#01 [September 4, 2016: Sunday, Week 1. It's the very first evening at Hogwarts for one Luke MacRae, and after an extravagant and delicious feast, his older brother (one Matthew MacRae) gathered him and all of the other newly-sorted Hufflepuff first years. They were led down the corridors to a place that smelled even better than the great hall: the kitchens.] #01 [It seems the common room is actually *in* said kitchens, which smell heavily of spices and roast meat and vegetables and pies and fresh bread and cookies, and also soap actually, and Luke can see house elves scurrying about this way and that, the (slightly) less busy ones taking a moment to wave cheerfully at the first year procession as they go by. Some of them - the ones who aren't too busy gaping at the enormity of the kitchens (and deliciousness - seriously, they just ate, how is this even happening) - wave back.] #01 [Matthew doesn't really wave; he's too busy trying to keep the group together while giving an overview of various Hogwarts rules (curfew, meal times, etc.) at the same time. It's a daunting task, but Matthew MacRae bites the bullet and HE DOES IT.] #01 [Eventually they reach a long line of barrels of various sizes, stacked against (and into) a wall. "I'm going to show you how to enter the common room," Matthew tells them, "So gather around and watch carefully." He waits for them to do so, then taps a rhythm across the barrels with his knuckles: long and short, with different notes coming from each one. The tune is long but fairly easy to remember, and when he raps on the last barrel, he steps back and the largest barrel - easily tall enough for a full-grown wizard to walk through - opens, revealing a passage through the wall. Matthew grins, waving for them to enter. "Go on in, the common room's that way."] #06* Luke 's eyes light up as he sees the entrance - so neat! - and he grins at Matthew as he scampers on through to see where he's going to be living. #01 [Luke enters to see a large room that somehow manages to have space while being cozy at the same time. There are warm wooden furnishings, brass fixtures (including the lanterns), overstuffed chairs, overstuffed chairs, and a few crackling fireplaces. Large, round windows that open to the grassy fields near Hogwarts and probably offer a great deal of light during the day. Plants of numerous sorts abound, hanging and growing from the ceiling and down the walls, as well as a number of potted ones sitting on the floor. The students already there look up from their games and books and conversations to cheer when the first years enter.] #01 [Matthew waves for them to be quiet (they're not Gryffindors; it's not party time *immediately*) so he can go over everything he missed: boys and girls dorms (through different, also round exits from the common room), postings on the board by the entrance, *do not* forget how to get back into the common room or you will be doused with vinegar when you screw up. If you need to know that, see him or another prefect, or really, anyone would probably be willing to help.] #01 [He reiterates a couple more rules, welcomes them again to Hufflepuff, and then sends them on their merry way. Walking tour dismissed.] #01 [Start!] #06* Luke glances around briefly at his fellow first-years (and his brother, who's heading off to hang out with some people waving at him from across the room), and then heads off towards the door identified as the first year boys' room. Merrily! Because he's at Hogwarts and this is SO EXCITING. #01 [Luke has the sense to check his room assignment before actually heading in, because he really is a bright sort, and away he goes! The corridor has the same warm feeling as the common room, with the same brass fixtures, and he finds his room without much effort. Inside are four four-poster beds that are just as overstuffed as the furniture he left behind, done in black and yellow colors, with a desk and chair neatly arranged by each one as well as trunks and drawers to store all of their things. His (and some other kids', he'd assume) luggage is neatly lined up by said beds, though Alannah's missing and so probably in the owlery.] #01 [There's also another boy there: a little chubby, fair-skinned and freckled, with shaggy brown hair that falls into his hazel eyes. He doesn't notice Luke, probably because he's messing with a cage that he's trying to get juuuust right on one of the desks.] #06* Luke finds the bed with his things beside it. He's reeeaaaaally tempted to jump on it, but instead he goes over to the other boy. "Um, hey, you need some help with that?" #01 [He starts, almost knocking the cage over. "Wha-whooooa!" And catches it, the rat inside squeaking its displeasure. "Um, no," he says looking over at Luke, and then to the rat, "Sorry." He sets the cage more solidly on the desk.] #06* Luke jumps too as the cage almost goes over. Then he stands there twisting his hands behind his back awkwardly, to make *absolutely sure* he can't overset the cage. "...sorry..." #01 ["It's okay," the boy says, blushing a little. "I'm clumsy sometimes." He pulls a grape out of his pocket and offers it to the rat. It takes it and scampers to the opposite corner of its cage, where it clutches and gnaws on its new treat possessively.] #06* Luke relaxes a little and leans closer (thought still with his hands behind his back). He smiles at the rat. "He's really cute! Or, um, is it a girl rat? What's its name?" #06* Indra knocks on the door timidly as he opens it. "h-hi... m-may i come in?" #06* Luke leans around to smile a bright encouraging smile at the new boy. "Sure you can! This is your room, too, isn't it?" #01 [He grins, also at the rat, as he wipes his hands on his robes. "Boy rat. His name's Mordy." He looks over to the newcomer and fortunately does NOT knock over the cage this time. Mordy himself is glossy reddish-brown, a little fat, and obviously well cared for, despite his grape-hording making him look like a starved creature.] #06* Indra nods. "y-y-yes" he stammers a bit self-consciously. he quietly slips into the room and walks over to the stack of luggage that is his and looks at it. #06* Luke smiles at the rat again. "Hi, Mordy!" he says, and then he turns back to the boy who just walked in. "Um, I'm sorry, I don't remember your name. I'm Luke." #06* Indra reaches for a small, brightly colored ceramic flowerpot with a small, but rather healthy looking venus flytrap in it and gently inspects it. "my n-n- name?" its... Indra #06* Luke smiles brightly at him. "Hi, Indra." He glances at the boy with the rat. "And you're Barry, right?" #06* Indra seems satisfied that the plant is okay and carries it over to the window and gently sets it down, turning it so that it faces out. He smiles a bit. "i am b- ba-ba-bad with n-names." #06* Indra blushes #01 [Barry (the boy with the rat) smiles at Luke. "Yeah." And then he looks at Indra. "It's okay. So am I."] #06* Luke grins at them both. "That's okay. We'll all learn them eventually." #06* Indra walks over to where Luke and Barry are. #01 ["I, um, I hope you're not allergic to rats," Barry says when Indra heads over.] n-n-not th-that i know of #06* Luke looks over at Indra's flowerpot and his eyes widen. "Hey, is that a venus flytrap?" #06* Indra nods and smiles shyly. #01 [Barry's eyes widen as well. "That's so cool!"] #06* Luke turns back to Indra, looking impressed. "That's so cool!" And then he blushes as he echoes Barry a half-beat behind. "Um, how do you get food for it?" w-w-well... it c-can do ok-k-kay with j-just water in the soil Huh, really? I thought they had to eat bugs. #06* Indra shakes his head no. "it is st-still a p-p-p-plant" #06* Luke blushes a little more and smiles a little more. "Oh. I guess that's true." #01 ["Bet it'll still eat bugs, though," Barry says, edging closer to the plant (but not too close because maybe it'll bite him or something).] #06* Luke shakes his head. "I bet the house elves keep bugs away, though." I mean, we're right by the kitchens and all, you don't want them getting into the food or anything. it d-does like an occ-cc-casional sp-spider or b-bug #06* Luke cocks his head to one side. "Oh, but maybe there're spiders." #06* Indra looks at Barry. "it w-won't bite y-y-you. y-you're to b-b-b-big #01 [Barry blushes a little. "I... um, I didn't think it was *really* going to bite me, I was just..." He trails off, then just says, "Okay."] #06* Luke looks around at the four beds in the room, and the three boys in the room. "Huh. I wonder where that other boy is. Zan-something?" #01 [As if on cue, the door to the room opens partway, and a short, Asian boy peeks in around the edge.] #06* Luke brightens. "Hi! You're, um..." Luke's face scrunches up as he tries to remember. "Zan-Zhi, right?" #01 ["Yeah," he says, still looking into the room. Zan-Zhi darts in and jumps for the unclaimed bed, bouncing once, twice, and then ending up on his stomach with his face in his pillow, a pool of robes with short, spiked black hair at one end.] #01 ["Um," Barry says, intelligently, at this display.] #06* Luke 's smile falters and he steps closer, but not too close. He leans to make up a little of the distance, then asks hesitantly, "Um...are you okay, Zan- Zhi?" #06* Indra frowns nervously. #01 ["Yeah," says the boy in question, muffled by pillow.] #06* Luke looks epicly unconvinced. But what he says is, "Um...you wanna meet Barry's rat? His name's Mordy." #01 [The boy shifts, looking at Luke with one eye, but doesn't seem willing to get up.] #06* Luke looks at Barry not-quite-pleadingly. #01 ["Um..." Barry chimes in, "He's... kind of uncomfortable because it's a new place, so it's probably not a good idea to take him out of his cage because he might bite right now, but he's a really cool rat." And then he smiles, a little nervously, and waves. "I'm Barry."] #01 [Zan-Zhi shifts so he can see Barry with a different eye, still not taking his face out of the pillow (and thus turning his attention away from Luke). "'m Zan-Zhi," he says, half-muffled.] #06* Indra looks at Luke and Barry anxiously, clearly completely uncertain what to do #06* Luke winces. Didn't think about that. He shifts around a bit so Zan-Zhi can see him and Barry without having to move when Luke says, "Um, I'm Luke." #01 [Another shift, and now Zan's looking at Luke, sort of. "Hi," he offers. It'd be comical if he weren't so clearly upset.] #06* Indra looks at his plant in the window. "i... i h-h-have a D-D-D-Dionaea m-m- muscipula if if y-you want to s-s-see it" #01 [Zan can't actually see Indra from his position, so he has to sit up. And he does, clutching the pillow on his lap. "... What?"] #06* Indra blushes. "a D-Dionaea muscipula. V-v-venus fly-tr-trap." #01 [Zan blinks. "Um... okay." And then: "Who are you?"] #06* Luke relaxes a bit now that Zan is at least sitting up, but he's still watching the exchange worriedly. my n-n-name is I-indra. #01 ["I'm Zan-Zhi. Tian. Zan-Zhi Tian."] #01 [Barry smiles a little bit, now that the boy's not buried in pillow.] n-n-nice to m-m-meet y-you #06* Indra blushes. #01 ["Yeah, nice to meet you, too." Zan's gaze wanders the room, and then he sees the flytrap. "Is that it?" he asks, pointing.] #06* Indra nods. #01 [Zan slides off the bed and walks over to the flytrap, still holding the pillow in one arm. He reaches out hesitantly with one hand, and when the plant doesn't snap at him, pets the top of it with two fingers.] #06* Indra watches Zan closely, but seems satisfied that he won't hurt the plant. #06* Luke smiles at Zan, still a little hesitantly. #01 [Barry's gone back to checking up on Mordy; gotta make the rat comfortable.] #01 ["It's pretty cool," Zan offers, still looking at the plant. "Where'd you get it?"] f-from my f-f-fa-fa... dad. #06* Indra blushes. #06* Luke perks up, interested. "Does your dad know a lot about plants, too?" he knows a b-bit Neat! #06* Luke smiles more, then looks back to Zan, remembering his unhappy appearance. #01 [Zan smiles a little, too, and takes his hand from the plant to wrap it around the pillow again.] #01 ["So... I guess you guys are my roommates?"] #06* Luke nods, smiling hesitantly at Zan. "Looks like." #06* Indra looks at the other boys and nods. #01 ["Yeah," Barry says. "You guys don't mind if I take this bed, right? I've already got Mordy set up over here, but I can move him." The rat gives him a LOOK. But he's just a rat. He can't know what they're saying, right?] #06* Luke looks over at Barry. "Sure, go ahead!" he says cheerfully. "At least, it's fine by me. The beds are all the same, anyway." At least, I think they are. I guess we could all jump on all of them to make sure. #06* Luke grins mischievously, looking over at Zan. #06* Indra looks at the beds and then at Luke, clearly worried. #01 [Zan blinks, then grins back, relaxing a bit. "You should. It's lots of fun."] #01 ["I, um... my parents always yelled at me for jumping on the bed..." Barry says, nervously.] #06* Luke grins more and blushes a little. "Actually I almost did when I came in, except I thought it would be mean to ignore Barry." #01 [Barry blushes at that, too. Blushing Hufflepuffs!] #01 ["It's fun," Zan says. "Besides, your parents aren't here, so..."] #06* Luke glances over at Barry, smiling. "My parents let me some when I was littler. Just not too much." b-b-but w-we might-t f-f-fall and get h-urt #06* Indra blushes. #01 [Zan scoffs. "No you won't. I do it ALL THE TIME. Here, watch." He pulls off his shoes and sets them down, then runs across the room to leap onto his bed with a shout, laughing as he bounces up and then down. "See!"] #06* Luke grins at Indra. "You just don't jump too high, that's all. C'mon!" He stops short of actually pulling Indra to a bed, but he hops up on the one that seems to have become his by default - next to Indra by the window. He bounces a little less energetically than Zan, but he's still laughing and smiling encouragement at Indra. #06* Indra watches anxiously #06* Indra looks at Barry #06* Luke looks at Barry and stops bouncing to say, "That's what my parents told me - don't bounce too hard 'cause it's bad for the bed. But a little is okay!" He grins cheerfully, eyes bright. #01 [Zan bounces very high, but he seems perfectly fine, and Barry watches him and then Luke. "Well..." He bites his lip, but it *does* look like fun, and...] #01 [Barry gives up and climbs onto his bed, standing it up and jumping. It's springy. He grins. This *is* pretty fun.] #06* Indra frowns. He looks over at his plant in the windowsill and then back at his roommates. with a sigh, he climbs up on his bed and stands there for a bit #06* Luke is still flopped down on the bed not bouncing, 'cause he doesn't want Indra to feel bad. But he does smile at him. "You don't have to if you don't wanna, Indra. But you won't get hurt." #06* Indra bounces once a bit timidly. #01 ["See, isn't it fun?" Zan calls, almost bouncing high enough to touch the top of his bed's posters.] #06* Luke watches Zan a little wide-eyed, and then he grins, grabs a pillow from his bed, and throws it at the Asian boy. #01 ["Whoa!" Zan yells, muffled, the pillow getting him in the face. But then it's gone and a wicked gleam is in his eyes. He wings his own pillow right for Luke!] #06* Luke yells and rolls off his bed to escape it. He can be heard giggling from the floor before he gets up and tosses Zan's own pillow back at him. #06* Indra bounces a second time, still a bit apprehensive, but then he stops once the pillow projectiles start to fly. "w-w-w-w-w-wait!" he begins to blush a lot. "w-w-w-we c-c-c-c-an-can't d-d-d-o th-th-this!" #06* Luke stops, bright grin fading as he actually thinks about this. "Oh, yeah...we might hit your Venus flytrap or Mordy's cage, and that'd be really bad. I'm sorry." He puts the pillow he was holding back down on his bed. #06* Indra looks at his feet #01 [Zan catches the pillow and bounces down to sit on his bed. "Oh yeah." He looks properly chastised.] #01 [Barry blinks, still bouncing, but as the other two boys stopped, he does, too.] #06* Luke hops back up to sit on his bed, holding his unused pillow-ammunition on his lap. "So, um...where're all of you guys from?" #01 ["Puddlemere," Barry says, now fingering the ends of his sleeves.] #06* Indra sits down on his bed. "wh-where is th-that?" #01 ["Oh, it's um... in Dorset."] #01 [Zan-Zhi blinks. "You mean like... Puddlemere United?" Barry nods. "Cool," Zan says with a grin. "Birmingham doesn't have a team. That's where I'm from."] I'm from Ullapool. Um, it's in the Northern Highlands, by Loch Broom. i'm from L-London #01 ["So you're from Scotland?" Zan asks, focusing on Luke.] #06* Luke nods. "Mm-hm," he says cheerfully. #01 ["That's cool. I've never been there. Is there a big wizarding community?"] #06* Luke shakes his head. "Nah, not very - it's not a very big town anyway. There's us, and my Aunt Jackie - she kind of lives outside of town, though, she has a B&B for wizards and sometimes they don't really know how to act around muggles, so she has to be a little apart - and, um, a couple other families, but I don't know them that well." #06* Indra looks a bit worried. #01 ["That's really different from where I grew up," Zan-Zhi says. "There's pretty much no wizarding community in Birmingham... I mean, there are *wizards*, it's a pretty big city, but my mom always had to hide that she had magic, except from me and Dad, pretty much."] #06* Luke glances at Indra and notices his worried look. "Hey, Indra, what's up?" d-do w-wizards and n-non w-wizards not l-live tog-gether usually? #06* Indra blushes. #01 ["Um, not since the Statute of Secrecy," Barry chimes in. "Wizards are supposed to keep magic secret from muggles."] #06* Indra looks down. "oh" #01 ["That's why so many people live in Puddlemere. It's a wizarding town."] m-my fa-fa-family... th-they're not w-wizards. #06* Luke blinks a bit, but chimes in cheerfully, "That's okay! Zan-Zhi's - um, dad, was it? - isn't a wizard either." And I met a girl in Ollivander's whose parents are both muggles. #06* Indra looks up at that. really? I'm sure there're others, too, I just don't know who they are yet. #06* Luke nods. "Mm-hm. Her name's Eliana. She got Sorted into Slytherin." #01 [Barry blinks. "Really? I thought muggleborns *never* got sorted into Slytherin."] #06* Luke shrugs. "Guess that's not true, 'cause she did." #01 ["Was she mean?" Zan asks, curiously.] #06* Luke blinks, then actually considers that for a moment. "She wasn't exactly nice, but she wasn't mean. I think she was just kind of nervous 'cause she didn't know anyone or anything. She was pretty nice to me once we started talking. She let me pet her toad, and listen to, um, some kind of muggle thing for music." I thought she might be in Ravenclaw, because she seemed really smart and she said she liked books and stuff, but then she wasn't. The Hat did take an awful long time to decide for her, though, so maybe it thought about putting her in Ravenclaw. #01 [Zan-Zhi nods. "Yeah, maybe." He frowns a little, looking down at the pillow which somehow ended up back on his lap.] #06* Luke looks over at Zan-Zhi, concerned. "Hey, um, Zan-Zhi? What's wrong?" #01 ["Well, I kinda wanted to end up in another house too," he mumbles down at his pillow.] r-really? #06* Luke blinks and asks quietly, "Where?" #01 ["Why?" Barry asks, almost at the same time as Luke.] #01 [Zan clutches the pillow closer to him. "Gryffindor."] Oh. #06* Luke tilts his head and smiles at Zan. "But Hufflepuff is a good house, too. I have a brother in Gryffindor and a brother in Hufflepuff, and they're both awesome." #01 [Zan kind of looks like he wants to disappear; it's a little strange, given he was so out there not long before when jumping on the bed. "I know, I know, but..."] #06* Luke hops off his bed and goes over to hug Zan. "It's okay. If I really wanted to be in one house and went somewhere else I'd probably be sad too." #01 [Zan is hugged! He doesn't uncurl, though. "Thanks," he mumbles. "I just- I just wanted to be in the house where everyone's brave and heroic. *I* want to be brave and heroic." Across the room, Barry's biting his lip.] #06* Luke tilts his head again. "You don't have to be in Gryffindor to be brave. Matthew's brave, too." I dunno about heroic, but Mark's not really heroic either, so... #01 ["Well yeah, but a lot of really famous heroes come from Gryffindor, and I just..." Zan sighs. "I guess I'm where I belong. The sorting hat's never wrong, right?"] i d-don't really know #06* Luke hugs Zan again. "That's what people say. But no matter what, you can be a hero anyway if you want. I mean, being a hero is about how you act, not where you come from." #01 ["Yeah," Barry chimes in, "and um... there are a lot of famous witches and wizards who come from Hufflepuff. They just don't need everyone to talk about them."] #01 [Zan looks up at Luke, then across to Barry. "Really?"] #06* Luke grins at Barry. " 'S kind of true, Mark always likes being the center of attention." #01 [Zan brow-furrows. "What's the point of that?"] #06* Indra shrugs. #06* Luke shrugs. "Some people like it." And then he grins at Zan. "Guess you don't." #01 [Zan bites his lip. "It's not that I don't *like* it, it's just... why. What matters is that you do it, right?" Pause. "That's a Hufflepuff thing, isn't it."] #06* Luke smiles at Zan. "Little bit, yeah. I mean, it's not like there aren't good people in all the other houses, too." #01 ["Right, like most of the people in Gryffindor," Zan says, automatically, and Barry nods in agreement.] #06* Luke nods. "Most people most places are good, I think. It's just sometimes other things are important to them, too. Like Ravenclaws usually like to learn a lot, and stuff like that." #01 ["Yeah, I guess," Zan-Zhi relents. "That's not so bad, then. And the Hufflepuff common room *is* pretty cool."] #06* Luke smiles wider. "Yeah, I like it, too! And it's so cool that it's in the kitchens, you can watch all the cooking and stuff that people don't normally see." it s-smells g-good too! #01 ["And it's got to be *way* easier to find than the other common rooms," Barry chimes in.] #01 [Zan thinks about all of this. "Yeah," he says, "that's pretty cool. I guess being a Hufflepuff isn't so bad." He grins. "Maybe it'll be easier to get on the quidditch team."] #06* Luke grins at Zan. "Maybe. If you want to, go talk to Matthew - he's the Keeper." I mean, you can't until next year, but still. wh-what is qui-d-d-d... quid-di-di... that? #06* Indra blushes. Huh - oh, right! It's a wizard sport. You play it on broomsticks, and there're four different balls - #06* Luke gives a short explanation of quidditch, ceding to Zan pretty often since he's enthusiastic about it. #01 [Zan-Zhi certainly is, and he chimes in frequently about various plays and the importance of different positions on the field.] #01 [Barry also gets a few words in, being interested though not nearly as forward.] #06* Indra just listens quietly. #01 ["So that's quidditch!" Zan says once the explanation's done, all of his gloominess gone. "I want to be on the team. Maybe chaser or even seeker if I end up being good on a broom. My eyesight's really good, so... It doesn't look really *hard*, but I've never flown before."] Well, we'll have flying classes, so you can learn how. #06* Luke smiles cheerfully at Zan. i b-bet you can s-see lots of trees f-from the air #01 ["Yeah!" Zan agrees. "Like from an airplane. But closer."] #01 [Barry blinks. "An airplane? That's what muggles use to fly around, right?"] #06* Luke nods enthusiastically. "Mm-hm! You can see all kinds of stuff, and things look different when you're on top of them than when you're on the ground." #01 ["I can't wait," Zan says with a grin. "Flying's gonna be the coolest thing."] #01 [End!]