The Slytherin Table 2022-2023

"YUH WANNA KNOW WHY DEY CALL MEH UH NIFFLUH?!"

Gwyn hadn't expected such ire from asking such a simple question. She'd genuinely been curious about why the poor girl was being called Niffler. As far as she knew, Nifflers preferred to pilfer shiny things. The girl here just appeared to be a glutton, given her apparent love of cheese.

As Gwyn pondered what other animals the cheese girl reminded her of, the sound of her name from a boy who must have been an upperclassman demanded her attention.

"Guinevere! Welcome to the House of Merlin, my lady!"

Gwyn nodded politely.

"Thank you, but please. Call me Gwyn," she said with an excited smile, happy to be hitting it off with her fellow housemates so easily. If only she could tell Aidan about this. Alas, she'd known the risk when befriending a muggle boy back home.

Before she could say more, though, a loud squeal pierced the air around her. It was the Niffler girl, and she seemed to be feeling quite vengeful. Faster than Gwyn's eyes could track, the girl tossed a massive amount of cheese into the air, and the girl found herself watching the dairy onslaught in horror.

Feta, gouda, bleu, camembert, and probably a dozen other varieties were falling like hard rainfall, and Gwyn looked down to check her robes, unconsciously wincing as she saw the gooey and soft bits of cheese dirtying her formerly pristine robes. In fact, she would be lucky of the stains came out at all. Hopefully that was within the duties of the house elves, because Gwyn knew nothing about fighting cheese stains.

Checking her face and hair with her hand, she noticed that her hair was absolutely covered in the disgusting cheesy substance, and her face was far from clean as well.

All in all, Gwyn was disgustingly cheesy. After blinking a few times, the girl had quite the strange reaction, but her first night of freedom from her Mother was affecting her strangely, to be fair.

Covered from head to legs in cheese, Guinevere Bwye began to laugh. She laughed more than she'd ever laughed in her life. So hard, in fact, that a soft, unladylike snort snuck its way into her laughing fit. Trying her best, and failing, to halt the traitorous, uncontrollable laughter, Gwyn futilely threw a hand politely over her mouth, still wheezing heavily.

"Apologies. I've never been attacked via cheese before," she apologized between giggles.

Now she just had to hope word of this didn't reach Mother, but in the moment, Gwyn found that she didn't care.

x

★ ★ ★

Date. September 1, 2022 | Thread. Slytherin Table | Dialogue. #ff5757

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xxxMaggie knew June quite well. She liked to think so, at least. Except that she never, ever expected June to get on Colin for all that. She expected him to continue yelling and being a general nuisance and calling them all dour old women. She did not expect June to tell him that he would not speak to Maggie in that way. None of that.

"June, you don't have to--" admittedly, Maggie was a bit quieter than she would be on average. Normally she would be plenty loud in order to get June to quit. In all honesty, she liked to see June standing up for her. Yelling at Colin. Maybe it was mostly that she liked to see June yelling at Colin, yeah. That was probably it.

Sitting in silence, watching the scene before her. It looked like Colin wasn't really listening, seeming to switch attention from June's statement to the Sorting Hat, but Maggie appreciated it nonetheless. "Jeez, Selwyn, you got some pent up frustrations, methinks."

Maggie had hardly any time to process before Colin was talking. She'd never really expected him to apologize for it, honestly, because Colin was just sorta wrapped up in his own things at all times, but this was nice. She shifted uncomfortably as he spoke. Apologies were great, except that they were awkward and super weird and made Maggie, like, incredibly uncomfortable. So. "Uh, yeah, it's cool, McCoire, just cut the shit next time."

Jeez.

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@June Selwyn, @Colin McCoire

Gwyn nodded and the great hall began to fade from Colin's sight. No longer seated at the long tables of Hogwarts's renown hall, Colin found himself in stead looking down upon the sea breaking upon the rocks far below a more distant and more ancient castle. Gone were the banners and gone were the floating candles. Gone were the students talking of this & that and gone were the magical platters bearing cheeses and roast meats, sweets and treats.

Voices around him turned into those of warring knights. The lords of Camembert and dukes of Feta and Cheddar were waging war, for a monster was said to be loose! And the brave Knights of the Cheese Wheel sallied forth, raining curds and whey upon their foe!

Colin watched entranced as Lady Gwyn began to cast her dark magic over the combatants. Sir Colin's boon companions, Sir Loops and Lady Lily, warned him of the cheesiness of her magic, yet Colin found himself lost in the depths of her dark eyes. Something about them drew him in. There was a familiar power there and Colin felt that he should abandon his mates of the White Cheddar Council and go with the lady's plans.

He heard voices calling to him from his companions, warning him of the treachery of the dark Queen of Cheese. For she had been unmasked by the King! She was no beautiful witch, but rather was a rampant dragon! And she would melt the entire realm, from the Swiss Cheese caverns to the plains of American Cheese, sending it all into the Fondue Ocean!

And the Dragon laughed! For it had been conjured and sent among the nobles of the Green House to sow confusion and dismay by a powerful but ailing witch. Sir Colin thought it best to try and turn the monster back into the human form she had before, but Sir Loops gainsaid him and begged him to go with him to face the monster and slay it. Sir Colin knew then that he had been deceived. It was no maiden, but a wickedness that sought to turn Colin from the truth he knew into a false world of her own creation.

And so they turned together to face the monster that was once a girl, Sir Loops bearing the venerable spade hight Parmasana while Lady Lily bore the two pronged cheese sword Laguiole and Sir Colin bore the Cleaver of Cheddar. And together they pierced its waxy casing with their trusty blades and spread the beast's innards all over the Fields of Charcuterie!

And as Colin looked upon the fromagian carnage that lay all about --- wedges and slices, cubes and shreds both fine and coarse! --- a voice came to him, breaking through the cries of jubilation that the dragon was vanquished and monster no more.

He felt a poke in his side, and one of his companions whispered to him: "I’m going to go up to the Common Room. I want to see what it’s like, and plus, I’m getting tired."

Colin blinked several times. He nodded to Lily. "S---Sure lass, go on ahead. Just ask one of the Prefects to take ye down there, since ye don't know the way yet." He looked around, though, first towards Rebecca Loops, then towards the empty space where --- Gwyn? Colin was certain there was a girl sitting there. He'd --- he'd greeted her and bowed to her and everything. Sure, he'd just had a funny dream or vision --- those were nothing new. He gave Rebecca a pleading look that said: did you just see what I saw? Or was I hallucinating?

@Rebecca Loops | @FyreAngel McCubbin | @Lily Blaze

Another girl was had been sorted into Slytherin about the same time. Colin hardly took notice this time as she didn't sit nearby. Thorn. That was an interesting name, and surely had a story attached.

It was such an odd feeling, knowing that there was someone just there and now she was just --- gone. A real person with a real name. Gwyn. It wasn't like Lily who'd just gotten up to go down to the common room. No. This girl --- disappeared. He shook his head as everyone else seemed to get on with it. Only the new boy, Rebecca, seemed to have any recollection of what just happened. He'd stared at Colin.

Clearly they both remembered. But what was it they remembered? Really? Colin decided that he would keep a record of the kids that disappeared. Some were his friends. Others, like Gwyn, the dark eyed girl who'd only been at Hogwarts for the briefest of whiles, just vanished. Where did they go? Who took them? Why did they just disappear this way?

Colin shook his head again as he looked into Rebecca's eyes. He knew that this boy had seen that girl too. He didn't look like he wanted to talk about it, but he did look like he could be a friend. He said that they should probably get going. Colin rose out of his thoughts and nodded. Bits of cheese curd fell from his hair, and Colin laughed at the silliness of it!

The mad broom flight that had been the day so far, with so many queer and horrible things happening in it, was nearly done and Colin knew he had to get back to the common room soon, too. As he made his way along the aisle, he began to smile again. He'd made what he hoped would be some new friends, he'd ridden all the way to Hoggys with Clair! That certainly counted for a lot! A small commotion got his attention just up ahead.

It looked like the Cullen clan had managed to grow by one new Slytherin. He didn't know the Cullen boys well, really only knew that, like the McCoires, there were a bajillion of them. Colin decided that a bit of teasing was in order. He slowed as got behind the new girl. He tapped her on the shoulder and she flinched. That made Colin smirk just a bit! "Welcome to Slytherin, lass!" he said. He gave the Cullen boys a smile. "Ye'd best get down to the common room lassie, before that lot make all yer luggage --- disappear somewhere!" He laughed and turned away before the boys could react.

He turned and left the hall.

Colin leaves the thread.

@Rebecca Loops | @Thorn Cullen

Larino Speaking (English)
Larino Speaking (Japanese)
Others Speaking

DATE: September 1st 2022
TIME: Evening
PLACE: Great Hall; (After) Sorting Ceremony
INTERACTING WITH: open for interactions!

The hat called out his house: "Slytherin!" and he want to sit at the table that cheered, after covering his ears because of the cheering. He spied his sister Umeko, who was a third year, a little further up the table. But he didn't sit with her, instead taking a seat closer to where he was standing. "Just what I was expecting." He muttered to himself, hoping nobody could hear him. He always spoke Japanese when he was with his family, or alone. It was a great tool in stopping anyone from listening, assuming they also didn't speak his language. Which, most of the time, they didn't.

He quietly sat down next to another student, and pulled his pebble out of his pocket, using it to calm himself down. "Everything's going to be fine. You're in Slytherin. Just like Umeko." He whispered repeatedly under his breath, then proceeded to lean over to the student sat beside him and proceeded to whisper the words "Is this a good house?" Then, the student replied, and it took him a moment to think of what to say next.

• S U M M A R Y •

Reducio

Larino has just been sorted into Slytherin, and sat down at the end of the table, clutching his pebble and repeatedly telling himself that everything was going to be okay. After a moment with his thoughts, he whispered to the student sat beside him.

Post layout and graphics by Larino Arveli