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.
Charlotte looked over at MJ when she placed a hand on her arm and at her question, she shook her head and offered the letter. Never had she offered a letter to anyone, but she couldn't physically stop herself from giving it over to her. Would William and Elizabeth do that with someone?
How could else was she to take that letter? It was clear. She was a bother to them and maybe it was because she was the youngest. She looked at the class schedule and thought about everything she had learned about potions from her studies at home. Again, the hands on part would be where she would be happy.
After she had given MJ plenty of time to look at the letter, she took it and folded it neatly before putting it into her bag with the toy cat.
"I am ready to go to potions... See you there?" She asked as she left her half eaten food and gathered her bag before she left.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Jul 19, 2022 23:29:15 GMT 10
MJ carefully took the letter because to her this was a big deal and she didn't want Charlotte to feel like she wasn't giving her actions the upmost care and respect they deserved. Being shown someone's private letter wasn't to be taken lightly but MJ didn't expect what she read.
Her smile faded, her brows furrowed and soon she was frowning. Confused, she turned the parchment over but no, it was just this.
How? How could someone's parents write to them like this!? And the way it was signed? Mrs Doren like she was writing to a stranger, not her daughter? Angry tears sprang to MJ's eyes and she bit the inside of her cheek. This wasn't fair!
"You are so much more than this." MJ said, handing the letter back. She was careful with her words because she didn't want someone to overhear and make assumptions about Charlotte. Her hand moved to her friend's back and she rubbed it a few times.
"You're here, with us. We'll make sure your time at school is fun and enjoyable and you get to try as many things as you want to do!" MJ knew Misuk would agree and help out. Their picnic would be the first of many things they would do together. Anything else Charlotte wanted to try, MJ was going to do everything in her power (as a first year) to make it happen.
She understood her friend's upset so, before she left MJ chanced a quick hug so Charlotte would know MJ was there, behind her, one hundred percent.
MJ let her friend go, giving her some space for now and tried to subtly wipe away her tears.
How dare Mrs Doren! How dare she! Her daughter was a wonderful person and she was just so mean!
Post by Reena Ashworth on Jul 19, 2022 23:41:18 GMT 10
After greeting Lindsey with a sympathetic smile, Reena minded her business despite the commotion on the other side of the hall and only looked up from her fruit salad when someone sat down next to her and was just mildly surprised to see who it was. She smiled at her choice of food and gave a nod of approval.
"Yes, just got to bed late."
Reena wanted to say something about the match, like Lucas had adviced her to do but suddenly found herself not knowing how to bring it up without possibly upsetting Amara. Instead she stared at the tea she had just brewed herself as though it held all the answers.
She was also reminded how she still owed an answer to Amara and she was glad about the distraction of the papers being delivered. She turned over the Daily Prophet to reveal the front page and suddenly felt sick to her stomach. There was also a sudden need to go hug Ezra tight and never let go.
What an awful fate, that poor kid and his poor parents!
"I think I saw one last night," she said in a hushed voice to Amara (although Lindsey likely could hear her aswell), pointing at the headline. "In the Forbidden Forest, while I was collecting Duskcap with Snape. I mean, I cannot be sure since it wasn't full moon - thank Merlin - but Snape pretty much ushered me out of the forest after that."
She shook her head over how lucky she had gotten that she had managed to get away with nothing but a scare. Good thing she's had her Head of House with her. She'd have to talk to him to confirm her suspicion though.
"Crazy," she said.
She did not really have an opinion on the whole werewolf-rights-issue but having such a close encounter did put some things into perspective.
Last Edit: Jul 20, 2022 0:00:06 GMT 10 by Reena Ashworth: included Lindz
Misuk was pretty late to breakfast and still didn't look like they were quite awake. It might have been, in hindsight, a bad idea to wake up at midnight and not go to sleep again immediately. Instead, they had tiptoed over to MJ's shelf, taking one of her books that they were given permission to read - also making eye contact with a half-asleep MJ for one second, before the other fell asleep again.
They rubbed their eyes, barely managing not to collide with any of the incoming owls as they made their way over to the Ravenclaw table, identifying MJ and Charlotte quickly and sitting down next to them.
"Good morning," they greeted their dorm mates, hiding their gaping mouth behind a hand as they yawned. "Crazy night, huh?" they also said, doing facial yoga in an attempt to get that brain to be awake already. "Can't believe that funny guy ... ... wait, that was in the book."
They shook their head, taking a slice of bread and adding bacon and egg to it, taking one big bite and then downing it with a glass of orange juice.
"Sorry, I need another moment," they said to their friends with a faint, crooked smile and focused on finishing that slice of bread and then prepared another one. With slightly greasy fingers, they also took one of the Daily Prophet copies - and were awake all of a sudden.
They frowned at the headline, fantastic.
"What the heck," they murmured, shaking their head. It was a tragedy what happened, but was this really reason enough to assume it was universal? This was just kind of dumb. There seemed to be something going on, still, but worsening the stigma for an entire group because of an outlier seemed ... they sighed, drinking more of their orange juice. Of course people were afraid. They just wished they wouldn't rush to conclusions so fast.
They prepared another slice of bread, this time with butter and strawberry jam while they were looking at the other articles, pointedly ignoring the whole deal of Valentine's day and jumping to the gardening articles. They wondered if their mother was also working on their little balcony garden in this fashion ... today, there wasn't a letter for Misuk, but they would go and write one still and ask their mother about it.
Post by Jaxen Ashworth on Jul 20, 2022 0:55:13 GMT 10
Jax stifled a yawn as he entered the hall. He'd stayed up late the previous night working on Jade's gift and was pleased that it was finally starting to look like a lion. He just had a few finishing touches to add and then came the struggle of getting the spell right- he hoped that wasn't too much of a struggle since he hadn't practiced as much as he probably should have.
Heading towards the Ravenclaw table, Jax felt almost weightless despite his lack of sleep. Winter was now behind him and warmer weather was setting in. For the first time since Christmas, he'd left his bear gloves in his trunk. It felt sort of strange to not have them on him, but without the winter weather it was difficult to justify wearing them.
The screech of an owl sounded overhead, alerting him to the arrival of the morning post and a rather disgruntled owl landed in front of him just as he sat down opposite Nyx. Her expression was unreadable, and he worried that she might be in a bad mood- which did not bode well for class that morning.
"Hey Nyx, did you sleep well?" he asked, smiling at the girl as he took the letter from the Owl (which tried to bite him when it became clear he was taking too long). But then noticed the handwriting on the envelope and let out a small gasp, quickly breaking the seal and staring at the text inside.
His grandmother was in Hogsmeade? Why? The panic that had stirred inside his gut at initially recognizing her handwriting began to fade. She wanted to see him. But why not the others... He tried not to be suspicious, but that didn't feel right to him. Was something wrong?
Tucking the letter into his pocket, his knee began to bounce as he poured himself a bowl of granola and began to chew on it thoughtfully.
He was definitely going to make time for his Grandma, he hadn't seen her in forever and he didn't know if he'd get the opportunity to see her over the summer. Hopefully she was only desperate to see him and didn't have any bad news.
Last Edit: Jul 20, 2022 0:56:55 GMT 10 by Jaxen Ashworth
Kassia nodded back to Reena Ashworth and Lindsey Bryce as they sat nearby her. At least someone wasn't so miserable here. However, before she could speak to her, there was a loud commotion from the Ravenclaw table. Kassia didn't see what happened, other than Amara Seabrook walking purposefully towards the table. There was a significant commotion from the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables in her wake.
Kassia looked askance at the other Slytherins. This would be something she would ask about later. Now was not the time. She continued to eat in silence as the owls arrived with the morning post. Kassia felt her chest tighten as they swarmed the high ceilings. She had to write to a new family soon.
Today, the owls managed not to completely fail at their duty. A copy of the Daily Prophet landed primly by Kassia's plate. She looked at the title story. She frowned, re-reading it. It didn't really give a lot of information. Where was the proof it had been a werewolf who attacked? Why was a child not even old enough to go to Hogwarts allowed in such danger by their parents?
Kassia rolled her eyes and mashed her oatmeal as she listened to Reena describe her time in the Forbidden Forest. Werewolves were no joking matter, but it certainly felt like absolutely everything in the magical world was trying to kill them. Kassia was more concerned about the the fact that her own brain was going to kill her, and had no energy for anything else.
She read up on the love potion trial instead, interested in how that was going. Kassia had admittedly thought about using one herself. It would certainly make marrying one of these idiot purebloods easier. Still, it was rather hypocritical that a love potion was legal and yet the Imperius curse was not.
"If it was a werewolf, do let me know," she said to Reena. "I need a new fur coat."
Saoirse nodded to Grace and Alice as they sat beside her. She was glad her disdain of potions was shared. At Grace's comment, she looked aside at Tobias Twiggs. She hadn't interacted with him much, but knew from hearsay that he was the class clown.
"I think it's worth losing the House points to watch him make Snape explode."
As Saoirse took another bite of sausage, a loud noise and commotion startled her. She looked at the source of it, the Ravenclaw table. A boy her age had his face in a bowl of hot porridge, while an older Slytherin girl walked away haughtily.
He raised his head, and Saoirse winced in empathy. He'd gotten hot food all over him. It could have genuinely burned the insides of his nose as well as his eyes. She looked again at the Slytherin's retreating back. Why would she do that? It was probably related to Quidditch, but picking on someone half her size over a game?
It made Saoirse angry. She averted her eyes from the Ravenclaw boy, as he probably already had too many gazes on him on top of his humiliation. She was tired of seeing the older years bully and harass the children her age. She could only hope that they got their just desserts from their families at home.
When the owls arrived, Saoirse hardly looked up. A copy of the Daily Prophet flopped onto the empty bench next to her. Her eye was drawn to the moving pictures. Werewolf attack? Why couldn't that happen here? Several of these students deserved to be eaten by werewolves.
Her curiosity eventually overrode her anger and she kept reading. She noticed it said 'neutral' or 'dangerous'. There was no 'good' option? Was that just how it was in the magical world? Everything just grey and black, no goodness to be found?
Saoirse was left with the frustrating feeling that an injustice had been done, but had no idea how to react or respond in a way that would make her feel better. She started eating her food with fierce gusto, ripping off chunks of bacon with her teeth.
When her mouth wasn't full, she muttered, "Maybe Snape will teach us a poison we can drop in the Slytherins' food."
Post by Lindsey Bryce on Jul 20, 2022 1:54:15 GMT 10
Lindsey looked up at everyone, including Amara when she joined Reena. She also returned Kassia's nod and then listened as everyone spoke.
When the prophet arrived, Lindsey took a copy and read over it. The main article was concerning and she considered writing her mother to see if she knew more from any healers who might have been able to help.
She focused back on the Spring Gardening Tips and pulled out her notebook to take add to her collection of tips and things. When Reena spoke about her night with the professor, Lindsey looked up.
"A possible Werewolf near the castle?" Lindsey felt that was concerning and worried. She knew that werewolves were still people and some were not happy with their affliction... but... they were dangerous.
Alice was eating when Saoirse's comment made her giggle. "That would be a scene to watch," she added with excitement.
Soon she noticed some murmuring around her from Gryffindor's table and Ravenclaw's table, which was next to them. It was easier to find the reason for it; a particular Slytherin girl was walking the Ravenclaw's table. It was shocking for everybody to see Amara walking this way, but it could be possible she had gone there to talk to any of her friends. She couldn't think of anything else before it happened.
Alice's mouth was wide open as she saw somebody's face go in a hot bowl. She didn't see his face because his back was visible from here and everything happened so fast to understand, but when he got up and looked around, she saw it was Joe. The Porridge was on his face, probably the hot one, but definitely, Amara didn't care. She went to her house table to have breakfast as if nothing had happened.
Gladly, nothing else happened after that. Everything was back to normal when the owls arrived. The werewolf was something out of an urban legend for Alice, but its printing in the newspaper confirms its existence. "Have you ever seen a werewolf?" She asked lightly, only for Saoirse and Grace to listen.
Alice smiled as Saoirse'scommon about poison. The Slytherin girl does need to learn about sportsmanship. Not poison, but she does deserve a little prank.
Many students joined the Slytherin table after him, but William didn't care to notice any of them. He had already become habitual of murmuring or laughing voices around the hall during meals.
He raised his eyes, from his meal, for the first time when the owls arrived. A copy of the Daily prophet fell next to him. He kept his fork and knife on the table and wiped his hands with a tissue before opening the newspaper.
Now, there was a werewolf attack. nowadays, many weird things have happened according to the daily prophet, but he knew he was only supposed to concentrate on his studies. So, he folded the paper and put it in his bag before returning back to his meal.
Post by Lindsey Bryce on Jul 20, 2022 4:42:18 GMT 10
Lindsey was finishing her meal when she looked up and William was looking at the paper. She glanced towards the entrance, but Tom did not seem to have arrived. So, she let out a sigh before focusing on the boy.
"Tis sad about the child, aye?" she asked him before she finished her own drink and began gathering her own items.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Jul 20, 2022 4:51:11 GMT 10
Misuk was another welcome distraction and MJ was glad her roommate had finally shown up to breakfast. Her eyes were dry now but she was still upset about the various things that had happened that morning.
"I'm glad you enjoyed the book." She had a vague memory of Misuk taking a book last night and wasn't sure if she had dreamt it or not. MJ considered telling Misuk about what happened with Joe but she wasn't sure if they would understand or not, would Misuk be annoyed on their behalf or just think it was part of playing Quidditch. A lot of people seemed to think it was part of playing the sport but that wasn't right.
Bullying was never right.
Hopefully her mood would pick up - she still had potions to look forward to! MJ decided she would stick around at the Great Hall until Misuk was ready to go to class but she wasn't willing to be late either. Hopefully they would understand that if MJ rushed off as the time for class got nearer.
Which it was already.
"I'm going to class." MJ sighed after a few more minutes. Misuk seemed busy with their newspaper anyway. She gave her friend a smile and a pat on the arm before standing. MJ grabbed her satchel and left the Great Hall, making her way to the dungeons for her morning lesson
[OOC: Exit]
Last Edit: Jul 20, 2022 4:54:17 GMT 10 by MJ Birdwhistle
Post by Tobias Twiggs on Jul 20, 2022 5:09:23 GMT 10
Toby's smile returned, though smaller than before upon hearing that Ryan had a valid reason for being absent. If only his friend was more organized with his socks (though Toby could hardly talk). It hardly mattered, Ryan would probably join them soon and if he didn't, then they'd see him in class.
Potions.
It had quickly become Toby's least favourite subject over the course of the school year. Disappointing as he'd probably quite enjoy the lessons had it not been for who his teacher was. Snape was the worst teacher in the entire school, and he seemed to hate Toby simply for daring to exist in the same space as him.
"I did! It was bloody brilliant!" he laughed, recalling how bitter the Slytherin's watching from the stands had seemed upon losing the match. He could only imagine how the team had looked- it sent a small thrill through him, feeling good about it since Gryffindor had lost their match against Slytherin earlier that year.
The sound of Amy calling his name from the somewhere along the Gryffindor table made Toby rise to his feet. Clambering up onto the bench, he stood and looked around for his big sister, ignoring the dirty looks he received from older students at standing on the bench. He spotted her red hair easily among the other students and his eyes lit up upon seeing the reason for her beckoning-- it had to be a gift from home.
Turning to leap from the bench, he faltered upon seeing the Seabrook come up behind Joe and practically slam his face into his bowl of porridge. It took a moment for the initial shock of what had happened to pass and then Toby felt a rush of panic at the thought that his best friend might be hurt.
"Joe?! Are you okay?" he asked, dropping from the bench to stand on the floor and reaching across the table to help Joe clean the porridge from his face with a napkin. The look on his friends face stirred up a feeling of rage in the first year, watching as Joe's expression shifted from one of anger, to the telltale lip tremble that signified he was trying to hold himself together.
Throwing the napkin onto the table, he climbed back onto the bench - and then the table, toppling a bowl of scrambled eggs and almost knocking a jug of apple juice flying.
"OI! YOU DIRTY SNOT FACED MUPPET! COME TRY THAT WITH ME, I BLOODY DARE YOU!" he shouted across the hall, glaring in the fifth years direction. How dare she attack his friend when his back was turned. "YOU COWARD! LET'S BLOODY GO, RIGHT NOW!" if she wanted a fight then he'd give her one. He'd show her not to mess with his friends, he wouldn't even need magic.
It was just after finishing their butter-jam slice of bread and putting down the Daily Prophet that Misuk finally caught that something wasn't quite right - Charlotte had seemed rather down, and MJ also didn't look quite well either. They nodded towards their friend as she said she'd go to class now.
"I'm right behind you," they said, hand in front of their still half-full mouth and gathered their things together - putting their slightly greasy copy of the Daily Prophet into their bag, and wiping their hands clean with a napkin. They also took an apple and a few nuts, just in case they needed a snack later.
They wondered what happened, as they heard Toby shout right behind them on their way towards the door - what the hell ... however, MJ was already out of the door, so they hurried up to catch her instead, surpressing the urge to find out what had happened.
Saoirse was still deep in thought about the first-year being bullied, and only registered Alice's question at a very shallow level. She shook her head slowly. No, she hadn't seen a werewolf before. Although she had heard rumours of other were-creatures in the South Pacific, like were-sharks. But she couldn't say if those were real. Werewolves definitely were.
As Saoirse sat stewing in anger, she hadn't even noticed Tobias Twiggs rise from his seat. She did, however, notice him climbing up onto the Ravenclaw table. This was made especially clear when he flipped a plate of scrambled eggs, sending them soaring past Saoirse's left ear.
She sat and watched in stunned silence as he absolutely screamed at the Slytherin. Saoirse was so used to people just standing back and letting this sort of thing happen. It had happened to her one too many times. She looked at the Slytherin table, and then back at the Twiggs boy. She didn't even know Jonathan King, but she knew she was sick of how the older students treated them.
Saoirse remembered one boy who had relentlessly bullied her in Fiji. He had thrown rocks at her, gotten his friends to nail her braid to a tree, and called her the most horrible things. She hadn't understood how an eight year old could have so much rage. Then one day she'd stumbled upon his father sleeping in the street. He had wet himself in public. That boy came from a miserable home.
Saoirse pushed her plate aside, rose, and silently walked over to the Ravenclaw table. She stepped up onto it. She did so with much less gusto than Tobias had, and there was significantly less food flying as a result. Saoirse stood next to Tobias, and put a hand on his shoulder as if she was about to talk him down from what he was doing. But then she turned to look at the Slytherin table instead.
"Don't worry, Toby." She spoke as loudly and clearly as she could. "We should feel sorry for the arse biscuit. You know people who punch down are usually unloved and unwanted children?"
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