Little Bunny Teapot PV Serena Towers Finished

A negativity weighed on Serena's heart. She couldn't quite place the feelings or describe the emotions adequately. It was just something she disliked. Perhaps it was the feeling of emptiness. She wasn't sure but something didn't feel right and she just didn't feel like her usual chipper self. It could have been a feeling of loneliness - perhaps from being away from her family and friends back home. It could have been a sense of boredom, which had a thirst that she couldn't quiet quench. It may have been as simple as being tired. School life was busy enough with lessons, sports and making friends - without adding Prefect duties on top. She may have well just worn herself out, psychologically. Whatever this darkness was, she just couldn't figure it out. However, she hated it. She hated feeling this way. 

In an attempt to fix herself up, Serena opted to get some fresh air. She recalled her mother always telling her that "fresh air will do you good" when she stayed indoors every day during the school holidays. Her mother would be proud of her right now - going for a nice stroll in the grounds to do herself some good. If she headed down to the lake, she could go for a swim - the freezing cold water would certainly be one way kick-start her body into gear. The girl was a swimmer after all. Well, she wouldn't call herself one but she had gone swimming almost every week for several years, before she started at Hogwarts. 

Serena continued to walk through the grounds, rather aimlessly. She must have circled around the entire castle once by now. It didn't help though. Something inside her just felt off. Or more like it had been switched off and she couldn't figure out how to turn it back on. The girl stopped walking and looked up at the clouds forming in the sky. She sighed softly. She wasn't thinking about anything per se. That may have been part of the problem. Her mind felt empty of thoughts too, like it had exhausted itself and decided to give up thinking. Perhaps she was just bored and needed something to do. 

At the very least, at least it was peaceful here.

Or at least, it was until a boy's voice broke through and caught her attention. She gasped softly, snapping her head down and scouting out the source of the sound. It was a boy she recognised instantly. A fellow Prefect. A confused look crossed her face. He was yelling at something but she couldn't see anythin- Wait- "Wh- What was that?!" The tiniest hint of fear evident in her voice. In all honesty, it was so fast that she didn't actually see what it was. Well, she thought it looked a little like- no no, that's ridiculous. She thought, shaking her head. It obviously wasn't a teapot. Perhaps it was a weird looking pet of his. Clearly, she must have only caught a glimpse of it because she wasn't thinking straight. It was definitely a pet. A rabbit. Or maybe a cat. Or... Uhhh something else weird looking.

This is why you get an owl. 

"Hey- uhhh- what's going on? That yours?" She asked him, walking up towards him as she pointed after the weird little animal.

Ben glanced back to Serena again as she greeted him, but he kept his focus on where he saw movement of the teapot. The two hopefully could put a stop to the madness the ambitious Ravenclaw created. If anything she seemed worried but did not seem to see quite what it was he was chasing. That would do for now. Details were not important, right?

"It's a.. it's my.. rabbit," he said slowly, formulating the best lie possible for an eleven year old. "Do you remember that spell we learned? Reparifarge I believe it was?"

Now that would make the problem obvious if she knew what it meant. Though to be fair the spell was in a book he borrowed no from class, he just hoped she thought she missed it. Hopefully she did not make the connection to what the issue was at hand. He was a bit ashamed of himself and hoped to hide it. A big grin crossed his face and he pointed towards the area it had run to recently. Now that he had established what they needed to do, he pulled out his wand and jogged towards the field.

"We just need to hit it!" he shouted behind him to Serena as he took a few steps. "Please?"

This is so stupid! Why did I try this?!

Out of the corner of his eyes he spotted the spout of a teapot in the grass a distance away. That could only be one thing. At least he really hoped wild teapots were not an issue here. A quick turn and point of the wand towards the target came next. It would be sudden and explosive movement, likely to scare a creature or even a person.

"Reparifarge!" he yelled enthusiastically at the teapot.

Yellow sparks flew from his want towards the spot but his movement, yelling, and sparks had scared the little bunny teapot into jumping somewhere else. The sparks hit the tall grass and oddly enough a flower bloomed in its place. Ben thought that was weird and cool but he quickly turned his focus. The target had vanished once more but it had to be close. Hopefully Serena had been keeping an eye open. Hopefully she didn't see what it was yet though...

Whether it was from stupidity or naivety, Serena took people at face value. Perhaps she always would go on trusting people. Even when someone had lied to her, she continued to trust them. She was one of those people that saw the good in everyone. So, it was understandable that she accepted Ben's fabrication without question. It could well have been a rabbit - it certainly had sped off like one and it was white. That was pretty much all she knew about the pet so she accepted it, not thinking anything else of it. 

"Reparifarge..." She muttered under her breathe. The girl didn't recognise the spell at all - but she could well have fallen asleep in the aforementioned lesson. There was something about it that sounded familiar but the young girl couldn't quite place what it was. Perhaps she had fallen asleep in that class. 

Suddenly it hit her. Was it the healing spell she had read about a few weeks ago? Was the rabbit injured?! It definitely didn't look hurt and she had no idea if the healing spell actually worked on animals, as well as humans. 

She had actually never heard of the spell. However, she was confusing it for one she had been doing some extra research on. Serena never really studied, so it was easy enough to explain why she knew limited spells. The Hufflepuff did, however, start visiting the library to do extra research and try to read up on healing spells. The spell in question was actually "Reparifors", which helped in the case of removing minor ailments, such as poisoning. Clearly, she hadn't been doing enough research - and had yet to actually try the spell at all but perhaps that was why she thought she recognised it.

However, whilst she was busy trying to think about why it seemed so familiar, Ben had already started to jog off towards the animal. He called back to her, causing her to snap out of her thoughts. "Huh- oh yeah- sorry, let's go!" She replied as she dashed towards him. 

Misunderstanding the situation, she thought he was worried about his rabbit who may have consumed some sort of poison and ran away. Thinking Ben was just trying to save his beloved pet - before the poor thing got hurt any further - Serena sprung into action. Catching up to him, the girl watched the yellow sparks come out of his wand as he performed the transfiguration spell - well, untransfiguration spell - not the healing spell. 

In the action, she quickly scanned the environment for the rabbit. Doing so, she missed the random flower that had bloomed from Ben's spell. She saw it out of the corner of her eye as she tried to focus on the rabbit. Too much was happening all too fast, "Ben! There! Towards the bushes!" She called out as she pointed towards the bushes. Luckily everything was happening so fast that she didn't have time to see that this "rabbit" had a little handle and a spout. All she saw was a white object dashing around quickly.

Serena broke into a run towards the bushes. She slowed down as she approached them to avoid making too much noise. Listening carefully, she tried to listen for the rustling of leaves or the cracking of twigs. Anything to indicate something was moving and where it might be. The Hufflepuff slowly - and more importantly quietly - reached for her wand as she tried to steady her breathing so it wasn't audible to the rabbit. Would the spell work with the bushes in the way? Probably not... We have to get it to come out, somehow...

Sinking onto her knees, she peered tried to look through the gaps on the leaves. She could see something white through the gap. It could have been an animal with white fur... Unfortunately, she couldn't see if it was definitely the rabbit as the branches and leaves covered the legs, face or ears or anything that might have resembled the rabbit. 

Glancing over to Ben, she pointed with her free hand to indicate where she could see it. "How we going to get it out?" She asked him, dropping her voice to a whisper. It was at times like this that owning a pet cat would be useful - well as long as it didn't hurt the poor teapot rabbit, that was.  She was afraid the rabbit would run further into the bushes if they scared it - which would be a lot harder for them to chase after it. 

Ben's eyes were locked on the bushes where Serena was pointing. This did not need to become a chase through some bushes or the Forbidden Forest. He was worried the teapot would escape into the wilds forever and he had no idea what the consequences would be. Without looking back to Serena, he began to talk quietly.

"I... don't know," he stammered a bit, totally lost when it came to creature wrangling. "The last time I did something like this I nearly had my boogers sucked out of my face."

At this point he did not think the teapot was dangerous, but he knew creatures like Greg could be lurking. Last thing he wanted was another trauma. His wand pointed to where Serena was pointing just in case but he had no idea what spell to use to help. Was there a spell to remove plants? Ben had learned one. He considered it and pointed at the bush carefully.

"We learned a spell to clear plants in Herbology," he whispered, remembering their practice sessions making plants burn away. "Incendio!"

The half whisper, half yell did two things for Ben. Both of these were unintentional and both would likely upset Serena. The Incendio spell, to the horror of the Ravenclaw Prefect, was not a spell designed to clear plant life away harmlessly. It was a flame summoning spell that conveniently also burned plants. Such confidence and imagination of the bushes suddenly parting created a rather impressive ball of flame (for a first year student). It would make the small set of bushes vanish almost instantly just like he had been imagining, but not in the method he was hoping for.

WHAT THE FROG OH NO I AM AN IDIOT THIS IS FIRE I AM MAKING IT WORSE.

On top of the beacon of fire he had just cast, the bunny teapot had heard him cast the spell. It frightened the odd creature into running towards Serena, unaware she existed there. Likely due to the lack of eyes on the teapot if one thought about it. It also may have been the hot flames approaching from the other direction. Serena would be out of flame range but the teapot would heard straight for Ben's friend.

"Catch it!" He shouted, hoping she would be able to grab it.

"You what?" Serena asked with a raised eyebrow, still focusing on the little bunny through the bushes. Did she just hear him correctly? She couldn't help but wonder what he had gotten up to. It was quite a graphic reference, after all. The more important question, however, was probably "the last time?"

She couldn't help but wonder how many times had the Ravenclaw gotten up to something like this. Perhaps he was in the habit of losing his pet every week. The alternative was that he was a terrible owner and the poor animal kept trying to escape from his clutches. Whatever the case was, it seemed a little grim. She didn't have time to question it, however. Ben's Ravenclaw nature had kicked in - and he went straight in with the magic spells. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite the method Serena was expecting.

She had been crouching down, close to the bushes to inspect the animal through the gaps. Her entire focus had been on the white furry animal inside it, tracking its every move. That was until a flash of light flew in front of her widened eyes. It felt warmer. Within moments, it was like her whole life had flashed before her. "Ah-" Serena wasn't even aware of the noise that had escaped her lips. It had involuntary been made, as she jumped backwards and caused herself to fall onto her back. 

The ball of flame hit the bushes, quickly starting to burn away at them. Her mind stopped functioning. She couldn't think about anything. Without realising it, she was holding her breathe. Her heart rate was pounding so loud that that was all she could hear. If Ben was talking, nothing he said would reach her. Her heartbeat echoed so loudly that it could have exploded at any second. She lay on the ground, the palm of her hand pressed against the grass below her and holding her up as she looked back to the burning bushes. Instinctively, it was like she had jumped away from it. This wasn't the first time there was a fireball in front of her face - but she certainly hoped it was the last.

It seemed her reaction to the fire was the same as the rabbit's instinct. Without even thinking about it, Serena spotted something coming towards her. A white animal that was running towards her. She didn't notice the spout nose or the shape of its body. Her eyes picked up these details but her mind hadn't processed the information. All it saw was something. A white animal. 

It was by sheer instinct - and instinct alone - that she acted. Ben's words never reached her ear. But all of this was for that bunny, right? Her body seemed to act on its own accord. Pushing herself up, she took a dive to fall into the animal's path. One of her arms scrapped against the grounds, the small rocks and pebbles cutting into it. She had no choice though - she didn't want to hurt the animal so her body chose to allow itself to get hurt. It was the only way to catch the bunny without squashing it. It moved too quickly, after all. Serena managed to scoop it up into her arms before rolling over onto her back, with the bunny close to her chest.

This whole thing happened within a matter of moments. She was still holding her breathe, the tension and adrenaline surging through her body. That adrenaline caused her to take the nose dive towards the bunny and catch it.  

Catching the bunny teapot should have been the end of this whole fiasco. She should have sighed a breathe of relief and given up this chase. Sadly, that never happened. The tension never left her body. For some reason, she felt hot. Ahh! A burning sensation surged through her body. But she had avoided the fire entirely... Her cloak felt wet, "Arghhh!" Serena hissed out in shock, finally exhaling for the first time in a while. Her skin was starting to sting. The girl couldn't keep her arms wrapped around the bunny any longer. Her body had started to process the pain and what was going on. They opened up and she rolled over onto her chest. Her clothes were sticking to her. She struggled to get back up, her arms shaking. Wincing, Serena pushed herself up with her forearms and looking up to see the white animal running off again. "Ahh-arg-" She groaned. Her voice was shaky. Her face had been screwed up from the pain. 

The girl started to pant a little. Each breath was shaky too. She watched the teapot as she caught her breathe, "..." She didn't even know what to say. Ben had just caused a fire, which she was worry might spread further - because she couldn't see it. And that animal... was definitely not a bunny. The thing that looked a little like the nose of a baby elephant was actually a spout. And she could definitely see the handle as it ran off now. It was definitely a... teapot. With legs and fur though... Well that explains the boiling hot tea...

Her panting softened as she started to get control over her body and thoughts again. Her eyes stared blankly at the teapot that had continued to run away at this point. She didn't know if Ben had tried to change a teapot into a bunny or a bunny into a teapot... But either way, he had half succeeded - and half failed miserably. She really hoped it was the first one - because the latter sounded cruel and would have constituted as animal abuse, probably.

There was so much she wanted to say right now. She just didn't know where to begin. In all honesty, she wanted to yell at him but she was in pain and there were far more important matters that needed to be handled right now. "Ben- Stop the fire. I'll follow that damn thing." She exclaimed at him. She didn't mean to be so loud but the adrenaline was still surging in her body and she couldn't stay calm. With her words, she used all of the strength she could muster to push herself up, grab the wand she had dropped earlier and slip out of the cloak that was causing her more pain as the sleeve was covered in hot tea, "Argh!" The cloak fluttered to the floor as Serena break into a run, wincing as she tried hard to ignore the burning sensation. 

In all honesty, she hadn't once looked back to see if the plants had stopped burning. Perhaps it was all under control. The fire couldn't have spread that much anyway - all of this had happened in under a minute, after all. Serena winced as she raised her arm, "Reparifarge!" She yelled out, trying to hit the teapot but narrowly missing. Damn! She stopped her hand and continued to run after it. Her forearm had already turned red and was starting to sting. She definitely needed to cool it down but, she just wanted to fix this mess first - and the adrenaline was certainly helping her ignore most of the pain right now. Her uniform was covered in hot tea too, which was seeping into her chest. The cuts she had gotten on her arm earlier were also stinging. Everything hurt. But right now, it was a case of mind over matter.

Red flames reflected in Ben's wide eyes as he watched the scene before him unfold. The Ravenclaw Prefect was still in shock at what he had just done. This was not just a plant killing spell, was it? He was helpless when the teapot spilled its contents all over Serena. It had not really crossed his mind it would still be a hot tea making machine. Whatever magic kept it always full of hot tea did not go away. That made things a little more messy.

"Yeah..." he said in response to Serena as she ran towards the teapot. 

Ben stared at the flames that remained and the bushes that were on fire. He had no idea how to stop it. In class they burned away the plant and the fire didn't spread... It was smaller and controlled. They had not been taught a method to cast water yet. There were no easy fixes here so Ben's mind was turning at mach speed. 

Serena is probably mad... I'm sorry... Serena...

His internal plea would go unheard of course, even if she had not run off to catch the monster Ben had created. Though that was less of a concern than the flames he now had in front of him. The bush he targeted was a charred ash already but some small burning could be seen around it. He decided it would take muggle powers rather than wizard powers. Ben began to kick dirt at the smoldering flames and step on it.

"Take that, magic!" he said triumphantly as the fires were stomped out. "Now... where... did... Serena..."

Ben sneezed hard from all the dust he just kicked up. After shaking his head and moving out the dust cloud he spotted the Hufflepuff girl and gave chase. He had to help any way he could. It was his fault and he knew it. He really hoped Serena did not get hurt, but she seemed upset as she ran. Fire, teapot, hitting the ground... any of those could be the culprit or all of them.

"I owe you, Serena!" he shouted as he slowly caught up. "I'm sorry for this!"

It was likely about this moment he knew a career in care for magical creatures was not for him. First Greg the Booger Monster, now a teapot bunny, who knew what would be next. Ben was glad he ran every morning because it made catching up a lot easier than it would be otherwise. He ran to cut off the teapot on what he hoped was the right path before yelling out his own spell in a hopeful crossfire.

"Reparifarge!" he yelled as sparks erupted from his wand towards the target, missing by mere inches this time. "DANGIT!"

Serena had rushed off after the teapot before Ben had calmed the flames. She could only hope he managed it. However, if it was down to who she trusted more out of the two of them to handle that matter, it would have been the Ravenclaw Prefect without a doubt. For starters, she really disliked fire. She was growing a very strong dislike of it - perhaps even a fear of it... It wasn't the first time she had seen it up so close that she could feel the heat radiate of it - and sadly, she doubted it would be the last time. But mostly because he was far smarter and more adept at these sorts of things. He was, after all, a Ravenclaw.

During the time they had they been apart, Serena had almost lost the teapot. It ran off quickly whilst she was injured on the ground. She eventually managed to find it - though it wasn't easy. Her list of injuries was probably growing a bit longer every second. As soon as she found the bunny teapot, she tracked down its every move, throwing a few spells at it but missing it every time. It was fast. And she was really annoyed right now. Her arm was stinging painfully. Her chest was starting to hurt. She had small cuts and bruises all over her forearms and legs. Chasing this thing wasn't easy. But dammit, she wasn't one to give up so easily either. The bunny teapot had run into some other bushes. Deciding against magic, Serena had to follow. That was probably how she got a lot more of those scratches.

By the time Ben caught up to her, her appearance was a mess. She had already lost her cloak - back near the fire. She was regretting leaving it there now, she could have caught the damn teapot by throwing her cloak over it or setting a trap so it ran into the cloak and got caught up. She had noticed it didn't have eyes - so seemed to react to noises, temperatures and small movements it could feel. Her jumper was off and tied around her waist now. It had kept getting caught on the branches and annoyed her. The sleeves of her white shirt had been rolled up, revealing the cuts and blood on one arm, mixed in with red burn marks on both. There was dirt, mud and tea stains pretty much everywhere by now. Basically, she looked like a hot mess - just a massive mess.

She ignored his apology for now. It wasn't important. In all honesty, she felt like he didn't really need to apologise. He looked more stressed out about it than she did. She was just more careless and clumsy in the matter - so ended up being more injured. Right now, she just wanted to catch the thing and make sure they fixed the issue, "I think it reacts to noise," She explained, trying to work out the best way to catch it. Every time they yelled the spell, it would run away. Perhaps they needed to stop it from running first... and then use the spell on it. She glanced over and noticed Ben's cloak. Smirking slightly, she nodded, "How about we set up a little trap for the little guy?" She asked him, her voice very quiet but still loud enough for him to hear her.

"What?" he said a little too loudly, startling the teapot again. "Oh... sh...shoot! Yeah let's make a trap."

Ben instantly felt stupid again as he watched the teapot dart out of some tall grass. That thing could hear pretty well with its... its... ears? Sure. The Ravenclaw boy removed his cloak and held it out like a bullfighters cape. He crouched down slightly and sneaked over to intercept the teapots predicted path. A quick nod to Serena showed he was ready to pounce if it came by. Ben figured it was his turn to get injured in this quest.

Ok... avoid tipping it... I toss the cloak, hug it, hope for the best?

The teapot seemed to have stopped in another patch of tall grass somewhat nearby, but he couldn't reach it without alerting it. Instead he stood and waited for Serena to scare it his direction. If that wasn't the plan, he had grossly misunderstood. Serena seemed like a great friend and he hoped after this she wouldn't be too angry. Maybe if they caught it she would want a new pet? Or some tea? Or to smack him? Whatever it took. He glanced back to where the fire had been, making sure it truly went out.

"FUDGED FROGS FROM FRANCE" he whisper yelled to himself, managing to avoid scaring the teapot, but it did perk up a bit.

Smoke was still rising and a small fire was still burning in the embers of the old blaze. It would catch fire again if they didn't stop it. But it had to wait if they had hope of catching the teapot... bunny... thing.  Now was the best time to get it done once and for all. Then he could worry about the fire. Maybe another would notice the fire and fix it for him. Or punish him. Or laugh.

What a mess! I won't be allowed near a wand again!

Serena had actually planned to get the cloak from Ben and use it herself, so he didn't get injured. She was already hurt - so a bit more pain wasn't going to do anything drastic to her. However, he got into position with the cloak so she sighed softly before nodding. Despite the fact he had - indirectly - caused so many injuries to her, she still didn't want him to get hurt. Unfortunately, there was little time to argue about this. They had to catch that damn teapot and this was one of the best chances they had. Time was, after all, of the essence. A teacher could appear at any moment. They could have gotten in trouble - two Prefects running around, firing spells and starting fires... Probably not the best- wait, the fire! 

The Hufflepuff's head snapped to face the boy's. His sharp whisper caused dread to flood through her. Her eyes widened as she followed his gaze and confirmed her worst thoughts. That fire hadn't been fully extinguished. "Sh-" She whispered sharply under her breathe as her fist immediately clenched around her wand tighter. They were in trouble. That fire needed to be stopped. Before it turned into a forest fire. They were getting pretty close to the Forbidden Forest now... and fires could easily spread when there was wood and air involved. The panic clearly visible in her eyes now. What the hell were they going to do now? Oh man, they were definitely going to get in trouble for this...

Right, first things first. They had to capture this damn teapot and then stop that fire from escalating. And they had to do all of that now. Before it was too late. In all honesty, getting a professor around about now would be ideal. They could just use water magic to get rid of the fire and could probably catch the teapot before these students could. Unfortunately, there wasn't one around and they were too far away from the castle now to try and run back now. The fire would have spread by the time they managed to find someone. It was too dangerous. They were going to have to stop it by themselves, and do it now. 

"Right- teapot, let's do this!" Serena called out, clarifying her thoughts. "ALRIGHT, TEAPOT!  RUN OR GET CAUGHT! REPARIFARGE!!!" She yelled at it, knowing full well it would either run straight towards Ben or it would get caught in her spell. If it refused to move, at least it would turn back into a teapot... or perhaps a bunny rabbit. Serena hadn't actually worked out which way round Ben was trying to transfigure it. She hoped it was a teapot that he tried to turn into a bunny - rather than a poor little bunny that is trapped in the body of a teapot.