Mysterious Lake Creatures

[Eleanor Hope]

As far as Eleanor knew, Hogwarts was extremely big. In fact, it was extremely bigger than what Eleanor expected. The Hogwarts grounds were definitely Eleanor's favourite place in the world at that moment and she just had to show Lilyanna. She skipped over to the Slytherin table after breakfast one morning and took Lily's hand, eager to show her the lakefront - a place that Eleanor was eager to explore. She knew that there were all different kinds of mysterious creatures under the water and she wanted to see them. Hopefully her sister had a genius plan that would make them appear. "Do you think they'd be kind enough to come out and say hello?" Eleanor asked her sister as the both of them stood over the edge of the water. She knew that her idea was pretty silly but Eleanor's curiosity had gotten the better of her. She just had to find out.

"What if we get in and swim!?" she said excitedly, hoping it may work. But crouching down and feeling the water with the tips of her fingers told her otherwise. It was freezing cold and Eleanor definitely wasn't going to jump in there. Plopping herself down angrily on the grass, she tried to think up a way to do it but nothing came to her. The only solution was to jump in but not even Eleanor was the best swimmer in the world and she doubted she'd make it in there without drowning. Why couldn't the creatures just come out themselves? Surely it wasn't that hard to swim to the top of the water and say hello? All of it frustrated Eleanor and she sat on the grass, still trying to think up a solution to her problem.

 

[Lilyanna Hope]

The food at Hogwarts was great. In fact, it was so great that when Eleanor took Lilyanna away from the Slytherin table at breakfast time she instantly started having withdrawals. "But I wasn't finished!" she whined as her sister took her along the grounds. Where was she taking her anyway? 'This better be good' she thought as she was almost blinded by the sunlight of spring. It made her realise that she hadn't been outside for a very long time and must find some spare time to have a curious look around. There probably wasn't much to see but she was going to have to spend the next seven years here so having a look at her surroundings was probably a good start.

"What in Merlin's beard are you doing?" she asked as she watched Eleanor lean over into the lake. It amazed Lilyanna how Eleanor thought she was going to see the creatures inside of it. She laughed. "Do you really think the creatures in the lake actually care? It's not like they're going to pop out with a picnic basket and start offering everyone some pumpkin juice." She rolled her eyes at her sister as she suggested to jump into the water. They would get into so much trouble if their parents found out that they were going to go for a swim in their school robes. She watched as Eleanor sat down on the grass, trying to figure out a way to solve her problem. Why did all of Eleanor's problems end up being Lilyanna's as well? Reluctantly, Lily sat down next to Eleanor and sighed. She knew for a fact that whatever was inside the lake was not going to appear for Eleanor no matter what she tried. Besides, it was probably a dangerous idea and she didn't want to risk her life for some stupid water creatures. She started pulling out some grass from the ground as Eleanor thought. She didn't have anything better to do anyway.

 

[Sianna Djordjevic]

Sianna was muttering small curses to herself as she walked out of the main doors to the grounds, she was still frustrated by how her brother had been sorted into Ravenclaw, it was just beyond her that such a thing was true, and yet she'd spent time with him already and was just waiting for him to mess something up and then cause her more headaches, as the older of the two, Sia felt responsible for her younger twin, and therefore felt like she should clean up the messes he was bound to create but perhaps on these first few days before he knew the ins and outs of the school, she could spend a little more time in peace and quiet. A little more time just having a little bit of time to read and relax, which was hard to do as it turned out in this school, since there were just so many people, even the quiet library had appear to Sia to just be too busy and too noisy for her. She had thus gone out to the grounds and was hoping to just be able to relax and not have to worry about anything for a little while.

The young Ravenclaw reached the waterfront and just smiled at it, it was relatively quiet here, she was just standing facing out as two girls passed by her, creating noise as they went, but Sianna paid no heed to them, just standing, vaguely listening as she took the time to stare out at the lake, she just glanced over when one of them said they should go swimming, and she noticed then that the two girls were the same, twins, like herself and her annoying brother, but unlike them, identical. She glanced between the two and decided that rather than sitting in silence she would say something, "You shouldn't disturb the creatures of the lake, and really, if you go and swim in it, they are even less likely to appear," she told the two girls, speaking as if what she was saying was basic fact, that as people swimming in the lake would scare the magical creatures away, and really anything they did attract wasn't likely going to be friendly, and with that she said no more, turning back to just stare out at the water.
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[Eleanor Hope]

Eleanor was not impressed by the level of negativity. She knew that the creatures in the lake had feelings and quite frankly didn't care if the creatures cared because she knew they didn't. Besides, the creatures in the lake wouldn't be able to drink pumpkin juice so they wouldn't be offering it to anyone at all. But before she could retort she was startled by an unfamiliar voice. She stood up and carefully made her way over to the girl who spoke. "What do you mean they'll be less likely to appear? Are they really that stubborn!?" Angrily, she kicked a rock into the water, quite frustrated at her lack of progress so far. It didn't make her feel any better when someone else was also indicating that it was impossible to find the creatures in the water. But she knew that there was a way to do it and she'll find out what that was no matter how hard she has to try.

"Also, I wouldn't be disturbing the creatures at all!" she said to the girl, feeling the heat rise. "It's not like they're too busy to just surface the water for a few seconds!" She couldn't find anything else to do and it was all starting to give her a headache. For a second she thought she might have been a bit crazy but something told her that what she wanted could be achieved. "Come out creatures, I know you can hear me!" she shouted, her voice echoing over the large lake. It seemed impossible but she was sure it had been done before.

 

[Lilyanna Hope]

Lilyanna chuckled as she watched Eleanor walk over to the girl who had spoken up and talk to her in such an angry tone. She didn't think Eleanor would ever talk to someone like that, especially when they only just met. Wholeheartedly, Lilyanna was extremely glad that someone else had felt the same way she did about the creatures. She knew very much that the creatures weren't going to appear for Eleanor but also found it amusing seeing her getting so worked up about it all. "Yeah, and besides, it's too cold for the creatures to come out of the lake this time of the year." she said matter-of-factly. "Swimming in it is just going to make them run away from you. Trust me, if I saw you swimming towards me I'd be swimming a thousand miles in the opposite direction." she added jokingly with a laugh. Lilyanna knew that what she said might have made her sister a bit more angrier than what she was before but that was just the fun of it.

As Eleanor shouted at the lake Lilyanna couldn't help but roll her eyes at the stupidity. Why was she still trying? If they didn't come out when she first tried why did she think they'd come out after she shouted at them so threateningly the second time? She sighed before deciding to lie down on her back on the grass and look up at the cloudy sky. She could perhaps slowly get used to Hogwarts now that she thought about it and would gladly bring her book along with her to this very spot for some time alone. After all, it seemed like it would be peaceful without a stupid eleven year old shouting at absolutely nothing in the background.

 

[Sianna Djordjevic]

Sianna glanced at the two girls, just as one of them marched over to her and began speaking, Sianna instinctively took a small step away from her and frowned, feeling slight anger bubbling at the girl due to her tone, but she attempted to push it away, just opting to shrug, "Have you ever see sea life before, you try and swim and it'll all disappear, especially because I'm sure you'll really just be splashing about," she told the girl quietly, pushing down her own anger at this girl's reaction, did she not know that animals were likely to run away and hide if some girl came charging at them, hoping to see them and try to likely touch them. She just stared at the girl as she continued just not understanding where this anger or stupidity was coming from, the creatures didn't need to do anything they didn't want to, and it was then that the other girl spoke, clearly the smarter one of the two.

Sianna wished they'd both go away, or that she'd just opted to not say anything but the Ravenclaw couldn't have helped herself with it, she just wanted to have some peace and ended up with this, "Stop yelling then," she told the girl, "The creatures in the lake don't answer to you, how can you be so silly," Sianna told the girl bluntly, not even caring that she was likely insulting this girl in front of her sister who might not appreciate it, "They aren't your personal show dolphins, have some respect," again, Sianna was just telling the girl exactly what she thought, exactly what she believed was necessary to say, never speaking too loudly, and definitely not caring about the girl's sister. It was something that Sianna had thought needed said and she wasn't going to be silent for that.
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[Eleanor Hope]

The young Hufflepuff sighed as she realised that there was absolutely no hope at all. The Ravenclaw girl was right that the creatures weren't show dolphins at all and Eleanor shouldn't be forcing them to do something that they didn't want to do. In fact, she hadn't seen sea life at all before which was the main reason why she really had wanted to see them today. Nonetheless, she realised that all hope was gone and now she was going to have to give up until another day when the energy would came back and figure it all out herself without someone telling her she was silly.

Eleanor felt offended when the girl told her to get some respect. She knew that she wasn't exactly being the nicest person to the creatures now but Eleanor took pride in her respect which seemed to be lacking today according to this stranger. Respect was a quality that Eleanor valued and she didn't know whether to cry or walk away. Instead, she simply walked back over to her sister and sat down next to her, resting her head on her fist with simply the gloomiest face she had had in awhile. It definitely wasn't the best day for Eleanor and all she wanted was for the girl to get some respect herself. There was no need to be listening in on people's conversations like that and Eleanor felt truly upset. She lay herself down on the grass, looking up at the cloudy sky. She would try to ignore all the negative thoughts for now until she felt better and then she would continue looking for the creatures later.

 

[Lilyanna Hope]

Lilyanna simply sat and watched the scene unfold. She knew that Eleanor was being silly but also felt quite sorry for her younger sister. There was a motherly side to Lilyanna that she barely showed. Sure, Lilyanna agreed with the fellow first year but she would only joke about it and would never try to hurt her sister's feelings. She didn't understand Eleanor's actions and wasn't quite sure what she was really upset about. Perhaps it was the fact that the both of them were being so negative to her or was it something the other girl said? Whatever it was, she knew that Eleanor did not want to talk about it and simply left her alone on the grass. At least now she was keeping her mouth shut.

"You could always see what they look like in books. I'm sure the library has some pictures of magical creatures in there." she said, not sure if it was going to help at all. She wasn't good at cheering people up but part of her didn't really want to cheer her up at all. She seemed to always fix herself and Lilyanna knew that in no time she would be back to her crazy self whether Lily liked it or not. "What's your name?" she asked to the girl that was now standing alone. She knew by her robes that she was a Ravenclaw and Lilyanna had surprisingly found some pretty nice Ravenclaws, unlike some people she had met in the other houses. If only the girl didn't talk as much then maybe Lilyanna would've liked her a bit better.

 

[Sianna Djordjevic]

Sianna didn't mind what she'd said, in fact she was pretty pleased where despite her reservations her made her a little concerned about what might happen given what she'd said, neither girl seemed to mind it that much although one girl looked pretty dejected about it, but Sianna imagined that she'd just gotten upset over not being able to go visit the creature, and the girl could admit that it had likely been rude of her to bust in on the conversation, but Sianna didn't care. There was just nothing quite like telling someone the honest truth about something, the girl would've scared away the creatures and therefore still been disappointed and it was true that the creatures of the beautiful and terrifying lake weren't just hers to play with, though Sianna had in her time seen a few people swim into the lake, though she was certain they just did it for the exercise and not for anything else, not to try to gain friendship from creatures that likely didn't want it in the slightest, the ravenclaw's gaze shifted from the girl who just sat down to the other girl, who seemed to be suggesting something to make things better.

Sianna had to admit that given she knew what having a twin was like, this interaction was nothing new to her, although she couldn't imagine her brother sitting dejectedly like that, but then again she and her twin were different from these two girls, likely they were a little closer, but she got the impression from the way the other girl spoke that she was the older one of the two, "Sianna Djordjevic," Sianna said to them, stating her full name for no other reason that it being an instant reaction, she then glanced at them both, "What are your names?" she returned the question, hoping to put two names to the identical faces. Sianna spoke with a fairly distinct accent there was no escaping her Serbian origins despite how good her english was since she'd never had to speak it much until now, "As far as I've read very few people ever meet the creatures in the lake, you are better looking in the library," Sianna offered almost as an apology for whatever had caused the girl to be dejected in the way that she was, and it really was as close as she might get to an apology especially since she thought she was right.
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[Eleanor Hope]

Eleanor's sister was right in saying that she could always visit the library. But Eleanor had never liked reading books with true facts in it, even if they were useful to her. Instead, she liked reading the fictional books more and even then she still wasn't that much into reading. But she still would take her advice and would visit the library when she could to have a look at the pictures. It wouldn't be anything like seeing the creatures in real life but at least she'd know what they looked like and she could maybe learn a thing or two for when she actually did get the chance to meet them.

She sat up when the girl had introduced herself as Sianna Djordjevic and then asked for both of their names. She didn't feel like telling her what her name was but didn't want to be rude and just told her. She'd find out soon enough anyway. "Eleanor Hope." she said matter-of-factly, almost mocking the girl. The girl had spoke both her names so why shouldn't Eleanor? She had developed a sort of disliking for Sianna and she knew it wasn't going to go away soon, even if she had tried to apologise. Nonetheless, Eleanor nodded and accepted the apology, hoping that the girl wouldn't speak such words to her ever again. She would forgive her for now but no second chances would be granted.

 

[Lilyanna Hope]

Lilyanna was surprised when she saw her sister sit up and act as though everything was normal again. Most of the time Eleanor was a drama queen and she knew that she still was keeping a grudge against the newcomer who had now introduced herself as Sianna Djordjevic as it was pretty obvious in Lilyanna's eyes. Despite this, Lilyanna had actually quite liked Sianna, even if she did tend to talk quite a bit, and she smiled at her when they asked for both of their names. "My name is Lilyanna, but if you like you can call me Lily." she said, trying to sound friendly. She hadn't really asked many people to call her Lily as she didn't really like anyone other than her family to call her that. She had asked one girl to but as far as she knew they were friends, or at least acquaintances, and she hoped she could be the same with Sianna.

"Have you ever met one of those magical sea creatures yourself?" Lilyanna asked her out of curiosity. She should have met them before considering she seemed to know a lot about them but wanted to hear it herself. Besides, Lilyanna was sure Eleanor would love to hear a story about a sea creature and would gladly listen with her if the girl knew what she was talking about. Lilyanna had never met a sea creature before so hearing a story about one will definitely be interesting.

 

[Sianna Djordjevic]

Sianna looked between the two girls as they introduced themselves to her, she definitely found it weird the way the girl Eleanor was acting, since she seemed to be incredibly dejected about not seeing the creatures at all, Sianna would've felt bad had she not been right about it and knew that the girl would never ever achieve anything from that. She didn't know what else she could say to this girl which might make her feel better about everything. The girl then glanced at the second girl who introduced herself and Lilyanna, adding a nickname at the end, but she clearly didn't wanted to be called that, Sianna could see that in the tone of the girl, in the same way she didn't mind being called Sia, but rather people didn't, she didn't ever introduce herself as it, "I'm going to call you Lilyanna," she told her with a sure nod, clearly not even caring if the girl did actually prefer the nickname and Sianna was just reading it wrong, she wasn't going to do that.

Sianna then nodded at the second question, her time in Serbia and at the holiday resort next to the lake had meant that she'd more than once encountered the magical creatures, they were different in Serbia, a little more friendly, but she had clear instructions on what not to do, "I've seen a few mermaids and mermen," she admitted with a small shrug as she glanced away from the two girls and out at the water, "When my family go on holiday, we sometimes go to this lake which has merpeople in it, they are friendlier," she told the two girls, "I'm from Serbia," she added to explain where she usually went and almost as if this was an explanation as to why they were friendlier, even if it didn't really. Sianna's accent was still fairly strong when she spoke english but she wasn't sure that anyone would really pick out where it meant she was from originally, "If you spend enough time here you might one day meet one, but really you just have to be patient, don't yell at them," she attempted to soften with the girl who was clearly annoyed at her, knowing this likely wouldn't help her situation much.
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[Eleanor Hope]

Eleanor found it interesting that Sianna had actually seen a magical creature before back in the place which she lived in Serbia. She hadn't met anyone from Serbia before and wasn't quite sure what 'merpeople' were. How come they were nicer there than in New Zealand? She had so many questions to ask the Ravenclaw. "Where's Serbia?" she asked carefully, trying not to say anything stupid. She felt stupid anyway for yelling at the lake and nodded at Sianna's advice. If Eleanor was a magical sea creature she wouldn't want anyone yelling at her so perhaps Eleanor should just be patient and wait for the time to come herself. Perhaps the creatures would just come out themselves one day? She was sure that she'd eventually be able to see one and would wait her whole lifetime if she had to.

"How did the creatures come out? What did you have to do to attract them?" she asked hopefully, wondering how on earth Sianna and her family had become friendly with them. It were times like these when Eleanor wishes she was just an easier person to get along with. Maybe she could get some advice on how to talk to creatures from Sianna? It was always a good try and, even if the advice didn't work, at least she tried and that was probably all that mattered.

 

[Lilyanna Hope]

Lilyanna was a bit taken aback when Sianna had said that she had in fact met a sea creature herself. She had read about merpeople and knew that they weren't always the nicest of all the creatures and it amazed her how on earth Sianna was able to freely communicate with them. Sure, they were probably nicer in Serbia where she was from, but Lilyanna doubted that they enjoyed human interaction even a little bit. Lilyanna had never heard of such a thing and looked at Sianna, eyebrow raised as she told them her story. She didn't say anything though and simply sat there, wondering if whether or not Sianna was telling the truth. Sometimes trusting people was just harder than it seemed.

Lilyanna sighed as her sister began asking questions. She did that all the time and there was no surprise that she was doing it again. "Serbia is located in Europe." she said matter-of-factly, answering Sianna's question for her. Truthfully, Lilyanna wasn't quite sure much else on where exactly it was but thought she would say as much as she knew anyway. After all, that was probably the most logical answer to the question. Lilyanna started tearing apart the grass from the ground in front of her, quite bored. The conversation was going nowhere and Lilyanna's short concentration span and patience was not helping her one bit.

 

[Sianna Djordjevic]

Sianna felt a little overwhelmed by the two girls she was with, it was easy enough for that to happen, communicating with two people at once was trickier than just the one person, and given how things had started off it wasn't exactly surprising either. The girl look at the first one when she asked where Serbia was which was a question answered by the other girl, stating that it was on the European continent, although given the other girl's question she very much doubted that this girl even knew where Serbia was, "It's very far from here," she added perhaps to just a little scale to her, and then followed this by introducing herself in Serbian, for no other reason that essentially prove that she could, so that neither girl could accuse her of lying even if the thought had never crossed their respective minds. Sianna felt a little bored by it, both girls while clearly friendly enough were not that interesting, and Sianna wasn't sure what to say, while she didn't struggle to speak to people small talk wasn't always her forte and given this was her second language it was occasionally difficult to find the right words, but the first girl, Eleanor asked a question, so at least the Ravenclaw didn't have to worry for a while.

Sianna had been pretty young at the time when she'd seen them, she'd been old enough to remember but too young for anything else. The young ravenclaw shrugged a little, "I can't remember, they just are friendlier," she told them, "It's been a while since my family went," she added as an explanation to it, and then fell silent with a shrug of her shoulders. She looked to both girls, "If you take Care of Magical Creatures in third year, you might be able to see them then," Sianna wasn't herself going to take that class when the electives finally rolled around in their second year, too messy, but there was nothing stopping with of the two girls in front of him from doing the class, "So, where are you guys from?" the girl added as making conversation with both assuming that both would likely give an answer since the Eleanor one seemed to not fully understand everything like the Lilyanna one clearly did, in fact, Sianna was likely to ignore the former opting to pay attention to the latter.
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