Open On a Mission

[Augustus Westwick]

Augustus had always preferred the outdoors, but at Hogwarts he could often be found at the lake for a different reason. In his first year he'd seen something in the lake, a large creature. Over time, he'd heard more and more students mention similar events, and Augustus was fascinated by it. He'd gone out of his way to read books about underwater creatures, but still had no real idea what the creature was. His own view of the creature had him thinking it was some sort of underwater serpent, but one at the size he'd seen seemed not to exist. At least, to the knowledge of people writing the books he'd been reading. Augustus was thrilled at the idea of discovering something new, and had decided that in this year he would try his best to learn more about the creature on his own. The first thing he had done was to buy some binoculars, and Augustus was now ready to try them out. He stepped into the lake after kicking off his shoes and socks and walked into the water until he was standing knee deep, seemingly not to care about his trousers getting wet. He pressed the binoculars to his eyes and looked over at the depths of the lake, hopeful that he'd spot something interesting. Or really, anything at all.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

The lake at school was nothing like the lake at home. It was too big and too stoney in places, it even smelt different than the one at home. But Sawyer missed standing on the little dock out the back of their house down South and just watching the water go by, so the school lake had to do. It was still pretty chilly out, so Sawyer was surprised to see that someone was swimming already. Or, not swimming as it turned out to be, Sawyer noted as he settled himself on the lake bank, watching the boy wade out into the water in his clothes with a pair of binoculars. "Are you bird watching?" Sawyer called out, unable to hold in his curiosity. He'd originally come here for a little quiet, the homesickness hitting harder this year than it had last, but someone wading out into the lake with binoculars was a good distraction too.

 

[Augustus Westwick]

Augustus was focusing all his attention on the lake, looking at the ripples of the water to see if he spotted anything irregular. He didn't so far, but he was starting to wonder if there was a dark shadow in the distance or if the was just imagining things. He jumped at a sudden voice, nearly dropping his binoculars into the lake. He turned around, lowering the binoculars slowly. "Uh. No." He said, feeling his cheeks heat up a bit. He wasn't sure if he should say what he was doing, so he just waited quietly for the boy's next reply.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer waited for a beat when the boy answered him, them both staring at each other quietly as the other boy lowered the binoculars. "Oh.. Okay?" Sawyer eventually said, glancing out at the lake where the boy had been looking and back at him. "Are you.. fish watching?" He offered instead. Now that he was looking at it, Sawyer was pretty sure he recognized the older boy from around the Ravenclaw tower. He was one of the older boys who did weird stuff all the time and didn't talk much, if he was remembering correctly, which seemed about inline with what was happening here.

 

[Augustus Westwick]

Augustus saw the boy was a bit confused, which was something that Augustus was pretty used to. He tended to confuse people. "No." He said slowly. "I'm looking for the eel." His eyes widened a bit, realizing the boy might not have heard of it. "There's a giant eel in the lake. Or a snake, I still think it might be a sea serpent." He said, glancing back over at the water. "I've seen it, but only from afar. So..." He gestured to the binoculars. "I thought these might help me identify what it is..." He explained quietly.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer had heard mention of there being something in the lake, but the verdict seemed to be out on what it actually was. "How big are we talking?" He asked, finally getting back to his feet and walking hesitantly closer. "Like, this?" He held out his arms by about a metre or so, raising an eyebrow and extending it a bit wider to something a bit bigger than average eel size. There were eels about the lake back at home and they kind of grossed Sawyer out in a fascinating way if he was being honest. It would be pretty typical for some school myth about there being just regular eels in the lake somehow turning into there being a lake monster, though the Westwick kid said he'd seen it, if he was a trustworthy witness.

 

[Augustus Westwick]

Augustus half wished the boy would leave him alone so he could focus his attention on finding the serpent or eel, but it was also sort of refreshing to meet someone new who seemed interested in what he had to say. The boy asked how big the creature was, and then held his arms out wide. Augustus shook his head almost solemnly. "Much bigger." He said seriously. "It is gigantic, if what I saw of it is any indication." He said, glancing back over the lake.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer nodded vaguely when the boy mentioned just how large the supposed lake monster was, still not sure he believed it. After a beat, Sawyer shrugged, toeing off his shoes and rolling up his pants so he could wade out a bit into the lake. It was nice to be in the water, even if it was only part-way up his shins and still pretty cold, and Sawyer wiggled his toes a little in the mud of the lake bed before looking back out at the water. "Don't you think you'd have better luck looking for a lake monster in the actual lake? It's not like it needs to come up for air or anything."

 

[Augustus Westwick]

Augustus had expected the boy to brush him off, or at least leave him to his weirdness by himself. What he hadn't expected was the kid to join him in the lake, and he looked at him in surprise for a moment. "Well," He said hesitantly. "Yes, but I don't have a boat or raft, and swimming out there seems unwise." He admitted. "I heard a student once drowned in the lake. I don't think I want to risk that." He said with a small shrug. "Not until I know how to do a bubblehead charm, maybe." He added, thinking. "Or I could use gillyweed, but that is rare."

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer was rather surprised when the weird kid responded in a way that indicated he'd actually thought this through. He supposed the fact that he'd brought binoculars should have maybe already given that fact away, but Sawyer also knew a few people who just had binoculars laying around. Like his dad. Though Dad's were definitely rigged to leave black smudges all around your eyes if you used them, so maybe he shouldn't count. "Fair enough. Maybe you could bait it out? What do uh. Giant lake monsters eat? Kelp?.. Merpeople?"

 

[Augustus Westwick]

Augustus was enjoying this conversation, mostly because the boy seemed to be taking him seriously. Of course, there was always a chance he was still making fun of him and Augustus simply didn't notice, that had happened before. But he chose to believe the boy was genuine. His ideas were interesting, but not very practical. "I don't think I can bait it with more kelp than it can find itself over in the lake." He mused. "And I don't have any merpeople to bait it with." He paused. "I also have no reason to suspect it eats either of those things." He added. "Do you happen to know what regular eels eat?" He asked, it hadn't been something he had thought to look up before.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer shrugged when the weird kid shot down his suggestions. In fairness, they were pretty easy to shut down, though Sawyer had to pause when the only real complaint he seemed to have about the merpeople thing was just not having any on hand. "Can't argue with that, I guess," He said slowly, glancing at the boy before returning to looking out vaguely at the water. He did perk up when he asked about what normal eels eat. "Oh yeah, we have eels in the lake by our house. They're carnivorous so they'll eat pretty much anything they can catch and fit in their mouth. Bugs, snails, frogs, fish, etc etc," Sawyer said, ticking them off on his hand. He'd spent enough time by the lake back to be interested in what was going on in the water, though he purposely did not mention the frog and snail eating eels to Thistle or Felix in case it upset them. "You're really sure it's an eel then? Guess it makes more sense than a sea monster getting stuck in there," He said with another shrug.

 

[Augustus Westwick]

Augustus turned his head at the boy in genuine interest when he said he knew about eels, as they had them in the lake by his house. He nodded and listened with interest as the boy listed things off, wishing he had paper and pen to take down notes. He then frowned a bit at the boy's next question, before shaking his head. "I'm not sure, but it's what other students are saying." He admitted. "I have to be open for all possibilities. I still rather hope it's something more mythical, like a...big water serpent." He admitted. "But I can admit an eel is more likely, especially with some eye witness accounts. Though they aren't entirely reliable." He said with a shrug. "I'm Augustus." He then said, realizing it was probably polite to introduce himself at this point.