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.
A new year began with a fresh layer of snow. Any mercy the weather had on them the night before was forgotten -- as the snowy sky, represented in the enchanted ceiling overhead the Great Hall, promised another cold day with dubious visibility.
The four house tables, including the head staff table, were back in their rightful places as if the all-night Christmas feast hadn't happened. The decorations were also gone, as festive times were winding down fast. It was New Years, and those who'd been away from the castle over the holidays would be returning that afternoon.
Though a final day of free time awaited them before school term resumed tomorrow, there were whispers of an event taking place that afternoon -- something related to duelling, which would be hosted by Professor Hathmore. Several students quickly made plans to brush up on their duelling skills this morning, as a means of preparing for whatever Hathmore had in mind for them.
This entire RPG day is free time -- have fun! If doing quests, these holidays at Hogwarts are the perfect opportunity to make a lot of progress. We strongly encourage everyone to make the most of it. #15 night is skipped. Classes resume on #16.
A Duelling Session (Tournament) takes place this afternoon, though is optional. A demonstration will be given for those unsure how to duel yet, but feel free to do some practising this morning if you'd like to get your skills up. Please note than this event is 1 character per member, and you must be active in order to participate -- it's a fast-paced event; taking too long to respond may result in disqualification.
Sign-up takes place at the main event thread in the Duellist Chamber, created at time change into afternoon.
Congratulations to those who went home for the holidays and made the most of that occasion. Your RPing was such a fun read and you all did a great job. The following rewards were earned for your contribution and as a thank you:
All students who went home (on screen or off) are currently boarding the Hogwarts Express. They return to the castle as afternoon begins -- thus are able to enjoy their free time and / or participate in the Duelling event then.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Apr 30, 2022 0:47:02 GMT 10
MJ had woken up nice and early that morning (well, she was in the habit of rising early most mornings anyway), eager to do some more ingredient collecting and maybe see Hagrid later, if she had a chance to do so. She had heard he would have extra pots that students would ask for which would be useful for growing plants for Herbology.
She dressed up warmly, carrying her coat, scarf and gloves tucked under her arm, and left the Ravenclaw tower to head down for breakfast. Since she had plans to head outdoors today, she felt it was better to be prepared now than to run back and collect her things. And as excited as she was for her potential plans for today, MJ was most excited for classes to start again. She was eager to learn more from her teachers and prove herself a capable witch, even if she came from a non-magical family.
Smiling to herself, MJ walked into the Great Hall and making a beeline for her own house table. She looked to the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, to see if she could spot her classmates she had sat with at Christmas dinner. "I wonder what their plans are today..." MJ thought to herself as she say down, setting her coat and other items next to her on the bench. She made a neat pile and hoped it wouldn't annoy anyone that she had them there. MJ didn't particularly want to put her things on the floor, despite how clean it might be.
Looking at the food on offer, she started to add scrambled eggs, sausages, beans and toast to her plate. She picked up a knife and buttered her toast, looking down the table, "Can someone pass the apple juice, please?" MJ inquired of her fellow Ravenclaws, hoping someone would be kind enough to move the jug down.
Post by Ezra Ashworth on Apr 30, 2022 1:36:12 GMT 10
Ezra was rubbing at his eyes as he walked into the hall for breakfast, yesterdays late night having hit him hard. He would have been tempted to sleep longer for once but the thought that the train would be arriving back at Hogwarts that day had him moving, even if that movement involved lots of yawns.
It was only as he was leaving the common room that he remembered the train would still not be there for many hours yet. The poor boy was very disappointed and nearly went back to bed in protest.
But no, he had things to be doing in the mean time, very important things in fact, so he had kept heading towards breakfast. He could get so much done if he kept busy and then before he knew it the train would finally bother to show up and he could see his siblings! He couldn't remember the last time that he had seen any of his family and he missed them so much.
First though was breakfast.
Ezra yawned as he sat down opposite MJ at the Ravenclaw table. Once the long yawn had finally finished he shook his head in an attempt to wake up more, further messing up his already stuck-up at the back hair. He may have forgotten to tug a comb through it that morning.
"Morning MJ," he said as soon as he was able to speak without yawning. "Sleep okay?"
Getting up this morning had been way harder than usual. Nova knew it was because of the late night she had previously, but it had been fun and so worth it! Despite that, her energy levels were a bit low but she knew some warm breakfast would definitely help! She got ready a bit quickly, not wanting to be late. Passing by the kitchens after leaving the common room, the scents of food being prepared made her stomach grumble and she sped up her pace even more. She loved having the kitchens so close to her room, but also it didn't help when she had food cravings!
It was a bit odd stepping into the Great Hall this morning. Gone was the giant table and holiday decorations, now to be replaced by the separate tables and usual ambiance once more. Not that she didn't enjoy the usual arrangement, it just had been so nice to sit with those in other houses and even the professors! It was a bit sad, but made her look forward to the next holiday that much more.
She might not have been able to sit with her new friends today, but that didn't mean she couldn't say hi. Scanning the tables took some time, she wasn't able to spot Alice...but oh! After a moment she spotted MJ and Ezra and smiled happily. At least she had found the Ravenclaws!
Scurrying over to the Ravenclaw table she slid to a stop next to where MJ and Ezra were sitting. "MJ! Ezra! Good morning!" She said warmly as she bounced happily between them. MJ looked wide-awake, yet Ezra looked like he had just rolled out of bed. Cute! "Wish we could sit together again, I'll see you later though okay?" She was sure they'd run into each other during the day when they were off enjoying free time.
"I'd chat longer but...food," she said with wide hungry eyes at seeing MJ's full plate. With a friendly wave to the two she turned on her heels and made her way over to the Hufflepuff table. It wasn't super crowded just yet so she took a seat near the middle and started loading her plate with food. Eggs, sausage, potatoes, toast and took a glass of what looked and smelled like warm apple cider.
As she stuffed her face her eyes lingered over towards where the Professors and staff had their meals. It wasn't hard to spot him with his size and Nova locked on to Hagrid. Today her first mission was to visit him at his hut and ask for a pot to grow her own plants. Part of her wanted to just run over and ask him now, but that wouldn't be polite. So instead she just kept shoveling in food while staring at him. Hopefully he wouldn't notice...she probably looked a bit crazy. As soon as he left she would give him a bit of time before following after him.
Post by Oscar Tinkle on Apr 30, 2022 2:28:26 GMT 10
Oscar headed towards the Hufflepuff table with the hope that he could have a nice quiet day, seeing as that morning would be the last one before the castle was full once more. Maybe he could escape to the greenhouse to check on his plants for a bit, or, if the castle somehow got noisy with people running about having last minute holiday fun, he could volunteer for the boring job of book sorting so that he could hide in the headmaster's office.
He would figure out how exactly he was going to have a nice quiet day later, before that he was going to enjoy his breakfast. He'd had a pleasant sleep after filling up with Christmas dinner, but a new day brought his hunger back and so he was eager to see what he could put on his plate today.
He sat down near a first year who was staring down.. Hagrid? Yeah, that was Hagrid that she was staring at. Oscar couldn't help but wonder if he should worry for the kind man's life.
"Are you alright?" he eventually asked the child after he had filled his plate with toast and scrambled eggs. If it turned out that the strange child's staring was for bad reasons then that was his quiet day going goodbye, he would have to give someone a heads up.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Apr 30, 2022 2:51:20 GMT 10
"Ezra! Good morning." She added some ketchup to her plate, chuckling softly, "You seem kind of out of it, did you not sleep well?" This would, hopefully, be a good chance for her to get to know her fellow Ravenclaw a bit better. MJ wondered if he came from an already Magical background and if so, did he had prior knowledge of spells and potions? Once she got some breakfast eaten, she was definitely going to pick his brain a little.
Nova stopped by their table and MJ grinned at her Hufflepuff friend, "Morning Nova! Yeah, it's a shame, back to house tables." She sighed but kept up her positive outlook - they still had classes and free time to spend together, "Have a good breakfast, maybe we can hang out this afternoon?" MJ didn't know what plans the other girl had but she had a few things she wanted to take care of herself this morning at least. Her afternoon was free however, despite the rumour about the duelling event.
MJ cut up her sausage, dunked it into her beans and ate it happily. She looked up and down the Ravenclaw table and was about to ask for the apple juice again when Misuk appeared at her side, "Oh there you are! I was wondering where you had gotten to." She greeted her roommate with a smile, "Thank you." She took the apple juice and poured some out.
"Misuk, have you met Ezra? Ezra, this is Misuk, my room mate. Our beds are right next to each other." MJ introduced the two to each other and hoped they would get along as well. The more friends she could make, the better in MJ's eyes. After all, everyone had different things they were good at and MJ wanted to get good at as many things as possible! Phew, even her brain was tired thinking through that thought.
She focused back on her breakfast, sipping apple juice from her glass before digging into her toast and beans.
Woken up before Misuk would have liked by MJ and some others standing up - they were a light sleeper - they had eventually resigned themself to standing up, facing the new day and new year as fresh as they could. Even though they were more looking forward to some treats for Lunar New Year.
They got ready to leave the dorms as MJ and some others already left, making sure to look okay before they left the dorms as well, heading towards the Great Hall. It wasn't too hard to find MJ, and upon hearing their dorm mate asking for it, they grabbed the apple juice on their way as they walked by it.
As they reached MJ, a Hufflepuff just left their table after a little bit of chitchat - another class mate, but someone they had seen around less than the boy at their table. "You really know a lot of people," they grinned as they passed the juice, sitting down to fill their own plate with toast and scrambled eggs. "My brain has not taken kindly to being awake, so..." they said with a little bit of a haughty tone, but it deflated immediately as they couldn't surpress the next yawn.
Then, after taking a big sip of orange juice, they turned to Ezra with a smile, "Think I know your face, but we haven't talked yet?" Which was a pity, but also not a surprise - they tended to be a bit single-focused at times with brilliant tunnel vision.
"Good morning to you all, by the way," they also added, a bit belatedly.
Saoirse had gone to bed fairly early, so she wasn't among the legion of sleepy-eyed, shambling zombies who had stayed up past curfew. She walked to the Great Hall comparatively bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Saoirse was looking forward to this breakfast. She knew a letter would be coming from her father, and it would be the last quiet breakfast in some time. The students were all coming back today, after all.
The tables had all been returned to their proper places, and looked particularly sparse given the missing students. Saoirse sat at one of the free benches and started nibbling at a hash brown, glancing around herself. Despite the vacuity, the students were still quite noisy- probably excited for friends to come back that afternoon.
So lost in thought and absentmindedly eating her food, Nova didn't even hear the voice speaking to her at first. It probably took a good thirty seconds for the young Hufflepuff to register that someone had indeed asked her a question. Mid-bite into a sausage she turned her head and realized an older Hufflepuff boy had asked her if she was alright. Not wanting to talk with her mouth full she chewed quickly and nodded her head.
"Oh hi, yes I'm fine, why..." that's when figured it out. Had he noticed her staring intensely at Hagrid? She had been worried Hagrid would see her but didn't even think how she looked to the other students around her! She probably looked super creepy just staring at him while eating. It wasn't what it looked like!
Glancing back at Hagrid and then back to the curly-haired boy she let out an embarrassed laugh. "I really want to borrow a pot from Hagrid, but I don't want to bother him while he eats. So I'm just waiting for him to leave so I can go visit him." She looked back at her food moving it around a bit with her fork. "I guess I could do that without staring him down nonstop, sorry if that was a bit worrying!"
Out of all the ways she could have introduced herself to an older student, this hadn't been the best. Hopefully she had cleared it up. "I'm Nova, and you are?"
Post by Lindsey Bryce on Apr 30, 2022 8:11:44 GMT 10
Lindsey had gotten up and headed on to the great hall once she had washed and gotten dressed. She had chosen to go casual today, wearing a pair of jeans, a long sleeve shirt and her jacket her mother had sent her a present for Christmas. She hadn't had a chance to wear it until now, so she wore it now. She was still hoping for a letter from her parents, but nothing at come yet. So, she sat down at the Slytherin Table and kept a close eye out on the windows were the owls came in.
She had a list of things to do, including going to the greenhouse and trying to make it down to Hagrid's hut to ask about getting a pumpkin. It would be good to get some things done before dinner tonight. She had been relaxing and now it was time to dig in. She considered the idea of dueling and decided if she made it back from getting a pumpkin, she would head that way.
Looking across the table, she grabbed one apple for later, storing it in her bag before gathering things for a nice, warm bowl of oatmeal.
Last Edit: Apr 30, 2022 8:12:28 GMT 10 by Lindsey Bryce
Post by Ezra Ashworth on Apr 30, 2022 8:20:07 GMT 10
In the middle of pouring himself a bowl of cereal, Ezra nearly spilled the jug of milk when Nova suddenly appeared. Well, to his half asleep mind it was sudden. By the time he had set his jug safely down and it had clicked in his brain that, yes, there was a person there, Nova was already on her way to her own table.
"Morning, Nova!" he called to her retreating back anyway. Hopefully she got the message. He hoped that he would get to see more of her. It would be a shame if Christmas dinner was the one chance that they were given.
Ezra finished pouring the milk into his cereal and was in the process of hiding the food under a mountain of sugar when he shook his head in answer to MJ.
"Didn't want to wake up," he admitted as he started to jab at his cereal - he had to make sure it could all get soggy. "Think because yesterday was really long. Was fun though!" He grinned over at her, obviously meaning their fun at dinner. And he had very much enjoyed the night, so it was worth it, he just hadn't expected falling asleep so late to make it that hard to wake up. It probably hadn't helped that he had felt like he was missing something, making falling straight to sleep even more difficult when he finally did get to bed.
"Hi Misuk!" he greeted the other first year, disappointed in himself for taking until after Christmas to learn their name. He could recognise them so in his mind he had no excuse. At least MJ had finally cleared that one up! "Did you have a good holiday?" he asked as he poured himself a glass of orange juice - no nearly spilling the liquid this time!
Post by Oscar Tinkle on Apr 30, 2022 9:03:52 GMT 10
Oscar was enjoying his scrambled eggs while he waited for the first year to react to his question. The longer that she took, the more he started to think that he really should be worried. Poor Hagrid, what had he ever done to deserve such a fate?
Wait.. ah, there it was. There was a reasonable explanation after all. She was just an overeager first year, not a murderous one.
"Ah, that makes sense," he nodded, pointing in her direction with his fork. "Eager to start planting?" He made a mental note that if he wanted quiet time to check on his plants then to get it done quickly.
"Don't worry about it. I was just starting to wonder if we should be organising Hagrid a rescue from the very scary firstie, that's all," he said, his tone lightly teasing. He was not trying to be mean - he would never dream of bullying another student, let along a first year! He hoped that she got that. Just in case he offered her a small reassuring smile after.
"I'm Oscar," he greeted her as he reached to pour himself a drink. "It's nice to meet you, Nova. Well, now that I'm reassured I won't be called to witness your trial anyway."
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Apr 30, 2022 13:45:16 GMT 10
"Well, today is our last free day before classes start again." MJ reminded Misuk with a gentle smile, "Do you want to come with me to see Hagrid after breakfast? I heard he has extra pots that students can have, as long as they ask nicely, and we can use them to grow stuff at the Greenhouses." Of course, she thinks, they probably need to speak with Professor Sprout too.
MJ doesn't think that would be a problem however, glancing at the teacher's table, since the head of Hufflepuff was normally a lovely person. She was always so kind and jolly during their Herbology lessons. MJ smiled and ate more of her breakfast, which she didn't take too long to finish at all.
This invitation was open to Ezra too, if he wanted to come along.
Her attentions went to Ezra and she chuckled softly, "Well, do you have any plans for today then? After you've woken up of course." She shook her head with a smile - what was with her fellow Ravenclaws?
Was she the only early bird amongst them? Maybe that was just part and parcel of growing up on a small farm. MJ had always been used to rising early, helping with chores and then going to Primary school. Here, she never broke the habit. She found the free time was useful when she wanted to get ahead with homework or reading.
With her food all ate, MJ pushed her plate away and sipped her apple juice. Oh! She reached for an apple and some nuts - always good to take a snack for herself or to have handy for something else if need be. MJ slipped them into her pockets and put on her coat, looking around for Nova at the Hufflepuff table. It was hard to see her with the Gryffindors between them and when she did get a glimpse, her friend was talking to a boy at her table. That was fine, she'd catch up with her later then.
She didn't plan to leave just yet, however, content to sit with her friends until breakfast was over to talk with them.
Post by Mathias Sallow on Apr 30, 2022 18:55:54 GMT 10
Matt was up early that morning, mostly out of habit but also in hope of spending more time with Nyx as they hadn't had much time during the feast on account of him running so late to attend.
He'd dressed warmly, though didn't feel like wearing his robes today. He made up for it with a thick sweater from home (a Christmas gift from his dad), as well as his Ravenclaw scarf and beanie. He had to suffer cold hands though, as he needed them unhindered for various tasks or projects. Unless going to Hogsmeade, he rarely wore gloves / mittens.
Entering the Great Hall, Matt was actually happy to see all traces of Christmas were gone. He hated thinking about how much he missed by not getting to go home for the holidays, and having constant reminders around him hadn't helped at all. So now, it was almost like school was back to normal. His mood immediately improved, as he headed to the Ravenclaw table.
'Morning,' he offered to a trio of first years, sitting nearby but not so close as to intrude -- and Nyx would not appreciate sitting by a bunch of firsties. Matt was polite though, and it warmed him to see them making fast friends. He used to envy those who somehow made friends as early as first year, but now he just appreciated the wholesomeness of it all.
Not particularly hungry, Matt nibbled at some fruit salad while debating between toast or cereal.
Post by Lucas Mardling on Apr 30, 2022 19:05:09 GMT 10
Lucas had already eaten, so he wasn't too fussed about attending breakfast. He was curious about the Daily Prophet enough to bother, and it wasn't as if he really had anything better to do. He almost missed classes at this rate, as waking early felt so pointless without them.
He found a spot at the Slytherin table, ignoring anyone around him as no one of interest was worth his time. Amara had made it clear she hoped to sleep in today, before school term was back in session, so Lucas didn't keep an eye out for her. He'd make sure to grab her a copy of the Daily Prophet though, just in case she missed it. That was a good boyfriend thing to do, right?
He hadn't spoken much to Victoria since the night before, though was still amused by her reaction. It was nice having someone else know for sure about him and Amara, though Lucas didn't feel one way or another about people knowing. He doubted Victoria was one to gossip though -- not about things like this, and regarding Amara Seabrook.
To pass the time, Lucas had his Transfiguration textbook open in front of him to get a head start on studying. His OWLs were getting closer than he'd have liked. Despite staying on top of things, probably better than most of his classmates, Lucas wasn't particularly confident about some of the harder classes so made sure to get in some casual reading whenever he could. Now seemed as good a time as any.
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