Open With a Splash and a Boom

[Jasper Night]

Jasper had picked up a few boxes of Wildfired Whizz-Bangs at Gambol and Jape's a while ago, and had never really found a good use for them. He'd had fantasies of using them in some sort of prank against Tyler or Blake, but even in his fantasies he couldn't really figure out a good way to do it. So in the end, Jasper had just grabbed the boxes and headed outside. He might as well find a use for them, and do something fun. He'd hauled them all the way to the lake, as he figured setting them off there might not alert a teacher right away. But as he glanced at the water, Jasper was reminded of a rumor he had heard about something huge living in the lake. He kind of dismissed it, but then again... it did look like the sort of lake that would have some sort of lake monster. It would almost be a waste if it didn't. On an impulse, Jasper lit one of the fireworks and chucked it into the water. To his delight, it still went off, making muffled explosion with a burst of water shooting into the air. This was a great idea! He grabbed the next piece of fireworks, then climbed onto a rock to get a better vantage point. What if this made the monster show up?

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney had successfully spent most of the year staying as far away from her dorm and its backbiting denizens as possible, making sure she was always the last one in and the first one up each day. Usually, she spent most of her time in the library, the books there having far more to offer her than any of the harpies she had to call roommates, but the further they got into OWL season, the more stressed out fifth and seventh years had begun to slink in and their anxious scribbling was proving to be a bigger distraction than anticipated.

Instead, she'd turned to the hopefully more peaceful lakefront. The weather had started cooling and Sydney hoped it would keep too many of her fellow students from skulking around the shores as well. She'd been enjoying traipsing the shore, imaging she was a lovelorn heroine on a foggy more when a muffled bang startled her. Sydneys head whipped over to the source of the noise, rolling her eyes when she spotted Jasper not far off looking far too pleased with himself. "Are you actually trying to achieve something by blowing up your lake or do loud noises just tickle your hindbrain," She asked, picking her way over the rock he'd scrambled onto and frowning at Jasper's collection of fireworks dubiously.

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper jumped in shock when he heard a voice. He turned to see Sydney, then grinned at the girl. "I'm doing an experiment." He told her with an easy laugh. "Wanna help? I heard there's a monster in the lake." He set off the next firework, then threw it at the water. He laughed again at the next loud noise, enjoying himself immensely. "C'mon monster!" He called. "Come say hello!" He then turned to Sydney again, gesturing to the box. "You try it." He urged her. "There's plenty." He smirked. "Maybe the monster will listen to a girl instead. I'll save you if it tries to kidnap you."

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney crossed her hands, frowning dubiously at Jasper as he claimed he was "doing an experiment". None of this looked very scientific and Sydney was pretty sure Jasper just wanted to blow things up. "Even if there were anything in there, it's definitely gone now with all the noise you're making," She said disapprovingly, but she couldn't deny wanting to try it out herself, especially when Jasper implied she might need saving if something did show up. "We'll see who saves whom. If anything happens," Sydney announced hautily, grabbing one of the fireworks and looking it over for a moment.

After a moments hesitation, Sydney lit the whizbang, lobbing into the water. It didn't go very far, but it did make a satisfying splash when it exploded, showering water everywhere. Sydney baring held down a cheer of exciting, clearing her throat and returning to frowning at Jasper. "Aren't you a little old for something this juvenile," She said, glancing at the box. "..If this really is an experience you should at least be recording your results,"

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper could tell Sydney didn't believe he was really doing an experiment, which he didn't mind. Jasper shook his head at her statement. "No, I'm drawing it out. Challenging it." He argued. "I bet it can come out of the depths to attack us at any moment!" He added with a grin. He snorted when Sydney implied she might save him. She may be cool and pretty good at dueling, but Jasper had quidditch reflexes. He grinned as Sydney grabbed a piece of firework and threw it into the water. He cheered. "Yes! Do that again!" He said, laughing. At her question, he scoffed. "Of course not. Besides, you're doing it too." He then grinned. "That sounds like an excellent job for... my assistant." He told her, giving her a pleading look. "You're so much better at that stuff." He added quickly.

 

[Sydney Townsend]

"Uh huh, sure it is," Sydney drawled when Jasper insisted what ever lake spectre he dreamed up was about to emerge. "I've never even seen anything in there before," She said dubiously. "And now you're just filling it with dead fireworks," She added, frowning at Jasper again. Really, he had no foresight.

Sydney rolled her eyes at Jasper's unrestrained excitement, somehow doubting Jasper had ever done anything more respectable like reading a book for entertainment. "Yes, but I'm younger than you," She said, ignoring the fact that she should probably still know better. She clicked her tongue at Jasper's rather insulting suggestion she be his assistant, though at least he could appreciate her superior skills here. "I'm not your assistant. I'm- I'm the project manager," She said haughtily, digging her notebook out of her pocket. She usually used it for jotting down poem lines and ideas on the go, but it would work for this. "Maybe if you don't blow up the whole lake we could get a story out of this for the school paper,"

 

[Triton]

Some sort of vibrations in the water got Triton's attention. Odd, though he noticed that his son wasn't around to investigate. His attention was drawn though, as he swam up to the surface, only peaking his eyes onto the surface to witness what the tadpoles were doing. He saw, from a distance, what he called fire flowers. Since his contact with humans was limited, Triton did not know the proper names for some of those things. He ducked just below the surface again, not getting closer to those explosions. For all he knew, it could hurt.​

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper shrugged. "I'm sure it'll be fine." He told Sydney as she said he was filling the lake with dead fireworks. He didn't want to worry too much, and it was just a little bit anyway. "Besides, you're my accomplice now." He told her with a grin. "You did your part." He cheerfully ignored that Sydney pointed out she was younger than him, but nodded when she said she was the project manager. If that would help her help him, sure. He grinned when she actually grabbed a notebook, though it seemed like she was more likely to write things down for the paper. "Honestly, I imagine if I do blow up the whole lake you also get a story for the paper." He said with a grin. Then he threw the next piece of fireworks, peering at the lake hopefully.

 

[Sydney Townsend]

It was becoming clear Jasper really didn't care at all about the consequences of his actions, and Sydney decided she couldn't just leave him to it without watching to see if he'd end up causing an even bigger problem for himself so she could gloat. It wasn't like the shower of sparks and water was fun to watch or anything. "I was just showing you how dumb your idea was," Sydney said with a huff when Jasper implied she was just as guilty of his stupidity. "What exactly would you do if you did manage to scare up anything that was living in the lake? Fight it?" She asked Jasper dubiously, making a show of holding up her notebook to take notes as if this were a formal interview.

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper laughed when Sydney said she had been showing how dumb his idea was, and then grinned at her. "Then all you did was show me how awesome it was. And show yourself." He said, as he was sure Sydney had liked it. "You can throw again, if you want." He said generously, pointing to the fireworks. He nodded when she asked if he would fight it. "Probably, yeah. If it's aggressive." He told her as if he normally fought monsters. "I'm a pretty decent duelist, I bet I could take it." He said, shrugging.