Walking the Grounds (Damien)

Graduate Posts : 22 Join date : 2014-11-10 Age : 30

Blair exited the castle and slowly made her way across the grounds towards the Black Lake. This was one of her favourite things to do; walk around Hogwarts on a beautiful day and possibly see the giant squid. Normally she would bring toast with her, but that was when she came out at breakfast and it was almost lunch. She stopped at the edge of the lake, staring across at the vast darkness that it was. She had never gone swimming in it herself, but had heard many stories of things like merpeople and other even less friendly creatures living in its depths. I wonder if the stories are true, and if there are merpeople down there, she wondered to herself. That was quite a large thing to believe, but, then again, she did work at a magical school...

Guest

Even after his misadventure into the castle, Damien was growing more accustomed to the layout and thus stayed inside for longer periods of time. That did not mean he enjoyed it any more, still much preferring the open spaces. Sometimes, when the weather was perfect, like today's, he would eat his food in the Greenhouse, with only his plants for company. Standing up and stretching, he tossed the remainder of the chicken into a nearby pot; the still leaves of the seemingly innocent flower shot out and grabbed the piece of meat, dragging it towards to top of the flower, which suddenly shot open and snatched the food. In the blink of an eye, it returned to normal, looking exactly like a tall sunflower.

Going around to check on the other species in that particular section, he noted that one of them needed re-potting. Grabbing a pail and shovel, he left for The Black Lake; he found that the soil that surrounded it was perfect for growth. As he neared, he noticed someone by the edge, right where he knew the best soil was. Approaching her, he took a deep breath before saying, "Excuse me."

Graduate Posts : 22 Join date : 2014-11-10 Age : 30

"Oh, hello," Blair said, taken aback slightly by the appearance of the man. She hadn't expected anyone else to venture to the Black Lake. "I didn't see you there." She noticed that he had a pail and shovel in his hand and chuckled slightly, assuming he was here to do only one thing... but she was curious as to why. "I'm, uh, Blair, by the way," she said, her eyes returning to the man's face. She figured an introduction would be most polite thing to do here. "Blair Castellano. I'm the new Hogwarts librarian!" She wondered if he worked for the school as well; he did seem a bit old to be a student there anyway.

Guest

"I didn't see you there."

"I know, that's why I said 'excuse me'," Dami replied in what he thought was a casual response. "I hope I didn't scare you," he added. That was not something he liked to do, although he knew it happened quite often; his soft footsteps, trained from years of sneaking up to sensitive plants, made this a habit of his. However many times he tried to make his steps loud, he was never able to.

"Blair Castellano. I'm the new Hogwarts librarian!"

"Damien Elson-Robin Peat, but you can call me anything you please," he said, the last part coming from another habit he developed. "It's nice to meet you." He glanced around, just in time to see a tentacle emerge from the lake, wave around a couple of time, and then disappear back into the water. Smiling at the sight, he turned his attention back to the woman. "What brings you out to the lake at this time of day?" he inquired.

Graduate Posts : 22 Join date : 2014-11-10 Age : 30

Blair laughed cautiously at his comment, not sure if he meant it to be snarky or not. "It's nice to meet you as well, Damien," she said, the tentacle on the lake catching her eye. Maybe she should have brought out some toast after all, if her favourite lake creature was gonna be out and waving. "I came out to admire the day... I was gonna bring the squid some toast, but it's not breakfast anymore." Blair almost sounded sad at that, but she brought her green eyes back to the man in front of her. "So what do you need the dirt for?" she asked, her eyes traveling down to the spade in his hand.

Guest

"I came out to admire the day... I was gonna bring the squid some toast, but it's not breakfast anymore."

"The squid eats toast?" he asked, surprised. "You could always go down to the kitchens and ask the house elves to make you some, if it is past breakfast time. They have proven themselves to be very accommodating, even to requests some might deem different." This he knew from experience; many a time, he had gone down to ask for things that he simply did not have time to prepare or make, like boiled pork fat. All the food items were, of course, for his plants; they all had odd diets that he had to cater to in order to maintain their properties.

"So what do you need the dirt for?"

"My bergenia cordifolia," he said simply, adding a, "They need re-potting," a split second later.

Graduate Posts : 22 Join date : 2014-11-10 Age : 30

Blair laughed. "Yeah! It surprised me at first too. But one day when I was a student, I came out here with my breakfast and dropped some toast in the lake. It disappeared pretty quickly." She almost lost her thoughts to that moment so many years ago, but brought herself back when she heard Damien answer her question. "That seems reasonable. I hate admitting it, but I don't remember what that plant is..." Blair blushed slightly and bit her lip. She had never been very good in Herbology, easily forgetting what plant was which and often sustaining bites from different plants that didn't seem to like her. Things hadn't really changed much since her school days either, with Blair sticking very close to Charms and Transfiguration and far from History of Magic and Herbology.

Guest

Listening to her story, he wondered briefly if they had met before. "What house were you in?" he decided to ask, not that it really mattered. His days at Hogwarts had not been very memorable, to say the least, with the exception of learning Herbology. Those classes and the hours he spent in the Greenhouses talking with the Professor - at that time, it had been Neville Longbottom - were the only things he really remembered.

"I hate admitting it, but I don't remember what that plant is..."

He blinked a few times before responding with, "Oh, no, that would be my fault. I tend to use their scientific name without realizing that not everybody knows them." Taking a few seconds to recall the common name, he continued with, "You might know them as Bergbloms. I initiated a cross-breed experiment between two different species of them but they are proving to be very quick in absorbing the nutrients in their soil and need changing once every day or so." Not once did he imagine that Blair would be bored or disinterested in what he was saying; for him, the world of Herbology was all there was, and he never thought that anyone would think otherwise.

Graduate Posts : 22 Join date : 2014-11-10 Age : 30

"I was in Ravenclaw," Blair said in response to Damien's question. She missed going to school, but was glad that she was at least allowed to come back and work, even as the librarian. "That makes a lot more sense then, though it's crazy that you can change plants like that." Blair chuckled as Damien finished what he was saying about the plants. She didn't mind him talking about it, to be honest. He made it seem easy to learn about plants. "That's really interesting... I never thought about all the things that people could do with plants." Blair raised her eyebrows and gave some thought to all the work it would take to be in charge of all those plants, all the time. She knew she wouldn't be able to do it... but, then again, her passion lay in books, not plants.

Guest

"I was in Ravenclaw,"

"I was a Hufflepuff." If he were being open, he would have admitted that there had been a hats stall between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, but he declined to be put in the latter, because he didn't think he was smart. Now, looking back at his results, he knew he had made a right choice - while Herbology had just come naturally to him, he could not say the same for the others. Even for things such as Charms, he never got past a 4th year level of spell casting, not that he really minded. All he needed to know were spells associated to his work, and those he could do without a problem.

"I never thought about all the things that people could do with plants."

He gave a shrug, and, placing his bucket and shovel down, took a seat on one of the rocks. If they were going to have a conversation, he might as well make himself comfortable. "Not very many people do," he told her. "But there are just so many things one can do with them, the possibilities are endless."

Graduate Posts : 22 Join date : 2014-11-10 Age : 30

"I suppose they must be like little people in pots," Blair commented somewhat vaguely, still kind of lost in her thoughts. "Hufflepuff? I've met some good people from that House. They're always so kind." Blair smiled at Damien and decided to sit down next to the shore. She didn't have any plans that day, so she was going to continue to try and enjoy the nice day. "Do you ever get overwhelmed with all of them to take care of?" She didn't think he would, but was curious all the same. Having so many living creatures to take care of must be tiring, if nothing else. And Blair was not even thinking about the teaching that he must do as well.

» Damien Peat