Open Froggy Friends

[Hester MacGillivray]

((Open after Kaye))

Hester didn't think she would ever quite adjust to living surrounded by paintings that could move and talk, and apparently go just about wherever they pleased. She had had quite a few interesting chats with paintings around the school, but the thought had occurred to her with some shock that she hadn't ever actually introduced any of them to Big Douglas. There was a pond scene on the second floor that she particularly thought he would enjoy. It was supposed to be a painting of a lady having tea, but Hester was more interested today in the frogs who dwelled in the pond by her table. So she had made her way downstairs with Big Douglas on her shoulder, hefting the large toad into her hands as she reached the painting. "Look Big Douglas, they're frogs, just like you! Do you want to say 'ribbit' to them?" She asked, holding Big Douglas up high to see the frogs in the painting, though the closeness just amplified how much bigger he was than the frogs.

 

[Estella Fuentes]

Estella was in quite a good mood. She had learnt how to make flower crowns during her break and had made quite a few of them which she was rather proud of. Her friends even said that they looked god, and this really boosted her ego. She couldn't wait until the first Conglomerated Arts meeting to show off her skills. The girl was hungry however, and so she began heading down from her dormitory to the Great Hall when she came across one of her classmates, and it made her stop in her tracks. The girl seemed to be talking to something, and upon further inspection, Estella realised that it was in fact a toad. She was showing her pet toad the frogs in a painting and the Hufflepuff couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this. She couldn't help herself. She made her way over there. "Shouldn't that thing be in a cage or something? What if it escapes? Aren't those things poisonous?" Estella had to admit that she didn't know much about toads, but she didn't think it would be pretty if this girl's toad managed to escape from her grasp.

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Hester looked over when someone spoke to her, grinning cheerfully when she recognised Estella from her classes. "Oh, hey!" She said brightly, holding Big Douglas closer as she turned to address the Hufflepuff. "Nah, he's fine. Big Douglas isn't poisonous, he's just a big softie. And he likes to be held. He's like a little prince, being carried around to see the world." She grinned, holding Big Douglas up to talk to him directly. "You're spoiled, aren't you?" Hester grinned, lowering the toad again. "Do you wanna hold him?" Hester added, giving Estella a cheerful smile. "He's really friendly."

 

[Estella Fuentes]

Estella couldn't describe how much she hated the sight of frogs or toads that were not contained. When she heard about how Sawyer's brother was keeping his pet frog loose, she had been on edge until she was sure that it was put away. But now there was another one of them and Estella couldn't help but feel anxious. She took a couple of steps back as her classmate spoke directly to it, wondering if perhaps the girl was mad and this was the first she had seen of it. Estella was quick to react as the girl asked if she wanted to hold it. "No!" she exclaimed, putting her palms up in front of her. "No offence, but I don't understand why that is a pet that's actually allowed at Hogwarts. They're gross." Truthfully, Estella didn't care what the Gryffindor thought of her opinion. She had plenty of other friends.

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Hester had always tried to keep her attitude towards her schoolmates cheerful and positive, but she felt her face slipping at once as Estella spoke, quickly pulling her hands closer again to protect Big Douglas. "Ohhh, don't listen to her Big Douglas!" She said reassuringly, holding the giant toad to her chest as she addressed Estella. "He's not gross! He's a sweet lovely boy, and he takes baths all the time! There's nothing wrong with toads."

 

[Estella Fuentes]

Estella couldn’t help but feel bad about the girl’s reaction and regretted what she said about the toad almost immediately. She definitely thought the toad was gross, but it probably wasn’t what the girl wanted to hear. After all, if anyone said anything bad about her dog, she would definitely be upset about it. "I'm sorry.” she said simply with a shrug before attempting to make an excuse. “I’m sure there are others that would agree with me though. I was just warning you… you know, in case anyone else comes across the toad.” She paused for a moment, leaning in a little closer as she lowered her voice. “I heard there’s some violent people around here, so I’d be careful.” It wasn’t true at all, but she wanted to try and convince the girl to put it away as best as she could without offending her.

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Hester kept Big Douglas clutched close to her chest as Estella spoke, horror clear on her face. She leaned back as the other girl leaned closer, eyes widening in shock. "Was that a threat?!" She exclaimed, stepping further away from the Hufflepuff, only holding Big Douglas closer. "Are you gonna kill my toad?! He's a sweet boy, he never hurt anyone! You can't do that, that's horrible!"

 

[Estella Fuentes]

Estella took a small step back and put her hands in the air as Hester accussed her of threatening her. "No, definitely not a threat. I wouldn't harm a fly, trust me." Estella frowned a little and put her hands back down, upset that anyone would think she would ever harm an animal. "I've just heard what some people think about frogs and toads around here, so I would just suggest keeping him safe." she told her gently, hoping she wouldn't take it the wrong way again. "I have a dog at home. Do you have any other pets?" She hoped to change the subject.

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Hester relaxed a little as Estella clarified she would never hurt Big Douglas, though she kept him clutched close to her chest all the same. She shrugged when the other girl explained what she had meant, holding Big Douglas close as she replied. "Well, those people will just have to stay far away from me and Big Douglas, I know karate so I can keep him safe if anyone tries anything." She said firmly, ignoring the fact that she hadn't practiced her kata once since starting at Hogwarts. She nodded when Estella asked about other pets, rubbing Big Douglas's back gently as she replied. "We've got a dog at home too, and one of my brothers has a cat at his place." A cat Hester had only heard about in letters, a thought that made her ache for home again. "What's your dog called?"

 

[Estella Fuentes]

Estella nodded, impressed when Hester said that she knew karate. "That's cool. I've always wanted to do something interesting like that, but I don't have the talent." she admitted with a shrug. She admired people that put effort into things that weren't school related as that definitely meant they were organised and good with their time. As Hester answered her question, Estella smiled, glad that they were changing the topic. "Oh cool, pets are just so fun." she said, only half-agreeing with her statement. Sometimes they were gross, and definitely a handful, but they were fun to play with and have as company when they weren't being annoying. "My dog's name is Layla. She's a cute little pug. My sister has a labrador." Estella was glad that they didn't have to share dogs, especially since Evie didn't really like Layla. "You have a brother? Does he go to school here?"

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Hester smiled when Estella said karate was cool, though she shook her head quickly as the Hufflepuff went on. "Oh no, you don't need any talent!" She said quickly. "It's all about practice and discipline. Nobody's good at Karate until they do it over and over and over and over and over. You've gotta take the time to master it." She smiled encouragingly. "If you wanna do a martial art you should just try! All it takes is practice." Hester had never been great at the discipline aspect of karate, but she knew it was important all the same. She grinned when Estella talked about her dog, nodding in excitement. "She sounds so cute!" Hester shook her head when Estella asked about her brother. "I've got four brothers, but I'm the only witch in my family. They all go to high school or university or have jobs." It was still weird thinking about how much her brothers had grown up while Hester was stuck at Hogwarts. They were almost all adults now, far from the rambunctious bunch Hester had grown up looking up to. What was she supposed to do when her brothers were all serious grown ups now...

 

[Estella Fuentes]

Estella nodded and smiled as Hester assured her that she didn't need talent to be good at martial arts. It was sort of like Estella's ability to make flower crowns. She didn't know anything about it until she tried and was able to practice. Estella always doubted herself after a while however, especially if she wasn't good at it straight away, and so picking up new things was always hard, but she was sure that Hester was right. Estella beamed when Hester said her dog was cute. "She really is! She's so little, and very clingy." she added, glad to talk about her dog any day. She nodded as Hester told her about her siblings. There were a lot more muggle-borns at the school than Estella thought. "Oh that's cool. I kind of wish I was a muggle sometimes. Then I wouldn't have to worry about accidentally hurting someone whilst practicing spells." she admitted. "And if I was a muggle then I would know a lot about computers and laptops." She had always had an interest in muggles and was admittedly a little jealous of those who knew more about the muggle world than her. It was sad that her father had never introduced much of it to her.

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Hester beamed when Estella described her dog. "She sounds so cute!" She said cheerfully, glad to be back on a safer conversational level, though she still held Big Douglas close. Hester giggled slightly when Estella mentioned computers. "Oh I dunno, computers are kind of boring. My brothers like them, but I never really understood why. I just use them to play games." She shrugged slightly. "It's... weird how different life here is. It's like a whole different world to home." A small pang of homesickness struck Hester as she pictured her family and life back home. The holidays never seemed long enough to really reconnect with what mattered.

 

[Estella Fuentes]

Estella was glad that Hester was liking the change of conversation. It really saved Estella a little, and if it wasn't for that, Hester might have gone off telling everyone that Estella hated animals, which definitely wasn't true. She didn't have the time for drama like that. Next time Estella would try her best not to speak her mind so much. The Hufflepuff frowned as Hester said computers were boring. "Why are they boring?" she asked, evidently disappointed. she didn't find then boring one bit. "You can doo more than just play games on there, right? I heard you can like... edit pittures and code. Computers talk in like... binary, is it? That's about all I know." She shrugged as Hester said that Hogwarts was all very different to her muggle life at home. "I guess it would be. a lot of stuff here relies on magic. And I guess in a way, the muggle world relies a lot on technology. So technology is kind of like a different sort of magic, right?"

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Hester shrugged when Estella asked why computers were boring, thinking of the hours she had sat around just watching her brothers prod away at them. "I mean, games are fun, but all the other stuff is just like... pressing buttons, it's boring. My brothers do that stuff, but it sucks, they just sit there looking at text on a screen, doing nothing." She sighed, though the thought of technology being a different kind of magic was an intriguing one. "I guess that's true, I never really thought about it like that. Some normal stuff is better, like I wish we had cellphones, but... it's not that bad without them, we can just hang out in person."