Open Snail Hunting

Carolina wasn't sure if snails were going extinct, given she hadn't seen as many as she used to while digging around her backyard at home; or if she wasn't spending near as much time in the wilderness as she used to from fear of dirtying her school uniform, showing up to class muddy and adding further to the feeling she was a social outcast, especially when everyone else seemed so put together. Nevertheless the young Hufflepuff was determined to find cause and probability for the lack of snails around Hogwarts, and of course set up a snail farm for them repopulate the country if they needed to, social expectations aside. Thus she presently found herself kneeling down by a fallen tree near the lakefront, hair a mess and dirt inevitably caked underneath her nails while she lifted different branches and pieces of bark in search of snails. She inspected the log with a expression of mixed curiosity and determination, eyebrows raising when she finally found a small snail to add to her collection.

Holding up the piece of bark with one hand, Carolina moved her free hand to pick up the small critter by it's shell, gently holding it for a moment in inspection as it curled into itself for safety before she placed it into the small jar by her feet. She had collected one other snail already, although two snails after an afternoon of effort hardly felt like an achievement. She wondered if the lack of snails was in part caused by the change of seasons, leading into summer where during winter there were less crops in the Hogwarts garden for them to eat and they simply hadn't had the chance to bounce back yet, or if it was some other kind of conspiracy that had the snails quietly disappearing. Regardless Carolina wanted to give the small, slimy and shelled beings a chance in the world, and help them in any way she could while she still had a say in it.​

She hadn't figured she would be noticeable at all, didn't think what she was doing could be considered particularly remarkable, especially when she had made such an effort to keep to herself and try to blend into the background. It wasn't exactly difficult to do with the bustling Hogwarts Castle and grounds had far more interesting happenings than one girl collecting snails in an afternoon. So it was a surprise more than anything, when someone spoke to her and she realized they had crouched down to her level. Carolina looked to the boy that had spoken, recognizing him from her year, her eyes quickly widening with a feeling of bewilderment, lost both in trying to remember the boy's name, M-something, and over how she was supposed to explain her snail saving endeavor in a way that didn't make her seem weirder than she likely already was. "Uh, um." Carolina began, looking between the boy and her dirty hands, to the pair of snails in her jar while piecing together a sentence she hoped could be truthful but also didn't condemn her to being a freak. "I want to save them." She eventually decided to explain, nodding definitively, and returning the piece of bark she had been inspecting to lay back against the fallen tree trunk. "They're important to the Eco-system." Carolina added a moment later, if her initial words weren't clear enough in explaining her predicament.​