The Dangers of Gobstones {Zara}

[bertrum fyodor ivanova]

Sitting in the hospital Wing of Hogwarts, Bert started to whistle and old Scottish folk song. As accident prone as Bert was, he never hurt himself too seriously to get into the Hospital Wing, though there had been the odd occasion. The reason he was in there today was for a slightly odd reason.

Bert had set up some of his Gobstones ready for his club to begin, not that anyone ever came but he never gave up hope with that. A bunch of boys that Bert recognised were in the year below him in Slytherin had come up to him and started to throw the Gobstones at him, which had expelled all the putrid fluid at him and left him feeling extremely dizzy so most of the knocks where to his head. one of his housemates had seen him and had gotten him to the Hospital Wing but soon had to leave. The nurse had come and checked him over but wanted him to stay a little longer just in case. So, at the moment Bert was stuck in the Hospital Wing with nothing to do and waiting to be let out.

He was slightly upset about it all, the fact that the boys had thrown the Gobstones about him but he was more upset that he would end up having to get another set of practice Gobstones. He didn't want to use his good set, he only ever used those for his competitions.

Bert heard a croak and looked at the floor beside his bed and saw Speckles there. That toad always seemed to know where to find Bert, when Specks wasn't running away that was. Bert grinned glad of some company, Specks jumped on his head and Bert's grin turned into a wince. "Aw, specks, be cannie thaur!" Speckles jumped onto his shoulder as Bert rubbed the spot on his head where a small bump had started to come out. And people thought that Gobstones wasn't dangerous.

[zara celeste o'reilly]

Zara had been in the library finishing off some Transfiguration homework when she saw Speckles hop in and towards her. When Bert had bought the toad and showed it to her Zara had really not seen the point. Of the three pets that they could have she really didn't think that a toad had any use at all. She had told Bert her thoughts on it, not that he had been very happy. He had stuck to his own guns and here he was 6 years on with Speckles at his side and Zara having to swallow her words. He was indeed rather an intelligent animal. So seeing the toad in the library without its owner meant that Speckles wanted Zee to go somewhere.

She packed up her things and headed out with the amphibian. It began to hop its way towards the hospital wing and Zara couldn't help but roll her eyes. She knew Bert well enough and people may have thought she was careless but he never got seriously hurt. As she arrived at the wing she saw Speckles hopping up on his shoulder and Zara walked over to the bed. "Want ter tell me waaat 'appened?" She felt sorry for anyone that tried to get into a conversation with them. She and Bert had strong accents and at times they could be hard to understand.

"Wus dis ter chucker wi' yisser gobstones again? were yer tryin' ter recruit people?" Bert had always had a thing for Gobstones. Which once again Zara had no love or understanding for. As far as friendships went they has an odd one but it did work. Bert was one of the only people Zara would not do without. She sat herself on the end of his bed and waited to hear the full story.

[bertrum fyodor ivanova]

Speckles croaked again and Bert turned his head towards the entrance and grinned when he saw Zara there. The two of them had been friends since first year. Bert had no clue as to why she put up with him, or how for that matter, but she seemed to be able to so he wasn't going to complain. They were an odd pair of friends but Bert always thought they had a connection through their Celtic blood.

He chuckled nervously before answering Zee's question, she knew him so well. "Ah, weel, ye see..." He started off. This was going to be interesting. Not many people really understood his love for Gobstones, they didn't understand the interest that he had in it. But it was an exciting game that required a lot of skill. "Ah was settin' up fur gobstones an' 'en these slytherin wee jimmies cam up tae me an' Ah thooght 'at they wanted tae join.... but they didne. They jist flin' mah gobstones at me! Mah ain gobstones! An' they threw them at mah heed! Bert took a deep breath.

"Dae Ah reek a wee... funky dae ye hink?" Bert went to sniff his armpit and then grimaced before turning his face away. That was not a good idea, he stank of the putrid that had shot out of the Gobstones. Why him?

[zara celeste o'reilly]

Zara kicked her legs as she sat on the bed and listened to Bert's story. At the mention of Slytherins she groaned. "Bert, waaat 'av oi towl yer? Leave de slytherins alone. They 'av naw interest in yer or gobstones." She wasn't trying to hurt or offend him but save him. The last thing she wanted was for one of the Blacks to get a hold of him. Bert would be useless against them. She had some sway with one or two who she had politely asked to leave him alone but she was sure they still teased him when they could.

Zara leaned close and took a sniff of Bert before coughing. "Ugh bert. Ah've smelled better rancid dragon steaks." He was not smelling pretty. A shower would be needed ASAP. "'oy long ye stuk in 'ere? yer really nade a arthur power." Her nose wrinkled in disgust and once again she leaned away from him. Zara had no idea how Speckles was able to cope sitting on Bert's shoulder but she tipped her hat to him. That must be love.

[bertrum fyodor ivanova]

Bert sighed, "Ah wasnae e'en tryin' tae gie them tae join thes time! They jist cam ower an' Ah thooght 'at they micht want tae join, 'at was aw." He had the worst luck when it came to Gobstones, no one seemed to have an interest in them! Bert was determined to make the club more known and popular this year, it was his mission. And this was just a small bump along the road. he would take it like a true Scotsman and make sure that people started to respect Gobstones. As soon as they did that, things like this wouldn't happen anymore.

Bert frowned at her response, was it really that bad? He felt so disgusting right now, all he wanted to do was get in the shower and get changed. This was one of the main reasons Bert trained so hard in Gobstones, he hated being covered in the putrid and the only way to stop that from happening was winning. "Jist abit half an hoor noo! They hae tae lit me it suin zee, Ah feel loch a walkin', talkin' min' bomb!" He took another whiff of himself and made a mental note not to again until he had a shower, or maybe a bath. A very long bath.

[zara celeste o'reilly]

"You need to just stop assuming they want to have anything to do with you. Look what happens everytime you talk to one? You always end up at the rough end of the deal." Zara explained. She knew that Gobstones meant a lot to him and that he wanted to make it work. Zara scanned for people she could potentially get to join the club to make Bert happy.

Zara grimaced again. "You can borrow some of my bath stuff if you want." she offered to him. He would probably need a good scrub. The smell would have sunk into him by now. "Are you going to mention this incident to Sprout. She might be able to dock some points of the eegits that did this to you." Professor Sprout was a rather fussy woman at times but she was sure that she would not let someone get away with putting her house members in the hospital wing.