Interacting| @Howard White

Howard had listened to her, so she showed him the same respect by listening to him. Santario’s eyes slid down to his scar when he revealed it and the back to his face, her expression unchanged. She had already surmised what he was, so it was not a big shocker when he further proved it, not that his physical features weren’t enough. It was clear that they lived two very different lives even before his transformation, but they did have something in common. They both wanted something to go back to how it used to be, an impossibility for them both.

“I can see your point. I still don’t agree with it, but I can see it and understand it from the perspective you’ve given me. I think knowing would hinder me. If I were to be told more than I needed or wanted to know, would that inadvertently change the course in me getting what I want? Or what if I was handed an ultimatum what if to get what I want I might have to do something I normally wouldn’t. This could cause me to overthink I’d rather figure out what kind of person I am in the snap than to think about it.” Her tone was thoughtful as if she was putting the thoughts together as they were coming out of her mouth. Still very well put together thoughts, but the fact that she wasn’t used to breaching a conversation so open could be notated by someone observant enough.

She glanced over at the professor as a couple of people left her presence. “What happens if you get an answer you don’t like? Do you give up, or do you work twice as hard to change that answer?” She looked back to the dhampir across from her questioningly. It spoke a lot about a person if they decided to just give up, and his answer would make or break her current opinion of him.

Outfit

The night was clear and beautiful. Looking upward, Marshal was astounded by the amount of stars that were visible, his view of them unhindered with the lack of artificial light that was always present in the city.
As he admired the brilliant, cloudless sky, he found himself letting out a sigh of relief.
He would be lying if he said that he wasn't fascinated and excited by the magic surrounding everything since he had left home, but that being said, he couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed at times. This new world he was experiencing was just so strange, so different from what he was used to.
So he was going to enjoy every moment of this night.
Sometimes, something as simple as sitting back and looking at the stars above is all you need to unwind and let go of all the stress that you've been holding within.
'Simple pleasures,' his father used to tell him on occasion. 'If you don't learn to appreciate the little things in life, then you're missing the point. Even the big things will never be enough. Pay attention to the details of your life, or it will be gone before you even realize what you had.'
Thoughts of home accompanied the memory, and Marshal smiled. He missed his family a lot. But of course, with new circumstances comes new opportunity, and he meant to take full advantage.
Going to Hogwarts was a chance to make new friends and have adventures that he could never have otherwise dreamed of. And those things were exactly what he was about.

Pulling his gaze from the heavens, he took a moment to survey his surroundings.
To his left, a group of students were already gathered around to hear Professor Lian's stories, and to his right, Professor Kibitzer was supposedly telling people's fortunes.
He had zero intentions of going anywhere near a fortune teller for as long as he could possibly avoid it. He preferred having his future unknown to him, full of possibilities; as far as he was concerned, he controlled his own fate, and he didn't hold any desire to have someone tell him otherwise.
For all he knew, Professor Kibitzer would tell him that he was destined to fall into a random hole, after which a conveniently placed tree would fall and cover the hole, leaving him to die alone in utter darkness.
He would much rather live his life without concern for every step he took, thank you very much.
As he had the thought, he started shifting his feet, then paused. Looking down, he lifted one foot and gingerly tested the area where he had been about to place it. Nothing felt off; it was just grass. He set his foot down and leaned his full weight on it. Nothing happened.
Suddenly recognizing the mind game that he had accidentally played on himself, he shook his head, stamped his foot firmly, and came to the conclusion that he was a loon.

Turning his attention back to Professor Lian's space, he considered going there.
He was interested to hear her stories, and the pillows did look awfully comfortable. And yet he decided against approaching her as well.
All he really wanted to do was gaze at the stars and maybe make some new friends. Simple pleasures and all that.
Glancing farther ahead, his attention was captured by the telescopes that had been so kindly set up. Getting a closer look at the stars seemed like a great option, so he set off in that direction, making sure to give Professor Kibitzer a wide berth as he passed by.

Inevitably, his tunnel vision was interrupted by one of the tables and the the picnic basket on top.
Always happy to provide his stomach with whatever it wanted, he peered inside the basket and was greeted by the mouth-watering sight of the contents inside.
Making a quick decision, he grabbed two chocolate frogs and a handful of pretzels before resuming his trip towards the telescopes.
The pretzels were basically gone by the time he reached his destination.
There were a couple other kids already here, both using one telescope and talking animatedly, big smiles on both of their faces.
Ah, young love, he thought dreamily.
Marshal enjoyed a good romance, so he figured that the two were best left alone.
Moving to the next telescope down, he assumed that all he had to do was look through the contraption, and he would be enjoying the stars in their full magnified glory without issue. Holding the chocolate frog packages in one hand, he leaned over and placed one eye against the lens, prepared to witness a stunning scene.
Frankly, he was underwhelmed. All he saw was a blurred mass of black.
Leaning back, he blinked hard and rubbed his eyes, then tried again, with the same depressing result.
He tapped the telescope with a finger and glanced around, as if expecting someone to come and fix the problem.
"I guess that one's broken," he muttered, only loud enough for him to hear.
Undeterred, he devised a quick solution and moved on to the next telescope.
Peering through the lens of the obviously superior telescope, he was met once again by a shapeless blur.
Scratching his head in confusion, he examined the contraption closer and noticed the various knobs and dials for the first time.
Oh, drat.

Dealing with unfamiliar gadgets and gizmos wasn't exactly one of Marshal's strong points. In less words, he had no idea what he was doing.
But despite the odds being powerfully stacked against him, he still remained steadfast in his pursuit to 'zoom in on the sky.'
Stooping down, he set his chocolate frogs on the ground beside him, then stood and went to work, fiddling with things he didn't understand, entirely certain that he could figure it out.
He was very wrong.

@Amara Dragamior

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INTERACTIONS @Zykeal Lane

MENTIONS Cypresse Lian︱Lizzie Verdine︱May Moonstar Opeila Seilun︱Rosalind Kibitzer

The dark night sky was unusually clear and full of twinkling stars, and as Ivy looked around, sizing up each table and picnic rug, she idly wondered if it was magic that enabled them to see the sky so clearly tonight - they were in the city of London, after all. She wasn't sure if her way of thinking was accurate, as she had spent most of her childhood in the vast countryside of Sussex, where there wasn't a village for miles 'round and the sky was almost always starry in the summer. It wasn't like she had many opportunities to "stargaze", though, nor had she ever even thought to, so she was rather interested in the activity that evening when the school offered it.

It was the perfect opportunity to socialise even more, but Ivy found herself walking away from the crowded areas - past Professor Kibitzer's fortune telling tent, past Professor Lian's storytelling circle, to the side where only a few people lingered. She wasn't entirely sure why, but she just didn't feel like meeting other people tonight - perhaps it was something to do with the calmness of the evening, or maybe the sadness that had suddenly snuck into her heart, which was something that happened far too often these days. One moment, she would be completely fine, even happy, and the next, all she wanted to do was leave.

Clutching the star map in her hands, Ivy's eyes flickered upwards to look at the sky every now and then as she looked for an acceptable bench to sit on. Not there... or there... or - oh. Her heart leapt into her throat at the sight of someone familiar, his figure visible even in the darkness, and she bit her lip, trying to ignore the twisting and turning of her stomach. Ivy and Zyk's relationship was... complicated. How was she supposed to explain it? Friends... then not friends... then... what were they now? Ivy had been debating whether or not she had a crush on Zyk for the past few days, ever since she had seen him and Lizzie at Opeila's party in June. Should I tell him now? But before she told him anything about that, she had to apologise first, didn't she? For abandoned him at the Ball for Ana, not giving him a second glance as she ran off... for not even knowing he was angry with her... it had been such a brief friendship, but it had felt like so much longer that she had known him.

Had he felt the same way? Or was Ivy just someone who had abandoned him, someone who had stepped on his pride momentarily? It appeared that way, seeing as he was together with Lizzie now. But where was Lizzie? She wasn't anywhere to be seen - maybe that was a good sign, because although Ivy liked her tentmate quite a lot now, it would have been rather awkward to have her there too... "Hi Zyk," she said, standing in front of him. Ivy was speaking in a low tone, as so not to attract attention, but rather quickly, tripping over her own words and stammering a little, so he couldn't interrupt her before she lost her nerve. "Before you say anything, just listen. I've been really wanting to talk to you for a while, ever since I saw you at Opeila's gathering last month with Lizzie - no, even longer than that, ever since our meeting down at the Lake. And I know you said I shouldn't bother talking to you again and that you don't need me and that we're different and all that," here she winced, the memories of that disastrous afternoon in May, "but I have to say this now, or I'll never say it."

"So here it is. I'm really, really sorry, and it's probably not enough, but I'm saying it anyway. I shouldn't have left you at the Ball alone when you were trying to help me, and I was a bad friend for not checking on you after and making sure you got out alive." Ivy's cheeks coloured slightly as she paused to take a breath. Where was all of her courage coming from? Why was it that she was saying it all now? "I should have told you all this at the Lake," she continued hurriedly, afraid that he would start talking, "But May was there and I was embarrassed and I couldn't bring myself to do it and that's really dumb, I know, but I didn't know how to apologise because I've never really apologised for anything before." Goodness, she really was rambling, wasn't she?

"A-and then I saw you at Opeila's party with Lizzie and I don't know what happened - wait, that's a lie, I know exactly what happened." Here it came. Here came the part that was really hard to say. "I like you, Zyk," Ivy said, in a voice that was even quieter. "Like, I have a crush on you. And I knew I had to apologise because you were - are right, and it's probably too late because you've got Lizzie but I knew I had to do it anyway because that's what you would do. She's pretty and smart and kind, and just overall great." Her voice cracked on the last word and a pang of jealousy rushed through her. "She's not messed up and weird like I am, and she would never ditch you at a Ball and leave you in mortal danger or do anything as stupid as that. She's really, really great and I'm sure you like her an awful lot, which I can get, but I just had to tell you that I like you too and... yeah." As quickly as the words had come, they left, and the Gryffindor found herself unable to speak, although that was probably something to do with the lump in her throat as well. Now all that was left to do was wait for his response, and Ivy watched the sky as she waited, becoming more and more anxious with each second.

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Interacting with @Ivy Bellamy | Mentioning Lizzie Virdine | Dealla Prince | Ileen Knight

Those golden hues were downcast, staring at the ground as he walked slowly around the edge of the area where the stargazing was happening with his fellow classmates. The wand spun slowly within his fingers as he moved about, slowly along the edge of the woods, keeping to himself as he was deep in thought of the situation that had just occurred between himself and his now ex-girlfriend. For this reason, Zykeal hadn't noticed that someone else had approached him until their feet had obstructed his view of the ground and caused his movement to stop. It was with great hesitation and annoyance that he slowly lifted his head and gazed upon the person that wished to disturb his mental brooding at that moment. The wand slowly coming to a steady stop of its constant twirl to have its hilt rest within the palm of his hand in case it was necessary to rashly cast a spell to get out of any situation that he deemed needless.

Zykeals jaw locked in surprise as he beheld the small form of Ivy that stood in front of him at that moment, whispering a small, 'hey', to him as she peered up at him in that dimly lit portion of the events area. This night was going to turn from bad to worse in a quick moment and Zykeals' head was not ready for what was about to come his way, the swirling vortex of emotions that would build up almost to a breaking point that was impossible to escape. There wasn't a response to be formed for the girl, his former crush before she continued on talking with a studdering voice and emotional tone set her. The girl had told him to stay quiet, he would, he hadn't a thought in his head to be able to even say hello to the girl as he was already in a right state of uncertainty. Zyk wasn't aware of how unsettling this night was about to become and wished greatly that he had just continued enjoying the Jelly Slugs that he was sharing with Dealla.

An explanation of events that had unfolded during the school year was told to him by Ivy, her thoughts and feelings coming to the front in her words that she tripped over. The original plan of Lizzies and his own, of their fake relationship to make the ones that they had really wanted to go out with jealous was being confirmed to have worked, to get them to notice, even though Zyk had thought it had failed miserably. Zyks hands lowered to his sides, letting his wand tip fall to be pointed towards the ground for once, watching as Ivy explained herself and asked him to listen as she wanted to tell him how she had felt. Zykeal didn't know what to do with himself, the boy had just turned 12 and was reeling with emotions that he did his best to hide, considering the display of emotions to be a weakness, especially in front of those he cared about.

Ivy went on to apologize, she didn't need to, Zykeal still had somehow justified in his mind that Ivy, despite her actions, probably did what she thought was best in the situation at the Ball and even though he didn't agree with it, accepted it. Even though she told him not to speak, he couldn't help but mutter a few words of acceptance, "It's fine.." he whispered softly, not even sure if she would have heard him. When she brought up the name of the Hufflepuff girl that he detested, he couldn't help but forming a small sneer upon his features before letting it drop quickly in fear that she might be thinking it was in reference to her. Ivy continued though, that's when the biggest blow she'd speak was about to be dropped. Zyk could see it coming, this wasn't the right time for her to say it, but, there was nothing he could do about it. The timing was never good between the two of them.

"I like you, Zyk"

Those words registered within Zyk and it crushed him at that moment, the mixing of emotions nearly causing him to not hear anything else she had continued to say. Honestly, he didn't, the continued conversation she had was put into a mental block that he couldn't allow to be opened at that moment. Catching just a few words, 'Lizzie, Lizzie, Lizzie', all were the resounding words that stood out to him at that time, how could they not as they had just a few moments earlier had ended their faux relationship that resulted in this exact moment happening in front of him. The outpouring of emotional sentiments that Ivy displayed in her open confession to him brought out the sting of guilt at his original plot of manipulation towards the girl that stood before him, he resented himself for this moment and deserved every second of the heartbreaking feelings he was feeling at the time.

They were both too good for him.

Ivys' words had finally ceased and he couldn't help but just stare at her for the moment, trying to formulate a response that just wasn't coming to mind. It took him upwards of a minute to think of something to say and he knew he couldn't accept any sort of feelings she had towards him, he had manipulated the situation, they weren't real feelings. Shaking his head slowly after a moment, he sighed as he looked at her with those golden irises glinting in the moons bright light, "I'm sorry Ivy," he said quietly, "we can't" he finalized, it wouldn't be fair to her to continue this farse and he knew he had been an awful person, realizing it at this exact moment. Without another word, he'd turn away from the girl that stood before him, confessing her feelings for him, and he'd walk away, heading towards where the rest of his tentmates were upon the blanket he had been resting upon before.

Zykeal would rejoin the princess known as Dealla, her best friend Ileen, and he'd settle himself down upon the blanket without a word to the pair of them. Laying back down to gaze upon the stars above, taking on their meaning in a different light and wondering if the fates had cast this hardship down upon him for his juvenile actions. A promise would be made to himself not to venture into the realm of relationships in the near future, it'd be hard to stop his constant flirting, but, he'd try and control the feelings of attachment that he seemed to be so susceptible too. Tucking himself upon the blanket next to his friends, he felt awful and pulled the hood of his hoodie up over his head and hid his face from the sight of his friends, embarrassed of himself.

Interacting| @Charles Simmons | @Lizzie Verdine

Alaric retraced his hand, as the boy did not take it, he would clasp his hands in front of him now and listen. He remembered growing up thinking he was a monster, feeling like a monster. When you grew up in a small town, that was an easy thing to feel because even the slightest of differences in your appearance in a one-horse town got pointed out. “Please never apologize; you are not bothering me even in the slightest. You are still human, you are not a monster, even if people treat you like one. It’s what is in your heart that counts, not what is skin deep. Humans are a fickle thing; they fear what they do not know, and that same fear does not allow them to want to know. So they do the only thing they can think of… They shun us.”

A direction change in one of the other students caught his attention from the corner of his eyes. A young blonde of his house was making her way over to them. “I would be happy to have a meeting with your parents before the start of the next term if you think it would help.” He said just in time before the blonde greeted the young man in front of him. “Greetings Miss Verdine. Alaric greeted her with the smile she would be accustom to seeing on his face. He had no issue with her being here, but it would depend on Charles. Alaric figured that he could probably have a more productive conversation with the boy and possibly his parents over the summer.

Interacting with @Alaric Equinox and @Lizzie Verdine.
Thread Left

Charles didn't know how to feel. It was like everything was taken from him. He didn't feel happy, mad or sad, or even relived. He felt nothing, but for once after he was bitten he didn't feel fear. As Charles listened to what the professor said. He thought about it, maybe if Alaric talked to them they would understand. And they would spend time with him again like they did before he was bitten. Then Charles heard a voice he recognised instantly. And panic took over Charles at that moment. He knew that he should tell her after this.

But he didn't know how she would react and that's what scared him. "H-Hi Lizzie." Charles said trying to sound normal. He turned around to face Lizzie. And put on his best fake smile. There was something about Lizzie that made Charles just feel like he could tell her anything. But he never did tell her a lot about himself. Because he was too afraid, of what would happen if he did tell her. Charles turned to face the professor. "Well it wouldn't hurt to try I guess. But please don't do this if you're busy." Charles paused for a minute.

"And your work and personal stuff going on in your life. Is way more important than mine will ever be." It was clear that Charles did not want Lizzie to find out what he was. Charles gave the professor a fake smile pleading in his mind that he wouldn't tell Lizzie. Charles then turned to Lizzie. "Sorry to go so soon, but I have to go back to my tent mates. They don't know i'm here and we planned to do a study session tonight." Charles hated that he lied to Lizzie, but he needed out of there. So with all said and done, he gave them both a wave. And headed back to his tent.

Interacting with: @Ivy Bellamy
Mentioning: @Dealla Prince @Janet Jackson @Aaron Jones @Alan Vanes @Zykeal Lane

Stars. These were one of the few things Ariana could sit and watch for hours upon end with little movement or fracture of concentration. So beautiful, so serene. They remained a mystery, a beautiful depiction of endless possibility. Despite her fondness for the luminous balls of light, Ariana hadn't had many opportunities so stargaze before. The few times she had, well they were too painful to think about, for the last time she had stargazed, she had been lying next to the one person she would have given her life for, the one person she had been sure would have never left her. Ariana missed her cousin so terribly, that she had learnt to lock away such reminiscent moments, such scenarios she couldn't bear to revise. This of course has not been easy, the distress was almost like physical pain. Worse even. However, maybe this is why she felt the stars were so special to her; they reminded her of someone she had lost. Yet, the question still remained. Why? Alejandra had been so perfect, always the one person who could make things right, now she was gone forever.

The star chart Ariana had acquired was grasped loosely between her fingers and she turned it over, examining it with interest, before focusing her gaze on the surrounding people. Green orbs could in fact make out many familiar faces. The temptation to go around and greet as many of them as she could, was rather tempting, although she decided against it. Hues swept the cozy site, bouncing from group to group, face to face. Her gaze hovered over Janet for more than a second and Ariana had to furiously fight the urge to run over there and apologize. Yes, she was infuriatingly stubborn, she was not uttering a simple apology to the blonde girl until the brat herself though to acknowledge her mistakes. Her nose wrinkled in a mixture of annoyance and disgust, she swirled round, contemplating her other options.

Maybe she could go and say ‘hi’ to Dee, Ariana had quite a welcoming impression of the girl and she seemed surrounded by familiar faces too. Or she could head over and talk to Aaron, the boy was always fun to talk to, although he seemed to be chatting with someone else. Alan seemed an option, she could just make out the boy sitting around, chatting. Ariana would take a step forward towards him before stopping dead, hands falling limp to her side, doubling back as she caught sight of, Ivy.

Whatever was up with the girl, it certainly wasn't something on the positive side. The dark haired lion looked rather distraught, Ariana had swiped her gaze across just in time to witness Zyk strolling away from her. What th- Oh no. Turning sharply on her heel, she veered over to the girl, who was now standing solo not far off. Ariana knew perfectly well that she could have minded her own business, however, who was she to leave her own friend upset? In that case, technically it was her business, anyone who messed with her mates was going to have to answer to her. The brunette reached the gryffindor keeper and placed a hand on her shoulder, tilting her head to try and scrutinize Ivy's expression.

“Whatever is the matter Ivy? You look as though you've swallowed a lemon! And I must say, I didn't see any of those in the lovely baskets over there, have you tried out any of the candy?”

She took a step back and gestured kindly for Ivy to follow her, eyes softened in concern, fingers tugging at her hoodie strings. She would discuss the matter once they both sat down, of course she couldn’t ignore whatever was wrong.

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As soon as the young wizard laid down amongst those he had deemed as friends, he knew better, this wasn't a place for him to linger any longer. The couch within heir tent would become his dwelling place for the foreseeable future. Maybe he'd try to venture out beyond those tent walls eventually, but, he'd recognize his mistakes as they were. It took great effort for Zykeal to raise himself from the comfortable blanket next to two queens of different houses and push himself to where he was raised, knees against his chest and his head still raised up, golden irises still looking upon the stars.

Taking a moment to collect himself, he looked over towards Ileen and Dealla and offered a few words of departure, "Dealla, Ileen.. Cya back at the tent." he mentioned. Although he knew Dee would hate the use of her formal name on the occasion, her constant aggression towards him would be dealt with later. It didn't matter to him at this point in the night, his night had turned into something amazing that with friends to something that became self-loathing and disruptive to his emotions. Zykeals presence wasn't needed here to happen the mood of his elated friends.

Using hands to push himself from his seated position, he'd stow his wand away in his waistband before he'd step away from the blanket. Casting no more thought or gaze to anyone whom surrounded him at the time being, he'd head off into the darkness of the woods to make his way, hopefully, back towards his tent no matter how long the trek tolled upon him. Zyk was just simply over the night. Baffled by the timing of situations and hating the fact that it was he, himself, that had caused the majority of the issues that now rested upon his soul.

Zyk leaves the thread.

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@Alaric Equinox | @Charles Simmons
closed to interactions

When Lizzie had said at the Welcome BBQ that Stargazing was going to be a magical night, she did not expect for it to be a bad night instead. Of course it was magical because there were literally wizards and witches there but Lizzie had thought of the 'magic' more as a feeling not something in their veins.

Lizzie stood there watching as the boy walked away from her. Just perfect. Nothing seemed to be going right for her. Charles obviously did not want to speak so she turned back to the professor and smiled at him, "I.. I should also be going as well. It was nice to see you professor."

The girl bowed slightly to him and continued, "I hope one day we can have a longer conversation then just two sentences." After that, the blonde swiftly turned around and ran off towards a table.

Lizzie sighed and took of her bag sitting down at one of the picnic tables. Instead of going towards someone, she would let people come to her. It sounded a lot more reasonable then scaring off ever person in sight.

The Ravenclaw looked around and placed her head in the palm of her hands. She did not want to look like a big fat loner and quickly took out a small book from her shoulder bag along with a muggle pen her mother had gifted her over the school year. Lizzie had always found it very interesting how the ink was already inside the writing utensil.

Once she had settled down from the negative emotions, Lizzie hunched over the book and started to try and write anything that came to mind. The more things that had her mind taken off of Charles and Zyk the better.

Interacting with @Aisling Collins at the telescopes

"Of course it's true, haven't you heard about the Quidditch match? Quidditch is a sport played on brooms, and the champion Hogwarts team is playing against another school's team on the sixteenth!" Aaron was shocked that Aisling hadn't heard of the match yet, but he soon broke out into a big smile at the sound of her laughter. "It's the whole reason our camp is by a sports stadium!" he laughed, wondering why she hadn't questioned it before.

Moments later, Aaron was being bombarded with inquiries about the Hogwarts houses. It was a little weird being the one with all the knowledge in this situation. He remembered his train ride last year, when he had bombarded a girl called Persephone with questions about the houses, too. But Aaron was actually really happy that he could be useful to Aisling, and maybe he could help other incoming first years as well!

"Don't worry, I don't mind!" Aaron reassured the redhead, straightening up a bit in his newfound role as educator. "So, Hogwarts has four houses: Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. They each value different traits. I'm in Hufflepuff, where we value loyalty to our friends and dedicating yourself to hard work. I think in Hufflepuff, there are a lot of people who would take a bludger for each other, even if they haven't met, because our house is like a huge family! And, uh, you'll learn about bludgers later, probably at the Quidditch thing," he said, boasting happily about his own house. He had so many friends there - too many to name - but Lydia was his best friend and they had met right in the Hufflepuff common room the first week of school.

"Gryffindors are known for being brave, and the ones I've met - or at least, most of them - seem nice," Aaron said, thinking of the kind upperclassman Alan. Then he remembered the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain - Rafael D'Spacito - and Aaron had amended his statement to "most of them." Rafael was definitely an unpleasant sort, but it was complicated since Aaron's best friend Lydia liked Rafael.

"Ravenclaws are known to be super smart, and I think it's true from the friends I've made in that house," at the mention of them, Aaron thought of Pericles, Breana and Dealla. They were all very clever and did well in their studies, as far as he knew.

"And Slytherins are known for being a bit mischievous, I guess?" Aaron thought of Opeila, who was one of the troublemakers recruited for the Secret Blossom Ball. "But I guess most kids are a bit mischievous? I dunno, the Sorting Hat describes Slytherins as cunning, which I think means they're good at achieving their goals?" Aaron didn't have too many Slytherin friends yet, but Opeila was really nice. She did seem like the sort of person who would do what she had to - hence her secret plan at the ball.

"So those are the four houses. They each have their own living areas in the castle, and are supposed to be like your family while you're at Hogwarts," Aaron summed up, turning his full attention back to Aisling, rather than thinking of all the friends he had made. "You don't really get to choose, because there's this talking hat - yes, really! A talking hat! - and on your first night at the castle, you have to wear the hat and it, like, reads your heart or something, then it tells you where you belong!" The memory of his own sorting came to mind, and he grinned slightly. The hat had been on his head for less than a second before it screamed out 'Hufflepuff.'