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 Reena Ashworth on May 19, 2023 5:10:40 GMT 10
Reena had given Benjamin's finger a concerned look, yet watched his egg-fiasco with mild amusement a moment later. He was kind of fun to talk to, she had not realised that before.
However, at the unmistakable voice of Lindsey butting in, she averted her gaze, suddenly growing very interested in the colour of her food. It hadn't been lost on her last night, what exact picture Lindsey had taken down from her bed post. She had probably destroyed them.
Fine.
She glanced up again when Benjamin said something about kissing it better.
Both Benjamin and Lindsey turned rather red in the face as Lindsey proved once again that she was on the right path for herself in wanitng to become a healer. Reena was not quite sure what she was witnessing however and busied herself with her food once more.
Were they... flirting?
Lindsey and Benjamin? Since when?
Had this happened last year, when she and Lindsey had still been friends... Reena was almost certain she would have teased her about it.
But alas...
Unless of course, this was a completely harmless situation and a very normal thing for Lindsey to do, because she really cared about the people around her. Would she have offered help if it had been her finger, Reena wondered. There was a stinging pain in her chest that told her no, Lindsey would not have tended to her injury. She was no healer yet, she had no more obligations to her, Reena herself had made sure of that.
The screeching of owls signaling for owl post finally released her from pretending to be interested in the consistency of cereal in yoghurt.
"Oh, wow," she briefly commented on the big, suspiciously broom-shaped package Benjamin got delivered. She was soon distracted by getting her issue of the Daily Prophet and - a parrot - delivering a letter to her.
Reena watched the parrot snatch some fruit before taking off again, already knowing who the letter was most likely from. Why was he using such exotic birds todeliver his post, if he was obviously worried about his letters being intercepted?
Opening the letter, she saw that it was a lot longer than the last and that only a few parts of it were coded this time. She briefly read through the parts that she could understand without the key, when her gaze flicked over to the Daily Prophet and was caught by today's headline.
Oh.
Oh, no.
She could feel her shoulders slump for a second before she caught herself and managed to read through the article.
Oh, no.
Her family was mentioned by name.
And there it was. Benjamin had asked if she was alright. She took her time to put Antoninus's letter back into the envelope, having decided to read it later with the proper key. It had to be important, the timing was too suspicious.
She looked up when Lindsey spoke to her.
"Sure, thanks,", she managed to say. Her heart felt heavy as she watched Lindsey leave the table and Great Hall. She knew she wouldn't go to Lindsey.
"I'm fine, thank you, Benjamin. It's old news to me."
She managed to sound annoyed. Well, she was. Kind of.But not really.
Reena put the Daily Prophet into her backpack, along with the letter that she would deceipher as soon as possible. Just as she was about to close it, she noticed a note that had appeared before her suddenly and she turned around to watch Sinead walk away.
She could feel her jaw tense slightly as she read it.
Reena put the note between the pages of her DADA textbook. She did not have the headspace to think about Sinead's intentions with the note right now.
"Time for class," she said to Benjamin as she got up and put on her backpack. He was welcome to walk with her or go ahead on his own, she did not care either way.
She really hoped Hathmore had something practical planned though, she could use the distraction. He had seemingly left in a hurry earlier, that was probably a good sign.
'Good girl,'' Benjamin whispered to Sage, who had taken to collecting some bacon from the table, trilling softly at every caress of her feathers. ''You can go now, I'll use one of the school owls to send a reply back later,'' he told her and with a goodbye nibble of his hair, the owl spread her wings and left the Great Hall, her job completed.
Benjamin frowned at Reena's answer, not really sure whether he believed her or not. Finding out from the paper that your family's tragedy's being reopened surely wasn't so simple as she made it seem. But he wasn't the one to butt in where he wasn't wanted and Reena made it obvious she didn't want to talk about it. Bit curt and unnecessarily rude, but who was he to judge.
''See you in class, then,'' Benjamin shrugged and swiped an apple from the table, intending it for a snack before the practice. The Slytherin captain was known for being quite strict and a pushover, so he figured he'd need some sugary fortification after class. Benjamin doubted there'd be time to take a trip to the kitches after Defense would finish.
Standing up, Benji gave a retreating Reena a last look, before grabbing his broom and making his way to the dorm to leave it safely there before taking the walk to the DADA classroom.
Post by Oscar Tinkle on May 19, 2023 7:52:27 GMT 10
With the cooler morning weather taking over, Oscar had, of course, dug out his scarf. The promise of its use was the only thing that had made him leave his blankets that morning.
He imagined, with the weather headed in the unfortunate direction that it was, that he would soon have to find his trusty beanie too. He hoped that he had remembered to pack it.
Happily snuggled into his scarf, Oscar spent his breakfast listening to the chatter around him. The table was alive with it, with people going on about Quidditch and gobstones.
Neither of those things really captured his attention that morning, but it was nice to hear others talk so happily at least.
Oscar was just scraping the last of the yoghurt from his bowl, the berries and nuts long gone, when the normal loud screech sounded to announce the post.
He looked up automatically in an attempt to track any recognisable owls. There was no Merc that morning though, instead he caught sight of the sad loss of some other students' sweets. What a waste.
He hoped that whatever drink it had splashed in up at the teachers table was not hot.
The brief drama over, Oscar turned his attention to the newspaper, ready to find out what was going on in the world.
Something about the Ministry.. Blah-blah.. Wait. Ashworth?
A confused furrow to his brows, Oscar glanced towards the Slytherin table where the Ashworth that he could recognise had her meals. Was the front page news about her family?
That must suck for her.
Oscar felt a wave of sympathy for the slightly scary girl. Imagine having stuff about your family - bad stuff too, by the sound of it - splashed across the front page of the country’s most popular paper.
He decided not to read any further, not caring if that put him behind whatever gossip would spread across the school that day. Instead he opted to read about chocolate and dementor’s. Those things were at least his business.
Dementors… That did remind him about Professor Hathmore’s talk about the Patronus Charm at the start of year feast. Maybe it was time to ask more about that? How lucky that he had Defense first thing that morning.
That thought in mind, Oscar tucked his newspaper away in his bag and then got up to make his way to his class. [exit]
Post by Arthur Hocking on May 19, 2023 10:21:37 GMT 10
Arthur had watched the try-outs with some excitement despite his own lack of talent in the sport of Quidditch, but it meant that he was now a little bit tired at breakfast. He managed to poke at some cereal, though he wasn't feeling too hungry. By lunch time, he'd probably regret not eating more, but that was a problem for Future Arthur. Present Arthur was more concerned with the Daily Prophet, which talked a lot about the Ashworth family.
Arthur had no idea how exactly his classmate, Reena, or her many siblings were related to the brothers mentioned in the article, but he knew what it was like to lose someone close to you, and he definitely wouldn't want people staring at him. He finished breakfast and headed to class. DADA, which was certain to be a bit of a disaster for Arthur. That would probably draw some attention off of Reena.
Pierce was quietly reading over his notes from the night prior; a piece of toast in his free hand as he lazily ate it. He'd already finished his main plate of breakfast and was pleasantly full. Peeves had been quite the bother last night, his antics yet again getting on Pierce's nerves. Yet who didn't he bother? His hair even still felt a bit wet and he grumbled through a mouthful of bread. Peeves really needed to learn some manners.
When the owl post came in Pierce was just finishing his food. He opened the letter delivered to him first. Reading over it quickly. Gobstones? It seemed rather childish if he was being honest. Games never really interested him, but maybe. He was sure his siblings would send their own letters with news of their success at tryouts, but it wouldn't hurt to confirm it.
He made a mental note to remember to ask Joshua about a broom. Prefect. The word literally lit up for him. Yes. He wanted that so badly, and he knew his parents already knew that. Pierce was very much so interested in it. He hadn't known about a trainee program but that would definitely help him, he had so much to prepare for. Studies? Easy. Stepping out of his comfort zone not so much. His mouth twisted a bit at this. He had tried when he was hunting with Lindsey...maybe he could try more. Maybe.
Pierce rolled the letter up after reading it. He's send a return letter later on. Now he quickly read the daily prophet and his eyes narrowed. He found himself looking for Reena, he hoped she was doing okay. He tried to spot his classmate Kody but from this table it was hard to tell who was still at breakfast. It was unfortunate what that family was going through, he hoped they'd be okay.
Once he was finished with his reading he scooped up his journal and made his way out of the hall. It looked like Herbology would be the first class of the day.