Hogwarts RP

[Zukuto-kun]

((OOC: HAHAHA I'M DOING IT!!! ok, this takes place in 1945, if im not mistaken, and we're all either 4th years or higher (dont see the point for higher lol) so yea here we go...and im starting after platform nine and three quaters, we've all taken the train and we're now getting off of the train. Don't get mad at me if thats not wat u wanted))

A thick fog blankets a forested area with an eerie white. Through the fog a small station can be seen with a man standing next to it. He raises his hand and a white light apears illuminating the area around him; in his hand is a rather gnarled looking wand. He looks around for a few seconds and glances at a stop watch he retreives from his coat pocket. He wipes the condensation off of the glass and then takes a closer look. The hour hand clicks into position at 1:00pm. Almost immediatly a horn is heard trumpeting in the distance.

"Right on time," the man said pocketing his watch.

Coming up from the fog was a large, circular light growing steadily larger by the second. Metalic clanking could be heard, reminiscant to that of a train, as the light continued to grow. A smoke stack appeared dimly through the fog as the train finally came to a stop at the station. The engine hissed as the train moved up into the station. The side of every car read, "Hogwarts Express,"in bright red and gold painting. The train stopped moving and the smoke stack spewed steam out into the night. The man standing on the station pulls on his necklace and puts a small circular device to his face and blows into the open end. A whistle echoes through the forest and the train doors open.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kade Adair walked from his compartment, downing the last of his pumpkin juice, to the side door of the hogwarts express. He was dressed in a black robe with a red and gold striped scarf around his neck. His hair was brown and medium length. It was disheveled as if just waking up. He quickly rubbed his hand through his hair to straighten it out but when he failed to fix it he sighed and rolled his eyes. He had blue eyes and a slight smirk of anticipation on his face. In his right hand he held a broom and in his left he held a large book. He walked out of the train and onto the station as he looked around at the other students getting off the trains.

"Now," he said shouldering his broom. "I wonder where they are?"

((What i mean by this is maybe some of u want to join up with me now as maybe old friends meeting up after the train ride. so plz...someone meet me...lol))

[Bessain]

"Kade!" Megan squealed, charging into a flying tackle and caught her friend at the waist. She knocked the boy back a couple steps and gave him a 'welcome back' hug. Grinning from ear to ear, she backed off a bit and fell into stride with her friend.

"So how was your summer?" she asked, starting to trot a little as she noticed that her friend had grown a couple inches. Megan's smile quickly faded as she also noticed the broomstick hanging over his shoulder. She was born into a muggle home, one that was not accustomed to flying. Though Megan loved the idea of magic, she loved her feet on the ground even more.

((short sorry, but i just wanted to put up a quick intro))

[Zukuto-kun]

"It was pretty good," Kade began. He gave her a sly smile. "You gonna join my Quiditch team this year?" As he said this he nudged her with his left elbow. She slapped his arm away.

"You know I don't like flying Kade," she said slightly frowning.

Kade chuckled. "I know Megan, I was only joking. Want a hand with your books?" ((im just assuming you have some as well))

"Yes, thank you Kade," she said as he took two of her books under his left arm.

"So, are you as excited as I am about being back at school?" Kade asked breathing in deep the misty air.

((I'll let you go, no god modding for me. And it too is short. You know, we should make ur last post and this one into a joined post so its longer than the two short ones))

[Michi]

Emily Browne stepped out of the hogwarts express and glanced at her surroundings, toying with her curly dark hair as she did so. The horseless carriages that always transported the students (with the exception of the first-years) to the castle were already filling up and leaving, and she had seen no sign of her friends anywhere.

She slung the book bag on her shoulder into a more comfortable position, tilted her chin slightly upwards, and walked out into the middle of the grounds, still searching for someone she knew. It was uncomfortable as well as annoying, carrying her bag and her broom everywhere with her, but she didn't trust her broom to be kept with the rest of her luggage, and she had brought the bag as a sort of carry-on on the train - it was, of course, filled with her schoolbooks (which she had intended to look over during the train ride) and one illicit and exciting novel (which she had actually spent the entire trip reading).

She was just contemplating getting on a carriage by herself when she spotted Megan and Kade walking across to one of the carriage. Emily adjusted her blue and gray scarf and hurried over to meet them.

"Kade, Megan!" The two students turned and grinned at her. Kade eyed her broom suspiciously. Emily moved her arm discreetly so he could see it better.

"Is that a Cleansweep 200?" He asked, sounding impressed. She nodded.

"It was a birthday present from my mum and dad." She said proudly, admiring her broom. The Cleansweep was the newest model on the market, which was another reason why Emily had decided to carry it around with her rather than entrust it with her luggage. Normally she didn't like to parade the fact that her parents had - well - more money than most, but this was different. All was fair in brooms and war. Kade grinned.

"Fast broom or no, it takes more than speed to beat Charlie." Charlie Quince was the seeker for the Gryffindor quidditch team. He and Emily got along well, but weren't above a friendly rivalry, as she was a seeker too.

"Much as I love talking about brooms, perhaps we should get a carriage before they're all taken?" Megan suggested, heading for the nearest one. Kade and Emily complied, and soon they were all seated and on their way up to the castle.

[Zukuto-kun]

((OOC: Joined post with me and Michi. "Z" is Zukuto and "M" is Michi))

Z
"Indeed," Kade said opening the door to the carriage. He motioned for the two girls to enter. They stepped up into the carriage and sat down.

"Hand me your things, I'll put 'em in the back." The girls handed Kade their things and he set them all in the back trunk. He shut the lid and jumped inside closing the door behind him. As soon as the door shut the Carriage began to move slowly down the path.

"So," Kade began. "How was your summer Emily?"

M
“Boring.” She replied. He raised an eyebrow, but Megan commented first.

“What about your amazing birthday in which you were showered in expensive gifts?” Megan asked teasingly.

“I was stuffed into a brightly colored ballgown and made to dance with a whole group of boys I despise. Pretty much the entire house of Slytherin, in fact.” Her parents had explained to their friends that the reason Emily wasn’t in slytherin was because she was brilliant. Which, of course, she wasn’t. Not for a Ravenclaw, at least. In fact, that sorting hat had at first thought to put her in Gryffindor, but she had begged it not to - she would never hear the end of it - so apparently Ravenclaw was its second choice.

Emily didn't mind - Everyone in Ravenclaw was very nice, and she always had someone to help her with her homework. Not to mention, they had an amazing quidditch team.

Z
"It couldn't have been all dances all summer right?" Kade said.

"Yeah," agreed Megan. "Your feet would have swollen large enough to be considered affected by the Engorgio charm."

Kade chuckled and gave Megan a high-five. "Nice. Seriously though, what else did you do this summer? That can't have been everything."

M
"No, I also went to Scotland for a bit," Emily said, examining her fingernails. "Watched some quidditch..." Kade's eyes widened.

"You didn't," Kade said in disbeleif. Emily avoided his gaze. "You saw the world cup, didn't you?"

"It was another birthday present," She said, looking up at last, "It was the most amazing thing - The Japanese seeker was absolutely brilliant! There was this move she did -" Megan held up a hand.

"Absolutely no more quidditch talk!" She said "That's where I draw the line!" Emily grinned and nodded.

"Sorry. So how was your summer, Kade?"

Z
Kade shrugged and leaned back in his seat putting his arms on the rim. He noticed it was behind Megan and it shot back next to his side before she caught him. "Nothing much. I didn't get to make the World Cup this year," he said breathing deep at the loss. "I did go to Germany though to take up some more Legillimency and Occlumency lessons from a wizard named Richard Holst ((lolz random name)). He's from the ministry and Pop said i should meet up with him to further my skills in it."

"Really," Megan asked. "How good did you get at it?"

Good enough, came a voice in Megan's head. She whipped around at the suddeness and smiled at Kade.

"That's wicked!" Megan exclaimed ((lol sorry if u didnt want to say that bess)). Kade grinned and looked back at Emily.

"So pleeeeaaase tell me, how was the world cup? I missed it because of training."

M
"Well the Belgians won," Emily said bitterly, "but like I mentioned, the Japanese seeker was great. She caught the snitch - but the Belgians were so far ahead it didn't matter. Terrible really. Anyway," She said, steering the subject away from quidditch, "What did you do this summer, Megan?"

[Bessain]

((Zukuto-kun, the two posts are fine as they are, but if you still want to combine them, I will))

As Kade's friend she was supposed to be supportive and encouraging. But the minute he touched her mind, she gave a mental shiver. Kade had infiltrated a place Megan had thought to be her own. Had it been anyone else, she might have attempted to punish the perpetrator for their rude mannerisms. She made a mental note to discuss the intrusion with him later on... after all, it was an impressive demonstration. Without missing a beat, Megan praised her friend.

((What did kids do in 1945?))

"My summer?" she repeated the question to herself. "I got a job with my uncle to help cover my school expenses... okay I lied. I mean my Hogsmeade expenses!" Megan loved Hogsmeade.

To her, anywhere that could produce candy that would bite back, was absolutely genius! The joke shop was her overall favorite! Megan loved pranks so much, she had a tendancy to make it an art instead of a school-child pastime or hobby.

"Anywho, the break was pretty uneventful for me." she finished, not really having much to share.

~

After departing the carriage, the three dropped their belongings off in their respective piles and headed for the Great Hall for dinner.

[Zukuto-kun]

Kade waved at two passing boys from Griffindor as they walked by the group. One gave him a high five and clapped Kade on the shoulder.

"You ready for Quidditch Kade?" he asked excitedly as the other boy walked up and stood next to the other boy.

"Yeah Charlie, I'm more ready than you know," Kade replied. Charlie laughed and clapped Kade's back again. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of Emily. He grinned smugly and waltzed over to her. He walked around her, keeping his eyes on her as he went, and stopped in front of her grinning.

"You think you'll be able to keep up this time Emily?" he chided.

"Get a good look at this broom's tail," she said holding up the bristly tail of the broom, "cause that's what your going to be seeing all year bud."

Charlie grabbed his chest with a mock astonished look on his face. He gasped and then leaned over to Kade.

"She's a feiry one ain't she?" he said. "Good!" He walked over to her and whispered in her ear. "I love competition." He walked a little down the hall with the other boy trailing behind him. "Later Kade!"

Kade waved and walked over to Emily. "Don't let him get to you Emily," he said. "He only joking."

"I know," she replied watching him walk away.

[Michi]

As they proceeded into the Great Hall to watch the sorting, Emily said good-bye to Megan and Kade, and walked over and sat at the Ravenclaw table with the Rest of her House, and waited for the Sorting to begin.

"There you are, Emily." Emily looked up as one of her friends, Amy, slid into the seat next to her. Amy was on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team as well, as the Keeper. "I lost track of you after the train ride."

"I was with some of the Gryffindors." Emily replied. Amy nodded. Usually it was strange for members of different House to be friends, but Ravenclaws and Gryffindors were generally on good terms, and Emily had been friends with Kade and Megan since first year.

"Yeah I saw you talking to Charlie." Amy said, grinning. She nudged Emily slightly. "I think he likes you as more than just a friendly opponent if you know what I mean." Emily frowned.

"He's arrogant beyond all belief."

"So are you."

"Good point, well made." Emily turned her attention to the first years that were being brought into the great hall for the first time. They were looking around all wide-eyed and amazed - many of them had never seen a place like this, with floating candles and a ceiling that reflected the weather outside. "But I couldn't possibly date him and compete with him on the Quidditch field." Amy shrugged.

"Another good point. Well maybe things'll work out."

"Not that I, you know, would be open to dating him."

"Sure."

They watched the first years being sorted in silence, congratulating the ones being made Ravenclaws with wild applause and cheering, along with the rest of their house. Emily clapped and cheered for the ones being made Gryffindors as well; sometimes she wished she had been one of them. But then she remembered what exactly hr mother would say, and was very happy to be a Ravenclaw.

Plus she rather enjoyed being thought of as smart.

At last, all of the first years were sorted, and piles of food appeared on the table. A first year girl sitting on Emily's other side gasped, having never seen this happen before. Through the mix of people, Emily spotted Kade and Megan; she would find them after the feast to arrange meeting spot for the next day.

This was the problem with having friends in different houses - you tended to live separately most of the time - although there was the odd occasion when Emily had borrowed one of their ties and spent the afternoon in the Gryffindor common room; none of the Gryffindors seemed to care really, as she wasn't a Slytherin. And the tie was simply so the prefects wouldn't feel obligated to report her.

"So what did you do over the summer?" Amy asked, between bites of Shepherd's pie. And Emily was only too happy to fill her in on the finer points of the Quidditch World Cup.

[Zukuto-kun]

((OOC: Yay, im loving this rp))

Kade said farewell to Emily as well and made his way toward the Gryffindor table with Megan. He sat down next to Charlie and a couple other people that Kade vaguely remembered as being in his Potions class last term. Charlie greeted him with a handshake and they filled Kade in on what he had been talking about. Kade turned to Megan.

"Sorry about the impending Quidditch conversation we're about to have," Kade apologized in advance.

"Oh it's ok," she replied. "Besides, I wanted to see the new first years walk in anyway."

Kade smiled and turned back to Charlie. Charlie looked around at everyone and counted them.

"We're missing O'Leary," he said looking around the table. He stood and spotted him a ways down the table talking with a girl. Charlie whistled and he whipped around. Charlie motioned for him to come and he did as he was told, saying farewell to the girl he was talking to. He plopped down next to a boy across the table from Kade and muttered a "hello" to everyone present.

"Ok good the whole team's here," Charlie announced. "Well boys, and Kat," he said motioning to the girl to his left. "I know we've been looking forward to this year's Quidditch tournament."

Cheers of agreement accompanied this.

"Sadly, one of us isn't able to make it this year." The team looked around for the missing person. "Dennis isn't going to be able to make it this year. He has too many classes than he can do while also doing Quidditch and you know him, work before pleasure that one."

The team groaned and began voicing their opinions on how horrible this is for the team. Kade stood and shushed them.

"I know missing one of our chasers is going to hurt the team but all this means is we'll need to find a temporary replacement." he said. The team rolled their eyes and snorted in protest.

"Who's gonna fill in his spot?" a golden haired boy asked.

"I don't know yet, Adam," Kade said, "but until he can play again it looks like we're going to have to recruit some people to join."

"All right but lets do this in secret," Charlie said. "I don't want any teams, especially Ravenclaw, knowing that we're looking for people." Charlie glanced over at the Ravenclaw table to see Emily speaking with another girl.

"Don't worry," Kade consoled. "We won't have anyone know about our situation but we really need to find another person." Kade looked to his right seeing Megan next to him listening to the conversation. Kade scratched his chin. "You wouldn't want t-"

"No way," Megan interrupted, reading his mind. "That's suicide."

Kade sighed and looked over to the front of the Great Hall. Sorting was about to begin so he sat down. "We'll continue this matter in the common room." The team agreed and they all twisted around in their seats to see the new coming first years.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the sorting and eating a gratuitous amount of food, Kade, Megan and the rest of the Gryffindor team stood and walked out of the great hall to go to their common room. Just as they left the Great Hall, Kade and Megan heard a high pitched whistle from their right. They both looked to see Emily standing a ways away. Kade asked Charlie for the password and memorized it for later before leaving with Megan and walking over to Emily.

((Ok Michi, your turn and then ill let bess go after cause she hasn't posted much.))

[Michi]

(Bugger this whole differant houses thing is going to be hard to write, because they're mostly seperated.)

As Megan and Kade approached, Emily grinned mischieviously. She had just finished talking to Dennis, who had always been nice to her considering they were on opposing quidditch teams.

"So Gryffindor's looking for a new chaser, hmm?" She asked Kade innocently. "That should be interesting." His eyebrows shot up.

"I guess you talked to Dennis then?"

"I ran into him just now and we talked. You'd better get a replacement soon - first game of the season is Gryffindor and Hufflepuff." She lowered her voice, "Though honestly they shoudn't be terribly hard to beat."

"Don't both of you have tryouts first?" Megan asked. Though she detested flying, she knew a lot about Quidditch from listening to her friends talk about it over the years. Emily nodded.

"Yes, but old members nearly always are acepted again. Anyway, I'll meet you two in the entrance hall tomorrow morning!" And with that she waved goodnight and joined the flood of blue-clad students still making their way towards the common room.

The Ravenclaw common room was on the western side of the school, in the Ravenclaw Tower. Unfortunatly, it was also halfway across the school from the Gryffindor common room, which was also in a tower.

The entrance to the common room was hidden behind a large painting of a man sitting at a desk, poised with a quil in his hand and several rolls of parchment visible behind him. Somewhere ahead of her, a prefect told him the password - "sugar quil" - and the portrait swung open, and Emily followed the rest of her house into the common room.

[Bessain]

((I havent posted much?! Who can with you too scrambling to reply the SECOND something new shows up! ....LOL, good to see some willingness to post for once!))

Megan and Kade waved Emily goodbye as she set off for her own commonroom. ((god is that really one word?))

Quidditch was always one of the main points in her friends conversations. Megan didn't really mind, as it was a rather entertaining spectators sport. But when they started trying to recruit her, she could always feel her hackles raise. Ever sense falling from her broom during their first year, where broomstick practice was mandatory, Megan stayed off the playing field. Thankfully, the team knew not to push her too hard. The young Gryffindor girl would not hesitate to ignite the tails of their brooms while they were in mid air!

"Well I'll see you later Kade! Time to unpack!" she said, and dashed up the stairs to her new dormitory.

A few of her usual roomates were already there, and greeted Megan enthusiastically. With a smile, Megan dragged her wand clear out of her robes and began coaxing her belongings out of her chest.

~

Later in the commonroom, Megan had made some paper airplanes for a mock war. Her and a few other Gryffindors would bewitch their ammo to chase random people around the room, including each other... though very few of them knew what an airplane actually was.

[Zukuto-kun]

((OOC: Indeed it is hard. I'll try to slow down. Try ))

Kade lingered a moment to look about the place. He saw the large fireplace where a fire was crackling and warming the room to a comfortable and cozy temperature. He walked over to one of the over stuffed couches and plopped down into it with satisfaction. Looking up at the walls with past wizards and witches he noticed them sleeping in their portraits. He yawned and then shook his head.

"About time I turn in myself," Kade said to himself as he stood and made his way to the stairs. He walked up the long staircase and made it to the top where the boy's room was and the girl's room was. From within the girl's room he heard laughter and screams of joy. Kade smiled and realized he should probably get over his exhaustion because he was likely to be doing the same thing in his room. He walked inside and closed the door behind him.

"Ah, perfect timing Kade," came Charlie's voice from across the room. Kade turned to find Charlie standing in front of a group of first years sitting down on the floor in front of him. "I was just about to tell these fine young gentlemen the story of when we crushed hufflepuff in last years Quidditch game."

"Ah get over it," Adam said from his bed. He rolled over and put the pillow over his head. The first years chuckled. Kade made his way to where Charlie was and stood in front of the first years, staring at him with hungry eyes.

"All right, I'll tell 'em," Kade said. "So, it was raining really hard and we were down by two points..."

((Lol, i think Charlie and I will be sorta best friends cause i feel a kind of connection to him. So if someone takes control of him, just know that. All right! Who's next?))

[Michi]

The next morning, Emily woke up, and immediately wished she hadn't - today was the first day of term. Unwillingly, she dragged herself out of bed and into the shower, after which she felt much better. She dressed in her school uniform - knee-length skirt, shirt, vest, and tie and robes - and headed down to the great hall, yawning and reading her class schedule.

Double potions with Slughorn - always interesting, if not exactly 'fun' - transfiguration, charms, arithmancy and that night, astronomy. Potions was with the Gryffindors, as was charms, which was bound to improve the day. She looked up as she reached the entrance hall and very nearly ran into the entire Gryffindor quidditch team, who had been huddled in a corner, talking in whispers. Megan grinned and waved.

"'Morning, Emily!" She said, "Double potions first with you guys! I hope Slughorn picks something easy, since it's the first day of term and all." Emily nodded. She was decent at potions - but she admittedly hadn't looked at the curriculum or even studied all summer, apart from doing the homework, that was.

"Me too - have you done all the homework?"

"Yes," Megan replied, "Nothing too hard, hmm?"

"No, though I'm not so sure I'll be taking the OWL potions class." Emily glanced sideways at the Quidditch team, who were still whispering, although she caught one or two furtive glances from various members of the team. "What are they whispering about?"

"The tryouts. And they don't want you to know about the replacement business even though, you know, you do." She shrugged, and grabbed Emily's arm, propelling her into the hall. "Come sit with us this morning - no one will mind."

They both took seats at the Gryffindor table, which wasn't remarked upon - the two houses got along well, and none of the teachers were going to ask Emily to sit at her own table. Emily had once asked permission from the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor heads of house before sitting with her Gryffindor friends, but her own head didn't mind a bit and Professor Dumbledore - The Gryffindor head - merely winked and told her he wasn't going to segregate her for being smart. Moments later, they were joined by the team, who abruptly stopped whispering as they sat down.

"Look, a soviet spy." Charlie commented, glancing at Emily. She rolled her eyes.

"Yes. Definitely. Because of course I am terribly interested in your game plan against Hufflepuff."

"Hah, she admits it."

"Oh don't be stupid - I don't care what your game plan is. Though I do hope you win, so I can show you firsthand just how much I've improved this summer."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Would the both of you shut up?" Megan said tersely. "Look." She shoved a copy of The Daily Prophet under Emily's nose. Emily looked at the headline, which read "Seven Dead in Attack on the Ministry - Grindewald to blame?" She heard a sharp intake of breath as Kade read it as well.

"He's gone after the ministry?" He said incredulously. "Isn't that kind of bold?"

"Maybe it wasn't him." Emily said, "maybe it was some followers of his who wanted to impress him." Megan frowned.

"But look," She turned the page and pointed to another article. "He left his mark." And sure enough, there was a picture of a charred symbol burned into the floor of the attacked department. It was the mark Grindewald used to show where he had been - a skull. "Apparently it was only one department that was attacked - they apparated in, killed seven workers, and left."

"That doesn't make much sense," Charlie said from where he was standing behind Megan. The two girls turned and looked at him. "Well, what would be the point? Maybe there was something there that he wanted."

They puzzled over this, before Emily shrugged and reached for a plate of toast.

"Well whatever he wanted, we're not going to find out - if anyone knows it will have been hushed up by now." She offered some toast to Megan, who accepted the plate. "Eat up guys - double potions next."

[Zukuto-kun]

((OOC: you know, potions always sounded like a fun class.))

Kade took a peice of toast and bit off half of it in one bite with a smile.

"Oh man, you have no idea how hungry I was," he said with a smile. He stuffed the rest into his mouth after swallowing the first bite and picked up his books.

"You know, the way you eat I'm suprised the Great Hall has enough food for the rest of us," Emily said rolling her eyes as she nibbled on her toast. Kade meerly grinned.

"Jealous."

The group walked through the school to Proffessor Slughorn's room. They reached the large door and walked inside to find...

Nothing.

The only thing in the room were desks, a mass of equipment and an unreasonably large armchair sitting in the front of the class. Kade couldn't beleive the size of the chair and went ahead to investgate. He walked up to it and looked around every side of the chair. It was about three times his size and completely polished. He looked into one area that was particularily interesting, a small reflective area that showed his face. He looked into it and examined his hair. All of the sudden a plump face popped out from the chair and shouted, "BOO!" in Kade's face. Kade jumped back and clutched his chest. The face began to laugh and changed into a tremendously large man. He grunted as he stood up (which didn't really change his height) and walked over to Kade.

"Sorry there chap," he said. "Couldn't resist." He stuck his arm out to shake Kade's hand. Kade hesitated and then shook the flabby arm. The group behind him had burst into uproarious laughter at what had happened. Kade walked back with a nervous smile.

"Yeah, i knew it was him all along..."

Megan chuckled and punched him playfully in the arm. Kade sat in between Emily and Megan with the rest of the group sitting around them. The rest of the class arrived and took their seats as well. Slughorn cleared his throat and addressed the class.

"Welcome fourth years to Potions! I am Proffessor Horace Slughorn. We will be learning about the wonders of pottions and the..."

He trailed off as Kade looked around the room.

"See anyone you know Emily?" Kade whispered.

((go wes))

[Wezurii-kun]

Sean McLeod was the last person into Slughorn's room. He had been last to leave the Great Hall as well. He had been enjoying the amazing delicious food after he marveled for a minute at the gratuitous amount. He had always loved food. But never got to eat very much. That was until he was at Hogwarts. He always enjoyed every meal there. For when the term ended he'd have to go back to scrounging for anything tasty.

He walked in behind the Griffindors and his fellow Ravenclaws that were filing in. He stopped at the door to down his last piece of food he'd been carrying with him. He made sure to chew it swiftly, swallow, check for crumbs and straighten himself out a bit before finally entering.

A burst of laughter was hear as he started in. He must have missed something. Oh well, too many people too see what it was. He took an empty seat next to some people.

"See anyone you know?" came a voice to his right. The voice sparked a thought. Did he know anyone here?

He looked in the direction of the voice and the person immediately next to him looked to her left. They made eye contact for a few seconds. Both their eyes became large. They're mouths broadened into opened mouth smiles. They both leaned forward and embraced while simultaneously saying the other's name.

"EMILY!"

"SEAN!"

"That answer your question?" the other girl asked the guy in a sarcastic way."

"Yeah, really," the boy replied.

((300th post! One for each Spartan. OK! MICHI! GO!))

[Michi]

((OOC: Another joint post by Michi and Zukuto-kun))

"I must have missed you in the Great Hall last night," Emily said to Sean. He nodded.

"Yeah, I was one of the last ones in, so I just sat at the end of the table. Where were you at breakfast?"

"At the Gryffindor table again." Emily said. He nodded in understanding; Sean was one of Emily's closer Ravenclaw friends, along with Amy and, of course, the entire Quidditch team. They stopped talking when Slughorn told them all to get out their equipment and that to ring in the new school year, they would be having a competition.

"Now I'm going to pair you off into groups of two," He said, and there was a collective groan from the students. "Now don't worry, I'll let you pick your own groups as well sometimes!" He laughed, and seemed to sort of jiggle all over.

"All right," he said when he got to Emily's table. "How about you two boys," He said, pointing to Charlie and Kade, "And you two ladies," here he gestured to Emily and Megan, "And you and... this young woman!" He said, pairing Sean up with Amy, who was only a few seats away. Amy moved over to sit next to them and grinned at Sean.

"How was your summer?" She asked him, and the two launched into a detailed conversation about exactly what went on over the break.

"Are you prepared to LOSE, Browne?" Charlie asked Emily, grinning wickedly (though strangely it was rather endearing...) Emily grinned back.

"Oh I'm not planning on losing." She said, standing up sightly. He cocked an eyebrow, which infuriated Emily, for she had never been able to do that.

"Well would you care to bet on that?" He asked.

"I'm betting that neither of us win, actually," Megan replied. "Did any of you hear the assignment?"

"Yes," Emily said, ignoring Megan, "I would. If you lose..." She looked around for inspiration and spotted a broom sitting in the corner of the room. "If you lose, you have to go to your next Quidditch practice in nothing but a pair of boxers." Charlie winced, but didn't look terribly daunted.

"All right, well... if you lose, you have to announce to the entire Gryffindor common room that you're desperately in love with professor slughorn. And that your greatest dream is to someday be Mrs Emily Slughorn." Emily contemplated vomiting on his shoes, but instead stuck out her hand for him to shake.

"Deal." Was all she said. He shook her hand, and then consulted his potions book, "Now... how does this work..."

Kade chuckled and shook his head. "We don't need directions for this. It's basic. All the ingredients are here and ready for mixing. Carmon Charlie, let's go." As Charlie walked away with Kade he turned around and stuck his tongue out in mock disgust. Emily shook her head.

"They're liable to kill themselves if they're not careful," Emily said with a sigh. "Oh well, less competition right?" Megan laughed in agreement. "Seriously though, what are we supposed to do?" When neither of them could answer this, they decided to take it slow.

Sean and Amy cracked open their book and happily read each other the ingredients to put in the cauldrons. They seemed to be getting along fine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Half way through the class a loud explosion rocketed the class room. Many students ducked or shouted in alarm at the noise but when they saw where it had come from they began to laugh. Kade and Charlie stood behind their cauldron covered in black from the blast.

"*cough*I think that was too much Beazor, Charlie," Kade said shaking his head as a cloud of smoke fell from his hair. Charlie wiggled his finger around in his ear.

"What?!" he yelled.

Professor Slughorn waddled over to the two and examined their cauldron. He tutted his disapproval but when he looked at the two boys expressions he couldn't help but snicker.

"Better luck next time boys," Slughorn said trying to suppress his laughter. "You might want to go wash up i the back."

Kade and Charlie walked to the back of the classroom, ignoring Emily and Megan as they made the "I-told-you-so" face. Slughorn walked over to the two girls and looked into their cauldron. "And how are we doing here young ladies?" he asked cheerily. Emily shot back to Slughorn and then added the last bit of Monk's hood to the cauldron as she crossed her fingers. The bubbling green liquid turned into a black oozing mass. Slughorn shook his head.

"I'm sorry young ladies, you didn't listen to the proper instructions." Emily's head dropped and she glanced back to the back of the room. Charlie was standing there chuckling until Kade splashed him with water. Charlie turned and splashed him back. It was all out war.

Slughorn finally made it to Sean and Amy.

"Perfect!" He cried, "I have never seen such a brilliant specimen of this potion! You two are the winners!!" He clapped them both on the back and rewarded them with a bar of Honeydukes chocolate each. Sean inhaled his, while Amy shared hers with Emily and Megan.

"Well, looks like neither of you won your bet." Megan said, as Charlie and Kade walked over.

"Yeah," Emily said, looking over at Charlie who was sopping wet. "I guess we're both off the hook then."

"No you aren't." Kade pointed out.

"Huh?"

"The deal was that if you lost you would have to go through with those extremely humiliating stunts." Kade said. "Well... neither of you won. Both of you are losers, and therefore both of you have to follow through." Emily blanched, and handed Amy back the square of chocolate she had just been given.

"I'm really not hungry anymore."

[Zukuto-kun]

Kade, Megan and Emily said farewell to the others as they walked down the castle's corridor to the next class. Emily reached into her cloak and examined her class schedule again.

"Let's see," she said scrutinizing the paper. Kade looked over her shoulder at the paper. "Seems we have transfiguration next with Professor Dumbledore. I wonder what we're going to be doing this year."

Kade walked out from behind Emily and walked next to her and Megan. "Ah, good old transfigurations. I hope we do some more of those animals to goblets again!" Kade smiled and looked up into the air, thinking of what he could turn an animal into.

"Come off it Kade," Megan said. "You've been wanting to do that since second year. Once you cover something in a class, you don't revert back to it."

Kade frowned and plugged his ears, attempting to block out her protest. Megan shook her head turned to Emily. "Stubborn one, he is ain't he? You've got it good, your not in the same house he is."

"Hey!" Kade said. "I'm not all that bad!" Megan smiled.

"Well, here's the classroom,"Emily said as she tucked the schedule back into her robes. "Let's get good seats before they're all taken."

The three walked in and sat near the front of the classroom in the middle row. They talked amongst one another as more people walked in. Charlie and the rest of the Quidditch team entered followed shortly by Amy, Sean and the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. Both sat on opposite sides of the room, muttering to each other all the while. Charlie walked over, apparently done talking and sat down next to Kade on his left side.

"So we've been talking about tryouts," he whispered. "What day does our 'Captain,' " with this he popped off a friendly salute to Kade, "think would be best for it?"

Kade hadn't thought about that. He thought for a moment and then turned back to Charlie.

"End of the week," he said. "All the Gryffindor's will have a period off because Slughorn muttered something about meeting with the headmaster that day and that we'd have no class. He said we'd have to "study" in our common rooms instead."

Charlie smiled. "Fat chance we're gonna be studying, eh Kade?"

Emily leaned over with a smug grin. "Haven't forgot your bet have you?"

Charlie grimaced and then smiled back at her mockingly. "And you?" With this Emily went pink in the face and whipped back around to talk with Megan. Charlie snickered and went to the team to tell them the meeting time.

((ok, whoever wants to go next can go *cough* BESS *cough*))

[Bessain]

Megan chuckled in remembrance of her friend's dare. Emily had turned to Megan to escape the slightest thought of her future embarrasment, and instead she found herself trapped.

"So Emily, I hear you have a new taste in guys! I myself do like them a little chubby, but the way you're going with it, I'm starting to worry." Megan teased gently, before letting the now pink Ravenclaw go.

The class quieted slowly as Professor Dumbledore eventually entered the room. The man seemed to have a knack for teaching that the other professors lacked. It wasn't that his class was anymore enjoyable, it was just that he appeared to care whether or not they took to his subject.

The days lesson was an introduction to human transfiguration. At the front of the class sat a caged lop-earred rabbit. It was really only there for physical reference, as the students learned to change their partners ears to those of a rabbit's. It was simple enough for the begginning of the year. Or so it seemed.

A poster near the rabbit cage, displayed the differences between the rabbits ear internally, and a humans.

"Try to focus on the ears only," Dumbledore warned. "Or your partner could end up with a rabbit's brain as well... which is a little harder to reverse, depending on whether or not it is an improvement."

The first few students to try it, were in the front of the class. Two Slytherins. The young man on the left ended up simply with six inches of white hair growing out of his ears.

After that, people were a little cautious about trying it. They started out gently, which really only led to more damage than they thought it would.

Emily ended up with just plain hairy white ears from Megan's experiments, though Emily's attempts came out much better. Megan was left with hairy ears like most people in the class, but hers, thanks to Emily, came to a slight point.

[Wezurii-kun]

Sean sat with the Ravenclaw team next to Amy. They had been discussing their tryout time as well. This went rather quickly. After which Sean and Amy turned to each other and made talk amongst themselves.

Professor Dumbledore walked through the door and towards the front of the class. The class quickly went to silence as every student instantly stopped talking upon noticing his arrival.

Their task for their first day was to change their partner's ears into that of a rabbit. They were provided with a model to look at up front. Sean was just about the only person capable of getting closest to the desired effect. Amy was a little off but more so than Sean and his ears became by far the strangest ones in the room. The entire class, including Dumbledore and Sean, laughed.

The time passed too quickly. It already was time for them to leave and go to charms. Again this was with Gryffindor.

((I thought it was only potions and charms but I guess you changed it to transfig. too. That's totally cool by me.))

Dumbledore assigned them their homework and everyone stood and began to leave.

Sean and Amy found their friends in the other house once again and walked out and over to charms together. Chatting all the while.

"I can't wait for lunch..." Kade said.

"Same here, mate," Sean said apparently thinking the same thing as he had his arms wrapped around his stomach.

Megan rolled her eyes and Emily and Amy just laughed.

((Hope this was good. I'm like, worried for some reason, don't know why. FYI, I've seen HPatOotP 3 times. ;D))

[Gwyn]

**ooc I use UK/CDN English so you'll may find some words spelt a little differently in some of my posts.**


As the door of the Leaky Cauldron opens Tom looks up and is surprised with what he sees. “You’re a couple days late then aren’t you. The rest of all them Hogwarts kids came through ere a couple of days back.” He comments as the young man glares looking up at his obviously flustered mother.

“Yes, yes, we are quite aware of the date thank you.” She replies as she bustles by Tom. They reach the back brick wall where the mother consults a letter she has and then taps the bricks in the order given in the letter. The bricks twist and turn, opening the wall onto a busy bustling street.

“Whoa, this is awesome.” Exclaims Gwyddion as he looks around. Gwyddion is a fourth year student from Wales. He had been taking his schooling on the mainland where his father had been posted for several years working to protect dragons from the many over flights of muggle warplanes and soldiers on the ground. Gwyddion knew of Hogwarts by its reputation and had long waited for the day when he too would be boarding the Hogwarts Express, but he was not onboard the Express when it pulled away from platform nine and three quarters at 11am the two days prior.

“Here now, take these galleons and this list of books and shops and pick up what books you need. I’ll go and pickup the your new robes and go to the apothecary. Now be quick about it, we have little time to spare.” Says Gwyddion’s mother smartly. Gwyddion, already angered by the 2-day delay they had to put up with quickly headed down the street looking up at the shop signs and popping into those shops on his list. The books were heavy but he knew that shortly he would finally be leaving for Hogwarts and this made the load feel light. Within the hour Gwyddion and his mother return to the Leaky Cauldron.

“I just got an owl not ten minutes ago about you and the lad.” Tom says loudly. Leave your books and supplies with me and I’ll send them through after ya. Quickly now lad they’ll be waitin on ya. You’ll be landing in Professor Dumbledore’s Office.” Tom explains. A quick last tearful hug from his mom then Gwyddion steps into the green fire of the flu network. Seconds later his feet touch the ground in a very impressive office. A man with a grey beard, dark blue robes and a kindly smile greets him as he steps out of the fire.

“Welcome Gwyddion, welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor Dumbledore.” “Thank you Professor Dumbledore.” Gwyddion replies and bows, as was the custom at his old school. Dumbledore dips his head returning the gesture. “Gwyddion this is Andrew, of Gryffindor house. He will show you the way to your common room and dormitory. He will also instruct you on the use of the password and answer any questions, of which I’m sure you’ll have many, in the days to come. Your trunk has been taken to Gryffindor Tower and your owl is in the owlery. If there is nothing else I will see you in classes tomorrow. Good night gentlemen.“ The two boys leave Dumbledore’s office and make their way up into the tower. Hogwarts is much different than his last school and Gwyddion is sure he’ll like it here much better.

“What kind of a name is Gwyddion?” Asks Andrew as they arrive at the portrait of the Fat Lady . “Never heard it before.”

“Its an old Welsh name.” Replies Gwyddion. “But just call me Gwyn.”