Mo breathed deeeeeeeeeply in and out. In. And. Out. She hadn't responded to all his concerns, just the first one. And the ones she hadn't responded to were telling... she didn't care. About the students and what they needed, or ANYTHING other than keeping them alive.

There was so much more to life than just being alive, and it was a shame they didn't have a Headmistress who cared about that. About them. At all. "I understand that we have no ability to change this, and I understand that I have no choice but to accept your decision," Mo finally managed. He didn't agree with her and he didn't respect that decision, but she didn't need to know. She didn't care anyway, so why tell her?

"But Headmistress... we attend Hogwarts to have a future, and for some of us, Quidditch is our future. I know you don't care, but your decision gives me no future. And you can owl my mother and tell her that."

And he really didn't want to stand around and watch Kaiden get a new badge, so Mo left.

Alright, there was one badge in her hand. She didn't need the others, not immediately, but it was a relief to at least have a Hufflepuff prefect now.

"Thank you," she told Kaiden, tucking it away into the pocket of her fancy coat-dress. To West, she nodded. "The Daily Prophet apparently received one too, so they're covering this... incident." As they were wont to do.

As for the helping... "Honestly, I think the best thing to do right now would just to be aware of your surroundings. Be suspicious of outsiders. Trust no one." Which, if he were wise, he would already be doing. "I don't really think this is something to discuss or gossip about." Nor was it something to IMMATURELY PROTEST.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

"But Headmistress... we attend Hogwarts to have a future, and for some of us, Quidditch is our future. I know you don't care, but your decision gives me no future. And you can owl my mother and tell her that."

And he really didn't want to stand around and watch Kaiden get a new badge, so Mo left.

The Headmistress ROLLED her EYES at Marcus 'I Think I Know It All' Branxton. "That's not true at all," she snapped, fully annoyed at the boy. "You CAN attend open PROFESSIONAL tryouts, once you are old enough and talented enough to do so. I can count on ONE HAND the number of quidditch 'recruiters' I've actually seen come to Hogwarts games in all my years at that school. So I WILL owl your mother and tell her that." And then she would assign him a detention if he gave her any more lip!

She snorted when he left and muttered to the other two, "He's not even that good." Not even good enough to play professionally, or he would have been 'scouted' by now, or whatever he thought he was going to do after Hogwarts.

Whatever, Branxton. Leaving now. "Have a nice train ride," she remarked to the other two and showed herself out.

The Daily Prophet. Okay. West figured there'd be an article soon then, and if it didn't answer the questions he had, he'd write to Basil and see if he could convince him to give him more information as it came, and vice versa. Maybe his internship from a few summers ago would pay off in that sense.

... and yeah he was definitely suspicious. Slytherin here and all.

West was sorta surprised at Mo's reaction. Like yeah obviously he was bothered, obviously they all were to different degrees, but the way Mo was back-chatting the Headmistress made him feel a little uncomfortable, even if he could understand where it was coming from.

When Truebridge snapped like that, West shot an uneasy look toward Kaiden and kept his own mouth shut, not mentioning his own particular circumstances or that he had been scouted the previous year. Bitter taste, that. Knowing he'd turned things down to come back to his team and then found there wasn't going to be a team to be back for. But he'd reassure Mo later, that he COULD definitely go to an open tryout, and that he'd cane it, and that West would help him train if he wanted to.

And then his oldest friend was gone without even a look and West wasn't completely sure how he should react to that, but figured it would be best to let Mo cool down before going to talk to him alone and all.

He gave the headmistress a startled look when she muttered at him and Kaiden. "He is." West disagreed, quietly but loyally. "He is that good." But she was leaving...

...and how exactly was the train ride supposed to be nice now?

Once they were alone he turned his attention to Kaiden, staying quiet for a moment and noting that the other boy hadn't put his new badge on yet.

"Hey." He said softly, and nudged his friend's shoulder, giving him a sincere look. "You put that on, okay? You wear that proudly." Pause. "And when you go back in there," As in the prefects compartment, "Can you... can you tell Theo to come out, tell him to meet me in the luggage car?"

Yeah. His best mate NEEDED to know this. Definitely. Merlin.

Okay, so Moses was being a complete jerk. He knew that right? It was true that Kaiden was relieved, but he also knew that he was going to miss quidditch, a lot. But no need to act like he was. But he was gone, and the headmistress's comment, well that made him nearly crack a smile. He couldn't help it if it was true. And then she was gone. "Bye." he said to the woman's back.

The boy looked down at his clenched fist, until Odessa was nudging him. He wanted him to wear his badge? "I... okay." he said, still not putting it on, unsure if it would feel right. And the, with his friend's next words, it hit him. He would have to go back in to the compartment alone. He would have to answer any questions they asked. because three people leaving with the headmistress and only one returning was weird. But, he could deffinately send grumpy Theo out. That wouldn't be a problem. "Sure thing." Pause. He wanted to ask if he was alright, but he probably knew the answer to that. "I'll go do that, but we'll talk later yeah?"

Leaving is bro, Kaiden entered the prefect's compartment once more, badge still clutched in his fist. Searching out Theo, he spoke looking right at him. "Hey man, Odessa is out there. He need to talk to you about something." There, he did it. Finding his seat once more, he said "Hey, Alexa, got any more cookies?" you know the ones he hadn't been able to eat before being ushered out of there.

Theo smiled as Elodie entered the compartment, but that was it really since he didn't know her too well. In fact all he knew about Elodie Roberts was that she punched Bliss in the face one time. Not cool. Before Theo could stop smiling, the one he was waiting for most entered the compartment. "Hey, Head Girl!" Theo beamed wide and scooted up just a bit more to give her more space next to him.

...
Ugh. Alexa. Just shut your face.

"Probably contaminated now anyway." He eyed the box and made a face. The lack of attention regarding his new badge was kind of upsetting, you know, just sayin'.

Theo gave another welcoming smile to the Headmistress, but she was soon whisking the captains away from their seats... which was kinda weird. He didn't think anything of it, though, just assuming there was some sort of Quidditch news. Having a quick pow-wow before the season began and all. Maybe the scouts were in!! OOOoooOooooooo. Whilst he was waiting, Theodore pulled out a sweet from his pocket since no one here was gonna offer him any of theirs. Fine... we see how it is.

A few minutes of gazing out the window later, he heard the door and looked up hoping to see West return. Oh, just Kaiden. Huh. Wait, he was talking to him? "Oh... right, okay... sure." Theo cleared his throat and got up to find his best friend.

Weird. But okay.

The Headmistress did have good hair. That was certain. So it was no surprise that she agreed with him. There should be a Good Hair Club. Just saying. Nigel was enjoying the surprisingly good cookie and saying congrats to the new Prefects that entered the compartment. The only one he knew was Elodie. But still. He was not surprised that Theo got Head Boy and Cassia got Head Girl. They both deserved it. Now, now it was getting interesting. The Headmistress wanted all the Quidditch Captains to follow her outside to talk.

Must be Serious.

The Seventh Year wished he had some popcorn due to the suspense. The Ravenclaw was no idiot and the only reason why the Headmistress would be here was for something very serious. So it might a cancellation of Quidditch. Nigel was not be surprised if that happens. It can't be personal since Kaiden went out with them also. Oh all the suspense. Nigel waited and watched until Kaiden came back in the compartment and asked for Theo. Seemed like West wanted him. He did not have his quidditch badge. But a Prefect Badge in his hand. Very Interesting. And congrats to him.

Still it was definitely serious. Mo was not even back. Must have gone to see Cat.

Ravenclaws were clever sometimes and the only thing that made sense was Quidditch was cancelled or something that severe. Nigel did love a good mystery if it interested him. He will probably hear the answer at the Feast.

Once she had herself a cookie, Els moved to sit herself on the floor in her dress, taking Meatball with her. If she sat down here, it probably wouldn't be as obvious when she started to pinch her bare legs. It helped. It really did. She just wasn't supposed to do it because it hurt. Either way, she was cookieing, pinching and floor-sitting in the party palace and it was cool. She didn't even miss those who the Headmistress had removed and was chat-a-chatting to. Maybe a little. Nahhhhh. Not really. She had better things to think of.

Looking up at Cassia, Els grinned at the other girls new badge. She'd noticed Theo's..but she didn't know him and so he'd just gotten his smile returned. He might have got a tiny bit of looking at when he wasn't looking at her though. She was scouting for new friends. Not that she wanted to be friends with Theo. She kind of just wanted to touch his cheeks and see if they were soft. Maybe. Aaaanyway. Back to Cassia. Els congratulated her on her new badge, thanked her for her her own congratulations and then held Meatball up to her. "This is Meatball. I got him from Cat." Because Gemini had...... Well Cassia could find out if she asked. She didn't want to talk about it.

Or maybe she should and she'd get all the attention.

HELLO PARTY PALACE HUMANOIDS. DEAD KITTY HAPPENED. HUGS & LOVE WELCOME.

"Should we try listening through the d-Oh. Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Kaiden." He never looked happy. And he was stealing away the Head of the Party Palace. Ouch. At least they still had Cassia, she guessed. Then Theo was on his way out and she was mentally grumping about his robes already being present and she was unable to assess his legs as he left. BYE OTHER GRUMP. "Kaiiiiiiiiiiden. What's going on?" Honestly.. she'd considered it was something to do with Cat for a moment. But got rid of that because who would want to tell Kaiden about Cat things and she had definitely not gotten her best friend feeling that something was wrong. Unofficial twins they were.

Why had Kaiden returned and not Westicorn or Motown? SHE LIKED THE OTHER TWO.

Whatever. Back to cookie eating. She probably wouldn't care about whatever was happening. She was cool, and had a badge and was eating food.