Your Friendly Neighbourhood Prefect PV Finished

Interacting With: @Koko Riddle
Word Count: 384

It was the second day of Colina's seven years of Hogwarts, and everything felt so surreal to her. Sitting in a giant magical hall next to a bunch of fellow new Gryffindors among hundreds of other students, with talking portraits and spirits scattered around the room.

Colina was definitely in her element in certain aspects. There was an entire school full of new people to meet, talk to, and become friends with. Not only that but there were plenty of opportunities to make them. The dorms, the classes, Colina even met someone before she even stepped foot in Hogwarts.

Of course, Colina did feel overwhelmed at the school. Even though she was a wizard-born, she grew up in a muggle neighbourhood and didn't know much about the "wizard experience". There were all these new classes about how to ride a flying broom or how to properly mix ingredients together in a way that will cure a case of boils. On top of that, she needed to find all of these classes inside of a giant castle.

Needless to say, Colina could probably use some help with adjusting to her new normal. There were plenty of older students, some of them whose job was to assist other students, but it was a bit intimidating asking for help.

As she was eating, Colina saw one of the older students stand up and address the room. She looked a bit short for her age but definitely had more defined features and a stronger face than someone Colina would expect to be in their first years of Hogwarts.

The older girl was offering to help out some younger students, which may be just what Colina needed. She seemed friendly, obviously, considering she was offering to help others. She stands and walks over to the girl. As she walks closer, Colina realizes that the girl is wearing a prefect badge, which probably explains her doing this in the first place.

Colina stopped in front of the blonde girl. She waved at her with a small smile. "Uh, hi there, 'm Colina! Just heard yer little announcement 'n' I could definitely use some help with... all o' ​this," she said, circling her hand around at the end. She prayed that she didn't come off as too awkward to the prefect.

Koko was tempted to sit down immediately after she spoke, but she stood if only so some first years might see her.

Surprisingly, she didn't feel too unnerved by being the only person in her vicinity who was standing. Perhaps having a bit of seniority at school made her feel more comfortable, or perhaps it was her smaller stature that made her feel better; at least she wasn't a Part-Giant standing up. Then she really would tower over everyone.

Koko watched in what might have been surprise as a girl rose from one of the tables and walked up to her. Thankfully, the girl - who seemed to be a Gryffindor - was not taller than Koko.

Koko relaxed a little as she realised that, and she folded her hands in front of her as the girl started to speak.

The girl introduced herself as Colina - a really nice-sounding name, if Koko was honest - and articulated that she could use a bit of help.

Koko's smile widened. 'First of all... It's perfectly fine to be overwhelmed. I mean, the school is in a castle. It's huge.'

Koko chuckled, partially to herself, before going on. 'Is there anything specific that's confusing? Well, other than how to get places without the staircases trying to trip you?'

'They do that a lot, actually,' Koko murmured, almost to herself, although she winked at the girl. 'They're really quite mean. I'm Koko, by the way. Prefect of Slytherin.'

@Colina Doherty

Seren was about to get up from the Ravenclaw table, having just finished her breakfast, when she heard a voice calling out from the Slytherin table behind her. She carefully turned on the bench so she could spot the speaker, her blue eyes wide and curious. She tilted her head, studying the blonde girl. The offer of help was interesting, and very generous... But Seren couldn't help be suspicious.

She was a Slytherin, after all, and Seren's parents were both Slytherin. Seren didn't want to tar the girl, or even the whole House, with the difficult emotions she had thanks to her parents. It was just a struggle not to wonder if the House attracted people like that...

She took a slow, deep breath, and stood up, considering the situation while moving with care... She made sure to not knock the bench, not wanting to discomfit her housemates at all. She knew better than to discomfit people, or even just annoy them.

Finally, she nodded slowly and approached the other young woman. She noticed another first year speaking to her already, and waited, patiently, for a polite moment to speak up. Finally, she smiled shyly and said "Thank you for your kind offer of assistance to us new and confused First Years. I... Would appreciate advice on how not to... To get in trouble really. And also, is there a way to avoid having the stairs move while you're on them?"

She paused, flushed, and whispered so only Koko and the Gryffindor next to her could hear her as she spoke. "I am very afraid of heights. I can handle stairs, but if they were to move... I truly do not know what I would do. I am afraid I might panic, and make myself both an inconvenience and look like a complete and utter fool."

@Colina Doherty@Koko Riddle

Avery was sitting at the Slytherin table for dinner, eagerly devouring his favorite meal. Free unlimited food? You bet he would be scarfing it down to his heart's content. He'd never really taken the time to enjoy dinner at home, but now that he wasn't practicing violin late into the night under his parents' helicopter gaze, he was having a jolly good time sleeping as much as he wanted after procrastinating on homework just a tiny bit.

Though he did miss his parents and being home sometimes, his new-found freedom at boarding school was pretty sweet.

A small blond girl at his table a few seats down stood up to make an announcement. A friendly neighborhood prefect? How not to get detention? Oh heck yeah, he'd be interested!

He saw that another two girls were already getting settled down next to the prefect, one who introduced herself as Colina, who seemed a little bewildered by everything new, and the prefect, who introduced herself as Koko. Another girl with dark hair joined from the Ravenclaw table, mentioning her fear of heights and not wanting to look like a fool panicking on the stairs. Was Hogwarts really that scary? Sure, everything was quite strange... everything seemed to move on their own, even the paintings, who you'd think shouldn't be able to invade another painting's space. But, Avery thought it was all quite amusing having portraits comment on his violin-playing in the rehearsal room, and the stairs sure had a sense of humor with their disappearing steps to trip you up. He'd stumbled quite a few times himself, falling on his face and giving them a pained thumbs-up from his prone position. They really got him, sometimes.

"Hi everyone, I'm Avery Chen!" he said as he slid into the seat across from Koko the Prefect, trying to match her winning smile with one of what he thought was his own. Maybe it ended up a little too wide for everyone's taste, more like a flashing of teeth that may or may not bite.

"I'm not particularly afraid of heights, so I'm planning to try out for the Slytherin quidditch team, but I would like to figure out how to get out of detention, if you know what I mean." Maybe there was a way to bribe prefects? Surely, that's what Koko meant when she could teach them how not to get detention? Perhaps she was one of those super cool prefects, who conspired with the students against authority, or something like that. She sure did give off a welcoming, nice-to-underclassmen vibe.

@Koko Riddle @Colina Doherty @Seren Yong

Interacting With: @Koko Riddle, @Seren Yong, & @Avery Chen
Word Count: 360

Colina tended to be a pretty confident person, except when she was asking for help. So, when she was standing in front of this older girl asking for help, she was nervously playing with her hands as she gave her an awkward smile. Luckily, this girl wasn't that much taller than she was. If she was talking to someone much taller than her, she would be sweating bullets.

Colina chuckles, "Yea the stairs sure don' make the First Years' job o' figuring out this giant castle easy." The prefects help you around at first when you're first going around the school, but remembering the specific steps they made when going on the staircase by yourself is still hard.

Koko was a name that Colina had never heard before, but she thought that it was quite a charming name. She also verbally confirmed to Colina that she was a prefect, a Slytherin one to be specific. "Koko, crackin' name, it's nice to meetcha," she says with a smile, "I think finding where I need to go is definitely a big thing I want to know, but 'm also curious about the things I can do 'ere, like clubs 'n' sports, that kind o' stuff."

Shortly after Koko and Colina started talking, a girl with bright blue eyes approaches the two of them. She seemed to be even more nervous than Colina did. Like her, the girl wanted to know how to maneuver around the stairs, along with how to avoid getting in trouble. She personally wasn't that afraid of heights, but she could get being scared of walking around a bunch of stairs that could move or even disappear on you at any moment.

Another person approached the trio, this time a young black-haired boy who quickly introduced himself as Avery. Unlike Colina and the other girl, he seemed much more confident in himself. She wasn't quite sure why both of her classmates wanted to know how to stay out of trouble. Maybe it was because she was used to getting in trouble, but it was only the second day. Shouldn't that be more of a secondary goal at this point?

Koko kept an easygoing smile on her lips as two new students happened to walk up to her and Colina right when she finished speaking.

One of them was a Ravenclaw. Koko had a certain respect for Ravenclaws; the only ones she'd met were nice, save for Kaegen, but he wasn't an average Ravenclaw. Ravenclaws were also smart, right? They would be pleasant to talk to. Koko wondered for a moment if the first year would be able to talk so smartly that she confused her, but she shook off that worry - most people wouldn't do that, anyway.

Koko turned her attention back to Colina, who was now talking. The stairs being jerks... She nodded and laughed. A crackin' name, eh? Koko felt her smile widen.

'Thanks!' she exclaimed. 'I, er, I did not choose it. Sadly. I wish I had good taste.' She chuckled.

How to get places... Koko had said she knew her way around the castle, and while that was true, it didn't mean that even she didn't get lost sometimes. 'Really, I think you just find landmarks. Like... The ground floor is where the food is, for instance. And the library, too. First floor is mostly classes - History of Magic, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Muggle Studies... I think the Hufflepuffs reside there, too, but don't quote me on that. Er... People like to hang in the Abandoned Toilets on the second floor, don't ask me why. I could probably write some things down for you at some point, if you want.' Koko shrugged. 'It might be easier than me telling you.'

Koko's eyes brightened when Colina mentioned sports. 'Clubs! There are lots of clubs, really... Sometimes you'll find people advertising their clubs. There's a theatre club, I think, and a LGBT club, and really clubs for anything you can think of. As for sports... I don't know if you're into Quidditch, but we've got our house Quidditch teams. I'm Slytherin's Keeper.' Koko was bouncing on her feet now. She hoped it wasn't too noticeable. 'There's also broom racing and duelling! Broom racing is, well, what it sounds like, and for duelling, it's also what it sounds like, although sometimes duellists do things like chess combat, which is really cool.'

The new girl piped up next - asking about the stairs? Really, the stairs were terrible. Had Koko still been a prankster, she definitely would have thought about putting banana peels all along them. It would be an evil thing to do, she knew now, because the sheer thought of sliding down moving stairs and possibly dropping into oblivion made her shudder. 'They just move,' said Koko sadly. 'However... If you are fast enough, sometimes you can beat them. Other times, I would just hold on tight, and whatever you do, once the stairs start moving, do not fall.'

Koko winked. She was joking. Mostly.

'As for not getting in trouble... Well, don't do troublesome things!' said Koko anticlimactically. 'And, I mean, if you're going to break the rules, you have to know them first. The only people who have gotten away with breaking the rules are the people who know what they're doing. I'm just going to mention that the rules are there for a reason - like the curfews. You don't want to run into a hag, yeah? - and that sometimes, breaking them is dangerous.'

Koko shrugged. 'Other times, though, people break rules all the time. Especially if they're behavioural. I've heard a certain slur for Muggle-borns more times than I would like to count. So, er, please don't break those sorts of rules. Be a decent person. Not that I don't think you are, just-'

Koko felt her eyebrows rise as she literally jumped when a boy who introduced himself as Avery slid into the chair across from her. 'Well, hi there, Avery,' Koko said. 'It's a pleasure.'

It sounded sincere, right? She was being genuine.

Avery mentioned trying out for the Slytherin Quidditch team, and it really was then that Koko felt like her heart did a Snoopy dance. Did any of these kids know who Snoopy was? Koko's father had mentioned him before.

'You should definitely try out! I'm the Keeper. We don't bite, I swear.' Koko paused and let herself give a silly giggle. 'Well, if you're nice, that is.'

Now, Avery mentioned wanting to know how to get out of detention. Seriously, what was it with kids these days? Koko knew she had implied she would help with that, but really, when she was a first year, detention was a bad thing.

'Well, it's not so much a question of getting out of it as it's a question of not getting one.' Koko shrugged. 'I mean, some prefects give detention less often than others. I have ignored a few people out past curfew because I value my sleep and it is entirely their fault if they get eaten by something. But really, the way to not get detention is to either not break the rules, or, if you break them, break them well so that no one knows.' Koko matched his smile - a little wide, a little flashy - and folded her hands in front of her.

'I do hope that was helpful,' she said with a small laugh.

@Colina Doherty · @Avery Chen · @Seren Young

Seren's expression fell a little at the news that there really was no way to prevent the stairs from playing terrible tricks on a person. That was, unfortunately, the worst news possible, in her mind. What if one of them decided to pause halfway, while she was on the staircase? She'd be trapped and she had no idea if she would be able to prevent herself from having a complete and total panic attack if that happened. She had nightmares about being trapped in high places, with no way to get down... And one nightmare of hanging over an open space that was far below her.

That one was reoccurring, and happened the same every time. The others changed, but that one was always the same, and all in all, it made any chance of getting over her fear pretty much non-existant.

"Erm. Yes. Not... Falling does sound like a very good plan..." Seren said, sounding a little weak voiced. What else could the poor girl do, really?

She then listened to the discussion about how not to get in trouble, and it all sounded like exactly what she would expect, with... Out telling her much about where she could learn all the rules, both written and not. The comment about hags had her eyes widening, but otherwise there was very little visceral response. She licked her lips as she pondered how to ask the question again, but in a way that her actual meaning was clear.

Finally, she said "I understand all that, Miss Koko, but... Where do we find out all the rules? I know we've been given a lot of them, but new ones seem to be introduced all the times, and that's just the official, written ones. How do we find out about the unwritten, and sometimes unspoken, rules?"

Her eyes showed massive anxiety about that, making it kind of clear that she had lived with unspoken rules being a little too easy to break, and it had been unpleasant for her.

@Koko Riddle - @Colina Doherty - @Avery Chen

How nice it was for Koko the Prefect to make herself available this evening! Avery was brimming with questions, or more likely brimming with a raging curiosity to learn how things worked in this big new place, and who his schoolmates were. Plus, Avery always loved chatting, so having the opportunity to speak with people during dinner was always a welcome and fun activity. He secretly wished that enchanting chatter was a class at Hogwarts, but sadly, it was not meant to be.

Koko the Prefect almost jumped as he slid over and planted himself in front of her with his big grin. It was not surprising to our zealous Avery. His often uncontainable energy and overly-easygoing self alarmed others sometimes -- he did admit -- and often caused him to embarrass himself. He almost did deserve to get pushed overboard into the Great Lake last night for carelessly vomiting on Schneider. However, that did not make her any less of a crazy witch in his books.

Did Koko the Prefect's eyes light up tenfold as he mentioned quidditch? Avery had been enamored by the idea of playing a quidditch match on flying broomsticks ever since he learned about the magical sport at summer camp, and he couldn't wait to sign up for tryouts. No wonder she got excited, she was the Keeper! Avery raised his brows and his jaw dropped a bit. "That is so cool!" he exclaimed. Here was a real life Slytherin Keeper, sitting at dinner and available for chatting. Well, he better make the most out of this opportunity! "What's the secret to being a good Keeper? Do your limbs extend? You can't be much taller than me," he blabbed on, searching for any and all answers to his own question, not fully aware of how one might take offense from being indirectly called 'short'. "Do you intimidate the opposing Chasers before the match so they won't dare come near you?" Didn't New Zealand's rugby players do a fierce haka dance before each match, striking strong poses while sticking out their tongues at their opponents with fearsome widened eyes that almost popped out of their sockets? He would be quite good at that, he knew.

Was he nice? The team didn't bite nice people, but he wasn't sure he was nice. He was friendly, he supposed? But that didn't mean others always felt at ease around him. Well, maybe the team will find out for themselves how they felt about him if he made it past tryouts.

It was too bad that there didn't seem to be a way to bribe prefects to get out of detention. He already had some ideas for adventures that may or may not get him into trouble. Personally, he was already looking for a way to go to Hogsmeade undeterred. Other ideas were in the works. Maybe Koko the Prefect Keeper just needed a little prodding? Maybe he just needed to figure out all her likes and dislikes, to better understand what made her tick. "So, uh, what's everyone's favorite snack or favorite meal?" he asked the other three at the table, after Seren (that was the girl whose boat he capsized yesterday, right?) asked about unwritten rules, which he also happened to be curious about. "I'm starting to miss home-cooked food already." No, he was not being obvious at all.

Word Count: 322
Interacting With: @Koko Riddle, @Seren Young, & @Avery Chen

Colina's eyes widened when Koko mentioned duelling and her excitement rose probably as much as Koko's did at Avery's mention of Quidditch. Her neighbour, Holly, knew a lot about duelling which sparked her passion for it. She spent a lot of time reading the books she gave her with extreme interest. Holly even bought more duelling books as she got older so she could get her to read.

Colina quickly jumped back into the conversation, without any regard for if she was interrupting anyone, "Ye have a duelling club? I love duelling!" She realized that she had physically jumped forward a bit, so she backs up a bit, slightly embarrassed. Very little got her as excited as duelling did so it was hard to reign in the energy for it. Luckily, it seemed that most of this group was generally pretty energetic so she hoped no one would be turned off from it.

The other girl in the group, Seren, seemed quite nervous about the whole transition to this new school. Colina totally sympathized with her, honestly she would be a nervous wreck to if she wasn't used to this kind of stuff. Ever since she was little she had to learn how to be flexible and roll with the punches, otherwise she would just cause problems for herself and the people she cared about.

Colina was utterly surprised that Avery was already missing food from his home. Whatever he must've eaten at home must have been godly, considering how good the food was here. Sure, she didn't always have the greatest food at her home, but even the average student must say the feasts at the Great Hall were some of the best food they had. "Well 'm feeling quite the opposite, mate, the food 'ere is pure fantastic compared to what I had at home," Colina says with a chuckle, "Though I could go fur some o' my neighbor's chocoladebol."