Exploring, and Thinking

Ginny had wandered away from the castle and into the grounds. She found herself sitting in a tree and staring at the water. It was beautiful. She knew that this was the Black Lake and that it contained many creatures. She wondered if she would ever see the Giant Squid. Only a few people saw it after all. She looked at her notebook, which was right next to her. She never forgot it, not once. She thought the other students might think it was a diary or a journal. She looked at the water again, and threw a stone at it, seeing it make the water ripple.

"Mind if I join you?" Dmitri asked the girl who was sitting next to the water's edge. He sat down and put his booksack next to him, then looked out at the water. "They say if you sit here long enough, you'll see the squid." he commented, looking at her. "It's very moody, though...I've heard of people tickling its tentacles and getting royally slapped by them."

Ginny looked up when she heard a voice. She nodded, a bit nervous to speak. She listened to him. She thought he was quite nice. "Really?" She asked nervously. She had never heard of this, maybe she shouldn't swim in the lake after all. If the squid was moody, he could become angry.

"Don't worry, though...he rarely ever does come over to the edge of the water. Although I've heard of a couple of first-year students who've accidentally fallen into the water while crossing the lake and then being pushed back into the boat by the squid. I don't think it's all bad." replied Dmitri. "So...do you come here very much? I like sitting by the lake--it helps me to think."

Ginny nods. It reassured her that the squid didn't come to the edge often. She knew that some 1st years had fallen to the lake, because she saw some fall. She pondered on his question for a second. " Well, it's my first time here." She said, looking at the water. "But i think I'm going to come over her much more often. It's peaceful, and it-it allows me to write in my notebook." She said. She said the last part nervously. She didn't know if this boy would tease her about her notebook, like some of the other kids.

Dmitri looked at her notebook. "I have a journal myself." he said. "Actually, I've gone through about fifteen of them ever since I was able to write. It's nothing to be embarrassed about."
He took a rock and skimmed it across the surface. "It's nice to get away from everything. School is killing me." He chuckled, then continued. "But I'd rather be here than at home, to be honest with you."

Ginny looked at the boy. "It's not a journal. I just write in it, its filled with numbers." She said. she was quite surprised that this boy, had gone through 15 journals. Wow, 15. That's quite alot. she thought. She smiled, her first smile since hearing about Hogwarts. "Same here, Hogwarts feels much better than home." She said. She realized that they hadn't introduced themselves. "Oh, and by the way, my names Virginia, but call me Ginny." She said. She smiled, she was trusting this boy.

Dmitri smiled. "Hi, Ginny...I'm Dmitri. It's nice to meet you." He sighed. "Can you believe the rain we had on the ride to Hogwarts? I don't think I've ever seen it pour like that before. It looked like midnight when it was actually two in the afternoon."

He sent another rock skimming across the water. "What's your home like?"

She smiled. "Nice to meet you Dmitri." She said. She had never heard of the name Dmitri, but thought it was a nice name. She nodded in agreement. "This is my first year at Hogwarts, but if it rains this hard all the time, I might have to wish on getting expelled." She joked. She had been on the boat, and the rain was moving the boat. She had arrived shivering and soaking wet.

She looked at the rock skimming on the water. "Noisy." She said. "With a batch of troublesome kids." She added. She meant her brothers, as they were always noisy and destroying her things. She looked at Dmitri. "What was your home like?" She asked.

"Full of pureblood madness." replied Dmitri, looking at her. "It's screwed up, to be perfectly honest...Mum and Dad hated it when I was sorted into Hufflepuff and I owled them about it. Mum was a Ravenclaw. Dad was a Slytherin. They don't take very well to people in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor houses. Dad said if I was sorted into Gryffindor, he'd disown me. I guess I got lucky." He sighed. "But I don't mean to bore you with the sordid details of my crazy family. It's all ridiculous, this blood status junk."

Ginny nodded. "So, your a pureblood?" She asked. She felt, a bit nervous, as she was a muggleborn. She knew that purebloods loathed muggleborns. Maybe he was different, but she wasn't sure. She looked at Dmitri. She knew it was silly, after all, they had barely met, but she was kind of falling for him.

"Yeah, I'm a pureblood. Sometimes I wish I weren't. This whole hating Muggles thing is ridiculous...sending the Dark Mark up over--" He stopped before he could go on. "Well, let's just say that I know more than I'd really like to know about certain things. If need be, I could warn people."

Ginny listened to him. Over what? she wondered. She nodded. She looked at the water. While staring at it, a number popped into her head, and she opened her notebook, and wrote it down. 2627. She thought.

Dmitri smiled at her again. "So...do you like it here at Hogwarts? What classes do you think are hard? I've always hated Arithmancy and Herbology, myself. I could never quite get the whole numbers and plants thing down." He looked away. "I'm going to become an Auror one day. Azkaban's got some empty cells that need to be filled."

Ginny smiled at him. "I think all the classes look easy, except for Potions. I've heard that the Professor is quite strict." She said. She nods. "I'll probably end up being a Professor, or a Healer." She said. "Aurors sound awesome!" She said, smiling. She kept thinking of something over and over again, and blushed slightly.

"Yeah, Potions is a killer." replied Dmitri, taking in a deep breath. "My mum used to be a Healer, actually...then she was shamed into leaving that profession and going into a career that was more suited to a pureblood woman. So said my dad, anyway. I hope you never meet him."

Ginny nodded. "Why not?" She asked. She suddenly remembered that his father could be a muggleborn hater. But then, how would Dmitri know she was a muggleborn? She thought.

"He's killed." Dmitri said simply. "If he even suspects someone is Muggle born, that's enough for him to whip out his wand and say those two little words which destroy more lives than just its victim. "

Ginny nods. Wow, definitely red alert for me. She thought. "Wow, he must really loath muggleborns." She said.

"You have no idea." Dmitri replied. "He's pretty much a control freak...like I said, he made my mom go into a law career because he didn't like her being a Healer. He thinks Healers are a load of wimps, not fit to be on the same level as Ministry workers."

She nodded. She thought his father seemed like a Death Eater. "Dmitri, is your fathera Death Eater?" She asked nervously.

"Yes he is. Both of my parents are." Dmitri replied quietly. "They want me to follow in their footsteps, but I don't want anything to do with going around and torturing and killing people I don't even know and who haven't done anything to hurt me. It's so senseless...and it's all about that bloody pureblood crap."

Ginny nodded. She couldn't believe a Ravenclaw was DE. She thought they were all Slytherins. "Well, maybe that's why you're in Hufflepuff." She said. She had never heard of a Hufflepuff DE, and she hoped she never would.

"Yeah, maybe." replied Dmitri. "You wouldn't believe who all are Death Eaters. They--" He stopped, remembering the admonition of his father not to divulge who were followers of the Dark Lord. "Something big's going to happen, Ginny. It's only a matter of time."

Ginny nods, her eyes widened a bit. "Is it going to happen at Hogwarts?" She asked. She was slightly nervous, she had heard how Hogwarts had been through many battles, and not all they had won.