Arrival Thread - Magical Schools - May 2021 Arrival

Reducio

Role playing as my Beauxbatons iNPC, Eeva Vos

Interacting with @Suzanne Byrd, but open to interactions

Students Mentioning

~Outfit~ Reducio Uniform

~Hex code~ Reducio English| #71042a Dutch| #539d65 French| #0e486c Finnish| #610792

May 21st, 2021

Eeva looked around Hogwarts' great hall, contemplating where she should sit.

The large room was jam packed. Eeva didn't mind crowds, but this would be a lot for anyone, she reflected, except for maybe really extreme extroverts. Upon first arriving at Beauxbatons, she had been astonished at the number of wizards and witches, her kind. Though she was half blood, Eeva had basically grown up like a regular muggle child. Her mother, a witch, had died when Eeva was little. She and her twin sister, Tess, were raised by their muggle father, therefore limiting the girls' access to the magical world to their family on their mom's side and a few friends. But Eeva didn't blame her father. She knew it couldn't be easy.

The young witch's gaze wandered again around the room. She spotted a few

slightly familiar-looking girls from Beauxbatons. She figured she should probably try to make friends with someone from another school, though, as that was sort of the purpose of this whole event. Eeva figured it would be easiest to try to talk to someone from Hogwarts or Ilvermorny. She spoke english, so she would be guaranteed to understand them. But which table should she try? Naturally, she'd done a bit of research prior to coming here. The Hogwarts students in red and gold were Gryffindor. The blue and bronze, Ravenclaw; yellow and black, Hufflepuff; and silver and green, Slytherin. Eeva had wondered what house she'd be in, had she gone to Hogwarts. She'd decided it would either be Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. So she figured she should probably try one of those tables, right? Eeva decided on Gryffindor, figuring it would be the safest bet. Ravenclaws would be nerdy, like her, but wouldn't necessarily appreciate her jokes. Gryffindor, the brave and bold, however, couldn't go wrong. She didn't want to just burst in on someone's conversation, so she walked up to the nearest Gryffindor who didn't seem to already be talking to someone. The girl had her back turned to her, so all Eeva could see was her purple hair in a dark blue bandana with red flowers.

"Hello!" Eeva said in english. "My name is Eeva. Er, Eeva Vos. May I sit here?"

The purple haired girl jumped in surprise and turned around. Eeva realized she'd been reading a book. She mentally slapped herself on the head. She knew from experience with her cousin and sister that bookworms hate it when you interrupt their reading.

Before the girl could respond, Eeva said hastily, "Oh, I am sorry! I did not see that you were busy." She cringed at her awkward english, suddenly feeling self conscious.

[ @Lily Cawthi as Irina • open to interactions! ]

Today was the day. In October, Lucia Fox had missed the arrivals of Ilvermorny, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, but this term she was determined to be there to welcome them with open Hufflepuff arms. She was just a little disappointed when she did, in fact, miss all three arrivals (Merlin curse you, watch-which-needed-fixing!), but cheered up a bit once she discovered that the real meet-and-greet would be at dinner. In response to this news, she spent approximately half an hour trying to figure out what to wear, before being reminded that school uniform was mandatory for dinners. Blushing furiously with embarrassment, she changed back into her uniform, and only forced herself to calm down in order to apply a light layer of makeup. It definitely wouldn't do if she looked like a clown.

Lucia sat down at the Hufflepuff table and looked around, spying the groups of foreign students huddled at the back of the hall, waiting to sit down. Immediately, she wished she'd been able to wear her own clothes, like they apparently were. Lucia Fox was not a fan of the Hogwarts school uniform - it was all bulky and shapeless and the neckline was annoying. Oh, and the robes were really hot when it was a warm summer, but at least they weren't nearing that point yet. And, anyway, black wasn't really her colour. Lucia preferred bright or pastel colours to contrast with her hair. Blue was preferable. White was alright. Black was a last resort. Yellow, however, was growing on her. Maybe being a Hufflepuff did that to you - Lucia had noticed her sister Briar wearing more blues ever since she got Sorted into Ravenclaw.

Lucia shook her sleeves out and listened not-very-carefully as Headmaster Lear said... something. Okay, maybe Lucia wasn't listening. Well, the speech was mostly directed towards the foreign students anyway. Lucia was too busy checking them out - she'd heard that boys from Durmstrang were supposed to be utterly handsome, but to her disappointment they just seemed like normal humans after all. She shouldn't have been surprised, really; after all, she had seen some of them at Summer Camp and October's masquerade ball. Still, though...

Well, that wasn't the only reason why Lucia was looking at the foreign students. After all, she wanted to see what the new school was like! Kol- Koldo- Oh, Merlin save me. Lucia gave up. She'd just try to avoid saying the school's name. Or call it The Conservatory. That would be easier.

Lucia was brought out of her thoughts by the sudden appearance of food on the giant tables, and helped herself to a roast dinner. The quality of the food here always made her a little disappointed of the food at home - Ebony was no cook, and neither was Rosa, their house-elf. Apparently, Lucia had inherited her love of cooking from her father. Usually, Lucia didn't think of him much, and he was a forbidden topic at home due to an unspoken rule entitled Don't Upset Ebony. At home, everything was simple and sometimes burnt. At Hogwarts, everything was perfect and Lucia often felt like she couldn't get enough of it (although she always ended up leaving a little on her plate after declaring that she was 'full').

Sadly, Lucia's eating was interrupted by a girl's voice with a thick Russian accent, asking if she could sit down. A little startled, Lucia gestured to the spot on the bench next to her. "Oh! Yes, of course." The girl introduced herself... as Irina Fox. Lucia ran a hand through her hair, a nervous habit. This girl must have been muggleborn - after all, Fox was quite a common name in Muggle communities, or so Lucia had heard. Despite Irina's accent, her name didn't sound all that Russian to Lucia; maybe one of her parents had come from an English-speaking country. "Oh! That's funny," Lucia gave an awkward smile and held out her hand to the other girl. "I'm Lucia Fox. Which school are you from? Durmstrang? Or the... the Conservatory?" Lucia suddenly realised that she might want to speak a little slower so that Irina would find it easier to understand her. Just in case. "Oh. Sorry. Which school are you from?" She spoke more slowly this time, not realising that she sounded like she was talking to a five-year-old.

Interacting with:

Arjan Oberoi (@Serena Towers)|Rudolf Novikov (@Adam Harringtom)| Cassanora Browne (@Hugh Lowe)| Madeleine Nakamura (@Aaron Jones)
Open to Interactions

In the moments that she looked at the older Durmstrang boy and his charming smile and clear attempt at making the young witch swoon, she realized she felt something. She did not understand what it was, but it was a new feeling. Her cheeks felt a bit warm, and a bit of panic arose within her. Unbeknownst to her, she had unlocked a new emotion:

Second hand embarrassment.

She herself was feeling like a fish out of water, but there was no denying that the cringe she felt because of the boy’s advances was much more powerful.

At the mention and acknowledgment of the boy sitting next to him, Maria finally took a better look at his companion. Like many of his peers, Novikov (whose name she’d yet to learn) also had a nice face. She noticed him looking at her, or sort of at her, but also not at her. He looked like he was lost in thought.

Maria thought that she would not mind getting to know said other boy, mostly because he wasn’t bothering her. Arjan on the other hand, she would sort of mind. “I guess, although I don’t think establishing your destiny with someone is necessarily getting to know them.” Her tone was calm, trying to draw back the sass in the name of school diplomacy.

As she continued to stare Arjan down, she noticed two girls who sat in close proximity to them, looking to be from Beauxbatons. They were about Maria’s age, and one of them looked vaguely familiar. The young Hufflepuff wasn’t sure if she’d seen the blond girl but there was something about her she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

The girl couldn’t help but react when her ears picked up Professor Jensen’s nickname coming from one of the girls. Her head turned ever so slightly in their direction, her eyes catching a glimpse of the familiar girl. Her previous statement that solidified Maria’s hunch. She was probably Professor Browne’s daughter.

For a moment she considered that maybe she was Professor Iwasaki’s, but there were two things that made her think otherwise. The first was that Professor Iwasaki had only been a recent addition to Hogwarts, while girl said her father had been here for two years. The second was when she said that her father must have been behaving if that castle hadn’t fallen into ruin yet.

Maria highly doubted that someone like Professor Iwasaki would let that happen.

While she would have been happy to forget that the boy in front of her was around, he had introduced himself. He also put her glass on the table as if inviting her to sit. Fat chance.

A fifth year. So he was definitely older than her. “Don’t think you’d want to do that, spilled some juice on my hand when I bumped into you.” She pointed to his outstretched hand as her other took out a handkerchief to wipe her hand with. “I’m Maria. Maria Dee. Hufflepuff, second year.” Those words came out clipped, with a smile that tried to be friendly.

When he’d mentioned that he and his friend wanted a tour Maria’s eyebrows would have probably merged with her hairline. She had no intention of spending extensive amounts of time with Arjan, especially after this whole debacle. Just as she was about to say no, his companion spoke up, and made his way over to the other girls who sat at the table.

Crap.

When the girl who introduced herself as Madeline turned to her and asked if she was leading the tour, she thought for a moment, but then had an idea.

“I’m actually not quite sure what’s happening… but if you two would like a tour I’d be happy to give you one.” Maria said, before she turned to the older boy. “You can come along too.” She would tell Novikov, giving him a small smile. “Unless of course, you would prefer to go with Arjan. It seems like he knows the castle well enough… or I’m sure his other friends would be up for it.”

@Delilah Stewart as Milo Durand, @Serena Towers| Outfit

French
English

Clara should feel bad, for interrupting her brother, for this poor girl, but honestly, this is the most fun she has had in weeks. She slides down into her chair, serving herself some salad and bread as she watches the girl puzzle over the compliment. Shaking her head, Clara looks at her, "My brother, he mean solitaire like a diamond, beautiful, which you are."

Clara's cheeks quickly flush as she looks closely at the girl, she is beautiful, but what is worse, the fact that she complimented a pretty, older girl or the fact that she did it on behalf of her older, playboy brother.

She glances at him, her cheeks and shoulders still burning red, trying to urge Milo to move the conversation along. Clara nods with Milo as he explains that they go to Beauxbatons, showing that she too goes to the French school.

As the two continue talking, Clara buries herself into her salad, only offering her brother a exasperated look as he calls Hogwarts old- leave it to Milo to mess up compliments twice in a row.

Noticing her brother has yet to take any food, Clara grabs his plate and begins to serve him with a massive amount of baked chicken and salad, trying to force him to eat and not attempt to... charm pretty girls.

rping as iNPC Maksim Preobrazhensky [x] Outfit.

Closed to interactions (excl. @Levi Drakos). Dialogue in italics is Russian.

Maksim almost didn't see the little lion boy approach. After all, he had to be at least 35 centimeters taller than the Hogwarts student that had come forward, and he wasn't really expecting anyone quite so small in stature to come up to him. But the English hit his ears, and Max registered that someone was actually talking to him. Blinking in surprise, the Durmstrang fifth year cast his gaze towards the squeaking little shrimp in front of him. "Er..." he managed to get out, English escaping him for a moment as he collected his thoughts. "I think... I think I saw my friend..." he stalled, eyes lifting from the boy's face to scan the Great Hall. To his delight, he did actually spot a friend- Rudolf Novikov, the man he would call his brother if he didn't already have one of those. To his disappointment and confusion, however, Novikov was seated next to Oberoi, of all people. "Nevermind," Maksim said quickly, his small smile stiffening as he turned his attention back towards the squeaky boy. "I was mistaken. Da, I will sit with you!"

Maksim's head was spinning as he clapped his new tour guide on the back much harder than he realized, quite distracted by the sight of his best bud seemingly all chummy with Oberoi. He didn't hate Oberoi... did he? No, the two fifth years certainly had their differences, but Maksim didn't think he had it in him to hate anyone. Still, some melodramatic part of his brain screamed Betrayal! Betrayal of the highest order!, and he tried to focus on the child who was guiding him. "You wear red," he observed blandly with a half-hearted nod. "That is good. Red like Durmstrang," he added on, trailing off slightly at the end. Damn, his English was rusty. Electing to shut his mouth for the time being, Maksim would allow for himself to be lead to a seat, presumably, at one of the long tables.

"Oh, my manners!" he exclaimed as he sat down next to his new friend. Smoothing out the cloth of his pants, Maksim nodded at the Hogwarts student with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes. "I am Maksim Aleksandrovich Preobrazhensky, a uh... year five at Durmstrang. Most of the people call me Maksim. And who are you, kind little boy?" he inquired, finally taking in the appearance of the boy in front of him. As he had so incredibly astutely noticed earlier, the boy wore red-accented robes. Maksim recalled the house being named Gryffindor, from when he had visited Hogwarts in the fall, but couldn't remember the trait that it supposedly represented. Maybe being short? Other than his robes, however, there wasn't much that was stood out about the younger boy. He just seemed rather plain, overall- boring brown hair, an accent that blended in with everyone else's, and light colored eyes.

Also, he was short.

The Gryffindor would surely notice Maksim's eyes darting all over his face and body, and the smile on Maksim's face would slowly slip off, his mouth setting into straight line. Already, he was starting to regret his decision to dine with this squeaky little child, but maybe something good would come out of it. At least, he was sincerely hoping this wouldn't be a grand waste of his time.

Interacting with: @Aaron Jones, @Serena Towers, @Adam Harringtom & @Maria Dee

English = 5D4A64 | Russian = 4E7A27

Interacting with Nate Smirnow - @Haley Rose
Open to interactions

Irina was already just waiting for dinner to be served so that she could go on her adventure with Nate. She didn’t know what she expected with how they’d get the food on the table but when piles of luxurious food appeared on the table in front of he she couldn’t help but jump a little. The food on the table was more food than Irina had seen in her lifetime.

She hoped that this banquet was just for the international school entrance because it was too much to have for each meal. Even with the extra students she doubted that they would eat all of it. Irina wished that all the food would be eaten because it would be too much to throw away when others could benefit from it. She tried to push the thoughts aside and fill up her plate up with food since she was quite hungry.

Nate confirmed to her that they would leave for their adventure after dinner and Irina started eating quicker so that they could get on the move. The he asked her what she wanted to see and Irina had no idea. All she really knew about was the Quidditch pitch and the campgrounds where she stayed. Irina was just glad that she had made it to the Great Hall without taking a wrong turn, it would be a shock if she could find her place anywhere else.

”Honestly Nate I have no idea what there is to explore at this school”She let out with a little laugh. ”I mean the campgrounds that we’re staying out seem like they could be fun to explore but this school is so different that I’d probably get lost immediately.” Irina was just trying to crack some jokes to her friend to not show how lost she already was.

She tried to eat a bit of everything and soon enough she was full. There was still so much food on the table and it worried her that it might go to waste. Irina started to get up from the table and asked Nate, ”Are you almost ready to try and find the quidditch field?”

Interacting with: Milo Durand (@Delilah Stewart) & Clara Durand (@Aspen Summers)

"No, no, it's fine!" Serena quickly responded to the boy as he apologised for his English. It was just a misunderstanding, right? That's what she was going with and she did not want him to feel bad for something like that. At least he was trying - she barely knew any French words to even try! Her accent would probably be completely off even if she did try. Then again, her knowledge of that language was limited to basic things like 'hello' and a few random phrases she had learned from primary school that she had not forgotten. Not enough to hold a conversation, by any means. Luckily, the boy's sister seemed to be a lot better at translation.

As Clara spoke up, Serena responded, "Oh! O-oh, uh, thank you," She started off in relief before she trailed off in a mumble. The relief was because she finally understood him - and that he was not being rude or calling her a card game or something weird. Solitaire meant diamond? Of course, that made a lot of sense! Her mother would talk about things like her solitaire earrings or whatever, after all. They were diamond jewellery that was always beautiful so, now that Serena thought about it, it made complete sense. Her words - from the second she understood what was being said - became a mumble.

It did not help that he continued to compliment, speaking about her name too. Tucking her hair behind her ear slightly awkwardly, "Oh? Is Beauxbatons newer?" She asked as he mentioned Hogwarts being old. She was unsure when the other schools were made, to be honest. She had learned about the history of Hogwarts but not really the others, "The castle is very beautiful though. There's always new paths or mysteries to find here," She said before dropping her voice into a mumble - which was more to herself - "Though I have no idea if that's a good thing..." as she contemplated some of the mysteries of Hogwarts. They were not always good. She loved finding a random door or passageway that she had not noticed before but coming across creatures like shadows that attack you was less fun, by far.

She took a sip of her juice, "What is your school like?" She asked, wondering if there were any noticeable differences. Was it in a castle too, was there a lake around it, did they have the same classes or sports? She had no idea but she was interested.

Englisch: 349293 | Russian 800020

Interacting with: Irina @Lavinia Cloven |@Anja Murtaja
Mentioning:

Open to interactions

Nate started laughing with Irina, she was absolutely right and he nodded in agreement. This place was new to them both and it seemed like there was endless things to discover and you couldn't decide where to start. "Then we'll both get lost." He winked at her, wanting to reassure her that she wasn't alone in that. He was glad to have her by his side, he probably wasn't showing it, but if he were honest, he would probably perish here alone.

Just as Irina was getting ready to stand up, his attention was drawn to a girl clearing her throat. He looked at her a little confused, what did she want from him? The robes told him that she was a Hogwarts student, a Slytherin, but the two had not yet met. She was probably mistaking him. He looked at her without pulling his expression and when she mentioned his name there was a brief moment of confusion on his face.

He glanced back at Irina briefly to indicate that she should give him a moment and turned his attention back to the girl. "Um, yes, I do indeed." He replied cautiously, still unsure who the girl was and what she wanted from him. "To be honest you're talking-" he stopped himself mid-sentence, because suddenly it all made sense. It was as if a light had dawned on him, "Wait, you're Anja, aren't you?" he spoke now enthusiastically, less hesitantly.

Of course, she had to be. No one from Hogwarts knew him except Anja and he could remember her being a Slytherin. "By Merlin, what a coincidence." He stood up from his seat now too and quickly began to explain himself, since Anja was now the one looking a little confused. "I'm Nate." He laughed now and his initially reserved manner was completely gone. It was like meeting an old friend he hadn't seen in a long time, yet they had never met. "It's nice to finally meet you!" he said with a smile and held out his hand, even though he felt the slight need to hug her. The two had been communicating through letters for a few months and had built up a friendship of sorts, at least that's how Nate felt.

But as he held out his hand, he noticed that Anja had not yet confirmed that she was really Anja and he hoped very much that he had not made an jerk of himself now. While he waited for a reaction, he turned his gaze back to Irina and looked at her apologetically. He knew that the two of them wanted to go on their little adventure as soon as possible, but he hoped that she wouldn't hold it against him if they put it off for a few minutes.

[font=Monotype Corsiva]Roleplaying as iNPC Enzo Delcroix
English: #D2691E
French: #BF8000 + Italics & Bold
Interacting with: @Carolyn Hunt
Mentioning: N/A
[/font]

[font=Monotype Corsiva]As he was sitting quietly at the table, completely minding his own business while contemplating what he should do now that he was here, he was interrupted and actually a little startled by a strange noise. His head snapped up immediately and his gaze shot over towards the direction of the sound only to be met with a withering stare of a blasted little cat... A scornful expression grew across his face. Whatever had he done to make it do that out of absolutely nowhere? He hadn’t even so much as looked in its direction!

His piercing blue eyes then lifted up to look at the girl who was sitting next to him after hearing an apology come from her on behalf of her cat's behaviour.
So she was the owner of the hissing culprit. He should have just tried to ignore her and what had happened and walk straight out of there right that instant knowing how he'd probably end up snapping, but unfortunately his annoyance got the better of him, and snap is exactly what he did.

”Just a small little bit of advice, maybe try training it? You wouldn't want it to attack someone next time would you?” He mumbled to the girl sourly, his french accent only slightly prominent. While the comment was mostly under his breath he had no intention whatsoever of being subtle with his accusation. When it came to things that frustrated him, Enzo certainly had a frequent tendency to speak whatever was on his mind without care about what the consequences would turn out to be.

Not having the patience to wait and listen for a reply from the girl he turned away with a sigh but was sure to keep a wary eye out for that cat in case it would try anything else.