Hello Again PV Sadie Murdock

2pm
Study Room

Sadie was tired. Not physically tired, although her arm was a bit sore from waving her wand around in class. She was mentally exhausted more than anything.

She had known from the moment she'd stepped foot into Diagon Alley that it would be a big adjustment, plunging into a world of magic, but that was putting it mildly. It seemed like every time she began to think she was getting used to everything at Hogwarts, she would see a new ghost she hadn't met, or a painting would speak to her, or the suits of armor spread throughout the corridors would move just enough in her periphery to make her heart speed up as the adrenaline urged her to run as fast as her legs could carry her.

The worst part was the loneliness. Sadie hadn't met very many people yet, and the only two she'd really connected with were sorted into different houses than herself. Gryffindor house was great, and she felt pride in her house - who wouldn't, after all? Especially in a house with an esteemed history and an emphasis on courage and bravery like Gryffindor. But she was torn between impostor syndrome that she didn't know how to name after having been thrown into such a prestigious house and the desire to be in one of the other houses so that she could study and spend time with her friends.

In spite of her loneliness, or perhaps because of it, she really focused on her studies. She wanted to be successful, of course, but it was easy to be successful when there was little else to take up her time, so her marks were quite good, even if she lacked the instinctive understanding that non-muggle witches and wizards had of magic. She wasn't technically a muggle, but she might as well have been one.

Today was just another day of focusing on her homework. She'd written a long, foot-long parchment on the Gargoyle Strike for History of Magic, and she'd managed to study for Potions class - which she hadn't even had yet - without spilling anything on her textbook, so she felt like she had made progress, but learning the theoretical knowledge behind magic wasn't that difficult. Where she truly struggled was actually casting spells. Her hands always twitched nervously in her attempts at performing proper wand movements, and that was when she managed to remember them.

Miranda Goshawk's Book of Spells was tucked neatly under her arm as she made her way into one of the second floor study rooms. Her wand was in one of the pockets of her school robes and she intended to improve her spellcasting one way or another.

When she entered the room, her eyes immediately landed on Eira, and they lit up with delight.

"Oh!" she gasped, fighting back the instinct to run to Eira. Instead, she forced herself to maintain some decorum, walking toward the pureblood girl with long strides. Did Eira see her yet? Sadie didn't know.

Her hand immediately rubbed the back of her neck before slowly moving up to rest on the barrette Eira had given her at Diagon Alley. Was it weird that Sadie had worn it every day since she'd gotten it? Perhaps. Did Sadie care? Not especially. It had meant a lot, and it was the most beautiful accessory she had ever received, not to mention the absolute sweetness of Eira for giving her such a gift.

Sadie had thought of Eira a lot since then. As embarrassing as it was for her, she had often found herself daydreaming at home for the rest of the summer after her day at Diagon Alley. Daydreaming of going on adventures with her new friend. Of conjuring magical beanstalks, or pumpkin carriages that they would ride into a magical ball. Of slaying monstrous dragons with magic that resembled fireworks more than actual spells, as she would come to learn upon actually attending Hogwarts.

Now, Eira was right there, and Sadie was...

...she was staring like an idiot.

"Eira! It's been quite a while, hasn't it? I've been looking for you since we were sorted!"

Sadie winced as she realized what she'd just said, and how absolutely unhinged she must appear to be.

"How's Hogwarts been?" she attempted to change the subject immediately. "Is it everything you expected?"

She shifted, holding her textbook to her chest, as if it could hold back the sheer awkwardness of her excitement, but after finally seeing Eira after so long, Sadie felt ready to burst with joy. Her hand shifted from the barrette to her tie, which she adjusted self-consciously. The last time she'd been around Eira, her clothing had been... less than stellar. Hand-me-downs from her older sisters had left her feeling a tinge of shame. But now, she was in an immaculate school uniform, and it was quite strange to wear clothing without feeling the hand-stitched patches against her skin. She still wasn't used to the feeling of new-ish clothing, even after breaking her uniform in for a time.

But she stood confidently, finally proud of her appearance as she smiled at Eira.

Outfit: Black school robes, immaculately free of even a single wrinkle. Gryffindor tie, perfectly tied. School shoes, freshly buffed. In her hair, a gifted barrette is clipped just above her braid. It doesn't especially match her outfit, but it goes well with her blonde hair. @Eira Cravensworth

Eira stopped her wand movements the moment she heard someone call her name.

As if someone had heard her wish, Sadie Murdock seemed to have apparated in the middle of the Study Room with pristine Gryffindor robes and her blond hair in a neat braid with the barrette clipped just over it.

She watched the other girl hastily walk in her direction whereas Eira seemed to be in a trance for a moment before she shook herself out. She never thought that she would see her friend again until she stopped just short of the table and exclaimed that she was looking for her since the Sorting Ceremony.

When she first met Sadie, she was a bit quiet and shy, but now she is more confident, and her posture reflects it. It looks like her life in Gryffindor truly agrees with her despite her non-magical early years.

A small smile tugged her lips before she felt a pang of guilt. She should have looked for Sadie during their trip to the school, but saying goodbye to her parents and seeing the strange old woman by the side had distracted her from looking into other compartments to see if Sadie was aboard.

Eira spied a textbook in Sadie's hand, a copy of Miranda Goshawk's Book of Spells was held carefully like in reverence as she asked the Slytherin how she had found Hogwarts so far. A fairly customary question, to be sure, but Eira would love nothing more than to share it with her.

As if under Imperius, she automatically got up from her seat and gave a small curtsey with a smile, before she froze.

She remembered how the other Slytherins stared at her actions before they awkwardly introduced themselves and walked off.

It looks like she'd better stop her greeting manners unless they're in parties...

"It's so good to see you again!" she said, sliding to her seat and crossing her legs under the table, "I'm afraid I was a bit busy with my studies, though I find them very exciting, especially Defense Against the Dark Arts. Any subjects that held your interest?"

Her blue eyes trained on the barrette, and she felt another tug of a grin, happy and a tad surprised that Sadie had chosen to wear it. After all, it's a common hair accessory and certainly not like a pure bejewelled hairpin she spied other higher years were wearing (apparently diamond chips on articles of clothing were all the rage again). But to know someone treasured something she had given, it really warmed her heart.

And it suited the blond girl fantastically; she even had the suspicion that Sadie could look lovely even if she were to wear the frumpiest clothes she had ever seen. It felt... magical for some reason.

She remembered the subjects they had talked about at Diagon Alley; their expectations in the school, different kinds of magic, and how kelpies and elves are fictional to Muggles.

Happily, Eira leaned forward and softened her voice in a conspirational tone. "Have you tried magic with your wand without any supervision yet?"

It's, of course, quite a foolish thing to do, but Eira had found that secret magic casting was something quite exciting and made her wonder what kind of wand Sadie had received from the curious Mr. Ollivander.

2pm
Study Room

Sadie didn't know why Eira's curtsy filled her heart with glee, or why it made her feel the urge to bounce on her feet like an excited child. Perhaps because she was an excited child, seeing her friend after far too long.

"Oh, all the subjects are so very strange!" Sadie said brightly, almost bouncing with each word. "Transfiguration is far too difficult, and I'm a bit behind in Charms. Defense Against the Dark Arts is very terrifying. I hadn't a clue that such creatures really existed, but now I have to learn to protect myself from them. I thought wasps were bad!"

She was speaking louder than she realized as her excitement built.

"Potions isn't so very difficult, since it's not too different from some of the work from my muggle school, but it's a little bit boring, I think," she concluded, her smile bright and radiant as she stared at Eira as if the girl had lit and stars and hung them in the sky.

Then Eira asked about extracurricular magic, and Sadie's eyes widened.

"Oh, no, that's against the rules! Some of the older students told me that they have shackles for the children who get detention, so I've been rather careful," she said, but she was fishing her wand out of her robes all the same, holding it up with a flourish.

26.3 cm, mayhaw wood, and snallygaster heartstring. Ideal for innovators, the old man at the wand shop had said, not that Sadie felt that fit all too well just yet. As she held the wand up, a small golden spark shot from the tip. It wasn't a spell, not by a long shot. It was just a small burst of uncontrolled energy. Weaker than a muggle sparkler. The spark fizzled into nothingness and Sadie shook her wand, as if trying to turn a flashlight off.

"It does that sometimes," she said with a blush, but still smiled unashamedly. "But tell me about you! Have you done any magic outside of class?"

Her voice was low, conspiratorial, and she was grinning eagerly at Eira.

Outfit: Black school robes, immaculately free of even a single wrinkle. Gryffindor tie, perfectly tied. School shoes, freshly buffed. In her hair, a gifted barrette is clipped just above her braid. It doesn't especially match her outfit, but it goes well with her blonde hair. @Eira Cravensworth

A smile easily came to Eira as Sadie regaled her classes at Hogwarts and felt a whoop of excitement as she swished her wand and a faint shower of golden sparks erupted from it. The fact that her first school friend was chatting with her right now was magical in its way, seeing as they are sorted in different houses and won't share any classes til maybe next year.

"You must be amazing at Potions!" she commented, "I didn't even know Muggles have a similar class such as brewing draughts and antidotes."

To be completely honest, it made Eira feel a bit embarrassed when Sadie had mentioned how she found Potions uncomplicated, whereas she found herself flustered as soon as her eye landed on the needed ingredients and instructions. The poor student who happened to be sitting next to her had 50/50 chance of either surviving the class unscathed or risking either being covered by foul liquid, running for cover from an exploding cauldron, or assisting the fumbling Slytherin from melting her equipment.

But Sadie didn't need to know that; instead, she focused on her friend's question. Eira responded to Sadie's conspiratorial grin with her own, lips curling a bit more as she cleared her throat and stealthily checked if any other students were within earshot.

"I may have been wandering around the dungeons during my free time. For some time, I had been hearing whispers and voices while exploring and I'm pretty sure it's a forbidden area. Then again, it might just be full of snakes gossiping-"

Her eyes widened.

She had broken a Slytherin's rule: Speak less than necessary.

Not that she sees Sadie as an enemy, quite the opposite, actually, but she doesn't want her to find out that she befriended a witch who has an ability that's linked with dark magic.

Hopefully, Sadie won't think much more of it and would just assume it was a bit of codswallop... or just think that she calls her housemates as 'snakes'.

"Erm, and I have been quite adept with Nix Facitur and Flipendo by practicing it. Figured I will be in a good state to try out for my house's duelling club," she exclaimed, hoping it glazed over the snake-talking bit.

"Anywho," Eira chirped in a pitch that was higher than intended, "How did your family receive the news that you're a Gryffindor? They must be proud, it is a noble house after all."

Eira pursed her lips to hide the smile when she remembered how her parents took the news of their daughter being in Slytherin, with both of them bemoaning how they lost their bet to Mitzy, who had proclaimed that the heiress was a perfect Slytherin student when her parents playfully debated where she will be sorted into.

Interestingly, none of the options included Gryffindor.

2pm
Study Room

"Oh, older muggles make medicine, but my old school had a baking class that felt a lot like Potions. Our teacher was very... severe, but we still just measured ingredients to make cakes and such. Although Potions is probably a lot more dangerous if you do mess up than just a bit o' burnt cake," she rambled eagerly, loving the opportunity to discuss this strange, new world with her friend. She could already feel the loneliness of weeks of study in an unfamiliar world beginning to fade.

Sadie stowed her wand into her pocket, listening with bated breath to the mention of exploring the dungeons and 'gossiping snakes.' She herself found the dungeons quite creepy, so for Eira to explore them willingly took courage that made Sadie wonder why she hadn't made Gryffindor, too.

"Are you sure they aren't ghosts? The castle has ghosts, you know, and they're very talkative," she suggested, but something about the fact that Eira had jumped right into 'snakes' weighed on Sadie's mind. "Or are they snakes? Does Hogwarts have talking snakes to go along with the talking ghosts and paintings?"

Sadie had never seen a snake before, any more than she'd seen a painting that could talk, or flying brooms. As far as she knew, Ireland didn't have any snakes, so the possibility of a multitude of snakes gossiping like Reina after a day of football practice was a very silly image to the young girl. She wondered if they had tiny, little cups of tea or coffee wrapped in their tiny tails, sipping while they gossiped about other snakes doing snake things.

Sadie let out an inelegant snort as she giggled at the mental image, before biting her lip to shut herself up.

"They didn't know much about Gryffindor, and I only knew a little about the houses myself when I wrote the letter to them," Sadie said, welcoming the change of subject to hide her embarrassing almost-laugh-snort. Her cheeks were red from the effort of holding back her laugh, and she wasn't sure how she could explain it away. She didn't want to be seen as that 'weird girl who daydreams about snakes in tiny little hats sipping on tea and bursts into fits of giggles.' Eira didn't seem the type to make fun of her for that, but it was still embarrassing.

"I'd hoped for Ravenclaw at first, since I think blue's a beautiful color, but the Irish in me would have preferred the green of Slytherin. My brother seemed pleased I made it into the 'brave' house, but Chloe was a bit jealous, I think. That's what Miles said, anyway. She didn't even write me a letter back.

Sadie cradled her copy of Book of Spells to her chest with her left hand, and with her right hand tucked a long strand of hair hanging to the side of her fringe behind her ear. Her thumb, from muscle memory at this point, touched the barrette tenderly before her right hand joined its counterpart in supporting the book.

"I wish you'd been put in Gryffindor, too, though. We could've had sleepovers every weekend," Sadie said, her finger tapping the book idly out of nervousness from the almost-embarrassing wistful comment. "But how did your family react to you getting into Slytherin? I'd bet they were proud. Slytherin's all about ambition, right? So you're bound to grow up to be a doctor, or a lawyer, or an astronaut... I don't actually know what sorts o' careers magical people get up to."

Outfit: Black school robes, immaculately free of even a single wrinkle. Gryffindor tie, perfectly tied. School shoes, freshly buffed. In her hair, a gifted barrette is clipped just above her braid. It doesn't especially match her outfit, but it goes well with her blonde hair. @Eira Cravensworth

No problem at all! I'm glad you're back!