With his loud and very early announcement blaring, Scrimgeour made his way down to the pitch. What an exciting day it was going to be for everyone. It was the first day of classes and, even better, the first of many mornings of the S.O.R.E. The character that would be built from it was going to be like music to his ears.

Rather than find a random spot on the dewy pitch to stand when he arrived, the old man remained outside the undecorated structure. He and the other staff members would be there soon enough. He was sure the students would need some ... encouragement ... while they ran their laps.

His back to the entrance as the sun slowly but surely started to peek over the horizon, icy eyes looked to the distance for the first signs of student life.

Foster arrived shortly after Headmaster Scrimgeour and stood tall as he approached the gentleman. It was the perfect day for classes to start and a fantastic way to start the day. He took in a deep lung full of the crisp morning air before slowly letting it out. "Good morning, Headmaster, how may I assist you with the morning's activity?"

He turned his body so he could see both the Headmaster and the flood of students that would soon be arriving at the pitch. He hoped they would be hasty in their arrival. He had a packed schedule to attend to and tardiness was unacceptable.

Kimi was still half asleep and in his running gear he was still very confused as to what was going on he wished that he was still in his bed sleeping

To be honest, Dorian wasn't against the morning exercise. He knew from three year experience that being in good condition was mandatory to stay alive at Hogwarts. Literally...

With his training clothes on, the Ravenclaw walked toward the quidditch pitch, trying to hold back a yawn which failed. Once he arrived, the boy looked around and....realised he was the first student to arrive.

"Wait, that can't be right" he said with a frown and lost in his thoughts until he noticed the new Headmaster. and one of the Professors he did not know the name of yet...oops? "Good morning, headmaster...professor" he greeted before he looked away and realised that he hadn't been the first to arrive.

Aww too bad... "Hi Kimi!" he greeted the seventh year far more enthusiastically than the adults.

Kay was there but not because she wanted to. Running exercises indeed. She didn't mind doing that because it was something she did almost everyday, a run around the Grounds. What she minded though was the fact that the students had to be up extra early for this new and rather STUPID mandatory exercise. They needed the extra time for SLEEPING not running. It'll only tire them out for their lessons later.

With a scowl on her usually pleasant face, she arrived at the Pitch. Foster was there already and... did she hear him correctly? He was offering to help? She shook her head as she moved to stand beside him. "Mr. Davis,'' Kay said somewhat warmly to Foster. Really, she held nothing against him for offering to help; she didn't think she could ever be mad at him or anything of the sort.

Julian himself received a small scowl. "Headmaster,'' the woman said frostily, crossing her arms over her chest and throwing as much sarcasm and contempt into the word that she could muster.

Kimi's and Dorian's arrival were acknowledged with a nod. No smiles though.

After much effort and getting a bit lost, Stella made it down to the pitch in awe, this was the amazing field she was told about by her father. Although it was empty besides the Headmaster and one of the Professor Davis and Stewart she sheepishly walked towards them determined not let the headmaster she her fear. She was a Gryffindor she was brave and strong, she wasn't let the big baf wolf ruin her year of fun. She didn't know who the Headmistress was before, but she looked alot nicer then this man did, he looked scary and mean.

" Good morning Headmaster Scrimgeour sir, hope you're well." she said with a swift nod. Locking at Professor Davis the Arithmancy and Muggle Studies professor. " Good morning Professor Davis and Stewart hope you're well as well." she said. Stella knew that she was early, but she didn't want to get on the Headmaster's bad side any at all.

After having seen the notice in her common room, Penny had grabbed her old, beat up, hand me down trainers and tossed on some sweats and such. This was ALL very stressful for the girl, honestly. Deviation from the norm was not something that she dealt with well, but it was what it was, right? So here she was, mismatched sweat suit and ratty trainers... and hair a mess as she approached the quidditch pitch. Which was, honestly, not somewhere she had ever stepped foot in her now 4 years at Hogwarts. The sport thing was decidely not HER thing, ya know.

The thought of running and training or whatever it was they were about to face, made her stomach knot up a bit. Good thing she had only had milk and toast for breakfast, yeah? Hah. Glancing around she could not place either of her siblings amongst those that had already gathered.. and really that made the anxiety bubble start to form right in the centre of her chest. This was going to be bad, right? Hope was not a thing that was being held out for, after all.

Now... where was Anna or Derf or anyone that could distract her really?

Skyler binked her eyes as she got closer...she had no idea why they had to have trainers for this. She then spotted him, the new headmaster. .she narrowed her eyes slightly but got with the other students. She really did not like him from the night of the first term feast.

It was safe to say that Jessa Cambridge hated exercise. Running. Skipping. Flying. Sports. Movement that required too much of her. Absolutely hated it. There was a reason that for the last 6 years, on any given day of the week here the girl remained inside the castle. All this outdoor stuff.....not a fan.

Having not been asleep when the message rang out, she didn’t move sluggishly to the pitch—but she wasn’t exactly dressed for the occasion either. No. The Head Girl arrived in her school uniform, ready for the classes of the day, not for ....this.

Jessa scowled as she made her way over to the others by the pitch, giving her own head of house very little in the way of acknowledgement. The woman was no Hirsch and she hadn’t liked her in a long time, not since that whole muggle incident. That whole year had been a weird one, an uncomfortable one.

Her schoolmates all got nods of greeting before she looked to the new Headmaster. “I’d like to be excused. I’ve got asthma and don’t fancy a trip to the hospital wing so I can run in circles. Please.” The last word an afterthought to be polite but really, the brisk early morning Scottish air mixed with physical exertion was precisely what she DIDN’T need.

Skyler eyed the girl as if to say, I don't think he's the type of man to take no for an answer. Yes, Skyler was for curtain she did not like him. And it wasn't just because of the running. She didn't mind running. It's just something about the way that he carried himself put her on edge.

.... A change of Headmaster and a very loud, horribly bossy alarm was not the way that she had wanted to start the term... However she was HERE and nothing was going to get her down. Not even having to run so early in the morning... besides, she ran with her fellow gymnasts a few times a week as part of their training. She wasn't great at it - wasn't the fasted, wasn't able to go for the longest without becoming breathless.... but she didn't hate it... which... right now seemed like a really, really, really big thing to be thankful for.

Blinking as her eyes adjusted to the darkness after the lit corridors, Holly frowned and wrapped her arms around her stomach against the brisk air of the early (really reeally early) September morning.

Please be a joke. Please be over quickly if you aren't joking.

Abraham Botros Jr. was not even remotely a morning person. He was not the type of person to be particularly happy with a rude awakening such as the entire castle had just received, AND he sorely despised (and was terrible at) running. But he also wasn't willing to find out what those serious consequences were.

And also, the prefect thing. He sort of had to follow the rules... even when the rules were painful and made him grumpy beyond all reason.

Bleary-eyed, toussle-haired, and dressed in the closest thing to running gear he could find in his trunk - including a sweatshirt he wore inside out and back to front, with his prefect badge pinned haphazardly to his chest - Abra all but stumbled his was to his beloved Quidditch pitch as instructed, shivering in the cool early September morning air. It was certainly enough to get him awake and... okay, not alert, but definitely awake. He joined the group that had already started gathering, nodded to those he knew, and cast a wary look towards the new headmaster. His anxiety rose up suddenly inside his chest and had him nearly choking on his greeting.

"G'mor-... Uh, I mean... Good morning. Um. Headmaster." His eyes flitted to the other teachers present. "And Professors..." Oh. He knew Stewart, but not the other one. There had been no introductions at the feast, so Abra simply trailed off. So, this running thing. Were they supposed to just start, or...?

You know what? Actually, it was not a good morning. Barely even dawn and Abra was already up and about to start??? running?????????? exercises?????

It was not a good morning at all.

Kimi smiled and said "Oh hey Dorian" Kimi could see that people were showing up but what was the meaning of it and he nodded to Professor Stewart in return he could see that she wasn't in a good mood

The dumb Gryffindor had not even been paying attention to the new Headmaster during the feast so anything he said during it was lost on him so this was a horrible surprise to wake up to even worse than the classes he was expecting already after breakfast.

Rude

Ever so slowly Théo was getting there. Even tho he did run in the morning it as a personal choice and right now it was mandatory which the sixth year Gryffindor hated above all else plus everyone else here. It was way too early to be dealing with so many people.

With as much bed head as a person can have Théo finally arrived and made his way to a random spot and was just there. Maybe not even fully there mentally until they started running.

But physically was enough for now.

......... Um.

No.

No no no no no.

Lucas had been having a nice dream about food and exploring the castle and camping sleepovers in the Grounds which included more food but no. The booming voice had interrupted all of that and, as punishment, they were being forced to run. RUN! In the MORNING! Actually, it wasn't really morning, was it? The sun wasn't even out so it was still the middle of the night and and....

He was one very unhappy Gryffindor.

Yawning and rubbing his eyes, Lucas put on a spare t-shirt, comfortable trousers and trainers and stumbled his way to the..... uh, Quidditch pitch? See, he didn't know where most things in this castle was - and they didn't have any maps! - so he just followed the crowd, especially the older Gryffindors, and hoped they were going the right way. Which, upon seeing the goalhoops, it looked like they were so that was the.... uh, what was it that people said? The silver some-

...........

His hand was over one eye but he still managed to see what was going on. And what was going on was the amount of people that were already there. And they were greeting..... the adult people??? Lucas didn't really know any of the adult people properly so he just.... stayed quiet. Though, he guessed he knew the new Headmaster guy but the man didn't look like someone you should greet unless you were very very desperate so yeah. He picked a spot on the pitch and just sort of stood there. Awkwardly.

So, uh, how long was this going to last? Because he wanted to go back to bed.

And running was a really bad way to start the school year. Couldn't they have some board games, instead?

Tad was here at last. His face was partially covered due to him still adjusting to the bright light that threatened to blind behind his heavy eyelids. "Good-" *YAAAAWWWWN* "Excuse me, Morning Headmaster and Professors." He managed, before wiping his eyes. He wasn't going to be a baby here, especially with his Head of House there.

So he wasn't the first.. or the last to arrive. Right? He looked around and saw he was standing next to another firstie (Holly). "I wonder how long we'll be here." He muttered.

It wasn’t so much the early wakeup that bothered Stasya. It was the fact that they’d been warned there would be serious consequences if they didn’t go down to the pitch when summoned, and that only helped her suspicions and possible distrust of the man who was allegedly there to make Hogwarts great again. Since, in fact, she had recognized the voice that had delivered the message, and even still exhausted, she’d made the decision that, as prefect, she had to go jump through whatever hoops she was ordered to. The difference was that she wasn’t going to like it. If anything, she was going to use every little bit of acting skill she might’ve learned from drama club, along with just having spent five years now with some of the most dramatic girls she knew. Emmeline notwithstanding.

The walk out to the pitch was okay, in the workout gear she’d chosen to bring with her just in case she decided to exercise, her badge pinned to her hoodie and her hair only the tiniest bit mussed in the braids she’d put it in before she’d gone to bed. Running wasn’t her thing but she’d thought about maybe starting even before now. And choice was still a big detail with her. Professor Hirsch had taught her that along with everything he’d taught her about defense. She couldn’t do things because someone wanted her to, she had to do them for her. Although, this she was doing just as much for the little first years as she was herself.

“Good morning headmaster, professors,” she said, affecting a smile that might’ve been a bit more genuine as it had landed on Professor Stewart. Maybe. Acting. Although she’d also gone over to stand near little Stella too, just in case, grey-green eyes flicking over in Jessa’s direction as she’d spoken. This was either going to be okay or very, very bad.

Nathan being the last to wake up, walked slowly to the Quidditch pitch. Serious consequences he says, that old man was starting to get onto his nerves. It was only their first day back in school! Thank merlin, this was to be his last year. He wondered how long he had to put up with their ridiculous rules.

And no, he wasn’t going to greet anyone when he was in his most groggiest of moods this morning. Nope.

Chase was just going to pretend this was just going to an early class with his fellow students... Honestly daily exercises would turn into such an event. He was sure of it. So he jogged down to the Quidditch Pitch as a warm up cool down when he was close enough to the Quidditch Pitch, he slowed his pace to a walk so he wouldn't be too breathless when he greeted his new Headmaster, Professors, and peers.

"Good morning, Headmaster. Professors," he spoke, nodding his head in respect to the adults and masking his curious gaze at the Headmaster in particular. So many questions he had... Maybe he ought to speak to his own Head of House to figure out what exactly was going on.

"Hey!" He offered a smile to some of his peers before sidling up to Stasya. "Sorta wonder what those consequences would have been...." he whispered. Maybe they ought to start stretching. He decided to casually start stretching. Who knew what this man was going to make them do other than running? Running was probably the beginning... Speaking of exercise... where was Anna?

No.

No, no, no, no, no.

This was dumb. This was the dumbest thing ever. Tessa could understand how exercise could be mandatory - after all, her mum told her it was that way in a lot of muggle schools, but before DAWN? This had to be illegal or something. Surely. Maybe this was a.....very weird nightmare....? But no, after pinching herself multiple times and hearing movement from her dormmates, she was forced to come to the conclusion that she was definitely awake.

UUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHH.

As much as Tessa hated the idea of a morning jog, she didn't much fancy being in trouble on the first day back either, so she begrudgingly pulled on appropriate clothing and tied her hair up. She wasn't shouting her protests from the roof for one simple reason - IT WAS TOO EARLY. She desperately hoped that this was a one off thing. A once a year kinda thing. Twice a year, tops. Anything more and this new Headmaster and Tessa would be having problems.

With one last longing glance at her bed, Tessa left her dorm with her dormmates and headed down to the Quidditch pitch. Usually, she would be cheery and upbeat, but right now she was too tired to manage even a smile.

.........................

".....Good???.....morning???....." she managed to utter to the Headmaster and Professors. One of those words was a lie. Could you guess which??? This particular morning was not going to be good at all.

Lex hadn't slept last night due to her worry about this term's changes so far.... so she hadn't been woken up by the booming announcement from Headmaster Scrimgeour. But, this also meant that she was exhausted, and not much looking forward to doing a bunch of running. Besides, her recent growth spurt had made her quite awkward and clumsy. This was not going to be fun.

As she made her way to the quidditch pitch, she stifled several yawns. She rubbed her tired eyes and waited for further instructions from Scrimgeour. Had he said that this was a daily thing? As in, they had to do this running every day?!

This certainly left Lex in a grumpy mood. She sighed impatiently, which was unusual for her; typically she was the most patient person she knew. But she just wanted to get this thing over with and stay out of trouble.

"Morning," she managed to mumble to the people around her, and gave each of the professors and Headmaster Scrimgeour a quick nod.

Patrick was not thrilled to be up this early. He was a growing boy and needed food. He seriously hated getting up this early. He typically only got up this early for baseball tournaments on the weekend. His eyes felt tired, which was why he had kept his head low and hoped he wouldn’t have to be too interactive. He had tried to be a good house leader and get the first years up and at em. He really was not looking forward to this.

What wizard in their right mind needed to be able to run? Didn’t they just aparate where they needed to. Although Patrick supposed it wouldn’t be that bad since he had run a few miles a few times each week during the summer. But a headmaster imposing such a thing. He nodded at the professors who were already at the field. And he gave a very quiet “good morning headmaster.”. He had stood next to a couple of his friends nodding at Penny, Abra, Nathan, and his house mate Skyler.

He was trying to see if any Maxton was anywhere to be found so he could ask about stragglers. He hopped they’d wait until the headmaster had told them the punishment before deciding to stay in bed. He was anxious because this did not bode well for a new year. He was concerned that this would be a very different year, although maybe it would be safer.

Finally, a familliar face. Skyler smiled at Patrick and ran over to him.
She was too scared to say much before the headmaster had a word in but she did smile at Patrick at least.
"Morning' Patrick," she managed to mutter, her fear mixing with annoyance. She was annoyed because this is what Hogwarts had come to. A dismill place. She was scared too. Shd had read all about the second wizard war and about how Diloris Umbridge had managed to take over the school and eventually the ministry of magic. Is this what it's going to be like?

Stella looked at Chase and Lucas and gave them a small wave, afraid if she smiled she was going to get into trouble. Dear God they were going to be running, what the heck did he think this was a military school? It was Hogwarts a magical school where they learned magic not running around the bloody quidditch field! The sun wasn't even up yet, so why was she up again? Oh... yeah, the big bad wolf of a Headmaster said for everyone to be here, so... here she was. This year was turning out to such a great start... not!

Stella thought this year was going to be fun and good, not like she was in military school being punished. What was next running around singing some kind of chant? She was definitely feeling like she waa at a military school then at Hogwarts, a place of happiness and magic.