The Calm Before the Storm [First Years, Term 3]

[Tamis Raynor]

Or perhaps it should be, the storm before the storm? Rain had been pounding Hogwarts for the past hour or so. It must have moved in right before the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station. The Deputy assumed that it had followed the train all the way here. Which of course meant wet returning students and drowned First Years. The Caretaker would no doubt be enlisting the help of the House-Elves to clean up the resulting flood in the Great Hall.

The Entrance Hall was casted in shadows, the windows darkened from the long looming night outside and rolling rain-filled clouds. The torches licked the walls in their eerie glow and portraits yawned and murmured in their frames, some even floating to visit neighboring friends. Every now and then a flash of lightening lit up the more secluded shadows, illuminating suits of armor and hidden pillars. To anyone adjusted to Hogwarts, it was normal activity, a normal setting -- if a noisy one. But for students that had never to only once set foot inside the walls and were already busting with tall-tale stories... it could be intimidating.

The Deputy stood in the middle of the hall, as regal as a five foot woman could manage. She was in her wizarding best. Robes of fine blue silk and bronze embroidery with an accompanying tall wizarding hat. Usually not one for such embellishment, these particular robes were dusted and shown off once a year. First impressions were everything after all.

Hands clasped lightly behind her back, the Deputy waited for the first years to come in from their trip across the Great Lake. The woman was not one for patience, but she did her best to display the virtue now. Her fingers tapped against each other.

Another flash of lightning. Any minute now.

(( First Years may begin posting. The grounds keeper, has collected you from the Hogwarts Express and has brought you across the Great Lake. ))

[scobee]

Ryan had changed on the train into his school uniform. He hadn't really wanted to, but knew that it was expected of him. He would have been happier in his muggle attire, not to mention more comfortable, but he would just have to get used to the wizarding world attire. It was still weird to him though that wizards insisted on wearing dresses over their pants and shirts. Okay, so it wasn't really a dress but it certainly looked like one from far away.

He had been a little bit self concious at first, but then Brax had pointed out that everyone would be wearing the same thing. It was at this moment that he really stopped caring about his attire and started to have fun. Well it was more when they got into the boat and had realized just how useful the wizarding hats could be. They made excellent water storage containers and water throwers. If it have been a sunny fall day it would have been appearent what insued in the boat, but since it was raining and everyone was drenched it was a little bit less obvious. They had had a blast having a water fight and trying not to fall in the lake. A somewhat difficult task when they were trying to dodge one another.

Entering through the oak doors, with a grin plasted on his face, he took no notice of what was going on around him, Braxton and him were still messing around. They hadn't abandoned their water fight until about five feet from the building when they had finally ran out of water. Each was completely soaked from head to toe and Ryan could careless. Normally this would have really bugged him, but he was having too much fun with his new friends.

[spicer]

Braxton looked like a drowned rat, that about summed it all up. He was covered from head to toe in water. Some of it was do to the rain, but most of it was do to Ryan's well aimed wizarding hat. Smiling he wrung his hat out over Ryan's head as they entered through the great oak doors. Sure he had run out of actual water a couple of steps back, but he still managed to get a sizable amount of water out of his hat and onto Ryan's head. He couldn't just waste the water when he had such a great target right?

[scobee]

Ryan had tried to duck when he noticed what Brax was up to. It was a little too late, however, and the water cascaded down his head and onto the stone floor. Oh there was going to be paybacks for that. Braxton had just made his hat wetter was all. Ryan just smiled and viewed it as more ammo. He would get Brax back. He just had to wait for the most opportune time. Waiting about five seconds he couldn't wait any longer and took off after Braxton with his hat in hand, trying not to lose to much water before he could nail Braxton with it.

[spicer]

Braxton just ran when he saw Ryan coming after him. Sure the entrance hall wasn't a huge place but he still found it big enough to keep away from Ryan at least for the moment. It wasn't that he cared if he got wet, no he was already to wet for that. It was more of the fact that he just couldn't let Ryan get the last attack. It was to much of a game to him to let him just drench him again without an effort.

[scobee]

Ryan just smiled and kept trying to catch Braxton, until, he slipped on the wet stone and went down. Crashing into the wall he bounced off and then regained his footing and stood up, continuing his attempt to get at Braxton. Still running full speed after Braxton he wasn't really paying the slightest bit of attention of to who was around him or to really where he was going. He had been quite lucky so far not to crash into anything except the wall.

[Tamis Raynor]

At long last, the first two arrivals of the new First Year class arrived. Over the past few years, Raynor had learned to expect three main categories of emotion when they walked through those great, double oak doors; fear, bashfulness, or contained excitement or mischievousness due to new surrounds. Never, in the years since the school's reopening had she actually witnessed open horse play.

The two boys were chasing each other, apparently having found a secondary use for their hats. The Deputy would bet three galleons, four sickles, and one knut that they didn't even realize she was standing there. Well now, that would have to change -- and Dear Merlin, one just ran into a wall.

"Gentlemen," she called to them, "If you do not wish to have detentions before you are even sorted, I suggest you quit your current activity." How a woman of her height could look down her nose at someone was a phenomenon.

She did not inquire after the wall-hitter. From experience, she found that eleven year old heads were remarkable resilient. Despite what common belief would leave one to suspect.

[Claire Desrosiers]

This wasn't exactly how Claire pictured herself arriving at Hogwarts on her first day. Though she managed to change into her school robes on the train, nothing could save the unfortunate eleven year old against the pounding rain and raging water from the lake. She had hoped that the first years wouldn't have to go into the boats, but of course Claire was mistaken. At least she didn't fall into the lake.

Claire walked into the entrance hall drenched from head to toe trying to squeeze some of the water out of her robes so they didn't drip everywhere. Wonder if there was any chance she could dry up somewhere before the actual sorting feast. She was starting to shiver slightly but it wasn't only the water that contributed. Claire had heard rumors about the sorting ceremony and was hoping what her brother said about fighting a troll was false.

Unfortuatly by the time Claire arrived, she missed everything the other boys were doing. She only heard something about quitting current activity from another woman. "Braxton? What are the two of you doing?"

[Jeremy Taylor]

Jeremy trudged up the steps as if arriving at the hangman's noose. He had enjoyed the train ride well enough, sitting with a few friends he had already made, but once it got time to put on his school robes, it had hit him. He was trapped here.

A stern voice caught his ears, already threatening detentions and it wasn't hard to guess who the woman was talking to. Very few people had gone before him. As he crested the stairs to the landing, he saw the owner of the voice and knew at once who she was. His cousin had already warned him about the Deputy.

[spicer]

Braxton just laughed as Ryan hit off the wall and got back up. “Slippery is it?” he said with a laugh still keeping a good distance away from him and running when need be. It wasn’t until he heard a voice that he stopped dead in his tracks. Did she just say something about detention or was he hearing things? Where on earth had she even came from? Had she actually been there the entire time? Well if she had been he hadn’t seen her. Maybe he was a little preoccupied to take any notice.

Then hearing Claire he just looked over in her direction smiling, “Oh hi Claire, we weren’t doing anything really.”

[plumbum]

Amongst the other first years, one stood out in particular. Wider and a few inches taller than anyone her age, Elizabeth was like a sunflower amid a garden of raspberry bushes. Except she wasn't so bright and cheerful looking. No, quite the opposite was the girl, with her eyes reduced to slits and mouth puckered as though she were angry at the world. One might think Elizabeth was unhappy about the whole situation. And in a way, she was. She was nervous and unsure of what was to come, but didn't dare show it. Instead, she stood tall, emitting what appeared to be confidence.

[scobee]

“Semi..” Ryan said still in pursuit. He hadn’t caught what had been said and, as such, hadn’t been expecting Braxton to stop dead in his tracks. Plowing into him he went down to the ground for yet another time. This time, however, he was still smiling. Well up until the point that Braxton landed on him. Then he was kind of half smiling, while he tried to shove him off of him. “What did you stop so suddenly for?” he inquired wringing his hat out over Brax’s head for good measure before shoving him the rest of the way off of him.

((I have Brax's permission for the falling and shoving parts. ))

[Jeremy Taylor]

Jeremy stood against the wall, sizing up his classmates. He was stuck with these peole for the next seven years apparently. Brax he had met in Diagon alley, and Ryan he had met on the train eventually, but he didn't know the girls. Not that he really wanted to know the sour looking girl standing in the middle of the group. She didn't look very agreeable at all.

Where was Hannah?

[hannah]

Hannah entered into the entrance hall, her wizarding hat no longer on her head due to the fact that it had took flight while she was crossing the lake and now her dark blond hair looked more like dark brown hair and what was even worse that Hannah had decided to take her shoe's and sock's off when she had reached the edge of the lake, deciding it would be easier to walk bare footed than it would be with shoes that were clogged with water.

So, shoes and socks in hand, no wizarding hat to speak off and all she was wearing was her school robes over her muggle attire, Hannah walked into the entrance hall looking like no one owned her. Which wasn't a bad thing really, because she was finally away from her parent's and her sibling's and the dragon lady and so Hannah thought it would be okay to look like no one owned her, after all, she was technically free of all parents.

A smile lit Hannah's face at the thought of being technically free of all parents and she walked further into the entrance hall, leaving muddy footprints behind. Searching the entrance hall, Hannah had found Ryan and Braxton, Claire, some other girl she didn't know and finally her gaze landed upon Jeremy and her smile even brightened more. Running over to where Jeremy was, Hannah gave him a huge grin. "Jeremy!, you made it!" Hannah squealed, engulfing him in a huge wet hug, glad to see that her friend had made it to Hogwarts.

[Trixi Turner]

Trixi trudged up to the castle. Normally she would have been at the front of the group with Ryan and Brax or at the back causing some kind of chaos but instead she trudged along somewhere in the middle of the group of first years. Her year at Hogwarts was not starting the way she had hoped. Trixi was drenched from head to foot but not from the rain, although that didn't help with the situation. Trixi had noticed something giant in the lake moving about underneath them and had leaned over the edge of the boat to have a look, unfortunately at that moment the water was really rough and the boat rocked suddenly, tossing her into the lake. Trixi had been fished out of the lake by the grounds keeper, shivering, cold and quite unhappy.

Trixi trudged into the entrance hall, bringing with her more water (if possible) than anyone else and leaving extremely muddy prints. She didn't look very happy that was for sure. Trixi lifted her eyes up to have a look around and find someone she knew. She noticed a stern looking woman standing there, and a group of students consisting of Ryan, Brax and Clair. Trixi's eyes finally drifted and spotted Hannah who happened to be wearing no shoes or socks and amazingly enough, like Trixi was missig her hat. Trixi's wizard hat had fell off when she fell into the lake and as they drifted away Trixi noticed it be snatched away to the deeps by a long tentacle type thing. Kinda scary really. But Trixi was happy to realise that at least she wasn't the only one without a hat.

Trixi moved over to where Ryan and Brax were. "Hey Ryan" she said softly, much unlike her normal devious and generally happy self. "Hi Brax" Trixi looked up at the two boys. She wasn't in any mood to try and trick them or anything, but they were the only people she knew so she decided to stick near them. She didn't know what was to come now. She was shivering from the cold, specially seeing that the lake had been freezing. It was also very obvious she wasn't very happy.