Open On Top of The World

[Oliver Harper]

Oliver and his siblings had been hanging around the park while their parents had errands to run in Brightstone. His brother was home for the break, which Oliver had been happy about if he was being honest. He had no idea where his siblings had disappeared off too, though if Ollie was being honest, he much preferred to be in his own world more than anything. The boy had been enjoying his time in the playground, and he had lost track of how long he had been at the playground for. Oliver had been playing around with the different things around the park. He was now on the monkey bars, hanging on them upside down, to be exact. He decided to hang there and count out loud how many seconds he was able to stay in that position for. "One.... Two.... Three..." Oliver mutters aloud as he starts to count off, as he watches his surroundings around him, watching kids and families playing amongst each other.​

 

[Amanita Castillo]

Spring could not come soon enough in Amanita's opinion. It was fun having Dad home at first, having her parents around to spend extra time was a nice change with them both at school all the time. But now, it seemed to just make the countdown for her own turn at school drag on longer and longer and Ama was eager for any chance to get out of the house on her own, even if it was just down to the park and back.

The monkey bars was a favourite spot, Ama was getting really good at swinging herself on top of them, though she paused today when she spotted another kid already hanging precariously from them.

"If you keep doing that all the blood will rush to your head and you'll die," Ama told the boy matter-of-factly. "Or well, pass out, hit your head, then die," she amended. "My mum's a nurse, so I know."

She gave a little grunt, jumping to catch the bars hauling herself up to the top of them. Gripping them tightly, Amanita pondered swinging upside-down just to prove she could do it too even if the idea made her hands involuntarily grip the bars tighter.

 

[Oliver Harper]

Oliver tilted his head to the side, seeing a girl about his age. He pouted slightly, more so at the fact that the girl had made him lose count of how long he had been hanging upside down for, but it hadn't been that long. "Aw man, you made me lose count" Ollie says sadly as he pouts before his face changes into something more of confusion and slight panic.

"You can die from doing that?" Oliver pondered; he didn't believe her until she mentioned that her mum was a nurse, which then caused him to hike himself up a little, his legs still hooked on the monkey bars, but now his hands were gripping onto a different part of the monkey bars, which now made him hang in an odd horizontal position. If what this girl was saying was true, he didn't wanna die; he was panicking a little just thinking about it. "You must know your stuff then if your mum is a nurse" Ollie says with a grin. He wonders what else this girl knew.

 

[Amanita Castillo]

"I made you save your life, more like," Amanita said with a sniff, shuffling to try and get more comfortable and immediately regretting it as she gripped the bars tighter, back ramrod straight to try and keep her balance.

"You can die from a lot of things," she said with a firm nod. "But yeah, all the blood rushes to your head and then you die, so you should be careful," she advised confidently. At least, she was pretty sure that was what would happen. Probably.

"Oh yeah, tonnes of stuff," Amanita said happily. "My mum's a nurse and my dad teachers herbology so like, if you did pass out and die I could probably find a plant to fix you or something." She punctuated the statement by flicking her ponytail over her shoulder before immediately slamming her back down to grip the monkey bars again. "I'm Amanita, by the way."

 

[Oliver Harper]

Oliver grins with a nod, slowly unhooking his legs from the bars until he is now just hanging on the bars with his hands. "Well, thanks oh so very much for saving my life," Oliver says dramatically, quickly yet dramatically placing his hand on his chest, before placing his hand back onto the bar, almost slipping from not doing it carefully. Well, that's another way to die.

Oliver continued to hang on the bars, swinging his legs back and forth a little, as he listened carefully to the girl, nodding his head along. "Woah, a dad that's a teacher and a mum as a nurse? You must be like super smart then" Ollie says with a small grin. Oliver knew he wasn't the smartest, so this girl to him seemed smart. He then grins happily at the girl as she introduces himself. "I'm Oliver, but you can call me Ollie if you want" Oliver says with a grin. He then processed a little with what the girl had said, his face morphing into confusion, his face tilting his face to the side. "How does blood even rush to your head?"

 

[Amanita Castillo]

Amanita watched the boy warily as he moved around the bars. Just watching him was making her feel like she was going to fall off by proxy. "You're welcome," she said primly.

She couldn't help but preen at the assumption, nodding. "Well, yeah, obviously. Though I'd like to think I'd be smart even if they weren't doing that for work too," she said, kicking her legs. "It's nice to meet you, Ollie, please don't fall off the monkey bars," she said, gripping the bar again as she watched him continue to move around. "Gravity, duh," she said, tilting her hand in explanation. "It's like pouring water and it all pools in your head and stuff. I think your vision even goes red. Because all of the blood and stuff. It's why you shouldn't play Quidditch upside down too. Also falling off, but that as well," Ama explained with a confident nod. That sounded right at least.

 

[Oliver Harper]

If Ollie was being honest, he was only partly listening to what the girl had been saying as he went back and forth across the monkey bars. "Woah! Red vision?! That sounds pretty neat. But uh, not good idea for your blood to be your eyesight," Ollie says with a shake of his head. Though he came back to what Amanita had mentioned about Quidditch. Oliver absolutely loved playing Quidditch, it's his favourite sport to play. "Playing Quidditch upside down does seem like fun" Oliver says jokingly with a chuckle, but thinking about it, it does actually sound a bit fun to play, but definitely dangerous.

 

[Amanita Castillo]

Amanita shifted her legs delicately as Ollie moved along the bars under her, trying to keep out of the way while still holding on tight. "Definitely not good," she said firmly. "It's like blacking out. But like. Redding out," she waved a hand, trying and failing to reach of a better, more medical sounding explanation and failing. "Not worth trying," she emphasized, eying Ollie suspiciously. He had the energy of someone who would do something like that just to see if happen. She could only save random kids on monkey bars so many times, she supposed.

"Oh, do you play, then?" Ama had been on a broom a few times and didn't mind it, but puttering around the back garden on a toy broom and playing Quidditch were two very different things. She didn't know how many other first years might already have a leg up on something like that and the idea irked her that she might somehow already be behind.

 

[Oliver Harper]

Ollie kept swinging up and down the monkey bars, taking small breaks in between. He gave her a mischievous grin when she had said it was not worth trying, like she already knew what he was gonna try and do later. "How'd you know?" Oliver whined a little with a small pout. Oliver then grins when the topic of Quidditch is getting into motion. "Nah, only for fun from time to time. I'd like to be on a house team like my brother when I eventually go to Hogwarts" Oliver says with a small smile. "Are you interested in Quidditch? Or do you like other things?"

 

[Amanita Castillo]

"Hmm," Ama tapped a finger to her lips, giving Ollie a shrewd once over. "Let's just say you have the air of someone with um. A lack of self-preservation," she said magnaminously. It was something her mum said about Dad a lot and it seemed right for Ollie too.

"I haven't played much Quidditch, but flying is fun," Amanita said, nodding when Ollie mentioned the house team. "I think I'd wanna be on the house team too, it seems cool." The idea of everyone knowing her and cheering her on the team was definitely something that appealed. She just had to get really good at it first. Minor detail. "I like listening to it on the radio and stuff, so like, I know all the rules and everything," she added, just in case Ollie thought she didn't. "What house is your brother in? What position does he play?" Maybe Ollie already had a leg up if his brother played, Ama needed to find out.

 

[Oliver Harper]

Oliver shrugged, pretending he knew whatever that word meant. All he knew was that it was a word he had never heard before and that it was long. Ollie nodded. "Flying is cool! I like the wind flying between my hair" Oliie says, as he moves his head like it was against imaginary wind, as he stood on one end of the platform of the monkey bars, taking a small break, holding tightly to one of the pillars. Oliver's eyes widened gleefully. "Is there a house you want to be sorted into?" Ollie tilted his head to the side a little. His brother was in Ravenclaw, but Oliver knew Ravenclaw wasn't suitable for him if anything. "Oh yeah? I like to keep up to date with games and stuff through the radio. Is there a team you're always rooting for?" Oliver grins. He never got tired of talking about Quidditch, it was one of his favourite things ever. "He's in Ravenclaw, alternate chaser, not the main team, but he's not fussy"

 

[Amanita Castillo]

Amanita had to laugh at Ollie's simple enthusiasm. Sometimes that was all that you needed she guessed, though something told her if Ollie did end up playing Quidditch, he might be visiting her mother in the Hospital Wing sooner rather than later. "It's a little nerve-wracking, but it's fun when you get going," she agreed, still not quite wanting to own up to only puttering around on a toy broom. There'd be plenty of time to get some real flying in later, she was sure she'd catch up quick.

"Well, they all have their perks," she said slowly. "I'd rather be in Slytherin. My mum was in Slytherin, my aunt, their dad was in Slytherin, and his dad was in Slytherin," she said, ticking them off on her fingers. "Oh, and my dad is Slytherin Head of House, so-" Amanita couldn't help but grin, checking to see Ollie's reaction to that.

Amanita shifted from her spot on top of the bars, her butt was starting to get a little sore but she wasn't sure she could get down gracefully with Ollie watching so she tried to ignore it. "I like the Kea I guess, or just any Aotearoa team that gets to beat an Aussie team. What about you?" It was a relief though to hear that Ollie's brother was only an alternate then. So he probably wasn't getting any major Quidditch pointers from there, then. "Oh. Good for him," she said with a placating smile.

 

[Oliver Harper]

Oliver nodded in agreement as he got back into swinging across the bars, the break being quickly over. "Yeah! It took me a while to get into the swing of flying, but eventually got there" Ollie says with a grin and nod. He remembered being on the toy broom for ages before eventually being able to properly fly. He was still a little nervous about the flying part, but he wasn't going to admit it, though. While he had enjoyed the flying, heights still scared him a little.

Oliver listened as she spoke, continuing to swing back and forth between the monkey bars. "Slytherin seems cool! My dad was in Slytherin too! I don't think that house is for me, though" Oliver says, though he stopped his swinging for a quick second, looking at her. "Your dad is head of house? Does that mean you gotta like, be on your absolute best behaviour?" Oliver asked the girl. He sorta understood that. His mum always wanted him to be on his best behaviour and expected so much from him. But that sounded so boring.

He continued to swing across the bars again. He thought for a bit on what his favourite team was. It was a bit hard considering that his family were always rooting for different teams. His dad was from Australia so he rooted for the Australian teams, while his mum was from New Zealand and of course, rooted for the New Zealand teams. "I dunno aye, It's a mixed bag between the Macaws and Woolongongs for me" Ollie says with a small smile and chuckle, after a wee while of thinking and decided to leave it at that.

 

[Amanita Castillo]

Amanita nodded along, pretending she totally got it. And definitely flew all the time. She’d have to ask if she could practice at home, though it wasn’t like either of her parents were very avid flyers. She could practically hear them telling her to just wait for flying lessons at school. It was so unfair.

“Oh cool, I’m pretty confident that’s where I’m going,” Ama said, kicking her legs and regretting it when she had to squeeze the bar tight again with her hands to stay balanced. It would be terribly unfunny if she gave Ollie so much grief about dying on the monkey bars and then for her to fall off herself. “You think you’ll end up somewhere else?” She squinted at Ollie and had to agree. She didn’t know him very well, but he didn’t exactly scream ‘cunning and ambitious’ to her.

She had to laugh at his question about her dad though, shaking her head. “Nah, more like he’ll have to be on his best behavior. Might have to be more careful about my mum, she works in the Hospital Wing and I’ll never hear the end of it if I accidentally jinx my ears backwards or something,” she said with a wince. Any magic experimentation on her part was going to need to be conducted very carefully…

“Ew, the Warriors,” Amanita scrunched her nose up, hoping Ollie could tell she was teasing. Mostly. She liked Quidditch well enough, but really only followed the rivalries for fun. “I guess you can’t help your Australian nature,” she said with a dramatic sigh.

 

[Oliver Harper]

Oliver nodded. "I'm sure you'd be sorted into Slytherin" Oliver says with a grin, without even thinking that maybe that may not be 100% true until they are at school and sorted, even though he couldn't really tell if she would be or not. It's not like he had the magic powers like the hat to sort her. The thought of that was pretty cool, though. Oliver shrugged a little, holding onto the bars. "I think so, I dunno what house though. I'm not really fussed, though. I don't think I'll be in Ravenclaw either, like my brother is" Oliver says with a small smile. While the idea of him being in the same house as his brother was nice, he was positive he wouldn't be in the same house as Theo.

Oliver cracked up laughing when Amanita spoke about her dad. He had found that statement quite funny if he was being honest. Though his eyes went wide when she then mentioned that her mum worked as a nurse there. "Woah, both your parents at school? At least you're not separated from your parents and get to see them when you can," Oliver says with a small smile. He wouldn't admit it, but he was glad to be away from his parents for a while. He didn't need to follow their dumb rules at home.

Ollie grinned at her small comment about one of the teams he had supported. "I know, i know" Oliver says with sarcastic solemnity. Oliver grinned. "Nopeeee, sorry"

 

[Amanita Castillo]

"Don't jinx me," Ama said when Ollie mentioned Slytherin. She didn't exactly believe in superstitions... But it couldn't hurt to be cautious.

She gave Ollie a thoughtful once over when he mentioned his brother in Ravenclaw, deciding to give a diplomatic shrug rather than her knee jerk response of 'hell not'. "Who knows, siblings can be really different though. I've got a little sister and I think we're nothing alike," she said with a knowing nod. Maybe Morchella would be having a similar conversation about this in a few years before her own year started. Though Ama's heart ached a little at the thought of her ending up anywhere but Slytherin with her.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool having them nearby, if I get homesick I just pop into the Hospital Wing or the Greenhouse," Amanita said with a smile, kicking her legs. "Does making writing home kinda funny though, though again I guess my sister would like a few letters. I'll have to be careful not to rub anything into her face, Dad already took a year off school so she wouldn't feel so left out and all." Ama got it, it was hard enough to be left behind during the year with only over nights or a weekend to see her parents. She wouldn't want Morchella to be gone too. Perks of being the oldest.

Amanita scoffed playfully at Ollie, miming very gently kicking at him as he swung past, careful to not make content less she took them both out. Aussies were not worth maiming herself.