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*Lottiepot* · #1 (**permalink**) 05-03-2024, 07:14 PM

(Graphics credit to Charely Potter)

Where once stood a secret green oasis has now been converted into a less leafy chill-out zone for all Hufflepuffs to use. Unfortunately Professor Fergersnout’s horticultural expertise are incredibly limited and despite the house of the Badger’s supposed affinity for Herbology, it seemed more appropriate to have an area for reading, studying and socialising amongst friends. That wasn’t to say that all the plants had been completely eradicated for several copper pots and macrame hangers containing those specimens continue to call this area home, ready for the responsibility of green-fingered friends.

Additionally, the area is home to comfortable beanbags and squishy floor cushions in keeping with the style of the rest of the common room. A large honey-oak bookshelf occupies the far wall filled with games and puzzles, books and stationary, a haven for fun, creativity and homework completion.

The corner is far enough away from the main common room to maintain some sense of quiet and privacy from the main thoroughfare but close enough that it is accessible to all. Grab a friend and a copy of Exploding Snap and get ready for an evening’s entertainment before retiring to the dorms.

*PhoenixRising* · 05-22-2024, 10:21 PM

Honestly, while on some level Emma missed DeVries, one of the changes that Fergersnout made to the common room of getting rid of the leafy friends was actually a welcome change for the third year. She appreciated the plants for their circulatory benefits, but if asked about her green thumb, she would say mediocre at best.

Pulling her knees up on one of the armchairs to use her thighs as a table, the blond appeared in deep concentration with a journal and pencil. Pausing to chew on the eraser end every so often, as she glanced around the common room.

sweetpinkpixie · 05-26-2024, 08:15 AM

Anna was always a go-with-the-flow kind of person which meant she tended to embrace change as much as possible...even when it was sad. Saying goodbye to Professor DeVries in a Hogwarts professor and Head of House capacity was of course sad but she also got to say hello to him as an infallible mentor beyond the stone walls and magical barriers. She would miss popping by his office and being treated to a surprise treat sent to him by his wife though - some weekends the sixth year really found herself missing the taste of marzipan shortbread.

Professor Fergersnout taking the Hufflepuffle common room and leaving her own aesthetic came with its excitement but...Anna truly and sincerely missed the abundance of flora and, in particular, the secret garden. It had been her and Reuben's special place and now...without it...she couldn't help but feel a very unwanted disconnect between her and him. Sure, puzzle dates could be held anywhere but it had been a special tradition since they were first years!

Arriving in the common room after attempt fifteen to tame her curls (to which she had decided just to let them bouncy free in two floofy pigtails tied just below her ears), Anna spotted her younger peer and friend curls up on one of the armchairs and pivoted her spritely stride in the blonde's direction. "Oooooh, is that a sugar pencil? Like a sugar quill but in pencil form? I didn't know they made those!"

*PhoenixRising* · 06-05-2024, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Anna was always a go-with-the-flow kind of person which meant she tended to embrace change as much as possible...even when it was sad. Saying goodbye to Professor DeVries in a Hogwarts professor and Head of House capacity was of course sad but she also got to say hello to him as an infallible mentor beyond the stone walls and magical barriers. She would miss popping by his office and being treated to a surprise treat sent to him by his wife though - some weekends the sixth year really found herself missing the taste of marzipan shortbread.

Professor Fergersnout taking the Hufflepuffle common room and leaving her own aesthetic came with its excitement but...Anna truly and sincerely missed the abundance of flora and, in particular, the secret garden. It had been her and Reuben's special place and now...without it...she couldn't help but feel a very unwanted disconnect between her and him. Sure, puzzle dates could be held anywhere but it had been a special tradition since they were first years!

Arriving in the common room after attempt fifteen to tame her curls (to which she had decided just to let them bouncy free in two floofy pigtails tied just below her ears), Anna spotted her younger peer and friend curls up on one of the armchairs and pivoted her spritely stride in the blonde's direction. "Oooooh, is that a sugar pencil? Like a sugar quill but in pencil form? I didn't know they made those!"

If it were up to Emma, she would tell Anna to not worry about taming the curls and the floofy pigtails suited her well. Pigtails were something that Emma normally associated with being a 5-year-old, but on Anna they were anything but childish.

Stopping her incessant chewing, she looked down at her eraser and frowned. She wasn't about to close her journal though, because while there was some personal notations in there that she didn't particular want gossiped about the castle, she held trust in Anna that should she catch a glimpse, the older girl wasn't the gossiping type. "No. It's just a regular pencil." She said perplexed. "Used in muggle studies, but I find them quite useful, since they're more forgiving than ordinary quills and ink." Muggle studies being an elective, Emma wasn't sure who took the subject, but she was enjoying it.

sweetpinkpixie · 06-15-2024, 12:38 AM

Some days she felt self conscious about her curls, other days they were embraced and felt like an ethereal halo around her freckled features. Sometimes it would change in mid day and then flip back around an hour or so later. It was exhausting to experience and sometimes journaling about it helped. Those entries were proooooobably not the ones Professor Feirgrund was expecting but if the information could help her sort through the daymares, night terrors, and such then it was personal information well shared! Although she did feel guilty at times that soooooometimes it felt like the healer might know more about her internal thoughts that Aurora and Solomon.

Anna tumbled over the arm of the armchair backwards into the one adjacent to Emma's, legs nearly pulled over her head in the process thanks to the momentum of her skip to chair, and popped back up with a intrigued twinkle to her wide doe eyes. "Ooooooooh. That makes sense...I mean...muggles now-a-days aren't exactly using inkwells and quills to write so pencils help you get into character. NOT that muggles are a character, they're people too, but there is a difference in mindset about what is and isn't know about the world so the pencil can be a visual cue if nothing else," she praised while flexing and relaxing her feet, unable to sit still today. "The way you were enjoying chewing on it had me thinking it was a new Honeydukes invention...branching out from wizarding writing implements to muggle."

*PhoenixRising* · 06-29-2024, 06:48 AM

It was definitely a challenge which if Emma was older, she would attribute to growing pains of adolescence. Alas, in the blonde's fourteen year old naive mind, she was blissfully unaware of such challenges. She was alsooooo unaware of the night terrors the older girl was experiencing, not that she'd be able to do too much about it.

"Honestly I'm a bit surprised we still use inkwells since how impractical they can be. But I suppose with magic, it's easy enough to clean up the mistakes..." It was probably one way that she definitely agreed with the muggle world in ditching the inkwells. Hence the pencil. She snickered though when Anna mentioned about it being a new Honeydukes invention. "You should market that to Ms Windell before someone else does. Maybe you'll get some sort of compensation for the idea." Did the shopkeepers create their own products? She actually had zero idea of the workings of the retail world.

sweetpinkpixie · 07-13-2024, 11:32 AM

To be fair, most did not know much at all about her night terrors because she had taken great effort to not inconvenience her dormmates in while in their most vulnerable state. Prior to sleeping draughts, which the healer had been reluctant to prescribe to her and only did so when all other options had been exhausted, she had asked an older Hufflepuffle to assist with some soundproofing of her bed. She felt AWFUL lying to them about it, the guilt still eating inside her to this DAY, and saying she was asking because she wanted to practice her singing and lines on her bed into the wee hours of the morning without disturbing her dormmates.

Aaaaaaaanyway, Anna was finding Emma's pencils remarkably fascinating at the moment and, more specifically, why someone would wish to chew upon them. She imagined that the eraser would be...a rather unpleasant experience to the tongue with texture alone. But now she was also curious as to what it did taste like. Was there a Bertie Bott that had eraser flavor? "I think it is more about holding on to an aesthetic and differitation that wizarding folk are different from muggles. I mean, it is a pretty clear and blatant form of othering if you think about it. I also suppose that buying from muggle distributors would upset Gringott's because the business selling these muggle wares would be a constant drain on "foreign" exchange. On a more positive note too...quills and parchment create a unique and distinct society with its own customs and practices, so we are keeping the history and legacy of our ancestors alive by still using them. I mean...it is kind of fun to think about how the same way we take notes in class and write essays are the exact same ways that Helga Hufflepuff did in her youth and how her students did under her instruction." Needless to say, an interest in debate and seeing situations from every approach had been intensified thanks to Professor Fergersnout. All that insight and yet Anna found herself utterly bewildered by Emma's suggestion. "...who is Ms Windell?"

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