Boats were cool. Sam liked boats, and water, and swimming. He loved swimming. The eleven-year-old sat in one of the small boats and simply waited for them to start moving through the water.

Now, so far every encounter he'd had on this journey to Hogwarts had somehow resulted in him being injured. None of them his fault, either! So, when some clumsy classmate of his tripped her way into the boat and fell right smack dab on Sammy, it really SHOULDN'T have been a surprise. But given that he really wasn't expecting it, he was surprised.

"Oof!" He went from sitting on the little bench thing to now basically eating the wood. He grunted a little as he pushed himself up into a sitting position again. And it was then that he saw WHO was the culprit. "OH, why am I not surprised?" he said as he pulled his robes back on himself properly. He grinned some and purposely bumped her with his side, a sign that he was getting more comfortable around her.

Matt was feeling sick now. Was he going to puke? Merlin knew. The only think Matt himself knew right now was that he wasn't feeling well at all and that he did not feel comfortable going on those tiny little boats to cross that MASSIVE dark lake. He wanted to ask the groundskeeper if there was another way to get to the castle, but most of the kids were really excited about those silly boats and some of them were even jumping onto them already and shouting things excitedly and all of that fun stuff!

Fun if it weren't for the boats going on the lake.

Matt was actually startled - something that rarely ever happened to him - when someone spoke to him. It took him a few seconds to understand what the girl was asking. "Oh, no. This is my stormtrooper helmet." He explained, not sounding as enthusiastic as he normally would - especially when talking about Star Wars. Her next question made him veeeryyyy confused and he gave her a LOOK. She couldn't see the look, of course, because of the helmet. "No?? I'm not disfigured, what???" WHAT even?? "Who even are you?" Like, HUH??

And were those kids calling them DANGEROUS boats the MILLENNIUM FALCON??? "How rude!!"

“You’re not being particularly helpful,” she informed him. If he was going to go zipping about wearing a stormtrooper helmet—and what in Merlin’s beard was a stormtrooper, anyway?—then he should be very much expecting questions. Many questions. Such as, “Why are you wearing a helmet then?”

If he didn’t wear it because of damage control, and if his face was perfectly normal—and really, wasn’t that just a little bit disappointing?—then what possible reason could he have? It certainly didn’t make conversation any easier: all of his words were coming out muffled.

To his valid question, she responded, “I’m Julia. Who are you?”

Sollys followed along with the other first years as the professor lead them along a steep path from Hogsmeade. If she had to make this trip alone in the dark she was pretty certain she would have gotten lost along the way. The group came to a stop at the the edge of the lake. She looked at the boats for a second as excited students began to file into them. She wasn't sure if she heard correctly had someone just said they were dangerous. Surely they were mistaken.mistaken. Sollys quickly decided that was a silly thought to have and climbed into the nearest available boat. This is going to be so much fun!" She said softly with a smile as she looked out over the lake.

Genny plopped down on the bench opposite from-- "Sam!" Sharksy was here on the same boat with her. It was such a happy coincidence until he made that comment. "What's that supposed to mean?" She gave him a scolding frown and patted down her pigtails to tame them, unsuccessfully so too.

Though to be honest, she was glad someone familiar was here with her. Look at the vast darkness all around them. Everyone around them was talking about some weird... trend? Genny listened to them blankly hearing foreign words. She moved to sit next to Sam on the bench, watching the others carefully. And then the still waters. "So, you like squids as much as sharks?" Because there was a giant one in here. And she was not scared of it at allllllllllll.

At least this girl was keeping his mind busy. Matt also avoided looking at the lake for now. Stalling at its best. Maybe he would even be forgotten there and then he'd have to find his own way to the castle! He would much rather that.

Maybe through the Forbidden Forest? Oohh, that sounded AWESOME!

"I got it in the train. Ethan owled it to me." The boy explained as if the girl knew who Ethan was. "I'm not a stormtrooper, but their helmets are pretty cool, so I wear it." Simple!

Julia. "Hi, Julia. I'm Matt. Matt Solo." He held out his hand for her to shake. He looked towards the boats and watched them for a few seconds. OH, IDEA! He quickly took off his helmet to look at Julia properly. "HEY, do you want to go and find another route to the castle?? I mean, boats are so laaame. We can find a funner way!" His eyes twinkled as he spoke and he was almost bouncing. What a GREAT idea that was! YAS!

Getting off the Hogwarts Express was a tempestuous experience for Haddie. On the one hand, they were here. At Hogwarts. And the excitement of that was threatening to rip her to shreds. On the other hand, she was still very upset at her cousin for not telling her or her mom what they knew.

The two extremes stormed inside her as she slipped through the crowd and followed the Groundskeeper to a bunch of little boats. Nevermind the magic she'd already experienced, or taking the train to the school, it was these little boats that told her more than anything that this was going to be unlike any other school she's experienced.

For a moment she forgot she was also supposed to be mad at her cousin still. Even when she remembered again is was as distant and dim as the castle that loomed on a hill on the other side of the lake. She couldn't take her eyes off the castle, even if it was difficult to see in the dark. The penalty for keeping her eyes glued on it, was an ungraceful tumble into the nearby boat she'd tried to climb into.

"I'm okay!" Her face was bright red as righted herself with some effort. "Wonderful," she grumbled.

"I've never heard of stormtroopers in my life," she informed him. And she didn't know who this Ethan person was either. And it bothered her that he was telling her all these things as if she should know. Because she didn't know, and it made her feel stupid (it still being another week and a half before the word ignorant appeared on her word-a-day calendar).

She shook his offered hand, though it felt distinctly odd to be introduced to someone without seeing his... oh, and there was his face. Well. His jawbones definitely weren't grotesquely distended. She'd give him that.

Julia looked at the boats, and then back to him. And then did that again. And one more time before clarifying, "You want to go wandering about in the dark, trying to find a route to a place you've never been, most likely surrounded by magical wards and hostile creatures."

Callum nodded. He, too, knew about the thestrals pulling the carriages, and he continued to nod along to her reasoning. Yes, that made sense. The boats were bound to be slower than the thestrals, and all things considering, there were way more kids to get up to the castle in the carriages than there were first years to cross the lake in the boats, so it would probably be a more leisurely ride than he would have liked, since he knew the first years joined the feast after everyone else was already seated.

Well, that was all right. At least it would be a nice view. The adrenaline and excitement toward actually arriving over there might drive him mad along the way, but he supposed that was all part of the experience.

"That sounds about right." He really still was not sure how long it would take, but her reasoning was solid, so he had no reason to question it. It would be much easier to tell once their boat began to move, so for now, Callum simply turned his head back to smile at the girl once more. "Callum, by the way." That was his name.

The pair was joined in the next moment by another girl, one who was brimming with excitement, but she was not as over-the-top as those other classmates Callum had been trying to avoid, so she got a smile, too. "Definitely," was his response to her, and he turned his smile from the new girl to the first one, his gaze lingering, then he peeked over at the people in the other boats. Genny Tate was over there, though she looked preoccupied with another boy so he did not greet her, and it looked like most of the boats were filling up quickly.

Time to set off soon, then, and it would be so much fun, he agreed.

Curls whipped around when Tory's voice came from right beside him "Dang Ugo, you and your ninja moves." Tenacius chuckled as he settled down.

But his face went when Mel said something about the beloved Corellian junk freighter. But now she was caught up on a word "Well ok, yeah dingy like piece of junk but I was also joking about the dinghy, which is also a small boat...." Ok never mind, maritime jokes only hits big at the Waterhead apparently heh.

Tenacius nodded and grinned at Tory's words "Purtee hugely epic times ten when we get there!" Brofist on that brutha!

And finally Mel got caught up "Yeah that’s right my Padawan. Star Wars."

But yes they must go FASTER. "What no oars?? Hyperdrive malfunctioned again!" he exclaimed dramatically, waving his arms about his head like a frustrated Wookie. Then Mel said something "Nah I don’t want you to get out and push."

Paddling with their hands seems like the only option left.

"Alright everybody, arms in the water and Stroke! Stroke! Stroke!"


........... Wait a sec, was that a Stormtrooper??

"Stormtrooper carrier off to the starboard side!" he bellowed pointing at the cool kid with a Stormtooper helmet "Man the laser canons!"

Sollys sat down carefully not wanting to rock the boat to much like some of the other more energetic first years.There was already two others in the boat and thankfully they also seemed to have their energy in check. The boy had been in the process of introducing himself when she joined them. After he had agreed with her about the fun Hogwarts was going to be she decided now was as good a time as any to introduce herself to her boat companions. " My name is Sollys James." She stated.

Cornelius was so happy he didn't die. He was so close to Hogwarts that it would have been a rather stupid tragedy. Maybe he should calm down...

....

Naaaaah.

He lived to tell the tale. That's what mattered.

Glancing over at the large man with the lantern, Cornelius smirked a bit smugly. "Ai. Told you we had permission." Not that he gave it much importance, but it seemed to be important to the smaller guy. Moving his gaze back to the kid, he nodded, agreeing not to move or anything. "Just don't think about it too much. It's not that hard"--

HOLLY CATTLES MAN OVERBOARD!!!!

Out of pure instinct Cornelius' chubby hands reached out, his fingers gripping onto the other boy's robes. "HE'S FALLING"--WAIT! "Falcons?! WHERE?" Someone said falcons and his ready ears had caught that. Did they mean Falmouth Falcons? If so, lets talk Quidditch--WAIIIIT--the boy!

"I got you, buddy!" Cornelius tugged, planting his feet on the ground so the kid wouldn't take him along with him. WHAAA.

She WHAT? "You've never watched Star Wars??? What planet are YOU from???" Matt was SHOCKED. That was outrageous. WHAT. "They're the army of clones. Then not of clones anymore. But that doesn't matter, what matters is that they are a bit silly, which is funny. I'm not a real stormtrooper, see, I'm a Jedi Knight. I just pretend that I'm a stormtrooper because I get to wear their cool helmet." Matt finished and grinned. Tadah!

Talking about Star Wars sure got him to feel better. He didn't feel like puking anymore! Woohoo! And about him wanting to go wandering about in the dark, trying to find a route to a place he'd never been, most likely surrounded by magical wards and hostile creatures, Matt beamed. "Yeah! You got it!" Clever girl! Matt liked her already. "Come on, this way!" He said, pointing to the OPPOSITE direction, away from the lake.

WAIT, did he hear STORMTROOPER CARRIER? His head whipped around to look back at the boats. At the kid bellowing, more specifically. Matt didn't know him, but he was already in his good books because he was talking Star Wars, ALRIGHT.

But he was in a boat. Which was a no-no. "We're getting to the castle through a different route!" Matt spoke rather loudly to make sure the other kid heard him. "I might have a real reason to use my blaster." Which Matt was looking forward to, really. Not that his blaster was a REAL blaster but hey, he had his wand now. RAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!

But yeah, no boat.

Oh how Torrance wished he knew more about Star Wars than what he heard about it. It seemed that there was going to be a battle of Boats. He paused from the hand paddling he had started to peer over at the other boat. A boat with with a Boy in it holdibf a dumb looking white helmet. He yelled at them about his Blaster….

Blaster….

“MATT SOLO!?!” The young boy called across from his boat. “Solo if that's you tell me what's the name of my Awesome Owl!?” or just come closer so the light of the lantern on their dingy boat could illuminate his face some. He turned to Ace and Mel, and Sam. “I gotta see if it's him. He's kind of crazy stupid, but really cool”
Could they maneuver their boat closer to Solo’s?

“I’m from Earth,” she huffed, “not some… some galaxy far far away! And you’re not explaining things at all.” At. All. He was just being more and more confusing, and she decided to dismiss everything about these ‘Star Wars’ as some nonsense he’d come up with to pass the time on the train. That seemed more likely than him being a knight of some sort though him being a knight would actually explain the helmet.

“That is an absolutely terrible idea,” she informed him, and to add to her certainty she dug her heels into the dirt. Honestly. Terrible.

When she heard some other boy yelling about stormtroopers and other assorted nonsense, however, she was forced to reconsider her earlier dismissal of… of whatever this thing was. This thing of stormtroopers and blasters and helmets delivered via owl by the mysterious Ethan.

It did, however, present a solution to wandering off into the hostile wilds with Matt Solo. She grabbed the shoulder of his cloak and asked, “You mean you’re going to run away from a fight? That doesn’t sound very knightly of you at all.”

At. All.

Matthew.

Precisely why the Groundskeeper didn't get onto his boat just yet. Somebody had to keep the younger ones from falling off before getting onto it.

"Whooa there." Chuckling lightly, as he got a grasp on both young gentleman's robes preventing their bodies from reaching the water before gently shoving them inside the boat. Safe and dry. "There's some life jackets right under the seating if you don't fancy yourselves swimming across." There. Precautions all out of the way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hotmnstr

Sollys followed along with the other first years as the professor lead them along a steep path from Hogsmeade. If she had to make this trip alone in the dark she was pretty certain she would have gotten lost along the way. The group came to a stop at the the edge of the lake. She looked at the boats for a second as excited students began to file into them. She wasn't sure if she heard correctly had someone just said they were dangerous. Surely they were mistaken.mistaken. Sollys quickly decided that was a silly thought to have and climbed into the nearest available boat. This is going to be so much fun!" She said softly with a smile as she looked out over the lake.

"Now that's the spirit!" See. Fun as this soon-to-be-student showcased. This was going to be the night to remember as everyone was beginning to get restless. "Alright now, hang onto to your seats, the boats are zooming off." This was it, no one was getting left behind now as the Groundskeeper awaited until everyone was in the boat before getting into his as they took off.

Jay was in a rather precarious situation.

At the moment, his minuscule form seemed to be working to his advantage. As he fell forward, hands out in front of him, he realised that he was actually quite small enough that he wouldn't fall fully out of the boat. This, however, wouldn't stop the Tall Boy from doing whatever he was doing.

One of Jay's hands caught the side of the boat and locked onto it; the other, slipping past the wooden side, entered the water with a small little splash. He squeezed his eyes closed, just in case he couldn't stop himself from sticking his face in the water-

-and then the grip on the back of his robes was both holding him up and strangling him a bit. It took him a good long moment to realise, and for about half of that he was sure that time had just slowed down and if he opened his eyes he'd be just shy of dunking in the water. His robes had hiked up around his neck, and he let out a small choking sound.

This was it. This was how it was going to end. Strangled to death by a giant eleven year old holding onto his robes. The hand in the water flailed a bit, catching onto some plant life floating just under the surface, and a bit of it broke off in his fingers as he pulled his arm back to try and push himself off the side of the boat and up to standing again.

He wanted to liiiiiive. Heavy gasp. Thank goodness for Lantern Man getting them all straightened out. Jaemin indignantly pulled at his robes to get them straightened again and looked at both him and the Tall Boy.

"Thanks."

"HEY, YOU KNOW IT!!" Matt GASPED and grabbed the girl's shoulder to make a point. She had just said a galaxy far far away! SHE KNEW IT!! "You almost got me there, Julia!" He laughed and PHEEW, she did know Star Wars. She wasn't an alien after all. Though Matt had loads of alien friends, he wouldn't mind one more.

He deadpanned. "It's not a terrible idea. It's a much, MUCH BETER idea than going on those lame boats!" That Matt knew. That lake. Ugh. No.

But someone YELLED HIS fake ACTUAL NAME!! "DAT ME!" He yelled back at whoever it was. Then the person asked him a question and by the question AND the person's voice, Matt KNEW who that was. Lol. "Your owl is called Paploo." Matt LAUGHED, momentarily forgetting about the lake and the fact he had to go OVER it to get to the castle.

Only momentarily. There he was facing the fact he was NOT going to go in a boat and over the lake. No, thank you. Another adventurous route it was!

...And then Julia challanged him. She actually CHALLENGED MATT SOLO. "WHAT, NO. I'm NOT running away from a FIGHT." What fight was she even talking about? No matter, MATT WAS STILL NOT RUNNING AWAY FROM IT. "I am NOT." And to prove himself, it was now his turn to grab the shoulder of HER cloak and to pull her along. Not too abruptly or anything, since he himself was being VERY CAUTIOUS about getting on those tiny DANGEROUS boats.

No matter. NO MATTER. IT WAS A CHALLANGE NOW. And Matt SOLO did NOT run away from challenges. Or fights, for that matter.

HE WAS IN A BOAT. YES!! He was. In a BOAT!

...

Oh dear merlin, he was in a boat. HE WAS IN A BOAT, AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

He quickly popped his helmet back on because no one needed to see how terrified he was. No, Matt Solo was COOL. He was COOL. Everything was cool. Chill. Chillax, Matt, it's only a really massive, deep and DANGEROUS DARK LAKE.

WHOSE GREAT IDEA WAS THIS, THIS WAS NOT FUN.

This is why you don't try and save people because then you end up accidentally choking them. Cornelius believed he had helped though, so when the guy with the lantern came by, he gave him an affirmative nod. They saved a life.

"You okay?" Cornelius asked as he took a seat, making sure to not be near the edges of the boat. This was like, what? Fifty near death experiences within the span of a month? That had to be a record. He wasn't even tempting fate.

And they were leaving! "Hold on," he told the boy. Moving boat equals a well behaved Cornelius. He treasured life, thank you.

"I'm Cornelius, by the way...Cornelius Baltazar."

Sam was just choosing which of the boats to hop into, when she heard her name. She glanced round in case it was Dora or one of the older students she had shared a compartment on the train with, but she was pretty sure she hadn't forgotten anything. She couldn't remember meeting any other first years so far. How weird.

This boat seemed to be quieter than the others; no sound of impeding watery doom or something about a bird. She didn't have a fear of water, but she didn't exactly know how to swim either. Sharks and squids were all the same to her.

"Mind me joinin' ya?" she asked, as she started to step in.

One singular spasm of the corner of her left eye was the only response Julia gave, and it was an uncontrollable one at that. She most emphatically did not know Star Wars. She did not, no matter how much he might think otherwise. She didn’t even know what about what she’d said had triggered him to think so: calling out his cowardice? Maybe?

But she didn’t want to give any more consideration to it, and was saved from having to do so by Matt once again criticizing the first years’ method of transportation.

…

…there was something about the boats, wasn’t there? Something specific to Matt Solo, that made him want to run the other way. She watched his face as he called out to the other boy on the water, and how quickly his exuberance (she was getting a lot of use out of that word today) came and went depending on his looking at the boats before him.

If his dread had continued, she may have suggested asking the professor if they could go some other way, but then exuberant!Matt was back and dragging her towards the boats. Victory? And anyway, she had no problem with taking the time to carefully climb into a boat. She did not want to be ‘that kid who fell in the lake’, and if Matt didn’t want that title either so much the better.

Julia reached over and gave Matt Solo’s helmeted head a consoling pat pat, “You’re very brave.”

And she wasn’t going to say anything more about it.

Lex recovered his balance, smoothing out his robes from where the man had grabbed them.
"Uh, thanks, mister... " he offered absently, making his way a little more conscientiously into a nearby boat. Safely seated, he stared back up at the castle, drifting back into his own mind as he examined its shape against the evening sky.

"I'm okay." He nodded and let out a breath in a huff, still trying to get the air to come back easily to his lungs. His round little cheeks had gone pink, whether from embarrassment or the sudden cut-off of his breathing nobody else would know. Without any form of decorum he plopped onto one of the seats and looked at the hand that had gone into the water.

Oohhhh. Plant stuff.

Huh what? They were moving. He looked up, head turning this way and that as the boats propelled themselves forward. THIS WAS SOOOOOO COOL.

"Cornelius," he pronounced carefully, settling on the tall boy again. Coooooornelius. Corney. Yes. "I'm Jaemin. Er. Jaemin Song."

He held up the seaweed-y looking stuff on his fingers. "What kind of plant you suppose this is?"

Wait did that Stormtrooper say he had a blaster? "So what? You cant shoot a wide side of an Ewok!" Tenacius hollered back laughing. But wait "Ugo you know that guy? And his name is Solo whuuuut???"

But now Tory wants to get closer to that Matt Solo Stormtrooper guy and Tenacius, still totally in character started giving commands to Sam and Mel "Change course. We're engaging the hostile." Stroke stroke stroke stroke!

Katherine was glad the boy liked her reasoning. She'd impressed him and therefore showed him that she would be a good friend. She opened her mouth to tell her name back, but they were joined by another girl. She smiled at her too. For sure! It was bound to be amazing - even more so now that the girl was also calm like them. Looking at other boats - Katherine was glad she'd picked this one. Though, a fourth person could ruin everything, so she hoped the last person to board would be a nice one...

"And I'm Katherine Moss," she said to them with a smile, "pleasure to meet you both. Which houses do you want to be sorted into?" The house choice was a big indicator of the person's personality, she'd found. Better to know before their friendship progressed.

Oh, they were already on the move without a fouth! YES! Katherine was visibly relieved, because she knew that at least they would stay dry.