"The classification system runs from one X to five!" Pyce flipped to the front of the book to show Katelyn the page. "X is the lowest, no more harmful than a rabbit. Five X would be the most dangerous class. It has things like dragons, basilisks, and acromantulas." Notably all the cool stuff. Pyce scanned the intro to the book since they had flipped to the front anyway. They had memorized it at this point, but it was a really good book!

"I think we need it so we can see what the creatures contribute to other aspects of magic. Like wands! The cores are made from parts of certain creatures! Dragon heartstrings and unicorn hair and the like. We'll probably learn about flobberworms in Herbology or Potions." Flobberworms. Probably the only magical creature Pyce had ever seen with their own eyes. And the most boring of the whole lot. Though, they might have met a knarl at some point, but that could have just as easily been a regular hedgehog.

"It would be incredible to meet a unicorn! They're a quadruple-X! Not because they're dangerous, but simply because you should respect them. Muggle mythos tends to characterize them very well, I think." Pyce glanced over the footnote on centaurs. There were a select few that had such a rating for those reasons. It would be interesting to meet any one of them. Except maybe a merperson. Because Pyce would likely only meet one if they were drowning.

WC: 248	Interacting With: @Katelyn Magnolia
Extra Notes: Reducio N/A	Outfit: Reducio A red sweater vest over a white collared shirt with rolled up sleeves with navy blue pants

"Dragons are pretty cool too. Dangerous and untamable. Or- pretty close to untamable. It would be cool to have a dragon as a pet, though." It would be so cool! Imagine having your own hunting dragon! Or- not. Because real dragon species were far bigger than the ones Pyce wanted to keep as pets. But it was a fun thought. Speaking of pets.

"A lot of people have magical creatures as pets. Magical Menagerie sells Pygmy Puffs! My neighbor has a pet knarl. I think I'd be happy with a flame-dwelling salamander, but they didn't make the list of Hogwarts approved pets. There's also crups. I think those are allowed at Hogwarts now. They're pretty expensive though. I know one of the previous headmasters had a pet phoenix. But those are also not on the pet list. I wonder if it's a fire hazard. I mean, probably. But there are spells for-" A hand pushed Pyce's head down. It was a familiar gesture, so they just let it happen.

"Do you ever shut up?"

"No." Pyce pointedly ignored Hecate, who seemed to be putting more weight onto Pyce's head. "Anyway, there are charms to put out fires. I don't know how big the fire can be before the charm stops working and- Can you cut that out!" Pyce snapped, turning to their annoying twin, who had steadily been adding more pressure to the hand on their head. It had gotten to the point where it was impossible to ignore. Hecate smirked.

"No. Anyway, who's the poor soul you're boring to death?" Pyce huffed.

"None of your business is what it is." Pyce grumbled under their breath.

WC: 276	Interacting With: @Katelyn Magnolia
Extra Notes: Reducio Enter Hecate! He's identical to Pyce in nearly every way, with longer dyed-white hair, a denser face of freckles, and smaller, silver glasses. He's also missing one of his molars, the adult tooth hasn't come in yet. He's wearing a dark green hoodie and black sweatpants. Looks totally out of place here. Many have tried to give this child a sense of style, many have failed.	Outfit: Reducio A red sweater vest over a white collared shirt with rolled up sleeves with navy blue pants

"The one and only! I'm Hecate, nice meeting you too, Kate! Very few can survive this nerd's info dumps!" Hecate ruffled Pyce's hair. Pyce finally shoved him off. It was a light shove, but as per usual, Hecate acted as though it was the harshest he had ever been treated. Pyce did not care. Hecate recovered quickly anyway.

"Pets are cool and all, but you know what's better than creatures?" Oh. Oh this would not do. Hecate better not try to upstage them! He wasn't even here but a minute ago! Hecate pulled a small stack of books from... Somewhere. Pyce gave up figuring out that mystery years ago. Always something, always somewhere. "It's spells! Actual magic that actually listens to you!" Hecate held out a book to Katelyn, whilst Pyce took whatever was on top of the pile.

"The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection?" Pyce read aloud. "Defense Against the Dark Arts? Really?" Hecate snickered.

"I'm joining Slytherin's dueling team!" Pyce rolled their eyes.

"You aren't even in Slytherin yet."

"But I will be!" Pyce turned to Katelyn, and the book Hecate had handed to her. Book of Spells. Huh. They'd have probably gone to find it sooner or later. In fact, the book Pyce had grabbed was also on their shopping list. If only Hecate could be this useful all of the time.

WC: 226	Interacting With: @Katelyn Magnolia
Extra Notes: Reducio We've got Cate and we've got Kate! (Granted, Cate sounds more like ket so...)	Outfit: Reducio A red sweater vest over a white collared shirt with rolled up sleeves with navy blue pants

Hecate gasped dramatically. He turned to Pyce. "You didn't tell Kate about the houses??"

"It hadn't come up yet-" Pyce found themself promptly shoved to the side.

"Slytherin is one of the four houses at Hogwarts! It decides where you're going to spend your next seven years! Pie and I come from a long line of Slytherins-"

"And Ravenclaws." Pyce wasn't even sure Hecate had heard them.

"I'd almost go as far as to say it's the best house, but they've all got their own specialties. Slytherin is all about cunning! And determination!"

"And reckless stupidity." As was Gryffindor. Those houses were far closer than anyone was willing to admit.

"And the dormitories are in the dungeons! Very nice, very cold and dark." Where a gremlin like Hecate belonged. "You really don't know what house you're going to be in until you get there, but I'm certain I, and Pyce, will be Slytherins!" Fat. Chance. Pyce was going to be a Ravenclaw, thank you very much.

"You've also got Gryffindor, the brave and prideful ones. Ravenclaw, very nerdy house. Pyce might end up there if they're not a Slytherin. And Hufflepuff! The loyal ones! I think the best part of that house is that the dorms are right next to the kitchens. All the midnight snacks you could possibly want!"

"Gryffindor tends to be the most sought after house. The "House of Heroes" I think I've heard it called a few times. Harry Potter and his friends were Gryffindors. Slytherin tends to get a bad reputation because-"

"There isn't a single bad witch or wizard who wasn't a Slytherin" It got tiring hearing that from people. There's really only so many times any one person needs to bring it up.

"They're all good houses, though. But some people do have preferences. And sometimes, like with us, families tend to have more people sorted into one house than any other. In our case, it's Slytherin and Ravenclaw."

WC: 326	Interacting With: @Katelyn Magnolia
Extra Notes: Reducio One of my favorite parts about writing anything pre-sorting is the certainty that everyone has about Pyce's house. At the very least, Pyce, Stella, and Hecate are all relatively certain that it's going to be Ravenclaw	Outfit: Reducio A red sweater vest over a white collared shirt with rolled up sleeves with navy blue pants

"Ah. History stuff. Ain't my specialty, so I'm going to hand this one solely to Pyce." Hecate leaned against a shelf. Pyce huffed. Hecate knew all this perfectly well, he just didn't want to explain it.

"There's quite a few infamous Slytherins that have tarnished the house's reputation." Pyce scanned the shelves near them. Hecate poked them on the head with a book. Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century. Just the book they were going to look for. Pyce took it and flipped through for a bit. "In the 60s and 70s, a wizard by the name of-" A somewhat heavy book was dropped on Pyce's head. It didn't hurt much, but Pyce still turned to glare at Hecate. "This is relevant information!"

"And you are crazy!" Hecate squawked, readying another book to bash on Pyce's head.

"He's dead!!" Pyce exclaimed. Hecate narrowed his eyes, but returned what appeared to be Quidditch Through the Ages back on the shelf. Pyce turned back to Katelyn. "Sorry about that. Some people are a bit superstitious-y about it. But there was this wizard, and his name was Voldemort." Hecate shuddered. "Saying his name back when he was alive was... Well, I don't know how the magic behind it worked, but nobody said it. Our mum still doesn't. My friend Stella's parents do, but they went to Hogwarts when everything went down. But Voldemort was bad news. The worst. He sought power and death. Through that power, he gained a following. They mainly targeted muggle-borns, and those who defended muggles." Pyce flipped forward a few pages, skimming them to make sure they had the right years. "Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, is the only documented survivor of the Killing Curse. Voldemort-" Hecate whacked them with the book, a bit more forcefully. Pyce straightened their glasses and ignored him. "-Tried to kill Harry as a baby. No one knows how, but Harry managed to survive! After that V-" Pyce glanced at Hecate. They sighed. "You-know-who disappeared. And so it went for the next eleven-ish years. Harry Potter started attending Hogwarts, a Gryffindor, and soon, all sorts of things started happening. And it comes to a head with the return of... You-know-who." Pyce got a light bonk for that one. Which- rude. They didn't even start to say it! But they flipped to the next relevant pages. "A lot happened after he returned. More death. A lot more. Hogwarts ended up as the final battlefield. It'd be a lot to go through right now, and I'm sure we'll learn about it in History. The important part is that Harry Potter defeated Vol- You-know-who." Pyce slid the book over to Katelyn. "It's a lot to read, and it's not on our list, but you can go through it if you want. Very recent history and all that. At least it's over though."

"I hope that answered your questions without being too much?"

WC: 487	Interacting With: @Katelyn Magnolia
Extra Notes: Reducio The nerd child lives up to their reputation!	Outfit: Reducio A red sweater vest over a white collared shirt with rolled up sleeves with navy blue pants