Open Life's a Beach

[Solomon Tofilau]

Sully had been planning a good way to cut loose for awhile now and now, with exams finished and graduation right around the corner, he was free to finally put his plan into action. It'd required waking up pretty early, but in Sully's mind it was totally worth it as he tromped down to the Great Hall, rolling up his sleeves before getting to work. A handful of switching and conjuring spells to get enough sand in, some portable swamps that he'd modified just the right way to make the water palatable, and voila, Sully's indoor beach hangout was complete. He hadn't been able to do anything about the house tables or the seats, but he figured that was part of the charm. Who didn't want to eat breakfast while dipping their toes in their very own custom indoor beach, anyway.

Conjuring himself his own beach chair, Sully adjusted his Hawaiian shirt, leaning back into his seat with a sigh to survey his work and enjoy the water-y pre-winter sunlight from the enchanted ceiling above. He'd fully earnt this break, he reasoned, and with him about to graduate, he was practically untouchable from any of the school staff or prefects. Hopefully everyone else saw it the same way.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Sully had not been subtle about the fact he was up to something. With the year coming to an end, and the older boy graduating, Lysander suspected it had to be grand. He'd made his own guesses, stabs in the dark about what he was up to, yet even still, he hadn't been prepared for what he saw when he stepped into the Great Hall that morning for breakfast. Since when did they have a beach? He paused in the doorway, stunned, until he caught sight of Sully dressed the part of a beachgoer. He chuckled, quickly kicking his shoes off and tossing them into a corner, just to feel the sand beneath his bare feet. "Surfs up!" He commented, throwing a quick little hang loose sign, despite the complete lack of waves. This was a brilliant idea all the same, one he could feel the temptation to petition to keep during the next Summer. Who didn't want to have their lunch by the beach? He leaned against one of the benches to roll up the legs of his trousers to stop them getting sopping wet when he inevitably splashed about in the water, though had to readjust himself when his weight pushed part of it further into the wet sand, sinking slightly beneath the floor. Sully had the right idea using a beach chair instead, though Lysander couldn't spot any more around. Conjuring had only been covered during the last semester, so he took some time conjuring up himself a beach towel and an inflatable ball to kick about. He laid it all out beside Sully's chair, and grabbed himself some food from the tables to spread across his towel. "Sully, man. You're a genius." He laughed, settling into a comfortable position on the towel. A tap of his wand had a pair of sunglasses settling over his eyes. The Great Hall's false sky didn't exactly call for it, but it completed the overall 'look' of someone relaxing at the beach. He managed to conjure himself a tiny paper umbrella to drop into his pumpkin juice, pretending, in the moment, that he was drinking from a coconut and not one of the glasses the school provided.​

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Rose was out to grab some quick lunch in the Great Hall, but suddenly spotted that the Great Hall was turned into an indoor beach resort. She stepped onto the sand, but decided to remove her shoes and socks. She then walked onto the sand and looked at the little pools that had appeared. ''This looks amazing'' Rose exclaimed ''How did you guys get all the sand in?'' Rose said to the two boys that were in mid conversation.

 

[Solomon Tofilau]

Sully made a show of stretching, grinning as Lysander arrived in the hall to take in his masterpiece. "It's hard being so clever sometimes," he said, wigging his sunglasses and resettling on his chair as Lysander got himself situated. He tilted his head back over the chair to look at a younger student, unable to help making the joke; "Magic, aye. But nah, mostly switching spells. A lot of switching spells," he said, just barely stifling a yawn. He'd started just trying to conjure sand, but it was harder to pull such massive amounts, but switching the air and dust on the floor out with piles of sand had worked a lot better in the end. "Pull up some sand, make yourself comfortable!"

 

[Michael Newton]

Michael was bored, and boredom did not bode well within him. As he walked all the way down to the Great Hall, he thought about swerving towards the kitchens instead, seeing if any of the house elves would be willing to best him in a card game. However, he figured they'd cause a ruckus and headed closer to the hall where he saw two of his darling friends hanging out at the beach. "WOW!" he yelled and slid down close to Sully. "This is bloody amazing, mate! We need to make the biggest sandcastle in Hogwarts history! Oh, but first-" he paused as he pulled out his wand, quickly summoning a bunch of things from his room that most definitely ran into some walls and students along the way. Landing in a pile, he threw on a beach shirt over his t-shirt, kicked off his shoes, and put on some sunglasses. "I can dig a moat if you start the castle, Lysander. This is wild!" Michael was suddenly way too excited and overloaded by all the fun they were having.

 

[Salem Lee]

Salem's brain felt like a wrung out sponge after getting through her exams by the skin of her teeth. She was walking mostly by memory to the Gryffindor table when her shoes snagged unexpectedly, causing her to stumble on the unexpected terrain. It took her several more moments to compute exactly what she was seeing before her face lit up and then she didn't waste any time shucking her shoes and socks and moving to stick her feet in the water. "Why's the water smell so weird?" She asked no one in particular, refraining from trying to swim now that she was closer to see it looked a bit swampy. It was still better than a normal breakfast so Salem wasn't going to complain as she wiggled her toes happily.

 

[Aisa Hunter]

Aisa had known Sully was up to something. He couldn't keep a secret, even when he knew Aisa disapproved of things. If she was completely honest, Aisa wasn't all that bothered about Sully pulling something now. She guessed it would be too much of a bother for the professors to expel him now, unless he did something especially dangerous. They were only days away from graduating, which was weird enough on its own. Aisa vowed to try to have a good time at whatever this was, though she silently hoped Chloë wouldn't be there. She knew it was unlikely, they were still dating. But Aisa wasn't sure if she could face the girl anymore.

As she made her way to the Great Hall, she heard a few reactions of people inside. She stopped in the doorway of the Great Hall, taking in what he had done. It was pretty incredible, even if it was also completely ridiculous. Aisa couldn't help smiling slightly. She walked up to Sully. "This was your big idea?" She asked him, glancing around. "Okay, I admit, it's kind of impressive." She took out her wand and conjured her own chair. "I guess I'll stay, it's not like they're gonna kick us out now." She paused. "Maybe just you, though." She added.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander chuckled at Sully's comment, rolling his eyes light-heartedly beneath his sunglasses. When Rosemarie joined them, he jerked a thumb in his friends direction. This was all him, he couldn't take any credit for this masterpiece. It must have taken ages to switch all that sand in. He sat up when Michael joined them, already bringing a brilliant idea of his own. "You got it! One castle coming right up." He said, kicking up sand in his haste to scramble over and help him. He knew castles, and the Great Hall was the perfect spot to get started on something grand. He pulled out his wand, softening up the dryer sand with a quick aguamenti to get it malleable enough to work with, and got started packing up a foundation to use. He could picture it already.​