Your Friendly Neighbourhood Prefect PV Finished

Koko chuckled as the Ravenclaw admitted that falling wasn't a good idea. 'You're right that it's not the smartest thing to do, but I guess you could always just hold onto the railings if they suddenly start moving. They don't move a lot when you're on them, though. Just... Be quick, I guess, on your way to class.'

Koko's easy smile never left her face. She hadn't meant to scare anyone.

The Ravenclaw then asked about unspoken rules. Koko felt her brow furrow before she realised that she was in fact concerned. She knew about unspoken rules, of course - there were plenty at Leblanc Estates - but she hadn't thought anyone would expect them at a school. 'There really aren't any,' Koko said, this time softening her voice. 'It does depend on who you're around, as some prefects are meaner than others, but generally we do understand accidental rule-breaking, and most of us won't get you in trouble for something that's not explicitly written.' She decided not to mention Ruby. After all, Ruby wasn't a prefect anymore, so there was no reason to worry any first-years.

Almost as an afterthought, she added, 'I promise, if you ever do find that there are unspoken rules that someone is acting on, you can tell me. I'll make sure that those "rules" are unspoken and that no one enforces them since they're not real rules.' That was, if she could muster up the courage to talk to someone like that. Koko figured that she was more confident now, but she could never be sure.

Colina had mentioned the duelling club, right! Koko turned her gaze back to the Gryffindor and grinned. 'Yeah! The duels are very fun to watch. I personally haven't got much experience with duelling - let's just say that my expertise is in flying and not spellcasting - but the idea of being able to utilise all of those spells... The duellists are very resourceful.'

Koko momentarily tilted her head to the side. She had to make sure her hair didn't spill into her food before speaking again. 'In all honesty, I'm not quite sure which sport is more dangerous - Quidditch or duelling. You can get set on fire - and you can set others on fire - when you duel, but then again, you can also fall and break every bone in your body in Quidditch. It's really quite fun, if you ask me!' She wasn't being sarcastic, not really.

Koko couldn't help but laugh excitedly when Avery lit up about her being a Keeper. She chose to ignore the mention of her height - although, really, it did not bother her that much - and instead tapped her hands against the table. 'I actually wish my limbs extended. That would be so cool.' Koko chuckled. 'Honestly, it's just practice. I'm not really intimidating enough to scare people, so sometimes I hold onto the broom with my hand and one foot and hang off of it in order to be a reasonable force. You know, even if the Quaffle knocks me off of my broom, I'll still have blocked the goals.'

She smiled at Avery. 'If you're interested in Quidditch, I'd be more than willing to practise with you.'

Avery asked what everyone's favourite snack or meal was, and Koko grinned. 'Anything. I really like soups of any sort, tomato basil being my favourite. I'm sorry you're missing home-cooked food, though. I felt that way until I tried some of the sweets here.'

'The food here is amazing,' Koko said, agreeing with Colina. 'I was so surprised when I first tried it, but after all, all food is food, and food is good.'

@Colina Doherty · @Avery Chen · @Seren Young

"I... Hope they do not move while I am on them, I truly do." Seren's anxiousness was visible, but she was at the point where she had to acknowledge that there was nothing much she could do about this, as unpleasant as that might well be for her. "I will do my best to be on and off them as quickly as I can, I suppose. Not much else I can do."

Perhaps it was time for her to start learning how to run properly, do some jogging or something. It might make it easier to get where she was going without the stairs ruining her day, and hey, it might be good for her, too.

And then Koko told her there were no unspoken rules, and Seren looked honestly shocked, and maybe a little disbelieving... Not in a 'I do not trust you' kind of way, but a 'this is so outside of my frame of experience that I literally can not comprehend this possibility' kind of way. "But... I. How." There was miles of confusion packed into those three words, because at home, the unspoken rules were everywhere.

Do not open those doors, do not run, do not do this, do that... Never spoken, but enforced nonetheless, and that was the easy ones. The hard ones were the social ones, of course.

She went silent, processing all of this, but at a loss as to how to proceed.

The food discussion had her peeking up, and she blinked a little. "It seems no less home cooked to me than the food at home? House elves are such excellent cooks..."

@Koko Riddle - @Colina Doherty - @Avery Chen

The Ravenclaw girl seemed quite nervous about the stairs. To be honest, they all did seem to move pretty fast, especially those that seemed to swing from left to right. Others had missing or seemingly extra (but actually false) steps that make one think there was another one when there actually wasn't. He wasn't quite sure why the professors didn't fix them. Maybe everyone was just used to these things in the magical world, where magical architecture had magical tendencies, or maybe the staff had a strange sense of humor and were slightly sadistic. @Kit Paine certainly fit the sadistic description, especially when he changed his arm into tentacle that grabbed Avery's ankle as a joke when the boy fell into the water last night. Avery did not appreciate that (but deep down, he could see how it would be funny; he'd probably do the same if he had a chance). However, all those events (including tripping on the stairs) sure improved his mettle, at the very least.

When Koko reassured them that she would take care of anyone who enforced secret or biased rules, Avery was satisfied. He wasn't planning to make any enemies at school, but who knew what everyone might think about his sometimes unfiltered mouth?

They approached the topic of dueling and the danger of school sports. How kids were encouraged to set each other on fire or participate in sports where they could break every bone in their bodies, he did not know. However, it seemed that being magical was enough to give everyone the green light to have a crazy streak, and if that was allowed, why not take the chance to do something cool that would never be allowed in muggle schools? See, even Koko thought it was fun! But he had one question: "Koko, do students quickly recover from their injuries? Like, I don't want to miss an entire semester of school life by being in a coma, but I don't mind flying and breaking some bones if they could be magically healed in a jiffy, you know?" Plus, wouldn't it be cool if he sported a cast for a few days? Or if all his friends knew he had fallen heroically and survived?

So, no magically extending limbs. Somehow, this made Avery feel a bit better about trying out, despite being short and small himself. And Koko would love to block Quaffles even if they knocked her off her broom? Well, she sure sounded like his type of Prefect! 'If you're interested in Quidditch, I'd be more than willing to practise with you.' Avery stared at her, wide-eyed. Did the Slytherin keeper just offer to practice with him? "Oh wow, that would be awesome!" he exclaimed, eyes alight. "Maybe I'll try out and make second string keeper if you help me, or something! This weekend, let's go!" he said out of excitement, as if Koko had nowhere else to be that weekend. However, if she did, he would be equally happy to meet with her the following weekend, or any other weekend before tryouts, for that matter. Or even badger someone else, because Avery Chen did not back down.

Everyone seemed to love the house elves' cooking, and to be honest, Avery did too. It was a feast every night; not that he preferred it to his parents' Chinese cooking, but it was a different type of tasty. "Chocoladebol?" Avery asked, when the Gryffindor girl mentioned it. "What's that? A bowl of chocolate?" That sounded quite decadent and tasty, if not too much chocolate.

So, Koko liked soups, especially tomato basil soup. Noted! He knew his potions cauldron would be handy for something. "Tomato basil soup actually tastes really good," he agreed. "I'll probably want to give it a try in my potions cauldron sometime. I'll let you all know when I do and give you a taste!" he proclaimed, as if everyone here was dying to taste his amateur soup-in-a-cauldron, which was definitely completely sanitary. "Frankly, I wish we could use the kitchen, because I never get to use mine at home. My parents never like the mess I make, you see." He was quite interested in cooking, but sadly, it was not meant to be. However, now that he was away from home, the possibilities seemed endless, even if students weren't allowed in the Hogwarts kitchen.

Koko's easygoing smile would fade the tiniest bit when she noticed Seren's anxiety. 'They shouldn't move. No one has had any problems as long as I've been here.'

Maybe that would make her feel better; maybe it wouldn't. She had tried.

Her heart broke a little bit for Seren when the girl stared at her in disbelief. No unspoken rules? As surprising as it was, unless you met a mean prefect, staff were quite nice and forgiving. 'No unspoken rules,' Koko confirmed. 'And if you do break a rule, staff are usually very forgiving. I will say that, out of everyone, I think Slytherins are just a tad more... un-forgiving, but as long as you don't antagonise them... You'll be fine. Promise.'

That was probably too much, Koko realised, her brow furrowing. She didn't want to trouble Seren.

Koko smiled at Avery when he mentioned injuries. Then she frowned again, remembering the un-healable injury currently marring her arm. She plastered another smile on her lips once again, fully aware that they might realise her confidence was faltering. 'It depends on the type of injury.' Not a lie. 'Quidditch injuries, for example, are healed pretty quickly. You're usually back on your feet within a few hours.' Koko shrugged. 'Really, all injuries heal pretty quickly save for magically-induced injuries, like if you were bit by an acromantula. That would take time to heal.'

Koko grinned, thoughts of spiders forgotten as Avery mentioned trying out for second-string Keeper. 'Yes, yes, you absolutely should! I'd love to help you! We... We really need someone like you on the team. You know, someone who's enthusiastic about the sport.' Not that the others weren't enthusiastic. Koko just felt that Avery might be less cutthroat since he hadn't blatched or bludgered anyone yet.

'House-elves really are good cooks,' Koko agreed with Seren. 'I'd like to learn something from them. Maybe one day I'll make a mean taco.'

Avery was correct in that chocoladebol sounded interesting. Bowls of chocolate or chocolate balls, whichever they were... Chocolate was amazing; therefore, chocoladebol would be amazing. 'A bowl of chocolate sounds great right now.'

Koko was especially happy she hadn't started eating when she heard Avery mention using his potions cauldron as a mixing bowl. She would have choked on anything in her mouth. As it was, she nearly choked on her own breath. 'I can't endorse using your potions bowl for soup - sadly. If you do it without my knowing, though, that's completely on you - and I do hope you enjoy your hypothetical tomato basil soup. Maybe it'll have magical properties.'

She meant it as a joke, and she technically wasn't encouraging him... Although, really, it took a bravely creative individual to actually make soup in their potion cauldron.

'You'll never learn not to make a mess if they don't let you use their kitchen,' Koko mused, tilting her head. 'But if they don't... I think you might be able to get access to the kitchens when you're older. Maybe the house-elves will welcome some help one day!'

@Avery Chen · @Seren Young

Reducio

OOC:
Apologies for the wait! I gave Colina a bit to post, and as she didn't, I wrote up a quick response. If you want to wait for her, feel free to, but if not that's also fine.

At Koko's words about them not moving when someone was on it in her experience, Seren looked significantly relieved, and she sighed hopefully, at the idea that maybe, just maybe, this was not something she ever had to worry about. She truly hoped not.

"I... I see." Was all the confused girl could say about the idea that there were truly no unspoken rules here, in this place. She could only think that somehow, this Prefect was either right, or had somehow _totally missed this truth_ in her interactions with the world, and Seren was not at all sure which she wanted to be the truth. The first meant she was safer here than she had ever been in her life (at least when it came to doing the right thing), because following the rules were SO much easier when she knew what they were.

But if it was real, it was also a completely new way of life, and totally outside of Seren's knowledge. Yes, this whole experience of being a student here, of being around people her own age who treated her nicely and generally kindly, was outside of her experience too, but somehow that seemed less difficult than the idea that rules could truly all be known and spoken. How was she to adjust to such a world? She... Was not at all sure about that, but she also did not argue, and gave the older girl a confused, but hopeful, smile.

And then she refocused on Alan with a shocked look on her face. "You... I do not think that is a good idea, making food in a Potion's Cauldron. We put ingredients in those cauldrons that could be poisonous to us! Sure, we scrub the HECK out of those, after, to be sure they don't contaminate our next potion, but... It seems unsafe to make food in them."

She shuffled her feet, her eyes thoughtful as she pondered the situation. "Wh...What about seeing if we can borrow some pots or something, to try to learn to cook with? I wish there was a Magi-Cookery class offered, I would _love_ to take that. I've always wanted to learn about it. The Elves are amazing but... What if you want to cook for yourself sometimes? And not everyone HAS elves at home..."

@Koko Riddle - @Avery Chen

So, if one were to get knocked off their broomstick, they'd be on their feet again within a few hours, nice and new? Wow. He knew that magic did wonders, but he didn't know it would be that cool and that fast. Wouldn't that make you feel totally invincible? He could see himself being more willing to pull off risky stunts on a broom if he knew he could walk away large unharmed even if he fell.

But what was that? Magically-induced injuries were less likely to heal if you got bitten by... "Acro...acro-what? Tarantulas?" His eyes widened and he gulped. The boy did not do too well with spiders, snakes and the like. Knowing full well that those were allowable pets at Hogwarts was enough to scare him, but there were magical tarantulas, too? He glanced at Seren in disbelief, as if to confirm from another source that such things did exist. "Are they, like, very big magical tarantulas? Surely, they wouldn't be at school?" He hoped not.

When Koko said she'd be happy to help out and have him on the team, Avery beamed. Oh yes, he was definitely enthusiastic! And he hoped that anyone on the team who got to know him would find that he was determined and hard-working when he set his mind to it.

Avery furrowed his brow in confusion as both girls seemed utterly appalled by the idea of cooking in his potions cauldron. Why ever not? It was the perfect, heat-conductive material, perfect shape and size, and it was perfect in making and holding bubbling foods like soups. "Oh, of course I'll be sure to clean my cauldron before cooking in it!" he responded off-handedly, waving their worries away, knowing full well that he actually hadn't done such a good job of that after his first potions class so far. "I've actually owled home already, so my mom is going to send me a pack of hot pot soup base along with sliced meat, fish balls, and various veggies in an iced box! Any day now," he mused, eagerly awaiting the day his care package would arrive, when he could finally dump all of it into a steaming cauldron to enjoy a hearty meal, possibly with new friends and classmates.

"Maybe I'll let you all know when it arrives! We can have a hot pot party!" he said cheerfully, imagining the spice and umami from the soup base and the food already. "It'll be fun," he continued, "Maybe I'll purposefully have a bit of potion in the pot left over, and we can all get cured from boils if the soup is too hot!" he laughed at the thought, not knowing if he meant for it to be a joke or not, because that did sound like a grand idea when eating hot food, after all. You never knew with Avery Chen.

At the mention of Magi-Cookery classes, Avery's ears perked up. "I would definitely want to learn how to do some of that. Is there a cooking club at Hogwarts? Maybe we should join or set up a cooking club," he suggested. It would probably beat cooking in a cauldron with questionable residues.

When Seren smiled at her, Koko couldn't help but smile back. Despite the woes that sometimes came with school at Hogwarts, it was nice to be around kids and be at her home away from home once again, and it was even nicer to make the kids around her smile.

She hadn't felt this warm in a while.

Koko laughed - a bitter laugh, as if she were trying to cover up something a bit deeper - at Avery's confusion with the acromantulas. 'Acromantulas,' she said, sounding it out slowly. 'Big, magical... spiders - yes, what you said.' She chuckled quietly. 'Yeah, they're not inside the castle. Just don't go into the Forbidden Forest, okay? It's forbidden for a reason.'

She punctuated her sentences with laughter, but she was very serious.

'You're right, Seren,' Koko said with a smirk. 'We might scrub our cauldrons well, but a soup made in them might cause explosions in unwanted places.'

Her lips twisted even further into a wry grin when Avery mentioned having already owled his mum. 'Well... I can't dissuade you, so do let me know how it goes. That's honestly a very good way to get around not having access to the kitchens.'

Avery was a very fun person to listen to. He thought of the loopholes and good things about having explosions in places that should not be exploded. Perhaps being cured from imaginary boils was a good thing.

'You know, a cooking club would be a great idea. We - or you, if you wanted - could start one fairly easily... Using cauldrons, if you wanted, since it'd be difficult to fit a lot of students into the off-limits kitchens.'

@Avery Chen · @Seren Young

Seren looked between Koko and Avery, at the discussion of Acromantulas, her face a little pale. "I've read a bit about them in the family library, and Acromantulas are VERY scary. I hope they stay in the Forest, because I don't care if they have any parts that are usable. I do not want to fight one, or be near one. I will do my very best to never go into the Forbidden Forest, I think."

She then stared at Avery's casual handwave of 'cleaning the cauldron', an expression that read, very clearly, that she thought this boy was being INTENTIONALLY oblivious to what everyone was telling him. "Cleaning it is probably not enough! If you're that desperate, you could probably Owl Order a new cauldron, just for cooking? I know the various shops do Owl Orders, or at least my..." Her tone changed, a note of distaste and/or displeasure entering it. "Parents do plenty of shopping via Owl Order, as they loath going into the shops themselves for anything they consider 'basic'." The way she said basic was almost mocking, like she was making fun of awful, snooty people.

And then she flushed, and looked around, nervously, as if she had realized how she was speaking and was afraid her parents would somehow overhear. She gave herself a small shake, and looked back at Avery and Koko. "Anyways! Maybe you should see if you can do that? It would probably be ever so much safer, and you would not have to worry about poisoning anybody, because that is a potential option. And I'd hate to see you get detention, or worse, for accidentally poisoning lots of people."

She then looked back at Koko, at the idea of a Magical Cooking club. "A club like that would be utterly awesome but we'd need someone who already knows how to cook really well to help us, or we're just going to make a mess... I've tried sneakily cooking, from recipes I found in old books, and the mess I made! The House Elves were ever so mad."

@Koko Riddle - @Avery Chen

Big, magical spiders? In the Forbidden Forest? Which was, what, really close to the school building and basically on its grounds? He stared at Seren, wide-eyed in horror as her face turned pale. Just the way she explained it made him shudder. In all honesty, Avery Chen would likely have wanted to sneak into the Forbidden Forest, simply because it had the word 'forbidden' in its name... but acromantulas. Too bad.

The cauldron may cause soups to be explosive? Or maybe poisonous? Avery pouted and shrugged. That wasn't going to deter him. The boy was optimistic to a fault. "Nah, I don't think I'd want to spend extra money on a new cauldron. My parents would never let me supposedly 'waste' any money. Plus, if I get onto the quidditch team, I'd definitely want to save up for a cool new broom!" he explained, hoping that made some sense. He'd rather take the risk of having an exploding soup. Maybe it'll make the meal more fun for him and his guests, anyway, kind of like personal entertainment! But he kept the thought to himself.

At Seren's mention of her parents loathing to go into shops in person, he wondered what kinds of people they were. Whatever they were like, it didn't seem like the Ravenclaw girl agreed with how they acted. Maybe, deep within her, there was some sort of a rebel, too? He stowed the question into the crevices of his mind for another day, when he would hopefully have a chance to get to know her better.

"Well, hey, if any of you are interested in cooking food together, I can consider starting a club! Of course, I'll need to learn how that's done and register and whatnot, probably, but I'll let you guys know if I make any progress!" An idea was brewing in his mind already. Perhaps a club that celebrated Asian culture, that included activities like cooking and tasting Asian cuisine! Or maybe a festival that served various Asian food! His mouth watered at the thought, and only then did he remember to hastily shove some dinner down his throat.

The evening was ticking by, and he glanced at the time. "Wow, time really flies!" he observed, before glancing back at Koko and Seren. "I'll need to get enough time to practice in the Rehearsal Room before curfew, so I'd better go. Well, it was really great speaking with both of you! See you another time, Koko! Seren!" He cleaned the rest of his plate quickly, and gathered his things to leave.

It was truly a great conversation. Somehow, it helped him feel a little more at home in this new school.

Avery's lack of worry about the cauldron surprised Koko. He must have been one of the braver Slytherins - although sometimes, courage equated to recklessness. She hoped this wasn't the case with Avery. Despite her trying to stay detached for the past two years, she found herself hoping he didn't get himself hurt.

His argument regarding a broom was a fair one, though. 'You have a point. Brooms are expensive, and they're rather neat.' Koko loved her Silver Arrow and treated it as if it were an extension of herself. She polished it daily and did checks twice a week to make sure it was doing okay. It would, with any luck, last her through the rest of her schooling.

'I don't think he'd get detention,' she said to Seren. 'Probably just a firm scolding for endangering himself, but honestly, everyone makes a reckless decision while here at Hogwarts.' Koko could certainly name a few of her own - such as climbing out of a window during her first year. She still wasn't quite sure how she'd pulled that off. If Avery or Seren did something like that, she would applaud them even if they endangered themselves. Some feats were just too impressive to ignore.

'A food club would be fun,' Koko said, and immediately, she thought of the Arts and Orchestral club, which had sort of fallen apart. Sadly. She missed the good old days of socialising, even if she'd never admit it out loud. It was nice that people were starting new clubs, and if they could figure out how to make a food club work, it would definitely be worth joining.

When Avery mentioned the time, Koko jolted. He was right. It was getting very late, and the Great Hall had already begun to clear out. Koko chuckled awkwardly and nodded. 'You're right. Good luck in the rehearsal room, and hopefully I'll see you around!' The rehearsal room was certainly one of Koko's favourites. It was used by many students, actually, and was like a second common room to some.

Koko turned to Seren and smiled. 'I'm probably going to go, too. I left my cat sleeping in the dormitory and he's probably waiting on his dinner.' She gave a small laugh. 'If you ever need a shoulder to lean on or just someone to talk to, I'm here. Have fun while at Hogwarts.'

She stood and slowly left, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

@Avery Chen · @Seren Young

Leaving thread unless stopped.