Bellamy decided to take advantage of the relative desolation of the study area and laid his claim of an entire table. There were books, old newspapers and magazines as well as hand-written notes in varying styles of font effectively blotting out the wooden surface beneath.

"'The Age of the Snake: A Compendium of Slytherin Thought'. What's the year here..." He rifled through the front covers eagerly. "Original publication date... 1826. Well, I suppose that's slightly more recent." The text before that detailed the life of Salazar himself, dated 1507. Before that, 'A Slithey Note of Slytherinne' dated 1390, which was apparently a guide on proper etiquette for the house's female members. It seemed that whatever passed as Slytherin identity could only be found in the lore of its long-dead graduates. Certainly there was pride amongst the students now, but did they even know what they were so proud of?

There was even a style code at one point that went a few steps further than the uniform. Huh. Not even Ravenclaw had this much definitive culture backing it. Regardless of history, Ravenclaw would always have Slytherin beat in terms of ghosts. He had fallen half-mad with love for the Grey Lady when he first spotted her. The Bloody Baron was just a mess to look at, though he supposed he beat out the Hufflepuff's friar.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack O' the Clock

Bellamy decided to take advantage of the relative desolation of the study area and laid his claim of an entire table. There were books, old newspapers and magazines as well as hand-written notes in varying styles of font effectively blotting out the wooden surface beneath.

"'The Age of the Snake: A Compendium of Slytherin Thought'. What's the year here..." He rifled through the front covers eagerly. "Original publication date... 1826. Well, I suppose that's slightly more recent." The text before that detailed the life of Salazar himself, dated 1507. Before that, 'A Slithey Note of Slytherinne' dated 1390, which was apparently a guide on proper etiquette for the house's female members. It seemed that whatever passed as Slytherin identity could only be found in the lore of its long-dead graduates. Certainly there was pride amongst the students now, but did they even know what they were so proud of?

There was even a style code at one point that went a few steps further than the uniform. Huh. Not even Ravenclaw had this much definitive culture backing it. Regardless of history, Ravenclaw would always have Slytherin beat in terms of ghosts. He had fallen half-mad with love for the Grey Lady when he first spotted her. The Bloody Baron was just a mess to look at, though he supposed he beat out the Hufflepuff's friar.

She walked over to the study tables and noticed the guy she lent a pen to and stood near,"I was wondering, if it's not to much trouble, could you help me later on as the school year progresses in a few classes?" She asked, she wasn't sure how he would responsed, but she was determinted to get through this year in the best she could.

"A silly thing to ask." He stated dryly, eyes still holding fast to the literature before him. "For all you know I'm a complete moron."

Only when he finished reading the last few sentences of the page did he look up. Ah, the pen-girl. He had half a mind to ignore her, but networking was important for Slytherins. Bloody Ravenclaws could be as reclusive as they pleased, but no, the snakes had to go and mingle. It wasn't about making friends, but amassing contacts and gaining influence.

Keeping that in mind, he gave a broad smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "On the other hand, I'm sure we can help each other out, hm?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack O' the Clock

"A silly thing to ask." He stated dryly, eyes still holding fast to the literature before him. "For all you know I'm a complete moron."

Only when he finished reading the last few sentences of the page did he look up. Ah, the pen-girl. He had half a mind to ignore her, but networking was important for Slytherins. Bloody Ravenclaws could be as reclusive as they pleased, but no, the snakes had to go and mingle. It wasn't about making friends, but amassing contacts and gaining influence.

Keeping that in mind, he gave a broad smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "On the other hand, I'm sure we can help each other out, hm?"

"You seem to like the old Slytherin ways it seems." She said while glancing at what he was reading, She thought the old ways were a thing of the past since she had not seen anything of the people from her house hadn't done anything like they use to.
"One day you may see, the old snake ways have been...sheded and changed." She smiled out of politeness,"Caio." She walked away from the study tables.

He waved a mock goodbye with a cheap grin unabashedly plastered on his face. Once the other girl's back was turned, his features immediately resumed their languid expression. He turned back to his books with an exaggerated sigh, but although the girl should have been of little consequence, he had to admit the that 'shedding the old ways' was a fairly clever metaphor that deserved some inspection.

Fine. He'd leave the books for now and go out into the field, where the living specimens could be studied in their natural habitat. He'd find the perfect Slytherins, then he'd gather them together, then they'd create a perfect social hierarchy that would remain in practise long after their graduation. Somewhere down the line he supposed he'd be persecuted for withholding his muggleborn status, but again, it was better not to dwell on those issues that hadn't even happened yet.

Theodore stormed into the Slytherin Study area with his Herbology textbook under his arm. He was having extreme trouble finding a nice place to focus on this homework. And the emptiness of this room seemed to work perfectly.

The boy slammed the book onto the table and blinked at the questions asked in the task.

It was just... IMPOSSIBLE.

Theo had attended the lesson. So, why was this all foreign to him?

This time, he slammed his own head repeatedly on the table. He couldn't miss this homework. He needed house points. HE NEEDED HELP.

Anyone?

Aurora wandered into the study area clutching the advanced potions book her mother had bought her in the summer... she was determined to find a way to counter the thing her mother had made, even if Kennedy didn't want it...

She was about to sit herself at a table when she saw some kid banging his head on the table... ouch. She pointed her wand at the desk and cast a cushioning charm so he wouldn't hurt himself, then she moved over to his table and sat opposite him.

"Having homework trouble?" she asked, taking her own quill from her bag. She'd help if she could - she was in a very good mood right now.

Umm. Yes, banging his head on the table was beginning to hurt, funnily enough. He was about to stop until he felt that the table had suddenly turned softer. OH MY GOD.

Had he hit his head so hard that he was now delusional?

Sitting back in his seat, his eyes widened at a cushion. That wasn't there a minute ago. Hallucinations.

But it was backed up with a girl sitting opposite him. She must have been responsible, so he relaxed a bit. His head was still sore, though. And a small red mark had surfaced. "Don't suppose you know how to conjure an ice pack?" Would stop huge bumps, ya know...

"Yea. Herbology. It's like, IMPOSSIBLE." Like... JUST. BAAAAAAAAAAAH.

He was ready to throw the book off of the Astronomy Tower.

Aurora giggled slightly as the kid's eyes widening. Maybe she should have announced her presence first...

An ice pack..? Aurora shook her head... "No... sorry." she said. Ooouch, there was a red mark coming up on his head. "I would advise not banging your head against the table though, it's bad for you." Hmm, how could she help him? She had no idea... "Want some chocolate?" She took a chocolate frog from her pocket and passed it to him - chocolate solved everything.

Herbology..? IMPOSSIBLE? WHAT? "Really? I can help you with that if you want..." Because Herbology was something she was pretty good at. And hadn't done the homework yet either... "I promise it's not impossible..."

GAH. THAT WAS USELESS.

"Water? Bag of peas? Anything?" Maybe if he tried 'ACCIO BAG OF PEAS', that would work? Theodore contemplated this, but he hadn't mastered the summoning charm yet, so he would leave it for now. But when he DID learn it, bags of peas from everywhere would be flying to him and his needs.

OH YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.
...
Wait, chocolate worked, too. "YES. Yes, please!" Theo took the chocolate frog and unwrapped it in lightening speed. NOM.

"It is." He muttered in response. The lesson felt easy, but the homework was just like... blah. "What can you tell me about plant dental care, then?" Stupid subject. Stupid.

Aurora shrugged, "I can do water but I don't have anything to put it in." To be honest, her conjuring and charms weren't exactly perfect - she was quietly proud of how well the cushioning one had worked, actually... She should probably learn a few healing spells and stuff... she always seemed to need them.

But the chocolate seemed to work so that was good. Aurora ate a frog herself and held up the card, "Do you want this?" she asked. It was Paracelsus... she wasn't sure if it was rare or anything - she didn't collect them...

Plant dental care? Had he not been at the lesson..? "Well..." Where to start... She had been planning on doing the homework today actually so she had her notes with her... somewhere... in a pocket. She searched her robes until she found the folded up bit of parchment and put it down on the table. "If there's a plant with teeth - like a fanged geranium or something - you have to brush their teeth because otherwise they rot and fall out." she started. "And sometimes the rot from the tooth can spread through the whole plant and kill it." Which was basically the main reason for dental care, right? "What bits don't you understand?" she asked, spreading the parchment flat.

"Just shoot it at my face." Theodore leaned forwards and closed his eyes, unsure as to whether it would be a JET of water, or just a trickle. Hmmmm...... was this sensible?

She was giving him CARDS, too? This girl was very cool. "Oh, I've already got him. But I'll take it if you don't want it." He offered. Yeah, he could sell it to other first years. First years who didn't have a clue about which cards were rare and which were boring. MUAHAHAHA.

"But.... the question...." He looked hard at the page, then back to the girl, "...it says name FIVE ways to keep dental health. All I know is... a toothbrush and floss." Yea, that was all they had learned in the lesson, right? And there was NOTHING in his textbook about it.

So he was STUCK.

"I don't understand anything."

Accurate.

Aurora blinked... what? But that would get the table wet to... Hmmm. "No, hang on." She took a clean handkerchief from her sleeve - she didn't know why she carried them around when it wasn't hayfever season but she did... which was useful. She pointed her wand at it, "Aguamenti." She let the thin stream of water wet the 'kerchief and handed it to him. "There you go." That would be good enough, right?

"Go ahead, I don't collect them." she said, hanging it to him. She didn't care what he did with it... but she had an inkling that he had some idea to gain from it by the look on his face. Good Slytherin.

She nodded, "It means five ways the plant keeps it's teeth clean. Professor Bentley asked at the beginning of the lesson." Aurora pointed to the section in her notes. "So it's the stuff they chew on or... whatever." He was free to use her notes if he wanted - she had just copied down everything that her classmates had said.

He didn't understand anything..? "You will do eventually... it's a bit like being thrown in at the deep end, huh?" To be honest, flesh eating plants were a bit crazy for a first Herbology lesson...

Okaaaaayyyyy. She wasn't up for shooting it directly at his face. He was kinda greatful for that, actually. Oh, a hankerchief! That worked! "Thank you." And what was that SPELL? Theodore got out his own wand and attempted it. "Aquamentique." He blinked.. and... and... NOTHING.

Slamming his wand on the table, Theo pouted. He was lousy at magic. Just lousy.

"THANK YOOOOOOOOOOOOU." He bellowed at her, then giggled like a fan girl at the card being in his hands. He got like that with cards. It was unknown why. They were rubbish if you really thought about it.

"She did?" Oh, yeah. He wrote down his OWN idea, but completely ignored all of the other contributions. Dang, maybe that was something he'd take into consideration next time. "I gotchaaaaaaaa." Theo tried his hardest to think back to the lesson. To what everyone else said.

"So, I got: Toothbrushes, Floss," REMEMBEEEEEEERRRRRRRrr, "BARK AND BRANCHES??????" Didn't the Professor mention that plants used those?

That was where his mind went blank, though.

"You're welcome." Aurora watched as Theodore tried the water charm, "Aguamenti not ique." she explained. But he didn't seem to interested in learning that... he had thrown his wand down. She flinched slightly as he slammed it on the table - she'd been brought up to revere her wand... but she knew some people were less careful.

She laughed at his reaction to the card, "I have a buch of them in my trunk if you want them?" she said. She didn't collect them but she wouldn't throw them away if there was no-one to give them to. And that reaction was worth it.

Aurora nodded, "She might have said it herself actually. But I've got it written down so it was said at some point." She put a little star next to it in her notes. Bark, branches, sinew from their prey... she guessed they had I make some up.

"I don't think the toothbrush and floss count... The question is about wild plants." she said, pointing to it. "Bark and branches should be good though. Vines maybe? For flossing?" Because she actually didn't know... There was the sinew bit, but that was gross.

Agua-menti. Ohhh, it was a G not a Q. See, he was thinking of the word 'aqua'. Theodore was very smart, you know. The boy picked up his wand and tried again. "Agua-menti." The pause in the middle caused only a mere dribble to come out of the end. "Oh." Theo frowned, but eh, it was progress.

:O
"YOU DOOOOOO?" How was it even comprehensible to NOT collect cards? It was so much fun. "I'll have 'em, yeah!" He'd take them all. Before West got his hands on them. Theo would WIN with these cards.



Yaaay.. This is what he liked to see. Nice Slytherins, doing nice things. Theo peeked over at her notes. Bark and branches were there. WOOP. He'd got those two, at least. "Thanks." And he started to scribble them down.

"Whaaaaaaat?" It made sense, cos wild plants don't have much access to dental accessories, but that made his list much shorter. "Oh, vines would work." He scribbled that one down, too. One more to go.

Theodore scratched his head with his Quill.

"Brilliant!" Aurora encouraged. She was actually impressed - it hadn't even worked a little bit for her when she'd first tried. "I bet it would work properly if you said it without the pause." Try it... Sure, they had no container to shoot the water into but Aurora was alright at the hot air charm so that was okay, right..?

Aurora nodded, "Wonderful. That means I'll have more room to take Honeydukes sweets home at Christmas." she said with a grin. Yep, no silly cards taking up necessary room in her trunk. She wondered if he had heard tales of the wonders in Honeydukes... it was Aurora's favourite place in Hogsmeade. No contest.

"You're welcome. It's good to see Slytherins doing homework and earning points." she said with a grin, she'd probably have helped him anyway though. She just liked that people were earning them points.

Hmm, Aurora was a little stuck too, apart from the prey sinew she couldn't really remember... and she wasn't going to tell him - he had to work it out. "Well, Professor Bentley likes people to be a bit original so if you guessed and gave a good reason you'd probably still get points for it."

"But..." He looked away, as if he was looking into the future or someting. If Theo successfully performed the spell, it would 100% knock Aurora off her chair. Because where else would he aim it?! If it went on the floor... he'd lose points or something. "I need something to aim at."

"Yaaaaaay!" More cards, yay! Hopefully she had a few rare ones in her stash. He wouldn't inform her on any rare ones. Nope... he was sneaky like that.

Theodore beamed, "Points are cool! I can see why you all get in a tizzy over it, all the time." Cos they really did! It shocked Theo in the start of term feast, but now he totally understood. "I don't suppose going into the forbidden forest would make me lose points??"

Cos he SOOOOO wanted to.

"Oh, okay..." So, they could say any answer and they'd likely get the points? EXCELLENT. It looked as if she wasn't going to help, though. UGH, annoying. "Maybe they... steal people's shoe laces for flossing..." Was that a bit of an adventurous guess?

Something to aim at..? Hmm. Aurora took a sheet of plain parchment from the bundle she had brought with her and drew a target on it. "How about this?" she said, holding it up to the side of her - perfectly aware that she would get wet if he missed... but she was prepared for that. She was interested to see if Theodore was actually able to do this... And she felt bad about the whole chocolate-frog-to-the-face incident. Hehe.

Merlin, he was enthusiastic. Getting rid of those cards apparently had two advantages - space in her trunk and the entertainment of insane Theo. Heh.

"I'm glad you think so!" she said with a chuckle. Because if he thought they were cool then chances are he would earn more of them, right? Forbidden Forest..? "It would absolutely lose you points." she said. [b]"So make sure you don't get caught."[b] Hehehe. She wasn't going to say anything against breaking rules - that would be hypocritical.

Shoelaces? Aurora nodded with an amused smile, "I suppose some might but I think Professor Bentley means the sort of things they can get from nature." Because they couldn't just find shoelaces anywhere. "Try mentioning their food - because sometimes chewing stuff can help dislodge other bits of food." she said... because he seemed to be struggling.

For the first time, Mordred felt nerdy as he made his way to the study tables carrying with him his CoMC notes, and books that he borrowed from the school library. Their lesson about dragons really got him interested and can’t believe himself that he was looking forward to doing his homework. He spotted Aurora helping out Theo and gave them a small wave. Much as he wanted to join them, he thought it would be best if he’d let them discuss whatever they were discussing without him jumping in. By the looks of it, the first year was having a hard time, and the slamming of the wand wasn't a good sign.

He placed two giant books about dragons on the table and made himself comfortable in his seat. He took out his parchment and quill, wrote down his name and started to read the questions.

Question number one...

So studying at the Library hadn't exactly gone well... but she had got out the books she thought would be useful... Though she wasn't allowed in the restricted section because no teacher had asked her to get this. Pffft.

Aurora plonked her pile of books on a table and sat down, dragging the first one off the pile and flicking through it. Deadly Nightshade... where would you beee.... Nope. Maybe it'd be under Belladonna. Hmm... here it was...

She tried to read the passage under this entry but it didn't really give her much knowledge in the area of what it could do to a person... pfft. And the words were all jumbly and swimming about on the page and all the letters were in the wrong order and... gah. She couldn't concentrate... Her brain kept thinking of other things..

Like the reason she was looking for Belladonna... the phial in a mokeskin bag in the top drawer of her bedside table. And the little box that was in her pocket. The little box wrapped in green and silver wrapping paper. Because it was Kennedy's birthday... and however much she tried to tell herself that getting him something was a bad idea she just couldn't restrain herself from doing so... He was of age now... and her mother had made a batch of this anyway... so two little phials wasn't going to make much difference and it wasn't as though she'd spent loads of money on him or anything... She'd given the first to Mordred for Christmas but... this one... seemed right for Kennedy. Somehow.

She shook herself and went back to her book... nope. This one was no good. She pushed it out of the way and grabbed another from her pile. Belladonna... hmm...

Kennedy made his way to the study tables with a small bounce to his step. Even though Slytherin had lost the Quidditch match there were many things he was glad for. First, that no more students were frozen. Okay. Who was he going to kid, he had only cared about Sierra's well being. Sure, he worried about the others, but he didn't have a crush on them, now did he.

Second, it was his birthday. He was now officially seventeen. He has already received a handful of gifts from his family, and that clearly cheered him up as well.

Kennedy stopped by the front tables. There was no way he was going to be studying on his birthday, so that wasn't the reason he was here. Aurora had told him she had something for him and it'd be rude to decline it. That and he wanted to try to fix things...even if he wasn't the cause of it. That was the advice he had been consulted so, why not try it, right?

He spotted her and approached her. He noticed the book and tilted his head. What was she looking up? It didn't matter, probrably studying for O.W.Ls. "Hi," he said, stuffing his hands into his pant pockets.

She didn't want to KNOW about it's usage in potions... she KNEW what it was for... She wanted to know what it could do to people... And none of these books were helping... For Merlin's sake! Why couldn't she just find SOMETHING? Just one little thing to... reassure her. It was infuriating... and she had such a frown on her face...

Aurora glanced up at the sound of his voice. Yeah, she recognised it. Duh. Couldn't confuse it for anyone else... She dropped her frown and smiled at him - it was his birthday after all... and he had made the effort to come and see her because she had something for him... "Hey..." she said. If it was anyone else she would have probably hugged him - it was his birthday after all... - but she didn't get the feeling that was on the cards at the moment... heh.

She stood up and emptied her pockets, looking for the box. Chocolate frog, empty chocolate frog, screwed up parchment... a button... aha! She pulled out the small green gift box and held it out to him. "Happy Birthday." Well it was his seventeenth so she wasn't going to not get him a present... When he opened it he'd find a little phial filled with a gold liquid. Mhmm... Felix. It wasn't labeled, but she was pretty sure he would know what it was... and if he didn't he could always ask. Maybe this would make him trust her just a tiny bit... because he needed to trust her before she could give him the thing waiting in the dorm... Mhmm.

He gave her something between a nod and a tight grin. It was the best he could do so far, at least, he wasn't frowning. His lips did stretch a tiny bit more when he saw the contents of her pocket. Was his gift that small? He took a step toward her to get a better view when she took out a small green box. Kennedy's curiosity spiked as he took it.

What could she possibly give him that required such a small sized box? He took it and stared at it before opening it.

O____O

A phial...?

The gold liquid was a quick give away. He's seen a replica of this in his godfather's study, but unfortunately, he wasn't allowed to touch it. He looked at Aurora. "Felix Felicis." Of course she knew what it was, but how did she get it? Did her mother brew it? Well, that didn't really matter. What mattered was he was in possession of liquid luck. Do you know what THAtT means?

"Thanks...really," he said. Kennedy was sort of speechless. He's been a jerk to Aurora and she gives him THIS. Guilt flooded his happiness out. He placed the phial back into te box and slid it across the table to her. "I don't deserve this." Though it greatly pained him to say that because he REALLY wanted it.