Setting
Established in c. 9th/10th century, Hogwarts is considered to be one of the finest magical institutions in the Wizarding world, though other notable schools include Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and the Durmstrang Institute. Children with magical abilities may be enrolled at birth and acceptance is confirmed by Owl post at age eleven.
Hogwarts School is located in Hogwarts Castle, a large castle somewhere in Scotland. The castle has extensive grounds with sloping lawns, flowerbeds and vegetable patches, a loch (called the Black Lake), a large dense forest (called the Forbidden Forest), several greenhouses and other outbuildings, and a full-size Quidditch Pitch. There is also an owlery, which houses all the owls owned by the school and those owned by students.
The three highest towers are the Astronomy Tower, the Ravenclaw Tower, and the Gryffindor Tower. There are 142 staircases in the massive castle, which is set upon huge rocks above a magnificent lake. The castle is known for its many updates and changes in layout throughout the years, such as regenerating itself after the Battle of Hogwarts.
It should be noted that some rooms in the school tend to "move around," and so do the steps on the grand staircase. Albus Dumbledore once stated that he did not know all of Hogwarts' secrets, as the castle has a long history and has witnessed centuries of ancient magic.
The school has numerous charms and spells on and around it that make it impossible for a Muggle to locate it. Such people cannot see the school; rather, they see only ruins and several warnings of danger. Witches and wizards cannot Apparate or Disapparate in Hogwarts grounds, except when the Headmaster lifts the enchantment, whether only in certain areas or for the entire campus, so as to make the school less vulnerable when it serves the headmaster to allow Apparition. Electricity and electronic devices are not found at Hogwarts. Hermione Granger indicates that due to the high levels of magic, substitutes for magic used by Muggles, such as computers, radar and electricity "go haywire" around Hogwarts. Radios, however, make an exception. Rowling explains this by saying that the radios are not powered by electricity, but by magic.
Early history
Hogwarts was founded around 990 A.D. by two wizards and two witches: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They each represented an aspect of personality that they wanted to bring out in new students. However, shortly after founding the school, Slytherin had a falling out with the other founders about blood purity. Slytherin wanted to admit only pure-blood students, but the other three founders disagreed. Slytherin left the school, but not before secretly building the Chamber of Secrets. When his own true heir, the Heir of Slytherin, returned to the school, he or she would be able to open the Chamber and unleash a murderous basilisk to purge the school of all Muggle-born students.
Middle history
About three hundred years after the school was founded, the Triwizard Tournament began between the three most prestigious magical schools in Europe: Hogwarts, the Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. This tournament was considered the best way for wizards of different nationalities to meet and socialise. The tournament continued for six centuries, until the death toll became too high, and the tournament was discontinued.
(http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Hogwa ... d_Wizardry)
- 34 posts here • Page 2 of 2 • 1, 2
Rubbing his arm, Niles mumbled to himself something along the lines of 'If-she-was-so-smart-why-didn't-she-turn-back?'. But he had to admit, becoming an animagus in the first place was pretty impressive, especially the fact that she had become a tiger. Another thought popped into his contemplating mind, how had Monty known what to do? It was curious but being the lax person he was Niles figured that if Monty had wanted to tell them he would have and so didn't see the need to make a fuss.
Since nothing terrible had actually happened, Niles went back to his jovial mood, maybe slightly more weary of Izzie since he didn't particularly feel like getting punched again. That girl had some power behind her, no wonder she was a tiger. He made his way into the cave and took a seat. At this point he was quite content to do anything but first he really wanted that drink.
"Monty, since you're acting barman and all and with my limited knowledge of alcohol care to whip me up something? Preferably sweet and light! Heck maybe some mint or something." He raised an invisible glass to the guy. Then turned to Izzie. "So... How'd you do it?"
"Help yourself" he said with a yawn "save me a trip to the library."
Erick gave a nod as thanks and took the book, adding it to his pile. Class was over and he put his pile of scholastic material, new acquisition included, into his backpack.
Not much time had passed since Erick left the company of his friends. Perhaps a couple of hours at the most. Erick packed his Ravenclaw robes into his pack and adopted his hood once again upon leaving the indoors. Just on queue Zipporah landed on his shoulder.
"Evening beautiful." he whispered to the bird of prey. "Are our friends still poisoning themselves?" he asked her as he stroked her neck with the back side of his index finger.
"that they are" She responded to his ears only. "I'm afraid you missed quite the show."
"oh really?" Erick raised an eyebrow.
Zipporah opened her beak wide and gave out a loud call as she lifted from Erick's shoulder and headed east. Erick zipped up his windbreaker and took off in a full on sprint after her. Zipporah wove through the giant trees as best she could, but nonetheless Erick was able to keep pace. Below canopy level Erick could usually keep pace due to Zipporahs size. Eventually he found himself stopped before the bird sitting on a rock pampering to her wing feathers.
Erick gave the bird a confused look. "I don't see anyone" he said flatly.
"Have you tried knocking?" Zipporah said as she continued to use her beak to rearrange her wing feathers.
Erick put his hands in his pockets and walked closer to the boulder. He accepted her challenge and gave the bolder a hard kick, not really knowing what to expect.
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Monty was glad to see that Izzy had turned back, and in doing so had also returned to her regular self, as well. It felt kind of weird, in a way. He had never met another Animagus, as far as he knew. There was definitely pull for him too to announce that he can change into an animal on the fly. It had just been a secret for so long that he felt sort of embarrassed he hadnât told anyone yet. If he told them, would they still trust him? Did he even care? Of course he cared on some level, but he was having trouble figuring out exactly what level that was.
âBygones are always bygones, Iz. You werenât even that scary,â Monty said and started to pull a few bottles down from the shelf, examining them. âBesidesâŠyou liked it,â he joked, referring to when he petted Izzy as a tiger.
"Monty, since you're acting barman and all and with my limited knowledge of alcohol care to whip me up something? Preferably sweet and light! Heck maybe some mint or something." There was a part of Monty that felt like he was corrupting Niles, in a way. While Niles wasnât new to the whole sneaking around thing, there was a big difference between sneaking out of bed at night to bullshit around in the Room of Requirement and sneaking out to the dangerous forest to get drunk in one of your friendâs hidden forts.
âSure Niles, something sweet and light, with a little mintâŠWould you like a pair of tentacles with that order or are you fine with your vagina?â Monty giggled as he placed mint leaves and a little soda water with ice into a glass, added some sugar and spiced rum, producing a mojito. âI didnât realize you and Cece were in a lesbian relationship,â Monty continued as he handed the drink to Niles. âJust busting your balls mate. A drinkâs a drinkâs a drink if you ask me.â
âMonty I will take rocks and if you could make me a fuzzy navel or sex on the beach I would be eternally great-full." This time it was Cece ordering.
âSex on the beach? Come on now Cece, youâve got to take me to dinner first. Iâm not that kinda girl,â Monty grinned as he gathered the ingredients. A little vodka, some peach schnapps, a couple different juicesâŠdone. And it looked delicious. Monty considered making himself one later, though were he to he was sure Niles would make some comment after Monty called him ball-less when he ordered something âsweet and light.â
Monty somewhat phased everyone out while he was mixing the remaining drinks. He heard something about how unusual their group was, but decided not to comment. It wasnât until he heard a loud thumping noise that he got out of his own head and his heart started racing a bit. Moving over to the corner of the room, handing Cece her drink on the way, the rest of the group could hear Monty muttering something about âis that motherfucker back for more?â
There was this unusual monster that Monty never heard about living in the forest until he had built this place. It looked like a gorilla, but larger. Not quite giant sized, but not exactly far from it either. It had a horn similar to a rhinoceros, and tusks like you would find of a walrus, and while the body looked extremely similar to a gorilla, instead of black fur the fur was striped grey and black. Monty and this gorilla thing had been in many little territorial disputes ever since Monty set up this area as his own. This monster was the reason Monty had installed a periscope over in the corner. As for a name, Monty had been calling the thing Pickles, due to their first meeting. Monty had left the rock open and gone for a stroll through the woods and when he had returned the beast had gotten into the room and destroyed everything, but had eaten the two jars of pickles Monty had kept in there. Thus, the name.
A scan of the area showed that it wasnât Pickles bothering them, but instead Erick. âHowâd that bastard know where we were?â Monty muttered to himself before turning his head to the group. âErickâs here.â With a flick of his wrist, the rock moved away, revealing Erick on the other side. âErick! Welcome. We have booze, and Izzyâs a tiger.â
"Didn't kick them hard enough did ya, Monty? First my manhood and then... Well, my lower manhood! There just isn't any satisfying you." He took the drink while shaking his head disappointedly. He took a hearty sip of his drink before swallowing it the wrong way and nearly coughing his lungs up. He tried to suppress it but that only made it worse. "We-" He tried to start as he broke into another fit of coughing. "Well, that went well. Otherwise it's good. Cheers dickman!" He said rather hoarsely to Monty, referring to him only because that was all he could think up of in a response to the guy insulting him.
However, when a rapping was heard coming from the rock he lowered his glass and peered over to it. Seemed like Monty had a little pest around this place if he had some sort of little eye hole to look out. What he didn't expect was that Erick would arrive. How the hell had the guy found the place? But, really? It didn't matter and to him he couldn't give a rats arse, he was more glad on the fact that another one of his mates had arrive and maybe Monty could start picking on the quiet guy. Although, Erick was simply in a league of his own.
"Erick! Welcome, the party's just started." He raised his glass again and took another swig, this time prepared for the alcohol.
This had given her quite a scare, but after a few seconds of heart-pounding fear she realized that she shouldnât have been so shocked. After all, Hogwarts had its own moving staircases and moving doors and walls that pretended to be doors, so it really would have been too much to ask for a magical forest to have static paths. The seventh year told herself to calm down and think rationally. The greenhouses were west of the forest, and judging by the layer of moss on the trees she was facing north. Confident in her ability to find her own way out, she headed off in a westward direction.
Except when she checked it against the compass spell (fortunately she remembered the incantation several minutes into her walk), Kestle found that the moss was actually pointing south, so she was travelling in the wrong direction and going deeper into the forest. Because of moss. Stupid moss. Growing on the south side of the trees when it was clearly not the southern hemisphere. Which made no sense. But either nature or her wand was lying, and in this creepy surrounding she was inclined to believe her wand, so she discarded the advice of her favorite muggle wilderness survival guide and started to retrace her steps. She hadnât made it far before she realized that there was a sudden lack of animals nearby. No birds chattering away or insects crawling across her path. Perhaps the deeper you went into the forest, the more mysterious and hidden the creatures were. There had been tons of magical wildlife by the dittany patch, which had made her feel safer somehow, but this quiet... was unnerving.
Which is why when a sudden movement registered at the edge of her periphery, Kestle immediately stopped to observe it --- what looked like a young man, running at full sprint through the trees. He looked familiar, but he was traveling too fast for her to catch a good glimpse of anything but a black windbreaker. She wondered what the person was doing out here --- perhaps people routinely went running in the forest to keep in shape? Running from all the dangerous creatures and such would certainly keep one in trim condition. He looked too focused on whatever he was doing, so Kestle didnât call out to him, only watched in bemused silence as he headed deeper into the forest. Then she turned back around.
And found herself facing an enormous gorilla.
There were menacing ivory points protruding from its head which were most certainly horns --- or were they tusks? --- and a distinct striped gray and black coat that she had never seen before, not in any of her readings. Its nostrils were flared, lips pressed tightly together, and eyes locked onto her, beaming the full force of the sheer potential brutality and violence it could inflict on her 61 kg of gutless wizard meat.
Kestle started backing away slowly. Even though all of her muscles were so tense that it took real effort to move. It raised its lips to show its teeth --- bloody perfect teeth too, for Potterâs sake --- and this, along with an aggressively loud exhalation of air, was what made her let out a small, fuck-fuck-fuck-Iâm-so-fucking-fucked shriek and run like a madwoman. Her satchel flopped uselessly at her side, weighing her down with that damned sack of dittany, some school texts, her dragonhide gloves, and a few squished custard tarts. Maybe she could lure it away with those custard tarts? She scooped one up, cast the engorgio charm on it, and chucked it directly at the great beast's roaring mouth, which was easy, because it was literally right behind her. She was rewarded when it paused, caught off guard by this sudden delicious sensation. Unfortunately, since she had been so preoccupied with watching her target it didnât occur to her to avoid the boulder.
The collision was hard. Kestle slid to the ground, the large gorilla-like creature momentarily forgotten, and felt with her palm the slimy rock surface she had made unwanted contact with. Moss again! Stupid moss.
In a second of introspection, Monty felt the loss of his recent friend. Maybe that was why he was being so hard on Niles today, the sense of loss. Making a note to apologize to Niles later, Monty wandered back over to the bar to pour himself another drink. Unfortunately, once youâve start associating alcohol as a cure for personal problems itâs a hard habit to stop. Tarvel would soon have no memory of him. Itâd be like their friendship never happened. What was the point of it all then? His anger at Niles was more just looking for a fight, at this point. Just as he realized that, though, his prayers were answered.
A loud âThump!â caused Monty to pop out of his gaze. What the hell is it now? Wandering back over to the periscope, Monty peered through to see a girl, who looked like she was in danger. Although he had only met this girl a handful of times, Monty could remember her name quite well due to her having one of those names that also associated with the kind of person she was. With the last name âThorn,â this girl was quite into plants.
For a moment, Monty considered not letting her in. Doing so would extend this little secret far beyond his group of friends, the people he knew he could trust. Yet the danger turned out to be real when Montyâs nemesis, Pickles, appeared behind her. A bolt of adrenaline shot down Montyâs spine as he flicked his wrist, moving the boulder aside, and ran up the stairs in a few big steps. The girl seemed as surprised as anyone would if a boulder moved aside revealing a downward staircase in the middle of a forest, and due to the time sensitivity of the situation Monty did not have much time for pleasantries. âSorry about this,â he said before taking her arm as gently as he could, yet still probably a little rough considering the now charging Pickles, and pulling her inside the secret room and closing the boulder behind him, just in time to hear another much larger âThump!â than the one earlier, following by the sound of the gorilla banging on the boulder, angry at Monty for taking his territory and, now, itâs dinner.
Once Kestle was down in the hide-out, Monty started speaking fast as he removed his robe and walked to the other side of the room where there was a rack. âWelcome to the hide-out, please donât tell anyone about it, youâre welcome to a drink, make yourself at home, now excuse me Iâve got to remind that thing up there whose territory this is.â When Monty built this place he made himself into part of the ecosystem of the forest, in a way. If he didnât defend this territory, heâd surely be run out in no time. Of course, heâd never kill the animal unless his own life was on the line, but he felt not issue against using a few knock back spells and spells designed to discomfort.
A quick flick of his wrist moved the boulder aside, and Monty stepped out. Pickles stood across the way, pacing, until his eyes locked on to Montyâs. Monty slipped his wand out of his pocket and smiled. For a second, Monty could have sworn he saw the gorilla smile, too. As the gorilla charged, Monty launched a few jinxes at it. It became clear that stronger spells would have to be used, and that also there was little point in aiming for the head because the horn and tusks seems to absorb any kind of spell sent their way. Diving out of the way of the gorillaâs charge, Monty rolled to his feet ready again. Instead of charging, Pickles turned around and backhanded Monty, who quickly cast a protection spell just in time, which absorbed most of the impact and just sent Monty flying into his own boulder. While his breath had been knocked from him, he was more or less ok, though he could feel his face a little bloody from being slammed into the boulder. Changing up his strategy from âhurtâ to âfear,â Monty started using fires spells, which freaked the hell out of the gorilla, who didnât seem to appreciate fire at all. To end this little skirmish, Monty turned his wand into a flamethrower, of sorts, causing a unending stream of fire to extend about two meters out of his wand. In a few short minutes, the gorilla had fled.
The fight did its job in getting Tarvel off his mind, and Monty wondered if maybe this time Pickles would actually accept this area as Montyâs territory. He sure hoped it did. Monty was feeling a bit lightheaded and it felt like his face had a scratch or two on it. Another fight could only be worse.
Moving the boulder inside, Monty walked back down the stairs and grabbed his drink and sat down. âSo. Kestle. What brings you out here?
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"Bygones are always bygones, Iz," Monty was saying as he began to rifle about in the shelves, pullin' out different bottles, takin' a gander at what mind-altering liquids were contained therein. Then he tacked on a cheeky "You weren't even that scary," prompting Izzie to give a breathy chuckle. "The hell I wasn't. You shoulda seen yer face. Anything I've learnt today, it's that 'I just soiled my tighty whities' ain't a flatterin' look on ya." But alas, the usual repartee of witty invective was not to be today. Monty had taken upon himself the duty of bartender for the gang, and that there was a full time job if ever there'd been one. Only was 'cause everybody was orderin' all these fancy-ass cocktails 'n shit, though. What happened t'a nice'n'simple beer? she sighed to herself, wondering what the world was coming to, before she remembered she was usually the one opting for the nice'n'simple beer. This was succeeded by the revelation that right now, at this moment, everyone else was drinking, and she was not. Soon after, the absolutely horrifying implications of this struck Izzie.
"MONTY," she suddenly bellowed, wheeling about searching desperately for the man until she found him. "Get me a beer, will ya? Quick, 'fore I get a full-blown iden'ity crisis goin' over 'ere an' decide I like frilly dresses or summat." Gratefully (supposing he obliged, for otherwise she would simply have continued to panic) she snatched up the satisfyingly ice-cold bottle extended to her in quick fashion and wrenched the cap off the top, before rapidly downing a healthy swig. Ah-- yes. This was the good shit, right here. None of that fuzzy anus or sex on the minty beach or whatever fancy shit everyone else was guzzlin'. This here was the real shit-- cold, hard, hit ya like a brick to the face if ya weren't ready for it. This was the kinda shit she'd grown up with back home in the Gorbals. Same shit the older kids'd sneak out into the back alleys to get plastered-- took but one bottle passed around and fuck, the whole lot of 'em were lollin' on the concrete like they'd each chugged a six litre of vodka or some shit, with five still left in the case. Wasn't long after that that 'lil Izzie Valverde-Jackson was drinking each and every one of 'em under the metaphorical table and taking immense pride in doing it. And then it wasn't long after that 'lil Izzie Valverde-Jackson became... not quite so 'lil anymore.
And then, of course, there'd been the whole deal about discovering she was a wizard and could do magic and, you know, that old life-changing schtick. And life wasn't the same anymore. But if there was one thing that never changed, one thing that never left her in her times'a need, it was the alcohol. Always there for her. My oldest, closest friend indeed. She raised the bottle to her lips once more, tasting that familiar flavour, that comfortingly familiar flavour, wash down her throat.
As she lowered the bottle, Niles had requested a drink from Monty-- something, she didn't catch what, though she could guess from Monty's responce.
"Would you like a pair of tentacles with that order, or are you fine with your vagina?â the acting barman quipped, prompting another grin outta Izzie. Man, Niles was always gettin' shat on by somebody, wasn't he. If it wasn't Izzie disparagin' his 'masculinity' or whatever it was Monty, and if it was neither, somebody else was probably doin' it. I should probably be nicer to people, she mused to herself solemnly. She lasted all of about a second before she finally burst into mental laughter at that thought. Which quickly came to a stop when Izzie realised mental laughter made her sound like some kinda lunatic. Which she totally wasn't. No way. Not even a bit. Okay, maybe a bit. Just a little. Kind of. But wasn't everybody, just a little bit? Okay, not really. But that wasn't the point. The point was that she wasn't a lunatic.
Well, not really.
Izzie shook her head, downed another gulp of booze to wash that line of thinking away, and tuned back into the conversation in time to hear Monty announce that Erick was here. Also that Izzie was a tiger. When ya put it that way, it kinda sounded like a pretty good icebreaker. "Hello, my name's Izzie Jackson, I'm a tiger, how are you."
But hey, Erick was here now, which meant the whole gang was assembled. Well, more importantly, it mean that Izzie's best friend was here. Her bro. Her main man. Her nigga. Her comrade. Her amigo. Her mate. Her partner in crime. Her cuz. Her homeboy. All that shit. She grinned as she glanced up and saw Monty lead him into the little hide-away, though the smile abated as she remembered why he hadn't come to begin with. Sure, he'd said somethin' about transfiguration or whatever, but he'd been off the whole damn day. She'd been afraid it'd been 'cause'a somethin' she'd said or done, but she was beginnin' to think she had a better idea of what was up with her friend. The question was how to approach it. On the one hand, she knew damn well she weren't no good with makin' people in a shit mood feel better. But on the other hand, Erick was her... y'know. Her best friend. Fuck if she knew if he saw her the same way-- ya never could be sure about that kinda thing-- but still. It was kinda her duty to at least try. If not purely because she didn't like it when Erick was in a shit mood, then 'cause she owed him that much.
Tentatively she approached him, her mind made up for better or worse, as he got adjusted to the surroundings of the cave. "'ey," she grunted by way of greeting, raising her free hand. Most people, you were s'posed t'go with some sorta small talk or some shit, ease your way into the main concern and whatnot, but Izzie'd always figured Erick was a 'get-to-the-point' kinda guy. Same as her, really. So after a brief second of silence, she ventured, "So, uh... how you... uh... how you takin' what happened with Tarvel?"
Shortly after Erik's arrival there was a loud thump against the boulder, 'what the...' she thought to herself, moving to get up but was beat to the punch by Monty. Apparently there was a large gorilla of sorts outside about to pummel a classmate. Swell, Monty of course let the girl in, she was in the same year as all of them, but Cece could not for the life of her remember her name. Then, of all the stupid things, Monty went outside to fight off the gorilla-thing himself. "Monty! What the, come back in here!" she hollered, but was either unheard or ignored. She tried to ignore the sounds coming from outside and basically succeeded because when Monty returned she had very little idea of just what had happened outside.
"Er.... Kestle right? Are you.... ok?" Celine tried to start some form of conversation with the girl, figuring she must feel really awkward, Cece knew she would if she were in the girls situation. Everyone in their year pretty much knew the group was tight. Wow this was awkward, she cradled her drink in her hands before gulping it down quickly. She definitely needed another drink, today was turning out to be very complicated and confusing... "Oh jeeze guys, really? Is there going to be anything else? I mean how many surprises can one come across in a single solitary day?" She huffed out a bit, leaning into her seat after setting her glass on a side table, falling into an uncomfortable silence.
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