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F I N N E G A Nx⳧xC O N N E R

☙ The dog days are over, 1st of September 2023 ❧

The end of summer always arrived in the same manner: swift and unannounced. He'd missed doing magic, missed the friends he'd made, missed the days spent wandering the castle grounds, and still it had been difficult to leave home. Over the summer, he had realized that with each return to Hogwarts, he'd miss a little more of his sister's formative years, that when he would see her next she would still be Rose, still his sister, but changed nonetheless. The bittersweet thought was compounded by the need to downplay his Hogwarts tales, fearing that Rose might not get her own magical letter next year. If she didn't, her jealousy would be boundless and he worried about the rift it might cause between them.

His mother had noticed the change in him, often giving him a knowing glance across the dinner table or ruffling his hair affectionately when he seemed lost in thought. "You're both at an age where siblings drift a bit,” she would tell him at bedtime, "but you'll both find your way back." Finnegan wanted to believe her, clinging to the idea that the magic shaping his life wouldn't put a distance between him and Rose.

The final day at home was a haze of last-minute preparations and saying goodbye to his friends and neighbours. The lie they had been told was that he was off to some faraway school, a school for boys with particular needs. For once, his reputation as a poor student had helped in selling the idea that he needed to be saved from his daydreaming and idle ways.

After he had gone through the barrier he was greeted by the familiar chug and hiss and whistling of the Hogwarts Express. Like a rolling mist, white fumes snaked up the platform. Owls hooted, robes rustled, parting gifts were given and hugs were exchanged. Somehow he managed to cut a path through the sea of people with his trolley and left his luggage next to a growing mountain of trunks from where it would be taken aboard. Determined to find a good seat, Finnegan wasted no time boarding and wondered idly if he should go looking for @June Selwyn.

Peeking into the nearest compartment, Finnegan's gaze landed on the sole girl occupying it and instant recognition lit up his face. While they had never spoken, he had seen Koko quite a few times before. The summer made her seem a little less pale than he remembered and for the first time he was close enough to notice the flecks of brown and green in her eyes. The time he'd spent watching her had always been from the Quidditch stands, often through binoculars. He'd tried to take note of her strengths and - when he could spot them - her weaknesses. She was an experienced keeper and getting past her had proven difficult, though she wasn't faultless and he couldn't resist throwing a playful jab her way.

"Found a secret strategy room, eh?" Finnegan smirked while he stepped into the compartment. "Plotting on how to keep those Quaffles out?" It was a playful jab, but a jab nonetheless. For as long as he was a Gryffindor chaser and she a Slytherin keeper, he couldn't pass up teasing her.

When he had stepped into the compartment and taken the seat opposite her, he gleefully noticed that he'd be as tall as her within a year. Just then, his gaze fell upon feline by Koko's side. "And who's this? Your secret Quidditch strategist?" He stuffed his hands into the pocket of his snug, gray hoodie, drew up his knees and jutted his chin towards the cat.

Stamina 10 ✶ Evasion 10 ✶ Strength 2 ✶ Wisdom 3 ✶ Arcane Power 5 ✶ Accuracy 10

@Koko Riddle @Finnegan Conner @Maverick Castle

Opeila had felt nervous about her return to Hogwarts. Not being back at school, no, the day of the return, or more specifically, the moments they would spend at the station. She half expected to be greeted by aurors who would take Vianne into custody for kidnapping. Assisting Opeila to run away after she had asked her to probably would fall under kidnapping.

But the platform was only full of students and their parents, no Virtanens in sight. Vianne and Opeila made it to the train entirely undisturbed. The holidays had been refreshing. Awakening really. Opeila had not felt so clear minded in months and years really. She had hugged the woman for goodbye. For years Opeila hadn't felt so close to somewhat of a mother figure and she could only barely stop herself from starting to cry on the platform.

Once she had managed to leave Vianne behind to find herself a seat, the emotional moment was over. The young prefect entered the train, Loras on her arms. Since she sprinted across the station with him in his carrier, he entirely refused to enter it. Understandably so, she found, but she was still not going to let him get trampled by a hundred kids racing to get the best seats.

Opeila was for sure one of the last to enter the train this time. For a while she would walk past full compartments, occasionally wave to a known face until she finally found a compartment that seemed to have a spare seat.
Two young boys were sat in it, as well as an older girl whom Opeila had sat with in the train before. Smiling, she would open the compartment door. "Hi there- Hi, Koko. Would you mind if I join you in here, I feel like I've walked past fifty full compartments by now."

With a smirk she would reach into one of her pockets and pull out some chocolate frog boxes. "I can pay the chocolate tax."

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Koko idly stroked Jax until a boy a fair bit younger than her poked his head into the compartment. Jax's head snapped up first, and he sniffed the air before yawning, his mouth widening before he smacked his lips together and stretched. He had no manners.

Koko then glanced up at the boy, who began talking, asking if her compartment on the Express was some secret strategy room. She blinked, confused, before recognition hit her. Oh. He was on Gryffindor's Quidditch team, right? Koko tried to remember his name but could only come up with what she hoped was his surname. Conner, no?

Koko decided to play along ─ there was nothing wrong with a little fun. An easy smile slipped onto her lips as she responed. 'Sure,' she said lightly. 'I'm working on my accuracy. See, if I pet my cat between his ears...' She would demonstrate. Jax would start purring in his sleep. '...He's happy. But if I miss his head and accidentally touch his stomach...' She purposely brushed her hand against his stomach fur. He opened his eyes and growled quietly before sitting up. 'Not so happy.'

Of course, it was all in jest. Petting the Amazing and Wonderful Jax would likely not help her in her Quidditch endeavours. But Conner was joking too, right? Koko assumed so.

The boy sat across from Koko and asked if Jax was her little strategist. Well. That was certainly a good question. Koko snickered and patted the cat's head. 'Absolutely. He's really an intelligent cat. When he's hungry, he'll hurl himself at my legs like a tiny, harmless bludger.' Jax's ears flattened against his head. Perhaps he didn't appreciate being called harmless.

Conner really was quite tall. Or, maybe, it was Koko that was, well, the opposite. It wasn't fair at all. Koko knew she wasn't tall for her age, but only now was she realising that, perhaps, she was short. She did not appreciate this turn of events at all. 'Are you planning on getting any taller? A bit more and you'll just be able to stand on your broom and get past me.' She was joking. Mostly. She hoped.

Jax curled up on her lap once again, and Koko was beginning to pet him when another boy entered. This one, she knew a bit better than Conner ─ at least, she had his first and last name memorised. Maverick Castle, a fellow Headliner reported. He didn't seem all too pleased to be in the compartment, so Koko waved at him. She didn't think she knew him well enough to ask if he was okay.

Koko thought about finding her coin purse to purchase some sweets ─ or at least get ready to ─ when she remembered she had spent nearly all of her money on a new broom that was, quite frankly, not her style. It was bulky and flamboyant, and perhaps that was one of many reasons Koko was rather low-energy. She had bought the broom on impulse, certain she could use it for long-distance flying, but now she very much felt that her money had burnt a hole through her purse.

Soon, yet another familiar face appeared in the entrance to the compartment. Koko smiled at Opeila, someone she definitely liked and respected. 'Hello,' she said, waving the hand that was not petting Jax. 'Feel free to have a seat.' Koko wouldn't deny Opeila a seat.

However, when she saw the chocolate frog boxes, she would not be able to stop her eyes from widening. It was as if the universe had read her mind. Koko bit back a giggle but maintained her smile, which had widened into what could become a grin. 'Chocolate tax, you say?' Koko asked jovially. She did have a bit of a sweet tooth, and she had never said no to free sweets.

She noticed Opeila had a cat in her arms. 'Cute cat,' Koko said. Jax did not stir. It seemed he didn't take offence in his sleep. 'What's its name?'

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@Finnegan Conner · @Maverick Castle · @Opeila Winters

F I N N E G A Nx⳧xC O N N E R

☙ The dog days are over, 1st of September 2023 ❧

Clearly he would have to give her a bit more to worry about on the pitch so that next time, she would remember him. Then again, he'd spent half the time warming the bench and the other half saving his teammates, so she could be forgiven he supposed. "Oh yeah your accuracy definitely needs working on," he snorted. She had to be joking right? House rivalries aside, he'd seen her play, she was anything if not precise. Only with the right broom, the right move, and a dash of luck did he stand a chance of getting a Quaffle past her and that was if he didn't get distracted looking at her. It was a grave injustice that some people just managed to play sports and still look good and well put together by the end of it. A far cry from the sweaty, bog-dwelling, mud-caked dishevelled wreck he tended to turn into.

He threw an incredulous look at her when she mentioned tiny, harmless bludgers. Harmless? Sure, to her, but just because she was some freak exception didn't mean bludger were harmless. Odd, considering how small she was. He squinted at her. Was she cheating? Some kind of charm or potion that made her capable of taking three bludgers to the face and still manage to stay on her broom? "I'm not that tall, you're just little." He shrugged, quick and easy as breathing. "No offense," he added dutifully, though he was rather pleased to have an edge on her in one area at least.

The door to the compartment slid open, revealing a vaguely familiar face. Castle, Finnegan noted in the privacy of his mind, and looking like he wants to die. The irony of asking not to be minded was that Finnegan inevitably began to wonder what was going on with the moody boy. Moody Maverick, he mused to himself while he traced the boy's every movement with his eyes until he'd finally found a seat. Maverick got the double whammy from his parents, having both an unusual first and last name. "Mav," he leaned forward, frowning slightly. "You alright there? Someone say something mean?" He drew back into the depths of the plushy bench and rummaged around the kangaroo pocket on his sweater for his wand. "I swear if it's that dipshit @Clark Baird again, I'm gonna-"

He never got around to say what he was gonna, because the door slid open once more. Another face he faintly recognized, though it had been a long while since he'd seen her. Apparently she had survived after he'd seen her faint a year ago now. Good for her, though he wasn't quite sure what her damage was. She'd screamed too he remembered, it'd been quite the commotion. "Chocolate?" he piped up. Suddenly his worries for Maverick and his plans for throwing Clark off the train melted away. He'd eaten himself sick with chocolate frogs once before, he could probably do it again. Although, with the big feast coming up a little restraint was unfortunately in order.

"Were you at last year's summer camp?" He asked of the dark-haired girl that had just entered. He was entirely sure it was the girl who had fainted, but it seemed nicer to ask. "I think I saw you-" That's a nice way of putting it "-there. Don't know your name though." He pulled a stubby hand from the pouch of his sweater and offered to shake hands. Just one limp shake though, he was only twelve after all. "I'm Finn, Koko's worst nightmare in Quidditch," he smirked and wrinkled his nose at the sixth-year before turning back to Opeila. "Now what was that about chocolate?"

Stamina 10 ✶ Evasion 10 ✶ Strength 2 ✶ Wisdom 3 ✶ Arcane Power 5 ✶ Accuracy 10

@Maverick Castle, @Opeila Winters, @Koko Riddle

@Koko Riddle @Finnegan Conner @Maverick Castle

Opeila returned Koko's smile and took the seat she offered, before finally allowing the fussy tabby down. At the question for chocolate tax, she would toss a chocolate frog towards her housemate. "Who, him?" The Slytherin looked down at Loras. Hadn't Koko met her cat before? Opeila could have sworn that the two had met before. "That's still Loras. He's grown a lot..."
Loras curled up on Opeila's feet, ignoring the other cat entirely- hopefully he would stay this way.

One of the two younger boys addressed her now, asking if she had been to summer camp the previous year, as he saw her. "Yeah, I was! Sorry, when did we meet?" The realization hit her a bit late and her smile faltered for a moment. "... Oh. Um, well, I go to summer camp every year. Never miss it. Have you been this year?", she would quickly try to move on the conversation to hopefully something more cheerful. It had been a year ago, but the vision she had at summer camp in 2022 still sent chills down her back. She would throw a chocolate frog his way as well.

"Do you want one too?", she would ask the other boy (whom she had not ignored but greeted too upon entering, she had greeted all three of them before turning specifically to Koko), offering him a frog as well.

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Koko chuckled when Conner added to her own little joke about her accuracy. Her lips twisted into an almost-bitter half-smile that quickly faded into a frown when he joked about her height. Her brows drew together and she leaned forward in her seat. 'Hey.' She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted indignantly, offended but still understanding that it was indeed a joke. 'I'm small but mighty. Beware.' She waggled a finger at him for good measure.

Koko watched as the boys talked to one another. She'd gotten decently good at observation over the past few years, and there was definitely something... interesting... about the way the two interacted. Castle had smiled at her, but he certainly didn't seem too happy with Conner. Koko made a mental note to take care when talking to either of them, especially Castle. Mostly Castle. She didn't want to make anyone angry.

Koko caught Opeila's chocolate frog and offered a small grin in return. 'Thanks,' she said before opening the wrapper. The frog squirmed in her hand before she put it in her mouth. The card was one she'd collected already, but she wasn't disappointed ─ after a while of collecting the same card over and over, Koko had decided to amass a collection of multiples of every card, if she could.

Koko's eyes widened when Opeila mentioned that the cat was Loras. Now that she thought about it, she had seen him at least once or twice. 'Wow,' she said. 'He's so big now.' The same sentiment could be applied to Jax, who had gotten warm and was purring in his sleep. Even Koko and Opeila had grown a lot during the past few years ─ well, mostly Opeila. Koko had not grown an inch since her third year. It was a continuous point of contention between her and fate.

When Conner introduced himself to Opeila, Koko rolled her eyes playfully. Oh, yes. A nightmare. She wondered for a moment if she should call him Finn, but she decided Conner kept the Quidditch atmosphere in the compartment, even if it was just inside her head.

Her lips thinned into an amused smirk while her eyebrows raised when summer camp was mentioned. 'Speaking of, how was summer camp this year? I was staying with my aunt and grandfather, so I couldn't go.' The question was directed at anyone in the compartment who had gone to the camp.

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@Finnegan Conner · @Maverick Castle · @Opeila Winters