The Whomping Willow
 

for Littlehampir
 

Abby stopped quite safely away from the whomping willow and wondered what is going to happen this term it was going to be interesting for sure

Oliver was not one for wasting time. As soon as he'd woken up and eaten breakfast, he was out the doors of the castle. The cool fall weather was still nice, and he hoped it wouldn't get cold too quickly. He didn't necessarily mind the cold, but warmer weather was more pleasant for exploring the grounds. That was exactly his plans for the day. He would become an expert on all things Hogwarts as soon as possible.

Crunch. Crunch. Hehe. There weren't too many leaves on the ground yet, but Oliver made sure to step on all of them. In a week or so, when most of the leaves had fallen, it would be a nice place to make a giant leaf pile. He made a mental note to talk to Ellery about it later. As soon as he saw her. He was paying so much attention to his mission of stepping on every single leaf that he wasn't paying attention to what was actually in front of him. He very nearly ran into the girl in front of him. Oops.

"Hello." She looked a little bit distracted, so it was possible that she hadn't noticed how close he'd come to running into her. "Have you ever tried to climb that tree?" He gestured to the tree closest to them, the biggest one on the grounds. It was huge, and looked like it would be very fun to climb.

Abby looked at the young slytherin and said "Nope i have never climbed the tree because it is dangerous to get too close to the tree cause it can hit and injure you" Abby knew that the Healer would not be happy that one of her students injured themselves doing something stupid

WHAT? What kind of a tree could hit people? Oliver supposed a magic one could, but that didn't mean he was happy about it. He wanted to climb the tree, not be beaten up by it. "I'm sure there's some way to get it to stop," he mused. "What if you just asked it nicely?" Hmmm? Why exactly did the tree like to hit? That was something Oliver would like to know.

He would also like to see for himself just how dangerous the tree could be. The only danger trees usually posed was if you fell out of them. But he never fell out because that was kind of like losing, and he never lost. Was it like the trees in the muggle movie Wizard of Oz? Did it throw apples? He studied the tree carefully but could not see any apples. What kind of a tree was it then?

Abby nodded and said "Yeah i am sure there is but i think nearly every year we have be warned not to get too close to the willow but your more than welcome to try and get close" Abby wanted to see how close the boy could get before the tree got to hit him if it did

"They're just trying to ruin our fun." Oliver waved him hand, dismissing the warning. A warning would not stop him from trying to climb the tree, but he was not stupid enough to ignore it completely. His gaze dropped to the ground, searching for something that would help him test just how dangerous this tree was exactly. Finally, he spotted a small rock a few feet in front of him. Oliver picked it up and threw it as hard as he could. It hit the trunk of the tree. With barely any hesitation, the tree thrust one branch forward and swung another one toward the source of the attack. Oliver watched, wide-eyed.

"Wow," he whispered, mostly to himself. He understood why the tree came with a warning. Badur "There has to be a way to turn it off." He was mostly talking to himself now, forgetting the girl standing not far away. When he remembered, Oliver turned back toward her and grinned.

"I'm Oliver by the way. First year."

For Ali
 

Abby smiled at Oliver and said "Nice to meet you Oliver, I am Abby, fifth year, and yes the tree is cool and yes there is a way to turn it off but i cannot remember what it is and i understand what your saying about spoling fun for people but the tree has been at Hogwarts for years and years"

"Nice to meet you Abby," he said with a smile. His eyes were wide, and he listened with rapt attention as she spoke. This girl seemed to know everything about Hogwarts. He supposed that's what happened when you spent five years there. When he was a fifth year, Oliver would know everything and he could impress first years with his knowledge. But he would certainly know by then how to stop the tree from attacking. He couldn't believe that she knew there was a way but she didn't know what it was. How could anyone forget that kind of information? But he did have a few more questions he thought she might be able to answer. "Do you know how long it's been here?"

Abby looked at Oliver and said "I think the tree has been here since 1971, so it is a really old tree that has to be respected a lot"

Hop, hop, hop!

Adi was laughing to himself as he jumped and hopped with Guster. The toad was on the ground hopping along, naturally but its owner was being childish. Hehe. "Where are we going, Gus?'' The toad croaked in reply as Adi looked around. Oh! They were heading in the direction of the Willow! Of course! Gus liked the Willow for some reason, this being not the first time the amphibian led him there. Or maybe...

"You saw Benny, didn't you?'' A series of croaks were emitted. Grinning, the seventh year hopped on one leg right up to Benny before landing on both feet. "Yo, Benny. What's shaking?''

1971? Oliver counted on his fingers. If the current year was 2087 then the tree had been planted...ummmm...a very long time ago. It was certainly older than he was. Older than his dads too. Maybe even older than his grandparents. This tree was definitely older than anybody he knew. "Wow." As for the tree needing respect, Oliver didn't pay attention to that part. How could a tree need respect? That was ridiculous.

"How come there aren't any more trees like it on the grounds?" Didn't it get lonely, being all by itself?

Abby thought at Oliver's question and said "Well i don't know why there are no other trees like the willow in the grounds but i am sure that it is somewhere in hogwarts a history" Abby was sure that she read something about it in there but couldnt remember where exactly

The ground? HAHA! Benny had his jokey moments. Adi grinned, flopping down beside his best friend. "Yep! Gus wanted to show off that he can beat me in these contests. Shh. Don't tell him that I let him win on purpose, Benny.'' His precious toady...

Speaking of Gus... the toad hopped and sprang itself at Benny. Adi laughed. "Looks like Guster wants you to hop with him.'' Yes, Benny could go be hoppy boy while Adi snoozed. It was a good day to do that outside. "I wonder if he's a bit sulky at Conrad still,'' Adi said. "If he is, I think he's being silly. But then again, one shouldn't leave their besties behind.'' Hehe. Stubborn little Guster.

Lucas ran out of the castle and out towards the Whomping Willow. He just HAD to see this tree! His sister made it sound so cool and whatnot! He beamed and came to a halting stop as he saw the tree. His eyes widened in amazement when he saw that the tree actually MOVED! What tree did that! A wild grin came as he admired the tree.

Chris sat playing his guitar near the tree that moved simply watching it a bit. He was mildly curious if anyone had gotten hit by those nob things. Probably would hurt if they did hit you. Like...a lot...

His attention was caught as he saw a kid run up and stand looking a the tree. A bit close wasn't he? "You'll get hit you might want to back up," he said casually.

Lucas blinked and turned, looking at the boy who he was assuming was talking to him. "Huh?" At about that time, he caught movement in the corner of his eyes. The tree was swinging at him. His eyes widened. Ohhhhh Now what the boy said made sense. He barely was able to jump out of the way, stumbling and landing near where the boy was as the tree started to swing at something else that was moving near it. He looked at the boy. "Uh... umm.... thanks..." He rubbed his neck and sat up.

Chris watched as a tree branch nub thing was coming toward the boy and his eyes widened. He wanted to shout at the kid to move but ended up just staring wide eyed. Thankfully the boy did move and he exhaled the breath he didn't know he had been holding. "No problem," he said quietly and looked at him. "Are you alright?" Hopefully he was because he didn't really want to have to take him up to the healers but he would!

He set the guitar down and watched him carefully. "I'm Chris by the way. What were you doing?"

He brushed the dirt, grass and leaves off of his slytherin robes and nodded. "Yeah, I am fine..." Lucas wiggled his toes and fingers then his nose. He searched for his wand to make sure it didn't break and sighed in relief that it was in one piece without a scratch. He eyed the boy, "I am Lucas. I was just admiring the tree and checking it out with all the stories that I had heard from it... I didn't realize that the whomping bit was actually true and not a myth... I saw that it was moving but I didn't think it would ATTACK people." He eyed the tree with a huff.

Chris watched him curiously and made sure to look for any signs that he might be injured or pass out. He chuckled as he watched him wiggle his appendages imagining that he was probably counting to make sure he had everything attached. "Pleasure to meet you Lucas. Yeah...a lot of things around here attack people." Like GIANT spiders!!!!! Hmph.

For Samia/Noel!
 

Adi winked. Some things are best kept secrets. One of them was letting Gus have his fun at 'winning'. He laughed as Gus threw himself at Benny. "Woah. He really missed you. Not liking Benny more than me now, are you, Guster?'' Hehe. :mellow: It WAS possible to be insecure of a toad. Mhmm.

Soooo, it looked as though Benny was also going to have a leaping contest of sorts with the amphibian. Cool! Adi turned to flop on his belly so he could watch this properly. "Glendower would do a better job,'' he stated knowingly. WHY did she have to leave too?

The Hufflepuff now focused his attention on his companions. This was one of those moments when Benny was more open. Too bad for the world they didn't get to see this side of him. Gus seemed to understand the Lion for with a croak and a hop, he was off!