Open First Year Castle Tours!

[Leah Thorne]

Leah had been completely shocked when she got her prefect badge in the mail. It had been one of the only things to get her parents off her back all break. She stood up a bit straighter as she walked through the halls eager to help anyone who looked lost or step in if there was some kind of issue. So far she hadn't had much to do but when she found a sign for the first years tour she decided that would be a perfect place to start. Especially with Ruth starting Hogwarts this year. She obviously had Cyrus but she wanted to help too. Leah stood on one of the benches in the entrance hall and with one hand held up her wand to use the sonorus charm and the other holding up a sign advertising the event. "Attention all first years! Or anyone who still gets lost around the castle." she began. "Gather round for a comprehensive tour! We'll be leaving in a few minutes so hurry or be left behind!"

 

[Sophie Shepherd]

Sophie hadn't been at Hogwarts for that long, but so far she was enjoying the place. She knew that there was so much to learn. The last few days she had been here, it had been like a maze here. There was so much to remember and find. She had been confused about how to get to and from her common room to the great hall, a few times now as well as other places she needed to reach. Sophie had happened to be making her way towards the great hall to grab something to eat when she heard an older student mention a castle tour. Sophie knew she couldn't turn down the offer. The new Ravenclaw decided to join the older girl. "Hi! I'm here for the tour!"

 

[Professor Marigold Cooper]

“Fair dinkum, a tour sounds like just what I need, eh,” Ari said as she heard the girl with the sonorous charm (hard to miss her with that spell though, to be perfectly honest.) She headed over to the small group that was beginning to form and smiled at the... ah, Prefect. “G'day, I’m one of the new Professors starting this term. Reckon it’s alright if I jump in? Don’t worry, I won’t be stepping on your toes.” She offered, hoping it would make the girl more agreeable. She didn't want the students to think they couldn't ask questions freely with her around, and anyway, she was curious too! Maybe she could even ask some questions she was really curious about, who better to know the answers than someone intimately involved in the goings on of the school. Prefect or not, she had to know her way around pretty solidly, right. "Y’know, I’m Marigold, and I’ll be takin' over from Professor Kingsley." She'd heard a lot about the woman, apparently she'd been here a rather long time. It felt pretty nervewracking to be stepping into such big shoes. Even if she'd not met the woman personally.​

 

[Ruth Thorne]

Ruth was enjoying soaking Hogwarts in, getting a feel for the place. It was easy to lose her way, though, so when she heard Leah was organising a tour she was more than happy to jump in. Her older cousin was pretty cool, though Ruth was surprised anyone would willingly take on this responsibility. It just seemed like a way to get people to put more problems on you and a massive annoyance. But still, Ruth was pretty grateful for it. "Leah! Hi!" she said, cheerfully, milling around with the other students. Though she did have to raise an eyebrow as a professor appeared. Great, now it was weird.

 

[Hinata Edogawa]

Hinata had gotten used to joining the First Year tour every year, although she usually kept to the very back of the group. The problem this year is that she had siblings and a cousin attending the school and they were not very keen to be staying at the back, nor were they allowing her to stay at the back on her own. And so she was kind of dragged towards the front of the group, a Hufflepuff first year in each hand, Jonah on her left and Eurydice on her right. Of course, this tour was meant for first years so it was quite embarrassing to be the 5th year there but she supposed that with a professor in the group, she could blend into the background. After all, five years in the castle, she still got lost almost weekly. Maybe this was the year she finally understood the castle layout.​

 

[Eurydice Nightray]

As soon as Eurydice heard that there was a castle tour, she didn't hesitate at all in joining. Of course, she was dragging Jo because they were in the same house and apparently Hina-nee was also coming along because Jo thinks that Hina-nee needs it. Which is weird because her older cousin had been attending Hogwarts for four years now with this year being the fifth. Why would she need to be toured around the castle again? Eury sort of figured it out when the older Hufflepuff had almost taken a left turn when they were supposed to turn right. And vice versa. But at least now they were here with the rest of the group! "Hello! We're here for the tour too!"​

 

[Demi Zephyr]

Demi figured the best way to learn where everything was in the castle, was to join the castle tour. Just because she intended to explore additional areas didn't mean it would be a bad shout to know where the main points of interest were too. She lingered around the meeting point, only recognising one other girl from her dorms, "Hey Soph!" Demi grinned, heading over to the other first year, "Wait, I can call you Soph right?" she didn't want to be rude and presume. "Do you think other Ravenclaws will join us?" she asked her newest friend, watching as more students began congregating alongside them.

@Sophie Shepherd ​

 

[Jonah Edogawa]

Jonah had to keep a good grip on Hina-nee's hand as they walked from the Hufflepuff Common Room. He had sort of known that Hina-nee was bad at directions because their parents had always reminded her to keep close and that she usually couldn't tell her right from her left. He had underestimated how much, though. Jonah had been here barely a week, and even he knew that the direction Hina-nee went to was nowhere near approaching the Entrance Hall. He didn't know where she would end up in if they'd left her to her own devices, but it was probably best that he and Eury had taken hold of his sister's hand. He only hoped Ro and Eli would show up; he'd already told them about this weeks ago (an exaggeration considering they've been in the castle barely a week). Apparently, right now, all the participants were girls, and worse yet, girls he didn't know. Except Eury. And Hina-nee. This was when he realized that he didn't know many boys either. Maybe he'll meet friends here.​

 

[Victoria de Lacey]

There was a lot of noise going on in the Entrance hall, more than she thought there would be at this time of the day and so, curiosity piqued, Tori strolled in, eager to see what all the commotion was about. She soon caught sight of a bunch of students in all the houses gathered around a girl who appeared to be one of the prefects they'd met at the house meeting. Tori hadn't been paying too much attention, so she couldn't remember the girls name, but this was interesting. She eventually noticed an adult though, and assumed this to be one of the Professor's though she hadn't a clue which one. There had been so many names on her schedule and she hadn't have the chance to properly meet any of them yet, how was she meant to figure this out? This was a tour? That was cool, even though she was pretty sure she could figure it out on her own, it might be a good idea to get some help in this area. "A tour? That sounds like fun!" She noticed the Ravenclaw girl she'd met before with Soos, Demi, and moved to stand near her as everyone started gathering around.​

 

[William Potter-Cade]

William had done a little bit exploring on his first night in the castle when he had taken the scenic route to the Gryffindor common room and he doubted the ‘official’ tour would show them anything interesting, but he figured it wouldn’t hurt for him to get to know the castle a little bit more. Once classes started it would be best if he knew where things were so he didn’t get lost, not with his mother and uncle both running around even if his mother would only be there for one semester.

He wandered over from the Great hall and out into the entrance hall where the first year tour seemed to be heading out from. He spotted a few familiar faces, most notably Demi and Tori whom he waved to as he walked over. “Hey guys,” William greeted them both as he moved to stand beside them both.

 

[Felix Layton-King]

Felix had decided that the more he could learn about the castle without having to ask his older sister, the better. He'd been trying to avoid her at almost every instance, fearing that she might try to turn him into a joke at his own expense. It had happened enough in their childhood that he didn't for a second think it was about to stop now she had a whole brand new audience ahead of her. He'd made his way out of the common room more or less undetected and now stood alongside the prefect from his house that was hosting. He didn't know anyone else here, and while he spotted another girl in red robes around his age, he couldn't place her name. It was only when he saw William that he found a familiar face, someone from his own room. Sliding through the students, he headed in William's direction, hoping for a chance to meet some new friends, "Hello," he smiled at his dormmate and the other girls he was standing with, hoping he wasn't interrupting anything.

@William Potter-Cade @Victoria de Lacey ​

 

[Rose Edogawa]

A tour sounded like a great idea in theory, but she wasn't sure how good of an idea this was in practice, since she could see that at least Jonah and Eurydice had the same idea. She looked around for Eli, but couldn't see him anywhere before deciding this was probably, definitely way too many people for him anyway. He wasn't a big fan of large crowds, and after the display the other night in the entrance hall after sorting, she really wasn't that surprised either. She wondered vaguely if he'd been avoiding her. Still, with their dad here, there was probably less likelihood of that and at least now Jonah didn't have to worry about Eli throwing him from the astronomy tower. He wouldn't really have done that... right? These days she wasn't so sure anymore.

She stood to the back of the crowd, easily sort of blending in with everything else going on. She didn't want to be noticed really, trying to avoid the reproachful eyes of any of her family members. It would be easier just to stay out of everyone's way today.​

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

Why the students couldn't have just been given a map, Eoghan didn't know. Maybe he'd make one himself so that there was no need to have a social gathering and walk around the castle. He presumed that there would also be areas of the school he didn't need to know about for years to come, but the Ravenclaw found himself following some of the other first-year students out of the Great Hall when the announcement for a tour came around. He wasn't about to miss out on something because of his own ego.

Eoghan spotted Tori and William hanging around together with a few of the others, although he was glad to see Susie wasn't here yet at least. She was probably the most annoying of the bunch, but Tori was a close second. He did his best to keep out of their eyelines, fearing that he'd be dragged into conversation with them if she had half a chance. Instead, he stood near one of the other girls who also seemed to be keeping out of the way. "Do you know how long this will be?" he asked the girl, hoping it wouldn't take up much of their morning.

@Rose Edogawa ​

 

[Cal Greenleaf]

Cal couldn't wait for the tour, he felt very alone since coming here, though that wasn't anything he wasn't used to. However he was determined to make some friends and maybe try to stop being such a loner. He could hear voices and the start of a gathering crowd near the entrance hall. "You've got this, everyone here is just as new as you." Cal had muttered to himself. although Cal had wanted to make friends he found himself sticking to the back and trying to blend in, taking in everything rather than engaging.

 

[Dakrey]

Dakrey had already had the normal introduction to the castle from the other house elves but the idea of tagging along with the new first years was too good to pass up, especially when some of the first years were the ones he'd been sent to the school to watch over. When he arrived he already spotted William, the son of master Ezra and wondered how many more of the Cade children would be attending the tour. "Hello master William, Dakrey sees you're taking the tour, will mistress Kiera also be joining?"

 

[Rose Edogawa]

Rose turned to the boy who'd addressed her and shrugged. "Not sure. I hope it's not too long, I have other things to do today and I don't want to be stuck in this crowd for too long it's all rather pretentious." She commented, frowning slightly at everyone else around them. She'd already been standing here for flipping ages.

@Eoghan Blyth ​

 

[Eurydice Nightray]

Eurydice could not believe her eyes. A house elf! And it didn't seem like a Hogwarts house elf either! Someone managed to bring a family house elf and she could not believe that her parents did not send one of the house elves with her when she had specifically asked for one! She left Hina-nee's side to approach the boy that the house elf was talking to. "Hi. Eurydice. Nice to meet you. Quick question," she said in quick succession as she gestured to the house elf. "Did you bring him? Your house elf? Did you need permission for him?" She decided that the boy was answering too slowly for her when this was too important! "Hi Mr. House Elf, you wouldn't happen to know how I can bring our family elf would you?"

@William Potter-Cade @Dakrey ​

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

"Glad I'm not the only one," Eoghan mused, not looking at the girl who'd replied to him. It seemed as though there was generally a lack of information around the school from what he'd seen so far. As it stood, Eoghan hadn't introduced himself to anyone around the school of his own accord, but the way this girl seemed not to care about him made him relax more than he had around others who were always trying to pry. "Eoghan, Ravenclaw." The first year put out his hand to the girl.​

@Rose Edogawa

 

[Rose Edogawa]

"Rose, Gryffindor."

@Eoghan Blyth ​

 

[Demi Zephyr]

Demi kept her attention away from the professor, realising it was the same one she'd run into a couple of days ago. Thankfully she was quickly distracted by more students joining them, one of which causing a large grin to appear on her face. "Hi William!" she waved back at the Gryffindor, only slightly aware that Tori had joined at her side too. She was about to ask about his day when a house elf appeared to join him, and glancing between the elf and another Hufflepuff, Demi observed with wide eyes. She'd never known a magical family to have their own house elf before, "Who's Keira?" she asked William, wondering if the elf was talking about a sister or a friend.

@William Potter-Cade ​

 

[Sabrina Bonrepos]

Even better than a tour, Rina thought, would be to let the students have longer to explore the castle on their own before classes started. At least a few weeks to get settled in properly before they had to keep to schedules, hoping to Merlin that they wouldn't get lost on the way. She'd joined the tour not because she wanted someone to tell her where she needed to go, but because she could find out more about her classmates before they were separated for their lessons. There were only a couple of students dressed in green, and wandering up towards a boy on his own, Rina paused beside him and crossed her arms. "Who are you talking to?" she asked him, giving him a confused look and wondering if he'd seen a ghost she didn't know about. Would this castle have ghosts? There was an elf lingering around with some other students, so she didn't see why not.

@Cal Greenleaf ​

 

[Esme Styx-Cade]

The castle was incredibly big. That was Esme’s main takeaway from the small amount of time she had already been at the school. So when she heard an older student talking about a tour for first years, she jumped at the chance and was delighted to see that some of the students who were already waiting to take the tour were people she recognised. “Hi everyone,” She smiled in the direction of William, Tori, Rose and Demi, too many of them to specifically greet by name but she hoped they knew she was talking to them. She extended her smile and greeting to the faces she didn’t know as well as she hoped to make friends with as many people as possible.

 

[William Potter-Cade]

William’s attention had mostly been on Demi but despite that a lot seemed to be going on. Another girl, who introduced herself as Eurydice started speaking to him about his house elf who had appeared moments earlier and begun asking about Kiera. William looked between Eurydice, Demi and Dakrey while trying to figure out who to speak to first and in what order. “Hi Dak, I don’t know if Kiera is joining us, I didn’t see her at breakfast but I hope she sees us all on her way out,” He smiled at the elf and turned to the Hufflepuff girl. “Hi, William, he’s not mine he’s my dad’s and uncle’s but I suppose technically he’s the family house elf, my uncle brought him here when he got promoted to head of Gryffindor and I suspect because my sister and I and his twins, my cousins all started this year,”

While Eurydice turned her attention to Dakrey, William turned his to Demi and smiled at the Ravenclaw girl as she asked him about Kiera. Was that a hint of jealousy? He certainly hoped so. “Kiera is my twin sister, she’s in Gryffindor too, I’ll introduce you to her if she joins the tour and this is Dakrey my…family’s house elf, but he works here now,” William said awkwardly, a little embarrassed to be introducing her to a house elf. “Dakrey, this is my friend Demi,”

William thought that would be the end of it but when Esme showed up and joined the group he figured she too should meet the elf, since she was part of the family too. “Oh Esme, this is Dakrey he’s the Cade’s family elf, you should know him because you’re one of us, Dakrey this is Esme, she’s uncle James’ daughter,”

 

[Dakrey]

Dakrey wasn’t used to be spoken to in such a respectful manor by a stranger. He decided in that moment that he liked this Eurydice, he looked up at her with his large tennis ball eyes and smiled at her. “Apologies, Dakrey was brought here by my master and loaned to the school, Dakrey is not familiar with the details, but perhaps your elves master could have a word with the headmaster? No one would usually think to speak to Dakrey about such things, but he appreciated her speaking to him as if he was an equal, naturally assuming he would be privy to the details. He went where he was told, even though he was technically free and had been for decades, he loved and served the Cade family, they’d always been good to him, at least the more recent generations had.

“Master James has more daughters? How unexpected,” Dakrey smiled up at Esme once William had introduced them. “Pleased to meet you Mistress Esme, how are you finding Hogwarts so far? It’s quite large isn’t it?”

 

[Demi Zephyr]

Suddenly things around Demi were happening all a little too fast. Between the new students joining them, and listening to the house elf and William speak about their family, the Ravenclaw wasn't sure what to think. The new Head of House, as announced at the feast, was professor Cade. She didn't know him personally of course, but she'd certainly heard of him, perhaps too much. "You're professor Cade's nephew?" she asked, bewilderment on her face. She knew enough about the Cade's that a family house elf was no longer surprising, but hearing that William was part of that had Demi suspiciously quiet, withdrawing herself a little from the group. No, surely not.

As William introduced her to his family house elf, she gave the creature another small wave, "Nice to meet you," It wasn't every day you got to have your house elf join you at school, and maybe James had enough children here now that it wasn't worth keeping the elf at home anymore. She glanced up at another girl who had joined them too, Esme, William had said. "Hi," she gave the Gryffindor a polite smile, wondering what her dad would think of the situation. She was a little relieved to hear that Keira was his sister, but at that moment it did little to level out the shock that was overtaking her thoughts.

Dakrey continued to talk to Esme and William, something about extra daughters. How wouldn't you know if your own master had daughters? Feeling somewhat confused and overwhelmed, Demi dipped from her spot between the Gryffindors, moving away a little to feign interest in the lining of her new robes.​