Maggie had always enjoyed her birthdays, even if she hadn't always done something on them. It was like it was the one day that it didn't matter what she wanted or what she wanted to do, she had the perfect excuse to get away with it. When she was younger it had been fun, and this would be the last time she would celebrate her birthday at school before graduating. The seventh year was spread out on the floor in front of the fireplace, lying on her front and drawing. Papers and pencils scattered around her, the Pufflehuff was deep in thought when she was approached by a little blonde girl, handing her a piece of seemingly blank paper. "Thank you," she said politely, although baffled. There were only a couple of people that would have sent Maggie anything, although they were also all Pufflehuff's themselves which didn't help to narrow down who it was from. She turned the paper over in her hand to confirm there really was nothing on it at all.
The blonde girl had wandered off pretty quickly, although Maggie couldn't help but notice she was stood with a friend, just watching her. Was this some prank on her by the younger years? She picked up her wand from the floor, about to cast a spell when she realised she'd picked up a brown pencil, and quickly swapped it back to the real thing without a glance at the two younger students out of embarrassment. No one would just sent her a note with nothing on it. She cast a charm to reveal any hidden messages, and sure enough the words began to appear in ink across the parchment. Maggie read the note, and then the riddle that appeared underneath, although she was still no closer to figuring out who had sent this. Never one to back down from a game though, Maggie tentatively picked up a pencil and jotted down some names of plants. She had a good list going, but Maggie wasn't sure which two looked the same. They technically all had aspects that were similar, didn't they? Green and leafy for a start. Confused, Maggie packed away her things, trying to figure out a different way of working out what plant she was meant to reference, without heading down to the greenhouses. Scooping up her belongings, she passed the two younger students on the way back up to her dorm, where she tidied up her art supplies as the question ticked through her head.
It wasn't until later in the day that Maggie was walking through the corridors on her way back from the Great Hall that she paused in her tracks. The riddle had been bugging her all day and she'd yet to find any of her friends either, so it was becoming frustrating being so in the dark. She had half a mind to seek out the students she usually saw wandering around the castle carrying their little plants friends, but she wanted to solve this herself too most of all so she'd resisted. Most of Maggie's tattoo's were fake, temporary pieces that were held on with nothing but a stain and some water; a simple thing made by muggles. She loved art and loved expression, and for the last few years had enjoyed decorating herself as much as she did paper. Since turning seventeen however there were now a few exceptions, marks that couldn't be washed off. One of which had been a Celtic cross on her arm, specifically chosen because of the meaning behind it. Maggie had never been one to consider herself to be strong, or have any real strength at all. The Pufflehuff glanced up to a portrait though that was dressed in black, vines and leaves swirling around her, with the golden cross pin on the belt of her dark robes. The woman for one was gorgeous, everything about her was a delight to look at, but it had been the portrait that had given Maggie new perspectives. Devil snare for one thing was incredibly strong in itself, with the power to strangle anyone that got stuck in it's path, but even that had a way of being defeated and everything had its weakness. And the Flutterby Bush, a plant that maybe wasn't quite a strong in the same way, but still had the power to adapt itself. Strength wasn't all about whether or not you could physically overpower another thing, so much as find a way round the obstacle, and it had stuck with the Pufflehuff for a long time after realising it. Whoever wrote the riddle would have surely known about the symbolism she saw in the painting, and a smile appeared on her face as connected the dots. "Excuse me?" she asked the woman, who was dancing around the two plants as though she had the power to command both at will. She never seemed to get trapped by either of them. "Do you know anything about a riddle?" she asked, hoping she'd come to the right conclusion.
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