Aspirants, Assemble! PV: League of Aspirant Animagi Finished

Interacting with almost everyone

Seeing Pericles (@Pericles Dralt) greet her with a smile made her relaxed just a bit. She couldn’t seem to look him in the eye for an extended period of time, never really talked to boys except for her father and stepfather, not that they are boys, of course. He mentioned something about her late audition back in January, her flushed cheek appeared to redden as she remembered her not so elegant but very embarrassing sweaty moment. “Yeah, sorry about the- uh- the sudden sweaty entrance back then. I don’t usually late to meetings or classes. And yes, I joined the headliner as well, along with the others, didn’t know you were there, though” She tittered and tighten her ponytail awkwardly. Of course she knew he was there, his name was on the member list. Worried about him thinking that she might have been a stalker made her lie on the spot. Being a Ravenclaw and all, there was no way he bought that.

As she looked through the images on the wall, another student arrived. An older student named Andrew, or Andy (@Andrew Vance) as what the Slytherin prefered. “Uh- hi.. Yes” She smiled at the third year, “Aurora Ranvier, first-year Ravenclaw.. you can call me Rory or anything, I just made up that nickname.” When she heard a groan coming out from Andy, she almost felt offended. Did he hate chocolate or something? Her heart beat faster, slightly overthinking how everyone will hate her presence in the club. It turned out quite the opposite, a little unexpected. She sighed in relief, “Oh, that is so thoughtful of you. Cats cannot eat chocolate, right? Does that mean I have to give up my chocolate collection so my future cat will not feel bad?” Her last two questions are intended more to herself, but it was loud enough for people to hear.

Not long after that, another student (@Piérre Marchonné)with a Ravenclaw shirt entered the room as he greeted Pericles as ‘Peri’. Aurora remembered her mother told her that peri means fairy, at least that was what her grandfather told her mother. The student named Pierre must love his house so much that he proudly wore a Ravenclaw shirt to the meeting. “Hi, yes.. are you a- a Ravenclaw too?” Aurora asked the second year in a slightly confused tone. Based on her memory, he was in the Gryffindor quidditch team, or maybe it was a different person.

She looked around the room, wishing another girl would come. It may be slightly uncomfortable for her to be the only girl in the room. As if the wizarding God heard her prayer, a white-haired student stepped inside the room (@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood). Was she and Pericles related? Possibly. For some reasons, she reminded Aurora of a snow queen. How could someone look so gracious while Aurora cannot seem to stop her from doing unintentional awkward things.

Being at the meeting made her realise that there are so many people that she did not know existed until now. That might be the same case with them when seeing Aurora. It was a pretty great start. People at Hogwarts were very different from those in her previous muggle school. Naomi was the only one who was being nice to her, the others not so much. While the muggles often see her as an intimidating kid, no one seemed to see her like that here, which was a good feeling. She felt she belonged at Hogwarts.

Aurora continued browsing through the images as the rest of the students arrived at the meeting. Everyone was much taller than her, it made her need to look upwards whenever she talked to people. Her neck was a bit sore after all these interactions. If only she were a bit taller. Aurora turned around to sit down somewhere, hoping there was someone she recognised. Then, her focus glued on the tiny kitten who was nested in a boy’s hood. He dressed up like a cat as well (@Kazuo Shimada). Was it a cat hoodie? Looked pretty cool. She really wanted to jump, steal the kitten and snuggle with it. But it might be best if she did not do that as that will be seen as rude. Slowly, she approached the boy with a kitten and asked him with a low volume to not disturb the kitten’s peace. “Um- can- can I?” Aurora will pet the kitten first if allowed before sitting down somewhere.

Actions : Petting the cat, if allowed and sitting down somewhere

Pericles. He rolled the name over in his head, contemplating whether or not he would fumble it if he tried to speak it. Probably. It was one of those odd English names that didn't quite flow off a Japanese tongue. Peri he could handle though. "Peri-san," Kazuo settled, still affixing his customary suffix to keep some of the formality. "Kazuo Shimada." He offered his name with a smile. "Either is fine, whatever you prefer."

As Jack and Ruka settled next to him, he grinned at them in turn then wrinkled his nose at Jack. "Is your eyesight going? !" He scoffed though there was amusement in his eyes. "At least you didn't call it a dog hoodie."

He turned to Ruka when the older brother noticed his furry freeloader and he nodded enthusiastically at Ruka's request. "I just got him, he's still so tiny I didn't want to leave him in the dorm. He was a runt so he's smaller than he should be." Ruka's observation seemed to have summoned more attention for his kitten so he carefully lifted the Bengal out of his hood so the others could reach him easily. The kitten yawned and stared at Ruka with wide eyes.

"His name is Haru. It means spring." He replied to Andrew then nodded at Aurora when she asked if she could pet the cat. It hadn't occurred to him to ask if it was okay to bring Haru, he'd just assumed a club about turning into animals wouldn't be opposed to having real animals around. He glanced at Pericles when Andrew asked about it, relieved when the answer provided was one of encouragement. He shifted his gaze back to Andrew and smiled a bit. “A rat…? Aren’t rats considered pests? I’ve never seen a pet rat before. Haru has also never seen a rat before so I don’t know how he will react but I fear he may try to pounce on your Penelope.”

He turned his attention back to Pericles, expression thoughtful. “Is understanding the anatomy of the animal a necessary part of the transformation process? It would make sense, if it were, since transfiguration requires strong visualization but it makes me wonder why an Animagus can only have one form. You would think once you mastered the theory of the transformation, you would be able to visualize any animal.”

He glanced at the chocolate Aurora had brought when Pericles drew attention to it, yet passed on the offer, wrinkling his nose slightly.

@Pericles Dralt @Andrew Vance @Aurora Ranvier @Jack Burnett @Ruka Burnett-Tân

Showing off the bestest, cutest furball in all existence. Feel free to pet the kitten, Kazuo will permit it.

Reducio

Outfit

With a grateful nod and a smile in response to Pericles' own, Jack thanked the eagle before going to sit. As he did so, however, he kept his eyes and ears open as other students such as Aurora Ranvier introduced herself (and mentioned the nickname of 'Rory'). The name was definitely unfamiliar to him; no wonder he hadn't recognized her. Still, he was always up for meeting new people.

Aurora, however, seemed captivated by Kazuo's tiny pet feline, as did Ruka. This caused Jack to roll his eyes at his older adopted brother, though he wasn't sure if the other boy saw him. He didn't really much mind, though, as evidenced by his reluctant smirk.

Continuing to listen to the conversations going on around him, the redhead heard Andrew talk about his rat. He chuckled softly at the comment that she ate as if she was starving. At least not everyone was completely blinded to the true natures of animals by the perceived 'cuteness' of their pets.

"What made you decide to go for a rat after wanting a cat?" Jack asked Andrew aloud. "Rocky might not have been there anymore, but surely there were other felines there you might have found just as charming, yeah? Or, at least, more enticing than a completely different animal, right?"

He grinned at the utterance of 'Accio cucumber' and reached for his bag. "I think I still have a banana and an apple from lunch. Want some? Might not be chocolate, but they're sweet, at least."

Kazuo's scoff about his eyesight earned a cheeky sneer. "It's not my fault your culture likes to make cats and foxes look so similar. Anyway, if there's a cat in it, doesn't that make it a 'cat hoodie' in a way?"

He slung his arm about the Hufflepuff's shoulders and began to stroke his hair as if comforting a forlorn friend. "Awww, I know Haru's getting a lot of attention, but don't worry, Shimada-kun. I know you're still the cutest."

Growing a bit bored of Kazuo's seriousness and know-it-all demeanor, Jack silently agreed with the Japanese boy's idea that understanding the anatomy of an animal was a necessary part of the process before gasping dramatically. Then he asked Pericles (not without some measure of facetiousness), "We aren't going to be dissecting animals in this club, are we?"

@Ruka Burnett-Tân, @Kazuo Shimada, @Pericles Dralt, @Aurora Ranvier, & @Andrew Vance

Letting his eyes drift across the room, Ruka was able to pick up a couple of names he wasn't familiar with and despite his initial urge to block them out and forget about them again, he tried his best to familiarise himself with them instead. His general dislike for people aside, it was probably a good idea to be aware of the students he was going to be in a club with.

With his gaze finally coming to rest on Pericles again, Ruka regarded the other boy with an appreciative nod. Even if he hadn't believed that Pericles had actively harmed animals to get his decorations himself, Ruka was happy to hear that he was aware of the process with which they had been acquired. It put him at ease to say the least. "You really thought about where to get this stuff from, huh?" he said without expecting much of an answer. He kept staring at some of the fangs and skins as he sat down, but after having been pacified about his concern over animal cruelty he found himself distracted rather quickly by Kazuo's cat and the permission to pet it.

His own acknowledgment of the fur ball seemed to have drawn some attention because soon enough he was joined by others asking to pet Haru. While Kazuo seemed alright with his pet being swooned over, Ruka had never liked sharing, so after allowing some more pets, he reached out and carefully pulled the cat from the other boy to gently cradle him in his arms instead. With one look in the right direction he could see his brother rolling his eyes at him, and Ruka was quick to scrunch up his nose and poke his tongue out at Jack before burying his face in Haru's soft fur for a moment.

He listened as the boy, Andrew, talked about his pet rat, and frowned a bit at Kazuo's observation that rats were considered pests more than pets. He'd definitely seen rats for sale in Diagon Alley before. "There are no pet rats in Japan?" he asked curiously. Ruka himself wasn't exactly familiar with what kinds of animals were common pets but he had been quite sure that people liked keeping all kinds of rodents.

At the mention of chocolates, Ruka perked up a bit, letting his gaze drift to the girl who had apparently brought some sweet treats for everyone. He grinned at her, gave a grateful nod and was about to say something when he heard Andrew's groan and an uttered spell that didn't seem to have had any effect. It was promptly followed by Jack's offer of an apple or banana he'd brought along from lunch.

"You don't like chocolates?" Ruka asked Andrew with his head tilted questioningly to the side. Was he missing something? There were far too many kids around who didn't appreciate the deliciousness of chocolate. Ruka had never had any before coming to Hogwarts and he definitely wasn't going to ever give it up again.

Absentmindedly petting Haru, Ruka watched his brother sling an arm around Kazuo as if he was a neglected cat himself and it elicited an ungraceful snort from him. He wasn't sure cute was in any way a compliment but decided not to comment on it in favour of listening to Pericles' thorough explanations and answers to the various question he'd been asked. Learning more about animals and their anatomy seemed interesting enough, regardless of whether it was actually useful to the transformation process or not, so Ruka leaned forward in interest only to look back again at his brother's question.

Rolling his eyes, Ruka leaned against Kazuo. "I have half a mind to dissect him most days," he said, shaking his head before making himself comfortable with Haru still placed safely on his lap, tickling the kitten's belly playfully despite the risk of claws scratching at his skin. What were a few scars more in exchange for getting to play with an adorable cat?

Interacting:N/A
Mentioning: @Pericles Dralt | @Jack Burnett | @Kazuo Shimada | @Piérre Marchonne | @Ruka Burnett-Tân | @Andrew Vance
Languages: English | French | Italian | Arabic | Russian
Hoodie(with the hood covering his face)
Pendant

Henry Knight Has Exit The Thread

────────────────────── 𝒜 ──────────────────────

Open to interactions!
Interacting With:
Mentioning: Piérre Marchonné | Aurora Ranvier | Jasmine | Pericles Dralt
Action: Writing her name on the logbook, sitting down, being awkward af
The 'fit:

Reducio

Hex Color: #0080FF
────────────────────── 𝒜 ──────────────────────

Ana bit her lip for a moment as she hesitated before entering. She hated being late to things she actually cared about and was debating abandoning the meeting altogether. Being an Animagus was something she wanted for years, but lately, that seemed childish, almost silly. Magic was capable of such pain and destruction that using it for something like this made her feel guilty somehow. However, since she had ruled out running away and living as a Muggle, at least for the time being, she was going to have to get it together. Jasmine, who had opted to accompany her, meowed as if demanding to know what the hold up was. Head held high, Ana swept in, her feline companion close behind.

The first thing she saw was a logbook, with several other names written down. Before she began to write, she set her cup of coffee down. She was seldom seen without the beverage and that particular day was no exception. In delicate, if somewhat overdramatic, handwriting, Ana wrote her name down before reading the others to ascertain who there she might want to speak to and more importantly who she might want to avoid. She recognized Piérre Marchonné, which was something of a comfort. While the two weren't particularly close, her Quidditch teammate was generally a hyperactive ball of sunshine and certainly not someone was actively avoiding. Aurora Ranvier rang a bell as well, although Ana couldn't place exactly where she might know the girl from at that moment.

Expertly balancing her coffee, she chose a seat close to where she had entered, so as not to disrupt things. While Ana generally loved being the center of attention, it wouldn't do to take focus away from whatever was going on with her own tardiness. Pericles was someone Ana had at least a bit of respect for and considering that he had clearly put a fair amount of work into the club and this meeting, attempting to draw attention to herself was definitely not the way to conduct herself. Jasmine seemed to disagree, glancing about the room as if she was looking for prey and occasionally hissing when anyone or anything made eye contact with her.

As she heard the tail(hehe pun) end of Pericles' words, Jasmine seemed to have felt as if she had sufficiently intimidated everyone and curled up next to Ana's foot. It was moments like these when Ana rather resented her pureblood upbringing. If you put in her a high society event, Ana knew exactly what to do and how to behave. Same with a Quidditch match. This was neither of those and if Ana was being entirely honest, even after 3 years of schooling, she had about no idea what to do in such a situation.

@Aurora Ranvier | @Andrew Vance | @Kazuo Shimada | @Anastasia Beckett | @Ruka Burnett-Tân | @Jack Burnett

Had Pericles any sense of Aurora's innocent act, he didn't express it, smiling on obliviously in turn. He did not entirely expect Aurora to know him as a Headliner writer; he kept to himself in the office, quietly and dutifully scrawling away at his articles. "Maybe you'll illustrate one of my submissions these days," he mused with a half-shrug, keen on the concept of collaborating. Her apology over her sweatiness before almost urged out a light laugh, but he managed to conceal it with a shake of the head. "Don't be... I was happy to see you were so excited to be there." On a hushed note, "Who knows? Maybe, we will meet some new recruits for the choir in this club, too. If you hear of anyone intending to become a frog or toad animagus, you'll have to steer them our way." The singing auditions had gone smoothly, and Pericles felt as though this introduction was already off to a promising start. Andrew had mentioned something about the name though, something about The Justice League. With a quizzical frown, the young pureblood pondered this, tentatively venturing to ask "Are they... a law enforcement organization?" How interesting. Legal organizations were of interest to him, namely the investigative types, but he was certain he hadn't heard of them....

Alongside the new things Pericles was bound to learn today, there was the matter of meeting new people. Even nowadays he was still warming up to habits of socialization, he did not join nor form clubs for the sake of meeting others, but it was an aspect that he was quickly coming to appreciate. New faces, meant new perspectives, meant new ideas. "Peri-san" was new altogether. Gentle surprise melded with intrigue as he rolled over the honorific in his head. How did one return it? Mister Shimada? No, that would sound much too old and impersonal.... Since he seemed to have no preference, Peri elected to opt for a first-name basis. "Good to meet you, Kazuo," came the cordial return, then with a smile creeping up and a nod towards the hoody, "as well as your friend." So help him, he'd pet the kitten before this was over.

But another matter of particular interest brought him back to the moment. Why indeed were Animagi restricted to a single creature? He theorized with a carefully contained enthusiasm, though the charge lying behind it implied he was dangerously close to being derailed, tempted by the opportunity to share his thoughts and hear what others had to think. As Anastasia entered, he continued to talk, stare and smile briefly flitting her way before he spoke, as if to alleviate her uncertainty by drawing the attention. "I've wondered the very same," Pericles admitted, looking round to the others gathered, extending his excitement for the theory. "For example, Metamorphs can express multiple forms. From what I've read on Animagi, the animal form taken on is not only singular, but deeply personal to the transformer. I think one could draw a parallel to the fact that wixes may only have one patronus. In fact, I've heard of many cases in which one's patronus and animal were the same, or at least similar." It was a tantalizing tidbit, a gateway to further questions and contemplations, albeit not one he intended to open on the very first meeting. A sample of what was to come, evidently, as Peri confessed "It's theories such as those that I'm looking forward to exploring through the League."

Pericles' neutral state was one of default daydreaming. When left to his own devices, he often appeared lost in thought, quiet, tranquil, slow and methodical of movement. Now he was starkly present, eyes bright and expressive. He sat with spine straight, the heels of his hands braced to his knees, arm occasionally raising for a languid emphasizing gesture to go along with his words. This was something engaging, something to anchor that drifting mind of his. Getting to know people was nice enough. Getting to know their thoughts and peculiarities, well, that was the best part. Ruka remarked on the thought Peri had put into the acquisition of today's teaching materials. It wasn't exactly phrased as a compliment, but the boy would appear appreciative of acknowledgment all the same, beaming before he gave a simple silent nod. Jack posed another interesting question, on whether or not the League intended to dissect animals, and he couldn't resist a second small smile at Ruka's remark. "No quite," came the cryptic response. The dubious words were left to hang, emphasized, in the air between them all before he meandered down another path.

"Do any of you have a strong affinity to any sort of animal? That isn't just t'say what you do or do not like. As in, I'm very fond of cats, but that's more of an external appreciation." Did that make sense? He hesitated, trying to gauge if his audience followed the odd choice of words before continuing. "I feel a closeness to birds. My father introduced me to falconry at a young age, and I spent a lot of time wondering how it would feel to fly, even dreaming about it. When I look at a hawk or an eagle, there's this sense of... intelligence, to them, that I can't easily put into words. Not that they are especially smart, more, that their intuitions and instincts make a great deal of sense to me." He would invite others to share by looking around the gathering, hoping to urge others into sharing what creatures they felt close to, and what aspect of those animals appealed to them most.

Answering questions and making speculations, eluding to future League meets
Asking the group if anyone has particular animal affinities

He rolled his eyes at Jack, intentionally obviously, making sure the other boy saw the look of pure disdain his comment had inspired. Then he smirked a bit, softening the outraged act he had put on. “Everyone knows foxes are just cat software in dog hardware, Burnett.” He replied in a know-it-all tone of voice. “But clearly you need glasses if you think we make foxes and cats look alike.” There was a playfulness to the way he responded to Jack; a perceptive person would see that he wasn’t entirely serious. Yet when Jack draped an arm around his shoulder and fussed with his hair, Kazuo couldn’t help but to stiffen a bit at the close contact. He didn’t think he’d ever grow used to how familiar people were here. “I know I’m the cutest, Burnett.” He shot back with a grin, hiding his momentary discomfort behind mock pride.

When Jack asked about dissection, Kazuo also looked over at Pericles, hoping the answer would be no. Though it did make him think of something. “Or skin them…” He murmured. “Like the myths about shapeshifters?” It was just an offhand comment, a stray thought given voice. Those myths weren’t really central to the UK so he didn’t think that would be part of their magic but one never knew with wizards.

He was distracted from his meandering thoughts by Ruka who had liberated Haru from his lap, claiming the kitten for himself. The spotted furball did not seem to mind at all, setting about attacking Ruka’s hands with all the ferociousness a kitten could muster. Kazuo gave both cat and Ruka an amused smile. “No, not really. I mean, there are probably some people who keep them but rats aren’t exactly praised in Japan. They are very detrimental to rice farming.”

Then Ruka was leaning against him from the other side and Kazuo had the vague and unsettling feeling of being trapped. He ignored it, focusing instead on the newest member to join the circle. Miss Anastasia Beckett. Huh. His head tilted slightly in curiosity. He didn’t know why, but he was a bit surprised that she might want to be an animagus. Maybe it was that oh-so-posh appearance and attitude that she tended to carry. Turning into an animal seemed like something that might be beneath her. He gave her a curious look and a slight smile.

His gaze shifted back to Pericles as he began answering questions again, fascinated by what he had to share with them. Deeply personal… That only lent more credence to his personal belief that he would be a fox. There was no animal he had more connection to. Would that also be his Patronus? An interesting theory. “As I understand it, metamorphs can’t take on animal forms, though, and whatever makes them different, it isn’t a spell. They’re born with the ability. Is it the same for animagi? That only some can become one? Even though it’s a learned ability? I’ve heard it’s quite difficult.”

As the conversation continued Pericle’s response to Jack’s question did not ease his concern on the matter. He really didn’t want to be cutting up dead animals, especially foxes. He was absolutely sure that would not be approved of by his clan. Not at all. When Pericles asked if they had strong affinities to any animal, Kazuo knew he could honestly say yes to the question but he felt a bit hesitant to share. It wasn’t as simple as Pericles’ example and he wasn’t sure if the others would understand since it was very much embedded in his culture and clan history. Well, if they didn’t understand they could ask questions. “Kitsune.” He began with a slight smile. “Foxes. They have a long history in Japan and there is much mythology surrounding them that is connected to the magical world. My family - my clan - has long been tied to foxes, it’s even part of our clan symbol and we protect them on our estate. From what I understand it’s a common form for those of our bloodline.” He didn’t know for sure, of course. Wouldn’t know until he’d done the spell and he knew that sometimes animagi in his clan ended up with different forms but he had a strong feeling that it would be his form.

@Pericles Dralt @Jack Burnett @Ruka Burnett-Tân @Anastasia Beckett

Reducio

Outfit

Interacting with : @Pericles Dralt @Andrew Vance and everyone
Mentioning : @Kazuo Shimada @Anastasia Beckett

The admiration toward the white haired Ravenclaw increased each time he speaks. Not only was he kind, he sounded intellectual and wise as well but still had a sense of humour. Aurora tried so hard to contain the smile on her face, whether it was something about what Peri said or his presence itself, nobody knows. “Right! And we will force them to sing in their toad form!” She let out a light chuckle but then stopped as soon as it began and continued with a question that was more intended to herself “Wait, does that mean they will sing naked?”

On the other hand, Andy passionately talked about his beloved rat. His way of describing Penelope the rat was exquisite. It was clear that he loved his pet so much and sort of looked at her as a family member. Duchess and Princess, are they part of the royal family or something? This person is incredibly fancy when it came to naming his pets, unlike someone she knew who called her owl Happy. Not creative at all. “They have such cool names, have they meet Penelope before? From what I knew, most cats dislike rats, so be careful.” Aurora gently petted Shimada’s cat the second after he gave a nod of approval, eyes focused on the cat while her ears ready to absorb every knowledge about animagus from anyone. But the one thing that she caught was the word ‘Justice League’ from no other than Andy. Her eyes lit up in excitement, “You know justice league? I think the Avengers is better.”

When Shimada asked about visualizing animal’s anatomy when transforming, she remembered the lists of questions that she wrote a night before the club meeting. For now, she let the notebook stayed in her pocket for a while, because she did not want to bombard Peri and the others with thousand of questions, yet. In the middle of the meeting, a familiar figure entered the room relatively late named Anastasia Becky, or Becken, or something like that (Aurora wasn’t that good in remembering names haha sorry). She saw her a couple of time on the quidditch pitch and once on the scrimmage. But her attention shifted back to Pericles who then explained about his connection with bird and possibly his future animagi form. He was so passionate about it, not only becoming one himself, but he was so keen to aspire others. It seemed like some people here already knew their spirit animal. It was really fascinating to hear their reasonings. Aurora could see the resemblance between a fox and Shimada. Not that they look alike, obviously. There was just this vibe about him that very, foxy? “I’d like to think I will be a cat, though I’m not really sure since our personality isn’t that much alike. I’m just hoping I won’t be an insect, or something too big like a dinosaur.”

Aurora would wait until everyone talks about their future animal forms before she spoke up again. “I have so many questions.” She opened up her spiral notebook with a somewhat cluttered vintage style decoration on its cover. It had big letters on the centre which said ‘Magic in a nutshell’. She rapidly swiped through each page full of messy handwriting and small doodles here and there and finally, she stopped at one page filled with dot points and what looked like to be infinity questions about animagus. “When someone turns into their animagi form, all of their organs will change into whatever that animal would have. That means, they will not function as human. Should their life span also shortened based on what kind of animal they will become?”
“The second question, I heard that your animagi form will always have the distinctive feature of your human form. If this person is losing, let’s say, their big toe. If their animagi form is a snake, snake doesn’t have a big toe.”
“Third question, If, for instance, someone’s animagi form is a cow. Then a muggle farmer catches them in their cow form and takes their meat. If another person eats the meat, would it be count as cannibalism since the cow technically is a human?”
“Fourth question-“ If nobody stopped her, she would continue on and on and on and on.

Actions : Asking questions after questions after questions

Outfit

Reducio

Without the chocolate