First Year Entrance

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@Archibald Learmonth @Janet Flannel Roll Banana Karen @Emily Harris @Ally Craig

As much as to Tatiana's disappointment, two more girls had unfortunately boarded the Panda Bear boat, which resulted in all five them having to be cramped inside the small black and white boat. To ease her possible outburst, Tatiana decided to try and retrieve her fallen hair tie, which she had now noticed that it fell because her hair was starting to get in the way of her face.

As the boy who'd been previously quiet was itching his bald head on how two other girls had entered the boat without him noticing, and how one girl Ally Craig was now proceeding to pretty much pour her heart out babbling about something to anyone who'd listen.

Tatiana dipped one of her pale hands under the cold, dark water. It was ice-cold as to the way something that had been under the heat for so long was white-hot. Because the deathly freezing temperature wasn't enough to make Tatiana chatter her teeth, she proceeded on to searching for her hair tie, which was considerably light, increasing her hopes a bit, often catching a few weeds that would get her hopes up every now and then.

She didn't think that they'd gone too far when her hair tie fell, her dark hair was now half-covering her face that it was hard to see anymore, and it was harder to pin them behind her ears as her dominant hand was now wet and was circling places near the boat and her left hand was pretty much no use to her as she hadn't mastered it very well yet.

Action: Trying to retrieve her hair tie under the water

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Interacting with @Avery Phineas Finch, @Lucille Rosenhart, @Leo Noxley, @Corinna Starling, & @Livia Machavariani on the Cantabrian Brown Bear

Well, someone ended up hearing her, not that Vera really minded. Though, the caretaker's words were not exactly comforting.

Vera tilted her head. "Strange...?" What could possibly be so strange about real-world magical education? She thought the stories of big bad villains and kids running off to solve puzzles to save the world were just exaggerations. After all, no one watches a boring show about magic unless there's actually something going on. Surely they weren't expected to do all that...?

"Sounds like a lot of fun adventures for sure."

She turned to see the next voice that popped up. Upon doing so, she'd realized he was the only other boy on the boat aside from the caretaker. Vera shrugged. "Well, I suppose so."

Then, a brown-haired girl—Cori, Vera came to know—started introductions. It was then Vera realized she had practically jumped in and ignored everyone up to this point. Next was Livia, a dark-haired girl with possibly the most striking green eyes Vera had known. Then, there was Lucille with darker brown hair than Cori's. The boy was still an unknown, unless he had mentioned his name and Vera had missed it in the rush.

Vera cleared her throat. "Apologies, I must have forgotten to introduce myself. Verity Engels. Pleasure to meet you all."

A lot happened. One second, she was awing over a mongoose that the caretaker had, then the next, he mentioned another one of the places you could be sorted. That brought Vera's personal count to two, with Slytherin and Hufflepuff on the list. She hummed. Just how many places were there? How would they find out?

Then, "WOAH!"

She'll find out later. Right now, she was rudely bumped by whatever that was (was that a giant squid!?).

Action: hold on to the seat below her (so as to not fall out)

Shelowyn slowly pulled herself from her depressive thoughts. Her gaze looked up at the looming castle, then over the boats and the dark water. 'It's lovely and magnificent here. I have a whole new world I get to discover. I'm on my own, yes, but I have always been on my own. It seems nothing can change that...' She paused upon seeing the caretaker once more. A few minutes passed and now she was certain.
He was rapidly aging.
The teen they had met at the docks no longer stood at the head boat. A man, older than her own father, stood in his place. 'What kind of magic is this? Who would want to age faster?' She glared at him in deep thought. 'Are illusions a real form of magic? Is he hiding his appearance? If so, who is the real him, old or young...? He DID call himself an oldtimer earlier. He won't age until he crumbles into dust...right?'
Then she noticed lots of movement behind him. The bear. She looked at each bear. Her eyes running just over the horizon above them so she could see clearly that yes, they were moving more. A lot more. A nervous jitter as if they were being held back by monstrous captors. Shelowyn sucked in her lips, brows pulled together. Why had their behavior changed...?
Then Shelowyn felt something in her gut. Her fists balled and she looked down at the water then over at her fellow boatmates. She opened her mouth to speak but paused when she heard the first splash. Tavi spoke, it was so quiet Shelowyn didn't understand what was said but she noticed how Tavi was leaning over the side of the boat.
Momentary fear struck Shelowyn as she recalled her time in the train, riding with Emilie. Emilie said there was a giant squid in this lake. 'What if-'
Shelowyn reached over to grab Tavi and pull her into the boat. There was a squeal. Shelowyn saw what Tavi was looking at. Tentacles, massive ones, underneath the boat. Then they were pushed. The boat momentarily lifted off the waters, Shelowyn and Tavi were lifted slightly above the others. Shelowyn wrapped her arm over the side of the boat. It was only a moment before the boat crashed back down onto the rolling waves. Her forearm had dipped into the water, soaking her sleeve through. The boat continued to rock back and forth. Just as it started to slow, Shelowyn watched another wave aproach.

"Giant squid..." She gasped when the boat was sent rocking once more before a wave pushed them foward from behind. Her arm slipped, she slid off her seat and landed smack into the bottom of the boat. She rolled onto her back, staring ul at the sky.

"This definitely wasn't in the welcome letter. Did anyone else think the trip would be...more elegant?" Tavi said, with a nervous laugh.

Shelowyn looked up at her, smiled slowly as a deep chuckle rumbled her chest. Then she spoke, her voice full of wonder, "what have I gotten myself into..."

@Tavi Honey
@Harold Franklin
@Pyce Rotanski
@Katelyn Magnolia

date	place	tags	wc	speech	outfits
01/09/25	Great Lake near Hogsmeade Station	@Maisie Fenwick Rose Williams @Seraphina Vale@Frederick Buckley	349/200	#36563c	xxx

As Rosaline observed more carefully, the bear in front of the boat was definitely moving. Oh my, were other bears also moving? She grew curious and mused. The boat kept sailing toward the castle; it was a beautiful night. Glancing at the water, it shimmered with ripples, yet its depths remained unfathomable, and it gave her a chill. She held on tightly to her newly acquired bear, though she was unsure if the bear in her hand would also move like the one on the boat. It was still a soft and fluffy plush.

Hearing Frederick’s joke, Rosaline laughed lightly. She argued playfully, “Nah-uh, I think mine is the softest.” She raised her bear to her chest to show how soft it was and made it move so it looked like it was dancing. She felt a little childish, but also quite relaxed in the group she had spent the afternoon with.

As Frederick had mentioned, almost everyone from the carriage was here. She wondered where the one boy who wasn’t on the boat had been. He wasn’t quite like the other kids she had met before. Rosaline got off the train too quickly; she was so excited to be closer to Hogwarts that she didn’t notice where other people went. Perhaps he was on the other boat. She looked around curiously, but didn’t find him.

Her attention shifted from the boy who wasn’t on the boat to Maisie’s remarks and questions. She replied with a warm smile, “I think they’ll let us have them. I’d love to have my bear join my plush army.” She chuckled. Then she paused briefly, puzzled, and asked, “Hmm… do you think the bear moves secretly?” The next moment, when she wanted to say more about Maisie’s observation, a strong wave hit their boat. She held on tightly to her seat. “Oh my god”, she exclaimed. What happened? It seemed there was a giant creature, but she wasn’t quite sure what it was that just passed by. She had thought this would be a safe journey, but things didn’t turn out that way.

Action: Hold on to her seat.

Reducio ooc notes

Reducio stats stamina: 6 | evasion: 5 | strength: 5 wisdom: 8 | arcane Power: 7 |accuracy: 4 Lovely Creature

The series of events that occurred in the next few moments were pure chaos. Janet could only describe what she had felt later in her top secret most secret most diary as being out of her depth. She'd felt as if she was underwater, with everything moving in slow motion.

Despite Tatiana’s stationary inspired blockade on new arrivals, two more girls had stowed away on the boat and excitedly delved into introductions. Janet gave up on focusing on the conversation and instead turned her attention on trying not to barf. The waves had picked up significantly and rocked the boat to dangerous tilts like the pirate ship ride at theme parks.

‘How fun’, thought Janet, as she watched gigantic tentacles wave around and little polar bears bob about, drowned in the frothy brackish void. Archibald held on for dear life, but Tatiana braved risking it all for her hair bobble. The boat tilted dangerously as she patted around for it, and Janet leaned her weight to the centre to offset the tilt. Archibald was yelling scottishly, but nary a word could be heard amidst the sloshing of the tumultuous lake.

Overstimulated and unsure, Janet ducked further down into the boat and continued holding on, waiting for the wave to pass.

Action : hold on

Encylopedia | previous | next | @Tatiana Contraire, @Archibald Learmonth, @Emily Harris, @Ally Craig

Blah blah blah blah blah, more speech that Silas completely ignored in favour of duplicating the bears — leaving them strewn around in the boat and water — and wondering how long he would be stuck here for. Apparently, at minimum, one of his companions in the boat was dreadfully boring — he had ignored her clearing her throat, but finally turned around once she said, “Excuse me.” He fixed her with a dark stare, looking mildly annoyed, like she was the one that was acting unreasonably by interrupting him. “You’re excused.”

“Would you please stop that? You're filling up the boat.” “Oh, am I? I ‘adn’t no’iced. What a shame.” He made eye contact with her as he duplicated the bear again and threw this one at her, though it was done without much force. “‘S tha’ a problem? If ya don’ ‘ave enough space, you’re welcome ter go fer a swim,” he sneered. Now that he was looking this way, he glanced at the other girl and the bug she was holding, which was something he hadn’t really expected to see. “A bee’le? Why d’ya ‘ave tha’?” It was a little weird, but possibly cool, he supposed…? Whatever.

The other boys in the boat seemed quiet. Perhaps later Silas would harass them, too, but for now he let that slide, his attention drifting to other matters — like the super minor, casual, huge fucking waves that were currently rocking the boats. Because, of fucking course, there had to be something like a giant fucking sea creature. Obviously. Why wouldn’t there be? “Is tha’ a fuckin’ kraken??? Bloody ‘ell.” He gripped the side of the boat and looked around for any kind of reaction, help, or other creatures. Was ANYTHING about this stupid, godforsaken world NORMAL? Fuck…

Action: Attempting to observe anything about the surroundings or the creatures that may or may not be around.

Pyce was about to attempt to respond to Katelyn, despite their stomach still doing somersaults. Or maybe they intended to talk to the other girl? The one who noticed their bear with their glasses. Pyce wasn't completely sure. Things had happened too fast for them to pay that much attention to. All they knew was that one moment, the lake was as daunting and horrible as any other body of water.

And the next moment it was worse. If a calm lake had been hard for Pyce to deal with, the lake when a giant squid was swimming under them was well past unbearable- Pun not intended. Nor something Pyce spent more than a fraction of a second thinking about. Because the boat was rocking so much more, and the lake's water seemed far more dangerous than when Pyce had first boarded the boat. Which was saying something! Because water always looked dangerous to Pyce.

And instead of holding onto the boat for dear life like a normal person, Pyce wrapped their arms tighter around their new bear buddy. But Pyce so rarely kept their head in situations involving water any deeper than a puddle. Of course, it was a horribly ineffective way to try and stay in the boat, but Pyce positioned themself so that the wall of the boat would somewhat help them.

With that, all that was left to do was pray. And maybe curse out Hecate, because how dare he make Pyce deal with this without him.

Action: Brace themself against the boat trying not to fall

Honestly, I'm kind of hoping that Pyce fails this roll. This dork cannot swim to save their life
@Harold Franklin @Tavi Honey @Shelowyn Bloomthorn @Katelyn Magnolia

The view of the castle was astonishing! Oh, she had seen castles before, but nothing like Hogwarts! Knowing that it would be her home for the most of her next 7 years definitely changed the way she looked at it. But what really made a difference was...magic! Inside those walls there was magic! Well, little did she know that it was not only inside but all around and in way more places she would have ever imagined... The feeling of awe and expectation was almost too much to bear. It had barely started and Nora was positive this was the most exciting thing she had ever experienced in her life!
She only realized she had stopped breathing for a few seconds and had her mouth half open when someone coming from behind bumped into her shoulder. 
Sorry!
Nora woke up from her dreamlike moment to realize there was someone greeting them and giving instructions.
 “Welcome to the ride of your life to the beginning of the rest of your life!”
“YES!” , said Nora to herself, not even bothering with the fact that people may find her overenthusiastic. She was an enthusiastic person and was not a bit ashamed of it! The world could use some more excitement anyway. 
 Tonight we take the scenic route across the lake and up the back way to the Great Hall where you will be sorted into your Hogwarts houses and enjoy one of the best feasts you will ever eat. As a proud former student myself, there's nothing like your first Hogwarts feast." 
Fear started creeping in… Sorted into houses??, she repeated inside her head as anxiety battled excitement for her heart and mind. But her wisdom quickly settled it. It’s gonna be GREA! , she thought. From her experience with new things, she knew that much of how things turn out had to do with how she chose to look at them. So she chose to expect good things, as always. That actually was not difficult at all, since Nora’s stomach was growling at the sound of the words “one of the best feasts you will ever eat”. How could she not expect amazing things?!

Matisse had been quiet as everyone filtered onto the various boats, and had remained quiet for the beginning of their journey. The front of the boat she'd ended up on was graced by a stuffed black bear, which appeared to duplicate itself whenever someone touched it.

She hadn't done so, part of her feeling vaguely suspicious about a stuffed animal that could duplicate itself. Even worse, she heard whispers from other students in the boats that the bears were moving as if they were alive and it unsettled her just as much as the chocolate frogs had. What if it was sentient somehow? Could it be dangerous or awkward to have something staring at her or getting into her things when she wasn't there? As cute as it was she was still new to the whole magic thing and wasn't certain what could be trusted.

Instead of saying anything she was focused on looking around at the other students, every now and then squinting suspiciously at the stuffed mascot black bear, and then peering down into the lake. There were a lot of people talking at once and while the magical hearing device certainly made a difference, having so much input all at the same time made her head hurt a little.

She slouched down in the boat, her feet jammed under the seats firmly to keep her balance, and her hands gripping the edge. She was torn between shutting off the hearing devices entirely and wanting to try to catch as much of the conversations as she could.

When a very large, tentacled creature came wafting up under the boats, her eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets.

"J-Jaxon," she whispered urgently to him, "Was that a giant squid? I saw a preserved one in a museum once and that looks like the one I saw but...but how would it be in a lake? And...and what does it eat? And is it safe?" her words were even more garbled than usual as they poured out of her like a dam breaking, and it was all made even worse by the wave that suddenly rose to propel all the little boats forward.

What would happen if she fell into the water? Would the squid eat her? She knew enough about them to know that they got into fights with sperm whales in the depths of the ocean, so something as small as her in comparison would probably be a fairly easy snack.

She really didn't want to be squid food.