8 Sep 2021, 20:03
The Hall Brawl
September 2, 2021
Day two of this long, hellish journey and Matthew was already looking forward to the end of it. The train ride, then boat ride, then sorting ceremony yesterday had really taken it out of him and he’d ended up wandering the halls in a haze of exhaustion today. The quick tour around really hadn’t given him anything of use to work with in terms of floor plans, which meant after a morning of yawning and trudging down stairs he’d ended up… lost. Beautiful corridor with its stonework and suits of armour, lovely, really it was.
But where in the hell was it compared to everywhere else? He supposed he couldn’t really complain about it though, considering it was his own fault for sleeping in. Nobody to blame but himself. The thought dimmed his annoyance as he stretched his arms casually over his head - he always tended to be easier on himself than on others. It wasn’t like he considered anywhere he had to be important, either. So no use getting bent out of shape.
That decided, he dragged some of the nice morning air into his lungs and tucked his hands in his pockets, posture naturally relaxing into a slouch that would probably make him Quasimodo by the time he got to twenty.
There were plenty of other students about, anyhow, so if he felt the need to ask someone where to go then he’d just ask them. For now, maybe it was a blessing in disguise that he’d gotten lost - Matt was the kind of person who usually only made a mistake once, so he’d get the lay of the land and never not know where this corridor was or what it lead to again. Turning to walk backwards so he could examine the hall he’d come down for identifying marks that would tell it apart from the hundreds of other halls that looked similar, his attention was so caught up in memorizing the little things making this place unique that he didn’t even notice anyone behind him until it was too late.
Last edited by Matthew Gray on 31 Oct 2021, 16:47, edited 1 time in total.
First, give them what they want. Then, take what you want.
STA 5 | EVA 7 | STR 1 | WIS 10 | ARC P 4 | ACC 8
STA 5 | EVA 7 | STR 1 | WIS 10 | ARC P 4 | ACC 8
10 Sep 2021, 00:29
The Hall Brawl
After five years, the sorting ceremony got a little old.
Don't get her wrong, Rosie loved it. She loved to cheer obnoxiously loud for every Hufflepuff that was named, and make snide remarks about the other houses with her friends. But she was sixteen. She had been hearing this since she eleven. Couldn't she skip like... One of them? Apparently not! Burnt out from talking to what seemed like hundreds of Hufflepuffs, the girl was basically sleep walking through the corridors. Well, that was a bit of an over-exaggeration. Despite the exhaustion, the girl walked with pep in her step. That was simply how Rosie rolled. Nobody could catch her lacking, nope.
It wasn't just the Hufflepuffs too, as a previous prefect, Rosie had a habit of making friends with anyone she met. Fifth or first year. She was friendly to a fault to those who deserved it! Sometimes even to the people who didn't. (Some bitterness with Max remained. Rosie could hold a grudge.) But that was besides the point! The girl turned the corner of the corridors, blowing some hair out of her face when she saw a boy wandering down the hallways.
From the back, there was no way to tell if she knew the kid or not. But that certainly was someone who was short, and definitely someone who was wearing Slytherin clothes. Rosie could probably count on her fingers how many Slytherins she personally knew. That was Alexx, and maybe Santario through Quinn. Oh, and Elijah. Man... Elijah. Very sweet boy. She wondered where he went. Anyway, not important.
"Hey! You alright? You look a little lost, can't imagine people get used to where the corridors lead on the second day." Rosie called, skipping to approach the kid. "Assuming you're a first year, I made an educated guess from the back of your head." She beamed, making sure none of the exhaustion she had from today showed.
STAMINA 13 // EVASION 13 // STRENGTH 6 // WISDOM 6 // ARCANE POWER 9 // ACCURACY 8
11 Sep 2021, 17:33
The Hall Brawl
The voice jolted him out of his observations, and Matthew turned with an internal sigh to set his gaze on a random Hufflepuff girl. He'd learned a little about the houses from talk around the castle, and it seemed Hufflepuffs were generally do-gooders. From experience, he found do-gooders tended to get overly involved in people's business like they thought everyone needed help. Was it so they could feel good about themselves? As a person who wouldn't help anyone unless it was beneficial, he couldn't empathize with that at all.
"I know exactly where I am," he lied on principle, mouth twisting into a little half-frown as he looked the girl up and down. Definitely much older than him by the look of her, but he wasn't one to treat someone with respect just because they were his senior. Getting old didn't take any effort and everyone did it - it didn't make you special.
"Why d'you think I'm a first year, anyways?" he went on, not to be difficult but he was genuinely curious what made the older students peg them as such. He'd been doing his best not to look overly lost and he personally thought he walked with the confidence of someone older than eleven. Stepping closer to the girl, he held his hand above his head and then moved it towards her to see where he came up to on her, figuring she was probably about half a foot taller. "Is it my height? I could just be short for my age, or it could be I haven't hit puberty yet - boys hit it later, you know. Or does everyone in your year just look like an old bag? I guess that'd make sense, you look like you could be mom-age."
First, give them what they want. Then, take what you want.
STA 5 | EVA 7 | STR 1 | WIS 10 | ARC P 4 | ACC 8
STA 5 | EVA 7 | STR 1 | WIS 10 | ARC P 4 | ACC 8
14 Sep 2021, 00:42
The Hall Brawl
Never mind, maybe Rosie hated kids.
Living at a home with a baby made Rosie's opinion on children a bit erratic. Sometimes she thought they were the cutest little things on Earth, the other time she thought they were demons sent from Hell. The latter was usually when Benny was crying, his screams were high pitched enough to crack the Earth itself. When she dealt with his meltdowns when her dads were away, she went through a quick phase where she swore never to have children. She could not deal with a screaming baby as much as her fathers could.
But eleven year olds were simply a different breed.
Children lacked empathy until they grew the capability to control what they wanted to say. From there, based on their morals and experiences, their empathy applied to different things. Some kids ended up caring too much, maybe some too little. Rosie liked to think that she cared too much, and it was more good than bad, but this snotty little kid was definitely not like her. How dare he! She looked quite young. She'd go as far to say as that she had a baby face! Mom-age... Ridiculous. Rosie could convince someone she was an adult if she wanted to, damn it!
But, it was okay. This kid had just met her. Perhaps he wasn't looking hard enough! "I guessed from how lost you looked, you're not a great liar." She put her hands in her robe pockets, glancing down at him. "But judging from your answer, looks like you are one." She beamed, trying to ignore the comment about her looking old. Relax, Parker. That was one grey hair you found. One! That was the only one, you don't look old at all!
Still attempting to be nice, Rosie outstretched her hand. "I'm Rosie, a Hufflepuff. What's your name?"
STAMINA 13 // EVASION 13 // STRENGTH 6 // WISDOM 6 // ARCANE POWER 9 // ACCURACY 8
16 Sep 2021, 17:27
The Hall Brawl
Not a good liar? That was an annoying and incorrect observation - he was a great liar, he just hadn't had time to cook anything more subtle than 'I'm not lost' up because she'd gone ahead and gotten involved in business that wasn't hers. Though he couldn't dispute that he was a liar, and he let it slide with an internal sigh. It wasn't like she knew him at all so she couldn't ruin his nonexistent reputation.
Flashing a smile, he reached out to take her hand, giving it a firm shake and looking her directly in the eye. People who shook hands timidly and looked away were pegged as marks - those who could be walked all over - was what his father had always said. The lawyer made sure his clients had direct and firm handshakes, and he hadn't skipped passing that bit of behaviour onto his son. So Matt shook with an easy confidence, smile polite until it grew wolfish.
He couldn't help it. It was in his nature to play the goofy, blunt kid who slacked off - it made everyone around him expect zip to none from him.
"Matthew Gray. Nice to meet you, Rosie a Hufflepuff." And, god, was it easy to spot that the comment about her looks had thrown her. She hadn't addressed it at all, hadn't even brushed it off with a joke back, which is what most people would do if something didn't really bother them. Since he owed her for the bad liar comment, he let his eyes widen in astonishment as he used his grip on her hand to tug her lower so he could study her face. "You've got to be a year seven, haven't you? None of the other years have wrinkles like that. Unless you've repeated a year or two?"
First, give them what they want. Then, take what you want.
STA 5 | EVA 7 | STR 1 | WIS 10 | ARC P 4 | ACC 8
STA 5 | EVA 7 | STR 1 | WIS 10 | ARC P 4 | ACC 8
19 Sep 2021, 01:28
The Hall Brawl
Rosie considered herself to be a very... Morally correct person!
She didn't steal, she didn't curse very often, she wasn't a rule breaker and she tried to do good for everyone. That's just how the young Hufflepuff rolled! If she wasn't a goody two shoes then, well, would she really be a stereotypical Hufflepuff? But there were some things, that just couldn't be said to her. She could take a lot, she could take someone calling her a mudblood, maybe someone telling her that her dancing isn't great. But telling her she has WRINKLES? No, that could not be forgiven. Rosie was not dramatic by any means, no, this was an offense to the highest degree. She was a youthful, full of life, sixteen year old. So what if she had a grey hair already? That meant nothing! It certainly did not mean she had wrinkles. This boy had to be blind! But she had to contain herself, this was a child, after all. She was tempted to break his nose for uttering such words, yes, but that would be against.... Multiple moral codes! The girl looked at the younger boy as he leaned up towards her, their hands still shaking.
With the comment, Rosie's grip on the hand tightened. She wasn't angry by any means, no, definitely not. But she did want to make it known that she was not one to let these sort of comments slide. Of course she didn't break his hand or anything, but her grip was certainly firm. It was good to make a great first impression, especially as his upperclassman. "Oh, no. I'm only a fifth year. You seem to be quite young for your age, I didn't think they let seven year olds into Hogwarts. You must be incredibly smart." She put on a sweet, almost sickly sweet smile.
After a moment, the girl let go of his hand, no doubt relieving him of the pressure her hand had placed upon his. "Are you liking it here, then?" Rosie tried to sway off the conversation, thinking she would stop with the subtle tough act. "I know it takes most kids a few days to get used to the place."
STAMINA 13 // EVASION 13 // STRENGTH 6 // WISDOM 6 // ARCANE POWER 9 // ACCURACY 8
30 Sep 2021, 01:00
The Hall Brawl
The grip on his hand turned Matt's shit-eating grin into a grimace that was all teeth as he kept it up as if it was still a smile. A subtle thing when she spoke over it so nicely, but between her words and the grip she'd as good as said 'shut up.' Wanting to put him back in his place then, thinking he was young and would back off just because she had a few years on him. While he was hardly competitive, the Slytherin did have a stubborn streak a mile wide and a little pressure (both figuratively and literally) wouldn't make him back off.
If anything, it made him more determined to bother her. Revenge. As much as he lacked the ambitions of his house, perhaps the blood that ran through his veins did contain something of the green and silver nonetheless.
"So you're going to pretend like you didn't squeeze my hand in a death grip and give me a passive aggressive comment?" Matt asked nonchalantly as he took his palm back and tucked it into his pocket. "You want to continue the conversation without addressing it? Boo, don't be that boring. Passive aggressiveness has become such a common currency that with conversational inflation it's basically worthless now. Fight it out, come on, you know you can. Is that all you got? Looking seven at eleven basically makes me immortal, but the fountain of youth I drank from must've taken all its youth from you since clearly there's none left on your face. Do people ask you if you're a sibling of your parents when you go out? I bet they were serving you in bars when you were my age. What skincare product do you use, the blood of Nicolas Flamel?"
First, give them what they want. Then, take what you want.
STA 5 | EVA 7 | STR 1 | WIS 10 | ARC P 4 | ACC 8
STA 5 | EVA 7 | STR 1 | WIS 10 | ARC P 4 | ACC 8
10 Oct 2021, 20:55
The Hall Brawl
Oh, man. He talked a lot.
Maybe the hand squeeze was too much, because this kid was not okay with it. She had noticed the grimace, and when she took her hand back, she had rested it in her robe pockets. While the boy started ranting, Rosie's cat, Magnus, had caught up to the girl, rubbing himself against her leg as she got grilled by an eleven year old. The girl blinked at the boy as he began his little tirade.
She didn't look that old, did she? Rosie liked to think she kept a youthful face for someone who was going on sixteen. Though she figured she shouldn't take a kid's rant to heart, second years probably looked old to him. He was creative, she'd give him that, and in the midst of his little rant, she started smiling. It was almost cute! He was like a little Chihuahua who saw another dog on the street, and decided it was the end of the world.
When the boy had finished, Rosie let out a little chuckle. "Wow, I didn't think first years had such colorful language. Who taught you that, an older brother? Sister? I know my cousins didn't really have a filter around me, but that was really only when I was suuuper young." She leaned down and picked up Magnus, letting the orange cat rest in his arms. "I'm not gonna fight a little kid, your rant was more funny than anything." She patted his head. "I didn't mean to offend you that much, let's start over, okay?" Rosie smiled. Though this child was still on her hitlist for calling her old, at least he did it in a funny way.
STAMINA 13 // EVASION 13 // STRENGTH 6 // WISDOM 6 // ARCANE POWER 9 // ACCURACY 8
31 Oct 2021, 15:15
The Hall Brawl
Ahhhh, boring boring boring. Matt's grin disappeared to be replaced by a look of genuine disappointment, which then morphed into a heavy-lidded expression of exhaustion. He looked at the cat in the girl's arms, blinking slowly at it to show it he meant no harm - people he couldn't give less of a shit about but animals were okay - before looking back up at the older girl.
"Yeah, sure, whatever," he sighed, waving a languid hand. "Rosie, huh? Matches your personality." A too-good, happy girl-next-door type that everyone who liked uncomplicated lives probably got along with. She seemed like the kind of person who'd grow up to get an unremarkable job, marry an unremarkable man, and have unremarkable children. A dime a dozen, even in the Wizarding World. While Matt didn't want an amazing life filled with responsibility, he also didn't want to be a generic cardboard cutout person who followed in the footsteps of every other person throughout human history.
"So glad to hear you have morals," he drawled in a voice so dry it would fit in with sand blowing across Wadi Rum. Ignoring her questions about his family, he studied his nails with an air of apathy. "You should keep those in the future, so when I'm 25 and you're 30 you'll still be saying that I deserve peace because I'm younger than you. I hope that's applicable to all people who are young - the Thompson and Venables case, for instance. You'd forgive them the murder of a child because they're young, right? Younger than me, even. Although when they were let out at the age of 18 it didn't go so well... But it's fine, because they were little kids. Your Honor, we move for the forgiveness of crimes of anyone under the age of fifteen, regardless of how horrific. Yes, I understand how stupid it sounds, but there's precedent. I refer you to the case of Rosie forgiving any crimes against her due to the perpetrator's youthful age. No, Your Honor, it isn't due to low self-esteem that stops her from sticking up for herself, it's due to morals. What do you think, do we have a case?"
First, give them what they want. Then, take what you want.
STA 5 | EVA 7 | STR 1 | WIS 10 | ARC P 4 | ACC 8
STA 5 | EVA 7 | STR 1 | WIS 10 | ARC P 4 | ACC 8
31 Oct 2021, 16:09
The Hall Brawl
Who hurt this child??
This boy was not set on giving up on grilling Rosie, who was still shocked at the amount of energy he had. She was giving pretty boring responses, and here he was, fighting for his life. He did seem like he was giving up for a moment, commenting on her name. Well, in truth, Rosie wasn't her full name, it was Rosaline. Rosie could imagine his response now upon hearing it, 'Rosaline? What are you, a European princess from the 1700s? Your name matches how elderly you look, grandma!' Children were so rude. Perhaps the new gene that was passed down through generations was spite.
Did Rosie give off that bad of an impression? She seemed to run into this problem quite often. Rosie figured the way to get on someone's bad side was to be rude, but apparently being freakishly nice was also a steadfast way to land yourself on a child's hit list. Then again, Rosie wasn't shocked. Children were surprisingly incredibly honest. Thomas, in particular, reminded her of this. He wasn't very young, but as a fifth year, everyone a year below was a baby to her. Regardless, this had been going on for quite a while and Rosie was starting to get tired. He kinda reminded her of when she was little, unnecessarily defending herself against Max Avery by babbling until she ran out of words.
"That's not exactly what I meant but, okay!" Rosie nodded and let Magnus crawl up on her shoulder. "Not that this conversation hasn't been incredibly pleasant, this old lady has things to do." Why not? Feed into the insults! Sure it was incredibly infuriating to know that she gave off the energy of a grandma, even though she was INCREDIBLY YOUTHFUL AND SWIFT AND SIXTEEN AND HADN'T HAD ANY GREY HAIRS BECAUSE SHE WAS JUST SOOOOO YOUNG AND COOL- It was a bit fun to watch this child ramble on and on about her strange morals. Perhaps in the future, they could find a more suitable dynamic that didn't look like Rosie bullying a child. Not only was that embarrassing, but it did indeed go against her morals! Unless the child actually deserved it for being like... A criminal!
"I'll see you around, Matthew!" She patted his head before starting to walk off past him, Magnus comfortably on her shoulders. "I hope to see you in one of the teams!" She called, grinning at him with a wave as she trailed down and out of the corridors. Quidditch, Dueling, he'd be a good fit for both. Was she sort of giving up on this weird argument they were having? Probably, but respectfully, Rosie had better things to do.
STAMINA 13 // EVASION 13 // STRENGTH 6 // WISDOM 6 // ARCANE POWER 9 // ACCURACY 8