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[Eoghan Blyth]

Eoghan wasn't going to be sticking around anywhere where he felt like he was being made a fool of. He could understand some children wanted to play pranks on one another, especially when they thought they'd get away with it and with so many contenders in a castle this big, but that was precisely why he didn't want to be here. Most kids in this school weren't taking things seriously, wasting away their time here on petty plans that were designed to cause the most chaos properly. Apparently, they couldn't even have a simple tour without someone trying to ruin it.

The blond had swiftly left the first year tour in the hopes of getting some fresh air, headed towards the courtyard that the older girl had earlier pointed out. He'd figure out his way around the castle by himself like everyone else who seemed to manage it without having a tour. By the time he stepped outside (and not a moment too soon) the cool air hitting his face was relief, and as his eyes adjusted to the light he peered around the grounds. There were a few students milling around but not enough that he thought they'd get in the way, a pleasant change from most areas in the school.

Taking a seat on one of the stairs in front of the main doors, careful to keep out of the way of any other students retreating to safety, Eoghan slid his hand into the pocket of his robes and pulled out a deck of cards, shuffling them absent-mindedly as he continued to scour the area. Sometimes he wasn't sure if he wished Imogen was here with him or whether he was back with her, but he knew it would be a long time until the first break if he spent his whole time wishing he was somewhere else. Turning his attention to the cards in the hand, he began to flip over a few and lay them neatly at his feet, studying the patterns on each one.​

 

[Cal Greenleaf]

Desperate for some fresh air after that stink bomb went off and possibly to hide from the fact that he got caught talking to himself, Cal had followed some other kids heading in the direction of a courtyard. Some of this was a little overwhelming for Cal, he was used to being on his own and this place had people everywhere. crossing the threshold into clean air he felt instant relief and took in his surroundings. Cal spotted a few other students roaming the place and another on the side of the steps sitting down shuffling and tossing some playing cards. The cards had reminded Cal of his mother, he had heard the story so many times. Cals mother and father always told him about how she would try to impress the actual magic wizard with muggle slight of hand tricks, and his father had fallen hard. Cal was always impressed that a non magical person could still maintain illusion and find their own type of magic. Not sure if it was missing home, or the desperation of not wanting to be a loner but Cal approached the blonde student with the cards, finding some hidden courage and said "Hey, sorry to interrupt, but would you be interested in seeing a magic trick?" Cal reddened. That sounded way less stupid in his head but he was already there now and already said it.

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

A reverse judgment. Eoghan scowled at the tarot card he’d most recently turned over, although the longer he looked at it the more he could resonate. Before he had a chance to combine it, he heard another student's voice beside him and Eoghan glanced up to meet the pink-cheeked student it belonged to. "What?" he asked. It wasn't that he hadn't heard what he'd said, but he was buying time to make sure it was most definitely him this kid was talking to. "A magic trick like.. a spell? Or a fake one?" Eoghan knew tricks were things that a muggle sometimes did, although it was a lot easier to be good at an illusion when you could make the magic happen for real. "Alright," Eoghan said eventually, squinting as the brightness of the white clouds was practically blinding him as he tried to keep his eyes on the boy who stood next to him.​

 

[Cal Greenleaf]

Cal was shocked, he half expected to be ignored or told to bugger off. Almost as if quoting his mother herself "There's a little bit of magic in everything, you've just got to be willing to find it." No idea where this confidence had come from he decided to roll with it. "may i?" Cal reached for the cards and started to shuffle them, "This is something my mom taught me," After he shuffled the cards he fanned them out, "take your pick and don't show me which is yours, after you see it i'll ask you put it back in the deck." Cal hoped desperately that this trick would work, he didn't want his first attempt at an actual wizarding school to be failing at muggle "magic". He had started to sweat a little, ignoring the cold breeze.

 

[Ondine Physwick]

Ondine, too, had broken away from the tour in search of some fresh air. A dungbomb was tame in comparison with some of the smells that drifted out of her mother's laboratory on a regular basis, but the ensuing chaos was unfamiliar, and she'd been at risk of getting trampled. So she went out into the courtyard, where a cool breeze helped settle her nerves. Although they could only be settled so much. The children here were so... noisy. And it wasn't just the children. The professors, the portraits, the ghosts, the house elves - everybody seemed to be in competition to see who could talk the loudest. Ondine had hardly said a word since the feast, but if she had, it would have been swallowed immediately by the din. It was all quite unsettling.

But the courtyard was quiet enough. In a few minutes, when everybody had calmed down, perhaps she'd go back in and see if she could catch up with the tour. Until then, she was happy to stand out here by herself.

And what was this? A magic trick? Ondine had seen a few of those; not the wizard kind, but misdirection, sleight of hand. Her uncle Bertle was very good at making coins disappear, or re-appear in her ear, without any real magic at all. In some ways, it was even more impressive. Curiosity won over her feet, and she found herself drifting towards the boys. Not too close. Just close enough to watch.

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

Eoghan said nothing as the boy told him there was magic to be found in everything. Try telling Imogen that, he thought, glancing over the boys shoulder to see that he'd gained a shadow. Another girl from his own house that he recognised from the common room although he couldn't recall her name. Truth be told the only names he had bothered to remember were Victoria, Susie and William, but even they didn't even seem to have noticed he'd disappeared. The boy scooped up Eoghan's cards, and he watched as he began to shuffle them back in together. His tarot reading would be useless now. This. This was why he didn't have any friends. People would think they could just do as they pleased if it suited them, it didn't matter how it effected others.

Playing along, Eoghan took one of his own cards, checking it before placing it back into the deck. If he really could figure out which card was his without using magic, well maybe it would give Imogen a little hope after all.​

 

[Cal Greenleaf]

Cal composed himself, this was a trick that his mother had taught him and he wanted to get it right, no needed to get it right. He watched as the Ravenclaw boy had chosen the card and were he put it back in the deck, as he shuffled the deck he used his fingernail to make a slight bend in the bottom left corner of the card, unnoticeable unless you were looking for it. It was time for a little showmanship, he shuffled the deck in all sorts of manners and while doing so slipped the slightly marked card into his sleeves, he had hoped nobody noticed and proceeded to the next step, the decoy reveal! Cal's mother had said the best part is when people think they've got you figured out and then flipping the situation to the big reveal! Cal fanned the cards out again in his left hand and then used the right to pick a wrong card and show it to the blonde boy, "This is...." he paused for dramatic effect, "NOT your card!" Cal folded the deck back and handed it back to the Ravenclaw. As he turned to walk away he said, "Oh thats right," and with a flick of his hand the correct card slid into his left hand and he held it up with a sly grin on his face. "THIS is your card!" at least he hoped it was. Cal waited and studied the boys face looking for some sort of approval, still holding the card up and flashing a smile.

 

[Ondine Physwick]

It wasn't enough to wave your hands around and pick out the correct card; muggle magic was about the performance, and this boy would have given Uncle Bertie a run for his money. Even as Ondine inched closer still, craning for a better look, she had no idea where he'd stashed the card. But of course, even all that misdirection wouldn't be very impressive if it was the wrong card.