Closed Messages Across the Sea PV Rodney Hughes

Dialogue: #03733b

@Alyssea Brown

Saturday, September the 16th, 2023

It was already the second week of school, so naturally, I was going to send my family an update on how things were going here. I had already sent them a letter on my first Saturday here, telling them of my first impressions, and now that it was my third Saturday here, I wanted to give them a little update on what has happened so far. And a lot has happened so far. For one, I met Luci again so that was nice. I also had received my first homework grades and I was really excited to share them with my parents. And then there were the classes themselves on which I included my comments. I had spent the better part of my morning writing the letter in my dorm, and after two drafts, I now had the finished product.

Reducio

Dear Family,
It’s been a two weeks now since I’ve came yo Hogwarts, and I must say, things are going quite well here. I have many things to talk about, starting off with Luci, yes, the boy that looks like me. I’d also like to share my opinion on the classes here and then I’ll share what my first grades are. I will also share the parts of my life that I have carried over to Hogwarts and how that is going, as well as my general life at Hogwarts. And so, without any further ado, let’s begin.

So as you all know, Luci has bailed on me a few years ago and I always wondered why. We assumed that he moved but that isn’t the case because Luci himself has told me that. If you haven’t realized by now, Luci goes to Hogwarts. We met on Tuesday while going to classes. I saw him and called out to him, and he turned around and answered. Apparently, he had seen me during my sorting, but was too shy to come up to me and greet me after what happened. I then asked him why he left me and he said his parents didn’t want him hanging out with me in case he performed some magic on accident. Well I can see why they did it and I don’t blame them considering that we both thought of each other as muggles. But we’re back together now and we’re even better friends then we were before since we don’t have any secrets to hide from each other. Or rather, we do, but not any major ones like the fact we’re wizards.

Moving on though, classes here are much akin to the ones in primary school with the exception of different subjects and the inclusion of magic. And then there’s also the fact that most of the students write with a quill instead of a pencil or a pen. Before I move on, I would like to thank mom and dad for teaching me how to write with a quill. This skill has come in quite handy here in Hogwarts because as we all know how hard it is to write with one. In fact, I’ve actually seen a few students using pencils and pens here, and I’ve used a pen a few times myself. I’ve also received my grades back and so far, I have straight O’s which isn’t too surprising considering how well I did in school before Hogwarts. At worst, the assignments here require no more then a little research in the library and at best, the professor tells you everything you need to know during the lesson. Of course, people are different so while a few hours spent in the library doing research for various assignments might not be a lot for me, it may be a lot for someone else so do bear that in mind. Penelope, I’m talking to you on this one, so be prepared for when you come to Hogwarts.

Now it’s no secret to you all that I love working out daily and that I do it out of habit by this point, and so, it should come as no surprise to you that I have carried on this habit into Hogwarts. I have modified this workout to work at Hogwarts, and now I’m going to tell you how it goes. In the morning, I wake up when my alarm rings at 6:30 and take a quick shower. I then do my workout routine inside and then I go outside once it turns 7:00. When I get outside, I jog a good three laps around Hogwarts. Now Hogwarts is quite big so mom and dad, you have an idea of how long a lap around Hogwarts so that should give you guys an idea of how much I jog each morning. And I’m not the only guy that jogs, in fact, I’ve seen plenty of others doing the exact same thing and I’m pretty sure you guys have as well when you were growing up. Well, that’s assuming that you bothered to look outside in the morning. Now as for eating healthy, that’s a bit harder due to all of the tasty food Hogwarts offers, the best of which is not healthy, but I can still resist the temptation to indulge in such good food pretty well. I haven’t bad a slip up yet and hopefully, I won’t have one anytime soon.

As for my general life at Hogwarts, things are going pretty well for me. I haven’t been bullied at all so far and hopefully that continues on for my next seven years here. The people in my dorm are pretty nice as well. Then again, we’re all Hufflepuff’s so what did I expect? In my free time I like to finish up my homework before doing anything else, but once I’m done with that, I like to practice casting spells. I don’t literally cast them however, instead, I practice casting them by saying the proper incantation and making the proper wand movement required for the spell. And instead of holding a wand, I just raise up my fist as if I’m actually holding a wand. I do this so that when I have to cast a spell for real, it doesn’t backfire on me unexpectedly. I mean, I’ve heard enough stories from you guys (the parents) about people that had to bear the consequences of a backfired spell, and I do not want that to happen to me. I also like to spend time memorizing stuff from books so that I’d know it by heart, but when I’m not doing any of that, I like to just go outside or simply hang out with my friends. My overall thoughts about Hogwarts are that it is a pretty fun school to go to and I’m really excited to be here and to learn everything they will teach me here.

Once I had finished writing my letter, I put it in an envelope and went up to the owlery where I would send it away to my family. I entered the owlery and saw that there was already a girl there, and that she was handing a letter to an owl to deliver somewhere. I couldn’t tell which owl she was handing it to, but I guess I was about to find out out. “Good morning!” I said cheerfully. “Good morning.” The girl responded. Upon taking a closer look at the girl, I noticed that she looked quite young, perhaps a year older then me. Now that I thought about it though, she was definitely at least a year older then me. I knew because I didn’t see her get sorted, and every first year attending Hogwarts gets sorted. Still, I couldn’t help asking “Is this your first time sending an owl?”

Not that she looked like she was sending her first owl, but it was a good conversation starter. Here’s what I mean: “For me it’s my second. It’s pretty easy, you just tie the letter to them and tell them who to go to. You don’t even have to know where they are! You just have to know who is supposed to be receiving the letter.” See? All I had to do was ask a question, answer it, and I was now having a conversation with this girl. Anyways, as I was talking to the girl, I was tying my letter to one of the owls sitting here, and once that was finished, I said “Here, deliver this letter to either one of my parents, preferably when they’re at home.” A moment later, the owl flew off through one of the windows to deliver my letter home. “See, it’s that easy! I didn’t even have to tell him an address or anything!”

This is what Rodney wrote in the letter but in plain text:

Reducio

Dear Family,
It’s been a two weeks now since I’ve came yo Hogwarts, and I must say, things are going quite well here. I have many things to talk about, starting off with Luci, yes, the boy that looks like me. I’d also like to share my opinion on the classes here and then I’ll share what my first grades are. I will also share the parts of my life that I have carried over to Hogwarts and how that is going, as well as my general life at Hogwarts. And so, without any further ado, let’s begin.

So as you all know, Luci has bailed on me a few years ago and I always wondered why. We assumed that he moved but that isn’t the case because Luci himself has told me that. If you haven’t realized by now, Luci goes to Hogwarts. We met on Tuesday while going to classes. I saw him and called out to him, and he turned around and answered. Apparently, he had seen me during my sorting, but was too shy to come up to me and greet me after what happened. I then asked him why he left me and he said his parents didn’t want him hanging out with me in case he performed some magic on accident. Well I can see why they did it and I don’t blame them considering that we both thought of each other as muggles. But we’re back together now and we’re even better friends then we were before since we don’t have any secrets to hide from each other. Or rather, we do, but not any major ones like the fact we’re wizards.

Moving on though, classes here are much akin to the ones in primary school with the exception of different subjects and the inclusion of magic. And then there’s also the fact that most of the students write with a quill instead of a pencil or a pen. Before I move on, I would like to thank mom and dad for teaching me how to write with a quill. This skill has come in quite handy here in Hogwarts because as we all know how hard it is to write with one. In fact, I’ve actually seen a few students using pencils and pens here, and I’ve used a pen a few times myself. I’ve also received my grades back and so far, I have straight O’s which isn’t too surprising considering how well I did in school before Hogwarts. At worst, the assignments here require no more then a little research in the library and at best, the professor tells you everything you need to know during the lesson. Of course, people are different so while a few hours spent in the library doing research for various assignments might not be a lot for me, it may be a lot for someone else so do bear that in mind. Penelope, I’m talking to you on this one, so be prepared for when you come to Hogwarts.

Now it’s no secret to you all that I love working out daily and that I do it out of habit by this point, and so, it should come as no surprise to you that I have carried on this habit into Hogwarts. I have modified this workout to work at Hogwarts, and now I’m going to tell you how it goes. In the morning, I wake up when my alarm rings at 6:30 and take a quick shower. I then do my workout routine inside and then I go outside once it turns 7:00. When I get outside, I jog a good three laps around Hogwarts. Now Hogwarts is quite big so mom and dad, you have an idea of how long a lap around Hogwarts so that should give you guys an idea of how much I jog each morning. And I’m not the only guy that jogs, in fact, I’ve seen plenty of others doing the exact same thing and I’m pretty sure you guys have as well when you were growing up. Well, that’s assuming that you bothered to look outside in the morning. Now as for eating healthy, that’s a bit harder due to all of the tasty food Hogwarts offers, the best of which is not healthy, but I can still resist the temptation to indulge in such good food pretty well. I haven’t bad a slip up yet and hopefully, I won’t have one anytime soon.

As for my general life at Hogwarts, things are going pretty well for me. I haven’t been bullied at all so far and hopefully that continues on for my next seven years here. The people in my dorm are pretty nice as well. Then again, we’re all Hufflepuff’s so what did I expect? In my free time I like to finish up my homework before doing anything else, but once I’m done with that, I like to practice casting spells. I don’t literally cast them however, instead, I practice casting them by saying the proper incantation and making the proper wand movement required for the spell. And instead of holding a wand, I just raise up my fist as if I’m actually holding a wand. I do this so that when I have to cast a spell for real, it doesn’t backfire on me unexpectedly. I mean, I’ve heard enough stories from you guys (the parents) about people that had to bear the consequences of a backfired spell, and I do not want that to happen to me. I also like to spend time memorizing stuff from books so that I’d know it by heart, but when I’m not doing any of that, I like to just go outside or simply hang out with my friends. My overall thoughts about Hogwarts are that it is a pretty fun school to go to and I’m really excited to be here and to learn everything they will teach me here.

Also, the redacted part in the letter isn’t actually redacted IC, it’s only redacted OOC because I rp’d myself doing that in one of my homework assignments and I don’t want to risk breaking anonymity. I will place that part in once that piece of homework is graded though.

september 16th, 2023; interacting with @Rodney Hughes

"Good morning!" The boy who arrived cheerfully greeted.

"Good morning," Alyssea replied with a smile. She quickly retraced her hand and cleared her throat. He looked like he knew what he was doing and, well, Alyssea didn't. At home, her parents usually took that responsibility. But there's never any shame in not knowing.

"Is this your first time sending an owl?" He asked.

Alyssea nodded. Was she that obvious?

But he didn't laugh. "For me it's my second," he began, "It's pretty easy, you just tie the letter to them and tell them who to go to."

She watched as he spoke and tied the letter to one of the owl's legs. The owl didn't even react, only watched with big eyes and wonder. She wanted to smack herself in the face. Was it really that easy? They ought to have a guide for how to do stuff around here at some point.

"Here", he said to the owl, "deliver this letter to either one of my parents, preferably when they're at home."

And without a pause, the owl flew off through the glass-less windows. Alyssea watched with her mouth wide open. Just how magical was the wizarding world? First, an invisible platform that brought you to the Hogwarts Express. Then, mixtures could turn into useful potions with a few waves of a wand. Now, owls didn't need an address or addressee, just some instructions.

Alyssea sighed. "Was it that obvious I didn't know what to do?" She chuckled. "Truth be told, it's my second year here but I haven't explored the whole of the castle."

She decided she'd at least give it a try. She took the ribbon she knew she kept in her pocket and carefully ripped a hole in the envelope fold where she could feed the ribbon through and tie it to the owl's leg. There was still a lot of her ribbon roll left in her dorm.

"Can you bring this to my brother?"

She fought the urge not to say anything else. Besides, she already told every single owl in the Owlery who her brother was and where he would be. She just had to trust that it made it to him.

The owl set off through the window. Alyssea looked out and watched it disappear into the sky. She laughed. "It really was that easy, huh?"

She turned to the boy. "Thank you for your help. My name's Alyssea. What about you?"

Dialogue: #03733b

@Alyssea Brown

Saturday, September the 16th, 2023

“Was it that obvious I didn’t know what to do?” The girl asked with a chuckle. “Truth be told, it's my second year here but I haven't explored the whole of the castle.” Okay, so first things first, I was right, she was a year older then me. And second, now I knew that she was probably an introvert that mostly kept to herself. But of course, I could have been wrong, and not just because I had no proof, but also because I had already thought up of multiple ways in which she could’ve been an extrovert just like me.

I noticed that the girl was tying her letter to one of the owls legs, and once she was done with that, she asked it to bring the letter to her brother before allowing the owl to fly off. “It really was that easy, huh?” The girl asked before turning to me. “Thank you for your help. My name's Alyssea. What about you?” I smiled. “You’re welcome, and it’s nice to meet you Alyssea. ” I said, stretching out my hand for her to shake. “You know, I had a very similar reaction when I found out how easy it was to send an owl, because yes, it is that easy. To answer your earlier question, no, it was not that obvious that you didn’t know what to do. The question I asked was more of a conversation starter that didn’t have an obvious answer.”

Now that I had finished responding to Alyssea, I had a question of my own. “Now I have a question for you, a bit earlier, you said that you didn’t explore the whole castle, why is that? Of course, there are a few logical conclusions but I want to be sure of the answer. And while you’re answering that, could you also tell me which parts of the castle you have explored? I’m only a first year after all, so I am quite curious about the castle.” Well, now I was about to find out the real answer to my question, and perhaps I’d find out a few fun facts about Hogwarts that I didn’t know previously.

september 16th, 2023; interacting with @Rodney Hughes

Rodney. He must be a first-year because Alyssea had never seen him around before in Hufflepuff Commons, and she prided herself on knowing a lot of her housemates. She was still too scared to talk to the Fourth and Fifth Years, though, let alone Sixth and Seventh. She tended to stay with the Second and Third Years. She nodded as he introduced himself and took his outstretched hand to shake it.

"You know, I had a very similar reaction when I found out how easy it was to send an owl, because yes, it is that easy."

Alyssea's face reddened. Right. That embarrassment. She shook it off with a smile.

"Now I have a question for you, a bit earlier, you said that you didn’t explore the whole castle, why is that?" Rodney asked.

"Well," Alyssea began, "This place is massive and, as a First Year, I focused on just being able to get where I needed to be. I didn't want house points being deducted just because I got lost in the castle, you know?" She chuckled.

"I've mostly been to, of course, the wings of the castle that are for classes. I frequent the Fourth Floor since I spend a lot of time at the Rehearsal Room. I've also been to the Courtyard and the surrounding areas, of course. I've also spent some time at the Great Lake!" She grinned as she remembered the Great Lake.

"’m only a first year after all, so I am quite curious about the castle." Rodney said.

So she was right! Alyssea mentally cheered. "Right." She clapped her hands.

"My advice to you is, if people haven't been in there, don't go there. Believe me, I've had an interesting experience with that one," she laughed light-heartedly, "Only go to the Astronomy Tower if you're going to class or else the professor will have a fit. And... I think that's it. Just stay in the obviously-cleared places that people frequent."

"Oh!" Alyssea almost forgot to add one final thing. "Don't go off chasing after mischief, or any historical places. A lot of crazy stuff has happened lately so it's best to stay in the safe areas."

Dialogue: #03733b

@Alyssea Brown

Saturday, September the 16th, 2023

The girl started off by telling me that as a first year, she mostly focused on getting where she needed to be since she didn’t want to loose any house points, which kind of made sense, and then she answered my question about what she had explored. “I've mostly been to, of course, the wings of the castle that are for classes. I frequent the Fourth Floor since I spend a lot of time at the Rehearsal Room. I've also been to the Courtyard and the surrounding areas, of course. I've also spent some time at the Great Lake!”

Well, if she spent a lot of time in the Rehearsal Room then it was likely that she either sung, danced, or played an instrument, although she could also be coming over to do nothing more then just to watch. Alyssea went on to warn me about to never go into places that people haven’t been in and she also mentioned that she had an interesting experience with that one. She also told me not go up to the Astronomy unless I had class there and to not get involved in any mischief or go to any historical places since in her own words, a lot of crazy stuff has happened lately.

“Alright, thanks for your advice Alyssea. I’ll definitely stay in the safe areas.” Oh, who was I kidding? As soon as I knew a few good defensive spells, I was going to go explore every nook and cranny of this place! Although to lie for no good reason would weigh down quite a bit on my conscience so I had to tell Alyssea the truth. “Until I know how to properly defend myself that is, because after that, if it’s not restricted then I’m going there. The restricted stuff is restricted for a reason, but as for the rest of the castle, who knows what I might find?” A smile formed on my face as I thought about exploring Hogwarts.

“I should visit the Great Lake some time. I’ve been near it many times but I’ve never actually gone to it. And the courtyard is a fun place to be in. Now I know that I have already asked a lot of questions so far but I have two more for you. For one, what is it that you rehearse in the Rehearsal Room, assuming that you use it to rehearse and not just watch, and for two, if you don’t mind sharing, what was your experience with going into places that nobody goes into?”

september 16th 2023; interacting with @Rodney Hughes

Rodney took her words well and she hoped that, unlike the average First Year, he wouldn't get up to all sorts of mischief. She'd let it slide if it happened later in the year, but this early on? You're just waiting to get expelled. She also hoped the information didn't just fly over his head and he said he understood just for the benefit of the doubt.

"I’ll definitely stay in the safe areas. Until I know how to properly defend myself that is, because after that, if it’s not restricted then I’m going there." Rodney smiled.

Alyssea unconsciously rolled her eyes. Of course. She made a note in her head about Rodney; he would probably enjoy Defense Against the Dark Arts and possibly Charms.

She shrugged. "If that's the case, pay attention to Defense Against the Dark Arts. I doubt you'd need the first spells they teach you (Periculum and Verdimillious) if you're looking for a thrill, but still, pay attention."

"Personally," she said as she crossed her arms. "D.A.D.A wasn't my favourite class, but I did decent in it if you ever want someone to help you with the spells. When in doubt, I'll be on the Fourth Floor more than the common rooms."

Rodney voiced his interest in the Great Lake. Her only memories of the Great Lake to date were the boat ride to the castle on her first day and coming down on a breezy spring morning to read a book. As a Second Year, she didn't get to experience the boat ride again, but she enjoyed it.

"Now I know that I have already asked a lot of questions so far but I have two more for you. For one, what is it that you rehearse in the Rehearsal Room, assuming that you use it to rehearse and not just watch, and for two, if you don’t mind sharing, what was your experience with going into places that nobody goes into?"

Gee, Rodney was one to ask a lot of questions. But she didn't mind it. It's not every day you manage a good conversation with someone from a different year. Heck, she had a lot of Second Year friends, but not even a single one above her year level. She mentally applauded Rodney for his bravery.

"Well," Alyssea sighed as she thought about it. "In the Rehearsal Room, I like to practice musical theatre songs. You know, with all the dramatics and everything," she said as she waved her arms around to show him.

Being a theatre kid made her expressive, and this was a prime example of that.

"And for being in places nobody goes to, well..." She sucked in a breath. She did not want to relive that moment, but hey, why feed the curious if you never intended to give them the meal?

"I was running away with some Ravenclaw boy from a bunch of delinquents that were getting people in trouble with snowball fights. Ended up being locked in a closet with him in an attempt to escape. We were stuck for a little bit and, I'll be honest," she chuckled as she remembered the event. It felt so long ago, but it was less than a year since it happened. She made a mental note to say hi to the guy if she saw him in History of Magic; she could only hope they were in the same class again.

"It was awkward, but it wasn't an unpleasant experience, if you know what I mean. I just blindly followed him since I didn't know where to run. He was prone to mischief, just like my brother."

She laughed at that last comment. God, she missed her brother so much.

Dialogue: #03733b

@Alyssea Brown

Saturday, September the 16th, 2023

“If that’s the case,” Alyssea started, “pay attention to Defense Against the Dark Arts. I doubt you’d need the first spells they teach you if you’re looking for a thrill, but still, pay attention. Personally, D.A.D.A. wasn’t my favourite class, but I did decent in it if you ever want someone to help you with the spells. When in doubt, I’ll be on the fourth floor more than the common rooms.” ‘Well thanks. Now I know where to look if I need to find you.’ I thought to myself.

Alyssea then proceeded to tell me that she mostly practiced musical theatre songs in the Rehearsal Room, and then she told me about her experience about going into places that nobody went into. “Well, I was running away with some Ravenclaw boy from a bunch of delinquents that were getting people in trouble with snowball fights. Ended up being locked in a closet with him in an attempt to escape. We were stuck for a little bit and, I’ll be honest, it was awkward, but it wasn’t an unpleasant experience, if you know what I mean. I just blindly followed him since I didn't know where to run. He was prone to mischief, just like my brother.”

Well, I had a general idea about what Alyssea meant, but I didn’t know for sure what she meant. I mean, I imagined being stuck in a closet with someone of the opposite gender could be a bit awkward, but that wasn’t important though. “Your brother huh? Older brother or younger brother? I don’t have any brothers, only a younger sister. And as for paying attention in Defense Against the Dark Arts, I do that naturally but you are right, having looked over their curriculum they do teach spells that will come in handy in dangerous places.”

An example of that would have been the knockback jinx or the smokescreen spell. If someone or something comes too close, you could knock them back, and then you could cast a whole load of smoke around them before getting away. Or heck, after knocking them back use Anathema Daphnis to root them to the ground instead before making your getaway. Okay, to be fair, Anathema Daphnis wasn’t taught in DADA, but still.

september 16th 2023; interacting with @Rodney Hughes, mentioning Zach Zaphiere

Rodney would definitely do well in DADA by the end of the year. Charms had a few good defence spells, too, so maybe he'd do well in that class.

"Have you signed up for the Hufflepuff Duelling Team, yet? I think you'd enjoy practicing spells in there. I mean-" -Alyssea shrugged- "-If you don't want to do it seriously, you can always go in there and duel for fun. I've done it once."

Now that Alyssea had tried a few spells in Duelling Club, she could confidently say Rodney would do well being on the Hufflepuff Duelling team with his interest in spells. She signed herself up not long after her first duel with Zach. While chances of her getting on the team were quite low, she had been waitlisted, so maybe it wasn't that far off. And while her first duel didn't exactly go as well as she hoped, she did much better than she expected considering a number of factors were against her.

Maybe she should go for another fun duel. Maybe not against Zach, though. She enjoyed their duel, but she'd easily been crushed.

Alyssea raised an eyebrow when Rodney mentioned his younger sister. "Ah, your sister's like me, then. My brother's older. Doesn't go here, though. He's all the way in America."

Dialogue: #03733b

@Alyssea Brown

Saturday, September the 16th, 2023

“Have you signed up for the Hufflepuff Duelling Team, yet?” Alyssea asked me. “I think you’d enjoy practicing spells in there. I mean, if you don’t want to do it seriously, you can always go in there and duel for fun. I’ve done it once.” As I listened, to her, I wondered how she expected me to sign up for the house’s dueling team. I was just a first year after all and this was only the second week of school. But then again, I already knew a whole load of spells, I just never tried casting them before. “Ah, your sister’s like me, then.” Alyssea said all of a sudden before proceeding to answer my question about her brother. “My brother’s older. Doesn't go here, though, he’s all the way in America.”

And there was the answer to my question. “Sheesh…” I replied. “America is a long ways away from here. But the owl will make it there no problem. Now about the dueling team, you’re I should sign up. I already know the incantation and wand movement for a number of spells, I just need to practice casting them since I’ve only cast a few spells so far, and those were during class when the professor instructed us to practice.” When I thought about it though, a practice duel before I joined the team to see if I liked to duel would also be nice. After all, if I didn’t like dueling, that’s how I would find out.“Say, would you like to help me practice? We can even duel for fun if you want.”