It seemed Hogwarts always had new things to offer, so usually one of the first things Evan did upon getting back to school was going for a walk to see if there was anything new he could locate. Something he thought was even more important now that he needed to ensure Padme was getting all her exercise, as the kitten pawed alongside his feet while they explored.

Not having class anytime soon, he'd opted for a simple pair of pants and a dark blue jumper - always sporting his house colors, though he couldn't tell someone if that was since he'd been sorted or if blue had just always been his aesthetic. His messenger bag was still over his shoulder, his research list and sketchbook tucked away, though he wasn't quite sure which one he was yet going to use.

Spotting the domes, he made his way over - finding a dark one and pushing at the door to let himself in, and nearly jumping as it suddenly lit. Interesting.. he didn't bother to shut the door, and didn't turn to see if it had automatically shut behind him. He placed his bag down on the table before padding around the wall, see if he could notice the source of the light - while the kitten merely hopped up on to a chair and made herself comfortable for a nap after their stretch.

Valentina jogged down to the grounds for some fresh air after lessons, dressed in a sweatshirt and a comfortable pair of pants. Her long blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail and she had just a little makeup on - something she'd been experimenting with lately. She wasn't sure if it made her look any better but it was fun and made her feel a lot more confident somehow.

She headed over to the domes after a while, noticing one of them was lit. Ooh, interesting. Curious to see who was inside, maybe it was one of her friends, she entered. The gryffindor immediately spotted Evan, the corners of her lips lifting up in a smile. "Hi, Evan." She walked inside, looking around a bit.

Locating source of the light was... not going well. Though he wasn't sure why he would have thought it would be, considering it was magic and he had no idea how to find traces or origin points for charms and spells. If there even were any, which was another thing he really didn't know. Giving up, he turned to head towards the table, giving his kitten a pat on the head as he did so.

He was just about to take a seat when he heard a voice and his name, and looking up he could see Valentina entering. Giving her a small smile, he offered a nod of acknowledgement as well. "Hey Valentina. How was settling back into your dorms?" The first few nights always seemed to be the most rambunctious for all the returning students and the amount of catching up there was to do.

Anything new was bound to have caught Remy’s eye soon after the term began. She had already heard people discussing the domes out in the grounds, people calling it the coolest hang out spot ever. Nah, she was the first to call it that, but she stood by it. The domes were AWESOME. Perfect for quiet and lone chills, but also a great spot for friends to gather.

Today she had arrived here alone, occupying and lighting up a dome just for her little self. If she could put a ‘DO NOT DISTURB’ sign up, she would, unless a bestie happened to walk by, of course.

But the castle was huge so what were the chances of that?

Ollie had seen the domes from a castle window and was eager to see what they were. She heard they were a cool new spot to hang out at and she decided to check them out today. She pulled her violin out to get back into the art and her notebook with the map in it to add the domes to, then she headed out to them.

She had planned on getting one for herself and practicing in quiet (she had hoped they were sound proof) but when she neared them, she spotted her best friend Remy. Or the last time they had talked they were best friends, and she hoped that the friendship still held the title. She eagerly hopped up to the dome and waved to catch the lion’s attention, a huge smile plastered on her face. “Remy!”

Valentina was almost always surprised when people full named her - not that she had any problem with it - but it felt different somehow. She immediately noticed the kitten on the chair, her face immediately brightening up. Kittens were just super cute, weren't they? Maybe she could ask her parents to get her one the next time she was home for the holidays.

"Not bad at all. I mean, even though I miss dancing full time.. it's nice to be back." She smiled at him as she goes to sit to take a seat. "How about you? How was your summer?"

Her eyes had been closed for a short time, the dome surrounding her was double the size in her imaginative head. She wondered if these domes could ever expand on the inside from using the right spells, and she made a mental note to look up how to do that. That would make her next visit to the domes something to look forward to.

Remy had not expected to hear anyone else inside HER dome… well… she just didn’t want anyone here with her. Unless they were a bestie, of course, which it just so happened to be. Her eyes opened and she blinked a few times to let them adjust to the light. “Ollie? Hey…” she matched her friends big smile. “Where have you been?” It felt like she hadn’t seen her in ages, well apart from classes, but they hadn’t hung out in a while. And Remy required hanging out with besties at least 3 times per week.

She patted a space next to her. These second years had some catching up to do.

It occurred to Evan as he used her full first name, that he hadn't actually tried clarifying with her before on what her preference in being called was. There was always so many options, he usually tried to be good about clarifying out of respect and yet... somehow he had missed that important step with his yearmate. And while he was embarrassed to have to question it, he'd be even more so mortified if he was unintentionally offending her. "Do you usually go by Valentina or was there something else you preferred?" The nice thing about Evan was there was not many other options. Ev, sure, but that usually happened more organically out of closeness than a preferred way to be addressed.

"Do you still have some places around campus you can use for your dancing?" He heard people liked to use the Room of Requirement, but these domes might have also been a good option. Or even an abandoned classroom somewhere. "My summer was good. Kind of busy, but good. I spent some time visiting extended family with my cousin and that was probably the highlight." There was nothing better than Halmeoni's cooking.

Evan definitely wasn't offending her in any way. Valentina reached out to hesitantly pat the kitten on the back, looking up at the ravenclaw with a smile. "Well, my friends usually call me Val but I don't mind being called Valentina either. It's just something that I'm not really used to." Her parents called her Tina at times so.. she kind of had a few nicknames. She wondered if Evan had any but doubted it. Ev, maybe. But Evan sounded a lot better.

"I prefer the room of requirement. It's the most convenient for me." Empty classrooms were slightly problematic because people preferred to study there sometimes and she didn't particularly like to practice in front of an audience. "That sounds like fun! My family and I went to the beach for a few days." Baylen's wedding was amazing too. She danced the rest of the summer away, basically.

Ollie accepted Remy’s invitation to sit and relax. It had been a while since she had some good quality time with her. The dome was actually really comfortable and relaxing; She wondered if there was a spell or charm placed on it to ease whoever was occupying it. Nevertheless, Ollie had found her new favorite spot to sit and hang out.

”Well I‘ve been around.” She shrugged ”The castle is so big, it takes me a while to remember where everything is at.” She wasn’t sure where to start with Remy. They had been writing back and forth all summer since they weren’t able to hang as planned. She wondered if Remy was alright with aging her crush’s name yet. ”There’s so much for us to catch up on!” She looked to her friend. She hadn’t changed much over the summer, which Ollie was thankful for because she hadn’t either. At least they were in the same boat.

Ollie leaned back and looked up at the sky. She could totally take a nap here, even though moments ago she wasn’t tired. She pulled her head back up. “Okay so first. Tell me all about your hangout seshes” She added a wink at the end hoping Remy knew exactly what she meant.

That would have made him much more relieved to know that, as his upbringing had always been about courtesy and respect and he really attempted to consider other peoples feelings. Even when he, himself, was not good at feelings. "Oh, okay!" So it sounded like she didn't have a preference, in which case he probably would shorten to Val as well given it was much easier to say. "I can understand that. People usually prefer to shorten names. That's the benefit of already having a short one, I suppose." Sometimes people just called him 'Nam' too, but there were two other of those within the school so that could easily get confused.

"That makes sense. What do you usually transform the room too? A dance studio or a performance stage?" Were he to trust using the room, he wondered what he'd actually want to transform it to himself. Maybe his family's home in Korea? Or Chase's dance studio? Though he supposed both of those options would also just make him feel homesick for his family. "Did you go boating or anything at the beach too or just soak up some sun?" Beach visits were the best part of summer, and he usually found himself curling up in the sand with a book. And depending on if his sister's were there too, he'd also help put together sandcastles.

"Most people do, yeah. Yours is super short.. which is pretty cool, I think." Val finally looked around the inside of the dome a bit. It was a little cosy, wasn't it? Not a bad place to practice but there were far too many chairs around. She tucked her blonde hair behind the ears as her gaze shifted towards the kitten again. "What's her name?" Unless it was a boy.

"A dance studio!" Baylen's dance studio, to be more specific. It felt more comfortable somehow. Plus, it was big so there was plenty of room for her to move about. "But I guess I should give performance stage a go sometime too. Do you go up to the room of requirement often?" Val asked curiously. "Oh to just soak up the sun mostly! We played some volleyball too." Which had been super fun. The best part of beach visits though? Eating lots and lots of ice cream! Not that she didn't have it otherwise but there was something about sitting under the sun with a mint chocolate chip ice cream. YUM.

“Yeah it is pretty big. I still find new places all the time… apparently there are hundreds of secret rooms and passageways.” Remy wanted to find them so much. It would make her feel like such a main character to get up to mischief like that.

Remy caught the wink and she felt herself blush a little, because she knew who Ollie was referring to. Her letters had contained much information about such things, but talking about them in person felt a little embarrassing. “I just spent most of my time at the Diagon Alley celebration,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “Did you go to that in the end?” Remy knew that she had a bit of a lame summer on account of her dad being his usual jerk self.

Using her fingers to count all the people she hung out with, Remy started, “i went with my sister most days… Me and Lisa went to watch a magical creature meet and greet… I got lots of curly fries with… I can’t remember her name.” She’d met a new person from Slytherin who was related to Scarlett Mordaunt.

“Aaaaand… well, I hung out with my friend Atlas, too.” she shrugged again, blushed, and couldn’t help but smile as well.

The comment on his name had the Ravenclaw giving a soft chuckle, as he nodded his head in agreement. "We all have short names. My parents are Alexander and Mi-kyong so sometimes I wonder if they got tired of all the nicknames they were given and that's why we got Noah, Evan, Maya and Lisa." All of which could be easily shortened to one syllable but... not much else could be done with them unless someone got real creative. His eyes moved to Padme as well, before he offered response. "Pads. I got her over the summer. You have any pets?"

Dance studio certainly made sense, and probably would have been his preference over a stage as well. "Makes sense. It's always nice to have the mirrors of a studio." A performance stage would be especially good for getting used to dancing on if she had any instances of stage fright. "Not too often. The magic of the room doesn't make much sense to me." So naturally, he was distrustful and chose to go elsewhere. He'd been rather curious his first term but that had quickly receded his second. "You look like you got a bit of a tan too." Which was... natural and probably an odd observation to have made, given the fact most people who went out to beaches DID usually end up with tans. "I don't think I've ever actually played volleyball. Is it fun?"

"Those are such pretty names!" Val said, smiling brightly at Evan. And short too, like he said. "It must be nice to have so many siblings, no?" She had a younger brother who meant the world to her. She kind of wished she had more at times but she did have plenty of cousins. "Hi, Pads!" She leaned forward a bit to greet the little kitten with a smile, patting her on the back once again. "Not really. I've always wanted a kitten but.. I'm thinking about asking my parents for one over winter break."

She has been performing on stage since she was seven so stage fright has never been an issue. "Exactly, I prefer the mirrors. Mostly to see if I'm making mistakes." It was a little frustrating that she didn't get to practice as much in school but it couldn't be helped. She raised her eyebrows, looking at him curiously. "Oh? Why is that?? It's so convenient!" The magic of the room didn't make sense to her either but did it actually matter? She needed space to dance and it was just perfect. She grinned, nodding her head. "Yeah, I did but it's already starting to fade unfortunately. Do you not go to the beach often? But yeah, volleyball is super fun.. except we spent more time arguing than anything else, which was also fun."

"Thanks." He liked them well enough. He'd never thought about wanting a different name at least, Evan was short and simple and he kind of liked the way it looked written down on paper. The letter v just looked nice in most penmanships, in his opinion. "I like it. We all get along pretty well for the most part and... so many of us certainly keeps things interesting." Like the prank war over summer, which he'd certainly been glad to have Lisa for that. He loved Noah, but they would have been a sure fire loss if the girls were paired together. "Do you have any siblings?" He watched as she greeted the kitten, the purring starting after the pats. "I waited a long time before asking for one though I... don't know why. If you want one, you should definitely ask." Because despite the rest of his summer and how it'd been pretty great, Pads was the highlight.

Mirrors were definitely good for catching your own mistakes. Video cameras could sometimes be better so there was undivided attention on the technical portions of dance, but that was usually pretty extra. "What styles do you usually do?" He thought she might have mentioned it before but... he found it slipping his mind now. "I... just don't understand the magic of it, or the limitations or anything like that. It just sometimes makes me uneasy." He could be very distrustful of magic in general, and the Room of Requirement was the biggest proponent of that. "We don't usually. We're more mountain people than beach people. But I usually go when I can visit my Halmeoni in Korea." And usually he'd just read on the beach or sometimes take a walk along the water. "There should be a big beach party for Hogwarts students over the summer." Because the volleyball thing sounded fun, and he assumed it was better in large groups.

"I've met Lisa.. and I have seen Maya around. They are pretty cool!" Of course, Val could understand. Having plenty of siblings around, especially at school, to be able to see each other every day.. it definitely must be nice. "Yes! I have one sibling. His name is Victor." Her baby brother. She really did miss him so much when she was away at school but did write to him as often as possible, every week mostly, to check on how he was doing. Val was still playing with the kitten, nodding at his response. "Yeah, I know. I have tried asking my parents once before but they didn't seem very keen but I'm going to try again when I go home during winter break." She really hoped they'd agree this time.

She, obviously, got super excited at his question. "Hip-hop and contemporary are the styles I'm super good at all. I know ballet and jazz too. I want to learn salsa now." That was the plan at least. She always enjoyed learning and exploring new things when it came to dance. "Also, I like to blend different styles and come up with something new sometimes!" She turned quiet at his response, suddenly feeling a little nervous. Most people used the room of requirement, yes?? It was safe, right? "Have you ever asked a Professor about it? They would know what kind of magic is used, I think." Mountain people.. interesting. She'd never been to the mountains before, ever. As far as she remembered at least. "Mountains mean a lot of climbing, right?" She immediately brightened up at the idea. It sounded like a fun, didn't it? "Hey, maybe we should organize one next summer? What do you think?"

Plants levitating ahead of her and several students and board members in trail, Mia made her way to the domes. She gently lowered the potted plants to the ground. Hands on her hips, she took a long look around the area. She didn’t know everything about plants, but this seemed as good a place as any on the grounds to add some extra life.

“Okay,” she told anybody who would listen, “I think if we start out with some around the entrances to the domes, it could look really nice, especially after a few years when they’re more established.”

That was something people said about plants, right? After being transplanted, they had to grow in a little more? She thought it seemed about right. It made sense from a general standpoint. With any new creature, rehoming was stressful, so you had to wait a bit for them to relax and really start to grow and thrive in a new environment.

Norman arrived only moments after Mia. “Thought you could use a hand,” he said, lowering his own plants beside the ones she’d brought. He, too, glanced around the area, sizing up the group that gathered, how many students and perhaps just as importantly, how many board members. The board wouldn’t be the only one observing today, and unlike them, he didn’t need a notepad to record his findings!

He nodded in agreement to Mia’s suggestion. While he’d done well enough in Herbalism to score an “Accomplished” on the JARVEY, he lacked the creative vision to come up with a better idea for a garden himself. He really was not an artist or a gardener! Not to mention the fact that this was not necessary! The less time spent bantering back and forth, the sooner they could get this done and get on with their lives!

He eyed the dome entrances. “Shall we all start with one dome or split up?” he asked Mia and the students present. Although he had his own thoughts about the matter, he was open to suggestions.

Gemma liked plants and decided to go to the greenhouse to help out with planting these new plants. She followed to the domes as they split off hoping to help with the job and to get a chance to get her hands dirty. She had started a little garden over the summer and was really enjoying the time watering and growing vegetables and things. "Where would you like to start planting them? I can start in a place if pointed to the right direction."

Looking around she thought maybe in the corner area might be a good place, "What about over there?" Glancing towards the professors and the govern people. She didn't much care for them being around. Didn't they have enough random people at the school in the last few years?

Daniel would never acknowledge it out loud but he liked plants and flowers. They were a silent companion for when he had enough of being around people. At home, his favourite place apart from the family library was the greenhouse next to the manor and Daniel would spend a lot of time reading in there. Now, he liked plants and flowers but he wasn't exactly fond of working with them.

So why was he here then, following the professors and other students? Pure boredom. He had finished his homework already and he wasn't in the mood to read today. That also reminded him that he still needed to visit Professor Holden's office to get the books he had recommended. He could do that after this was done.

"You think i can get a plant for on my nightstand as well?" He wondered out loud as he stood next to the Gemma before his eyes looked over at the Governers for a second or two. " They are going to help out too, right? Or are they just going to watch and write in their notebook?" he said, lowering his voice a little and holding a hand infront of his mouth as if telling a secret.

Some of the small passages and spaces she found came to Ollie’s thoughts. She would have to bring Remy to them to see… and Remy would have to show Ollie any that she found too. Hopefully, Remy would want to show her and she wouldn’t have to ask. They should be good enough friends for that, right?

She couldn’t help but feeling a bit left out when her friend brought up the celebration. She felt her face drop a bit and hoped Remy didn’t notice. “That sounds like a lot of fun. But, no I didn’t get to go.” But She shouldn’t be surprised. Ollie explained everything in her letters about the fight with her dad. Then she was distracted by the mention of curly fries. She heard her stomach growl and her eyes widened. “Oh my.. I’m so sorry.” She felt a tad embarrassed. “Those curly fries just looked so good in my mind.” She chuckled.

Ahh. So had Remy just admitted that they were just friends? She thought from their letters perhaps they were something more. But from Remy’s blush and emphasis on the word friend she figured they weren’t. Ollie leaned over and nudged her with her shoulder. “Lots of hanging out, huh?” She taunted and laughed.

"I think if we split up, we can cover the most ground?" Norman's idea made sense, at least. Especially if they could get some of these board members to help. She glanced over at the Hufflepuff, Kitridge, she thought the girl's name was, and smiled. "That looks like an excellent place to start, Miss Kitridge." These students took such initiative, it was wonderful. Mia didn't think she'd been that pro-active when she was in school.

To the younger Hufflepuff (my, they traveled in packs, didn't they?) she smiled as well. "Let's focus on the plants that will be out here, for everyone to enjoy, shall we?" she suggested. Maybe if there were extras, or maybe if he asked June politely later on, he could get a plant for his dormitory, but so many more people could be cheered by plants on the grounds. People and creatures, as a matter of fact.

It seemed most people had met Lisa already, the giant ball of energy that she was. She and Noah had definitely gotten most of the socialness from the family, leaving him and Maya to just pretty much figure out how to make do. "I'm biased but... I think they're good people. Lisa is really high on energy and seems fueled by optimism. She's a ray of sunshine." Which... was refreshing after everything else, and that type of outlook was what he was fiercely trying to protect for her. "Maya is probably the smartest out of all of us. And entirely willing to use that brain of hers for real life practices." As opposed to him, who just... studied. "How old is your brother Victor?" He hadn't seen anyone around with her, so he could only assume he wasn't at school yet. Though as he thought that, he realized it was entirely a possibility that her brother just also had not been magic. "You should convince them to just go to the Magical Menagerie in Diagon Alley with you and you could all meet the kittens there together. The shopkeeper was really nice, super patient in helping me find Pads." Though really, once he'd actually made his way to the kitten corner, it had been a quick friendship.

Oh, wow! She knew a LOT of different styles! Evan pretty much capped at classical and some hip hop, though he did expand a little more every summer with Noah and Chase. Just for fun, he had no intention of ever doing anything with any of it. "That's a lot! But that's so cool. Do you have a favorite out of all those?" He.. had no idea how to salsa, though he did wish he did so he could help in her task since she was kind of.. .stuck for the rest of the term. Unless he was misremembering that being a partnered dance. "Experimentation is always a fun way to do it. Dance is one of the best ways to express originality so it would make sense your style be too." The room of requirement was most definitely safe, it was just really that by the time Evan would have had any interest in exploring the room - he kind of hated magic as a whole. Or hadn't been allowed to roam the castle. "I havent... I guess I could though." Climbing, sitting on hills and just enjoying scenic views, colder climates. "Yeah, I like to hike. It's rewarding to pick a mountain as your goal, and then get to reach it and enjoy the prize of the view." But really... a beach day sounded like fun. He worried he'd be a disappointing co-planner given he didn't know THAT many people but... maybe he could get Lisa's help there. "We should! it could be really fun. And even MORE of a last hurrah before it's back to school and we have to buckle down for our exams."