An active, character-driven Hogwarts experience set in the early 2000s. Unique items, plots, and features. Non-canon; this isn't Harry Potter's story, it's ours.
Post by Ryan Barrow on Mar 27, 2019 23:20:42 GMT 10
Ryan entered the courtyard and wanted to backtrack. There were various students of all years seated on benches or doing their own things among friends. It wasn't his type of public area, as being social elevated his anxiety, but he was determined not to hide himself away all afternoon. It was a lovely day too, so it'd be a shame to waste the sunshine.
He headed to an empty bench and sat down, contemplating how to spend his afternoon. He'd lagged behind everyone after Potions, so had lost track of anyone he knew. Dani was probably off getting more ingredients and exploring, but he wasn't sure what Gerald did with his free time. Or Ruby, but Ryan didn't know if they were friends yet. How did that work, anyway?
A space on the bench is soon occupied by several books, as if he could somehow read all of them before dinner. Ryan fidgeted, wishing he could just curl up in the Ravenclaw common room - but he'd made his decision, and refused to go up those five million steps again until forced to in order to reach his bed. Why did he have to belong to the house with all the physical climbing?
Despite his nerves, Ryan was open to company - so long as it was the friendly kind, of course. Maybe his friends or Ruby would find him there? He opened a book on his lap and began to read, trying to focus despite the rowdy noise across the courtyard or students frequently passing by.
Post by Ryan Barrow on Mar 28, 2019 16:32:11 GMT 10
Ryan startled when someone said his name, causing him to drop his book onto his foot. Wincing, he quickly retrieved it and looked at who's spoken.
'Oh, hey Ruby.' He blushed at having reacted how he had, though was pleased to see a classmate that was at least somewhat familiar to him. 'Er, thanks. You did really well too.' He nodded. Ryan thought she did a lot better than he had, but didn't want to make it a contest where he set himself up to fail.
'Are...' He wasn't good with conversations or making friends, still unsure how things worked out with Dani and Gerald. 'Er, are you havign a good afternoon?' Oh no, that was a stupid thing to say. So boring. But Ryan didn't know what to talk about and hoped she'd sit with him for a while so it was less scary out there by himself.
Post by Ryan Barrow on Mar 28, 2019 17:45:23 GMT 10
Ryan smiled when she sat to join him, and he was allowed to call her by a nickname! That meant they were friends now, right? Why didn't this stuff come written in a book or something? It would really help. On that thought, he quickly moved some books back to his bag or the other side of him on the bench so there wasn't a wall of literature between them.
'You talked to a Slytherin?' Ryan shuddered. 'Was she in our class or someone older? I've heard stories about them, the older ones. Was she really scary or rude? I think you're really brave, Rubes.' He thought about is time by the boathouse with Dani that morning and knew even going near the lake was brave, let alone to talk to a stranger.
He shrugged at the rest of her question, not really sure how to describe his summer. She'd probably think it was really boring anyway, and she might not even know Muggle stuff so it wouldn't even make sense to her. Ryan didn't know why she wanted to get to know the other students, but supposed not everyone had his anxiety and wariness so she probably just wanted to make friends like a normal person would.
'I'm not doing much.' He shrugged again, staring at his shoes. 'Just reading, I guess,' Ryan mumbled.
Post by Ryan Barrow on Mar 28, 2019 19:25:35 GMT 10
'I know, but the older ones sound scary and not just because they're in Slytherin.' Ryan's mumbled returned, thinking maybe he was the only one who thought they were to be avoided. 'Your mum sounds nice, I guess.' He had no idea what to say, but certainly didn't agree with Ruby's mum.
He wasn't going to smile if he had a bad day - he just wanted to be by himself or could get annoyed faster. And when he starts his day he can barely function, let alone remember how to smile until he's been fed. He didn't doubt Ruby knew what she was talking about, as of course everyone was different. If it helped her, he was glad.
'Er, cool?' Ryan thought the news of family members having babies was a good thing. He personally thought babies were loud and gross, but they might be nicer once they got older and could be read books to or something. He didn't have any siblings so Ryan wouldn't know what that could be like.
'Do you have a big family?' he wondered. 'I don't, but that's just me. My parents have really busy jobs, but they help a lot of people.'
Post by Ryan Barrow on Mar 29, 2019 22:28:03 GMT 10
'Wow,' Ryan said, though he had no idea what the Ministry of Magic was. If she did and her parents worked there, Ruby probably didn't know any or much muggle stuff. He wasn't sure how to explain what a scientist and a detective were, as he hadn't learned of any magical equivalent of those yet.
'No siblings, me.' He shrugged, staring at his books. 'My parents work a lot. They help people - my dad invents and discovers things, and my mum solves crimes. I don't know what you'd call that here.'
He glanced around, hoping for a subject change in case he had to explain muggle stuff. Ryan didn't know enough magic words yet. 'Are you looking forward to dinner? I'm not sure I'll drink anything but water or juice though, after that Potions class.' He shuddered.
Post by Ryan Barrow on Mar 30, 2019 16:38:46 GMT 10
Ryan was intrigued by those titles, which were somewhat self-explanatory. Why didn't Muggles have longer job titles that actually made the job clearer? He supposed magic had a lot more layers to it, like accidental magic was different to controlled magic and there must be lots of different departments involved. He was curious, but didn't want to sound like he knew as little as he did about being a wizard.
'Oh, man...' Ryan grinned wishfully at the thought of dinner. 'Loads of things, I hope. I ate too much the first night here, so gotta learn to pace myself or whatever reasonable people do. Can you believe we're allowed to eat whatever we want here? All the time? It's amazing! I'm hoping for roast potatoes this time, with lots and lot of gravy.'
Post by Ryan Barrow on Mar 31, 2019 17:51:20 GMT 10
'Oh, that's not fair,' Ryan whined, though grinned at Ruby's words. 'Those sound so yummy! I'm hungry now. How much longer until dinner, do you think? I could eat a whole turkey right now, I reckon.' That wouldn't follow his new plan to pace himself and not try to eat more than he could handle, but damn he needed real food after picturing all those options.
Ryan was not one to disobey rules, too scared of the consequences if caught or the fact some rules were probably there to keep them safe anyway, but the idea had already formed and he hated himself for it.
'Rubes, do you think...Well, if there's still some time before dinner, maybe we could go find the kitchens? Are we allowed there, do you know?' He fidgeted nervously, looking around the courtyard as if expecting the whole Hogwarts staff to be there and ready to give him detention for the rest of his life.
'Be glad you're not in Ravenclaw, though.' He shuddered. 'Yeah, the common room is amazing and huge, with a great view and all of that...But you have to earn it. We've got like a million stairs to climb every time we want to go there, then leave again. It's a nightmare! And we have to answer a riddle instead of using passwords. I almost got locked out getting these books.' He huffed, still bitter about the entire unfairness of his house rules.
Last Edit: Mar 31, 2019 17:52:01 GMT 10 by Ryan Barrow
Post by Ryan Barrow on Apr 1, 2019 18:04:41 GMT 10
'Yeah!' Ryan breathed relief that Ruby seemed to understand just how horrible those stairs could be, and he wasn't just complaining about something others wouldn't think was a big deal. 'And I am completely exhausted every time. The riddle hasn't been a problem yet, 'cause I just try not to go alone and hope someone else will answer it.' He shrugged. That was allowed, right?
He couldn't believe he was actually considering the one thing he was too scared or not daring enough to do. Ryan wasn't entirely sure if it was breaking the rules to go to the kitchens, but he was so hungry and all the talk of food stuck with him. Ruby made it sound like a reasonable thing to do, so he figured maybe it was okay?
'Er, okay.' Ryan fidgeted, then quickly gathered his books back into his bag. Was it this heavy before? 'But only if no one minds, okay? If someone says we can't go in, or whoever works there says to leave, I'm gonna. I don't want to get into trouble.' He stared at his shoes, embarrassed but determined not to be convinced to do the wrong thing.
'You remember where is it, right?' Ryan checked, intending to follow Ruby there as he wasn't even sure where the Hufflepuff common room was. It was strange living in a huge castle, when back at home he knew where everything was - especially the kitchen.
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