The Start of a Gang PV finished

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Pay attention to the details of life - every sunrise, every sunset, and everything in between - or it will be gone before you even realize what you had

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Interacting With: @Lindsey Springhall
Other Tags: @Odette Fernsby and @Macie Winkle

Color Code: #800000

There's something wonderful about mornings. A sense of freshness and renewal seems to permeate the early hours in a day, more so than any other time is able to achieve. Sleep is great and all, but missing the start to a new day is almost like missing an opportunity to start anew, with a rejuvenated spirit and feeling of hope.
Marshal had always been an early bird by nature. To him, there weren't a lot of things that could beat the purity of a sunrise, presenting its live-giving light to a world that so dearly needed it, following the darkness of the night. True to that opinion, he had awoken at dawn and watched through a window in the Gryffindor common room as the sun rose above the majestic scenery below, revealing beauty as far as the naked eye could see.
He was still totally new at the school, and had not yet grown out of his initial amazement at the picturesque views that could be seen from the tall towers of the castle. He had inherited his mother's love for beautiful landscapes, and the memory of that had stirred a sense of homesickness within as he watched the scene unfold before him.
But he couldn't allow that melancholy feeling to take over. Of course he wouldn't stop thinking about the family he had left behind, but it wouldn't control him. He would do what he came to this admittedly strange place to accomplish- discover what he really was, make friends and have a whole bunch of fun along the way... That included flying, of course. He still planned on jumping off of that cliff at some point.

Once the sun was fully visible in the sky, the young Gryffindor had decided on a method of distraction that never seemed to disappoint: Food.
Still rather unfamiliar with the layout of the castle, not to mention the moving staircases, it had taken him entirely longer than he had hoped to reach the Great Hall. But one way or another, he had avoided taking a misstep right off of the stupid stairs and falling to his partially pathetic death. Instead, he had persevered and found his way to the selection of delectable delights that was breakfast.
He had enjoyed the food at summer camp immeasurably, and had been told by Opeila that the food at the school was just as good. And she certainly hadn't been wrong.
Marshal loved his mother, and he loved her cooking, but it was apparently hard to compete with the "magical" skills of the Hogwarts house elves. Not that he would ever say that to her.

Presently, he sat at the Gryffindor table, finishing off the last of his toast, the only food remaining on his otherwise cleaned off plate. There were quite a few people in the Great Hall, but the blond-haired boy currently sat alone, mainly because he hadn't bothered to focus on anything other than food up to this point.
As he raised his cup to take another drink of milk, something caught the corner of his eye, something out of place. Turning his head to the left, he spotted a furry tail disappearing underneath the table, slipping right past a girl's leg, though she didn't appear to notice, nor did anyone else. Now poking his head under the table, he attempted to catch another glimpse of the creature that belonged to the tail, but all he saw was a sea of legs and feet. Sitting up straight again, he frowned thoughtfully.
It was common knowledge that students were allowed to have pets at Hogwarts, and while he hadn't really seen any before now, he supposed it wasn't all that strange for a small, furry creature to be wandering around. So he shrugged and went back to his breakfast.

“Hey Marshal!” Came a voice that he recognized but hadn't heard for a little while now.
Turning to face the owner, a bright grin spread across his face.
“Adapting well in Hogwarts?” Lindsey added, taking a seat on the bench beside him, much to his delight. Brown hair framing her cheerful face and cascading down her back, the girl was just as beautiful as the young romantic remembered.
"Hi, Lindsey!" He replied happily. "So good to see you again! I'm really having a good time so far, but I'm definitely still getting used to all the craziness. I remember a simpler time, when stairs didn't find it hilarious to bamboozle the people that tried to use them."
Stupid stairs.
"How are you coping with the fact that I wasn't placed in Hufflepuff? I know that was a big disappointment for you." He gave her a sidelong look, his grin morphing into something mischievous as he popped the very last bite of toast into his mouth.

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[font=Times New Romans]

INTERACTIONS | @Marshal Mozor @Odette Fernsby
MENTIONS | Lizzie Callaghan

She smiled hearing the young boy talking about stairs. Hogwarts stairs were indeed a little bit confusing. Her own self had gotten lost in the corridors for a couple of times a year ago, when…when she was a first year. That’s a long, long time ago…indeed.

Eyeing Marshal’s red and gold tie and lion symbol, Lindsey chuckled a bit. She still remembered the time when she wanted to be in Gryffindor so badly. She even begged the hat…but it insisted putting her in Hufflepuff. Glaring at her own yellow themed robes, a wide grin slowly showed up her face.

“Disappointment? Maybe somehow. Hufflepuff is a great house. We won all the Quidditch matches last year, and it’s sure that we would do that again this year! Gryffindor…they won only one match. What do y’think? I believe that we lost a good Quidditch player this year…and Gryffindor gained one unfairly.”

She still wanted to remark more, but she was interrupted by a girl. She was wearing red themed clothes, but Lindsey had never met her around before. So she guessed that she was a first year, though it’s weird that she was having her cat. The girl then shortly explained that she met Napp in the corridors, and now was returning him back to his owner.

“Oops, thanks then! By the way, just a note, am I that famous and popular around the school? You are a first year, if I’m not mistaken?” Lindsey asked, while taking her cat back. “And Marsh, do you like cats? You are…not allergic to them or something like that?” sincerely she hoped that her friend wasn’t. Or she should have bought herself an intelligent rat or a loyal owl.

“Anyways…have you made some friends in your house? Should have introduced you to a good friend of mine, who’s in Gryffindor as well. She’s a second year, and we are really close…like a sister, I think.” clearly she was speaking of Lizzie Callaghan, though she wasn’t very famous around the school. Talking about her dear friend to another person might not be easy, but she trusted the boy to tell him about her relations around the school.

She wasn’t really sure whether the new girl was joining. Kindly leaning towards her, Lindsey started. “Forgot to ask your name…pleasure to meet you.” she smiled friendly. Her smile was always friendly, and it didn’t need to be said out loud.

“So, back to our topic.” pleasantly she turned back to Marshal, “any acquaintances or friends so far? Don’t forget me if you have made yourself other friends, though.” she blinked playfully, while pouring herself some orange juice into a glass.[/font]

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Pay attention to the details of life - every sunrise, every sunset, and everything in between - or it will be gone before you even realize what you had

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@Lindsey Springhall and @Odette Fernsby

He saw her glance at her own robes with - what could that expression possibly be - a hint of regret? As a newfound wizard, he had never considered that perhaps kids raised with a knowledge of Hogwarts might have a preference on which of the four houses they could be placed in. It made sense, though; if their parents had been in a certain house, then it would be very easy for the children to become biased in favor of that house.
From what he had learned, the sorting hat had any and all say in whether or not you achieved your dream of becoming a member of your coveted house, and that decision could not be changed in any way. He supposed that getting placed in a different house than you wanted might be something like trying out for one sports team, and instead getting placed on their rival team, leaving you disgruntled and very possibly a bit miffed.

But Lindsey seemed to praise Hufflepuff well enough, particularly concerning the category of quidditch, which she had previously learned was absurdly important to him.
“Are you telling me that Hufflepuff has the best quidditch team at the school, and I got placed in the house that has the worst team?” he questioned incredulously, only half joking. Quidditch was the one thing that he looked forward to the most about Hogwarts; it would be rather unfortunate if his wishy-washy self spent all of his time watching other teams take the glory for themselves. The ambitious side of him simply couldn’t allow it to happen.
“Well, I’ll just have to join Gryffindor’s quidditch team and fix all their problems, obviously,” he continued, his ever sarcastic voice emulating a hint of cockiness.

Just then, a new voice weaved itself into their conversation, addressing Lindsey. Turning to see the newcomer, Marshal noticed the cat first. Like any self-respecting cat, it was certainly furry, and he quickly developed a desire to acquaint his hand with the softness of its pelt, as was customary. But he refrained, for now.
As the girl mentioned that she had recognized the feline as Lindsey’s cat, Marshal had a bit of an uncomfortable realization that its tail looked awfully familiar. He didn’t figure he had any particular reason to mention that he had actually seen the cat a few minutes before. Not important now, anyhow.

“Why, hello there!” he replied cheerily to the girl’s greeting. “We definitely haven’t met, as far as I remember. But don’t worry, Lynn here is one of the few people I could even begin to recognize at this school, so you're certainly not alone.” He used the nickname without hesitation, hopeful that Lindsey would appreciate it.
In response to his friend’s query about his opinion on cats, he replied, “No, I love cats! Certainly no alergi-” With truly serendipitous timing, he developed a tickling sensation in his nose, immediately causing him to let loose an unbridled, splendidly ungraceful sneeze. Thank the heavens, he was able to cover his mouth with his arm in time to save Lindsey’s face from an undesirable splatter, but the sound was loud enough to echo above all other conversation in the large room. “No allergies whatsoever,” he finished with a sniff and a sheepish grin.

Turning back to the new girl, he said, “Why don’t you join us? As you already seem to know, my name is Marshal, and I’m your newest friend. What’s your name?” He then gestured to the girl and added to Lynn, “This here is my newest and only friend as of yet from Gryffindor. Not to worry, though. I’ll befriend them all soon enough. It’s only a matter of time.”
Lindsey made a comment suggesting that he shouldn’t forget her when he made a bunch of other friends, and he shook his head. “Don’t you worry about that, Lindsey Springhall. I could never forget you, even if I wanted to. And believe me, I would never, ever want to forget.”
And there he went again, laying on all the charm that he knew how. He hoped his father would have been proud if he had been watching the interaction, since Marshal did believe his father to be the highest authority in the world on charming women. Why did he believe that? Well, because his father had told him as much, of course!

All attempts of winning the girl aside, however, Marshal knew that what he told her was true. Never would he be able to erase the image of the first time he had seen her, glowing in the sunlight, nor would he try.

The whole thing may have been more than slightly awkward for their new friend, but then again, Marshal was nothing if not awkward.
Realizing that she may be uncomfortable, he attempted to shift the topic of the conversation. "So, Lynn, what's your cat's name?"

Interacting with @Marshal Mozor

“Are you telling me that Hufflepuff has the best quidditch team at the school, and I got placed in the house that has the worst team?” asked the light haired boy. Ah, he might have mistaken…Gryffindor was never the worst team. Well, actually Ravenclaw was. Gryffindor wasn’t that bad, though maybe Slytherin’s a little better. Anyways, they Huffles were always the best.

“No — nope, I think? Ravenclaws are, well, the worst. They had won zero games last season, if I haven’t mistaken? At least you lions won one or two.” she couldn’t really remember the matches between lions and snakes, but eventually, as she perceived, they did a draw.

“No allergies? Sounds good.” she commented, after Marshal’s sneezing. “I’ve met people that, um, do not like cats very much. And that makes things difficult to deal with…” for this, she meant the girl during her trip to Hogwarts. Obviously that girl did not like cats very much, and Lindsey felt bad both for her and Napoleon. Her cat liked everyone, though, which was certainly a good thing.

Her eyes flashed with excitement when Marshal promised that he wouldn’t leave her alone. That was…truly a promise, maybe? She liked him a lot, and had already seen him as a friend. A good one, maybe. Actually Gryffindors were exciting, as they were…chill. She found herself drawn to lions and snakes, which was quite weird. Maybe the eagles hadn’t meet her. But she was satisfied with her own group of friends, who were…fascinating.

“So, Lynn, what's your cat's name?” she heard him saying. Oh, had she forgot to mention that? “Napoleon. After the king of France.” she answered, pleasantly. “You must have heard it from the muggle history textbooks, huh? I had — have I mentioned that I’ve been to a muggle primary school? Anyways, you could call him Napp as well — he’d answer. See, he likes you!” the cat was meowing when heard his name was mentioned, and he put a paw on Marshal’s legs. Napoleon was a bold and friendly cat, so Lindsey was quite glad that he was chosen by her.

“Apart from Quidditch, have you found any exciting things around? Like the Gryffindor common room? Or some interesting portraits? Staircases?” the questions sounded random. Though Lindsey knew that it was a good way to start a conversation, and especially a good way to help a first year. After all, Marsh was new here, and he definitely needed some information on everything, even the minor ones. Apparently he already had a good knowledge on the courses…so maybe introducing the castle would be helpful.

“I sometimes get stuck in the corridors.” she smirked. “And laughed by the portraits. Some of the people in the drawings are nice, but some, well, they laugh and scoff you for not acting like a lady.”

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Pay attention to the details of life - every sunrise, every sunset, and everything in between - or it will be gone before you even realize what you had

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@Lindsey Springhall

One or two wins for the Gryffindor quidditch team the year prior. At least that was better than zero, but he still wasn't terribly impressed. One or two were rather small numbers, in his opinion. Then again, he wasn't entirely certain how many matches each team played every year, so he couldn't exactly be a perfect judge in this situation.
Whatever the case, it was officially one mission in his life to gain a spot on his house's quidditch team and help turn them around for the better. Now, if only he could get a broom...
"Well, on the bright side, at least I didn't get placed in Ravenclaw," he replied cheerfully, subtly glancing about to ensure a lack of nearby members of that house. "But I'm going to get on the team at some point and make sure we beat you Hufflepuffs," he added playfully, a slightly haughty look appearing on his face.

"Napoleon, huh?" he said when she answered his question. Feeling the pinprick of a paw on his leg, he glanced down and smiled at the cat. "Hey there, Napp. I don't know why anyone wouldn't like you. You seem like such a great guy." Reaching a hand down, he scratched the cat behind the ears, enjoying the softness of the creature's fur. He had always loved animals, and they generally seemed to like him back. Perhaps it was his overtly positive outlook on life that drew them to him... or maybe they just liked the way he smelled.
His hazel eyes shot back up toward Lindsey as she continued talking. "You went to a muggle school?" He laughed lightly at the thought. Thinking back to summer camp, he remembered how little the girl knew about 'muggle' technology, as though she had hardly even heard of it. He struggled to picture her in a school like the ones he had attended in the past; the obviously magical girl just didn't seem to fit there. She was too wonderful for that.
"I would love to see that," he joked. "Lindsey Springhall in math class. What was your favorite subject there?"

Upon her question about exciting things, the Gryffindor latched onto her mention of the staircases.
"Yeah, the staircases here are quite rude," he replied sarcastically. "I'm not used to stairs being rude, or nice, or doing anything, for that matter! I keep getting lost because I never know where a staircase is going to take me. I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up stepping right off of one and falling to my death at some point. And I'll bet the stairs will laugh, if that's possible."
Of course such a thing should not be possible, but that was hardly a deterrent for the strange reality that surrounded Hogwarts.
His eyebrows then creased. "They make fun of you?" he questioned, disturbed. "Who? Where? Show me which ones so I can give them a good talking to. What even is there about you to make fun of?"
It was quite likely that Marshal had encountered the same portraits, and that they had made fun of him as he passed as well, but he, being rather oblivious, might have simply not noticed. It was a trait of his that had given bullies at his old school no end of frustration. After all, what was the fun in teasing someone who had no idea they were being teased? On top of that, it was difficult to get any enjoyment out of laughing at someone when the person you were laughing at was convinced that you were laughing with them instead.
It was partially due to this, as well as his overly-friendly personality, that Marshal had experienced a distinct lack of bullying in his lifetime.

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Interacting with @Marshal Mozor

“Ravenclaw. Indeed.” she agreed. “They’ve got a couple of nice players…but apparently we have better ones!” she added cheerfully. Really, if she indeed got on the team this term…along with Marshal, maybe. Although playing on the same field with a friend who’s unfortunately in an opposite team seemed rather cruel, but she knew that if he made it, she’d be really glad as well. “We would see that eventually someday, Mr lion. I’m sure we’d meet on the Quidditch pitch sometime.” playfully she answered. Well, that would be fun.

Her eyes sparkled with delight watching him reaching out to Napoleon. Being one of the most active cats in the pet shop, indeed, he could be pretty annoying sometimes, not wanting to quiet down and have a nice sleep like other cats. Napoleon had some puppy traits — too active and thrill seeking, maybe. But that’s what exactly Lindsey wanted. She watched the cat meowing pleasantly at him. “He likes you a lot…”

She chucked a bit at his surprised reaction when he heard that she had attended a primary school. “Well, my parents think that the muggles have a rather nice way of educating of their children…so I was taken there. Although apparently I am the most awkward child in the whole school, being ignorant of how to use a cellphone, etc. We live in a muggle district, and it’s sorta difficult to hide our wizard identities…mom and dad made a great effort. It’s hard still.” It was difficult, indeed. One of her most painful memory was that Rica fell out after coming across an owl flying into their house. Erica Whiteland was one of her best friends during her early years, and it made a huge impact on the young girl. It was even more painful when Izzy moved to Sweden. Isabella Krison moved away at the age of nine, exactly the day when Izzy’s birthday arrived. Thank Merlin, she wasn’t driven away by a weird snowy owl or the fireplace in their house…but still, maybe it was a mistake from the very beginning. Living in Kensington was not a right choice. And there came the old Mr Harriman. He was insane, and undoubtedly, an old brat. Her eyes landed carelessly on the table in front of her now. How, thinking of old memories could being such a huge impact…but then her thoughts were called back when Marshal asked her about her favorite muggle subject. “Somehow you’ve guessed it.” her eyes were lit suddenly, as schoolwork was always quite attractive to her. “Math. And science. I know it seems weird, right? But somehow I’m separated from the kids that are good at history. It makes my head aches a lot.” curiously she looked at the boy. “What about you? Let’s imagine it a bit. Marshal Mozor sits in a muggle classroom…”

“Rude somehow, I agree. And they could be distracting. Sometimes I’m really glad that I wasn’t sorted into Ravenclaw, as they have to answer a question each time when they get into their common room. You lions have a password, right?” she had always been quite interested in the other house’s common rooms, and she had longed to get into them someday. Although she knew that it was impossible, at least in her schooldays here. The Huffle common room was extremely cozy and nice, and Lindsey had always loved it. Knocking the round wooden door was always a leisurely movement, and it felt like she had finally arrived at her home. “Nah, never mind. The ancient people are just like this. Sometimes they lack manners themselves.” she chuckled a bit, and reassured him.

It was all of a sudden, but everyone started standing up and moving. It wasn’t long before Lindsey realized that the breakfast time had over. That was quick…maybe conversing with Marshal made her felt great. Casting an affectionate look to Marshal to see if he had finished his breakfast, she knelt down and picked Napoleon up. “It seems that it’s time for classes now.” she started with a smile. “I would have to go now. It’s really nice to talk with you this morning, Marsh.” looking down to the cat in her arms again, she grinned. “Say goodbye to Marshal, Napp — see you around then, Marsh!” and she stood up.

She looked around, and chocolate brown eyes rested on the blond Gryffindor again. With Napoleon in her arms, Lindsey slowly headed to join her housemates. Everything seemed a good start — she had confidence that her second year would start off great.

Exits Lindsey Florence Evanthe Springhall

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