Open Gobstones Fun

[Louis Vernier]

Louis was neutral about coming back for another year at Hogwarts. He knew however that his sister was excited, and she'd never seen her like it before. She wanted to try out for the quidditch team, and Louis called it long before he told her it was a secret. He didn't care about telling anyone however, especially after his father bought him a gobstones game. He couldn't wait to play it some more, and as soon as he had the opportunity, Louis headed out of the castle and down to the Great Lawn so he could keep practicing it whilst also getting some fresh air. He set himself up in the middle of the grass, taking the stones out and flicking them one by one onto the board. He tried to aim for the middle of it mostly, and when there were enough stones, he tried hitting them off. It always proved to be difficult, and it was definitely harder than it seemed. Sometimes the stones barely moved an inch, but the boy never became frustrated. He just sat there, flicking stones onto the board one by one as he tried to get better at the game.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer was finding he was always in a better mood at the start of the semester, before he'd really settled in. His dorm still felt weird sometimes, wrong compared to his room at home, though at least it was becoming more and more familiar. Walking outside, especially down to the lake, helped a lot, and Sawyer was out wandering the lawn before the cooler weather could make it too muddy.

His mood improved exponentially when he heard a familiar clack, spotting a boy sitting in the grass with a set of gobstones. "Hey!" he said excitedly, already kneeling across the board from the boy before he could really think about it. "Do you play? I feel like the whole school's into Wizard's Chess and no one plays Gobstones," he said excitedly, trying to get a read on how the boy's solo game was going as he scanned the board.

 

[Julien Beaumont]

(sorrrry late)

Julien was glad to be back on Hogwarts. He was annoyed by his stepfamily over the break and he was irritated by the fact that his stepsister wanted to come to Hogwarts as well. He wondered if she only did it to tease him. She wanted to get the attention, he hoped she would go to Beauxbatons which was way more closer to home. But no she had to go here.. As he walked outside he was in the mood for an walk and some fresh air. So here he found himself walking past the great lawn. As he moved he saw some students sitting and than noticed two boys with an game. He was more of an observer at first so he looked for an moment to see what they were doing. And heard the boy who seemed to join the other speaking. And heard gobstones, so that was the thing. Julien liked games, and he hadn't played in an long time. The blonde than walked slowly towards the two boys. He figured he knew one from class and the other one seemed a bit older. '' Hello.. This is Gobstones right? Can you guys perhaps explain? I really want to learn. '' He than asked them, he was interested in learning it. He had heard about it before, but he was never an player before.

 

[Louis Vernier]

Louis looked up suddenly as an older boy approached him. It seemed that the game of gobstones really did bring the attention of some people. He would have preferred that his father bought him a game of wizard's chess, but he didn't plan on telling the boy as he was afraid it would scare him away. "Oh, um, yeah, I love gobstones." Louis replied shyly, wanting the boy to like him. Before he could say much else, another boy came over to them, someone that he recognised from classes, and Louis beamed. He was excited that it was drawing attention to him.

To be honest, Louis didn't know much of how to play gobstones, but these boys really seemed interested in playing with him, and after playing for a bit with another student on the train to Hogwarts, he was sure he could do it. He collected the stones that he had already flicked onto the board. "We can all play together if you'd like." he suggested, gesturing for them to sit down with him around the board. He divided the thirty stones evenly, giving the boys ten each and taking ten himself. "So um, do you want to go first? Maybe show him how it's done?" Louis asked the older boy, far too embarrassed to go first himself in case he messed it up.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer hadn't had a decent game of Gobstones in awhile, glad to hear the younger kid, or kids, when a second boy he recognized from Ravenclaw wandered over too. "Sure," he said, settling down on the grass to get a bit more comfortable. "I tried to teach my roommate how to play and he immediately wiped the floor with me, so I don't know if that makes me a terrible teacher or the best," he said with a shrug, shuffling the stones the younger boy had divvied out for them.

"Maybe we could play Jack Stone? Whoever gets their stones closest to the one in the middle wins, easier with three people," Sawyer offered, setting a stone in the middle of the board. Jack Stone was also a bit kinder to new players in terms of not spraying them constantly when they lost a point, which while funny, tended to put a lot of new players off. "Then you just flick it like this," he said, settling the first stone on his hand and flicking it with his thumb, frowning as he overshot the middle stone by a decent margin, nearly rolling off the board entirely. "Though like, do it better than that."

 

[Julien Beaumont]

Julien watched the older boy and his classmate. And was glad that they were fine with it. Julien was socially akward sometimes and this was already an big step that he just walked at people, he learned a lot at Hogwarts and felt more confidence. He grinned as the older boy said the story about his roommate and than beating him. '' I guess you are an good teacher than? Seems I'm lucky than.'' He said with an friendly smile. Smiling at the other Hufflepuff boy as it was nice to play with the three of them. Jack Stone was something which made him frown, he was new to this. He was not much of this games, he liked sports sometimes more or was just interested in Astronomy. But the explanation didn't seemed that hard to understand. He watched as the older boy demonstrated, and what he seemed to do was not the best move. That was what the boy mentioned at least. He than looked at his classmate. '' So I just try it.'' He than mentioned and took an stone and put it down softly. He than gave it an soft and gentle touch with his thumb and saw it going on the bord, but not even close to the middle stone. He was too scared with his first try it seemed. '' This is not too well too, I guess?'' he said with an grin. He than looked at the hufflepuff boy to make his move.

 

[Louis Vernier]

Louis was glad that both boys were on board with this. He was also glad that the older Ravenclaw didn't argue with him when he told him that he could start it. Louis just wasn't very good at starting things, but he really wanted both of these boys to like him. As the older Ravenclaw mentioned Jack Stone, Louis just nodded his head to pretend he knew exactly what he was talking about. In truth, Louis had no idea that there were other ways to play gobstones, let alone the different names they had. He wanted to ask why it was called Jack Stone, but refrained from asking as he didn't want to seem any less knowledgeable.

As the older Ravenclaw did his turn, Louis watched, taking a small sigh of relief as he had pretty much messed up his shot. That gave the Hufflepuff boy a lot more confidence. Then it was the other Ravenclaw's turn and Louis gave him an encouraging nod. "Yeah, it was still a good shot though. You definitely have the hang of it. It just needs a bit more power." Louis reassured him. The boy tried not to have his hands shake too much as he picked up one of his stones to have a go. He didn't want to do it too hard like the first turn, but definitely not as soft as the other one. As he flicked his stone, he watched as it rolled just past his classmate's stone. Not a bad shot, but it definitely could have been better.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer snorted in appreciation as the younger Ravenclaw said he was a good teacher, shaking his head in amusement. "Sure, let's go with that, I like that a lot better," he said mildly, watching as the other boys took their turns shooting their gobstones. He didn't mention a bonus of playing Jack Stone was it was a lot harder to lose a point and end up with a face full of foul liquid. He had his suspicions it was why some of his siblings and friends were less enthused about playing the game, so it was a good way to not scare anyone off too early. Though personally, Sawyer found the threat of immanent stinkification to be half the fun.

"No guts no glory in gobstones," he said as both boys had finished their shots, playing a bit more conservatively than he was. "Though if you flick your thumb juuust so, it rolls a bit smoother," Sawyer said, giving his next marble a flick and smiling as it crept closer to the center stone, only about 10 or so centimetres this time. "Much better," he said contently, settling back to watch the other two.

 

[Julien Beaumont]

It was nice to just be in company of other boys. Julien enjoyed being in company of people more than ever. At Hogwarts he seemed such an different person to at home. At home he usually spend his time in his room, not connecting too much with part of his family. He felt an stranger in his own house, and had no intention of connecting with his stepsister and father. Julien worked on his own projects, like searching his father who he didn't knew the identity of or study astronomy. But this game was just fun too, and he learned all kind of news things here and also about himself. He watched the Hufflepuff boy do his move and they all didn't seemed to not have an good first move, as far as Julien understood the game. He smiled at the positive words the Hufflepuff boy said to him. It seemed like an game with good concentration and Julien could do that. '' Thanks. It's a fun game so far. But you can do many sorts of games with this stones I believe?'' He than asked looking at both boys.

He watched the older Ravenclaw doing another move. And tried to observe it well, he was good in observing and tried to picture it inside his mind how he had to do the next move. Thinking ahead of the next move. '' I'll go for an better one as well.'' He than said with an smile and focused. He hold his thumb and gave it this time an harder swing more controlled. And he saw his stone touching the one the ravenclaw boy had placed before him further away from the goal. He looked at the older boy with an grin. It seemed like an better move. He didn't intend getting the boy's stone away from the goal, but it happend. '' Oops. Sorry about that, but it seems like an better move at least.'' He than said with an smile.

 

[Louis Vernier]

Louis watched as the older Ravenclaw boy flicked his stone and made an almost perfect move. Louis wanted to ask him how exactly he made it roll smoother but he didn't want to seem like an idiot, especially since he was the one that started this whole game. The other boy then asked a question and Louis just nodded, not wanting to say anything that might be wrong and hoping that the older boy would back him up. The pressure was really on when the younger Ravenclaw's next turn was much better than the last and suddenly Louis was feeling quite nervous. He didn't want to mess up his next shot. His hands shook slightly as he lined up his stone with the board, aiming for his one to land right next to the others. Unfortunately however his nerves got the better of him and it didn't get that far. The stone landed onto the board with a loud thud and only rolled a couple of centimetres over. It was nowhere near where he wanted it to be. The Hufflepuff's cheeks turned a shade of pink. "I didn't mean to do that." he admitted, hoping this wouldn't change the boy's perspectives of him.