Lions and Badgers PV Ross Stephens Fin

The room was more welcoming than it had been the prior year, which was to be expected considering he had not the faintest idea of what was happening in his first year. Nobody had even bothered to give him a heads up about floating candles or talking hats. He had to figure it all out himself. This year he was allowed to simply take a seat and make himself comfortable, which was a considerably nicer change of pace than having to wait his turn to get his mind read by a old brown hat.

He recalled the year prior when he sat down at the table how sweaty his palms were and how much he simply desired to exit the building as quickly as he came. It had been overwhelming, but within the last year the amount of confidence he had gained just from meeting new people had been staggering. Immediately when he sat down at the table, he had felt like he was home once more. It was nearly as if going to the small little bakery for summer was the trip and coming back to Hogwarts was heading back home.

Though Ross had dreaded having to watch the long line of first years before digging into the feast, he kept paying attention for one singular student: Maison. He was lucky to have his own outstanding detective skills- being remembering his last name when he introduced himself- or else he would have been on the edge of his seat for every letter before P. He truly was friendly enough to be a Hufflepuff. Honestly, Ross thought he fit the bill decently well- well enough to at least get along with Willow.

As each first year was called up, he followed along with the upper classmen's cheers whenever a Hufflepuff was declared and their slight silence when another house was chosen. It was easy to get caught up in the whole mob mentality to the point it felt as if time flew faster. It was better than just staring at an empty plate, and he was rather interested in meeting the first years this year. If they were all as intriguing as Maison, he had a feeling he would have no problem whatsoever getting along with them. Still, he could not help but feel his heart race faster and faster until finally he heard it.

Pritchard, Maison

His eyes lit up at the name, finally grateful for the dead silence of a room of children. He attempted to listen close, but all that was going through his mind was what house would he end up in. Seconds felt as if they were hours until suddenly...

GRYFFINDOR!

He threw his fist up into the air, erupting into cheers. He was so caught up in the moment, he hardly noticed the judgmental stares from his peers. He clapped louder than he had for any of the prior students, so when the cheering died down all he could do was look at his hands. "ouch..." he mumbled at his red hands, but a smile remained on his face.

He watched as he made his way over to Gryffindor, and proceeded to continue the process of cheering on students as he felt his stomach growl. He could not WAIT to finally get a good, magical meal again.

Fire, Fire, Fire. Oh How Ross had far too many experiences with it. Lumos had backfired on him far too many times, to the point he had faint burn marks on his foot and arm. It was not as if he did not have experience. His parents worked in a bakery- he was bound to get a couple marks and burns through his childhood. Still, it was not as if he liked the sensation of being burned. In fact, he had quite a distaste for it. It was people like that Gryffindor he met that made him consistently wonder how someone could be so brave.

"I dunno, but you should try it! He had these rings, but you can do it magically- I'd suggest you don't tough. I'll have to show you it sometime! It's..." he glanced at his table mates "Sorta dangerous to do anythin like it in such a concentrated area.

Fire spread easily, but it was also relatively simple to put out. Still, he would never risk it when he was exhausted and in a large group of people. It was one thing to burn himself, worse to burn another. He had burned another girl a slight bit back, and he accidentally burned a boy a year ahead of him too. It got more and more embarrassing per mistake. That was why he practiced so much with lumos after all, it was the one he sucked at yet all the other kids the year prior excelled at. Perhaps he just concentrated too much.

"I'm sure ya got more traits than THAT. But er.. I doubt they heard anything."

Ross had been paying attention as much as he could, and even he did not catch onto the whole rule breaking part. The teachers heard this stuff every year, so he doubt they could even care. Still, he was shocked with it being possible the teachers knew about this behavior if he were Maison he would certainly not be breaking rules not even an hour into the school year. It brought him an ounce of anxiety, knowing that the boy he found himself getting so attached to could possibly land himself into some for of detention. On top of that, he did not wish to get wrapped into anything horrendous. A good mystery was completely legal for anything besides the culprit, after all.

As he dismissed the question, a look of uncertainty made its way onto his face. He really did not wish to be breaking the rules; however, he would be lying to say he did not wish to talk to Maison. He was curious about who he was going to be at Hogwarts, or at least if he could catch him off guard again. It was intriguing to Ross that someone could have so many interesting questions to ask about and yet be so fascinating at the same time. As he rambled about his experiences, Ross' eyes lit up as he mentioned the candles. Finally an area where he knew for sure what he was doing.

"I bet you they used a levitation charm. I haven't a clue how they get them down without setting everything on fire. We aught to find out sometime! Wonder if there is a professor or something along those lines who has any idea... he trailed off, going into an obscure form of thought before snapping out of it. "We should try something like an experiment of sorts like they used to do in science class! There was a pause before he rushed into his sentence faster than a professional athlete BUTNOTTODAYTHOUGH! I'm.. sorta sleepy. Detectives need sleep too. he mumbled, taking a drink from his goblet while he was at it.

While exhausted, Ross did feel thrilled someone was finally asking about magic and charms. It was nice to have someone care of it, especially when it was Ross' main subject. Well, he supposed it was more of Knox's main subject. He was really only following along in his foot steps. He could not help but wonder if the man was alive today, living a happy life. Perhaps he invented a charm of his own or of some sorts. All he was aware of was that he treasured every page of notes in that dusty old book. He really needed to get started on the next year's charms now that he was back at Hogwarts. In fact, maybe he needed to figure out who Knox even was.

As the boy inquired if they could legitimately do the experiment, Ross felt shocked. Nobody was ever interested in learning about Charms with him. Then again, maybe the few times he tried to invite someone something went terribly wrong. It was a curse of sorts. He had to take this into consideration along with the fact second years would likely have more homework than first years. If it was a weekend then maybe he would at least have some time to get to the Medical Wing and at least another day to forgive Ross for his sins.

"Wizard Science? I sorta like that." He remarked sleepily "How 'bout a wizard science weekend? Meet me in the court yard after lunch or somethin' on Saturday? Maybe an hour past lunch.. Don't want you to throw up or anythin.." he trailed off into thought.

As he took another drink from his goblet, he noticed Maison was looking up at the candles. He could only guess what he was thinking about, but seeing how curious he was brought a smile to his face. Talking about charms was one of his favorite things to do, and now he finally had an opportunity to ramble on and on about it without seeming like the most mundane person alive.

When he inquired about if it could be cast on anyone, Ross felt grateful to finally use the piece of knowledge he had been wanting to state for a year. He jumped in as soon as it was asked, not wasting a moment to think.

"Nope, absolutely not everything. The guy who invented it actually got himself stuck in the air because he thought it'd work on himself- nope. Only worked on his clothes. Had to walk alllllllll the way home in his underwear. Wouldn't want to be in that position He knew he wanted to fly. In fact, Ross wanted to too; however, it was just a bad idea in general. Well, that was until an idea dawned upon him. "... Unless ya wanna wear a pair of extra clothes on the weekend, of course.

Ross could not help but laugh at the remark, but then find himself curious again. Was there such thing as edible candles? That could not be that poor of an idea... One could eat the warm sides or cold depending on what they preferred! He was not exactly sure what to do of the fire part- but surely that could be ignored to enjoy how delicious an edible candle would taste? Yes, he supposed he would be more than willing to attempt to make that one day. Would licorice be flammable? He needed to do research; however, he was practically already burned everywhere on his body. He was not sure if he exactly would want to be burned in his mouth too despite the amount of times he had shoved something far too hot into his mouth.

"No no! I just know a couple hexes and curses and all, don't want ya getting sick because I accidentally screwed up your consistency with Immobolus or the dancing feet spell or somethin." his voice progressively became more mumbly as he went on, he would be out if he started counting sheep.

To be frank, he'd never casted a hex on anyone. He always had done it to an inanimate object just to be safe, but he was aware most of his third year spells would require a buddy. It made him anxious to attempt them, but he supposed it needed to be done in his second year or else he would get overwhelmed. He would simply have to find a buddy for it at some point.

When the boy inquired, he realized he likely did not get the point of his pointless knowledge. There was a reason people were not going outside nilly-dilly floating with their clothes on. With some adjustments of course that could be changed; however, it was simply poor in concept and theory.

"i suppose you'd float with your shoes, but I dunno how you'd get 'em back down. You'd sorta have to jump or somethin..." as he drifted into thought, one could practically see an even brighter light bulb above his head. "Unless I used Arresto Momentum to slow your fall! Got an extra pair of shoes to wear for a bit til the charm wears off or somethin?"

He was sleepy, but it was not difficult to tell how ecstatic the boy was. It was a plan- a plan with an adventure at the end. A plan where he could get to know someone. A plan where he could show off his charms. It was genius, really. No doubt about it. It hit every single cool kid checkbox Ross had, and that was saying something.

Ross was not sure if it was due to how exhausted he was or if he had had too much of what was in his goblet, but his mind blanked. I mean- if it could work on a stack of books it could certainly work on a spider. Ross was not too keen on the existence of spiders. They fell in the 'danger' category that needed to be investigated more. They fell in the category of I Do Not Want To Piss This Being Off as well. Eight legs were far too many for him. Now it was not to say it was a fear; however, it was certainly something.

"Suppose you could, I'd hardly recommend it though. seems rather cruel dontcha think?"

Morals always came into play while talking about magic, but it was not his favorite thing to listen to. The people who taught history would bring it up frequently; however, he hardly paid much mind. He just supposed someone had to follow their own moral compass when it came to it. This would be all fine and dandy if his was... consistent? His morals seemed to come and go depending on the day. Did that land him on the neutral side of the alignment? He was unsure.

He was glad to hear the boy was agreeing. He had not done an actual science experiment in such a long period of time. It reminded him of school with the exception that it was actually fun. It felt nice actually knowing what he was doing for once when it came to experiments. He hardly had to give it a moments thought when he asked his next question. In his exhausted state, he had to take a moment to process what spell he was referring to in the first place.

"You could make an attempt! I'd test it out before ya jumped off the school or somethin'." he remarked. "Also, it's Arresto Momentum. Don't wanna say the wrong thing when castin' it or you'll certainly fall straight on your face. he added.

He really needed to do some refreshers on the knowledge of counter spells, as they seemed to consistently slip his mind. Perhaps the effects would wear off on their own, but he was not sure how long he would desire it to. He hardly grasped the rules to transfiguration, much less how long it takes for each spell to wear off.

Just as he felt he was about to pass out, he heard his new friend bid him farewell, A sigh of relief escaped his lips, as he had a feeling the whole event was against the rules. While he had been informed to 'not worry about it', he had been certainly worrying about it. He waved as he heard him scamper off, and as soon as he was certain he was not paying any attention he allowed himself to visibly relax.

Maison was the type of kid to always keep someone on their toes, even if he did not mean to. He appreciated that.