Despite losing track of time at the library, Levi was very much on time for his very casual brewing appointment with Katy Toussaint. Dinner sometimes wasn't always a mandatory affair in terms of optimizing his time, so he had made an executive decision that night and chose to skip it. He grabbed a particularly juicy looking apple from the Slytherin table, walked around a couple of short people he assumed were first years and even saved someone from spilling the contents of their drink on his shoes. By promptly jumping back, of course, and mouthing sorry at them, not that he thought it'd been his fault at all. But.

He bit into the apple, twice, and continued to head to the Slytherin fifth year in question. "Katherine." He supposed Katy was what she preferred, so he amended it by smiling. He pushed up his glasses. "Ready when you are."

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."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

"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."

"Or maybe," He said, laughter coloring his voice, "I'm just a really good actor and the glasses are just here to make things a little more intriguing, you know?" Levi was admittedly a little surprised that she'd not only noticed he'd skipped dinner but also that she'd made him a sandwich; he felt the back of his neck redden, somewhat. He took the sandwich, his smile only a little bit bashful. "Your concerned for my well being is noted. I'm touched."

He began to lead the way out of the great hall, pointed at his messenger bag. "Mine's here. Should I be scared of what I'm helping you brew?"

"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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

"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.

Katherine's declaration gave him a slight pause and he wondered if it was strange that he felt a little bit flattered by it. More than that, he wondered if it would be inappropriate to mention it, if it would make him come off as weird. "Ah," Levi said, sort of deciding against it as he rose his brows a fraction, "The pressure is on, it seems. But--thank you."

Levi meant both. Though it was hard not to think that it also meant there was much room for disappointment, too.

He hurried up, a little. "Bruised egos aside, as long as nothing blows up on our faces, we'll both be okay." He shot her a sideways look and a small, knowing smile. "The world would not be able to recover from that sort of loss, I think."

Kyle came in and sat at his house table for dinner, hoping one of the Ilvermorny students would join them. Or more. More would be better. Here, away from the adults, he might actually have the courage to talk to them. This was going to be great, right? I mean, new students from far away in a different land? He nodded to himself. That's right, they just need to sit at the table and he could have a nice discussion with them about what their country was like.

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.

Kyle was so excited. There were students coming in the direction of HIS TABLE! He waved at the other boy, not realizing it was another Kyle, and the girl on his arm. "Over here!" He called out. Oh, please sit with me! Please please please please please!

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?!

Everything continued to be unimpressive. From the brief stroll to the castle, to the bleak, archaic corridors (seriously, what century were they in?), to the very not-stereotypically-British Great Hall. Incredible. Jesús found himself at a loss for words (this was cause for alarm,) but he followed behind Valerie and Kyle, observing everything carefully. He made sure to try and keep away from Professors Williams and Williams (they were a deadly force to be reckoned with,) and his dark brows sloped downward as he frowned, again, at the lack of...pizazz.

"Oh," he said before taking a seat at the...snake? table. "This...," and he caught himself before looking around to make sure Professor Williams (the one who had a penchant for handing out detentions like pieces of gum,) wasn't nearby. "...is really lackluster. I'm not surprised, though, Hogwarts has always been behind; now it's just painfully obvious just how stuck in the past they are." A shame considering how proudly the students carried themselves around campus.

"Think they're being forced to pretend to like the school?" He wouldn't put it past them, actually. His thoughts swirled and he picked up the goblet in front of him, peered into it (again, he wondered, what century were they in?) and then poured some juice into it. "I desperately need a Big Mac."

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.

Kyle smiled as one of them introduced herself to the table. She seemed friendly. He waved at her with his most charming look (for a kid). "Hi Aurora! I'm Kyle!"

Text Cut: Brent and Aurora

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

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?!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aurora Chae

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.

Natalie had completely missed the actual arrival of the Ilvermorny students, but as soon as she heard the bustle and whispers of the American kids, the young Slytherin threw down her book and ran out of the common room. She wanted to see them, see what they looked like and smelled like and how they DRESSED.

Running up the stairs from the lower level, Natalie booked it to the Great Hall, her wavy brown locks flowing behind her. She instinctively went to her own house table, her blue eyes alert and staring at all the new faces. They were all TALL and NEW and SHINY and PRETTY. They were all old, too. Like, she didn't see any people her age. That was lame.

Still doe-eyed and staring, Natalie walked through the crowd, her eyes landing on a dark-haired girl (Aurora). She was REALLY pretty and her hair was super shiny. She was about to open her mouth and tell her, but her tiny body bumped into a much larger one when she wasn't paying attention to where she was going.

Oh, I'm so--" Looking up, Natalie saw that it was an older, tall boy that was in her house. And he was pretty, too. "Sorry," she said softly, her cheeks turning bright pink. But wait, the pretty girl was talking to the pretty boy! Westwood boy! Wait! That was the brother of the boy that she met in Diagon Alley that was also really pretty!

And she was in a daze, surrounded by tall, pretty people.

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.

What was all this? They had to sit at their tables? Really? He didn't have enough issues with trying to find a seat when it was just the snakes now he had to sit with some idiot Americans. This was not at all annoying to the second year. He'd be staying away from the Great Hall after this because being social meant he had to fake being nice and honestly it was exhausting.

Could these Americans do anything for him? Would they be useful? He thought about this as he tried to figure out what they could be useful for. Really all this thinking was an effort too, so Eddie just turned and sat quietly. He didn't care to speak to any of them and he was really offended that they were at his table instead of the headmistress making them their own table.

NEWTs studying had taken a lot of her focus for the day, so it had completely slipped her mind that the Ilvermorny kids were coming today. Rula had been in the library surrounded by a pile of books until she'd heard people gathering excitedly around the windows, talking about a flying car and students climbing out of it. She'd quickly closed her books and stuffed them in her bag, but by that time, the initial welcoming party was over, and they were heading for the Great Hall, so that was where she headed next. Her bag of books were sent to her dorm with a quick wave of her wand, not wanting to carry those around while mingling with the new kids.

Making sure her badge was on properly, she walked on in, taking a quick moment to scan the hall - was that music being played at the Gryffindor table? - before heading for the Slytherin table, already spotting a few of the new faces.

"Hi! Welcome to Hogwarts!" She offered a bright, friendly smile to them all, both new and familiar. And she'd arrived in time to hear a few of the others, including her sister, introducing themselves, so she continued as she sat next to Junia, "I'm Rula Botros, the Head Girl, and I hope you'll enjoy your stay here this term." She certainly didn't expect them to like it as much as their home school - she knew she wouldn't like any other school as much as hers, after all - but hopefully it wouldn't be an entirely miserable experience for them.

Even if Hogwarts was totally going to beat them in this competition thing. Hehe.

Katy wanted dinner. It wasn't that she was unimpressed with the arrival of the bug people, although it lacked some style, but she was just... hungry. It had been a long day. Studying, potions, homework, staring at a car fall out of the sky... and she had no qualms about stuffing rolls up her sleeves for later. It made her lumpy but whatever.

She also did some general shoulder waggling to make fun of 'Rula-Botros-Head-Girl' behind her back. That was allowed, considering the relationships between the two families. Also she sounded ridiculous. Katy threw a roll at her, just for good measure. "Yes, weeeeeeelcome to Hogwarts. Stick food in your mouth and be merry."

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."

Teddy was TRYING to squeeze into a spot at the Slytherin table for it was quickly filling up with Ilvermorny students. However, every time she went for a spot, it was quickly filled by another.

There was much excitement among the Hogwarts students and the Ilvermorny students. Yet, for Teddy, it still seemed foreign. She was new here and everything was all too new.