Exploring and Sketching PV Matilde O’Fionnagan Finished

Time: Reducio Monday, September 5th, 2023	Tag: Reducio @Matilde O’Fionnagan
Outfit: Reducio a light blue tank top, a black skirt, and black flat sandals. Hair tied back in a ponytail. She's wearing tulip earrings in Slytherin green and silver that she made.	Notes: Reducio Speech: #3CB371 Thoughts: italics Redford, England is fictional.

Kaitlyn smiled brightly and nodded. “Awesome! That sounds like a lovely idea,” she responded. As much as she enjoyed living in the city, she understood the desire to be away from the hustle and bustle. Being an introvert, she knew how important solitude was.

Katie giggled at hearing Tilly’s hobbies. “Oh, nice. We sound pretty similar,” she smiled. It took her a few moments to consider Tilly’s question and nodded. “Yes, it’s hard for me, too. I’ve had to schedule myself time. Like in the mornings. I get up at 6. Go for a morning jog. At 6:30, I’m practicing yoga. By 7, I try to dance a little,” she shrugged. “But, yes, I find it hard to fit in all of my hobbies. I have to spread it out over the week,” she giggled. “How do you do it?”

“I practiced yoga a lot with my muggle friends both professionally and amongst ourselves,” Katie responded. Her mind spun, as she tried to guess how long it was. “I think I practiced yoga for roughly 5 years or so by now,” she guessed with a smile. “How long have you practiced yoga?” She asked. “I know ballet, a few classical dances like the waltz. Oh I also know a few modern ones, as well,” she continued.

“Wow, you sound so organized!” Matilde said, admiringly. “I’m not too good at that kind of stuff. I guess I’m more of a go with the flow, creative sort of person.” That was one way to put it. She often had a chaotic way of doing things, which often worked out in her favor, but was sometimes a little frustrating, and often took longer than need be, as a result.

Matilde was amazed at how long Katie had been doing yoga. “You must be so stretchy,” she said, giggling. In hindsight, she hoped that wasn’t a weird thing to say. When Katie asked how long she had done yoga, Tilly replied, “just the last couple of years. I do it with my Aunt, sometimes, she does yoga a lot. She’s a muggle.”

“That’s so cool!” Matilde said about Katie’s dance experience. “I’ve only done Irish dancing myself, but I’d love to try ballet or classical dances sometime. It looks very fun.”

A breeze ruffled the young witch’s hair, and she shivered a bit. She should have brought a sweater or something. Matilde fiddled with her shoelaces, thoughtfully. She wondered how long they’d been sitting here. It hadn’t felt like a very long time, but she already felt comfortable talking to Katie, she really hoped they’d become friends.

Time: Reducio Monday, September 5th, 2023	Tag: Reducio @Matilde O’Fionnagan
Outfit: Reducio a light blue tank top, a black skirt, and black flat sandals. Hair tied back in a ponytail. She's wearing tulip earrings in Slytherin green and silver that she made.	Notes: Reducio Speech: #3CB371 Thoughts: italics

Kaitlyn flushed and lightly shook her head. “I try to be, but I go over time a lot. I’m not as good at it, as I’d like. That’s cool, you do sound really creative,” she smiled to Tilly.

At Tilly’s comment about being stretchy, Katie giggled. “I’d call it flexible. But stretchy sounds cool. I want to start using that,” she smiled. “Ah, awesome. I personally like doing it with others,” she replied. A bright smile formed on her face. “Tilly, would you like to practice yoga with me?” She offered. While she normally practiced yoga early in the morning, she wouldn’t mind doing so at other times of the day. She often found herself with next to no time to do everything she wanted in the morning.

“Irish dancing looks fun, too,” Kaitlyn agreed, with a smile. She enjoyed dancing and liked to learn new routines. She felt the breeze on her skin. ‘Ah, I probably should’ve dressed slightly warmer. Eh, what can you do?’ She thought to herself. She looked over at Tilly. “Hey, um, I was thinking … did you want to be friends? Feel free to say no, if you’d like. I don’t want to put pressure on you,” she said, quietly, a flush on her cheeks. She shared many activities with Tilly. She just hoped the other girl would agree with her.

Matilde snapped her fingers, a little sarcastically. “That’s the word I was looking for!” She giggled.

Matilde smiled excitedly when Kaitlyn asked if she’d like to do yoga with her. “Yes, that would be deadly!” She replied, her voice a little too loud. Tilly was just so glad this conversation was going well.

When Katie asked if she’d like to be friends, Matilde beemed. Was it really that easy? She couldn’t believe she had stressed about making friends so much. Matilde couldn’t wait to tell her best friend Phelan she had made a friend at Hogwarts. And it was only the first week, this year would be a breeze! Well, maybe she was getting ahead of herself, but it certainly was nice to have a friend. “Of course I would!” She said. It certainly seemed like they had things in common. She thought dreamily about all the things they could do together. They could suggest books, and read them together, or go to the library together. They could study together and doodle on their homework when they were bored. Well, maybe not, Katie seemed pretty responsible. They could sketch together, how about that. Realizing she was spacing out, Matilde looked back at Katie apologetically. “Sorry… sometimes I get a wee bit lost in my own head.”

Time: Reducio Monday, September 5th, 2023	Tag: Reducio @Matilde O’Fionnagan
Outfit: Reducio a light blue tank top, a black skirt, and black flat sandals. Hair tied back in a ponytail. She's wearing tulip earrings in Slytherin green and silver that she made.	Notes: Reducio Speech: #3CB371 Thoughts: italics

Kaitlyn giggled and nodded to Tilly’s response. “Yes, it’s perfect,” she smiled, back.

“Oooh, I love the enthusiasm!” Katie giggled. “May I ask, did you bring your yoga supplies with you? If not, I know have some extras in my dorm,” she continued. Since they weren’t sorted in the same house, they definitely wouldn’t share a dorm together. She took a few extras with her, just in case any of her supplies were ruined at Hogwarts. Even though she was a muggle-born, she figured it wouldn’t be easy to just leave to buy new muggle supplies randomly throughout the year. She had to plan in advance, just in case.

At Tilly’s confirmation about being friends, Kaitlyn squealed in delight. “Yay! Thank you so much! We’re getting along great together! I’m happy to make a friend,” she smiled brightly to Tilly. “Let this be the start of an awesome friendship. And whenever you have the time, I’d love to learn more about what you do on the farm. It sounds so different and charming,” she responded.

Katie giggled at Tilly’s apology for spacing out and quickly shook her head. “It doesn’t bother me. I do that too, a lot. I hope it was happy thoughts,” she smiled.

“I didn’t bring my own.” Really, she thought, she was almost twelve years old, she needed to get better at planning ahead. Especially now that she was going to be at Hogwarts for most of the year. Her parents weren’t there to make sure she remembered all of her responsibilities. “If you don’t mind me using yours!” She said gratefully. Lucky Katie had brought extra.

Matilde was glad Katie seemed to like her too. She smiled when Katie said she wanted to hear more about her farm. “I’d love to tell you about it.” Before going to Hogwarts, Matilde had never really wondered how other students might react to her life. She often forgot it was a little odd to live on a farm. It didn’t seem like Katie was judging her though, of course, just curious.

Matilde considered Katie’s yoga offer again. She looked down at herself. The clothes she was wearing weren’t really suitable for yoga, come to think of it. She’d tried doing yoga in jeans- it just was not worth it.“Katie, I should probably get changed before we practice yoga. Jeans aren’t very stretchy. I mean flexible,” she said, cracking up. Matilde got to her feet. “Should I… meet you back here?”

Time: Reducio Monday, September 5th, 2023	Tag: Reducio @Matilde O’Fionnagan
Outfit: Reducio a light blue tank top, a black skirt, and black flat sandals. Hair tied back in a ponytail. She's wearing tulip earrings in Slytherin green and silver that she made.	Notes: Reducio Speech: #3CB371 Thoughts: italics

Kaitlyn nodded in understanding to Tilly’s predicament. She had forgotten supplies a lot of the time at her boarding school. Thankfully they were easy to replace there. Here? Not so much. But, she thankfully planned ahead for herself. She had one extra mat in her dorm. Nothing fancy, but it would do the trick for Tilly. “I don’t mind. I’ll gladly get it,” she smiled. She wouldn’t have offered if she minded. She did her best to state her intentions clearly, so people wouldn’t be surprised by her actions.

Katie smiled wide at Tilly’s confirmation for talking about her farm. “Awesome! I already find plants interesting, so don’t feel like you’re going to bore me. I am genuinely interested,” she giggled, happy to have found a friend in Tilly.

At the mention of changing outfits. Katie looked down at her skirt. “I hear you. While I could do yoga in this skirt, I’d rather not have myself in an embarrassing situation,” she giggled. “I have a better outfit anyway, plus I need to get the mat. So, yes, we can meet back here. Would you like to walk back inside together?” She asked with a bright smile, as she stood up, as well.

Matilde grinned at Katie’s reassurance that she wouldn’t be bored by her talking about her farm. Sometimes she got the feeling that some of her friends back home got a bit annoyed when she ended up talking on and on about it, especially since they’d know each other for so long. She couldn’t help it- she just loved her home! At least now she’d have new people to chat with. She was also excited to learn more about other students’ experiences. Though she’d grown up with a lot of muggle things, she couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be muggleborn. To not know you were magical.

Katie agreed that she’d have to change too. Tilly giggled at Katie’s comment about her skirt. “We might want to avoid that, so we might.”

Katie agreed that they could meet back in the courtyard, and suggested that the two girls could go in together. Matilde nodded her assent, wondering why she hadn’t thought of that.

The first years walked together back through the doors to the castle, and into the entrance hall. “Hufflepuff is the first floor,” Matilde said, gesturing up the stairs. She realized that she didn’t know where any of the other houses were.

Time: Reducio Monday, September 5th, 2023	Tag: Reducio @Matilde O’Fionnagan
Outfit: Reducio a light blue tank top, a black skirt, and black flat sandals. Hair tied back in a ponytail. She's wearing tulip earrings in Slytherin green and silver that she made.	Notes: Reducio Speech: #3CB371 Thoughts: italics

Katie smiled brightly. ‘I’m happy we’re getting along so well. I am really interested in Tilly’s family’s farm. I hope I can eventually see it one day. I wonder if I could ever work on a farm? I’m not opposed to hard work, so maybe?’ She thought. Then again, she’d likely rarely ask for information, without offering more insight of her life as a muggleborn. From her Catholic all-girls boarding school, to her muggle best friends, and just her udder surprise of being a witch. And, of course, her home like of being in a pure muggle home with her twin sister and little brother.

At Tilly’s agreement, Katie giggled. “I do like skirts, though. It’s a struggle,” she briefly joked.

The girls walked back together to the castle, and stopped in the entrance hall. She nodded to Tilly’s comment on where her common room was. “Oh, that’s awesome. Slytherin is down in the dungeon … not too far from potions, as a matter of fact,” she shrugged. It may seem weird to live down there, but she found the common room and dorm to still be warm and friendly. She enjoyed the coolness of the temperature in the common room. She enjoyed the view of the black lake from her common room.

Matilde smiled as Katie said she still liked skirts, even though they weren’t necessarily the best for yoga. “Me too!” Matilde agreed. “I find them very comfortable.”

Matilde found it very interesting even if a little surprising that the Slytherin common room was in the dungeons. She personally didn’t think she’d like to live there, but she supposed she understood the appeal. Chilly temperatures meant more sweaters, after all! If Matilde had to pick, sweaters would definitely be her favorite article of clothing, no competition. Especially wool ones. They were fun to wear, and often came in bright colors. Matilde also enjoyed knitting them.

As much as she enjoyed talking to Kaitlyn, it was time to part ways for now. “Slán!” Matilde said cheerfully to her new (hopefully!) friend. “Oh, that means goodbye in Irish,” she clarified, figuring Kaitlyn might not know. She realized for the first time that she was going to have to adjust to English slang herself. She waved, and walked up the stairs to the first floor. When she got to the top, she headed toward her common room, skipping down the corridor.

Matilde was very glad she had decided to talk to Katie today. Maybe starting at Hogwarts wouldn’t be as hard as she had thought.