Come to me Monster PV Riley Swan Closed

~ September 2019 ~


I have been at Hogwarts for a few weeks and I have not had the chance to discover everything yet. On a sunny afternoon, I decided to go outside of the castle. I had no idea what I was going to do, I just wanted to enjoy the sunshine and maybe disturbing Alex if I had the chance to. She was not the type to go outside but I knew that she was always able to find stupid things to do. And who says stupid things says perhaps the great lake ?

I walked with the sure steps of the person who knows what she is doing. As I crossed the door of the castle I stopped for a while in order to enjoy the sun on my face and I smiled. It was so nice to feel the heat of the sun rays...

*Riley wake up, you have a mission to do, move !* After this little break, I continued until the lake without stopping again. There, I saw a girl I've already met for the "send a letter day". Riannon was also a first year in Hufflepuff and we had some courses in common. I started to kind of spy on her. I mean, I just didn't reveal to her that I was there and I watched what she was doing.

I couldn't understand it. She was throwing pebbles in the water. Maybe she wanted to do as many ricochets as she could ? But then, she sat down on the rock and observed the lake carefully. Was she trying to see the creatures of the lake ?

She asks to herself what she could try next and I decided to answer her trying to imitate our herbology teacher we had in common.

" WAIT, WHAT ARE YOU DOING. STUDENTS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO THROW ANYTHING IN THE LAKE. "

I couldn't stay calm and I exploded in laughing.

" Well... I'm sorry. I couldn't help but to make you scared. Anyway, Idon't think you are doing it the right way. If I were you, I would rather wait without breaking the surface of the lake, you know. "

Riannon was gazing at the lake, hoping to see any trace of the Squid. Did her pebbles had any effect at all? Were Giant Squids nocturnal creatures? Maybe she should have asked the Care of Magical Creatures professor before coming here.

Riannon began looking around to see if there was a tree she could climb on to have a better view of the lake. She should have taken a telescope with her. Plus she needed to start moving. The weather was nice with the sun out, but it was still Scotland and Riannon began to feel the wind cramping her muscles.

However, just before she stood up she heard a voice screaming behind her. "WAIT, WHAT ARE YOU DOING. STUDENTS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO THROW ANYTHING IN THE LAKE." The voice sounded familiar to her, like her Herbology professor and it did not sound pleased at all.

Riannon was so surprised by the voice that she fell over, scratching her knees on the rocks under her. But, she quickly came back up and began to turn towards the voice to apologise.

" I'm sorry prof..."

Her apology was cut short when she heard laughter. Riannon whipped her face and she recognised Riley, another first year student she had already met. Realising that she was not in trouble reassured Riannon bringing a grin on her face.

"Come on Riley, you've freaked me out." sniggered Riannon

" Well... I'm sorry. I couldn't help but to make you scared. Anyway, I don't think you are doing it the right way. If I were you, I would rather wait without breaking the surface of the lake, you know."

The other girl thought that Riannon was trying to do ricochet on the surface of the lake and Riannon guessed that it was a more normal activity than looking for the Giant Squid.

" Oh no, I am trying to attract the Giant Squid which live in the lake. Do you know about it ?" asked Riannon already turning back towards the lake and taking a bigger rock to throw on the water.

"I was thinking that disturbing the water would bring it out to me" explained Riannon " But maybe it's nocturnal or I need something bigger to attract it. What do you think ?"

I couldn't understand Riannon. Who could ever want to try to see the Giant Squid ? There was no point to do that. When I was younger, my mum used to read me a book where a little boy was kidnapped by a lake monster. Fortunatly for him, her mother was able to save him thanks to her work at the creatures department of the ministry of Magic.

The first time she read it to me, I was scared that I could one day be kidnapped by a lake monster as neither my mother nor my father was working for the creatures department. They had to tell me that my aunt was working there to stop me from making nightmare.

Now that I am older, I know that the Giant Squid will never kidnap a child, orelse, they couldn't be one at Hogwarts could it ? Despite my age, I was not really reassured to hear about a monster in the lake, even if I knew before that they were one, I was not really thinking about it. Therefore, I could not understand the enthusiast of Riannon about the creature of the lake. However, I could not show Riannon I was scared about that. I was too old to be scared of something.

I put my fear aside and tryed to find a way to help Riannon. She was funny, I liked them and she deserved to succeed in her dreams. But before that, I was wondering where does this dream come from.

" By the way, why do you want to see him ? I mean, there is so much things to see in Hogwarts and I don't get how someone would want to see a strange monster as him... "

Then, as I didn't want to stay on my fear, I tryed to give her some clues about the mystery of the lake.

" Well, I don't know much, but I think that you could make him angry by disturbing him. If I were you, I would probably try to stay calm and hope to see something. Maybe one of his tentacle ? "

Riannon realised that Riley seemed surprised by what she had just said. So coming to the Great Lake to see a monster is a weird thing to do? For Riannon discovering the mysteries of the magical world is always a source of wonder for her. She loves asking questions and she truly believes that stupid questions do not exist if they are asked with true interest. Riley started speaking again:

" By the way, why do you want to see him ? I mean, there is so much things to see in Hogwarts and I don't get how someone would want to see a strange monster as him... "

" Well, my brother and parents told me stories about it" said the Hufflepuff girl " and in every of them it seems to be a nice impressive creature. My dad told me that once the Squid saved a new student who had fell from the boat into the lake."

All the while she was speaking, Riannon made her way towards a tree which had a better view of the lake. Once she was close to the tree she saw that climbing it will be quite difficult. The branches were far apart and seemed to be thin. Riannon started to doubt that the branches would support her weight.
Behind her, she heard Riley give her advice:

" Well, I don't know much, but I think that you could make him angry by disturbing him. If I were you, I would probably try to stay calm and hope to see something. Maybe one of his tentacle ? "

"I certainly do NOT want to make him angry, it is called a GIANT squid. But seeing him will be amazing. How big its tentacles are? What colour it is? Some many questions without answers" rambled Riannon"Do you think this tree would carry my weight?" Riannon asked pointing the tree to Riley.

Not even waiting for Riley to answer back Riannon took off her cape to gain more freedom of movement and she started to jump trying to reach the closest and biggest branch.

I was thinking about what Riannon had told me concerning the beginning of her fascination for the Giant Squid. She had heard stories about it, as me with the lake monster, but we had not the same experience with that kind of creature. I thought he was a bit scary and she thought he was fantastic. I didn't know if I had to believe the fact he once saved a student who had fell into the lake. Was it only a popular belief or was there something true in the story ? At that precise moment, I decided that I needed to do some researches about it. Maybe this was the reason why I had been sorted into Ravenclaw. I am curious about a lot of things. I am not highly assiduous because I don't like to learn mandatory subjects. I just like to search by myself whatever I am interesting in at the moment.

During my inner conversation, Riannon started to approach a tree. She looks like she was reluctant to climb on it which was understandable as the branches were quite high. As she asks her question about the appearance of the monster, I started to become excited. I was still scared, but my curiosity became more important. That was an interesting question to know his color and even the size of his tentacles. I was not as good as Lauren to draw, but I liked it and wanted to have the opportunity to try.

" You are right. We need to know the answers about how he looked ! " I also mumbled to myself : " Maybe it will heal my fear for lake creatures. I will never feel ashamed anymore after this experience. "

Before I had the chance to give my opinion about whether the tree could carry her weight, she had already started to climb. I was not sure it was the best idea in order to be able to see the Giant Squid. I was as excited as her to see him. However, I was thinking that there was no point to chance broken one of our leg. If something like that happened, we will never be able to see him from the medical wing.

" You know that if you break your leg, it will not help us to see him ? "

I was quite sure she will not listen to me. Actually, I was not even sure she could hear me from where she was. I tried to look around me and found out a little mound just 100 yards from us.

" We should rather go up that mound over there. "

Riannon first try to reach a branch was not very successful. The tree bark was quite rough to the touch and Riannon scratched her hand on it. She will have to remember to clean it properly but the small scratches were not deep. Plus, Riannon had a good pain tolerance so she just wiped her hands on her sweater and continued to jump to reach the branch. Behind her Riley was watching her and she finally agreed with her that seeing the Squid would be so cool.

"Do you think it has a name?" asked Riannon

As soon as the question left her lips Riannon realised that if it had name than the name must have been given by an adult without any imagination. Its name was probably a latin name, like Giantus Squidus quite ridicule indeed.

" WE should name it ourselves, give it a nickname, a cool one"

Riannon struggles to reach a branch was finally over. She firmly caught a branch and she started to climb on the tree. She followed what her dad taught her when they were travelling in Wales a couple of years before. Keeping a good grip on the branch and pushing with her legs.

"Look at that, I'm a monkey !" said Riannon imitating monkey noises.

However, her new friend did not seem sure that Riannon would be able to clim the tree without hurting herself. She even was afraid to see Riannon breaking a leg.

"Don't worry, I am a very good climber" said Riannon trying to reassure Riley. Well a good climber was maybe pushing it a bit far considering Riannon had not climbed that many trees but she has yet to fall from one.

Her climb was going well. She had moved up from her first branch and she had almost reached the top. From there she had quite the view. She could see the Forbidden Forest and some Greenhouses. However, even from there she was not able to see the Giant Squid. Riannon leaned down to see Riley at bottom of the tree. Riannon was not really able to hear her from her spot.

" I can't see the Squid for here" Riannon yelled.

But leaning forward on a tree branch was quite a risky move and Riannon could feel the branch creak under her. She was not eager to visit the hospital wing so she started her climb down. She went down one branch then another one and she reached the first branch she started on. This branch had a lot of weight to carry when Riannon first started her climb and as soon as the girl put her foot on it the branch cracked under her. Thankfully the branch was not very high up but Riannon fell down right on her bum and she will feel it the following days for sure.

" I guess students have already gave him a name, but I am not sure he has an official one. Mmh... Maybe we should name him Octpous. I don't know what you think about it but to my opinion, it is great ! "

Riannon was acting like she was a monkey. I didn't know if I was impressed or scared. Probably both of them at the same time. She was so much agile, I couldn't even follow her with my eyes. Soon enough, she was at the top of the tree. I was impressed, really. I mean, I was not scared to fall when I was climbing but this tree seems hard to climb.

Unfortunately, Riannon could not see the Giant Squid from the top of the tree. That was what I thought will happen and I was wondering what to do next. I was not paying attention to Riannon anymore as I was trying to find something in our environment that could help us. But then, I heard a big "crack" which does not look like a good news. When I turned my head, I saw that my classmate was starting to go down. Everything is going to be fine Riley, calm down. My heart started to slow down. I had not noticed it was beating faster than usual from the time Riannon had started to climb down.

Finally, she reached the last branch before returning on the floor... A huge crack later and Riannon was on her bum.

" RIANNON ! ARE YOU OKAY ?! "

I ran towards her to be sure she was okay. I had told her it was not a good idea to climb on this tree. Fortunately, she seemed to be fine and could at least walk correctly.

" Do you still want to continue ? If yes, I think we should try to be calm and wait from a higher place, like the mound over there. And maybe, come back tonight ? I really have no idea if he is nocturnal or not. "

It took of bit of time for Riannon to understand that she had just fell down the last branch. She was so close to reach the ground safely but it seems that she will not be able to boast her climbing talents anymore. The pain was not severe, she had broken her leg when she was seven and still to this day she remembers the horrible pain that shot through her entire body. From that injury, the witch had kept a scar on her knee, nothing too big but visible to the naked eye nonetheless.
Riannon also saw Riley next to her. Riannon thought she had heard Riley screaming when she was falling. She must have been worried for Riannon.

"I'm okay !" she said hoping to reassure her companion. "I'm just going to have a big bruise on my ass" she finished with a grin on her face.

Her grin morphed into a wince when she stood up and she felt how sore she truly was. She took a few step to make sure she had not broken anything. Thankfully her legs were working fine even if her gait must appear quite stiff to other people.
However, her pain was put on the side when she heard Riley's question. Riannon was not a quitter, she still had to see the Giant Squid.

"NO ! I'm definitely up to continue our search for the Squid or Octpous? What is? The nickname you wanted to gave him?" she asked. From up her tree she could not really hear her friend so she was not sure she heard right.

"But yes maybe not climbing other trees right now. Let's go to the mound you saw" she said walking towards the mound with a hand discreetly massaging her ass. She may have to go ask her brother for a cream. "However, better avoid getting detention for going out after curfew, let's first reach this viewing point before making a new plan".

The mound was not too steep and reaching the top was easily done. From up there the view was amazing, the lake was so huge and the breeze created a magical atmosphere. But even from there the lake was still, Riannon did not see any sign of the Squid.

"I still can't see it" she whined to Riley "You may be right and it is a nocturnal creature, do you have any idea for attracting it to us?"

Riannon could not come up with any new ideas. She had come there to see the Giant Squid but maybe she should do someting else instead. She glanced towards Riley, she tried to prank Riannon first. Should Riannon try to prank her back? The Hufflepuff girl was thinking that her afternoon will not be wasted if she could think of someting fun to do.

Finally, Riannon stood up carefully. Her legs seemed to be a little stiff but she quickly moves on to our major issue: see the Giant Squid. Well, if she was okay, there was no need to worry. My enthusiast got the upper hand.

" Yes Octpous if you agree. After all, we are in this together and it is your dream to be able to see him, so if you prefer to call him another way, it is still possible ! "

I had wondered why Riannon had been sorted to Hufflepuff when I had seen her climbing at the trees. Yet, as she reconsidered her decision to climb, I understood that she was not as reckless as Gryffindor's people. You may think that I am over-judging people from the lion house but I have supported one in my house since I was born. And I know Alex would have never reconsidered the option of climbing on trees. When she has an idea, she sticks on it until she succeed or have an accident.

Riannon was right about what will happened to us if we got out of our dormitory during the night. That was not an option. I was not really tight on the rules but I could not risk to be expelled from Hogwarts.

Riannon started to walk towards the mound and I followed her. As I was a little bit late, I decided to run and told my classmate :

" The last one at the top of the mound will looooooose ! "

I ran as fast as I could, which was pretty fast actually. As I am always running, I am quite athletic for a 11 years-old girl. I obviously won the race even if I was not sure Riannon had actually try to catch me.

I was feeling so good at the top of this mound. The little breeze was gently caressing my face and the sun was heating my cheeks. A little sigh escaped from my mouth. For a second I had forgotten the mission, until Riannon asked me a question.

" Well... I have no idea what we could do now... I'm sorry, I wish I could be able to help you. Maybe we could do something else ? I was actually here to find my sister to prank her before I saw you. Would you like to help me ? "