Carter Morsely was on a Quest. A very kind a generous fifth year had given Carter a real honest treasure map of the school grounds. Being the landlocked pirate captain that he was, it was an opportunity Carter couldn't pass up.

There was just one tiny little problem. While he had an excellent knowledge of ocean maps for an eleven year old, when it came to reading something that was depicting land, Carter got a little turned around. He was out of his element. He needed a guide. Someone that knew the lay of the land. And what the land looked like and how to find their way around it.

He was currently without his first mate, although he was keeping an eye out for his twin. But he had someone else in mind for the whole direction business. He had heard Mairead, one of the Gryffindor first years was one of those travelling folks. They were almost like land pirates, right? If that's the case, then maybe she knew how to read maps or had hunted for buried treasure before. It was worth an ask, right?

After running around the castle floors, running out of breath, and replenishing his energy with one of those muggle fizzy drinks he'd brought with him, Carter finally found the land pirate.

"MAIREAD!" Carter yelled running up to her. He had been running so much that by the time he reached her he was out of breath and had to wait a full five seconds before he could finish his sentence.

"You wanna go find treasure," Carter asked, holding out the map for her to see.

That meeting with their Head of House had been boring.  It had been just about as boring as the countless similar lectures her own mother had given her.  Behave.  Don't do anything fun.  Act like a zombie.  Mairead could have recite Levartian's whole lecture for her in her sleep! 

And, chances were, even that would have violated the whole behave notion. 

The meeting couldn't have been finished for more than a minute by the time Mairead had made it through the portrait hole and back out into the castle.  Her mind had to be cleansed of all the grown up talk.  Investigating what munchies the house elves might have in the kitchens was a good way to start. 

Mairead had just turned the corner to the corridor by the kitchens when she heard her name from behind her.  She turned towards the Hufflepuff and arched her eyebrows at the heavy breathing. 

"Treasure?"  It was a difficult question.  Treasure?  Food?  Treasure?  Food?  "What kind of treasure?"  More importantly, was it more valuable than pudding?  "Why did ye lose it?  I wouldn't-"   The map was offered out to her and she took it, surveying the squiggles, lines and dots with the careful attention they deserved. 

"Yer in over yer head, aren't ye?" she asked, sounding appropriately self-important.

What kind of treasure? Treasure Treasure. The treasure that was worth burying, making a map for, hunting down and digging up. The best kind of treasure the the world. That kind of treasure. Pirate Treasure.

He didn't loose it he had to FIND it. Davy Jone's locker, he had to take this kid to pirate school. Thankfully, the map in the face was helping a little bit. Carter always found that visual direction was a lot more helpful than words on a page. Since he heard the Gryffindor wasn't the best with reading, he figured she was probably the same way. But he didn't need a reader. He needed an explorer.

"That's why I went looking for you," Carter told the girl in a rush. "I'm not the best at map reading and I heard you travel lots of places so I figured you might be able to help, even though you're not a pirate. I mean if you wanted to be one, you can be in my crew. But you'll help me, right? And we can split what we find. Fifty-fifty."

He gave the girl his best wide-eyed pleasing stare that only worked for puppies and babies (but apparently no one told Carter he was neither). He hadn't perfected his pirate scowl yet.

Without looking up from the map, (and coincidentally missing the wide-eyed plea) Mairead muttered quietly, "we need provisions."

There.  The food versus treasure dilemma was solved.  They could do both.  And, if Captain Carter had a problem with that, he could always cast off his ship and go searching for the treasure on his own.  Except, of course, he couldn't.  He was landlocked and had trouble with land maps which meant they were getting provisions. 

"Especially if ye've got no idea how long it'll take, we need provisions," she said, matter of factly as she reached out and tickled the pear.  "Winter's not really over - we might get snowed in some place and, with only two of us, we wouldn't last as long as the Donners." 

It was true.  Mairead knew very little about pirates. But, it wasn't pirate knowledge he was looking for from her anyway; he had enough of it himself.  "We're goin' travelin' and need provisions," she told the nearest house elf who promptly scurried off. 

"Looks like we start in the library," she said, pointing to the sketch of a pretty looking bloke and a book.  That was the downside to school; so far, her adventures all seemed to be involving books.  "It looks like ... does that look like a winged horse?"  She held out the page as the house elf reappeared with a small bundle of meat pies and sweets.