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.
Rubes finished her toast and had a look at what else was available. The table was lined with bowls of hot porridge and plates of bacon and pancakes. Ruby took a couple of pancakes and drizzled some honey over them.
Taking a look at her schedule for the day, Ruby saw there were no classes for First Years. The only thing she had to go to was the homework session.
"Good," she said to herself. "That means I can spend most of the day with my friends."
Emily spotted her sisters sitting at the Ravenclaw table and she glared pointedly at them as she sauntered to the Slytherin table and took a seat, making sure to sit where they could see her expression without obstruction. She wanted them to know she was angry after seeing them cackle with laughter at the glitter explosion the night before. As far as she was concerned, finding the situation amusing was an act of betrayal and she wasn't going to forget it anytime soon.
She was absolutely starved after missing most of her meal the previous night, as it had been coated in glitter, and therefore she filled her plate more than usual to make up for it. She shoveled food into her mouth, periodically looking up to glare once again at Charlotte and Maisie, and glanced at the schedule for the day to see what she needed to prepare herself for. She wasn't a huge fan of herbology, and the realization that she'd have to deal with that nonsense first thing in the morning fueled her irate attitude.
Appetite starting to be satiated, Emily took a moment to forget about her stupid sisters, glitter, class and everything and decided to focus on one of her favorite activities: looking at boys. A glance around her own table showed girls everywhere, and the boys she spotted were younger and unimportant. Table by table, she slowly let her eyes trail from one person to the next, hoping she'd spot someone breathtakingly handsome or playful and adorable. By now, she knew who the best looking boys were, but it didn't stop her from scanning daily to see if she had missed anyone. Unfortunately, some of the best looking boys had not arrived yet, though there were a few that caught her eye. Absentmindedly eating a few bites of a breakfast pastry, she realized she had been staring at a 5th year Hufflepuff for far too long and she quickly averted her gaze back to her plate.
Nathan straightened his tie before walking into the Great Hall, clothing impeccable and stride relaxed and confident. As he approached the Slytherin table, he quickly inventoried everyone he saw seated before making a decision on where to sit.
He settled on sitting nearby the two fifth year girls, close enough to converse if he felt the need to, but far enough away not to be intrusive. He casually observed the daily schedule, pleased for morning free time and already making plans to occupy it. He was exceptionally excited for Defence, as it was one of his favourite classes and one he was proficient in as well.
He carefully served himself some fruit and breakfast sausages and began eating, stabbing a sausage with his fork and taking in the chatter around him. He hoped the day would be eventful and entertaining, and was already in search of something to do to drum up some excitement. After finishing his breakfast, he patiently awaited the mail and Daily Prophet delivery, using the downtime to chat with his two nearby housemates, "Good morning, ladies."
Anise trudged into the Great Hall tiredly, dropping heavily onto the seat near Lailee, across from Nathan. She yawned, covering her mouth with her hand while doing so, then dropping her hand onto the table with a thud. "I hate mornings." she grumbled to no one in particular, "I hate Amara. And Megan."
She glanced at Lailee, muttering half-heartedly, "Sorry, I know you're mates, but I'm just so tired."
With a heavy sigh, she put several slices of toast on her plate with a spoonful of marmalade. She grumpily ate her food, wishing she was spending her free morning asleep. She took a gulp of juice and glanced at her roommates, then Nathan, and added, "I'd eat quickly, if her mood doesn't improve before they turn up, we're all in danger."
"Mathias Sallow." Becca told Lailee, handing her friend a grape and putting one in her own mouth, adding "Ravenclaw, our year." in case Lailee wasn't familiar with him.
She completely ignored Lailee's excuse for picking at her meal, slightly concerned about her friend's well-being and wondering if she should open up to her about her own history with troublesome eating habits. Maybe she was just biased because of her own experiences, but she didn't want anyone to have to suffer through what she had gone through. With that in mind, Becca popped another grape into her mouth and handed another to Lailee, subtly trying to get her point across.
She glanced at Nathan when he sat, though let him eat his meal in peace. She reached for a strawberry, taking a bite and savoring the flavor before taking another and pushing it off on her friend. When he addressed them, she gave a wry smile, "Hey Nathan. I don't know if I'd call it a good morning, it started rather abruptly. Never a dull moment in our dormitory."
When Anise joined them, Becca could relate to her roommate's exhaustion, still feeling quite sleepy herself though it was getting better with food. She snorted lightly when Anise said she hated Amara and Megan, tempted to ask who didn't, but refrained from doing so. "She's still on a warpath?" Becca asked, remembering the tone of Amara's voice and her loud and unhappy actions earlier, "Glad to see you made it out alive, then."
Marrow sipped his orange juice feeling wired. but sipped there thinking on what he should do with the homework and were should he explore. thoughts went to rubes quick he wandered if she was serious about joining him together has they explored and after the talks in the common room his face went light pink he was trying to shake it off. Marrow kept his cool doing his chant head up back straight and with confidence.
The arrival of the morning post was heard before seen. Hundreds of owls flew through high windows and swooped or swerved into the Great Hall. They delivered letters from home, care packages, and the morning's issue of the Daily Prophet. While the professional or hired owls left when their deliveries were done and paid for, others lingered on the house tables in hope of pets or treats.
Headmaster Rickard left the Great Hall, soon joined by Professor McGonagall. Professors Hathmore and Archerose were busy dealing with owls who delivered each a number of apparently urgent letters. Archerose yelped as one feisty owl bit him, to the amusement of Professor Fairburn. Hathmore hurriedly stored his letter in deep pockets, and strode from the hall like a wizard on a mission.
However, the arrival of the post wasn't the only cause of commotion during breakfast. As soon as more students began to fill the hall, a rumour had made its rounds to each of the house tables. Several students turned and craned in their seats to get a glimpse of the Gryffindor table - while Gryffindors themselves scowled at their breakfast and avoided eye contact with others. A few told onlookers to sod off, but to no success. Whispers enticed plenty of chatter, both regarding the rumour and night night's dramatic prank - though neither were inherently connected.
The rumour apparently originated from a group of students who'd been overheard discussing the matter. It is: towards the end of last year, Jacob Thatcher and Thomas Lockyer were caught in the Forbidden Forest at night because fellow Gryffindor, Eleanor Bernard, knew about their plan and reported them to Professor McGonagall.
Many theories as to why she'd done it emerged during the gossiping, but the most constant reason was it earned her recognition and praise from their Head of House, which in turn helped her reputation among the staff and spared herself punishment for her own wrongdoings. Most Gryffindors had also known about the boys' plans to sneak out, but Eleanor was the one to report them for her own benefit - which many would remember had cost them a week's of detention, almost had Thomas banned from their final Quidditch match of the season, and lost Gryffindor over a hundred house points.
At the time, only the incident was known. Now, the rumour's brought to everyone's attention that Eleanor had been involved and betrayed her own house.
Note: The plot involving the rumour's content and spreading was pre-planned, then approved by staff. The idea and agreement came from each member/character involved.
Post by Lucas Mardling on Jun 2, 2019 18:02:38 GMT 10
Lucas was up early that morning, wanting to get a head-start on his plans for the day. He strolled into the Great Hall as post arrived, his hands tucked in pants pockets. As usual, he wore his uniform impeccably yet his robes remained absent. He paused to check the area for any sign of trouble, ducking an owl as the post arrived. With smug amusement, having heard the rumour going around and knowing what it meant for the Gryffindors, he made his way to the Slytherin table in better spirits than the night before.
'Morning,' Lucas cheerily greeted his housemates, as he sat beside Nathan and reached for an apple. Serving himself some pancakes and a pastry, Lucas remained in a good mood. He paused in taking a bite of his pastry to notice the same could not be said for the girls. He raised a questioning eyebrow at Nathan, though was too curious to await a possible explanation.
'So...Rough morning?' Lucas casually asked the 5th year girls. It was then he noticed the absence of two in particular. 'Ah. I see. Which one was it this time? Or are they both feeling particularly murderous this morning?'
Lucas' smugness was smacked out of him as a roll of newspaper hit his head and landed in front of him - luckily, not on his syrup-drowned pancakes. He urgently checked his hair and fixed it, then sighed and figured he may as well stay informed of the news. His mouth full of pastry, Lucas unrolled the newspaper and his attention immediately went to the headline. Well now, that was worth his attention.
Frowning, forgetting he was in the middle of a conversation, Lucas bent to read the article. Not that he cared too much about a few scared Muggles, but the ongoing disturbances were odd. Only a fool would fail to see a pattern there, which could be more than a prank if it kept up. From the look of the moving photograph, it was certainly some sort of spell. At least, he thought so.
Last Edit: Jun 2, 2019 18:06:14 GMT 10 by Lucas Mardling
Ruby looked up and scanned the huge flock of owls entering the Great Hall to see if Fontaine, the Farrowbrooke Family owl, was among them. There she was, swooping down toward the Hufflepuff table with a copy of The Daily Prophet clamped in her beak. She landed on the bench beside Rubes.
"Thanks, Fontaine." Ruby stroked the owl's head and pulled a letter out from her robe pocket. "Take this toMum and Dad. It's to askif mynew friends cancome visitFarrowbrooke Estateduring the next schoolholidays." Fontaine squawked, took the letter and flew away.
Unfolding the newspaper, Ruby saw a headline saying some Muggles had been disturbed by strange lights in an isolated street. It was likely a young witch or wizard playing pranks, but she supposed she couldn't blame the Muggles for being scared. They tended to be afraid of things they didn't understand.
Looking up from the paper, Ruby spotted Marrow at the Gryffindor table. She waved to her friend. "Morning, Marrow!"
Despite the impending doom, as Kier finished off his breakfast the life seemed to return to his eyes. He ran a hand through his hair in a halfhearted attempt to tame it before finally looking around the hall for any new or interesting developments. Only then did he hear the rumour.
Well, that timing is suspicious. He glanced at the Slytherin table with an amused expression before noticing a distinct lack of murderious energy. Where was Amara? He wasn’t sure if he was relieved that she was absent, or worried about what she might be doing. With a quick glance he noted the Griffindor trio also hadn’t arrived yet, though they did have a tendency for being late so that one quite wasn’t as odd.
He pushed his plate away and stretched his arms out in front of him on the table before letting his head rest on them, his gaze still lazily drifting around the hall as he considered what he planned to do. Dares most likely. However, as he overheard Amara’s lackey talking with another girl about going to the lake he immediately crossed the swimming dare off his plans. Wherever that one went there was a chance the female dog would follow.
For a brief moment he considered the food fight dare... but a look in the direction of the teachers told him that probably wasn’t worth it right now. Besides, that would be a horrible waste of good bacon. For now he would just have to focus on finding a victim and worry about which dare he’d do later.
Post by Mathias Sallow on Jun 2, 2019 20:52:20 GMT 10
Mathias entered the Great Hall with more energy than it seemed several of his classmates had in the morning. He'd gone to bed earlier than usual and was looking forward to some free time - having already memorised his class timetable for the day. He liked learning new things and DADA was rarely a class to disappoint.
However, he didn't head to the Ravenclaw table. Mathias made a beeline for the Hufflepuff one, and pat Adeline on the head. With a cheeky grin, he peered at her in warm greeting. He hadn't seen her since they boarded the Hogwarts Express and decided to stop waiting around to bump into her. It wasn't as if other houses weren't allowed to sit together during breakfast of lunch, except maybe when Slytherins were involved.
He picked a seat near his sister, to not interrupted her own social interactions, yet closer to Kieran so he could chat with him. He noticed a Slytherin nearby but it wasn't too surprising, since it was the Hufflepuff table after all. If anyone had friends in all houses, it would be those lot.
'I've started studying it,' Mathias said without setting up the conversation with a greeting or context, though Kieran would surely know he was talking about their all-important twig from the day before. 'So far, not much is being impressive but I've got lots more I want to try out. There's even a spell that might help, but I'll save that for last in case it ruins things.'
He stuffed some scrambled eggs into his mouth as politely as he could for a starving teenager, his curious gaze trailing around the hall and at nearby students. He glanced at the Daily Prophet by Kieran, wondering where his own was or if the poor owl didn't get the memo about table changes.
'May I?' Mathias asked Kieran, while already snatching the newspaper to eat. It was a struggle to eat and read at the same time, but he managed to multi-task with minimal mess or choking. The story was probably interesting, and more than a bit curious, but Mathias didn't get further than the headline. The words got harder as they went, his brain unable to find the energy to keep going. It wasn't the kind of news that excited him so he quickly discarded the paper in Kieran's direction.
'Got any plans for today?' Mathias asked Kieran, though glanced at Adeline to include her in the question as well. He always had lots of plans, but he also had a promise to keep with Becca. He titled back to watch the enchanted ceiling, disappointed it wasn't still raining but glad he could make use of the grounds if needed.
Last Edit: Jun 2, 2019 20:56:08 GMT 10 by Mathias Sallow
"I'm good, it looks like we had some rain last night" she said conversationally in answer to Adeline's question and quickly finished her toast with a couple of quick bites before starting to sip steadily at her juice. Listening as the third year girl asked about her morning class and spoke about how she was looking forward to her morning Herbology class. Elara had never really enjoyed Herbology much as was about to voice her opinion when a familiar Slytherin girl slid into the seat opposite her. Elara's brow furrowed as Hanna spoke about skipping their morning defence against the dark arts lesson and after taking another sip of her pumpkin juice, she fixed her with a warning glare.
"You are not skipping out on me!" she warned her friend. Hanna was someone who seemed all too eager to skip out on class if she felt that she might be able to get away with it and Elara was the opposite, always attending her classes even those that she disliked or felt unnecessary. "You're going to fail that class and then where will you be?" it was always down to her to make sure Hanna caught up on the homework whenever she skipped class and although it had long grown tiresome, she was unlikely to bail on her friend. All she could do was encourage her to attend class and hope that she listened to her advice.
She would have continued the argument further had it not been for the sound of the morning post arriving and her gaze turned upwards as she looked for any sign that she might be receiving mail, either from home or otherwise. The mornings issue of the daily prophet landed in front of her, but her attention was captured not by the arrival of the newspaper but the arrival of a familiar large screech owl that she knew belonged to her parents. As the bird landed in front of her, she scratched it thankfully upon its head and detached the letter from around its leg and sent it on its way. Eagerly opening the letter, she smiled as she read through the letter. Her brother had got that job at the ministry he'd been hoping for and her parents were hosting a party to celebrate. She wished that she could be there and made a mental note to write a letter congratulating her sibling that afternoon.
Once she'd tucked the letter into her pocket, her attention turned to the newspaper in front of her and she scooped it up, the smile disappearing from her face and being replaced by a scowl as she read the headline. "Do you know anything about this?" she directed her question to Hanna and turned the newspaper so that her friend could read it- she knew that the Slytherin was aware of some of the happenings in the muggle world due to her upbringing and so felt it appropriate to ask. Too wrapped up in her own mail and the arrival of the news, she hadn't even heard the rumours that had begun circulating in the hall.
Lailee rolled her eyes as Becca kept giving her food, piling the fruit pieces on a plate, occasionally rearranging them in an attempt to create art as she listened to Becca and the chatter taking place around them.
She looked at Becca questioningly when she mentioned Sallow, recognizing his name and easily able to place a face to it from classes throughout the years, “I didn’t know you had friends in other houses. Are you sure you should be asking me along without checking with him? What if it makes him angry—there are plenty of people who would rather feed themselves to the giant squid rather than socialize with me.”
She pushed her plate away, not even interested in toying with it anymore, as she let her anxious thoughts take over. She chewed on a fingernail for a brief moment, a nervous habit, but quickly let her hand drop as a memory of being slapped for doing that very thing flashed through her mind. Lailee took a steadying breath, nearly missing when Nathan greeted them. When did he even get here? She needed to make more of an effort to focus on the moment instead of getting lost in her thoughts. She didn’t even have the energy to be amused when Becca commented on the quality of the morning thus far or when Anise joined them. She was vaguely aware that Anise had spoken to her, but she missed everything said and didn’t care enough to ask her to repeat.
Lailee had no idea what her problem was lately—it was harder to ignore the part of her brain that spewed negative thoughts as if it were a fountain, and she found herself wrapped in self-doubt and self-hatred likes blanket. With a frown, she wondered if she should just turn Becca down and find something to do on her own. The last thing she needed was to be a third wheel to Becca and her friend like she was to Amara and Megan. Of course, she had nothing else to do, and didn’t want to be alone, so she really had no choice but agree to Becca’s invitation.
She looked up when Lucas arrived, remembering she wanted to talk to him, though her confidence to do so that was present the night before had vanished. He would probably decline her request to talk, but she felt compelled to try anyway, knowing she’d touched a nerve the previous night. She could only hope he wouldn’t be downright mean to her, not that she particularly thought he would—she just didn’t know him well enough to know how he’d react. Hesitantly, she asked him, “Hey, Lucas? Can I talk to you privately later, when you’re free?”
Moments later, news of the Gryffindor rumor made its way to them and she couldn’t help but grin at the brilliance of the accusation and the implications it would have for the troublesome Gryffindors.
His question about which girl was responsible for the sour moods elicited another smile and she responded, “Amara decided if she was awake, no one was allowed to sleep. These two,” she gestured to Becca and Anise, “Initially attempted to resist.”
Curiously, she looked towards the Gryffindor table to see how the rumor was being received by Bernard and the others. Her mood had increased a bit with anticipation of the fallout of such news.
marrow gave a smile toward rubes his friend he had made the other day. he quickly worked to fix his posture and clean his face from the food he had eat. he offered her a wave and yelled over to her table to make sure she could hear him "ready for today" he smirked and was ready fore fun.
turning to the paper for a second and reading it his face went serious for just a second . anger blew into him a bit but he focused on hanging with his friend and exploring.reaching for another sip of his orange juice.
"Don't worry so much," Becca told Lailee with an exasperated sigh, "He won't mind--at least, I don't think he will. You know, unless you decide to channel your inner Amara-like qualities and test them on him or something. Just be yourself, he'll probably find you as pleasant as I do." She watched as Lailee's expression darkened, and she added as an afterthought, "Or as pleasant as you usually are."
She glanced at Lucas, not as subtle as Lailee in her retelling of the morning events, "Amara woke up on the wrong side of the bed," (it wouldn't do to embarrass her roommate by mentioning a nightmare), "and took it out on the rest of us, of course. Slamming doors, using spells....who knows what she would have done next if we didn't leave her be."
She picked up the Daily Prophet, which had landed on the edge of her juice goblet--nearly knocking it over, and skimmed through the article on the front page with a frown. That didn't seem very good, and she wondered what was going on. She decided she'd keep an eye in the future to see if they mentioned any further news on the topic or if anything weird popped up again.
Her interest was pulled away by the talk of the rumor about Bernard, and she spun around in her seat to look at the Gryffindor table, hoping to see the annoying girl being ostracized for her indiscretions.
02 | 
19 | 
20
February
