't know what to say. she didn't even look at Daichi.
did she know how to look after ducks? Well no.. and why would she need to?! This was Daichi who wanted to help with them. The Gryffindor resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Folding her arms, she looked around the cabin for something to do.

'I agreed to help him because he's a friend.' Thea shrugged. 'I'm only here because he apparently wanted me to come.. Also, no I don't know how to look after ducks. I wouldn't want a duck..' Thea shrugged and sort of smiled apologetically.

Minerva watched as he moved around the hut. "I would love to help you anyway I can. If you would like to let me know exactly the day your going to be working or even just owl me to meet you I can." Minerva smiled.

Can he take care of ducks? O______o

WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT?!

of coooouuuurrsseee he ........can't. But that meant the groundskeeper would refuse right? And if he said yes he had to tell what he knew! Gaaah dillema! He opened his mouth to speak when Kurumi seemed to finally notice his discomfort and spoke. His reaction was different than from Thea but he had the feeling she was thinking the same thing. Traitooor~! But , he guessed she meant it in a good way. He nodded his head after she was done talking and sat on the sofa next to her. Seated on the edge, Daichi sighed. "I wasn't trying to steal them!" he answered. "Just...borrowing... i intended to bring them back...sometime..." Maybe in a few years...after graduating...when the ducks died of old age ..yup.

"But sir! i don't really know how to take care of them but PLLEEEASE" he held his hands up in begging motion. "Please, can i help? I won't be alone.. like they had said, Thea and Kurumi are willing to help too and uhm... i learn quickly!" he felt bad for lying but he really wanted this.

Minerva was playing with Biscuit when something came to her. "Mr. Murdoch I was cleaning in the magical creature sanctuary and another student and I were talking about all the well poop that the animals leave." Minerva was regretting even bringing this up. "Anyway, with working in the Vegetable Patch I didn't know if wizards fertilize like muggles, but I was just wondering would that work?" Minerva felt stupid for even bringing it up. She decided to look at biscuit until her face changed back to it's normal pale.

b'coz I'm an even bigger failure. >_<
 

And even the inside of his hut was exactly how he had left it. Not that he really expected that to be different. But there were those Professors students.

Shutting the door behind him once he entered, Waylon placed Biscuit onto the floor and made his way over to the sofas. He ignored the ever growing pile of papers on his desk, even though he knew there was something he was supposed to do and plopped himself right down onto the sofa.

Nap time, indeed!

Like with ever first visit, Arya took the time to look around and take note of any changes.

There were always changes.

Could she help but grin broadly at the the sight of her house banner? No she couldn't. Nor could she not go over to the tray of goodies and snag a few for herself. With drink and cookies in hand, the prefect finally went over to the fireplace, and took a seat closest to the cuuute little dog. Hehe.

She'd just wait for Ellie and NoName Groundskeeper with the dog and her snacks.

Ellie followed Arya and Mr. Groundskeeper into the hut.

"Puppy," she said pointing. Obviously, there was a puppy in the room. That explained the barking but....puppy.

'Course Arya was the one to sit nearest the furry little animal. But that was fine with her. She wasn't THAT much of a puppy fan. She even lost her want to own one over the years. But petting someone else's occasionally was fun.

So....... Oh. "Hi," she sais to the groundskeeper.

The benches weren't that uncomfortable?

Waylon opened the door a little wider as the two girls made their way inside his hut, and he couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly in the direction of his benches. They were the same ones he had put out there, right? No one was playing tricks on him and replacing them with comfortable ones? Not that he would mind, of course, but if he had comfortable seats out there, he would have liked to know! Maybe test them out for himself.

Deciding he would do that later, after his nap perhaps, Waylon propped his door open a little and made his way to the nearest sofa, giving the first girl a smile and a nod as she helped herself to the snacks on the tray. About time someone besides himself were eating them.. He chuckled at the other girl, however, as she pointed to his puppy. "Uh-huh. His name's Biscuit." And maybe that would give them an idea and introduce themselves. He was horrible at remembering everything names.

Hi again, yes. "Was there something I could do for you two?" Or was it just a social visit? He didn't mind either way.