Halls and stairs

Subject: Halls and stairs Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:12 am

Hogwarts is a labyrinth of stone hallways and long staircases. There is always more than one way to get where you need to go, as a number of secret passages and interconnecting halls exist throughout the school. It's best you learn the multiple routes, as the stairs have a tendency to move and there is always the possibility that Peeves the Poltergeist will get in your way.

Guest

Attend the Great Feast? If Francis cared to make noise at the moment, he would have laughed. He had no interest in stuffing his face full of foreign food.

He was exploring.

The castle was large, and extraordinarily frigid (in comparison to Beauxbatons). It was also classically Scottish, and therefore ugly.

Thank God it was his last year, and he wouldn't be trapped here for an extended time.

He reclined against the wall, glaring daggers at a tapestry of swans flying together. This was boring.

Posts : 50 Join date : 2011-04-18 Age : 34

Walking down the hallways towards the Great Hall, Valentina looked around, scoping the corridors for any wandering students who were supposed to be in the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony.

The brunette prefect looked around at the paintings, waving to each one in turn, and smiling at some. She stopped at a painting to ask if any had seen any unauthorized students strolling through the halls. When she nodded and said that a blonde had wandered by not to long ago, Valentina started her 'hunt'.

She had left to watch for any students that had 'escaped' during the food fight, and it was getting awfully dull. Shaking her head, she continued down the hall, going up and down staira, down corridors, looking very thoroughly as she walked by each and every nook and cranny. How dull..

As she got closer to the Great Hall, she noticed a blonde male leaning against the wall down one of the corridors. She made a quiet 'hmph' sound, walking down towards him. She crossed her arms, pulling her robe across herself as she stopped in front of him.

"Francis, what are you doing out here when you should be watching the Sorting Ceremony like everyone else?" She asked with a steady tone as she looked the Slytherin over. She raised an eyebrow, looking up at him, but kept her stoic expression, waiting for his answer.

Guest

He would have chuckled, but he wasn't feeling amused enough to amount the effort it would take. Instead, he sighed, spreading his arms wide in a gesture of innocence. "Can I 'elp it if I 'ave no appetite for zhuch 'eavy English food?" He stressed his accent purposefully, giving the girl a slow wink. "Why are you 'ere, zhen? Surely you should be at the feast?"

He doesn't want some nobody-girl bothering him, but he can't very well send her away. She was a prefect, after all, and he'd rather not start off the year with detention.

"Valentina, correct?" He pulled the name from a distant memory on the train, someone naming off all of the prefects. She was also in his house- such a silly idea, houses- and his year, if he wasn't mistaken. "A lovely name for a lovely girl, don't you agree?"

Flattery would probably get him nowhere, but it was fun to attempt anyway.

Posts : 50 Join date : 2011-04-18 Age : 34

The 'lovely girl' smiled, shaking her head. She made a clicking sound with her tongue before crossing her arms across her chest. She looked back up at him, letting out a somewhat tired sounding sigh.

"No, I guess you can't help it if you don't have a appetite for 'zhuch 'eavy' English food." She said, imitating his accent almost perfectly. Although she knew it was just a trick, the flirting did lighten her mood, but only a little.. Or it could be that he was easy on the eyes. Maybe both.

"Francis, to answer your question, I was out here patrolling to make sure no students were skipping. McGonagall knows I'm out here, but she doesn't know that you are.." She shifted her weight to her other leg, still smiling politely. "Now, come with me so there wont be any trouble. It's the last feast you'll have!" She said, trying to give him a small sense of enthusiasm.

Guest

"My first and my last." He sighed, rolling his eyes. Clearly, she wasn't about to just let him stay here. "Surely it is not against the rules to remain in the hall until the feast is over? I assure you, I know nothing of this castle. I couldn't even find the common room." He inquired, giving her a winning smile. "Beauxbatons 'as the best, finest food in Europe, the most beautiful castle over a river, and zhen I am sent 'ere. It 'ard to..." He paused looking for the words. "Fit in?" He shrugged.

"If you insist, madamoiselle, I shall accompany you back to the Great Hall." He might be able to get away with hexing her and resuming his lurking, but it would end up with an angry prefect and rules broken.

He'd find another way to heckle the prefects later.

"Prefects. What is it that zhey do?" He was still exaggerating his accent- it was hard to get out of doing it once he'd started- but it wasn't nearly as pronounced as before. "We do not 'ave them at Beauxbatons."

Posts : 50 Join date : 2011-04-18 Age : 34

Giving him a casual eyebrow raise, Valentina pursed her lips, eyes narrowing. Obviously, he was thinking about doing something. Her facial expression quickly changed to become a mask of confusion. She tapped her chin, pondering his words.

"Although you were sent here, you'll have plenty of time to 'fit in', as you put it. It shouldn't be so hard." She held out her arm, motioning him to the Great Hall. "Yes, let us continue to the Great Hall.."

The next question caught her off guard, but, as usual, she was quick to answer, wording her senetnce very carefully.

"A prefect is a student who has been given extra authority and respinsibilities by the Head of House and Headmaster, or in some cases, Headmistress." She said, putting her hand on the small of his back, giving him a light push. "Come on, let's go to the ceremony now." She said, lightly, on guard.

Guest

He sighed once again, but let her push him towards the Great Hall. He might just have some pudding or cake, then, and be done with it. He could burn it off later, he supposed, in class or doing... other... activities.

"Ah. So you are somewhat like... Assistants. For zhe teachers, to be eyes where they cannot see. How... nice." He murmured, almost rolling his eyes. Everything at this school was so monitored. They checked his bags upon arrival, checked his wand, held his owl- poor, innocent Curie, who was not used to the filth of the Owlry- and had confiscated his swan-feather quill on the bounds of it being enchanted.

It was ridiculous. And everyone at the school was middle class, dirty, or a half-blood (or worse).

He missed France.

"Ceremony?"

Posts : 50 Join date : 2011-04-18 Age : 34

"I guess you could say that. Sometimes teachers need help so they assign two students from each house to be prefects, and then a Head Girl, and Head Boy. We can take away ten points, or so, if we see fit, and assign detentions if we have a legitimate reason.. But, of course, I'mve never had to give anyone a detention." She said, looking over at him.

She knew that look, the look that said that he hated this school and missed home.. Of course, she missed home school and hated this school at first but she got used to it. They let her keep her pet, her wand, and even trusted her to be a prefect. His question, though, almost caught her off guard.

"The sorting ceremony. We've probably already missed it but there's still a feast." She replied, now looking forward. "Francis, what was France like?" She asked, truly curious about the French nation and it's culture.

Guest

"Better than this place." He sighed, cracking his neck as he walked. The train ride from the damned King's Cross (so many muggles!) had left him with all sorts of terrible aches. "At Beauxbatons, the stairs are made of white marble. The grounds are gated, not all this wilderness. We 'ave no train, we make our own way there. And the food," he paused for effect, giving her a smirk, "is fabulous. I don't see the allure of 'ogwarts."

Of course, in Beauxbatons, all the girls were too uptight. Perhaps English girls would succumb more readily to his charms...? Or perhaps the boys?

"So, tell me, petit fleur, what do you do at 'ogwarts in your free time? Surely we aren't expected to study all the time."

If that were the case, he'd be spending a lot of time in the Slytherin dorms. Which brought him to another issue. "And ze dorms. Surely they cannot expect moi to live in a dungeon."

Posts : 50 Join date : 2011-04-18 Age : 34

The Colombian girl chuckled lightly, shaking her head. Of course the fabulous Beauxbatons would have white marble floor and would be so perfect, well, except for the stuck up rich girls who were worse than a Slytherin at times.

"Sounds like a fancy prison to me." She said, looking up at him. "What to do at Hogwarts, let me count the ways. Well, the Ravenclaws are so boring that most of them do study all day, it's horrid. I myself usually patrol the hallways, practice dueling, or I'm out on the Quiddich pitch by myself or running a practice. There are many things to do here. Travel to Hogsmeade, a wonderful place; have you tried Butterbeer? It's delicious!" She smiled, looking forward. Licking her lips, she kept her voice low for the next line.

"If your careful, you could sneak into the Forbidden Forest to meet with someone special, or just go by yourself to see what's so forbidden about it." Valentina looked up at him once more, raising an eyebrow. "What kind of activities do you like to do to pass the time?"

Guest

"Fancy, yes. Prison... non. We are allowed to visit the surrounding towns when we wish." He sighed, conveniently forgetting to mention that the only towns nearby were villages of muggles. It wasn't unpleasant, but to hide your magic while you were trying to enjoy yourself became tedious rather quickly.

"'ogsmeade? The village?" Oh, he'd spent a single, horrid week there, before he'd turned sixteen. "It wasn't... I didn't enjoy myself. And only plebeians drink Butterbeer." He sniffed, putting on an air of superiority.

"I like to swim. And fly. Dueling is an acceptable way to pass the time." He dispelled the air immediately, giving a snort. "Quiddich does not interest me. You 'ogwartians must lead awfully dull lives." He teased, stifling a yawn. "With nothing to do but go get yourselves killed in that 'orrid forest."

Posts : 50 Join date : 2011-04-18 Age : 34

"I still think it sounds like a prison~" She joked in a sing-song voice, her eyes darting around the hallways just incase some student had decided to wonder about like dear ol' Francis here.

Valentina rolled her eyes, a small smile playing on her lips. "Butterbeer is delicious, thank you very much.." She bumped him with her hip, shaking her head. "And the students of Hogwarts don't leave boring lives just.. Not as.. Okay, I guess some do live boring lives." She shrugged, chuckling a bit.

"Flying you say? But you don't like Quiddich.. Well, you wont be able to swim in the lake here, unless you want to get killed, that is." She tapped her chin in thought, humming some. "Anything else? Dancing? Drawing? Writing?" She raised an eyebrow, curious. "And maybe we could duel some time, I would like to see what your capable of, Francis."

Posts : 50 Join date : 2011-04-18 Age : 34

Sometime after curfew.

A short looking figure slipped out of the Slytherin common room door late at night, and definately past curfew. Walking through the halls, the figure made deliberate steps to be quiet, trying not to wake up any of the pictures or alert any patroling teachers of the little 'sneak out'.

Then again, Valentina could just say that she had caught wif of a first year slipping out beyond the time of curfew that school day, and was just investigating it. Of course, if it was the right teacher, she wouldn't be given another thought. Just a Prefect doing their duty.

Making her way towards one of the back hallways near the Great Hall, Valentina looked around each corner, making sure that there were no professors lurking about. Once she had decided it was safe, she continued on, reaching the hallway.

She couldn't believe she had finally gotten the courage to call the Portugeuse male out, just so that she could confess to him.. She could've done that in the Common room but that would've been to risky. Too many people would be able to hear.. So she had asked him, in a note, at the Great Feast to meet her after curfew so that she could talk to him.

He probably was confused as to what she wanted to talk to him about. The Colombian hoped that she didn't give off the wring vibe and scared him.. That wouldn't have been good. She sighed, looking at the moon through the window, and waited for the boy.

As she waited, thoughts plagued her, scenarios of what might happen. She could be humiliated, he could quit the team, avoid her at all costs! It was a 'bargain with Fate' as she called it, and she wasn't going to back out now.

Valentina knew about his crush on Andrea, she could see it in the way he watched her so intently all the time. Whenever he stole glances at Andrea, while Valentina was stealing glances at him..

And then there was Una. Gabriel was absolutely terrified of the girl, there was no doubt about that. Whenever she was around, he seemed to.. Shrink away from the Head Girl, always treading carefully. And ever since Una found out that Valentina had a deep infatuation with him, she would watch him even more, and treat him more harshly. Now, don't get Val wrong, she loved the girl to death and it made her heart swell whenever Una stood up for her.. Not that she does now, but in their first years..

Off track.

Valentina looked down the hallway once more, sitting on the window sill, and looked out the window. She waved to Nearly Headless Nick as he walked by, a small smile on her face.

"My girl, what are you doing out here?" He had asked but she merely shrugged, tilting her head up towards him. She then started to fiddle with her badges, taking off her Captain badge to polish it.

"Waiting for a rulebreaker.." Valentina had responded. He seemed to leave their conversation on that note, saying goodbye before moving down the hallway, and through the walls. It was then that Valentina heard footsteps. She couldn't quite make out who it was at the end of the hall so she hid in the shadows, eyes closed to a slit as she layed in wait.

Subject: Re: Halls and stairs Wed Aug 24, 2011 1:01 am

She'd just wanted to go back to the Great Hall. She was sure the feast was over, or at least close to it, but after sitting in the common room alone for a while, she couldn't bare feeling so alone any more. She'd been so sure as she left the common room that she could find her way back. It hadn't been a long walk, and they'd only gone down one flight of stairs. She was sure she'd gone up several now, though. Not only that, but it seemed like all the halls looked the same. The stairs moved, and she couldn't figure out how to get down or up.

Arms wrapped around herself, and head bowed, Angelique tried not to feel the eyes of the paintings as they looked down at her. She'd seen moving pictures while she was in Diagon Alley, but she had no idea that every picture moved. The feeling of their eyes on her made her nervous, made her hunch her shoulders, and walk more quickly.

The tears she'd started to cry during the meal had started up again, though now it was a mixture. She was still angry at herself for having spoken French, knowing that everyone around her spoke English as a common language. It was so hard to remember though, French was just easier to slip into for her, knowing she'd messed up so quickly made her angry at herself. She had to be better then this, she just had to be.

Finally, she found a spot by a large archway, and sat down. Back against a wall, and her knees pulled up to her chest, she kept her arms wrapped around herself, and gave up on stifling her tears. They streamed down her face, and soaked into her sleeves, as her shoulder shook and quiet sniffles, and sobs seemed to echo.

Angelique wondered if anyone would find her. Surely no one would think to look for one silly little first year. Raivis might miss her, but she didn't think he'd come looking for her. Maybe she would get lucky and be found by a nice student that could help her find her way, though if the people here were like the ones back home, she doubted it.

Posts : 50 Join date : 2011-04-18 Age : 34

The Colombian had heard correctly, yes, there was a set of footsteps coming her way. As she hid back in the shadows, she peeked around the small arch that she was hidden behind. Was that..

A first year?

What the bloody hell was a first year doing out this late at night?! Sure, Valentina was about to step out and confront the girl but she stopped herself fairly quickly, as she watched the girl closely.

She was crying. Poor thing..

Shaking her head of thoughts of sympathy, Valentina tried to step out and confront the girl, to drag her by her ear back to her dormitory, dock points away, or tell one of the proffessors! No, she couldn't bring herself to kick someone while they were already down.

Gulping silently, Valentina walked over to her and sat down next to her, resting her hand atop the girls head. It was slightly awkward but.. She couldn't just let this girl cry without some means of comfort.

Rubbing the first year's hair, the Prefect looked down at the girls robes and had to hold back a choke. Ugh, Hufflepuff, of course. Still, even knowing that the girl was a Hufflepuff, she couldn't bring herself to yell at her.

Valentina sighed gently, whispering a spell, and illuminated a small portion of the room. Making sure to hide the light from the pictures, she looked down to see the girl's expression.

"Something wrong?" She asked, quietly. "Why are you so sad?" Surely her housemates would ridicule her for being so nice to a first year Hufflepuff (All except Una, maybe), but they weren't here, were they?

Subject: Re: Halls and stairs Mon Sep 12, 2011 7:41 pm

Angelique jumped a little when the hand touched her. Even as gentle as it was, she instinctually curled even tighter into herself, as if she could hide from any possible pain. The light made her look up though, and wiping at her wet eyes, she sniffed, and tried to stop her lips from quivering. Really, how pathetic could she get? She wouldn't surprised if they sent her back home cause she was being such a cry baby.

Turning her head a bit to look at the older student sitting next to her, Angelique tried to place her, but she couldn't. She could tell she was from a different house, and a prefect, but other then that, she hadn't a clue. The young girl hadn't even been able to get a grip on who all she was in the same house with yet, the only name she knew for sure being Raivis'.

Sniffing again, and blinking teary eyes at the much older student, Angelique shook her head. "J-Je...." Her face scrunched up as French came out instead of English, and she buried her face in her arms, "I didn't mean to get lost, I just wanted to go back to the Great Hall where everyone else was, but I don't know where I am, I don't know how to get back, and it's so scary..."

If Angelique had known more about the houses, she likely would not have admitted all of that to a Slytherin. She would have been more wary of whom she let see herself cry. But, as it were, she didn't know, and she couldn't quell her tears long enough to even try and remember what little she'd heard while on the train about the Slytherins.

Posts : 50 Join date : 2011-04-18 Age : 34

The brunette raised an eyebrow at her words and nodded, standing up straight. She straightened out her cloaks and held a hand out to the girl who looked like she was trying to collect her emotions.

"Come, I'll take you back.. Unless, you want to sit here a bit longer? You know, so you can make yourself look decent and get your wits about you?" She asked, her palmed turned outwards and towards the girl. Even if she tried to smile, it probably wouldn't look right since it would have been out of pity.

Of course, the girl was a Hufflepuff after all, not an adequate friend for a Slytherin, but one could still offer their sympathy, or empathize with another. Truth be told, most Slytherin's still had a heart, even if they were rude and crude towards non-Slytherin's, but when another human being saw one of their own crying,a person with a heart would probabky attempt to comfort them.

"By this time, two months from now, you'll probably have a little road map of where to go, where to turn, and where to stay away from in your head. It's all about repitition. Now, get yourself cleaned up. I would offer you a tissue but I am without one, currently." Valentina spoke, crossing her arms across her chest. She now stood behind the girl, feet shoulder length apart, and her posture straight. She wasn't trying to look menacing in any way, it just.. Appeared that way.

Subject: Re: Halls and stairs Wed Sep 14, 2011 10:06 am

(continued from the Hufflepuff Table)

Raivis paused as his housemate caught up with him, eyebrows furrowing in worry and guilt.

“I-I’m really sorry!” he apologized. “I just…I couldn’t sit still anymore. I have this bad feeling!”

The last part came out as a bit of a squeak. The first year felt so stupid and silly, chasing after his friend because of some paranoid “premonition” that he was sure was just all in his head. Raivis had always been a bit pessimistic, but usually thinking of the worse that could happen didn’t drive him to think that it actually had. Not to the point where he’d inconvenience someone to make sure of it, anyway. He hoped Feliks really didn’t mind coming with him. He hadn’t meant to drag the other boy away from the table, but as the small blonde stared wide-eyed at the expansive halls and tall towering stairs before them, he was very glad the older student was there.

“W-which way?” he whispered, looking to the left and right. He hoped the common room wasn’t far. That way he could just go in, see that Angelique was there, and everything would be okay. He’d apologize again to Feliks for being so stupid and maybe even to Angelique for being so clingy. So pathetic…Can’t even sit still for half an hour without someone to hold your hand. For some reason, every time there was a reprimanding thought in Raivis’ head, it spoke in his father’s voice. The first year cringed a bit and hung his head, looking down at the slice of pie in his hands. The blueberry filling was leaking through and staining the napkins it was wrapped in, making his fingers a bit sticky. He hoped Angelique would still want to eat it when he finally delivered it to her.

Right- there wasn’t time to waste. The desperate feeling was still strong in Raivis’ gut, and he was eager to get rid of it by reuniting with his friend and seeing that she was fine. Without thinking about it further, the boy started heading in what he hoped was the correct direction, towards the stairs. No sooner had he taken a few steps up it though, that the entire staircase began to move. Raivis shrieked, grabbing onto the handrail as if it was his lifeline. He certainly hadn’t been expecting that. No one had told him that these staircases moved! He crouched down, sitting on the stairs a trembling mess and looking back over at his housemate. The floor Feliks was standing on was…maybe four steps away from him. Raivis slid down the short distance sheepishly, thinking that maybe this time, it was better to let his housemate go first.

Subject: Re: Halls and stairs Sat Oct 15, 2011 11:14 pm

Feliks panted a bit as he caught up with Raivis. Since quidditch was on brooms, it didn’t really do anything for his stamina, and the dessert he’d just had wasn’t helping him either. “Eh?” he said between breaths. “Bad feeling? What are you…talking about? It’s just the first night and Hogwarts is like….totally safe. She couldn’t have even found her way to the Forbidden Forest yet!” But Raivis didn’t really appear to be listening. He was behaving all panicky like scared little ferret at hippogriff feeding time. It was weird and Feliks didn’t understand it. But he couldn’t exactly leave the poor kid to wander about on his own. He was a fellow Hufflepuff! Plus if the first few minutes of his wanderings were any indication, if he left Raivis alone they would probably just find the guy in a week’s time, huddled in some corner of the dungeons beneath a blanket of cobwebs. And that was really no way to start the year.

“Wait, not that way!” he called out, having only just caught his breath, as the small boy ran off. Completely in the wrong direction of course, since the Hufflepuff common room was downstairs near the kitchens and that was the most likely place for his friend to be. Raivis seemed so caught up in his own sudden and strange concern for the girl though, that he didn’t seem to hear. At least not in time to keep him off the staris.

Watching the first year get terrified by his first encounter with the moving staircases would have been amusing if it wasn’t just so…sad. This kid must have been muggle born for him to have been so thrown by something that was rather mundane to Feliks himself. Raivis might have said something earlier about his parentage, but Feliks couldn’t really remember if he did.

He gave a small sigh as he waited for Raivis to climb down from the partially risen stairs, putting a hand on him as he landed to keep him from falling over. “You need to like, seriously calm down, little bro. It’s far too early in the year to be spazzing out like this. Come on, let’s just go to the common room and you’ll see. Your little girlfriend is like, probably hanging in there waiting for you. So don’t freak out in the meantime and crush her pie.” He gestured to the dessert in the boy’s hands, seeing the blueberry beginning to peak out. Offering a grin to try and lighten the mood, he slipped an arm around the first year and steered him around towards the right descending staircase and not really giving him a chance to protest. “Come on, right over here to the Hufflepuff common room! Pay attention, cause I like, can’t always be here to be your all knowing voice of experience, yeah?”

Subject: Re: Halls and stairs Wed Nov 16, 2011 8:39 pm

She sniffed and sat on the floor a moment longer, staring up at the older girl, and the hand stretched out towards her. Wiping at her eyes one more time, she reached up and took her hand, letting herself be pulled to her feet. The tears wouldn't stop though, and try as she might, she couldn't really get her shoulders to stay still for more than a few seconds. “I'm okay.”

Trying not to feel afraid as the older girl moved to stand behind her, Angelique couldn't help but feel like a mouse more than a badger. She pulled her arms closer to her body, clutching at the edges of her cloak to hold it tight, and hunched down a little bit. The other girl had been so nice so far, but it didn't make Angelique feel very safe now. The darkness of the halls, and just how new everything was, it seemed like far to much to take in. She was exhausted, and miserable, and still hungry.

Dropping her head down, eyes on the floor, as she nearly hugged herself. “I'm sorry.” She murmured, a phrase that was becoming far to familiar to herself. “I'm so so sorry....”