Noelle knew Hads was brilliant, of course. That was no question. The girl had more ideas roaming through her mind in the first half of the day than Noelle had in her whole week. The thing Noelle was worried about was the execution of the plan. The idea was brilliant. But... with so many live animals, you had to be careful.

She nodded, turning her body away from the balloons and her attention on Hads as Hads explained. Hmmm. Good points. ' Where will they be staying while you collect them?" She asked peering at the puffs in her hand. "Don't get me wrong... I love this idea, but I think we can make it better."

Noelle chewed her lip as she thought. "What if... we made puffs......" Okay... so her idea was forming.... "Not like real life puffs that could accidentally be stepped on or kick in the scuttle of the action... but like puffs that if they were accidentally kicked or stepped on, exploded and created an awful smell? kinda like.... " Hmm... "Stink bombs."

Noelle's eyes brightened as she looked at Hads. "That way, you don't have to worry about so many puffs finding homes after the prank and the smell would be very memorable."

What would Hads think?

Hads let her bags of school supplies rest on the floor and moved her shoulder around as if trying to work out a kink in it. She watched the three pygmy puffs in her hand. "I don't know." The most honest answer she could give. "Could we even create faux puffs that had a semblence of life to them?" That was the important question. If they could, yeah, this revision could work. But that was some seriously advanced magic, and she was still struggling to get her wizarding surfboard to fly in a straight line without bucking her off. Did Noelle know how to make inanimate version behave and act like the real things?

If so, great. Hadley was on board. But if she didn't...

The other thing about the plan. "I actually like bursting idea. We could even set it so at the end of the day they all go off in a flash of glory, but we need something much better than stink. Something original that people will be talking about for decades..."

Faith Hads. Have some faith.

"Well you said that you were doing this seventh year right?? That gives you plenty of time to figure it out. And it could be a simple transfiguration spell." If they could turn a rat into a cup by second year, they could do this little prank. It would just take trail and error... and a little dedication.

"We have time to figure this out. So something memorable? Wouldn't it be great if it set off a chain reaction at the same time? Maybe a few having firework knacks in them that spell out your name?" Because how awesome would that be??

Noelle's head was working now. "We need a library."

"Yeah, seventh year but," she looked off for a moment as if think it through once more before continuing, "this is such a big idea, I need to start preparing for it now. If I wait until seventh year," or if it took them that long to figure out how to make life-like versions of the pymgy puffs, or worse, they dailed to, "I won't have enough time to pull it off."

But that didn't mean they could keep preparing the original idea while working out how to do Noelle's. Besides, something spectacular at the end that spelled out Hadley's name, or otherwise identified her as the mastermind was pretty appealing. "You're right. We do need a library. Let's table this until we can meet un the Hogwarts' library."

Noelle agreed. She loved to prep and prepare for things way in advance. It made the outcome that much better. So she totally understood where Hads was coming from. Though, she didn't think Hads understood what she was saying. "Yeah, I totally agree. You should be starting now. You're brilliant Hads. Probably why you're in Ravenclaw rather than Gryffindor." Because everyone knew that Hads was a Gryffindor at heart. Which.... by the way. "[/b]How are you liking Ravenclaw now anyways?[/b]" Was she enjoying it more? It was a good thing Hads was a Ravenclaw because her CR was not too far from Noelle's. It came in handy sometimes.

And Noelle wasn't trying to take over Hads idea or anything. She was just trying to help. Hads of course, was a mastermind and didn't need Noelle at all. But it was nice that Hads had let her in a bit. "Yeah. Of course. We can meet when we come back. And you're always welcome to use Weasley any time you want."

Noelle looked away from the balloons, all interest lost in them. Now she was in a more.... interesting mood. "What are you getting into.... I mean doing right now?"

"Thanks!" She wasn't one of those people that thrived on compliments, like every girl her brother has dated, but that didn't mean it didn't still feel great when people did pay her a compliment or too. Though, she still wasn't convinced her intelligence alone should have been the deciding factor in which house she was. Hermione Granger is always described as being utterly brilliant, and was a Gryffindor, after all.

How was she enjoying her house these days? Hads took a long second to ponder that. "It's...Actually, it's pretty great with Hirsch as HoH." Don't get her wrong, Kitridge was an amazing HoH, but the Ravenclaw he expected her to be just wasn't who she was. They'd clashed a lot if the time. Hirsch, on the other hand, always has been the one Professor that got and understood Hadley 100%. He appreciated her humor, and her idea of fun and often shared those. In many ways, Hirsch and she were a lot alike. And having him as HoH, it made a noteable difference. "Yeah, I mean, I'm still a bit of an outsider with many of my housemates, but it's a lot better now."

Hadley nodded. "Perfect. We can meet up first week or something. You know, before classes start to bog us down." Or studying for the O.W.L.s gets intense, for the half of this conversation in 5th year.

What was she doing right now? Hadley glanced down at her bags. "School shopping." Boring, right? "I have to do it this early because next week I leave for California and won't have time to do my shopping when I get back." In fact she'll have exactly one day to rest, unpack from California and pack for Hogwarts before getting on the Express. But she got to go home to California for the whole month of August, so it was worth it. "You?"

Perhaps fourteen was too old to want or like balloons. But didn't anyone SEE these were really cool balloons? And you know, she could totally get her grandpap to charm these or something. Hmm. Or maybe...maybe she would look stupid if she walked around with one of these...what if Sam was here? What if Sam saw her? And she looked like a child or something. Her cheeks turned red at just the thought... she wondered what Junia would say. She was tan from her trip to California, though, and she had had a GREAT time with Hazen. Even if he was a stick in the mud a lot of the time.

So she was going back and forth. She was a FOURTH year now. How...could a fourth year enjoy balloon animals?

;__;

What to do. And now she was here and LOOKING at all of the options and they seemed really cool and stuff.....

ugh.

Etta wandered over to the balloon area, not having explored this part of Diagon Alley before. Wait.. were those balloons moving on their own? She observed them for a while, absently playing with ends of her hair. How fascinating. After a few minutes had lapsed, she started to walk towards the toy section. Maybe she could get something for her cousins..

.. but HEY. She abruptly stopped walking as she noticed someone vaguely familiar nearby. Wasn't she Junia's friend? Or... not? Because what if she was some random person? Erm. The girl felt unsure, her brows furrowing in thought. Maybe she should say hello?

Finally, Etta walked up to the other girl with a small smile on her face. ..... "Hi." She cleared her throat nervously, hoping the other girl recognised her. If not.. well.. that would be incredibly embarrassing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady of Light

Etta wandered over to the balloon area, not having explored this part of Diagon Alley before. Wait.. were those balloons moving on their own? She observed them for a while, absently playing with ends of her hair. How fascinating. After a few minutes had lapsed, she started to walk towards the toy section. Maybe she could get something for her cousins..

.. but HEY. She abruptly stopped walking as she noticed someone vaguely familiar nearby. Wasn't she Junia's friend? Or... not? Because what if she was some random person? Erm. The girl felt unsure, her brows furrowing in thought. Maybe she should say hello?

Finally, Etta walked up to the other girl with a small smile on her face. ..... "Hi." She cleared her throat nervously, hoping the other girl recognised her. If not.. well.. that would be incredibly embarrassing.

Astrea was probably overthinking this, but that was part of growing up, right? Overthinking things? She was a bit rash sometimes, too, and maybe OVER thinking would be like other people's NORMAL thinking, since she normally DIDN'T think at all before making a decision.

Except with...sensitive subject matter.

She had not seen Henrietta Kramer approach, but she DID notice her when she spoke. Because that would be highly unresponsive. And Astrea wasn't unresponsive, nor was she oblivious to things. Well, not usually. "Hi. You're Henrietta Kramer. I don't know if you know me," she said softly. She was younger than the Hufflepuff girl, after all. "You went missing with Junia that one day last term," she mentioned casually. And Junia was her BEST FRIEND FOREVER. "I and Junia's BEST FRIEND...Astrea. Astrea Washerby," she held out her hand and smiled. "I'm trying to decide if balloons are too childish or not."

With his dad close by but keeping his distance because he could do his school supply shopping by himself as he was now eleven, and totally oblivious to the fact that his dad placed items in his cart that he had forgotten to buy in numerous places and were important to have at school. And now it was time for a shop he had been not so patiently been waiting for to enter.

Dorian opened the door and looked up for a brief second when he heard a bell jingle above him. Walking forward , the soon to be first year walked straight towards the balloons section on the other side. The boy looked at them , his blue eyes taking in the detail of how cool those creatures were made. Were those ACTUAL creatures from the wizarding world? Was he going to study those in class? He could hardly wait!

But although the balloons were cool, they would surely pop one day and knowing himself it would happen as soon as he left the shop. He turned his attention to a box labeled 'Mini shooting stars set' like REAL shooting stars? The ones he had seen outside once when he couldn't sleep and he had looked outside of the window? Nooo that couldn't be! Right?!

He picked up the box, rattled it against his ear and then started to try and open it up.

Georg had ditched his aunt in Madame Primpernelle's, and eyes went wide as he looked around Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes. This place was amazing! At any rate, it looked a lot more fun than watching his aunt do boring girly stuff! Why didn't they have a shop like this back home in Denmark? The toy display caught his eye, and he went to investigate. Those balloons were neat! Maybe he could get a phoenix balloon? Or a pirate ship? That would be fun!

He was busy looking at the miniature dragons when he saw another boy about his own age pick up a box. "Ooh, what's in there?" he asked. Was it something fun? Or even better, something he could use to prank his aunt?

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, kid."

Albert had sidled up behind the younger boy, and with a grin, was leaning against a shelf behind him. Of course, calling the boy kid was probably a bit rich, considering the Durmstrang student himself was barely sixteen, but either way, the boy was younger than him and didn't look like he'd ever been in a joke shop, so 'kid' it was.

"Actually," he added, standing straight from where he was leaning, "maybe you should." Because really, how bloody funny would that be?

Opening up the box with shooting stars was a more difficult task than what he had first thought and the first year guessed that it was probably charmed in some way. He was about to place it back down on the shelf when a voice made him look to the side. "Shooting stars!" he said enthusiastically as he held the box in front a guy his own age. "I think they're more like fireworks though" he said with a disappointed sigh when he had stopped to think that it was probably impossible to catch a shooting star even as a wizard.

Another voice behind him made him turn around, hoping it wasn't a shopkeeper again. He had had enough trouble in other shops. "I'm not a kid" he said . "I'm eleven which means i'm a pre-teen" he admitted that that sounded worse than kid but hey. Facts."I want to" he said as he held out the box n front of the older student's face this time and rattled it again. "But i can't get it open, can you open it for me?" he asked as innocently as possible which did not match the grin that formed on his face for a second.

Georg's blue eyes went wide when the other boy told him there were shooting stars inside the box. Were they real stars? How did they catch them? Was there some spell he could learn at Hogwarts that would pull a shooting star right out of the sky? His face fell. He was a little disappointed when he learned they weren't real stars, but fireworks sounded pretty fun too. "I wonder what would happen if I set one of those off in my aunt's house," he thought out loud. Aunt Kati could use a little fun in her life!
"I bet her cats would go crazy!"

The Danish boy's head whipped around as he heard another voice, and he saw an older guy standing nearby. He blinked confusedly. Why shouldn't they open the box? "Why?" he asked. "What happens when you open it?" Was it going to explode? Cover them in stinky goo?

Albert couldn't help but let out a snort. "A pre-teen. Right. If you say so, kid." Did the boy really think that his explanation sounded more impressive, or something? He supposed that he should leave him alone, considering, but there was just something so amusing about winding little 'pre-teens' up.

However, he did let out a laugh when the other boy mentioned letting the firework-shooting-star-things off in his aunts house: a genuine laugh, no snort this time. "Take photos of her reaction," Alby requested of the other boy, because the crazy cat lady freaking out was now on his list of things to see. "I'm not opening, no way." The sixteen year old was more than happy to egg the kids on, but he wasn't going to be directly responsible for their misdemeanors. "You have to do it yourself, prove that you can handle them. They might just hit you in the face." Or shoot around and knock things off of the shelves.

That was why he'd advised against it, but Merlin would it provide a laugh.

Dezi didn't know who the Weasleys were or why their shop name is so complicated (he couldn't even remember it, anymore) but he wanted to build a WHOLE STATUE for them. He couldn't build statues, only mud ones, so he hoped a mud STATUE would be enough. ALL THESE TOYS! He wanted them all! Even if he didn't know what half of them were. (What in the world was Quidditch?? Dezi didn't know but he WANTED to FIND OUT!

He wanted to tell all his friends about all these things.

But first -- "Are YOU Weasley?" Tugging on the sleeves, trousers, WHATEVER, of the various adults and kids around, he began his quest. Mama had an art gallery and she always said consent was important. He didn't EXACTLY know what consent meant but he knew it was like when someone asked to use your toys. So. He needed Weasley's consent before he built his mud statue, DUH.

Also, he had no money. He was hoping telling him he'd build a statue for him would make the man happy and maybe Dezi would leave the shop with gifts.

GENIUS.

The summer break was doing wonders for Gaston. Trying to balance work and home had been running him ragged, then there was that awful Dufftown trip and the emotionally draining round of goodbyes at the end of the term. But that was all behind him, and now he had two months of uninterrupted time with his girls. For the first time since his daughter was born, he was able to eat, sleep, and take time for himself without worrying that he would miss something.

He shifted the tiny dark-haired girl in his arms to one side as he opened the door to the shop and held it for his wife. Sure they had a stroller, but he would rather hold Desiree instead. He was going to shower her with as much affection as he could, since he wouldn't be around as much when school started back. It was a sad thought, but he was soon distracted by his daughter wiggling and giggling in his arms. "So you like this shop, huh?" he said, and Desiree started kicking excitedly in reply. "I thought as much. Now let's see about getting you some toys."

He glanced over the toy display, wondering which toy she would like best. He picked up a stuffed crup and wiggled it in front of Desiree. She grabbed it by the ear and started slinging it around. Looks like a winner... While she was distracted, he rummaged through the fairy dolls, trying to find one with black hair and blue eyes like his daughter. So far he didn't see any; maybe Rose would help him look.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy

The summer break was doing wonders for Gaston. Trying to balance work and home had been running him ragged, then there was that awful Dufftown trip and the emotionally draining round of goodbyes at the end of the term. But that was all behind him, and now he had two months of uninterrupted time with his girls. For the first time since his daughter was born, he was able to eat, sleep, and take time for himself without worrying that he would miss something.

He shifted the tiny dark-haired girl in his arms to one side as he opened the door to the shop and held it for his wife. Sure they had a stroller, but he would rather hold Desiree instead. He was going to shower her with as much affection as he could, since he wouldn't be around as much when school started back. It was a sad thought, but he was soon distracted by his daughter wiggling and giggling in his arms. "So you like this shop, huh?" he said, and Desiree started kicking excitedly in reply. "I thought as much. Now let's see about getting you some toys."

He glanced over the toy display, wondering which toy she would like best. He picked up a stuffed crup and wiggled it in front of Desiree. She grabbed it by the ear and started slinging it around. Looks like a winner... While she was distracted, he rummaged through the fairy dolls, trying to find one with black hair and blue eyes like his daughter. So far he didn't see any; maybe Rose would help him look.

Pushing Desiree's stroller along, Rosalyn followed Gaston into the joke shop. They were here to get their daughter some toys, and she had a feeling that she might need to rein him in before he could get too carried away; her husband was likely to buy them out of stock if he had his way.

Smiling, she watched as the baby started slinging the stuffed crup around. "Now that one is a keeper." Rosalyn laughed before starting to help Gaston go through the fairy dolls. She already knew what he was after without him needing to say anything. A few moments later, she picked one up in triumph. "Found it!" Beaming, she handed the doll over to her daughter. "Here you go, baby." Hopefully she would like it too.

Desiree was getting so big! Soon enough she would be one, though in a way Christmas still felt like it was forever away.

Brody had messaged Ethan to let him know when and where he would be in Diagon Alley. In all honestly, the boy was looking forward to seeing his only friend. And hopefully he won't be running into a certain person who would ask him of flies in his hair and call him 'Curls.' He could do with not seeing her for the rest of her life.

Brody brushed his curls out of his eyes which had been swept there by the light summer wind. He peered up at the balloon animals. Really, he thought they were stupid. Who needed balloon animals? Why would anyone want one?

Why did he want the small giraffe?

Summer! Away from the awful and scary dark creatures that he'd seen through the common room window. Of course he was eager to see his dormmate and friend, even if he had JUST seen him, but that was Ethan for ya since he was eager to see just about anyone. Nettie and Beth were no exception.

"BRODY!" He called, spotting the curly haired boy when he entered the ... joke shop? Uh? Why did his friend want to meet him here? They had Zonkos back in Scotland which was just as decent.

"SPAR, COME OOOoOooooOOOOOONNN!"

What did you get if two Gryffindors went into a FUN shop?

LOUD FUN, OF COURSE.

What were you expecting? A joke? Rly? NAHHHHHHHHH.

Beau-ey had BEGGED Aunt Lori to let Sparrow come with him today so they could have a "BOY DAY" and totally get the ink and quills that they were supposed to get for her. Whatever, he was going to forget that ask in MINUTES.

"WHATTA WE GONNA GET? We have lots of money!" Well.. lots of Aunt Lori's money. But that didn't matter. Did it????????

It may have taken some convincing, but what fun wasn't worth a little work? the begging and pleading and PROMISES TO BUY HER SOMETHING HE COULDN'T REMEMBER and also to NOT EAT ANY ICE CREAM (he'd had his fingers crossed behind his back for that one) had paid off and his mother had let Sparrow go to Diagon Alley with his best cousin.

He was going to be a third year, after all. That was basically nearly a grown up.

"I'm coming!" he called, running slightly to catch up with Beau-ey, having been distracted by a model pirate ship that ACTUALLY SAILED. Wowzers.

"I want the pirate ship. And a balloon zoo."

OooOooOooOOOOHHHH a balloon ZOO. Beau GRINNED and gave his pocket full of money a good wiggle, causing a jingle jangle of the coins at home in there. Huzzahhhhh. "GREAT ideas! GRAB A BASKET, QUICK." They had THINGS to get. And then they needed to hit the pranking aisle because these two Gryffindor boys were going to GET EVERYONE NEXT YEAR.

GRYFFINDAWWWW.

STEMP AND NOT-STEMP.

CUZZINS.

"WHAT else you want? HM? HMMM? We have soooooooooo Much MONEY." Probably not eNOUGH, BUT THEY COULD WRANGLE A DISCOUNT. Sparrow could practice his flirting on the shop lady. She looked KIND. Like a mother. If the flirting didn't work... Beau could just cry.

SPOILER!!: E! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

Summer! Away from the awful and scary dark creatures that he'd seen through the common room window. Of course he was eager to see his dormmate and friend, even if he had JUST seen him, but that was Ethan for ya since he was eager to see just about anyone. Nettie and Beth were no exception.

"BRODY!" He called, spotting the curly haired boy when he entered the ... joke shop? Uh? Why did his friend want to meet him here? They had Zonkos back in Scotland which was just as decent.

Balloon animals were stupid.

Very stupid.

The balloon giraffe didn't look stupid though.

In fact, Brody wanted it more than ever and it made him feel as though he were a kid again rather than an almost teenager. Hearing his name, his mind momentarily drifted from the giraffe. "Ethan!'' he called back. There was a grin on his face upon seeing his only friend and crush. "Hi. How are things going so far?'' During the holidays he meant.

What was SLIGHTLY almost very annoying was the fact that HIS OWN mother had trusted his cousin with the money and not him. That had put Sparrow out very slightly, but the fact that Beau was his very best cousin made him feel a little better - he wasn't going to run off with it and spend it all on himself like Smelian probably would have done.

So he didn't mind TOO much.

"GOT ONE." He'd run away very quickly and grabbed a basket, and was shouting across the shop to Beau as he ran back with it. When he reached the other Gryffindor, it already had a pirate ship in it, and he was sure there would be SO MUCH MORE by the time they were done.

"We need the pranking stuff. We need to get Smelian and Anna." Because if Beau didn't like them, neither did Sparrow. That was what the very best cousins did.