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 Lindsey Bryce on May 26, 2022 20:17:06 GMT 10
Lindsey had already planned the morning around what she wanted to do. After a good breakfast, which hadn't even been joined by anyone, though she thought she had seen Tom, but he must have missed her. It didn't matter too much, she would see him in class the next morning anyway. She moved pleasantly towards the staff room and was soon standing outside the doors and lifting her hand to knock. It felt like it had only been recently since she had gone to the magical hospital. She was excited to go again today.
The door was opened by Professor Archerose, who had a few stray owl feathers in his hair. He adjusted his glasses while stepping out of the room, giving the corridor a curious glance as he'd expected students to be off studying or relaxing during their free time. But he supposed, they'd been showing up during literal Christmas Day so was it really that surprising to find a Slytherin here now?
'Good morning, Bryce,' he greeted her. 'How can I help?'
Post by Lindsey Bryce on May 28, 2022 22:23:30 GMT 10
Lindsey waited patiently and when the door opened, she smiled at the professor and put her hands down in front of her, clasping her hands together as he addressed her. It wasn't long to wait, soon he was speaking and asking how he could help her.
"Good morning, Professor. I was hoping to go to Saint Mungo for my internship this morning?" She asked as she stood there, a few stray strands of hair trying to come loose from her braids. She would fix that later, it wasn't like that was hard and she had plans to put her hair up anyway when she arrived at the hospital.
Post by Victoria Vargas on May 30, 2022 8:44:34 GMT 10
Victoria walked casually, one hand on the rails that led her to her destination, carefully stepping on each of the steps lest she tripped and fell, turning every sharp corner with one hand pressed against the wall, feeling the uneven surface of them all as she thought she heard the portraits murmur amongst themselves, possibly alarmed by the sight of her and Amara Seabrook.
Had she known she wasn't wearing her jumper, she would have realized the castle was cold and she was shivering, her teeth chattering, her fingers trembling as they ran over the walls, and whenever she stopped, she pressed her arms to her sides, clenching her hands because it was uncomfortably cold even if she didn't know she felt it. Instead, she continued walking, casually, carefully, fighting the cold in her bones, and conversing with her roommate until they arrived.
'Bryce.' She said simply, raising an eyebrow at the detestable fourth year. What was she doing there? There were certainly more warmer places for her to be. Maybe wailing in the arms of her scraggy little boyfriend? It was a thought that forcibly caused Vicky's lip to curl in disgust.
'Professor.' Victoria forced a smile, her brown eyes falling on Professor Archerose. 'When you're done, Amara and I would like to increase our studious interest in history. If you could help us get started with that, we'd be grateful.' She snuck her roommate a look of knowing dread, realizing it probably wasn't how Amara wanted to spend her free time.
Last Edit: May 30, 2022 10:17:39 GMT 10 by Victoria Vargas: I received permission to include Amara.
Post by Nyx Nordstrom on May 30, 2022 11:20:58 GMT 10
Nyx walked through the castle with her blue eyes fixated on the map in her hands, refusing to look at the talkative portraits and bustling students. She walked with her books held against her chest, then with her head held high, as if she owned the place, her chin slightly tipped up and her lips pursed, becoming acutely aware of every reaction and every turn of her lips, every blink of her eyes and the movement of her fingertips against the back of her oversized textbooks.
She glanced down at her map again, following the movement of Amara and Victoria's names, and raised a quizzical eyebrow the moment she noticed where they were. What were they doing at the Staff Room? Nyx silently pondered potential reasons, narrowing her icy blue orbs with a piqued curiosity. There were a handful of explanations, but she couldn't possibly know for sure.
However, as she turned a corner and overheard Victoria's request, her question was answered almost immediately. "There you two are," Nyx called out from down the corridor as she drew nearer. "I feel like I've been walking around the castle for ages trying to catch up with you both," she huffed, then smiled after, it tugging at the corners of her pink, pillowy lips.
Her curiosity was piqued again by the amount of stray feathers in Archerose's hair, but her matter was pressing enough that she could forego that curiosity being sated. "Anyway," she started, her manicured nails tapping a slow rhythm against her books as her smile evaporated into something more serious and business like. "I'd like to join them, Professor Archerose, if that's alright. OWLs are coming up and this could prove beneficial for my studies."
Post by Amara Seabrook on May 30, 2022 22:46:06 GMT 10
Amara was already bored, and they'd only just arrived at the staff room. Ignoring Lindsey, her eyebrows creased as she noticed Vicky was shivering. Not from nervousness or fear, she deducted, and there was an absence of a sweater which explained it.
'Are you cold?' Amara asked, voice low. 'You can have my robe. I'll be fine.' She was used to the cold, having built up a tolerance over the years. She was also dressed warmly under it. Amara was suddenly glad she'd emptied her robe pockets last night, lest Vicky get any unwelcome surprises.
Shifting her attention to the Professor, Amara nodded in confirmation to what Vicky was saying and including her in that request. Without boring old Binns teaching it, Amara found she didn't mind History of Magic so much, even if it wasn't one of her main focuses. She was invested enough in seeing this through, at least.
She didn't speak though, allowing Vicky to maintain the lead for now. Amara wasn't sure what she thought of Archerose behind his teaching ability yet, so she simply leaned against a wall to study him curiously while everyone was talking. She glanced over as Nyx joined them, pleased for the added company.
'Then you're just dreadfully slow.' Amara shrugged, not maliciously. 'We've been stationary until now. Up your game, Nordstrom.' The use of her surname was more in teasing, as she did normally call her new friends by their first names now. Even if it took some getting used to.
A dreading sound escaped her at the mention of their OWLs. Oh how she was not looking forward to those. And then they'd be followed by NEWTs? The last few years should be their best time at Hogwarts and they're being dominated by exhausting stress. At least Amara knew her own abilities and was confident she'd do well.
'Ah...' Professor Archerose faltered for a moment, surrounded by Slytherins and various requests. So much so, that he failed to register one of the girls was actually a Ravenclaw.
He stuttered something, then held a finger up indicating they wait one moment. Archerose ducked into the staff room and spoke to someone, then returned his attention to the group.
'Professor McGonagall is contacting Saint Mungo's now and getting it set up for you. Won't be a moment; you know how this goes.' He gave her a friendly nod, then glanced at the older students and failed to conceal his excitement at their interest.
Even if OWLs were their motivation, it was still wonderful to hear.
'I'd be delighted,' he said, grinning while fishing his notes from a pocket. He was aware of their reputations, but all he cared about was their education and the fact they were interested in history was, in his eyes, to their own merit.
'So, the first challenge is about historical food,' he explained to Victoria, Amara, and Nyx while adjusting his glasses. 'I want each of you to research the most popular special event recipes of 1373. Then make one -- everything you need is in the kitchens, if you ask the house elves nicely. And finally, share it with friends or other students. After you've shown me, of course, so I know you really did complete it.'
He tucked away his notes.
'What do you say?' Archerose asked. 'Are you three up for the challenge?'
--
The staff room door opened and Professor McGonagall stepped out. She suspiciously eyed the 5th year group, and was thankful not to have to deal with those particular students right now. Transfiguration classes were headache enough.
'Bryce?' she indicated for the younger Slytherin to join her, putting some separation between the two groups in interest of privacy. 'Majorie will be supervising you again, and I trust you'll be on your best behaviour just as last time.'
She didn't lead Lindsey to a side office or offer any floo powered this time.
'As it so happens, Majorie is in a floo call with Madam Pomfrey right now,' McGonagall was already explaining. 'You're to head over there now, and she'll bring you through. Good luck.' And with that, she returned to the staff room -- but not before giving the 5th years another lingering glance.
Lindsey Bryceplease created a thread for your Saint Mungo's visit at the Hospital Wing, which will then be moved to / from locations when needed; where Lindsey goes, it goes.
Post by Lindsey Bryce on May 30, 2022 23:16:11 GMT 10
Lindsey turned as she heard her name and saw Victoria Vargas come up, soon joined by Amara Seabrook and am older Ravenclaw, whom she knew as Nordstrom. She didn't respond to Victoria, but turned when the Professor spoke to her. She smiled at him and nodded her head.
"Of course, thank ye, Professor for your assistance," she said give him a nod before she moved aside. This was important to her, she wanted to achieve her goal of becoming a healer and herbologist. It was coming to light, she could see it, but she had years to do it.
When Professor McGonagall came, she smiled and nodded her head to the head of Gryffindor.
"Thank Ye and I will," she said and we that, she headed out towards the Hospital Wing.
Post by Nyx Nordstrom on May 31, 2022 5:36:58 GMT 10
Archerose looked positively giddy to be assisting the girls with their endeavor. Nyx decided it was rather adorable of him to be behaving this way, and a hint of a smile turned up the corner of her mouth. She had always enjoyed his classes, finding him more refreshing than Binns. That old ghost was dreadfully boring and his lectures had always been the height of tedium. Plus, it helped that Archerose was handsome—in that nerdy, socially awkward way that Nyx fancied.
With a sigh, Nyx's shoulders rose and fell in a simple shrug. She kept her face calm, still and impassive, not wanting to give away how she truly felt about the challenge. The thought of making food with a bunch of house elves sounded hardly any fun, but she supposed it would be somewhat tolerable if Amara and Vicky were doing it too. Misery loved company, after all.
"I couldn't imagine spending my morning doing anything else," Nyx replied with a sardonic laugh, her cheeks instantly flushing as she heard her words ring through her ears. "I'm sorry, I tend to get extra sarcastic when I'm a bit tired. Professor Fairburn had us outside meeting and tending to unicorns. It was enjoyable, but fairly exhausting."
It wasn't like the Ravenclaw to apologize for a comment like that, but she recognized that Archerose was doing them a favor and, again, she liked and respected him well enough. She brushed a strand of hair from her face, then turned to her friends with feigned excitement.
"Shall we go and get started?" Nyx started, clutching her books tighter to her chest, "I'm positive that Madam Pince can help us find what we need, but we should probably go now before she gets too swamped with requests." She'd learned that the hard way.
Nyx watched her friends for any hint of their thoughts, any subtle expression of emotion or opinion on the matter. She hardly expected them to protest to the idea, considering they were the ones who initiated the task. After a moment, she offered Archerose a polite smile, respectful and sweet. "Thank you, Professor. We'll return to you once we've finished," she added, taking her leave. There was a lot of work to do and there wasn't time to linger unnecessarily.
Last Edit: May 31, 2022 5:41:33 GMT 10 by Nyx Nordstrom: This is Nyx's exit from the thread.
Post by Victoria Vargas on May 31, 2022 11:26:22 GMT 10
Amara caring about anyone could be such a foreign concept that, no matter how many times someone claimed it to be true, they probably wouldn't be able to wrap their mind around it. Victoria, herself, was taken aback by the offer from her roommate, but nodded and smiled, taking her robes and slipping them around her own shoulders. She had grown close to Amara during their five years together, but this year, they appeared to be closer than ever before.
'I thought I was going to freeze my knickers off a second there.' Vicky snickered, and could've sworn she saw her exhale of breath condense in the corridor. 'Thank you.' She spoke with courtesy, pulling the robe tight about her. It fit perfectly, almost as if it were her own.
Victoria's face dropped at the mention of preparing food, remembering a time she had set her grandparents' kitchen ablaze when a grease fire ignited over an ill-fated attempt at making steak and kidney pie. It was a disaster that consisted of her throwing water on a hot pan, which, as any cook knows, is the worst idea. It was a memory that triggered an anxiety response.
'I beg your pardon?' Her voice was incredulous, her brown eyes widening at the man. 'Are you wanting us to cook something? The three of us?' Victoria looked nervous, her posture going rigid and her fingers pulling at the dark sleeves of her friend's robes she was wearing.
She wanted to violently shake her head no at Archerose, to scream the truth, that she was an awful cook and this would only end in fiery disaster for all of them. But she couldn't. Victoria stood there in scared silence for several seconds, reluctantly nodding along as the Ravenclaw agreed to the challenge and insisted they leave to find Madam Pince. This was such a bad idea, but Victoria needed to regain her composure or her friends wouldn't let her live this down.
'Yeah, thanks.' Victoria forced a smile and turned to leave, but not before gulping down air. It was too late to abandon their idea now, watching as Nyx hurried down the corridor towards the library. She exchanged a glance with Amara, protesting in a slightly perturbed voice. 'We could just go back to the dungeons?' But her feet had other plans, as they carried her after Nyx.
Last Edit: May 31, 2022 11:26:35 GMT 10 by Victoria Vargas: Exit.
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