Closed Liber-Tea Time

july 4th 2023; interacting with @Koko Riddle as Cyrus Darsel

After dinner, Alyssea wanted to just head back to her cabin and read a book by the fireplace. The Phoenix Cabin was cozy and she still had a month to go about with participating in activities and making new friends.

So imagine the surprise she had when purple sparks lit up the sky on her way back from the dining hall. It wasn't red or green sparks, so nobody was in danger. (It would've been alarming if there was danger.) What was the date today? The fourth of July?

The realization dawned on her. It was the Fourth of July. The Americans were celebrating a very (in their eyes) important day. And, since the school welcomed Ilvermorny students to summer camp, it meant one of them set it up for their annual independence celebration.

Alyssea stood there and contemplated. Should she join? Curfew was at 9 and it was a little past 8 pm. Dinner had been a quiet affair. Maybe going would spice it up?

Sure enough, green sparks shot into the sky and Alyssea headed in the direction of the sparks. Green sparks were a location indicator whereas red sparks acted like a Muggle flare gun. What did purple sparks mean? They were quite lovely and Alyssea hoped that she would learn that spell later in her Hogwarts career.

She arrived at a clearing with tables covered in USA-themed tablecloths. Another table had cups and drinks with USA-themed cups (how festive!) with various teapots. Alyssea raised an eyebrow. Tea?

Then came the organizer who was none other than one of her cabinmates, Cyrus. They had briefly talked on the first day when everyone met each other and figured out who was rooming with who. Of course, she didn't share a room with him.

She offered Cyrus a smile. "Hey! Looks like you went all out for the celebration. How's your Fourth of July been? Did you do anything at the DIY fair today?"

Roleplaying as approved Ilvermorny iNPC Cyrus Darsel.
Summer Camp.
4 July 2023.

If he was honest, he wasn't quite sure what to expect. Hot dogs and veggies weren't exactly a feast to everyone, Cyrus supposed. Still, as he waited for people, he munched on artfully-roasted carrots and a hot dog. He poured himself a cup of chamomile, his personal favourite tea (his aunt said he shouldn't have caffeine). Then he sat on the ground, twirling his wand around his fingers in a way that would likely make his aunt lecture him about how his wand was not a toy.

He sat ─ quietly, for once ─ and pondered as much as he knew about the American Revolution, which, admittedly, wasn't much. He remembered bits and pieces, but he had always been better at maths and art classes than he had been at history. What little he knew was that the US had been part of Britain, and then on the 4th of July, it wasn't! How magical!

He was still crouched on the ground, his cargo shorts likely becoming grass-stained, when a girl appeared. Well... She had probably arrived in the clearing by walking, but to Cyrus, who had not been paying attention, it seemed like she had appeared out of thin air!

'Ah!' He scrambled to his feet, narrowling avoiding spilling some of his tea.'Thanks! I really tried,' Cyrus said in response to the girl's compliment. She sounded British, and she was complimenting Cyrus's little celebration! That was good news to Cyrus. 'I guess my Fourth's been okay. Didn't go to the DIY fair because I've never been the best at making things.' He laughed. He wasn't embarrassed by this fact, and over the years he had stopped being annoyed by it. So what if he wasn't good at making things? He could still have fun in other ways!

He took another sip of his tea and gestured with his wand to the tables. 'Feel free to have anything! There are different types of tea, which are labelled, and, uh, there are hot dogs and veggies too!' Cyrus grinned at her. 'I'm Cyrus, by the way. What's your name? How has your day been going?'

Interacting with @Alyssea Brown

july 4th 2023; interacting with @Koko Riddle as Cyrus Darsel and @Amaris Knight

Cyrus gestured to the tables of food and tea as Alyssea nodded and walked towards them. She just had dinner, so having even more food before lights out would be overkill. But she could stomach some tea to, as her mother called it, cleanse her digestive system.

She broke out into a smile and a small gasp. He brought chai! Initially, she would've taken the earl grey since it was her go-to, but as soon as she saw the chai, she took it and poured herself a cup without thinking about it.

"I'm Cyrus, by the way. What's your name?"

Alyssea turned to him with her cup in her hands. "I'm Alyssea! You're in my cabin, I think. Phoenix, right?" It would've been awkward if she had the wrong name this whole time, but luckily, she didn't.

"How has your day been going?" He asked.

Alyssea shrugged. "It's been alright. I didn't go to the DIY Fair either. Just been wandering around the place. How about you?"

"By the way, we're allowed to do sparks spells, right? You did one just now and so, I was just wondering if I could, too," Alyssea said.

Just then, a girl walked into the clearing. Like Alyssea, she was also interested in the fireworks show Cyrus put up. She was a bit slower in figuring out what was going on, but Alyssea let Cyrus explain the event to her. After all, it was his holiday, not Alyssea's.

Alyssea took her hand. Amaris Knight. Amaris was a Gryffindor. She didn't know very many Hogwarts students yet, let alone many Gryffindors, considering she spent much of her First Year studying in the library with one of her Ravenclaw friends. Alyssea sighed. Maybe she should get out more.

Still, she offered a smile to Amaris. "Nice to meet you, Amaris. I'm Alyssea Brown, also a Second Year. I'm from Hufflepuff."

Alyssea's eyes widened at Amaris' introduction. "You helped plan camp?! As a First Year?! That's awesome! What are you running?"

Roleplaying as approved Ilvermorny iNPC Cyrus Darsel.
Summer Camp.
4 July 2023.

Cyrus mentally facepalmed when Alyssea mentioned she was in his cabin. Of course! He squinted, trying to see why he hadn't recognised her immediately, and his smile faded slightly when he chalked it up to his lack of trying to keep socialising with people. He had just assumed others preferred to keep to themselves, but perhaps this was not the case. He would remember names connected with faces for about a day, but he hardly remembered even arriving at camp. It was only the fourth of July, but it certainly felt like the fourteenth at the very least!


'Aah, I'm so sorry!' Cyrus exclaimed, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. 'Yeah, Phoenix Cabin. I'll be sure to remember your name now that we've talked more.' And he would. Despite his awful memory, when he actively tried to memorise something, it usually worked. So he thought, Alyssea, Alyssea, Alyssea, as he glanced at the girl with chai in her hands. He slipped his wand into his pocket and took a long sip of chamomile in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.

Alyssea said she'd been doing okay, which was good. Cyrus smiled in response. 'Honestly, the Campgrounds are bigger than I expected. Right now I'm just glad I haven't gotten lost,' he admitted with a small chuckle. He started to answer Alyssea's question about sparks spells with, 'I think so,' but he cut himself off when another girl found her way into the clearing.

Cyrus waved at the newcomer, who seemed relatively pleased by his decorations. She asked what he was celebrating, and he opened his mouth to answer, but paused when he noticed her scanning the clearing. He was confused for a moment ─ did she see something he didn't? ─ but he understood why she had looked around when she asked if he was American.

'Yeah, I'm from New York,' he answered, bouncing lightly on his feet. 'Ding!' he said, emulating certain game shows. 'You would be correct. Happy Fourth!'

The new girl introduced herself as Amaris, a second year who had helped to plan this camp. Planning an entire summer camp was impressive in itself, but as a second year? Major whoa. 'That's really impressive.' He attempted to show his enthusiasm by moving his hands, but he remembered he had a party cup full of chamomile, so he settled for a one-handed jazz hand. 'I'm really enjoying it, and sure, feel free to join us! There's tea over there where the cups are, and there are hot dogs and veggies on that table if you're hungry.' He would point with his free hand. He continued to bounce on his feet, glad people were actually showing up to his impromptu celebration.

Interacting with @Alyssea Brown & @Amaris Knight

==

Writing as approved Durmstrang iNPC Vyacheslav Aleksandrovich Preobrazhensky

July 4th wasn’t a notable date for Slava, being Russian. There had been a craft fair of sorts throughout the day, but now it was the evening, after dinner, and nothing was happening. Stagnancy was something that Slava was never good with, so he set out looking for… something. Anything. Maybe he could find one of his friends to bother, although given that they weren’t allowed to enter any cabins but their own, it made it harder to locate people he cared about. So he settled for just anybody. It was a nice evening—surely someone would be out for a run or playing games or something of the sort. There were enough people at this camp that there would always be something exciting, surely.

He was soon proven correct when, as he was walking, he caught sight of some purple firecrackers in the sky, followed by green sparks. An emergency signal or just someone thinking it looked nice? Well, it wasn’t red, so that had to be a good thing, right? Either way, he should go investigate. He ran in the direction it had come from, slowing as he came to a clearing with tables, food, and a few students. His eyes widened. “Heyyyy, what’s going on here? Can I join?” He wouldn’t wait for a response before walking over to the tables, examining the things that had been laid out, fingers tapping on the table’s surface as he went, humming idly.

With a brief glance over his shoulder, not bothering to turn his whole body, he would ask, “So, was it one of you who cast that spell? It was very big. Very impressive.” He grinned. “Luckily, there was no trouble?” That seemed to be the case, anyway. Dark eyes were redirected to the table—there were hot dogs, vegetables, and what seemed to be some teas next to cups. He picked up a cup, rotating it in his hand as he studied it, then placed it down again. The U.S. flag was not something he had expected to see here, but he supposed he should be prepared for anything with the multitude of schools and nationalities present at the camp. “Why America? This is not America.” His Russian accent was particularly noticeable in the way he pronounced America, even more so than his normal, ever-present, fairly thick accent that underlaid his words.

If there was the U.S. flag on the cups, that meant one of the students present was probably American—whoever had set this up. He looked at their faces but it provided him with no insight. He didn’t know who any of them were. Glancing back at the tables, he scooped up a hot dog and some veg—he was a growing boy who exercised a lot, he could always eat more—and made his way over to the little group. “I am Vyacheslav Aleksandrovich of Durmstrang,” he introduced himself with a playful grin, knowing that unless they were Russian, they would have a hard time remembering and pronouncing his name. “But please just call me Slava. What are your names?” He took slightly too big a bite of his hot dog, his cheek temporarily expanding like a chipmunk’s. “I like your shirt,” he told the other boy, words slightly muffled as he finished the last of his bite, too eager to compliment the design to wait.

july 4th 2023; interacting with @Koko Riddle as Cyrus Darsel, @Amaris Knight, and @Ruby Cazares as Vyacheslav Aleksandrovich Preobrazhensky

Although Cyrus' reassurance wasn't the best one, she decided she'd give a sparks charm a go. She only knew red and green sparks and she didn't want to accidentally alert a professor thinking someone was in trouble. Still, she wanted to contribute to the fireworks. After all, it was the Fourth of July.

She took her wand from her pocket and raised it to the sky as she said "Verdimillious."

The green sparks shot up from the tip of her wand and hit the sky in a shower of sparks. She looked back down to everyone and raised her cup of tea. "Happy Fourth of July," she said with a smile.

Amaris explained her involvement in the camp. She ran the Sugar Fair! Alyssea had taken a look at a few of the sweets. They all looked amazing, though she could hear her mother's nagging whenever she lingered at one for too long. They will rot your teeth, she would say. But did Alyssea care? Not in the slightest.

Amaris then mentioned the Pet Fair, which Alyssea raised her eyebrows at. "A Pet Fair? That sounds like fun! Sadly, I don't have a pet," she said with a pout. When she got home from camp, she promised herself she'd get a pet.

Just then, another set of footsteps entered the clearing and Alyssea turned to the sound. She didn't recognize him at all. Was he one of the overseas students visiting Hogwarts for camp? That might be it.

He asked if he could join in, to which Alyssea enthusiastically nodded. "Please! It's more fun with more people."

When he introduced himself, Alyssea felt her life go on pause. His name was so long! And it definitely sounded Russian just by the sound of it.

Alyssea bowed once Slava introduced himself. Did Russians bow? Or was that a purely Asian thing she should reserve for the Mahoutokoro students? Her hands were very cold, though, and her cup of chai was warm enough to keep her hands occupied. "Nice to meet you, Slava. I'm Alyssea Brown from Hogwarts."

☆ 4th July 2023

☆ RPing as iNPC Estelle Hughes

☆ Outfit

It was the Fourth of July. In the UK, this meant nothing, obviously. But back in USA, this day held value. It was independence day. Despite her bitterness about going out of her natural habitat, she held sweet memories of this day. Days when her dad used to actually talk to her. She used to watch fireworks and would jump when each went, but at the same time, she was excited and intrigued at the site of the sparks. Was it weird to be scared of something that you love? Probably.

The independence itself held no value to Estelle. Of course, back in the day in muggle school, they were all lectured that everyone wouldn't be where they were today if it weren't for...whatever super natural event helped The United States of America gain its independence. But again, she was going to a magical school so it still held no value to her. Except the fireworks, of course. Did they have fireworks in the eighteenth century? Yet another thing she needed to Google once she got access to internet.

When she finished a quick math exercise in her cabin after dinner, she stepped out with her camera, wanting to capture some pictures of her Fourth to send home.
...But then, before she had the chance to take a picture of anything, she saw sparks. It could not be possible that they set up fireworks specifically for Ilvermorny because they knew it was independence day.

She located the source relatively quickly and her jaw...dropped.

It was a tea party setting.

Estelle closed her mouth to not look like a complete weirdo and scanned the place. Whoever planned this definitely went full out. But the better question was- who the hell ate hotdogs with tea? Where was the soda? The cooler full of ice? Estelle was in no condition to criticize, but her hands were itching to take a picture. Her hands already gripped her camera, but she realised she wasn't alone.

There was a clad of four settled by the setting. They all seemed content and were chatting. All the better reason to take a picture. Her mom wouldn't bother her about socialising anymore if she showed her.

So, Estelle did the brave thing and cleared her throat.
"Hey, uhm, hello- hi. Do you mind if I take a picture of you guys?" Estelle asked the group, holding her camera up as proof that she actually had a camera and it wasn't a pitiful excite to join them. But it did occur to her that if she wanted to take a picture of them, she might as well join them."May I also join you? It'll be such a shame to not join the celebrations of my own country."

Awkward she may be, Estelle was no stranger to charm. If she played her cards right, she could get a good picture. And a hotdog. But for now, she stood, her hands tapping on the sides of her wizard camera.