Occamy Welcome to the Occamy Cabin Closed

Hogwarts summer camp. An annual occurrence, the only one she'd missed following the end of her first year. Back then, the thought of being away from home any longer had been unbearable; she'd missed her family terribly. That was no longer the case. Reflecting on this change, she'd decided it was the time away. She still loved her family, still missed them when she was away, but her house in London didn't feel quite as much like home anymore.

This year, all pondering of belonging aside, Bridget had a very good reason to attend summer camp. Slytherin had taken the duelling title, so over camp they would be facing off against the other schools. She wouldn't miss it for anything. Being there for her team mattered to her, and this was a special, exciting opportunity. So while it pained her to lose a whole month with her family, making the goodbyes a little more disappointed than usual, it wasn't a hard choice. Duty called.

The train ride in had been pleasant, a chance to catch up with friends and mentally prepare to readjust to the magical environment. Switching between her Muggle house and Hogwarts could be jarring. Where the trip was peaceful, arriving was more chaotic, a jumble of people and luggage and registration, trying to figure out what was going on and where they were supposed to be. Eventually it was all sorted out: she'd been assigned to the Occamy cabin.

The cabin rosters seemed wholly random, and to her dismay, she wasn't with any of her friends. Though when her current friend count totalled three and there were eight cabins, she supposed that was just probability. Hopefully she'd know someone in with her; the Slytherin was reserved, really preferring to not be stuck in a situation where she knew no one even if cabins were mainly for sleeping. Maybe there'd be someone from the duelling team, that would be nice.

There it was, Occamy cabin. Identifiable by the flag displaying the avian, as well as almost serpentine creature. She recognized the creature's name, but details on it eluded her; she'd have to look it up in her textbook later. It looked like a typical camp cabin from the outside, one she might even find in a Muggle camp, and she frowned slightly, doing the math. There were, what, five schools in attendance? And obviously not every student would be here, but it was still a sizable amount of them. Eight cabins would be a tight fit.

She stepped inside and mentally kicked herself. Oh, right. It seemed her brain hadn't fully made the switch between problem-solving approaches. The cabin was much larger inside, something she'd seen before with last summer camp's tents. This was also not what she'd expected the inside to look like. It was bright, modern, with white walls and colorful furniture. She was pleasantly surprised by the presence of shelves of books; at least she'd have something else to do if she had no one she was comfortable talking to. All in all, it didn't look like a half-bad place to stay.

Except... well, she wasn't sure she was completely on board with the co-ed thing. It was what it was, but sharing a sleeping space with boys? Uh, great. Here's hoping this remained a peaceful, drama-free space. She also knew very little about the adult that would be in with them, the caretaker Mr. Paine, which had her wary. She didn't not trust the stuff, just would have much preferred an adult she knew, like one of her teachers or her Head of House.

Well, enough worrying for now. There were a few basic orders of business to attend to, like claiming a bed and meeting her cabinmates. She dragged her trunk to the corner bunk bed on the girl's side of the room. Ideally, someone she was decently familiar with would come along and she could bunk with them. For the time being, she wasn't exactly turning anyone else down from taking the bunk above or below her, but her posture gave the sense she wasn't really opening the spot up for just anyone. Spotting the cat, Bridget opted to leave Sherlock, her pet rat, in his cage for now. He was up at the edge of the bars, sniffing around; no doubt he was much more interested than she was in meeting the others. When it was safe, that could be arranged. He'd gotten to roam free in the train compartment earlier, anyhow.

As for the people already there, she knew two of them. Annie Morgan, a girl in her year, Hufflepuff Quidditch player and Prefect. Had come back blind after winter break, something she wondered how the girl was coping with. She seemed nice enough, so if the unfamiliar girl who introduced herself as Alice hadn't taken that top bunk, it might have been an option. She also knew Piérre; well, knew of. He was a Gryffindor in the year below her and a member of his House's Quidditch team, which meant he, like her, would be representing Hogwarts athletics this summer. There was another boy, dressed in all black, not to mention a leather jacket--that couldn't be comfortable in this heat--whose name was still unknown, as well as Durmstrang Quidditch player Charles. Two other girls, a redhead named Haley that looked vaguely familiar and a dark-haired girl that had promptly fallen asleep. Maybe that was the way to go to avoid socializing all together, though Bridget would hardly be able to sleep right now.

"I'm Bridget," she offered. Perhaps she should have offered more, like the others were doing: Fourth year, Slytherin, Duelling Co-Captain. Frankly, she didn't deem it necessary right away. That felt like a vomit of details she'd be surprised if someone remembered amidst numerous others doing the same. Best to just get names down now and let it progress to more details naturally later. Besides, she was trying to decide if she even wanted to get to know all these people better first. She was selective in who she spent her time with, even more so in who she'd consider a friend. First things first, figure out what to expect from this.

Mentions: @Winnie Harper as Felix, @Haley Rose, @Piérre Marchonné & @Bridget Collins
Interactions: @Alice Grimmshaw & @Henry Knight as Charlie

@Winnie Harper Felix Kolbeck @Henry Knight Charles Alluring and the rest

Haley had noticed the young boy's smirk before she looked away, slightly embarrassed by the fact that she had been staring and his comment. She cleared her throat before making her way to her bunk. She glanced back over her shoulder and answered him "Mhh, yeah, right, there was something." She winked at him, hoping he wouldn't hold it against her but the situation was too awkward for her to apologise in front of everyone so she covered it up for now.

As she sat on her upper bunk, the cabin filled up more and more. One of the girls lay down in a bed without comment and was asleep within seconds. Wow, not even Haley would manage to fall asleep that quickly and she smirked at this confused scenario. Then another girl came in, brown long hair and introduced herself as Bridget. Haley smiled at her, "Hey I'm Haley." Was her brief greeting before her attention fell on the boy who introduced himself as Charles. Wait, Charles from Dumstrang. The Charles? Could that be him?

Haley propped her hands on her bed and gave her body a little swing and jumped onto the floor. "Wait you're Charles from Durmstrang?" it escaped Haley thoughtlessly and kinda in disbelieve. Before she went a little further into the room she stopped at the empty bunk Felix was casually leaning against. "Sorry for staring, it's just..." she stopped and looked at his hair, "I love your hair." She whispered her apology before looking back at Charles now. "I'm Haley, Haley Rose." She introduced herself now but wasn't sure if it would click with him. After all, she had almost forgotten it herself but the two of them had exchanged letters ages ago. "I don't know if you remember, it's been a while but we wrote to each other once." Haley chuckled now.

Back when he came to Hogwarts, they never met and she only knew Charles through letters. She couldn't even remember why Durmstrang was here and for what event, but she found it all the funnier that they were meeting here today.

Ah, summer camp. Prior to last year, the only ones Karilyna'd ever attended had been cheap, cheesy, No-Maj ones which her parents had only sent her to in order to get her out of their hair, and it would be fair to say she'd had terrible expectations for anything related to a summer camp. Hogwarts had hosted a summer camp to which Ilvermorny had been invited last year, though, and although she hadn't originally had high hopes thanks to her past experiences combined with Hogwarts' apparent inability to hold a ball that didn't involve stuff like flying doors (after all, summer camp couldn't be much better, right?), it'd turned out to be the time of her life.

Chess Combat (last year's) had been just amazing - which totally didn't have anything to do with the fact that her team had won - and Capture the Flag had proved to be fun as well, despite the fact that she hadn't exactly done too well. And that wasn't to mention the Quidditch match - sitting in the stands at the London Quidditch Pitch had been thrilling enough, and the match itself had been absolutely exhilarating. It'd almost been enough to convince her to try out for Quidditch instead - just kidding, perhaps that was a tad bit of an exaggeration. It wasn't a lie that she'd always wanted to be a seeker, but, well, duelling for life.

In fact, this year's summer camp had already kicked off quite wonderfully. No, there had not yet been any activities, as they had practically just arrived at the castle, but the trip across the pond had been far more enjoyable than usual. The longest distance - from Ilvermorny to King's Cross - was covered by Portkey; although it had never been Karilyna's preferred form of transportation, at least it was blissfully quick. Further, they'd been allowed to ride the remaining distance on the Hogwarts Express, which she happened to know was a monumental first, having opted to attend every time Ilvermorny was invited to Hogwarts. Not only was the train practically the stuff of legends - perhaps it was commonplace for the Hogwarts students, but other wizarding kids really only heard about it in stories - but such a form of transportation meant they didn't have to endure whatever "extravagant" ideas Plott would've otherwise dreamed up for their arrival. After all, that, in itself, was already a relief.

So, one wild day later, students from all four - wait, no, it was five schools this time - schools had congregated on the campgrounds, a chaotic mess of students locating their friends, trunks, runaway pets… anything, really. The rules were announced, Karilyna fidgeting through all of it - honestly, she likely wouldn't have listened so closely if she hadn't caught onto the fact that noncompliance could have her barred from following summer camps - and then came their cabin assignments. Wait. Cabin assignments… they were being assigned to cabins?

At this, the Thunderbird screwed up her nose, displeased. Logically, such an arrangement would definitely ease the load the staff carried in organizing camp, but unfortunately, Karilyna didn't run on such logic. She missed last year already, where the students had been permitted to form their own tents at will, which meant being in with her friends. This year would be different, clearly; despite being something of a social butterfly, Karilyna was close with few and the chances of them bunking together seemed close to zero.

And suddenly, the calm was over, the storm that was hordes of students reappearing as they were led to their respective cabins. Of course, Karilyna had to be split with both of her closest friends - that was, Phyllis and Theo. Just great. To make things worse, she hadn't caught them before everyone had gone their separate ways, so as for their cabin assignments, she had no clue. It was a terrible shame they would be apart, but hey, on the bright side, her cabin would be chock full of new people to annoy- er, meet.

Speaking of cabins, she had been placed in the Occamy cabin, whatever that was. Supposedly, each cabin was named for a magical animal, but didn't Occamy had something to do with brains, closing your mind or something? Or perhaps that was Occlu-something. Nevermind, the flag strung up on the cabin wall made it obvious that no, the occamy had absolutely nothing to do with brains. In fact, it seemed a rather fascinating creature, if not a bit screwy: a snakish body of a vivid turquoise, graced with a feathery head and purple wings. Interesting.

After a good period of lingering around outside, Karilyna ducked - just kidding, there was no need to duck for a child so short - indoors, scarcely blinking an eye at the cabin's modern interior, significantly contrasting the traditional log cabin feel its exterior suggested. The fact that the cabin was, in reality, far larger than it seemed possible for the little wooden structure observable from the outside, didn't faze her either. She'd been raised in a world of magic, after all, and such details were practically commonplace. What she did pause in her steps to survey, though, was the decoration.

She'd never exactly had an eye for design, but the bright colors appealed to her, a stark contrast to the whitewashed walls. The beds, too, looked properly comfortable - oh, but the gigantic beanbag pillows strewn across the floor near the center of the cabin seemed a far better accommodation, Karilyna's eyes immediately lighting up in delight as she sized up the huge cloud-like blobs. There were a few too many bookshelves for her liking, but… you know, nobody said she'd have to touch them. Ever.

All that sizing up really only took her all but two seconds, and her gaze quickly flicked to her cabinmates, a huge smile gracing her face. "Hi! I'm Karilyna, second- wait actually third year now I guess and I'm from Ilvermorny, it's nice to meet all of you and this is going to be so much fun!" she blurted, all her words strung together in a single breath. Perhaps she'd had a little too much sugar on the train. Introduction aside, she began dragging her belongings behind her as she scooted slowly towards the beds, only to lurch to a stop a couple steps later. Already, there were a fair number of people present, but she'd wait to choose her bunk - perhaps someone she knew would come along. Who knew?

For now, she continued to glance over her cabinmates, her gaze pausing on a familiar-ish face. Brunette, taller than her (not really a surprise, though), brown eyes a shade later than hers… yes, she knew this girl [Bridget]. But from where? Certainly, she didn't attend Ilvermorny, and Karilyna's memories from last summer camp were a bit fuzzy. Oh yeah - chess combat girl! Dragging her trunk away from the center of the room so it would be less of a hazard, she made her way over to the likely older girl, hopping a little as she landed in front of where she stood (sat?) near a corner of the room.

"Hey," she skipped a beat, realizing she'd never gotten the girl's name, "What's your name?" After all, she'd entered after the others' introductions, if any. "Anyway yeah we were on the same chess combat team last year, remember? Are you still duelling? Also your rat is really cute." It was clear that Karilyna held little regard for whether or not people were interested in conversation, simply choosing to elbow her way in. But the brunette wasn't talking to anyone, so it ought to be okay, right? Eh, it wasn't like Karilyna ever considered such insignificant details.

Open to Interactions

It seemed strange to be back at the school a month before it actually began, but Ethen wasn’t going to miss the chance to enjoy the summer camp. He never knew what to expect with events that the staff put on but he knew it wouldn’t disappoint. After the ever long train ride back to the school, Ethen was ready to stretch his legs a bit and wanted to find out who else would be in his cabin for the next month. He promised himself that he would make more of an effort to engage with his peers.

Despite now being a third year, Ethen had spent far too much of his time at Hogwarts just playing Quidditch, sleeping or eating. He wanted to do what he could to actually develop some lasting bonds with people and what better way than being trapped in the same cabin for a month. Dragging a raggity suitcase behind him, Ethen moved through the campground to go find the Occamy cabin.

Still somewhat contending with his new found height, Ethen was a bit prone to tripping and as he walked he soon found himself plummeting into a small patch of mud and moist soil. His face and clothing was now dripping with the viscous mud and dirt but Ethen just chuckled as he looked down at his now ruined clothing. It seemed almost inevitable that he would find some way to cause a mess of thing but he wouldn’t let it deter him.

With his fresh coat of mud and dirt, Ethen swung the door open to his new cabin for the month and strolled proudly inside. “Major Emrys reporting for duTY!” Ethen bellowed out, with his voice embarrassingly cracking on the last syllable. Not a great start, he surmised. But he quickly coughed and pretended to clear his throat as he peered around the bright and clean dwelling. Everything looked so pristine, Ethen thought. Looking down at his dirty shoes, he felt a little bad that he was about to track mud into the cabin but such was camp life!

Strolling in confidently, he peered at the many smiling faces that had already arrived. He recognized several of the faces from Quiddtch in the previous year but hadn’t truly ever met them. “Sooooo…” Ethen said, not really talking to anyone in particular. “There are really a lot of books. Guess we got the library cabin,” he mused out loud as he approached one of the bookshelves, tracking mud in his wake like some sort of muddy slug.

Reaching out to pluck one of the books, there were suddenly a dozen ribbons that lashed out at him to presumably defend the book. So there Ethen stood, dripping a bit of fresh mud and ensnared by ribbon bookmarks. He didn’t even actually want the book, it was all a ruse to observe the surroundings, shrouded under the guise of reading. But alas, it seemed that he had been no match for the wall of books and he could appreciate a worthy foe.

He did not exactly know how to untether himself from the bookmarks but he thought perhaps they could be soothed with song…”OOOOO Spooky ribbons...You snatched me for being a gibbon… Oh spooky ribbons don’t you know, the boy was impressed by the mighty chateau! Spooky ribbons! Spookay Reeebonns, let me goooo!”

Open To Interactions
Interacting: @Annie Morgan| @Haley Rose | Karilyna@Thora Larkston | @Ethan Emrys
Mentioning: @Alice Grimmshaw | @Piérre Marchonné | Felix Kolbeck@Winnie Harper | @Bridget Collins | @Tilly Brown | Drew Lycan
Languages: Russian|French|Spanish|German|English
Norwegian
Outfit (minus the watch and bracelets and rings)

[font=Segoe script]The dead have risen and have rushed into the darkened wood. Seek the black raven for he has secrets you might learn on this day. [/font]

This is a hook for Ravenclaws (if you are not named presume you got a letter as well if you are a Ravenclaw). Link

@Winter Wolfhartz Xeno @Henry Knight Charles and the rest

Haley could hardly believe the coincidence of running into someone at Summer camp she had actually already forgotten. She couldn't help but laugh heartily at the situation and was relieved that he also took a moment to remind her. "I can only return that, it's nice to meet you live and in color." She replied and was even more surprised at his next question. "You remember that?" she asked now amazed and smiling broadly. "I can't believe you remember that! But yeah, I'm on the Quidditch team now." the red-haired girl told him kinda proud.

Haley gave the girl, who was now waking up, an apologetic look. She hoped she hadn't been the reason. "Good morning sleepy head." She joked before her attention was drawn to new arrivals. She greeted each of them both with a quick "Hey, I'm Haley."

"Barbecue sounds good by the way, who would want to join?" Haley now asked the growing group as she went to the sofa to take a seat. She sat down so that she had the best possible view of the room and waited for others who would want to join her before she went on her way.