Ilia really didn't care so much about other peoples opinions, but the fact that the girl was speaking to her meant either she wasn't one of the ones who didn't like her, or she simply had enough sense to just be a civil being. Either way, it worked for her. She rambled a bit with her introduction, but it was fine. Ilia bowed customarily upon introduction and then looked up at her with a slight smirk to her smile. "Pleasure to meet you. I will call you whichever version of your name that you prefer. Burn is certainly interesting." That it was, just burn....hmmm. She was a Gryffindor, perhaps a pyro? "My given name is Freya, but you may call me Ilia if you would like to." No, she had no incendiary nicknames, but it all suited her just fine.



At least there was one occupant from her house at the table, she didn't have to bother with introductions and formalities. She may not know the boy terribly well, but she did know him. Fellow snakes tended to be some reassurance.....possibly.....he certainly looked better than after the food fight incident.

"Hello Dante." She parted with a small smile for him as she sat at her assigned place.



Talk about an interaction with a talking portrait.....did she really have to share that? She.....really didn't want to delve into all that. It was mostly stuff she'd rather keep personal. Henric had conversations with her families portraits too.....they weren't the nicest people. Here, she tended to just do enough to get around. Her families portraits were enough to convince her that she really didn't want to speak to any of them. She had to come up with one though......."In one of my families homes, there is a portrait of my great great grandmother. She tends to pick out anything about your appearance or behavior that she deems needing improvement and attempts to scold you for it. If your dress is above your ankles, if you didn't curtsey at her....for example. Then she will tirade about our family history." And please....PLEASE....don't ask her to elaborate on that. She HATED that old bat!



And quite expectedly, jerk face was even rude enough to ignore her greeting. A smirk, was it a smirk on her lips? Honestly, it usually was if her expression wasn't as stoic as a porcelain dolls. Unless Henric was around anyways. "Apparently 'Lions' doth hold grudges." That was all that she was going to say and no she didn't consider him a lion, thus her inflection. He was a rude, egotistical prat and he knew it, why beat a lame Abraxan? Still.....just his face was irritating.....the way he even talked about the house portrait.....What...a...huge...prat....

Dot + Kat + History Guru :: catching up post
 

Table: Kerri's Olivia and Tory so far, I think? ^_^
 

The class had started now, so she tried to bury her anger and listen to the professor. He didn't say anything she hadn't already known...

Portraits? She had never spoken to one yet, no, so she kept quiet and listen to others.

History. Herstory? What? Was he making fun of an accent? Oh, no wait, he was trying for gender equality and to maybe be funny. But it actually wasn't that funny. And Tia sat for a good few minutes trying to decipher what it was about it that made her so uneasy. She barely heard her peers talking in response to Finch's question ... on wait, what was today's topic?

Not from the textbook today, apparently. Oh ... magical portraits.

Held a conversation with a portrait to find out a story. No. She didn't even have the one to give a password, like the Gryffindors had. Though she did find it rather intriguing of Dot's interactions with the portraits and it was actually clever too.

"Uh .." okay this looked kind of bad. She was Head Girl and had ZERO interactions with portraits. Quick. Make something up. She thought feverishly. "So it was last year, no wait ... two years ago. I was just minding my own business, trying to shuffle OWL studies with my normal coursework, when out of the blue, one of the portraits called out to me. Told me I was stuck up and to get my head out of the books. Honestly, it was kind of rude because they're just stuck in a painting all the time, so what right do they have to tell me my nose is stuck in a book? It wasn't like I was causing harm..."

After Henric was done designing his nametag, he examined his artwork for a moment. There were some rough edges here and there, but there was definitely a slight improvement from the last time he did graffiti for fun. "Not bad.."he murmured and put it aside when his professor began to speak.

Talking to portraits? Yup...plenty of times before while he was patrolling down the hallways. He would sometimes ask them for a favour too, if they found anything out of the ordinary or students out of beds. He would need many extra pair of eyes to keep an eye out, right? Hogwarts was just too big for a few prefects to keep things in order.

Aah...he remembered meeting llia's 'blood purist' witch great-grandmother's portrait at her family home two summers ago. He frowned at the memory. Honestly, he regretted meeting llia's family portraits altogether, including her mother. What did they know about his blood when they didn't know his whole background? They judged him too early.

Rula grinned at the other girl as she introduced herself, but before she could reply, class was starting. Oh boo. Maybe they'd get to talk later though, if there was some kinda group activity or discussion or something!

She made a few quick heart doodles on her nametag as she listened to the pretty professor. So they were talking about portraits today? Interesting. She'd talked to quite a few portraits over the years, though she didn't really make a habit of it. Just something that she occasionally did when she was bored and there were some around.

Before she'd decided on a particular interaction to talk about though, something one of the other students said caught her attention. And gave her an idea. Why hadn't she thought of this before?

She pushed it to the back of her mind for now since she was in the middle of class, but she no longer felt inclined to provide a story now. So she was just gonna sit here and sorta listen and maybe answer the next question.

SPOILER!!: individual replies

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Originally Posted by pundantic (Post 11864200) Chloe tucked some rogue blonde hair behind her ear and swung at an answer. Brief but he got one, "I don't talk to them much. But some of the Knights who like to travel around from portrait to portrait like to yell things at students and me. Like walk faster, make sure you get to class, for Narnia." Dumb things like that.

Ansley looked expectantly at the first student to speak, though he wasn’t all that surprised at her answer, especially from one rather young. “Just like people, some portraits have something useful to say, others just like to talk.” And unfortunately for her, it didn’t sound like she had found one to be more than annoying.

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Originally Posted by littledhampir (Post 11864203) "I talked to a knight last year? I don't remember his name, but he talked about slaying dragons and stuff." That probably wasn't very useful, but he didn't like to say nothing. So. You're welcome.

At least this one had a story, even if the boy chose not to elaborate on it. And that made Ansley wonder if the boy had listened to the story at all or just dismissed the knight as idle chatter. “Oh? Did you learn anything? Find his stories interesting? Many of the portraits are willing to share snippets of what their human counterparts’ lives were like.” And if he did learn anything or find anything about his stories interesting, that was okay. There were so many portraits in this castle, as well as elsewhere.

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Originally Posted by Compootor (Post 11864206) Either way, he only had a few short moments to think on his answer before it was his turn. The boy beamed enthusiastically up at Professor Finch and, forgetting his social anxiety for a moment, began to speak: "I haven't had much opportunity to speak with any of the portraits here at the castle, Professor, but I did learn a story from a portrait back home in Grimsby." he did hope he wasn't already boring everyone, including the professor. "In the library at home, they have a portrait of Gifford Ollerton, the famous Giant-Slayer! I used to spend a lot of time at the library and spoke to Gifford on a number of occasions. He once told me of how he saved Upper Barnton from Hengist the Giant, who was terrorizing the town!" the boy beamed with enthusiasm, and he may not have been fully aware that he was beginning to ramble on. "I must say, his version of the story is a lot more interesting than anything I've read in the history books!"

Now this was what he was talking about. Even if the boy had not spoken with any of the portraits here at Hogwarts – forgivable since he appeared to be about a first year and likely hadn’t had much time to yet – he still seemed to know the value of speaking to a magical portrait. Ansley listened intently to the boy’s story, smiling at his enthusiasm. “I imagine it was more interesting… It is an exciting story, but even more so from someone who was there.” Unfortunately, he hadn’t come across that particular portrait though he knew of the tale. He could only imagine how it could be told with much more flourish. “I’m sure you can find some interesting stories in the corridors of Hogwarts too.” Silently, he pulled a gold star sticker from his pocket and stuck it on the boy’s nametag sitting on the desk.

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Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl (Post 11864224) "Last year, I cast obscuro, the blindfolding spell, on about three of the portaits in the Headmaster's office," he admitted fearlessly. Who was the dodo now, huh Haddie? Had she even heard of that spell? No doubt she was not devoted enough to learn it as a mere firstie, as he had done. Davie glanced over at his BFF Char and grinned, adding, "One of those portraits was my mum's. Headmistress Anastasia Truebridge. She can be kind of... intense, so the blindfold was for her portrait's protection." And his. And their combined sanity and safety. "The others I blindfolded were the portraits of Hogwarts Governor Cassandra Rae and former Headmaster Tate. None of them really said anything other than small exclamations of surprise, but that was because the blindfolds worked perfectly well. No paint was hurt in the blindfolding or anything." At least, they'd all looked fine on his visit there at the start of term. So what was the harm in admitting this now? Nothing. It was surely too late to throw Davie into detention for the small sneaking-in of Botros' office...

Huh. That was an interesting tale, to say the least. Not that the interesting story actually came from any of the portraits, but from David’s experience with… something. It seemed that the boy was leaving out an important piece of information. “And why exactly did you blindfold those three portraits?” he asked giving him an amused, yet suspicious look. Ansley got the general idea, though he would love details. “Mhm,” he murmured in agreement, getting slightly off-topic. “Your mum was my Herbology teacher back in the day.” Long, long ago.. but he’d likely agree with the intense part. It was probably for the best that she never caught him taking samples of certain plants from the greenhouse, or knew what he did with them.

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Originally Posted by MunchyBubbles (Post 11864231) Though at his question.. had she ever talked to a Talking Portrait? She thought for a moment and could only think of the knights that raced from portrait to portrait! The Ravenclaw's didn't have a picture that guarded their common room. She bit her lip a little.. before folding her hands in her lap and when it came to be her turn she just shook her head.. "I've never actually really talked to one, just the knights, like some of the other kids have mentioned." She said softly

It wasn’t Ansley’s intention to make anyone feel bad with the discussion and he got the impression that this young Ravenclaw felt that way never having talked to one. “You still have plenty of time,” he told her, noting she was a first year and just got here. “They do have a lot to offer if you just listen. Just keep that in mind.”

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Originally Posted by Ameh (Post 11864240) "Uhm..." he wracked his brain when it came his turn to offer an example. "There was a little girl in a blue dress who talked to me when I was lost before..." She had looked like a doll. A painted doll. Big eyes and stuff. Very creepy. He had thanked her for her directions and immediately taken off. He wasn't even sure what floor she had been on, much less who she was.

Ansley nodded, knowing that Jaemin was a first year also – another who might conceivably have little interaction with portraits. “Oh, yeah, they can be very helpful.. when they want to be.” He did know of some that were downright pains and he glanced at one particular sheet at the front of the room at the thought. Anyway. “Did she help you find your way, or talk to you about something else?” The boy gave him the impression that it wasn’t the best of encounters so he was a bit curious about that.

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Originally Posted by Goblinfrog (Post 11864249) "I haven't had any long conversations with the ones here at Hogwarts, but I often say hi and good morning when I come across them when walking down a hallway." Especially if she had the feeling that some of them were staring at her. "Sometimes they say hi back and ask me how I am. I like them." "But my mother has a portrait of my Great Grandfather back at home in our mansion." She really did live in a mansion. "He was a really famous journalist just like her, and many times he tells me of the interesting people he interviewed and of journalist etiquette and stuff like that. He's famous for interviewing the goblin leaders of the rebellion. Would you like to hear one of the stories?" All of his stories about the goblins were very long, and Kitty wasn't certain how long the professor wanted her to talk.

Ansley gave Kitty a small smile and nod. “That’s very considerate of you.” He’d guess that many people would pass them by unnoticed or taken for granted, not that it was that big of a deal. They were portraits and not actual people, but it was nice when people valued them. Goblin leaders of the rebellion… Interesting. Ansley had to chuckle at the coincidence of that. Perhaps the girl would have an easy and enjoyable time with this lesson, which was always a good thing. “I actually would like to hear one of the stories.” It was what he had asked, wasn’t it? And he always found stories told by the portraits, especially if they were of the people that had experienced certain events, to be rather enlightening.

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Originally Posted by Ch_Couture (Post 11864253) He raised his hand smiling. "We have one at home. It's my great grandmother on my father's side. She always tells me about how much trouble my dad used to get into when he was younger." He was sure that wasn't very interesting or informative but it had always made him laugh

”Family portraits are always nice to have,” Ansley nodded. Those were probably what he was commissioned to paint most often. “They can give us great insight into our own personal, family histories. You should check out some of the magical portraits here too. They also have some stories and secrets to tell.”

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Originally Posted by Callie (Post 11864257) [B][FONT="Palatino Linotype"]Haddie raised the note, so he could see it, lips pursed, eyes boring into him with a death stare, and tore it into two. Then four. Then... She suddenly realized the Professor was staring at her waiting for her answer. Great. Something else Dodo bird would feel all smug about. She slipped the note into her bag. Getting the Dodo bird, which he still was, regardless, into trouble was not the way she wanted to pay him back. Nope. This was too personal now. No, she was going to learn every hex, jinx and curse she could and cast them all on weasel face. Haddie locked eyes with Davie, glaring at him defiantly, daring him to say anything at all. "I've never talked to magical portrait in my life. Sir." Go on, say something.

Ansley watched with eyebrow raised when it was Hadley’s turn to answer. He wasn’t sure what was going on over here with looks that could maim if not kill, but apparently it was something he needed to keep his eye on. Or maybe just address right now. “Is there a problem at this table?” He wasn’t keen on moving students right now, not when he was sure whatever this was could be worked out. Maybe a group project was just what they needed.

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Originally Posted by Squishy (Post 11864260) When it came to being her turn, she said, "I haven't had the chance to talk to many portraits, but like other people mentioned, there was a knight. He followed me around talking about going on a quest to slay a dragon." Seemed like he talked to a lot of people from the sounds of it.

Hadn’t had the chance? Ansley wondered if this was her first year here or if she just didn’t bother with them. “Sounds like a popular guy,” he chuckled, fairly sure he knew exactly which knight she and a few others mentioned. “Sometimes they just want their story to be heard.” They might not be the actual people, but he imagined it’d be boring hanging about on a canvas all day with nothing to do. It could get lonely.

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Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo (Post 11864264) The Gryffindor felt like his hand would burst by the time he was finally done but even then, the compulsion had him scribbling down what everyone else had to offer as well before he could finally take a turn. "I talked to the Fat Lady. She has all sorts of neat stories to tell, didn't even need my quill to make them interesting--though the finished work WAS something." A story that was most likely already embellished then you added the world's best embellishing equipment and everything was set. "There's this other super crazy one that said I stole his boat and he needed it to fight the sea serpent--that turned into another great story to owl home too." Nodnodnod.

Ansley would expect a Gryffindor to have spoken to that particular portrait as she secured the entrance to their common room. And it was good to know that this Lion actually spoke to her rather than just used her for the password. “Any of those stories stand out to you at all as memorable?” She was known for a few outlandish ones, but she had also been at Hogwarts a really long time and had seen plenty. The second portrait, Ansley was unfamiliar with, though he sounded rather interesting. Perhaps he should seek him out sometime. “Maybe something like that actually happened in the person’s life.. They sometimes like to project their experiences on real people..”

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Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom (Post 11864273) She raised her hand. "Well when I was exploring, I saw the Gryffindor Fat Lady portrait. I was staring at her and she scolded me and told me to keep moving along," she told the professor.

That was kind of funny and Ansley chuckled a bit. “Well, she’s been known to be a little fussy at times, but maybe the staring made her a little self-conscious.” Not that portraits had actual feelings, but they could certainly act like it at times.

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Originally Posted by Mell (Post 11864282) Oh! If she had of known that this would be the topic of the day then she would have taken the time to talk to the portraits. But she raised her hand anyway. "I speak to the Fat Lady every day. I give her a word and she opens the door for me." That's all she had unfortunately.

Ansley smiled at the first year as she gave her answer. “The magical portraits here at Hogwarts can be quite useful. Opening doors is one example..” Not for his old common room, but he was pretty sure all houses were aware of that particular portrait. And there were other very useful portraits found around here as well..

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Originally Posted by Meizzner (Post 11864283) "The only worth while story i heard is from a portrait is some girl transfigured her self into a fish just because she was forbidden to marry a merman. Then nobody saw her again after that. Sad stuff"

”Interesting story,” Ansley nodded. Of course, he had heard that one before from someone who thought it very sad indeed complete with dramatics that he could do without. “Shame it’s the only worthwhile one though.” There were many more stories of much more importance if one knew where to look.

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Originally Posted by SarcasticStrawberry (Post 11864284) She was so excited. Well now not so much now. Sitting up straight on her seat again. She listened and listened. And portraits? She talked to them. Yes. But mostly when no one else would talk to her or when she was walking to class. Or when she was bored. But no conversation that stuck out but. "There was an elephant in one and I asked for a ride the the seventh floor. The elephant just turned his trunk up at me. It was very rude. I just asked for a ride so I wouldn't be late for astronomy." They say an elephant never forgets well guess what? A Kat never forgets either.

That was fairly amusing and Ansley chuckled a little. “Even if the elephant had been a little more polite, I’m not sure how he could have given you a ride anyway. You can’t get into the painting and he can’t get out.” Fun idea though.

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Originally Posted by Cassirin (Post 11864285) Dot raised her hand. "I have an arrangement with some of the portraits to tell me when they spot people out after curfew. It was easy... I did them a favor, and they do me a favor. Like there's a lady near the kitchens who is too proper to introduce herself to a knight on the fourth floor, so I arranged an introduction. Easy."

Now this was one student who seemed to genuinely see value in the portraits and Ansley had to smile as he was pleased with this answer. “They can be very helpful when they want to be, and that is awfully clever to exchange favors.” He probably wouldn’t have thought to set any of them up on dates, but it seemed to work. He wordlessly put one of his gold star stickers on the name tag on her table.

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Originally Posted by Felixir (Post 11864289) Rather than give a verbal or written answer, Daxton simply pointed at the nearby door, his way of explaining that he did not want to be too far away from the exit. But the explanation stopped there, as Daxton was not entirely willing to go into the whys and wherefores, nor was he willing to vacate the seat - though technically he had been instructed to move or explain, and had chosen the latter course of action. Nobody else had come to claim this seat, so he could only assume they were not in attendance today, or had themselves claimed a seat that was not originally intended for them. Staying where he was, Daxton continued to turn the marker over in his hands, and remained silent, not providing any insight to the class discussion. It was not something he was able to contribute to in any case; Finch wanted them to talk about their interactions with portraits. Though Daxton had interacted with the Hogwarts portraits in his own way (mainly watching them, researching them, or stalking the subjects as they moved through the portraits throughout the castle until they noticed him, though occasionally he would communicate with them via his notebook, and had even found one or two who could sign or were willing to learn), he could not very well talk about that, nor did he want to. He kept his thoughts to himself, and used the time to listen closely and to think, eventually resorting to drawing on his hands with the marker as he did so.

Daxton still hadn’t switched seats to sit at his proper place so Ansley waited for some sort of reason as to why he needed the one he had chosen for himself instead. His eyes followed the boy’s pointing finger to the door and he looked at it for a moment before glancing back at Daxton. Close proximity to the door is how the Ansley took that hand gesture and it was sufficient, given his basic understanding of the situation. He vaguely wondered if the boy would communicate via sign language as he switched the name tags on the table. “This is your seat now, alright?” And though he would have appreciated an answer when it came to his turn, Ansley did not necessarily expect one. But hopefully he would be able to participate in the next portion of class with no issue. That he did expect.

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Originally Posted by BriGranger1990 (Post 11864314) "I talked to a painting that told me about the story about The Weasley Swamp, which was on the 1st floor."It was pretty interesting.' The brunette finished. She wasn't sure if that was what the professor wanted, but that is all she had really.

”Oh there’s quite a bit of history behind that swamp,” Ansley nodded. “What did the portrait tell you, just the origin?” He wondered which portrait this was, whether it was a painting that was here during that time, or a painting of a person who actually knew the Weasley twins.

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Originally Posted by Shanners (Post 11864319) And there it was.. Just like Professor Roderik (or Roddy, as Rooney was still going to call him), Professor Finch -- no, no! Professor Ansley Finch had introduced himself with his first name. So just like before (with Roddy), Rooney raised his hand. "Professor, are we to call you Ansley or Finch?" He didn't mind, either way, but it was fun to know the first names of your teachers. It made him feel like there wasn't much of a difference between them, and that made it all the fun to think about everything else. Like which of the adults in the castle had kissed the others. He bet someone of them had known one another in their heyday and had smooched. MAYBE Professor Roddy had been Professor Moxley's first kiss. He could see it. As soon as it was his turn to speak, Roo grinned. "Once, in my first year," which had been a time of solid crushes on the Grey Lady, Miss Sophie Brown and every pretty woman teacher... "I was exploring and this painting -- a portrait of two sisters... I think they were twins, Professor. I'm not sure. They looked the same. Maybe it was a reflection - oh, I'm getting off my point, aren't I? So I looked at it a little, because it looked a bit like my Auntie -- but it WASN'T her.. And they, the twins, told me that there's a portrait in the castle of them. But as men." Yes, really. "Haven't found it yet though. Bet they were pulling my leg. Can't even find them now."

Oh.. Professor Ansley would have sounded kind of strange, wouldn’t it? It reminded him of what little kids called their nursey school teachers, like when his sister worked in a preschool and was called Miss Greta. Professor Finch was a little more respectful he thought, even if he was used to Mr. Finch. “I prefer to be called Professor Finch,” he said with a smile to the young Ravenclaw. “But thank you for asking and making sure.” And then he listened to his answer. Um.. hmm. The twins he could picture.. the twins as men, he could not. Didn’t mean they weren’t somewhere as there so many portraits throughout the castle. “Sounds like the makings of a fun scavenger hunt,” he grinned.

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Originally Posted by Expecto-Penguin (Post 11864321) "Professor I have seen and talked to Basil Fronsac. He told me how he was the previous headmaster of the school. I also had to solve a riddle in order to get his password." Man and was that riddle hard and even the password was even a tongue twister sometimes.

Ansley nodded. “He was once Headmaster. There are actually several of his portraits hung around Hogwarts. You must have found one of his that granted entrance to a secret passage to the library.” He smiled softly in nostalgic remembrance. He had been quite fond of that portrait of Basic Fronsac back in the day. Maybe he should go visit him soon.

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Originally Posted by Tegz (Post 11864327) She stuck her hand up. "At my grandparents estate there are tons of portraits, all our ancestors and stuff like in order, they always tell me to be quiet, and its a fun game to try and sneak past them at night time, I can only get as far as the 1600s before I wake someone up though!"

He certainly did not come from a family that had an estate holding centuries of ancestral portraits, though he knew a few people who had. “Sounds fascinating.” No, really, it did. If only his own ancestors had been immortalized in the same way. “I probably would have played the same game if my grandparents had a bunch of portraits like that,” he chuckled. “I bet they have some really great stories too.”

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Originally Posted by itsgisselx3 (Post 11864329) Oliver paused for a minute, trying to figure out what exactly to say but he just couldn't. He shrugged and said, "I haven't spoken to a talking portrait really. I waited outside of the Gryffindor common room once for my sister...and the Fat Lady was talking but I kind of tuned her out?" He blushed as he ended his sentence, slowly realizing more and more how rude that was...but really. The woman could talk and he just wanted to see his sister.

Hmm. All of the magical portraits in the castle and he hadn’t ever talked to one, minus this one brief interaction? Maybe that would change after today. “Sometimes they just want someone to tell their stories to.”

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Originally Posted by Hera (Post 11864361) But then, a slight groan of distaste left his lips at the sound of HER voice. Really? She had to be in their group? He hadn't even thought to check the other tag. He didn't return her general greeting, certain that it didn't extend to him as well. Instead of saying anything at all, he simply chose to flip his text open and stare at the pages, or better yet... no, he would work on his arithmancy exercise. That. Yes. Inking his quill, he lazily set about doing that... .... and then the Professor started speaking. His speech wasn't nearly as engaging as his book exercise, and while he had TRIED to maintain eye contact and looking to the front and trying on the whole 'respect' thing for size, he just wasn't feeling it. Sneaking peaks at his work, he made a correction and continued his calculation before looking back up. But... he was expected to say something, wasn't he? Sigh. Hand up, he offered all he cared to share. "The Fat Lady portrait, Sir... she never shuts up, tells lots of stories..." and none that he properly listened to. So. Boo.

Ansley had been teaching high school long enough before he obtained this position to know when someone was trying to sneak something. There was always some student who thought they were getting something past him, but he was hardly that clueless. And that was one reason that he never stood in one spot in the classroom for very long. He was close enough to the table to see that Zeke had his focus on another class. “This is not your study hall, Mr. Browne. Put your.. homework away.” Or whatever it was, that was beside the point. “When you arrive in my classroom you are expected to focus on this lesson when it begins and not on someone else’s. That will be five points from Gryffindor.” And he saw no need for further response to the boy’s contribution as it was simply a rehash of what several others said in a much less polite and informative way.

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Originally Posted by Daydreamer11 (Post 11864376) As the professor asked the first question, Janelle frowned. Had she had any interaction with the portraits at school or otherwise? Reluctantly, Janelle raised her hand. Unfortunately, she did not have a great deal to add to the conversation. "I haven't really had a proper conversation with any of the portraits. I've really only said hello or had a very quick chat with some of them in passing. No storied, just a hi, how are you?" Having said that, Janelle realized how she had probably wasted an opportunity to gain some knowledge about a variety of things. She would have to pay more attention to the portraits and the people in them.

”You’re kind of missing out, Janelle,” Ansley said with a smile. “They can be a wealth of information, or just idle chatter… but sometimes the fun is figuring out which is which.” Maybe after today she and others will have a new appreciation of the magical portraits found around Hogwarts.

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Originally Posted by Optimist (Post 11864431) Raising her hand, “the fat lady tried to tell me about how she used to be a singer…and then she started telling me I was too impatient when I tried to pry the door open” she admitted with a grin.

”Maybe if you let her finish her story, she wouldn’t have?” But Ansley had to laugh at this. He didn’t have as much interaction with her as many other students, or with some of the other portraits, as he hadn’t been a Gryffindor himself, but he knew how she could be.

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Originally Posted by Anna Banana (Post 11864459) She raised her hand. "My daddy used to be the Minister of Magic here in Great Britain, and he had some portraits of former Ministers in his office. Whenever I would visit him, I always tried to be perfectly quiet and still when I was in that office. There were just SO MANY Ministers looking at you at one time!" she explained. Ariadne had NEVER been perfectly quiet and still, though. She hadn't been sure if it had been her imagination or what, but all those Ministers always seemed to be eyeing her at the exact same time. Intimidating!

Minister, hmm? Ansley glanced down at her name tag, then back up at her. He knew of Minister Greingoth, but it seemed like it had been ages ago. Would she have been old enough to remember? But maybe she meant his office at his current job, whatever that might be. “I’m sure former Ministers would have many stories to tell. Did any of them ever tell you one?” Hopefully something more interesting than writing a new law.

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Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 (Post 11864478) When her time came, the Eagle said, ''I haven't talked to any portrait extensively, Professor. I only said hello to a few of them.''

Ansley gave Rachel an encouraging smile when it was her turn to answer. “That’s polite.. You should give conversing a try as well sometime. They have lots of interesting stories.” But she would get the chance to today anyway.

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Originally Posted by Mirali (Post 11864507) Even here at Hogwarts she hadn't really had much interaction with such paintings. The weather had been too nice for her to stay inside with the paintings and as interesting as they might have been it just wasn't a simple matter to bring one along with her for an afternoon under a tree as she could do with her books. Aside from having observed that they were a thing, Ailsa didn't have anything to share.

Hmm, quiet when it was her turn. Ansley took her silence to mean that she hadn’t had much interaction, if any at all, with the portraits. He knew that she was a first year, so maybe she hadn’t had a chance to yet, especially if she was muggleborn. That would change today though.

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Originally Posted by SilverTiger (Post 11864515) The comment that was obviously not directed at them only made Brooklyn feel like her idea about the lesson was valid. She figured there had to be something that could talk back that the professor was speaking to, and the question that was then directed at the class only proved that more. He’d have no reason to ask about interactions they’d had with paintings unless there was a reason. Granted, she preferred not speaking with the portraits, but she could at least feign that she was listening to the stories the others were telling.

Another quiet one. This girl was older and definitely should have had at least some interaction with the magical portraits. Any? Ansley regarded her with a raised eyebrow before moving on. He’d see how she interacted with them today.

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Originally Posted by griffin (Post 11864519) Class was starting! Penelope stopped drawing butterflies and sat up attentively. Conversations with portraits? "I haven't talked to the portraits much, but a lot of them have interesting stories to tell, some of which we can learn history from." Were they going to be talking to portraits today? A whole lesson on portraits? Maybe the history behind some of them. Could be exciting, unless they got the ones that talked too much. Preparing to take notes, she took out parchment, ink, and a quill.

”Yes, they most certainly do,” Ansley nodded in agreement with the Ravenclaw prefect. It was a shame that she had not experienced that personally though. “Hopefully after today you will see what stories they have for yourself.”

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Originally Posted by Jean Granger (Post 11864521) When it was his turn, Carl had an answer ready. "There was this Queen sort of lady, who greeted me and taught me how to get to my classroom. I was lost," he explained. Pity he did not know her name.

Ansley smiled at the young Hufflepuff. “Many of the magical portraits can be very helpful, especially lost first years.” Though he recalled a particular portrait that found it very amusing to give the wrong directions to unassuming first years.

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Originally Posted by SpiritWolfe Malfoy (Post 11864529) The topic of portraits though caught her attention and she sighed inwardly. She'd spoken to a few of the portraits on a number of occasions but nothing to in-depth. So when her turn came about she gave her simple answer, "A few terms back I can't really recall which I spoke to a portrait for one of my lessons. Her name was Greta Curd and she told me all about her love of cheese and her book Charm Your Own Cheese." There was something she wanted to ask. Had thought about it for a very long time but just never was able to bring herself to ask but today, today she finally would. "Is it complicated to make a portrait Professor?" Not just a painted one but one that would interact with you. Like those around the castle.

Ansley nodded as the Slytherin girl spoke, recalling this portrait and the book as well. “Many of them are eager to talk about their lives and passions.” Or at least that of the people they were painted. And her next question made him light up a little. “Well, it does take some extensive training and some advanced magic. I studied under an apprenticeship for a few years before I was able to create a successful one on my own.” And his first portrait was actually here. He was rather excited about that.

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Originally Posted by RandomRaven (Post 11864530) "I'd never talked to the portraits, but the fat lady portrait is the door to the Gryffindor common room, sometimes I listened to her rambling but... Not talking to her." Ava bet that she's very talkative.

”Well.. she is, yes..” Ansley nodded slowly. The Gryffindors would have the most interaction with a portrait, having to see her every day just to get into their common room. It was a shame that hardly anyone seemed to talk to her at all besides give her the password in exchange for entry. “Maybe try talking to her sometime, find out something about her.” Like, her name even.

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Originally Posted by VRSCIKA (Post 11864540) Talk about an interaction with a talking portrait.....did she really have to share that? She.....really didn't want to delve into all that. It was mostly stuff she'd rather keep personal. Henric had conversations with her families portraits too.....they weren't the nicest people. Here, she tended to just do enough to get around. Her families portraits were enough to convince her that she really didn't want to speak to any of them. She had to come up with one though......."In one of my families homes, there is a portrait of my great great grandmother. She tends to pick out anything about your appearance or behavior that she deems needing improvement and attempts to scold you for it. If your dress is above your ankles, if you didn't curtsey at her....for example. Then she will tirade about our family history." And please....PLEASE....don't ask her to elaborate on that. She HATED that old bat!

Hmm. This girl did not seem all that fond of her family portraits and Ansley wasn’t going to make her go into any great detail about them. He did like to hear their stories, but he also wanted the basic gist of things. “It’s nice to know about family history, especially from those who lived through it, otherwise you might not know as much about it at all.” And what people planned on doing with that knowledge was up to them.

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Originally Posted by Steelsheen (Post 11864663) And now the lecture was starting and it was all about.... the moving portraits? "Well I remember asking them for directions when I was explor--errr going to class. Yeah." Indeed he was, the long way around. But then Prefect Dot said the most amazing thing. "People go out after curfew??" And there he was lying restlessly in his bed not daring to go out because Big People said so. He beamed at the Prefect when she finished then shot his hand up for the Prof "I have a question.. Can we use the portraits as shortcuts to go from one part of the castle to another? I see some of the portraits by the stairs having tea with portraits leading to the Divination tower. "

Ansley nodded. Another who spoke on the helpfulness of the portraits. He hoped some of those who had little to no interaction were listening and took note. He called on the boy again as he saw his hand in the air. “Oh.. no, not in that same way. The people in the portraits can move from one to another in the castle, but it doesn’t work in that way for us. Some of them do serve as entrances for secret passageways though. And those you can use as shortcuts.” He wasn’t sure if he should tell him where specific ones were though. It had been fun for him as a student when he would stumble upon them on his own.

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Originally Posted by StarShine (Post 11864795) Portraits? She had never spoken to one yet, no, so she kept quiet and listen to others.

Okay, he was moving on from the quiet ones because he could hear at least one of his portraits getting a little restless. And she appeared to at least be paying attention. which would do her well with the next portion of class.

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Originally Posted by Holmesian Feline (Post 11864812) Sure Olivia had seen them around and listened to them when they spoke, both at Hogwarts and at Cawdor, but she couldn't remember an actual full-on conversation she had with anyone of the framed inhabitants. She actually had more interaction with one of the ghosts and daily interaction with a talking eagle doorknocker. Hearing what others had said, the Ravenclaw was now curious to do so. The Gryffindors even had one guarding the way to their common room.

And another quiet one. Ansley supposed he wasn’t too surprised with some of the first years remaining silent on the subject. Hogwarts could very well be their first experience with magical portraits and as they had not been there long yet, they opportunity may not have presented itself. Until now.

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Originally Posted by PhoenixRising (Post 11864850) "Uh .." okay this looked kind of bad. She was Head Girl and had ZERO interactions with portraits. Quick. Make something up. She thought feverishly. "So it was last year, no wait ... two years ago. I was just minding my own business, trying to shuffle OWL studies with my normal coursework, when out of the blue, one of the portraits called out to me. Told me I was stuck up and to get my head out of the books. Honestly, it was kind of rude because they're just stuck in a painting all the time, so what right do they have to tell me my nose is stuck in a book? It wasn't like I was causing harm..."

Hmm. Ansley might have expected a little more from the Head Girl who was also a Ravenclaw, but from what he heard from the majority of the class, there wasn’t a lot of interaction with the magical portraits. He supposed that was why he was here to teach them all that they could be. “Rude.. maybe, but maybe they were lonely and looking for someone to talk to,” he said, with a slightly amused expression. Was he joking? Who knew.

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Originally Posted by Suziella (Post 11864890) "Professor, I have pretty much the same experiences as the others with Sir Cadogan, which is the name of the Knight everyone is talking about. I asked him once. He asked me if I wanted to go on a quest with him but I told him maybe another time because I had homework to get done." She shrugged. The paintings probably had some really cool stories about the castle to tell.

”Next time you see him, tell him yes and see what happens,” Ansley told the Hufflepuff. “As long as you’re not too busy of course… but you never know what he’ll tell you or what you might get up to.” He knew that old knight was kind of batty but he was kind of fun too.

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Originally Posted by Sararara (Post 11864891) When the Professor began to speak, she re-capped the glitter glue and placed it back in the center of the table. Alright. Real stuff time, yeah? She quickly prepared her parchment and quill for note taking as she watched him speak about textbooks and all that. Ehhh. Hopefully it'd still be exciting, right? Please? The glitter made it SEEM like it'd all be exciting, but she couldn't be sure. It was hard to tell, sometimes. Her mum said she really needed to stop thinking the best of people all the time, but it didn't seem very fair to judge a new professor right from the very beginning, so she put a hand up to answer his portrait question. "I talked to the Fat Lady one time!" Nobody needed to know why she was hanging around Gryffindor tower or anything, though. Prefects' duties, y'know? Patrolling and stuff. Totally. Toooootally. "She didn't say much about her past but she DID sing for me. It was lovely." Okay fine. It wasn't very lovely and was more along the lines of ear-splitting, but it wasn't nice to say mean things behind somebody's back, even if she WAS a portrait.

Was it lovely? Ansley had heard her sing at least once before and that probably wasn’t the word he’d use. But Norah was lovely for saying so. “She certainly is enthusiastic, isn’t she?” Maybe that was what made some people not hate it as much, knowing how passionate she was about it.

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Originally Posted by Symphora Talking to portraits? Yup...plenty of times before while he was patrolling down the hallways. He would sometimes ask them for a favour too, if they found anything out of the ordinary or students out of beds. He would need many extra pair of eyes to keep an eye out, right? Hogwarts was just too big for a few prefects to keep things in order.

Ansley waited. The prefect seemed to be in deep thought but still had not said anything. If he hadn't heard the murmurs from under the sheets getting louder, he might have tried prompting the boy for participation, but he needed to move on.

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Originally Posted by AlwaysSnapesGirl She pushed it to the back of her mind for now since she was in the middle of class, but she no longer felt inclined to provide a story now. So she was just gonna sit here and sorta listen and maybe answer the next question.

A quick glance to one more student, but she seemed a little reluctant to contribute as well. It was time to move on anyway.

Well, to be honest, that was sort of disappointing for Ansley. Most students did not seem to realize the value that the portraits of Hogwarts had. But maybe a few of them would realize that fact just a little more after today’s lesson, especially as they now had to talk to the portraits to find out a little bit about them. Of course, it could be more about the soft spot he had for them as he painted portraits himself.

“Alright, class, as you heard from some of your classmates, and from me, portraits can not only have some interesting stories to tell, but they can also be quite useful. Some can hide secret passageways, many others are helpful with directions.. but it sounds like many of you haven’t had all that much interaction with the magical portraits here at Hogwarts. And I have to say, you’re missing out. They can really be an invaluable resource.”

“Today we are going to try a little exercise,” he said, waving his wand at the sheet-covered portraits at the front of the room to remove their sheets. “I want each of you to choose one of the portraits and ask them a few questions to get to know about the life of the person they were painted from and their contribution to history. You can do this as a group with your table if you’d like, or not. But for now, gather some information.” He’d give further instructions later.

He gently levitated each of the five portraits to different areas of the room. “This is Artemesia Timms,” he pointed to the first portrait of a woman in her thirties. “Augustus Flume..” he gestured to the eccentric looking elderly man with wild white hair. “Violetta Bulstrode,” he gestured to the middle-aged woman, ignoring the class in favor of carefully examining her frame. “Lucian.. uh, Lucian Warrington.” This painting was currently empty except for an indistinct background. “I’m sure he’ll be back soon enough… And Elliot Kegworth.” He pointed to the last portrait, that of a man in his twenties.


OOC -

• Please choose one portrait for this activity.
• Title your posts with that portrait's name so that they can respond to you - no need for numbers, unless it is for your own benefit, as I do not keep track of posts that way.
• Ask your selected portrait five questions in five different posts, but you can post more for other things if you want - talking to your group, selecting a portrait, etc.
• Try to spread out a bit so everyone isn't doing the same portrait, please!
• And if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!

Lucian Warrington
 

Olly had to think very carefully to remember exactly what the man had said. He was not the best at actually paying attention. Or remembering. So it was a hard job. But he didn't want to disappoint this new professor on his very first day of class. "He told me a very long story, professor, so I forgot to pay attention to all of it. It started with a dragon swooping down on a field and eating him and his pony whole. Then, uh, I don't know how he got out. But I don't think he was telling the truth anyway." It didn't sound very plausible.

Olly got out of his desk and moved toward the empty frame. If they had do talk to someone wouldn't the easiest option to be to talk to the one who wasn't there. Because then they wouldn't be doing any actual work, see? Not that talking was work. Or that Olly minded. That wasn't even the reason he chose that portrait. He just thought that guys name was cool. Lucian. That was a cool name. And Olly wanted to know where he was. He peered closely at the portrait, leaning his face in very close. Probably too close for comfort, meaning it was fortunate the inhabitant was missing.

"Hello? Anybody there?"

Hello, Artemesia Timms!
 

Ariadne blinked at the sound of the professor's question to her. Had the portraits of the former Ministers ever said anything interesting to her? "Not in the least bit," she explained, shaking her head. "They were just the opposite! I think they knew that I was super afraid of them, so all they did was glare and give me really stern looks." No casual conversation there. None at all. Besides, Ariadne had been really, really little, so she doubted she would say much anyway.

Never mind that! They were interviewing the portraits now anyway! Ariadne picked...Artemesia Timms!!!

She bounced up and approached the portrait of the woman, who looked to be around her oldest sister's age. "Hello, Miss Timms," she said. "I'm just wondering if Quidditch was around during your time." She had more questions about Quidditch, but the professor probably wanted only one at a time, so she fidgeted in place instead of asking more questions right now.

Violetta Bulstrode
 

Haddie wasn't a tattle-tale, no matter how much the Dodo Bird deserved it. While she might not have been a tattle-tale, she wasn't the best at hiding her emotions when she was legitimately mad. "No," she growled, with one last glare at Davie, and then promptly attempted to go back to ignoring him.

Thankfully the portrait assignment would help greatly in that. Haddie picked on of the portraits at random, a middle aged looking woman who looked about as interested in being here as Haddie was being at a table with Davie. Violetta Bulstrode, the name on the portrait read. "So, um..." Even with all that Haddie had seen and done, talking to a portrait was just weird. They were paint! What were you supposed to ask paint? "Um, what's your story?"

Elliot Kegworth
 

Augustus Flume!
 

Artemesia Timms
 

Lucian Warrington
 

group chat!
 

Lucian Warrington
 

Henric watched as Prefect Norah walked over to the empty portrait. He should probably just join her because weren't they a team?..Not sure. "Hey you guys want to come as well?"Henric asked the other two first years, Ariadne and Carl. He didn't wait too long for their responses though and walked casually towards the portrait and gathered with the rest of the students who wanted to see Mr.Lucian Warrington. What a fancy name...he mused. He wondered who was this Warrington bloke. What did he do to earn him a spot on the walls of Hogwarts? "Do you think he's ....taking a nap somewhere?"he asked to noone in particular.

Augustus Flume
 

Carl smiled back at Professor Finch. Yes, many of the magical portraits were helpful. They were like the Ghosts, who always provided help to First Years when they needed it. Though to be honest, he was more often scared than relieved in the presence of a Ghost, because he was still not used to the knowledge that one did exist.

He listened to the exercise they were going to do. Which portrait was he going to choose? Carl saw Ariadne questioning Artemesia Timms about Quidditch and Norah attempting to ask the empty portrait of Lucian Warrington some questions, which made him grin. He looked around as Henric asked whether he wanted to join them and talk to the empty portrait. "Nah, I think I will join you guys later." He replied, because the elderly man with the crazy-scientist look - Augustus Flume - had caught his attention. With that, he moved towards the magical portrait.

"Hello! I like your hair," he said and beamed at the man, before realizing that that was not a question. "So uh, no offense but are you like alive?"

grooooup work
 

Melbourne listened to what Ilia was saying as she spoke and thought she seemed interesting so far. “Well…Burn would be interesting I think – and really if you ever want to use a different one go for it.” She nodded and grinned over to her. With the pyro thoughts well they’d have to wait and see. “Freya? Really? That’s a cool name! I like it…what do you like being called though?” She asked because really if she liked being called Ilia she’d call her that.

“I mean if you like being called Ilia I’ll call you that…even if Freya’s awesome being a Norse goddess and everything” she grinned because really runes and runic lore were something she had always been interested in.

When Professor Finch began explaining their activity Mel just grinned. This sounded awesome – really talking to portraits. So great. Hopefully no one was boooooooooring. Zeke’s suggestion really did sound great though.

“Yeah that sounds good to me…do you guys want to do even less work and tackle the guy that’s not in his portrait?” She asked looking at the surprisingly empty portrait.

Artemesia suddenly looked at the two girls as if she was all at once aware of where she was, when she hadn’t been before. “Well, hello there! Aren’t you two precious!” Just look at them – two sweet little girls come to say hello. She visibly lit up when the first mentioned Quidditch. “Oh I love Quidditch! Are you a fan?” She looked a bit confused at the second one, though to be fair she got confused easily anymore. “Time period… why, it’s still the 21st Century, is it not? But I’m not sure what time it is…” She tried to peer out from her picture frame, looking around for a clock on the wall. Just what time was it anyway?



Augustus covered a yawn with his hand just as two students greeted him in his frame. “Oh, excuse me,” he said, laughing heartily. “Just about naptime.” He didn’t mind doing this favor for the new professor, but he wished that he had selected a different time so as not to interfere with his scheduled nap. “Hello,” he said with a nod and smiled when the boy complimented his hair. “Thank you, I grow it myself.” Hahaha, he was so funny! Though that was not technically true as it was paint, but the man that he was painted from often said such hilarious things. “Young miss, I was precisely 87 years old when I was painted as a portrait.” And 87 years old was how he would appear, but he shook his head at the young man’s question. “Unfortunately my flesh and bone counterpart is no longer of this world.” So it was good that he was immortalized in this way.




Violetta slowly pulled her eyes away from her beautifully ornate frame to assess the child that stopped in front of her portrait. Not even an introduction from the girl, how rude. Her story?? “You can’t possibly be serious,” she said, looking down her nose at the girl. She was famous! At least in her own mind. Everyone should know her story.



To be perfectly honest, Lucian had far better things to do than to wait around for class to start. Sure, he told Professor Finch that he would assist him with today’s lesson. He was an important part of wizarding history, after all. But that didn’t mean he could just hang out in this frame while he waited for idle chatter to die down. And look at that. Children already throwing questions at his empty frame before he was even in it. Impatience at its best. Sighing, he slipped back into view and assessed the three students peering into his frame and he jabbed a finger at the younger boy. “You are too close,” he barked. “Back up.” How would he like to have someone in his personal space like that? “Well then?” Let’s get on with the questions then, hmm?




Ah, the chance to educate the bright students of Hogwarts! How delightful! The thin, balding man smiled at the young lady who had approached him. “Hello. Why yes, I did go to Hogwarts. Such a fine school!” He chuckled at her question. “Well, I think it’s quite interesting, but don’t we all think our own stories are interesting?” What he had to contribute to the betterment of wizardkind was more important.

Question 2 for Augustus + Carl!