Magnus Grex School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry

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Vladimir Yeager:

Vladimir stood in a crowd of other students, who had the equal amount of confusion as he did. Them dressed in the robes that were given and their textbooks that will later be lost somewhere during the school year. A small group of students near him were snickering and sending him disgusting glances that Vladimir swore he could feel the taste of it. He tugged lightly at his sleeve of his three-sizes-to-large robe, lowering the gaze of his blue eyes. Back home he wasn't welcomed because of them, only natural to have brown, Vladimir began to whisper quietly begging to not let the troublesome problem follow him here.

An older man, the house leader of Vuples, called all Fifth years to go down to the field near by, for our brooms. We began to quickly walk slowly evening out into a line with 3 or 4 people in one clump. Vlad hung near the back to keep his heels from uninvited heel-stepping. A small flicker in his heart made his eyebrows furl up, as if someone tugged a string at his heart. Looking back he saw a very old man turn from the window before disappearing. But Vladimir passed it off.

He never had anything against flying, he really did, but heights and dealing with the possibility he could fall to his death sent shivers down his spine, the kind you get when you know you are in deep trouble. His feet barely touched the ground when he mounted the old dark-wooded broom, already given the command to not be in the air.
"Dude," a fellow student hissed at him "get down!"
"I-I-I-I d-don't know h-how!" Vlad shook in his boots and let out a sudden curtailing scream when the broom lurched forwards. Now if only he had a potion to keep his boots from falling off.

Quickly and quietly Alexis circled the group of snickering Vulpes and walked with purpose over to the struggling boy, sidling up alongside the misbehaving broom. With a barely noticeable movement she placed a gentle finger on the broom muttering the incantation that would place the poor young man's boots back on the ground.
The touch did its job without much fuss and he dropped to the ground, obviously shaken but no worse for wear. Leaning closer to the black haired boy she whispered quickly,
"its all about balance and trust, you can't be afraid of the broom. It won't drop you unless you do something wrong"
stepping away she shot a piercing glare at the students who had obviously targeted him and they hushed shortly after. The boy had collected himself and was looking in her direction, his eyes caught her attention their piercing blue making her pause for a moment. Shaking her head she collected her bag, broom and wand and continued down the dock searching for her brother in the crowds of students. As she neared one of the horseless wagons the weight of her bags was lifted from her hands and they floated magically to the back of the wagon she hopped in and the wagon pulled swiftly away from the shore and carried her up the hill towards the castle that was Magnus, she turned her gaze back to the docks as she tried to find her brothers tall blond form from the crowd he would meet her after the banquet but she wished they could have stayed together. She turned her attention back to the castle, she still marveled at it, even now, on her 7th trip up from the docks. Once at the gates she made her way into the great hall for the sorting, curious as to what type of student this years incoming class would bring.

Alessa flinched at the sound of her alarm, her face was paler than normal and her expression was almost blank. She had managed to sit down to calm herself down, 'It happened again' she thought while removing her hair from her face and pulling it behind her ear. One would think that she would have gotten used to it, seeing that she always had the same recurring nightmare; night after night the same dream. However, it was useless and she knew that very well, in her dream she could hear screams and whimpers from strange voices that she could not recognize. In the background the shadow of her mother and father laughing viciously. She had had ever seen them in person, but seeing them once or twice in the cover of the Daily Prophet had been enough for her to encrypt their faces in her head.

It seemed like her nightmares haunted her even more when it was time to go back to Magnus Grex. She knew it would be a matter of time until they would search for her, despite they never did before, but it was the only reasonable explanation why her aunt Hilda had left her on her own. Even before her parents had managed to escape Azkaban with the help of the recently fallen one, her aunt knew that they would soon look for her. Six years had passed since her aunt had left Alessa to fend for herself, she'd send money and supported her while she stayed in Magnus, but she could never allow her to go back.

She shook her head, she knew that there was nothing she could do, sooner or later they would find her, she needed to be ready when they did. What better place for her to become stronger than by becoming a powerful witch? She shook any other strange thoughts and headed to the train station. She had already bought all of her school supplies, and had already sent Ollie on his way back to school; she knew very well how he hated cages so it was the only way.

She was right on track, the train station was not too full not too empty. Finally, she entered the magic train and sat on her own, she moved quickly and sat on the last rake of seats, as soon as she sat down she closed the door hoping that nobody else would enter and sit with her. After all, she hadn't exactly socialized with anyone before and she sure knew she wasn't going to start now. She couldn't take the risk of anyone finding out about her, much less about her parents.

The rest of the way everything was quiet, once she arrived all of her things had been sent to her dormitory. She looked at the large crowd of students and saw new faces, 'freshmen' she thought with a hint of boredom. They would have to wait for the sorting hat to do his job in telling the freshmen what house they would belong to, as always.

She let out a sigh and headed inside, following behind other Ferre, hoping that they would give out pumpkin pie for desert after the long time they would have to wait for the newcomers. She hoped that nobody would recognize her, or remember her from the previous year. She had been careful enough not to make too many relationships with others and she intended to to the exact same thing that year.

Older students were gathering underclassmen, to be specifically freshmen in the dock, separating students in boats where they would soon head to Magnus Grex. Alessa could only hope that they could haste everything up and start classes soon. Once they did, everything went smoothly as it had other years, if not even more so. Alessa was now in the Great Hall, she moved swiftly where other Ferre where standing not too close and not too far away, always keeping a fair amount of distance. She stood quietly leaning against the wall waiting for everyone else.

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"Come on mum, we've talked about this" Sam said to her endearing mother, who like every other previous year, complained to Sam about allowing her go to Magnus Grex. Since the beginning, she was strongly opposed to her attending a magical school, which according to her was a 'prominent and constant threat'. Sam would have probably believed her had she not been always so overprotective; truth was that to Sam, it was simply another way for her to nag. She knew she couldn't blame her though, with everything that had happened; it was a miracle that Samantha was still able to attend.

Sam was thankful to her father, who often encouraged her ways when it came to magic. He worked for the ministry and wanted for her to know about the magical world and for her o become prepared. It was a shame that she was the only one in their family who could do magic, besides her mother and father, which was more of a reason why she wanted to take advantage of her abilities. Ever since she had found out about magic and what she could do, magic had become her world.

It took her about half and hour to calm her mother down and her father took care of the second half. Sam was already late for her train, no surprise there, she didn't even have her supplies yet but she was sure ready to leave home and head to school. Sam missed her friends, and missed being able to use magic; after all she wanted to learn everything she could when it came to spells, charms and all the actual practice of magic, she'd deal with the theory later... much later only if she absolutely needed it.

She was already part of every group and association she knew of, she couldn't wait to see Anna, who surely must have had interesting stories about the time they had been apart. Sam couldn't hide her wide smile as she entered the train and sat down with a group of students, by the look of their faces in awe, surprise and a mix of nervousness; all freshmen. "Hey there, children" she said teasingly, she couldn't be but a few years older but the thought made her giggle, "I'm guessing all of you are first timers?" she asked with a friendly smile.

As soon as she teased the freshmen for a while and scared them about how supposedly the sorting hat every now and them took a bite at student's hair if he as much noticed nervousness in their voices she headed outside. Finally after having a good laugh, she was on her way looking for Annabeth who surely must have been accompanied with by Sebastian. They were a strange trio, that much was obvious, Anna was a Vulpes, Sebastian was an Arietem and Sam was a Cervus but somehow they got along. The train was already on the move, which made Sam's steps a bit sloppy and made her almost fell, finally after not too much struggle she heard her voice not too far from where she was standing. She opened the door of the wagon almost falling and with a playful smile, "I guess it's going to be a bumpy ride." To Sam, it seemed like it had taken forever to reach their next destination, she was never one to stay still in one place and wanted to get to school as soon as possible.

Not too later on, students arrived at the dock; it took only a few minutes before they moved some of the students to one of the many boats where students would soon enough would be officially in their first day back in school. Sam was already anxious to see what they would give at the banquets, her stomach was angry and ready to growl. It would only be a matter of minutes before her juvile and playful mood changed as it always did when she was hungry. "Damn, I had almost forgotten about the sorting hat..." she whispered remembering the freshmen from before. "Why can't they give us our food before they choose houses" she said disappointed before her mood started sulking.

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"I swear, your grandmother hates me," Sebastian complained as Annabeth continued to laugh at his expense. It wasn't really hilarious in his eyes and if not for the fact that he loved her laugh, he would have totally done some kind of spell or something on her - rules be damned.

"Oh, sweetie! That was your fault!" Annabeth chided between her giggles, recalling the way her grandmother pretty much murdered her best friend with one single glare. Truthfully, it had been more than one glare. After a of begging and pleading to both parental parties, Sebastian spent the entire summer with Anna. She showed him her village and the nearby castles. They swam, sampled wine, attended festivals, and actually stayed in each other's presence the entire time.

And her grandmother hated it.

Of course, Sebastian had tried to be his charming self, grinning at the elderly woman and trying to be as respectful as he could in her presence. But his constant flirting with village girls, his lewd comment about the dancers at one of the festivals - a traditional festival honoring former witches and warlocks, mind you - and just his presence angered the older Heiman. She saw him as nothing more than a troublemaker seeking to corrupt her precious granddaughter. And she wasn't shy about letting him know it. Even as they said their goodbyes at the train stop, her grandmother politely pulled him into an uncomfortably tight embrace and warned him that if he so much as made Anna cry, it would be the last thing he saw. Sebastian wasn't scared, but then again, who wasn't threatened by a sixty-year old woman who didn't have to use magic to kick your ass?

"But seriously, she's just incredibly protective," Anna decided to say after a minute, smirking at the small pout Bass gave her. It still astonished her that not a lot of people saw this playful side of him. He was childish when he wanted to be and it was adorable. Speaking of childish and adorable, where was Sam? "We're kind of all we both have left - the richer family members provide money, but nothing more. She's...my grandma. I wouldn't be here without here." The serious look on her face and the cloud of emotion in her now green eyes caused Sebastian to feel uncomfortable and he rubbed the back of his neck to avoid eye contact.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah; I know. Don't get all sentimental on me." Anna fixed him with a look as Sebastian waved off the moment and punched his arm only for them to somehow start a tickle fight that he was definitely winning. It must have been her laughter at him touching the underside of her ribs that got her female best friend's attention because before she knew it, Sam was entering the wagon. The girl struggled to stand straight and Anna reached over to pull her into the seat opposite of her and Sebastian. Without fail, though, she hugged the girl.

"Hey, beautiful!" Finally, Anna settled into her seat and nudged Sebastian's side, prompting him to greet Sam with more than just a simple nod of acknowledgement. He offered a subtle, "Hey," before nudging Anna, smirking victoriously that he won another bout between the two of them. She glowered before turning back to Sam. "Can't wait to start this year, though. I got bored some time during the summer." Anna ignored him when Sebastian cut his eyes at her, fighting the urge to smirk.

Score:
Annabeth: 1
Sebastian: 1

When they finally arrived, Sam commented about the sorting hat and eating. Anna smirked and linked arms with her friend, letting Sebastian carry her heavier bag and opting to grab the rest of her things.

"Oh come on, be fair. How do you think the other upperclassmen felt having to wait for the rest of us to get sorted?' She reminded her and kept walking. Sebastian smirked.

"Besides, what's better than seeing a kid sitting in that chair ready to piss his pants at the talking hat?" Sebastian added, recalling one of the freshman members of Arietem last year. The idiot literally had a mental breakdown simply because the hat couldn't decide for the longest and he actually had to beg. Anna remembered that fairly well and shot him a dirty look. Sebastian only smirked and winked at Sam.

Good times.

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Rae shifted just slightly in the dirt, glancing up to push a piece of her hair away from her face. She had come to school a week prior to everyone else to help prep the Herbology garden for the First years. She sat in a mound of dirt and herbs, with gritty sediment plastered up both of her arms to her elbows. To her right sat Ra, cozy inside her discarded cloak. He was too much of a dainty fellow to bother getting his paws dirty.

Rae turned back to her work, ignoring the soft mews of her companion. It wasn't until her alarm went off, said alarm being an enchanted note set to explode into sparkles, that she realized the other students would be arriving soon. With a small squeak she quickly finished her current project; filling in the last of the snapdragon's bed. "Better hurry, or we'll be late," she sighed in soft Korean as she scooped up Ra and made her way back to the dormitory. Luckily, she managed to shower and get dressed just in time for the first couple of carriages to start pulling into the gates. She was late.

As though a fire had started behind her, Rae dashed about her room and scooped up Ra excitedly. Her friends were back. Unable to contain her joy, she bounded through the soon-to-be-filled hallways and bounced nearly all the way down to the gate When she finally arrived, she was breathless but grinning. Instantly her face scanned the vessels for her friends. Where are you, James? Ronnie, you're usually one of the first ones here... where.. Is that? No...

Her brown orbs dashed across the many faces of the students. A nervous hand gently stroked Ra's skin as she looked around. Maybe they were inside already? Rae chewed on her bottom lip just lightly, wondering where they could have gone. Maybe they had decided to take on guiding the First years in this year? Frowning, Rae hoofed it back across the grounds to the docks. When she arrived she was met with a sea of little witches and wizards. She tried to stand toward the edge of the large groups, scanning the faces of the older students to try and see if one of them belonged to any of her friends.


It was then that her black robe was tugged on by one of the First years. A young blonde girl who looked lost. Rae smiled warmly to the child and took her hand, nodding in the direction of the school. On the way to the banquet hall, Rae did her best to ease the girl's fears. Apparenlty someone had told her that the Sorting Hat would bite a bit of your hair off if you sounded too nervous. Although it was a little funny, Rae quickly put the girl's fears to rest.

The young one seemed to feel a little better, but then looked stricken as Rae stopped by the large dinning room doors. "Aren't you coming?" "I have to sit with my house," Rae explained with a smile patting the girl on the shoulder. "You'll be fine, don't worry about a thing. The hat will put you in the right place." With that, Rae left the First year to find her seat with the other First years, and made her way over to the Cervus table. She was starving. From the inside of her cloak came a quiet purring as Ra fell asleep. Spoiled cat, Rae thought to herself with an amused smile. She sat down with the other members of her house and strained to see over the heads over the other tables.

With no sign of her friends, Rae let out a gentle sigh and turned her attention to the front of the hall to watch the sorting ceremony.

James slid down in his seat on the train. It seemed he had managed to get a compartment to himself and he hated it. Usually he'd be sitting with Rae or Fiona, but since he had broken up with Fiona at the end of last year, he wasn't sure whether or not he would be welcome with her and her friends. Merlin only knew where Rae was. Knowing Rae, she was probably already at the school, helping one of the teachers set up for the year.

The door to his compartment opened and two timid looking first-years appeared, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realise anyone was in here," said one of them, a small fair haired boy with freckled skin.

James sat upright, "No it's fine. You two can sit in here, I'm not expecting anyone else." He invited them in, pointing to the opposite seat. The two boys entered, both looking exremely nervous. "First year?" They nodded, "I remember my first year," James laughed, "I was pretty nervous too, but you've really got nothing to worry about. Trust me."

The two boys looked at each other. The second boy, who was dark haired, plucked up the courage to speak, "What happens in the Sorting Ceremony?"

"Well, they put a hat on your head and the hat reads your mind and decides which house you belong in."

"Does it hurt?"

"When the hat reads your mind? No. More tickles really. Actually I'm not sure how you would describe it, but it's definitely not painful."

The rest of the journey passed much the same, the two boys asking James questions about Magnus Grex and the elder boy answering as best they could. When it was time to leave the train, James pointed the two boys in the right direction and left for the Great Hall. People walked annoyingly slowly when you were in a rush, he was beginning to find, silently willing the students around him to move faster. Seeing a gap in the crowd, James squeezed through and speedwalked the rest of the way. He looked for Rae's face at her house table and gave the girl a small wave. Whether or not she saw it, he wasn't sure. James took his place at his table and turned to the front of the Hall, eager for the sorting ceremony to start so he could eat.

The small dot of land on the horizon pulled Harvey from his thoughts. He was glad for it - his thoughts had not been particularly pleasant. He had been considering the awkward goodbye with his parents on the docks. Camelia Sparshott, his mother, had said almost nothing to him, while wishing fond goodbyes to her two younger sons. Richard Sparshott had said quite a lot, so much that Harvey wished he would stop. It wasn’t as if he was unfamiliar with the lecture; everyone in his life - his parents, siblings, teachers, even the fucking Headmaster of Grex, had given him this lecture.

He was sick of it. If he didn’t want to be more than a middling wizard, that should be his business and no one elses. Who was he hurting? What harm came of it?

Unfortunately for him, the thoughts the castle on the horizon brought to mind weren’t much better than those he’d been dwelling on. He hated the school, his classes, his exams. They were dull, a complete waste of time. But, it wasn’t like when this year ended he would be off to bigger and better things. It would be more dullness, more boredom, just not in a confining school. And at least in school his friends would be there.

“Why do you bother to bring that thing?”

Speaking of friends.

Harvey turned away from the railing and pulled the headphones out of his ears, wrapping them around the MP3 player and sticking it in his pocket. “I’d go mad this long on this boring-ass boat without it.”

“It’s not going to work at Grex, and it will be long out of a charge by the time we go home. What will you do then?”

Quinton was a seventh year Artietem like Harvey, and quite proud to be in what he called ‘the only real wizarding house at Grex.’ He was a bit insufferable, but put absolutely no demands on Harvey, which was why they were such good friends.

“Go completely crazy. I do it every year, by the time we hit dry land I’m stark raving mad.”

Harvey’s blond curls picked up the fading sunlight and glowed an even lighter color. His square face, so much more a man’s face than a boy’s, was light with a smile as he talked to his friend, but his brown eyes were still heavy with his worries.

“Well, that explains a few things.” Quinton tilted his head at the castle rising in the distance, “I’ll be glad to see the back of that place. Dumbledore is as much of a tight ass as his brother was supposed to be, and I can’t wait to learn some real magic.”

Quinton referred to an advanced school of magic in Louisiana his parents were sending him to next year. It only took witches and wizards who’d already completely their regular education, and it had a nasty reputation for allowing dark magic.

Quinton rarely talked about it openly, and never to teachers. Harvey was happy to keep his friend’s secret.

“So what should we do to the first years? Make them drink some of the fire-whiskey I’m smuggling in.”

“That’s never going to make it past the castle gates.” Harvey laughed.

“We’ll see,” Quinton looked off into the distance as his face twisted in a rather sinister smile, “Oh I know, we’ll tell them that all first years have to spend the first night sleeping standing up so the ghosts can get to know them.”

“Pfft, lame.” Harvey leaned over the railing again.

Truly, Harvey hated pranking the first years, it felt a bit too much like bullying, but the one year he'd told Quinton and the other upperclassmen to leave him out of it, the first years had ended up with huge bleeding welts from sleeping in poisonous vines all night.

It hadn’t been Quinton’s idea, but one of the seventh year girls. No one in Arietem house had ever seen Harvey that mad. When their Head of House finally came to scold them, they’d been taken aback to find Harvey already laying into the pranksters with very uncharacteristic zeal.

Since then he’d agreed to be part of the pranks, if only to make sure everyone kept it friendly and good natured.

“Well it’s hard. This is the last year we get to do this. I want to make it special.”

“Here’s an idea, how about we don’t do anything at all. We have the second and third years whisper horror stories of their hazing, and make the firsts years wait and wait,” he held his hand out in a dramatic gesture of suspense, “never knowing when it will come.”

“Now that’s lame,” Quinton frowned, “You’re just looking for a way to get out of it.”

“Maybe,” he shrugged, “It’s boring. The whole thing is boring.”

“Harvey, your whole life is boring.”

“You’re telling me.” Some of the despair in his mind crept into his voice, but Quinton did not comment.

The two boys watched together as the island got closer and closer, the familiar spires rising up, reaching like the hand of some massive and ancient statue.

When the boat made dock Harvey found his brothers, walking with them to the great hall. Neither mentioned what their father had said before the boat ride, and Harvey loved them for it. They were his brothers, after all, and would not scold or belittle him, even though at times they acted a bit disappointed in their big brother.

The Great Hall was a warm, familiar place that made him feel actually glad to be back. The food would be great, his friends were all here. If nothing else he had one more year of this beautiful room and the great times he always had here.

Fiona wondered very seriously if what was happening to her was a panic attack. She leaned heavily on the sink, her head slumped over as she watched the water running into the drain.

Had she just so seriously been afraid to speak to her friends that she’d had a panic attack?

“Oh god this year is going to be horrible,” she said to herself.

She turned off the water and stepped away, into one of the stalls where she put her back flat against the wall and slid to the floor.

“This isn’t about James,” she said for the what must have been the thousandth time since term had ended.

But if it wasn’t really about him, then why must she keep reminding herself of that?

Because she couldn’t figure out what else it was about. When she thought of him, that silly hair, those sweet eyes - it didn’t upset her, make her nervous or embarrassed, didn’t make her think any of the things she thought when she’d spotted a clump of sixth year Ferres on the boat.

No, this wasn’t about him. Breaking up with him had sucked, had really, really sucked. Then again, dating him hadn’t been so great either, or they wouldn’t have broken up. This was about her, about whatever was going on that made her hate the sight of people she loved, made her want to spend a four hour long boat ride hiding in a bathroom.

She pushed herself to her feet and walked purposefully back to the sink, looking herself straight in the eyes as she approached the mirror.

“You are just being stupid. Those people like you and you like them. And they will understand if you say you want to spend more time alone this year.”

That is what her mother had recommended, talk honestly to her friends about her problems. Easy for her mom to say, she didn’t have to share a dorm room with them every night, see their disappointed faces when she said she wanted to be alone.

First Fiona had asked if she could transfer to another magical school. They’d gone so far as to tour the one that was just off the railroad in the middle of nowhere Wyoming. Around it one of the largest wizard only towns in America had grown, and both school and town were completely invisible to Muggles.

Fiona had actually like it, liked that they’d done away with some of the Old World traditions that hung around Magnus Grex, like Houses and Prefects.

That is what upset her. That Prefect badge pinned to her sweater, reflected so shiny and bright in the mirror. It had been what set off the panic. Her friends where going to see the badge, comment on it, congratulate her and hug her. The thought of all that praise had turned her stomach.

But why?

She loved that she was selected to be a Prefect. It was her badge coming in the mail that made her change her mind and agree to return to Magnus. She pictured herself in the halls, directing first years, encouraging second years, maybe getting more students to the Potions club so she could tutor them, something she adored doing.

All those thoughts calmed her. Picturing the nameless faces of new students made her happy. It was the familiar faces of her closest friends that upset her.

She pushed back her blonde hair, straightened her yellow sweater, and left the bathroom. Then she turned left and avoided completely the group of Ferres. She would talk to them tonight in the Great Hall or in their rooms, no need to dwell on it now.

Once the boat landed and they were walking through the halls of the school she felt better. Friends waved to her and she waved back. She hugged and kissed people on the cheek and only kind of tried to hid her Prefect badge so people wouldn’t notice it.

She took a seat with the other Ferres, and there was James, where he always sat, leaning over to talk to Rae at the Cervus table. God he was still cute.

Fiona pushed her hair back and called his name. He turned, surprised for a moment, but then smiled at her. She smiled backed and waved as friendly as she could.

See, she said to herself, I knew it wasn’t about him.

Then there were the first years, all lined up, squirming and fidgeting. You could always tell the muggle born, they were the ones with eyes so wide the looked like they might fall out. Fiona knew most people hated this part, but she loved it. She would stand up and greet each new Ferre. She would hug them and tell them how happy she was they were part of her house.

As the ceremony began she felt comfortable, avoiding thought of the long night ahead in a dorm room full of friends she didn’t want to talk to.

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Vladimir sat quietly, pushing the food on his plate with a fork, avoiding it like a dead animal. His mind wandered from today's classes and the continue glares from other students. They must of known who is already, 3/4ths a pureblood***. Or because his eyes. Vlad makes a note to himself to thank the girl later with the pretty blond hair, but that can wait. Right now he had to deal with the food that magically appeared before them.
Pumpkin pie, rat stew, turkey lugs and pea soup weren't in his sign of 'appitizing.' They were mostly found in the more Northern forest, like the middle states, Vlad grew up on the sea food. His stomach growled in lack of food to the idea of the delious crab father would catch, or the shrimps that Mr.Owler would bring over from the shipping docks.
"Fame"(Latin:Hunger) He whispered quietly with the Latin word slipping from his mouth, as if it was water. The sound of his stomach stop and the pain went away, so Vladimir pushed the plate away. The blue eyed boy felt a stare at the back of his head, so slowly his turn his gaze behind him. A boy from the table behind him stared as if Vladimir was standing out of the crowd.
He sort of was, because of his eyes.
Vladimir decided not to try and talk to him, recognizing the boy as Lucius Todd, a pureblood. Shrugging as he stood up, he made his way back to his House of Vulpes. He put one hand into the large pocket of his robe, letting his fingers brush against the potion bottles.

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No sooner had they reached the Great Hall had Sebastian been ready to leave Anna's side. He nodded at a few of his house members in acknowledgement before yanking Anna in the air, twirling her in a circle while embracing her before walking away with a smirk on his face. She squealed when he did it. Anna stared dazedly, trying to get her wits together.

"I'll get back to you later," he called over his shoulder and proceeded to greet his house members. Anna only smiled, turning around just as she felt fingers ghost of her sides. Another squeal escaped her followed by a fit of giggles as she came face-to-face with her good friend Ronnie.

"Hey, love! I'm heading over now!" Anna shot an apologetic look Sam's way and hugged her quickly as she saw the headmaster get ready to speak. "We'll hang out after this, Sam, promise!" With that promise in the air, Anna scurried over to the Vulpes House table, greeting a few members and taking the seat beside Veronica.

Sam wasn't surprised as Sebastian left with his house members without telling her a thing, she let out a smile as she too was trying to see if she could recognize anyone from her house. As soon Sebastian did the dramatic twirling to her best friend, Sam could spot someone else in the crowd, Veronica. Sam smiled at Vic as soon as she approached, she had seen her before with Anna; after all they were both in the same house, and though she wasn't exactly on close-terms with her, any friend of Anna was a friend of hers. Sam said nothing when Anna reassured Vic she was leaving to sit with her in the dinning hall, but as soon as she hugged her and gave her the 'I'm sorry'-look, Sam shrugged her noise in disapproval of her betrayal and gave pouted her lips like a child being left behind.

As soon as her friend was out if sight, she too moved closer to her own house hoping she could at least find someone to sit by with. It was then when she spotted not another Cervus but an Arietem, Harvey, Harvey Sparshott. They had barely said but a few words when they were barely in their second year at school, but he had left quite an impression on her. They would have probably never talked had Sam not found his cat Maine roaming around nearby her dormitory.

Sam was grateful that the cat had a beautiful name tag with Harvey's name, which made it that much easier to return her. They barely shared a few words other than him thanking him and her teasing him about losing his pussy, but Sam couldn't help but to feel drawn to Harvey. So as soon as she spot him nearby other Arietem, she couldn't help but to smile before she too sat down in the first Cervus seat available; after all it was only a matter of minutes before Aberforth began his entrance speech. Besides, the sooner they got over with all the spectacles the sooner Sam would be eating her delicious pizza.

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Being in a new grand hall was weird. Aberforth seemed so relaxed and everyone looked happy, everyone except Cassius that was. He wasn't upset, he was just nervous. He had perched himself at the Vulpes table quite early on and since then a flood of laughing and shouting students had surrounded him at their seats. No one took any notice of the quiet new kid; which was just the way Cassius liked it for the time being. 'Ease into it' he thought 'You've got a whole year to make friends, just make it through the meal and go find your dorm.'

He checked again if anyone was looking at him and, so far as he could tell, they weren't. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the dry lump that was Odin. Cassius gently stroked Odin's nose and put him on the table next to his plate, where the toad just sat with what Cassius had begun to think was a small smile. Hushing himself to a whisper Cassius leaned his face close to Odin. "What do you think? Should we try talking to someone?" The toad puffed out his mouth, somehow making no sound. The two stared closely at each other, neither made a sound and the toad deflated. "Ahh, screw you anyway."

Picking up his toad and putting it back in his cloak Cassius looked around once more, this time smiling. Maybe he would try and make some friends here, it couldn't do any harm. As long as no one saw him talking to his toad at dinner he'd be fine.

'Think of the transfer as a chance to reinvent yourself'

Harvey slumped back in his chair, staring absently at the ceiling, trying to decide how much trouble he would get in if he skipped his whole first day of classes to go surfing. It would mean detention for sure, from each of his teachers, but that might just be worth it to start out the year right.

He decided to start a list of all the things he would not miss about this place. First thing - the old man’s self important speeches. He couldn’t even look at the old man without picturing their meeting at the end of last year, when the Headmaster had laid out just how much of a failure Harvey really was.

Oh sure, he hadn’t used those words, no one ever did, but that’s what they meant. A tragic waste. Yeah, well, this year would be a tragic waste if Harvey had to spend it listening to more of Aberforth Dumbledore’s speeches.

Of course he might also need to start a list of the things he would miss. That would mostly be a list of names. His eyes drifted across the room to Ronnie at the Vulpus table. Now she was great. Always up for some fun, always looking for a new adventure. Yet somehow she never seemed to catch trouble for it like Harvey did. She’d be on the list.

Then there was Sam and the Cervus table. Seeing her smiling at her friends, Harvey remembered the day in his second year, after he’d looked high and low for Paris, his maine coon who’d run off. He sat dejected in the courtyard, about to cry in front of most of the school. Sam had walked up, grin on her face, the huge orange cat balanced on her shoulders like a fur boa. She’d found Paris hiding roaming around the Cervus dormitory.

Yeah, he liked Sam, she’d go on the list.

Then there were the boys, his fellow Arietems, his dorm mates. People who’d explored the castle with him, who’d shared jokes and excitement. They were a cocky bunch, and if you asked Harvey, with good cause. Maybe he would put up with more hot air from Dumbledore if it meant more time with the boys.

“Hey Bass,” he leaned over to Sebastian Queen, who was trading flirty looks with a couple of his friends, “help me think of a harmless prank to pull on the first years before Quinton decides to boil them in oil.”

Cassius felt a tap on his shoulder and caught himself choking on air. Assuming someone was about to tell him no toads were allowed in the main hall Cassius began cycling through excuses in his head, 'He's sick. He followed me in here. I didn't know we weren't allowed them.' To his surprise he turned to face a student, not an angry member of staff. The first thing he noticed was how pretty she was, it was a shame that his jumbled thoughts about Odin and nerves caused him to gargle his words as he looked at her.

"Oh, er... yes" He managed to get out. 'Idiot, she was joking' he internally berated himself 'Relax, it's your first chance to make a good impression on someone. Look at her, she's smiling. She must be nice.'

Cassius realized no one else was paying the two attention and that he was noticeably making a puzzled face, he quickly righted it into an embarrassed smile and could feel his cheeks going red. "He's more of a bother than you'd imagine. Like an imaginary friend who runs away a lot." He grinned, thinking about Odin fondly.

As he talked his face seemed to doubt every word that came out of his mouth. "Do you... do you have a pet? Cassius paused, and bared his teeth in frustration with himself, his cheeks went even more red. "I mean, of course you do... but, what type? Sorry."

Rae waved back at James just before the headmaster began his speech. Now, to the exciting parts. We will be having multiple clubs this year. Herbology,Dueling,Potions,Charms, and the most popular one among the students, the four Quidditch teams." Rae glanced to her side, noticing Sam had made her way to the table at last. "You made it! Did you hear? My Herbology club was approved!" Rae grinned broadly to her friend, her voice vibrating with excitement. The headmaster announced that the feast had started, and instantly food materialized in front of them.

Knowing that Sam's attention would be quickly, if not immediately stolen, Rae added lightly, "You know I helped a first year in here earlier. She seemed terrified of the sorting ceremony. Something about an older student told her the Sorting Hat would take a bit of her hair if she was nervous.." Rae tried to look upset, but it was too great of an effort to keep from smiling. "Can't imagine who put that into her head..."

The feast was as grand and delightful as it was every year. True to form, Ra had woken up midway through to poke his head out of her cloak and settle into her lap; accepting the meat scraps Rae secretly fed to him. As dessert took the place of the main course, Rae glanced over to see if James was almost done eating. She couldn't see him very well from where she sat, so she pulled out a scrap of magical paper and sent a hummingbird origami fluttering over the tops of the other students. The tiny bird landed gently in front of him and unfolded itself.

Hey, did you hear that my Herbology club got approved? You're joining, right?! How was your break?

Rae glanced over to Sam as the other Cervus' enjoyed their desert. "I'm going to head back to the dorm. Want me to claim our bunks again?" Rae considered Sam one of, if not her only, best female friend. Veronica was more like her older, smarter, sister and James was a guy so he didn't count. There was something special about having that one person in your house that you could talk to and do everything with. Over the summer, Rae hadn't been able to visit Sam due to her internship with her mother and then volunteering with the muggles and coming back to school early for Herbology.

Rae waiting for Sam to answer and then stood, holding Ra in her arms. She made her way out of the hall, as a few people had started to leave. On her way out, she caught sight of Lucius- the boy she had been asked to tutor in Herbology this year. He was talking to someone, but she couldn't see the male's face because his back was to her. At the same table would be Sebastian, so Rae quickly directed her attention elsewhere. In no particular hurry, Rae headed out of the Great Hall.

The halls were alive with chatter once again. It was refreshing and comforting. Rae gently put Ra on the floor to walk along side her as she made her way towards the dorm tower.

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James was just finishing dessert when a piece of parchment landed in his lap. He uncrumpled the piece of paper, immediately recognising Rae's neat penmanship. Was he joining the Herbology club? He thought for a moment. He'd hate to disappoint Rae but he had Quidditch practice to consider too.

"Accio quill and ink," he whispered, moving his wand as subtley as possible. He watched for the items, hoping no one would see them as they came whizzing through the doors to his side. He quickly unscrewed the lid of the ink and replied, "Congrats. I'll have to check how intensive Quidditch practice will be this year, but I'll do my best. Summer was okay, Chicago's as nice as ever. How was your summer?" James slid the ink and quill into the pocket of his robes and folded the paper into an airplane, sending his reply to Rae by way of jabbing her ear with the nose of the plane.

Janes looked up the table, searching for his fellow prefect. He wasn't sure how he felt when he realised it was Fiona. He pinned his badge to his jumper and stood up, heading to the middle of the table, where most of the first years were sitting, "Now first years, soon as your ready, follow me and I'll show you to our common room and dorm," a considerable number of first years began milling around him. He made sure to catch Fiona's attention, "Are you okay bringing the rest up?"

He began leading the group of students to the common room, pointing out rooms they'd be using during their time at Magnus "And this is the Ferre common room," He gave the password to the portrait, "Keep on your toes with the password, it changes pretty often," he held the door open letting the first years enter before him, "Now boys, if you'd like to follow me and I will show you to your dorms. Girls, you're gonna have to hang tight until Fiona gets up. I'm not allowed in your tower."

James lead the boys to their dorms, directing each boy to the right room before skipping up to his own room to change out of his uniform and get his small part of the room the way he liked it.