MAGIANIMA // Hermione Granger

Green Flash

Sat at the bank of the Black Lake, Atlas stared out at the giant squid, face content and a soft smile forming on her lips. She waved toward the beast that called the depths it's home - only coming up to wave at passers-by on rare occasions - earning a greeting in return before it dived back down to its cove, leaving Atlas alone on dry land.

She prodded at the ground with a rotten stick, the middle splintering off into different directions at a particularly harsh stab, she regarded it for a second before tossing it behind her shoulder. Listening to it tumble across the ground as she closed her eyes and fell backwards, gentle to not disturb her sides but heavy enough to illicit a soft grunt when her bare-back met the stones of the bank.

The days, weeks and months since she'd graduated third-year with her exam results at the top of the board - only just beneath Hermione who scored higher in Herbology - had been long. Dragging on like a particularly slow dance that produced no enjoyment to either party, the two participants just idly flitting across the dance floor as Atlas did throughout the Summer.

A slither of excitement would always fly by when an Owl came and went with a letter, managing to put a smile on her face no matter the mood. Atlas had the pleasure of meeting 'Pig' or rather 'Pigwidgeon', as Ginny had so eloquently named him, on a few occasions, always arriving with a particularly small letter and leaving many days later for he would always need to rest.

During those spouts, Atlas would take care and pamper him, so it was no surprise the little bird picked up on her care and ended up dragging out his recoveries for as long as he could. Kalo would get jealous in the beginning but had grown to see e the little owl as more of a pest than competition, much to Atas's amusement.

There had been other letter's of course, all memorable in their own ways. Luna had sent her pictures of her mum standing beside her own mother, Pandora Lovegood, she seemed to find them quite interesting and asked if Atlas had any of her own. Of course, Atlas got to looking as soon as she could, digging up old boxes hidden in a secret room of her and Minerva's cottage. She'd found some, copied them and sent them to Luna, doing the same to the ones the girl had sent as well before tucking them in the envelope too, in case she wanted them back.

Neville had sent her a few short congratulations on her Herbology score, rambling in most letters about how his grandmother was a big fan of Amaya Magianima and couldn't believe her own grandson was a tutor for the famous Auror's daughter. He'd thanked her continuously which Atlas hadn't quite seen the point in but responded anyway, sneaking in an old signed autograph of her mother as Grandma Longbottom seemed to be quite obsessed with her late mother, who had apparently worked beside her own son and daughter in law.

Ginny continuously talked about all of her interests, asking Atlas for tips on Quidditch and telling her all about certain Charms she wanted to learn and try when she got back to Hogwarts. Atlas would always write back with more spells she could attempt when she got back, a lot of them being harmless little pranks she could use for a laugh. Her letter would always come with Ron's, the boy only sending her few-worded passages, keeping her up with the bigger things while Ginny took on the responsibility of echoing the little things. It worked and sometimes Atlas just analysed the differences in their writing for fun.

Cedric was just a goof, honestly, his letters consisted of poorly written jokes, cheesy get-well-soon's and horrendous poems he insisted were book-worthy. Occasionally, he'd ask how she was doing and in the beginning that's all they had been, him checking up on her, asking about how she was recovering from the 'rabid wolf' bite and such. But otherwise, he just did his usual, ending it each time with poorly drawn hearts.

Bella had gone absolutely mental in her first letter of the Summer, scolding her for fighting an, as she put it, 'GODDAMN BLOODY WEREWOLF FOR MERLIN'S SAKE!'. Atlas had immediately put the letter down to read it another day, only to end up burning it halfway through because all it was was her chiding her for getting herself hurt even after she had so explicitly warned her not to in the Howler she had sent. The Howler that still haunted her every time she saw a red piece of parchment.