The Margins Collective — Prologue club pv finished

10th of September

This was one way to start the new year, greeted even now by a poster plastered just as he was walking around the courtyard. Introducing "The Margins Collective". A reading club, well, he was the target audience in that case, a glance at what he was holding even now, proved that much. He took another look over the poster before making a mental note of the date and location for the meeting. 20th of September, at the Great Lake.
"Shall we join too?" he looked a bit at Emris perched on his shoulders as usual. The ferret was going to show up regardless, to be fair, even if Eric didn't bring him along, Emris was making himself welcome and all cozy regardless.
As the date for the meet-up approached, he was getting a bit restless. During his first year, one couldn't say Eric had...joined many clubs. Frankly, the only "friends" he made more or less were Nova, Oliver (ok maybe not friends fully yet), and here and there he interacted with a few other fellow students the same year as him (mostly thanks to the red-head Ravenclaw). Now, the saying of "new year, new me" has been taken a bit seriously. He had made it a bit of a challenge for himself to show up and try to get involved in more clubs...and well, there could be some improvement done, but it was only the beginning, and this opportunity just...showed up out of nowhere.

20th of September

The way to the Great Lake had never been more interesting now. And hell knows he had walked the Hogwarts Grounds plenty last year, but now it was another story altogether. By the time he showed up, people were already there. He recognized a few known faces, though mostly having seen them in passing. Ev, he knew for a bit, they were even study buddies last year so at least there was a familiar face around there. The honey-haired girl next to her was someone he could remember having seen around, especially at the ball last year. Elena, was it? Yeah, pretty sure, especially as the name was on the poster too, but now he had a face to associate with...The rest were unknown to him as the Gryffindor spent a few moments looking around at everyone gathered already. Was he late? It seemed some things had already started. Still, he joined the small group, greeting everyone and going more so towards where Ev and Elena were. "I hope I am not too late, am I?" The way it looked, they were barely starting on introductions.

𝓘𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰

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@Evpraksiya Vinogradova
@Elena Clark
OPEN to interactions

𝓞𝓞𝓒 𝓘𝓷𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷

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Thoughts: italics
Speech: #6e0003

𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓽𝓼

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STAMINA - 7
EVASION - 8
STRENGTH - 1
WISDOM - 7
ARCANE POWER - 6
ACCURACY - 6
FREE SPACE
FREE SPACE
𝒜𝒷𝒾𝓁𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑒𝓈: Seer, Sixth Sense

𝓦𝓒

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436

𝓝𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼

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OOC approval from Evpraksiya to imply her and Eric have been study buddies last year.

As the seconds ticked away, the place was getting more and more crowed, in such a way the raven started to doubt they were all gathered here for her silly bookclub. A blue-eyed girl with shiny brown locks, whose demeanor reminded her of a blooming flower, or the gentle pattern of waves brushing the shore, was the next to arrive, and settled quietly next to the 'warm-rose-tea' girl - not knowing their names, she did the best she could to distinguish them. Like for her predecessors, Elena smiled and wave, wishing her a warm welcome.

The following face was a familiar one, a dark haired boy with a very clear crimson aura, who evoked dusty books and,, crows ? Dear heaven what was his name. Ethan ? E... Eric !! Eric ? Quickly turning the slight frown that had creased her eyebrows into a charming smile, she nodded, choosing to play it safe by not assuming a name that might be false. They had meet a year prior, at a new year's eve party, and the memory was slightly blurred. She was quite certain he was acquainted with a certain bright pink tornado, but useful details like his name had slipped her mind.

The next arriving had a. snake. hanging loose around his snake, draped like a scarf. Bold fashion choice, she raised an eyebrow, praying no one hear feared reptiles. Nodding back, she thanked him for the sweets, relieved to see she had not attracted solely introverts as fearful as herself in social settings. Remind me what I am doing here, again ?

Taking a deep breath, she glanced Ev's way to give herself courage, and rose to her feet, plastering a bright smile on her face, and trying to look as resembling to a human who knew what to do with his arms as possible. Here goes nothing. "Hi everyone, and welcome" she started, glancing at the little group that had started to form. "I would first like to thank you all for coming here today. This club means a lot to me, and I am delighted to see many people joined it."

"This first reunion is purely informational, you will be given the choice to sign in, or not, at the end of my presentation. As to not bore you, I will try to keep it short, do not hesitate to interrupt me, should you have any questions or remarks." Her voice was surprisingly steady, though one of her hands was shaking slightly. An amused sigh escaped her, as she continued, "As you can see, ted talks are not a hobby of mine, which brings me to my first point : you will not be required to speak in front of everyone, or in general to do anything you do not wish to. As much as I would adore having heated debates about which character was right, about a mysterious cliffhanger... it is first and foremost a place of relaxation, where you can simply choose to read in peace." That item was important to her, as it was one of the main reason why she had avoided clubs during her first year, and she did not wanted to shy anyone away.

"Now, about the practical details of this club. As you may, or may not have seen in the flyers I have posted - I take full blame on my terrible handwriting - there are multiple roles, each will rotate weekly. I will pull a random name out of a bowl, and owl those persons. The nestmaker will help me place and settle everything before the meeting starts. The pagefinder will be charged with the task of presenting a book of their choosing to the group. The quillbearer will help me keep track of what has been discussed, and will organise the next role distribution with me. As to the librarian, I had the idea of making a shared journal, where each week a different person could share their current thoughts on the book they're reading. Again, these are optional, as much as the bookpals."

"Meetings will be held on saturday, same timing, and the location will rotate between here, the library, empty classrooms, perhaps the room of requirement... Up to discussion !"

Feeling her mouth running dry, she took a bottle of water and sipped it, clearing her throat before smiling again. Each item that needed to be discussed defiled in her mind, and she ticked every box, praying she had not forgotten anything. "Any questions ?"

september 20 2025 | daytime
banner by elena clark

english | french | thoughts
gif by ava winchect

「 O P H E L I A date • 20 sep 2025 385 • word count speech • #427c9a italics • thoughts 」

It seemed that, thankfully, Ophelia had been correct in regards to timing. The meeting had not in fact started, and she wasn't even the last one to arrive. After her, a few others showed up, and she was sure that some would be running even later. It was the nature of larger events and meetings, coming on time was hard and when there was a lot of people, the tardiness seemed to increase, for whatever reason.

But the club leader, fellow Ravenclaw Elena Clark, began when she was ready. The younger girl seemed slightly nervous, but once she began speaking all the nerves seemed to melt away, revealing the hidden confidence that she'd had all along. She spoke about the rules of the club, with clarifications of the information that had been found on the announcements posted around the school.

Thankfully, thankfully, speaking in front of the crowd was not a requirement of this club, a surefire way to win over the Ravenclaw. She'd tried her best these past couple years, tried to get herself to be more involved with the school in the hopes that it would dispel her social anxiety. That was what led her to become a member of Ravenclaw's quidditch team, each and every club that she joined, and, of course, her time spent as a prefect for her house. And yet, old habits die hard, she supposed, for none of it had truly eased her worries. Maybe exposure therapy was not a great idea.

Elena moved on to talk about the various roles that she'd come up with, ones that would rotate each week and were wholly optional. It was clear that she'd put in plenty of thought, time, and effort into the planning of this club, and Ophelia was excited for the results. Often it wasn't the lack of enthusiastic members that was an organisation's undoing, it was the lack of an enthusiastic leader.

As Ophelia had predicted, there were definitely people running more behind than she, for some showed up in the middle of Elena's speaking. She opened the floor for questions, and a member or two seemed ready to voice their thoughts. Ophelia herself was silent, watching. Even if she had a question, which she did not, she wasn't sure she was ready to share just yet.

interactions • @Elena Clark + open!

Hand still trembling lightly, she felt her vision blur slightly — something that commonly occurred when the terms speech, alone and crowd were used simultaneously, along with other delights such as a floating feeling around her head, a faint buzzing and dizziness. Nevertheless, Elena gripped her guts firmly and kindly asked them to stop acting as though a car was running straight into her, a technique which proved semi-useful.

While in the midst of a inner debate, she noticed a living ray of sunshine arriving at high speed, to whom she flashed a bright smile. Alyss, one of her closest friend and someone she cared for very deeply, had been supportive of her project from the very beginning, and had insisted on being present today, even though she did not share a strong affinity with books, an attention that only embedded her further into the raven's heart. As she finished speaking, Alyss strode closer, apologising for her tardiness. Before she could protest, or even utter a single word, the solar blonde reached for one of the most beautiful piece of craft she had ever seen, and handed it forward. Speechless, Elena delicately seized the shawl, eyes running over every detail — the softness of the yarn, the deep hue of her favourite color, the small stars scattered throughout the design. Tears veiled at the corner of her eyes, and she simply pulled Alyss into a tight hug, beaming, "I adore it. Thank you so much !"

As she hopped back to greet other participants, Elena gently folded her new favourite scarf, setting it neatly aside. A warm, bright amber sensation was spreading from her chest into her entire body — joy, mixed with fondness. Meaningful gifts like such, from people she loved more than herself, were priceless, small tokens of the affection they both shared.

Blinking twice to center herself back into the present moment, she pivoted towards one who had introduced themselves as Mahlioz. "Thank you," she replied, beaming, "I'm looking forward to it too! Regarding your question, the ball is still a hypothesis, just an idea. I'd have to check if I can get the necessary permissions. As for the theme weeks, they will probably take place later in the year! Each week would have a different theme, like "russian literature", "science-fiction", and we would read and discuss books centered around these themes. They would be optional, as I wouldn't want to force anyone to read something, but it would be a fun and entertaining way to discover new books you would have never chose to read otherwise."

Catching her breath, she prayed she had explained everything correctly, for the words seemed to flow without restraint. A gentle breeze blew across the lake, gently stirring the willow leaves above her head. There seemed to be only a few questions or points to clarify, which was often a sign that she had expressed herself intelligibly. A hand shot up, that of a boy who had previously introduced himself as Archer—a boy who had seemed extremely offended by her polite greeting, which Elena was still confused about.

“With all due respect, when do we get to the actual meat of this or will it just be page finder this, nest maker that, and all your useless aesthetics?”

Hmm. Whereas one would be offended, or at the very least hurt by the harshness of his words, Elena simply raised an eyebrow, eyes narrowing before what was probably aimed as an attack. Judging by his aggressiveness, the fact he purposely sat outside of the little circle that had grown rather crowded, and a general impression of his person, she could tell he was looking for a place to debate and argue about philosophy, classic literature and such, something she truly loved but one she was not certain a large part of this gathering would. The point of this club being to offer a peaceful place to read, discuss and exchange, where one could choose what their occupation would be, she had no intention of imposing a debate at each gathering, no matter how much she wished it to.

"As I have said," she started with a smile, pivoting to face him, "this meeting is purely informational. So, while I'm sorry you deem them as vain, these 'useless aesthetics' are roles which are essential parts of the club, ones I must present — though I would agree their names were not chosen for their depths and meaningfulness. Rest assured, we will have plenty of time to discuss about literature and other topics when the meetings actually start." Though her words might come off as sarcastic, she was genuine, tone remaining light despite the clear invitation to banter he had offered. He appeared. Judging. Entirely dissecting every single word she said, and glancing down at each with disdain. An attitude which would rebuke every soul with even a glimpse of common sense, yet one that strangely made her like him. She had a peculiar weakness for hissing cats —her now dear friend @oliver armani had once been an extremely grumpy feline—, and though she would most likely get clawed and biten trying to approach this one, she could not help but be interested.

"So," she resumed, turning back to face the rest of them, "I believe every point I wanted to inform you of has been discussed, and if there are no more questions then I would invite you all to sign in, should you choose to join !"

The leather bounded tome had been laid out on the table, each line asking for name, roles they would be interested in, as well as a signature. Pens were scattered in a toll box next to it, awaiting for eager hands to seize them. Elena sat back down, exhaling a deep breath, content this moment was over.