A curious Professor has arrived. :D
 

A football field, eh? Very muggle thing to have at a magical school. Not that Isabelle minded, she had two football mad youngsters in her family, a nephew and, perhaps oddly to some, a niece who was worse. Many a time she had watched from the sidelines with her sister while their husbands shouted encouragement. This time it was the students who were attracting her attention.

Wandering up slowly, she stood silently next to the only other grown person there. For a few seconds at least. "It looks wonderful," she smiled, gazing at the many kids running around playing with the balls at their feet. "Isabelle Magnus, Transfiguration professor." She turned her head towards the man and extended a hand. She had an idea that he was the Groundskeeper, but wasn't a hundred percent sure. "Is this your creation, or are you just another interested party like me?"

"Hey Katelyn." Carter said. He looked around at the others before saying, "That's fine with me. The more the merrier, right?" he said with a little laugh.

"Are you sure?" Carter asked. "Because you're more than welcome to. Mina said you guys learned how to play in muggle studies a few years back..." he said.

Hopefully that wasn't an awkward assumption to make. Marie did attend every class while they were together... so surely, she attended them just the same when they weren't. Right?

Or maybe she didn't want to play because she thought they were in that awkward phase. Which... if Carter had half a brain... he would realize that that was exactly the phase they were in. But little Carter, being the oblivious boy he was, didn't realize the hints that she was dropping at the ice cream shop.

"I'm Carter." he responded. "Carter Phillips." He should say his last name, right? The groundskeeper did it.

"You did a brilliant job with it. And it's pretty popular." he said. Not bad for someone's first day, right?

Carter chuckled as Nai once again called him 'Carter by the way.' He had a feeling he'd never hear the end of that one.

"Carter." the blonde Gryffindor replied. It seemed this girl was another one that had played for years.

...

Soccer? Oh right, she must have lived across the way like Ella had. He nodded encouragingly after she said football. She'd get it. Football made more sense anyway. What was a 'soccer?' Nothing that had to do with a foot and a ball for sure.

Also Isabelle Magnus and Carter.. a bit.
 

As the man created more balls, Evan could finally thought of looking at his face, and when he did, he was quite surprised. The man wasn't the same. The person from last year was gone! With his mouth dropping a little, he stated simply "You're new." Well, he couldn't really say he was sorry for the last one--what was his name again? Sure, losing people was always sad but... shrug. What could you do sometimes? Besides, this new man was DEFINITELY an expert on fun and grounds, setting a field was the best indicator he rocked.

"Welcome to the Hogwarts, sir!" he told the man with a pat on his shoulder, a bit harder than intended. But he was hyperr! Beaming at him, he said "Thank you for thinking of this, sir. This is amazing."

He was about to bend down to take a ball, but then remembered it was football. With his left leg, he casually bounced the ball two times on his foot before it was at the height of his hand. Then he grabbed it, and only then did he notice a new person has joined them. And this new person was a woman to be precise, someone he had never seen before.

"Welcome you too, professor!" he said merrily. So many new people was here, but quite frankly, no offence to the leaving ones, he didn't that much care. Because he got FOOTBALL, and that was enough for all.

As he was going to make his way to the centre, he also managed to think of looking at other people, and noticing he didn't know most of the people there, he was a bit disappointed that he would be playing alone. However, he heard Carter's voice, and turning to that direction, he saw him talking to Marie. Hmpf. What was he doing now? Though he couldn't even be angry, because he had FOOTBALL, and that made up for all.

Making his way to them nevertheless, he hit the boy with his shoulder softly before looking down at a sitting Marie. Had she been here and heard all his joy, he had no idea. But she'd better get that butt up, not for Carter but for him, because he wanted to play, run, tackle, dribble and shoot. And you obviously couldn't do four of them alone.

"Come, come, get UP!" he said excitedly, giving no credit and whatsoever to the dork. "This is amazing, isn't it? We're gonna play FOOTBALL!" Dropping the ball next to her, he clapped and beamed happily like a little child who was bought his favourite toy.

Grabbing her from both or her hands, he pulled her up with no effort at all and then, beaming again with his cheeks still red, went over the ball to get it to his hands artistically again.

Oh, the joy of using his legs!

Caroline Laughed and ran after her. Her blonde bouncing as she ran after the girl. Oh I can"She caught up to her and stole the ball with her foot. She turned and headed toward the oppsite goal Let's see if you can keep up. she giggled.

"Nice to meet you Carter," Isobel said. "What year are you in?" After an afterthought she added, "I'm a third year?" Isobel's hair whipped in her face and she frowned. Isobel was glad that she had a hair tie on her wrist; she pulled her hair up into a ponytail so it wouldn't bother her. She really hated it when her hair got in her face while playing. "So, Carter, do you play soccer often?"

Anyone wanna play? ^_^
 

NOWAI.

He'd been talking to - Ellie, wasn't it? - at the opening feast about playing soccer sometime, and he takes one short walk outside, and what does he find? A soccer field. Awesome! Dallin scanned the field, a smile coming to his face. Yes, it wasn't American Football, but soccer was cool, too.

Catching sight of a pile of balls, he headed over. He bent over and picked one of them up, testing it in his hands. Seemed great. As he straightened up, he saw what looked like two professor people. He gave them both a smile and stepped a little closer to them. "Hey," he said cheerfully, then remembered they were professors; should he be more formal? Eh. "Are one of you the Groundskeeper? 'Cause this place is awesome!" He shifted the soccer ball from hand to hand, smiling.

"Alice look there it is!"

The Slytherin lad couldnt believe his eyes as it sets upon the large expanse of green before him. There is a field. A field that only last term he wished Hogwarts would have. "Its like they heard me." he said chuckling that soon grew into a hearty laugh.

He tipped the brim of his cap and pounded his fist into his baseball glove, two items he transfigured from class last term that miraculously stayed as they were. "Guess we wouldnt have to play catch in the classrooms anymore now wont we?" he laughed as he led the young Gryffindor towards the greens.

professor in the hizzle? xD hahaha
 

The kids certainly were having fun. So much so that they hardly noticed she had arrived. Not that she minded - her ego wasn't so big that she needed the children to say hello everytime she went somewhere. No, Issy was happy to just stand and watch.

Although someone noticed eventually, it seemed. "Well thank you very much!" she beamed, nodding her head in appreciation. She would have added an 'it's nice to be here', but that would have made her sound like some celebrity at a charity function.

Issy didn't mean to make him jump, but for some reason she found the fact he did, and the slight frown that accompanied the glance he first gave her, to be funny.

Biting her lip to stop her from actually laughing, she nodded with him as he responded to her comment. She certainly wished her grass at home was as nice as this. No such luck.

"Nice to meet you, Chad," she smiled, shaking his hand, before placing her own in her pockets and rocking back and forth on her heels. "I thought you were the Groundskeeper, the way you were looking on rather proudly." And he had every reason to.

The person before? To be truthful, Isabelle didn't really know who that was. She doubted it would be the same man as when she was a student. "I'm sure you'll do a great job, though. This is certainly a fantastic start," she smiled. For sure.

Hey/hay is for horses. At least that is something Isabelle's grandmother had said to her once. But being Canadian, it was a phrased she used when she was younger, which is why the boy in front of them didn't get told that useful piece of information. No instead Issy smiled.

"Hello." Yes, simple but effective. Ahh, Groundskeeper. "That would be Mr Stryker here," she nodded, tilting her head in the direction of the man she just met. Did she look like one? Heh. "Soccer fan, eh?" Issy grinned, watching him tip the ball from one hand to the other.

Alice smiled warmly at Salander, her own glove in hand. "They must have heard you because boy did they outdo themselves!"

Alice couldn't believe how gorgeous the field was, the grass the perfect shade of green and cut to just the right height. "I like your glove and hat by the way. Very snazzy...stylish and house supporting," Alice said with a little chuckle, admiring the green and white of his gloves.

"Do you think they have baseballs around here that we can use? I left mine at home," Alice said, wondering how in the world she remembered her glove but not a baseball.

Alice turned her head away from Salander upon the feeling of something hitting her shoe. She looked down to see a baseball sitting directly next to her foot...almost as if it had heard her. Where in the world....

Alice swung around to see the new groundskeeper standing near a pile of baseballs.

"Thank you so much!" Alice yelled over to him with a smile. "I'm assuming you are the new groundskeeper Mr. Stryker?" Alice asked him curiously.

Carter watched as Evan just pulled Marie up. He should have figured that Evan would be out here. Afterall, their love of football was pretty much the only thing the two boys had in common.

And one of those boys was excited to play. A little too excited maybe. Were his cheeks turning red...?

Carter smiled and turned his attention back to the ball. Then he turned back to the groundskeeper. "So, do you play?" he asked. He must have, right? Or maybe something else inspired him to build the field.

"I'm a fifth year." Carter responded happily. Yup, OWL year. Which meant, his 7 years here were nearly over. Which, was a little sad to think.

"Yeah. I've played my whole life." he said. "In fact, it used to be all I did..." Then he found out about magic and the rest was history. "What about you?" he asked.

"And where are you from?" he asked. "You said soccer again."

"Me too," Isobel said. "But since school I can only play in the summer." She shrugged and frowned regretfully. "But last summer I was the captain of my team." She grinned, then made an oops face. "Sorry, I'm just used to calling it soccer. It's weird that it's called football. Football is a whole different sport."

"I'm from France," she said while she dribbled the ball between her feet. "Well, I grew up there. I don't know if I was born there. My aunt is an international journalist, so she moved to France. Over there, they say football too, but my aunt is american, so I grew up hearing soccer."

Alice instantly felt her cheeks flush slightly at the somewhat irritated vibe she got from Mr. Stryker when he confirmed he was the new groundskeeper. Thinking back it was a bit obvious that he was the new groundskeeper, and perhaps there was a better way that Alice could have started a friendly conversation with him. "Well...welcome to Hogwarts," Alice concluded lamely, rolling the baseball in her hand nervously.

"What in the world?" Rafe asked himself as he was wondering the grounds. "What is this place?" It looked similar to a Quidditch pitch, but there were weird lines on the ground and students were bouncing around quaffle-like things around. It was like he stepped in a whole different world. He felt completely out of place. Maybe this was a place to practice tossing around round things with your wand? Rafe had a completely confused look on his face.

"Oh," Dallin said, looking from the woman who had spoken, to the man she had spoken of. "Yeah, it's really cool." He repeated pointlessly. When the woman spoke again, Dal turned to her and smiled.

"I like to play it, but I'm not great at it. I like football better. Er, American football." They called soccer football here, didn't they? "My name's Dallin, by the way. Dallin McKinley." It would be good to get on the professors/authority figures good side, wouldn't it? And an introduction was never a bad idea.

Maybelle walked onto the field. She saw Isobelle, and.....OH. MY. GOSH! EPIC CUPCAKE GIRL!!!!! Maybelle skipped over to them seeing as she knew them. And NEW people were talking to them. "Hello. My name's Maybelle Anne. Fourth year Hufflepuff." She grinned slightly. "I like socc.....erm, football. But I never played it. Actually I don't understand ANY of the rules." She said shyly. She played it in gym, back at her other school....before she knew she was a witch. But still, did NOT understand. "I'm better at tennis and track. But my absolute favorite sport is dancing!" Maybelle's grin turned into a full blown smile.

Katie turned around, eek! She likey dancing! "Hey yoou" Katie said smiling at Maybelle, they had met before riiight? Katie still knew this girl, she was the girl that liked cupcakes, she could tell.

"Yeah" Katie giggled, she smiled, maybe someone would like a cupcake? "If you get hungry feel free to get a cupcake" Katie said putting a box of cupcakes down on the ground, she was looking at the boy at the time but anyone could have one.

Caroline had noticed this big playing field this morning when she looked out a window passing the halls on the to breakfast. by the time she finished, and headed down that way there were other kids who had found the new hangout place as well. She was super excited because now Hogwarts has a place where she can play football and quidditch her two favorite sports ever. caroline was going to sit in they spot all day until some starts a game, or until she can get a ball.

Lottay!
 

She strongly disapproved!

HMPH. Trixie had absolutely LOVED the treehouse and now.. Well it WASN'T THERE?! What was up with that? It was probably her favourite place on the grounds and now they couldn't play Hide and Seek up there. And what had it been replaced with?

A FIELD?! That was all it was.. A plain and simple field with a few stripes and a store with a load of balls. But.. THAT was just NOT fun! What we're you supposed to do with a field and some Muggle balls. Absolutely NOTHING! Gaaaaaah.

The Blonde walked into this.... FIELD with her arms crossed across her chest and a frown on her delicate face. She spotted the new Quidditch Captain, whom she hadn't actually ever spoken to before, but she knew he was good friends with iris..Or was it closer? Well anyway, the seventeen year old strolled over and stared out across the pitch. "Its appalling right? They got rid of the treehouse for THIS" she didn't look at him, instead stared furthermore.

BOINGY! BOINGY! BOINGY!

Reeeeed bouncy ball! Aaron remembered playing with these things on the streets of London before he went to Hogwarts. Well, he used to be able to move any ball towards him back then, BUT it was still fun before he learned to control it.

The brown haired boy was bouncing the ball on his feet and knees, and head, WHEEEEN, he heard a voice.

Catching the ball mid-air, Aaron turned to see Trixie. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, THE Trixie. He and her never really talked. Sure, they've interacted because of their positions, but never really had a friendly conversation. She was upset about the field replacing the tree house.

...But she wasn't looking at him. She was looking off into the distance, like they do awkwardly in movies. Aaron would have cocked an eyebrow, if he had that ability, but he just talked himself.

"I'm still upset that they got rid of the Sandbox from my FIRST year," Aaron said remembering making sandcastles with Iris. "It's a bit pointless, don't you think? I mean, the others had to have things built and working, this is just a field of grass." The captain let out a laugh.

Mademoiselle? A French speaker, eh? Isabelle had noticed an accent but this was the first time she had thought to ask about it. "You're welcome," she grinned. "Are you from France?" she asked, seemingly just blurting it out. "I mean, I recognised your accent." Although, you know, France wasn't the only place you would find such an accent of course. Quebec, duh.

"I am new, yes," Issy smiled, glancing towards Chad as she answered. "To teaching here anyway, I was a student for three years many moons ago." Yes, the mere thought of how many years made her feel slightly old. "Although the castle hasn't changed much. The grounds certainly have though.." she laughed and nodded towards the field and the playing students. "Is this your first time doing a Groundskeeper job?"

"Well practice makes perfect, as they say. And you'll have plenty of opportunities now." Isabelle smiled at the boy as he informed her of his prowess, or otherwise, with a football. But the mention of the American version made her ask a question she had always wanted to know the answer to. "I've always wondered why they call it American 'football', when more often than not, they use their hands." she took her own hands out of her pockets as she spoke, wiggling her fingers when she said the word.

"Nice to meet you, Dallin. I'm Professor Isabelle Magnus," Issy replied, nodding her head, and smiling, in greeting. "Transfiguration." That was added as an after thought, just in case he actually wanted to know. Although he would find out when he arrived in class anyway. She'd leave Chad to introduce himself this time - wouldn't want to take away the chance for a second time. Heh.