(1939-10-25) MUDfire Prep
Details for MUDfire Prep
Summary: Madeline, Gabriel, Miranda, and Angus prepare for Madeline's bonfire.
Date: 1939-10-25
Location: Hogwarts Lake Shore
Related:
Characters
MadelineMirandaGabrielAngus

Hogwarts Lake Shore, Hogwarts


It is a fall night. The weather is freezing and fair.


This narrow crescent of grainy sand and smooth small beach stones spans east to west between the cliff face to the east and the large fortified stone campus perimeter wall to the west that runs north to south until it runs many yards into the water of the Black Lake itself and further off to the north. The only spot along the shore that isn't given completely to a topography of rocks and roots, the latter of which extend right out into the lake, it's a commonplace sight to see students hopping about on the rocks or skipping stones across the water.


Arriving at the shore, Madeline dumps the pile of wood she'd been carrying near the other wood that's been fetched so far, and brushes her arms clean with a satisfied smile. "This is going to be fun!" the girl remarks excitedly, her hands going to her hips as she surveys the amount of wood. "Do you think this'll be enough?" she asks uncertainly. "It supposed to be pretty cold tonight, I think."

Angus is not doing any such thing. He's watching, with the general air of an interested observer.

"It's rather cold right /now/," Miranda replies as she sets down her own load of wood. While it's around the same amount, she is using magic rather than her arms to move her own bundle, as is typical for the seventh year. As the wood clatters to a rest on top of Madeline's, she tucks her wand away and starts rubbing her hands together while glancing around them. "This is going to be so good," she declares with a bright, beaming smile.

On the sand and stones of the beach lays a thick comforter. On the comforter, and bundled up in another comforter so that only his face and hands are visible sits Gabriel, a book on Animagi throughout history in his hands. As Madeline approaches with an armful of wood he frowns a little bit and shakes his head, "You know? The SCUMs classes were horrible and demeaning but that's the kind of thing that you want to keep records on so that later on people can see what it was all about and not repeat the same mistake. And the MUD book does have some useful spells in it. I don't think burning them all is a good idea." Typical Ravenclaw…

Madeline nods happily, then turns her attention towards Angus. "I know how to build a campfire - but not a bonfire. Do you know how to stack up the wood?" she asks curiously. "I mean, it should be about the same but biiiiigger. Right?" She then turns towards Gabriel to offer a shrug of her shoulders. "The library has copies, don't it? But mine I'm burning."

Angus says, helpfully, as he keeps doing what he's doing (ie, not much), "Och, yehs just pile it up. And put a whole lot o' fire potions in the middle. Makes it go really well, ken?"

"True fire needs air, not magic," Miranda says, giving Angus a tiny, crooked smile before she turns back to Madeline. "Stack or tepee?" she asks the younger girl as she needlessly forms a triangle with her fingers. "Stacking might be more practical in this particular instance," she adds a moment later as she looks musingly toward the stack of wood. "Easier to have a place for the books." Even she can say that without remorse in this instance, and her love of books isn't that far behind a typical Ravenclaw's.

Gabriel looks up from his book with a sigh. "Stack. More specifically, a square stack of alternating logs, so it looks kind of like the main room of a log cabin . Then your tinder and smaller wood pieces… And the books, if you must, go in the middle of the square." His eyes move back to his Animagi book as he finishes his statement, "That way air can flow between the gaps of the logs."

"I don't have any fire potions… I don't think the professors would give me any fire potions…" Madeline says in a dubious tone. But then Miranda and Gabriel weigh in and she gives the pair a grateful smile. "Alright! Stacked! Let's give it a try!" she enthuses, picking up a few pieces of wood to get started. "Can't be too hard, right?"

"Yes, that," Miranda replies, grinning at Gabriel as he adds details to her more vague suggestion. She kneels down to start poking through the wood. "Right!" she exclaims, agreeing with Madeline as she pulls out some of the smaller sticks and wood chips. "And if for some reason it doesn't light right away, there are all sorts of, um… magical alternatives."

Angus sniffs, "Och, where's the fun in that?"

Gabriel without looking up from his book Gabriel shrugs a little, "Well, there's always lighters too. Like we've said before, Muggles come up with some very ingenious ideas, and lighters are one of them. Easy, easy way to light a fire." After a few seconds he frowns a little bit and asks, of no one in particular, "Did you know that there was someone who's animagus form was a tortoise? Why would anyone want to turn into a tortoise??"

"I think tortoises are sweet!" Madeline responds, as she sets her first two pieces of wood across from each other, and then gets two more to stack on top of those. "So build it like this?" she confirms. "I hope it won't get too wibbly…"

Angus says slowly, "I dinnae think they get the choice, is the thing. You are whit yehs are." He shrugs a bit, "I wannae grow up tae be rich and clever, but it's no gonnae happen!" He takes an apple out of his pocket, and bites it. "So I'll just have tae make do wi' being athletic, an' handsome, an charming."

Miranda is having a hard time keeping a straight face as she glances at Angus, but she manages. Barely. It helps that she has something to do as she goes on sorting the wood assortment by size and type, setting them aside for Madeline. "It's only wood," she answers the Gryffindor girl, as if that should clearly explain everything. After tossing a larger piece onto one of the new stacks, she returns her attention to Gabriel and asks, "Were they a spy? I could see a tortoise coming in handy for that."

Angus has reconnected.

Gabriel throws off his bundling comforter and sets aside his book, "I dunno. Tortoises are so, well, slow. And clumsy." As he talks he moves over to where Madeline is working with the wood and he takes two log, puts them about a foot apart, one to the north the other to the south. Then he takes two more and also puts them about a foot apart, this time one on top of the eastern end of his first two logs the other on the western ends of the first two log. "Like this, then you keep alternating. Unless you make the stack too tall it will be nice and firm." Demonstration done he goes back to bundling himself up, "And that's what a lot of the books say, MacMillan. but there has to be at least some influence you can have on the shape you take. Like working hard to become rich and famous."

"If we make it like this, though… I mean, it's good for a campfire. But this is a bonfire. It's so small - how will people get all around it?" Madeline asks dubiously as she studies their work.

Angus says briskly "Get yeself a Sixthformer and get them to Acthingieo some more wood over here?" He grins, "Besides, Tortoises are cool. They can swim. And they're indestructable. And they live ferever. Just think if you were a mayfly animagus!"

Miranda gradually finishes going through the larger stockpile of wood, then stands, brushing her hands clean as she watches Madeline's bonfire-to-be take shape. "Lots of time left to make it as big as you want," she replies to the Gryffindor, sounding largely unconcerned. "Speaking of time, though, it's time I got back to studying. Best of luck! Looking forward to tonight!" she adds before waving her farewell to the others and turning toward the castle.

Gabriel Starts bundling himself back up in his second comforter, "You can only build it as big as your smallest "log", Maddie. Or you can try making a hexagon. You just need enough of an angle between the log so that the one you stack up on the end is stable." Once he's bundled up he grabs his book and goes back to reading, "I think its turtles that swim, not tortoises. But I will admit I've never studied turtles and tortoises in detail. But they really are hard to hurt." He waves to Miranda in a distracted sort of way as she starts making her way back to the castle.

Angus gives a little grunt, "Well, I should be gettin' back tae the castle tae get changed for the match." He gives a sly smile, "Ah might have sourced some bangers fur the fire."

"It's not a matter of time! It's a matter of logs only being this long!" Madeline calls after Miranda, letting out a sigh. "A hexagon - that'd make it bigger? Hexagons have…" She stops to think. "…six sides?" She tries building one that way - but seems to be having trouble getting the wood to stack. "Umm… how's a hexagon work?" she asks Gabriel before calling out to Angus, "Good luck at the game! I'll show up to cheer, at least."

Gabriel sighs and lets his comforter drop again. Waving at Angus he makes his way back to the wood. "Good luck, MacMillian. I'll be there to cheer Gryffindor on. Don't let the Snakes win!" Then he starts working on the hexagon. He creates a triangle with open end as the base. Each open end is about a foot long or so. Then he takes three other pieces of wood and puts them over the gaps, then reverses the process for the third layer, "See, like that. It give you stability still but makes the area the bonfire covers a whole lot bigger."
Angus leaves, heading towards Entry Courtyard [E].
Angus has left.

"…ohhhhh! A triangle!" Maddie had been trying to position each set of logs in pairs across from each other. "Gosh. It would have taken me a while to figure that out. Thanks, Gabriel!" Madeline remarks in a cheerful tone. She keeps working on the stacks, though she glances over at Gabriel for a moment, before looking back to her work. "What do you think about Angelus…?" she asks in an uncertain voice.

Gabriel goes back to his comforters again. Taking the time it takes him to bundle back up he thinks about Madeline's question and finally says, "Honestly? He's more interested in his reputation among the Pureblood than in doing the right thing. I thought he had a streak of niceness in him but at this point I think its all for show. He cares about no one but himself. And maybe he father." This time he doesn't pick the book back up, instead just looking out over the lake, clearly sad about what he's saying.

"That's what I was saying!" Madeline exclaims, before giving Gabriel a 'see? Told you so' look. "But then… Why'd he go and tell Rena about the box, I wonder, and get his wand broken? That's what I don't get right now. Well, that and…" Is Madeline blushing? Surely not.

Gabriel shrugs a bit, making his comforter rustle, "Only thing I can think of is that once he saw his team was about to lose he decided switching team would be the best thing possible for him. But I don't know for sure."

"Maybe," Madeline says in an uncertain voice. She focuses her attention on stacking the wood, a frown on her features before she mumbles, "Still doesn't explain why he tried to kiss me, though."

Gabriel shrugs again, this time a little more forcefully as he frowns deeply, "Who knows. All I really know if that he's out of chances with me. If he ever wants me to trust him again he's going to have to work really hard at it." Taking his book back up he returns to his reading. "You know what none of these books has really mentioned? If people each have a unique animal or if they repeat from time to time…"

Madeline glances over at Gabriel uncertainly, then back to her work. It's a decent sized stack now. "Well. Are there enough different kinds of animals for all of the people?" she asks. "I mean, it'd not just have to be all the people now, but all the people who're dead already, and who aren't even born yet… It'll have to repeat eventually, right?"

You say, "Maybe it has something to do with the animals that person knows about and how they visualize those animals. According to the books I've been reading the animal someone ends up turning into has a lot to do with their personality and the aspects of their personality the animal represents. So, yes, they probably repeat because not everyone know a lot about animals."

"I've be a lion! Because I'm fierce!" Madeline exclaims. "Or a shark!" She pauses - log still in hand. "Oh, gosh, but I'd have to be near water if I was a shark. Has that ever happened? A shark animagus?"

Gabriel takes a moment to think about that then starts flipping the pages of his book towards the beginning, "Actually, yes. Some of the wizards and witches that live on small islands or near the coast have had aquatic or amphibian shapes. Actually the book mentions that the legend of selkies, what Muggles understand as selkies, people that turn into seals, come from an Irish Animagus that was seen changing shape way back when…"

Madeline stops working, turns, and stares at Gabriel. "That's why- WOW! That makes so much sense!" She giggles as she thinks about it. "I'd be okay with being a seal animagus! Oh, that sounds fun!"

Gabriel nods, "A seal would be a lot better than a shark. At least a seal can deal with any kind of water and even move along land. /I/ think the best kind of animal shape would be a bird. It gives you a lot of different options. If you were a parrot or a magpie you'd even be able to speak, I bet!"

"Or a raven!" Madeline agrees. "Mischief speaks after all! He says 'Hello' and 'good bird' and 'Mischief' and 'Gooooooo Gryffindor!'"

Gabriel puts his book down then gets up and starts to bundle his comforters up, "That's true. I only mentioned the first couple that came to mind but there's definitely a lot of birds that can talk." Once he has the comforters all rolled up his ties them off with a belt and picks up the book. "I think that we should go and start getting ready for the game. It looks like you're done with the bonfire set up for now, right?"

"Yeah," Madeline agrees, eyeing her wood stack with satisfaction. "I suppose I am," she agrees. She beams at Gabriel cheerfully. "I do hope lots of people come - not just the Muggle-borns. But if eeeeeveryone showed up, that'd just be too crazy! We'll have to see."

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