Open An Ode to Frogs

[Francis Blythewood]

Francis was never one with the water, really. She didn't spend a lot of time growing up around the water for recreational purposes; she barely knew how to swim and just knew a few survival swimming skills. However, Frannie wanted to find some places that were relaxing - like how she felt when she played music. The lake gave off musical vibes, and the second year decided to embrace it. She sat at the edge of the lake with her feet wrapped up under her and held her violin in her, deciding whether or not she wanted to play in the moment.

 

[Ivara Caldwell]

Ivara was walking her frog. Not in the conventional sense that you would walk a dog, but she was taking it with her as she walked around. She got close to the lake on her rounds. She sometimes let Roger sit in his small glass travel-tank and got some of the lake water for him to swim around in. Ivara noticed this time, however, that there was a girl there. Sometimes there were people - that wasn't what caught her attention. In this case, it was the violin the girl had. Ivara approached confidently with Roger, her frog, and looked to the girl. Ivara recognised her from some of her classes, she thought. "Look, Roger, a violinist," Ivara said rather loudly, Roger in his glass travel-tank in her hands. "Hi, I don't think we've talked before, but I'm Ivara and this is Roger. Are you any good?" Ivara asked, without any malice, just purely bad social skills.

 

[Francis Blythewood]

Frannie was about to start playing when she heard a voice nearby and turned around, seeing one of her classmates with a frog. Her eyes widened, as she wasn't quite a fan of slimy creatures, but the girl seemed to be very fond of Roger from Frannie's view. "Umm, I guess," she said, not really sure how to answer the question. "What do you think is good?" she asked. "I'm Frannie, by the way. We have class together sometimes, right?"

 

[Ivara Caldwell]

Ivara noticed Frannie's eyes widening. "You're not scared of frogs, right?" Ivara asked, tilting her head. "Roger won't get out, don't worry. I triple-check the tank." Ivara then considered Frannie's question. "I don't know. I don't know much about violins, really. I just know when people are first starting out, sometimes they sound like a dying cat and it's disturbing. If you don't do that, then you're probably good. And yes, I think so. I recognise you from somewhere, at least." Ivara didn't pay the closest attention to her surroundings in class, nor to the class content. But she was trying to work on that this year.

 

[Francis Blythewood]

Frannie thought for a moment before answering the question. "I'm not scared of them, but I don't know that I'd like to hold one," she replied honestly, clutching her violin a little tighter at the idea. She stared at Roger and wondered how you bond with such a pet.

"I don't sound like a dying cat - I've been playing since I was five. We get paid to play. I mean, my family does, but I don't make them sound like a dying cat then so I don't think I sound like a dying cat by myself. So I guess I'm good," she finished. "I'm in Ravenclaw. What house are you in?" she asked, making sure she was placing the girl correctly.

 

[Ivara Caldwell]

Ivara gave a shrug, but didn't make a comment further. She could pick up on something about the way the girl was reacting but she couldn't pinpoint it exactly. Ivara's eyebrows raised slightly when Frannie began to explain that no, she did not sound like a dying cat. Ivara felt a tad bit guilty, like she'd said something wrong without meaning to, but struggled to know what to say about it. "I didn't mean it like that," Ivara said, sounding a little chastised. "It's just something I heard." She avoided eye contact - and decidedly wasn't going to mention that it was Ivara herself who had tried to play a violin once and ended up making the sound. "I'm in Gryffindor." Ivara said this matter-of-factly, with no real intonal indication to say whether she thought that was something good or bad. "But I don't know about this whole house system. It seems a little bit like they're deciding for us how we're going to turn out."

 

[Knox Cooper]

Knox was still getting the lay of the land and took to exploring the school grounds throughout his free time so he could find the best hang out spots. It was still early spring so the warm weather wasn't in full force but today was a rather nice enough day for him to explore the lakefront.

He saw several students milling around as was expected, but then saw two students standing together with strange objects in their hands. They looked young enough to be in his year or close enough, though he couldn't recall their faces in any of his classes. Still that didn't deter him because there were too many new faces to try and memorize. He approached them and popped up by their shoulders. "Hi there," he announced himself and then looked down at the violin in one girl's hands and then the live frog in a tank in the other girl's hands. "Is there a Show and Tell happening here that I'm unaware of?" he wondered curiously. He jammed his hands into his pockets to try and find something to contribute and pouted softly when he came up empty.

 

[Francis Blythewood]

Frannie was intrigued by Ivara's statement. "What do you mean how we'll turn out? You can have characteristics of more than one house. Or at least, that's what my mum says." Before she could continue her thought process, a boy showed up and she held up her violin. "Not really or formally, I suppose. We just happen to have things I guess. A frog seems more like something you'd take for show and tell rather than a violin." In reality, she didn't know because she'd been homeschooled her whole life so maybe you did take instruments for show and tell.