Setting
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Despite this, he had been looking forward to this day for weeks. While the summer meant that there were no classes, no tests and little stress, he had missed sheer magic of the castle with all it's twists, turns and hidden passageways to explore, the excitement of the quidditch matches and of course, the buzz of the students there. Even now, arriving into the Great Hall, he could make out familiar groups of students; bewildered first-years clinging close togethers, Quidditch jocks of all ages and houses talking loudly about brooms and their summer training regimes, small groups of Gryffindors either laughing and joking or glaring at similarly sized groups of Slytherins, impartial Hufflepuffs eagerly discussing their summers, and those from his own house were seemingly discussing the best summer reads, or clustered in groups, already worrying about upcoming exams.
"Oi, Greyback!" A little pipsqueak of a second year Gryffindor grinned and raised his hand for a high five as he passed by a group of first years, most of which simply stared. The others simply looked on with some degree of terror.
It was quite amusing now to see, but that hadn't always been the case. That frightened glance had once been real fear, when other students could balk at brushing off him in the corridor, let alone dream of giving him a high-five.
Attitudes changed, and Gabe was grateful for that.
Aleera, as much of a pain as she could be, was the first person to accept him for who he was. The first time they had met was the night after he had 'attacked' the group of students harassing a first-year. He'd been crying in the courtyard, alone, when she appeared. With long, wavy black hair, those bright, intelligent eyes, and clear, pale skin that held an ethereal aura in the moonlight, his first thought was that she was a ghost.
She sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity, and the young wizard braced himself for a verbal assault. Aleera Wood was not known for her sweet, kindly nature.
"Is it true, what the others are saying in the common room?" The question was softly spoken.
Gabriel sniffed, not really wanting to answer her. He caught her looking at him with a slight frown, vaguely concerned.
"Are you really an animagus, Gabriel? I heard that you turned into a wolf to stand up for that little Slytherin girl. That was really something."
She knew his name. He turned his head to look at Aleera properly; at 13, he was already approaching six feet in height, dwarfing the completely average-sized girl beside him. Her choice of words amused him slightly; she wasn't much bigger than that girl. He nodded, wiping his face with the hem of his sleeve.
The witch tutted, and much to Gabriel's surprise, moved closer, pulling out a black, silk handkerchief and drying his tears with it.
"That's really difficult magic to master. I'm impressed and to be frank, I think the others are only jealous." She pressed the hankie into his hand with a half-smile. "You need it more than I do."
The half-blood studied the damp fabric closely for a moment.
"You know, princesses used to give their handkerchief to a knight to prove that he was her favorite." He held it out to he again, standing up and avoiding eye contact. "I'm no knight. Judging by what the other students say, I'm the villain here."
The witch seemed to contemplate this for a moment, before she too stood up, resting her cool hand on Gabriel's.
"When it comes to fairytales, I nearly always prefer the big, bad wolf."
Sliding into his seat in the Great Hall, he stretched out his legs and started tucking in ravenously to the feast in front of him.
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Once she arrived at Hogwarts, she went to the grnad dinning hall to watch the first years come in, and she sat beside no one that she knew, but would have a chance to talk to her friends later. It was the same old thing she was used to: Moving speech by the Headmaster, everyone getting excited about who would be in what House. The only time she had seen something different happen was the first year she had at Hogwarts, when she went up, she could practically hear Gryffindor moving to give her room to sit down, what a shock she would be in Ravenclaw, one could actually hear a gasp when she was put into Ravenclaw. However, dispite her happiness in being in her mother's House, that became her identifier: The Dodemond NOT in Gryffindor, or Cara or Jessica's sister. She didn't have either of their body's or artistic abilities, but she was a damn good Qudditch player. She was good enough not to be knocked out by that Mo girl in Gryffindor house, although she did respect the way she played all or none.
After the ceremony was finished, she began to move around, to find someone to hang out with, and along the way, a Gryffindor girl, fourth year, asked if she was related to THE Cara Dodemond. This made Theresa slightly angry, "Geez, I know she was Perfect, and Head Girl, and a bunch of other crap that i don't care about, but she isn't perfect." She thought before saying she was and then walked off without saying another word. She did notice someone, Gabriel Greyback.
Out of everyone she knew, Gabriel was easily the hottest. Even her sisters thought so, but she didn't really try chasing after him, he seemed into Aleera big time. She did consider him a friend, so she dicided to go over to him. Once she arrived, she noticed he was eating like it was his last meal. She always assumed it was the were-wolf blood in him that made him eat like a hog, unfortunatly she didn't have that excuse.
She sat down and grabbed three legs of some type of animal and started eating, and inbetween bites, she began to talk. "What's up, Gabriel? Good summer? Mine was, although Suren keeps complaining about being pregnant." She remembered telling him about her sisters, but didn't tell him that one was pregnant.
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Once he had made it safely and tended to Anise in the Forbidden Forest, he slipped into the library with Cotton now in tow, seeing as he was waiting for him as usual, and settled down to read. He really didn't want to deal with the noise that the Sorting Ceremony brought. Sure he was glad to have first years but chert vozʹmi, no one had to get that excited. They were only first years, they had been those small children at one point as well. He just didn't understand it at all.
He opened a large tomb that he had gotten for making the highest in her year again. The book, titled "Darkness's Spread Through England and Scotland: Tales of the Darkest Wizards in English History", was about the "Dark Lords" that terrorized the area. He had to laugh at the book. It was so "light" bias and horridly written that he couldn't actually learn anything about these so called Dark Lords. But from what he could actually read without vomiting in disgust was that they had all made grave mistakes, all of which costed them their power and their lives. And none were particularly evil either, just had an extremely messed up past that messed with their heads. He bookmarked his page, slipped it into his large messenger bag and with a nod at Cotton, made his way into the Great Hall.
As usual, he was accosted with noise, that's all it was to him, mindless white noise. He silently slipped into his spot at the Ravenclaw table, at the far end where no one sat. He pulled together a small plate of home, spaghetti, paella and a nice sized tomato. He looked at Cotton, who had taken the spot beside him and was pawing at a bit of fish. He smiled and slid the plate closer before calling for a house elf to bring him a dish of milk as well. He thanked the small creature and began to tuck in. He noticed a couple of people actually look his way but shrugged it off. They would forget him eventually. That's how his life worked. He sighed softly and bit into the soft tomato like an apple. They were probably commenting on his weird eating habits.
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She was excited and proud of Riley, that night she went on a walk before having to go back to the commons. She was holding Syke in her arms, during her walk she was sure she saw what looked like a big dog but she thought maybe it was her imagination. Finally going back to the commons she spent sometime with the other Gryffindors, some she couldn't stand some she could but she acted like she got along with everyone. She didn't understand why some people are mean to others, it didn't make sense to her at all.
The next morning she woke up with Syke asleep on her head, something the little cat always did. She got up, got her uniform on and made sure her bed was made and nothing was out of place. Once she was set she left the room with Syke following by her feet, she made her way through the halls and to the great hall. She looked over the tables and saw a few faces that she recognized at the Ravenclaw table. One she noticed was Iseul, he was one of the more quiet ones, then there Theresea, she didn't know the girl to well just knew of the girls sisters, then there was Gabriel, someone she respected because of how he stood up for a young slytherin girl once.
Taking a seat near the end of the table she picked up Syke, putting him right next to her on the bench then grabbing some food for herself. Hearing Riley's voice behind her she looked up and saw him walking near her with a couple other guys, they where all chatting when Riley stopped near her.
"Hey Sis a few of my friends want to meet you" Riley said and looked at her with pleading eyes.
Ophie smiled and was glad Riley was making friends "Well sure why not, I am glad your fitting in" she dealt with this when Kindle started so it wasn't new to her.
"Well this is Roddie, Mac, and Stary" Riley pointed to each of the kids then looked at his friends "this is my sister Ophie, Seeker of Gryffindor". All the kids greeted her and gave her compliments then went on there way to the other end of the table.
Ophie looked down to Syke and shook her head then fed him some food before slowly eating some for herself. After a few minutes Syke jumped from her lap and ran over to a big cat that was next to Iseul and tried to play with the bigger cat. She shook her head putting her silverware down and went over "Im sorry Syke gets excited when he sees other cats" she said to Iseul, a soft tone to her voice as she tried to get the kitten that was running around the bigger cat.
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The train ride had been uneventful this year something she was grateful for, she happened upon an empty compartment this year and was able to avoid being picked on by Slytherins. She never really cared what they thought about her, but it was when they started sending curses her way that it really bothered her. Why did it matter that her parents were muggles, she was still a witch wasn't that enough. She learned quickly that no only being a muggle born but being in Hufflepuff can get you into trouble with the "slimy" Slytherins. Even some of the other house looked down on Hufflepuffs as lesser witches and wizards, this was why Winnie found places that other's really didn't bother looking.
She closed the book that had been propped in her lap by her knees and decided that she should head for the Great Hall to eat before the separated to their respective houses for the night. Her stomach agreed with the decision with a bit of growl that almost echoed through the quiet area, Winnie even thought she heard a "Shhh..." from the librarian. She stood dusted off her rob and stuck the book into a satchel.
As she headed down to the Great Hall she noticed other students milling around the halls chatting about summer, exciting events expected like Quiditch games and Hogsmeade trips. Things that never really concerned Winnie much even within her own house she was kind of a loner. No that she minded her peers, just that she felt terribly awkward with them so many things in the wizarding world that Winnie didn't know. She didn't even know what real magic was until her letter came, her parents had practiced Wicca or Muggle Magic as it's called by people in the wizarding world since before she was born. She didn't have to worry as some muggle borns did that her parents would disapprove of their child being of magic blood. Her parents were elated, excited and proud that their child hand turned out to be the real deal.
As Winnie entered the Great Hall the smell of food and the cacophony of noise accosted her senses, adjusting the satchel on her shoulder she made her way to the Hufflepuff table. She found an end that didn't have a soul and sat down filling her plate with various vegetables she was never one for meat. In fact her parents had raised her vegetarian for the most part; very rarely they would have fish or chicken. But as always sweets where bane the pumpkin pasties where calling her name and she grabbed two and set them on her plate, waiting for someone to either say hello or ignore here as they often did.
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Whenever he and Tandoori shared a room, his side was immaculately cleaned while Tandy's side was like a Thestral's nest. He shook his head, clearing all thoughts of Tandy. That was home and he wasn't there. Neither was Isuel but that was beside the point. He almost missed the other boy's soft snores as he slept and the near silent rustles as he tossed and turned. He remembered the prank wars, pillow fights and all the secrets shared between them.
Shaking his head again, he opened his tomb and went back to reading, his mind fully absorbed in the words, as ugly and bias as they may be. To Isuel, and his entire family, knowledge, and magic, were all they could be. There was no "dark" and "light", only power. He smiled and touched the heir's ring on his hand, the Spanish inscription saying just that. So learn he would, he swore as he dived back into the book. As he continued to read, he learned that Lord Voldemort himself had that as a lesson. The irony, he thought somewhat cruelly, angry at a dead monster for taking his family motto and corrupting it with his failure.
Unbeknownst to Isuel, Cotton was being pestered by a small kitten. The large dog sized cat had half the mind to squish the kit under his forepaw. So he did. As the kit ran in front of him, his paw landed straight on the kit's back, flattening it but never hurting it. Then he let up and let the kit run more before repeating this action. His stump of a tail swishing behind him as he straight up pounced on the kitten, pinning it to the floor before releasing it and laying on his side. He looked up at his master and let out series of high pitched chirps, sounding more like a bird than a cat.
That shocked Isuel out of his book induced coma and he looked up at a girl. Ophelia Penrose, his mind supplied helpfully. He wondered what she was talking about when he remembered that Ophelia had a small kitten with her. He then looked back down at Cotton, who was grasping the kitten, Skye by the scruff of its neck. He clicked his tongue once and the cat hopped back up on the bench and set Skye on the table. He nudged the other kitten over toward his own master before guarding his own.
"It's no problem, Miss Penrose. Cotton misses having small creatures to play with so I'm sure he didn't mind..." He stroked the large cat's head. Cotton purred at the praise and rested his head on his owner's shoulder. "I'm Isuel Aritza, fifth year Ravenclaw... I know who you are, Miss Penrose. As a ghost of sorts, I make sure to know everyone..." The last part was muttered as he closed his book, slipping the picture he always used as a bookmark back into its spot. He brushed a bit of his blonde hair out of his face and readjusted the mask that hung around his neck. He was honestly a bit nervous about Ophelia, not because she was pretty, which she was but because he hadn't talked to anyone outside of family for months.
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Her school spirit had, of course, compelled her to attend the feast and the Sorting. Their batch of first years weren't bad this year. There were always one or two that looked a bit cocky, but they'd have that jinxed out of them by Christmas. The Ravenclaw first years looked like swots as always, the Slytherins looked like slimy gits, and the Hufflepufs just looked too eager. The food had been delicious and there had been a bit of fun.
Morgan was now sprawled across her bed, fast asleep. Most of the other Gryffindors were down at breakfast, but Mo was renowned for being a heavy sleeper. There had been a few comments about the castle being torn down by giants and Mo sleeping through it. Her tabby, Tybalt, jumped onto the bed and began walking along her stomach. Loud noises wouldn't even disturb her, but a purring cat walking along her stomach shocked her into consciousness.
Pulling on jeans and a jumper, she headed down to breakfast. Tybalt padded behind behind her, occasionally darting off to chase someone's pet rat, but he always found his way back. She headed into the Great Hall. A few teammates called for high fives. Tybalt shot off to play with some Ravenclaw's giant cat, but she let him off. She slid into her usual seat near her teammates and piled her plate high with food.
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When they finally reached Kings Cross, it wasn't long before he found some girls, witch and muggle alike to chat-up instead. Aleera was boarding the train by the time he noticed she was gone. Tall, broad, and handsome with dark blonde hair, hazel colored eyes, and a hint of their ancestral Scottish accent, he couldn't have looked more different to his sister. Aleera was average height, slim, with natural ebony coloured hair, green eyes and ever-pale skin. The only time she sounded Scottish was when she got overly stressed. Nonetheless, they generally got along like a house on fire.
This year, as a leaving present, he'd gifted her his old Quidditch goggles (' I thought Ravenclaw might need some extra luck...'), a couple of chocolate frogs ('...To fend off the Dementors...') and finally several canary creams and toffees designed to make the male eater sound like a eunuch. ('...Be sure to tell the Slytherin Team they're from me.')
The train journey was rather uneventful; Aleera met up with some friends, ran into a couple of members of the Quidditch teams, and threatened to hex a simpering Hufflepuff fifth year who was completely besotted with her brother. Aleera yawned as she finally swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She didn't put herself in much of a hurry to shower and dress, especially when she heard Gabriel yelling at her to hurry up. Tempted as she was to roar back down at him, the dark-haired adolescent chose instead to ignore the racket and continue applying her eyeliner and the search for her jewellery. Breakfast was a similar affair to the journey to the school, without the threats, or the Hufflepuff girl. Aleera had made an effort this year to try not to intimidate the tiny first years too much on their first day of school, like wearing plain Docs with her skirt and leaving the chokers behind in her dorm room. By the time she arrived down into the common room, the mongrel was gone. So much for "I'll wait for you'.
Any resentment towards Gabriel had dissipated by the name she had reached the Great Hall, picking out her part-giant friend out with ease. Stuffing his face as usual; She grinned as she approached him from behind, a little thrown by the sudden appearance of the team beater, Thersea Dodemond. None the less, it didn't stop her from wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing the side of his head.
"I thought you were waiting for me, wolf-boy." She frowned slightly, starting to play with his hair. Her eyes flicked to his plate for a moment, the smirk re-appearing on her dark lips. "You'd better be watching what you're eating, mon capitan. I want you to be in top shape this year." She teased, ruffling his hair as she slid in beside him.
Aleera chose some cereal and some fruit for her own breakfast. "Love, you should have come with us to France. The Beauxbatons boys were beautiful creatures, much nicer than those Romanians. You would have loved it." A crooked smile crossed her face as she stabbed a strawberry with a fork and popped into her mouth. "How was your summer, Theresa?"
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