Valley Of The Frogs

[Rad Atha]

Another sunny day at Hogwarts, Rad wasn't expecting to spend it all cooped up inside... though he had no idea what to do, seeing as he hadn't formed any friends who he could spend time with yet. Nevertheless, that wasn't going to stop him from heading down to the lake and enjoying the breeze. Perhaps he would finally get to see the infamous giant squid that his father had talked about so many times.

Rad sat in by the edge, admiring its beauty. He had always admired mother nature and what she had to offer. Well... perhaps not everything. "Ribbit!" It couldn't be. "Ribbit!" No, it just couldn't. "Ribbit!" But yet, there it was. A slimy, disgusting, bug-eyed frog staring at him from a fair distance.

As soon as Rad saw the despicable creature he jumped in surprise and let out a terrified shriek. Ok, not exactly his most masculine moment - thankfully there weren't too many people are around - but he didn't really care right now. Rad was appalled and revolted. He absolutely DESPISED frogs. His relationships with frogs go way back. It all started one rainy night in September. Rad had gone out to the porch and SPLAT! his feet had stomped on a frog, instantly killing it.

A scarring experience, I know. That exact night he had also dream that a frog had appeared out of nowhere and had choked him with his tongue, resembling a boa contractor. Safe to say that he had wet the bed that night.

Picking a stick that was lying around nearby, he poked at the innocent frog with it, trying its best not to hurt it but at the same time trying his best to make it hop away. Thankfully, it did, and Rad was able to rest in peace once again... for a few minutes at least. The amphibian hopped its way back, this time landing on Rad's head. And that's where Rad had panicked the most. "Someone, ANYONE, get this thing away from me!!!" Rad shouted, paralyzed by fear. He wouldn't dare to touch the slimy creature with its own hands, no way Jose.

[Arya Celamine]

Hogwarts seemed to have this issue where it was irrefutably hot and never had beautiful summer showers. For the most of the day, Arya had spent it laying in bed reading Sylvia Plath novels and moping about like some deranged depressant. In reality, she really just wanted classes to start so she could nerd out over all that silly wizard junk and participate in... school spirit? Whatever.

As the day drug on and the sun reached high noon, Arya hopped out of bed and slipped into a bathing suit and a large t-shirt to go over it. If it was going to be unbearably hot, she was going to do something about it. The only rational thing to do would be to go out to the lake and go for a good swim, and this time she wouldn't forget her bathing suit, nope, because she already had it on.

Her journeys around Hogwarts had only brought her to the lake once before, where she met a really sad boy. As she neared the sparkling waters, she started picking flowers and forcing herself to embrace the summer for what it was. Hot, and gorgeous. However, her new found appreciation was shattered by the shrieking voice of some boy in Hufflepuff robes.

Arya broke out in a jog and ran towards him, realizing he was petrified by a stupid frog. The small redhead sighed, leaned over and scooped the frog up in her hands. "It's not going to hurt you, you baby! You're scaring the bejeebies out of the poor baby, jerk!" She hollered, scrunching her nose up in glaring. "Here, hold it..." She said, trying to stop sounding like a jerk herself. "It's nice, I promise. Don't be such a baby."

[Rad Atha]

Lo and behold, it didn't take long for a bikini warrior to rescue him from the disgusting frog. ... Now he just needed someone to save him from this girl. He had requested for help, not an animal activist. As soon as the girl snatched the frog from his head he stroked his hair to make sure the despicable creature didn't leave any residue behind. He definitely needed to get into a shower as soon as possible and wash throughly every inch of his scalp.

Rad instantly scoffed at the girl's offer; "Um, are you daft?" He asked, staring at her with a face of repulsion. "If I didn't want to hold it on my head then what makes you think I want to hold it with my hands?!" He picked up the stick that he had dropped in a panic and softly poked the frog with it once again. "There, happy?" He knew he was, cause the frog had darted off the girl's hands.

[Arya Celamine]

Oh, this boy was a little pretentious.

"Excuse me? You're the daft one, acting bigoted towards this frog!" Arya wrinkled her eyebrows wondering why he was so disgusted at her now. The boy started poking the frog with a stick, which caused the frog to leap out of her hands and hop away. "You know, you're really mean. From the look of your robes, you're a Hufflepuff. Unless you stole them from some poor defenseless Hufflepuff you Slytherin meany-face!" She spun around on the heel of her foot and walked off to sit in the edge of the lake in all her angst ridden glory. Why would she want to be friends with someone who woke up on the wrong side of the bed, anyway?

[Annalisse Childs]

Hmm, did Rad have the same problem with toads as he did with frogs?

Seeing as it would probably be winter before she knew it, Annalisse had decided to take her toad Herman for a walk while the whether was still nice and toad-approved. She felt so bad having to leave him cooped up inside during the long winters, so to make up for it she had decided to bring him out here as often as she could before it got too cold. Naturally she directed her pet towards the lake, pulling him along with a leash so that he didn't try to slip away from her like he had so many times before.

As she neared the lake she saw a couple of people, though they didn't seem to be having the nicest of conversation. She watched as the girl stomped off and sat away from the boy, wondering what he had done to make her so mad. Now she had a dilemma, for she'd have to choose one of them to sit next to because she didn't really want to sit by herself if there was another option. She glimpsed what looked like a Ravenclaw emblem on the girls robes, which pretty much sealed her decision. Even if the boy was a Ravenclaw, girls were pretty much superior to boys in every way.

"Come on Herman, this way," she mumbled, pulling him in the direction that the girl was now sitting. "Hiya!" she said as she got within earshot, not wanting to scare her by sneaking up on her. She always hated it when people did that to her. Reaching the edge of the lake, she plopped down and looped the leash around her wrist so that she wouldn't lose track of it while Herman took a swim. "What's up?" she asked, only a liiiittle curious as to what all the hostility was about.

[Rad Atha]

Acting bigoted? It was just a frog! He stared at her with a face of bewilderment; was this girl for serious? Rad was just panicking a minute ago over a insignificant little frog and now this girl is accusing him of being a bully? "Now you're just being silly!" He yelled at her as she marched away. Good riddance he figured.

But then all of a sudden, a girl had arrived... with a toad. On a leash. As if it was a dog. That had to be the most outrageous thing Rad had ever seen. Nevertheless, frog, toad, Rad was equally disgusted by them. In fact, he couldn't tell the difference between them. "Oh thank God you have that thing on a leash," Rad couldn't help but comment as he approached both of the girls. "But really? A nasty 'ole frog as pet?" Though he was next to the girls, he made sure he kept his distance from the bewitched creature. What's with everyone's fascination with frog nowadays?

[Dallas Maine]

It was becoming absolutely stuffy within the castle, and the heat just made it worse. He went outside often, but not really with anyone else. This was Dallas's first year at Hogwarts, and he thought he'd give it a whirl. Why not? But here he was in the Summer and it wasn't exactly the best option for him. His dormitory was always sweltering, and he ended up spending a lot of time in the Dungeons; it was the only naturally air conditioned place in the castle. But he figured he could go outside, maybe spot a few people to chat to. It had been awhile since he had a conversation with someone his own age.

He stepped out into the fresh air, taking a deep breath and putting one foot in front of the other as he walked outside. He figured the Lake would be the perfect place for a stop. All the teens gathered there, and he figured it would be a good place to meet new people.

As he walked down, he slowed slightly, eyes drawn to a young female, whose bikini bottoms were peeking out from under her white t-shirt. Hot. However, this view changed in a matter of seconds when a long cord extending to a jumping frog came into view. It made the whole bathing suit thing seem kind of awkward.

"You know," he said loudly, as he approached the small group, "Most people just get owls."

[Annalisse Childs]

Hearing the boys comment from behind her, Anna turned around with a sour look on her face. "Herman is not nasty, I just have him a bath last night," she said, sticking her tongue out at him and crossing her arms, making sure to keep a tight hold on the leash. Her toad may be fat and lazy, but nasty was taking it a little too far. He was her first ever pet, so she was rather attached to him despite the fact that she'd also acquired her dream pet, a puppy, since she started at Hogwarts. She glanced over and and giggled a bit while the fat toad flopped into the lake, creating a surprisingly large splash for a toad.

Oh great, there was another toad-hating boy. Weren't boys supposed to love things like that? She should be the one trying to avoid them. "Owls are overrated," she said exasperatedly, turning her head to face the newcomer. "I think I might even start sending my mail by pigeon."