Closed New Surroundings

[Kyousuke Kurosawa]

Kyousuke wasn't used to lakes. Lakes were new to him, something different. Where he'd grown up, there'd been a waterfront onto the sea but freshwater? That was something new and different. He stood at the edge of it, staring out across the water. It was blank, still - and quiet. Kyousuke liked the quiet. He considered how Hogwarts had gone so far - nothing too bad had happened, so that was a plus. He still felt a little bit lost - it had been like stepping into a new world, arriving at Hogwarts, so different from his more muggle-based life at home. Kyousuke kicked a small rock half-heartedly, watching it tumble across the shoreline. He was feeling a little bored, and a little bit lonely, though he wouldn't be one to admit the latter. So far he hadn't made any friends, but it was early days.

 

[Genesee Carter]

Genesee had been taking up a routine each day to walk down near the Lakefront. It was peaceful but also exciting, she hoped to see a mermaid or another sea creature in the lake at some point. She wasn't sure if her father had just told her they lived in the lake or if they really did but she still attempted to see one. Walking down she spotted another student staring out over the motionless lake. Excitedly she walked a little quicker hoping to catch sight of whatever they were looking at. In her experience she hadn't really seen any other students staring at the lake before so she thought this person must have seen something. "Did you see one?! What was it, is it still here?" Genesee exclaimed as she came down to the shoreline near the other student.

 

[Kyousuke Kurosawa]

Kyousuke looked up, eyes wide and surprised at the interruption. "Huh? Seen what?" he asked, a little confused at the sudden appearance of another student. She looked around his age, but he couldn't say for sure. He looked back out at the lake. Was he supposed to have seen something out there? He scanned it but couldn't make out anything out of the ordinary.

 

[Genesee Carter]

Genesee looked wild as she ran down to the edge of the lake. Not only was she looking around wildly but she looked a mess with her hair flying in the wind she was creating by running so fast. "A mermaid! Or a great squid, or a I don't know! Something?!" She said looking towards the boy. Not seeing the water stir Gen sighed defeated. "My dad said there were creatures like mermaids that lived in the lake, I thought you might be staring out there because you had seen one." Genesee shrugged her shoulders and patted her hair down getting it out of her face.

 

[Kyousuke Kurosawa]

Kyousuke was taken aback by her enthusiasm for finding something in the lake. "Uh, no. I haven't seen anything," he said, but paused for a moment in thought. "There are really all those things in the lake?" he asked, his curiosity piqued. He had no idea what was and wasn't real in the magical world; mermaids and giant squids sounded fantastical, but maybe they were real. "No, I was just...I was just thinking, that's all," Kyousuke admitted with a slight shrug.

 

[Genesee Carter]

"Oh," Genesee's enthusiasm deflated rapidly. "No, I've just heard there are many magical things in this lake. It's protected by the school so different creatures and things live in it." She backed away from the shore slightly as she looked over at the boy. "My father is one of the Professors here, so I already know a lot about the school and the classes," she said proudly. There were many things about her family Gen could brag about and she already had to a few other students. She wondered what cool things this boy had about his family.

 

[Kyousuke Kurosawa]

"Oh, that's pretty cool," Kyousuke commented, though his voice didn't fluctuate much and it was difficult to tell how sincere he was being. "Really?" Kyousuke asked, a little bit impressed upon hearing her father was a professor. "What subject does he teach?" He wondered if he'd ever be taught by him - probably, since Kyousuke intended on taking all the subjects at some point. He wanted to be an overachiever, and he wanted to be it as soon as possible, even with the knowledge that it'd take a few more years. "My Dad's a teacher too, but he works at a Primary school," Kyousuke shared.

 

[Genesee Carter]

Genesee was excited when the boy asked about her father, it'd be awhile before she had him as a teacher. The second semester was when Gryffindor took Herbology. "My dad is the Professor of Herbology for the younger years, Professor Carter," Gen said proudly. "I'll have no trouble next semester as I've already gotten a head start at home, I even have my own corner in the greenhouse. My younger sisters are in charge while I'm here," she said smiling at the boy. "Are you taking Herbology this semester?"

 

[Kyousuke Kurosawa]

"Oh right, herbology." Kyousuke didn't know much about the subject, but he was interested it in out of curiosity. Magical plants sounded intriguing to him, much in the way magical anything tended to. He wanted to know as much about magic as possible, to hide his disadvantage of growing up in a muggle household. "I'm taking it next semester too," Kyousuke said in response to her question. "You must know a lot already. What's something important about herbology I should know?" Forewarned was forearmed, Kyousuke always thought.

 

[Genesee Carter]

Gen smiled proudly knowing that her dad was really cool, in her mind at least. "Oh cool, maybe we can sit can next to each other next semester then!" She suggested excitedly. She also knew that in a lot of Herbology classes they wouldn't exactly be sitting next to each other. But they'd have stations so they could easily stand next to each other. "Well, there's plenty you have to know, I'm sure my dad will go over them all as they are needed, but when you go in the greenhouses for the first time don't assume you can touch any of the plants, some of them bite," Gen said with a shrug to her shoulders. Her dad had grown some pretty weird plants at home before and had always told her to be careful and not touch a plant unless she asked first if it was safe.

 

[Kyousuke Kurosawa]

Kyousuke nodded. "Yeah, we can do that," he said, grateful for a companion, and secretly figuring being friends with the professor's daughter couldn't hurt his chances at good grades. Not that he wouldn't work hard for them; there was just always a chance. He felt a little bit bad for thinking like that but not bad enough to stop. "Oh, that is useful. I wouldn't have thought of that," Kyousuke said, a little nervous on hearing that some plants bite. "So you must have a lot of plants at home. Do you have a favourite?" he asked politely.

 

[Genesee Carter]

Gen felt really cool knowing she had a bunch of knowledge that someone else didn't. Her mom had been a prefect ages ago when she had been at the school so it was a goal of Gen's to also be a prefect once she became a 5th year. She knew she had to stand out and do a lot, which had been why she tried out for Quidditch this year. "Well, there are so many cool plants, probably a lot you've never heard of either. But the best is probably Alihotsy. It's a really cute plant and if you consume any of it it'll make you laugh uncontrollably for ages. Really good to prank someone with, but in a small dose I would recommend. Don't want someone to die from laughing because of you," Gen said as a joke she'd heard from her parents before.

 

[Kyousuke Kurosawa]

Kyousuke nodded as Genesee talked. He didn't want to reveal that he'd barely heard of any magical plants beyond the ones he'd read about in their learning materials. Even then, he'd never encountered any. He thought the plant sounded interesting, though he wasn't one to prank others much so he didn't quite get the appeal. He gave a soft huff to indicate he understood the last part was a joke; Kyousuke didn't laugh properly very often. "Is there one in the greenhouses?" Kyousuke asked. He could always look it up in a book in the meantime but it wouldn't be the same. "I guess you must have signed up for that gardening club." Kyousuke couldn't remember the name off the top of his head - it wasn't something that interested him particularly.

 

[Genesee Carter]

Genesee looked out over the lake wondering if she'd ever see anything that lived under the water. She supposed she might be able to get gillyweed from her dad and go for a swim at some point but she was certain that it wasn't allowed. Sneaking out plants from her dad might get her in more trouble than if another student did the same. "Oh, I'm sure there is, I haven't really been in and looking yet because every time I go by other students are in there for classes." She wondered what he meant by the gardening club but she assumed it must have been the one her dad had told her about that gives out roses during Valentine's.

 

[Kyousuke Kurosawa]

Kyousuke copied her eyeline, staring back out over the lake. He remembered what she'd said about creatures living in there; it seemed surreal to him. He kept forgetting magical creatures really existed. He felt at a disadvantage, growing up in a muggle household. "Oh, I see," Kyousuke said musingly. "I guess there's always some class going on." He was surprised she didn't comment on the gardening club; maybe she just didn't know about it. "I joined the conglomerated arts club and the unofficial history club," Kyousuke said, feeling like sharing that information. "I think it's cool they have clubs here," he added, wondering if this was interesting to the other student at all.

 

[Genesee Carter]

Genesee wasn't sure about any of the clubs yet, she hadn't found herself going to the club fair at the start of the year. She heard about it but had spent her time wandering the castle instead, exploring. She heard about an unofficial quidditch club but it didn't seem like they met very often yet. "It is cool, but might distract from all the studying that we need to do, and the exploring that could be done," Gen said trying to justify her own thoughts. She never realized yet when her words might wound another. Despite having younger siblings, they were often tough enough to fight her back so she hadn't learned the lesson yet.

 

[Kyousuke Kurosawa]

Kyousuke thought it was an interesting excuse. He didn't want her to think of him as someone who neglected his studies though. His goal was to be the best student after all, if not in his house, then certainly his year. "Studying is important," he conceded. "I've already got my study plan ready and marked out when we have our exams. I don't think clubs will distract me if they don't interfere with my plans but that's just me," Kyousuke said with a shrug. "I think quidditch is probably a bigger distraction. I don't intend on joining the Slytherin team anytime soon." Kyousuke didn't mention that he also had very little experience on a broom - that was probably a bigger reason why he wouldn't make it onto the team.