Open First Year Tour!

[Alice Holland]

Open after Rowan posts with Connor

It had been a few years now that Alice had been doing these tours. She was pretty sure this would be her third time, after taking over from Kauri Tipene a few years ago. It would also be her last time, which was a little saddening. But she felt extra proud standing here with her sign with her head girl badge on her chest. Alice had asked her cousin Connor to join her, wishing to pass on the tradition to someone else. She hadn't been able to bond with the younger Hufflepuff as much as she had wanted, but this seemed like a good opportunity to share some family time. He was a nice boy, and Alice knew he would be good at helping others like this. Alice's sign was starting to look a little worse for wear, but it was still functional. With a smile at her cousin, Alice held the sign up in the air for anyone to see. "Castle tour for first years! Come join us to find your way to classes!" She called out. "Learn your way around the castle! Castle tour!"

 

[Connor Holland]

The cocktail of fear and honour Connor had felt when his cousin asked him to help her show new first years around the castle was one he was still trying to sort through in his mind. As much as Eric's hate for their extended family had infected Connor for his first few years at Hogwarts, he had realised over the years that they actually... mostly seemed like pretty normal people. Alice in particular seemed nice. Not at all the monster Connor had feared all those years back when Eric had gotten into a fistfight with a friend of hers. He had even been considering reaching out to the older girl himself, seeing if they could make some kind of peace in their fractured family, but before he had even begun to figure out how to do that, Alice had bridged the gap first. Connor remembered how huge the castle had seemed to him as a first year, and how long it had taken him to get used to. He had been too scared of Alice to attend the tours back then, but now that he had the opportunity to help new first years find their way around and adjust to their new homes, he was excited and eager to seize the chance. If it helped him forge a connection with his cousin at the same time, that would just be a wonderful bonus. "First years!" Connor called out, trying to help Alice attract the attention of new students. "Castle tour for first years!"

 

[Freya Song]

Freya remembered how scared and lost she'd felt during her first year. She wasn't thrilled at the idea that the new baby wizards would be feeling the same way, so she'd opted to gently terrorise them a little by showing up uninvited to the first year tour. She'd scored a pair of scuffed up heelies in her size over the holidays and it was essential that she try them out before they were inevitably banned, as anything fun tended to be when faced with authority. She rolled into the room and waved at Connor, which proved to be difficult as she was trying to keep her balance while holding a large sign. It was shaped like an arrow and read "Ten Reasons The Castle Will Kill You", with a list of completely indecipherable gibberish written under it. "First years! Come here if you want to live!" Freya called, twirling the sign. She'd had a lot of time to practice her sign spinning skills over the holidays and she was equally happy to help out or, more likely, annoy the head girl with her presence.

 

[Alice Holland]

Alice grinned at Connor as he seemed to pick up what she was doing and helped her call out to the first years. From what she knew about him, he was pretty shy, so she was glad he was getting over that to help her out. But Alice soon frowned at the girl that approached them with her own sign. She waved at Connor, so was clearly someone he knew, but whatever she was doing... Alice wasn't a fan. Lowering her own sign, Alice headed over to her. "Hi, I appreciate the enthusiasm but could you please put your sign away? Or go elsewhere. It could be upsetting." She said, gesturing to the sign in question with a frown. "We're trying to help people, and I think all this is just going to be confusing." She added.

@Freya Song

 

[Yukiko Edogawa]

Yuki had been heading up to the fourth floor to find her brother when she heard someone yelling about a first year tour. That sounded great! She knew that Corey could probably give her a tour of the school, but honestly she didn’t really trust his directional capabilities and was hesitant to allow him to show her around in case he got them locked in a store cupboard or something. She had president to believe it could happen. So she turned on her heel and headed towards where she though the voice had been coming from. In the Entrance Hall she noticed an older girl and boy and one of them had a shiny badge on her chest that she thought said ADGIR, which made no sense to her, until she got closer and was looking at her head on, to realise actually said HEADGIRL, which made more sense, though she didn’t know what a head girl was. The biggest girl maybe? She didn’t look that tall.​

As she was about to approach, she heard another voice join the first two, but this girl was talking about the dangers of the school and Yuki found herself transfixed by the idea that her parents had sent her to her death. She hoped it was a good one. “Wait,” she said, her footsteps coming to an abrupt stop. “Can I actually die here? Because i should probably let my brother know he’s not allowed to have my slippers.” She frowned. “I want them to go to Hina. She deserves them.”​

 

[Weston Stirling]

Weston had heard something about castle tours for first years, which definitely sounded like a good idea. The castle was much larger than he had expected, and at this point, he could only really confidently navigate the route between the Great Hall and Ravenclaw tower. The only problem was that he didn't know where the tours started. He'd figured that the Great Hall was the most likely starting point, so he'd milled around the entrance for a bit until he heard some shouting that he decided to investigate.

That turned out to be a good idea as the shouting led him to three older students and the start of the tour. But what really caught his attention was the girl twirling a sign about the dangers of the castle. Now that was interesting. And a bit worrying. Weston walked up to the girl and asked, "What are the reasons?" He twisted his head this way and that to try and read the list, but he wasn't having much luck. The girl's handwriting was really bad, and she was spinning the sign very quickly.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor hadn't expected anything to go wrong at the tour, why would he have? Alice had been doing this for years, and first years couldn't be all that much trouble. He hadn't considered the possible role of other students until it was painfully too late. "Freya!" Connor hissed in embarrassment, rushing over to his friend and trying to cover her sign with his hands. "What are you doing?!" He winced more when first years actually paid attention to her, shaking his head quickly. "No! There are no reasons, she's just playing a prank!" He said quickly, scrambling to fix this mess as quickly as he could. "Freya, don't scare the first years! We're trying to help them!"

 

[Elara Chatelain]

Elara hadn't had time to look around the castle on her own, but she was constantly amazed by how big it was everyday. There were obvious secret hiding spots, and she knew there must be more that she would hopefully discover during the next seven years. She had been walking past the castle entrance when she saw a sign describing tours and let out a sharp "Oooh!" She skipped over and stood beside a girl who seemed very concerned with dying and noticed the older girl who seemed to be playing some kind of joke. She laugh when a boy told her to stop and turned to the girl. "See, we have nothing to worry about," she said and gave her a reassuring smile.

@Yukiko Edogawa

 

[Salem Lee]

Salem was pretty used to finding her way around unfamiliar places, but she'd never had to do it alone for such an extended period of time. It was weird to think she'd have to get used to the castle in a more permanent manner and the whole idea was starting to do her head in. Finding her way down to the beach in an unfamiliar town or to the same corner shop a few times when they were staying in one spot for a week was one thing, trying to figure out a big castle where she needed to be places on time every day and when the staircases kept moving was frustrating and Salem was lucky she was making it down for meal times.

Hearing some commotion and seeing signs for tours, Salem eagerly made her way over, spotting one of the girls in her dorm too. There seemed to be some weird conversation going on between the tour runners though, and Salem couldn't quite figure out what everyone was talking about. "Reasons for what? Is this about why the stairs keep moving about?" She asked a nearby boy. @Weston Stirling

 

[Valencia Addington]

Valencia had been utterly lost ever since she got to Hogwarts. The castle was so it and huge, there were so many corridors and stairs as well, that she kept thinking that she was on the same floor as she was before. She was in the courtyard when she had easdropped on someones conversation, hearing about this "tour for first years" thing, and Lenny decided it was time that she should join the small tour. She was confused about where it was at first, assuming it was possibly by the great hall or something, but as she made her way inside, she had noticed a group of people already there. An older boy seemed to be covering an older girl's sign, and this confused Valencia, because weren't they suppose to promote their tour? "Whats going on? Aren't they meant to show students around? Not cover signs?" Valencia asks a random student that was near her.

 

[Weston Stirling]

One of the older students tried to cover up the girl's sign, insisting that it was a joke. Weston wasn't completely sure who to believe. There was an awful lot of writing on the sign, and it seemed like a lot of work for a prank. But he also didn't remember his mum ever mentioning Hogwarts being dangerous. Then again, maybe things had changed since she'd attended the school.

Another girl joined the group and asked Weston about the reasons. "Reasons why the castle will kill us," he said, pointing at the sign. He considered her question about the stairs thoughtfully. "Maybe." That would make a lot of sense. He had nearly fallen at least twice after hitting some vanishing steps. "I heard there's a giant eel in the lake," he said, remembering what Bran had told him on the train ride. "Maybe it eats people?" The lake could be considered part of the castle, right? That could be another reason the castle would kill them. This would be a lot easier if he could just read the girl's sign.

@Salem Lee

 

[Yukiko Edogawa]

Yuki wasn't sure she liked this. As much as she wanted a tour, she felt that knowing how the school could kill her was a good thing. She didn't want to accidentally walk into something that could be easily prevented. "But why would she lie though?" She asked, as though the whole idea of a prank didn't compute for her. She didn't see why an older student would lie about the imminent deaths of all of them. Even if the HEADGIRL person seemed to be trying to say just that. "I heard you can fall down the stairs because they move, is that true or isn't it?" If it was true, then maybe this other girl had the right idea. She turned to the girl next to her, a Gryffindor apparently. "Maybe they just don't want us to know the real truth!" She said, conspiratorially. She wasn't really that worried, but if this was a prank, who was she to interfere?​

​

@Elara Chatelain​

 

[Elara Chatelain]

Elara raised her eyebrows at how worried the girl was and tried to not laugh. She seemed to be very worried by the girl's prank, although she wasn't sure why. "Sometimes people just joke about things. I don't think she meant to lie," she said, trying to reassure the girl. She was even more alarmed when the girl seemed to think there was some conspiracy theory being spread by the students. She turned to the girl and quickly placed her hands on her shoulders, staring directly into her eyes. "You're not going to die. Calm down." She quickly let go and laughed a little incredulously, crossing her arms. "You gotta stop worrying so much, kid. Plus, the stairs moving are kind of cool," she said, giving a weird little dance. She did enjoy the quirky characteristics of the castle, but she did understand why some students may not find it so fascinating.

@Yukiko Edogawa

 

[Freya Song]

Alice being the head girl automatically made Freya want to do the opposite of what she said, but her hesitance to upset Connor was stronger than her dislike of authority figures. "Your cousin is so mean," she hissed into his ear. The first years would be just fine after they figured out magic wouldn't kill them. Freya pouted and looped around to lean her sign up against the wall where it wouldn't get in the way, before circling back to stand beside Connor. It wasn't his fault he was related to people who didn't know what fun was. "Listen to the head girl and you'll get out of the school alive!" Freya sang out cheerfully to the assembled first years. It wasn't her fault now if nobody listened to her warnings.

 

[Salem Lee]

Salem listened to the boy as there seemed to be a bit of a scuffle with the girl with the sign. "Oh, that would make sense," She said, interest piqued by the mention of an eel in the lake. "How giant? The lake is pretty big. I wonder what it eats. Well, people I guess," She said excitedly, turning her attention to the head girl after the sign girl yelled about it. Salem had zero interest in dying, though she doubted they were in any real danger. But maybe there were some interesting dangerous things around. Like a giant eel. At the very least maybe she could teach Salem how to stop getting stuck on the fifth floor when the staircase seemed to want to take the long way around. @Weston Stirling

 

[Alice Holland]

Alice winced as first years started arriving and started to talk about Freya's sign. Some of them sounded rather nervous, and Alice felt frustrated. This was quickly spiraling out of her control, when she had wanted nothing but to help the new kids. Alice took a deep breath, looking at the gathered first years. She was glad when the girl put her sign away, but her next words weren't very helpful. Alice grimaced for a moment, then clapped in her hands. "Alright, first years. Listen up." She said loudly. "This was just a silly prank. You're not actually in danger at Hogwarts. My tour will show you how to get to classes and other important places, and there's no reason to be afraid." She said, hoping it would get through to them. But now that the idea was in their head, she knew it probably wouldn't be that easy to get rid of it. She turned back to the girl, who was now standing next to Connor as if she was a part of this. Alice couldn't help being frustrated with her. The only reason to make a sign like that was tos care new kids, and that just seemed low to Alice. She didn't care if it was Connor's friend, she knew she had to do something. "I'm taking three points from Hufflepuff for this stunt." She said, forcing her voice to be calm. "I know it was a joke, but targeting the new students who only just arrived a few days ago is not acceptable and cruel." She said with a slight frown. "So three points from Hufflepuff, and I'll ask you to leave the tour alone now." She then turned away from the girl, smiling her brightest smile at the new first years. "We're going up the grand staircase first to the first floor. Follow me!" She said, her tone entirely different than it had been to Freya.

 

[Connor Holland]

Usually Freya's pranks left a smile on Connor's face, but his relationship with Alice still felt so tenuous that the thought of Freya ruining it was making him feel.... frustrated. "She's in charge!" He hissed back to Freya before returning to Alice's side, giving her a desperate look. "Sorry!" He whispered, falling into step alongside her as they began the proper tour around the school. Connor wanted to make a good impression on his cousin, and be a good role model for the younger students, but everything was all falling apart around him.

 

[Weston Stirling]

Weston shrugged at the girl's question. "I dunno, I haven't seen it yet." Not that he ever wanted to see it. Well, maybe it would be interesting to look at from a safe distance away. He nodded eagerly as the girl seemed to agree with his theory that eel ate people. "How else would it get so big?" That was the only logical explanation.

The girl who had been spinning the sign stopped and propped it against the wall. Weston immediately hurried over so he could properly read it, ignoring the head girl who was trying to get everyone's attention. Upon closer inspection, the sign was filled with words that were definitely not English. It was gibberish. Or a foreign language. But probably gibberish. He rejoined the group, frowning. "I guess it really was a prank," he said sadly.

The head girl seemed kind of scary as she confronted the sign girl. But she was also his only chance at learning the layout of the castle since she was the one leading the tour. Reluctantly, Weston followed her up the grand staircase.

@Salem Lee

 

[Salem Lee]

Apparently the boy hadn't seen the eel either, which made Salem even more curious. Surely a man-eating eel was something someone should be telling the new kids about first. Though she supposed that one girl had been trying until the head girl told her off. "Maybe there's something else in the lake. Like really healthy kelp," She offered instead. Her parents usually let Salem eat whatever she liked, but they did try to stress how important healthy food was for growing.

The boy returned to the group as the tour actually started, seeming disappointed that the supposed dangers of the castle were maybe a bit more exaggerated than they'd thought. "I'm sure there's still plenty of stuff to look out for. Like that ghost at the feast. And I'm pretty sure one of the staircases is out to get me," She assured him, giving the stairs a pointed look as they followed the tour up them. @Weston Stirling