Closed Kids These Days

[Eric Holland]

While the weather was still cold, it had been a rather sunny day today. It had been nice and quiet in the castle as many kids bundled up and headed outside to enjoy some early spring sunshine, and Eric had gotten quite a bit done in the castle. Some of the empty classrooms were truly filthy but thankfully easily cleaned with magic. He had even found what he suspected was a boggart in an old closet, though he had simply locked it for now. He'd ask if one of the Defence professors wanted to use the thing in a lesson before doing anything else. Now, as most of the students were at dinner, Eric decided to take a walk outside himself. He grumbled as he noticed immediately that the lawn had been occupied today as some kids clearly never learned to clean up after themselves. As he picked up his fourth candy wrapper from what he could only assume had been a picnic, Eric conjured a bag to put them in. Then he pointed his wand in a random direction. "Accio trash." He said, sighing as more wrappers, pieces of parchment and broken quills flew his way. He directed them into the bag with his wand, wondering if there had just been particularly messy students outside today or if it was just what kids did these days. Merlin, he was getting old.

 

[Aspen]

It had been a year since Aspen had started working at the school, at least in an official manner. as groundskeeper most of her jobs were to maintain the grounds, which included the gardens and the lawns as well as the forest. It was funny. in some ways all the years she had lived in the forest she had longed to explore elsewhere in the castle and on the grounds. but it had taken her a year to actually feel comfortable in doing so. this year she may even attend some of the parties that she had heard about, or even go and watch a match of quidditch a sport that her sister had always raved about.
today had been a lovely day, early spring, but defiantly a day with more than just a taste of the weather to come. she was walking across the lawn heading into the castle to eat in the quiet period mid afternoon when she saw that there was a lot of rubbish on the floor. she looked down wondering if she could ignore it and when she decided she couldnt re regretted not caring any weapons longer than her paring knife with her any more, at least when not in the woods. as reaching the floor was not an easy job. she stopped near a largish pile of rubbish and knelt down her front legs folding before she ticked her back ones in. she had just reached out for the discarded parchment and quill when it moved out of her hand. for a second she thought it had been the wind catching it. until she realised that there was no wind. and it was a boy somehow drawing all of the wribbish towards him. she hoisted herself up onto all four hooves and made her way over to him. "Thank you for your help." she said. thinking of how much time he had saved her. I wish there was a way I could give you housepoints for it.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric had known about Aspen, the groundskeeper who was also a centaur, but they hadn't properly met since Eric joined the staff. He looked up at her as she thanked him, shrugging it off as he put more rubbish into the bag. "Don't worry about it, part of the job." He said, raising his eyebrows slightly. "I'm not a student, and even when I was a student here I never cared about house points." He informed her. "I'm Eric Holland, caretaker." He said, gesturing to the castle. "Not for very long yet. Are the kids always this messy or is this a new thing?"

 

[Aspen]

Aspen watched as the boy put the litter in the bag he was carrying. she was a little surprised when he said he wasn't a student. "Oh. I'm sorry" she said. a little embaressed that she had missed that he wasnt a student. sometimes it was hard to tell who was a student and who was not when some staff were not much older than foals themselves. or maybe she was jsut getting old. "Hello Eric-Holland-Caretaker, I'm Aspen she said holding her hand in what she knew was the right way to greet people. "they often leave a mess. but this seems to be a very messy group" she said.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric had sort of wondered if the centaur was joking, but it seemed like she really had mistaken him for a student. "I'm twenty five, graduated almost a decade ago." He told her with a shrug. It wasn't that he was upset, but it was a little strange to him. He put more garbage into the bag, frowning a little as Aspen said it was a messy group of kids. "Do you ever call them out on it?" He asked curiously. He figured a talking to from a centaur would intimidate most kids.

 

[Aspen]

aspen looked at the boy, no man when he said he was 25 and graduated almost a decade ago. he didnt look that old. or maybe she ad just been around so long it didnt seem that old. besides most people she had met were students. "I suppose I have been in the forest for over thirty years. I forget I am also getting older" she said. she knew she wasnt as young as she had been when she had made her way there aged fifteen when she had been hardly older than a foal herself. but she didnt know where the time went.
when Eric asked if she had called the kids out on it she shook her head. "no. I can't. I might scare the foals" she said looking down slightly as though ashamed at her shortcomings it had taken her so long to get the job, she felt like there was a lot riding on how she got on, not just for her but others like her, a long way in the future, and if she lost it no only would she let herself and her sister, well maybe not her species, but she was already a let down to them, she would also likely loose her home in the grounds had been her home since shew as fifteen. "I am sure some people will use any excuse to get me fired" she added simply as explanation.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric hadn't guessed the centaur to be old enough to be in the forest for longer than he'd been alive, but he supposed maybe she came there young. He was a little curious but not curious enough to ask. He frowned when she said she couldn't call the kids out as they might scare them. He gestured to the trash. "I think they need some scaring." He said in an annoyed tone. He shrugged slightly when she added some people would find any excuse to get her fired. "I mean, you could argue that calling kids out on their crappy behavior is part of your job. I don't think Matt is unreasonable." He said, the first name of his former headmaster feeling foreign on his tongue.

 

[Aspen]

Aspen chuckled as the man said that the kids needed some scaring. "maybe, but i am sure i am not the only one who can be scary. some of the teachers used to scare me when i was younger" she said.
she listened as he said that it was part of the job and that the headmaster was reasonable. "I suppose it is. and i know he is nice, he was very welcoming when i started. but he isn't the top authority to hiring, at least not for me. I had to have an interview with the deputy minister before they let me work here" she said. she wasn't sure about the usual selection process, but by her sister's reaction to the request, she was fairly sure that wasn't it. "how long have you been a caretaker?" she asked as a way to get to know him more and get the attention off herself.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric listened as Aspen said some teachers used to scare her when she was younger. He snorted. "Styx?" He guessed. He wasn't sure how old Aspen was, but Styx was ancient and maybe immortal, so Eric figured it was a pretty good guess. "Oh, weird." He said when she explained she had to interview with the deputy minister. "But I'm guessing Matt has to talk to him first if there's anything... so it still counts." He said. "Less than a year. Started in semester two last year." He explained.