The Lake

[Administrator]

Located south of the castle, the lake is approximately a half-mile in diameter and is inhabited by various creatures, such as merfolk, grindylows, and the giant squid.

[Luna Lovegood]

There was a warm drizzle falling from the sky that made walking across the Hogwarts grounds comparable to wading through a warm bath tub. Water droplets splattered Luna's pale face but the girl hardly blinked, as was per usual. Her long hair was matted against her shoulders and it was evident in the slight mist that she had been outside for a while to get that wet. Adding to her odd appearance was her attire. She was barefoot in a pair of jeans that had been rolled up to her knees and her top was a thick navy cotton tank that appeared to have been hand embroidered with runes and other ancient symbols along the hem. Instead of casting an impervius charm on her robes it only seemed fitting to wear light clothing to avoid getting her school clothes wet. This of course made perfect sense in her mind.

Squelching and sloshing in the damp grass barefoot, Luna made her way to the lake side. A thousand tiny ripples formed every second on the water and the Ravenclaw seemed mesmerized. She squatted down to balance on the balls of her feet, drawing her knees up to her chest and watched the fish jump around happily near the surface with a simple grin on her face.

[Dempsey Atkin]

Dempsey had an instinctive tendency to avoid the lake. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d went near it, considering all the tales he’d caught on in. The majority of who spread the said tales was students--but even the soberest of professors seemed to be convinced of life beneath the ever so gently rippling water surface. A squid, so they said. Dempsey, like he did everything, hated animals of any nature, but he was rather positive he’d rather be torn apart by a basilisk than have his face sucked off by squid tentacles. The very thought made his spine crawl. Dempsey had rather uncomfortably positioned himself before the lake, regarding it with unsubtle caution. He averted his gaze to his legs and lifted one at the sight of the soaked soil. Whilst he did so, he also caught sight of a stone and picked it up, surveying it as if it were diamond. It was rather boring at this time of the day, so he naturally didn’t assume anyone else would be around. Especially with this drowsy weather.

Rather unexpectedly, he swung his arm and flung the rock into the water, only meters away from where Luna was. Finally he caught sight of her, tensing visibly once he had. For a moment he’d mistaken her for a certain spineless marine animal. Not that he planned to share this misconception, of course. It was that insane Ravenclaw he’d seen about once. Always humming and speaking nonsense... he could see the grin permanently plastered on her face from miles away. No, that Ravenclaw wasn’t well. What if he got infected with whatever she had? Carefully, Dempsey reversed his step, intending to silently slip past her and escape the scene.

[Luna Lovegood]

A few tiny droplets of water splashed Luna as the rock broke the surface. She blinked and shook her head to rid her eyelashes of a few offending drops, almost losing her balance as she did so. As if slowly and quickly at the same time Luna caught up with Dempsey and picked up a stone not entirely unlike the one he just threw. Quietly she gestured for him to follow her wand hand and she charmed the rock out over the air and let it skim the top of the water. It bounced and grazed the water leaving a series of fantastic little ripples which brought the fish, scared from the harsh "plop" a few moments earlier, back up to the surface. Some seemed to be chasing the rock as if it were an insect flying about. Her wrist was still and her wand let the pebble fall gently where it first bounced, causing a large ripple next to the fading beginning waves.

"Some people can make them bounce without magic, just by tossing it the right way. I never got the hang of it." Luna's voice, though quiet, was almost shocking after the dead silence that hung around the lake.