Alfie had been at Hogwarts for a few weeks now and he was still discovering new things. He expected that he still wouldn't have discovered everything by the time he finished his seventh year. The castle and the grounds were huge, and there was so much to see. But that excited Alfie. He liked exploring and discovering new things. This day found him outside, exploring around the grounds. He had his school bag with him because his ultimate plan was that after a bit of exploring he would actually work on some homework. But he hadn't gotten there yet.

Where he had gotten was not far from the Whomping Willow. He had seen the tree before, of course. It was hard to miss. But he hadn't gotten up close and personal with it. Not that he was planning on getting super close and personal. He'd heard stories. He had a vague idea of what it was all about. But that just made him more curious about it. So there he stood, watching it from a safe distance. Was something going to happen? He wanted to see something cool happen.

Lisa had been avoiding the Whomping Willow after learning of horrendous tales of people getting injured and the tree itself having a foul temperament. Originally she had been planning on going on and avoiding it but she did see Alfie, her fellow first year adventurer, roaming about the grounds. Worried about his safety, she decided to follow him at the distance and hope that he wasnt going near the Willow. She didn’t have enough skills to SAVE anyone yet- even herself. Besides she was terrified of mice trying to control her by jumping on top of her (a la ratatouille - thanks Pixar/Disney -___-) aaand now she was terrified that Maya, the Kneazle, was plotting her death (Thanks Atlas -_-). HOW WAS SHE EVER GOING TO BE ABLE TO ADD ANOTHER OBSTACLE TO OVERCOME WHEN SHE HADNT FIGURED OUT THE FIRST TWO?!

School was haaard. The classes, the homework, the personal challenges. She missed playing pretend wizard instead.

Her eyes flicked back to see her friend heading towards the infamous temperamental tree which caused her to pick up her pace. She went from content walk to regular walk to fast walk to full on spring. She HAD to get there. ASAP.

“ALFIE! Don’t go too close!!” she cried as she hurdled towards him, ready to grab him out of the way. What she didn’t calculate was that there was a stick in front of her which caused her to trip and tumble. Red flushed across her cheeks as she kept her head down out of embarrassment. A handful of seconds later, she looked up at Alfie. “oh hey. You got taller.”

Smooth entrance from littlest Nam.

Alfie was still watching the tree, but to be honest he was starting to get a bit bored. Nothing was happening. He thought this tree was supposed to be exciting. Well, the word he'd heard most often was dangerous, but sometimes that was just another way of saying exciting. Right??? Anyway.

Through his distraction he heard someone say his name. Or yell his name. He turned, to reassure whoever was yelling that he was not planning on getting too close, and saw that it was Lisa, fellow first year and explorer. He smiled and raised his arm to wave at her, only to watch as she tripped and fell. "Hi Lisa." Taller? He blinked down at her in confusion for a moment until he understood. Oh, because she had fallen and was on the ground. He got it.

"Are you alright?" He held out a hand to help her up.

Lisa giggled as she looked up at Alfie who was standing so tall above her. Heh. Her being flat on the ground made everyone seem taller. She took his hand as she got up to her feet. “Thanks,” she said as she dusted the dirt off of herself and then flashed a warm smile at Alfie. “I’m alright. Just got a little dirt on me. No broken bones or twisted ankles. Probably will have a bruise on my bum though,” she said as her cheeks flushed pink. She was more embarrassed than anything.

A hand flew to her hair and she offered Alfie a sheepish smile. “Who knew sticks could be so dangerous? I was so focused on warning you that I fell over. Oops!” she chuckled still bright pink.

Heh. She didn’t like being embarrassed but.... anyway what was Alfie doing out here?

“So what brings you out here? Did you find a new secret passageway?”

Dahlia was more than pleased to follow June outside back onto the grounds and into the fresh air. A walk, a jog or a run always sounded good to her. Something to get the body moving and keep her feeling energized.

Oh, Merlin. She hadn't meant to let her tone slip to much but sometimes it happened when asked certain questions. Lia sighed softly, giving a small nod of her head the gentle morning breeze blowing some of her light brown hair into her face. "I'm trying to be. Things are.. still a little tough sometimes is all." Honesty was the best policy and it was okay not to want to talk about it all but still admit to being bothered by it. Surely Professor Flamsteed would understand and know what she meant. Last term and been extremely difficult for them all.

A little smile tugged at her lips upon hearing that both June and Nina were doing as well as they could be. "That's... well that's very understandable. I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing the best that they can be right now." Hopefully over time they will continue to keep improving.

Ollie was determined to get this flying thing down pat. Her attempts in class had always ended in pain and she wasn't sure how she was passing. So today she grabbed her broom and headed out to the grounds. The only place she could think of was the area where the whomping willow resided. Obviously, Ollie knew that was a terrible place to practice flying, especially when she was so bad at it but, she couldn't think of anywhere else to go! So with broom in hand, she slipped out the castle and made her way to the whomping willow.

Dahlia was all for practicing and getting a head of the game or at least catching up to where she should be. There was goals in place for this term. Well not only this term, last term as well but that hadn't gone as planned. It had been an epic failure and she was behind in everything because of it. Not that any of it was her fault. None of it was and she knew that but that was besides that point. All that mattered now was that she was doing all that she could to get herself where she should be, to be where a second year was meant to be in there wand work.

So after helping out in the barns like she always did, Lia took a detour towards the Whomping Willow figuring she could get a bit of practice in before heading back inside. Normally there was never anyone else there but her so it was a safe spot for her to practice without any distractions or fear of accidentally harming anyone. As she got closer though it looked like she wasn't going to be alone after all.

"Ollie, hi!" she called out in greeting with a warm smile and a wave. "What's with the broom?" Was she headed to the pitch to do some flying?

Ollie definitely thought she was alone, so when she heard someone call out to her, she was a bit spooked. She jumped a bit before turning to see what was approaching. She absolutely did not need a professor or perfect finding her flying outside of the pitch. No doubt would she lose house points and they weren't far behind Ravenclaw. Ollie wasn't super into points and stuff, but some of her housemates were and she didn't want to be a reason they were even further behind.

She was a relieved to see it was just Dahlia instead of someone else. The Ravenclaw seemed to be pretty cool and hopefully wouldn't give her a lecture on why she should be on the pitch instead. She just figured that if she was totally alone, she might be able to get it finally! "Oh, hi, Dahlia." She gave a small wave to the girl. "What are you doing out here?" She decided to avoid the broom question for now. Maybe the girl was just passing through the area and wouldn't question it further. But if she asked again, she knew she'd have to fess up, Ollie was terrible at lying.

Lia paused in her tracks when her calling out to greet the younger girl seemed to startle her. Sigh. Really? How did she keep doing this? Typically she had to actually try to startle someone. Lately she was doing nothing at all and startling everyone she was coming across. This was becoming some weird pattern she wasn't all too fond of. Crinkling up her nose a little she waited for Ollie to realize it was only her. No one scary here.

"Heading back from the barns. I sometimes come here to work on some spells I'm learning." Simple answer for a simple question. "What about you? Going to do some flying?" If she was, the Whomping Willow probably wasn't the best place to be doing so. Unless she wanted a huge tree to try to knock her off of her broom while she was trying to fly around.

Okay, well hopefully the Ravenclaw was as cool as Ollie hoped. It was clear she wasn't getting out of this question. But, now that Dahlia mentioned it, this was a good spot for practicing spells, better than the boathouse. "Yeah... I'm no good in class sooo I figured I'd better practice before I fail the class." That answer should suffice. It didn't necessarily say she was going to practice here. Was Dahlia a good flyer? Ollie couldn't remember seeing her on pitch at all. Probably because she was too busy trying to tame her own broom.

With the way her practicing had been going lately, she found it best to keep away from anything that could cause an issue. Which is why she liked being outside or using the Room of Requirement. "Nothing wrong with getting some extra practice in between classes." Especially if it was a weaker subject. "Is there anything specific that you're trying to learn?" Lia asked curiously wondering if perhaps it was something that maybe she could help with. If Ollie wanted any help that is.

Flying wasn't her greatest class but it also wasn't her worst. She could fly and she could land. There was also some tricks she knew how to do and height didn't exactly bother her very much. Usually. Hitting the ground was also something she was known for. So all in all, Lia was pretty well rounded in the art of flying. Or at least she liked to think so.