Open Howl at the Blue Moon

[Blue Hoshino]

Open after Kris posts with Kas
[first howler]

Blue had cried herself to sleep during her first night at Hogwarts, as well as the second, and the third. After that, she was closer to coming to terms with being in Gryffindor house even though she still didn't feel like she belonged there. A week into classes and no letter, Blue had almost forgotten that her guardian had a tendency to send Howlers when learning about things she didn't like. She'd put off informing her family for as long as she could. She considered lying and telling Karen that she'd been put in Slytherin like she was supposed to, but she knew it would slip eventually and didn't want to risk the fallout. She'd owled Miya first, certain that her former Hufflepuff cousin would be the most understanding. The silvery otter that started keeping her company after lights out was enough of an response for Blue to be satisfied, but she'd also been curling up with a radio next to her in the hopes she'd hear her cousin's voice.

Blue had been eating breakfast in the Great Hall when an owl dropped something on her lap. She squinted at the Howler in her hand, and then down at the table where her pet frog was perched on top of a fork. "This isn't good," she said, mildly. The frog did not respond. She scooped him up and moved towards the Ravenclaw table to show Teddy. Blue had been avoiding her brother since she'd been sorted. She loved Teddy, but wanted to process everything by herself before he suspected she was upset. Blue didn't think she was upset anymore - mostly just confused and unsure how she fit into her house. She didn't want to be alone when she opened it. Karen was his mother, not Blue's, and she may not have been happy about Teddy being in Ravenclaw, but he was in no real danger if he upset her. Blue was only part of the family when she behaved herself and did what they wanted. "Howler!" she called, softly, and turned on her heel to open it in the courtyard.

 

[Theodore Hoshino]

If Teddy thought he'd been a nervous wreck the previous year, seeing his little sister fail to be sorted into Slytherin had sent him into a downwards spiral of worry, sprinkled with panic, and a little hint of anger at his entire family. His ma's desire for all the Hoshino children to be sorted into Slytherin felt completely arbitrary and Teddy hated that he couldn't figure out the logic behind it. It frustrated him more than ever, and he was certain there had to be some reason he just didn't understand yet. Failing to live up to his ma's expectations had resulted in Teddy swallowing an entire howler to stop it from yelling at him, and he was dreading a repeat of that situation.

He felt like we was going to throw up his breakfast when Blue trotted up to his table, and scrambled out of his chair to follow her. He lingered by the the Hufflepuff table on his way out. Kas had been oddly helpful during the previous Howler incident, and Teddy often found himself reluctantly thinking about the older boy's advice. It was probably a bad idea, but the idea of having any sort of moral support pushed Teddy into action. "We have another family disappointment," he approached the Hufflepuff and flicked his head towards the courtyard, trying to play it cool even though he was shaking. He found his sister and jogged up to her, looking slightly panicked. "Blue! You don't have to open it!" he said, already knowing it was futile.

 

[Kasim Safir]

Kas had been slightly on edge at meal times since the first night, half expecting a repeat performance from the damn poltergeist at any time. Slime in your food once might be funny, but Kas did not want it to become a regular thing. After a few much quieter dinners though, Kas was starting to tentatively relax, though he was still ready enough to spring under the table if need be at the slightest provocation. Which was why he was already half on his feet when Teddy approached him, only registering what the Ravenclaw had said once his entire left leg was under the table. "Oh? Oh," He said, deciding the potential entertainment of this was way better than nursing his mushy peas any longer.

Following Teddy out into the courtyard, Kas spared a moment to wonder if maybe having siblings could be worth it if only for moments like this. He somehow doubted he'd be able to convince the girl, who he could only guess was Teddy's sister or cousin or something, to eat her howler as well, but maybe it ran in the family. "If you don't it'll be much worse, trust me," He said mildly, giving the girl a little hello wave as he made himself comfortable on a nearby bench.

 

[Blue Hoshino]

Her hesitation in opening the howler had caused it to begin smoking ominously, and Blue just stared at it in fascination. Maybe it would explode if she didn't open it? She really wanted to test that theory, but getting in trouble for starting an explosion in the school wasn't how she wanted her first week to go. She walked over to where Teddy's friend was sitting and solemnly put her frog on the Hufflepuff boy's shoulder. "I need you to hold Greg, please," she said. She didn't want the little frog to be too close to the howler in case the inevitable yelling hurt his tiny froggy eardrums, and she was concerned Teddy might accidentally crush him in panic if he was responsible for Blue's pet.

She skipped back a couple of steps to give herself room, and slowly tried to peel off the wax seal on the envelope without breaking it. The wax imprint of the Hoshino crest crumbled despite her effort and her heart broke a little with it. Blue could hear the distinct sound of an annoyed inhale coming from the parchment, the force of which pulled the howler from her hands and onto the stone. "My darling Blue," the howler said from the ground, its tone gentle enough to alarm Blue. Karen never called her by that name. "I had such high hopes for you! It was bad enough that Theodore broke tradition, but Gryffindor? I took you in and gave you a home, despite your... unfavourable background, and this is what you do?"

The voice of Karen Hoshino was rising in pitch and the howler jumped with every word. Blue all but threw herself onto the ground in an attempt to flatten it into the ground with her hands. She looked towards Teddy and threw him a grin, before scrabbling across the courtyard after the letter. It continued to wail meaningless nonsense, and Blue began to giggle at the nonsense as she leapt for it again. Her eyes felt strangely wet and there was a lump in her throat, but Blue was determined to keep a smile on her face until she squashed the mean howler into the ground.

 

[Theodore Hoshino]

Teddy snorted when his sister dumped her frog on Kas without asking. "Price of admission," he shrugged. He felt a little sad that she hadn't trusted him with her pet, but supposed it meant she must like Kas. The smoking howler was unnerving and Teddy really didn't want it to explode in front of them, but thought that perhaps it would be a better alternative than actually opening the howler. He flinched as Blue ignored his advice and opened the howler, watching nervously as his ma's voice filled the area. Teddy was frozen to the spot as he heard the words being spoken to Blue, and a flare of anger tore through him, though a little part of him was glad he wasn't alone in Karen's anger. He hated himself a little for that. Teddy was terrified of his ma, but Blue was his little sister and he couldn't do anything to help. It hurt seeing her trying to act brave. He wanted to fight his father for putting them in this situation. If he hadn't had the affair with Blue's mother, maybe their family wouldn't have shattered and the youngest Hoshinos wouldn't have to bear the remaining emotional shards being thrown at them.

 

[Kasim Safir]

Kas was watching with interest as the girl approached him, confused when she mentioned Greg before going stock still as she set a frog on him. "Uh-" Kas started, but she had already skipped away. He have Teddy a wide-eyed look, but he seemed non-plussed about the exchange and Kas valiantly decided he could deal with Greg as long as the frog didn't do anything rash. Like jump on his hair or go down his shirt. "Sit. Stay," Kas said grimly, well aware that his snake-talking prowess very much did not extend to frogs but half-hoping it would help anyway.

Kas was drawn from his froggy delima when the howler started, grimacing at the saccharine sweet tone that it started with. "Ouch," He murmured sympathetically. At least the girl seemed to be taking the whole thing a bit better than Teddy and Kas gave her a cheer as she tried to swat the howler out of the air. "Maybe you should bury it?" He offered gamely, pointing to a nearby plant bed speculatively. It had been funny to watch Teddy eat his own howler last year but how somehow convincing the girl to do it too seemed off. And not just because Kas hated repeating jokes.

 

[Blue Hoshino]

Blue's aunts had always told her that crying never solved anything, and Blue choked down her tears before they spilled out. Her aunts had to be right about that, because they were her aunts and therefore had to be correct. Trying to catch the howler was quite entertaining by itself, though, and Blue quickly forgot about being upset as she managed to pin it to the ground in an uncoordinated dance of flailing limbs.

Karen's voice could still be heard from the parchment, but it came out garbled and Blue could only assume it was from the spell fracturing. Whatever it was, she was glad to no longer hear hateful words spat at her, even if Karen's voice still inflicted her ears. The now rather flattened howler wiggled feebly as Blue's shoe crushed it one more time, until she was satisfied with the letter's destruction and bent down to pick it up. Holding it gingerly between her index and thumb, Blue giggled at Kas's suggestion and headed for the nearest potted tree. She brushed aside some dirt and shoved the howler underneath. The soil muffled the remainder of the yelling, and Blue was quite content to leave it to be fertilizer.

"Garden's problem now!" she said brightly, skipping over to Kas and Teddy. She gently collided with her brother and threw her arms around him a brief hug, before smiling at him and turning to Kas to retrieve her frog. "Thank you," Blue said serenely, picking up Greg and putting him back on her head where he belonged. After a moment's thought, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Kas as well.

 

[Theodore Hoshino]

Teddy was extremely relieved that Blue hadn't attempted to eat the howler like he had. Thinking about how he'd just thoughtlessly shoved it in his mouth still made his face burn with embarrassment. He had somewhat recovered from his blind panic, but didn't have the foggiest idea of what to do when Blue started doing some kind of jig around the fluttering howler. He decided his attempt at helping would be more of a nuisance, and edged closer to Kas in solidarity. Teddy tried to hide his wince as Blue bumped into his side, covering it with a nervous grimace as he awkwardly returned her hug. He was scared to ask his sister if she was okay, in case she actually wasn't. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to deal with a crying sister without looking stupid in front of Kas. Blue seemed fine, though, and Teddy was shocked at how easily she seemed to shrug off what just happened. Teddy hadn't even been the one being yelled at this time, and he was a little shaken up over it. He wanted to run up to his dorm to take a nap until everything calmed down again, but settled for joining Kas on the bench.

 

[Kasim Safir]

Kas cheered when the girl managed to catch the howler, watching with mild amusement as she took his advice and shoved it in the dirt. He always forgot how willing the younger students were to listen to his advice, regardless of how effective it was. Still, it did seem to work, only vague muffled noises coming from the plant bed to indicate the howler was in there.

The ordeal over, Kas was grateful when the girl collected her frog. They seemed to have come to a wary truce in which Kas would fling Greg across the courtyard and Greg would sit quietly and not do anything to warrant being flung across the courtyard. "You're welcome," He said with a shrug, surprised when she moved to hug him. Kas gave Teddy a surprised look, awkwardly patting the girl on the back. "So uh. This your sister then? Or does your mum just really like sending howlers to everyone? Should I be upset I didn't get one?"