Hexwizard Coming to Hogwarts

Pericles had been just in the middle of helping himself to a lamb chop when he spied an armored Headmaster Lear approaching the podium. Reflexively, he lowered his fork and knife, eyebrows arched and chewing slowed. That he began with the subject of the Triwizard Tournament, which had been brought up in a recent Daily Prophet article, stopped his eating altogether. The delivery was formal, succinct, and resounding. A hush over the hall, then clamors of conversation struck up in the wake of this tremendous news. Pericles sat still, stunned, hanging on every word.
That while wounds have become scars, we can consider trying again.
He wanted to find hope in those words specifically. Dearly, he wanted to cling to that line like a buoy in a flood. Yet given his tenure at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, his immediate instinct was to question everything about this. Was it a ruse? A setup? Was this the "contest" mentioned in the article titled Purebloods Clamor for a Champion? Was their Headmaster simply dealing with the decisions made by the Ministry? The victim of a political agenda? Most importantly: did it matter?

Of course, no one should shoot the messenger, but as he was the defacto leader of their school, Solomon Lear was the first most would look to for answers. Pericles couldn't outright blame the other third-year's outcry, though these days, he couldn't outright sympathize with it either. "The Gryffindor table is even rowdier than usual," he observed at a mutter, empty of empathy, his usual tunelessness sounding soulless instead of serene. Reoccurring tragedy (and hormones) had traded tranquility for a measure of cynicism. The ghost of a boy called coolly across the way: "If anyone doubts their ability to survive a competition, they shouldn't place their name in the Goblet. It's quite simple." His words weren't meant to illicit an argument, or to belittle his peer, though the Ravenclaw's factual way of speaking was sometimes mistaken for one or the other. Peri's aim was for peace, some measure of reassurance, as he tried to logic Jacob into a state of calm. "It's entirely voluntary. Besides... Hogwarts is rife with life-threatening calamities, event or no." He shrugged his shoulders, a strange spark of dark humor flickering.
"At least this would be a planned calamity."

Mentioning: Lear, @Jacob Harman

--- The Slytherin who became a Gryffindor ---

The dinners here were amazing, that much was for sure. Even though he was used to having high quality meals at home, the amount and variety of food here was breathtaking. Probably because there were so many students to feed. But it still gave off a good impression. Kim had taken some of the roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, lamb chops, steak-and-kidney pie, shepherd's pie, treacle tart and cornish pastries. Yes, all at once and on only two small plates.

But just because he'd taken so much at once didn't mean he was going to not have any manners. Kim was the sort of person who ate cleanly and didn't like getting food all over the place. Well, at least not when it came to eating. A food fight was just fine. But when your only desire was to eat, that was all you should be doing at the time. He'd just started to eat when suddenly the Headmaster came to the Hall and started a speech. It was a very important one.

It was more like an announcement rather than a speech.

One where it was revealed the Hexwizard Tournament was coming to Hogwarts.

He'd heard about the old days from his parents. But hadn't thought it would happen so soon after his arrival. Part of him wanted to participate but another part wanted to just watch. After all, watching from a distance might actually be better, to gain more knowledge of things. If he remembered correctly, before Harry Potter had participated in the event, First Years had not been allowed to cast their lots. Wasn't there a reason for that rule? But one thing was for sure.

Kim didn't want to miss this. He would be there to watch, no matter what happened. He eventually finished his meal and left the Great Hall with much to think about.

Kim has left the thread.

English || Mandarin || Parseltongue || Japanese || Korean

He heard the Ravenclaw boy, Pericles, and saw his reasoning. "Good point." He couldn't blame Pericles as he believed that Pericles was wiser than he could ever hope to be. Now that he thought about it, he wanted to join the tournament, this realization was because of the reward that the Tournament had... the prize money could only go to get the Firebolt, the fastest and best broomstick in the world.

He wants to make his mother proud and be on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team as a seeker, he is fast and is the perfect build for a seeker. He will hopefully be able to join in the Tournament if he wants to put his name in the Goblet of Fire, unlike Harry Potter, he would od it willing and not under scrutiny as he would not be a cheat to most people but simply got lucky of being in the Tournament.

It would be a challenge though as he would be a third year in the Tournament. He then shouted with hopeless abandon "I'm going for it." He then repeated, "I'm going to put my name into the Goblet of Fire." Jacob knew that the Tournament was dangerous and that it might kill him, at least he will go down in a blaze of glory.

English || French || Bulgarian

Poking her fork at the lamb chops on her plate, she just pushed it from left to right on it idly. She knew better than to play with her food but she was not entirely sure if she could really eat that much today. For some reason, she was just not in the mood. Another day, another dinner, another day where she kept her head down and sat alone. What caught her attention as she took a small bite of her food was the familiar voice of their Headmaster. She tilted her head, looking over to the podium where he stood, making what felt like a speech.

The speech was immediately one with a dark tone. More bad news, perhaps? The thought made a shiver hit her heart, the anxiety starting to surge through her as she listened. Did she even want to know? Perhaps it was best not to listen...

She turned back to her food, taking another bite. The words still hit her ears though. Wait- what did he just say? They were reopening the Triwizard Tournament? Is that really what he meant by trying again? The questions flooded her mind before she had a chance to process them. Shaking them out of her head, she tried to focus on what he was saying.

A look of surprise fell onto her face, slightly taken back by the whole thing. She knew of the last tournament - or at least, the death of a student as a result of it. The idea that this would happen again put fear in her that she could not quite explain. He spoke about safety and being free of Dark Wizards but... if all of that was really true then why was she always so afraid of what would happen to her, to her friends, to people like her? Though, she wondered if he believed the words he was saying when he told them to consider the potential peril...

As she stared down at her plate, she realised why he was telling them all. He wanted them to consider representing the school so that they could put their names into the goblet of fire in a few weeks. There was a lot on her mind. She did not really know how to process all of it. In a way, perhaps this was good. She recalled the recent article asking for an opportunity. Perhaps this was it. But the thought terrified her. What if something similar happened again? With everything going on already, was this a wise idea? Could Hogwarts get behind a single champion when they were all so different, and competitive? They couldn't even have a civilised ball, how the hell was they supposed to get together to support a single champion and prevent anyone from dying?!

It also meant... Arjan would return. She had no doubt that he would toss his name into that goblet. They might not have gotten along but perhaps she respected that about him. At least he was brave enough to stand up for what he wanted. Whether he would be their champion or not, she did not know. But she was pretty sure he would try... What she did not know was what the hell was she supposed to do with this information? Did it even matter? Was there anything for her to do?

There was no way she would be picked as champion anyway. She was useless. Hell, she was too afraid to stand up and just be who she is. Her life was full of guilt, doubt and anxiety, these were not qualities for a champion. There was no way she would be able to make a single decision properly. It would be terrible...

Serena just... played with her food idly some more. She swallowed as she recalled the conversations she had recently. The fear, the attacks, the articles. Maybe this was the answer. But the fear surged through her. Gritting her teeth, she thought about the words that he said to her. Although it was likely exaggerated, there was something comforting about them - or rather, it comforted her because of who said it. But... it did not negate the fear building inside of her.

She sighed, pushing her plate away from her as she stood up. Too much plagued her mind - and the fear had penetrated too deeply into her heart. Swallowing, she grabbed her stuff and made her way out of the hall, her hands clenched by her side. A part of her did not know if she was angry or scared. But the self-doubt wrecked her and the guilt she felt was eating her alive. Her appetite now lost as quickly as she got lost into her thoughts, walking out and back towards her dorm.

Serena exits the Great Hall

The day had been much like any other. Monday had been yesterday, and Alec's weekend glimmer hadn't been brushed off quite yet. Alec had spent Sunday evening studying, there was only so much time in which he could push off homework. It was a grand feeling of accomplishment to have finished off something he'd been stressing over for a while. With Monday done with and Tuesday almost over Alec had managed to push trough the thick of it and was adjusted to the routine of classes once more. Tonight was a quiet evening in the great hall, there was still buzz over excitement for the week and the excitement of lessons to come, somehow it was lesser. Alec would began to fill his plate as the buzz died down significantly. As his fork dug into the cornish pasty on his plate, about to take his first bite until he heard the booming voice of the headmaster as he began to speak.

Alec would set his fork down on the plate in a huff, mumbling something about (as unlikely as it was)his food getting cold. Later he would realize caring about such a thing as his food was foolish, especially when the Hexwizard Tournament would be the topic of the night.

Alec's eyes would turn to attention as the headmaster spoke.

'The last Twiwizard tournament left wounds with scars that would never heal. It had affected so many and the population of magical folk were all but stuck in an echo chamber of sadness and regret that never should have been left to heal.' Alec was pretty that summed it up, the sentence and half of the second were basically direct quotes from any adult you would ask about it, and oh had Alec asked before. Sure like the last of the second was Alec's added twist since the headmaster said scars, but it sounded like something someone would say. Cedric Diggory was just one example of way things could have gone wrong, there were many more.

Years had gone by since... What happened then was long gone. Despite the objections anybody may have had, there was going to be a day where they needed to move beyond the events. It needed to be shown, the world had learned. It was time to get back up and prove there was strength left after such a massive blow. The event should have spoken out in weak points but it should never have been the single detail to define. History can't repeat itself if we're not set up in the same scenario. What happened then was an event that fell victim to the fate of a time haphazardly destroying itself whole. Besides, with all the news that had been appearing in the daily prophet as of late they needed something like the Hexwizard tournament to boost school morale.

Then again, Alec was only making things up on the spot. He was just as unsure as anybody else . It was a tricky subject to come by... The Hexwizard tournament would be dangerous, at least this time you knew of the dangers from past events when you were to sign up. “I for one think it would be helpful to be informed, at least before anybody makes any big decisions.” Nobody could have predicted what happened, and that's the way it was, a system like such would always have the chance of ending up abused, still, one could do their best to find methods to stop what happened from happening again. “There's only so much preventative measures that can be taken, to stop something like what happened last time, or newer problems that might arise.”

Alec would grab his fork picking at the food on his plate. He wasn't hungry, he couldn't eat after this. They would never be able to predict what it meant, even with the ceaseless arguments in his head. Alec set his fork down and pushed his plate away. Excusing himself from the table he had a few more things to say before he would leave. “I'll stop by the library on Friday to look for books on the Triwizard Tournament. Maybe there are old news articles?” Alec suggested, sounding unsure of himself. “Whoever wants to take a look can meet me that same Friday in the common room after classes.” The library had to have something on the history of the Triwizard tournaments right? Alec didn't care about getting gruesome details he just needed more information. Alec took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair, he'd committed himself to research, on top of schoolwork. He wanted too- He was just worried it would be a little much. Alec began walks towards the exit of the great hall. Oh well, he'd already committed himself to the research anyway.

Alec exits the thread | if there is any gryff wanting to rp what alec has proposed; feel free to owl me.

Fortuitously, Pericles' all-fact-no-feeling retort hadn't been taken as derision. The Gryffindor answered aptly: "Good point. I'm going for it. I'm going to put my name into the Goblet of Fire."
Pericles lagged while wondering whether or not he was right to have defended the concept so plainly. A "planned calamity" indeed. Most events in this school could be summarized as such, and yet, he hadn't gone out of his way to avoid all of them. Sensible as he often was, the Ravenclaw lad still attended most Hogwarts gatherings. But despite his defense of it, this tournament sounded all the more like a death trap. Balls turned to battlefields had at least intended to be frivolous and fun. A competition across schools practically invited fatal injury. What was there to gain? Glory? Wisdom? Experience? Would he take the bait and cast his names into the flame too? Pericles could not share the Gryffindor's ability to decide on the spot. He would grapple with uncertainty until the moment he had to choose. Instead, he gave a grim frown and faint nod, answering with less of a dry drawl this time: "Best of luck." Pericles kept to himself, vividly immersed in his thoughts, until the chance came to escape the buzzing Great Hall and find a quiet place to mull the matter over.

Mentioning: @Jacob Harman
Exiting Scene