Open On the Warpath

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity had been pretty happy yesterday, being sorted and joining other students at the opening feast had been properly magical. But her happiness had evaporated once she had made it to the dungeons. The dungeons. Where her bed was. She had wondered if it was some elaborate joke, but everyone else seemed to just accept it and move on. It was ridiculous. Dungeons in a castle was where you kept the prisoners or something, not students. She had wanted to complain ever since she had gone to bed last night, but hadn't been able to find her head of house this morning. She headed up to the entrance hall, looking around for any sort of professor or adult to complain to. Or even a kid her own age, maybe from a different house. She wouldn't mind comparing what their sleeping arrangements were like. She had to admit they had tried to make the dungeons less awful, but they were undeniably still dungeons.

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

Speaking as a proud, newly sorted Gryffindor, Teddy was more than happy with the accommodation at Hogwarts. The view from his comfortable four poster bed was breathtakingly beautiful and the common room has a warm, inviting atmosphere. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of smugness at belonging to a house that prides bravery and nobility above all else. It's a place where courage and daring thrive, and our sleeping quarters reflect that.

Having had a gloriously comfortable nights sleep, Teddy headed downstairs for breakfast, not that he needed much after the feast the night before. On his way he passed an angry looking Slytherin, he recognised her from Sorting. "Cheer up!" His voice dripping with cheerful sarcasm, "You only get one first day at Hogwarts after all!"

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity got a bit frustrated when she didn’t spot her head of house, or any teacher immediately. A boy around her own age came down the big stairs, looking infuriatingly well-rested. She scowled at him as he passed, recognizing him vaguely from the sorting. He told her to cheer up, which annoyed Vanity greatly. She stepped into his path. “I’m guessing you didn’t sleep in a cold, drafty dungeon last night? Judging by how perky you are?”

 

[Toby Oikawa]

(don't mind Toby just butting in with his own #opinion)

Toby had been somewhat surprised to find that they expected Slytherin's to sleep in the dungeons of all places. At least the common room didn't reflect the location all too much, but it was still rather infuriating. He bet he wouldn't have to sleep in the dungeons if he had gone to Mahoutokoro just like he had wanted. But no, he was here at Hogwarts and was having to deal with it, still feeling quite grumpy about it all as the day rolled over. He just happened to overhear one of the girls complaining about the sleeping arrangements to a Gryffindor boy, he would have probably ignored them both otherwise. "The common room was neither cold nor drafty," he did have to point out rather unhelpfully. Sure, the dungeons were cold and drafty, but the common room and dorm rooms had the wise sense to be neither of those things.

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

Teddy stopped in his tracks as he path was blocked, his expression a mix of amusement and curiosity. "Well no actually, I didn't, since you ask." He replied, he pointed to the other passing Slytherin. "And this guy is implying that you didn't either."

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity was awaiting the cheery boy’s response when someone else spoke up. She turned to the side, frowning when she saw one of her housemates. “It was cold.” She insisted. “And it’s under the lake, it has to be damp at least. Horrible for my hair.“ She insisted. “Who are you, anyway?” She asked the boy, clearly annoyed. She turned back to the first boy and huffed. He clearly wasn’t an ally. “What’s your common room like?” She asked in a demanding tone.

 

[Toby Oikawa]

"Maybe you just need more blankets then, because I was fine." And he didn't hear anyone else complaining about it, either. Just her. And it didn't feel damp, either. Just because it was under the lake didn't mean it was automatically damp and dreary. He wasn't expecting a leak to spring up at any moment or anything. "Toby Oikawa," he offered his name, folding his arms across his chest, "And while I am also not all too pleased to be sleeping in the dungeons, the common room is fine. Kind of." Sure, it could be better. Needed more colour. But that wasn't really the problem. For the time being, however, he did glance over at the other boy, quite curious to hear what his answer to the question was going to be.

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

Teddy couldn't help but suppress a smirk as he listened to the Slytherin's lamentations about her own common room. Despite his best efforts to sound sympathetic, a touch of sarcasm seeped into his voice, giving away his amusement. "Oh dear," Teddy followed, his tone failing miserably at concealing his playful disbelief. "Oh, how awful for you and your poor hair!"

Arching an eyebrow, Teddy looked at the boy who called himself Toby. "Are you sure it's fine? You don't sound convinced." He quipped, unable to resist a playful jab. "The Gryffindor common room is great. It's warm and the views are incredible from the seventh floor, especially the vast expanse of the lake." The Sorting Hat had said Teddy would have made a good Slytherin in another life, a sense of relief washed over him that it had not been his fate.

 

[Friday Weeks]

Friday was very eager to be about the school on her first day. She hadn't slept great, having never really needed to share as the only girl without a twin in her family. She glanced up from her breakfast as a few people, two boys and a girl, seemed to be discussing anything. ”The damp is so bad for hair,” Friday retorted as the boy, who she was sure was in her house, spoke. The boy, who'd just been saying slytherin was okay, clearly didn't actually think that. ”That's terrible, you should complain about it, it's not fair you have to live like that. Your hair is really pretty,” she said, looking towards the girl. ”Gryffindor is fine, but you have to walk up all the steps to get to it, which like…means it's sweaty all of the time,” it wasn't true, but she was complaining because maybe that would help her be friends with the girl.​

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity raised her eyebrows when the second rude boy introduced himself and then contradicted what he had said about the common room. It was clear he didn’t like it any better than her. “If you hate it too, why are you arguing with me?” She asked him. The first boy spoke again, and Vanity was starting to think she couldn’t have picked a worse person to ask. He seemed to gleefully enjoy her annoyance and just threw everything she said in her face. His description of the Gryffindor common room was exactly what she had feared. She gestured to the Gryffindor as she turned to Toby. “See? It’s not fair!” She said. A girl joined them, and Vanity was immediately grateful. Not only did she understand what Vanity meant about her hair, she also seemed to be on her side in the argument. She also complimented her hair, which was definitely nice. “Thank you!” She said. “I’d take steps over dark and cold every day.” She added with a frown. “It’s totally unfair. I bet we’re put there because the Slytherin founder was a big prejudiced jerk. It's not like that's our fault.”

 

[Toby Oikawa]

Toby simply huffed, "I'm not arguing, I'm just disagreeing with you. Yeah, it's the dungeons, but it's not cold or drafty in the common room. If you want to complain, complain about it being in the dungeons. Or some other argument that actually makes sense." Toby was the one who was usually quite dramatic about things when he wanted to be. And he was never one to shy away from complaining about something he didn't agree with. Especially for the drama of it all. But the other girl was just complaining about the wrong things. He was only trying to help her see that, though he doubted she was going to see it that way. Instead, he focused his attention on the other boy and the new Gryffindor girl who had just shown up. "Stairs are good exercise for Quidditch."

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

Whilst the other two bickered about their common room, Teddy's attention shifted to the new girl. His curiosity mingled with a tinge of perplexity. She struck him as rather unusual, offering a deliberate attempt to incite complaints about the Slytherin common room. This strange approach ignited a sense of amusement within Teddy, leading him to assume that the girl must be joking. His laughter escaped involuntarily, finding amusement in the sheer audacity. As if her actions weren't enough, she even threw in a compliment about hair, further confirming Teddy's suspicion that she was indeed joking. Amidst his laughter, Teddy decided to play along, responding to her in a light-hearted manner. "Steps? Ah - I see you haven't discovered the secret passageway yet!" He teased, his playful tone betraying the fact that there was no such secret passage. Teddy had always possessed a mischievous side, and he couldn't resist the opportunity to engage in a little playful banter, even if it involved spinning tales of hidden corridors that didn't actually exist, at least not to his knowledge. "Anyway, it has been lovely chatting, but I'm starved and going for breakfast. Good luck with your common room complaint." Teddy made a swift exit before anyone could ask him questions about the secret passageway.

 

[Friday Weeks]

Friday was glad that the girl seemed to appreciate what she said. She felt pretty good about saying it. Friday did agree that she'd take steps over the dungeons, especially if they were as bad as the girl was saying they were. "It really is unkind to punish slytherins given that this isn't even the school the original founder was at," she said, lending herself to once again agree with the other girl than the boys. She was a little confused by the other gryffindor who claimed to have a secret passageway and then left. She rolled her eyes at him. "Quidditch famously is a sport in which you don't use your feet," she retorted to the boy that was left there. "But I agree, steps are better than dungeons, although all the weirdo's like that boy are in Gryffindor, which is bleh," she added.​

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity stared at the Slytherin boy incredulously. Didn't he realize she was only calling it cold and drafty to strengthen her argument about how kids shouldn't sleep in the dungeons? Apparently not. "I am complaining about it being in the dungeons, that was my whole point!" She said, spreading her hands dramatically. "So what if it's not all that cold and drafty in the common room itself, it is in the dungeons and we have to walk through them to get there. And I bet it does get very cold when the lake freezes over." She told him firmly. She didn't really think the boy was right about stairs being good exercise for Quidditch either, but the girl who joined them said the same thing which made Vanity smile. The Gryffindor boy acted weird, teasing the girl about a secret passageway before disappearing. Vanity watched him go. "I bet he's full of crap. He seems like he can't take anything seriously." She told them. She smiled a bit at the girl. "He does seem pretty weird." She added. "I didn't realize that when I talked to him."

 

[Toby Oikawa]

From what she had said, Toby had the impression she had mainly been complaining about the common room being cold, she had barely even mentioned the dungeons. "You were complaining about the common room being cold. And damp, which is also isn't." He was pretty much an expert at arguing about things to try and get what he wanted. He was just trying to help, but lying about the common room being cold when it frankly, was not, wasn't going to help. "There are better arguments than boo hoo it's a bit cold to walk to the common room." Then he shrugged his shoulders, "Walking up stairs helps keep you in shape," which was quite good for Quidditch. You may be sitting down, but you still needed to be quite athletic to play. But as the conversation shifted to the Gryffindor boy who had just left, Toby did have to agree, he was quite the weird one. "Probably isn't a secret passageway. And if there is, he certainly hasn't found it. I doubt he has the brains."