Idle Investigations Open Closed

A mild breeze picked up Rivers curls as she sat in the grass out in the courtyard. She had some time off from, well everything, and that called for a break outside in the fresh spring air. She hadn’t brought anything to do for the afternoon. Her plan had been to go outside and watch relax for a bit, just let her mind wander into areas of the universe she couldn’t even imagine existed. She’d been having some issues with the sun previously, and it wasn’t hard to notice as her nose and cheeks were turning a fiery red, almost matching her hair at this point. She’d packed on a whole bunch of sunscreen in hopes of blocking out the sun rays a little more, but for now she was alright sitting in the shade.
A little red owl was hopping around on the shoulders of the ravenclaw. He was apparently not feeling like a break was needed. He fluttered down to the ground next to River and his little legs danced around the green grass. Hoot was a little bird with big amounts of energy, that was for sure, and he’d usually have trouble staying still for more than ten minutes.

Suddenly, the little owl hopped up and took off in a hurry. River got up and looked after him, wondering what in the world he could have laid eyes upon now. One thing to know about Sir Little-Hoot, is that you should not be fooled by his tiny wings, because he’s got speed.
Rivers eyes squinted, trying to spot his destination throughout the bright sun. He didn’t fly too far, and as soon as he stopped, River knew exactly what had caused him to take off. A cat…
Sir Little-Hoot had some history with cats. And he had, through a series of events, gone from being terrified of every cat he came upon, to flying after every cat he saw to say hello. That happened very often around here considering how many people owned cats here at Hogwarts. Also, it was quite stupid, as he was a small bird, and cats are known to run after small birds.
«God damn it Hoot» River muttered as she began heading in the direction of the cat and whoever were next to them. She wasn’t too far away when she saw that the owl had landed a little away from the two, and was now walking up to where they were sitting. «Hoot, get back here!», River called out, but Hoot didn’t listen, he had decided he was going to say hello to that cat.

River slowed to a halt as she watched in terror the little owl approach the cat. Who knows what this situation could come to, Hoot was tiny compared to the cat, and if the cat was to become aggressive then he would be a simple meal. To Rivers surprise, and great relief, the cat seemed… playful. Or curious, but at least not aggressive as far as the ravenclaw could understand. She kept a careful eye on them, before a voice caught her attention, causing her to look away for a moment. It was Alan, the boy who had hosted the tug of war game that previous day. River smiled relieved as she noticed the boy, she realized he must have been the owner of the cat. River looked back at the two animals dancing about each other, Hoot was hopping around on his little feet.

The redhead walked slowly up to where Alan was seated on the ground, “Hey Alan”, she said and sat down too. She didn’t think to ask if it was alright, her mind was too busy watching the owl flutter about excitedly. They seemed to be getting along fine. “Yeah, I guess they’re good. I assume it’s your cat?”, she said as a late response to Alans previous statement. River relaxed a little as she noticed there didn't seem to be any immediate danger, but she'd still send occasional glances in their direction.

Hoot had a history of getting into trouble, specifically with cats for some reason. He would fly after them through halls and corridors to interact with them. One time he'd flown after a particularly large cat and didn’t look back for River before the feline was literally on top of the little bird. After that it had been stressful enough to bring the speedy little guy anywhere.

@Alan Vanes

Relaxing a little more after talking to Alan, River sighed relieved as the owl and the cat continued their adventure. Tiger was indeed a fitting name for the cat, River assumed Alan had probably heard Hoots name from her calling after him earlier.
The young ravenclaw looked around to see if anyone else had been disturbed by her distress, no one seemed bothered at far as she noticed. «Kneazles are pretty cool», she responded to his mention of the cat-like creatures. They were particularly adorable with their little puffy tails and large ears. River had read a bunch about them previously.

The redhead followed up and sat down on the bench next to Alan. "Y-You're not b-busy, right?", he asked. «Oh, no not at all», she answered and pushed a red curl behind her ear. «I just came out here for some air, nothing special in particular», she added and looked out over the courtyard. «what about you?, she asked and glanced back at the boy. «Up to any exciting plans?».
There wasn’t many days River had the time to actually take a break and relax these days. Her mind was too occupied with everything going on, generally at Hogwarts, or just in her personal life. Add all that on top of school work, and finding a moment of peace could become challenging.

@River Dewlight

@Alan Vanes || @Rose Moon

There was nothing nicer than sitting outside for some fresh air and a nice conversation with someone you have yet to really get to know. Well, at least River felt like that was a particularly splendid way to spend a day. Not that she had much time to actually do that though, she was well in over her head in homework and classes most of the time. Now and then though, some time off is crucial to actually doing well while studying.
Alan seemed quite interested in animals. Or at least as far as River knew, he was interested in kneazles, which was understandable. Who are not to adore those intelligent creatures. Perhaps Alan was right about Tiger, he seemed quite intelligent himself, to not pounce at the small owl the second he laid his cat-eyes upon Hoot.
River was happy to hear Alan too was just out for some time off. He asked about the SWAG club, and River’s eyes glinted slightly as he mentioned it, “Yup, that is right”, she answered him and smiled. She had almost forgotten they were both in the same club. Or not really, but there were many faces and many names to keep up with, and sometimes everything got a little mixed up. Those games were really something she enjoyed being a part of. It was a nice way to get some activity, and most of all, to meet new people of course. That was probably the biggest reason she’d joined in the first place. “Personally I had so much fun during the first game when we got to fly our brooms”, she said to him and thought back to the first ever meeting of the club. She could vividly feel the anticipation and slight nervous energy of attending the first game, though it ended well. “What about you? What game have you enjoyed the most so far?”, she asked Alan. River couldn’t remember if Alan was in the first game, she didn’t remember seeing him there.
Listening to Alan, River saw a girl standing by and quietly watching the little tiger and owl hopping around on the grass. The ravenclaw wondered if she’d planned to just stand there or what she would do, and her question was answered soon after as the girl spoke up.
The unfamiliar girl’s gaze fell to the ground, “Oh no worries, you didn’t intrude”, River said as she looked to her. She tried her very best to sound reassuring, but in reality, River was not known for being very good at such. “I’m River”, she introduced herself quickly with a careful smile on her pale and slightly sunburned face.