Summer Camp Flood Welcoming Bonfire

Skye had barely turned around when Lilith left hurriedly. She creased her eyebrows the tiniest bit. Thinking, she bit her bottom lip, a nervous habit that she would have to get rid of because it made her lip bleed at times.
Was it because of her? Lilith obviously knew Aurelia from past experience, so was it just that Skye was too boring?
Suddenly self-conscious, she straightened her black diamond charm necklace and lightly dusted her ivory bohemian top with floral embroidery, a birthday gift from her mother. It had bell sleeves and she had paired it with dark green skinny jeans, and her favorite black heart-shaped earrings.
Then she realized that Aurelia was offering her chocolate, a creamy muggle treat that always cheered her up. She accepted the chocolate graciously, and popped it into her mouth. "Thank you."

"So.. tell me about yourself," she said, as the dark snack melted in her mouth. It was a semisweet, just as she liked it. Skye started to relax slightly, but checked once in a while to make sure that no chocolate had stained her hands or clothes. "Where are you from? What do you like to do?"

Skye knew it was a pretty lame question, but an awkward silence would be much worse. She tapped her thigh subconsciously, as she waited for Aurelia's reply.

Interactions: Sabrina Hurst

Rosie was lost in her own thoughts before someone broke her out of them. She turned to be faced with an unfamiliar, pretty girl, who had introduced herself. She seemed nice enough, and oddly familiar. Wasn't she at the ball with her, Eris, and Rhea? Must've been, Rosie can pick out a cute friend when she sees one. With a smile, she faces Sabrina, her hands in her robe pockets. "Nice to meet you... Sab? Is it okay if I call you that?" She asked, cautiously. Rosie was a sucker for nicknames, she could pick one out for most of her friends. Though, it was easier when their names were longer. "My name's Rosie." She smiled back.

In all honesty, Rosie was glad she was meeting new people. Considering the drama she went through, she figured that she would need to grow her friend group instead of sobbing over Anatole or something. Besides, Sabrina seemed nice enough! Most of the people at Hogwarts weren't the worst, hell the worst person she had ever encountered was Max, but they were all good now! All except for the fact he avoids her like the plague in public from the fear of "being friends with a mudblood" but ya know.

Rowan's parents hadn't been overly keen on the idea of her spending her summer break at school, but they could hardly complain that she wanted to continue her education. They'd half heartedly tried to talk her out of it, mentioning all the not-fun things that they could have done this summer between their work schedules, but it had had no effect on the young girl. It had been harder to leave Theo behind, and he was not talking to her currently because of this decision. But he'd get it when he got to Hogwarts in a few year's time. Then he could stay at camp with her too! That would be even better because there wouldn't be any parents around.

The bonfire was in full swing when she arrived, and there were people everywhere. How was she even supposed to find anyone familiar in this crowd? She wasn't even sure if half of these people went to Hogwarts - if they did, surely she would have seen them before - even though that didn't really make sense. The only familiar face she came across was that girl who's book she had accidentally wrecked a while back, and she definitely wasn't going to get into that right now. She hadn't really talked to that girl since that whole incident, and she didn't want to risk getting into another argument on the first day of camp.

So she headed in the opposite direction, away from the heat of the fire and into the cooler air. She leaned back against a tree, figuring that with how much everyone else was moving, she'd have a better chance of finding someone to hang out with if she stayed still. She people watched in the mean time, fascinated by the people who easily grouped up and those who hung back on their own.

Mention of Leonie Scheinberg, Sebastián Cazarez, Sorrel Wright and Adelaide Ayers

It was the evening. The sun was slowly drifting away, giving space for the moon and stars to shine brightly in the sky, illuminating the ground of their glory. Up to this day, the new Headmaster has been staying entirely in his office, never getting out. After the recent event, Ackerley wanted to learn more about those magical artifacts in order to prevent any further danger for his students. He was used to researching those kinds of items and with his amount of knowledge on the matter, could probably find a solution to their problems. At least, he wanted to find more information about those masked attacks. Someone has to control the mask. He needed to discover who and why. 

Ackerley was sitting in his chair, reading one of his numerous books. His small creature was resting on his legs. It was a calm day, but somehow, the Headmaster fell as if he has forgotten something quite important. It was already the evening, he had eaten, he had worked on his administration papers, but something was clearly missing. Carefully getting up, avoiding to hurt Denise, the man walked closer to his window. Fire. Red. Hot in the cold night. It was the Bonfire. He had forgotten to pay a visit to his fellow professors and the newest second years students. Breathing deeply, Ackerley took his coat on the back of a chair and walked directly to the ground, where the event occurred. He didn't feel really social, but still, he would pay a visit to his colleagues. First, he saw Leonie Scheinberg and Sebastián Cazarez. The Head of Slytherin was the one organizing the event, the summer camp. He was grateful for this, even if his relationship with the woman was not on the friend term. Denise on his shoulder, the man walked toward them, wearing his best smile. Greeting professor Scheinberg, Cazarez. I hope you both are enjoying a great evening in each other company. For when is the wedding, again? His eyes met those of the Spanish Deputy Headmaster. Their promotion had been quite recent, but the Headmaster knew that the man already knew his kind of humor. Both of them kind of tolerating each other, Cazarez, his flirting, Blackburn, his humor. Quite sorry about this comment. My humor is quite a hard one once the sun hits the ground. Laughing a little, passed his hand in his black hair and smiled before turning toward the two other professors that were here, Sorrel Wright and Adelaide Ayers. Good evening to you two, professors. I hope you are both able to enjoy this nice evening without fear of the recent events. 

[size=12.6px]After that, Ackerley walked to a calm place, a little far from the rest of the students and professors and started writing in his journal while Denise stood on his head. [/size]

[size=12.6px]Open to a few interactions [/size]

"Do you know why moths fly into the flames? Because to them, the flames are power."
-Grandfather


It was nice, in a way. The campfire was tall, and the light seemed to ward off the darkness. There were enough people around that Kaegen was leery of the dark. What if one of the other students could see and navigate better in the dark than he could?

He had no idea of their skill level, no idea of what he should expect in a fight, other than the fact that appy had clearly preferred the stab-in-the-back approach. He had just been trying to stop the odd ravenclaw, but it was still suspect if you tried to apprehend someone and stop them from hurting themselves by tackling them from behind.

He did, however, have a good idea that he was towards the top. He was a prefect, after all. That meant something. Meant that he was good enough to be 1 of 4. The elite. The hand holding his walking umbrella tightened, already pasty white skin appearing almost translucent. The walking umbrella was a strange affair. A smooth, beautifully carved and oddly curved walking staff much taller than the boy himself was topped by a big, puffy, closed umbrella.

As nice as the light from the fire was, however, it was far too hot for his liking. His tired eyes were squinting at the light, face feeling far too heated as drops of sweat started to appear all over his body. He didn’t really know why he hadn’t just left the immediate heat zone, but as uncomfortable as it was, it still felt nice, in a way.

The fire danced about, seemingly fighting with itself over possession of the burning wood. The smoke coming from the tips of the flames were still more fascinating. It whipped and swirled, twisting and convulsing. Forming shapes that vanished as soon as you blink, replaced in an instant by someone’s face, then just a column of smoke with nothing to see.

He toyed with the idea of closing his eyes completely but decided against it. He had to keep some of his guard up, no matter how small. He still wasn’t entirely sure what being a prefect meant. Wasn’t sure what foes he would have to face, wasn’t sure what kind of torture he would have to endure for the sake of the promise he made.

He knew about patrolling, about searching the corridors and hallways, keeping an eye out for anyone doing anything that was against the rules. Having to enforce the rules was the first thing that had succeeded in making him pay attention. No going out past curfew was something he had always known about, but he had ignored. Now he had promised to uphold it.

And then he noticed the man, the man that was supposedly the best wizard around. His name carried with it a legend, both untold and unheard. The black burn. It was a title that must have been given for a reason, and although Kaegen had no idea who had given the black burn his name, he knew that if there was one man he was not going to trifle with, it was him.

But fear of a man stems from his power, and the power of a man can be learned and studied. He held the walking umbrella in his hand, letting both the umbrella and his hand hang from his side. The firelight did nothing to flatter his features, pale as death face clearly broadcasting the less than human nature of the boy, sharp cold eyes that seemed trapped behind heavy, tired eyelids.

His chin was covered in the soft grey scarf that wrapped around his neck several times, contributing to his discomfort. The black burn was writing in a book, no doubt logging the strengths and weaknesses of everyone present. A mark of a hunter, of a great man.

”Kaegen Deathmote, Fens-born Scarf-wielder. He who was called fat tadpole as a babe, suicidal idjit as a toddler. He who earned the name Eeh before arriving at hogwarts and was name prefect of ravenclaw under the authority of the black burn and Sir Happyness. He whose name was given authority by Grandfather, whose name was given authority by the conqueror of the 14th dark place.

The spider. What kind is she?”

It was a stupid question. He could have asked a million other good questions about power and spells and tricks of the trade. But the spider was fascinating, captivating. Distracting. The boy’s quiet voice, almost a whisper, carried out to the professor only a few feet in front of him. It was a monotone voice, no detectable emotion or energy behind it.

But at least he would learn about the spider. That wasn’t a total loss. Assuming the black burn responded to him, anyway.

It was fun to chat in a group with his friends, all of them falling into an easy pattern of nice conversation with the merry crackle of a fire as an undercurrent to it. The fire was beginning to seriously irritate him now, a steady stream running from his eyes, but he continued to ignore it as he listened to Eris and Serena discuss their cabin arrangements. "Yeah," he agreed at Serena's comment about the year. "It flew by at the speed of light. I'm looking forward to next yeAr... and the spells we'll learn then." Blinking with a small frown, he coughed discreetly into his hand and hoped his voice cracking hadn't been too obvious. That was new - he hoped something like that wouldn't happen again.

Luckily a somewhat familiar girl showed up as a distraction, and Max remained silent as he listened to her give out her name. Ah, she was a pureblood after all. He ingrained the name into his mind as he'd been taught to do, keeping quiet and studying her letter with interest. So her mother was that Shafiq woman - he'd have to turn it over in his mind more when there was time to think and not so many people approaching. "Yeah, I'm an Avery," he murmured as he finished reading the list, glancing at Eris with a small smirk at the fact that Dorothy hadn't known who she was. Predictably, Eris was saucy about it, and Max decided to simply let her do her thing without attempting to intercede. He didn't want to piss either girl off so he'd plead neutral ground until the day he died - he had a feeling that getting caught between these two would only make him a casualty of war.

Before any more conversations could continue, yet another girl approached and despite Rosie slipping away - it was both a relief and slightly sad - he was vastly outnumbered by the opposite sex. It wasn't something that should bother him, not when he used to spend the days with a bunch of his girl cousins, but for some reason there was something about it that made him feel self-conscious. Sure, two of them were his friends, but it still felt weird to be the odd man out... literally. He wished Dorian or even one of his other dormmates was here to even out the group because all of a sudden it felt like he might be intruding. That was new, too. This was kind of confusing.

"Good evening, December," he greeted, trying to shove away his discomfort. "My - " An inhale ruined the whole thing. The wind had shifted just a tad so now the full force of the smoke was directly in his face, and taking that all into his lungs absolutely destroyed him, the air burning as it flooded his airway. He let out a wheeze and started coughing, thumping his chest as a veritable stream of tears exited his eyes and he moved away from the smoke to draw in some fresher air. His lungs ached as he held up an index finger in the universal 'one moment' sign, and when a few deep coughs didn't work, he croaked out, "Sorry, need some air," and left the fireside wheezing. Letting his feet carry him the edge of the circle of light, he let himself cough to his heart's content, breathing in as much of that fresh, smoke-free air as he could to clear his lungs out.

 Since Blossomfest, Matilda had been more or less quiet around the castle. She went to the classes that she was meant to teach, but not much else. Sometimes, she was caught having tea with Ackerley, who was now taking up duties as Headmaster of Hogwarts. Of course, this filled up his schedule further, leaving less time that she had to spend with him. She went as far as asking him about stepping down from her role of Professor of Divination, to take up that of a Nurse. She had taken medicinal magic studies when they offered it in Beauxbatons, and it might have been a little cocky to say so, but she thought she was quite talented with the type of magic.

 So naturally, when she heard of the Summer Camp, Matilda took up the offer of taking over a Nursing Station. This gave her a chance to test whether or not she could actually follow through with succeeding with the role. Most of the day, she was sitting in the Nursing Station. Most people would assume that she would be doing something important, like organizing medicinal things, but really she just sat on the couch that she put in the area, a comic book in hand. Not like there'd be any emergencies that day.

 It was around seven o'clock in the evening when she heard the sounds of children's laughter. The sound carried from the bonfire towards her little station, and she found herself wanting to go out. So, she put away her comic book and wrapped her light brown shawl around her tighter. She had on a light blue dress underneath - a vintage style, coming to just below her knees. Hopefully, there wasn't any specific attire for the event at hand that night.

 She made her way to the bonfire, eyeing the large, dancing flames as she continued on. She loved the way that fire held such grace, some sort of peculiarity that Matilda would never be able to find in herself, even if she were a Hufflepuff at this school. When she arrived, she felt more or less awkward. All of the adults around her were going to be having a cabin, or they had something in common, and it felt like she was... different. She hadn't gotten around to socializing with any of her colleagues, finding it fine alone. Maybe that was just her being an introvert, though.

 She felt different until her eyes landed on Ackerley Blackburn, the only person that she had a sense of familiarity with. She pursed her lips slightly, before inching her way over to him, soon enough by his side. There was a boy that stood in front of Ackerley, and easily she was able to tell that he was eyeing the spider on Ackerley's shoulder. She looked to Denise, a small smile picking up on her lips as she watched the interaction.

 She would only cut in after Ackerley had responded to the boy, not wanting to interrupt anything. She was polite in that sense, as well as in many other situations, but that wasn't the point. When she would cut in, she would begin with, "Hello, Ackerley. And hello." She'd greet them both, looking at each as she addressed them. She would probably be, more-or-less, awkward, but that was a given for when you were dealing with someone that was highly... introverted, favouring comic books over people.

 Hopefully, they wouldn't mind all too much about her cutting in.

The warmth of the fire coaxed Anatole to roll up his sleeves and keep his sweatshirt unzipped. It formed small sweat beads and a smile on his face as he stood there, being as edgy as silent and reflective as one twelve-year-old boy could be. It forced him to think about his year, hectic as it may be. From dorm to dorm, from challenge to challenge, Anatole had somehow endured. It was insane to think about, so before it got frighteningly deep, he ceased the thought and just focused on the flames' sprightly dance.

Well, that is, until he heard a voice in the distance.

"Anatole!" It was joyous and at first unrecognizable and foreign. No face stood out as he dared to turn his back to the fire and try to point out who was calling him. No one in the groups seemed to notice him, so it wasn't like he mattered anyways. With a sigh, he pivoted back,, shrugging. Being alone is...good, yeah. Maybe someone meant to call someone else.

"Anatole!" The same voice came from afar! How peculiar. It was jutting out like a root from a tree, pulling him to notice the thunderous footsteps of the little girl who was hurling towards him. The amber light shone on her beaming grin and golden hair and almost...almost made Anatole reflect that smile. "Dude, I'm so glad you're here!"

Wait, what? Someone was excited for him…in particular? Max had good as convinced the boy that he was worth nothing, and her comment made a surge of hope light up the boy like a single ember lit up this massive blaze. Now, he couldn’t help but reveal his smile, his eyes squinting as he beamed. ”Oh, wow, really? Thanks...I, um, I guess! I’m glad you’re here too.” Lucy was such a nice girl. Was she a sudden recluse like him? An outcast in the (quite literal) heat of the moment?

She tossed her stuff into the dirt as she turned back towards Anatole, who sat down cross-legged. Somehow, she had asked the question that had been on Anatole’s mind for a while: ”What are you doing here over by yourself?”

”Wow, I was just going to explain that. You...you read my mind. I-it’s just that I didn’t really feel like I fit into the already existing groups: the huge mob of popular second years, or the ones on the outskirts. So I...well...I kind of decided to be an edgy pre-teen watch the fire. After all...it is why we’re here tonight, right?” He chuckled a little nervously, turning his head back to the fire. It was quiet, except for the snicker of fire and the faint murmurs of the groups from afar.

Lucy’s outfit was made for her. Not kidding. The sun on her sweatshirt said it all. ”This is going to be so fun.” Her joy radiated over to him, and now knowing that girls were fragile and all, thanks to Rosie, he decided to feel this out. It was challenging with all these nuisance thoughts on his brain.

”I hope so. Camp sounds amazing.” Anatole refused to turn back towards her. He took his hood off, brushing his thin, greasy hair to the side. ”How are things since the...um...fall? You okay? Have you seen...you know who around?” Anatole winked at her, hoping she knew that he was referring to Professor Valtome. What else would he be referring to? Hopefully, all her answers would be yes.

See, Anatole could totally have a decent conversation...

Interacting with Emma Hill, Sabrina Hurst and Rosie Parker

Jeronimo cleared his throat as he approached the bonfire.

"Well," Jeronimo thought to himself, "I've heard not great things about bonfires at Hogwarts. But I'm sure it'll be fine."

The Asian boy sat down, feeling a little out of place in his outfit. He hadn't thought to bring too many of his clothes, so he was just in a simple grey hoodie and jeans. This weather was not meant for jeans, which in turn were not meant for sitting by large fires. Not knowing what to do, Jeronimo sat down by the fire anyway.

It now occurred to him that most everybody seemed to know each other pretty well. Sure, he recognized some faces. Especially the infamous ones. Well, Jeronimo was pretty sure they were infamous. That was part of not having too many friends. Not being entirely in the loop.

Well, in a manner of speaking, time to step in.

This would be easier. He recognized Emma Hill from earlier in the year. She was introducing herself to... uh... some Hufflepuff and a Gryffindor Jeronimo swore he'd seen that one time. Maybe they weren't from those Houses. Maybe they just liked yellow or red scarves during the school year. Maybe they just liked confusing people who made assumptions.

Jeronimo stood up, brushing off his hands. He stepped over to her and the two other girls as casually as he could.

"Hey, Emma," Jeronimo said, "Nice to see you again."

The boy scratched his chin before raising his hand to the other two.

"Hi, I'm Jeronimo Khan. I don't think we've actually met."

- Interacting with Jeronimo Khan, Rosie Parker, and Sabrina Hurst -

Emma hadn't been standing there long before she had recognized a voice. She spun around in her tracks to face a tall Asian boy, thankfully she recognized him, and the voice. She was happy to face someone she knew rather than to truly interact with others, though as cynical as it sounded. She could have sworn she sighed with relief. 


She turned her brief gaze to the crackling fire that seemed majestical. The sweet aroma of s'mores filled her nostrils, though imaginary or not. The sun was slowly heading down and no doubt, they'd be returning to their Cabins. Undoubtedly, she had had thoughts of her friends. What Cabin were they included in, there were so many.

He had been approaching the group, and Emma's eyes locked with his for a brief second before looking back at the cabin behind him. It was a bit strange to keep direct eye contact with someone walking towards you. Well, as long as they were not enemies. In that case, she had no problem staring down into her enemies.

The brunette waved at Jeronimo as he neared the group. She, once again, waved at the pair who had been previously there.

"Hey Jeronimo, are you guys enjoying your cabin so far?" Emma asked, as always trying to start up the conversation. It was more of a question to the whole group rather than to Jeronimo Khan himself. She shifted her weight to her left foot as she looked down at her shoes.