"It didn't?" A wave of relief spread over Spike's face. Phewwwww. Not a test.

"Quidditch Captain?" It was lost on Spike. The concept of Quidditch was almost unknown to the young boy, as his parents had little to no interest in the sport. He only knew one snippet of information that made it rather exciting to him (and probably less so to his parents) and his sense of adventure. "That's played in the air, right?"

He so wanted to know how to fly. Like a bird.

"I think so," he said with a bright nod, his mood lightening somewhat with the knowledge that the Common Room wasn't totally out to get him with fire as well as riddles.

Talking of riddles...Spike's eyes widened as the older guy addressed him. "Really?" He pondered it, before he frowned. "Isn't that like...cheating?" He'd rather the knocker just got on and told him, that expected him to go through musty old volumes in the library. Especially when there were most exciting places to explore. And games of Hide and Seek to play. And the Giant Squid to tickle.

"Killy and Kranky are my frogs," Spike answered with a grin. As he did so, he gently lifted the small creatures from him his pocket for the guy to see. "And...Matilda..." He looked across at Ellie sheepishly. "Matilda is my tarantula. If you wanna see her, then maybe someplace else would be a good idea." He had a feeling it wouldn't just be Ellie who didn't like Matilda in this room. And he had no desire in scaring his 8-legged friend on their first night in this new place with girls screaming their heads off.

He tilted his head. Gryffindor? "That's the red, brave house, right?" He shrugged. "I dunno which I should be in. I just think at the moment it's not this one. So I agree on the faulty thing."

Ellie laughed.

Just laughed. It was just ridiculous.

Everything.

After a few moments, when she'd gotten over it, she counted in her head to answer James' question. Jacob. Vashti. Her. ......

THAT WAS IT?!
Geeeeeeeeez.

"Three. Including myself." She didn't believe it. It didn't seem that little until you were asked, apparently.

Ellie smiled. Poor kid. Cute kid, really. Odd pets.

"Yes," she said. Quidditch was played in the air. Did he...not know about it?! SHOCKER. For someone as...adventurous as he was... it seemed odd to her that he wouldn't have already been in the air. You know, unless he was muggleborn or something.

Ellie bit her lip when he started talking of his pets to James. Please don't take Matilda out.

Of course, this time, she wouldn't be totally surprised, but she still didn't like the idea of seeing it. It was just.... Bleh.

Killy and Kranky were okay, though.

"No, no don't be sorry" JP smiled at her.
"The best part about the common room is that it's a perfect place learn more about new friends since the seats are so comfortable. That's awesome. Did your mom's power carry over to you? My family is quite close. aside from my mothers sister's side since they did that to my cousin. And i can understand. The wizarding world can be a lot to take in especially for someone new to it. But it's not too bad. I am sure you're a natural" JP Smiled and winked at her.

"Well," Rowan said, "I don't usually tell people, but yes, I am like my mother. The only problem is I can't change my eyes. I am stuck with the cat shape and color. Weird, huh? I have been forced most of my life to hide it, what with living with muggles." She grinned at JP. "As for being a natural? Well, I guess that's why I'm a Ravenclaw."

"That's actually really cool! Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me. Us Ravenclaws know what's up" JP smiled

"If I can't grow immune to it, no one will," he informed her with a good deal of false-lofty in his voice. Really though, he couldn't see how anyone could just forget about a gross couch. Part of him wondered whether or not the house elves were going to fix it. Maybe they were set to let the students' nostrils suffer for vandalism.

He went for another block, watching the tower wobble a little as he did so. Fortunately, said block came out without much more fuss, and he topped the tower up. A shudder of sympathy went over him at the mention of a finishing school, "As far as magic goes, finishing schools are useless at producing students with any kind of survival instinct. I'm still terrible at dueling; just can't get in the right mindset."

Fortunately he was quite handy with shields and patronuses now. If he couldn't win a duel, at least he could spam protection spells until someone came to his aid. Only he wouldn't get in a duel in the first place, because he was smart.

"You're welcome," she said. "Usually I don't tell people because it causes one of two things....either it freaks them out or they start wanting me to do parlor tricks. I don't know which is worse. So how about you? Any special skills or magic that you are particularly good at?"

"Can't say that i do." JP just shrugged. He was fine with just being a normal wizard for now. "Later on i'll work on becoming an animagus. I wanna be a hawk. Gotta read up on it first. I hear it's really tricky magic. Maybe by my fourth year." JP smiled at her "And just so you know i won't make you put on a show for me, Promise"

"I really appreciate that," Rowan smiled. "A hawk? They are so beautiful. That's a great choice. I've never morphed into a bird. I'm afraid of heights. You should have seen me last year in my first flying lesson. I only got about 6 or 7 feet off the ground and the next thing I know I'm hanging upside down on my broom." She shuddered at the thought. "Who knows? Maybe some day."

"I am actually trying out for the quidditch team. Hopefully i get a spot. And who knows maybe if we are both still friends by the time i get the hang of the animagic stuff i can help you get over your fear of heights!" JP smiled returned her smile. Seemed like most of the ravenclaw he has run into are pretty cool.

"Quidditch, huh? Good luck! Which spot are you trying out for?" she asked. Personally, she found Quidditch hard to follow. She was accustomed to muggle sports.

"Seeker. One of my friends that was on the team last term said they lost their seeker. So the spot should be open. I think i have a good shot."

"Seeker, wow." Rowan thought for a minute....now which one is seeker? Oh yeah! "Isn't that the guy who has to catch that little gold ball thingy?" Ugh, she sounded like SUCH a muggle.

"Yeah that's the one." JP smirked.
"I keep forgetting that you grew up in the muggle world. Qudditch really isnt too hard to follow. You'll get it"

"Maybe when I know someone who plays for Ravenclaw, I'll be able to enjoy it more. So see? You will be seeker so that I can come cheer you on and finally start to understand the game." She grinned, knowing that that would be the ONLY way she could ever get the hang of Quidditch. "So what do you like to do in your spare time?"

JP Smiled.
"Well then, I will have more incentive to try and make the team. I will make sure to try my hardest! Well, really anything. The other day I duel a first year. It was pretty close. She surprised me and i lost but whatever." JP shrugged
"Most of the time i just wander in the castle. There is always an adventure here. What about yourself?"

Emily entered the common room, she was exhausted and couldn't wait to sit down. Making her way over to the fire she proped herself up against a spare arm chair and stretched her legs out in front of her. After a minute she stood up and sat in the chair properly. Lessons were making her tired.

"Maybe some day you can teach me a few things about dueling. I read... ALOT. I love to draw as well. I think it's a great way to escape. Maybe some day you can teach me a few things about dueling. And I love to swim. Speaking of which, have you met the Giant Squid yet?" she asked.

"Yeah sure! Anytime you want to let me know. The Defense training room is the place to go. I read a bunch too. Probably not as much as you do thought. I am not much of an artist but that is pretty cool that you can do that. Speaking of swimming. That is probably one of my favorite muggle sports. I think it's great. I haven't met the squid. We can go do that if you'd like."

"Sounds great. Let me go grab my suit and we can go for a swim. I hope you don't mind the cold. The lake is a bit chilly this time of year. I'll meet you there," she said as she headed for the dorm to grab her things.

"OK sounds great"
JP headed upstairs to change.

Charley slipped into the common room, amazed that she answered the riddle correctly. Lessons were hard work already. She still didn't have a roommate, so she didn't think she should just head to her dormitory; she began looking for a place to sit. That was the only bad thing about not being in the same house as her brother: she really didn't know anyone.
She saw a girl she was pretty sure that she recognised sitting in an armchair over by the fire. She saw that a chair close to her was unoccupied, so she briskly walked over to it and quickly sat down, being careful not to collapse into it for fear of someone noticing.

"So, did you enjoy your lessons today?" she said meekly as she put her bag on the ground by the feet of the chair.

JP sat down beside them took out his Runes book and looked over at them
"Hello there.

Satine shook her head..."Yes maybe we should run down to the Herbology professor and see if he has a plant that would mask the putrid smell." she said squishing up her nose and making a funny face.


Satine watched the tower wobble and leaned back from the table hoping not to bump it and make it tumble. "Yes I have to agree with you. The schools weren't preparing the wizards for a safe future. It was either turning them into Muggle hated sociopaths or into mindless zombies." she said studying the tower and tapping blocks lightly to find a loose one. "However, I do think that every school should have some kind of manners or some kind of class. I really do think that some girls around here could benefit from learning how to be a lady and that some guys could benefit from learning how to be gentlemen, but it shouldn't be the only focus." she said finally wiggling a piece out from the third from the top row and placing it on top. The tower wobbled again and she held her hands out about a foot and close to the top as if this would keep it steady until it stopped wiggling.

"But enough with the serious stuff, so tell me something interesting about you...like do you have any hidden talents..." she paused and then said, "Well other than being devastatingly handsome..." she said with a really bad accent and a little giggle to let him know she was just teasing him.

"Oh! Hi, JP!" she replied, slightly startled. "Thanks a lot for offering to show me around. How have your other classes been?"