Ahh. Hogwarts! Hattie was so excited to be here. SO so so excited! She'd dreamt about this for year. And the first thing she wanted to do was explore! She wanted to know every inch of the castle! And she needed to find her way around anyway, so that she would know where all her lessons were. So on the day after the feast she had gotten up really early so that she could go explore. It was a warm September day so she had decided to go and explore the grounds first. Her big brother and sister had told her about them, so she just wanted to see them all for herself.

She stepped out into the courtyard and just smiled to herself. It was so lovely out here. She could really get used to going to school here. It was going to be a great 7 years. She girl just smiled. "Oh. It's so pretty"

Stretching above his head, Rooney plucked a pear from the tree and inspected it closely. No worm holes... Hey, the rumours really were true! This was going to be a definite daily thing for him. Pear picking. One a day, anyway. He got the rest of his "five a day" from meals, but he did enjoy a good pear. Roo took a bite and collected his things from under the tree with every intent to go back to the castle. It was then that he heard someone speaking from the other side of the open space. She was right. It was pretty. But the pears were better than the view.

"Catch!" He called, and tossed a pear in her direction after taking it from the tree.

Hattie was still enjoying the view. She'd seen pictures and her parents had told her about the grounds. But she had really never thought it would be this pretty. She was glad she had underestimated it, because it made seeing the real thing so good. She just smiled to herself as she did a little circle. It really was so pretty. She wanted to remember this moment for the rest of her life. She wanted to remember her very first thoughts of seeing the grounds. And this was it.

And it was interrupted. She looked up, just in time actually, and managed to catch the apple. "Oh... uh. Hi. Thanks"

"Good catch!" It was, honestly. Rooney was marginally impressed that she had caught it so soon after he had called for her to. There wasn't much of a time space. A second or two at the push. The girl got a thumbs up for it and the Ravenclaw continued to eat at his apple. However, he had stopped picking up the textbooks around his feet, which was probably a bad thing. You couldn't guarantee the weather around here and Roo hadn't exactly mastered an immediate umbrella should he need one.

Surely the tree would hold up in the face of rain? Should it happen, anyway..

Luckily, it hadn't right now. And luckily the sky didn't look particularly grey, either. "Try it. They're good." Honest! He wasn't just eating one for the sake of it.

"Thank you" Harriet murmured with a smile. She was quite proud of her catch actually. There hadn't been much notice, but she guessed she had good reflexes. Fast ones too actually. But she was proud of herself. It was good too, because wasting good fruit was bad. And she didn't want the other guy to shout at her for dropping the fruit on the floor. So she was really glad that she had managed to catch the fruit. It looked really good. She wanted to eat it. Should she? She'd had her breakfast, but she was feeling a little hungry. Exploring was hungry work.

"They are?" She asked, looking back up over the at the boy. Well he was eating one, so she guessed that they couldn't be that bad. Smiling, Hattie took a bite of the pear, and then swallowed. "Ooh. They are good!" She wasn't much of a pear person. But she liked it. "Oh. I'm Hattie by the way. Hattie Paton"

Abby made her way down to the courtyard and took a seat on one of the benchs and hummed to herself she wouldn't mind somebody coming to talk to her and keep her from thinking about her problems

Cornelius was, as usual, doing something that was academically FUN. This time he was levitating not two, but SIX water balloons at the same time. He has mastered levitating small quantities and his lizard Mustard without dropping them. Mustard, he still needed more practice with because he swished his tail so much. But with water balloons he got it.

Or at least he thought he did.

As he stepped out of the castle and into the courtyard he stepped on a bit of uneven ground. "Oh no! No!" The water balloons jiggled in the air, wobbling as he kept a slower pace. They wobbled...and wobbled and--

"NOOOOOOOO!"

SPLASH!

The water balloons dropped with a loud SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT to the ground, a few inches from a girl sitting on a bench. Water splattered on anything close by, soaking Cornelius' Converse shoes.

Abby felt a bit of water splash onto her lower parts of her legs but she saw that the boy didn't do it on purpose and said to him "Everything okay there?" Abby knew best that she should not lose her temper at a young second year boy

Green eyes grew wider and wider as he eyed the girl from bottom to top. She was older than him, that was obvious. How much older, he wasn't sure. He didn't care about that, of course. His biggest worry right now was getting yelled at. C R U D.

Cornelius waited and waited but nothing came. He blinked and nodded slowly. "Yeah...I was practicing levitating and--are you okay?" He didn't splash her too hard, did he?

Abby smiled at the young boy and said "Yeah i am fine you didn't splash me too hard, I am Abby by the way"

So, anyone who knew the "Glitter Lion", aka Olivia Phillips, was well aware of her aversion to losing. It was just a nasty aspect of life, you know?! Did you know?! Well, if you didn't, it was. Take our word for it. Though, she was tickled by her Second Place standing last term in dueling club...SMOL BLONDE WANTED TO DO BETTER THIS YEAR.

EYES ON THE PRIZE! FIRST. She wanted to be FIRST. It wasn't too much to ask, really. And dangit, SHE BELIEVED IN HERSELF.

So, because she believed in herself, the tiny Gryffindor could be found out on the grounds....books and wand scattered all around her as she forced herself to learn whatever she could in preparation for this year's dueling club. UGH. WHY THEY COULDN'T DO MAGIC OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL UNTIL THEY WERE SEVENTEEN, Liv would never understand. Man, she could've gotten so much practice in. WITH HER MUM, TOO. GRR!

Mmmmmmm. What she needed. TRULY NEEDED *DRAMATIC PAUSE*.....was a guinea pig. There was only so many spells she could practice on the flowers....and SHE ABSOLUTELY REFUSED TO CAST ON GUS.........who could be found a short distance away, stretched out among the grass. Every now and again, he'd flick a lazy glance her way.

With an exaggerated sigh, she flopped back on the grass herself, staring up at the sky.

I NEED A HEEEEEEERO!

That was a relief. No yelling or shrieking. You'd think after four older sisters he'd be used to. It was why babe Mallory was his all-time favorite.

The corners of his mouth lifted into a crooked smile. "'S good to hear." No bruises or tears, good. "Abby. Think I've seen you around. I'm Cornelius Baltazar." GRIN.

Abby nodded and said "Nice to meet you Cornelius i am sure that i have seen you about as well, glad to be back at school"

He was sort of glad to be back at school. Like, he liked his independence and the fact that he could eat sweets at any given time, but he missed his mum. Cornelius had not fancied living home when his mum looked a bit ill. UGH. His heart HURT.

He nodded in half agreement. "Yeah, sort of. Not looking forward to the homework," he chuckled softly. Was he right or was he right? Homework sucks.

Abby nodded and said "Yeah homework is one of the worst things about being at school"

After taking a bite that put him at the place where he had eaten half of his pear, Rooney stopped and finished piling his books into his satchel. All sixteen of those books. Honestly, working alongside magic was perfect for him. It made his bag easier to carry - almost impossible to remember it was there, to be honest. Satchel over his shoulder, the Ravenclaw closed the gap between he and this girl with a smile.

Another bite of his pear, and he stuck his hand out for shake times. "Rooney Alexander Bronwyn. Nice to meet you, Miss Hattie Paton."

"Tell me about it," he responded, coolly going to sit on the bench. It's weird just standing there like some creep. "Magical creatures is my least favorite. Oh--and Arithmancy...and Divination, though I can ace that one 'cause I make great stuff up." He had found a loophole to it and was sticking with it.

Taking a glance around, he asked, "What about you? What's your least favorite homework?"

Miranda wandered out of the front doors and out into the courtyard she was hoping to maybe make another friend. She had been timid and shy at first, but now she knew the only way she would have friends was if she just got out and about to meet other kids. So far she had one friend and he was great. But Brady had alot of other friends too so .... Why not her. So as she walked around she came to an empty bench and sat down. She was enjoying the nice weather When she heard someone coming.

Noelle had her book open in her lap and her wand out. She was practicing some of the spells she had learned in her first two years. Some she knew by heart, and others, .... Well that's why her book was here.

Some spells were easy. Levitation for example. Right now, she was having a bit of fun with that one. She was sending book by book to go stack on a rickety object. It was like, backwards Jenga. A muggle game that was quite fun. Instead of pulling the pieces off, Noelle was stacking them back, trying not to make the books fall.

She almost had her forth book put down when she heard someone sit beside her, and her concentration broke. The book slammed down a little too hard and sent the books toppled over. SIGH.

Noelle looked to see who had broken her concentration. A young girl. Figures. A firstie. Quietly, she got up to retrieve her books. She normally was in a much better mood, but since she wasn't talking to her best friend, ..... Or ex best friend, she was a little a lot irritated.

Not realizing that she had bumped the girl next to her Miranda jumped at the sound of the books falling to the ground. startled she pleaded, " Oh my... I.. I"m sorry. did I make you mess up? I think that"s brilliant, that. " She said pointing to the books. " Well, what you were doing there. Making those books fly in the air like that. "
The girl looked a bit put out by something more then some books falling to the floor. " I'm sorry. I didn't introduce myself. My name is Miranda, but you can call me Randi if you like." Miranda stated with a smile and little wave. " Pleasure meeting you."

Abby smiled and said "My least favourite homework has to be Arithmancy i just never get my head around all of the figures and everything" Abby was surprised at how calm she was at the moment even after she did get splashed by water she knew it was a small accident and something that she should not lose her temper over

Annoyed.
First the girl distracts her and now she was.... Apologizing but in a very annoying way. Maybe it was just her. Noelle sighed as she grabbed the books and say back down. She eyed the girl.... And .... Saw herself as a firstie again. It didn't matter what she had going on right now. She needed to put her feelings aside.

Breathe.

Noelle managed a smile and gave it to the nervous girl. She put her books on the bench and extended her hand. "Noelle Grace Summers. Nice to meet you Randi. Warm someone next time though, yeah?" Words of advice. Noelle was nice. Others probably wouldn't be so nice.

"So are you a first year?"

"m-Yeah. First year.... Noelle.... That's a pretty name. It's not plain like mine... That's why I like to be called Randi."
Lord, now she was yammering on about nothing and she knew Noelle was already irratated and here she was... continueing to annoy.
" Sorry I don't mean to blabber on... I'm a bit nervous you know... I don't have many friends here at school yet. I just was excited to see someone doing magic so well..." Randi stated.
That last comment for sure would making up for her babbling on... she was sure of it.

The courtyard. Still lovely. Still very great for inspiration. Still one of Hadley's two favorite places to come and write, draw and scheme in her journal. Just as long as she didn't run into another Davie Truebridge while here, everything would be peachy-keen, peaches.

Her other favorite spot for inspiration was the Art Nook in the Ravenclaw tower. But Hadley couldn't tolerate being inside right now, and it was a gorgeous day so why stay in? That was just silly. It wasn't like Haddie had issues with being inside too long or anything. She quickly made her way to the fountain, robes blowing gently behind her in the breeze, and sat down. Today, however, the journal she pulled from her bag was not the beat up blue journal, with scuffed up silver lettering that said Hadley Denaker's Book of Ideas and in smaller letters underneath, Not For You. Nope. That book was out of room for her to write in. Today when she reached in to her bag, she pulled out a new pristine purple and white journal with a silver H on it. Her brand new journal that Penelope Wright, Head Girl got her for her birthday.

This was a big moment. The christening of a new journal of ideas. Monumentous! She cracked the book open, listening to the creaking of the pristine spine, smelled the fresh pages, and set it gingerly on her lap. Quill dipped in her well of purple ink, she was ready and let the ideas flow out of her, through the quill and onto the page.

...

Huh.

She got nuttin'!