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last online May 7, 2024 7:34:50 GMT -7
DRUID
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Nov 15, 2021 13:52:49 GMT -7
Post by fae iona cloudbreaker on Nov 15, 2021 13:52:49 GMT -7
▲ Friendly was definitely not the first impression that one got from the Black Lake’s giant squid, though watching the creature for any amount of time would prove otherwise. A gentle giant was the best way to describe it, and Fae had wondered for many years about its existence at the school and why it willingly stayed there. There wasn’t anything inherently special about the lake aside from the mermaid colony that sat at the lakebed, and aside from it being used from time to time by the school, there didn’t seem to a purpose for the creature. Maybe it just liked hanging out there? James recounted a story about how the squid once lifted a student that had fallen into the water, back into their boat. Now that was certainly something! “I wonder if someone raised it, perchance, as it seems to do well with humans. There are not many non-domesticated animals out there that are like that.” Especially around mainlanders. They weren’t exactly known for treating other living creatures with utmost care. If she had unlimited time to research and look into this, she absolutely would. The mystery of the giant squid deserved to have its story told, and she definitely wished that she could be the one to do it. Unfortunately that didn’t seem like much of a possibility anymore considering her present workload. “There are many,” Fae smiled at the realization that seemed to come over James at the mention of there being more druid communities. “Hy-Brasil is the largest of them, of course, and our homeland. The others tend to be much smaller and hold varying degrees of the same belief system. I hesitate to call them branches like mainlander religions do, but that would be the best way to think of them.” And typically it wasn’t even that. In her experience, the other groups were tended to revolve around specific trades or expertise, which was determined by their location. Not everyone wanted to live on Hy-Brasil either; there were often times where she completely understood that. How it was possible to feel smothered by such an open and free place was extremely hard to describe, but it was absolutely possible. The mainland, in its polluted and non-magical state, while awful at times, was still infinitely more open to do whatever one pleased than with how Hy-Brasil was. That was simply fact. The return of the waitress and promise of more butterbeer had Fae waiting anxiously at the edge of her seat. She liked watching the way it was poured into the mug, though from where she was seated, that was hard to do. Half-sitting, half-standing still didn’t help, so she turned her attention back to James who was talking about the automobiles and how his grandfather had managed to make one fly. She was unaware that mainlanders had flying machines like that! Airplanes were one thing, but not cars that could do that too. About to ask a question about the vehicle and how that was possible, the waitress returned with new drinks and Fae greedily slid hers closer to herself, thanking the girl before taking a long sip. James, in the meantime, had pulled something out of his pocket and started talking about it. She had no idea what it was. “What does that do?” Fae inquired before taking another long sip of her drink. MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0
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james sirius potter
HOGWARTS ALUM HIT WIZARD
224 posts
played by vanessa
Carry on, don't mind me All I gave was everything
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last online May 6, 2024 21:01:09 GMT -7
MINISTRY
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Nov 15, 2021 21:02:04 GMT -7
Post by james sirius potter on Nov 15, 2021 21:02:04 GMT -7
I've got chills down to my bones With a weight above the clouds that built your throne Fae brought up a good question and one that James hadn’t considered. He had never sat and thought about such things. The stories his father had told him of Dumbledore and other Hogwarts staff—he wouldn’t be surprised if the famed Headmaster had raised the Giant Squid himself or even Hagrid, perhaps. The next time James ran into Malcolm, he would have to ask if he knew anything about that. ”You might be right. I don’t think we would have been allowed near the Lake otherwise.” Just another feature of Hogwarts grounds that would be ‘Forbidden’ although James had lost count of how many times he’d wandered into the Forest himself.
But James listened intently as Fae explained how there existed Druid communities outside of Hy-Brasil. In his mind, he pictured small villages, but he’d also never visited Hy-Brasil to have anything to compare to. He paused as he absorbed all this information. ”Is there a reason people leave?” It wasn’t outlandish to think that members of a community could think differently of their peers. One of his namesakes, Sirius Black, had done as much regarding his own family and lineage. James would find some Black family trinket or old picture in Number Twelve that he’d ask his father about every once in a while, though sometimes his Grandfather had better details of the ancient family.
James was slightly amused at Fae’s excitement toward the Butterbeer. It was a popular beverage in the magical world, and rightfully so. He’d yet to meet anyone that didn’t like it. But now, they were on the topic of muggle devices that had found a place in the magical world. She asked what the phone did, and James turned it over in his hand a couple of times. It was small but had a lot of functionality, he was told. As well as the instruction manual that had accompanied the phone in the box. ”Its like a tellyphone but smart.” James began. ”You can call people with it and even send messages that are instant—much faster than Owls.” James unlocked the screen and placed the phone flat on the table, so the screen was visible. ”I haven’t quite gotten the hang of that part of it yet—and there’s a clock, too. I use that. I definitely prefer writing my letters, still.” And there was much more functionality to it, but even James scratched his head at it all.
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last online May 7, 2024 7:34:50 GMT -7
DRUID
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Nov 18, 2021 19:51:34 GMT -7
Post by fae iona cloudbreaker on Nov 18, 2021 19:51:34 GMT -7
▲ The possibility of her theory being correct seemed right to her. Though how did one even raise a giant squid? That was an even greater mystery considering where it lived and how it was essentially self-sustaining past a certain point. The part that tipped her off that it was raised came from the fact that there were stories of it liking its tentacles tickled (which she now realized was probably all it wanted from her when it grabbed onto her leg all those years ago). If she hadn’t panicked then, she probably would have put it all together, positive that she had heard the rumor of the tickling prior to her first time swimming in the lake. “Despite my poor first meeting with it, I would not hesitate to go back and say hello again. Maybe during the examination period I could pay a visit…” she mused. That would be easy to convince the Council and the Ministry to allow her to go, if only for the first day of the exams. She was over here so often now that it made sense to want to look at the school. She hadn’t done that at all since becoming High Druid. James’s question regarding the separate druid communities was a difficult one to answer. There were so many reasons, never really one that was specific, but it mostly came down to core beliefs or wanting to strike out on their own. As for those that simply left? Well why not? What was there to do on Hy-Brasil other than taking care of animals or farming? Very few families had trade with the mainland unless it was the Wormwoods with their wine, or one of the other families that dealt in textiles or apothecary goods. “To be completely honest with you, it is probably because they realize there is more to do off island,” she shrugged as she took a drink of her butterbeer. “I was once like that, but I was chosen before I could find a true calling on the mainland. Most end up doing similar jobs to what they would do at home, so working with animals or plants. It is how we stay connected to nature while being away from home.” Especially the ones that wanted to still come back. Doing anything that was deemed to be inappropriate under druidic law would end up with a banishment, so sticking to fairly normal career paths and coming and going from Hy-Brasil was common. Once most were ready to settle down, they often times returned to the island. That was just how it worked. The rectangular electronic device that James had produced was described as being similar to a telephone, and Fae realized that she had maybe been mispronouncing the word once she heard him repeat it back the same way she had said it a few moments earlier. Regardless, apparently this thing was ‘smart’ and could send messages instantly to other people. She understood the calling part, especially if it was a telephone, but the message thing was confusing. James did something to it before setting it down on the table though, and the part facing up was emitting light. “That is…interesting,” she said quietly as she leaned further over the table to get a better look at the phone. Then it sort of clicked in her head that she had seen these things quite a bit while on the mainland. “Wait, are these the things that muggles are always staring down at while they walk? Are they sending messages while they do that?” Her eyes had widened greatly in her realization, and the fact that she had potentially figured it out on her own made her excited. Mainlander technology was so cool! She would never want it on the island, of course, but being able to look at it over here was fine with her. It just showed how much the druids were truly missing out on sometimes. MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0
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james sirius potter
HOGWARTS ALUM HIT WIZARD
224 posts
played by vanessa
Carry on, don't mind me All I gave was everything
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last online May 6, 2024 21:01:09 GMT -7
MINISTRY
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Jan 9, 2022 0:24:27 GMT -7
Post by james sirius potter on Jan 9, 2022 0:24:27 GMT -7
I've got chills down to my bones With a weight above the clouds that built your throne It had never occurred to James that the Giant Squid might be even remotely dangerous. In hindsight, it was probably not the best idea to let young children hang around such a deep lake without supervision. He had learned how to swim very young, but maybe not everyone did? If his brother were there, he might shake his head and comment on how James did tend to act without thinking at times, though not to the extent of his sister. It was James’ nature to feel the need to act and not sit and meticulously plan his next step as some would. Fae spoke of visiting Hogwarts once more. It was hard to picture the High Druid as simply a student attending exams at Hogwarts rather than the public figure she was now. ”I’d like to think the Giant Squid likes the visitors and company.”
There was much that James did not understand about Druid culture, but he’d also simply never asked. Most of what he knew had been explained to him by his late Aunt Hermione as she had done her due diligence to learn what she could to create and open lines of communication. Uncle Ron had always spoken of how his Aunt was always interested in the plights of others and learning more about them. The more he sat here and spoke to the High Druid, he realized how …normal she was. There was something mystical about people with fancy titles and famous names but meeting them showed James that most of them were just regular people, and he’d met his fair share through his father. Then again, many thought highly of themselves and their authority despite doing nothing—Fae wasn’t that type. ”What would you have done?” James asked before pausing and speaking again quickly. ”If you don’t mind me asking?” She had said she was ‘chosen’, which implied this wasn’t her original path.
James’ phone screen lit up for a few seconds before dimming for a few more seconds and going black again. Harper told him it was to help save the battery life, and then James curiously asked what a battery was. As she had explained it, it was a source of portable power. It all sounded like advanced magic, plus he’d watched his grandfather stab a battery with a fork, and it had erupted in flames as if he’d cast a spell. ”Most likely. My cousin has shown me some of the other functions. People can share photographs along with messages. I’m probably not the best person to ask about what else you can do with it.” James drank more of his butterbeer as he glanced outside, seeing more muggles on their devices. ”My grandmother doesn’t really like them. She says she sees muggles staring at them and not talking to one another.”
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last online May 7, 2024 7:34:50 GMT -7
DRUID
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Feb 6, 2022 20:05:02 GMT -7
Post by fae iona cloudbreaker on Feb 6, 2022 20:05:02 GMT -7
▲ The giant squid enjoying company was maybe an understatement. It had gotten a little too close and personal during her encounter with it, though she could see now that it was just trying to get a feel for what the individuals in its lake were like. If it was like any normal animal, it most likely viewed her, and Cashel, like any other creature did: as friends. Wrapping its tentacles around her foot was the equivalent of a human handshake. Trying to convince an eighteen year old version of herself that had barely seen the mainland that this was a normal thing for magical mainlanders at Hogwarts would be extremely difficult. The fact that she was comfortable around griffins and dragons didn’t change that. Part of that had to be the unknown of the lake and the giant squid, which thankfully she knew wasn’t all that terrible. “I have not thought about that in years…” Fae mused at James’s question about what her non-High Druid job would have been. A more optimistic, cheerful Fae would have said world traveler, though she now knew took money and connections, neither of which she had. Treating every trip to the mainland as a new experience was her way of achieving that now despite it being for political reasons. Being able to find moments like this, where she was sat in a mainlander pub having idle chit-chat, was what she assumed being normal was like. There was never going to be any of that as a druid to begin with, but it was nice to see a small slice of what the rest of the world got to do whenever they pleased. “I was the tour guide on Hy-Brasil after I finished my education. If I had been less timid back then, I would not have minded working with animals.” The reality of it was more than she would have ended up working the Cloudbreaker farm and tending to the griffin herd, the latter of which she continued doing despite her High Druid duties. They were her charges and she didn’t mind checking in on them in the slightest. The phone that James had certainly beat talking about the giant squid, her future that would never be, or work related topics. Even if he didn’t know much about the thing in his hands, or why muggles were obsessed with them, it was more than what she knew of them. “They would never work on Hy-Brasil,” she commented, taking another sip of her drink but refusing to pull her eyes away from the device. “The concentration of magic is too strong. Even with the barrier down.” A small laugh bubbled out of her as she remembered watching the first Ministry employees that arrived the day the barrier disappeared. A few had tried to do something with their phones, which at the time she thought was a black brick in their hands. Now it all made sense! “I agree with your grandmother. Much can be learned by conversing. Maybe it is too bold of me to say so, with what little experience I have with this world, but I believe if we spent more time talking and listening to one another, a lot of our problems would figure themselves out.” She didn’t think that was too presumptuous of her. Certainly that policy would help the Ministry understand where she was coming from a little better. MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0
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james sirius potter
HOGWARTS ALUM HIT WIZARD
224 posts
played by vanessa
Carry on, don't mind me All I gave was everything
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last online May 6, 2024 21:01:09 GMT -7
MINISTRY
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Mar 14, 2022 21:15:01 GMT -7
Post by james sirius potter on Mar 14, 2022 21:15:01 GMT -7
I've got chills down to my bones With a weight above the clouds that built your throne Not every student had a good experience with the Giant Squid. Some were merely afraid of the water and the fact that you couldn’t see the bottom, and others couldn’t swim. But James had always been fearless as his curiosity would always win over any fear in his system. Plus, he’d never turn down a challenge if given one. And between his siblings and his cousins, there was always the push to do something daring simply because one of them said he couldn’t do it. This type of attitude had delighted his father, but he was sure his mother would have preferred him to be calm like his brother.
Fae wasn’t offended by his question, thankfully. Although if Bianca had been sitting there, James could already visualize the glare she would have shot him and the apology she would have given Fae. But so far, Fae had been happy to answer his random questions. And it wasn’t as if he was the first Ministry official to ask genuine questions even if James tended to speak before think. It must have been a challenge to be in such a leadership role at such a young age—it hadn’t gone well for his cousin when she had ascended to a similar role. ”My Uncle works with animals—well, dragons mainly.” But his Uncle Charlie knew so much about so many different species. ”But he’s very knowledgeable.” James added.
The one perk of such a large family was there would always be a family member who likely specialized in some subject. His Uncle in charms, his late Aunt Hermione in the law, and his Uncle Fred was surprisingly adept at Charms. And of course, his mother was a skilled Quidditch player, while his father knew quite a lot about dueling. And with the latest technology things, his cousin Harper was miles ahead of them. However, Fae explained that it didn’t matter for Hy-Brasil. These devices would not work. ”Well some certainly do a lot of talking…” James remarked. In his view, the problem was people like their Minister of Magic. Krum could talk for days, but he preferred the photo-op to making progress or changing things. James shrugged lightly, the phones were convenient, but he was accustomed to a life that did not include one. ”They’re nice for some things…but I’ll always prefer a handwritten letter.” It was far more personal than the messages the devices sent and received.
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last online May 7, 2024 7:34:50 GMT -7
DRUID
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Apr 17, 2022 7:04:07 GMT -7
Post by fae iona cloudbreaker on Apr 17, 2022 7:04:07 GMT -7
▲ Fae was starting to realize that the family James was a part of was...expansive. His aunt had been the Minister, an uncle worked with dragons, and his dad owned this pub? She was sure in the flurry of conversation they'd had thus far that he had mentioned others, to the point that there were too many to count. And she knew that Minister Granger had once said her family was large. Spending time on the mainland more frequently probably meant she'd be running into all of them every now and then. "It is possible we have met already. Plenty of dragonologists came to the island after the barrier went down. I have been told that our dragon population tends to be skittish compared to other ones. Letting those that fled be free is quite dangerous." She didn't really need to tell anyone that, including James, as scared dragons were bad in any situation. Hopefully they could get them all back to the safety of their caves. She could commiserate with James when it came to having to deal with people that she classified as 'talkers'. There were instances where she got the same way, usually about griffins or her favorite hidden spots on Hy-Brasil. None of which were anything close to how some within the Ministry could be. Their incessant talking, often times about nothing important, told her that they really didn't know what they were going on about. Flowery words and loud, aggressive talking over others was what she classified as a lack of actual intelligence. Those officials only got to where they were by bullying their way up the ranks. She'd seen it in action over the past few years every time a new Minister was elected. This was why the Council was efficient, in her opinion. An ever changing governing body, aside from herself. They kept her in check at times though. "I find that a handwritten letter gives off much more emotion than one that has been printed." Even the stories in the Daily Prophet were more human than what the Ministry frequently sent her as correspondence. "Does the phone save the letters you send between one another as well?" Fae inquired as she finally took another sip of her butterbeer. MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0
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james sirius potter
HOGWARTS ALUM HIT WIZARD
224 posts
played by vanessa
Carry on, don't mind me All I gave was everything
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last online May 6, 2024 21:01:09 GMT -7
MINISTRY
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May 2, 2022 21:05:47 GMT -7
Post by james sirius potter on May 2, 2022 21:05:47 GMT -7
I've got chills down to my bones With a weight above the clouds that built your throne James tried to think if his Uncle Charlie had ever mentioned working with Druids, but he couldn’t recall. Usually, he was interrupted by Lily or one of his other younger cousins asking if anything was set on fire or blown up. Unsurprisingly, these were the same cousins who happily volunteered to often help their Uncle George test items in his shop. ”I will have to ask him. He just started teaching at the school, actually.” James said proudly. In his mind, his family was amazing in so many different ways, and there were certainly enough of them to fill the ranks of Hogwarts Staff if needed.
Nodding in agreement, he pulled out his phone to show her but then received a message. Or several messages as his phone buzzed incessantly. Bianca tended to send her sentences in chunks in multiple messages since a single text could be missed by James. This way, he’d notice his phone buzzing or chiming, but she was often annoyed with him as well. ”Erm—yes, they do save.” James responded quickly before he forgot the question. ”That was Bianca—she says we should head back to the Ministry now.” James was a tiny bit sad. He still had about a hundred more questions for Fae. She was a lovely person to speak with, and he could see why his Aunt Hermione spoke so highly of her.
[ end James ] template by vee
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last online May 7, 2024 7:34:50 GMT -7
DRUID
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Jun 5, 2022 18:48:44 GMT -7
Post by fae iona cloudbreaker on Jun 5, 2022 18:48:44 GMT -7
▲ “So teaching runs in the family then?” she inquired, not really thinking that being a professor at Hogwarts was completely different from James showing her muggle technology and butterbeer. All of it was a learning experience for her, and that was what she looked forward to the most when traveling to the mainland. Technology would never find its way to Hy-Brasil, which she was completely fine with, but she also didn’t see any problem with druids utilizing it when they were away from home. There was very clearly a benefit to having a tellyphone on oneself at all times, and she was looking forward to figuring out how many applications it could actually be used for. The fact that they were essentially the muggle version of a wand, yet had access to so much more, was absolutely fascinating to her. And the instant letters too! It was exciting. James had produced the phone and looked to be about to show her something on it before looking at it closer. Was he reading one of the phone letters? Her eyes widened as he told her that Bianca had written him and asked that they head back to the Ministry. “That is so cool,” she said in reference to the letters coming through, not really thinking about the fact that it meant she had to return back to work again. Collecting her things, she stared longingly at the remainder of her butterbeer. Fae opted not to drink the rest, knowing that leaving it as it was would be a reminder of how much she’d enjoyed it. “If you are my guard again, we will have to come back here. I like it very much.” Or really anywhere that had butterbeer. Considering that it was a popular drink, she was sure that she could find it at any magical restaurant if she asked. Merlin it was a good drink… [THE END] MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0
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