Open The Secrets of the Golden Eel

[Lucie Vernier]

Open after Eoin and Weston!

Even with Lucie's OWL year underway, the teen had many more important things to worry about. She had been at the school four years and still didn't know a thing about that Eel she saw in her first year. What other creatures lay within that lake? Would they ever see that Eel again? Lucie had organised a research opportunity for herself and anyone else that wanted to be involved in the student lounge. Small posters were put up along the corridors, informing everyone to join her if they wanted to help discover the true secrets of the Golden Eel. She had collected every book she could from the library all about magical creatures, the history of the lake, and even about golden eels and the magic they possessed. A couple of them she thought were a bit of blasphemy, but it was better than nothing. The teen hoped that other people would show up as more help would definitely be appreciated. The girl even had some snacks available, from pumpkin pasties to brownies, as she heard that snacks could be quite appealing to some. She began reading right away, before anyone even arrived, just wanting to get to the bottom of it all.

 

[Eoin Armati]

The lake was about the only thing at Hogwarts Eoin actually looked forward to anymore. He was still deep in his research, determined to map out the whole lake and record every single species living in there by the time he graduated. All of his free time away from classes was spent in the lake. By now he was an absolute expert at the Bubble-Head charm. And while his research time was now cut down thanks to the prefect badge pinned to his robes, he was still making the time. So, when he had noticed a notice put up inviting people to come and talk about the Golden Eel, of course he had been interested. He headed along to the student commons, a thick notebook with all of his research notes so far under his arm. He almost instantly spotted Lucie, offering a small smile as he wandered over. "I brought all my research notes with me, I've been doing some extensive research on the lake for years so I've managed to compile quite a lot of data that should come in useful."

 

[Weston Stirling]

There had been no question in Weston's mind that he would be going to Lucie's eel research event. He and Indi had been doing research of their own, but they hadn't uncovered much yet. Maybe someone else knew something they didn't. Their last attempt to find other eel witnesses hadn't gone well, but Weston was hopeful Lucie's event would turn up something. In a way, it had already been helpful to Weston. He hadn't known that Lucie was interested in the man-eating eel, but now he did.

Weston spotted Lucie almost immediately, and he made his way over, smiling brightly. "Hey Lucie!" His smile faltered when he realized who she was talking to. "Uh, hey, Eoin. Are you also here for the eel research thing?" Even though Weston was pretty sure that was the exact reason for his roommate's presence, he kind of hoped it was pure coincidence that Eoin was here. Eoin could be incredibly mean, and Weston didn't really want to get into another argument with him.

 

[Lucie Vernier]

When Lucie saw Eoin enter the room, her face lit up, glad to see a big pile of notes under his arm. "That would definitely come in useful!" she exclaimed, about to dive into it before another person entered the room. She noticed some tension between the boys, but tried to brush it off. They were going to work together today whether they liked it or not. "Hey Weston." Lucie said, gesturing for him to come over. "I have plenty of reading material here. Where do you guys suppose we start? We could first try to see what sort of creatures could survive in the lake, based on the temperature and acidity of the water, that way we could narrow it down a little. What do you think?"

 

[Eoin Armati]

Of course. Just when he thought he would be able to have a purely academic conversation with someone on a subject he was passionate about, Weston just had to arrive and ruin everything. He'd made it quite clear in the past that he thought his roommate was an idiot, and absolutely nothing Weston had said or done since coming to that conclusion had proved otherwise. "Obviously," he simply responded in a clipped tone, curling his fingers around his notes. He didn't really want to share all the effort he had put in other the years with someone who wasn't even going to appreciate it. So, he turned his eyes to Lucie. "Before we do anything, I want to confirm one thing. Do you think the eel in the lake is man-eating? If you do, then we have nothing to talk about." He was not going to waste his time arguing about whether the eel ate people, when it was very clear that it did not and Weston was still hung up on a rumor he had heard years ago.

 

[Weston Stirling]

Weston winced a little at Eoin's tone. It was pretty clear that his roommate still disliked him, but he tried to smile anyways. "Right. Cool." Weston was glad that Lucie was there, and he tried to focus on her question and the stack of books in front of them. A lot of the texts looked rather dull, and he wasn't sure why they needed to figure out what kind of creature lived in the lake. Didn't everyone already know it was an eel? But before he could point this out, Eoin spoke again, addressing Lucie. Weston pressed his lips together and glanced at the Slytherin, waiting for her answer. He still didn't understand why Eoin was so against the possibility that the eel could eat people. The muggle world had tons of man-eating aquatic creatures. And it was rumored the forest at Hogwarts held man-eating spiders. Last year, it had even held a man-eating snake. What was so unbelievable about a man-eating eel?

 

[Lucie Vernier]

At Eoin's question, Lucie raised an eyebrow. How could anyone think the Eel was man-eating? "If the eel was man-eating, we'd all be dead by now." she said, rolling her eyes a little at the thought of it. "I imagine it has been living there for centuries probably, and people have even swum in the lake a few times and it never even bat an eye. No, I don't believe it is man-eating at all. I think it's just... shy." Lucie liked coming up with these theories. It was definitely a good step in the right direction if they could narrow it down a little. The eel didn't like to be seen, but she definitely didn't think that was because it was man-eating. When she noticed Weston barely contributing, she was quick to include him. "What do you think, Weston? Can we rule out the fact that it is man-eating?"

 

[Eoin Armati]

He couldn't help but let out a breath of relief as it seemed as though Lucie at least had a good head on her shoulders and didn't buy into absolutely ridiculous rumors. "Oh, I completely agree," he added quickly with a nod of his head, "There is absolutely no proof that the eel is man-eating. If it was there would at least be some evidence, but there's nothing to corroborate the theory." And he had told Weston as much, but his dormmate had continued to stubbornly stick to the idea that some rumor he heard as a first-year was the truth. And then Lucie asked Weston his opinion and Eoin felt a smirk on his lips as he turned towards the other boy. "Yeah, Weston. What do you think." Maybe he was purposefully trying to set him up to look like an idiot, but as far as Eoin was concerned, he deserved it.