Open The Dead Rock

[Liusaidh Styx]

Liusaidh was looking for things to do, though there were many more people at this school than she had ever interacted with before Liusaidh had found herself getting very frequently bored, perhaps she just need to interact with more people. But, really that didn’t matter at all. She was heading outside, the weather didn’t seem that bad, well to her it was close to what she was used to so she headed out to enjoy it. She arrived at the lake, and stared out at the depth of it. She then noticed the little pile of rocks and the little plaque that seemed to go along with it. ”Ew, gross,” she said loudly realising that it was to commemorate someone who had died in the water, they were magical, had he just been too dumb to figure out how to swim or how to use a bubble head charm. She scoffed at it and turned to look out at the water. It wasn’t like she could do anything to it. But stare, after all, it was just a bit morbid. ​

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

Flynn was finding more and more things that were horribly wrong with Hogwarts the longer he found himself searching around. First, there had been no suitable places outside the castle to skateboard, and then he had found that rose bush with a plaque stating some first year had died there. He was still slightly hoping that the second one had just been some horrible joke someone happened to think was funny to try and scare first years into behaving. But when he was walking next to the lake and heard some girl exclaim something was gross, of course, he was instantly interested. "What's gross?" He instantly questioned, excitedly wandered over to where the girl happened to be sitting. Maybe she had found some cool bug or fish or something. A lot of girls he knew tended to think things like that were gross. Though he really didn't see why, as far as he was aware, those sorts of things were just really cool. But then again, they were girls.

 

[Liusaidh Styx]

Liusaidh looked up as someone commented on what she’d just said, ”Some kid died in the lake, and there’s just a cairn here fae him,” she said pointing at it. It was just a little gross that they would have that, that it would be this close to the water, ”Ah mean he drowned ah imagine so it’s a bit close tae where he died,” she said before looking back at the boy that had joined her, ”Plus it’s just bit ae an eyesore,” She shrugged, but then moved away from it stepping closer towards the water near it. She felt like it was a pretty pointless thing, she was sure that the howgarts didn’t have commemorations like this one for all the kids that had died at it, though she could admit from the stories her parents had told that was likely because too many students had died at the school for that to be something they could do. ”Ah bet they dinnae have this stuff at the Hogwarts in Scotland,”​

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

He was horrified to hear that someone else had apparently died on Hogwarts grounds. This was supposed to be a school, wasn't it? So why were students dying here? "This is the second one I've seen," he explained, leaning over to peer just a little closer at the plaque before straightening up again, "There's one in front of this rose bush in the garden that says a first-year died as well." If he had been put off by the idea that one student had died on Hogwarts grounds, then he was incredibly put off by the idea that there had been two. After a moment longer staring at the little commemoration to whoever had apparently drowned, Flynn turned towards the lake, wrinkling his nose slightly as he looked out at the watery expanse. "If some kid drowned, you would think there would be some sort of... barrier or something so it doesn't happen again," but as far as he could tell, there was absolutely nothing stopping him from just jumping into the lake himself if he wanted to.

 

[Liusaidh Styx]

Liusaidh looked over to where he was pointing and then back at the one in front of her, ”Ach, it happens, ye know the other hogwarts has had a lot ae death,” Liusaidh said with a tone that didn’t convey that she was all that sad about the fact there had been a lot of death at that school, there was death at all schools, it was just a matter of when. The girl then laughed lightly at his word, ”Naw,” she said shaking her head, ”If ye’re dumb enough tae drown, when there’s a spell and a plant tae prevent ye then maybe its yer own fault,” she said to him, ”School dinnae need to block off a whole lake cause one kid couldnae swim,” she would hate the idea of being denied the ability to swim in the lake, she didn’t want to swim in the lake but to be denied it, because of someone else, that she wouldn’t have. Definitely not. ”Are ye scared ae the water?”​

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

He didn't know that much about the other Hogwarts to really comment on that, "Yeah, but didn't they have that big war?" It was a war, of course, people were going to die. As far as he was aware, the students who had died here had nothing to do with any sort of war. "I'm pretty sure that no one at my old schools ever died," this was supposed to be a school. A safe place, so why were people dying in the first place, accident or otherwise. And he didn't really like how this girl was being so carefree and unbothered about the fact that someone had gone and died in the lake. While it was not going to stop Flynn from jumping in himself, he was still a little put off by the idea. "Accidents happen," he did have to mutter with an uncomfortable shift of his shoulders. They didn't know what happened which allowed this kid to drown. "I'm not scared," he was rather quick to retaliate with that, "I was just saying that this place is basically asking for someone else to drown if they haven't put any precautions in place after the last time."

 

[Liusaidh Styx]

Liusaidh shrugged, she didn’t know if it was big, but there were just a lot of deaths, ”Theres a ghost ae a student and all,” the slytherin told him, she thought it would pretty fun to be killed in school and then be haunting the place, she’d always have so much fun with it. She would just annoy everyone, sort of like the ghost they had here. But she’d make it fun. Not gross. The girl shrugged at the statement, ”Ahm sure someone has and ye just dinnae know about it,” she had never been to any other school before Hogwarts, but she knew other schools would have had deaths, especially any old school. The girl nodded, ”Aye if ye’re dumb about it,” she replied with a shrug. She smiled at him, when he indicated he wasn’t scare, ”The precaution is we’re no dumb,” she said, ”And if yer no scared how about ye take a wee dip. No need tae go far just dip yer toes in?” ​

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

He didn't know much about Hogwarts Scotland, but he knew enough. "There ain't no student ghost here," not as far as he was aware, anyways. But you did have to wonder, if a student had died at the other Hogwarts and turned into a ghost there, then why weren't these students who had died here ghosts as well? It was not really like he knew the mechanics behind it to really have an answer, and thinking about it was just making his head hurt. "Pretty sure most schools don't have people dying at them," he just huffed with a shake of his head. At least, most Muggle schools. Magical schools were apparently different. And that was just a bit of an eye-opener for him and he wasn't so sure how he liked to idea of people actually dying at school. Could he die? "People who aren't dumb still die in accidents," he snapped out, a pang of hurt in his chest as he thought about the fire which had killed his parents. But he tried to swallow the pain down, standing up a little straighter as he was challenged. "That's hardly a challenge," he rolled his eyes, already kicking his shoes off with his feet. It was not like he was scared of some stupid lake.

 

[Liusaidh Styx]

Liusaidh rolled her eyes, ”No here, the other hogwarts,” she retorted. She had somewhat hoped that there would be a few ghosts of students at the school. But it would be a little boring after a while. She couldn’t imagine having to be stuck in a school forever, perhaps it was for the best that students didn’t become ghosts. She laughed a little at the statement, ”If yer schools open fae long enough someone will eventually die in it,” she told him, and though it was a rather gruesome thing to say she was smiling as she said it. The girl thought it was a dumb statement to think that smart people wouldn’t know better, but didn’t care enough about it to pursue it.. But she was happy when he accepted her challenge, happy when he took off his shoes and then seemed to go towards the water. ”Okay, if that’s no a challenge, ah dare ye tae get into the water until it reaches yer waist,” she smiled as she said it. She didn’t think the boy was scared but she was more than willing to push it too see how far she could get him to go. ​

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

"I know," he shot back rather quickly to try and defend himself, "I was just saying that there ain't one here." And if there had been a ghost of some dead student floating around then he wouldn't be incredibly comfortable about it. That was just weird. In fact, most ghosts were just weird and the dead should stay dead and out of the way. Not having floating reminders going about the place moving quietly through walls and scaring you in the middle of the night. "Maybe if they had some illness or something," he reasoned after a moment, "But not my drowning." Most schools didn't have anywhere students really could drown. Having a lake on campus was not a very common thing. While some had their own swimming pools and swimming lessons, there was always a teacher of a lifeguard to stop people from drowning. But out here by this lake, there was nothing of the sort.

His socks were quick to follow after his shoes and he had started to roll up the bottoms of his trousers when he heard the girl again. "I ain't wading in waist-deep in my uniform," he would just get all wet and uncomfortable, "It's not like I'm wearing my swimming trunks or anything."

 

[Liusaidh Styx]

Liusaidh smirked at the boy, ”Aye, sure,” she said, really making sure the fact that she didn’t believe him. But in reality she didn’t much care about it, it was more fun to pretend that she didn’t. It was just generally more fun to pretend with things like that. She couldn’t help it, it was just more fun and Liusaidh always went for the fun option, the fun option for her, not for others most of the time, but Liusaidh had never really cared about others. The slytherin rolled her eyes a little, she didn’t have any examples to prove him wrong, this was her first experience of school so she didn’t really know, she’d heard stories from the muggles in her town about it, but she didn’t have any examples and muggles weren’t to be bothered with anyway. She dept the smile on her face as the boy began getting into the water, ”Nothing will happen tae it,” she countered, ”The elves will clean it and dry it,” she told him, ”And listen if it gets ruined, ah’ll get ye new ones, ma family make robes, finest robes in all ae Scotland,” Liusaidh knew that just handing out robes wasn’t really what they did but she didn’t care and he didn’t know it. ”Come on, dinnae be chicken,”​

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

He knew he was right. If some student had gone and died at any of his old schools he was sure there would be warnings all over the place or he would have heard something. Or they might have even been a memorial like the one next to those piles of rocks telling everyone that someone had drowned on the school grounds And nothing this girl could possibly say was going to make him change his mind about that. She was just wrong and he was right. And he was pretty sure if a kid had drowned at any other non-magical school then she school would have just been shut down. "Something will happen to it," he countered with a shake of his head, "it'll get wet." That was still something, and Flynn didn't exactly want to wade waist-deep into the lake and end up wearing wet clothes. That was just comfortable. But when she called him a chicken, the first year straightened up just a little, "I ain't a chicken just because I don't want to get me trousers wet," he could already imagine the uncomfortable trudge back to the castle to even find a house elf to dry them off., "And if it ain't a big deal, then how about you jump into the lake with your clothes on."

 

[Liusaidh Styx]

Liusaidh rolled her eyes at him, why wasn’t he playing along. She’d learned that gryffindors did anything that was a challenge because they couldn’t resist trying to show off how much better they were. But this boy had questions and concerns and it was just boring. It did seem that calling him a chicken had a bit of an effect, ”Ah challenged ye first, maybe next time be quicker.” She replied, there was no way she’d be getting into the water, it was gross and she didn’t care to getting completely drenched but in her mind since she’d said the words to someone else it was for them to actually do anything, if he got into the water there was very little else that she would do besides perhaps leave him and the water. She wasn’t keen to get into it. ”Ah’m disappointed, ah thought gryffindor were supposed rise tae any challenge, and just whole heartedly jump into things. Ma da was clearly lyin’. Pity,” She said, she was really slowly forcing out the words making sure that she was implying he was less of his house because he didn’t do it. Even though eventually she’d grow bored of it. ​

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

The girl was so determined to get him to just wade into the lake with all his clothes on, but Flynn was not exactly very willing to go and do that. Sure, he usually liked a good challenge, but he wasn't an idiot and simply didn't fancy walking around for the rest of the day with wet trousers. "Just sounds like you're the chicken one," he simply shot back, trying to turn the tables on her. She could call him a chicken all she wanted, but if she wasn't willing to do it herself, then he felt as though he had every right to call her a chicken as well. Though when she thought that trying to use his house against him was suddenly going to make him want to just dive into the lake, Flynn did have to laugh. "If that is the case, then most Gryffindor's are just idiots then," he hardly had any house pride to mind saying such things. His house had never meant anything to him, it just meant what color robes he had on and where he slept and the end of the day. "But I am not going to just jump headfirst into this lake with all my clothes on just because I've been challenged." That was just something idiots would do, and Flynn was quite firm in the belief that he was not an idiot.

 

[Liusaidh Styx]

Liusaidh was not enjoying that he wasn’t playing ball with what she wanted but she laughed at his statement, ”Nah, it’s just no fun tae just throw somethin’ back at someone, like be inventive,” Liusaidh gave a little curious smile and hoped that at the very least if he thought she might do something, then he might do it. It was certainly clear that he wasn’t taking the house bait. She had maybe just been wrong about Gryffindor or perhaps the hat was…..yeah...she couldn’t be wrong about something, the hat was. Liusaidh looked at the boy, he certainly seemed gryffindor enough, he was passionate in his speech, ”Aye ah’ve always imagined Gryffindors were idiots and that’s no just cause ahm in Slytherin, ma whole family’s made up ae hufflepuffs,” she told him, ”Apart fae me and ma brother who shouldnae be named,” she giggled lightly at the statement, ”Maybe ah cannae persuade ye today tae go intae the water, but mark ma words before we graduate ah will,” that gave her seven long years to manage it. She could do that, it would be a fun goal, apart from if she got expelled before then which she’d never, she was a perfectly well behaved student after all. ​

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

A snort did come out of the boy's mouth at that particular statement, "I'm not saying it for fun, just proving a point is all." This girl could say anything she wanted about it, but if she continued to sit there and refuse to jump into the ake herself, then he was going to continue thinking she was a chicken instead. But just as nothing she could say to convince him to et his clothes wet, he doubted there was anything he could say to make her willing to stand up and wade waist-deep into the lake herself. But he supposed it mattered not in the end, he knew that he wasn't a chicken, just because he wasn't doing what she wanted didn't mean any different. "I'm not an idiot," he just pressed with a shake of his head, "Can't say the same thing for the rest of me house, though." It was not like he had overwhelming house pride to think any differently. Though she had seemed to forget that he had been willing to go into the water, and so to prove her wrong, he finished pushing his trousers as far up his legs as they would go before walking forward into the water, only stopping when the water was sloshing around his legs. Then he turned back to the bank, arms folded across his chest, "Satisfied I'm not scared of the lake yet?"

 

[Liusaidh Styx]

Liusaidh shook her head at him, ”Naw,” she told him in clear disbelief that he was saying it to try and spring the fun back on to her. She wasn’t having that, she wasn’t bothering with it. She didn’t think it was that big of a deal but she didn’t want to get wet so it was easier to continuously toss it back to him. She smiled as he assured her he was not an idiot but it seemed to her that he thought the rest of the house was, perhaps she could keep that information for a little later, that would perhaps come in handy, if she remember it. She wasn’t that good at remembering much. Most of it just went out her head because she didn’t have to remember any of it. Liusaidh did smile as he pulled up his trousers as far as they would go and then was in the lake. She erupted into laughter at the sight, he’d actually doone it, she didn’t know enough spells to make this any more fun, but he’d done it, and that felt like a victory. She was a little surprised that he had actually done it. In her mind she was fighting a losing battle. But it almost seemed like half relenting won it out. ”Yasss,” she cheered. ”How is it? Cold?”​

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

He had never had any problem with wading into the lake, the only problem he had with her ridiculous challenge was wading in up to his waist with his clothes on. But standing there now with the water lapping around his shins it really didn't bother him in the slightest. Just because some kid might have died in this lake didn't mean he wasn't going to touch the water or anything. Now that was just completely ridiculous. His eyes were just staring down at his feet for a moment, watching the water as it rippled outwards every time he shifted his feet. Though eventually he did lift his gaze when he heard the girl calling out from the bank again, shrugging his shoulders in an almost uncaring way. "It's a lake, course it's cold," it was hardly going to be like stepping into a heated pool. But it was a temperature he could manage so he wasn't exactly bothered about it. Though now he was standing there he did have to grin a little, folding his arms back across his chest, "But now I've proven I'm not a chicken, how 'bout you?" The only way he was accepting she wasn't a coward was if she joined him right this second.

 

[Liusaidh Styx]

Liusaidh giggled lightly watching as he confirmed it was cold, she was sure she’d probably find it warm in comparison to what she was used to. But, it probably was still cold. Liusaidh listened as he then began to try and get her to come into the water, throwing back the same insult she’d said to him, but she had no intention of going in the water, in her mind it was gross and apparently cold. ”Naw, ah’m alright here, bein’ a chicken,” she replied with giggles in her tone, she didn’t mind being called a chicken when she didn’t want to do something. In her mind there was no incentive to go into the water, nothing to gain from doing it herself. She had things to gain from making him do it, but she had nothing to gain from doing it herself, ”Ah dinnae wanna get ma robes dirty,” she couldn’t help the light giggle on her tone as she spoke, almost parroting back what he had originally said to her. ”Ah think ma work here is done,” she said, she stood up and it was clear she was intending to leave now she’d gotten what she wanted. ​

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

He was already getting used to the temperature of the water around his shins that he almost didn't notice that he was standing in the shallows of the lake. "Alright then, chicken," he just called out cheerily, shoving his hands into his pockets as he started to walk out of the lake again, hardly caring much as he bent to collect his shoes and socks where he had left them. "Yeah, I didn't want to get my robes dirty, either. Being a bit of a hyprocrite, ain't ya." But he hadn't gotten his robes dirty, he had only gotten his lower legs a little bit wet and he hardly cared about that. It was not like this girl had some big victory over him or anything, he'd been quite willing to go for a little paddle in the first place. As far as he was aware, he'd won the argument as he hadn't gone and jumped on in up to his waist in his uniform. "What work? You ain't even done anything," she was acting like she had bested him or something, "the only thing you've done is proven you're a big fat coward."

 

[Liusaidh Styx]

Liusaidh laughed as he called her a chicken again, she had not minded being called that and wouldn’t mind it. Truly she didn’t care about being called a chicken or anything else - besides perhaps mudblood because that simply wasn’t true. She watched as he got out of the water. He seemed to almost be a little annoyed by her joy. But she just shrugged, and continued to smile. ”Ah said ah’d get ye in the water and ah did,” she replied as if it was that simple, and ”Aye, what of it?” she said in response to the latter, she knew she wasn’t really a coward, and she knew she wasn’t fat, this boy was just frustrated that she’d one upped him. That she was just so superior and better and he was just nothing. ”Well, ah’ll see ye around Gryffindor, try tae no be persuaded tae dae anythin’ else dumb taeday,” she said as she began walking back towards the school, a smile on her face and skip in her step. ​