Closed Confetti Cleanup

[Freddie Lagowski]

Freddie strolled across the sunny lawn, hands loose in his pockets. His first flying lesson had gone all right, he thought. All his worrying had, as usual, been for nothing. There was still the issue of what he was going to do next week, when Professor Alcott inevitably wanted the whole class in the air, but that was a whole seven days away. Right now, Freddie was celebrating small victories. He’d commanded his broom, and he’d talked to some boys, and he hadn’t got mad at anybody and he wasn’t in detention. Sheesh. If he wasn’t careful, he’d start earning house points. Imagine that! Freddie Lagowski, a good kid. His aunt would keel over from shock.

He was looking down, watching the grass pass under his feet, when in the corner of his vision something sparkled. Head tilted, he leaned over. Happy Birthday. Confetti? Someone had obviously had a party on the lawn, because there was confetti everywhere, amongst other scraps of litter. Ew. It was the plastic sort. What happened to wizards’ trash, he wondered? Did it end up in a landfill? Or was there some big magical incinerator somewhere that just deleted everything? Either way, he couldn’t help but imagine bits of confetti floating about in the sea, getting eaten up by fish. He stooped and picked a few pieces up. It was going to take him ages to collect them all, but he didn’t have anywhere better to be, and anyway, it made him feel useful. He was making the place look nice for the next person who walked past. He’d figure out what to do with the confetti later.

 

[January Parish]

January was settling in Hogwarts with relative ease. She has almost been grateful for Arachne's crisis the first night because it gave her something to focus on that wasn't her own gnawing homesickness. She still felt a bit adrift, as if she hadn't quite gotten her sea legs yet as she tried to figure out who she was without her family around her. As she walked out onto the lawn with the big sky she wondered for a moment if she might simply float away. But she stood for a moment and raised her face to the sun and squinted into the bright light as she tested the gravity. All seemed to be in working order so she kept going. She blinked a few times to clear her vision and almost missed Freddie who was bent over picking through the grass for something. She smiled to herself and approached him quietly. "Are you looking for treasure or talking to the ants?" she asked cheerfully with a playful smile.

 

[Freddie Lagowski]

Freddie turned. Oh - it was January. She looked a lot happier now than she had on the train. That was good. Freddie had been worried, for a bit. He shook his head. "Look at this," he said, holding a piece of confetti out to her. "It's gross. Someone's just left it everywhere." Maybe she'd think he was weird. People didn't normally care about this kind of stuff. Whatever. It was gross to him, and he was cleaning it up - even if someone older could do it faster with magic. Figuring January wouldn't hang around, the Ravenclaw turned his back on her and carried on collecting the trash.