Ellery whipped her ponytail around to see a young boy, probably around her age, asking about her volume controls. "Yes, of course. But I like to make an IMPRESSION. Apparently, speaking psychologically, people make a first impression based on the first three seconds of interaction. So that means how you look, dress, act, and talk. So I wanted all attention to be on me SOO that my first impression for everyone is GOOD. You get it?" She could explain her reasoning in more detail, because it was working as a distraction from homesickness, which was her REAL rationale.

And the HEAD OF HOUSE WANTED A DANCE BATTLE. This was WONDERFUL. Ellery BEAAAMED at him REAL BIG and then waited patiently through all the long logisticastical announcements, which included the Head Boy, tightening her ponytail all the while.

She was READY.

Of course a Kaycee!sis hug was needed and welcomed. She leaned into her arms and hugged her little sis. Yeah. Cinna knew that Kaycee could probably use a hug too. She had been to many of these house parties broken hearted. It was not fun.

They had spend a lot of time together talking this summer talking about their boys. So Cinna understood completely. "I haven't even seen him." She didn't. Maybe because he was just as torn up about it as she was. Cinna patted Kaycee's shoulder and let go of her.

"You think they are bringing quidditch back?" She hoped so.... but that was doubt full. So finally speeches were over. Well kind of. A time capsule? That sounded fun.

She looked back at Kaycee, "Do you want to play? Are you going to put anything in the time capsule?"



Cinna kept looking over that the mini quidditch pitch. She really wanted to go play but she still had a lot of popcorn to eat. Who would just leave perfectly good popcorn laying around? She'd finish the rest of her popcorn then quidditch. One of the times she has stooped looking at the mini pitch and tossed some popcorn in her mouth, she caught Zander heading toward her. "Hi, Zander." She finished munching on the popcorn in her mouth. Yeah, forever was a understatement. "Yes, it has been." She said in a quiet voice.

She patted the spot beside her, he could sit if he wanted to. Neither way it was fine. [b]"How was your summer?" Was this them making up or whatever? She wasn't going to lie she missed being friends with him. It was like from when she started third year they were the only left of the Gryffindors seventh years. Just about all of the others were gone now Bart, Emmy, Bianca. It was sad. So maybe it was time to get over things. She was happy with Bart like she always was. Zander seemed happy too. Everyone involved with what happened has matured since then. All that fifth year drama was just fifth year drama. Let the fifth years this term have it all. This was their seventh year that was that after this.

Wow. Seventh year was turning Cinna into a sapp. She offered Zander some of her popcorn. She was getting full was this bag charmed to refill itself or something?


Crap! Why was Cinna starting to feel bad about the way she acted? But it was too late to start being nice to the other girl now. To Cinna the new girl had been just as rude to her. Fine she would lay off of her about following her. Or not. "Excuse me stupid house? Stupid house?" Boy the seventh year was really taking up for Gryffindor now. "Now listen here you have been here for like what? Five minutes? Give things a chance new girl."

Really Cinna had been the new girl at one time too. But she didn't play up the new girl act like this was. Again she was starting to feel bad. Not every new girl was as pretty as her that's what made it so easy for her being the new girl. "I'msorry." she may be in a bad mood because she missed Emmy. She missed Bart and Lux and Bianca, too. This girl reminded her of Emmy in a way. Wait what was this? Cinna wiped her eyes. She was not going to cry especially in front of this girl. She got up and went up to her dorm. Great start of term and seventh year this was turning out to be.

Toddles sees mistress waves to Toddles. Toddles sees mistresss waves and Toddles moves towards her. Toddles moves little feets and asks, "Mistress need somethings from Toddles?" Toddles has snackies yes Toddles does.

Toddles beams at master. Master knows Toddles name. Toddles gives master some snackies. Toddles gives master some frogs. "Toddles is goods master. Toddles happies to sees studenties. Toddles happies to serves." Toddles hears master asks Toddles if Toddles steals things. Toddles shook little head. "Toddles not steals. Toddles is a good elf."

Kaycee nodded. That made sense. She guessed he was probably already in bed or holed up in the library or something. Poor guy. Thinking about that made her kind of sad.

But luckily there was this convenient segway. "I dunno. Maybe?" she said with a shrug. It didn't do much to take her mind off the topic though. Considering, quidditch wasn't really her thing. At all.

She shrugged. "Sure. We can." She had no overwhelming desire, but she'd be happy to join in. She then nodded. "Yeah. It seems sort of like a good time to do something like that." She had a lot of thoughts about the term.

Kaycee almost said she didn't want anything, but then she thought better of it. "Do you have to call me 'Mistress'?" she asked. "Because it would be way cooler if you called me something else. Anything else, really. Kaycee? K-Dawg? That one girl?"

She just didn't like it. She was fourteen. Mistress seemed so grown up and in charge.

Hearing that oh so familiar name, Marietta let out a high pitched squeal and practically tackled the other girl. "MARIELLE! WE'RE GRYFFINKITTIES!" She laughed with a giant smile on her face. Mari hoped she hadn't injured the girl too much when she had... hugged her. That probably wasn't a good way to start off a new friendship.



Marietta wondered what was wrong with the head of the house. It was just a hug but he seemed uncomfortable which had just made Marietta hug him a little harder... though she did let him go when he started to make a weird noise with his mouth. So... maybe Daddy Lion wasn't exactly fond of hugs...? OR MAYBE HE JUST WASN'T FOND OF HER?! Frowning, Marietta stepped away from the professor and pouted. Besides, he seemed to have something to say anyways.

Though she didn't know why he didn't like her.



THERE WERE DUNGEONS?! Mari had been almost a hundred percent sure that there wasn't really a dungeon here in the castle. She thought it was just a story to scare the younger kids like stories about the Erumpents under one's bed if they were bad. It was definitely a good thing that Gryffindor was in a tower then. So much better than some creepy dungeon. "Why are Slytherins in the dungeon?" Because there was no way that they enjoyed it there. Dungeons were dark and gross and scary.

Instead of taking his hand, Marietta just gave him a giant hug. "Thanks Mister Ruler Head Boy Zander Sir," Marietta said with a smile. Because they were friends now and she had to include his first name into the title.

AND OOOOH. Mister Ruler Head Boy Zander Sir had something important to say. She supposed this was like some royal decree or something... since this was a castle and he was the KING of like... the student body. If Marietta were to be completely honest, she barely heard what the boy said because before she was too busy focusing on the other things in the room... like the yummy food smells.



"If your name is Cinnamon then my name is Nutmeg!" Because it was cute right? They could have cute names for each other? Wasn't that a friendship thing? "Or if you want I could be Paprika?!" Mari wouldn't mind either of those names if it meant being friends with the older girl. Besides, Cinnamon (if that was really her name) could teach her new things about the school and Marietta was pretty much desperate for friends.

All 'official' obligations out of the way, save one but there was nothing to be done about that at the moment, Airey was eager to return to his roasting. The mashmallows were calling.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

...
"Are YOU going to put something in there TOO?" She wanted to know.

"I will indeed," he saluted the first year as he made his way over towards the chest for a quick inspection. What he was looking for, however, he didn't really know. Maybe he just wanted to admire his paint job again.

SPOILER!!: Bentley! Who we SEE now

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davvy_Wavvy

Bentley was hoping to beat Charlotte to the box which he almost did, so good were his ninja skills, when SHE got busted. Awwww poor Charlotte. He supposed her bright blonde hair made her more noticable. Such a shame, it would have been nice telling her he beat her to the chest.

Anyways, turned out their head of house wad half blind or probably just didn't see well. This could be used to his advantage. The first year crouched lower, for all the good that would do and continued to partially listen to the half blind head of house while tugging on the lid of the box. Really? It couldn't be open? Why make it big? Why make it red? Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy put it in the middle of the room for others to think it's interesting?

He groaned and sat by Charlotte's foot. "What a dudd..what's so interesting about a stupid box?"

"OH SWEET SOLSTICE!" he exclaimed, jumping back a bit when a voice from the floor came out of no where. Well, obviously not NO WHERE at it belonged very much so to a person. "Sorry 'bout that. Didn't see you there."

And he was going to try not to look too much like a kicked cruppy about his box being called a dud.

Whimper.

Just look at that glorious paint job! Had taken days to get all the red paint off his fingers!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casey O

....

And the HEAD OF HOUSE WANTED A DANCE BATTLE. This was WONDERFUL. Ellery BEAAAMED at him REAL BIG and then waited patiently through all the long logisticastical announcements, which included the Head Boy, tightening her ponytail all the while.

She was READY.

Salutes to you, Miss. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

"You have music for this?" he asked.

Quote:

Originally Posted by iBeJenn

Marietta wondered what was wrong with the head of the house. It was just a hug but he seemed uncomfortable which had just made Marietta hug him a little harder... though she did let him go when he started to make a weird noise with his mouth. So... maybe Daddy Lion wasn't exactly fond of hugs...? OR MAYBE HE JUST WASN'T FOND OF HER?! Frowning, Marietta stepped away from the professor and pouted. Besides, he seemed to have something to say anyways.

Though she didn't know why he didn't like her.

Or challenge WAS accepted until he saw THAT POUT. Why did people do that? It was unfair. He had a weakness for that facial expression - specifically the pout belonging to a certain dark haired witch who kept asking for more creatures to live at their home. As long as the first year didn't CRY he would be alright. Or even if she did he would be alright.

Hopefully.

The last first year he had made cry had been Alexa Cambridge...and that had all turned out stellar in the end.

"Everything alright, Miss Lee?"

Was he going to regret asking?

Was she going to call him that...word again?

Charlotte kind of AGREED in some way with Bentley, it WAS a let down that there wasn't something AMAZING in the chest. CHESTS WERE SUPPOSED TO CONTAIN TREASURE, she knew! She read the stories!

But ALSO, she nudged Bentley with her foot and spoke up LOUDLY: "I bet I can put the MOST INTERESTING thing in there out of ALL the first years!" YEAH. She said this loud enough for the others to overhear it too.

She would WIN thiscompetitionthatshejustmadeupinherheadrightnow.
Charlotte saluted right back just because it felt like the right thing to do, also, she wanted to be FIRST, also she was just now noticing there was food and decorations and everything and even though she wasn't a REAL GRYFFINDOR, she was DEFINITELY going to take advantage of a party. YAY PARTY.

She was just about to go investigate when the Air man jumped and said something about SOLSTICES BEING SWEET? HAH! That tickled her funny bone and Charlotte INSTANTLY wondered how many times SHE could get him to say that this term.

Yup, goals.

Zander let out an audible breath that he must’ve been holding in for all the seconds after he finished his small speech. Professor Flamsteed’s approval gave him the small confidence boost he needed, and the seventh year returned the Professor’s nod with one of his own. Thank Merlin he hadn’t managed to screw another thing up. He had a feeling that Professor Flamsteed wouldn’t be ready to forgive him as easily as he had in the past. And even that wasn’t that easy.

And now was Flammy’s turn for a speech. Zander watched him carefully, actually paying attention for once in his life. ‘Cause this year all these things counted. But now the most important thing… THE BOX. What was in it, sir???? Zander was curious, though he pretended he wasn’t. He was actually DYING on the inside…. I open at the close? Like it was going to open the very last day? Because that was FOREVER away. And knowing Professor Flamsteed, this was gonna be some strategic life lesson and they’d probably never find out what was in the box. Hpmh. It was like that one Astronomy lesson all over again.

Mr. Adair? Wait. No. Okay yes, he had read that one book. But really he just knew about Neville Longbottom and some other things here and there. So please do not ask Mr. Adair, people. He knew nothing. He was the worst person to ask. Always. AHEM. But as for the box, he was right about one thing. It was indeed one of Professor Flamsteed’s zany attempts at a life lesson and self improvement mumbo jumbo, but… it was a time capsule? What.

As if Head duties weren’t enough, then there were NEWTs to worry about, and well now he had to think of something to put into that box too. Life was hard and Zander had to clap and show his support anyways. Plus there’d probably be no way out of this time capsule thing now that he was meant to set a good example.

But he was clapping. Showing his support. YEAH MAKE IT A TERM TO REMEMER and not just ‘cause a kid died. No death this year. That was a rule. Now uh, he was hungry.


It was nice to finally make the move and not avoid Cinna. Avoiding had been entirely too exhausting. Plus, really it was all pointless anyways. Zander didn't have to like Bart to be friends with Cinna. It was stupid. And childish. And he was a very, very highly sophisticated Seventh Year. Popcorn? HECK YEAH!! He almost jumped into the spot Cinna made on the couch and grabbed a handful of popcorn, tossing each piece into his mouth one at a time trying to catch 'em all. Though uh, he missed a few of them. But what matter is that he got the last three in so, nailed it.

"Erm, my summer was pretty boring, actually... I got to see Sophie a bit and went to Diagon Alley a couple of times... But y'know, it was just quiet," he shrugged as if to say 'not a big deal' as he reached for some more popcorn. Hope she wouldn't mind. But he may just end up eating all of it. Oops. "How was yours though? Do anything exciting?" Other than her hair. Because her hair looked really cool now and he didn't remember it being like that last year. It was colorful now.

He reached for some more popcorn, but this time held it out towards her. "Catch!" And popcorn was being tossed towards her mouth. Heh.

Zander grinned as Toddles handed him some snacks. Merlin, this was a step up from the Gryffindor Party two terms back. Ah how times change. "I'm sure studenties are happies to sees-- Uh, I mean, I'm sure everyone's really happy to see you too Toddles." Merlin. He was starting to talk like a House Elf. Weird. "Hope you had a good summer holiday though," Did House Elves get holidays? Hopefully. And he definitely let out an audible laugh at Toddles being all defensive. Hehe. "Well, I'm glad to hear you're beyond that now." Still not bitter or anything but that was like HIS ENTIRE CHOCOLATE COLLECTION LAST YEAR. Ahem. Friends. They were friends now.


Why are Slytherins in the dungeon? "Well that's because..." Actually why were the Slytherins in the dungeons? It was a good question. How come First Years were always so good at questions. It was completely unfair because being a Seventh Year didn't make Zander any better at answering questions. Um. The Gryffindor scratched his head for a minute, confused. Zander was very confused. "I guess they like being next to the lake... And uh, colder climates?" Yeah. Sounds legit. Or well, legit enough. Hopefully she'd buy it 'cause it was the best he had.

.... Oh.

He was being hugged.

Well this was new.

The Gryffindor stiffened up at first, but slowly relaxed opting to give her an awkward pat on the back because she was like millions of feet shorter than he was. It was an awkward hug. Tbt to Draco and Voldemort. "Yeah, of course." Though he wasn't sure what he was being thanked for and also she was still calling him 'Mister Ruler Head Boy Sir'.... Just with his name thrown into the mix.

Larissa put her hands on her hips. "Give this house a chance? I have a better chance of being welcomed in one of the other four houses than this one." Rissa wasn't too sure about that since her social abilities were horrible but she was the first on in her family to be in Gryffindor in a very long time. "Well sorry but I'm pretty sure since you already have friends in this school that you don't know how I feel. I don't know anyone, I try to make friends but look where it's getting me, NO WHERE!" Larissa snapped at her. "I feel like an outsider, I feel worthless and I feel like I'm just taking up space in this house." She didn't care if the girl wanted to know how she felt or not but there she said it.

She didn't want her to feel sorry for her. She didn't even need an apology from this girl. Well what was the point of carrying on with this poor excuse of a conversation. Seeing as she walked away already.

Ellery hadn't thought that far ahead. She peered curiously around the common room, but there weren't any hidden/incognito orchestras, and not even one person played the viola. She half-wished she hadn't given it up a couple years back - this was the PERFECT usage for her years of lessons.

"We havta acapella it, I guess. Improv? OoOOOOr, we could sing your favorite song! What's your favorite song???" She hoped it was something GOOD and ANGSTY and super OUT OF CHARACTER for a Hogwarts PROFESSOR.



As previously shown by actions, Ellery LOVED a good challenge. So when a fellow blonde first year girl posed a bet, she whirled around and immediately challenged her back.

"NUH UH. I bet I got something MORE INTERESTING." She tended to act super compulsively, because she needed to THINK up something she could put in there.

SPOILER!!: Cinna

Quote:

Originally Posted by SarcasticStrawberry

SPOILER!!: Blaise

Cinna was quiet amused by this young lion. She couldn't imagine being this age and being so excited about Hogwarts. Actually she remembered getting her letter she was excited, until her dad said that she was going to be homeschooled. Then begging her dad to go until he let her her third year. Then she was happy. "Yeah. I think everyone is like that when they get their letter. I'm Cinna." Giving the boy a smile.

Clearly the seventh year got along better with the younger kids for some reason. Well unless they where being weird or something."Well yes I did most of my..." She stopped dead in her answer. Eyeing something as it floated over to her. Hey, wait? What was that? "Mmm is that a quick quotes quill?" Continuing to eye the quill, she wasn't sure if she should be answering these questions. Was he working for a media outlet or something? Now eyeing the boy. "What is your affiliation?"
Hmmmmmm?

Cinna. "That's a nice name." He told her, nodding loads and loads to confirm his own words. It didn't occur to him it might have been short for something else simply because he'd known so many people with genuinely short names. "I was super excited--wouldn't even let my sister touch the letter til she started crying." Being the AMAZING big brother he was, he tutted at her and told her not to act so spoiled THEN he let her hold it after she promised she wouldn't rip or ruin it.

The 11 year old was still hanging on to every word she said, when the older girl suddenly stopped talking in favour of eyeing his quill. A wide grin spread across his face at her expression; the fact she was now wary of him didn't cross his mid even once. "It sure is! I got a whole collection of 'em in my trunk! Do you like them too??" But then she was asking about his affi..li..ation...and the boy was suddenly lost. "I...don't have one...?" What...?

SPOILER!!: ZANDER XD

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

...... Detention for not knowing song lyrics? Zander chuckled at the thought. Merlin, this kid. What an imagination, right? Unless there was some new rule about having to know the lyrics. Because in that case, might as well sign Zander up for a permanent spot in the Hooligan Hole. But he was almost 500% sure that there weren't any new rules about the song. He'd have to check on that though, didn't need to land himself in dungeon five the first week back. Especially now that Flamsteed basically trusted him again. Well, hopefully trusted him again. "Errrr... Yeah no, you're gonna have to do a lot more than forget song lyrics to land yourself in a detention cell," yes he said cell. That place was a prison. He knew first hand. Unfortunately. Incase he was curious though, "But I wouldn't recommend it. Stir up some trouble, but just stay out of detention," that was his two cents, anyways. Also... Stir up some trouble... You didn't hear it from him. nope.

On second thought, maybe he shouldn't have said the last bit. 'Cause it looked like the quill thing was taking down every word. And this one might come back to bite him. Oops? As long as none of this note stuff went anywhere near the prophet or the aparecium, he'd be in the clear. Speaking of which, "Huh, well I reckon it's always good to start early," so an eleven year old who already new exactly what he was gonna do in the future and Zander was going to be a Hogwarts graduate soon and he didn't even know what he wanted to eat for breakfast. Talk about a trainwreck, amiright? This Quick Quotes guy was like five hundred steps ahead. Way to keep up, Z. Still, the boy raised an eyebrow at the quill. "I've never seen one before... Is it actually getting every word I say?... And are you actually gonna read them all through afterwards?" Because Zander had been looking at this thing all night and it never stop scribbling things down. Why would the firstie put himself through that kind of torture?


................

ANNNND.....

He could breathe again. That wasn't all that bad. All the mirror practice definitely helped, he was sure of it. Plus it was nice to get the positive responses from everyone afterwards. He was quite pleased when the likes of Ava, Yoongi, Angel, Marsha, and Blaise had joined in with their own cheering. It was comforting. He hadn't screwed up yet. Already a step up from Fifth Year. And sixth. And... Well his whole Hogwarts career essentially. Kind of suspicious y'know?

But now that his task was over, he was dying to hear about what the box held though he was really trying his best to look like he didn't care. So what if mystery boxes normally didn't ever contain anything as exciting as they looked? Zander NEEDED to know. Though, he decided not to go snooping around on his own as he noticed a few other first years were already taking care of that. Speaking of which, he still owed that Charlotte Kettleburn a try of his badge, yeah he kept promises. Something that was sure to bite him in the butt once Maggie decided on her one favor.

Hearing Blaise's desperate question though, the Gryffindor quickly turned to call out to him. "I've been calling her that my whole life," he offered. "But if you can figure out her name, then props to you."


But since Char was occupied with the box at the moment, Zander decided to finally finish his trip over to Cinnamon Bayless. Something he should've probably gone about doing ages ago. "Heeeeey, Cinna," he mussed his hair a little bit as he finally made it over to her. "It's been like, uh, forever." Or like a term or two, but hey! Who's counting? Not Zander that's who. Except, he knew. He just didn't really know how to approach her after things went down hill a year or two back. Especially whilst knowing she was still dating Bart who just so happened to be one of Zander's least favorite people.

But it was their last year. Their last year and Zander would feel absolutely horrible if he didn't at least try and set things straight. Plus, he sorta missed her. A lot. Especially now that Emmy was gone and Bianca and Chance and even ugh Aegis... The seventh year Gryffindors, it was like they were running out. Have to stick together now. 'Cause they were a team after all, Zander had said it himself in his little speech. So uh, what would she say? Friends, part two?

Y'know, for a guy who insisted on saving room to eat desserts in the Common Room, Zander hadn't even had a chance to snack on anything yet. It was the real tragedy of the year. And a lot of the things were already running out and there wasn't even anyone to fill them back-- Oh. Well, THAT was fast. It's like they just knew or something. The Gryffindor didn't even realize which elf had appeared before his robes were being tugged and "TODDLES!" Remember when he hated the little guy? Ah, good times.

Not anymore though. Frenemies for life, yo. Zander didn't want to admit it, but he missed the guy. A lot. So reaching into his pocket, he grabbed a chocolate frog to hold out to the House Elf. "How have you been, buddy?" He grinned. "Haven't been stealing anymore candy from kids yet, have you?" Because he actually liked this batch of new arrivals. Hehehe.

He wasn't sure...but the Head Boy might just have given him permission to cause mischief. Blaise wasn't naturally inclined to such things to be fair, preferring to FIND the trouble and make a brilliant story out of it but this was something to look into. Another class over at the page of his notepad confirmed the quill was once again a liar, or the boy had heard correctly. Either way, "Neat! Have you gotten detention? What's it like down there? Grand Auntie Sophie says it's cold and musty and they have RATS." Blaise had nothing against rats, his voice simply tended to amplify at odd moments when he was excited.

But wait did the fancy Head Boy just say he'd NEVER seen a quick quotes quill before???? WHAT MADNESS WAS THIS?? Blaise was absolutely shocked--mindblown even! For the first couple seconds he didn't even know how to respond but finally he did. "It...gets everything...just...probably not the way it's MEANT to." That was the best way he could describe it. "And I read it all sometimes but other times I let it read to me--mum charmed it that way." Which was really nice for stories around bed.

And he was confirming they could call the woman fat. Welp. He would give it a try and point fingers right back to THAT guy if anything bad came of it.

SPOILER!!: Ellery

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casey O

Ellery whipped her ponytail around to see a young boy, probably around her age, asking about her volume controls. "Yes, of course. But I like to make an IMPRESSION. Apparently, speaking psychologically, people make a first impression based on the first three seconds of interaction. So that means how you look, dress, act, and talk. So I wanted all attention to be on me SOO that my first impression for everyone is GOOD. You get it?" She could explain her reasoning in more detail, because it was working as a distraction from homesickness, which was her REAL rationale.

He didn't get it. Nope. So the 11 year old shook his head a couple times and stared at her curiously. "But what if some people don't like noise--like that one girl over there making faces at you?" Yeah, he saw her but she looked all kinds of grumpy so maybe the noise had nothing to do with it. "In that case, you'd make a BAD first impression and they'd avoid you every chance they got." Kinda like that Daxton kid. Blaise didn't know much about him but he was sure he wouldn't have thought anything 'good' right about now.

"And what if there was someone who liked being the loudest and suddenly you were the loudest? And what if you yelled and made someone lose their nerves then they fired a spell and hurt someone? And what if all they remember you for is the fact you shout and no one bothers to learn your actual name??" Important questions, ones his quill and notepad began floating closer to scribble down.

SPOILER!!: Charlotte LOUD NOISES Kettleburn

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

Charlotte kind of AGREED in some way with Bentley, it WAS a let down that there wasn't something AMAZING in the chest. CHESTS WERE SUPPOSED TO CONTAIN TREASURE, she knew! She read the stories!

But ALSO, she nudged Bentley with her foot and spoke up LOUDLY: "I bet I can put the MOST INTERESTING thing in there out of ALL the first years!" YEAH. She said this loud enough for the others to overhear it too.

She would WIN thiscompetitionthatshejustmadeupinherheadrightnow.


Charlotte saluted right back just because it felt like the right thing to do, also, she wanted to be FIRST, also she was just now noticing there was food and decorations and everything and even though she wasn't a REAL GRYFFINDOR, she was DEFINITELY going to take advantage of a party. YAY PARTY.

She was just about to go investigate when the Air man jumped and said something about SOLSTICES BEING SWEET? HAH! That tickled her funny bone and Charlotte INSTANTLY wondered how many times SHE could get him to say that this term.

Yup, goals.

"THAT'S THE SPIRIT!" he applauded the first year. While a competition wasn't always necessary he certainly wouldn't reject the idea either. Who could argue with it if it provided some form of encouragement? He personally enjoyed being in competition with himself.

SPOILER!!: ZANDER! Who is inspiring a little 4th wall breaking #yolo

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

Zander let out an audible breath that he must’ve been holding in for all the seconds after he finished his small speech. Professor Flamsteed’s approval gave him the small confidence boost he needed, and the seventh year returned the Professor’s nod with one of his own. Thank Merlin he hadn’t managed to screw another thing up. He had a feeling that Professor Flamsteed wouldn’t be ready to forgive him as easily as he had in the past. And even that wasn’t that easy.

And now was Flammy’s turn for a speech. Zander watched him carefully, actually paying attention for once in his life. ‘Cause this year all these things counted. But now the most important thing… THE BOX. What was in it, sir???? Zander was curious, though he pretended he wasn’t. He was actually DYING on the inside…. I open at the close? Like it was going to open the very last day? Because that was FOREVER away. And knowing Professor Flamsteed, this was gonna be some strategic life lesson and they’d probably never find out what was in the box. Hpmh. It was like that one Astronomy lesson all over again.

Mr. Adair? Wait. No. Okay yes, he had read that one book. But really he just knew about Neville Longbottom and some other things here and there. So please do not ask Mr. Adair, people. He knew nothing. He was the worst person to ask. Always. AHEM. But as for the box, he was right about one thing. It was indeed one of Professor Flamsteed’s zany attempts at a life lesson and self improvement mumbo jumbo, but… it was a time capsule? What.

As if Head duties weren’t enough, then there were NEWTs to worry about, and well now he had to think of something to put into that box too. Life was hard and Zander had to clap and show his support anyways. Plus there’d probably be no way out of this time capsule thing now that he was meant to set a good example.

But he was clapping. Showing his support. YEAH MAKE IT A TERM TO REMEMER and not just ‘cause a kid died. No death this year. That was a rule. Now uh, he was hungry.


It was nice to finally make the move and not avoid Cinna. Avoiding had been entirely too exhausting. Plus, really it was all pointless anyways. Zander didn't have to like Bart to be friends with Cinna. It was stupid. And childish. And he was a very, very highly sophisticated Seventh Year. Popcorn? HECK YEAH!! He almost jumped into the spot Cinna made on the couch and grabbed a handful of popcorn, tossing each piece into his mouth one at a time trying to catch 'em all. Though uh, he missed a few of them. But what matter is that he got the last three in so, nailed it.

"Erm, my summer was pretty boring, actually... I got to see Sophie a bit and went to Diagon Alley a couple of times... But y'know, it was just quiet," he shrugged as if to say 'not a big deal' as he reached for some more popcorn. Hope she wouldn't mind. But he may just end up eating all of it. Oops. "How was yours though? Do anything exciting?" Other than her hair. Because her hair looked really cool now and he didn't remember it being like that last year. It was colorful now.

He reached for some more popcorn, but this time held it out towards her. "Catch!" And popcorn was being tossed towards her mouth. Heh.


Zander grinned as Toddles handed him some snacks. Merlin, this was a step up from the Gryffindor Party two terms back. Ah how times change. "I'm sure studenties are happies to sees-- Uh, I mean, I'm sure everyone's really happy to see you too Toddles." Merlin. He was starting to talk like a House Elf. Weird. "Hope you had a good summer holiday though," Did House Elves get holidays? Hopefully. And he definitely let out an audible laugh at Toddles being all defensive. Hehe. "Well, I'm glad to hear you're beyond that now." Still not bitter or anything but that was like HIS ENTIRE CHOCOLATE COLLECTION LAST YEAR. Ahem. Friends. They were friends now.


Why are Slytherins in the dungeon? "Well that's because..." Actually why were the Slytherins in the dungeons? It was a good question. How come First Years were always so good at questions. It was completely unfair because being a Seventh Year didn't make Zander any better at answering questions. Um. The Gryffindor scratched his head for a minute, confused. Zander was very confused. "I guess they like being next to the lake... And uh, colder climates?" Yeah. Sounds legit. Or well, legit enough. Hopefully she'd buy it 'cause it was the best he had.

.... Oh.

He was being hugged.

Well this was new.

The Gryffindor stiffened up at first, but slowly relaxed opting to give her an awkward pat on the back because she was like millions of feet shorter than he was. It was an awkward hug. Tbt to Draco and Voldemort. "Yeah, of course." Though he wasn't sure what he was being thanked for and also she was still calling him 'Mister Ruler Head Boy Sir'.... Just with his name thrown into the mix.

Precisely, Mr. Adair. No way this year anyone's gonna die...and it's gonna be totally awesome.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casey O

Ellery hadn't thought that far ahead. She peered curiously around the common room, but there weren't any hidden/incognito orchestras, and not even one person played the viola. She half-wished she hadn't given it up a couple years back - this was the PERFECT usage for her years of lessons.

"We havta acapella it, I guess. Improv? OoOOOOr, we could sing your favorite song! What's your favorite song???" She hoped it was something GOOD and ANGSTY and super OUT OF CHARACTER for a Hogwarts PROFESSOR.

Acapella.....OooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoh...


OR HIS FAVORITE SONG?!

"SWEET SOLSTICE HOW DO I CHOOSE?!" he exclaimed, flopping down on the sofa that was conveniently behind him and taking on a position reminiscent of Auguste Rodin's The Thinker. "I am going to need time to mull this over. How about we postpone until the weekend," he suggested as he checked his sundial watch. Since it was getting a little on the late side and he still had some matters to attend to back in his office.

Toddles beams at Master kinds words. Toddles happies to sees Master Zander. Toddles has surprise for Master. "Toddles found somethings master." Toddles shows cards that Toddles stoles from Master. Toddles gives back. Toddles be kinds. Toddles will steals others things laters.


Toddles tilts little head at mistress. Toddles confused. Toddle always calls masters and mistress. Toddles beings polites. Mistress seems upset. Toddles bes a bad elf? Toddle wibbles little lip and begins to cry. Toddles not means to upset mistress. "Toddles bad elf. Toddles be bads." Toddles grabs book and begins to smack himself with it. "BAD TODDLES. BAD TODDLES."

Cinna grabbed another marshmallow and popped it on her mouth. And then she handed one to Kaycee. With a smile. Was playing quidditch a good idea for her? It could make her miss Bart more than she was. Lucky getting to play quidditch all of the time. "We don't have too." Sitting here eating sounded good enough for her food was good.

The time capsule though. She liked this idea. "Yes it is. I can already thing of something to put in it. Have any ideas?" Her artwork was the first thing that came to mind, a letter to her future Hogwarts alumni self. That sounded good, just what she needed.


Cinna could not help but to laugh. These first years were so funny and dang they were cuties, too. "Hello Nutmeg! Welcome to Gryffindor and nice to meet you." Yep, too late now this girl was going to be Nutmeg now. That name was stuck with her. Haha "No, Nutmeg is fine Nutmeg." She smiled at the younger girl. So it really seem like Cinna was befriending tons of first year friends this term. "So Nutmeg, tell me about yourself?" If they were going to be spice girls she wanted to know more about her.



This wasn't bad right? Kind of like old times. Old times. Not exactly but clearly everyone had grown up now. No awkward. No hard feelings. Just sitting in the common room sharing popcorn like normal friends did. It was great. She would difinetly need this, this term to get by.


She laughed when he basically pounced the couch. Hi friend. It was nice to be able to say that again. She munched on some of the popcorn too.

And listened about his summer. "Cool. Well let's see. I stayed with Emmy. Seen a couple other friends, worked at my internship. And went to Australia with Bart. And done a few other things." You normal summer stuff. Stuff that anyone else would do. She missed the summer though. As good as it was to be back now.

Oh hi popcorn flying to her. She wasn't exactly paying attention and it missed. She laughed. Oppps she normally caught things. Anyway she popped a few more into the mouth and chewed. "So seventh year? When and how did that happen?" Seriously were they not just third years yesterday?

Cinna just blinked at this girl. Really there was just no point in trying to reason with this girl or even have conversation with her. Stubborn people and stubborn people did not mix well. She just laughed, "Yeah, I'm sure you would." She highly doubted that though. It had taking her the whole time she'd been here to make the friends she did have and now either half where gone or graduated. So yeah maybe she had her reasons why she was so rude. Maybe Larissa had her reasons, too. "You don't know one thing about me, okay. So don't act like you do." See now this new girl got her upset enough that Cinna was actually crying. Well it wasn't all Larissa's fault Cinna had bad tettering on the edge of busting out in tears all night.

So yeah. She wasn't letting this girl see her cry. Nope, no. Not going to happen that's why she was leaving.



Well it would have been nice if she known his name too. Wouldn't it? Because other wise he was going to be 'hey kid'. She would call him that. She'd call everyone that if she didn't know their name. "Thanks. So I'm guessing that's a younger sister?" Being the older sibling it sounded exactly like something she would do. So the kid got brownie points for being a good big brother.

Still eyeing the kid and the quill. Okay so no affiliation. "Freelance then, huh?" She stopped the eyeing. The kid seem cool enough too her. She liked him. Welcome to her firstie collection. "You'll have to let me borrow one kid. Ive always wanted to use one." Beaming at the kid, did he want her to finish answering his questions?

O____O

Kaycee's eyes got big. "No. No. It's fine. Mistress is perfect." Note to self, teary house elf eyes were creepy. REALLY creepy.

"You're a good Toddles." Yup. "Pleasedon'tcry." Pretty please. Do house elves like hugs?

Kaycee shrugged. "Sitting and food sounds good." she said. Quidditch just didn't really do it for her. Plus beach balls made her miss Miami. Which made her miss summer. Which reminded her that the school was going to get freezing soon.

Cue cabin fever.

Anyway.

She smiled. "Yeah. I think I have ideas too. I have things I need to say that I think future me would be happy that she got over." At least that was the hope with these things. You look back and realize you changed.

All that was off the record, right? He eyed the quill. Merlin, if one of the Professors found out he said that... WELP good thing he was graduating this year, amiright? He was trying really hard to figure out what that quill was writing down, but was quickly drawn away from it when Blaise asked another--oh. Uh. Aheeeem. Detention. "Erm, well, just one... And if was awful," he didn't even have to lie just to scare the kid. Zander's detention memories included no smiles. It was a dark place. And Zander intended to never EVER visit dungeon five EVER again. It was even worse than early morning Runes lessons. And THAT was saying something. "Definitely steer clear of those dungeons, they've got things you'll never be able to unsee, kid." Zander would know. He still had nightmares some times.

Ahem.

And yes, yes the not-so-fancy Head Boy was saying that he'd NEVER seen a quick quotes quill thingy before. #Mugglelife. "Huh? You mean it write stuff down wrong?" Could Zander SEE it? Because now he was curious. Merlin, if only he had known about these back when HE was a first year. OWLs would've been a BREEZE. Well, maybe not a breeze. He had Lottie's notes to work with and he still had managed to get only average scores. But it definitely would've made paying attention in class a little less necessary. And the charm he had on it made it even LESS work 'cause he didn't even have to read it himself. NEAT. "Merlin that's awesome!! if only I had gotten one of those... Would've made life lots easier, I'm sure." Or maybe just his classes easier. Same thing really.


"MY CARDS!?!????" Zander's eyes grew probably triple their normal size at the very sight. Merlin, Zander was WONDERING where they all went. He was pretty sure they had all completely disappeared. Remember when he tore apart of House Elves' living space to find 'em? Yeah. And he looked EVERYWHERE and there was no sign. How the heck did Toddles manage to keep these hidden for so long!? "TODDLES!! YOU SEE THIS ONE??? It's Salazar Slytherin!! He's the last founder I needed!!!" Okay so Zander wasn't much of a hugger, but this was big. So he dropped the chocolate frog that Toddles had given him and dropped to the floor onto his knees to wrap his arms around the tiny elf.

Ahem. No one would hear about this right?


Not bad at all. Zander was glad to finally be catching up again. It was weird when they weren't talking. He didn't like it. "Man, I miss Emmy," he mused. "Why isn't she back, anyways?" Unless she was back and Zander had just missed her... Which didn't look too likely as he had practically searched up and down the entire house table to spot his friends earlier.

Her summer sounded loads more interesting than Zander's though. He basically stayed at home the entire time. It was kind of dull. He would've asked about the whole Australia thing had he not been laughing about the popcorn fail. Maybe it was a bad throw? HEH. "Honestly, I don't even know. I still feel like a first year. Except taller and slightly less awkward." Well maybe just taller. He was definitely MORE awkward now than he was back then.