A little bit of this... and a little bit of that....

.... Who was skipping class?

Bastien looked over his shoulder at the kid, one of his cousin's friends, and shook his head. "Why would I skip?" He LOVED all the classes that let him use his wand. "I'm getting a pre-class snack. Why are you skipping them?" He always figured students would skip history of magic or muggle studies, not charms or transfigurations.

Nana Ichihara was a little peckish and a little bored. She had been up in her office since lessons, grading and reading and working on lesson plans, and though she loved it all, there was only so much of it that a witch could take. The castle was still new to her, still exciting in it's twists and turns and The Kitchen was a spot she'd been quite keen to see in person.

It was certainly something else. All these Housewives working together to create each day's meals and ever without a hitch at all. If there was anything Nana found admirable it was reliability... And excellent cooking skills as well.

Perhaps she could get one of the elves to whip her up something to eat, she'd also be happy with leftovers, especially that grey stuff from last night. Amaterasu, that had been absolutely delicious, whatever it had been.

Alice skipped into the kitchen. She wanted Pudding.. PUDDING. Who didn't like pudding? The redhead wanted chocolate.. lots of chocolate. Chocolate pudding with chocolate chips.. Yum! Her parents weren't here to tall her that her teeth were gonna fall out.

But.. oh.. There was an adult. A teacher?

Yupp, a teacher. "Umm.. Hi.." She said, a little shy. Which one was it? The Transfiguration one? Or was it something else? No.. No it had to be Transfiguration.

But whatever she was still asking for the pudding. Just as chocolate filled as she wanted. If this lady wanted to get in her way then she would. But if not THERE WOULD BE A FANTASTIC CHOCOLATE FEAST!

Firmly believing that a proper tickle would so the trick for Cornelius to get in own his own. The blonde nodded, happily. She was excited to get to teach him a proper tickle. "That sounds good to me." Beaming to her new Slytherin friend. They would get on it as soon as they had there pizza. She was hungry and wasn't sure it she could manage to teach anyone anything until her tummy was full of food. But she was excited to show him.

She seen the smirk and grinned, yes she was on his side there. 1000 precent. Yep she had his back.

Acromantulas even the word made Katerina's skin crawl. And again She was nodding agreeing with Cornelius. He had some terrific points on this. "Yeah. You could have said something, before it happened. I'm sure you really knew that was coming?" Really?

Flailing her arms, so grossed out by the lack of table manners the hag had. She looked from Cornelius to the hag and back to him. Honestly they both were just trying to be nice, make her aware that she was talking with her mouth open and food was going everywhere. Gross, so gross.

Now what was this hag doing? Throwing out predictions to them. Kat gasped! Spiders in his beautiful curly mane? That was down right horrible. "Cute spiders? Spiders are hardly cute, ma'ma. Anything but really." Looking at Cornelius again, she smiled. So glad they were friends. He had such clever comebacks. She beamed. "Students are suppose to come first, here!"

Blink, blink. Now she was getting predictions now too? "I'm not trying to make you change your eating habits." Because it was gross food all over the place. And now drooling down her chin. Yuck. Kat was losing her appetite. "Protective charms? Danger? Boy problems? Lies? I don't think so." She laughed, why would she need protective charms? Protego. Danger? She wasn't a Gryffindor. Boy troubles? Yes boys were trouble. She knew that. And she didn't have time for that. Lies? Kat never told a lie, hello honest and just hufflepuff here. She wasn't worried. Not at all. Okay justa bit. Maybe.

She didn't see the Gryffindor until she heard her. She was such a tiny thing, with such brilliant hair and large eyes. Nana was strangely reminded of Christmas Elves. Now, the question was; were students allowed to be down in the kitchens? It had not been a subject of discussion between her fellows and herself... Still, the thought that this little Gryffindor shouldn't be here nagged Nana at the back of her mind. "Hello." The Witch greeted, her eyes taking in the child once more. "Here for snack?" She lightly said, cocking her head and offering a small, amused smile.

Alice wasn't sure where she was allowed to go. She figured if she wasn't supposed to be somewhere that someone would tell her so. But this Professor didn't seem concerned. She either didn't know or it wasn't against the rules. Or she was cool and didn't care. Honestly any of those options worked. "Yeah, i want some pudding.. What are you getting?" The Firstie asked with a smile. She seemed liked a nice Grown up.

Finishing off her dinner Ursula cackled at the children. "Spiders are the least of your worries. They are a healthy snack for when you are hungry at night." Shoving a few items into her bag she moved around the table closer to them as the girl became more vocal. "Children should been seen and not heard." She pointed a finger at the girl and then to the boy. "You will learn to mind your manners or you will get your tongues in a knot." A snap of her fingers and a nice silencing for the two should do the trick. She might not be able to do many spells like the wizards, but she was able to do basic magic.

Turning she saw a shiny badge and moved closer to the boy. "I'd watch that shiny dearie, it will come up missing if you aren't careful. Darkness surrounds you and soon everyone will know why." Her cackling laughter stayed in the room as she left the kitchen. The prefect boy could have fun with the two silenced first years.

.... She would need to speak about this with one of the veteran Professors. Not Myers, no. Lovely as the man was, Nana was sure he had absolutely no sense of the rules. Perhaps... Perhaps Tanner would know... Nana had been meaning to stop by her office anyway... Clearing her throat, and her mind, the Professor turned her attention back to the diminutive Gryffindor. "I haven't decided quite yet." The grey stuff had been on her mind. But how did one simply ask for grey stuff in a delicate manner? "Do you mean pudding or pudding?" Nana had only learned the difference at the feast, but now she couldn't help questioning the difference whenever the word was brought up.

Perhaps she ought to invest in an English slang dictionary? Would the Library have such a thing? The mind reels.

Austin was ready for the kitchen. He was feeling particularly stressed this term, and potions just started to feel like school work. Especially with how hard he was studying for his O.W.L.S. Baking was his one escape from Potions. An escape from an escape, if you will.

There were a few people and house elves when he walked in, but he just ignored them. They were probably busy doing whatever house elves did. Instead he found an open spot on the other side of the room. What was he going to make today? The answer to that was in his binder full of recipes. He had everything from Macaroons to cakes. Even a recipe for funnel cake fries had made its way into the binder. The teen thought about it as he tied a black apron around his waste, and rolled up his sleeves. He had a recent craving for s'mores, and s'mores like desserts. And as he thought more about it, he remembered one recipe in particular that might satisfy his tastes. Flipping the pages of his binder, he found what he was looking for. A delicious recipe for s'mores thumbprint cookies.

SPOILER!!: Austin! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by keepmeclose22

Austin was ready for the kitchen. He was feeling particularly stressed this term, and potions just started to feel like school work. Especially with how hard he was studying for his O.W.L.S. Baking was his one escape from Potions. An escape from an escape, if you will.

There were a few people and house elves when he walked in, but he just ignored them. They were probably busy doing whatever house elves did. Instead he found an open spot on the other side of the room. What was he going to make today? The answer to that was in his binder full of recipes. He had everything from Macaroons to cakes. Even a recipe for funnel cake fries had made its way into the binder. The teen thought about it as he tied a black apron around his waste, and rolled up his sleeves. He had a recent craving for s'mores, and s'mores like desserts. And as he thought more about it, he remembered one recipe in particular that might satisfy his tastes. Flipping the pages of his binder, he found what he was looking for. A delicious recipe for s'mores thumbprint cookies.

One of her absoloute favourite things to do was to be bake, thanks to her mother. Rachel enjoyed baking practically everything especially cupcakes but she reasoned she would try something different today. Possibly she would bake something that she hadn't in a long while.

She stepped into the kitchen and paused to admire the hardworking House elves. Her eyes then moved towards the Ravenclaw she had often seen around in the common room. Rachel approached him. "Austin?'' Was that his name? She looked down at the binder to see a recipe for s'mores cookies. "You're about to bake those? They look delicious. Would you like some help?'' She would understand if he refused her. Who would want a first year helping them?

Oh. Well that was sorta a bummer. The boy would have to go find Daxton, surely they could skip together somewhere out on the grounds with all the snacks he planned to take with him. It was such a nice day out too despite the weather getting nippier.

Blaise wasn't sure what to make of the question on why he'd skip. It had to be the most obvious thing ever...but then he remembered he was probably the only one in this entire castle that loathes magic the way he did so all he could do was shrug. "For starters, the Charms Professor said 'don't come back' and I'm good at following instructions when they suit me so that's out and my wand doesn't listen very well to what I say so there's no point in attending Transfig."

He.............would just be sitting there saying incantations over and over while nothing happened. Might as well not be there, the results would be the same either way; no magic would be done.

So he could eat the spiders that would supposedly crawl into his hair. "Chances of having spiders crawl into my mouth have always been high. Did you knoooow........................"

O________________________________O

What happened to his voice?

Cornelius coughed and COUGHED. Then roared into the void in front of him but...nothing? There was no sound. Not a peep. For a moment the first year blinked, then turned his attention to Katerina and pointed at his mouth. He couldn't speak. Ursy had stolen his beautiful voice with that snap of her fingers.

HE WAS A MUTE!

WHERE WAS SHE GOING? COME BACK AND FIX THIS.

Prefect. You. Do something!

"If the wand that picked you isn't listening, then you're doing something wrong." Bast started off. "A wand never picks the wrong person, and usually ones that don't work is because the caster is inept. You should get a professor to help you with that, or you could end up in a situation that'll get you killed." That was going off the assumption that this kid couldn't fight. Which, by going off what he knew and could see, he probably could not.

Bastien rolled up all his ingredients together once they were ready to be combined. Each was a golf ball sized snack ball. He wrapped them all together in a piece of cloth, then looked up at the kid. "You want one? They're almond energy balls."

Personally Alice wasn't concerned at all with the rules. She wanted Pudding so no one would stop her. "Well everything the elves make seems pretty good." She was a fan of Elf food so far. Not that she didn't miss home or Helen's cooking cause she missed all of the things. But she wasn't some little homesick baby either. The Redhead was very intent on being independent. "Pudding pudding." She was aware that this might be confusing. "Like a big bowl of chocolate pudding." The grin on her face wouldn't go away while the thought of such deliciousness was so fresh in her mind.

Austin was about to get started when a familiar face walked up to him. Now came the hard part... names. The Ravenclaw was awful when it came to remembering names. It was worse this year, since he had made a lot of new friends. Many of which were first years. Since he couldn't remember her name, he opted out of trying to figure it out.

"I'd love some help. We're going to need some graham crackers, and flour..." He paused for a moment. "And some eggs. Do you know where to find those?" This was the first time Austin had been in the kitchen, and he wasn't sure where anything was. He assumed the eggs were in the fridge, and the dry ingredients in some sort of cupboard. But were there certain things that they weren't allowed to use? Maybe there were house elves who could help. Either way he hoped his new friend knew something.

Ew. Katerina's midnight snack options didn't include spiders. NO. Thank you. That wasn't on her menu. "Gross. Gross. Gross."

Ugh. Who did the hag think she was pointing her finger at them. Rude lady was rude. Kat was breathing hard in anger or nerves. It was hard to tell. Snapping back "Rude! My mother says it's rude to...... "

Point.

Cough. COUGH. She couldn't speak. She couldn't talk. She was even allowed to finish her sentence. Again RUDE. Ugh. She also turned to Cornelius, she nodded and pointed to her mouth as well. How did she do that? What were they supposed to do now? She looked at her prefect and Cornelius. She was probably going to burst into tears at anytime.

SOMEONE NEEDED TO COME SET THIS RIGHT. Kat needed her voice back. She would take this to the head mistress, and if needed the minister if needed. The hag was a officially on her bad list. That was if she actually had a bad list.

It was so silent it scared him. He was sure he wasn't even this quiet when he was a baby. Oh Merlin. This was odd. He could HEAR himself think. Cornelius blinked at Katerina, wide-eyed. She also couldn't speak...and looked about ready to cry. Freaking out more about that than being charmed silent, the first year dug into his bag hurriedly, bringing out a piece of parchment and a quill.

Quote:

=) It's okay. The guy will help us.

Meaning the Prefect. Meaning Cornelius would bring his big bad biceps out if they didn't get help. His friend WASN'T going to cry over THIS. As for Ursy, gears were already turning in his head. His mother had always said to be polite to elders, but she also said to not let anyone walk over him. And this, the hag had STEPPED OVER HIM....just a little bit.

Anyway. It was time to get help.

Quote:

HELP US!!

He wrote on the parchment and WAVED it at the Prefect boy. HAAAAAAAAAAALP.

Eep. What is happening?

Henric had no idea! NOPE.

He saw the sign the kid was showing at him.

HE WAVED OVER TO THEM SO THEY COULD RUN OVER TO HIM.

"Guys....come here!"he hissed, still holding his jar of cookies tightly on his chest.

SPOILER!!: Austin! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by keepmeclose22

Austin was about to get started when a familiar face walked up to him. Now came the hard part... names. The Ravenclaw was awful when it came to remembering names. It was worse this year, since he had made a lot of new friends. Many of which were first years. Since he couldn't remember her name, he opted out of trying to figure it out.

"I'd love some help. We're going to need some graham crackers, and flour..." He paused for a moment. "And some eggs. Do you know where to find those?" This was the first time Austin had been in the kitchen, and he wasn't sure where anything was. He assumed the eggs were in the fridge, and the dry ingredients in some sort of cupboard. But were there certain things that they weren't allowed to use? Maybe there were house elves who could help. Either way he hoped his new friend knew something.

Yes, Austin seemed to be his name because the boy did not correct her. Rachel wondered if he remembered her name or even knew it since they had not spoken before. "Oh, I thought I had your name incorrect,'' she told him as she scanned the page of the recipe. "I'm Rachel.''

The eleven year old raised her head to look up at him. "Wonderful! I was a tad worried that you wouldn't want a first year helping you.'' Ingredients, the most important components of anything food related. "I've never been here,'' she informed him, now turning to look around at the kitchen. "I think the dry ingredients most likely will be in the cupboards. You should check since you're taller and more likely to reach them. In the meanwhile, I'll check the refrigerator for eggs.'' It was quite logical that the ingredients would be stored in those places. "I can help you get utensils afterwards if you like.''

Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. She was never going to be able to talk again. Why her? Sure she talked a lot but she did not deserve this. Cornelius did not deserve this. She wasn't going to cry over this either. She refused this. Yes she did.

Her blue eyes watched as her friend went through his bag. Yes. Parchment. Yes. He was brilliant clearly. She smiled widely. They were going to be able to talk again soon. She read what he had wrote to her. Nodding, smiling again and giving him two thumbs up. But the she turned yo the Hufflepuff prefect and frown again.

You mean he was going to him. To be honest she didn't have much faith in him. He was a meanie face to Brady all the time. But Kat could be easily swayed. So try her.

Maybe he was going to help them. Since he told them to oh there. Kat out of habit with Brady grabbed Cornelius's arm it was something she did a lot drag others to places and went over to the prefect.

Help us. Please. He was her prefect. Do something.

The Prefect had seen his plea! Thank Merlin. It was one thing to go to an older person of power but it was a totally different one to go to one of the younger ones. Cornelius was clever. If he went to the Headmistress she'll ask questions as to why and what happened, and if the Hag lied then his butt would be in trouble. His and Kat's. That was a big NOPE.

Looking over at Katerina as she took hold of his arm, Cornelius gave her hand a single comforting pat as he nodded at her, determined. They'd get out of this one. He always did. Slytherin here, duh.

Luckily Katerina had taken hold of his right hand so he was able to keep writing with his left one.

Quote:

The HAG charmed us. I think. Unless she cursed us. Which I don't think. I'm not in pain. Can you help?????????????

Henric stayed put, not wanting to move from his spot. He was still a little rattled by the hag's warning. What did she mean by it? They would know? WHO WOULD KNOW?....

Finally, the kiddies came. He had half a mind to scold them for bothering the hag when they weren't supposed to! DID THEY WANT TO DIE A HORRIBLE DEATH?

He stopped himself from doing so when he noticed the boy was scribbling something in his note again.

Henric squinted and read....

.........

"WHAT?!" Henric cried in disbelieve. "The hag did that to you two?" Should he report this to a professor? He wasn't sure. He sighed and shook his head. "I suspect the hag used her little magic and cast the silencing spell on you guys...it will wear off soon enough..."Henric reassured them. He crossed his arm and eyed them both,"What did you guys do and say to her that set her off, hmm?" he asked.

Ah, now he remembered. Rachel was her name. He was going to need to get better at remembering names. "No, you got it right. Austin Moore's my name." He flashed her one of his famous smiles. Hopefully she wouldn't notice that he had forgotten her name. "But you can call me Austin."

He looked down on her. It always amazed him how tall he was. Especially compared to a short first year. "I don't mind at all. It's always fun to have help when baking." Back at home the only people he had were his father and his sister. His father was always busy with the pub, so he didn't have much time to help Austin bake. His younger sister, on the other hand, loved to help. Although she was a little young to do much, but it was nice having her around. Here, though, he was glad to have someone who shared his love for baking.

Nodding in agreement Austin went over to the cupboards and searched through them. The kitchen was stalked with everything from vanilla extract to candy canes. Anything one could want for baking. After a few minutes of searching, he had an armful of ingredients. He carried them over to their table, and began going over them in his head.

Vanilla extract, flour, graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate. That's everything. All they needed now were eggs and butter. And some utensils.

Kat still wasn't sure about this. Thinking that an adult could have a better handle on this, than just a older kid. Prefect or not. Though Cornelius was fairly confident it the older boy. She was still going to go to someone else. Maybe... Probably. They wasn't going to get into trouble right? She didn't want to get him in trouble too.

But it was nice, she was glad that her friend was there. She gave him a small smile. Reading what he was writing to the older boy. Kat looked up at the boy, nodding and pointing at the parchment.

WHAT?????

She nodded yes, the hag had just done this to them. What hello..... Was there not a counter curse for this? Prefect boy better do something. Wait for it to wear off. She needed to talk now. She crossed her arms too. DID he not understand that they couldn't talk? So why was he asking them questions. Ugh. They didn't do or say anything to old hag. Kat stumped her foot. She was an adult and a teacher though she didn't know how or why she was either way she shouldn't have done what she did.

Olly was in the mood for a late afternoon snack. Well, he was almost always in the mood for a snack. But this mood was not one that could be satisfied by his own stash of candy in his dorm room. No, he wanted something more substantial. Something that had been cooked, either by himself or by a nice house elf. He hadn't decided yet. He also did not know what he want yet. Details, details.

Olly made his way to the kitchen. He was often pleased by how close his common room was to the kitchen. Not as close as the Hufflepuffs, but the second closest. He could deal with second place. Not that it was a competition, but everything kind of was. Right, food. That's what he wanted. But when Olly entered the kitchen he stopped for a moment, considering. He couldn't stay indecisive for too much longer.