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 Arthur Hocking on Mar 12, 2023 14:54:43 GMT 10
Arthur was energetic, if a bit nervous, for his first class as a fifth year OWL student. This nervousness subsided a little when he plopped down next to Oscar and read COMC as the first class. Yes! Arthur was thankful it wasn't DADA, even if he had somewhat recently learned how important DADA was to some of the careers he was thinking about.
"Hey, Mr. Prefect, do you think Professor Fairburn will start us off with something nice and easy?" Arthur asked Oscar, a joke evident in his voice. He doubted that Professor Fairburn would let a chance for some more extreme learning pass by, especially since they were supposed to be studying for OWLs.
He was less excited for Charms, but his confidence in the subject had changed a little since last year. He no longer thought he was hopeless, just that he tended to struggle a little. Arthur would be taking care to make sure his notes were thorough, especially if he had trouble with the spell in class.
Post by Elizabeth Doren on Mar 12, 2023 15:04:45 GMT 10
Elizabeth's quietness no longer seemed as out of place when looked at in the context of her fellow sixth years. She had decided to wear her hair down, though she was a little tense at the idea of it since before she had always worn it up. In fact, she still had backup hair accessories in her bag in case she got too fidgety with it.
Elizabeth was most concerned about the appearance of any potential prefect patrols. Now that she was no longer one of the youngest prefects, she had to consider how she looked to the younger ones. She was especially nervous about her new ability to take house points. She thought about the curfew discussed at the feast yesterday.
For now it seemed like there wasn't patrol, though one of the Head Hogs had mentioned it might be with the post, so Elizabeth was still keeping an eye out.
Next on the list of things that concerned Elizabeth was the Apparate Lesson. Tolliver had mentioned that they were important, so Elizabeth knew she had to do well even if she really, truly hated Apparating. She would just do her best, follow the instructions, and if she worked hard enough she would do well.
She was thrilled to see Transfiguration as one of the 6th year classes in the afternoon. Whoever was in charge of separating those classes must've had Elizabeth in mind when they did so, because it had been the easiest decision she'd ever made. No more worrying about biting plants and revolting fertilizer.
Elizabeth hoped they got to learn some advanced theory. She had always wanted to learn more about that kind of thing.
Post by Verity Ashworth on Mar 12, 2023 15:19:26 GMT 10
Verity would've liked five more minutes, no, hours, no, days of sleep. Having her own bedroom at home meant that she was a bit more spoiled for sounds the first few nights at Hogwarts, and when she woke up to someone walking around the room to get water or go to the bathroom or whatever people did in the middle of the night for the fifth time and realized it was actually time to get up, she got a little grouchy.
She stabbed at her breakfast pancakes, grumbling something about wearing earplugs or being better about shutting the curtains around her bed. At least Ezra seemed to be in a good mood, since he was surrounded by a bunch of other little second years.
Verity barely looked at the schedule. History of Magic, hm, Divination, hm. She had to remind herself about the lack of stairs in Divination, and apparently the universe was against her because History of Magic was in a different place, too. Did they want her to get lost and decide to skip class? Because this was how people decided to skip class.
She drew a smiley face on a pancake with some strawberry sauce. At least someone would be smiling today.
Felix was just piling on some scrambled eggs when he noticed the older Gryffindor girl from last night. He nodded back to her with a friendly smile. He'd have to introduce himself more properly at tryouts later, or hopefully if they both made the team.
"Hey Grace!" His smile brightened even more at his train companions arrival. Continuing to scoop eggs into his mouth he watched her curiously as she read the schedule, watching her reaction.
"They didn't give us much time to settle in or practice eh?" He said as his own nerves started to gnaw at his stomach. He was so excited to tryout, but part of him wished he just had a little more time to brush up on his flying. He hoped it would all come back to him from last year's lessons.
"We got this!" He gave Grace an encouraging smile. "All we can do is our best, it'll be fun regardless!"
Felix's brows furrowed in confusion at her next comment. He glanced back at the schedule, with the excitement of Quidditch he must have missed it. "Oh, I hadn't noticed that change. Yeah that's a bit odd...I wonder why."
He supposed they would find out soon enough. It was curious though. Maybe something happened to the old classroom? Or like Grace said, a new style. Hopefully Professor Archerose would explain, as he was sure they weren't the only students who were curious about it.
Post by Kody Ashworth on Mar 12, 2023 21:32:01 GMT 10
Kody bounded into the Great Hall, full of energy for the day ahead! He was excited to see what their schedules would be and practically threw himself onto the bench at this house table. Luckily the people around him made space and didn't seem to mind.
He eagerly filled his plate up with sausage rolls, shoving the end of one into his mouth while he checked his schedule.
"Yes!!" A spray of crumbs showered the table and students around him. Care of Magical Creatures in the afternoon! He just had to survive through the boring History of Magic class in the morning.
Eh, he'd figure out how to stay awake.
He finished his first roll and grabbed a second, pouring out some milk and trying not to vibrate off the bench when he thought about try-outs later. He was so excited!
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Mar 12, 2023 21:38:40 GMT 10
It was easy for MJ to notice Thorne when he came into the Great Hall and MJ waved back. She wondered about inviting him to sit at their table... Maybe Orla too? But she was soon distracted by the appearance of a fellow second year bird.
"Morning Joe -- You know it! I wouldn't want to miss the chance to be on the team again. You?" It was a stupid question. If Joe did say he wasn't going to try out, MJ would have been shocked. And disappointed! Their team needed a skilled player like Joe to help them to win matches.
MJ felt she had improved a lot as well, even practising her flying at home since the orchard give plenty of cover. Not that she ever went too high either. She didn't want to worry her guardians about some muggle seeing her.
It had made Max mad too so she tried not to do it too much.
Charlotte joined and MJ gave her a gentle pat on the back and a sympathetic smile. She didn't know if Charlotte had been able to sleep well after their chat but MJ had been out like a light. "Good morning~ We have Transfiguration first and then History of Magic."
She slipped a schedule closer for Charlotte to look at.
MJ giggled as Ezra sat down and didn't seem to realize who they were at first. He must have been very sleepy! She waved back, "Morning sleepy head. Did you stay up all night reading or something?"
That was a far assumption to make, right? It was something MJ would do...
She busied herself with finishing up her breakfast and grabbed an apple and some nuts for later too.
Kwame woke up early on the first day of classes. The excitement of the day prevented him from sleeping in. Not that he usually enjoyed staying in bed too late anyways. This morning he arose even earlier than usual to get the day started.
After he was showered and dressed, he went back to the Great Hall for breakfast. He took a seat at the Ravenclaw table, giving polite nods to his housemates but not engaging in conversation.
He had enjoyed a big dinner last night so today he was not very hungry. He chose a light breakfast of toast and jam with orange juice. After he ate, he reviewed the schedule for the first day of classes.
Divination and Charms. Two subjects that Kwame was not great in, but enjoyed nonetheless. Plus, Quidditch tryouts were this evening. He was still wondering if he would be brave enough to try out.
He'd spent the last 4 years trying to muster up the courage, maybe year 5 would be different but he doubted it.
A familiar screech alerted to the arrival of owls, who soon swooped into the Great Hall -- dropping off letters from home, packages of forgot-to-pack items, and of course this morning's issue of the Daily Prophet.
Several Professors were confused though. Hathmore even checked his pocket watch, and yes indeed, the owls were actually a bit early this morning. There was no clear reason why, but breakfast wasn't quite due to end yet -- but at least they had more time to read the news or prepare for the day.
6th years in particular either grumbled at the growing chatter and activity, or made further attempts to catch a bit more sleep.
More owls followed -- a bit irritated, as if they hadn't intended to arrive at the hall prematurely like the others had. One was so flustered it fumbled a landing -- and may as well have dive-bombed into a serving bowl of porridge... which splattered Professor Snape.
At first, there was a roar of laughter from several older students who clearly threw caution into the wind to risk such a loud reaction -- until Snape broke out of his stunned trace, and shot a withering glare round the hall. He reached into his pocket, and used a handful of tissues to wipe his face.
Professor Traddles casually sipped his tea, gazing off to the side as if he was wholly unaware of the entire scene. Professors McGonagall, Sprout, and Madam Pomfrey struggled to hide silent laughter behind their hands, with only the former being at all successful. Professor Hathmore flicked some porridge off his own sleeve, sighing as if of course this would happen the first day of term.
Absolutely livid, Snape yanked the envelope from the dazed (but fast-recovering) owl. Eyes narrowing further, he simply pocketed it. There was zero indication to confirm if he was the intended recipient or not.
The following letters were also delivered:
To: @amelia
Good luck with Quidditch Tryouts tonight!
Remember to balance your grip on the bat, and aim true. Know your own strength; you have the skill so go show it off.
Just give it your best. Don't worry about Amy or Toby today, just focus on your own skills -- you're a great player and potential teammate all in your own right. If unsure what position to go for, don't be shy in giving more than one a go. I'm sure your Captain will know where to best place you.
I see that you'd attended an internship at Saint Mungo's last year. Is this something you'd be interested in doing again, for either Saint Mungo's or perhaps also the Ministry? It would continue to broaden your education, and look great on a Career File. The Academy certainly keeps an eye out for this sort of achievement.
Do you hope to apply again? An immediate response isn't required; dimply let me know what you decide. I believe I could put in a good word for you, if you had a particular floor / department in mind.
Good luck with your classes today, and I hope you were able to elect the ones you wanted. Do reach out if there's anything else I can assist with, and if you (or one of your siblings) have any questions.
From: Dae-hyun Tolliver
It was delivered by a handsome barn owl, who was a bit of an unusual colour. He was poised and polite, waiting long enough to see if she intended to reply right away or perhaps had a treat for it to nab on the way out.
Post by Lindsey Bryce on Mar 13, 2023 21:58:21 GMT 10
The soothing that had come from Sinead had been noticed, but Lindsey had also tried to just move past the nightmares. When Sinead joined her for Breakfast, she gave a smile and returned to her own breakfast. She was just too tired to hold conversation at the moment.
The sound of owls caused her to look up into the air as they post arrived. Rather early she thought as she looked at some other confused faces. The sound of laughter cause her by surprised before she looked at the staff table and saw the chaos that was happening to Snape. She bite her lip to prevent a smile from forming on her face.
Lindsey very much enjoyed her Head of House, but the situation was rather amusing and she turned away to prevent even the slightest hint of a smile before she caught a copy of the Daily Prophet and began to read over it. The mention of Saint Mungo’s quickly caught her eye and she was interested in the whole thing.
She imagined that maybe the minister was there for visitation? No mention of injury was reported, though as normal she felt that the Daily Prophet did more to cause rumor than actual pure facts. But, she took in the whole story and then flipped through the others. The story of dragon sightings and the gardening story too most of her interest until the arrival of her mother’s owl arrived.
Glancing over at Sinead, she smiled and took the letter from the owl before offering it a bit of bacon and watching as it flew off. She began to read her letter from her mother, a small smile on her face as she did.
Leanabh mo ghràidh, (my dearest child) We hope your trip back to Hogwarts was uneventful. Your grandparents explored London yesterday and wished me to tell you they found some interesting books on Herbology and Potions from a friend of theirs. I will be sending them later in the year or you can get them at Christmas if you come.
Your father got word of a position with company designing buildings. They are located in Edinburgh, so he will be away much of the year while he works with this new muggle company. I will be attending a few new trainings to advance my healing practices and also attending a muggle class to further my aid to our muggle neighbors.
Please let me know if you decide to return to Saint Mungo’s yourself for your internship.
Love, Do mhàthair (Your mother)
Lindsey smiled fondly at the letter and placed it down on the table while she finished her breakfast. This allowed anyone around her to read it if they wished. And she read over it a few extra times before she finally stored it away in her own bag.
Post by Martha Twiggs on Mar 13, 2023 22:09:11 GMT 10
Something felt off to Martha as she witnessed the owls coming into the hall. It took a moment for her to figure it out as a copy of the Daily Prophet was dropped at her place. She offered said owl some bacon.
Ah! They were early! Martha looked at the teacher's table to see what the laughter was about and cringed as she saw Professor Snape covered in porridge. She had a sinking feeling the first years might suffer because of it.
When would her first lesson with him be? Hopefully not for a few days yet. Martha needed time to mentally prepare herself for the fact she thought taking Potions again was a good idea... Well, sadly, she thought it would be good for her career. So she was stuck.
She'd much rather take History of Magic.
She sighed and looked at the front page of the paper.
Was it truly odd that the Minister of Magic had gone to St. Mungo's? After all, it wasn't out of the ordinary for a politician to visit a hospital for publicity or because the Ministry had funded a new wing or something. She read over the article again and frowned -- so something had happened at a function? Martha wondered if their dad would know anything about it but she shrugged.
It wasn't her place to be nosy about such things.
She glanced at the bottom of the page, gasping at the news that a potions scam had been happening and, of course. dragon sightings? Martha's gaze went up towards the enchanted ceiling. Hopefully none of them would come close to Hogwarts...
The youngest students seemed to be arriving and Amelia found herself focusing mainly on her own Breakfast. The conversation ranged from classes to the try-outs today and she felt a smile tug at her lips with the mention of Quidditch. It would be nice to be back on the pitch and to play against the other houses.
The arrive of the owls seemed off? She looked up and was quick to grab a copy of the prophet. The mention of the minister at Saint Mungo’s was interesting, but to be fair, it wasn’t something she was really thinking about. The glanced through the other articles with mild interest before returning back to the main story.
She took in the information about him possibly being injured, yet nothing was confirmed? Well, she could try writing to her father and asking, right? The sudden sound of laughter made her look up and she found herself nearly bursting with laughter at the appearance of Snape. Amelia had NO shame in laughing at the professor, especially since she didn't take his class.
The appearance of a familiar owl allowed her to put away the Prophet and the comical scene. Her father’s writing always brought her a boost in mood and she tucked away the encouraging letter before she return to any conversation around her.
Last Edit: Mar 13, 2023 22:22:16 GMT 10 by Deleted
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Mar 13, 2023 22:15:44 GMT 10
MJ loved it when the papers and post arrived! She had missed the chaotic cacophony of hundreds of owls coming into the hall at once. A brown barn owl stopped to drop her paper and she rewarded it with a bit of bacon from a plate nearby.
"Thank you for your hard work!" She said brightly, stroking its head gently. The owl hooted softly in response to MJ and took off again. As she watched it, her gaze went to the teacher's table and she gasped.
"Oh no, I hope he's okay..." An owl had landed into a serving bowl in front of Professor Snape and now their poor potions teacher was covered! She knew from experience last year (well, second hand) that getting porridge on your skin was not fun at all!
MJ looked down at the paper, trying to push her worry away. After all, Professor Snape was an adult and probably knew a lot of advanced magic! So he could probably heal himself or know a way to fix things. MJ nodded and read the paper instead.
She ate as she read, curious about the Minister's visit to the Hospital, "Do you really think he's hurt? Or got attacked in some way?"
This question was to any of her friends nearby if they were reading the paper too.
"I wonder if it's the same group as..." This she mumbled to herself, recalling the events of last year. It had been scary being involved in a magical fight like that and she still hadn't told any of her friends. MJ looked over to the Gryffindor table to where Grace was and swallowed.
Looking back at the paper, she read the index. She didn't know what the Hog's Head was but the idea of dragons being spotted seemed a bit exciting. Also tips of riding the garden of pests seemed like a useful topic to look at, especially since she enjoyed Herbology.
Charlotte had busied herself to find some items for breakfast. Though to mainly picked from fruits, she also took a croissant with some near by jam and some cheese to the side. She keep it small, but just enough to fill her stomach and prepare her for a day of learning. As she looked up casually, she realized Ezra had joined them and offered him a smile as well.
She took a moment after preparing her plate to observe her schedule for the day and smiled over at MJ as she spoke about their classes. She had missed the conversation with Jonathan and MJ about Quidditch slightly, but had caught on as MJ spoke about it in reply. “I wish you both well during Try-outs.”
The comment was aimed to both of them, but inside she wanted to attend to just watch for the day. It would likely be the only time she could attend anything Quidditch related, the idea of attending a match was far to scary. Charlotte sat quietly with the others listening to their conversation before the sudden appearance of the owls arrived.
“Why are they so early?” Charlotte commented. Everything was normally on a pretty routine schedule when it came to owls and she knew that this was early compared to normal days. The few of the Daily Prophets landed near by and Charlotte tentatively took one to look over.
Was the minister sick? His visit to Saint Mungo’s was concerning. What if he was weak or sick? Would would lead the ministry? She supposed someone else could, right? The sound of laughter and the sharp gasp next to Charlotte made her look up and see the Potion’s professor covered in porridge and a rather unhappy owl.
The laughter was cruel… Why would someone do that? She turned her head away just as MJ asked about someone being hurt and realized she was reading the story in the prophet. It seemed the events had concerned MJ as well. A mumble was heard, but Charlotte hadn’t caught the words spoken by MJ with the chatter of the Great Hall.
Post by Kody Ashworth on Mar 13, 2023 23:24:26 GMT 10
Owls!
Kody grinned as they appeared, one of them even stopping to deliver a copy of the Daily Prophet to him.
"My, aren't you handsome!" Kody praised the creature, his mouth half-full of sausage roll and he stoked the owl's feathers lightly. Owls were a familiar sight but it was still fun to see one up close. Kody looked around the table for something suitable to feed the owl.
Sadly there wasn't any raw meat to be had so he settled for feeding it some beef sausage, breaking it up into suitable sized chunks. The owl seemed happy, eating its fill before it took flight again.
Letting out a soft, happy sigh, Kody watched the owls instead of paying attention to the newspaper. He'd regret it later when he noticed the small headline about dragons -- but that was for future Kody to think about.
It would take him a moment to snap back to his senses but when he did, his journal was pulled from his bag to update it! He was going to add delivery owls to his little collection of creatures he was writing about!
Post by Ryan Barrow on Mar 13, 2023 23:32:24 GMT 10
Ryan had the best night's sleep he'd had in a long time -- not since near the end of term, as he certainly hadn't been this restful at any point during the summer.
Snug in his dormitory bed, with his fellow dorm-mates again, was a polar opposite to being huddled outside in the dark waiting for his parents to come back from a night out with friends. He'd gone for a walk to the shops, and came back to them having locked him out -- having forgotten he was home for the summer. It was after midnight when they stumbled home, scaring the wits out of him.
No, now he was back at Hogwarts. His bed was comfier than he remembered, and even the noise was an improvement over the loneliness no matter how stressful being social still was. Ryan felt he'd had a setback there, after a summer on his own so much. Well, besides Hopper of course.
Staring at the busy Great Hall, Ryan hesitated to gather his nerve. He was a bit late, despite having woken earlier than the rest of those in his dorm. Ezra at least had seen his bruised cheek, but Joe and Toby were still going with their rumours to help him out so Ryan wasn't as panicked to hide it. But dinner was hard enough. So he'd gotten up early to get it taken care of, and now his cheek looked normal again though was a bit sensitive.
'Hi,' he said, making an effort as he sat with his classmates.
Joe was there, at least. He shyly gave Charlotte a smile, and had no idea what sort of greeting worked with MJ so tried to subtly ignore her altogether. He didn't talk much, just focused on serving some pancakes and fruit. Ryan pulled his schedule closer, grumbling as he saw they had Transfiguration and History of Magic -- though he was confused about the location change.
Or was he just remembering it wrong? Oh no, had he forgotten his way around the castle over the summer?
Quidditch stuff was tonight. Ugh, boring. Now he'd have to sit in the stands and cheer his friends on. Would they be offended if he brought a book? No, it'd probably be too dark to read anyway. He did love being back at Hogwarts, though. Not just for the best part, having his best friends back, but even his classes and the castle were amazing.
Not those bloody stairs though. Stupid Ravenclaw up in its stupid tower. He nearly fell to his death going down those this morning, when the sun was barely up. And of course, a whole summer living as a Muggle it took Ryan up until he was halfway across the castle to remember he was a wizard and could have just used the Wand-Lighting charm.
Either he was later to breakfast than he thought, or the owls were early. Ryan frowned at them, and retrieved his copy of the Daily Prophet -- having worked out how to subscribe to it when he got school supplies in Diagon Alley. No more borrowing Joe's copy every morning.
Like Charlotte, he frowned when people laughed at Professor Snape. That was not a nice thing to do. Shaking his head, Ryan bent over the Prophet to read.