Closed On Thin Ice

[Lysander Summers]

Winter had come, which meant a much-needed break from Hogwarts. Lysander loved the castle and all of the magical shenanigans that occurred within, but after spending the majority of his year there, he'd come to miss home and the rest of the outside world. The scent of Nana's cooking, or aunt Dallas' herb garden. The comfort of his own bed and the familiarity of his bedroom - all his old toys and books exactly where he'd left them before he'd left. He'd missed playing in the yard with the family's crup, or cuddling up with the kneazle on the couch, and missed bike rides around the nearby muggle town with his non-magical friends, who thought he was off at some fancy private boarding school learning how to be real smart. Even movie nights with Wendall were better at his house rather than trying to sneak into the Muggle Studies classroom to use their magical projector.

Though he was away from the castle for a while, Lysander was thankful that it didn't mean he was leaving everything about Hogwarts behind. He'd made a lot of new friends over the year, and for the first time got to hang out with them in a completely different setting. No professors or rules, no classes. Just fun. He had expected to only get to see the local kids, and was pleasantly surprised when he ran into Emma still hanging around New Zealand instead of being on the other side of the world already. Initially, he'd intended to show her around the Menagerie and play with some of the animals, but the moment they'd seen that a good portion of the harbor had been frozen over, plans changed. Lysander toed the edge of the glassy surface, curious to know whether it was the result of an atmospheric charm, or if the harbor had really gotten that cold as Winter came in. "How deep do you think it goes?" He asked aloud after a moment of staring into the ice. He glanced sideways at the red-headed girl. There was one way to see just how thick it was. "I dare you to step on it."

@Emma van Houten​

 

[Emma van Houten]

Emma had been glad to go home for break, but she had quickly found herself missing New Zealand fairly quickly. She had only gone to Hogwarts for a year, but it already kind of felt like she belonged there. Not that there weren't downsides to Hogwarts, like the boring classes and stuff, but the good sides definitely outweighed the bad. So when Fleur decided to head to Obsidian Harbour for some shopping, Emma had happily tagged along. It had only gotten better when she had run into Lysander, and she had told Fleur she would meet her later to return home. Emma liked spending time with her sister, but she could do that every day. Lysander lived very far away, so it was nice to hang out with him for now. It was strange to get used to the different seasons, she felt like she had only just adjusted to summer at home and now she was here in the winter again. Emma was bundled up with a scarf, hat, and gloves. At least there was one good thing about the cold, the ice. It looked so cool to see the water in the harbour frozen, and she and Lysander had been unable to resist checking it out. "I bet it's super deep. I bet there's mermaids in here." She said wisely. "And I bet if they're in a bad mood, they make boats sink." She added, her imagination already running wild. She grinned at his dare. "Fine, but I dare you to step on it TOO." She told him, right before putting one foot down on the ice. She slowly put more weight on it, then grinned. "See? It's thick enough." She said, though she didn't quite make the jump to having both feet on the ice yet.

 

[Lysander Summers]

"There's definitely mermaids here. I've seen them." Lysander said matter-of-factly. He didn't live too far from Obsidian Harbor, and with his fathers business there, it was where he had practically grown up. He'd often go swimming around with his sister during the Summer months, and he was fairly certain he'd seen some sunning merpeople themselves on some rocks further out in the ocean. It was way too far to swim out to say hello, but he'd watched them from the shore. They'd never seemed angry, and he'd never seen any of the boats docked at the harbor sink before, but it probably happened. He'd heard some wizard fisherman complain about a magic fish that cut up his nets or something before. It hadn't sounded like a mermaid, but he couldn't be sure. "Do you think they sometimes get frozen?" The boy wondered aloud. He was pretty certain merfolk didn't wear jumpers and jackets to keep warm, so did they get cold at all?

A small part of Lysander had hoped the ice would break and soak Emma for laughs, but when it didn't budge, he realised it was the better outcome. They couldn't have any fun with the ice if it broke. "Okay then, watch!" He said. He was determined to one-up her, and jumped onto the edge of the ice with both feet. Turns out, ice is slippery, and he skidded forward an extra couple of feet than he'd expected to. He threw out his arms for balance, and looked over his shoulder to where Emma was standing to make sure she was paying attention to him. "I bet you can't come out this far!" He goaded, if only so that he wasn't the only person at risk of falling over trying to walk back to solid ground.​

 

[Emma van Houten]

Emma looked at Lysander skeptically. "Have you really seen them?" She asked, frowning a little. She hadn't been sure about the mermaids, and it felt too good to be true that her friend happened to have seen them. But she cast a glance at the water hopefully, wondering if any were nearby. "No way, I bet they have magic to stop that." She said confidently. "Or they head to a warmer spot." She added. "Like birds." Emma looked as Lysander jumped onto the ice. She felt nervous as she saw him slip, but at least the ice didn't break. She grinned, her earlier nerves immediately forgotten. "Of course I can come that far!" She called after him, starting to waddle over the ice. It was slipper, and Emma's feet slid around a bit as she walked, but she managed in the end. She grinned and gave Lysander a tiny shove. "See?" She said proudly. Then she looked at the ice at her feet. She hesitated, then tapped at the ice with her foot. "Do you think it's sturdy here?"

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander huffed. "Yes!" He said, slightly offended that anyone would doubt anything he had to say. "I'm no liar." He lied. To be fair, he only told little funny lies. Like telling Alexei that the dragons at the zoo ate people if they got too close. He was sure if mermaids lived in a little lake at Hogwarts, they were definitely what he'd seen around the harbour, too. "There's a whole ocean full of merpeople! Probably millions of them. Where better to live than somewhere safe and hidden like here?" The boy reasoned. It made sense to him at least. "I bet there's an entire city right underneath us right now that goes way out! Bigger than Auckland!" He'd never thought about it before, but his eyes sparkled with the sudden idea that they totally had entire cities spread out all over the world that were so deep, no one could see them.

The boy watched his friend walk out without falling on her face, and laughed when she gave him a shove. Wendall would have totally slipped over if he were here. Sander was glad he had someone a lot less clumsy to hang out with for risky things like this. All the fun stuff was the most dangerous. He followed Emma's gaze down to the ice, watching her tap her foot. He shrugged and grinned back up at her. "I think it's could crack any second." He teased. "One big step and it'll just break apart...like THIS!" He shouted, pretending to stomp his foot on the ice in front of them to scare her. People skated on ice all the time, so in his mind, it had to be totally safe.​

​

 

[Emma van Houten]

Emma squinted at Lysander, and then nodded. "Alright, I'll believe you." She declared after a moment. "I hope we'll see one today!" She added, looking around hopefully. She nodded in agreement when he said that this would be a good place for mermaids to live at, and gasped when he said there was probably a whole city underneath them. She immediately crouched down on the ice, looking through it. She could only really see dark blue water, but if she tried really hard... maybe she could see a city? Emma practically pressed her nose onto the ice, sighing in disappointment when she realized she really couldn't see anything. Lysander was saying how the ice could crack any second, and Emma winced when he stomped on the ice. She scrambled to her feet clumsily as her feet slipped away on the ice. "Hey!" She said, looking at the ice quickly. It seemed to be fine, and she relaxed a little. But it was now hitting her that the water here did seem very deep, and that it would probably be very cold. A voice in the back of her mind that sounded a lot like Iris was telling her this was a bad idea, but as usual, Emma ignored it. "I bet if we do fall through the mermaids will save us anyway." She added. "I'm not worried." She lied.