The newest batch of Hogwarts students have entered this historic school and no one knows how their future will turn out - will you be a quidditch pro or maybe a prefect? The year is now 2021, and now it's time for the next generation to make their mark. The newest batch of Hogwarts students have entered this historic school and no one knows how their future will turn out - and that is where the fun begins.
The plot will be determined by the characters of the site as of now - future plots will change as these forces weigh in on the Wizarding World, and we see where these characters take us. So join in and let your character make their mark!
Minimum word count is 200.
Even if the sunlight couldn't truly reach down through the depths of the great lake, the refracting colours against the thick, bar covered windows always tinted the Slytherin common room in a relaxing aquamarine hue. Even at night-time, due to the green glass surrounding all of the lamps, there was that familiar haze that took you a little bit of time getting to in first year. It was better than being blinded with fiery reds or obnoxious yellows, Alexis could only imagine.
An early Saturday morning meant the rough-stone walled room wasn't as bustling as it would be on a weekday, but there were still a few students roaming about in casual wear. Alexis, cupping a mug of freshly brewed, two-sugar, two-milk Earl Grey tea, settled down into the corner of a large, green leather sofa with a yawn. She wasn't exactly a morning person, but having woken up thinking about a solution to a computing problem her father had posed to her by owl had meant she couldn't get back to sleep after sending the reply. Once she was up, she was up. Might not have been completely conscious or fully functioning, but she could never get back to sleep. The ever present dark circles under her eyes probably begged her to do so, but her brain would just not function.
The brunette's homework lay still curled up on the coffee table beside her, a quill ready to be used placed purposefully by it's side, and a few reference books she'd pulled from the library on her way back from breakfast were open to some hopefully relevant pages. The sooner she got it done, the more time she had of the weekend not thinking about homework. Even after a couple of years getting used to the boarding school life, she still had a few issues with it being called homework; they technically were still on school property, so clearly it was school work. She stopped giving this opinion to people in second year when a Hufflepuff had to hold back tears when they told her that Hogwarts was the only place they could call home, but it didn't mean she didn't still think it was true.
"Early bird gets the pre-order exclusive," she yawned, taking one final swig of her tea and pulling the Various and Vague uses for Vervain book into her lap. It wasn't required reading for the potions class, but it'd make the homework a whole lot easier.
Post by Paisley B. Corner on May 17, 2018 21:42:40 GMT
The Slytherin girl pursed her lips as she surveyed the rest of her dorm-mates - all asleep, naturally, because it was a Saturday morning, and they all valued the extra hours they could grab in bed where they could. Paisley Corner did not share this desire to sleep. She'd been of the opinion from a very young age that Saturday mornings were wasteful if you weren't up and about doing something important. Her mother had tried with all her might to sway the little Paisley into laying in bed with her, eating breakfast and snoozing, but much to her dismay, Paisley insisted on climbing out every time after about five minutes, complaining about all the other things that she could have been doing instead of just sitting around. Granted, age six she didn't really have all too much to do other than play, but even then she knew that she'd rather be doing something that meant something to her than just...existing in a state of unconsciousness. Sleep was a necessary evil that she'd had to come to terms with as she grew up - she slept as much as she needed to and that was it - she woke up all at once, and needed to be out of bed the absolute minute she had.
So as usual, she was up bright and early on this Saturday morning, and on her way down to the common room, textbooks in hand. It was usually quiet enough at this time that she could study down there without getting interrupted too much, and when other students did start filing in and making enough noise to distract her, it was usually around the time she'd start wanting to move up to the library anyway to find some extra material. She didn't have any other particular plans today other than to get the last few bits of her homework done (because, as the overly conscientious student that she was, she'd already been doing most of her projects mid week and way ahead of the rest of her other classmates), and then finding some extra-curricular work she could fit in. Perhaps she'd start brainstorming some ideas for articles she could pitch for the next Hogwarts Post meeting. She'd been desperately trying to get a good front page piece that she could attach to any internship applications she was planning to send out this summer, and her other stories weren't anything impressive to send to big companies if they were on anything but the front of the paper.
"Good morning," Paisley said politely as she walked over to the fireplace, sitting down in her favourite armchair and sinking in comfortably. She pulled out a few pieces of parchment that she'd started her essay and plans on, and dropped a few of her textbooks onto the ground by her feet. As expected, there wasn't too many people about, but Paisley couldn't help but be pleased when she saw younger Slytherins up and about doing work at this hour along with her. "Nice to see I'm not the only one up working at this time on a Saturday," she said, smiling a little.
tagged: Alexis Parker & our snakes words: 523 notes: look at her, assuming everyone should be a workaholic like she is
Post by Nathaniel Cyril Nott on May 18, 2018 0:48:48 GMT
Nathaniel Nott was number three on Hogwarts’ unofficial best lay list. He was number four on the Hogwarts’ unofficial top ten hottest guys. Both lists mentioned his lack of a bright and shining personality. He was also currently making his way back to his dorm, hands in pockets. Perhaps his less than stellar personality being advertised so clearly on the bathroom walls should have been a wake up call. Forced him to be nicer and to keep from making every wisecrack remark that occurred to him. However, the seventeen year old wasn’t in the habit of changing who he was for anyone. There was Charlotte, of course, but even that took a lot out of him. Especially everytime they were around Weasley. Either the general public took him as he was or they left him the hell alone. Truth was that he hadn’t an ounce of shame in his body. Particularly when prepared for a late night rendezvous.
That Ravenclaw had been breaking the rules, sure. There was the excuse, of course, that they were on their way back to the dorm. Didn’t even seem bothered that they were being caught by one of the nastiest prefects out there. Luckily for them, Nate had chosen last night to be easily seduced. Because he was bored. And he shouldn’t even have been the one on patrol, so he took advantage. He would rather be caught dead than be one of those bumbling idiots stumbling into the Slytherin dorms in clothing he wore the day before. An outed asshole known for one night stands, he had the forethought to plan ahead. He sneered at the idiots that wandered in with wrinkled clothes or hickies on their necks - signs that they were out for recreational fun. He went everywhere with an extra pair of clothing shrunk, ironed, and packed in his wallet. He always knew he was carrying it with him.
Maybe it was because last night’s activities had relaxed him. Maybe it was because he purposely did not charge his quiv and could not see whether or not Lottie had texted him. Maybe she really was mad that he had straight up abandoned her at the dance. He honestly thought about apologizing, if he believed in that sort of thing. Fine, he’d give her time and he’d have fun in the process. It was a surprise to find that he wasn’t the only one up. He wasn't much of a cuddler. The moment he woke up, he did whatever was the more Nate-like response of bidding his partner goodbye, changed, and made his way back. He supposed he could work on his homework, as if it mattered. More likely, he would plan the next soiree or scare whatever snakelet was in his favorite spot. It should have been a given that a do-gooder and one of the only slithered cherub’s he didn’t hate to be around.
Then again, she was with the perpetually tired could-care-less about her appearance bairn he couldn’t resist poking at. He didn’t understand how she didn’t understand how easy it was to get one’s hands on a sleeping potion and get some rest. He didn’t care out of the goodness of his heart - he cared because her appearance spoke volumes on what the house allowed. They did not allow this. “It’s near the end of the term, Corner.” He rolled his eyes, but lazily with thought took a seat across from Paisley. “The only ones who give a flying fuck about their work are the people who do, like you, and the people who need to, like Parker. I’m sure even you need to relax.”
It took a few moments to realise someone had spoken to her, but once the second phrase was uttered Alexis finished the line she was writing and placed a bookmark in the page she had been referencing. Her head tilted upwards to see Paisley, one of the Slytherin prefects, take a seat across from her. There was that air of diligence and maturity about her that Alexis could only dream about having. Not that she was overly interested in putting in extra effort in things she thought unnecessary for getting end results; focusing on her work got her the grades she needed, so why go the extra mile?
”Morning,” she replied, having mulled over her words for long enough. It could have taken even longer if she had any of her tea left, but had ruled out taking a sip when she remembered she had already finished. She thought about making some more, but decided to do that after finishing with her library books. She could do two things at once then, reducing the amount of time away from her homework before it was done.
The brunette had no time to make a remark on Paisley's other sentence, as Alexis’ attention was then pulled over to the male Slytherin prefect who had taken a seat near her. She weighed up whether it was worth suppressing a sigh, but his words forced one out anyway. For the time in the morning that they were congregating, he looked too neat. Either he got up even earlier than she would expect just to get his image in order, or he'd been somewhere he shouldn't have been later on in the evening. She didn't care enough to follow that line of questioning, and decided that continuing her homework was a more productive use of her time.
”Of course I need to do it,” Alexis sighed, as if explaining the difference between your left and right hand. ”It was set yesterday and due Monday, so it needs to be done before then. Wouldn't want to hand it in late after all.” She'd resigned to not being fully able to concentrate on the words she was scribbling down, but it was worth it.
Post by Paisley B. Corner on Jun 13, 2018 14:28:09 GMT
Paisley wasn't sure what the other houses thought about what the Slytherins might get up to in their Common Room. She wouldn't be all to surprised if Gryffindors thought that they all sat around in a circle plotting evil schemes about how to be the worst people in the world. Puh, Gryffindors - they did have the awful tendency to let their imaginations run away with them. If ever there were a house founded on sheer impracticality, it was Gryffindor. Paisley truly couldn't imagine anything worse than being chosen in first year to be counted among their numbers (well, actually, that wasn't strictly true. There wasn't anything worse than Hufflepuff) - there had been a moment, briefly, that she had stressed about being sorted into Gryffindor. She might have grown up being cared for by a muggle mother, but she knew enough about her magical heritage from her father to at least do her research - Ravenclaw had been her first choice at the time, due to it being her father's old house, but she quickly came to realise that her second choice of Slytherin was much better suited to her - but even then she knew that she desperately didn't want to be a Gryffindor.
But the fact of the matter was that the Slytherin Common Room was no more exciting than she supposed any other the houses were - it just perhaps happened that the people in said Common Room were far superior.
She was joking. (Mostly).
Because the fact of the matter was that other common rooms didn't have the presence of people like Nathaniel Nott, who caught Paisley's attention almost as soon as he entered the room. She sat up a little straighter without realising it, and gave him her best charming and polite smile when he came over to join the two girls with their books. He entered as usual with a witty comment, which often tickled Paisley when they weren't directed at her - she couldn't help but find some amusement in the way he could read the other students - particularly those of them that thought themselves above others just because they were 'popular' or whatever. It was always just on the edge of scathing that Paisley could find an uncomfortable sort of joy in, because they tended to be the sort of people who deserved it. His intellect, together with his charm, made Nate Nott a very attractive individual indeed - strictly, of course, as someone that Paisley wanted to be associated with on a friendly sort of basis. Right.
Her eyes tracked carefully over to Alexis as she responded - she didn't seem to care too much about Nate's needling, but Paisley couldn't help but feel like her reply was a little too sharp. Paisley, on the other hand, who had a deep seated and unnecessary need to try and please the boy, tried a different approach. "And well - you know I like to be over-prepared," she said, studiously ignoring his slight against Alexis - she barely even noticed it, to be honest, given that he had also kind of complimented her in the same breath, and that was what she had clung to. And besides, if there was anything Paisley knew how to do, it was to cling to the more influential individual in any given conversation. "And I like to set an example to the firsties - Prefect duties and all." Also known as her last few desperate bids for the Head Girl badge in the months running up to her final year, rather than any actual desire to help the younger years achieve more.
Post by Nathaniel Cyril Nott on Jun 14, 2018 19:02:41 GMT
There were times that he felt iniquitous; like the physical embodiment of every stereotype still held against his house. He was rude, if only because the world at large was filled with blatant imbeciles masquerading as intelligent, productive individuals. He knew they were not. He was selfish. He saw no need to put others ahead of himself, although he made the occasional effort for his family members. And Charlotte. At the end of the day, the only person he knew he could reply on without a moment of hesitation was himself. There were always factors to consider when it came down to other people. He was pretentious. He knew his talents; had enough of a healthy image of himself to know that he held promise. His family might have had a history for being pureblood supremacists - he wasn’t the type to shy away from that. Nate did, however, long for the old days.
When those clearly inferior individuals didn’t value themselves his equal. When they acknowledged that their hands - their magic, should they be deemed apt to cast anything but the most basic spell and potion - were made for hard work. When they stayed out of trouble and, almost most importantly, out of politics. When they did just enough to keep them from all implied freedoms. “Oh yes. Because the basic concept of schoolwork was completely lost on me. Thank you for being such a wealth of information, Parker.” He’d wanted to say worse. Not because Alexis Parker was a waste of space. He wouldn't word it that way. It was that she was peculiar. Came from a muggle-inspired background and still made enough appearances in the class that it disgusted him. Perhaps his thinking made him somewhat of a bigot. There were still those wizards out there that placed every important on one’s blood status.
The Nott family - and the extensions, though to a clearly lesser degree - had shifted their ideologies to value image and the importance of it. Of not seeming like fools. Of having a purpose. Those who lacked those same ideals, or were too eager in its pursuit, were too much for him. They often bore the brunt of his criticisms, like Parker. If she weren’t such a stickler for the rules, for example, Nate would have gotten along best with Corner. He didn’t care enough to look into her background - to figure out why she aimed to find the best ladder to climb, but he could admire that type of ambition. Enough that his snark was rarely directed at her. When it was, it lacked the bite of his usual retorts. He could hardly claim to give a damn about humble beginnings, if they managed to turn themselves into bold, unprecedented epilogues.
He crossed his arms and leaned bag, giving the appearance of the epitome of relaxed. Perhaps he should have felt chargained or something similar. Guilty for being so contrary so early in the morning when all the younger snakelets were trying to do was prepare themselves for the school day. The problem is that it might have literally killed him to be polite. It would have sent a shock to his system. “Better to unnecessarily prepare and be primed, lest you out yourself as incompetent.” He let out a low whistle and shook his head. “Not that you would be capable of doing that.” Far be it from Nate to worry about his alma mater and all that happened once he left the halls of Hogwarts, but if he had to leave someone with substantial influence behind, it was Paisley. Not that he would ever stoop so far as to actually say something that uncharacteristic. “Ah, still aiming for the head girl position? I hardly think anyone else is qualified or wants it as much.”
If each house had people full of the exact same personality traits, then Hogwarts would have been a lot less interesting. Sure each house had it's overall reputation, but even within those broad parameters there were subsections of people within them. Some Slytherin were like Nate: purebloods were the only people who should be in Slytherin, and everyone else needed to work three times as hard to even be afforded a glance, but that loyalty kept their ties to each other strong. Others were like Paisley: raised with some Muggle parenting but had the natural determination to learn and work hard without any outside pressure, but still felt they had something to prove to the others. At least, that's what Alexis observed of them. Either one of them might have sorted themselves differently within Slytherin, or even differently in the entirety of Hogwarts, but those were her observations. For Alexis, she would have put herself on the edge of Paisley's group since she only really wanted to prove things to herself.
Nate seemed to have the last word, and she was happy to let him have it. His sarcasm may have put an even bigger smirk on her face, but there wasn’t any worth in multi-tasking for a response. She’d somewhat shifted from half-pretending to get back to her homework to actually focusing on it; it was more interesting than what he was saying to her. The thing that pulled her attention back to the discussion she had somehow found herself in the middle of was the snark about head girl. What was wrong with a bit of ambition? Wasn’t the whole point of the position that the person who wanted it the most usually showed the best qualities for the role anyway? A heavy sigh made her realise she’d somehow barged her way into the wrong part of the three-way conversation, and she didn’t have much of a plan in how to follow it up. The brunette didn’t panic, however, and looked between both Paisley and Nate. She wasn’t expecting either of them to wait for her reply, since barely anyone did even when she was actively taking part, but at least by looking the part she could figure out how to effectively phrase the four different trains of thought she wanted to convey in two sentences or less.
People used to compare her to an old, slowing computer: her eyes would dart about as if looking physically for the words to say, but even after a few repetitions of the same input they would only get a response from the first one once she was ready. She used to be unable to take in any more information after she’d gone into the buffering state, but was getting better at multi-threading.
Post by Paisley B. Corner on Jul 9, 2018 15:26:07 GMT
There was a part of Paisley that had once briefly considered whether she should care more about Nate's...well, everything. He didn't half seem to cause a stir among the general Hogwarts populace - making waves that Paisley wouldn't dare cause, lest she get on the wrong side of the wrong person, and Nate had that really special quality of being able to needle his way under people's skin with just a quick comment. She supposed she got it, to some extent. Kind of. He could seem to some people a little abrasive and personal but at the same time...Paisley honestly couldn't find it in herself to care? Maybe that makes her a bad person, but she'd be lying to herself if she wasn't thinking half of the things he said anyway, because they were true. In a lot of ways, you could argue that everything Nate said was simply the challenge to do better - be better. And Paisley, for one, was of the opinion that most of their school would do well to heed this advice hidden in snark and prodding remarks.
That's what this school lacked, really - people's self-awareness and drive to better themselves. So many of their classmates just happy to ruminate in mediocrity - it would make her sad, in all honesty, if it didn't make it all that much easier for her to climb to the top. Still, she supposed she could do with a challenge every now and then. At least Nathaniel Nott was upfront enough to be well aware of this fact and not pretend that he wasn't. So sure, sometimes he said some stuff that might upset people - that really was not her problem. So, as usual, she dutifully ignored the other girls' silence at Nate's prodding - and it wasn't even hard to, if she were honest. Nate was holding all of her attention, and bar her eyes flicking to Alexis to see if she was going to respond, when it was clear she wasn't, all of Paisley's attention was back on the seventh year boy.
"Too right," she responded, smiling and shuffling a bit of parchment idly in her hands, feeling a pleasing feeling pooling in her gut as she basked in his compliment (it counted as a compliment). "You should see the state of my History of Magic class. The Gryffindors are downright embarrassment. Makes you wonder why they even bother showing up." And, well, she supposed she wasn't exactly quiet about her schooling ambitions, but it's nice to know that there were other people that paid attention. Not to mention who could appreciate that it was an important role that required a certain amount of dignity. "Yes. And which will make it all the more difficult to swallow if it does go to anyone else," she said, pursing her lips, and feeling her body stiffen. "Not that I expect it to, obviously."
