Post by Oscar Flynn G7 on Jul 31, 2008 22:57:38 GMT
Llanrhystud… how on earth did you pronounce that one? Oscar studied it for a moment. “Lan-er-why-stood.” That certainly didn’t sound right. These Welsh sure did come up with some crazy names. Coming from an Irish family didn’t seem to help Oscar pronounce the centre’s name in the slightest. I’m spending two weeks here; I might as well learn how to say where I’m staying! He thought, frowning at the brochure in his hands. “Lan-arrr-iee-stud?” Nope, it was no good. He just couldn’t get his head around those stupid letters. For all he knew they could all be silent letters bar the last four; the few Welsh place names he knew were similar, with silent letters all over the place. But why? It seemed like a ridiculous plan in the first place. If things were Oscar’s way, everyone would just speak English and make everything easy to pronounce words. Simple. A voice in Oscar’s head questioned him about his intentions to destroy hundreds of language cultures just so he could pronounce an art centre’s name, and he listened to it with a sigh. Maybe he could attempt the pronounciation of Llanrhystud once more. “Lanarwhystood.” Right. Oscar didn’t care if it was wrong; it was the closest he thought he was and he wouldn’t try again no matter how loud the voice in his head insisted. The voice was definitely a Ravenclaw.
Taking his eyes away from the front page of the brochure, Oscar flicked absent-mindedly through the pages. It seemed like a pretty cool place really. Tons of things to do, from art to drama to many sporty things. He wanted to try everything. That was how Oscar looked at things like this. In his life he hadn’t done things like bunji-jumping or windsurfing. He hadn’t even tried singing before. But this summer would change all that. It was the same with everything else; lately he had felt a new character coming about him that would turn his sixth year into something fabulous. Everything was changing; his family was getting an additional member. He’d been having feelings for someone, finally. The matter of who it happened to be was something else… but what else? He was pushing forward on his love for Quidditch, aiming to play Keeper in most of Gryffindor’s games in the coming year- with his new Nimbus 2000 beneath him. He was making friends all over Hogwarts and out. Overall, things were improving. This was a surprising thing seeing as Oscar had already had a pretty good life anyway and had found it hard to imagine what could have been improved. He was grateful to everyone in his life, that much he knew. Everyone in it had helped him to make himself the person he-
“Ooh, photography!” Oscar muttered, somehow interrupting his own confusing thoughts. He’d arrived at the page which told him about the classes available to students, and this was certainly one he wouldn’t mind visiting. He’d once taken a shine to photography long ago and although he certainly didn’t have an obvious talent for the art, it did however interest him. Maybe he would visit that class with ‘Kenley Fields’. Flipping past that particular page, Oscar arrived at another. It showed a picture of the cabins they would be staying in, and a few of inside. Oscar glanced down at the photos and then up again to survey the room he was in. He couldn’t spot the difference; the two large bunk beds shown in the photos were in front of him, fairly comfortable looking considering. In the corner of the room in the picture there was a large white sofa. Looking down at what Oscar was sitting on, he noted that although the colour was different- the one in this cabin was dark brown- there was indeed a sofa in his cabin. Then there were two small bookshelves, a wardrobe and some drawers. All present.
Closing the brochure as he stood up, Oscar slowly walked around the cabin. It was nice, but he had no doubt it would be even nicer with a few more people in it. Right now the only signs of life in the cabin were Oscar’s bags on the floor by his feet and the hooting owl perched on top of one of the bunk-beds. Herra loved her new surroundings, he could tell that much. She hadn’t complained once about the journey here and her normally annoyed expression was now one that showed her content, relaxed mood. Oscar wondered if Jez would bring his toad. He himself had no interest in the creatures whatsoever, but found it a little amusing that Jez chose to have Croakle as a companion. Then again, Herra was so different from Oscar he suspected others thought the same about them. Oscar struggled to remember what pet Sophia had- he didn’t know her fabulously but they got on nicely. An image of a snowy owl came to his mind and he hoped Herra wouldn’t mind having another owl in the cabin.
A few moments later, Oscar was fiddling with his wand. It felt great to know that he could cast magic here and not be attacked by ministry officials. “Accio Herra” He muttered with a grin. But the teasing tone in his voice told his owl that he wasn’t serious; he’d tried ‘Accio’ on her before, and she certainly hadn’t been happy about it. Although that might have been because Oscar hadn’t been the best at the spell then and the summoning charm had actually sent her hurtling in the opposite direction…
Just as he was levitating a large, fat spider that had been sitting on the window pane into the air, a sound alerted Oscar to the obvious fact that soon his friends would arrive. He rose from his place on the arm of the brown sofa and turned to the door. Would it be Jez, Sophia or Ryann? He didn’t mind in the slightest who he would see first. He and Jez always got on brilliantly, and he was comfortable with Sophia and her ability to make him laugh. Ryann he didn’t know that well, as, like Jez, she was in the year above him.
The newcomer’s face appeared around the door and Oscar’s face broke into another grin. “Excellent! Welcome, welcome, to my humble abode.” He joked lightly. “You find the cabin ok? We had a bit of trouble I have to admit, I’m appalling with directions.” He smiled slightly and threw a glance at the bunk-beds either side of him. “They aren’t perfect, but they’re ours. I say we grab our favourite spots before the others get here… any preferences to where you sleep?” As he asked the question he sat back down on the arm of the sofa comfortably. It was great to see his friends again and the excited feeling of not being able to wait for the two weeks to begin had only intensified with getting accustomed to the lodgings.
Taking his eyes away from the front page of the brochure, Oscar flicked absent-mindedly through the pages. It seemed like a pretty cool place really. Tons of things to do, from art to drama to many sporty things. He wanted to try everything. That was how Oscar looked at things like this. In his life he hadn’t done things like bunji-jumping or windsurfing. He hadn’t even tried singing before. But this summer would change all that. It was the same with everything else; lately he had felt a new character coming about him that would turn his sixth year into something fabulous. Everything was changing; his family was getting an additional member. He’d been having feelings for someone, finally. The matter of who it happened to be was something else… but what else? He was pushing forward on his love for Quidditch, aiming to play Keeper in most of Gryffindor’s games in the coming year- with his new Nimbus 2000 beneath him. He was making friends all over Hogwarts and out. Overall, things were improving. This was a surprising thing seeing as Oscar had already had a pretty good life anyway and had found it hard to imagine what could have been improved. He was grateful to everyone in his life, that much he knew. Everyone in it had helped him to make himself the person he-
“Ooh, photography!” Oscar muttered, somehow interrupting his own confusing thoughts. He’d arrived at the page which told him about the classes available to students, and this was certainly one he wouldn’t mind visiting. He’d once taken a shine to photography long ago and although he certainly didn’t have an obvious talent for the art, it did however interest him. Maybe he would visit that class with ‘Kenley Fields’. Flipping past that particular page, Oscar arrived at another. It showed a picture of the cabins they would be staying in, and a few of inside. Oscar glanced down at the photos and then up again to survey the room he was in. He couldn’t spot the difference; the two large bunk beds shown in the photos were in front of him, fairly comfortable looking considering. In the corner of the room in the picture there was a large white sofa. Looking down at what Oscar was sitting on, he noted that although the colour was different- the one in this cabin was dark brown- there was indeed a sofa in his cabin. Then there were two small bookshelves, a wardrobe and some drawers. All present.
Closing the brochure as he stood up, Oscar slowly walked around the cabin. It was nice, but he had no doubt it would be even nicer with a few more people in it. Right now the only signs of life in the cabin were Oscar’s bags on the floor by his feet and the hooting owl perched on top of one of the bunk-beds. Herra loved her new surroundings, he could tell that much. She hadn’t complained once about the journey here and her normally annoyed expression was now one that showed her content, relaxed mood. Oscar wondered if Jez would bring his toad. He himself had no interest in the creatures whatsoever, but found it a little amusing that Jez chose to have Croakle as a companion. Then again, Herra was so different from Oscar he suspected others thought the same about them. Oscar struggled to remember what pet Sophia had- he didn’t know her fabulously but they got on nicely. An image of a snowy owl came to his mind and he hoped Herra wouldn’t mind having another owl in the cabin.
A few moments later, Oscar was fiddling with his wand. It felt great to know that he could cast magic here and not be attacked by ministry officials. “Accio Herra” He muttered with a grin. But the teasing tone in his voice told his owl that he wasn’t serious; he’d tried ‘Accio’ on her before, and she certainly hadn’t been happy about it. Although that might have been because Oscar hadn’t been the best at the spell then and the summoning charm had actually sent her hurtling in the opposite direction…
Just as he was levitating a large, fat spider that had been sitting on the window pane into the air, a sound alerted Oscar to the obvious fact that soon his friends would arrive. He rose from his place on the arm of the brown sofa and turned to the door. Would it be Jez, Sophia or Ryann? He didn’t mind in the slightest who he would see first. He and Jez always got on brilliantly, and he was comfortable with Sophia and her ability to make him laugh. Ryann he didn’t know that well, as, like Jez, she was in the year above him.
The newcomer’s face appeared around the door and Oscar’s face broke into another grin. “Excellent! Welcome, welcome, to my humble abode.” He joked lightly. “You find the cabin ok? We had a bit of trouble I have to admit, I’m appalling with directions.” He smiled slightly and threw a glance at the bunk-beds either side of him. “They aren’t perfect, but they’re ours. I say we grab our favourite spots before the others get here… any preferences to where you sleep?” As he asked the question he sat back down on the arm of the sofa comfortably. It was great to see his friends again and the excited feeling of not being able to wait for the two weeks to begin had only intensified with getting accustomed to the lodgings.
