The lake..

It was easily Azura's favorite spot in all of Hogwarts.. The water was so beautiful to look at, the lap of the waves on the shore was so calming. Not to mention there were tons of nooks and crannies where she could hide out and be alone and think..

Today wasn't one of those days though.

The small Raven haired Ravenclaw was perched on a rock, ever present sheet music in hand. Her purple gaze was not on the sparkling water though.. It was on the papers that were in her hand, she was holding onto them tightly, careful to not let the slight breeze rip them from her grasp..

The last thing she wanted to go do right now was chase one of Mozarts symphonies around the school.

She sighed as she kept reading the sheet music.. Ugh.. This one wasn't right either..

Tree houses will now and forever bring him memories. Not the one when all of his mum's Auror buddies came busting into Katerina's tree house to get him back home.

No. Not that memory. But the one with Katerina.

Which is why he ditched the tree house today and opted to lay on the grass by the lake. Merlin. He thought about her often. And by often he meant he even had a DREAM with her in it. It had made for an AWKWARD morning. Just thinking about made his ears grow warm.

Maybe the lake would help. The fresh air. NO sleeping. NO napping. NO dreams. NO awkward situations.

She sat under a tree by the lake. The rich brown bark was gnarled, the roots so thick and ancient that they curved up until they dipped deep into the earth. It was a perfect secluded spot to sit and read as time passed and the sky darkened.

It was her favorite thinking spot and some nights Aslan Evans stayed here until morning.

Hair tied back in a loose, low ponytail, Aslan's mind was off somewhere else as she surveyed the calm lake surface. There was no life on the lake today. No squid lazily stretching it's tendrils, no grindylows sneaking up to ensnare students. Even Myrtle was no where to be seen.

The effect was pure silence that along with the warmth of the September day, was almost lulling Aslan to sleep where she sat.

It was a shame. She'd been hoping for proper stimuli. Some sort of distraction to keep her loud and active mind busy in other ways. A sigh slipped from her lips, whether of exasperation or boredom it was hard to say, for even she wasn't sure which feeling was of a stronger pull.

She shrugged out of her robes, folding it up and laying it out on the flattened edge of the root before laying her head against it. Quietly, she began to hum.

Thee was nothing at Hogwarts that proved to be better than the schools he had attended in Japan. Which, in Takeru Asakura's mind, was a shame. The castle was larger, but in a way that seemed obnoxiously large to him. Did they actually need seven floors? Absolutely not.

The students- perhaps they were nicer. Though it was hard to tell with the few he has already spoken to. The conversation wasn't exactly what you'd call deep.

There were only three people in this castle that really held his interest. Jael, Liv and the girl from the bookstore. Aslan. He was suppose to find her, that was what she had told him. But it was a stupid set of instructions on her part. He didn't know what house she was part of or where she hung out- and he wasn't about to ask. The last time he had inquired about a friend...well...Liv....Chloe had asked him if he was a stalker.

Flattening his hair; thoughts spun around Tak's head faster than he could grasp them. His feet absentmindedly carrying him across the grounds, only stopping when he heard a faint noise.

...Humming. Eyes flocking to the nearby tree his hazel eyes opened up slightly. What were the odds. Not hesitating Tak walked over and said down to her right.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FwooperOnYourLeft

The lake..

It was easily Azura's favorite spot in all of Hogwarts.. The water was so beautiful to look at, the lap of the waves on the shore was so calming. Not to mention there were tons of nooks and crannies where she could hide out and be alone and think..

Today wasn't one of those days though.

The small Raven haired Ravenclaw was perched on a rock, ever present sheet music in hand. Her purple gaze was not on the sparkling water though.. It was on the papers that were in her hand, she was holding onto them tightly, careful to not let the slight breeze rip them from her grasp..

The last thing she wanted to go do right now was chase one of Mozarts symphonies around the school.

She sighed as she kept reading the sheet music.. Ugh.. This one wasn't right either..

It took more time to sign her name to a letter than it did for her to slip her shoes and socks off to dip her feet in the cool September lake water this day. Socks rolled up neatly and tucked away inside her shoes, Paige wiggled her toes into the mud and watched as the water gently lapped over her pale skin.

She was a bit too preoccupied with her own thoughts to notice the younger girl on a rock nearby, her gaze out over the lake and deep within it. There were a few things on the bucket list of hers that Dot had helped her make to do with the Black Lake, some a bit too fantastical to be realized she was sure, but it still made her think a bit. Prioritizing was going to be a bit difficult.

It was a nice day, and Felicity was out for a stroll by the lake in her raccoon form. Hopefully it wouldn't be too alarming to the students to see a raccoon on Hogwarts grounds. With Raccoons not being native to Britain some of the students might not have ever seen a real live raccoon in the wild, and certainly real raccoons were not present here at Hogwarts. Nevertheless, Felicity was enjoying her raccoon senses. The weather was pleasant and the fresh air was amazing. With each step she took she could feel the ground beneath her feet. A cool breeze blew across her face, and her thick undercoat kept her warm. Felicity breathed in the fresh air. There were all sorts of interesting outdoorsy smells that could not be detected with a human nose. What a great day to be a raccoon.

This is the day when Alyce T.LeFrique finally gonna explore Hogwarts ground! She was waiting for this day when she first stepped foot in the castle. Now where to first. The lake obviously. Hogwarts lake was very famous. Who know maybe she could spot the Giant Squid. Off to the lake we go!

Weeeeeeeeee....!!!!

Its such a nice day outside. A perfect day to do a picnic. She should have asked Leesha to come with her and have a picnic together. Oh well some other times perhaps. As she walked by, the red hair spotted a cute raccoon wondering around the Hogwarts grounds. A raccoon in Britain?! She slowly made her way toward the little animal. "Hey there, little fella. Are you lost?" Can she keep it?

With a smirk on her face the first year Snake walked toward the lake, she had met a boy during the feast, not on his house table of course, noooo! She had stayed with her own house the whole time, but he had been in the Sorting ceremony too and they had talked! The boy had told her that there must be a like here and she had asked him if they could look at it together but... Wellllll.... She wanted some fun too and she wanted to see if she could scare him, just because it was fun and because she wanted to know if he was worthy to be her friend!

So now she was standing behind a really large tree, close beside the lake with a really scary clown mask covering her face, waiting for the boy to come search for her.

Char always liked spending time at the lake. Especially before it was cold enough to freeze. It was better when the warm weather hit but at least the autumn was pretty. She was all wrapped up, scarf, sweater, and wool tights, but she'd left her robes and cloak inside. It wasn't cold enough for those yet. She had a couple of teen witch magazines and a bag of jelly slugs and was sitting with her back against a tree.

One of the magazines was open on her lap and she was tooootally engrossed in it.

Mason had found it a bit suspicious that when he had talked to a certain first year during the sorting ceremony the previous day that she had asked if there was a lake here. If he hadn't been mistaken, first years always traveled over the lake with boats as a tradition didn't they? Perhaps the tradition changed or he had remembered wrong from reading Howarts, A History. That book was massive.

Still, the Ravenclaw had told the girl that he'd like to explore the grounds as well and when the next day arrived, the fifth year got dressed in his school uniform because he also had classes later that day and walked towards the lake. The lake was beautiful and Mason took in a deep breath of fresh air as he walked closer to the water.

The girl in question was no where in sigh yet and he figured she was still sleeping in. He placed his school bag down on the grass and stooped over to open it up to grab one of his text books. He had been interested in Defence Against the Dark arts ever since he had opened his book at home , especially since he knew quite a bit about the dark arts. Durmstrang students learned that very quickly which was one of the reasons he had left.

While still standing, the Ravenclaw opened his textbook and turned it to page 25 where he had left off.

Oeh oeh! He was coming! Yeah! He had believed her little trick and now he was sitting on a nice spot, easy for het to sneak up to! Still with the mask over her face the first year tiptoed toward the boy, now with his nose deep into his book, what was obviously BORING when she stopped. Oh this was so fun! She hoped that the boy wouldn't be to angry with her afterwards but... Everybody liked a nice joke right? And if he didn't liked it then he really would be too boring for her. Her grin widened and she raised her hands, now standing direct behind the boy and she grabbed him by his shoulder while screaming "WHAAAAH!" with her most scaring voice and she brought her masked face closer toward his.

Silas had brought Obiwan with him for her routine playtime by the lake. When it comes to his pet, there was no better way to spend a day than being outside and on the water. Probably the only feline whichever does? He set his furry baby down and let her roam under his watchful eye so to make her happy. Suddenly Obiwan steered away from his sight and head to where a girl was reading under the tree. It seemed like Obiwan was aiming for the colourful looking sweets that had fallen out of her lap. "Obiwan! No! Don't eat that!" he shouted. Bad kitty!

Whaaa?

Char looked up at the kitty going at her candy and giggled. She pulled the bag of candy away and looked up, smile widening when she recognized who had been shouting. Well helloooo Diagon Alley friend.

She closed her magazine and waved.

"You don't see people walking cats around here very often!"

Good thing the girl managed to pull the bag of sweets in time before Obiwan reached for it. "Oh hi!"he grinned. Silas picked his cat up and snuggled with her once more. "That is very naughty, Obiwan." He kissed Obiwan's nosey while stroking her soft furry back. "Sorry about that, she loves whatever we humans eat." Silas chuckled and nodded at her. "Yes, apparently we are the only ones. How are you, Charlotte?"

Mason was halfway down the page already, completely ignoring his surroundings which he usually did when reading. The chapter he was reading about was quite fascinating and he couldn't wait practising some of the spells that were written.

Turning the page so that he was at page 26 now, the fifth year sat more upright and rolled his shoulders. He loved reading, but he also wasn't the type of person to sit quietly for a long time. Wondering where that girl was, Mason looked up from his book and turned around to search the grounds.

She should be here by n------

"AAAAAAAAAAH!"

The scream that came out of mouth had been so loud, he wouldn't be surprised if the whole school would hear it. And at first he hadn't even screamed because of the mask she was wearing. He had first screamed because of the sudden shock but when he saw that clown mask up close, too close then that he had wanted it to be, he screamed in terror again.

He. Did. Not. Like. Clowns!!!

Wanting to get away as far as possible, he dropped his book on the ground and stumbled backwards, completely forgetting there was a lake now behind him. He flailed with his arms as he realised too late what was happening and in an attempt to stay on dry land he reached for the first thing he could reach which was a Slytherin's robe.

And then, with a splash, he fell in to the water.

What a great first day ..NOT!

Since she had already certainly spotted a merperson passing the windows in the Slytherin common room, Xavvie decided she needed to check out the lake as well. She remembered her mama saying something about the lake being a rather peaceful place early in the mornings, but right now it was obviously very crowded. Not that she minded that one bit, Xavvie didn't take up much room and otherwise, she was interested in meeting more of her fellow students.

She found herself a little patch of ground to sit on and drew up her knees to rest her chin on them, hoping to maybe, just maybe, spot another merperson.

Maybe?

Sooooo Silas was a cat person? Like... REALLY a cat person. She couldn't help but wonder if Obiwan could do any tricks. Could cats do tricks anyways? She wasn't sure given at home they had a crup and no cat.

Oh I'm great! Its so nice being back here and with all my friends. How about you? I saw you got Hufflepuff!""

Hady was sat in the grass near the lake, her sketch pad resting on her knees. In the holster attached to her arm was her wand which was currently playing a random song she just so happened to be humming to. In her hand was one of her many sketching pencils, the rest in a case at her side. Right now she was working on the lake and all that surrounded it. Later if she had the time she'd work on some people sketching before sending an owl to Ansley. Even though the man hadn't returned this term as her professor she had continued to work with him over the summer as much as she had been able to. Hady was still very serious about learning to create magical portraits.

Hazel eyes lifted to take in those around her for a brief moment before returning to sketching. It was just her, her art and her music. The prefect combination for a calm morning.

She never thought to spend her first day at Hogwarts with a horror clown mask on her face but... It happened and she LOVED it! The thrill of doing something fun like that was just amazing! The boy, Mason was his name, was so unaware of her and the joke couldn't be better!

But just when she had grabbed him by his shoulder he looked at her, that was unexpected but it didn't mattered because... He screamed like a girl! Really screamed! Whoa! This was so fun! His face was a mask from... Real fear? Why was he so scared, it was just a mask, a scary one but... Still just a mask! Mason screamed again and walked away from her, closer toward the water edge and she opened her mouth to shout at him. "Watch out, you're..." But before she could finish her sentence Mason had grabbed her by her school robes while falling! Falling!

Now it was Leesha's turn to scream because she absolutely DIDN'T wanted to get wet and to fall into the water! She tried to free herself but Mason's grip on her robes was too strong for her, she grabbed his hands and tried to pull them away from her while desperately trying to fell backwards, away from the lake but Mason was heavier than she and he took her with him!

"NO!" She screamed from under her mask, her voice sounded muffled and then, SPLESH! She fell into the water! Something hit her in her face, Mason's elbow? She didn't knew for sure because the clown mask had shifted over her face and now she couldn't see anymore! Splashing with her arms she tried to keep her head above the water but she was disorientated because she couldn't see! STUPID MASK!

The moment his body landed in the water, Mason's arm hurt as he had hit something. But his mind wasn't paying attention to anything other than getting away from the clown. Why did Hogwarts even have clowns?! What kind of sick joke was that?!

Going under water with his head, Mason gasped for air as he came above the surface and looked around. His face was close to the clown mask and he trashed again, letting go of the robe he had in his hand and didn't even realise that under it a small first year was trying to keep her head above the water.

Like he cared!

In a matter of a couple of seconds, the Ravenclaw had swam AWAY from the clown and pushed himself up on dry land. He coughed as he sat down on the grass and took a deep breath for air. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" He shouted at the person still in the water.

Sean is enjoying his first week at Hogwarts. After the feast and settling inside the dorm room where he fixed his bed early in the morning he decided that maybe it was time to shape up and just get that morning jog.

...And so he did. He dragged his feet and got into his comfortable sweatpants and hoodie and ran around the lake. Of course fresh air is something that Sean lives for. While doing his morning jog, he noticed a familiar figure from across. Hey, isn't she the seventh year with the head girl badge? Sean haven't officially introduced himself to her or vice versa. Upon nearing he noticed that she's doing some sketching. Is that a tune he hears? He awkwardly waved his hand and gave his best smile, which still looks weird. "Hello." he uttered, deciding that he should take a short rest. "uhm... Head girl" he pointed shyly.

Make a witty observation!!! "uhh... what are you sketching?" Yup! Good enough.

Between the song playing from her wand which just so happened to be a TDK song, thanks Nat, thanks and her sketching Hady was nearly almost fully lost to everything else. Almost. She somehow nearly always had a knack for still knowing what was going on around her even if she wasn't fully paying attention.

Hady had noticed the boy jogging around the lake more then once. Being as that was the objective of her sketching today it hadn't been all that hard not to see him. What she hadn't planned on was being spoken to just then or addressed as 'Head Girl' which was just as well as being called 'Girl with the Badge' or whatever else lately. A small smile tugged at her lips as she lifted her head towards the voice. "Hello," she greeted warmly. "My name is Hady, you know...just in case you don't feel like calling me Head Girl for the rest of the term." Cue playful smirk.

What was she sketching? The question had her setting down her pencil and showing him her now rather detailed sketch of the lake and the area around it. "Do you draw?" Curious.

He fixed his shirt a bit just in case he doesn't look presentable. Of course he had to look his best. She was his senior and not to mention she's head girl. First impressions lasts as his parents always say. Sean then gave her a wide smile when she said hello back. Then the smile turned into a soft chuckle when she continued and introduced herself to him.

Right, Hady. Mental note that one. Stored and remembered. "Yes, Hady. I'm sorry that I addressed you as Head Girl. Well you are the head girl" he was blabbering again. Sean needs to control that odd habit. "I'm Sean." If there is one thing he knows is that he is awful at the whole introduce yourself portion. "I'm in the sixth year."

He looked at the pad that she was doodling on and then glanced up at her the moment she asked "A little bit, yeah. Nothing Picasso-ish though. It's a hobby." he shrugged "Are you drawing the lake?"

A laugh. This was good. At least he wasn't one of those that didn't get a joke and got all made. Hady grinned nodding her head as her name was repeated. "That's quite alright, don't worry about it. You're not the only one to do that." He probably wouldn't be the last either and it was true, she was the Head Girl. "Nice to meet you Sean, sorry I didn't get a chance to speak with you sooner." She had seen him in the common room and at the feast but she had been a bit preoccupied with some of the first years then.

"There's nothing wrong with that. Drawing isn't my true passion either though I've gotten much better at it." Thanks to their former Professor who had been helping her. "I am. It's just a bit of some still life drawing before I move on to something else." She looked at Sean a moment curiously. "This might sound a bit strange but if you're not busy for a little bit would you mind if I sketched you for a some practice?" The more practice the better. Not to mention having different models was always interesting.