A New Lucky Charm

[Aliyah Wright]

Aliyah made the long trek from the Slytherin Dungeons to the North Tower to drop off her new pet in the owlery. Never having owned a pet before, the eleven year old thought the quickest way to earn her the owl's allegiance was through a firm talking to. She sat down on the top step and peered into the white cage at the bird. "Alright missy. You and me need to have a little talk." The earless owl's beady black eyes blinked back at her. "Good, I am glad you are listening. Ok, so here is the deal. I have never had a pet before and it would be tragic if the first one I had went off and ran away or died on me. So there will be none of that." she told the bird in her best imitation of her mother's voice.

After all the begging and pleading Aliyah did over the years for a pet, her parents would never let her hear the end of it if she lost this bird. "I am going to let you stay here with all your little bird friends and you can go out and hunt on your own." The bird cocked its head to the side as if it was considering the girl's words. "Don't worry. I will be by to check on you and feed you these tasty owl treats." She open the bag that she bought from Eeylops Owl Emporium and gave the owl a treat. The fluffy rusty orange, brown, and cream owl gave a little hoot of appreciation.

"Alright you still need a name." Aliyah pondered what would be a appropriate name for the bird. She had a feeling in was a girl, but who really knew. Giving the owl both a girl and boy name seemed the most fitting. "How about Felicia?" The bird let out a small hoot. "You like it! What about Felix?" The owl hooted twice more. "Then there you have it. Felix Felicia. FeFe!" Aliyah laughed a bit at the name choice. It reminded her of that potion that was suppose to make you lucky, Felix Felicis. Perhaps the FeFe would bring her all the luck she needed survive the next seven years at Hogwarts. She smiled happily at the bird as she opened up the door to the white owl cage. FeFe willing hopped out and perched on the girl's arm. "You are soooooo cute." she cooed as she and walked into the owlery. "Go on make yourself at home." She watched her owl take flight and find a nice cozy spot up in the rafters.

Aliyah gathered up her empty owl cage and remaining owl treats and headed out the door. Just about to turn the corner to head down the stairs, she ran into someone hard and fell to the ground. The girl dropped her cage and the owl treats spilled to the floor. "Ewwww...I better not be laying in owl poo." she whined.

 

[Isaiah Jeffreys]

Isaiah was feeling pretty enthralled by the school. At every turn he found something cooler, and more interesting. Not one thing seemed to hold his attention for very long. Isaiah was great at concentrating too. He loved reading, so focusing was just as easy for him, just every time he went somewhere new his mind got distracted. However, he was a few days into this school experience, and had just finished his first letter to home. It had been a little difficult to write, and Isaiah had ended up writing two different letters, one for his parents and the other for his siblings. It was easier when he did that. His siblings didn't want to hear about what classes he was taking, or the reading he'd been doing, they wanted to hear about the spells, the houses the people. He had written them both very long letters, which he had felt incredibly proud of in the moment when both were finished. All done and ready to be sent. Isaiah did not however actually own an owl, he had planned to get one, but it hadn't worked out, and he'd been a little busy to find the time. However, he was just hoping that during the Christmas break he would be able to find the time to be able to get one. It would mean that his family got use to one owl going to and from the house. It might be strange for their neighbours, but Isaiah always swore down that their family was not the strangest on the street of houses they lived in. He knew that an owl every so often would be one of the least strangest things. Isaiah smiled to himself as he folded up the letters, they were already in the envelopes and tied together, there was an address on them, but he was sure that the owl didn't need that.

After double and triple checking that he actually had the letters in the envelopes the boy began to make his way to the Owlery. From what he knew about it, it was actually pretty close to the Ravenclaw common room. He wasn't sure how though. Ravenclaw appeared to have a lot of towers, which he was finding himself getting a lot lost when he was trying to find anything. He'd twice ended up in the astronomy room instead of the common room. it wasn't a terrible mistake, just one that he was sure he shouldn't a few days into this be making. However that being said, finding that last tower, appeared to be difficult. And he had ended up at some other room, then back to Ravenclaw. He groaned loudly, of all the things that Isaiah was good at, directions wasn't it. He took a moment to compose himself and then headed, in what would turn out to be the right direction. It took him a few moments, but finally in the distance he could hear the birds. He was definitely close, he began going up the steps two at a time. Finally reaching the top, and then crashing right into something. Isaiah was just able to grab on to something before almost falling backwards. He glanced to see who he'd walked into and realised that it was a girl, she was saying something about the ground being dirty, "I'm sorry" He said, quickly, hoping that he could both help her up and help her gather what she'd dropped, "Let me give you hand" He added, holding out a hand to help her to her feet if she wanted it. "Also, from what I can see the floor is clean." he wasn't sure if that would really help her, but it seemed like the right thing to say.
​

Hey, I hope you don't mind me joining this!

 

[Aliyah Wright]

No problem! Let's see how these two hot-heads handle each other. And I love your play-by! I Dylan and Degrassi!

Aliyah stared up at the boy in front of her and her dark brown eyes flickered with annoyance. On of the girl's biggest pet peeves was people who got into her way, literally or figuratively. The boy looked about her age and she might have attempted to be nice to him if he hadn't decided to use her as a human speed bump. The young Slytherin rolled her eyes and sighed as she accepted the boy's hand and lifted herself off of the ground. While the girl was all for self-reliance, she didn't mind a little chivalry now and then. It proved that there was still civility and decency in the world. Besides, he was clumsy enough to block her path, the least he could do was help her up. The eleven year old looked from the boy's face to her hand in his and suddenly felt self-conscious. She let out an awkward cough and quickly slid her hand out of his grasp. She had never willingly took a boy's hand before and the sudden rush of feelings she felt was quite perplexing. A hand shake was formal and impersonal, but this felt like something different. "Thanks." she said in a small voice and tucking her thick fluffy hair behind her ears.

The insecure moment quickly passed as soon as Aliyah heard the boy's second comment. His choice of words irked her right back to her pervious state of annoyance. "Duh. Of course the floor looks clean. I am sure my skirt did a fine job mopping it up!" she fold her arms tightly across her chest and scoffed at the boy. He was probably right, but that was besides the point. There could have been something nasty on her and it would have been all his fault. Aliyah kneeled down to set her empty owl cage upright and began scooping some of the treats into their bag. "You know, I should sue you for damages." she said glancing up at the boy with a sarcastic smile. She knew her belonging were fine and that she was probably being a bit dramatic then what was necessary, but she was going to milk him for all he was worth. Maybe it would make him pay better attention to where he was going next time.

 

[Isaiah Jeffreys]

Isaiah was glad when the girl took his hand he was able to get her up off the ground. That he managed with ease. Isaiah did feel bad for having run into her, though he wasn't looking to really deal with her any more than perhaps helping with picking the things which had fallen. Isaiah was more preoccupied by the fact he was sending his family letters, they were and had always been his top priority. He knew that he should really be focusing on maybe trying to get some friends, but this might not be the situation for such a thing. He let go of her hand, and smiled a little apologetically at her. He shook his head slightly, waving away her thanks, as it had really been his fault. He had been looking for this area of the school for a while and had been really hoping that he could get the letters sent quickly. Isaiah hadn't been to know the way that there would a door or that someone else would be coming up at the exact same time as he was to be heading in. Then, as he looked behind the girl to the small mess, he didn't see the strange change in her expression. He didn't see that she was annoyed. Which was why when he heard what she said, Isaiah's green eyes glanced suddenly back at the girl, with a small questioning look on his face. Why was she acting like that, for one a skirt didn't mop, and he was merely stating that the floor was clean. Not that she had mopped it up, or that her falling on it meant that it had lifted all of it.

Isaiah held up his hands in a I-did-nothing kind of way, "The floor looks clean because it is clean. Not to mention, even if your skirt did get dirty we could just find some older student to use magic to get rid of it. No big deal" he said to her after she had crossed her arms, and he lowered his. He kept standing just watching as she then turned away from him and began to pick up the owl treats that had fallen on the floor. Isaiah had been just about to go help her when she glanced back at him, and said that she could sue him. He shook his head at this, why was this girl saying things like that. Even if she had said it in a sarcastic tone. He'd just run into her, it was a simple mistake that anyone could make. Not to mention that since it was just the two of them, Isaiah reasoned in his mind that it would be a hard case to even win. "I don't think you'd have much of a case. It would be your word against mine." He told her, as he placed his letters in his pocket and then bent down to give her hand. "I could say that you carrying a large cage meant you didn't see me coming and bumped into me, making it your fault." He told her with a small smile, of course he would never do such a thing, but he wasn't about to take that kind of comment from anyone. Not to mention, Isaiah had apologised.

"You don't mind if I help do you? Or are you going to sue me for that too." He didn't really bother waiting for a reply, and just started helping her. He really wasn't sure why she had acted in such a fashion. It made no sense to him in the slightest. Isaiah hadn't really been around many his age aside from in school, and most of them wouldn't have reacted like that.
​

That's super! I really also like your PB! She's so cute!

 

[Aliyah Wright]

Creating a scene to be heard wasn't new for the eleven year old. With her parents, Aliyah had no say in where they moved or what school she went to, but the young girl quickly learned that she could get her way with little things with her tantrums. Some might have called the her spoiled, Aliyah preferred to think of herself as well attended to. Her parents wouldn't always cave, but they did often enough for her little shows to become a habit. Today Aliyah was using her skills to perform a public a service. Perhaps next time the boy was stalking about the castle he would think back to this interaction and be a bit more cautious and watch his blind turns. He would be a more considerate walker and there would be one less person wandering around not paying attention to where they were going. It was a win-win for everybody! She figured the boy would just take her sass, get the hint, and be on his way. But he didn't go. He was still there and talking back.

Aliyah had never experienced this before. She mostly kept a low profile at her pervious schools, but on the rare occasions she went off on her classmates, they blew her off and just thought it as the new weird girl being weird. She never had a kid her age react to her like this. The girl stared back at the boy as she took his words in. "No big deal! Don't be ridiculous!" she said incredulously at the boy's hypothetical solution. While it sounded like a reasonable resolution, the girl would have never agreed to strolling around the halls of Hogwarts with owl poo on her skirt. She could imagine walking into the Slytherin Dungeon begging some upper year to clean up her skirt like some toddler crying to have their diaper changed. That would have been beyond mortifying. She could have easily gotten a butt bruise from the fall. Would he really want to hurt her pride and humiliate her as well?

"Umm...I think your case is the weak one. One." Aliyah retorted. She dramatically raised her index finger to begin numerating her points. "The cage isn't that big. I may be small, but I am not blind. Two. I was the one who ended up on the floor. Three. I would cry. Four. I am a girl and I am adorable. It would be my word against yours and I have the cute factor. So yeah, fault or not I would win." she said with a cheeky small half smile. Normally she would have felt bad for giving someone this hard of a time for something so petty, but she was having too fun messing with the boy to stop. "Plus on top of the damage, I could also claim emotional distress. I am emotionally scarred. Terrified that strange boys are going to crash into me wherever I go. How am I ever to go down stairs again?" she said with a pout and batting her eyelashes in faux innocence. It was clear Aliyah was a victim here, even it was just simply a victim of bad luck and poor timing. The boy was just collateral damage in the girl's dramatics.

Aliyah stopped and watched the boy curiously as he joined her picking up the remaining treats. After all she had put him through he was still willing to help. It just didn't make sense to her. "It's a free country." she said shrugging her shoulders. Something must have been wrong with this kid or he must want something. Nobody was selfless without a reason. "So does my assailant have a name?"

 

[Isaiah Jeffreys]

Isaiah really hadn't expected this sort of behaviour considering that all he had been doing was going to the owlery to send a letter. He was confused as to why she was reacting in such a fashion, though it did remind him of his siblings when they had been quite young and had thought that throwing tantrums would help them get what they wanted. But, Isaiah hadn't really wanted to have to deal with it, and while he put his foot down on most things. There were some he just had to give into. Was this girl like that. Was she really that annoyed about something fixable, or was she just overreacting and putting on the theatrics to try to stop him from repeating what had been an accident. it was as she repeated his words, that he just frowned at her. Really this was no way to react to anything of that sort. He'd apologised and provided her with an extremely plausible way of fixing something if it was necessary. If Isaiah had been able to do the spell then he would've. But, of course he couldn't. Isaiah was sure that it was a lot more advanced that he was. He shook his head slightly, disbelieving this girl who just seemed so angry about it. Isaiah felt like just walking away. Not bothering with the letters and just letting the girl be angry all on her own. Isaiah really didn't need this, but he did need to send his letters he couldn't have his parents and siblings waiting any longer for his letters. He was close with his family, they were everything to him, and this was his first time properly away from them, so understandable he wanted to get this letter to them. He wanted them to send him a letter back. it was really frustrating that magic didn't allow for phones.

Isaiah however stopped in his tracks and thoughts when the girl spoke back to him. He had no idea where this anger was coming from, or why she was reacting to it. Though admittedly she did have being young and female for her. Isaiah had always thought he'd long since stopped being cute, and he couldn't really cry not on cue, so he was sure that if it was down to that he wouldn't be able to win. he just let her continue on with her rant. Continue going and talking, while Isaiah just stayed as calm as he could about it. His father had always told him that fighting was not an option and he had to control what could at times be a terrible temper. He watched as the girl finished by pouting and fluttering eyelashes at him as if it would sway him. "I'm sorry, okay." He told her slight anger clear in his voice. "I was in a hurry, I have to send a letter home. My younger siblings they need to hear from me." Isaiah was planning on playing a slightly cheap card, but this girl had not been above using her own charm to make him feel bad, or end up losing against her. "If they don't hear from me, they get panicked and think I've died. They've been like that ever since our mother died, so I'm sorry, I was in a hurry" Isaiah just shook his head as he spoke, shaking it at the girl. He maybe shouldn't have said anything but he couldn't resist it, and after all she'd just said to him. Isaiah felt like he wanted to get her back.

Despite this, he still offered his help and did help her. However he just stayed quiet, making a point of not really looking up at her. Didn't smile, or show any emotion on his face, just helped her tidy up. Knowing that at least, that was the polite thing to do, since it was really his fault. Then she asked his name, using the word assailant. He shook his head. "Isaiah, it's Isaiah." he said, with a small smile. "Whats yours?" He asked as the last was tidied away. Despite the slight lie he told the girl, Isaiah was actually really wanting to go send his letters. "I should go..post my letters" he said, hoping that maybe she wouldn't mind if he left, though despite the way they'd spoken to one another, he actually realised he wouldn't be against her company.
​

 

[Aliyah Wright]

Aliyah couldn't help but smile a little when she heard the anger in the boy's voice. Finally a little emotion. She was getting a little tired of the boy's apologies. The girl had learned that you can never trust anyone who said sorry because most of the time when people said it they rarely meant it. But real emotions, they never lie. The fact that had been so patient and that she was finally getting under his skin must have meant that he really did feel bad for the accident. The poor boy was probably a nice guy, but she had cut him down before she even gave him a fair chance. The young Slytherin was going to slide in one last dig about him be so eager to send his family a letter when they had barely been a way when boy said that his mother had died. Aliyah's mouth hung open and her heart sank. "You...I...um..." her words failed her. She watched as the boy shook his head at her and she felt like an absolutely horrible person. He reminded her of the way her father looked when he was disappointed in her. She only meant to have a little fun with boy and give him a hard time, she wasn't trying to be cruel.

An awkward silence hung in the air as the pair continued to clean up the mess and the stoic look on the boy's face was unnerving. Aliyah held her breath, afraid that one exhale would pop the tension like a balloon. She didn't know how to process what the boy had just said. The girl wouldn't be able to function if either one of her parents died. Death wasn't something the eleven year old spent much time thinking about. Even though her father was in the military and she knew of families who had lost a parent, she didn't know anyone personally who experienced that kind of loss. She never worried about her father because she knew if he was ever in a life and death situation, he would just use magic to get himself out of harms way. Luckily it never came down to that. The only funeral she attended was for her grandmother and even then she didn't remember much of it. She remembered wearing a pretty white dress and going around giving people hugs because she felt like it was her job to make people happy. She remembered crying only at the very end when the casket was lowered into the ground and the reality hit that her grandmother was never coming back.

The tension was finally broken when the boy introduced himself. "Aliyah Wright." she replied with as small nod as she refolded the top of the treat bag and stood up. She found herself staring at the boy longer than she intended. "Sure...yeah go ahead." she said in soft apologetic voice and quickly glanced away. She grabbed the empty owl cage and stepped out of Isaiah's way. "Well. Nice to meet you Isaiah." she added as reached over and patted the Isaiah sympathetically on the shoulder. She didn't know if the gesture was one of condolence, apology, or pity, but it felt like the right thing to do.

 

[Abel Smith]

Hope you two don't mind!

---

Abel had given himself a promise, to write to Briar more often. Now with Killua in the fold, he had to post his letters to Briar. He knew that she was there to help him, since she was part of the Werewolf Support Services, it was kind of her job, but quite frankly he just wanted this to not be an issue, and for everyone involved to not give a flying Fwooper. That was not the case, however, as it did impact his life, and would affect all future job opportunities for him. What sane person would want to hire a werewolf to do anything? He could accidentally eat their children, if he believed the stories some would spin. Fortunately, Killua did not believe such tales, but that did not make him any less annoying. Now, instead of a best friend, Killy was turning into some sort of nurse mother. That was what it felt like. Given a quick glance to his fellow Slytherin - who was walking beside him - Abel returned his attention to the very well sealed letter, with Ms Rowan-Cullen's name on it.

He had heard voices on his way up, with the Owlery echoing slightly, but the older Slytherin had not worried too much about it. There was nothing suss with two friends walking to the Owlery together, right? He didn't think so. He and Killy were often together. It would probably be suss if they separated, actually. He was posting a letter, and posting letters was well within rules and such. There was nothing weird about posting letters. Abel was not watching where he was going, however, as he attention had been grabbed by the still drying ink on the letter beginning to smudge. He was not sure what this letter had to go through before it reached Briar, so he wanted his writing to be as clear as it possibly could be. He was relying on Killy to make sure he didn't walk into anything - but ultimately, his friend failed,and Abel walked directly into some young girl - a young Slytherin girl, Abel soon discovered. He vaguely remember her, maybe? He was a little more preoccupied with the fact that his own letter had gone flying, and to be honest, the last thing he wanted was it to go anywhere that was not Briar or himself. Neglecting to apologise to the first year he bumped into, and blatantly ignoring the other first year, Abel settled his blue eyes on his letter desperately, and took steps towards retrieving it before anyone or thing else could.
​

 

[Killua Freecss]

I'm joining in too..

---

Killua was very slowly learning to handle Abel's werewolf situation. Well, at least he liked to think he was. At first he would always worry about this stuff and that stuff to the point where it would drive his friend mad. But he was fine with it. Abel was his first friend and that made things complicated for him given that he knew not how he should act. And second, his first friend was a werewolf. That didn't make things any less complicated, especially with his friend constantly thinking he was a monster. Well, in his opinion Abel was far from being a monster, he just did... wild transformations. He hadn't hurt anyone nor has he killed anyone. But Kil. Killy was different. He used to kill people and though that was all in the past, the blame for those deaths were still on him, even if those he killed were bad in their own right. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he turned his attention to his friend whose attention seemed to be far from the way his walking, but it was fine. The road and staircase was clear anyway, and so there was no problem as they went up the Owlery.

At first, Abel really hadn't any plans to post letters to the Werewolf Support Services, but Killua nagged him to do so because he thought it was a fine idea. Besides the people there would know much more about werewolves than him. Even if he did read every book in the library that he knew contained some kind of information about werewolves. Maybe he should apply to be part of that someday. It could be a good job was what her thought with a slight shrug. With his attention drifting off again, added to that was he thought he saw his owl flying outside the owlery, Kil had lagged behind Abel and did not at all manage to stop him from bumping a girl and the letter flying out of his hands and landing in front of the former assassin's feet. He watched as his friend frantically looked for the letter and he picked it up for him and handed it over to his Slytherin friend. "Jeez, take a look at where you're going sometimes," he muttered at Abel before glancing over at the girl. She was familiar, though he could barely remember who she was. Killua wasn't one to pay much attention to those he didn't know after all.

---

---

 

[Isaiah Jeffreys]

Isaiah noticed almost immediately that what he said about his mother struck a cord with the girl. Now she felt bad. Isaiah found that pretty funny, he knew that it wasn't nice to play that sort of card and he knew that his mother probably wouldn't appreciate it, but, it was still partially the truth. His mother was dead, but it had been a good many years since that time. His family was much better now. His siblings did still needed to hear from him, but he doubted that it was the reason he was giving to her which was the real reason. Happy with himself the boy just responded to what she said by shaking his head at her. "It's okay, it's just been hard, you know" he said, which was also again true, but Isaiah was much more at ease and comfortable with talking about his mother than he had been. He didn't want to over play this card and give the game away, but he just missed his family, that part was hard, and it was why really he'd been in such a rush. Just saying that he missed his family would definitely not be enough to get this girl to have felt bad about what she said to him. Isaiah let the silence take over. He just helped her with what she was doing, and then sighed ever so slightly. He did miss his mother, and sometimes it felt like she'd died just the day before, but he was happy to say that it really wasn't true. As they both stood, finally done, Isaiah just smiled at her. He knew that one day, if they ended up becoming friends that he might have to own up to this cheap shot, but it really wasn't that day yet. The girl introduced herself, Aliyah. That was actually a really nice name.

Isaiah just kept smiling at her, a small smile that didn't make it really look like he was happy, just glad for the company. Isaiah smiled at her, when she stepped out of his way so that he could go and post his letters, and said it was nice to meet him. "You too Aliyah." He took a small step away from her, letting his green eyes linger on her, before he stopped and opened his mouth slightly as if he was about to say something. Just as she placed a hand on his shoulder in a sympathetic manner. "Uhm..you know..if you want" He started, "I wouldn't....mind the company" he said to her, smiling slightly at her and then motioning to further into the owlery. He had been about to walk away when someone else, just barged into the owlery and bumped right into Aliyah, clearly, this area was a danger-zone. He looked at the person and then the second one of who followed. They were both much older, and they just seemed to be completely ignoring what they'd just done, Isaiah wasn't going to stand for that, "Hey" he spoke with confidence, though he was a little bit terrified, he didn't know these two people. They could be murders for all he knew. "Are you not going to at least apologise?" Isaiah didn't take his eyes off the boy who was scrambling to get his letter. Isaiah had no problem other people using the owlery at the same time, it was an area of the school anyone could go to, he just really didn't like that he had just barged past them, and didn't think to apologise, or at least say excuse me. Isaiah might be a first year, but he wasn't going to stand for that. The Sorting hat had definitely been right in calling his foolish. Isaiah shook his head at the pair of them, and then shot a glance to Aliyah, "You alright?" he asked. Despite the cheap shot that Isaiah had taken, and his slight dislike for how she had over reacted he couldn't help but feel like first years had to stick together.
​

 

[Aliyah Wright]

Aliyah smiled shyly back at Isaiah still embarrassed for the way that she acted towards him. She was just about to turn and head back down the stairs when he spoke again and asked her to join him as he mailed his letter. "Ok." she replied simply with a small shrug. Her main objective for the day was to drop her owl off and she had already completed that. She had the time to spare and she could use the social interaction. Besides the group she met on the Hogwarts Express and the short conversation she had with Sage at the Slytherin house meeting, the girl hadn't gotten to know very many new people. In the past Aliyah never viewed school school as a place to make friends. With her family always moving around and kids being so mean and cliquey, taking the time to get know someone just seemed like a big waste of time when she knew that she would ultimately just leave and start the process all over again somewhere else. The eleven year old was hoping to have a different approach at Hogwarts. Her parents promised her that she would be staying in New Zealand until she graduated and for the first time she had a chance to make some real friends. The girl didn't really did have a clue about how to start, but she figured if she could win over the Isaiah after the disastrous introduction they had, she should be able to win over anybody.

"Do you have an owl?" she asked the boy as she followed behind him. Her tone was a little lighter and more friendly than it had been. "You can use mine if you..." Before she could even finish her sentence someone bumped into her from behind and knocked her off balance. The girl staggered forward but still managed to stay on her feet. She kept a firm grip on the bag of owl treats, but her brand new white owl cage slipped from her hand and landed loudly on the stone floor. "Seriously?!?" she sighed heavily in frustration. The young Slytherin spun around and looked up to see two older boys standing in front of her. They were Slytherins. She remembered their faces from the house meeting. She was having the worst luck ever today. The girl knew that if she said anything that her smart mouth would certainly make the situation worse and being physically and magically outmatched, she chose to stay quiet. It seemed Isaiah however had a different idea in mind. She watched on as the boy challenged the older boy who had bumped into her. She was impressed with his boldness, but questioned his sanity. Aliyah tried to only pick fights she knew she could win and this situation didn't seem very winnable. "I am fine." she replied. "But I am not so sure about my cage though." The first year walked over to where the cage had landed and lifted it from the floor, revealing a crack in the wood frame a few inches long. The girl shut her eyes and clenched her fist to contain her frustration. Instead she focused her intensity in a pointed glare in the older boys direction. Isaiah was right. She did deserve at least an apology from her older housemate and she intended to stand there until she got it.

 

[Abel Smith]

Abel pulled a displeased face at Killua, and took the letter quickly. He no-longer cared about the legibility now he had an audience, and decided he could just rewrite it later when they were somewhere private. "Thanks, Killy," he replied, stuffing the note into the inner-chest pocket of his robes, and now paying complete attention to the first years, since the Ravenclaw had so boldly called him out on his lack of manners and respect. Abel had not set out to step on toes, as he personally did not like conflict when he was a member of it, but some things were slightly more important than apologising to people, like his privacy. Privacy was of the utmost importance to Abel, proper etiquette came afterwards. He sighed, not because of the first years, but because of his own ineptitude. "Yeah, my head was somewhere else, sorry." Was that adequate? He had no idea, but he was not going to stand around grovelling for the girl's forgiveness. It had been an accident, there was really nothing else he could do. He didn't think he had caused her any harm, she obviously hadn't broken a bone or something. She looked fine.

The sixth year had been planning to leave, until he realised that he had caused the girl harm. Not to her physical body, but to her bird cage appeared to be broken. It was easily fixed with just a wave of a wand and Reparo, but they were obviously first years. So, what was simple for him, was probably not so simple for them. He was the leader of the SDA now, and Benjamin had trusted hi with it. Abel had to think about the association whenever he did something now, and he was sure that going about breaking the cages of first years was not going to benefit the association one bit. He examined the cage from afar, deeming it totally fixable. He pulled out his wand and looked at the girl calmly. "I can fix it, if you like. A way to make up for my clumsiness?"
​

 

[Aliyah Wright]

Aliyah tilted her head to the side and considered the offending older boy's initial apology. There could have been a little more sincerity in his voice but he definitely seemed preoccupied and the way he and his companion kept mumbling to each other seemed a bit suspect. Perhaps they were up to something. The boy seemed really desperate to keep hold of that letter. The girl narrowed her eyes at them in suspicion. She was doing a good job of containing her annoyance and nosiness, but she just couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes at the boy. Since when was a letter home to mommy and daddy such a big deal.

Aliyah's stare softened a little when the older Slytherin offered to repair the damaged owl cage. Continuing to argue wouldn't get anyone anywhere. Somewhere in the back of her mind she heard her mother's voice saying "Judge not and thou shall not be judged." For all she knew this boy had siblings at home waiting for a letter and a dead mother too. Plus she wouldn't want to ruffle any of her housemates feathers. Burning bridges with older students wouldn't serve her well at all while she was still new and trying to figure out how things work at the school. She glanced over at Isaiah, she couldn't tell if the apology was sufficient for him, but it would do for her. "Fair enough." the young Slytherin replied with a small nod of agreement. Apologetic deeds were worth more to the girl than apologetic words. She sat the owl cage down upright in front of her and quickly hurried over to stand next to Isaiah. The boy might have been older and more experienced, but she didn't know how good his aim would be. If he had so much on his mind that was having trouble walking, how could he be trusted to a cast a proper charm. After being used as a human speed bump by two people in one day, she didn't want to risk getting hit by stray spell. "You two are Slytherin right? I think I remember you from the house meeting. I'm Aliyah Wright and this is Isaiah." she said directing her attention mainly to the other boy. Her mother always told her that network building begins early. Perhaps one or both of the boys could be useful to her in the future.

Ugh sorry. My reply is kind of blah.

 

[Killua Freecss]

Killua merely snickered at the annoyed face of his best friend. Of course Abel would blame him from bumping into the young girl, but then again, he should have paid more attention to his surroundings as well. It wasn't like Killy was with him 24/7. Okay, well maybe he was with him for 24 hours but that was only because classes had not yet started. If classes had started, he would not always be around though he was pretty sure that one way or the other, the two of them would end up together by the end of the day. They were almost inseparable after all ever since Kil found out Abel's condition. Though, he would have to admit that he enjoyed teasing the hell out of his friend and making said Slytherin go mad with panic. His friend worries and thinks too much after all, he should relax sometime really or else he'll eventually develop a heart disease and die. Killy didn't appreciate that scenario. He nodded at Abel's thanks and stuffed his hands in his pockets as the young boy had begun to scold them and the former assassin raised an eyebrow. He was most certainly amused because by the looks of it, they were first years and he was pretty sure that he and Abel didn't look like they were of the same age as those two. The kid's got guts and Kil was amused.

The former assassin watched as his friend apologized to the young girl. She didn't seem to be hurt anywhere, but apparently she had dropped her owl cage in a bad angle that caused a crack on said item. He was about to offer to fix it just so they could get out of the place, but Abel had offered the idea first. It was fine either way, after all, repairing the cage would be an easy feat for sixth years like him and Abel and he was pretty sure that his friend would do just fine even if Killua didn't remind him to be careful. And so, in the meantime, he took the time to look at the first years more closely, and it seems like the girl was indeed in the Slytherin house as he had seen her once in the common room though he didn't particularly focus his attention on anyone. Well, it seems that he wasn't the only one who recognized people he had only seen once for it seems as if the girl had recognized them as well, and it was not like Abel and him frequent in the common room either. "Killua," was all he said as an introduction. He wasn't sure if Abel preferred to introduce himself and it wasn't like they would gain anything from learning his name after all. And he much more preferred not to mention his surname frequently, someone might recognize it after all and it wasn't like the Freecss had a good reputation. If there was anything, they were known for criminal records around the world and that was something he didn't want the whole school to know about him.

 

[Isaiah Jeffreys]

Isaiah shook his head at the girl, he did not have an owl. He knew he should've gotten one, but he'd run out of time, they hadn't really been able to be in New Zealand too long. His family had headed back to Melbourne the same day as he'd headed to Hogwarts. They'd really only been able to get a sort of long weekend for it. Which meant that Isaiah hadn't really had all the time to deal with all of the shopping, and the owl, which he realised would be incredibly useful was the thing that he had managed to forget. Isaiah had been about to tell her that she didn't need to offer hers, when the boy had walked into her. Isaiah knew that he'd done it just there, but he had at least instantly apologised. It had been his natural instinct to say sorry, since it was just an accident, but he had really been at fault. Which was why Isaiah said something. He knew that they were much older than him, and they did not look very familiar at all. He knew they weren't Ravenclaws, but Isaiah didn't like that he hadn't said sorry. It was just polite, it didn't matter that they could probably kill Isaiah with all the magic that they knew. He wasn't going to stand by and just let it slide. He couldn't do such a thing. He wasn't going to let such a thing happen. The ravenclaw was actually very surprised when he actually apologised, he didn't think that would actually happen. He had thought the boy would put up more resistance to him, but it appeared, that like Isaiah he perhaps had bigger more pressing things on his mind. He didn't really see it as an achievement, more that it was maybe what the elder student had intended to do. Isaiah just smiled, unable to help feeling just a little bit pleased about the situation.

Isaiah smiled as, Aliyah said that she was fine, but that bird cage was not. Isaiah, almost felt like saying ha. At least all he'd done was cause everything to fall, he hadn't actually broken anything. He would've been about to tell her that they'd be able to find a professor or something who could then fix it, when the older boy offered to do it. Of course, they would know a spell to help. Isaiah was a little jealous of their abilities, he was new but he wanted to be able to master all the spells already. Only knowing lumos was a little dull, despite the nature of the spell. He glanced at Aliyah who seemed to think that was a good enough way to make up for walking into her. He nodded as well, standing clear, so that he could see the boy cast the spell. Just watching Aliyah as she placed down the cage and hurried over to him. He smiled slightly at this, finding it funny that moments ago they had been butting heads, now it was as if they were actually friends. Not wanting to be distracted away from watching the boy cast the spell, he just let Aliyah introduce them, as well as stating that they were Slytherin. Isaiah looked between the two boys, wondering if he should give them his house, it wouldn't harm him really. "I'm Ravenclaw" He told them, just so that they didn't mix him up with being a slytherin. He smiled at them as he said this. Unsure as to what they would think about it, though not that it mattered. "What year are you guys in?" he asked, curious and also wondering at which point they may also learn this spell.
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[Abel Smith]

Abel smiled as she accepted his suggestion, since he could not leave that cage broken. He had a debt to settle with the girl and he was not raised to leave debts, even the smallest, unpaid. It was a bad habit to fall into, one that could have serious consequences in later life if he became lazy in settling debts and becoming lazy when it came to responsibilities. He did find it mildly entertaining to see them give him a fair working distance, as if he would actually miss. When he did cast spells, he did try to have some sort of aim, and while when he was younger he was possibly the worst at directing his magic, he was not going to mess up Reparo. Who could possibly mess up Reparo? It was a spell that had (unfortunately) been used all around him, as he was not new to breaking things.In fact, it was a good day if he got through the entire twenty-four hours without breaking something from sheer absent-mindedness and being clumsy. He pointed his wand at the cage, using the appropriate swish method, stated calmly, "Reparo." The cage was returned to its original, fixed state, and as added condolence, Abel added the Unbreakable Charm learnt in fourth year, to stop any further breaks. He had such a charm on everything it could possibly go on that he owned, because of his tendency towards breaking things.

"That should do it. You'll have fun trying to break it now," he said, putting his wand away. "I'm Abel, by the way. Abel Smith." With such a common name as that, Abel did not have to worry about the reputation of siblings. Besides, they were all gone now, and he doubted his younger siblings would come. Not after he had been here, and most certainly not while he was currently here. "And you're right, we are Slytherins. Though the Common Room's not really our thing." They had better, less crowded and more private places to hang out than the Common Room. He then looked at the Ravenclaw, Isaiah, and with a quick glance at Killua, answered for them both. "We're in Sixth. You can learn Reparo in Second. It's pretty simple. The Unbreakable Charms a little later, in Fourth," he explained, because why not? He needed to practice doing this sort of address anyway when the SDA started back. Upon thinking about the SDA, he smiled slightly at Aliyah and Isaiah. "If you're interested in learning spells and stuff, you should drop by the dungeons. There's a club down there that tries to help students with learning spells and that. There's always someone there that should be able to help you out. Obviously you can't learn spells above your level, but there's never any harm in knowing about them beforehand." It was the perfect way to get a heads up and a possible advantage over others. That was what the SDA was for, anyway, to help students with this sort of stuff, and since Benjamin had left it to him, Abel was determined to keep it running smoothly -maybe even better than beforehand.
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[Aliyah Wright]

Aliyah watched on as the older Slytherin casted the charm to repair her owl cage. She had seen her parents use The Repairing Charm several times around the house and to fix things that inevitably break when you are travel across country. But watching her housemate work his magic was far more exciting. The eleven year old had never seen an underaged wizard use a wand before. It was a reminder that she would soon get her chance to learn how to cast spells and charms and be the witch she born to be. The girl never understood why it was forbidden for kids to use their wands outside of school. Not using magic in front of non-magical people made sense, but to give a kid a wand and then tell them not use was just mean. She had tried to get her wand do something, anything when she first got it, but all she managed to get it do was spit out a few angry red sparks. It was like the wand blowing raspberries at her. Like it was mad at her for even trying to use it without proper training.

Aliyah smiled and went over to collect her cage when Abel had finished. "I think I'll take your word for it." she said with a small laugh and giving the white cage a quick look over. It looked as good as new. "Thanks Abel." The eleven year old was grateful that boy had chosen to be helpful. If she had been left to her own devices she probably would have just tried to fill the crack with an entire bottle of white fingernail polish. The first year listen as Abel explained the two charms he had performed. Fourth year felt like forever away. Sure lumos and nox were helpful enough, but if that was all she going to learn for the year, the first year would be highly disappointed. However, the club Abel mentioned piqued her interest. It could help with her Defense Against Arts class for this semester and could give her a head start on Charms and Transfiguration for next semester. And any excuse to use her wand outside of class sounded like a good idea to her. "Sure. I'll check it out!" she smiled at the older boy. It looked like her mother was right and her networking was working out.