Errand CCP Finished

Sophia was a bit startled as Colin approached them at the speed of a rocket. He was amazing. Before he could say anything to the pair, Sophia jumped from Kim's side and pulled Colin into a tight hug. She'd wanted to earlier, but the crowd was getting a bit overwhelming. Now, though, she had the chance to hug her friend properly.

"I'm glad to see you so happy," she gushed in a whisper as she hugged him.

She pulled away and rejoined Kim's side, shooting Colin a quick smile which, incidentally, quickly fell when Colin referred to them as Mr. and Mrs. Kim Nelson. First, she was flattered that Colin thought Kim would take her last name. Second, she was completely mortified. Third, her heart was shattered at Kim's cruel reminder that, yes, they were not a couple.

"Right," Sophia said with a nervous giggle, but her heart wasn't in it, "We're totally not like that, Colin. Not at all."

She tried not to sound too bummed out about the fact.

Thankfully, the topic changed soon to Colin's hasty actions. Sophia noticed that Colin was writing 'Jarael' on a hastily drawn - yet, well drawn, to be fair - sprig of bluebells. He was using edible frostings and other food supplies as paints, and, well, Sophia was impressed. It was kind of sweet.

The name 'Jarael rang a bell, though. Where had Sophia heard that? Hmm. Jarael. Jarael. Jarael. Right! She was in Ravenclaw, no? That definitely sounded familiar, but Sophia couldn't put a face to the name. She glanced over at the table she'd been avoiding for several minutes until she saw a face that she was sure matched the name.

"Wow, Colin," she said with an encouraging smile, "Jarael's one lucky lady. This is so cute of you! Keep it up, and you'll have her wrapped around your finger!"

As Colin turned to leave, Sophia found her own mind wandering to subjects of love, and romance. She was far too young for that kind of thing now, but she couldn't deny having crushes of her own. However, if Kim was any indication, they'd certainly never go anywhere.

Oh well.

As long as Sophia had her friends, she was happy. She wasn't alone, and that was what mattered.

@Kim Sato
@Colin McCoire

Feeling more comfortable now, Pax grinned. "I guess?" They answered Kim. "Well, my parents are atheist and agnostic. My older brother Nico is also agnostic, and my younger brother Jason is buddhist. Yes, somehow the brother who is two years younger than me has his life sorted. I don't see how that's fair but oh well. I've explored different religions and beliefs, but I don't know where I stand now personally. I guess that makes me agnostic? At least for now. Maybe I'll end up deciding that I don't believe in a god. That's partially why I came here, so I could learn more about other religions. Maybe I can decide what religion feels right for me?"

"Can someone explain what the 'God' is for me?" Amber asked.

Pax took a breath before deciding to give the question ago. "God. That's a really deep question. In all honesty, I think God differs for each person. I don't think there is just 'the' God. God represents a different thing depending on your belief, as well as your experience in life. For example, my dad doesn't believe in any gods because he believes that what has happened in his life was completely and utterly down to his hard work and his work ethic. My younger brother Jason doesn't believe in gods as a Buddhist, but follows the Buddha, and reveres him as a model figure. Both my mother and older brother Nico believe there is a God out there, but what they believe about that God is different. My mother thinks that this God is a presence that can't interefere with the world, but watches over us and observes as we live our lives. Nico thinks that the God out there is simply out there, that he has no purpose. He simply is."

Hearing themself say this, it made Pax re-evaluate their view on, well, everything. They talked so much about their family, and the beliefs of them, but rarely about their own. And... upon greater thought... they were ashamed of not knowing what they believed.

"Is it wrong to not know what you believe?" They asked quietly."Because, in all honesty, I don't think I know."

This was one of the first times Pax had been reduced to a nervous, quiet mess. Usually they were so confident, but getting deep and self-exploration worried them. What they believed was far too much thought and depth for them. They rubbed their elbow awkwardly and moved away from the group. They probably shouldn't talk to them for much longer, before their red face burst of embarrassment. Since everyone here seemed to believe in something or nothing, and they had no idea, they felt out of place. Instead, they gravitated further down the table to see an older Hufflepuff student snacking on some goodies they must've picked up. With a sniffle and a furious blink, they plastered a smile on their face and stepped forwards to introduce themselves. "Hi! I'm Pax Zhang, my pronouns are she/they. How about you?" They had a quick examine of the books on the table. "What's... Wicca?"

Reducio

Word Count: 536

Interacting with: @Kim Sato, @Amber Bullhorn, @Willow Anderson

Date: May 14th 2022

☁ Interacting ☁
@Judith Cohen, @AngelFyre McCubbin + @Pax Zhang

Willow listened attentively as Judith talked about her faith, relating to how it could be hard to celebrate their holidays in the first place with how much is going on. "I get it, there are some ways I can still celebrate but some of them there's just no way. Especially with how much I'm doing in school, duelling, classes, all of that. I try and go home during the holidays when I can though, and I try to never forget what's important to me." Her thumb gently ran over the history book she had mentioned, attempting to draw the energy from her Grandmother's writing out from within it and into her heart.

It was at this point AngelFyre returned to the conversation, mirroring the questions that Judith had just asked. Right as she was about to jump into the explanation, another someone joined their table. "Hi Pax! I'm Willow and my pronouns are she/her." The pronouns sat uncomfortably in her mouth, weird. She would think more on that later. "I was just about to tell them about Wicca actually. So, to kind of give you the base of Wicca, it's actually a relatively newer age religion, at least compared to Paganism which it is a branch of. We practice witchcraft, which is funny thinking about it now. Like you said AngelFyre, it is a sort of like- acknowledgement and reverence of nature and its energies."

"We celebrate eight holidays throughout the year." She paused and opened up the holiday book to the first holiday of the year, Yule. "Our first holiday of the year is actually in December. It's Yule, which is actually celebrated by wizards here I think? It happens on the shortest day of the year. We worship a moon Goddess and a horned male God. Now- this can be kind of weird but stick with me. On the longest night of the year the Goddess actually gives birth to the God, then she basically rests for the rest of winter." She turned the page to the next one.

"Imbolc. This is mostly a holiday to celebrate the halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. We're just really hoping for a good spring at this point."

"Next is Spring Equinox, or Ostara. Day and night are equal, everything is balanced. This is basically the next step from Imbolc, the light from now on will overtake the dark. Renewal, rebirth, all of that fun stuff. The Goddess is no longer a mother, but is now a maiden. The God is a young man. People usually start gardens at this time."

"It's believed that during Beltane, the next one, that the veil between the living and the spirit world is thinner than normal, like during Samhain which we'll talk about later. There's a big fire and a maypole and a whole bunch of celebration. The God and Goddess are together during this holiday."

"Litha is next. The days are the longest, we're excited because the sun is here and everything is great and we're just hoping the harvest turns out well. This is when God is at his full power."

"Lughnasadh is the next one, midway between summer and fall and its the first harvest. The God's power begins to decline, and some believe that he gives his power to the crops so that we can have a good harvest and feed ourselves through the winter but that's more of a Pagan belief than a Wiccan one."

"We're almost done, Mabon is next, this is the Fall Equinox. This is also the main harvest, the Goddess moves from her motherly position to an old lady one. We're thankful for all that the harvest has given us and we celebrate being together."

"Samhain is the last one of the year, also known as Halloween! The veil between the living and the dead is actually at it's thinnest and this is the best time to communicate with spirits or ancestors. We're thankful for all the year has given to us and its time to look ahead to next year. The God dies during Samhain, and the Goddess as an old lady and also pregnant with the God, again it's kind of confusing, is at her highest power. This is one of the best nights to do magic."

She leaned back, taking a deep breath and looking at the people that had come to surround her. "Any questions?"

INTERACTING WITH @Willow Anderson
MENTIONING @Kim Sato

It wasn't often, lately that the professors would shepherd teh students away to some room or other in the castle to participate in an organized activity. The last one she could recall—aside from the Valentine's Day tea, of course—was the Share Your Unique Talent event, or whatever CYUT had stood for. She couldn't entirely remember. Recently, however, an activity of a different sort had come to Evelynn's attention, one that would encourage the discussion (and potentially debate?) or various religious and spiritual views and beliefs.

It had taken her by surprise, if truth be told. Surely there were a number of students with varying world views, but it had never really been something that students would bring up. Nor had it ever really been a point of contention. It just... was. The hidden aspect of an individual that remained veiled and secreted behind a veil of obscuring. Caution and curiosity rubbed shoulders as she considered the attendance of this particular event. In some ways, she liked that there was a certain undisturbed nature to this aspect of an individual's identity. Like an unspoken truth that regardless of anyone's belief, they were here for the greater purpose of study and obtaining of knowledge. If they weren't spoken or discussed, then those perceptions couldn't be used against someone to shame, mock or otherwise single them out.

Then again... neither could Evelynn deny that an absence of acknowledgement didn't meant that they weren't still there. Lack of transparency left room for the unknown, a dish known to beget fear which could then warp into hate. Perhaps it was a good thing, then, to promote such an event where individuals would be supported to talk openly and without fear. Where curiosity and questions would be encouraged and understanding fostered. After all, how could one love thy neighbour if they did not know them truly?

Well, one thing was for certain, curiosity had a way of rooting itself within the prefect's mind, the spread of its influence slowly shoving other concerns far to the side until it could be trimmed back. And so her feet would carry her in the direction of the Great Hall. Head held high and posture erect, she would make her way to the Great Hall after her earlier afternoon activity. The open flying practice that she had held at the Quidditch Training Pitch had left her rather peckish, anyway, and she felt a craving for something other than the healthier snacks she'd had set up there.

The hall was already bustling by the time she arrived. Navy A-line skirt swishing around her knees, she would step off to the side just inside the entrance to take stock of the scene before her. It seemed a great number of students were crowded around one area of a table in particular. The prefect strained her gaze in an attempt to see though the bodies blocking the view, but all she could really make out was a number of books on a table. Fingers trailed along the collar of the white three-quarter sleeve blouse tucked crisply into the high waist of her skirt as she deliberated. Some students milled about elsewhere, others seen talking with Professor Farron herself, but every time, Evelynn found her gaze drifting back to the central gathering. With a shrug of her brow, she relented to her own curiosity and decided to join them.

A little late to the speech, she managed to thread her way through the openings until Miss Anderson finally appeared at the centre of the attention. Before her, a selection of books had been laid out, presumably for those present to peruse at their leisure. With this assumption, Evelynn would lean across the table to help herself to the nearest one, pulling it open at chest level where she stood. Even as the girl finished the last of her explanation of what appeared to be a list of holidays, grey eyes panned the pages of the book.

"I do, actually," she spoke up as the Hufflepuff asked if anyone had any questions. Sato would jump on the chance before she could, however, and so she bit her tongue so he could present his inquiry, but would then add to it, asking, "And forgive me if you touched on this already earlier, but how did you come to terms when you came to learn of the existence of real magic? I will admit, I know very little of...Wiccanism? Wicca? But is part of its belief not the casting of spells and performing of magic?"

WORD COUNT: 758 / 1000

With a raise of their eyebrows as they felt a hand on their shoulder, Pax turned their head to look up and see Kim with a (slightly protective) hand on their shoulder. A little confused, they returned a half-hearted smile to the boy before returning to focus on Willow. They'd come back to his actions in a moment.

"Woah, that's a lotta holidays," they chuckled. "Were you brought up Wiccan, or did you discover it through your own means? Is there a specific holiday that is particularly important or signficant to you, or the religion? Is there a reason you chose to believe in this male horned god and this pregnant goddess? What's your favourite thing about the religion?"

As they waited for the answer, they turned back to Kim to question his actions. "What was that for? The shoulder pat, I mean? It was odd...nice, but odd."

With a small smile, before he answered, they impromptly hugged him. "Thanks," they whispered under their breath. "I dunno why... but thanks."

Pretending that hadn't happened, they strightened. "By the way," they added. "This means we're friends now, ok?" With a wider grin, they turned back to hear Willow's answer to their questions.

Reducio

Word Count: 212

Interacting with: @Kim Sato, @Willow Anderson

Date: May 14th 2022

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•.•:•:•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•.•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•.•:•:•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•.•:•:•:•

Judith listened carefully as Willow told her all about wicca. She had heard the name of the religion a few times, but never really knew what it was all about. She liked the idea that the religion worked alot with witchcraft, which Judaism didn't really, it had Kaballah, which was more about the mystical part of the religion, but Witchcraft wasn't really a part of that. When Willow talked about Yule she remembered the Yule ball, which she didn't attempt at that time, since no one specifically asked her to go. Which she so didn't want to celebrate.

"Well first of all i love your name! And i remember Yule! Otherwise there aren't as much holidays that i remember to have heard of! " she said and smiled.
"We got a ton of holidays as well, there like so many that sometimes i'm glad i don't have to celebrate all of them, they all take so much work and it's just far more fun with family and friends around you!"

"First we have Shabbat, or also known as Shabbos, which starts every friday at sundown and ends every saturday at sundown, where we can't do any work, so it's like the rest day of the week. And it's not like regular work, we follow the Melakhah which contains 39 types of work that we can't do. So we bake challah the day before, and light candles to start shabbos and light again to end shabbos."

"We also got many new years, which the first one of is called Rosh Hashanah, Where we eat alot of apples and honey, which i don't cause i don't like honey. And we pray and meditate alot, but it's quite fun!"

"Then we have Yom Kippur, is like the holiday where we pray and to start the new year frech, we give forgiveness to everyone for all their 'sins' and start frech after the holiday! Again a holiday with lots of prayers!"

"Sukkot is my personal favourite! We get to pray in the Sukkah and eat there and all, it's like this kind of hut, which we build every year for the holiday and take it down again when it's over, and woman shake the Lulaf, which i personally love! It reminds us of the time the Hebrews where on their way from the Moutain to the promised land!"

"Then we have Chanukkah, the festival of light which we celebrate freedom and worship. It's about finding light in dark times and we light the Chanukiah, every day a candle! It also refers to the story of the Maccabeans"

"Also tell me when it's getting boring cause there's alot" she says joking.

"Tu B'shevat is the new year of the tree's! Which we celebrate to appreciate nature! We celebrate it by eating alot of Yisraeli fruit!"

"Then we got Purim, which is kinda like a carnaval? We dress up like the craziest things, and we read the story of Esther, she's a real queen i love her!"

"Then we have Passover, which is the hardest one, we have to clean the hous and can't eat certain things for a whole week, and we got to eat Matzah, which isn't good for your stumach at all, i asure you." She said jokingly. "And it reminds us of a part of our Torah, our most important book and Exodus!"

"then we have the couting of Omer, which is again prayers, but during those days we can't get married, or have a haircut and so and then on the holidady Lag Ba'omer, we can to celebrate the joy! And then we count again until the next holiday, which is Shavuat, which isn't really anything, just alot of prayers, it's the holiday that reminds us of the day we received the Torah, or holy book. And then we got a few fast days and Tu B'av, where we celebrate love!"

"Woaw that was a mouth full, i'm sorry for talking so much ahhah" she said laughing, hoping it all didn't sound to boring.

@Willow Anderson

Word count: Post 1: 449/1000 Post 2: 311 /1000 Post 3: 699 /1000 Total: 1509/1000

@Josephine Aitkens

The younger student caught the boy only a little off guard with her chipperness. In a weird turn of fate, Piérre thought that he had run into a different version of himself, or at least a younger version of himself; a past self from his first year.

Or at least the first semester of his first year.

His left handed handshake was met awkwardly with a right handed one, which likely caused the younger girl to clasp the back of Piérre's hand as opposed to actually nabbing his palm. Piérre didn't really give it much mind though, instead rolling with the mistake and shaking regardless, a big, bright smile on his face at the silliness of it.

Maybe the openness of the smile and invitation to continue the conversation had for the time being managed to briefly shake off the lingering worries that the boy had been feeling up to that moment.

She introduced herself as Josephine; Joey for short, then asked Piérre about the origins of his name. He chuckled once, scratching the back of his neck as he tried to figure out the best way to explain the strangeness of his name when compared to his more Mediterranean origins. “Well… yeah. The name Piérre is French… but I actually hail from Italia. Italy.” The more he spoke, the more likely the girl would be able to pick up on the small lilts in Piérre's words, the extension of some vowels, and the snipping of consonants up until he slid into his comfortable Italian. “Hogwarts was the closest place for education besides Beauxbatons… especially after we moved to London.” He paused for a moment, debating whether or not he should bring up the last tidbit about himself.

In the end, he decided to go vanilla once more. “My parents just really liked the name Piérre, I guess. And, if we're going by nicknames… you can call me Pi!”

The irrational number. How fitting.

Clever, right?

Mhm... Clever.

Joey went on a little bit, asking him why he was here and if he was a 'believer', following it up by saying that she didn't quite know what such a title implied. Admittedly, the way she said it caused Piérre to get a little uncomfortable. He knew that religious beliefs had a tendency to get heckled sometimes for being irrational or a fool's errand... But then again, why live if you have nothing to live for or towards?

At the least, there was nothing better than a distraction to keep your mind off the bad things. Especially a "distraction" which rewarded you for placing stock in it and keeping the straight and narrow path.

Shrugging as he let go of the handshake, Piérre tried his best to explain. “Well... I guess you could say that. I do believe in God, after all.” He tapped his satchel with the two Bibles in it.

“Though that's not to say that my faith is the only belief which exists. I mean... That's why a bunch of people came, I think. We all believe in something. Something that seems to make our world complete spiritually as well as materially. That's what Roman Catholicism is for me, anyways. It helps the world make just a little more sense to me.”

He hummed, rocking back and forth as he smiled a bit more. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Maybe this could be fun. Fun like life was supposed to be. The way that he knew he was supposed to live his life.

Piérre turned the question back to Joey. “What about you, if you don't mind my asking? Do you have a belief that makes the world make a little more sense?” He tipped his head, sideyeing a meat pie before giving in and nabbing it. Even if he didn't eat it... Figaro, who was watching from beneath a far table and out of sight, would. “Do you want to sit down anywhere?”