Ryan was shocked. He just about fell over (with x's in his eyes, much like an anime). How did he know? He wasn't even wearing his badge! He hadn't told anyone! This kid must have excellent deduction skills, because not even anyone on th team from last term knew.

"Uhh....yeah, I am, but I would appreciate it if you kept it quiet. I'm trying to surprise everyone at the tryouts....if they even have quidditch this term that is." Unfortunately, quidditch was all that was on Ryan's mind. Well, that, and trying to figure out what was going on....but it still related to quidditch.

"Hi, James," Ryan added, sticking out a hand for a handshake. "I'm Ryan. Fifth year, and, well, since you know, quidditch captain."

He caught the boy's side glance at the hourglass and saw a few sapphires flash red. Damn.

"Oh! Sorry man, my bad. You won't hear a peep about it from me." he said. He shook Ryan's hand, "Nice meeting you." He sat down and almost slid off the chair, cursing the plastic. He tried to recover but ended up busting out, laughing.

"Haha, wow...I think that's the first time I've laughed since I've gotten here. Things are just so strange now. I mean can you believe this?" he asked pointing to Cooper's picture on the mantle. "And have you seen the Great Hall? Totally unfair!"

Nigel walked up to two older boys who were talking to each other, and he deducted that the younger of the 2 was the quidditch captain. Being as he was, he nosed his way in and stated, "So you're the quidditch captain! Wow, I've been dreaming about quidditch ever since me dad told me about it. After all that's been going on in the school here I almost forgot about it. My dad was the captain a long time ago. Say how is qudditch gunna work now that there aren't any girls?" He looked up at him wondering if he had been a little too upfront.

Ryan chuckled. "No worries, no worries. I'm just trying to go with the flow this term, seeing as that seems like it's the only way we're going to get by." He shifted his mouth all the way to one side () to show his....lack of ability to feel anything right now.

Ryan couldn't help but laugh, though, when James slid off the chair. He suddenly had an idea. Perhaps when the boys became more adventurous, they might take all the plastic covering and turn it into a giant slip 'n slide. Professor Masterson seemed like a fun-loving guy.

"Same here," he sighed. "You know, to be perfectly honest, I don't mind the split of genders. It was a nice break from all the drama. But this house inequality is just unacceptable. I don't like it. Not one bit. And the new professors...they're awful. I mean, I don't dislike it enough to rebel like that one Gryffindor boy keeps saying we should, but I certainly won't stand for discrimination just because the Minister doesn't like the other houses."

He looked down and noticed that his hands had clenched into fists. Despite his attempt at an easy-going nature, the old Ryan was still behind the veil. The temper was still there. The passion was still there. And worst of all, he was scared that he wouldn't be able to control himself.

Casper entered the room, an eerie sense of foreboding as his shadow. The feeling was only intensified when the first year took in the plastic coverings and the stick-straight frames of text. On closer inspection, the text was rules. Strict rules.

Casper didn't know much about Hogwarts, or Cooper's for that matter, for he was only a first year. But he did know his older brother Stephen. Stephen would never have praised his education so fondly if this was truly the school where he had been educated.

Casper searched each corner for a patch of joy or warmth. He would even have been happy to have spotted a girl, those creatures of gossip and high-pitched giggles that taunted the presence of his sketch-book, filled to the brim with private, personal drawings. But there was none around, and he was forced to approach a plastic-covered couch with the tenacity of a mouse approaching a lion. Casper sat down on it, only to discover that it was as cold and unaccepting as the entire building.

Nigel saw a boy who looked about his age walk into the common room and sit down. He looked bewildered, similar to what Nigel felt like. "Hey, my name's Nigel, I'm a first year here, are you?" he asked politely.

Casper looked up. This was the first person he'd talked to yet and if this boy was any example of the other boys in the school, they were as friendly as the school wasn't.

"Casper Scouten," Casper announced his name just as Stephen had told him to. "Yeah, I'm a first year. I sure didn't expect it to be like this, you know? My older brother went to Hogwarts and from what I understood it was nothing like this." He shifted on the couch and heard it crackle unpleasantly underneath him.

Nigel sat down beside Casper and winced at the unpleastant sound the couch made. "I know exactly what you mean. My dad told me all about hogwarts. He said it was totally awesome, and well, this TOTALLY isn't!" Nigel told Casper in response. "Who would do this to a school? It's completely insane!" he said frustrated, finally looking back up at Casper.

Stopping just inside the entrance, Constantino blinked. If one were to be watching his face, it would appear that the cogs and wheels inside were turning sluggishly. Was it him--and it could very possibly be him--or was it looking a tad different in here than last year? Con's head turned slowly from left to right, his shaggy black hair dangling in his eyes. He blew up at his bangs, displacing them for a brief moment. Yes. . . . yes. Definitely something different in here.

Con meandered over to where there were several boys attempting to stay seated on the couches. He poked the sofa, realizing that the furniture was covered with plastic. For some reason this reminded Constantino of plastic-covered diapers. Even the noises the couch was making sounded like plastic diaper covers. He shuddered involuntarily.

"Hey," he said, deciding finally to make contact with fellow earthlings. "What's up in here? It seems. . . off."

Casper shrugged. "I have no idea."

He couldn't help but think that if he were Stephen, he'd be figuring it out and beating the living daylights out of whoever was responsible. Getting people together and fixing it. Something noble for the greater group. Not sitting on this couch fingering the edges of a plastic coating.

Casper remembered Nigel sitting next to him. "If this is what being a wizard takes, I'm prepared to snap my wand and just be a muggle. At least they go to school with girls. Not that I miss them, or anything, the girls I mean." He added.

Casper looked up at the newcomer. "I don't know any more than you do. This is my first year. Bright welcome, right?" He rolled his gray eyes.

"Well, I have to go unpack so I have something to wear tomorrow. I keep procrastinating... See you two around." And with that, Casper lifted himself off the terrible couch and went to the dormitory, feeling less uncomfortable than previously.

OOC: meaning, guys, that I have to go and don't want to leave my character being a deadbeat while you two chat.

"Tell me about it!" Nigel said briefly. "By the way, I'm Nigel, this is my first year."

As this new student entered the common room (of DOOM!), Ryan had to stifle a bit of laughter. The boy's face seemed to be stopped in time. In fact, Ryan could have sworn he saw some spittle in the corner of the boy's mouth, which seemed to be frozen with the "duuuhhhh???" look.

He didn't quite look like a first year, but he was definitely younger than Ryan. So he's either a transfer....or buried in books all the time, Ryan thought.

In response to the boy's question, Ryan said, "So you noticed that too, huh? Yeah....well, for one thing, the air's thicker. I'm not used to sitting this still in this atmospheric pressure. I want the tower back..." He was just about to start whining when he remembered his new position. Even though he wasn't prefect, and even though no one but James knew he was captain, he had to set a good example. He straightened himself up and looked around. "Yeah, it's certainly off. I don't know about you, but it seems to me that the Minister thinks our zoo is going to soil all the furniture....either that, or the furniture needs potty training. I wouldn't put it past the Minister," he said, on the verge of breaking out the look.

Soo....no Sho that he could see. No 'Twone. No Tag. No Juno. No....anyone he knew well. Guess it was time to break loose from his clique. Something told him this was going to be a rather lonely term.

Con tucked his hands into his pockets, rocking back on the balls of his feet. Meeting new people always made his hands sweat a little. "Hi Nigel," he replied. "I'm, uh, Con. It's my third year." He squinted hard at the couch next to Nigel's leg. "I don't really remember the couches being white though."

Deep in thought, it was a few moments before he realized someone else was speaking to him. Another boy, slightly older, a little familiar. What was his name again? "Oh! Hi. . . you." Con rubbed his palms against the inside of his pockets nervously. "Do you know what happened to all the girls? Or did the zoo take them all, too?" He looked down at the couch again. "It smells like babies in here." Babies. Yes. That was it. This whole place reminded him of babies! And their plastic diapers! And baby gates and no-touching and safety locks on all the doors!

If James falling out of the chair hadn't made Ryan die from laughter, this new kid did. Babies? Really? Who thinks of that? Honestly! No matter how hard he tried, Ryan couldn't get the thought of the ministry rubbing babies all over the furniture to get the stench really embedded in the room.

Once he had composed himself, though (after a lot of gasping and holding his stomach), Ryan shrugged. "No clue. All I know is they're not here....and all I care about is that I don't have to deal with Rapunzel every day." Oops. He had let his passionate nature get the best of him.

To try and brush if off, he added, "Oh...by the way, I'm Ryan. I'm a fifth year, here."

Eddy wandered back into the Common Room, having shelved and arranged his adventure comic books to his satisfaction (his clothing, however, was still piled in a messy heap atop the bed).

"Hello," Eddy drawled in an American accent, coming up behind a couple of other boys he didn't know. "Eddy. Eddy Basilthorne." Eddy struck his hand out like a practiced politician. "What's that about babies?" Eddy's nose wrinkled. "More like my grandma's house."

Con slowly turned on his heels. People! More people! Were there this many new people last year? "I'm, uh, Con," he said, unaware that he was continually introducing himself as 'Uh-Con'. "And I think," he paused. "That it smells like babies IN Grandma's house." He chuckled to himself. "But, uh, anyway, it's nice to meet you both." He had already forgotten the names of both boys, but that was inconsequential. It was faces that mattered, after all. Perhaps they would even allow him to sit by them at mealtimes.

His spotted skink, Skid, was a rather poor dinner-date.

"Who's Rapunzel?," Con eyed Ryan curiously. Was this boy some sort of Romeo? He must be, if he was on a first-name basis with the opposite sex.

"Rapunzel?" Eddy repeated, switching gears to acclimate to the conversation. "Say, isn't that the girl with the long hair in the children's stories?" Eddy raised an eyebrow. Was the kid into fairy tales or was it code for something....or someone?" Eddy loved a mystery, no matter how lame it might turn out - his active imagination readily supplied all the color and commentary that reality lacked.

James had to put his hand to his mouth to stop from laughing. He stopped, got a firm grip on the couch and sat down, listening to Ryan.
"My thoughts exactly! This is nothing like Hogwarts. And all of this just to "keep us safe". Hogwarts was the safest place ever!"

He thought of the speeches made by the Heads of Staff in the Great Hall earlier. "The Headmaster seems well enough...as if he knows we shouldn't be here. But..that Lord Borr. Borr? Bore? Can we just call him Lord Walrus? He was big enough to be one... Anyway, he seems like a huge threat. He's all for us being here and in total support of Minister Cooper trapping us here." He gestured out the window at the fence running all around the grounds.

Cale came bounding down the stairs and skidded to a halt next to Eddy. "Hey," he was talking to another boy - younger then them both. "Hey hi," He had a bag that was tugging from his fingers as if trying to escape from one hand and a couple of empty terracotta pots tucked under the other arm. "I'm going to go down to the green houses....who wants to come with me?! Lots of dirt, lots of dung to play with...common..." he grinned and bounce a little. "You guys know you want to! Hey! Hey!" He looked back and forth between the two boys.
He turned hearing someone talking rather rudely. "Hey!" he said rather loudly. "Be polite....he's a professor and whether or not you don't like him - he's a professor and he still deserves respect."

Sho walked back into the room, hands in his pockets. He squinted a bit as the white blinded him momentarily and he sighed. That was never going to be easy to deal with.

"Evening boys," he murmured, going to sit in what would've been his usual chair.

Remembering the chair in question was new and not worth sitting on, he chose to stand instead.

Friday enter the common room, silent and feeling outlandish as usual. He didn't say hi to anyone because he hardly knew any Ravenclaw boys, he mostly hangs out with girls because their much nicer. Hoping no one would acknowledge them, he sat down on the couch and stared at the ceiling.

Cale's promise of dirt and dung were intriguing enough to draw Eddy off the fairy tale speculations. He nodded. "Totally!" And while Cale went on to yell as some other kids, Eddy said to the two he'd been trying to talk with, "You want to go explore some with Cale 'n me? He's gotta dig around in the garden or somethin' but afterwards maybe we can explore." Eddy was thinking of ways to sneak into the kitchen for late-night snacks and secret passages for sneaking off the grounds. Anything that involved sneaking would be good.

"I don't quite think I'm up for plants right now," Sho said, recalling yet another thing that was still at Hogwarts.

"I think I'm probably going to unpack or something mundane," he said tapping the mantle of the fireplace.

Looking up, he saw the portrait of the minister and rolled his eyes. They could've at least gotten a good looking portrait instead of the veristic mess on the wall.

"Well," Cale said nudging Sho in the arm with his elbow. "The bed next to mine is still open - quick go and grab it." He leaned in. "Eddy and I snagged the side of the room by the windows." He started talking normally again. "Buddy and Robin are up there between our two bed so - you'll know which one is mine."

Sho chuckled and pat Cale on the shoulder. Now why couldn't Juno be this pleasant? Juno would never let Sho get the bed next to his. And if he had, he would've found a reason to complain. He started walking toward the dorms, hands in his pockets.

"Well I think I just might take you up on that offer there, Mr. Thornton," Sho said, smiling.