If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
GroundsHave a case of cabin castle fever? Best to take a break from all the stone corridors and go hang out by the lake, or explore the expansive school grounds. Don't forgive to send your regards to Bartholomew Henry!
The large freshwater lake of Hogwarts is located just south of the castle. About half a mile wide in diameter, the lake dominates much of the school's landscape, a steely and ominous mass of icy water in the winter, yet an inviting and refreshing sight once the weather starts to heat up. On one of its banks, a towering beech tree stands sentinel, and is a popular location to meet and relax. Castle-side of the lake stands the boathouse.
You may swim in the lake, but be careful, and also mindful of the creatures that reside here. Merpeople, grindylows, and the Great Squid, to name but a few, call these watery depths their home. You would do well to leave them in peace. If they feel like it, they'll come to you; the Giant Squid, who goes by the name of Bartholomew Henry, has been known to bask in the shallows on sunny days.
Bathes in Maple Syrup | Dancing Lobster | Moy Pomidor | Seneca's Beard | That Is So Fetch!
Rajan had been studying. Technically, he was still studying.
The sixth year sat positioned well within the shade of one of the trees bordering the Black Lake to avoid any unnecessary heliosis, his back resting against its trunk and an Ancient Runes textbook spread open across his lap. Several sheets of parchment surrounded him, held down at their corners by whatever objects he'd had available: his ink bottle, another textbook, his wand, and a few particularly cooperative rocks.
At some point, actual studying had become staring across the lake while pretending he was thinking very deeply about runic translations. Every few minutes, Rajan's gaze would return to the same paragraph, make it approximately three sentences farther, and then drift toward something else. A ripple across the water. A bird overhead. A group of younger students making enough noise in the distance.
With a resigned sigh, Rajan eventually shut the textbook. Studying outside had proven to be too distracting.
He began collecting the parchment scattered around him, carefully stacking each sheet according to the page numbers he'd written in their upper corners. Suddenly, a breeze rustled the branches overhead.
"No, no, no!"
He saw the corner of a loose sheet beside his knee lift. Rajan lunged forward, fingertips narrowly missing the parchment as the wind swept it away. It flipped once in the air, hovered just long enough to give him the false impression that it might come back down, and then sailed several feet away.
Rajan scrambled to his feet, sending the textbook tumbling from his lap in the process. He took off after the escaping page without thinking of using his wand to retrieve it.
doesn't proofread tweets | #wrongaboutcereal | #siriusly? | emo to the extremo
SPOILER!!: umm, ur coming home w me
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoe
Rajan had been studying. Technically, he was still studying.
The sixth year sat positioned well within the shade of one of the trees bordering the Black Lake to avoid any unnecessary heliosis, his back resting against its trunk and an Ancient Runes textbook spread open across his lap. Several sheets of parchment surrounded him, held down at their corners by whatever objects he'd had available: his ink bottle, another textbook, his wand, and a few particularly cooperative rocks.
At some point, actual studying had become staring across the lake while pretending he was thinking very deeply about runic translations. Every few minutes, Rajan's gaze would return to the same paragraph, make it approximately three sentences farther, and then drift toward something else. A ripple across the water. A bird overhead. A group of younger students making enough noise in the distance.
With a resigned sigh, Rajan eventually shut the textbook. Studying outside had proven to be too distracting.
He began collecting the parchment scattered around him, carefully stacking each sheet according to the page numbers he'd written in their upper corners. Suddenly, a breeze rustled the branches overhead.
"No, no, no!"
He saw the corner of a loose sheet beside his knee lift. Rajan lunged forward, fingertips narrowly missing the parchment as the wind swept it away. It flipped once in the air, hovered just long enough to give him the false impression that it might come back down, and then sailed several feet away.
Rajan scrambled to his feet, sending the textbook tumbling from his lap in the process. He took off after the escaping page without thinking of using his wand to retrieve it.
"Come back here!"
It was a genuine wonder how the students at this school managed to take care of themselves - or rather, didn't. The dinners were never-ending and lacking in any basic nutritional balance, and there was a distinct, appalling lack of a proper gymnasium. Sure, everyone was obsessed with Quidditch, but flying on a broomstick is a lazy sport. Hardly any actual cardio involved.
Asena, however, refused to sit around and become complacent, which meant committing to routine daily runs around the grounds. She’d even started swimming in the lake in the mornings. Hogwarts would not best her. Absolutely not. Fortunately it was a beautiful day for a run.
Asena was mid-stride, dark hair pulled back, actively judging the damp air quality, when something came hurtling through the breeze.
Fwap.
It hit her straight in the chest - or rather, it would have hit her directly in the face if her fast reflexes hadn't kicked in first. With a startled gasp, Asena’s hand shot out, her fingers snatching the flying parchment right out of mid-air. The paper crumpled in her tight, defensive grip.
"What in the—" Disdain on full display, btw. Who loses their parchment outside?
She looked up, fully prepared to deliver a scathing critique, only to catch sight of a boy scrambling wildly across the grass like a lunatic. The sight of him lunging frantically after a runaway breeze was... well, embarrassing for him, lbr.
And because he was making the effort to chase it down, Asena stood still, feet firmly planted, crumpled parchment held between two manicured fingers like it was infected, and waited expectantly. So not judging him.
Bathes in Maple Syrup | Dancing Lobster | Moy Pomidor | Seneca's Beard | That Is So Fetch!
The Ravenclaw's pursuit came to an abrupt halt when the parchment stopped fleeing. Or, more accurately, when someone caught it.
He slowed from his frantic sprint to an awkward jog, then finally to a walk as he approached the girl standing there with his notes pinched between two fingers. His breathing was slightly heavier than it had any right to be after such a short chase, and he pushed a few strands of dark hair away from his forehead as he closed the remaining distance between them. Rajan was relieved to see the parchment again.
Less relieving was the state it was currently in. Crumpled. His expression fell as his eyes travelled over the numerous creases now running through the sheet.
"Er... thanks." He reached out to take the page from her, carefully smoothing it between his palms before running his hand over the worst of the wrinkles. Once. Twice. It did very little to restore the parchment to its former condition. At least the runes he'd painstakingly copied across the page were still perfectly legible.
Rajan glanced back toward the tree and the trail of belongings he'd abandoned in his pursuit. His textbook lay facedown in the grass where it had tumbled from his lap, its pages bent awkwardly beneath it. His ink bottle remained beside the tree, fortunately upright. Several other sheets, however, were threatening mutiny of their own. One had already managed to wriggle halfway out from beneath a rock.
Brilliant.
"I probably should've used my wand," he admitted, mostly to himself. The realization seemed painfully obvious now.
Only then did he properly register the way the girl was looking at him. Rajan's eyebrows drew together slightly. "What?"
doesn't proofread tweets | #wrongaboutcereal | #siriusly? | emo to the extremo
Asena stood patiently waiting as she watched the boy awkwardly make his way over, tail between his legs. She could see the heavy breathing, the dramatic rise and fall of his chest. Merlin. Perhaps it was time to cut out courses such that of divinations and creatures and replace them with something that could be of actual use here: Physical Education. Asena would certainly be a big advocate. Possessing the inner eye is not a skill afforded to everyone, but anyone could benefit from learning to train for a basic five kilometer run. Case and point.
"You're welcome," she replied in return, offering the boy the crumpled parchment, noting his distress, but not feeling terribly guilty over it, tbh.
She followed his gaze back over to the tree, tilting her head as she noticed his abandoned set up. "Yes," he should have used his wand. She agreed. But there was little to do about it now. A lesson for his future self, perhaps.
When he spoke next, Asena furrowed her eyebrows, not understanding his question; however, she decided to ask her own in return as there were several of them brewing (questions, she means). "Do you study out here often?" Asena found it such a peculiar thing to do. Especially with the fickle nature of the weather here. With rain that came out of nowhere quite regularly, studying outdoors seemed to her like ... a choice. A hazard. But still, she was intrigued. Did it work for him?
__________________
Last edited by ArianaBlack; 09-21-2026 at 04:22 AM.
Bathes in Maple Syrup | Dancing Lobster | Moy Pomidor | Seneca's Beard | That Is So Fetch!
Rajan's eyebrows remained knitted together for another moment. That hadn't answered his question at all. If anything, the fact that she'd ignored it entirely only confirmed his suspicions. There had definitely been something in that look. Judgment, maybe? He wasn't entirely sure what he'd done to earn it beyond chasing a piece of parchment across the grounds, which, now that he was thinking about it, probably hadn't been his most dignified moment.
He glanced back toward his makeshift study spot, where the rest of his belongings remained scattered beneath the tree. From this distance, it looked considerably less organized than he'd convinced himself it had been ten minutes ago.
"Sometimes," he answered, turning the crumpled parchment over in his hands. "When the library gets too crowded. Or too quiet." The latter sounded contradictory even to him, but there was a particular sort of silence in the library that made every turn of a page sound like an interruption. Out here, at least, there was enough background noise that he didn't notice every little sound.
"Though I'm beginning to reconsider it." His gaze landed on the parchment before shifting pointedly toward the rest of his belongings beneath the tree. Another breeze stirred the grass, and the sheet beneath the rock gave a rustle. For several seconds, he watched the parchment suspiciously, briefly debating whether he needed to run back before it decided to follow its companion's behaviour.
His attention eventually returned to the girl, taking in the fact that she looked considerably more prepared to be outside than he did. Hair pulled back and out of her face, no books or parchment anywhere in sight, and apparently far more coordinated considering the way she'd managed to pluck his notes straight out of the air.
"Were you running?" The question escaped before he could stop himself, and Rajan immediately realized how obvious it sounded. His eyes flicked away. "I mean, obviously you were running."
Groundbreaking observation, Patil.
He rubbed the back of his neck, then nodded toward the path behind her. "Do you do that out here often?"
doesn't proofread tweets | #wrongaboutcereal | #siriusly? | emo to the extremo
Some questions are meant to be left unanswered, homework boy.
To what he said next, she arched an eyebrow. The concept of a library being too quiet was somewhat foreign to her, but considering the disorganized, precarious state of his belongings scattered in the grass, she supposed a structured environment wasn't exactly his strong suit. So.
"I would certainly reconsider," she agreed, her eyes following his suspicious glare toward the fluttering piece of parchment currently trapped beneath a rock. "Unless your goal is to incorporate sprints into your homework." In which case, he could consider it somewhat successful - though, all things considered, he'd have to do some more work on his form. And endurance, iykyk.
She watched him quietly as he stumbled through his next realization in pointing out the absolute obvious with an awkward backtrack. And while she didn't laugh, the corner of her mouth did give a faint, almost imperceptible twitch. It was interesting. He was remarkably devoid of the usual arrogant posturing she had come to expect from boys their age. It was a pleasant surprise if nothing else. Though of course she let none of this on.
"Every day," she answered without pause. It was worrisome knowing that less forgiving weather would be coming in the winter and her routine may have to come to an end as a result. That was a problem for later, however. "There is not much else to do around here," she explained as she tightened her ponytail.
In other words? She was bored out of her mind. Call it castle fever or something.
Bathes in Maple Syrup | Dancing Lobster | Moy Pomidor | Seneca's Beard | That Is So Fetch!
He supposed she had a point. Studying outside had already resulted in considerably more running than studying. "That wasn't part of the plan," he said, glancing down at the crumpled sheet in his hands. "And I usually manage to keep homework and sprinting separate."
Rajan chose not to acknowledge the faint twitch at the corner of her mouth. Instead, his eyebrows lifted slightly when she answered his question. She ran every day. He couldn't decide whether that sounded impressive or exhausting, though, in all honesty, it was probably both.
"Every day?" His gaze travelled briefly along the path that wound jaggedly around the edge of the lake. "Even when it's raining?" Considering this was Scotland, that seemed like an important distinction.
"And there's plenty to do around here," Rajan pointed out, her explanation earning a more puzzled look. His eyes shifted toward the castle as though it might provide evidence on his behalf. Hogwarts had hundreds of rooms, secret passages, clubs, Quidditch, and an entire lake containing Merlin knew what. Surely boredom shouldn't have been possible.
Then again, he'd just spent the better part of an hour rereading the same few paragraphs of runes and painstakingly attempting to translate them, which Rajan would argue required just as much endurance as running around the lake.
"Well," he amended, "there's plenty we're supposed to be doing."
He looked back at her. "You could find something else to do, though. If you're that bored." A brief pause followed as he realized that might have sounded more dismissive than he'd intended. "Not that I know what you should do."
Smooth as butter, he was.
"What do you do besides run?" he quickly asked. Then, because apparently he couldn't leave a perfectly normal question alone, he added, "For fun, I mean. Not... generally."
doesn't proofread tweets | #wrongaboutcereal | #siriusly? | emo to the extremo
“No, I cannot imagine it was.” Part of the plan, she meant. Perhaps if he had been using a bound notebook rather than chaotic pieces of loose parchment, this would have been a different conversation entirely. As it was, however, his setup was ill-fit for an outdoor study stint. Fortunately for him, she chose not to rub it in any further; he looked embarrassed enough as it is. See? She could show mercy.
To his first question, Asena offered a curt nod. “Yes, even when it’s raining.” Her intention wasn’t to be short with him, though her tone naturally settled into something matter-of-fact. Running in a Scottish downpour had become standard procedure. It wasn’t ideal, no, but she didn’t have much of a choice with the horrid weather here. “Waterproof charms exist, you know.” Or had Ravenclaws forgotten how to cast them? She raised a brow. “Besides, I like to stay active.” And there weren’t many other options around here. Unless he had better ideas, in which case, she was all ears.
When he asserted that there was plenty to do, Asena paused, her expression shifting into a skeptical stare. “…. Is there?” Plenty to do around here? And what were those things, hm? “You will have to be more explicit.” Maybe he hadn’t clocked it yet, that she was new here. That she didn’t know the castle the way he did. That she didn’t know its hidden corners the way older students did. But if there was a wealth of entertainment to be found, she hadn’t come across it yet. As far as Asena was concerned, Hogwarts had proven to be largely underwhelming.
And, well, he was a bit weird, this kid. She wasn’t quite sure how to take him.
“I swim. I read. I train. I lay out on the beach with a strong SPF.” The latter of which had unfortunately taken a back seat since she had overhauled her life to come to this castle. "What about you?” She added, her head tilting slightly. “Aside from chasing runaway homework across the grounds, of course.” Ha.
Bathes in Maple Syrup | Dancing Lobster | Moy Pomidor | Seneca's Beard | That Is So Fetch!
Rajan opened his mouth to respond to her comment about waterproof charms, then promptly closed it again. He was a Ravenclaw, for Merlin's sake. Of course he knew waterproof charms existed.
"I know," he replied, perhaps a little too quickly. "I just meant..." He gestured vaguely toward the sky, as though the clouds might help him finish his thought. "Never mind."
Her request for specifics, however, presented a different problem. Rajan had been rather confident in his assertion that Hogwarts offered plenty of entertainment, but now that she was asking him to elaborate, his mind had inconveniently decided to empty itself of every example he'd been considering moments earlier.
"Well, there's Hogsmeade," he began. "On certain weekends, anyway. And the clubs, obviously. Quidditch, if you're interested in that." He paused, mentally reviewing the castle's offerings. "There's the Room of Requirement, too, though I don't think you can just..." He trailed off, realizing that explaining how to access a room that only appeared under particular circumstances was probably not the strongest argument for readily available entertainment.
"And the grounds are quite nice. There's the greenhouses, the creature barn, the forest..." His gaze shifted toward the distant treeline. "Although I wouldn't recommend wandering into the latter unless you're particularly interested in becoming something's dinner."
That probably wasn't helping his case.
He was almost relieved when she started listing her own interests. Swimming, reading, training. All perfectly reasonable activities. The beach, however, caught his attention.
"The beach?" Rajan repeated, eyebrows lifting. "Where are you from?" Somewhere considerably warmer than Scotland, presumably. Though that hardly narrowed things down.
"I read," he answered, glancing down at the parchment in his hands. "Not just textbooks, I mean. Actual books. For fun." An important distinction, apparently. "And I like exploring. Finding places around the castle I haven't been before. Though after five years, I'm beginning to run out of those."
He considered mentioning that he occasionally enjoyed sitting outside and doing absolutely nothing, but given how she'd reacted to his study habits, he suspected that wouldn't earn him any points.
"And I don't usually chase homework," he added, a faint smile tugging at his mouth. "That's a relatively new hobby. Haven't decided whether I'll stick with it."
The Great Lake 
x8 
x8
