Eden frowed slightly when Max asked if she had her own broom. "No," she said. "My parents wouldn't let me get one yet. They said they'll send me one after I pass Basic Flying. They don't exactly know that I know how to fly already. I was only supposed to be watching Chase while he was practicing for Quodpot, but he said he wanted to show me how so I wouldn't be scared when we started learning it here." She smiled, thinking about the day she learned to fly during this past summer. "It was so much fun. I love flying. But Quodpot, not so much. I don't really like things that explode."
 
When Max agreed that they should go see the common room, Eden took one last sip of pumpkin juice before standing. Max seemed pretty sure of where he was going, so Eden did not object when he took her hand and began leading her down one of the corridors. After a couple of minutes of walking throught he winding hallway, though, she started to get worried.
 
Come to think of it, she didn't recall having seen any other students come down this way from the Great Hall. She began to slow down a bit, tugging on Max's hand that still held on to her own. "Um... Max? Are you sure you know where you're going?" she asked. "I don't think anybody else went this way."

Max Avarus:

"I know exactly where we are going....We are going to the Aquila Common Room. Which is just around....here!" he said, as they walked into a new room. It was a room filled with bookshelves and books, and there were lighting fixtures floating up held by chains next to some tables and chairs. Or at least, that is what he thought, before looking down. In fact, they were on the ceiling of the library, somehow, but further more it was possible to walk there.

The librarian walked below them, asking if they were lost. "No! Okay, maybe we just took the wrong turn someplace. Uhhh, how do we get down by the way?"

"Walk on the walls of course!"

Max put one foot on the wall, then the other, and it was as if gravity shifted for him. "Well Eden, we are in the library, which I believe is close to the Aquila Common Room" he noted as he walked down the wall. However, as he stepped onto the floor, a book fell off the bookcase and hit him in the head, and then fell to the ground. "Ow!"

Max picked up the book, and a dark shiver went down his spine. He felt weird for a brief second. It was a black book, with nothing written on it and gold trimming. When he looked inside, there was no writing. The librarian looked at the book, and cast "Specialist Revelio", but nothing happened, not even magical resistance. She looked back to Max. "Well, looks like some out a blank book in the library. And the library is no place for blank books, so here, you can have it. Oh, also, the Aquila Common Room is down that hall, up the stairs, down the hall on the right, past the Defense Against the Dark Arts room, up another flight of stairs, and then take a left, and it should be obvious from there".

Max nodded before grabbing Eden's hand and beginning to walk one way. "The other hall!"

Max makes a complete 180, and begins going the other way, following the librarian's instructions. "See! We were going the right way...sort of...."

Braelyn sat down beside Skylar to enjoy the delicious meal as she caught up with her best friend. She still couldn't believe she was back. "What made you come back to Orenda?" she asked her. "I mean, not that I'm complaining or anything. I just thought you said your grandparents wanted to pay for you to attend SWI for the rest of your schooling. What happened?" She hoped that things were okay between Skylar and her grandparents. She remembered that Skylar had only just in recent years begun to develop a relationship with them.

She continued eating, thinking the meat she was now chewing seemed over-cooked for some reason, which was strange because Orenda's food was always prepared to perfection. She frowned slightly, furrowing her brow, then had a sudden thought. "Oh! Before I forget," she said, pulling out the small vial from the pocket of her robes. "Madame Chesney told me I need to take this." She opened the vial and swallowed the potion inside in a quick gulp, wincing at the taste it left behind in her mouth. She shuddered. "Ugh, I don't know exactly what that was, but it wasn't pleasant."

There was suddenly an arm around Braelyn's shoulder, and she was happy to see that it was Ryland coming to say hello. She gave him a quick hug. "Ryland! It's good to see you. I had a good summer; I got to spend a lot of time with my sister. I hope yours was good too." She laughed when he mentioned that he couldn't remember Skylar's name; it seemed like all her friends were having trouble remembering names today. "Oh, come on, Ry. You remember Skylar. It's only been two years since she abandoned us to go to Salem."

Finally, she pushed her plate away. The Great Hall was emptying out. She didn't want to stay in here, but going to the Cerva common room would mean they'd be leaving Ryland behind, which she just didn't feel like doing just yet. "Do you guys want to go outside for a bit before curfew?" she asked the two.

Skylar Black

It was great catching up with Braelyn. Skylar had missed her so much.

She knew that the question was going to come up about her return to Orenda. "My parents and I decided it was time for me to come back. My grandma didn't like the idea much but she didn't argue." Skylar said while looking down at her empty plate fidgiting with a leftover bite. Braelyn looked at her like she knew she was lying. She was going to have to explain that one a little more later.

Orenda food has always been wonderful. No one had ever had any complaints about it. Braelyn looked as she was forcing down a bite of meat. She forgot to take her medicine that Madame Chesney told her to take. It looked like it was flavored Nasty, by the look on Braelyns' face after she drank the vial.

"What's the deal with the medicine? You don't look sick." Skylar asked, hoping that their wasn't anything wrong with her. "You would tell me if you were sick, right?"

Skylar jumped when a guy came over and sat down and put his arm around Braelyn. Skylar remembered this guy. It's Ryland Pierce. It seems he could remember Braelyns name but not Skylar. He came to scope it out, no doubt.

Braelyn pushed her plate away. None of us wanted to go back to the dorms, so we left to roam around outside before curfew. "It's good to see you again, Ryland. I'm a little disappointed you didn't remember my name, though. How is your brother?"

As the three got up from the table to walk outside, Skylar called Ryland out on not remembering her name. He felt his cheeks flush a little as he replied, "I, uh... I'm sorry, Skylar. I do remember you, it was just your name that escaped my memory there for a little while." They rounded a corner and finally exited the castle.
 
They had come out into the courtyard, lined with trees and flowering bushes and dotted with round stone tables and wooden benches for studying or socializing. He led the way over to one of the tables and took a seat. It was a nice night. The end of summer evening air was still warm, with a bit of a breeze telling them that fall was not too far off. The sky, nearly cloudless, was now dark and polkadotted with stars, and the moon, nearly full, shining bright enough that they did not have to strain to see around them. There were some shadowed figures down towards the lake, probably other students out to enjoy the last night before classes.
 
Skylar was asking Ryland about his brother. People usually didn't inquire about him, as they were all generally aware of his need for privacy, but if she was taking the time to see how he was doing Ryland wouldn't argue. "Reid? He's doing well. This is going to be his last year here at Orenda. He spent all summer doing this internship with Talonega Bank as an apprentice Curse Breaker. He got the chance to travel to some really cool places doing it. You should see some of his sketches from the places he visited."
 
"I'm sure they don't want to hear about that," said a voice from somewhere behind him. Reid's voice. Ryland had assumed he was up in his dorm room at this point, but when he turned around, there his brother was, sitting at a nearby table in the shadow of a tree, with his sketchbook in front of him and pencil in hand. Had he not spoken, they probably would not have even noticed he was there. Now they they say him, he lifted his hand in a quick wave. "Braelyn, Skylar, I trust you had a good summer." Without waiting for a response, he turned his attention back to whatever he was sketching. How he was able to do that in the dark, Ryland was never able to understand.

"What's the deal with the medicine? You don't look sick." Skylar had asked Braelyn as they walked outside. Braelyn shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know," she said. "For the past couple of days, I just haven't been feeling quite right and keep getting really dizzy. My parents are convinced that it is something magic-related that their doctors wouldn't understand, so they insisted I come back to school a day early. I've been back since yesterday, in the infirmary. They don't know what it is yet, but Madame Chesney gave me that potion to take just in case."

She snorted at Skylar giving Ryland a hard time about forgetting her name as they sat down at one of the tables in the courtyard. "Says the girl who just moments ago couldn't remember Chase's name," she said. "Give him a break, Sky." As the other two began talking about Ryland's brother, Braelyn turned around on the bench so that her back rested against the edge of the table. She leaned back, looking up at the sky and breathing in the night air deeply. It was a beautiful night. The waxing moon was almost full, and for a moment Braelyn couldn't seem to take her eyes off of it. She snapped out of her daze suddenly when Reid's voice came from behind them. She returned his wave, but wasn't sure he saw it as he had gone back to sketching rather quickly.

She could see another figure approaching them, and when Braelyn looked hard enough she could tell it was Alison Oglethorpe. She appeared to be headed straight for them, but it was kind of hard to tell because she seemed to be walking more clumsily than normal. Braelyn's eyes widened just a little as the girl greeted them with a smile. Alison had just transferred to the school in the middle of the year last year, and Braelyn had yet to interact with her at all, as they were both in different houses and years. Frankly, she was surprised that Alison knew her name. But she supposed she could easily be acquainted with Ryland, he being a Vulpes as well.

"Hi Alison!" she said, putting on a smile as the girl sat down to join them. She raised an eyebrow as Alison hiccuped, but she didn't say anything about it. "No, you're not interrupting at all," she said. "We just didn't want a night like this to go to waste. It's too nice to be up in the dorms right now." Her nose twitched a little, picking up the distinct scent of firewhiskey and vomit. Well, that would explain Alison's odd behavior. Braelyn had learned a year ago, when she tried alcohol for her first (and last) time, that she could not hold liquor well. She looked sympathetically at the girl. "Enjoying the first night back?" she asked her.

Eden stopped short when they came into the library. She looked up, puzzled, at the book shelves that appeared to be dangling from above them. It took her a moment to realize that they were in fact standing on the ceiling. Eden's hands reached for her head, assuming her hair would be dangling towards the floor, but it lay in place as if she was not currently standing upside down. The librarian stood below them on the floor, looking up at them to ask if they were lost. "No!" Max had replied, eliciting an eye roll from Eden. He then retracted his statement with, "Okay, maybe we just took the wrong turn someplace."

The librarian told them they should walk on the walls to get down. Of course. Makes perfect sense. Eden stepped gingerly onto the wall beside her, expecting to feel like she was walking sideways, but rather it felt more like gravity shifted with her as she moved. It was an utterly bizarre experience as she stepped around portraits, shelves, and candles to get to the floor, gravity shifting once more with her as she did so. She looked around her now, from the more normal perspective, at the large library, filled with books upon books. As Max and the librarian looked at a book that had fallen on Max, Eden made a mental note to herself that she would return here very soon. Once the librarian declared the book both blank and ordinary and gave it to Max, Eden listened intently to her directions to get to the Aquila dormitory, determined that she would not be lost again tonight.

Max took her hand once again as they began walking, saying "See! We were going the right way...sort of...." Eden laughed. "Hardly," she said. "But I'm glad we found this place. Now I'll know where it is." Rather than let herself be led in the wrong direction again, Eden decided to take the lead, keeping in mind the instructions the librarian had given them. They walked down a dimly lit corridor that led out of the library and towards a stone stairway. Eden turned right down the hallway at the top of the staircase and past several doorways, one of which must have been the Defense Against the Dark Arts room that the librarian said they would pass. At the end of the long hallway was another set of stairs, which Eden took two at a time, knowing they were getting close.

She recalled the librarian's words, "Take a left, and it should be obvious from there." Eden turned left at the top of the staircase and stopped. Obvious was an understatement. In front of them was a large wooden door with a tapestry displaying the Aquila house crest. In addition to that, some ingenious Aquila student had conjured up about a half-dozen eagle Patronus to fly around the doorway, guarding the entrance, and a red hazy smoke colored the air surrounding the door.

"This has got to be the place," Eden said, letting go of Max's hand and walking up to the door. She opened it slowly and looked inside. It appeared that nearly everyone in their house was gathered in the Aquila common room. She spotted Chase standing over by a large unlit fireplace, talking and laughing with some of his Quodpot teammates and holding two plates each containing a slice of the delicious cake they had tried back down in the Great Hall during the feast. A big, rich brown leather sofa was placed in front of the fire place, with a crimson-colored arm chair on either side and a mahogany coffee table in the middle. Dispersed throughout the large common area were a few other sitting areas with plush armchairs or sofas, some tables and chairs for working on homework or playing wizard's chess, and a couple of big floor pillows over by a large floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the lake.

Eden walked in timidly, looking behind her to make sure Max was still there. There were a couple of armchairs that weren't occupied in the far corner of the room, and she motioned for Max to follow her over there. She hopped up into one of the chairs, as a gray and black tabby ball of fluff jumped into her lap. Eden giggled and cuddled the animal. "This is my new pet!" she told Max. "Chase took me to get her after we met back in Rhiamon Way. She's a baby kneazle. Isn't she cute? I haven't thought of a name for her yet though."

"I wondered where you two had gone off to." Eden looked up to see Chase walking towards them. "Two of our newest housemates. I thought you might have gotten lost; I was about to send out a search party for you." Eden gave a sideways smile over at Max but didn't mention that they actually had been lost. "I have something for you guys," Chase continued. "Saved some of that cake from downstairs for you." He handed each of them one of the plates he had been holding, and winked at Eden. She saw a glint in his eye that Eden swore could only mean he was up to no good.

Max found himself a bit at awe by the large library, he had to admit, but he really wanted to see the common room as well. Eden seemed to be determined not to get lost again. "Hey, in my defense, its not like I know the blueprints of this place. I still am trying to figure out how we ended up upside down. Now that was a neat trick..." A neat trick he was determined to learn.

When they finally arrived at the big massive door with the patronus eagles, he was slightly embarassed. His own patronus was a Unicorn, and he would rather not share that detail with anyone. At least, for as long as possible. He began to step forward, following Eded, as he remembered what his brother had told him. "Giant doors, bigger windows, even bigger hallways, humongous rooms, and fields double the size of stadiums". Talk about intimidating.

Inside it was wonderous. It felt like home, and described exactly as his brother told him. Homey, friendly, somewhat chaotic and unorganized (actually it was very unorganized), but it still had this feeling like he belonged. He made his way over to Eden, who had sat down in an arm chair, and sat next to her. All of a sudden, a white owl came down and landed on his head. "Snowtimber?! How do you keep getting out of your cage!" He then turned to Eden. "This is my pet owl, Snowtimber. Who apparently is an escape artist. He always ends up flying to me no matter where I am...".

As Eden showed Max her pet, he instantly thought of a few names himself. "She kinda looks like a Jess, for Jessica. But Jess sounds better for a cat. Just offering my advice". However, when Chase came over offering cake, this made him even happier. He loved cake. He took it, and started to eat it. However, all of a sudden, this rope popped out of the cake, tied itself around Max's anckle and the other end around a fairly high lighting fixture and dangled him upside down. "Not funny! Let me down!"

Max continued to try and escape it, however he overlooked one aspect. The height distance. When he did get free, he plummted down, only for something to wisk itself out of the Boy's Dorm, where his stuff had been brought, and caught him. An Aether V broom. "Wow, they were not kidding about the magical link being strong on this thing..."

The Broom dropped Max down safely., before returning to the rest of Max's things. Now Max just hoped no one made a big deal about who he was. He had enough pressure already, he didn't need more of it. He did, however, look Chase in the eye. "Not. Funny". He noted, as Snowtimber flew over to him and perched himself on his shoulder.

Chase laughed good naturedly as the first year attempted to regain his composure. "Well, I sure thought it was funny," he said, patting Max on top of his head. "Dan told me to make sure you feel at home, little man," he told him. "And this is how he did that for me. You're welcome. Oh, and nice broom, by the way." Still laughing, he walked back over to where his group of friends were waiting for him.

Eden shook her head and set down her plate on the side table placed between their two chairs. The cake looked good, but she wasn't going to risk it in case her brother had done the same spell on her piece. She didn't have an Aether V to come to her rescue. Not yet, anyway. She glanced over at Max, with his owl perched on his shoulder. "My brother isn't a bully," she assured him. "He just likes a 'harmless prank' from time to him. Somehow, it's his way of showing he cares." She sighed. "Are you okay?"

She yawned. It had been a very long day. The older kids all seemed to be intent on staying up for a while, but Eden was exhausted. "I think I might have to go find my room," she told Max. "Class starts early in the morning, and I definitely don't want to be late on my first day. I think we have Charms first tomorrow. Wanna meet at breakfast?"

The term "little man" annoyed Max, but not so much as being hung upside down. "I wouldn't call dangling meters above the ground harmless". At least his broom worked. "I don't like being dangled...it's annoying". Max then noticed (finally) that Snowtimber was holding a letter. "Oh, what's this...wait, how did you get this?"

He opened the letter, and a magical spark came out. The spark then proceeded to fly around Max as he read the letter. It was from his brother, telling him who to look out for (including Chase), and that he couldn't wait to hear back. Max would remember to write to him later.

"I have to agree with that statement. I have got way too many expectations on me to be late on my first day. Just living with my family can be stressful, at best". That was an understatement. He felt extreme pressure from them. "Alright, we will meet in the morning then, provided I am not tied up again".

Of course, Max soon learned his bed was right next to Chase's in the dorm rooms. This did not make him happy.

Fortunately, as it turned out, Lyria didn't have to journey all the way down to lake to find out who was sitting down there after all - in fact, they had decided to come back up to school, and she was surprised to see that the mystery person was in fact Alison Oglethorpe. She didn't know the older girl particularly well just yet, but they were in duelling club together, and Sonny had agreed last term to tutor Lyria in duelling skills; a promise Lyria fully intended to hold her to. Lyria's skills at duelling were fairly average, and with such a competitive spirit it really made her burn every time some other kid hit her with a dodgy 'Stupefy' spell, so she had resolved that this would be the year of her winning streak.

Seeing that Alison was headed back to the courtyard, Lyria headed in that direction as well, and seeing the group of people Sonny had approached she strolled cheerfully up to them and was already there by the time she had registered the fact that they were all in years older than her. Of course there was a fair chance they wouldn't really mind at all, but in her time at school she had met far too many people who seemed to be either puzzled or irritated by having some random younger girl appear and start chattering at them... not that Lyria was ever deterred.

Oh well, it was too late to back out now even if she wanted to. Pointless chatter it was.

"Nice night for the first day back at school, isn't it?" she declared cheerfully at the two boys, who she vaguely recognised as being a pair of brothers from the houses Ursus and Vulpes, and a girl she couldn't remember meeting before who wore the blue tie of house Cerva.

Reid looked up, a little annoyed, as not just one but two other girls made their way to the courtyard. The younger of the two said something directed at him and his brother about it being nice night. Well, maybe it would be if people would leave him alone long enough to enjoy the peacefulness of it. As it was, he stood, nodding curtly at the younger girl who had addressed them. "Enjoy what you can of it. It's almost curfew. I'm going to go ahead and go back to my dorm." He picked up his sketchbook, sliding his pencil into the spiral binding, and turned, walking back into the Orenda castle.

Ryland cleared his throat after Reid had left. "You'll have to excuse Reid," he said to Lyria, he said with an apologetic smile. "He's not really a people person. But you are right. It's a fantastic night. It's a shame it's almost over." He sighed, looking over at Alison, who had joined them only moments before. She was all smiles, which Ryland thought was a little strange based on the few encounters he'd had with her last year, but he gave her a smile in return.

As Braelyn spoke with Alison, Ryland turned to face the younger girl. She was a year below him in school, and in Aquila, but he had seen her around. "It's Lyria, right?" he asked. "I'm Ryland. And, as much as I hate to admit it, my brother is right. Time got away faster than I realized tonight, and it's nearly curfew. We'd better start heading back to the dorms." He stood, offering a hand to help Lyria up. "I'm sure we'll be seeing each other around."

He turned to face the other three girls at the table. "Ladies, always a pleasure to see you all," he said. "Skylar, I'm glad you're back. I'll see you and Braelyn in class tomorrow." He looked over at Alison, whose cheeks were reddening as she hiccupped. He recalled hearing some of his housemates discussing having some firewhiskey back in the Vulpes common room, and he assumed Alison must have joined in with them. "Can I help you get back to the Vulpes dorm, Alison?" he asked her.

As another, more gangly shape approached them, Sonny squinted at the newcomer. She knew she recognized the face, but had a little problem with the name. Once the girl spoke, however, Sonny knew who it was instantly. “Lyria!” Sonny said with a beaming smile, throwing her hands into the air with enthusiasm. “Oh, how was your summer, love? Are you ready for a vigorous year for dueling?” She asked, giving a lopsided smile. Dueling was perhaps the one that that Alison had over her brother, in her third year she began to beat him, and she immediately was a rising star. Although pressure from her family was constant to succeed in all areas, she was pressure free as far as dueling went - it was the one thing she was naturally good at.

Reid dismissed himself, causing Sonny to narrow her eyes after him as he left. “You know, Sterling says he’s a good chap but he always seems like he’s got a stick up his arse.” She said a little crudely, then giggling as she looked back to Ryland, “No offense, people say I’m like that sometimes too.” He then apologized on his brother’s behalf, to which she waved off immediately, “No harm done on my part, if the boy wants to be left alone - leave ‘em be, I say!” The firewhiskey had made her unusually chatty, her accent stronger than ever she worried briefly if they could understand her as she began to pick up the pace of her words. It always seemed like Americans spoke so slow compared to people back home.

Ryland then dismissed himself, offering to help Alison back to their house. She meant to protest, but as she hopped onto her feet and felt a familiar twist in her gut she nodded curtly, pursing her lips in distaste. “Thank you, Ryland, ever the gentleman.” She said, linking her arm through his and waving good bye to the girls that would stay behind. “Sleep well, poppets.” Sonny said sweetly, letting Ryland direct her into the castle.

Out of the cool air, she really began to recognize her level of intoxication. Fanning herself, her cheeks ruddied with embarrassment, “I can’t thank you enough, I must look like such a fool - but I really don’t drink...I mean I didn’t but - well you probably know Sterling smuggled some in, I shouldn’t have indulged but I did and now...well I suppose this is what you’d call natural consequences.” She said with a giggle, erupting another hiccup, which forced her to laugh again. Covering her mouth with her hand, she was appalled by her own crudeness, averting her eyes she shook her head at herself. “Again I apologize.”

Of course he was every bit the gentleman she assumed he would be, and as they entered the common room of their house they were met by Sterling who seemed dressed to leave. “Curfew is any minute now, dummy.” She said brusquely, to which he narrowed his eyes, looking back and forth between the two. Then a smile broke his expression.

“Whatever you little lightweight, get your ass to bed.” He said, taking her from Ryland and passing her off to her roommate who had just recently taken claim of a seat in the common room. Alison looked back to Ryland one last time with gratitude, ‘Good night my fair knight!’ she called out to him with yet another giggle.

Sterling looked to Ryland with admiration, “She’s a pistol, I’m surprised she let you help her, she must be a lot more sensitive than I thought.” He looked back to the girls on the couch, who had probably grown to drunk to explore and create an adventure, “Alright ladies, let’s rendezvous tomorrow.” He said with a wink, heading to his dorm. “Night partna.” He added to Ryland, disappearing down the stairs and into his dorm room where he would sleep a heavy slumber with the firewhiskey warming him from the inside out.