Quiet Reading by the Lake

[Maxwell Robinson]

Classes had started a few days earlier, and Max was very much enjoying them. It wasn't too different to his last school, but simply the change of scenery had caused his focus in class to be reignited. Despite his enthusiasm for school, Max still of course welcomed a break, and was rather pleased that it was now the weekend. Waking up late in the morning, he shivered at the cold, and spent quite a while being lazy around his dormitory. Some time later, he forced himself to get dressed, and left the room to check out parts of the castle that he hadn't yet found. Although the school and buildings were very similar to Hogwarts Scotland, and therefore didn't surprise him much, Max still liked looking around, trying to find secret passages and portrait tunnels.

After lunch, Max decided to chill out by the lake for a few hours. The morning Winter cold had subsided, and given way to midday sunshine, so he unzipped his hoodie and began the trek across the grounds. Reaching the lake, Max glanced around, looking for a suitable place to sit and read. Unfortunately, many of the best spots had been taken by various groups of friends and couples. The Ravenclaw was a bit envious of them, as he'd been so focused on settling into school academically, that he hadn't really had the chance to make many friends. Max didn't dwell on it though, as he had three years to talk to people, and it wasn't a big deal to him.

After looking for only a few moments, he spotted a big willow tree by the water's edge. Max strode over to it, and dropped his bag beneath. The tree was rather plain, yet seemed to have a mildly dark, sad vibe to it. Quite similar to Max himself, actually. He supposed that was why the trees were called Weeping Willows, and thought nothing of its eerie similarity to him. Sitting himself down with his back against the trunk, Max pulled two books out of his bag and rested them next to him. They were both extremely battered and worn, showing signs of having been read numerous times. Max picked up the top book from the small pile. He breathed out - more from neutrality than boredom or tiredness - and began to once again read the story that he had so many times before.

 

[Jessica Reed]

Jessica Reed in her usual attire left the unfamiliar castle of Hogwarts holding a muggle pen in one hand and The Daily Prophet in the other. She had been attempting a crossword puzzle at the Gryffindor table in the Wizarding newspaper and had only two more words to fill in to crack the puzzle. It would be the first crossword puzzle that she would have done by herself and she was extremely determined to do so. Crossword puzzles were something that Jessica rarely attempted and when she did, she would quickly give up the first time she got stuck on a word. But, it being a weekend, she had lots of time to kill.

Jessica figured that the fresh air might waken her up a bit more and the words might come quicker to her. But as she walked down to the lakefront the words were still as unknown as they were to her in the Great Hall. Jess looked for a decent spot that would give her enough peace so that she could think straight but sheltered enough so the sun wouldn't blind the hell out of her. She looked around at the many groups of students that were pretty much occupying every free space around the lake. She sighed impatiently, almost as if these students did this to her on purpose. As she turned to leave she spotted a large Weeping Willow, with a boy sitting under it reading. Shelter and peace she thought to herself triumphantly. Jessica walked over to the tree in her usual laid-back walk all the while trying to figure out what the two words could possibly be. Jessica's green eyes scanned the boy and she vaguely recognised him from her classes but didn't dwell on that too much, she had a crossword to complete.

As she sat on the opposite side of the tree it suddenly came to her, 'Quidditch team accused of cheating in 2007 after vague success' that was "Fitchburg Finches" Jess whispered to herself, quiet enough so the boy on the opposite side of the Willow wouldn't hear her, but loud enough so that she could hear her own triumph. That answer of course was thankful to Matthew, her brother, who was in a rage for a week after the comments were made. After filling in the small squares all her concentration was put onto the last word. Several minutes passed without a notion entering Jessica's head. Maybe he'll know...? She thought to herself in temptation but quickly shook her head. She wasn't going to ask for his help, not when she was so far. After ten more minutes had passed without sucuss Jessica caved. She just wanted to know what the damn word was, she didn't care if it was her who got it or the boy. Seeing as she was unable to get it she cleared her throat loudly, "Spell that backfired on wizard, Gilderoy Lockheart in 1993?" She made sure her voice was loud enough for the boy to hear her. Why didn't I listen in Charms? She asked herself rhetorically as she awaited the boys reply.

 

[Maxwell Robinson]

Max was absorbed in the Catcher in the Rye, so when someone joined him by the tree, he only quickly glanced at them, as opposed to smiling or saying 'hi'. The girl looked about his age, but he didn't recognise her from his house. The Ravenclaw had quite good observational skills, and he did seem to know her face from class, but not very well at all. He turned back to his book, and read on for a few minutes more. A little while later, Max thought he heard some mumbling coming from the other side of the tree. He wasn't annoyed at the interruption, more curious than anything. He presumed that the girl was doing a quiz or puzzle of some sort, but he couldn't make out any of the words that she was saying, it was far too quiet. Giving up on finding out what she was doing, Max once once again continued to read.

When Max heard the girl say a question aloud, he wondered if she was hinting for him to help. Why else would the volume of her voice suddenly raise to a level that he could hear? Clearing his throat, he replied anyway. "Memory Charm," he announced simply, his icy blue eyes never leaving his own book. Max was in no way a cold person, in fact he was quite sensitive and caring, but he did tend to come across sharply when he was in a concentrative state. If he had been without a book, and just sitting around, his answer would have probably been more along the lines of 'I think the answer you're looking for is Memory Charm! Yay, let's be friends'. Okay, maybe not.. but something like that. Max was just focusing on his book, and hoped the girl didn't take his quietness the wrong way.

 

[Jessica Reed]

Jessica's green eyes focused on the puzzle, on the eleven remaining empty squares. It only was when she heard the boy speak she looked up. Memory Charm? Without saying a word she resumed her gaze on the puzzle and counted out the letters. It fitted. She did it! Well she mostly did it. Jessica hurriedly filled in the squares and once she was done she held the folded newspaper in front of her. So this is what a completed puzzle looks like, she thought to herself in amusement. Jessica placed the newspaper onto the grass and leaned on her hand as she peeked around the tree. Although she couldn't see the boy she said a simple, "Thanks." Jessica really began to notice her American accent in comparison to the accents of the students at Hogwarts. Back in Boston, she really didn't notice her accent but in New Zealand it was the exact opposite. Still leaning at the side of the tree, Jessica took one more proud glance at her crossword puzzle lying next to her and she waited for the boy to turn around, if he would turn around. He seemed to be pretty absorbed in his book, however she didn't even take note of his short reply. Jessica wasn't one to be all that friendly and her tone of voice was usually quite bored, she didn't mean anything by it, it was just how she was. Jessica just wasn't one of those talkative people, that was just how she always was.