Winterlands Main Story December Winners PV Closed

Alan was sitting at the window, whereas Tiger his cat was occupying the space across from his own seat. The travel had been mostly quiet for now when all of a sudden the area to the back of Tiger became a little lively. Alan has not been all too sure as to what was going on, but after listening for a few moments and noticing he couldn't make out too many of the words through the walls dividing the areas. Furrowing his brows, the fourth year would get up from his seat and walk to the sliding door, pushing it open to take a peek into the corridor where he would see an unfamiliar boy. He had seen him around but never actually talked to him. So with a tilt of his head, the fourth year would approach the boy, all the while the prefect badge visible on the outside of his school robes. "Everything alright over here?", he wondered as he took in the view. He technically could not see any issue but he also knew that asking certainly would not hurt, right? He however noticed that in the adjacent area, a bunch of students he actually knew had gathered, including Gris who he knew to be a fellow prefect. A glance over his shoulders revealed to him that Tiger had followed closely still gnawing on bits of cat treats he had given the feline earlier when it was quiet.

Action
Interacting with @Vladimir Athanatos

Action: Listening to Alan ask questions while waiting for the aisle to clear

open to interactions

Everly's feelings about going back to Hogwarts that day were at best, excited. At worst, downright terrified.

The small girl walked alongside her parents and siblings, her father pushing her cart for her while her mother jabbered on, reminding her about "make sure to take good care of yourself and brush your teeth and wash your clothes properly and yada yada yada". Everly nodded, exasperated, and ran over to her father, insisting that she could push a cart herself. And so she lifted her trunk, almost stumbling, and set it down with a loud thunk, beginning to wheel it onto the train, giving her parents one last hug. She made her way down the train, scanning every compartment first and making her way to the back.

Everly pushed herself into the rear car, her eyes scanning over the large amount of people in the cart, beginning to wonder if this was the right decision at all. There was a loud chatter and she shifted nervously along the side, still looking for a seat. There seemed to be none; great, just her luck. A lot of students were talking to one another and there seemed to be multiple conversations going on at the same time. Everly's head spun. She glanced around desperately for someone she recognized, though that was doubtful at the slightest.

Everly pushed herself into a corner, holding her arms against her chest as if that would protect her from something. She had no means to intrude or interrupt another conversation, and she didn't plan on doing so anyways.

『

Mentioning: N/A
Interacting With: Everybody from his compartment
Hex Code: #A0A9B8
Action: Being a grump while looking to figure out what's going on
Other: One compartment up from Vladimir's crazy knocking.

』

Lovely Winter Holidays with the Mason's usually meant quite a lot of different things from what it was this year. Sure, family was still very cold, but it felt familiar, not like how things had felt recently: Things were changing, and people were changing. Everything felt scary, new, not at all normal, Alec didn't like it. He wanted his family to stay normal and be normal; he didn't care if that meant a cold mother, busy father, a sometimes mean older sister, or even the younger one who relies on you. It was stressful, but it was normal, it was home, his new reality wasn't. At the very least there was Hogwarts to fall back on, even as everything fell apart. Yes, this did mean what you were falling back on was a school that was basically sentencing you to death, but you know. When there's nothing left and it's sort of your only option, you probably shouldn't be one to be picky on what you get.

Alec sat on what felt like a very full stuffed up part of the train. He just sort of sat wherever, and that was that as he let his mind drift off, going somewhere else, far away from here. Far away from everything and all this. Letting himself reflect on summer instead, or at the very least the good ones. The terrible summer had come with quite a few, but he'd been determined to make good out of it. Of course, the only real good that came out of it was a friendship, or something like that. At times those didn't feel like the right words to describe it. As his mind wandered, Alec was soon to forget everything going on. His arms folded across his chest, as his mind wandered, a frown on his face. If he took anytime to realize what he looked like at this very moment, he may have changed it. If he did, he would've realized the mannerisms looked a lot like a friend of his.. Good or bad, that was a thing that was happening right now.

Now the real question was, what was really up with the snake, Alec hadn't been able to get any info out of Wyatt, even with the means t-When Alec finally came back to reality he realized something was going on. Banging on the compartment next to them then muffled words Alec could sort or make out. He watched others stand up in the compartment, leaving to check out what was going on. And Alec being the dimwit he was decided it'd be a great idea to follow as well.

This was when he finally put the words together. Something was wrong with the train..? It took another moment of reflection before he finally went through the motions in his head. Of course there was something wrong, there always had to be! For truly what was the utmost experienced Hogwarts experience without something going wrong? It would boring, who wanted that? Nobody except people who didn't want to die. Because apparently that was a thing now, yes, um, In other words, Alec was upset and had other things he needed to deal not at all related to this. Alec let his eyes focus in on what was going on as he leaned against the wall in the aisle. "Maybe we should all just head back to the compartment and pretend things are fine for a change." Arms folded across his chest, he muttered the words under his breath. Alec had been in a compartment full of people who act like heroes but aren't. Someone remind him who thought it was a good idea to place him in Gryffindor again?

Closed to interaction except for Jackson, Rafael, and Ana for the moment. Otherwise our posts wouldn't make any sense. Jackson and Eve are alone in their compartment and Rafa and Ana are about to bust in, close the door behind then and body block it. Once they're in place those on the outside can try to interact with the door/them to get in while Eve tries to get out. Will address Harman's interaction during my next post though since I hadn't written this stipulation prior to his attempt to interact.

[font=century gothic]INTERACTING WITH @Jackson Valentine
MENTIONING @Rafael D'Spacito, @Anastasia Beckett[/font]

By now, it should have come as no surprise that chaos would rain upon any given school-sanctioned event, or that at its center, one could expect to find none other than D'Spacito. And yet, whenever such news reached Evelynn's ears, she could barely contain her disdain. An audible exhalation or roll of her eyes wouldn't even begin to express how she felt about Gryffindor's quidditch captain. And yet, every time that she did hear about his reckless antics, she'd revert right back into that loop, brows raised in sordid disbelief, her expression a deadpan of silent judgment.

Such was the expression with which Valentine had been plastered shortly into his little venting session. It was no reflection of how she felt about the boy. Or even about his act of expressing his frustrations to her. Moreover, the topic of D'Spacito was simply…exhausting. How he had managed to land himself the lauded position of Captain while demonstration behaviour such as his, she would never know. Even the self-control he had exerted in the hospital wing after their match against Slytherin months prior could hardly begin to make up for everything else he'd done and said to her. It was enough to send the corner of her mouth to twitch periodically during Valentine's story every time her thoughts slipped towards the very tempting and very attractive notions of what jinx she could next use for…target practice.

"No…I suppose not.." Evelynn allowed when Valentine had finished his elaborate retelling. She almost felt sorry for the first year. It was rather clear by his expression—nevermind the emotion instilled within his words—that what D'Spacito had done at the ball had truly troubled him. What was more, he almost seemed aghast at the notion, as though he didn't yet expect this behaviour from their King of Blatch. (The idea of him deigning to crown himself in such a way and with such a ludicrous and unsportsman-like nickname drew another measured breath). "Perhaps that was exactly what he was looking to do, though?" she proposed, tilting her head slightly as she regarded her current companion. "Maybe he was trying to impress her."

Not that he really needed to, she might have added. Romance wasn't exactly a topic for which Evelynn held any kind of particular interest—she was only twelve, after all—but even she knew that he had more drama in that field than an OR full of surgeons. It seemed silly to her that he would wish to impress Cooper in an attempt to add yet another sheep to his flock. What they all even saw in him, she still couldn't fathom. But… he was her captain, and it would reflect poorly on her own image to share such opinions about him.

"Honestly.." she agreed in resignation. As far as she was concerned, Valentine had hit the mark. D'Spacito was rather sensitive. "If I could give you some advice, it would be to give D'Spacito a wide berth. I'm not sure what your experience has been like so far at Hogwarts, but there are certainly some people that are better left to be avoided."

And here she was, suddenly feeling the need to impose some wise advice from a twelve year old to her junior, inexperienced counterpart. Was this what it was going to be like? Being Prefect? The letter had come by owl over the holidays, containing with it the little badge gingerly—as though it were a shard of glass that could cause harm with the slightest mishandling—within her fingers. She was told to wear it always upon her person once she was back at school, which, really, had started once she had boarded the train. She had been guided to bring her belongings to the Prefect's train car, and given instructions to patrol along with the rest of them. She'd done so, patrolling for a time, then entering a compartment to visit and get to know the students she would be watching out for, then back to duties. Repeating the cycle until she found herself here across from Valentine to enjoy the light lunch that had been provided. But all the while, she had been unable to bring herself to pin the badge to her robes, instead absently fiddling with it as they conversed.

"There are those who say there is a fine line between courage and stupidity. Gryffindor is the House of the Brave, but we've got our fair share of fools as well, many that have been known to act before they think or lash out at the smallest offense. Caster is another one. And DeRook, Beckett, Barret, Gray. The last two are Slytherin, at least, and not of your year, so hopefully you won't run in to them, but they can be quite—"

But what, exactly, they could be was cut off by the sound of knocking on the door of the next compartment over followed shortly by excited conversation. She recognized the voice of Athanatos immediately and her head swivelled with interest towards the direction of the noise, gaze fixed upon the wall as though she could somehow see through it. His voice came through clearer than it perhaps it ought to have. Evelynn hadn't meant to linger long in conversation with Valentine when she had first arrived and so had left the compartment door cracked just enough to give the hint that she would be leaving right back through it again soon enough. But that was before he'd dived into the engrossing tale of false White Knights. She'd forgotten about the door.

Fingers stilled, pinching tightly at the edges of her Prefect's badge as she listened. Vladimir needn't have said much at all to send her brows to furrowing or the hair on the back of her neck standing on end, not with what she had seen and heard of him. He was the definition of suspicious and although the proof she and Flash had gathered was likely circumstantial at best, she was still quite convinced that he was somehow involved with the hags.

Thus, it wasn't a worry about what this allegedly worried boy could be meaning about something being wrong with the train and having to move, but rather the sceptical belief that this was a trap into which he was attempting to lure them. This worry was tempered—if only slightly—as several familiar voices spoke up in response. Chief among them, Seilun's. Seilun, as Evelynn had been so informed, had been among the core attempting to puzzle out the previous year's Blossom Ball. Having been personally involved with the shady bird on more than one occasion, she was the perfect candidate (hopefully) to extract more specific information from the boy.

"Perhaps.." Her attention rather fixed on the commotion occurring just beyond their own compartment, Evelynn's response to Valentine's query was presented almost absently. Until it really clicked in her mind what it was that he was saying and was rudely awakened to the reminder that yes indeed, she was a prefect now. She would be expected to address commotions such as this. A flutter of nerves erupted in her belly that no amount of swallowing could dismiss. "Right," she said again, steeling herself with a steadying breath. "Of course," she added, rising. And with a sidelong glance to Valentine, and then a nod, she moved as though to slide back the door to their compartment and exit into the aisle.

[font=century gothic]ACTION: Rises with the intent to exit her compartment[/font]

Open to Interactions
Interacting with @Vladimir Athanatos
Mentioning @Martyna Romero
In a compartment with @Alec Mason (one compartment up from the knocking)

Starlee had made her way into one of the compartments in the rear car. Normally she would have attempted to find Tina to sit with her, but of course, her parents had to be their typically late selves, and Starlee had barely managed to get onto the train in time. This left her in the rear car, which was strangely full of Gryffindors. Starlee only knew a handful of Gryffindors, and they seemed nice enough... but they were certainly no Tina.

She had decided that perhaps this would be the perfect time to catch up on some light reading, possibly from that new herbology book that her Papa had gotten her for Christmas. Of course, with how crowded the car was, she got rather little reading accomplished. Everyone seemed to be chit-chatting about the holidays, and she struggled to maintain focus on the wonderful plants described in this book. She was at her breaking point when she heard a knocking in the hall, probably from the compartment next door.

'Can't a girl read in peace?' she mumbled under her breath as she got up, set the book down on her seat, and went to open up the compartment door to see what on earth was going on. She peeked her head out from the doorway and saw the Ravenclaw boy talking to a group of people in the compartment next door. 'Something wrong with the train?' Starlee thought. Why on earth would a random boy know there was something wrong with the train? Wouldn't a teacher... or a prefect come to warn them or something? She was skeptical of the whole thing, especially after the ball. Seriously, how much could go wrong at Hogwarts?

She fully stepped out into the small hall, listening to everyone speak. It seemed opinions were divided. Some thought the threat was real, others, not so much. Starlee was falling more and more into the 'This is totally a prank' category. She looked at the boy and said quite matter of factly, "And how do you know something is wrong? I see nothing wrong... no smoke or whatever, what if this is all just some big prank? We come back to find everything covered in slime or something?" she held back from rolling her eyes at the boy, but her blunt and annoyed tone was clear.

@Vladimir Athanatos

It was the end of winter break, and now every student was heading back to home sweet Hogwarts, and that was including Piérre. The eccentric Britalian had thoroughly enjoyed his time with Romeo, who was just as quiet and studious as ever. Maddie, just as stern, seemed to be learning to smile at her charges a little after six years of care, and Piérre was the one who was mixed with a hybridized sense of excitement and fear for what the new year would offer him.

Around this time, after all, his world had been compromised time and time again, but at least he had his little bengal friend, Figaro, to temper any nervous feelings he had.

Right now, he was on the move, having raided a candy cart on the express and quickpicked a bag of Bernie bott’s every flavor Beans as he had casually passed by. These things were AWESOME. And the best part: Piérre never could seem to choose wrong. Call it a fluke or a stroke of luck, but the boy seemed to know exactly when to stop and when to consider which bean was good and which one was earwax. Right now he was enjoying an intensely sour caramel apple, humming to himself as he wandered from car to car, keeping an eye out for familiar faces. It was no secret that most of the houses tended to stick together, and if Piérre knew some of his lion friends well, they tended to stay together in droves. So... he was looking for the rest of the lions.

Slipping through the back door of one of the cars, Piérre noticed a commotion in front of him. There was a tall, dark-haired Ravenclaw boy pounding on a cart door just in front of him. With a moment of pause, the face clicked and Piérre recognized the boy who had been so concerned about Marion at the Halloween Masquerade just last semester. Figaro was currently draped around the boy’s shoulders in a sleeping curl, softly purring against the Britalian’s throat, and with a smile, Piérre pet his sleepy little kitten who had just had his first birthday over break. It only seemed like yesterday that Piérre had purchased the silver Bengal.

Quietly standing by the door leading to the car behind them, Piérre tried his best to understand what was going on. The last thing that he had heard was that ‘They had to move a few cars up.’

”W-why?” Piérre asked curiously, taking a few steps forward. “I mean, I’m not one to complain... but... what’s going on?” He was curious... not argumentative... and perhaps a little wary of the mysterious Ravenclaw that seemed to keep popping up in his life.

Interacting with @Xailah Alptraum

Interacting with @Vladimir Athanatos

Action: feeling confident, but still keeping the wand ready, though not displayed as the presence of that boy doesn't add up to statistics of nice outcomes.