A Prickly Discovery

[Mervyn Strangewayes]

Mervyn had no idea what he would have done with all his free time if he wasn't friends with Leda. Whenever the pair weren't studying, they were hanging out with one another, either plotting some new idea to help (cough) the school, or simply telling each other wild, exaggerated stories about what they'd got up to while they were apart. With lessons over for the day, the two young second years were taking a walk through the gardens, looking for potion ingredients they could harvest and take to Professor Layton to save her the hassle. They already had quite a bit of ginger, though of course they had left plenty to continue growing, and were now investigating a patch of what appeared to be scurvy-grass when Mervyn suddenly yanked his hand away. "Ow!" he said, nursing his sore finger under his armpit. "Somefin' jus' stabbed me!"

 

[Leda Layton]

It was strange to think that they'd already been at the school for two years, and friends for just a little longer. To Leda it was as though they'd always been, and as she followed Mervyn into the school garden, she was playfully recalling her encounter with one of the Slytherin students in the common room. While the second year was always going to be a little disappointed that she hadn't been placed in the same house as her best friend, that didn't mean she wasn't going to update him with each and every detail as it happened. Leda was hoping that they'd be highly rewarded though for their efforts out in the fields. It wasn't that she wanted the reward so much as she wanted acknowledgement that they were doing the right thing, after all it was what the red head lived for, but as Mervyn let out a noise similar to a birthing sheep, her head slowly moved over to see what had caused the issue. She frowned slightly, moving from her crouched position, pulling his arm out so that she could look at his hand. It was a little bit red but at least he wasn't bleeding. Releasing her friend, she looked down into the bush, taking her wand from her robes to pull back at the leaves, where she revealed a small mound of prickles lying in the greenery. "What is that?" she asked Mervyn, bemused by how something could be so.. sharp.
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[Mervyn Strangewayes]

Mervyn pouted. Whatever it was, it had a nerve, stabbing him like that. Cautiously, he peered into the undergrowth. A brown, spiny creature lay still in the weeds, just where Mervyn had put his hand. "It's a porcupine, or an 'edge'og, or summin," he said. It didn't seem to be moving. "Oi, you awright, fella?" Still nothing. "Poke it a bit, wiv yer wand."

 

[Leda Layton]

Leda prodded the creature with her wand, and although she could tell it was alive, it wasn't exactly moving. "What's it doing?" she asked, unsure of whether it was meant to be just sat there. Leda popped her wand back in her robes, knowing that that was going to require something a little more hands on. Their main mission may have been ingredients but this would have been much more interesting. With both hands, she scooped up the pile of prickles, doing her best to ignore any stabs she received from it, and holding it at arms length with a grimace on her face, she turned to waft the thing under her friends nose.
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[Mervyn Strangewayes]

Mervyn winced as Leda stooped to pick the thing up, half expecting her hands to come up torn to bits. He leaned backwards, narrowly dodging a spine up his nose. "Maybe it ain't feelin' well," he suggested. "It's all sluggish and slow, like." It didn't occur to him that the creature might just be nocturnal, and sleeping. As far as he was concerned, nocturnal animals disappeared down holes when the sun came up. "You fink we should look after it?"

 

[Leda Layton]

It was heavier, and warmer, than it had looked, but now that it was in her hands she didn't really know what to do with it. "What if it's dying? We can't leave it out here dead so someone will stand on it." she said, aware now of where her feet were. She really didn't want to step on any others that were just lounging about. Leda nodded, "We should make sure that it's okay," she said, a concerned look on her face for whatever it was. "Maybe it can stay in the castle where it's warm?" Leda didn't know much about looking after anything, but Olive had always tried to keep her warm.
​

 

[Mervyn Strangewayes]

Leda always had such good ideas. "Yes!" Mervyn said, excited by the idea of keeping the porcu-hedgehog as a pet, even if only temporarily. "We better 'ide it. Don't want no-one to see; they'll all be after it." Mervyn shrugged off his robe and draped it over Leda's arms. To anyone passing by, it looked like she was simply carrying some robes. "What we gonna call 'im?"