The Pottermore RP

[Shocari]

OOC: Alright, this is the start ^^ NOTE: There is still room for one more if someone wishes to join. I'm not going to be too picky on who it is, but I only ask two things: 1) post a bio in the discussion thread, and 2) Please be a Gryffindor so there is a balance of characters, and I don't want Tailon to be all alone Other than that, have fun ^^

EDIT: Nevermind, RMA has just filled the spot. However, as stated in the discussion thread, you can still express interest in joining, but you will be unable to do so unless someone drops out. You are still free to post a bio.

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BIC:

Ah, the first day of September, a truly glorious day. Not only did it herald summer coming to an end and autumn to soon take over, but it was also a special day for Darius Gray: his departure for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had trekked to King's Cross station from his home, a fairly long journey of a few miles, but it was the best alternative to having his magical parents attempt to drive a Muggle vehicle.

He was standing between Platforms nine and ten in faded jeans and a plain black t-shirt, waiting for the number of Muggles in the area to dwindle significantly. His older sister Eris was with him, wearing a viridian corset with a matching ruffled dress, and heeled knee-high black boots. The saying "black as sin" was usually only a simple simile, but it was almost literal when describing Eris' short, cropped hair.

"You're a fifth year now, Darius. You know what that means? You'll have to take your O.W.L.s at the end of the year." Eris smirked.

"They're just exams that will help me determine my career." was his laidback response.

"Not just any exams though," she said. "They're so difficult you might end up among the students that drop-out or kill themselves because of them." Eris added in a sing-song voice.

Eris was a little to happy about something so potentially detrimental to his mental health, but that was to be expected from her for wanting him dead since he was born. Darius dreaded the day she turned seventeen and was able to perform magic legally outside of school. Nevertheless, he held his head high and waited for the Muggles to disperse.

In order to reach the train that would take them to Hogwarts, they'd have to walk through the enchanted column that stood between the two platforms - but their vanishing would cause confusion among any non-magical being that saw the event.

Once a large number had cleared out, he took his trolley in hand and backed up a little bit, preparing for what was to come next. On the trolley was his trunk and a small traveling cage for his siamese cat, Agamemnon, who looked up at him with his bright blue eyes, almost as if to say "Ready?" With a quick nod in the cat's direction, Darius swept his copper hair to the side in a dramatic fashion before running full-speed at the column, harmlessly passing through it and entering into the magical area Platform nine and three-quarters. Eris followed, her trolley holding her lavishly decorated trunk and ridiculously ornate cage for her black cat, Balberith.

Darius took in the sight of the magnificent scarlet train and breathed in deeply, his mind filled with memories of Hogwarts. Taking his luggage, he boarded the train without Eris, cozying down in an empty compartment. He let Agamemnon out of his cage so he could stretch his legs and relax more, the cat deciding that Darius' legs would be an excellent location to sleep. He gently petted the cream-colored feline, who purred softly in enjoyment. Both of them looked up as the whistle sounded, signalling the eleven o'clock departure from the station.

Not wanting to disturb his sleeping companion, Darius silently cursed himself for not getting a book down before releasing Agamemnon. He pulled his ebony wand from his jeans pocket and whispered "Wingardium Leviosa," bringing his trunk down from the luggage rack silently. He opened it up and pulled out his copy of Intermediate Transfiguration, which he was quite interested in, closed the trunk, and magically placed it back on the rack. He had only gotten half of a page in when the door to his compartment opened.

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OOC: I know it's short D':

Also, since there's like, a ton of different breeds of Siamese cats, this is the one for Agamemnon. Just so you know~ ENJOY THE ELEGANCE :'D

 

[Carmen Lopez]

Rose Devlin sat in the backseat of the car in silence as she took in the scenery. Her parents were singing along to some old song on the radio, while her twin brother Sidney, whom everyone called Sid, was blocking out the world with magazine and his headphones. The music was so loud Rose was surprised he hadn't gone deaf. Hers and her brother's owls sat in their cages in the back of the SUV. Meanwhile, Rose began to feel that usual twinge of excitement in the pit of her stomach as they got closer and closer to Kings Cross. They had been taking this journey for five years now and it never got old for her. Rose and her brother's time in the Muggle world was going to end in a little while as it always did come September.

“So Rose,” said her mother Priscilla who was driving. “You're not going to turn into a nervous wreck once you get on the train, will you? I mean, I know you have your big exams this year, but do try not to freak out too much.”

“I won't, Mother,” Rose said. That may or may not have been a blatant lie. As much as Rose tried not to freak out, it inevitably happened when examination time came round. Once the test actually started, she was always fine having studied properly throughout the year.

“Ah, I remember this time well,” said her father Alistair. “My mother and father had to send my sister some sort of potion to calm her down after she wrote this hysterical letter home. My brother just didn't care...”

Rose laughed. It was interesting to hear her father talk about wizarding life without a trace of bitterness or wistfulness seen in other Squibs. Filch could take a leaf from his book honestly. After a short while, the found themselves at their destination. Sid finally took off his headphones and stowed them under the seat—he wouldn't need them where they were going. Their parents helped them get their trunks and owls (a screech owl for Sid and a tawny one for Rose). Sid took his broomstick and prodded Rose with it.

“Ready to see your precious Ravenclaw team fall to the might of the Gryffindor lions?” he taunted her. "Your keeper can't stop us, and your chasers will never get past our keeper. We're just that awesome."

“I suppose you're entitled to wishful thinking,” Rose said without a trace of a smile. “You're my brother and all but I can't wait to see you get humiliated in the worst way possible. And don't worry, you won't live it down. I won't let you!” She was cool now, but she also knew she'd be screaming her head off during the first Gryffindor-Ravenclaw match.

“That's my girl,” said Alistair as he kissed the top of his daughter's head.

The family said their usual good-byes. Rose vividly remembers the first time they said these good-byes. Their mother had cried as though she were sending her kids off for good. How embarrassing. There were no tears this time though. Just the simple 'don't get in too much trouble,' 'let us know if we need to send something,' and 'try to be a bit nicer this year.' That last one was aimed at Sid who had a certain reputation for being a bit of a bully quite frankly.

He smirked. “I'll be nice as long as the person doesn't make me be rude to them.”

Rose rolled her eyes but said nothing. It wasn't hard to make Sid be rude to a person. All someone had to do was be in his path and the might get shoved aside. Ah, the Gryffindor confidence at work...Once their parents had left, Rose and Sid walked up to the barrier between platforms nine and ten. They were dressed as normal muggles, Rose in her skirt, button-down, boots, and Ravenclaw scarf and Sid in his t-shirt, skinny jeans and sneakers and a jacket, but they still attracted some attention because of what they were carrying.

They both walked purposely up to the barrier and kept going. When they reached the other side, the found themselves staring at the great Hogwarts Express. As usual the place was chaos as wizarding parents got their children together to get on the train. The first years seemed to be super excited as usual. It's hard to believe they were that young and...excitable.

Rose and Sid quickly boarded the train and went their separate ways.

“See you later. Gonna meet with the rest of the team.” Sid called as he nearly knocked over a first year who was trying to find a compartment. “Watch where you're going,” he added roughly.

“Don't mind him,” Rose said to the nervous looking first year. “He can be a bit of a jerk sometimes. Do you have a place to go?”

“Oh uh,,,” he said. He looked slightly more relieved that Rose wasn't as intimidating as she seemed. “Yes, I-I have friends somewhere...”

“Just look around until you find them,” said Rose.

As he walked away, Rose vaguely wondered if she had just spoken to a future Ravenclaw. She kept his sandy hair and blue eyes in mind for the Sorting Ceremony. The whistle signalling departure sounded and was heard throughout the train. Rose herself was looking for someone and hoped she wouldn't have to look for long. It was at times like this that she missed muggle things such as cell phones. She took a chance and opened the first compartment door she came to. Luckily for her, it held the person she was seeking. He was reading a text book while his cat snoozed on his lap. She pulled her trunk and the cage with her owl, named Phantom inside.

“It's good to see you, Darius.” Rose said as she sat down.

 

[Shiny Motley]

“You’ve packed everything already, right, Laura?”

“Yes, dad,” Laura Rufford said as she looked down at her belongings and adjusted the luggage tag on her pet tabby’s, Kira’s, crate. She appeared to be of high-school age, and, to the best of her ability, tried to dress like one. She had on a golden, hooded mini-jacket, a white shirt, black tie, and a yellow and black plaid skirt with black leggings and yellow converse sneakers; her entire outfit advertised her immense pride in her house at Hogwarts. Even her dirty blonde hair hinted at her house due to its color. It was tomboyish in style, but she couldn’t pass for one even if she tried to. She was just too short and too quiet to pull off that boyish attitude she so wanted to have. It really didn’t help that her dad and older brother, both who were standing by here, were around six feet tall.

Ricky, her brother, gave her a friendly nudge. The girl flinched in surprise, but when she looked back, she only saw his unemotional green eyes, so similar to hers, staring back. “We should go now,” he said softly, and for a second Laura wondered why he was being so nice to her. When she looked closely at his gaze, though, she realized that he wasn’t looking at her, but at some point behind her. Of course, he must’ve been looking at her again. He always wanted to make himself seem better than he really was whenever she was around, and tended to do that by treating his little sister as sweetly as he could.

Laura quickly excused herself from the area.

Dragging her luggage cart piled sky high with suitcases, baggage, and other things she needed for school, the girl quickly boarded the train before the whistle could sound. She wouldn’t want to be left behind, especially not with lovey-dovey for company. Usually, Laura would sit with her brother because she was too shy to sit with other people. Occasionally she would have another Quidditch player or classmate in her compartment, but other than that, she would be with just her older brother. Last year, though, he started sending silly gushy love letters nonstop to his girlfriend, and Laura, unable to take their pet names for each other, had chosen to sit by herself.

The whistle finally blew, and she had to send a few red sparks at her brother before he finally realized that it was time to board the train. She purposely avoided looking back as she walked through the now moving vehicle, trying to find a compartment for herself, preferably one that was completely empty.

The first compartment she entered was relatively empty, save for a couple of fifth-years like herself. She didn’t quite recognize either one of their faces, though, and guessed that they weren’t in her house. Purposely avoiding them, she walked by as quickly as she could into the next compartment, which seemed to be empty. Hoping that nobody was hiding in the shadows to pull a prank on some stray passer-bys or something (she remembered that Ricky had told her a story of one of his friends doing exactly that about five years ago), Laura set her things down and, with a careful wave of her wand, managed to put all her belongings away without anything clattering on the ground.

“Meow!”

Okay, she thought too soon. The girl gently picked up her cat’s crate, and lifted the latch so that the creature could come out and recover from the crash. “You okay, Kira?” she asked, stroking the feline’s fur gently. As the cat purred, Laura thought how nice it was for her to have a compartment all to herself.

Then the door opened, and she had to force herself not to pull her hood over her head as somebody else walked into her compartment.

 

[Blazi]

"Damn alarm clocks! Why can't they work for once!" Patrick Tennant shouted, driving the car madly through the traffic. Michael, his son, sighed, and wished he could read in cars without getting the urge to throw up. He wouldn't mind reading his Transfiguration book, or his Potions book, heck, even History of Magic would be better than listening to his dad grumble.

"Patrick, shush. We just got back from Rome, and jetlag would ensure we wouldn't wake up anyway." Sally, Michael's mother, said eyeing him evilly. Sally, the second oldest, most brilliant, and scariest, of the Tennant family. Naturally, Patrick shut up.

"I don't even see why I have to see Michael off. He knows I have lingering respect for him. He doesn't particularly need anything else from me." said Katherine, not looking up from her phone at all. Katherine was Michael's sister. Annoying, but they loved each other, no matter what they called it.

"Nonsense. You're seeing your brother off. It's his fifth year. That means those... OWL exams are on. They're really tough, apparently." Sally retorted, turning and glaring at Katherine.

"I'll be fine, mum. I can take those exams, no sweat. The problem is actually passing them. And look, we're here. On time." Michael said, the last part of his sentence filled with relief. Sally looked as if she was about to reply, but she was cut off by Patrick swearing, rather brutally, at someone who had taken his parking space. "Nice... I'll have to use that one." Michael muttered to himself, grinning at his dad's language.

***

Ten minutes later, and Michael was standing in front of the barrier between Platforms Ten and Nine, alone, and with all his luggage, and an empty bird cage that normally housed an owl on a trolley in front of them. Three, two, one... Go! Michael rushed at the barrier, but instead of crashing and most likely hurting something, he passed straight through. Normally his parents would be coming through, but they were muggles, and decided not to give away Michael's 'dirty' blood, despite the fact he proudly stated the fact in school.

Michael walked to the train and boarded, walking along. There was one carriage that only had a few people, but he moved on, until he found a carriage with only one girl. He opened the door, waved his wand so the luggage flew up onto the rack, and sat down. He noticed the girl's clothing choice, and said, "Hufflepuff huh? I like them. Nicer than Slytherins, and slightly less boastful than Gryffindors. I'm Michael. We might have met before, but I'm afraid I don't know your name. May I ask?"

OoC: Wow long and slightly pointless. But hey, I posted.

 

[Shiny Motley]

The person who came in was none other than a fellow Quidditch player like herself, though from an opposing house. Michael, the Beater of Ravenclaw: he was just slightly shorter than her older brother, and as such, still managed to tower over her by a foot. When he sat down, though, the large height difference went away, and she realized that he didn't recognize her. Perhaps it was her new haircut? Or he just couldn't see her clearly. Either way, he hadn't realized who she was, and she was somewhat glad for it.

"Laura Rufford," she said in a quiet voice, purposefully gazing at Kira as she continued to pet the cat. "We've played against each other before." Laura wasn't too willing to have a conversation with someone from another house, but from what she knew of him, Michael was decent. Plus, he was a Quidditch player like herself, and she was grateful to be sitting next to someone she at least somewhat knew, rather than with a complete stranger.

Still avoiding his eyes, the girl continued petting her cat, gazing out the window as she wondered when they were going to make it to Hogwarts already.

 

[Dwayna DragonFire]

Three figures approached the terminal, all wearing combinations of black, green and silver. The youngest of the group of three pushed a trolley through the crowd, her dark blue eyes set forwards towards their destination. Her long black hair bounced a little as she walked. This was old hat by now, as she was a fifth year, so the screech owl resting on the cart wasn't very noisy.

Violet Vaelos walked towards the barrier to platform nine-and-three-quarters with her parents, their blatant allegiance to the Slytherin house displayed for anyone who was a witch or wizard. To the muggles around them, they were a strange lot, but with so many other people milling about with the same sort of things it was probably seen as a sort of convention. Some of them were far more used to it now, as this happened around the same time every year.

The muggle life was unknown to Violet, as her family was a long line of Slytherins. It was small wonder that she was sorted into the same house, and anyone who knew her family saw it coming. That being said, although her family were Slytherins, they were often admired for being different from most pureblood families in the fact that they didn't look down on other bloodlines. Every witch or wizard has potential, her father Bricius had said. No matter their bloodline or house, that could be a person who becomes famous for their work.

That didn't make her any less of a Slytherin. She strived to be the top of her class, and was very good with Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Dueling. Her wand seemed to pack quite a punch, so she was careful not to try to pick any fights. Her mother Christina would never let her hear the end of it if she got into trouble.

The three of them passed through the barrier together, Violet giving them both a hug before running off towards the train. She pulled everything off of her trolley, effortlessly lifting her suitcase which had charms on it to store everything that she needed for school as well as make it very light. She picked up the cage with her screech owl and stepped into the train, waving one last goodbye to her parents.

Violet already knew the O.W.L.s were coming up, so she would have to do a lot of studying. She was already wearing her uniform, so she didn't have to change when she got onto the train, just find a place to sit down. She found two compartments that weren't already full, one with two people that weren't from her house and another that had at least one. It always pleased her to see a fellow Slytherin, so she politely knocked on the door before opening it.

"So nice to see a fellow Slytherin," she said, searching her memory for a name. "Darius, right? You're in my year, if I'm not mistaken. If you don't mind me joining you and your friend?" Violet didn't wait for much of an answer before putting her things overhead.

She turned to look at the girl that was with him. The blue and bronze in her scarf was a telltale sign that she was a Ravenclaw. The house was most respected for their brilliant minds, but sometimes that made them think that they were better than everyone else. Violet hoped this girl wasn't one of those people, or there would be hell to pay.

"Ravenclaw, huh?" she said, giving the girl a small smile. "A good house, one for the clever of mind." It was an offhand compliment, but she wanted to seem at least somewhat friendly, outstretching her hand in greeting. "My name is Violet Vaelos. I don't believe we've had the pleasure of talking before?"

 

[Blazi]

The girl introduced herself as Laura, and Michael remembered. "Oh yeah! You're Hufflepuff's seeker, right? I couldn't recognise you. A haircut maybe?" Michael said. He paused, and noticed the Laura's averted eyes.

"Am I being annoying? There was a relatively empty compartment back there, I could move, if you want." Michael said, starting to get up just in case. Blood rushed to his face, and he suddenly felt very awkward. "Sorry." he said, grinning sheepishly.

OoC: short, but there wasn't much I could do. Oh well.

 

[Mr.RMA]

"Fifth year for you, right? Big year, though you didn't need me to tell you I'm sure."

The young woman who said this, former Hogwarts student Lynn Troughton, looked over to her younger brother, a boy by the name of Brodie, with an encouraging grin on her face as he stared blankly at the barrier that concealed Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Five years...had it really been that many already? Time was definitely flying by.

"Yeah...guess it is. O.W.L.s are gonna be brutal I bet." He responded, still keeping his eyes forward.

"Ah, don't worry about that. Most of them aren't as difficult as everyone makes them out to be. You'll do just fine."

'Says the former prodigy...' He thought to himself grimly. Though he knew his sister only had the best intentions in her words, she wasn't exactly calming any of his nerves with this talk of the exams being easy. She had been in the Ravenclaw house for a reason, and for that same reason, he currently wasn't.

"In any case, just try not to get all anxious about them so early on. After all, you said you wanted to get your face out there this year, didn't you? Well, now's your chance!" She added, giving him a pat on the shoulder. Brodie just let out a sigh and shook his head.

"I don't know...I have a feeling it's just gonna be another year as the 'other Troughton'."

"Oh, don't give me that! You're not just the other Troughton, you're Brodie Troughton, seeker for the noble Gryffindor Quidditch team! And a fine student at that, when you actually decide to study of course. Really, you could be much more popular, if you just acted a bit more socially."

"I know, I know..."

"Yes, and I know you know, but I also know you haven't done anything about it. Come on, Brodie. We both know you're capable of doing much more than you claim you can. You've always underestimated yourself. You've got to go beyond that if you want to succeed."

Brodie finally cast a glance at his sister after she said this.

"You're right...though that's no surprise, is it?"

She let out a laugh at this. "I've been wrong plenty of times before, you know that, though I'd very much appreciate it if you go off and prove me right this time."

"I'll see what I can do." Brodie said in response, a small smile forming on his face as he grabbed his trolley, holding his trunk of supplies and the cage of his screech owl, Hypnos (an ironic name, as it would imply a quieter nature than the creature provided), and started towards the entrance. "Guess I'll be seeing you later then." He called back before disappearing from view, hearing Lynn's last words of "Good luck" before appearing at the busy platform full of wizards and witches.

Brodie calmly boarded the large train with his supplies, looking around for a compartment still available. He reached to open the door leading to one before he heard the sound of a conversation from within. He hesitated at this and planned to turn away, but stopped himself, remembering Lynn's advice on acting more socially. He took a deep breath before opening the door and walking into the compartment, only to realize he had walked in on a rather awkward pause in the chat between the two students already inside, a Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw by the looks of it, and both very familiar ones at that. It was hardly surprising that he recognized the two, both being Quidditch players themselves, and one being a fellow seeker at that, but familiar figures aside, that didn't get rid of any of the awkwardness emanating from this scene.

Unsure of what to do, Brodie stood quietly for a moment, before finally attempting to break the unsettling silence.

"Uh...I apologize if I'm intruding upon anything here. Just looking for an open compartment. They're filling up pretty fast, but I'm sure I can find another somewhere if I'd be too much of a bother to you guys." He murmured, not moving from his spot at the door until he knew whether he was welcome or not.

 

[Dinova]

"You're sure you have everything? Your wand and books, everything?"

"Yes Mother, I'm sure nothing has disappeared since you checked ten minutes ago." Alan Mourve sighed, his mother checking his things over for the fifth time. She always got like this when he was about to head out for Hogwarts. Even in his fifth year she was just as clingy and fussy as ever. She had straightened his brown aviator jacket over his "Weird Sisters" T-shirt yet again. As she tried to smooth out his chaotic hair once more, Alan shot a desperate look to his father.

"Now Marigold stop fussing over the boy. His things aren't going to get up and walk away." Alan's father said, putting his hand on his wife's shoulder. As she finally began to leave Alan alone, Alan's father cast a sideways glance at the trolley carrying Alan's trunk, "They can't get up and walk away, can they?" he asked his wife quietly. Alan snickered abit at his father's usual reaction to anything remotely related to magic. Sometimes his muggle father just asked the silliest questions.

With his mother's maternal assault over, he wheeled his trolley, with his trunk and his snoozing screech owl Terra, around to face the barrier between platforms nine and ten. With a visible grin on his face, he ran at the barrier. But instead of colliding and having a healthy breakfast of brick, he harmlessly passed through emerging on Platform 9 3/4. The Hogwarts proudly sat on the tracks billowing steam, waiting to take another group of students back to the magical school. Looking fondly at the scarlet engine, he hurried to board the train.

Once Alan had entered the train, he began searching for a compartment that wasn't full. He noticed one compartment was open. A boy was standing in the door with two more students siting in the compartment; all three were rather silent. Alan recognized the girl in yellow as Laura Rufford, a fellow Hufflepuff and an acquaintance. Alan waved to her from outside and happily greeted her, completely oblivious of the awkward silence, "Hello, Laura! Have a good summer?" Alan suddenly became aware that he had completely ignored the other two and decided to introduce himself. "Oh, hello there. My name is Alan, Alan Mourve. Nice to meet you both."

((OOC:Finally found some time to post! Sorry, late-ish post is late...ish))

 

[Shiny Motley]

"No, you can stay, Michael," Laura replied, her voice shaking a little as she spoke. She really didn't like coming off as antisocial, and hated it when she made people feel awkward. Where was that preppy Quidditch girl personality she wore around her fans and during games when she needed it? Running a few fingers through her short hair, she continued, "Yeah, got it cut last-"

The door suddenly opened again, and Laura glanced up just in time to see another Quidditch player, her tall Gryffindor counterpart, stepping in. He, too, began to feel the permeating unease surrounding her and Michael, and looked rather uncomfortable in the silence. "It's cool, you can si with us! I'm... we're okay with that, right?" she said, eyeing Michael's general direction and forcing herself to smile. She was about to make some comment on one of last year's Quidditch matches when another familiar figure burst into the room, dramatically announcing his arrival for everyone in the compartment to hear.

Alan, oh, dear Alan, always the one least able to read the atmosphere. Laura was glad for his intrusion, if only for the reprise from the earlier awkwardness bewteen her, Michael, and now Brodie. As full as the room was getting, she was glad to be sitting with people she knew rather than by herslf or, worse, with complete and utter strangers. However, four was quite enough for here, and any more would've made her possibly consider moving to another compartment.

Feeling obliged to introduce the boys to each other, Laura said, "Hey, Alan, glad you didn't miss the train. This is Michael of Ravenclaw and Brodie of Gryffindor, both fifth years like us and Qudditch players like myself." She motioned towards each person in turn, and added, "Brodie's the one who snatched the snitch away from my grasp last year. He might not look it, but he's one of the best Seekers I've ever faced." Her competetive side began showing at this point, and Laura somehow gained enough confidence to nudge the large guy playfully before realizing what had just happened. Embarrassd, Laura walked back to her seat and sat back down, not even remembering when she had gotten up in the first place.

Carefully stowing Kira back into her crate, Laura realized that she was the only one in the compartment who knew everyone else there, and felt, again, that it was her duty to help her friends get to know each other. "So, um, by brother reminded me that we have to take the O.W.L.s starting this year, and I'm kind of worried about not passing them," she managed to stammer out, quickly reverting back to her quiet and shy persona. She found herself chewing on her lip, and felt her palms sweating so much she had to wipe them against her skirt. Hopefully she could get everyone talking, at leat for a few minutes before they reached Hogwarts?

 

[Tailon]

Steam billowed past the windows, then rose into the sky as the mighty locomotive left the station, transporting hundreds of young witches and wizards to Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

An older boy, heading into his fifth year, stomped through the train, a large trunk hovering behind him, an owl in his cage on top. He wore the uniform school robes, lined in the crimson of a Gryffindor, and held a long wand made of cedar, waving it every few steps, causing the trunk to follow him.

He came upon a compartment with a boy and two girls about his age sitting inside. He waved his wand once more as he stepped inside, dropping the trunk on a seat. Raising his wand to point at the boy, he bellowed, "DARIUS GRAY," and slammed the door behind him, "It's good to see you again, how was your summer?"

Garrick Alder waved his wand again, muttering, "Wingardium Leviosa," then steering it up onto the rack, leaving his owl on the seat next to him as he sat down.

 

[Shocari]

"It's good to see you, Darius." said the girl that walked in. As she sat down opposite himself, Darius noticed the bronze and blue scarf she was wearing - a Ravenclaw. There weren't too many people outside of Slytherin that called or even knew Darius by name, so she had to be...

"Nice to see you too, Rose." he replied, cracking a smile. Rose was one of the few good friends Darius had, Slytherin or not. "How did your summer holiday go?" Perfectly timed to the end of his question, another girl walked in, already in her school robes. It didn't take any accessories of hers for Darius to recognize her: she was Violet, a fellow Slytherin.

"So nice to see a fellow Slytherin. Darius, right? You're in my year, if I'm not mistaken. If you don't mind me joining you and your friend?" she asked politely, placing her things in the luggage rack.

To Rose, she said, "Ravenclaw, huh? A good house, one for the clever of mind." She extended her hand. "My name is Violet Vaelos. I don't believe we've had the pleasure of talking before?"

Darius gave a silent sigh of relief at the tone of her voice. She probably wouldn't berate him for being nice to other houses, which meant he got to keep his sanity for a little while longer.

If Rose responded to Violet, Darius didn't hear it as the compartment door opened once more, and was closed a little forcefully. This time it was a boy, who, like Violet, was also in his robes, only his were lined with the valiant crimson of Gryffindor.

He pointed his wand at Darius, then yelled, "DARIUS GRAY." Following it up was the unexpectedly pleasant "It's good to see you again, how was your summer?" before levitating his trunk up on the luggage rack, but keeping his caged owl down with him. The brash young man was none other than Garrick Alder, whom Darius shared a friendly rivalry with.

"It was okay, I guess, Garrick." Darius laughed. "If you can count getting in a duel with my sister every other week 'okay' ". Feeling he should introduce in case Rose or Violet didn't know him, "Garrick, this is Rose Devlin of Ravenclaw and Violet Vaelos, also Slytherin. Girls, this is Garrick Alder of Gryffindor."

 

[Carmen Lopez]

Before Rose and Darius could get into a conversation, a Slytherin girl entered their compartment and addressed Darius. Rose had to fight to keep her face composed. She knew how Darius was around his fellow Slytherins and so she was very interested in how he would respond to this girl. Rose had certainly seen her around, but had never actually spoken to her. The Slytherin girl then turned to introduce herself to Rose.

"Ravenclaw, huh? A good house, one for the clever of mind." She extended her hand. "My name is Violet Vaelos. I don't believe we've had the pleasure of talking before?"

Rose shook her hand without hesitation. “I'm Rose Devlin. Pleased to meet you,” She added with a slight bow. Rose's mind immediately began to race. Violet was eerily polite and formal—as though she were sizing up Rose. As much as she hated to admit it, Violet intimidated her ever so slightly. It was ironic on Rose's part considering most people seemed to find her intimidating. Rose's first mental reaction was to be on her guard around Violet. But as her father said, just because you might have preconceived notions about a person doesn't mean you have to act on them. Perhaps, Rose was off base entirely... after all, she didn't even know Violet at all. Throughout the mental conflict, Rose was still impressed that Violet came and outright introduced herself.

Suddenly, the compartment door opened again and boy swept in like he was a tornado with an owl and a trunk in tow. He rather violently slammed the door shut and waved his wand to put his trunk on a seat. He then pointed his wand at Darius. Before Rose could get properly alarmed, he and Darius greeted each other like old friends. Rose got a closer look at the Gryffindor boy and saw that he looked very familiar.

Darius, being the good host that he was decided to introduce him to them while the boy magicked his trunk into the rack above them. "Garrick, this is Rose Devlin of Ravenclaw and Violet Vaelos, also Slytherin. Girls, this is Garrick Alder of Gryffindor."

“Oh, I know exactly who you are now,” said Rose as realization dawned on her. “You're on the team with my brother Sid. He said that our chasers wouldn't get anything past you. Guess we'll see about that, huh?”

To Rose, quidditch was serious business and she could go overboard at times. Nevertheless, she always loved to talk about it at any given opportunity. Who knows how this conversation would go. She was glad Garrick came and broke the ice.

OOC: So I'll hopefully get to display Rose's personality a little better next time.

 

[Mr.RMA]

Brodie gave a light chuckle at the realization that Laura hadn't changed much since that aforementioned match the year before.

"Heh...that was quite the memorable game, I gotta admit, though I think I just got a lucky break. Had that snitch not veered a little to the right, you probably would've pulled away with it." He responded humbly, as he was prone to do whenever someone commended him for something. It was a wonder that he didn't get sorted into Hufflepuff himself due to that little trait of his.

In all honesty though, it really was a match he wouldn't be forgetting any time soon. It was, in fact, the first match he won as Gryffindor's seeker, and probably the only reason why he kept hold of the position at all, after a particularly dreadful debut game against Slytherin, and one in which he was looking forward to redeeming himself in for the upcoming season.

Letting that memory go for now, Brodie gave a nod in greeting towards the boy who just recently showed up, another Hufflepuff by the sound of it.

"Pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Alan. Always interesting to meet others in my year from different houses, 'specially considering I haven't really made much of an effort to meet with anyone new as of late." He then took a seat, gently placing Hypnos' cage beside him as he heard Laura say something about the O.W.L.s.

"Hey, join the club. I'm bloody petrified of failing them myself. Doesn't help that my big sis passed 'em all so easily. I swear, sometimes I don't see how the two of us are related at all the way her mind works."

 

[Dinova]

Alan chuckled at Laura's remark as she introduced everyone, "Miss the train? I wouldn't miss this train for all the gold in Gringotts. You don't think I'm that forgetful do you?" Even as he said it, he realized he probably shouldn't have said that.

Laura introduced the other two boys as Quidditch players for Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. As he sat down, he took note of Michael and Brody. He had definitely never met michael before but he remembered last year's match and Brody's game winning capture of the snitch well enough. "Oh, I remember that game! We lost, excellent catch though Brody." Alan said, with no loss of joviality.

"A pleasure to meet you as well, Brodie." Alan said, returning the greeting. As Brodie and Laura began discussing the O.W.Ls, Alan looked at them quizzically. "I don't really get why everyone is so worried about the O.W.Ls already. It's just a test, right?" Alan continued as he needed a little explanation. "I mean, it's almost a whole year away. Until test day all we can do is study and try hard, so why worry now?" Alan looked at everyone else, genuinely puzzled as to why they were already worried several months in advance.

 

[Dwayna DragonFire]

Just after greeting Rose, the compartment door opened and slammed for the last time, a Gryffindor standing in the wake of the noise. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at Darius, and suddenly it was like everything was in slow motion. Her hand went to grip her wand, the basic protection charm almost laced onto her tongue.

Instead of doing something drastic, the Gryffindor greeted Darius like a friend, and her heart began to slow again. She let go of her wand and faced towards the boy, now identified as Garrick. The familiarity of it struck her as odd at first, and then Rose mentioned something about Quidditch. It didn't help very much, as Violet didn't follow Quidditch very often - in her mind it was a dangerous sport.

No, there was something else about him that was familiar. An epiphany came to her mind as she looked over the boy's features. A smirk pulled over her lips as she looked to the young man, memories flashing through her mind of the five years that she had been at school.

"Double Potions and double Defense Against the Dark Arts," she said with a cool tone, a flash of fire in her eyes. "You're that Gryffindor who's really good at them, if I'm not mistaken. We're something of rivals." Garrick and her almost competed for the best result in those classes that their houses worked together. Her father's words repeated in her head, and the true cunning of a Slytherin pushed through her mind, as she stuck out her hand again.

"There's nothing saying we can't be friendly rivals," she said, the smirk still plastered on her lips. The wizard was impressive, but there was one thing that she knew she could hold over his head if needed. Violet was really good at dueling.

 

[Blazi]

"No, you can stay, Michael," Laura said, and Michael sat back down. Laura tried to fix the ever-increasing awkward moment by commenting on how she had gfot her hair cut, when the door suddenly opened. The Gryffindor standing there was very familiar, and Michael knew why. This particular Gryffindor was the seeker of their houses' Quidditch team, and Michael had sent a bludger his way on more than one occasion. The Gryffindor had seemed to sense the awkwardness, but before he could leave, Laura said, "It's cool, you can sit with us! I'm... we're okay with that, right?" she looked at Michael as she said this last part, who needed his agreement.

They had all been seated, and Rose seemed to be about to say something, when someone else burst into the room. The boy was unfamiliar, but Michael was quite certain he had seen him around the Hufflepuffs before. Laura introduced both Michael and Brodie to the boy, Alan, and commented on his seeking skills. Michael felt compelled to add to this sentence by saying, "He's a pretty good acrobat, too. He managed to dodge every bludger I sent his way in our last match. Flattened us too, might I add."

Laura sat down - Michael hadn't even noticed her stand up - and so did Alan. The sense of awkwardness was back, slightly magnified by the four people in the carriage. Finally, Laura spoke up, saying, "So, um, my brother reminded me that we have to take our O.W.L.s starting this year, and I'm kinda worried about not passing them."

"Hey, join the club. I'm bloody petrified of failing them myself. Doesn't help that my big sis passed 'em all so easily. I swear, sometimes I don't see how the two of us are related at all the way her mind works." Brodie replied, and Michael could relate to the whole mystery of the siblings thing.

"I don't really get why everyone is so worried about the O.W.Ls already. It's just a test, right? I mean, it's almost a whole year away. Until test day all we can do is study and try hard, so why worry now?" Alan stated, and Michael nodded in agreement. Suddenly feeling like it was his turn to talk, Michael replied.

"I agree. I mean, they're on the other side of the school year. Yeah this year's going to be hard, but don't forget, the first year was difficult too. I'm not overly worried about passing them, my teachers say I could get high marks in everything if I tried." Michael stated, and started worrying the he might have sounded pretentious, or arrogant. Shrugging to himself he thought, Hey people are people. If they think you're arrogant, so what. That just means they miss out on a friend.

 

[Shiny Motley]

(OOC: Sorry for the delay! T_T)

"But that's not fair, you guys," Laura said nervously. "Brodie, you have your sister, it must be in your blood or something. Michael, you're a Ravenclaw, I wouldn't expect less from you about the O.W.L.s. A-and Alan knows that... well, you've-"

She was saved from having to say any more when the compartment door opened again, and a lady walked in, wheeling a large cart full of candy, pastries, and other sweets. "Anything from the cart, dearies?" she asked with a smile on her face. Laura sighed with relief as she fished around her bag for her coin purse. She bought a good two dozen boxes Chocolate Frogs, a pack of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, and a few pumpkin pastries for Kira. She moved away from the cart, carrying her mountain of sweets, and let her companions buy some sweets. As she set down her goods, Laura heard Kira's crate rattle a bit before the creature gave a little meow.

"Of course you can have some," Laura said, reaching down and opening the crate. The tabby calmly walked out and sat on Laura's lap, patiently waiting for the girl to open a pack of pumpkin pastries. Before Laura could, though, the Honeydukes Express lady was already walking into the next compartment, and the cat gave another meow before chasing after the cart.

Not wanting to lose her pet, Laura muttered, "Don't take my food," and ran after the creature, deftly opening the door out of her compartment and following Kira into the next one. The lady from earlier didn't seem to notice them, but Kira was already trying to climb onto the cart. "Oh no you don't," Laura said, leaping at her cat and managing to tackle it away-

Only to find herself at the feet of Garrick Alder, Gryffindor's Keeper, who also happened to be in her year.

Laura gave a small squeak in surprise and felt herself blush. For a second, she wondered why she felt so nervous around him, and she just passed it off as being embarrassed for someone in another house to see her make such a fool of herself. Taking a quick glance around, she noticed other faces, half-familiar only because she might’ve passed by them in the school halls once or twice. “I- I’m so sorry!” she managed to say before dashing out of the door back to her compartment, carrying a mewling Kira in her arms.

When she made it back to her seat, she locked the cat back in the crate, making a note to ground the creature in there for a good week or so.

 

[Mr.RMA]

"Heh...yeah, in my blood... from my extremely thin bloodline..." Brodie said, though not so much as a response, but rather simply thinking out loud. Throughout both his and his sister's years enrolled in Hogwarts, neither of them really brought up their muggle-born heritage very often, if ever, so it always made the boy a little uncomfortable mentioning it. He wasn't at all ashamed of being born and raised by non-wizarding folk, but he knew some people who wouldn't take the news very positively, and if there was one reputation that he didn't want to have, it was one in a negative light. As such, he kept his family mostly under wraps.

Fortunately for him, Laura didn't continue on with this conversation for long, being interrupted by the trolley lady carrying along her usual fare of sweets, none of which Brodie would be purchasing himself. He was always very conservative with his money, even if the hole in his family's pocket from the Nimbus 2001 had finally been filled since the year before. No need to waste precious currency on sweets...no matter how tempting it was to do so. As Laura went back to her seat with a fairly hefty assortment, Brodie took out his own source of food to tide himself over: merely a few sticks of celery. It may have seemed rather pathetic of a snack on a long trip such as this, but he couldn't afford to eat anything too fattening. He was already massive enough by seeker standards, no need to get any bigger. While he gradually nibbled away at one stalk, humorously handing a small piece of another to Hypnos, (only getting the usual screech in dissatisfaction,) he watched as Laura's cat suddenly leapt off her owner's lap and went after the trolley as it proceeded to the other compartments. Naturally, she went off after her pet, telling the rest of the group to keep their hands off her food as she rushed off in pursuit. Brodie just gave a small chuckle before looking at Hypnos again.

"Now don't you get any ideas," He warned the bird, getting a blank stare in response. "Yeah, that's what I thought you'd say." His focus drifted back over to the other two wizards still in the compartment, deciding he should try his own hand at starting up a conversation for once, choosing to get back to the subject of Quidditch, since that was one of the few things he could consider himself truly knowledgeable in, outside of muggle studies, but that rarely tickled anyone's fancy.

"So, Michael, that match last year, I wouldn't at all say we flattened you. I mean, more than once you nearly knocked me off my broom with those bludgers. I swear it was just by some miracle that the last one didn't get me." At that point, he heard a small thumping noise outside, and was about to go see what it was when Laura returned with her pet clutched in her arms, storing it back in its cage. She seemed rather embarrassed over the whole ordeal, though that was understandable, especially if it explained where that earlier sound came from.

"Nice catch. Getting a head start on training there?" He asked jokingly, hoping to quickly keep the mood up before any awkward silence could set in.

 

[Blazi]

Michael actually laughed at Laura's suggestion that he'd get high marks, simply because he was a Ravenclaw. "Laura," he said, "just because I'm a Ravenclaw doesn't mean I'm automatically going to get high marks in everything. I'm a lazy idiot. Even I'M not sure why Mr. Hattie put me in Ravenclaw." he was interrupted by the trolley lady coming in and asking if they wanted anything. Laura bought some candy, whilst Brodie just took out some celery. Michael shook his head and said, "I'm fine, thanks."

Laura's cat, who Michael hadn't noticed get out, suddenly jumped off her lap, and went after the trolley as it left. Laura quickly went after it, after telling them all to not touch her food. Brodie started having a conversation with his owl, Hypnos, and Michael looked up at the empty bird cage.

Athena had been gone for a while now, having been sent to deliver a letter to a friend of his, Gabriel, whilst they were in Rome. Michael guessed that Athena had already reached Hogwarts, and was probably waiting patiently with a reply.

Michael was snapped out of his musings by Brodie saying, "So, Michael, that match last year, I wouldn't at all say we flattened you. I mean, more than once you nearly knocked me off my broom with those bludgers. I swear it was just by some miracle that the last one didn't get me."

"Miracle shmiracle, you're great at your job. I swear It's only because I beat the the crap out of Slytherin's old seeker in our third year that they actually kept me." Michael replied, eyebrow up in his hair. He heard a thump outside, and turned to see Laura come in, looking embarrassed.

"Nice catch. Getting a head start on training there?" Brodie asked, and Michael grinned, before looking out the window.

Can't be too far to Hogwarts... he thought.

 

[Tailon]

Before he could reply to the others' introductions, the food trolley arrived at their trolley, followed immediately by a cat and its owner, a small girl that Garrick vaguely recognized, but couldn't put a name to before she stood, apologized, and fled the compartment. Garrick blinked. He then pointed in the direction of the door and muttered, "Wasn't that the Hufflepuff Seeker?"

Mildly confused, Garrick realized the trolley was still there, and so bought four Chocolate Frogs, letting the others buy what they liked. He opened one of the frogs, then addressed the others, "You can take a frog if you'd like... Good to meet you both, I've seen you Defense and Potions, yeah," he said, placing the three spare frogs on the seat, then nodding at Violet,"And, Rose, was it? Your brother's Sid? The Chaser? He seems a decent enough guy, can't say we talk much outside the team though."

 

[Carmen Lopez]

It certainly was the Hufflepuff Seeker, thought Rose as she answered Garrick's question in her head. Her name was Laura Rufford if she recalled correctly. Once again, Rose had only seen Laura—in her case during Qudditch games, but had never spoken to her. Rose smiled a little when she grabbed her cat and ran back out; most Quidditch players had a sort of easy confidence (or arrogance as some might call it), but Laura got extremely flustered and seemed almost shy. It was a shame she didn't stay and talk.

Laura's interruption and the arrival of the trolley thoroughly derailed the conversations in their compartment. She watched Garrick buy Chocolate frogs and offer them to her and Violet who he'd had previous classes with. Rose used to collect the cards when she was younger, but lost the will to after her brother destroyed her collection. And she was five away from having them all! She managed to pay him back in full for that. She reckoned he was still smarting about her deleting the save file to his Playstation game that he was 5% away from completing. Either way, Rose took a chocolate frog to be polite and found she ironically had Godric Gryffindor. He was the first ever card she had gotten those years ago.

"And, Rose, was it?” Garrick was saying “Your brother's Sid? The Chaser? He seems a decent enough guy, can't say we talk much outside the team though."

“Decent!” Rose snorted. “I can't say I'd blame you for not talking to him outside of the team. He can be a jerk at times and a bully. I keep hoping he'll meet his match but so far he hasn't.” Rose turned to gaze out of the window. “He's my brother and I do love him though,” she added.

 

[Dinova]

"But that's not fair, you guys," Laura said nervously. "Brodie, you have your sister, it must be in your blood or something. Michael, you're a Ravenclaw, I wouldn't expect less from you about the O.W.L.s. A-and Alan knows that... well, you've-"

"Hm? What do you...oh, right." Alan felt like punching himself for nearly forgetting about that. Tests and exams were normally easy enough for him to take and pass, but Laura often struggled with them. At the end of the year, Alan was usually one who helped her with the end of year exams. And he'd nearly just pointed it out, moron.

Before Alan could make a bigger idiot of himself, the Honeydukes' Express lady interrupted with her usual assortment of treats and sweets. She asked politely, gesturing to the cart,"Anything from the cart, dearies?" Laura was quick to order several kinds of sweets while Michael and Brodie bought nothing. Alan dug around in his pocket for a few coins and bought a few bags of Cockroach Clusters and Fizzing Whizzbees.

He proceed to munch on the snack in silence, but as the cart continued on, Laura's cat took off in pursuit. Warning the others not to eat her food, she chased after the cat. As Brodie and Michael began to speak about quuiditch once more, Alan took out his "1001 ways to grow a horklump" book and began to read. While the other two were engaged in their conversation, he slipped the whizzbees onto Laura's pile of sweets.

When she returned, and grounded Kira to her crate, he quietly said from behind his book so the others wouldn't hear,"I'm sorry Laura. I didn't mean anything by it."

Looking sideways out the window, he couldn't help wondering if they were close to hogwarts.

 

[Shocari]

After introducing everyone to each other, Darius took to looking out the window, only halfway paying attention to what anyone was saying. He didn't often partake in conversations unless something about or towards him came up.

His stomach rumbled slightly, and he wondered when the Honeydukes lady would come by with her trolley filled with some of the best sweets from the shop. To his delight, the partially-closed door opened...

Only for a tabby cat to run in. Moments later, what Darius thought was the owner literally leapt in, reaching for the cat. She looked at everyone with a startled look that quickly changed to embarassment, then ran from the room as quickly as she had came. The brief glimpse told Darius that she was a Quidditch player, likely Hufflepuff, but he didn't follow Quidditch much, even the Hogwarts teams.

After more gluttonous wails from his stomach, the trolley lady came by, and Garrick jumped at the chance to get some Chocolate Frogs, one for each of them. Darius graciously took one, and paid for a couple licorice wands. Sitting back down, he opened his Chocolate Frog to get the card of Morgan le Fay, a powerful dark witch during the time of Merlin.

A little while later, while devouring his last licorice wand, Darius noticed the darkening sky - they were almost there. Darius put Agamemnon back in his cage and pulled his robes out of his trunk, lazily putting them on over his Muggle clothes instead of changing into the appropriate schoolwear.

Looking down at his emerald-lined robes, he smiled as he brought his head up, looking at everyone.

"Well guys, we're back. Anyone else glad to be home?"

 

[Blazi]

Michael started humming a song to himself, standing up to reach his bag and getting out a small, blue covered book. Flicking to his favourite story, Michael started to read. Reading books was one of his favourite ways to pass time, and it did it well.

Once he had finished the story, he looked out the window, and noticed it had gotten darker. Guessing that they were finally nearing Hogwarts, Michael stood up again, and took out his blue-lined robes. Looking at his companions, Michael guessed it would be rude to ask them to leave, so he just slipped the robes over his head, and then sat back down.

Making small-talk for the rest of the trip, Michael sprung up as soon as he felt the train slowing. As he got up, he sneakily slipped the blue book into a pocket of his robes. Grabbing his bag and the empty cage, he turned to his companions, grinning. "I guess I'll see you all another time." He said, before turning and walking out of the carriage, waving over shoulder.

Getting off the train, Michael looked around to find an empty carriage pulled by the creepy horses. Finally finding one, he sat down inside, and pulled out his book again. Turning to another story , he started to read again. He didn't look up as someone got into his carriage, only muttering a small "Hello there." A few more people got in, and then the carriage jerked to a start, pulling away from the platform.

OoC: So, I posted because it was dead and I was up for a bit of Necromancy. Plus I didn't want this to die. And yes Michael can see Thestrals, you'll find out why later ;p

 

[Mr.RMA]

OoC: Resuscitation! I apologize for my dormancy for a while there. Figured I’d wait for as many people to post afterwards before I did again. Guess it wouldn’t hurt to respond now though.

BiC: After some brief chatter, Brodie had gone pretty much silent for the remainder of the trip. He had quickly run out of things to talk about, and the usual sense of awkwardness he felt around others returned, leaving him to stare out the window as a means to distract himself for the moment. He didn’t have any books on hand, as he foolishly had forgotten to pack anything of the sort, and of course, he wasn’t going to bring any of his electronic devices along with him for obvious reasons, so the view outside and his inner thoughts were all that he had to occupy himself for the time being.

As the darkening sky indicated their impending arrival, Brodie decided to follow Michael’s example and put on his own crimson-lined robes in the same, rather sloppy, fashion. He observed the fabric intently, thinking about the long line of famous noble wizards and witches who donned the same garb over the ages. It was a lot to live up to, especially for a kid with no traceably magical lineage, and he was going to have to do a better job at it this year than in his previous ones; easier said than done of course, especially with his ongoing battle with procrastination. There was a chance, of course, that he wouldn’t be so irresponsible this year, though such a chance was slimmer than the whiskers on Laura’s tabby.

It wasn’t long before the train came to a stop, and Michael quickly got up to leave, saying his goodbyes before disappearing from the compartment. Brodie gave him a nod in return as he left before slowly picking himself up from his seat and collecting his things. He looked towards both Hufflepuffs and gave a small wave.

“Alright, best be off I suppose. Again, it was a pleasure meeting you Alan. I’ll be sure to talk with you again if it happens we have any of the same classes or anything like that, provided I actually have something interesting to talk about next time of course.” He said with a grin before looking over to Laura. “I know I’ll be seein’ you ‘round the pitch. I’m already looking forward to our little rematch. Hope I’m still somewhat of a match for ya!” He remarked, smiling as he attempted to express some of the competitive nature that his fellow players seemed to always show, though still trying to sound polite in the process, unlike a certain chaser on his team...It was a good thing that guy was a brilliant player at least.

Filling in a small open space within the crowd of students, Brodie exited the train and made his way through Hogsmeade station towards the waiting carriages, seemingly without a mount, but by this point, he knew that wasn’t the case, and it was needless to say he was thankful he didn’t have the ability to see those thestrals yet.

This time around, he was lucky enough to find an empty carriage, which he quickly got on, sitting back as he waited for others to get on, and hoping they’d be as easy to socialize with as the previous lot.

 

[Dwayna DragonFire]

OOC: My apologies for not replying until now, I had lost some inspiration until now. Hope this helps to reboot things.

BIC:

Garrick looked like he was about to respond, but suddenly the trolley came by, as did a cat. A Hufflepuff came soon afterwards, picking the cat up and apologizing before running back off to her compartment. Violet stared on afterwards, a look of bewilderment plastered on her face.

"You can take a frog if you'd like..." Said Garrick, snapping her out of the strange situation. "Good to meet you both, I've seen you Defense and Potions, yeah," he replied, nodding to her and placing the Chocolate Frogs on the seat beside him. She reached over and took one, opening it up to reveal Newt Scamander, the author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

It wasn't that much longer before they reached Hogsmeade, at which she bid farewell to the people who had sat with her. She looked at Garrick one last time, smiling at him with a challenge in her eyes. We'll see each other in DADA and Potions, she thought, her mind already filled with protection spells and potion ingredients.

Violet got onto the nearest carriage, which at the time only had a Ravenclaw before others piled on. She straightened her tie and made other adjustments to her uniform so that she would be more presentable, knowing that the other Slytherins would be looking at each other with more judgmental eyes than the rest of the houses. She settled down soon afterward and just enjoyed the carriage ride, quiet or not, as the scenery was too beautiful to ignore.

 

[Carmen Lopez]

OOC: The Revival!

BIC

“Petrificus Totalus!”

With a flourish of his wand, Sidney Devlin cast the Full-Body Bind on Freddie, a fellow teammate on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. His body immediately went rigid and he fell unceremoniously to the floor of the train. The rest of the compartment which consisted of the half the team and a few other Gryffindors roared with laughter. They had been having a duel of sorts that was mostly equal until Freddie casted a weak Shield Charm which Sid easily broke through. If it had been anyone else, Sid would’ve just left them hexed, but he dutifully lifted the curse from Freddie who staggered back to his feet.

Their compartment was easily the loudest and most raucous one on the train. They had it all: loud music, screaming, owls hooting, throwing snacks back and forth at one another, and general mayhem. They had already driven away three groups of people made up of students from different houses. On two different occasions a couple of brave souls, a Hufflepuff boy and a Ravenclaw girl snatched open their compartment door and told them quiet down a little. Sid disregarded his parents’ advice to be nicer and casted the Bat-Bogey Hex on the boy without a second thought. He didn’t have the heart to attack the girl though. Aubrey, a pretty black girl with a mop of dark brown curly hair and a fellow chaser, happily obliged and hit her with a nice Leg-Locker Curse. She winked at Sid as she did so and he responded with a devilish grin. Everyone howled in response at the flirtation; his wizard friends were easily just as awesome as his muggle ones were.

“Hey Sid!” Freddie yelled over all the noise. “How do you think you’ll do on the O.W.Ls

“Awesomely I think,” Sid responded. “Awesome enough to show them that I’m smarter than they think I am.” It was the truth. Sidney may not be as bookish as Rose, but he always did well on his exams up till now. This year shouldn’t be any different.

The train slowly came to a stop as it pulled into the Hogsmeade Station. Their group split apart to get on the carriages that would take them to the castle. Aubrey and Freddie joined Sid in one of the few empty ones left. Sid could not see the thestrals but he knew that Aubrey could after seeing her great uncle die two years ago.

During the comparatively subdued ride up to the castle, Sid absentmindedly reached into his pocket to get his cell phone. Upon finding only his wand, he smiled wryly at his own folly. He couldn't believe he was still doing things like that after five years of leaving the muggle world to be immersed in the wizarding one. He didn't know any one else with his parentage, but he could relate most to muggleborns. And as far as he knew most of them longed to return to school after spending the summer in the muggle world...Sid was different in that regard. He mentally shook himself out of his reverie and started a conversation with Aubrey and Freddie to distract himself.

The evening would pass by quickly enough. The Sorting would not be remarkable and neither would the speech given by the Headmaster. He supposed he should be grateful for the peace considering what had happened in the Second Wizarding War. Though it was before his time, but still fresh in the minds of the teachers and other adults. As always, dinner would be amazing and there was always fun to be had back in Gryffindor Tower. Hopefully they could easily repair whatever they broke this time around.

~ ~ ~​

The next morning, Sid and a couple of classmates trooped down to the Hagrid’s cabin at the edge of the Forbidden Forest to attend their first class of the day: Care of Magical Creatures. The morning was gorgeous and cloudless and perfect for being outdoors. There was only one problem. For the third year running, they were with the Slytherins yet again. Was this some kind of conspiracy? Statistically, Sid was sure not all Slytherins were gits, but he honestly didn’t care to investigate. He generally stayed away from them and took extra relish in beating them in quidditch matches. Sure, Voldemort was dead and his ideology was mostly out the public eye, but he knew some Slytherins still clung to their precious ideas about blood purity. They may not voice them aloud or make overt comments but they didn’t have to.

Sid shook his head in determination not to let the Slytherins ruin his morning. He hoped that they would be learning about hippogriffs or something else cool. But then again, this was Hagrid so it was guaranteed awesome whether the magical creature was dangerous or rather tame. Since they were fifth years now, they might even be able to go into the Forbidden Forest itself. There were awesome rumors of the type of creatures that were hiding out in the forest even if he knew some of them were false. As far as he knew, chimeras only lived in Greece after all. When he finally arrived at the cabin, he plopped down on the grass and waited for the class to begin while other students trickled down.

 

[Mr.RMA]

The trip was a particularly quiet one for Brodie. He was joined in the carriage by two Ravenclaws, both fourth years from the sound of the classes they were discussing, very similar to the ones he remembered taking himself the year before. He never bothered to ask them though, as they seemed too enthralled in their own conversation to include him, or so he believed…Yup, still working on that social issue. It was really getting bothersome for him, as he was more than capable of extroverted behavior, just, only towards those he was already acquainted with. Something about those first impressions just held him back. Perhaps it was just a confidence issue. After all, he was still rather miffed about a certain magical skill he had been attempting to acquire for going-on two years now, with little to no significant progress. Of course, joining the ranks of the Animagi wasn’t going to be easy, but fifth year students had reached such a status before, and seeing how Lynn never became one herself, accomplishing such a feat would most definitely help Brodie establish his own reputation away from just being related to her and nothing more…Well, that could help, along with perhaps getting more involved with his team’s affairs, though he honestly wasn’t sure which one was the more difficult task. Sid and company were not exactly kindhearted chaps- though Garrick in particular was usually an exception to this- and Brodie had been at the butt-end of many of their shenanigans in the years before, especially after making the team. Though, what did he expect? A tall, lumbering oaf like himself as their seeker? Even with his proven skills, there was more than enough humor to be found in his situation. It wasn’t like he was trying to justify it, but, he knew the ridicule would continue on to this year. And to think, it was the Slytherins that held the bad reputation of antagonizing others, when he was more inclined to be wary of his own house. He’d just have to remind them, come game day, why he was the one chasing the snitch in the first place.

Thoughts over all these matters continued to whirl around in Brodie’s head as the carriages neared the castle. What awaited them all at the school was nothing he hadn’t witnessed before, but it was always quite the spectacle, watching the awe-struck first-years get sorted, and, not to mention, the food was always brilliant. Gryffindor Tower would turn into an absolute mess very quickly, so he was hoping to turn in as early as he could and get the school year going as quickly as possible. Provided he didn’t get hexed in his sleep, he didn’t see this being an issue. That trip on the Hogwarts Express always did tire him out.

---

Well, the first day wasn’t a promising sign of things to come, that was for certain…Brodie had overslept, and he was now sprinting towards the grounds outside of the forbidden forest in an effort to avoid being late for, not only the first class of the day, but almost always one of the most fascinating. Care of Magical Creatures was indeed one of the more beloved electives for many a student, most definitely one that Brodie enjoyed, and missing out on even one class would not just be devastating when it came to his grade, but he could very well miss out on observing many a wondrous creature firsthand…or it’d just be another day with salamanders and fire crabs…Still, the possibility of a particularly less exciting class wasn’t worth the potential tardiness, and even if that half-giant Hagrid was well-known for his kind-hearted nature, he was still a professor, and there would likely still be punishment involved. With that in mind, Brodie was relieved to see his fellow students still forming around their teacher’s hut. Running as fast as he possibly could, he came to a halt upon reaching the students near the back of the crowd, panting heavily as he slumped back onto the ground, awaiting the beginning of class.

As he waited, he took a quick survey of his surrounding classmates. It appeared they were being paired up with the Slytherin house this year, just like last year and the year before that. He didn’t see anything wrong with this himself, but he knew of certain others who did. It was like some written rule that Gryffindor and Slytherin students were to be at odds with one another, and while Brodie was perfectly fine with this on the Quidditch pitch, it just seemed an unnecessary rivalry to him everywhere else. Yes, perhaps the aspirations for the house cup were reason enough for some friendly competition, but that, in his humble opinion, was all it should have been, a friendly competition, not this tense antagonizing behavior.

 

[Shocari]

Darius, being somewhat of a lazy fellow, hopped into the nearest empty carriage. Originally, he had thought that the carriages were pulled by either magic or invisible horses, but it wasn't until his fourth year that he had been told that they were actually pulled by thestrals...whatever those were. Darius didn't have much interest in magical creatures, so he didn't bother learning more about them.

Joining him in the carriage was Eris and two of her fellow sixth-year friends.
How delightful, he thought, screaming internally. He'd rather sit in a carriage with Filch, literally anyone else, as long as it meant he didn't have to sit with his sister!

"You might as well kill yourself now. You're not good enough to pass all of your O.W.L.s. Such failure won't be tolerated by father." she sneered.

Darius ignored her. He wasn't too worried about the O.W.L exams at the end of the year. He didn't need a test to tell him whether or not he was good at something.

The carriage ride to the castle was uneventful after that; Darius stared into the distance while Eris and her friends talked. Darius never payed attention to the Sorting and the headmaster's speech was the same as always. After dinner, he quickly headed to the Slytherin chambers and went to sleep.

***

Darius stood with his fellow fifth-year Slytherins around the hut of Hagrid, the gamekeeper, waiting for Care of Magical Creatures to begin. Despite Darius' disinterest in the subject, he didn't outright hate it, so he could have had a worse class to start the day with. The Gryffindors were approaching the hut from the castle, late as always, it seemed. It was quite bright and sunny outside, which, while pleasant, was not a weather condition that Darius was fond of.

 

[Shiny Motley]

(OOC: The Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw vignette. Sorry for craptastic post, I have a creativity block at the moment.)

The rest of the train ride was relatively quiet without incident after Kira decided to make Laura look stupid, and she was more than glad when the train pulled to a stop in front of the school. She said her good-byes to the rest of the people in her compartment before getting off with them and boarding a carriage, purposefully avoiding sitting in one with too many people. She finally gave up trying to find an empty one and settled for one with fellow fifth-year Hufflepuffs Beverly Goldberry and Evelyn Carleton. The other two girls chatted excitedly about the upcoming school year, and occasionally tried to rope Laura in to their conversations, but overall, Laura was left alone to think about other things.

The rest of the evening went on exactly as it always had; the school watched as the confused and mesmerized first-years got sorted into the four houses, with Hufflepuff gaining a few new faces before the feast began. As always, the meal was more than fantastic, but the conversations at the table seemed to involve OWLs and upcoming classes and rumors from over the summer, making Laura opt out of speaking for the duration of the feast.

When the time came for everyone to start heading towards the dormitories, Laura joined the rest of her house scrambling into the Common Room and said a few final good-nights before going to sleep.

~*~*~

After a quick breakfast, Laura walked by herself to the greenhouses, finding a few of her fellow Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws already standing around. Looking around, she saw a few strange, sharp-toothed flowers around, and heard someone mention that they were Fanged Geranium. The girl waited patiently for the rest of the students to file in, wondering what Professor Longbottom was going to teach them about today.

 

[Dark Soul]

Nathan hurried to the door of the carriage, jumping inside mere seconds before its invisible mounts started pulling it towards the castle. His yellow Hufflepuff robes blew around his legs before he managed to close the door.

A handful of people looked up at him surprised or sarcastically. Nathan gave them an earnest smile, before scanning the carriage for an empty seat. He did not want to keep standing up as the carriage moved across the cobble road and risk clumsily falling over. There was one remaining seat he could see, next to a classy-looking, raven-haired girl in Slytherin robes. Somewhat nervously, he approached the girl with another light smile. 'Mind if I take this spot?' He asked, trying his hardest not to let his Dutch accent shine through too much. After spending nine weeks in his motherland, it would take him a while to get used to the British English his peers spoke again.

The Slytherin gave her approval and he sat down at her side. Just like the four years preceding this one, Nathan still felt a twang of both nervosity and and excitement at returning to his school, where magic roamed the very air and paintings and stairways moved at their own will, after many weeks in his own town where his only souvenirs of the magical world were his wand, his owl and his books- Although he had on two occasions visited the hidden wizardry neighbourhood in Amsterdam, which had been great fun, despite the fact it was nowhere near as expansive as Diagon Alley.

Nathan felt like he ought to strike up a conversation with the girl next to him, partially to try to uplift the somewhat uneasy atmosphere in the carriage, but also because he was under the impression he had seen the girl before. Try as he might, though, he couldn't exactly recall her name.

'My name's Nathan Smith, by the way. It's nice to meet you.' He said, starting out with a polite introduction. 'Is it possible I've seen you in Dueling classes before? If I recall correctly, you're somewhat of a celebrity for your offensive skills, right?' He continued right after.

(OOC; Bluh, short. I discussed this with Dwayna beforehand, so no worries! I will work out my character further in the future ^^)

 

[Carmen Lopez]

OOC: Oh wait, I'm pulling double duty here

The Ravenclaw dormitory slowly emptied out as students left to go to their first classes of the year. Unusually, Rose was the last one left in hers because she had trouble falling asleep after the feast the night before. That always happened if she ate too much too close to her bedtime; she should’ve known better, but the food was so good and she hadn’t eaten much beforehand. She slowly roused herself awake and got ready to start the day. After a quick check in the mirror (and a bit of wandwork to repair a loose thread), she gathered up her things and headed to the common room.

The magnificent view of the mountains captivated Rose every time without fail. Whenever she was stressed out from her own insecurities about living up to the Ravenclaw standard, she would go to the common room and just gaze out of the windows until she felt her stress melt away. No one ever bothered her or gave her weird looks when she performed that ritual—Ravenclaws were understanding in that way even if they didn’t know why she was doing it. It was far from the oddest thing that happened in their common room. However even the mountains couldn’t block out the conversation between two sixth year Ravenclaw girls that she couldn’t help overhearing.

“…and oh, honestly, I think the Gryffindor quidditch team has gotten even more boorish over the summer!” said a girl with long wavy brown hair. Rose had spoken to her a few times and recalled that her name was Maria Kendricks

“How is that even possible?” implored Victoria Lang, a girl with sandy hair and eyebrows thicker than even Rose’s. “Did you hear what they did to their common room last year?”

“Oh it get’s better,” Maria said darkly. “They were creating a massive ruckus aboard the train and when I went to go tell them to shut up, their chaser hexed me!”

Rose couldn’t help it; she groaned loudly and ended up catching the girls’ attention. “And was my twin brother Sidney involved?” she said through clenched teeth.

“Oh yes,” Maria answered while Victoria just shook her head in disgust.

“I’ll see about putting him in his place,” Rose told them. Really she loved her brother, but his behavior worsened every year!

“You do that,” Victoria said dispassionately. “I can’t believe you two are related sometimes.”

Rose smiled and finally exited the common room to get down to the Great Hall for breakfast so she wouldn’t be late to herbology, one of her favorite classes. According to her schedule, they would be with the Hufflepuffs to her slight disappointment. She had no problems with them or any other house, but she thought it would be nice to have a class with Darius. They didn’t have much time to really talk on the train after another Slytherin entered their compartment. He still couldn’t really be himself around his fellow housemates.

Afterward, Rose briskly walked down to the greenhouses and saw that much of the class was already there. She stood beside a short Hufflepuff girl with short blonde hair and gave a start when she recognized her as Laura Rufford. Rose had seen her on the train very briefly when she was trying to get her cat.

“Hey, you’re the Hufflepuff Seeker, right?” Rose said and she felt the usual Quidditch excitement rise. She was quite devoted to her own house, but she loved talking about the game with anyone…well, almost anyone. “Can we sit together?”

 

[Blazi]

Michael re-tied his blue and bronze tie for the third time, finally getting the damn knot correct. He was tired, which made sense, seeing as he didn't go to sleep until late last night. He and Lucas had spent most of last night talking about their holidays, until finally sleep claimed both of them. Speaking of which...

Michael looked over at the bed next to him, and shook his head when he saw Lucas sprawled out, still sleeping. "C'mon Lucas, time to wake up. Everyone else has left the dorm." Michael said, walking over to his friend, and nudging him with a foot. Lucas only grumbled, and burrowed deeper into his duvet. Michael rolled his eyes as he slipped on his robe. "Whatever. Not my fault if you're late to Herbology."

Michael double checked that he did, in fact, have Herbology, and nodded, before he grabbed his gloves, and slipped them into his robe pockets. He grabbed his wand, and began walking out the door, before he stopped, an idea coming to him. He turned to face his friend's bed, and grinned mischievously, before pointing his wand and thinking, 'Flipendo'. The non-verbal spell had the desired effect, as both Mattress and occupant flew out of the bed frame, and onto the floor. "Good Morning~" Michael called out, closing the door before Lucas could get revenge.

Michael walked down the stairs into the common room, and was surprised to see two first years arguing. "I thought you said you knew where the classroom was!" one hissed, obviously wanting to be quiet.

"I thought I did! But that Slytherin made me unsure!" the other one hissed back, and Michael rolled his eyes. Whilst he knew that not all Slytherins were bad, he wasn't exactly surprised that it was one of them that had the first years confused on their first day.

"What're you two looking for?" Michael asked, causing both of the kids to freeze. They looked at the fifth-year with something between awe and terror. Michael sighed, before adding, "I'm not going to bite."

One of the kids, the first one that Michael had heard talk, nudged the second one forwards. The unfortunate kid stammered, "W-we have Charms... W-with professor Flitwick..." making Michael nod.

"I'm guessing Room 2E?" he asked, making the kids nod. "In that case, you'll want the Third Floor, along the Charms Corridor. On the staircase, if possible, take the exit with the nun painting next to it. Otherwise, just ask for directions from Hufflepuffs." he stated, causing the first-years to stammer out an apology, and flee the dormitory. Michael smiled fondly, remembering the time where he was terrified by all the higher years.

Michael was snapped out of his reminiscing by his stomach rumbling. He shook his head, and followed the two kids out of the dorm, deciding to just get a quick breakfast from the great hall before going to his class.

After grabbing a slice of buttered toast, Michael began heading to the Greenhouses. He saw a few Gryffindors and Slytherins heading down to Hagrid's hut, but he refrained from doing anything other than nodding politely to a few he locked eyes with accidentally. Whilst he had nothing against the other houses, he just didn't really know them enough to actually talk to them.

He devoured the last of his toast as he approached the greenhouses, noting that most of both classes were already there. He saw two familiar faces, one from his house, and the other from the train, but they were locked in conversation. Rather than butting in, he stood a little off to the side of his fellow Quidditch player; close enough that he could talk them if he wanted, but far enough away that he wasn't butting in.

After another minute of waiting, a man who Michael assumed to be their teacher walked in, and everyone went dead silent. Small whispers started up again almost immediately, but they all seemed to be about the same thing. "Is that Neville?" the kid next to him asked, and Michael turned his head to hear their conversation better.

"I think it is! Neville Longbottom!" another kid whispered, and finally Michael's curiosity got the better of him.

"Neville who?" he asked, getting the attention of the boy next to him. The boy's head spun around so fast Michael was worried his neck might break, but obviously high speeds didn't seem to affect the Hufflepuff.

"You don't know who Neville Longbottom is?!" he whispered, although it was more of a stage whisper than anything, as a few groups around them stopped their own conversations to listen. "He was one of the biggest parts in stopping You-Know-Who!"

"No, I'm afraid I don't know who. Now do you mind not beating around the bush and tell me what the hell you're talking about?" Michael said, annoyance creeping into his voice.

The Hufflepuff narrowed his eyes, and Michael decided he didn't like him. "I think it would be wasted on you, Muggleborn." he sneered back, and Michael frowned.

"And you're a Hufflepuff. Now that we're done stating the obvious, answer my question!" Michael retorted, earning a giggle from one of the people around them. The Hufflepuff looked as if he was about to reply, but he was cut off by the Professor.

"Hello everyone! I'm your new Herbology Professor. As I'm sure you're well aware of, Professor Sprout has retired, and I'm taking her place from now on." the Professor said, quieting everyone down. "Today, we'll be learning about Fanged Geraniums. Before we start, are there any questions?" he asked, causing about a dozen hands to jump into the air, including that of the boy beside Michael. "Er, how about... You." he stated, pointing at said Hufflepuff.

"Is the story about the snake and the Sword of Gryffindor true?" he asked, making Michael facepalm slightly at such a tactless question.

"Well, yes, but I was talking about questions regarding the class..." the Professor replied, obviously uncomfortable. The Hufflepuff's hand shot up again, but this time he didn't wait until he was chosen.

"And about Harry Potter? And You-Know-Who?" the boy asked, before Michael nudged him rather violently, shooting him a glare that clearly said, 'shut up'. The boy glared at him, before he lowered his arm, and he mouthed 'lunchtime'.

Professor Longbottom looked relieved, and he replied, "Yes, it's true. Are there anymore questions?" upon looking at the multitude of hands, he added, "Relating to the class?" this caused all of the hands to lower, and he nodded. "Right. Now then, if there's nothing else, let's begin."

 

[Coreysawrus]

Lucas hit the floor with a bump with the mattress landing on him shortly after. After hearing a voice and the dorm room door close in his panicked state he knew Michael was the culprit. Gathering his bearings he stood up and lifted the mattress into the vacated bed frame and proceeded to put his uniform on as quickly as possible.

Lucas looked scruffy as he caught a glance of himself as he walked past a mirror but he didn't care. He rushed out the dorm and common room and was walking as fast as possible down the corridors to get to the greenhouses for Herbology class he attempted to fix his hair with his hands to make himself look a little more presentable.

While rushing and not looking where he was going Lucas tripped over a lose stone in the floor and fell into one of the decorative suits of armour. Professor Slughorn burst out of a nearby classroom complaining of the racket. "What was the infernal" he stopped talking "You need to be careful next time" He looked down the corridor and singled out two Hufflepuff girls "You two fetch this clumsy oaf to Madam Pomfrey, I'll get Filch to sort this mess out."

The two girls wrapped their arms around Lucas and stood either side of him as they helped him to the medical wing. "Thanks girls, now let me have a look" Pomfrey said as she examined Lucas. "Ah this shouldn't take long" she exclaimed as she waved her wand to cast a healing spell. "Well that should be done and here is a note explaining your lateness" She said cheerily, Lucas thanked her and went down to the greenhouses.

Lucas arrived 20 minutes late to class. The teacher peered across to Lucas and proceeded to ask "Why are you 20 minutes late to my class?".

Lucas replied "Well someone decided to break my mattress" he quickly glanced in Michael's direction "And I have this note explaining my extended absence" he replied handing over the note to the professor.

The professor quickly read the note over "Okay right, I'm Professor Longbottom quickly find a seat and get notes off someone else and then we will carry on with the class" Lucas followed the professors instructions and sat down next to Michael staring at him in discontent.

 

[Dwayna DragonFire]

A boy with the telltale colors of yellow and black walked up to her carriage, asking Violet's permission to sit with her. She simply nodded, looking at him with a purely neutral expression. Out of all the houses in Hogwarts, Hufflepuff was the least like Slytherin, therefore making it more difficult to form friendships. But there was something about the boy that she couldn't quite put a finger on, like she had seen him before.

"My name's Nathan Smith, by the way," he said, in slightly accented tones that betrayed his heritage as from outside the United Kingdom. "It's nice to meet you." He seemed polite enough, but that was perhaps one of the more common traits of his house.

"Is it possible I've seen you in Dueling classes before?" came his inquisitive tone, at which she achieved some form of recognition. Ah, that must have been it, she thought. "If I recall correctly, you're somewhat of a celebrity for your offensive skills, right?"

"Indeed," she replied, as the carriage plodded onward. "I have been known to be somewhat adept at dueling. The name's Violet Vaelos. You may have heard of my family." It was something of pride for her, because who in Hogwarts hadn't heard of a long line of wizards, especially in Slytherin? The carriage slowed as they pulled up to the castle, at which point she jumped down from her seat, looking back for a moment with a thoughtful expression.

"I shall see you in dueling, then," she said, a bit of challenge in her tone even though her lips curved into a smile. "It was a pleasure, Nathan." With that said, she turned back towards the castle and hurried off, the slight worry about having made a good impression in her mind even though he was a Hufflepuff. Altogether her family may prefer Slytherin house, but the other houses surely had their merit.

---

Hogwarts tended to have a bit of a tradition with putting the Slytherins with the Gryffindors first thing in the morning. Care of Magical Creatures was one of those peculiar classes that Violet seemed interested in, if only for the learning experience. Anything that she could potentially use in the future to her advantage, after all. She stood with her other Slytherin comrades near Hagrid's hut, simply waiting for the lesson to begin.

 

[Dark Soul]

Nathan had been right about the Slytherin girl's identity. 'Indeed.' She replied in a neutral-to-friendly tone of voice. 'I have been known to be somewhat adept at dueling.' She continued, which Nathan found quite an understatement. Even in the burrows of the Hufflepuff commons, some of her duels had been the topic of the day, but modesty was only to be expected from a girl raised with upper-class manners.

'The name's Violet Vaelos- You may have heard of my family.' The girl introduced herself. Nathan made sure to memorize her name. Her family name did ring a bell, as he had overheard it being mentioned in a couple of conversations between fellows students. Nathan, as a half-blood raised in Muggle society, had never done extensive research into the famous or infamous wizarding families of Great Britain or his own country. Perhaps, he thought to himself, he ought to lend a book on the matter from the library.

The carriage reached its destination, and the students started pouring out towards the gates of the castle. Violet smiled at him as they prepared to leave. 'I'll see you in Dueling, then.' She greeted, her voice suddenly somewhat less reserved. 'It was a pleasure, Nathan.' Although Nathan smiled back in return, he wasn't particularly looking forward to Dueling. He'd only decided to take part to try and improve his DADA grade, terrible as he was at offensive spells and curses. Still, if anything, it was an exhilarating pastime.

~~~

The food is still as great as ever, Nathan thought contentedly as he and a couple of fellow Hufflepuffs made their way over to their first class of the year; Herbology. Although the subject did not appeal to Nathan at all, combining the tediousness of various caretaking processes with the danger of poisoning and other serious physical harm, he still preferred it over Potions class, in which he'd rarely ever gotten a proper result. Besides, as long as he had some friends along to talk to, Nathan could manage.

Their Herbology teacher, a man of whom everyone in the wizarding world had heard, Neville Longbottom, introduced himself to his students and informed they were going to start off their semester with Fanged Geraniums. When he took the time to answer some questions, a boy who appeared to be from Nathan's house started tactlessly bothering him about the legacy that surrounded him and his friends.

Fortunately, a Ravenclaw stepped in and they were able to get started.

 

[Tailon]

OoC: Care of Magical Creatures (please start adding the vignette name in the OoC)

It felt like a year since Garrick had stretched his legs when the Hogwarts Express finally pulled into the tiny cluster of buildings at Hogsmeade Station, the enormous Hogwarts Castle looming over the lake, which already had first years filing toward it, led by Professor Hagrid, as Garrick stepped off onto the platform, following the wave of people to the carriages. From afar, Garrick spotted his favorite Thestral, rather arbitrary, in retrospect, they mostly looked the same; still, Professor Hagrid had later told Garrick that the Thestral’s name was Tenebrus, and that he had been the first Thestral to be born on Hogwarts grounds.

Today, Garrick found Tenebrus the last Thestral on a team pulling a curiously empty carriage and quickly slipped inside, patting the thestral on the side as he did, and locking the door with a quiet “Colloportus”.
“You know, Tenebrus,” Garrick said to the Thestral, “I haven’t had a moment of privacy on these damned carriages since I joined the Quidditch team.”
Garrick laughed to himself as the Thestrals snorted and began to pull the dark carriages to the looming castle.

---

The rest of the night passed quite uneventfully as with every year, a few new boys and girls joined them at the Gryffindor, and Headmistress McGonogall made a rather long winded speech, as she was required to do, and delicious food soon followed to commemorate the start of the year.

After the feast, Garrick made his way up to the Gryffindor Common Room, told the Fat Lady “Horntail”, and then immediately made his way up to his bed to sleep, exhausted from a full day.

---

The next morning, Garrick made his way down to Professor Hagrid’s cabin after breakfast, having stayed behind to eat a bit more while the others had already filed out. Of course, he knew he was fast enough to catch up. As Garrick arrived, Hagrid was just exiting his cabin. He was a mountain of a man, owing to his heritage, and while he had gained a few grey hairs in his many, many years of working at Hogwarts, he did not look his surprising age.

“Alrigh’ then, now everyone’s here,” Hagrid said loudly so everyone could hear, “we’re goin’ to be headin’ down to the lake fer our first lesson, so follow me close!” Hagrid then began walking, followed by the congregation of Gryffindors and Slytherins.

 

[Shiny Motley]

OOC: Herbology

Laura nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard someone speak to her, having been too busy looking at the plants in the greenhouse to even notice that someone had approached her. “Um, yeah, that’s me!” she stammered out, smiling slightly at the other girl. “And I don’t mind, you can sit here.” She looked oddly familiar, but before she could think further she heard another person blurt something out loudly to the teacher, and realized that their Professor had been talking.

Looking up, Laura managed to get a glimpse of their Professor, who was most definitely not Professor Sprout, or even a woman at all. Of course, Sprout wasn’t even present with the rest of the Hufflepuffs last night, but she had been too tired to even notice at the time.

Laura watched, somewhat intrigued, as Professor Longbottom uncomfortably answered the boy’s question, whom she immediately recognized as fellow a fellow Hufflepuff. “Are there anymore questions?” he asked, and when a forest of hands shot up, he clarified, “Relating to the class?” Laura sighed with relief when all hands went down, knowing exactly how Professor Longbottom must have felt, as it was how she usually was a day after a Quidditch game.

Now that introductions were over, Professor Longbottom began what seemed to be a well-rehearsed lecture about handling Fanged Geraniums. “Fanged Geraniums might look like pretty roses, but if you stop on the road to smell them, you might find yourself with a bloody nose,” he said, and Laura shivered at the thought of finding a flower only to get bitten by it. “Dangerous as they are, though, their fangs are very useful for potion ingredients, and we’ll be focusing on de-fanging these plants. Gloves out, everyone,” he said, and several of the students began hurriedly putting on their gloves, Laura included.

As Professor Longbottom continued talking, Laura found herself trying to handle the plants, only to cower back every two seconds as the flowers kept attacking her fingers. “I’m sorry I’m so useless,” she muttered to her partner, who she now recognized as one of the Gryffindor Chaser’s sisters. She noticed the excited glint in the other girl’s eyes, and Laura smiled again, this time a little less shyly. “I’m Laura, but I guess you already knew that? And, um, would I be right to guess that you’re Sid’s sister? I would have thought you were in the same house.”

 

[Dark Soul]

OOC: Herbology

'Why did they have to be fanged?' Nathan sighed to himself as he carefully attempted to extract the sharp fangs from the geranium's green, featureless beak. Presumably, as he was in his fifth year, the school thought Nathan ready to take on more dangerous assignments- An opinion Nathan did not share.

His partner, a fellow Hufflepuff and friend of Nathan's called Gavin, proved somewhat more adept at handling the dangerous flower. He held it tightly by its thick, trashing stem with one hand, trying to keep the upper jaw separated from the lower one with the other. It made Nathan's task a lot easier, although he still had to watch out for whenever the flower escaped Gavin's grasp and snapped at his fingers.

The fact that the fangs he was collecting were used in the recipes for Potions class gave Nathan no solace either; Potions was another subject he was pretty terrible at. The slightest misstep could have disastrous results, and much too often, it had. It had taken quite a lot of assistance from Slughorn as well as more gifted friends to achieve an A on his finals last year, and this year would only be more difficult.

Nathan preferred not to think of it too much. He was, in fact, looking forward to many subjects as well, especially his favourites, Charms and Transfiguration, and in a geeky way, subjects such as Astronomy and Muggle Studies. The latter subject he had only picked for an easy Outstanding, accustomed to Muggle life as he was.

Thinking about his upcoming subjects, Nathan was caught off guard by the vicious plant for a short second, and it took the opportunity to bite his finger. Thanks to the dragonleather gloves, the fangs didn't penetrate- But still stung like hell. Nathan cursed. 'Ah, you rotten little-'