บท 72: A swim and a heart attack

Nick turned in after restocking his store of sweets hopeful about finally getting back in the habit of making rings almost everyday. Unfortunately he failed to consider that not everyone wakes up at dawn on their free days and immediately gets productive. It was only when he sat in the common room for an entire time waiting that this dawned on him. 'I guess there is no reason to get ahead of myself here , they'll bring it to me when you can.' Nick thought before heading to breakfast. It was as usual a simple meal with large amounts of nutrients to support his growth.-

Once he was done he headed out of the castle alone towards the black lake for a bit of exercise in the form of swimming. It was no secret that the waters of Scottish waters like the lake never get truly warm but that was what made them so good for exercising in. The exertion on the muscles plus the cold promoted blood circulation in the body making exercise more fruitful. Nick didn't need a set of swimming shorts since he could merely transfigure his robe into a wetsuit.-

As a bonus the wetsuit also made sure that he never got too cold while in the water by helping to trap his body heat inside him. It would be an understatement to say that he drew quite a bit of attention in the next two hours swimming and diving in the lake. The best part in his opinion was when he found the underwater viewing window that was in the Slytherin common room and got stared at in stupefaction by the people just hanging out there. Even funnier was that amongst those people were Daphne and Tracy who didn't really plan to go anywhere today.-

"Why is it always him doing crazy things?" Tracy asked with a frustrated sigh after seeing Nick waving at them from outside the viewing window. Daphne shrugged "He is how he is." she said calmly. "Yeah , I hope the giant squid teaches him a lesson for showing off all the time though." Tracy said with a laugh only to freeze when said squid actually showed up behind Nick. 'there's something behind me isn't there?' he thought seeing the girl pointing and shouting at the glass. He cocked his head to look and stiffened at what he saw. 'Yup that'll do it alright.' he thought once his mind stopped short circuiting from instinctual terror.-

There about two feet away from him was a yellow eye twice as big around as he was tall attached to a dull grey body that he couldn't see the end of in the murky waters. 'Theory confirmed , Kraken it is then.' he thought while constantly reminding himself that this particular creature was friendly and not trying to decide if he would taste good. Nick smiled at the creature before pointing up and slowly swimming towards the surface while keeping an eye on it , as pointless as that was.-

Nick didn't know why but he could somehow tell from the eye watching him that the creature was amused at his antics. He got to the surface and immediately took a few deep breaths to calm himself and try to convince himself that he hadn't nearly shit himself at the creatures surprise appearance. Anyone who says that they wouldn't have been briefly terrified at suddenly meeting the legendary beast is either deranged or lying in Nick's opinion. 'Time to leave , I think that's enough time in the lake today.' he thought as he decisively swam to the shore.-

By the time he actually got to that point the two Slytherin girls were waiting there already. "Do you wake up in the morning , stretch and then decide to do stuff that defies common sense or does it just come naturally?" Tracy asked jokingly. Nick chuckled as he dried off still in the wet suit putting his lithe figure on display. He wasn't ripped or anything like that but he did have enough muscle definition that it was clear he was no slouch when you could actually see his body.-

Once dried he removed the transfiguration on his robes returning them to normal much to the two girls jealousy. "Ugh! Just rub in how much better than us you are why don't you!" Tracy said with a huff. "As it just so happens i do indeed have a spell for that." Nick joked making the girl grit her teeth angrily. "If you are quite done with your childish drivel I would like a word with Mr. Iron." a nasally voice spoke up from nearby. All three of the students stiffened and looked over to see one Severus Snape standing there with a not so pleased look on his face , so the usual.

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