Hogwarts is a Second Home Open Closed

Date: September 1

Interacting With: @Emily Shephard and @Scout Fu-Hai

Word Count: 358/200

OOC Notes: Reducio Speaking: b38900 Thinking: Italics

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Outfit: Reducio Her Hufflepuff uniform and her customary satchel.

Mentioning @Marcus Iwasaki & Random person howling (@Colin McCoire)

Colby was sitting at her official table with the Gryffindors and finally eating the food that she had been dreaming about since riding the duck boats. Grabbing a cookie here and drinking some juice there, she was definitely having the time of her life with this magical buffet. Everyone around her was talking and sharing exciting ideas of what being in Gryffindor House was going to be like. Colby, of course, did not care as much and wanted to go with the flow.

It wasn't until the Great Hall had gotten silent and a professor stood before the podium, speaking to all students. He introduced a welcome to all of those who were not human. If Colby had werewolf ears right now, they would be down in embarrassment. She was one of the special people that they welcome, but she did not want anyone to know that. And even more-so, his speech was catered to her (and other werewolves). She listened keenly on what he wanted to share, but not too much so that others know what she is.

Her eyes lit up when she heard him address that he was a werewolf, too. A professor who has gone through this magical disease for a long period of time. Maybe he had a better understanding of how to manage the curse. Or, maybe he had a way to accept it. Both that Colby could not figure out for herself. Then again, she was only bitten last summer when she was only ten years old.

As Colby was listening, it then hit her that this was his "coming out" party. How long had he been a werewolf and only now did he finally share this with the public so easily. Perhaps he would be the best person to talk to in the future of how to get to that point.

When he had finished, Colby went back to her food and drink, her heart racing about the information that was just shared with her. All seemed fine when all of a sudden howling began to happen around the Great Hall. Colby focused on the cookie and tried to pretend her ears were closed. She was NOT going to howl in response to a howl. She was now a human, and only a werewolf once a month.

Although not physically sweating, she could feel that she was getting anxious. Her right leg began to bounce up and down as if trying to get all nerves and needs right into that one limb. Of course, that wasn't going to happen, not when the howls persist. Colby dropped her cookie and closed her ears pretending that it was just an annoying sound that she did not want to hear. It obviously did not block the sound fully, as she was hearing parts of the howl.

When she could not handle it anymore, Colby stood up from her Gryffindor table and looked up to the ceiling of floating candles.

"OWOOoooOOoOOOooooOoo!!!"

NOOOO! she thought to herself, as her mouth was howling in response to the other werewolf. She howled once more in another response and afterwards, her body felt more relaxed. But now it was tense for a different reason. Colby turned red from embarrassment and immediately climbed out of the bench and made her way out of the Great Hall. She had no idea who saw her, but her secret was out. On the first day. People now knew her as a werewolf, when she did not even accept herself as a werewolf.

Left Thread

It was that time of the month where Tes felt like she'd been run over by a truck. That time related to the full moon and her impending transformation, that is. She'd spent most of dinner pushing her food around her plate listlessly, both feeling ill and trying to ignore the creeping stress of the first transformation of the school year. While last year her transformations back from the summer had been a relief of not being trapped in an enclosed space for "her own safety", she was dreading the confined space of the shack this year. She'd had the luxury of running on through the property as fast as her paws could take her over this last summer back home with her momma, and the shack was spacious enough to play with the other young wolves, but it was also dusty and uncomfortable.

Her lethargic and low energy attitude was quickly overtaken with shock as Professor Iwasaki announced, to almost the whole of the school, that he was a werewolf. She couldn't think of any reason why he'd feel the need to announce it now, thinking carefully if any incidents had been reported, but- no. He'd clarified that there hadn't been any incidents. It was simply that Hogwarts was his home, much as it was for the students. Her eyes snapped between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables as she spotted Liam and Colin jumping on their benches and howling their support. Another childish howl came from her table, which was a surprise as Tes had been under the impression she was the only Hufflepuff wolf. Maybe a new first year? Without allowing herself to doubt her actions, she joined Colin with a whooping holler. She wasn't the sort to howl in human form, unlike the feral boy, but she had no issues raising her voice in support in a cheer.

The rising feeling of joy in her chest as she realized that this was likely a step towards normalizing lycanthropy was quickly squashed by a snarky voice behind her at the Ravenclaw table. Glancing quickly at the small gaggle of younger students near her at the Hufflepuff table speaking excitedly to see if they'd heard the Ravenclaw, Tes quickly spun around on the bench, standing up to tower over the other girl.

"Hey," Tes snapped to get her attention, the normally good-natured girl feeling rather short tempered after the shock of the night, "What did you just say? You better not be saying anything bad about my friends."

september 15th, 2024		sunday, evening
wc: 430		dhampir | terrible presence
interacting with: @Emily Shephard & @Minnie Duke		mentioning: @Colin McCoire & @Tesla Stone

Really? The other Hufflepuff was a Metamorphagus and thought she could comment on the situation? Come on, that was like the one magical race that was beloved by the wizarding community. Everyone wanted to be the cool human who could change how they looked on a whim, nobody wanted to be the barely-humans who could change into monsters at any given time! Maybe Scout was getting a little too irrational about the situation, but why could someone like this Hufflepuff even care about the whole thing?

"Yeah, you've never been widely hated by everyone you know." She rolled her brown eyes, annoyance creeping in. Damn, this whole thing was reminding her of that class with Sage. Whatever, as long as she just ignored the irate part of her brain, she'd be fine. "Unlike us-" nope! "or, sorry, unlike werewolves, Metamorphagi aren't as discriminated against in the magical world." 'Us', she can't believe she almost slipped up in front of someone else. She's been too careless lately, everything feels inconsequential right now, but it wasn't for the better.

"Anyway-" Was that a howl? Scout raised her eyebrows and glanced around the tables, from the way everyone was gazing towards the Slytherin table, she figured it was a good idea to look there and- oh my god is that that white-haired boy who bumped into Emily last year? "It's him, that weirdo boy from last year, damn, what was his name?" Emily had said it and like totally freaked him out, but Scout couldn't really remember. She knew there were two of them, but it was impossible for her to remember which one was which. "Okay... anyway-"

Dude, can she even get out her sentence? From somewhere behind her, she could hear some older student telling off a younger one for being crude about- what Scout could only assume was the lycanthropy topic. Oh boy, she really hoped a fight wasn't about to start. Not only would that be pretty terrible for everyone involved, it'd be worse because of what the fight would start over.

"Damn! I was gonna say, Emily, if you really want to pursue your... um... yeah, that, you should be willing to take risks in talking about what is a sensitive topic." Scout leaned in to whisper into Emily's ear. "You wouldn't even know I was a dhampir if you hadn't risked going out to the forest that night back in." Which was true, even if it was a little different from what was going on right now.

September 15th 2024
Speech: #cfa120
Thoughts: Italics
Lycanthropic Learning with @Scout Fu-Hai and @Minnie Duke
Mentioning: @Tesla Stone - @Colby Vidler - @Colin McCoire and @Marcus Iwasaki
Open to any and all other available interactions!

Ohh man... Scout had "the face" on. The one that meant someone was treading on thin ice. Emily politely shuffled between her and Minnie as Scout went off on one, not that Emily would blame her. On an evening where a touchy subject was being brought to light, it was inevitable that Scout's dhampirism would find a way to wiggle into the conversation.

"N-Now, now... Let's not get worked up over this," She smiled nervously. No words could show how grateful Emily was for Scout sticking up for her like the baby badass she was, but damn she had a fuse for days. She even swallowed anxiously when Scout very nearly gave herself away. It took a lot for Emily not to pinch her hard.

On the topic of werewolves though, that one howl from earlier seemed to create a domino effect when two other howls sounded appraisingly across the hall. All of them sounding close to actual wolves, and heartily so. One from the direction where the Gryffindor table was and one... Almost right in her ear! Emily's head turned and right then and there, she saw a fellow Hufflepuff, back arched and eyes scrunched closed, howling her heart out. Emily smiled at the sight, finding something sweet about the whole thing.

Emily felt a tap on her shoulder and turned back to Scout.

"It's him, that weirdo boy from last year, damn, what was his name?"

Weirdo boy? Oh!

Emily got on her knees as she raised herself up on her seat to get a good look at the Slytherin table. If Scout meant who she meant then--

"Colin...!"

Sure enough, the tornado that had crashed into them at the end of last year was poised the same way as the Hufflepuff student, only with much more vigour and twice the volume. That howl didn't just come from the heart. It sounded like it was manifested by pure soul. Emily smirked. Colin was such a character, she didn't expect anything less from him. He was mad - unquestionably mad - but Emily would never tire of his energy. Then Scout brought her back to the conversation.

"Emily, if you really want to pursue your... um... yeah, that, you should be willing to take risks in talking about what is a sensitive topic."

"Sure, but..."

"You wouldn't even know I was a dhampir if you hadn't risked going out to the forest that night back in."

Dang. Scoutie was going to bring that up again, huh.

"Maybe... But then again, I wasn't quite expecting a dhampir to cross my path that evening either..."

And Emily wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Scout entrusted her secret to Emily and like everything about her friend, Emily treasured it like it was a piece of herself.

"Though you can't interrogate someone if they can't trust you... And I'd rather have my fellow magical beings be comfortable than to rush up and play twenty questions right off the bat..."

Emily winked at her and got up a little higher on her seat. Even though she was lacking the gusto and the wildness of the other cheers in the room, she cupped the edges of her mouth and gave her own howl of support.

On behalf of all magical creature lovers everywhere...

"AWOOOO!"

She had to let them all know... That she was on their side. And always would be.

_{Word Count: 624}

Stats: Stamina: 7|Evasion: 6|Strength: 6|Wisdom: 8|Arcane Power: 7|Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Non-Human Enthusiast |Cat's Grace

Iris' eyes narrowed, her body stiffening as Tesla's stature cast a shadow over her. Was she being serious?

Her gaze lifted to meet the voice, unflinching despite its owner's obvious anger. Leave it to the badgers to get sensitive. The observation lingered, though she made sure to keep it unspoken. A statement that would only stir the pot, unnecessarily so. And yet there was a twinge of annoyance at being cornered like this. Being forced into a confrontation over a comment that, to her, was perfectly reasonable.

"You heard me." Her tone was plain, laced with the same indifference it always was. "It wasn't meant to offend your.. friends." The pause before the word was deliberate, as if she could distance herself from the emotional weight Tesla was clearly carrying. Or maybe she just found her taste in the concept laughable. As Iris had no issue with lycanthropy itself, though her opinion would not be shaken. The world wasn’t going to bend just because a few people felt they were owed understanding or sympathy.

A glance was spared back to the Slytherin table, their little outburst encouraging a few others. "But it's hard to deny that some behaviors do little to help their cause." Her words lingered in the air, glaringly unapologetic. She wasn’t trying to provoke anyone; not directly. Though she wasn’t going to backtrack just because someone felt offended by reality. Logic, even.

With a small shrug, Iris turned her focus away from the girl, attention shifting back to her own table. There was little left to say, over as quickly as it started.

Interacting | @Tesla Stone

Interacting with @Dealla Prince, @Iris Athanasiuo, @Tesla Stone. Mentioning @Marcus Iwasaki

┏		┓
	When Ravenclaw's Head of House called attention to the room, Pericles had neared the end of his meal. He was at the stage of toying with what was left, using the back of a spoon to slowly smooth a heap of mousse, trying to decide whether or not he was full. It had nearly been shaped into a perfect circle by the time Marcus took the podium. Around Hogwarts, no news was usually good news. Peri's mind, like Dee's, wandered down dark avenues. He scanned the staff for missing faces. He wracked his mind for any poignant gossip he might have overheard, bracing for whatever grim content was coming. When that fateful like myself was tacked onto the context of werewolves, Pear's rapt expression gave way to one of wonder. His eyes rounded and his spoon clinked onto the plate. As Dee started to splutter, he reached to thump his hand against her back, yet his stare remained transfixed on the podium. Their former Head of House, Professor Equinox, had been a dhampir. Pericles had cause to be biased over that, though the then-second-year had just begun getting rather attached to him after he saved a flock of students from a Forbidden Forest trip. From then on, the staff turnover rate dissuaded him from getting too close with any of them. Yet Marcus had been a consistent figure in their lives since he took on the mantle. As the Hall erupted with applause- Ravenclaw table surely loudest of all- Peri added to the din with a polite clap and growing grin. That he had kept it confidential for so long said something of the professor's expertise. An intimidating aura, illness near the full moon, and absence the night of should have been clear indicators, but he carried himself with professionalism and discretion in equal measure. That smirk grew as Pericles leaned towards Dee, eye gleaming with good humor. "Do you remember... when you threw Professor Iwasaki that welcome party?" Each word was strained with suppressed laughter. "You served ice cold coffee to a werewolf, and I brought him a fruit bowl." The animagus was snickering, not in mockery, but in a state of euphoria that was painfully rare these days. They children had trusted him implicitly and had wanted him to feel welcome. The years since had changed much, but not that. Peri's voice and features softened as he went on to admit, "The funniest thing is, I don't think we would have done much differently had we known." Maybe he was becoming sentimental in his second-to-last-year. It wasn't unusual for the Great Hall to be filled with peculiar background noises. As long as it wasn't the pop of a dungbomb or a rally to foodfight, he tuned it out, and dismissed the caterwauls as overenthusiastic younger years. He liked to hope that the howls weren't intended as insults. What did catch his ear was the start of a squabble a short ways away. "You better not be saying anything bad about my friends." "You heard me." Twisting in his seat to aim his one good eye their way, Pericles took in an indignant Hufflepuff talking to a sunken-eyed Ravenclaw. The corner of his mouth tugged downward, then his freckled face smoothed over, meticulously unreadable. "Ladies," came a try at a soothing tune. "Quarreling after a speech like that sort of defeats the purpose, don't you think? Maybe discuss this-" he gestured between them with the end of a spoon "-on a Duel piste. You should really try the mousse in the meantime." Pericles gently waved the Puff back towards her table with the silverware.
┗		┛

One-off post unless further interaction

Sunday, 15 September 2024 - dinner time

Meyra felt exhausted, her eyes were slightly irritated with sleep and her body was heavy and sour, the symptoms reminded her of the beginning of the flu, but she knew that this was not exactly the cause of her condition. The night of the full moon was fast approaching and that never let her be in a good mood. She brought her hands to cover her eyes as she closed them, trying to rub away the weight of sleep from them, but without success, she couldn't contain the yawn that came when she opened her eyes and hid her mouth with one of her hands. Sleep, she desperately needed to sleep. Not even the tempting display of delicious desserts were giving her the will to stay a minute longer sitting at that table.

The young Gryffindor was about to turn on her seat to leave the Great Hall, when she noticed that the room went suddenly and weirdly quiet. Her eyes followed the direction towards where multiple heads had turn, to now look at professor Marcus Iwasaki standing behind the lectern. With a sigh of resignation, Meyra straightened up again in her seat and prepared to focus on whatever the professor had to say to the school. But her head felt heavy and she was really having difficulties in paying attention. With her elbow resting on the table and her face leaning over the palm of her hand she briefly closed her eyes again, "I don't need my eyes open to listen..." She thought dozing and slightly falling in the land of dreams.

"Werewolves?", "Did I hear it right?", "Oh, it must be soooo cool!", "Imagine being a werewolf!", "Awoooo!"... quick whispers where dancing around, some in a stance of awe, others in a mocking manner, others were just surprised. And it was these murmured exchanges that slowly brought Meyra back to the Great Hall. "Werewolves?" She thought confused, was she still asleep or was she awake? It took her a few seconds to be able to understand what was happening on her surroundings. She looked around and realisation fell into her, they were talking about lycanthropy. Why were they talking about lycanthropy? She narrowed her thin eyebrows and fixed her gaze on the professor that was still talking to the school community. Now having no issues in giving him her full attention.

She was, by then, fully aware that the school provided all the care and responded to all the needs of their werewolf students. She was one of them, and so she had to drink that awful potion every day for a whole week. She felt the vile taste linger briefly on her tongue as her memory reminded her of it. "At least it could taste better!" She thought with a grimace. But then, professor Marcus gave them an information that was also news for the young Gryffindor, that he shared of her condition, that he was also a wolf once per month. No choice on that! Meyra felt her jaw drop an inch in complete astonishment and admiration for his reveal and courage. She knew that she would not be able to talk about her situation so openly, specially with complete strangers.

Instinctively, Mey found herself searching for Jun at the Ravenclaw table. When their eyes met, Meyra gave her cousin a subtle nod of encouragement, as saying "We are in this together." Her attention just diverted from her best friend when she saw a boy, previously sitting two seats away from Jun, climbing on top of the bench and starting to howl, being followed by his perfect replica at the Slytherin table. "What the..." Mey gasped, not believing what she was seeing and hearing. Of course it had to be those idiots! Her green almond eyes widened, when echoes of those howls scattered around the spacious room. Making her head spin from one kid to another, feeling caught in a middle of all that sudden revelation and boldness. What was she supposed to do? She looked again towards Jun, with that question written in her eyes. What are we supposed to do?

Another young Gryffindor, that was sitting right before her, followed the example of the twins and started to howl, as she was putting her heart, her raw soul into it! Meyra felt like grabbing her sleeve and pushing her down, back to her seat. But she noticed that this reaction would have only been thanks to her own fears speaking louder and she had no right to ask the girl to stay quiet, even if her heart tightened in a need of protecting her peer from exposing herself like that. Meyra saw as the other girl seemed to realise what she had done, her face turning red and making the bright green in her eyes stand out. "Its..." Mey started to tell the girl, but the other Gryffindor didn't even noticed her attempt, leaving the room as quickly as she could. Meyra would not blame her, she would have done the same. She just made a silent promise that the next full moon she would make sure to be by her side. That she would stand by all of them, as they had no choice but to face their fate together. And then she wished, with all her heart, that they could find a way to help each other, that someday, perhaps, they could call each other of friends.

Mentioning: @Marcus Iwasaki | @Colin McCoire | @Keith Moore | @Sonya Herrera | @Myra Markab | @Lucian Mornstern | @Tesla Stone | @Jun Mayumi Mochizuki | @Colby Vidler

Interacting with: @Pericles Dralt and @Iris Athanasiuo
Mentioning: @Marcus Iwasaki @Colin McCoire

Tes was almost thrown off at the indifference and lack of emotion that was directed back at her from the Ravenclaw she was standing over. She'd expected the girl's statement to have come from a place of malice or even fear, like Tes had faced in the past, but it seemed as though it had simply been wildly insensitive. It was much easier to face anger with anger, but dealing with ignorance was something difficult that she didn't quite know what to do with.

She took a deep breath to stabilize herself, cooling down her flared anger and settling her confusion, and spoke up again as the Ravenclaw turned away from her. "Hey, you can't just say stuff like that and pretend it's okay. It doesn't matter that you didn't mean to offend," she though quickly back to her conversations with mama about microaggressions and bias, struggling to remember some of the things the more emotionally intelligent of her moms had said. "There's no cause or anything, it's just people trying to be accepted as people. Comments like what you said are what allow people to pretend werewolves or others like them are lesser. You might not think it'd a big deal, but these little things are what excuse bigger behaviors that lead to people like my mama and Professor Iwasaki getting hurt."

The wind quickly went out of Tes's sails so to speak as their little altercation caught the attention of an older Ravenclaw, and he told them to settle it in a duel and waved her back to her own table. She grumbled, taking a step back from the table and crossing her arms stubbornly. "I wasn't trying to start anything. She's the one that called werewolves half-creatures and made a rude statement!" Her eyes flicked longingly to the mousse that the older student had mentioned, realizing quickly that it was chocolate, unlike the disappointing vanilla pudding that had been at her own table. "Besides, my table doesn't even have mousse, much less anything with chocolate on it!"

Sunday, September 15, 2024 | Evening Great Hall, Hogwarts

Interactions: @Tesla Stone @Dealla Prince @Pericles Dralt Mentions: @Marcus Iwasaki @Iris Athanasiuo

Group Thread Dialogue Color: #0e1a40

𝔄s was the case most nights, Cassius was seated at the Ravenclaw table with the other sixth years idly listening to the conversations around him. Dinner was a welcome respite from the day’s duelling practice where he had been on the receiving end of far too many knockback jinxes. Cassius’ body still ached and he was in a slightly irritable mood from it, frustrated at the pain even lifting a goblet of water caused. He had eaten his fill, the plate in front of him nearly empty when an unexpected figure stepped up to the lectern near the staff table. It was not the headmaster as was more common. Rather, it was his own head of house, one Marcus Iwasaki.

Though Cassius answered directly to the man as a prefect of the house, they had not spoken much. That was not entirely unwelcome as Cassius found the man to be intimidating and uncomfortable to be around. Even several paces away he could feel that discomfort. As fate would have it, the young Ravenclaw was soon to find out why.

The speech began with the performative tolerance Cassius had come to expect of late from the school. Assuming it would be more of the same, the boy grabbed a small pastry not paying much mind to the man’s words. However, he did manage to catch a few words that caused the butter knife to drop from his hand onto the plate with a clatter.

Marcus Iwasaki was a werewolf.

The announcement was a shock and Cassius stared at the man in disbelief. A guarantee of their safety? A potion was no guarantee. How could it be? People had faked drinking beverages for centuries, to avoid poison and any other measure of things. How was something that could be bested by a simple sleight of hand a guarantee?

Cassius pursed his lips, suddenly finding himself without an appetite. His mood was only made worse by the howls from the student body. To calm himself, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, listening to his classmates, Dealla and Pericles, reminisce about a past experience with the man in silence.

“Perhaps this was in response to the Daily Prophet article,” he said after a short time, controlling his tone so as to not betray the shock and irritation in his voice. “It seems the school is doubling down on their position.” Cassius offered no comments on his own position related to those statements. They were simply statements.

A comment to his side offered a welcome distraction from his thoughts. A spat between a second year Ravenclaw and third year Hufflepuff had broken out. Cassius could not help but crack a grin at Pericles’ suggestion the two settle their differences on a duelling Piste. It was a fine suggestion. Alas, the Hufflepuff had unfortunately been a stubborn one who decided to plant their feet rather than return to her table.

With a deep sigh and some measure of pain, the pureblooded wizard lifted himself up from his seat at the table and faced the girl. He made certain the ‘Prefect’ badge on his school robes was in full view before he spoke. “Miss, return to your seat,” he said to Tesla, a degree more sternly than he would have intended had he been in a better mood. “This is the Ravenclaw table as I am sure you are aware. Quarrel with classmates of your own house.”