Lily didn't know where she was going, she was still a bit lost at knowing where everything was seeing how Hogwarts was WAY bigger then Ilvermorny by far. Although it was different, she came to like the castle and all it had to offer so far. Although she had to admit the sorting was a bit odd... but nonetheless she was happy she was sorted into Ravenclaw. Her feet wondering aimlessly around, she looked and seen she was in a garden and smiled. This would make some good inspiration for her drawings and jewelry as well as lovely crocheting patterns!

Taking a seat in the grassy shaded areas she took her sketch book out of her bag and started sketching the scenery before her taking out her color pencils, she colored and shaded the areas in as much perfection as she could. Looking up every so often so she had the right shade and angle. Lost in her own little world, she kept on sketching away to her hearts content.

The grounds of Hogwarts were never-ending! Addyson thought she had already seen all the grounds after visiting the Great Lake, the Domes, the Duck Pond, the Pathways... It seemed like everywhere she looked, she found herself in another part of the castle grounds. This meant there was so much more ground to cover and record in her mind so she had a firm layout of everything here.

Her eyes scanned this area, noting all the ickle gardens spread across it and then spotted an older girl who had been in the queue to get sorted. And if she wasn't mistaken, she was in her house too. Addyson, however, wasn't entirely sure of her name but remembered it was something... her eyes darted around, scanning the plants... herb or floral like? And said older girl was sketching? Now Addyson had to see.

She walked over to the girl slowly and quietly, wondering what she was drawing. She paused a good decent pace away as personal space was something she valued. "What are you drawing?"

Lost in her own little world, Lily let out a small squeak and jumped. "Oh Merlin, you scared me!" Before regaining her beating heart that was beating rapidly she smiled. "Oh just the scenery in front of me, I got inspired by all the pretty flowers and stuff I had to sketch it! You wanna see? Probably not that good." Lily was a bit shy showing off her drawings cause she always thought they weren't that good. "Oh so rude of me, I'm Lily I transferred from Ilvermorny."

Biting her lip she looked around. "I'm still getting lost in this huge castle, so I guess it's something we have in common." Sure she missed home, but she wasn't going to miss the chance of new adventures at a new place. She couldn't wait to explore more, she was sure there were many secrets awaiting to be found.

The greatest thing about being a sixth year was that the exhausting OWL exams were already behind him. And even though Kartik was a NEWT student now, he felt a little more calm by one set of exams in the rearview mirror. The other great thing was the beginning of the school year always seemed the perfect weather to explore the grounds. As he made his way across the pathway, breathing in the crisp Autumn air, he wondered if the garden had always been there? Or had he been holed up in books last year that he just completely forgot of this serene space?

That was when he saw a girl sketching and then another girl - one of the new first year Ravenclaws if he wasn't mistaken - approaching her. The older one who was drawing seemed mostly unbothered, even if startled at first. He chuckled though when she commented about being lost in a huge castle. "Here's a clue for explaining the castle, we're not actually in the castle for right now. Just in case you needed to know." He wasn't trying to be sarcastic either, but maybe a hint of humor was present in his tone.

Addyson hadn't expected to scare the older girl so when she squeaked and jumped. So the younger girl furrowed her brow and parted her mouth slightly, trying to gauge why the older girl... Oh. And there was the possible answer to her query. "You must have been deep into your sketch," she said before pausing and realising that perhaps it was socially appropriate to add a quiet, "Sorry." She noticed the older girl's smile and nodded, before listening to her discuss her sketch. Flowers and stuff. She nodded again. "It is pretty. I didn't even know something like this existed... You want to show me?" she asked before noticing that the other girl quickly added probably not good. She furrowed a brow again, contemplating what to say next. Something kind... but what came out next was her curiosity. "What do you mean 'probably not good'? I'm sure it is a good interpretation of this.. It must be hard to just choose one subject to draw. There's SO many different things here...pretty flowers to nice smelling plants to the the waterlilies. I wouldn't know what to sketch first either. "

OH, yes. Introductions. She was grateful hat the other girl started them. So she was a transfer from Illvermorny. Addyson also took the opportunity to take a seat near the older girl. "Lily... Nice to meet you." she offered a small smile. Once again, she was very grateful she hadn't called her Rose or Rosemary first- she hadn't remembered whether the older girl's name was a herb or flower. "I'm Addyson Dane but my friends call me Addy," she nodded, lying about the nickname. Her siblings called her Addy- she hadn't made any friends yet but if she did... She'd want them to call her Addy.

She followed the older girl's gaze, listening and remaining silent for a moment. Was Addyson getting lost? Well not entirely - just the grounds. Addyson reached into her bag, opened up a notebook, and flipped through a couple pages for the other girl to see. She had started to make her own map of the castle page by page. But then someone else intruded so she closed her notebook and turned to the interloper. His comment earned a rare chuckle from her. "Then where are we? Mars? .... I'm Addyson but - like i said- friends call me Addy." She turned back to Lily briefly. "Once its done, I could lend you a copy? I'm making myself a map. I've mentally got the first floors and top floors in my head figured out." She paused. "But I can relate... The middle floors are the most hazy and the grounds.. they keep growing and growing - it's like the castle is making something new each minute."

"So...now like me, you are a Ravenclaw." That was another thing in common. "You mentioned you were at Illvermorny before? Why transfer here?"

And then she turned to the older boy. "So you're a Hogwarts expert, yeah?"

Lily let out a small blush in embarrassment before she laugh sheepishly. "Yeah... I have a tendency to get lost in my drawings, I like to make them look as real as the scenery before me that probably sounds weird." Biting her lip she shook her head. "No need to apologize, it's quite alright I could use some company." Smiling she nodded. "Look right by the bench area, that's where I got a lot of my inspiration from it just looked so beautiful makes me want to use the colors to make some jewelry as well!" She nodded in agreement there was so much to draw, which is why she wanted to draw as much as she could. "I know, impossible to draw everything in one go as well it'll take hours unfortunately we don't have."

"Nice to meet you as well, and Addy that's a cool nickname everyone call me me Lils for short but my brother and dad." She explained smiling at her brother's and dad's nicknames for her. She didn't have many friends, she had Soren but met him over summer break but that was it so far.

Lily smiled brightly. "That'll be wonderful maybe I can edit it a bit and sketch out the areas if you like make it look more like the school areas itself?" She asked maybe hoping it make it look more realistic. Lily laughed and nodded. "Or the staircases change into something completely different!"

Lily nodded. "Yeah... I think I remember seeing you at the sorting, let me say a weird way of sorting then at Illvermorny. Lily nodded and frowned for she missed her old school a lot, but she was sure she'll come to love it here. "My papa gotten a better job here at the ministry, so we moved here." She explained softly and sighing a bit.

Seeing a older boy about her age maybe a bit older join them she chuckled at his comment. "Well duh! You silly goose, I was talking about being here in general if that makes sense, its huge compared to Ilvermorny " Biting her lip at horrible habit she gotten when she was deep in thoughts or nervous about something.

So the younger one was named Addyson - or Addy - and seemed to be wise in creating a map of her own. It really wasn't a surprise that she was in Ravenclaw if she thought to do that on her own, without any prompting. He chuckled though when she snapped her notebook shut upon realizing the presence of someone else. "Not quite Mars - but some might think so with how foreign everything is." Was it wrong to talk about foreign when they actually had a foreigner from a legit whole other country? Perhaps.

"Ilvermorny, huh?" He turned to the girl closer to his age now. "That's like in Canada or something, right?" He had read about the other Wizarding schools but sadly mixed up many of their locations and Ilvermorny sounded somewhat French.

And back to the younger girl, Addy, "Wouldn't say Hogwarts expert, but I have been here for five years so I would be happy to show you around. Both of you, that is" Even though Lily seemed to match his unintentional sarcasm. "So Ilvermorny is a much smaller castle then? Hopefully the transition isn't too much a shocker for you. I'm Kartik, by the way. Kartik Joshi."

She understood the tendency to get lost in things. “It doesn’t sound odd or weird to me at all. I completely get that. I was imagining planets spinning like dancers in astronomy the other day,” she explained with a chuckle. “That is MORE odd than what you are describing.” After all, Addyson often got lost in her drawing or thinking.

She followed Lily’s directions to look near the bench and nodded when she saw her vision. “I wouldn’t have seen that before… thanks,” she admitted before proceeding to listen again. It would be impossible to draw everything in.. so it was a quick sketch then? Lils… Lils was a cool nickname too. “Nice to meet you, Lils,” she added. Now her nickname had a little spunk to it - creative spunk that suited the older girl.

Addyson would have been hesitant to just give this map to anyone but Lils… Lils was a comrade being equally as new and also in her house. So Addyson acquiesced. “I’d like your help. Thanks!” she smiled before chuckling at the stair comment. The stairs were the worst!

Oh so her dad got a better job! That’s good… “Thats good.. What’s the sorting like at Illvermorny?” She was all ears.

“Riiiight…” she muttered. Speaking of the new guy who came over, she glanced at him skeptically, brows furrowed, lips slightly parted, and eyes analyzing him. “Illvermorny is in Massachusetts,” she corrected, noticing the non-chalant nature of the older boy. And then she paused, evaluating the interaction between both the older students. Then he offered to show them both around. “I’m sure Lily would take you up on that if you are even a semi-expert. The stairs are challenging..”

No way that Addyson would spend time as the third wheel here

Lily looked at the guy and smiled. "So you're a sixth year huh? What was it like to take E.A.G.L.E.s? Oh I guess they're called O.W.Ls here right?" She still wasn't used to calling no-majs muggles, it was weird but there was a lot of words she thought was weird and silly. Like they call a sweater a cardigan why was it called that? She thought it was a funny word and made her giggle. Although she probably knew her accent was a bit odd and funny as well, but she didn't care what others thought of her.

Lily smiled. "That'll be great thanks, I got so lost trying to find my way to the Ravenclaw tower after the feast, luckily I saw a few Ravenclaws and followed them." Lily giggled and shook her head. "No it's in America and Addy is right, it's in Massachusetts a state in America." Still giggling she looked at Kart. "Nice to meet you, can I call your Kart or Karti for short?" She asked knowing she had a tendency to slaughter names. "Yeah it's a bit smaller, and the castle didn't shock me as much as the weather, where I'm from it's always cold."


Looking back at Addy she chuckled. "I guess you're right about that, but hey I don't think that's weird it's Hogwarts a place of Magic and wonder." She didn't think anything was weird or odd when it came to Hogwarts, although she heard the stories of weird things happening here, hopefully she wouldn't encounter anything like them.

Lily shrugged. "I tend to notice things that some people don't I guess, guess the day dreamer part of me." Lily smiled. "Same here, and you seem way more mature for a first year which is good." Lily didn't think she was spunky though but if she knew she'll be thrilled by the compliment. She was very shy and was quite surprised to be talking to them seeing how she kept to herself a lot, maybe she was getting better.

At Addy's question she smiled softly remembering her sorting at Illvermorny. "Well it's watched by the whole school from above, but we stand in a middle of a golden gordian knot and four wooden statues that surround you, if Wampus wants you the craving would roar, if Horned Serpent the crystal on it's forehead would glow, Thunderbird beat it's wings and Pukwudgie lifted its arrow I was a Horned Serpent. Also we were given our wands there so it was very different for me." Although she had a feeling that Horned Serpent and Ravenclaw were the same although she wasn't sure.

Kartik supposed that's why they were all sorted into Ravenclaw. The ability to get lost in one's imagination and spin it around into something completely different. He looked over to Lily for confirmation when Addy said something about Ilvermorny being in Massachusetts. Well excuse him for not knowing locations of schools located on a different continent? "Right, Massachusetts." A state in America. He frowned confused for a minute. "Isn't ... Canada in America?" North America that is. People really needed to be more descriptive when talking about the Americas.

He listened as Lily talked about the sorting at Ilvermorny. "So is your wand not compatible over here then? You had to go through the process of getting a new wand?" He was just curious how that worked in a different country and all. Did magic work the same way? Why would Lily take him on touring the castle but not her? Was he missing something? Krittika was right that sometimes he could be daft.

"I mean I can show you around too, the offer isn't exclusive for transfer students."

"Yes sixth year. OWLs are every bit of exhausting as you'd imagine examinations to be but my best advice would be to find a study buddy. Having that extra motivation of someone who's going through exactly what you're going through, to push each other to excel. Well, it helps." Even for the least competitive souls, there's something about that peer competition that brings out the adrenaline. "Karti will work if you insist," nicknames were always a weird thing for him. His name never seemed long enough to warrant a nickname. "Just wait until winter hits, it gets pretty cold here in Scotland. You'll be wishing for the sunny days soon enough."

One of Soren's favorite places to relax was The Discovery Garden. There were so many places that one could simply sit and do nothing if they choose to. Not that he normally did so. This was where he liked to observed everything around him and silently reflect about everything else. Not to mention there was SOOOOO much to sketch/draw/paint!

His favorite place though, now that had to be the kitchen. Not only was there always an house elf around to tend to supplying him with food... But the fifth year could cook and bake to his hearts content too. As long as he cleaned up after himself that is (he always did!). The kitchen has been exactly where he had come from. Several containers of freshly baked goods tucked away in his bag along with some of his other things.

Intent on finding a nice quiet spot to settle down, eat some sweets and maybe sketch something, Soren found himself walking about for a bit. It was during his exploration that he heard an all to familiar face before he spotted whom it belonged to. "Lil!" Sor called out to her, a grin spread across his face. Cue a wave at her and the others she was with.

Karti was very much excused.

Mhmm, most excused and most welcome.

The poor older year was soon to discover that Addyson liked - no- lived to be right. Besides, the facts had to be accurate otherwise they weren’t facts at all! “Wasn’t it one of the very first states?” she asked Lily quizzically. She thought that she had read that somewhere. Then again, maybe she was confusing that in some of the historical fiction she had read/listened/marvelled at - she was secretly a big musical theatre fan but had not dared to share that fact even with her siblings. She remained quiet, listening to the older students discussing, making note of a certain giggle curiously. “It is,” she nodded to Karti’s question about Canada being in America - specifically it was... “North." She really couldn't help herself.


Listening to the differences in Lily's sorting at Illvermorny to the experience they just went through, Addy was a sponge, absorbing all the information she possibly could. It sounded similar to almost choosing your wand at Ollivanders save for the part where the feeling was replaced by sounds. The statues were neat though - cooler than a dusty hat that had probably sat on her father’s head at one point chatting and selecting your house. Addy’s own sorting had been extremely efficient - just the way she liked it. Within milliseconds of the hat touching the top of her head, it proclaimed that she belonged in Ravenclaw. She re-focused in not he conversation as she heard Karti asking about a difference in wands. Oh! That was a very good question. “Yes, is it different? I never would have thought to ask that." She had a new appreciation for the older boy who had joined them. He had good questions. She liked that. "Also - what house were you in?”

Then the older years began to speak about exams named after birds. EAGLES and OWLS… This was not the time for her to worry about it. She’d start worrying about that all in her third year or so. When he mentioned his nickname, she was about to ask another question when another older year appeared waving at Lily with a grin. Wow. He, obviously, knew Lily but now - Addyson was curious to know how they met. She waved back shyly to Soren.

With Soren in the distance, she realised that she had been officially outnumbered as a first year. Did that mean she would be subjected to more dreaded exam talk? She supposed that wasn't the worst topic for conversation but she far more enjoyed hearing about Illvermorny...

Lily was more and happy to tell them about how different Ilvermorny was from Hogwarts, it was quite a bit different for sure. Looking at Kart, she giggled once again. "No but it's above it and it's own country." Chuckling she shook her head. "Nah... my wand still works and most of the spells are still the same as well, so not much different really." At least she didn't see much, but then again she hasn't been here that long to find out.

"Thanks that'll be wonderful Karti, I'm still getting the areas messed up and the stairs changing doesn't help matters." How could anyone memorize the school when it's constantly changing? "See? it's called O.W.Ls here but E.A.G.L.E.s back in America, meaning Excruciatingly Aggravating Graduate Level Exams and we have the same as what they call N.E.W.Ts but we call them H.A.R.E.s which are Horrifically Advanced Required Examinations. Almost as different as calling no majs muggles here." This was what she thought was funny and weird at the same time.

She laughed at Karti's remark. "I'm from Lake Tahoe it doesn't get above 32 degrees Celsius which is about 85 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit so it hardly ever gets above that and snowing like mad there probably now so probably be used to it gets pretty cold there. " So she'll probably be used to it and loved it seeing how she was basically a snowing bunny.

Nodding her at Addy's question she smiled. "Indeed it is, you are right one of the thirteen original colonies there in American history, crazy went from that to fifty " Seeing her friend Soren she smiled. Soren! Hiya join the fun!" Smiling happily at her friend she met over the sunmer.