First Year Entrance 2021-2022

By the time they arrived at the station to board the boats, it was already dark. Students streamed off the Hogwarts Express, and Avery was glad that he had attended summer camp beforehand. Imagine those poor students who had just arrived, some of which had no clue that things on campus could so frequently move on their own: that chocolate frogs jumped, that vines sealed entrances to magical mazes haphazardly, that buckets were for vomiting in, and that tomatoes might very well spatter in your face face, thrown by your new best friend.

It was certainly a month to remember. And despite the occasional (constant) fear of strange magical things, Avery was quite excited to see what excitement the school year held. In a way, it was thrilling. Things in this world just seemed so unpredictable.

However, he wasn't ready to risk falling into the lake from his boat today. The waters seemed like they would be frigid at night. As a tall man ushered the first years to gather around the boats, Avery tried to stick close to the man who introduced himself as Kit Paine, the Hogwarts Caretaker. He watched as others stepped onto boats, and stood near Kit to board the one that he would eventually board. Better stick with the adults this time for some guaranteed smooth sailing.

He got in the boat, swaying a little to keep his balance before sitting down. In the distance, he could see the lights of the castle, but the turrets and things weren't quite so visible just yet. It was a quite a magnificent spectacle nevertheless, countless boats lit up by lanternlight, reflecting off the lapping waves of the lake, steering themselves into the distance. "Wow, it's magical," he mused to himself in awe of the beautiful sight, then realized he had just said it out loud, and his cheeks flushed slightly. Duh, it was magical. To many of these students, magic was obvious and hardly meant the same thing as it did to muggles. He might as well have said, 'wow, the sky is blue' like an idiot.

He noticed that Kit the Caretaker had kept his big, wide smile the entire time as he was speaking and boarding the students. "Kit, how many times have you done this? Doesn't it ever get old for you?" he asked. "Have any students capsized into the lake on your watch before?" It did feel a little strange calling this tall man 'Kit' as if he'd known the guy his entire life, but that's what he said to call him, right? Instead of Mr. Caretaker or something? But, the man had probably been ferrying first-year students all his life, and was probably used to interacting with them casually, and hopefully he had a long streak of non-capsizing students. He also briefly wondered what else a Caretaker did, because this seemed to just be an annual task. However, his thoughts were momentarily interrupted by a slight wooziness and a faint discomfort in his gut as the boat rocked back and forth.

Interacting with: @Kit Paine
Aboard Boat #1
Open to interactions

Open to Interactions
Aboard Boat #2

Della followed the flow of students off the train. All of the children running of the training, either excited to see Hogwarts for the first time or returning to start another year, was disorienting. Della heard someone yelling for first years. It seemed that the first years would be taking a different route to Hogwarts. She watched the older students head in a different direction, relieved to not have to worry about them for a little while.

The voice that was calling the first years over was a tall man with what seemed like tattoos on his face. Della hadn't expected that. Her schools in muggle Britain probably wouldn't allow someone like that to be in charge of children. The magical world was definitely different. The man had a huge grin and introduced himself as the caretaker of Hogwarts. They would need to pick a boat.

Della realized she had walked too quickly and was now towards the front of first-year crowd. She tugged nervously at her robes. She had practiced wearing them, but they now felt foreign to her, and she felt out of place again. She looked around, not yet seeing any familiar faces. Kit, the caretaker, got into the first boat, and another boy followed suit, asking a lot of questions. Della also wanted to ask Kit some questions, but she was nowhere near as brave as the boy. The young caretaker also was . . . too cool for Della. He was probably the most confident adult Della had ever seen, and that made her all the more aware of her own self-consciousness.

She looked at the boats. They gently rocked under the lamplight. The lake looked vast and deep. It was quite peaceful. She decided to take a different boat, in hopes that the boisterous caretaker and talkative boy wouldn't pay much attention to her.

Geoffrey was all too happy to join in the mad rush off the train, quickly getting lost in a sea of black robes that soon blanketed the station. His cabin had gotten way too stuffy over the hours-long trip, so he was desperate for some fresh air.

Once outside students moved quickly all around him, and for a moment he sort of just...went with the flow. He didn't know anyone or really anything about this whole process, so he followed a random student for the first few seconds. It was only when he eventually heard someone calling for the first years that he stopped, exchanged apologies with the student that bumped into him because of the sudden stop, and then re-oriented himself so he was facing the direction the voice was coming from.

He hurried over, not wanting to miss any more instructions, and soon enough they were moving toward the boats that apparently were readied especially for them. While he knew he'd have a lot of questions later, he wasn't too keen on socializing with anyone on the school faculty right then and there, so he followed another student to a different boat. It was a girl with long, almost impossibly light hair, and he took up the spot opposite her to allow for two more students to board after them.

He offered her a (hopefully) friendly little smile, unsure if it'd even be visible given that the light offered on the boat was dim at best. "Hello," he managed to say.

But that was all he could manage for now. What if she ignored him?

Boat #2
Open to Interactions

@Della Barfield

Aboard Boat #1
Interacting with :@Avery Chen
Green : talking
Purple : thinking

After sitting on the train for so long it was time for Hildegard to get a chance to walk a bit, unfortunately for her it was navigation time.
When she saw Avery she immediately went to his direction, she needed some familiar faces as she would not want to be alone until the moment she would be joining the dorm.
She joined Avery on the same boat that had the caretaker, joining was a hard time as the boat was almost out of reach so she putted her non-disable leg first not to lose time, forcing the girl to purposefully fall in the boat to enter it.

-Ouuch !

Immediately with the remaining of her strength the girl sat down in a decent position.
Schneider had heard that there was a giant squid living in the Great Lake, so she was a scared of the travel.
She was not sure about her information and so she asked to the caretaker.

-Mister, is it true that there is a Giant Squid living in here ?

-Let's get inside as soon as possible, it look dangerous here...

Hildegard was scared but at that moment she promised herself that after travelling the lake she would make sure to eat squids first on tonight's diner.

Open to Interaction
Aboard Boat #3

Seeing truly was believing. Suddenly, everything felt so real, so serious in a way it hadn't prior. Being on a train was one thing, but standing before the great majesty that was the school was something else entirely.

Hogwarts was like a castle, jutting out of the earth stock straight and proud. No apologies for existing, no saying sorry for its existance. Such a wonderful work of architecture that seemingly stood the test of time and weather, standing proud off the Scottish countryside like a beacon. Maggie could hardly believe it was real.

Kit Paine, the caretaker, snapped her from the awed reverie she had been so held down in. Right. Onto the boats. Maggie had heard on the train that there was a giant squid lurking in the depths of the very lake they were about to travel across. Huh. As she stepped onto the gently rocking boat, brown eyes peered down into the dark, deep waters in search.

Not a trace.

"Huh," Maggie shrugged and took her seat on the boat, which gently rocked side to side and threatened to take her seasick. Would be such a pity if she threw up off the side of the transport boats in her first introduction to her cool magic school. "No squid."

Of course, this didn't entirely disprove the existence of the squid. Just meant Maggie didn't believe it.

Seeing was believing, after all.

After a difficult train journey, they finally arrived. Tired of sitting down, Dancelos immediately jumped off the train. It was a mess, everyone was going to one side. One minute Dancelos was on his way to pick up his luggage, and a tall man was telling them not to take the suitcases, that they were going to be brought to school. At that moment, one hand touched his shoulder, the touching hand was his sister's, and he told her to listen to what the tall man said and follow him. Dancelos immediately approached the man who said his name was Kit. The room was calling the other freshmen, and a little later, all the freshmen gathered there. Then they came to a lake and started riding boats. Dancelos wanted to get on his boat to ask Kit questions, so he stood back until he got on, didn't get on the boat, but eventually had to get on a boat with two kids.Luckily Kit got on that boat. After he said hello to the kids, kit started asking questions." 'How long have you been a caretaker here?', 'My sister was saying there was a squid in this lake,''Are there really a squid', 'They say the Hogwarts exams are very difficult,','Did you read hogwarts, what was your house?' ". After that, the boy next to him started asking him questions. Dancelos thought Kit was tired of the questions, but he answered all the questions wit. Dancelos thought Kit was tired of the questionsh a smile. It was obvious from the way he was excited. After a long dip in the beauty of the castle, Dancelos decided to meet the two children next to him because he didn't want to go to Hogwarts as a minor without knowing anyone.He met both of them. One was called Avery and the other was Hildegard. Dancelos was also excitedly wondering which house to go to. A new adventure was beginning for her.


ABOARD BOAT #1
@Kit Paine
@Avery Chen
@Hildegard Schneider
Open to interactions

For those that had noticed him admist the throng of firsties, Tristan had signs of anxiety. With his suitcase of first year supplies packed upon one of the boats, he boards one of the boats with a practiced step, not rocking the thing overmuch as he finds his seat.

And finally, finally, breathes out, relaxing a bit, pushing a hand through his short hair as his eyes glance upon the water.

And then up to the sight that was Hogwarts, setting his elbow on the side of the boat, and supporting his chin as he stares across at it, letting the sight of it sink in - all lit up in the darkness. It was beautiful, in a sense, and forboding in others, and he feels his lips purse in contemplation of what it held.

And once he was finally, finally relaxed, does he pay attention to the chatter of those about him, his moony blue eyes swinging to the other boats. He chews his lip.

"Maybe it's sleeping," he suggests towards Maggie, his chin lifting to her. "And that's why they take us over at night, so it doesn't eat a boat or two," he adds, his smile a bit sedate as he looks beyond her, towards the school proper, his nails tapping against the wood of the boat, as if trying to mildly entice the potential creature towards his boat in particular in a bit of mischief.

He was dreading the ceremony that was soon to come. Being from a proud Gryffindor family, well... if he should be sorted into another house? He might never quite live it down. So best to start acting brave and a mite foolish now - hedge his bets.


ABOARD BOAT #3
@Maggie Hawkins

Open to Interactions

By the time the Hogwarts Express arrived at Hogsmeade station, it was already dark. Aurora joined in the mad rush of students getting off the train. Unsure where to go or what to do Aurora just stood off to one side of the platform trying to figure out what to do.
Eventually she heard a voice calling all first year students and set off towards it. Aurora noticed that the older students went in the opposite direction and was glad she didn't have to worry about them until later or risk embarrassing herself around them.
As a tall man ushered the first years to gather around the boats, Aurora tried to stick close to another first year girl with arm brown hair cut choppy and spunky, with bangs covering her eyes. He watched as others stepped onto boats, and stood near the girl to board the boat that she got onto.
She followed the girl onto the boat, swaying a little to keep her balance before sitting down, the water looked ice cold and she didn't want to fall in and embarrass herself. In the distance, the lights of the castle could be seen, but the turrets and things weren't quite so visible just yet.
"Wow, it's beautiful," she murmured to herself in awe of the beautiful sight.


Aboard boat #3
@Maggie Hawkins
@Tristan Wolfe

@Tristan Wolfe | @Aurora Crystal
Aboard Boat #3

Oh? A sleeping monster below the surface of the waters, just waiting for unsuspecting students who were foolish enough to approach the lake undeterred. Maggie peered over the side of the boat, fingers curling overtop the wood siding. Woah. It was almost like she could see straight through to the bottom, even though it was dark, the wonder and mystique of the situation in question clouding her mind and making anything possible.

"You think it's asleep?" Warm brown eyes met Tristan's in a show of almost defiance. Challenging. Maggie had always been so quick and easy to challenge any authority. Spritely. "Gonna come up and getcha. Ooooh, spooky," she laughed, reaching down into the water and using her hand to flick cold water up onto Tristan. "What if we're loud enough to wake it up. Huh? And it comes up and eats the boat."

A silly, impossible scenario, she knew, but fun to imagine nonetheless.

Maggie relaxed a bit into her seat beside Tristan, looking at Aurora across the hull. "It really, really is. Bet there are mermaids down there," she sighed, smiling to herself. "You kinda look like a mermaid," in reference to the dyed teal hair that sat at the other girl's shoulders.

Oh! Her manners! "I'm Maggie. Hawkins," she introduced, sitting up a bit straighter and examining her companions on the boat. A boy who seemed confident on the outside, but a layer of clear nerves and anxiety bubbled just below the surface. And a girl who looked like a mermaid come up to the surface, calmed greatly by the waters that lapped up against the sides of the boat.

What a triad.