The Stairs Move?

[Graeme Fergusson]

There was a small problem that the young boy had discovered. Something that really wasn't covered very much. The stairs moved. That was clearly something that should be brought up fairly early in the day really. He wasn't annoyed but it was more than a little frustrating when he was trying to get from place to another and the stairs decided to go for a wander in a different direction. he had left the Hufflepuff dorm to go eat. And after managing to get something to eat from the kitchens, getting back upstairs had proved difficult. One flight had changed while he'd been walking up them, and therefore confused him. He simply couldn't find his way back to the floor with Hufflepuff common room. He had wanted to go back so that he could decide how to spend his day, but clearly the place had other plans. The school had other plans completely. He decided to just take the time to find the owlery to be able to send a little back home to his mother. Since it had been a few days since he'd last spoken to her, and his phone simply didn't work close to so much magic. A little frustrating but what could a person honestly do about that apart from just find other ways to contact family members. He felt a little bad for the poor owl who would have to make that journey from one small island to the other. Half way across the globe and then back. He didn't exactly want to do that, but he had no other option. But, it seemed he couldn't find that either. He had managed the sixth, fifth, and now he was sure that this also wasn't the floor he was looking for. He had found himself on the seventh floor. Which was very clearly not where the boy wanted to be. In fact he had nothing on the seventh floor that he needed. Nothing at all. He was a little frustrated. He couldn't understand why things had to be so complicated. Why couldn't things in this school be simpler.

Of course, the boy was sure that he wouldn't be the only person with the same issues as him. He wasn't the only kid who came from a relatively small background in magic to a place like this. He stopped outside the window and let out a small sigh. He still wasn't used to not seeming his homeland. He was slowly getting more used to New Zealand. It was nice, he had to give it that. He just missed his home. Moving away from the window the boy looked around himself. He wasn't even sure what was on this floor. What sort of classes were on this floor. What floor was this? He knew he was pretty high up from the way it looked from the windows, but that was the only thing he could tell. Walking along the corridor, he noticed a girl, with brownish/red hair walking not too far in front of him. Maybe this girl was even Scottish, if that hair was anything to go by. "'scuse me!" He said catching up to her with a friendly smile. "I know this is gonnae sound a wee bit strange, but I'm a little lost" He said with a small shrug, "Cannae find ma way anywhere, wit floor is this?" He asked with a bright smile. Hoping she wouldn't mind his interrupting whatever she was doing. Hoping that she knew what floor it was and where he would find his way to the owlery and then back downstairs.
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[Zinaida Zhefarovich]

Zinaida rubbed her aching stomach soothingly as she tried to convince her stomach as best as she could, that she was sorry for having eaten as much pumpkin pie as she just had. Zinaida wasn't sure what had overcome her, but as soon as that pie appeared her animal instincts had taken over. "I promise I will never eat another piece of pie as long as I live! Please just stop huuuuurting!" Zinaida silently pleaded with her stomach. Though the red-head was pretty sure that the stomach had no feelings nor could it listen to what she was saying, but she felt like trying might help at least. Zinaida really had no idea where she was going either. Zinaida's stomach hurt too much for her to focus on much else. Perhaps walking off the pain might be the best idea in the first place. Then she wouldn't weight a hundred pounds more the next morning. Next time there was pie being offered, Zinaida would make sure to skip that meal, otherwise she might try to eat the whole pie again. Zinaida's stomach rumbled unhappily beneath her fingertips as she waddled through the corridor, having no idea where she wanted to go or what she wanted to do other than to soothe her angry stomach. Apparently, someone else had a better idea in mind for her.

Zinaida flinched at the sound of a voice, not expecting anyone else to be up here at this time. "Whoa! You scared me!" Zinaida explained as she turned around to greet the stranger. Apparently he was lost. The funny part to Zinaida, was that this was like the third time this has happened to her. Perhaps she looked like the type of person that knew where she was going. Zinaida couldn't help but smile a little bit at the boy's accent. It was weird, but at the same time adorable. "Ehehehe, what an adorable accent you have! Sorry, but we're on the seventh floor...I think. Don't quote me on that, but I'm pretty sure that's where we are." Zinaida nodded in affirmation. Sometimes Zinaida wandered off to the point where she had no idea where she was anymore, so she didn't want to get this poor boy even more lost than he already was by giving him the wrong directions. Zinaida had half a mind to tell the headmistress that she needed to start giving maps to all the new students. So many of them were good at getting lost it would seem. ​

 

[Graeme Fergusson]

The boy had been confused from the very start of the day. He had never been in a school so big or complicated. His old school had been about three classrooms, and a hall that doubled as a play room and lunch room. It wasn't big. Nor had his house been that big. The airports he had travelled through to get to New Zealand had been big, but since he was so young he'd had someone looking after him during his time in the different airports. Which had been nice, but this school was massive, and he barely knew where anything was. He knew how to get to the Great Hall from Hufflepuff, and a couple of the classes, but that was all. Walking up the owlery that was supposedly in one of the towers, was a task in itself. He hadn't even really realised though it was fairly obvious that there was more than just the one tower. He had just kept walking hoping deeply that eventually he'd come to somewhere that he knew. Or that he would learn where he was from someone else. However, when both of those options seemed to not be possible the boy opted for the only other way of doing things in his mind. Asking someone. While his mother always went on about how men were terrible when it came to asking for directions, he didn't mind it. When he needed to ask, the boy would ask. He had thought the girl he was asking might be older than him, if even just a little but when she looked to him, he realised she was probably also a first year like him. Which didn't give him too much confidence. But she was really the only person about. Though he hadn't intended to scare her as he had apparently done. "Ah didnae mean tae scary you"

The girl was smiling as he spoke, then proceed to say he had an adorable accent. His accent had never been called adorable before. Harsh, difficult to understand, not exactly english were what others preferred to call it. Never adorable. He suddenly felt just a little bit self-conscious. Did others think that of his accent? Here in New Zealand was his accent adorable? The girl continued speaking, saying they were on the seventh floor, but that she wasn't certain. He shrugged at her. "Your guess is gonnae be better than mine" he smiled at her. "Ma last school wis smaller than that courtyard oot front" He looked around them, "I wis lookin' fae the owlery" His accent stumbled slightly over the word owlery. As if unnatural for him to say, too much emphases on the r sound. He gave a small shrug. "Am Graeme, by the way. Nae clue where ah am, but no tae bothered aboot it really." He said, as a way of introducing himself to the other girl. "You mind geeing me a hand tryin' tae find the owlery?" he asked hopeful that she might help him. He smiled at her, hoping that she would be nice enough to help him out. But, knowing that she might have better things to do with her time than help him, but there was no harm in hoping.
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