Uncertain Adventures

[Oliver Detheridge]

Oliver had figured it out. More accurately he had figured it out how to do a cartwheel without killing himself. The snow had certainly helped by giving him something to land on. Except for the time his arms got stuck in the snow and his legs were sticking out of the drift. Naturally Timothy would not be hearing that part of the accomplishment he made yesterday. Mostly because he had screamed until a prefect had pulled him out of the snow, and it was rather embarrassing.

Hopefully Zeke was the quiet type.

Though the failures of the afternoon prior were the furthest thing from his mind. His last class was over for the day and he had managed to read everything the professor wrote on the board. So he was going to celebrate by dragging Timothy do something fun. His first instinct was to suggest a snack in the kitchens as there was a short bit of time before dinner. Though that would spoil dinner, and during his snack prior to class he saw house elves making an odd pastry thing.

Oliver looked over towards Timothy and said " Want to clear some of the snow off the ice on the lake and see if we can see mermaids inside it? " It was a foolish idea but it held a certain element of adventure and fun that he yearned for. Also he knew the lakes top was frozen as he was rather certain the snow on top of it was making it very cold.

Then he paused and continued " Or we could investigate the divination tower. I heard a rumor if you put the crystal balls into a circle and look at them from the side they make an odd divining loop. " Though that rumor was rather farfetched and did not seem as exciting to him as checking out the lake.

Looking over towards Timothy he said " I'm in the mood for something fun. Adventurous even. What say you? "

  

[Timothy Allwright]

• Timothy breathed a sigh of relief at the end of class: although the whole reason he'd wanted to come to Hogwarts in the first place had been to properly learn a bit of magic and experience the whole thing about lessons and teachers and homework, the three things had quickly become routine - and not always fun routine. As he studied harder and found patching together letters into words simpler and simpler, lessons were becoming more bearable. But still.
  
  There was always a little more room for fun, in his expert opinion. So as Oliver, a fellow first-year - Ravenclaw, though - as well as a rather close friend in the colossal castle that was the school, started talking Tim perked up immediately.
  He kept quiet as the other boy rattled off a few ideas, his warm brown eyes widening considerably at the mention of the lake and his brows quirking slightly at the Divination tower, a place first-years had no place being. Of course, the lake was a location no one really had place to be, unless they were mermaids. Timothy grinned.
  
  He punched Oliver playfully in the arm as the other boy mentioned adventure and a 'what say you?' in the same breath. "Ah, c'mon, Oliver, do I need to say anythin'? Always up for'n adventure." He puffed up his chest earnestly, excitedly, and came to a hardly-thought-about conclusion, his grin stretching even wider. "I like the sound of the lake." He hadn't really gone near before, and certainly not in the dead of winter. It'd certainly make for an interesting change. "I should prob'ly find my hat an' scarf first, if we're goin' outside." Timmy added hastily, only slightly worried his ear'd get cold. The problem was with being a kid with no family and no carnival folk to loo out for him meant since September he'd really started trying to be more cautious, more responsible for himself and generally sensible. The rest of the time, he was a happy kid enthralled by the proposition of an adventure.

  

[Oliver Detheridge]

If he were remembering home, well his former home and his siblings there, Timothy would have fit in well with them. He chuckled slightly when Timothy lightly punched him in the arm. It was these odd moments he remembered how simple his life had been prior to getting sent to work in the factories. Now he had dreams of there being no factories in his future.

Oliver said " Reckon being a bit warmer would be good. " Of course he already was wearing his jacket and his scarf and hat were in his small backpack. Since it was expected for him to carry around a lot of books, and a scarf was much lighter it helped faking a big backpack. Then he continued " I packed some warmer stuff in my bag, makes the backpack bigger and makes me look more prepared. " Then he laughed again at his own brilliance.

After a pause he said " Which way to your common room? " figuring that fetching warmer clothes would be a priority. Hopefully the Hufflepuff dorms were somewhere fun like his were in the towers. As he oddly had little clue where the other dorms were except for Slytherin which was more of a general idea based him being told to avoid part of the dungeons.

This would be fun. Even better maybe they would see mermaids.

  

[Timothy Allwright]

• "I oughta start doing that, might do me good to look cleverer," Timothy commented, laughing over Oliver's scarf-stuffed schoolbag. His Ravenclaw friend certainly had some interesting ideas, and there was a pretty good way to make it at least look as though he was trying to be studious - there were so many schoolbooks, some of which Tim didn't actually own, and a bunch that he could barely read therefore found it futile to lug them all around everyday.
  
  And it was cold, so a scarf at hand would always serve him well.
  He was glad Oliver agreed to the stopping by of the Hufflepuff common room, grateful not to have been ushered outside immediately to freeze before they'd even reached the Lake.
  
  For the moment, he puffed up his chest and launched into a lively saunter, weaving around some of the older and taller and distinctly slower walking students, beckoning to Ollie over his shoulder with a grin. "This way..." He replied, deftly heading the way one might venture if they were off to a sneaky visit to the kitchens. Once he'd paced into that basement corridor and checked to see that Oliver was still keeping up, he stopped short at a pile of barrels, unbeknown to most as the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room. And though he was sure Oliver was a friend, he was also a Ravenclaw, and Tim wasn't sure he would just give away the secret to enter... he suddenly felt a swelling of House Pride. "Right, I'll go in and get my things... you alright to stay 'ere?" He questioned, not wanting to tap the correct barrel in the correct rhythm until he was sure his pal wasn't breathing down his neck in curiosity. "An' don't look, yer not allowed to know 'ow to get in..."

  

[Oliver Detheridge]

Oliver smiled rather proud of himself of thinking up that idea. Mostly as he knew the bag lightening charms that the older years did would just result in a flaming bag. As every spell he tried winded up with him outputting sparks. Oliver said " Plus when you forget a book it looks like you tried to remember it. " His backpack stuffing idea had been working rather well for him now he had a scarf he got for Christmas that was fluffy enough to take up space. As his old scarf had been made from one of his older sisters dresses that had gotten so bad it was just scraps of cloth.

Oliver followed his friend without the grace his friend had to weave through the students. So he ended up bumping into a few students but managed to make up for it by jogging whenever the halls opened up to catch up to his friend. Then his friend stopped by some barrels.

Apparently it was the entrance. Oliver said " You don't have to do riddles to get in? " Then he nodded and said " I'll close my eyes and look the other direction. " As he wasn't that interested in how to get into the Hufflepuff dorms. Except for the fact if they didn't have to do riddles it would probably be easier to get into than Ravenclaw. Thankfully there were plenty of students and he could usually just follow someone else in when the riddles got tough.

  

[Timothy Allwright]

• It was a good idea, and Timothy had shown his keenness on the idea - any idea - of appearing more studious by nodding vigorously.
  
  He barely noticed that Oliver didn't seem to naturally move with such deft speed or overzealous energy through the busy halls. If he had been thinking about it, Timothy would have come to the conclusion that it was all his years growing up at an always crowded carnival, and based on the fact that he, as a child, was relatively small and speedy, had regularly been sent off on errands that required such navigation. By now he found it quite fun. And at least people had a hard time following him. Except in this case, of course.
  
  Relieved to see Oliver was still around when they'd reached the passageway to the Common Room and the Kitchens. Luckily the Ravenclaw didn't seem very bothered by the concept of finding out the trick to enter, only mildly curious. As his friend turned around and supposedly closed his eyes, Timothy gave him a straightforward answer. "No, who wants to do a riddle? I've 'eard that's only Ravenclaw, and dunno how it means you get in any easier than any other clever student..." It seemed to say that anyone intelligent enough could get in, and apparently Ravenclaw house wouldn't care. Odd.
  
  "Back in a bit," He called, once he'd furtively used two fingers to beat quietly against the correct barrel, tap-tap, tap-tap-tap. He scrambled through and whipped up to his dormitory, grinning at any Housemates he passed.
  
  Whirling out of the opening a few minutes later, tangled in his scarf and with a cap on his head, Timothy began buttoning up his coat as he bounded alongside Oliver, nudging him off and ready to race off to the lake at an almost frenetic-with-excitement pace. "Off we go," He announced, nearing a sing-song sort of voice before simmering down into light chuckles.

  

[Oliver Detheridge]

No one wants to do a riddle is right. To be honest he is rubbish at them to the point he occasionally had to follow one of his older classmates back from supper. Though the riddles the older children got seemed much harder than his. Oliver said " I wish I didn't have to do them. Ruddy hard them things can get. " Though he had never thought of the idea that just anyone can get in. Oliver said " Never seen anyone not in Ravenclaw. Perhaps the door somehow knows we all belong in and uses the riddles for its entertainment. "

Odd little owl door knocker, that he swore just said random gibberish sometimes. Though with his friend going in his dorm he was just looking at an odd wall. Apparently getting into Hufflepuff was about hitting something in the direction he was not looking.

Though once there was no noise behind him, he did look at the barrels or anything else that could be hit sands a wand. Or even with a wand as a drum stick. No way he was going to guess which combination was hit.

When his friend reappeared he said " Wonder how a drummer doesn't just wander into Hufflepuff. " Of course he had little intention even if he was curious to wander over and start drumming. After all, he suspected there was always someone in the common room who would just send him out of it. Or maybe it was he simply was not that curious about other common rooms as he had his own bed in his own and even after having his own room in the Lovegood house it was still impressive.

Joining his friends sing song tone he added " Into the wild snows of Hogwarts. " Then he started moving around the castle trying to keep up with his friend. A task that would be much easier once they got outside.

He paused as they reached one of the larger hallways near the door and looked over to his friend and smiled excited about the prospective adventure of the lake. Oliver said " I heard the mermaids speak a different language. " Other than that his knowledge of them was things out of stories.

  

[Timothy Allwright]

• "Oh..." Tim answered slowly, considering Oliver's statement about the Ravenclaw eagle only using the riddles for entertainment. If so, then Timothy was doubly glad he hadn't gone up and tried, as he wouldn't have gotten the riddle or been allowed in.
  
  When he returned, his friend made a little comment about it being simple for a drummer to get in. "Maybe... but I've 'eard if you do somethin' wrong, the barrels get a little nasty. People were sayin' vinegar..." He trailed off, grinning slightly.
  
  They progressed quickly enough, and no one else seemed to mind overly much about the two young boys racing off somewhere; as long as they weren't causing trouble, they did have all the freedom they wanted, he supposed. He laughed as Oliver added a line and halted in his tracks momentarily when the boy mentioned the mermaids. "A different language? I never knew that! What's it called? Reckon it's really hard to learn?" He quizzed interestedly. "I only saw a mermaid once before... they had it at the carnival." Timothy added, for once not all too sheepish about adding the carnival phrase, because he figured that Oliver wasn't one to judge. "It was in the tent o' exotic creatures, in a big tank... I didn't go over there much, and then they decided to let the mermaid go, I think..." It had been amazing to see one, even if Timmy hadn't had the chance to go peer at it up close - he was always so busy running errands and those tents were for paying customers only. But it was sorta sad, keeping it locked up, and someone finally saw some sense in it - someone had told him it had been ill - so they'd had to. Anyway... Timothy grinned and broke into a faster pace again, not stopping until he'd reached the main doors and pushed one open.
  
  OOC: so sorry for the wait!

  

[Oliver Detheridge]

He could not imagine what barrels and vinegar would have in common. Perhaps the barrels were used to ferment things of some sort and vinegar could be used as salad dressing. He had to give the Hufflepuffs and the owls credit for coming up with odd things.

Though he was much to busy racing down the halls to think further in it. Of course him mentioning a strange language made him now have to think of what it was. Oliver said " I think mermaidish. " Then he paused and said " Or mermish. " Then he tried again and said " Whatever ish is doubt I'll be learning it. " As he knew that he hardly could get a grasp around English and he had been speaking it his whole life.

He'd never been to a carnival, but apparently whatever it was meant something to Tim. Leaving out the fact he had seen a mermaid in a book he just smiled happy they had some idea what they would be trying to see in the ice. That was if they could get enough snow off the lake to see through.

Oliver said " Doubt it liked being in a tank, but they live in the lake which is like a tank. " He had no idea about things and as the cold air hit him he couldn't really think about it. Running through the door he made his way out into the snow. Thankfully he was all bundled up but it was still freezing cold. Oliver said " They don't freeze in the lake right? " rather curiously to his friend.

Of course as he made his way over towards the lake he could tell where the lake started and the ground ended. Moving forward he said " If either of us hear anything odd we should run. " Then he moved slower across the lake looking down at the snow where he was standing. Hopefully they were out far enough as he looked down and kneeled to the ground and started clearing the snow off the top of the lake.

Once he got a small part of it cleared he said " Can you see anything? "

  

[Timothy Allwright]

• Timothy couldn't help but laugh as Oliver explained the name of the mermaids' language with about as much conviction as Tim could have; that was to say, none at all. Regardless of what it was called, he shook his head in agreement, rather sure he wouldn't be able to learn such a thing from scratch. "Me neither, I s'pose." However, Timmy was briefly imagining how cool it would actually be to be able to converse with these underwater creatures, some secret sort of tongue that no one else understood and that might give him a whole new perspective on the underwater world.
  
  He might need a perspective of the place to start with, of course. And sure, they'd only get a view of the lake itself if the ice wasn't too thick or buried by too much snow - problems that it seemed the boys may soon have to realise as they both burst outside into the cold. It was only a minute of racing down the half snow-cleared path that wound towards the lake (the fast pace now was thanks to a mixture of excitement and shivers down his spine) before Timothy was grateful for his scarf's presence, and despite his nose being red raw by the time the lake was in sight, he was beaming ear to ear. "They can't freeze all winter..." Timothy said, mulling it over. "I guess the lake dunnt freeze all th'way through..." He shrugged, supposing that if they could break through the icy layer they might have a chance of spotting something underwater....
  
  Timothy nodded seriously as Oliver suggested what they ought to do if there was a weird noise. The thought of strange, foreboding noises had not occurred to him prior to Ollie's remark, but his smile shrank for a second as he pondered the possibility. And then he realised that his friend was already halfway across the lake and pushing off some of the snow... Scampering over, he joined in and peered over when the other boy asked him if there was anything to see. "Not yet? It looks kinda dark down there..." He'd never realised the Lake was such a murky place. Maybe if they let more light in. Timothy kneeled down and pushed a pile of snow away, trying to make a bigger patch of clear ice. "What about now?"

  

[Oliver Detheridge]

Apparently he stumbled over the mermaid's language. At least Timothy had not outright laughed to much, as he was trying to figure this all out. Even if figuring things out seemed more daunting by the day. Oliver said " Come to think of it I'm happy we won't be learning it. I'm having a tough enough time with the latin. "

Why couldn't spells be in English. Not that he was good with that either but at least Lysandra had given him a head start on that one. This was a time of stress free fun so he pushed those thoughts out of his mind.

He had snow to focus on digging. Snow that was rather cold, but even if he could attempt a warming charm such an act would be foolish. He'd just end up in the water. Pushing more snow out of the way he smiled as he could start to see part of the murky lake below. Oliver said " Rather cloudy down there. " agreeing with Timothy. Moving he kept clearing more snow form the top to make the area bigger.

Oliver said " Much better. " Layed himself down on the ice he had cleared and looked into the depths of the ice. He said " I see fish. " rather happily. Then he paused a bit and said " Come look. I suspect if we wait and move about every now and then we'll see one. " Hopefully they would not have to go inside from cold before they saw one. Oliver said " I'd hate to be trapped in one place myself. "

  

[Timothy Allwright]

• Timmy snorted sympathetically at Oliver's second thought about the language, when they already had so much on their plates. The spells were particularly tricky to pronounce, too, but at least if Timothy remembered them he could scrape through every practical session of lessons... if only everyone could just forget about all the theory behind everything for one minute...
  
  After Oliver's suggestion, he flopped down on the ice, too, glad that his clothes just about managed to block out the shivering sensation. Pressing his face close against the ice almost as if it were glass, he peered in and spotted the fish Oliver had been talking about. "Alright, here goes," He agreed, about the strategy of waiting.
  
  More fish passed, silverly scales continuing to catch his eye every once in a while. And then he thought he spotted something, breathed out a "Oh, there!" in case Oliver hadn't been looking the same way, and watched as it got closer. Unfortunately, Timothy squinted at it and decided disappointedly, it didn't look much like a mermaid. But whatever it was, it was certainly coming closer. He'd heard older students' conversations about grindylows and giant squids and suchlike, but Tim didn't actually know what either of those creatures were or what they loked like, so he didn't expect to recognise them if he ever saw them. Mermaids, he had a better idea of... and that shape was not one.

  

[Oliver Detheridge]

"Oh, there!"

Ohh brilliant. Blinking he tried to squint his eyes, but his breathing on his ice tended to steam up. Meaning that when Timothy said he saw something he had blurry ice to look through. This was not good. So he rubbed the ice in front of him with his glove.

Then he tried to look again " I missed it. " All he saw was something large but definitely not a mermaid. Oliver said " Mermaids look like us with a fish tail right? " Realizing he wasn't entirely sure if the things in the books really were mermaids or just something in a story about them. As surprisingly even before Hogwarts he had heard stories about some of the mythical things.

Oliver said " I think that has to many legs. " Though he was certain it wasn't the squid. He had seen the squid and its legs were as thick as his body. So he had no idea what the smaller creature was. He would have to try to find it in one of his picture books from the library.

At least he could now read the words in them even if he preferred the pictures.

With a smile he looked up and moved a bit over and said " How you keeping your ice from being foggy. " Then he looked back into the water and said " Wait are you talking about that silver glint near the big bushy plant thing? " Perhaps he saw what Timothy was talking about now.