Guided Tour

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Ever since second year Kauri had made a point to help as many first years get used to their new home as possible, and this year wasn't going to be any different. Even as he got older and more comfortable at Hogwarts he still remembered how lost he had felt in his own first year, with no idea what he was doing or where he was going. It had been a struggle to learn where everything was, and how to navigate with staircases that moved (every so often it struck Kauri again just how bizarre it was that moving stairs were something he had gotten used to!) Kauri didn't like the thought of first years struggling in the same way he had, so he always made a point of showing as many new students as possible around the school as possible.

The sign he had made last year to indicate to first years that he was willing to help was a little battered with age but still clearly readable, CASTLE TOURS FOR FIRST YEARS! emblazoned across it in bright, bold letters. Just like last year Kauri stood in the entrance hall and held his sign up, calling out to anyone nearby. "Castle tours for first years!" He yelled, waving the sign happily. "Don't lose points because a staircase made you late! Never struggle to find your dorm after dinner again! Castle tours for first years!"

 

[Isabelle Walden]

The brunette was glad for being at Hogwarts. The sorting was over and the result for Isabelle was Ravenclaw. She had no idea how to think of it. The sorting hat said that she was intelligent and a dreamer, but also brave. She was brave! She trusted the sorting hat, because it seemed like some wise thing. The brunette had a wish to be together with her cousins at Gryffindor. But she wasn't the only Walden that was sorted into another house. Hermione was sorted into Slytherin, so she wasn't a strange Walden at all. Isabelle was glad with the house she was in, she figured every house would be fun. She couldn't wait to meet her new roommates but also the people from other houses. When she walked further at th entrance hall she noticed a sign with castle tours. Isabelle smiled at the sign, it was a nice idea of that person. When she got close she noticed a boy that seemed older than she was. It would be handy to know where everthing was, she could ask Aaron or Leila but her dorm would be somewhere wlse she figured. Isabelle smiled as she came closer to the boy with the sign. '' Hello! What a nice idea of you to show us around. I'm Isabelle Walden. I would love to join your tour.'' The brunette said friendly to the boy. She had dreamed about this kind of castles. The brunette loved one thing the most and that were fairytales. And in this kind of castles seem to be a lot of secrets inside of her imagination and she was now inside of one! She still couldn't believe she actually made it to here. Isabelle hoped that more first years would join. She could always help the boy with getting more people to join, she loved to help.

 

[Dymphna Butts]

Dymphna had been given a school map, but either it was well out of date, or the castle had a habit of moving whenever it got bored. The Hufflepuff could easily imagine the castle as a sentient being; it was so full of life, so warm and welcoming and friendly. Part of that might also have been down to the fact the students were welcoming and friendly - at least, the students Dymphna had met so far. She was passing through the entrance hall when she spotted a boy holding up a big sign, offering tours of the castle to first years such as herself. Food called her from the great hall, but she really did need help memorising all the routes and passages of the castle, so she headed over to the Gryffindor instead, a skip in her step. "I needed you yesterday," she said. "I was walking around in circles for hours!" Remembering the struggle, she laughed at herself. The girl beside her introduced herself, so Dymphna decided to do the same. "I'm Dymphna, Dymphna Butts. You can laugh if you want - it's kind of funny!"

 

[Artemis Pourroulis]

The castle was enormous. Much more grand than Artemis had expected when she had first walked through the corridor to get to the great hall, right before being sorted. She hadn’t been warned about the chance of getting lost. Though, she wouldn’t mind exploring a bit. Maybe she could find someone else who wanted to know the castle better now, too. Someone in her year. When Artemis walked past a poster in the entrance hall she stopped before the and read it, pursing her lips. A guided tour didn’t sound half bad. Exploring by herself sounded fun, but then a tour would definitely help her out. She walked over to the older Gryffindor boy and two other girls, neither of them in her house. Artemis didn’t think that mattered. She nodded along. "This is a great idea!" Seeing as the girls introduced themselves, she did the same. "My name is Artemis Pourroulis. It’s nice to meet you guys." ​

 

[Abian Hunter]

Hogwarts was pretty amazing so far, but it was also very confusing. Even though he had to admit it looked pretty cool, he didn't think having a school inside an old castle was all that practical. It was so easy to get lost, it wasn't even funny. And a lot of other things were still confusing to him. He didn't understand why there were four different houses and why they weren't allowed to visit one another. He had really hoped to see the other common rooms, maybe even hang out with the boy he had met on the train. But apparently, that wasn't allowed.

He was glad to have found the entrance hall and great hall at least. The ability to go outside was important to him, as was food. He was on his way to see if they served food during all times of the day, when his eye was caught by a sign. Castle tours for first years? That sounded pretty much exactly like what he needed. With a smile, he made his way over. There was an older boy who was apparently organizing the tour, and a few younger students he assumed were also first years. "I'm Abian." He said with a glance around. "Can I join? This place is confusing."

 

[Paolo Ricci]

Paolo was walking around, exploring the castle. However as much as he thought he was at getting around, he never seemed to know where he was in relation to anything else. He knew the castle liked to move on its own, so that didn't help his sense of direction. Figuring it was just something he would learn over the years, he kept walking on. He wanted to see as much as he could he was fascinated by the place. Naturally a curious Ravenclaw, he wanted to learn as much as he could about the place!

Eventually he made his way down to the Entrance, which he could easily recognize, and saw some students starting to group up. Next he noticed a sign held up next to them saying "Castle Tours", which he figured is why they were grouping up there. Paolo was never one to say no to some help, because that is sometimes the best way to learn something! The sooner he was familiar with his surroundings, the sooner he could try to dig deep and find out the secrets of the castle. So joining this tour was a no-brainer to him. He noticed a girl that got sorted into Ravenclaw with him, but hadn't gotten a chance to talk with her yet. Figuring this was as good of time as any, he walked up next to her and introduced himself to the group, "Hey guys, mind if I join the tour? I would love to learn more about how to get around this place! My name is Paolo, it's a pleasure to meet you all." He flashed his big cheshire grin to everyone. Paolo was very happy to be able to make some more friends at the school.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri was pleased when younger students approached him right away, excitement in his voice as he greeted them. "Hi Isabelle!" He said happily, giving her a bright smile. "I'd love it if you'd join!" The next girl's comments as she approached made him laugh. "Well, hopefully that won't be happening again! I'll make sure you know how to get where you need to go!" Kauri's cheery smile slipped a little though, as the girl introduced herself. Oh no. "Oh no! Nobody should ever laugh at your name, that's awful! If anyone's been picking on you you should really tell a prefect or a teacher!" Kauri had to admit, in his heart of hearts, that 'Butts' was a pretty funny surname. But he would never laugh at someone for having a name like that, especially not someone so much younger. He would have to keep an eye on the girl in case anyone was picking on her.

It was a relief to turn his attention to the next girl who approached, giving her a friendly smile. "I'm glad you think so! It's nice to meet you, Artemis!" He said happily, smiling to her and the next couple of boys who approached. "Of course you can join guys, it's nice to meet you!" The group around him was getting to a decent size, and Kauri decided now was time to get started. "It's super nice to meet all of you, I'm Kauri and I'm a fourth year Gryffindor. I spent my whole first year getting lost in this place, so I wanna show you guys around and make sure you don't have the same problems as me. We'll do a walk around most of the essential areas like classrooms and the library and Great Hall, and I'll give you some tips on predicting the staircases so you don't wind up trapped on the wrong side of the castle. It's definitely complicated, but I'm sure you guys will be making your way around like pros in no time." Kauri smiled. "We'll start off heading upstairs, and then take a different route back downstairs so you can get around from different places. This way!" Kauri kept his sign held up as he started leading the younger students upstairs, in case anyone else wanted to join them.

Out of Character:

People are still welcome to jump in any time as they make their way around the castle!

 

[Dymphna Butts]

Dymphna really didn't mind people laughing at her name, and was sure she wouldn't need to tell a professor if it happened here. It didn't matter whether they were laughing with her, or at her - laughter was always music to the Hufflepuff's ears. She smiled as a crowd began to gather, hoping she was going to be able to keep up. She was especially nervous about the moving staircases, or getting lost in a deserted portion of the castle and not being able to find somebody to ask for directions. The place was so enormous, it certainly seemed a possibility.

Soon the tour began, and Dymphna kept as close to Kauri as possible without risking ploughing into him if he suddenly stopped. "Is this going to be one of those tours where you tell us the history of the castle?" Dymphna asked hopefully, a skip in her step. "'And to our right,'" she mimicked, "'We have a lot of paintings that were painted by painters in... painting times.' Do people still paint portraits? And are the people inside them really real?"

 

[Ms Fortune's Portrait]

Ms Fortune had been on her way to visit the portrait of Cassandra Vablatsky, an interesting woman to spend an evening with despite her outrageous claims and pathological lying of grim disasters, when the painting overheard talk by a young girl who apparently did not quite appreciate the artistic talents of magical painters. Paintings painted by painters in painting times, indeed! "Do young children still ask such silly questions?" The lady interjected. "Young madam, you would do quite well to be asking a painting these questions. We are very real, and not so oblivious to your blathering." Not quite as real as they had once been, but real enough. She harumphed, displeased with how often it was that the many students of the castle spoke of the paintings as if they weren't even present. With a turn of her head, she stalked back out of the canvas and continued on her journey.

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian had already lost track of everyone's names, but he was sure he would learn them soon enough as he shared classes with these kids. The older boy introduced himself and Abian tried is best to listen. He hoped the tour would be fun, and that they wouldn't spend too much time in the library. He wondered if anyone else here was like him, and decided to ask as the tour began. He looked around at the other first-years as they followed the older boy. "Anyone else new to all this?" He asked, a little hopeful. "I'm still half-convinced it's some big joke- AAH!" A portrait had talked to them! Abian stopped in place, his eyes wide as saucers. "Did... did you see that?" He asked weakly, pointing at the now empty-canvas as the lady in it just talked to them. "That wasn't just me. Right?" he had seen them move before, but somehow the idea that they could listen to their conversations and talk to them was a little more strange to him.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Leading the first years along a corridor Kauri was pleased to hear one of the girls having fun and asking questions. He was about to answer her questions, to say that he didn't know the whole history of the school, but he'd he happy to tell them what he did know, when a very unexpected voice spoke up. In all his time here, Kauri still hadn't gotten used to the concept of paintings talking, and he watched the woman, clearly a little flabbergasted. "Er, sorry ma'am..." He started, but the lady had already carried on her way. Oh dear. Hopefully they hadn't offended a painting. Could paintings get offended? Trying not to think about it too much, Kauri turned his focus to another one of the kids on the tour, answering his questions from before the painting had startled them. "I was new to all this when I got to Hogwarts." He said with a reassuring smile. "I had never even heard of magic before. It takes a while to get used to, but I promise you'll feel at home here soon."

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty was on his way to the great hall when he turned onto a length of staircase almost blocked by first years. The leader of the group, Kauri, held a sign that quite helpfully explained what they were all doing here. It was very kind of the Gryffindor to volunteer his free time to help new students, and Monty knew this wasn't the first occasion. Word of kind deeds travelled quickly around Hogwarts, and did not stop at the staff-room door. "Mister Tipene speaks the truth," Monty said, as he reached the group, "and has earned Gryffindor ten points for his benevolence." He smiled benignly. "Take notes, the rest of you. Enjoy your tour. Excuse me." Gesturing for the children to make room, Monty squeezed past and carried on his way.

 

[Caspian Lavish]

Caspian was absolutely sure of one thing. Neither Hayden nor Gwen had any plans to show their little brother around the maze of a new school so the first year would have to find his own way. Thankfully some older students were more helpful than his siblings as he saw a sign for castle tours. Caspian eagerly made his way over to where the group was meeting and he caught them as they were beginning to make their way up the first flight of stairs. "Hey wait up,"

 

[Audra Lynch]

Audra stood off the side, people watching while also observing little details about the castle, her new home. She loved looking at the architecture of a grand place such as Hogwarts. She stared up then around and slowly making her way to the floors; Suddenly she noticed a group of people her age following a boy with a sign. She couldn't read it from so far away but walked nearer to it to find out what was going on. A boy near her said aloud "Hey wait up." and she decided to follow behind him to join the group. Once she was close enough, she saw that it was a guided tour of the castle, a perfect opportunity to know where all her classes would be.

Audra joined the group in the back and strained to here what the guide was saying. Regardless, she was happy to be in a group of people who were just as lost as she was.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri's attention was entirely on his tour group, and he didn't pay enough attention to the people around them to notice the Deputy Head approaching until he spoke. Startled a little, Kauri looked up at him quickly, face splitting into a wide grin as he listened to Professor Pendleton. "Oh!" He said happily, heart warming with the acknowledgement of his hard work. "Thank you Professor Pendleton!" He said quickly, turning back to the first years once the Professor was gone. "That's Professor Pendleton, he teaches Potions, and he's the Deputy Headmaster, he's super nice! His classes are really fun!" Kauri put a hand to his throat, looking away for a moment. In the middle of speaking his voice had done some horrible crack he hadn't expected. How weird. Hopefully people would pay more attention to his words than his voice.

"Okay guys, let's get going!" He led the first years onwards, down a corridor, giving friendly waves to the couple of new faces who joined them as they progressed. "Hey guys, welcome!" Kauri paused when they got to a landing site for one of the staircases, currently unoccupied. "So if you somehow haven't already noticed, a bunch of the staircases in this place move around. There are also a few trick steps that can trap you if you don't know which ones to skip." Kauri watched as a staircase slid across the open space to fit perfectly in front of where they were standing. "Here! Usually if you need to use a staircase that isn't available just wait a while and it'll show up, but if you're in a hurry you can try and find another way around."