"That makes TWO of US!" Because NO ONE WANTED A BIG OLE BABY IN GRYFFINDOR. GRYFFINDORS DONT CHANGE DIAPERS, THANKS. KBYE.

And it was good for her. It was HARD to put in that level of dedication. And you know what? SHE DIDN'T NEED SWIRLY HEAD OVER THERE TO APPROVE. She really wanted to go and shove him over. UGHHHFHFHFHFF. Luckily she had the bright red point count REMINDER to keep her on her BEST behavior.

"So jealous."

ASKJDBASKJDBSKFB.

Keep it cool, Noel. Just keep it cool.

He couldn't explain it but he really wanted to pull those blond locks of her right about now and shake her head, and go LALALALALALA.

She was influencing him.

JEAALOUS?!!?!?!?!?!

"WHATDOYOUMEAN I AM JEALOUS?" he demanded, hands on hips. "You are uh .. uh GIRL. BULLY GIRL. I don't wanna be like you. or want your lousy points." He was TOO ABOVE this.

.....haha..... hahahaha

The hands on the hips was too much. Zahra cracked up.

"You're a different breed of Hufflepuff, huh? Like.... high strung, stressed out, jumpy sort." Not the BEST sort of Hufflepuff. Zahra had friends in PUFF that were way.... way cooler than this kid. THis kid reminded Zahra of a wet kitten. Mad over a little water.

"Do you need a hug or something?" because Merlin, loooookit the PUffy go. hehehahaha

Different breed?

"I am not some animal." he said irritated.

And she was laughing. Making fun of him for being not 'Puff' like enough? So he didn't fit into any other house and he was not the right kind of hufflepuff either?

When she offered him a hug - which was quiet obviously offered in some twisted 'lets make fun of the unfitting Hufflepuff kid' way, Noel just stood there - looking well irritated. "No. Do you?" he said, at a fail attempt for a comeback.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samia

Different breed?

"I am not some animal." he said irritated.

And she was laughing. Making fun of him for being not 'Puff' like enough? So he didn't fit into any other house and he was not the right kind of hufflepuff either?

When she offered him a hug - which was quiet obviously offered in some twisted 'lets make fun of the unfitting Hufflepuff kid' way, Noel just stood there - looking well irritated. "No. Do you?" he said, at a fail attempt for a comeback.

Zahra actually knew lots about animals. Not like a Ravenclaw that swallowed a book or seven, but she did know that IN FACT that Hufflepuff WAS an animal. So was Zahra. ANIMALS.

But she settled for MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOING at him instead of fact checking him. "MOOOoooooooOOOERRRRrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

One animal to another, you know? hahahahahahaha

"Yeah. Yeah I do. Come here, Hufflepuff." ZAHRA SPREAD HER ARMS WIDE!

Noel DID take a small step back when she MOOOoooooooOOOERRRRrrrrrrrrrrrr!'d at him.

"Uh ..." No. He did not have a reply. You win, Gryffindor. You win.

Noel was unsure. Was that a trick? It tool Noel SOME TIME before he could make a decision. Because you know, she was just standing there - with her arms wide open, and a wide smile.

Umm.

CAREFULLY, the twelve year old stepped closer - not wanting to be rude or anything - and awkwardly went into the hug she was giving. Um. Patting her back awkwardly and saying: "Okay?"

....this kid. Hufflepuffs. hahahaha!

Zahra gave him a GOOD SQUEEZE, HUGGY HUG HUG. She even tried to pick him up, bear-hug style.

"Do you feel better? I feel better. Moooooooeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrr!" haha!

"You gotta name? I'm probably gonna call you Animal whether you do or not. Mine's Zahra Kettleburn."

Noel was blushing. He had never been hugged before by a girl. YES, he had been hugged by his mother and aunt and grandmother but this type of hug? Nope. Not even once.

This hug did remind him of his mother's hug though.

"I do," his reply getting muffled somewhere in her shoulder. A hug was always nice.

"Hullo Zahra," Noel awkwardly greeted the older girl when she pulled away. "Uuh .. Noel Wallace," he told her. So they were on good terms now? And he was still blushing.

Ah crap.

"I am sorry for calling you a bully," he said, feeling awkward. She could still be a bully but that hug was so nice. Noel was confused.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samia

Noel was blushing. He had never been hugged before by a girl. YES, he had been hugged by his mother and aunt and grandmother but this type of hug? Nope. Not even once.

This hug did remind him of his mother's hug though.

"I do," his reply getting muffled somewhere in her shoulder. A hug was always nice.

"Hullo Zahra," Noel awkwardly greeted the older girl when she pulled away. "Uuh .. Noel Wallace," he told her. So they were on good terms now? And he was still blushing.

Ah crap.

"I am sorry for calling you a bully," he said, feeling awkward. She could still be a bully but that hug was so nice. Noel was confused.

"Yeah! You SHOULD BE SORRY," Zahra let him out of the hug to give him a light and playful SHOVE. HAHA! SHe was kidding. Mostly. But then she hugged again in case he got all wound up again.

"Nice to meet ya, Noel." ..... was he blushing because of her? Really? ....No, probably not. ANywayyyyyyyys "SO I guess we're friends now."

Friends?

Wow. He had an OLDER friend. Gryffindor friend.

That was way cool.

Noel just grinned nodding at that. He liked that. So they had a rough first impression but at least now he knew WHO he could call when someone would be mean to him. They would have to know Zahra Kettleburn was his friend.

And that she kicked butt.

With a dorky smile, the twelve year lamely uttered: "Cool .." while imagining kick butt adventures with Zahra Kettleburn.

Zahra snorted at him. Uh huh. COOL he was not, but not everyone COULD be cool. She ruffled his hair and moved over to look at the Hufflepuff counter.

THIRD place. Smirk.

"How many of these points are yours? Are you a contributing member of the Puff Society?"

"Uh - "

He could always lie.

"A lot of these points are mine," he nodded. "But you know - I can't carry the weight alone," he said, sighing sadly. "Everyone has to contribute."

There really wasn't a way to figure out the number of points he had helped Hufflepuff get riiiiiight???

"You know - you shouldn't really care about these points" he added. "It should JUST be about the learning" He SO should have been in Ravenclaw. He was so wise.

Standing in this very spot was different. She wasn't sure why it felt so different, but it did. Maybe because the last time she was in this very spot she had been just a student. Now she was looking at the house hourglasses as a professor. So it really didn't matter that her Hufflepuffs weren't in the lead, she still had Hufflepuff pride, but really she wasn't going to show favoritism. She wasn't someone that did that sort of thing.

She had met so many wonderful students while here this term and they all seemed for the most part so well behaved. She couldn't imagine the race for points being anymore exciting than it felt this term. With the winter being so super horrible, Cassie had found herself walking the corridors trying to get a bit of exercise. That's how she had found her way there. So now she was just staring at the hourglasses.

Hayden was mostly just wandering. That was a little bit of a code for 'procrastinating on homework.' She had most of it done, and she was usually pretty good at getting it done, but at the moment she didn't have much motivation to do it at the moment. She wished it wasn't sooo cold so she could at least go outside to find something to do. But she could still find fun things to do inside. Maybe someone wanted to play a game. Or she could start on a new project.

Still without a plan in mind, Hayden somehow ended up in front of the house points hourglasses. She stared at it forlornly for a moment. Why was Hufflepuff so far behind? Of course she would have preferred if they were winning. Hayden liked to win. Why was she a Hufflepuff?

Hayden dragged her gaze away from the hourglasses and looked around her. She didn't know anyone there. But she did recognize one of the professors. What was she doing there? Hayden wasn't sure if she should talk to her, but she didn't have anything else to do. So she walked a few feet closer and asked in a timid voice, "Did you attend Hogwarts? What house were you in?"

Still letting her mind wander back to past moments with this hourglass in mind she didn't notice the child that had come to stand near her. So when someone spoke she jumped a bit before setting her green eyes on the girl. She quickly changed her expression to a beaming smile, "Yes I did attend Hogwarts a really long time ago." Honestly it felt like forever since she had been a student. "I was a Hufflepuff." She winked seeing the robes.

"Best house to be in of course. My best friend was a puff as well. She is now a professor here too." Not that all puffs had to become professors, but they did have many on staff. Even the headmistress if her memory was working right on what she had read.

Looking back towards the glasses before looking back at the student. "Are you having a good term so far? " Her smile staying encouragingly on her lips.

Hufflepuff. Sounded like a house for awesome people. Wait, yes it was. Heh. "Who's your best friend?" If she was a professor Hayden probably knew who she was. There were only a couple professors she didn't know, though she'd at least heard of all of them. At least, she thought. The professor in front of her was one she didn't really know. Hayden couldn't even remember what she taught.

And now she was being asked questions. Was she having a good term? Hayden shrugged, but she also smiled. "Yeah, it's not bad. I miss home." She was only eleven after all, and not used to being away from her parents for so long. But she was at Hogwarts now, and therefore all grown up so she wasn't supposed to miss home so much. But still. "But I love it here. Everything is so big, and I'm learning so much." Hayden love love loved learning magic. "I'm sorry I don't remember what you teach." She thought she'd been to her class but she couldn't even remember that much. All she knew was that she didn't teach Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, or Muggle Studies. So whatever she taught probably wasn't something she'd be interested in. Maybe she shouldn't have even asked, if she didn't like the subject she'd still have to be polite and even fake interest.

She knew this question would most likely be asked, of course an eleven year old, or at least Cassie thought she was eleven, would ask about a best friend. "Her name is Professor Glendower, she's your History of Magic professor. We use to come and stand in front of these hourglasses when we were here as students." Usually not to look at points, though, she wasn't one to ever be too concerned about being at the top. Not really the competitive type. "Do you have a best friend yet? Umm.. I'm sorry what is your name?" She hadn't said it had she? "I can be awful at remembering them." At least she was honest and her students knew up front they would be called wrong for awhile.

She missed home, awww Cassie just wanted to hug her, but instead she patted her shoulder, "It's hard at any age to leave home, but especially the first term. It will get easier, I promise." Giving her a big Cassie grin she knew she'd be alright. Right of passage for the homesick firstie really. She liked being there, this got her snaps. "That's great! I'm so glad you like it here. If you ever feel lonely, you come visit me in the tower, we can have tea and cookies." She wasn't going to let anyone feel homesick if she could help.

"Oh I teach Divination. It's not a required class for first years, though you could always join." She didn't want to discourage anyone from enjoy her class no matter the age. "What's your favorite class so far this term?" That was always an interesting question for students. Not that she minded any other subjects, Oh my no, she just enjoyed seeing what the students liked.

Oh, yeah, Hayden knew who that was. Well she didn't recognize the name really, but as soon as the woman mentioned she taught History of Magic Hayden could see her face. She didn't mind History of Magic, it was the kind of thing she liked to learn but it wasn't a class with practical portions or spellwork so it wasn't her favorite. "Not really." Hayden shook her head in response to the best friend question. She had a few friends but she didn't know any of them well enough to classify them as her best friend. It seemed like a heavy title.

"My name is Hayden. Hayden Malone." And suddenly her shoulder was being patted. She liked the gesture of comfort, but also felt vaguely uncomfortable considering she didn't really know this professor yet. Still, she was really nice and it did seem like something she would do. "Thanks." Hayden smiled at the offer to visit her office. It felt nice to know that there was someone she could talk to if she felt lonely. Tea and cookies sounded nice.

Divination. She could join? Yeah, not happening. Divination was...not Hayden's thing. Not at all. She definitely preferred spell casting and things like that. Plus, she didn't necessarily buy in to everything thought of as divination. Maybe some parts wouldn't be too bad, but she didn't have any desire to try it. She decided not to comment on that and quickly moved on to the question about her favorite class. "Umm Defense Against the Dark Arts, I think. So far." She liked what they'd learned in Transfiguration, but that professor had not been the nicest. And Charms had been paired with Care of Magical Creatures, which was a class she did not really enjoy. "Potions is cool too, but not really my thing." She wasn't bad at it, she just wasn't overly enthusiastic about it. "Were you always a fan of Divination in school?"

Something was up here. Something was really, truly wrong with........ the weather? HOURGLASSES. Just LOOK at them! GRYFFINDOR was in the lead. Anastasia stood directly in front of the four glass cases, poking the one containing yellow diamonds like a confused woodpecker. Why so low, Hufflepuff? Y u no in first place?

She looked over her shoulder as though someone were watching her. Would anyone notice if she muttered 'fifty points from Gryffindor!' under her breath? Hmm?

Penelope needed food. The only question was, should she go to the Great Hall or the kitchen? Because she couldn't decide whether she was too lazy to cook herself something or not. Hmm.

Actually, maybe it didn't have to be a question. She could do BOTH. Great Hall now, and then kitchens later on afterwards. Yes. Good plan.

She had to pass the hourglasses to get there, of course, and the first thing she noticed - aside from the Gryffindor hourglass having more than the others - was the Headmistress poking the Hufflepuff one. Poking it? Was that normal?

It made the Gryffindor a little curious though, so she decided to pause her hunt for food and find out.

"Something wrong with the hourglass, Headmistress?" she asked.

Kace was kind of nervous seeing the Headmistress, I mean he wanted to make a good impression. He had his card all set. He made it by himself. He was quite proud. As he made his way to the great hall, he found her near the hour glasses. She was checking out the house points. He saw hufflepuff was sort of low. It seemed weird. But he was glad the lions were winning. IT was nice to see a change.

He cleared his throat and said, "Hello Headmistress..." he said fidgeting with his card. "Erm...I have something for you.." he said.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlwaysSnapesGirl

Penelope needed food. The only question was, should she go to the Great Hall or the kitchen? Because she couldn't decide whether she was too lazy to cook herself something or not. Hmm.

Actually, maybe it didn't have to be a question. She could do BOTH. Great Hall now, and then kitchens later on afterwards. Yes. Good plan.

She had to pass the hourglasses to get there, of course, and the first thing she noticed - aside from the Gryffindor hourglass having more than the others - was the Headmistress poking the Hufflepuff one. Poking it? Was that normal?

It made the Gryffindor a little curious though, so she decided to pause her hunt for food and find out.

"Something wrong with the hourglass, Headmistress?" she asked.

Of course a Gryffindor WOULD come over when she was thinking of deducting points from them for no good reason. Just her luck... unless this Gryffindor gave her a reason? Hmm?

"Helloooooooooooo!" the redhead quickly stopped poking poor Hufflepuff's glass and hid her hands loosely behind her back. "No, nothing wrong with them... unless you count which place Hufflepuff is in." She let out a low, fake laugh. "Nothing at all wrong here.... why, do YOU think they look off?"

That's right, create suspicion in the ranks! That would be the way to do it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Expecto-Penguin

Kace was kind of nervous seeing the Headmistress, I mean he wanted to make a good impression. He had his card all set. He made it by himself. He was quite proud. As he made his way to the great hall, he found her near the hour glasses. She was checking out the house points. He saw hufflepuff was sort of low. It seemed weird. But he was glad the lions were winning. IT was nice to see a change.

He cleared his throat and said, "Hello Headmistress..." he said fidgeting with his card. "Erm...I have something for you.." he said.

Aha, another curious student! Annie pivoted slightly to greet the boy coming up. A Hufflepuff, how cheering. "You do?" she eyed his hands and then his face. This one looked familiar.... Lecium? Was that the boy's name? "Well let's see it," she encouraged, out of curiosity.

Lux honestly had no idea what had happened.

One moment they were enjoying themselves in the frigidly cold temperatures at the lake, and the next a BLIZZARD was coming towards them. This was bad. Seriously bad. Rushing away from the storm - of course dragging Zander along with her - the redhead found shelter inside the castle walls. This was better. Much MUCH better. They would both be safe now. "I'm thinking there is going to be a lock down... With a blizzard THAT size hitting us, there is no way we can leave the castle." Nor would they want to, because it was insanely cold out there.

Sighing, she looked at the points hourglasses and tried to think of something else. But what? What would be a good distraction....?

ZANDER'S RELATIONSHIP ISSUES!

AHA!

He had been in the middle of talking to her about them before they were rudely interrupted by the bad weather. Stupid snow storms. "Okay, Zander... you can't fall in love with someone JUST to get over Professor Bentley. I think that the more you interact with girls in the school... well there is a good chance you will develop feelings for one of them." Was her advice bad? She had a feeling that it was. "I'm really sorry. I don't have experience getting over someone. The only guy I have had feelings for, I'm dating." Would he be upset with her? Lux really didn't want that to happen, because Zander was a really nice boy and she wanted to be his friend. "I promise I will never blab on you. Cross my heart."

Not really? Cassie wanted to frown, she didn’t, but she wanted to. Instead she kept her smile and just did another pat, “You will, don’t worry. I know you will. Soon! First year can be hard for all kinds of reasons, but soon it will be so normal to come and go in the corridors and you will have loads of friends.” The girl seemed sweet, she was sure she’d have tons of friends in no time.

“Well Miss Hayden it is very nice to meet you.” More beaming smiles for the girl. She wanted to really remember her name. She just seemed like a child that Cassie needed to know. It was her senses possibly, though they didn’t typically work on people, just animals. She really hoped she’d come for a visit sometime. She just loved visitors, but it seemed not many made their way to the tower. She couldn’t blame them right now with the cold winds hitting it, but it was still nice to have some visitors.

She liked Defense Against the Dark Arts, well that was nice. “It’s a great subject to enjoy and learn as much as you can. “ One never knew when they would need those skills, so it was very important for her to pay attention. Chuckling about the potions comment, Cassie just shook her head, “It really wasn’t mine either, but potions is a fabulous class to keep up in. You learn many things and Professor Culloden is a brilliant man.” How couldn’t one of Hogwarts celebrities not be brilliant.

Saying the magic words, Hayden got a huge beaming smile. “Oh yes, I have been into Divination since I was a small child. I come from a sears. My grandmother is actually a very popular muggle psychic.” She was very proud of her grandmother and had learned many things from her.

"Yes m'am.." he told the headmistress. He got out his card and finally gave it to the headmistress. "I just wanted to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day.." he smiled.

She also needed to see the message inside...
Plus this was part of the divination homework but it felt nice to let the headmistress she was loved. He wasn't try to be a suck up or anything. He probably wasn't gonna get more house points for this. Well it was the credit for trying right?