Early Bird OPEN Closed

Koko often woke up early to go on runs. She had great stamina and relatively decent upper-body strength due to her playing Quidditch, but since the games were always performed while seated, Koko was lacking in leg strength. Thus, every day (aside from weekends), she would rise with the sun and run.

This time, she left her cat in her dormitory and went for a quick jog around the lake. It was still a bit chilly, since the sun hadn't risen fully, and Koko wished for a moment that she had brought a jacket with her. However, she warmed up quickly and began to enjoy the exercise.

Once the sun was definitely in the air, Koko began making her way back to the castle. Her stomach rumbled, and she glanced at her watch─it was still early, but it was a decent enough time for breakfast. Just the thought of pancakes and sausages brought a smile to her face. Over the summer, she had been treated multiple times to her father's cooking, and while the food didn't always look perfect, it was always tasty and made with love. Hogwarts's food had a way of mimicking the homemade charm of Victor Wreath's cooking, but the food was beautiful and fit for kings.

Koko meandered into the castle and found her way to the nearly-deserted Great Hall. She usually didn't get breakfast so soon after her runs, generally opting to go back to her dormitory or to practise Quidditch, but today was different. It was so quiet, far quieter than usual, and Koko took a moment to survey the room. The tables looked so bare with hardly anyone seated at them.

Out of the students already seated, only a few seemed as awake as Koko. There was a small group of younger Hufflepuffs who were talking amongst themselves, and Koko generally didn't associate with Hufflepuffs. There was nothing wrong with them, per se, but in her past years at Hogwarts, Hufflepuffs had never been the kindest to her.

A few Slytherins sat at the Slytherin table with wide, droopy eyes. Koko thought it was mildly comical to see members of her own house looking so out of it─not that she would admit it out loud! However, she usually thought the best of Slytherins, and it was nice to see them looking so young and tired of school already.

Koko glanced around a bit more and noticed a young-looking Ravenclaw sitting by himself. It might have been a bit weird to sit near a younger kid, but Koko liked to let people know that not all older students were scary─sure, a fair number of them were (her friend Ruby came to mind, what with those piercing, aloof eyes of hers), but Koko and a few others were kind and liked to help others.

'Hello,' Koko said after walking up to the boy. 'I'm Koko, a sixth year in Slytherin. Is it okay if I sit here?'

@Knox Knoles

As Knox was taking a bite out of one of his sausages, he heard the voice of a female standing beside him. Immediately he looked upsetting his food back on its plate. He had a napkin sitting in his lap in a very formal manner. He looked much more awake compared to the other students in the hall.

“Hello, and sure I guess.” He said, but it almost sounded as if he were unsure. So far, he hadn’t been approached by many members of other houses, and especially not by many older students. so his previous interactions were mostly from other Ravenclaws and students his age.

As he looked at the girl, he noticed that she appeared to be taller, and much older than him. ‘Did she say she was in slytherin?’ He asked himself as he looked at her. Was he allowed to sit with another member of a different house? He still wasn’t entirely sure how all of this worked socially. He was starting to realize that his older sister had done a poor job of preparing him for the manners and rules of the wizarding world.

“I’m Knox Knoles, Ravenclaw, first year.” He said, quickly bowing his head to you as he introduced himself formally. Sitting there in his house colors, and his baby face, it was probably obvious. “So you’re a sixth year?” He asked her. “I’m sure you take all kinds of cool classes.” He said sheepishly, he always felt sort of embarrassed being around students who knew more than him. He wasn’t typically the type to be intimidated, but he was in a whole new world. “They’ve got me in charms and potions now.” He added, shooting her a straight face with raised eyebrows. It wasn’t like he wasn’t excited for his classes, he just knew that they were probably the most basic, seeing as he was a first year.

@Koko Riddle

The boy looked up at Koko, and Koko smiled, trying to seem as nice as possible. She was nice, right? That was how she tried to act, at least, and she was pretty sure she wasn't mean. But maybe she was wrong about that.

The boy responded to her positively, saying she could sit near him, but he didn't sound certain. Koko excused herself momentarily, filled her plate with two pancakes and some sausages, and then she sat across from him.

For a moment, she was also unsure. She didn't have many friends, though, and Koko didn't think anyone in her year was in the Great Hall. She knew most of her fellow sixth-years, anyway, so she would probably recognise them.

The boy introduced himself as Knox Knoles, a first year in Ravenclaw. Koko remembered her first year pretty well, although it was somewhat blurry now. She'd been a lot more outgoing then than she was now. 'It's nice to meet you,' Koko said.

Knox mentioned that Koko ought to be taking cool classes since she was in her sixth year, and she had to think about it. She supposed they were interesting, but she'd also thought her first year classes were cool when she had taken them. Her classes now were more difficult, but in some ways, they were more rewarding and went into more depth than her previous classes had.

'I guess they're pretty cool,' Koko agreed. 'Although I do have to start prepping for NEWTs, so classes are a lot more difficult now than they used to be. Sometimes I miss first year Transfiguration classes when I see my homework assignments.' Her tone was warm and slightly joking. 'Charms and potions were fun,' Koko said, 'although my favourite class as a first year was Herbology.' Herbology had been strangely fun─Koko had expected for it to be droll talk about when to plant strawberries, but she had learnt lots of fun spells in Herbology, and the plants were a lot more interesting than she had expected.

'Well, since you're a first year, you've got a lot of options, especially in the future. Is there anything you're looking forward to most?'

@Knox Knoles