The Library. Garreth was FINALLY going to get to see the world famous Hogwarts library. He could hardly believe the day was upon him. He had seen photographs and heard descriptions, so he had more than a solid understanding of what it was going to look like, but somehow he still pictured it as an enormous open space, bigger than the great hall, lined with books as far as the eye could see. Who knows? Maybe the Head of House himself would be there, and he could finally get over his nervousness and actually talk to him! He couldn't wait! Still, Garreth was a worry-er, and no amount of excitement was going to immunize him completely from coming up with silly reasons to be worried about whatever awaited him.

With slow, deliberate steps down the corridor, the first year made his way toward the Library's entry way. For reasons that he himself wasn't quite aware of, he stopped in the corridor and took a moment to admire the ancient castle's beautiful stonework for the millionth time that day. Something on the wall had caught his attention, and he wanted to investigate. A small crack had formed in one of the walls, and the boy could sense a chilly draft. Was this the sight of some hitherto unknown secret passage? It was all rather fascinating to Garreth, and even though thoughts like this mostly served to postpone his library visit, he had decided long before he came to Hogwarts, that few things were as important as enjoying the time given at Hogwarts, and making the most of his time there included exploring and experiencing the castle without a map. Hogwarts had a way of leading you to where you needed to be.

It was finally time!

Finally time to see the Library! She had been rather busy with her classes and climbing up walls for a charms class to really explore! Not to mention all the stairs sort of deterred her exploring as well. Stairs were NOT her friend and she wondered how many times she would fall down them before she graduated..

She was guessing many!

She pushed her black hair behind her ear and her bright purple eyes were taking everything in! She was constantly on the look out for someplace quiet and Didn't Jazzy say that there was a Balcony on this floor? She would have to check that out too!

She was just thinking about her friend when she stopped and noticed another boy around her age looking at the walls!

She stopped and blinked at him a little.. Wait a minute.. Wasn't he the boy at the feast that was laughing? She remembered trying to focus on him while she had been having a meltdown!

She didn't usually do this.. but..

"Um.. Hey." The nervous first year stood in front of the other boy and smiled.. "Your in Ravenclaw right? I thought I saw you laughing at the feast.. I was having a mild panic attack and so.. your laughing helped me a bit.." Uhhh.. all right that was weird...

"Sorry! I.. uhh.. I'm Azura." She said as she blinked her purple eyes at him.

There was definitely some sort of secret passage behind this wall!

Garreth touched a finger to the wall and ran it along the uneven crack which chaotically split at least four of the rocks that made up the wall. There had to be a secret passageway! Well, maybe not a passageway, but some sort of secret! Hogwarts being the way it was made it difficult for him to believe it was just a random crack in a wall on the fourth floor. It must have had some significance, some meaning.

Or maybe not. Maybe he was just stalling so he wouldn't have to face Mr. Kitridge and make a fool of himself.

He was just about to admit defeat and move on to the library when he heard a voice behind him. Startled, thinking it was one of the ghosts or something, he spun on his heel, and almost tripped. "Merlin!" he exclaimed, but immediately regretted his reaction. Was there no end to the amount of people he would have to embarrass himself in front of before the day was out? "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. You startled me." he gave an apologetic shrug.

Garreth had definitely seen this girl around before. At the feast, during the foodfight, and during the puff-madness at the common room as well. She was on the train, too, but they had never spoken. It was a shame too, because what little Garreth had seen and heard, this girl seemed like a very nice person who it'd be nice to talk to. Of course, he'd never have been able to approach her first. Thankfully, she'd been brave enough to take care of that issue. "Hi, Azura. I'm Garreth." he introduced himself warmly. "Yeah, I'm in Ravenclaw, and so are you! I saw you at the common room!" the boy spoke enthusiastically about his new house, obviously very proud.

Wait, what did she say? Panic attack? The boy frowned a little and raised an eyebrow. "Panic attack? Are you okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned. Food fights were stressful, but panic attacks? How awful!

Azura's purple eyes went wide as the boy she had talked to.. turned around quickly and yelled!

She herself stumbled back a little and fell backwards, thankfully there was a wall behind her and she didn't have too far to go, otherwise that could have been terrible! How many times had she fallen in front of boys?

Or you know.. broken her nose in front of the entire house.. or fallen off a wall in charms? Blazing Basilisks.. this was not a proper way to start a term! "Oh, it's totally all right, I'm so sorry for startling you." She said with a warm smile and an apology of her own.. Perhaps she shouldn't have spoken to his back? That probably would have been the wiser choice!

"It's so nice to meet you Garreth, I've seen you in the common room as well! You were quite the wonder with those Pygmy puffs!" She had seen him and Jace battling them, while she had been waiting for Jazz and Mr.Kitridge to come fix her nose! She herself had not been amazing with the chaos, she had fallen.. Which was so typical for her!

Azura put on a warm smile as she asked if she were okay.. "Oh, I'm perfectly fine.. It was just a small one, I thought I was going to lose my friend.. but we got it all straightened out.. and so everything all right." She said with a nod. "Thank you though, that's really kind of you." She said as she pushed her hair behind her ears and smiled at him.

Garreth winced. For a split second, he thought Azura was going to fall! What a great first impression that would have made on the poor girl. He really should be more careful, but at least she wasn't mad at him. In fact, she apologized herself, unnecessary as it was. "It's okay, I'm just easily startled!" he chuckled back at her.

The boy had been rather worried that Azura had seen him make a fool of himself in the common room, but apparently, she'd only seen his 'heroics' versus the Puffs alongside Jace. "It's very nice to meet you too, Azura!" he used her name, as doing so was often helpful when it came to remembering the names of people one recently met. "Thank you, I tried my best. I've almost gotten the hang of the knockback jinx already!" he was quite proud of his accomplishment, even if by most standards, it wasn't all that impressive.

"Speaking of those pygmy puffs.." he remembered. "Didn't you fall or something? Is your nose okay?" He hadn't noticed her fall, but he'd seen her nose bleeding, and he recalled being rather shocked by an injury that serious having been inflicted by some puffs. Of course, he had hurt his knee in the chaos, so he understood. He did hope the girl was alright. They had all had a rather rough start to the year, and it was probably a lot to take in for every student, let alone the first years! Garreth was luckily spared homesickness of any sort, but he was certain that if he was as homesick as Rachel, for example, the events of the first few days at Hogwarts would only serve to make it worse. He hoped the professors or the headmistress would do or say something to ease their worries about the coming term.

"Lose your friend?" Garreth sounded rather horrified. That was possible? You could just up and lose your friends? What could possibly make something as horrible as that happen? "What do you mean?" it didn't even occur to the oblivious boy that she may not want to discuss it. What could possibly cause someone to LOSE a friend? What a terrible thought! He didn't wish to dwell on it.

Azura smiled a little as Garreth spoke about how he was easily startled.. "Well, next time we meet, I'll make sure to make a lot of noise to let you know that I am coming." She said with a warm smile as she teased him lightly! He was like a baby deer!! They had to be approached carefully lest the startle and run away!

She nodded as he spoke. "Well it certainly looked impressive to me." Seeing as what she had managed to do was get her nose broken! "That's impressive! I can do some charms, but I haven't gotten the hang of jinxs yet.. also I haven't learned them.. so there's that." She was pretty sure she would be good at wandwork.. but she she had to learn more first!

"Ohh.. well." She blushed a little as he asked what had happened to her.. Making a fool of herself in front of the entire class! "Well, I had gotten up out of my chair when the chaos ensued.. and since I happen to be.. clumsy.. everything flying around made me fall over and I smashed my face into the chair.. and broke my nose.." again She looked up at him bashfully. "But I am all right, Mr.Kitridge healed my nose!" She was so thankful to Jazzy for going to get him! Otherwise who knows what would have happened!!

"Yeah, I was just scared that he would meet new people and like them more than me.. and not want to talk to me anymore!" She said with a bit of a sigh and a shrug.. "Kinda dumb right? But.. I just got a sudden panic.. and it sort of over took me at the feast." It HAD just been the two of them up to that point.. so of course she would be nervous!

Pleasantly surprised that he hadn't managed to scare the girl away with his awkwardness or by almost making her fall over, Garreth gave a quick nod. "Yes, that would probably be wise!" he chuckled in agreement. If only if more people went around making noise instead of sneaking around like their lives revolved exclusively around scaring Garreth.

He nodded along with her, listening intently as she complimented his spellwork and spoke about her own. "Well, it's not THAT impressive." he made an attempt to sound modest. "I know we haven't really gone into jinxes yet, and according to my textbook, we're chapters away from even touching on the simplest ones, but the knockback jinx IS a first year spell, so I figure I'm not breaking any rules by reading ahead a bit." he admitted, shrugging his shoulders. He didn't want to get TOO far ahead of the rest of his year, lest his professors think him dabbling with spells beyond his ability, but if there was anything in the world that Garreth truly loved, it was learning. He couldn't really limit himself to the pace set by the curriculum, now that he was actually allowed to practice magic.

Clumsy? Her? Hah! "You think you're clumsy?" he smirked. "I'm the clumsy one! I almost fell over when you came and talked to me just now, and I somehow managed to destroy my knee during the puff commotion in the common room." he chuckled, tapping his knee with his open palm. Thankfully, he'd received treatment, but it still hurt a little bit.

Azura's fear seemed very reasonable to Garreth. If he was honest with himself, he felt the same nearly every day. "No, no, it's not dumb at all!" he shook his head vigorously. "In fact, I know what you mean. When I first got to be friends with Rachel - have you met Rachel? She's really nice, you'd like her - at first I thought she'd just find someone more interesting than me and immediately lose interest in being my friend, but I've since learned that she would never do that. I'm sure your friend is the same." he tried to reassure her. He was quite sure, now that he'd met and gotten to know Rachel, that people were most certainly capable of transcending ones wildest beliefs about them.

Azura giggled softly as Garreth agreed with her! He WAS a baby deer! And so she nodded.. "Well, I should find some bells to wear when I go out walking.. that way you and the entire school can hear me wherever I go." That.. might not actually be a bad idea though.. If she fell at least someone would hear the bells right?

Hmmmm.. She might have to look into that!

She listened as he spoke about jinxs and she nodded.. "Of course not! You are a Ravenclaw aren't you? We are supposed to read ahead and learn them.. and I totally should have thought of that myself.. I really want to learn the cushioning charm though.. it would make my life so much easier! It totally would too! She could just cushion where she was going to fall and Voila! No more broken noses! Ahh that sounded good!

She giggled a little as he said that HE was the clumsy one and she burst into laughter as he said what he had done! "Well, all right.. i'll admit you might be a little clumsy.. but I broke my nose.. twice, before I even got on the train!! I bruised it again while down at the lake, broke it in the common room.. and then fell off the wall in charms class." Ugh.. not even close to her finest moment! "We better watch out if we hang out together though.. we both might break something! She laughed a little as she teased him.

Her purple eyes went wide as he spoke! He got it!! He TOTALLY got it!! Wow.. it was like he was INSIDE her brain!

"Yes I've met Rachel.She's super nice." She agreed with him as she gave him a warm smile. "Wow.. I think you must be inside my head.. because that is exactly how I feel, about Jasper.. He was with me in the common room. I thought I was going to lose him, but he said I wouldn't..

So.. yeah.. I hope it's the same for both of us! She smiled a bit shyly at him.

Garreth couldn't help but snicker when the girl spoke about wearing bells. "Pfft, no! It's not just you!" he chuckled and shook his head. "I get startled by everyone and everything. The groundskeeper could fart in his cabin, and I'd jump!" he joked with a giggle. A few months ago, Garreth had been way to insecure about his faults to joke about them the way he was doing, but starting school and getting to know Rachel had really begun to help him change for the better.

Oh joy! Someone who actually understood and perhaps even shared his undying thirst for new knowledge. The Cushioning charm? Drat! Garreth didn't know that one! "I don't know the Cushioning charm." he admitted with an apologetic shrug. "I know the softening charm, though! Will that do?" he hoped he could help her learn something. Maybe she knew some spells he didn't, and they could share!

The boy's smile was replaced with a pained grimace as she told him how many times she'd hurt her nose. He covered his face with his hands again and groaned. "Oh my gosh, that must have been awful every time! Is your nose okay? You're lucky we have people who know how to fix that sort of thing!" the poor girl! He thought he was unlucky because he hit his knee ONCE! He couldn't imagine how she must have felt.

It seemed Garreth and Azura had many things in common. It gave the boy hope, as he had thought he wouldn't have much in common with anyone at school. In his experience, he shared little with kids his age, but this girl was into actually working on school outside class! And she had the same worries he had when meeting new people. "It's like YOU'RE in MY head!" he chuckled. The girl had been so worried, just like he had been. Looking back on it now, there was nothing to fear, and that seemed so obvious. "There's definitely hope!" he agreed with a smile.

"I haven't met Jasper." the boy scratched his head. Azura spoke rather highly of him, and he thought it a shame that he had no idea who she was even talking about. Well, maybe he had SOME idea; someone he'd seen at the feast, or in the common room, but he wasn't sure who Jasper was. "Maybe you could introduce us later?" he smiled.

Azura burst into giggles as Garreth spoke.. "Well, I hope we don't hear that!! He might need to lay off the beans if they are that loud!" She said as she joked back with him! "But with me being so clumsy.. bells might actually help! She said with a nod as she pushed her dark hair behind her ear.

Azura smiled as Garreth spoke, "Don't worry about not knowing it, I was actually thinking about going to the charms professor and asking him about it, seeing as I don't know what year we learn it in, and I need it as soon as possible!" She said with a nod, the faster she learned that.. the quicker her injuries would stop! She thought for a moment as he spoke.. "It might actually! I could try it." Her black head nodded a bit before..

"Do you want to know any healing charms?" She offered. [b]"I'm pretty good with those, my mom is a healer at St.Mungos." She explained.

She nodded slowly her purple eyes pinched with pain at the memories. "It was horrible, and I kept on doing it in front of people.. mostly boys too." Ugh.. "Forget trying to impress anyone when your nose is bleeding.." And bruised and you are in pain! She said with a shake of her head. "But yes, I'm totally fine now.. Thankfully people healed it pretty quickly, I need to learn to Episky myself!"

She laughed as he said she was in his head.. "Well, It's nice there, I think I like it." She said with a giggle as she looked up at him. She was making a friend and it was a nice feeling. One who HADN'T even mentioned her odd colored eyes too! She hated feeling like some sort of freak..

Of course Jazzy hadn't said much about them either!

"Oh, you totally need to meet him! He's the greatest person ever." An emphatic nod followed this statement. "And I'll introduce you two, maybe next time we are in the common room!"

Garreth was finding it more and more difficult to stifle his giggles. He knew it wasn't smart to laugh at fart jokes, but no matter how many books he read, or how many spells he learned, he was still just an 11 year old boy. Fart jokes were and would always be hilarious. "Come now, I'm sure you don't need bells." he waved his hand in the air, as if swiping away the mere concept of Azura being that clumsy. "What you need is for someone to move the furniture so it's not always in the way when you need to get somewhere!" the boy joked. "In-fact, I think I could use that as well!"

He nodded attentively when she spoke of going to see the Charms professor. He had considered going to him for advice on how far ahead he could read in the book without being a danger to himself and others - after all, the curriculum was decided the way it was for a reason - but he simply hadn't gotten around to it. He might ask Mr. Kitridge in the library later on. He knew everything! At least, Garreth thought so. "That's a good idea. I don't know which year the Cushioning Charm is either. I haven't seen it in our 'Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1', so I don't think it'll be this year." the boy considered the words 'cushioning charm' very seriously, wracking his brain for any mention of them in their first year spellbooks, but found none. Garreth's photographic memory meant he remembered everything he read. If he didn't recall it being mentioned in the book, it wasn't.

"The Softening Charm might be just as good, though!" he smiled optimistically. "As far as I know, they work fairly similarly." the boy reached for one of the books he carried under his arm and flipped through it for a moment, locating the page he was after within moments. "Here, look." he directed Azura's attention towards the illustration of the wand movement and the incantation. Deciding a demonstration was in order, he accompanied that movement by fishing his wand out of his breast pocket and pointing it at the cracked wall.

"Spongify! he called out with confidence and gave a swish of his wand. The tip flashed a hot pink for a moment, but otherwise all seemed normal. "I think it worked." he said, reaching a hand out to the wall, giving a surprised yelp when the stonework gave way under his push and formed around his hand, much like a mattress or a soft, fluffy pillow. He gave Azura a triumphant smile, relieved that he'd managed it and not made a fool of himself again.

"I would love to learn some healing charms. Come to think of it, I don't know a single one!" It suddenly occurred to him that he had completely neglected to learn any spells that would help him or his friends if they got hurt. What a stupid thing to do! Of course, if Azura was willing to help him learn any charms like that, he was more than willing to learn.

"Sorry about the mess." he smirked as she said she liked it in his head. The girl seemed to have a lot on her mind, but she was so nice! She was one of the few people he had been brave enough to actually try to get to know, and he didn't regret it. Not once had the girl mentioned him being weird or awkward or anything like that! In his experience, kids his age would always find something weird about him. Some reason to pick on him. Sometimes, it was the glasses, and other times it was his affinity for reading. Sometimes the other kids would just make fun of him for no reason at all. He'd had a difficult time making friends before coming to Hogwarts, but the people here were different. Azura was a fantastic example of that fact!

"I would love to!" the boy beamed. "Mind you, I sometimes get rather nervous meeting new people. You're very easy to talk to, and we have many things in common. Do you think your friend would like me?" he had always been rather self-conscious, even if he was getting better at believing in himself. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was Garreth's confidence.

Azura giggled as Garreth said that she didn't need bells.. She begged to differ! "Well, all right, but just think about it.. Everyone would know I'm around.. I'd be like a little kitten with bells on it's collar.. I would jingle when people called me." Another laugh escaped her throat as she leaned against the wall. Laughing and standing were not easy!

"They need to move EVERYTHING then.. though furniture would help." The Raven haired girl mused softly.

She frowned a little as he said that he hadn't seen the cushioning charm in there year.. Yes, she would have to go to the professor! Because she needed to learn that charm! Her life pretty much depended on it! "Well, it looks like I am going to visit a Professor.. maybe he will recognize me as the girl who fell off the wall and take pity on me?" She wasn't sure about that though..

Her eyebrows raised as he spoke about the softening charm and she looked at the book studying it closely, repeating it to herself.. and then she paid careful attention to Garreth as he performed it..

"Ohhh.. that does look like it would be helpful!" She said as she too poked at the wall with her hands.. and then.. she took out her wand.. "I wanna try!" She looked at the wall and with a smile she pointed her wand at the wall and called out "Spongify!" Her wand tip also flashed hot pink and she looked at the wall for a moment before pushing her hand against it.. and an excited squeal left her lips as it sunk into the wall just as Garreth's had!!

"I did it!! Garreth..I.." Ohh.. she had gotten into trouble with that earlier.. She had told Jasper she loved him and he nearly itched his head off and stared at her like she had two heads! That memory still twisted her heart as she took a breath to clear the image of his frightened face from her mind.. Cause apparently it was terrible that she loved him!!

"I think you just saved my nose quite the damage in the future! She responded excitedly.

"Well, I can teach you.. but it'll be difficult if we can't practice on anything.. " She said with a nod as she looked over at him..

She giggled as he spoke about what it was like in his head.."Hey, we are Ravenclaws right? We think a lot, I would be surprised if it wasn't messy." She retorted at him with a smile, before "Though, let's hope I don't trip in here and break my nose!" She giggled at her statement and leaned back on the wall for a moment.

"Oh Jazzy gets nervous too, he'll itch his neck when he is.. so don't mind that! He's easy to talk to as well." She said with a nod.. she wasn't even close to being an expert on her friend.. but she knew they would get a long!

"Of course he will! I couldn't imagine him not! She said reassuringly.

The girl's laughter was infectious, but as she spoke those words, a frightening thought occurred to Garreth. "Don't be silly!" he smirked back at the girl. "If you wore bells and made a lot of noise as you traveled the castle, you could never enter the library again!" how terrible a thought! To attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and never be able to enter the hallowed halls of it's world-famous library! A thought so horrible that Garreth could scarcely believe it was his mind that had conjured it!

"Everything? Have you been tripping over things other than the furniture?" he asked curiously. What else was there to trip over? Then again, with no couches or cushions around, what was there to break her fall if she DID trip?

Oh joy! Garreth actually had the opportunity to pass on something he'd learned! What an honor! And it would seem Azura wasted no time when it came to getting hands on experience with a spell! Her wand was already out! Garreth paid close attention to her as she repeated the spell he had shown her, and succeeded on her first try! "Wonderful!" he beamed. She'd done very well in replicating the exact wand movement! "It seems you too have a knack for these things!" he poked his wand into the spongy wall. He turned his attention back to the spellbook and flipped through it quickly. "I'll tell you what problem you and I both seemed to have though." he began, stopping at a page, looking over it quickly and then directing his gaze to the tip of his wand, which he held aloft in front of his face. "According to this, the flash is meant to be green."

He had passed on his knowledge of the softening charm, and Azura had spoken about healing charms, so now the boy was truly excited. Maybe he could actually learn to heal some minor wounds! He frowned when the girl said she said it would be difficult to learn to heal wounds without any wounds to heal, but he had an idea. The first year raised up the leg of his pants and pointed at the band-aid on his knee. "Will this do? I know it happened the other day, but it's not healed as well as it probably should. Maybe we can use it to practice?" he smiled. It seemed that perhaps his injury had been a blessing in disguise. After all, as his father always said; 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.'

Garreth snickered at Azura's continued joking. She was so funny! "I wouldn't worry about tripping in there! It's messy, but there probably aren't enough things in there to trip over!" he grinned.

"Jazzy?" he repeated with a smirk. "Is that a name you gave him? We've only just arrived, but Haddie already calls me 'Gary', and she's getting the others in on it too." the boy scratched the back of his head with a shrug. "I don't mind the nickname, but the least they could do is spell it with two R's!" he chuckled.

Azura's laughter died instantly in her throat as Garreth brought up an excellent point. The girl's bright purple eyes went wide and she almost let out a soft whimper.."That.. is a good point.. I won't wear bells then." She said as she nodded solemnly at him. That WAS an awful though and she had to clutch the wall a little in order not to fall over! Or she could take the bells off when the got to the Library..That could work?

Azura slowly nodded her head a bit as Garreth spoke.."I tripped over Rocks at the lake, and my own cart in the station.." Twice really.. but the second time wasn't her fault.. "And uneven pavement.. and any time I run." She winced a little as she leaned back against the wall, yeah.. she had some issues.

Her broad smile that had pasted on her face when he said she had a knack for things..when he said that they had both done something wrong! "What?" She had done something wrong? Say it wasn't so! She didn't do things wrong.. Except accidentally tell boys she loved them and them watch them look at her in horror.

She tugged at Garreth's sleeve so she could see the book and she looked carefully at the page before going.. "We were putting the wrong emphasis on the wrong syllable!" She said with a nod, as she looked up at him, Austin had taught her it was very important to get the pronunciation right! She took out her wand again, and aimed it at the wall.. "SpongiFY!" And with that her wand tip glowed green.. and she poked the wall again..

"There!" She said with a warm smile..

She looked at him as he pulled up his pant leg and pointed to a band-aid.. "I think it might do." She knew Episky wouldn't work on that, but she had some other charms up her sleeve that would work.. she thought!

She giggled as he spoke and she nodded. "All right! I'll try to make sure that I don't fall over anything.. Hey look a couch!" She joked with him.

Azura nodded. "Mmmmhmmm, that's my special nickname for him! She said proudly.Before laughing a bit.. "Gary? I would have thought Garret would have been a good one." She said with a laugh.

"You could either wear the bells and never be allowed in the library, or forget the bells and live in constant threat of nose-breakage!" Garreth shook his head at the girl. "It's a lose-lose situation!" what a difficult time to be Azura! Well, in any case, Garreth was confident she could figure it out. Hopefully she wouldn't trip anymore! It seemed she had gotten her fair share of injuries over with right at the start of the year! Her yearly injury quota was officially met.

The boy winced as Azura told him of the times she had tripped. Ouch. It had obviously been a rough start to the year. The way she talked about it, it didn't really sound like it was normal though. Well, except maybe when she said she tripped every time she ran anywhere. "There must be something that can be done to help you with your tripping." he thought aloud, puzzling over the unique predicament. "On the other hand, it's not just you. I tripped over my cat the oteher day!" he smirked. "Speaking of which.. Where is Effie?" the boy shot a quick look down the hall, but returned his attention to Azura within a moment. No Effie there.

The boy was genuinely puzzled when Azura attempted the softening charm and got the result described in the book. SpongiFY? What on Earth? That was the silliest way to pronounce something he'd EVER heard. SURELY it HAD to be SPONGE-ify. Surely. It had to be. No? Azura HAD gotten the green flash as described in the book, but otherwise the effect seemed identical. "I wonder if that pronunciation makes any other difference than the color of the flash." he pondered aloud, raising an eyebrow at the girl. He'd love to hear her ideas.

He smiled as she told him his little knee-cut would do for their purposes. They would only have one chance to patch him up though, as he wasn't about to voluntarily hurt himself again just to practice some charms. "What spell would you recommend for something like this?" the first year was very curious about healing charms, and as he didn't know a single one yet, was excited to learn his first one! He imagined himself helping out a friend with a cut or a bruise of some kind and feeling like he saved the day!

"Where?" he spun on his heel as Azura joked about there being a couch nearby, as if couches were now the number one killer of clumsy Hogwarts student. He turned back with a grin. Of course he was kidding. Always such a joker, that Garreth.. No wait.. Garreth NEVER joked with someone he'd met so recently. In-fact, he barely ever joked with the people he'd known for YEARS! Either this Azura girl was really easy to talk to, or he was getting more and more comfortable with getting to know new people! Maybe it was a little bit of both?

"What's special about it? Do you mean only you get to use it?" he snickered, still going over the name "Gary" in his head. "Garret? Just remove the th sound?" the boy looked confused. "I think Haddie thinks my name is too archaic. She probably wants me to be named 'Bob' or something."

Azura giggled a little and shook her head.. "Apparently it's hard to be me right now, I shall forgo the bells and attempt to walk slowly and hope that the floor doesn't suddenly want to meet me." She said with a soft giggle.. "Perhaps that is my problem? The ground just wants to say hi?" She joked softly as she leaned against the wall a bit, making sure she wasn't going to fall over now!

She shrugged as Garreth said that there must be something she could do. "I don't know, Jace wants to teach me.. some sort of balance thing that is supposed to help me out, but I don't know if it will work or not." She said with a smile. She really needed to talk to Jace about that actually! They hadn't really mentioned it when they had met the other day.. But then again, that meeting hadn't really been planned, he had just joined her on the balcony.

She smiled a bit as he mentioned that he had tripped over his cat. "Well, a cat is easy to trip over, especially since they like to wind around your feet." Yeah, sometimes she was convinced that cats actually tried to kill people. "Oh, is she around here?" Azura looked around as well, but she hadn't seen any cat!

Azura shrugged, "Well according to Austin, it had an effect, you need to say it right otherwise the spell won't be as powerful." She said with a warm smile as she watched him look at the book again and he raised an eyebrow at her.. "Other than what I just said.. I'm not sure actually.. but It has to mean something.. otherwise you could say it any old way and still get the same effect." She pointed out to him.

Azura thought for a moment as she looked at his little cut, "Well, Episky is only for broken things.. and Vulnera Sanentur is for really deep cuts.. however.. this might work." She looked at him and then told him the incantation.. "Now you just repeat that, while aiming you wand at the cut.. It should work just fine and there is no consequences if you get it wrong.. just give it a try." She said with a warm smile.

Azura smiled a little as she looked up at Garreth.. "There's a couch in your head silly, cause that's where I live now." She teasing him gently as he looked around for this couch she spoke of! "It's quite comfy as well!" She giggled a little bit, before her purple eyes went wide as he spoke..

She nodded solemnly, "I mean that I thought it up, no one else has, so yes.. It is my name for him." She said with a proud little smile as she looked at him and nodded. "Mmmm, with the th.. Garret!" She grinned at him before giggling.."Bob doesn't fit you at all!"

Torrance was head down the Hall. He had a satchel full of items to use. One of his Uncle's Benton's Dad had Owled him a package. his lucky dice he had accidentally left behind, and a party box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. The Satchel was a special gift to carry the beans in. something like an extension charm inside it.

Tory also carried his deck of self-shuffling playing cards (+1 weird card from the Ugly Hag when he bumped into her on the Train) in it now, and his Remembrall...which was already glowing red once more.

He stopped at a Balcony and looked outwards into he horizon of the mountains surrounding Hogwarts, the Lake, the Sky, the Forest, it was all pretty awesome.

Seemed like as good a place as any to chill.

He sat down and opened up his satchel reaching in and pulling out his Dice, and the big box of beans.

Garreth was having a hard time stifling his laughter. "Of course, that's much more plausible! The floor just wants to say hi! Who's to say the floor can't be animate if the staircase and the paintings are?" he mused with a shrug. He had only meant it as a joke, but now that he thought about it, was there any reason the building itself couldn't be just as alive as the paintings? Anything's possible with magic, after all.

The boy looked a little skeptical when Azura mentioned learning something from Jace about balance. "Can you really LEARN to be less clumsy?" he asked, intrigued. "I mean- Not that you're clumsy, of course!" he winced. Sometimes, he could be such an idiot. He just had a hard time picturing how one could LEARN to be less clumsy. Of course, dexterity and agility were things that could be practiced and honed over time, but balance? It made sense, of course, seeing as tightrope walkers must practice for a reason, but the actual process of practicing was a mystery.

Effie was such a loving cat, it was hard for the boy to imagine her having any ill intentions towards any creature, let alone a human being. No, while other cats were jerks that got in the way and made people trip and looked at the world as if it belonged to them, Effie was different. She could be a little difficult sometimes, sure, but how the cat cared for Garreth was so obvious that it was impossible to ignore. Just as Azura asked the question, Garreth noticed the Burman poke her head around the corner and come tip-toeing over. "There she is!" he smiled brightly and pointed at the cat. "Effie, meet Azura. Azura, meet Effie!"

The boy gave Azura's words quite a lot of thought and reflected on the words in the book. Of course the pronunciation was important, but the color of the flash? "What is the significance of the flash color?" he looked up at the girl and posed what was probably a question better suited for one of the professors than a first year student. "It's freaky, but I don't think it says anywhere in this book what a flash color actually means, nor does it say what to do if you get another color than what's described in the book!" How odd! This was a mystery that was just begging to be explored!

Ooh, a healing charm! Finally! The boy knelt down and removed the band-aid that covered his cut. It hadn't even occurred to him that there could be ill effects of botching a healing spell, and the thought worried him slightly, but Azura's confidence in the spell being very safe was reassuring and comforting. "Alright, here goes..." he mumbled up at her and pointed his wand at the cut. He whispered the incantation, repeating it as perfectly as he could. They didn't want a "different color flash" scenario when it came to healing charms, that's for sure! He winced a little when the cut began to quickly seal. It didn't really hurt, but it was a strange sensation that the boy found very uncomfortable. Regardless, he'd managed it! Hurrah! "I did it!" he laughed up at Azura and stood up, moving his leg around, completely unhindered.

Again, he couldn't help but snicker at the girl's jokes. Of course there was a couch in his head, and of course Azura was welcome to live there. Just as long as he could keep the TH part of his name!

Blaise was feeling positively miserable as was expected of the boy who was suddenly forced to go without his quick quotes quill. He still couldn't understand it. It was just food, who did it really hurt? Why did he have to owl his things home to his parents? It hadn't been THAT bad. Merlin, you could swear he robbed Gringotts.

Now he was back to manually writing everything down and he didn't get NEARLY everything his quill might have. Felling perfectly horrid, the 12 year old made for the balcony on the fourth floor. It had a nice view of the rest of the grounds...and apparently a First Year; that Tory kid who was friends with Liv.

"What'chu got there?" He asked, curiously walking forward.

It was real odd not having his little buddy floating there along next to him...very very odd. He wasn't used to this life.

Torrance opened up the box of beans and Whoa....that was A LOT of Every Flavor in there. There might even be an undiscovered flavor bean. Wouldn't that be a catch!? Tory picked up the dice in his hand, and was about to roll them when he was stopped by a familiar voice.

the young lion looked up, and it was Blaise. Though something was off about him. Did he get a haircut, grow taller, get shorter, whitened his teeth, nose job, new pair of pants? Something was off and he couldn't quite place it.

Though he hadn't really seen enough of the older housemate to really figure what it was that had changed.

"Hi Blaise" Tory waved him over and beckoned him to sit down. "I was going to play a game, you want to play too?" He opened his hand to reveal the die in it, then looked down at the large box of Every Flavor Bean.

It was really a bad day for little Jessie. Usually she'll use her spare time to exploring Hogwarts.

She likes to find something new. She's been risking her life with sneaked into greenhouse four.Full with dangerous plants. Ended with watering them with professor Myers. Then visiting the giant whomping willow, tried the muggle artifact maze, and had a problem with Peeves in the library.


Jessie walking aimlessly. Gave no attention to other students who walk passed her.

She was deep in thought....

Azura was grinning at Garreth as he struggled not to laugh, her purple eyes were bright with mirth and she was having such a blast with her new friend! "Of course, you see the ground and the grass have never seen a girl with purple eyes either, so they want to get a better look at them." She smirked at him.."Though apparently they haven't impressed you that much.. usually my eyes at the first thing people notice." She stuck her tongue out at him..

It was actually refreshing.. Though Austin straight up telling her that her eyes were beautiful WAS kind of nice!

She bit her lip as she looked up at Garreth as he asked if she could learn not to be clumsy! "Ha! You admit it, I AM clumsy.. and I don't actually know if you can or not..Jace swears he can teach me, something called.. Kendo." She wasn't fully sure what it was, or how it could help her out at all, but she was willing to try anything! She would even take even a marginal upgrade over what she was now.. She wanted to run!! "It will be interesting to say the least, but if it works.. I and my nose will be a much happy person." Not to mention, Jazzy would get less heartattacks, which was good as well!

Azura's black hair whipped around as Garreth said there she was and she felt her purple eyes go wide!! EEEKKKK That was the cutest thing ever!! "Hey Effie." Azura said as she slowly knelt down and put her fingers out for the cat to smell.. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Azura." She said in a soft voice with a warm smile.. Merlin! Could it get any cuter?? "She's so adorable!" She said with a happy smile up at Garreth.

Azura almost felt like her brain had short circuited when Garreth asked her what the meaning of the flash color was.. She stared at him for a moment, her mind whirling.. before it stopped... "Uhhhhh." Was the only thing the young Ravenclaw could get out! "That might be a question that we need to ask the Professor." She said with a nod, because she honestly didn't know!!

She shook her head a little as he focused on healing his cut and she slowly looked at him silently cheering him on as he said the spell perfectly, she watched in satisfaction as the desired effect was had and she smiled happy at him! "You did it! She said jumping up and down a little in her happiness! She almost hugged him! But she refrained of course.. Apparently only Jazzy got impromptu hugs.. And love confessions.

"Of course they've impressed me, they're very beautiful. It just didn't strike me as all that unusual!"Of course Garreth had noticed Azura's purple eyes, but the boy had grown up reading about every manner of magical creature imaginable, and had spent much of his childhood in the care of his grandparents on his father's side, who lived in rural Norway, a place where one could be much more open about magic than in England. He'd met all sorts of people with all sorts of strange and unusual features. Polite society dictated that one not mention another's physical abnormalities, and so the boy had trained himself not to. "I've seen all sorts of unusual features on people, and purple eyes, although beautiful, are hardly anything to get all worked up over."

The boy genuinely thought Azura's eyes were lovely, and hoped she wouldn't misunderstand him. It must get annoying after a while with new people always commenting on her eyes just because they were a slightly unusual color. After a while, Garreth imagined he would become quite self-conscious about it.

He quickly shook his head in protest when she said he'd admitted her being clumsy! "No, of course not!" he giggled. His eyebrows shot up at the mention of Kendo, a word he recalled from a book he had once read. Searching his Eidetic memory, he recalled it being a Japanese martial art focusing heavily on swordplay. "I've heard of that!" he smiled at her. "But isn't that very sword-focused? I figure the school has a zero-tolerance policy on swords." he teased.

Effie was always a hit with the ladies.

The gentle critter sniffed and brushed up against Azura's fingers, purring in contentment. Garreth already knew Azura was a really nice person, but if there was ever any doubt, Effie's immediate acceptance of her would have destroyed it completely. The first year's faithful companion had always been and would always be a far better judge of character than he could ever hope to be. She moved over to Azura's feet and found herself some shoes to sit on. She tended to get in the way of the people she liked, and there was no better place for her to sit than directly on top of their feet.

He shrugged at Azura's answer and shook his head. "I'll ask Mr. Kitridge later. He's bound to know." as usual, he spoke very highly of the Ravenclaw Head of House, as to Garreth, Leobald Kitridge was nothing short of a celebrity. There were very few people on Earth whom Garreth looked up to more. In-fact, he couldn't think of a single person just off the top of his head.

He had done it! His first ever healing charm! "Hurrah!" he cheered with a laugh. Effie was slightly startled by the commotion and stood up from Azura's feet, only to return once they were finished cheering Garreth's - quite frankly unimpressive - achievement.

A game might not have been so bad. At the very least it would take his mind off his missing quill and notepad that he'd grown so accustomed to having along with him. Of course, given what this sort of game LOOKED like, it was more likely it would have him missing it even more.

With a small shrug, the boy plopped down across from Tory, crossing his legs and resting his elbows on either.

"Sure, what kind of game?" Was it like when he and Bentley tried the every flavoured beans? He'd always been on the fence about that game considering JUST how imaginative the makers of these beans were but what could it hurt?

"What d'we need the dice for?" As he spoke, he pulled a plain notepad from his pocket and a quill. The compulsion to document did not leave when his parents confiscated his quick quotes.