interaction: @Callum Alistar wc: 309 dialogue thoughts

Victoria had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from smiling in return. The boy’s shy smile was unexpectedly endearing, and something about it tugged gently at her guard.

“Seeker? Woah—isn’t that cool?” she murmured, her voice laced with quiet amazement. Her blue eyes widened just a little, a flicker of admiration lighting them up. Quidditch was no simple hobby—it demanded nerve, speed, focus. And being a Seeker? That was something else entirely. Her respect for him ticked upward. "I am sure you will move up to first string soon!"

At his question, Victoria tilted her head, a strand of brown hair falling gently across her cheek. She hesitated for half a second before replying, choosing her words with care.
“I’ve never played Quidditch before,” she said softly, her voice tinged with a mixture of shyness and honesty. “Honestly... I haven’t used a broom outside of flying lessons. It’s always felt a bit intimidating.”

Her lips didn’t quite form a smile, but her eyes gave her away when he asked a question about matches—there was a flicker of something there. Excitement, maybe. Or a cautious kind of curiosity.

“I remember going to one of Slytherin’s matches last year,” she added, her voice dropped slightly, still calm and almost thoughtful. “It was really cool."

She let the silence linger for a moment, not awkward, but natural—like she was letting her words settle. Then she glanced at him again, her tone a little more tentative this time.
“Maybe this year, I’ll get the chance to watch one of your matches.”

Victoria tilted her head a bit as she considered what she just said, then hummed gently.
“I think I’d really like that.”

She… thinks it’s cool? Callum felt his heart flutter. Most people just nodded and moved on or only cared about those who played in the matches. But the way her eyes widened with amazement made his chest feel warm.

When she told him she was sure he’d move up to first string soon, he let out a small, breathy laugh. “Thanks… I hope so,” he replied softly. I’ll try my best… especially now that someone believes I can.

He listened quietly as she spoke about never flying outside of lessons and how intimidating it was for her. She spoke with such honesty that it made Callum want to listen to her even more. Learning how to fly for the first time is no easy feat, especially if someone doesnt like heights.

“Yeah, flying can be pretty scary at first,” he said. “I… I was terrified the first time I got on a broom.” He hummed, remembering when he would practice at home. “My dad had to pretty much peel me off the broom when I landed; my hands were stuck like glue on the handle.” He chuckled, shaking his head at the memory. “If you want… I could teach you sometime? If you’re up for it at least?”

Victoria then mentioned that she had been to one of the Slytherin matches last year. Maybe it was the game I played in? “I remember going up against Slytherin. They’re tough to beat. The game was pretty close until they caught the snitch.”

After sitting in silence for a moment, Victoria spoke again. “Maybe this year, I’ll get the chance to watch one of your matches—I think I’d really like that.”

Callum perked up. She wants to come see me play? His heart skipped a beat. The main reason students went to watch Quidditch was for the house points or the bragging rights, but it seemed like Victoria was being genuine.

“R-really?” he asked quietly. His expression broke into a full-blown smile, and he didn’t try to hide it anymore. “I mean—it’d be awesome if you did. I’ll have to play my absolute best, huh?” He laughed under his breath. “Can’t mess up with someone cheering me on.”

interaction: @Callum Alistar wc: 409 dialogue thoughts

Victoria felt a sense of relief as she realized the boy wasn’t mocking her inexperience or fear of flying. When he offered to teach her how to fly, she hesitated for a few seconds—she wasn't a fan of heights, and the last thing she wanted was to embarrass herself in front of someone she had just met. But there was no trace of teasing or mockery in the boy’s blue eyes—only sincerity, like he genuinely wanted to help, not impress.

Maybe this could be nice, she thought, blinking away the nervous flutter in her chest. She tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear, buying herself a moment to push the hesitation aside.

"...I’d love to learn, but I should warn you—it might be troubling. I’m not exactly a fan of heights," she admitted softly,tilted her head a bit. Despite how recently they'd met, Victoria found herself feeling oddly comfortable around him—like she wasn’t being judged. The realization sparked a quiet warmth in her chest, one she hadn’t expected.

What she also hadn’t expected was the boy’s reaction when she said she wanted to watch one of his matches—his pale face lit up with a radiant smile. Victoria tilted her head slightly at his sudden excitement, and a few seconds later, without even realizing it, a small smile crept onto her own face, the dimple in her right cheek faintly showing. The boy’s sweet grin was contagious.

“If it makes you this happy, then I’ll definitely come,” she said softly, a flicker of warmth flickering in her usually colder eyes. “Also—I’m sure you’ll play great, so don’t pressure yourself too much just because I’ll be there.”

Victoria stopped talking for a second,choosing her words carefully,wanting to show her support, because it seemed like quidditch was really important to the boy.

“I’ll be your number one supporter then,” she mumbled, almost under her breath. “Even though I don’t fully understand the complicated rules of Quidditch.” She let out a quiet breath through her nose, already determined to learn more about quidditch before she goes to one of his matches.

“...Just tell me the date when you have a match, okay?” she added, tilting her head softly. Her eyes crinkled at the corners with her smile—genuine, if still a bit shy.

The window felt cool against the tip of Joseph’s nose, as the houses and trees outside zipped past in streaks of colour. Tightening his grip around Astra the rock, he grinned, a tingling sense of excitement washing over him. He’d survived the worst of summer. Made it out alive of a nest of vipers designed to make him as miserable as possible. But he was out now. He was out. He was out. Gone from Arisaig the very second he was allowed to, before one had the time to say “chocolate pudding with marshmallows”.

It didn’t matter that no one from his family was willing to accompany him on the trip to summer camp. It was better off that way, honestly. The boy deserved to enjoy some peace and quiet before the inevitable chaos at camp. 

His peace, however, leapt out of the window with the appearance of the bespectacled, grumpy old lady who collapsed into the seat beside him.

Much of the ride passed in silence, apart from the occasional violent throat clearance from the old lady, while flipping through her magazine so quickly Joseph suspected she was the world record holder for reading speed in disguise.

He was keen to leave once the train lurched to a stop, almost launching himself onto the aisles before the wheels even locked into place. The grumpy woman grunted indignantly as Joseph brushed against her knees on his hurry out, likely brainstorming clever ways to insult the younger generation.  

Joseph didn’t bother to look back.

Stepping down onto the platform, Joseph took in his first whiff of fresh English air, his face relaxing into a contented smile. Here he was. The magnificent city of London.

Being accustomed to the terraced cottages back in Scotland, the soaring skyscrapers left him awestruck. He squinted up into the bright summer sun. How did muggles manage to build such huge, towering giants stretching into the sky - without magic? One of the great mysteries of life he’d never understand.

After a while of trekking through the urban landscape, Joseph ambled into slightly more deserted territory, picking out the unmistakable sounds of laughter and carnival music. Summer Camp. He had finally arrived.

Being the clueless dingo he was, Joseph spent the next ten minutes aimlessly shuffling around and poking at random tents before he managed to find his. He was pleasantly surprised to find the tent filled with excited chatter, many of his probably-more-competent-at-finding-tents tentmates already settled in snugly.

Talking animatedly at a corner were a friendly-looking girl and a Hufflepuff boy he recognised from late evenings spent unwinding in the common room. His face was frustratingly familiar, shrouded in the same reddish-brown hair, yet Joseph couldn't quite place a name to it. Malcolm? Or was it Caleb? Either way, he sent a polite nod in their direction before turning away.

Not too far away was his good friend Avery, whom he happily waved to with a broad grin. Beside her was the boy with striking blue eyes he had seen gawking at her back at the spring ball in Hogwarts. It didn't even surprise Joseph that they'd become friends. The boy must be under the Avery effect too. Sometimes he wondered how the Gryffindor seemed to know everyone in the school. He wouldn't so much as bat an eyelid if one were to tell him she'd been invited to the birthday party of little Jimmy the ant in the hole covered by the 256th pebble by the Great Lake.

Joining the party was a blonde-haired girl wearing a cool, quiet look Joseph could never pull off without looking like a disgruntled meerkat auditioning for a role in some crime drama.

Finally, flopping on his bed like a stingray on the ocean floor - Avery's cousin, Dylan. His eyes were glued to the ceiling, his face portraying what looked like a haphazard mix between bored and sleepy, or whatever else it was - Joseph wasn't particularly good at reading faces.

Maybe he should go over and wake him up.

"Hey," Joseph greeted with evident poetic flair, settling down on the bed beside the American student. "Good to see you here," he muttered, flashing Dylan a cheerful smile that might have been too toothy for comfort.

Sure was he grateful he wasn't the only boy around.

Interacting with: @Dylan Astor
Mentioning: @Avery Gray @Mikey Forville @Victoria Blythe @Callum Alistar @Claire White

Callum understood Victoria’s hesitation about wanting to learn how to fly. It definitely wasn’t the easiest thing to do.

"That's okay!"Callum said, recognizing that Victoria wasn’t too keen on being high in the air. "I won’t make you do anything you're uncomfortable with. We can stay low to the ground until you feel okay."He gave her a reassuring smile.

He definitely didn’t want to scare her. Flying for the first time can be intimidating, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing. Yes, flying classes teach you the basics, but often students are thrown into it too quickly and can't learn the proper techniques for controlling a broom.

Callum smiled when Victoria expressed that she would attend one of his games. "I’ll be ecstatic to see you there,"he replied, beaming. "I’ll try to spot you in the stands."

When Victoria mentioned that she didn’t understand the rules of Quidditch, Callum found it to be perfectly understandable. "To be honest, I don't fully grasp all the rules sometimes,"he admitted with a chuckle. "There are like a hundred fouls, and I’m pretty sure most of them are made up on the spot. Really, the most important things to understand are getting the Quaffle through the hoops and catching the Snitch. Oh! And I guess not getting hit by a Bludger."

Just then, another boy entered the tent. Callum recognized him immediately. He had seen Joseph around the Hufflepuff common room, though he had never actually spoken with him before. Joseph sent a nod in their direction, and Callum returned it.

Interacting with: @Mikey Forville, @Joseph Sims, @Dylan Astor, @Callum Allistair, @Victoria Blythe, and @Valentin DeAngelo Mentioning: N/A Date: 08/11/25

Word Count: 412

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A bright smile played across Avery's face as she saw Mikey walk into the tent. She stood up from her bed. Just seeing him in person sent a warm feeling that spread across her. After the events of the day before, she couldn't believe he was actually there. It took all she could to not run up and embrace him tightly. She didn't want to make things awkward for everyone else already in the tent, so instead she just smiled. "I'm surprised I'm here too. If my dad had his way. . . well, it wouldn't be this." Avery gestured around the tent. Trying to explain what she wanted to tell him without words. She still wasn't ready to explain what had happened the day before. The memories were still too fresh. Too new. Avery couldn't focus solely on Mikey for the time being as other people began to flood insie of the tent. As much as she wanted to sit down and actually talk with him, she had other duties to fulfill. Like making new friends and greeting old ones. She glanced over to check and Dylan and saw him sit up at the arrival of new people. Probably looking for Val. The girl Avery noticed he had become quite close to. She hadn't really noticed how close they were until the wedding when everything went wrong. Avery swallowed. Seeing him there on the ground and bleeding still haunted her nightmares. Waking her up at the worst times in the night and leaving her exhausted the next day. Avery glanced around the tent and smiled at everyone that walked by. As she glanced around, she overheard two people Avery didn't recognize talking about Quidditch. She was surprised to find that the boy was also the backup Seeker, but for Hufflepuff. "Sorry to interrupt, but you're a backup Seeker too? I am too. See you on the pitch." Avery smiled and walked away. Leaving them to their conversation. Then she saw Joseph walk in. He was one of her first friends when she arrived at Hogwarts after they worked together on a Herbology assignment her first day at Hogwarts. She smiled and waved back at him and watched as he approached Dylan. She smiled. Happy that Dyan would actually have the chance to be social. With him living in America, he hadn't really met many of her friends, so she was glad that Jose and Mikey were willing to chat with him on occasion.

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Mikey let his bag fall from his shoulder with a soft thud and stood there, running careless fingers through the wrinkles in his shirt. His eyes lingered a little longer on Avery, on the way her smile was when she caught sight of him and when she talked about her dad. He didn't require all the particulars to know what she was saying. Mikey nodded in silence, flashing her a brief smile, a glance that said, I get you. I'm here.

And then she was gone, being Avery. Smiling at all of them, already folding into the rhythm of the group as if born to it. He lingered there for a moment, allowing himself to adjust, before turning to take in the rest of the tent.

Meanwhile, Dylan was blinking up at Joseph with his usual mixture of confusion and amusement. Mikey couldn't catch what they were discussing, but Joseph's sweeping gestures and the half-laughing in his tone seemed like whatever it was, Dylan was being recruited into it. Mikey remembered Joseph in the chicken suit at the spring soirée and couldn’t help but laugh to himself.

In the back, Callum and Victoria were engaged in a whispered conversation, their backs to backs like some silent accord had been reached between them. Victoria held a chocolate bar. Victoria, sharing chocolate. Who would have thought? He realized he didn’t know either of them verry well and he should take the opportunity of camp to learn more about them.

Claire was sitting in a proper posture on the edge of her bed, her black cat disappearing already into folds of tent material, probably after KodoPodo and Jasper. Mikey had smiled softly as he caught a flash of striped fur racing after a flailing black tail. It was like watching some enchanted game of tag happening among the pets and some muffled sub-story to everything knotted in conversation occurring around them.

It was funny in a way, just an hour before he had been stuck in traffic, bracing for the embarrassment of lateness, bracing to have somehow escaped summer. Now, here in this enchanted big tent, amid the din of sound and aroma of chocolate and summer dust, something relaxed in him. He moved over to a bed between Dylan and the window side and sat down on the edge. Close enough, but not too close to anyone. He didn't want to intrude. But close enough to hear.

His fingers stroked the blanket idly as he allowed his gaze to sweep over the room once more, noting the way Avery moved from through the room like a light in the dark, the way Dylan was marginally more whimsical now that Joseph was present, the way Victoria's position had changed.

He pulled his knees up, sort of placing his arms across them, and let himself be for a moment. The tightness that had resided in his chest since school had dismissed started to fracture and he was beginning to really enjoy the summer.

Claire felt truly out of place. A lot of students had come, and she didn't know most of them. This made her feel truly uncomfortable. As she looked around blankly, she saw a child with eyes like her own. A little shyly, she approached him.

"Hello, can I sit next to you?"

Her slight French accent was evident as she spoke. This accent usually becomes apparent when she is embarrassed or having difficulty speaking. Speaking was really difficult for her. She sat down next to the boy without answering.

"I'm sorry if you felt uncomfortable with me coming over. You seemed a little bored. That's why I wanted to sit next to you. I hope you don't mind."

As she spoke, she involuntarily began to play with her wavy blonde hair. It occurred to her that she hadn't learned the boy's name yet. She was a little more relaxed now.

"I didn't ask your name. My name is Claire. What's yours? Do you go to Hogwarts? I've met some of the students and I think the students they've been talking to probably go to Hogwarts."

She knew that half of what she said was meaningless and pointless. She waited curiously for her answer.

@Mikey Forville

Mikey had been very happy to sit and observe as laughter moved across the seams of the tent and as the cats appeared to stake their claim on the grounds as home. He half paid attention to Dylan and Joseph when he noticed the soft shuffle of a person stepping up.

He turned, and there she was, Claire. Blonde hair, white face, and a serene demeanor that made her arrival feel less of an imposition and more the beginning of a book he hadn't known he'd been looking forward to reading. Her French accent wrapped every word in something nearly music-like.

"Okay," he said at once, showing a small smile and shifting slightly to the side on the bed to give her more space. "Sit down." She'd already seated herself before he was finished talking, and that made him smile more just a quick flick at the corner of his mouth.

Her apology caught him off guard. Mikey blinked, and then he slowly shook his head. "You didn't scare me. Not in the least. It's good to have someone over." His voice wasn't loud, but it had the kind of honesty that did not require. When she told him her name, Mikey straightened slightly. "Claire," he said again, as though he were practicing it on his tongue. "I think I've heard your name before. Avery or something." A pause. "I'm Mikey. Mikey Forville."

He rubbed his hands together in awkward nervousness. "Yeah, I attend Hogwarts. Ravenclaw. Second year." He glared at her, then tilted his head a fraction to the side. "You're from Beauxbatons, aren't you?"

He hadn't meant it as an guess, just something he'd observed in the way she talked, or perhaps something Avery had spoken of about a school in france. There was a softness to Claire that now made sense, as if she'd come from somewhere where grace was shared but niceness wasn't abandoned. "I think it's brave," he said softly. "To come to camp not knowing a soul. That takes a lot of guts."

Interacting with: @Avery Gray, @Valentin DeAngelo, @Mikey Forville, @Joseph Sims, @Claire White, @Victoria Blythe, and @Callum Alistar Mentioning: N/A Date: 08/11/25

Word Count: 205

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Dylan sat up. Surprise on his face for only a moment before a smile came. He remembered the boy sitting on his bed. Joseph. The boy in the chicken suit from the ball. Ever since then, Dylan knew they would probably end up friends. Especially since he had the guts to do something fun yet embarrassing for himself in public. “Hi. Good to see you here too. I heard about what happened at the Valentine’s Day event. Being the only guy in a room full of girls is torture.” Dylan said with a laugh. Knowing all too well what it was like to live with tween girls. They not only could be chaotic, but they also had a lot of stuff. “So. This your first time at summer camp too?” Dylan asked. Trying to keep the conversation going and get to know Joseph a little better. Even though Dylan wasn’t great at talking to people, having someone to hang out with always beat being alone. Dylan didn’t even know what he would’ve done since Avery was busy introducing herself and Mikey, the boy Dylan knew Avery liked as more than a friend, was busy chatting with a girl Dylan thought he recognized thanks to Avery.

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