It wasn't a good Wednesday, with it having been raining the entire morning and now just lingering as overcast, it was a bit of a dreary day. Some could say it wasn't in season as it was meant to be nice and christmasy, however this was Britain and even more importantly, it was Scotland, so its not like rain is particularly uncommon in all seasons of the year. With the courtyard undoubtedly filled with puddles from the rain and all places soaked, its unlikely even the covered areas are free of wet patches and the occasional puddle.

Now that the rain had stopped Lucinda entered the courtyard, bored with sitting indoors during the rain she went out into the rain sodden grounds to investigate if there was any chance of having a festive day, to her it seemed unlikely, yes the school was decorated up for Christmas but that doesn't mean the weather will work with them. For that Lucinda had a plan.

She removed a bottle from a bag slung over her shoulder and smiled. "Thanks mum, atleast not everything is bad today." Weather in a Bottle courtesy of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes she opened it up. "Let it snow." She whispered as she watched it take effect. Allowing the courtyard to change from a sad soggy day to a temporary winter wonderland as clouds puffed from the bottle and into the sky to then release upon the ground in snow.

With the snow filling the area to remove some of the dullness of the day, Lucinda cast her wand and sprayed snowflakes into the sky. "Happy birthday." She sighed and pocketed her wand, she moved into the snow with righteous intent, she had a plan and she would act upon it. Frosty must rise again, she had previously gone to the kitchen to retrieve a carrot and she would see the rise of her snow army!

The castle was cold. It was always cold in winter. Sometimes it was warmer outside of the castle. Ravindar always had a fire in his office. Most students were at home. It was the Christmas holidays. Ravindar did not celebrate Christmas. He stayed to look after the Gryffindors.

The Gryffindor tower was quiet. It was very strange to see it! Perhaps the little lions were outside. The rain had stopped. Ravindar decided a walk would be good for him. It was his great surprise that the Entrance Courtyard was full of white snow!! It had not snowed today. This could only be the work of magic. He looked round. There was Lucinda Temple right in the middle. A Gryffindor. She was patting the snow into a ball. What was she up to?

"Lucinda!" Professor Singh smiled. "Is this your doing?" He thought it was marvelous. "Very beautiful. Does it make you happy?"

Lucinda was so caught up building her  snowball and rolling it up further she didn't hear the approaching footsteps of the head of Gryffindor. So when she heard him calling she gave a loud EEP noise and jumped up straight, her body giving a shudder as she turned to face Professor Singh.

"Oh! Professor! H-hello." She started to calm down, getting over the shock. "Um, its been one of the better parts of today." She said awkwardly, it was better then the howler from her grandmother shouting at her on her birthday she received that morning. So it was a good improvement.

"My parents sent me some stuff for my birthday. One was some Weather in a Bottle. So I figured since it wasn't raining, it wouldn't hurt anyone if I did use it." She looked over her collection of balls she had been rolling up, one fully finished Snow woman stood behind her, so far the only finished one, given two sticks by its side, a couple of stones that with magic were turned black  for eyes and buttons, and a...overly generous size on its chest that only stayed up by magic.

"I thought some snow would be fun, and to build an army." She said as she turned to face the Professor again, a small smile on her face while she cast her wand to make more snowflakes fall.

"Yes! Your birthday." Professor Singh remembered. He had seen Lucinda receive post at breakfast. "I hope you are having a good birthday." He did not wish to judge why Mr and Mrs Temple did not want Lucinda home for her birthday and Christmas. It looked lonely. "An army?" Professor Singh asked. "Of snowmen?" He was curious. "May I be of assistance?"

Lucinda gave a nervous look, were Professors even really people? I mean she thought they just worked and told others what to do, she knew the headmaster was a werewolf and that professor Storm has probably broken laws with his punishments against child endangerment. But could professors have fun?

She nodded and seemed calmer, just wanting to enjoy the rest of the day. "Sure, I don't entirely know how long it will take for things to melt, or if it will melt. Could turn to ice." She considered this but that just means her army will last for longer. Possibly immortalized like the stone statues.

"As you can see my army only consists of one so far, and I've got a second on the way." She said cheerfully as she went to continue rolling up one ball.

"A friend for the other. So he is not lonely." Professor Singh said. He smiled. He stepped lightly on the snow. It made a satisfying crunch. Lucinda was rolling the snow. Professor Singh was a transfiguration teacher. He could roll it too. But he could also use magic. He wore beautiful robes. Always a well dressed man. He took out his elm wand. Professor Singh took a moment. He was thinking. Picturing what he wanted.

"Nive verto statua." He pointed his wand at a patch of snow. He waved it in a circle. It lifted in a spiral. Like snow smoke. It was as tall as Lucinda's. Then the mist formed a shape. It looked vaguely human. "Ahmph." Close but not exactly what he had wanted. He had not performed this spell in a long time. He crouched down. He used his wand to carve the snow. A wizard beard. Robes.

"What is your army fighting?" He turned around to ask Lucinda.

She thought about the question for a moment, then she gave a small shrug. "They don't really have something to fight, just I figured alot of them would be like an army, wouldn't they?" She said gently, if anything it just sounded cool to say she built an army of snowmen, although there wasn't really enough snow to create more then a dozen. But a section of snowmen didn't sound too good either. Unless they're paratroopers but she didn't have any parachutes. She was pretty sure that most wix's didn't even know what a parachute was.

Lucinda pulled a carrot from her bag and looked at the snowwoman she made, supposing if anyone was to be leader it was to be her, she approached it and started wedging the carrot into the face to be its nose.

With a look over the rest of the snowwoman she decided it could do with some refining also so she started to smooth down areas. "How has your holiday been?" She asked gently.

"A crowd. Perhaps." Professor Singh suggested. It was less war-like. Lucinda's vocabulary used many aggressive adjectives. He did not ever say he noticed. He observed and guided.

"Peaceful." Professor Singh gently breathed out. His breath formed clouds. "Time to meditate and study. To spend time with my Gryffindors outside the classroom. Best of all: make snow people." He brushed snow off his beard. "I have not tried this in several winters." He smiled behind his long black beard.

"How have you spent the holidays so far?" He asked Lucinda.

She looked over her forces. Not having the best of time at trying to stay peaceful, not very good at controlling herself too well and especially her more wolfish elements. She doubted she ever would either, the best she's managed is to not freak out when in the great hall and people are talking. Everyone was so loud she felt like she would go deaf.

She was glad atleast one professor remained, and it wasn't Ignan, she didn't feel like having the cruciatus curse on her for misspelling a spell. Especially over christmas. Its not her fault spells have such stupid names is it? How are you meant to hear someone, especially a hundred year old by her estimations. Use the spell Peskipiksi Pesternomi and not burst out laughing?

She still wasn't sure it was an actual spell.

Her hands working on refining her giant balls of snow sculpture with carrot and stones to make features. Happy that atleast someone was enjoying their holiday. "Oh yes, locked in a giant castle like a fairytale character, nothing to do to keep myself sane except studying and work. Its all been very fun." She tried not to sound too bitter and sarcastic, but she didn't actually attempt to hide it.

Lucinda did not politely reply. She was sarcastic. Professor Singh did hope she would not be rude. It was not his fault she had elected to stay at Hogwarts. Or been made to by her parents. Ravindar did not rise to the argument. It did no good.
"You have not found the company of other students enjoyable in the absence of lessons?" He calmly asked. "I am sorry to hear you are lonely." He sympathized genuinely. Ravindar often traveled alone. His faith kept him strong. "I see why you have chosen to make a crowd." He looked at Lucinda. "But you can be alone even in a crowd. Or an army."

"Atleast in a large group, you can pretend you aren't lonely." She sighed softly as she finished her adjustments. Her hands moving to brush snow off and warm herself up. It was always cold and wet here, or atleast it always seemed to. Perhaps she simply didn't remember when it was sunny as it usually is and she only remembers the rain. Or perhaps her memory wasn't as good as she remembered.

"And no, not really able to hang out with people, I sort of keep hearing and smelling everything and everyone thinks I'm a weirdo. So they don't want to be near me." She started work on another snowball, wanting to build another snowperson, what it would turn into she didn't know. It could turn into a centaur, although her skills aren't that good to keep the snow compact.

She needed an out, she couldn't stand to be here all the time, even if the castle was a home, sometimes you needed to go out of your home. She never really imagined you could feel trapped in a massive castle and acres upon acres of land.

Or atleast she needed to hold out until the others come back, atleast that brought changes. Speaking of which.

"Greer, she's the werewolf in the papers right? Whats going to happen with her once back?"

"I cannot say" said Professor Singh. "But if she returns to Hogwarts she will be welcomed back. To Gryffindor." He and Professor Greyfriar would make arrangements. Her questions influenced his second snow person. A slight girl with curls. What he remembered of the missing Gryffindor. She was not named in the Prophet newspaper. But every student at Hogwarts could guess. "Why? Do you more mean 'what will happen' when you, Greer and Professor Greyfriar need to leave the castle to go to the Ministry?" asked Professor Singh.

That wasn't a pleasant thought. The three of them going to the ministry together. She didn't really want to see anyone in the morning, let alone people she'd have to talk to again. Or someone so close as in the same house. "That isn't happening. He's got some fancy lair built, that I'm not allowed to have anything similar despite you know. I won't have to be forced hundreds of miles away."

With a thwump, she accidentally crushed the ball she was creating. "No I'm just herded like a beast into a cage." With a flick she tossed her snow away and started work again. "Would be better if they treated like a beast and finished it."  Was muttered under her breath.

"Atleast she should be in good hands." She said in a tone that showed, only the slightest bit of annoyance.

"It is safer for you all in London." assured Ravindar. "They have all the resources to look after you."

He let Lucinda grumble. She had a right to her opinion. Being a teenager was hard enough. Being a werewolf too was harder. He would be patient. There was no help being angry. Or telling her to suck it up. He was her head of house. Fair but kind.

"If not London." Ravindar asked. "Where would you prefer to be at full moon?"

Where would she prefer? Somewhere closer to the school, somewhere that when she transported she wouldn't be throwing up. Floo and Apparition was sickening and she honestly didn't understand why anyone would prefer it over broom rides or muggle transport. Muggle transport was surprisingly good...when the trains worked. They weren't the Hogwarts Express. Could always let her use the Knightbus aswell.

"I could get a nice holiday cabin. Or I could use the Shrieking Shack. I have permission to go into Hogsmeade and I won't mind all the ghosts if I'm a werewolf will I?"

What were the ghosts going to do? They were ghosts, make her cold or something? Its not like the Hogwarts ghosts even liked them. She remembered Sir Nicholas saying they're very rowdy and a horrible lot at one point.