Worth the Risk

[Ethan Mendoza]

Ethan had been enjoying his first year at Hogwarts a lot even if nothing particularly interesting had happened all year. He just enjoyed being away from his sisters for once but soon he would have to go back home and endure all the annoying questions they'd probably have about school. Before all that he decided he should enjoy the last of the castle before he had to go back home. He knew there were a lot of places around the castle that were supposed to be off limits, even the Forbidden Forest had the word 'forbidden' in its title, but he didn't hear a lot of people getting caught going to the cliffs so he figured he would be fine visiting them. He just wanted to explore the new grounds a bit before heading back home so Ethan took a hike up to the top of the cliffs. When he got there he was pretty out of breath but he walked towards the edge, smiling as he caught his breath.
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[Tomas Wode]

It was close to the end of his first school year and still Tomas found himself wishing that he would be home rather than to be stuck at the castle. It hadn't been so bad, his first year, it was just that he still had some trouble adjusting to this new life even if he was trying his best to get caught up with everything he was already supposed to know before the start of the year. Looking right along the lakefront, he could see the cliffs in the distance. Tomas knew they were out of bounds to students, but he hadn't been one to pay much attention to rules and guidelines throughout the year, and the cliffs was one of those areas he had yet to visit before the year ended, so off he went, finishing off the slice of toast he brought with him. After hiking up to the top of the cliffs, he noticed that he wasn't the only one with the same idea as him. ''Hey,'' Tomas said, smiling up at the boy whilst panting from climbing all the way up to the top

 

[Ethan Mendoza]

Ethan turned around when he heard someone approaching, afraid that he was going to get in trouble. But he saw it was just another student so he smiled when the boy said hey. "Hi," Ethan replied, giving him a little wave. "I'm Ethan," he introduced himself, holding out his hand for the boy to shake. He didn't recognize the boy too well so he figured he might be in another house, since most of his friends were in Hufflepuff. "Have you ever been here before?" he asked, curious to see whether or not he had been the only first year not to have come up here all year.
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[Tomas Wode]

He reached for the hand and shook it. ''Tomas.'' he said, still catching his breath. Instead of answering Ethan's question right away Tomas looked around the cliffs, taking in the view from where he stood. Seeing this view made him wonder why he hadn't come here before, as it certainly would have helped calm him down whenever he felt like he was about to have some sort of panic attack. ''Nope, first time.'' he then said, turning back to the boy behind him. ''What about you? Have you been here before?'' the Gryffindor asked in return.

 

[Ethan Mendoza]

"Nice to meet you Tomas," Ethan said, shaking his hand. He took a few steps closer and kicked a few rocks over the edge, watching them tumble down. He knew he should be scared but it was pretty cool being up this high with such a view. He shook his head at the question. "No, not until now. It's pretty cool though, I don't know why I didn't come before." He glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one else was coming and then turned back, shoving his hands in his pocket. "Truthfully I always thought I would get in trouble if I came up here. Is that dumb?" he admitted with an embarrassed laugh.
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[Tomas Wode]

''It's nice to meet you too.'' Tomas said with a smile while shaking the other boy's hand. Ethan seemed like a nice kid so didn't mind that he was here as well at all. Perhaps Ethan could be a new friend. ''Yeah, I know.'' he said, agreeing with him that this place was pretty cool. ''No, I don't think so. I mean, they keep telling us that this is off limits too, so I guess you're right to think so. I thought so too, but as long as you don't get caught...'' the Gryffindor smirked at Ethan. He walked up to the edge of the cliffs, next to the boy, and sat down on a grassy patch. ''It's nice here, isn't it?'' he said whilst looking into the distance again.

 

[Ethan Mendoza]

Ethan felt better that the boy didn't think he was dumb for following the rules and avoiding this place but now that he was here he wasn't worried at all. He chuckled and nodded his head, as long as they didn't get caught all would be fine. Ethan took a cue from the boy and decided to sit down instead of standing because it felt a bit safer to sit from this high up. He looked out at the view as Tomas said it was nice out here and nodded, blowing a low impressed whistle. "It'd be cool to fly over all this on a broomstick, wouldn't it?" Ethan said with a small smirk as the idea suddenly came to him. He didn't have a broom with him since he wasn't allowed to bring one as a first year, but maybe he'd be able to fly over the cliffs next year unless they had protective enchantments preventing the students from doing something like that. As quickly as the reckless thought had come to him he was already convincing himself of all the reasons why he shouldn't do it.
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