Slytherin House Table
 

K.Toussaint
 

Katy was too excited to eat, although she'd managed to choke down a green salad and a roll. Casual brewing or no, she adored potions, she adored potioning with a worthy partner, and she... found Levi's face acceptable. Whatever. Super casual.

Upon his appearance, she bounced from her seat, clutching a leather satchel in one hand and a sandwich in the other. It was for him, since she'd been bored once her salad was gone and he'd obviously missed dinner. Only, she got fully distracted and forgot to give him the sandwich. "You... glasses! I haven't seen those before." Not that she saw him a lot, but enough.

"Right. Ready!"

Levi finished the apple, vanished the core with a quick flick of his wand and wiped his hand on his pants. Katy Toussaint seemed to be holding a satchel and a sandwich, and he wondered just what exactly she had in mind that that would take them long enough to require a possible snack. He grinned, halfway. "Reading glasses, the half eye kind," Levi explained, reaching up to touch one of the lenses with his index finger. A mistake, no doubt. "Letters tend to dance when up close and then get difficult when far away."

He removed them, cleaned the now dirty lens with his red and gold tie. Then he pushed his glasses back on and offered her his arm. "If you're good to go...?"

"I imagine you could get them fixed magically, but don't you dare. The glasses make you look like you're not just keeping secrets, but that they're really smart secrets." She finally offered the sandwich to him with a sheepish shrug. "For you, if you want it. I didn't see you at dinner, and we can't have you fainting on us."

Fainting during potions tended to lead to face planting in something corrosive. Katy would not recommend that at all.

She took his arm, though, and waved her satchel at him. "We're off. I brought my portable potions cabinet."

"Don't be one of those boys who pretends to be more interesting than he really is. You seem interesting enough on your own. The glasses are interesting, but I wouldn't have invited a pair of glasses to blow things up with me." And she was terribly embarrassed about the dumb sandwich now that she'd mentioned it. Now that he'd mentioned it. No more mentioning it.

"I'm concerned about our potion. And please don't be scared. Be excited." She patted his arm and tried not to hurry him toward the door. But she did hurry him a little, because... excited.

post at the potions lab next?
 

Even the air was different here, Kyle had noticed. He couldn't work out if it was an actual, physical difference to do with chemicals and the environment or perhaps even just the altitude, or if it was simply a subconscious feeling, given that he was remarkably hypersensitive to the fact that he was in an entirely new country, surrounded by all these strange faces and accents.

Still with his arm linked with Valerie's, Kyle had made the rest of the walk to the castle in relative silence, preferring to get lost in his thoughts while they made the trip. It was all a little overwhelming, and they hadn't yet even faced much of a culture shock. He agreed with Valerie on the topic of the food, and feared that the first hurdle would come in the form of a meal. But first, he thought to himself as they entered the castle and this so called 'Great Hall', they needed somewhere to sit, and something was suddenly becoming very clear.

There were four houses. There were also four tables, not including the extra one for staff. There was no specific table for Ilvermorny visitors. They would have to... mingle.

Kyle, for one, had not been expecting socialising so soon on the trip, and he resolved to keep Valerie close at hand. Casting his eyes up (and noticing that enchanted ceiling that he had read about), Kyle sought out the green and silver banner, the one adorned with a snake. Being automatically drawn to it, for Horned Serpent reasons, Kyle turned in that direction, but addressed Valerie before taking another step.

"This table here?"

For the record, he still didn't see what was so Great about this Hall.

Hi! For anyone/everyone who wants to play
 

The Americans were a loud, slightly intimidating bunch of people. Junia had heard about their arrival and watched them from afar, not interested in being on the front lines of the make-shift welcoming party. She knew a little about the Ilvermorny headmistress because of her grandfather, but other than that, they were strangers to her and strangers left all kinds of room for suspicion, particularly when there was going to be a competition taking place. She'd be friendly, of course, but not overly. Not until she knew what these kids were actually like. Knew their true colors, so to speak. (Some boy had been yelling about red, white, and blue, so perhaps that was a start.)

Curtsying in greeting as she always did, the self-proclaimed Slytherin princess made her arrival known. "Good evening." Her smile was a small, but genuine one as she took a seat and observed those already in attendance.

Duuuude.

DUUUUUUUUUUUUDE.

Ilvermorny was IN THE HOUSE. Brent still took pride in his former school, and just the thought of seeing some of his old friends from America made him really excited. He hurried into the Great Hall, half searching for his bro and half looking around to see who'd shown up.

THIS WAS GOING TO BE AWESOME.

Despite the fact that he'd spent more years at Ilvermorny than he had at Hogwarts, he was now a Hogwartian, so to that school he'd be loyal. He headed straight to the Slytherin table, his eyes still wide open in anticipation. He kind of wished now he'd been named prefect, because a badge would look pretty awesome to his Ilvermorny friends.

Alright, so when was the party getting started?!

kyle, valerie, & anyone else around
 

Where oh where did Aurora want to sit? This could be a make or break decision for her social life.

It was just like Ilvermorny, separated in to four houses - which one would be the friendliest? Or at least the most exciting? Being a horned serpent, she seemed naturally drawn to the Slytherin house, with the snake banners hanging overhead. Yes, this was as good a place as any to start. If she ended up not liking it, she'd just track down Irene again and follow her to wherever she had wandered off to. Probably following the curly haired boy.

Once she had made the decision to head towards the farthest table, she took a few seconds to gaze up at the enchanted ceiling. Ok...WOW. Points to Hogwarts for that. She knew some people were trying to be too cool and act like they weren't impressed by all this - but look how pretty it all was! And how cool was it that this school was CENTURIES older than theirs? If the walls could talk, seriously...

OH LOOK! Her best friends in the WHOOOOOOLE wide world, Kyle, Jesus and Valerie were all headed there as well! This is bound to be fun, she thought mischievously to herself before walking over and sitting down towards the center of the table.

Because Aurora Chae belonged right there. Right at the center of attention. As she always did.

She flashed a smile at Kyle. "I see you were drawn to the snake house as well," she joked. It was really a shame that he seemed to detest the very air she breathed, he seemed like a nice kid otherwise and they were in one of those rare situations where she'd say something corny like 'Horned Serpents should stick together!' or something else equally cliche.

Aurora turned back to the Slytherins at the table and smiled, giving a little wave and showing off her adorable manicure. "Hi everyone! I'm Aurora," she introduced herself to the group at large. Why was everyone so QUIET? Shouldn't they be falling over themselves in excitement to see the new kids?

A boy nearby (Brent) caught her attention and she let out a little squeak. "OH, I remember you! You're one of the Westwood boys!" she exclaimed with a grin. She had wondered where those studmuffins had run off to.

Well, the older one was a stud. The younger one, not so much. Too young.

Brent and Aurora
 

Olly had fallen into step with the group walking to the Great Hall from the grounds. He wondered where the Ilvermorny arrivals would sit. Was there going to be another table for them added into the Great Hall? If that was the case, space might be an issue. They would have to squeeze. The alternative, of course, would still involve a bit of squeezing. The new arrivals could just join in the regular house tables. And when they arrived at the Great Hall Olly saw they were going with the latter. The Ilvermorny gang was splitting up, choosing tables to sit at. Olly, of course, made his way to the Slytherin table. He was very interested to see who would be joining them there.

A few Ilvermorny students had already taken seats when Olly arrived. As prefect it was probably expected that he greet them, yes? Even as just a friendly person he would probably do it anyway. Olly selected a seat across from the pretty one (Kyle).

"Hello," he said to the group who had gathered. "My name is Oliver. Uh, welcome to Hogwarts. And the Slytherin table. I'm a Slytherin, a sixth year, and one of our house's prefects." Man that sounded so...official. Olly smiled at the friendly one (Aurora). "Hi Aurora, nice to meet you."

As far as Declan was concerned there was zero need for fanfare. They were just kids like everyone else in the castle. He tried to avoid rolling his eyes as he looked away from the arrivals and down to the book he was currently staring at it. It was hard to actually absorb any of its words when everyone was talking in excited hushed whispers about the Ilvermony kids. Unable to concentrate further, he heaved a sigh as he shut his book.

Aurora?

"Hey," he greeted back. Swallowed and cleared his throat as he thought of an introduction. Keep it simple, Stupid.. "Declan Kenning. Welcome to Hogwarts," he finished in a drawl and before the flush in his face could become evident, Declan opened his book once more and brought it close to his face until he hid behind it.

Olly's voice made him feel more at ease and he smiled behind his book. Still, it wasn't enough to bring him back out. He flipped to the next page instead.

Introduction time, then? Junia watched the others and then followed suit, sitting up just a BIT straighter and tucking some hair behind her ear. "Junia Botros, fourth year. Welcome." She smiled politely, taking the opportunity to observe the Ilvermorny students more closely. It bothered her the way they looked down on Hogwarts. It bothered her because her family had gone here for ages. It bothered her because her grandfather had taught, and then been Headmaster here. Sure, the place was a death trap, but it was THEIR death trap. It was home for a HUGE chunk of their lives and it didn't sit well with her that people were talking badly about it. Only Hogwartians could talk badly about it. She had things to SAY to these newcomers, she DID, but she swallowed those things down for now. What was that saying again? Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

Frenemies it would be, then.

Helping herself to some pumpkin juice, she hummed along with the music coming from the Gryffindor table.

Rula (sorry ILU, Brig)
 

This castle was...impressive. She would give Hogwarts that. Although her exterior cool and collected as she entered the Great Hall with her arm draped around Kyle's. "Acceptable," she nodded while unraveling her arm from his. Effortlessly sliding into her seat and flinching at the commotion coming from the table of student adorned in red.

She did not even have to look.

"You have a fan," she teased while pointing one of her pale and slender fingers towards a young Hogwarts boy [Zellana] nearby.

The greetings from others received curt nods of the head (save for Brenton who received a blank stare). Thankfully Jesus drew her attention (as he was so often skillful at doing). "I am rather pleased with the overall aesthetic myself," she mused with genuine sentiment. Certain aspects of it did feel rather homey if she were forced to admit things. "Remind me she is not worth transfiguring into an insect," she whispered as her grey eyes locked on Aurora who just seemed to be forever popping up everywhere the sixth year went. Like a moth to the flame and Valerie was all to eager to burn her.

"Oliver...Delcan...Junia...Rula..." she repeated with mild interest. The sort she had when reading off the list of potions ingredients for a special brew crafted just for her by Professor Williams. "Valerie Gray," she introduced. "Wampus sixth year. Hoping Hogwarts makes the journey worth our time."

everyone (?)
 

Introduce yourselves... if you dare lol
 

apologies if i missed any direct mentions - poke me in my VMs if so :)
 

Kyle had to agree with Jesús on that. The exterior of the castle had been nothing short of (and he meant this in the most literal way) awesome, but he had expected the inside to have advanced with the centuries, at least a little. "I don't know, but if they are it's not an act they can keep up all year." A Big Mac? Now why did he have to go and say that? It was about to become ten times harder to tolerate this meal with his mind wandering to beautiful, beautiful junk food. "Do you suppose they actually have flushing toilets here?"

While scanning the table above which the silver and green banner was displayed, Kyle did not fail to see one of the smallest - and probably youngest - students (Zellana) waving and beckoning him over. This kind of enthusiasm was... new, to say the least, and while Kyle absolutely did not want to ignore it, he was having trouble with knowing how best to react.

With Valerie's agreement over his suggestion, Kyle nodded and went to take a seat at what he had already deduced was the Slytherin table. He ignored Valerie's teasing - other than to quite obviously roll his eyes at her - and claimed a seat close to the (presumably) first year who had been so eager for their company.

As he opened his mouth to greet the students, who should show up but-- ugh.

"Aurora," Kyle deadpanned instead, looking over at the girl from his own house and year. "A veritable ray of light, as always." As usual, his tone was quite dry.

More people were arriving, and the table was getting more and more crowded, and Kyle wasn't sure whether he was all that glad that he had claimed a seat so soon. Sooner or later it would be so cramped at the tables that it would be more comfortable to stand and wait out the feast at the back of the Hall. In fact, Kyle was just considering that, and had looked around to see if anyone else had taken his idea first, when he caught sight of one Ilvermorny boy that he hadn't seen at all over the last year. Brent was an Hogwarts student now? Kyle didn't know if he had been made aware of that, but if he had, he clearly hadn't bothered to remember. The older Westwood brother got a vague wave in greeting.

It seemed as though introductions were in order - or, at least, that's what everyone had started doing. Kyle looked from face to face as everyone said their names, eyes lingering on the prefect by the name of Oliver, sitting directly across from him, and then on his badge. He gave him a nod of acknowledgement, as he did to everyone else who introduced themselves - Declan Kenning, though he had already hidden his face behind a book, Junia Botros, Head Girl Rula Botros... sisters, perhaps? He could see the resemblance. Hopefully these people weren't expecting him to remember all of these names; it was a lot to take in at once.

Had that girl (Cassirin) just thrown a bread roll at Hogwarts' very own Head Girl? Kyle tried to suppress a laugh at the sight, but it ended up escaping nonetheless.

Both Valerie and Jesús had returned their introductions, so it was probably appropriate that he do the same. "Kyle," he managed to supply at last. "Fifth year." The urge to tack on 'I'm not miserable, that's just my face' at the end was really quite tempting, but Kyle managed to ignore it.

anyone? + Eddie Blaze..
 

CLANK.

RATTLE.

CLANK.

The Bloody Baron's chains were never quiet and this night was no different when the silvery ghost floated over to the snake table. Glancing around the table he groaned very audibly at the sight of all the unfamiliar faces. He was not going to learn the new names. He refused.

Floating past some of the Ilvermorney students the Baron stopped to hover next to young Eddie Blaze. With his hand on his sword he shot the boy a long look as he asked quietly. "Are you not excited to meet foreign students from across the seas?"

This whole situation was... weird, to say the least. Who'd have thought that she'd be moving to Britain and starting Hogwarts, and a mere month later her old school-mates would be following her. In a sense. Felicity knew that the rest of the world would think that she should be happy, seeing more familiar faces, but that really wasn't the case. If anything, it made her even more homesick for the States, and threw into stark reality that she did not know anyone around here.

So she hung back, watching people climb out of the trunk of that old car, and made her way slowly into the Great Hall. "Hey," she managed, slipping into a seat opposite her dorm mate, too distracted herself to notice that Skylar might not even realise she'd said anything.

NOW the crowd was starting to form. Aurora grinned and waved at each person who sat down. She was going to introduce herself to each one who sat down, but she didn't want to keep repeating herself. She was sure she'd be introduced in time, along with the other mopey kids who were acting as though staying here was a death sentence. She could feel Valerie's eyes on her and just smiled. It was so amusing how incredibly annoyed she got by her. She supposed one could argue that she got joy out of poking the bear...and who was she kidding? Of course she did!

And Aurora was sitting in a den of angry bears at the moment.

Stopping just short of an eyeroll when Valerie FINALLY decided to open her mouth, she grinned at the Hogwarts students. "She's joking, of COURSE it was worth our time," she told them all matter of factly. Of course, she knew she wasn't joking, but there was no need to be RUDE. She could be rude to Aurora all she liked - she was used to it by now - but no need to be snarky around total strangers who were opening their home to them! "Come on guys, smile! This is a once in a life time experience!" she encouraged her fellow students.

She expected nothing but deadpan faces and eye rolls in return. Poke poke poke.

She grinned and raised her goblet, smirking at Jesus as he toasted HER. I know you're being sarcastic but I don't care, she wanted to say, but instead she just winked at him. Her mere presence seemed to be enough to drive them bonkers, so she would just stick with that. It did nothing but make her look better, after all.

She was so preoccupied in her thoughts she didn't even notice the ghost materialize just a few feet away from her.

She paused for a moment to crane her neck and look around for Irene. OOOH there she was, over at the fun table! With all the music! She would have to go over there in a moment and join her.

One of the newcomers caught her eye and Aurora cocked an eyebrow at her (Felicity). She tapped her chin and then rested it on her palm. "You look familiar. Did you go to Ilvermorny?" she asked, glancing at the Slytherin affiliation the girl was now wearing. If she did go there...she certainly didn't now. But Aurora was positive she HAD seen her face before today.

She then turned to the two girls who had introduced themselves as having the same last names (the Botros ladies). She smiled and scooted a bit closer to them - they seemed nice. Well, everyone who wasn't from HER school seemed nice at this time. "Same last name huh? Sisters? Cousins?" she asked in genuine interest, twirling her hair around her finger as she spoke.

Kyle
 

Of all the people the Baron could go to he had to come to him. Eddie didn't really look up at first, but then he finally did.
The Baron was acting weird this term and he couldn't figure out what it was.
The last term he didn't seem this interesting in the students lives so why now? Did the new head of house want more personal connections with the ghost and students? He just gave the Baron a bored type of look.

"Not really. It's overcrowded in here now and they are being really loud over there. It's kind of rude to come into a school acting like that and their professors don't seem to mind." He glanced up at the table where the two were. They were very different, weren't they?

"Plus I have my classes and other things to worry about." He'd pretend to be all about his lessons and things if it got the Baron off his back.

Skylar heard the Bloody Baron talking to someone else about not being excited to meet foreign students and she had to admit that perhaps the Baron hadn't noticed her. Or she just assimilated well with the not wanting to associate with the foreign students. Seriously, the Great Hall was crowded enough with just Hogwarts students there. Hosting another school, well, Skylar had a feeling she was going to be skipping a lot of meals this year. Unless she got there early. Or they were mandated feasts.

Distractedly, the fourth year did manage to take her gaze off Brent and where his gaze was when someone familiar slipped opposite her. Her new dormmate. "Liss," Skylar smiled, grateful to see a familiar face. Well, the Botros girls were obviously familiar, as was Katy, and some others, but they were actually attempting conversations with their guests. Huh, wait a second, hadn't Felicity transferred from America? Why was she not more excited to see her former classmates? UNLESS, perhaps she had other reasons for transferring...

"Do you like recognize some of the guests here?" Sky asked curiously, figuring it was safe to start there. They could always chat more about what she really thought of her former school later, in the safety of their dormitory.

While she was not one to admit to her softer side, something about the newcomer [Awarlesta Black] struck a chord with her and she was soon extending one of her slender (but deceptively strong) arms towards the vacancy across from her. "Available, if you will," she offered coolly. Since no one else of her own house seemed to acknowledge her need.

Jesus received a bit of a mischievously grin, one that came to be from her tongue running over the front of her teeth beneath her lips. "We will talk later," she informed him. As for the food selection, Valerie was not miffed as she was in possession of a cat's tongue, so to speak. "You should have come prepared," she teased, of course flicking another of his curls with her pale fingers as her eyes looked beyond him and fell on another newcomer [PhoenixRising] with mild interest. Her grey eyes did follow the other girl's gaze (to Brenton, of course) and soon was rolling her eyes. Not just because of this girl (who was now in conversation with another (Harron Peasley), but also what Kyle had to say. She would not explain why she was defending the castle's aesthetic, but she did find the comment a bit unwarranted. "Of course they do. We travel in a Beetle. Not a timeturner."

That ghost. Congratulations to it because it had left an instant salty flavor in the sixth year's mouth. She only placed partial blame on the younger boy [Bazinga] with whom the ghost was conversing with for his commentary and speaking about herself and her schoolmates (however accurate some of his descriptive words were) as though they were incapable of processing sound. "Does one’s hearing get worse when one no longer has a physical form?" she asked the ghost with a sneer. "We can hear you. We are right here." The ghost was perfectly welcome to ignore Aurora (which she was continuing to do), however. Aurora and her premature assumptions.

Oh but she saw everything, Katherine Toussaint. A name she would commit to memory. Wasteful girl (bread roll turned baseball) and Valerie would be having a talk with Kyle later about his taste in company if that girl was the one who had caught his eye.

Her light eyes returning to the food on her plate, Valerie's brow raised at the savory looking cream puffs smothered in gravy with some sort of cooked meat (she assumed beef) on the side. "What...is this?"

valerie and katy
 

Oh, now, was there really any need to bring up the car? Kyle couldn't quite repress a shudder at the mention of it, practically having flashbacks to the way he not only had to enter that ridiculous vehicle, but the undignified way he had managed to fall out of it. He took a second to recover from the memory before giving Valerie his curt response; "It was only a question. No need to get defensive."

Despite his shortness with the older girl, Kyle bore no grudge over the interacition. That was how he and Valerie's friendship worked; he could be quite blunt and borderline offensive at times, and she wasted no energy getting upset over it like everyone else seemed to do, instead preferring to verbally bite back. It was the best part of having a pseudo-sibling; all the familial acceptance without the hindrance of being bonded by blood or marriage. The lack of enforced loyalty was what made it work, at least for him.

While Valerie took it upon herself to throw some choice insults at one of the Hogwarts ghosts, Kyle focused instead on the girl who had amused him so much by throwing the roll. Finally allowing a faint smile to grace his lips, he reached over and shook Katherine Toussaint's hand.

"Kyle Baker." He had, of course, already introduced himself to those nearby, but now it seemed that surnames were in order. "I saw nothing."

He wondered if he really could feel Valerie's eyes boring into the back of his head with no small amount of disapproval, or if he was just imagining it, having been aware of just how she might react to the display of wasted food. Either way, for the sake of his own sanity and to avoid a public row, he paid the feeling no mind and instead focused on their hosts.

Anyone can claim. :)
 

Well look at all these...llvermorny peeps! It was great to see his ex-schoolmates again. He wondered if his dormmates and friends were here as well?! He missed them for sure. Ever since he transferred to Hogwarts two terms ago, it was never quite the same. He found Hogwarts to be quite dull and repetitive sometimes. No drama, just ugly monsters terrorizing the place every year. Finally, something good was happening. He couldn't help but to smirk at the idea of how much fun he would have by seeing them here.

kyle, valerie, katy, and james
 

So there was conversation pretty much everywhere, and Brent was starting to feel like a bump on a log or a rock or something. He had just adjusted his position and scoped out the opportunities to talk to people, when he heard his last name. Turning around, he saw an Ilvermorny girl looking his way. Ohh, he remembered her! Seriously, how could be NOT? "Brent Westwood," he said, verifying that yes, he was a Westwood bro. "Hold on, don't tell me...I know this." She was... "Aurora, right? What's up at Ilvermorny?"

Then...

"Dude...," Brent said, feeling someone crash into him. Turning around, he saw it was actually a girl (sarahlooo), not some dude. "Oh, sorry about that." For calling you a dude, he meant. "Don't worry about bumping into me. There's a lot of excitement going on right now." He still felt really bad about the whole dude thing, so he gestured for her to take a seat by him if he wanted.

That was when he noticed a second Ilvermorny girl (Valerie), and he was about to greet her when...duuuuude. She seemed NOT very excited to see him. He tried to think back to his Ilvermorny days and figure out why that might be, but he had nothing. So he leaned over to Aurora. "What's up with your friend?" he asked. Valerie, he meant.

...and that was when he saw her. Skylar Diggory. He felt a rush of nerves flutter inside him as a grin spread across his face. She was talking to somebody, so he just settled for the grin and a wave for now.

Jesus
 

James turned his head around when he heard his full name being called out. It took a moment for him to remember the boy's face before realizing who he was. He smirked and walked to his direction. "Rodriguez, Jesus it's so great to see you again man," he grinned and gave him a manly bro handshake. "How the heck you're still alive and well?" he joked, patting him on the shoulder. This boy was known notoriously for his speeches. Jesus could make a not so bad lawyer if he set his mind to it. "Hope they didn't get you into much trouble," he chuckled. "Where is that adorable little pug of yours? Did you bring him too? How is everyone?" Yup, he was just as thrilled to see his ex-mates.

Kyle and Jesus (and Valerie)
 

"Awww, you remember little old me?" Aurora asked with a grin to Brent, acting TOTALLY flattered as she placed her hand on her chest. But really, she wasn't at all surprised that he remembered her. Who could forget her, after all? "Oh, same old same old. How is Hogwarts? Very different I expect. And how is your little brother?" she asked while batting her eyelashes, mostly out of politeness. She really could care less about what the younger Westwood was up to. He wasn't nearly as DREAMY as Brent was.

She snorted, however, when he had the nerve to call Valerie her FRIEND. Really? Now THAT was hilarious. She just shrugged. "I think she hates fun," she whispered flatly. It was really the only explanation she could think of that would explain why she was always so anti-EVERYTHING Aurora did. She'd been trying to figure it out for the past four years.

Aurora was about to take another sip of water from her goblet when she noticed another girl (Skylar) flat out STARING at Brent before turning away. Oh? Did he have an admirer? She smirked to herself before turning back to the boy. "Who's your friend?" she asked, smiling back at the girl and wiggling her fingers at her in greeting.

She then turned to the girl (Katherine) who had been throwing bread rolls (which she had TOTALLY seen, but chosen not to comment because she didn't really care what they did with their food) and grinned as she shot comeback after comeback at the party poopers over there. She couldn't help but let out a laugh, especially when she made the comment about their hearing. SEE?! This is what happened when you were RUDE.

"I like you," she told the girl with a smile. "Aurora Chae, pleasure to meet you. And this food looks DELICIOUS," she added, shooting a small smirk at Valerie before taking her fork and beginning to chow down. It really wasn't a lie - Aurora, shockingly, had quite the appetite and would try just about anything once.

jesús, katy
 

"I gotta say," Kyle put towards Jesús, though his line of sight was directed at the ghost Valerie had so predictably insulted. "I'm definitely curious to have a talk with some of these ghosts." Even just the thought of how much history they had witnessed, or even been a party to, made Kyle ever so slightly twitchy in his eagerness. They were in a country that was rich with history, after all, and hearing about it from a first hand source was unbelievably tempted. "Not here though," he was quick to add. Even Kyle knew that a feast was no place for exploring such lines of inquiry. For a start, it was getting so loud in here that he could barely hear himself think.

To Katherine, he raised his own goblet, just as Jesús had done earlier. "To the excellence of your hearing." Sarcasm? Yes? No? It was, as always, difficult to tell.

Apparently, he had been right to anticipate the reaction of his friend. "I wouldn't rise to it, if I were you, while we're on the topic of what will most benefit each other." Not that he was making any assumptions as to who would win in a face-off; that would be unwise, as he had only known this Slytherin girl for all of five seconds. Kyle offered no explanation as to why Katherine Toussaint had received such a reaction. Valerie certainly did not need him to explain her reactions and behaviour, and the likelihood was that it would only irritate her further. "It's best to pay no mind to a great deal of Ilvermorny things, I've found." Here, his gaze drifted to the Wamp-... no, wait... the table that the ruckus had been coming from, where people had even tried dancing on the tables, before glancing very briefly at Aurora - why was she still here?
her friends were over there - and then back to Katherine.

"But I am curious. These ghosts-" he gestured vaguely around the Hall "-why are they here? Did they all die here?" Did they just choose to be ghosts just so they could return to haunt their old school? Oh, but that raised more questions. "Were they Hogwarts students once? ... Or perhaps... are they dead teachers?" Kyle shot another look towards the nearest ghosts, more specifically the chains he carried. A late professor seemed somehow unlikely. "How do I organise a meeting with them?"

Though Kyle had already read what he could about Hogwarts and its ghostly residents, and he wasn't sure any of them would be willing to answer any of his extra, more probing questions, hence why he had taken advantage of the sudden dip in volume to put his questions to the nearest Hogwarts denizen instead. Then again, being so focused on his enquiries, he had neglected to consider that perhaps Katherine was just as in the dark on the matter as he was.

Oh, and... "What are your potions facilities like?"

small, shy girl who just wants to be friends with everyone
 

Oh boy. Maybe this was a bad idea. Natalie got nervous in big crowds and she had underestimated how big this crowd was. And it was getting bigger. And everybody was taller than her.

She was still flustered when the older boy was talking to her and her cheeks were still pink. "Erm... yeah." As in, yeah, there was indeed a lot of excitement going on right then and it was overwhelming. She wanted to make friends with some American kids but they were all older than her and they all already looked like they had friends.

Internally pouting, Natalie accepted the invitation from the boy and sunk down onto the bench beside him. She was too small to make conversation with anyone else, so she just sort of lurked, her wide blue eyes looking between all the people. She did happen to catch Brent waving at a pretty girl. Mhm, it was noticed.

"Is that your girlfriend?" Natalie asked him innocently.

She'd been recognised. Felicity's eye rose from her goblet, locking onto Aurora's. The former-Thunderbird put her drink down before offering the Ilvermorny student a nod. "Yeah, I just transferred." Which was obvious from the current green and silver attire, and the lack of wide eyed curiosity that had left her after a week in the Castle. "I'm Felicity. It's Aurora, right?" Not that Flick knew the girl well, obviously, but what with her introducing herself around her memory was jogged slightly.

A smile finally curved the corner of her mouth as Skylar greeted her with the nickname. Which, by the way, she adored: for all her homesickness, and alienation, it really did make her feel that Hogwarts wasn't all bad, and that at least a few people weren't annoyed by her presence. She wondered what it would have been like to be one of the students just visiting, although honestly she doubted she would have joined the trip. Felicity had caught sight of the boy Skylar had been looking at before she'd taken her dorm mates attention: Kane's brother, who looked super comfortable to be surrounded by old schoolmates.

Fiddling with the ring on her right hand, Felicity nodded. "Uh... Some of them," she admitted, her eyes roving around the people nearest to them before landing back on Skylar. "It's weird... Seeing them here? Makes me miss it even more."

"Yes, Aurora," Brent said, smiling and playfully shaking his head, "I remember you." Seriously, though, she was pretty hot. He didn't figure he'd go around forgetting girls like her anyway. He didn't tell her that, though. He'd look like a dork and inflate her ego all at the same time. "Hogwarts is awesome. I'm loving it here except for one main detail," he said. "There's literally like...no sports here. None."

He cast a very quick glance at Valerie when Aurora brought her up again. "Yeah, I mean, I don't even remember her, and I'm pretty sure she hates me just breathing here," he continued.

...and then---"She's HERE!?" he mildly exclaimed. That was her...right there at the Gryffindor table. He just hadn't thought she'd make the trip here, seeing as she let him go so quickly over his trip here. He looked at Aurora, like she should have warned him of this, because HELLO. He and Madelyn Cunningham had been really serious about each other during their third year. She'd dropped him the split second he'd mentioned the whole move to Hogwarts, but STILL... Without even thinking twice about it, he found himself running a hand through his hair and glancing down at his uniform.

Did he look cool enough?!

Brent tried to focus on the younger girl (Natalie), who he'd just technically called a dude. At least she was sitting by him now. He figured most other girls would have slugged him for calling them a dude. Then she surprised him by asking if somebody was his girlfriend. Wait...who? Aurora? Madelyn? Skylar? ... Speaking of which, where was Skylar? "Umm...who?" he awkwardly asked.

Feeling eyes on her, Skylar glanced back towards Brent to take note of some of the foreign students who had noticed her. Was one of them Madelyn? She didn't know, but the one with the dark hair at least seemed friendly enough, to which Skylar returned a finger wiggling to her. And Brent had noticed her too, with a grin and wave of his own, to which she may have flushed slightly. Be calm, she reminded herself, drawing a deep breath. She gave a little wave back before turning back to her new dormmate, because Felicity was closer in seating arrangements and easier to chat with.

Hmm, made her miss it more? Skylar couldn't imagine what that would have been like, changing schools. First Brent, now Felicity. It made her feel blessed. "Okay, so who's that one, with the white hair? Who looks like she could shoot daggers from her eyes if you crossed her wrong?" Perhaps just was her look, but it was kind of ... not welcoming.

Aurora and Kyle
 

*analyzes the life of Brent Westwood*
 

There was a LOT going on around her, but now Natalie was just paying attention to Brent (though he was actually nameless in her head because she couldn't remember what he was called). Being called a dude didn't faze her. It had been too hectic to make her mind too much, so now she was just sitting and staying out of everyone's way.

And watching the boy.

Who? "That girl you just waved at." Duh. But apparently she wasn't if he had to ASK.

Merlin, what on earth was he doing now? Touching his hair and looking at his robes? He didn't have anything on him... Natalie followed his gaze and leaned up to get taller, her eyes landing on a different girl. "Is THAT your girlfriend?" Did he have TWO girlfriends? This was getting interesting.

scattered mentions
 

The toast offered in return by Katherine was met an amused smile from Kyle, one which was hidden as he finally raised his goblet to his lips and sipped from it. He took the opportunity to glance around the hall at Hogwarts and Ilvermorny students alike, before carefully setting his goblet down and wiping the residual moisture from his lips with a sweep of his thumb.

The more Kyle heard about the Hogwarts ghosts, the more intrigued he was by them. "Fascinating." If it sounded like sarcasm this time, and the likelihood was that it did, then that was entirely misleading. "I'll have to made it a point to try and interview one. And, you know, aside from the whole 'being dead' thing, I sorta envy ghosts in a way." Here, Kyle finally started picking out food from the platters in the middle of the table, carefully choosing what looked and smelled the most palatable. "Imagine never being stuck in an undesirable conversation ever again. Just float through the floor and go on your way." Though, admittedly, that and the 'rich in history' thing sounded like the only real benefit.

Onto potions though, a subject that put a gleam in Kyle's eye. "Excellent. There's some Hogwarts culture I'd like to-"

But he broke off, because a hush had fallen over the Hall and all eyes were turning to the staff dias, where Prof--... Headmistress Hawthorne had risen to her feet. As it was clear she was about to divulge details on the very event that had brought them all here. Kyle stayed silent, watched, and listened.

-----

After his name appeared, Kyle made no discernible reaction, but continued to watch until all the names had been shown. It wasn't until Hawthorne had resumed her seat that Kyle finally glanced over at Jesús and Valerie, and then across the table at Aurora.

The Worthy. He wondered just how offended the others would be that their names had been listed along with the likes of his own, or Valerie's, or Jesús'. Kyle himself was not surprised; he had been expecting some of those names, and had of course hoped to be announced himself too, and so he was quite prepared. It was a nice surprise to know he had been considered one of The Worthy, and by the Book of Merlin, no less.

Kyle turned to Katherine once more. "The potions facilities. I'd like to try them out soon; one way to get immersed into the Hogwarts culture. I wonder how, or if, your methods differ to ours." There was a sort of casualness in the way that he continued the conversation that made it seem as though nothing had happened, except for the fact that a full smile had now graced his features. This was one way to make a name for himself, something Tristan would never have been able to claim.

Internally, he was still processing. Only once he had done that would he decide what to say to the other Ilvermorny competitors. Perhaps some speculating with Valerie and Jesús on what the first task might be, though without any clues to go by, it could well have been anything.

.............unacknowledged. Valerie did not yet know this girl's name [Awarlesta Black] but hers was now officially a face the Wampus would not forget.

Cute, Kyle. Borderline adorable really.

Electing not to dignify his response with one of her own, she simply averted her eyes elsewhere. Elsewhere, unfortunately, happened to be Jesus and his unwanted banter. "......only in your wildest dreams," she snorted yet unable to hide the subtle turn up of the corner of her lips. She poked at the cream puff looking mass on her plate with a bit of an upturned nose before stabbing it with her fork. "As long as it is palatable I suppose I cannot really complain."

Please be so. If for no other reason other than she would not have to suffer through cleaning her plate.

The appearance of James earned her former classmate a curt nod in acknowledgement but nothing more. She was currently preoccupied with trying to eat this savory cream puff impaled on her fork. Although she was far more interested in what Katherine had to say about the potions facilities than any other conversation going on at the table. Although she hardly found 'more than adequate' to be an encouraging description.

That one girl, the small one [sarahlooo] who was giving the older Westwood boy a hard time by pestering him with irrelevant questions...Valerie decided that she rather liked her. Which would perhaps come as a shock to Kyle and Jesus when they no doubt discussed things later that evening, but she felt no urge to defend her opinions. You either understood or or you did not.

When the Hogwarts Headmistress stood to speak, Valerie put down her half eaten savory cream puff (of which she had come to the conclusion are more than just palatable) and listened. Her eyes narrowed on the Book of Merlin as the woman spoke, daring it to pick anyone other than herself as the representative for her house.

As the book rose and began to release the names of its elected champions, her eyes scanned the hall to see who (if any) elicited any sort of immediate unease. Irene. Certainly not. Mason. He looked the sort that would struggle to charm himself out of a wet paper bag. Jesus. No comment. Dora. Potentially.

And there it was. Her name.

Running her tongue over her teeth once more, Valerie settled into her seat with a confident sideways grin. Perhaps she had not given Aurora enough credit with her premature assumptions? Returning to her cream puff and taking another bite, her eyes gleamed when she heard Kyle's name called. Pity she would have to put him in his place.

Tejashree Peale. So that was that one's name. Swallowing the remaining bit of food, Valerie's eyes locked on the girl and remained there for a time. She vaguely heard the rest of the names spoken aloud by the book (questioning somewhere in the back of her mind what, exactly, constituted as worthy) and felt her blood already beginning to boil eagerly.

Let the games begin, Hogwarts. Let the games begin.

kyle, katy, james, valerie, & aurora
 

Mentions of people!
 

Aurora had to admit, it was quite hilarious watching Brent's eyes dart around at all of his admirers. Who could blame the girls here, really? He was a tall drink of water, that was for sure. Hmmm. Maybe this was a missed opportunity and this was the universe's way of giving her a second chance?

Nah. There were too many CUTE Hogwarts boys that she had to have fun with. Brent had had his chance, and if he had ever admired her, he had three whole years to make a move.

Ship. Sailed.

He was looking around for someone though....OOOOOH. That Madelyn girl! That had to be who he was looking for. She vaguely remembered they had been dating and had heard something about them breaking up...whatever. Boring. He could do so much better than that wet mop, didn't he know that?


"No sports? NOTHING?" Aurora asked Brent, raising an eyebrow. She could care less about sports, really, but that was odd that they didn't have anything. Not even Quidditch? Wasn't that like, a huge thing here? Chad would be soooo upset! She sighed again when he mentioned Valerie and nodded. "Yeah, hates people breathing. Sounds about right," she muttered.

She turned to the girl who had introduced herself as Katherine, face lighting up when she complimented her MAKEUP. It was a shame that more people didn't acknowledge the amount of WORK she put in to her appearance. "Why thank you! Your makeup is flawless too," she added. Genuine compliment alert. She raised an eyebrow. A makeup brand she'd never heard of? Must have been British or something. "No, I've never heard of it! I'd love to know more though," she added.

Makeup was not something you shared, unfortunately. Eye infections and acne for daysssss ewwwww.

Hawthrone looked like she was getting ready to say something, so Aurora sat up a bit straighter and pressed a finger to her lips, in case anyone hadn't noticed yet that it was time to BE QUIET. She'd come to this school, knowing some sort of competition was going to go down - and when she stated that the winner would get a FULL RIDE scholarship to the university of her choice, her jaw LITERALLY DROPPED.

Ok, this HAD to happen. Aurora Veronica Chae was going to WIN that scholarship and take down ANYONE who got in her way with her perfectly polished talons. In fact, she had assumed when she had first been invited that they were going to make her one of the competitors, but then when she had found out the whole school was coming, she had been less sure. Still, she was confident in her abilities to not only be named one of the lucky few who would be competing - but to actually WIN as well.

The Book of Merlin? Oh man. Things were getting SERIOUS. And she was going to do it RIGHT NOW?!

Aurora's full attention was now on the book, hardly breathing as it rattled off names...

THERE IT WAS. AURORA CHAE. SHE'D BEEN CHOSEN!

She waited until the book was done before pumping her fist in the air. "YES!" she exclaimed. She KNEW she was going to be picked! And now it was official - Aurora was a competitor. And when competition was involved, Aurora did NOT hold back.

WATCH OUT, EVERYONE.

After her short celebration, the other names that had been called started to really sink in...Brent had gotten picked for Hogwarts? That was an odd little loophole that he had managed to wiggle in to since he had TECHNICALLY started at Ilvermorny. Good for him, though. And Kyle had been picked, which was a bit of a surprise for the fellow Horned Serpent, and...OMG. Lachlan? The color drained for her face JUST a bit at the mention of him. She had pretty much forgotten about him this entire trip. She blinked a few times to clear her head and then moved on.

IRENE HAD GOTTEN PICKED TOO!? OMG! It was a shame that she was going to have completely destory her best friend, but it would still be fun! And she knew Irene wouldn't take it personally whatsoever. She HAD to run over and congratulate her friend when she was done with this.

And then...UGH. HER. Really? Was this some sort of sick joke from the universe? She often forgot that Valerie was actually like, a GOOD student, so it made sense that she would be picked. Still, gross. Although this was sort of a bright side...she could really show her what she was made of and take her OUT. That girl needed to watch her back...

Still, despite the fact that these people would be old news one the competition actually started, she sat up and smiled at all of them - Jesus, Kyle, Brent, and even...ugh...Valerie. "Congrats for being selected, everyone," she told them with a smile. Yes, even Valerie got a smile.

And now, time to go find Irene! She looked over at the Gryffindor table and hurried over with a grin.

Brent noticed that little flush that came across Skylar's face. There was no denying that. Heh. He really needed to get up and go sit by her, but he still didn't want to interrupt her conversations. She was having a lot of them, too, so he'd give it a few more minutes, and then he'd just go make himself a part of whatever she was talking about over there.



There was way too much going on at this table, and Brent actually felt bad for not completely following his conversation with Natalie. He turned toward her to make an actual polite effort to have a conversation with her. "I don't actually have a girlfriend at all, but there's someone special I'm kind of hanging with," he said. They'd just kissed once and held hands while walking around the grounds, but it wasn't anything official. He leaned in a little closer and lowered his voice. "Between the two of us, I just spotted my old girlfriend from Ilvermorny," he said. He pointed toward Madelyn (Bazinga) at the Gryffindor table.



"Nothing. Not even a Gobstones team," he said, although he doubted he would have joined the Gobstones team anyway. There was just nothing about Gobstones that said 'Pick me! I'm as exciting as Quodpot and Quidditch!' Nope. Nothing.

He started to say something else, when...



Duuuuude. Something really cool was about to happen! Forget the girl---for now, at least. Brent's full attention was on this book and how it was floating around the Great Hall. He watched with fascination as it hovered over their heads like it was analyzing each and every person it spotted.

...and it was.

He was pretty sure he didn't even breath or blink as he watched the show. Students names from both schools were starting to be announced. The Book had chosen them. Brent's face went from wonder to disappointment as he realized he hadn't been chosen...again. He had hoped for prefect and wasn't chosen, and now this. He knew he wasn't any better or worse than the others, but it'd be cool to do something exciting like this every once in a while.

...and then---HE HEARD HIS NAME! Last, but there it was---HE HAD BEEN CHOSEN. In is excitement, he jumped up, wanting to share his excitement with one very special person. He headed down the table and sat by her. "Skylar," he said, grinning in excitement, "did you hear that? This is going to be awesome!"

Jesus, Valerie mainly
 

"What secret?"James looked back at Jesus, innocently. But seriously, he wondered if this guy was hiding something he should know about. You know when you spot someone lying through their /teeth/, Jesus was one of those people. James had to admit, he was good. But he decided to play along with his persona and passed his reply with nothing more but a friendly greeting. "I see, well...it's too bad he didn't come along with you. I missed that little munchkin."

James would love to stay and "socialize" with the bunch, he just didn't have the energy to continue talking. He was still hungry...damn his growing needs...his stomach was gurgling up a storm. He gave a small smile back at the girl who happened to acknowledge him too. She seemed vaguely familiar. Valerie Gray, was it? Ah, she remembered her! Did she change her hair color and put on more makeup? She had an interesting sense of look. Oddly, her appearance bare resemblance to someone he used to date before.

He smirked. "Well it's nice to see you all again, we should catch up sometime yeah?" Not that he would expect them to. He was preoccupied with his own thing to continue befriending each one of them. James rather spends his precious time making business proposals to potential buyers. Time is money and it waits for noone.

-----

James went back to his own seat and stayed silent for the rest of the ...*yawns*...speech. Oh merlin, it was really hard to stay awake just waiting for that book to call out their names either. He clapped along with the others to congratulate the chosen ones. James wondered what kind of challenges awaits them. Okay, enough pondering. Time to feast again.

While waiting for Felicity to educate her on some of the people she knew, all of a sudden there was a book floating above them. Yes, the Headmistress was speaking about the competition, but honestly, most of the words that she was muttering were exactly that .... words. It wasn't as if she could be mysteriously picked; she wasn't old enough. So whoever was picked, she really could care less. Though she might have been listening out for Noelle's name, but not really.

Names started being called out ... and then the last name, was one she glanced down the table for to see his expression. Only, he wasn't where he'd been sitting a moment ago (if she had been looking, she might have noticed him pointing at some girl at the lions table). Staring around bewildered, the fourth year blinked in surprise when she felt someone next to her and a familiar voice speak her name.

Grinning at the older male who wedged in her next to her, she couldn't help but fling her arms around him in a sort of seated-down-sideways hug. "I heard!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!!!!! I'm so excited for you!! I had no idea you were entering, but GAH!!" Okay. Enough flailing. Speak English now, Skylar.

Felicity covered her mouth to stifle her giggle as she followed Skylar's gaze. "That's... Valerie. I think that's her name." Of course, the description her dorm mate had given her was pretty accurate, so there was no question of who Skylar was asking about. Although, back at Ilvermorny, Felicity had avoided that girl like dragonpox, and she was probably going to do the same whilst she was here. She just seemed mean. She did notice her friend (they were friends, right? Because Flick definitely thought so, but she didn't wanna think it and then find out that Skylar was just humouring her, being nice because she was new) flush slightly when waving at Brent, but didn't mention anything. People didn't like drawing attention to the kind of thing, and besides, she could grill her on the details later.

Another reason for not questioning it now was that there was a book floating above their heads. The hush that had settled over the Hall sent a shiver down her spine, and made her severely glad that she wasn't able to enter and that everyone's attention wasn't going to be focused on her. She joined in the smattering of applause as the names went up, wondering if it would have been awful not to root for a particular school. She just had... ties, you know?

As the hum of noise in the hall increased again, Felicity took a drink from her Goblet to disguise her smile at the people opposite her. "Congratulations," she offered Brent, when Skylar had finished her own excited expression. Maybe she'd just root for him as an individual, because a) Ilvermorny transfer, even if she didn't actually know him, she knew his brother and that counted? and b) Slytherin. Those seemed like good enough reasons. That and he was clearly Skylars favourite.

Natalie, Skylar, and Felicity
 

Dude. He still couldn't believe this. He had been CHOSEN by the book! This was probably the coolest thing that had ever happened to him. Somewhere in the excitement of things, he managed to keep up with conversations, like the one he was having with Natalie for starters. "Weird? Oh, no, Natalie. There's nothing weird about having a girlfriend," he said. He just...didn't have one at the moment. "When you meet the one, you'll think it's the coolest thing in the world."

He grinned at her. "Yeah, that's me!" he exclaimed. "How I got chosen is beyond me, but I'm pretty excited about it." Then he was being hugged by Skylar, and sorry Natalie, but that kind of took all of his focus and attention. He returned her hug, all the while looking around the room to see if he could also meet Kane's gaze. There was just so many people he wanted to share this with! He grinned at Felicity when she congratulated him. "Thanks," he said, releasing Skylar from the hug and paying attention to the table as a whole. He was just way too excited to keep his attention in one place right now.

Felicity, Brent, mention of Natalie and Valerie... and leaving?
 

Katy Toussaint.
 

Dora had sent word through one person to send to another person to send to Katy to come meet her for lunch. Mainly because she didn't care much for the dungeons since Professor Newton had left. And well it was a long walk. Even from the ground floor considering she had come from the tower.

UGH.

But here she sat drumming her nails on the table as she waited to see how long it took the younger students to track down and deliver her message... and for Katy to be able to come meet her anyway. She had a few more free periods considering she had dropped some classes at NEWT level, but she didn't expect everyone to have the same free time as she.

But as she waited she let her mind wander free. Ignoring everyone around her, not worrying about a damn thing. A luxury she didn't afford herself often enough.

And it was glorious.

Katy didn't appreciate being summoned, but considering the source, she decided to take it only at face value. It didn't mean anything more than that Katy needed to teach Dora how to send magical memos. She paused in the Great Hall, looking for the older Gryffindor and was pleased to discover her at the Slytherin table.

Nice. That was her favorite table!

Katy bounced over to take a seat across from Miss Champion herself. "Hullo, Your Grace. How's fame treating you? You're holding up well. Need any help?"

Dora COULD HAVE sent a magical memo. One shaped like a little birdy. Or an owl itself, but seeing as she was killing time... the passing of messages through younger students amused her, really. Quite curious as to what the message had actually been by the time it made its way to the intended target. Hehehehe.

Being pulled from her thoughts she winced slightly once Katy began her string of comments. She couldn't exactly call them compliments, could she? Nah. Not considering how many people she had angered since she had become a champion. And the fact that most everyone underestimated her as well. Lulz.

"I wouldn't know a thing about fame or grace for that matter, " she said with a grin. And the other comment got a shrug. She didn't know that she was indeed holding up well. She felt more out of sorts than ever actually, but she didn't need to continue that line of thinking.

"As a matter of fact you could help me with something, " the Gryffindor said with a sideways grin, feeling more at ease than she had in a while... letting all of her doubts go in that particular moment. "You could help me find some mindless fun to be had around here. " Hadn't they slid down banister one year?! CLEARLY this girl was gonna help her loosen up.

Oh. She'd been summoned for fun-making? Katy found it hard to be too sour about that, since she didn't feel like she was often the person people sought out for silliness. She was super useful for getting things done, for helping with homework, for potions... but that was using her as a tool rather than as a friend.

This was different. She didn't mind at all.

"Mindless fun? Does that mean relaxation or trouble making? I have trouble guess what people find fun sometimes." Meaning... she didn't want to suggest trouble making and have Dora scoff at the suggestion. Relaxation sounded boring.

Dora was so tired of homework, potions, and doing THINGS. Her brain felt like mush lately due to overuse. It was time to shut that down and do something... mindless. And potentially dangerous?

"Trouble making, of course. I don't want relaxation... I don't know how to relax anymore." So that made it useless, right? RIGHT! "So I have one question, or two rather. Do you have an aversion to fire? Or detention?" she asked with a glimmer in her eye. It was time to quit being a boring old poo and get back to her roots. HEHE.

Open for anyone :)
 

GASP

ANOTHER OLD PERSON SITTING AT A PLACE THAT WASN'T THE STAFF DAIS?

Okay. This was the second one this week. Zoryn was like 500% sure that someone had slipped them all a memory loss potion or something. Why else would they be infiltrating student territory? It was the only thing that made sense.

"You're at the wrong table, y'know?" she offered her help to the man sitting at the Slytherin table. He was clearly WAY too old to be a Hogwarts student. Plus, Zoryn knew who their librarian was... Somehow.

She slid onto the bench so that she was sitting opposite of him. Of course Zoryn was also sitting at the wrong table now, but she couldn't pass up the opportunity to ask a Professor hundreds of meaningless questions. It was her trademark. He was practically begging for a Zoryn A Spinnet interruption.

"And don't you have an office?" Or the ENTIRE library for that matter. "It's probably a bad idea to write notes while you're eating lunch, Sir." Was he aware? "You'll get food all over them AND people are gonna keep distracting you so that you'll never get them finished." She nodded. SO knowledgable, she was.

"I guess you know that already though, 'cause those notes are no where NEAR being done.
Are you procrastinating, sir?" She gave him a LOOK that said 'you're a professor you should not be procrastinating'. "Who's Azura? Is she your girlfriend?????"

HEHEHEHE.

Zoryn giggled.

It was weird to think that Professor's had girlfriends. AND LIVES outside of school. Dude. It was like imagining a hippogriff being a ballerina.

Trouble making! "Relaxing is easy enough, actually. I could help you with that, if you need help, but for now... trouble. Sure." Katy seated herself next to Dora, finally, and propped her chin on her hands.

"I like fire. I don't mind detention. I won't hurt a person physically and I would prefer not to mortify someone unless they deserve it. But... what did you have in mind?" Because Katy was easy to engage in troublesome ideas with just a little poking.

Kalen had just taken a big old bite of mashed potatoes when a student joined him? Apparently this wasn't enough of an odd hour for them all to be in class! Was his watch not working? Huh.. he glanced at the enchanted ceiling for a moment, but seeing as it was cloudy, the green eyed man couldn't tell the suns position..

Ahh well.

He swallowed his food and looked over at the girl for a moment..

"Looks like you are as well Miss Spinnet, but I won't tell if you won't. " Kalen responded with a small smile as he looked at her, curious as to what she was going to do..

Ahhh pepper him with questions! He cast a non verbal heating charm on his food and turned his full attention to the young Gryffindor. "I do have an office, but seeing as I usually eat there, I wanted a little change of scenery. " He said with a small smile as she spoke about taking notes and eating..

"Well a charm will help keep the food off of it, as for people distracting me, I'm fine with that. Maybe that's why I wanted to be down here, yeah?" He said with a soft smile as he glanced over at his letters for a moment..

"Am I? No, not fully of course, I was just hungry and wanting to be somewhere else, sometimes a change helps the mind work better. " He explained to her before letting out a soft chuckle at her her words. "Azura is my niece actually, she's a student here, a fifth year Ravenclaw, however she's been away for a bit so I'm writing to keep her apprised of things that are happening around the school. " He said with a nod..

No need to fully explain where she was or what had happened, though those questions might pop up soon enough..

"Fair point," she shrugged, deciding that although she wanted to argue... Technically he was right. It wasn't exactly her table either. Hm. "My lips are sealed!!" Which was only a saying because the day Zoryn stopped talking would be the day when Professor Meyers stopped wearing ponchos: aka never, eVER.

"How come you eat in your office?" That was super weird. "Don't Professor's get a table too?" 'Cause Zoryn was pretty sure that the old-person table wasn't just for feasts. O-M-G. Did the librarian hate all of the staff???? Or did he just hate people in general? That'd make sense since all his friends were probably books. Zoryn didn't voice these questions yet though. He already had enough to think about. She was taking it easy on him, see??

"OooOOOOH, I get it," she sent a HUGE, over dramatic WINK that basically required her whole entire body to move. "Then you're super lucky 'cause I'm really good at distracting, sir." It was her SPECIALTY. If there was a lesson on distracting, Zoryn would definitely get straight O's.

Oh. Zoryn tilted her head, listening as the Librarian sortof explained. Though his explanation wasn't actually helpful 'cause he didn't really say anything at all. "How come she left? Did she hate it here?" That was the only explanation the second year could come up with. Except HOW COULD ANYONE HATE IT HERE???? "That's SUPER weird, 'cause I think Hogwarts is AWESOME."

Kalen inclined his head as Zoryn spoke and he smiled at her.. "I'm glad our secret in in safe hands then." He said with a nod as he took a drink of his water and then turned his attention back to Miss. Spinnet, he knew she would probably have a ton more questions for him, and that was perfectly fine..

And there was the next one.. "Well, we do get a table of course, it's up there." he said as he gestured to the head table with a wave of his hand, as for why he ate in his office... well..

"I don't often like to leave the Library unintended, not to mention, it's a bit of a trek down here every single day. I find it much easier to have a house elf bring me some Lunch up in my office.." He explained with a shrug, not to mention there was the issue of noise and tons of people, two things which Kalen wasn't exactly a fan of.. Having to face that three times a day every day..

No.Thank.You. His office would do just fine.

A soft chuckle came from his lip as she spoke along with the overdramatic wink.. "It must be my lucky day then, yeah?" He said as he folded his hands and gave a soft laugh, which he tried to cover up by taking a sip of water..

Of course his vague description would not have satisfied the curious Gryffindor and Kalen shook his head as she spoke.. "No, of course she doesn't hate it here, I feel like that would be impossible." He said with a nod. "She thinks its awesome as well, she just needed some time away." In St.Mungos.. But again. not wanting to go into it..

Jonas walked into the great hall for lunch, not really thinking anyone would be tehrer. He half expected that one first now second year would be here. Ariana. A tint of pink could be seen on his face..

also, *eyes* we see you, jonas
 

"GASP!" Why didn't she ever just gasp? The world would never know. OR WOULD IT???? Dun DUN DUUUUHHHN. Definitely because she was dramatic as anything tbh. "I've never been in charge of a secret before!!!" It was gonna be SO much fun to keep. Omg. What if she HAD to tell someone?????? This was way more responsibility than she was used to. OH THE PRESSURE WAS JUST TOO MUCH!!!! Man. She was thriving.

Zoryn's eyes followed his hand to the staff dais, where he wasn't actually sitting. "Then how come you chose this table instead?" her questions were all genuine ones by the way. Any shade or sass was totally unintentional, but very possible. Anyways, it just didn't make much sense. "How come we have assigned tables if anyone can just sit wherever the heck they want. Sounds real counterintuitive." She was gonna add this to the list of silly things that the Headmistress should fix. Plus it was super true. Even at the feasts everyone sat at different tables. Wouldn't it make WAY more sense to just call all the tables "Hogwarts Tables".

As for his explanation... He normally ate in the library all by himself??? THAT WAS SO SAD. "Sounds lonely," she nodded. Y'know what, maybe Zoryn could go eat lunch with him there EVERY DAY from NOW ON so that he'd never be lonely again!!!! Out of all the kindness and goodness of her heart. She'd do it. It was a wonder how she wasn't sorted Hufflepuff. Mhm.

"Oh," was all she had to say, her mouth circled up to form the most perfect little 'o'. "You should tell her to hurry back, she's missing SO MUCH!!!" With all the IMP stuff, anyway. Turning she noticed Jonas, the mean boy who had been SUPER rude to her last term. If he was gonna say another mean thing, Zoryn would have to bite into his shoulder AGAIN.... Even though the librarian was right here. She'd still do it!! Didn't stop her last time.

Alright... here we go.

Being more social...

Going to the great hall for food...

That's certainly more social than sitting in your dorm and eating snacks...

He cannot live on snacks...

Ok... let's find a place to sit down... There are people over there... He wasn't THAT social... lets sit down there... yes. No one on the left, no one on the right... nice and quiet... and... social... he was out of his room. This was social enough.

Kalen had to laugh as the girl audibly said Gasp! She certainly was a character, one Kalen was enjoying conversing with. It certainly was a change from the lonely library life. Perhaps he should venture out more often, yeah?

Ehh.. Let's not get too crazy Kalen. He thought to himself as he took a drink of his water. Though he chuckled into the liquid as Zoryn spoke again."You haven't? Well this is a perfect one!" A small, very innocent one.. a great way to start off a secret keeping career.

Kalen was more or less prepared for the next question that came his way and he smiled warmly at her. "Cause I used to be a Slytherin when I went here a long time ago, so I wanted to see how it felt sitting here again." Nostalgia and all that. Not to mention, since there wasn't many people around, he would feel weird being up on the dais alone.. And he got to talk to more kids, when he was down here.. So, win/win really. He didn't want to be some sort of out of reach person that people couldn't talk too..

"That is an excellent question, perhaps it makes everyone feel better knowing that they do have a table to call theirs.. and yet.. they can go sit elsewhere if they wanted." It was always nice to explore, and yet.. sometimes one just wanted to be at home..

He grinned at her as he looked down at his food, "It can be at times, other times I rather relish the quiet." And he could read a good book while he was at it, or practice his violin, or pet his cats, or even work on some wandless magic.. He was determined to know more spells before next term.. And had been studying rather hard.. Though perhaps he shouldn't start on the fire spell..

Oops?

He nodded. "Don't worry, I will tell her to hurry back, no worries at all." She was due to be released soon, so no worries about that.. He nodded to the boy that had sat down and he smiled at Zoryn's reaction to him.. "Friend of yours?" He asked with a grin as he ate another bite of his mashed potatoes.

"Could you teach me yoga or meditation? Do you DO those things?" Dora wasn't sure if Katy DID, but if so, she should so teach her those things. Relaxation things. MHM. "Trouble," she agreed. This was a much better topic!

Nod. NOD, NOD, NOD. "Oh I don't know what you think of me... but I would never hurt someone or embarrass them unless they deserved it. And I would have to be in the heat of the moment to do that even then." But then she realized Katy probably wasn't directing that at her... just giving her own personal beliefs and such. Awkward. Blushing was happening as she averted her eyes elsewhere. "How about we go redecorate some things around the castle? Or... set a fire outside. A LARGE one. Or... slide down some banisters wearing bed sheets like togas. I don't know, Katy. I think I may be out of fresh ideas." And THAT was a travesty.

----------

Finally taking notice of ahere Zoryn was sitting, Jonas changed seats and got closer to her. He knew she was probably going to bite him again. But he just shrugged it off.
"Hey Zoryn, good year so far??"

What else was he supposed to say? He looked away,his pale skin having a tint of pink in it.

Katy full on scoffed. Yoga. Meditation. Did she look like a person who knew how to relax? "I don't. I was suggesting medicinal means of relaxation. A Calming Draught, maybe. I have some upstairs if you need them." She might as well get a new customer while she was at it.

"I think the world of you, Miss Dora, and don't believe me if I ever make it seem otherwise," Katy leaned forward on her elbows, making a triangle with her body, her arms, and the table. Closing the gap to Miss Dora's ear. "I have some magical fireworks. If you have any ideas for those."

"I keep calming draught in my dorm, but I don't like the idea of taking a potion for everything all the time. I fancy learning to be calm on my own. Not artificial." Did Katy not remember that Dora was no slouch at Potions... and her cousin was a Potioneer? Heh.

Miss Dora. Rooney's influence was clear on the girl when she said that. It made Dora smile a bit. Rooney was good people. "Well I appreciate that, Katy. Really." It was nice to know that some people were awesome like that.

BUT WAIT.

What had she said?

A grin tugged at her lips as she nodded. "Well what are we waiting for?! Let's go get them!!"

Zoryn beamed at the man sat across from her. Mhm. Zoryn would've rather had a much juicer secret to start with, but this one would do. She gave him a nod

"Oh," she formed her mouth into a perfect 'O'. "The Care of Magical Creatures Professor likes to relive his glory days too," she nodded. What was his name???? Eh. It was hard to keep track. BUT ALAS. She had found the man sitting at the Puffer table a few days ago and tried striking up some friendly conversation with no avail. "'Cept he doesn't like talking to people like you do, Sir." That man was SO grumpy. Zoryn didn't like him very much.

"So they have house tables just to make us feel good about ourselves?" she gave him a funny look. "Sounds like a sellout to me," on the Headmistress' part. "We've already got Common Rooms, how come we need different tables too?" It made NO sense. Zoryn would definitely go to the headmistress and ask her about it. It was a VERY important question. Her entire LIFE depended on it. Sort of.

She followed the man's gaze down to-- UGH--Jonas. "UM, LIKE, NO WAY!" she made a FACE. "He attacked me during a lesson last year," it was a FACT. And Zoryn would never forgive him for it. Instead, like the mature adult she was, she'd ignore him. And speaking of which.

As Jonas approached, Zoryn made EVERY EFFORT not to look his way and instead looked directly at the Librarian. "Do you hear something? I think there's a draft in here." SO MATURE.

Jonas rolled his eyes. "Look I wanted to make amends. Maybe I could help you with studies." He said rolling his eyes. And he was the one not being mature? Riiight. He offered her some mashed potatoes.

Kalen had to hide another smile as she spoke about Tristan, "Does he really? I could see it. You know we are friends? Mr.Wayland and I. We went to school together. " He said with a grin. Not to mention he was housemates with Laurel and his older brother had worked with River.. There were more connections, but he couldn't remember them at the moment! Oh yeah.. Rosalyn of course.

How had he forgotten that one? He had nearly lost his best friend to his crush oh the now History of Magic professor.. Ahh well.

Kalen snickered softly as he spoke.. "Was he eating as well? He gets a bit grumpy if you interrupt a meal. He's pretty great though once you get to know him. " Kalen said in defense of his friend.. You didn't bother Tristan while he was eating.

He shook his head and smiled.. "Not quite like that.. " He said as he paused in thought.. "I think originally, not a whole lot of people strayed from their tables, but we have.. so they stay there in case we don't want too. " Ehh? Maybe? He wasn't even sure.. He shrugged a bit.."Maybe you should talk to the Headmistress about that? We could be up for some innovation around here don't you think?" He said with a smile..

He looked at James and then back at Zoryn as they spoke and he raised an eyebrow.. "He attacked you? " Eyebrow raise..

And there went the other one as she ignored the blushing boy.. Ahhh.. umm..

"Maybe you two could talk while I'm here? I can act as a buffer so no one gets attacked.. " Or pelted with mashed potatoes..

Jonas rolled his eyes.
"Nobody's attacking anyone. And I didn't attack her last year, I just yelled at her, she's the one who bit me, but enough about that I guess."

Well. Dora could scoff at potions, but they were safe and well brewed and Katy needed people to buy them to pay for her ingredients. So there. She gave Dora a smile, deciding to try the pitch again later.

Bigger fish to fry.

Fireworks. "Yes. Let's. They're in my room, but I could meet you somewhere with them in fifteen minutes or so. Where should we direct them?"

“Oh,” Zoryn had no idea. It was kinda weird to think about the Professor’s as young people. Especially trying to imagine them going to Hogwarts. Yeah… Totally weird. “Well he was trying to, but he dropped his sandwich,” she giggled remembering the ICONIC moment. A total grump. She nodded.

As for his explanations for the house tables… Zoryn still didn’t buy it, but she nodded nevertheless as she was starting to get bored with his redundancy on that one. Probably sounded a lot like she did tbh. “I’m DEFINITELY gonna talk to her, sir!” Plus, it’d be good for the woman. She needed to know who Zoryn was, like, ASAP. Mhm.

And…. About Jonas.

UGH.

CUE EYEROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Yeah, he totally did!! In care of magical creatures LAST YEAR!” She remembered the moment VERY clearly.

“I’ll talk, but I’m NOT gonna make amends,” she crossed her arms and looked straight at the school librarian rather than the blushing boy next to her. “Well, he lounged at me FIRST.” She didn’t just go around biting people without reason. He was totally trying to paint her as the bad guy, when in fact she was just defending herself. Mhm. “And Prefect Tenacius didn’t think I did anything wrong.” And he was like the ULTIMATE voice of authority. So, like, YEAH.

He dropped his sandwich? Kalen had to hold back a snort of laughter at that, which he covered up by taking another drink of water. He swallowed the liquid and took a moment to compose himself.. United front and all.. "Well, if Tristan.. Professor Wayland, dropped his sandwich..that would for sure make him grumpy.." He still had to hold back a chuckle about that.. he would have loved to have seen his friend lose his lunch.. He smiled at the girls giggle and woudi have joined in himself..

Ah well.. more water?

He nodded along with Zoryn as she spoke, "Yes, that would be a good idea. " And he mentally apologized to Regina in his head for suggesting something like this. She had so much to do and getting a suggestion about losing the house tables wasn't exactly on her top list of priorities.. Especially with IMPS going on!

Kalen's mind was taken from that though as Jonas spoke and Zoryn spoke again. Merlin, seems like he had landed in the middle of some feud.. Great..

Kalen was rather bad with conflict and part of him wanted to pick up his food and make a dash for it.. In fact he was eyeing the doorway and wondering how fast he could run without spilling his pot roast.. When Zoryn spoke again,,

"Well, if it happened last year, and your Prefect thought it was okay.. then perhaps it should be dropped, yeah? " Kalen said as he looked at the two of them..

"i did drop it." Jonas said trying to hide the annoyance in his voice. by now, he had stopped blushing.

Hmmmm... Maybe the man actually was hungry just because he dropped his sandwich. This made Zoryn THINK. It gave her LOADS of ideas. Ideas including visiting the man in his office some day soon. Man, Zoryn was leaving this conversation with SO many things she had to do!! Talk to the Headmistress, bring her CoMC Professor a sandwich, and... Probably other things but right now she was forgetting.

"No offense, Sir," she turned to give the librarian a VERY serious look (which was quite rare for Zoryn Spinnet). "But I don't wanna drop it." Nope. Because she was a VERY dramatic almost-thirteen year old.

And with that, she got herself up from the bench, giving the adult at the table a nod. "Good luck with your letter!" She smiled at him, before turning to Jonas. "I hope you trip on your own feet!" She gave him a FAKE smile and blew raspberries at him before turning and exiting the Great Hall.

If she had stayed, she would've felt inclined to bite him again and honestly, Zoryn wasn't really feeling up to it today.

Jonas sighed and rolled his eyes deciding to eat the mashed potatoes by himself then. Fine then, he thought to himself. If you insist then.

Oliver liked seeing others being happy or excited, so he got that feeling he usually did when his friends were in high spirits as he and Kye entered the Great Hall and made their way to their house table.

"I can already smell the food." The great hall seemed to always smell like food though, it was a room that almost forced you to be hungry. How could you not be when smelling the many magical smells that could only be attributed to the Elves mad cooking skills?

"Hmmm Something with meat, i need protein!" And sure there were other ways of getting it but who cared about them when there could be Chicken or Ham or Beef or glorious, glorious BACON.

Kye couldn't help but laugh with glee at his equivalent enthusiasm. So many ideas! Kye looked at the table, thinking of the possibilities.

"Hmmm... I think I'd fancy some steak and mashed potatoes!" Live large, right?! The food materialized almost instantly before them, with more than enough for her (huge) appetite. She placed a juicy slice of steak on her plate, a heap of mashed potatoes and poured a bit of steak sauce... okay maybe a little too much but oh well.


"You're welcome to have some of this as well of course," she offered. She wondered what he would order because... food.

She started to cut pieces and happily bit into it. Ohmigawd It was delicious! Of course it was, but when you're hungry, everything tastes better. The mashed potatoes had a turkey based gravy on them and together it was heaven.

She moaned in appreciation, yum yum yum.