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@Percival Gray | @Callie Jensen | Pajamas

Knowing that there was a stargazing event happening tonight, Dymphna changed into the appropriate pajamas and made sure to grab her father's old telescope before heading over. Celestina was just put into bed, tucked away inside of her trunk. She would hopefully sleep through the night but if not, one of her other tent mates might be around to give her attention if she needed it. The blonde wasn't too worried about her though, she had grown since their meeting a few years ago. At first, the pygmy puff hadn't slept well and Dymph supposed she wasn't confident that she would be staying long-term. It took a while to build up her trust and assure her that she wasn't going anywhere.

It had been too long since Dymphna went stargazing. The last time outside of an academic setting was likely first year when she had snuck out and met up with Reid Kovacs, making a friend out of Bloom Silverton before the end of the night. It seemed like so long ago. If she could go back and tell her first year self what her life would be like now, would she? She didn't think she would want to - she was much too innocent then, not having suffered through anything. Things may have changed but... they were okay. She was doing okay. It had been a good decision to return to school, even with summer being so close. She was able to reconnect with her friends before the summer holidays began.

Making new friends was always nice too, though. That was what led her to seek out unfamiliar faces rather than sit with someone she already knew. A snazzy looking bloke was sitting with a girl who's arms were piled with food. With her old telescope in hand, Dymphna went over to stand beside them. "Room for one more?" The girl was familiar enough but they hadn't been given the chance to chat, only seeing each other around the common room. Her name started with a C, didn't it? The other wasn't familiar at all but it was quite a large school. If she were honest, most of the familiar faces were from her own house. "I'm Dymphna, by the way." She waited politely for a reply. If they didn't want company, if they had come together to try and have a romantic date, she didn't want to barge in on it.

Interacting with: @Adam Harringtom & @Dmitri Jones

Did Bloom have a presence? He seemed to know who she was even though she introduced herself. Perhaps there was more to her than she thought. Bloom smiled when Adam agreed to watch the stars with her.

"Great!" she said, excitedly. She shimmied her way into the spot that Adam had made for her next to him.

The best part was that he ushered Dmitri to come along with them. Bloom remembered Dmitri. She could not remember clearly how they met other than them meeting in the library a couple years ago. He was a Slytherin, and Bloom at the time, was not a fan of Slytherin after her encounter with a Slytherin named Marcus and another named Erin Ryan during her first year--no... Her first week at Hogwarts.

"Yeah, Dmitri, join us!" she said, echoing Adam's invitation. The more the merrier to watch the stars on such a clear and gorgeous night. Bloom felt good. She felt her self-esteem rise just ever so slightly.

Bloom grabbed one of the three chocolate frogs that Adam had taken out of the picnic basket. She did not yet open it, however. She was not ready to have it hop out of her hands because she wasn't ready for the bite. She set it down on her lap and looked at the map that Adam had placed over his lap. It was a star chart and it was filled with so many dots.

Bloom looked at the chart and quickly to the sky. She looked back at the chart and then back at the sky. This was going to be difficult to spot-- at least for her. While the stars on the map looked very well put together, the stars in the sky were very much chaotic. There were no lines to help guide her where certain constellations would be.

Smiling at Adam, she nodded. "They are. Just not when we're getting tested on them," she joked, thinking of Astronomy. It was one thing to just stare at the sky and enjoy what life presents, but another when you're getting graded on it.

"Can you believe that we're going to be fourth years?" she asked, her mind turning from Astronomy to their next year. It was crazy how fast time was passing by. Soon enough, they were going to graduate. It was great having these moments that Hogwarts hosts to have time stand still.

Interacting with: @Rosalind Kibitzer

Apparently the well-aged Professor had in fact noticed her, the woman’s American accent interrupting her daze. The student who was previously there had left, and now Professor Kibitzer’s attention was on her.

“Dee, Professor, M-Maria Dee.” She stammered, not expecting the woman to notice her.

She hesitated for a moment before approaching. Was this a good idea? What would she even ask? The curious badger’s thoughts were invaded with a flurry of questions. However her mind kept drifting back to the age old question that she’s always wanted to ask. But would she dare to do so? Did she want to know the answer? The old letter she’d written came to mind. She told herself that she never really felt the need to look for “The Man” because what good would that do? But the thought of finding him and meeting him still lingered. There were so many questions she wanted to ask that only he had the answer to. Would meeting him stir up trouble? Why was she even entertaining the thought? She didn’t need him - she’d never needed him. But why did a part of her feel like it was missing? She had a father, and this man wasn’t him.

With her mind made up, she slowly approached and took the seat across the Divination teacher.

Maria looked at the implements on the table before looking back at her. She noted the Professor’s white hair, stern eyes, and the lines on her face owed to proper aging. Now it was time for her to choose between the bones and a palm reading.

“I-I’d like to do the bones, please.” She asked, her voice wavering at first, still unsure if she wanted to ask the question. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind as she stared at the jar. What would they say? Would it help her? Her heartbeat felt like it was thumping loudly in her ears and her hands were clammy. It was probably best that she chose the bones because her palms were sweating heavily. There was no need for her to embarrass herself in front of a Professor before she was in their class.

“And for my query, um.” Maria hesitated before she finally asked. “There’s someone I’ve been meaning to look for. I’d like to know what would happen if I found them.”

Interacting with @Aisling Collins

Interacting with @Aaron Jones
Open to other interactions

Aisling had the entire night (or however long the stargazing event was set to last) to wait around until Aaron noticed her. Thankfully, it didn't take the tinkering boy long to realize the exuberant redhead was invading his space. The instant he grinned her smile lit up tenfold- if such a thing was even possible. Honestly, some could have sworn that she was plucked from a sun ray and given form with how utterly bright she was.

"Eh, every little bit is progress, right? Maybe I can help figure it out." A light laugh escaped her as she folded her star chart between her fingers, ready to roll up her nonexistent sleeves and get to twisting and fiddling with knobs. However, it seemed that Aaron wouldn't be needing her help as he'd somehow finagled the telescope into working properly.

Curls bounced as she straightened at his proclamation, brows rising in surprise. "Already?" Giving a solid snap of her fingers she put on her best, disappointed tone and murmured, "Well, drats. Here I was trying to be helpful and you get it all figured out in a jiffy." While she didn't expect his invitation she certainly didn't look upset by it, clasping her hands together as she giggled. "Yeah, sure! Of course. Why wouldn't I?" Stargazing through a telescope, of all things, had to be the best thing on the menu tonight, and Aaron was serving her up the best dish without any fuss. What a perfect night so far!

Waving a hand to dismiss his comment she encouraged him with a positive, "I'm sure with enough fiddling we'd figure it out in due time. If not tonight then another night." Using both hands she smoothed her curls away from her face, bending at the waist to peer into the telescope. It took a second for her vision to adjust to the shift in perspective, and when it did she couldn't help but dreamily sigh. "Oh, wow," she breathed, "This definitely beats staring up at them from the beach."

"Huh?" Drawn in by the stars she had momentarily forgotten that she was in good company. With an embarrassed laugh she withdrew from the telescope slightly, tilting her head to peer at Aaron through a few strays curls. "Oh, sorry. It's nice to meet you, Aaron. I'm Aisling." Pressing her fingertips into her nape she tried her best to keep that wild mane of curls contained against her head and shoulders as she put on her best grin. "Haven't started yet, actually. I, um, well..." Unsure of how to put it her eyes wandered skyward, as if searching for the words in the stars themselves.

"I'm very new to all of this," she admitted after a moment with a shrug. "Magic, I mean. My parents thought my brother was trying to pull a cruel prank on me." Recalling the stern talking to her brother had received made her laugh. Devin had been a good sport about the news, even if he was a tad jealous that his sister was going on a whole new adventure without him. "It was an interesting week before I came to camp."

Not wanting to miss out on the view she turned her eyes back towards the telescope, carefully leaning in again to take another peek at the stars with a hum of approval. She spent a quiet moment appreciating the various sparkling patterns in the night sky before realizing she was hogging the good stuff. Apologizing she stepped back, gesturing for Aaron to move into her spot and take a gander at the close-up view.

"How was it," she asked whenever he would settle in. "Your first year, I mean. I have no idea what to expect, so I'm a little nervous." Afraid? Never, but certainly a little anxious about changing schools- and what a change it would be. Making friends had never been an issue for Aisling, but she had no idea what was waiting in store for her regarding everything else, especially in terms of the curriculum- how does one even teach, much less learn magic? Oh, even thinking about it made her cheeks flush with color as she realized, once again, that she was a witch!

Interacting with @Callie Jensen and @Dymphna Teague

The stars seemed to be out in full force tonight, almost as if it was planned for the event. They were beautiful to say the least, a sight that anyone would stare up to in wonder. Although, after a few minutes of peace a girl came up beside him "Hello! Do you mind if I sit here? I got distracted by the food.." she questioned, her thoughts more on the food than himself. He moved his head to the right and stared for a few seconds, before hesitantly nodding his head to the newcomer. Percy hadn't seen the Ravenclaw before around Hogwarts, so it was best to be cautious on who she really was. She held out some sandwiches to emphasise her point, before introducing herself properly "I'm Callie by the way! This place is quite pretty, don't you think?"

Percy slowly brought his upper body into a sitting position and faced her, his eyes looking the girl up and down "Well Callie, you are not wrong about that..." he said with a small nod, a hand motioning to a space on the carpet "Names Percival by the way, Percival Gray" the boy said with a no nonsense look, his gaze soon turning upwards to look at the sky once more. All he wanted was an event that didn't turn into utter chaos, it's the least he and everyone else deserved after what happened over the last few weeks.

"Room for one more?" said another voice from beside him, this time one that he knew well. His head snapped to the direction of the voice and soon had confirmation on his thoughts. Dymphna was a girl he had known for years, mainly through the friendship of their mothers who were good friends during their Hogwarts years. Although they last saw each other a year ago, she still seemed to look like the same person "I'm Dymphna, by the way." added on the girl to introduce herself to both of them. Percy shared a small grin over to Dymphna, wondering if she still recognised or even remembered him "Tráthnóna Dymphna, long time no see" he said while motioning his hand to another empty space "How are things doing lately?"

Interacting| @Charles Simmons

Interacting with @Alaric Equinox.

Charles smiled lightly he didn't think the professor would be so cool. He wasn't making Charles feel like a child that had issues. And he wasn't freaking out around Charles because his skin was corpse like. Charles understood that this man was fine if he was around people like Charles. Otherwise they wouldn't be seeing him twice a day every day. But what surprised Charles the most was, when Charles looked up he also seemed to have a clawed hand.

Charles, wiped the tears off of his face, and looked at his own hand. The claws really bothered him, that is why he wore gloves. But he never realised that this man was like him. He should have noticed, he should have been paying attention. Why was it he never realised that this man and all the others that saw this man twice a day everyday, Charles could have made friends with.

But instead he never payed attention to that fact, if he just asked one of the kids there. He could figure out more about how to live like this. Most of the others of his kind he had seen most likely grew up as what they were. But since Charles was bitten, he only had two years to figure it out at home. And he never did.

He wanted to figure out more at school, but he was too afraid to ask. He didn’t like what he was, and his parents had little info on what he was. Because they always stayed away from people like Charles. And they never wanted to learn about them. Charles just put his hand down and ignored Alaric’s gesture.

The boy looked right into the mans eyes. “Why is it some people see people like us as monsters. My mother and father try to hide it but I can tell. They see me as a monster now” Charles paused it was clear he wanted to ask something else but he stayed quiet. He shook his head and looked at the table. “Im sorry for troubling you. I just don’t know why, aren’t we human too. Even if I’m only half human, I’m still human right?” Charles just hoped the man would still be as nice as he was now. And if not then Charles would just leave. He didn't need somebody to yell at him.

Rosalind gave @Bloom Silverton a pleasant smile as she departed the line. She had no problem with students disliking her for her honesty - in fact, she took a bit of pride in how quickly she could drive away students she found troublesome. Those who would not wait their turn were one example of this. Whether the poor girl deserved to have her feelings hurt for it was beyond her concern. Rosalind couldn't control the fragility of the children.

"Maria Dee," the professor repeated, examining the girl as she stammered out her introduction. This was not a particularly pleasant variety of student, either. Backbone and manners were both in short supply among the students of Hogwarts. You could either have one of the other. Bloom had shown backbone after her lack of manners. Maria had shown manners. "What is it you need to know?"

@Maria Dee seemed to pause, wary of approaching. Though few put their faith in it, the power that Rosalind wielded was not to be wielded lightly by a believer in it. Knowing one's future could be a boon, but also a burden. Fate could be cruel, and it was not kind to those who tried to cheat it. But the girl stepped up. To the professor's surprise, she chose the bones. The old woman twisted the lid off of the jar and dust wafted out to clog up their nostrils, an unpleasant musty smell spreading through the air. Maybe the stink was related to the reading somehow. The professor shook some of the old bones out into her hand, letting them sit in her palm as she inspected them closely. Yes, good enough - they would serve their purpose today, at least.

"Mysterious query," the professor said. Her tone suggested this was... praise? Students who were looking to find out if divination was real would never ask that question. They would ask her to predict the weather, or whether their crush liked them back. Professor Kibitzer enjoyed questions like Maria's - questions that raised questions.

She shook the bones out onto the little table, tossing them up and letting them land as the would. A ghoulish practice indeed, to be tossing around the bones of living creatures like that, but they were more useful to her than to a sheep's skeleton, so Rosalind felt no guilt. "Without more information, it's difficult to read deeply... but this pattern suggests to me..."

The professor poked the bones around on the table a bit, scratching her chin as she discerned the meaning - if there was one there at all. "I can't tell you if what you'll find will be good or bad, no. But I can tell it would be important to you. I would consider carefully whether you are ready for that." The woman nodded sagely. "I'll give you some time to think while I deal with your friend, there."

Interest in fortune-telling had waned as Kibitzer accumulated a line and then promptly decimated it with her rude remarks. But if @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood was still present, the professor would lean around to call her forward, beckoning her with a hand. "Now - what is your name?"

Interacting with @Lindsey Springhall
Mentioning @Anastasia Beckett

"I've made a few good friends." Eyre told her. "Lots of Gryffindors… " He let out a yawn, lying down on the blanket with his head propped up on one of the pillows that were provided for him. He must've been more sleepy then he thought. "I don't think I've met very many Slytherins. Not like I have a problem with them, it's just…" He trailed off, feeling his eyes become heavy as he closed them.

He started to doze off for a few moments, the background noise fading off to a dull roar. He snapped out of it after awhile. "'M Sorry… I'm so sleepy…"

Eyre put his hands in his pockets for warmth, feeling the letter and remembering that it was there. He really wanted to get that into Ana that night, and if he didn't take a move on now, he'd probably fall asleep on the blanket + never finish it.

"I should probably head back to my tent, I have a letter to send to Ana, and it's getting rather late." He said with a sleepy smile, getting himself up off the ground and brushing himself off. "…It was very kind of you to check on me… I hope to see you around." He said, waving at her as he started walking back towards his tent. He decided that stargazing was a lot more relaxing than he thought. Maybe he'd send his star chart to Ana, so she'd feel a little less alone tonight. After all, he was sure that his friend would enjoy the peace of mind.

OOC: Eyre has left the thread.