Great Gates of Hogwarts: Ilvermorny Arrival Open

@Solomon Lear

If Donovan could roll his eyes without being noticed, he would.

Everyone knew Headmaster Lazarus Plott had a gripping need to be showered with attention and love to feel like he was important. If Ilvermorny students hadn't been teenagers who would drop dead the moment anyone looked at them, this wouldn't be a problem-- except it was a problem, and seeing the pizzaz spark around with beaming energy and a burning desire to just be looked at, Donovan could feel his little teenage self-esteem shrivel up and die when he heard their Headmaster's booming voice from inside the carriage he was situated in.

"We're heeeeerrrrreee!"

"Oh for f-" He slumped his face into his hands, on the verge of screaming right then and there. Some of his fellow passengers wormed themselves out, but he kept himself tucked in. Something told him that a lack of a crowd would make the Headmaster retreat and repeat. Still, Donovan felt no issue sticking his head out and shouting. He was very good at complaining.

"Headmaster, come on! Can't we just make a grand entrance-- oh, whatever." He grumbled, sticking himself back in. He could basically see the plan brewing in their leader's eyes. In response to this, he sulked off in the corner of his carriage and waited for everyone to get situated. Again.

He felt obligated to do the exact opposite and wear the most mundane outfit he could get his hands on. He certainly wasn't looking forward to snobby British kids who tried their very best to be polite. He could just stay here and hide for however long they'd be here. It was fine.

It took a while, but eventually everyone felt comfortable with themselves enough to finally let the show go on. He watched his headmaster with a flat face, undertones of misery in his lame expression. This really did prove the notion that Americans were obnoxious, but he did have to admit he really loved his headmaster sometimes. The showiness made for some entertaining situations, and while he'd never admit it out loud, he preferred his company over a lot of anyone else's.

There were a few more people around to see the Ilvermorny entrance this time, and while Don was far from making a dramatic entrance, his eyes were wide, there was a prominent grin on his face - but only because it was actually really pretty here, the air was fresh, and the students didn't seem like they'd be huge pains in the ass. Still, he stuck around his group in the case that Hogwarts students would be too British. It was like a whole other breed. He felt very out of place, so the one thing he knew best was to waddle up behind his Headmaster and bother him.

"Ouh Headmastah, I've got to tell yew a secret! I've been British 'is whole toime. You've finalleh taken me 'ome." He pulled on his coat a bit, dramatically tossing his head back. "Okay, but really. What if the kids here have like, ringworm? British ringworm? We don't have immunization for that! It'll be the black death all over again."

Interacting with @Gem Stuart (Donovan Salinger) and @Solomon Lear (Lazarus Plott)

rping as: Delia Finch

Delia scoffed at their Headmaster's antics. Dramatic entrances were important, she conceded that, but this was beginning to morph from vaguely irritating to rage inducing. She'd stopped leaving the carriages altogether. There really was no point, she figured. Headmaster Plott was just going to keep ushering them back inside until they made the perfect entrance for the posh brits at Hogwarts. Delia was going to throw herself off the moving carriage if they had to do this one more time.

Just on cue, the carriage shuddered to a halt. Delia could hear voices outside, which meant there was finally an audience to feed the Headmaster's need for attention. Finally, Delia thought. It felt like ages since she'd been outside and being cooped up in a carriage all day wasn't doing her mood any favors.

Sighing, Delia stepped out of the carriage, flicking a bit of her hair over her shoulder, smirk already in place. Those British kids wouldn't know what hit 'em. She refused to feel out of place here, amongst these strangers. Delia Finch wasn't afraid of strangers. She wasn't afraid of anything.

But maybe it was a good idea to stick with the people she knew. Delia scanned the Ilvermorny crowd, looking for a familiar face. If Genevieve were here things would be so much easier, but they'd been separated in different carriages for the ride (definitely not because of the fireworks they set off inside at the start of 2nd year). Delia paused, breathing a sigh of relief when she noticed Donovan near Headmaster Plott.

"Hey! Hey, Don!" she shouted, making her way over to him. "And Headmaster," she said, nodding. "Who's got ringworm?"

@Solomon Lear (Lazarus Plott) & @Catriona Staverly (Delia Finch)
RPing as: Donovan Salinger

Don's head instinctively whipped around when he heard his name, his chest losing its heaviness for approximately two minutes. It was good he had a friend around, and as much as he liked wasting time with the headmaster, it was a twinge easier to speak to people who were his own age. You couldn't talk about magic and fashion forever.

"Hi, Delia." Don exhaled, crossing his arms over his chest in a sort of pout. "These British people. They have British ringworm, and they're gonna give it to us, and we're going to die. We'll crap out our own immune systems. I swear." He took another brief glance at the kids around them, then back over to his friend. "I think they've got some sort of underground ringworm operation happening here. They're trying to inject us and kill us with it. Hogwarts? More like... uh, Ring.. worm. Whatever, they're out to get us. That's what I'm trying to say, the bottom line, if you will."

He said all of this nonsense with a straight face - if you hadn't known Don, you'd've thought he was serious. He was real good at being able to pull stuff out of his heinie, he knew this because he'd been told so. It made for good deadpan humor, his favorite. Still, it didn't feel too far off that these Hogwarts kids had some diseases. Yeesh. They really knew how to stare, he even pulled a face at some of them when he caught their gaze lingering for a second too long. It was too easy, the way they'd look all scared and shrink back. Man, these Brits. Knee-slappers. That killed him.

RPing as approved dNPC Cyrus 'Cy' Darsel
@Thea Knott just gonna tag you so you remember

Cyrus was used to the modernistic parts of life in New York. Once he saw the towering parts of the Hogwarts castle, Cyrus could hardly believe that people used to live this way. Sure, he lived in a very large house, but this was insane. It was a castle. In the middle of freaking Scotland. His jaw had dropped open to make a small O of astonishment. Once the carriages stopped moving, Cy scrambled to get out, only before being stopped by Professor Plott and told to return. He sighed, running a hand through his unruly blond curls. "Yes, Professor Plott," the young Thunderbird muttered under his breath, almost in a smart-aleck way. Not that he was a smart-aleck. No, he was just witty and sarcastic.

Cy had a wild grin on his face as he sat back down, waiting for his Headmaster's command. He had heard Professor Plott's commands, but was very pleased with himself. He wore a pale white shirt with yellow ducks printed on it. The shirt was collared, and the sleeves came down to his wrists where he folded back the cuffs neatly. As for pants, he wore faded jeans, and some Nikes covered his feet. All in all, it was not a very 'put together' look, but what did Cyrus care? If he got this shirt dirty, he could just send an email... Wait. Did this school have WiFi? Cyrus didn't think so... He would have to send his Da an owl and have him send a replacement in the mail.

He was already missing America. It was too chilly here in Scotland, and Cyrus knew that everyone was bound to have a weird accent. Cy would feel very out-of-place with his distinctive New York accent, and he would also feel very out-of-place along the monsters and ghosts he'd heard haunted the halls of Hogwarts. Were there really students that were werewolves attending Hogwarts? Did part-vampires attend? Were there really pretty girls?

Now, that last thought was just a hope of Cy's. He hoped that there were pretty girls, and he also hoped that one might fall for him... His lips were just itching for a kiss. He might have been a rich, protected boy, but he certainly knew how to get around his family's safeguards while he was at school. He'd kissed... five girls, if his count was right. Cy grinned as he thought about it, his sun-kissed cheeks growing slightly pink. Besides, British girls would be sassy, right? Sassy was good, Cy decided.

The carriages came to a stop once again, jolting Cyrus out of his daydreams. He heard voices, but they were muffled from where he was riding. Oh well. That was fine. He could ask around later.

They would be allowed to leave the carriages this time if all went well. Cyrus stood, almost hitting his head on the top of the invisibly-drawn carriage, and he opened the door for his comrades. Nothing, yet. So he held his head high and took a step out. There. He had done it. He had taken the first step into a whole new world.

Played as Simon Belanger

Lazarus Plott was one of the most dramatic people Simon had ever met, and he thrilled by it. Where else would you be able to leap out of a carriage to a waiting crowd of adoring fans with fireworks blasting off behind you if not with the Headmaster of Ilvermorny? Other students seemed perturbed or annoyed by the whole thing, but Simon followed the lead of his Headmaster and leapt out of the carriage (pulled, oddly, by absolutely nothing) to scream at the top of his lungs, "Gooooood morniiiing, Hogwarts!" with all the pep and ironic cheer of Robin Williams's 'Good morning, Vietnam!'

Stretching stiff arms over his head and stomping lanky legs on the ground to get some feeling back into them, he looked up at the massive castle and grinned at the fact that it was exactly how he'd pictured it. He could already tell just from observing the outside of this new school that it would have some fantastic hiding places he could enact pranks from. It even supposedly had suits of armour - imagine the looks on people's faces if he was able to get them to move and scare the crap out of poor, unsuspecting students!

Expression dreamy, he almost missed the loud, threatening gurgle his stomach gave after an entire trip to Britain without a single bit of poutine. Luckily, Greg was there to remind him that his body's noises were annoying, and the rat darted out of the back of his hoodie to nip him impolitely on the ear.

"That's not avocado, Greg," Simon said dryly, digging in his pocket to pull a piece of the rat's (and, according to the news, the average millennial's) favourite food out. It took care of the ear biting issue, but it unfortunately didn't take care of Simon's hunger issue. On the sad side, it was impossible to know how long it would be until their Headmaster had finished all his greetings with Hogwarts's Headmaster and they were allowed into the school to eat. On the plus side, Simon had an entire box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans in the same pocket he kept avocado pieces in.

Taking it out of his pocket, he gave a surreptitious glance around to make sure no one was paying too much attention, then ripped the top off and poured the entire box into his mouth. Not two moments later, his eyes were tearing from the taste and he was T minus three milliseconds away from hurling. But you know what? Worth it. Choking on the taste of vomit, black pepper, strawberry, and dirt, he started towards the castle to be the one of the first ones at the gate when it opened. If the ones who'd come to greet them saw him first - tears running down his cheeks, saliva overflowing between his teeth, and a steady rivulet of blood leaking from the lobe of his left ear - well, that was fine. He would still greet them with a chaotic nice smile anyways. No one could say Canadians weren't polite.

rping as Owen Morrison

interacting with @Max Avery, @Gem Stuart, @Catriona Staverly, & @Solomon Lear

Owen hadn’t ever been one for theatrics, per se, but the dramatic personality of Lazarus Plott— well, he couldn’t help but find it comical. He wasn’t really embarrassed, in fact, he was a little proud of his Headmaster’s exuberant and outgoing personality.

He watched, a small grin tugging at the corners of his lips, as Simon, a close friend of his, jumped out of the carriage excitedly. Owen groaned internally, rolling his eyes in a friendly manner as his friend made yet another grand entrance. He shuffled over to the door of the carriage, crouching down so his 15-year-old body could get out of the door in the first place.

Sighing, he straightened himself out, watching as Simon continued his comical performance with his pet rat. Wincing, Owen watched as he downed a whole pack of Bertie Botts’, leaving to go hurl somewhere. Yeah, Illvermorny was definitely making an impression, huh?

He debated for a second wether he should go run off and help his friend, but finally decided that he’d probably like to hurl his guts out in peace. Spotting Delila, Don, and Headmaster Plott himself up ahead, he jogged up to the three, a smile on his face as he approached his two friends.

“Hey Del!” he greeted, swinging an arm around her shoulder, “Hey Don!” he grinned, swinging an arm around his other friends’ shoulder.

“Wonderful performance, Headmaster. It’ll be remembered— that’s for sure.” He joked, sending teasing glances to Don and Delila as he did so.

“I’m super pumped about this, guys— watch, it’ll be awesome to meet some brits.” He said the last word in a frankly horrible English accent, laughing a little as he did so.

RPing as: Donovan Salinger
@Catriona Staverly& @Maggie Parker

Don felt himself grin when he saw Owen tumble towards him and Delia. He snuggled up into his arms, poking two fingers into his side to make him jump.

“You’re excited to meet British people? I wouldn’t put it past them to come up to us and start yelling about ‘right, whats all this then? You lot want a bit of chips, luv?’ bullcrap.” He sniffed, rubbing his nose with his sleeve, twitching it around a little bit. Were his allergies acting up? He had a pretty weak immune system, he wouldn’t doubt it if he got sick all of a sudden. New environments, man. They messed him up.

“I know why everyone came along, and it’s because they want some British Ass. Seriously, some people have a crazy attraction to British people specifically. Anglo-something, I dunno. It’s so weird.” For him, he had a feeling that some kids here might fancy the fact there was some new American flesh around, he was down to flirt with some of the girls (and boys) around here. Maybe everyone was stuck up, but there had to be a few cool little guys around here– he needed more people to send letters to, anyway.

He turned to look at Owen, then past him to stare at Delia. He wiggled his eyebrows a little bit, discreetly, and gestured at some of the Hogwarts boys huddled up around nearby a tree, looking right at her.

“Hey, Owen, those guys are giving you the eyes. Might wanna go snog all of them before it’s too late!” He knew damn well they weren’t looking at Owen, it was just really nice to mess with him a little bit. Too easy, almost– he knew he loved him. “Sorry, Delia. Looks like you’re gonna have to dance alone this year...” He shrunk back before she even moved, preparing for a real hard knock on the shoulder. Every single time Delia hit him, it left a bruise without fail. It was goddamn crazy.

@Gem Stuart & @Catriona Staverly

“You hold so little faith in me, dear Don.” Owen mocked, laughing a little as he did so. He wasn’t here for “British Ass”, but hey— he wasn’t exactly opposed. Wait— not like that— he just— he didn’t want to do that! Just— well, he was glad he didn’t say that out loud.

“Hey, Owen, those guys are giving you the eyes. Might wanna go snog all of them before it’s too late!” Don announced excitedly, causing Owen’s head to immediately turn in the direction he was pointing towards. He noticed a group of guys, all huddled up and looking in his direction.

While Owen didn’t mind attention, he wasn’t really into that kind of attention, if you know what he means. Like, he didn’t have a problem with other people liking that kind of attention or anything, but— yeah. Still, he couldn’t miss out on the opportunity to have a little fun.

Unhooking his arms from the necks of his friends, Owen cupped his palms around his mouth, laughing a little as he shouted towards the group.

“I’m not gay, guys! Sorry, you really are a group of nice-looking guys, just— not for me.” He laughed, nodding and re-hooking his arms around his friends’ necks.

He only realized that Don might’ve been joking after he’d acted like a complete idiot, as Delila was the pretty one and it mad more sense if— whatever.

rping as Delia Finch
@Maggie Parker & @Gem Stuart

Delia laughed a little at Don's deadpan humor. It had taken her a while to get used to it, but now that she was it was a source of endless enjoyment for her. Delia's own brand of humor was a lot more... acerbic than deadpan, but she appreciated it nonetheless. "It'd be so much interesting if they were zombies or vampires or something. Ringworm is rather tame, don't you think? Plus you can cleave zombies. Two for one deal." Delia mimed breaking a zombie's skull with an axe. Hypothetical zombie apocalypse aside, she was actually having fun. Hanging out with Don always kept her on her toes.

All of a sudden, Delia felt someone's arm being slung over her shoulder, which meant only one person. She knew who it was before he even said her name. "Owen!" she said, grinning at the boy. Turning to Don, she smirked, prodding him in the shoulder. "I think they're more likely to beat your ass for your awful impressions." She inclined her chin at Owen as if to say "you too."

At Don's next words, Delia burst into surprised laughter. "I dunno, Don. I guess they think the accents are sexy or something?" She followed Don's gesture to a group of boys under a tree who were eying her. She gave them a flippant wink before turning back to her friends. "I might be getting some this year though," she said, giving Don a wink as well so he'd know she was joking. She didn't plan on wasting her time with the people here, let alone getting in a relationship with any of them. She would much rather stick with the people she already cared about and liked, ie Don, Owen, and Genevieve.

"Dancing alone, am I," Delia said, prodding Don with one of her longer fingernails. "I would punch you if you weren't so fun to hang out with." Her eyes slid back over to the boys under the tree again. "I think I'll survive Owen's betrayal. He'll have more fun with 'em than I will."

Delia was in stitches by the time Owen was finished yelling at the poor boys under the tree. "Don't worry, I'm up for it if you are," she shouted to them, punctuating her words with a smirk and a half wave. If she'd learned anything over the summer, it was that people were easy to flirt with, and Delia enjoyed seeing people flustered. It was an even trade off, really. It wasn't like she was breaking their hearts or anything.