Olivia nodded as she listened to Professor Newton. She understood how another school wasn't like Hogwarts. She understood that all too well. She loved Beauxbatons but it wasn't home like here. "I understand that. I used to be at Beauxbatons and transferred here. I wasn't unhappy there... It just wasn't home I suppose," she offered with a small smile. Whilst Hogwarts was terrifying at times, it was also a nice place. She had made great friends and the professors really cared about their students. To the question of her brother, Olivia nodded. "I think so or at least for now while I'm in school here. I asked him if he was interested and he informed me that I'd embarrass him. Jokingly of course," she said with a chuckle. Her brother was always up to mess with his younger sister. Also if Simon was a Professor here.... That would have been so strange. Imagine if he walked in on her on a date in the kitchens....talk about awkward!

Hearing that Professor Newton's return to Hogwarts was a good decision made her smile. "That's great." It really was great. It seemed like home for the Professor. And now for a question she had been longing to ask this Hogwarts veteran. "So since I'm speaking to a Hogwarts veteran... Was Hogwarts more dangerous when you attended school?" she asked curiously.

fleeting mentions of Levi & Cassandra
 

Features peppered with beads of sweat she had not bothered to dry after some self imposed training down at the lake, Valerie made her way back towards the castle. And to perhaps sample some more of this foreign cuisine the Hogwarts house elves seemed more than eager to indulge her curiosity with. It had been a little too heavy for her delicate stomach, but even she would admit that the sampling of Welsh rarebit she had received the other day had been (for lack of a better word) delicious.

Not taking in her surroundings as she moved, she made a point not to acknowledge Jesus as he sat in his usual pensive position with that curious sheen covering his eyes. Instead she preoccupied herself with wrapping the black scarf in her hand around her neck and moving towards yet another vacant bench a little distance away from the one he sat upon. Which was the only reason she noticed Levi Kenning and the Cassandra engaging in casual conversation.

Rather than engage in conversation with anyone in particular, she elected to engage in a different manner. Flourishing her wand, a blue jet of light shot out of it and enveloped a nearby rock and transfigured it into a labrador that soon went bounding off eagerly towards the Thunderbird. If she was lucky (and the magicked creature able to understand her intent) it would pee on his foot. Just for a bit of foreshadowing, perhaps.

His hand went straight into his pocket, fishing around for a piece of caramel candy (which, he remembered he took one before leaving the Beetle earlier.) After a brief tussle, Jesús found the candy and pulled it out only to drop it on the ground. Not usually clumsy (especially not with candy,) the sixth year picked it off the ground (grateful that it was wrapped) before looking around. While he would never, ever admit to being superstitious, Jesús knew that the only reason why he dropped the small item was because someone was staring at him (or had been, at least.)

It didn't take long, but he found the culprit in the form of Levi Kenning. Blinking at him, Jesús supposed acknowledging Levi was the polite thing to do. So he sent a nod his way in response, before pocketing the caramel again. And, because his life was full of irony, he caught sight of something resembling an animal heading his way. He couldn't comprehend why a random dog was bouncing over too him (and it looked like it had a sense of purpose too,) so he quickly scanned the area until his eyes caught sight of the elusive Valerie Gray. Of course.

It would be her doing, transfiguring something to pester him instead of actually coming over to talk. Jesús quickly stood up (because he refused to let the girl have her way) and brushed past the labrador, not caring if it turned around and followed him or not. As he made his way over to her, he went over how he was going to greet her and what he was going to say after that. He wouldn't sugarcoat anything; getting right to the point would do them both some good. Jesús was 95% confident in his plan to get Valerie to talk openly.

That 95% quickly diminished to a cool 16% once he reached her, though, and his hands went straight into his pockets (he had to do something with them.) Standing near her, he looked at her curiously and before he could stop himself, his mouth was moving. "Don't be difficult," he said rather amiably, the corners of his lips twitching upwards (only briefly.) This was not the approach that he wanted to go for, and he reminded himself of that fact. However, he wasn't really upset with her, he just wanted a few answers. He tugged at his scarf to readjust it. Again. "Did you intentionally sit over here?" the thought that she might've done that, just to prove a point, amused him.

Vague mention of Valerie
 

still see you two, Levi & Cassandra
 

Feeling prematurely pleased with herself, it was difficult not to turn her head fully in the Thunderbird's direction to watch the full execution of her transfiguration. But any desire to do so was quickly lost when she caught him rising and moving towards her out of her peripheral vision with the labrador bounding along by his side as though following its master with unconditional admiration and affection. That had not been the intention of her magic by a long shot and she could feel the agitation beginning to eat at her slightly empty stomach.

Her annoyance only intensified when he was standing over her, but rather than display how under her skin he was already she simply looked up at him coolly with a small shrug of the shoulders. "I have been such since the day I was born," she retorted with an overtly innocent demeanor. "Why ought I stop now?" Her question was rhetorical and had slipped out before she could filter it away. Surely it would be something she would berate herself over later given that silver tongue of his.

Tucking a few wisps of her white hair behind her ear, she summoned a nearby stick to herself and wiggled it towards the labrador. A small distraction while she attempted to deal with Jesus. "Perhaps," was all she offered him as a reply. Seeing that she had the dog's attention (or rather the stick did), the Wampus flung it across the courtyard towards the other pair of champions in conversation. Watching the creature take off full speed after it, she calmly looked back towards her friend. "Is that all you came over here to inquire about?"

Because he could just get to the point now that her fun was ruined.

Jesús raised an eyebrow at that, but relaxed his face soon after. "You're right, don't stop." He meant it, too. "I like difficult things," he said absently, not realizing the implication of his statement. Something of an irritating habit of his, Jesús watched Valerie, curious to see where her head was at. She seemed off (though, if he could be honest with himself, he definitely was off too.) Maybe the competition was affecting them more than they realized. Or, maybe it was the environment at Hogwarts. It was much different than Ilvermorny; Jesús still couldn't feel comfortable, even in that ridiculous Beetle.

He didn't turn to see where she'd thrown the stick (he assumed it was directed at someone unsuspecting,) and, if his hypothesis was correct, Valerie had probably sent the dog over to pester him. Or worse. "Why do I get the feeling that you're upset with me?" Which, if he was recalling correctly, she shouldn't be since he hadn't done anything to her. And, for reasons he could not (and would not even if he could) explain, Jesús grinned. "You don't need to send a dog to get my attention, you know." He meant to say more, but he realized he was saying too much and didn't need to expose himself any further than he already did.

Without asking for permission, Jesús sat down next to her, not caring that he was invading her personal space (because what personal space.)

Come again?

The Wampus was noticeably taken aback by his words and was helpless to the jerk reaction of her eyes widening like some annoying doe eyed school girl. She was anything but doe eyed, especially when it came to everything encompassing one Jesus Rodriguez. His words were more often than not (even more so since arriving here at Hogwarts) an insufferable chemical reaction that left her cheeks with an uncomfortable rosy hue. Each time served as a reminder to something he had said upon their arrival after that embarrassing display of looking like a bunch of clowns coming out of the Beetle. Words that she had easily ignored then (and continued to do so now if anyone were to ask) but somehow clung to the corners of her mind.

"......you would," she countered while narrowing her eyes slightly at him.

She tried to look around him to see where the dog had gone (along with the want to have something other to look at other than what was surely his smug features) but his next set of words drew her back in. "I am usually annoyed with you for one reason or another," she calmly reminded him without giving him the satisfaction of a glance in his direction. Her transfigured dog had seemed to have entirely abandoned the stick and was now chasing after a butterfly, which was disappointing.

Her wand out, she had it pointed at the false creature with every intention of reverting it to its rocky state when he had to go and cause yet another involuntary reaction. Her head snapped round and upwards to meet his gaze while her wand remained pointed at the now unoccupied space the labrador had abandoned in its pursuit of the butterfly. What was worse was that before she could even offer a rebuttal (let alone think of one) he had invited himself to sit down right next to her and then suddenly any need for Heating Charms was nonexistent. Ugh.

Olivia did feel as if Hogwarts was a much better fit. She had found her own group of people. Etta and Noelle and Ace.... And more. These people made her day. They accepted her for who she was and she was grateful. At Beauxbatons, she had felt like she had to be louder to be acknowledged and she began to lose sight of who she was. A smile tugged at her lips when she heard that Rosalyn understood the sibling thing. "How many brothers do you have?" she asked, curious she was. Perhaps that was a too personal question but oh well she had said it now.

She nodded in agreement. "It is peaceful," she smiled. Well peaceful enough with a major international competition going on. The school was filled with chaos and shenanigans but it was rather wonderful. Still much better than last year's portals and monsters. "It's just... so strange, Professor. That last year was so horrifying and this year... this year is nothing terrifying.. It's a little nerve-wracking because I'm expecting something... Maybe I'm being paranoid."

Normally, Jesús carefully sifted through his thoughts before he allowed the words to slip out of his mouth, but lately he'd been subjected to spewing out whatever was on his mind at the moment. Specifically around Valerie. It was a problem that he was hoping to fix (and soon) but it didn't seem like a problem at that moment. Which, when he would think back on this later it would become more apparent to him, was a problem in and of itself. So it was no surprise that Jesús did, in fact, catch the wide-eyed look that Valerie had on her face, which gave him pause. "I know, that's why I said it." Her narrowed eyes were met with a smirk (courtesy of a very smug Jesús Rodríguez,) and he committed the incident to memory.

Not that he would ever have a need to recall the incident. No. It was just something that he did; hold on to useless memories, and such.

"One day, you really are going to slip up and confess to me," he teased, though he meant nothing by it, and didn't even think it would happen (read: he was 78% sure it would happen sooner or later, not that he'd ever thought about the likelihood of this even occurring, but just in case it did happen, he was prepared to accept it and move on.) Valerie had pulled out her wand, and Jesús already felt the need to put distance between them, but she didn't do anything. Confusion settled onto the boy's face, though he did his best to appear aloof and unassuming. "What's that expression again?" he tapped a finger to his chin, feigning deep thought, "oh, right. Cat got your tongue?" And, because he was in a giving mood, Jesús pulled out a caramel candy from his pocket and offered it to her. To help temper her, just a bit. Jesús watched her curiously, tilting his head to get a better look.

THREE brothers?

She couldn't imagine having an extra brother!! Would he have been like Simon or more like Marcus... or... more like her? Or then again, completely different. "Wow! Three brothers. Are they all older than you, Professor?" Olivia just had two older brothers which made meant that they would relentlessly and maybe mercilessly tease any guy friend she ever brought home. She hoped for Rosalyn's sake that they hadn't been older and that they hadn't teased her or Professor Marchand too too much.

Olivia agreed when Professor Newton mentioned that she was scared that a student could have died almost every day. She shuddered and remembered being in the portal and hearing that thing and the thing chasing them. Then she had ended up there with Leon, Ace, Brent, and more. Merlin. She had never been so happy to see the ground again. She had forgotten that she had spent the minute she got out of the portal hugging Brent as she was so terrified and the had all survived.

And then that thing took Etta. "I remember when Etta and another girl vanished from the bridge... I wanted to go and help but felt so helpless."

Was she the baby of the family? "No younger siblings. I'm the youngest in my family." She was the baby. Two older brothers and just her. Olivia smiled. "Two older brothers and me." Growing up, it had felt like it was just Simon and her as Marc was much older than them. There was still an age difference between Simon and Olivia but Simon always looked out for her. He had always been made fun of because he was "different" (due to his magical abilities).

She nodded, listening silently as Professor Newton mentioned that she was proud what the students did to help. She didn't feel like she did much but she had been so worried. Olivia didn't feel like they had done much but they had all managed to stick together. What did happen to Miffy and Storm? Olivia remembered her last encounter with Peeves and then Miffy coming by to tell him to pay more attention to their son. Merlin. That had been a headache and a half. "What did ever happen to Miffy and Storm?"

It was FRUSTRATING to be the baby of the family. It was really tough to live up to her brothers, especially Simon. He was... well he seemed to be good at ALMOST everything that she wasn't good at like Ancient Runes and being a consistently amazing student. He had already mastered his patronus by fifteen. "Sometimes its hard to live up to older siblings especially wen you have a sibling that's really good at academics... " She had gone through a phase where she felt very insignificant to her brother but he had never made her feel that way. He was incredibly generous.

At the thought of Miffy and Storm giving the monster a hellish time in hell, Olivia smiled softly. They were protecting the students at Hogwarts... And how did Peeves feel? Though Olivia had no sympathy for the ghost that had flung leeches and dungbombs at her, she still did feel some sadness for the Poltergeist. "I wonder how Peeves is doing with all of this.." He must have been somewhat upset... right?

It was hard living with a sibling who was really good at school and being a student. He just naturally excelled. Sure, Olivia was proud of her brother but she still felt like she needed to prove herself. Professor Newton's words reminded her of her father's words to her when she was a child. Strengths and weaknesses. Heh. Sure. It just seemed like Simon had more strengths than she did. She would never complain about that though.. the very thought of complaining just seemed silly to her. "Yeah, I would ask him for help but I don't wish to disturb him." Or admit that she needed help. "I am working in a study group though."

Olivia nodded, remaining silent as she listened fo Professor Newton speak about Peeves and his potential feelings. It made sense to her too that he'd be torn. She wasn't one to comfortably go up and ask the Poltergeist how he was with everything... especially since her last encounter with him had earned her a broken wrist, bruises, and leeches stuck to her. Gah. She shivered at that thought. Whenever she thought of the situation, she could swear that she felt the leeches stuck on her neck. "I could see that. I overheard Miffy asking Peeves why he didn't pay attention to Storm," she added with a small frown.

Olivia nodded, listening to Professor Netwon's words. Yes, Simon wasn't malicious with his actions. He wouldn't be upset with her disturbing him for help. He would encourage her asking questions of him. He was really great and patient with her. She nodded. "Yeah, he's always tried to provide me with help." Olivia smiled. She had a great brother. She was lucky with him. Her eldest brother tried to keep to himself usually. And for OWLs.... "I feel pretty confident.. I'm worried about Ancient Runes but I've been spending a lot of time trying to understand all of our lessons. It's been slow but I have a study group." It was her, Torrance, and a few others. A great idea for a study group.

She hadn't thought of them being so complex as beings... Olivia frowned, feeling a little silly that she hadn't even thought such a thing. It had never crossed her mind. But Professor Netwon was right. Peeves had reverted back to his original self. She nodded in agreement at Professor Newton's words about Peeves and poltergeists being more complex. "It seems as if he's almost forgotten about what happened last year.... Does the memory charm work on poltergeists?"

Potions EC #1
 

He had miss placed the snake that he snatched from the lake, so now it was time to find a new snake. He had grown to like Charley though so he hoped he'd find the snake somewhere in the castle. Assuming he was off just eating rats or even the occasional pygmy puff Eddie figured it wouldn't be too hard to find him.

Looking around as he started out to the courtyard he was sort of hoping he'd find the snake moving around. "Haven't seen a snake have you?" His eyes on the ground still he hadn't even noticed who the person was. As he observed the area is was obvious that a snake wasn't around so he finally looked up.

"Oh"


It was her.