Closed Throwing Rocks

[Holden Marshall]

Exploring the school so far was the only thing Holden really liked about Hogwarts itself. The lessons were boring and the people were... whatever. It was a relief being away from his family though - between his dad's neglect and Connor's disdain, the last couple of years had been miserable. Eric was the only bright spot, but one brother didn't make a family, and Penny had been away at school where he only saw her twice a year. Holden had been forgetten entirely, and at this point it felt like nobody would ever care about him.

But the castle grounds were pretty cool. He had rugged up in as many layers as he could, cursing the freezing Aotearoa winters as he made his way to the lake, looking out over its surface. He'd heard rumours there was a monster in there, and that would be a cool sighting. Sitting down by the lake he pulled his jacket tighter and picked up a few rocks, biffing them in and watching them plop through the water's surface. If there was a monster in there, this seemed the easiest way to summon it.

 

[Eloise Aster]

Eloise had been quite enjoying her time at Hogwarts so far. There wasn't anything in particular that stood out to her in terms of entertainment but it was nice. Even if she had to admit living under such different circumstances than she did at home had taken, and still took, some getting used to. Luckily, she had managed to find the art room which she knew was a terrific way of keeping up with working on her music and eventually showing her parents how she had improved when she would be back home during the break.

The one thing Eloise hadn't seen much of so far was the castle ground. The weather wasn't great yet which had caused her to spend most of her time inside in an effort to not end up looking like a mess. She couldn't have that. Still, she had been aching to go and take a stroll around the lake. There was nothing like a lake or even a beach close to their house back home so living next to one felt strange. Especially since she had heard rumours of creatures living in the lake. Perhaps she'd think twice before ever planning on taking a swim in it. As she strolled along the lakeside Eloise noticed one of her classmates throwing rocks and it immediately made her wonder if it was any fun. "Careful, you might wake up whatever is said to live in there." She said when she reached him, feeling like it would be impolite to just pass him by without saying a word. They had seven years to go after all and she was keen on making a good impression on all of her classmates.

 

[Holden Marshall]

Holden didn't look up immediately when he heard a voice, picking up another rock and hucking it into the lake. "That's the point." He said, looking up. He didn't recognise the girl who had spoken to him, but that didn't mean much in a school full of people who were still strangers to him. "Wanna see whatever lives down there. Reckon it's gotta be cool if there's a whole legend about it or whatever."

 

[Eloise Aster]

Eloise watched as the boy threw another rock into the lake, grimacing when it broke the water's surface. To her, it seemed better not to bother whatever creatures were living in the lake. "Maybe that's all just one big exaggeration." She replied with a small shrug, honestly not too keen on actually finding out. After that, Eloise kept quiet for a second. Not quite sure of what to say but not intending on leaving yet either. At least not untill she had introduced herself. She had been paying attention to the faces of kids in the same year as her but she didn't know many of their names yet. And if she didn't know their names then how was she supposed to figure out who she should and shouldn't be around? "I'm Eloise, by the way. Eloise Aster. We're in the same class." She introduced herself, holding out her hand.

 

[Holden Marshall]

Holden shrugged at her comment, picking up another rock. "I mean, if it's an exaggeration then whatever." He said, trying to figure out a good angle. "Then I'm just chucking rocks for fun. But if it's down there, hopefully I can piss it off enough to get it to come up." He said, winding up and throwing the rock, managing to get it further than the last one. He nodded when she introduced herself, glancing back at her. "I'm Holden. Uh... Marshall." He added, trying to remember if he had noticed Eloise in class before. He was pretty sure he'd noticed her before, but with so many new faces in every class it was hard to remember everyone.

 

[Eloise Aster]

Eloise had a feeling this boy wasn't someone her mother would encourage her to talk to, especially when he mentioned wanting to piss off whichever creature might be stalking the depths of the lake. Still, there was no way to know what her classmates were like if she didn't allow herself a chance to interact with them. "Nice to meet you." She smiled politely when he introduced himself in return, dropping her hand back down before looking around for a second as she tried to think of something else to say. She felt like an introduction was enough for now, provided her with a new name to take home to her parents, but at the same time she was still a little curious as to why he was so interested in seeing the creature of the lake. "So.. have you heard anything about what sort of creature it might be?"

 

[Holden Marshall]

Eloise's politeness reminded Holden of his sister, and he had to fight back a pang of frustration. He wasn't talking to Penny, he had no reason at all to be frustrated with her. "Yeah, you too." He said instead, looking back out over the waters. He shrugged when she asked about the creature, shaking his head. "Nah, just that there's something. I know the Scotland school's supposed to have a giant squid." He added, thinking about it. "Might be the same here too, I know they've got giant squids in the ocean here."

 

[Eloise Aster]

Eloise nodded thoughtfully when Holden mentioned he didn't know what creature would be in the lake, just that there were rumours that there's something living in the deep. She didn't have much knowledge of magical creatures so trying to keep guessing about what it was would be useless. Not to mention a waste of time. Although so seemed throwing rocks at the water in an attempt to make the creature come to the surface. "If it was a giant squid wouldn't everyone know about it already?" She questioned Holden's statement carefully. "I mean it being 'giant' would kind of give it away.. right?" She added, trying not to make it sound like she thought the idea was unrealistic.

 

[Holden Marshall]

Holden rolled his eyes slightly at her comment, shrugging. “Dunno how deep the lake is.” He said pointedly. “And I've heard people say there's something down there, whatever it is. Worth trying.” Holden bent down and picked up another rock, turning it over in his hands before chucking it as hard as he could. “And if I find whatever it is they'll have to put up a monument to me or whatever.”

 

[Eloise Aster]

Eloise was starting to get the feeling that Holden perhaps wasn't much of a socializing type. Or he had just already decided he didn't particularly like her. Either way, she didn't feel like he cared much for their conversation. Which was perfectly fine yet also made her a little curious about the boy. It wasn't that she was desperate for approval but she did sort of need her classmates to like her at least a little if she was going to build a positive reputation for herself. Although she very much doubted whether Holden was someone her parents would encourage her to connect with. "Right, well I'll make sure to attend your ceremony then." She replied with a nod before picking up a rock and throwing it into the lake with a mediocre throw. If there was really a creature living down in the deep her rock certainly hadn't made it out for enough to be noticed by it. "Or I could just hang around and then they'd have to put my name up on that monument as well." Eloise added with a small smile, almost immediately hearing her mother's voice in her head telling her throwing rocks wasn't very ladylike.