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Post by HARRIETT POTTER on Dec 21, 2011 16:23:39 GMT -5
The lake was frozen, a perfect opportunity. Those who were leaving home for the holidays had already left. IT was a great number of people, at least half of the school, which left room for plenty of privacy! Harriett was off to do something she did every single year. Ice skating. She had tried to plan a trip so that those who were staying for the Holidays would join her for the fun, but that hadn't worked out so well. People did know about it, and if they wanted to go for themselves, they could, but Harriett wasn't exactly popular. It didn't matter, because the girl embraced her solitude. She took the time to observe the beauty that was all around.
The girl observed the lake with severity. It would do no good if the lake wasn't frozen enough. She had to see if the ice was thick enough to support her own weight, let alone the weight of other people. She wouldn't want the ice to cave in on her while pulling off at rick! That would be terrible! But just in case... Harriett pulled out her wand.
"GLACIUS."
Glacius is a freezing charm used to put out fires and create ice blocks. The air is so cold it can freeze several inches of water solid within seconds, making it solid enough for at least an average-sized thirteen-year-old to walk across. Freezing the ice to make it harder and sturdier would definitely be enough to support several people to safely skate over the surface, and she covered a very large area. She admired her smooth work and put her wand away. Then she took the ice skates which were flung over her shoulders and replaced her shoes with them. She stands up and places one foot on the ice and pushing off with the other, she gently glides over the smooth surface.
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Post by JULIAN GAUNT on Dec 22, 2011 1:56:11 GMT -5
There had been an invitation going around the school about how the lake was supposed to be completely frozen over and perfect for skating on. How there had been this one older student who had tried to make a fun event out of it by inviting lots of the students who were not going home for the holidays. Julian was one of those students! Or rather, he wasn’t one of those who had been invited to be exact, but he was definitely one of the kids stuck at Hogwarts for the duration of the holiday. He wanted to check this ice skating thing out.
When he arrived at the lake with his ice skates in his arms clung against his chest, the boy had expected to see more… more people. There was practically no one here! He was amazed, for certain the invitation had spread far throughout the school… so where was everybody?
Julian seated himself on the ground beside the frozen lake, briefly as he took both shoes off and replaced them with a pair of ice skates. On the whole entire lake stretched out before him, there was only one person! Nobody else had come! …Or the boy was just early… or late… or maybe it was the wrong day? Ahh, whatever, a frozen lake was a frozen lake and if he wanted to skate on it, he could do it without bunches of people skating alongside him… It just wouldn’t be as fun all alone. Luckily, though, there was still that one older girl he could see who was skating her way over the icy surface.
”Nice, lake. I like you better all frozen over like this than when you’re, you know, not,” Julian told the thick ice layer as he went out onto it, his balance very wobbly. If the lake had been in its normal state, the boy likely would not be found near it. He had nothing against this lake in particular, it was just that he didn’t know how to swim so… yep, it was definitely better as a big chunk of ice instead of liquid.
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Post by HARRIETT POTTER on Dec 22, 2011 2:50:01 GMT -5
Harriett hadn't gone too far from land, a few long strides and she would make it there in a manner of seconds. She saw a boy, a familiar looking boy whose name she could not recall, over by the shore putting on his ice skates. She smiled and headed closer to where she could at least speak to him.
"Hello there, boy," She cheerfully said, "Are you here to join me?"
A strange start to a conversation, but Harriett always forgot to ask for names until it was practically over. She wondered about his friends and if he had any, for it appeared that he was alone. He looked very young, a first year perhaps? She was just happy to have someone tag along!
The boy was probably wondering why there was nobody around, and the reason of course would be unknown to even Harriett! Maybe it was just too cold for most people to handle? Who knew! Harriett skated on by making an oval as she went around again, but she could still hear him if he decided to reply. |
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Post by JULIAN GAUNT on Dec 22, 2011 12:03:36 GMT -5
”Hello!” excitedly waving at the girl, Julian practically fell over his movements had so utterly thrown off his balance. He tripped up from ice skate to ice skate until finally recovering and gaining back some composure. Clearly, ice-skating was not an activity that he practiced all too often, but at least he hadn't fallen flat onto his stomach... that would have hurt. After that near miss though, the Slytherin decided to start off with a simple glide, not moving his feet much as he slid over the ice trying to maintain balance without toppling over.
”Yep, I am. My name’s Julian!” that way the older student wouldn’t have to call him ‘boy’ anymore. ”I can already tell this is fun, I knew it would be. But I thought there’d be more people… Did they all go home?”
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Post by HARRIETT POTTER on Dec 22, 2011 21:08:08 GMT -5
”Hello!”
The girl's brilliant green eyes excitedly bulged as she happily waved back at Julian. She came to a stop on the ice as she watched him struggle to gain his balance. He looked like he was going to fall. Oh, no! She would have to help him up. Perhaps she should teach him a thing or two about ice skating? She had been doing it for years, and it wasn't fair to assume just anyone would be able to do it! Julian didn't fall, and Harriett clapped.
"Good job," she exclaimed, "I am Harriett Potter! Be careful! Do you need any help on learning how to skate on the ice? It can be pretty dangerous! Oh, no, nobody has gone home. You're the first person here! It's still pretty early. Maybe more will come later."
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Post by JULIAN GAUNT on Dec 22, 2011 23:48:48 GMT -5
”Heh…” the boy blushed a shade of pink with embarrassment when the older girl clapped to his triumph over an almost failure. It wasn’t really a good job, not truly, a good job would have been not messing up at all !
”Nice to meet you, Harri—woah!” and with that, his ice skate on his right foot slid forward much too quickly, forcing his legs to spread apart too far for Julian to hold his balance, and what was to be expected but for him to soon fall back and onto his rear. Which naturally happened less than a second later, luckily it didn't hurt much to fall that way. ”Some help would be… appreciated lots,” the young boy grinned. Then, by the time others arrived, he’d be the best skater out there! Immediately bringing himself up so that his knees were pressed against the ice, Julian moved to stand up once more for another try.
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Post by HARRIETT POTTER on Dec 23, 2011 0:07:23 GMT -5
"Woopsies! Haha, don't worry, I fell many times my first try too!"
Harriett gracefully skated to him, around him, and came to a stop directly in front of him. She took his hands in hers and helped him up. Still holding his hands, she began to instruct him.
"The art of ice skating is not as hard as you think, I've been doing it for years! First, you have to maintain your balance. To do that, you hold your arms out at just below shoulder level to learn to balance yourself. Bend your knees slightly and lean forward, not back, otherwise you will end up falling on your tushie again! We wouldn't want that! Once you have your balance, you move forward. Pick your weak foot and lean on it, and with your other foot, push in a diagonal direction away from your body, kind of like riding a skate board! Or you can imagine that you are shoveling snow behind you to the right, whatever works for you, okay? When you bring your strong foot back, you do the same with your weak one! Get it?? Why don't you try it by yourself?  "
Harriett let go of his hands and skated backwards and away from him. Her hair was picked up as the wind began to pick up, and she felt its chilly bite against her face. No doubt her nose would be as red as Rudolph the red nosed reindeer!
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Post by JULIAN GAUNT on Dec 23, 2011 2:14:41 GMT -5
”Thank you,” It was comforting to hear that he wasn’t the first person to fall and fall and then fall again while attempting to figure out the art of ice skating. Julian took hold of Harriett’s hands and successfully made it back onto his feet. Standing upright, he listened, trying to grasp onto the concept that had thus far eluded him for the most part.
Well, it was a detailed enough explanation. Julian tried to listen intently, to make sure that he would not miss out on any of the minor points Harriett put in while trying to instruct him. It didn’t sound too difficult, and with any luck, maybe it would not be! Slim chance of that happening when this kid was the one trying to learn, but at the very least he had to hope that it might be. No one was here to make fun of him or see him anyway even if he screwed up, which made the Gaunt boy feel a lot more at ease than usual.
”Oh, right. Hmm… okay!” To begin with, he wasn’t entirely certain with himself, but once the teenager had released his hands he no longer had a choice unless he was to just stand there without moving a muscle. Now he had to try it, and Julian was going to do it exactly like he’d been told.
Balance first, he extended both arms out in either direction like a child playing airplane. Surprisingly, it did wonders for his balance. Next came the hard part, which was pushing off and beginning to actually skate. He bent his knees slightly and leaned a little bit into the forward motion. After pushing off with each foot a few different times, Julian was surprised to find that he had not yet fallen and he was already some meters away from his starting point. He was doing marginally better this time! ”It’s a lot easier like this! You’d be a good professor, Professor Potter.”
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Post by HARRIETT POTTER on Dec 23, 2011 18:06:23 GMT -5
"Lucky you! I didn't even have help when I first started!"
Harriett watched him slowly work himself up to try everything that she had just instructed him to do, and soon he was gliding across the ice! Harriett clapped for him in encouragement!
"You did it! Good job! At this rate, you'll be a pro in no time flat!"
Harriett skated around him and went around him in a wide circle. She jumped in the air and twisted one time. The steel against ice made a light POP in the air as she landed back down with one foot and skated around some more. Harriett felt she didn't have a care in the world. She smiled big when he complemented her.
"You really think so? Me, a professor? Hmm! Professor Potter, that doesn't sound half bad! |
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Post by JULIAN GAUNT on Dec 24, 2011 14:41:24 GMT -5
Woah, woah, --woah! Hah! Almost fell for a second there, but Julian’s arms waved and flapped like a bird until he finally managed to recover his balance. It was forward that he had almost fallen though, so he thought maybe he was leaning a little too far in. The boy answered that thought by straightening himself out a little bit, his knees were still bent slightly and his body angled forward, only now it was a little less significant than before.
”Thank you!’ Although the boy didn’t have any delusions that he would be able to master the art that quickly. He never learned things quickly, that’s just how he was! It was nice though to be receiving her encouragement, it really made it easier to grasp what he was trying to learn. ”You can jump and spin mid-air too? Show off!” there was humor in his tone and no sign of him actually being upset by the display, if anything he was impressed.
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Post by HARRIETT POTTER on Jan 1, 2012 22:43:45 GMT -5
"Oh, sure! But only one spin! Anymore than that, and I land flat on my bottom."
It took many years for me to even get to one spin! Many crashes and falls and plenty of bruises. Ice skating wasn't always really an easy thing for me, even you are getting it faster than I did my first time. Then again I was born a klutz and I will probably never shake that off. It isn't a bad thing though. It has helped me learn to always get up when you fall no matter what!" Thinking about all of that made Harriett smile. Though when did she not smile? Harriett was just one big bundle of joy. |
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