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[Ajaccio Skey]

Ajax had been sailing the pacific with his dad when the letter had come, much to his surprise and his dad's surprise. Ajaccio hadn't for a moment thought it would be him as prefect, and it seemed neither had his father. His school letter always came with little fanfare, Ajaccio's mother got the books for him and Lumio would give them to him on the train, but this, this was different, this had felt different. He had almost wanted to immediately come back to New Zealand but he had known it wasn't the time. Perhaps he was overthinking it, but it felt like such a physical thing, he was a prefect, at a school he went to. He was no longer the new kid, bouncing in and out of classrooms without friends but with a wealth of knowledge. He had friends, good friends. He had lost friends, he'd had crushes, he had crushes. His life in New Zealand at school was so much more tangible and the badge more than anything brought it to his attention. Now he was a prefect, now he led a club, now he was responsible for things and could just leave. He was glad for the cool winter air, the breeze which swept through his long hair, he always missed the outdoors while at school, and he was glad for the moment of peace to just enjoy the outside. ​

 

[Eoin Armati]

With his notebook and a pencil under one arm and towel slung over his shoulder, Eoin wandered down towards the lake in his swimming trunks, wearing a jumper to keep himself warm as he made the walk down. He was planning on going a little further out this time, eager to see what new sorts of fish and aquatic plants he might be able to find away from the safety of the shore. He'd been a little hesitant the previous year, not really knowing what was out there and what weird magical beasts he might find, but now he was one year older and one year more familiar with the lake so he felt he was ready to do some proper exploring. And while it was a little windy and cold, he wasn't completely bothered by that having more or less grown up in the ocean with his father. If there was one thing he could handle, it was cold water. He hadn't really expected anyone else to be out by the lake, so he was a little surprised when he got there to find someone else already there. "Hey," he offered as a simple greeting as he started to put his things down in the shade of a tree, already slipping out of his shoes, "What are you doing down here?"

 

[Ajaccio Skey]

Ajaccio looked away from the spot at the lake he was staring at to the young boy beside him that greeted him. He gave a little smile, and remembered the boy as a ravenclaw, not first year but not third year likely. He didn’t really know his name but he to be getting into the water. ”I’m getting some air,” he said, ”Spent the break on a boat, so I’m taking some time to re-adjust to land and solid building life,” it had been a little arduous as a holiday, given he’d be up most of the daylight hours and some on and working on the boat but nice and fun. ”The water’s going to be freezing,” he commented seeing that the boy was appearing to want to go into the lake. He knew someone had drowned in that years before, so he was kind of glad he was here, if this boy intended to go in, at least Ajax could keep an eye out for him.​

 

[Eoin Armati]

He wasn't really planning on actually paying much attention to the older boy responded with, but he would be lying if he said his interest wasn't suddenly piqued when he brought up spending the break on a boat. "Were you on like... a cruise or something?" In a way, his break had been pretty similar and he'd spent a lot of time out on his father's research boat helping out with things as he usually did during the school holidays. It had gotten to the point in his life where he was simply far more comfortable in the water or our a sea than he actually was hanging around on dry land. But he certainly wasn't complaining, he generally preferred being in the water and surrounded by it than stuck cooped up inside. "I know," he offered simply as he finally stripped out of his shirt, a small shiver running down his spine at the sudden difference in heat, but he didn't mind it, bending to pick up his notepad again. He'd gotten an older student to put a waterproof charm on it for him so he could take it under the water and record things more accurately.

 

[Ajaccio Skey]

Ajaccio gave a half shrug, ”No, not really, it was a sail boat, my dad’s a travel journalist so we go to place and do “out there” things so he can write about them,” he explained, it was a pretty muggle job really, they did things the muggle way, with his dad being fairly popular on some social medias, and him always trying to get Ajax to be more active on them too. He continued to watch as the boy just started to go into the water, noting the notepad and giving a little smile. ”Are you interested in the wildlife of the lake?” he decided to ask, thinking that it did seem a little obvious that he was doing something or something of the sort. ”Or are you mostly interested in the great eel of the lake?” Ajax had heard about it but had yet to see or hear anything from it. ​

 

[Eoin Armati]

"That's cool," he admitted with a smile and a nod of his head, "I spent most of my break on my dad's research boat. He's a marine biologist and I've been helping him out since I was little." His father often told him that he knew how to swim before he even knew how to walk properly. It was probably why he just felt so comfortable in the water and never felt like he was in any sort of danger. Which was possibly quite reckless of him as he knew how dangerous water could be. But he pushed those thoughts back, holding his notebook tightly as he started to wade into the water, taking a moment to adjust to how cold it actually was. While he had known it was going to be cold, it was something else to actually experience it. "A little bit of both, I guess," he admitted as his dark eyes swiveled back to the older boy, "I just want to see everything there is to see in this lake, research everything, you know?"

 

[Ajaccio Skey]

Ajaccio nodded as the boy told him what he’d been doing, which hadn’t been too dissimilar from his, though Ajax hadn’t spent most of his breaks on it since he was little. ”Wow that’s cool,” it also helped explain why the boy was probably comfortable getting into the water here when it was certainly cold. He nodded, if his dad was a marine biologist in the same way that Ajax loved travelling because of his father, he could imagine this boy like that because of his. ”I wonder how documented it is,” he agreed, ”Aside from just the giant eel,” Ajax said, ”Have you asked any of the herbology professor’s for some gillyweed?” he asked. He knew it was something they would eventually learn about in herbology but Ajax already knew what it was from his own reading and curiosity. ”It allows a person to breathe underwater, even gives them gills, it works for up to an hour. There’s also the bubblehead charm, but i’m not sure which is the more reliable,” he told him, it would help him in his research, if he was able to spend longer in the water.​

 

[Eoin Armati]

Yeah, what he got to do over the school breaks was pretty cool. Not many other kids his age got to go diving and explore the deep expanses of the ocean. And one day, he wanted to grow up and be just like his dad and spent all his life out on a boat and exploring every inch of the ocean and documenting all sorts of creatures and plants which had possibly never even been discovered before. "That is what I am planning on finding out," maybe he could start his breakthroughs young and find something in the lake that no one had known about before. But when the older boy brought up gillyweed, Eoin pressed his lips together for a moment. "No," he responded with a shake of his head, "I don't really think I want to have gills." And while he was sure it would be quite fascinating to experience being able to breathe underwater through gills, he didn't quite like the idea of it happening to him. "And I haven't learned that spell yet," which was annoying, but a couple more years and he would be able to make the most of it. For now, however, he was just going to stick with holding his breath. Which he was actually pretty good at doing.

 

[Ajaccio Skey]

Ajaccio nodded as the boy confirmed that was what he was doing. He couldn’t blame him for not wanting to get gills though Ajax thought it could be quite fun. It could certainly be interesting. But in saying that he wasn’t desperate to try it either. He nodded, ”You don’t learn it till like fourth year,” he said. ”You also need to be good at charms and concentrate well, apparently it can fail while you are in the water,” he wasn’t sure that this would fill the boy with much confidence, but he thought it always went without saying that you should be careful in the water, whether knowledge able or not. ”I’m Ajax by the way, we’re in the same house,” he introduced to the boy, it felt a little odd to not know this boy’s name. ”I know you probably don’t want it, but I’ll probably sit and keep watch, make sure you don’t run into any problems,” Even if he wasn’t a prefect he would’ve still be keen to do this.​

 

[Eoin Armati]

It was disappointing he was going to have to wait that long, but that was just how it was. But it would be so much more useful for him if he could just learn it early. "Yeah, I guess I'm just going to have to wait a couple of years before I can make any use of it myself," but you could bet the moment he had mastered the spell he was going to be using it all the time, certainly not passing up the opportunity to go even deeper in the lake and see what was really down there. He was neck-deep in the water and having to wade to stay above it at this point, though he was still paying attention to the other boy, smiling slightly as he introduced himself. "I'm Eoin," he introduced himself, "But you really don't have to stick around if you have other things to be doing or anything." Though, admittedly, he wouldn't mind the extra company just in case something did go wrong. Drowning was not really something he wanted to partake in.

 

[Ajaccio Skey]

Ajaccio nodded and smile, he wouldn’t offer to do it, given that with his prefect badge he was probably supposed to be a bit more responsible and letting a younger student swim in the lake with his spell probably wouldn’t be that. He nodded as the boy introduced himself, and then just waved the comment away. ”I don’t have anything else to be doing, I specifically carved out some watch the lake time, so what does it matter if I’m also half watching out for you,” he shrugged. He really wouldn’t mind, he had come out to the lake to let his mind think about and go over the fact he was a prefect now and what that meant, he could do that easily while making sure that one of the younger kids didn’t drown, and really he’d do that whether a prefect or not. He didn’t want to ever take his cameras into the water but he couldn’t help but think if they were the kind of pictures they would be able to get.​

 

[Eoin Armati]

Eoin supposed if the older boy didn't mind and didn't have anything else important to be doing, then it was a bit of a comfort to have him there on the surface making sure that nothing went wrong while he was under the water. "Alright then, I guess," he just offered with a smile, "Be back in a couple of minutes then." Sucking in a big lungful of breath, Eoin finally plunged his head under the water, turning and starting to swim down, making sure to keep a tight grip on his notebook as well. Thankfully the water wasn't too deep here and it only took a couple of strokes to reach the bottom, and when he did he was quick to find an interesting-looking plant and some water bugs crawling all over it. Eoin just watched for a moment before bringing his notebook to the front, thankful the waterproof charm was holding as he started to sketch what was in front of him. Though his lungs couldn't hold out for much longer and he barely had time to finish before he was pushing off from the ground and heading back to the surface, head breaking the water a moment later. The older boy was still there, just as he said he would be and Eoin smiled. "God, I can't wait to learn that bubblehead charm."

 

[Ajaccio Skey]

Ajaccio nodded and watched as the boy went under the water. Ajaccio was wondering what he might do if this boy got into trouble in the water. He was a fair swimmer but he wasn’t sure how good he would be pulling or helping someone ashore. Ajax had to trust that this boy knew what he was doing and knew his own limits so wouldn’t get into a situation that required Ajax of all be to be the one to help him out. Ajaccio let his mind wander a little but he remained half focused on the water and where the boy had gone. It wasn’t long until the boy came back up and he gave a little smile. ”It’ll be a useful spell for you,” he agreed with a little nod. He was sure that when this boy learnt that spell it would be very useful to him. ”So what sorts of things are you noting?” he asked with a curious air, he wouldn’t need the boy to tell him immediately, if Eoin was intending to go right back under the water.​

 

[Eoin Armati]

When it came to Hogwarts and magic, it was not much of a secret that he wasn't thrilled to be here. In fact, he would be a lot happier at literally any other non-magical school back where he could be close to his family again and not be here all by himself. It was incredibly rare that he ever used magic outside of the classroom, let alone even had his wand on him. But when it came to the bubblehead charm, that was about the only bit of magic he was looking forward to simply because it would allow him to spend ages under the water without the bother of an oxygen tank or a snorkel. "Probably the only spell I'll ever use," he agreed with a small smile, "But I'm just documenting anything interesting. Fish, bugs, plants. I want to document everything that lives under the water,"

 

[Ajaccio Skey]

Ajaccio gave a little laugh and smiled, ”Might be worth while to learn like a flare spell that could alert people if you run into trouble,” he said, but he was mostly sure that if the boy mastered a bubblehead which it felt like he would then that would be enough. ”Have you found a lot of differences between this lake and any other fresh water lake in New Zealand?” despite living there, Ajax had never spent too much time in new, not even travelling in the country so he had no idea what it might be like. If it would be different or mostly the same, and he was kind of also assuming that Eoin mostly stayed in new zealand and knew muggle fresh water creatures here too.​

 

[Eoin Armati]

He considered it for just a moment, "Yeah, maybe." While he didn't think he was going to need it, it was never a bad idea to be prepared just in case the worst happened. Though that would depend on someone even being around to save him in the first place. It was probably more useful to learn the spell that was going to save his life. "I don't really know. I mean, I don't really have access to a lot of freshwater back home to compare. My dad only focuses on the ocean and I've only ever lived by the ocean all my life." This was the first big and interesting lake he was spending any actual time around to study.

 

[Ajaccio Skey]

Ajaccio nodded in understanding, hw knew that fresh water creatures and salt water creatures were very different. He was sure that it would be good to develop the skills in a safer fresh water of the school lake, but it was to be different. ”That must be pretty cool, to always live by the water. Was it always by the same water?” The teen smiled at him. He’d lived in a good many places, sometimes by the ocean sometimes by a sea. He had never paid much attention to it. He didn’t say much else, just looked back over the water thinking about the places he’d been and lived. He obviously lived at hte school now, he went on holiday to other places. He didn’t know if when he left school if he would want to keep moving around or have a central base like school and only go to places occasionally.​

 

[Eoin Armati]

Eoin grinned a little, "Yeah, it certainly explains why I'm always more comfortable in the water than on dry land, at least." He didn't think he could survive if he was out of water for too long. Once he had graduated and found his own place he knew that he would need to be right near the water to feel comfortable, not to mention he was planning to go into marine research himself just like his father. "No, before moving to Darwin three years ago, I lived in Ortona. That's in Italy." He had been born there and even now he missed his home country and somewhat resented his father for moving them here in the first place.

 

[Ajaccio Skey]

Ajaccio had to agree with Eoin’s statement, it made sense why he was more comfortable in water than on dry land. He gave a wide smile as the boy mentioned two places he knew. ”Oh for real, I’ve been to Ortona twice, admittedly it was a while ago, and we were only there for a day before going up the Monte Amaro and then passed through it to go to the Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga,” he told him. He managed with the Italian words okay, but of all the languages he’d picked up over the years, italian wasn’t one of them. ”Beautiful place. Darwin is nice too. Can get very hot there,” He told him. He wondered which Eoin preferred, ”Must’ve been quite a big change for you,”​

 

[Eoin Armati]

Eoin's eyes lit up with surprise when Ajax told him that he had actually been to his place of both a couple of times. "Really?" You could hear the surprise in his voice. When telling people where he came from, he doubted many people would even know where it was on the map, let alone actually having been there themselves. "That's really cool, you must have seen a lot of the world." Something he could find himself being a little jealous of, but not too much. He was a boy who usually preferred the comfort of home over being in a strange place he had never been before. "But yes, it is beautiful," he could agree with that one easily, nodding his head as he smiled, "It wasn't easy to move away. I didn't even really want to, but I didn't get much of a say in the matter. I wonder where I would have ended up going to school if I had stayed there though."

 

[Ajaccio Skey]

Ajaccio nodded as Eoin seemed to ask with surprise in his voice if he really had been. ”Yeah, real nice part of the world,” he knew he could say that about a lot of places but he did honestly think it was a good and fun part of the world. He nodded at the statement, ”More than most probably but still less than some,” He retorted he didn’t mind the life he had led, being in one place all the time was odd and though he was used to it now, it was still a bit weird for him. ”I can’t imagine it was easy to move away from,” Ajax said and he really didn’t, he’d moved so often in his life that it was a non-issue for him in a way that he knew it was an issue for others. ”I mean, maybe you’d have ended up at Beauxbatons, the french school. I heard it’s a very fancy school,” he said with a little shrug, since he had never been he had no idea. ”Hogwarts is a good school though,”​

 

[Eoin Armati]

All this talk about his home country was starting to make him feel homesick. Not that he didn't miss his old home every day of the week, but he never really got the chance to talk about where he had grown up. So it didn't hurt as bad. But floating here in the lake and getting to talk about Italy and the life he had been forced to leave behind made the ache really start to become noticeable in his chest. "Must be cool though," he offered, trying to move the conversation along in the hopes the ache would go away again, "Getting to see so much of the world like that. Do you know if you're going to keep traveling once you graduate? Or do you think you'll settle down somewhere?" Eoin himself was still uncertain as to whether he was going to stick here once he had graduated or if he would run off back to Italy. Regarding Hogwarts however, the boy frowned a little, "I guess it's alright."

 

[Ajaccio Skey]

Ajaccio considered the question it was entirely what he was unsure about if he would settle down as his mother had done or keep travelling as his father had done. He liked travelling, he liked being able to see different places, but it was nice to have a set home, to be able to have more things and friends were nice. Travelling with magic would maybe take care of his stuff but it wouldn’t help with friends. He gave a little shrug, ”I don’t know, it’s kinda nice to have roots,” he said. He pushed his own feelings aside and just looked back at the boy with a little smile. ”Have you found much of interest yet today?” Ajaccio knew he was probably distracting the boy a whole lot so he maybe wasn’t able to see as much as when Ajax wasn’t here.​

 

[Eoin Armati]

If he was lucky, maybe he would be able to drop out of this stupid school early and go back home and finish off his schooling in some nice and ordinary muggle school, where he didn't have to worry about magic and carrying a wand around. But it was unlikely, it didn't seem as though his parents were going to be moving back anytime soon and they actually seemed to think it was best if he stayed at Hogwarts. Apparently, this was where he belonged even if he told them at every opportunity he hated it and hated magic equally as much. They just didn't understand. "I guess," he offered, though he could see the appeal of not having any roots and just living free at every moment. "But no, not really. I found an interesting-looking plant and some bugs on it," he smiled, holding up his notepad above the water with his sort-of-alright drawing on it, "But that's about it at the moment."