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.
Owls and various other birds were still handing out Prophets, magazines, and letters when food disappeared from the tables at the end of breakfast. Chatter continued as staff and students either remained or headed out of the hall.
Most who remained where 5th and 3rd years, too deep in conversation or social amusement to bother much with jumping right into their free time. 2nd years had free time too, but were strangely the first to leave. perhaps they were shaken that one of their own went missing the night before? It was confirmed bia tthe gossip mill that the Gryffindor was found safely.
~ Breakfast Ended ~
Class threads are now available. Slytherin Quidditch Practice begins when Amara Seabrook makes the thread at the pitch. Any players with classes need to post attendance there first. Then Practice will likely occupy most, if not all, of their morning free time.
Post by Amara Seabrook on Dec 10, 2020 23:02:53 GMT 10
Amara glanced curiously at whatever yelling was going on over at the Ravenclaw table, but it was literally at the other end of the hall so she quickly lost interest. It didn't sound angry, whatever it was. Apart from that, breakfast was rather uneventful - though she smirked when spotting Thatcher cradling his arm. Good.
She ignored Lindsey's reply. No one else was very chatty around their table today, apparently. Amara growled at some owls that got annoying after a while, glad when breakfast finally ended.
'I'll see you soon,' Amara told her team members. It was a casually reminder of their afternoon practice, yet every aspect of her tone and look implied a horrible death to anyone who dared be late. Or worst, not show up at all.
She was rather nervous, as it was her first real event as captain - try-outs didn't feel anywhere near as intense as this. Amara put on a confident front though, and strode out of the Great Hall. She decided on a quiet morning, going over some strategy plans and things like that. At least she finally got to use her own broomstick this time around, which was something everyone needed before showing up this afternoon.
Post by Grace Babineaux on Dec 10, 2020 23:16:48 GMT 10
Grace wondered what was up with Amelia and Jacob, and she was a bit sad that Toby left. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the older students, just that they had very different interests and things to do than she did. She considered heading over to the Ravenclaw table, as she had Jamie over there, and besides that she liked Joe, Toby and Ryan, even if they did feel like their own little group sometimes.
It was good that they found the second year student, Grace thought as breakfast ended. She waved at all the boys at the Ravenclaw table, feeling a little left out, but it was time for class anyways, so she decided to head out.
Jamie had heard that the student was found, listening to some of the gossip as he was putting his things away. Standing, he grabbed his bag and looked over at everyone and gave a bit of a smile.
"See you guy in class." With that he started to the entrance of the great hall and caught Grace disappearing through the door. It would be nice to walk with her, so he ran ahead and tried to catch up with her. Maybe he could catch up and walk with her.
Post by Lindsey Bryce on Dec 11, 2020 1:28:46 GMT 10
As the food all disappeared, Lindsey looked around and then back at the siblings. Giving a smile, she let them keep the letter and knew that Reena would return it at class once they had a chance to look at it.
"If ye want to hold onto it for the day, ye can Jaxen. Reena can return it later, aye?" She said, smiling at both and them and then going back to fetch her bag and broom.
Looking at Tom, she smiled and glanced over her shoulder. "Want to head to class?" A blush formed on her face, her stomach turning a little as she asked if he wanted to walk with her to class.
Tom didn't pay much attention to the drama happening between his fellow Slytherin Reena and her older brother. As an only child, sibling disputes were somewhat of a foreign concept to him. Instead he allowed himself to retreat further into his anxieties about the day while everyone else's attention was occupied elsewhere.
He snapped out of it when Lindsey asked him if he'd like to walk her to class. In that moment all his worries faded away and he decided there was nothing else in the world he'd rather do. His fear about Quidditch seemed a million meters off as she smiled at him and he smiled back at her in turn. "Sure, let's go," he said simply.
Post by Arthur Hocking on Dec 11, 2020 2:49:25 GMT 10
Arthur nodded, "Hopefully it's not too bad." Though he was beginning to doubt that the frivolity was a good thing. "Let's hope I can get through charms before herbology. I got my kit, so I'm sure I can handle whatever Sprout has for us." He really wanted the professors who taught his favourite subjects to like him, which was why it had hit so hard when he got detention with Snape.
He glanced at the paper that Elara was showing him, recalling from his limited knowledge of wizarding world that Knockturn Alley was near Diagon Alley, both of which were far away enough from Hogwarts that, at the moment, he was not very concerned, though he did wonder if this had something to do with another story he'd seen.
"Oh!" he said, startled again by the disappearance of food. "Guess we'd better head to class." he brushed himself off and headed out of the Great Hall, hoping that Elara would walk with him.
Post by Reena Ashworth on Dec 11, 2020 2:56:20 GMT 10
Reena was surprised yet thankful when Jaxen took her hand and she gave his a gentle squeeze in return. Having a hand to hold felt grounding to her. It was almost like a promise, a reassurance that they were still a team despite everything- or now even more than ever.
She could still not quite wrap her head around all the new information and sensations that had flodded her mind but at least Jaxen was a constant- still looking out for her like she would look out for him.
"Do you want to work through this today?", she asked after he had offered to be available for her all day. Reena was not so sure she could face it all so soon and she involuntarily looked at the family picture in her brother'shand again, eyes lingering on their father's smile.
That turned out to be a mistake and she had to fight her tears yet again when Lindsey approached them to hand Jaxen a letter. Reena gave Lindsey a smile, feeling a little awkward about the sympathy she saw in her friend's smile.
"Sure, I'll return it. Thanks.", she said.
Lindsey left to go to class with Tom and Reena took a curious glance at the letter Jaxen had gotten. He opened it and they read it together. Reena's face actually remained neutral during this, unsure how to process this. First a supposed murder, now healer negligience? And either their brother or cousin were believed to have been poisoned?
She furrowed her brows and looked at Jaxen's face as if it held the answer to all her questions. She knew that was unreasonable and she felt as though it was her turn to comfort him so she gently rubbed the small of his back before putting her hand into her pockets.
Once again and to no surprise it was revealed Aubrey had kept information from them and she wondered if their mother would ever step up and do something. No. If they wanted answers they would have to go about it theirselves.
"This is all so much...", she muttered. "Let's meet up later?" She eyed her brother hopefully while she walked towards her table to get her stuff. Passing him again on her way out, she crammed all the letters she had received into her bag.
"Will you tell the others not to take those too seriously?", she asked. She would hate for their siblings to be burdened with the half-cooked knowledge they had. They would have to tell them everything some day... But she rather had complete information so she would know how to handle the situation- How she and Jaxen would handle the situation together.
She walked past Arthur on her way out, yet hoped he would not see her and want towalk together. She had to clear her head and thos stairs up to the third floor walked in solitude might barely be enough to accomplish that after the morning she had had.
[Exit]
[OOC: reading Lindsey's letter with Jaxen, permission to write that granted by Jaxen Ashworth ]
“That's brilliant news!” Tiana beamed with enthusiasm. She was happy hearing Amelia was on the mend. She looked worse for wear on Halloween and was worried she wouldn't be well enough come practice time. But everything worked out! Taking another bite of her bacon, she listened while Amelia talked about her symptoms. A tingly face sounded awkward. Was she able to feel her mouth move when she spoke? Tiana didn't ask her about it but wondered.
Tiana phased herself out of the conversation when Amelia started talking to Anjay about his pretentious tea gathering yesterday. She had no interest in hearing about how it went. A select few students from important families with different complexes all eating crumpets and rubbing egos in front of the press sounded awfully boring. That was how Tiana saw the event in her head.. and she didn't care to find out if she was right or not. She wasn't about that life!
She cheerfully nodded at Toby when he arrived but was too busy reading her article to say good morning. She kept reading the paper, until she turned to find her best friend taking a seat beside her. Ti didn't know how to react but smiled at her for good measure. Was Jade going to talk to her today? Last night she seemed annoyed and wasn't saying much to her. Maybe today would be different. Tiana wanted to be there for her best friend.. but Jade had to let her.
“I was going to go to the Duelist Chamber,” she replied to her best friend, turning to face her. “Professor Hathmore is offering training lessons,” Ti noted. She had assumed Jade woudn't want to go with her.. but if she wanted to talk, she extended the invite. If not, there was always later! “Or we can hang out later? I'm going to mock up some Quidditch plays in the Private Courtyard,” Tiana shared, finishing up her meal at the same time.
Her attention was stolen from Jade when Amelia started to question Jacob's injuries. Tiana didn't even notice the cut on his cheek when he sat down! She missed a lot yesterday being cooped up in the Hospital Wing with Amy. But if Jake was injured, why wasn't he there too? Interested in hearing his answer, Ti leaned into the table to get a better look at Jake and watched his face as Amy questioned him. Something was off. He was hiding something.
Post by Jaxen Ashworth on Dec 11, 2020 10:34:38 GMT 10
"Do you want to work through this today?"
Reena's apparent reluctance to talk things over and attempt to figure everything out, caught him off guard. He'd assumed that she'd be just as eager as he was to make sense of the information they now had about their father, when previously they had known nothing.
"I mean... Only if you want to" he answered, suddenly unsure about the whole situation. Did she not want to look into things further? He found it hard to believe that she'd be content in just leaving things as they were, especially with the mysterious circumstances that they now knew surrounded their father's death.
Jaxen turned at Lindsey's approach and offered the fourth year a grateful smile when she offered him the letter to read. He'd almost forgotten that he'd asked her to write to her mother about what they'd been told at tea the previous day. Maybe he hadn't actually expected her to honour his request, he barely knew the girl after all- she shared a dorm with Reena, but he didn't know much else about her besides that.
"Thanks Lindsey" he muttered, nodding his head when she told them that Reena could return it during class. It seemed she wasn't interested in waiting around for them to finish reading, which suited him just fine, he'd rather not have an audience.
Opening up the letter, he held it so that Reena could also read it easily and his gaze scanned the paper eagerly absorbing the information that was scrawled there. Healer negligence? Another piece of a puzzle that made absolutely no sense. Was that how their father and uncle had died? Not through murder but through professional negligence? Or did their mother suspect a healer had a hand in his father's death? And why did their mother suspect their brother or nephew of being poisoned? Babies got sick, why would she suspect something so sinister?
Passing Reena the letter so that she could return it to Lindsey during their morning class, Jax nodded at the proposition to meet up later. "Yeah, I'll see you later... Don't be late for class" the last words were gentle but served as a reminder that breakfast was now over and if she wasn't on her way soon, then she would likely arrive late and potentially face punishment for her tardiness.
After Reena had left the hall, Jax looked down to the handful of letters in his own hand and sighed. He wasn't interested in sparing the energy to open them, but they would make good kindling for the fire. Shoving them into his bag, he suddenly became aware that he'd become so wrapped up in talking to Reena that he'd forgotten to grab something to eat- he'd just have to wait until lunch now.
Glancing around the hall, Jax thought about returning to the common room. Considering he had a day free from classes, that seemed the most reasonable way to spend his time until he'd shaken off the morning enough to do something productive. Heading over to the Ravenclaw table, he picked up a copy of his timetable- just in case there was anything surprising on it (there wasn't) and picked up a copy of the Magazine he'd featured in, staring at it scornfully as he debated on whether he wanted to look inside.
Last Edit: Dec 14, 2020 11:45:15 GMT 10 by Jaxen Ashworth
As the food disappeared from the tables, Elara gave a weary sigh and finished off the toast in her hand. Breakfast always seemed to end sooner than she anticipated, but at least that meant that class would be starting soon and that was always something to look forward to. "Charms should be fun" she said to Arthur, folding the newspaper and tucking it away into her bag "herbology too, providing nothing tries to attack us" she'd heard talk of a Gryffindor girl being attacked by something in one of the greenhouses and from the sounds of it, it wasn't pleasant. She knew that Arthur was fond of Herbology though, so was glad that he got to do something that he found enjoyable that afternoon.
She wasn't really surprised at the lack of a reaction from her friend at the headline she'd attempted to show him. She couldn't forget that Arthur was a muggleborn, he wouldn't know the importance of such things, she would just have to remind him in future.
"Yeah, we wouldn't want to be late" she agreed, making sure that she had everything as she stood and made her way from the hall with Arthur.
Post by Luckett Langford on Dec 11, 2020 11:41:33 GMT 10
'Ooh, we have a couple of lovebirds!' Lucky whistled at Mathias and Nyx, erupting into a fit of laughter with some friends soon after. 'Matty and Nyx, sitting in a tree! K-i-s-s-i-n-g!' It would have been out of character for Langford to not sing that tune after their declaration of romantic interest in one another. And how was nobody else making a bigger deal about it? Lucky planned to never let them live it down -- especially Nordstrom. This was gold.
'Did I hear him right? He asked if Nyx wanted him to kiss her?' He sniggered at his own question, already knowing the answer. 'Man, someone's got to teach Sallow some game.' Lucky shook his head, a self-satisfied grin on his face. He didn't expect Mathias to ever learn real game -- but Mathias did get the coldest girl in school to warm up to him. But how?
Food began to disappear from the tables, signaling the end of their meal. Perfect timing too. Lucky was becoming bored with the spectacle across the hall. He stood up and wiped his robes of any crumbs and turned to Harris, Kier and Soph with a subtle nod of his head. 'Commons?'
He didn't have any plans and wanted to take it easy in the common room. He hoped his friends would accompany him, but if they couldn't, it was no biggie. Lucky anticipated untucking his shirt, kicking his feet up and bonding with Bandit. He didn't see his furry friend on Halloween and wanted to make it up to him. What better way than a morning chock full of attention?
Lucky moved through the aisles, pushing through any students in his way. He occasionally turned around to see if his friends were following him, but couldn't tell with everyone trying to leave for their morning classes and other activities too. Ah well. He'd see them in common room if they wanted to hang out. If not, there would be more room for him and Bandit.
A small smile pulled at Hanna's cheeks as she watched her teammates converse, lifting her glass of pumpkin juice to her lips as her eyes flicked between Amara and Lindsey; they definitely didn't like each other but it was kinda funny how they interacted.
A few minutes passed as the young Slytherin continued to eat, only partially listening to the people around her while she read over the daily prophet; only looking up when the food disappeared and her housemates began to leave. Hanna sat there for a little longer, double checking she had everything before standing and heading towards the door.
Post by Mathias Sallow on Dec 11, 2020 19:13:38 GMT 10
Mathias could feel his cheeks burning. He wasn't aware of much else going on around him, but was sure he heard Langford mock him among all the giggles and sneers.
Nyx's initial reaction wasn't promising. Then she struggled to say something, and for a brief moment he was tempted to be petty and point out that yeah, it wasn't easy to form words when emotionally shocked, right? but of course he was raised better than that.
'I'm sorry, what?'Mathias blinked, too shocked by her response and needing confirmation he'd heard it not imagined it. 'You do? I mean, you don't? I mean...' He smacked a hand over his face at his complete loss of tact. What was it going to take for him to not fall apart around her when she was being so wonderful? It was quite inconvenient.
He quickly tried to come up with a better response, not wanting to make the same mistake as the night before. Mathias was still embarrassed by his very public display of vulnerability, but the fact she wanted to kiss him too made it easier to ignore everyone else. He felt light and a giddy. This must be what insanity felt like.
'Maybe we could...you know, kiss, sometime? Not when everyone's staring, if you don't mind?' He attempted some humour, but his cheeks were still hot. 'Uh, how about we start with a walk? Want to go explore the Forest Path or maybe around the lake? We should probably talk.' He grinned, eager and light-hearted.
Of course, he had no idea Nyx and Kaspian had just made plans.
Post by Jacob Thatcher on Dec 11, 2020 19:40:32 GMT 10
Jacob sighed dramatically when Amy came over to get a better look at him. He leaned away from the table to comply, knowing it was pointless to argue with that particular Twiggs. He wouldn't be surprised if she had some Scottish blood in her somewhere.
When she asked demanded to know who was responsible for his state, Jacob opened his mouth to reply. He was so used to sharing things with his friends, especially if someone had wronged him in any way, but the threats came flooding back and he winced. No, it wasn't worth the risk. He believed the genuine danger Mardling and Seabrook posed now, and refused to be the reason for what happened to him to happen to anyone else - much less people he cared about.
'It's nothing. Sod off.' Jacob made a shoving gesture to get Amy away. He avoided looking at Tiana too, who also scrutinised him. 'I'll live.' He grumbled, crossing his arms too quickly - yelping when pain shot up his injured one.
Bollocks. How was he going to explain his way out of it now? Jacob made a very conscious effort not to accidentally glance towards the Slytherin table, focused intently on his now-empty plate instead. Had he eaten breakfast? He couldn't remember.
Someone dropped a textbook on the table in their haste to leave the hall, but the sudden and loud sound made Jacob jump. He fearfully shot a look at the 2nd year girl, then breathed in relief. Aware that a lot of people stared at him, Jacob scrambled for an excuse.
'Turns out lighting fireworks in your dorm isn't the best idea.' He cracked a half-genuine grin, though avoided eye contact. 'Let's keep that to ourselves though, eh? Already set fire to my sleeve, don't need to take my pride with it.' Jacob cradled his arm, hurriedly getting up from his seat.
He needed to make an escape, but refused to seem like he was running away. No way would he give those snakes that satisfaction, even if he was sure Seabrook had at least left the hall. For the first time in his life, he almost wished he had classes.
Killed by Devin Kudosen by act of the Killing Curse. June #24, RPG year 1 -- he was a 5th year Gryffindor. Jacob died to save his best friend, Luckett Langford.
02 | 
19 | 
20
February
