What a glorious, sunshiny, fall day. The air was a bit cool and crisp, but the sun provided a nice warmth, making the day perfect even though it should have been freezing by this time. Acelynn wasn't going to complain though. No sir indeed. The teen was going to take the good weather and run with it. And run she did.

From the basements and through the various corridors, slowing to a swift walk through the entrance hall just in case a professor was wandering through, and then out to great oak doors and into the fresh air. The Hufflepuff stood on the stone steps for a moment basking in the weather, tossing her trusty soccer ball down the stairs and letting it roll off to wherever it decided to stop.

The red head pulled a stick of gum from her pocket and slid it into her mouth, her teeth going to work on it has she jogged down the stone steps and after her ball. Acelynn loved the outdoors, and one could find her outside more often than not after being cooped up in classes all day long. Terrible they were, but she had long ago given up trying to convince the professors to have classes outside on days like this.

It wasn't long before the teen was kicking her ball over by the lake, where the giant squid had weighed anchor in the shallow water by the shore. Ace couldn't have found a better playmate if she had tried. Not ten minutes later the red head was kicking her ball at the squid, who would take the time to nudge it back to her with one of it's many tentacles. Her pant legs were pretty soaked by the time a laugh from not too far away reached her ears as she sent the ball spinning back through the air at the squid with a forceful kick, watching as it bounced right on it head. Or body. Whatever.

"SCORE!!" Ace yelled triumphantly, doing a fist pump as she turned to the newcomer and popped her gum. "Come to have ya a go at the aqua wonder? Likes to play soccer that one. Has more'n enough legs for it if ya ask me." The teen commented humorously, flashing a friendly grin.

It was one of those days that had Ginny wandering around Gryffindor Tower with raw energy coursing through her veins and nowhere for it to go. So far she’d managed to snap a quill, sit on Crookshanks, which only made Hermione lecture her about how she could have killed the idiot cat, kicked over a waste bin full of rubbish essays, and even poked the fire too hard and covered herself with ash, making her sneeze for a good ten minutes before she could breathe normal again.

Her whole house seemed irritated with her, so the redhead took her leave of them, shoving her wand and her hands inside the large pouch of her Cannons hoodie that Ron had grudgingly passed on to her last fall when he’d becoming simply too lanky to wear it any longer. It was still nice and big on her, so she wore it over a pair of black leggings, quidditch boots covering her feet and shins. This way, she could always fly off some of the energy… Or at least she’d have her toes protected if she managed to kick anything bigger than another bin.

The girl bounced down the staircases and through the castle, deciding to braid her hair in one long plait along the way to the outdoors. Ginny waved to Peeves as she passed him, giggling when she noticed he was trying to tie Mrs. Norris’s tail in a knot, then made her way out the heavy oak doors and onto the lawns. Maybe she should have tried annoying Riley with her pent up hyperness… But then, she didn’t want to annoy him away from her, and this was definitely one of those moods that could drive people away. She sighed and started skipping toward the lake where she heard some commotion going on.

As soon as she saw the redhead and the soccer ball, Ginny knew exactly who she had come upon, and a grin broke across her face. Oh, she enjoyed her some McGregor sisters! Ginny quickly looked around in search of either of the other girls, but came up short. Seemed only Ace was around today, but that suited her just fine. With Ace, she was most likely to have the most fun while doing the least damage. It was a win-win. Aubrey was hit or miss as far as fun was concerned and Me… well, there was a reason Gin had given up on ever using ‘Aim’ when referring or talking to the girl.

The youngest Weasley let out a great laugh as she watched the squid whack the ball at them with its tentacle, and she ran up past the Hufflepuff, jumping into the air to give the ball a mighty kick toward the large creature. ”I’ve found he’s pretty good with balls,” she commented with a snort. ”I don’t know about the dirty way that came out, mind, but I have practiced my passes with the quaffle a good few times with him. He’s pretty good for flying company, too, since you can fly over the lake and he can propel through the water. It’s really something to get him to jump out of the water and into the air.” She grinned as the ball started back toward them, motioning for the Puff to take aim and let loose.

Acelynn watched the Gryffindor deliver a flying kick to the ball, letting out a low whistle as she watched it sail back towards the squid. "Ya got a good leg there Gin. Ya ever think about giving soccer a go? Or is it just the Quidditch for ya then?" The Hufflepuff both complimented and questioned the other red head with an ease that most old friends could manage. She may be a year ahead of the Gryffindor, but Ace knew Ginny from years of having the typical fun together.

Alright so maybe it wasn't typical fun. But the younger girl was generally one of the people who joined her for soccer in the corridors. And for ghost ball. And obviously, squid ball. So basically anything that involved a ball. Or any kind of fun really. Ginny was always game for. Which was a relief, seeing as most people tended to run the opposite direction when Ace was around. The teen still hadn't quite figured out if it was because she was mistaken for either of her sisters, or if it had something to do with the catastrophes that she tended to cause.

Either way, the Hufflepuff was glad for the company, and the friend, and grinned as she popped her gum again. "Ya don't say? Flying eh? I'll have to give that a try. Don't go tellin Me though. She might take to him with her bat. Don't wanna come out here and find him inking everywhere." She considered that for a moment, chewing on her gum as she looked unsure. "It is squids that ink right? Or is that the octopus? They both seem a lot alike if ya ask me. Got all them tentacles.."

Ace flopped her arms loosely at her sides, in what was apparently supposed to be some kind of rendition of squid arms or octopus tentacles. The effect of this was only made more humorous by the lopsided grin splitting her face, and because her attention was elsewhere, she didn't see the ball sailing back at her until..WHAM! The Hufflepuff took the ball straight to the side of the head. "Bloody sacs and balls!!" She cursed, hand going to her head to rub at the now tended spot, and whipping around to let loose a string of curses at the giant squid for good measure.

Not satisfied with that, Acelynn, took up her wand. Well, she tried to. But couldn't remember where she had stuck the stick at. She began patting herself down, trying to feel for it. "Bloody squids and sticks..where did I put that thing? There's really only so many places a girl can hide it, ya know?" She grumbled to her friend, only to find her wand in her pant leg. "Ya seem to like it there lately." The red head mumbled at her wand, still rubbing her head with her other hand.

She grinned at her friend then, winking secretively. "Been working on a new charm lately. Ya wanna see?" The sixth year didn't wait for a response, but instead waved her wand with a flourish, muttering the incantation smoothly. Ace had always been brilliant with charms, and this one created a geyser out of the water right under the squid, which had him shooting up into the air. "Bet ya ain't never seen him get that high in the sky eh?"

”Never tried soccer. I saw some of Dean’s posters before, but I never really took much interest in the actual sport. Kicking the ball around is fun enough though, I suppose. Don’t think I’d be too good at team sports that have real rules. I mean, quidditch doesn’t have too many of those!” She grinned happily as she listened to the older girl talk about how she had a good idea there but not to let the Gryffindor Beater from the same family know about it. Gin had to agree with her there. That redhead was a bit too crazy sometimes.

Her head was tilted in thought as the youngest Weasley pondered the question about ink and tentacles. ”Um… I think they both have ink, don’t they? That’s what I always assumed at least. Only things I know for sure what’s inside of ‘em are the things mum cooks and makes me help with, and she’s never done squid or octopus. Now, a chicken definitely does not have ink. It does have disturbing inner organs that look like some strange bean type of things. I think those are the kidneys? Maybe? Oh! Are you alright?!”

She’d been so lost in her thought of the time she’d had to help pluck and gut a chicken that Ginny hadn’t even noticed when the ball flew back to whack the Hufflepuff. Luckily, she seemed fine if a bit sore, and so Ginny simply shook her head and laughed with a good-natured grin. ”Careful. He likes to give back what he gets, that squid. I wonder if he has a name. Maybe something fancy. Regal, like. Humperdink or something of the sort you think? I mean, he does rule the lake after all.”

It was strange to watch the girl searching her body for her own wand, as Ginny made it a habit to always know where her own was, but when she found it, the younger redhead couldn’t help but smile and tilt her head slightly as she fetched the soccer ball and started bouncing it on her knees. She wasn’t sure what kind of show she was in for, but it seemed too difficult a task to try and stay still, so she took to dribbling the ball as best she could. Ginny probably really would have been decent at soccer if she had any interest. Mostly she just liked to mess with the soccer ball that this Hufflepuff always seemed to have with her.

”Hey, that’s a pretty good one! I’m better with hexes myself. Mostly practice on Slytherins who deserve those ones though. Do you think Humperdink is enjoying the ride? He seems happy enough up there to me…” Her head was tilted nearly to a ninety degree angle as she looked up at the squid. She wasn’t sure exactly how one could tell if such a creature was happy, but somehow he just seemed it to her. Something in Ginny’s gut told her the beast would like daring things like that. ”So, how do you get him down?” She asked with slight concern in the edge of her voice. She was rather fond of the squid after all. It would be a shame if he was trapped up there.

"Aye. 'Spose I can see ya point there. Too many rules takes the fun outa things. Besides, can't really worry about breaking them if they don't exist eh?" Acelynn replied with a grin to the other red head, in agreement for the most part. The Hufflepuff was ok with some rules. Couldn't really have a proper game without them now could you? But too many was just a drag and no fun at all. Unfortunately, a lot of life came with a lot of rules, and Ace constantly found herself breaking them often enough without even meaning to usually. Ah well. Shite happened.

"Chickens eh? Well can't say I'm not glad they don't ink. Can't really say why, but the idea of a chicken inking all over ya doesn't send a very pretty picture. Makes ya wonder if the meat would be black if they did though." The teen replied humorously, her thoughts on the matter so off the wall it made even her laugh. Ace honestly had no idea where such crazy thoughts came from. They just popped up out of no where and then came out of her mouth. "All good over here. No blood atleast, that's gotta be a good sign. Think he's trying to give me a concussion for some reason." The red head ended in a mutter, hand still rubbing at her aching head even as she grinned like loon.

She looked at her friend rather oddly, blinking. "Humperdink?" Well, there was one you didn't hear every day. Ace turned her gaze to the giant squid in the air, tilting her head as if considering it. Humperdink? "'Spose he does deserve a name eh? Oi!! Squiddy!! What ya say to the name Humperdink?!" She yelled up to the squid, apparently thinking it was a good idea to his opinion on the matter. Not that she knew he was a he. Could've been a female for all she knew. Was there even a difference with squids? Ace had no clue. Wasn't sure she really wanted one either.

"Ya, I've been around for some of your wandwork. Not bad at all. Hexes are all and well. Not much of a fighter, me. Prefer to have fun. Them snakes and me, we've got an understanding. I stay out of their way, they stay out of mine. Works well enough for me. Pretty sure Aim fights enough for the both of us anyways." She admitted easily, with a shrug, though her grin was still as big as ever. Ace liked having fun much too much to ever spend much time on fighting. And it was true enough. Her Gryffindor sister probably did fight enough for the both of them. Not to say the Hufflepuff couldn't defend herself. She just preferred not to have to.

"Erm.." Acelynn have a sheepish grin, looking up at the squid sideways. "Not exactly sure at the moment. Hadn't thought that far ahead just yet. Think levitation will work?"

Thinking about chickens spouting ink made Ginny a bit queasy, so she pushed that out of her mind as quickly as possible and focused instead on the rest of the situation that was going on. Well, they’d managed to name the squid, so that was some sort of progress, right? Of course, they didn’t seem so sure that the name was proper or that the squid actually would like it, since there was no real way of telling as far as she knew, and the squid was also rather far away at the moment.

Then there was the idea concerning the Gryffindor of the McGregor pack, which made the Weasley redhead laugh. ”I’m pretty sure Aimee does enough fighting for about ten people, honestly. Comes in handy on the pitch, but sometimes… well, you know. She kinda gets in over her head. I can’t say much, though, since I do the same thing.” Ginny rubbed the back of her head in a guilty fashion, but grinned all the same. She wasn’t ashamed of her tendency to get in over her head, really. Unless she ended up wounding her pride.

”You mean you don’t know how to get him down? Oh, poor Humperdink!” the redhead felt horrible for the poor squid, since she’d grown rather fond of him, really. She worried that they might end up hurting him if they tried something without really thinking it through. ”What if he gets hurt, though? I mean, if we try levitation and he’s too… you know… large for it to work…” She imagined the beast flying down to the lake’s surface and smacking into the water like a bad belly flop. Ouch. She didn’t want it to be hurt…

Ginny tilted her head at the other redhead, trying to figure out how they might undo the spell that had been done. ”Do you think a finite incantatem would work? Or um… maybe you could come up with some sort of counter-spell on the fly? It’s just… I really don’t want to kill the giant squid. He’s one of the most enjoyable creatures at this castle, after all. I don’t fancy having to play games with Mrs. Norris or try and get Mione’s cat to stop hating me instead.”

So, maybe her reasoning was mostly selfish, but she did worry about the squid. He was pretty cool, really. Plus, her mum would definitely send a howler if she managed to help kill off one of the key mascots of the school. That would just not be cool at all. They simply had to rescue Humperdink! Ginny just wasn’t sure exactly how.

Acelynn found herself laughing at the Gryffindor's words on her sister Aimee. "Aye. She does that. Bit of a trait of the trade for you Gryffies I think." She replied with good humor and a shrug. Sure, Me did tend to get in over her head, but when she did Ace and Aubrey were always there to have her back. It was three lane road that one. One for all and all for one. They were real live musketeers. Except without swords. Maybe they should get swords...

It was her time to look a bit guilty and sheepish as it seemed to sink in to the other red head that she hadn't a clue how to get the squid down. Honestly, he looked like he was enjoying the point of view. Poor thing probably didn't see much of the world from in the lake. Ace thought she was giving him a great life experience at the moment. Even if it had started out with her being a bit angry with the squiggly creature. She did suppose she would need to get him down at some point though.

"Erm..well..I 'spose that's a good question ain't it? Don't rightly know if it matters or not how big he is for a levitation to work. Hmm.." Again, the teen's eyes went up to the giant squid who was still currently launched into the air by the geyser of water beneath him. She really needed to figure out how to get him down before a professor spotted her handiwork and she found herself in detention again. Ace really didn't want to let her team down by missing any more practices because of her ridiculousness. Even if it was pretty much unavoidable.

Her own head tilted sideways as she considered Ginny's suggestions, though the Hufflepuff continued to gaze at the squid in the air. It really was pretty good charms work, if she did say so herself. But like her friend, she didn't want to hurt the poor creature. He was a good friend of hers, after all. Sure, he couldn't speak a lick of English, but he was a damn good deal better with a soccer ball than most of the students around Hogwarts. Mainly because he was actually willing to play with her.

Merlin!! Who would she play Aqua-Wonder Ball with if not the Aqua-Wonder himself? No. She could only play that game with the squid, so he had to survive. She supposed she could try finite, but if that just ended the spell that meant there was a good chance he would just fall from however high he was back into the water. That couldn't hurt too much right? At the most he might get a sore bum. Did squids even have a bum? Ace didn't think so, so maybe they would be ok with that option.

Or maybe he would just get a few sore wrists, if tentacles had wrists. Her friend didn't seem to like the idea of Humperdink getting any kind of hurt though, and Acelynn was in full agreement. So she tossed that idea aside and started pacing slowly, head still tilted as she admired her handiwork. Well, she was a damn good witch with charms. She just needed to come up with a counter...or something...maybe not a counter, since that was likely to lead to the same thing finite would.

About a minute had passed when finally the lightbulb in her head went off, and a giant grin split her face. "I got it!! I know the perfect way to get 'ol Humperdiddles down from there!! I'll create a wave for him to ride down!!" Now, Ace probably should have really thought it through, but before she could and before she could be stopped, she was already waving her wand in a complicated fashion, excited to show off her abilities and to see if she could really pull it off of course.

It started out as just rippling in the middle of the lake. Rippling turned to bubbling as she concentrated on what she was trying to accomplish. Ace wasn't used to working on such a large scale you see. If she managed to pull this off the teen would be damn proud of herself. The bubbling turned into choppy waters that created the motion for small waves to begin crashing about and spreading out. The witch flicked her wand in a crazed sort of way, creating gusts of wind to help push the waves back and forth, really just setting up for her real attempt. If she didn't manage to make the wave as big as it needed to be on her own, maybe all this work would help push it a bit.

The red head grinned like a loon at the water show she was creating, and twirled her wand in a circular motion, muttering words as a building began in the middle of the lake and a massive wave started to take shape. Ok. So maybe she should've kept it toned down a bit. At least it was as big as it needed to be? "SCORE!!! It worked Gin!!" Acelynn yelled in triumph, jumping into air with another fist pump and whooping as she watched the wave start to flow and crash, catching the geyser and the squid on it's way.

"Look at that!! Humperdiddles is a natural surfer, ya see?!" She yelled out to her friend of the sound of the giant wave that the squid was surfing on. At least, until she realized that the thing was going to crash right on top of them. That wasn't something she had thought about at all. "Umm..might..wanna..RUN!!" She ended with a yell, turning to try and outrun the massive wave. Looking over her shoulder as she pumped her legs, Ace could see the thing starting to crash and decided to put her hands up over her head when something wrapped around her waist and yanked her into the air.

"AHHH!!!" The teen yelled as she flew through the air and water spray, touching what had ahold of her and felt the almost slimy feel of a tentacle. It seemed the giant squid liked her too. Now she could only hope it liked Ginny too.

The Hufflepuff was calling Humperdink ‘Humperdiddles.’ That was where Ginny’s brain was stuck as she watched with wide eyes while a torrential wave started to carry the damn squid toward the two girls. She had eyes the size of saucers as she looked on in horror, even as her companion yelled for her to run. Of course, Ginny did no such thing. She was utterly mystified by the surfing beast that was coming straight for them.

She barely even made a sound as the squid wrapped a tentacle around her waist and held her easily while it continued the surfing bit across the shore. In fact, Ginny’s face broke into a great smile, especially when the beast set her on its back where she could hold on decently well for the ride. It seemed Humperdink had grabbed her Puffer friend as well, since the squirming girl was soon added to the back of the creature to further enjoy the ride as well.

”Well then. I’m sure glad Humperdink likes us…” she said, finally shaking herself out of the shock and amusement enough to comment, looking over at her waterlogged friend and grinning brightly at her. ”Say, do you think you could use that geyser spell on Snape to force him to wash his hair?” Her laugh was almost musical, which might have been why boys always seemed to look at her with oddly slackened jaws when she did so. She had to wonder just how mad the Defense teacher would get if it was actually done.

Ginny held on lazily as the squid splashed around in the water that had seemed to calm a bit, but still flooded the grounds. She was comfy on the squid’s back, and it wasn’t like there was anything important that needed doing. ”You can’t do it during class though, cause then I’d miss it. Has to be in the Great Hall. Give everyone a good laugh. Maybe I could ask Sky about her spell that made the bubbles… I bet it could work like shampoo…”

Now she was seriously considering this ‘prank’ of sorts. It would definitely land them in a boatload of trouble, but they could have fun with detention together too… The redhead grinned devilishly as the plan formulated in her head. ”So, what do you say, Ace? Wanna give Snapey a bath?”

Acelynn was still yelling like a loon and waving her hands around like one too, even as she grinned big while the tentacle wrapped around her middle had her moving through the air to come to a perch on it's..well..in normal cases she would say back, but it wasn't like squid really had one of them now did they? One kind of needed a spine to have a back, and the Hufflepuff was quite certain that squid didn't have one of those. In fact, she was pretty positive all it had was a lot of wriggly squiggly arms and a big 'ol head. So it only made sense to say she was now standing on the back of the creature's head.

Along with the younger redhead. Ace was thankful for that she was. She would feel terribly terrible if she had managed to drown the other girl. The sixth year patted the squid good-naturedly as the three coaster along on the dying out wave she had created. "Good 'ol Humperdiddles. Quite the gentleman ya are, saving us damsels in distress. Should get ya some kind of cape or soemthin'. We could put S.S. on it, for Super Squid. Hmm...wonder if ya got a favorite color.."

The teen praised and talked to the giant squid as if that were natural. For Ace, it was. And it was almost normal when compared to the many inanimate objects she could have a conversation with. Like her wand. Or her soccer ball. Speaking of which, where had that thing gone anyways? Merlin, she hoped she hadn't lost it again. That was the third one this year so far alone. If she kept it up, her parents would refuse to buy her another and then where would she be? That was just a terrible idea it was, and her eyes quickly faster around for the white and black ball as she nodded to her friend, lopsided grin on her face again now that all the commotion was pretty much over. Hopefully. One never could tell when Ace was around.

"Well course he likes us, ya loon! What's not to like about a pair like us? We probably make his life more fun, and everybody likes fun, even big 'ol squids like Humperdiddles here." Saaaay...ya don't spose he's got some mini Hunperdiddles around do ya? Might be cool to have one at one.." The red head trailed off thoughtfully, looking as if she were seriously considering the idea of having a giant squid around at home and the likes. Maybe she could even stow it in the prefects' bathroom. If she could get Flops to give her the password, that was. Of course, she'd have to explain why exactly she wanted in there. Ace wasn't sure what the older puff would think about her having a pet squid hiding out in his bathtub. She needed to make a mental note to ask him that the next time she saw him.

Her eyes went wide when her Gryffindor friend asked about using the charm in Snapey. She sounded serious too, which didn't seem all too good to Acelynn. While disaster and fun seemed to follow the Hufflepuff wherever she went, it was more natural than anything else. The redhead had never actually gone out of her way to cause the mischief she always seemed to end up in. Could one imagine the kindly shape the world would be in if she did? "Are ya out of your mind?! Ya wanna give Snapey a bath! In the great hall! Ya must be out if your mind. He'd rip us a new one."

Shaking her head in slight disbelief, her gaze continued to roam around looking for her ball, though her mind considered the idea a bit. It wasn't such a bad one really. It wasn't like it would hurt anyone, and she supposed it was more like a public service to everyone than a prank really. But Ace seriously doubt the Slytherin Head of House would see it that way, and he already had a vendetta against..well..everyone. The teen wasn't sure they would survive such a joke, but hey, they were really only trying to help. She returned the other's grin with her own lopsided one.

"Spose 'ol Snapey could use a bath now couldn't he?"