Can you handle the spice? PV Closed

Did Clair like heat? unless in her food yes.
Spice and Clair had never gotten along perfectly, she still would eat it, but it often ended in a very red face and in some cases eye watering. Clair has smelled the food as she walked by, and had caught her interest. A few people were already around the food, a certain @Colin McCoire who she was dating, @Avery Chen who she had dueled with in her first year, @Vale Ashwood who she had visited over a school break with a couple others, @June Selwyn who was a broom racing moderator, and a couple others she did not know.

It seemed like the perfect time to join them, and her belly liked the idea of food as well (it did not know just how spicy the food really was just yet). "Hey guys!" She greeted, She waved towards the people she did not know, and headed towards Colin.

Vale and Avery had grown since first year, she guessed they all had grown, but they still had looked like first years in her head up until she had seen them again this year.

"So whatcha up to?" she asked, directing it towards Colin but also anyone around him.
(wc 209)

Colin could smell the rosin on his shirt? What? He didn't even practice violin that day! He'd only held onto his case that morning. He sniffed his sleeve in wonder. "Nah, Colin, you must be joking!" he laughed it off. "There's no way!" Certainly not, under normal circumstances. But was Colin McCoire 'normal'? Probably not, but that's one reason Avery liked him!

And there was June! Avery was glad to see his fellow dormmate. "Wow, thanks June! Cold lemonade is just what we need for this!" June was so considerate for the to-be scalded tongues of feasters. "This will save a lot of us," he said appreciatively. Leave it to clever and resourceful June to know exactly what to bring. He began pouring a few glasses in case anyone wanted any in an emergency or to simply enjoy the refreshing drink.

The small boy jumped at June's exclamation. Why, what was the matter? Why couldn't they eat Vale's cabbage? But the word 'chomping' seemed to do the trick. "Oh..." Avery managed to say as he remembered his Herbology lesson from months (or years?) before. But he shrugged it away as Vale claimed it was dead. Were dead magical vegetables edible, though? He didn't know. But if Vale ate it, maybe it was. Just maybe.

Before he knew it, Colin was shooting spells at the fairly innocent (at least in Avery's eyes) cabbage.

Colin's first Diffindo would strike its mark, creating a gash in the cabbage, and several of its outer leaves would scatter onto the table. Some food would fly from the table as the enoki mushrooms would be sliced to bits, into the faces of diners. It would also apparently catch Vale's braid.

The spell would only seem to anger the cabbage, which gnashed its teeth ferociously at the humans that wanted to eat(?) it. But, that didn't seem to frighten the brave Slytherin first-year, who drew her wand and cast a spell that made Avery wonder how she even knew a second-year spell. He'd had so much trouble with it himself last year, clumsy as he was with spellwork.

Close one! It was well-cast and well-directed at the gnashing cabbage, but the cabbage would roll out of the way at the last second, knocking over the soy sauce.

"Ohmigosh!" he would exclaim, flashing back to the chaos of the previous hotpot cookout. Why was it that there was never a peaceful meal? Where everyone could just happily stew in spice together through mutual delicious suffering? "That bloody cabbage! Vale, I thought it was dead!" The stress of the cauldron tipping over was getting to him. He reached for his own wand, and directed it at the cabbage. "Immobulus!" But, of course, the spell fizzled off the end of his wand (OOC: I'm just letting this boy auto-fail here XD). Luckily, it didn't backfire. He now had half a mind to tackle the half-injured thing with his body.

"So whatcha up to?" A cheerful greeting caught him off-guard, and he turned to see Clair, a veteran of the previous hotpot party which ended in shambles and two people limping out (Avery included). "Just... stuff you regularly expect to see at hotpot parties now, I guess!" he responded with resignation.

"Vale, how do we kill this thing?" he hollered to the calm girl who was now trying to make her sauce. "A little help, please?"

Just in time, the cabbage seemed to have its sights set on the green-eyed Gryffindor boy (Maverick). It curled into a tight ball of leaves before attempting to lunge. Avery watched, mouth agape, as it soared through the air. If he hadn't been so fussed over the cabbage attacking his guests, he would've appreciated Astra's courage in trying the spicy bowl of food more thoroughly.

Maverick, as if knowing he was going to be the target of the cabbage’s attack, evaded it quite effortlessly while looking cool, like he was the protagonist of an action movie. Dang, if only Avery could look like that.

IC Date: November 25, 2023 Time: Early evening Interacting with @Avery Chen, @Colin McCoire, @Vale Ashwood, @Maverick Castle, @Clair Fernandez, @June Selwyn Mentions @Atlas Anderson

Astra: #136323 Thoughts: Italics Others: #theirhex

Astra was not expecting to get a facefull of mushroom. Several pieces splatted against her face and bounced off her lightly freckled skin into the bowl in her hands. She looked down in surprise. Wow. Cool.

And then the cabbage was chomping in her direction, so she sent the Freezing Spell towards the vicious veggie. It had worked against the squirrel, why not now? Astra cursed under her breath as the cabbage dodged her spell. "Bloody hell." Funny, she'd mostly gotten out of the habit. Until now, apparently.

A new person arrived, a girl, talking mostly to Colin. Astra could only guess she was the much lauded Clair. "Cabbage control," Astra said in response to Clair, sidling a little closer to Colin as the cabbage raged around. She couldn't blame it for being angry, but she was also strongly against being a victim of a chomping cabbage. Really, how lame was that.

Setting her bowl on the table behind her, eyes still watering from the spice that lingered, she eyed the cabbage with a wary gaze. It hopped toward the Gryffindor boy. He evaded it nicely, and Astra wondered who the violent veg would go after next.

"WHOA!" Colin cried out! "The Cursed Cabbage of Cumbria is escaping!" Thus far, all their efforts at taming the overly boisterous brassican had failed to quash, let alone kill the vegetative monster! It leapt here and there, and almost got some random Gryff! "Lucky for you mate it's wounded!" Colin hadn't even had a chance to confirm who was being attacked. Oh. He rolled his eyes. Mav.

Whatever. Still, the rogue salad ingredient needed to be dealt with before it turned the poor firstie into a hot pot! He'd been very impressed by Astra's casting, and of course, Vale was a dab hand with the wand as well! They ought to be able to handle a truculent salad green! "Come on Ginger Snaps! Let's get it!" Colin's wand was already out, and it appeared that Astra's was too!

Colin took aim! "Have at you, ye foul Cruel Cabbage of Cumbria! Have no fear, dear firstie!" Colin said in Maverick's direction. "Just leave it to the professionals!" Just as he cast flipendo on the chomping cabbage, he heard Clair's beautiful Cumbrian accent cutting through the chaos! His heart skipped a beat and he turned towards her voice.

He hopped down from the bench to greet his sweetheart! "CLAIR! Hi! We're just preparing a snack!" His brows furrowed slightly. "I didn't realise you were coming lass! I didn't catch a whiff or ---!" Colin caught himself. "Er! I didn't catch sight of ye coming through the doors!" he amended.

Mod action for @Avery Chen: Colin casts flipendo on the cabbage. If he's too distracted by Clair and it happens to smack Maverick, so much the better!

ATLAS ✵ ANDERSON
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Date: 25 November 2023| CC: Thoughts | CC: Words | Word Count: 289
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One of the most dull days ever was Saturday in the wizarding world—more especially, at Hogwarts. People had a ton of extracurricular activities to partake in, and Atlas was just figuring everything out. God, even though it is November 25th, he still can't seem to get enough of the wonderful place. It was a true place to be at Hogwarts. Maybe he's still getting adjusted to the existence of the magical world.

Going into the Great Hall reminded him of many things, including being sorted into Slytherin House. Considering his past, he didn't know quite so much about the Wizarding world. If one can say so, he was a complete newbie. However, that didn't stop him from experiencing the greatest adventures of his life, like removing smelly weeds and moderating an unofficial duel in which one of his peers got sent to the hospital wing because of that. Even today, the thought of those smelly weeds makes him shudder with disgust. They stank to high heaven.

Whatever the case, the smell of food welcomed him in addition to the little adventures he had already experienced. Upon turning to look, he noticed that several people were gathered around a single table, appearing to be ready to enjoy. Perhaps that is the experience Atlas has been waiting for, to have a mouthwatering dish. He approached the table with his eyes fixed on a few of the gathered delicacies. "Yum," he said to himself.

Even though the food was screaming out to him, he needed to act decently instead of just starting to gorge on it. "Hello there, I'm Atlas Anderson. Nice to meet you all on this beautiful day," and gave a small introduction to everybody present at the table.

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| 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉:|𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 : @Astra Norrick @Clair Fernandez @Colin McCoire @June Selwyn @Maverick Castle @Vale Ashwood @Avery Chen @|
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Clair's attention was caught by a young Slytherin boy. He had introduced himself as Atlas,
'What a nice name' She thought instantly reminded of the large dusty old World Atlas that sat in the center of Jake Fernandez's study back home, the old Atlas that the two of them had studied so hard as if looking for a new Island never discovered before.

The food was calling to her, but she thought it might be more polite to maybe talk to Atlas a little before unknowingly burning her face off digging into the food that was calling so much to her. Clair had attended the last Hotpot party which had ended in a disaster but this time she had a bag of candied, not really what you'd expect to bring, but she had not been expecting to come and Candy was all she had with her. The Ravenclaw Prefect put the bag the table where everyone could reach it if they wanted it.

She turned to Atlas, "Hi! My name is Clair Fernandez, Third year Prefect of Ravenclaw and Broom racer ." She introduced, she offered her hand for a shake, if he took it should would give a firm but polite hand shake, if not she would put her hand back down and act like nothing happened. "Nice to meet you."

(wc 223)
@Atlas Anderson

ATLAS ✵ ANDERSON
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Date: 25 November 2023| CC: Thoughts | CC: Words | Word Count: 213
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Atlas was grateful to meet people each time, and now he has met a wonderful soul that graced everyone with their presence at the table. When she introduced herself to him, he was overjoyed. At once, Atlas would extend his hand to shake hands with the Ravenclaw Prefect and smile broadly. "I'm glad to have met you, Clair; you have a beautiful name. That is really awesome."

At times, young Slytherin would wonder what it was like to fulfill the duties of a prefect. Who knew, maybe he would fill those shoes someday?
After meeting Monica Evans after curfew, he even felt a great deal of admiration. Maybe one day he will fulfill all his dream of being Prefect, too.

"I can imagine how it is to be prefect, surely you are killing it!" The child giggled a little, showing his admiration. However, the Slytherin boy could not resist taking a quick peek at the meal, even during the conversation with the Ravenclaw Prefect. He would even be drooling like a baby right now, which would be embarrassing. All he wanted to do was eat the delicious food. He stated while he was somewhat giggling, "I am sorry, but what will you be having, I can't help but notice how delicious those look."

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| 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉:@Clair Fernandez | 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 : |
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Avery's lop-sided grin twitched as the green-eyed boy gave him what seemed to be a disapproving look, just as Avery was introducing himself and asking the boy's name. Was he misinterpreting the boy's facial expressions, and was the boy simply wincing at the spice that had penetrated his lungs? Avery, as the jovial host, decided to give this new boy the benefit of the doubt.

"The name's Castle," the boy stated neutrally, and Avery assumed he had only been given the boy's surname, given the way the boy held himself. With this, Avery surmised that he was probably one of those kids from the older wizarding families, or one who wished to blend in with them. No problem -- Avery knew he could hang out with those students as well. "Nice to meet you, Castle," Avery responded politely. "Hope you enjoy the meal!"

After a moment of chaos, when spells were thrown at the cabbage, Castle scoffed at the scene and excused himself to the edge of the table. People 'didn't know how to perform tasks professionally'? Avery wasn't quite sure what Castle meant by that, but he assumed he was referring to the unsuccessful attempts that did not take the cabbage out with one hit after Castle had so nimbly dodged the cabbage coming his way. "Okaaayy..." Avery said absent-mindedly and shrugged a shoulder at Colin and Astra as Castle left his side, wondering what they made of Castle's comment.

Well, what a bother that cabbage was. Vale, while she tried to help, could not make her usually-resourceful Ashwood brain come up with the answer he needed, and instead urged him to share her fun in observing the spectacle like a theater act, because everyone was 'still alive'. "Yeah, but maybe if they were all dead, it'd be better?" he joked, then stopped himself to wonder if Vale would actually take his words seriously.

This time, Colin really did demonstrate his professionalism. With a barely-successful cast and good aim, his Knockback Jinx hit its mark, sending the cabbage rolling into a corner and off into the land of dreams. Avery would let Colin and Vale decide how to deal with the finally-dead cabbage, preferring to spend his efforts dumping some more food into the pot for their guests.

"Wow, nice hit, Colin, saving the day!" Avery cheered for his friend, raising a hand for a high-five. "Broom racing practice is paying off, huh??" He nodded to the first-year Slytherin girl. "Nice job there, too. How'd you learn to cast that second-year spell?" he asked in wonder. He had barely passed Charms last year, so a firstie knowing a second-year spell was quite impressive.

After conversing with Colin and Astra, he noticed that a new boy approached the table, introducing himself as Atlas Anderson, and Avery immediately took to the boy's friendly demeanor. His smile seemed to have that spark for adventure that was so similar to Avery's own. "Hi Atlas, I'm Avery Chen! Come join us! We're just cooking some spicy hotpot." Avery handed the boy and Clair a bowl each. "We've got umm, tofu, sliced beef and pork, a bit of un-spilled enoki mushrooms, fish balls, sliced potato, vermicelli... just to name a few things!" he said, pointing them out. "Feel free to toss whatever you want to eat into that chili and peppercorn broth and enjoy!"

And now, he supposed he had to let Castle know that the malicious cabbage had been taken care of, as the host. He loaded a bowl with fresh-cooked food and brought his own, with a bit of trepidation as to how their high and mighty guest would receive it. "Hey, Castle, Colin finally took care of the cabbage professionally. Want to try a bowl?" he asked, offering the fresh bowl to the boy. "It's mighty spicy!" Avery sat down at the seat next to Castle, preparing to dig into his own bowl. "So, how's the school year going for you so far?" he asked conversationally, wondering where it might lead, and how the boy would respond to his attempt to chat. All in all, Avery considered himself an easy-going guy an prided in his ability to make friends (if not a little too much). Those who were adamant about avoiding his sometimes overly-friendly attention often found him more than a little bothersome.