Something Unexpected PV Closed

The cold wind danced on top of the great lake before finding its way to the shiny mop of hair on top of a small, scrawny 11 year old who was sitting quietly on a rock, wand out trying to get something to happen on the waters surface.

Everyone here seemed to know a spell or two, but his overprotective mother had forbidden him trying to replicate any of the spells in the family library, even though most of them had to do with healing and counter-curses.

Xander had hoped that the strange core of his wand - Kelpie - would somehow react to the waters surface, but so far nothing had happened. It was frustrating. He raised his arms for one more try - and success! The water rippled for a second as if someone had thrown a stone, and then a noise was heard...

"Argh"

He had made the water talk... or so he thought for a brief second before he saw what appeared to be an upset young Ravenclaw lying on the banks of the lake a few meters away. Brown-haired, she seemed upset about something. Great. Still, it was an excuse to interrupt his poor spell-casting, or lack thereof.

"Nice throw," he said, still trying to wave his wand to get... something to happen - at least other than having upset girls appear.

Amanda whirled around when she heard the words “Nice throw.” She spotted a skinny Slytherin boy with dark hair and blue eyes sitting on a rock nearby. Amanda grinned sheepishly, slightly embarrassed that someone had seen her outburst. “Thanks.” The presence of another person calmed Amanda down and she moved to recline on the grass next to the boy. “I’m Amanda. What are you doing, casting spells?” she asked, gesturing to his wand. “I’m pretty good at spells. It’s one of the few things that I can do well,” she said lightly. Truth be told, Amanda was good at a number of things, but her self-esteem wouldn’t permit her to admit it.

Suddenly, Amanda sat up excitedly. “Oh! Here, let me show you my favorite spell.” Amanda smiled as she pulled out her wand. “Bullarum Immortalem!” Beautiful, gold-tinted bubbles flowed out of the tip of her wand, filling the air around them. This will never get old, Amanda thought as she popped one near her face and giggled a bit. Her mood had lightened considerably in the previous ten minutes. She pulled out a Ziploc bag filled with popcorn that her parents had mailed to her along with other sweets. Amanda took a handful before offering some to the boy. “Want some? It’s butter-flavored, nothing extravagant.”

There were boys his age that were afraid of talking to girls, but Xander had no idea why. Perhaps it was the way they could rapidly change emotions as this one did - but that seemed to be a good thing. Sometimes he would like to rapidly change his emotions, rather than dwell on things.

The girl had moved closer to him, laying on the grass nearby to him.

“Thanks. I’m Amanda. What are you doing, casting spells? I’m pretty good at spells. It’s one of the few things that I can do well.” Confidence was a good thing - something he wish he had more of.

Giving a slight wave and a small smile, Xander replied in a somewhat dispassionate way, as if half asleep. "Xander. Well - I'm trying to cast a spell. Classes haven't started yet and I was trying to get a head start, but I can't seem to do anything right. And, well, if you do something wrong in my common room everyone laughs at you." It was true - although he had only been at Hogwarts for a couple of days it was clear that mistakes, especially amongst the Slytherin, were social suicide. Thats why he liked the library, and the great lake.

Suddenly, the girl had sat up excitedly. “Oh! Here, let me show you my favorite spell."

Xander's eyes grew wide - he was going to see a spell at last at this place that was supposed to teach him spells... About time.

“Bullarum Immortalem!”

Bubbles... bubbles streamed out of the girls wand. They seemed to make her happy though as they popped on her nose, and that in and of itself made Xander grin. This was actual magic, the type that he wished he could perform at whim. He memorized the incantation and the way she moved - but somehow he knew that despite his own abilities he would need a teacher to fine tune it to the point he was confident in replicating the effect.

"That... that was pretty amazing!" he stammered. He had multitudes of questions to ask - what spells she knew, how did she learn them, who would he need to speak to... but his chance to ask was cut short as the girl produced some popcorn.

“Want some? It’s butter-flavored, nothing extravagant.”

Xander gave a small smile and nodded, moving closer to grab some of the popcorn if offered. He popped a piece into his mouth as he looked at the girl's robes.

"Ravenclaw huh. Im a bit jealous to be honest. So... um... why were you upset before? I mean, if I knew your magic Id just be casting bubbles all day," he added with a grin.

Amanda nodded as the boy explained what he was doing and introduced himself as Xander. Slytherin seems a bit harsh for the most part. She watched Xander as he stared at the bubbles she had produced. “I learned that in History of Magic last year. The professor for that class is really awesome and loads of fun. You should see his cape collection.” Amanda smirked. Professor Wordsworth could be rather ridiculous, but he was entertaining so most of the kids loved him and his lessons. Amanda thought that when it came to professors, he was the coolest one for miles around.

Amanda grinned when Xander took some popcorn and told her that he was jealous of her house. “I must admit that Ravenclaw is pretty great.” But when Xander asked why she was upset earlier, Amanda’s expression darkened. “It sounds kind of silly when I think about, but I suppose it’s normal. There’s this boy, you see. I hate him so much because he’s so rude and arrogant. But it turns out that I, well, have feelings for him also. And I tried to be nice, I really did, but he still treated me like I was evil. He thinks I’m out to get him or something. I was fine with that before, but now...” Amanda trailed off, her face turning bright red. “Now it’s different,” she mumbled. “He’d never like me though, not in a million years. He’s crazy; a complete psycho. I don’t think that he could ever care for anybody in that way.”

Xander seemed to smile softly at the mention of a cape collection.

"Ill have to watch out for that," he said with a slight smile, his eyes seemingly amused.

The girl spoke of unrequited love, something that Xander really had no idea about. So she liked a guy who was mean to her, and she was upset about that. Well, why did she like him if he was a jerk? Girls were so confusing. What would his Dad say about this...

"Hmm. Well, maybe if you, I dunno, ignore him and get better than him at things he might see you in a different way. Guys tend to like competition, and if you beat him, well, he might like you I guess? Or not. Sorry, I don't know much about this stuff."

The small lapping sound of the lake accentuated the moment of silence between the two, before Xander sat up and pulled out his wand. He was a very smart boy, who had mastered the art of listening to people, and as such he was confident about the next words he uttered.

“Bullarum Immortalem!”

His pronunciation was accurate, but there was something... off. A rather sticky golden liquid seemed to spurt out the end of his wand, hanging there like a, well, like snot. The boy laughed - a very rare sound, even to his own ears. He lifted up his wand, staring at what should have been bubbles.

"Well, I'm going to impress the ladies aren't I," he said with a wider grin. However, it was short lived as it seemed he quickly realised that he had let his guard down, and flicking the residue off his wand he stonewalled his emotions once again. He really would have to properly learn how to do that spell.

"So - how long have you been here? Which are the best classes? I'm pretty keen for transfiguration.."

“That’s sound advice, but I’m not sure if it’ll work on this particular guy. I’ll try though anyways. Thanks.” Amanda watched curiously as Xander attempted to perform the bubble charm. I wonder if he’ll actually be able to do it. That would be something, especially considering that he’s only a new first year. But all that came out of Xander’s wand was some shiny, yellowish goop. He made some witty remark about impressing the ladies and Amanda laughed. “For sure. All the ladies just love a guy who can produce golden bogies with a wave of his wand.” Xander seemed to shut down slightly after that comment, though. He’s one of the nicest, most genuine people I’ve met here. Amanda decided that Xander was alright. Who knows, maybe they’d end up being friends. That would be nice. I could use some more friends.

Xander changed the topic and Amanda complied, answering his question. “This is my second year, so not too long. As for classes, I like Astronomy, History of Magic, and Charms. Transfiguration’s all right, it’s not really my favorite. None of the classes are horrible, though. Well, I’m not sure about the electives, but all the core classes are fine.”

"No worries, like I said Im no expert," Xander responded with a hint of a smile. In relation to his newly acquired spell 'Golden Boogies', he gave another small smile. "Maybe I should teach this spell - at least then Id be remembered for something. Xander's Golden Boogie's. Has a nice ring to it don't you think?"

Xander looked over at the brown-haired girl. Most witches he had met were rather frightening - his mother especially. Girl's seemed to be worried about how others viewed them all the time, but would get defensive if you said anything like that to them, even, well especially if you were trying to help. The fact that Amanda didn't bite his head off spoke volumes as to how much Xander had to learn about girls. Some of them, perhaps, were even nice.

As Amanda spoke of her favourite classes, Xander took note, trying to figure out what classes he was taking. Astronomy... really. How is that useful, he thought to himself. Charms might be interesting, and History of Magic, well... if it helped him to not cast the golden boogie charm that would be helpful.

"I've got potions first up tomorrow. Mum and Dad work at St. Mungo's so I've seen some of them in action. Could be interesting. So, are you in any of the clubs around here? Are there any I should, um, not go to..." Xander obviously wanted to find out what the interesting clubs were, the ones that weren't Quidditch related. "And... um, do you have any other cool spells that you could show me? Please?"

“Potions is alright. The professor is an elf, I believe, or something like that. He’s kind of stuck up too. As for clubs, I’m in a club, but it’s for girls only. There’s Dungeons and Dragons clubs, I know that. There’s also a drama club called Stage Magic. I might want to try that out.” Amanda shrugged. “I’m more of an independent person, really. I don’t like to be associated with a group of people. You know what I mean? I don’t want to be known for being a part of something. I want to be known for something that I accomplished, all on my own. I guess you could say that I’d like a legacy.”

Amanda cleared her throat and switched the topic. She didn’t feel comfortable talking about herself, but sometimes she couldn't help blurting stuff out. “Hm, spells... I can make your feet dance, give you a cold, produce an umbrella, or shoot fire out of my wand. I don’t think that I should do that last one, though. Here, I’ll make myself sneeze a bunch.” Amanda pointed her wand at herself and said “Steleus.” She immediately began sneezing uncontrollably for a good minute or so. When she finished, she grinned at Xander. “Not as interesting as bubbles, I know. But then again, I don’t know very many exciting spells.”

Xander listened intently as Amanda spoke. It was as if the two had so much in common, and that they could easily switch houses... she wanted a legacy, he wanted to be 'smart'. Perhaps, just perhaps, the sorting hat could get things wrong.

So there were many clubs here, but none of them were really what he was interested in. Sure he would enjoy dueling, but he knew that he was far too skinny and weak, and if hit by anything he would end up on his butt. That would only cause everyone to be disappointed in him. No - it was far better to practice and become perfect for when he had to show his abilities...

Xander looked over the lake, enjoying the sun as it reflected off its surface.

"Ah - a legacy. I understand. I think, sometimes, Im the only one here who thinks Quidditch is a bit silly... I mean, theres so much here to learn and, well, hitting around a bludger with a bat isn't up there with learning to charm dragons and stuff. I think I want to be remembered for something... unique as well."

Hells though what that will be.

It was then that Amanda told him of the spells she had learned, as well as demonstrating one on herself. Xander gave a wide grin as she sneezed violently, pulling out one of the many tissues his mother always made him carry and giving them to the witch.

"That was great! You must study very hard to get those results. I hope I can learn those things one day - fire from my wand. Amazing. Thats pretty exciting if you ask me."

He turned again to look out over the lake.

"Legacy. Well, I hope you become famous so I can say to my family that once I was with Amanda err... insert last name, at Hogwarts, and she made golden bubbles and made herself sneeze! And they would be like... oooh, you knew Amanda?" His grin was wide, his green eyes bright. "And I'll say, yeah I knew her when she had boy troubles!".

He gave a short laugh - again very rare - before leaning back onto the grass. His smile faded, as quickly as it had come.

"Do you... um... miss home?"