what nightmares are made of [alice]

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WHAT NIGHTMARES ARE MADE OF [alice]

south of the hogwarts castle resided a lake whose waters spanned half a mile in diameter. its depths were populated with creatures muggle-born children could only imagine to be conjured up in a fairy tale. creatures that fueled the nightmares of many. it was an extraordinary lake. a great lake. as expected of a great and powerful landmark, the lake wasn't without its dangers. a giant squid, grindylows, and merpeople called the black lake home. of course, that was the main reason why minh came here in the first place. as any curious magizoologist-in-training would do, he would seek out beasts that he would one day subdue and train in his chosen field.  he who never experienced a beast firsthand could never hope to control or overcome it. he who knows nothing of his enemy or comrade is a bloody fool. careful study and observation was needed.

drawing a heavy breath, minh attentively crossed on over to the southern edge of hogwarts castle and arrived at the lake in a timely fashion. with a vigilant watch on the waters, the ravenclaw boy secured himself a boat and quickly fastened it to a post grounded to the lake's bottom. now, to wait and observe. he was to meet with another hogwarts student who was interested in being a zoologist here at this very spot. a hufflepuff. same year. he had not personally spoken with the girl, however, he had seen her before in his classes. he vaguely recalled her often making sarcastic comments. she was a bit of a know-it-all, carried a rather large chip on her shoulder, and disliked interacting with other people. heh. she reminded him a bit of herself. there was one thing that certainly puzzled him about the girl, though: why hufflepuff? she had the makings of a great ravenclaw. the sorting hat was surely losing its touch. he wondered how things would've been like between the two of them if she had been housemates. would they have become close? they truly did share many things in common.

scoffing, minh shook off the thought and pulled out a roll of fresh parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink. now was not the time to be thinking about such nonsense. in a haphazard fashion, minh randomly began placing the objects all around him, parked his rump on the ground, folded his legs comfortably in a criss-cross formation, and proceeded to prop his belongings onto a small flat board he had packed specifically for studying sessions such as these.

@alice

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Seventh year was proving to be quite different. Not only had many tragic things happened this year, but so many things had changed. Her friendship with James had been put on a hold, her family had welcomed in two new "adoptive" daughters and Lestranges no less, and she had found a new friend in Carcer Hagrid. So Alice was more open to change now. Had none of that happened, who knows what she might be now. Probably the same old stubborn and stuck up Alice, the same one who never would ever think of going out to study a common interest with a Ravenclaw. But perhaps it was her newfound relationship with Carcer that had inspired her to change; to go out and make new friends. Despite their house.

Alice was walking down to the Black Lake and thinking of all the ways this meeting could possibly go wrong. She was meeting with Minh Thi, a fellow seventh year that happened to be in Ravenclaw. They shared a common interest, however, that was incentive for them to "hang out" so to speak. They both desired to one day be magizoologits and both loved magical creatues. Sounded pleasant enough. But what if their personalities completely clashed? If one of them said something that offended the other or something they liked? Knowing Alice, it was probably bound to happen.

The Hufflepuff reached the Black Lake and saw Minh near a boat. She let out a breath out of nervousness. She couldn't remember the last time she had really spoken to a Ravenclaw. Unless it was a Weasley, or something. She had never spoken to Minh but from what she could tell, he always seemed to kind of resemble her in some ways. They both preferred solitude and he seemed to not speak up much either in classes. So she hoped this would be easy.

After a moment of standing there silently, Alice finally spoke up. "Minh, right?" She said to announce her presence.

@winter