What An Interesting System PV Sabrina Lyons

5th November, 12.05 lunch break

The Lyons own one family Tawny owl, which at the time 7 year old Sabrina creatively named Hoots, later taking to calling him Tevis. Noone else send Sabrina owls, so it came as a bit of a surprise when during breakfast, a large snowy owl dropped two letters into her lap. Blinking in mild confusion, Sabrinas fingers traced over the neatly folded rims of said letters before breaking them both open.

Reading them, she almost squeeled with excitement. One of the letters was a notice from the Quill Pals program she signed up for in September, informing her that she's been paired up with a Griffindor first year named Eonaria Kabukimono. The other letter, was from the girl herself. From that point onwards, Sabrina couldn't sit still, her leg bouncing all throught her morning classes, rereading the letter in Charms, writing a reply in DaDa.

So, even tho its technically lunch break now, Sabrina's hurried steps lead her up the stairs to the owlery. Her cheeks red from the swift climb, she took a moment picking out the best school owl. Settling on a small redish one. She approached it maybe a bit too eagerly as the bird visibly leaned back, letting out a hoot of disapprovel as it raised its still folded wing in defense.

Muttering a soft apology between her panting breath, Sabrina forced herself to slow down, raising her letter to the bird. Seemingly satisfied, the owl clasped it in its beak, turning its head before taking off, circling around the tower. Running to the other side of the rounded room (managing to scare a few more owls), Sabrina leaned out of the window, watching the owl glide to where the Great hall was.

With a content sigh, she leaned her elbows on the ledge, taking a moment to catch her breath. She briefly wondered about what the girl might be like. She seemed.. polite, in the letter, being a little too formal for Sabrina's taste. But then again, she was a complete stranger, so it made sense. She stayed like that for a little longer before remembering that it was lunch. Shoot. Pushing herself off of the ledge, she hurried back down the stairs. and to the Great hall.

The letter:

Reducio

Dear Eonaria,

Hi! Yeah, I know who you are, the students from the Quill Pals program send me a letter. I am so thrilled to be matched with you!

I don't think I've seen you around before, but then again, I don't know what you look like. But we definitely don't have classes together, thats for sure.

I think it's a great idea to only owl for a bit! Actually, what if we make it into a game? As neither of us know what the other one looks like, we could get to know each other as best as possible and try to find the other one. The first to recognize the other, wins! What do you think?

Either way, lets have fun!

Have the greatest day!
Brie

WC: 497 | Interacting with: @Eonaria Kabukimono

Eonaria was curled up in a corner of the Gryffindor common room, her textbooks and pieces of parchment sprawled messily all around her. She was lying stomach down on the carpeted floor, writing furiously. Her concentration was interrupted when she heard a chirp and the familiar flutter of wings. Eonaria looked up, putting down her quill and racing to the window when she saw the small, reddish owl perched there with a letter in its beak. She carefully took the envelope and stroked the owl on the head. "Thanks!" Brimming with excitement, Eonaria sat back down in her original spot and slit open the letter. Her first impression was that this handwriting was very hard to read, but after a moment of struggling to make out letters at the bottom, she saw it was signed 'Brie.' Who on earth was Brie? She didn't know anyone named that. But after a second, Eonaria chuckled as she realized it must be a nickname for Sabrina. After reading the letter over, she set it down, avoiding the wet ink of her essay. She grabbed a fresh sheet of parchment and began writing.

November 5th

Dear Brie,

Hello! Yeah, I don't think we have any classes together, but maybe we might be in the same ones next year once our schedules are revamped.

I think it's a wonderful idea to turn our new friendship into a game! It definitely feels more mysterious and fun than just listing out piles of information. We can take turns asking questions to piece together clues. I'll go first, if that's alright. What color is your hair?

I wish you a great day as well!

Cheers,
Eonaria Kabukimono.

Eonaria sat back, rereading her letter thoughtfully. After a small pause, she added a postscript.

P.S. You can call me Eona or Nari(or anything you can find in my name, really.)

Eonaria waved the parchment gently to let the ink dry before tucking it into an envelope. Then she turned back to the little owl who was still waiting patiently on the window, getting up and holding the letter out to him. "Take it back to Sabrina, please? Thank you." She beamed. The little owl was so adorable! She watched him leap off and fly back out, circling around the castle and out of sight. Satisfied, Eonaria plopped back down in her circle of work and resumed her essay.

Interacting With: @Sabrina Lyons

7th November, 16.15 after classes

The next letter arrived at lunch, just as the food was beggining to appear, almost falling into a bowl of tomatoe soup. Sabrina would've opened it right away, if it wasn't for the fact that she was in the middle of a passionate mock argument with one of the third year boys about food combinations. He had the nerve to proclaim that fried baken with marmelade was a cookinary crime whilst gushing over cucumbers with peanutbutter. So in persue of justice, Sabrina slid the thin envelope into her bag, where it stayed all throughout the afternoon classes. Thay had two hours of potions and there was no way she was slacking in potions.

But now, sitting behind a desk in the library, she eagerly ripped the seal off, unfolding the piece of parchment in her lap, smoothing it over her knees before devouring it in less than a minute. A smirk began to play on her lips, as her quill pal matched her own excitement over the game. It was already on, as Eonaria asked her first question:

What color is your hair?

She unconciously tugged at a loose strand of said hair, her smirk widening. That wasn't a bad start. Not at all, actually.

She could just answer brown. Of course she could, but where was be the fun in that? No, she has to find another way to say it. She looked around the room, seeing if something would push her in the right direction. Students. Fireplace. Rugs. Shelfs. Books. - Books!

She jumped down from her chair, swiftly making her way to the shelfs. It took a good 15 minutes to find a good match - a book with a cover in a similiar color to her hair - and another half an hour to write the response, before she was picking up her bag, hurrying off to send it right away.

The letter:

Reducio

Dear Nari,

I am so glad you said yes! The system of taking turns in asking questions sounds great. Lets expand on that, make it a bit more interesting. Hope you like the library, because you'll need to take a little trip there to get your answer. My hair is the same color as the cover of Charms for attraction by Griselda Gogh.

Now for my question:
Where in school do you spend most of your time?

May the better one win,

Brie.

WC: 400 | Interacting with: @Eonaria Kabukimono

IC Time: November 8
Hey Brie, you might want to edit the date in your last post, it went from November 5th to October 9th. Thanks!

The watery sunshine filtered in through the curtains of the girls's dormitory in Gryffindor Tower. With a groan, Eonaria opened her eyes blearily, covering her eyes from the harsh glare. That brightness probably meant she had overslept, but at least her first class didn't start until 10am. She checked the clock ticking silently on the wall, noting the time: 8:41am. Whoops. She'd better get going. Eonaria dragged herself out of bed, getting dressed and heading down to the Great Hall to eat breakfast. Surrounded by the bustle and chatter of other students, a flock of owls flew in through a large, open window to deliver mail across the hall. To her surprise, one was dropped onto Eonaria's plate, though thankfully there wasn't any food on it yet.

She grabbed the letter, seeing the addressing on the front. It was from Sabrina! Eonaria opened the envelope, excitedly reading over the parchment. Sabrina's answer was "the same color as the cover of Charms of Attraction by Griselda Gogh." Oddly, Eonaria had never heard of such a book. She was fairly sure she had gotten through almost all of the more common books on magic! I guess I'm heading to the library after my class. Speaking of which, what is it? She checked her schedule. Oh, Potions.

By the time class ended, Eonaria was itching to dash as fast as she could to the library. She had to win the competition! I mean, er, game. Things like this definitely brought out a more brash and competitive side of her. She managed to keep herself to a walking pace as she headed to the library. Once Eonaria was in, she immediately began searching by author. G... Gogh... aha! Eonaria grabbed a fairly plain-looking book from the shelf. The cover was a simple brown, a little on the lighter side. Well, there was her first clue. Now to answer Sabrina's question! Where did she spend most of time in school? Eonaria frowned. That was a bit of a tricky question. She could be all over the place sometimes, but.. either the common room or the library. But it's not like Sabrina could ever find her in the Gryffindor common room, since she didn't have access. Eonaria pondered how to send her response, not seeing an obvious way to disguise her answer. Finally, she sat down at one of the small tables to write her letter.

November 8th, 2024

Dear Brie,

Hi! I've figured out your first clue. As for your question, I am usually found blended inconspicuously with the rest of the student body. If not for my uniform, people might mistake me for a Ravenclaw.

Eonaria paused, wondering if that was too vague. But hey, it answered the question, and it didn't take too much connecting the dots to eventually figure out the hint. And now for her question...?

My question for you is: what is your height?

Cheers,
Nari

Satisfied, Eonaria let the ink dry before folding the parchment in half and making a long trip all the way to the Owlery. Sadly, she didn't have an owl, and Hogwarts declared that students could only have one pet. So, looks like there will be many journeys to the Owlery for her. Eonaria gave the letter to a fluffy brown owl, watching it fly off.

9th November., 8.30 breakfast

Tevis was just sitting on her outstreched arm, one wing drawned up as he dutifully tugged on his feathers, a letter from her parents that he delivered laying in the her lap when the second letter landed on the table in front of them startling the small owl as it jerked its head up from beneath its wing, claws digging into Brie's forearm.

Fortunatelly, the robes were thick enough for her to not even feel it as she eagerly snatched the parchment, struggling to open it with one hand, appearently shifting too much as she recived one unhappy peck to her shoulder from the bird still sitting on her.

Finally managing to open it, she leaned forward so Tevis could hop on the table, which he did, although quiete reductively, shooting her a look. She didn't really pay attention to it as her eyes landed on her first clue.

I am usually found blended inconspicuously with the rest of the student body. If not for my uniform, people might mistake me for a Ravenclaw.

It was a riddle, Sabrina realised with a sense of thrill she didn't expect this early in the day. She's gotten much better at those since being sorted into Ravenclaw, afterall, she did need to solve them to enter her common room - which for the record, she got stuck infront of only once. After a while of doing them, you adapt a certain sense of thinking and system that usually leads you in right direction. Blended with the student body, so somewhere where all students could be found, presumably not devided into groups. Mistake me for a Ravenclaw, was what gave it away. Ah, she thought, Library. Good to know

After a moment of thinking, she pulled out her own quill and parchement, making a space for them on the table, writing her response. While she waited for it to dry, she started on her oatmeals, absentmindedly stroking Tevis' brown feathers.

She couldn't help but feel like she had a sort of advantage to Nari. It was quiete possible that they've seen eachother before, as Sabrina herself visited the library daily, a fact Nari didn't know. Sure, she knew that her hair was brown and after getting this letter, even her height. But hey, majority of students here had a similiar hair color and its pretty hard to know someones height only by eye was usually difficult, at least for Brie, that is.

The game plan was clear, she needs to be on a look out for a regular Gruffindor library visitor. To narrow it down, she'll need to focus on her opponents appearence, too. After she swallowed the last spoon of her food, she folded the parchment, passing it to Tevis who crooned, probably a little confused as to why her letter wasn't to her parents as per usual. After he took off, Sabrina got up, in no rush as it was saturday. She was planning on spending the morning in the common room before, but instead, she walked off in the direction of the library.

The letter:

Reducio

Dear Nari,

So a bookworm, huh? Bold of you to present a Ravenclaw with a riddle haha. Thought I'd repay the kind gesture: Google Stump looks down on me, Hengist Rawkes doesn't even see me. The one I seem to see eye to eye with is Brutus Scrimgeour.

Now my question: what does your bag look like?

Hope you're enjoying this as much as I do,

Brie

WC: 584 | Interacting with:@ Eonaria Kabukimono

The sun shone cheerily overhead, though a cooler breeze was coming in. Eonaria shivered slightly. Perhaps it was already time to begin using her winter cloak. But she was content to remain outside, curled up under a tree. She was honestly pretty ready to take a good nap. She didn't have any classes for a while and she could afford to skip lunch. So why not? Eonaria yawned, rolling over and nearly collided with an owl who was sitting on a tree root. She sat up, startled. "Whoa. Be careful, buddy." The brown owl stuck his leg out at her, which held a letter. Eonaria removed it carefully from its binding. "Thanks! If you have somewhere to be, I won't mind making yet another trip to the Owlery later..." The owl flapped its wings as if to say 'as if I would stick around for you!' before flying away. Chuckling to herself, Eonaria laid back down to read the letter. It was from Sabrina.

When she first read over the letter, Eonaria's brain nearly short-circuited. Say what? There was no way she would give up the game just a few questions in. It was the last phrase, "The one I seem to see eye to eye with is Brutus Scrimgeour" was the one that gave it away: Sabrina was the same height as Brutus Scrimgeour. Now, where would she find a famous wizard's height? In a textbook! Eonaria hurried off to the library.

However, two hours later, Eonaria finally realized that there was simply not enough information about him in the library. She didn't find a single thing about Brutus Scrimgeour's height. So what else could this refer to...? She stood there in frustration for a moment before realization struck her: portraits! But where was Brutus Scrimgeour? Surely she couldn't look at each and every painting in all of Hogwarts. That would be ridiculous! But then Eonaria remembered something from a past trip to the Trophy Room: A portrait of the man who wrote The Beaters' Bible. The title was slightly odd, but there was no doubt it was the same person.

Once she arrived amidst the shining medals, awards, and plaques adorning crystal displays and the walls, Eonaria located a portrait labeled "Brutus Scrimgeour." Eonaria used her hand to estimate the height of the portrait before grinning. Sabrina was about 132 centimeters tall, shorter than her. Now Eonaria knew to be on the lookout for shorter, Ravenclaw girls with brown hair. This was going quite well! Eonaria tugged out the letter, reading it over again. Sabrina wanted to know what her bag looked like? She glanced down at the bookbag at her side. Fairly average, in all honesty. She wasn't sure how that would help identify her, but a question was a question. Eonaria began writing her response:

November 9th, 2024

Dear Brie,

That was quite the riddle! You sent me on a chase all over the castle. But I think I've got my answer! As for your question, my bookbag is the color of the walls in the Muggle Studies classroom. And my question is, what color are your eyes? And yes, I am certainly enjoying this game. It's always a jump of excitement whenever I receive your responses.

Cheers,
Nari

X X X

X X X

11th November, 12.00 after morning classes

The walls of the Muggle Studies classroom. That was her next clue from Nari, the one that would tell her the color of her bag, and the one that lead to her now pacing back and forth in girl's loo's near said classroom, waiting for the third years to leave it. Mulling on her bottom lip between her teeth and flexing her fingers as if to release some of the energy that was currently buzzing through her, she stared blankly ahead, thinking.

She couldn't take Muggle studies until third year - and honestly she probably won't even then - so she's never been to the classroom, meaning she had to sneak in. She was positive that must've been against the rules, hence the adrenaline currently filling her to a brim. It wasn't like she has never done anything against the rules before, she has, even in Hogwards, but it's been a while and well - there was a certain thrill to it, wasn't there?

She comes to a halt, stiffening as she notes the absence of shuffling feet and muffled conversations. She stays in the loo's for a few more minutes for good meassure before slipping through the door and into the corridors. She sneaks over to the classroom's door, pressing her ear to it, holding her breath. It was quiet. Perfect.

She turned the door knob, opening the doors just enough to peek in, the excitement in her reaching its peak - before vanishing at once as she sees the interier. Brown. The walls are a boring, dull shade of brown. She stood there in disbelieve, staring at the wallpaper as if willing it to change its color. Eventually, she heared the sound of approaching footsteps, quietly closing the doors again and scurrying off to the Great hall for lunch.

Okay, so she might've wasted one of her questions. She just got too eager to reply and didn't think it through - oh god she should've worded it better. What does your bag look like, in detail, was all she had to write. Ugh. Information is still information. Whatever, she'll make this one count.

She takes a bit more time responding to this letter, sending it just half an hour before curfew.

Dear Nari,

That was the goal! Hope you liked the journey, and that it was worth it. I also had a small trip thanks to your hint. Also - how did you know what color were the walls in that classroom? I literally had to sneak in to see. Now for your hint: to see my eyecolor, you'd just have to look up at the sky right before the storm starts on a summer day.
What I'd like to know is, how do you usually style your hair?

This hint was easy, hope you'll repay me the kindness,

Brie

WC: 480 | Interacting with: @Eonaria Kabukimono

IC Time: 6:32pm, November 11th, 2024

............................................................................................................................................ Eonaria woke up bright and early that morning, the sun still low enough to be blocked out completely by the curtains- only to be smacked in the face with an owl. She screeched, probably waking up her roommates, and grabbed the owl to hold it still. "What the-" Eonaria quickly jumped out of bed, muttering multiple quick apologies as she scampered down to the common room, where very few students roamed. She put the owl down, smoothing down its ruffled feathers. "Sorry about that..!" Eonaria pried the letter out of its grasp, opening it to find another response from Sabrina. She chuckled slightly: it appeared that there had been an unforeseen consequence to her hint. Whoops.

............................................................................................................................................ Now for Sabrina's hint... the sky before a storm? Easy. It was gray, wasn't it? A bluish, light gray color. That was convenient. Eonaria began writing her response immediately. After all, she had quite a bit of time before breakfast. She let the owl go before rushing back upstairs to grab a piece of parchment and a quill from her trunk in the girls' dormitory, where thankfully everyone had fallen back asleep.

November 11th

Dear Brie,

I appreciate the easy hint. And you have my apologies for forcing you to sneak into the classroom to figure out my hint! Since there's no rule about standing in hallways, I just waited until I had a History of Magic class, which is right next to the Muggle Studies classroom. When class ended, I just popped in to take a look at the classroom before heading to my next actual class. You didn't have to make a whole elaborate scheme to sneak in! I'm sorry about that. My question is, what class do you have first on Fridays?

For your question, here's my hint: My hair isn't particularly important to me, so it is most often left exactly how it is when I wake up- which tends to be pretty neat by itself. No extra preparation is done the night before. However, I do have bangs.

Ta da, a very obvious answer(though a few inferences may be drawn). You're welcome!

Cheers,
Nari

............................................................................................................................................ Satisfied, Eonaria tucked her letter into an envelope and placed it in her bag. She would send it after breakfast. For now, she had a bit of studying to do.

X X X

X X X

12th November, 17.10 free time after classes

Sabrina sat in her usual spot on a windowsill in the common room. The window next to her was slightly open, just enough so she could breath the fresh air from outside but that noone could complain about the cold. She was just munching on one of the chocolate cookies her mum send her this morning, the new letter from Nari splayed out on her drawn up knees.

She was in a middle of rereading it, brows slightly knotted in concentration, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. Nari usually asked about her appearance, already knowing her height and both eye and hair color, which Sabrina had to admit, wasn't a bad way to go about it. But today, she changed her tactic, instead focusing on her schedule. This abrupt change in her approach stood out like a flashy neon sign to Sabrina, clearly stating that it is time to take action.

Closing her eyes, she let her head loll back, resting against the stone wall behind her. Of course she had thought about doing something drastic before. Like shouting Nari's name, to see who would turn, or leave a note with her name on the griffindor table to see who it ended up at, but that was just nasty. Yes, she didn't have a problem with a bit of mischef, but playing dirty was a completaly different thing entirely. She'd never sink this low.

After a moment she opened her eyes again, blinking away the blurry spots as she reached down to pull out a new parchment from her bag.

Dear Nari,

It's okay, I really enjoyed the action, actually. Today, I thought I'd give you a standart riddle:

I can be found in almost every household,
muggles assosiate me with dust, wizards with wind,
in my life I've met both clouds and floors,
What am I?

The answer will tell you the object we use in this subject the most. Now, my question for you is: What do you usually eat for breakfast? And I won't settle for just a toast or oatmeal! Be a little more specific.

Rereading her letter - the corners of her mouth tugging up in satisfaction as she won't be repeating the same mistake again, this time asking for specifics - her eyes drifted to the half eaten cookie in her lap. She was used to always sharing with her friends. After a second, she wrappes a new one in a paper handkerchief, sliding it into the envelope.

P.S. send you one of my mum's chocolate cookies, hope you like it!

Brie

WC: 428 | Interacting with: @Eonaria Kabukimono