A Perfect Day for Bananafish (Nikolai)

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Winter was just beginning, and rather anticlimactically too. Mariah had heard that the UK was supposed to be cold (colder than California at any rate), but so far the weather hadn't dipped much below chilly. This was especially surprising given the harsh cold fronts France had been facing earlier in the year - Mariah had heard plenty of conversation about it over breakfast from those of her housemates who subscribed to the news - but although these strange weather patterns could be potentially concerning, Mariah decided to enjoy the nice days while they lasted. At least they gave her an excuse to be outside.

Mariah liked spending time on the grounds. Out of all the places on school property, the outdoors part felt the most like home. In fact, if she sat by the lake on a nice sunny day, lay back in the grass, and closed her eyes, she could almost pretend she was still in California, in the clearing where she used to practice spells.

Today was one such day. Although it was technically December, the sun was still warm against her face as she took a deep breath of the crisp Scottish air and wondered how Mr. Weber was doing back at home.

Home. By this point, she should have begun to think of Hogwarts as her home. That, or the flat in London where her parents lived. But for some reason, she could only ever think of Wrightwood as her true home, as if the entire year so far had just been a dream that would soon come to an end, a temporary vacation before returning to her old life. She knew she'd have to come to terms with it someday, but today was clearly not the day.

She let her eyes flutter closed as she concentrated on the quiet lapping of water nearby, the chirping of a couple birds overhead, and the distant sounds of students milling about the grounds closer to the castle. It was nice to get away from it all for a little while. Sometimes the stone walls of the castle seemed a little stifling, especially when packed with other students.

Subject: Re: A Perfect Day for Bananafish (Nikolai) Sat Feb 23, 2019 10:45 am

Winter had touched Hogwarts with less force than any year before it. The weird weather that was being noted across Europe was increasingly topical as of late, but no one seemed to know what was causing it. Muggles had one theory, the Ministry had another that was trying to ease the minds of the masses. Whatever the reason for the change in weather, though, Nikolai Kessler was grateful for the fact that they had something of warmer winter than those previously experienced.

Why, one might ask?

Well, Nikolai found that with the colder weather, the Giant Squid of the lake would not surface. Mostly because when the temperatures dropped as dramatically as they had in the past, the top layers of the lake would freeze over, making it impossible for the Squid to surface. Winter months then became much more boring to the boy, because his interest in the world had been muted. Of course, just because it was milder this winter, it didn't mean the Giant Squid would comply with Nikolai's wishes, but it was always worth a shot.

That was why the Headmaster's son had packed up his bag that morning with his notebook, some pens and pencils, and headed out of the dormitory before he could be caught by the Slytherin Princess. Of course, so early on the weekend meant Mimosa Harrington-Clement was not yet awake and ready to greet her many followers, and that suited Nikolai just fine. Getting out of the castle came at a brisk walk, Nikolai keeping an eye out for professors, even though he wasn't doing anything wrong, he didn't like his activities to be known on mass. The professors didn't seem to be about that morning, though, so it was easy to slide out of the castle, and after sucking in a large lungful of fresh morning air, Nikolai broke in to a run down to the lake.

Thankfully Quidditch was making him much fitter than before, and whilst he would never be considered muscular in any form of the word, Nikolai was physically fit. He barely broke a sweat, despite the knitted hat that was pulled over his head from his birthday, thankful of his mum's foresight for a useful present, and about five minutes later, the lake was in full view.

Grinning despite himself, Nikolai moved along the shores, looking for signs of the ripples left by the Giant Squid, but falling short. The Lake was still, not even the smallest of ripples touched its surface, making it look almost glass like in appearance. Many people in the world might have been put out by this possibility, but not Nikolai. He would continue his research until he was sure of his findings, and no matter what anyone said, the Squid was real. He'd seen it.

Hurrying along to the pier, Nikolai noted another person out by the Lake, but the witch looked quite relaxed where she lay, so he chose not to disturb her. Instead, he made his way to the pier, as he always did and sat on the end, out in to the expanse of water, and looked out across the surface.

"Come on, it's not that cold." Nikolai spoke out against the water, mostly to himself as he tried to find a sign of life, but nothing came.

With a soft sigh, Nikolai's hands moved to his bag, retrieving his notebook and a pen before opening it to start making more notes in his vast study of the Squid.

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Mariah opened her eyes a crack as she heard soft footsteps hurrying through the grass nearby. She raised her head slightly to follow the boy with her eyes as he rushed by her, and noticed something fall out of his back pocket as he passed. He didn't seem to notice as he made his way to the pier and sat down. Mariah pushed herself up.

He was too far away to call out to him, so she simply rolled to her feet and went to investigate, finding a cell phone lying in the grass. She picked it up, using her sleeve to wipe off a few drops of dew from the screen. It was an older model. The screen was cracked, and the black plastic case was fairly beaten up. She looked up from her examination to watch the boy who'd dropped it pull out a notebook and write something down. He didn't seem to have realized he'd dropped his phone.

She couldn't help but speculate, feeling a bit like Sherlock Homes. Clearly it's not a priority to him, or he would have gotten a new one by now. And he would have noticed it was missing. I wonder what's so important out there by the lake? He seemed to be in a hurry.

Well, she figured even if it wasn't a priority, he'd still most likely want it back, so she followed his path down to the pier, phone in hand. She stopped a little ways behind him and cleared her throat quietly, careful not to startle him.

"Hey, um...sorry to disturb you, but I think you dropped this," she addressed him, holding out the phone for him to see.

Subject: Re: A Perfect Day for Bananafish (Nikolai) Sun Feb 24, 2019 7:28 pm

Nothing was amiss in Nikolai's world. The day was peaceful as soon as you blocked out the background noise past the Lake. It was easy, in comparison to blocking out Mimosa Harrington-Clement, to just concentrate on the Lake and allow yourself to be consumed with the surroundings. And, though the Squid was not in sight, Nikolai was quite happy to just go over his notes and add more shading to his sketches of the creature in his notebook, concentrating quite deeply on the task.

It was why the sound of another's voice -- even though very softly spoken -- made him jump just a little as he turned around to find the girl he'd passed on the way to the pier standing behind him with his phone in her hand. As soon as he registered that it was his phone -- who else had such a battered, old phone in the castle? Bloody snobs everyone else was -- Nikolai's hand moved instinctively to his back pocket, as if to make sure that his phone was actually being held by the witch.

Not that he had cause to call her a liar, of course, but it was best not to take everything at face value.

Finding his phone missing, Nikolai closed his notebook and put it on top of his rucksack, climbing to his feet and holding out his hand for his phone. "Thank you," Nikolai replied to the witch once he'd retrieved it from her. Pressing the side button, Nikolai checked his phone. No messages. Pressing it once more, he pocketed the phone and returned his attention to the witch.

"Berkeley-Benton, right?" The boy asked. He only knew her name because she'd been the oddity this year in the bunch of first years. They hadn't spoken, nor been introduced at all, but Nikolai remembered that detail because he'd watched her climb up to the Sorting Hat with odd curiosity. She'd turned out to be relatively unremarkable from that point on -- which, in Nikolai's books, was a good thing, because if you stood out, you ended up becoming on of them.

"I'm Nikolai." He added, because he did not expect the witch to know his name. Though, as always, Nikolai did not offer his last name. "Though, please don't shorten it to Nik, or Nicky, or something similar. I'm not fond of my name being shortened." A lie, of course, but it was only his parents who shortened his name, and Nikolai wished to keep it that way.

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The boy seemed almost suspicious at first as he checked his pocket, and Mariah tilted her head to one side, wondering what kind of person he must be to not trust his own eyes when he saw his phone in her hand. She waited patiently for him to stand and take it, placing it gently in his hand when he finally did. On first impression, he seemed a little odd, but Mariah figured all the most interesting people were.

She nodded, surprised that he remembered her name. They'd never met before that she was aware of, so she was impressed that he knew who she was at all. She wasn't used to that. Most people didn't pay that much attention to her. She wondered how he would have known...oh. The sorting.

She'd hoped people would have forgotten about that by now. But, she supposed since she hadn't done much of note since then, the sorting was all anyone would know about her. She wondered if that was good or bad. She hadn't come here seeking to be popular, but she didn't want to be seen as weird either. She wondered if people thought her sorting was bizarre, and if that affected how they saw her. No, she told herself, they probably don't think about you at all. At least she hoped not. No attention was worlds better than bad attention.

"Nikolai," she repeated. She liked it. It sounded Russian, but she didn't want to assume. "Don't worry, I'm the same way," she reassured him as he asked her to refrain from nicknames. Nik-names. Ha.

"My name's Mariah." Her mothers sometimes shortened it to Ri, but on the whole she preferred it when people used her full name. It showed that they at least remembered what it was. "Can I ask what you were doing?" She nodded toward the notebook that sat atop his bag. She didn't want to invade his privacy, but she was curious why he'd been in such a hurry to get to the pier.

Subject: Re: A Perfect Day for Bananafish (Nikolai) Mon Feb 25, 2019 8:08 pm

It was as the witch spoke again that Nikolai noticed the American accent. It was probably present the first time she'd spoken, but he hadn't been concentrating fully on her in that moment. So as she repeated his name with the accent, Nikolai couldn't help but feel a little... put out. Why had there been such an overhaul of the Americans in the school of late? Well... he corrected himself slightly with that one, he knew there were a lot of problems in the world, and especially America, not that he would claim to fully understand.

But why did the Americans have to keep coming here? Mimosa Harrington-Clement was more than enough for one school life, thank you very much!

With the supplied first name, Nikolai nodded. He hadn't remembered that much -- probably because someone had distracted him at the Slytherin table whilst the Sorting continued on -- but it suited the witch, he guessed. Though, again, Americanised. "Nice to meet you, Mariah." Nikolai replied, taking note that she didn't like her name being shortened. Not that he was sure how to shorten that name, in truth, but he was sure it could be done if you spent long enough thinking about it.

Nikolai's attention was pushed back to his notebook, though, and for a moment he considered his options. There were very few people in the school who asked him -- with genuine curiosity -- about his interests and disinterests. It was, without a doubt, a difficult decision, opening yourself up to other people, especially people you had only just met. Leaving a long enough pause -- you learned from being around Mimosa Harrington-Clement for long enough that if you didn't answer right away, a new topic would be brought up, showing that there was zero interest in you, the witch just wanted to talk.

Mariah, though, was different.

The girl didn't push forth with another topic, and so Nikolai moved to collect his notebook from his bag, turned a few pages, until a somewhat realistic -- though still rather crude because he was no artist -- depiction of the Giant Squid came in to view. Hesitating for a moment, Nikolai turned the notebook around for Mariah to be able to see the picture. He would not give her the book to hold herself, it was his set of notes which were quite detailed, and he did not trust the witch.

"There is a Giant Squid in the Lake." Nikolai explained, his index finger tapping the picture of the Squid. "Though, I don't believe it to be the same Giant Squid that was here in the 90s, that would be a really old Squid, so therefore, I think there must be a family of them. Though, I'm not sure whether they all live here, or whether the Squid here has the ability to travel elsewhere. Though, the Giant Squid of the 90s was said to be really old, so who knows, it might be the same one...

"Anyway, I haven't found that much out yet." Nikolai finalised, closing the notebook and tucking it under his arm. "I've done an ample amount of research in the two and a bit years I've been here, but it's not enough to find conclusive information. I probably need to do a dive in the Lake to find out more, but there are merpeople down there, and grindylows which are not nice creatures in the slightest. Not forgetting the Selkies, and Merlin only knows what other creatures.

"I'm hopeful, though, that once I master the bubble-head charm I'll be able to dive down in to the depths of the lake to gain more research. The basking of the Squid in the summer months brings with it way too many people for me to get reliable data. But I'm hoping I can get there before the summer." Nikolai continued on excitedly. "But, today, I was just hoping to catch sight of the Squid, because its a little warmer than normal at this time of year, but I guess the Squid might be hibernating or... I don't know, sleeping where its warmer down in the depths, or something..."

Realising he'd spun off on something of a monologue in his explanation, Nikolai's free hand moved up to the back of his neck, rubbing the base of his hairline with uncertainty. "Sorry, did you want the short answer?" The boy asked, cracking a nervous smile in the hope he hadn't just bored the witch stupid with his explantion. Noting that he really needed to write to his mum and let out all this information so that he didn't do something stupid like that again, Nikolai paused for a moment before returning the question.

"And... you? What were you doing out in the grounds today? I mean... you looked like you were... sunbathing, in December?" He questioned gently, not wishing to make assumptions, but not really knowing what else you could note the witch's actions as.

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"Nice to meet you, too," Mariah replied with a soft smile. Introductions were often hard for her, since they usually required talking about oneself and for some reason she always drew a blank when people asked her personal questions. Thankfully though, she had managed to draw the conversation away from small talk with her question.

Mariah waited patiently as Nikolai hesitated for a moment before retrieving his notebook and flipping through it. When he turned the notebook around to show her, she leaned in to look at it, interest piqued.

She didn't know what she'd been expecting, but it certainly wasn't this. Mr. Weber had never mentioned a Giant Squid - she supposed it had never had a reason to come up. Her eyes widened as she studied the boy's sketch, listening with rapt attention as he explained his theories and findings. She could see his eyes light up as he began to speak more rapidly, and she couldn't help smiling at his infectious excitement. At first glance the boy had seemed fairly reserved, but he was clearly passionate about this subject, and as he grew more animated, Mariah felt a spark of joy at having asked the right question. This was a million times better than small talk any day.

She paid close attention to everything Nikolai said, nodding to show she was listening. The Giant Squid seemed genuinely interesting, and Nikolai raised more than a few good questions about it, which Mariah filed away for later consideration. As he went on to mention merpeople and grindylows and Selkies, Mariah turned her wide-eyed gaze toward the water. She'd had no idea so many things lived in the depths of the lake. It was like a whole separate world. How deep did it go?

She was quiet until the boy stopped speaking, content to simply listen and absorb. He seemed a little sheepish as he broke out of his own reverie, as if just now remembering she was there. She shook her head emphatically at his question.

"No, that was really...wow. You've actually seen the Giant Squid?" She had so many questions now that he had introduced the topic. "It must be magical, right? Normal squids don't live in lakes, they live in the ocean, don't they? So...how deep is this lake anyway?" She stared in wonder at the water behind him, trying to wrap her mind around all this new information. "Oh, and the bubble-head charm! I've learned about that, maybe I could help you..." she trailed off, a blush creeping over her cheeks. She'd been caught up in his excitement and had forgotten herself. What was she thinking? This was his project, he probably didn't want her help. It was presumptuous of her to butt in like that, especially when they'd just met. "I mean, if you want, that is. I'm sure you don't need it."

She looked down, studying the cracks in the wood of the pier. She shouldn't have spoken. Now he probably thought she was self-centered.

When he turned the question back to her, she stumbled a little. She much preferred listening to others talk about their own interests. They seemed more fascinating than her own. And having the attention on her made her uncomfortable. She hesitated, searching for the right words, her blush deepening at the suggestion of sunbathing.

"Ah, no, I was...um...meditating, I guess. Or something like that. I mean, meditating sounds weird, it wasn't, like, spiritual or anything, I was just...thinking about stuff. And it's easier to do that out here where it's quiet." God, that sounded dumb. She wished she'd been doing something more productive or purposeful so she'd have something to say about it. Sunbathing in December, he'd said. He probably thought she was crazy.

Subject: Re: A Perfect Day for Bananafish (Nikolai) Wed Feb 27, 2019 9:23 pm

The bashfulness of the boy lasted only a brief while. Mariah seemed to be listening intently, and as her reactions to the subject didn't convey any negativity it made him feel a little more relaxed. That said, the boy was still wary of the reaction he was going to get from his monologue up to the point where the witch spoke.

The interest she spoke of made Nikolai's lips pull up in to a grin though.

Mariah believed him!

Not that it was difficult to believe, the Squid existed, Mimosa was just stupid for not believing him. But of course with her not believing him, then the rest of their 'friend' group believed that the Squid wasn't real, even though some of them had seen it with their own eyes! But, Mariah wasn't one of them, and the fact she looked to be believing him made Nikolai's features light up.

"Of course I've seen the Giant Squid! He doesn't really hide, to be honest. But you have to be patient, otherwise you can get bored looking for him." Nikolai explained, pausing only to take on the throng of questions being sent his way by the witch. The fact someone was actually asking him all of this was refreshing, and Nikolai waited patiently for all of the questions to be finished before he spoke again, not wanting to cut the witch's interest off.

"Most studies show that squids have a preference for salt water, but of course the Lake is not salt water. Therefore, although uncommon for a squid to be found in such a habitat, it's not unheard of. The fact it is a Giant Squid, though, really does go against all of the studies I've read up on, because normally they are only found in salt water. Which means, as you noted, that this Squid must be of some kind of magical capabilities in order for it to survive in the Black Lake." Nikolai explained, hoping that this was still interesting for the witch as it was for him.

"As for how deep the Lake is, I don't know. I would go with very deep, though. I mean, we know of the different kinds of creatures that it holds within it, which means it has a good ecosystem going on down there. The Lake is also on view in the Slytherin common room, which means the water expands all the way back to the castle from here. I would hazard a guess that it might be in Hogwarts; A History, or something, but I really don't know... Maybe I can ask a Ravenclaw to find out..." Nikolai spoke, momentarily losing himself to his thoughts as he tried to decide whether to ask or not.

"You know the Bubble-Head Charm?" Nikolai asked -- finally catching up to the fact the witch had just denoted she could do something that he really needed to know about. "I'd love you to! I mean, if you have time, and whenever you're free! It doesn't have to be right now, of course, you're probably busy, but if we could meet up some time to practice, believe me I would be so grateful! And I would owe you something in return! If you like Quidditch, I work at Quality Quidditch Supplies on weekends, so I can get you discounts, and stuff. But, yes, please, I would love your help!"

The answer to the question he'd posed though made Nikolai look at the witch curiously. Not judging because he wasn't exactly normal, but he'd never heard of anyone their age meditating. "I've never tried meditating before." He commented, still not sure how to elaborate on that, but trying, because she'd taken an interest in his likes of the Giant Squid. "That's the whole clearing your head thing, right? Or... that's what I've heard. Which seems rather difficult when there are so many things to think about. Like school, family, friends, Giant Squids, Quidditch, part time jobs, the fact girls don't want to be your girlfriend because you don't have a beard..." Nikolai listed, before shaking his head.

"How do you clear your head? Is that a silly question... Probably a silly question..." The last was mumbled, but audible, the Slytherin boy trying to comprehend this new thing but not quite grasping the how you did it.

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Mariah nodded, wide-eyed, as Nikolai filled her in. She would have to spend more time by the lake from now on - she really wanted to see the Giant Squid for herself. As he continued on about the lake itself, her gaze turned the water, regarding it with deep consideration. What else was down there that she didn't know about? As he mentioned being able to see it from the Slytherin common room, she wondered, not for the first time, what all the other common rooms looked like. She'd only seen the Hufflepuff one, but she'd heard they were all different. She let herself imagine for a moment what the Slytherin room was like. Was there a big window that displayed the lake, like an aquarium?

She shook herself out of her musings, returning her gaze to the boy who was still talking. Hogwarts: A History? That sounded familiar. Maybe she had seen it in the library somewhere.

"Maybe I should read that," she commented as he trailed off. It would probably help a lot, considering she knew very little about the school itself. While Mr. Weber had answered all her questions, she knew there were probably some things she had never even thought to ask. She made a mental note to look for it when she went back to return all her other books.

Mariah brightened a bit as Nikolai responded to her offer with enthusiasm. She nodded her head with a smile. "Of course! I'm not really all that busy. Most days work for me," she admitted. She wasn't involved in any activities besides schoolwork, and personal hobbies like reading and writing, which she could always push aside for another time.

At the mention of Quidditch, Mariah looked down sheepishly. "I actually don't know much about Quidditch," she confided in him. "I wish I did though; it seems like it's all anybody talks about. I've never even flown on a broom before," she laughed a little at herself, because it still felt so weird saying that in everyday conversation. Flying on broomsticks. She really was a witch, wasn't she? She couldn't get the image out of her head of cackling hags flying through the sky. While she had accepted the reality of magic without much trouble, some wizarding traditions really were pretty ridiculous from a muggle perspective, and at times it almost felt as if this whole school were a hyper-realistic LARPing experience. She wished she knew more muggleborn students who could understand that.

As Nikolai seemed to take an interest in meditation, Mariah was grateful that he could find something to say about it. She was always worried that she would cause an awkward silence by mentioning something nobody cared about. She giggled a little as he rambled about beards.

"Well, I don't really know if I'm doing it right," she admitted. "But I like to focus on sensations. I concentrate on whatever I can feel or hear going on around me and try to keep myself in the present, instead of thinking about things that happened in the past or might happen in the future." She tried to explain it to the best of her ability, hoping it made sense.

"And, for what it's worth, I don't think I'd want my boyfriend to have a beard," she added, holding back her amusement.

Subject: Re: A Perfect Day for Bananafish (Nikolai) Sun Mar 03, 2019 12:51 pm

"It's a good book, I'd definitely recommend it. Especially-" Nikolai paused, not wishing to sound rude, but it was quite clear Mariah was not English, and with her being new to the school this year, he doubted she knew as much as she could. "I mean... well, because you're new to the school. I read it in first year, it brings up some interesting points, and when you're done with that, I can teach you a few more things about the school they don't put in those books." Nikolai offered with a conspiring smile. There were so many extra things to learn, Hogwarts; A History really didn't cut it, and the more Mariah spoke, the more Nikolai found himself growing to like her.

Even if she was American.

Which mean he needed to update his formula. Americans = Stupid Cubed (he'd forgotten Diane on his first calculation) minus one.

"Great! Umm, I have Quidditch practice, and I usually study for potions on Wednesdays. I work on weekends most of the time... but maybe Sunday evenings... or something like that?" Nikolai proposed, because he would probably be free then, if he didn't have too much homework to do, and he could slip away from Mimosa unnoticed.

"You... don't know Quidditch?" Nikolai asked, confusion touching his features because he'd never met anyone who didn't know Quidditch before. It was really big in the Wizarding World which meant... Nikolai understood in a moment what hadn't been said, and quickly moved on. "I mean, that's absolutely fine. I can answer any and all questions you have on the sport, if you want to know about it? Or, if you learn better through books, I can find out all the ones you'd need to read to get a good understanding of it all."

The addition of never having flown a broom simply confirmed what Nikolai had deduced and he smiled softly. "Flying is great. I can show you how to do that some time, if you like. In exchange for you teaching me the Bubble Head Charm. If you want to learn that, anyway."

Mariah's explanation of her meditation was one he could understand, even if he didn't necessarily agree to it being a form of meditation. Of course, everything was open to interpretation, so he wouldn't judge her for her own interpretation, but he didn't have to agree with it. "Well, if that works for you, then I would say it's meditation." Nikolai commented lightly.

When Mariah said she wouldn't want her boyfriend to have a beard, Nikolai paused for a moment. "Really?" He asked, waiting for her affirmation of that statement before he grinned to himself. "Thanks, that helps a lot!" He told the witch, genuinely feeling much more comfortable and self assured. Maybe that girl had just been weird? Yeah, that was the explanation.

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» Practice makes perfect (Nikolai)
» So, I want to ask you a question {w/ Nikolai}
» The Talk [Nikolai]
» Everyone's a Bit of a Fixer-Upper (Nikolai)
» Something Too Perfect (Kelenore)