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Post by Revolutions Administration on Aug 16, 2007 17:06:33 GMT -5
January 13th, 2008 6:30 P.M.
The return from the Winter Holidays was usually a rather nonchalant ordeal. The students that stayed within the castle stretched and relinquished their hold on dorm rooms that had held mainly to themselves and grumbling students returning from vacations checked to make sure that their things over the break had not been commandeered. It was a rare and unusual occurrence for actual official feast to be held in celebration of the return from the Yule Time.
There were no special decorations. Each house table was in its normal position parallel to the door, Slytherin standing foremost to it in shining silver and glittering green and Gryffindor the farthest in flattering gold and dazzling scarlet. Traditional gold plates gleamed in the light of the floating candles, standing out like beacons against the enchanted ceiling reflecting the dusk from outside. If it had not been for the shimmering banner suspended in the air pronouncing "WELCOME BACK HOGWARTS", one would believe they had been mistaken that there was a feast to be held at all.
The only eerie sight was the Staff table along the back wall. The ornate High Chair of the Headmistress was empty and desolate, probably even gathering dust. But that was common place enough. Professor Ticloon hardly ever showed up for these things, preferring to leave them on the head of her right-hand. But the chair of the Deputy Headmistress too remained unoccupied. Usually the first to arrive to these things, Tamis Raynor would not be joining this feast. In fact, she would be enjoying a much less savory meal in Azkaban.
And that, according to the rumors, was the reason behind this unconventional gathering. Notices have been posted all over the school with Headmistress Ticloon's signature, proclaiming everyone would attend the "moral boosting buffet" and that they would prove to the Wizarding World that "you can't knock Hogwarts down."
All nice and dandy, but maybe the woman would actually show up for this one then. Unlikely. After all, harassing the Ministry of Magic made for a much more amusing past time.
(( All students and staff may begin posting! ))
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Post by seanna on Aug 16, 2007 18:14:07 GMT -5
Well, this was a first. A blond haired hufflepuff walked into the Great Hall scratching at a few healed scars that were left over by getting the dragon pox during the winter break. Seanna had spent the first week at Hogwarts, then attending the Yule for a short while and she was thinking that it was there when she ate some strange meat from a stall is how she got the disease. So the last week or so she had been holed up in the rented room her parents had supplied for her over the holidays, doing everything the nurse from St Mungo's had told her to do to stop the disease from spreading.
While it hadn't been a pleasant winter break, she was just glad that her illness was gone and she was just left with a few scars here and there on her arms and some on her face, but at least they were cool scars, she had never had scars that looked liked dragons before. All in all, Seanna was just glad that she could just go back to the castle and return to her huffily friends and huffily duties. The blond haired girl had also made a pact to stay out of any drama this term, but she still couldn't see herself actually sticking to that pact.
Something seemed strange to her, however. Gazing around the great hall and it's emptiness, the same colors were there, the same house tables still sat in the same spot, but the one thing that was spinning her out and giving her a headache was the big sign in the air welcoming all of Hogwarts back. THAT she was sure she had never seen at any other feast before, and if there was, she must've been blind or distracted, the blond haired girl thinking that the latter was the better choice of why she never seen a sign like that before at a feast.
"Okay... " Seanna trailed off, thinking that it was slightly weird for a sign like that to be up, but figuring this was Hogwarts and nothing ever stayed the same. Seanna made her way under the sign and towards the middle to the Hufflepuff table, ah, Hufflepuff. Seanna hadn't seen many of them since the Yule and she was wondering just how they were. In the mean time though, the blond haired girl sat herself down and shifted her gaze to the great hall's magnificent doors, hoping to see some of her friends soon.
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Corey Faulkland
Wizard
Quality Quidditch Supplies Clerk
Life is like a roulette wheel: Seventeen. Red.[on:Good show!][of:Bugger...]
Posts: 682
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Post by Corey Faulkland on Aug 16, 2007 18:50:12 GMT -5
Remaining in the castle for the first half of break hadn't been the act of good judgment he'd originally thought it was, in fact that week and a half had been down right boring spare that one specific courtyard incident that happened ot befall itself on an early Thursday morning. After arranging transportation to Cawtin he'd found everything as it was supposed to be, that being, well, festive. His family was happy to see him and the usual hugs, story telling and traditional Christmas what-have-yous ensued without much incident and before he'd realized he was back at King's Cross for the return trip to Hogwarts jurisdiction.
But that day of return had been two days ago and the forty-eight hours in between then and now had gone by with a blur of nothing but emptiness in his mind. For the life of him he simply couldn't recall what he'd done for two entire days and the fact that he'd woken up in a broom cupboard suggested Peeves was involved in it somehow. All in all it was nothing more than the typical Hogwarts prank, bothersome and annoying but the only real overall damage had been a right horirble neck cramp when he came to and now to rectify all the crappy moments and boredom from the past three weeks he was to be treated to wonderful food, decent comradery and ... was that tar on his Head Boy badge? That specter was dead -- er re-dead...in for it. How the heck did you punish a ghost anyway?
Whatever. All things aside there was to be a feast, conradery and an all around repeat of what his New Year's had entailed only with more people, noise and good cheer all round. Or at least that's what he presumed the flyer had meant by "moral boosting buffet". Free food, free cheer, and perhaps some decent music? No that was definitely pushing it. However when he arrived at the oak doors to the Great hall he found two rather ornate sights, a pretty much dead hall, and a banner that was overly happy even for this sort of thing.
"Alright! Who gave Ticloon an above-average cheering charm!" Corey questioned loudly with an expression that could be explained no simpler than by the words 'what the hell'. Though he was quite certain that Seanna was the only other one present one could never rightfully guarantee within the walls of Hogwarts that such was the actual case. Raynor had proven that back in their fifth year.... Raynor... And there went his mood, no matter how much cheer you put into the hall, there would still be something missing without the short of stature woman sitting in her rightful chair. Azkaban...pompous pricks with their high-horsed charades....
New year or not, feast or not, comradery or not, Hogwarts simply wasn't united in fellowship without its miniscule cornerstone...
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Allegra Thornton
Hogwarts Staff
Administrative Assistant Witch
^it's just me^
Posts: 2,420
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Post by Allegra Thornton on Aug 16, 2007 19:39:17 GMT -5
And angry huff echoed through the Great Hall, just a few moments before the huffer. Allegra had cut her holidays short at the message that no one was in the administrator's seat at the moment. She had no idea where Ticloon had gone off to, and while it wasn't unusual for the Headmistress to be MIA, it was rather frustrating that she decided to go on one of her little jaunts while Raynor was incarcerated.
So apparently, Allegra was in charge.
No, she wasn't pleased with the idea, but it wasn't like she wasn't able. After a few weeks on the job, it had become clear that her position required a lot more than filing and taking notes. She ended up being the one who dealt with the minor problems that arose in running a school and the person who prioritized the larger ones for Raynor to deal with. And once the big things were dealt with, she was the one to make sure things got done to the Deputy's specifications.
So Allegra had been doing a lot of huffing lately, frustrated with the Headmistress for calling for a feast and then not even showing and angry at the Ministry for holding Raynor unfairly.
She entered with a large stack of files in her arms, knowing her chair was off to the side and hoping to deal with some paperwork while the students filed in. It was a good thing the staff table was empty at the moment. No one would hear her grumbling about the Headmistress.
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Lianna Maylorn
Hufflepuff Prefect
Fifth Year
Sitting on the edge of the World
Posts: 1,122
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Post by Lianna Maylorn on Aug 16, 2007 19:40:34 GMT -5
Vacation. Festival. Christmas. New Years. Back to Hogwarts. Feast. It was all becoming too much joy, fun and happiness to store in her little child-like brain. She loved fun times as much as the next kid but if you put too much of it in a short stretch of days it then became impossible to pick out which event was her favorite and she simply had to have a favorite day. What was the point of calling it a holiday if she couldn't? The third year from Hufflepuff hadn't been too far behind her elder housemate, in fact she'd even tried to catch up to her but even after three years the Dungeons were still a partial maze to her. Apparantly Seanna had gone left while Lianna went right...same destination, longer time interval. Oh well, from the looks of things she certainly hadn't missed dinner although her mind was telling her she should've waited for Mark, again, oh well. With Headmistress Ticloon apparantly once more absent and the fate of Professor Raynor well publicized the only unspoken qquestion in her mind was just what could really be accomplished this night...
From the looks of the hall it seemed to indeed be a "morale boosting feast" but it was definately decked out for Hufflepuff House what with the golden plates and all. Yes they were typical to most feasts but it just seemed like it was more Hufflepuff oriented than anything else. The Head Boy was off to her left and Seanna was already seated her choice of conversation was already decided within her mind but for at least the next moment or so she would simply stand there and stare at the banner that continued to flash intermitently before her.
It had a captivating look to it, like any other alternating light sequence you could do nothing more than stare at it and watch it twinkle in its odd unexplainable beauty. "Pretty..." Was the only word she could manage to verbalize as her mind began to wander back to the lights and dancing colors of the festival leaving her stuck in what could be called nothing less than tranced...
And in the way of everyone else....
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Post by cronon on Aug 16, 2007 20:39:24 GMT -5
Leaning against the wall, right next to entrance to the Great Hall, Alexander waited patiently. In Alexander’s perspective, the winter holidays went much too quick for his liking, especially with the new information he discovered on a certain case he had been helping his father work on. New evidence to the Hjort case, only brought the two families closer than ever. The Hjort’s, even though they were grateful with the new knowledge about their son and daughter-in-law’s accident, they were also most distraught over the case than Alexander could ever remember seeing the family. The young, Felicity Hjort, was the most distraught that Alexander could see though, and after finding that she also attended Hogwarts, as of that Fall, he wanted to take the opportunity before the feast to see how she was doing.
Alexander’s involvement in the case as of recent, however, had increased since his apprenticing of his father. He was honored and wouldn’t let either of the families down. Alexander’s top job was to make sure everyone of the younger Hjorts, especially Felicity was doing well, and digesting everything that had been uncovered. Even more since he had missed the Hjort’s New Year’s party and hadn’t had much of an opportunity to discuss much more with the family. This was why, Alexander felt it necessary to wait for his friend to make her way to the feast. He almost hoped she wouldn’t avoid the situation because of what happened at home. However, how well he did know her, he knew that the girl would probably show her bubbly self soon.
Sighing, he watched as the Great Hall fill and smiled. Seanna had already entered and so did another young huffle that he didn’t know formally, but knew from around the common room. Leaning back against the wall, he smiled warmly…wondering exactly how he’d greet Felicity as she arrived.
(Permission to God the Hjorts)
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Aug 16, 2007 21:08:43 GMT -5
The time since New Years had been long, almost as though it wouldn't end. Thankfully, though, time passed, time to arrive back to Hogwarts, time to leave the whispered conversations, the unanswered questions, the new leads. It'd been hactic, much more so than ever preferred for her life. On top of an old year ending, a new one beginning, new information of a seven year case was reported, brought to the table. It'd almost been horrid, having to relive what'd happened, having to go through all of it once more. What had happened, happened, there couldn't be much more done for it, but with new information, the uneasiness of not knowing returned, and her parents decided to take persual.
A return to Hogwarts, for Felicity, meant peace. A bit of relaxation, something she needed, time away from the madhouse her home had become in a few days following New Years Day. She'd hardly made contact with Drew, only with Celina enough to brief her a little, and even then, it'd been a hassle to do. Most of the blonde's time was spent watching the young ones, listening to the information be poured over, and over, and over. And a much more pleasant portion of time had been spent talking with Alexander.
He was interesting, nearly as interesting as Lucas, and he helped to keep her mind on other things, not just the case. He was interested in what was going on, then again, he was an apprentice, he should've been.
Making her way to the Great Hall, she nearly fell backwards when she came to an abrupt stop at a sight. Was it really? Could it be her eyes were playing tricks on her?
"Alexander?" she asked, light brown eyes widening in surprise. Her mum had mentioned he attended Hogwarts, but she hadn't really thought anything of it. Felicity hadn't seen him there before, and to suddenly see his presence outside of the feast, when all she wanted to do was get away from everything, was...well, almost intimidating. And unfortunately, there wasn't another way into the Great Hall that she knew of.
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Post by cronon on Aug 16, 2007 21:20:17 GMT -5
(wow....this feels awful, familiar ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) ) Alexander smiled, unknowing that the shock of seeing him wasn't as pleasant as he would have liked it to be for his friend. He hadn't realized that it would disrupt her peace, and in his ignorance he approached his young friend, bent down slightly, brushing his lips lightly against her hand in jesting greeting as he had done multiple times before. "Surprised?" Alexander asked as he stood back up straight, letting his hand linger in it's grasp. Concern then spread across his face as he looked deeply into Felicity's soft brown eyes. "I just wanted to make sure you were still alright, after everything.....from over the break. I'm sorry I was unable to attend your New Year's party." Alexander smiled. "Though, I hear from my parents that it was some time." He winked and chuckled a bit, just imagining how the Hjorts usually threw a party.
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Aug 16, 2007 21:29:38 GMT -5
A small smile spread over her lips at his greeting, always the same. A kiss on the hand, and yet, it never seemed to grow old.
"A little," she admitted, though she really shouldn't have been. Knowing he was there, her shock should've been lessened. The look crossed his face, the look he'd carried much of the time they'd spent together as of late, and she couldn't help the heavy sigh, the knowing of what was to come. Pulling her hand from his grasp gently, as she was not upset by the contact, but rather by the reason he seemed to have decided to gather the courage to say something to her.
"I'm fine," she answered, turning her eyes toward the feast. This was not something she wanted to discuss further, not at this time, perhaps at another, but now. Pushing back thoughts of the newest developments, she returned her gaze to his impeccably clean face. Se thought he was a little funny, not just humorous, but in the things he did. She'd noticed when the Cronon's had dined with her family over late nights, there were things he did, like wiping his clean fork clean before using it. And little other things, he was always just, so clean.
"How are you doing? And your mum and dad?" she questioned, wondering if he'd even seen his father more than she had.
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Post by lagarto on Aug 16, 2007 21:36:03 GMT -5
Largo walked into the hall. Well, he didn't walk, he slunk. Not being here at the start of term was like getting himself wiped from the Hogwarts slate, and he did not recognize anyone that he ran into. (or dodged) He was too tired to give any thought to the lack of decorations or Staff members, and had one thought on his mind. No, make that two. Food, and sleep.
Making his way over to the Slytherin table, he sat down with a slight sigh, and pulled the cloth out of his hair, shaking it to cover his face, which he then promptly lowered onto the table before him. Before closing his eyes, he turned his head to a first year sitting near him and sleepily said. "wake me when the food comes, or else..." the kid shrugged and nodded, and Largo fell asleep.
Sure, he had been on vacation for the entire first semester, but it wasn't a relaxing vacation, what with dodging the curses and enchantments of the pyramids to covering an escape for the tour group when they were attacked by two angry trolls. On top of that, he had been getting homework by owl, and sending it back by owl, and then getting more homework by owl, and repeating the process.
"Oh, what a fun Vacation it was..."
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Post by cronon on Aug 16, 2007 21:48:12 GMT -5
Alexander was glad that Felicity was fine, but picked up quickly that this was not the time to discuss what had happened. He understood, he just wished she didn't bottle as much up as she did. Alexander understood from the very first time he met the Hjorts, even as young as he was, they were a very private people. Their family business was there own, and anyone to be accepted into their circle should have been honored. As old as Alexander was getting, he had been presented with the honor of becoming one in the circle. He was not only honored, but extremely glad, because he now knew some of the greatest people in his life; Felicity being one of them. "Well, you know if you're not, and need someone to talk with..." he silently trailed off, and nodded his head.
As she spoke of his parents he rolled his eyes at her and laughed again. "Yea, my parents. Well, you know. My dad is always working, at his firm and all. And my mom, she's preparing for her school to start up again. Fourth graders are something else. Not to mention......I think my mum wants......another.....I mean, she's been acting really weird toward my dad.....I mean, can you believe? Another kid, and all?" Alexander filtered his hand through his hair. His mother looked to him, as if she wanted another child. He hadn't asked about it, but he had suspicions. "I mean...can you believe that?" He nervously laughed, filtered his hand through his hair again, and rolled his eyes.
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Aug 16, 2007 22:52:35 GMT -5
"I'm fine," the Gryffindor reiterated with another flash of pearly whites. Really, she was. She could breathe at Hogwarts, she could clear her mind, and all she wanted to do was not think about it. It was hard enough having to go through the first time, to have it reopened, new information brought up, seven years later, well, that was a story all in it's own. And if she needed someone to talk to, well, she had Drew and Celina. She shouldn't use up all of Alexander's time, right? He probably was only say that to appease his father and her brother-in-law, it wouldn't really surprise her too much.
"Another what?" Felicity interrupted, not sure what he was talking about until he continued. Her face brightened at what he was saying, to her of all people! "Another child?" she asked, wide-eyed. It wasn't unheard of, of course, and it wasn't as though it should've been a shock or anything, Felicity had had time to compare the size of her family to his, and really, his could use another Cronon. But why was he telling her this?
Blushing slightly, trying not to think about how he was trying to describe what his mum was doing, she turned her gaze down, thinking it was best not to think about it. Or Drew. Or Alexander himself. Or anything. Alexander had always been a bit quite, and for him to say something like that to her, well, it was extremely shocking.
"But, I'm sure it would be nice. I mean, with you at school and becoming a man in the eyes of the wizarding society, it would be nice for your parents, right?"
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Post by cronon on Aug 17, 2007 8:54:35 GMT -5
As Felicity smiled, Alexander wasn't reassured but knew when to stop. He had made his availability known and that was all he could do for her. He smiled as she did, and when she asked about Alexander getting a sibling all he could do was shrug. "I don't know. It's not like I'm leaving after I turn seventeen or anything. That's only a man in the wizarding world....it's not like I'm going to use it often or anything."
Alexander shrugged and rolled his eyes. Alexander shoved his hands in his pockets and was confused on what now to do. "Well, I'm glad you're alright. I think I should be getting to my table. Hopefully, we'll talk again." He smiled and turned to walk to his table. His face turned scarlet as he thought about how horrible that encounter acrually went. In his mind, all he could think to himself was, Note to self: Don't do that again. He shook his head. what an accident that turned out to be.
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Post by seanna on Aug 17, 2007 12:17:44 GMT -5
Her brown eyes never leaving the great halls doors, found themselves staring at an equally, bewildered look of that of the Head Boy. Shrugging her shoulders back to Corey, she threw him one her own looks of confusion, not really buying the cherry sign and feeling more or less still freaked out by such a welcome sign.
Or maybe Seanna just didn't know how to have fun anymore? It would certainly make a lot of sense to her and maybe her thinking that everything was just not right, was slowly consuming her and she ought to think of having some fun this term? Not that she didn't have any fun last term, but last term's fun was filled with drama as well, and she didn't want anymore drama this term.
Her gaze never quite leaving the doors, she was glad to see that the hall was slowly filling up and she wouldn't have to sit here and think anymore. Thinking was overrated, she decided. It was time to be more impulsive this term. Of course, she would still keep an eye on the Huffle younger years and she was glad to see one of her favorite younger year Huffle's had arrived safely back to the castle.
Seanna was even more glad to see that the same year Huffle, the one she had gotten to know as Alexander, but hadn't really seen or talked to at all that much over break, had arrived back to the castle, looking just a little red in the face. Leaving her position from the Hufflepuff table and trying to ignore that eerie looking sign, the blond hair girl went over to where Alexander was, frowning at his scarlet expression. "Are you okay?" Spotting Felicity in the background, she gave the girl a smile, but her brown eyes returned back to Alexander. Every other Huffle was a concern to her, even if they were in her year or older.
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Post by larissalee on Aug 17, 2007 19:08:03 GMT -5
Her first feast. The pounding brething of the First year echoed in her head, she was exhausted from being so excited. At least she had already made a friend, and she hoped that she would be able to find him here tonight. But it woiuld be a great chance for her to mingle with her fellow Gryffies, and even to ask Keagan the question that had been bugging at her. Whether or not she was allowed up late in the Common Room. It may seem like a stupid question to others, but to Larissa it played a big part. She was only a first year, you see.
Dressed in her newly bought, and ironed never before been washed Gryffindor robes she felt quite smart. Her hair was wavy and long, and her face was abundant in smiles. But when were the first year in this school not happy? Larissa brushed her fringe out her eyes and skipped her way into the Great Hall. To Larissa it was already quite full, but she was sure that there was people to come, and she couldn't wait to meet them. The incesant nagging at the back of her head was killing her slowly, always telling her she needed to make more friends, just one wasn't enough.
According to Larissa's eyes, there was only one Gryffindor in the Hall, but she was yet to meet the boy. He looked old, maybe in his seventh year, but she sure did look cool. Larissa's nerves went from scared to terrified, as she decided she wouldn't sit with him. Folding her arms Larissa sighed, and waited for someone to come and sit with her, if they ever would. But even when she was upset, there was still hope for her. In a few days, Larissa would be learning Magic, something that would lift anyones spirits.
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