Oktoberfest Butterbeer Tasting Finished

The Mixing Tent Open To Interaction

Elena drank another sip of her butterbeer, she still had a bit left in her cauldron so she poured some into another cup and looked around for someone to share it with, there was a lot of people at the tent, she could always move to another one but she liked it here. The tent had a nice atmosphere. She could see someone to share it with. Aoi Risa, the new History of Magic professor both were pretty cool but she'd never really talked to Aoi before. So she elected to offer some to her.

Elena walked up to Aoi with a bit of a smile on her face, it was always good to smile when approaching people, it made them less afraid of you.

"Hi, I'm Elena, but everyone calls me Puck. I was looking forward to meeting you, history of magic seems like it'll be great." Elena remembered the butterbeer, she hoped Aoi would like it.

"I brought a butterbeer I made, it's pumpkin, caramel, salt, and coconut." Elena smiled up at the professor, "I was wondering if you would like to try it? You don't have to if you don't want to." She jeld the cup out to Aoi.

Location: The Tasting Tent
Interaction: Professors & Students standing around tasting tent

Amadea headed down to the Butterbeer tasting unsure of what she was about to get into. She had never really had butterbeer before, since she wasn't allowed to go to Hogsmeade and her parents were non-magical. She hadn't even known about butterbeer until she came to Hogwarts. Apparently it was very good. Amadea was excited to try some. 

Outside of the tasting tent was a giant flood of people. Amadea recognized a few of them as some of the new professors and other students were also standing around. There were already a lot of people. Amadea wondered if she was late. The Butterbeer Tasting event didn't have a specified start and end time (at least, Amadea was pretty sure it didn't) so at least she didn't feel guilty about arriving late. Maybe everyone else was just really excited about tasting Butterbeer. 

It was a beautiful day out; the sun was shining and everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time. It was the perfect day for butterbeer tasting and the first event of Oktoberfest. Amadea was excited for all of the festivities and she couldn't wait to see what the professors had in store for the rest of the month.

Amadea walked over to where the professors and students were standing and smiled at them all. "Hi everyone," she said to her fellow students. "Hello professors. How are you all doing?" She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and gestured around.

"Have you all tried some butterbeer already?" she asked. "Which one would you suggest I try?"

The Tasting Tent

The tents surrounding her quickly filled with Professors and students alike. Adelaide was near overwhelmed, but extremely proud, at the popularity the event seemed to be bringing. It was a chance, in her mind, for Professors and students to be on equal grounds, and get to know each other a bit. Plus, with all the new staff, the more they showed their face, the more the students would get used to them.

Speaking of Elaine Seaborne

She had made sure, when the staff changes were made, to know the name of every new person at Hogwarts, despite if she had actually met them or not. She had seen each either from afar or from an actual meeting, but the one who floated in on a pumpkin, she had only seen a couple of times.

She had the fortune to miss the Professors entrance into the school, but had not missed hearing about it. Flying in on a trunk and now flying in on a pumpkin. The woman was eccentric, but apparently not very original. Despite Adelaides often bubbly nature, she seemed more annoyed with the new Charms Professor, Elaine Seaborne. She wondered if she had a nickname, as there were now two Elaine's in the Staff. Perhaps she would call one Elaine and one Professor... To be determined.

She nodded a smile and greeting at the woman as she stepped into the tent, but managed to avoid any actual conversation as the woman quickly went about her business and students continued to fill the tent rather quickly.

Speaking of Professor Griffith

Before she had a chance to think about which Butterbeer to try next, the Care of Magical Creatures Professor stepped into the tent. She, too. Had only seen him from afar, a dishelved looking man, could he not take the time to look respectable in ront of these children?

Her already slightly negative attitude only got worse the longer he lingered. As his eyes scanned the tent and rested, just for a moment, on her, she could feel the strangeness of the look rolling off him, before he continued with the worst, and slightly insulting introduction. Not only did he pronounce her name wrong, a pet peeve that rather annoyed her when people dropped the S on her last name, but also that he required his peers to call him by his title. Of course there was nothing wrong with this, in Adelaides opinion. She certainly preffered the lore informal path, but if this man had the gall to announce wuch a command in such a tone, Adelaide was not about to correct him on his formal selection of her own name.

She squinted her eyes in a very quick frown at the man, before ignoring him underneath all the other chatter of the tent, and gulpging down an Extra Sweet tasting of Butterbeer. Adelaide had a sweet fang and she sweetness of it sent a pleasant throb through her mouth.

Interacting with Professor Jensen

All the inturrptions and Adelaide feared Nora would be unable to respond to her words, but the Proffor did not fill her, and at her informal pronunciation of her name Adelaide quickly waved a dismissive hand, "Adelaide, please." She stated simply, there was no need for this woman, who Adelaide already throughly enjoyed, to call her by Ayers.

As the woman offered up the sweet and spicy concoction, Adelaide eyed it suspiciously. While she had a sweet fang, her other enjoyed hot things. Though, she was very unsure of the pairing of African Pepper with Butterscotch, but down the hatches it went anyway.

At first she was nearly confused because it simply tasted of sweet Butterbeer, but it was in the aftertaste the pepper shined, hitting the back of her throat, and quickly rising to the roof of her mouth and tongue with the heat. She enjoyed the tatse, as the sweet was somewhat separated from spicy. She was about to commend Nora with the suggestion, but the woman seemed flocked with people, as so she let her be.

Speaking of Professor Griffith and Jensen

She was just about to move onto the mixing tent to meet Aoi and make a beer of her own, when she got the pleasure of overhearing Griffiths next interaction. He seemed.to be ragging on Nora about her clothing style. Something about the fact that Muggles wear these close and that is somehow negative. She nearly scoffed. Not only were robes highly uncomfortable, often too hot, and very unsightly, she had not met a single wizard who wore them exclusively, well not to her knowledge exclusively. She doubted it though. Certainly at Hogwarts, the vast majority of student wore muggle clothing, along with their Professors.

But, choosing not to get into an interaction with the Creatures Professor now, she simply shook her head, gave Nora a fleeting look, and dipped into the mixing tent.

Mixing Tent
Interacting with all in the Tent
Interacting with Aoi

Unlike the hustle and bustle of the tasting tent, although the mixing tent was just a crowded, it was much more silent than anything else. There was the bubbles of the cauldrons and the shifting of the ingredients, but the students were rather quiet. Even Aoi seemed to reuire leaning over to the tasting tent to join the conversations over there.

"Come now, children," she announced, Surely you have introduced yourself to your new Professor of History of Magic, have you not?" Chuckling at the students shyness, she smiled at Aoi, someone she had also met previously as she helped with planning this very event.

"Good to see you again, Aoi. How is the mixing tent treating you? I cannot thank you enough for your help. Now," she stated, her eyes scanning over the ingredients, looking for the ones she wanted, "how do you think Marshmallow, Sugar Shrub, and Cinnamon, would do?" She wondered to the Professor, in her mind the mixing would be an amazing combination for sweet and spice.

Grabbing small bits of each, when dropped them delicately into the cauldron. The cinnamon went first, and only a pinch as a little went a long way. Another pinch of sugar shrub, she only wanted a tiny bit more sweetness, and then she waited a minute before dropped a good handful of marshmallow, giving it little time to melt before pouring herself a glass. She hoped doing so would urge the marshmallow to mix with the foam of the beer and create an even foamyer foam. And just for good measure and asthetic, she plopped a couple small marshmallows in after pouring, giving it a bit of a hot chocolate feel.

Destination: The Tasting Tent
Interaction: Amadea Campbell
Open to Interactions

October 1, 2018

Bloom remembered the last time she heard the term, Oktoberfest. It was with her father on their run in Diagon Alley. A flier had been on the wall and her father had mentioned that Oktoberfest was a very entertaining and fun event. When word had got around that Hogwarts was doing their first annual Oktoberfest this year, she was excited. She had no idea what was in store other than the fact that it should be both entertaining and fun. (Little did she know that the original Oktoberfest had a variety of specific beverages and other mature audience entertainment.)

It was the first of October and the school's Oktoberfest was beginning. Looking out the Ravenclaw tower window, she could see such a delight on the grounds. Quickly, Bloom put on her uniform and made her way outside to join in on the fun. Looking at the sky, she could tell that it was perhaps a perfect day-- it wasn't too hot and it wasn't too cold. The sun's heat was blocked by the mountain of clouds that were covering the sky, however, rays of light were piercing through. It felt like a perfect beginning to October.

When Bloom made her way into the event, she saw that there were two tents: Mixing and Tasting. She had no idea where she wanted to go. Did she want to mix ingredients together or try some delicious drinks? Mixing reminded her of her potions class and since she was not that great at the subject, she thought it to be better to perhaps go to the tasting tent. Bloom made her way to the tasting tent, wondering what could be in store.

Walking in she saw loads upon loads of different butterbeer. There were flavors that she could hardly imagine: sarsaparilla and black licorice to name a couple. Even better was that they had a choice to serve them hot or cold. It was like a match made in heaven. She had always wanted to have unlimited butterbeer! Her thoughts halted when she looked at the rules.

Only 12 butterbeers? she thought, scoffing at the fact that they could not try all the flavors once and then again. Shrugging, she made her way to the table where there were tasting cups. Bloom decided it was best to try the most common ones before spilling into the odd. Bloom looked up at the professor and smiled.

"I would love to try the..." she paused, looking at the menu one more time, knowing that once she got her first cup, she only had eleven more. "... Regular one please!" she said, not feeling as daring. Though she felt as though there was a science: Start with the regular flavor and compare to the others to know what was actually good.

As Bloom was sipping her butterbeer, she looked around at the students who were with her in the tent. Apparently, there was no one she knew. How could she have shunned herself away from so many people? There were second years that she did not even recognize. Well... It is the beginning of the year, she thought, thinking about how important it was to make friends now.

Bloom looked around and saw a Hufflepuff Prefect greeting everyone in the tent. She seemed really outgoing. Bloom thought it was best to talk to her. "I tried the original. I find it best to go for what you know before trying something completely different," she responded, trying to act just as outgoing. Bloom used to be outgoing before all the problems with Ben occurred. It seemed that he put her more and more into her shell-- deep down she felt as though she wanted to be back to her usual self.

"I'm Bloom by the way. Second year Ravenclaw," she said, stretching her hand to the prefect with a smile on her face.

Interactions: Scott Alexander, Hjørdis Jensen (ish)
Location: Tasting Tent

Scott seemed unreasonably outraged that she had only tried butterbeer once in her life. To be fair, she was vegan, and the butterbeer that she'd tasted was of Mia's concoction, and was rather delicious. However, Scott had chosen to treat the fact like it was a full-blown crime that she'd never had toned-down wizarding alcohol, which was rather odd in Ami's opinion.

As he dragged her down to the Grounds, where a bit of a... what would you call it? A Butterbeer Faire? Sure, why not. As Scott dragged her down to the Butterbeer Faire, he commented on the weather, and the changing colors of the leaves that came with it- how utterly typical of him. Their voices were loud and rowdy, full of fall cheer and a barely contained excitement at the experience that was yet to come. 

Her smile faded as they approached the tents, however, and she replaced her cheerful expression with one made of stone and cold distrust. She nodded curtly at the professor Scott had greeted amicably, offering her a simple smile as she let her friend do all of the talking. He talked of the smell, so she took a whiff of the air.

Three words: pumpkin spice latte. There was no other description for it. It reeked of Starbucks during the fall season, and while Ami had never had anything from the place, there certainly were enough of them in Chicago to know what autumn smelled like in the coffee shop. She imagined that the two would taste rather similar, as well- after all, they were both primarily fall drinks, right? They all seemed to have that earthen taste about them, the taste that made them so unique to autumn.

As the pair stepped into the Tasting Tent, Ami glanced around them, taking in the sights- and the smells, oh, the smells. It smelled of Starbucks, definitely, but a touch of that one hipster coffee shop she had adored was also loomingly ominous- and was that a hint of her mother's scented candles? Maybe butterbeer just smelled like home. 

"Is it vegan?" she quipped dubiously, shooting her friend an odd look. "Mia insisted on giving me a vegan one, when she made me have some- is there a difference?"

Interacting with: Aurelia, professors

Mixing Effects:


After taking the ingredients to one of the warm mixing stations, Arthur poured them into the cauldron, gave it a good stir, and waited a few minutes. Then he scooped out the contents, just about one ladle full, into one of the small cups. A nice smell wafted up from the mug. But when he took a sip of the drink, the results were pretty shocking! Wow! That was... really sweet. Like, super sweet. Like when you didn’t know if someone had already put sugar in your tea, so you add more, and end up with something like six tablespoons of it sweet. Like, kind of nauseatingly so. He put the cup down on the table. A small amount was all he could take. That being said, it did taste pretty good though! Like just melting a bunch of butterscotch and caramel and toffee together. But it was the sort of thing where one small sip was really all you could take.

And yet, inevitably, after a couple of seconds had passed, the sickly-sweet feeling would subside, he would somehow convince himself that it wouldn’t be as bad this time, and he’d take another sip of the syrupy liquid. Until the small amount was all but gone.

He turned his head when a familiar voice greeted him. “Aurelia, hey!” He glanced down at his cup at the mention of what he was making, and lifted his shoulders. “Oh.. a little of everything just about,” he said with a small laugh. “You can try some if you want!” He looked in the cup again. Opps. Nope. He drank it all already. Oh well. He could always make more if she really wanted.

He was feeling kind of energetic right now (and had nothing better to do), so bouncing a little on his heels, he followed Aurelia back to her station as she started picking out ingredients. However, he was quickly distracted by the raised words of the teacher nearby.

"Come now, children. Surely you have introduced yourself to your new Professor of History of Magic, have you not?"

Turning around, he looked over at the small group teachers. He had already met professor Risa when she introduced herself in the Great Hall profess but hasn't said anything when he entered the tent. He was usually a little too shy to address teachers directly (except during lessons, or if with a larger group), but apparently he didn’t care right now. “Sorry. Good morning!” he greeted them cheerfully. “Did you set all this up? It’s really cool! I’ve never even had Butterbeer before. Is that like wizard Glühwein?” he asked, since he heard it was actually mildly alcoholic and seemed to be related to the holiday season. That was the closest analogue he could come up with.

Looking back at Aurelia he asked, “How’d it turn out? Do you want to try the tasting tent?”

[MORFRAN GRIFFITH]
Hjørdis could not help but quirk an eyebrow a little. For a man who seemed like he hated being here, he did appear to enjoy sticking around. He even took an interest in them, paying attention to their choice of attire. In truth, she had not even cast a glance at his clothing. What he wore did not bother her in the slightest. She had noticed his bloodshot eyes and his tired look, because that was a reflection of his current physical or mental health. It was something that would affect his ability to teach, protect the students or care for the magical creatures that he was supposed to be caring for. At least, if memory served her correctly, she believed he was the Professor for Care of Magical Creatures but she could have been off about that. There had been many names, faces and professions to learn recently. She just had a feeling that the one that was called 'Griffith' looked after 'Griffins' and other creatures. That and the fact that she loved magical creatures enough to bother to pay a bit of an attention to the name at least.

What she did not regard, however, was his choice of clothing. The truth was, she simply did not care what he wore. He asked her if he wanted to know why she was wearing muggle clothing. Of course he did. He would not have asked her if he did not. Griffith continued talking, oddly enough paying her compliment though she was not entirely sure he intended to. Hjørdis simply listened to his ramble, downed the rest of her drink and helped herself to another helping of the same spicy mix. The tickling down her throat was definitely worth it. Whilst home lacked magic, it certainly had the same spice and though she would like to pretend she was not a sentimental woman, there was something really nice about remembering home when you had just moved to a new, unknown environment.

Once he had finished, trailing off with a 'right' to end the sentence, Hjørdis turned back to face him and smiled. "How nice of you to notice. I didn't think anyone would care enough but I guess even I can be wrong once in a while." She replied, "Thank you, I'm glad my outfit has met your approval for quality, at the very least, even if you disagree with the occasion." She continued, accepting the compliment that she looked nice - because she too agreed that she did. Of course she did. The time she spent looking in the mirror had to amount for something, did it not?

"Would you not argue, however, that wizard society should perhaps focus more on skill than the choice of attire?" She questioned. If something happened, another incident of this 'mask' or whatever the rumours were then she needed to be prepared. Dressing in clothing that she knew she could run in and freely move in would be far more sensible than long fluttering robes that could caused her to trip, get caught on something or slow her down. "Have you ever tried to cast wandless magic with long robes on? I can assure you that sleeves are a nightmare in emergencies." She continued, not entirely sure she wanted to try casting a fireball whilst wearing long sleeves that were likely to catch on fire before she released the spell. Robes were pretty much deathtraps for a woman that grew up not wearing them. Even during her schooling years, their uniform was very different to Hogwarts. Uganda was far hotter than Scotland ever was. They did not need the jumpers and long sleeved robes that British students seemed to be forced into. Robes were useful to store your wand in. That was about it in her opinion, and besides wands were more commonly used in Europe than they were in Africa.

Pausing for a moment, she observed him and his ability to down butterbeer, "Perhaps you'd like to mix your own? Or I could mix something up for you," She offered a bit more politely, kind of curious to see if he could handle something that she mixed or what he would mix himself. He seemed like he enjoyed his butterbeer, to say the least.

[AOI RISA]
Her fellow Slytherin Professor was far more friendly - and luckily less hyperactive - than some of the others she had met so far. She was glad for it. If she was stuck in the same house as the floating pumpkin one, she probably would never leave her office. That woman, whilst she seemed pleasant, was just far too excitable. Like a child at Christmas.  Professor Risa seemed far more sensible, at the very least. Hjørdis nodded, "Of course." She agreed, knowing full well that it would be better for them both to settle into the castle first before attempting to do anything else. She would love to learn more about other cultures though. It was something she had always been interested. Her own rich and diverse culture made her that way. Although she could not speak a lot of Irish, she knew a few phrases and words - enough to get by when Dymphna wanted to switch to Irish. The same was true for some of the other languages she ought to have known. There were only a few that she was fluent in but she enjoyed extending that.

"Mhm, I agree, I think it would be best to check. There seems to be quite a number, you may be right that there's a pest control issue." She replied with a nod, frowning towards the ant hill once more. It was a little unnatural but hopefully no need for concern. She sighed a little as her colleague mentioned the dreaded events from last year. A part of her reason for coming here was because of that incident. She was worried about the safety of those in Hogwarts. "Most definitely. I'm still finding out more about it. There seems to be an endless bunch of rumours amongst the students as well." Hjørdis sipped her butterbeer with a disproving shake of her head. It was definitely concerning how many months it seemed to go on for and no one said anything or managed to stop it... She had no idea where the issue lay but she would find out. She wouldn't let the students get hurt again.

[SCOTT ALEXANDER & AMADEA CAMPBELL]
Hjørdis nodded in a form of a greeting as a young Gryffindor boy called out to her by name. She did not know him but he must have seen her around or heard of her. "Good Morning," she replied. It was quite nice to know that the smell had attracted him there. She just hoped that it would make him as happy as he looked right now. He did not seem to want to stay and talk to the adults - which she did not blame him for. At his age, she had no intention to stand around and mingle with the folks that ran the school.

It was enough for her to know that he was enjoying himself. At the end of the day, that was all that mattered. That the students were safe, well educated and happy. Days like this provided the happy by giving them a well deserved break from work. It made a chance from the long boring days of classes that seemed to drag on till forever.

Not too long after him, a Hufflepuff girl quickly walked over. She looked equally as excited, catching the attention of the professors and students alike, "Hello," Hjørdis greeted her politely, "It depends what you're into. We have a range from sweet to spicy, including some earthy or unusual flavours in between." She replied, pausing for a moment before continuing, "Personally, I would recommend you try some of the rare flavours as you may not get to do that for a while." She adviced them, pretty sure that some of the flavours weren't even served in Hogsmeade or Leaky Cauldron! It was a good opportunity to at least sample those flavours, whether or not you enjoyed them.

[ADELAIDE AYERS]
Hjørdis nodded politely as the Professor of Ancient Runes quickly broke the formal barrier, asking her to address her by her first name. It appeared they were on a first name basis already. It was quite unusual for the Slytherin but nonetheless, she accepted it. The truth was that she would have to get used to that. The Professors seemed on the friendly side - bar a few of them - and it appeared that they would want to talk casually. Hjørdis was not used to this. Her former job in the Department of Mysteries allowed her to get by without talking to anyone in a casual way. It was easier to do her job if she did not get too friendly or on first hand basis with everyone. Hogwarts was different though. Everyone knew each other. Students knew their Professors, Professors knew each other... Everyone was... friendly.

Unless she planned on burying herself in the dungeons and refusing to leave, she would have to get used to getting on a first name basis with people. "Adelaide, then." She replied politely. The lady went ahead to try some of the recommended butterbeer but Hjørdis did not get a chance to hear her feedback from it. She simply caught her eye as the Professor left towards the mixing tent, leaving her stranded with this odd man.

[BLOOM SILVERTON, AMI PROCOPPIO + STELLA ROSE]
It was definitely a nice sight to see students flocking into the tent and enjoying themselves. A few had opted for the classic flavours whilst others went for something rarer. One girl claimed that she tried the original so that she could compare. A small smirk appeared on the Slytherin's face. It was a smart idea, that girl would go far, that was for sure. Hjørdis had instantly decided that she liked her logic. The girl introduced herself as Bloom, a second year Ravenclaw. It was of no surprise to Hjørdis but it was a name that she would recall. Even though she had not been talking to her, she had left a good impression on her based solely on the fact that she liked her logic. Then again, no students had left a bad impression on her. In fact, the only people she was not sure about were the Professors at this point. Some were intentional rude and annoying, after all.

Another student came along to talk to the Gryffindor from earlier. She seemed a bit cold towards the Professors but Hjørdis could not blame her. Hell, the older woman was cold towards everyone. At least the Hufflepuff had limited it to professors. She watched her for a moment before looking around the tent and seeing if someone else needed her assistance. A thought lingered in her mind, about why exactly the student seemed a little curt towards them when she seemed so polite and nice to everyone else. But that was not a subject for now. It was a discussion for later and though she had no idea if it was aimed at one person in particular or all of the Professors, Hjørdis could hazard a guess for the latter which would have been a reasonable explanation.

A few students started to enjoy a variety of Butterbeer. Hjørdis helped to serve the students some of their samples. Most took it themselves but she was happy to serve people if they politely asked for it too - it was kind of cute that they did. She trusted them enough to let them do it themselves, however. She was watching, after all. If she saw them break the rules, there would be hell to pay and everyone who knew a Slytherin probably knew that all too well.

{ Outfit, with a emerald green and silver striped handknit scarf gifted from Dymphna }

She had turned it around, turned his insulting remark into a compliment. It was a nice compliment, too. Or at least it was by his standards. Had he really given her his approval? When had he done that, and why? It was muggle, so very, horribly muggle. In Hogwarts, even. Wearing muggle clothing was all well and good, but tradition was not something to entirely disregard. Wizards were dying out, he was relatively sure of that. And if he was wrong, at least wizard culture was. It was being replaced by pro-muggle advocates and women like Professor Jensen.

And she hadn’t even said he slightly insulted her. His comment, designed to bring down the mood had been deemed a disagreement, and nothing more. Her voice carrying through with a consistent, pleasant tone. And that, more than anything, bothered him. It bothered him a lot, and he was almost embarrassed that it did. He was in a foul mood, and everyone else should also be in said foul mood, but she wasn’t, and neither was anyone else, and he caught himself wanting to enjoy her company.

But that was alright, just a feeling to squash. As she made her move to continue speaking, the professor held hopes she would make a jab at him. Something, even just a snarky remark about the beard he should really have shaved a while ago. She provided him something to go off of, but nothing much. Asking him if he agreed that wizards should focus on skill, rather than their clothing.

“Yes, but you clearly put a lot of thought into your outfit. A lot of energy to make sure it looks as nice as it does. If you honestly believed Wizards should focus more on skill, maybe you should have been teaching instead.

And no, I have not tried casting in long robes. Maybe because the robes I was wearing fit me, and it worked fine. If you tried that, it might serve you a bit better. Would you not agree that tradition is something to be adhered to, and built off of, instead of disregarding it in favor of the muggle costums?”

Turning to look at the japanese woman, he gave only a short answer. So she wasn’t a professor, then. Just some woman hanging out because she didn’t have a social life. Wonderful.

“I think, Mrs. Risa, I am perfectly capable of picking up a glass of butterbeer. And I will respectfully pass on your offer of a seat.”

Turning back to Professor Jensen his mind almost boggled by either how nice she was, or how determined she was to stay nice to spite him. If it was spite, it sure wasn’t working, because he was feeling that horrible happy feeling trying to well up on his perfectly good misery. She had actually offered to mix him a Butterbeer, which was very kind of her, to say the least.

“I give up. If you’re so dead set on ruining my perfectly miserable mood, then by all means. I’d love for you to mix me one.”

Maybe it would be better than the rest of the garbage served here. At least not quite as sugary. And maybe, if he was really lucky, she would add a little bit of alcohol. Just a little, but enough to survive the constant waves of cheery kids saying the same things over and over and over again. The first kid that came up to him and try that was going to get a faceful of fist.

Location→ The Tasting Tent
Interactions→ The Professors
Mentions→ Amadea Campbell, Bloom Silverton

The soft smile on Elijah's face was rather uncharacteristic for the boy, as it was multiple things that it was usually not. For one, it was genuine, not like the plastered-on leers that stretched too wide and didn't quite reach his eyes he presented to his fellow classmates, or the sickeningly sweet simpers he offered to professors when he spoke to them. No, this was, in fact, his real smile- and it was brought on by the memory of his family and the associations he had with the autumnal season and its assorted drinks- namely, butterbeer.

There were, of course, the mandatory holidays he had celebrated within the privacy of his dorm room accompanied by their respective foods- 中秋节 had been passed with a small slice of 月饼, split by what he assumed was his mother and sent over by his sister, the sweet cake downed with a cup of tea. But, that was his culture, not the rest of England's.

The rest of England got drunk in butterbeer.

Now, of course, the amount of alcohol in butterbeer wasn't severe, and his parents let him drink it quite often. The memories, however, associated with butterbeer were sweeter than the drink itself- the meals his mother cooked, the out-of-season and slightly-too-stale mooncakes his father would pick up from the grocery store on the way home, the thrill of sneaking it into school, while other kids would attempt to sneak in caramel lattes from the coffee shop down the street.

It wasn't his original intent to come down to the butterbeer tents, but the smell had lured him over. He had been planning to find some of the autumn leaves to press dry and send to his sister, to remind her of her beloved school, but autumn could wait for another day. Butterbeer would come first.

His unnaturally good mood seemed to come straight from his soul, rather than from an outside source. His eyes scanned across the tents, picking out the differences- that is, Tasting, and Mixing. What on earth would they need a Tasting Tent for? Wasn't it just... butterbeer? Surely, they didn't need an entire tent for it... unless, there were different variations. His eyes lit up at the prospect of it, and his stride lengthened, urging him to get to the tent faster.

His pace slowed, however, as he neared the group of professors standing by the tents. The niceties drilled into him by his father were brought forth, and he raised his hand in a wave as a greeting. "Good afternoon, professors. Lovely weather we're having, isn't it?" He recognized most of the faces gathered outside the tent, but associating them with a name was an entirely different skill- one that he didn't have. The question, of course, was a rhetoric, purposely chosen to limit human interaction while still putting on the front that he cared and that he was a social child.

With Elijah, every word was precise and deliberate, nearly every word and blink of his eyes an act, a performance- and one that he was quite good at. With a polite nod and a pleased expression upon his face, he slipped into the Tasting Tent without any further detours.

He shied away from the two girls, one clearly a prefect, conversing in the middle of the tent- should they address him, he'd respond, and he'd certainly come back around to greet them at a later time, but that inevitable interaction could wait until later. Stepping forward to examine the table laid out like a feast, laden with all sorts of different flavors, his eyes did a quick scan and analysis of each one.

The Regular was a staple, and thus, he would not try it- not today, not when he could have it whenever he wanted at home. The Extra Sweet didn't appeal much to him, either, as he already considered the Regular to be the sweetest any drink should've been allowed to be. Vanilla, of course, would have to be tried at some point, but a different drink had already caught his attention.

"One Nutmeg, please," he said quietly, shyly. "Hot, if you would." As he received the warm drink in his hands, he let the warmth spread throughout his body before taking a sip. 

It was, in a word, heavenly. There was something inexplicable about nutmeg that just made him feel all warm inside, like he had been licked all over by an enthusiastic puppy. He shivered involuntarily, but not because he was cold- no, because the warmth and spice that shot throughout his blood, down to the very edges of his fingertips, just felt so good.

There truly wasn't much that was better than butterbeer. Well, except maybe puppies. But that was it.

Translations:

中秋节→ Mid-Autumn Festival, a Chinese holiday celebrating the moon
月饼→ Mooncakes, a traditional food eaten especially during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Tradion calls for the family to split one mooncake amongst its members, to symbolize unity.