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Marcus and Chloe weren't what most people would consider friends, they didn't coddle each other with false words, they didn't share secrets or every little detail of their day, and yet for Marcus none of that mattered. He had long held a certain amount of respect for the girl. While she had a few... quirks and her general behaviour might have been somewhat louder than Marcus', he couldn't deny that he loved seeing her giving the 'do-gooders' hell. She didn't parade around trying to be someone she was not. He didn't have many friends. Acquantinces, sure, he had a few. Enemies, he had plenty, but friends were rare.

"Was that a smile, Marcus?" She teased before pushing herself onto her feet. Marcus shrugged, not about to deny to small show of emotion. Although his face seemed to usually be set to an emotionless default, smiles weren't rare when he actually found something amusing. "But was there really that many people? God damn it..." Chloe continued, before the sound of a small collection of explosives cut her off. Sniggering followed shortly after and Marcus could only assume it was some set of pranksters, starting off the year with a literal bang. He mentally went through the possibilities, coming up with too many faces without names. The likely culprits would have been the twins, although like many other students he didn't care for, he couldn't remember their names or even what house they were in. Whatever their names Marcus couldn't say that he was impressed. There was absolutely no need to make such a show of yourself in such a public place.

Chloe seemed to share his general disdain for the occurrence, as he caught her muttering darkly, "How immature can you get?" before turning back to face him.
"Gaol Academy is unfortunately littered with immature idiots." He replied, giving a slightly exasperated sigh, "At least now we only have one more year to suffer through their juvenile pranks." He was already looking forward to finishing Gaol. He assumed he would pass all his exams with exemplary grades, he held himself to a high standard and wouldn't be happy with anything else. Then, once he had graduated from Gaol, he could travel the world researching magical animals and chasing dragons. His fingers curled around the packaged book that he had just purchased, his eagerness to read it sparking as his mind drifted to his future career.

"There weren't too many people." Marcus said a moment later, responding to Chloe's earlier question that had been interrupted by the small explosion, "I just happened to be passing and caught the end of the argument."

For a few moments, it seemed that Carella wasn't going to respond. But then she pulled out her headphones and looked up. Oh, her music must have been too loud to properly hear her. Megan was about to repeat the question when Carella repeated the last part. "Ice? I think there will be some in the kitchen." Megan would have facepalmed herself if that wouldn't have caused her forehead to swell even further. How had she not thought of that? "What caused the swelling?"

She was about to answer when Carella took her by the hand and brought her to the kitchen. Surprisingly, they didn't pass anyone on the way. This seemed a little odd. Wasn't it almost time for the boat to leave? Maybe her sense of timing had been thrown off. Once at the kitchen, Megan looked around for a worker. There had to be somebody around that knew where to find stuff. Carella seemed to know what she was doing, however, and quickly found a bag of ice. "Thanks. Now my head won't explode." Megan grinned. Carella seemed to be waiting expectantly for something, but before Megan could ask what, they were off again. They quickly made it back to Carella's compartment and re-entered. The door was wide open, which might have accounted to the girl's swiftness in moving to the kitchen and back. Nobody likes getting stuff stolen.

While Carella cleared a space on the bed, Megan glanced around the room. It was definitely neater than hers would ever be. "How did you get your place to look so clean? All I've done in mine is put my stuff in it, but it already looks messier than this?" Megan sat down on the edge of Carella's bed. A sudden trickle of ice-cold water in her hand reminded her that she had an ice pack for a reason. Megan carefully held the ice against her head. "Thanks again." Now that they were settled, she had enough time to properly answer Carella's question from earlier. She giggled quietly. "I had just put all my stuff into my compartment when a gray cat ran past the door. I stepped out to see what was going on, and a boy in my year slammed into me. He fell down, but luckily the wall kept me up." Megan gestured towards her head. "With a little bit of a price, mind you."

[font="century gothic"]

"Need a hand there, Aurora?, Auroa jumped and turned around to see Jim behind her as she still struggled with the annoying little bat. "If you would I will totally love you forever!" She cried in desperation as she gave the small bat another tug, struggling to work if free and staring up at Jim with big puppy dog eyes while the minutiae creature glared daggers at his hands, seemingly unaffected by Aurora attempts to remove him.

"Come on Dyl, let go of me..." She had resorted to begging with the damn bat who continued to ignore her, and Jim as they tried to distantly the thing from her hair. Giving a final sigh, she removed her hands in resignation as she realised the bag wasn't moving as time soon and she was doing more damage to herself than the small creature. "Thanks for that Jim, but I don't think he will be moving anytime soon no matter how hard we try.", however she was soon distracted from the nuciance when she saw Thomas walk through the door holding the brand new Aether V.

"You should have stopped by there first, Aurora. Someone purchased the last Aether V, though he might be willing to sell or loan it for a price. Or maybe the shopkeeper was lying when he said it was the last one. It's a common marketing trick," , Her eyes widened in horror as they lay upon the gorgeous piece of art that would allow her to fly at 200 miles and hour at prim conditions; The way the handle had been carved and polished; the perfect arrangement of bristles; And the perfectly, calligraphy carving of "Aether V" at the end of the handle. She could not lose it, not even to Thomas.

"You and me, we are going back to that broom shop which I will raid until I find another, amazing, gorgeous, beautiful, perfect, Aether V. If the shopkeeper wasn't lying, then I will pay your double, no triple! The original price!" She all but begged him, as she moved to stand it front of him, eyes fixed on the broom that had to be hers. "Come on Tommy, I'm begging over here!" She said while looking up at him with her best puppy dog eyes.

"That is NO WAY an Aether V," exclaimed a young girl's voice. Thomas blinked, having missed the girl as he focused on teasing his friend. He smiled sliglhtly at her excitement. Judging from her similar appearance to Claudia's as well as the older girl's cringing, this had to be her sister.

"Oh my gosh. How did you manage to afford it? It's, like, the newest in the Series! Can I touch it?" the girl asked excitably.

"I come from a family with too much gold on their hands. Of course you can touch it," he told her, allowing the girl to touch it. He wasn't one of those Quadpot-obsessed types who cringed at the thought of a child touching their broomstick. It wasn't like the child would break it. He grinned over at Aurora as she took it in. Soon enough, she sprang into action.

"You and me, we are going back to that broom shop which I will raid until I find another, amazing, gorgeous, beautiful, perfect, Aether V. If the shopkeeper wasn't lying, then I will pay your double, no triple! The original price!"

Thomas shook his head. He wouldn't exhort his friend in such a way. He may come from a family famous for pursuing wealth, but that didn't mean he was greedy.

"Come on Tommy, I'm begging over here!" She finished while looking up at him with her best puppy dog eyes. Thomas couldn't help but gaze into those eyes. It was one of her favorite tricks, but it still got to him. He did his best to regain his composure.

"Alright. I will go with you to the broom shop. I'll even sell it to you at three quarters of the price if you accompany me to the school ruins. I have an idea on how to open the chamber we couldn't open last year," he told her with a grin as he offered her his hand. He knew she didn't like his manners, but at times, he couldn't resist teasing her with a little chivalry.

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C H L O E

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Friendship was barely a word in Chloe's vocabulary.

It was an underused, dusty word after being left in her childhood- back in the days where everyone was a friend, and when she was left with entirely her own thoughts. Overshadowed by cruel words, dwarfed by remarks of monotonous irritation. Her words were perpetually sharp, she noticed, and almost never did soft, kind words pass her lips. Truthfully, she was fine with this. The sugar-sweet words she heard others say to their friends left a sour taste in her mouth, almost opposite of what was intended. The sheer amount of lies these friends told one another was astounding, as well. White lies, they called them, because placing a colour next to a seemingly bad word obviously changes the whole context. The real reason people do not express their true feelings is usually not the fact that they want to protect the fragile feelings of their friends, but because they are afraid that their opinion may bring their friends to dislike them. It always about the well-being of the liar.

One could label Chloe and Marcus as friends, but she really did not like to think of it like that. Friends reminded her of a circle of people that whispered petty gossip and laughed obnoxiously together, whispering rumors while she passed. Friends reminded her of people that were being as fake as they could, desperately trying to fit in. Chloe and Marcus were not friends. There was really no word to describe the 'friendship' they had. Nothing seemed right.

"Gaol Academy is unfortunately littered with immature idiots." He responded, and Chloe gave a nod in acknowledgement. "At least now we only have one more year to suffer through their juvenile pranks."

Pranks. She hated the very word. They had never been a thing to interest the girl, and she usually took the crude things with a look of distaste. They merely created embarrassment. She'd been a victim of a few in her earlier years, but usually the perpetrators got what they deserved. She'd never really been pranked by the two so-called prank masters of Gaol- the twins.

Chloe had given thought to where she was going after this year. She'd actually decided on being an Auror. Her parents might disapprove, but it was one thing she really had her mind set on. She was acing defense against the dark arts, and even though the greatest dark wizard was in her mind- she believed she might overcome it. Just maybe. It was hard work becoming an Auror, but hard work she was preparing to endure.

"There weren't too many people. I just happened to be passing and caught the end of the argument." He then spoke moments after, responding to her earlier query.

"That's the first time I've seen that Eric kid since last year, and I've already punched him." She paused, "Either I'm getting more evil or he is getting more unbearably irritating."

Looking up at the sky, she observed that it had darkened considerably, and although she did not have a watch, Chloe guessed it was about time to head back on the the ship. "Well, looks about time to head back to the ship. Oh, joy."

Without realising, she had walked a couple steps with Marcus still behind her. "Well, are you coming? Or just planning to miss school this year."

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L U K E

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"Hello Professor? It's a pleasure to see you supervising this year."

He awoke, pushing himself off of the sun lounger. It had most likely been half and hour he had slept for, but it was maybe a degree colder and the wind was picking up, biting at his skin. He looked rather garish in his board shorts and sunglasses, but he figured that he was bound to look silly wearing them. In other words, he didn't care. It was a familiar face that he was greeted with- Amelia Ellison, a bright student of sorts.

"Of course I am supervising- you know I take my job very seriously." He smiled warmly, but was slight sarcasm, as his getup was far from serious. "However, I fear my sunbathing session is over. It is getting rather cold, after all."

He stood up and faced the girl, "I will see you soon, most likely. If it is not around the ship it will be in class."

He took the sunglasses off his face and held them in his palm. "I must say goodbye for now though- I have some important errands to finish." And with that he was off in to the ship, deciding to enter his cabin for a while to plan for upcoming classes.

"Alright. I will go with you to the broom shop. I'll even sell it to you at three quarters of the price if you accompany me to the school ruins. I have an idea on how to open the chamber we couldn't open last year,". Hook, Line and sinker. Aurora grinned up at Thomas when he said those words. Not only was he amazing and willing to sell his, divine, broom to her at such a cheap price he also and figured out how to open the chamber!

"God, I love you, you know that right." She smiled teasingly at him, sending his hand one of her looks before taking it, "And none of that fancy pancy, your-a-girl-so-I'm-going-to-be-way-to-polite, stuff. We're friends so stop it." She commented, poking his forehead gently as if she was trying to make the idea stick.

Glancing around, she noticed that the bookshop had slowly started to fill up with friends and others from her grade, becoming a little crowded for her taste. Not to mention she needed to get that broom before it really did sell out because as much as she approciated Thomas offer to sell her the broom for so much less, she didn't want to take it away from him... Unless she had to. "Come on, let's get out of here before I really do lose that, Magnificent, broom to someone else." She said jokingly before making her way towards the door, pausing briefly to glance back at Flavia, "You want to come Flavia? If so than hurry up or we will leave you here." She laughed out towards the younger girl before exiting the shops completely and entering the street.

"Come on Tom, lets hurry! I need a broom right now and you and me could maybe fly to Gaol!" She joked out as she walked though the crowding streets, knowing that at least Thomas was following her but keeping a slower pace in case Flavia also decided to join them. She was muggle born and therefore hadn't been able to fly all summer and was now craving the rush of wind and adrenaline that came when she sat upon the levitating broom.

Walking slowly she waited for the two(?) to catch up to her while Dylan took off into the air, heading towards the broom shop which was also located on the Main Street and not to far from the book shop. Now that she thought about it actually, she had forgotten to get the book she was after... Maybe she could get Liam to bring it to her when they all returned to Gaol.

For the first time in his entire magical schooling career at Gaol Academy, Benjamin "Benji" Fox did not board the ship to school at the Georgia port, the closest stop to his home state of Tennessee. That was bizarre in of itself given that for the past four years, Benji's presence in the eleventh compartment from the end of the ship had been an undeniable truth like how two plus two always equals four or that owls were wonderful for package deliveries if you remembered to tip them with their rodent of choice. However, the oddest thing about it was where Benji actually was; Baltimore, Maryland, standing in the middle of the Alvar family rare book shop next to a port key in the shape of a bookmark, and listening to the Alvar children squabble tirelessly as he had for the past four days.

When Sophie Alvar had let it slip to her parents about the nice boy a few years ahead of her that had helped her with class, she had clearly underestimated how enthusiastic her parents would be to meet said nice boy. In a whirl of excitement(for her parents) and dread(for Sophie), an invitation had promptly been sent via owl to the Fox household with an invitation to have them stay in Baltimore for the last few days of Summer vacation. To say that those days had been difficult would be an understatement; the parents, once the Alvars had realized that they didn't need to tiptoe around the issue of squibs and muggles, and grandparents(because there was no way Randall or Miriam were missing a chance to be around other members of the magical community) had gotten along famously, and the children, well, less so. At first, the amount of sibling discourse had been a little disorienting for Benji given that he was an only child, but, unfortunately, he'd gotten used to it, letting the brothers' endless teases and their sister's cutting retorts become the soundtrack for his little visit. At least, he decided, she was talking to him again- Sophie had refused to even make eye contact for the first two days of his visit when Allan, the only Alvar boy still living at home, had jokingly insisted that Benji was his sister's boyfriend.

"You both have everything?" Gregory Alvar asked one last time, eying the two as they shifted on their feet, luggage topped with owl cages, the birds blessedly silent, gripped tightly. They'd already said their goodbyes and, honestly, they'd made sure that they'd had everything at least five times now, but parents do have a tendency to worry about these things.

"Yes, daddy," Sophie huffed, looking more than anxious to go.

"Alright then. It's about time, go ahead and put your hands on the port key-" The instruction was cut off in a short manner by Allan who apparently couldn't risk a parting shot at his baby sister.

"Remember to hold hands, Fi-Fi!" He cooed, despite his mother's prompt glare. Sophie, as she always did, colored a violent scarlet color and was about to round on her brother with a verbal assault to violent that it might have left a bruise or two. However Benji, who'd had more than enough of this by now, was too quick, grabbing her hand and tugging it down with his just as the hour struck and, quite suddenly, the middle of the rare book shop in Baltimore, Maryland, was missing two people leaving behind a guffawing older brother, a scolding mother, and several proud relatives.

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They were unceremoniously dropped off in an out of the way part of Rhiamon Way, closer to the docks than to the shops. Sophie landed uneasily before smoothing down her uniform skirt, grumbling something about the perfect use of a bat-bogey hex, while Benji simply straightened back up- he would never get used to port keys- and started off towards the ship. Hopefully his usual compartment wouldn't be occupied- well, at least by someone he didn't know. If it was someone like Thomas then he'd-

"Benji." He stopped in his tracks and turned around to see Sophie looking just as red-faced as before.

"What is it?"

"I forgot my charms book." Before he could even reply, she charged on quickly, "But it's not my fault- Allan was talking when I was packing and he distracted me, so…" She huffed. "I need to get a new one."

"It's fine, Sophie," Benji said, cutting off any further rants. "We'll just drop our stuff off and I'll go with you, okay? We still have a little bit of time." When handling Sophie, especially when she was upset, it was best to use kid gloves, a lesson Benji had quickly learned last year after his first disastrous tutoring attempt.

Sophie nodded and quick as could be they dropped off their luggage and still sleeping owls before heading towards the shops.

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It was lucky that Benji knew his way around Rhiamon Way because Sophie was completely out of her element. She was used to her parents buying everything for her and just staying put in the ship every time it stopped. The crowds buffeting her on all sides, most of them children around her own age, were frustrating and she couldn't help but press in a little closer to Benji just to make sure she didn't get lost- not that she'd ever admit it because she was just fine on her own, thanks very much.

They managed to fight their way through the crowds and into the Madsen family bookstore where Sophie vanished, presumably to find her charms book, and Benji was left to idly look around, fidgeting slightly with the shiny new Exemplar badge adorning his shirt. It would be a lie to say that he wasn't disproportionately proud of it and it would be a complete fib to say that he'd maybe cheered quite loudly the moment the badge and letter had arrived at his home.

It was only after Sophie had returned, dragging him resolutely to the counter so that she could pay for what was most certainly not a charms book(not that he could tell since she was hiding the cover resolutely from him) that Benji recognized the fact that, oh, hey, his classmates were here. And were also leaving. The bad thing, he supposed, about having friends was that, inevitably with him, they had other friends they were closer to, usually being people you didn't know all that well. That was the case with Aurora and her menagerie of friends that had swept out the door, excited about some broom or another, or Claudia, his own housemate who still lingered inside with Liam and some first years he was sure he'd never met before. He liked them sure enough, but he couldn't possibly just push himself into their group.

Sophie, whose self-esteem issues revealed themselves in a much different way than the doubt that constantly washed over Benji's mind, had no such issue. As exasperated as she may have gotten with Claudia, a familiar face was still a familiar face, and she was one of the closest things Sophie had to a friend, which was a bit sad, really.

"Hey, Claudia," She said, waving towards the girl and, given the general social obligation, Benji was about to call out a similar greeting when instead an explosion resounded within the shop. Well, not so much an explosion as an entirely too powerful light show. Sophie let out a shriek of surprise, stumbling backwards, and Benji had to shield his eyes before something more concerning than a firework gone wrong caught his sight. A boy- he didn't know him, so possibly a first year- has been propelled backwards in the explosion.

With all of the responsibility granted to him by the Exemplar badge and the general morality that he quite hoped most people had but knew from experience that they didn't, Benji hurried over to the toppled over boy, even as Zeke called out a not so sheepish apology.

"Are you okay?" He asked, almost immediately kneeling down next to him. If he was a first year, well, his life at Gaol had just gotten off to a rocky start.

Flavia's excitement almost doubled as the older boy said 'yes' to her pleas. Trying to contain her excitement, she walked forwards towards the elegant broom handle, and stretched out one hand, before gently poking it with one finger, rather tentatively. After a brief moment of feeling the smooth polished feel of the wood, she snatched her hand back, almost cradling it, before jumping up and down and making what she would classify as 'happy-squealy' noises. "Dad is going to be sooo jealous!" She squeaked to herself.
She managed to calm herself down, enough to hear Aurora invite her to the broom shop. It took a moment to sink in, before she realised that Aurora and the older boy had left the shop. Sighing, and realising she still needed a wand, she huffed out a sigh of frustration. She really wanted to go, but she needed a wand first. Maybe afterwards she could go?
She walked over to Claudia and tugged on her sleeve. A disapproving look from the girl told her that Flavia was annoying her with her loudness and obnoxious nature...Again. Sighing, Flavia held out a hand. "Can I have some money, so I can at least get myself a wand?" She asked. Claudia rolled her eyes and fished in her pocket, finally pulling out a small pouch that jingled with the promise of coins in bronze, silver and gold. She dropped it into Flavia's hand, and her fist snapped shut around it. "Thanks!" She hugged her legs, before looking up at Liam's sister, who she thought was called Eden. "Do you want to come with me to get a wand?" She asked the blonde girl. "It's just across the road and you look about my age, too, so I was wondering if you needed a wand too!" She asked her, cheerfully, before offering her a friendly smile. She hoped she would accept, as she wanted to make a new friend.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Eric rubbed his jaw, a slight welp forming, reminding him of what was still fresh in his mind. Chloe. He made his way up into the ship, looking around at the few students straggling around the hall. He found his way to his compartment, giving a friendly nod to a couple people before slipping in the room. Eric's eyes had fallen right to the empty box of Ice Mice sitting on the seat near the window. He sighed in annoyance. Alfred. Shaking his head, Eric plopped down, pulling out his wand and directing it toward the box."Scourgify."

And with that, the empty candy box folded itself several times over to the point that it was no larger than a thumb nail. It levitated for a second before puffing into dust. Eric sighed inwardly, gazing out into the horizon through the porthole, losing himself in his thoughts. His mind raced through many things for the next couple of minutes. Anything from what this school year had in store of this 7th year to whether or not he was finally going to gather up enough courage to speak to the breathtaking Amelia Ellison. He sat there awhile when a familiar ball of grey fur flashed into the compartment and leaped onto his lap. "Alfred!"

Despite Alfred having eaten all of his candy once again, Eric couldn't help but grin down at his cat. He went to pet him when he noticed a long, thin object lodged in his jaws. It was a wand! No sooner had he taken it from Alfred, (who gave it up willingly), had Thomas Erener enter the compartment. The two sat there in silence for a moment, eyeing each other warily. Eric had ran into Thomas in their previous year, and had caught him with a book from the restricted section in the library. He could assume that Thomas didn't have proper permission to have the book, given the hastiness he showed in trying to hide it once Eric saw it. Eric has never told a teacher, nor anybody else, partially because it seemed like such an insignificant rule to be broken, and because he almost waiting for Thomas to slip up again, possibly into something worse this time. Eric was the first to break the silence.

"Oh... Hey, Thomas."

Eric wasn't returned with a greeting, not that he surprised. "Would you please return my wand to me?", Thomas requested, almost in a tone of demand. Eric looked down at the wand in his hand. He hesitated before standing and taking a step toward Thomas, raising the wand to him, handle up. As Thomas took it from him, he tried at being friendly. "Sorry about that... You know how cats can get." He chuckled lightly before adding, "That's a nice wand. What is it, pine?" Thomas gave the older student a cold look as he retorted, "If you don't mind, would you kindly keep that animal away from me this year?" Eric eyed the 5th year curiously before glancing back to Alfred, who was now sitting atop Eric's backpack, flicking his bushy tail to and fro. When Eric looked back to Thomas though, he had already gone. Poking his head out of his compartment, Eric's eyes followed Thomas as he stalked off to his own room. So Chloe and Thomas. Lovely to see they're so eager to make friends.

Eric sighed, sliding the compartment door shut before turning to Alfred, who was looking expectantly at him. He smirked at the cat, falling into a seat next to him. He rested his hand around his neck, gently scruffing it as his eyes wandered back out of the porthole, looking toward the light from the sun reflecting off of the cold ocean waters. "I can't wait to get back to school, Alfred."

"God, I love you, you know that right." She smiled teasingly at him, sending his hand one of her looks before taking it, "And none of that fancy pancy, your-a-girl-so-I'm-going-to-be-way-to-polite, stuff. We're friends so stop it."

Thomas couldn't help it. For a moment, he grinned at her words as well as the fact she actually took his hand. She could be so touchy when it came to being treated with any kind of chivalry. He smirked, "But you are a girl as well as my friend."

Seeing the amount of people entering the book store, Aurora invited Flavia to come with them before rushing out the door at a speed that he did not think possible without running into someone in the crowd. When she was out the door, she turned her head back and said, "Come on Tom, lets hurry! I need a broom right now and you and me could maybe fly to Gaol!"

"I really hope that you're joking about that!" he called out to her as he rushed after her. Damn, she could be fast if she wanted to. As he ran after her, he allowed himself to think about what his father would think about this. He knew that he didn't exactly approve of his "association with that crazy Acquila girl". For some reason, Senator Decius worried that Aurora would get him into some type of trouble that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

"You know, I have a hard enough time convincing my dad that you aren't so bad without you landing us into detention," he teased her as they reached the broom shop. He eyed the brooms. Hopefully, there was another Aether V.

"And my mother wonders why you didn't visit us this, Summer."

The slinder teacher had his hand in his mouth as he picked his teeth clean. Patence wasn't really one of the doctors refined qualities and the quite school was getting boring. It was odd to consider that this loner of a man missed the audence of his class, but the students were usually full of entertainment in one way or another. Bishop flinched as his fingernail slipped and dug into his gums. He sat up as he tounged his gums tasting for blood. The tinge of salty metal accommodated with the taste of red filled his mouth.

The fact that he had hurt himself in such an idiotic manner annoyed Bishop. He stood up and begain looking for his lemur, Atlas. He couldn't help but keep licking his lips as he contiued his search. "Atlas you damn monkey, where are you?" Eventually the frustrated teacher found his furry friend standing infront of a window with its arms spread out as if medatating. The sight of this was enought to leave Bishop dumbfounded. "You're a freaking weirdo." He said as he surrendered the idea of getting any kind of entertainment out of Atlas.

Bishop left his room to wonder the not-so-empty halls. There was plenty of activity from the excited ghosts roaming through the walls. The teacher knew all the spirits for the most part. A lot of them were as boring as the living , but Bishop always managed to surround himself with interesting company. He began to whistle a gloomy tune as he headed nowhere in particular.

"You know, I have a hard enough time convincing my dad that you aren't so bad without you landing us into detention," Aurora glanced back over her shoulder at him and sent him a wink and an innocent smile, "but getting into detention is soooooooo much fuuuuuuuunnn.", she said back to him as they entered the bookshop. She knew Thomas father wasn't to fond of her and had she been any other normal girl she probably would of felt bad about it, Aurora couldn't help her attitude towards the man she had never actually met. He was judging her based on stories and had never actually met her so she was rather inclined to return the favour.

"And my mother wonders why you didn't visit us this, Summer.". Aurora winced slight in guild then before shrugging her shoulders and sending him a sheepish smile. She really wanted to see him during summer but... "My family... Had me busy all summer so I didn't really get a chance to owl anyone, let alone see the." She commented darkly at the mention of her family before shaking her head and the moment passed. "Come on, let's get in there and get me a new broom!", she grinned before rushing into the shop and nearly giving the cashier a heart attack as she came to stop in front of him.

"Hello, I'm here for the latest Aether V broom. You have it in stock right?" The words came out cheerfully but the shopkeeper could probably sense the threat hidden with promise of what would happen if he did. He gave an audible gulp before nodding his head and scurrying into the back room. "Do you think it's bad that I scared him?", she asked Thomas as she turned to lean against the counter, sending him a little smirk and waited a few seconds before the keeper returned, huffing a little and red in the face.

"Here you are miss, the best broom my shop has to offer. The Aether V." He gasped out, placing the broom across the counter were Aurora couldn't help but stare at it like she was in a trance. Eyes glittering, she dropped the money onto the count and grabbed up the broom before turning to Thomas and sending him her I'm-about-to-do-something-crazy-and-possibly-dangerous-want-to-join-me look before opening the door of the shop! mounting the new broom and taking off into the clear sky's above Rhiamon Way, Dylan flying behind her as she shoot straight up into the air before turning and doing a nose dive towards the crowds, swerving up again just before their heads and coming to a rest, looking around for Thomas as she had lost sight of him in her made rush to fly the broom, but hopefully he had followed her up.

Thomas couldn't help but chuckle as Auora turned back to wink at him and give him an oh-so-innocent smile he knew had no place on her face. She teased, "but getting into detention is soooooooo much fuuuuuuuunnn."

"Yes. It is fun up until we actually do have detention. That is boring," he told her with a grin. He waited patiently as she explained about her family. knew that she had a difficult home life. She did not come right out and say it, but it was obvious that no love was lost between her and here parents.

"Next year, you are legally of age. You can go anywhere you want," he told her, trying to cheer her up. That seemed to be the case as she immediately perked up.

"Come on, let's get in there and get me a new broom!" she grinned before rushing into the shop and nearly giving the cashier a heart attack as she came to stop in front of him. Thomas couldn't help but smirk as she practically caused the cashier to wet his pants. She could do that. He caught the cashier's eye, who immediately gulped. As he rushed to fulfill Aurora's order, she turned to him.

"Do you think it's bad that I scared him?" she asked Thomas as she turned to lean against the counter, sending him a little smirk and waited a few seconds before the keeper returned, huffing a little and red in the face. Thomas couldn't help but smile at her.

"It is part of your charm," he told her before eying the shopkeeper critically, "And he did deceive me..."

"Oh, no, Master Decius.... I only found this one in the back corner of storage," the shopkeeper defended himself nervously. Thomas nodded graciously.

"Of course... I'm sure you will make up for it," he mused.

"Yes! As soon as possible!"

As soon as they were out the door, Thomas couldn't help but notice his friend's captivation by the broom and the way her eyes sparkled mischievously. He raised an eyebrow. He knew she was about to do something so Aquila. Soon enough, she gave him The Look and it was not five seconds before she mounted her broom and soared above Rhiamon Way. He groaned. He could hear his father's voice now.

"Thomas.... You represent House Decius and our bid for individual freedom. We cannot afford to have you being caught doing something that could harm our House or Cause.

But, what was the point of freedom if you weren't free to use it? he asked in his head. After a moment's hesitation, he set his owl, Ozymandias, free and mounted his own broom, taking to the sky.

"We will need to do something drastic if someone calls the Aurors. There is some law out there about flying over Rhiamon Way," he noted as he soared next to her.

(so, to help move things forward, I am stepping in and posting for Rais. Mostly cause I don't want this to die, but also Rais knows I know where this goes to. Rais, when you read this, let me know if you want any changes made. Sorry if I forgot to tag or respond to anyone. Wasn't sure who to put in)

Eden reached out and shook Max's hand. "Nice to meet you..."

Max shot a slight glare towards his brother, before he looked back towards Eden. "Max, Max Avarus".

"So Max is joining right as your leaving? Well, this is interesting".

"Hey, don't go too hard on him. Or else I might start telling stories..." Max's brother, Daniel, mentioned with a grin. "Speaking of stories, you will never guess what his patro..."

"Shut up Daniel! That is private!" Max noted, before the firecracker bursted and knocked him into a wall. This other kid came over to see if he was alright.

"Are you okay?" He asked as Daniel came over. Max stood up, but was wobbly.

"What was that?!" He exclaimed, before looking towards Benji. "I think so. Maybe. Thanks for asking. I can stand, and nothing is broken. My names Max Avarus, by the way. Nice to meet you". Avarus might ring of familiarity for Benji. There was Max's brother, Daniel, who graduated last year with high grades, was captain of the Quadpot team, and was very popular. But there was also the fame of the Avarus family. It's a very old Wizarding family, who's members played great and key roles in various Wizarding Wars. Max's father was also a major politician and player in the Wizarding world, and his mother is one of the most powerful wizards known, and helps keep watch over the magical world of America. So yeah, the name might ring a bell.

Though personally, Max hoped it didn't. Being a member of a highly successful and famous Wizarding family meant high expectations. He wasn't even at the school yet, and he could feel the pressure on him. His brother alone out pressure on him, not on purposefully mind you, but he is following his brother's legacy.

Liam pointed out they needed to get going soon. Max made sure he had everything he needed, and said goodby to Daniel, before joining Liam and Eden to board the ship.

(Sorry again for everyone I missed or any errors made)

"Yeah, not a problem," Benji said slowly, standing up from his crouch as soon as the younger boy revealed himself to be fine. Well, relatively fine; he had just been hit by fireworks, after all. It was definitely a relief if only because Benji didn't want this year at Gaol to start off with broken bones or any real bodily injuries for himself or others.

"My names Max Avarus, by the way. Nice to meet you." The name, at least the last one, tugged forcefully at Benji's memory. Where had he heard Avarus before…? Oh, right, Daniel Avarus. Benji hadn't known Daniel Avarus, hadn't even ever shared a word with the older boy, but you had to be insanely out of the loop to not know of him. The teachers had loved him, the students had adored him, opposing Quadpot teams had quaked with fear, or at least that's how the general rumor went. Seeing as Benji avoided Quadpot or, really, most things involving flying as a rule, he'd never seen the older boy in action on the playing field or in academics.

"Nice to meet you too, even if the circumstances could be better. Benji Fox, Strix House," the introduction came out a bit stiffly, but not unkindly given that it was more from the awkwardness. "If you need anything at Gaol, ah, don't hesitate to ask." With a smile that came out luckily more pleasant than his first greeting smiles tended to, Benji waved goodbye, making his way back over to Sophie who had long since lost interest in the situation as soon as she'd realized that everyone was alright.

"Ready to go back?"

"Of course," She sniffed, tucking her secret purchase in her bag and starting off towards the ship leaving Benji to follow in her wake. Well, this year was certainly going to be an interesting one.

---

When they made it back to the ship, the two split apart easily into different compartments. After all, it wasn't like they'd never see each other again given that they were not only in the same house but also Benji was Sophie unofficial official tutor for all things magical(and just a few things mundane because, honestly, for many purebloods Muggle Studies was insanely hard). Anyways, they had their own sort of friends to stick with. There was Benji with Thomas and whoever happened to be hovering around either boy at the time, and then Sophie with whoever she deemed the least annoying at the moment.

Finding Thomas was an easy enough task because, while it did take a moment of two, most Gaol students were creatures of habit and had their own preferred compartments by their third year at the Academy.

"Hello, Thomas," Benji greeted the other boy, dragging his assorted pieces of luggage plus one cage filled with sleeping owl into his friend's compartment, closing the door behind him in one smooth move. "Sorry I didn't find you earlier. Today's been… Kind of hectic."