Hunting on the lakeside [Tag: Alexandra]

The sun was shining brightly onto the Black Lake, reflecting it's surface like a dark mirror. The weather was still warm and the afternoon air had a slight breeze to it that lifted Elenora's long hair away from her face and back behind her. Grumbling at it's unruly behavior she reached back and casually tossed it up onto a mess of a bun, trying to get it out of her way.

She was knee deep in the muck of the edges of the lake, her lower legs and arms covered in mud and silt from the ground beneath her submerged legs. Wiping the sweat off her brow with a wet hand, she looked at the container floating next to her. It was filled partly with the murky lake water and in it were swimming the few fish like creatures she had managed to catch so far. The containers inhabitants looked like litte more than driftwood logs at the moment, but Eleonora knew that they hid their razor like teeth and finned paws well.

Still looking around Eleonora spotted groups of students on their way from one place to the other or simply enjoying the nice weather. She hoped they enjoyed it while it lasted, knowing it may soon be hard to spend too much time outdoors.

Alex broke away from the rest of her friends and headed towards the lake. As she got closer, she started to notice a figure - someone was wading around in the mud. She wondered who it was, but decided not to get any closer. For all she knew, the person might've wanted some privacy. Instead, she sat down, hugging her knees, and watched. She watched as the figure stooped and caught something. Alex couldn't see what it was.

Tucking her wand into her piled up hair Eleonora deposited the stunnded creature into the floating tank. She let the sunlight warm her body as she took a quick break from her work.

Not far from where she stood in the lake a young girl was sitting in the grass watching her. She supposed she did make for a funny sight, the hem of her dress soaked through and covered in lake mud. However the girl didn't look put off by that, just quietly curious. Eleonora didn't recognize her, perhaps she hadn't had her in class yet.

Deciding to try a friendly approach Eleonora made her way to the waters edge, closer to the girl. If she wanted to be known as a friendly professor at her new job she would have to start somewhere.

“Hi there. Great day to be by the lake, isn't it?”

"It is," Alex replied, smiling. "What are you doing?" she asked, trying not to look at the woman's mud stained dress. Instead, she tried to focus all her attention onto the tank. She didn't want to appear rude, especially because she was aware the woman she was talking to was one of the new teachers that had been introduced at the feast. She couldn't remember her name though.

The girl smiled up at Eleonora, her eyes darting to the tank behind her.

“I'm catching some dugbogs, they've been giving the vegetation at the edge of the lake some trouble lately.” She motioned toward the tank and the water behind her. She was fairly certain this girl didn't know what a dugbog was, it wasn't something most students knew lived in the lake. “I'm Professor Valenta, I'm teaching Care of Magical Creatures now. I don't think I've had you in a class yet?”

She looked back towards the girl, feeling like this wasn't the best first impression.

"Dugbogs, huh." Alexandra smiled and nodded, trying to look wise, as if she knew what a dugbog was. She sensed it wasn't working - she probably just looked stupid. "I'm Alexandra Brazell," she continued. "Third year - I think you're teaching me in a class tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it."

She looked down at her shoes. "You're new here right?"

Eleonora held back a chuckle as the girl nodded at the idea of the dugbogs, she clearly wasn't sure what they were, but was trying anyway. It reminded her of what it felt like to be a kid again. More surprising, though, was this girl, Alexandra, was excited about her class. She was the first student she had met that had shown any interest in it. She may have just been being nice or trying to get on a new professors good side, but Eleonora sincerely hoped she really was interested.

“Yes, this is my first time teaching...” Eleonora looked away a little bit, despite being very much Alexandra's senior she was nervous of what she may think of her. If one student started spreading rumors about her being inexperienced she knew that it would pick up fast in a school this size. That was something Eleonora did not want in the least.

In order to draw the conversation away from her inexperience Eleonora looked back towards the lake, “Say, would you like to see the creatures? If you're interested in magical creatures you may like them...”

Alex felt herself frown slightly - she hoped it wasn't obvious though, and quickly corrected her face to make it look like she was squinting at the sun. Why was Professor Valenta so nervous? Alex shrugged it off and smiled when the professor asked if she would like to go and see the creatures.

"I'd love to see the creatures! Am I really allowed?" Alex was excited - ever since she was a little girl, she had loved animals. Plus, the prospect of getting ahead of her classmates pleased her - if she wanted to live up to her parent's expectations and be at least as good as her two older sisters, Alex would have to put in a lot of work. And she was sick of being the idiot of the family. "I'd love to go," she said.

A genuine smiled graced Eleonora's face. Alexandra really was excited. The way her face lit up and her eyes sparkled was like looking into a mirror from the past. She remembered how happy she would get when she was in school and her professor would show her a new creature. Those had always been the best lessons, the ones that stuck with her far longer than any other.

“Here, come on down to the water.” She glanced at the young girls clean and neat appearance. “Um, you may get a little dirty...” Not waiting for a response Eleonora continued to walk back into the water and bring the container closer the edge. It's contents drifted around, still looking like mere pieces of wood.

“These are dugbogs,” she exclaimed brightly. In her mind these were astounding little creatures and she didn't even stop to think that to other people that may be quite boring at first glance.

Alex grinned as she followed the professor to the water. Stopping just before the lake, she bent down and rolled the bottom of her trousers up. At least she wasn't wearing her robes or anything like that. She kicked off her shoes - they were new, and her parents would kill her if she got them wet - before following the Professor in.

She peered down into the container, where there were...pieces of -wood?- floating about. She wasn't sure. "Um," she said, trying not to let her grimace show. "Wow - these dugbogs look... amazing."

Eleonora couldn't help but laugh as Alexandra looked into the container. She was enjoying this, showing a student something new and getting a reaction, no matter how faked it may or may not be. She considered it a good sign, letting her know that teaching might not be as hard as she imagined. At least not if all her students were like this third year.

“They may not look like much right now, but watch this.” Ignoring her finally dry arms, Eleonora plunged them into the lake and pulled a handful of small wriggling fish out. A few slipped through her hands and escaped back into the water, but a few remained, their slimy scales coating her skin. She opened her hands over the container and let the fish fall in. Immediately the sticks of wood darted around them, thin fin like legs appearing from their bodies. One opened its mouth and rows of sharp teeth could be seen as it tore into the small fish, devouring them.

Eleonora carefully watched Alexandra's expression the whole time. A moment too late she thought about the violence of the dugbogs and now hoped that it was appropriate for a third year student.  She had just been so eager to show her something new that it hadn't crossed her mind that she was still just a kid. Something else I will have to be careful about before teaching, I guess.

Alexandra's eyes grew wide as she watched the dugbogs, bending closer to get a better look. "Wow," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the splashes the fishes and the dugbogs were making. Still hunched over, she looked up at the Professor and grinned. "That is really cool."

"What are they exactly, dugbogs?" She scratched at her head. She paused for a moment, then straightened herself quickly. "Do they eat... people?" She knew how immature she sounded, but she thought it was probably best that she didn't start off the school year with a chunk of her face missing. Her classmates already had enough to tease her about.

Well, at least Alexandra didn't look afraid, that was a relief.

“They don't eat people, necessarily. They might bite at your ankles, though.” Eleonora scanned the surrounding water to make sure she hadn't just brought this girl into any sort of danger. Not that a dugbog's bite was too serious, but it wouldn't look good if in her first week at Hogwarts she got a student injured. “Don't worry, I think I got most of them out of here for now. All you have to do is a simple stunning spell and you can pick them up just like pieces of wood.”

The sun was getting lower in the sky as the day wore on, the glistening lake still reflecting its light. Eleonora felt good here, building her confidence one day at a time. She looked back at Alexandra who seemed fascinated by the container full of water and continued her explanation. “They are just creatures that live in shallow marsh and lake areas that like to feed on the little animals that live there. Mandrakes are their favorite snack, so they are often considered a pest to a lot of people.”

"Oh good, that's good" Alex sighed. So she'd have a face that was fully in tact for tomorrow. She was glad. "Will we learn about dugbogs in class tomorrow?"

She hoped so - she'd be able to wow everyone with all the knowledge she had! Or would the professor find that too cocky? She wasn't sure, but decided not to dwell on it anyway, looking towards the setting sun just like the professor did.

Alexandra had a hopeful look on her face when she asked about the up coming class. Eleonora hadn't planned on mentioning dugbogs at all but she figured she could throw a question about them in for her sake. She felt like doing so would make Alexandra happy in some way, she wasn't sure why, but if it did she didn't see a reason not to.

“We probably won't be talking about them too much specifically, but they might come up when we talk about creature classifications. They're a third level creature.”

She then noticed the lack of students on the grounds and realized it must be around dinner time. Everyone had already made their way to the Great Hall, leaving the two alone by the lake. Feeling satisfied with her work, both capturing the animals and teaching Alexandra, Eleonora grabbed her wand to charm the container into the air.

“Looks like it's time to get in. I hope you enjoy tomorrows lesson, I'm sure you're going to do really well in my class.”

(Time for me to get to bed! =p)