Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessiqua

Ohhhhhh, that explained it all. "Your parents thought you were too focused on studying music?" she asked. It sounded like that. That was rough. Harsh punishment. "Well how are you going at the moment with lessons? Are you more focused and passing things? If you improve, will they let you transfer back to your other school?" Hopefully she wasn't being too questioning. But would they reward his effort with the music programme?

Hmm... something else going on? She noticed the boy blushing, and restrained herself from asking questions. Obviously something he wanted to say, but she didn't want to force it out.

Butterfly phobic? Zhenya said "Oh, oh well that explains it. Well... I'm really scared of spiders. I hate them, big or small." There, he wasn't the only one with a phobia. Even though butterflies were... well, Zhenya didn't find them scary. Everyone had something to be scared of.

Ahhhh, he has a crush. Zhenya's lips curled into a smile. That was really sweet. Oh, but not the part about her liking another boy. "Have you told her that you like her? Maybe she's just... friends with this other boy?"

"Well uh... They want me to finish my school first. But if I couldn't improve my grade, they are gonna ask me to stop with music." The Korean guy smiled sadly. "But I start enjoying Hogwarts." Yeah, the Professors here were nice and great. They had their own way to make the lessons became interesting, especially for people like him who preferred practical lessons than boring theoretical one. "So uh... Maybe I'm gonna finish Hogwarts first, then I... can go back to pursue my career in music."

Phobia of spiders was so common. Was it weird that he's more scared of butterflies rather than those 8-feet arachnid creature? Maybe.

Argh, Jackson couldn't stop blushing when he started talking about Leah. And telling her about her feelings? "What if she doesn't like me back? And also, I don't want to ruin our friendship by saying that I like her. It's uh... awkward, and complicated, isn't it?" He exhaled. "Well uh... about her liking another boy, I don't think it's my business to know about that." He wanted to keep his friendship with Leah but... Could he still keep it with this special feelings? Dunno.

Wow... that was harsh. Her eyes were wide as she looked at Jackson. That was tough. "But even if you did poorly, there's nothing stopping you from pursuing it after school. What are they going to make you do, repeat school?" Poor Jackson. "Did you have some instruments here you can practice with anyway?" surely for a musician, music was his saviour when he was stressed, upset, happy... everything. But it sounded good... "I think if you're that good at music, which you are, and love doing it enough, you will always be able to pursue it again at some stage. It's just a shame you can't do them both at the same time." Her Uncle Archer was a guitarist, so she knew all about him wanting to play his guitar all the time.

Zhenya thought about that. Love was tricky. "Well..." she shrugged, "You're either happy being friends and you put your feelings for her aside, or... or you decide you want to at least try to pursue things with her, in which case you tell her and hope it doesn't do anything to the friendship." Really the only two choices, and other variants of them surely. "But if the friendship means more to you than a possible relationship then... probably don't tell her." That was probably terrible advice, but Zhenya knew romance was very black and white with the people on the outside, and very grey for the people involved.

Tip, tap, toe..

Jump high, roll low..

Rooney had been enacting this routine across the bridge for the past half an hour, only stopping to let people past if they needed to. He was tipping his right foot, tapping his left and toeing with the right once more. And then he'd jump up into the air and roll. The bridge journey was long enough for him to do his little jig three times which was enough to get rid of the extra energy he possessed right now.

Maybe an extra helping of pancakes for breakfast was the worst idea.

Especially with this funny tummy he had right now.

Ah.

This was problematic.

Chuckling, Sabel shook his head in amusement. "Young adult then, my apologies." He could have argued that Rehman was tiny from where he was standing, but it seemed more appropriate to just agree. After all, he wasn't exactly young-young. A miniature adult, if he would.

He didn't say anymore to further his explanation as to why he thought it was a good start, or how one could consider the patronus a physical form of the good memories and emotions. He simply stood, and watched, letting the boy process and figure things out for himself.

And it seemed somewhere along the line, something had clicked. Sabel's grin returned in full force, and he nodded in appreciation. "I did indeed. Very well done!"

Now, the question was, could he do it at any time? At any location? Or perhaps, the better question was, could he do it again?

"Keep practicing, and it'll get easier. It's a very good start."

Pushing the sleeves of his hoodie up over his elbows - which, in essence, just made him look like his upperarms were insanely bulky, and did nothing to hide the fact that the jump was too big for him, Dalton loped along the bridge, coming to a stop near one end. He was looking out, trying desperately to decide how to phrase his next letter to Aled, when something caught the corner of his eye.

The kid had way to much energy.

What had he eaten today? Pure caffeine? Dalton smirked to himself and leant against the sides of the bridge as he watched the younger boy. It was basically a show, right? He was doing this for attention, yeah?

Watching you.

Hehe. That was better! A young adult, yesh! Adi continued to grin good naturedly at his Professor (who probably thought his student was totally a weirdo because the grin ninety nine percent of the time was intact). "Young adult sounds a whole lot more mature.'' Though he was still immature in some ways.

But the success of creating the Patronus wisp had made him start acting even more immaturely with all the bouncing he was doing. Okaaaay, maybe he shouldn't get too ahead of himself. It was one of the first steps but there was still a long way to go. Adi still had hopes for a corporeal patronus and he would have to work super hard to to see results so he took a deeeeep breath.

"Yep! That's an even better start than before!'' The Puffer was high on results, yo! "I will. Hopefully I can keep this up.'' Adi re-focused on his memory and mustered all the concentration he could. "Expecto Patronum!''

WHEEE! RESULTS AGAIN!

This time there was MORE silvery. "PROFESSOR!'' Oh, gosh, Adi. No need to shout. The man was right there AND he could see. LOL. "How's that for results?" There was still not enough to make a proper shape but hey, he would take it!

And then it happened all over again. The first year was about to make his way back across the bridge when he came into full view of someone making a point to watch him. His blonde head tilted to the side, and he thought specifically about if he was making a fool of himself. No, no. His deductions came to the conclusion that it was none of this persons business -- or maybe that was Calliope's impact on him. She was very headstrong, opinionated and outspoken. Rooney wasn't entirely sure if she was Ravenclaw material, but he didn't dare question her morals or the sorting hat.

"I could teach you if you'd like. It isn't hard."

He'd obviously observed enough to have picked it up. Rooney tried not to look confused or upset that he was a show monkey, and just pretended that he was on stage and this was a paying audience. There to support him. Not to mock him.

There was some trickling thought about a saying somewhere, that where respect was afforded it was earned. Treat a young person like a child, in words or actions, and they were likely to show only that side. Treat them as an equal, and a whole set of new doors opened.

So, young adult it was.

Except watching Rehman was much like watching a kid in a candy shop for its first time. He couldn't help but laugh, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder so that he didn't somehow end up hoping right over the railing in his excitement. "It is very good. A very impressive start, and something to be proud of. But don't...burn yourself out practicing. Alright?"

He gave Rehman an encouraging smile. "Make sure you have time, and energy, for making new happy memories. And strengthening those you already have."

Adi listened to Dakest's advice as he practically hopped from foot to foot. It was a great feeling to become more adept to a spell, a feeling he knew all too well. He smiled brightly and confidently now. "I'll try not to, Professor.'' But like he had said before, when he was failing in something he did feel down about it, yes but he also wanted to get it right even more.

Energy? Adi always had that! "Yes, Professor. Thanks for the advice and the encouragement.'' It certainly had helped, hadn't it? "Oh, and thanks for your time too! If I run into problems again, I'll let you know.'' You can bet Adi will have problems again but in the mean time, there was a chance the Hufflepuff was holding Dakest back from other stuff he had to do.

Sabel laughed again, not at the boy but with his enthusiasm and the energy. It was good to finally see a student so thrilled about their success, no matter how great or small.

Patting the boy's shoulder, Sabel nodded. "Seek me out at any time. I'm always happy to help."

Perhaps a statement he should afford more restrictions to, such as 'not at midnight' or 'right after supper', but given this was a young adult he expected some common sense to be exercised.

Taking his hand back, Sabel nodded at the kid, offering a slight wave of two fingers in farewell as he turned to leave. "Keep up the good work Mr. Rehman."

Adi seriously hoped Professor Dakest knew what he was getting himself into by telling him to seek him out anytime. Of course the man shouldn't expect him very early or rather late but there suddenly might be an increase in the number the days he showed up at his office. Poor Dakest would definitely be tired of Adi by the time the school year was through.

"You can count on that, Professor!'' Mwahahaha! "I aim to. Thanks a ton for you help again!'' The Puffer felt he was lucky to be at Hogwarts while there were all the helpful Professors around. He gave Dakest a salute (hehe Airey's habit right there) as the man turned to go. In the meanwhile, he would stay right here and continue his practice. Yup!

Little kid had noticed him.

Now little kid was watching him watching him.

Not that Dalton really had any right to be referring to the boy as 'little kid'. For all he knew, for all the attention he paid, this boy was older than him. But still, unless they were obviously a lot older than he was, he was going to continue to think of them in such a way.

And little kid could deal with it. Raising an eyebrow slightly as he locked eyes with the boy, Dalton almost chuckled - almost. A smirk did rise to his lips, though, as he considered the offer.

"Alright, then."

Okay. So he wanted to learn. "You've seen me do it." Yes, he had seen him watching. He was aware of it. Rooney took his starting position at the opposite end of the bridge and nodded. "What came first?" How much attention had he been paying? Roo wanted to know. Because it meant he could add something else to the page in his notebook about this guy. Alongside the weird watching, the being nosy and the funky shaped nose. That would be interesting to draw later.

It was like a mushroom had breeded with a vegetable.

That was going to require some more studying. Maybe when his mouth wasn't as curved into that smirk. Odd.

Even though summer was totally coming and the sky was like YAY SUN YAY BRIGHT YAY BLUE, there was definitely still a bite in the air, so Toby's hands were shoved in his pockets as he all but skipped along the bridge with Soph, just about managing to keep himself from prancing off like a gazelle. It was a Good Day, he could feel it. Or it WOULD be a good day. But then all days were good, weren't day? But that didn't mean that today couldn't be a Particularly Good Day.

All at once, Toby stopped dead on the bridge and turned to look out over the big ravine THING, the trees and hills and the mountains out to the horizon. Then he looked down.

"I've always wanted to climb down those beams," the seventh year said thoughtfully as he pretended he could see the wooden structure that supported the bridge. "Then back up. It looks fun."

Not that he was GOING TO. Toby was just MENTIONING it, was all. Because he had started to notice all these things around Hogwarts that he'd never really properly thought about before, apart from when he was a little first year maybe. But even then... well, he'd always been pretty oblivious. Now he was close to leaving it was like he was properly SEEING all the things. Extra things. It was cool.

Toby looked at Soph and smiled; he always enjoyed when they got to hang out together. Always always always.

It was difficult to think of a time at Hogwarts without Tobes. Back in her first year, Sophie Brown had Cat and Mo - those were her core two friends, them and everyone on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. It wasn't until the first few days of her second term that she met the Hufflepuff walking beside her. When she looked at him now, she took notice of how he hadn't changed all that much since then - he was still relatively tiny in height and had an undeniable aura of innocence about him, but a few of his facial features made him look more pained, more haunted by the years behind him. His body had much more muscle definition now, too, but even though he was of age, he still seemed awfully small. The Tobias she had befriended that first day in the courtyard had evolved some over the years of knowing him, but as she subtly scrutinized him now... she was still reminded of that bouncy, jovial Tobes she had first fallen in love with.

He was still a huge goof now, too.

As he skipped along in a burst of energy, Sophie dug her hands deep into her own pockets. She had to, otherwise she'd end up slowing him down by wanting to hold his hand for stability - emotional stability. The end of Tobes' last term was going to arrive in the blink of an eye, and she wished nothing more than to freeze time and stay here forever with him. As miserable as he was sometimes at this school, she saw glimpses of how purely free and happy he could be, too, like here on the bridge with her. She wished he could always be like this, with a song in his heart and his energy bursting from his being. He deserved to feel this way all the time. He'd done so much good for so many people and hurt so few. Sophie Brown wasn't at all convinced that the karma they had discussed in Tanner's class existed - if it did, Tobes would've been living a beautifully fulfilled, nurtured life, instead of one full of heartache, neglect, and hardships.

When Tobes stopped suddenly, she did, too, and followed him and his gaze down into the ravine, their shoulders touching as she stood right by his side, as if fearing that him moving too far away would take him away from her forever. "That'd be mega fun. But if we tried and fell and we died, your parents would kill me a second time for me letting you do it. I can't have that hanging over my deceased head," she joked in a dry tone, giving him a sideways, soft smile before looking back out over the ravine, her arms resting on the railing in front of them with her hands clasped together. "Parents. Spoiling all our fun."

She thought it would've been fun, too, though.

"Nahhhhhh," was Toby's immediate response, as he looked down into the deadlyravine below. "I wouldn't die." Sophie knew that, he was sure, so he didn't elaborate on how exactly that could be. "But you might, and I wouldn't want to risk that. Also... I think they'd kill me for even trying it. I'd be grounded for a bazillion years." And that was despite the fact that he was already of age and everything. Honestly, Toby didn't put it past them. "But mostly I like you alive, so I think we can skip the daring descent for today." Another day, though, he might come back. Ahem.

Toby heaved an overly dramatic sigh and shook his head. "I know. I keep telling them they're no fun, but they don't seem very bothered by it." Imagine not wanting to have fun. IMPOSSIBLE.

As they stood there, Toby subconsciously mimicked Soph's position, standing there and resting his arms on the railing, though meanwhile his fingers and feet went on tapping and drumming incessantly. He regarded the trees and stuff below for a little longer, thinking back to all the other memories he had from this exact spot. Idly he wondered if that one burned up Aparecium page was still down there; perhaps he should have looked for it during that one Charms class.

He... wouldn't... die?

Yeah. Sure, Tobes.

Politely ignoring his ridiculous statement, Sophie let her gaze fall on the Hufflepuff's beside her as he spoke, taking in his features and finding great interest in the way his expression morphed as he spoke and the way his mouth moved as his lips formed each word. He was a very aesthetically appealing young man to look at, and his facial expressions were so uniquely Tobes that it alone made her smile. He was such a quirky boy, very much an intriguing individual, and she admired him deeply. Even if what he was saying was dorky and silly. It made her laugh.

"For a bazillion years," she echoed him, reiterating his statement and finding great humor in it, "and you wouldn't still like me if I was dead?" She grinned a lopsided, goofy smile over at him before looking out over the ravine once more. "You're such a dork," was her initial choice of direct response to what he had to say, then went on, "b'thanks for lookin' out for me. S'appreciated."

Such a sweetheart.

Then the bit about Piers and Javy being unfazed by them being no fun made her snort. "Yeah, they're fun-suckers. Well... Javy is for sure, at least. Piers can be lazy and not wanna be any fun, but when he wants to be fun sometimes, he's MEGA fun. Like when he stuck you to the ceiling or threw us in the pool. He's weird - he's either grumpy and lame and tries to steal all our fun, or he's kinda an instigator and'll easily give into us rilin' him up and be super fun with us. He's a weirdo." Javy, on the other hand, was SO SERIOUS ALL THE TIME. She'd maybe only seen him let go and have fun, like... ONCE when she and Tobes were teasing BOTH of them, and he'd joined in with Piers to retaliate. But Sophie Brown was convinced that Javy only ever let go, like, once every decade or something. So he'd probably already used up his quota for this one.

"A bazillion years." Sage nodding from Tobes right here.

Except... wait, what? Squint. "No..." What had he said again? Uhh... "That's not what I meant. I'd still like you just as much if you were-... wait, shhh. No." Toby raised an index finger and placed it over Sophie's lips in a gestures of 'SHHHHHHHHHH', just for a second, to make his point. NO TALKING ABOUT DEATH, OKAY? Okay.

Anyway, yes. Dork. "I know," Toby replied, looking back out over the ravine as well, like Soph was. "You tell me often. But you are too."

Just, y'know, reminding her.

"Nah, Javy just wants to look cool all the time. He can be fun too." In different ways and that. Though, granted, he was often the type to try and calm Toby down, whereas Piers was much more likely to let him get way out of control first, which was always SUPER fun. For Toby, anyway. "And technically both of them stuck me to the ceiling. My grandma always says that if someone stands by and lets something happen, they're basically an accomplice." More sage nodding. "Anyways, Piers is always grumpy, even when he's having fun. Y'know it's basically impossible to tell what mood he's in - either of them - so may as well rile them up regardless."

That... was becoming something of a theme, Toby had noticed. The adults he was close to being completely impossible to read. His parents, and now Dakest too. Or maybe it was just that Toby was starting to realise he didn't really understand anyone. Eh. Problem for another day.

For now, he grinned, and stood up straight again, and drummed his hand on the railing of the bridge. "Let's not talk about them," Toby said, quite happily, though really it was making him start to feel ways about things. "Let's do something fun." Mostly standing still was making him jittery, even though it was a breathtaking view that he probably wouldn't ever be able to see again after he graduated in a few weeks time.