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**Wilber Winterbottom** · #1 (**permalink**) 12-27-2022, 12:45 AM

For those who belong in Ravenclaw House, in the middle of the Great Hall is where your table awaits. Blue banners containing an embroidered bronze eagle float above the polished table in honour of the wise Rowena Ravenclaw. Already placed on the tables are silver plates with accompanying cutlery and goblets. All that is missing right now are the mountains of food and pitchers containing your favourite beverages.

Though your stomach might be growling as you take a seat on one of the long benches next to the table, it is important to not get hangry -- gnawing your arm away or jabbing your fork repeatedly on the surface of the table will do no good whatsoever. Give everyone some time to get settled in and wait for Headmaster Winterbottom to deliver his speech. Keep yourself preoccupied by catching up with your fellow housemates until it is time to sink your teeth into the hearty and delicious meal prepared by the house-elves.

FearlessLeader19 · 01-01-2025, 04:00 PM

Krittika clung to Athena’s hand as she let herself be half tugged towards the Ravenclaw table. She didn’t know where Thena got all that energy from but she was willing to be that her friend had been up extra early completing those moments of fencing practise she enjoyed a little too much; that practise had to have had a huge influence. “I think I lost my brother,’’ Kritti commented mildly as she seated herself at the table. “We lost yours too apparently. Bet we’ll see them a mile off though,’’ the sixth year added, grinning so that her dimples showed. Both Kartick and Dio were rather tall, after all.

And where was Justus? Kritti mentally shrugged. Everyone would find her soon enough. As it was, she was simply going to chill out here, and perhaps for a lot of the term since there were no major exams on the horizon for her.

Charely Potter · 01-02-2025, 10:12 PM

Dio was walking with his youngest sister, Hermione, who was nervous about their new appearance. She had gone through a new look that represented her true self. He was proud of her. So big brother was on the job of looking out for her on the train and everything... at least until she spotted Thena. He watched Hermy immediately run over to where Thena and Kritti were sitting. Immediately, Hermy seemed more interested in having a secret talk requiring Thena's full attention instead. Oh well.

Dio smiled a bit more before he walked over to the other side of Kritti. She seemed to be without her other half. Who he could've sworn was sitting with the Hufflepuffs, for some reason. "Hey, long time no see." Did she and Justus perhaps... take a break? "You're not with your Wolf boy today?" Or ever. Why was he so interested? Anyways, a lovely feast was awaiting them.

sweetpinkpixie · 01-03-2025, 06:01 AM

Iris hadn't hit her reading quota on the train nor the carriage but that hadn't been as disappointing as she anticipated it being considering she had been in great company the entire time. It really was nice that JT let her ramble on and on about the books she was reading and indulging her as she shared her newly discovered interest in fabulism and Cli-Fi - the latter of course sending her off on a tangent about magical pollution and specifically the possible effects of prolonged spell influence or enchanted objects on ecosystems - but he was a fantastic listener. Curious to how he was faring, the second year leaned around where she sat to try and peek at the Slytherin table to see how he was faring before settling in proper aaaaaaaaaaand pulling her copy of The Marrow Thieves from her robe sleeve. The blonde glanced over at the older students (herself also technically missing a brother since she hadn't spent time with him since saying bye to mum and dad at King's Cross) but quickly decided that the words on the pages in front of her were more captivating and resumed reading while tucking her bookmark against her temple with temple of her glasses.

Wolf boy though...was there a werewolf here among her peers?! ...and was his name Jacob?

Felixir · 01-04-2025, 01:00 AM

"HURRY UUUUUUUUUUUP!"

The call came, perhaps predictably enough, from Achilles Zacharias, his hands cupped around his mouth for the extra volume, as if he really needed it. He'd boosted himself up for good measure too, so that he was half standing on the stone floor, and half kneeling on the bench, though it wasn't because he thought the extra elevation would make any sort of difference. That was more because he just couldn't bear sitting for much longer, had to do something to stop the buzzing in his limbs, and at least give the illusion of action.

Was it wise to go shouting over the sorting? Probably not, but the brain-to-action pipeline was lightning fast, and impulse control was a little thin on the ground for a boy who had spent the entire day confined to various places (train!!! carriages!!! house table!!!) and could not bear to be contained much longer.

His demands made, and acting like he'd done nothing more untoward than tap pointedly at his watch, Killy flopped back into his seat and picked up the knife and fork he'd just abandoned, resuming the act of his makeshift drum solo. It just wasn't the same, but he made do with the nearest plate, goblets, tureens, and water pitchers. Clink-clatter-clack-da-dink-dink-dink.

Killy hated feasts. Not because they were fundamentally unpleasant or anything; actually, he liked mixing with others and talking their ears off. It was the need to sit and stay put and eat whole entire meals in one go, none of which he'd ever been very good at. The start of term was the worst, with the added torture of the sorting. Why couldn't it be like a buffet? A party? Sit-down dinners were soooooo anti-Achilles.

Because his eyes were just as restless as the rest of him, he found himself glancing around, still clatter-clink-a-dink-dink-clacking, and noted a kid sitting just a short way down the table with a book.

"Hey you girl," Killy called, without breaking stride as his eyes flicked between the makeshift instrument and his housemate. Multi-tasking, see. "Whatcha reading?" Not that it mattered. Killy would be unlikely to know it, could in fact see the cover and knew this for sure. The point was that the more he did - drum, fidget, talk, foot-tap (for the hi-hat and bass drum, duh) - the more likely he would be to keep his seat. Still not terribly likely, mind.

Perhaps it was time to bow to the inevitable. Perhaps it was past time he made like some of the super unsociable kids at this school and went illegally roaming the school instead of attending feasts. Perhaps that would be better for everyone. Kidding! What was better for everyone else didn't really occur to him.

CLATTER-CLATTER-DINK-A-DINK-DINK-CRASH.

sweetpinkpixie · 01-04-2025, 08:21 AM

It took very little time for her surroundings to fade into a state beyond white noise, which was also incredibly lucky because it meant the loud arrival of her housemate and his subsequent rhythmic showcase fell on disengaged ears. It took less than a paragraph for the bitter taste hit the back of her throat again, sharp and sour, like chewing on a spoiled lemon - not that she knew from personal experience. It stuck there, stubborn and unpleasant, no matter how many times she tried to swallow and made her scrunch her face as she finished the page and turned swiftly to the next and coughed as though she had inhaled a bout of smoke suddenly. Pausing on the particular passage, Iris reached into her pocket for one of the five colored pencils she carried on her person and lightly colored over a couple of lines in emerald green.

As she tucked the writing implement away, she thought she heard someone possibly speaking to her nearby - the clue being that they were inquiring about reading and, as far as she had observed, she was the only one doing so. She pushed her glasses up as she turned her head towards the noise and then blinked several times in confusion because this housemate was holding a knife and fork and using them in a very peculiar way.

...also calling her 'you girl' which likewise caused a stern wrinkle to her nose and dulled the bitter taste upon her tongue.

"It's Iris," she corrected him with a tut of the head, which dislodged her bookmark and sent it fluttering to the ground like whirligigs seeds. "Not you girl, if you please." She paused once more to eye him up and down over the rim of her glasses and lingered her gaze upon the fork for no particular reason. "A book called The Bone Marrow Thieves. It follows a group of Indigenous people in a dystopian future with a widespread plague that causes people to lose the ability to dream." Which was putting things lightly and a real disservice to the profound themes and storytelling elements, especially the passages she had been so rudely interrupted reading, but she was speaking to someone holding a knife and fork without any intention of using them for their intended use. "Are you...practicing your audition of orchestra or dulling that knife and fork for the rhythmic sport of it?"

FearlessLeader19 · 01-04-2025, 04:48 PM

Kritti, being the usual happy-go-lucky soul that she was {when her anger issues weren’t getting the best of her}, shifted to make room for Hermy as they joined her and Athena. She gave Hermy’s arm a brief but fond squeeze because like Dio, she was proud of the youngest Laramore. Kritti had already told both Hermione and Athena that they need to have a girls' sleepover at her place sometime soon. Such extreme fun that would be!

Leaving the sisters to carry on with their chatting, the sixth year shifted herself to properly look up at Dio as he took a seat beside her. “Hi.” She was grinning again. “Mhmm, it really does seem like we haven’t seen each other in ages, doesn't it?” When the question of Justus came up, Kritti simply shrugged. “We don’t always have to be together.’’ They may be in a relationship but she needed time for her friends too. “So, Dio. I’m going to be that annoying voice outside of your head reminding you all term that you need to dedicate extra time to Ancient Runes and Arithmancy.” She nudged him playfully. “I’ll be accepting nothing below Os.”

Now casting a careful look around the Ravenclaw table. There were many chattering students {obviously}, one who was reading {though Kritti wasn’t sure just how the second year was able to concentrate with all the noise} and one who seemingly did not care about getting too loud with his cutlery and wares. Kritti chanced a glance at the Staff Table, at Carton to be precise. Had he noticed the bedlam occurring here? Oh well, not her problem.

Felixir · 01-05-2025, 04:38 PM

"Yeah-huh," said Killy, without a moment's let-up from his hands and feet. "Iris, then. Like in the eye." Clink-clinkedy-click-clack-clatter-clatter-thunk.

Achilles might have been knowledgeable enough to know that an iris was a part of the eye - though perhaps lacked the wisdom to figure that that was probably not the girl's namesake... if indeed he had been thinking about namesakes at all - but some of those words Iris-like-in-the-eye had used in her explanation had not yet appeared on his radar. But he did know what a plague was, and dreaming, and he could pretty much guess the rest.

"Cool," he said, no doubt unwittingly contributing to the whole 'doing the text a disservice' thing. "I read this one book once. I think it was about a niffler. Or maybe it was a kneazle." Difficult to know for sure, especially as he had not so much read it but been guided hopelessly through the book by a despairing tutor. He could not recall how it ended, or even if they got that far. But before he could launch into some rambling or other - that may or may not have been related to the subject of books, he never really knew until the words were already tumbling out of his mouth - they were onto something new.

"Nah," said Killy, in answer to both questions. "Do they do drums in orchestra? I never checked. It's not my thing." He played what he liked, onwhat he liked, when he liked, and didn't inflict any more sit-down-and-do-as-you're-told experiences on himself beyond what was absolutely necessary. And even those didn't really go all that well (see: this feast, right here, right now). "Feasts are too slow, they're too still, and I have to get the buzzing out, and there's not many options. Do you do orchestra? You seem like a cello kinda girl."

Surely the speech would be soon. Were they waiting for a drumroll, or maybe that would be the hint they needed? Killiam of Zacharias could provide; he flipped his plate over, so that it actually bore a better resemblance to a snare drum in both sight and sound, and applied the makeshift drumsticks to the exposed underside.

RATATATATATATATATA--

sweetpinkpixie · 01-06-2025, 10:59 AM

No, not like the eyes as far as her parents were concerned but ultimately did those details really matter? They did to her, she supposed, but Iris wasn't so sure she felt like going into a tangent with Greek mythology.

...or maybe she did. She couldn't quite help herself when it came to reproving.

"If that helps you remember then, sure," she nodded while he continued his musical assault with Hogwarts' cutlery. "But, actually, my namesake comes from Greek mythology in which Iris was the goddess of the rainbow, as well as a messenger who traveled between the heavens and the earth." And because she simply couldn't stop there regardless as to whether or not she actually had his full attention, Iris pressed on but in a slightly abridged version of what she could share. "The name for the part of the eye was likely chosen due to its multicolored appearance and spectrum, like a rainbow. So, there is a connection to between between the iris of the eye you said and the goddess Iris both linguistically and symbolically ... sight, perception, and the communication of what is visible...so in an abstract way, you were spot on."

And yooooooooou are...who? Didn't one introduction imply another?

She found herself laughing, figuring he was being cheeky about this book and surely not serious. How could one have read a book and not remember what it was about? Unless he was serious and the book really was that forgettable...which was something she had unfortunately experienced once or twice as well. "Well, it mustn't have been a very good one if you can remember," she tinkled while adjusting her glasses once again.

Well, the truth of the matter was that he WAS dulling the knife and fork even if it wasn't his intention, work for the house elves later when they got to polishing things, but that truly was neither here nor there as far as Iris was concerned. Particularly since she received a clear answer later and she almost found it cute...in a quirky slightly annoying kind of way. Just as long as he didn't crack a plate... "Buzzing? Should I call a bee keeper?" she mused with the slightest of twinkles in her eyes, thinking herself terribly clever in the moment. "There are various sorts of hand games if you have a willing partner. My favorite is the Five-Finger Game." She always whopped Nyle when they played it while waiting in lines or waiting rooms to pass the time. "No...actually...I don't do orchestra at all or even know how to hold a cello...what makes you think I'm a cello kind of girl?"

And also...who are you? In her mind he was going to be known as Thumper henceforth.

Felixir · 01-06-2025, 11:40 PM

Remember? "Totally!" Maybe he'd remember her name, maybe he wouldn't. Maybe yes on some days, maybe not on others.

The whole explanation that came next did not exactly fall on deaf ears, but, alas, struggled to penetrate his skull, as Achilles was now intent on remembering the next thing he wanted to say, even as he put almost every ounce of effort into not interrupting. He tended to butt in a lot, but had started trying not to, for reasons. Sometimes. Point was, it made it harder to actually listen, like he could only do different aspects of conversation at a time, never the whole kit and kaboodle.

Perhaps it was for the best, as she was talking smart, and might have taken offence if he had so obviously glazed over while she was talking to him instead of so clearly looking like he was concentrating on something. In any case, the second she paused to take a breath, he jumped in.

"Cool! Eyes and rainbows. Man, can you imagine having rainbow eyes? That'd be wicked." He did not wait for a reply. "My name's Achilles, or sometimes Killy if you want to be lazy. It's from the Greeks too, the guy with the dodgy foot, except did you know that it might actually have been the Romans that made that part up? Anyway the guy was a wicked fighter, dead fast, but apparently it means 'pain', and my mum always said she named me perfectly 'cause she said I'm a massive pain in the- whoops."

As he'd spoken, he'd loosened his grip on the dinner knife, and it went sailing back over his shoulder, clattered onto the stone floor, and skidded under the next table.

Ahem, well. He could make do with just the fork. It wasn't the same, but there had been one-armed drummers before.

"No," he said, sounding uncharacteristically thoughtful as he rattled the fork between a goblet and a pitcher. "It probably wasn't. I dunno, it was forever ago." BUT back to things he was much more acquainted with, which all came out pretty much in one go. "Naw, I don't think it's real bees even if it feels like it. Y'know the buzzing you get in your arms and legs and head and if you don't do anything with it it just drives you craaaaazy? Like static in your bones and muscles and organs and stuff? It's that, but all the time." And he was, of course, very confident that everyone was familiar with this particular phenomenon. "I dunno the Five-Finger Game. You should teach me! And I can teach you cello! It's just a vibe, y'know, the cello-kind-of-girl thing, like how old man Winterbottom looks like he plays accordion."

Speaking of whom, the drumroll worked. Yesssssss.

Because he was a lovely, thoughtful, delightful boy, Achilles did at least lower the volume of his now solo fork clattering, but there really was no hope of him paying attention to the whole speech, and maybe the volume did start to creep up a little. Maybe. Definitely.

He sort of tuned in and out, mostly just waiting for it to be done, so he did hear that question at the end. Killy was by now very accustomed to riddles, though usually the door knocker up at Ravenclaw tower did not quite understand his logic or accept his answers unless he talked his way through it... and even then, he made leaps that he couldn't really explain but which made a lot of sense to him. So about a 50/50 success rate, which he didn't mind. If he started getting good at the riddles, the adults might start expecting even more from him, and that would suck.

It might have actually been a serious question, but Achilles's literal brain had processed it and deemed it nonsensical seeing as cheeses were not capable of worrying, so he decided it must be a riddle. Or a joke, which was even better. So, even as all the food appeared on the tables, Achilles cupped his hands around his mouth again and called up towards the staff dais, "BECAUSE THEY DON'T GIVE EDAM."

Probably not the right answer, but very fun to shout in the middle of a feast.

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