Welcoming Feast 2026 Official Thread

"I think I've heard of your people before," Strike murmured, thinking back to his studies when his parents were home schooling him in Greece. He definitely remembered the name 'Māori' and it had definitely been in relation to New Zealand and Australia. "I've heard of the Māori people before, but I didn't know they had their own language or what it was called. That's really cool!"

When she mentioned she went to Hogwarts, however, he nodded. "Me, too. We just moved to London a short while ago. If your mum is from Australia, is your dad from the UK?" He blinked, then smiled warmly as she mentioned why she had joined the international department. "That's a nice reason. And it's perfect for someone who's bilingual. It sounds like you could spread more awareness of your people and other indigenous nations to really make a difference."

Lorelei's blush surprised Strike and it wasn't until she apologized that he realized why she was blushing. His brows shot up and he put up his palms. "You don't have to be sorry!" he assured her. "It's wonderful to hear someone talk about something they have a passion for. Especially when you care so much about your people and others. I can tell it really matters to you."

He took a bite of his food as he listened to her answer his question. It was every bit as delicious as it looked. "Oh - yeah, that's a good one," he murmured, wondering why he hadn't thought of that. "You don't know what it would turn into, though? Wouldn't you want to find out at least so you could work on conquering that fear?"

After Lorelei had gotten a chance to take a few bites of her own food, she asked Strike another question. He was honestly astonished she cared to know anything more about him. He didn't consider himself all that interesting. Still, he couldn't help but be flattered.

"I'm from a wizarding family," Strike confirmed. "We're purebloods. But...to be honest...I'm not really sure what my parents do." He stared at his food, his gaze distant. He remembered the topic coming up earlier that day when he'd mentioned to Clayton Lamont that he thought his mother might have done a security job once and how Jo had implied that someone in security wouldn't have been able to afford the Firebolt he had. It had never bothered him before, not knowing a name for his parents' job titles, but it had become increasingly important to him since Clay, Jo, and now Lorelei seemed so interested in them.

Still, he happily listened to Lorelei mention how her own father worked in the ministry and that she also didn't really know what he did, which made Strike feel a tad bit better about his own ignorance. But what Lorelei said after surprised him yet again.

"He...doesn't care?" Strike asked. "Even though he works for the Ministry of Magic and this summer camp is all about the Ministry?" He hesitated, wondering about something. "Maybe he's in the Department of Mysteries. That's the theme of the cabin I'm in." Which honestly seemed fitting seeing as so much of what the Ministry did and what his parents did were mysteries to him.

Strike thought he heard the voice of his new roommate and turned his head to see if he could spot him. As he did so, Henry paused and reached out to pat him on the shoulder as he passed and Strike was able to catch his eye long enough to take in his encouraging smile. The blond automatically smiled back, pleased to see his now-familiar face. It was comforting to know he was near.

@Lorelei White & @Henry Holbrook

He was starving, and more than a little concerned at the prospect of spending the next month with these people he had just met. To be quite honest, it didn't exactly fill him with hope. But Antoine had come to summer camp with the resignation of one who knew that it wasn't going to be all that great, and so he hoped that he could spend enough time on his own to make up for it. And so, right when he got settled in and the introductions and formalities were out of the way, Antoine made his way out of the cabin to the Welcoming Feast. It was getting darker, and that only filled the raven with a warm sense of comfort. He loved the peace that nightfall brought, and the pleasure of being alone in the dark.

As he neared the welcoming feast, he could hear soft, gentle music playing, and he didn't know whether to be comforted or turn up his nose. It was familiar and pleasant, but it reminded him a bit too much of home. Nonetheless, the closer he got, the calmer he felt. There were portraits hung all about and Antoine, having been taught quite a bit of important wizarding history from his tutors, recognized more than a few faces. Everything was by design, and he decided that, despite the resemblance to home, it was pleasant.

Finally, food. Antoine would never admit it, but his stomach was certainly beginning to complain. It was simply not gentlemanly to speak of your stomach being empty. But before he could go towards the food, he was given a card. And, as much as he would've liked to head straight for the food, shoving the card in his pocket, that would be horrible manners, and so he paused, opening it up just in case they were some rules and regulations he ought to follow.

What he saw instead were prompts, neatly listed in bullet points, filled with conversation starters and encouragement to mingle. Annoyed, the boy returned the card to his pocket. He certainly didn't require help from a piece of paper to talk to people but, even if he did, that wasn't what he came here for. The raven was here to feast, not socialize, and so he quickly, but not too eagerly, made his way towards the buffet table.

Antoine had worried that the food may not be up to his standards, but he was happy to see that the table was laid with all manner of sophisticated foods. Good thing it wasn't traditional camping food, or he would've had to go hungry. No, this was wonderful pheasant and risotto, venison and chicken ballotine. Antoine poured a little bit of everything on his plate, but didn't take hardly as much as he wished. He would certainly not be seen wolfing down his food like a starved hyena. And, to wash it down, he chose the blackberry sage cordial.

With that, he wasted no time in reaching the Department of Mysteries table. The constellations brought a smile to his face, a genuine one, not the forced, polite one he often wore when needed. The boy loved to stargaze and, although night hadn't fallen just yet, he was already infatuated by the patterns. This was further proof that the Department of Mysteries had been the correct department for him. He couldn't wait to go back to the cabin after this and peruse books as night fell, hopefully once his roommates had fallen asleep. Antoine hated putting up the facade he had to in front of them, and would much prefer to be alone. It suddenly hit the boy that, for the next month, he would scarcely get a minute of privacy, now that he was rooming with another person in the cabin. But, he cleared his mind of such thoughts, instead finding an empty seat, further away from the others, and digging in. There would be no mingling for Antoine de Laurent. Summer camp should mean relaxation, and to the raven, that meant freedom from the societal expectations that came with socialization.

The food was heavenly, and Antoine paced himself, making sure he wasn't getting too wrapped up in his eating, still taking note of his surroundings. He also kept an eye out for someone he might have met through family. The last thing Antoine wanted was to be perceived as rude when he was simply minding his business. Although, he hoped there would be none here who might come to him.

<sub>Chelsea had quickly kempt herself while taming her wavy hair. It was not curly though it did get frizzy due to the extreme weather conditions though she got used to it, switching from hot to cold was something she was not used to for awhile now. She knew how that went when she travelled to Paris for winter vacation back in '21. Jet lagged but was there a definition for train rides? Train sick is what she would have dubbed it. It was time for interactions she'd muse. Overseeing the prompts: "Believes Muggle inventions are useful"

Easier said than done, the brunette felt none of the other prompts spoke to her, she spoke plenty of languages but it would be hard to filter which of the many would even be more than monolingual. Being in a wizarding job was not her interest nor did enchanting items or anything regarding magic was her topic. All she wanted was to be at Castelobruxo again, but she had to admit being in a different scenery was beneficial. Chelsea would have to stomach through the whole thing but her chest was throbbing, never stook out to be the type to be indulging in conversations.

Whoever wanted to interact with her needed a discretion, she would appear disengage but would not mind making small talk.</sub>

𝕲olden sunlight, the kind that warmed rather than burned, bathed the camp grounds in hues of orange and red. The flap of her satchel slid against Denisse's shoulder as she stepped from the trees and into the clearing, Katya following faithfully on her heels. Melodious notes from a piano and a harp played somewhere close by, and though they heard not the musicians themselves, they still seemed to mingle with the chorus of other students' voices and laughter.

They stopped, a card being pressed into each student's hand-a small bundle of folded paper. Denisse took one reluctantly, the parchment cool and smooth under her fingertips. Prompts to encourage conversation.

Cards to force strangers into partnerships.

She folded it and put it in her pocket, debating for only a moment whether she intended to use it.

Rows of tables stood, each bedecked in the colors of their Department. The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures' caught Denisse's eye, decorated with shades of moss and emerald, feathers hanging in clusters like Christmas ornaments, and small, brightly-colored terrariums casting a soft, internal glow. Mini-figurines of all sorts sat precariously on each table, holding burning candles which their shadows cast in elongated, dancing figures on the wooden surface. It had an earthy look to it, as if the creatures of the forest were being given dinner.

Her place was there, marked by a simple name tag which sat beside where her plate would go. Denisse stuck the tag to her robes, brushing the letters with a finger as if to commit herself to them.

All around her, students chatted freely, swapped the prompt cards from each of them, and gestured wildly in conversation. Denisse said nothing at all, her eyes raking over the buffet which stood, already plentifully stocked, along two sides of the feast. Steam rose from servings of wild mushroom and truffle risotto, rich and earthy.

An entire herb crusted roast pheasent stood proudly on one large platter, while hundreds of tiny pumpkin tartlets gleamed golden beside it.

Two large pitchers held cider, warmed with cinnamon. The place had a look nothing like what Denisse had imagined camp to be-this was fine dining.

The portraits all around them watched the celebration, the famous witches and wizards within their frames seeing all. Hermione Granger was amongst them. The witch in the portrait of her stood smiling slightly, perhaps finding amusement in all these students gathered at their training session. Of course, she has heard all about the woman who helped Harry Potter defeat the darkest wizard in history.

Denisse felt a tremor cascade down her spine; this was more than just camp.

This was history. This was expectations of the future. This was the Ministry weighing heavily on each one of them.

Katya jumped neatly up onto the empty seat at Denisse's right hand and curled into a ball; apparently, Katya considered herself a student as well. Denisse absentmindedly stroked her soft fur and surveyed the rest of her table mates. Rain, overdressed but otherwise trying not to appear as though he had thought twice about it, sat at her left hand with his prompt card still closed in his lap.

Across from her, sat Elara, her Lumi snoozing in its carrier on her left hip.

Denisse gave them both a small nod – not as a gesture of introduction, but recognition. They would be her cabin mates, they would be her classmates for all of this-they would be on the same Department table.

Denisse touched the edges of the card in her pocket again. Find someone who believes Muggle inventions are useful. The words repeated in her head; it looked like she really should be approaching someone working with whatever department works with Muggle artifacts or something.

For now, though, she simply sat and smiled to herself in the warm glow of the feast, her heart thrumming between caution and exhilaration. The summer had only just begun, and the start of it all promised great things to come.

OPEN || CLOSED for interactions
Mystery Cabin || Find: Who thinks Dept is Overated || Ask: someone which department they would trust most during a crisis

Wearing : Visibly orange shirt with a turtle print on it, shoes- nothing missing so far. Yeay

Due to the muggle printed posted crumped in the side of his backpack, he was here. To ignore a paper that states EAT, alongside a picture of a loaf of bread - course he couldn't ignore it. Even if he had a tendency to. At first he wanted to find his newest claim - the roomate. But weirdly his specific set of orbs hasn't shown up in a while. A boy(?) was there in the room! Just not his boy! And when he was thinking of leaving - the boy was gone Gone before he could see his set of orb!. What a shame. @Alphie Owen

[character may slight godmod Demo doing this to their character:]
Arriving - he spent more time staring at the magically playing instruments - and looking up to peoples eyes hoping to find a set of familiar ones like the whiteboys from his cabin. The series of short interactions leads like this:

a) Demo, 4'6 ft - stops in front of you and looks up to you with a dead panned stare. " ... I don't now you" before leaving

b) Demo taps your shoulder. " Hey hey hey I'm looking for -" he sees their eyes and groans. " Never miiiinnndddd" he leaves

C) Demo looks at you excitedly- waves at you as if familiar. Though his face falling with everystep he takes. As if the closer he is to being able to see you, the more dissapointed he becomes

.

Regardless,

Demo didn't seem to be having any luck finding any familiar eyes. So with barely a sigh, he sits down at the table where he was supposed to be. What appeared to be the mystery cabin table. Just as he arrived though- he saw another blob of human flesh (Lourine Hoax) just leaving the table area after inspecting the label, letting it fall on the table. A negative leaning expresion- he notes. They left. Demo followed. This one(himself) did not have the grace of a cat. And perhaps Lourine would have already noticed his approach from behind.

" How many mouths are you feeding with all that?", he asks " Are you forced to be here? "

@Lourine Hoax

Caitríona was tired. Not physically, though she would much prefer to retire to her room instead of being here, but mentally. Any time she's ever tried to interact with someone that wasn't her mother or father, it ended terribly. She has learnt by now that social interaction does not come naturally to her, and people tend to be inclined towards not liking her. Now that she was being all but forced to attend Hogwarts, she was being pushed far, far out of her comfort zone. It certainly did not help that the three girls she's sharing a cabin with seem adamant on dragging her along with them, despite how unusual she may seem. Caitríona's first impression had not been what she would call a 'good one', but maybe it had not been all that terrible if they were still talking to her... for now.

It had only been a few hours since she'd met these girls, but she could already tell a few things about them. Kahira, Nova, and Idalia all appeared confident in themselves — they were poised, graceful, and knew they belonged at Hogwarts. Caitríona possessed none of those qualities. The qualities of what a pureblood should be. She knew she stuck out like a sore thumb with them, but if they wanted her to tag along, then she would accept her fate. It might even be a good thing, in the end, to act as if she fit in this quartet. It was a perfect way to be certain that no one would ever suspect she was anything other than a pureblood. She had not even been here for an entire day and already she had started building her entire personality on lies. It was the only way to protect herself.

Kahira led them into the feast, heels clicking as if they were announcing her arrival. The atmosphere was nice, at the very least. Gentle music played whilst the sun slowly set along the horizon, casting the area in a golden light. Soon, nightfall would be upon them, and she could feel her lungs deflating in relief. Caitríona always felt safer during the night. It was by far her favourite time of day. Peaceful and quiet, most people asleep. There was no need to pretend to the ghosts that came alive during that time. She could be herself. Her attention drifted back to Kahira as she spoke, the girl looking at the piece of parchment in her hand with an expression that could only be described as complete and utter disdain. Caitríona's stomach dropped, but her outward expression remained unfazed. If that was Kahira's reaction to Muggles, she would rather not know her opinion on half-breeds. Maybe this was a dangerous game, but she would still play it.

Caitríona opened the card she had been clutching in her own hand — too hard, it seemed, as it appeared a tad crinkled — and skimmed the words written on it. 'Find someone who always causes chaos'. Hm, interesting. Unfortunately, she does have quite a few doubts on whether that's something the girls would be fond of. From what she's already gathered, Caitríona has a hunch that 'chaos' is not their favourite way to pass the time. Maybe she'll wait to see what Nova and Idalia's parchments say before revealing the prompt she received.

Date: 1st August, 2026
Location: Campgrounds - Welcoming Feast
Word Count: 537
Outfit: Linky!
Tag: @Antoine de Laurent

Elodie noticed that this summer camp was very fond of making unnecessary elaborate ordinary things. Not that she was complaining. The campgrounds looked different as evening came. The sound of piano and was that harp…? were playing in the background. She glanced at the instruments as she passed, having grown up in a magical household, it’s nothing new to her. What interested her more was how much effort they put into all of this. Her mother would have called it lovely.

She joined the feast that was apparently prepared for them. As much as she wanted to inspect the decorations and portraits, she was too busy getting used to seeing this many people in one place. She was not frightened of strangers and she was not shy either. What was not taught to her was how one was supposed to approach a table full of children. Before the Netherlands, she used to deal with tutors, relatives and visits from cousins. But after moving to the Netherlands, aside from the usual people, she had to deal with other people speaking Dutch around her and she spent several months comparing everything to Northern Ireland. Beauxbatons would be different too. She was trying not to think too much about that part.

One thing she noticed as she passed different tables, they were all decorated depending on their cabin themes. One was decorated with maps and flags, and another had floating luggage tags. There were flames, enchanted manuals, tiny creatures and… ooohh, now I know. There was no mistaking which table belonged to her department. There was a time when finding a mysterious silver object would have resulted in her inspecting it but having a Curse Breaker for a father means she’s given several lectures on why unidentified magical objects were not supposed to be touched by curious children like her. The mysterious box could remain mysterious until after dinner. She went to check the buffet and was pleasantly surprised at what she saw. After debating with herself for a while, she finally settled on the mushroom and truffle risotto with few extra things she found interesting, then got something to drink.

When she returned to their assigned table, she recognised the boy from their cabin. Antoine, if she remembered correctly. She’s always been good with names. The boy appeared content with the sitting arrangement he chose for himself, she could understand the appeal. She would have chosen another empty seat so as not to disturb him but she reminded herself that one of the main purpose of this camp is to explore and there’s also the part to try new things. So no, isolating herself was not advisable. Besides. Antoine was no longer technically a stranger, they had met briefly already. If she was expected to spend the next few weeks sharing a cabin with these people, sitting exclusively with people she didn’t know seemed an inefficient way of knowing them. That was reasonable enough, right? Elodie approached him and stopped beside an empty seat, “Hello again.” She was smiling at him, “Do you mind if I sit here?” Half of her attention went to the locked silver boxes again, causing her eyebrows to furrowed deeply. She would investigate that later.

STAMINA - 8, EVASION - 9, STRENGTH - 0, WISDOM - 8, ARCPOWER - 0, ACCURACY - 10
CHARMER

WC: 219

Interactions: Robin

Date: September 2025

Time: Unknown

OOC Note: Reducio Google translate was used for the French.

Mentions: Reducio @Robin Lockett

Speech: Reducio English Sign: #87c095 French Sign: #388f59

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Raphael frowned and rubbed his head where he had hit it against the other guy. Honestly, why couldn't people look where they were going? Granted he also wasn't paying attention, but most other people had the advantage of being able to hear if someone was coming towards them. He couldn't. So truly it wasn't his fault and it was the other guy who walked into him.

Faites attention où vous allez, tout le monde n'entend pas les gens arriver vers soi vous savez. Watch where you're going, not everyone hears people approaching them you know. he signed with this annoyed almost disgusted look on his face. He glanced down and realised some of the drink had fallen onto him. Great. Just great. he groaned. His white shirt was now stained thanks to the drink. He was going to have to ask Fawkes if she could spell the stain away for him but he couldn't find her when he looked around. Maybe he should have just stayed with her and dealt with her barrage of questions.

It was kind of awkward just standing there with that big stain on his shirt. He didn't quite know what to do now besides still glare at the guy in front of him. Maybe he should just walk away honestly. He didnt know why he was still there and not actively searching for his cousin.

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